This is getting a little hairy, isn't it? Yikes!

Just as an aside, I decided to change this to a crossover IM/Avengers fic, since Bruce so clearly plays a role in it. I'll probably do the same with its predecessor, "A Very Pepperony Christmas..." at some point as well, though right now would be an odd time to do it, since it would probably show as updated with the change, and it's not Christmas time, so I just think it would be weird to have a Christmas story suddenly pop up in the feed. (Maybe I'm overthinking this, I dunno...)

Anywho, we're definitely into the meat and potatoes of the story, now! Especially after this chapter, my lovelies! Mwahahahaha!

Thank you for all of your feedback and support, as always! It really IS the lifeblood for any fan fic writer, so keep it up! I love it! :D

Pepper just looked at Tony with silent worry. Then she bit her bottom lip and slowly shook her head. He looked at her in confusion. "You...you don't remember...our wedding?" he stammered, his heart breaking as the words left his mouth. They'd opened a door that led them to the memory of the rooftop glass room, that previous New Year's Eve, where, between Christmas Day and December 31st, Tony had managed to organize a lavish wedding, with the help of the other Avengers. He'd wanted to surprise his bride-to-be with the wedding of her dreams. And, by all accounts, he had. But now it was clear she mysteriously couldn't recall any of it. And it left him reeling, and grasping for answers.

"We...we got married?" she said, her eyes searching his face. "Why don't I remember this, then? Tony, how can this be?" she said, her voice panicked now.

He just shook his head. "I don't know, baby. These are your memories. How come you don't recognize where we are?"

Pepper's chin began to quiver and her face contorted with the onslaught of tears. "I'm scared!" she said, her voice a soft murmur. "Tony, help me! I'm losing everything, and I don't know what to do!"

He pulled her into his arms, holding her tight. "I know, Pep. I know you're scared, but we'll figure this out. Okay? I promise," he assured her.

They were standing by the altar, and Pepper looked around, trying to take in the scene. Suddenly she noticed Thor, standing on the platform, in very regal looking Norse garb. "Is...is that Thor? Is he the one who married us?" she asked him, in a hushed whisper.

"Oh, sure. You don't remember me pulling off the most amazing night of our lives, but you remember him," he said sarcastically.

Just then, the doors opened, and they watched as Groom-To-Be Tony entered, grinning and strutting down the aisle in his off-white Armani three-piece suit. "Who's ready for a wedding?" he boomed jovially, and the guests clapped and cheered as he made his way to the altar.

He joined Thor, and anxiously waited for his bride to walk through the door. Tony held Pepper tightly in his arms in anticipation as they both watched anxiously as well. Just then, the band began a jazzy version of "Here Comes the Bride", and the doors at the back of the room opened to reveal a beautiful bride, with her face shrouded behind a veil.

Present Pepper gasped, and began to cry. "Mama?" she said. "She was there, too?"

Tony nodded, and smiled with a twinge of sorrow at her question. "Yep," he said softly, keeping his eyes trained on his bride walking down the aisle on her mother's arm. "She was there, too." They both watched silently as Bride Pepper made her way down the aisle, Tony holding Pepper tightly in his arms, and resting his head on hers. "Look at how beautiful you were," he murmured. "You took my breath away."

Pepper reached up to cup his cheek lovingly, stroking it with her thumb. And for a brief moment, he closed his eyes to revel in her affectionate touch, using it to soothe his shattered heart. But the moment didn't last for long. When Bride Pepper got close enough, he suddenly noticed something was terribly wrong. It was hard to make out at first, but as she approached them, he realized that, under her veil, Bride Pepper's face was missing. As if it had been completely erased, and only a black void was left. "Oh God!" he gasped in horror, his chest beginning to heave in panic.

"Tony?" Pepper said, raising her eyes to look into his, her face full of concern. "Tony?! What's happening?! What's wrong?"

"Your face! I mean...her face! It's...well, look at it! It's..." he stammered, pointing at Bride Pepper and stammering in horrified confusion. Just then, Pepper yelped and jumped back, out of his arms, her eyes wide as she stared down at his knees.

Tony glanced down to see what the matter was, and once again, he realized he was helplessly melting into the floor. "No. NO!" he cried, reaching for Pepper, but she was just out of his grasp, watching all of this happen in horror. "Pepper! Hold on, okay?!" he tried to tell her, as he was quickly disintegrating. "Don't give up! Promise me! Just don't give up! I'll save you! I..." But it was too late. His words were quickly muffled as he'd melted almost completely into the floor.

XxXxXxXxXx

Tony awoke with a start, and bolted straight up on the gurney he'd been lying on in Pepper's hospital room, his EKG monitor loudly beeping rapidly in his ears. He knew Bruce had pulled him out of sedation, but what he couldn't gather was why there were doctors and nurses frantically running in and out of the room, yelling commands to each other in panicked voices. Then it registered.

"Pepper!" he cried, jumping off the gurney to go to her, but Bruce quickly grabbed him and held him back. It was clear that Pepper was under some type of duress, and the doctors were fighting to pull her out of it. Her EKG machine beeped madly as her heart was pounding at a break-neck pace, and her chest was heaving as her ventilator struggled to keep up with her wildly erratic breathing.

