I've seen IM3 three times already. I thought awesomeness was not a tangible concept, but I am pretty sure that any copy of this film is empirical evidence that awesomeness does exist physically. :DDD

This is something that's been in my head since I saw the film for the first time, but I have had no time to write whatsoever.

Speaking of which, my other stories will get finished when I'm done with my exams, life and stuff. (Ok, the life bit sounded as if I'm suicidal :P Don't worry, I'm not. )

I hope you enjoy. Off we go…

XXXXXXX

Pepper awoke, as Tony stirred suddenly next to her. She tried to fall sleep again immediately, but the peaceful silence of their bedroom was interrupted by Tony's incoherent mumble. She turned around to find him curled up on the bed with his eyes tightly shut, desperately clutching a pillow to his chest.

'Tony…' she shook his shoulder delicately, trying to wake him and stop whatever horror he was going through in his dream. The only response she got was another tug at the maltreated pillow and a heart wrenching whimper.

'Tony,' this time Pepper's voice was firmer and louder. In vain, as another pitiful sob escaped his mouth.

'Ton…' She didn't know what happened then and how it happened , but seconds later her wrists were pinned to the bed by Tony's latest creation, Mark…Mark what? She already lost count. She felt the anger and the fear building up inside her, as the glowing eyes of the suit were locked on her face threateningly .The fact that Tony finally managed to wake up was poor consolation.

'Power down!' he shouted, standing up immediately, surprise and fear painted all over his sweat-covered face. As soon as the armour stopped moving and the glow at the centre of its chest plate faded, the mechanic took a step forward and landed a punch on the armour. As the lights came on, the parts of the suit flew all over the bedroom, sprawling on the floor in an unordered heap.

'I must have called it in my sleep….This is…not supposed to happen, although…I'll re-calibrate the sensors…' Breathe in, breathe out. Easy. Think about the damn sensors. Distract yourself. 'Can we just…Just let me catch my breath, don't go. Alright?' Tony pleaded with her, in vain. She was already next to the door. Just one more step, and she would be away from it all. From the suits, from wormholes, from the distractions.

'I'm gonna sleep downstairs. Tinker with that.' Pepper had to try her best not to break down in front of him. He already had enough problems on his head, not to mention that she would hate him to see her as weak. She didn't want to leave it, didn't want to leave him. She knew that this was the best way to solve the problem however. At least for now.

As Tony leaned against the headboard on her side of the bed, she was already gone.

The bed was still warm, he could still smell her, feel her presence there. He needed a paper bag now. Badly. Breathe in, breathe out. Come on you can do thermo-nuclear astrophysics, you should be fine with breathing. Come on. That's not what she wants. That's what put her in danger. Calm down. For Pepper.

The moment he spelled her name out in his head he reached a breaking point. A boundary he didn't even know existed. He could swear that his lungs had just been torn to shreds. The wormhole was always there, in his head, but so was Pepper, constantly giving him the motivation to come back in one piece. Now she was gone. Pepper left him, when he needed her most.

That was enough. He wouldn't have any of it. Ever again. Never. As he pulled the drenched black top over his head, one of his hands found the arc reactor's socket and unplugged the device.

XXXXXXX

Pepper could swear that she was going to explode. She never felt so angry in her entire life, and angry was something that you had to be around Tony Stark all the time. She lied down on the bed in one of the guest bedroom, unsure what to think about what had just happened. She ran a hand through her hair and took a deep breath. She found herself struggling not to hyperventilate. The room was so familiar, she had slept there before on many occasions as Tony's assistant, but this whole situation was completely alien to her. As hard as she tried, she couldn't get Tony's terrified pleas out of her head and the feeling of sheer helplessness, as she had struggled to wake him. Her heart was screaming at her to go back up, give him a hug and tell him that it would be all right. Her head told her to stay where she was and maybe try to have a serious conversation with him in the morning. This madness had to stop, and being tough was the best…the only way to sort it out. Speaking of the morning, she would also have to call her mum as soon as she woke up. She reached for the bedside table, searching for her phone to set an alarm, when she realised that she had left it in the bedroom upstairs. Going back now would not look very assertive, but anger of Mrs. Potts was not a risk that Pepper was prepared to take.

XXXXXXX

When Pepper entered the bedroom, she found that the lights were out again. A part of her felt relief, realising that Tony must have simply got back to sleep. The other part of her was disappointed, thinking that this shows how little she really meant to him. She tried to tiptoe to the bedside table to pick up her phone without waking Tony, but her efforts failed halfway through the room, as she tripped on something and almost fell down. She was expecting to find a piece of the armour, but to her surprise, she picked up Tony's crumpled black shirt he was wearing only minutes ago. Tony never left his clothes on the floor.

'Hey Pep,' her inner debate was interrupted by a whisper coming from the dark. So Tony wasn't asleep after all. She decided to ignore him for now and carry on searching for her phone. As her hand reached towards the bedside table, something fell to the floor with a soft clank. The carpet was suddenly lit by a wave of warm blue glow. Pepper bent down immediately to pick up the device.

