It's been a while hasn't it. I don't know what I promised but I guess I should update more often when I get the opportunity instead of staring at my computer asking myself if I should or should not open it and get to work. Being lazy is what I'm best at…which is a bad thing…Oh well at least I had the courage to actually update now with no clue as to what I'm going to write. I apologize for the wait.

~Roses~

Chapter Six: Now Walk it Out

"Uh…Reggie, I'm still a bit skeptical about this…" Pepper said as she stared directly at the lights on the elevator wall that indicated that they were moving from the underground garage and towards the inside of the building. Reggie, who really had tuned out Pepper's complaining, glanced up from filing her nails and perked a brow at the red head.

"Listen Red, there are people who got it and who can work it and there are people who don't and who can't," She chided as she tucked her nail file into the inside pocket of her suit jacket. Pepper fidgeted as she glanced over at the brunette.

"Where do you fall in those two categories…?" She muttered. Reggie's expression twitched for a moment before she put on a broad smile and pulled Pepper into a half hug by the shoulders.

"We are not focusing on me. We are focusing on the fact that ya have it and you are going ta work it, got it?" Pepper nodded numbly in response and Reggie popped the gum she was currently chewing on in approval.

"But isn't this an official environment. Tony has always been an all work and no play kind of guy. He didn't have much of a social life." Pepper laughed as her mind drifted back on her memories of trying to get Tony to go out with her…as friends of course, but he would kindly refuse, focusing on the day he would take back Stark International.

"The Stark you know and the Stark I know are two totally different Starks." Reggie laughed sarcastically as she gave her dark eyes a slight roll. Pepper's brow furrowed and she unconsciously tucked some hair behind her as a gesture of contemplation.

"I'll admit Tony has changed since we were last together but people grow and change as time goes on, isn't that normal?"

"Well I suppose. I mean I wasn't always this charismatic and social when I was a kid. I was very quiet an well-mannered." Reggie mused giving a far off look as she reminisced on her teen years where she had been granted the opportunity to work as an intern in Stark international…back when Howards was still alive.

"That's a shock…" Pepper commented keeping in mind on how much Reggie chatted her up on the drive to Stark tower. Once again, Reggie's expression twitched.

"Again, that is besides the point…" Reggie said through grit teeth as a small bell sounded signaling that they had reached their floor. Reggie grinned and clamped her hands together while Pepper bit her bottom lip anxiously. "Hey, ya like ta be known and make a statement, right?" The brunette questioned turning towards Pepper.

The ginger haired girl shrugged as she casted her hazel eyes downwards. "Yea…I've been told that I'm a loud person…not just vocally though."

"Exactly," Reggie sighed placing her hands on Pepper's shoulders before she reached up and began to fluff the flaming red hair that Pepper had continuously tucked behind her ears. She pulled them out, running her perfectly manicured nails through the tresses before snapping her gum. "Well then let's get louder."

With that said, the doors to the elevator hissed open to bring them onto a floor filled with office areas and cubicles. Pepper knew that they were on that elevator a little too long for them to be in the main lobby. She froze as people began to file into the elevator and Reggie laughed lightly to herself. Taking the hazel eyed girls hand, Reggie pulled her out of the elevator just as the doors hissed shut.

"Um…why are we here?" Pepper questioned cocking her head to the side. She received a few looks due to the suggestiveness hidden behind such a small and innocent gesture, but she had no clue as to how she looked to the people around her.

"This, my dear Potts, is what has come ta be known as the cat walk. This entire unit of the building is a majority of male workers…when some of the girls and I got bored we decided ta play a little game."

"This game would be…?" Pepper trailed off. Reggie scoffed as a sly smirk tugged at the corners of her mouth.

"Well, ya have ta walk, is all."

"There's a catch to this."

"Course…" Reggie giggled in that laugh that caused people to cringe. "Ya have ta walk; give it your all and strut ya stuff turning as many heads as you can. Girl who turns that most heads gets a pretty high priced rep 'round here."