Tony turned to Bruce, and grabbed him by the front of the shirt. "What the hell's happening?!" he demanded. "Why is she..."

But his words were cut off, as the wild, thunderous beeping of her EKG suddenly changed to a flatline beeeeeeeeeeeep.

"She's Code Blue!" the head nurse called out loudly.

"Defibrillator, please!" the attending physician called out. He was immediately handed the paddles, and shouted "Clear!" The other medical staff stepped back, as he delivered an electrified jolt to her chest. The EKG machine blipped briefly, but Pepper's heart didn't restart.

Tony watched helplessly, gripped in the reality that he was quite possibly watching Pepper die right in front of him.

"No pulse. We have no pulse," the head nurse called out.

"Again!" the doctor yelled. The paddles were recharged, and he once again shouted "Clear!", delivering another shock to her heart. And, once again, the EKG registered the shock with a brief blip, but Pepper's heart was still not pumping.

Tony shook his head. "Come on, baby. Come on," he murmured desperately. "I can't lose you, Pep. Please."

"No pulse, doctor. We have no pulse," the head nurse said again. "Move to call it, doctor?" she asked, suggesting to him to call the time of death.

The doctor hesitated for a moment, considering the nurse's suggestion. Tony looked at him, and started shaking his head. "No. Please," he whispered helplessly, begging him to keep fighting for his wife's life.

The doctor then looked at Tony, and then at his head nurse. "Once more, nurse," he said, motioning for her to recharge the paddles in his hands.

The nurse watched as the charge began to build. "Full charge!" she cried, after a few seconds.

"Clear!" the doctor said, delivering a third and final shock to Pepper's body. Tony inhaled sharply as he watched her muscles contract with the jolt of electricity once more, his heart pounding in his ears. He was still gripping the front of Bruce's shirt in his fists, both tightly clenched and white knuckled.

His eyes flicked from Pepper's lifeless body to the EKG machine, which registered its expected initial blip on the screen after the shock. He was paralyzed in the moment, his eyes glued to the screen, silently willing the universe to grant him this one reprieve from heartache, and bring his wife back to life. He felt as though he'd been mercilessly thrown from one nightmare into another, with the horror scene he'd experienced in Pepper's subconscious to the reality in the real world.

The room was positively buzzing with electrified tension, waiting the eternity of only a few seconds to see a sign, any sign, that Pepper's heart would respond to this last defibrillation.

"Doctor," the head nurse said firmly. "Move to..."

Just then, three short beeps came from Pepper's EKG machine, and then her heart rate began to register normally again. Everyone in the room breathed a collective sigh of relief at the sight, and the ventilator began regular respiration once more, returning everything to normal. Tony closed his eyes, and let out a heavy sigh, while letting loose the front of Bruce's shirt from his grip and collapsing into a near by chair in exhaustion. Bruce patted his friend's shoulder, a soft "Phew," coming from his lips in relief.

The doctor finished conversing with the nurse's as they worked to finish making sure Pepper was once again stable. Then he marched over to Tony, and stood in front of him expectantly. Tony sensed his presence and slowly looked up to meet the perturbed doctor's gaze.

"You know, out of decency, I'll let you have a few moments alone with your wife while I finish my rounds," he said sternly. "But when I return? We need to talk, Mr. Stark."

Tony glanced at Bruce, who gave him a guilt-laden shrug, before shifting his eyes back up to the doctor and nodding silently, which is all he could muster at the moment.

The doctor gave Tony and Bruce a curt smile, then swiveled around on his heels and marched out of the room. The nurses that were left made sure Pepper's hospital gown and blankets were back in place, and then they quietly left the room.

Bruce turned to his friend. "I'll, uh...I'll leave you two alone," he said softly. "I need some fresh air anyway. A walk will do me some good..." he explained, awkwardly pointing toward the door. "You gonna be alright?" he asked.

Tony nodded and gave him a weak smile. "Yeah," he said softly.

Bruce nodded in understanding. "Be back soon, then," he said, and Tony watched as Bruce left the room.

He numbly took his eyes from the closing door to Pepper's body, his whole system still in shock from all that had happened. After a few moments, with nothing but the sound of the EKG machine and ventilator now filling the room, a very noticeable switch from the chaos that just moments ago had been in place of it, Tony slowly lumbered up out of his chair, and dragged it across the floor to her bedside. Once it was positioned where he wanted, he sank back down in it heavily. He gazed at Pepper's face for a moment, teetering on the fine line between triumph and despair. But, he wasn't able to hold his countenance for long. His shoulders almost instantly began to shake, and he held his face in his hands as he slowly bent forward, and began to sob softly. After a few moments, he reached for Pepper's hand, taking it lovingly in his, grateful for its nearly-taken warmth. He kissed it hard, over and over, his tears slicking her skin in the process. Then he briskly stood up, pressing his lips to her forehead, and lovingly stroking her hair. "Keep fighting, baby," he whispered, pulling back to look at her face. "If you do, then I will. I won't give up so long as you just keep fighting."