Disclaimer: I own nothing and make no money, and I've got the bank account to prove it.

1. Tony "Trouble" Stark

Pepper stood with a pensive expression on her face, plagued by a sense of familiarity in her situation, yet still not entirely sure how she'd come into her current predicament. It was a feeling experienced more and more frequently, as of late. As usual, said predicament included her boss, Tony Stark. Genius, CEO, and last but not least, superhero.

Once over the initial shock of finding her boss moonlighting as an iron-clad flying do-gooder, Pepper found herself perhaps not quite as surprised at the latest development as one might expect. Always, Tony proved to possess an uncanny talent for challenging her center of gravity, as well as her sanity. In all the chaos of drawing one's paycheck from Stark Industries, acting as a personal assistant for Ironman just seemed to fit in nicely with all the rest of her many responsibilities.

However, that night defied any and all expectations she could have ever fathomed encountering in the employment of Tony stark. The territory was completely unchartered. Entirely unknown. Terrifyingly alien. She was not planning meetings, pandering to board members, following media reports, organizing press conferences, smoothing over some rude remark uttered by her boss with utmost sincerity at an egotistical but valuable government official.

It seemed Pepper Pots was on a date.

Once again, she found herself in a dress with hardly any back, this time mint green in color. Once again, she stood taking in the night air on a balcony, this time at an internationally renowned restaurant. Once again she waited for Tony to return with drinks, though this time in the back of her mind, she nearly expected him to leave her hanging once again. Partly it might have been a wistful wish for an easy way out.

But Pepper knew by now that with Tony involved, there could never be an easy way out. Things would never be the same again. If she could change the past, would she have put things back? Would she have gone back to the moment, whenever it occurred, that Tony stopped seeing her as just his Personal Assistant who he flirted with occasionally, and started viewing her as a woman he intended to pursue? To what ends? What did he truly want from her?

Strangely, perhaps even frighteningly, Pepper didn't think sex the sole objective within Tony Stark's sights. It was merely an item on a long and growing list of new unfamiliarities in her once orderly and anchored life. Once upon a time, Stark could be counted upon time and time again to merely behave as a rogue with an oversexed libido. So many mornings, she had swept the unfortunate one-night stands out the door, a long train of West-Coast beauties that somehow in a way all looked the same.

Not that they themselves could truly be considered victims. Those girls knew exactly what they were getting into, who they were playing with, and what would be expected of them when the sun cracked the eastern horizon once again. Somehow, they all had something of an advantage over Pepper Pots that night. For that night, Pepper had no idea what to expect, or what was expected of her. There were no guidelines to lead her through the night. What's a woman to do, when Tony Stark practically acts a perfect gentleman? She feared the answer may lay not within the margins of any established protocol, but somewhere within the depths of her heart.

Pepper never excelled at listening to her heart. It usually only led to trouble.

Trouble was Tony Stark's middle name.

As she held no clue as to what to expect next that night, Pepper reflected back on how exactly she came to be there. It involved a night not far into the past, at the Stark household. On his part, it had also involved a glass or two of liquid courage, the fine scotch that once upon a time Tony lived on perhaps more than food or water. Though the habit seemed to be subsiding as the responsibility of being Ironman took hold, that night Stark undeniably had something in his head. Something eating away at his peace of mind, until he simply could not stand it any longer.

Said little niggling issue drove him to seek out Pepper, who sat finishing up some last minute paperwork in her office at the Stark mansion. He'd stood in the doorway of her office quietly, watching her with those curious dark eyes as she sat absorbed by work at her desk. It wasn't until he clinked the ice cubes in his glass, swirling the heady liquid and taking a drink, that Ms. Pots looked up to see her boss lurking in her doorway.

Tony? Christ, you nearly gave me a heart attack. What can I do for you?

He took her question as an invitation into the room, as though he really needed one, and came to perch on the corner of her desk. Flashing a warm but self-assured smile, particularly signature of a Tony Stark with a few drinks in him, he dug up a bone Pepper thought to be finally buried, tossing it with the utmost flippancy upon her desk before them.

Remember that time you almost kissed me on the balcony, after we danced at the Fireman's benefit? You were wearing that incredible blue dress with no back, and I couldn't take my eyes off of you?

Pepper had swallowed hard, nearly dropping her pen in the process of being waylaid by the embarrassment of that moment. The utter vulnerability. Pepper had no place for such things in her life. In her line of work, a vulnerable woman would be eaten alive. So how was it that Tony Stark made her feel just that?

