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"Hey…" whispered Pepper, leaning forward and taking his hand. "I'm here. I'm not leaving you."
The words she chose were curious at best and Natasha wondered if that was a hint to her she had already made up her mind whether to stay with Tony or not.
"Thirsty…" Tony whispered.
Pepper reached out for a glass with a top on and a straw inserted into the top.
"Be careful." She tipped the glass towards Tony's mouth and he took the straw and sucked, drinking in the cold, soothing water to hydrate his parched throat.
"Thanks…" Tony weakly smiled. It would take a few days for him to recover.
He'd lost a lot of blood and his wounds were still healing. His eyes began to close again until he drifted off.
"I'm not going to abandon him…" Pepper continued quietly. "I love him. And I will do everything in my power to make sure he lives. Whatever happened in your future needs to be prevented. I will support him as best as I am able. And I will talk to him."
Natasha allowed a small smile to cross her face. "Thank you, Pepper."
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The doctors were quite surprised by how quickly Tony's injuries healed after surgery. He was ready to fly home a few days later though was under strict instructions to not do any heroics.
Tony didn't mind. He was quite happy to spend a few days with Pepper.
What he hadn't expected was Pepper's simple question when she laid a bowl of chicken soup in front of him and perched next to him on the sofa.
"You died, didn't you?"
Tony nearly dropped the spoon. "What? I'm not sure what you mean?"
Pepper dipped her head. "I think you know. I figured it out. You died and you woke up here, didn't you?"
Tony swallowed. "If I did, does it change things between us?" He watched her, his eyes focusing upon her beautiful face.
"No, Tony, it doesn't. Dying is a risk I have always taken with you… I know you have to be Iron Man. I'd rather you didn't but you were sent back for a reason. I hope it is so you can live after your work is done here…" She trailed off.
"But there is still a possibility death is still my fate," finished Tony. He knew that. "I didn't want to tell you because of scaring you away. I didn't want to lose you."
"You won't," said Pepper, leaning in and kissing him on the lips.
"I said to you I would help you. I want to help you. I've like to have my own suit. I want to fight beside you." She hesitated then but after a moment she slowly began to talk again.
"If you die in battle, I want to be there with you because I think you would want me to be the last thing you saw."
Tears gathered at the corner of Tony's eyes.
"You were the last thing I saw." It was difficult to admit but Pepper being there, giving her permission that he could rest easily and not worry about those he loved, had helped in his final moments.
He had drifted off thinking of her, seeing her face one last time… And then he'd woken up back in the past. "I don't want you to have to go through that again. See me die…"
"Tony… My greatest fear is losing you. But I know you wouldn't be able to rest if there were people out there you could help."
"Those were your last words to me…" he replied quietly, his eyes moving down to the bowl of chicken soup, which he had now lost the appetite for.
"'You can rest now'. You gave me peace when I needed it." The tears trailed down his cheeks. "I left you… I left you to rais-" He stopped midsentence.
"Raise?" Pepper guessed. "We had a child?"
Tony minutely nodded not wanting to verbally confirm. He missed Morgan so much. He wanted to hold her in his arms and never let her go again.
"You don't want to tell me," reasoned Pepper.
"I worry if I do… they will not ever exist and… god…" Tony trailed off.
He didn't want to endanger Morgan's existence by telling Pepper about her. The pressure would be on her.
He knew the date and time of conception and that was something Tony would never tell Pepper.
If the Morgan he knew was to exist he had to keep that specific information away from her, at least until after Morgan was born.
That's if he survived long enough for Morgan to be conceived.
"You'll see them again," promised Pepper. "I know you will."
Tony hoped he would. Slowly he picked up the spoon and dipped it into the soup.
He attempted to change the subject. "So… a suit? I know the perfect design for you."
"Do you now?" she teased.
"Of course…" he grinned. "As soon as I'm better I shall get started."
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"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Steve asked as he approached the room Bucky was being held in.
They'd all flown back to the US on the same flight Tony and Pepper had been on.
And Bucky had been transferred to a secure facility upstate.
Natasha glanced over her shoulder. "Steve, he'll be fine. They're not going to kill him. What he's done was carried out under duress. This has been proven. But… he does need treatment and a secure hospital away from the public would be the best option for him. At least until we can figure out a way to remove the trigger words from his head."
She wasn't keen on the idea herself of Bucky being secreted away in a facility however it would be the safest place for him apart from Wakanda, but as of yet, Wakanda wasn't yet known to be technologically advanced. So they were not an option.
Thankfully Tony had already passed on respective notes and materials to the Accords committee regarding the Winter Soldier and how he had been a prisoner for seventy years, forced to carry out commands at a whim.
They had sympathised with Bucky's plight and had vowed to help him, providing, of course, the Winter Soldier could be brought in safely.
"I worry they'll use Bucky…"
"The Red Book is safe," said Natasha.
"Someone still stole it," pointed out Steve.
"That was a mistake on our part…" admitted Natasha. "Avengers Facility was supposed to be safe."
"Where is it now?"
Natasha reached into her pocket and pulled out the Red Book. "I have it. On me at all times. I have a meeting with the Accords panel to determine what the best use of it would be."
"It should be destroyed," stated Steve. "Incinerated, that way no one else can ever use it against Bucky again."
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POWER STONES!!!
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