penistower | Entries tagged with pepper potts

After trying to get Bruce and his cousin's help, Tony is still at a loss for how to get back home and the only thing he really knows is running scenarios in his lab. The farmhouse is fiercely protected even if the security measures aren't exactly the same as he's set up, funny enough they do have the exact same property with a very similar layout. He's devised an entire plan of how to break into his own house while Pepper is at work and Morgan is with her grandma, but failed to realize the system would be calibrated for only his family since he's no longer a thing in this universe...

So anyway that's how AU!Tony Stark ends up being detailed by some very angry robots and Pepper is essentially getting a Mayday on every device she has simultaneously to inform her of the "intrusion." Over the din of alarms and a smooth female AI's voice can be heard Tony himself apologizing to Pepper while yelling at Dum-e in his usual brutish way.

"Sorry hon... Pepper, sorry. I never-" He's cut off by a sharp pincer prodding at him from behind. "Careful with that thing! You really don't recognize me? I taught you better manners than this, didn't I?? Well, not me, but- OW, seriously?"

billionaires

"Ms. Potts is clear of the structure," comes through his earpiece and Tony holds out his arm to summon the suit back to himself. One gauntlet flies through the air and attaches smoothly (if a bit painful, like his adrenaline isn't canceling that out anyway.) Only half of the suit comes to him before the second impact comes and he's falling fast for the ocean. Not ideal. What is taking the rest of the suit so long? A different model's helmet falls after him and he just barely gets it on and sealed before he breaches the water. He's never been a praying man, but he says a tiny one then and it's the last thing he remembers before JARVIS finally gets his act together and blasts them off for the sky. What he has no way of knowing is that Pepper is still wearing the rest of his suit at takeoff...

Tony barely comes to long enough for a completely unavoidable crash-landing into the snow. He yells right before impact without knowing that Pepper can hear him too through his helmet on her head as she dents the snow nearby. Thankfully, the suit still takes the most of the hit even though they aren't wearing the whole thing properly.

"That's... brisk," he commentates, groaning at the way the nav systems keep blinking out. NOT GOOD. All of this is very not great. "Where are we - upstate? J?"

"Rose Hill, Tennessee, sir."

Tony argues with the AI for a full minute before JARVIS decides he needs a nap. That's when Tony regains his peripheral vision and sees her, forgetting about the snow and the cold as he sprints over to her and falls at her side. This is his biggest screw-up to date, no question.

"Pepper? Pepper! Wake up. Wake up, Pep. I'm sorry... no! Wake up." Tears are gathered in his eyes as he shakes her approaching violently, pausing in between to check her heartbeat though it's impossible to distinguish from the pounding he already hears in his own head.

billionaires

Tony has been on edge lately, almost comparable to the time he completely spiraled out and got their house in Malibu turned into a crater. He's thinking about that now, at midnight, sitting in the dark of his workshop beneath the farmhouse. It's nothing as extravagant or technologically advanced as before, but it gets the job done. He wasn't supposed to be fabricating suits here anyway, but the world never stops ending on him, does it? The only light is his arc reactor necklace hanging off the bench in front of him and bathing only the space immediately around his desk in that familiar blue light. He would never admit that it comforts him, not just in what it can do and what it represents, but just viscerally. This little device kept him alive for so long and now it's just an accessory.

It reflects off his face and eyes as he opens the video recorder on his computer, Dum-e flexing curiously behind him in the frame. Tony is too exhausted to tell him to go lay down somewhere else like the loyal dog he is. He scrubs at his face and deletes the last video before starting again, he has no way of knowing how many takes he's done though surely FRIDAY is keeping track even muted to keep from waking his girls.

"Hey, girly-girl," Tony greets the screen softly, unable to keep the smile from springing onto his face even if his daughter isn't actually here. It's morbid, maybe, but he remembers how he felt seeing his father on that video reel telling him for the first time he cared. He hopes that isn't how it goes down for her, but he really feels like he has no control over it at this point. "If you're watching this... well. Then your dad did something very stupid. Like epically this time and I didn't find a way to take it back. And for that I'm... so deeply sorry."

He has to pause here, it's always where he starts crying or gets too choked up to continue. As he starts his spiel over again for what seems like the millionth time, it doesn't make him any less emotional.

