Look! Christmas came early!
2 chapters to go my darlings and we're finally done!
Sorry if there are some typos/grammar errors. My beta was incapacitated these past few weeks and couldn't work her usual magic.
Lots of love to all of you that are still following this story - I really appreciate all your comments and kudos.
Happy Xmas to all of you 3
Trigger warnings: Typical canon violence
Chapter 21:
Today:
She keeps rethinking what they said only a few days ago. How does she feel so different today than she did then?
Maybe because the tables are turned.
Maybe because today, she's the one who can save Tony Stark.
Last week:
It had started innocently enough. Well, innocently for Tony Stark anyway.
First, Pepper had gone down to the workshop to find Tony on a medical chair (where on earth had he been storing that?) after he'd asked her over the house intercom if she could use her delightful petite hands to perform a very sensitive task on his body.
("Tony…"
"Get your mind out of the gutter, woman! I just need help with the arc reactor. But we can revisit that other idea later. We just need to make sure I don't go into cardiac arrest first. And then I'm all for several rounds of la petite mort."
"Did you just say cardiac arrest?")
Several minutes later she had her hand inside Tony's body and was pretty sure she was the one who was gonna have a heart attack.
One tiny snafu later and a new arc reactor inside his chest, Tony had started to mention the multiple applications the suit could have, thanks to the arc reactor. How other countries could use the same kind of help as what he had done in Gulmira.
Pepper had known that discussion was coming. She'd prepared herself to be understanding and to agree to help. But trust Tony Stark to mention putting his life at risk again when he just almost had a heart attack.
"Can we just not talk about you trying to kill yourself in that suit five minutes after I just almost killed you?" she said a little forcefully.
She'd turned her back to him and put the old arc reactor on the table worktop. She looked at the antique as Tony had called it but all Pepper saw was the one thing that kept Tony alive when he escaped that awful place. She remembered only too well the old car battery that it had replaced. Yinsen's ingenuity had saved him. How many times was he going to put his life on the line until something truly irreversible happened to him? How many times will she have to watch him almost die until he -
"Hey, Peps, what's the matter?" Tony gently put his hand on her elbow, turning her towards him. "Talk to me."
She shook her head. She shouldn't. She shouldn't, she shouldn't-
"Are you trying to die?" she finally blurted out, tears already threatening to spill.
"Um, no. As far as I'm aware I'm trying very, very hard not to die."
"Then why does it seem you're trying to finish what the Ten Rings tried to do in Afghanistan? Twice."
"Pep, you know I couldn't let them have my weapons."
"I know that. But now you've made sure no one can use them again and you've also shut down SI's weapons manufacture. Is there really a need for you to go back out there and risk your life again? You can't catch all the bad guys in the world, Tony. Hell, we can hardly catch the one in your own company! So what is this? Guilt? A crusade? A death wish? I need to know, Tony."
"It's the next mission!" Tony abruptly said.
"The next mission until what?"
"Until you're safe!" He finally blurted out.
Which was when it hit Pepper that there would be no end to this. To the suit. This was just the beginning. He'd never feel that they'd be safe ever again. She knew that because she felt the exact same way about him. Afghanistan had broken something within them that no amount of therapy, care and love could ever put back together again. The whole ordeal had scarred them for life but it had also sealed their fate.
An argument had ensued which then turned into a screaming match.
DUMMY had even gone to hide - poorly and awkwardly - behind the sofa. Butterfingers had made milkshakes after milkshakes until it ran out of soy milk and started using motor oil.
Nothing was right.
When they calmed down, sitting next to each other on the floor against the wall and a strange silence filled the workshop, Tony had simply said:
"There's only the next mission: making the world a safer place. For you."
Pepper had kissed him on the cheek, gently stroked the other one and looked him directly in the eyes:
"You can't shield me from every bad thing that's in the world, Tony. I'm not made of glass and I can take care of myself. I hope you can see that."
The shadow of a half-smile on his face.
