Big Reputation

An Iron Man Fanfiction

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters or any part of the Marvel/Iron Man universe...though I do wish I lived in it. Excuse me if I miss a few details...this is my attempt to get back into writing after about a year break. Please read and review!

"Oh my God. I can't take this anymore!" Pepper Potts decided, breathless after pushing away from Tony's arms once they landed on the rooftop.

He didn't seem concerned at first; her first flight was bound to leave her panicked, if he knew anything about his assistant.

"You can't?" he mumbled, pulling off the Iron Man helmet.

"I can't take this," she repeated, dusting herself off.

"Look at me."

Pepper ignored him. "My body literally cannot handle the stress. I never know if you're gonna kill yourself or wreak the whole company!"

"I think I did okay here!" Stark exclaimed, motioning towards the now burning city below them, now handicapped by the remains of the Hammeroid army.

She didn't care. "I quit. I'm resigning. That's it."

Tony craned his neck towards her as if he didn't hear her right the first time. He looked almost offended as he took a step toward her.

"What did you just say? You're done? That's surprising." A very brief pause. "No, it's not surprising. I get it," he continued, as though the puzzle pieces finally fit together. His face softened. "You don't have to make excuses."

"I'm... I'm... I'm not making any excuses," she stuttered, stepping forward.

Tony mirrored her. "You actually were just making excuses. But you don't have to."

"No, I wasn't making an excuse!" Pepper insisted, now embarrassed. "I'm actually very

justified."

"Listen. Hey, you deserve better." He lifted his hand in understanding, not needing to hear more.

She didn't expect him to agree with her, so all Pepper managed before he could cut her off again was "well..."

"You've taken such good care of me." He grabbed her hands. "I've been in a tough spot, but you got me through it, so..." After another pause, "right?"

Pepper blinked, wondering if he was actually validating his reasoning with her.

"Thank you," she managed instead.

"Yeah."

"Thank you for understanding."

"Yeah, yeah. But let's talk clean-up."

Tony went straight into business, but Pepper was prepared. Even though she found herself thinking more highly of her boss in the past year, she was programmed to assume the role of assistant in the back of her mind after being stuck there for so long. Still, something was off; his eyes seemed...lighter than usual, even after being almost murdered by a hundred Iron Man clones.

"I'll handle the transition. It'll be smooth," Pepper promised, blushing when she finally glanced away from his steady eye contact.

Stop it, Pepper, she scolded herself. He is your boss. He is Tony Stark. Tony Stark. You know how he is with women.

Tony swallowed hard, breaking into her thoughts. "Okay. What about the press? Because you only had the job for a week. That's gonna seem..."

Pepper looked back up. "Well, with you it's like dog years!"

"I know."

Pepper didn't let his seriousness go unnoticed, but she wanted the last word. Even his warm breath on her skin from how close they were now standing wouldn't tear her down.

"I mean, it's like the Presidency—" she began.

But to her surprise, Tony had stopped listening. Instead, he ended his long, unwavering gaze he had rested on her since their discussion about CEO had begun and quickly pulled her into him. Their lips met, and even though it was, what Pepper imagined, the most tame kiss he had ever had with a woman, her body felt like it was on fire. Slowly, she brought her arms up around his bulky armor.

They finally parted, leaving the awkward aftermath to Tony as his assistant tried to catch her breath.

"Weird?" he questioned.

"No, it's not weird," she exhaled.

"It's okay, right?"

"Yeah."

Pepper noticed the slightest lift at the edges of his mouth.

"Run that by me again."

And there's the Tony I know. Pepper rolled her eyes in her mind, but obliged and gladly repeated the contact that had made her so breathless. After almost a decade, here they were, sharing a first – well, second – kiss, and he wasn't doing it just to get her in bed...she hoped.

It was a quick moment, though.

"I think it was weird..." the familiar voice of James Rhodes piped up. "You guys look like two seals fighting over a grape."

Suddenly more embarrassed before, Pepper felt the need to defend herself for a second time. They had only kissed twice and the last thing she needed was the rest of the world knowing it had happened before she could process it.

"I had just quit, actually," she informed Rhodes as both she and Tony turned towards him and backed away from each other to make it less obvious.

"Yeah, so we're not..." Stark agreed, following her lead.

Rhodey gave a casual laugh. "You don't have to do that. I heard the whole thing."

