Oh, looky looky! We're in the thick of it now! So close yet so far away! :D

Happy Reading! And thanks for the feedback! I love you guys! :D

For the next few weeks, the three had been hard at work, administering each cell rebuilding treatment to Pepper, increasing the dosage little by little each time as she could tolerate it, with promising results to follow. The seizures had been occasional, and increasing in intensity each time, making it that much more difficult for Tony to watch as the medical staff worked to ease her through it until it subsided. Dr. Cho hadn't changed her stance, though. She assured both Tony and Bruce, and the physicians and nurses working under her, that this was all to be expected, and just something that would have to be endured by all parties involved.

They'd implemented the use of the nanobots in those previous weeks, as Dr. Cho had said they would at some point in the process. They proved to be a speedy and effective method of delivery of new cells to the damaged areas in Pepper's body, and the repair and recovery time was remarkable. Several medical journals had been in contact with Dr. Cho to discuss their findings, and the whole of Pepper's case. However, Tony insisted on Pepper's identity being kept secret, as he didn't relish the idea of added attention being drawn to him or his wife. The investigation into Dianna Wardly's dealings with her Russian assassin, and all-around-thug, (as their secret discussion at the S.I. press conference months before had been unearthed in some news footage) had garnered enough unwanted attention as it was. And because of the investigation, Dianna's position on the board had been temporarily suspended until further notice, freeing up the rest of the members to vote with resounding approval on Tony's efforts, which granted him a generous extension toward finding conclusive results that would allow Stark Industries to lead the charge on new and innovative medical applications. This gave Tony a sense of pride and the feeling, that, even if, God forbid, Pepper wasn't able to recover fully, that her suffering at least wouldn't have been in vain. Not the most optimistic thought, he had to admit, as he, of course, wanted her to get her life back in full capacity, and hoped he'd be the one to give it to her. But hopeful, none the less.

And then, one day, in the early hours of the morning, it happened in a blur. Pepper had had a seizure earlier that afternoon, and Tony had rushed, yet again, to be by her side, as he was never sure if it would be her last. It was a particularly grueling one to watch, and after he'd felt completely exhausted, both emotionally and physically. So he'd decided to stay with her that night, rather that go back to her condo to sleep. He'd fallen asleep in the chair next to Pepper's bed, holding her hand like he had been for hours since he'd rushed to the hospital. He'd rested his head on the bed, and he was softly snoring when the EKG machine and respirator started screeching and beeping with alarm, and Pepper began to seize again. His eyes popped open in panic, and he bolted up out of his chair. "Pepper?!" he cried, watching in horror as her whole body started to convulse, and her eyelids fluttered violently- more violently than any of the other times this had happened to date. Her chest heaved, and her hand squeezed and released his over and over again in rapid succession. But then a herd of doctors and nurses burst through the door, and he was quickly pushed aside. He was petrified. He watched, transfixed, as they worked as they had so many times before to ease her through the seizure. Just then he felt two hands grab his shoulder and the front of his shirt, and Tony looked down at the hands and then to their owner. It was Bruce. He'd been at the lab, working late, and had planned to stop in and check on his friend before heading back to Tony and Pepper's house to get some rest. He'd entered the room just before the alarms had gone off, and instantly rushed to Tony's side.

"Come over here. Let them work," he ordered. And, without a word, Tony let his friend lead him out of the way. But he kept his eyes trained on his wife, his heart pounding as he watched them work frantically.

"Where's Cho? Where is she? She should be here. She's..." Tony babbled.

"I'm sure she's on her way," Bruce assured him.

"Heart rate is spiking!" they heard a nurse call out. "Patient is going into cardiac arrest!"

Tony gasped, and fought to go to Pepper's side, but Bruce held his grip and stopped him. "Tony, no," he said. "I know it's hard, but you have to let this happen."

"But cardiac arrest?!" Tony argued. "She's gonna die, Bruce! I can't just..."

Just then, Dr. Cho entered the room. "She's...she's..." Tony stammered, pointing at Pepper and looking at Dr. Cho expectantly.

