DISCLAIMER: Iron Man, Tony Stark, Virginia "Pepper" Potts, James/Jim Rhodes/Rhodey, Obadiah Stane, Iron Monger, Harry "Happy" Hogan, Trish Tilby, Hank McCoy, Phoenix, and X-Men all © Marvel Entertainment, Inc. This is not a licenced story, and no profit is being made from it by the author. "Iron Man" lyrics © Black Sabbath.

Chapter Four

When Pepper reached for him again, Tony pulled even further away, hand over the arc reactor, his spine coming up against the soft back of the couch but feeling like it had hit a wall. Bruised muscles all around his torso spasmed; he arched his back in agony. A whimper slipped out before he insisted, "I-I'm fine," knowing full well that she wasn't going to buy it for a second. She was persistent that way — it was one of the things he loved about her, even if it was damn inconvenient sometimes.


"I-is it you're heart?" she asked, frantic, quickly shifting to the couch, getting closer, leaving him nowhere to get away. She reached for him, ripping his shirt open, buttons spraying like bullets.


"Pepper! Pepper, stop!" he pleaded through teeth clenched against the pain. He grabbed her wrists before she could touch the reactor again. "It's just a muscle spasm," he insisted, hoping she would let it be, because he was in no shape to argue at that moment. And to think just a few months ago, having her rip his shirt open like that would have been a fantasy come true. He supposed he deserved this.


It hadn't been any physical pain that had caused him to pull away from her — it was the act of pulling away that had triggered the spasm. No, it was mental anguish that had spurred him to pull away in the first place: the reminder, when her hands brushed his chest, of how he was damaged now. He'd never considered what being with someone now would be like, now that he was a freak. It was stupid vanity, but it still bruised his ego. He didn't want her to look at him and see the reactor instead, didn't want pity.


What if that was why she was willing to be with him now?


No. He had to give her more credit than that. It was more likely she didn't want to be with him before because he was a jackass, plain and simple. For that matter, how did he know she hadn't wanted to be with him before? It wasn't as if he had been paying attention.


The pain started to subside, allowing him to sink into the couch, and to breathe again. He could feel cool sweat drip down his face. He realised belatedly that he was still holding her wrists, and quickly released her, wincing as he noticed the white marks his fingers left on her skin.  "S-sorry," he managed weakly, breathing laboured as his lungs made up for lost time. His eyes closed, he was slightly startled when he felt a cool, damp cloth against his brow.


"I'm the one who's sorry," Pepper told him. "It's too early yet for another pain pill. Stupid of me to encourage you to ... " She cleared her throat.


He opened his eyes to look at her, wondering just how far she had intended to take things, but deciding it was probably better for both of them not to dwell on it if he was in such lousy shape anyway. "Hey, now, I think I bear some of the responsibility here — I kissed you!" he pointed out with a grin.


She smiled, ducking her head and blushing. Her eyes fell on the Arc reactor and grew thoughtful. She reached out to touch it, and he held his breath, trying not to tense up again or pull away. She traced the curve of the device with her fingertips.


"It's so beautiful."


His fears melted away then, and his so-very-imperfect heart melted with them. If he'd needed any proof that she was the one he should be with, that was it. But he hadn't been ready before: he only prayed he was now.


"You're amazing, you know that?" she whispered. "That you could make something like this to keep yourself alive — and while you were so badly hurt! I can't imagine doing something like that."


"Yeah, well ... you never would have gotten yourself into that mess in the first place," he told her wryly, equally quiet. "You're the one who amazes me — I don't know how you put up with me."


She smirked. "Well, then — maybe I should get a raise?"


He laughed, but JARVIS broke in before he could reply.


"Pardon the interruption," came the computer's very British, very human tones — sounding far more subdued than usual. Tony got a sinking feeling in his gut,  and forced himself to sit upright, ignoring the protest in his ribs and back, as the AI went on, "but there's a call on the land line — according to the number, it's from a hospital in Poughkeepsie."


Pepper grew white as a sheet. "I have to take that," she said, scrambling to the closest phone, on the end table. She almost dropped the handset, her hand shaking as she brought it to her ear. "Hello? ... Mom? Yeah, what's ..." There was a long moment of silence. She bit her lip, screwing her eyes shut. "Yeah, I'll be there as soon as I can .... I love you too, Mom. Bye." She sighed, rubbing her temple. She stood, silent.


