There will be one part after this..that's gonna be the final part... Story line may continue sometime in the future with more detail, but this was meant to be a one shot...glad everyone liked it, though!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Marvel characters or story lines!
Pepper had passed out on the way down to the lab, leaving she and Tony both passed out at the same time. She didn't realize it, but by the time she woke up, it had been two days. Black Widow had sat by her side so she wouldn't panic when she came to, and she was glad to see the familiar female's face when she blinked her eyes open.
"Nat...?" she had asked, her voice raspy and dry.
She tried to push herself up, but failed until the other woman aided her.
"Hey you," she teased kindly, grabbing her some water from a nearby table. "You gave us all a scare there."
Pepper faked a smile. "So did you. Are you okay?"
She smiled in return. "Nothing S.H.I.E.L.D. can't fix."
Then, Pepper's smile had faded as she let the glass fall from her hand, shattering on the floor beneath the table she was on. She grabbed at her stomach, panic setting in once more as she remembered everything that had happened.
"Natasha, the baby," she spoke, alarmed. "Are they okay?!"
Widow then grinned and squeezed Pepper's hand over her stomach. "Just stress. Everything's fine. You're on strict bed rest, though."
Sighing, Pepper had breathed out in relief for just a moment. "T...Tony. Where is Tony?!"
Natasha had rubbed her back gently, trying to calm her down. "Hey, now what did I just say?" she asked with care. "Stress is no good for the baby."
"The baby needs their father, Nat!" she had answered, a little too loudly.
Natasha thought for a moment, then had decided to fill her in. "Shuri did some work on him," she began. "He's gonna be okay, Pep. But..."
"But what?!"
She then frowned. "He's in a coma for now. And...some things have changed."
"Obviously, he lost an arm!" Pepper snapped, instantly regretting it. "I'm sorry..."
"It's okay," Nat whispered, once again running her hand up and down her back to soothe her. "Just know she did everything she could, okay?"
Pepper had swallowed nervously. "Can I see him?"
Then, Natasha had taken her to Tony's space, in a room alongside the lab where Shuri could keep an eye on him. Pepper had anxiously walked in, but the reading of the holograms above him and the silent heart rate that buzzed across the screen made her collapse at his side, falling to her knees beside the small bed they had made for him there. She then latched onto his left hand, kissing it ferociously as tears poured from her eyes. This was a time worth crying.
"Shuri manufactured a replacement for his arm," Natasha had whispered, delivering the news to her lightly. "Sort of like Bucky's, but...when he's up, I'm sure they can figure out how to mask those metal pieces and make it a little more believable."
She nodded, his hand still to her lips. "Like Vision. He can fix it. I know he can."
"And there's something else, Pep..." her friend managed uncomfortable. "He took a nasty shot, and..."
Pepper had tensed up as her eyes landed on them; the bandages covering his chest. "Is that..." she whispered sadly.
Black Widow had confirmed for her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "It was the only way. His heart was failing."
She blinked the water from her eyes, then took her free hand and traced the cool metal on Tony's chest; another arc.
"It's Vibranium, not anything like before," Nat had continued. "It's stronger than what he had before."
Pepper didn't speak. Instead, she had pushed herself up so she could push the messy hair from his forehead, then placed a kiss there. She then rested her own against him, breathing in relief that at least he wasn't dead.
And that's where Pepper had sat. For the majority of four months.
She blinked open her eyes as she pushed the memories from her mind; she had dreamed everything over again for the past few weeks, now panicking that Stark wouldn't wake in time for the baby to come. He had missed almost the entire pregnancy, but she was glad Natasha and Cap had agreed to stay in Wakanda. The city had welcomed them, since they Avengers had saved the planet, after all. Happy had taken Peter back to his aunt in New York and had to do a ton of explaining, but then he returned with Fury to wrap up S.H.I.E.L.D.'s duties.
Pepper poured herself a glass of water from the table next to his bed, then analyzed his charts. He seemed stable, but brain activity was still low. She worried, but knew it would do her and the baby no good so tried to keep it at a minimum.
Then, as if on queue, she felt the little thing kick her from inside her stomach and she smiled warmly, placing a hand on her now developed baby bump. She was six months in, and it was still somehow a secret from the rest of the world. Tony's disappearance had been masked as a vacation for the two, but now it was getting ridiculous how long he had been MIA. She knew she'd have to release a statement soon, and along with that came questions of his health, the baby, and their upcoming wedding.
