A/N: =)

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.

Read and enjoy!

"Hey."

Tony turned around to see Rhodey standing behind him. He had the look of sadness and endearment for his friends. Tony noticed the bags under his eyes, and the look of an insatiable amount of worry that could, if not had already, tear through him like lightning.

Rhodey also noticed the heavy bags under his friend's eyes. It didn't look like he had gotten any sleep in the last few days. He could blame him. Tony had the suit of armor to protect him, and he had the help of his team, The Avengers, to back him up, but through all that trouble to save Los Angeles was a sacrifice no one had seen until later on.

"You don't look so good." Rhodey whispered, careful not to wake the sleeping redhead ten feet in front of him. He put his hand on Tony's shoulder, but he casually shrugged it off. "You should get some rest, Tony."

"It was all a stupid diversion." Tony spoke through his teeth. An enormous amount of rage radiated off the few spoken words.

"No one saw it coming." Rhodey tried to reassure him. "I know what you're going to say, and I'm here to keep you from saying it." He paused to read his body language, but there was nothing he could read from just his backside. "It's not your fault this happened to her."

Tony remembered when he found her. Pepper was lying on the floor of his Malibu mansion. Blood was smeared across her forehead and along her lip. It occupied spots of her favorite outfit; a thin white tank top, faded denim jeans, and a thin black belt. He had begged her the day before that business suits will not be touched on her day off. The day he stared at her from a distance to admire her casual attire, the day he begged her to take it all off, the day she playfully slapped his arm for being inappropriate, and the day she kissed him good luck upon receiving a distress call from Director Fury was the exact same day as her day off, and the exact same day he found her lying in the middle of his ransacked mansion.

Tony bit back the horrible memories that plagued his mind, and will no doubt continue plaguing it until he found something to bury it with; something to suppress the only nightmare that could make him beg for it to stop.

"How is it not my fault?" He asked him. "The minute Fury told me about a situation in east Los Angeles, I should've made her take a jet to Stark Tower in New York." He bit back the tears that were threatening to fall from the corners of his eyes. "I should've…" He stared at Pepper's sleeping form. Her forearm and forehead was wrapped in bandages, and underneath one of his t-shirts she had put on after coming home from the hospital were more bandages. Her good bare arm lay across her middle, and her breathing was set at a steady pace, indicating that she had fallen fast asleep. "I'm supposed to protect her." He finally said. "I'm a super hero, for god's sake. I should've been there for her."

Rhodey understood where he was coming from. Telling Tony that he shouldn't blame himself was pointless, because he would blame himself regardless of what happened. Pepper was the best thing that had ever happened to him, and to see something so precious to him get pried from his hands was heartbreaking.

"The hospital says she'll make a full recovery."

"We haven't caught him yet, Rhodey." Tony was almost angry at him for sounding so calm. "He's still out there, and it's probable for him to come back and finish the job."

"What did Director Fury have to say about all of this?" Rhodey asked curiously, still staring at Pepper's sleeping, and somewhat peaceful, form.

"He wants me to stay close to Pepper until the rest of the Avengers catch the guy." Tony felt his head throb. He lowered his head into his palm, allowing his fingers to massage his forehead.

"It's better than allowing you to go on a rampage." Rhodey noted.

Tony's fists clenched at his words. "I can't believe I let this happen to her."

"Stop it." Rhodey sternly told him. "For the last time, this isn't your fault. You can't protect everyone at the same time."

"Of all the people in this world, the one person I want to protect with every ounce of strength and life in me is Pepper, and will always be Pepper." Tony grounded out.

"She knows that." Rhodey calmly told him. "She doesn't doubt that you'll do everything you can to shield her from all the evils in the world."

"Then why does it seem like I've failed her?"

Rhodey knew exactly what the answer was, but it wasn't his place to tell him. Instead, he squeezed his friend's shoulder reassuringly and urged him to get some rest. It was only two hours after Rhodey left when Pepper woke up.

Tony did his best to take care of her. He fetched a bottle of water, handed her two pills from the prescription the doctor gave her, and even heated up some soup via microwave. He did all this without looking at her, and Pepper noticed his lack of eye contact almost immediately.

"Tony." Pepper murmured through her hoarse voice.

Tony sat beside her on the bed and stared down at her bandaged arm, humming questionably. "Hm?"

"Is there soup on my face?" Her voice was pure and worriless.

"Nope." He answered quickly. He didn't look at her.

"Why won't you look at me?" Her innocent and curious voice almost made him cave.

"What do you mean?" He glanced up at her.

"Stop acting like I'm stupid." She was starting to get angry at him. She put her half-empty bowl on top of the nightstand and leaned against his side. She reached up and turned his face with her hand, making him look at her. His eyes were a dark shade of brown. They were hard, and clouded with worry, judgment, and fear.