Tony had struggled to his feet while she spoke; now he shifted restlessly, wanting to go to her but unsure of his welcome. "Pepper?" he ventured forth with word alone, tentative.


She didn't meet his eyes as she spoke. "My grandfather is in the hospital — he's had a stroke. They don't think he's going to wake up." She sounded angry, irritated, not sad.


"Oh ..." It was all the brilliant scientist could think to say.


She sighed. "Does it make me an awful person that I don't care?"


"I suppose that would depend on what kind of a person he was — I'm guessing not a very nice one?"


She granted Tony a small smile. "No. Not at all. But Mom's pretty upset — I need to go offer moral support."


"We can take the jet," Tony suggested.


She blinked. "We?"


"Well, yeah, I'll be your moral support!"


She gave him a small, amused smiled. "Sorry, Tony, but I don't think a death in my family will excuse you from the shareholders meeting tomorrow."


"I'm still CEO; it does if I say it does," he scoffed.


Her smile turned wry. "Tony ..."


"Fine. I'll call in sick! I'll say I have a concussion!"


"You probably do, which is all the more reason for you to stay here."


"But you're going to a hospital!" he pointed out.


"On the other side of the country!" she retorted.


God, he'd missed this in Afghanistan. And he didn't want to miss a second more.


Unfortunately, Pepper had other notions. "Besides ... you're, ah ... not exactly my mother's favourite person right now."


He blinked. Usually he had to actually sleep with a woman before earning her mother's wrath .... "What'd I do?"


"Well, the incident last night was all over the news, and it leaked that I was there."


Yeah, nearly getting your girl killed was not a way to win her mother over.


"I could apologise?" he offered. "Use some of the ol' Stark charm?"


She grinned, rolling her eyes. "Another day, okay? For now, let me get her through losing her dad."


"Oh! Right, I'm sorry!" he hurriedly apologised. Here the poor woman was losing her father, and Tony was worried about impressing her. Apparently he had work to do yet in the whole putting others first department.


"It's okay, Tony," Pepper assured him with a kiss to the corner of mouth.


He couldn't hide his disappointment at the little peck.


"If we go any further, than that, I'm never going to get out of here," she mused.


Would that be so bad? he wanted to ask. "Sorry, you're right," he told her instead, sighing more at himself than anything. "Let's get you to the jet."


~  * . *.  * ~


"Tony?  What's wrong? Are you all right?"


When Pepper reached for him again, Tony pulled even further away, hand over the arc reactor, falling back against the couch. His back arched, and he whimpered, eyes screwed shut in apparent agony.


"I-I'm fine," he insisted, obviously not.


"I-is it you're heart?" she asked, franticly shifting to the couch to get closer. She flashed back to the night before, when he lain on the roof, his arc reactor flickering. She couldn't get him out of the suit; thankfully, this time he wasn't trapped in his own armour, wasn't at risk of being killed by the very suit that was supposed to save him She ripped his considerably-more-fragile-than-iron shirt open, buttons spraying like bullets in her hurry to bare the reactor and make sure that its light was glowing steadily.


It didn't disappoint her. She felt a surge of affection for the powerful little power source, grateful to whatever forces had spurred her to save it when Tony had told her to get rid of it. She reached for it.


"Pepper! Pepper, stop!" he pleaded, panting, grabbing her wrists. "It's just a muscle spasm."


The iron grip on her flesh said that it was a pretty intense spasm. She bit her lip, both in worry and to keep from crying out in pain, unwilling to tell him to let go; it was, in an odd (and possibly disturbing) way, a comfort to have him hold on to her like that, clinging hard to life. Slowly, his grip relaxed, but it was still a long moment before he even realised what he was doing and finally let go, apologising breathlessly. The spasm having apparently passed, he lay there panting, drenched in sweat, eyes closed in simple exhaustion rather than crinkled in pain.


She picked up a napkin and wet it with the remains of the water bottle, then pressed it to his brow. "I'm the one who's sorry. It's too early yet for another pain pill," she informed him, apologetically. "Stupid of me to encourage you to ... " She cleared her throat, embarrassed. Just how far had she expected to go, anyway? Even if he hadn't been so hurt?


