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All they had left on that godforsaken planet was a damaged spaceship and lots of scrap metal. Despite his impeding wound, Tony used what scrap metal he could and repaired the spaceship to a better, albeit still terrible, form.
He held his side, as the nanites around his body retreated to its Arc Reactor housing in the middle of his chest, and limped up the ramp of the spaceship. He carefully, and painfully, lowered himself down into the cockpit and started fiddling with the controls. He punched a few buttons and lowered a couple levers, before kicking something below the dashboard.
The spaceship hummed to life, but there were a few sputters here and there. He wondered if it was enough to get them back to Earth.
Nebula stood off to the side, silent but watching, as Tony worked his magic. Her feelings toward her father killing Gamora made her uneasy; there was a lot of anger, but nowhere to direct it towards.
“Do you know how to fly this thing?” Tony asked abruptly.
Nebula nodded. “I’m the one who flew it here, wasn’t I?”
He winced at the sharp pain on his side. He got up from the pilot’s seat and sat down on a nearby bench. “Can you fly it to Earth?”
“And why should I?” Nebula asked stubbornly. “As far as I’m concerned, I could take this anywhere with or without you. Your friends’ survival is none of my business.”
“What about Gamora?”
Nebula glared at him. “What about her?”
Tony could tell he was losing blood each passing second; his sweaty and pale face was a clear indication that he was badly injured. The medical spray he made out of nanites was working, but it wasn’t intended to be a permanent solution. He needed medical attention.
“She’s your sister, isn’t she?” he asked. “Don’t you want to get her back?”
She raised her eyebrow at the scientist. While she did admit to herself that she cared for her sister, she rarely admitted it to anyone else. “And how do you intend to do that?” she asked with a menacing android-like voice.
Tony hunched forward as he felt it harder to breathe. “Fly me back to Earth. I have friends there that can help. I promise you.”
“You promise?” Nebula scoffed. “How do you intend to promise such a large request?”
“Because I have friends that died, and I intend to get them back no matter what the cost. Wouldn’t you do the same for your sister?” he asked with underlying intent. He knew her sister was the ticket to persuading her to get them to Earth, and the anger in her eyes told him that he succeeded.
“If you die on the way there, it’s not my fault,” she replied sternly as she jumped into the pilot’s seat. She flipped a few switches on the overhead board and began to lift the spaceship.
Tony laughed lowly and thought of his friends and family, and Pepper. “I don’t intend to.”
The ride to Earth took about a couple hours, it wasn’t a smooth one. With each and every bump and shake, he grunted in pain. He tried to use more of his medical nanite spray, but it only prolonged the uncomfortable throbbing.
When they arrived into Earth’s Atmosphere, he gave Nebula list of directions. She was very confused when they arrived at the dry plains of Africa. Tony could feel hear his heart beat in his ears, and with each passing second, his vision was beginning to fade. In a ragged breath, told her to keep going.
After flying another few miles, they passed the false image that protected Wakanda. Tall metal buildings, that look far advanced than anything Tony has ever seen before, greeted them in abundance. When Nebula tried to look for a place to land, all she saw was what was left of the plains and the forest. Trees toppled over each other, burn marks littered the fields, and some of the rubble from the battle was still there.
She saw a few people below waving her down, so she landed the spaceship nearest to them. When she landed, she opened the hanger, and when she turned around, three women cornered her with long, sharp spears.
“Identify yourself,” one of the ordered.
Nebula simply glanced over at the semi-limp body in the corner. One of the women looked over her shoulder and saw Tony. His hand was holding onto his side and it was soaked in blood.
“Okoye,” the woman muttered.
Okoye looked in her direction and furrowed her eyebrows at the man. She could’ve sworn she’s seen him before, or perhaps heard about him from T’Challa.
“Bring him to the medical bay,” Okoye ordered one of the women. She adjusted her spear and kept it pointed at Nebula. “Who are you?”
Nebula scoffed at her. “Someone you don’t want to mess with.”
“Nebula?”
The android recognized the voice.
Rocket walked past Okoye and flashed a surprised expression. “What the hell—what are you doing here?”
Rhodey followed Rocket when the rodent sprinted out of the room saying that he recognized the ship that just landed, but when he saw the first couple figures that walked out of the ship, his heart instantly dropped.
“Tony?” He muttered in panic. “Holy shit—Tony—” he ran up to Tony’s side as one of the women held him up. “Is he okay?”
“Okoye wants him in the medical bay. He will not last if his wounds are not treated immediately.”
Rhodey nodded and offered to take him there. Half way towards the facility, a rolling stretcher was brought out. He put Tony on top of it and followed it to the medical bay.
---
“Tony? Oh, my god. Are you all right? What’s going on? – Tell me you’re not on that ship. – God, no… Please tell me you’re not on that ship! – Come back here, Tony. I swear to God… Come back here right now! Come back!”
“Pep?” he muttered slowly.
He couldn’t remember when he lost consciousness. The last thing he remembered was seeing the tallest building in Wakanda. When he came to, all he saw was white from the bright lights above him. With a quick look of his surroundings, he concluded that he was in some sort of ICU, but the medical technology that surrounded him was futuristic and advanced. He lifted the thin blanket and saw that he was stripped of his clothes and put into a fresh white t-shirt and black sweatpants.
