OOOOOH Boy! This one's a DOOZY! A long time coming, but the fight is on! Pins and needles! EEEP!

Tony was just about to ask what the "snake" was when suddenly a black, slithering, oozing creature burst out of the ground, ready to strike, and it dawned on him. The "snake" was the remnant of the Black Dragon venom Pepper had been poisoned with so many weeks ago, and he was astonished that there was still enough of it left in her system to be a threat.

"Come on!" she howled as she pulled him in the opposite direction to run. The towering beast dove and struck at them, its massive fangs puncturing the ground around them over and over as they tried to make their escape, zigging and zagging, narrowly escaping being impaled each time. Just up ahead, the ground had begun to split open again, this time with the spiraling coil of doors Tony had seen before.

"There!" he said, directing Pepper to make a run for it. They climbed higher and higher on the spiral, unable to find an opening, as each door was locked and severely decayed. The tar-like serpent gained on them as they ran, gnashing its teeth with a sinister, snarling hiss. Finally, they came upon a door near the top of the spiral that was just barely ajar, and they both dove inside, Tony slamming it behind them.

They leaned against the back of it, chests heaving, staring wide eyed at each other. Then Pepper lost her composure and began to sob. She practically fell into Tony's arms, and he subsequently wrapped them around her tightly, stroking her hair to try to comfort her.

"I hate that thing!" she cried bitterly into his chest.

"So do I, Pep. But it's okay. We're gonna be okay," he assured her.

But Pepper raised up to look at him, and shook her head. "No," she said. "No, it's never okay! There have been so many times I've fought to get out of here! I've tried so hard to escape, Tony! But it won't let me! It's like I'm a prisoner! It chases me, trying to bite me, or swallow me whole! And there have always been doors I can run through to get away! But every time, there are fewer and fewer open doors! And I have to run farther and farther to find one! I'm worried that, eventually, there just won't be anymore! And...and..." she stammered, her breath catching in her chest. "He'll get me!" she gasped.

Tony cupped her cheek, wiping away the fresh tears from her cheek, hating the look of sheer terror in her eyes. "Pepper, listen to me," he urged, looking into her eyes intently. "We're going to get out of here. The both of us. Okay?" he said.

Pepper slowly calmed down as she studied his face. Then she began to nod in understanding. "Okay," she agreed. She tried to put on a brave face, but could only muster a weak smile. But Tony smiled back at her, thankful he'd at least succeeded in calming her down somewhat.

He shifted his eyes to their surroundings, and was surprised by what he saw. They were standing at the bottom of the stairs, just outside the shop door of the Malibu Point mansion, and he suddenly registered the sound of familiar music blaring from inside. He saw himself knelt down beside his 1932 Ford Flathead Roadster, working on the engine, as he had so many times before. He looked at Pepper questioningly, and she just shrugged silently. He grasped her hand, and jabbed the access code into the infrared panel beside the door. The locks hissed, and he pulled the door open, leading them both inside, the volume of the music suddenly thundering in their ears.

"Extrapolated view," he heard his past self say to JARVIS, who then did as instructed and displayed an extrapolated digital diagram of the engine as Tony cleaned the valve cover he held in his hands, and studied the screen in front of him. Just then, the door to the shop was whisked open, and Executive Assistant Pepper strode through, flustered and clearly frustrated by his presence.

The speakers instantly quieted. "Please don't turn down my music!" Tony cried.

"You are supposed to be on a plane half-way around the world by now," Pepper stated sternly.

They both observed their continuing exchange for a few moments, and Tony chuckled at their past-selves. Pepper looked at him sidelong with a wry smirk. She caught his eye, and he looked at her questioningly. "What? I ended up with my best girl, right? Better late than never, Potts," he quipped.

Pepper sighed and crossed her arms, still smirking. "I suppose," she teased.

They watched as their former selves bantered and volleyed back and forth, Tony making his way across the room, grumbling about MIT graduation commencement speeches Pepper was trying to get him to commit to.

