It's been about 3 years since I've written anything but I'm back! This is set around the time of Iron Man 3 and Tony and Pepper have an on/ off relationship. I hope you enjoy it. Please let me know what you think so far :)

Pepper had worked for Tony Stark long enough to not be nervous around him so why was she fretting about what she looked like every time she went to work recently? It hadn't always been like this. Tony had just been her arrogant boss. He's also your very good-looking boss. Stop it Pepper, she scolded herself.

Anyway, she hadn't paid much attention to his flirtatious remarks, passing them off as banter which he tried on with every woman. Things were different now though. After Tony had escaped from that cave in Afghanistan, she saw him in a different light. He hadn't changed but he also kind of had (if that makes any sense at all.) After all they'd been through; his capture, Obadiah's betrayal, New York, she was starting to realise that Tony Stark was in fact all she'd got.

Maybe if you weren't married to your job you'd have met someone. However much her conscience reminded her of this, another part of her was glad that she hadn't met someone. Tony demanded most of her attention anyway. She was too tired for anyone else to come into her life right now. Tony and Pepper had toyed with the idea of being in a relationship before and both were too scared to want to hurt the other. Tony was away a lot and always so busy that there never seemed much point in trying to push their relationship towards anything more than professional.

So now they were both left with the are we aren't we scenario, or maybe that was just Pepper. Maybe it was all just her imagination and Tony had been playing her this whole time. The thought made her feel a bit sick.

In between her bouts of daydreaming, Pepper realised with a start that she was just round the corner from Tony's house. Get in the work zone Pepper. She weirdly never called it work in her head, it was always going to Tony's or Tony's house. She wondered what that said about her relationship with her boss. Then again, she didn't want to know.

Upon entering the mansion, Pepper was met with a wave of heat.

"Good morning Miss Potts, it's 35 degrees outside and a stifling 40 degrees inside. Would you like me to turn the air conditioning on?" JARVIS said almost merrily.

"Yes please JARVIS. Why is it so hot in here and where's Tony?"

"I believe Mr Stark is trying out a new experiment which requires a hot environment for it to gain the best results. He told me not to inform you of his whereabouts."

Pepper loved how candid JARVIS could be. She was surprised Tony hadn't programmed him to just full out lie to her. The computer even sounded slightly guilty about the fact she wasn't to know Tony's whereabouts or was that just her imagination?

"Tony?"

She was met with silence. Why did this man delight in making her so angry? It hadn't even been 5 minutes and Pepper already wanted to punch him. She was hot, angry and confused as to what was going on. This was what he wanted though wasn't it; he liked winding her up.

Frustrated, she marched down to his workshop to find it empty. Where was he? The silence was shattered by an almighty crash. Panicking in typical Pepper fashion now, she raced back upstairs to find Tony sprawled on the floor, nursing his head. All anger had dissolved from Pepper now and she hurried over to help him.

"Tony, what happened?"

"Oh, Hi Pepper. Nothing, just an experiment gone wrong."

She reached out to touch his forehead then drew back, thinking better of it. He grabbed her hand as she drew it away.

"Wait, have you got cold hands?"

"What?"

Deciding that she had, Tony pulled Pepper's hand back to his forehead where it rested awkwardly.

He sighed in content.

Pepper drew her hand away, not sure whether she should start shouting or examine his head instead. She settled on Nurse Potts.

"What actually happened Tony?"

He didn't look at her which meant it was bad.

"A new element I'm working with works best under extreme heat but it got so hot that it exploded."

"That's not all is it?" Pepper said, not convinced. She knew when Tony was hiding something.

"I've already added the element to my arc reactor."

"Tony!"

"Look, I-"

"Why do you do this to yourself? Why don't you just think things through and-"

"Pepper calm down, I'm fine!"

"You're not fine, you've got a chemical in your chest which could explode at any minute!"

Tony was silent. Tony was never silent.

"Tony, what's wrong?"

"I think I'm going to be sick."

He rushed off to the bathroom and Pepper sat down for the first time since coming through the front door. No matter how much Tony annoyed her, she still worried about him and felt affectionate towards him.

After 10 minutes and no word from him, Pepper approached the locked bathroom cautiously.

"Tony, do you need anything?"

"A glass of water would be nice" came the reply.

Pepper returned with the glass of water and knocked on the door.

Tony opened the door slowly. His face was pale.

"Thanks Pep."

At the sound of her nickname, she blushed.

She couldn't resist reaching out and touching his forehead. He looked deep into her eyes as if he was trying to communicate something to her. She couldn't tear her gaze away from his face. He was so handsome, even when he was sick.

"You should rest" Pepper said, pulling herself out of the trance.

"Alright Nurse Pepper but only if you join me".

"No, I've got work to do."

"Well I'm your boss and I say you don't have to do any work today."

"Tony, I have to work for the both of us."

"You're not denying the fact that you'd like to spend the day with me though are you? C'mon Pepper, just think of it as a little team building day. Colleagues getting to know each other better" he smirked.

It did sound appealing but she couldn't let on that she really wanted to spend the day with him.

He reached for her hand.

"Pepper, maybe I just want to spend the day with you" he said softly.

"Tony I, I don't think that's a good idea" she said firmly.

"Fine" he dropped her hand and turned away.

"That will be all Miss Potts."

Pepper opened her mouth to protest but nothing came out. She turned away without another word.