Chapter 1

Bip, Bip, Bip

Behind the windows of the Emergency Room, Tony pressed his hands against the glass, hoping she could hear him yelling from behind it. She couldn't leave him like this! Had he found her too late? He couldn't bear the thought. Tears rolled down his cheek as the doctors struggled to save her. When the steady pulse of the heart monitor changed to one steady tone, he fell on his knees, begging for someone, anyone, to come and save her.

XXxxxxxxXXxxx

2 weeks later, in the living room of Malibu mansion.

"I'm sorry Pepper. Believe me, it's better this way." Tony stated in front of a shocked Pepper.

"What? How could you say that? You're not allowed to say just something like that! I love you, dammit!" She said in disbelief.

"I know, but it is too dangerous. I don't want you to die because of me. I don't want you to be hurt anymore. And if we stay together you will be hurt!"

She tried to process what he was telling to her. "Tony, please, listen to me. Don't you understand that I'd rather to be dead than live without you!?"

Anger flooded Tony; how she could say something that? "You can't say that Pepper. Try to understand. I love you too much to even imagine you dead."

"You see, you just told me. You love me!" she said fast in response to his last sentence.

"Of course I love you, why do you doubt that?"

"So where's the problem Tony? I love you, you love me! There is nothing that we can't handle if we are together," She explained to him.

"I wish that was true, Pepper, believe me. But it's NOT. Look, you almost died 2 weeks ago becau-"

She cut him off "Yes, ALMOST, that's the point, Tony! I'm not dead, I'm here, alive and well in front of you, and it's thanks to you, because YOU saved me!"

"Yeah but what if I hadn't? What if the next time I'm too late?" he gazed at his feet; he didn't want her to see the pain which was filling his eyes.

"Tony , it's a risk! Life is full of risk! What if tomorrow I have a car crash? You want me to stop driving too? You want me to stay in my bedroom without going outside? What if I just have a heart attack?" Tony shook his head. "People say that you're a genius; please try to be logical,"

"Pepper, I am being logical! That's why we have to end this. If I wasn't logical, I'd never let you go," I love you too much for that, he thought without telling her.

"So stop to be logical" she begged him. Tears appeared on her cheeks as she began to understand that he was damned serious.

"I can't Pepper… I'm so sorry"

"And what about Stark Industries? You think that we could still work together like nothing happened? It will never work Tony." She hoped, bringing up SI would make him see how stupid his reasoning was.

"I know, that's why you have to leave SI also." She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "I think that Emmerson can help during the transition." She shook her head in disbelief as she processed the information. "And don't worry I'll give you the 50 years of salary you deserve, so you won't have to worry about money."

Anger started to replace pain in her "So that's it? Have you already thought about everything? You probably already planned all my life until my death, haven't you? You probably already bought the place where I'll be buried!" She yelled at him.

He raised his hands up to try to calm her "Pepper, please don't,"

"My god, I can't believe…" she started pacing the length of the room.

"It's the best solution." He tried again.

She shook her head as tears tried to escape from her eyes again. "When am I supposed to leave?"

"As soon as you are ready. I won't bother you, I'll sleep in the spare room to give you time to pack all your stuff. Take all the time that you need." He said gently.

"And what about if I never leave? If I decide to stay anyway? You'll kick me out?" she asked rudely.

"No," He answered fast. He thought for a second and added "If you want I'll let you have the mansion and I'll leave. I mean, this house is as much your home as it is mine. You're right, it is even better if I'll leave, it's fairer and you deserve this house anyway, you were there when it was only a pile of rocks,"

She covered her face with her hands, her voice coming out barely more than a whimper "I still can't believe what I'm hearing! I must be having a nightmare" At least she hoped that she was dreaming.

Finally, she composed herself enough, and gazed at him with scorn, to hide the despair. "Don't worry Tony; I'll be out of here as soon as possible. I can't bear seeing your face or staying here anymore!"

With this, she almost ran to the stairs that led to their bedroom. When she reached it, she crawled on their -no, it was just his now- bed and cried until she hadn't any tears left.

XXXxxxXXXX

Tony didn't show up a lot during the next week and they didn't talk to each other after their last conversation. By the end of the week, she was ready to go. She took everything from SI and sent all her possessions to her mother house in Virginia. She wanted to leave Malibu and LA. She couldn't bear to be reminded every day of him or them. She was ready to leave, her last bag next to the kitchen bench, her rented car waiting outside. And yet, she was hurting; she couldn't leave without seeing him one more time, without trying again, without at least telling him goodbye. She went to the workshop. She knew he would be there; he always was, working on this damned suit, the reason for their separation. Oh god! How much she hated Iron Man right now.

He turned to face her as he heard her heels clanging on the floor. He stared at her without saying a word. Finally she broke the silence "I'm ready," She paused, trying to find the courage to continue "I'm leaving; I just wanted to tell you good bye," He nodded barely.

She came closer to him "I still don't understand why, Tony," He tried to speak but she shushed him with her finger. "I mean, I understand your point but I still think that I should have a say in the matter. It's my life, isn't it? Why do you want to control it? I'm mature enough to know what is good for me and I can make my own choices. Didn't I take care of you before...this?" She stated, gesturing to his workshop.

"Yeah, but this choice is part of MY life too, and the fact is I don't want you in it. So even if you can choose what you want to do, you can't choose for me. I don't want to share my life with you anymore, Pepper." He said abruptly.

And with that one sentence, those eleven words, he shattered her heart. Tears flowed down her cheeks as she choked, "I don't believe you, Tony!"

She closed the distance between them and leaned her lips on his. He gazed her, not moving for the first few seconds, wishing that she would take the kiss back. Then not able to resist, he closed his eyes and kissed her hard. It was a fiery kiss, full of love and fear and sadness and anger. Both of them knew that it would be finished when they would break apart; neither of them really wanted it. Their lips finally separated when their respective lungs started to burn. He rested his forehead on hers, looking in her deep ocean blue eyes.

"Good bye, Pepper." He whispered softly after a long minute. Tears rolled on Pepper's cheek as she felt him pull away. In only few seconds, she found herself alone in the workshop.

After what seems to be hours of crying, she finally made her way up the stairs. She grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and started to write.

"Never thought we'd have a last kiss, never imagined we'd end like this. Your name, forever the name on my lips… As our last kiss… Pepper"

She placed the pen on the counter next to the paper, grabbed her bag, took a last look and left the mansion... Forever.