"...and what are you trying to get rid of me for? What, have you got plans, or something?" he asked.

"As a matter of fact, I do," his loyal assistant answered.

Tony groused. "I don't like it when you have plans," he muttered.

"I'm allowed to have plans on my birthday," Pepper shot back.

"It's your birthday? Really?" Tony said, clearly genuinely surprised.

"Yes. Funny it's the same day as last year," she retorted with a teasing smirk.

"You're still terrible at remembering it, for the record," present-day Pepper murmured to her husband.

"Hey, I'm..." Tony started to say, but then halted. Oh, shit!, he thought. Her birthday! I forgot her birthday this year, too! he realized. And then it hit him- Pepper had turned one year older in the midst of all of the mess from the last few months, and he had completely passed it over. Not that she would have been conscious for any celebration at the time, but the thought was still saddening.

He turned to his wife, and she felt his eyes on her. She shifted her gaze from watching their past interaction to his face, and frowned. "What? What is it?" she asked.

"Your birthday," he said. He swallowed hard. "I promise, Pep. As soon as we get you out of here, I'm throwing you the biggest party..."

"Tony," she said, stopping him and cupping his face in her hands. She smiled warmly. "I don't need the biggest party," she explained. "It's the thought that counts. Besides," she said. "I already have what I'd want."

Tony frowned in confusion. "You do?" he said.

Pepper smiled at him warmly, and softly kissed his lips. "Mmmm hmmm," she said. "And it's the same thing I wanted then, too."

Tony was totally lost. "It is?" he said, even more confused.

Pepper rolled her eyes. "You are nothing if not unobservant, Stark," she teased. Pepper chuckled, and nodded toward their former selves. "Watch," she said.

Tony turned his head to look at them, and noticed his past self hand his assistant his empty Espresso cup and walk past her in dismissal, completely oblivious to the lovesick, bitten-lip-to-keep-from-showing-it, grin she couldn't help directly after.

Tony gasped, and glanced back and forth between his former assistant, and his wife. "You...you..." he stammered. "Even then? Why didn't I...I mean..."

Pepper giggled. "I don't know! But honestly! I just. couldn't. help myself," she explained, sliding her hands up and down her husband's chest seductively. "And you just weren't paying attention."

He continued to splutter and stammer. "Seriously?!" he managed to spit out. "How could I be that dense?!"

Pepper's giggle turned to a laugh, and slowly a grin spread across Tony's face. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he surrendered to her embrace, wrapping his arms around her.

"Better late than never?" Pepper whispered in his ear.

"I suppose," he replied, grinning. But then he began to feel a sense of sinking. He looked down, and saw he was quickly melting into the floor.

Pepper saw the same thing, and yelped, jumping out of the way. But Tony quickly pulled her back to him. "No, Pepper! Come with me!" he begged. "You have to come with me!"

He held her close, but in that instance, as if they were caught inside a roll of melting film, the walls of the shop began to erode, and their past selves froze in their tracks, stuck in suspended animation. Everything around them began to crumble, followed by a black oozing tar-like substance pouring down the walls and pooling to the floor, inching dangerously close to them, ready to smother them.

"It's the snake! He's found us!" Pepper shrieked. "Oh, God! It's finally happening!"

"No, Pepper! He's not going to win! Just hold on!" Tony pleaded to her, holding his wife tightly to him in his arms as they both melted into the floor.

XxXxXxXxXx

Tony gasped for air as he suddenly awakened. He sat up sharply on the hospital bed, and yanked the nodes off his chest and forehead. "What's happening?! Is she okay? Is she awake?!" he barked to Bruce, who was looking at him wide eyed.

But Bruce didn't have to answer, as the rampant, frantic beeping of the EKG machine was still ever present, and the team of doctors and nurses had hardly noticed him. Then, their worst fear became real. The beeping was soon replaced by a flat-line alarm. It rang cruelly in Tony's ears, and he felt as if his legs might give way right at that moment. But, instead, he remained standing, glued to the spot on the floor where he stood as he looked on.

