So the Bloodstone is like the Tesseract, it played on Tony's insecurities and manipulated him into thinking Pepper is going to destroy him. This of course, was the Serpent's plan all along. Separate Pepper and Tony, so that Pepper would run away again.

Tony is at fault here as well because he didn't talk to Pepper, when he really should have.


The memory of you emerges from the night around me - Pablo Neruda

Pepper stared at the eerily familiar looking gemstone on the floor, blood red and glimmering.

"Tony, from where did you get this? It looks like the Bloodstone that Morganna had..." she lifted her gaze to Tony. He was very pale and she noticed his hands were shaking.

"Tony... are you alright?" She was worried because she saw him swallow hard and clutch his Arc.

"I... I am... I am nearly used to it... it is just... from time to time, its strength weakens me."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "From time to time, it weakens you? I don't understand... what are you doing with this stone?"

His gaze hardened and he said gruffly, "Never mind. It is mine."

Tony bent to pick it up but she was quicker and she picked up the stone.

She straightened and stared at it in her palm. Glimmering red, so red, just like blood, thick and crimson blood...

A memory flashed through her mind.

Stabbing my dagger into Morganna's chest, in a visceral blow. Blood spurting from the wound. Morganna crying out and stumbling to her knees in pain. Morganna looking at me, her face so pale in Death's grasp but her eyes, burning bright with anger and hate. A thin trickle of blood falls from the corner of her mouth. She tried to say something but then... her lifeless body falls backwards, slowly.

She felt a surge of power flow through her. So many have fallen to my hand... they deserved it, each and every one of them.

She glanced at Tony, pale and shivering slightly. His Flame was flickering at her weakly.

I wonder if Tony is truly capable of facing Stane... he couldn't handle himself against the Black Knight, could he?

She remembered the chain around the tree.

Yes... he was chained there, helpless. I had to do it all. I had to kill the banisters. I had to kill the whatcamacallit that the Black Knight set on us... wait! I am the one who faced the Black Knight, head on! What has Tony done?

Pepper was filled with a cold rage. She glared at Tony, angry at his very presence.

How can he protect me anymore? He is weak in front of Stane's power... what assurance do I have, that Lord Stark can help me?

She felt the stone throb in her hands, as if agreeing with her. It began to glow red and she closed her hand possessively over it. Mine... now you are mine...

Then she blinked as a ray of sunshine hit her in the face. Pepper raised her hand to block it out. And realized that the sun was reflecting off something on the bench.

My ring... well... Tony's ring ... she stared at the bright blue sapphire ring. He gave it to me because he... he loved me... it was his mother's ... I and his mother were the only women who really loved him...

Unbidden, memories of Tony and her together came to her mind.

Swinging my sword at the dummy with the correct form, making a deep slit in its belly. Jarvis and Magdalene applauding me. Then Tony comes over, clapping hard, grinning at me with admiration. He pats me hard on the back and praises me...

The beast's giant eyes were focused on me. A lone tendril came towards me slowly, like a silvery twirly tail. It was going to touch me when Tony yelled. Both I and the Beast turned as Tony charged towards the Beast and threw his sword with force at its face. "Pepper, get away! Run!"

Tony jumped after me when Rana threw me off the roof. He flew to save me...

Tony whispering in my ear, his beard ticklish, "Do not fear him, sweeting... You are more capable than you think. You are not alone, I'm by your side. Together we will destroy this evil. Have faith in yourself, Pepper. You are no ordinary woman."

"Tony, what are you doing ? What is wrong with you? ! Take it back! You need it!

"Pepper, sweeting, don't argue now, take the flame, merge it with your ribbon... Trust me, Pepper, I trust you..." he whispered.

At the engagement ball, he... he offered me his arm and whispered, "This may be a room full of roses but you, my wild rose, are the only one that has bloomed in adversity, the most rare and beautiful flower of them all."