"But you'll always be my girl, Morgan. You'll carry me with you even when you wish you didn't." His laugh is watery and self-deprecating here. "My dad was a cold man, but I still carry him with me every day of my life. People always told me how much we were alike, much to my chagrin. Here's hoping you only get the best parts, and the rest is all your mom. So like, 20-80."

Tears are gathering in his eyes and he drops his head into his hand, not noticing Pepper creeping in behind him or he'd at least make a show of hiding what he's doing down here alone.

billionaires

He's looking across the balcony at Pepper and it's like he's seeing her for the first time. Tony thought he had come here to this party to show the world he isn't an invalid like Obadiah has been spinning to the press. But when they dance he realizes why he really came here - or at least why he wants to believe he did. She's leaning closer and his heart is pounding, that weird tinny reverberation of the arc reactor ringing in his ears as he leans towards her too. They're so close, somehow closer than they've ever been despite all of the flirting and what he might characterize as close calls over the years looking back.

Before they can get any closer though, she's flicking hair out of her eye and asking him for a drink. He thinks it's the first time she's ever actively demanded something from him and it strokes a nerve inside his body he thought was long dead as he licks across his lips distractedly and stiltedly nods. Tony turns on his heel to head to the bar, realizing at the same time she calls after him that he has absolutely no idea what she drinks. He's happy for the excuse to turn back around, eyes glistening warmly as they catch and hold to hers, grinning by the time she gets her ridiculous drink order out.

Of course, when he gets to the bar everything about the night turns a full 180 degrees. This woman - this reporter - she has no sympathy for what he's been through and why should she? Tony doesn't look for comfort in the arms of strangers like her as he once did. He still swallows when she gets closer, remembering telling Pepper to show this woman out, as he'd done a thousand times before with all manner and variety of different women who crossed his path. He takes the disturbing photographs from her hands and there's no hiding the horror writ across his face as he flips through them, his stomach sinking lower with each image.

"When were these taken?" he remembers asking her, but then he's outside questioning Obadaiah before he fully processes what's happening. The flash of camera lights blind him momentarily as the other man's deep voice echoes after he's left, the heat of his big oven mitt of a hand burning a hole in his suit. He was the one who turned the board of his own company against him. The man he'd thought of as a second father, maybe even a kinder one than Howard had been. Feeling bile claw up the back of his throat, he darts back inside the same distracted way, forgetting about Christine or the drinks he'd left behind as he all but sprints for the roof access.

"Potts?" he calls, folding over his knees to clutch at his chest before he can even see if she's still up here. Why would she be? He must have abandoned her ages ago. If he could just catch his breath then he could go back to the party and track her down.

cheeseburgerfirst

This is all one mind-bending, life-altering, earth-shattering mistake. Just the word fills her with hopelessness. Mistake. Was it? Or, on some level, had she known this would happen? She's never been the type to be in touch with her more traditionally feminine parts, but that's where Pepper took over. He's always been a little... metrosexual, or whatever. Maybe more than that, she tries not to think about it. How is she getting sidetracked, even in her own thoughts?

He can't find her like this, that much Toni does know. She dries her tears and forces herself to get in the shower, ignoring F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s nagging as she turns up the heat all the way, feeling her skin redden uncomfortably but it's exactly what she needs to clear her head. Her hand reaches down, closing around her ring finger and the antique ring around it. First, she'd botched their engagement, now she's stalling setting a date. She's always worried about letting Pepper down, but he never backs down from her which makes her fear utterly irrational.

She just has to be an adult about this, it's normal, in their position... Even if the circumstances shocked her. And still are - shocking her. Terrifying her, even. Toni thinks back to the palladium poisoning, that was the last time something even remotely health-related slowed her down. She's not good at dealing with obstacles. Not immutable ones. The most important thing is not allowing herself to picture the worst-case scenario, not spiraling out before she can give Pepper a chance to be the amazing man he is. He'll fix this somehow, like he always cleans up her messes.

The thought has bile rising back up her throat and she has to run for the toilet, still dripping wet as she retches. Pepper hates that, but it can't be helped, can it? When it's finally over, she calls on the AI to help her. She can't trust herself right now, for so many reasons. And if Pepper is at his desk right now, courtesy of Stark ingenuity, he'll be locked out of whatever crucial email he was writing or time-sensitive presentation he'd been working on. Words come across the screen because texting is so last century.