Tony's temper began to flare briefly. "You should get lost," he suggested to his friend, sounding more like an order.

Then, it was a standoff between the two men as Pepper tried to wish herself anywhere but where she was.

"I was here first. Get a roof!" Rhodey tossed back.

"I thought you were out of one-liners?"

"That's the last one."

Successful, Tony grinned. "You kicked ass back there, by the way."

"Thank you, you too." Rhodey stood, still in his armor. "Listen, my car got taken out in the explosion, so I'm gonna have to hang on to your suit for a minute, okay?

"Not okay. Not okay with that," Tony told him without a second thought.

"It wasn't a question."

They watched Rhodey flip the face mask back down and launch himself up into the sky, but, remembering Pepper, Stark decided to make light of the situation; he would have time to harass his friend later on.

He turned to the red head once the suit was out of view. "How are you gonna resign if I don't accept?"

Pepper found her hands back in his, swinging in the breeze. She cleared her throat, trying to focus.

"Don't accept?" she repeated, baffled. "You can't just-"

"Oh, but I can, since-"

"You can't not accept someone quitting!" Pepper argued, becoming inpatient with his interruptions, though she expected them every time they talked.

"I can not accept you quitting," he told her matter-of-factly with another grin.

"Tony, I'm not gonna work for you forever-"

"Oh, I'm hurt!" Tony put on a woe-is-me act for dramatization. "I thought we had something good going here."

Pepper rolled her eyes.

"That hurt, but not the hundreds of bullet holes you have on you right now?!" she returned, but was interrupted by his light chuckle.

Stark pulled her close to him again with an arm around her waist, dropping her other arm over his shoulder.

"Pep, relax." His voice was soft. "We'll figure it out. It'll work. You can quit. Or stay CEO. We can be a team."

"It better work because I can't run a company and worry about you at the same time."

He ignored her comment. "Worst case, if it doesn't work, I'll just sleep with the boss."

Pepper blinked, staring blankly back at him. Suddenly she realized how close they were again, and how she was pinned into this situation with no hope of escaping the strength of the Iron Man armor if she tried. Was that what he expected of her? To get into bed with him, just like that?

As though reading her mind, Tony smirked.

"You want me out of this suit as much as I want me out of this suit, don't ya?" he teased.

"No." Pepper blushed. "I just-"

"Wanna know what's under the armor?"

Her jaw tightened, and he noticed.

"No? Okay. Not funny, right." A pause. "How about we get you home?"

Pepper frowned. She caught herself wanting to kiss him again more than she originally thought, but it was for the best. The conversation had strayed away from the original peace of it all, anyhow.

She glanced at the ground, then back up, and then it hit her: they were still on top of a building. "Is there a fire exit somewhere I can take, or-"

"I can call Happy back down," Tony told her.

"What about you?"

"Pep, I'm Iron Man, remember? Cool jets and stuff." Stark kicked up his heavy boots for effect.

Pepper glanced over the edge of the building, learning she might be just a little afraid of heights.

"Is it safe?"

"Is it safe?" Tony repeated blankly, blinking a few times. "I just fought off a ton of robots that were trying to kill me while in the air and you want to know if now, when all of said robots are destroyed, flying is safe?"

She shot a glare at him so hot it could melt the iron suit. "And this is what makes this job too stressful!"

"I know something that can help with that," he muttered.

"Really?" she complained, disgusted.

Another mischievous grin. "It's not what you think!"

Without waiting for her to tell him no, Tony tightened his grip on her and lifted her so her feet were placed over his metal boots. Then, gradually, he began lifting them off from the rooftop and into the air using the jets on his soles.

"Are you insane?!" Pepper shouted, tucking her head deep into his chest plate instead of trying to struggle.

"A little, but you knew that."

"You're going to kill us!" she yelled back at him, clearly not amused.

Tony listened to her cries of rage for another few minutes as they climbed into the air; the building was just a small afterthought below them as the lights glittered in the night sky. Down the highways behind Pepper's head, he could see police car lights flashing as they oved from robot to robot, to collect them before the general public could come close.

"I can't believe I said I'd work for you!" Pepper continued, still yelling into his chest with her eyes shut tight. "I could've been at home. Or literally anywhere else. But no. I had the stupid idea to work for Tony Stark, and now I'm going to fall to my death. Not by robots, not by a security risk, but from flying. And the worst part is, this isn't even weird-"

"Pepper!" Stark groaned, tossing his head back.

