Many Happy Returns

There were many aspects of her job that Pepper Potts really enjoyed. There were a few she wasn't particularly fond of, but, there was one she detested. It sounded like a simple task, but, in reality, it was near impossible. She truly hated having to keep Tony on track during a meeting. There were eleven thousand ways to be distracted from the business at hand and he knew them all. Today, he seemed to be trying harder than most and she wasn't exactly in the best mood to handle it.

After spending a long five days dealing with their subsidiaries in Japan, Pepper had spent three more days of hearing corporate whining in New York. She came straight to the office from the airport. While no one was ever actually excited about having to attend meetings, Tony especially despised them. That's why she was surprised to see him there at all. Yet, here he was, sitting beside her, closer than usual.

While she was trying to listen to the head of the Accounting Department discuss the need for a better spreadsheet program, Pepper felt a foot begin to slide up her calf. She slipped a look at Tony, but he sat there feigning interest in the speaker like always. She shook it off, but, soon, it was back. "Put your shoe on," she mumbled out the side of her mouth.

"Why?" he responded, managing to make it sound like a sigh.

Pepper replied by giving him a kick in the shin. She could feel his foot stop and Tony attempt to quietly do as she requested. This was going to be harder than ususal. Accounting finished and the entire presentation from Research and Development passed without further incident. Pepper was just about to let down her guard when, two minutes into the Human Resources report on employee morale, Tony's hand landed on her knee. It lingered for just a moment before creeping upward.

At first, she was in shock. It was a bold move, even for Tony. Pepper came to her senses and picked up his hand, removing it from her thigh. Inwardly, she sighed. "Bored Tony" was difficult, but, "Amorous Tony" was near impossible. This was punctuated by the return of his roving hand. A squeeze of her knee and, in short order, his fingers were inching their way beneath the hem of her skirt. She swatted it away, but it did little to deter him. Praying no one ventured to look under the table, Pepper grabbed Tony's wrist to still him. It wouldn't be good if he turned the tables; she was afraid of where he would try and put her hand, business meeting or no. Whatever thin strands of patience she had snapped when she looked and saw the satisfied smirk he wore.

"Thank you, Marshall," she said more calmly than she felt. "I think this is a good time for a brief break. Everyone be back in five minutes." Pepper continued to hold Tony in her vice-like grip until the room was clear.

"Uh, can I have my hand back?" Tony said.

Seething, Pepper released Tony's hand. "What were you thinking? No. Don't answer that. I know what you were thinking. I just don't know why you thought this was the appropriate time or place."

Tony rubbed his wrist. "That's some grip you got there. You been working out?"

"Do NOT change the subject. I know you hate these things, but, seriously Tony, what if someone had seen you? What would they think?"

"Maybe 'I don't see how he can keep his hands off that smoking-hot C.E.O. as much as he does.' Yeah. That sounds about right."

"Okay. I can't do this. You can leave. I will say you were called away."

"I don't mind staying."

"And I can't spend the rest of this meeting wondering what part of your body would be touching what part of my body next."

"I can make some suggestions or would you rather I surprise you?"

"Argh!" Pepper growled in frustration. "Just go. I will see you when this is over."

"Promise?"

"I promise. People are coming back and the meeting will be starting again soon."

Tony dropped his voice and leaned close to her ear. "How about I leave and you find a reason to excuse yourself in about ten minutes? Then, we go find a nice, roomy storage room to hide in. Or…there is the new sofa in my office that needs to be broken in. It's sturdier than the last one. You remember what happened to it don't you?"

"Go."

"If you change your mind…"

"I won't." Pepper turned her attention to the papers in front of her, hoping Tony would finally get the message. He did and walked away a minute later. Part of Pepper felt horrible for running him out like that, but the business part of her realized it had to be like this if she hoped to get anything accomplished. It was her job after all to make sure things ran well.

The meeting was back in progress ten minutes when her phone buzzed. She checked the screen.

Miss me yet?

Thinking if she ignored him he would stop, Pepper left the message unanswered. In short order, her phone buzzed four more times.

