He’s oxygen-starved when Thor finds the ship to drag it back to earth, wheezing in and out of consciousness. The dying Iron Man helmet clutched in his arms like a little baby, and when Thor leans down to scoop him up, and get him to fresh air, he hears why Tony’s clinging to a broken chunk of metal.
“I need you to take a breath for me, alright? I’m waiting for you, I love you.”
Pepper.
Tony’s…everything.
There is simply no other way to describe what she is, and if he were conscious enough, he’d certainly voice his adoration for his soon-to-be-wife. He’d voice his appreciation and his love and he’d declare the world to be hers, even as Thanos looms in the shadows, unseen, but willing to snap, again.
“Hang on, you stubborn bastard, I’ve got you.” he weighs nothing, and despite his strength and knowing Tony would be light, even in peak physical condition, Thor is concerned. He can feel Tony’s body shutting down; bones beneath sickly skin, muscles beginning to atrophy, an alarmingly slow pulse, and shallow, hyperventilating breaths. “Big breaths, now. We’re almost there. Stay with me, Stark. Hold on. Hold on for Pepper, alright? She’s waiting for you.”
“Pep…”
…
“Thor found the ship, he’s in the infirmary and looking at a lengthy stay but we got him. He’s alive. He’s waiting for you, Pepper.” Steve’s voice sounds angelic to a tired, grief-stricken Pepper Potts.
“I’m on my way.”
…
Pepper shuffles into the infirmary in Tony’s robe and her favorite slippers, cell phone clutched in her hands, tired, wet blue eyes searching - she needs Steve’s declaration of Tony’s rescue to not have been a joke.
“Pepper,” it’s Thor, soft, tender, gathering her up, leading her to the right room. “He’s here. I promise.”
“You found him?” she looks so vulnerable to the massive demi-god, that he’s reminded, once more, of humanity’s fragile state. Resilient, sure, but also capable of cracking into pieces before they manage to save themselves.
“The ship is ruined but I got him out.” Thor explains gently, pressing his mouth to the top of her head. “He was listening to your message through the helmet. I think, he was convinced his destiny was death, and he wanted to be with you when he slipped away.”
Pepper’s eyes sting, fresh tears, a renewed sense of grief, even though Tony’s alive, at the thought of him being in that ship, dying alone, with only her voice on a video message to comfort him in what would have been his final moments, if not for Thor. “Will they let me see him?”
“I think they will insist on it.” Thor winks, reaching for the door-handle. The door clicks open, revealing a dim room, and a paler Tony in the bed up against one wall, Steve and Natasha holding vigil by his sleeping form. “We have a visitor.”
Steve looks up from the EKG machine - he’d taken comfort in the steadiness of Tony’s heartbeat, while Natasha watched the rise and fall of his chest - and smiles tenderly at the red-head. “Pepper, hey.”
“Steve,” Pepper breathes, leaning down to kiss his cheek. “Your call - I thought - “
“No, he’s here.” Steve smiles, taking one of her hands. “Why don’t you lay with him? I think he’d like to wake up to you with him.”
“He looks so - I’m afraid I’ll hurt him.” Pepper can’t believe the sight of her husband-to-be. So pale and sick. She hasn’t seen him like this since Obadiah forced his hand and a half-working arc reactor slowly died on the roof of Stark Industries.
“Laying beside him is okay.” Natasha reassures her, tugging a corner of Tony’s blankets back. “You won’t break him.”
Natasha eases her down beside Tony, helps her tuck herself against his side and offer the warmth of her presence without hurting him. Pepper slips a hand down Tony’s arm and laces her fingers with his, and tucks her head into his neck, breathing him in, teary eyes closing as the familiarity of him surrounds her.
“I’m here, Tony,” she tilts her face into shoulder, kissing the warm skin, she finds beneath his hospital gown. “I’m here. Please, stay with me? Please?”
Thor watches from the door, shoulders shuddering in silent sobs, while Steve slips an arm around Natasha as she curls up in his lap and lets her tears soak his shirt, while he struggles to keep his vision clear for the tears streaming down his own face.
To see Tony in this condition, to see him so close to death like this, is one thing but to see it break the only person in his life who has never faltered, never blinked in the face of whatever he’s done - that’s something else. It’s witnessing love without exception, it’s knowing that even if Tony can’t pull through this, even if it is all a bit too much for his body to handle, he won’t be alone. He’ll be in the arms of the only person he’s ever really loved.
That means the world.
To all of them.
…
It is nearing three in the morning when gritty, exhausted eyes finally blink open. It takes him a few minutes to adjust to the dark, but once he does, he becomes aware of the slumped forms of Steve and Natasha in a heaving knot in the chair, and Thor holding vigil at the door, daring anyone to come in and say any damn thing about their presence.
But, the thing he is most aware of, was aware of before his eyes even opened, was the weight pressed against side, and the arms trapping his left arm against a torso, and the soft hair fanned against his shoulder. It all feels familiar and he’s certain he feels the cool metal of her engagement ring in his hand.
“Pepper?” but, he only just manages a soft whisper and that’s not enough to wake her, so he resorts to nudging her with the arm trapped against her body. It takes a few nudges to bring her back to a semi-conscious state.
“Tony?”
“There you are,” it’s a little louder than the whisper of before but not much. “Sorry, I can’t talk very well.”
“It’s okay,” god, shouldn’t she be out of tears? It feels like she hasn’t stopped crying since she got the call from Steve, but here they come, nevertheless, hot and persistent. “You’re alive.”
“So are you.” Tony’s entire body trembles, “Thanos…he snapped.”
“I know, I know, shh!” Pepper soothes him gently, reaching up to stroke his cheek. “It’s okay, Tony. It’s gonna be okay.”
“T-they’re all - Peter’s gone.” his teeth chatter from the force of his newfound shock.
“I know.” she is wary about moving him, given his physical condition, but it’s a risk she feels is necessary. She shifts and adjust them both until his arms around her and his head is pressed against her chest, her heartbeat filling his ear, and she’s combing her fingers through his hair. “It’s okay. We’re going to figure this out. We’re going to be okay.”
“I never meant…”
“It’s not your fault, Tony.” Pepper shushes him, kissing his head. “Not at all.”
His head tilts back to look at her, seeking something he’d only ever find with her - the truth. She’s not lying, she’s not joking around. She really does believe that it isn’t his fault and while his brain is screaming otherwise, part of him believes her. “Okay.” a whisper of acceptance.
“Okay, now,” she strokes his cheek, again. “Let’s get some rest.”
“Kiss?”
Nothing else needs to be said. She simply lowers her mouth to his, taking his bottom lip between her teeth, unable to fight the sudden craving for the familiarity of it. It isn’t exactly pleasant, as neither of them have had a chance to brush their teeth, but it’s familiar. Comfortable. And it holds all the promises neither of them can voice, right now. All the promises that seem so insignificant but keep them going when they can’t be with each other.
But, for right now, he’s alive and she’s there with him and that’s worth far more than anymore than any promise they could ever make to each other.
They’re together and that’s enough.
It has to be.
