Author's Notes: I began this shortly at seeing Captain America: Civil War and it mostly sat on my computer incomplete because until I saw Spider-man: HomecomingI didn't have a clue how to finish it. Thanks to that movie I found my ending!

Mild spoilers for Spider-man: Homecoming, but nothing too bad aka it's nothing most Pepperony lovers don't already know!

Pepper was in Tokyo when she received the call she'd been dreading but knew she'd would undoubtedly get once Tony had stepped back into the superhero arena. She had just laid her tired body down in bed, ready to put an end to a day that had seemed to go on forever only to hear her cell begin vibrating a split second before the ringtone chimed.

She held her breath then sighed with that it wasn't Tony's ringtone, relief that was immediately followed by guilt because she knew she was being unfair to him by feeling that way. Ever since she'd talked to him, told him that she needed some time away to think about them, he had been respectful enough to let her go but more than that he had not tried to contact her.

Not even once.

But the worst part about it was how she could still remember the hurt in his eyes the moment she had told him that she wasn't sure them being together worked anymore. She loved him, yes, and she knew that he loved her but love wasn't always enough - especially when the man in question was Tony Stark!

By the phone's impatient third ring, the tone had shifted over to one she recognized as belonging to Maria Hill. But why was Maria calling at this time of night, especially since she knew very well that Pepper was away in Asia?

"Well, there's only one way to find out why she's calling you, Potts," Pepper muttered, picking the phone up. She took a deep breath, and pressed the talk button, "Hello? Maria?"

"Yes hello, Pepper. I know it's the middle of the night where you are but something has happened that you need to know about."

Pepper's throat was tight with fear, and she had to force herself to ask, "What?"

Oh please don't let Tony be hurt or dead. Please just don't.

"First of all, there was a fight that involved all of the Avengers, including Tony. His current status is that he is alive and he is as well as can be expected right now with everything that has transpired over the last several days. He's a little banged up but it's nothing too serious."

Pepper breathed out in relief, and then asked, "But there is something wrong?"

"Yes," Hill sighed audibly on the phone, "During the fight, Colonel Rhodes… Rhodey was hit by friendly fire while he was flying pretty high in the air. The hit knocked out his suit's flight ability." She paused again, and then said, "Pepper, he hit the ground before Tony or anyone else could manage to reach him."

Tears welled up in her eyes, and with a gasp, Pepper forced out the question, "Is… is he dead?"

"No, he's alive."

"Thank God."

"Yeah," the other woman agreed, "He's alive but I'm afraid he's not uninjured."

Pepper closed her eyes, "How bad is it, Maria?"

The former SHIELD commander sighed, "The doctors are still determining to what extent of how serious it is but they think that there is a very high chance that he will have some paralysis. But to what degree they're not yet sure of…"

Soon after ending the call with Maria, Pepper woke up her assistant and told her to make travel arrangements back to the United States. Whether they were on break or not, Pepper knew she needed to be by Tony's side as soon as possible.