For Pepperony lovers: Okay, I'm really impressed that you actually clicked on this. Seriously, because this is my giant angst dump.
For Pepperony haters: The feeling's mutual.
For Pepperony toleraters (AKA 'I dun care'): Ummm, hi . . . (Awkward much)
Everyone: Two words: Plot bunnies.
Sorry, I just love to torture the charries I love. By the way, this whole thing was written from 1-2:30 in the a.m., so it's a little . . . (how do you say . . .) messy?
Disclaimer: Me no own. Me no profit. Me no understand-o why you sue me-o.
So without further ado, my (failful) attempt at organized free-writing. (*Facepalm* I don't think anyone would believe me if I said I wasn't trying to make paradoxes, but I really wasn't! I promise!)
Steve swallowed, trying to comprehend what had just happened. There were a few things he knew for sure, besides the fact that he had just witnessed one of the most out-of-character acts ever.
1. Manhattan was safe.
2. Manhattan was also in ruins.
But the third thing hit him with a pang in the chest, taking the breath out of the already-winded man.
3. Tony Stark was dead.
Sure, he may not have liked the guy, but he certainly didn't want him dead. Most certainly didn't want him lying on the ground, his . . . whatever the metal thing in his chest was not glowing, stone cold dead.
"Tony? Tony Stark, where are you?" The voice called through the ruins, sounding annoyed but with an edge of anticipation to it. For a moment, Steve wondered who the hell would be here until he remembered something.
Stark had a girlfriend.
"He's . . ." Steve started, but faltered, looking down at the battered man lying on the ground in front of him. "He's over here."
Footsteps came closer and closer, until he could see a strawberry-blonde haired woman walking towards him.
"Anthony Edward Stark!" She exclaimed as she neared them, not noticing the mournful state the Avengers were in. "I will not tolerate this any longer! You can't just fly a nuke into a random portal, to leave me wondering whether or not you'll be okay! I swear, you do that again and I'll-" She broke off as she noticed the Ironman laying on the pavement for the first time.
"Tony?" Her voice was barely more than a whisper now, but Steve heard it. He heard the desperation in her voice as she kicked off her heels and ran barefoot across the sharp glass, rocks, and robot boddies that littered the ground. "Tony?" Her voice was stronger now, but even more pain-filled.
She knelt beside him, and took his hand in hers. "You're going to be okay, but only if you wake up! Wake up! Please, just wake up!" She screeched, her voice rising to a wail. "You can't die! You're Ironman, for God's sake! You told me you'd come back, you promised. You promised . . ." She trailed off, and tried unsuccessfully to hold back a sob.
After suppressing the urge to break down and cry himself, Steve had remembered her name: Virginia 'Pepper' Potts. Pepper was sobbing uncontrollably, salty tears cascading down her face. Steve would've liked to comfort her, but didn't. He knew better than to intrude on this, whatever 'this' was.
But after five extremely awkward minutes of glances at one another, all of the Avengers were feeling that someone should take her away. Somehow, they came to an agreement. Steve rose from where he was sitting, a fair distance away from Pepper, and walked over to the aforementioned woman.
"No, no, no . . ." She was whispering, Slowly shaking her head. "All my fault . . . All my friggin' fault . . ." Another tear slipped down her cheek.
Steve gently laid a hand on her shoulder, and Pepper flinched.
"Sorry." He muttered. She shook her head.
"It's fine." He voice was hoarse, but firm. She had a 'don't mess with me, lest I unleash my wrath down upon you' kind of look on her face, but it was an empty threat right now.
"Come on," Steve said, offering his hand to her. "They'll take care of . . . everything." He nodded towards the other Avengers, who were all having a heated discussion with one another.
For a moment, Pepper looked unsure, but then swallowed and murmured a small "okay."
And that was all she said until dinner came around, which if you're wondering, was seven hours later.
A/N: Blarrgh! Why am I even posting this? Oh well, onto part two. Takes place during dinner that same night.
When Steve entered Pepper's room, he found her sitting on her bed, her hands wrung in her lap, murmuring words only she could understand.
"You okay?" He asked, and her head snapped up, clearly not knowing of his arrival.
"Do I look okay?" She snapped, her eyes ablaze with a cold fury. When she saw the surprised look on Steve's face her gaze immediately softened, and her words became ones of apology.
"Sorry . . . I just . . . just . . . well, you know." She muttered, still staring at her hands like they had the power to bring Tony back.
"No, it was a stupid question. Of course you aren't alright." Steve then remembered his reason for coming into her room. "Umm, we're having pizza in the living room, if you want to join us. We've got cheese, onion, pepperoni," she stiffened, but didn't speak. "Anchovy, but no one really like anchovies anyways . . ." he realized he was rambling a little too late. "So uh," Steve reached up to scratch the back of his neck. "If you're hungry, we have food."
"Alright, thanks." Pepper smiled, but it looked forced. Steve quietly left her to her musings, only to hear her sobbing again as soon as he shut the door.
A/N: This part was written at about 2 a.m., and I really don't want to post it, (Then why am I posting it?) but there's a certain someone staring over my shoulder to make sure that I do post this. I am very fearful of flames right now. Why? Because it has a stupid idea. Read, and you'll see what I mean. Takes place about a day after the last part.
Steve had been checking out a social networking site that Bruce been telling him about. It was called Facebook, a weird name for something that didn't have anything to do with books, Steve had thought.
Anyways, he had been looking through some of the different pages on Facebook when he found one entitled Pepperony. He'd clicked on it, not really expecting anything but a pepperoni/misspelling fanclub, when he saw the profile picture. It was a beautiful picture, excellent quality, but what made it so beautiful was the people in it. Tony Stark and Pepper Potts were kissing, holding one another so tightly as if the world might collapse if they let go. Now, a normal person wouldn't have noticed the look in their eyes, but Steve did. It was the same look Peggy had had in her eyes as she looked up at him, the same look he had in his eyes as he gazed back down at her.
It was love.
There was a certain tenderness in Stark's eyes that Steve had never seen before, and he had never thought the other man to be able to wear a look of such genuine adoration.
Steve clicked through the photos without much difficulty, (only closing his browser 3 times) and found that there really was another side to Tony Stark. A side that didn't flirt with girls besides his girlfriend, didn't make sarcastic quips in answer to every question, a side that actually had some humility.
A/N: *Facepalm* Okay, okay, don't kill me because that was just as weird for you as it was for me.
Okay, I'm done. This was originally meant just for me to get this plot bunny out of my head, but I guess I could flesh a plot out of this, if you insist. (And leave a review . . .)
If you're wondering, that was 1 101 words. (Excluding A/N's)