'T-tony? What are you…?' The arc reactor was on the floor, which meant that it was not implanted in Tony's chest. Which meant that Tony had taken it out.

'I'm chillin'. Thinking. ' The lights were still out, but Pepper knew that Tony was far from 'chillin'. Although it was dark, Pepper refused to look up at him, knowing how alien he would look without the reassuring blue glow radiating from his chest.

'Put it back in. Put it back in. Tony, please put it back in.' She stood next to the bed, waiting for him to obey. She was close to tears now, not knowing why he would even think of doing it to himself.

'If you insist. It can be out for a short while anyway. Not that I and you…well, in fact not that anyone cares,' he mumbled. Although the arc reactor was already back in its proper place, Tony's breathing became even more ragged and quick again. Pepper asked JARVIS to turn the lights up to 10% and finally found the courage to look at Tony.

His hand was still pressed against the electromagnet, and he was leaning against the headboard with his eyes closed, struggling to catch a breath. Even in the dim light Pepper could see streaks of tears on his cheeks.

'Why did you do it?' No reply came. He was just staring ahead blankly, not moving. 'I'm sorry I shouldn't have reacted like this'. It seemed that apologies was not what he needed now, since he remained unmoved. Having realised that words might not be enough this time, Pepper sat down on the edge of the bed, and delicately stroked Tony's cheek with the palm of her hand. 'Do you want to tell me what just happened?' He shook his head energetically in reply.

'Can't….can't breathe…'

'JARVIS? Is it the reactor?' Pepper asked worriedly.

'No Miss Potts, the arc reactor and other bodily functions of Mr. Stark appear to be working perfectly fine.'

'Ok Tony, just try to take it slowly. Here, let's do it together, shall we?' Unsure of how he would react, Pepper pulled him into an embrace, placing his head in the crook of her neck and lovingly running her hand through his drenched hair. Her other arm focused on securing his upright position, as Tony himself wasn't able to do it himself. Pepper would never understand what it felt like to have shrapnel embedded in your heart, but she knew what it felt like to have it broken into a million pieces. The almighty, cheeky Iron Man was now reduced to a heap of tears and tremors. It hurt Pepper to watch the greatest mind in America, being unable to determine when and where he was.

'Ssssshhhh…it's okay. You're in your bed in Malibu, I'm here and you're absolutely fine Tony. It's all right, I'm not going anywhere. You're safe. I promise,' she whispered, rocking back and forth with Tony in her arms.

A few minutes later Tony was breathing relatively normally again. He still refused to let go of Pepper however, and clung on to her as if his life depended on it. She tried to shift to make them both more comfortable, but it only caused Tony to lash out with his arm and draw her closer to himself.

'm sorry…' he mumbled. 'I'm sorry, don't leave. Please. Wait.'

Tony Stark used the words 'sorry' and 'please' in one sentence. Wow. This only made Pepper even more worried.

'I told you I'm not leaving. Are you feeling any better? What happened? Do you want to talk? Was it New York again?'

She regretted saying it, the moment the words escaped her lips. To her relief he was still breathing, only that seconds later he was clinging on to her for dear life, woefully trying to stop the sobs escaping his lips.

'I don't want to…What if…I'm not mental Pepper, ok? I'm not…I'm sorry…'

'Hey, hey, hey. Don't apologise, let it out. You'll feel better.' Probably for the first time in his life Tony Stark actually did. He saw the wormhole again, he was falling and the suit lost power and he was going to crash and oh my dearest God, Pepper hadn't picked up his call. But why was he crying? Crying? No, at this point he was sobbing so badly into the crook of Pepper's arm, that he could swear he would end up choking on his own tears and drowning. Dear Lord, he was still falling and falling quick and he couldn't breathe, the suit lost power, his heart was about to be torn apart by the damn shrapnel. Pepper do something, please…

He didn't know how, but the next time he could remember his name again, he was lying on his back and Pepper was…where was Pepper? Has she left him again? What did he do this time?

'Pep…Pepper! Where are you?' The last two words came out as a quiet, high-pitched whimper. Tony lifted himself up onto his elbows and looked around the room. The Mark 42 still lay scattered all over the floor, but Pepper was nowhere to be seen.

Breathe. Just breathe, you idiot. She'll come back.

Tony couldn't help frantically scanning the room for his girlfriend. He could feel it coming, he knew he would end up panicking and suffocating again. The last time Pepper wasn't there, didn't pick up his call, he almost died. He didn't really want to die. He just wanted the pain and the fear to go away. Finally, he noticed that a shadow was reflected on the floor, as light was on in the bathroom, meaning that Pepper was probably there.

His deductions turned out to be correct and seconds later the light was turned off and Pepper emerged from the room, holding a wet towel in her hands.

