Fandom Red and Blue (Marvel RP)

[Jessy753]

"You could say so. It's quite fascinating how people make up names based on existing animals, isn't it?," she spoke casually fully aware of what the idiot was doing. It would be interesting to play along just for now. By far more interesting than standing around and simply shock the man. She cocked her head to the side like she was considering to simply stun him and move on. After all she was pretty sure the man wouldn't wake anytime soon if she sent a few volts through him. Heck it would most likely even shut off Stark's suit.
The redhead rolled her eyes as the man told her that the weren't too different. Strangely enough she had heard that lots of times before. Why did the bad guys always think that comparing them to her would make her show sympathy. "You're right we are not too different. But the big difference is that I get a whole lot of money by killing people like you and I won't go to jail. So I'd say I have a slight advantage to you," she simply told him ignoring his compliment. To Natasha it wasn't hard to make people to trust her. Keeping the trust that's where she struggled and gaining her teammate's one. But that was a complete other story. She seemed to have second thought on that though as she started to smile at the Joker. "It is not too hard. You just tell people what they like to hear add that to a pretty face and you have them eating out of the palm of your hand," she told him bored as she moved a little. Of course she was only playing along. Maybe she could find out something interesting.

Wanda stared at Clint and motioned to her brother. "I do not need your help. It's Pietro... He-he can't move!", she tells the archer knowing just how much of a torture it must be for her brother. She tried to calm herself knowing that it would help no-one if the building crashed down on her twin. Instead she grabbed Pietro's hand and mumbled things in their mother tongue.

Steve stared at Thor and then at Loki. "This changes nothing about him being locked up later and those two being transferred back to the place they escaped from thanks to your brother," he crinkles his mouth really not into the fact that Loki was doing this. After all for all they knew he could be hurting the children. "Move away. We will get an ambulance for Miss Potts," he threatened Thor.

"How am I supposed to know? I am not Asgardian," he reminded his brother bitter. He was Jotun and Odin had done well reminding him ever since he found out. He had been nothing more than a trophy for a guilt written old man. "Has your father ever treated your mother right?", Loki asked him back trying to reflect the question back to Thor. "Because I know how it is to be treated wrongly and to be lied at for all my life," he deadpanned as Loki had always been a loner even during their childhood. Of course he had hung out with Thor and his friends but...they had been Thor's friends not Loki's. They had showed him such after Thor had been banned to Midgard. "...And those children are innocent. They deserve a life outside of trouble in love and care," he added and rose to his feet as he was finished healing the womb and Pepper. "She is going to be alright again. The bruises will fade again," he informed his brother and Rogers.

Pepper woke up breathing fast and irregularly as she once again was surrounded by Loki and that strange woman. "Tony!" she almost immediately shouts trying to scramble away and looking for her fiancé as she started to cry again. This was definitely more than enough trouble for one pregnancy. "No, no! Please don't make me go back!", she begged afraid that one of them would make her go back into that room.

Peter jumped down the roof again holding Happy tight like he was just a feather. "I have carried heavier things than you, Happy. You should know," he simply replied to being asked not to drop the man. He placed him away from Harley into the grass and looked at the rest who was standing there waiting for any kind of order..

 

[MePersonally]

“Well, I guess that’s kind of funny...”, he whispered, smiling broadly, “But spiders are nice. Scary. They have eight eyes, see through everything.”
This conversation was as senseless as nice. He was just trying to pass time, not aiming for anything special. She seemed in desperate need for someone who really didn’t care. And who knew, maybe he would need her some day.
“That’s true, indeed”, J shrugged, when she mentioned that she was getting paid for killing, “But it has some disadvantages. If you kill the wrong ones, you’re fired. Poof, gone.”
He grinned again, licked his scars as he continued.
“Can’t happen to me.”
Then came the pretty face expression and he started to laugh, almost like a normal man.
“Can’t show off with that”, he laughed, sincerely amused.

“You’re doing great, Wanda”, Clint tried to calm the girl a little. At least she had her powers in control now. But what was wrong with her brother? He had a wound on his head and the wall around him was scattered, so maybe he had hurt his spine, which would mean...?
“Pietro, can you feel her touching you?” Clint almost didn’t dare to ask that question. It would give Wanda the hint she needed to fear for her brother even more. He just had to know if he could... should move him or better not. If they needed an ambulance. Also, no one really seemed to care about what had happened. Well, he could understand that. No one had felt responsible for his death like he had done. But he needed a second opinion here. Someone he could count on...
“Tasha! You got a moment?”, he called out to his teammate, very well realizing that she was preoccupied, but this was important.

“What would we need an ambulance for? She will be alright”, Thor hissed and nodded towards Loki, “He might have done wrong, but he is my brother and he has proven his loyalty more than once the last times”, he argued and kept Steve away.
“Yes he did, Loki. He loved her”, the god of thunder explained gently, “But he was a liar.”
That had to be added, so it didn’t seem like he was okay with what Odin had been doing before they had been there to witness. He really tried to get on with Loki again. They had worked together so smoothly, it had almost been fun.
“And you’re right.”
That had cost him a lot of strength now, but he had said it. For the greater good, and all that, he had given up his pride to satisfy his brother’s.
“Will they be alright?”, he asked, worried. When he saw just how desperate Pepper looked, he appeared in front of her face and smiled a stupid smile.
“You will be fine. And Tony will be with you soon”, he tried to cheer her up.

Thor didn’t know how wrong he was. Bucky had dragged Stark outside, so he could have some fresh air. But for whatever reason, the man didn’t wake. He didn’t change his facial expression, just stared into emptiness, like the Sergeant had only read about it. War trauma, they called it. The returning soldier look. That was exactly what the Iron Man was experiencing at the moment. And James had no idea how to help him. So he just sat him down on the floor, right next to where Peter had just put Happy and then looked at the boy with exactly the same hesitation that Peter seemed to display. Just like him, Bucky was waiting for further instructions. After a few seconds of standing and staring, the soldier shrugged and tried a smile.
“Can you wake him up? I think he’s stuck somewhere else... I’m not too good at that...”
Suddenly, the flash of a memory rushed through Bucky’s head. It was a battlefield memory, something unimportant. But he saw himself operating on his own. As a part of a nonverbal agreement. For a moment it startled the man, but then he went back inside to look for the last missing team member: Rhodes.

 

[Jessy753]

She shrugged as he mentioned that spiders were nice. "They are useful. Keep insects away and offer some useful poisons. So I guess you are kind of right," she mused and thought about the topic. She hadn't spent too much thoughts on those animals. Natasha just found it hilarious how people thought she slept with her missions before killing them. She might've done that if it was necessary back when she worked for the KGB but not anymore. So the joke was on those people.
"Don't you worry your pretty little head about my income," she simply told him not too worried about losing her income. She had placed away enough money for three lives. So her work for SHIELD and occasional assassinations were to keep her occupied and the American government in her favor. By now she didn't care too much anymore how many people she killed she just wanted to make sure they were bad.
The redhead looked over her shoulder as she heard Clint call for her. "Time to move pretty boy," she told him and pushed him forward so he walked a few feet in front of her. Once they were near Wanda and Clint she looked between the three and frowned "What is it?"

Wanda didn't take the situation too well. She stared at Clint desperately and then looked up at the two approaching people. Her face pulled into a mask of sheer hatred as she looked at him. She was clearly in control of her powers as she stared at the man. "What have you done to my brother?", she asked slowly standing up to protect Pietro. "Don't you dare coming one step closer," she growled as her hands pulled into fists.

