U up?
Pepper stared at her phone screen in confusion. She'd finished work on time for a change, had a long bath, and opened a bottle of wine, settling down with a movie, and now her boss and part time superhero was sending her the universal booty call text.
Sighing and readying herself for an inane and probably sarcastic battle, she started tapping her response.
It's 8pm, Tony. Of course I'm still up.
Three dots appeared almost instantly and she got a sick sort of satisfaction - he must be waiting for her response.
Whatcha doing?
Rolling her eyes, she paused her movie and concentrated on her phone.
I was watching a movie. Did you need something?
The dots appeared and disappeared four times before she got a response.
Sorry. Enjoy your evening.
That man. Somehow now she felt guilty for trying to enjoy her own free time.
What's up? She typed back. She waited nearly ten minutes before her phone pinged again.
Just having A Day. He replied, followed by more dots as he continued. Flashbacks.
Pepper frowned. This explained why she hadn't seen him much that day. Forgoing typing, she pressed his contact name and then 'call', raising her phone to her ear. He answered in one ring.
"Hey Potts." He greeted, voice gruff. He'd been crying.
"Talk to me." She said, chewing her lip.
Tony cleared his throat and shrugged, not that she could see him. "Not much to say." He mumbled down the line. "Just started feeling wiggy this morning, my brain has decided to just nope out of the day and left me on my own." He laughed, but he didn't sound happy. "I'm fine."
"No you're not." Pepper sighed and stood up, looking round for her shoes. "I'll be there in twenty."
"Uh…" He sounded guilty and Pepper jumped a foot in the air when a knock sounded from her front door. "Kinda beat you to it."
Pepper walked over to the front door and opened it. Tony was wiping down his jeans, as if he'd just been sitting on the floor. He looked up at her and slipped his phone back in the pocket, smiling sheepishly. "Hey."
"How long have you been sat outside my door?" She asked, moving aside to let him in and pocketing her own phone.
"Well, it took me an embarrassingly long time to come up with 'u up'." He sighed, crossing his arms over his chest, trying to produce a barrier out of thin air. "So I'd rather not divulge that information."
Pepper sighed and checked him over - hair standing on end, dark circles under his eyes, the vein in his neck twitching with each of his rapidly thumping heartbeats. The last time she'd seen him like this was the morning three days after his 25th birthday party. That had not been a fun week.
"You wanna watch a movie with me?" She asked, moving towards her couch again in the Pepper Potts Patented way she'd mastered to corral Tony in any direction, and sure enough he allowed himself to be herded towards the plush grey piece of furniture. "Let me get you a drink, take your jacket off. And no shoes!" She caught him as he tried to put his feet on her coffee table. She heard the thud of his shoes being kicked off as she walked into her kitchen and when she returned with a lemonade he was sitting politely, gazing around her apartment. After sitting down again, she rewound the movie to the beginning, thankful she'd not been too far in, and she pummeled her cushion into a more comfortable position as she leant against it. When she glanced over at Tony a short while later, he was fast asleep.
Once the movie was over, she debated waking him, but he was sat bolt upright - he couldn't even relax when he was asleep, it seemed - and she knew he'd be stiff in the morning if he stayed there. She reached over and shook his shoulder gently, and he snapped awake like she'd flipped a switch.
"Hey, the movie's over." She said softly, watching as his eyes flitted around the room and he remembered where he was. "Why don't you lie down, I'll get you a blanket?"
"Woof." He mumbled sarcastically, leaning forward and digging the palms of his hands into his eyes, sighing heavily. He felt something soft hit the side of his head and lifted it, finding a blanket covering half of his torso and Pepper holding a pillow. "If we're having a pillow fight…" the words died in his mouth and Pepper raised an eyebrow, waiting for his usual smart comment, but it didn't come. Thankfully, she had the grace not to say anything, merely handing him the pillow and sitting next to him.
"How about instead you lie down and get some sleep?" She suggested.
"Only if you sleep with me." He said with a smirk, but it didn't reach his eyes.
"On a scale of one to ten, how much did you think that would work?" She asked with a tilt of her head. "Lie down, sleep, I'll see you in the morning." She patted his shoulder and stood up, heading through a door that presumably led to her bedroom and closing it behind her.
Tony tried his best to sleep. He'd punched the pillow into submission several times, drew the blanket up around his waist, but every time he started to doze he was jerked out of it by horrific visions of the past. At one point he screamed himself awake, sitting bolt upright and panting hard. He heard Pepper's door fly open and turned away, embarrassed as he wiped his face.
"Sorry." He huffed, trying to calm down his racing heart and just breathe normally. "I just…sorry."
"How long has it been like this?" She was already by his side, cautiously sitting next to him on the couch. Tony merely shook his head, unable to speak. His heart was thudding a mile a minute, making the light of the reactor thrum beneath the shirt he wore. Pepper reached over and pressed her hand on his chest just below it, pushing him backwards to rest against the couch properly and tucked herself against him. "It's okay, you're here with me, okay? I've got you."
Tony made a noise in the back of his throat like he was choking and scrambled for her hand on his chest, pressing it more firmly against him. He let his attack go full force, realizing up until this point he'd been frantically trying to build a dam around a typhoon and failing miserably, letting himself sob and yell, and Pepper didn't move the entire time, holding him and just letting him feel.
Eventually, his chest loosened and he felt like his vision expanded and he could see properly again. He felt Pepper's hand, firm and constant on his chest, her cheek and nose pressed against his shoulder, which was slightly damp from her tears, as was the front of his shirt from his own.
"Shit." He mumbled hoarsely, reaching up to wipe his face. He felt raw, and for the first time in months he felt exhausted. He let out a long sigh and closed his eyes, but surprisingly Pepper shook him gently to wake him again.
"Come sleep with me." She said, taking his hand.
Tony nodded, unable to even make a witty retort this time, and simply stood and followed her into her bedroom where he flopped down onto her bed. Her pillow smelled of her and he felt Pepper moving the sheets to cover him up before scooting in beside him, but after that he couldn't say because he was out like a light.
It wasn't a permanent solution, but it would do for now.