I came up with this idea last summer after I watched endgame and spider man far from home. There are spoilers from infinity war and endgame, so if you are the only person on this planet that haven't seen those movies yet – DON'T READ THIS!
This story doesn't line up 100% with spider man far from home, but please give it a shot anyway.
It is about Pepper becoming Rescue. I like to think that the battle against Thanos wasn't Pepper's first fight as Rescue, so this is my idea of how Pepper became Rescue. It is set doing the 5-year gap in the endgame. Please enjoy and let me know what you think.
Chapter 1 – Tony's dream
Tony and Pepper have now been living in their little house near the lake for about 6 months. It has been 8 months since Tony came back from space. He still can't explain what happened up there and how he saw the kid just disappearing into the air. The image of Peter, so scared, has burned into his mind, and it is hunting him almost every night. Pepper has become used to waking up in the middle of the night to Tony moving around and yelling in his sleep for Peter not to disappear. It pains her to see him so depressed. Mostly because he is frustrated about the fact that he is not able to do anything about it. He can't bring Peter back. Since Tony came back, he has been obsessed with protecting Pepper. When Pepper is in her office, she almost day sees the iron man suit flying by her CEO-office windows at the Stark Industries. She knows that he is doing it because he is concerned about her, but at first, she felt like he was checking up on her or trying to control her, but over time she realized it was his way of making sure she is safe.
It is about 2 am when Pepper wakes up to some noise. It isn't the usual sound of Tony yelling in his sleep. It is the sound of metal banging on metal coming from the garage. Pepper used to wake up to that back when she moved into Tony's mansion in LA. She would wake up in the middle of the night where Tony's side of the bed was empty, and then she would find him working down in his workspace. He had suddenly woken up with an idea to improve his suit, and he would go down and work on it in the middle of the night. Pepper was used to that back when they lived in LA, but since they moved to their new house, it hasn't happened much. Which is why it surprises Pepper much more now. Tony probably dreamed that he could build something that would bring the kid back or something. This is the only thing Pepper can imagine would bring Tony to the garage in the middle of the night now that he has quiet being part of the avengers.
Pepper gets out of bed. The cold air gives her a chill. She grabs her bathrobe and steps into a pair of slippers before she makes her way down the stairs. Tony is heavily occupied with heating up and bending metal to what Pepper identifies as must be a new suit. She gets a bit sad when she realizes it must be a new iron man suit, he is working on. He has had trouble with his suits since he came back from space. He is continuously second-guessing and coming up with new ideas on how to prove the suit. He has been obsessed with the idea of building a suit that would be able to protect him from Thanos snap, which could have prevented Peter from disappearing.
"Tony? What are you doing? It is 2 am. Honey, come back to bed."
"Pep, hey. Morning." He says. He almost sounds excited as he looks up from his work and takes off his welding glasses.
"what are you doing?" she asks and steps over to him. He smells sweaty as he is wearing his characteristic black sweatpants and a tight black undershirt. The only thing missing from when Tony used to be in his workspace in the middle of the night back when they lived in LA is the iconic arc reactor in his chest. Pepper looks at the wall behind Tony, where there is a blueprint for a new suit, with the iconic arc reactor in the chest. But the suit also has a much more feminine look to it than what the usual iron man suits do.
"Are you building a suit for Nat?" Pepper asks.
"what?" Tony asks and then turns around. "No. why would I build a suit for Nat?" Tony asks and places a kiss on his wife's cheek.
"It is for you," he says excitedly and walks over and grabs a purple iron man helmet. He holds out for Pepper with an excited smile on his wife.
"what?" Pepper asks with a laugh of disbelieve.
"no way, Tony," Pepper says and immediately receives a very disappointed look from her husband. He mostly seems like a disappointed little kid. He steps over to Pepper and stands right in front of her.
"I had this amazing dream. You and I." he can tell she doesn't really think his dream sounds as amazing as he does, but Tony is determined to tell her about it anyway. He is confident that once she hears about his dream, she is going to think it is as amazing as he does, and she will understand why he is out here in the middle of the night. "you and I teamed up together." For every word, he says Peppers look gets more and more filled with disbelieve. "You would be Rescue and me as Iron man. flying around and saving the world."
"honey, you are tired," Pepper says and kisses him. Tony is determined to win him over to his idea.
"Honey, can't you see it. You have worn my suit before. It was amazing, right. Admit it. Flying in my suit was pretty incredible."
"I was drugged with Extremis and a ticking time bomb, Tony," Pepper argues rationally.
"Okay, apart from that. It was great, right?" He says, excited. Pepper has to admit that aside from the imminent threat, it was a bit cool, but also very intense. She finally gives an almost not noticeable nod. But it is clear enough for Tony.
"think about it. You could have your own suit. You and I could fly together and save the world together. I would be able to keep you safe all the time." He proposes excitedly.
"no," Pepper says determinedly. As sweet as his intentions are, she is not going to become either Iron man's partner or an avenger. "you are sleep deprived, Honey. Come back to bed with me." Pepper says and walks back into the house. The cold air from the garage is making her shiver.
"so, you will think about it?" he calls after her. He doesn't get a response before she closes the door to the garage.
"I'll take that as a yes," Tony says with a confident smile and reapplies his welding glasses before he continues his work.