The Club

Virginia "Pepper" Potts was about to lose what little sanity she had left which, at midnight on a weekday when she had to be up in a few hours to be back at work, was slim to none. An audible sigh left her lips but it didn't matter. Her surroundings were far too loud for anyone to hear her obvious distress to what she was being subjected to. Why in the hell was she here again? Oh yeah. Her extremely frustrating boss had decided to take a little detour after one of their meetings. This little detour of his included stopping at a strip club. Now, while Pepper was not a prude by any means, hell she did use to model herself, she really did not feel like spending her free time at a strip club. Especially not at midnight. Especially not with her genius, playboy, billionaire boss Tony Stark.

Tony was currently receiving a very erotic lap dance from a very enthusiastic busty brunette and Pepper was beginning to question her life choices. Had she known things like this would be in the job description of being Tony Stark's personal assistant, she would have ran for the hills screaming instead of happily accepting his offer.

Then why the hell did she stay? This was not her first Tony rodeo by any means. She had worked for him and put up with his shit for years. Pepper massaged her temples, trying to ward off her quickly developing migraine. It was far too late to even ponder a question like that. At this point, her overworked brain was barely functioning. That's what happened when she was forced to endure a four hour meeting with a room full of engineers. All she wanted to do right now was go home to her apartment, her comfy pjs and her warm and welcoming bed. But no. No. She was stuck here in a place that smelled like cigarettes, booze and cheap perfume watching her boss ogle a bunch of women's tits. Joy.

Tony was clearly enjoying himself, maybe a bit too much because no one was suppose to touch the girls but he was and the dancer wasn't trying to stop him, which wasn't all that surprising. He was Tony fucking Stark. Everyone knew who he was. He was one of the world's most eligible bachelors. One of the richest men on the planet. It wasn't a shock to her that women threw themselves at him. With his fit body, coiffed dark hair and killer smile, he was extremely attractive.

When Tony was working hard in his shop, his tight fitting shirt clinging to his sweaty body in all the right places, displaying the rippling muscles in his shoulders, it was a site to behold indeed... Pepper was shocked at herself, blinking rapidly trying to get the image of her boss' body out of her mind but it seemed to be burned into her retinas. Had she honestly just had a fantasy about Tony? Nope. That was impossible. She definitely was not at all attracted to him at all. Not in the slightest. She chalked her crazy thoughts up to the fact she was tired and not thinking properly. He was her boss. Her friend. Her colleague. That was it.

Pepper watched closely as the dancer wrapped Tony's red tie around her hand and pulled him closer to her as he laughed, his bright smile lighting up his entire face. When the woman reached out to touch his face, tracing her long manicured nails down the column of his throat, Pepper allowed her head to fall forward onto the table and it wasn't because she couldn't stand to look at Tony and the woman anymore. Oh no. It was simply because she was tired. Yes. That was it. She was tired. It had nothing to do with Tony and the way his eyes hungrily raked over the dancer's body admiring her every curve or the way his large hands gripped her slender hips.

"Hey, hey, Pep."

Speaking of the devil. Here he was now in the flesh. Pepper sighed as loudly as humanly possibly into the table, sucking in a deep breath to compose herself before she finally lifted her head to meet Tony's eyes. Tony's glazed over but still beautiful brown eyes. Oh God. Did she honestly just call his eyes beautiful? Okay, so maybe they were beautiful. Those giant coffee colored orbs framed by the thickest lashes she had ever seen on a guy. Maybe HE was beautiful but it didn't matter. He was off limits. And honestly, she knew the type of girls he was into and she herself wasn't anything special. What the hell, Virginia? What was with the added commentary? Sleep! You need sleep!

Tony had plopped himself down in Happy's vacant seat. Happy Hogan, Tony's body guard, had eaten some of the "all-of-you-can-eat" wings earlier and had quickly excused himself to the bathroom after apologizing profusely. He had been gone now for quite some time now. Pepper was glad she had chosen to eat her salad before coming because spending the night on her knees barfing her brains out in a strip club bathroom would definitely be worse than her current situation.

"Just so you know, I'm going to the back for a personal lap dance in a more secluded area so...if you could let Happy know, I would appreciate it." It was then he reached out to slide a hand up her exposed arm.

