I just got done watching Chances Are and omg, I'm in such a sappy mood now. If you haven't seen it. Watch it. Watch it now. I can't believe Infinity War is in less than a week. I'm both excited and nervous.

Chapter Ten

Hours later, exhausted and aching from the close encounter with Justin's car, Tony was relived when he finally found himself back at his own place. He was lucky Happy wasn't dragging his ass to the hospital but he was somehow able to convince him that his suit had taken most of the damage. Not that he was lying. It was true but he still was in some pain from being driven through a wall and thrown from the hood of a speeding car. It had been more difficult of a task to convince him not to call Pepper and to let him extract himself from what was left of his suit instead. Happy had finally agreed when Tony had reminded him there was nothing she could do but worry. After giving his statement at the police station, he was finally free again. At least Justin wasn't. His bail would soon be revoked due to his unprovoked attack. In the end, Tony was glad it was him who faced the wrath of Justin Hammer and not Pepper. If anything had happened to her, he would never be able to forgive himself.

Speaking of Pepper, she wasn't where he had left her. The couch was empty. The food abandoned. His surroundings were completely silent. The only sound, his own quick breathing. There was no way that Hammer had gotten to her. Was there? What if he had stopped here first? His heart-rate skyrocketed exponentially. He jogged to the bathroom and peaked inside. She wasn't there either. "Pepper?" He called out. No reply.

If Hammer had laid on hand on Pepper, he would kill him. He would suit up, bust his way into the jail and blast him into ashes There wouldn't even be able to identify the body by dental records when he got done with him. Just when he was on the verge of heading back to the jail to carry out his plan, he found her in his bed asleep. He leaned on the door frame of his room, panting heavily, hand resting over the arc reactor as he tried to catch his breath. "Jesus, Jarvis. You could have given me a heads up that Pepper was asleep."

"I'm sorry, sir. I was trying not to interject for fear of waking Miss Potts. She seemed to need the rest. You on the other hand look to be in need of medical attention. You are bleeding."

Tony brushed off Jarvis' words with a wave of his hand. "I'm fine, Jarvis. I'm not going to the hospital. It's just a scratch." He ran his fingers across his forehead and sure enough, they came away with fresh blood but it wasn't enough to worry him. "I'll just take a shower and wash it off. I will be fine, Jarvis. Stop being a mother hen."

Even though Jarvis was use to him outright ignoring his advice, Tony could almost hear the sigh in the AI's next words. "Very well, sir. There will be no further clucking from me."

Tony chuckled at Jarvis' obvious frustration with him, glancing over at Pepper's sleeping form one last time before heading for the bathroom. He showered quickly, watching as his blood swirled around the drain. He hurried through his usual routine, cutting his bathing time in half because he really did not want to keep Pepper waiting.

After drying himself off, he stopped and examined himself in the mirror. The wound on his forehead was going to need more than a bandage. It was bordering on the edge of needing stitches but he was pretty sure it would heal fine with some tightly applied butterfly sutures. He focused on that injury first. Once it was taped up and the blood was no longer running down his face, he could focus on cleaning up the rest of his face. Most of the injuries were small cuts and abrasions but there was a big lump on the left side of his cheek and that same eye had swelling. It was going to be a nice purple shiner. There would be no hiding that thing even with makeup. He sighed knowing that Pepper was going to freak out. He left the bathroom dressed in sweatpants and a black tank and found the occupant of his bed hadn't moved.

She looked so peaceful, sleeping with her knees bent, on her side in his oversized MIT t-shirt. It made her seem much smaller than she actually was. He almost didn't want to disturb her. Almost. But he had made her a promise and he planned on keeping it. Carefully, he lowered himself down onto the bed next to her, being careful not to wake her as his eyes slowly traveled over her body, starting at her head and traveling south, stopping at her bare legs. Those legs...soft white milky skin, too damn tempting not to touch. He propped himself up on an elbow before reaching his free hand out and running his fingers from the back of her knee gently up her leg, seeing how long it would take for her to start to respond to his touch. It didn't take more than a few seconds, and she was shuddering, pressing herself back into his solid form to rub her ass against him. Holy shit. Tony definitely appreciated the attention she was giving him, and if she was awake like he was, he knew she could feel it. He couldn't stop himself from pressing the nose into the back of her neck to inhale her intoxicating scent. If he wasn't turned on before, he sure as hell was now.

