A/N: My first Iron Man fic! Takes place between the first and second movie. I'll admit I got the inspiration for this from another author, ZionAngel, in a story that I found when I stumbled across the Pepperony 100 Challenge on LJ. I couldn't stop thinking about the claustrophobia and etiquette of elevator rides… and this one-shot fic was the result. Hope you like it!

….

Tony was well aware that he was a very bad man.

Even with the hero routine, even with the changed ways, even with the lack of women in his life recently, he still knew deep down that he was just a little bit sick.

But it wasn't really his fault. It was Pepper's fault that she was such a perfect height, and for wearing tight skirts with her smart little business suits. He couldn't be blamed for that.

It was also his client's fault, for not having enough elevators to comfortably accommodate his hundreds of employees.

It was the elevator's fault for being so small and crowded.

It was for those three reasons that Tony was now considering sabotaging the elevators in his own Stark Industries.

…

It was about a month ago that Tony found himself in a painfully tempting situation. He and Pepper had been meeting with one of his newer clients to discuss possible improvements on the Intellicrops line of soy products. The young CEO was a health nut from Colorado who had used Daddy's money to start his own business of protein-enriched granola bars, and had exploded when he came up with a non-cancer-causing sweetener that made the nuts and berries edible without adding any calories. Once he hit it big, he started manufacturing cheaper granola bars to send to third world countries.

The point, though, was that the bastard's offices were housed in a modest but completely green building, and only had two elevators. When Pepper and Tony had arrived, he had commented on them, wondering aloud how that could possibly be enough for 564 employees who worked in the building. Pepper had looked up briefly from her Blackberry to say that since the company was full of health enthusiasts, they probably all used the stairs.

Tony had considered this until he realized that the building had ten floors. He mentioned it to Pepper, but she just went back to typing. It was when they were about to step into the elevator that she muttered playfully, "Just because you can't do it doesn't mean they can't". Tony responded appropriately, insisting on taking the stairs, but Pepper pulled him by his sleeve back into the elevator as the doors shut, telling him firmly that she will not climb those stairs in her new designer heels.

As a few more people crowded into the car on the next level, Tony leered at Pepper's sexy red pumps while she pretended not to notice.

Two more levels up, three people added themselves to the already claustrophobic space, and Tony had to shift to the back of the car, his shoulder pressing into Pepper's shoulder. They stood side-by-side for the rest of the climb and Pepper eventually finished her email and put her phone away. On the second highest floor most of the occupants got out, and on the top floor Tony and Pepper made their way to the CEO's expansive office, which was, of course, decorated in Asian décor.

The meeting went well, but Pepper had to keep reigning Tony in as he kept making subtle jokes about hippies and taking cracks at the "tutti-frutti" man. She had to step on his toes to keep him from saying something outrageous when the CEO offered to take Tony out to his favorite vegan restaurant and oxygen bar.

Tony was still practically gleeful when the elevator they were standing in front of dinged and the doors opened. A couple people from the top floor joined them, forcing Tony to take a step back. On the next floor, three others hopped on, making everyone shift back again. Tony found himself in the corner of the elevator. He leaned over and whispered in Pepper's ear, "It's lunch time, I guess they aren't so health conscious when they're hungry. No one is taking the stairs, seems like they all are perfectly happy with the lazy-ass elevator."

Pepper didn't acknowledge his comment.

On the eighth floor, four others squeezed their way into the space, and Pepper stepped closer to the corner as a large man in front of her nearly scuffed her shoe. Everyone was still being polite, trying to keep an inch of personal space around them, and no one was breathing particularly deep, trying to suck it in. Tony watched as one more person was added to the mix, and people gave up on decorum and smushed together in an effort to fit. The large man in front of Pepper pushed back into her, and with a slightly curling lip, she stepped back again.

Pressing right into Tony. She immediately tried to correct herself, but the man and the people took advantage of the new inch of open space, filling it in immediately. Pepper was stuck.

