AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is chapter one. Again, I do not own it. Read and Review!

Rise of the Mandarin

Chapter One

Malibu, CA

"Yes, we are currently in transition," Pepper said into her phone. Chaos went on around her. "No, no, those go over there," she told a construction worker. Tony's house was getting remodeled, and he was nowhere to be found. "No, sir, that will not delay the shipping of your parts." She walked over boards and tool boxes, trying to get to the stairs that led to the basement. "They will be on their way. Yes, sir, you as well." She sighed as she hung up the phone, finally reaching the stairs.

"Sir, Miss Potts is descending the stairs," Jarvis said. Tony moved quickly. He fell to his chair, rolled over to the suit, and acted as if he was working on it. Pepper saw him, shook her head, and punched in her code.

"You know, remodeling your house would be easier if you were actually up there supervising," she said, walking over to him.

"Actually, I was thinking you could handle it," he said, not turning to her.

"Tony, it's your house. Why would I want to remodel your house?" she asked him. Tony turned to look at her.

"Pepper, you're here all the time. It might as well be your house, too," he said, while trying to keep a straight face.

"Tony, we can have that discussion later, right now, I need you to focus on Stark Industries," she said looking down to her paperwork. Tony sighed.

"Fine, what do we have on the agenda, today?" he asked, turning back to the suit.

"Both Fox and MSNBC want quotes from you regarding Hammer's indictment," she said.

"Tell them that's one down in my evil plan to take over the world," he said, not missing a beat. Pepper glared into the back as his head.

"Tony," she began through gritted. "I don't think it would be wise for Iron Man to give a quote like that."

"Oh my god, Pepper," he said, turning around to look at her. "If you can't tell when I'm joking, what makes you think the morons at Fox will?"

"Tony, this is serious!" she exclaimed. "Have you seen the list of charges he's facing?"

"Yes, Pepper, I have," he said, while nodding his head.

"Conspiracy to commit murder, attempt to commit murder, aiding the escape of a felon," she began.

"Yes, Pepper," he said as he got out of his chair and walked over to her.

"I mean, I know it's been a very trying three months. You're CEO again, the company's in order, finally; the Senate still won't get off your back, not to mention you're buying out Hammer Industries, plus we're together now…" Tony lips came to hers. His arms wrapped around her as his lips slowly moved with hers. Reluctantly, her arms wrapped around his waist.

"You're babbling again," he said between kisses.

"I don't babble," she said. She let him kiss her for a few more seconds before she pulled away. "Tony, we're working," she said, looking him in the eyes.

"Five minute break," he said as he backed them up to his chair and brought her down to sit in his lap sideways. She grunted. "By the way, what are you doing this weekend?" he asked. "You don't have plans, do you?"

"Tony, we're going to Hong Kong, remember?" she said.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that. I thought there was something else going on this weekend," he said, fiddling with something behind him. "Are you sure there isn't anything else going on this weekend?"

"Yes, Tony, I'm pretty positive nothing else is going on this weekend," she said, sounding insulted that he would dare to think she missed something. Tony looked at her as if she had grown a second head.

"Are you serious? You seriously don't remember?" he asked. Pepper sighed.

"No, Tony, apparently I don't remember. Please tell me," she said aggravated. "What is this weekend? Our three month anniversary?" she asked sarcastically, but then a white box wrapped in ribbons and a bow was placed in her lap.

"It's your birthday, baby," he said softly. Pepper was so flabbergasted all she could do was look at him. "Our three month anniversary was last week," he said with a smirk. Finally, a smile grew on her face.

"The first time in ten years, you remembered my birthday," she said, still surprised.

"Of course I remembered. What do you think I am, a selfish person who thinks of no one but himself?" he asked.

"Thank you, Tony," she said as she leaned down and kissed him.

"Open it, come on," he said, taking her paperwork out of her hand. She sighed, feeling a blush spread across her face.

"Wow, Tony." She carefully pulled the ribbons and bow from the box.

"Did I surprise you?" he asked while watching her take her time opening her present.

"Yes you did, as a matter of fact." She tossed the ribbon aside. "Should I be worried about the contents of this box?" she asked, pulling the tape off with her fingers.

"No, you shouldn't. But I'm getting old here, Potts. I swear, you're the only person I know that takes forever and a day to open a present," he said, getting slightly frustrated.