He groaned as he tried to sit up, and then felt around for the wound on his side, but it was covered by what he thought was gauze. When he lifted his shirt, he saw a long white patch that was pulsing bright blue.
He tried to swing his legs out from underneath the blanket so he could get a better understanding of where he was, but someone stopped him with a hand on his chest.
“What do you think you’re doing?” a voice snapped at him.
He stopped abruptly; he knew that voice, and he knew her familiar scent. All of the lightbulbs went off in his head when he saw her orange hair cascading down her shoulders.
“Pepper,” he muttered in astonishment. When their gazes locked, he searched her eyes for answers; he wondered if she was a dream, or if he was so out of it that his mind was playing tricks on him. He reached out for her and tugged on her salmon colored blouse; his hands reached for her shoulders and squeezed, feeling the soft cotton between his fingers. “You’re—”
“Alive?” she asked with a small smile.
“I was going to say real, but alive also works.” His hand cupped her cheek, and she leaned into it and briefly kissed it, thanking the heavens that he was alive and well. His smile quickly faded. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine, Tony,” she reassured him. She pressed down on his shoulders and forced him to lay back down onto the bed. “You shouldn’t push yourself too hard. Your body is still recovering.” She reached for the hem of his shirt and lifted it up to take a look at the patch.
“Yes, Nurse Potts.” He smirked.
She raised an eyebrow at him and continued to survey the patch on his side. There were various incidents where she would take care of his wounds from whatever mission he had just gotten back from and, somehow, they would end up on the floor naked.
“How do you feel?” she asked him.
“It hurts a bit, but I think I can manage,” he replied as he watched her work. “Wait, how did you get here?”
“Hm?” she hummed. “You mean in Wakanda?” He nodded. “After chaos plagued the entire world, Rhodey came looking for me. When I asked about you, he said you were still missing. He didn’t know if you were even alive, but I had hope. Waiting for you became too nerve racking, so I tried to preoccupy myself by helping take care of the wounded.” She laid her hand on top of his bare stomach, right next to his wound. “When I heard you were in the medical bay, I rushed over here.”
He furrowed his eyebrows. “Did you… did you do this?” He glanced at the patch.
She tried not to smile. “They had to undress you, so I offered to take over. The patch overworks your body so you’ll heal faster. You’ll most likely fade in and out of consciousness for the next few hours.”
His eyelids started to feel heavy; he blinked a few times and grasped her hand. “You’ll be here, right? You won’t leave?”
She squeezed his hand and brushed a few strands of hair from his forehead. “I’ll be here.”
He beamed at her and sleepily replied, “I thought you didn’t make it. I thought…” he paused. “I didn’t want our last words to be about an alien donut.” The thought made her chuckle.
“I told you to come home to me.”
“I’m sorry,” he murmured lowly. “I didn’t mean to make you worry.”
“I always worry about you,” she confessed. “Iron Man or not.”
“Why?” His voice began to sound raspy.
Her smile widened. “Get some rest, Tony. I’ll be right here when you wake up.”
His eyes closed and mimicked her smile. “I love you, too, Honey,” he muttered, right before his heartbeat slowly fell into a steady rhythm. His grip on her hand relaxed and his body went limp. His head turned slightly to the side as he began to snore softly. The patch continued to pulse white, telling her that his recovery was nothing to worry about.
She noticed how relaxed and peaceful he looked when he slept. She leaned over and pressed a soft kiss to his lips.
When he woke up a few hours later, he found her in a chair, slumped over his bed, and fast asleep, with her hand covering his. When he woke her up, he felt like he committed a felony.
“Go back to sleep, Pep,” he urged her.
“No, it’s okay. I just needed a brief power nap.”
He sighed. “I don’t want you to overwork yourself.”
“I’m fine, Tony.” She readjusted herself and pressed her hand against the patch to make sure it finished its job. “Do you feel any pain when I do this?” He replied with a shake of his head. She nodded and began to peel the patch off.
“I can take this thing off myself. Stop being stubborn and get some rest.”
Pepper’s head snapped up and she glared at him. “What did you just call me?”
He froze and swallowed hard. “Beautiful?” His smile was crooked and pleading for forgiveness.
“The wedding isn’t for another few months and you two already sound like an old married couple,” Rhodey said as he leaned against the threshold of the room.
“Platypus,” Tony greeted his best friend. “You look good.”
“And you look like shit,” Rhodey replied with a light smile.
“For someone who just got off an alien donut ride to a different planet, I’ll take that as a compliment,” Tony replied and flashed a grin.
Pepper finished peeling off the other patch and decided to let the two catch up. When she was on her way out, Tony stopped her.
“Wait, Pepper—” He wanted her to stay. They both narrowly avoided death’s door, and he wanted to make sure she was safe.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be back,” she reassured him as she left.
Rhodey crossed his arms and smirked at the couple. “Man, you’re like a lovesick puppy.”
Tony glared at him. “I didn’t give you permission to come into my room.”
“I don’t need your permission.”
“I’m injured and you’re being mean. Why are you so insensitive, huh?”
Rhodey rolled his eyes at him. “How the hell does Pepper put up with you?”