"A-And you want me to do that?" Pepper stammered through her shock as she choked on her words. Reggie scoffed once again as Pepper began to protest, coming up with a bunch of reasons why she didn't want to do this and shaking her head frantically, causing fiery red locks to fly around.

"Ah, here comes the help." Reggie said glancing past Pepper and down the hall. Pepper snapped around and took in the seemingly frustrated expression of one of the auburn haired triplets that she had encountered the day before. By the dark dressing habit and the expression on her face…not to mention the lip piercing, Pepper recognized this sister to be Rex. "She agreed ta aiding us when I mentioned that ya might break Heather's record."

"Um…?" Pepper hummed in confusion as Rex paused before the, arms crossed and hip cocked out to the side.

"Rex here is not just a good secretary but an awesome guard dog. Grown men fear her." Reggie laughed placing a hand on Rex's shoulder. Said girl gave a snort as she shrugged off the hand and narrowed her green eyes into a glare.

"I'll pretend you didn't just refer to me as a bitch." Rex breathed in bored tone as she obliviously glanced down at her black painted nails.

"Eheh…well she agreed to fend off any pricks that have the balls to approach ya. You're just doin the walk, not looking for a romp."

"You guys are a little too straight forward." Pepper commented pointing between the two.

"It's what we do." They chorused before exchanging blank looks. Pepper perked a brow, before releasing an exasperated sigh and turned back towards the hall that went down the center of many cubicles being occupied by all types of male workers.

"Can we get this over with?" Pepper sighed rolling her shoulders forward then back.

"Yup," Reggie piped up in a high, excited tone. Pepper pursed her lips and Rex gave an annoyed exhale of breath. Reggie took Pepper by the shoulders and squeezed them gently while grinning cheekily. "This is all you honey. Just remember what I told ya; keep ya head up, sway them hips and one foot in front of the other, sound easy enough?"

"Yea…"

"It'll be over before ya know it so give it your all."

"Okay, calm down. It ain't like she's running in the Olympics." Rex inserted crudely as she gave a slight eye roll of impatience. Reggie cleared her throat awkwardly before nodding.

"Yea…go get 'em Red." She said as she nudged Pepper forward.

Pepper took in a deep breath, puffing up her chest as she took one step forward only to stumble slightly in the heels that she had been (in her mind) cursed to wear for an entire day. Reggie took in a sharp breath and Rex gave another impatient exhale. Pepper sighed through her nose and stood up tall and at her full length. She rolled her shoulders back and relaxed her arms at her sides before taking another step, this time with more confidence.

The next few steps were the most awkward, but Pepper kept herself more focused on remaining upright and following Reggie's instructions rather than pay attention to the eyes that followed her like a hawk. Rex remained a few paces behind, shooting glares and daring one of them to make a move. Every girl had a reputation and Rex's held one that made her a force to be reckoned with and a person to be respected, or feared as Reggie put it.

Pepper glanced over her shoulder, back at Reggie who mouthed "hair flip and smile" while adding in the gesture just to make sure she understood. Pepper nodded slightly, more to herself than anybody else as she forced a soft smile onto her face. She brought a hand up and raked her fingers through her hair before giving the tresses a casual flick that looked more casual then conceited.

Pepper could feel the eyes on her now.

Fighting back the anxiousness, she continued her strides, moving her hips with each step as she remained conscious of keeping one foot in front of the other without twisting her ankle. Rex nodded in approval from behind as she took note of a guy who actually sat up a bit before sitting back down upon seeing Rex perk an eyebrow at him in daring question. The red head was doing well so far.

Heads did turn, and as a nervous gesture Pepper clamped her hands behind her back while arching it a little catching more attention than she intended. She swore she heard someone mutter her name...or maybe she was just being paranoid. There was no need to be overdramatic, not when she was nearly ten steps away from finishing with such a horrific and rather degrading experience.