"Mmmmmm. Hey there," Tony groaned into Pepper's skin as her hand slid into his hair, pulling gently at the short hair at the nape of his neck. He had to focus on stopping his eyes from rolling back into his head. He still wasn't used to her touching him intimately like this. It was heavenly. The only time she would actually touch him before the other day was on accident...but wait, now that he really thought about it, maybe it really wasn't so accidental after all. It usually happened when she was trying to adjust his tie or was attending to his wounds. Her fingers would always find a way to rub against his exposed skin, making him shiver. God. Even though he had been touched by hundreds of women, this specific woman's touch drove him absolutely fucking crazy.

"Hey, yourself," Pepper's reply came out as more of a shuddering sigh than anything else. He couldn't see her face but knew she was smiling. Oh yeah. She was most definitely smiling. "Crap. I took a shower, made a couple of phone calls and planned to wait for you back here. I must have fallen asleep after that. This was a great way to wake up."

The fact she was so tired after he got through with her was kind of flattering to him. Tony couldn't help but laugh. "Did I wear you out, Pep?" His fingers were still ghosting lightly over the top of skin of the back of her bare legs. He was holding himself back from having them wander up into the panties she was wearing to bury them into hot core. He did however, allow them to wander up under the back of her shirt to grab her sweet supple ass and was rewarded when she squeaked loudly. "Did you need a power nap to recharge after our session earlier? Completely understandable. I am like a machine after all." He gave her another firm squeeze.

Letting out a squeal, she flipped over toward him, playfully slapping at his hands but when she focused in on his face, the playfulness was immediately gone. He knew that look. Shit. He knew he should have had Jarvis black out the windows and simply jumped her before she could see his newest injuries. "Tony!" Her voice held worry as she reached out to graze her fingers over one of the new bruises on his cheek before moving up to touch the butterfly sutures he had applied to the wound on his forehead. "These weren't here earlier. What happened?"

Tony took her hand in his, pressing a gentle kiss to her fingertips as he sat up. He didn't like it when she got upset. He had to try and keep her calm. "Pep, don't freak out."

That did it. His words made Pepper shoot up straight in bed next to him. Great. She was freaking out. He really should work on choosing his words more wisely. "Tony..." Her hands were on both sides of his face tipping it to one side and then the other as she checked for any further injuries she may have missed.

"I'm fine, Pep. Really." He grabbed her hands to stop her examination and gave them a reassuring squeeze. "As you can see I got the suit off. Are you ready for round two?" He wagged his brows but Pepper wasn't having it, yanking her hands out of his, her frustration growing by the second.

"Tony." Uh oh. There was the "you better tell me now or face the consequences" tone he was oh-so familiar with.

Tony put his hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay. So, on my way to the Expo I ran into a little trouble." He began to drum his fingers on the arc reactor, a nervous tic of his. "Justin Hammer to be exact."

Pepper's mouth dropped open. It was obvious she was not expecting that. "What? But he was arrested."

"Yes, and then he got out on bail." His fingers tapped faster. "He tried to run me down with his car."

Pepper's hand went up to cover her mouth.

"And when that didn't work, he tried to shoot me."

Tony didn't think Pepper's eyes could get any bigger than they already were. He was wrong. "Oh my God. Tony, why didn't you call me?"

Okay so looking back on it now, maybe he should have gave her a courtesy call but he couldn't do anything about it now. Tony shrugged trying to play it off as being no big deal. "What would you have been able to do besides freak out? The car had a flat. There was no way for you to get to me anyway. I didn't want to worry you." When he noticed her eyes glistening, he cupped her face in his hands, wiping the escaping tears away with his thumbs. "Oh no, Pepper. Please don't cry. I'm here now. I'm okay."

"He could have killed you." Pepper's hands were wandering all over him now as she searched for more damage. He would have enjoyed it if she hadn't been so upset. "Tony, you could have died."

"But I didn't. Ah." He winced, inhaling sharply between his teeth when Pepper's fingers brushed across his abdomen. Shit. It did hurt more than he originally thought.

Even though he tried to hide it, Pepper knew he was injured. She met his eyes. "Take off your shirt."

Tony gave her a lopsided grin. "So bossy, Potts. Can't wait to have more Tony Stark, eh? Slow down. I want to savor this moment... "

Pepper's brows pulled together at his suggestion, her frown deepening. Oh crap. All he was doing was making her more angry. Maybe he should work on keeping his mouth shut. "Scan him for injuries, Jarvis," she demanded.

"Yes, Miss Potts."

"Don't do it, Jarvis," Tony countered.

"Scan canceled," the AI confirmed.

Pepper was openly glaring at him now. The red flush of anger was creeping up her neck to flush her cheeks. Well, he most definitely was not getting laid now. "Then take off your shirt, Mr. Stark. Take it off now or I'll do it for you, and I promise it will not be a pleasurable experience."