Feeling the coolness where his chin had left the top of her head, Pepper slowly peeled her eyes away from the Iron Man suit and looked up at her boss, trying to forget that they weren't on stable ground.

"Please tell me we never left that roof top," she whispered.

"Look at me, okay?" he asked politely, trying to reassure her. "You're not gonna die. I got you."

"Yes, because trusting you has worked out so well for me before!" Finally, she looked down. "Oh, I'm going to be sick!"

Pepper's face paled as she saw how far from the ground they were. The lights below looked almost as tiny as the stars above them. She rapidly whipped her head back towards Tony, taking deep breaths as she focused on the light of the arc reactor. When she finally managed to stop her panic from increasing, she glanced up.

With a cocked eyebrow and the slightest of smirks on his lips, Tony was simply watching her. They weren't moving, just floating, and he wasn't looking around as wildly as she was.

Of course this is normal to him, Pepper reminded herself.

"You're being dramatic," Tony piped up. "I just saved you, you think I'm gonna let you die now?"

"Dramatic?!" Pepper screamed back, tensing in his hold. "My egocentric boss currently has me hanging 10,000 feet in the air, Tony!"

"Twelve," he corrected. "And you're right about the egocentric part. But when are you gonna lose that 'boss' term?"

"Do you even know the odds of survival of I fall?!"

"Not good, I suppose."

"You suppose?"

"Hey, Jarvis," Stark commented, ignoring Pepper. "What are the odds of Miss Potts surviving if I let her go right now?"

"Don't you dare!" Pepper whispered, angry.

Jarvis responded without taking Pepper's comment to heart. "Not very good, sir."

"See." Tony smirked again. "And what are the odds of the suit malfunctioning right now?"

"Well, given the depletion from the battle, sir, systems are currently at twenty-four per-"

"Okay, I get the point."

Tony shut his AI up before he could worry Pepper any further. Then, he smiled a guilty smile at the woman attached to him and waited for her to continue her assault.

"I'm never letting Happy leave me alone with you ever again," Pepper muttered, mostly to herself.

"Oh." Tony focused on her, still watching as her cheeks began to lose their blush and she settled down a little bit, growing comfortable in his grasp.

Pepper glared at him and his one word answer, but inside she knew she had finally made the great Tony Stark somewhat speechless. When he didn't look away, she swallowed.

"What?"

He opened his mouth to speak eventually, but another pause ensued.

"Tony?" she asked with more urgency. "Are you okay? Don't tell me you're dying again, I swear to God-"

"Pepper..."

The red head focused on him for a moment and suddenly didn't need to know what his answer was.

"Take me home, Mr. Stark," she demanded, suddenly flustered. "And call Happy to let him know we're okay. But you owe me a martini. Or two." She thought for a moment. "Actually, three."

Tony flashed a grin and powered up his jets again, then had Jarvis program a flight plan back to the airport.

"Hold on!"

After they had landed, she immediately pushed herself away from him, but Stark was really beginning to feel like she was enjoying herself near the end of their short flight. Despite how she spoke, her body loosened up and didn't protest his grip as much as when they first lifted off the ground.

Tony had left his helmet on the rooftop next to the explosion site, forgetting to replace it before lifting Pepper into the air, so he left it to Pepper to ring him while they got the plane ready for takeoff. Now, she was pacing back and forth before the lowered staircase up to the jet. Tony watched her and ran a hand through his hair as the exhaustion began to settle in.

"Are you okay?" Pepper asked with concern as she shut her phone and ended her call with Happy.

"Good. All good."

Pepper frowned and dabbed at a bit of blood on his forehead.

Tony protested. "Pep!"

She stopped and looked at him.

"I'm here, I'm alive, okay? Tired. Just very tired," he confirmed.

Stark glanced at the plane. "Think you can make it back in one piece? I don't want to do that whole last minute pickup thing all over again tonight."

"You're not coming with us?" Pepper asked, shocked.

"Unless you've got a way of getting this suit off on that jet that I don't know about-"

"But you'll fall asleep flying!"

"-preferably in a fun way... I'll make it back before you do," he reminded her.

Pepper gave up the fight, but ran the back of her hand along his breast plate to display her worry.

