Day 14, 15, 16

Tony's Workshop-Pepper's POV

I have not moved from the workshop since I passed out. The alcohol induced numbness has worn off. I still tremble beneath the ruby bedspread, thoughts and images flowing inescapably in my mind.

Tony.

I have finally stopped crying. My tears dried themselves out, my eyes sting with absence of them, my cheeks are stiff. Only the burning of my chest as I struggle to breathe as the images assault me penetrates my mind, the part of it that is not occupied with the misery of my days waiting, waiting to see if any news had come in, if any tiny insignificant scrap of information had come, giving me some hope, some reason to consider living.

The liquor bottle sits next to me like a sentinel, offering relief.

Tony's POV

Here in this hellhole, I sleep restlessly, if at all. My dreams are filled with the only comfort my sub conscious can conjure for me.

Pepper.

Her voice resonates in my mind, encouraging me, telling me that she is waiting...

Pepper.

Her face is always on the edge of my mind, inspiring my work to reach levels of perfection. To come out exactly the way I want it to, no flaws or errors. The prospect of going home, back to her, drives my genius to make the connections faster, to work the complex calculations required of me in a thrice.

I have the plans drawn up, and have worked through the math. The suit will work. It has to.

(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)

Sometimes my mind plays tricks on me. I think I hear her heels coming toward me, click, click, click. But when I look up, it is only a rock falling from the ceiling, or metal rubbing against each other as Yinsen manipulates it with his steady hands.

I see a flash of red out the corner of my eye, a gleam of shining hair, but it is only the sparks of the fire.

Sometimes my mind tricks itself into believing Pepper is there. But she isn't. And the worry, the fear, that she might never be there again, next to me, by my side, is driving me insane.

Pepper's POV

The pain has subsided somewhat, but I can still barely breathe, and all I can feel where my heart should be is a gaping chasm, made up of my anguish and pain, and my terror of not seeing him again. His face, those dark eyes sharp and deep with thoughts that sometimes eludes me, his grin when trying to annoy me to death, and the very real look he attains when he truly means what he says.

The images of his features drifting through my mind as I sit on the couch, clean, and dressed in fresh clothes for the first time in days, allow the terror and distress to consume me. Gasping, I wrap my arms around myself, keeping me from going to pieces. I still sink to the floor, silently sobbing as I curl into a ball, rocking back and forth, enduring the pain. I reach for the bottle of liquor at my feet. Instead of drinking from the bottle, I pour the whiskey straight up, into a glass. I downed it in one, sighing as the slight numbness soothed my body.

I knew the pain would never go away, not until he was home. I was still trying to find a reason not to just end it all...

Afghanistan-Rhodey's POV

We have not found anything, not one damn scrap of information about Tony's whereabouts. I knew Pepper could not possibly hold up much longer. Tony is a permanent fixture in her life, the one person she could always count on to be there every day, whether to cause her problems or to endure what he calls "torture" as she makes him attend all the meetings he hates to go to. Tony is her rock, the person she holds on to. Pepper was his, the one person who knew all his secrets, the one who always was there for him for anything, and not just because he paid her. So I must find him, before they both go insane from the loss of the constant presence they had in their lives for almost eight years, since Pepper started working for Tony. Since they became each other's other half.

So here I am, flying in a helicopter in the stifling Afghan desert, looking for any sign of human presence in these damned mountains. Looking for Pepper's other half.

A/N- so sorry it took so long, and that its shorter than normal. Real Life caught up to me. Do you guys like my descriptive, longer chappies or shorter ones, cause if they are long, it will take more time to update than if they are short. Please review! Trying to get up to 25! I live for them! -K