He opened his eyes and looked at her. "Hey, now, I think I bear some of the responsibility here — I kissed you!" he pointed out, grinning boyishly.


She smiled, ducking her head and blushing. The light of the Arc reactor caught her eye; she reached out and traced the curve of the device with her fingertips, reverently. This device kept him alive, kept him with her. "It's so beautiful," she marveled. He'd never made anything that she would have called beautiful before he'd made the full-size reactor, but this one was even prettier than it parent. Great, I'm a magpie .... "You're amazing, you know that?" she whispered to him, emphatic. "That you could make something like this to keep yourself alive — and while you were so badly hurt!" She knew he was smart, and driven, but she had never imagined he was so strong, or ... well, so brave. "I can't imagine doing something like that." She was sure that she would have just panicked and died. She hadn't done all that well the night prior, just barely managing to do what Tony had asked of her, And if she hadn't ...


"Yeah, well ... you never would have gotten yourself into that mess in the first place," he told her in wry undertones. And he had a point. Still, she supposed life with him would never get boring, at least .... "You're the one who amazes me — I don't know how you put up with me," he remarked.


She smirked, happy to be past the awkwardness, to be bantering with him again. "Well, then — maybe I should get a raise?" she teased, getting a laugh out of him.


"Pardon the interruption," came the voice of JARVIS, sounding suspiciously subdued, making the hair on her neck stand on end, "but there's a call on the land line — according to the number, it's from a hospital in Poughkeepsie."


Pepper grew cold. Home. Who was hurt? "I have to take that," she told Tony, scrambling to the closest phone, on the end table. She almost dropped the handset, her hand shaking as she brought it to her ear. "Hello? ..."


"Pepper?" came the hesitant reply through the receiver.


"Mom? Yeah, what's—"


"Your grandfather has had a stroke. He's ..." Her mother let out a little sob. "He's in a coma, a-and they don't know if he's going to wake up. Pepper ... honey, I know there wasn't a lot of love lost between the two of you, but please ... please come home. For me?"


Pepper bit her lip, screwing her eyes shut against the start of what she feared was a migraine. Even on his deathbed, the man finds ways to ruin my day, she mused, thinking of what she had come to expect to be a really, really good evening (even if all she and Tony could do was talk — and kiss), then feeling a flash of guilt for the selfish thought. As very small one, anyway .... "Yeah, I'll be there as soon as I can."


"Thank you, sweetie. I love you!"


"I love you too, Mom."


"See you soon, dear."


"Bye." Pepper hung up and sighed, rubbing her temple. She stood up and inhaled deeply, searching for the calm center that she often accessed for work.


"Pepper?" Tony asked, tentative, and she felt a twinge of longing in response. Not that she didn't like the assertive, confident Tony, but she was looking forward to getting to know this quieter, more attentive side of him better.


She didn't meet his eyes as she spoke. "My grandfather is in the hospital — he's had a stroke. They don't think he's going to wake up." She couldn't keep the bitterness from her voice; the calm center was proving elusive. It made her feel petty, but there it was.


"Oh ..."


She sighed. "Does it make me an awful person that I don't care?"


"I suppose that would depend on what kind of a person he was — I'm guessing not a very nice one?" he asked.


If she didn't already love Tony, that observation, that understanding, would have been a very good reason to start; most people insisted that, because her grandfather was family, she had to love and forgive him. Pepper preferred the notion that every person had to earn the right to be considered family, whether you were related or not — and could lose the right through inappropriate actions, something her grandfather had committed in abundance ....


Pepper wanted to beam at Tony, but finding herself suddenly tired, she only managed a small smile. "No. Not at all. But Mom's pretty upset — I need to go offer moral support."


"We can take the jet," Tony suggested.


She blinked. "We?"


"Well, yeah, I'll be your moral support!"


Okay, perhaps she shouldn't be surprised anymore, but this — a Tony who was willing to put aside his business for her well-being? A Tony who would even think of doing such a thing, much less actually doing it? This was something of a miracle, and she marveled appropriately. It was also very tempting to take him up on the offer, but she remembered the frantic call she'd gotten from her mother that morning, when the woman had heard what had happened on the news. Her mother already didn't like Pepper working for a "war monger" — the woman's opinion hadn't changed even with Tony's change of heart — and this incident had just added logs to her burn Stark at the stake pile. So as much as Pepper welcomed the idea of Tony coming with her (hell, she'd rather stay here with him), she knew it was a bad idea — her mother was upset enough at the moment. Besides, he had plenty on his own plate.