The first thing that popped into Pepper's head was the fact that he was warm. His hands were large and calloused and everywhere he touched her made goosebumps form on her skin. For a split second, she wondered what those skilled hands would feel like on more intimate areas of her body and then she mentally slapped herself again. The way he was making her feel things she didn't want to be feeling for him only made her more pissed off about everything. "Knock yourself out," Pepper snapped pulling her arm out of his grasp with a bit more force than she had intended. Her words were far too angry for her own liking but she found she was unable to control herself. God was this man absolutely impossible. She used her other hand to rub the goose pimples from her flesh, trying to erase the way Tony's touch had made her feel all the while knowing it was forever etched into her mind.

Tony raised his brows and cocked his head to the side like a questioning puppy as he studied her reaction obviously trying to read her. It was not cute. It was so not cute. "You mad at me, Pep?"

Pepper averted her eyes and refused to establish eye contact. She did not want to get lost in those giant puppy dog eyes of his. "Mad? Why would I be mad, Tony?" She was laying the sarcasm on thick tonight but to be fair, he deserved it. It was his fault she was here in the first place. All she wanted to do after that long ass meeting was go back to her own place, pour herself a nice big glass of wine and read her book in a bathtub full of bubbles but no. Here she was instead, having improper thoughts about her boss that she could never have. Everything about what was going on was pissing her off.

"So, you're not mad?"

Pepper sighed loudly, rolling her eyes and finally allowing her gaze to fall back onto his face. "It's past midnight, and I'm here while you are getting a lap dance. What do you think?"

Tony gave her a lopsided grin that made her stomach do a flip."Do you wish you were that stripper, Pepper?"

His words were like a slap to her face. Pepper's mouth dropped open. How dare he something like that to her? That was the final straw. She would walk home if she had to but there was no way in hell hat she was staying. She had enough of Tony Stark for one night. Even though she wanted to yell at him for being an ass, she forced everything she wanted to do and simply said, "Goodnight, Mr. Stark." She pushed back from the table and started to rise when Tony's hand shot out to grab one of her wrists, drawing her attention back to him.

His eyes were as wide as she could remember ever seeing them. "Please, wait. Don't go. I'm sorry. That was wrong of me. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. Forgive me?"

Props to Tony. He did immediately realize he had overstepped. It took a lot for him to apologize and to his credit, he did look sorry. Pepper felt her anger toward his immature behavior immediately dissolve. To be honest, it was hard to stay mad at him. "You sure you are a genius? You are such an idiot sometimes."

He gave her wrist a gentle squeeze before releasing her, turning back into typical Tony when he wagged his brows at her. "Feisty, Potts. I'll have you home soon. I promise. Just give me ten more minutes."

Pepper only barely resisted making an inappropriate comment about knowing first hand that he only needed about five minutes to get the job done after being accidentally shut in his room during one of his debaucheries...not that she wanted to think about that right now. Instead she showed him a smile full of far too much teeth and nodded. If she stayed silent, she wouldn't say anything she would regret.

"Thanks, Pep. You are the best." From the expression on his face, Pepper was sure he was on the verge of saying something else, something far too intimate for the time and place but then the dancer was behind him, touching him on the shoulder and drawing his attention away from her. The scanty clad woman leaned down over him, whispering something in his ear. Pepper watched Tony's eyes grow wide, the corners of his mouth curving up into a naughty smirk. Whatever the woman had said, Tony clearly liked it, and Pepper didn't want to know what she said. Luckily for her, Tony kept the information to himself and allowed the woman to led him away by his tie, trailing behind like a well-trained dog.

As soon as he disappeared into the back room behind the beaded curtains, Pepper grabbed her PDA out of her purse, trying to distract herself from the fact Tony was about to receive a personal lap dance and quite possibly a happy ending as well. Replying to work emails should have been easy enough for her to do because there was always plenty in her inbox but for some reason, tonight she just couldn't focus and she couldn't figure out why. After all, this wasn't the first woman Tony was with and it certainly wouldn't be the last. Then why was she feeling so uncomfortable about the entire situation? She just couldn't figure it out. Leaving the emails unanswered, Pepper rose from her seat and decided to check on Happy. At least it would take her mind off of things.

The strip club was busy but at least it wasn't uncomfortably crowded. She shrugged her way through a crowd of young men, only barely resisting the urge to tell one of them off when they commented on her "smoking hot" figure. She was definitely not in the mood to be ogled by a bunch of college age boys. She was happy when she finally reached the door to the men's room. Luckily for her, the urinals were empty because she really did not want to see anything more than she already had that evening. "Happy, you in here?" Pepper slowly approached the stalls and her ears were immediately assaulted by the sounds of violent vomiting. Oh yeah. He most definitely was in there.

"Yeah. It's me. Unfortunately, it looks like I will be in here for awhile. Can you keep your eye on Tony for me?"