Ah crap. She was calling him Mr. Stark. There were only two reasons she ever did that. She was either trying to remain professional (and losing) or she was straight up pissed. There was no question in his mind which of those moods she was currently in. He had lost and he knew it. There really wasn't any reason to try and keep stalling. It was only making her angrier. She would figure out something was up if he tried to keep his shirt on while they were fooling around.

Without any further prodding, he took a deep breath and pulled off his shirt to reveal his chest. The car had left quite the array of bruising on his torso. It did hurt a bit when he breathed. If he was being completely honest with himself, if he hadn't had the suit on the lower part of his body, he would likely have damage to his internal organs. Instantly, the glistening in Pepper's eyes was back, and Tony felt like someone had kicked him in the gut. Seeing Pepper in pain because of him was worse than getting hit by a car. "This. This right here is why I didn't want to show you."

Pepper turned her face away from him. "You promised me, Tony. You promised me no more secrets."

Shit. She had him there. He did promise that. "You're right. I did, but..." A finger to his lips stopped him mid-sentence.

She had turned back to face him. "In order for a relationship between us to work, you have to tell me things even if the things you tell me will upset me. You can't keep trying to hide things from me. It makes me not want to trust you." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before continuing. "Do you even want this to work? Do you even want to be with me? If you don't, tell me now and things can go back to the way they were before. We can just pretend none of this ever happened." Her eyes searched his face for an answer. When he took longer than she thought he should to answer, she turned from him and tried to rise from the bed.

The questions she posed were like a slap to his face. That was the only reason he hadn't answered right away. Did she really think he didn't want her...that he would want things to go back to the way they were? There was no way he would be okay with things going back to the way they used to be. It would be torture. Pure fucking torture. He had hid his true feeling from her from too long. He loved her and he was going to make damn sure she knew it.

As Pepper tried to move away, his hand shot out, grabbing her arm and pulling her back onto the bed. He thought she would struggle but she only melted into his embrace as he pulled her tightly against him, burying her face into his neck. "Of course, I want this to work, Pepper." He rubbed her back in soothing motions. "I want this to work more than anything. None of this matters if you aren't by my side."

Pepper sighed against his skin. "Then why, Tony? Why do you try to keep things from me?"

"To protect you, okay?" The words were out of his mouth before he even knew he had said them. "I just...just the thought of you suffering because of me...it tears me apart."

When Pepper finally pulled back to gaze into his eyes, Tony knew she was no longer mad at him. The look she gave him was almost enduring. "Tony, when you love someone you open yourself up to being hurt. It's part of the deal. I know that. It's time you figured that out too." She grabbed his hands, interlacing their fingers together. "But the risk is worth it to me. You are worth it to me."

"God, Pep." He raised her hand to rub it against his cheek and she shivered. "You are worth it to me too. It's just...when Hammer threatened to hurt you, the mere thought of anything happening to you was enough to make me absolutely crazy. I would die to keep you safe. And there's the crux of the matter. That's why I didn't tell you I was dying. I was trying to protect you. I just want you to be happy."

Now Pepper was smiling at him. "You do make me happy."

Tony cocked a single brow at her, surprised at her answer. "I do. Really? Are you sure because I'm pretty sure you only really like me 12% of the time."

That made Pepper laugh. God, did he love her laugh. She gave him a gentle shove. "Give yourself a little more credit than that. Yes, you do frustrate me a lot of the time but you do make me happy." Pepper pressed a kiss to his lips, leaning forward to run her hands up his chest. "God, Tony. You really do. Even when I want to strangle you for being an inconsiderate ass, I still love you. I will always love you."

Her words made his stomach flutter. He didn't think of himself as a sentimental man but damn when it came to Pepper, he obviously was. That woman has the ability to make the great Tony Stark feel like a lovesick teen. He pressed his face into her hair. "God, I love hearing you say that. I don't think I'll ever get sick of it. In fact, I think I could get used to hearing it for the next forty to fifty years." As soon as those words, left his lips, he felt Pepper tense in his grasp and then quickly pull back from him. He was suddenly worried. Oh shit. What did he do? Fix it. Fix it now, Stark. Don't blow the best thing that's ever happened to you. "What? What did I say?"

But when he looked into her bright blue eyes, he knew Pepper wasn't angry or sad. She was happy. The tears in her eyes had to be those of joy. The smile filling her beautiful face was contagious and he found himself returning it. "God, I love you, Tony Stark. I truly do." And she leaned forward to press her mouth against his.