Author notes :

My 2nd fic! I don't know yet if I'm going to continue my first one or leave it at a one shot, however, this one will definitely have several chapters!

It's in between Iron Man 1 and the second movie and is a complete AU even if I may make some references to IM2 in future chapters.

I really hope you're going to enjoy this idea I had in my shower (lol). Comentaries and criticism (constructive, preferably) are very welcome since i'm a starter at writing fanfics.

I'm sorry if there are any mistakes, i'm French and i may lack vocabulary.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer : I do not own anything Marvel related. This is for my own (and yours I hope) entertainement only)

Those meetings were boring and he didn't even understood why they were all making so much fuss about it. The communications experts had been talking for too long about how they should handle the situation. They had been sent by the board who was not entirely happy with his latest press conference. He cast a quick glance towards Pepper who was, as usual, taking notes about whatever those two guys were telling. She nodded and smiled to them and he turned his attention back to the meeting trying to pay as much attention as she was. It was a lost cause. He was bored and his mind was slowly drifting away. Pepper was mad at him too. Not mad enough to hurl something at him but she was… calm. And composed. And she wouldn't say anything to him other than his agenda for the day. He never paid much attention to her in all those years they worked together, he couldn't even remember her birthday or what she likes to eat or even her favorite color or music. But, he knew that when she was acting that way it meant she was mad. His 'I am Iron Man' stunt was not really appreciated by everyone in the conference room. At least the press enjoyed it.

"Do you think you are capable of that Mr Stark?" came a man voice. Tony blinked and straightened up in his chair. Capable of what?

"Yep. Sure!" he exclaimed. "Are we done?" he started to get up, wanting nothing more than to get rid of those two really annoying guys. Pepper's hand was on his arm in a second, stooping him from getting up and pushing him back into his seat. Tony sighed and ignored the comment of the older man. He had grey hair and looked like he was in his fifties. Tony guessed that this would be the kind of man who inspired respect and confidence to everyone but he wasn't impressed one bit, he was wearing a second hand suit, for sure. Or maybe not, but it wasn't couture. The other one was younger, probably mi-thirties, he hadn't spoken much since the beginning of the meeting but he looked very serious and concentrated. Then again, the older guy was speaking to him, explaining how he was supposed to lay low until everything calm down so that Stark Industries was not on the front page of every newspaper because of its eccentric boss. Tony's eyes widened. He said that, he actually said it without blinking and without fearing anything. This guy with this cheap suit was suddenly becoming more agreeable.

"What's your name again?" Tony asked, pointing his finger to him.

" Murphy. Georges Murphy."

"I like your bluntness Mr Murphy. However, I'm not good at…" A buzzing phone stopped him and he just had time to turn his head toward the noise to see Pepper's small hand shutting it down. She had let her phone on the table, as usual, in case something came up. "… not good at laying low" he continued as if nothing has happened. "And you know, I am Iron Man now and people are…" The buzzing came again and Tony's eyes went straight for the screen of Pepper's phone and the name written on it before she ended the call once again, apologizing in the process. "Who's Vicky?" he asked his PA. She looked at him with round eyes, obviously surprised by his question but just nodded her head towards Murphy, silently commanding him to go back to his work. Tony frowned and turned to Murphy. "Well let's just say people need me to be Iron Man, and I'm not going to lay low if there's a bank robbery or whatever so just drop… Oh God Pepper, answer that, this is driving me crazy, seriously." the phone had just came back to life again and Vicky's name was still written on the screen. Tony gave Pepper the same look she gave him a few seconds ago and she grabbed her phone, excusing herself as she got up to answer the phone outside of this room.

"What Vicky?! I'm in an important meeti…" Tony heard just before Pepper closed the door. He was still looking at the door when the younger man spoke.

"Mr Stark, the board has nothing to do with Iron Man…"

"Oh dear God you can speak!" Tony exclaimed, pointing to the man.

"… However, Stark Industries welfare and its reputation are their primary concern." The young man continued. Tony noticed for the first time he had curly hair, he cringed. That must be one hell of a mess every morning. "Being known as the enterprise of Iron Man and not as the greatest weapon manufacturer is not good."

"We're not doing weapons anymore." Tony cut sharply.

"Yeah. And you're not doing anything else, that's our problem." The two men eyed each other for several minutes until Murphy spoke up.

"Mr Stark," he started carefully "We just want you to do what's best in term of communication. We're dealing with the repercussions of your… announcement… And we need a strategic plan. We need something other than Iron Man to be all this company is about in the media."

"Honestly, I get why you work in the comm., you're good at this. But he…" Tony pointed to the thirty year old man "… is not good. You should fire him. Just saying."