"Pep, you're the most capable person I know. You found me when no one else was even looking anymore. I just - I feel like I need to at least try to make sure this never happens to us ever again. That the world is a safer place. And I know I can. So I kinda have to."
Despite all the reasons that swirled in her mind that this was a terrible idea, that it would only lead to heartbreak, Pepper knew she could not stand in his way. She had called herself his partner and it meant something to her. But it didn't mean that she had to like it, or that she'd let him go at it without them coming to an understanding first. And she needed time to process.
"We'll talk about it more later," she said as she rose up.
She extended her hand to him which he took as he stood up as well. "Because we'll need ground rules. I'm not letting you fly in that thing again before you and I agree on a few things".
Tony slowly nodded: "I can… be okay with that?"
Pepper smiled a gave him a peck on the lips. "Good. Now I need to finish work so I'm going to the office. We'll talk again later. Are you still going to see Rhodey at the base tomorrow?"
"I am. Need to go there a few times this week actually. Something about me refusing to fulfil my military contracts. I'm basically scheduled for multiple spankings, I think. Wanna come and watch?"
She laughed.
"I think you can take it. You're a big boy." She kissed him again, a little more deeply. "Until next time, Mr Stark."
He smiled.
"Until next time, Ms Potts."
XXXX
Today:
On the way to Stark Industry, going faster than the authorised speed limit, Pepper keeps thinking about what they said. What they agreed to.
"The universe can be really cruel in its irony." Pepper thinks.
But she understands Tony's desire to keep her safe. Now more than ever. Not just because she feels the exact same way about him but also because she knows, in her heart of hearts, that there is no force in the universe that could ever stop her from making sure he was safe. Something had drawn them to each other years ago and it had kept them in the same orbit.
She remembers leaving him again and again: in Tokyo, London, Maui, at the wedding, at the restaurant and then against her will in Afghanistan. How he kept coming back like a bad seed until something new blossomed inside of her and she ended up being the one who sought him out. Who looked for him for months.
And she should have seen it all those years ago, really. Tony was never the type to hang onto someone unless they were worth fighting for. And he is incredibly discriminating when it comes to the people he keeps close to him.
She is just the same, really. It's harder to admit but she sees clearly today. Her absent father, her unfit mother, Andrew and even John - as pitiful as he'd been. And just like Tony, she'd erected walls to make sure no one got through.
Poor David, she thinks, he never stood a chance.
Tony had had so many people leaving him over the years as well so she needs to make sure that Obadiah will be the last. She doesn't care how much evidence she needs to unearth, how dirty her hands will be at the end of it all - she was going to bury Stane, put him in a hole even worse than that cave in Afghanistan and make sure he'll never see the light of day again. Tony and she would finally be able to move on.
And maybe, just maybe, she could even let him take her to that island he'd been talking about.
Stark Industries is finally in her line of sight and she grips the wheel a little harder.
Time to go to battle.
One of the few things Tony has insisted that Pepper should have at all times was a USB stick that had some of JARVIS' code on it.
"It's basically something that will build a side door so that JARVIS can nose around. Nothing too invasive and it won't leave a trace. It's just in case you need access to something that's locked and you don't want to trigger any of the security protocols on the device."
Pepper had been dubious. "Why would I need something like this, Tony? Wait, no. Wrong question. How often have you used something like this?"
"So far? Once. You don't want to know."
"The Wannamaker boys? How did you even get near - You know what, you're right, I don't want to know."
Pepper just silently thanks Tony and his reprehensible habit of putting his nose where it doesn't belong and inserts the USB stick inside Stane's computer. She's lucky that Stane's assistant was already gone for the day when she arrived. That and her foundation security pass also gave her complete inside Stark Industries.
JARVIS works his magic and starts to uncover deeply buried files on Stane's computer, including a ghost drive. If records of weapons sales that Pepper just knew were done under the table are damming enough - what she finds next sends shivers down her spine. The files on Sector 16 show a larger replica of Tony's suit from when he escaped his captors and the videos….