"Okay, okay," she said. She opened the top and pulled the tissue paper away. "Oh, Tony," her voice filled with awe. She pulled the dress from the box as she stood out of Tony's lap.

"I know it's not blue and backless, but…"

"It's red and strapless," she said, turning the dress around to frame it against her body. Tony smiled.

"You like it?" he asked.

"I love it, Tony," she said, still looking at it. Tony rose out of his seat. "Thank you so much," she said, looking at him now.

"You're welcome." He placed his hands on her face and pulled her into a passionate kiss. They stood like that for a moment before she pulled back with an eyebrow raised. "What?" he asked, his voice sounding concerned.

"Do I want to know how you found out what size I wear?" she asked. Tony's eyes widened.

"Um..."

"You went through my closet, didn't you?" she asked.

"Yes, but I was only looking for another dress okay? It's not like I was looking through your lingerie drawer, alright?" he said, trying desperately to justify his actions. Pepper stared at him.

"It was in the bathroom, you know."

"That would explain why I couldn't find it," he said while looking down to the ground, a grin growing on his face.

"Uh huh," she said, still looking at him, a smile growing on her face as well. "I still love it."

"Okay, good," he said quickly. "Why don't we go check on the chaos going on upstairs?" he asked.

"Yes, let's," she said while dropping her dress over her arm. "And chaos would be an understatement."

"Hang on, let me get something to drink." He said as he walked over to his kitchenette.

"Tony, don't you think it's a little early for that?" she asked, picking up her papers.

"It's never too early for the good stuff." He pulled out the glass bottle from the cabinet and poured the amber liquid into a small glass with ice. "You want one?"

"No thanks, Tony. I'm working, remember?" Tony turned to see her smirking.

"You take pleasure in teasing me, don't you?" he asked as he started walking towards her.

"Yes, actually, I do."

"You're gonna pay for that, Miss Potts," he said, then began to run towards her. She squealed, then turned to run towards the door. She opened the door and ran up the stairs with Tony on her heels. They settled down once they reached the top, not wanting to put on a show for the construction workers. As if on cue, her phone began to ring.

"Pepper Potts," she said into the phone. She was back in assistant mode. "Yes, Mr. Russell, I was just reading your email," she spoke into the phone as she looked back at Tony, motioning that she was going back to work. He smiled and nodded, then focused his attention to the mess going on in his house.

"You, why isn't the hole in my living room repaired yet?" he asked, grabbing one worker out of the mess.

"The concrete isn't done mixing, sir," he said, a little standoff-ish.

"Well, it needs to get done, now, doesn't it?" he said.

"Yes, sir." The worker immediately left to go check on it. As he left, two more workers were bringing in a mattress.

"Yes, baby, this is what I'm talking about," Tony said as he walked over to them. "Now, this is a bed to sleep on." Tony inspected the over-sized king mattress, making sure no holes or marks were on it before they carried it upstairs to its resting place in the master bedroom. "Looks good, boys. Go ahead and take her upstairs." As they carried it to the stairs, two more workers were bringing down his old one. Pepper, just by chance, glanced up from her computer. "Yes, thank you, get that dirty piece of shit out of my house," she heard him say while directing them to the door. A small smile grew on her face as she returned to her emails.


"Sire, we have failed to locate him." The Ten Rings were assembled again. They bowed to their leader as he sat on his thrown. The Mandarin's hands tightened on the armrest. His grip was so tight they could hear the wood buckle under his grip.

"I want that ring. You will see to it that it is returned to me," he said through gritted teeth.

"Yes, Sire," they all said, not daring to contradict his order.

"Tony Stark comes to us at the end of the week. We will make sure he gets a very warm welcome," he said, his grip finally proving too much for the armrest. The wood spilt beneath his hand, and the remnants fell to the floor.


Night fell over Malibu, and everyone had left for the day. Pepper listened for his movements in the main level of the house, but didn't hear him. She assumed he went back down to the basement and started down the stairs.

"Miss Potts, Mr. Stark is waiting for you in the master bedroom," Jarvis said. Pepper stopped mid-step. She rolled her eyes, and turned back around to head up the stairs.

"Jarvis, does he still have his cloths on?" she asked.

"Yes, ma'am, he does," the A.I. said flatly.

