As the last of the sun dipped below the horizon Pepper walked through the helicarrier with a concerned yet intent look on her face. When people saw her they got out of her way without her saying a word, whenever she looked slightly confused about her direction they pointed which way she needed to go. She didn't thank them.

The door to Tony's room was open when she arrived. Just enough so that she could see Natasha sitting on a small plastic chair twiddling her thumbs anxiously. It gave Pepper a funny image of Natasha being fidgeting and restless from boredom while waiting for a terrorist strike. If the situation wasn't creating knots in her stomach it would have made her laugh.

When Natasha saw her she sat up smoothly, said something to someone Pepper couldn't see, and headed out stopping Pepper in her tracks. "Before you go in there is a few things you have to know."

Pepper listened intently as Natasha described Tony's condition with precision. Everything that had happened since the morning after the Battle of New York, as it had started being called, was explained to her deeply. Even with the calm way this was all described to her anger burned in her heart and tears in her eyes.

"Can I see him now?" She asked the fellow red haired woman who nodded before stepping out of the way.

Pepper's heels clicked dully as she entered the annoyingly bright room Tony was resting in. A single tear slipped down her face as she saw what was described came to life.

It struck her how funny it was that how something can be described so easily but nothing can be explained to the point where you understand it fully without seeing or feeling it for oneself. Nothing could prepare her for the pale, lifeless, face of the man she loved. Or the way the tube invasively went down his throat. Somethings you had to see to believe, but those are usually the are things you never want to witness.

"Tony." She murmured letting her purse slip of her shoulder and on the ground with a soft thud.

The other three Avengers straightened up before leaving the room to give her some space. Bruce gave her a kind smile and his condolences along with Clint both of which she only knew from news coverage. When Steve shook her hand there was a moment of awe as she remembered all of the stories Tony had told her about his father's obsession with Captain America, most of which was not good, and there he was a man of legend shaking her hand.

"He'll pull out of this, mam." He said kindly.

Pepper gave a small gracious smile before he left leaving her alone with Tony. She walked towards him carefully almost like he would break if she got to close, the smallest disturbance would disintegrate whatever was left of him. When she was finally close enough she held his unresponsive hand.

It was cold. So cold it sent goosebumps across her body and made her shiver. If there hadn't been wires connected to his entire body she would have pulled the thin yet warm looking blanket over the rest of Tony's prone form. Instead she settled for letting her hand warm his slowly.

"You're going to make it through this Tony." She told him brushing back his black hair so it was away from his face since he had no product in it to keep it spiky like he preferred. "Soon enough you're going to come back to annoy me with your loud music, and forgetting dates because of whatever stupid project you lose track of time working on."

Part of her was deeply saddened when his eyes didn't open. Some childish part of her hoped that his eyes would open in some heroic way like what happened in the stupid movies she and Tony would watch from time to time. Deep inside her she thought that being there was all he would need. Apparently she could be as irrational as him as well thinking that there was a way she could solve every problem.

Carefully she stroked the side of his face. "Please come back." A grief filled laugh came out of her as she remembered the last time she had cried in front of Tony. "You know I hate job hunting."

The door behind Pepper opened softly and a woman with black hair tied back in a neat bun and S.H.I.E.L.D. issued medical gear walked entered. "I'm sorry." She smiled kindly. "I just need to take for some testing."

Pepper wiped her tears quickly before returning the same smile. "No problem. Go ahead." She stepped away from the medical as the nurse check to make sure all the machine were attached appropriately, luckily for S.H.I.E.L.D. they had found how to make considerably smaller and lighter so patients were easily mobile.

"Do you know if he's going to be okay?" She asked the nurse who looked stunned before smiling happily.

"I can assure you that will be just fine." She said before wheeling him out.

This left Pepper with her own thoughts for a few minutes as she tried to piece together the events that had taken place ever since she left China. She promised herself that she would never leave his side again, that she would always be there for him. Then she realised how insane that sounded. Even in her grief she knew that she could never stay by his side, and there was little to nothing she could do to protect him. But what she could do was be there when he woke up.

Ten minutes after the nurse had brought him away the rest of Tony's team, and who Pepper assumed was his doctor, entered the room surprise on their faces to see their teammates bed gone.

"Where's Tony?" Bruce asked pointing at the space his friend's bed used to be.

"Some nurse came by and took him for testing, she didn't say what exactly." Pepper said still lost in thought.

The doctor looked confused. "What testing?" He asked. "I haven't scheduled any testing for Tony until tomorrow."

Pepper stood up quickly and looked at them with gleam of fear. "But if he's not getting a test done then where the hell is he?"

Clint didn't waste a second before hitting an emergency lockdown button on the side of the wall setting off alarms and red lights that pulsed on and off. "Tell Fury to shut this place down." He pointed at Bruce forcefully his every work. "No one gets on or off until we know where Stark is."