A/N: This is the newest fic I've been meaning to hash out. Hopefully people will be willing to come along with me on this particular journey. Like a good ride, there are always sharp turns, bumps, and happy endings - and now i really want to go to Disneyland...

Rated T for future language.

Disclaimer: Marvel can take all of my money. ALL OF IT!

Read and enjoy!

Pepper walked through the doors of the Stark Tower with her purse on her shoulder, and her Blackberry pressed against her ear. She pressed her lips together as she stepped outside. It was well in the after noon, but the setting sun gave a new meaning to the fresh air. She filled her nostrils with the addicting smell of serenity before speaking to her boyfriend slash boss.

"Tony, you don't have to pick me up. Happy is very capable of—" She smiled into her phone as she got cut off.

"Pepper," Tony spoke into one of the monitors. He was in the Avenger's laboratory in the Helicarrier. Bruce was at the other end of the laboratory, trying to mind his own business. "Happy can't fly you up here."

She grinned. "Why exactly is my presence going to be on that huge flying… thing?" She tried to think of the word to describe the carrier.

"Because I need you here." He spoke softly, whilst eyeing Bruce. The last thing he needed was a bunch of SHIELD agents and Bruce suspiciously eyeing him for being openly romantic and soft.

Bruce turned around anyways, and furrowed his eyebrows at Tony. Tony shot back the same look, and spun his index finger in a circle, gesturing him to turn around and mind his own business. Bruce did just that, but not before chuckling to himself.

"That's a poor excuse." She breathed, watching millions of people walk along the sidewalk.

"It's the truth." He slid a few things around on the monitor. "Besides, I think…" He opened a small window on the monitor to reveal a gorgeous beach setting. "… We can pencil in that vocation spot we've been looking at."

"The one with the private beach, and sea turtles?" She grinned to herself and bit her bottom lip, unable to contain her giddiness.

"The very same." He reassured her. "All you have to do is join me on this big whale of a ship for a few days, talk to that pirate Fury, and by that, I mean compliment him on his snazzy eye patch, and we're good for the weekend."

She ignored his poke about Fury. "You're making it really hard for me to say no."

"One of my many talents." He replied back with a wide grin.

Pepper grinned before resting her arm across her chest. In truth, she did have a lot of work to do, but Tony would only argue that it could be done while on the Helicarrier, so that argument hastily flew out the window. She took a good second to weigh out the pros and cons.

"I'll tell you what." She started out, making Tony's ears perk up. "Happy will drive me to the nearest airport and you can pick me up."

Tony rubbed his hands together in excitement, making Bruce casually peak over his shoulder. "Sounds like a plan."

"No flashy entrances." She chastised him. "Remember last time?"

"Hacking into every electronic to play some AC/DC shouldn't be categorized as a flashy entrance." He half-rolled his eyes.

She breathed a laugh and shook her head. "Pick me up in ten."

"How's about three, and maybe some Burger King?" He flashed a grin; his entire being lighting up.

She shook her head. "I'll see you in ten minutes, Tony."

"Bye." He softly said before hearing the click, indicating the end of their call.

"Wow." Bruce gasped.

"Hey, when you get a girlfriend, you'll be in the same mushy state as me." Tony shot back, angrily looking at the doctor. No one really understood why Tony got all defensive about his feelings towards Pepper. People assumed it was because he was two faces of the same coin; there was a face only meant for Pepper, and a face for the rest of the world to see. There was a one percent chance of catching a glimpse of the side reserved for only Pepper.

"Mmm." Bruce hummed in disbelief. "My romantic life is… complicated, but that's not what I was concerned about."

"What's wrong?" Tony walked behind the doctor and looked over his shoulder.

The two scientists had been researching nanotechnology. It was a special project of theirs. It was only planned out for research and nothing more. It was essentially day three of their nanobot log, and they had already made small discoveries, but none that could catch the eyes of the best scientists in the world.

"The nanobots in section four are progressing rapidly." Bruce started before grabbing a nearby microscope. He looked through the hole and hummed again. "They're taking on a structure I've never seen before." He looked away and gestured towards the microscope, giving Tony a peek.

Tony looked down at the sample, and twisted the knobs a little to get a better view. "Wow." He breathed. "What kind of steroids did you give these little guys?"

"I only gave them a sample of dead tissue." Bruce shrugged. "And this was last night."

"The nanobots have completely resurrected the tissue. They've reconstructed the entire area. And they're pulsating." Tony looked away with a confused look. "That's odd."

"Hm?" Bruced looked through the microscope once more. "They're evolving."

"Seems like we've discovered something big." Tony tapped his finger against the table.

"Big, like billion dollars, big?" Bruce glanced at him.

"No, big as in end-of-the-world-if-in-the-wrong-hands big." Tony pressed his lips together. "Convert all nanobot files to the private server through JARVIS' standards." He picked up his sweatshirt from the nearby coat rack.

"Where are you going?" Bruce rushed to a monitor to move all of the files.

"Weren't you eavesdropping?" Tony grinned. "I've got a girlfriend to pick up."

Bruce watched as Tony practically rushed out of the laboratory and towards the landing pad. He grinned in surprise and shook his head. It was surely possible to make Tony do anything with the notion that his personal assistant will be in the mix.

…

Pepper had just gotten off the phone with Tony. She made her way down the small stairs that led to the bustling street of New York City. Happy was on the other side with the Bentley awaiting her presence. He looked at her with a promising grin and ran around to the front to open the door for her.

Pepper tried to weave in and out of the oncoming crowd. It was only at the last strip of people when she felt a pinch on her arm.

