Author's Note:

I'm back everybody! I love the Tony/Pepper pairing and I thought I would write a series for them. These are all about their beginnings as Personal Assistant and Billionaire Boss. I personally feel their beginnings don't get enough love in the fanfiction community. I'm adding some parts of the comics to the movie-verse for plot devices. I do not own Marvel Comics or the characters they design. As always stay happy and review!

Chapter One: Your Name Is Mr. Tabloids, Right?

"Are you positive Miss Potts that you are prepared for this duty?" Her job counselor asked politely. The soft clacking keys from rapid-fire typing ceased their rhythmic dance. Pepper Potts shifted her hands imperceptibly in her lap and felt their uncomfortable stickiness. Her skirt felt hot and uncomfortable and the room appeared to be moving.

"Ma'am, Anthony Stark does not frighten me. I am confident in my abilities to avoid any unnecessary circumstances." Pepper answered confidently. At least she hoped it was confident, because she sure as hell didn't feel that way. Honestly, she was just an accountant. All she did was notice an error in the spreadsheets, which were personally supervised by Captain Paranoid himself, and here she was being accepted as his personal assistant! It was almost too much for her to bear. She had no qualifications, no believable excuses to avoid being his assistant, and no idea how to approach this new task. Don't be ridiculous Pepper! She thought It's not like he's the Devil.

Of course the tabloids would beg to differ. Every other headline was of the infamous Tony Stark stumbling out of a bar with a dopey drunken grin and onyx shades. His career was based on murder for goodness sakes and if that wasn't awful enough he was quite the flirt. He was The Flirt. Pepper used to spend hours betting with her female coworkers on how many notches he had on his headboard. One argued that he probably had one hundred and all of them blonde. But that was a physical impossibility for even Mr. Stark so the bet moved to the more favorable number of fifty six and all of them varied, but equally stupid, supermodels.

"Alright then, you're in. Just as a foreclosure on behalf of your new job, Mr. Stark is famous for being a flirt..."

"Oh I'm quite aware of that!" Pepper interrupted. She apologized when she noticed the disapproving frown on her job counselor's face.

"As I was saying," she continued "Mr. Stark is indeed an incorrigible man, but he is a genius Miss Potts. Truly a marvel, he is. Now he was impressed by your brain, that's an advantage most other employees don't have, so I suggest you use that brain to your advantage." The printer whirred to life and Pepper was handed warm papers. "Now these papers include his address, where you will be spending a majority of your time, his preferences for attire, and a typed list of requirements." Pepper eyed the papers scrupulously. Of course the billionaire would have preferences for attire. Most likely tight mini-skirts and button down blouses that leave nothing to the imagination. Why oh why did she agree to this job?

Pepper pulled up to the front of a gorgeous mansion on the beach. She closed the door of her car, gaping like a beached fish. It was beyond words, with walls made of glass and steel. She inhaled deeply and strutted to the door, her heels offering a reassuring and sharp beat. It was five o'clock in the afternoon, the hour he requested to meet, so she simply opened the heavy door. It wasn't as if he wasn't expecting her. He'd better be. Her cynical mind grumbled.

"Good afternoon Miss Potts" a kindly British voice greeted. Pepper spun around looking for the voice's owner but could find no one. "Would you care to sit down?" Pepper felt the fear rising in her chest. No one told her Tony's house was haunted!

"Oh that's just JARVIS." A rough yet very smooth voice called to her. Oh enough with the voices! Pepper turned towards what she could only assume to be the living room and seated in the cream colored couch was Anthony Stark. He didn't look like his tabloids. His hair was slightly askew and fell into his deep brown eyes that appeared to burn into Pepper's chest. His beard was trimmed in it's usual geometric fashion but traces of stubble lingered beneath. He was clad in only a dark gray t-shirt and black jeans. "Pardon my appearance, I was working. Well, please sit down." Pepper nodded numbly and strode to the armchair across from him. "Drink?" Pepper shook her head no. "Suit yourself." He rose and began preparing himself a scotch.

"Um, Mr. Stark, what exactly do you need me for?" Pepper broke the silence between them. The ice cube in Tony's glass tinkled gently as he swirled the beverage gently in his large palm.

"Well, to be perfectly frank, I don't know. You impressed me and I acted on impulse. It's rare for me to find someone who can correct me. I don't like being wrong." His eyes very subtly flashed for a brief moment. If Pepper wasn't watching his every movement like a hawk, she wouldn't have noticed. Poker face indeed Mr. Stark, Pepper mused.

"To be straight with you as well, Mr. Stark, I don't care for being wrong either." Pepper rose and strode towards him feeling the new found feeling of confidence swelling in her chest. "Let me make this clear, Mr. Stark, I am not another notch for your bedpost, I am not an object for your desire. You will treat me professionally at all times and no exceptions. Don't let me be wrong about you, because your first impressions seemed sincere. Am I clear?" Tony Stark grinned. His teeth a glittering white against his tan skin. Pepper could practically see the Devil horns sprouting and the cogs turning in his devious mind.

"Will that be all Miss Potts?"

"That will be all Mr. Stark." And with that Pepper left the residence of her employer.

Author's Note:

This story will continue if I get ten reviews! I know I'm evil, sorry! I love you all and thanks for reading!