Stop working! Meet me on the roof in 1 hour.

An old school pop-up with the options 'Yes' and 'Yes, dear' comes up. If he tries to click Yes, it will keep insistently blinking until he clicks Yes, dear. And then the monitor goes dark for one heart-skipping moment before everything comes back as it was, safe and sound so he can wrap things up and allow Toni the precious time she needs to get her shit together.

She'll be late to her own meeting, but it won't be for lack of effort. Sushi is being served at a little table for two that didn't exist on the rooftop patio of Stark Industries but yesterday. Or even hours ago. Toni wasn't sure if this was a champagne occasion for so many reasons, but there's an opened bottle of Merlot and sparkling water for the table. When she comes through the roof-access door, it's in a tiny, breezy cocktail dress he might recognize from a lifetime ago. As recently she usually doesn't dig into that part of her closet anymore, but she wants to distract him, and herself. She beelines for him, one hand clutching his shoulder through his dress shirt, and the kiss she greets Pepper with isn't one meant for prying eyes. It's deep and involved, not exactly fitting for a spontaneous lunch date at work, but it's not like she's ever cared about appearances, and there is a reason she wanted seclusion for this bombshell.

"Hey, stranger." And they have been, strangers. Not as bad as it was when she'd spiraled out and he'd saved her, then she saved him from a madman - and then he'd killed said madman to save her again. They've gotten better, but lately he's just been so laser-focused on work, and the Avengers seem to have her number on speed-dial. Under the pretense of getting reacquainted, maybe she won't chicken out just this once.

letmetakeaselfie

You don't gotta say it, I know you ain't stayin' over
And I won't even mention the fact that you're never sober
I never know which side I'm gonna get tonight
And the closer we get, the less I think I know you

But you're just my type
The kind that only calls me late at night
You can't decide if you'll be yours or mine
I hate to say it, but you're just my type

This trip was going to change everything. Stark Industries was already unbeatable, sure, at the top of the market. But if he could sell the Jericho missile to the Afghani rebels? That was it. He could basically retire. Not to mention it would be a fun ride, and he's excited to take it with Rhodey even if the other man doesn't always approve of his methods.

A nervousness settles over him the day before, a feeling that goes far beyond his usual neuroses. Something that shakes him to his core and makes him rethink himself for the first time in a long time. If in the wrong hands, the Jericho missile could be the end of the US occupation in Kandahar. Not a gruesome footnote to a war they were not winning or losing, but an end. The end. And that would be on his hands. But it's not going to go down that way, right? That's just paranoia talking.

Tony has witnessed a change in himself. A steady evolution into a man who cares very much about others. Not what they think of him, or how the media reports, but... them. Their well-being. It hasn't been comfortable for him, but it all started with Pepper's birthday last year. It always went more or less the same, he would forget and she would remind. Their banter was comfortable and familiar. He sits on the couch with a glass of scotch as he pours over the conversation for the millionth time. What's different? What's missing?

Her birthday is rapidly approaching again, and he won't forget. He'll bring her back something from his trip and he'll try. But why does he want to? And what does all of this have to do with the missile test?

It's late, he should be packing. Instead, his fingers dial her number -- she's the only person he knows who will talk him out of something if it's actually a bad idea. Even James panders to him, he isn't blind to it as the other man thinks. "Sorry for calling... at a time you were probably sleeping." Wow he really does suck, she sounds tired.

cheeseburgerfirst

It isn't like all the other times. It isn't even like the first time -- Afghanistan -- her original trauma. She doesn't even remember getting home, getting her fucked up suit off, any of it. After Sokovia and Pietro... everything just stops. Fades to black. Even being home is a cold comfort because she doesn't feel Pepper at her side. Was she here last night? Did she tell her what happened? Toni starts awake, his looming face in her mind. And that voice. Her stomach turned. She created that thing and it almost destroyed the world.