The videos don't just prove his involvement in hers and Tony's abduction. It shows that not only did Obadiah plan the attack but he wanted them to kill Tony - and her as well. "Acceptable collateral damage" she sees written in some of the communications between Stane and the Ten Rings. She also finds and translates two videos. One with Tony where the Ten Rings ask for more money and the other is with her - when they announced she was to be auctioned off to the highest bidder.
Her stomach churns and it takes all the willpower she has not to throw up in the trashcan next to the desk. JARVIS finally completes the transfer of the files and she puts the USB stick in her bag. She needs to warn Tony and tell him what Obadiah has been up to - and what he plans to do with his suit.
She's trying to call him as she exits Stane's office when she meets Agent Coulson, Agent Romanoff and… her PA? She hangs up the phone as Coulson asks:
"Miss Potts, can we talk?'
Pepper ignores him and turns to her PA instead:
"What's going on? Will, why are you here?"
He looks slightly embarrassed: "Actually, my name is Clint, not Will."
Pepper puts two and two together.
"Of course, you're one of them. It doesn't matter, we don't have time."
She fishes the USB stick out of her bag and hands it to Coulson.
"Proof that Obadiah Stane is even a bigger piece of shit than I could even imagine. And I know where to find more. But we need to drive there."
"Lead the way," says Natasha.
XXXX
Tony is lying on the floor of his workshop. He finally got to the workstation where he put the encased arc reactor. Thank god he listened to Pepper and didn't get rid of it right away. And that she had the good sense of keeping it safe.
"Why do you want me to keep it? I'm exactly the sentimental type"
"But I am. It saved you. It's why you're here today, with me. That's something worth keeping, I think."
"If you say so, Potts."
"I do."
She had it encased the next day with an inscription: "Proof that Tony Stark has a heart".
And that it's hers, it didn't say. But the message was clear enough.
Crawling across the living room and getting into the elevator had drained him almost completely. But trying to reach for the arc reactor might just kill him. His vision is getting blurred, and his movements are even more sluggish. And breathing doesn't seem to agree with him anymore. He's almost ready to give up when he's reminded of what Obadiah said: "I'm gonna take care of her personally"
No. No, he can't let Stane hurt Pepper. He can't, he can't, he-
DUMMY's claw appears in front of him holding the glass box. Such a good boy. He tells him so and smashes the box on the ground. He plugs in the arc reactor and promptly passes out.
Five minutes later, Rhodey is shaking him awake. When Tony's a little more himself, the colonel tells him Pepper called again on her way to Section 16 and fills Tony in about her discovery.
"She's there with some agents. They're about to arrest Obadiah." Rhodes finishes.
Tony grabs Rhodey's arm and gets up. "Yeah, it's not gonna be enough".
XXXX
Pepper arrives with the agents at Sector 16 just as she sees Rhodey's text.
Obadiah attacked Tony at the mansion. He's fine. He says Obie is dangerous and not to go alone. He's on his way to you.
Her blood runs cold as she reads the text. What happened at the mansion? Was Tony hurt? Where's Obadiah?
She shows the text to Coulson and gestures at Clint - not Will, she has to remind herself - who apparently changed in the other car. Pepper can barely reconcile the man in tactical gear with the man she used to call her PA. Clint opens up the boot of the second car and takes out a couple of guns and… a bow and arrows? What in the hell did she get herself into?
But this isn't important. Right now she needs to show what she found out to SHIELD. And nail that bastard once and for all.
They get to a door at the back of the principal lab and Pepper attempts to open it several times with her pass, but the door won't budge.
"Do you want me to or- "she hears Clint say.
"No, that's fine. I can do it," Coulson replies. "Miss Potts, if you could let me, I've got something to open the door."
Is that an explosive? But there's no time to even think about it and she walks back to where Natasha stands.
"Coulson really likes his toys," she explains.
"Especially the old school ones." Clint chips in.
