I do not own Ironman or any of the characters. Although, I wish I did.

I was ecstatic to get my first chapter out and then to get a comment. I love these characters. I have had ideas and logged them but have not actually published anything until now.

Enjoy.

CHAPTER TWO

He watched her as she walked into Stark Industries.

'She will be mine. She has to be mine. That Tony Stark doesn't deserve her. He's been with every woman in the book. "

Gregory Montreal had watched Pepper for a few months now, taking pictures, following her, dressing differently so he wouldn't be noticed. He had even applied for a job at Stark Industries and had a job interview tomorrow afternoon. He had always been a recluse and never had any lasting relationships but he was fixated on Pepper. He followed the tabloids with her Tony Stark and had developed a fetish for Virginia Potts. He was mesmerized by her and who wouldn't be? He was a tall man, with green eyes, blond hair. He looked respectable, clean-shaven which will do a lot to get him that job that he wanted so he could be near Virginia Potts so he could work his way to her. He had computer skills. He knew how to fake a clean background check, even to pass their SI standards.

'I have to get her attention somehow. I will have her.' He had his plan. He just had to get hired on. He had too.

"Ms. Potts you have a delivery."

"Oh? Do you know what it is?"

"You got flowers."

"Oh, we'll bring them in." Pepper smiled.

Leslie walked in with a dozen red roses and sat them on Peppers desk.

Peppers eyes lit up and bent down to smell the roses. Oh he shouldn't have, but then again, maybe so. She raised her eyebrows. I'll have to give him a special 'thank you'.

She picked up her cell.

"Hey beautiful."

"Hey, I just wanted to say, thank you."

"You're welcome, but for what?"

"The flowers silly."

There was a moment of silence and then he said very quickly, in a low tone, "I didn't get you flowers."

"Oh'….maybe Jarvis called them in for you. Maybe he was helping you out."

"Jarvis, did you call in some flowers from me to Pepper?"

"No sir."

"What does the card say?" Tony sounded alarmed. 'Who could be sending his Pepper flowers?'

Pepper suddenly felt sick and was hesitant to tell him what it said. If Tony didn't send them then who did? He was going to be really upset and he was going to have someone's head.

"Pepper?"

"It says…uummmm….. 'For My Lovely Virginia, From Your Secret Admirer." With a shaky voice.

The phone was silent.

"Tony?" feeling very nervous.

"What florist?" Sounding disturbed, still using a low tone.

"Um, Bakers on Broadway." With a shaky voice.

She had a chill run up her spine. "Ooooh." She picked the flowers up and threw them in the garbage.

"Tony, I'm…kinda creeped out."

"Don't panic, um. I'll call and find out who sent them. You don't leave the building without walking out with Happy, okay?" He was not happy at all about this.

"Okay."

"I love you."

"I love you too Tony."

Tony called the florist as soon as he hung up with Pepper. He had no leads. A tall, blonde man with green eyes came into the store and paid cash. They had no security cameras, no nothing.

He sat there rubbing his goatee. He knew Pepper would not cheat on him. He was more worried some weirdo was out there targeting her. He called Happy and to make sure he walked her out with her with at least a couple security guards and told him to bring her straight home.

When she got to the mansion that evening she went straight to Tony and saw a look on his face that she could not quite figure out.

"Tony?"

He was in the kitchen making some dinner for them. "Hey honey."

She ran to him and threw her arms around him and held on tight. He held on tight too. "You do know I don't know who sent those right?"

"I know. It's going to be okay Pepper. Don't worry. I did call the florist. Whoever the guy was, he paid cash. I have no leads."

"That really creeped me out. I threw them in the garbage."

"Let's just be extra careful for a while, okay?"

"Yes." She had a tear running down her cheek and he wiped it off with his finger gently and kissed her.

"I am making spaghetti."

"And the kitchen is not on fire yet?"

He winced. "I'll never live that down, will I? Hmm. For that remark you can't have any."

With a pouty face, "Please. You know I have to pick on you. I just can't resist." Giving him a mischievous grin. "On that note, please remind me to get someone to repair the wall over there." Pepper sniggering.

"Okay. Taste." He lifted a spoon of sauce up to her mouth and she tasted it."

"Mmmmm. That is actually very good. What got into you today?"

"It took my mind off. Hopefully there will not be anything else delivered but I have a bad feeling Pepper. And I'm… I'm talking about it again." Sighing.

"Yeah, let's change the subject. I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay. How bout we go get ice cream for dessert at Maggie Moo's?"

"That sounds really tempting, mmm okay. You talked me into it. You want to go for a swim after we get back?"

"Ooh, do I have to wear my swim trunks?" Raising his eyebrows up and down, grinning.

"You are so bad." Giving him a grin. Give me a kiss and I will think about it."

He put down his spoon and wrapped his arms around her and placed his lips on hers.

They both had to be at SI this morning for a meeting with Research and Development on a new project.

They both had a long morning ahead of them. Tony had gotten an idea that could help those that could not use their legs anymore and had spinal injuries. There had to be some type of robotic solution to help these people move around and walk. So that was his next project.