"I know. I heard the monitors, and came running," she said breathlessly. Tony watched silently, as she rushed to Pepper's side and began to get the status report from her nurses, then subsequently began giving them orders.

"We knew the seizures were going to become more and more violent as our treatments progressed. But we have no choice but to keep moving forward. If we stop now, we have no hope of her recovering," Bruce reminded him.

Tony frowned. "This is the second one in twenty four hours, and it looks like the worst yet. What if the seizures get to be too much?" he asked. He looked back at Pepper hopelessly. "What if...it kills her?" he asked glumly.

Bruce shook his head. "You can't think that way. Look at all of the progress we've made, Tony! Look at how much we've done."

Tony just kept his eyes trained on his wife's convulsing body. "Come on, Pep," he muttered. "Come on, baby. Keep fighting."

Dr. Cho continued to give orders to her staff, and they were scrambling to keep up with each demand, as it seemed Pepper was slipping away minute by minute. Her heart rate was extremely fast and quite erratic, and they knew that she could easily flat line at any moment. Nurses injected emergency medications into Pepper's IV, but nothing seemed to calm the tremors or steady her heart rate and respiration this time.

Tony watched helplessly. "It isn't working," he muttered. "Nothing's happening. It isn't working." He shifted his gaze back to his friend, his jaw set. "I have to go under. I have to get in there," he insisted, his eyes stern.

Bruce furrowed his brow. "What? Now?!" he asked.

"Yes, now!" Tony answered. "If I don't, she'll die. I can't lose her, Bruce! I can't let it end like that!"

He strode over to Dr. Cho. "I'm going under," he announced. "I can help."

She looked over her shoulder, amidst the chaos she was currently in, and frowned at him. "What? Now?" she said.

Tony nodded firmly. "It's the only way. She won't make it if I don't. I can't let that happen," he insisted.

She struggled to find the words to say, but it was no matter. Soon, Bruce had wheeled in the bed and the equipment from the room they'd stored it in close by, and Tony ran to meet him, helping to move it all close to Pepper but allowing enough room for everyone to work. Tony climbed up on the bed and instantly laid down, and Bruce hurried to attach the nodes for the brain activity monitor. Tony rolled up his shirt sleeve, so Bruce could inject the anesthesia. Bruce quickly dodged in and out of the medical personnel to attach the other nodes to Pepper's temples. Then he rushed back to Tony to start the IV.

Tony winced when Bruce inserted the needle, and turned his head to look at Pepper. "I'm coming, baby. Just hold on," he told her.

"Quickest prep ever. Good luck, buddy," he heard Bruce say, and he turned his head back to respond, but suddenly his vision clouded and then went black. The familiar watery abyss enveloped his senses, and he began to sink into it, the light from the hustle and bustle of Pepper's room fading away, the stillness he suddenly found himself immersed in a sharp contrast.

"I'm in," he muttered softly, his voice echoing in the black-as-pitch depth that surrounded him. But soon, the echo-y silence was being interrupted another distant sound that filled his ears. It sounded like the winds of a tornado, howling and whistling in some far off place, though the din was growing louder the farther down he sank. He turned to look below him, and found he was headed straight for a swirling vortex. "Holy Shhhhhiiiiiiiiii!..." he cried, as he was instantly sucked into the centrifugal motion, spinning and swirling, down and down, until he was harshly spat out onto the crumbling floor in Pepper's subconscious, landing with a gasping "Ooof!" flat on his stomach.

He groaned, gasping for breath, and struggling to catch it, as the tornado-like wind raged around him. But slowly, he came to a standing position, the wind whipping his hair and clothes mercilessly. He inhaled deeply, and called out. "PEPPER!" he exclaimed with everything he had, searching his darkened surroundings for her. He knew his voice probably didn't carry far in this kind of wind. So he cupped his hands around his mouth the second time. "PEP-PER!" he called again. "WHERE ARE YOU?!"

He began to jog forward, figuring any direction was as good as the next, calling her name repeatedly, and searching this murky space for any sign she was still with him, his eyes squinted for protection against any flying debris. He continued desperately, hoping and praying she'd hear him, and they could make some kind of contact. But with each passing moment, it looked more and more unlikely that he'd got there in time. "Please, honey," he said desperately. "Don't give up. Please. I..."