"Mr Barnes is very sharp, Sir but…" They were cut by Pepper re-entering the conference room. She looked completely distressed and as soon as Tony laid eyes on her, he was on his feet and next to her.

"What is it?" he asked, his voice filled with concern. Her tearful eyes met his. Pepper never cried. She was the strongest person he knew, he didn't remember ever seeing her with tears in her eyes. And when she spoke, her voice was only a whisper.

"My house is burning down…" Tony's expression went from concerned to completely horrified and still, he couldn't utter a word of initiate a soothing gesture. He was lost in a sea of human emotions he wasn't used to.

"Oh my god" He heard Murphy say and the next thing he knew was being pushed out of the way by the other man, this Barnes he now despised, who put his hands on Pepper shoulders.

"Do you need a ride there?" he asked and then Tony's brain finally kicked in.

"I'll take her." His voice was low and stern. He shouldered Barnes to get him out of the way and met Pepper lost eyes again. She was doing anything in her power to fight the tears in her eyes. Tony put his right hand on her lower back and guided her out of the conference room. "Meeting adjourned. You can go back to New York gentlemen." He instructed as he exited the room with Pepper. They were sitting in his Audi in a matter of seconds and Tony sped them up towards her house. He had only been there once or twice but remembered the road correctly. Her house was in a nice and quiet neighborhood, far from the agitation of the town. He remembered it looked like a little cottage that would be on a beach, made of wood boards painted in white with this huge stairway getting to the porch and front door. It was in the middle of bushes and big trees and the first time he saw it he thought that this looked heavenly, in an old-fashioned way.

"What happened?" he broke the silence for the first time since they had left as he was rushing on the highway.

"I don't know. My neighbor just said that it was on fire and that the fire department was there and that's all." The both fell silent again and as Tony was taking the highway exit he heard her gasp. He quickly looked at her and followed her gaze to their right. In the distance, a thick black smoke was rising above the trees and houses. Tony pushed on the accelerator, shoving them both deeper into their seats.

When they arrived on Blossom Bend, Tony was struck by the amount of people in this small street. Pepper's home was towards the end of this little lane and hidden by the trees and other houses until the very last bend. When they took it, she gasped again and unfastened her seatbelt. Tony just had time to hit the breaks before she was out of the car. Her house was on fire, everything was burning down and some of the trees and the bushes around were also on fire. Numerous fire engines were already here and the firemen were doing everything they could to contain and extinguish this inferno. He heard Pepper screamed and ran after her as she was crossing the security line.

"Pepper don't!" he grabbed her hand and pulled her against him. His strong arms circled her and he pushed her back against his chest, trying to hold her still. Her body was shaking from tearless sobs and Tony felt powerless. He didn't know what to do or what to say to calm her down, he was never really good with soothing and comforting people, he always used some witty remarks to get out of situations he wasn't used to. He couldn't be witty right now, not when her home and her whole life was burning to the ground. After a few moments, they both heard Pepper's name being called not far from where they stood. Three women were heading their way, concern and sympathy all over their faces. One of them, a brunette who was wearing dark clothing and a dark red lipstick opened her arms and, much to Tony's disappointment, Pepper left his embrace to seek the comfort he couldn't give her with her friend.

"It's okay sweety… Shhh" The woman was gently stroking her back as Pepper was still looking at her burning house. The two others put comforting hands on her shoulders and Tony felt completely out of place. One of them finally took a look at him and extended her hand. She was as tall as Pepper and wore a pink cardigan. Her red hair was down and perfectly straight, as if she was just getting out of the hair-dresser.

"Hello, I'm Aubrey. I live right there." She moved her hand towards a lavender house only a few feets away. Tony noticed she had an accent but was not able to guess from where it was. "This is Regina…" she explained, nodding to the woman who was holding Pepper and giving a dark look. "… and Victoria." Vicky. He remembered the name on Pepper's phone. That last one was petite compared to Pepper, she had fair skin just like his PA and long, wavy, black hair. Tony just nodded and took Aubrey's hand.

"I'm Tony…"

"Stark. Yes. We know you." He was cut by the one holding Pepper. Usually, he would relish in the fact that he was recognized but this one was giving him such a dark look that he just couldn't enjoy his celebrity right now. Pepper straightened up from Regina's hold, still looking at her house.

"What happened?" she asked to no one in particular.

"We don't know yet. They didn't say anything." The smallest one started. "When I went jogging, everything was fine, but when I came back I saw flames inside. I called the fire services right away and then you."

