Pepper

Hey everyone! This is a long one, but I had to get everyone in there. I wasn't sure how this was going to work out, but as I was sitting in Spanish, bored out of my mind, IT SUDDENLY HIT ME! So here it is... hope you like it.

Disclaimer: Still own nothing.

Pepper was lounging on the loveseat in the rec room, the very loveseat that she had been sitting on when Tony had asked her to marry him almost a year and a half ago. JARVIS was playing a movie for her, but she was only half paying attention. Most of her energy was currently going towards trying not to laugh at the Avengers, minus Tony, who where crammed into the kitchen off to her right. They claimed to be making a baby shower cake, but based on the raised voices and the presence of jars o f paprika and several other interesting spices, Pepper assumed that the cake was going to be an interesting one.

Tony was at SHIELD, consulting about a tech problem that Pepper couldn't even begin to understand. It had taken her nearly twenty minutes to convince him that she would be okay if he left the tower for a few hours. She was still three weeks away from her due date, and the closer she got, the harder it was to get Tony to go and do anything away from her. Not that it's a bad thing, Pepper mused, but if he doesn't do something he's going to go crazy on me. Tony acted like she was going to shatter, no longer letting her carry anything or do more than an hour's work.

The sound of breaking glass and several yells brought Pepper back to the present. She looked up, expecting to see a shattered bowl full of cake mix and odd spices, but instead she came face to face with the most terrifying creature she had ever seen.

It was vaguely humanoid, but that was where the similarity to a person ended. The thing's skin was blackened and charred, as if it had been recently burned, and it was stuck to the outside of the window as if it was glued there. Not even a second later, it was inside, having oozed its way through the hole it had smashed in the plate glass window of Stark tower.

Pepper rolled off the couch, flinging up an arm to protect herself, wrapping the other around her stomach, trying to protect the baby. In an instant, the creature was there, slashing at her with vicious claws. One of them caught her arm, and she gasped at the sudden pain that sparked through her.

It seemed as if everything was suddenly happening at once. Steve smashed into the creature, knocking it away from her and yelling in surprise as his skin blistered where he touched the being. Bruce was next to Pepper, pulling her to her feet and back to the protection of the kitchen, Thor sprinting by with Clint, Mjolnir in Thor's fist and Clint wielding a long dagger. Natasha was vaulting over a chair with a pistol in each hand, yelling at the others to back up. And just as she reached the kitchen's tiled floor, a sharp ripple of pain rippled through Pepper's abdomen, forcing her to stop moving and curl into herself.

It's happening, Pepper realized. I'm going into labor on the kitchen floor with a monster in the rec room and Tony gone at SHIELD!

"-eathe, Pepper, breathe!" Bruce was kneeling next to her, and Pepper was suddenly aware that she was on the floor behind the kitchen island. She nodded and tried to control her breathing and ignore the sounds of destruction from behind her.

Several pistol shots echoed through the floor, and the creature fell as Natasha finally got a clear shot at the creature. Even with two new holes in it's head, the thing took a moment to die. It was laughing, a hysterical, maniacal laugh. "Almossst," it hacked out. "Revenge on the death of my racccce was almossst mine..." It's laugh turned into a rattle and it went limp.

Thor spit on the fallen creature. "Chitauri. They begin to appear as this one does when they age. Lady Pepper? Are you all right?"

Pepper tried to answer, but ended up crying out in pain as another contraction ripped through her body. Bruce held on to her hand and reminded her to breathe, then looked up at the group. "Thor, pick her up. I need her in the med bay, now! JARVIS, contact Tony, please. Steve, come up so I can take care of your hands. Tash and Clint, do something about that." He nodded at the dead Chitauri on the floor.

"Is she going to be okay, Bruce?" Pepper heard Steve ask as the contraction ended.

"Yeah, she'll be fine. The baby's on the way, and I don't know if we have time to get to a hospital. Sometimes, when somebody gets a shock and a lot of adrenaline, their body decides that it's best for the baby to be out in the world. Now let's go!" Thor scooped up Pepper easily, cradling her in his arms. She clenched her jaw shut as her body shuddered again.

Forty-five grueling minutes later, her contractions were only a few minutes apart. Tony had arrived about fifteen minutes after Steve called him, and was sitting next to her, holding her hand and still wearing part of the Iron Man armor.

Bruce smiled and handed her the bundle. Pepper couldn't remember feeling more tired, but she laughed and took the baby from him, leaning into Tony. Baby Stark was, in Pepper's opinion, the cutest baby she had ever seen, with her daddy's nose and dark hair, wrapped in a little Iron Man blanket. "Pep?" Tony asked softly. "Can they come in?"

She nodded. "Of course." They were part of the family, and probably wanted to greet this new addition as much as she and Tony did. Bruce went to the door and opened it, laughing at the four Avengers who were immediately on their feet, waiting for the news.

"It's a girl!" Bruce said with a grin. There were smiles all around, and they crowded through the door and into the medical bay. To Pepper's surprise, they had balloons, gifts, and a cake that looked like it didn't contain paprika or any other spice. She laughed again and gave Thor a one-armed hug as he set a beautiful bouquet of the same flowers that she remembered him taking to Jane on the table next to her.

They chattered away for almost an hour. Everyone held the baby. Tony laughed at the sight of huge Thor and Steve with the little bundle, Steve a little awkwardly with his almost-healed hands, and Natasha had the biggest smile Pepper had ever seen on her when the baby was in Natasha's arms for the first time, Clint looking over her shoulder.

Finally, Bruce checked the cut on Pepper's arm one more time, asked JARVIS to keep him posted, and started shooing everyone out, claiming that Pepper needed to sleep. Tony kissed her gently and took the baby over to the cradle next to the bed. "Vivian Philippa Stark, I love you," he whispered, and went to go stand with the rest of the Avengers, who were still beaming at Pepper from the doorway.

"Thank you, Avengers. Thank you, family." Pepper said sleepily, looking at them.

"Thank you, Pepper," Steve finally said. He hesitated, then smiled. "We love you. Good night." The door closed softly. Pepper fell asleep, warm and happy, knowing that her family would always be there to look out for her and their baby girl.

And... that's it! Hope you liked it! I will start a new fic soon, if I get a plot fish nibbling. Feel free to send suggestions or ideas that you would like to see, or suggestions for improving this fic! Thanks for reading!