Fic: Tin Man (10/10)
Jun. 19th, 2008 12:01 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eumeliaTitle: Tin Man (10/10)
Author: Mel (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
eumelia)
Disclaimer: Marvel owns it all, I just like to play with other people's toys and get no money from it.
Rating: PG-13, here be some language and violent imagery
Fandom: Iron Man (Movieverse) - this happens approx. a month after the events of the movie.
Characters: Tony Stark and Pepper Potts.
Previous Chapters: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8 and Part 9.
Part 10
The thump-thump of a heartbeat was loud and sounded as though it was coming from all directions. For the first time since his travels inside the desert of imagination there was no pain and he felt light as though the emptiness had been the heaviest burden he could possibly bear.
The soft talcum sand was back and Pepper stood in front of him, her hair spread over her shoulders like a waterfall of fire, her golden freckles starring her ivory skin and her Pacific eyes were pulling him in.
They wrapped their arms around each other and fell softly to the sand.
He slept.
He had been out of surgery for thirty six hours, he was in surgery for five and he had been admitted at some point the night before that.
Two days.
The press was going bananas.
Speculation was rife and rumor was all around them.
The most outrageous one she read on her Blackberry was that the whole hospital admittance was a ruse and cover for Tony Stark who had traveled to Thailand for sex tourism.
That and the dip (which was putting it very mildly as one of the board directors had informed her loudly) in Stark Industries stock due to the fact that Tony had been unreachable and Pepper had been doing her best misdirection of information regarding Tony's health.
She would deal with the fallout after he woke up.
Rhodey was sitting next to Tony and was holding his left hand.
Pepper and Rhodey were taking turns doing this. The doctor had said that physical contact often stimulated consciousness.
He hadn't woken though, despite being able to breathe on his own, the intubation had been removed and the clear plastic of the nasal cannula was as translucent as the colour of his skin.
All the monitors were beeping regularly, he had an IV attached to each arm, one for meds (of which he was receiving much) and the other which had previously given him a lot of blood transfusions (how fitting that Tony's blood type was AB positive) was now pumping his body with nutrition.
The arc reactor was glowing steadily and a large bandage was covering the staples that held Tony's chest together.
When Tony's right hand twitched neither of them noticed.
"This place is amazing" Tony murmured into Pepper's neck.
A platypus was lying a short distance away.
"Yes, it is" she pushed him gently onto his back and spread herself over him, she put her hands on his chest and placed her chin on her hands.
Her blue eyes locked onto his brown.
"But you have to go back now, Tony"
"No, I like it here, you're here and Rhodey's here" he gestured towards where a moment ago the platypus had been, but where Rhodey was now sitting, dark as ebony wood, contrasted against the talcum sand landscape, he looked splendid and majestic.
Rhodey was smiling at the entangled pair.
They were all naked.
Tony's fantasy world was that of constant nudity and casual sexuality; sensual and emotional fulfillment seemed to be a part of the package.
"Tony, c'mon man. You've got to be rested by now" Rhodey said.
"It hurts there"
"Yeah it does" Rhodey replied and sighed, as though commiserating with Tony's problem.
Pepper wasn't prone to such self indulgence, even in Tony's dreams.
"No, Tony. You've been here long enough" she stood up and pulled him.
He stood and as though he was going to cry "If I go back none of this will be real anymore"
"This place is you"
"I'll forget"
"Maybe"
"I will"
"Even if this dream dissipates, what happened will stay with you. You mended your heart" she kissed his chest, it was shimmering slightly "You're not a Tin Man"
"I'm a real boy"
"I don't see any wood"
He leered.
Rhodey gave him a slight jab in the ribs and Pepper sighed.
"Go home Tony"
"When will I see you again?"
"We're part of you" Rhodey replied.
Tony opened his arms and brought them both against him; he could feel their hearts beat in unison with his.
"Tony, you have everything you need"
"Yeah, man, you don't have to stay here"
"And the pain?" he was so scared.
"All a part of being alive"
"You know this"
He nodded against them and is comforted by their warmth.
"You need to wake up and go home" Pepper said.
"How? Click my bare heels three times?" he smirked.
"Well, you are a prince… princes are usually woken with a-"
She kissed him and the redness of her hair swallowed him.