Toni looks around and realizes she's on the couch. It must be late into the afternoon the way the Sun streams insistently through the curtains. She gets up too quick, her legs like rubber and hardly supporting her. She starts to go down, but catches herself on the arm of the sofa and slowly drags herself to stand. She feels clean, physically anyway. She's wearing fresh pajamas. Pepper must have been here last night, she must have helped her the same way she always has. Tony sighs and goes to the coffee maker, predictably, to start a pot. She then goes down the hall to pee only to realize she also wants to throw up. A memory filters in hazily of getting up to retch throughout the night, despite her stomach being emptied hours earlier. It's like being hungover except so much worse, the night coming back to her in disturbing little snippets.

She forces herself out of the bathroom and back to the kitchen, relief tangling with fear and other unnamed emotions when she sees Pepper standing there. Though she can't be sure if it's welcome now, her body compels her forward, wrapping her arms around the other woman and letting her head hang on her shoulder. Somehow she always makes it home, even when there's no chance of survival out there. She knows that's because of this woman in her arms, that she can even muster the strength to get back. To go on. She swallows and clings a little tighter. "I'm so sorry, baby."

primogenture

For a good long while now, Tony has been telling him to retire. But he never quite makes it out the door before something needs his attention, or so it's perceived by him. That's how Howard ends up at Stark Industries until the ripe age of 83, meandering up and down hallways barking orders and generally terrifying new hires. He still hates sitting still, even if his bones protest him more than they did even five years ago. At the behest of Tony (and Happy honestly) he now has a sweet ass cane to get around with and to the chagrin of everyone it actually does make him faster. He can be found in a small corner office very occasionally, but most of the time he's doing his laps, trying to stay useful.

One day he actually goes looking for Tony and can't find him. Maybe his PA will have his schedule, though who knows with that boy. He was always getting off the leash. He wraps on the open doorjamb with the butt of his cane and glowers at the young woman now occupying this office. Wasn't there a brunette here just a week ago? Honestly... Except then he scans her nameplate and he realizes this isn't just another pretty face. Though he wasn't in the famous meeting where this woman corrected his son and not only got away with it but got promoted for it -- well. Let's say he heard more than a few things at the water cooler.

"You were in accounting." It isn't a question, he does that thing Tony does where he states things for the record. Without saying anything else, he moves to occupy the chair in front of her. "Is this role... agreeing with you, my dear?" Howard straightens said nameplate and starts rearranging the scant few things on her desk. She's very minimalistic compared to the last one, who always had papers strewn all about and pictures and knick-knacks.

letmetakeaselfie

The ride back to their little townhouse from the new training facility is a quiet one. He's glad they have a place in New York again, even if he loves their Connecticut house. Even if from now on that will always be home. This place is Switzerland, and he's glad to be away from the excitement of space aliens and new alliances and for it to just be them again. He unlocks the door for her and touches a hand to the small of her back as he follows her into the condo, just wanting to stay connected in some tangible way.

"So... I may have invited the Guardians to our wedding." Probably should have cleared that with her first, huh?

letmetakeaselfie

His heart is still hammering as the lights stop flashing and the press din dies down. Nine freaking years. Did he really let it go that long? And yet it doesn't feel long at all, or even like reality right now despite the ring imprinted against his hand as he clutches hers like a lifeline. The adrenaline is starting to wear off as he looks over at her, knowing this probably wasn't how she wanted this to go down. Still... she seems happy. And that's all he's ever wanted.

"Is the ring okay?" he asks lamely, taking up her other hand and gazing deeply into her eyes.

cheeseburgerfirst

When Toni allows herself to be consumed by her thoughts, it's rarely a good thing. And since date nights had become an established thing, she couldn't get her mind to quit. She was always suspicious of Pepper and those damn diamond commercials. He plays the fool, but maybe he'd really forgotten. She can't be sure, but it had been a long time since she first brought up the "M" word. It makes her heart pound faster just thinking of it now too, but they're not getting any younger. This is important to Pepper, even if he pretends it isn't; and by extension that means it's important for Toni, too. She's sick of walking on eggshells.