The research department were just as excited as he was about the idea. He had the plans drawn up and they knew what to do to get started on this. Going over all the details took all morning and spilled into the afternoon. Pepper had ordered lunch for everyone. This was his new baby so he would have hands on with a lot of this and would be coming in the office more until this was finished and put on the market. He would be demonstrating the robotic equipment also. He felt good about this instead of just blowing things up.

They finished about 3:00 and headed back to Peppers office.

"That was a long meeting. You know what I would like to do right now? Pepper asked Tony.

"What is that?" absorbed in some paperwork.

"I would love to take a mile long run along the beach right now."

"That sounds inviting. You don't get to do that as much as you would like to anymore. I really need to need to hire someone else to cut your workload."

"You don't trust anyone else to do it."

"We need to start looking. You could train them, ya' know. Anything is possible. No one thought it would be possible for me to change, but hey….." Looking at her affectionately. "So, like I said—anything is possible, especially when your hand is in it." Still looking at her.

She stopped what she was doing and walked over to him and placed his face in her hands. She looked at him with such sweet adoration. "I love you Tony Stark." And it made his heart swell, the way she looked at him."

"How did I ever get so lucky Pepper? I don't deserve you."

"Sure you do Tony. You changed for me. You will never know how much that means to me." And she kissed him tenderly.

After a 30 minute make out session on the office couch….

"Are you coming Tony?" Let's go. I'm famished." Where are we meeting Rhodey?"

"Guadalajara Mexican Restaurant. His pick."

"Fine by me. They have good margaritas."

"Okay Mr. Montreal, let us do our usual background check. If that all goes well, you are hired. Just wait for our call. I am sorry this is all we have right now but times are tough. Everybody has to make a living, right."

"That is correct. This is fine. (Although he thought it beneath him to do maintenance) Hey, this job is important too."

"We keep everything at Stark Industries tip top. Mr. Stark would not want it any other way. It is a fine corporation to work for."

"I could not agree more. I will wait for your call Mr. Petry."

As they were leaving Gregory passed Tony and Pepper in the hallway on the first floor also leaving going different directions, of course.

'There she is. She is so beautiful. She is with that idiot Stark again. He wanted to kill him. She will be mine. I will have her. I will have her. She will love me. She passed right by him and she did not even notice he was staring at her but Tony did. He looked him dead, straight in the eye, letting him know he knew he was looking too hard."

Gregory smiled at Tony and nodded his head and kept going. Gregory was wearing green contacts and wearing his hat so Tony did not click. Tony would be looking for gawkers with blue eyes.

Tony had his arm on Peppers back walking her to their private entrance.

They met up with Rhodey and had dinner at Guadalajara Mexican Restaurant for dinner and drinks.

Rhodey and Tony were discussing a new terrorist group in Afghanistan. Rhodey had information of Tony's weapons being used on civilians and they were narrowing in on them. Tony knew he had to do something about it. He knew he was responsible for the weapons. Pepper grabbed his hand and they entwined their fingers. She got scared every time he left in that suit but she knew he had to take care of the weapons. He wouldn't be the Tony she loved if he did not care. He had changed so much since Afghanistan. She knew he was totally devoted to her. He said he was in this for the long haul. She had known she loved him way before he was kidnapped and she would have never let this happen but she knows now it was meant to be. She was sure of his love for her. It really scared her when she got those flowers and with that message. She didn't want him to have any doubts about her loyalty to him. She would be lost without him now.

She took her hand and moved it to his back and was rubbing circles on his back and squeezed up closer to him. He noticed it and looked over at her and started rubbing her leg under the table.

Rhodey sensed it was time to end this engagement.

The next day he left for Afghanistan after going over all the details with the military.

He had told Happy to keep an eye on Pepper and told him to take her to and from where ever she went. He didn't want her to know he had Happy to do this. She would have gotten angry. She is so independent, a strong woman which is one of the things he loved about her.

There was a lot of weapons. He didn't know how in the world they had so many weapons. It could have been a deal Obadiah made but Tony did not like this at all. He located the village where these terrorists were hiding part of the weapons and blew it up. He would really like to catch their leader. His name was Abdul Mahamid. He was an extremely dangerous man who had used weapon on civilians, including children. He had his work cut out for him.

Pepper had given him a kiss before he left. She always knew something could happen and there was a possibility he could not make it home but she knew this was part of him and this was their life. He always told her he would always come home to her.

She went into SI this morning. There were things she had to get done at the office that could not get done at home and it kept her mind off Tony being in harms way. She had a couple of meetings too.

"Ms. Potts, you have another delivery." Traci came walking in with a big box of chocolates. "Ms. Potts, you must be something special. The flowers and now chocolate," grinning at her.

Pepper stood there not wanting to touch them, looking scared. "What does the card say?"

"Hmm. Let's see…. It says 'For the Love of My Life". She sat them down on her desk. She felt sick at her stomach. "Traci, who delivered this box?"

"It was delivered by Princess Gifts."

