Written for: generalantiope. October 28th, 2018 Pepperony Rescue!Pepper fic
Pepper felt Tony's forehead, wondering if he'd stuck himself with a hot poker when she wasn't looking. She slid the thermometer between his unwilling lips. It beeped after thirty seconds. By some miracle, Tony had managed not to utter a word the whole time.
"Over a hundred," Pepper said, shaking her head. "Sorry, Tony, you're out sick today."
"But I can't be sick," Tony moaned. "The world needs me."
"The world will be fine without you for a few days. You need to rest."
"But-" a series of sneezes interrupted him. Pepper held out a box of tissues and he went through almost half of it before it stopped. "I feel light and heavy at the same time. Does that make sense?"
"I guess it'll have to." Pepper fluffed his pillows and kissed the top of his head. Tony was never good about being sick. People thought he was an overgrown child when he was healthy. They had no idea. "Promise me you'll stay in bed, and when you're well again, we'll go wherever you want on vacation and I'll do that thing with the cherry sauce you like so much."
He sat up straight, his face instantly brighter. "Will you wear the maid costume, too?"
"We'll see."
"Come on, Pep. I did the pirate thing for you that one time."
Pepper drew the covers over his chin. "Talk later. Sleep now."
The intercom beeped and they were no longer alone. Not that they ever really could be with a sapient AI running the house.
"Sorry to bother you guys," said FRIDAY, "but Captain Rogers just called. There's an emergency and Mr. Stark is needed."
Tony sneezed five more times as he failed to drag himself out of bed. Pepper took him by the shoulders and gently pressed him into the mattress. Normally, this would be followed by Pepper herself getting in bed and neither of them getting out until the sun came up. For once even Tony seemed to realize that wasn't an option.
"It's okay," Pepper said firmly. "I can handle it."
"I know." His eyes were almost shut, but like everything else in his life, he powered through it. "You're still in training, though. If these are aliens we're dealing with, you might want to hang back."
"It's actually a terrorist cell," said FRIDAY. "About ten or fifteen guys. They have some pretty impressive weapons, though."
"Oh, okay. That's not so bad." Tony blew her a kiss. Pepper smiled and rubbed it in. "Go kick some ass, baby. Give 'em an extra hard punch in the face for me."
"You got it, boss."
As she left Tony to sleep, her armor formed around her. Nanotech was a thing of wonders, and since Tony was currently in a friendly 'whose tech is more badass' competition with Shuri, the newest model functioned like a second skin. Blue and gold wrapped around Pepper's hands and crept up her arms. A mask covered her face as FRIDAY's voice appeared in her ear. "Coordinates indicate they're somewhere on the East Coast. ETA twenty minutes, give or take."
"Works for me," said Pepper. She took off and soared across the ocean. "As long as we're done by sunset. I have one difficult patient to take care of."