Disclaimer: I do not own/have created any of the characters (C) Marvel

December 24th, 2002

Pepper had sensed it the moment she began writing the dates of December in her emails. She had sensed the crazed, holiday-spirit driven, American society ready itself with weather forecasts of snow, sales for any and all stores, and tremendously frenzied economics. The wealthy had begun to send out invitations to holiday balls and dinners, and Tony was no exception. He purposefully stayed out of the country and sent short worded emails to Pepper explaining the basics of what he wanted at his own extravagant holiday dinner. When pressed for more details, he simply said, "Do what you think is right, Pep."

This wasn't Pepper's first Christmas working all day, but it was Pepper's first Christmas working all day for Tony Stark.

He certainly hadn't disappointed either. Typical. He was scheduled to land an hour ago, but Pepper had begun to get used to his style, and she called Happy accordingly, who graciously drove her to Tony's personal landing pad in the middle of the night.

"I'm so sorry, Happy. I'm sure there's tons of things you have to be doing with your family right now." She apologized, as she firmly shut the car door.

"It's alright, Ms. Potts. I can only imagine how enjoyable your day has been."

"Touché." Pepper rolled her eyes with a slight, strained smile.

Happy continued, noting her now infamous Blackberry, "Well, how did the holiday dinner come along? A lot of problems?"

"Yeah, a lot of things that needed to be fixed." Pepper sent her last demanding text message and sighed, "Tony's so spontaneous anyways, I don't even know why I bother."

"You're doing a great job, Ms. Potts. You're one of the best personal assistants I've ever had the honor of knowing."

She felt her tired lips perk up, "Thanks, Happy."

The car slowed as it neared the landing pad. Pepper craned her neck to see the plane's lights flicker in the clear nighttime sky.

"Beautiful night for Christmas." Happy added, "You enjoy yourself tonight, Ms. Potts."

Pepper smiled again and stepped out of the car to meet her boss. The airplane landed gently on the ground, as if apologizing for its late arrival on Christmas Day. The side door swung open and Tony's shadowed figure stood at the top of the narrow stairway down the ground. Pepper waved a "thank you" to the airplane staff and jogged to meet Tony at the bottom of the steps.

"How was your plane ride, Mr. Stark?"

"As enjoyable as your workday must've been today."

Pepper laughed openly, "Yes, well you did a smart move leaving the country for a while. Needless to say, this same trick won't work again next year."

Tony shrugged it off.

"Well, you're just in time to make it to your own royal party, so we should hurry." She turned and began her run back to the car.

She heard Tony behind her, "Cancel the holiday dinner. I'm going back to my house."

Pepper froze and turned slowly to face Tony. He stood there with a locked jaw, hands in his pockets.

Pepper's smile vanished, as Tony cleared his throat, turning his gaze to the Californian city. She began to feel herself wobble in her ungodly tall heels at the sudden bluntness of his directive. His eyes were purposefully masked by unnecessary sunglasses—clever. He brushed past her and walked briskly to the waiting car. Pepper did her best to gather her shaken morale and follow him with a lowered head. She snapped open her Blackberry again, sending frantic text messages, calling off lights and caterers, mass apologies to guests, well-written alibis. She took a second to glance up at Tony's expressionless face, only to feel remarkable chills crack down her back.

Happy paused, as they loaded into the back of the car, wordlessly. He turned down the Christmas music, as they fixed their seat belts, and swallowed silently, speeding off into the night.

"Where to?" Came the meek question.

"Home." Replied with gravitas.

Pepper's hands shook uncomfortably, as she confined herself to her Blackberry. Tony settled back in his seat, sunglasses flashing in the collection of city lights. His body was so relaxed, reserved, still, but every now and again, he would clear his throat and Pepper's head would shoot up, looking for signs of remorse.

The silence spoke for the both of them, tensing up within their chests and refusing to get off their minds. Thoughts ran amok, but did nothing as unspoken figments.

Oh, but the silence. That's what Pepper cringed at.

She uncomfortably shifted in her seat, finding her eyes lingering on Tony more often than not. As they approached the darkened house, Tony suddenly moved to unlock his seat belt, jittering Pepper more than it should have. He stepped out of the car, exhaling audibly. Pepper, too, made movements to follow him, but he leaned down to her window, shaking his head,

"Thanks a lot, Pepper. I'll be good from here. Happy holidays." His voice appeared distant and muffled, as his breath fogged the glass.

He left without another word, locking his front door behind him. Pepper blinked, sinking into the car seat.

Happy turned around, "Are you off work now?"

Pepper stared blankly, "I...think so."

"Would you like me to take you home, Ms. Potts?"

"I need you to help me break through this front door, that's what."

Happy was willing to help Pepper break into Tony's house, which was surprisingly easy, since Jarvis wasn't on. That was all he was willing to do, however, clearly fearful of Tony's imminent anger. He wished Pepper luck in whatever it was she planned on doing and quickly left the premises.