"Your brother doesn't have the best track record on making good things, does he?", he told Thor. After all he didn't know about what has happened in Asgard and Loki's role in it. "Move or I will have to move both of you. You should know better than to put Potts's children at risk like that," he said and looked at Loki. Besides why was he fighting Stark's fights. Where the heck had Bucky brought the man anyways? "And who are you?", he asked looking at the woman with the strange colored hairdo. He frowned and looked over his shoulder as soon as he heard Clint call for Natasha.

Loki scoffed at Steve's comment that he was a threat to those children. "Those children would've been born lifeless if it wasn't for me, Rogers," he informed Captain America cold. He rolled his eyes and looked at his brother surprised that he would admit that Loki had been right. "What do you plan to do with me, now, that both the woman and the children are healed. She will carry them until birth healthy. Just do not bring her anywhere near this maniac," he told Thor and started to move away from them. He had meant this as a way to unite the Avengers. In a way it had worked even though they still wouldn't see the big picture. Something he had seen and heard during his time away from Asgard. When Odin had banned him. Just that he hadn't expected for the maniac to injure Miss Potts like this. When he got to know about her pregnancy it had been too late. So Loki had stayed to guard both women.

Peter looked at the Winter Soldier and blinked as he left him to deal with Stark alone. With a sigh he walked over and knelt down in front of the man. He placed both hands on Stark's shoulder and looked serious at him. "Mister Stark...Mister Stark... I need you to pull yourself together," he said unsure of what he was doing altogether. He just knew the man needed to move on and go help his fiancée. "Miss Potts needs you right now. Come on. Your children need you," he said and tried to help him. "You need to invent cool shit for them like my suit," he tried to point out and added "Miss Potts even already asked for you!"

 

[MePersonally]

He let her talk. It was kind of funny how she acted like she hated him, when in fact, her face told him about sympathy? She was a pretty girl, that was for sure. Though she wasn’t his type at all. When she pushed him up, he broke the spider net that held his leg down and grinned a little at the desperate try to keep him from running. He wouldn’t run, he was looking forward to going back home.
“What is it?”, Natasha asked the other guy, who knelt next to the motionless teenager. Well, what should it be? Most apparently the boy had hurt his spine at the impact. But he stayed quiet, watched them. He was the bad guy, after all.
The accusations of the girl made him shrug and watch her more closely she was something interesting. So much emotion in her face. Almost like she was about to rip him apart.

Clint saw the amusement in the Joker’s face and he felt sorry for Wanda immediately. He knew how bad it felt to be laufhed at because of displaying emotions. He knew how bad that nager was that she was feeling... He simply couldn’t do anything. He just looked at Natasha, begging her to help him judge the situation correctly.

Meanwhile, Vision was trying to make sense of the chaos that the Avengers had left for him to find. He was late, that was clear. But somehow he hadn’t thought that his help would be important in this. Now, though, he felt Wanda’s helplessness and it was almost like it affected him, like she was calling out to him. And he went to help her. Seconds later, he appeared in front of the girl. He could sense her fear, the anger and will to kill anyone who came too close. And he could also feel her brother’s panic, the fear of being paralyzed and unable to move.
“Wanda...”, he whispered, and he sent a warm smile her way. With that smile, there was also a feeling of safety, of calmness, that he sent to touch her mind, just for her to know that he was there. And he felt her respond, almost like a connection that was slowly formed.
“You don’t have to hurt him. You can help him”, Vision reassured Wanda, though he wasn’t sure himself. But wasn’t it exactly what he was supposed in this situation? Calm them by telling them they were strong enough?

“He doesn’t. But he did something to weigh it all”, Thor told Steve, determined not to move an inch. He had fought the Hulk and almost won. And especially when Loki was on his side, he didn’t mind fighting Steve. He wouldn’t hurt him, but showing him his superiority wouldn’t hurt anyone. Moving his fingers a little, he generated sparks, which soon turned into small lightnings, circling his hands.
“If you want to fight him, you have to get past me first”, he stated and tried not to sound too threatening, since he was stating facts here, “He won’t hurt her, I trust him.”
When Loki walked away from Stark’s fiancé slowly, Thor recognized the look in Loki’s eyes. He was about to play a trick on them. Now he had done his good deed and he was going back to being the trickster he had always been. Just this one time, though, he wouldn’t let him get away. He took his brother’s arm and surrounded him with electricity. Just one wrong movement would lead to him being electrocuted severely. He just hoped that it would keep him from going anywhere.
“Stay and tell us what your plans really were”, he demanded.

It hadn’t been Pepper’s name that had woken up, it had been the phrase “invent cool shit”. Since Tony had been a child, he had always found his safety in tinkering things. It had been a thing he had always known that he was good at, that he couldn’t fail doing. And it had saved his life, back in Afghanistan. And hadn’t he heard that phrase before? That day, when that boy had told him to just build something. This was the way his mind worked and it gave Tony the security he needed to shake the fear off. With weak knees, he stood up, took a deep breath and smiled at Peter.
“Good job, Spidey”, he nodded and nearly stumbled over his own feet, when he approached Pepper. He saw her and Loki, so close to her, but Thor had him in some kind of lightning cage, which was definitely new to him. But Pepper was alright... wasn’t she?
“Pepper...”, the Iron Man whispered, as he knelt down next to his girlfriend and took her hand in his, “Are you okay?”

 

[Jessy753]

Natasha knelt down and simply gave Clint a silent nod to keep an eye on the Joker. She wouldn't trust the man further than just a step away from her. Sure she could still just stun him but something stopped her form doing so. She had other things to do. She looked down at the young man and sighed "Always getting in trouble, huh?" She smiled at him light hearted and went systematically over his body without moving him too much as she feared to either kill or really paralyze him. "I would say something's swollen which presses on his nerves and he needs medical, Wanda. With the proper help he will most likely get on our nerves as always. See his reflexes are still working which indicates that he's not paralyzed. He just needs to hold still for a while," she told everyone. Natasha had seen that many times before and it was scary every time. She pressed down on a reflex again and watched his body react to it.

Wanda looked up at the Joker and rose to her feet leaving her brother's side for just a moment. She stepped forward closer to the man. It would just take a movement of her finger and she had him hurt or worse. Her hand glowed from red fog as her magic surrounded some debris. She was about to mash the man like he was nothing more than a fly. That's when Vision appeared in front of her. Wanda stared at him and scoffed "I will not help this man." She felt calmer out of the sudden of course she noticed Vision reaching out for her mind. It was a little creepy and probably anyone else would've needed to deal with her but he was alright. "I want to help my brother," she told Vision truthfully and stared at him for a moment before turning to the Joker. She seemed angry and crinkled her mouth but instead of killing him the man was suddenly surrounded by her magic and she smashed him against a still standing wall. He probably got knocked out in the process. She turned to her brother and looked at Natasha as as he explained what was going on. That's when her gaze turned to Vision pleading silently with him to help Pietro.
"Can you help him?," she asked eventually unsure what the AI could do Clint and Natasha couldn't but she knew if anyone could help her twin Vision would be it.

"To weigh it all out? I think all of New York City and all the people that died during his attack and leading up to it? I think nothing can weigh that out. I haven't even seen him apologize for what he has done to this world. So no, he has not made up for all of this!," Steve told Thor and was ready to fight him as well. But then again Steve was so tired of having to fight every single one of his friends. He didn't want to. All he wanted was to finally set back and retire. To him it felt like ever he had woken up from the ice, all he had to do was fight. Nothing more but...fight. All he had wanted after coming back from war was a family with Peggy. But times had changed so...so much since he had been frozen. He hadn't even be able to make his peace with the end of the World War II. "I do not wish to fight you, Thor. But your brother, he is not as nice as you want him to be."

