Yes, Virginia, There Really Is An Iron Man: Chapter Three
TITLE: Yes, Virginia, There Really Is An Iron Man
AUTHOR: Quicksilvermad
SUMMARY: (Movie-verse) Pepper deals with Tony’s newfound lease on life and ends up making a mountain out of her molehill of emotion where her boss is concerned.
GENRE: Humor/Romance
RATING: PG13
PAIRING: Tony/Pepper
DISCLAIMER: Iron Man etc. belong to Marvel Comics et. al.
Chapter Three:
It was completely fascinating to watch Tony work on something. Whether it be a complicated device the size of an orange or one of his hot rods. He’d get so involved that he would sometimes forget Pepper was even in the room with him-instead speaking to Jarvis or himself as he gathered what he needed.
The shop was a mess.
Pepper dipped to the floor and scooped up something among the broken glass and strewn papers. It was a metal base and a circular ring with the words: “Proof that Tony Stark has a heart” engraved in it.
The redhead set the object on a shelf behind her, sat in one of the many chairs that littered the room, and waited patiently as her boss worked.
For over two hours.
Her mind wandered-mentally going over Tony’s schedule for the next week.
Pepper stared at the torn section of Tony’s shirt.
There it was.
His deft fingers were busy rebuilding this contraption-with a few improvements he discussed with Jarvis.
She never understood how Tony programmed the AI so that it could be sarcastic…
“So I’m here to plug you in again?” she guessed.
Tony looked up from his work with a guilty face. He remembered what she’d said before and she seemed quite genuine about it. “Only if it’s okay with you,” he said.
Pepper’s eyebrows dipped. “Why wouldn’t it be?”
He gave her a look and mimicked her response from the last time: “’Don’t ever, ever, ever ask me to do anything like that ever again.’ Something like that-remember?”
“Well I was kind of disgusted… There was pus and it smelled and- Tony, I could have killed you!”
“A, it wasn’t pus. B, yes, I will admit it did smell awful. And C… no.”
“’No?!’” Pepper repeated.
“Hu-uh.”
“No.”
“Right.”
She heaved a relieved sigh. “No,” she smiled.
“Okay, now is that an answer or are you still repeating me?” Tony asked-the glimmer of a smile shining in his eyes.
“I-I was…” Pepper rolled her eyes. “Still repeating.” She heaved a breath like a track runner getting ready for a race. “Okay. What do I do?”
He swept some debris off the same chair he’d been reclining in that time he’d asked if she had small hands and hopped up into it like an eager kid. He yanked his shirt off and attached the monitors to his chest. “Jarvis, could you turn on the EKG?”
The screen flared to life and displayed his heart rate.
“Thank you,” Tony pointed at the desk he’d been working at. “Grab the new one, would you?”
Pepper carefully held the arc reactor in both hands and watched it glow almost dreamily. Tony grinned at her expression, unseen by her, and twisted his chest piece counter-clockwise. There was a snapping noise and he pulled the older model out of the socket.
“Oh-kay, Miss Potts… If you could be so kind and reach on in there-I know it’s not a copper wire, but still… Don’t let the leads touch the sidewalls, remember?”
Pepper gave him a sharp look. “I remember, Mr. Stark.”
Tony grinned again and watched her delicately fold her hand into a cone-shape before she reached inside his chest and unplugged the old unit from its base plate. She managed to keep from shocking him this time.
She still looked rather disgusted, but kept her running mental commentary to herself. Tony watched her face and decided he wasn’t about to tell her that he now had a limited amount of time to actually stay alive. He wouldn’t tell her about that ever.
“Okay, good-same drill, plug me in and then turn it clockwise until you hear it click.”
Pepper did as he asked-much calmer and gentler than last time. “Want this back in the display?”
Tony slid out of the chair, handed her a rag to wipe her hands on, and took a cleansing breath. The modifications he’d made certainly did cut down on the pain factor. “Oh, hell yes,” he said. “That thing saved my life twice now. Thanks, by the way.”
He was so blasé about the whole thing that something snapped inside Pepper. She managed to calmly replace his old unit in the display before turning on him.
“Tony, I need you to stop it.”
He frowned and removed the leads from his chest. “What are you talking about?”
“’It,’ ‘this,’ whatever it is that keeps you from realizing that you should be dead,” she held her breath after saying the last bit-the sensation tears she’d shed when he was first reported missing reemerged and stung her eyes.
There was a moment of such complete silence that even the ever moving machinery had stopped.