Your ten minutes are up.

Storage room unavailable :(

Good news! I found an empty supply closet :D

Can you stop by my office first? Need to suit up the Iron Man, but my wallet is empty. The box is in my desk drawer.

Pepper answered him, albeit briefly.

Quit texting me!

Tony answered almost immediately.

Just one more.

When the next message arrived, it was completely different from the others.

This is gonna be fun! There's just enough room in here for you to...

What followed was a fairly detailed description of his plans for the two of them if she were to meet him in the aforementioned supply closet. Pepper could feel her face getting hot and had no doubt it was turning a corresponding shade of red. Her head shot up, almost positive that everyone around knew what she had just read. Looking again at her screen, she powered off her phone, quickly glancing around the room to see if anyone noticed her current flustered state. Luckily, the rest at the table seemed too engrossed in reading a prospectus the Mergers and Acquisitions head presented they hadn't looked up. Pepper took a sip of water and prayed there would be no more incidents before they were through.

Thirty minutes later, Pepper made her way to her office. She found Tony there, sitting on the sofa watching tv with Rhodey. Trying to assume normal activities, she booted up her computer and sat behind her desk.

"Hey, Pep. Rhodey brought breakfast. You want some?"

"No thanks. I ate on the plane. Good morning, Rhodey."

"Morning, Pepper," he said. "How was your trip?"

"Long," she answered truthfully.

"How was the meeting after I left?" Tony asked.

"Uneventful." Pepper buzzed for her secretary. After years of being the organizer of Tony's life, it still felt odd to have someone keep track of her schedule.

"Good morning, Miss Potts," the older lady said as she entered the room. "Good morning, Mr. Stark, Colonel Rhodes."

"Good morning, Louise," Pepper said.

Louise pulled a paper from her portfolio. "I have a printout of the schedule for today."

"Okay, let's have it. What time is the conference call with the New York PR department?"

"It isn't until tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Pepper said somewhat puzzled. "When I left last night, I scheduled it for today."

"It must have been rescheduled."

"By whom?"

"I'm not sure, but I can find out," the secretary said, scanning the sheet.

It occurred to Pepper that Tony had been unusually uninvolved in the conversation so far. She looked at him. He seemed absolutely too captivated by the breakfast cereal commercial on television. There was no need for Louise to attempt to find out who changed the schedule. Pepper knew the culprit. "Don't bother, Louise. It's not important. What else? Is the architect still bringing the plans for the new wing of the Children's Hospital this afternoon?"

"No. Your afternoon is completely clear. There is nothing after your twelve o'clock."

"My twelve o'clock?"

"Yes. The last appointment you have all day is at noon with...Antonio," Louise said, checking the paper in her hand.

Pepper could hardly believe her ears. She shot a look at Tony. He was no longer glued to the television, but gave her a sly smile and waggled his eyebrows. "He's Pepper's best friend," he put in.

"Oh, how nice!" the secretary said.

"Rhodey knows Antonio."

"Rhodey is staying out of this," their friend said.

"Wise move," Pepper replied.

"You will have all afternoon to spend with your friend," Louise said.

"Excellent idea," Tony told her, rising from the sofa. "Remind me to give you a raise."

"Thank you, sir."

"You are most welcome."

Pepper took the paper from her secretary. "Thank you, Louise. If you will excuse us, I need to speak to Mr. Stark."

Rhodey gathered up the remnants of the food he brought. "I have to be getting to the base." He took a look at Pepper and said to Tony, "Good luck, man."

Pepper watched the pair leave before she turned her attention to Tony. "I don't know how you did it. I'm not sure I even want to know how, but I know you did this."

"And by 'this' you mean..."

"Hacked into my schedule and rearranged everything." She rose from behind her desk and paced the room. "And Antonio? Really, Tony? What was I supposed to say if she asked who that was? 'Oh, that is the name Tony uses for his...his..."

"Trouser snake?" he supplied. "Man muscle? Johnson? Fine. Next time, I won't be as subtle. I will just say, 'Louise, pencil me in this afternoon. Miss Potts and I are going to take a trip on the love train."