There's a small explosion and Pepper wonders if this is a normal day for them. Nothing seems to really faze them.
They progress inside the secondary lab and find a suit that Obadiah had been working on. It's odd, it doesn't really look like the one on the schematics…
"Looks like you were right, Stane was working to build his own suit," Coulson says.
"I thought it would be bigger." Pepper remarks.
"Coulson" Natasha calls. She's looking at one of the monitors. "Come and see this."
Pepper goes on and finds disconnected wires hanging from the ceiling. They look like they're still live - she hears rustling behind her and some of the chains are moving. Clint taps her on the shoulder and shakes his head before gesturing at her to stay behind him. He raises his bow and - an all too familiar face appears in the shadows and Pepper scarcely has time to shout Clint's name that he's sent flying to the side by a blinding pulse of light.
Pepper barely registers the threat before she starts running in the other direction. She hears the agents shooting at Stane but all the bullets ricochet on the armour, just like Tony's. She makes it just in time out of the door.
Fortunately, he's too big for the door and she runs up the stairs before Stane can catch up to her. She's finally outside and running towards the car when Stane heavily lands in front of her.
"Oh, Pepper. As if I was going to let you go after what you've done to Tony. He was so much better before he met you. Now, he's just a shadow of himself. He was a wolf and you turned him into a lapdog."
"Better that than a spineless traitor, Stane."
She's got nowhere to run. She sees Stane raise his weapon at her and the only thing she can think of is Tony.
"Time to say goodbye, Miss Potts. You won't be missed."
She closes her eyes.
Tony, I'm sorry.
"DON'T TOUCH MY GIRLFRIEND, YOU DERANGED ASSHOLE!" She hears Tony's voice say. She sees him fly into Obadiah and they both crash into traffic, several hundreds of yards away from her.
Behind her, Coulson, Natasha and Clint exit the laboratory with the other agents. Clint has his arm over Natasha's shoulder and he's holding his side. Coulson runs to her.
"Are you okay? Did he hurt you? What happened?" Coulson asks.
"I'm fine," Pepper says. She points at Tony and Obadiah fighting on the road. "And this happened".
He turns to the scene and sees Obadiah lifting a car and about to throw it at… Tony Stark?
"That's.. Not good. We need reinforcement". He looks at his agents. "Romanoff, make the call. Barton, are you okay to take this fight a little higher?"
Clint removes his arm from Natasha's shoulders and stands a little straighter. "Yeah, I should be okay. I'm gonna get on the roof. Keep me in the loop." He runs with a limp to the nearest staircase. Natasha finishes her call and approaches Coulson.
"The nearest team is 20 minutes out. Same for medical."
Coulson shakes his head.
"That might take too long," he turns to Pepper again. "Do you think Stark can hold him up for that long?"
"I- I don't know. The suit... It looks like Tony's struggling in the suit and -" But before she can finish her sentence, she sees Tony and Obadiah fly up towards… space?
"What the hell is he doing?"
She sees them ascend further and further away. Didn't Tony say..?
"He's gonna try and use Stane's limited experience of the suit against him! The suit can't withstand freezing temperatures. It messes with the hardware and causes the suit to shut down." She explains.
Please please please let it work, Pepper silently begs.
And as she predicted, both the suits come back down falling fast and with very little sign of slowing down. At least Stane's suit isn't. Tony looks like he's falling and stopping before falling and stopping again. He finally lands (or does he crash?) on top of the main laboratory and she runs back towards it, with Coulson and Romanoff right behind her.
"Stay there, Ms Potts. We're going to see if we can find Stane. He's probably crashed somewhere not far from the labs. Romanoff, Lancing, Martell, you're with me. Johnson, Lamar and Wong, secure the perimeter for the labs. Make sure no one gets in or out."
Coulson runs off again with the other agents and Pepper is left alone inside the lab. Her earpiece activates itself a few seconds later when she starts to hear shooting above her.
"Pepper, can you hear me?" she hears Tony's voice through the earpiece.
