Furry Iron Part 3

[marienomad]

Title: Furry Iron
Fandom: Iron Man
Character: Pepper and Tony
Genre: Romance and Drama
Rating: PG
Summary: Tony woke up one day completely changed.  Dr. Pym and Dr. Banner could not figure out anything.  But perhaps, a mysterious Dr. Strange could savek him.
Disclaimer: All characters belong to Marvel Comics.  This is very late addition to the Comics Panel challenge in the its_always_been community in Live Journal.  This one features a scene inspired by Prompt number 6.  This is also inspired by "Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus".  Many thanks to arcanelegacyfor the help.

Part One

Part Two
 
 
Furry Iron
Part 3
By Marie Nomad
 
Pepper's heart pounded as she raced back to the living room.  She sank down to the couch.  How could she be so selfish?  Was she really so shallow that she would let something like extra hair get in between her and Tony?  Then it dawned on her, what about Tony?  He probably hated what happened to him as much as she did.  Tony had always wanted to look his best.  He would strut around like a peacock when people were watching.  No wonder he wanted to hide.

"Mr. Stark requires your assistance," JARVIS announced, interrupting her thoughts.

"What is it?' Pepper asked as she stood up.  Knowing Tony, he would be making preparations for his new life as a reclusive superhero.
"He has gotten into an accident involving a drum of oil.  Physically, he is fine, but he will require help cleaning up.  Colonel Rhodes offered but Mr. Stark refused."

Pepper had to smirk.  While she trusts JARVIS with her life, she was still amazed about how much he seemed to try to help out with their relationship.  "JARVIS, are you trying to patch things up between me and Tony?"

"Of course not.  I am simply stating what might be best for Tony."

"Thank you."

Pepper went to the downstairs bathroom where she saw Rhodey standing there with his arms crossed.  "How is he?"

He just shrugged and opened the door.  Pepper walked into the bathroom and saw a mountain of fur sitting in a bathtub.  "Oh, Tony."

"I... I'm a mess.  All this oil... I didn't mind before... just... leave me alone." Tony muttered as he just sat there.  She had never seen Tony looked so broken.

"You've been through worse," Pepper said as she took off her shirt and shoes and sat down behind him.  She picked up a bottle of shampoo and poured a generous amount onto her hands.  She took a deep breath and lathered it all over his back.  His hair was soft in her hands. 

"Hey!" Tony jerked up and pulled the hair over his eyes to stare at her. 

"Relax, I've done this before."

"I'm a mess."

"I’ve cleaned you up when you were covered in vomit."

Tony blinked.  "Really?"

"You don't remember?"

"No, but now I wished I had."  Tony relaxed as Pepper kept on lathering.  With strong fingers, she massaged his muscles and he nearly melted under her touch.  "Ah... this feels... this feels nice."

Pepper smiled a little at the fact that Tony was finally feeling better about his appearance.  Then she remembered that conversation in the workshop.  She felt a huge stab of guilt in her heart.  She had to be honest with her boyfriend.  "Tony, I'm sorry about the way I reacted to this."

"It's okay.  You were shocked."

"Yes, I was, but it's not an excuse.” Pepper kept on washing.  Tony joined in with the front part.  A few times, he coughed at the suds that kept on tickling his throat.  "Are you okay?"

"Fine, fine.  Just... this is a lot of suds."

"Good. It means you're clean." Pepper got out the detachable shower head and started to rinse him off.   She noticed all the oil and grime going down the drain.  He was starting to look better and smelled so much like cucumber from the shampoo.  "Now, to dry you off." Pepper grabbed a towel.  She glanced at the amount of hair and wondered if she needed a bigger towel. 

"Ohhh... wait, I got an idea." Tony started to shake and water just splashed everywhere.

"TONY!" Pepper screamed as she shielded herself from the waterworks.  "Look at me!" she huffed as she glared at him soaking from head to toe.

"It was worth a shot," Tony said as he gave off his puppy-eyed look again.  It didn't help that he looked like a giant puppy.

"If you keep this up, I might go ahead and experiment with your hair... maybe a few curls... a few braids..."

"No.  No braids.  No curls.  I'll behave."

"Good," Pepper dried herself off and grabbed a hair dryer.  "Hold still," she ordered as she started to dry and brush Tony's long hair.  Tony looked behind him to see her working with great precision. 

"I didn't know you are an expert at this, Ms. Potts."

"I had a business washing and grooming dogs when I was a kid."

"Even as a little girl, you were a businesswoman."

"Unlike some people, I had to work for my money," Pepper said as she fluffed Tony's hair a little. 

"Did you ever have to resort to selling matchsticks?"

"Only in the winter." Pepper finished the drying and turned him around.  "There, all better."  She stroked his cheek.

The two stared at each other and Tony grabbed her and hugged her.  "Thank you," he whispered.

"It will be okay.  I promise." She held him.  After a long moment, they finally let go of each other. Tony slipped into some clothes that just happened to be there.  "Tony, I... I overheard you talking with Rhodey about your plans to become a recluse."

"What do you think?" Tony dared as he stared at her in the eyes. 