The burning orb of fire in my hand. "It is so beautiful, Pepper, so bright and strong... so passionate. Just like you, my love."

The flame seems to burn even brighter at his words and its flames rise on my hand. The fire flowing through me like a river of heat. I take a deep breath, aim at the dummy and fire... only to hit it dead center.

The shield, its center point. Too strong, too thick. My fingers itch, the fire, excited like a child to be set free. And I set it free, two bolts of orange fire burst from my hands, hitting the shield on its left and right edge. The giant shield totters backwards and falls to the ground with a clang. Tony standing a little away from me, quietly smiling. The look of pride in his eyes...

"I love you, Virginia Potts and I will love you till the grave and beyond. Through good times and bad times, in sickness and in health, I will cherish you. I will not let Stane's evil taint what we have. I love you and we will face this together."

Pepper shook her head, feeling her thoughts collate and clear. She walked over to Tony, who was staring at her warily.

He tensed as she pushed his hair back from his forehead. He was cold and clammy to her touch but she trailed hers fingers over his beard and he leaned into her caress, nuzzling her hand.

My Knight... my Tony ... he loves me and I love him...

The gem throbbed in her hand and suddenly she saw her mother's dead face, eyes blank and empty, body burnt. Pepper cried out but then she had an epiphany.

"Tony! Tony! The gem! It is manipulating us! It is trying to weaken us emotionally! It is playing with our minds!"

The gem started to heat up in her palm. Tony stared at her incredulously.

"Have you gone mad, Pepper?"

She huffed at him. "From where did you get this?"

"The Black Knight was using it... to weaken me... it has some effect on my Fire... I thought to..."

He swallowed hard and she continued, "Then this is Stane's dark object! Remember Morganna's Bloodstone?! It not only had an effect on the body but on the spirit itself! Remember how it made all the courtiers fall under a spell of lust! Such that they revolted against their own ruler!"

Tony murmured, "The Black Knight mentioned it was a remnant of that stone."

Pepper gasped at him and he just shrugged tiredly. "Tony, why were you using it then? You know this is a dangerous object."

He shook his head at her mulishly. She realized Tony was quite completely under the spell of the Bloodstone.

So I have no choice but to destroy it myself... with...what?

Then she realized with what. Pepper pulled out the dagger of Aramiah from her waistband and Tony shouted at her, "Pepper! No!"

She paid him no attention and in one quick motion, slammed the gem down on the table and stabbed the dagger into it.

Tony grabbed her in an effort to stop her but he was too late. The dagger pierced the jewel and they both watched in silent horror as thick red blood began to ooze from it. A strange gurgling noise came from it, almost like a stuck pig.

Tony clutched his arc and fell to his knees yelling, as a red light shone from the gem. "Pepper, stab it, finish it off quickly!"

She did so and the jewel cracked into a thousand pieces and the pieces burned away into ash.

Tony was breathing heavily and she helped him to a chair.

"Water... please... I need..."

She ran to his convenient windowsill jug and poured a glass. Then she handed it to him and he gulped it down hard.

"Tony." she touched him gently, "What has happened to you?"

He caught her hands tightly and stood up. She steadied him and he leaned back against the table.

"I... I don't know what came over me... I just wanted to strengthen myself because of the dreams."

She stood by his side, rubbing his back. "These dreams...you keep mentioning dreams... when did they start?"

Tony closed his eyes tightly. "I have been having strange dreams ever since the day the Black Knight came... in fact I went to the forest in the first place because I had a dream about my mother. She asked me to come there..."

"Tony... tell me everything please. From the beginning..."

He looked at her and nodded. "The Black Knight said Stane and the Master want you back. So he was using me as bait to capture you. After we came back to the Keep, I slept peacefully but since then... Pepper, I have been having nightmares every night."

She just looked at him in shock.

"I can't sleep, I am so scared of the dreams... they are so real... and each one is worse than the last."

"What were they about?"

