♡The Stark Family Oneshots♡

A Silent Night (Pepper Potts)

Inspired by song above, obviously ^^^ also, this is sad. so, yeah. im sorry, truly i am XDD it came to my head so i had to write it, so here ya go. promise though, that he next oneshot is cheery and fluffy :)

*takes place after events of Avengers 4, so possible spoilers for both movies. also, trigger warning*

Pepper POV

It was Christmas, a day that Pepper would've normally spent with Tony. She now however, spent the day in the office, alone.

Tony was never really into the holiday, which didn't bother Pepper at all - she hadn't cared much for the season anyway; it was too cold, and the snow was awfully annoying and painfully hard to ignore.

This year however, was different. Just like last year, and the year before that. Yes, this would be the third Christmas Pepper would spend alone in Stark's decently new mansion, sitting silently by the crackling fire watching the white tree lights flicker on the modernized, white Christmas tree.

It was a painful reminder that Pepper was to be alone again and again, and she hated being oblivious as to when she would see her fiance again. It pained her beyond belief, and she was scared of awaiting his arrival, as she wasn't sure there would even be one. She had no clue if he would die, trying to save the universe he had been a partial creator of. Sure, he called her every night, bidding her a good night's sleep and assuring her he would be home soon - but that did little to nothing for her.

In a sense, it was an unspoken message - Tony knew that Pepper was aware of the fact that their chances of winning - and coming out alive - were slim to none. He knew it was hurting her, more than imaginable. And she knew that her pain was bringing Tony down as well; she tried to be strong for him, no matter how difficult it became.

But each year he was gone, it became harder and harder. As the months dragged by, they brought down Pepper's hope with them, and slowly but surely they began to tear at Pepper's heart, reminding her of the heartbreak that was to come.

She knew that he was going to die, and it shook her to her bones. It was simply a matter of time.

She knew that he would be willing to give his life to save the world, even if it meant losing everything. Because that's how he truly was - most people didn't see him that way, and saw right through the real Tony, only caring to pay attention to the snarky, mischievous side of him. But he had opened up to Pepper, and she had seen him in his entirety - she knew him better than he knew himself, and was certain that he had already made his decision, already set his fate.

Damn you, Stark, she thought at herself night after night as she cried herself to sleep. You're going to kill yourself because you know it's right, she would think.

After the first year of his absence, his calls became meaningless, and it was no longer satisfactory to Pepper to simply hear his voice - she needed to feel him, to see him with her own eyes, to sense his presence and be comforted by his warming touch.

Tony knew that his messages and voice were now practically worthless to her, yet he never failed to call her each and every night, checking up on her, making sure she was safe. He would chat absentmindedly about the team's plan to reverse the curse on the universe, and bring back those who had perished, although to Pepper it was in one ear and right out the other.

So she waited. She waited for the night that those calls stopped, the night that his voice would no longer echo through the room, the night that her world would shatter and fall apart around her.