So yeah...don't kill me? This is a little short, but I'm exhausted and I have to be up early and I figured a short update is better than none at all. Have a good weekend folks!
It had been a wonderful few months, and Tony was finding it very easy to slip into the role of loving, doting boyfriend, and found he liked it a hell of a lot easier than the playboy he used to be. Pepper was everything he needed, and wanted, and he knew he'd be wanting the same thing for the rest of his life. He hadn't raised the topic of marriage with her again, but he was sure when the time came to ask her, she would say yes. But that time wasn't now, and that was ok. She'd moved back into her apartment after allowing him to install a heap of extra security measures, including an instant distress call that would beep straight to Jarvis, who would contact him as soon as he received it. Pepper deemed it all unnecessary, but Tony wasn't going to take any chances.
He'd also come a long way with his designs he'd started for an upgraded version of the suit of armour he'd built in Afghanistan. It had gotten so he was even using it in the field of battle, having realised that his own weapons were being sold under the table, he'd done nothing but try and stop the bastards using them against American troops since he'd built it. This was one of those times, and he was flying back from another successful mission.
"Jarvis, get Pepper to run me a bath would you?" he mumbled sleepily to the AI he'd built into the suit.
"Miss Potts does not appear to be on the house grounds, sir, but I can remotely access the plumbing systems myself." he replied quickly. Tony frowned. Pepper was always waiting for him when he got home.
"Where is she Jarvis?" he asked, speeding up a little. "What time did she leave?"
"She has not entered the house at any point today, sir." Jarvis replied. Tony started to feel an uneasy sickness in his stomach. "I could re-check today's log-"
"That won't be necessary." Tony spoke over him. "Set course for her apartment." Jarvis did so and he felt the suit shift a little and speed up. There was no reason for Pepper not to be waiting for him. He'd called her that morning, and it had gone straight to voicemail, but he hadn't really thought anything of it seeing as it had been four in the morning when he'd called. It was nearing six in the evening now, and she should have got the message. There's probably a perfectly reasonable explination, he thought as he zoomed to her apartment, speeding up as he did so.
Life with Tony was never boring. Well, not with him, because she had managed to convince him to let her go back to her house a few days after they'd spent the day on the beach. But being in a relationship with him was like living through a maelstrom every day of her life. She wasn't sure if she loved it or it exhausted her. Probably both. Actually, definitely both. She had no doubt about his feelings for her, because he was fairly obvious about it. She had to remind him frequently to keep his hands to himself in public places, but he was wonderful. She didn't really like the fact that he'd near enough perfected the suit – but only because he'd taken it upon himself to become a superhero. The suit itself was actually pretty interesting, not that she'd ever tell him that, but he kept putting himself in harm's way, and that's what she didn't like. She made him swear that he would update her every single time he went anywhere in the suit, and when he did she took the day off work, spending it waiting for him to return home. She wouldn't have been able to concentrate at the office anyway, and she needed to be as near to him as she could. Besides, after he came home that first time with a long gash right down the middle of his back, she knew someone needed to be there to patch him up after he got home from these 'missions'. She was that person.
And for a while, that was about as close to the danger as she got, but when she woke up in the early hours of one morning to the sound of glass smashing, she knew all that was about to change. Pepper practically leapt out of bed, heart pounding. If it was a robber he was in for a fright- she was barely wearing clothes because of the air conditioning being out. Tony's t-shirt and a pair of undies were basically the only clothes on her, in fact. Still, she tiptoed to the door and peeked out around it, gasping and covering her mouth at what she saw- or rather, who she saw.
It was Raza.
But it couldn't have been, she'd seen Tony kill him. She'd watched as the man died in front of her...but then she realised she hadn't seen that at all. All she'd seen was the missile hit Raza, they'd never checked to see if he was dead.
Pepper backed away from him, hands still clamped over her mouth as she did so, but he had heard her gasp. He was there within moments and she tried to push past him but failed as she was shoved against the wall, a sickening sense of deja vu' rushing through her as she brought her knee up, aiming for his crotch. He snarled at her and kicked her, hard, in the shin. She knew better than to make noise. He didn't have to remind her of that.
"There you are, whore." He hissed, smiling evilly as she trembled in his grasp. "Long time no see."
"Get the hell off me!" Pepper snarled, struggling furiously, whimpering when he shoved her against the wall again. "Tony will be here any minute, you've probably set off a dozen alarms!"
He laughed darkly, which wasn't the reaction of fear or worry that Pepper had been hoping for. "Unfortunately for you, my dear," Raza said silkily, raising his hand to her cheek and brushing his fingers along her skin before slapping her hard, causing her to stumble to the side. "I have friends in high places." He pulled a small rectangular device out of his pocket and waved it at her. "I'm afraid none of your little security features are working." He bent and grabbed her arm, yanking her up to her feet and closing his hand around her throat, smiling when she let out a sob. "We're going to have some fun, you and I."
Tony was speeding towards Pepper's apartment as quick as the suit would take him, but the problem was he was halfway across the Atlantic and no matter how fast his boots went, it was gonna take a while. He'd not stopped calling since Jarvis had told him she hadn't been to his mansion, and worry was steadily seeping through him.
