I apologize for the delay, but this chapter took me a little while to bang out. But thank you for your patience! And for your feedback! I love to hear from you guys. I just hope I'm not getting too far off in the weeds with this little bit of sci-fi, and that you are enjoying it. Happy Reading! :D

He'd managed to step onto the hospital elevator that evening without drawing much attention, as far as he could tell. The hospital scrubs he'd been given were oddly sized, as the shirt was at least a size too small, and the bottoms were longer than his tree-stump legs, causing the cuffs to easily catch under his feet when he walked, making his already brutish gate awkward and jerky. He knew he'd attracted a few curious stares, but he'd ignored them and gone about the business at hand. He wasn't going to be there for long. It would be quick and quiet, and no one would be the wiser. That was the plan anyway. He'd been watching the patterns of who had come and gone from the room, and he had the basic routine of all of her visitors mapped out in his mind. The older woman was there most every day, all day until the evening. Then the husband was there every day in the evening for a few hours by himself. Once, he'd come earlier in the day with another man, the scientist he was working with. When the scientist was there, they stayed for a long period of time. But that had been a few days ago, and it hadn't happened again since. The husband and woman had been back during the day, and each evening since then, so he knew his time to strike would be late evening, after the husband and the woman had both left.

His assignment had changed from the original plan. In the beginning, he was supposed to derail the work of the husband and the scientist well enough for them to miss their six month deadline, so Mrs. Wardly could gain control over Stark Industries. But seeing as how they'd somehow been able to make progress despite his best efforts, she had been forced to change her tack. No longer were their experiments and research the primary target. Now, it was the woman whom they were hoping to save. He knew he couldn't just blatantly kill Ms. Potts in one fell swoop, or suspicions would be raised and Ms. Wardly would run the risk of getting made, making the whole plan all for not. But he could kill her slowly, and without detection, he knew. All he needed was a small window of time every few days to keep the dose constant in her system, and then step back and let it do its work on its own.

He got off on the floor of the ICU, and fell in with a group of nurses and doctors making their way down the corridor on their rounds. He came to the right door, and nonchalantly pushed it open, closing it quickly and quietly behind him before anyone could see he'd slipped inside. Then he walked to Pepper's bedside.

"Well, aren't you a pretty thing," he hissed, leering at her, and raising a calloused hand to stroke Pepper's hair coarsely. Then he produced a syringe filled with a milky liquid from the pocket of his scrubs. He stuck the cap of it in his teeth, and yanked off the end, exposing the long needle. He spat the cap out, and lifted Pepper's hand, chuckling darkly. "You know, I'm much more of a gentleman than I appear to be, love," he murmured. He brought Pepper's hand up to his face and brushed his lips along her skin, slowly inhaling the scent of it, and planting kisses up her arm to the spot where her IV had been inserted. "And a lady like you deserves a proper gentleman. Such a pity, isn't it? You won't ever know we've met," he said, before injecting the contents of the syringe into her IV line. He watched closely as the milky fluid slowly dissipated into Pepper's veins, and the line once again ran clear. Suddenly, Pepper's breath caught in her chest, and her heart rate spiked.

"Shhhhh. That's it, love," he murmured in her ear, bending to roughly stroke Pepper's hair again. "Take your medicine like a good girl. I know it hurts, but it won't be long now."

Soon, Pepper's breathing returned to normal, and the blip on the EKG machine settled back into its usual rhythm. "There you go," he said. "Let the black dragon do its work."

XxXxXxXxXxXx

It had been four days since Tony had first entered Pepper's subconscious. And he'd been waiting on pins and needles until Bruce could medically clear him to get back in again. He felt helpless, knowing that each moment he wasn't working to bring her back meant she was slipping away from him. That's why he'd insisted that they get to the hospital the moment they knew he was safely able to go back under.

On the morning of the fourth day, they'd set up just as they had before, and Bruce had administered another dose of nanobots to both Tony and Pepper. But this time, the bots he'd injected into Pepper were those that Tony would work with to repair her. And, if all went according to plan, he would be able to direct them from his own subconscious.

Tony had taken his place on the gurney set up beside Pepper's bed. Bruce attached a node to each of Tony's temples, and two to his chest, and then injected him with the sedative. "Good luck," he'd told his friend, and Tony had nodded affirmatively before his eyes gently closed and he drifted off to sleep.

Tony felt himself gently drift down into the darkness of the abyss once again. Once he was sure he'd reached the bottom of it, he stood up, finding himself back in the familiar darkness. "I'm in," he said to himself, trying to gain a sense of direction. He listened, hoping he'd be able to hear Pepper again, like he had the first time. But there were no sounds indicating she was near.

"Pepper?" he called out, to be sure. Still, there was no response. His heart sank a little. "Damn," he said, frowning in disappointment. But just then, he became aware of a rushing sound, quickly getting louder and louder by the second. He looked around, sensing an insect-like swarm gathering around him.

