A/N: Hey Ironites! Thank you so much for all the reviews so far on this story and please keep them coming! They inspire me to write more! This new chapter is a bit shorter than usual, but it's got more detailed content in it to shake up the plot. Hope you enjoy! Love you all loads. ~ LikeThreeOlives.

Yoü And I - Chapter Three.

10 minutes after leaving her office;

Pepper scurried down the busy hallways in a flourish, waving and grabbing papers from members of Stark Industries employees, who seemed to insist on crowding the corridors at precisely 11:32am. Once through the group, which parted like the red sea at the sight of her, Pepper managed to hop into the company limo and was driven back to the mansion, checking her watch on a regular basis to make sure she wasn't late. It was routine that she'd be there after Tony's missions and his latest mission had ended a half hour ago.

Everything seemed to be such a rush, that Pepper found her mind zoning out completely, only to be brought out of her reverie by the clicking of an opened door. "Thank you very much, Happy." she smiled gratefully, jumping out of the car and entering the extravagant home of one multi-billionaire, Tony Stark, who was currently lying on the floor of his workshop, huddled over in pain.

"Welcome home, Miss Potts. The time is precisely 11:55am. Mr Stark is in the basement. I believe he's not in the fittest of states." Jarvis informed the woman as she entered the house. And, with those words, the ginger stumbled down to the lab, noticing straight away the bundle of metal on the floor.

She quickly jumped through the broken glass doorway and dove down to the metallic ground, lying his bruised head on her lap. Pepper then proceed to take his pulse, placing two shaking delicate fingers against his muscular neck firmly. It was faintly beating against the flesh and he seemed to twitch at the contact. "Pepper?" Tony breathed groggily, being light-headed as she stroked the messy, sweat filled hair away from his rugged face.

"Yes, Tony, it's me. I'm so sorry I'm late, are you okay?" the woman asked, feeling dumb as she spoke the words, he was clearly in agonizing pain. She continued to stroke his damp hair, watching as he tried to speak through the pain.

"Sure, I'll be fine, I'm always fine, right?-" he grinned cheekily, giving her a seductive wink, which made her heart flutter just a little bit. Tony always seemed to look on the brighter side of things, despite the situation and that was one of the reasons why people admired him so much. "-Just... help me up, so I can take off this armour?" he requested, holding out his hand to her.

Pepper got to her feet, placing his arm over her shoulder and helping him stand. He winced and gripped his side till he was put in his desk chair. A long breath passed his bruised lips and she stared for a moment, waiting for him to speak. "Why were you-uh..." he paused, clearing his throat. "Why were you late?" he asked quietly, knowing Pepper was always on time for everything and it was unlike her in many ways to be late.

"Christopher Lockhart, he came to speak to me about something." she mumbled, knowing it was a stupid excuse, but not being able to think of another and she could hardly lie to her boss anyway. Pepper looked up at him with apologetic eyes, noticing his facial expression turn to one of confusion.

"So, while I was here, lying in pain, you were just talking to someone?" Tony snapped lightly, not meaning to sound so disheartening or angry. He knew raising his voice to her was never a good idea, but the thought of someone else taking up her time annoyed him.

"Will that be all, Mr Stark?" she hissed, grabbing her bag and walking towards the door. She absolutely hated it when he was like this, angry and upset with her, which wasn't very often. But, she didn't like to stick around when he was in one of these moods and JARVIS could always help him with his injuries.

"It's just so like you, Pepper. You care more about business than you do about anything else!" he retorted, glaring at her back as she went to leave, his words deeming true to both of them. The redhead stopped in her tracks, hand on the bar of the broken door.

"I don't have anything else." Pepper muttered angrily, leaving the mansion and Tony to their fates. She hated being angry with him, but sometimes she just couldn't help it.

And, so, with annoyance in her tone, she dialled a number from a card, given to her only an hour prior to her and Tony's argument and arranged a meeting at a small cafe, where plans would unravel and twist and turn.