Pepper stood in the middle of the foyer, knowing very well that Tony was most likely down in his basement. She took small, cautious steps down the stairs, trying to make up a goal in her mind. It was difficult, seeing how she was merely his PA.

What more was needed from her? What would this directive be filed under?

She convinced herself that it was a part of holiday spirit and that her family could wait a few more minutes for her arrival. As she neared the basement's door, booming rock music grew more evident, and Pepper grew more divided in her decision.

She paused at the door, staring at Tony through the glass. He lay on an abandoned couch, staring intently up at the ceiling, hands behind his head, feet propped up.

Gathering blind courage, Pepper knocked purposefully on the door.

Tony snapped up, clearly surprised. He squinted, realizing that it was Pepper. He stood up and tried waving her off, as he approached the door.

"Potts, you should go home. I just ended your workday. You're not getting overtime for anything."

Pepper stiffened, biting down on her lower lip, "Mr. Stark, this isn't on a basis of work or money."

"Then why else would you be here?"

"As someone who is genuinely concerned for your well-being."

"Is that a part of being my PA that I forgot to read, again?"

"It's on my own agenda."

Tony searched Pepper's glassy eyes for an ulterior motive, and Pepper felt self-conscious under his exacting stare.

"If you don't mind being a little more civil, I'd like to enter. It's sort of silly talking to me through a glass door."

Tony blinked at the abruptness, hand resting on the doorknob. He carefully opened the door into the world of his basement, being sure not to take his eyes off of Pepper.

She entered his little mechanical world with slight wonder. Tony shut the door firmly and watched her, as she took a seat.

They uncomfortably locked eyes.

"This is still really weird, you know." Tony spoke up.

"Er, I just wanted to know if there was anything I could do for you, Mr. Stark."

Tony was touched. Even if this was part of her job or part of some other plan to get paparazzi press, it was a sweet thing to say.

But he had to be honest with himself, too. She hadn't even been with him for a long time. Kind-heartedness would have to be thanked for later. He still wanted to keep his own pride, and although he innately knew that it was a silly thing to try to maintain, he refused to let himself tell her anything.

"I'm just feeling a little under the weather. My party's not that important anyways. There are plenty of others that are being held."

"You seem very unlike yourself today, Mr. Stark. I'm just very concerned that something may be wrong."

Tony glanced away, and Pepper bit her lip, taking the subtle signs.

"It's...fine if you don't want to tell me. I'm not exactly a best friend or anything, and I can tell it's quite personal." Pepper awkwardly stood up, smoothing out her skirt.

She quickly made her way to the door, feeling her cheeks burn with embarrassment. Stupid, stupid, that's what this was. She pulled out her ponytail, as she jogged up the stairway, to cover her eyes. Tony watched her silently from his chair, and he swiveled around to face his computer screen.

"Tell Happy he better fix my door lock."

"Of course, Mr. Stark."

He smirked and then softened, thinking about the two of them trying to break down his door.

"If I may be so bold to point out, Mr. Stark, that was an exemplary example of courage on the part of Ms. Potts."

"Really? I mean, I guess courage was involved, but I saw something else."

"Surely you don't mean to say that you think it was monetarily driven, do you, sir?" JARVIS spoke with disbelief, or at least Tony interpreted it as such.

"No, I didn't mean money. I just...I don't know I saw something else. Forget it. Maybe I'm misreading things." Tony waved off the AI and reached for an unopened bottle of Christmas whisky.

"Happy holidays and good cheer and stuff, right, JARVIS?" Tony took a deep, hearty swig of the acidic drink.

JARVIS sighed audibly, "Yes, sir. That seems to be the conventional notion."

And so the lonesome technician continued to drink late, or rather early, into the next morning. The bottle's slim neck had a fiery passion that no other neck could provide. It was smooth and flawless, and his hand tightly clenched around it without regret.

His counterpart found herself at a bar. While it was a bit of a classy bar, it was a bar. She had sworn to resist such temptations, but she was too busy drinking away her own troubles. Not over the lost work but over her own shortcomings. There was some sympathy embedded within her. She was a sensitive creature, and while she had tried to train her instincts to lean towards the defensive, she was like an open nerve. Too easily affected by others and too dependent on others.

With separate glasses, well really a glass and a bottle, raised to the eve's moon, alcohol washed away the words left unsaid.

AN: Uh (peeks out from behind computer screen) so it's been awhile, hasn't it?

I can't express my regret and disappointment of my own inability to faithfully continue this fan fiction, and I am incredibly sorry :( I was hoping to be much more aggressive with my updates, but then a lot of real life things got in the way (ew, right?).

I was recently PM'd about the mass deletion of fan fictions that will be occurring soon, which worried me a little. I don't think I have written of any explicit content (yet) but I'll let you all know, if I decide to switch mediums.

Thanks again to those who were faithful, and sorry to those who were discouraged at my long MIA.

- TM