Tony hadn't seen Pepper all day. It was already three in the afternoon and he had officially called her 25 times; each time there was no answer.

As soon as he had woken up that morning, he'd realized that he had been a complete dick to Pepper. He asked Jarvis where she was, but he said she left early that morning and even he didn't know where she was.

Hey, you seen Pepper? Tony texted Rhodey, not even knowing where Rhodey was himself. When he didn't even get an answer back from him, Tony threw his phone against the back of the chair and collapsed on the couch. Why did he have such a tendency to be an asshole to the people he loves? Especially Pepper. Tony reached for his phone.

Pls come home, i'm worried Tony texted. He had lost count of how many texts that made. He never liked going this long without Pepper. He needed her more than he needed air to breathe. Pepper was everything to him, and he needed her now more than ever. He though he made his decision, but he honestly wanted to hear what she said.

Pepper I don't know if you're dead or kidnapped or just super pissed, but pls at least call me.

Tony texted again, hoping she'd understand his worry. Tony nearly jumped out of his skin when his phone vibrated. Tony rushed so fast to answer that he knocked it on the floor at first.

"Pepper!" he said when he finally answered the phone.

"Tony. What do you want."

Ouch. That hurt.

"To know where you are!"

"Do you really have to know everything?" pepper said sourly. Tony knew she was only mocking his own words that he'd said last night, but it still stung. Tony got an idea suddenly, and he needed to hurry. He pressed the mute button on his phone.

"Jarvis, trace call."

Tony directed before he turned the phone off of mute.

"Pepper... I-"

"Tony, I'm kind of busy." Tony sighed. What could she possibly be doing?

"Don't make me come and get you, Peps. I'll carry you home." Tony grinned, remembering how he had to do that last time. Pepper tried to be mad at him for doing that to her in the middle of Stark Industries, but she couldn't help but love him for it.

"Yes. I remember. Don't you dare."

"Ok, ok. Just..."

"Sir, trace complete." Jarvis interupted. Tony shut his eyes and mentally kicked himself.

"What was that?"

"Nothing... Jarvis..."

"Tony, are you tracing me!?"

"Hey I uh, gotta go I love you. I'm sorry for everything please come home, Pepper."

"Wait- Tony!" she yelled, but Tony hurriedly hung up.

"Nice, blow my cover Jarvis."

"Maybe you shouldn't be tracing Ms. Potts in the first place." Jarvis told him, sounded offended by Tony's reprimand.

"Don't make me mute you."

"You wouldn't be able to find out where Miss Potts is then."

Tony sighed. Why'd he make his AI so sarcastic and sassy?

"Fine, where is she?"

"Behind you."

Tony whipped around to see Pepper standing by the elevator. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she looked just as angry as she did last night. Tony supposed she had a reason too. Pepper hadn't been doing any work, she was dressed casually in her jeans and black, tight long sleeved shirt. He realized how much he missed her.

"Hi Pep..." Tony said, quietly.

"So you were tracking me?" Pepper asked him, angrily. Tony sunk back into the couch a bit.

"Um, you wanna go to the park or something? I need to tell you some stuff."

Pepper rolled her eyes but didn't protest. Tony pushed himself up and grabbed a jacket for him and one for Pepper before getting on the elevator with her. He tried to reach out for her hand, but she pulled away making Tony sigh. She'd get over it eventually. Especially after what he was about to tell her.

Tony and Pepper sat on a bench in a deserted part of one of the parks nearby. There weren't many people out since it was almost January and pretty cold. It could've been negative five hundred out though, and Pepper would still refuse to come to close to Tony. He loved how she could get fiesty, but not when it helped her hold a strong grudge.

"Pepper, I'm sorry." Tony tried a third time since they'd gotten there, leaning over to nuzzle her shoulder. Pepper didn't pull away but didn't do anything else either. She just stared straight ahead and stayed still.

"Pepper, please." Tony whined, nuzzling his way to her neck. He kissed her under her jaw and then on her cheek. Pepper's face softened and she relaxed a bit. She finally looked over at Tony with big eyes.

"What did you need to tell me?"

"Oh yeah..." Tony trailed off. Pepper stared at him, waiting for her explanation. Tony tried to find the right words to tell her. It wasn't too big of a deal, was it? He wasn't quite sure yet.