Tony suddenly turned and grabbed Pepper by the arm. She squeaked in surprise as he dragged her to sit in the chair he’d just vacated. “I know I should be dead. I should have been dead months ago, Virginia. But I’m not. And the man who saved me is. I act the way that I do because if I don’t I will constantly be thinking about how things should have been.”
A tear slipped out of Pepper’s tenuous control and streamed down her cheek. Idly, with his free hand, Tony gently wiped it away.
He was still holding her arm and the intensity of what he needed to say had him almost leaning into her. “If it weren’t for Yinsen, I’d be in a ditch somewhere in Afghanistan with shrapnel lodged in my heart. If I don’t make light of it, they’ll get worse,” he let slip out.
Pepper gently laid a hand on his collar bone-just above the chest plate. “The nightmares.”
Tony closed his eyes and allowed himself to lean into her touch just a little bit.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Pepper offered.
Tony swallowed the lump forming in his throat and slid into the chair beside her-resting his forehead against the headrest so that his mouth was right beside her ear. The position was comfortable, but still had Pepper feeling nervous and unsure. Tony wasn’t usually this touchy with her. At least, he wasn’t before. Something else changed in him during his stint as a hostage.
“They’re always about… Well, no. Not always…”
His breath hummed across the side of her neck and Pepper reached up to grip at his right arm-banded across her waist.
“Sand and death. Sometimes I get stuck in a memory and say the wrong thing and Yinsen has his eyes burned out with a hot coal. Sometimes the second reactor doesn’t work and either I die or I make it out of there but I have to carry a car battery with me everywhere. Sometimes the helicopters come, but they don’t recognize me and I get shot. Sometimes they just fly overhead and leave me and I die.”
Tony held Pepper tighter. “And sometimes… Sometimes you’re there and I do what they ask because they say they’ll kill you. And you always hate me in those nightmares. Always spit on me as soon as I hand over their missiles…”
Pepper tightened her grip on his arm briefly and snaked her trapped hand from his collar bone to the back of his neck in a weird sort of hug.
“Yinsen told me he had a wife and a daughter waiting for him and when he said that the only person I could think of was you. He told me they were dead when he was dying and I knew… I knew I had to get out of there-I had to live.”
“Because I’m all you’ve got,” Pepper whispered.
Tony shifted again-pressing his mouth lightly against the shell of her ear. “And I’m all you’ve got,” he whispered back.
TBC
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AUTHOR: Quicksilvermad
SUMMARY: (Movie-verse) Pepper deals with Tony’s newfound lease on life and ends up making a mountain out of her molehill of emotion where her boss is concerned.
GENRE: Humor/Romance
RATING: PG13
PAIRING: Tony/Pepper
DISCLAIMER: Iron Man etc. belong to Marvel Comics et. al.
Chapter Three:
It was completely fascinating to watch Tony work on something. Whether it be a complicated device the size of an orange or one of his hot rods. He’d get so involved that he would sometimes forget Pepper was even in the room with him-instead speaking to Jarvis or himself as he gathered what he needed.
The shop was a mess.
Pepper dipped to the floor and scooped up something among the broken glass and strewn papers. It was a metal base and a circular ring with the words: “Proof that Tony Stark has a heart” engraved in it.
The redhead set the object on a shelf behind her, sat in one of the many chairs that littered the room, and waited patiently as her boss worked.
For over two hours.
Her mind wandered-mentally going over Tony’s schedule for the next week.
Pepper stared at the torn section of Tony’s shirt.
There it was.
His deft fingers were busy rebuilding this contraption-with a few improvements he discussed with Jarvis.
She never understood how Tony programmed the AI so that it could be sarcastic…
“So I’m here to plug you in again?” she guessed.
Tony looked up from his work with a guilty face. He remembered what she’d said before and she seemed quite genuine about it. “Only if it’s okay with you,” he said.
Pepper’s eyebrows dipped. “Why wouldn’t it be?”
He gave her a look and mimicked her response from the last time: “’Don’t ever, ever, ever ask me to do anything like that ever again.’ Something like that-remember?”
“Well I was kind of disgusted… There was pus and it smelled and- Tony, I could have killed you!”
“A, it wasn’t pus. B, yes, I will admit it did smell awful. And C… no.”
“’No?!’” Pepper repeated.
“Hu-uh.”
“No.”
“Right.”
She heaved a relieved sigh. “No,” she smiled.
“Okay, now is that an answer or are you still repeating me?” Tony asked-the glimmer of a smile shining in his eyes.
“I-I was…” Pepper rolled her eyes. “Still repeating.” She heaved a breath like a track runner getting ready for a race. “Okay. What do I do?”
