Pepper felt water droplets hitting the side of her face, and her ears echoed with the distant sound of waves crashing onto the shore when she came to. She was shivering as the cold dampness of the outside air hit her bare arms. Her head was pounding, and when she tried to open her eyes, she found only one would open, and that one eye was quite blurry. The other felt puffy and swollen.

Her mouth tasted very acrid and metallic, and she figured it was because blood had drained into the back of her throat while she was unconscious. She could feel her nose was broken, as she couldn't breathe out of it, and it throbbed painfully.

She was lying on her front on what felt like an almost flat plane of dirt, with pieces of splintered wood, metal, mud and rocks over the top of her and all around her. Wafts of night air blasted her cold, wet skin further with each gust, as rain water ran in rivulets around her in the dirt, disappearing under the surrounding piles of debris.

A long, wide, heavy beam was pinning her across her hips, and the only thing keeping it from crushing her entirely was that one end of it was held up by a small boulder. She realized that, at any moment, if the soft sandy dirt she was lying on were to give out at all, she'd be instantly crushed by the beam and probably sent like a rag doll down the remaining slope of the cliff beneath her.

She tried to wriggle free, but a sharp pain in her lower back stopped her instantly. The pain radiated from there to down around the front of her pelvis and down her thighs, making her seize in agony. Her face twisted in reaction to the severe pain, and her shoulders shook as she began to sob. She rested her forehead on the wet sand beneath her, trying to calm down. Okay, okay. Just breathe, she thought to herself. Her legs were numb, and she feared that the pain coming from her back was a result of it being broken, which made her heart twinge with fear. But she knew she couldn't focus on that now. She had to get someone's attention if she expected to get out of this alive.

"H-help," she called out weakly. "I'm alive!" she said, her heart breaking that this place was where she'd die if someone didn't find her soon. "I'm alive, and I need..."

Just then, she was gripped by a hard muscle contraction in her lower abdomen. Her words were cut off, and she let out a hoarse, almost inaudible scream as she worked a hand down to her stomach, desperate to protect the baby she didn't want to admit she could now very well be losing. "No! No, no! Please! Oh God!" she cried. The pain ripped through her again, another hard contraction wracking her already battered body. "Tony!" she cried out in anguish. "I need you! Please!" she said, shivering as she sobbed in agony.

She knew she could do nothing but accept the grim fact of what was happening, and that Tony wouldn't be with her, to hold her hand and comfort her, as it was happening. He probably had assumed she was dead. Why wouldn't he?, she thought. She could only imagine what the whole scene looked like from above. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," she said, her heart breaking at the thought that he would be losing not only her, but also the baby they'd so been looking forward to having. He's going to be alone!, she thought. More than he ever was before!

Pepper felt one last hard contraction, this one making her nauseous and dizzy, followed by the sensation of something of noticeable mass passing out of her body. Her head pounded, and she could hear her heartbeat thundering in her ears. "Goodbye," she said, a sob catching in her throat, her heart shattering. "I hope you knew we loved you already."

The contractions continued to come every few moments, but the pain had gone from being sharp and stabbing to an ongoing, ceaseless ache, which exhausted any strength Pepper had left. Her strength was so depleted, in fact, that she was fighting to stay conscious. The vision in her one good eye was quickly darkening, so she closed it. "Tony. Where are you?" she whispered, before she blacked out again.

XxXxXxXxXx

Tony was now standing at the edge of where the cliff had sloughed off, and stared down at the wreckage below in silence. For a split second, he contemplated getting back in his car and driving it over the edge, ending it all. But instead he just stood there, numbly, as rescuers bustled about the area around him, his heart shattered and his mind doused in despair. They had arrived shortly after he had, and had quickly dispersed all over the scene, some with cadaver dogs, others with pry bars and stretchers to shift the debris and look for survivors. They'd given him a heavy blanket to wrap up in, and had tried to bustle him away from the scene, telling him it wasn't safe and he should clear the area. But he'd vehemently refused, insisting he'd remain there until Pepper was rescued, or her body was found. Eventually, they'd relented, and Tony had vigilantly posted himself at a safe enough distance, waiting with an anxious heart for any sign they'd found her. His mind was working in slow motion, his brain shifting from thought to thought as if they were slides in a slide show, each one flashing fond memories of them together, and breaking his heart more and more. Have I really lost them? Have I really lost the only family I have? Again?, he wondered.

He worked his jaw in thought, his eyes slowly surveying the carnage. "No," he said to himself, shaking his head. "I won't give her up without a fight. I can't. I have to believe she's alive in there somewhere."

It had been a slow process for the rescuers, as the dirt was becoming increasingly water logged, and very soft. The danger of creating an avalanche just by their efforts alone was imminent. So, a few hours had passed by before even the first victim had been found.

"We've got one!" Tony had heard in the distance. He turned his head to see a pair of rescuers bringing a stretcher up the hillside. His heart leaped as he ran to where they were, but he stopped short, seeing the person on the stretcher was a young, slender man in a tuxedo. He was groaning and wailing as they carried him to a waiting ambulance, but he was alive.

Tony looked back at the ruin below, his jaw set, and his eyes dark with burning determination. "Come one, Pep. Just hold on, baby. They'll get you out," he assured. But he couldn't help thinking how much easier all of this would have been if he'd just brought the suit. His gut ached with the guilt of his decision to leave it at home, and the fact that it might have ultimately cost him his wife and child.

XxXxXxXxXx

Two more hours had passed, and a few more survivors had been found, as well as a few bodies. Each person they'd found, the rescuers had asked him if he could identify them. And he could, sadly. A few anyway, as some were long-time colleagues of his in the tech world.

Each time the sheet was pulled back on a body, though, Tony braced himself to see Pepper lying there, lifeless, before him. And each time so far, he'd been able to breathe a secret sigh of relief that it wasn't her, and he could still hope she'd be found alive.

A faint glimmer of daylight was now creeping up over the horizon, and Tony was amazed that he'd been in this place overnight. Time had stood still, it seemed, and for another day to be dawning made it feel suddenly like he'd been there for an eternity. An eternity, and without any sign of Pepper, he thought glumly, his hope flickering.

"Over here!" Tony heard some rescuers say. He rushed to where they were coming from, and met them at the top of the hill. This time it was a body they'd wrapped in a white sheet. Tony braced himself again, awaiting its reveal.

One of the rescuers pulled the sheet from the face, and Tony flinched, drawing back in shock. "Oh no," he murmured sorrowfully, shaking his head sadly. He frowned, and flicked his eyes up to look at the rescue worker. "Yeah, I, uh...I know this one," he said, gritting his teeth to stop the sorrow from flooding his heart, and breaking him down.

"You know his name?" the rescuer asked.

Tony nodded. "Yeah, it's, uh...it's Bill Riva," he said. "He worked for me, actually. He was here with..." his voice gave out, and Tony swallowed hard. "With my wife," he finished softly.

The rescuer nodded gravely. He laid a gentle hand in Tony's shoulder. "We'll find her," he assured.

Tony looked at the man and nodded weakly. "Thank you," he said. He looked back down at Bill's body, and patted his shoulder respectfully. "So long, Bill," he said sadly, praying that this wasn't an indication that Pepper had met the same fate.