The moment she passed out, Tony set Pepper gently on her sofa and grabbed the phone to call the police, lifting the device out of its cradle and dialing 911. "911, what's your emergency?"

"Yes, this is Tony Stark, I'm at my girlfriend's house, she's been attacked. I don't know who the guy is, but I've knocked him out. I need an ambulance."

"Of course, sir, what's the address?"
Tony relayed the address to Pepper's apartment and hung up the phone, making sure the bastard that had hurt his Pepper was still out of it before kneeling next to Pepper and trying to get an idea on her injuries. He could tell by the strange angle of her wrist that it was broken and she other assorted bumps and bruises. There was a gash over her left eye and her cheek was turning a nasty shade of purple. Her bottom lip was split, her nose was bleeding, and her arms were covered in cuts, no doubt from the broken vase that used to sit on the coffee table. However, what probably made him the angriest of all of her injuries, were the bruises the circled her throat, showing him just how close to losing her he had been, and that scared the shit out of him. It was just good luck that Pepper was strong enough to get herself to the phone to call him. She'd likely be dead otherwise and that was a thought Tony didn't care to dwell on.

The minutes ticked by and it wasn't long until the ambulance and the police arrived. The paramedics loaded Pepper into the ambulance and the police cuffed and took the man that had almost killed Pepper away and Tony elected to ride in the ambulance. He could help but think that if Pepper woke up without him there, she might think he'd abandoned her and he couldn't let her think that. No, he cared about her too much for her to think that. Loved her too much to let her think that. Even with the Mark XVI in suitcase form next to him, Tony realized that there was nothing in the world that he cared about more than his Pepper. Nothing.

Arriving at the hospital, Tony was pushed into the waiting room, the doctors telling him that he couldn't go with them into surgery and Tony couldn't help but try to follow them anyway. After Tony was pushed out again, he sat in the waiting room as he was told, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket and dialing Bruce's number. "This is Dr. Bruce Banner."

"Bruce, it's Tony, I need a favor."

"Hey, Tony, are you alright? You flew out of here like a bat out of hell."

"No, I'm not alright. Some bastard hurt Pepper. I'm at the hospital now, but I need you to get something for me and bring it here."

"Of course."

"Okay, you're still at the Tower, right?"

"Yeah, I'm in the lab, why?"

"I need you to go to my floor, in my bedroom."

There was the ding of the elevator as Bruce left the lab. "Okay, hang on a sec, I'm in the elevator." A few moments later, a few doors opened and closed. "Okay, I'm in your room, you know, it's a serious pigsty in here."

"Yeah, I know, that's what happens when Pepper stays away for more than two days. Now, in the second drawer on the left bedside table, there is a small black ring box. Can you find it?"

"Yeah, I'm holding it. Can I take a peek?"

"Sure, but I need you to bring it here."

"Wow, that is a big rock. Which hospital are you at?"

"St. Peter's Memorial. And let the others know, if they're up, what happened. I know it's late and all."

"I'll let them know. In fact, we both know two assassins that don't go to sleep early that would love to kick the ass of anyone that hurt Pepper."

"You've got that right. Just get that ring here soon please. I want to be ready when Pep's out of surgery and awake."

"Of course. I'll see you soon, Tony."

Tony paced the waiting room a bit before he couldn't take the silence anymore. He pulled his phone out again and dialed a familiar number. "What the hell, Tony; it's like three in the morning."

"I know, I just need to talk to someone to keep myself from panicking and destroying everything in this hospital."

Rhodey was suddenly very awake on the other end of the call. "Whoa, hospital? What's going on?"

"I was working in the shop tonight when Pepper called. I thought she was going to tell me she was on her way over or something and I picked up and she was screaming for help. She was screaming and crying, Rhodey."

"What happened?"

"I got in my suit and flew over to her place at light speed. I found her on the floor in her living room; some guy was on her, choking her. I knocked him off and he was out. I helped Pepper up, and, God, she passed out in my arms."

