It was an assassin. Tony Stark had defeated the leader of a group of assassins weeks ago. He thought the threat was destroyed, but he didn't anticipate another assassin out for revenge. The son of the leader had managed to sneak in one of SHIELD's new base. Nick Fury, as well as the Avengers, hung out in the base, upgrading their tech, repairing their tech, or waiting around for a new mission.

Tony and Pepper were on a field trip—more so Pepper, than Tony. Tony was merely showing her around the place; showing her all the spots where he thinks they should have awesome sex and make out at, and spots where he wants them to have sex and make out at. Pepper, of course, just rolled her eyes at him. He showed her the new lab they were building, the new workshop that he was renovating, conference room halls, and the common areas the superheroes shared.

He stopped in front of a metal door and turned around to face her. "So, do you like it?" Tony asked with a loving smile. He was happy she was with him. He wanted to give her a tour of the new SHIELD HQ ever since the structure was built, but she was always at Stark Industries, working and conspiring with Agent Hill.

"Do I like how nothing is complete yet?" She teased with a smirk. He gave her a lopsided frown; he knew she was teasing him. She chuckled and leaned in to softly kiss him. When she pulled away, he looked light headed, all while sporting a wide grin on his face. "Yes, I love it."

He endearingly stared down at her and her cute freckles. "You're such a tease." He growled at her.

"Well," she said with a small smile. "I learned from the best."

He rested his hands on her waist and pulled her in. "Oh," he exclaimed. "I forgot to show you the best part of this tour—and it's actually one of the better parts."

She raised her eyebrow at him. "Oh?"

Tony turned around and pressed his hand against the door. The panel underneath his hand lit up and swiped across in a scanning motion. "Welcome back, Sir." JARVIS announced as the door opened. "And welcome, Miss Potts."

Tony backed into the door, letting her soak in everything around her. Her head turned to look inside the room as she gazed at all the objects and lights that surrounded her. The inside of his room was magical; there were many bright lights that emanated from inside the walls and there were lots of impressive interior décor that even surprised her. The room contained shades of grey and brown. The lights accenting the room was the color of the Arc Reactor, a familiar and light sky blue, running down the walls in strips and across the ceiling. Pepper smiled, as the room already felt like home.

Tony watched her look around in amazement. "You like it?" He asked, affectionately squeezing her waist.

Pepper's eyes eventually landed on the area behind the bed; there was no headboard, only a long table strewn across like a nightstand. There was a digital clock, with the same lighting as the Arc Reactor, and a few picture frames. Each frame had a different picture. Her eyes lit up when she noticed that each picture was a picture of them; smiling, laughing, hugging, kissing.

Tony followed her line of sight and saw the pictures. "You like them?" His tone was endearing, and his smile was warm. Her heart fluttered when she saw the affectionate look on his face. "You know," he scratched the back of his head in nervousness. "It took me a while to sift through all the photos JARVIS took…" he glanced down at her. Her smile was pure and full of fondness.

"Yeah?" She asked, with a wide grin.

Tony laughed under his breath. He loved it when she smiled; when her grin stretched from ear to ear. He loved her laugh, her giggle, the wrinkles on her nose when she sneezed and when she yelled at him, and the roll of her eyes whenever his comments were inappropriate, or just typical of him. He loved it when she was near him, close to him, or at arm's length. He loved the feel of her soft skin under his calloused hands. He loved the feeling of her warm lips pressed against his, and how her hands roamed to his hair whenever they were kissing.

It only took a second for all of that to be taken away from him. It struck her like a bullet. A small knife was thrown at her from behind. She staggered forward with widened eyes and the look of sudden pain. Tony furrowed his eyebrows slightly. She glanced up at him, out of shock and fear—fear of dying.

"Honey?" Tony asked, watching her body start to go limp. He had no idea what was happening, and it scared him. He could barely talk, or think.

"Tony?" She whispered, lowly and with a small squeak. Her mouth went dry and her mind blanked, as she fell forward and into his arms.

Tony did what he could to hold her up, but he instantly panicked. What happened—What's happening!? Pepper! What—, he thought. He saw the knife lodged in her back and suddenly felt his heart break into a million pieces. His entire world was starting to crumble right before his eyes. He looked up and saw the same look when he defeated leader of the assassins. His face went from heart broken and internally dying, to furious and vengeful.