Tony explained some of his dreams to her and she noticed a recurring pattern.

"So either you dream someone's memories or ... of me?"

He ruffled his hair. She was happy to see some color return to his face.

Tony growled out, "First the dreams about you, all featured you dying. In some horrible manner. And I was powerless to stop it. I couldn't save you, I was useless!"

She could see the frustration, the anger in his tense frame. Then he looked at her, his eyes bleak. "Then they became worse."

"How?"

"You become Stane's ... he takes you away in a portal and you leave with him willingly... you and him work together... you want to be with him... one dream I had, he makes you a queen... the queen of the forest..."

She shuddered at what he said, then asked incredulously, "Queen of the forest?"

"Pepper, I know I sound crazy but..." Tony swallowed and said sadly. "These are the visions I would get every night."

"Tony..." she said gently, "Did the dreams worsen when you started training with the Bloodstone?"

She smiled sadly at his guilty look. "Tony, I know you didn't come from the clearing with the stone, because I and Jarvis undressed you that night. You didn't have the stone on you. So you must have..."

He caught her hands suddenly, "Pepper, you had to face the Black Knight alone! I could not do a damn thing! I was so weak!"

Then he whispered to her, sadness and worry in his eyes. "I failed you because I was incapable of standing up to that damn stone!"

"Tony!" She exclaimed. "You decided to torture yourself with a dangerous magical object, all because you were insecure?!"

"You do not know what I went through, chained up to that tree!" He roared at her. "I had to watch you take on those soldiers and what not! Alone! He... it could have hurt you! They could have ..."

He swallowed hard and looked away from her. "They could have killed you... and all I could do was watch... I failed you..."

She stood in front of him and gently ran her hands through his hair. Tony surprised her by pulling her tightly to him and burying his face in her neck.

She looped her hands around his neck and hugged him hard because Pepper realized he was crying quietly.

"Tony... Tony, why didn't you just tell me all this?"

He was silent and she continued, "I know you haven't been sleeping..." she whispered softly, rubbing his back. "And you haven't been eating either... Tony..."she turned her head and kissed his ear, "Tony, I worry about you too, I am just as helpless as you are..."

She heard a muffled inquiry as Tony said something against her neck. "Yes I do... you took a stupid risk with that joust and I had to sit there and watch you get hurt badly. How do you think I felt? Before that, you fought the undead Captain... without your armor! I was helpless there as well and waited, prayed for you to get up. I can't protect you either... and so I have definitely failed you."

He pushed himself back and looked at her, brow furrowed, eyes brown and moist. Then Tony said fiercely, "You have never failed me! You are one of the best warriors I know! Aside from your fire power! You have always come through for me!"

His impassioned statement made her feel slightly teary eyed herself. "No one has failed anyone then... we are a team right?"

He caught her hands firmly. "We are. We are a team. And you are my best and favorite student... even though you are the only student I have ever had. No one else could bear to be taught by me."

She giggled but then sobered and asked him sternly. "Tony, why didn't you tell me about your dreams and about your doubts? Didn't you want to confide in me?"

He said sheepishly, "I didn't want you to think less of me... I ..."

"Why of all the!" She exclaimed loudly. "You know, for being a genius, there are some matters in which you are very thick, Anthony Stark!"

Tony shrugged in that charmingly offbeat manner of his and said quietly, "I have never explained my shortcomings to a woman before... I thought... I am new to this, Pepper. I don't know how to behave in a relationship."

She shook her head at him. "Next time, Tony... tell me what is going on... and do not go off secretly to train on your own!"

He said seriously. "I truly am sorry, Pepper, I am sorry for being so cold to you and hiding stuff from you. And being so cold and distant and rude." He kissed her hands reverently and she sighed in pleasure at the feel of his beard on her soft skin.

He turned her hands over and kissed her palms reverently. "I am such an idiot... please forgive me..." he whispered gently.