"You know, two days ago you wanted to hurl something at my head," Tony informed her. "And now you're upset because a couple robots actually tried to."

"I'm upset because it wasn't me," she teased.

"Ouch."

She ignored him. "Tony-"

"Present."

"-that day, with the strawberries-"

"Which you're allergic to."

Pepper smiled – he was learning.

"Forget it," Tony told her. "Forget about it. Doesn't matter now."

"Yes, but-"

"You forgive me, right?"

Stark focused on his assistant while she tried to think of what to say next even though he was clearly overwhelming her. Sure, he had made an awkward attempt at telling her how he felt, and tried to apologize, but didn't kissing her make up for some of that? They were past that now.

"Right. Good." He decided for her. "How long till Happy gets here?"

Pepper sighed and let her shoulders relax. "Ten minutes. Unless he takes a shortcut.

"He'll take the shortcut," Tony nodded, knowing his driver's tendencies. "But I'll wait with you."

"That isn't necessary, Mr. Stark," she whispered.

"Of course it is, Miss Potts," he hummed back.

Tony's stare smoldered into Pepper's eyes, making her cheeks hot for yet another time that night. This wasn't the light hearted, kind look he had given hear before their kiss – that one was desperate. Now, he was being playful. Briefly, her mind jumped into memories from their past: Tony with his many women, Pepper dealing with the aftermath... None of it gave her hope, but a small voice in her head was telling her to ignore those things – Tony had practically been her closest friend for years, now, and there had been tension between them since his return from Afghanistan.

"You're thinking too much," Tony told her. "Do I really make you that nervous?"

Pepper watched him smirk. "I'm more nervous of myself, Mr. Stark," she told him simply.

Oh, she's good, Tony thought to himself while he watched her bite her lip slightly. "What's with these names? Mr. Stark, boss... Come on, Pep, it's me."

"And that's the problem!" she finally exclaimed, her feeling exploding into one big storm.

"Okay. Surprisingly that's not the first time I've been told that." Tony pressed his lips together. "I think it's time we drop the titles."

"Why?" she asked. "I work for you. And Stark Industries. You employed me, so naturally-"

"But you quit."

Her eyes narrowed. "But you won't let me."

"Right, because we're a team. Teams are equals. Unless you like me bossing you around," he tossed in, grinning.

Pepper contemplated smacking him, but realized she'd probably only hurt herself by trying. She was used to his sexual innuendos, so why was she suddenly embarrassed by them?

"I have never wanted out of this suit more in my life," he whined, adding a pathetic snarl to emphasize his frustration.

Pepper cleared her throat and leaned up towards him – while he was in the Iron Man armor, he had a good few inches over her, even with heels.

"Neither have I," she whispered, her words leaving a warm tingling on his lips as they escaped her mouth.

Before Tony could react, Pepper fell back down so she was out of reach, and the brightness of headlights pulling onto the tarmac warned him Happy had arrived.

"You okay, boss?!" he asked immediately after escaping the driver's seat.

"Again, with this 'boss' stuff..." Tony complained, shooing them into the jet. "Talk about it later. Race ya back to Malibu."

"You'll win!" Hogan replied, already defeated.

Tony grinned. "That's the plan."

Tony touched down in the workshop bay with Jarvis waiting for his arrival just over two hours later after taking a detour to grab some food. No one in Malibu was stunned when he arrived as Iron Man anymore, but he still loved watching them fangirl over him when it happened.

While the jet was prepping for takeoff, he launched himself from the tarmac and roared past Pepper's window; he hoped he had managed to make her jump. They would be another few hours or so, so he had time to kill.

Jarvis immediately began disassembling the Iron Man armor so Tony would finally be free. As it came off in pieces, he sighed in relief, even though actually moving his muscles on his own without the weight of the armor felt weird and made his limbs sore.

"Careful..." he mumbled, trying not to grimace.

Tony rubbed his arms as he stepped off the platform, taking a look around at the workshop he had quickly abandoned to make it to New York in time. Several screens were brought back up as Jarvis rebooted the systems for him, stuck where he left them on the arc reactor project. He made a mental note as he wandered past them to actually do said tests that he bypassed after producing the new element.

"Jarvis, current time?"

"12:14 AM, Pacific Standard Time, sir," the voice echoed.