"Come on." He muttered, willing the boots to go faster. Jarvis seemed to have realised the severity of what was going on and had diverted all power from the suit to the thrusters and Tony was now bearing down on US airspace. He radioed in for permission to enter and sped towards Pepper's apartment, not caring if he took any startled birds with him. He landed with a loud boom in front of her apartment block, the cement beneath his feet crumbling and forming a crater. He bounced out of the crater and zoomed straight up to her door, slamming through the door as if it were made of glass and coming face to face with a semi-naked Raza in the process of moving Pepper's position. He stopped for a moment, blinking and taking in the scene, not sure he fully believed what was going on before Raza moved, diving for a gun that was in his bag, probably to use on Pepper, but Tony was too quick for him. With a yell of rage, he flew at Raza, grabbing the man in a tackle and slamming him into the ground. Tony wasted no time, this time making sure the bastard was dead, repeatedly punching him in the face until all that was left was a horrific mess of what once was a human head. He turned to Pepper once he was done and swallowed. She was lying on her side on the carpet, hands tied behind her back, her hair matted and her eyes red from where she'd been crying. He quickly reached over to her and untied her hands, lifting the faceplate of his helmet as he did so. "Pepper. Honey, can you hear me? It's gonna be alright, you're safe now."
She barely even registered anything that was happening. It didn't matter that Tony was there because the damage had already been done. And she was so cold. She didn't even feel it when he untied her. She didn't see him, not really. She just saw someone else with the ability to hurt her, and she pulled away from him violently, curling in on herself and shaking violently. She would have been sick if there was anything left to be sick with, but as it was she let out a dry sob, eyes squeezed shut. Tony stared, hands out (he'd been in the process of trying to get her to stand). He quickly unhooked the rest of the armour and stripped down to his under suit before crouching beside her, his own hands beginning to shake.
"Baby, it's me, it's Tony." He said softly, trying to keep the fear from his voice. "You're safe now, he can't hurt you any more, alright? But we need to get you to a hospital."
She didn't answer him. She didn't say a word the entire way to the hospital, still curled up into a ball even in the passenger seat of the car. When they finally did get to the hospital, he tried to help her in, but she shrunk away from him again, wrapping her arms around herself. The hospital was cold like she was but sterile like she wasn't. He was there, but she didn't feel it- she didn't feel the IV going in, either, but she was sure she was dehydrated. The doctors had told Tony to wait outside while she was examined, and then once done told him to leave, that she was asleep, and quite possibly wouldn't want him, but he wasn't about to take that risk. He quietly entered her room while she slept and sat in the chair next to her bed, debating whether he should take her hand or not. In the end, he settled for just watching her sleep, sitting back in the chair and not noticing when he drifted off himself.
She woke to the smell of disinfectant. When she opened her eyes, he was the first thing she saw, and, instead of being relieved, her throat tightened. She had been naive- they both had been- to think that leaving Afghanistan would leave the risks behind. She loved him more than anything or anyone, but if being with him meant being attacked, she couldn't do it. If there was one thing she knew about herself, it was that she deserved safety, and just going off past experiences she knew she wasn't going to get that if she stuck around. Tears pricked her eyes even thinking about it, but she had to stay strong. She knew if she let her guard down, if she let him persuade her, she'd have no chance. She never could say no to him, but she needed to learn how.
She watched as his chest rose and fell with his breathing, thinking back to the last time she'd been in this position after she'd been rescued and realising how different everything had become. Last time she was eager for him to wake, but now she just wished he'd stay asleep forever if it meant she didn't have to do this. But it seemed that life wasn't quite on her side, because not five seconds later, Tony started to stir, rubbing at his eyes like a child – one of the things she loved about him, she thought – and then snapping to attention when he realised she was awake. He swallowed and shifted in his seat, meeting her eyes with uncertainty.
"Hey." He said hoarsely, leaning forward a little. "How are you feeling?" he could see the redness behind her eyes, something he'd learned to mean that she was about to cry. He reached out for her hand and gently covered it with his own, squeezing gently. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you. I'm so sorry. But he can't hurt you anymore. He's dead, sweetheart, okay? He's gone now." He took a deep breath and waited for her to speak, swallowing when she didn't. "You...will you say something? You're making me nervous."
She tried to blink back the tears, but they slipped down her cheeks all the same and she raised her free hand to swipe them away quickly. "This...Tony, this isn't working."
"Don't say that." He said before she could get another word out, his eyes widening in terror. "Pepper, please, don't..."
"I can't do this, Tony." She croaked, letting out a small sob and letting go of his hand. "I love you. I do, I love you more than I've ever loved anybody in my life but I'm not safe like this. I'm not safe as long as it's known that we're connected."
His entire world was falling apart. He stared at her for nearly a full minute, unable to believe what was happening. He'd been driving himself mad by blaming himself for what happened, and then she confirmed it. When the weight of her words had sunk in, he blinked back the tears and took a breath. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you." He said quietly, his hear hammering in his chest. "But...I can do better. Please, Pepper, just give me a chance. I'm sorry, please don't do this." He furrowed his brow as his own tears spilled down his cheeks. "I'm begging you."
Pepper just shook her head, closing her eyes and sobbing again, her hands coming up to cover her face as she cried. Tony stared at her for a full minute before averting his eyes, nostrils flaring. He ran a hand over his face and through his hair before standing up. His chest felt constricted, like he couldn't breathe. Of all the ways he'd ever feared their breaking up, this scenario had never crossed his mind. He'd failed her, and she couldn't forgive him. He took a deep, shuddering breath and grabbed his coat, unable to look at her when he spoke again. "Give Happy a call once you're ready to leave, okay?" he said gruffly.
Pepper pulled her hands away from her face and nodded, looking up at him. He looked broken, but she knew she had to do this. She'd never be safe with him. "Thank you." She mumbled, shuddering. Tony slowly pulled his jacket on, finding the task more difficult than it should have been, and then he turned to her again, his eyes red and puffy.
"I love you." He whispered, his jaw tensing as he silently pleaded with her to take it back, to throw her arms around him and say it back. But she didn't. She just looked away. Tony dropped his gaze, turned, and walked out of the door, leaving the pieces of his heart with her.