Pepper scrunched up her face in confusion. Did he honestly just ask her what she thought he did? And even though he couldn't see her, she couldn't help but point to herself to drive home her point. "Me? You want me to watch Tony?"

"Yes. That would be great. I have my phone on me. Just text if you need me."

Pepper was sure her heart was about to burst out of her chest. Was this actually happening right now? Happy was asking her to be Tony's body guard? I mean, she could stab someone with one of her killer heels but besides that, what would she be good for? "B-but he went in the back for a private dance."

"Then follow him."

Pepper couldn't contain her distress. "Are you serious?!"

"Dead serious."

Suddenly, Pepper thought she was the one who was going to puke. Picturing herself watching whatever was going on with Tony did not sit well with her. She was 100% sure she would not be okay with that for more than one reason. "Oh no. No. No. No. This is not in my job description. None of this is, Happy!" Pepper was beginning to wish she had gone home right after the meeting. This was the worst night of her entire life.

"Please, Pepper? Just keep your eyes on him and make sure nothing happens. It's hard to be a bodyguard when you are puking your guts out."

Happy sounded so sick. There was no way she was going to turn him down when he was suffering. Great. Just when she was sure her night couldn't get any worse. Now she had to go and actually watch Tony and his latest debauchery. "Fine." Her words came out as more of a groan than an actual reply. As her hand went to the bathroom door so she could excuse herself, it opened and she ran directly into the group of guys she had passed on her way in. The man she actually ran into looked her up and down with a knowing smile on his face.

"You get what you came in here for, babe?"

At first, Pepper was confused what he was referring to and then it clicked, and her eyes went wide. Oh my God. He must have thought she came in her to have sex. "I-I didn't...M-my friend is sick and I was just checking on him."

The guy winked. "Sure, honey. I believe you."

Letting out an undignified squeak, Pepper pushed her way past him, trying to ignore the inappropriate comments from the man and his friends about how they were jealous of the guy who had her heels digging into his back. After all, it didn't matter what some random yahoos thought she had been doing. She had to a job to do. She had to find Tony.

Even though she knew exactly where he was, it took her longer than it should have to finally get to the back. She took as many detours as she possibly could to avoid what she was positive she would find behind the curtain. When she realized she was only putting on the inevitable, she pushed the beads back and found herself standing in a large room with several small areas sectioned off by curtains. Tony had to be in one of the smaller rooms. Now to just figure out which one. After apologizing profusely for walking in on several different lap dances that were definitely not Tony Stark, she approached the last room.

"Tony, Happy is still sick so he told me to watch you. Hope that is okay. I'll just stand right out here and wait." There was no reply. "Tony?" she said a little louder. Still nothing. "Tony Stark, can I just get an acknowledgment from you?" Once again, there was no response, and Pepper was starting to grow agitated. He had to be in there. Why was he ignoring her? Was he having that great of a time that he couldn't even take a second to respond? She shouldn't be here. She should be at home. And that's when she exploded. "Anthony Edward Stark, if you don't answer me, I'm coming in and quite honestly I don't care if you are decent or not." If she walked in there and he was naked, she was going to strangle him. Snarl on her lips, she stuck out her chest, pushed open the curtain and walked through. "Tony Stark, if you think for one minute that I'm going to put up with your shit then you've..." her voice trailed off when she noticed the small room was empty.

Pepper scrunched up her nose, her anger replaced by confusion. She had watched the woman lead him into the back. There was nowhere else for him to go. The other rooms were occupied. Had he went somewhere else with the dancer? What if he actually left with her? Red began to seep into her vision. Her hands became tight fists at her side as she pictured Tony and the woman in a hotel room somewhere fucking each other's brains out while he left her here at a strip club worrying about his stupid ass. Yep. That had to have been what had happened. He had somehow slipped away with her while she was checking up on Happy. That man...She was gonna fucking kill him. She was going to hand him her resignation papers tomorrow but right now she was going to text Happy and tell him to get ready to help her bury a body because Tony was a dead man. Pepper was digging through her purse when she heard a heavy door slam followed by male voices.

"So, how much did you get?"

"Couple thou. You would think there would have been more."

Pepper froze, suddenly feeling cold. Something was wrong. Very very wrong. Carefully and quietly, she pulled the curtain back to peer out of her hiding place. There were four men standing close to one another not far from where she was and from the look of it, they had been in a fight. Several of them were bleeding from open wounds on their faces.

"He's not going to carry all his money on him, dumbass. God, you are such a fucking idiot," the largest of the men shoved through the others and disappeared behind the beads, back into the main room.

