Hi everyone! From now on, I plan on updating this series just about every other week, so look forward to new chapters pretty regularly. (At this point, I think I have enough ideas to keep me busy for the rest of 2014. :)) This week's chapter takes place after Tony goes out to destroy some old Stark Industries weapons and gets a bit banged up in the process. Thanks for your reviews, and I'll see you again soon! :)

Disclaimer: I own no part of the Marvel Universe; just lots of Marvel swag and fanart. (And feels…so many feels…)

Sleep

"Yeah, you look like you should probably take the rest of the day off," Pepper said, looking relieved when a robotic arm removed his helmet. Tony felt a little worse for wear, but judging by Pepper's reaction, at least he was still in one piece.

"I'm fine, just—ah, okay, that stings," Tony said, wincing as the garage rig removed the chest piece of the suit. He didn't have to lift his shirt to know that there were already some nasty bruises forming all over his back and shoulders. Even when you were encased in half a dozen different alloys, the result of a direct hit from a rocket launcher was apparently pain—since building the suit, it seemed like Tony learned something new every day.

"I have just finished running diagnostics, sir, and while the Mark VI has sustained significant damage, your own vital signs are satisfactory."

"Awesome," Tony muttered, stepping gingerly away from the suit rig. "It's great that I just feel like death warmed over."

"Thank you, Jarvis," Pepper said, wincing in sympathy when Tony, who was putting his arm around her, winced as his muscles protested the movement.

"Yeah, I should probably work on...not moving much," he said, smiling faintly when she gingerly slid her arm around his waist. "So, how was your day?"

"Okay," Pepper said, though when Tony glanced at her, she was biting her lip, watching as he carefully made his way up the stairs.

"'Okay' as in actually okay, or 'okay' as in bad?"

"Bad, honestly," Pepper said, and he leaned into her, enjoying the smell of her hair even though leaning (and just walking) made various muscle groups throb. "The board meeting was fine—the Stark Tower plans were a hit, but then I had to see parts of your day on CNN, and that was...not my idea of a good time."

"Yeah, not mine either," Tony said, sighing gratefully when they reached the bathroom, where he sat down on the edge of the Jacuzzi. "I'm just...gonna avoid rocket launchers for a while."

"You did good though," Pepper said, kneeling down to start the water in the tub before giving him a quick kiss. "From what Jarvis told me, that was the biggest cache of weapons to surface in a while."

Tony nodded, gingerly pulling off his shirt. "I guess there's some kind of poetic justice in getting hit by a rocket launcher with my name on it."

Pepper stood up and finished pulling the shirt over his head, then leaned down and kissed him again, harder than before. Tony closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around her waist, ignoring the protests of various bruises. Eventually she pulled away, turning off the water before the Jacuzzi could start to overflow.

"Need a hand with the rest of your clothes?" Pepper said, her smile gentle even as she rolled her eyes at his lascivious grin.

"Absolutely. I could use some company too," Tony said, wondering if he sounded as hopeful as he felt. He guessed that he probably sounded more exhausted than anything, but sore or not, he did not want to miss an opportunity to share a bath with Pepper.

"Okay," Pepper said, her smile amused as she pulled off her sweater. "But I'm only staying to keep an eye on you. You look like you're about to fall asleep, and after the day you've had—"

"It would be bad, if I drowned in the Jacuzzi," Tony agreed, standing up to discard his pants and boxers, stealing a quick kiss from Pepper after she helped pull them off—she didn't seem impressed by his strategy of letting gravity do most of the work. Then he climbed into the tub and groaned when the hot water hit his muscles.

"Wow," he said, his eyelids suddenly heavy. "Okay, you're right. I could totally fall asleep like this."

"Well, don't," Pepper said, and though he kept his eyes open long enough to watch her remove the rest of her clothes, as soon as she'd settled into the tub beside him, he closed his eyes and leaned his head on her shoulder. He decided not to mention that if he died, she'd probably be the one to write his obituary, whether he got blown up by rocket launchers or drowned in the Jacuzzi. Now was definitely not a good time for that observation, though Tony guessed that there might never be a good time—Pepper, though his successor as CEO and the person who stood to inherit pretty much everything whenever he did die, didn't like talking about stuff like that.

"Next time I need to be in the air for twelve hours, I'll have...more coffee, first," he muttered.

"Can't you just add a coffee machine to the suit?" Pepper wondered, her hand gently stroking his hair.

"Maybe, but it'd be hard to fit one into the current design. Probably it would have to be external, and then it would look like that stupid gun that Hammer added to the Mark II," Tony said, rolling his eyes. "Rhodey says hi, by the way. He had some thing with arms dealers today, so we were comparing notes on rocket launchers."