"Right on time," he remarked, realizing these were the repair bots they'd injected Pepper with. They all gathered into a thick cloud before him, like little robotic worker bees, ready and waiting for his command, just as he and Bruce had intended. Tony smiled to himself in satisfaction. "Hello, boys," he said proudly.

Then he looked around, his brow furrowed, unsure of how to proceed. He had no clue as to how to make the long, winding iron spiral of doors appear again. And for a brief moment, he feared that it might not appear at all. But quickly his fears were put to rest, as the floor began to rumble and shake, and long cracks began to appear beneath his feet. He watched with trepidation as the floor opened up, and the black spiral emerged, grinding with loud metallic creeks and groans as it twisting around, up and up into the darkness above. But this time, the spiral's appearance had changed, resembling that now of corroded metal having been submerged in seawater for decades. The sides were pocked with holes and gashes rusted through, and the floor of the spiral had gaps that he knew would take some added effort to overtake. Tony was taken aback at how much it had changed, realizing that this not only indicated that Pepper's memories were falling apart, but her whole subconscious as well.

"Well, that's why I'm here," he said to himself resolutely. "To fix you. Right, Pep?"

He walked to the edge of the spiral, the nanobots following behind him in a swarm, and stepped up onto it. It groaned with a loud creak and shifted under his weight. "Whoa," he said, steadying himself by grasping the edge of the spiral wall. "Bots?" he said, summoning the swarm around him. They gathered around him eagerly. "Let's go to work," he said. And he began to walk forward, the bots attaching to the broken areas of the spiral like an insect infestation, their buzzing like the combination of a swarm of bees and a buzz saw. They moved with him as he slowly began to make his way up the spiral. He watched as some of them disappeared under the doors that had been previously locked. After a few moments, a few of the doors popped open, and Tony smiled, relieved at the thought that the bots had possibly helped to recover some of Pepper's lost memories. He tried the first door that opened, and stepped through it.

He looked around as he entered, immediately recognizing his surroundings as the living room of the mansion. He closed the door behind him, leaving the bots to work outside. Suddenly, Pepper rushed briskly past him and he startled a little. "Pep?" he said, but he soon reminded himself that this was the memory version of Pepper, as she was dressed in a long sparkly red evening gown. Her hair was piled in curls on top of her head, and she wore a chunky emerald-cut diamond necklace and matching dangly earrings, worth millions. The jewelry was his mother's, and he remembered he'd lent it to her to wear for the evening. She looked absolutely stunning. And, just as she'd taken his breath away that night, she did again now.

"I'd forgotten about this," Tony murmured to himself, recalling that he'd asked Pepper to accompany him to a charity benefit early on in her career as his assistant. He remembered the glint of excitement in her eye when he'd asked her to go with him. But, as he recalled, the evening ended on a much different note than it had began.

He slowly walked over to where Pepper had stopped, his fears confirmed as he watched her bring a hand to her mouth, and her shoulders began to shake as she quietly began to cry. He stepped to her side, and frowned as he turned to look at her, watching as her tears fell.

"How could you be so stupid?" she whispered to herself. "Did you honestly think this was going to be anything more?"

Just then, they both heard the front door close, and they turned around to see Pepper's memory of Tony come barging through the door, disheveled and boiling mad. He was dressed in a tux, but the bow tie was undone and hanging around his neck, and his shirt was untucked. He stumbled slightly, clearly somewhat inebriated. "What the hell was that?" he barked, walking to her briskly, his eyes wild with rage, his nostrils flaring as he seethed. As he got closer, Present Day Tony saw his collar and the top of his shirt was wet. He closed his eyes and shook his head at the recollection of what had happened.

"You deserved it!" Pepper barked back. "Never, in my life, have I been so embarrassed to be with someone! Is this how you behave at these things?! Because if it is, I..."

"You what, Ms. Potts! Quit?!" Tony retorted bitterly.

Pepper huffed. "What choice would you leave me? No one should have to put up with you when you're like this."

"Oh, cry me a river, Pepper!" Tony sneered. "Poor you. How the fuck do you think I feel? You? You're the lucky one," he said.

Pepper frowned. "What do you mean?" she said softly.

"I mean you've got it easy. You're not one who gets invited by all of these stuffed suits to these ridiculous parties for the sole purpose of whipping out your checkbook. How would you feel if all people saw you as was a piggy bank? You'd make them want to earn every penny of that money, right?"

Pepper shook her head. "Then why do you go?" she asked softly.

Tony took a deep breath. "Because I'm bored, Pepper," he admitted. He looked away, ashamed. "In case you hadn't noticed, I don't exactly serve much of a purpose, do I?"

Pepper stayed silent, studying his face.

"No excuse," Present Day Tony murmured to himself. "You didn't need to drag her into your misery."

Memory Tony flicked his eyes back to hers, and pursed his lips. "Look," he said. He frowned. "If you thought tonight was going to be anything other than what it actually was, than that's on you," he said coldly.

Present Day Tony huffed, and shook his head, frowning at his former self. "Schmuck," he murmured.