Tony hadn't had time to react; he had been clasping his hands in front of himself before, and when his PA had shifted into him, he hadn't had time to adjust his position. Her wonderfully tight ass had practically fallen into his hands.

Tony held his breath and very quickly forced his hands to his sides, grazing against the back of her skirt and trying not to notice that her rounded back end was snug against his Armani-clad crotch.

How many floors left?

On the sixth floor, the doors opened, but the people waiting muttered about taking the stairs instead when they saw it was at capacity.

Tony was starting up at the ceiling, in case Pepper looked back at him to glare for his accidental fondle. She didn't. She kept facing forward. Though, if Tony concentrated, he swore he could make out a pinkish hue to the side of her neck and her ears were definitely turning red.

On the fifth floor, the doors opened again, and stupidly enough the people standing at the front of the car tried to make room for a lone skinny coworker, and Pepper was once again pushed into Tony's body. The shimmying of the others in the space caused her bottom to rub against him ever so slightly.

Tony bit his lip and tried to remain calm.

It had been four months since he got back from Afghanistan, and seven months since he had had a woman. It had started wearing on him a bit, and he sometimes felt like a teenager all over again, getting excited at the smallest provocation. But it was most intense around Pepper. He had sort of offered her something more, something emotional, back when he declared himself to the world, but she had made it clear she didn't think it was a good idea.

It had been a disappointment, but he also understood Pepper, and knew she cared.

The damned elevator stopped at every single floor on the way down, and it was obvious everyone in the car was waiting for the lowest floor to leave the building. Tony was both elated and tortured. He knew if he let himself think about Pepper too much, his arousal would become undeniably noticeable, and probably creep her out too. She had seen him naked many times, seen him naked with women a few times, and she had even seen him naked with himself once. She knew he was a veritable horndog, and an unapologetic one at that. But Tony had tried to rein it in out of respect for her and her position in his life. He had given up on seducing her (well, any forward attempts at least) after the first year in his employ. He had even gotten kind of used to the idea of her as asexual. She never talked about men, or flirted, or dated. But then when he returned, and she was happy to see him…

Then they danced and she let it slip that she not only had desires, but she desired him in some capacity…

Tony began solving equations in his head, calculating the tension in the wires holding the elevator and the velocity of its descent. He tried not to notice the fact that Pepper's height and her heels put her in the perfect position for some fantastic upright sex. In fact, if she were naked, and just bent forward at her hips a bit, they'd be perfectly aligned…

As the image flashed through his brain, Tony panicked. Two more floors to go, and they had better hurry, because he felt himself rising to the occasion.

Think of Afghanistan! Think of Rhodey in a sundress! Think of Butterfingers mangling the drive shaft on your third Lamborghini!

Pepper's shoulders were tense, and he wondered if she could sense his distress. Maybe she was just uncomfortable being pressed into the back of the fat guy in front of her. Tony could just barely see over her shoulder, and it was moving with her halting breaths. Was she breathing that way to keep compact? Or because she was nervous?

Tony leaned closer to investigate, and realized he could nearly see down her very professional white silk button-down. He could see down past her sweetly freckled sternum to the slightly paler cleavage.

Wondering what type of underwear she was sporting, he leaned closer until he saw a hint of white lace. He couldn't help the soft exhalation upon his discovery, but in retrospect, it wasn't a good move. Pepper stiffened at the sensation of his hot breath on her neck, and arched her back and straightened her shoulders, hitting him in the chin with a jerk. Startled, he reared back into the corner again, hitting his skull on the wood paneling. It made a thunk and some of the other passengers looked over at him.

He glared.

Two of them got excited looks on their faces and began nudging their coworkers, whispering about Iron Man.

Mercifully, the elevator hit the ground floor and the doors opened, relieving the pressure and allowing Pepper to step away from him. One by one people exited and went their separate ways. Pepper stepped out the doors, and began to head towards the parking lot where Happy would be with the limo.

It was after a few steps that she realized she didn't sense Tony's presence beside her.

