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seren_ccdTitle: Sharp – Theme 039
Series: Tight Coupling – Chapter Six
Pairing: Tony/Pepper
Summary: A dream, alcohol pads and pulse points.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who is following this story and leaving feedback. It really helps me along. Please let me know what you think of this one!
Pepper was dreaming.
She was in a mall and she was running from something. Something large was behind her and she didn’t dare turn around. She ran into a department store and moved between the racks of clothes. The fabrics brushed against her hands and face and she kept running. Past nightgowns and coats and bright blue and gold ties.
Then, all of a sudden, something sharp pressed into her back. Oh God. This was it, she was going to die and it was going to hurt and she was running out of places to run. The intercom system overhead began to speak.
“Miss Potts,” it said smoothly. “Miss Potts. I believe you are dreaming. Miss Potts. Would you like to wake up now?”
Pepper sat up with a gasp. She batted at the curtain that had managed to blow in due to the open balcony door. She slumped a little in disbelief and winced as something poked into her back. Feeling around behind her she grasped the object and looked at it. The remote. Right.
“Miss Potts?”
The intercom? – no, wait – Jarvis.
“Yes, Jarvis,” Pepper answered. “Thank you for waking me.”
“You asked me to alert you to Mr Stark’s return. He is currently having the armor removed and may need some,” here the AI paused. “Assistance.”
“Assistance?” Pepper repeated. “How hurt is he?”
“Not critically, but the suit sustained some damage during a fall and I believe he has a wound on his back,” Jarvis replied.
“A fall,” Pepper said flatly getting to her feet and distractedly straightening her skirt. “Do I want to know how far a fall this was?”
The fact that Jarvis didn’t answer her immediately made her say, “No, never mind. I don’t want to know.”
She padded over to the workshop doors and entered in her security code. The chill of the floor went a long way in waking her up and steeling her nerves. She walked down the stairs slowly looking around the room. Tony was just getting down from the platform that removed his suit, his black body suit still on. He looked over in her direction.
“Still here?” he asked. He continued over to the small stool next to his desk and dropped onto it.
“Where else would I be?” Pepper said drily walking over to him. “Jarvis said you may need some help with your back.”
Tony rolled his eyes and began to untuck the top half of the body suit.
“As usual, he has overly exaggerated the situation,” he told her. “I’m fine. I don’t need Nurse Potts to tend my wounds.”
He stopped and leered at her. “Unless you were planning to break out the sponges and tongue depressors.”
“I don’t even want to speculate on the function of the tongue depressors in this little fantasy of yours,” Pepper said as she crossed her arms over her chest and waited for him to lift his shirt and turn around so she could assess the damage.
“Ah,” Tony said as he lifted his shirt. “Quite simple really, you would just...”
He broke off with a loud intake of breath and froze with his arms and top halfway up his chest. He closed his eyes in apparent pain and lowered his arms, then slowly opened them to face Pepper’s concerned expression.
“Need some help with the overly exaggerated situation?” she asked.
Tony swallowed hard.
“Yes, but only because I know you like looking at me all black and blue,” he said.
Pepper didn’t bother to respond, she just stepped forward and tugged gently on the bottom of the suit top and lifted carefully and slowly. Tony inhaled deeply as the top reached the place where the pain was the highest. Tony’s arms were heavy and when the top cleared his head, they fell to his lap. He breathed out and leaned forward. Pepper froze as his head came to rest against her stomach. Her fingers bunched up the suit top as her hand clenched. Seconds passed. Hesitantly, she rested a hand on his shoulder. He inhaled deeply again.
For a few minutes, the only movement in the workshop was the bustling of the robots as they began to clean up the suit and the steady rise and fall of Tony’s shoulders.
His skin was warm and firm beneath her hand. She allowed her fingertips to press in a gentle, barely circulating massage. Tony relaxed even more. His breath ghosted warmly across her stomach.
“Mmm bah hhhts.”
“What was that?” Pepper asked leaning forward.
Tony pulled himself up and leaned back. Pepper dropped her hand from his shoulder.
“My back hurts,” he told her matter-of-factly.
Pepper nodded. “Turn around, I’ll take a look.”
After a moment, Tony swivelled the chair and put his arms on the desk and then rested his head on them.
Pepper looked his back over and winced.
“Prognosis nurse?” he asked.
“Well, it’s very colourful,” she said. “A bit too impressionist for my personal tastes, but...”
“I keep forgetting. You’re more of a Fauvist girl aren’t you?” he retorted.
“That’s me,” Pepper said. “This definitely needs ice and you have a pretty long scrape that needs to be bandaged up. Let me get the first aid – oh!”
Pepper stopped and looked at Dummy the robot in surprise. The robot had silently rolled up next to her and was offering the first aid kit.
