Day Three: I'm Gettin' Nuttin' for Christmas

Oh, I'm gettin' nuttin' for Christmas
Mommy and Daddy are mad.
I'm getting nuttin' for Christmas
'Cause I ain't been nuttin' but bad.

"ANTHONY!" Pepper screeched, storming into the garage, "EDWARD. STARK."

"Yes," Tony cocked an eyebrow and turned his stool around to face the irate woman.

"Please tell me," she said, pinching the bridge of her nose, "that you did not just cancel the investors holiday party."

"I didn't," Tony said, pointing his screwdriver at her. "I cancelled it a couple hours ago." The look on Pepper's face made Tony think putting on his Iron Man suit wouldn't be such a bad idea.

"And why did you do that?"

"Uh…because I can?" He spun the stool back around to face his computer. "J, run the diagnostics on the engine. It was a bit slow this morning."

"Yes, Sir," Jarvis said.

"Tony, I've been planning that party for over a month!"

"Make sure that the carburetor is in good shape."

"Everything seems to b-"

"Tony!" slammed her portfolio down on the table. "We needed that meeting! If you want to continue with the clean energy campaign, we need to reach out to other companies on limiting their-"

"Boring," Tony stated, leaning closer to the engine block he was rebuilding. "Besides, aren't a few of the CEOs on your guest list Jewish?"

"Hence the holiday party, rather than a Christmas party. And that's not the point-"

"Rhodey make it in yet?"

"What?"

"Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes is currently flying over Virginia. His plane is due to arrive in forty minutes," Jarvis answered.

"Ok. Tell Happy to get the car ready," Tony said, standing up and brushing his greasy hands on his t-shirt. When he moved to put his hands on her shoulders, Pepper stepped back, not wanting her blazer ruined. "It's not a big deal, Pep. Besides, who wants to spend the night acting like we enjoy each other's company? Which is why I think we shouldn't do the-"

"We are doing the Christmas party," Pepper stated. "You are not backing out of that one. Besides, I've already mentioned it to Jane and Emily and Darcy." Tony rolled his eyes, realizing that between the four women, the party was going to happen whether he liked it or not.

"Remind me again why people live in my tower?"

"Go get Rhodey. I'll deal with everything else."

"You always do," Tony smirked, giving her a quick peck before leaving the garage.

Pepper waited until Tony was out of sight before taking her phone out and making a call. When it finally allowed her to leave a voicemail, she sighed. "Try to talk Tony out of cancelling the investor party. Maybe he'll listen to you." With a sigh, she hung up and slipped the phone back into her pocket. It was going to be a long day.

OOO

"You cancelled the investor party?" James Rhodes said as he and Happy walked towards Tony's flashy car. The billionaire had stepped out moments before hand to greet his best friend.

"That's what you say after two months without seeing each other?"

"Hi Tony," Rhodey smirked, embracing his friend, "You cancelled the investor party?"

"Pepper," Tony said under his breath and shook his head. "It's not like I can't meet with the CEOs some other time."

"Did you even bother talking to her about it before you called it off?"

"No," Happy answered for Tony as he slid behind the wheel.

"You're all acting like this is the first time I've done this," Tony spread his arms, glaring at his friends. "Besides, I'm thinking of going back to Malibu for Christmas." He smirked, glancing at the snow outside of his window.

"Yeah, Pepper's going to let that happen," Rhodey scoffed. "She's looking forward to the first 'family' Christmas."

"What family?" Tony asked quickly, his mind racing to the possible implications of that statement.

"The Avengers." Behind his sunglasses, Tony rolled his eyes.

OOO

Pepper Potts was not happy when she walked into the penthouse. Right off of the elevator, she stepped out of her Louboutins and tugged at the clip in her hair. It had taken all afternoon to smooth over the other CEOs' egos, and to contact all of the vendors that were under contract to do the party. It was a long day. What she wanted at that moment was a long hot bath and a glass of wine.

"Hey Pepper," Rhodey said, smiling at the tired woman.

"Rhodey," Pepper smiled. "Nice to see you again."

"You!" Tony said, pointing at her with his scotch glass in hand. "It's bad enough that you yell at me, but getting Happy and Rhodey in on it too?"

"Its cancelled, Tony. You got what you wanted," Pepper said, exasperation sneaking into her voice. She strode across the room, grabbed a bottle of wine from the chiller beneath the bar and quickly removed the cork. After retrieving a glass, she smiled at Rhodey. "Your room is set up –"

"Tony showed me already."

"Perfect. We're having dinner brought in around seven o'clock. Now, if you'd excuse me." With her piece said, Pepper retreated to the master suite and kicked the door shut as she poured herself a glass of wine. Half the glass was drunk in a single gulp, and quickly refilled as she walked towards the bathroom. When the tub was only half full, she slipped in, feeling the tension relaxing from her muscles. The lavender bath oil had been a good addition.

There was a gentle tapping on the door, and Tony's head peaked into the bathroom. "On a scale of one to space-nuke, how mad are you?"

"Monte Carlo," Pepper replied, closing her eyes and turning off the tap with her toes. She sank further into the bath as Tony stepped inside, gently shutting the door. He knelt beside the tub and crossed his arms on the edge, resting his chin on his arms.

"That bad?"

"Would you prefer your birthday?" He hissed and frowned.

"I screwed up, Pep. I didn't think this would be that big of a deal."

She bit her tongue against the tirade that threatened to spill out. 'Of course you didn't, Tony' she wanted to say. 'You think parties spring up because you appear. But no, there are caterers to hire and menus to approve, decorators to coordinate, and schedules to be consulted. There are hours of work put into something that you decided to cancel on a whim because you didn't feel like mingling for a few hours to support a cause that we both hold dear.'

Instead, she only nodded and said, "I'm sure you didn't," before taking another sip of wine. The hot water was making the alcohol hit her quickly, and she felt pleasantly drowsy. Pepper opened her eyes and turned to look at Tony when he placed his hand on her hip.

"I'm sorry," he said, rubbing small circles on her skin with his thumb. "It's just…I thought we could spend Christmas at home, in Malibu. You and me. Especially after…" His eyes darkened, and Pepper knew exactly what he was thinking of. She set her wine glass on the side of the tub and ran her hand up his arm.

"That's why we need to have it here," Pepper sighed. "Because all of you went through that, and we need to move past it." She pushed herself up, smiling as Tony's eyes followed the water that cascaded down her chest, and wrapped her hand around his neck. "We all need a bit of normal."

Tony smirked and let her pull him closer; there was a soft 'clink' as the arc reactor hit the tub. "Fine, we can stay in New York." He felt Pepper smile against his lips as he straightened enough to wrap his arms around her, not caring that the front of his shirt was soaked through.

"Anything else, Mr. Stark?" Pepper asked when they broke away. He sighed when she pushed his wandering hands away.

"That'll be all, Ms. Potts."

Author's Note: Ok, so it's somewhat late tonight, but it still counts! I struggle when writing Tony and Pepper, because I'm not too familiar with their characters (except in the movies) and worry that they're OOC all the time. So I'm sorry if they are OOC.

And yes, this one doesn't really have the overt Christmas feels of Em and Steve, but I feel like Tony this is something Tony would do.

As always, thanks for reading, and please let me know what you think!