just some pepperony oneshots. some could become a larger story, idk yet.
yeah all the usual shit, i dont own any of the characters unless they are an oc, the only thing i own is the storyline of the oneshots
set after the dance in iron man one as if they kissed and started their relationship then. mentions of past self harm/suicidal thoughts.
that reporter, everheart, slipped those photographs in his pocket. pepper was talking to someone high up in another company. tony saw it as his chance to go.
he sped back to the mansion. minutes later, he was suited up and ready to go.
the mission was quick, just destroy a few crates and herd the 10 rings out of the village. however, tony got hit a few times.
he slept on the way back to malibu, waking up just over the pacific ocean.
"sir we are about 10 minutes from home." jarvis informed him.
tony yawned.
"increase thruster capacity."
tony arrived back in the workshop five minutes later. the robots were working on getting the mark iii armour off of him.
pepper came down the stairs to his workshop. she typed in her passcode and stood in shock staring at him. the bots were pulling at the red and gold armour encasing his body and he was muttering the occasional "ow".
"whats going on here?" she asked, softly.
he turned his head to look at her.
"lets face it. this is not the worst thing you've caught me doing."
pepper sighed. she saw all of the bruises and cuts on his face and wondered if the rest of his body was like that.
"get that off and meet me upstairs." she commanded. a sad, almost lost look appeared in her eyes.
ten minutes later, tony stumbled out of the workshop to see pepper lounging on the couch. she sat up when she heard him.
"oh tony." she said sadly. she got up, and wrapped her arm around his waist to help him to the couch.
he collapsed onto it, groaning. pepper sat next to him, not sure what to do. he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, wincing.
"tony. take your shirt off. i would like to see how badly beat up you are." she said, her voice thick with worry.
he slowly lifted his shirt over his head, revealing his bruised chest. she ran a finger over the bruises, pausing at the scars that marked his side.
tony looked down at her with wide eyes, moving to swipe her away. she caught glimpses of scars up his arms.
"pepper i-" he started.
"tony. don't. don't try and worm your way out of this." she said, softly, but stern. she notices the tears in his eyes, tears he would never let fall because stark men are made of iron, what would howard think.
stark mansion, december 16th 1991.
the news bore the bad news.
howard and maria stark dead after freak car crash.
tony had thrown every object within two metres of him at a wall. he hid in an empty cupboard in his workshop. not crying, never crying. stark men are made of iron
1.5 hours later
"tony?" rhodey called out. he opened the cupboard tony was sitting in.
blank eyes. emotionless face. a lighter held in his right hand, carefully burning the skin on his left wrist. rhodey stood and watched as his best friend dealt with his emotions in the worst way.
eventually, tony stopped. rhodey joined him in the cupboard. the smelm of burnt flesh filled their nostrils.
"kill me. i ain't got nothing worth living for. i was always useless anyway." tony spoke, his voice non-chalant, eyes speaking the emotions he didn't know how to convey.
rhodey shook his head. "no. tony you're 21. you've still got most of your life ahead of you."
present day
she climbed onto his lap and placed her hands on his cheeks, wiping his eyes with her thumbs.
"oh tony. all the lovely ones have scars." she whispered, tears welling i her eyes.
"d-does that mean you do too?" he asked.
she nodded.
"why? you're perfect." he whispered.
"you're perfect too tony." she replied, clearly wanting an explanation from tony.
"i hate myself." he stated. a tear ran down his cheek. he quickly moved to wipe it away. pepper didn't let him.
"no tony. it's ok to cry. crying isn't a sign of weakness, it's a sign of being strong for too long." pepper whispered, soothingly.
"no, pep, you wouldn't understand. i like the pain, because i deserve it." his statement hung in the air.
she rested her head on his shoulder. "no tony. you don't deserve it. you don't deserve anything. you deserve the world to see who you really are. the kind, kind man underneath the armour and snark. the real tony stark." her voice was muffled.
he was sobbing now. "i can't pep. i can't. and plus what about you? your scars."
she smiled slightly. "you can't see them, tony. i've got tattoos over them. and i cover the tattoos with makeup."
"well where are they?" he asked.
"my sides and wrists, just like yours."
"can i at least see the tattoos?"
pepper sighed and started to unbutton her blouse. she pulled it off and thre it across the room.
true to her word, there was tattoos up her sides. on one side, a patch of blue, black and red roses. on the other, two hands holding uo a heart. tony ran his hands along them gently.
"they're beautiful." he whispered. "but what about the ones on your wrists?"
she sighed, getting up and coming back with clean wrists.
on one, a female angel with its wings spread wide, hair and dress flowing and arms stretched out. the epitome of female beauty. on the other an arrow with watercolour paint splattered around it. (this one has a image, ill put it at the end.)
"wow pep. they're beautiful." tony looked up at her in awe."
she smiled, running a hand through his hair.
"all the lovely ones have scars." tony muttered the words she said to him earlier.
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(the arrow tattoo, but the rainbow colours spread out slightly further on pepper)
