To say that Pepper Potts was not having a good day would have been the understatement of the decade. It started off in the morning around nine thirty; when the secretary had been harassed by the Paparazzi over a small mishap that had involved herself, Tony and some bad balance and a wet shirt the day before. Then a little while before her lunch break the redhead received a call from JARVAS detailing a conflict between Hawkeye and Yellowjacket over the remote. After going down to Avengers Mansion to sort out the pair Pepper had returned to enjoy an extended and uninterrupted lunch break; only to find that Tony Stark had missed yet another all important meeting. And oh boy was he in for an earful. Pepper weaved her way through the crowds of employees before reaching the billionaire's office to see Captain America and Ms Marvel standing by the door. She watch with slight glee as both Avengers shrunk before her angry glare.

"Unless you two want to be my next targets, move! I need a word with Tony," the words were spoken in an even voice but was dripping with an irate undertone.

The Captain shared a look with the pilot. " I'm sorry Pepper, but I don't think that now is-,"

"Let me in, now!" Steve couldn't help but be surprised by Pepper's short outburst.

The super soldier didn't need to be told a second time. He and Carol moved aside and Pepper walked in and closed the door behind her. She turned on her heels and stormed up to Tony's desk only to be stopped short by the sight of him.

"Pepper, what are you doing here?" Tony squeaked. He got up from his seat but remained behind his desk.

The avenger was not in his usual business attire of black pant and a dress shirt but rather the spandex that he wore under his Iron Man armour; it seem to looser then she remembered (not that she was complaining). Then there was the whole muscles and broad shoulders thing. Altogether the view was making it very hard for the secretary to remember why she there in the first place. Pepper quickly attempted to hide the fact that she was looking in the first place by reprimanding her employer.

"What in the world is wrong with you Tony? Is it that hard for you to attend two status meeting is a row?" the redhead began to pace I front of him. "I know how important the Avengers are to you but Stark Industries is important too,"

"Pepper,"

"What exactly is your plan b if SI fails Tony?"

"Pep,"

"Do you plan to start charging people like Heroes For Hire do?"

"Pepper stop!"

Pepper stopped her ranting to look over at her boss, that when she notice the red stain on his right hand. Fear raced up her spine. Her eyes found his and she managed to slow her pacing to the opposite side of desk. Tony softly gasped before leaning more heavily onto his desk.

"Pepper, I need you to do something for me,"

"O-Kay," Her fear was swiftly replaced by a nervous anxiety. This didn't sound good.

"There a medical kit in the bottom right drawer," Tony swiped at the thing that littered the top of his desk before lying down across it, his back facing upwards.

It was Pepper's turn to gasp as she eyed the deep wound that divided Tony's back from shoulder to hip. While it was a serious injury it would heal in a few weeks or so. Assuming that it was tended to by a professional and not a Personal Assistant.

"Tony I can't-,"

"Please Pepper,"

Pepper sighed and began cleaning the cut before numbing the area and putting in the stitches. Luckily her mother had been a nurse so she had been taught some medical knowledge. While she stitched her boss back together she began to wonder how he sustained such an injury, so she asked. Tony's answer was somewhat hesitant.

"I..er, was fighting the Grim Reaper when I may or may not have gotten a little wrapped up in my thoughts,"

Pepper stopped her stitching. "Didn't he have his scythe coated in adamantium recently,"

"Yeah he did. Swung at me with it and cut the back of my armour,"

Pepper scoffed and finished stitching. "Really Tony? What could have been so distracting that it managed to get you hurt?"

Pepper began to pack away the medical kit as Tony sat up. She handed him some baby wipes from the kit to clean her hands then placed the kit back in its drawer. Pepper stood up in time to see a smirk spread across Tony's face as he answered her question.

"You with a wet shirt,"

The redhead felt her face burn as she picked up the nearest thing and pegged it at him only to have him laugh. "I'm going home, I'll come in early tomorrow," Having said that she moved away from the desk and her boss and started towards the door.

"What, no. Pepper wait!" Chuckling slightly he ignoring the slight pain in his back and went after his secretary.

Tony took a few steps before stopping to pull the top half of his spandex down around his waist before continuing to sprint after Pepper. He managed to catch up with her in the elevator. He slipped inside, almost hitting his back, and stood in front of her. She glared at him then quickly looked away and found the wall to her left more interesting. Tony eyes didn't leave her face.

"Come on Pepper, I was trying to be funny,"

Her stare refocused on him full force. "There is nothing funny about what just happened,"

Pepper's face soften but she said nothing more. All of a sudden Tony realised.

"Hey, I'm not blaming you for what happened okay?" he pulled her towards him by the waist and leaned his face in close. "You're one of the important reasons that I fight."

Pepper smiled as the elevator stopped. "As sweet as that is Tony Stark," Pepper leaned in closer towards him as the doors binged and slide open. "You'll have to do better then that to apologise."

With that she pulled out of his grasp and head for the door, Tony's gaze never moving from her retreating form. He stepped out of the elevator and flinched as Hawkeye clasped a hand on his shoulder and laughed.

"And here I was thinking you got all the women,"

Tony huffed in surprise. "Yeah, so did I,"

A/N: Hey guys I'm back :D Sorry about the long wait my laptop broke. But it's ok I bought a new one. So since I couldn't manage an update to Hidden I thought I leave you guys with this one-shot (sorry if it was a bit hard to follow). I shall try to make an update on Hidden as soon as possible, so in the meantime leave me a review. Pretty please with sugar on top :D