"Good, otherwise he'd be going to Hong Kong by himself this weekend," she said, almost to the top level. She reached the top of the stairs and continued down the hallway. She stopped right outside the door, and cautiously peered in the door to see where he was located, however she didn't see him. Her eyebrows narrowed and moved inside the room. "Tony?"

"In here," she heard him call from his closet.

"What are you doing in your closet?" she asked walking towards it.

"I'm inspecting the work that was done today," he said.

"I didn't know your closet was damaged, too," she said, finally entering the closet. When she finally saw him, she stopped dead in her tracks.

"It wasn't, I had it expanded," he said, turning to look at her.

"Whoa," she said, looking around. "I never realized you needed a bigger closet."

"This wasn't for me," he said, walking towards her.

"Huh?" she asked, confused now. He put on that cocky 'Tony Stark' smile and grabbed her hand.

"Come on," he said, pulling her out of the closet. Something was going on, she knew. He lead her out of the closet and over to the new bed. He let go of her hand, ran, and jumped onto the bed. Instead of bouncing up, his body just landed flat on top of the mattress, as if he ran into a wall.

"Wow, Tony, that was really impressive. Were you trying to show me something?" she asked sarcastically. He rolled to his side, propped his head up on his hand and looked at her seductively.

"For your information, this is my new posture-pedic mattress. It's great for when my body is aching from those long missions, or when you're mentally and physically exhausted from those long days at the office. I thought it would be nice for us to come home to a nice, comfortable bed, one that we can actually sleep in," he explained, his eyes never leaving hers. Pepper was silent. She blinked a few times before she spoke again.

"You considered me when you chose the mattress?" she asked, disbelievingly.

"Yes, Pepper, I did. Would you like to come try it out?" he asked. Pepper stood her ground. "I'm not going to do anything, Pepper, I promise. Please, come sit." He patted the spot in front of him to get her to sit down. Hesitantly, she walked over. She turned around, and sat down with her back facing him.

"Wow, this is nice," she began. "Yes, it's definitely comfortable when you sit down. You know, I think I can actually feel my spine lining up better." Tony smacked his head into the bed.

"Pepper, lay back, would you? You can't really tell it's comfortable until your body feels the experience for itself," Tony said, almost frustrated.

"Oh, you want me to lay back. You said I only needed to sit down," she said, teasing him with his words. Tony sighed.

"Pepper," he began. She turned to look at him.

"Yes?" she asked, teasing him with her tone.

"Please, lay down. I'm not going to do anything, see?" He laid down flat, and entwined his hands together on his chest. "I'm keeping my hands to myself like a good boy. I won't make a move while you're on the bed with me, I promise." He laid there still, just staring at the ceiling. A smile grew on her face.

"Well, since you promised." She turned, and laid down flat on her back, hands laying side by side on her stomach. They laid there a few moments, staring up at the ceiling, listening to each other breathe.

"This is nice," he said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, not very comfortable, though," she said, beginning to fidget. Tony turned his head to her.

"It's not?" he asked, his feelings hurt. She turned her head to him.

"Nope, sorry," she said, looking the part. "However," she said as she began to move towards him. She wrapped her arm around his waist and laid her head on his chest. "This, now, this is comfortable. This I like, very much." Tony laughed and wrapped his arm around her.

"You know, you had me worried there," he admitted.

"I know, I just like to keep you on your toes. You have the habit of taking me by surprise, so I just wanted to give you a taste of your own medicine," she said. Tony could hear the smile in her voice, and leaned down to kiss the top of her head.

"Okay, point taken, I got it," he said, leaning back into the bed.

"Do you, now?" she asked. Before Tony could register her actions, she rose up, straddled his hips, and had his arms pinned next to his head. "Do you really get it, Tony?" she asked, millimeters away from his face. This caught Tony off guard, big time. He didn't know whether to be scared or turned on, but whatever he was he liked it.

"Um…" he began, trying to register the right words. "Yeah, I think." Pepper smiled wickedly.

"Good." She rose up, then crossed her arms over her chest, her smile fading into her stern 'Pepper Potts' face. "Alright, Stark, start talking," she said, this time not playing. Tony looked at her.

"Huh?" he asked, not believing this.

"Tony, what is going on?" she asked, more forcefully this time.

"Oh, for Pete's sake, Pepper," he said as he rubbed his face with his hands.

"Tony, I'm serious." Tony looked to her, seeing her face full of concern.

"Babe, nothing is going on," he said as coolly as he could.