She gave him a small, amused smiled. "Sorry, Tony, but I don't think a death in my family will excuse you from the shareholders meeting tomorrow."


"I'm still CEO; it does if I say it does," he scoffed.


Her smile turned wry. "Tony ..."


"Fine. I'll call in sick! I'll say I have a concussion!"


"You probably do, which is all the more reason for you to stay here," she insisted, exasperated — and somehow enjoying the fact that he did exasperate her.


"But you're going to a hospital!" he pointed out.


"On the other side of the country!" she retorted, even as she was so very tempted to let him talk her into it. She reminded herself of why she was trying to talk him out of it, and decided she probably should tell him. "Besides ... you're, ah ... not exactly my mother's favourite person right now."


He blinked, looking confused and hurt. "What'd I do?"


Nothing, she wanted to tell him — it was true, as far as she was concerned. Besides, hadn't the man dealt with enough negativity being thrown at him lately? Especially over things that weren't his fault? "Well, the incident last night was all over the news, and it leaked that I was there," she admitted reluctantly.


"I could apologise?" he offered. "Use some of the ol' Stark charm?"


She grinned, rolling her eyes, but really almost falling for his charm herself and relenting. Unfortunately, she suspected her mother would be immune. "Another day, okay? For now, let me get her through losing her dad."


"Oh! Right, I'm sorry!" he hurriedly apologised.


"It's okay, Tony," Pepper assured him with a kiss to the corner of mouth, just barely resisting the temptation to be more squarely on-target.


He looked crestfallen, and resisting got even harder.


"If we go any further, than that, I'm never going to get out of here," she mused aloud.


Would that be so bad? she asked herself.


"Sorry, you're right," he agreed, sighing. "Let's get you to the jet."


~  * . *.  * ~


"Hey, Happy, we need to take Pepper to the airport. I can at least go that far with you," he insisted when Pepper turned to him in surprise. Her warm smile was definitely better than scotch. He returned it, raising it to a grin, which she met.


"Okay, but I don't know how quickly were going to get there. There's paparazzi watching the road out of here," Happy informed them. "I had to put down all the windows in the limo to prove you weren't with me and get them to leave me alone when I went for the food run."


Pepper suddenly looked very weary — almost as weary as Tony suddenly felt. Then he got an idea.


Ten minutes later, they watched Happy drive off without them. Tony opened the door to the BMW, the least ostentatious of his vehicles, for Pepper.


"Uh-uh. You still might have a concussion, buster — I'm driving."


He scowled. "I'm fine."


Her eyes narrowed. "You just don't want a girl driving your car."


"I just don't want to not be driving myself," he corrected.


"Happy drives you," she pointed out, arms crossed.


"The limo!" he protested. "It defeats the purpose of having a limo if you drive it yourself! And it defeats the purpose of having any other car if you're not going to drive it yourself!"


She put her hands on her hips, and he knew he was in trouble. "If you don't let me drive, I'm not going. I'm not risking your safety — or mine — to indulge you."


"But you'll indulge me if safety's not an issue?" he asked with a waggle of his brows.


Her glare lasted about two seconds before she caved, shaking her head and laughing silently into the back of her hand, depriving him of the sound.


"And anyway, I'm going to have to drive the car home after I drop you off!" he added, pleased by his logic. Concussion my ass.


Pepper started to protest, but Tony's cell rang then; it was Happy, calling to inform them that, having ventured forth with the limo's tinted windows up this time, he was indeed being followed by the paparazzi.


As Tony started to say goodbye, Pepper snatched the phone out of Tony's hand. "Happy, once you get a few more minutes out, I want you to circle back and meet us at the airport, so you can drive Tony home."


"Hey!" Tony protested, reaching for the phone.


She snapped it closed, hanging up, smirking at him with smug superiority. So not a cute look on her.


Well, okay, yes it was. Very, actually.