It was about three in the morning when Pepper and Rhodey heard it.
At first they thought it one of the machines giving off a warning, but they were unchanged. They both checked their cellular phones which they had put on silent, perhaps they were vibrating.
It was when Rhodey felt Tony's hand twitch in his own, did he realize the humming was coming from Tony.
"Tony?" he asked.
"Tony?" Pepper rushed to the other side on the bed.
Tony's eyes were closed and he didn't appear to be moving at all, expect that his mouth was slightly open and a soft humming was coming from there.
Rhodey frowned and asked "Tony, what are you saying?"
Pepper stroked Tony's right hand and watched as Rhodey brought his ear to Tony's mouth, he frowned, concentrating on what he was hearing. His eyes widened and then he chuckled with real amusement for the first time since this whole thing began.
"What? Jim, what is it?"
Rhoedy gave another little chuckle and said "He's singing"
With a look of surprise she bent over to Tony's mouth and heard for herself that he was, in fact, singing.
His voice was barely there and the words were falling over each other, but she could make out the lyrics and tune easily.
"I'm presumin' that I could be kind-a-human/If I only had heart/I'd be tender - I'd be gentle and awful sentimental*"
Her eyes brimmed with tears, she kept listening to him sing and didn't notice when Rhodey left the room, informing her he was going to tell someone that Tony was waking up.
She barely registered that he'd said anything.
The singing stopped and she lifted moved her ear away from his mouth to look at him. His eyes were half open, glassy and black, but awake and alert.
She squeezed his hand and nearly burst into tears when he squeezed back.
His mouth was moving again, but she couldn't hear him.
"What, Tony?" she brought her ear back to his mouth.
"I had the most amazing dream" he breathed in the smell of cinnamon and rain.
The End... for now
Previously
Comments and feedback, people, they're what makes fandom worthwhile!
Thanks for reading this and sticking with me, I know it got a bit weird along the way.
Author: Mel (
eumelia)Disclaimer: Marvel owns it all, I just like to play with other people's toys and get no money from it.
Rating: PG-13, here be some language and violent imagery
Fandom: Iron Man (Movieverse) - this happens approx. a month after the events of the movie.
Characters: Tony Stark and Pepper Potts.
Previous Chapters: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8 and Part 9.
Part 10
The thump-thump of a heartbeat was loud and sounded as though it was coming from all directions. For the first time since his travels inside the desert of imagination there was no pain and he felt light as though the emptiness had been the heaviest burden he could possibly bear.
The soft talcum sand was back and Pepper stood in front of him, her hair spread over her shoulders like a waterfall of fire, her golden freckles starring her ivory skin and her Pacific eyes were pulling him in.
They wrapped their arms around each other and fell softly to the sand.
He slept.
He had been out of surgery for thirty six hours, he was in surgery for five and he had been admitted at some point the night before that.
Two days.
The press was going bananas.
Speculation was rife and rumor was all around them.
The most outrageous one she read on her Blackberry was that the whole hospital admittance was a ruse and cover for Tony Stark who had traveled to Thailand for sex tourism.
That and the dip (which was putting it very mildly as one of the board directors had informed her loudly) in Stark Industries stock due to the fact that Tony had been unreachable and Pepper had been doing her best misdirection of information regarding Tony's health.
She would deal with the fallout after he woke up.
Rhodey was sitting next to Tony and was holding his left hand.
Pepper and Rhodey were taking turns doing this. The doctor had said that physical contact often stimulated consciousness.
He hadn't woken though, despite being able to breathe on his own, the intubation had been removed and the clear plastic of the nasal cannula was as translucent as the colour of his skin.
All the monitors were beeping regularly, he had an IV attached to each arm, one for meds (of which he was receiving much) and the other which had previously given him a lot of blood transfusions (how fitting that Tony's blood type was AB positive) was now pumping his body with nutrition.
The arc reactor was glowing steadily and a large bandage was covering the staples that held Tony's chest together.
When Tony's right hand twitched neither of them noticed.
"This place is amazing" Tony murmured into Pepper's neck.
A platypus was lying a short distance away.
"Yes, it is" she pushed him gently onto his back and spread herself over him, she put her hands on his chest and placed her chin on her hands.