“Thank you,” she said slightly bewildered. She took the box from him and his ‘fingers’ opened and closed once as if he was waiting for more instructions. “Umm, could you bring me some ice?”
The fingers opened and closed again and he whirled away to presumably fetch some ice.
Pepper shook her head and smiled a little. She opened the kit and took out the bottle of rubbing alcohol and a large gauze pad. She poured a little on the pad and touched the gauze to Tony’s back. He stiffened and gritted his teeth as the cool pad was moved over his back. Pepper avoided the long scratch and just focused on trying to wipe down the heavily bruised area. It was a monster bruise and she tried to stop the images of Tony falling from some ridiculous height as they flashed behind her eyes.
“They were mine,” Tony said abruptly.
Pepper stopped what she was doing.
“What?” she asked.
“They were mine. The weapons. All mine,” he gritted out.
“Tony,” she tried.
“Don’t care,” he said. “Don’t care if Obadiah sold them right under my nose. My name is on them. Mine. And X marks the spot.”
Pepper didn’t move, even as her fingers squeezed the pad and the alcohol ran in a line down to her wrist and halfway down her arm.
“They were mine and they’re mine again. I got them back,” Tony continued. “Mine all over again. Finders Keepers, Pepper. And Losers Weepers.”
He chuckled too darkly.
“Some of ‘em are weeping now,” he said.
It was Pepper’s turn to grit her teeth.
“This may sting a little,” she said softly.
Pepper touched the pad to the long cut and bit her lip when he bowed his head even further over his arms. She put the used pad on the desk and moved to get some more gauze when Tony’s hand reached over and grabbed her wrist. She gasped and her wrist, still damp with alcohol, turned a little in his grasp. His thumb moved to her pulse point. She both wanted and didn’t want him to look at her. His thumb pressed into her wrist, enough for her to feel it, but not enough to hurt. Tony turned his head to stare at her pulse fluttering beneath her pale skin.
“Am I scaring you Pepper?” Tony asked.
“Yes,” she whispered without hesitation.
He nodded and brought her wrist to his mouth where he kissed her pulse and then murmured, “I’m scaring myself.”
Tony then let go of her and dropped his head onto his folded arms again.
“Have at it Nurse Potts,” he said.
Pepper’s heart pounded irregularly but her hands remained steady as she cleaned up Tony’s back and attached a bandage and then looked around to see where Dummy had gotten to with the ice.
Series: Tight Coupling – Chapter Six
Pairing: Tony/Pepper
Summary: A dream, alcohol pads and pulse points.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who is following this story and leaving feedback. It really helps me along. Please let me know what you think of this one!
Pepper was dreaming.
She was in a mall and she was running from something. Something large was behind her and she didn’t dare turn around. She ran into a department store and moved between the racks of clothes. The fabrics brushed against her hands and face and she kept running. Past nightgowns and coats and bright blue and gold ties.
Then, all of a sudden, something sharp pressed into her back. Oh God. This was it, she was going to die and it was going to hurt and she was running out of places to run. The intercom system overhead began to speak.
“Miss Potts,” it said smoothly. “Miss Potts. I believe you are dreaming. Miss Potts. Would you like to wake up now?”
Pepper sat up with a gasp. She batted at the curtain that had managed to blow in due to the open balcony door. She slumped a little in disbelief and winced as something poked into her back. Feeling around behind her she grasped the object and looked at it. The remote. Right.
“Miss Potts?”
The intercom? – no, wait – Jarvis.
“Yes, Jarvis,” Pepper answered. “Thank you for waking me.”
“You asked me to alert you to Mr Stark’s return. He is currently having the armor removed and may need some,” here the AI paused. “Assistance.”
“Assistance?” Pepper repeated. “How hurt is he?”
“Not critically, but the suit sustained some damage during a fall and I believe he has a wound on his back,” Jarvis replied.
“A fall,” Pepper said flatly getting to her feet and distractedly straightening her skirt. “Do I want to know how far a fall this was?”
The fact that Jarvis didn’t answer her immediately made her say, “No, never mind. I don’t want to know.”
She padded over to the workshop doors and entered in her security code. The chill of the floor went a long way in waking her up and steeling her nerves. She walked down the stairs slowly looking around the room. Tony was just getting down from the platform that removed his suit, his black body suit still on. He looked over in her direction.
“Still here?” he asked. He continued over to the small stool next to his desk and dropped onto it.
“Where else would I be?” Pepper said drily walking over to him. “Jarvis said you may need some help with your back.”
Tony rolled his eyes and began to untuck the top half of the body suit.
“As usual, he has overly exaggerated the situation,” he told her. “I’m fine. I don’t need Nurse Potts to tend my wounds.”