Tony groaned as he came to a stop in front of the small kitchen counter to the side of the open room.

"Pull up ATC?" he requested and poured himself a drink.

A moment, and then, "Miss Potts should be touching down in roughly an hour and twenty minutes."

"Early."

Tony did a quick calculation in his head. Then, he turned back away from the counter so he could lean against it and folded his free arm across his torso.

"Shall I alert you once they've landed?" Jarvis offered kindly.

"Yeah, do that."

He took a swig, swished it around before swallowing, then set the glass down. He needed a shower. Badly. And sleep. But he also knew he still owed Pepper that apology and wouldn't be half surprised if she didn't wait until the morning to check on him. Then, he remembered what she'd return to.

"Any contractors up at this hour?"

"Dum-E has cleared most of the glass, as you requested, sir. Perhaps Miss Potts can contact someone to refinish the structural decay in the morning?"

"Good idea. Remind me to have her do that."

No, do it yourself, a voice in the back of his mind told him. She isn't your assistant anymore. Or CEO. But she's kind of your...girlfriend? Dare he venture there?

"Jarvis, you think I could ever handle a relationship?"

A moment passed.

"It would depend on with who, sir."

"Rhodey," he teased. "He could handle me."

"It's a possibility."

"Thanks, I guess..." Stark muttered, then pushed himself away from the counter to head towards the stairs. "Power lights in the rest of the house? And start repairs on that suit. When I come back we need to make some modifications."

"Of course, sir," Jarvis agreed as the glass door opened to let Tony out. "And might I request more diagnostics on the new arc reactor?"

"Later."

Tony didn't listen to whatever Jarvis had responded with. Instead, he made a beeline up the stairs and for his bedroom – not the one he entertained in, but the one he actually slept in. It concerned him that he would no longer need a spare, so he would just have to convert it into a guest room. Happy could have it.

A shower was exactly what he needed. He was still exhausted, but he was clean and exhausted and at least presentable on the off chance Pepper stopped by. He let the water run for a while, hoping it would relax his sore muscles, but it only gave him time to process the past few hours. Usually, he could hop in and out quickly, but not after the long night. He needed better security on the suits. He needed Rhodey's suit back. And he needed –

"Sir, power is currently at ninety-eight percent on the suit."

Jarvis had caught him off guard, initiating a sigh from Stark.

"That was fast," he mumbled, though he was grateful; it meant the damage was mostly external and his lack of energy probably didn't help matters.

"It's been an hour, sir," Jarvis replied with worry.

Sometimes Tony forgot Jarvis was an AI with how personal he had become through adaptations. Still, he hadn't realized he had taken that long, so it was probably for the best. He grabbed a towel and patted his head a few times, then tossed on an old t-shirt and jeans and made his way back down to the workshop.

He powered on a few of the televisions to keep an eye on news headlines – luckily, Iron Man wasn't part of them...yet. Then, he set up the work station to the side of his desk. Tony had Jarvis bring up a table with the suit sprawled out, now patched and ready to go for the next time he'd need it.

"Hey, Jar, what would you put as an estimated time for one of these guys to fully recharge?" Tony asked the unit while studying the area of the breast plate that was formerly ridden with bullet holes.

"With internal damage, sir?"

"Yeah, missing pieces, cut wires...the whole shebang. What's that put us at? Two, three hours?"

"Negative, sir," Jarvis told him sadly. "A whole system reboot could take up to five hours."

"So, say we get attacked in that five hours..." Tony rambled, his focus solely on the suit. "What then?"

"Well..." Jarvis was struggling to find the answer Tony wanted. "The suit would not be ready."

"Gotta have more firepower..." Stark thought out loud, realizing he could probably benefit from a backup. "Load a new file? Title Mark VII."

"Another Mark, sir?" Jarvis sounded as spent as Tony.

"Hey, don't give me that sass!" Stark scolded back. "New core, new suits. I want a backup in case this one gets powered down. Copy layout?"

"Copied."

"Good. Now bring up the projection."

A virtual blueprint of the Mark VI suit appeared into the air over the laid-out pieces. Tony swiped a few things away, then focused on the helmet.

"What's the security protocol I put on here, Jarvis?" he asked casually. "And set a reminder to visit Rhodey tomorrow."