Half an hour later, the firemen were able to put an end to the fire but the house was completely destroyed. Burned wood was all that seemed to be left. Eventually, Tony had left the ladies and used his notoriety and force of persuasion to have information from the chief of the fire department. He was just able to tell him that the fire was really important and that they didn't know yet what started it. Nothing was pointing to a criminal action anyway.

The chief then asked a few questions to Pepper like if she had lit any candles, or the stove, or let the flatiron switched on. She answered negatively to each of his questions. She had regained her composure and was again the Pepper Tony knew. She was positive everything was turned off when she left earlier and the firemen later revealed that nothing seemed to have caused the fire after they swept the house.

"Does this mean it's criminal?" Pepper enquired, she was looking to the firemen with shock all over her beautiful face and Tony stood closer to her.

"We don't know it yet"

"But since you found nothing that could have start that fire you think someone has started it." Tony said bluntly with a bit off anger in his voice. Pepper had no enemy, everyone loved her. She was smart, nice, funny, devoted. No one could do this to her. The simple thought of it made him want to punch something.

"It's a possibility." That last sentence hit her hard and that's when Pepper realized that she was completely lost. Tony could see it in her eyes.

"What am I going to do?" she murmured to herself when the firemen were gone.

"You can come to my place. Danny will be so happy if you stayed with us!" Regina assured. "The house is too big for just the two of us."

"And if you get bored of playing hide and seek with Danny you can always come back to the adult world and stay with us!" countered Vicky.

"Oh no, no… Thank you, but I can't…"

"Don't be silly Pepper." came Aubrey's voice. "That's what friends do."

"But with work and my schedule it's too complicated…" They all glanced at Tony who looked back at them in a nonchalant way. "I mean… I have so much to do and…" Obviously embarrassed, Pepper was trying to explain.

"Not my fault she's a workaholic!" Tony declared, raising both his hands to play the innocent card.

"Yeah." Pepper agreed "I'm a workaholic so with Danny, it would be impossible to work you know…" she explained to Regina before turning to Vicky. "And you're always complaining about Anton who is always working, so…"

"She has a point!" Tony added, not even sure who were Danny and Anton but acting as if he was aware of everything.

"Yeah and I wouldn't be a great company you know." Pepper was still talking to her dark haired friend as if Tony never interrupted. "And Aubrey, you have your whole family, there's no room. I'll… I'll find a way, I'll just…"

"Stay with me" Tony cut her off one last time, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Yeah…" Pepper started, out of habit and then she froze. "What?!" she turned her attention to Tony, processing what he just said. Her friends were silent, abashed by what just happened. One moment they were just talking, completing each other sentences and then the selfish Tony Stark had just offered his PA to stay at his place.

"Come on Pepper, you already spend 12 hours a day there, it won't be that much of a change." He was standing there, hands in his pocket, looking right at her with this casual attitude as if he just asked her to get him a hot-dog. She was dumbfounded and it took her a few moments to be able to react.

"No. Not a god idea…" she started when he interrupted her.

"Great idea! This way you will be able to do all your work…"

"No, Tony, I'm not going to…

"… without all the road, and you could rest by the pool…"

" …stay with you. I don't need a pool!"

"That's great! Done deal, let's get going" he clapped his hand and walked towards his car, leaving an exasperated Pepper behind.

"So… You weren't overstating it…" Aubrey said as she watched Tony get into his luxury car. "He really is…" she was fighting to find the appropriate word.

"Infuriating?" Regina suggested.

"Something." Aubrey finally replied, being more moderate than her friend.

"I really love his car… and his goatee…" Vicky let out with a dreamy tone.

"Vicky!" Aubrey's voice snapped her out of her reverie. They all knew Victoria had a soft spot for rich and powerful men, even if she was a happily married woman. After a few moments, Tony's voice came.

"Need I remind you that I also have very efficient fire extinguisher robots?" He smiled back at them while pushing up his sunglasses, he seemed proud of his little joke and even if the timing was terrible, Pepper could not be mad at him right now and she just smiled and shook her head. She approached the car.

"I could go to a hotel you know…"

"I'm not paying you so you can squander everything in hotel fees." He stated, looking at her through his glasses. "Now get in, we're going to call your insurance and everything back at my place." This was his final word. He would never admit it, even to himself but he didn't want to take any chances if the fire was indeed criminal. He couldn't let her alone somewhere with some strangers after what just happened. He needed to be sure she was safe, next to him, he wanted to protect her and much to his relief, she finally nodded her acceptance.

A few minutes later her friends had gather clothing, makeup and anything she would need for a few days before she was able to go and buy herself some stuff. As soon as it was loaded in the car, they were gone, heading towards the Stark mansion.