A lump formed in Pepper's throat. Her stomach twisted at the man's words. They aren't talking about Tony. Don't worry. They aren't talking about Tony.

"I was shocked the fucker knew how to fight. I think he broke my nose."

"Cry me a fucking river. I'll buy you a drink later. Now let's get out of here."

"What a clueless rich asshole. But that hot redhead with him, now she's a catch."

As she watched the rest of the men disappear into the other room, Pepper's hand went up to cover her mouth, and it was then she realized she was trembling. Oh my God. Oh my fucking God. Tony. They were talking about Tony! But where was he? She had checked all of the rooms. He wasn't back here. Then she remembered that just before the man had entered, she had heard a door slam. That's why she hadn't been able to find him. He was outside. He had to be. She bolted from where she was, charging across the room and throwing herself against the large heavy door, finding herself standing in a dark alleyway.

But where was he? What had they done with him? What had happened to Tony? Fuck going home. Fuck sleeping. Tony. All she needed to know was that Tony was okay. If something happened to him she would never forgive herself. She was suppose to be watching him. And the terrible things she had thought about him earlier...Her eyes began to burn. Pepper screamed his name in fear several times as she ran up and down the alley. He was nowhere to be found. Tears now blurred her vision, making it difficult for her to see much of anything. Oh God. No. No. Please. No. Please be okay. Where is Tony? That's when her eyes fell on the dumpster not far from the door. She gasped loudly. They had to have thrown him in the dumpster.

"Tony!" Pepper shrieked as she used all of her strength to throw open the heavy lids of the giant dumpster. The ripe pungent smell that hit her nostrils made her gag. But she forced down the bile in her throat and stood on her tiptoes, peering down into garbage and there she found not only yesterday's leftovers but the man she was suppose to be watching. Tony Stark.

She was pretty sure the sound that came out of her mouth was unlike any she had ever made before. "Tony!" she was shouting at him over and over, trying to rouse him but he wasn't responding. From where she was standing, she couldn't even tell if he was breathing. Oh God! Please let him be breathing. She had to get to him and fast. Luckily for her, there was a stack of boxes next to the dumpster. With a speed she didn't know she was capable of, she kicked her heels off, not caring if she scuffed or completely destroyed her shoes in the process. She honestly couldn't believe she was having that thought at the moment but Tony was more important than even her most favorite pair of heels. They were replaceable. Tony was not.

She hoisted herself up onto the boxes, teetering a bit before diving face-first into the trash, trying her hardest not to fall on top of the man inside. Digging around in the trash, now that was definitely not in her job description. She sifted through the garbage to pull Tony's body halfway into her lap.

"Tony!" She was clutching him now, openly crying into his neck, trying to pull him as close as she possibly could. He almost felt cold. Why the fuck hadn't they just taken the money? Why had they done this to him? "Tony, please be okay. Please!" Pepper begged. He was breathing but was unconscious. His thousand dollar three piece suit was torn and ruined. There was blood streaked across his face marring his good looks and his top lip was split wide open. When his head rolled to the side, that's when she saw the ligature marks on his neck. His tie! They had used his tie to strangle him. A sob escaped her throat as her fingers fluttered over the angry mark on his neck. Oh God. Happy. She needed Happy. She needed Happy now. As she was typing a message into her phone, something squeezed her arm.

"Potts."

Pepper let out a squeak of joy when she heard his voice. "Tony, please be okay. Please be okay." Before she realized what she was doing, she found herself nuzzling her nose into his thick dark hair, seeking out the Tony smell that made her feel safe and secure but it was overpowered by the smell of garbage and blood and cheap perfume. He didn't smell like Tony and he was hurt. He was hurt badly, and the entire time he was getting the shit kicked out of him by four assholes, she was wrongly angry with him thinking he abandoned her to have sex with a random woman. The sobs that racked her body were too big for her petite frame. It felt like she was going to shake apart.

"I'm okay. Please don't cry." Tony's voice sounded all wrong but that wasn't surprising. He had just been strangled. His larynx might have been damaged. Oh God. He could have died tonight. She was now sobbing into his neck, unable to hold her emotions back as she wrapped her arms tightly around his body, pulling his limp form closer to her. Her eyes found his and when she saw he was scared and it broke her heart into a million pieces. "Oh God, Tony. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Don't be sorry. It's my fault. Not yours. Potts, you're perfect. "

The words out of his mouth were like a shock to her system. He thought she was perfect?! That was news to her. She was sure he thought she was a stone cold bitch. Maybe he had gotten one too many shots to his head. Even so within seconds, she had pulled him closer to comfort him, not caring in the slightest that he buried his nose in between her breasts because if she was being completely honest with herself, she enjoyed it too. She kissed his forehead without a second thought, not caring a bit about the sarcastic remarks she would have to hear about it in the morning. No. No. I'm not perfect. If I was perfect, I would have seen this coming. I would have protected you. I'm your PA. I plan your life. I should have seen this coming. I'm your friend. I should have...