Loki was about to leave but sighed as Thor prisoned him in his lightnings. "Really, brother? I just healed his fiancée I do think there's nothing for me to do here," he said and looked at Thor. He looked at him pointedly as he wasn't about to share why he had done what he did. There was no point in it anyways. He knew that would be a pointless battle. So he simply crossed his arms and looked towards Harley. He was willing her to leave.

Pepper looked confused over everything what was happening. She definitely looked better than moments before Loki had healed her. She sat up and almost immediately went to hug Tony. She was shaking uncontrollably as the adrenaline rushed through her veins. "Tony!", she mumbled and ignored his question for now. "YOu're here," she was clearly preoccupied with other thoughts than how she was. Heck she was still scared as hell.

 

[MePersonally]

The smile that the agent gave him was somewhat comforting, almost motherly. For a moment, Pietro considered smiling back, but then he just gritted his teeth. She went all over his body, her hands pressing and exploring. He couldn’t feel it, but it still was uncomfortable, watching her. As if she was one of the scientists, testing his reflexes, injecting something and then waiting what happened. He had hated those people. They had taken all of his dignity, had made him feel like a lab rat, rather than a human being. But they had made him special, and for that he was grateful. He was here now, with his sister. And that was because of them.
The diagnosis made him relax a little. There was still hope. He wasn’t fully a cripple. And his body was really fast dealing with things, so maybe it would be over in a few days. Now he really smiled and looked at Wanda, his looks telling her that it would be okay.
But then, then she asked Vision for help. The plastic guy, who wasn’t even human. How could she possibly think that he could help him?! He was just a strange floating thing, that looked like a man. How could Wanda trust him that much?
“Him? Seriously?”, the speedster snapped, glancing over at Vision with an I-would-punch-you-if-I-could-expression on his face.

That Wanda asked him for help honored Vision. It showed him just how much she thought he was capable of. But in fact, he wasn’t sure if he was capable of doing anything for her brother. He was willing to try everything, though. If it would help her smile again...
“You said that there was a bruise that pressed against his spine?”, he asked Natasha, unpacking everything he knew about the human body. And that was quite a lot for an AI. Hell, he could even read fMRI scans correctly.
“I might not be able to change anything, but I can get him out of here safely”, the artificial man stated and levitated Pietro already. Without moving him too much, he floated through the next wall with his package and smiled because it had worked. He could now pull other people and objects through walls. It was the first time that he had actually tried it with a human being, but no one had to know that.

“I don’t trust him either. But I do know one thing. My brother saved Asgard, my life and many others, too. So when everything goes up in flames, I count on him.”
Thor felt like this was all that needed to be said for the moment. He didn’t want to fight Rogers either. He had just killed his own sister for a bigger purpose. Well, but then again, she hadn’t really behaved sisterly.
But if Thor had learned anything from that trip to the outlands, then it was that Loki was still his brother. And that he could bet his life on him.
“You don’t need to worry about him getting away. I’m stronger now”, the god of thunder teased and smiled a wide smile. Somehow he still felt like he had to prove his superiority to his brother, even if it was just for fun.

Harley shook her head. She wasn’t leaving here. Not without her Puddin’. Hell knew what they were doing to him in there... Maybe they hurt him...? But then again, was this any of her business? He had proven once again that he wasn’t even halfway interested in her. He would have killed her if he had had the chance to do so. And right now... all she wanted was to save that guy who had treated her like a human being. The first guy who wasn’t so boring and still seemed to actually see her. She wouldn’t leave. She would stay.

“You’re alive....”
It was almost like a sigh of relief, that left the Iron Man’s mouth, alongside with the prominent smell of alcohol. He pressed Pepper against his chest and smiled, when she seemed to relax.
“Let’s go home, yeah?”, he begged her and carefully picked her up.
“You’re gonna be fine. I promise. And the baby too.”
The helmet jumped up onto his head and he looked around, where the other team members were spread around him. He counted in his head. Steve was there, Thor was too. Clint and Natasha were okay, he could hear them talking over the radio, Wanda seemed okay too and Rhodey... Just as Tony noticed that the Colonel was missing, a siut broke through a wall and approached them. Tony’s mind was eased and he sighed again.
“I’ll get Pepper home. See you later, guys.”
It was so easy to forget that they weren’t a team anymore. But a lot of things had changed and no It was just him. Him and Pepper. And she needed a bed and some rest. The Iron Man took off carefully and flew his pregnant girlfriend to the next bed available: The Avengers facility.

As soon as Rhodey had broken the wall, the suit was out of juice. Everything went black and the parts became heavy armor on his body. He had almost forgotten how it felt to be human, not able to move and... paralyzed. With a pretty loud noise, he dropped to the floor and cursed with words that no one should hear. The worst thing about this all was the fact that he couldn’t get himself out of this f*#~• suit! No matter how hard he tried, it seemed impossible to activate the opening mechanism without moving his legs into a special position. He could have cried.
Just as he was about to give up, someone picked him up and he heard a noise. Scratch. Metal to metal. The suit was opened violently and a worried face appeared above his.
“You good, com’rade?”
Rhodey almost started laughing.
“As good as I can be without my wheelchair”, he answered and held out a hand to the man he had wanted to see dead just a few months ago, “Could use some help, though.”
“No problem”, was Barnes’ simple reaction and he picked the Colonel up from the ground, threw him over his shoulder.
“That’s kinda humiliating...”, Rhodey had to admit, but he laughed when he said it.
Barnes laughed, too.
“Sorry. I guess you’re gonna have to deal with that now.”

 

[Jessy753]

Natasha smiled gently at Pietro. She knew he was afraid and he probably had every reason to be. But he would heal eventually like all of them did. She was about to say something to the teenager but Pietro was way quicker interfering with his twin sister again. Slowly she made her way over to Clint and gave him a short smile. It was another farewell for the two. Natasha couldn't go to his farm again and she sighed a bit. "You should go and look after your wife. I'm sure Laura is already worried sick for you," she told him and placed her hand on his upper. That was as much affection as she could muster at the moment. Part of her wanted to check on Barnes before she left again. Maybe instead of staying all alone, she would go back to living in the Helicarrier now.
"Really... Go home. Mission's over and everyone will be fine. Time to take care of your own kids again," she reminded him and stepped out in the open only to see Barnes carrying Rhodey to the others. She crinkled her mouth and moved her injured shoulder. Someone really should take a look on it but she wouldn't raise any attention to it just yet. Pepper should get home into safety first and Pietro needed medical way more urgently than she did. Thankfully her black suit covered the red of her blood successfully.
Slowly the redhead walked over to Rhodey and Barnes and asked "When's the wedding? Am I allowed to be bridesmaid for one of you?" She grinned secretly checking if Bucky was alright.

"Pietro, please, be reasonable... Just for once in your life," she murmured as her brother once again had something against Vision. But thankfully the AI helped her twin anyways. She blinked as the two of them simply moved through the wall. It seemed like she had to expect Vision's company a lot more often now. He did have the habit to visit her without knocking after all. She sighed and was quick to follow to go with ehr brother. "Thank you for helping, Vision," she eventually spoke as she was close to them again "It means a lot."

"You still trust him blindly though and I do not," Steve simply spoke and looked shortly at the lightnings. He looked around and spotted Bucky. Almost immediately he walked over to his best friend but stopped as soon as he spotted Romanoff near him. It was still odd knowing how close the two had been.