"Well I opened a letter last night..."

"Wait, you read one of your letters?"

"Yeah, surprising. Ha-ha." Tony said sarcastically. He looked down at his hands in his lap and then back up at Pepper.

"There's a hospital in Tokyo, very prestige and all that. They think they've perfected a surgery to take the shrapnel out of my chest. No more arc reactor that I have to rely on for my life all of the time, Pepper. I'll be normal... well more normal anyway." Tony finished. Pepper thought about this for a while.

"So, what's the down side?" Pepper asked.

"How'd you know there's a down side?"

"There's always a downside." Pepper plainly said. Tony nodded and looked back down at the ground and rested his elbows on his knees.

"Well it's never been done before. They don't know the exact risks. It's potentially pretty dangerous... but I mean, what surgery isn't?" Tony said so quietly that Pepper had to lean in close to hear, which were his intentions. Her face had changed to worried in the time that Tony had told her about the surgery.

"What are the risks then?"

"They don't know."

"Geez, what do they know?" Pepper said, frustrated. Tony just continued looking down at the ground. He knew he was guilt tripping her into forgiving him and to just be there to comfort Tony, but he didn't care. He learned from the best. Harvey crossed into Tony's mind for a moment.

"You want to do it, don't you?" Pepper said more than questioned. Tony nodded but didn't say anything. Pepper watched him for a while, her expression softening every second.

"I'm sorry. I should've told you about it, I know. It just kind of caught me off guard and I took it out on you." Tony mumbled. Pepper bit her lip and tilted her head to watch Tony's face, but he didn't turn to look back at her. It took about a minute for Pepper to let her shoulders fall and her breath sigh as she snaked her arms around Tony's waist and pulled herself up against him. Pepper rested her head on his shoulder, and Tony touched the side of his head to her forehead.

"It's ok, Tony. I do trust you, by the way. If you want to do the surgery, then you should. We can celebrate afterwards and everything." she said gently to him. Tony grinned, but only for a moment.

"Pepper... I'm- I'm scared though. After all that we've been through it'd seem to be kind of depressing if I died just from surgery." Tony muttered. Pepper smiled sadly and touched her hand to Tony's jaw to turn him to face her. She leaned in and kissed him. Her lips were so warm and soft, Tony melted into her. He hugged his body to his when she let his tongue into her mouth.

She eventually pulled away, breathing hard. It had begun snowing right around then, small flakes collecting in Tony's dark hair and less visibly in Pepper's too.

"You'll be okay, Tony." Pepper assured him. He was slightly surprised about how calm she was. Usually she was the one to be worked up and worried over things. Maybe they were rubbing off on eachother.

Tony gave her his charming Tony Stark half-smile and leaned in to kiss her all down her neck. Pepper rubbed his back while he did, also making sure no one was walking by.

"I love you." Tony mumbled against her skin.

"I love you too."

A week later, they were in Tokyo. Tony had been shaking the whole way there. After everything he does, one would be surprised that Tony Stark was so freaked out about surgery. Tony Stark did not like anything having to do with hospitals though, especially if it had to do with them cutting his chest open. Pepper was with him the whole way there though. Even Rhodey had come. He insisted as soon as he had heard.

"Tony, you're fidgeting like crazy. Calm down, you'll be fine." Rhodey told him, gripping his friend's shoulder. Tony relaxed a bit... only a bit.

The hospital was huge and mostly glass everywhere. Tony tried to think of how fun it'd be smashing through it in a suit, but not even that could distract him. Doctors milled around everywhere in bright white coats that hurt Tony's eyes. His hands were excessively tapping his knee as they sat in waiting chairs as they have been for nearly an hour now.

Tony felt Pepper's hand slide into his to stop him from tapping. She kissed his shoulder and looked into his eyes. The past week had been thankfully quiet. Tony and Pepper had went back to Malibu once more during that time to see Happy and pick up Rhodey on the way back. He stayed with them for a few days leading up to the surgery which was great. Messing around with Rhodey helped Tony think of something else. And of course Pepper helped too.

They spent New Year's together. No big party this year like Tony had had every year before that. This year was his favorite year, though. He had everything he ever wanted... Well I am Tony Stark. Tony thought.