"Oh please."

"Don't like that one? How about charm the one-eyed snake? Ride the bucking bronco? Pound the Posturepedic?"

"Tony..."

"Copulate? Mate? Procreate?"

"You do know that 'procreate' means to make a baby, right?"

"Yep. So?" Pepper was taken back at his candor. He took advantage of her silence and continued. "Do the wild thing? Mattress wrestle? The bump and grind?"

"Tony, please."

"Hmm. I've heard that before. There's also dance the horizontal tango, bang, screw, boink, shag, other one-word terms that are way more inappropriate..."

"Tony, stop!"

"Wow! That I haven't heard."

"I get the point."

"If we are lucky you will."

"Enough!" Pepper pinched the bridge of her nose and took a breath. "I know what you mean. But, of all times, why now?"

The flirtatious manner was gone. "Because...because I missed you."

There were times when Tony, for all his swagger, looked to Pepper like a lonely child. This was one of those times. He looked completely vulnerable and part of her wanted to gather him in her arms. "I missed you, too," she assured him.

Tony ran a hand through his hair. "Okay, maybe I should know feeling up the C.E.O. during a meeting is a bad idea, but, I'm kinda playing it by ear here. This whole 'relationship' thing is virgin territory for me."

Pepper knew when he made not further comment about him and the word "virgin" being used in the same sentence he was sincere. She wouldn't stop him now. She leaned against the chair facing her desk and listened.

"I never thought I could ever be happy just SLEEPING with someone, but I am...with you. You're the only person I WANT to be there in the morning. When you're not, I miss you. For the last nine days, I've been miserable. I never knew how lonely of a place it can be." Tony took a moment to figure out exactly what he wanted to say. "Sometimes, I laid there and thought, what if you were out there doing all this corporate stuff and forgot what was at home?"

Pepper didn't say anything, but walked around behind her desk and picked up her phone. While walking toward Tony, she pressed buttons. When she found what she needed, she handed him the phone. He looked at the screen, then to her, then back to the screen. It was a picture of him, in bed, sound asleep. "I took that the morning I left. Whenever those corporate types were whining and complaining, making me want to scream and throw something at them, I used it to remind myself why I put up with it all. The sooner I finished, the sooner I could get back to the cute guy in the picture." Pepper finger-combed his hair back into place where he has mussed it earlier. "I could never forget what was 'at home.' I know exactly what is here...my heart."

Tony gave a shy smile and lifted her hand to his lips with his free hand, kissing her knuckles. He held the phone where they could both see it. "You looked at this, huh?"

"Uh huh. Last thing at night before I went to sleep, too."

"I was naked under that sheet, you know."

"I remember. As I recall, I had something to do with that." Using their still-joined hands, Pepper led them to the sofa and pulled him to sit beside her. "We still have to talk about today."

"Okay."

"Traveling is a part of our jobs now and it will mean more times of separation. We are going to miss each other."

"Right."

"But, that doesn't mean that you can come to work and act like a horny teenager."

"In my defense, I never got to be a horny teenager. I was too busy being a boy genius. I've got to make up for lost time."

"Trust me, you have."

"Were you ever a horny teenager?"

"We aren't talking about me and my teenage years."

"I will take that as a 'yes' then." Tony cocked his head to the side and looked at Pepper. "It is SO unfortunate we didn't know each other in High School."

"I would have been way out of your league," Pepper shot back. "Seriously, Tony. Today can't happen again. I have a job to do here, a job you asked me to do, and times like this morning deserves my attention. How I do my job reflects on both of us."

"How you do your job makes me look like a genius!" The gravity of what she was saying began to sink in. "But...how I treated you today looks like I don't take you or my...OUR company seriously. I guess for a smart guy, I can be an idiot." Tony took both Pepper's hands in his and looked straight into her eyes. "Virginia Potts, I admire and respect you more than anyone else...EVER. I appreciate every minute you are by my side and I miss you like CRAZY when you're not there, because, it's like the best part of me is gone. Not only do I LOVE you, but I NEED you."