She isn't home for the first time in years when Pepper gets home from the conference. He only had the one meeting so she knew she had to work quickly, but when she sets her mind to something it's like a stack of dominoes falling, she'd set something into motion and not even she has the power to stop it now. She leaves him a note on the counter, hastily written. Meet me at the park. -T

Central Park is a big place, but hopefully he remembers their conversation. Horse and buggies... Quakers... She has the horse driver do a figure eight around the entire park so eventually she'll cross paths with Pepper no matter what. She hopes he's here soon, she already can't stand waiting for him. She sits on the very edge of her seat in a sparkly dress that's so very unlike her, so that if the buggy took a sharp turn she'd be dumped to the ground no question. Her dark hair is swept up into a gauzy bonnet, feeling stupid yet elated all at once when she spots a familiar silhouette. "There," she points out the redheaded man to her chauffeur, who's quite happy she paid him for a full day's work already so there could be no interruptions.

The buggy crosses right in front of an unsuspecting Pepper Potts, one slim hand reaching down to help him inside as those giant horse hooves come to an eventual stop. "Hi," she says lamely once he's inside, the car around them lurching ahead the second they're seated.

letmetakeaselfie

Tony hasn't been lost in the lab like this for a long time. Since before Ultron, definitely. It's been a rough year, for all of them. For Pepper by extension. He hates that, but she's off on business again. He can't help thinking like maybe it's best she's away from him for a while. Because of that, he doesn't keep correspondence as well as usual while she's on her trip. He doesn't keep up very well with when she's coming home either, which will prove to be a big mistake.

Since hearing of Thanos and the disruptions in the galaxy, he's quietly been working on a suit that will get him to the action. Since Iron Man Mach II he's been trying to get to space; his own personal Sputnik race, but he's gotten more than a little sidetracked. And lost more than a few friends. He hates that too. It keeps him up more than his own trauma. Why is he still alive, while people more deserving fall? If he had been sucked up by that blackhole on their first mission maybe none of them would have to deal with his bullshit. Maybe that's why he works so hard on fixing things. Something that's never worked out for him in the past. It won't stop him from diving headfirst now, or being completely obsessed with this project.

He hasn't answered a text in days, his phone is buried on his desk and probably dead. He hasn't slept in roughly that amount of time save brief moments lost where he isn't even sure if he's sleeping or just losing time altogether. The last thing he ate was ramen noodles, though when that was is anyone's guess. He could ask FRIDAY, but she's not as willing to indulge him as JARVIS was. Actually, he muted her yesterday and forgot, the voices in his head loud enough that he doesn't notice her absence.

Which is why when Pepper does come home, he's none the wiser, the garish red and gold suit with sharp starburst patterning [mostly] done at last. He's trying it on for the first time, and testing out the anti-gravity function, when the dull echo of Pepper's heels click-clacking on tile filters through the noise. At first, he thinks he's dreamt her up. It wouldn't be the first time this week, or even today, but her brusque pace and unmistakable body language as she comes down the stairs proves her realness. Damn. He hits a surface button on his abdomen to decompress the suit, but in typical fashion something goes wrong and it does it far too fast. Tony whips around like a deflating balloon until eventually crashing in the opposite corner of the lab.

"...Ow?" He's too exhausted to even feel pain, but he assumes that left a bruise. He throws the helmet down and takes in greedy gulps of air, looking up at Pepper's disapproving face with wavy vision.

cheeseburgerfirst

It's been a year since... everything. Since their house blew up, since Extremis. Since Toni had officially lost her mind. She likes to think she's doing better, but there's no true litmus for something like that. She goes to her therapist once a week, as promised. It's still a struggle, but it's getting easier. Sometimes Pepper sits in with her and sometimes she's alone. Depending on the week, one or the other could be harder. Sometimes she doesn't talk the whole hour. Sometimes she doesn't let the doctor have a word in edgewise. Sometimes she cries -- that's the hardest for her, showing weakness in front of an authority figure; allowing herself to be helped. Maybe it's not making any difference, but she knows Pepper appreciates the effort.

There are two shiny suits in the lab, as promised, too. One that she's repairing now as the other stands idly by. She's working with the Avengers again, sort of. It's kind of on-again-off-again. And her remodeling efforts had been for naught, of course none of them wanted to stay here, what was she thinking? Except Bruce, when he bothers to come back from whatever third-world shithole he's in at any given time. Sometimes she gets along with Steve, but usually not. Things are tumultuous, but it's her version of normal and she feels like her head is at least above water again.