The truth was, she did think about that night. She thought about it often. How Tony had caught her off guard, caught her out of context. She'd looked damn delicious in that dress, and she knew it. She'd even been prepared to accept some form of acknowledgement of her beauty from a member of the opposite sex that night, though decidedly not from her boss. He wasn't even supposed to be there, that night. Obadiah had insisted. How was it, that Pepper bought the dress with Tony in mind, yet never actually intended to let him see her in it?

Because, something disastrous could happen. Something disastrous nearly did happen. Something she had hoped Tony would have the grace to allow to slip off into the black night of faded memory, never to be mentioned again.

Pepper should have known better all along.

Even so, she threw up her defenses hastily, setting down her pen with a calmer demeanor than she felt inside. Who would know she felt as though she could burp butterflies, from the fluttering that suddenly accosted her stomach? Tony watched walls erect behind her blue eyes, as his assistant calmly crossed her long legs and turned to face him. Perhaps the only indicator of her true feelings lay in the twitching irregular tap of a manicured fingernail upon the arm of her office chair.

You mean the time you left me waiting for an hour, before I realized you'd abandoned me?

The response was nearly identical to the last time he'd posed the question, before the press conference where he'd revealed his identity as Ironman. This time, however, Tony wasn't quite so inclined to retreat at the reminder of his misgivings.

This time, he had a plan.

Yeah, that time. Well?

Pepper raised an eyebrow, feeling as though she'd missed a key sentence somewhere in their conversation.

Well? Well what?

Tony smiled wolfishly, resting his drink upon Pepper's desk. She'd learned with time to be wary of that particular smile. It usually meant Tony wanted something, badly enough to doggedly pursue it with all his wile. Usually, when Tony wanted something in such a way, Tony got it.

Well, don't you wonder how it could have been different?

Pepper realized a great deal rode on her response, least of all her own sanity.

Tony, in order for that night to have been different, that would mean you would have to be different, and that's just something no one has the time to wait around for.

For a moment, a barely even discernible moment, a flicker of hurt surfaced and disappeared upon Tony's expression. Perhaps it wasn't a nice thing to say. Maybe it wasn't even fair. But Pepper knew the easiest way to avert Tony's attention before he could truly lock onto his target would be to hurt his pride. She could hurt him a little, to save some face. She could hurt him a little, to save them both from a mistake the little voice in the back of her mind sang out could be worth making.

I could change, Pepper. I mean, I am changing. A lot. Into something more...responsible.

Pepper shook her head, strawberry curls sliding across her shoulders in a way that particularly caught Tony's attention that night. She'd taken a hiatus from the usual black and white office wear, to sport an ice blue silk blouse that set off the red of her hair and blue of her eyes in a way that simply glowed. With a gentle smile, she said I'm proud of you for taking responsibility for the actions of your company, Tony. That takes a lot of courage. The rest of you, however, I'm sure is quite the same, and there's nothing wrong with that¾

Tony immediately interjected. That's not fair.

It's not? Am I wrong?

There was a teasing light in those baby blues, that drove Tony to twitch with the urge to try something drastic. How much would she protest, if he descended upon her to take those bewitchingly curled lips? How long would it take to ply her with his kisses, turn her to putty in his hands, until she let him have his way with her?

You are wrong he proclaimed, smug in a way that should have been quite unattractive, but somehow only managed to cause her smile to widen a fraction. What parts of me are you talking about? The drinking? Yeah, I've had a few tonight. But you can't deny I've cut down considerably from my usual raging alcoholism. What else? The womanizing? Did you know I haven't been with anyone since Afganistan?

Pepper's slight smile faded with the sight of the burning conviction in Tony's dark eyes. It was at that moment she realized she might really actually be in trouble. The kind of trouble Tony Stark specialized in.

Ah...I apologize. That's really none of my concern, Mr. Stark.

Something fierce flashed in Tony's eyes, something almost predatory. It was the look of a man who suddenly knew he was close to winning something he wanted. In this case, something he'd wanted for quite some time.

Oh, so now it's Mr. Stark?

Fine. Tony.

Pepper decided to stand from her chair, suddenly feeling trapped by Tony's undeniable presence looming over her. He perched like a hawk surveying the fields on the corner of that desk, eyeing his prey. Tony loved many things in life, but there were two things he lived for: a challenge and a puzzle. To him, Pepper inexplicably embodied both of these passions.

He watched her go to stand before the large window, hugging herself as though cold. And so it was with a particular sense of delicacy that he divulged, speaking softly, Did you also know I heard you calling my name in that Afghani cave, as I looked the reaper in the face during the surgery that removed most of the shrapnel from my chest?

Pepper turned to look at Tony, eyes wide and disbelieving.

What?

It was with a certain sense of sudden awkwardness that Tony admitted quietly, You were there with me the whole time, Pepper. You helped me get through.

Her lips parted with surprise, head slightly shaking side to side. Tony...that's...