"Yes, you are... you are a prize idiot..." she said slowly "but..." she linked her fingers with his and then leaned tenderly against him. "You are my idiot... and I love you, Tony Stark... as you are, perfectly imperfect..."

He kissed her lightly and they held each other for a long moment and Tony blinked at her as he moved his hand behind him, feeling around the table.

Pepper looked at him curiously but realized what he was searching for, when he lifted the sapphire ring up. Tony swallowed hard and took her hand.

"Pepper, please forgive me... and please... take me back into your heart... I love you and I trust you, my lady..."

She kissed his nose and said softly, "You never left my heart, Tony... and you never will..."

Tony slid the ring back on her finger and kissed it. "I can't believe I came so close to losing you ... so close... and all over a stone..."

Pepper murmured, "Tony... tell me... tell me about the Black Knight... was it really Rhodes?"

He nodded sadly. "Yes it was.. the face... my friend's face. And he knew me, Pepper, he mocked me..." she felt him tense.

"I can't believe Stane brought him back from the dead..." he shook his head lightly. "Is there no limit to that man's power? To be honest, I am not sure if he is even a man anymore... and how do I face him? How I can stand against a wizard?"

She pinched him lightly and he pouted at her.

"What did we just discuss, Lord Stark?"

He gulped at the stern look in her eyes. "That I am a lovable idiot?"

Pepper touched her forehead to his and closed her eyes. She linked her fingers with his and leaned into him.

"Tony, take a deep breath."

He obeyed her and exhaled on a sigh.

"Tony..." she said firmly, "I know Stane is frighteningly powerful. I know he seems to have the support of some other worldly creature... but ..." she kissed his cheek.

"But you and I have each other. And we are going to face him and whatever he calls up... together. Together Tony. You are not going to bear this burden alone. And come what may..." she tightened her grip on him and he squeezed back, "we are going to be together. Is that clear?"

He looked into her eyes and nodded with a smile.

Then Pepper hugged him and said softly, "Tony, I am sorry about Rhodes... it must have been difficult for you to see his face on a being like that."

He exhaled harshly, idly looking at their joint hands. "Stane picked the perfect psychological weapon... the undead version of my best friend whose death I have always felt guilty off."

She said firmly, "Don't humanize the Black Knight. That thing had no resemblance to your friend. Your friend would never do that to you."

Tony just nodded quietly. She realized something.

"When did you last eat, Tony?"

He thought for too long and then shrugged. "I don't remember."

She pursed her lips at him. "Come then, let's go eat something."

He shook his head. "Let's not go back in... I just want to stay here with you... for a while."

She tapped his nose lightly. "I have an idea. Give me five minutes."

Pepper left Tony in the Workshop and ran back to the Keep. In the kitchen, she quickly picked up a block of cheese, some apples and a jar of stewed plums. Magdalene was busy cleaning the oven, so she quickly took a large loaf of bread as well and sneaked out of the kitchen.

She went back to the Workshop to find Tony still leaning against the table, looking exhausted.

"Alright Lord Stark." she said sternly. "Sit your cute butt down and start eating."

He widened his eyes at her hands full of food but listened to her. Pepper searched for a clean knife amongst Tony's junkyard tools but she couldn't find any, so she used the Dagger of Aramiah.

She cut a slice of bread and a piece of cheese. Then Pepper placed it in front of Tony, who scarfed it down like a hungry wolf.

He grinned at her. "You take such good care of me... I don't deserve you."

She sighed, exasperated. "Well Tony... you really need watching."

She began to cut the apple into halves as he ate another slice of bread with the plums.

Pepper had a niggling thought. "You said the first dream came on the day The Black Knight came here... what if Stane is giving you these dreams?"

Tony opened his mouth in shock and she made a disgusted face at his mouth full of food. "Tony!"

He swallowed and said, "I never thought of that... it could be... what I do know is the dreams got worse as I spent more time with the Bloodstone."