A doctor came out and interupted his thoughts.

"Mr. Stark, they're ready for you. Thank you for waiting." The man said, luckily speaking fluent English. Tony gave Pepper's hand a squeeze before letting go and following the man into a room in the back. He proceeded to explain the proceedure, everything Tony had heard before. He let himself zone out as the doctor droned on for a while.

"Alright, you can get changed over there." The doctor gestured over to a door on the right. Tony cringed. Eh, hospital clothes. Another thing he hated. Tony sighed and pushed into the room anyway. He wanted to get this over with.

It wasn't long before Tony was on the operating table. He wasn't wearing a shirt since it obviously wasn't necasssary. He looked down at his arc reactor... this would be the last time he'd be seeing it implanted in his chest for the reason being they successfully take out the shrapnel, or because he'd be too dead to see it. Tony hoped it'd go the first way.

The doctors prepared around him, lining up sharp tools on a table near Tony. He felt his stomach flip and tried to not think about it. Tony saw Pepper and Rhodey come up by the glass window that covered most of the wall to his right. Pepper looked terrified at this point. She was biting her lip and her eyebrows were drawn together in concern. Rhodey looked more peaceful and hopeful which made Tony feel a bit better that he was there with Pepper.

Tony realized he needed to be the strong one for Pepper. He gave her a small smile that made her relax a little. Pepper said something to Rhodey and he put a hand on her shoulder.

Tony returned his attention to the doctors when one started speaking to him in a different language. Tony frowned at him until he realized he was gesturing to the breathing thing above Tony. The doctor pulled it down and pointed to the little tab at the end of a straw looking thing... Tony was not good at medical terms. He put the tab between his teeth thought, knowing to do that much at least. The surgeon looked satisfied as he waddled away.

Tony took a deep breath and moved his eyes back to Pepper. She was looking at him with renewed worry. Tony sighed. She needs to relax. He gave her thumbs up and she smiled a bit. There wasn't any time for anything else after that. A lady dressed up in a pencil skirt and blue button down top came and must have told Rhodey and Pepper that they had to leave now. They did, with one last reassuring look at Tony and suddenly he was alone.

"Alright," the doctor that Tony had talked to earlier said. "We're just about ready. We're going to go ahead and put you down now, Mr. Stark."

Tony nodded and closed his eyes. He wasn't worried anymore. He was going to be free of his ties to living off the reactor. He was in charge of his life now. Plus, more room on his chest for Pepper to lie on. Tony smiled to himself at this.

Soon he was fading into darkness. The only thoughts left in Tony's head were of Pepper and how he couldn't wait to hold her again. After a while he forgot where he was. He happily thought of cuddling her by the fire and kissing her on the rooftop that one night after the Stark Expo. He didn't know if he was dreaming or not but he felt like he was there with her, and he was in his arms. Tony was more than content.

Then, things started to change. He was flying in his suit and skyscrapers stretched high below him. A giant stream of blue ran up from the top of his Tower to the sky where a huge portal was open. Creatures were flying through non-stop. Tony tried to fight off all of them, but he couldn't. There were too many. They were aliens... were aliens real?

Suddenly Tony was pushing up something heavy as he flew. It looked like a missel. What was he doing with a missle? It seemed like he was flying it through the portal... But no, he had to get back to Pepper. Tony tried to stop but he couldn't. The image of space came closer and closer as he flew higher. Tony could feel his breathing pick up and voices could be heard in the distance. They were shouting out all of these medical terms. The one Tony kept hearing was He's going into cardiac arrest and defillabator.

Tony felt a sharp shock throughout his mind and body. His chest felt like the Hulk had punched him. Another sharp shock and Tony's world went completely dark.

"Tony..." was the first thing Tony heard. Everything was dark and silent except for a quiet voice that sounded familiar.

"Tony, come on. Please wake up, baby."

Oh, it's my Pep. Tony thought. His heart jumped a bit at the thought. He didn't know what had happened or where he was, but he missed her and wanted her. Tony tried to move or at least just open his eyes, but everything felt heavy. He groaned in frustration.

