A/N: I had to write something Pepperony as I feel like I haven't gotten to do so in ages and with IM3 trailer coming as us fast, I need to try and do something. I also plan on resuming Pepperony Month where I left off last time, as well as Borra Month. This is an AU inspired by Bowling for Soup's song: Girl All the Bad Guys Want. This will be a longer series. Maybe five chapters, maybe more...

Title: Too Good or Too Bad?

Fandom: Iron Man AU

Pairing: Pepper and Tony

Summary: Tony's new assistant has a wild side and he can't help himself. Somehow she can.

Word Count: 1556

He had been through probably dozens of resumes but to him it seemed to reach far into the thousands and yet no one had what he was looking for. No one had come close to his high standards. No one. Not one. And what exactly was Tony Stark looking for? Well someone with a great body as well as a great mind. Someone who was efficient and quick on their toes. Someone who got work done and could keep secrets because Tony Stark had plenty of things to hide. While to the world he was known as the genius billionaire playboy philanthropist, he was also secretly flying around as Iron Man. He saved lives and righted wrongs but many just say him as a selfish man who was becoming a recluse lately, only coming out of his mansion to have some fun with friends every now and then. His rocking social life had come to stop when he decided to become a superhero.

The endless steam of women had stopped coming into his bedroom and Tony had become withdrawn. He didn't go out as much and just drank at home alone into the wee hours of the morning whild tending to his wounds. His company needed direction and he needed help with his personal issues. So hiring an assistant seemed the most likely of routes but for Tony Stark, it wasn't so simple. Tony was picky and worried about who he would let get close to him. So far no one had caught his eye and he was getting impatient and annoyed with everyone around him. "JARVIS, I don't have anymore interviews for today do I?" Tony wearily asked his computer as he was sitting in his office on the second floor of his lovely Malibu mansion.

"You have one more, sir-"

"Well cancel it, daddy is tired of all this disappointment." Tony cut JARVIS off. "And I need to go out for a drink." And with that, he pushed back from his desk and just waltzed into his large master bedroom and picked out his clothes. He slipped into a nice suit and red tie, matching his Iron Man suit and headed out. The next few hours he had spent drinking with his buddy Rhodey and then the two moved to a nice modern club in LA for the night. And for a while being a superhero, an icon was the farthest thing from the man's mind. For a while he was just a normal guy out on the town with his best friend. Of course that didn't stop many women from approaching him which he had to turn down. He was about ready to go when he felt himself brush up against someone while moving off of the dance floor. "Sorry." Tony said and the woman turned around.

She had light red hair and dazzling blue eyes and even in the flashing neon lights, Tony found himself sinking into them like a cool pool in the summer. "You should be, Mr. Stark." She laughed and held out a hand to shake his which he silently returned. The woman had on tight leather pants, a cropped leather halter which showed much of her stomach and tanned arms. She had her belly button and nose pierced and her hair was slicked back behind her with a simple red lace ribbon. "You totally stood me up like a complete jackass." She told him. "Now I'm glad I won't have to work for you."

"Excuse me?"

"Yeah we had an interview this afternoon but it was suddenly canceled like thirty minutes before…talk about a lame-ass unprofessional. You need a lot of help."

"You are..?" He was now having a hard time remembering who his last interview was going to be. Had JARVIS said it was a hot blond, he wouldn't have canceled.

"Pepper Potts." She smiled to him and moved back toward the dance floor but he caught her arm and pulled her off toward the side where they could talk easier. "So is this an interview now or what?" Pepper asked him and Tony removed his red tinted shades to get a better look at Pepper. She leaned back against one of the stools by the bar area.

"I'd like to hire you actually." Tony stated.

"Why? You didn't know who I even was, I could be lying to you right now…maybe I never applied." Pepper smirked.

"You're a beautiful liar Ms. Potts." Tony smirked slightly. "But I think you're just what I'm looking for. We'd be good toget-" He was cut off with a man in jeans and a plain white shirt moved over and grabbed Pepper and kissed her. His tongue slipped into her mouth and she wrapped her arms around him and dipped her hands into the back pockets of his jeans. Tony then cleared his throat and the man backed up, looked at Tony and just walked off. Pepper licked her lips and looked back to Tony. "So, I'll see you tomorrow morning Ms. Potts?"

"Yes, tomorrow morning Mr. Stark." Pepper smiled as Rhodey found Tony and the two walked out of the club. Tony headed home that night and went right to bed though before he found darkness, he kept thinking about the feisty redheaded woman who was now the chosen one to work with him. Was he really entrusting her with his secrets? Could he do that? Should he? He closed his eyes one final time before falling into dreamland. When he awoke thanks to his lovely program, he found his head throbbing. He winced at the sunlight streaming into his bedroom and snapped at JARVIS to shut the blinds. He flopped back into bed and was about to go back to sleep when the door bell rang. Tony let out a pained groan and rolled to the side of his bed and edged himself out. His feet hit the carpet and he wobbled a little.

Maybe he would wait a few months before going out. How was a hungover Iron Man going to help anyway? The door bell rang again and Tony just went downstairs, wanting to end his suffering as soon as possible. "Coming…coming…" He muttered weakly and swatted at the door handle before pulling it open. The sunlight burned and he winced, jumping back. "Whoever this is, just go-"

"Mr. Stark, your coffee, some aspirin and your breakfast." Pepper handed him a plastic bag and pushed herself in. She had on dark wash blue jeans, a tight navy blue tank top and a cropped tan leather jacket on. Her hair was pulled up in a tight bun and she had on long black hook earrings and bright red lipstick. He blinked a few times and she just took the bag back and found her way into the kitchen. "I figured that you had enough to drink last night that you'd be regretting that choice in the morning." She smiled and handed him two white pills and a small mug of black coffee. "I did some reading on your tastes, I know you like hash browns, scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast. Oh and Randy's Doughnuts." She added as she set up a plate for him to eat. All while she was doing this, he just stared at her, wondering what was going on. "After you eat a bit, you can fill me in on what needs to be done. Your personal life and image are my first priority then I can tackle the mess that is your professional life, Mr. Stark."

"Thank you?" He sat down and took the pills and chugged down the coffee and found himself alarmingly awake now. Pepper pushed the plate over to him and took out her phone and put one bud of a headset into her ear and was listing to some heavy metal band in one ear while the other was free to listen to her new employer. Tony slowly ate and Pepper texted and listened to music. "Oh right you don't know JARVIS." He suddenly said aloud as he was finishing a mouthful of food. She raised her head and shrugged a little, so he wasn't sure if that meant something so he just continued. "JARVIS is a program I built, an AI of sorts to help me. You can have an office here and he'll assist you or you can have one at the main SI branch downtown." He told her.

"Whatever." Pepper waved a hand. "It's cool."

"What's cool?"

"Whatever works for you, works for me." She winked to him and grabbed a doughnut and bite into it. Somehow Tony wasn't sure if the feeling in his stomach was the need to vomit from all the alcohol, or if it was fear and apprehension, or something else entirely, something he hadn't thought about in years. Something good. Either way, he just drank some more coffee and thought about his personal space. His needs.

"I'll just set you up with an office downtown." Suddenly Tony found the need to protect himself from this whirlwind of madness and black high heels and leather and lace. Pepper looked to him, for a moment she almost appearance taken aback but she just flashed a smile.

"Cool." She said. And thus began Pepper Potts' career as Tony Stark's personal assistant.