Outlandish? Tony slid from his perch upon the desk, moving to stand before Pepper. Preposterous? She stood still as a statue, feeling powerless and paralyzed as he raised a hand to cup the side of her face. It was callused, grease under the fingernails from the shop, entirely opposite of what one would expect the hand of a billionaire to feel like. Pepper liked it, far more than she was comfortable admitting at that moment. Well, it's true, Pep. So let me make that night up to you. I promise, you won't be disappointed.

Pepper shook her head, but only found she liked pressing closely into his hand. She closed her eyes, counted to three, and hoped this would all be a dream when she opened them again. However, she only opened her eyes to find two obsidian orbs boring down into her, threatening to lay her soul bare. Tony couldn't even express how badly he wanted to kiss her at that moment, but he wouldn't just yet, because he knew she was frightened, and he wanted her to see how he'd changed. Though perhaps he took some delight in terrorizing her, he didn't want to scare her. For once, he wanted her to know she could trust him.

Finally, she found her voice to speak. Tony, you owe me nothing.

Shaking his head, Tony Stark would have nothing of it. I disagree, Pepper. I truly and wholeheartedly disagree.

And so, there she was now, leaning on the balcony railing, absorbing the evening breeze that smelled of ocean spray and traffic exhaust, drumming her fingernails nervously upon the railing. To the left, it seemed as though a martini glass nearly materialized out of thin air. "Did you miss me?"

Disguising the nervous leap of her heart from her chest to her throat with an uneasy little laugh, Pepper clasped the martini between tingling fingers, noting four olives skewered in her glass. "Of course."

She took a sip of her drink. It was strong, with just the alcoholic bite she needed at that moment to allay her nerves. The pair stared at each other for a moment, both suddenly unsure of what came next. Usually, what came next was Pepper's task to determine. The next meeting, the next paper to sign, the next opening to attend...but this was completely new. This was Tony's arena now, and she wasn't sure just where he intended to take them.

"So, here we are again," she observed, looking everywhere but Tony's intense black eyes.

"Indeed. But we're a step ahead of last time. You have your drink."

"Yes, and you're still here."

"True. Though in my defense, the last time I was ambushed by the treachery of my company's CFO, and taken by the irrepressible conscientious urge to set things right. Which I suppose is a similar motivation to the reason we find ourselves here tonight. See the bounds I've leapt in the past few months?"

There was a boyish glee in Tony's grin, that Pepper couldn't deny a replying smile of her own. Cuttingly, she quipped, "So this is merely a matter of conscience? Guilt? So in other words, this is a pity date."

Tony's eyes went wide with a panic rarely seen on his visage, as he realized he may have succeeded royally in putting his foot in his mouth. Mmm, the taste of shoelace. However, it also did not slip his notice that Pepper was extremely en garde, and perhaps taking every chance she could to sabotage this thing between them from growing into something new. Something unfamiliar, something she didn't quite know what she would do with. Perhaps most frightening of all, something Tony felt certain they both wanted.

"Damn it, Pepper." He hooked a finger under his assistant's chin, turning her gaze up to finally meet his. Her eyes were the color of the ocean glittering by moonlight, a blue so true the finest sapphires would green with envy. "You're trying to drive me away, and it's not going to work tonight."

Biting her lip, Pepper sighed. She could see that it wasn't. They were really in trouble, when the only thing left was complete honesty with eachother. "It's just...I don't exactly run your life, Tony, but I certainly coordinate it a great deal of it. When you fancy someone, it's me who orders the flowers for them in the beginning, and often me who sees them to the door in the morning a day or a week later, after you've conquered and become bored. And quite frankly, I...I don't want to be one of them. I won't be one of them. I won't be a plaything."

On some level, Tony knew he absolutely deserved that. It must have been some sort of karma, for he could have nearly any girl he could ever possibly want with a debonair baring of teeth, except the girl he needed. Be that as it may, he knew he wouldn't have wanted Pepper, had she succumbed to his practiced charms as easily as the rest. Part of the fun was the chase. Their special little game that they'd been playing from day one. They flirted and teased, but there was a line crossed the night of the firefighter's benefit Tony just couldn't shake.

He couldn't let it go, as Pepper obviously hoped he would. That night they nearly admitted to each other, and themselves, the undercurrent of desire that punctuated their working relationship. Though had it only been desire, Tony felt sure he could have shaken it, found someone that maybe looked similar to Pepper for a night, and forgotten all about it. But this ran deeper, decidedly so. It was not solely a burning pang of lust, but a yearning to fill an absence carved deep in his soul. These days, it felt as though Pepper were everywhere for him. Not only did he see her at the office, in his car, at his home. She was in his head, in his dreams. He swore he could feel her in the very marrow of his bones.