Her hands then moved to the ring on her finger after she took a sip from her drink and placed it back down on the table. She fidgeted with the stone on it for a moment, then sighed and decided to welcome Stark into the new day.
"Tony..." she managed, her voice weak from exhaustion. "You gotta come back today. Please..."
Then, she kissed his lips softly, but pulled back once the realization settled in once again that he was no responding. She sat back down in the seat and took his hand in hers, playing with it as she drew circles across the skin.
"You did it. You saved the planet," she informed him quietly, looking over his resting face. "And everyone's friends again."
She paused.
"So I was thinking...how about Maria? I mean...after your mother, of course. I know it might be weird with Agent Hill and all, but... Or, maybe after my mother..."
Then, she cursed herself silently.
"You probably didn't want to know it's a girl, huh? You'd probably want it to be a surprise..."
Pepper found herself rambling, looking at him hopefully, but nothing came. No change in vitals, either way. Her eyes watered and stung as she fought back another morning of sadness, clenching onto his hand tighter.
"I love you, Anthony Stark. And God, am I so mad at you."
She kissed his hand delicately.
"I don't even care about the wedding anymore, either," she decided suddenly. "Lets just go to the courthouse. When you're awake, that is. We'll fly back to New York, I'll change my name... I know I told you I wasn't going to, but..."
She swallowed uncomfortably, hiding a squeak in her voice.
"I need you here, Tony... Nat and Steve and Happy...everyone needs you here. Parker's back home. He's safe. But he blames himself...and I don't know how to fix that. If you leave us...we're never gonna forgive you, you know. So wake up. Please, Tony... You have to be here when she comes, and...I just miss you so much."
She sat in silence for a few breaths after that, until a knock from the doorway made her jump.
"Sorry," Happy murmured, stepping up to wrap his arm around her shoulders to give her a light hug. "Nat's got breakfast waiting in the lab. Wanna come get something to eat?"
Pepper shook her head, not wanting to get up from Tony's side. "No, thank you," she answered.
"Pep, I know you don't want to, but if not for you, you gotta eat for the baby," Happy pointed out.
That worked. Potts sighed, took his hand and placed her other one on her belly as Hogan helped lift her from her chair and lead her into the other room.
"He'll come back soon," Happy promised her, but they both knew it was just a guess.
Another month had passed. She recited the same things to him, day after day. She swore she felt him stir once, but she was half asleep, so she didn't know if it was real or if she had dreamed it. She had brought in Shuri, but she didn't detect anything.
Pepper slept, as she usually did, sitting in the chair placed next to his bed, though it was beginning to get extremely uncomfortable with her growing belly; she was at seven months. Two more and their baby girl would be welcomed to the world, and she refused to do that without him there.
She was peaceful for the time being, until she felt his hand twitch in hers. She blinked her eyes open and lifted her head from his lap, expecting it to be a dream again, but then it happened a second time.
"Tony?" she whispered, praying for anything else to move. "Tony, can you hear me?"
Then, suddenly, his eyes squeezed a little tighter, and his heart rate was picking up on the displays above him. Pepper felt her own heart rate jolt as she rushed to move the hair from his forehead again, rubbing it slightly with her fingers to help comfort him.
"Tony, hey...it's me, I'm here," she said sweetly, though it was more like she was begging.
Her hand was soon squeezed in return, and she let out he breathe she had been holding happily, the tears returning...but this time, they were happy tears.
"Pep?"
"Tony!" she yelped at the sudden sound of his damaged voice, barely audible, coming from his scratchy throat. "Tony, oh my God..." she cried in bliss, peppering kissed across his face.
He winced a little at the sudden flurry of touches, then slowly blinked his eyes open in the dim lighting. He took it in; the holograms above him made sense. There was a pain in his chest, and he felt weighted down at his side, but what caught him most was the familiar blue glow across Pepper's face.
"Shit..." he mumbled, groggily looking down at his beat up body. "Did I get kidnapped again?"
Pepper caressed his cheek with her hand, resting her forehead in the crook of his neck, sobbing softly. She planted more kisses on his hairline, wanting to hold him as close as possible even though he was so fragile.
"Hey, beautiful," he whispered, trying to raise his right hand to run his hands through the familiar red hair. "You're hair got longer," he observed.
Then, she heard his heart rate pick up as he realized he couldn't move his right side.
"Tony," she gasped, lifting her head to look him in the eye. "Tony, relax, okay? It's okay. Everything's gonna be okay."