Tony was suddenly realizing he had been so caught up in perfecting the suit, he forgot to keep it all for himself. Fury had been right – literally anyone could walk in and take one of the suits without another word, just like Rhodey had.

"There is currently no protocol on the Mark units, sir," Jarvis informed him.

Tony frowned, watching the blueprint flicker in front of him. Then, it dawned on him. "Have any photos of Pepper?"

"Of course..." Jarvis confirmed while trailing off to pull a few up. "...but may I ask, what you need it for? Is Miss Potts all right?"

"She's fine," Tony muttered, swiping through and finally deciding on a headshot. "This one. Can we add a retinal scan?"

"Easily, sir."

"Do it. Me, Pepper," he sighed, "Rhodey. Hell, throw Happy in there too."

A few moments passed while Jarvis loaded the information into the suits systems, but once he was finished, Tony was eager to test it out. He lifted the helmet from the table onto his head and waited for the screen to load; it felt heavy on him without the rest of the armor.

"All uploaded, sir," he heard Jarvis' voice update him through the side speakers in the helmet.

"Run a test?"

As Tony requested, a blue bar appeared and read his eyes to ensure the user was verified to take the suit out.

"Welcome, Mr Stark," Jarvis responded. "All access is now restricted to outside users, as per your request."

Tony grinned triumphantly. "Good. Apply those changes here and to the new suit. Then we'll talk endurance."

As he removed the helmet to set it back down on the table, Jarvis alerted Stark of an incoming call.

"Time?" Tony asked the empty workshop. Who the hell is calling me at this hour?

"Roughly 2:30 AM."

"Has Pepper landed?"

"Miss Potts and Mr Hogan had arrived about a half an hour ago, sir."

"Has she called?"

"Not yet."

"No trace on this call?"

"Sir, it seems to be coming from...one of your suits..."

"Fine, patch it through."

"Of course."

Tony made his way back to his desk as he waited to hear the sarcastic banter from the only other person with access to the Iron Man armor.

"Tony!" an excited Rhodey greeted. His voice surrounded the room in echoes.

Stark wanted to smack himself for not assuming it was his friend earlier, but since he had been up for almost a day straight, he gave himself a break. He sat, lifted his shirt, and inspected the new arc reactor he had installed so he didn't have to fidget around with his hands while he waited for the suits to process the new tweaks. It glowed, stronger than ever, reminding him that he was finally healthy again.

"Rhodes," he replied while attaching a few wires to his chest. "How's my suit?"

"Feels great, looks great," Rhodey teased.

"You know how it would look better?" Tony answered without missing a beat. "If it was back in my workshop. Here."

"Eh," was all Rhodey gave him back.

"Jarvis," Stark commanded, "you can run your diagnostics now." Tony paused as his AI complied. Then, he realized it sounded like wind on the call. "Where are you, anyway?"

"Base called me back. On my way out over seas right now."

"You're taking my suit there?"

Rhodey ignored him, knowing full well it wasn't the first time he had landed on base in the silver armor. "How's Pepper?"

"When did I say you could take it there?"

Stark avoided the question as best as he could as a window popped up on his desktop to alert him a car was approaching the door, though he could almost hear Rhodey grinning through the call.

"Sir," Jarvis interrupted quietly. "Miss Potts has arrived."

"You two better not be weird when I get back or—"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll get back to you on that," Tony mumbled as he ended the call, cutting his friend off.

"Tony?" he heard Pepper call from upstairs somewhere, probably nearing the staircase. "I can't believe you haven't cleaned this up yet!" A frustrated sigh came, then, "I'm just dropping off some of this paperwork I drafted on the way back."

He noticed her slim legs appear on the stairs, and then soon after she stood near the glass door, punching in her code. Tony spun his chair fully around to face her as she gained access to the workshop; instinctively, he began pulling the wires off of his chest in a hurry.

Pepper didn't see it at first. "If I leave them here can you please promise to look over them before I go back to the – oh my God!"

Yup, she had noticed.

"Are you doing what I think you're doing?!" Pepper sounded furious and somehow, still shocked by what she walked in on him doing.

"What do you think I'm doing?" He smirked.

"Is that new?"

"Soft of." Tony tapped on the reactor a few times. "Same reactor. Different element."

Pepper walked towards him and around the desk to inspect it. He noted how her lip rose to one side when she was trying to process his dramatic stunts.