"Is he okay?" Pepper asked.

"Yeah, he managed to dodge his," Tony said, and Pepper sighed. He opened his eyes at that.

"I think I'm getting better at guessing what your sighs mean. Was that an 'I'm relaxing in the Jacuzzi' sigh?"

"No, it was an annoyed sigh—though also a relieved sigh," Pepper said, sliding her hand behind his head and tracing a bruise on his shoulder. Tony watched her fingers move—now that he saw them, the bruises didn't actually look so bad, but he guessed that Pepper didn't agree.

"I'm okay," he pointed out. "Sore, but not even that bruised—so don't worry."

"You tell me not to worry, but see, you have a job that sometimes involves people shooting at you with rocket launchers," Pepper pointed out, her voice tight. "I'm going to worry anyway, Tony."

"Okay," he said, because he was tired and didn't know what else to say.

"You know," Pepper said, biting her lip, "It scares me a little, when you have a day like today. And when you come back looking like this, that doesn't exactly make me feel any better, but...I know why you do it. Why you have to do it. So basically, I'm annoyed that I'm not going to get to stop worrying about you anytime soon...but mostly, I'm just glad you're okay."

Tony smiled. "I think I...mostly followed that. So, thanks."

Pepper chuckled. "Sorry. I can tell you about this stuff after you've slept and gotten some caffeine in you."

"No, but, I'm sorry for doing things that scare you sometimes," Tony said slowly, trying to figure out how to say what he meant. "Also though...I'm kind of happy that you worry about me. I mean, it's nice. Yeah, that sounds bad."

"It does," Pepper agreed, but when he closed his eyes again, he felt her kiss him on the forehead. "I know what you mean though."

Tony wasn't sure exactly what he meant. He'd never loved anyone like Pepper before, and he felt bad, making her worry. Still, he definitely liked the fact that she loved him enough to worry about him. It had been a long time since anyone had loved him that way, and no one he'd ever been romantically involved with had ever been in love with him period, to the best of his knowledge. Pepper was, without question, one of a kind. He'd known that for a while, even before Afghanistan...but that was before he'd been in love with her, before he'd known what he would have missed out on if he'd died.

When he flew off to fight bad guys, it probably reminded her of that day all those months ago, when he'd left and almost hadn't come back. Tony knew that the world would be a different place if he'd died over there, but mostly, he was glad that he'd come back so that he got to be with Pepper—and not just in his formerly standard lecherous way. Sure, even in the old days, he'd sometimes imagined having sex with Pepper Potts, but now, much as he enjoyed that, he was enjoying the other stuff too: watching TV with her, cooking with her (sometimes he actually even helped, instead of just tasting things), or just lying in the Jacuzzi. He wouldn't have missed this for anything...

"Okay," Pepper said, giving his shoulder a gentle shake. "I can tell that you're almost asleep. Time to get out."

"Not asleep," he muttered against her shoulder.

"I said almost," Pepper said, her amusement obvious even with his eyes closed. "Come on. If you get up, you get to see me naked again."

Tony smiled and opened his eyes. "You sure know how to motivate me."

Pepper laughed and pulled him upright. His muscles felt better already—good enough to pull her in for a kiss while they were drying off—but he was still exhausted, so he followed her to bed and curled up next to her without doing anything more lustful than putting his arm around her.

"I've got a meeting later, but then I'll be back," she said quietly. "Should I wake you up for dinner or wait until breakfast?"

"Breakfast—thanks," he muttered, opening his eyes long enough to smile at what he saw: Pepper, her hair spread out on a pillow, leaning over to kiss him. They kissed even as he rolled over onto his back, then realized with amazement that he was so tired that he was actually going to fall asleep with Pepper Potts naked on top of him.

"Um," he said, "I'm not gonna be much help here..."

Pepper laughed against his mouth. "Go to sleep, and I promise to wake you up like this tomorrow."

Tony grinned. "It's a date."

Within seconds, Tony felt himself drifting off, but then he thought of something he wanted to say.

"I was just thinking," he murmured. "You are the only woman I have ever slept with…who I also enjoy just sleeping with. That seems…like an important distinction, and I thought…you should know. I don't know, it made more sense, sounded better in my head."

He felt Pepper, who had settled beside him, shake with quiet laughter. "Thank you, Tony. That is…sweet, actually."

Tony smiled. "…love you."

"I love you too," she whispered, snuggling close to him and kissing him on the cheek.

She is amazing, and I should promise to be more coherent in the morning, he thought, but then he fell asleep.