TITLE: Vertical Space
SERIES: Imperfection Deviation/Iron Man (movie)
AUTHOR: Macx
RATING: PG-13
DISCLAIMER: None of the characters belong to me, sadly. They are owned by people with a lot more money
Author's Voice of Warning (aka Author's Note):
English is not my first language; it's German. This is the best I can do. Any mistakes you find in here, collect them and you might win a prize The spell-checker said everything's okay, but you know how trustworthy those thingies are...
FEEDBACK: Loved
BETA: okamimyrrhibis

I've had so many Iron Man/Transformers bunnies taking up residence in my brain, I decided instead of posting ficlets, I'll group them together as chapters :)

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Chapter one: Pepper's introduction to Tony's new guardian.

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Virginia Potts, better known as ‚Pepper' to those associated with Tony Stark, walked down the steps of her employer's house toward the workshop. It was 7.:10 a.m. and she had arrived at seven sharp to go over the daily schedule with him. Since she hadn't found him in his office – a place he rarely was anyway – she had two options: search on her own or ask JARVIS, the artificial intelligence that ran the house.

She had opted for JARVIS.

Pepper had been surprised by the answer because Tony was someone who notoriously worked into the night and slept in late. It was almost normal for her to talk about meetings and media appointments with Stark while he was alternatively in the shower, shaving or getting dressed.

This morning he was in the workshop.

"Still or already?" she had asked JARVIS.

"Mr. Stark hasn't been to bed yet," was the calm reply.

Figures, she thought. One of the most important shareholder meetings, a presentation of Stark Industries' figures since Tony had turned the whole company around, and he had lost himself in tinkering with his toys.

Pepper sighed. So typical.

She entered the security code and stepped through the glass door.

Loud rock music washed over her and Pepper winced a little. She should be used to it by now, but every time the sound proof door opened, she was treated to a new variation of Tony's 'relaxation' music. How the man could even hear his own thoughts at this noise level was beyond her. She immediately dialed it down several notches.

She found the workshop in its usual clutter. There were disassembled mechanical parts – of which she couldn't identify any. There were the cars, one of them the old hot rod. There was the Iron Man armor, hung suspended from chains and hooked up to JARVIS. And there was Tony Stark, eccentric billionaire, her employer, and the most aggravating man she had ever met.

She loved him, no doubt about it. He was a good man, though he hadn't always shown it. He was a good boss and she had always enjoyed working for him, despite the odd hours and the even odder requests. Of course, he was a flirt. His playboy image had to be maintained somehow. The flirting had always extended to her, like a game played by them, and she had always played back, but it had never become serious.

Since his abduction in Afghanistan he had also changed profoundly and it had made him more human. Though he could still be a prick and an asshole, and usually was with other people, she was one of the few who could see the shadows of the three months he had been kept in that cave. She recognized the nightmares, the pain, and the lingering memories of something he had never really shared with anyone. Not all were of his time with the Ten Rings. Some involved Obadiah Stane, the man who Tony had had to kill to, yes, actually save the world. The man who had been his father and uncle and mentor after his parents had been killed in a car crash.

"Good morning, Ms. Potts," he startled her out of her thoughts.

Stark was dressed in an old, ratty t-shirt, the black faded to grey, with the arc reactor glowing underneath in an eerie light. She had grown used to its presence. Once you had your hand inside your boss' chest to unplug something you didn't care about the glowing spot any more. Equally faded blue jeans and old sneakers completed an outfit no one would believe a man like Stark really wore.

But he did.

At home. Where he felt safe. Pepper knew that the workshop was Tony's inner sanctum. It was a place only three other people had ever entered. One of them had betrayed Tony.

"Good morning, Mr. Stark," she now replied formally.

"You tuned down my music again." There was a mild frown on his sweaty features.

"You have a shareholder's meeting at eight and lunch with a Mr. Tom Banachek at twelve," Pepper told him, ignoring the music comment.

"Know that."

"It's now 7:20."

"Know that, too. Still enough time."

She suppressed a sigh. Of course he knew. He simply chose to ignore that knowledge most of the time.

Brown eyes sparkling with good humor met hers and she wondered how a man who hadn't slept an hour last night could be this awake. Probably too much coffee and caffeinated sodas.

"Since we have so much time, it's also about time you get to know the latest member to our exclusive little club…" Tony went on, still in very good humor, "Ms Potts, meet Hot Rod."

She blinked, slightly confused, as Tony gestured at the silver Audi sports car parked not far away.

"Hot Rod?" she echoed.

"Roddy, say something, or Pepper will think I finally lost it."

Pepper hid a smile at that. She had never believed her boss to be crazy, just… different. His mind was simply incredible, not to mention his personality. Tony Stark, if he wasn't the boss of a multi-million company, would be right at home in a research lab with the other geeks. She knew for a fact that simply sitting on a plane he would analyze pitch and thrum of the engine, listen to each creak and groan and know where the mistakes lay. It was simply in his blood. It was him.

"Good morning, Pepper," a pleasant, male voice startled her.

Pepper stared at the Audi, then turned to give her employer an accusing look. Tony held up his hands.

"Hey, not me. He's his own."

"I'm an Autobot," Hot Rod added.

She had known about the Autobots as long as Tony. Being the personal assistant exposed her to such knowledge. Pepper had been shocked, to put it mildly, and her first face-to-face meeting with the mechanoid life forms had left her awed, but also afraid. Since then contact had been through emails, but never in person again. There had been visits from the human contingent associated with the Autobots, possibly arriving in one of the mechanoid alt forms, but that had been about it.

"Yes, you're an Autobot," Tony said with slight sarcasm. "As if you'd be here if you were a Decepticon."

"I could be hiding," the sports car pointed out.

"As a Decepticon? Among humans? Actually talking to me… without calling me any kinds of names?"

"They are sneaky. And it's been known to happen. Like Barricade."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Well, you're not. And Barricade's a special case, as far as I understand the whole matter."

He smiled at Pepper, clearly loving this moment of revelation.

"He's a good guy."

"Like you?" she couldn't help asking.

He grinned more. "I'm the best."

"That usually depends on who you are asking and what time of the day."

"You wound me, Ms Potts."

Pepper looked at the car again, then her eyes were on her employer and friend. "You still have an appointment at eight," she reminded him.

Tony gave a long-suffering sigh. "Do I have to?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Yes."

The puppy dog eyes were enough to make even the hardest man cry, but Pepper had seen them enough to be immune by now.

"It's your company," she reminded him. "The one you turned upside down and inside out. I believe attending a shareholders' meeting to show you're still as sane as can be might be prudent."

Tony smiled. "You say the nicest things, Pepper." He cleaned his hands on a rag, then walked over to the door.

Pepper looked at the Audi, wondering what to say or do. Finally she walked up the stairs after Tony.

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Pepper didn't know how the man could shower, shave and dress within fifteen minutes and look like he had spent hours on his outfit. Looking like his suave, smooth self, Tony Stark got into the Rolls Royce Phantom, winking at Pepper.

"I'll call you about your meeting at noon," she only commented.

"I know I have one."

"With whom?"

"Banachek."

"I'm surprised you remember."

Tony grimaced. "My brain is not like a sieve."

"I never said so," she replied.

"I could hear your thoughts."

"I doubt it. Will this be all, Mr. Stark?"

"This will be all, Ms Potts."

Then he was off.

Pepper shook her head and went back into the house. She had a tight schedule to manage, but the knowledge of the Autobot down in the workshop was distracting. Nevertheless, work came first. There was time for the meet and greet later on.