"Is she going to be okay? Are they telling you anything?"

"She's still being worked on. The doctors haven't come out yet. God, I'm scared. What if she isn't okay? What if I was too late? What if she doesn't make it?" Hysteria crept into Tony's words and he sat down abruptly, tears falling. "What if she doesn't get better? What would I do?"

"Tony, calm down, she's going to be fine. Everything will be fine. Pepper's going to be okay and she'll go back to the tower with you before you know it."

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right. You're right."

"That's the first time I've ever heard you say that."

"I know. And it'll probably be the last." Tony looked up and spotted the doctor coming out of the ER. "I got to go."

Tony didn't wait for the goodbye before he was on his feet, striding towards the doctor. "And?"

The doctor held out her hand. "I'm Dr. Katherine Epps."

"Tony Stark. How's Pepper; is she going to be okay?"

"Ms. Potts took quite a beating. She has a concussion, three broken ribs, a broken wrist, a couple cracks to her skull, and some internal bruises, but it's nothing life-threatening. I want to keep her for at least twenty-four hours for observation, but if she feels okay, I see no reason to keep her for more than that."

"So she's going to be okay?"

"Yes, she'll be just fine."

Tony let out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "Oh, thank God. I don't know what I'd do without her."

Dr. Epps smiled. "She should be out in a few moments. I'll have someone take you to her room when she is."

Tony nodded and Bruce jogged into the hospital, followed by two irate master assassins. Natasha's green eyes flashed dangerously as she saw Tony. "Who hurt her and am I allowed to kill him?"

"He's with the cops now and I don't think they take kindly to that kind of thing. I don't know who he is, but if you need to beat him around a bit to get answers from him, I am totally okay with it."

Natasha nodded and Clint stood silently by her side, the look of anger in his eyes enough to tell Tony that he would be perfectly fine with ripping off the guy's arms and using them to beat him. Bruce handed Tony the small felt box and grinned. "Don't forget to give this to her. And the others are on the way. Steve needed a minute to get ready and Thor was barely conscious when he got the news so Cap's going to explain it to him on the way."

Tony nodded and Dr. Epps returned to show him to Pepper's room. Tony plopped down in the uncomfortable plastic chair next to her bed and set in to wait. Then his cell phone rang. "Yeah?"

"Mr. Stark, this is Officer Randal Worth of the NYPD."

"What can I do for you?"

"Well, I have a couple of questions for you about the attack. Do you think you could come down to the station?"

"No, I don't think I can. Pepper just got out of surgery. I need to be here for her when she wakes up. Can't we just talk over the phone?"

"I can ask some of the basics, but the rest needs to be face to face. Do you know the man who attacked your girlfriend?"

"No, I've never actually seen him before."

"Do you know why he was there?"

"No, but I assume he came for Pepper. I think he knew her."

"And why is that?"

"He called her 'Ginny'. Her name's Virginia, not many people call her 'Ginny'."

"Do you think she knew her attacker?"

"No. Have you gotten anything out of the guy?"

"No, he's been very quiet since he woke up. Won't say a word."

"Listen, I've got a friend who's good at making people talk. She's well trained, knows the law by heart and all that. She can help."

"I don't know if I can agree to this, Mr. Stark. Anything he wants to keep to himself I'm betting will stay with him."

"No, trust me, this girl knows how to get answers out of people without them even knowing. I don't know how she does it! She even got me to tell her that I was planning to propose to Pepper. It's like she says one word and I'm spilling my guts. Give her a chance. Hell, if you let her take a whack at him, I'll find out how long it'll be until Pepper wakes up and come down there right now."

"Fine. You're friend gets one chance at him and you answer my questions."

"Great, I'll go talk to a nurse and be at the station with my friend in about twenty minutes."

Tony hunted down Dr. Epps and was told that Pepper had been given a sedative and wouldn't wake up for at least twelve hours. Tony grabbed Natasha and Clint and dragged them to the police station with him. It was time to get some answers.