He swept some debris off the same chair he’d been reclining in that time he’d asked if she had small hands and hopped up into it like an eager kid. He yanked his shirt off and attached the monitors to his chest. “Jarvis, could you turn on the EKG?”
The screen flared to life and displayed his heart rate.
“Thank you,” Tony pointed at the desk he’d been working at. “Grab the new one, would you?”
Pepper carefully held the arc reactor in both hands and watched it glow almost dreamily. Tony grinned at her expression, unseen by her, and twisted his chest piece counter-clockwise. There was a snapping noise and he pulled the older model out of the socket.
“Oh-kay, Miss Potts… If you could be so kind and reach on in there-I know it’s not a copper wire, but still… Don’t let the leads touch the sidewalls, remember?”
Pepper gave him a sharp look. “I remember, Mr. Stark.”
Tony grinned again and watched her delicately fold her hand into a cone-shape before she reached inside his chest and unplugged the old unit from its base plate. She managed to keep from shocking him this time.
She still looked rather disgusted, but kept her running mental commentary to herself. Tony watched her face and decided he wasn’t about to tell her that he now had a limited amount of time to actually stay alive. He wouldn’t tell her about that ever.
“Okay, good-same drill, plug me in and then turn it clockwise until you hear it click.”
Pepper did as he asked-much calmer and gentler than last time. “Want this back in the display?”
Tony slid out of the chair, handed her a rag to wipe her hands on, and took a cleansing breath. The modifications he’d made certainly did cut down on the pain factor. “Oh, hell yes,” he said. “That thing saved my life twice now. Thanks, by the way.”
He was so blasé about the whole thing that something snapped inside Pepper. She managed to calmly replace his old unit in the display before turning on him.
“Tony, I need you to stop it.”
He frowned and removed the leads from his chest. “What are you talking about?”
“’It,’ ‘this,’ whatever it is that keeps you from realizing that you should be dead,” she held her breath after saying the last bit-the sensation tears she’d shed when he was first reported missing reemerged and stung her eyes.
There was a moment of such complete silence that even the ever moving machinery had stopped.
Tony suddenly turned and grabbed Pepper by the arm. She squeaked in surprise as he dragged her to sit in the chair he’d just vacated. “I know I should be dead. I should have been dead months ago, Virginia. But I’m not. And the man who saved me is. I act the way that I do because if I don’t I will constantly be thinking about how things should have been.”
A tear slipped out of Pepper’s tenuous control and streamed down her cheek. Idly, with his free hand, Tony gently wiped it away.
He was still holding her arm and the intensity of what he needed to say had him almost leaning into her. “If it weren’t for Yinsen, I’d be in a ditch somewhere in Afghanistan with shrapnel lodged in my heart. If I don’t make light of it, they’ll get worse,” he let slip out.
Pepper gently laid a hand on his collar bone-just above the chest plate. “The nightmares.”
Tony closed his eyes and allowed himself to lean into her touch just a little bit.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Pepper offered.
Tony swallowed the lump forming in his throat and slid into the chair beside her-resting his forehead against the headrest so that his mouth was right beside her ear. The position was comfortable, but still had Pepper feeling nervous and unsure. Tony wasn’t usually this touchy with her. At least, he wasn’t before. Something else changed in him during his stint as a hostage.
“They’re always about… Well, no. Not always…”
His breath hummed across the side of her neck and Pepper reached up to grip at his right arm-banded across her waist.
“Sand and death. Sometimes I get stuck in a memory and say the wrong thing and Yinsen has his eyes burned out with a hot coal. Sometimes the second reactor doesn’t work and either I die or I make it out of there but I have to carry a car battery with me everywhere. Sometimes the helicopters come, but they don’t recognize me and I get shot. Sometimes they just fly overhead and leave me and I die.”
Tony held Pepper tighter. “And sometimes… Sometimes you’re there and I do what they ask because they say they’ll kill you. And you always hate me in those nightmares. Always spit on me as soon as I hand over their missiles…”
Pepper tightened her grip on his arm briefly and snaked her trapped hand from his collar bone to the back of his neck in a weird sort of hug.
“Yinsen told me he had a wife and a daughter waiting for him and when he said that the only person I could think of was you. He told me they were dead when he was dying and I knew… I knew I had to get out of there-I had to live.”
“Because I’m all you’ve got,” Pepper whispered.
Tony shifted again-pressing his mouth lightly against the shell of her ear. “And I’m all you’ve got,” he whispered back.
TBC
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