No ownership of anyone or anything here.

Profanity happens herein, and Pepperony is assumed.

"Good morning, Mr. President. The date is November 7, 2012, and it is 6 am, EST. Current temperature is 34 degrees Fahrenheit, with light and variable winds at current altitude and calm conditions at ground level."

Tony Stark groaned and closed his eyes again, burrowing into his heap of deep-burgundy pillows, less than half awake.

"Thanks, J."

"May I offer congratulations, sir? An historic moment, indeed."

"Sure, J. Whatever. Thanks."

Tony drifted for a moment, still mostly asleep, and more than content with that state of being. After a five-day, epic, full-size, Badassium ARC reactor build, sleep was a good thing. An extremely good thing.

And then his mind presented him with a thought it didn't want to ignore. He was the President and CEO of Stark Industries, but Jarvis had never before found it necessary to mention that...

"Um... J - why're you calling me 'Mr. President' all of sudden this morning?"

"Because it is the proper title, sir. Ms Potts is inquiring if you have roused sufficiently to engage with her."

Tony snorted, grinning into his pillows.

"Since Pepper's in DC, there's about a dozen puns to be made about me being roused and how hard 'engaging' would be over that distance."

"I believe Ms Potts is referring to engaging you in discussion, sir," the AI told him. It sounded like Jarvis was trying - hard - not to laugh. "You are notorious for the...eccentricity...of your conversation before achieving full wakefulness. However, if you are sufficiently awake as to be capable of recognizing potential double entendres, I believe you are awake enough to speak coherently with Ms Potts. Shall I put her through?"

"Sure, J. Thanks."

"Tony!"

"Hey, Sweetheart. You sound indecently awake for this time of the morning."

"Tony," she warned him. "I'm sure you're 'indecently awake' - "

"I can actually hear the quotes in your tone!" he laughed.

" - too, and all that stuff - "

"Excellent stuff, Pepper" he corrected, rolling over onto his back in the heaped pillows and soft covers of his bed, the blue light of the arc reactor blooming in the pre-dawn shadows of his bedroom. He reached down and pulled the bow out of the drawstring of his sweats so he could work them down his hips a bit. Indecently awake was an appealing idea. "Which you tell me every morning when you decide to indulge in some 'waking indecency'. And if you're calling for some morning phone sex, Pepper, I can only tell you I am in awe of your sense of timing, Sweetheart."

"Tony!" she snapped.

He froze, the hard-on in his hand wilting a little at that 'if you weren't my boss, I would kill you so dead even your ancestors would retroactively expire' tone that she achieved, and in only one word, too.

"Pepper...?" he answered with extreme caution.

"Do you have something to tell me, Tony?"

Still with that seething tone of imminent death. Oh, shit. Whatever it is I've done, it's apparently really bad. Did I break anything on the way home last night - this morning? Wait - I was in the Tesla, not the suit. So I'd have hit it, and I'd know I'd hit something wouldn't I? I wasn't dead tired - just...maimed...tired, after all.

Tony grabbed the tablet off they nightstand, and typed, fast.

'J - scan Tesla roadster. Report any fresh body damage by text to tablet.'

'No damage, sir. The Tesla roadster is intact.'

He tossed the tablet on the other side of the broad mattress. Good that the Tesla was okay. Bad that he wasn't okay with Pepper.

Tony ran a hand over the arc reactor, hoping inspiration would strike. It seemed inspiration was otherwise occupied.

Crap. So I've forgotten...something. And it was apparently important. It's not her birthday. It's not my birthday. It's not Christmas yet is it - no, it's still November. Did I miss the Halloween gift giving season? Oh, hell, I don't know! Shit. Shit. Shit. Okay... Gotta say something. Let's try something that always throws my delightfully suspicious Pepper: the unadorned truth.

"I love you. I miss you. I - "

"TONY!"

Oh, shit. Full-on shriek of imminent execution by infuriated girlfriend, and not a clue to be had. I am so very fucked, and not in the good way, either.

