❄ but the most special are the most lonely ❄

[letmetakeaselfie]

I. ( tony + steve + bruce )

[ tony's face-plate comes up, all but dragging steve over the threshold. he just has to focus on keeping the super soldier awake so they can get to bruce and get patched up. and then everything will be fine - it'll all be fine. nevermind that cap's best friend is now a psycho killer and is totally on the loose and natasha blew up s.h.i.e.l.d. via the interwebs and put a huge target on all of their heads.

at least he's not panicking.

he has no actual way of knowing how injured he personally is under the suit, either. he's in so much shock and so jacked up on adrenaline that anything is possible. he just hopes it isn't beyond the doctor's scope. JARVIS puts in the passcode wirelessly so tony can carry steve through the door, princess-style. ]

Medic? We need a medic... [ the joke dies on his lips, meeting bruce's gaze across the room. god is he a sight for sore eyes. ]

II. ( tony + steve + bruce + pepper )

[ once tony and steve are cleaned up and back in their street clothes, they may as well get ready for the q&a that's coming. there are a lot of things he's still not willing to discuss - peggy and her husband; his father; bucky... but neither of them are going to get a choice. he loves pepper and bruce with all (both) his heart(s) but this is some heavy shit, so instead he just blurts out the first thing that comes to his mind.

it's also the dumbest. ] Widow will be happy you finally got yourself a date, huh, Cap? [ he nudges the other man's shoulder and looks to everyone else, sorry. that's the best he's got. ]

III. ( tony + steve )

[ tony wanders out to the living room, finding steve out on the couch where he'd left him. he knows just by the unsteady rise and fall of his chest that he's not sleeping. how could either of them after that? without saying a word, he slots his slighter frame in next to him, carefully avoiding both of their injuries and pulling out his phone. ]

I wasn't kidding about that like page, you know. [ he shows cap the facebook fan page that allegedly phil set up. it has a much more flattering image than the twitter. also 14 million something likes. ] You have almost as many fans as me.

[ he's not even being cheeky (much), he has over 19 million. ]

IV. ( tony + pepper )

[ pepper's not up yet and tony hasn't slept yet, which really, if it weren't so commonplace by now might be more traumatic. as it is, he eyes her heels at the base of the bed; she had fallen asleep in her clothes. poor pepper, he'd probably exhausted her and worried her sick with all of this. again, par for their course, but still.

before he can talk himself out of it, he sits on a corner of the bed and goes about trying to get his feet into her shoes. she would totally kill him if she woke up right now, but as they'd established that day they went to the park, it was really hard being short. ] What does she have, elf feet...?

[ he asks the open air, wobbling to his feet and immediately falling to the ground. this wasn't his best laid plan by far. he's just going to lay here for a while. this carpet is soft and his entire body is a bruise. ]

Comments

[efficacy]

[ Pepper folds him in her arms tighter as the sobs finally break through and wreck his body, occasionally murmuring soothing words into his ear, half of it likely nonsense. Dainty hands stroke his back and delve into his hair, press him against her as if she could absorb half of his pain onto herself. She lets him cry on her for as long as it takes until his tears are spent. Her own eyes burn too, but she ignores it the same way she ignores the fabric of her blouse clinging wetly to her chest, focusing on her mostly silent reassurances instead, on soothing Tony however she can. ]

[letmetakeaselfie]

Oh god, Pepper. [ his heart is breaking -- he's falling apart and her arms coupled with his own desperate grip in her clothes are the only things holding him together. ]

Steve actually tried to tell me this was all his fault. Who the fuck does he think he is? [ still crying, but it's taken on an almost angry edge. ]

[efficacy]

[ It doesn't matter if he does. She'd be there to put him back together, as always. Times like these, she can be strong enough for both of them. One palm curves over the back of his neck, her sigh disappearing into this hair and heart breaking for both Steve and Tony. ]

He's grieving, same as you are. [ She can understand where Steve's mind has gone with that, even if she doesn't agree with it. ]

[letmetakeaselfie]

That doesn't give him the right-- [ he catches that righteous edge in his own voice and it dissolves into sobs all over again, rubbing his face against her shoulder miserably. ]

He thinks he's worthless. Because I'd waste my time on him if he was. [ it's easier to couch it in terms of himself. if steve thinks he makes everything about him, he'll make everything about him. fuck it. ]

[efficacy]

You'll prove him wrong. [ She finally murmurs back, gently but firmly, fingers of one hand delving back into his hair. ] And I'll help you.

[ It's that simple and yet, not at all. But Pepper doesn't think there's any point of arguing the issue, not when every nerve is rubbed raw by the recent events and tempers are running high. ]

[letmetakeaselfie]

[ he nods, pulling back an inch to wipe his face on his sleeve before redoubling his efforts to disappear against her. pepper always knew just what to say. ]

Could you-- just tell me something good. Anything. Make it up, I don't care.