Pepper is back to work, solving world hunger and light fare like that. He does so much better at the helm than Toni ever did. It makes her proud, but with the tiniest bit of niggling jealousy she can't ever seem to shake. He seems happy -- fulfilled. She hears his oh-so familiar footfalls predictably right on time. Or really, five minutes early. It's their scheduled "reconnection" time, and she feels her heart speed up from his proximity alone, finding a stopping point as soon as she can so she can give him a look over. Handsome as ever, of course. And her in a threadbare Pinkfloyd tanktop and holey jeans, grease smeared across her cheek and safety goggles pinning her hair back that had fallen out of her bun. What a pair they make, as ever. Yin and yang.

letmetakeaselfie

It surprises him how easy it is to flip the script, but it's just automatic. When Pepper is freaking out, it's his turn to be the steady one. It helps that he's beyond exhausted, too. Tony smiles a bit hazily and touches Pepper's cheek, perservering when the other man tries to pull away. "It's okay," he assures. "Not hot. See?" He touches him again and leans in close, staring at his lips before common sense takes over and Tony wraps him in a warm hug instead. What a long fucking week.

"Happy New Year." It's soft, gently turning the other man so he can see the light show he had set up for him, suits self-destructing over their heads. It's kind of strangely beautiful. "Enjoy it while it lasts, there goes our ride." At least until Air Force Two gets here :')

letmetakeaselfie

He slips into her chamber late at night, unnoticed. He knows how to move without being detected, and he suspects it could even be hours yet before his act reaches the rest of the palace. Sitting in the chair at the edge of her bed, a place he's been wont to linger far after is appropriate, he waits for her to sense his presence and wake on her own. He knows her well enough by now to know that she will without any prompting on his end.

There's a bright red splatter across his tunic, his armors nowhere in sight. His hair too is ruffled as if there had been some type of struggle. He hopes he doesn't frighten her straight away, but there's no time. If she hears this news from anyone else she might assume the worst. He owes her one last truth before he leaves her side for good. Something he's so reluctant to do, but he knows she will rule this land with impunity and grace, and be far happier now besides.

"Sorry to wake you," he murmurs, his tone gravelly as he meets her eyes across the darkened room. There's so little time -- he wishes it could be different. Then again, maybe she already knows what's happened. He'll just have to wait for her to come around and hope that she doesn't fear him or see this as betrayal.

letmetakeaselfie

Tony is nervous. Tony is always nervous, but tonight is compounded by all his paranoid fear brought to life by none other than SHIELD's meddling. After chance (if you can really believe that) running into Steve Rogers on the street, Tony had refused to do anything less than become fast friends with the other man, hellbent on unwinding this insane tapestry they're all tied up in, even if he has to do it thread by thread. He had been shocked when it was so easy to get Steve to agree to come to dinner at his house with his cobbled together family, at least at first. The more he spends time with the other man, the more he understands just how lonely he is.

Without Pepper he would have lost his mind several times over by now (and that's just tonight.) He's dressed casually in a linen shirt and jeans, seeming unbothered by the way the reactor shines brightly through the thin fabric. JARVIS announces Steve's arrival and he nearly jumps out of his skin, running a hand through his already hopelessly unruly hair as his gaze flashes to Pepper for one last nudge in silent guidance. Swallowing his nerves, he goes to the door, assured that JARVIS had brought Steve up to the penthouse as per Tony's earlier instructions (that the AI had chided him for repeating too many times. I'm a machine, sir. I'm not capable of forgetting.) He doesn't think he is either, anymore.

"H-hey," he greets, a little wild-eyed and more than starstruck (still) though he tries desperately to rein that part in. "Uh. Come in." He steps back and gestures vaguely, almost vibrating for how much this is affecting him.

letmetakeaselfie

I've been here before
But always hit the floor
I've spent a lifetime running
And I always get away
But with you I'm feeling something
That makes me want to stay

Tony's heart is still beating fast, though it's been nearly an hour since his house was destroyed (yet again) by supervillains. Why his house? Why is it always him? He's not really feeling sorry for himself though, because for as much as he criticizes Fury, his plan really worked this time. His face-plate flips up as he pries off the left arm of his suit, indented dangerously close by one of those feisty Doom-bots. He flashes a wan smile over at Pepper, similarly battleworn. They really do work extraordinarily well together, he can't believe how he'd ever dismissed being partners before.