"T-Tony," she seemed so scared that she didn't even care for the smell of alcohol. Usually he would've been in so much trouble for drinking in such a situation. But all she wanted was to get away from here with Tony by her side. "Don't leave me alone! Please," she spoke almost desperately as he mentioned to go home. Like she was afraid he would move away from her. That's when she hugged him almost too tight for comfort. She pressed her face against the cold metal of his suit as she sobbed trying her best to just ignore that they were flying. The worst part about that all was that Tony had apparently forgotten she was afraid of heights. Still she felt far safer with Tony around than she had since she had been kidnapped by the maniac.

Loki seemed bored and suddenly a second version of him appeared next to Harleen. "Doctor Quinzel? May I suggest that you leave with me?", he asked and gestured for her to move. The woman would need to get out of here before anyone noticed her or SHIELD would come to get her back to the Asylum. It was important that she would stay away from the clown as long as possible for her to get better. "Would you like... how do you Midgardians say it? a cup of coffee?", the question coming from Loki was innocent. Heck he simply tried to lure her away.

 

[MePersonally]

Pepper clung onto him and cried the whole flight long. Tony didn’t know how to comfort her, so he just let it go and tried to get there as fast as possible. At the facility, he used his own entrance on the roof, which lead almost directly to his room. He wouldn’t torture Pepper even more by taking her home to Malibu. It would take ages. Tony went inside the building and then entered his room. The metal boots clicked on the floor and it was so strangely quiet all around. No sound but the sound of his feet. Machine guns ready to go, his mind completed the song line. He just hoped that this wasn’t the case now.
“Friday, be a good girl and make a security check of the facility”, he asked his AI and then walked over to his bed, to place Pepper on it. He flinched when he saw a Captain America action figure on his bedside table and the piece of plastic disappeared inside the dustbin just a moment later. He couldn’t have Steve watch this.

With a light scratching noise, Tony’s suit transformed into four metal rings, which only covered his wrists and his ankles and one which was- almost like a strange belt- wrapped around his hip. The Iron Man knelt down next to his fiancée and watched her breathing. Carefully, he put a hand on her cheek and tried to smile a little.
“I’m sorry”, he simply whispered, as he realized what he had done. It was all because of him and even though no one knew that they were together again, they still kept on thinking that she was his vulnerable point. And they were right. And he was so damn sorry for dragging her- and the baby- into this. For even making her pregnant in the first place.

But then he remembered something. He remembered what he had told Pepper. Always, why he had fallen in love with her. Why she had been so important for him.
“I don’t have anyone but you...”, he whispered and placed a small kiss on his fiancé’s forehead, “That’s why this all keeps happening, Pep. Because you’re the only valuable person in my life. You’re all I have.”
But before he could start to cry, he took a deep breath and smiled.
“You remember that night? A week after Steve almost killed me? I shouldn’t have texted you...”, he mumbled, while he caressed Pepper’s hand, “But I was so drunk. And there was no one else in the world that I could think of...”
What was he trying to reach? Maybe he was just trying to make her smile. To calm her a little.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
It was a nice spring evening, still chilly, but warm enough to go outside without a jacket. Tony had filled the whole day with work, activities, so he wouldn’t have to think. He had been jogging, twice even, tinkered sone kind of energy source- which hadn’t worked, though- and then had fallen onto his couch, turning the tv on. And there she had been, without warning. Pepper Potts giving a press conference on the new energy source their scientists had developed. She explained how important it was to go green and he saw that gleaming in her eyes when she talked about that. It was like she was there again, with him. But she wasn’t.

For a few hours, the Iron Man could keep himself together he didn’t drink, didn’t do anything that could indicate how miserable he felt and how much he missed her. Damn, that was harder than he had thought.

The next step was walking inside a bar. He drank shot by shot, talked to the barkeeper and from then on the memory was blurry. The last thing that he could surely remember was taking a cab home and texting Pepper. He remembered hearing a song at the bar, something about losing someone. And he had felt that song like a sting in his chest. He remembered typing that text, sending it and being ashamed just a few seconds afterwards.
“I am lost, I am vain, I will never win this game, without you.”

 

[Jessy753]

Pepper ignored what was going on around her until her fiancé appeared in front of her. It felt strange and she looked into his eyes as she concentrated on him only to stop herself from hyperventilating. What probably made the whole situation worse for both of them was that Tony didn't know how to react to all of this. They were used to her being the stable person throughout...well ever since she had stumbled into his life telling him that someone misappropriated funds of Stark Industries and she had become his PA. Pepper had always been the person who had been emotionally stable and slap Tony on the back of his head when he acted childish or had his head in the clouds for whatever reason.

She frowned at him though as he apologized. She subconsciously held her breath which only caused her to get a hiccup. "I-It's okay," she mumbled and added almost like she was able to read his mind "Not your fault." She pulled him closer so she could simply lie against him. She didn't want to think anymore and for these voices to stop whispering in her mind. It was like that psycho wanted to haunt her even when he wasn't around anymore. "Just...Could you-put on music?", she asked hoping that even the slightest bit of music would drown the voices in her head that kept laughing at her for being weak.

She pulled him into a hug as she embraced him really tight once he started speaking. Perhaps it was to comfort him to stop him from feeling so miserable. But deep down she knew she simply needed something to hold onto. To make sure that this wasn't only a dream and Tony was really here with her. "You were hammered just like right now," she whispered her voice shaking a little.

<><><>

Pepper had just gotten home from work and slipped out of her shoes as she received Tony's text. Days with Press Conferences were extremely exhausting for her because it meant working even longer than she usually did. She was oblivious to where Tony was. He had been supposed to be there to help her introduce the new technology. But for whatever reason he had decided to stay away once again. Next time she would sent him ten memos with reminders before she would promise the press his attendance. It had been embarrassing at first but soon enough she had had everything under control.

So she ended up really surprised as he texted ehr. Raising an eyebrow she read his rather strange text twice. In her defense he wasn't someone who usually did things like that. Heck he was the 'Let's buy a huge ass plush rabbit dressed as Iron Man' type of guy and definitely not a poet even though his fangirls wanted him to be one. She stared at the text a little longer before Pepper went to the kitchen. She was cooking and had drunk a glass or two of some white wine. Pepper smiled to herself as she took her phone again. Without thinking she finally texted him back. "You're a few hours late of showing signs that you're still alive, you know? Remember a press conference you should've attended?", she professionally ignored his previous text before shooting another text about a minute later "And since when did Tony Stark become a poet? What happened?"

Asking him what happened was only a habit to her. For years she had been his therapist, friend and well girl for everything. She was used to tidying up his mess even as CEO so she was surprised it had taken him this long to finally text her. Sure they had been on a break but...but she hadn't expected him to take it so seriously. She had honestly thought he would call her a few days after the fight to apologize like always. But...he hadn't and somehow a break had turned into an unofficial break up. Heck she had even caught herself checking out random gossip sites on the Internet to see what he had been up to...especially with who.

 

[MePersonally]

Tony had had a few girls since Pepper had announced their break. He hadn’t enjoyed it, though. All he had done was enjoy the warmth of someone near to him. He had missed Pepper’s smile and had barely looked at them, a little too drunk to remember their faces afterwards. They were unimportant anyway. All that mattered was that someone held him and showed him affection. And when the morning dawned, he left. It was easier that way. No problems, no fights. No pain and most of all, and that was the thing that hurt him the most, no Pepper. She was everywhere to him. When he woke up and was all alone, it wasn’t that bad. But the evenings, they were the worst.