"Thank you Traci." After Tracy walked out Pepper did not touch them. She wanted to think that Tony had gotten them for her but she didn't want to touch until she knew. This really made Pepper uncomfortable. She went to her meetings, got much paperwork done and had a stack for Tony to sign when he got back.

She called Princes Gifts and inquired on who had paid for the chocolates and if they had security and what did the person look like. It was the same scenario as the flowers. Tall blind, paid cash, so in the garbage they went.

Happy took her home and made sure she was locked in the mansion safe and sound. He had told Jarvis to make sure to alert him and Rhodey if anything happened out of the ordinary.

She called one of her girlfriends, Patricia to talk to for a while, then ate a bite and sat down with a good book and listened to some classical music. She knew Tony would probably be another day. She hated to tell him that she received another gift. He will worry even more.

She went through another day of the same and around six that evening she heard him landing in the shop and ran down to greet him with a kiss and a hug. "Oh Tony, I am so glad you're back. Are you hurt?"

"Na, more exhausted than anything and I'm starving."

"Oh, we'll I have some shrimp fettuccine I made with some salad. I'll dip you a plate."

Looking extremely exhausted he said okay and he would take a shower and come down to eat."

"I'll bring it to you with a Gatorade."

"Okay." And caught another kiss before going upstairs to shower. He stood under the hot soothing water, exhausted.

She brought him a tray with a delicious plate of her shrimp fettuccine, salad and garlic sticks. "You are so good to me Pepper. I don't deserve you" and lightly brushed his hand on her cheek and gave her such a loving smile. She was his refuge. She knew him better than anyone ever would. She knew him when he was just an ass but she was all he had and all he would ever need. She was the one and only woman he would ever love.

"Oh Tony why do you say that? I love you. Please do not think that way. Come on, lay down and get some rest. You're exhausted. Is there something else bothering you?" She didn't want to bother him about the chocolates right now. He was too tired.

"No. It's just that I have to do things in this suit that I would not want you to see and, I don't know, it bothers me sometimes."

"Get some rest Tony. We'll talk about it the morning. I missed you so much." Taking his chin in her hand giving him an endearing smile."

He grinned at her. "I missed you more." She just giggled. Taking plate with no food left on it." I'll be right back to lay with you."

"Okay, oh by the way, that was delicious." She looked at him smiling, walking out the door.

When she came back he was sound asleep. She put on her nightie and crawled in with him and fell asleep too.

Tony is awakened by Pepper talking in her sleep as she sometimes does. He looks over at her and starts grinning. There were so many things he loved about her. This was one of them.

He heard something that sounded like, "Tonnnnyyy, pls sighnnnn pprrrrrs."

Tony answers back as he sometimes does, thinking it amusing. "But I don't want to," smiling down at her.

"WWWhat?!"

"I'm not doing it"

"Tonyyyy Sstarkkkk."

He starts laughing and it wakes her up.

"Wha .. whhat are you laughing at?" Yawning and rubbing her eyes.

"You telling me to sign paperwork in your sleep."

"Did not."

He laughs and reaches over to push the hair out of her face, giving her an adoring look.

"I don't talk in my sleep."

"Oh yes you do. Next time I'm gonna record it to prove it."

"Oh, ok." Rolling her eyes at him.

"We'll go back to sleep beautiful."

Smiling at him, "Okay."

In the morning he woke up first and just laid there staring at her. She was so beautiful. She opened her eyes feeling as though someone was staring at her. "Morning."

"Good morning beautiful." He pulled her to him and wrapped her in his arms. "Pepper."

"Hmmm."

"Love you." Smiling down at her.

"I love you too." Running her fingers through his hair smiling up at him.

He leaned to brush his lips against hers. "Mmm, you know I can never get enough of you. I will be an eighty year old man chasing you around the house trying to get to you."

She gave him a serious look. You sure you won't get bored with me before then?"

"Seriously?... Never."

She gave him a peck on the lips. "Did you get rested, you didn't get hurt, right?"

"Nope I am fine. Quit worrying."

"I can't help it, I worry about you just like you worry about me, except I don't go blow up things and get shot at."

He turned his head with an agreeing look and made an agreeable sound. "But I do worry about you getting snatched." And winced.

"Come on, let's go have some breakfast." Here goes. "By the way, did you happen to send me a box of chocolates?" Trying to make light of it.

He stopped in his tracks and had this strange look of worry, fear and anger all combined into one. "Pepper, did you get another gift?" In monotone.

Very timidly she said "Yes." Knowing how worried he was going to be."

"Pepper, have you noticed anyone around at work or at the coffee shop, anyone that just… just strange, creepy?"

"No. But I watch my back now a little closer."

He sighed. I'll have to know where they came from and investigate. I don't like this at all. Happy drove you everywhere while I was gone, didn't he?"

"Yes."

"Okay, let's go have breakfast." It was obvious he was worried.

After breakfast he asked, "Are you going to work?"

"Yes I have a meeting with accounting this morning. You coming?"

"Yep. I am not leaving your side."