Inescapable

Ch. 4

Monday rolls around, and your in the office waiting for Pepper to walk in. You check her upcoming meeting and suddenly feel a chill roll down your back. How did I miss this? Oh god. It's starting. Glaring back up from the StarkPad in your hands is a name you recognize. Aldrich Killian. Shit. This means Iron Man 3 is here. It means Pepper is going to go through a lot. A part of you wants to help her avoid all that pain, and all the blame Tony places on himself after it.

You see Pepper and Happy turn the corner and you can't do much but play along for now, until you can figure out how to help without messing everything up.

"Your 4- o'clock is here Pepper." You mention to her, trying to rescue her from Happy's current tirade.

"Thank you Y/N. If you can please join us? I'd really appreciate it." You remember how uncomfortable it is for her and nod, at least knowing she'll feel a bit better with you there.

You join her and walk into her office, and Pepper lets out a small gasp as she sees Killian in front of her. "Pepper." His smooth voice calls out and you can't help but feel it grate against your senses, knowing full well the killer standing in front of you. "Killian?"

You watch silently in a corner as Pepper gushes at Killian and his work. You can tell she's somewhat forgotten you're there. Entranced by Killian's show and smooth words. Taking a glance outside you watch Happy talking rather seriously on the phone, most likely with Tony. You take a steadying breath knowing there's no way back, but forward. As Killian continues his speech, you internally dissect every way things go down, and see where you can help without changing everything you know.

This is going to be easier said than done...

-.-

As your dropping off Pepper and Tony's you see the giant bunny by the door and can't help but snicker. Pepper looks aghast and somewhat upset at the whole thing. "I'll see you tomorrow?" She asks as she gets down from your Escalade.

"You know it!" You smile back as you watch her retreat towards the house. You pull away from the house, heading to your place to plan out a way to make the outcome of the coming events a bit better for everyone involved.

-.-

He fucked up. Ate dinner before their date. Tinkered longer than he should. But Pep forgave him, and a shower led to something else. Which led to deep sleep. But deep sleep leads to dreams. Dreams of New York. Dreams of Aliens and the vast expanse of space. The nothingness and everything at the same time. The danger.

He can hear the voice of Y/N screaming his name. No wait Pepper screaming his name.

"Tony! Tony! Tony! Tony..." a yelp finally breaks him out of his reveries and see Mark 42 above him and Pepper on the floor.

"Power down!" His heart is going a million miles a minute and he can see the shear terror in Pepper's face. "I must have called it in my sleep. That's not supposed to happen. I'll re-calibrate the sensors. Can we just... just let me... let me catch my breath, okay?"

He sees her pulling away more and more with every word he says. She rises and starts to leave. "Don't go, alright? Pepper?" Looking at her he can see the determination in her eyes. "I can't do this anymore Tony. I just..." His heart stops, hurt and confused. "This isn't working Tony. You're always locked up in your office. You don't open up to me. And this -" she motions to the pieces of the suit strode across the floor. "This is too much for me. I can't. I'm sorry. I'll grab my things. I'm going to my place."

She starts to walk away and all I can do is call after her. She turns back, a soft sad smile. "I'll always be there for you Tony. But not like this. I'm not built for this. I'm not made of Iron."