Drinking had exceeded the level of a normal habit and the genius was closer to being an alcoholic than he wanted to admit to himself. But it wasn’t only Pepper’s absence that made Tony’s nerves tense and took sleep from him. It was the fact that he kept on seeing the world go down one way or another. He saw a threat in every situation, every person that came close to him. He saw guns in the bags of girls who talked to him and poison or drugs in every drink. At night, he woke up from a deep sleep, just to feel like someone was staring at him, while the world outside was about to explode. But the dreams, the dreams were the worst.

Somewhen, Clint had called and he had told him everything. It had been good to have someone to talk about it, but he missed the way Pepper had always found a reasonable argument against his paranoia. She had tied him to the ground when he had lost it again. And Tony had messed up pretty bad.

But at that moment, he was lying on his couch, with no memory of how he had gotten home and a pulsing head. Silence covered the early morning. The Iron Man had no idea, whether or not he had slept, but he couldn’t remember reading the text he stared at now. Had he really promised her to come to that conference? Because... he couldn’t remember saying so. But then again, he couldn’t remember what he had had for lunch the day before. Or what weekday it was. He just lay there on his back, phone in his hands, and scrolled through all the party pictures that he had made. Half naked women, him and a glass of whatever beverage he had had at that moment. He tried to recall their names, but it was no use. All wiped away by a little sleep.

The text Pepper had sent him hurt his feelings. He knew exactly what it said, between the lines: Since when was Tony Stark anything but a drinking bundle of nerves? Since when did he care about anyone than himself?
“Can you come over?”, he typed and tried not to make any mistakes. He needed to do this right. And he knew Pepper hated it when he was drunk. He just needed to see her. Talk to her. The aftertaste of his bloody and senseless dreams still in his mind, his body tense and wide awake, because all he could see was someone trying to kill him while he was asleep. He just needed someone to talk to. Someone to pull him back before he was going crazy.

 

[Jessy753]

Her text was long forgotten as she finally received his answer. She was on her third glass and really felt tipsy. Usually she would share the bottle of wine but there was no one around who would drink it with her. Her sister was god knows there fighting for a better...a peaceful war. Her almost ex probably had another girl in his bed right now. Her sister’s word of choosing the wrong man for her heart still rung in her ears from time to time. The truth was that she was lonely. The only thing that filled her empty days were work. Ever since Tony had left after the Ultron mess, she had been lonely. It simply wasn’t the same anymore ever since they had finally moved in and took the next step in their relationship. She emptied her glass before placing it in her dish washer followed by the rest of her dirty dishes.

With a sigh she read over his question and was so damn tempted to simply say yes. It would hurt no one, would it? But then again she wasn’t into senseless sex and Tony knew it. To her that text meant nothing more than him getting her a last time into sex. Still the alcohol made her sympathetic. Heck, she always had had a soft spot for him. Just with the difference that she had drawn a line for him not to cross. But it seemed like they were about to cross said line today. “I can come over... But I’m still not into threesomes, Tony,” she replied after proof reading it before sending. She didn’t want to accidentally tell him that she was open for anything sexual. But at the same time Pepper wanted to tell him that she knew about his girls and that she didn’t like it either.

Once she called an Uber, she wrote him “be there in 15.” Heck she probably shouldn’t go to his place. She was way too tipsy for that but...but she still cared for him a great deal that she soon enough sat in her Uber telling her driver about that guy she loved but at the same time he was a huge dick. Still she didn’t know what to do but to be there for him: the man didn’t care and simply turned up the volume of the radio. Soon enough she gave the man his money and rang Tony’s door bell, telling Jarvis. The fresh air was great to clean her head.

 

[MePersonally]

Tony’s pulse raised, as she responded immediately. It was almost like a leap of faith, some kind of silver lining that drew the two of them back together. And he wanted to tell her so much, so many things he hadn’t seen. That he had done so many wrong things, had said so many wrong words for absolutely no reason... and that he had hurt Pepper more than once. This was his chance.

In a quick try to organize his things, he hid the empty bottles and pizza boxes inside the kitchen counter. There was no one who cleaned up anything anymore. What for? There was no Pepper complaining about how messy it looked. But now she was about to come over and Tony got kinda nervous about it. She had seen him at his worst, but lately he had tried to act like he was getting better- at least in front of her. She had left him because it had been too much. He had acted like a child... And just when he had needed her the most, she had decided to sleep on the couch, to stay at her sister’s, to move out.

He hadn’t felt that left alone ever since his mother had died. Pepper had always been there for him, one way or another. She had always listened to him, had an open ear for his problems. No one but her really cared enough to show him.
Tony had tried what they had told him. He had tried to open up to somebody, talk to someone about how he was feeling. But Rhodey had his own problems and Clint- who had had an open ear for him lately- wasn’t really helpful. He just told him that he would be okay. And seeing that guy in his mind, telling his wife and his kids that he loved them, wasn’t a very uplifting idea.

Friday announced Pepper’s arrival and Tony sprayed some deodorant on his AC/DC t-shirt. Hell, he even checked if his trousers looked good, before he opened the door... And nearly fell over. Maybe he had had a little bit too much already. The fact that she was here made him dizzy, but he still smiled at her, as Tony Stark as ever.
“Pepper! Nice to see you...”, he gave her the words he had always given her when he had called her, late at night. He needed an excuse to explain why he had called her... Didn’t he? He had always found excuses. And... the picture. The picture was still on the couch. It was one of the first photos they had taken together. They were on top of the Stark Tower, arm in arm, both smiling like there was no place that they would rather be. Tony had spent some time looking at it, trying to figure out if he had done anything wrong. If there was anything that would turn them back into whatever they had had before he had started to freak out.

“I thought maybe... I just wanted to...”
He couldn’t think of a proper excuse, so he just shrugged and went inside.
“Coffee?”, he offered her, just because he knew it wouldn’t upset her as much as pouring her- and especially himself- another drink. It took some focusing to keep his balance by now, but then again, Tony was an experienced drinker. He knew how to cover the influence of the beverages he had had pretty well. With his typical ‘I’m- hiding- something- smile’ he sat down on the couch and quickly let the picture disappear between two pillows. He wasn’t much for small talk right now, so he just sat and waited for Pepper to say something. Or maybe to tell him that she would make some coffee, because he sucked at that.

 

[Jessy753]

Pepper waited outside and looked around at his driveway. She hadn't been here anymore for quite some time and it felt odd standing here waiting to be let in. The cold air cleared her mind and made her wish she had at least brought some sort of jacket along. Whatever took Tony or Friday so long to take the goddamn door made her nervous. In retrospective coming here probably hadn't been a good idea. Still a big part of her was relieved that Pepper was here. Maybe settling whatever was left between her and Tony was the smartest thing to do. Probably they should've chosen a better timing than the middle of some week day's night. But nothing was normal with Tony so this was to be expected.

She sighed and was about to turn away to go home again as Tony finally opened the door. He looked like a mess. She knew he was trying to cover things up and that was what probably made her stay quiet about it. Pepper stepped inside and gave him the same professional smile. "Tony." she simply replied as he greeted her that way. It almost made her flinch as it hurt. She knew that she probably should've expected a hug especially in his current state of mind. But a big part of her had just hoped...longed for a hug. Just to hug whatever the differences, this odd feeling between them was, off. Pepper could smell the alcohol on him despite his try to cover it up. She crinkled her mouth and stayed quiet for once, telling herself it was none of her business anymore.

