Title: The First Time

Word Count: 2,328

Pairing: Tony/Pepper (eventually)

Disclaimer: I don't own Iron Man; that luxury belongs to Marvel. I don't own Tony and Pepper; that luxury belongs to Stan Lee. I don't even own the name Nolita; that luxury belongs to the creators of the too-early-cancelled tv show Kitchen Confidential.

Story Summary: This will be a five chapter series of one-shots detailing the four times Tony and Pepper don't kiss. And the one time they did.

Chapter Summary: Tony manages to surprise Pepper on her birthday.

A/N: This is my first foray into Iron Man fan fiction, and only my third attempt to write anything ever. This has been done before in just about every fandom I have ever read. But, it's one of my favorite types of stories, so I'm going to try my hand at it. I'm still really rusty, and although I am one of the most sarcastic people you will ever meet, writing Tony didn't come out as well as I had hoped. Hopefully, you'll deal with it and like the story anyway. :)

Pepper walked down the stairs to Tony Stark's basement lab with a purpose, her heels clicking along in their usual, quick manner. It had been a long day, and all she wanted to do was leave. She just wanted to go home, take a shower, and relax before meeting her parents for dinner. But of course, there was still more that needed to be done.

She turned the music down in the shop as she entered, knowing that it was the only foolproof way to get Mr. Stark's attention. And, sure enough…

"How many times do I have to tell you? Don't. Turn off. My tunes."

Pepper took a quick glance around the lab, but could not see her boss anywhere. Assuming from the muffled tone of his voice, he was working on his hot rod, she spoke in that direction.

"My apologies sir, but we have a couple more things to go over before I leave this evening."

Tony wheeled out from under the car. He stood up, wiped his hands on an already greasy rag, and walked toward her, an expectant look on his face. She caught the look, but ignored it, focusing instead on the Blackberry in her hand.

"Rhodes needs to know when you can get to the base tomorrow."

Tony rolled his eyes. "I'll get there when I get there. God, that man can be such a woman sometimes."

Pepper tried to stifle a smile as she typed a more P.C. version of his answer into her Blackberry. "Also, the board wants to review your speech for the gala tomorrow night."

Tony was messing with something on his desk at this point, but his head snapped up with her comment. "Are you serious?"

"Apparently, they don't trust you to say the right thing." Pepper gave a wry smile at this. "Can't imagine why."

"Don't they know I'll just say whatever I damn well please once I get up there."

"I did try to tell them that. They seem to think they have some kind of control over you."

"Yeah, well, we both know that's not true."

"Yes sir, but please just send it to them in the morning. It takes almost no effort and it gets them off your back, and mine."

"Fine. But hey, you never know…you might like one of them on your back."

"And on that note…I need nothing else from you, so I will get out of your way."

Pepper turned toward the door. "See you tomorrow, Mr.—"

Tony reached out and grabbed her arm, turning her back towards him. "Hey, what's with the bum's rush? Usually, I'm the one kicking you out of here."

"Well, sir. I have plans tonight." Pepper removed his hand from her arm.

"I believe I told you don't like it when you have plans."

"Well, Mr. Stark, as we ascertained last year, I am allowed to have plans on my birthday."

"Your birthday? Already?" Pepper noticed he at least tried to look abashed that he had forgotten.

"Same time every year, also ascertained last year."

"Well, forgive me, but I did spend a quarter of this year in a cave in Afghanistan and then I became the greatest super hero ever. I've been a little busy."

"Fine…I'll let it go. But just this year. And it's not like my plans are much. I'm just meeting my parents for dinner; it's been awhile since I've seen them."

"Oh." Tony gave her a response, but, he had found the part on his desk she assumed he was looking for and had lost interest in their conversation. He sat back down on the creeper and looked up at Pepper before laying back down.

"Well, have a good time. And try not to get too wasted. We have a busy day tomorrow."

Pepper rolled her eyes at his direction. As if he has any room to talk. "Yes sir. Have a good evening, Mr. Stark."