"Thanks for saving me - again." She really was good at that, and without her he'd most certainly not be standing right now. Though, yes, he is still lamenting his poor house. Oh well, easier repaired than he would be, probably.

letmetakeaselfie

Days had passed since Pepper's admission, seemingly tiny words that when strung together had shattered his whole world. Though they've remained close save for his jaunt to the Natchios manor, the current is far from smooth. He knows John has noticed, and even Harry seems uncertain now that he and Tony have pledged their sobriety together. Tony hasn't found a way to tell them yet and he can't help but feel like he's doing that fucked up 'stay together for the kids' thing that he's almost positive his own parents did for him.

Pepper is due for her check-in today and Tony is nervous; on her behalf more than his own actually. What if they see through her? Or even with their carefulness maybe they already somehow know everything? More than having to trust her is this overwhelming sense of dread that if he lets her go to SHIELD she'll never come back to him. They'll disappear her for untold horrors and that simply would not do.

In these few days he's, again, spent most of it in the workshop. And as a result has an actual working prototype for the suit. He paints it a much stealthier black and gold and plots to follow her to HQ tonight, in hopes that all will be fine anyway. He hasn't told her his plan though he knows they should share everything now, if only for strategy. Tony's fearful that SHIELD will overhear, not convinced in the least that the four bugs Pepper knows about are all that exist in the Tower. So he stays quiet, to her and to the others, and waits for the cover of night to break out in the suit.

It brings up so much for him, sense memory bursting up as surely as the wind whizzing past his helmet. He remembers Yensen in that moment, and is nearly too overtaken to continue. There's also a memory of the Hulk; of Captain America, blurry but there -- Tony caught in the wake of so much destruction. Even that SHIELD couldn't cover up, the mysterious heroes who had saved New York City from an alien invasion. But he wasn't himself, and neither were the rest. They were conditioned to be of service, their bodies used for the mission at hand. It's so frustrating to know in this context, when Tony would have gladly been conscious for the whole ride, even if he can't quite make sense of the spiraling blackness of space he's envisioning now.

Grateful that this time, the suit holds, Tony pushes everything else out of his mind and waits in the shadows for Pepper to emerge, holding far enough back so that the sensors he know surround the place won't pick him up. He flutters with an angelic sort of ease to the ground by her car, gratefulness for her wellbeing welling up again in his chest. And that she doesn't have any goofy escorts -- that does a lot to abate his fears. Before she can say anything the face plate snaps up and he smiles softly, still hovering a few inches off the ground. "Hey."

letmetakeaselfie

Tony just barely makes it home alive, another suicide mission to further self-flagellate in the wake of Ultron. He's bleeding more than usual, bruised and battered as Dum-e pries the suit away in heavily damaged pieces. He made it home, which should bring relief... It should bring solace in at least some part. It doesn't; and he feels hollow. Empty and alone, he sits with his head in his hands and hopes (for once) that Pepper won't be home now for a little while. He needs time to reconcile what just happened, again. Not even what he'd let happen but that he'd sought out. Maybe he's too unwell to be working alone and maybe he even knows that, but he doesn't want to think about that now.

The bots fuss over him like his proper family, dabbing at him with alcohol swabs and whirring anxiously when he waves them off. Even FRIDAY enters the discussion, though it's a bit dry compared to the way JARVIS would run down the damage to the Mark 44. It only makes everything hurt more and he mutes her, getting up too quickly. The room spins and down he goes, blackness encompassing him like an old friend.

letmetakeaselfie

[ tony is curled around pepper as seems to be his wont since she started sleeping in his bed. it doesn't matter what measures he takes to avoid it really when he just ends up this way again. they've both accepted their fate in this instance and pepper is an equally cuddly partner in return, something he appreciates even unconscious. in fact, he's so warm and comfortable that at first the alarm doesn't register as anything but a strangely pervasive dream.

his senses are in overdrive not a moment later, however, when doom bots burst through the window, tempered glass raining down. the prototype suit is called in his panic, but when the pieces come for him he sends them to pepper instead. ] Potts! Look alive. [ she's a light sleeper and he knows she'll catch on, hopefully in time to save them both. he never would have trusted someone else to get him through this before, so maybe this little team-building exercise has been good for something after all. ]