She opened her mouth to ask why he had texted but apparently he had no clue as well. She stepped inside as her heels clicked on the ground as she walked inside over to the living room. She spotted something on the couch that caught her interest but soon enough it was gone. "Why...Why did you text, Tony?," she finally asked him anyways and stood there like a misplaced object. Being in his mansion hurt her. It was almost like revisiting old memories she had tried to forget. "What is it what you wanted to tell me what cannot wait till tomorrow?," she wanted to know and looked down at the floor. She kept a distance between them knowing that if she sat down on the couch, she would get soft and just hug him. But they weren't a couple anymore. He had had sex with other women which just felt like cheating to her. Pepper still wondered how he could get so quickly over her when she was just struggling going to work each morning and talk about the things Tony invented. It just hurt too much.

"What do you want to drink? I know you're drunk so stop acting like you're not," she mumbles and goes over to his bar. Heck if she was at his home, she could at least get drunk for now. She didn't feel like drinking coffee in the middle of the night. Normally she'd be the responsible person between them but she didn't think she would get this night over by staying sober and responsible. Hell, her tipsy self had decided that it was a smart idea to come here. "If I recall correctly, you still prefer scotch, don't you?", she spoke filling the awkward silence with random words as she placed ice cubes into a glass before filling it with a decent amount fo scotch for Tony. Afterwards she mixed herself a martini and stared at the sheer liquid in her glass. "I miss you, you know...," she mumbled absentmindedly and frowned over herself.

Pepper pulled her long hair into a bun and sighed. Her pencil skirt was wrinkled and she hadn't bothered to place her button up shirt back into the hem of her skirt. She looked pretty much like she had been ready to go to bed before deciding to come here. She looked like she wanted to say something as her gaze met his but instead she stayed quiet and emptied her cocktail like it was nothing more than a shot. "I'm just gonna empty your bar for once if you don't mind," she said as she filled her glass once again.

 

[MePersonally]

Yeah, why had he texted her? Why had he wanted to see her that badly?it was a mystery to the genius, just as all his feelings were. Most of the time, he didn’t know what to do with them until they burst out. And that was when Pepper usually was there to catch him. Just right now...
She wasn’t her usual self and that confused the Iron Man even more. But then again, how could he know that? Maybe she just had changed. Probably she even had found a better man than him. Who could blame her? He wasn’t the best company, especially since Steve had betrayed him and he felt like everyone he trusted wanted to kill him all of sudden.

“Guess I just needed company”, Tony shrugged and waited for her to move, to do something. Pepper stood in the middle of the room like a misplaced piece of furniture. She belonged here, there was no doubt, but she acted like she didn’t. It was like she was trying to play against all the habits they had had, against everything Tony knew about her. She left him confused and so he didn’t answer her question. He just stared. She was so beautiful in her skirt and with her messy bun, her tired eyes and it everything. Just like she had looked after coming home from work. And she looked so lost, so... almost like she wanted him to come close.

But then she went back to the bar and poured him and herself a drink. The ice cubes made a strange noise when she poured Scotch over them and Tony didn’t know what to do.
“Is this... some kinda test?”, he asked, carefully eyeing the glass of whiskey, “You don’t want me to drink that, right? Because I’m self destructive and egoistic, because I matter to people and stuff... I shouldn’t drink it.”
And this was the first time in forever that Tony Stark did something that Pepper hadn’t expected. He poured the Scotch down the sink and put the glass back onto the small home bar.
“If you’re gonna get drunk, I gotta look after you”, he stated and looked at her so closely that he almost didn’t hear the mumbled words Pepper told her glass of Martini.

Tony was stunned at first. He couldn’t think straight for a second, but then all the emotion came pouring down over him and he felt... better? Relieved? She had made it clear now. She still liked him, so there was still a chance to make this right. But he couldn’t say it. He couldn’t express the rollercoaster of emotions going on inside him. But his eyes, his whole face had lit up like a supernova the universe. She threw her glass back like she was planning to do binge drinking. That thought kind of scared Tony, but it also was the push he needed. The genius finally dared to step closer and touch Pepper’s arm. He held her glass down and looked into her beautiful eyes.

“It’s a Martini, not a double whiskey”, he told her gently. And suddenly he had an idea. He smirked.
“Oh, wait. You’re missing something”, he explained, all of sudden and took her glass out of her hands. A searching noise was audible and the fridge door was opened and closed again. Silence. Then Tony appeared again, carrying Pepper’s Martini, which now included a cocktail stick with three green olives.
“Vodka Martini, with like- three olives”, he grinned and looked into her eyes, hoping for a reaction.

 

[Jessy753]

Guess I just needed company, he told her. His answer ringing in her ear like it held some sort of wisdom for her. But it was wrong. He did have company of countless of women again. She had seen the pictures after all. Yet maybe she shouldn't have listened to the media what they said about him. Pepper knew better than to believe those rumors. Still...she had seen the pictures of him with his dates and he seemed so happy. Happier than what he had seen with her around at least. They really had taken a turn for the worse the two of them. Almost like they had fallen out of love just as quick as they had fallen into it in the end. Yet perhaps it had just been her and not him...

She frowned over his question about the test. "No, I just...," she began but frowned as he simply emptied the drink into the sink "...wanted a drinking buddy." It was true. Maybe if anything could come out of this night, it would be a rekindled friendship. All she wanted was...what exactly? Them to go back to what they once had been or something else? Maybe if she was honest with herself, she knew she didn't want a friendship. She wanted more from him but she doubted that he wanted that. All he ever wanted from her was to lend him an ear. It was alright to her to an extend. She couldn't always be that person for him.

Pepper had expected him to run after she told him those words. In truth she wasn't even sure if she had said them aloud or if she had just willed to say them. She stared a little longer into the sheer liquid but once she finally moved to empty it she was stopped by Tony which confused her. Her gaze went up to him and she was surprised by the warmness in his eyes. Like someone had just made his day and she wasn't even sure who or what that might've been. He took a hold of her glass and Pepper almost looked a little offended "I'm over 21 you know. I know how to drink."

Yet her whole gesture and body language relaxed as her gaze finally met his. Something about the way he looked at her made everything alright. He exclaimed that she was missing something and Pepper looked confused. "I don't understand...", she told him and looked at her glass like it held secrets she didn't understand but somehow Tony knew. He took the glass from her and she was about to protest. Yet he went to the fridge and came back with some olives. A smile appeared on her lips and she looked up at him. Pepper seemed to light up like he did earlier and took the glass from him. "You know I said lots of olives and that's like four or more. Not just three," she scolded him light hearted and looked from the drink in her hand to him. She couldn't believe he still remembered that after all those years. Heck she had expected him to forget. But maybe...he still cared and to be honest that just thrilled her more than anything he could've told her.

She almost beamed at him challenging his own facial expression minutes before. She still very much loved this man. So finding out that he cared for her was the best gift he could've given her today or at all. She took the small stick from the drink and ate one off of it. "Still the best part of the cocktail," she chuckled and clearly seemed to warm up to whatever this situation was right now. She slipped out of her heels making her about four inches smaller than she had been seconds ago.

 

[MePersonally]

When Pepper finally smiled back, Tony was relieved.
“Well, uh, you can have the whole glass if you want to”, he shrugged and went to the kitchen again, where he picked up a huge glass of green olives and placed it on the sofa table.
He stared at Pepper just a little while longer, before he approached her again and finally made himself comfortable standing next to her. The way she ate the olives off the stick moved Tony’s focus to her lips and it triggered the wish, the desire to kiss her. He was dazed by that thought and only nodded to her when she told him how she enjoyed the olives. All he could think of was something else and it didn’t get any better, the longer he looked at her.