Even so, he considered kissing her, just to wipe the smirk away (not at all because she was so damn cute, nosiree), but she was already circling around the car to the driver's side. As he got into the passenger's side, he considered quickly slipping into the driver's seat from that side, but the twinge in his ribs as he got in quickly squashed that notion. And then Pepper was seated and starting up the car, and they were off.


An awkward silence settled over them, accentuated by the sound of the road beneath their wheels. Tony reached over and turned the radio on.


"—Can he walk at all? Or if he moves, will he fall? Is he alive or dead?—" sang Ozzie Ozbourne. Tony quickly moved to change the station — the last thing he wanted was to remind Pepper about the whole Iron Man thing.


She reached out a hand to stop him. "Leave it. Driver picks the music." She shot him a glance out of her peripheral, and smiled, albeit a little sadly.


He smiled back gratefully, a warm tingling feeling flooding through him; she was telling him she was accepting that he was Iron Man. Well, he hoped she was, anyway.


"I still owe you that drink ..." he remarked. He thought for a moment, and was pleased with himself when he actually remembered, "Dry martini, lots of olives?"


"Yeah," she said, sounding pleased at his memory, "but I think you owe me interest on that. Now you owe me dinner."


"Sure," he told her, grinning. "Although it might end up being fast food again, once the board is finished with me ..." he added ruefully.


She grew thoughtful. "Tony ... you do know that your money doesn't matter to me, don't you? I mean, if I come back from New York and you're a pauper ... I'm still coming back to you."


A tightness in his throat stole his words from him for a moment, before he finally managed to jest, "Wonderful — we can look for work together, then!"


She laughed and reached out, squeezing his hand for a moment before gripping the wheel again. "I'm not worried. You're an inventor — you'll just reinvent yourself, if you have to. I mean, you've done it once already, right?"


"I prefer thinking of myself as a phoenix ... I rose from my own ashes in Afghanistan, and I look really good in red and gold!"


"Isn't there already an X-Man by that name? ..." Pepper teased. "Besides, you already have a code name — 'Iron Man'!"


He wished he could see Hank McCoy's face when the man heard about that.


~  * . *.  * ~


"Hey, Happy, we need to take Pepper to the airport," Tony told the driver.


Pepper gaped at him. When he'd said "Let's get you to the jet," she'd thought he'd just meant making arrangements, not actually coming with her.


"I can at least go that far with you," he insisted.


This time, she did beam at him. He was already treating her far differently from the other women he'd wined and dined (even if he hadn't gotten her a drink yet and she had technically dined him). After shed told him he couldn't go with, she'd expected him to abandon her to her own devices — not out of spite, but because he'd go off to do his own thing then, the way he'd always leave his bedfellows cold in the mornings. She was glad her fears were already proving to be unfounded.


Tony grinned at her; it was contagious.


Happy interrupted the moment, warning them about the paparazzi.


Pepper felt like the energy had been sapped right out of her; she couldn't let Tony leave the house under those circumstances! She perked up again when Tony came up with a solution; the man really was a genius!


Ten minutes later, they watched Happy drive off without them. Tony opened the door to the BMW for her.


As if. "Uh-uh," she told him. "You still might have a concussion, buster — I'm driving."


He scowled. "I'm fine."


She scowled at him. Was he seriously going to act like a little boy, possessive over his toys? "You just don't want a girl driving your car."


"I just don't want to not be driving myself," he corrected.


Okay, so he hadn't reverted to the sexist side of his nature; that was something. Still ... "Happy drives you," she pointed out, arms crossed.


"The limo!" he protested. "It defeats the purpose of having a limo if you drive it yourself! And it defeats the purpose of having any other car if you're not going to drive it yourself!"


She put her hands on her hips, letting him know she meant business. Even if he had a point. Well, on a normal day, when he didn't have a knock on the head, he had a point.  "If you don't let me drive, I'm not going. I'm not risking your safety — or mine — to indulge you."


"But you'll indulge me if safety's not an issue?" he asked, waggling his brows.


She tried to cow him with a glare, she really did, but damnit if the man wasn't a charmer! She stifled the giggles rising within her with the back of her hand, shoulders shaking with pent-up mirth.


"And anyway, I'm going to have to drive the car home after I drop you off!" he pointed out triumphantly.


She started to protest, but Tony's cell rang then. It was Happy, reporting that Tony's brilliant plan to use the limo as a paparazzi-decoy had worked swimmingly.