When he couldn't take it anymore, he yanked his head back to its original position. Her hands fell to his lap in awe.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"Nothing." He shrugged.

"You're not very good at lying." She told him as she rested her head underneath his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her, mindful of her cuts and bruises. "I've been with you for eleven years, Stark."

"You should get some rest." He retreated from the conversation.

"I've been asleep all day." She argued before removing herself from his arms. She swung her legs out of the bed and grabbed her bowl of soup.

"Where are you going?" He asked her, finally staring at her.

"Soup is cold." She responded.

He got up immediately and blocked the doorway. His hands eagerly flew to the bowl. "Let me heat it up for you."

"I'm fully capable of putting a bowl in the microwave." She pulled the bowl away from his grasp. This time, one of his hands flew to her shoulder, and the other to the bowl.

"Pepper, you're in no shape to be walking around."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "The doctor said I should get some exercise every now and then." She walked past him, causing their shoulders to bump. She hissed in pain from the sudden remembrance of the big bruise her shoulder sported. Tony was at her side in milliseconds.

"Are you okay?" He asked her softly. His hands were around her shoulders.

"Yeah." She let the wave of pain subside before she continued down the hall, and towards the kitchen. Tony was trailing closely behind her, almost hovering. He could tell she was angry at him. Angry at him for acting like she was a fragile peach. She wasn't, and she was tired of him acting like she was.

Pepper popped open the microwave on the counter and Tony caught the door. He closed it when she had placed the bowl inside. His hands immediately flew to the nuke button to start the microwave, as if she couldn't handle pressing buttons herself. She rolled her eyes at his overwhelming presence and slowly made her way towards the counter.

"You should sit down." She could feel him hovering behind her.

"Why?" She asked coldly.

He furrowed her eyebrows at her. "What's with the attitude?"

She held up her arms in frustration and gestured a squeezing motion. "It feels like you're crowding me!" She practically shouted.

"What do you want me to do, Pepper?" He finally asked her, almost shouting himself. "Do you not want me to care about you? Is that it?"

"It feels like you're not giving me a chance to breathe, Tony!"

He balled his fists up as he tried to swallow his anger, but that didn't work. "How did you think I felt when I walked into this house?" This time he shouted at her. He rounded the counter to face her. It was the first time they had looked at each other; actually look at each other. She saw all the sadness, regret, anger, and sorrow through those dark brown saucers of his. "To see my girlfriend lying on the floor with blood covering her body…" He shook his head. "I couldn't breathe." She stared at him as she listened to him intently.

"You're the single most important thing to me, Pep." He told her with a calm and loving tone. "To have something like that happen to you killed me."

Time wasn't on his side. The microwave dinged, making Pepper look behind her in curiosity. She opened the microwave and took out the nuked bowl of soup. When she placed it on the counter, her hand immediately flew to her stomach. She closed her eyes and groaned in pain. Her burning forehead hit the cool marble counter in front of her when the pain overtook her body. Tony was immediately at her side. His hand flew to her back, rubbing it gently, and the other gently tugging her body towards the couch.

He sat her down on the couch and ran back into the kitchen. He emptied a water bottle's contents into the sink and filled it with hot water. The doctor had explained to him that she would feel some abdominal pain from the stitches they had to put along her stomach. He said a hot pack would relieve the pain.

He sat beside her and pulled her onto his lap. She curled against his chest with her eyes still closed shut. Her soft whimpers almost cut through his heart as he gently pried her hands from the origin of the pain. He placed the hot bottle on top of her stomach and allowed her to press on it.

He kept rubbing her back to reassure her of his presence. It hurt him to see her like this; writhing in pain, unable to stop it. She eventually relaxed in his arms and rested her head on his chest. The bridge of her nose dug into his chin as she softly sniffed.

"You okay?" He asked quietly. She nodded.

"Thanks." She murmured.

He kissed her forehead and hugged her. Her legs were still curled up against him. He could feel her hot forehead against his jaw.

"You mean the world to me, Pep. I'm just trying to protect you." He continued their conversation.

"What if I don't need protection?" She mumbled as her hand fiddled with the hem of his sleeve. She felt him tense under her. "I know you're Iron Man, Tony, and it's clear how much you care about me, but I'm a big girl." She tried to tell him. "I'm not a flimsy school girl that needs to be saved twenty-four-seven."

He raised his eyebrows. "That's actually a fantasy of mine." They shared a chuckle after she hit him on the chest with the back of her hand.

"I'll admit that these recent events have shaken me, but I'm not about to give up on you. I meant what I said when you're all I have. There's nothing in this world that will change how I feel about you." She smiled up at him and cuddled further into his arms. "Besides, someone has to occupy the exhausting job of loving you."