"You out here, Pepper?! Pepper? Can you hear me?"

Happy's concerned voice echoing through the alley was like music to her ears.

Pepper clutched Tony closer, refusing to let him go and he clung to her just as fiercely. "Yes! Yes! We are here! In the dumpster, Happy!"

"Jesus. What happened? Pepper? Pepper!"

Pepper was so focused on Tony that she didn't realize Happy was next to her until she found herself being pried off of him. Somehow between the two of them, they managed to get Tony out of the dumpster and to the car without much of a hassle. The drive to the hospital took far too long for Pepper's liking. It felt like ten hours instead of ten minutes. Tony lay with his head cradled in her lap as if it was the most natural thing in the world, and Pepper found she didn't care he was bleeding all over her. The outfit was completely trashed anyway. Trashed. She had been in the trash with it on. The trash had trashed her outfit. Pepper only barely suppressed the manic giggle that threatened to burst out of her. Wow. She really did need some sleep but she knew she would not be able to sleep until she knew that Tony was okay. Tony.

When she looked down at the man currently occupying her thoughts, her eyes met his and she found she couldn't look away...didn't want to look away and the strange thing about it was it didn't feel weird. Not at all. Pepper felt one of his hands grip hers firmly, his thumb massaging the top of her knuckles, making her shiver but in a good way.

Suddenly, Tony seemed extremely nervous and his nervousness was quickly rubbing off on her. Tony Stark didn't get nervous. What is happening? Oh God, what is he thinking? His dark eyes were deep. Deeper than she can ever remember seeing them and she couldn't read the expression on his face. Not at all and it both frightened and intrigued her. Her stomach flip flopped.

"Pep, I..."

The moment between them was broken when the car stopped and Happy was throwing open the back door, dragging Tony up and out, leaving Pepper wondering what it was that Tony was going to say. Most of her was glad that Happy had interrupted them. Or she would keep telling herself that because it seemed as if Tony was about to say something that would forever change their relationship and quite honestly, she wasn't ready for that. Pepper sucked in a deep breath, trying in haste to smooth out the wrinkles in her destroyed skirt before heading into the hospital.

Tony was admitted to stay overnight for observation. He had a couple of cracked ribs, a concussion, a fractured cheekbone and multiple lacerations to his face. Luckily there had been no permanent damage from him being strangled. It could have been worse. It could have been so much worse. Both Happy and Pepper decided to stay with him because if they left, they were almost positive he would try and check himself out before his observation period was over. Happy had excused himself from the room to get himself a coffee when Tony finally began to stir.

"Hey."

The sound of Tony's scratchy voice drew Pepper's attention up the work emails she had been sifting through. Her boss looked and sounded like hell but he was okay. He was going to be okay. And with that knowledge, Pepper could allow herself to smile. "Hey."

"You workin', Potts? You know, you aren't on the clock right now." Tony ran a hand over his goatee, flinching when he touched his busted lip.

"Well, you know. My boss rides me pretty hard, and sometimes I struggle to keep up."

Tony raised a single brow at her comment, the corners of his mouth quirking up into that signature smart ass smile of his, and Pepper immediately released her mistake, lifting a finger to stop him before he even started. "Don't you dare make an inappropriate comment, Mr. Stark. It's far too late for that. Or too early. I haven't decided yet."

Tony chuckled lightly, running a head through his messy hair. Without the gel keeping it slicked back, his hair was fluffy and Pepper had the fleeting thought of how soft it would feel between her fingers before she shoved the thought out of her head. Potts, you need sleep. Lots and lots of sleep.

"You know me so well, Pep. You know, I meant what I said earlier. You are perfect."

Pepper raised her eyes to meet his before lowering them back to her PDA as she pretended to be busy once again. "You're pretty perfect too. A perfect pain in my ass. You owe me a new outfit you know."

Tony grinned and even though he was beat to hell, he looked absolutely adorable. "Shoes too?"

Pepper peered at him over the top of her PDA, finding herself grinning from ear to ear. "Shoes too."