As Tony started to say goodbye, Pepper snatched the phone out of Tony's hand. "Happy, once you get a few more minutes out, I want you to circle back and meet us at the airport, so you can drive Tony home."



"Hey!" Tony protested, reaching for the phone.



She snapped it closed, hanging up, throwing a triumphant smirk at him. Let's see him try to counter that! She made her way to the driver's side. As she got in, she noted his grimace of pain. She'd have to make sure Happy knew when to medicate the man.


They got on their way, an awkward silence settling over them. As she pondered a way to break the silence, Tony reached over and turned the radio on. Then he quickly moved to change the station.


She knew full well why — the song was Black Sabbath's "Iron Man". She made a quick decision, reaching out a hand to stop him. "Leave it. Driver picks the music." She shot him a glance out of her peripheral, and gave him a bitterweet smile, hoping he would get her drift. She still wasn't happy about his decision to become a superhero, but she understood why, and she would support him, not tear him down. She would be the girlfriend who worried but was proud.


Girlfriend. Would she be able to wrap her head around that by the time she got back? Would she pull a 180, and realise she would have to be out of her mind to date him?


He smiled back at her, obviously grateful, and she decided that being out of her mind was worth it.


"I still owe you that drink ..." he remarked. He was quiet a beat, then, "Dry martini, lots of olives?"


A little thrill went through her: he remembered!  "Yeah, but I think you owe me interest on that," she told him playfully, trying to keep things from getting too heavy between them for now. Let serious discussion wait until she got back. "Now you owe me dinner."


"Sure," he told her, grinning. "Although it might end up being fast food again, once the board is finished with me ..." he added ruefully.


Something occurred to her then; had he ever been with someone who hadn't at least partially been interested in him because of his money? "Tony ... you do know that your money doesn't matter to me, don't you? I mean, if I come back from New York and you're a pauper ... I'm still coming back to you." Okay, so maybe she wasn't doing so well at keeping the conversation casual, but she needed to make sure he knew that, that she wasn't abandoning him — she needed him to keep it together until she could get back.


He was silent a moment, and she regretted the serious topic even more. "Wonderful — we can look for work together, then!" he said finally, and she could tell he was more upset than he sounded, his voice strained in a way that usually only Pepper could pick up on.


She laughed, reaching for an air of levity again as she reached out for his hand, squeezing it for a moment before gripping the wheel again. "I'm not worried. You're an inventor — you'll just reinvent yourself, if you have to. I mean, you've done it once already, right?" Although really, she prayed he would never have to do so again ....


"I prefer thinking of myself as a phoenix ... I rose from my own ashes in Afghanistan, and I look really good in red and gold!"


Inwardly, she winced at the mental image; "Tony's own ashes" was a notion she didn't want to contemplate ever again. "Isn't there already an X-Man by that name? ..." she teased. "Besides, you already have a code name, 'Iron Man'."


Even if she sort of hated it.


~  * . *.  * ~


"I'll call you when I get there," Pepper told Tony.


He'd insisted on getting onto the plane with her to say goodbye. The plane was almost ready to take off, and Happy was waiting for him in the limo, in the darkness down below; he'd arrange for someone to pick up the BMW, parked next to it, tomorrow. If he thought of it; he had a feeling he was going to be busy tomorrow, especially without Pepper there to help him.


That wasn't why he was going to miss her, though.


The captain informed them that they were about to have a window in the runway, so Tony had to get off the plane. As he walked to the door, his feet were incredibly heavy, like he was wearing his iron boots. He turned back to her, for a last glance—


And she was right there, her lips pressed hard against his, her hand tangled in his hair. He more than willingly let her take what she wanted, having learned already that night that it was as good to give as to receive. She drew away, and he could tell it took effort on her part.


"That'll have to tide us over, I guess," she whispered breathlessly.


"Well, it gives us something to look forward to," he said, panting a little. He turned, stumbling, to the door, wishing he had the do to do his walking for him now. He'd had an easier time walking after half a bottle of scotch! Still, he managed to keep his footing enough to make it back to the limo in one piece. He leaned against the vehicle and, looking back at the plane, found Pepper's face in one of the windows. They kept their eyes locked for as long as they were still visible to each other as the plane pulled away — and for long after.


He missed her already.


~FINIS~