'JARVIS said you haven't slept for three days.' Pepper's comment was not graced with a reply. Instead, Tony focused really hard on the painting hanging on the wall opposite the bed. He was avoiding Pepper's gaze with all his willpower. 'Shall we put you to bed then?'

Oh, so she wasn't reprimanding him after all. He refused to comply nevertheless and shook his head. Pepper sat next to him and started dabbing his face and collarbone with the wet piece of cloth. Tony never imagined that something so simple could feel so good. He leaned needily into her touch and whispered a quiet 'thank you'. When he opened his eyes, she was looking down at him, worry and sadness painted all over her face.

'Thank you Pep,' he murmured louder.

'Try to sleep, I'm right here.' In reply Tony looked up at her, with a pleading look in his eyes, reflecting how much he hated the idea. 'I know you're scared, but you can't just change your batteries and carry on. You need to rest.

Instead of attempting to fall asleep, he shifted towards her and tried to delicately pull her down to lay next to him. He was in no position to fight exhaustion however, and his gesture only added strength to Pepper's argument.

'Oh, you are the most stubborn, annoying, immature…'she intended for the remark to sound playful and teasing to relax him a bit, instead the expression on his face hardened again and she could swear that she saw his lip tremble.

'Is that why you didn't pick up? If so, you're free to go, you deserve better. Yeah.' He turned around to lay on his side and squeezed his eyes shut. Every time he did, he saw the HUD flicker and lose power, he saw CALL FAILED below the photo of Pepper smiling and then he saw no more.

' I haven't finished Tony. And you are the sweetest, smartest and most loveable guy I know. And that's why it's impossible to find any better.'

'Y-ou s-still haven't answered my q-question.' Just stop. Not again. I've had enough for tonight. Please. Breathe. He tried to calm down. He tried so hard, but even when he lifted his eyelids all he could see was CALL FAILED.

Pepper tugged at his shoulder. He flinched involuntarily. What was happening to him? Why now?

'I didn't answer because I was too busy watching you trying to kill yourself on the TV and since then I never even put my phone on silent and if you think that this is easy for me Anthony Edward Stark then you couldn't be more wrong and how on Earth could you even think that I could just leave you like this when something is going wrong, to let you drink yourself to death or take out the arc reactor, so that I can come here in the morning just to find you dead and…'

'Pepper. Breathe. I see. Um...sorry. I mean…well, thank you and…I don't know what to say.' He was sitting up again, his hands resting on her shoulders, trying to get her to look him in the eyes. 'I'm sorry I freaked out. I'm sorry. I won't do anything stupid again. I promise. We can deal with this, right? No need to go all emo.'

'Yeah, we'll figure something out.'

'I love you Pepper Potts.' Tony was sick of words. Words complicated things and relationships. And actions speak so much louder. He got on his knees and kissed her gently on the cheek, waiting to see how she would reply. Silence that had descended upon the room was about to be broken by the very impatient and agitated Tony Stark, but before he managed to say a word, his mouth was too busy exploring that of Miss Potts to do anything else. He wanted the moment to last forever. Everything aside from Pepper was gone, no gods, no aliens. Just him and Pepper.

'I love you too Tony. Which is not to say that I will let you work until you knock yourself out. Bed. Now.'

She found a clean shirt in one of the drawers and helped him pull it over his head, since he was still trembling, although it seemed that they have already been through the worst part of the night.

Tony was praying that Pepper wouldn't eventually go back downstairs. That was one thing he wouldn't be able to bear. She sensed his anxiety, not intending to go leave anyway. Seconds later they were both curled up next to each other with the lights turned off. Pepper couldn't help stroking his hair soothingly and whispering comforting words into his ear. Tony could only hope that she would never stop and with that in mind finally drifted off.

XXXXXXX

Not again, not again, not. Please NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

He let go of the nuke. As the spaceship exploded above his head, the suit lost power. He started falling at enormous speed. The portal was about to close. He wasn't going to make it. He would die here and now. And he never even told Pepper that…

He actually made it through the portal, but what was the use of that? He was still going to smash into a skyscraper of the ground and turn into a puddle of blood mixed with bits of metal that the suit was about to turn into. He was wondering what would kill him first: the arc reactor, the impact with the ground or whether he'd get cut to pieces by shreds of the very armour he created to protect himself and others.

Seconds. He had only seconds left.

And then someone caught him. But it wasn't the Hulk as it had happened before in his nightmares. Those hands were soft, delicate, caring. He wasn't chucked to the ground by the green beast, but held closely to somebody's warm body. Who could it possibly be? Who would even be bothered about him? Even Captain America, the great damn caring hero gave up on him.

'I'm here Tony. I got you. It's alright,' the person who caught him whispered. Tony knew that voice.

It was Pepper. It was always Pepper.

XXXXXXX

Ok, that's it.

I don't know where it came from. I don't know where it went. I think it got lost somewhere on the way, because I am not overly happy with it.

Let me know whether you liked it or no through REVIEWS. Constructive criticism is always more than welcome. If you have liked it, I might write a sequel or something.

Cherrio!