Chapter Twenty

Pepper walked out from the bathroom with a warm washer in her hand and sat on the bed where Tony was propped up. She started to dab at couple of cuts on Tony's face very carefully. "Why is Bruce mad at you?"

"Push him out of one little plane and suddenly it's the end of the world," said Tony carelessly. "He'll calm down."

"Tony," said Pepper in exasperation, "why do you do these things?"

"It was for the greater good," he protested. A warm smile touched Tony's lips as he watched her carefully wipe away at his injuries. "I really do think you've gotten more beautiful since this morning."

"That's all the blood pooling in your head talking," said Pepper wryly. "I've been up almost twenty-four hours and must look a wreck."

Tony slipped his arms around her. "My blood is currently pooling somewhere a little more south of the border," said Tony cheekily. "And you look perfect." He stroked her back. "If we're going to play doctors and nurses, I say we do it properly. You grab the stethoscope and nurses outfit and we'll flip for who gets to wear which one."

Pepper fought back a smile and tried to give him a look of censure. "We're not having sex, Tony, you're in no condition to be fooling around."

He waggled his eyebrows at her suggestively. "I say we put that statement to the test."

"You nearly died today." Pepper couldn't prevent the wobble in her voice, even though she tried.

Tony waved a dismissive hand at her. "No one ever died from hanging upside down." He looked thoughtful suddenly. "Have they?"

"You hang upside down for too long and your heart can explode," said Pepper unevenly.

Tony was once again dismissive. "There you go then." He tapped on the metal disk in his chest. "If my heart is ever going to go, it'll because the arc reactor fails, not because of a little old blood pooling."

Pepper gave him a look of horror. "Is that likely to happen, your arc reactor failing?"

Tony must have suddenly realised what he said and tried to back track. "Ah, no."

"Then why say it?" asked Pepper in agitation, not believing him.

Tony gave her a too big smile. "Oh, you know me, I always like to fill uncomfortable silences with any old chatter."

Pepper's brow furrowed. "We weren't having an uncomfortable silence and in what way telling me that the thing keeping you alive might suddenly break at any minute meant to be casual conversation material?"

"Do you know what your problem is, Pepper, you listen to everything I say. No good can come of that and the arc reactor isn't on the verge of failing, all my maths tells me it'll outlast me by a couple of millennia and let's be honest, I'm more likely to be killed in a battle then an arc reactor malfunction."

Pepper made a distressed sound. "I hate it when you try and reassure me, Tony."

Tony pulled a face. "I'm not good at it, am I?"

"Not even a little bit," said Pepper tightly.

"I should work on that."

She gave him a wry smile. "I won't hold my breath." Pepper stood up and return the washer to the bathroom and paused in front of the mirror. She leaned closer in to look at her reflection. There were pale grey circles under her eyes and the beginning of bags from being awake for so long and a crease between her eyebrows where she'd been frowning with worry. Pepper rubbed at the crease with her finger and sighed. "My Iron Man wrinkle," she murmured to herself, knowing it was only going to keep on growing but this was the life she'd chosen and Pepper knew she was never going to regret that choice.

"Are you coming back out?" Tony called to her.

Pepper took a deep breath and walked back out of the bathroom into the bedroom and smiled at him. "I don't think it's safe for you to have a shower tonight. If you fall over I don't know if I can get you back up."

Tony was looking at her intently. "Are you okay, Pep?"

She kept the smile on the face. There was no point rehashing her worry over his safety. They'd said all that could be said on the matter and now Pepper just had to deal. "Of course I'm alright. You're home, safe and sound and that's all that matters."

"You look sad."

"I look tired," she corrected him. Pepper walked around to Tony's side of the bed and sat down again, undoing the laces on his shoes. "I don't think Fury was kidding about being on time for that meeting tomorrow. We should both get some sleep before that."

"Fury doesn't mind me being late for things," said Tony blithely. "The man enjoys my whimsy."

Pepper took off Tony's shoe. "No, he doesn't."

Tony's brow wrinkled. "He really doesn't, does he? I don't get it, I'm so adorable when I do it too."

Pepper gave a little laugh at Tony's seemingly boundless self-assurance. Iron Man may have given her the worry crease between her eyes, but Tony had given her the laughter lines on her face and Pepper couldn't help but feel it was a fair trade. "I guess not everyone enjoys a whimsical Tony Stark."

Tony was watching her closely again. "You do though, right?"

"Depends on your timing," she said truthfully.

"Another thing to work on," Tony noted.

Pepper shook her head. "You don't have to change who you are on my account, Tony. I accept you just how you are." She removed his other shoe.

Tony's eyes narrowed as he suddenly seemed to be in a reflective mood. "But there must be some things you'd change about me if you could?"

"Nothing that is a game changer and besides, if I start changing you, then you'll end up not being the man I feel in love with." She half-smiled. "It's a slippery slope." Now it was Pepper's turn to be curious. "Is there anything you'd change about me?"

"Well, obviously I wish you were more physically repellent to other men," said Tony casually. "That would help me out a lot. Plus, I wouldn't mind if you were wrong more often. It'd be nice to go into an argument knowing I at least had a fighting chance."

