Thank you all who enjoyed the last chapter; I know it gets a bit boring with all the talking and what not, but you know it's necessary, so I've tried to break it up as much as I can, hope you enjoy!

'Stark!'

I could vaguely hear someone. I could feel the ground below me. That was a good sign.

'Stark!' The voice repeated, it was Romanov.

I moaned at the pain in my head, I tried to get up, I felt her hand push my chest down.

'Don't try to move.' She breathed.

She took hold of my wrist. I made a move to get up again.

'It's ok, just focus on my voice,' she said calmly, 'Banner, coms are up, call Clint.' She spoke quietly.

Coms were up, so it worked, at least it worked and I'm alive. That's a good sign.

'What the hell were you thinking?' She muttered as she raised my head into her lap.

I heard footsteps on the ground somewhere around us, 'What happened?' Bruce asked.

'He lied to us,' she muttered, 'he shut the reactor down to short circuit the bomb.'

'I, I didn't…I…mistake.' I choked out.

'Don't try to talk.' She pressed her hand to my forehead.

I felt like I was on fire, every inch of me was burning, I was in pain, I felt sick. I felt a gargled cough escape from my lips.

'We need to get him out of here.' Natasha whispered.

'Tun…tunnel.' I managed.

'Through the tunnel?' She asked.

I nodded, 'safest.'

'Alright, let Clint know we're on the way.' Natasha said firmly.

I tried to slow my breathing down. The metallic taste in my mouth was overpowering, I felt like throwing up, I tried to open my eyes, everything was red. I started to panic, what the hell was happening to me.

'Try to calm yourself Tony, you're losing a lot of blood, the slower you breathe, the better you'll feel.' She spoke softly.

Losing blood? Why?

I felt Bruce and Natasha link their arms under me and drag me to my feet. Everything was spinning, it was worse than being completely drunk. Stabbing pain wracked my body; I felt blood splutter out as I choked on my own saliva.

'This is bad.' Bruce muttered.

'Really bad, hang in there Tony, nearly there.' Natasha said calmly.

I couldn't blink through the red haze which clouded my eyes, was I bleeding from my eyes?

We must have reached the server room, because we were slowly making our way down into the hole, Bruce helped me down and Natasha followed us.

'Follow the beacons.' Natasha instructed Bruce.

I was so glad I had set the beacons up; I let my head loll forward, the energy had left me completely, I couldn't stay awake I couldn't hold myself up.

'Tony, don't fall asleep.' Natasha nudged me gently.

I couldn't reply, I was struggling to breathe, everything was so difficult.

'He's not looking good, we need to hurry!' Natasha said firmly.

Bruce breathed hard as we rushed through the tunnel, 'what the hell happened?'

'The bomb must have gone off in his face; his arms took most of the force, hurry.' She hissed.

I listened to the shuffle of their feet as we continued to rush through the tunnel, the sound slowly started to fade and their voices became a distant echo and silence beckoned me. Against my will, I gave in and I followed it.

My eyes watered as I was led through the helicarrier down the winding corridors and into the infirmary. I had been in here all too many times. I clutched Happy's arm as we walked quickly behind Natasha. She was covered in blood; I felt my stomach churn as I ran over potential scenarios in my head, what he would look like, what happened to him, there was just so much blood, each scenario in my head was worse than the previous. I imagined all sorts of horrid things.

She stopped by the door to the room, she looked at me intently, 'he's stable and he'll be ok.' She said quietly, 'that's the important thing to remember.'

I nodded, 'thank you.'

Happy opened the door and motioned for me to go in, I froze.

'Do you want me to come with you?' He took hold of my hand.

'No, it's fine.' I offered a weak smile which hid the terror which threatened to escape.

'You sure?' he asked gently.

I nodded, 'I am.' I took a deep breath and stepped through the door, Happy closed the door behind me.

My breath hitched as I saw him lying in the bed, his eyes were closed and his breathing was laboured, the machines around him beeped and indicated he was still alive. Without that I don't think I would have believed he was.

A chair was placed beside the bed, I made my way to it slowly, without making a sound I sat down and gently took his hand in mine. Every inch of his body looked like it was punctured by needles, small droplets of blood seeped through the bandages which covered his arms and chest, the glow of the reactor soothed me, he was alive.

Dried blood surrounded his eyes, and trailed down his cheeks. A tube was placed down his throat; the machine connected to it was slowly pumping oxygen into his lungs.

I covered my mouth; I couldn't take my eyes away from him.

His hand twitched in mine, I leaned in closer to him, 'hey Tony, can you hear me?'

He squeezed my hand gently and made a gargled noise, I placed my fingers on his lips gently.

