Pepper awakens, filled with gratitude

At 6:43 a. m., the sunlight had already crept onto the edge of the control panel. The half-empty bottle of electrolyte solution gleamed yellowish in the light, the label on the bottle completely soaked and rotten, like an old band-aid soaked through. Ye Mo was still leaning against the sofa, his hood covering half his face, breathing evenly, seemingly fast asleep. In reality, he wasn't truly asleep at all; the replay of the battle just now was replaying in his mind, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that nothing was quite right.

Tony sat at the control panel, his left hand tightening the last connector screw on the armor. His metal fingers clicked shut, and the entire arm was re-energized, emitting a slight hum. He shook his hand a couple of times, loosened his joints, and hummed the chorus of some old rock song, completely off-key.

Just then, the monitor in the next ward went off.

It wasn't an alarm, nor was it static; it was just a regular, steady beeping sound—like a heartbeat finding its rhythm.

The two looked up almost simultaneously.

Tony's hand froze in mid-air, his expression shifting from nonchalant while repairing the equipment to tense and restrained. He didn't speak, but stood up and walked quietly towards the ward. Ye Mo also sat up, rubbed his face, and, though not wearing his glasses, his eyes were clear, followed him into the room.

Pepper Potts opened her eyes in her hospital bed.

Her eyelashes fluttered twice, as if she had just emerged from a long dream. Her gaze was somewhat unfocused, slowly refocusing on the ceiling before gently turning towards the doorway. She saw Tony, paused for a moment, her lips moved, and her voice was very soft. "... Tony?"

Tony stood by the bed, not responding immediately. Instead, he glanced down at her vital signs screen, and only after confirming that the values were stable did he step forward and take her hand, which was outside the blanket.

"I'm here," he said, his voice a notch lower than usual.

Pepper's gaze then shifted to Ye Mo, who was standing at the foot of the bed with his hands in his overalls pockets, his face expressionless, simply watching her quietly.

She blinked, then suddenly smiled, and said weakly, "Thank you... for saving me."

The air fell silent for a moment.

Tony's throat moved, as if he wanted to say something, but he choked. He was always quick-witted and could argue with anyone, but at this moment, he didn't know how to speak. He couldn't save everyone; he almost lost his life in the cave last time, and this time it was Ye Mo who rushed to the front to save her from the virus. This Iron Man sometimes couldn't even protect the most important people in his life.

Seeing this, Ye Mo cleared his throat, changed his tone, and said casually, "The way you talk makes it sound like we're so great. If you hadn't woken up, Tony would have been muttering your name in front of this lousy lab every day, it'd be so annoying."

Tony glared at him sharply.

Pepper chuckled softly, though not loudly, her shoulders trembled slightly.

"That's just how he is." Tony finally found his voice and squeezed her hand. "But... he's not entirely wrong."

Ye Mo shrugged. "When have I ever lied? The system remembers everything."

"Your system won't tattle." Tony rolled his eyes.

"If it knew how, the first thing it would do would be report you for stealing the energy drink I hid in the cabinet."

"Those are supplies, strategic materials."

"You call that strategic material? Mixing Red Bull and Gatorade, are you trying to blow yourself up like a human firework?"

Pepper listened to their bickering, her eyes never leaving their faces. She didn't say anything more, but a smile remained on her lips, and she gently squeezed Tony's hand. In that instant, Tony felt the weight on his chest ease a little.

The three of them stood there, one sitting and the other two standing, none of them in a hurry to break the silence.

The sunlight outside the window grew brighter, shining into the ward and casting three shadows on the floor. The medical equipment beeped, like some kind of clumsy background music. There was no smoke of gunpowder, no explosions, and no enemy breaking down the door—at this moment, there were only the sounds of breathing, heartbeats, and the two men desperately trying to find topics to talk about in order to keep the atmosphere from becoming too emotional.

"Honestly," Ye Mo suddenly spoke, his tone becoming more serious, "It's good that you're awake."

