"Please don't ever forget how much I loved you."

New tears welled up in Pepper's eyes when she heard him use the past tense. Taking a deep breath, she kept them at bay, and replied, "As long as you remember how much I love you, Tony Stark."

Tony broke the silence that had fallen over them for a few minutes with, "I want you to move on, Pep."

"What?" She asked, startled by the now calm acceptance in his voice as much as the words he had just spoken, "What did you just say?"

"I said that I want you to move on," he repeated gently.

This time as tears spilled over, and Pepper tightened her hold on him. She shook her head, her voice full of magnificent agony as she replied, "No Tony, I don't want anyone but you!" Her pain only increased when she felt the deep breaths he was drawing in an effort to be as strong as he thought she needed him to be.

"I know you do, baby, but I'm not… I'm not going to be here after tonight and-"

"Tony, no please don't say that!"

He sighed, "It's the truth Pep, whether we want to accept it or not, I will be dead before tonight is over with."

"No, please no… I don't want to talk about this!" She touched his cheek, and turned his head so he was looking her in the eyes. "I love you, Tony! There will never be anyone else that I love like I love you."

He nodded in understanding, "I know you don't want to talk about this but we need too, honey, because I need..."

Tony hesitated. "I need to know that you understand that I want you to be happy. I know it's hard to think about right now but if you do ever find someone… I want you to be able to move on, without worrying about what I would think. You deserve the best. You deserved to be loved, even if that love is given to you by someone else." He desperately wanted to hold her but he settled holding onto the blouse she was wearing. "Promise me, if you find someone... that you won't let me or the memory of us hold you back from letting yourself be loved again."

"I don't…" Pepper began, her voice trailing off as she bit back a sob. She took a few deep breaths before she continued, "I don't know if I can promise that… not when I feel like half of my heart and soul will die along with you tonight."

Tears continued their endless trail down Tony's face as he was forced to watch her agony continue to unfold before his eyes. He bent forward, and kissed her hand before saying, "I'm sorry that I'm hurting you by talking about this but I can't… I can't leave you behind knowing you may never allow yourself to find happiness or love again. The thought that you may make what we've had together as the reason to never allow someone else to love you kills me."

"Please don't use that word."

"Sorry," he apologized, giving her hand another kiss, "But my point still stands, and I need to know that you're going to be okay. Please Pepper, promise me that if you find someone that you love, you won't let us stop you from making a new life with them?" He looked into her eyes, his own pleading, "Please?"

Pepper looked into her husband's eyes for a long time. She wanted to scream when she saw in them such love. But it was a love tempered by heartrending pain, and she knew she could not continue to deny him this request, even if she knew that other than their children, he would be her last great love. With tears running down her face, she nodded and said quietly, "Alright… I'll won't close the door."

It wasn't an outright promise but he knew it was the best she could offer him right now, and he nodded, "Thank you."

She nodded in return, wrapping her arms around him again, glancing in the direction of the clock.

Knowing what she was doing, Tony tried to distract her, "I love you." But her eyes stayed on the clock and he could see her panic growing as a realization dawned on her. He grasped her hands, "Pep? Honey?"

"It's almost four o'clock!" she replied, her voice quavering.

"I know."

"That means that we're almost out of time."

He sighed, calmly saying, "Yeah, I know."

Pepper looked at him, anger tinting her voice as she asked, "How can you be so calm? They're going to take us away from each other forever in a few minutes!"

"I know," he replied calmly, casting the guards a glance while squeezing her hand, "But there's nothing that we can do to change that, so let's just try to make the most of the time we have left." When she hesitated he added, "Please Pep, making a scene with them won't help me now. They'll just drag one or both of us out of here, and I think that's a memory neither of us want to carry with us from this room."

"I…"

"I'd rather have the memory of feeling your arms around me again. Please hold me again… until…" He fell silent as his wife's arms encircled him, and she held him tightly against her.