"Er... I'm not supposed to love you? Or miss you? Okay. Or - not. Actually. Um, Potts, I'm just not okay with that. I do love you. And I do miss you. I wish you were here."

"Tony...how long have you been up?"

Tony Stark glanced down his own body, where waking decency had been achieved while he was trying to figure out why the woman he loved apparently wanted to murder him. This time.

He stifled the audible part of his sigh and pulled his sweat pants back up.

"Um... I don't know...?"

"Tony!"

Jarvis helpfully put up the time in the window across the room.

"Thanks, J. Six minutes, Pepper."

He could hear her grumble, but it was that 'he got that one right, even if I'll never admit it' grumble.

"What day is it, Tony?"

"November 7, 2012. Jarvis told me when he woke me up."

"And what day is that?"

Jarvis flashed 'Wednesday' under the time on the window, so he said that.

"Wednesday?"

He could actually hear her face-palm - but at least it wasn't Thanksgiving that he'd forgotten. That only happened on Thursdays, didn't it?

"Tony - did you vote yesterday?"

"Oh! Are they bugging you about that? Nah - I filed an absentee ballot back in Malibu last month. With the storm I knew I'd be too busy to get home. Just tell the reporters I voted and make'm leave, Pepper. You don't have to put up with them."

"Tony - who did you vote for?"

He blinked at the bedroom ceiling. In twelve years, that question was a first.

"You."

"What! Tony, I'm serious - "

"So am I. Check with the electors in Malibu. I always vote for you. Best person for the job and all that."

"Which office?"

She sounded pissed off, as if she thought he was making it up as he said it. That was disheartening.

"All of them," he admitted.

"All of them!"

"All of them on the ballot - yeah. They let you write in - "

"TONY!"

I am so fucking gonna get killed and I have not even clue-one why...

"Um... Yes?"

"There was a presidential election yesterday, Tony."

He grinned.

"You got one vote at least, Pepper."

She blew out a long groan, and Tony raised a brow at her lung capacity.

Not that that hadn't been evident during some previous episodes involving screaming in pleasure, but one never knew where the adrenalin stopped and the sheer physical prowess started in those situations. One small happy thought in this conversation. Oh, yeah - my Pepper is a screamer with staying power. Maybe I could teach her to sing...?

"Did you watch the returns, Tony?" his Pepper demanded.

"Nope. Wasn't home. I was finishing the portable ARC to loan out to Con-Ed. It's on line at noon today, the universe willing and the creek don't rise. Again. More. They're predicting another storm y'know."

"Yes, Tony. I know."

"Oh, cool. Um - are you, um, mad at me about the election, Pep?"

"You might say that," she said in tones that made a death sentence sound cozy.

Oh, shit. So very fucking cluelessly dead.

"Er...why? Who won, by the way?"

"Who won!?" Pepper sputtered, and Tony stifled a chuckle when she couldn't seem to string together any additional worlds.

"Mr. Stark was incommunicado yesterday, and remained so until your call this morning, Ms Potts. He instructed me to 'maintain radio silence' - except for you. He has seen no news reports of any sort, nor spoken to anyone other than you and I," Jarvis put in.

"You mean he doesn't know!"

Tony blinked, brows climbing. Pepper could shatter glass with that pitch.

"Do I know what, Pepper?" he asked, rubbing the arc gently. "Are we having another alien invasion? Congress subpoenaed me? Dummy tried to drive my Testarossa again? J - why didn't you tell me about Dummy and my Ferrari, man?"

"Tony - about the election - " Pepper said before the AI could respond.

"Yeah?"

"You won."

"I did? Cool! Won what? I didn't know we had a bet."

"No, Tony. You won the election. By write in votes. You're the duly elected forty-fifth president of the United States."

"No!"

"Yes! Tony Stark - you stop laughing at me! If I find out you knew anything about this beforehand, you'll be the first president to be assassinated before his inauguration, too! "