So this is one I've been working with on and off since the first movie (though it doesn't take into account the events of the sequel). It started off as just some random drabbles but then I ended up stringing them all together in a decently cohesive story. I don't know if I'll end up posting it all, it's pretty long and they're probably out of character a lot because I usually write Tony and Pepper as how I wish they'd be, but I guess that's kinda point of fanfiction. I also used a lot of song lyrics in most of the segments just because they seemed to fit the mood of the different chapters. Anyways, I hope you like it. As always, please read and review.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of it.


Pepper Potts never took vacations; she was far too dedicated to her position as Tony Stark's personal assistant. It wasn't the best time, given the media backlash he was currently experiencing, but life had been far too stressful lately since the whole Iron Man debacle, and on a whim she had flown to New York for the weekend to visit with some friends.

One evening as they were sitting around watching a movie, the phone rang.

"Hey, Virginia, you have a phone call…from Iron Man? Is this a joke?"

Since his 'I am Iron Man' declaration the week before, Tony Stark had found it hilarious to refer to himself as such on various occasions.

"He says he's been trying to get a hold of you but you haven't been answering your phone."

"I've only been gone two days," Pepper muttered to herself before taking the phone from her friend. "Hello?"

"Potts! I've been trying to reach you. Just because you're on vacation doesn't mean you're off duty."

"Is there something you needed, Mr. Stark?"

"Um, yeah," he hesitated. If he was honest with himself, he had really only called because he suddenly felt the need to hear her voice, but that wasn't something he was ready to admit, to himself or anyone else. He wasn't entirely sure why, but he had been having this strange feeling in his gut since she left. He began again with a tone of uncertainty in his voice that she just barely caught. "Um, I needed to know where I keep, uh, where I keep my, um…" He had to think of something, he couldn't seem to have called her for no reason. "…uh, cufflinks? Yeah, cufflinks. I uh, have this benefit I have to go to and…" he stopped and waited for her reply.

He really was hopeless without her and they both knew it. She sighed and answered softly. "Seriously, Mr. Stark? You can't even manage one weekend without me."

"You know as well as I do, Potts that I couldn't manage a day without you, let alone three."

"Well, that is true," she said flatly, and informed him of the location of his cufflinks.

Neither spoke for a few moments. She realized that Jarvis could have told him the same information she had so she was confused as to why he really called her. Finally, she broke the silence. "Will that be all, Mr. Stark?"

He sighed inaudibly. "That will be all Ms. Potts."

"What was that about?" her friend asked as she hung up the phone.

"I'm not quite sure," she answered honestly, as she remembered that there was no benefit he was scheduled to attend that evening.


It's dark, only a faint light flickering above him. He wakes in the cave, ordered to build the missile, held underwater as he refuses. "When you finish he'll let you go." "No he won't." He realizes his life will never be the same. He's resigned himself to the fact that he's never getting out. His first thought- Pepper. He'll never see her again. His heart aches.

He sits up quickly, covered in sweat, his face in his hands as silent tears roll down his face.

After his nightmare about his capture in Afghanistan, Tony went down to his workshop to think. "This can't be happening to me. She'll never think of me as anything other than her jackass boss."

"Something wrong, Mr. Stark?" Jarvis interrupted.

"Not now, Jarvis. I just need to clear my head. I think I'll work down here for the rest of the evening. Please send down some more coffee."

"Of course, Mr. Stark."

He made some minor adjustments to the suit, trying to keep himself as busy as possible. He couldn't avoid this forever; he had to know how she felt, even if her answer would crush him.

He looked up. "Jarvis?"

"Yes, sir?"

"What time does Miss Potts's flight get in tomorrow?"

"5pm, sir. Why?"

"No reason. That'll be all, Jarvis," he finished, and continued with his work well into the next morning.


Hope you all enjoyed this rather short beginning chapter. Longer segments to come, I promise :)