For the next fifteen minutes, neither of them spoke as they were both lost in the depths of their grief. Pepper held onto him as tightly as she could, running her fingers through his hair, and kissing his head as much as she could. Tony in the meanwhile inhaled the scent of her perfume, and reveled in her touch as much as he could.

"I love you," he breathed, tears running down his face.

"I love…"

Fear shot through Tony when she didn't finish that sentence. He didn't have to ask what was wrong as her hold on him tightened even further. He then heard the voice of one of the guards.

"Ma'am, you need to come with me now so please release him, and stand up, then back away from him."

"No!" Pepper said, keep her grip tight and shaking her head.

"Ma'am…" Hulk twin said in a warning tone, "Please follow our instructions."

"Or what?"

Tony closed his eyes, and answered before the guard did, "Or they'll make you." He felt her kiss him again, and he could hear her crying. He took a deep breath, and said, "Please do what they've instructed you to do."

"I… I can't. I won't."

"Pepper," he began, hardening his tone just a little, "Please, this isn't going to help me… or us, and you need to let me go now."

"Please ma'am, don't force us to do this the hard way," Hulk twin injected.

Tony's heart was shredded to pieces for the millionth time since all this began as he heard her begin to sob. He breathed in, hoping to steady his voice then said, "Pepper, our time's up. Please let me go."

When the guards took a step closer, Pepper finally realized that this was a situation that they, that she, could not win. Looking at the guards, she finally nodded at them, and loosened her hold on Tony. She moved as though she were about to do as they had asked, and used the second they relaxed to move Tony's face upwards. Her lips locked onto his before they realized what had happened. She kissed him with every bit of her love, sadness, grief, longing and pain and she held it until they both needed to breath.

Touching her forehead to his, Pepper breathed a hoarse, "I will love you forever, Tony. Beyond the end of time."

Tony looked into her eyes, nodded, unable to speak as she took a breath, and finally released her hold on him. He felt like his heart had been torn from his chest as he watched she stepped away, and then as she allowed the guard to escort her out of the room. His eyes stayed on the door that she walked out of the room. Another guard entered the room while Hulk twin approached him, and only Tony speaking halted his reaching to unlock the chains from the table.

"Hey, w-would you mind giving me a few before… before you take me back to my cell?"

**Since I, uh you know, just had to tell the woman I love goodbye forever.**

Hulk had been about to turn the key in the lock, stopped long enough to meet his prisoner's eyes, and could see in the billionaire's eyes the part Tony of his request that he hasn't spoken out loud. He looked over at the other guard before he nodded, and dropped the chain.

"Sure, we'll give you a few to get yourself together," he said, before moving over to stand with the other guard on the other side of the table.

As the guard moved away, Tony dropped his head, and since he couldn't cross his arms over the table, laid his head on the table's surface. He spent the next few minutes, just breathing in and out, trying to keep from breaking down again.

"Stark?"

"What?"

"We have to return you to your cell now."

They'd given him the better part of ten minutes, far more than he ever expected. He nodded, and sat up to wait for Hulk secure his hands to his waist. Except for the guards taking him to the nearby bathroom while Pepper took a break of her own, he hadn't moved from the spot he had been sitting in since the guards placed him there that morning. Once the chains were once again secured to his waist, the guards helped Tony to stand, and the shuffle walk to the Death Watch holding cell began.

"Thank you," he murmured as Hulk's twin freed him from the restraints, "And I don't mean for taking off the shackles either."

The twin gave him a puzzled look, "I have no idea what you're talking about." He finished removing the restraints, and met Tony's eyes just a split second before he exited the cell.

Tony saw that Hulk twin did know what he was thanking him for but didn't want or maybe couldn't acknowledge it publicly. Still Tony felt gratitude beyond measure for the compassion the man and his fellow guard had shown to him and his wife when they allowed Pepper to comfort him. The man acted like it was no big deal and Tony sensed he'd prefer if he did the same.

"Well thank you anyway… and tell the guy who was with you that I said the same to him?"

The big brute of a man continued to give him a puzzled look as he secured the cell, before he shrugged, walked off, retorting, "Still don't have a clue what you're talking about, Stark!"