AU where Pepper still has extremis. Idea by swordsrosesandpens
Thanks for your ideas!
Pepper
"Pepper, please... Just let me in, I'm going to help you.", Tony begged.
"I can't, Tony, this is a bad idea.", she said and there was despair in her voice.
"This is all just because of this bastard Aldrich Kilian", Tony murmured to himself, but Pepper still heard him.
She was sitting on the stone floor, shivering and scared. Pepper had closed ehr eyes, tried to think of something else than the heat, something else than her glowing body. She had killed a man, the man who had made her this monster, but that did not change the fact that she was a monster.
Tony couldn't heal her, definitely not. But knowing what had happened, that she could set all of this on fire, made her scared. And Pepper Potts hated being scared more than she hated being weak.
"Come on, let me in. I'm not going to touch you, I just wanna see you."
Pepper took a deep breath, as Tony entered the room. He looked tired, he always did, but she could not help him, not now.
"You look... terrifying", she heard him say.
"Oh, thanks, you too", she smiled a little, or pretended to at least.
"Look, Pepper, I am here. I'm going to find a way to cure you, and if I don't... We're going to find a way to deal with it, I promise you. I'm Tony Stark, remember? I'm able to fix everything."
"Don't look at me, don't say these things... I'm a monster", Pepper whispered and covered her face with her hands.
"That's just a lie. You're not a monster."
"I killed someone, that's what monsters do."
"You just slayed a dragon, you're not a monster, you're the hero."
"But that's your part. You came to save me, but I... I turned into this... This disgusting thing", Pepper said, helpless.
"You're you, you'll never be disgusting to me. You're always beautiful."
"Such a beautiful lie, thanks for trying", she rolled her eyes and sighed deeply.
Tony sat down next to her, tilted his head and smiled at her, but the smile didn't reach his eyes.
"Pepper.... You saved my life, you know that? I know it feels weird, all of this, and you've got every right to be freaking out right now. But... Let me take your hand."
"You're going to burn, I don't want that..."
"Trust me, if you don't want it to happen, it is not going to happen"
Pepper took another deep breath and allowed him to take her hand. And surprisingly, the cool touch of his skin on hers made he rcalm down a little.
"See. We're going to find a solution", he said and pulled her closer.
He leaned in for a kiss, but only a second after he touched her lips, she backed off, a spark had run over her skin onto his, a little flame.
"I'm sorry, I burnt you, see? I'm a monster"
Tony shook his head.
"No, I'm fine, it was nothing."
"You always say that, but you're never fine."
"I guess we have that in common", Tony whispered and smiled sadly at her.
Then he added: "I have an idea."
"Is it a risky and a stupid idea?"
"Only a little"
Pepper could not help but smile a little, Tony always had crazy ideas, and that was not always a good idea.
"So, what is your plan?"
"It's a surprise"
"I hate surprises"
"I love you too"
It took Pepper every single bit of self control to not burn her car seat, especially because she was so nervous right now. She needed to get used to this new form of being, and all of this because of Aldrich Kilian.
"Calm down honey, it's all gonna be okay, we'll find a solution. Believe me, I'm Tony Stark, I'm good at fixing things.", Tony whispered, before he opened the car door for her. Normally, she would have just rolled her eyes, but now, she did not want to risk burning the car by opening it herself.
"Thanks", was her only answer.
A few minutes later, she awkwardly stood in a conference room together with the avengers and Nick Fury.
"So, we wanted to ask you if you want to be part of the avengers. Obviously you've got these powers and we want you to learn to use them carefully so you don't blow up the earth"
"I have to think about this first, but... I don't really have a choice, do I?"
"No, you don't", Nick Fury answered while Tony had said the complete opposite.
"So... I just try to channel my abilities and then I can be part of your giant suicide mission team?"
"Basically, yeah"
"Alright, I'm in."
"Stark literally told me it would take ages to convince you, but here we are."
"That's because I would have done that if he had said that. But I am obviously sure that you know more or less what you're doing. And I should use this power, now that I have it already"
"We accept you into the avengers, right?", Thor asked and everyone around them nodded.
"So... Now she's accepted, right?", Tony asked, or more like begged.
After a moment of silence, Nick Fury said: "Yes."
"Great, then help me and I'll be fine and join your team", Pepper said.
Nick Fury raised his eyebrows.
"If you wanna be an avenger, you have to take care of that yourself. We don't have time to help you"
Pepper's smile froze on her face and she then whispered, compleetely calm but deadly: "Oh."
She exchanged a look with Tony and then added: "We're leaving now, sorry, but I've got an important business meeting together with my boyfriend. It was nice seeing you all."
And with that she turned around and left the room. Tony could have sworn there were sparks flying all around her, but maybe that was just his imginiation.
