A/N: First Iron Man fic. Movieverse.

Late one evening, as the residents of the Stark Mansion found themselves still up, an inventive Tony Stark stopped his assistant from going back upstairs with a new idea.

"Hey Potts, I was thinking about starting my own line of cologne like all the other celebrities do," he called out as he reclined in his seat, threading his fingers through his dark hair as they supported his head.

Pepper managed to suppress a smile as Tony continued.

"I'm thinking about calling it," Tony paused with a smirk and raised his right hand, emphasizing each word by stretching his fingers, "Stark Naked...because that's how every woman will be after catching a whiff of this stuff."

"And what will this cologne smell like, Mr. Stark?" Pepper questioned, unable to stop her thin lips from twitching up into a amused smile any longer.

"Tony," he corrected before shrugging nonchalantly. He had already resumed his preoccupied task of dismantling an Iron Man gauntlet as he retorted with a dismissive wave of his hand, "I don't know, the guys in the lab will come up with something good."

Pepper nodded and bit her bottom lip to keep from laughing. She looked down at her clipboard and suddenly recalled that she had some more news to give him. She cleared her throat as she prepared to relay the information she had learned this morning, "Oh, and Tony?"

"Mmhmm?" he hummed without tearing his eyes off his intricate piece of work.

"Your jet is currently undergoing some emergency mechanical repairs, so we'll be flying to your meeting on a public airline."

Tony paused from his work and glanced up to meet Pepper's worried eyes. He sighed and slumped back into his chair. "What's wrong with the 737?"

Pepper hesitated, unsure what he was referring to before it hit her. "Oh, the 737? There were some difficulties during a routine test flight and, well, being who you are they didn't want you to have an unsafe flight."

Tony nodded as she spoke although his dark eyes continuously strayed over to his disassembled arm, lying forlornly on his table, his mind going over upgrades and gadgets that he could use to better his suit. Pepper followed his gaze and resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she continued, "I'll be down within the hour in order to brief you on the scheduled flight to London, tomorrow."

Tony's eyes jumped away from his work table as they focused on his PA. He furrowed his eyebrows and asked, "Uh, what meeting in London?"

Pepper sighed. "The one I told you about this morning?"

Tony gave her a blank stare.

"London requested a face-to-face meeting after your 'I am Iron Man' admission on the news last week," Pepper's tone went neutral, but her eyes seemed to flare up in annoyance when she mentioned his stunt.

"What's London have to do wi-" Tony started, still unclear before Pepper interrupted calmly.

"London, among many foreign cities, also has a part within Stark Industries. So of course they are concerned about the stock market and various other issues when the CEO decides to announce he's a superhero."

Tony, a little taken aback at her clipped tone and interruption, didn't bother to smile in victory that she admitted he was a superhero. Instead he nodded quietly and proceeded to grab a grease stained rag in order to pointlessly wipe his equally dirty hands on. He threw the rag over his shoulder and tilted his head to the side.

"Is that all, Ms. Potts?"

"For now, Mr. Stark, yes." She turned to leave as she called over her shoulder, "I'll be down in an hour, unless you need me otherwise."

Tony nodded mutely, no longer interested on working on his suit. He sighed and titled his head back to speak to Jarvis.

"Hey, Jarvis, do ya think Pep's mad about my whole public admission thing?" Tony asked, exhaustion laced in his tone.

"Sir, if I'm not mistaken, she's very mad about your 'whole public admission thing,'" the AI responded smoothly, his pleasant English accent making him sound less robotic and more human.

"Hmm," Tony surmised, running a dirty hand through his dark hair. He reclined back into his chair once more, stretching his arms as far as they could go to relieve some aches within the stiff joints. He rubbed his knotted neck and rolled his head around, attempting to loosen the tension built up.

"Sir?"

"Yeah, Jarvis?"

"Might I suggest you shower and rest? I assume Ms. Potts will be inclined to tell you the same when she comes back down within the hour."

Tony smiled and nodded. "Sounds good, thanks."

"You're welcome, sir."

An hour later, precisely, Pepper Potts made her way down the stairs and into Tony's workshop carefully. As always, she wore extremely high heels that required her to tackle stairs with a pronounced skill in order to prevent a broken ankle or worse yet...a broken heel.

"Mr. Stark?" she called out, her seemingly tinny voice echoing in the vast and unusually dark room. Pepper took a hesitant step forward, pressing the clipboard to her chest tightly as she called his name out once more.

"Potts."

Pepper stifled a scream as she jumped and turned to find her boss sitting on the couch's armrest, an amused expression on his handsome face and his arms crossed. She placed a hand on her heart, as if she could quell the rapid pounding before she replied, "You scared me."

Tony nearly chuckled as he nodded. "Yeah, I can see that." There was pregnant pause before he looked away unsure of himself. He rapped his knuckles on his arc reactor, the soft blue light the only source of illumination in the room, as he quietly murmured, "I didn't think I'd ever be able scare anyone in the dark with this thing always," his brow furrowed in a visible quest for the right word before he settled, "On."

It was quiet once more before Jarvis piped up, "Shall I turn on the lights, sir?"

A smile came and went on Tony's face before he answered in the affirmative. The lights flickered briefly before the basement was washed in a nearly blinding white light.

Fully recovered, Pepper pushed a tendril of strawberry-blond hair behind her ear. She picked up a sealed envelope that rested on her clipboard and waved it in the air. "Enclosed are the tickets for your business trip to London. Our seats are in first class, of course," she cast him a quick smile before plowing on, "Also enclosed is a list that I was able to formulate with the help of Jarvis on the finest restaurants, all located within a relatively close distance of the hotel we will be staying at."

Tony nodded and yawned, scratching his head as he did so with an outstretched arm. He shook his head roughly and blinked hard a few times before he waved his hand.

"Okay, sounds like it's all fine and dandy..."

"Yes, if I may say so myself," she responded with a proud grin.

Tony clapped his hands together. "Okay then, let's hit the sack Ms. Potts?" and to her slightly unsure expression he sighed and added, "And I don't mean together. Although..." He cast her a hopeful expression that she quickly shut down with a pronounced eye-roll. "Come on, I'm beat." He scratched his chest as he yawned once more.

"Very well, Mr. Stark. Goodnight. See you bright and early tomorrow morning."

"Tony," he corrected before returning in kind, "G'night, Potts."

They exchanged brief smiles once more before Tony was left with the sound of Pepper's heels clicking up the stairs.

TBC...

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