The Field of Heaven
Chapter 4
Tony was over exhausted. He had flown six hours back to Malibu from Japan and then he used a very powerful uni-beam to knock out, hopefully kill, Iron Slash. He also forced himself to stay awake all night, fearful that if he fell asleep something would happen to Pepper.
It was morning now and he knew that he needed to wake Pepper up and fly her home, where they would be safe and Tony could get her some help.
"Pepper." Tony whispered. Not really wanting to wake Pepper's sleeping form, but knowing that he had to.
Pepper stirred softly, moaning into Tony's chest.
"Pep, we have to get going." Tony spoke a little louder this time.
Pepper lifted her head, staring deeply into Tony's brown eyes. "Ok." Pepper spoke softly.
Tony leaned down and kissed Pepper's lips softly before moving out from under her and beginning to put the suit back on. He started with boots and then worked his way up to the rest of the legs. He then put on arms and then the chest plate. He started to wonder how he was going to get the back of suit on when he felt Pepper push the back plate against his back, causing it to screw into the chest plate automatically.
Pepper moaned loudly, wrapping her arms around her stomach and falling softly to sit on the bed. Tony turned around quickly and sat down on the bed next to Pepper, rubbing her back gently.
"It's gonna ok Pep. We'll get you home and you can rest, but we need to go now, and I need you awake for the flight."
Pepper nodded gently and leaned against Tony's titanium shoulder, letting a few tears run down her face that she hoped Tony wouldn't see, but he did. He always saw.
Tony placed his hands on Pepper's checks, forcing her to look at him, and wiped away the tears with his thumbs. He pulled her into a deep kiss that both of them needed after all they had been through. Tony pulled back and rested his forehead against Pepper's, their eyes still closed. They took each other in for a few minutes before Tony reached down and put his helmet on. He stood up, picked Pepper up bridal style, and lifted of gently, heading home.
Tony landed softly inside of the garage, walked over to the couch, and put Pepper down softly. "Just lay here for a minute. I'm going to go take the suit off."
Tony walked over to the middle of the garage, where the floor opened and he stepped onto the platforms, allowing the robots to remove the suit, leaving him in his neoprene under suit. He walked back over to Pepper and picked her up once again. Tony carried Pepper upstairs to their bedroom and placed her gently down on the bed. Tony climbed in bed next to Pepper and wrapped a protective arm around her waist.
It didn't take long for Pepper to fall asleep, and once she did Tony got up slowly and went to take a shower, putting on a clean pair of sweat pants on after, but too tired to find a shirt. He lay back down with Pepper and eventually felt himself falling asleep with an arm wrapped around Pepper's waist.
When Pepper woke the next morning, Tony was laying in the same position he had fallen asleep in. She rolled over and started to sit up, but the pain in her stomach was too much. She let out a low groan and fell back down to the bed. Tony awoke, having heard the soft groan Pepper made. He saw the pain in her face and sat up. Tony reached over Pepper and picked up his phone, which was sitting on the nightstand next to the bed.
Tony quickly dialed a number and spoke softly into the phone "Yes. Hello. This is Tony Stark, billionaire and CEO of Stark Industries. I need a doctor sent over to my house right away. Thanks you." Tony hung up and put his phone back down on the nightstand.
Tony leaned over Pepper and placed a light kiss to her forehead. "They're sending a doctor over to check on you."
Pepper moaned again, just barely able to speak. "Thank you." A hint of a smile appeared on her face and she moaned again.
"I should probably change quickly." Tony looked down at his sweat pants and got off the bed. He walked over to his closet and changed into a pair of jeans and a dark green shirt.
Just as Tony finished changing, the doorbell rang. "Wait here." He said to Pepper as he opened the bedroom door and went downstairs to greet the doctor.
"Hello Mr. Stark. I must say it is truly an honor to have been called to your house." The doctor held out his hand for Tony to shake.
Tony took the doctor's hand and shook it gently. "Thank you for coming on such short notice. I can't say how grateful I am for your help."
The doctor looked at Tony with a puzzled look. "You don't appear to be injured."
"I'm not the patient." Tony closed the door after the doctor came inside. "Please, follow me."
Tony led the doctor upstairs, briefing him on Pepper's condition on the way up. Tony opened the door to the bedroom and allowed the doctor to enter, before entering himself.
The doctor walked over to Pepper and began to check her heartbeat and blood pressure, making sure she was ok. After several minutes, the doctor turned to Tony, who was leaning up against the closed bedroom door. Tony looked up from Pepper to the doctor.
"Miss Potts will be fine, she just needs to rest." The doctor said as he collected his things and took a few steps towards Tony.
"Thank you doctor." Tony opened the door and showed the doctor out.
Once the doctor left Tony hurried back upstairs to Pepper. "How are you feeling?" Tony asked as he sat down next to Pepper on the bed.
"Okay." Pepper said softly as she reached for Tony's hand. Pepper felt tears start to roll down her checks.
Tony squeezed Pepper's hand tightly. "Pepper-" Tony whispered, knowing how sad it made him to see her cry. "Pepper, what's wrong?"
"Nothing. I just… Please don't ever leave me like that again." Pepper's tears started to fall faster.
"Pepper. I promise I will never let anything like that ever happen to you again. If I ever have to go overseas again, you will be coming with me. No matter what." Tony leaned down and kissed Pepper's lips softly. Tony pulled back a moment later, both of them breathing heavily. "I have a surprise for you, but you need to take a week or so to heal first."
Pepper smiled, "I love you Tony."
"I love you too Pep."