He stopped and leered at her. “Unless you were planning to break out the sponges and tongue depressors.”
“I don’t even want to speculate on the function of the tongue depressors in this little fantasy of yours,” Pepper said as she crossed her arms over her chest and waited for him to lift his shirt and turn around so she could assess the damage.
“Ah,” Tony said as he lifted his shirt. “Quite simple really, you would just...”
He broke off with a loud intake of breath and froze with his arms and top halfway up his chest. He closed his eyes in apparent pain and lowered his arms, then slowly opened them to face Pepper’s concerned expression.
“Need some help with the overly exaggerated situation?” she asked.
Tony swallowed hard.
“Yes, but only because I know you like looking at me all black and blue,” he said.
Pepper didn’t bother to respond, she just stepped forward and tugged gently on the bottom of the suit top and lifted carefully and slowly. Tony inhaled deeply as the top reached the place where the pain was the highest. Tony’s arms were heavy and when the top cleared his head, they fell to his lap. He breathed out and leaned forward. Pepper froze as his head came to rest against her stomach. Her fingers bunched up the suit top as her hand clenched. Seconds passed. Hesitantly, she rested a hand on his shoulder. He inhaled deeply again.
For a few minutes, the only movement in the workshop was the bustling of the robots as they began to clean up the suit and the steady rise and fall of Tony’s shoulders.
His skin was warm and firm beneath her hand. She allowed her fingertips to press in a gentle, barely circulating massage. Tony relaxed even more. His breath ghosted warmly across her stomach.
“Mmm bah hhhts.”
“What was that?” Pepper asked leaning forward.
Tony pulled himself up and leaned back. Pepper dropped her hand from his shoulder.
“My back hurts,” he told her matter-of-factly.
Pepper nodded. “Turn around, I’ll take a look.”
After a moment, Tony swivelled the chair and put his arms on the desk and then rested his head on them.
Pepper looked his back over and winced.
“Prognosis nurse?” he asked.
“Well, it’s very colourful,” she said. “A bit too impressionist for my personal tastes, but...”
“I keep forgetting. You’re more of a Fauvist girl aren’t you?” he retorted.
“That’s me,” Pepper said. “This definitely needs ice and you have a pretty long scrape that needs to be bandaged up. Let me get the first aid – oh!”
Pepper stopped and looked at Dummy the robot in surprise. The robot had silently rolled up next to her and was offering the first aid kit.
“Thank you,” she said slightly bewildered. She took the box from him and his ‘fingers’ opened and closed once as if he was waiting for more instructions. “Umm, could you bring me some ice?”
The fingers opened and closed again and he whirled away to presumably fetch some ice.
Pepper shook her head and smiled a little. She opened the kit and took out the bottle of rubbing alcohol and a large gauze pad. She poured a little on the pad and touched the gauze to Tony’s back. He stiffened and gritted his teeth as the cool pad was moved over his back. Pepper avoided the long scratch and just focused on trying to wipe down the heavily bruised area. It was a monster bruise and she tried to stop the images of Tony falling from some ridiculous height as they flashed behind her eyes.
“They were mine,” Tony said abruptly.
Pepper stopped what she was doing.
“What?” she asked.
“They were mine. The weapons. All mine,” he gritted out.
“Tony,” she tried.
“Don’t care,” he said. “Don’t care if Obadiah sold them right under my nose. My name is on them. Mine. And X marks the spot.”
Pepper didn’t move, even as her fingers squeezed the pad and the alcohol ran in a line down to her wrist and halfway down her arm.
“They were mine and they’re mine again. I got them back,” Tony continued. “Mine all over again. Finders Keepers, Pepper. And Losers Weepers.”
He chuckled too darkly.
“Some of ‘em are weeping now,” he said.
It was Pepper’s turn to grit her teeth.
“This may sting a little,” she said softly.
Pepper touched the pad to the long cut and bit her lip when he bowed his head even further over his arms. She put the used pad on the desk and moved to get some more gauze when Tony’s hand reached over and grabbed her wrist. She gasped and her wrist, still damp with alcohol, turned a little in his grasp. His thumb moved to her pulse point. She both wanted and didn’t want him to look at her. His thumb pressed into her wrist, enough for her to feel it, but not enough to hurt. Tony turned his head to stare at her pulse fluttering beneath her pale skin.
“Am I scaring you Pepper?” Tony asked.
“Yes,” she whispered without hesitation.
He nodded and brought her wrist to his mouth where he kissed her pulse and then murmured, “I’m scaring myself.”
Tony then let go of her and dropped his head onto his folded arms again.
“Have at it Nurse Potts,” he said.
Pepper’s heart pounded irregularly but her hands remained steady as she cleaned up Tony’s back and attached a bandage and then looked around to see where Dummy had gotten to with the ice.