Tony stepped closer and subconsciously licked his lips, when she took another sip from her drink. He knew her so well, and still, at that moment, she was the most beautiful person he had ever seen. He had had about six different girls the past week, but still there was no comparison to the way she made him feel. His body, his heart, hell, even his mind was filled with her presence. Without really noticing, he had moved to her side. His hand was now touching hers.

The contact and the fact that he could feel her skin sent shivers through his body. Oh how he wanted to be close to her. In a very careful try, his fingers reached out for hers and he pulled her hand into his. It felt good to feel connected with her again. Almost like everything was okay, like nothing had happened. While his hand gently caressed hers, his eyes searched for hers, to find confirmation in her face. He just needed to be sure that she felt the same way that he did right now.

“I’m sorry I left you alone with the press. I didn’t know it was Wednesday already”, he whispered, almost humbly, “Please don’t be angry.”
They were just where they had been before Pepper had left and told him that she needed space. Well, her exact words had been “Tony, I can’t do this anymore. I need a break from this... from you”. It had hurt as hell to hear her say it, but he had been exhausting at that moment, he knew that. And he had also respected Pepper’s decision to move out again. It had felt like a final breakup to him, so he had just accepted the fact that she would never be more to him than the CEO of his company.

 

[Jessy753]

Pepper was oblivious to how Tony looked at her. To her he all he needed was a friend and she could be exactly that to him. She would be if it meant to make him feel better. But it wasn't what she actually wanted from him. Ever since he had left her on that goddamn roof during his charity gala, she wanted more from him than being his friend. Yet she wasn't delusional and knew it hadn't been the right time for that. So she moved on telling him how he had left her standing alone on that roof. But when she thought...she had lost him during the Expo. She had been so happy and relieved to see him that the kiss had felt right.

She shrugged as he apologized and sighed exhausted. "I was angry at first but I guess that was on me. I know how you handle things. I'll send out thousands of e-mails the next time you have an appointment just to make sure you show up," she told him and added "I'm just exhausted now." Pepper frowned and looked at her drink. It was true. She felt so exhausted about everything. She had worked even more than usually ever since their break. It was the only thing that kept the loneliness and the pain away. Even her parents had tried to intervene, telling her it wasn't healthy and that she should take some things off. But she was having none of it. No-one noticed that she was actually exhausting herself. She was herself on the outside but she knew that she had lots a little weight due to the stress.
Pepper usually just told Tony when to stop things shortly when they got out of hand or cleaned up his mess. But she had never mentioned why he was so good to her. He had a way of making her relax and just forget about the stress at work. Just a weekend with him and she felt happy and simply...better again. She turned to Tony again and seemed like she wanted to say something but nothing came out.

Just the little contact of skin made her feel happy and brought butterflies to her stomach. She looked down at their hands and intertwined their fingers like it was supposed to be. Her gaze went up to his face and she looked gently at him. Almost like she was trying to hide something from him and mostly her. She still very much loved this man. But...she wasn't sure if that was still the smartest thing to do. Yet she didn't know how much time had passed when she pulled her hand finally away from his and instead went to place it on his cheek. She caressed his cheek gently and her gaze slipped to his lips just for a split second. A part of her couldn't help than wonder if having his lips on hers would feel as great as ever. "Let's be honest. I caught you doing worse things than not joining a press conference," she joked light hearted, mentioning the exact same thing he had told her once she spotted him in the Iron Man suit for the first time.

 

[MePersonally]

“Guess you have”, he smirked, now definitely with his flirting mode on. He had become more confident now and with her hand on his cheek, there was nearly nothing that could go wrong. He pulled her closer and kissed her gently. And it was the most pleasant thing that he had felt since they had broken up. Their lips together as if it was supposed to be. His arms wrapped themselves around her waist almost automatically, he wanted more of her. Still, Tony Stark, the man who didn’t seem to be able to say no to any woman, pulled himself together and forced his hands to stay on the sensible places. He wouldn’t mess this up now.

After a few seconds, it was him who broke the kiss. He looked at her and smiled like he had just won the lottery. Well, in a way he had just won everything that mattered to him. He had enough money to live in luxury and without worries. Hell, he could buy a dozen more mansions and still have enough money to have a decent living.

But Pepper, Pepper was irreplaceable. She was just the thing that he needed most. She was the one who kept him stable, the one he could always rely on and also the most beautiful woman in this world. And if he could tell her that when he was sober, then this relationship would be so much easier. But now that he was drunk, it wasn’t a problem. He just stared at her openly and winked at her.
“You know what? You’re beautiful”, he stated, his hands still on her hips, where they belonged.

 

[Jessy753]

She kissed him back passionately as she moved closer to him as well. Her hand almost immediately found its way to his hair. She ran her hand through his hair as she enjoyed the feeling of his lips against hers. In all honesty there was no way to describe how much she had missed him or his touch. Pepper hummed happy against her lips as her other hand went to slide under his shirt. Yet to her surprise he pulled away again. For a moment she pouted and moved with him so her would stay on his.

She removed her hand from his shirt to gaze up at him. Her lips slight ajar as she felt breathless over his kiss. Like always he successfully managed to take her breath away even though they had kissed for mere seconds. "Tony...," she whispered his name as her pupils were dilated completely only showing how much she actually was attracted to him. "That's all I wanted from you that night, you know? A Martini and that damned kiss," she whispered knowing that she had gotten neither from him that night.

"No, I look like a mess," she argued but still blushed as he complimented her. "...But you're just as handsome as ever," she mentioned and pulled him in again for another kiss. But this time she pulled him down by his neck so he couldn't move away so quickly. She gently moved both hands down his front to make it obvious that she wanted more than just some tame kisses from him.

 

[MePersonally]

“Tony...”
Just the way she whispered his name made his heart race. He knew that look in her face and he just stared back at her, stunned by how much she could do to him by just saying his name. It was almost like magic. But maybe it was exactly that what made it so hard for Tony to be decent when she asked him to. Maybe she didn’t even know what she was doing to him.

She pulled him in again, this time her kisses were more demanding. He knew what she wanted. And he wouldn’t say no to her. But then again, had he ever refused a pretty girl? When it came to that, his brain just seemed to have a bug in the script. He didn’t remember how to say no from a certain point on. Well, how could he? He had never learned to do so. But when he had been with Pepper- or were they together again?- he had always done his very best to stay faithful. That was why he kept on avoiding situations which could lead to that point.

Though he really loved women in general, it was a whole lot different with Pepper. She didn’t even have to try to impress him. She just had to smile at him and it was done. It was like she knew exactly how to make him want her. Every single second. Even when she came home from work, sweaty, tired and absolutely not in the mood.

He had really tried to be a good boy, just for once. But right now, he was caught. It wasn’t as if it bothered him that Pepper wanted more than just a kiss, but it was just a little unusual for her to be that demanding with physical things. Not that Tony minded, though. He gave in to her and let her take the lead, place him on the couch and undress him. He couldn’t really remember what had happened afterwards, but he found himself in his bed, naked, next to her. It wasn’t really unpleasant, so he just stuck with it and pulled her closer and placed a gentle kiss on her face, before he fell asleep.