"You win your share of arguments," said Pepper wryly. "So don't try that one on, mister."

"Name one," Tony insisted.

Pepper didn't hesitate. "I let you keep the tracking device you planted in my butt."

"But we had to have a big argument about it first," Tony reminded her.

"But you still won and that counts." Pepper gave him a no nonsense look. "Are you telling me you'd prefer it if I just agreed with everything you said and did?"

Tony gave her his best puppy dog look. "Would that be such a chore?"

Pepper rolled her eyes. "You'd be bored with me inside a week and I'd probably smother you in your sleep with your own pillow in two days."

His lips quirked. "True."

Pepper took in his jeans and t-shirt. "Do you need me to take your clothes off?"

The salacious smile was back on his lips. "There will never be a time where I stop you from getting me naked, Pepper Potts."

Pepper shook her head and laughed. "Stop it."

"Hey, you're the one who's got designs on my body," Tony said teasingly. He cast a hopeful look her way. "Don't you?"

"I do, just not tonight," she said firmly. "You need rest more than you need sex."

"Can we get a second opinion on that?"

"No."

Tony pouted. "Spoil sport."

"One of us has to be the sensible one and I think history has shown it's not going to be you. I think you're fine to take your own clothes off."

Tony's eyes twinkled. "Don't trust yourself, Potts? I get it, I'm hard to resist and you're only human after all."

Pepper looked at Tony's teasing countenance and was just flooded with love for this man. She leaned in and pressed her lips against his in a heartfelt kiss. Tony was momentarily surprised but quickly returned the caress, hand going to the back of her head to deepen the kiss. Pepper lingered in the luxury of Tony's kisses before drawing back to stare directly into his eyes. "I love you, Tony Stark, and I'm so happy you're in my life."

"Even after a day like today?" he asked her huskily, hand stroking the back of her head.

"Especially after a day like today," she said emotionally.

"You're the best thing that ever happened to me," said Tony quietly. "You know that, right?"

Pepper nodded slowly, a small smile playing around her lips. "I'll remind you of that when we have our next argument."

Tony's expression was suddenly serious. "You don't have to remind me, Pepper, it's written into the very core of my being. You're my whole world."

Pepper felt her eyes prick with unshed tears at Tony's sweet words. She knew it wasn't quite true, that Tony's world was far bigger than what they shared, but what was important to her was that he wanted it to be true. It was a intoxicating fantasy which did away with the demands and risks of the rest of their lives and Pepper could see in Tony's eyes how badly he wanted it to be true, just like she did. "And you're mine," she said tremulously.

Tony pulled her into his arms and held her close as Pepper rested her head on his chest, the glow of the arc reactor illuminating one side of her face. Tony rested his cheek on the top of her head and Pepper could feel the vibration of his voice as he spoke. "Let's never leave this bed again. It'll just be you and me in here forever."

Pepper gave a soft laugh. "Like John Lennon and Yoko Ono, you mean?"

"Exactly," said Tony happily. "I'll be Yoko and you be John, wait, which one of them had the beard?"

"Depends who you ask," said Pepper wryly.

She felt Tony's rumbling amusement against her cheek. "I seem to recall they were both naked at the time." His hands began to roam.

"You're relentless," she said in resignation and grabbed his hand to stop its voyage of discovery.

"I've had Steve Rogers rubbing his bits against me for the last seven hours," Tony pleaded his case. "I need something to replace the memory in my mind." His hands broke free and started to wander again.

"It seems to me what happened with you and Steve was Karma," Pepper noted as she tried to grab his hand again.

Tony pulled back and looked down at her in surprise. "What does that mean?"

"It means I heard about you picking a fight with Steve earlier today over me," she said disapprovingly.

Tony opened his mouth and looked like he was about to deny it but then changed his mind. "Who told you?"

"That's not important."

"Was it Thor?" Tony grimaced when he must have seen his answer on her face. "Damn, I've got to start teaching that guy how to lie or at the very least, omit." He looked at her uncertainly. "Are you mad?"

"I am upset but we'll talk about it tomorrow, when you're recovered properly."

Tony pulled a face. "Boy, my dance card is filling up quick for tomorrow, you, Fury, Bruce. I'm one popular girl."

Pepper bit down on her bottom lip. "You know you have nothing to worry about with Steve and I, right?"

Tony sighed. "It wasn't just about you, Pep. I mean, that's how it started, but we kind of needed to clear the air for awhile now."

"And have you?"

"We've reached an understanding."

"Does that understanding mean you're going to let go of this ridiculous jealousy?"

Tony hesitated. "I'll try," he said at last.

"Tony," she groaned.

"It's just that you like the guy."

"So?" she said in exasperation.

Tony's face had a sudden boyish vulnerability to it. "So, I don't want you to like anyone more than me."

Pepper found Tony's honesty to be surprisingly endearing. She smiled at him, face softening with love. "Not for as long as I live," she promised him huskily.

Tony's face lit up. "Can you remember that the next time we fight?"

Pepper put her arms around Tony's waist and snuggled into his warmth. "I always do," she said simply as he hugged her back. "I always do."