Ah, yet another story I'll probably take a year to finish. It seems I'm cursed with recurrent writer's block. Still, this bunny hopped into my head and needed to be let out. So, plz RnR and i hope u enjoy!

I of course disclaim Iron Man. It makes me sad :(

She's at a conference meeting.

The same type that Stark Industries had been having once a week since Tony's Iron Man admission. She's traveled all over the country to meet distant board members and welcome new ones. She's written over a hundred pages of notes.

And Tony hasn't been there for any of it.

Pepper taps the pen on the table.

The window is reflecting the bright light of the Florida sun.

The board members are talking about nothing...yet again.

She's bored out of her mind.

And it seems this particular meeting is more meaningless than the last eight, because she cannot help but let her mind wander over the events that have occured since Tony's return.

The terrorists, the Suit, Obadiah's betrayal (and death), was all too much for one stressed out PA to handle.

And to top it all, in this particular board meeting...

Pepper cannot help but miss her boss.

He sent her in his stead, so he could fly his missions and continuously modify his 'death-suit'.

She's come to call it that out of mere spite...not toward Tony, but to the suit itself....the danger it seems to intice its pilot with every time he walks down into his lab.

She hates it. But she also loves it. If not for the suit Tony would have never come home.

Perhaps it's just Mark 1 she loved.

Mark 3 can kiss her ass.

Rhodey is sitting beside her, again, at the request of her employer. He's serving as her bodyguard.

Another change in Tony due to the suit: Paranoia for her safety while she's away.

His attitude toward her has certainly become much more serious lately. No longer is he asking her to stay late and drink everything in his alcohol cabinet with him (not that she would anyway), and no longer is he asking her to 'feel free to crawl into my bed if you ever feel afraid of the dark'.....not that she would anyway.

Well....that's how she felt 4 months ago....

Did she still feel that way?

What the hell was Tony feeling?

And why on earth is Rhodey nudging her???

"Pep!"

His whisper breaks her reverie. She looks up to find the entire board staring at her.

Had they asked her a question?

If so she had never heard it.

Once again, she wished Tony was there, because at this very moment she felt completely panicked. Of course, such a word was an overstatement.

The real panic hit half-a-second later, when the entire twenty-story building began to shake, and sound of the explosion met her ears.

OOOO! Cliffhanger! Another one of my curses. Anybody know voodoo?