20 Fandom: 12/20: All Wrapped Up
Title: All Wrapped Up
Fandom: Avengers
Characters/Pairing: Pepper Potts/Steve Rogers (Captain America)
Rating: Gen
Orientation: Het
Word Count: 1,170
Prompts: Kink Bingo Fill: “Tentacles”
Hurt Comfort Bingo: “Restrained”
Avengers_tables: Pepper: Rescue
Owemeolympics 20 Fics in 20 Fandoms
“Help!” Pepper heard the cry as she stepped into the elevator, faintly coming up through the shaft.
Since Tony had disappeared without a trace months ago after their violent argument and apparent breakup for good, few visitors had come here. Was Tony back? She wasn’t sure how she felt about that at all. She was mostly over her hurt, now she was just left with the angry and bitter. She pressed the security intercom. “Jarvis, is someone else in the building?”
“Affirmative,” Jarvis replied, though the automated assistant did not elaborate. Since Tony had left, the electronic butler had been tetchy, to say the least. Getting information out of it was like pulling teeth.
“Where? What floor, Jarvis?” Pepper demanded, huffing out a breath hard enough to set her bangs flying.
If machines could sigh, Jarvis did. Pepper made a note to get an expert programmer in here to tweak Jarvis’ systems. Maybe a call to Nick Fury might yield a trustworthy name or two.
“Sub Basement one. Automatronics lab,” Jarvis drawled.
She jabbed a finger on the button and tapped her foot impatiently until the door opened, even the elevators were working at substandard levels. “Hello? Is someone down here?”
“PEPPER! HELP! Come and get me out of this thing!”
“Steve?!? Is that you?” she called out, immediately recognizing the voice.
“Yes, this way, hurry.”
She rounded a corner and saw him. Her jaw dropped open at the sight that was like something out of a science fiction porno flick. “Steve, what the heck happened?” She shook off her surprise and started forward to try to help him.
“I don’t know. I was looking for a program in the stupid computer to make the computer enhancements to my bike run properly. Tony promised to download them but he never got to it before he... left.”
He was wrapped in yards and yards of metallic tubing. The armature system for the workshop’s assembly system had apparently gone mad and gotten ahold of him. “You look like you’re being attacked by a giant metal octopus,” she commented wryly as she went to the computer to see what he had been doing that caused this.
Steve was blushing as he looked at her. He still did that, blushed when he was embarrassed, it was endearing. “I’m so embarrassed. I hate computers.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No, just my pride. And one of those things is poking me in... a very uncomfortable spot.” He blushed again as she looked at him and crooked an eyebrow.
“I think the system might have a serious glitch. I’m noticing other things not working properly around here too. I think the assembly system possibly mistook you for a suit project that was undergoing diagnostics when Tony... left.” She glanced over at him. “You’ve been avoiding me,” she said as she typed. She wasn’t hurrying, she wanted to talk to him and this way he couldn’t duck out on her like he usually did.
And it was kinda cool, having Captain America in her clutches, all bound up and completely restrained as he was.
He tried to wiggle out of the grip of the metallic tentacles. But it was no use, he was stuck. He finally looked over at her and admitted. “I didn’t know what to say.”
“It wasn’t your fault. Tony shouldn’t have said the things he said. He was drunk and out of control and way out of line.” She found the subsystem directory she was looking for and accessed it.
“But he wasn’t completely wrong about everything.”
Pepper looked over to see him looking at her. Those blue eyes that she had seen watching her so often in the past, and that Tony had obviously noticed on her, were on her now. “Wasn’t he?” This was what she’d needed to know. If her interest in Steve was returned. Tony hadn’t been entirely wrong.
“OW!” He yelled as the metal tentacles suddenly constricted. To hurt a man as strong as Captain America, there had to be some strength in them She quickly started typing, trying to get control of the assembly system. She kept shooting glances his way. He was breathing in short gasps, his face red.
“Almost got it, hang in there Steve,” she said, forcing systems that had been dormant since Tony’s departure to come awake again.
There was a hissing of hydraulics and a sudden gush of air from overhead as the system engaged. Then the slow sound of metal grinding on metal echoed through the room as the arms slowly retracted. Steve slumped forward then toppled to the tile floor as the arms released him.
Pepper ran to his side, crouching down. He rolled over onto his back, breathing deeply, occasionally wincing as he tried to catch his breath. “Thanks for the rescue.”
“My pleasure. Do you need a doctor?” She ran a hand over his middle, feeling along his ribs for signs of anything broken.
He shook his head, letting her continue to check him over. “No, nothing broken, just a little squeezed. I’m okay.”
She lifted the edge of his t-shirt and winced. “You’re all bruised!” There were numerous purple marks in bands around him where the tentacles had held him tightly bound.
“I heal quickly, Pepper, don’t worry,” he tried to reassure her as she chewed her lip at the sight of the marks on him.
“That has to hurt,” she whispered, smoothing a hand over the red and purple skin on his stomach.
He reached down and caught one of her hands. “I’ve had worse. Really. Thanks for getting me out of that infernal contraption.”
Pepper nodded, searching his face to see if he was lying to her about the extent of his injuries. She leaned closer, peering into his eyes. Suddenly, he clamped a hand to the back of her head and pulled her down, leaning up to catch her lips. When he let go of her and she sat back, he whispered, “He wasn’t completely wrong.”
She raised her hands to her lips and stared. Should she? Did she dare? Tony was gone; he’d stormed out, swearing to never return. Did she dare to chance what was in front of her? She smiled at Steve and replied. “No, he wasn’t, was he?” And then she leaned down and returned the kiss.
The End Originally posted at http://rinkafic.dreamwidth.org/