Thread: Pepper & Tony (MCU) Who: Tony and Pepper Stark What: Pepper is coming home Where: Their apartment When: Monday, August 29 Status: Completed via gdoc.
Tony was beaming. He had been by Pepper's side at the hospital from the moment he could get through the doors. It had been hard to find his wife injured, and even harder not to be able to go with her when she was rushed to the hospital. He called several times a day to check on her, even using Dee’s squirrels to take pictures and letters that he and Morgan made for her. She had probably had the best decorated room.
But none of that really mattered, because Tony was ushering her carefully through the door. He had never quite understood how much Pepper went through every time he had some sort of injury, but he did now. He didn’t know how she did it, repeatedly.
He pressed a kiss to her cheek. “You need anything?” He asked her, after making sure she was settled on the couch. “Keep in mind, Morgan is next door with May baking you a cake as we speak.” He smirked.
Pepper turned into his kiss and closed her eyes. She hadn’t meant to get hurt, obviously, but the demon got into their apartment and even the Rescue suit wasn’t enough to keep her safe. She’d blocked Morgan, making sure she was safe and in her room, but had been unable to get out herself. However, that was over now and she was back with her husband and children. She’d already spent time with Morgan and would visit Peter soon, but for the moment? She was resting on the couch under Tony’s watchful eye. “Hmmmm, cake,” she said. “I can’t wait.” She reached out and grabbed his hand. “Sit with me?”
“Morgan was very close to throwing you a gigantic welcome home party.” Tony told her with a soft grin. Morgan was very pleased to know that her mother would be home, she’d been more worried than a girl her age should have been. He settled down next to her, pulling her towards him, collecting her in her arms. “You don’t have to ask me twice.” He told her gently when she requested he sit with her.
“How are you feeling?” He asked her gently. He had probably asked her a million times, but he wanted nothing more than to take care of her.
“I feel fine,” Pepper insisted. Hope’s blood had fully healed her and she had a few days of rest on top of that. “I just hate that I worried my family so much,” she admitted. She leaned against his shoulder and hooked her arms through his. “How are you?” She knew Tony felt better when she was around, but she had no doubt he’d risen to the challenge of caring for their kids in her absence. Still, she worried that he’d blame himself, like he normally did.
“Still might want to take it easy,” Tony told her with a small smile. He didn’t claim to understand how Rapunzel’s hair worked, or how Hope’s blood healed people, but he was very glad that they had people like them around the building.
“Hey, you couldn’t help it,” He told her, and he pressed another kiss to her temple. He was already working on how he could make the suits better equipped to deal with the blow back of something like this. “I would like to look at your suit… see what we can fix. Maybe get Morgan set up with one… purely defensive, no offensive systems obviously. Maybe some sort of backup lights for the Station so magic can't zap it. I don’t know how it works. Won't know. Lots of variables.” He was ranting a little bit, “But that will come later.”
He was off and running. She pressed a hand to his cheek. “Tony,” she said softly, “there is only so much we can plan for.” She traced his face with her fingers. “Don’t exhaust yourself. You have people who need to see you healthy and whole.”
Tony couldn’t help but close his eyes and lean into her touch. She was right, she was always right, but what good was it to them if he couldn’t protect them. He sighed, “I just want to make sure I get to live my life surrounded by my family,” He told her, “All of my family. And part of that means doing what I can to…at least try to keep them safe.” Of course, Bruce’s conversation was echoing in his ear, about not being able to protect everyone, but damn it, he would try. “Until then, I’m just going to have to figure out how to show you in stuffed rabbits and tokens of my love.”
Pepper laughed. “I sort of miss that rabbit,” she told him. “You tried so hard, honey.” She kissed his lips gently and leaned against him again. “You know…” She turned more serious. “I know how much you love me, Tony. You show it in a million ways every day. Do you know how much I love you though?”
He took Pepper's hand in his own, “I’ll just have to find you another one. Maybe we’ll go with elephants this time around, wouldn’t want to play the same tricks twice.” He winked playfully at her. His face did turn serious though, and he nodded.
“I know you love me,” He assured her, his smile soft. “The way you make me laugh. The way you support me. The way you take care of Morgan. How you always know what to do when I’m struggling. Pepper, I’ve never questioned your love for me. You own my heart, and I hold yours.” He told her.
“I would choose you all day every day.”
She smiled and ran a hand through Tony’s hair. “I choose you all day every day,” she echoed. She then fell silent for a few minutes. Finally, she asked, “Do you really think those kids let the demon loose or was it just lurking and waiting?” Despite her bravado, she was nervous about something similar happening again.
Tony sighed, “I’ve come to think of it like… Ultron.” He admitted. He didn’t like thinking about that particular mistake, but it had made him relate to Albus and Emily on a different level than some of the others might have.
“I think that it’s a mix of both– sure, the thing was probably somewhere, with all the multiverses and everything. Just like Ultron was always sort of there, waiting to be awoken. My curiosity brought him around, and their powers, their intentions accidentally brought the demon around.” He shook his head though, “But, without that curiosity, we wouldn’t have Vision.”
“Bad things happen here, but I don’t think we can dwell on them. Good things happen here too, like meeting Jason.” He chuckled.
“You are right.” She nodded, squeezing his hand when he mentioned Ultron. She knew how much that creation pained Tony. “Jason is wonderful,” she said, her mind automatically picturing their future son’s face. “We’ll just have to make it as safe as possible here.” She stabbed her finger into his chest. “So long as you are home for dinner.” She knew how Tony could lose track of time when he had a project.
“Our whole family is wonderful.” Tony said with a grin, “Every chosen member.” He did love everyone in his extended, messy family.
He held up his right hand in earnest. “I promise, entirely, with all of my heart that I will always be home for dinner.” He told her, and then spoke louder. “Friday, remind me to leave the shop by Five PM daily.” He said, grinning at his wife.
She grinned back. She never could resist his smile. She moved then so she could rest her head in his lap. “I’m never letting any of you go,” she said firmly. She didn’t care what the place threw at them; she only had Tony here and she would move heaven and earth to keep him.