'Don't try to speak, I'm here, you're safe.' I rubbed circles on the back of his hand.

He nodded against the pillow; I saw translucent red tears escape from the corner of his eyes.

I sat beside him on the bed, careful not to touch his body, 'you're ok, you're nice and safe and soon you'll be at home with me,' I kissed his cheek as gently as I could, 'this is all over, you did it.' I smiled through my own tears.

A small tap on the door caught my attention; I looked over and saw Rhodey peeking in through the partially opened door.

'Can I come in?' He whispered.

I nodded silently and motioned for him to sit in the chair.

'Hey buddy.' He said quietly smiling at Tony and taking a seat, 'how is he?' He looked at me sideways.

I shrugged, 'they say he's stable, but it looks so bad.' I sighed.

'I know, but they know what they're talking about right?' He asked quietly.

'I hope so, I hope they're right.' I looked back at Tony's face.

I took a tissue from the bedside table and wet it in a glass of water which sat beside the box. I wiped his eyes, the blood came away easily.

'What happened?' Rhodey asked disbelievingly.

I looked at him, 'I don't know, no one told me anything.'

'I'll go and find out.' Rhodey added.

'You go, I'll stay with him.' I offered.

He stood up and squeezed my shoulder, 'I'll be back.'

I nodded; I sat down in the chair and lay my head on the bed so that I could still see Tony's face.

He grimaced every so often, and every few hours the nurses would come and up the morphine, every time that happened I watched him groan in agony until the pain killers kicked in.

My eyes remained fixed on his, the crimson tears continued to flow, I squeezed his hand.

'Pepper, can I talk to you?' Natasha walked in without knocking; I got up and followed her silently.

She led me to a small office in which Rhodey was already waiting, I sat down in the chair and she sat on the desk and looked at me.

'He's going to be ok.' She said firmly.

I looked to Rhodey, he nodded.

'What happened?' I asked finally.

She sighed and looked down at her hands.

'Tell me.' I demanded.

'I'm not sure,' she looked at me intently, 'but from what I gathered amidst the chaos, a secondary trigger was tripped, and the detonation was contained to the room Tony was in, the bomb was a nano technology.'

She handed me a small glass jar with what looked like small metal mites in it, 'and based on the tests we did when he was brought here, it seems that the explosion released the nano mites into the air, they infected whatever they came into contact with, including Tony, but the final virus he released to shut it down did just that, but it also caused the mites to react the way they did, hence the injuries.'

I nodded, I looked down at the small mites, 'did they cause any permanent damage, his eyes.' I muttered.

'No, it's just surface damage; everything will heal as it should.' She said with a gentle smile.

'Are you sure?' I pleaded, I couldn't live with false hope, it hurt too much.

She nodded, 'yes, it looks much worse than it is.' She smiled.

A relief washed over me, I knew the truth from Natasha's mouth was truth.

I sat in the room watching the slow rise and fall of Tony's chest. His eyes had finally stopped watering and he seemed more comfortable.

Rhodey sat beside me, he had fallen asleep hours ago, Happy stood by the window looking out over at the sky. I couldn't bring myself to leave Tony's side. I held on to his hand until my fingers became numb. Only then did I let go to swap hands.

The heart monitor he was hooked up to signalled the vast improvement he was showing. I felt much more at ease, much more relaxed knowing he was actually going to be alright.

Happy turned from the window and looked at me, 'how are you doing?'

I sighed, 'you know.' I offered a weak smile.

'Yeah.' He let out an exasperated laugh.

'He'll be able to go home soon, when he does, I want him to have a quiet recovery, I don't want Fury or S.H.I.E.L.D or anyone calling him for anything.' I said firmly.

Happy nodded, 'I'll make sure the press is kept at bay, Rhodey will keep the military off your back and you just help him get back on his feet.'

'Definitely.' I agreed.

Happy walked over to Tony and squeezed his hand gently; he smiled at me and shook his head at Rhodey, 'I'm going for a smoke.'

'I'll be here.' I said with a smile.

I reached over to Rhodey, his head lolled to the side so I gently pushed his head to an upright position.

He mumbled something incoherent and grunted.

I could just imagine how these two and Happy would have had the best time in college; the thought brought a smile to my face.

Tony stirred under my touch, 'hey, hey I'm here.' I whispered leaning in closer to him.

'Pep?' His voice was husky.

I nodded, 'I'm here, do you need anything, are you thirsty?'

He nodded against the pillow.

I took a cup which the nurse brought in earlier filled with ice chips, I put them to his mouth and let him wet his lips.

'Do you want to try and open your eyes?' I asked as softly as I could.

