Chapter 2: Curare Cocktail
Steve looked like a corpse, Bruce Banner thought uncomfortably. He lay awfully still with muscles so rigid from the paralytic poison that it reminded Bruce of rigor mortis. Only Steve's chest rose and fell, pumped up and down by the hissing ventilator.
He looked dead, but he wasn't and he wouldn't die as long as the machine kept him breathing, Bruce explained to the white-faced Pepper Potts who looked almost as rigid as her rescuer.
"This poison has a base of curare with a few other nasty surprises mixed in to cause muscle contractions and paralysis. Curare paralyzes the voluntary muscles. It doesn't stop the heart but does stop breathing. Even a normal, unenhanced person would survive a dose of curare as long as the doctors can keep him breathing until he metabolizes the poison."
"Some doctor proved it about a hundred years ago using a donkey and a bellows," Tony said, putting his hands on Pepper's shoulders. "So don't worry, Pep. Steve will be fine."
Bruce added his reassurance. "Steve's body is burning off this … curare cocktail very fast. He should recover in a matter of hours."
"Let me take you home," Tony urged.
"No." Pepper hadn't taken her eyes on Steve's still form.
"You can't do anything here," Tony argued quietly.
"I can be here," Pepper answered. "I'm not leaving him alone."
"He's Captain America. He'll be fine," Tony said. He felt twitchy thinking how close she'd come to dying. If Steve hadn't stopped the dart, Pepper would have died before rescue arrived. Tony wanted her home, where he knew she would be safe.
Pepper looked at him angrily, but softened when she saw the fear in his eyes. She rubbed her cheek against his hand, but didn't stand up.
"Pepper, three other businesspeople were attacked this afternoon. You were the only one who survived. We need to get you home and safe," Tony pleaded.
"This is SHIELD. I'm as safe here as anywhere," she reminded him. "Is he awake, Bruce?" she asked.
He glanced at the readings. "No. He's asleep now."
"Will he wake up before the curare wears off?"
"Possibly."
"Then I'm not leaving him alone while he's … frozen like this." Her voice dropped to a whisper when she said "frozen," as if to prevent the man out of time from hearing.
Tony and Bruce exchanged alarmed glances, because they hadn't looked at it that way.
Pepper pulled her blazer tighter around her. Hospitals always seemed chilly. She unfolded a blanket and gently spread it over Steve, trying to avoid all the tubes. "And get someone to turn up the damned heat," she ordered.
Tony tilted his head at Bruce who nodded and obeyed Pepper's command. The billionaire gently kissed his true love's temple.
"All right, Mama Bear. You look after Cap. We've got terrorists to find."
"How? Everyone ran off."
Tony gave her smirk No. 23, the one that told her he'd done something illegal and didn't repent it. "I may have made off with a piece of evidence before the cops got there."
"Evidence?"
"One of the guys Steve hit was still alive, though he's got a camera-shaped bruise on his forehead. Now he's locked in the Tower under guard, unless Natasha is as pissed as you are about Steve getting hurt. For a quiet guy, Cap sure is a ladies man."
"Shouldn't you leave the investigation to the government?" Pepper asked. Now she was getting worried.
"No, no and no. In the first place, SHIELD is government and we have Fury's blessing. Second," He glanced at Steve and said grimly. "We're Avengers. We have some avenging to do."
"And third?"
He kissed her, tenderly with restrained passion, then he whispered an inch from her lips. "Third, no one messes with my girlfriend and lives to brag about it."
After Tony left, Pepper pulled a chair close to the bed and took Steve's unnaturally stiff hand in hers.
"I thought she was Iron Man's girlfriend," a physician's assistant whispered to a nurse. "Is she banging Captain America, too?"
"I feel sorry for you." The voice behind him made the young man jump. He looked back to see Bruce behind him, brown eyes flaring green for a moment before the scientist controlled himself with an effort. "Pepper loves Steve like a brother. If you think love and sex are synonymous, you will have a very lonely life."
The PA turned back to the nurse, who slugged his arm hard enough to leave a bruise. "He saved her life. Isn't that enough reason for her to sit with him?" she asked.
Bruce went to Pepper. "I'll be in the lab testing Steve's blood, making sure the serum keeps metabolizing the poison. Call if you need me, but I'm sure he'll be fine. Everything is proceeding as expected."
Pepper watched the incomprehensible readings fluctuate on the medical equipment. She wondered if she would know if Steve woke up.
When all the alarms went wild, she knew.
A/N: Um, next chapter we go to the other Avengers and their investigation. We won't get back to Steve until chapter 5, but Pepper is with him. He'll be fine, right?
Oh, and the curare, donkey, bellows story is true.