agilebrit | Iron Man fic. Gaaaaah. (Reply)

Title: Whatever Mr. Stark Requires
Author: babies stole my dingo (agilebrit)
Fandom: Iron Man (movieverse)
Rating: PG for one mildly naughty word
Length: Short story (about 1200 words)
Disclaimer: Marvel owns these characters; I am but a lowly follower. I make no money from any of this, so please don't sue me.
Feedback: Concrit adored! If you see something that can be improved upon, please let me know, even if it's only a typo.
Written for: Just me. Damn plot bunnies.
Notes: Tony comes back from a different sort of mission in Afghanistan, a different sort of broken. Pepper has to try to put him back together.

"Miss Potts? Mr. Stark has arrived."

"Finally," Pepper breathed. She shut off CNN, where the current live coverage was the earthquake in Afghanistan and the frantic search for survivors, in which Iron Man figured prominently. Another section of mountain had collapsed, right before the red and gold suit had disappeared from the scene. Jarvis had let her know right away that Tony wasn't under the rubble, but she still wanted to see him. "Thank you, Jarvis. Is he all right?"

Jarvis paused, and Pepper's stomach clenched. "He is...physically unharmed."

She closed her eyes in momentary relief, but one side of her mouth turned down as she headed into the workshop. He'd been gone for two days... She found Tony standing there in the sweats and tank she'd laid out for him, every line in his body radiating exhaustion, a scotch in his hand. Yeah. It had been bad. She shook her head and decided to be brisk. "Upstairs and into the shower. The suit's made of iron, Tony, not you."

"Gold-titanium alloy," he corrected automatically. "Yes, ma'am." He stumbled a little going up the stairs, but didn't spill a drop of his drink, she noted. They stopped outside his bedroom, and he leaned on the doorframe. Fatigue wasn't the only problem; she could see that now that she was closer to him. Anger warred with despair on his face, and she thought the despair might be winning.

Pepper frowned a little with concern, but it was two in the morning and long past time any reasonable person would have expected her to go home. Not that Tony Stark knew the definition of the word "reasonable." She took refuge in the usual. "Will that be all, Mr.--"

His expression stopped her in her tracks. Now he just looked lost, and the raw need in his eyes felt like a physical blow. "Please don't go, Pepper," he whispered.

Whatever Mr. Stark requires. She wasn't his therapist. Although he could certainly use one.

I don't have anyone but you. "Tony...will you at least talk to me about it?"

He nodded, once. "I can do that. I think."

She poked him in the shoulder, and wondered if she was crossing the line between employer/employee propriety. Considering the fact that she'd cleaned his blood off more than once, she didn't think so. At least this time she wouldn't need to do that. "Shower, first. You'll feel better."

He tried on a roguish look. It didn't fit. "Join me there?"

"In your dreams. Mr. Stark." She tried on a severe look. It didn't fit either.

"Wait for me in here, then?"

"In your bedroom?" Her eyebrows crawled up her forehead. Tony half-shrugged and turned to go into the bathroom, sipping his drink. When had he gotten so good at the kicked-puppy look? At least that one fit.

Okay.

But she certainly wasn't going to stay in these clothes. The notion of slipping into something more comfortable had never been so appealing after a long day in her power suit. Pepper hunted through his dresser drawers and found some sweats and a t-shirt, both of which swallowed her. She settled on top of the covers against the headboard to wait for... "My boss," she reminded herself.

Who came out of the bathroom a few minutes later rubbing a towel through his hair. At least he wasn't naked, although she wouldn't have put it past him; he'd put the sweats and tank back on, which had been clean in any case. He sat on the edge of the bed opposite her, dropping the towel on the floor and running his hand across his beard. Set his empty glass on the bedside table. Not facing her.

Pepper tried to make a joke. "You know, Tony, if you wanted me in your bed, there are easier ways."

He turned around at this. "Really?"

She considered. "Well. No."

One side of his mouth turned up. It looked horribly forced. "Technically, you're on the bed instead of in it anyway." She patted the spot next to her, and he moved, grabbing a pillow and putting it behind his back. Not touching her. He leaned his head against the headboard and closed his eyes. Hands at his sides. Fingers twitching.

"What happened over there?" she asked.

"It was bad." Silence for seconds that slipped into minutes. "Seems like the whole mountain fell down on that little village." Another long pause. "We found one survivor. One. And that was at the beginning of the rescue operation." He barked out a humorless laugh, still with his eyes closed, still facing the ceiling. "No, I take that back. We heard a kid crying. Bunches of us frantically digging, took an hour to get to it, even with the suit. And it turns out it was an actual kid. A baby goat. They probably ate it later."

Oh, Tony, Pepper didn't say. What could she say? She reached a hand out, put it back down. This wasn't something she was good at. Not something either of them were good at.

"But that wasn't the worst of it." Finally, finally, he turned his head and looked at her. Took a deep breath, let it out. Closed his eyes again, and she could tell this was going to hurt. "I was digging down into a house. And I found two people crushed under the rubble. Looked like a mom and her little girl. And then--" He stopped. Swallowed. Clenched his fist and his jaw. "I found some of my weapons stashed in the back."

Pepper closed her own eyes. No wonder he'd looked so shattered. "Oh, Tony." She reached out. Stroked his bicep with the backs of her fingers.

Found herself with an armful of Tony Stark. His head was on her shoulder, his arm wrapped around her waist and holding on like he'd drown if he let go. Shaking.

For a second, she froze. The professional part of her screamed that this was incredibly inappropriate. And the human part of her knew he needed this, needed someone to talk to besides Jarvis and Butterfingers and Dummy, needed a connection to people or he'd go crazy.

Whatever Mr. Stark requires.

So she hugged him. Fiercely. She wasn't going to whisper platitudes like "It's okay" at him, because it wasn't okay, he wouldn't be okay until his weapons were back where they belonged or destroyed, hell, he might never be okay again. But she could give him basic touch, contact, which he sorely lacked, and had been lacking for...

A really long time. She wondered if he'd ever had enough, if the womanizing had been some sort of compensatory mechanism. Decided it probably was.

Pepper dropped a gentle kiss to his still-damp hair, rested her cheek on top of his head. Held him until the shaking stopped, and his breathing told her that he'd fallen into an exhausted sleep. She scooched them downwards, pulled the comforter up and over him. "Jarvis?" she said softly.

"Yes, Miss Potts?" The AI's voice was just as soft.

"Don't wake us up in the morning."

"Yes, Miss Potts."

She should do this for him more often. She mentally added it to her job description before dropping off to sleep herself.

end

Part 1.5, same scene, Tony's POV.