He kept eating and she asked, "What does the Dragon say about all this?"

Tony wouldn't meet her eyes and said gruffly, "It hardly speaks to me anymore. In fact we haven't spoken in days..."

Pepper sat back in shock. "Since when? Did you fight with it?"

"What! No... it just... it grew quiet ever since the first dream."

He thought for a moment, chewing slowly. "I asked it about the dream and it was very vague. Then it told me not to get the Bloodstone and I..." Tony gave her a sheepish look.

"And of course you decided to be stubborn and get it anyways." She completed, shaking her head at him. "But Tony ... this is worrying... was the Bloodstone blocking the Dragon?"

He shrugged. "Could be... but I feel perfectly fine now. Must be the company..." He waggled his eyebrows at her and she huffed it at him.

Pepper handed him an apple slice and he ate it.

She said, "You are just good with words, Lord Stark. Just good with words."

She handed him another slice and this time, Tony took it directly from her fingers, licking them lightly with his tongue. Pepper flushed and lowered her head as he kept kissing her fingers.

Then Tony stood up and took her hand. "Come, I want to show you something."

Pepper stood and he led her to the edge of the smithy, where a thin cloth covered something placed on its edge.

Tony placed his hands on the cloth. "Before the Black Knight came, I was working on these. They are not done yet. It is just a concept, I wanted to see if it could actually be of any practical use."

She stepped closer, curious as he lifted the cloth. Then Pepper gasped in wonder at the delicate, bluish silver gauntlets that lay there. Tony picked one up and turned it over, explaining, "I know you fire from your fingers, so the glove just protects the back of your hand and wrists, leaving your palm free."

Pepper took the glove from him, marveling at it. "It is so light! How is that possible, Tony?"

"Because, my love," he tapped her nose lightly, "This is not steel, this is Mithril, a special type of metal, known for its lightness but it is just as strong as steel. And more malleable. Of course, I could mold it only because I have a different sort of Fire, one with a higher range of temperature."

He tapped his Arc proudly and she exclaimed, "You forged these using your Fire!"

"Yup, my Fire can melt it easily and I could create the outline from it. I used one of your gloves for reference. It is just to protect your hands as they are. And Mithril can withstand the heat of your fire as well, whereas iron would get burnt."

She held out her hands. "May I?"

"Of course, Pepper." Tony gently fitted the gauntlets on her hands and she marveled at the unique feel of them. They covered her fingers and her hand till her wrist perfectly but they felt as light as air, as if cloth was placed on them.

"They fit perfectly, I am glad. There's more. Here, look at these."

He moved another covered cloth aside and Pepper felt a slow grin bloom across her face at what she saw. "Tony," she whispered in awe, "arm guards?"

"Yup, again light enough for you to move freely but keep your arms protected."

Tony fitted one on her arm and she moved her arm in awe. "Tony, it really doesn't feel like armor. Look at how easily I can move my hands!"

He wasn't paying any attention to her, because he was busy staring at the smithy. Tony scratched his jaw absently. "I think I have enough Mithril to make a set of knee guards as well. Your boots should protect your shins well enough. But I will have to think of something for your chest."

Then Tony stopped, tilted his head at her and said, "Pepper, it is just a concept, you don't need to use them if you want. I can remelt them an-"

She cut him off mid-way, by quickly pulling down his head for a deep kiss. After she had kissed him senseless, she exclaimed, "Of course, I am going to use them! You brilliant man! Thank you, Thank you for thinking of me..."

He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her lightly against him. Tony gasped out, as she showered his face with tiny kisses. "I am an idiot, Pepper, but I do have my uses."

She took his lips hard and used her tongue to make him shudder lightly. "You are my idiot and I love these gloves and the guards... I can't believe you made these for me... how thoughtful... Lord Stark, I need you... I need you now..."

He whispered back, "Pepper, I really have been neglecting you for long, let me make that up to you sweetheart."