Tony Stark looked up from where he was bent over fixing his suit as Pepper came into his workshop, looking anxious.
"Any change?", he asked, as he walked around the table to where she was standing.
"She's awake Tony," Pepper nodded to him.
He just nodded in reply as they both walked out together and upwards, towards the quarters and infirmary.
Tony thought over how he had come to empathize so strongly with someone who was essentially, for all intents and purposes, a stranger. She reminded him of himself, just after he'd got back from Afghanistan. Hardened, tortured and world weary. She hadn't even opened her eyes, and he knew, before seeing them, that they'd be so old and so filled with pain.
He idly wondered what had happened to her, to leave her so bruised and battered.
It had seemed unreal when Jarvis had reported a flying, or more aptly, falling projectile heading straight towards the terrace of the Stark tower. He'd flown up to try and get a handle on the threat, if that was what it was, when he noticed that it was a girl, quickly gaining on the ground, and it was just a matter of time before she hit.
He'd caught her from being splattered, thankfully, but it was troubling, how light she was. She weighed nothing, she was beaten up, and she was in a coma for two weeks. She made him uneasy, because he knew exactly what he could've become, and he didn't know her at all. Although, that might have something to do with the coma.
He silenced his mind (an almost impossible feat, but he managed) as they came outside the door to the infirmary. Steeling himself against pesky feelings and emotions, he strode in like he owned the world, because he sure as hell deserved it. Or, at least he owned the building.
The brunette turned her head from where she'd been looking out the window, and he mentally ticked a box as he saw her world-weary cautious eyes.
"Well, hello to you sleeping beauty", he greeted, as she took her time observing him.
"Who are you?", she asked quietly, voice rough from disuse.
"You don't know who I am?", Tony gaped unappealingly, as Pepper stifled a smile from behind him where he couldn't see her.
"Clearly a narcissist", she muttered, before clearing her throat and speaking up with a raised eyebrow, "If I did, I wouldn't be asking."
Tony, who had heard what she probably hadn't meant for him to hear, snapped his mouth shut as Pepper had to work harder to stop herself from laughing.
"I'm Pepper", she said, to interrupt Tony from doing something stupid that he would most likely regret. NOT.
"Pleasure", she said, smiling tightly. "I'm Hermione. If you don't mind me asking, where am I? How did I get here?"
"Well, you're in New York City. And you're British", Tony interjected.
"And you're American, again, how did I get here?", Hermione shot back.
When Tony raised an incredulous eyebrow at her, she just shrugged, "I thought we were stating the obvious."
Pepper interjected before Tony could run his mouth again, "We were hoping you'd know. You fell from the sky two weeks ago. You've been in a coma since."
"What?", she breathed, clearly horrified, and Tony felt a hint of guilt for springing it up on her like that.
He could practically see her mind racing.
"Did you find anything on me", she asked abruptly, "when I was falling?"
"A purple bag that I can't open, which makes no sense by the way, and a stick, which I threw in the trash", Tony replied.
"You did what?!", she screamed, obviously terrified, over a stick, thought Tony bemusedly.
"What gave you the right to throw away my things?!", she exclaimed, and then quieter, "Oh merlin, I have to go dumpster digging again", she groaned quietly.
Tony, who heard her, burst out sniggering.
"First of all, 'Again'? , what I wouldn't give to hear that story. And second, merlin? What are you, a part of a cult or something?"
She threw him a withering glare, as she muttered through clenched teeth, "None of your goddamn business, guy- whose- name- I- still- don't- know."
"Ooh, Kitten has claws", he grinned, "And it's Stark, hun. Tony Stark."
Pepper elbowed him for his cheeky response, but he just shrugged, because she should know by now that it wouldn't work and she should really stop trying.
"Merlin's balls, another Draco Malfoy", she muttered, as he cocked his head at her curiously, but she just continued as though she didn't see him. HIM!
"Well then, Tony Stark, don't think for a second you're not going dumpster diving right next to me, since you ended up throwing away one of my most important possessions, into the trash", she said, ending in a shriller pitch than when she'd started.
"What's it worth to you?", he wheedled, and watched as she narrowed her eyes at him.
"You didn't throw it", she accused.
"Of course, I didn't", Tony scoffed, "It was payback for you not knowing me. Also, what's a Draco Malfoy?", he said, unable to stop himself.
She burst out into relieved laughter, which soon turned into crying.
Tony called out, alarmed, "Pep?! Help?"
Pepper threw him a scathing glance as she went to comfort the young woman, and Tony slowly backed out of the room before closing the door quietly. He walked down the hall to one of the balconies, as he leaned against the railing, watching the sun set on Manhattan.
Sometime later, Pepper came in and leaned on the railing next to him.
"She's asleep", she said, after a few minutes of comfortable silence.
When he didn't reply, she turned to him.
"Did you really have to do that Tony?", she asked him, " She's just woken up, after god knows what, and whatever she went through was still probably fresh on her mind."
"I was just trying to get her to open up, Pep", he replied, "It's not like I wanted to make her cry."
"Plus, all that over a stick?", he said, whining a little bit, though he'd deny if anyone asked.
"It's hers. You shouldn't have worried her about it, and she was right, it's none of your business", Pepper countered.
"But––
"No", Pepper interrupted, " I don't want to hear it Tony", she said as she turned to leave.
"Alright. Shawarma?", Tony asked instead.
"I'm not ordering", Pepper warned, "Do it yourself."
"Ok", he said. Pepper nodded, and turned around and left.
"Jarvis, can you––
"Jarvis don't let him ask you to order", Pepper's voice called out from the hallway.
"Yes , Miss Potts", Jarvis replied.
"Traitor", Tony groaned, as he wandered off to go find the phonebook. Pepper had probably asked Jarvis to not answer that either.
This was going to be a long night.