"I think it's crazy.  People are going to ask questions even if you go out as Iron Man.  They will wonder why you don't show your face.  You might go crazy from the isolation and start doing stuff you will regret.  But I won't force you to do something that you don't want to do." Her lips twitched.  "Like I haven't succeeded before.  We can wait for a while."

"Good.  Because, I can't be Iron Man while I'm like this."

"Why?"

"Well... it's Rhodey's fault."

"Pepper won't leave you.  Besides, are you sure that you can use that armor with all that hair?" Rhodey asked as he pulled Tony away from the car and held his shoulders. 

"Of course I can." Tony marched up to the platform.  "JARVIS, armor me up!"

The AI sighed and the armor slipped on his body.  The first thing Tony noticed was how much more snug the armor was.  He had designed it so that he could wear clothes under it but the extra hair was adding onto the bulk.  "You okay?" Rhodey asked as Tony tried to step off the platform. 

"Fine." Tony said winced.  The sensors along the suit could go through clothing but the hair was never something that he thought of.  The incredibly long hair and beard was crowding up his helmet and made him feel claustrophobic.  "May... need some calibrations." He yanked off the helmet and took a deep breath.  He boosted up his repulsors to test them out only for him to flew into a drum of oil. 

"Tony!" Rhodey screamed as the robots started to pull Tony out of the drum.  He was covered in oil.  "You okay?"

"A lot of calibration." Tony sighed as the robots and Rhodey helped pulled off the armor.

"Oh Tony," Pepper shook her head.  Being Iron Man meant more to Tony than anything.  It gave his life purpose, helped me focus on helping the world.  She didn't like Tony risking his life but he was happy. 

"I know.  I can fix the armor issue.  Just a matter of adapting it to my condition.  I might have to call myself 'Iron Shih Tzu'." 
Her perfected poker face struggled to stay in place as she pictured a humanoid Shih Zhu dressed up as Iron Man.  "Iron Shih Tzu?" She snickered as she put her hand on her stomach. 

Tony just watched her with an apparent amused look in his eyes.  She was normally so composed but now she was giggleing.  He chuckled and then he laughed.  Pepper lost control and joined him completely.  "I needed that." Tony confessed as they finally stopped.
"Let's do something to get your mind off of this." Pepper suggested sweetly.

XXX

"Steel stinks as a superhero!" Tony screamed.  He, Pepper, and Rhodey were sitting in the living room, watching a movie.  Pepper remembered seeing this movie and felt that it was just about ridiculous enough to get Tony to not think about his situation.  "A mugger... seriously?  I took down a whole compound and escaped from a band of terrorists when I first built the armor.  This guy took down a mugger.  Woo."

"Tell me about it.  He's so bland... gives black superheroes a bad name," Rhodey agreed.

"Are there any other black superheroes besides you?" Pepper asked from her seat right next to Tony.  She was cuddled up against his furry and incredibly warm body. 

"A few.  Like this prince that hung around the Avengers." Tony said.

"Black Panther.  Oh, I heard of this one bulletproof guy in Harlem.  I think his name is Luke Cage."

"He named himself after Nicholas Cage?"

"Don't know.  But he-  He can't fly?!" Rhodey screamed as he watched Steel running off.

"At least Black Panther is agile like... a cat.  I'm serious.  He's like a ninja, only African," Tony pondered.  "You know, this could be a rip off of Iron Man; a weapons designer discovering his inventions are being used for evil and so he built a suit.  That's me."

Pepper rolled her eyes.  While she was glad that Tony was starting to get back into textbook narcissist mode, he could be so annoying.  "This movie was made over ten years ago."

"Time travel.  Kang's responsible for this."

"How can we prove it?" Rhodey asked. "Most people don't believe in time travel."

"I don't know but I have to call my lawyers."

"No." Pepper spoke up.

"But Pepper..." Tony whined.

"I'm serious.  You will not call the lawyers about a movie made way before you decided to be Iron Man based on a theory about time travel!" Pepper argued.  "It makes no sense and Steel will get free publicity."

All of a sudden, an alarm rang.  "Avengers assemble!" Ever since Tony joined up with the Avengers, he got a special alarm that rings every time an Avenger needs help.  It was a pretty cool alarm and it was much more better than seeing Fury's face every time he has a mission.  Tony stood up and got ready to get to the workshop when he stopped and hung his head. 

"I can't armor up." He realized as he stared at his hand.

"Hey, I'll go for you." Rhodey offered as he put his hand on Tony's shoulder, "My armor's here anyway."

Tony just closed his eyes and kept on staring at the floor.  "JARVIS, transmit the information from the Avengers Assemble alert to the War Machine armor.  Then, tell Captain America and the other Avengers that Rhodey's coming."  He gazed at Rhodey.  "Hank and Bruce know about my condition already so they'll support you." Tony looked to the side.  "Just tell them that I can't make it and I'm sorry."

"Don't worry." Rhodey ran to the workshop and a few minutes later, War Machine flew past the windows.  Tony and Pepper stood there for a long moment.  Pepper took his hand in comfort and he leaned onto her shoulder.  The film playing on in the background forgotten.

To Be Continued...