In that cave in Afganistan, Yelsin declared him to be a man with everything and nothing. As time passed and his longing for his personal assistant became more and more insistent in the forefront of his mind, Tony leaned towards the conclusion that for all his wealth and power, he indeed did possess very little of any true value.

When he entered a room many would watch him in awe, women would proposition him, reporters would shake him upside down for answers about his connection with Ironman, and acquaintances would pay their dues with a nod or a drink in hopes of winning the next subcontracting bid for whatever direction the eccentric CEO decided to push Stark Industries. But rarely, rarely, would Tony Stark encounter a true friend in a crowded room. The woman always at his side, his most trusted confidant, perhaps his truest friend next to Rhodes, was not a lover or a wife, but a paid assistant.

Though it seemed contradictory, it could actually be said that the great Tony Stark actually led a rather lonely life. It was a fact the billionaire had become painfully aware of as of late, and something he wanted to change for good.

All these things, these truths, these emotions, ran through Tony's mind at an alarming rate. If he could just tell her the half of what he felt for her, surely she would have understood. Acknowledged. Maybe even admitted to reciprocation of his need. But as he stood staring down at her, so unbelievably gorgeous in that green dress that made her very skin appear to glow, everything caught in his throat. He stood silent as a fish out of water, rendered speechless for one of the very few instances of his life. The thought of using her as a toy, as he had all the others sickened him to the core.

Resting his drink on the railing, Tony reached up to caress the side of Pepper's face, fingertips ghosting across her skin in a way that caused her to inwardly shudder. "Pepper, I could never...I wouldn't..." Tony found he could not finish his sentence, his body leaning down towards her of its own accord.

Pepper watched him come, certain of her fate as she was of her own inability to stop him. She knew at that moment Tony was going to kiss her. She would melt under his touch, and he would have anything he wanted out of her, no matter what his intentions. She'd tried.

She'd put up a good front.

She was tired of saying no.

Though entirely sincere in his purpose to capture Pepper's lips, Tony observed her reaction as he neared closer. She did not resist, or even give protest, eyes slowly sliding closed as the moment of truth fell upon him. It was just as he decided she would give no fight at all, yield to his lips the way he'd only ever experienced in dreams, that her eyes shot open wide once again. "Tony!" With a strength that utterly surprised him she shoved him aside, sending her employer to stumble back.

For a moment he interpreted this manhandling as a last minute panic reaction to his advances, until the report of gunfire alerted him to a far more sinister reality. As he tripped over his own feet he watched Pepper's body shudder and fall back, a crimson flower of blood bursting forth over her chest. "Pepper!"

Senses suddenly sharpened by the adrenaline rush, Stark landed in a crouch, lips curled into the snarl of a predator that smelled blood. The lone gunman stood masked and clothed in black, a S & W .38 still extended out after discharging a shot. The gunman's arm began to swing towards Tony next, but did not complete its arc, for the billionaire was already upon him with the fury of a wounded tiger.

As his work as Ironman progressed, Stark thought it a good idea to become as proficient in his martial talents outside the suit as within. Aside from his most recent training in Judo, he would reluctantly admit to having always possessed an uncanny sense for how to cause others pain, with or without the help of technological innovation. It was an instinct Tony used now to disarm the gunman, knocking his arm skyward with a blow that snapped their assailant's wrist like matchwood.

It was as Tony tackled the man to the ground that he realized this man in black was no professional. He was soft, he didn't know how to fight, and gave in far too easily. This knowledge did not stop Tony from banging his head viciously into the ground, leaving him still upon the balcony. Unconscious or dead, Tony didn't know or care.

"Tony?" a soft voice rose out of the silence as Stark scrambled to crawl to his personal assistant's side. With an expression of panic he followed the blood trail with his eyes, up the silk of the green dress to an entry would at her shoulder, much to his relief.

"It's going to be ok, Pepper," he assured her, applying pressure to the wound. A crowd had gathered at the sound of gunfire, but only now did a few dare venture out into the open. "Has anyone of you rubbernecking assholes called the paramedics yet?" he barked, a maniac edge to his voice. Immediately several people dashed off to the front desk of the restaurant, while others whipped out their cellphones.

"Don't," Pepper meekly protested, as Tony lifted her into his lap. "I'll bleed all over your nice tuxedo."

Tony laughed, a harsh and small sound reminiscent of grating gravel. "I don't care," he professed indignantly, realizing his eyes were feeling rather damp. "Why did you do that? I swear to God, Pots, if you ever take a bullet for me again, I'll fire you."

Pepper's lips curled into a meek smile, mixed with a grimace of pain. "Yes sir."