He shook his head, 'can't, still burns.' He whispered.

'That's ok, there's no rush.' I squeezed his hand.

'This sucks.' He muttered.

I couldn't help but laugh, 'I know.'

He smirked too, 'I feel so…weak.'

'You're not weak, you're injured, it's fine.' I corrected him.

'Weak and injured.' He retorted.

'Oh Tony.' I smiled.

'Don't laugh at me Potts.' He grinned squeezing my hand back.

'I wouldn't dare.' I said sarcastically.

We sat in silence for at least five minutes, I didn't want to bring him down, I didn't want to cry and upset him. He had more important things to deal with than my emotions.

He squeezed my hand and turned his head to face me, 'I'm so sorry Pepper.' He said finally, he struggled to open his eyes.

I leaned in closer to him and cupped his cheek, 'you've nothing to be sorry for, it was an accident.'

He reached up and placed his hand over mine, 'I had no choice, it would have infected the whole system.'

'I know Tony, Natasha told me.' I smiled weakly.

His eyes were blood shot, but I finally saw his warm brown eyes smile back at me.

'You are amazing.' He breathed.

'One has to be to keep up with Tony Stark.' I smirked.

He grinned and closed his eyes again, 'help me up,' he held his hands out.

I stood up and pulled him up with as much gentle force as I could.

'Are you ok?' I asked quietly.

He nodded, 'I'm good.'

I took a wet tissue from a packet and placed it in his hand, 'you're eyes still need some love, don't rub them.'

He laughed and took the tissue to his eyes, 'this is horrible.' He muttered looking down at the blood stained tissue.

'It's not pretty, but you're lucky it's not serious.' I looked at him intently.

'That's true.' He agreed.

I sat on the bed beside him, 'how long have I been out?' he asked.

'About thirteen hours.' I glanced at the clock on the wall.

He nodded, 'and him?' he pointed to Rhodey who was now snoring in the corner.

I rolled my eyes, 'probably as long.' I laughed.

'Any excuse to sleep.' Tony laughed; he swung his legs out of bed, 'best part of the Extremis.'

'The healing time?' I asked.

'Yeah, who knows how long this would have taken without it.' He muttered.

'Who knows if you would have even survived without it.' I added.

As much as I hated the danger the Extremis put him in, and how unstable and unknown the technology was, in this moment I was eternally thankful for it.

He made a move to stand up, I stepped in front of him, 'are you sure you're ready to stand up?'

I looked into his eyes, he took both of his hands and placed them on my hips, 'I'm sure Pep, and besides you're here, you'll make sure I'm safe.' He grinned.

I rolled my eyes, 'ok, let's go.' I wrapped my arms under his waist, just as he was on his own two feet he bent down and kissed me, I felt the joy and passion spread to my veins, he wrapped his arms around my body. I felt him hold himself up against me, he buried his face in my hair.

'You ok?' I whispered.

He nodded, 'feels so good to know it's over.'

'I know.' I sighed and wrapped my arms tighter around him.

He pulled back slightly and pulled my hands away from him so that he could hold them in his hands; he ran his finger over the ring. He smiled absently, 'you're still wearing it.'

'Of course I'm still wearing it, why wouldn't I?' I asked incredulously.

'I thought it was a dream, in which you said yes.' He whispered.

I smiled at the slightly insecure Tony Stark who stood before me, 'well Mr Stark it isn't.'

He laughed softly, 'well soon to be Mrs Stark, I thank you for making me a dreamer.'

Mrs Stark, I couldn't believe it, I had never said the words aloud, I had never thought about the depth of them. I was going to be the wife of Tony Stark. My heart fluttered.

'That sounds really good.' I grinned.

'It does doesn't it.' He pulled me into a tight embrace.

Rhodey cleared his throat behind us, 'you two still look like two seals fighting over a grape.'

'Go find your own hospital room, I was here first.' Tony laughed.

'Oh lord.' I muttered with a never ending grin.

The past two months were torture, uncertainty plagued us all, today we all stood with a new found optimism for the future, Tony was better and Rick was gone. Natasha informed later us that when Tony had accidentally tripped the secondary detonator on the bomb that Rick's whereabouts were located through the IP address he was hacking in with. Tony shrugged it off as a lucky break, I knew better. I knew him better. There were no accidents in Tony's work, everything he did was to plan and everything was by design.

It gave me new found hope that everything was going to be fine.

So there we go, hopefully a little more excitement and Pepperony and hopefully something more to come which will entice you a little bit more, so we'll soon be coming into even more action sequences for the upcoming chapters and even more Tony kickass! YAY lol