"That's the sweetest thing you have ever said to me."

"And I mean it."

"I know you do. That's why it means so much. The feeling is 100% mutual."

Tony shot her a quizzical look. "How do you need me?"

"Every woman needs a knight in shining armor. In my case, the armor is real and I am very much in love with the man inside of it."

"How about a compromise?"

Pepper was more than a little surprised at his offer. "I'm listening."

"I may not be good at this...this...What do you call what we have here? Don't say 'relationship.' That sounds so Dr. Phil."

"Why do we have to call it anything? Just enjoy it for what it is."

"Works for me. Maybe I'm new at this," he said, releasing her hands and gesturing between the two of them, "but I know that everybody wins in a compromise."

"What do you suggest?"

"Okay, so I promise to save it for home and..."

"No."

It was Tony's turn to be surprised. "No?" Pepper's cheeks blushed pink and she gave a small shake of her head. Tony responded with a wicked grin. "Am I to assume that, by her objections to my proposal, the unflappable Pepper Potts is in favor of a little workplace rendezvous?"

"Occasionally," she confessed.

"See...if topics like these were discussed, I would be at every department meeting." Tony squinted and added. "Uh oh. I sense a 'but' coming."

"However..."

"No. No 'however' either. 'However' is just a fancy 'but.'"

"The occasional 'workplace rendezvous' or the fact that I am actually a fan of 'Horny Teenager Tony' is not the issue here."

"So, you admit, you are a fan."

"If I say 'yes,' will you finish this conversation without any further interruptions?"

"Absolutely."

"Then, yes, despite the fact he makes me so frustratingly insane, I find 'Horny Teenager Tony' attractive in some weird, hormone-fueled way." Tony looked extremely proud of himself. "Now, how about you promise to stop rearranging my schedule and I promise to make room for some 'private time' after these trips?"

"Except in emergency situations when you need to be kept out of danger." He saw the doubt on her face. "I'm serious, Pep. This could happen. We weren't even a real couple and Obadiah came after you."

"Okay, if that ever happens, but we aren't going to ruin the moment playing 'what-ifs.'"

"Agreed."

"Besides, I have a man of iron to protect me."

"Reading Sherlock Holmes again, I see." Tony ran his hands up and down her upper arms. "I will TRY and keep my hands to myself in the conference room as much as possible."

"Fair enough. After all, that's what the new sofa in your office is for." Pepper supplied. "There ARE certain perks to working after everyone else has gone home, you know." She stood and took him with her. "I am going to tell Louise to move the conference call and the architect visit back to their original times." While talking, Pepper reached to button his top button, tighten his tie, and fix his collar. "You will go do whatever it was you had planned on doing with Rhodey and be back here to see the plans for the Children's Hospital." She retrieved his jacket from the back of the sofa and helped him into it. "Then...I will have her move my lunch date to dinner and clear everything for tomorrow morning."

Tony saw the glint in her eyes and her coy smile. "I see," he replied. "The reason being..."

"The meeting with Antonio may take much longer than originally expected. I want to make sure I have time to give him a proper welcome."

"Interesting." Tony pulled the sunglasses from his breast pocket and slipped them on. "Will that be all, Miss Potts?"

Pepper straightened the lapels of his coat, brushed off his shoulders, and fixed some unruly locks of hair with her hand. "That will be all Mr. Stark." He leaned in and gave her a chaste peck on the cheek. She smiled as she watched Tony walk out the door. Business trips may be one part of her new job she didn't necessarily like, but she was sure coming home was going to be one of her favorites.

Author's note: This story is the result of conversations between me and my BFF about Tony and Pepper's reaction the first time they were separated after becoming a couple, what would happen if Pepper had to kick Tony out of a meeting, and a picture on Facebook of a sleeping RDJ. Thanks, also, to my new pal, NCISVILLE for her help, suggestions, and encouragement. I have enjoyed writing these IM stories very much and that hasn't happened for me in a long time. Please let me know what you think, but, be nice. :) I hope you like it. Pepperony 4-ever!