"Hey, it's ok Tony." Pepper said. Tony felt her hand brush the hair off of his forehead. He focused on opening his eyes and managed to open them after blinking a couple of times. He was in a hospital room that was almost all white, reminding him of Happy's room. He still wasn't wearing a shirt, but thick bandages were wrapped around his chest. A thin bed sheet covered most of his body and he wore the same pants he went into surgery with.

Pepper was sitting on the edge of his bed, stroking his arm.

"Hey, there's my baby." she said, gently. Tony closed his eyes and groaned, giving her a small smile.

"Hi Peps." he said, quietly. He slowly regained control of his body so that he could grasp her hand in both of his. He brought her hand up to his lips so he could kiss it and nuzzle her arm. Pepper chuckled and leaned over to kiss him on the lips quickly. Tony whined when he didn't get anymore.

"Never enough, is it?" she smiled at him. It was then when Tony realized that her eyes were slightly red.

"Pepper, what's wrong?" he asked her. Everything seemed okay to him. Pepper rubbed her eyes and sighed.

"Nothing, nothing. The surgery was successful. You did great, babe. In the middle of it you slipped into cardiac arrest though. They think you were having a nightmare too because you fell into anxiety as well. They were able to fix you up though." Pepper told him. "It was just scary."

Tony gave her a guilty look. "Oh, sorry Pepper. I'm okay now though, right?"

"Yep. No more arc reactor." she smiled. Tony looked down and noticed how... flat and normal his chest looked despite the bandages. He couldn't remember when he used to be able to see that. Tony grinned and looked back up at Pepper. His grin faded when she eyed him nervously.

"What..." he said, not wanting to hear what was next. Pepper took his hand and gave it a light squeeze.

"Well, they just want to make sure you're still okay since you had the small complication. They want to keep you for two nights... it's not that bad, Tony." she told him. Tony rolled his eyes. He was looking forward to getting out of there as soon as possible.

"Isn't there any way that..."

"Tony, I think it's probably best to be safe, honey." Pepper interupted. Tony whimpered and gave her a puppy dog face that made Pepper wince.

"Hey now, not fair. I'll stay with you until closing time, Tony." she assured him. Tony opened his mouth to argue more, but Rhodey walked in.

"Look who's back from the dead. Good to see you without that thing in your chest, Tony." Rhodey said.

"Hey, Rhodey please tell Pepper that it's unneccasary for me to stay here an extra two nights." Tony said, hoping Rhodey would agree with him. No such luck.

"Tony..."

"Ugh, nevermind. I guess I'm outnumbered." Tony gave in. Pepper looked sorry and Tony believed she was. Maybe staying in a private room with her all day wouldn't be too bad, even if it was a hospital room. "Absolutely no hospital food, though."

"I'll go get some stuff." Rhodey offered. Pepper nodded.

"Thanks, Rhodey."

"Anytime."

And soon Rhodey was gone. Tony tried to push himself up to at least sit, but his chest burned and a sharp shooting pain went through his chest. He groaned and clutched at the sheet on his bed.

"Ow."

"Lie down, you don't need to be anywhere." Pepper chuckled, pushing him back down. Tony sighed and moved to the far side of his bed so he could pull Pepper down next to him.

"Fine, but I'm taking you down with me." He said, pulling Pepper down so she was lying next to him.

"Tony! I don't think they'd be too happy if they knew..."

"Who's paying who? Yeah, that's what I thought." Tony said when she was silent. He ran his hand through her hair and kissed her nose.

"I dreamed about you." He told her. Pepper grinned.

"Aw, did you?"

Tony nodded and nudged his way under her chin against her neck. He kissed her collarbone and moved up to the middle of her neck where he licked her lightly. Pepper breathed harder and pushed her hand through his hair and pulled him closer.

"It's only been five minutes since you've woken up and you're already going at it." she breathed. Tony snorted and looked up at her.

"I'll stop if you want me too-"

"No!"

Tony smiled and pushed his lips against her neck and lightly sucked on the skin there, making Pepper moan.

"Hey, forgot to grab the keys to the..." Rhodey trailed off as he burst in, and Pepper hurriedly sat up. "... rental car..." he finished. "Well now I wish I hadn't. I'll just be, uh, going now." Rhodey grabbed the keys and hurried out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

Pepper laughed and shook her head. Tony chuckled and pulled Pepper back down.

"Now where were we?"