Disclaimer: I do not own anything; not Pepper, not Tony, not a gold-titanium alloy suit. I only own the one character in this story that I made up, the rest belongs to Marvel.

"Red is the color of the sun with my eyes closed."
-Seven by Dave Matthews Band

"I do anything and everything Mr. Stark requires, including occasionally, taking out the trash. Will that be all?" As she said this, the blonde reporter's face blanched, and quietly took her clothes from Pepper's arms. Pepper nodded as the woman excused herself and the blonde hair disappeared around the corner.

Pepper had escorted what seemed like hundreds of girls from Tony's room since she had started working for him. She had seen so many different varieties that she hardly noticed anymore; blondes, brunettes, even some with pink hair. What she had noticed, however, was that he didn't seem to bring home many red-heads. Granted, she had seen a couple, but not for at least a year.

In fact, she could remember exactly the last time she had seen him with one. She remembered Tony getting into his limo with the petite girl following behind him, her flaming, glossy curls shining in the lights of the city. The girl was stunning, with high cheek bones and lips painted a deep red. She was much paler than most of the girls Tony took with him, but it only made her that much more striking. Pepper remembered dreading the fact that she would have to see the girl again the next morning and tell her that she had been kicked to the curb; another woman used as a toy in the hands of Tony Stark. The most memorable thing about the entire ordeal was that when she went to Tony's house the next morning, she didn't see the girl there at all. Upon entering Tony's room, she found him sitting alone, looking confused with a small piece of paper in his hand. He looked up as the door opened.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Stark, I wasn't expecting you to…" she trailed off as he stared blankly at her, still looking slightly confused. There was a few moments of awkward silence, and she continued. "Did you need anything?" He shook his head and she nodded, retreating from the room and closing the door quietly. She was as confused as he looked, but never inquired about what had happened. She hadn't seen a single red-head grace his bed since.

She shrugged away the memory and went downstairs to round up her boss; as usual, he was already running late.

As Tony dismantled the engine in front of him, his thoughts wandered over to the blonde who was about to be woken up or already had been by Pepper. What was her name again? Carrie? It didn't matter, really; he'd probably never speak to her again, even if she wanted to. In truth, he had slept with so many blondes he didn't even bother to inventory their names anymore. Brunettes were a little less frequent in his bed, and red-heads were barely there at all. In fact, the last one had been at least a year ago. He remembered the memory like it was yesterday.

The woman had been stunning; she was a model, like most of the women he slept with were. However, when he had met her that night, she was different; she didn't throw herself at him when he first approached her, nor did she seem impressed by his blatant attraction to her. She only began to get interested when he let slip something about the Hot Rod he was working on; this surprised him immensely, seeing as when he brought it up to most models they just nodded their heads and gave him googley eyes. They had flirted a little, he recalled; she had obviously had quite a bit to drink, but she had a poker face that rivaled his own and he respected her for it. When he asked if she wanted to go home with him, she nodded reluctantly and followed him out to the limo. They didn't talk at all when they got in the vehicle, but to his surprise, they didn't touch at all either. He watched her intently as she simply stared out the window at all the bright lights of the city.

When they arrived at his mansion, they entered and kissed tenderly. This also surprised him, as most women usually practically crawled all over him as soon as they got through the door. Eventually they did make their way into his bedroom, removing all articles of clothing and slipping under the sheets.

When they were finished, he looked over to see if she was sleeping; he froze when he saw a mascara-stained tear roll down her sharp cheekbone. Terrified he had done something wrong, he asked if he had hurt her. She smiled slightly and shook her head, and relief blossomed in his chest; the last thing he needed was a lawsuit for abusing a supermodel. He fell asleep before she did, he knew, as he had been listening to her breathing before he had let slumber consume him.

Sunlight shined through the window as Jarvis rattled off the time and weather at him, and he jumped; usually he made a point to leave that way he didn't have to witness the departing of his latest conquest. As he cautiously looked beside him, he sat up quickly as he found the spot was empty. Quickly searching the room, he found that her clothes were gone. Looking back at the empty space, his eye caught a small sheet of paper on the pillow. Picking it up, he let his eyes adjust before reading the neat handwriting.

Dear Tony,

Thanks for last night. I know that the situation you're in right now is probably different than the one you're used to; everyone's heard the stories of the girls who get escorted out of your house by your assistant. I didn't want to be one more burden that the poor woman's already got to shoulder.

I'm really writing this note to let you know that I'm not the only one who was being used last night; we both needed someone, and we both got someone. It helped me see some things more clearly; I have someone that I love and need to go back to. I hope one day you find that person, too.

You're worth more than you give yourself credit for, Tony, and these girls aren't worth your time. They use you just as much as you use them. Thanks again for everything.

Hope for the best,

Victoria

He stared at the note, confused. When Pepper walked in, she looked as surprised as he was and awkwardly retreated out of his room.

He'd saved the note and kept it in his room somewhere. He eventually found out the girl's full name: Victoria White, a very popular model in Europe. His mind was torn from one red-head to another as Pepper entered the room.

He only had room for one red-head in his life.

As Rhodey talked to him on the way to Afghanistan, Tony casually scanned through a magazine that lay on the table. He turned to the main story and his eyes widened a bit at the headline; it read, "Victoria White – Married to Her Long Time Boyfriend". He scanned the picture of the red-head dressed in white, grinning happily in the arms of her groom who was much younger than Tony (he couldn't have been older than 26). The young man had brown hair that reached his shoulders, and was wearing the same face-splitting grin as his wife. Tony couldn't help but feel happy for the woman, but at the same time felt extremely sad – she had followed her own advice and was now happy, while he was still bored and going through partners like toilet paper.

"What's up, Tony?" Rhodey asked, taking in his friend's unreadable expression. Tony shook his head, letting his mask slip back on effortlessly and nonchalantly placed the article in front of the Colonel.

"I'm pretty sure I've slept with her before," he said in his usual smug tone, gesturing to the good-looking model. Rhodes rolled his eyes.

"Naturally."

Tony smirked in return, but couldn't beat down the feeling in his chest that Victoria now had something he didn't. Who was he going to spend the rest of his life with?

His thoughts automatically slid to Pepper, and he quickly pushed the thought away as the flight attendant came over with their drinks.

A/N: My first ever IM fic, don't eat me. This was obviously set the day Tony was kidnapped and would naturally get him thinking about Pepper when he's in the cave later. I see Victoria White looking like Evan Rachel Wood, and her husband looking like Emile Hirsch, in case you were curious. Tell me what you think!