"Take a picture, honey," he offered, beaming.

"You're still dying, aren't you?!" she exclaimed.

"Nope, definitely not dying."

"You promised me you were okay!"

"Right. Not dying."

"I don't know why I should have listened to you," Pepper went on, too caught up in her rant to notice he was giving her good news.

"Pepper-"

"OF course you wouldn't tell me the truth!"

"Pepper!" Tony snapped.

Finally, Pepper stopped talking, her mouth shutting slowly with embarrassment. She tried her best to regain her composure, but immediately began to feel hot with shame.

"I was dying," Stark told her, pulling his shirt back down and standing up to her height. "The Palladium buildup was more than we expected. The suit wasn't helping."

Pepper softened and repositioned herself on her feet. "So you were killing youself?"

"Technically," Tony admitted. "But I'm good now. It's a long story, we'll go over it one day."

She frowned, once again disgusted. "Is that supposed to be your apology?"

"That was the informal one."

She crossed her arms. "Then where's the formal-"

Before she could ridicule him further, Tony did something else he never imagined he would do. He stepped forward and pulled his assistant into a hug, one arm holding her tightly to him; it was a real hug, not one just to please her and send her off.

"Pepper," he muttered into her hair. "I am sorry. I should've told you."

Not knowing how to respond, the red head stood rigid against her boss until he released her.

"Come here," he ordered, taking her hand.

"What?" she whispered, staring blankly at his boyish smile.

Tony lead her to the table where the Iron Man armor was still laid out. He picked up the helmet and handed it to her. She accepted it with confusion.

"Did you just say sorry?" Pepper was still stuck on his words.

"Put it on," Tony instructed.

Pepper snapped back into reality. "I'm not putting this on, Tony-"

"Not gonna make this easy, are you?"

Stark moved behind her and helped his assistant lift the helmet onto her head. He was glad he asked her to do it then; she probably would've had some kind of issue with using any piece of the suit had she not been so surprised by his sincerity. He waited until Jarvis scanned her over before placing his hands on her shoulders. Then, he imagined the systems loading and detailing each and every thing in her viewfinder.

"Hello, Miss Potts," he heard his system greet Pepper from inside the helmet.

"Jarvis?" Pepper spoke quietly in awe of finally seeing what Tony saw on his missions.

"Yes, Miss Potts. Mr. Stark has added you to the security protocol."

Pepper lifted the helmet back off of her head slowly, struggling a little. As Tony realized she was done with it, he grabbed it from her hands above her head and set it lightly back down into place next to the rest of the suit without removing himself from behind her. Then, he returned to Pepper and let his hands rest on her hips; suddenly, the tension between them from before was back.

"Just in case you ever need it and I'm not here," Tony whispered into her ear, sending chills down her body.

"Or if you throw another drunken fit on your birthday..." Pepper added.

He breathed a chuckle onto her skin, taking in the light scent of what was left of her perfume for the day; she was right. He stayed still for a moment, enjoying their closeness, until she spun around to face him. Her eyes were light and she had the slightest smile on her lips; she looked content.

Tony studied her for a few seconds longer before dropping his gaze to her lips, and then back up, hoping he wasn't about to make a mistake. Then, he pulled her back into him, this time not so franticly, and pressed his lips to hers. He kissed her gently as he felt her hands move to warm the skin of his biceps, but then pulled back to assess the situation.

Pepper's eyes fluttered open softly, blinking back at him. She fought her heart for a moment, realizing how different it was between them now; he was her employer not even a day ago, and here they were, kissing for what was the third time that night.

"Tony..." she managed, giving in, and that was enough.

Reading her tone, Tony crushed his lips back on hers in a searing kiss. His force sent her stumbling backwards, but he stabilized her easily. Once they regained their composure, he cupped her face to deepen their kiss, knowing it was now more than the innocent romance they shared on the rooftop earlier in the night.

When her back ran into the front side of his desk, Pepper gasped, breaking their connection. Tony took advantage, and before she was able to steady her breathing, he pinned her to the desk with one arm on either side of her and began nipping at the soft skin of her neck.

"Tony," she whispered again, running her hands through his hair. "We're going to...need...some sleep," she breathed.

"Good idea," he agreed, grinning against her.

Pepper squealed as he grabbed hold of her and lifted her into the air. He had her wrap her legs around her waist for support, and she easily complied.