And his attention was gone. She was answered with the sound of tinkering and a grunt from under the car. She walked out of the lab, and heard Black Rebel Motorcycle Club blaring through the speakers as she left.

As soon as he knew she was gone, Tony rolled back out from under the car, a small smile playing on his face.

Pepper got home in record time. This gave her enough time to sit and relax before starting to get ready for her dinner. She shook her head and smiled when her thoughts drifted to Tony. She was strong enough to admit that he was very good looking. And he got even better looking when he was being snarky. Not that it mattered. He didn't have relationships, and she didn't have one night stands.

Pepper allowed herself a few more thoughts about her boss – it was her birthday after all – and then got up and took a shower. Just as she stepped out of the bathroom, she heard a knock on the door of her apartment. She grabbed her long, white robe and wrapped it tightly around her as she ran to answer the door.

"Delivery for Pepper Potts."

"That's me," she said, signing the sheet on the clipboard and taking the box from the man's hands.

"Have a good night, ma'am."

"You too," Pepper said while shutting the door behind her. She couldn't think of what might be in the box. She didn't remember ordering anything.

She opened the box, and saw something wrapped in tissue with a note addressed to her on top. As she opened the note, she saw a hint of green peek out from under the tissue.

Miss Potts,

Here is this year's birthday gift to you. I assume you already bought something for yourself, hopefully something as hot as that number from last year.

But just in case you haven't, I took it upon myself to get you something to wear for the dinner with your parents tonight. Now, when people say your boss has good taste, it will actually be true.

Have a good evening, and happy birthday.

Tony

Pepper laid down the note and carefully opened the tissue paper, marveling over how fast he found a dress and got it to her; she had only left his home 2 hours ago.

She took the dress out of the box and held it in front of her. She had to hand it to him; he did have good taste. The color was a gorgeous forest green. It was sleeveless, and cut low but not too revealing. It looked like it would hit her just below her knees. The feel of the soft, smooth fabric felt wonderful between her fingers, and she couldn't wait to put it on.

Half an hour later, Pepper was fully clothed and made up, and she couldn't help but stare at herself in the mirror just a little bit longer than normal. She could admit to herself that she looked beautiful tonight. She briefly contemplated taking a picture for Tony, so he could see the dress. But, she figured he had already done enough imagining of her when he bought it. She also figured one of her parents would have a camera handy, and she was already running late.

After speeding just a bit on the way there, Pepper pulled up to the restaurant just on time. The valet rushed around to the driver's side and opened the door. He gave her hand stepping out of the car, and pulled away to have it parked. Pepper took in the front of the restaurant. She knew that Nolita was one of the hottest restaurants in the city, and was surprised at the lack of people milling around outside. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought the restaurant was closed tonight.

She took a deep breath before heading into the restaurant. She was determined to leave all thoughts of her work, and Tony, behind tonight. She hadn't seen her parents in almost 6 months, and she just wanted to enjoy a nice quiet night.

She crossed the driveway and nodded to the greeter who opened the door for her.

"Good evening, ma'am."

"Hello."

As she walked into the restaurant, she heard someone say "She's Here!" followed by everyone sitting at the tables standing up and yelling "Surprise!"

Pepper was shocked, and she quickly scanned the crowd, taking in the swarm of faces looking at her. Finally, she saw her parents pushing through towards her. She rushed forward and gave them both a hug.

"What is all of this?"

Her dad hugged her tightly. "It's a surprise birthday party, dear. And here I thought you were smart."

"But, you guys didn't have to do all this!"

Her mom smiled sheepishly. "Well, as much as we would like to take the credit, we can't. It was actually your boss, Mr. Stark."

Pepper felt her jaw drop. But he had forgot her birthday…or at least had acted like he had

"Tony?" Pepper felt a small smile pull at sides of her mouth as she scanned the crowd of smiling faces around her.

"He isn't here yet, darling. But there are a lot of other people who I am sure would like to give you their birthday wishes. Go ahead."