Dr. Cho grabbed the defibrillator paddles from her head nurse, and rubbed them together. "Clear!" she yelled as she pressed them to Pepper's chest, and mashed the buttons to discharge them. Pepper's body jolted violently, and Tony startled.

"No. No,no,no! It can't be! She was with me! She was right there! How can she be..." he begged Bruce.

"They've been fighting to stabilize her this whole time, and now this," Bruce told him glumly. "It's not looking good, Tony."

Tony clenched his teeth at his friend's words. "No," he said sternly. "No, I refuse. I refuse to let her go. I can't," he insisted.

They both watched helplessly as Dr. Cho administered a shock twice more, each with no result.

"Pepper, come on," Tony said desperately. "Don't do this. Don't give up."

"Move to call, doctor?" the head nurse asked.

Dr. Cho looked at Tony regretfully, and he gave her a pleading shake of his head. She pursed her lips, and turned her eyes back to the nurse. "One more time," she ordered.

The nurse pushed the button to charge up the paddles once more, and Dr. Cho rubbed them together. She pressed them to Pepper's chest, and girded herself up for the final attempt. "Clear!" she called out, and discharged the shock. Pepper's body jolted one last time, and Tony inhaled sharply, his eyes bolting from her to the monitor. The blip from the shock registered as predicted.

"Come on, baby. Wake up. Don't leave me," he begged.

But eon-like seconds passed, and nothing else appeared.

"Move to call, doctor," the nurse said once more, her words echoing in Tony's ears. His mind began to swirl with shock, and he closed his eyes briefly to steady himself.

Dr. Cho took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. "Calling it," she said resolutely. "Time of death..."

"No, you're not calling it!" Tony exclaimed, marching to Pepper's bedside. "She's not dead! You're not calling it!"

"But Mr. Stark!" Dr. Cho argued.

He ignored her, and cupped Pepper's face in his hands, bending low to her ear. "I'm here, baby," he murmured. "I'm here and I'm not letting you go. Do you hear me? You're not leaving me, Pepper. I'm not going to lose you. Not like this."

XxXxXxXxXxXx

Pepper felt herself get ripped from Tony's grasp just before he disappeared, and then clenched in the serpent's teeth. She screamed herself instantly hoarse in terror, and began to sob as she felt herself being smothered by the black ooze that encompassed the snake's body, her last thoughts desperately flashing to Tony, and the sad regret of never having the chance to build a life with him. But the worst part was the thought of leaving him alone. This broke her heart even more, as Tony was never one to do well by himself. She hated the thought of what he'd succumb to without her there by his side to lift him up again.

But then, as if by some strange miracle, the snake released her, suddenly and mercilessly, crudely spitting her out on to the parched floor. She was covered in black sticky ooze and gasped for breath as the force knocked the wind out of her, never mind that its constrictor-like grip was squeezing her tightly and she was slowly suffocating. She rolled from her stomach to her back to see what caused the urgent disruption, and saw that the snake was suddenly overcome with what appeared to be a swarm of large black insects. It flailed from side to side, trying desperately to end the attack. But it was no use. The swarm infiltrated every orifice of the creature, entering the mouth, and coming out of the eye sockets, devouring it from the inside out.

Pepper watched in complete amazement as they withered the beast to a decayed skeletal shell, all the way down to the tip of its tail. It came crashing down in front of her in a lifeless pile, the dust from the carcass hitting the floor and kicking up in a dingy cloud all around her.

Pepper slowly stood up, swatting at the air, and coughing. After a few moments, the dust settled enough for her to breath freely, and she took a deep breath, her limbs now noticeably exhausted. The tornadic winds had ceased as well, and her ears rang in the abrupt silence. She looked around her helplessly, hoping Tony might somehow appear again and get her out of this horrific place once and for all.

"I hope you haven't given up on me, Tony," she murmured sadly, as new tears began to roll down her cheeks. "I'm here! The snake is dead, and I'm still here! Please! Please come back!"