She turned back to the elevators.

Tony was stunned, still pressed into the corner of the car, staring off into space and breathing deeply. He was all alone in the elevator as the doors began to quietly slide shut. Just as they were about to close, a small freckled hand shot in between them and opened them up again. Tony shook his head and shoved his hands in his pockets, fighting a look of embarrassment that threatened to show on his face.

"Mr. Stark?" Pepper asked carefully.

He kept his head down, willing his body to keep it together and go down already.

"Mr. Stark?"

No answer.

"…Tony?" He looked up as she used his first name, and gave her a very debonair smile, seeing the telltale blush still spread across her cheeks all the way to her ears. He simply strode out of the elevator as if nothing in the world was wrong, and walked straight to his limo without a word about the incident.

…..

Tony was pretty sure Pepper had caught on – after all, he liked her because she was so damned smart and knew him so well. He had been trying for awhile now to repeat the situation with her. Since then he had managed to be squeezed into an elevator with her side-by-side, but never again back-to-front. He wasn't sure if she was intentionally avoiding it or what. He had been trying to figure out the logistics of the dilemma, and had tried to stand slightly behind her during most elevator rides, which never seemed to be crowded enough. He had recently gotten into the unconscious habit of leading her into and out of elevators with a guiding hand at her back, barely touching her waist and spine. Pepper pretended not to notice, which he knew was a gift.

He had tried to convince building maintenance at the headquarters of Stark Industries to shut down all but two elevators in the building, so that the cars would be packed extra, extra tight…

The poor guy was so confused and star struck by his CEO (and never forget, the hero Iron Man) coming to talk to him personally, he forgot how to even shut down an elevator.

Not wanting to resort just yet to cutting wires and ruining gears, Tony one day hung fake signs on all but one of the elevator doors that were near his and Pepper's offices, then invited her to go to lunch with him.

She had already ordered lunch in that day, she said.

At the end of the day, he tried to leave right as she did, but the one "working" elevator only stopped at three floors, and the employees of SI were polite enough to give their boss and the lovely Miss Potts lots of breathing room.

Now, Tony was wondering what he was going to have to do next to get to feel that pert little bottom against his body again, those shoulders against his chest and arc reactor, and to breathe in the scent of her strawberry blonde hair.

Maybe if he could somehow force others onto the elevators with them… Maybe keep them there for an hour or so, until he got his fill…

Tony was musing on the subject as he walked to his kitchen, already scheming in his brilliant mind. He could coax Pepper to the offices this afternoon, he was pretty sure, and maybe have some sort of remote signal set up by then, which he could keep in his pocket to control the elevators-

He rounded the corner and ran straight into something as high as his hips. Looking down, he saw that Pepper was bent over trying to retrieve some sort of obscure espresso device thingy from his bottom cupboard. His hands immediately latched onto her hips as his weight lurched Pepper forward, almost stumbling.

For one unbelieving second, Tony took it all in: Pepper's hair cascading over her shoulders and across her face a bit, her hands reaching back to clutch his to steady herself, her narrow waist bent forward and flaring out into her perfect, elegant hips, connected to That Ass, once again snuggled into his crotch.

She immediately straightened, bright red in the face, murmuring an apology and trying to pull away from his grip. For a couple heartbeats, though, he held on tightly, not letting her escape. He leaned his head forward and smelled her shampoo – lilacs – before unpeeling his fingers from her deliciously tight pencil skirt.

He took a step back, then another. Pepper turned shyly and opened her mouth to say something.

Tony's eyes were unfocused as the image burned into his brain – Pepper bent over in front of him in his kitchen. In his mind's eye, she had no business suit, and her hair was mussed, and she was moaning and begging for –

"Um…" Tony babbled incoherently for a few moments before shoving his hands into his jeans pockets and rushing out of the room.

Pepper stared after him for at least two minutes, just standing in front of the counter. She had no idea how she would face him when she had to go tell him they needed to revisit the granola bar company tomorrow.

….