 

[Jessy753]

Of course Pepper knew how to drive him crazy just like any other woman knew how to turn on their boyfriends or husbands on. Just that she usually chose to not to act like that. At least not intentionally like she was acting right now. With a grin she kept on kissing him happily. Heck she could enjoy having his lips on hers all day long. But also she wanted something different from him for once. All she wanted to do was feel his skin on hers and just to enjoy the night. Maybe even make up for whatever stupid reason they had broken up for. Just to prove him she could be so much more than any of those girls he had had during their break.

Somehow they ended up on the couch semi naked. She wasn't too sure how they had ended up there making out but damn she enjoyed every single second of it. Tony always had had a way to make her heart race and want him even though he usually was the one initiating any kind of intimacy. Pepper was happy cuddling and making out occasionally. But she needed to admit that he damn well knew what to do in the sack to a girl. So she mostly didn't mind at all unless she felt dirty or not so pretty occasionally.

Soon enough she was laying naked breathless next to him. His lips found hers and she gently kissed him. With a smile she cuddled close wrapping an arm around him like she used to do. "Love you, Tony," she whispered out of habit but it still was very much true. Pepper glowed from her post coital state and grinned to herself as she slowly fell asleep in his arms. He simply had a way to make her feel so...loved and protected.

The next morning though she woke up well rested but also with a strange feeling and headache. She opened her eyes and noticed how the room wasn't her own bedroom but it was familiar enough for her to feel safe and just to shrug it off. Her alarm clock hadn't gone off yet so she turned around away from the sun. Yet she turned into Tony and blinked. "What the fuck...?" she asked maybe a tad too loud not thinking that Tony might wake up. She stared at him in wonder of how the heck she had ended up in his bed again. Thinking about it she noticed her own state of undress and she lifted the blanket a bit to check on her...boyfriend. Well, how had she ended up here in the first place and how much wine did she have?

 

[MePersonally]

It was the first time in ages that he actually slept without waking up in the middle of the night. Pepper’s warmth next to him had made him feel... somewhat safe and he had gotten that happy feeling every time he had turned around and bumped into her for a second. She was here. He wasn’t alone. And that knowledge did a lot to calm his nerves. He was so happy to have her here again, that he forgot to tell Friday to wake them up in the morning, so Pepper wouldn’t be late for work. Or had he forgotten it intentionally? He wasn’t quite sure about that.

Waking up wasn’t that pleasant, though. A kiss would have done, but instead, Pepper sat up, almost alarmed and exclaimed a phrase that he had never heard out of her mouth before.
“What the fuck?!”
Still sleepy, the Iron Man turned around and looked at her, rubbing his eyes.
“I hear that a lot, but not from you...”, he mumbled and held her in place by wrapping his arms around her, “Come back to bed, you deserve a day off...”
He placed a kiss on her belly and pulled on her, trying to make her lay down again. It was definitely too early to get out of bed, especially after a night like that and the olympic games of bed sports.

Still, something in her glance startled him. And the way she looked down on herself and checked on his body- which brought a lot of cold air to places that definitely shouldn’t get cold- triggered something else in him. He knew that reaction. Alcohol and one night stands. She couldn’t remember. But what she had told him that night, that had been true. He knew it had been. It had to be.

He let go off her nonetheless. Something inside him told him it was better to not act too clingy. She didn’t like that, after all. And he didn’t want to lose her again, just because he did something wrong. The fact that she still felt for him was relieving, though. So there was still a chance for the two of them to make it work, somehow. Maybe they could repeat that drunk sex part one day. He had actually liked the way she had acted. But now there were more important things to work out. Making her memory work again, for instance. Though he knew from personal experience that it was impossible most of the time, he would at least try.
“Don’t go, please. Let me explain it...”, he begged her, almost sounding desperate.

 

[Jessy753]

Pepper allowed him to pull her back down into the bed. She lied down next to him and sighed a little. She blinked as he placed a kiss to her belly and she seemed confused about it all. Maybe having sex with your almost ex during drunk night wasn't the smartest idea. Especially the day after still there wasn't much for her to regret. She knew from previous experiences that he was good in bed after all. Still they probably shouldn't have ended up in bed after what had happened between them the last time they saw each other.

Part of her was glad though as he gave her space to breathe and let go off her again. Even if it seemed like she preferred him staying close to her. But the least thing she needed right now was feeling like he suffocated her. "Unlike you I have a company to run. Can't just stay at home like that," she told him trying to find an excuse of why she needed to leave anyways. This was a bit much at once though.

Her gaze went to him again as she wrapped the sheets tightly around her naked body. "Alright, alright... So the explanation is?", she looked tired at him like a part of her wanted to know what this was but also a part simply was too tired to actually care much about the current situation. With a sigh she lied down on the bed and ran a hand through her hair. Her next thought though went to other things and she quickly sat up alarmed. "Please tell me we used a condom? Or pretty much anything!", she told him and looked at him clearly afraid of what he might answer.

 

[MePersonally]

Okay, now she was definitely overreacting. She knew she still felt for him, so why would she make things so complicated? He had always thought that Pepper was able to deal with whatever she felt. That she was someone who knew exactly what she was doing. But apparently... She was just as confused about herself as he was. At least at that moment it felt like she had no idea what she was doing or what she wanted. Or had it just been a drunk encounter that would never happen again? Did she regret sleeping with him?

When she lay down again, Tony didn’t dare to touch her anymore. He didn’t want to mess this up, he didn’t want to make her leave again. He really wanted her to stay with him, to love him and to give him a second chance. It wasn’t too easy, though. Maybe it had all been just a short moment of happiness and she hadn’t meant what she had told him. But that would mean that she was better off without him and that fact hurt Tony as hell. He didn't even want to think about that option.

“Well I texted you and then you came over and I only wanted to talk and cuddle, but appa...”, he started to explain, but Pepper stopped him by suddenly asking him if they had used protection. He wasn’t sure anymore, but an old instinct told him that she wouldn’t take a no as an answer. Especially not if she had been drunk and he had forgotten about it. He simply had forgotten about it. She hadn't made it easy for him to remember, either, the way she had come at him. How was a man supposed to remember using protection when the woman he loved did such things to him? Well, he certainly didn't.

"We did, Pepper... Relax...", he told her and the lie slipped past his lips so easily. It was almost horrifying how many times he had said that phrase in his life. And most of the time he hadn't even known for sure. Part of him wanted to tell her the truth, but he just couldn't risk it. He couldn't risk her leaving again when it had all started so well last night. Hell, she had told him that she loved him. And he knew Pepper wouldn't say such a thing unless she really meant it. He just needed her back in his life and this was his chance. He wouldn't waste it over a little amount of sperm inside her. Probably they wouldn't manage it far enough anyway.

 

[Jessy753]

She listened to him quietly and tried to replay what had happened on her own. Yet some things were foggy and she simply couldn't remember everything. But that was okay, wasn't it? Tony didn't take a run from her like he usually did with his one night stands. Who cared if she had been drunk? Sure, it would've been nice to actually be sober if they encountered some sort of make up sex. But it was alright like that as well, wasn't it? Also...it hadn't been her first. Just her first almost one night stand if something like that even existed.

Her gaze turned to him as he told her to relax. She nodded and indeed seemed to relax at the note of having used protection. That was alright with her. After all both of them couldn't afford having a child right now and at least her drunken self had proved that she wanted him in her life. "Okay... Good," she mumbled more to herself and turned to him slowly. "Guess we had sex, huh?", she grinned at him in a way that meant trouble but also that she was fine with him and the current situation.

It was like his reassurance made her relax a little and cuddle into him. She even moved his arm so she lied in his embrace. She stayed like that for a couple of minutes before asking "So, what does this mean?" She was tempted to simply kiss his lips again.