Hi everybody! Well, it was only a matter of time: I love Pepperony fics, so here at last is one of my own. Basically, the idea here is that at the end of "Iron Man 2," when Pepper and Tony finally get together, given the exhausting events preceding their first kiss, I feel like their first night together would have been more about sleep than anything else. So, here's a sweet bit of fluff—enjoy! :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing from the Marvel Universe. (Well, I own graphic novels and DVDs and action figures…but not characters. :))

Nightlight

After the mess at Stark Expo, there were a lot of details to take care of. Damage control took most of the night, though it quickly became clear to anyone with eyes and access to a TV or computer that Tony and Colonel Rhodes had saved hundreds, probably thousands of lives. With Justin Hammer in custody, it was easy enough to get the media to look to him as the source of the whole disaster, but doing so still required press conferences, carefully worded press releases, and a few appearances by Tony, looking unruffled and confident as always, in spite of his recent near-death experiences. Consequently, neither he nor Pepper got any sleep that night, and the next day was more of the same, so when they were finally alone together in the house back in Malibu, Tony made what Pepper guessed he'd thought would be a surprising request.

"I know that this might irrevocably damage my reputation, and also, you're probably never going to let me live this down, but…can we just snuggle tonight?"

Pepper laughed and kissed him on the cheek. "Since I'm basically dead on my feet right now, I'm not even going to make fun of you."

"Because you don't want to, or because you don't have the energy?"

"Because I don't have the energy," she said with a smile. "I promise to make fun of you in the morning."

"You mind if we sleep in your room?" he asked. She'd always had a room in the house; being the personal assistant of a man who often chose work over sleep meant that Pepper didn't always get much sleep herself, much less get to sleep in her own apartment.

"Why mine?" she wondered. "Your bed's bigger."

"Yeah, but yours is…just yours," Tony said with a shrug. "My bed is sort of a monument to years of bad behavior and poor relationship choices. When you think about that, it's not really very comfortable, despite the bigger mattress."

"Ah, but who knows how many people I might have had in my bed over the years," Pepper pointed out drily. "For all you know, it could be just as well-used as yours."

"I doubt that," Tony said. "Aside from the fact that you're a better human being than I am, and thus don't seduce people and then leave your personal assistant to dispose of them in the morning, I think I would have noticed a steady stream of men parading in and out of here at all hours."

"Not if you were working, or if I brought guys in through the back door," Pepper said. "Wait, so you're saying that I can't possibly have had a string of torrid love affairs because I don't have a personal assistant to manage them?"

"Exactly," he said. "So, you either need to get a personal assistant, or else start dating me. If that's what we're calling this. Are we calling it dating?"

"I think we can call it dating, though we have yet to go on an actual date," Pepper said.

"What, last night doesn't count?"

"Unless you want almost getting killed by Hammerdroids to count, no," she said. "Though that would certainly make for a memorable first date."

"Memorable, so not bad?" Tony said hopefully.

"No, it was a bad first date," Pepper said, finally stopping in the doorway of her room. "Really, really bad. But, you're going to make it up to me."

"Absolutely," Tony said, putting his arms around her. "In fact, I will start making it up to you just as soon as I've slept for about twelve hours. Deal?"

"Deal," she said, kissing him gently. And though they helped each other undress, they really did nothing but sleep that first night. Though Tony offered to cover it, Pepper liked the soft glow of the arc reactor in the dark room.

"You don't mind having a boyfriend who doubles as a nightlight?" he said drowsily.

Pepper smiled and kissed him again. "Hey, nightlights are useful. This way, I won't stub my toe on anything if I have to get up in the middle of the night."

He grinned. "Ah, the glamorous life of a superhero."

They were silent for a moment, and then she tucked her head under his chin, and he pulled her close. "Thank you again, for saving me," she murmured.

She felt him shrug. "I kind of had to. I mean, what would I do without you? I'd—honestly, I have no idea what I'd do, Pepper. You're…my favorite person, in the world, and not just because you inexplicably put up with me. So, you're welcome, except you shouldn't really be thanking me, because saving you was a selfish act on my part anyway."

She laughed and tried to keep her tone light, but secretly, she was thrilled. "I'm your favorite person? Really?"

"Well, as far as I know," Tony said. "I mean, I've never tried snuggling like this with Rhodey. Doubt he'd be interested, but I could check, just to be sure."

Pepper laughed. "Thanks, but I'm confident that I'm more fun to snuggle with."

"Mmm, so am I," he murmured, kissing her temple. "Seriously though, don't be insulted if I fall asleep in a minute. I promise, it's nothing personal."

"Okay, but I'm not gonna forget to tease you in the morning," she said. He chuckled, but within a few moments, he really was asleep. Pepper grinned in the dim light of the arc reactor: Tony Stark, world famous lothario, had fallen asleep in her bed after nothing more than a few chaste kisses, and in the morning, she would get to remind him of that. Well, maybe they'd do a few other things first. But eventually, she'd remember to tease him about being her new nightlight.