So firstly, the IM3 trailer?! O M G! I was in tears, anticipation nearly killed me! But the trailer was so amazing, I couldn't believ how intense it looks! 'I just hope that I can protect the one thing I can't live without.' OMG, Tony Stark and Pepper Potts...ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Also, thank you everyone who reviewed hehehe, and to all those shy ones who don't like to review, thanks for reading :D

The restaurant was just as I thought it would be, expensive, exclusive and quiet. It was just what we needed. There was nothing more perfect than being here with Tony; he was the man who could make you feel like the most amazing individual to have ever walked the face of the planet. And I was no exception. I felt like I was living in some kind of fairy tale reserved just for us. The way he had changed over the years was extraordinary; it made me think that he didn't change at all and that this was who he truly was all along. For years I would catch glimpses of the compassion and sensitivity which no one thought possible for Tony Stark. Now I saw and lived with that compassion every day.

He fought for the world, and for us. I couldn't help but smile whenever I was with him, regardless of the stress he brought me on a daily basis. Waiting for hours, or days sometimes for him to come back from some mission S.H.I.E.L.D had sent him on. The waiting never got easier, and I never got better at it. The more and more I fell in love with him, the harder it became to bear being apart, not knowing if he was coming home. I would sit around the house, then clean insanely and then sit in his workshop and try to stop myself from crying. Every time would be the same; it wasn't only I who suffered.

Nightmares plagued him; I heard it every night when we slept. He would thrash and yell out. Most of it I couldn't make out, but some of it I could. Every night I would hear him plead for his life, sometimes I was in his dream, he would plead that I would be spared. All I could do was hold him, try to tell him it was going to be ok. More and more sleepless nights took over. Less and less he smiled; he was constantly exhausted. The extremis was having devastating effects on him.

It wasn't always like this, the first six months were different, he was more agile, more brilliant if that were even possible, and his mood was wonderful. He did everything I needed him to do, and attended every meeting with me, and then like a switch was flipped, he started to lose his temper quicker, he lost patience quicker. And the darkness in his eyes was always present. Despite all this, never once did he let me feel the wrath of whatever he was going through. He tried to hide it all from me. If this was years ago it would have perhaps bothered me, now I marvelled at his fearlessness. I wanted to cry every day. But that's not what he needed, so he we were, smiling, together.

We sat at a table which was exclusively reserved for Tony, an elegant white candle lingered between us casting a soft glow against his skin. The beautiful food before us remained untouched. He didn't even look at it, a sickly reminder of his ailment. I pushed my food aside as well, and instead simply sat and took in the man before me. I cherished every second.

His face formed a gentle smile. He reached across the table and took hold of my hand. 'You look amazing.' He said quietly.

I felt the eyes of every patron in the restaurant on us. I could feel myself blushing.

He smiled again, that cheeky grin I loved so much.

'Thank you, Mr Stark, I whispered back.'

He squeezed my hand, 'is this enough for the press to get off your back?'

I looked around, before I could answer him, he leaned across the table, he took my face in his hand and kissed me.

My whole body froze as the kiss burned through me, I felt my breath hitch.

Once he pulled away he let his lips linger in front of mine for a few seconds, I could hardly breathe, 'Tony.' I whispered

'I need you to know how much I love you.' He said quietly sitting back down.

'I know how much you love me.' I whispered back.

He looked around the restaurant; he cleared his throat and looked back at me, his face hardened, 'good, because I think we need to leave.'

I looked around; the sudden seriousness in his face worried me.

'What's wrong?' I tried to keep my voice down.

'The table by the bar, they're the men who worked on the extremis project.' He forced a smile.

I knew he was putting up a front, I couldn't reciprocate. The sound of my heart was thudding against my skull.

'If my suspicions are right, I believe they're responsible for the rumours you've been dealing with.'

I swallowed hard, the reporter, the phone calls, someone knew and they were right. 'Tony, I don't understand.' I whispered.

He squeezed my hand, 'we need to go now.'

I nodded hastily and stood up. He walked around and wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me toward the exit. He smiled at the waiters and thanked them for dinner. Once we were outside he took his phone out and made a call, I didn't hear whom he was speaking with, only that he wanted them to meet us in fifteen minutes.

Happy was waiting by the car; he looked taken aback by our dinner being so short.

'What's going on boss?' He asked, quickly butting out his cigarette and opening the doors for us.

Tony shut the door after I sat down, 'change of plans, Hap.' I heard him say. 'Take us home.' He said simply.

'Got it.' Happy took off.

Tony sat back; he pinched the bridge of his nose. 'This is bad.' He said quietly turning to look at me.

I moved closer to him, I took his hand in mine, 'what's going on?'

'They know what the effects of Extremis are; they're the guys who infected Mallen.' He ran his hand through his hair, 'they're here to make sure I don't survive this.'

'Why were they here?' Panic invaded my mind. I couldn't think straight I couldn't think at all. My mind was completely absorbed with the idea that someone was actively trying to kill Tony in such a discrete manner.

He shook his head, ' I don't know, probably trying to catch a glimpse of how severe it's gotten, they have to know, they wouldn't be here now if they didn't.'

'What are they going to do if they do find out?' I shuddered to hear the answer.

'Probably kill me if they don't see me die within the designated time frame.'

I shook my head, 'you and Bruce are going to work something out.'

'That's why we need to get home, get Bruce out of there, he's not safe as long as he's here.' He explained.

My chest tightened, if Tony was worried that the Hulk couldn't defend himself against these men, he must have next to no confidence in himself being able to do so. 'The serum is ready isn't it?' I asked hopefully.

'Yeah, it's not tested though.' He said with a sigh.

'How long will tests take?' I asked. I knew that testing was needed, but my heart wanted him to take it, to get better and beat this.

He squeezed my hand, 'if I don't die at the hand of Extremis, they'll make sure they do it.'

'Then we'll make sure you're better than them.' I tried to assure him.

He shook his head, 'it's not that simple Pep.'

'It can be.' I sounded like a whiney child.

He smiled sadly, 'I wish it were, truth is, honestly, I don't know what their end game is, I don't know what they will achieve in killing me, and that's what worries me.'

'You'll work it out.' I leaned against him; he wrapped his arm around me.

'I need to speak to Maya.' He said finally.

Maya Hansen. She was responsible for this whole mess, and now she was in prison. I wanted to kill her myself. She created a serum which was to be used for military purposes, of course as all these kind of plans go, it failed. Her Extremis serum was used prematurely, because of this Tony nearly died. Injecting himself with a revised version of the Extremis was the only chance he had. And here we were, he was dying, slowly and painfully. And he wanted to speak with Maya.

'Tomorrow.' I whispered.

He nodded.

Good. At least we agreed on something.

So this was a short one, but hope you enjoyed it, and the next one is coming soon :)