Red started to spread across the back of Pepper's white blouse. Her body didn't move as it lay limp against Tony's.

Without thinking, Tony flicked his arm behind himself, all while holding Pepper, and let the gauntlet of the Mark 42 rip through the glass it was encased in. The gauntlet sped across the room and encased his hand and forearm in milliseconds. He thrust his hand in front of him with a hardened jaw and clenched teeth, and brought out the most powerful repulsor blast he could. The sound of the blast whirred throughout the base as it shot the assassin in the chest. The repulsor blast sent him flying across the hall and straight into a concrete wall. His body hit the wall and fell to the ground, and he stayed there, limp and unconscious.

Tony's anger ripped through him and burned out. He stared across the hall at the assassin's body; he wanted to make sure he was either dead or unconscious. When the assassin didn't move after a few seconds, Tony slowly lowered his gauntlet and felt his anger leave his body in one breath. He immediately tended to the body on top of his.

"Pepper?" He yelled in worry, and in pain; the thought of losing her was unbearable, and that's all he felt at that moment. "Please…" He pleaded, as he turned her limp body so her back laid against him. Tears streamed down his face as he held her. "…Don't leave me." He sniffed. He was angry at himself for not protecting her, like he promised he would. He was angry at the world for threatening to tear her away from his life.

He pressed his forehead to hers and held her tight, as tears continued to stream down his cheeks and drip onto her soft skin. "Honey… Please don't… Don't do this…" He pleaded again. "I can't—I can't live without you." He sobbed. "I can't…"

It was a week and a half later when Pepper was released from SHIELD's medical wing. The knife to her back didn't kill her, nor did it paralyze her; her body went into shock when it all happened. The powerful blast that ripped through hall was heard throughout the entire base. All agents and Avengers ran to the source, where they found the unconscious assassin, a shaken and emotionally torn up Tony Stark, and a bleeding Pepper Potts in his lap.

They rushed her to the newly built medical wing, where the doctors operated on her. Tony was beside himself; the team stayed beside him, comforting him and reassuring him of Pepper's positive state, up until the doctor came out to deliver the good news. Everyone was relieved, but Tony wasn't. He was still angry at himself for letting it happen. When he was ushered out of the medical wing to get some rest, he punched the nearest wall. What good am I as a superhero if I can't protect her?

When Pepper was released, he made her stay with him at the base, rather than moving her back to their penthouse in Stark Tower.

Pepper laid on Tony's bed as she rested. Her stitches were days old, but he didn't want to take any chances. He didn't let her do any work, or walk around alone. He watched her like a hawk. Tony laid beside her, on top of the covers, and watched her sleep. He was deep in his own thoughts when she suddenly spoke up.

"You don't have to watch me." Pepper said, opening her eyes. She tried her best to smile, but Tony's lack of happiness made her frown. "You okay?" She asked him.

Tony looked away, ashamed that he couldn't prevent any of it. "I'm fine." He lied.

Pepper stared at him. "No," She replied, pressing her lips together. "You're not." She always knew how to read him. Silence grew between them, and Pepper hated it. "Tony," she brought her hand up to his cheek. "Look at me." His eyes slowly locked onto hers. She could see the anger, sadness, and blame in his eyes. She shook her head at him. "This isn't your fault."

"Like hell it isn't." He cursed, immediately looking away.

"Tony, you had no control over this—"

"I'm Iron Man, Pepper." He practically yelled. "What good am I if I can't even save my own girlfriend?" He poured out his anger all at once. "I should've been the one in the hospital. He wanted to kill me, hurt me—make me suffer, and he chose you because he knew how to get to me—how to stab me in the heart. And he succeeded… I thought you were going to die—" He felt a tear roll down his cheek. Pepper did her best to fight back the tears. "I—I don't know what I would've done if—if you had…" He felt another tear escape his eyes; it ran underneath Pepper's hand that was still pressed against his cheek. "I'm so sorry, Pepper." He sobbed and crumbled underneath her hand. He leaned towards her, draped his arm over her waist, and pressed his head against her chest. She could feel the tears drip onto her t-shirt—his t-shirt, that she wanted to wear—as she held his head against her chest. She closed her eyes and held him; she let him release all the tears and anger he had bottled up in the past couple weeks. "I'm sorry…" She heard him mutter.

"I love you, Tony. I would never blame you for something like this." She murmured in a soothing manner, as she tried to calm him down by running her hands through his hair.