AN: Hello everyone. Yet again, writing is taking over my life and I am slowly seeping back into fan fiction. More now than before, I think, especially with this category. This little tidbit of a one shot came to me a few hours ago when the same incident happened to me. I have various problems of this same exact thing. And I thought it would be funny to see how our beloved Miss Potts might handle it too.

Disclaimer: I own neither Mr. Stark, Iron Man, Pepper Potts, or anything else. Stupid lawyers in business suits.

Unwelcome Intruder

Tony Stark had been staring at the same model of his suit for the past five minutes with no epiphanies on how to strengthen the antifreeze coating of the gold titanium alloy. He frowned. This should not be that hard. It wasn't even a difficult problem. He blinked and could swear he heard the cracking of his eyelids. He leaned forward out of the metal chair he'd been in and felt all of his joints groan together in unison as he moved. How long had he been down there? Technically more than a few days, since he had taken to sleeping on his cot.

"Time, time, time…" Tony glanced at his watch and was surprised to find it well into three in the morning. He stood up, stretching his tired limbs, letting out a low, growling groan of relief. He shuffled lazily over to the cot, falling down onto his side. His eyes closed and relief washed over him blessedly in the most comforting way he could imagine.

And then it happened.

A high pitched, ringing scream ripped through Tony Stark's beautiful mansion. A scream that did not come from him. A scream that was undoubtedly female.

Tony threw himself up out of the makeshift bed, shouting from shock, "Holy Shi-"

...Pepper?

Tony's feet hit the stairs in record time, taking them two and three at a time to get up to the main floor of his home, to find his personal assistant cowering on the opposite side of the room, tears puddled in her eyes, jumping up and down, a cry of despair moaning from her lips.

Tony took her by the shoulders, instinctively pulling her gently forward. "PEPPER- What's wrong? What's going on?"

Pepper let out a whining noise and turned her face away from the sofa, pointing hysterically.

Tony looked. And saw nothing.

"Pepper, if this is some sort of joke, I swear to the living God I will fire you."

Pepper cried, "GOD GET IT OUT!"

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?" Tony exclaimed, not seeing a problem in his stylish, classy living room with the beautiful view. The fire place, the glass table, the pristine white sofa- with a smudge on it. It caught his eye. It was a dark smudge, very noticeable…

And moving.

Tony recognized the familiar shape, and groaned loudly. "You woke me to squish a BUG?"

How he hadn't fired her yet for jolting him awake as if the earth was imploding on them all, he wasn't sure. He also wasn't sure why he wasn't actually angry, as he would normally be when someone decided to interrupt him and his nightly meeting with a soft mattress. For some reason though, seeing his assistant with those tears in her eyes and explicit fear on her face made him forget ever being exhausted…

That quickly cooled when he figured out it was just a roach.

Pepper whimpered. "I fell asleep on your couch and I felt something crawling up my leg- at first I thought it was you trying to wake me up in some horrible way-"

"And found someone else instead?" Tony grinned wolfishly, which only served to upset his assistant more.

"JUST KILL IT!" She exclaimed, her red head frazzled.

Apparently being awoken by a roach at three in the morning wasn't her cup of tea.

Tony Stark shook his head, walking up the stairs. This was ridiculous. Of course he couldn't say no for three reasons. Number one, he'd never hear the end of it. Number two, it was Pepper in distress, and that was still bothering him. And number three, the least he could do, vs. her running his entire life for him, was to kill an insignificant bug for her.

Pepper watched him, fear in her eyes, still shaking from the shock of being roused so rudely by the infested intruder. "You're just going to LEAVE? TONY, I CAN'T-"

Tony barked, "I'm getting a shoe- calm down!"

Pepper quieted up, folding her legs up on the piano bench securely, making sure no other little infestation could make their way up her long legs. Pepper's employer returned moments later with one of his sneakers. He walked over to the sofa, brushing the bug off onto the floor so he wouldn't mess the couch up, and easily stepped on the bug, muttering something about, "…can stand up to a giant robotic suit that flame throws… but not a bug…"

Virginia Potts relaxed as Tony cleaned up the little mess, and came back in from the kitchen from dumping the remains of the insect into the trash, his shoulders slumped, more tired now than he was before. "There," he confirmed his conquest.

Pepper relaxed, smiling oh so gratefully up at her boss, shuffling off the piano bench over to him. "Thanks," she said, now sheepish she had acted so rash… rude awakenings weren't her area of expertise. Not by bugs, anyway. She leaned up and brushed her lips across his warm cheek in a kiss.

They both stopped for a fraction of a moment. Pepper blushed, but both of them ignored that. Tony would never admit how good that felt, and how ridiculously proud it made him that he could make her so happy with something so little. And Pepper would never confess how grateful it was to be taken care of once in a while, even if it was something done so small.

Tony sighed dramatically, his eyes wandering over her messy hair, unkempt clothes… "Yeah, well. I suppose a man around the house can't be of too much use without, you know, killing a few bugs now and then for a girl."

Pepper nodded, her eyes swiping the room for her purse. "I agree completely. Now, I'll… just… head on home-"

"Oh, NO you don't, Pepper Potts," Tony growled, his eyes a bit hard from lack of sleep and the slightest irritation. "I cleaned off that sofa, and you will SLEEP there."

Pepper frowned, put off. "There could be more bugs, though, and I want to sleep in a bed. Besides, if there are more bugs, I'll just scream for more help-"

Tony scoffed, walking back to the stairs. "You are such a woman."

"You like it that way," she shot back surprisingly brave. It was probably lack of sleep.

"Right. I couldn't ask for a kiss, then, if you weren't. So- kiss for your hero?" Tony asked, turning back around, a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

"I'll give the exterminator my number when he gets here in the morning," Pepper deadpanned as she collapsed onto the sofa. She fell asleep a little easier now, knowing that if there were any more bugs, she wouldn't be the one to get rid of them.


AN: I love reviews. They make me right more, cute little pointless one shots like this one to let you laugh at... possibly drool over...