Her blue eyes locked onto his brown.
"But you have to go back now, Tony"
"No, I like it here, you're here and Rhodey's here" he gestured towards where a moment ago the platypus had been, but where Rhodey was now sitting, dark as ebony wood, contrasted against the talcum sand landscape, he looked splendid and majestic.
Rhodey was smiling at the entangled pair.
They were all naked.
Tony's fantasy world was that of constant nudity and casual sexuality; sensual and emotional fulfillment seemed to be a part of the package.
"Tony, c'mon man. You've got to be rested by now" Rhodey said.
"It hurts there"
"Yeah it does" Rhodey replied and sighed, as though commiserating with Tony's problem.
Pepper wasn't prone to such self indulgence, even in Tony's dreams.
"No, Tony. You've been here long enough" she stood up and pulled him.
He stood and as though he was going to cry "If I go back none of this will be real anymore"
"This place is you"
"I'll forget"
"Maybe"
"I will"
"Even if this dream dissipates, what happened will stay with you. You mended your heart" she kissed his chest, it was shimmering slightly "You're not a Tin Man"
"I'm a real boy"
"I don't see any wood"
He leered.
Rhodey gave him a slight jab in the ribs and Pepper sighed.
"Go home Tony"
"When will I see you again?"
"We're part of you" Rhodey replied.
Tony opened his arms and brought them both against him; he could feel their hearts beat in unison with his.
"Tony, you have everything you need"
"Yeah, man, you don't have to stay here"
"And the pain?" he was so scared.
"All a part of being alive"
"You know this"
He nodded against them and is comforted by their warmth.
"You need to wake up and go home" Pepper said.
"How? Click my bare heels three times?" he smirked.
"Well, you are a prince… princes are usually woken with a-"
She kissed him and the redness of her hair swallowed him.
It was about three in the morning when Pepper and Rhodey heard it.
At first they thought it one of the machines giving off a warning, but they were unchanged. They both checked their cellular phones which they had put on silent, perhaps they were vibrating.
It was when Rhodey felt Tony's hand twitch in his own, did he realize the humming was coming from Tony.
"Tony?" he asked.
"Tony?" Pepper rushed to the other side on the bed.
Tony's eyes were closed and he didn't appear to be moving at all, expect that his mouth was slightly open and a soft humming was coming from there.
Rhodey frowned and asked "Tony, what are you saying?"
Pepper stroked Tony's right hand and watched as Rhodey brought his ear to Tony's mouth, he frowned, concentrating on what he was hearing. His eyes widened and then he chuckled with real amusement for the first time since this whole thing began.
"What? Jim, what is it?"
Rhoedy gave another little chuckle and said "He's singing"
With a look of surprise she bent over to Tony's mouth and heard for herself that he was, in fact, singing.
His voice was barely there and the words were falling over each other, but she could make out the lyrics and tune easily.
"I'm presumin' that I could be kind-a-human/If I only had heart/I'd be tender - I'd be gentle and awful sentimental*"
Her eyes brimmed with tears, she kept listening to him sing and didn't notice when Rhodey left the room, informing her he was going to tell someone that Tony was waking up.
She barely registered that he'd said anything.
The singing stopped and she lifted moved her ear away from his mouth to look at him. His eyes were half open, glassy and black, but awake and alert.
She squeezed his hand and nearly burst into tears when he squeezed back.
His mouth was moving again, but she couldn't hear him.
"What, Tony?" she brought her ear back to his mouth.
"I had the most amazing dream" he breathed in the smell of cinnamon and rain.
Previously
Comments and feedback, people, they're what makes fandom worthwhile!
Thanks for reading this and sticking with me, I know it got a bit weird along the way.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-06-18 11:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-19 05:19 am (UTC)I'm trying to think up a sequel right now, but I can't tell it'll come to fruition.
no subject
Date: 2008-06-18 11:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-19 05:20 am (UTC)Thank you very much.
<3
Date: 2008-06-19 03:37 am (UTC)Re: <3
Date: 2008-06-19 05:21 am (UTC)These comments have been so encouraging!
no subject
Date: 2008-06-19 05:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-19 06:08 pm (UTC)I'm glad you enjoyed the story.
no subject
Date: 2008-10-01 01:15 am (UTC)