"What the fuck," he muttered weakly taking in the fact that his ride side now looked like the inside of one of his suits.
"There was an accident, but you're okay now," she told him softly, hearing the heart rate slowly drop back down to normal. "Tony, you were...when Thor brought you back...Tony, I thought you were dead," she heaved out, gripping onto his shoulder.
He breathed in a deep breath, then exhaled slowly and leaned up as far as he could to kiss her cheek.
"Don't cry, sweetheart," he pleaded, immediately forgetting his own state as his care for her replaced his own fear. "Pepper..."
She rested her head on his shoulder, just above the bandaged area, and tried to calm herself.
"Pep," he requested again, his voice coming back. "Pepper, can you look at me, please?"
Slowly, she granted his request and wiped the water from her eyelashes, giving him a genuine smile. She was beyond thankful for this...for him...
"Kiss me," he ordered, his brown eyes searching hers.
She obliged easily, leaning down to place her lips on his in a soft kiss, careful not to elevate his heart rate any further than normal. When she pulled back, he frowned, but she knew she'd have to get Shuri to check on the Virbanium stats eventually.
"Shuri's gonna want to look at you," she told him quietly. "I'll be right back."
As she pulled herself up into a standing position, Stark's eyes widened, taking in her baby belly and her frailness.
"Um, okay, yeah...Pep, how long have I been out?" he asked, nervous for her answer.
She faked a small smile as she reached the door. "It's been...a while," she answered, deciding not to tell him just yet how much he had missed.
"Did we...did we win?" he pressed, realizing he never found out the outcome of their battle.
Her smile widened and she nodded, sending relief through his body as he laid his head back down on his pillow.
Whens he had returned with Shuri, Stark was almost back to his snarky self. She had informed him of the new arc, the metal arm, but things that had happened since they left to fight Thanos... Pepper sat in the chair, watching, as she told the stories while trying to teach him how to operate the new arm. He was in a sitting position now, flexing the piece of machinery like it was his own, with her aid, of course.
"So...Five months, huh?" he asked, flickering his gaze between Pepper, Happy, Black Widow, and Cap, all of which had joined them upon hearing he was awake.
Cap tugged his lips up faintly, his arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against the doorway. "You had us fooled, Stark. Didn't think you'd make it."
"Thank for your vote of confidence," he snapped back, but it was a friendly snap. "And Parker...the kid's okay?"
Happy nodded. "Took him back home to his aunt, boss. She's got a bone to pick with you, though."
Tony's eyebrows raised as he accepted that and realized it wasn't surprising. "And Vision's..."
"Gone," Natasha confirmed quietly, a hit of sadness in her voice as she recalled the battle. "You were close, too, Stark. Watch it next time."
He opened his mouth to say something but Pepper suddenly groaned from her seat, grabbing her stomach once again.
"Pep, honey?" Tony questioned, his voice raising in urgency. "You okay?"
"I'm fine," she breathed, "just..." Another pain hit her and she instantly regretted remembering how Thor had carried Tony off of the ship.
"What'd we tell you?!" Cap asked, going to lift her up from the seat. "You gotta stop thinking about it!"
"I'm trying," Pepper snapped through gritted teeth.
Tony watched wildly, and then his eyes landed on the seat Pepper was in. "Is that..." he asked carefully, trying not to alarm her.
They all looked toward the seat, seeing the small pool of blood where she was sitting and Shuri's eyes widened.
"We have to get her on a table!" she ordered.
"You know how to deliver a baby?!" Happy asked as he followed them into the lab, surprised.
"There's a first time for everything," she answered, helping Steve lift her onto the cool metal.
Widow wasn't far behind, her arm supporting Tony as he stumbled to walk out with them.
"Pep, it's gonna be okay," Tony insisted, grabbing her hand with his warm, non metal side.
She nodded, looking for comfort in his eyes as she laid back and Shuri placed a cover over her lower half. She could feel that familiar cool heat creeping through her body, though, and she knew the amount of blood left behind was not safe. She cursed herself, knowing stress was not going to help, but there was nothing she could do...they were filling Tony in, and it all just flooded back into her memory.
"Tony," she whimpered, feeling light headed.
He shushed her, trying to mask his concern, and kissed her forehead, Widow still spotting him in case he buckled under his own wobbly legs.
"Breathe, Pep," he begged, realizing she was slipping in and out of consciousness. "Everything's okay."