Pepper looked a little taken aback by his callousness. But then she took a deep breath, and nodded in understanding, her countenance changing from anger to embarrassed disappointment. "I see," she said, softly. She dried her tears, and then slowly raised her arms to open the clasp of the necklace she was wearing. Both Memory and Present Day Tony watched her as she slowly took it from around her neck, and collected it in one hand, and then she pulled the earrings from her ears. She held it all out in her hand in front of him, and Memory Tony extended his own to accepted them. Pepper smiled a broken smile, through new tears she was desperately trying to conceal. "There you are," she said. "Thank you for lending them to me."

Memory Tony just nodded awkwardly and frowned.

"Seriously?" Present Day Tony said to his former self. "You're unbelievable."

"I'm sorry I threw my drink on you," she said sincerely. "I didn't realize how miserable you are at these things, and I'll keep that in mind the next time you receive an invite."

Memory Tony just nodded again, and shoved the jewelry in his pants pocket. "Yeah, thanks," he said indifferently. They both looked at each other for a long moment, in silence, Pepper clearly expecting an apology that they both knew was never going to come.

"Um, now would be a good time to apologize to her, dummy," Present Day Tony scolded. He glanced back and forth expectantly between Memory Tony and Pepper, and then huffed in exasperation. "Wow," he said. "Why am I surprised?"

Pepper soon realized that she wasn't going to get her apology. So she squared her shoulders, and put on a brave face, at least resolving to handle the awkward moment with her trademark dignity and grace. "Will that be all, Mr. Stark?" she asked, with the utmost professionalism.

Memory Tony just stared at her stubbornly for a moment, his brow still furrowed. Then he relented. "That'll be all, Ms. Potts," he said coldly. He then swiveled around on his heels, and walked briskly over to the stairs, jogging up them, and disappearing into his bedroom, leaving her standing alone. Pepper's chest began to heave again, her shoulders shivering as she began to cry. Soft little moans escaped her lips, and she brought a hand to her mouth to muffle them. This shattered Tony's heart.

He shook his head sorrowfully. "I know you can't hear me, baby. But for what this schmuck lacks," he said, jabbing a thumb and nodding toward the bedroom. "Let me make it up to you right here and now, okay? I'm sorry. I'm sorry I was such an asshole to you. I'm sorry I was a selfish bastard, and if I wasn't so gutless back then, I would have told you how honored I was to have you on my arm. And that there was no excuse for my behavior. I was fighting some demons that I didn't know how to deal with. And I put you in the middle of it. That never should have happened..."

"You're damn right," he heard a familiar voice say behind him. He turned around to see Present Day Pepper, again in her tattered hospital gown, approaching him.

Tony gasped and ran to her, pulling her into his arms. He hugged her tightly, and closed his eyes, trying to soak in every bit of the moment. "I'm sorry, Pep. Really. How could you love me after all of the shit I put you through?" he said.

Pepper pulled back to look at him. "I don't know how," she said, smiling. "I just do. I'm a glutton for punishment, I guess," she teased. They chuckled.

"Well, you deserve a medal," Tony replied. He gazed at his wife, and smiled. Then he bent down to kiss her lips, but suddenly they were interrupted by a low rumbling beneath them. The floor began to shake and Tony grabbed Pepper's hand, remembering that they got separated the last time this happened.

"Let's get out of here!" he cried. Pepper nodded, and they both bolted for the door.

Once they reached it, Tony yanked it open and they both ran through it. But Pepper yelped, and Tony pulled her to him, the both of them realizing that the floor of the spiral was quickly giving way beneath them. The whole spiral was violently shaking back and forth, and they jumped across the rapidly widening gap in the floor to a place farther down that seemed only slightly more stable.

"Why is this happening?" Pepper yelled loudly.

Tony shook his head. "I don't know!" he yelled back. "I thought the bots were fixing everything!" He looked around to see where the bots were currently. But all he could make out was a thick, black ooze now covering the walls and floor of the spiral, destroying everything left in its path as quickly as the bots could work to make their repairs.

"What the hell?!" he exclaimed, watching as the bots were being overtaken by this strange substance, and getting swallowed into its mire. They both watched in horror as it slithered and snaked its way closer and closer to them, the head of the ooze resembling that of serpent's head, open and ready to strike at them with venomous fangs.

Tony turned back to Pepper. "Follow me!" he ordered. "We've got to find another open door!"

Pepper nodded, and he grabbed her hand. They began to run in the opposite direction, climbing higher and higher up the spiral as the black, oozing serpent chased them. Tony tried various doors as they climbed, each one locked tightly. "Damn it!" he cried. "Come on!"

Finally, they came to one that was cracked open. "There!" Pepper said, pointing to it, and they sprinted to it, darting inside just before the serpent closed in on them. Tony slammed the door behind them, and they both breathlessly looked at each other in relief.

"What the hell is that thing?" he asked her.

Pepper shook her head. "I don't know," she said. "I've never seen it before."

They broke their gaze and looked around at the room they'd entered. Tony gasped instantly recalling where they were, and Pepper looked at him in confusion. "You know this place?" she asked.

Tony glanced back at her, and frowned in confusion. "You don't?" he asked.