Tony turned his head to look at him.

Ye Mo didn't look at him, his gaze fixed on Pepper's face. "When you were lying there before, I was thinking, if you never woke up, Tony would definitely turn the entire lab into your private ward. The walls would be covered with your photos, the stereo would play your favorite jazz music on a loop, and even the coffee machine would be programmed to make only mochas for you."

"You're making fun of me, aren't you?" Tony sneered.

"I'm stating the facts," Ye Mo shrugged. "He's even planning to write a song for you called 'To My Comatose CEO.'"

"If I really did write it, the song title would be 'Don't Take the Bullets for Me Anymore,'" Tony said softly, his gaze returning to Pepper's face. "Next time there's danger, don't rush in."

Pepper shook her head, her voice still weak but firm. "I can't watch you go alone."

"Then at least wait until I'm fully armored."

"When can you put on the armor in a second?"

"Give me ten years."

"I can't wait that long."

The two looked at each other and smiled.

Ye Mo looked at them without saying anything more. He knew that some things didn't need him to say. He was just someone passing through this world, who originally only wanted to live a peaceful life, but ended up getting inexplicably caught up in a bunch of things, saving this person and that person. But now, seeing this scene, he suddenly felt that it wasn't so bad after all.

It's so good to be able to protect the people in front of you.

He glanced down at his hand. A crack at his fingertip hadn't fully healed; it was from when he forcibly removed the virus using his Regeneration abilities. It didn't hurt now, but it still felt a little stiff. He remembered the moment the shadowy figure lunged at him, the feeling of his Steel Bone Transformation arm withstanding the shockwave, and the cold, robotic notification in his ear saying, "Energy overload."

But he didn't say any of this.

Now is not the time to talk about fighting.

Tony gently tucked Pepper in, his movements clumsy, more like a young boy taking care of someone sick for the first time than a billionaire. Then he turned, walked to the door, opened it a crack, and after confirming no one was outside, glanced back at Ye Mo.

"Let's go?" he asked.

Ye Mo nodded, taking one last look at Pepper on the bed. She closed her eyes, her breathing steady; she was probably going to sleep again. But a slight smile lingered on her lips, as if she were having a sweet dream.

He gently closed the door and stood side by side with Tony in the hallway.

Sunlight streamed in through the high glass window, falling on the two of them. Tony took off his oil-stained gloves, stuffed them into his pocket, and sighed.

"Do you think she'll keep pushing forward?" he asked.

"Yes," Ye Mo said. "She's your woman, and she's very strong-willed."

Tony snorted. "That's why I have a headache."

"Then you should live well and not give her a chance to make a move."

Tony turned to look at him. "What you're saying sounds like a deathbed message?"

"I'm telling the truth." Ye Mo grinned. "If you really died, wouldn't she chase you to hell with her high heels and curse you?"

"She's really capable of doing it." Tony nodded, rarely agreeing.

The two stood there, motionless. The corridor was quiet, save for the faint sound of cleaning robots gliding by in the distance. This battle was over, but they both knew it wouldn't last forever. Killian had powerful backers, and the drones had a control source; this world was never short of people looking to cause trouble.

But they didn't want to talk about that right now.

Tony stared at the hospital room door and suddenly said, "I used to think that as long as I built stronger armor, I could protect everyone."

"And now?"

"Now I know that armor alone isn't enough." He paused, "I also need someone willing to stand by my side."

Ye Mo didn't reply, but simply raised his hand to push up the silver half-rimmed glasses on his nose—he didn't really need to wear them, but he was used to it. His gaze from behind the lenses swept across the city skyline outside the window, towering buildings, bustling traffic, and ordinary people starting a new day.

He didn't say, "Next time we need to be faster," nor did he say, "I need to try a new combination," and he didn't even think about the system, abilities, or cooldown times.

He just stood there quietly, with Tony, guarding the door, guarding the person inside who had just woken up.

A gust of wind blew in from the vent, ruffling a corner of his hoodie.