"Oh, don't even give me that, Anthony," she said as she shook her head. "First, you tell me to fix your house anyway that I want it to be. Second, you've more than doubled the size of your closet with someone else in mind. And finally, you get this new mattress designed specifically for relaxation and even said so yourself that you had me in mind when buying this thing." She paused to let her words sink in. "What is going on, Tony?" she asked, more softly this time. Tony sighed and sat up. Pepper scooted back to where she was sitting on his thighs. He was eye level with her, but couldn't quite look her in the eye, not yet. He was nervous. He didn't know what she was going to say, or how she would react for that matter. He didn't think she would pick up on those things so quickly, but then again, he should've because she's Pepper, not some dumb tramp he picked up. He sighed and took her hands in his. He looked her in the eyes and decided to go for it.

"I want you to move in with me," he said. Pepper's eyes widened. To be honest, she really didn't expect him to say it.

"Really?" she asked, not believing what she heard. Tony nodded.

"Yes, Pepper, really." She just sat there, staring at him. When she didn't say anything for a full minute, he felt he better explain. "I know I haven't made the best decisions in the past, and revealing to the world that I'm Iron Man was one of them. I got to thinking about us, and I realized that with all the enemies I still have out there, us living apart really isn't an option. There is no real security at your apartment, even though it is on the more high class part of town, it can't stop anyone from coming in and kidnapping you. Here, Jarvis is 24 hour surveillance and security, and I know you would be safe and not wondering where you are all the time," he explained, genuine sincerity in his voice.

"Is keeping me safe from your enemies the only reason why you want me to live with you?" she asked. Tony swallowed the lump in his throat.

"I don't like it when you leave me at the end of the day." His words melted her right there. "I hate it. I want you to stay, forever if you want to. I know I want you to." His eyes were begging her to say yes. She cupped his face with her hands, and kissed him.

"Give me the weekend to think it over, and the moment we get home, and walk off the plane, I will give you my answer, okay?" Tony grinned. It wasn't the answer he was looking for, but at least it wasn't 'no'.

"Okay." She kissed him once more, and he wrapped his arms around her waist. "You know, you can take more time if you want," he said between kisses.

"Nope, the weekend will be long enough." He pulled back to look at her.

"You already know the answer, don't you?" he asked. Pepper rolled her eyes, with a smirk on her mouth.

"I'm not saying 'yes', and I'm not saying 'no' either," she said, a grin growing on her face.

"Uh huh." He pulled her into another kiss, this time more passionate than the last time. He slowly lowered them to the bed, with no space between them. He wrapped his arms around her, and her hands went to his face, holding him as she kissed him.

"You know," she began between kisses. "That bed you threw out was one of a kind." Tony grunted against her lips.

"That wasn't our bed," he said. "We couldn't sleep on it." He said nothing else and she continued to kiss him. "I'm sure whoever decides to pick it up at the Salvation Army Store will appreciate it, though." Pepper flew back.

"Ew, Tony, that is gross," she said, making a disgusted face. Tony began to laugh.

"No one will know unless you tell them, okay?" he said, still chuckling. Pepper rolled her eyes and moved off of him, once again laying against his side with her head on his chest. Her hand laid on top of his arc and Tony held it there. She could feel the warmth it radiated, but she knew it did more than that.

"I really do have to go, Tony," she said, but not making a move.

"Why?" he asked, sounding like a child.

"Because I have to pack for our trip." She rose to look at him. "The trip that we are scheduled to leave at 7:00 AM for, and you will be on time, Tony Stark." He sighed.

"Yes, mother, I will be on time," he said, poking fun at her.

"Good, don't forget that, either." She got off the bed and straightened out her cloths. He moved to the edge on the bed, and sat with his legs hanging off. "I'm serious, Tony, don't forget," she said, pointing a finger at him. He grabbed it and kissed the tip.

"I promise I won't forget." She smiled and leaned down to kiss him one more time. "You know, you don't have to leave. I could just buy you cloths when we got there," he said, trying desperately to get her to stay. She looked at him.

"I might be doing this for sentimental reasons, you know. This could be the last time I ever sleep in my apartment. This could also be the last time I will be living by myself," she explained. Tony grinned and watched her walk towards the door.

"You should have just said yes, Potts. You're a terrible tease, you know," he said.

"7 AM sharp, Tony!" she called back as she descended the stairs.