What If Tony Stark Was The Villain

Part 1 - Betrayed

It was right after the battle of Civil War, Tony was left traumatized for life. He'll never forget the betrayal he felt when he realized the man that he once thought was his friend hid from him the darkest secret. Or the video of his parents' brutal deaths playing over and over. He said it before, he doesn't trust a man with no dark side.

When he made it back to his mansion, this huge space that felt empty because the woman who should've been here is missing, he went straight to the lab. His suit was a mess, he didn't even know where to start with it. If Pepper was here she would've told him, and probably convinced him, to take care of himself first.

But she isn't there, is she?

So he forgot about the blood all over his body, the bruises and the broken parts of himself and he started working. And working. JARVIS was the only one that tried to put some sense in his head but Tony's reaction was to mute him. The only thing he cared about was getting that suit back in action.

When not even the coffee could keep him awake, he fell asleep in the lab, right in between the Iron Man pieces that were just as broken as he was. The thing that woke him up was the feeling of a pair of hands on his back, softly shaking him. But he was still in his defense coping mechanism so his reaction was to jump and grab the person behind him aggressively.

Until, of course, he realized who it was.

"Pepper?" his voice like a helpless whisper.

"It's me. Please, calm down" she replies, her heart beating like crazy.

"What are you doing here?" he asks in disbelief.

"I heard what happened" she replies carefully and notices the way he clentches his jaw and gulps sharply.

"Are you okay?" she asks but can see it with her own eyes that he's not okay.

"I'm fine" he casually replies.

His body says otherwise, though. They're not together as a couple, but that doesn't mean the sight of his injured self doesn't make every single cell of Pepper's body feel pain. She shakes her head and takes a step forward before opening her arms and pulling Tony in for a warm hug.

He hadn't felt that touch in weeks, he missed this feeling more than he could ever explain. He hugged her back without a second thought and took in her scent. Not that he had forgotten about it, it stayed in his head with him for all this time they have been apart.

Then their faces went right in front of each other. Their eyes showing off all their true emotions. Tony didn't want to read too much into it and make any moves that would make things worse so he waited. And he was rewarded when Pepper took the liberty and connected their lips.

"I love you" she whispers.

"I love you more" he finally lets a chuckle escape his lips.

They kissed again, happier than the previous one. Tony couldn't believe that it was possible to forget about his worries so soon but that kiss really made him only think about Pepper and nothing else.

"We're cleaning you up, now" she orders.

He smirks and chuckles. Oh, how much he missed Pepper bossing him around, putting him in place and taking care of him. He nods easily, following her lead. Nothing else matters when Pepper is around for him.

They go upstairs together and Pepper prepares the bathtub for him. As they wait, she helps him take off his clothes piece by piece. Her eyes scan each and every wound he has and she runs her fingers through the trail of dry blood on his body.

"Don't worry, I'm okay" he says after taking her hand in his.

"You're not, Tony" she sighs desperately.

"Trust me, I couldn't feel any better right now" he shows her a glimpse of his smile and leans forward to kiss her forehead slowly.

He then steps in the bathtub and feels the water against every one of his wounds. He had felt this pain countless times before and that's why he doesn't react to it now. Pepper carefully cleans the dirt, sweat and blood from his body and fills the bathtub with water again.

With everything off his skin it's clear now what the real damages are. His ribs are very bruised and definitely some of them broken, half his face is purple from the beating he took and there are also marks on his abdomen and chest.

Pepper wants to cry, she's barely seen him like this in the past. Other than his physical damage there's also the psychological one. She can't even imagine what's going through his head right now. Seeing that kind of stuff messes with you, and Tony was already traumatized long before those events.

"Oh my God" she gasps when more blood runs down the back of his head as she washes his hair.

"It's just old blood. I'm not bleeding anymore" he tries to reassure her but it's not working.

How can she be reassured with something like that? All his wounds are fresh, only half a day old. He neglected himself for all these hours that she wasn't here wih him and that hurts her. The thought that he doesn't care enough about his body to put himself first.

She helps him off the bathtub after they're done and helps him get ready for bed afterwards. She also gets ready and then opens the closet only to find things exacly like she left them. He didn't move a thing, all those weeks that she's been gone.

"How could he hide this from me?" Tony finally speaks, blankly staring at the ceiling.

Pepper sighs and joins him under the sheets, wrapping her arms around him carefully.

"You didn't deserve this. I'm here to help you as much as I can to get through this" she replies and rests her head between his shoulder and neck.

"I swear if I see them again there will be nothing stopping me from acting on my rage. They'll pay for what they did" his hands unconsciously form into fists and his tone gets deeper, actually scaring Pepper.

"This is your anger speaking. What they did was unacceptable but acting on that anger won't solve this" she says as nicely as she can.

Her one hand holds one of his softly and feels it relaxing under her touch. He turns his head to look at her and tries his best for the comfort and love that he's feeling to take over his rage.

"You're right" he nods.

"You should really rest now" she suggests.

"You're the only thing keeping me from falling apart, you know that?" he asks warmly.

"I do" she exhales, knowing that this isn't a sweet moment but the sad truth.

"You're going to see a doctor first thing tomorrow" she doesn't ask, she announces.

"Whatever you want" he smiles nicely and they both close their eyes next to each other.

Without her he would have a very difficult time recovering from this. He could easily lose his mind, his way, his purpose. But, thankfully, she's here now, in his arms, keeping him sane.

A/N

This is the start! Hope it keeps you interested for what's about to follow❤️