[efficacy]

[ She has some things to tell him about her clean-up after the SHIELD implosion, in regards to SI specifically, but though she considers it good news, she doesn't think Tony wants to hear about anything business related right now. There's time for that later. ]

Well... I finally beat level 147 in Candy Crush without JARVIS helping me even once.

[letmetakeaselfie]

[ oh my god bless her heart, he actually laughs, though they sound wet and painful so he stops. ]

You're perfect. You're actually perfect.

[efficacy]

[ Gratified to get a laugh out of him, Pepper smiles to herself and drops a kiss into his hair. ]

And I think you're terribly biased, but I'll take it anyway.

[letmetakeaselfie]

[ he can't argue it so he doesn't, his cheek slotting in next to hers as he starts to regain himself a little. ]

I tried to play rummy with Steve, but he just threw all the cards at me. [ and everyone says he's 12. ]

[efficacy]

[ The smirk is audible in her tone when she replies. ] I can understand that. Sometimes I get the same impulse when I play with you.

[ But mostly only when she loses which is... a lot. ]

[letmetakeaselfie]

We didn't even get through a hand, this one is so not on me and my mad skills. [ why u mad peps? ]

[efficacy]

[ She makes a noncommittal hum at that, something amused in the small noise. She keeps carding her fingers through his hair, silent for one contemplative minute. Then, so very softly; ] When do you think we can go back home?

[ It seems silly, maybe, in the wake of everything that's happened; the most important thing is that they're all here, and all okay. Physically at least. But she wants their lives back, and that includes a house that isn't this one, where they have to hide like criminals or something. ]

[letmetakeaselfie]

[ pain floods his gaze and for a second he thinks he might break down again, but he doesn't purposefully rubbing his nose against pepper's. ] Soon. I promise.

Soon. [ he hopes he can keep it. ]

[efficacy]

[ Her soft smile as a touch of sadness to it, as if knowing what he doesn't say -- and to a point, she does. Regardless, she says nothing of it, instead nudging him back before tilting her chin up and drawing him into a slow kiss, lips sweeping against his lovingly for a few moments. ]

Did I tell you how happy I am to have you back? [ Maybe it's codependent or something, but she always feels like a piece of her is missing whenever they're apart, whether it's a mission or a business trip. And this absence had been particularly stress-laden. ] Because I am.

[letmetakeaselfie]

[ his eyes blink closed again, allowing her to draw him into the kiss, languidly returning it and releasing a little sound of contentment against her mouth. he thinks about what he'd discussed with steve -- that pepper had to come with them to defeat the mandarin; that she had to have her own suit. but the words get lost, she'll find out soon enough. once he's back to the lab and his suits and wow, he thinks he's actually starting to miss dum-e. he really is a lost cause.

and then she's speaking and he snaps out of his thoughts, eyes opening and flickering across her features to study them though they're already well-memorized. ] I'm happy to be back. Really happy.

[ especially considering he really wasn't sure he was for at least a minute there. ]

[efficacy]

[ Pepper smiles gently, fondly, returning the favor and taking a moment to simply drink him in, enjoying the small bit of calm in the sea of turmoil they've been mired in recently -- thanking every lucky star that he made it back to her. One hand cradles the side of his face, thumb brushing his cheek softly under one reddened eye. ]

Did you get any sleep at all?

[letmetakeaselfie]

Nah. I got Steve to bed a few hours ago but... no. Well, floor-bed. The short answer is 'no.'

[ he makes a face. he hadn't been ready for sleep. it could wait. ]

[efficacy]

Tony... [ She gives him the patented (only not really but it could be!) Pepper Potts Disapproving Eyebrow that usually shames people into submission. ]

[letmetakeaselfie]

I was going to sleep but then I -- woke you up. And now we're here, so hi. Hello. I'll sleep when I'm dead. [ he knew he overused sayings like that, but fuck it he had earned a little leeway here. ]

[efficacy]

Oh, so it's my fault for keeping you awake. [ It's mostly a joke, judging by the slight edge of wryness to her tone. But then she seems to remember something, brow furrowing. ] ...And were you trying on my shoes?

[letmetakeaselfie]

Oh yeah, totally your fault-- [ except she caught him, just like she always eventually does. ] No, what? That's ridiculous.

[ he wrinkles up his face in measured incredulity ]

[efficacy]

[ She's like the world's best human lie detector when it comes to one Tony Stark, it's basically useless for him to even try. She gasps as if scandalized, playing it up a little. ]

You were too, you little sneak.

[letmetakeaselfie]

I was curious. It was a very - scientific - experiment. [ he's honestly trying not to laugh don't look at him like that oh god he'll lose it ]

[efficacy]

Scientific, my foot! Or yours, apparently, since you were trying to shove them in my two-thousand dollar Jimmy Choos. [ oh please u can't fool her!! ] So what were the initial conclusions of this oh-so scientific endeavor of yours, Dr. Stark?