"Tony! Are you okay? What happened to you?"
"Pep, there's no time. I need your help. Go to the arc reactor and get to the central console." He's whispering and she can hear Obadiah's voice in the distance. She doesn't argue and runs towards the console.
"Tony, I'm there. What do I do?"
A beat. "Okay, I don't have enough power left in my old arc reactor to take him out. I need you to overload the lab's arc reactor. When I tell you to, you're gonna hit the master bypass button. It's gonna fry everything up here. First, open up all the circuits and get every level to the max."
Pepper nods even though she knows he can't see her. She's grateful she's been around him long enough to know her way around electric panels and consoles. She hits all the buttons, turns all the dials and watches the levels rise up.
She hears Tony and Obadiah fight and then Obadiah starts to taunt Tony. And then:
"Is that an arrow?" she hears Tony say.
Something explodes above her and she can see Tony walking over her through the glass ceiling.
Chaos erupts and Obadiah shoots the glass ceiling. Pepper screams as glass rains down on her and Tony hangs on for dear life onto one of the mullion bars. Above him, she can see arrows being shot at Obadiah and exploding on impact. But Obadiah is still going strong and aiming at Tony.
"You ripped out my targeting system," she hears Obadiah say.
"Time to hit the button!" Tony shouts as he avoids one of Stane's missiles.
She can't: "It's going to kill you!"
"Just do it!"
"TONY!" she screams.
Another missile almost misses him and Tony hollers: "Push it!"
Pepper's heart breaks as she hits the button. The arc reactor overloads instantly and the whole place starts crackling with electricity. She barely has time to run out of there as the reactor shoots up a beam of pure energy when she's sent flying to the ground, hurled by the blast of the explosion. She looks back only to see the building going up in flames.
She screams Tony's name.
In vain.
XXXX
They finally drag him out of the rubbles, still breathing. Pepper runs to him as the SHIELD medical team puts an oxygen mask on him. He's in bad shape and Pepper can see that his old arc reactor is almost completely depleted.
"Tony! Tony, can you hear me?" Pepper cups his face but gets no reaction from Tony. Next to her, she can hear some of the EMTs wondering how to get him out of the suit.
The suit… She needs Obadiah's suit, he has Tony's arc reactor. With any luck, it hasn't completely fried up during the explosion.
"Where's Obadiah's body?" She asks. "We need to get his arc reactor and get it to Tony".
Coulson nods and starts coordinating a search inside the lab that is still heavily smoking but not burning anymore, thanks to the on-site fire department. It's also a miracle the SHIELD medical team got there as soon as they did, especially since the explosion took out most of the city's power grid. She can hear siren's in the distance and helicopters making the rounds overhead. The city's in chaos and they need to sort out Tony's arc reactor before they can even move him.
Natasha kneels next to Pepper and inspects the suit.
"Do you know what it's made of?" Natasha asks.
Is now really the time to…?
"I'm only asking because we need to get him out of it as fast and as painlessly as possible. So I need to know what we're working with," the agent continues.
"Oh, um... It's an alloy. Gold and titanium, I think." Pepper answers.
Natasha nods. "Okay, so hard to get into but not impossible." She puts her hand to her ear. " Coulson, do you have that laser fountain pen with you? I need it to get Stark out of the suit."
She nods again and turns to Pepper. "Okay, I think we can work something out."
XXXX
Twenty minutes later, Natasha has removed most of the armour's from Tony's body and he's being put on an ambulance stretcher.
Coulson finally arrives with the stolen arc reactor.
He hands it to Pepper: "Careful, it's still a bit hot. Do you know what you're doing with this?"
Pepper nods: "I've only done it once, so I hope so."
Carefully, she guides Natasha on how to remove the old arc reactor from Tony's chest - this time without inducing a cardiac arrest - and she immediately plugs in the other one. Five seconds later, Tony breathes out loudly and finally regains consciousness.
"Pepper!" he says.