Pepper spent the next 40 minutes making the rounds, talking to a number of her coworkers and former classmates. At some point, she noticed Tony walking into the restaurant. Their eyes met almost instantly, but she could not get across the full room to him. He simply nodded to her, and she smiled in return as she turned back to her old college roommate and he shook hands with a business partner.

The night went off beautifully. The dinner was top notch, and Pepper was able to catch up with friends she hadn't spoken to in years. In fact, she was surprised he had even found some of them. She was also surprised at how much talking she could do in one night. By the time the last few stragglers left around midnight, Pepper was exhausted.

Her father reached out and squeezed her hand as she passed him speaking with the chef. She made her way over to one of the couches in the restaurant's waiting area, and sank into the soft leather before slipping her heels off of her tired feet. She stretched her legs out in front of her and leaned her head against the back of the couch. She closed her eyes, enjoying the still quiet.

"Good party."

Pepper's eyes popped open and she turned her head to see Tony walking toward her. It was the first time she had seen him since he walked in that door so many hours ago.

"It was. Thank you."

Tony smiled in response and sat on the couch next to her, loosening his tie before laying his back as well. Pepper shifted in her seat so she was facing him, her legs pulled up on the couch underneath her.

"But why…how?"

Tony smirked and gave her body a once over. "I needed some excuse to get you all dolled up."

"Tony. Seriously."

Tony's face grew serious when she used his first name. She noticed the shift, but didn't comment on it.

"Well, I figured after this last year, I owed you. First, I forget your birthday. Then, I go and get myself blown up and kidnapped, and I'm sure that couldn't have been a picnic for you. And this whole Iron Man thing?" Tony reached over and patted her knee. "You've been through a lot; you deserve it."

Even after her statement, Pepper hadn't expected his answer to be quite so straightforward and, dare she even think it, heartfelt. Their eyes met with a mutual understanding. She allowed herself to be lost in his gaze. She didn't know how long they sat there, just content with each other's company; his hand still resting on her knee and his thumb moving in a small circle.

Pepper felt herself growing more and more comfortable and began to slowly lean closer toward him. She saw his pupils dilate a little, and his hand gripped her knee. Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on how you look at it), this extra pressure snapped her out of her fog. She stood up quickly and grabbed her shoes, her eyes looking everywhere but at him.

"Well, thanks again. I will see you bright and early." Pepper started to walk toward the front door.

"You looked stunning tonight by the way."

Pepper started at the sound of his voice and turned back to see Tony looking at her now with his smirk and a little bit of lust thrown in.

"Well, this dress was a gift, you see, so it wasn't really me." Pepper replied, determined to keep her distance.

"Whoever gave it to you has pretty good taste then."

"Normally, his taste is quite horrific, and in more than just women's clothes, but tonight he did a pretty good job."

"Good. Good." Tony rose from his spot on the couch. "And Pepper?"

"Yes, Tony?"

"One more thing." Tony walked closer to her, almost like an animal stalking its prey.

"What is it?" Pepper was getting exasperated now. She was tired, and she was sick of his games.

"You don't need that dress to look hot. All you really need are those shoes…combined with your legs…"

Pepper held up her hand, stopping him before he could continue any further.

"Will that be all Mr. Stark?"

Tony just stared at her for a moment, deciding whether or not it was worth continuing. Pepper returned his stare with a glare of her own, and he gave her this round.

"That will be all Miss Potts."

"Then goodnight."

And Pepper walked outside to get her car. Tony followed her to the door, and watched as she tipped the valet and climbed in. He smiled at the memory of her face as she talked with her friends tonight. This was the first time he had done something just for her, and it felt good. Maybe he would have to do this more often.

And that's the end of the first time Tony and Pepper didn't kiss. I hope you enjoyed it at least a little. I've got outlines for the rest of the chapters, so hopefully I'll get the next one up soon. Thanks for reading, and if you'd like, take a gander at that Go button down there. I've heard it's kinda fun