"That's not-" she began, but Tony silenced her with another kiss, and before she knew it, they were making their way up the staircase and to the main floor.

Once he found his room, Pepper landed fully on top of Tony as he fell back down onto the bed, lips still locked. She felt her skin warm at his touch on her arms, and felt him leave a gentle tickle where his beard pressed against her chin. Then, her brain followed his hands slip down, slowly from behind her back to her hips, and then finally...

Pepper broke off the kiss, panting. "Tony, I-"

He opened his eyes and looked at her with concern.

Pepper felt a pang of guilt run through her body as she saw the lust in his chocolate eyes, but she couldn't let herself do what they were about to do. She had seen nights like this too many times before and knew nothing ever lasted with Tony Stark. Yes, they had history, but she couldn't just give herself away to him so easily. She wouldn't be one of the others.

"I just, I can't do this," she finally managed to get out, still straddled on top of him.

Stark blinked, but nodded slightly. "Right. No. No, it's okay," he told her.

"It is?"

"It's good."

"I mean, I'm sorry. I really am." Embarrassment was taking over.

"Don't be."

"Are you sure? Because-"

"I get it."

Pepper swallowed, then nodded and rolled off of him. Looking around, she realized he hadn't just treated her like one of his others; he had brought her to his room. Not the room he went to for...strenuous activities...but the room he actually slept in, the one he escaped to when he was done with his other girls...the one only she had seen.

"I can make up the spare room, if you want it," Tony offered.

Pepper grimaced at the thought of using the same bed the rest of the women had spent the night in.

"Or the couch," Tony recommended instead.

When she didn't answer, he kept talking to fill the void.

"I'll call someone to clean the place up tomorrow. Oh, and I'm thinking a press conference. Maybe we can get the Expo back on its feet in a few weeks or something..."

Pepper finally brought her gaze back to Tony and gave him the same look she had in the city.

"No." She was back to whispering.

"No?" Stark asked. Had he offended her?

Pepper smiled and shook her head. "No," she repeated. "You don't have to do that."

"Pep, are you sure? I don't really think you should be going home alone at this hour-" He trailed off, watching her soft gaze on him. "Or...you can stay...here..."

Tony wasn't sure what made him want to offer her to stay with him – no sex, just sleeping – but it had just come out. Damn it, he yelled at himself. You're softening up.

"Here?" Pepper repeated blankly.

"Yeah," he confirmed. "Here. With me. We can just sleep. Nothing fancy." He watched, waiting desperately for a response. "If it's not weird."

"It's not," Pepper tossed back easily, even though it sort of was.

She felt her heart beating a million miles a minute, but realizing he was right about the time, she made a quick decision to accept his offer. She looked him over for a minute, the arc reactor shining from beneath the thin material of his shirt, until her eyes fell back onto his face. Suddenly nervous, she felt a harsh blush creep over her cheeks as she nodded and kicked off her heels. This was the same man she had spent many years working for. Sure, he changed after coming back from his few months in captivity, but this was still her boss – the person she could never take seriously before that incident. He was too familiar to her – his dark brown eyes, the way his cheeks creased when he smiled, the ridiculous sunglasses he always wore to match his facial hair – all of it was part of his appeal to the outside world. And yet, it was comforting to Pepper now. Somehow in the past few months, she had gotten used to their banter; they had become some sort of friends, as difficult as he had made it to get there. He would toss her a sarcastic, sometimes sexualized comment, and she would either ignore it and move on or retaliate with something that left him wondering. She could tolerate all of his childish antics and his dangerous projects and his lack of ability to stick to a schedule before, but now he seemed more mature, even lying there waiting for her response. He was becoming more...normal.

The echo of the shoes hitting the floor made Tony come back into reality as he realized this was the first time in a very long time that he'd actually be sharing a bed with someone just to sleep. He was Tony Stark; he didn't do things like this...but somehow, with Pepper, things were different now. She was familiar to him, and even after all the years they spent together, he never got sick of her. He actually wanted her to stay. Was he...?

"Pep," he whispered as she settled down in bed next to him and stared at the ceiling. "I-"

She turned her head towards him expectantly, but deciding to play it safe, he smiled and took her hand in his as they both laid on their backs in a very neutral position.

"Goodnight," he told her kindly, feeling her smile through the warmth of their contact.