Whew! It's been a while. Here's some more.
Chapter 12
Pepper has just finished making dinner when Jarvis calls up to her, urgency in his metallic voice. "Miss Potts, I believe that Mr. Stark requires your assistance."
"Okay," she says, "Tell him I'll be down in a second."
"I'm sorry to interrupt you, Miss Potts, but this cannot wait. Mr. Stark's vitals have drastically declined in the past few minutes and he is unresponsive to my attempts to verbally gain his attention."
Before Jarvis can even finish speaking, Pepper is already racing through the living room and down the stairs, hurrying to type her entrance code into the keypad. Her fingers feel heavy and numb, and it takes a few tries before the door finally swings open.
She finds Tony lying face down, slumped forward across his desk. When she feels for his pulse, it's faint, but present. "Tony?" Pepper nudges him gently, trying to remain calm while she watches Tony's skin grow paler and paler. "Tony, you need to get up."
He groans, face contorted in agony. "Pepper?" he whispers. He reaches out blindly until he finds Pepper's hand and squeezes it tight enough to make her skin tingle. She wants to break down and cry, to give in to the hopelessness that threatens to consume her. But instead, she looks away from the helpless man beside her and clears her head.
"Jarvis! Call the hospital and let them know we're on our way."
When Tony regains consciousness, he's no longer in his workshop at the mansion. It takes a few minutes to recognize the stark white walls, the stinging smell of disinfectant. He's hooked up to a dozen different beeping machines and there's a horde of nurses rushing around the room. He opens his eyes weakly, trying desperately to get more air into his lungs.
"Tony?" Pepper is there by his side. "Tony, can you hear me?" He nods. "They're getting ready to take you into the O.R. They're going to do the surgery, Tony. They're going to plant the electrodes directly into your brain, just like you planned. It's going to be okay." She looks like she's trying hard to believe what she's saying. There are tears in her eyes as she runs a hand through his hair.
He knows he probably won't make it through this, that his body, in its attempt to heal itself, will reject the electrode implants and the Extremis will completely overwhelm his mind. Through the thick fog in his head, Tony realizes that this could be it.
"Pepper," he whispers, gesturing with a trembling hand to his coat across the room. Pepper retrieves it and returns to his side. "In the inside pocket." She reaches in and pulls out a small blue velvet box. She opens it slowly, gaping at the simple yet elegant diamond ring within it. Tony smiles as realization fills Pepper's face.
"Tony, what– ?"
"Virginia Potts," he says, "Will you marry me?"
She stares at him for a few seconds, eyes wide, before she answers. "Yes, Tony," she says, the tears welling up and spilling over her eyelids. "Yes." She smiles at him as he shakily slides the ring onto her finger.
As he pulls her down into a quick and sloppy kiss, he knows he did the right thing. When he's gone, Pepper will be there to take care of the company and his estate, and to carry on his legacy. There's no one else he trusts so completely.
And, to be honest, he's been planning to ask her before all this, ever since the day he had been reborn with the Extremis. Tony's a bit of a romantic, and he had been waiting for the perfect time to ask. But sometimes life doesn't give you the time you expected.
"Mr. Stark," says one of the nurses, "We're ready for you now." They start to roll him out the door and into the hallway.
"I love you," Pepper says, giving his hand one last squeeze.
He flashes that goofy, overconfident grin of his. "I love you, too." And the nurses roll him away, toward the operating room and his supposed cure.
Pepper stares after him down the hallway, and Tony closes his eyes. He wants her to be the last thing he sees before he meets the oncoming darkness.
Only one chapter, maybe two left. I still can't believe I've almost finished this.