Just then he heard a voice calling out to him, and his eyes widened. He searched for the direction it came from, his ears perked. It didn't call out again, so he returned the call. "Pepper?!" he called out. "Are you there, baby? Tell me where you are! I'll come to you!"

"Tony!" he heard her say, and he smiled, relieved. "Tony! I need you! Where are you?" he heard her call.

"I'm coming, Pep! Hold on!" he called back. "Just keep talkin' to me! I need to hear you to find you!"

"Hurry! Please! Hurry!" he heard her call, and his heart sank at the distress in her voice. "I can't take this much longer!"

Tony began to run, scrambling to find her. "Pepper, I'm here! Don't give up! Please, honey! Just hold on!"

Then his blood went cold with what he heard next. Pepper shrieked in terror, and began to sob. "No! Please!" she begged whatever was threatening her. "Please! Tony, hurry! I don't want to die!"

"PEPPER!" Tony called out frantically. He ran at full speed, desperately hoping he'd come upon where she was. And then he saw it. It looked as if the floor had given way, as there was a giant crevasse that had opened up under where Pepper must have been standing, and she'd slipped through. Tony approached the edge, and cautiously looked over. He saw Pepper hanging on the next ledge down, desperately trying to keep from losing her grip and falling into a gaping abyss in the chasm below her, just waiting to swallow her up.

"Pepper! Oh my God!" Tony cried, instantly falling to his hands and knees.

She slowly looked up at him, teeth gritted, and face streaked with tears. "Tony!" she gasped. "Help! I don't want to fall! Please don't let me fall!"

"I won't let you fall, baby! I promise!" he called back, though the sense of deja vu of that last time he'd promised her this very thing made him sick to his stomach. Pushing that image out of his mind, he slid down to his stomach, and reached as far as he could for her to grasp his hand. Pepper tried to grab it, but his reach was just a few inches short.

Tony huffed with frustration. "Damn it!" he barked. He frantically looked around for anything she could grab on to, but the parched, windswept floor yielded nothing. But then, he suddenly got an idea. He pulled off his outer shirt, and knotted it around his hand, letting the rest of it dangle. He rolled back over to where he was once again just above Pepper, and lowered the shirt down in front of Pepper. "Quick! Grab on and I'll pull you up!" he ordered.

Pepper winced, but obeyed and quickly grasped the dangling shirt, wrapping her hand in the end as he had, before letting go with the other and allowing the shirt, and Tony, to hold her full weight. As soon as she did this, he began to pull her up instantly, and that was just far enough for Pepper to step up on the ledge she'd been clinging to. He then reached forward and grabbed her hand, pulling her up as she crawled to safety, and into his arms. He felt back into a seat position, and Pepper fell into his embrace knocking him onto his back. She began sobbing, and he sighed loudly, pulling her to him tightly. The wind whipped around them violently, put Tony just closed his eyes, reveling in the feeling of her being back in his arms.

She soon raised her head, her cheeks wet with fallen tears. But she was smiling. "You came for me," she said gratefully.

He cupped her face in his hands, and swiped her cheeks dry with the pads of his thumbs. "Of course I did," he said. "It's time to get outta here. For good. You ready to go home, baby?"

Pepper smiled, and nodded. "I've been ready since I got here," she replied. "I thought I'd never get out!"

Tony nodded. "I know," he said, just before he kissed her hard. He moaned, the long-lost feeling of her lips on his, the taste of her kiss, and the feeling of her body in his arms almost too much for him to take in that moment. Slowly, the kiss broke, and they smiled again at each other, their mutual relief written on both of their faces. "God, I've missed that," he said.

"So have..." Pepper began, but she stopped suddenly, as the floor began to shake beneath them.

"No. No, not again!" Pepper said. She scrambled to stand up, and reached for Tony. "Come on! We can't stay here!"

Tony took her hand and hoisted himself up to stand. "What's happening?" he asked her.

"It's him!" she gasped.

"Him?" Tony asked questioningly.

"The snake!" Pepper replied, her eyes wide and tearful with terror.