"Hey." He furrowed his eyebrows as he gave her a questionable look.

She kissed the bottom of his chin and smiled endearingly. "I have no doubts that you'll be there when I need you the most. And Rhodey is right, you can't save everyone all at the same time."

"When did—" He looked puzzled. "You were supposed to be sleeping."

She almost rolled her eyes. "It's hard to sleep when two men don't know how to whisper at the threshold of your bedroom."

"Sorry." He whispered. He kissed the top of her head and pressed his nose against her hair. His hand pulled at the hem of the t-shirt she was wearing. She gave him a puzzled look. "Can I check?"

She nodded. His hand brought her t-shirt up above her stomach, allowing him to check the state and condition of her bandages that were wrapped around her middle. He gingerly glided his hands across them, inspecting them with precision.

"I don't see any blood, so you didn't rip your stitches." He told her. He let her t-shirt fall back in place.

Pepper kissed the corner of his mouth. She laid her head back against his shoulder and pressed her lips to his jaw line. She watched him pull at the hem of her t-shirt, his eyes focusing on her stomach. She could see the pain in his eyes as horrid memories flooded his consciousness. A minute passed by.

"Tony." She spoke softly. He snapped out of his trance, but didn't look at her. "It's not your fault."

He shook his head. "You guys keep on telling me that, but I don't see how it can't be anything but my fault."

"You can't protect everyone at the same time." She tried to tell him.

He turned his head this time, staring at her with clouded eyes. "I want to protect you, Pepper. I don't want you to lose faith in me."

Her hand reached up to cup his cheek as the other pressed the hot bottle against her stomach. "I'd never lose faith in you. You always jump to these insane conclusions."

He melted against her touch. "They say jealousy is caused by the known fact that your partner can do better – better than what they already have." She wanted to roll her eyes. His arms pressed her further against his chest. "I don't want to lose you, Pepper. I know you can do better than me – hell, even JARVIS can do better than me." She furrowed her eyebrows at the last bit. "I want to do everything I can for you, and it might be in the old fashioned egotistical playboy Tony Stark way, but I'm trying."

"I know." She murmured.

"And this may sound very possessive and crazy, but you're mine. And no one else can have you. Not even what's her face."

She smirked. "You mean my mom?"

"Yeah." He nodded, and nuzzled her neck with his nose.

"You're impossible." She winced at the roughness of his goatee.

"And yet you deal with me on a daily basis." He smirked.

She began to sigh. Her hand played with the hairs on the back of his neck. "Someone's got to." He felt him smile against her forehead. "I'll be fine. Everything that's happened, and everything that will happen – we'll get through it. You can't blame yourself for everything that'll happen. I won't let you."

He lifted his head up to stare down at her. His deep, rich, chocolate brown eyes held her calm oceanic blue ones. He saw effect she had on him. Her presence, her voice, and those beautiful eyes always seemed to calm him down. For whatever reason, he found everything easy to deal with – only because she had been there with him.

"I know I've never said it to you before…"

Pepper looked up at him curiously.

"…I love you." He murmured, still staring at her.

She grinned wildly and further burrowed herself in his arms. When he felt her snuggle further into his chest, his heart almost lost it. He could feel his insides warm up to her soft skin, and her overwhelming presence. "I love you, too." He heard her mutter.

He smiled warmly at her words. After a good minute, he gently nudged the water bottle in her lap. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah."

"Please don't tell Rhodey about what just happened." He smiled.

"Why?" She almost snorted.

"Because I'm not supposed to be soft and squishy." He mumbled

She breathed a laugh. Of course. Tony Stark has a reputation to uphold. Rhodey, besides Happy, was the only person that got to see Tony in his vulnerable state, but neither of them had ever seen Tony act caring and somewhat considerate. Only Pepper has. It was probably to make up for those years of torture he put her through.

He took the bottle and placed it on the table in front of them. "The soup is probably ice cold right now." He broke the news to her, glancing at the kitchen.

"That's fine." She slowly got up, prying herself from his hold.

"Where are you going?" He asked curiously. His eyes followed her every move. She walked towards the bedroom.

"I think the medication is doing its stuff." She admitted before stifling a yawn.

He spent the next hour, or so, curled up next to Pepper in their bedroom. He allowed her to snuggle up to his side while he calmly played with the ends of her hair. One of her legs was over his, one of her arms was snuggled between their sides, and the other lay across her middle.

He had to wake her up to change her bandages. He would steal a few sleepy kisses every now and then whilst his hands were busy with the fabric wrapped around her. She would hum against arms, inhaling his scent.

"You know." She spoke sleepily.

"Hm?" He hummed, unraveling the bandages.

"Before that creep tossed me around, I did land a kick or two to his shin." She grinned wildly.

He laughed softly.