She paused for a few seconds and gasped at the sudden pain. She furrowed her eyebrows and moved her shoulder to take a look at the origin of the sting. A small puffy spot began to emerge, making her heavily sigh.

"Everything all right, Miss Potts?" Happy asked from the car. Pepper slowly walked towards him with a frown.

"Yeah…" she huffed. "…I think something bit me." She turned her head to get a better look at the puffy spot, and even scratched it a little.

"Mosquitoes." Happy began to nod. "Horrible bastards."

"Ugh," Pepper huffed. "I usually don't get bitten though."

"I have some bug spray if you want to use it." He offered her.

"It's alright. I won't need it where I'm headed." She grinned, knowing the Helicarrier was well protective of its contents. She slid into the vehicle with a small smile and kept her eye on the bite. A band-aid should do, she thought.

A man on the other side of the street, sitting at a café table, glanced at the Bentley with a small grin. "One step at a time." He mumbled to himself. A waitress placed a cup of Jasmine tea and a small plate of biscuits in front of him.

The waitress grinned lightly. "Is there anything else I can get for you, sir?"

The man glanced up at the woman with a charming grin. "This will be all, thank you."

…

"Oh god, I think I'm going to be sick." Pepper groaned from the landing pad as she walked away from the bots that began to disassemble the Iron Man suit off of Tony's body.

Tony walked out of the thing in mere seconds; his thin black cotton t-shirt, and pair of black pants hugged his body perfectly. Pepper would've been ogling him at that very moment, but her stomach told her otherwise.

"Oh c'mon, Pep." He trailed closely behind her. "It wasn't that bad."

Pepper shook her head and held on to her purse. "Tony, you're lucky I didn't throw up on you on the way here."

"Wouldn't be the first time." He mumbled to himself, biting his lip.

"What was that?" She turned her head to glare at him.

"Nothing, sweetheart." He grinned lovingly. "Want me to get you some Advil, or maybe something to drink to clear your head?"

She kept on walking despite the combination of his poking and proding, and the rattling in her body. "Two Advil and a bottle of water."

"Coming right up!" He cheered and went to the nearest intercom. He pressed the button, "Hi, welcome to the big giant camouflaging whale, how may I take your order Mister Stark?" Pepper couldn't help but grin at his antics. He began to grin back at her, as if he were trying to mentally help her feel better. "I'd like two capsules of Advil and one bottle of water." He switched positions. "Would you like to super size that?" He switched again. "Heavens no."

Pepper began to stifle a laugh.

Within a minute, Steve Rogers jogged up to the landing pad with a bottle of water and some Advil. "One bottle of water and some Advil."

"Thanks, Sprinkles." Tony swiped the contents from his hands and gave them to Pepper.

"Thank you, Steve." She grinned, opening the bottle of water.

"Always a pleasure, Miss Potts." Steve nodded back with a flattering smile.

"Whoa, whoa, why is he Steve?" Tony furrowed his eyebrows.

"Because he took the effort to actually get me some Advil." Pepper glared at Tony, making him throw up his hands in surrender.

"Point taken." He looked back at the Captain, and eyed him suspiciously. "Why did you actually do what I said this time? If this is some sneaky way into getting to my girl, I'm on to you."

Steve rolled his eyes in response. "The last time you did that little skit, you wouldn't stop until someone actually gave you what you wanted, and after hearing you talk to yourself for thirty minutes really made me want to throw one of my punching bags at you."

"So do it, Blue man." Tony took his words as a threat and stepped towards him. "Go ahead."

Steve glared at him, feeling his breath against his face. "I'm not going to punch you."

"Why, because you can't do it?" Tony spat back, eyes narrowed, and fists balled up.

"It would be pretty darn embarrassing to get beaten by an 'old man' such as myself, and beating the crap out of you in front of a lady would be disrespectful." Steve shot back at him with a sly grin; his fists were at his side, aching for action.

Pepper doubled over, and paid no attention to their little spout. Something in her body didn't feel right. There were aches, and some pain in certain areas, but she thought it was just from the effects of the recent flight.

In the past few months, every single time she had flown a small distance with Tony, she'd get a little light headed, but it was nothing too serious – it was nothing like this.

Her hands felt clammy and her breathing shortly increased. Something was wrong with her, and she didn't know what. She convinced herself that it was just the after effects of the journey, because Pepper Potts rarely got sick.

"Better get ready, Twinkle Toes, because after I wring you out, I'm going to hoist you on top of a pole and sing the 'Star Spangled Banner'." Tony threatened him with a heavy glare.

Bruce had just walked by, and when he heard his last name, he paused in confusion. "Huh?" He gasped. His eyes slowly lay upon Pepper Potts and the painful expression she wore. "Oh god, Pepper, are you okay?"

Tony quickly turned around. Pepper's arms were against her stomach as if she were trying to suppress the pain; that painful look on her face made him instantly crumble to her side. "Pepper?"

Pepper squeezed her eyes shut. "I'm fine."

Bruce was quickly by her side, and instantly noticed the pale color of her skin. She was far from 'fine'. "Give her some room." He pressed two fingers to her neck to feel her pulse and noticed the increasing rate in her pulse. He took out a small flash light from his back pocket and flashed it in her eyes.

Tony turned around and looked at Steve. All thoughts of their previous quarrel vanished. "Get the medic up here." He practically ordered him.

Steve knew that orderly tone of his, and usually he'd protest against his words, but given the sudden circumstances, he had to comply. Steve nodded, and ran back into the corridor.

Pepper was now on her knees, mentally begging for the pain to stop. Tony crawled up next to her, and allowed her to rest her head against his chest. She gasped short breathes in hopes of fighting back the unbearable throbbing.

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