"Oh my god Tony, are you okay?" she asks a bit frantic as she takes his hand.
"Something feels weird. Where's Obadiah?" he asks.
"He's dead," Clint says as he walks up to them, his arm in a sling. "Your girlfriend roasted him like a turkey on Thanksgiving. You can barely recognise the guy."
Tony attempts to sit up but shouts in pain. "Oh fuck, that hurts. Well done, Pep. I knew you could do it. Now, if someone could get me some painkillers, that'd be great and also- wait."
Tony takes another look at Clint, sizes him up from head to toe and looks at Pepper again:
"Pep, why is your PA hanging around in a leather catsuit and a bow and arrows?" he asks.
"It's an armour, not a catsuit." Clint corrects.
"Says you, Legolas."
"I'm-"
Natasha interrupts them:
"Boys, we can discuss Clint's choice of wear later. Right now, we need to get the both of you to a hospital."
"Totally is a catsuit". Tony says as he's being wheeled away with Pepper walking next to him.
"IT'S NOT A CATSUIT."
XXXX
Less than 24 hours later, Tony is finally out of the hospital - against medical advice and Pepper's wishes but he cannot bear to be in there anymore. It's only a couple of fractured ribs, a broken arm with some mild burns and bruises. He'll survive.
Plus, he needs to give a press conference about what happened at Sector 16 and Pepper's phone has been ringing non-stop. They're mostly calls from reporters but she's also been taking calls on Tony's behalf as interim head of SI. Apparently Tony had left instructions that if something happened to him or was left incapacitated, Pepper was his designated heir.
She really should not have been surprised but she was. Tony had the good sense to look apologetic but quickly recovered: "I mean look what happened. Both me and my CFO got blown up and turns out that the guy was a psychopath. It's not like I had that many options. Plus Rhodey's terrible with Excel spreadsheets."
Speaking of, he's currently in the SI HQ press room, talking to reporters about the "incident", as SHIELD is now calling it. They're in the next room, waiting for Tony's cue to go and talk to the reporters as well.
Pepper is helping Tony into his second favourite Tom Ford suit, careful not to hurt his arm as she puts his jacket on. He can't wear a sling for the sake of appearances as SHIELD has generously provided him with an alibi - a yacht party with hundreds of guests. Tony's not convinced.
"I don't think it's really me, anymore? I mean, I am in a committed relationship. Why not just me and Pepper, alone of one of my islands, wearing very lit- ouch!" he says as Pepper rips off the bandaid on his nose, a satisfied smile on her face.
"It's better if a lot of people can verify your whereabouts and not just your girlfriend," Coulson explains. "No offence, Ms Potts."
She turns to him. "None taken."
"It's your turn in 90 seconds. Just stick to the script, please." Coulson says.
Pepper thanks him for his help and walks him out of the room. He closes the door and she turns back to Tony, who's reading the newspaper.
"Iron Man. It's got a nice ring to it, don't you think. I mean, it's not really accurate, 'cause the suit is a gold-titanium alloy but still. It's kinda nice." He throws the paper on the table.
Pepper shakes her head, smiling.
"Whatever you say, Tony. Now look at me and tell me you're gonna tell the reporters you were nowhere near that explosion." She's standing right in front of him, adjusting his pocket-handkerchief and looking him in the eye.
"I wasn't there. I was with you. On a yacht. With fifty of my favourite people that I can't remember the name of and wouldn't recognise on sight. Because I was in bed with you the whole time."
She gives him a light slap on the shoulder. "Tony."
"Tell me you don't think about it." He bends towards her and kisses her on the cheek.
"You and I." A kiss on the neck.
"On that island." A kiss behind the ear.
"No one to bother us." A light nib on her earlobe.
A delightful shiver runs down her spine.
"Nail that press conference and I'll let you take me anywhere." She kisses him on the lips before sending him on his way with a small tap on his backside.
"Yes ma'am."
XXXX
Of course, he doesn't stick to the script.
XXXX
"I am Iron Man."
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