Her soft smile turned bright as she took her last few steps with a slightly arrogant swagger. Just knowing she was done made her prideful and she couldn't help but wonder just what her results were.

However while contemplating over this matter she was not necessarily paying attention to where she was going so she ungracefully knocked into someone, getting a face full of shirt and hiss of disappointment from a certain Reggie. Rex chuckled rather darkly instead of in amusement.

Pepper pulled back, blowing some ginger strands of hair out of her face and tugging at her suit jacket, fixing and creases that could have suddenly appeared upon impact.

"I am so sorry…I wasn't watching where I was going and my mind was elsewhere and today's my first day and…"

"Fewer words please?" The request was one she was all too familiar, so glancing up Pepper took in the features that made up Tony giving her a look of slight amusement while still looking rather awkward.

"O-Oh…" She breathed as she lowered her gaze and her cheeks flamed with a red tint. Tony chuckled lightly at her expense and she pursed her lips.

"Don't worry about it Pepper, I'm used to the blabbering." He commented smartly while crossing his arms over his chest. Pepper scoffed as she snapped up her head to glare at him playfully.

"What is that supposed to mean? Are you trying to say I talk to much because if you are I am highly offended. I mean I understand that I'm wordy but I'm not a blabber. I mean you could call me talkative, expressive, and sometimes open but I do not…"

Tony cut her off abruptly by clamping a hand over her mouth and her eyes widened twice their normal size as he gave her a careless smile like he was doing nothing out of the ordinary. Her eyes slowly began to narrow into slits and he laughed inwardly.

"Well maybe if you weren't so…wordy, I would have the opportunity to tell you that you look nice. Business wear definitely suits you." He breathed as his eyes swept over her quickly. Her cheeks began to burn once again as she snatched his hand away and off of her face.

"Well…thank you, I guess." She muttered crossing her arms over her chest.

"You even went so far as to wear heels. I'm surprised you haven't broken both your ankles and sued me for what I'm worth." He commented gesturing to the four in heels that Reggie had so graciously bestowed upon her.

"Don't tempt me Stark. I might be able to get out of that marriage proposal with an idea like that." She joked as she tucked her hair behind her ear, going against one of things on the list of things Reggie told her not to do.

"You wouldn't do that." He chided as he tucked his hands into the pockets of his pants. Pepper quirked an eyebrow at him in question as his lips curved up at the corners into a smirk.

"Oh? Why wouldn't I?" She shot back leaning in towards him before quickly pulling back and rolling her neck in a manner that she had picked up in a fight with Tori.

Tony chuckled once again as he leaned towards her, just as she had done, but he did not automatically pull back. Instead he moved in, close by her ear, letting his warm breath tickle her cheek.

"Because you love me."

"How'd you know!?"

Pepper furrowed her brow at that thought before quickly dismissing it. She was over all that and she would remain over it, not only to prove that she had changed but because she was not going back so easily. That would be just like giving up and Pepper would do no such thing.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa…Stark, ya need to, first of all, back it up," Pepper said as she placed her hands on his chest and gently nudged him back. Tony leaned back, raising an eyebrow at her as she tucked her hair behind her ear anxiously. "Second of all, I know it would make your day to have another girl at your feet but keep in mind who you're working with! Remember, I'm the one who went through seven different fighting style training periods."

"Duly noted…"

"Also I've got dirt on you…Iron Man." Pepper sighed letting the last part come out as a low breath. Tony narrowed his eyes at her and she gave a knowing smile.

"You wouldn't." He muttered.

"I would." She retorted quickly.

"You're too smart for your own good Pepper…wait when did you get so smart?"

"I am so going to hit you!" She exclaimed before smacking him on the arm swiftly. He laughed lightly, amused by her pouting lips and furrowed brow.

"I like my women violent." He commented lowly.

"TMI!" She exclaimed swatting his arm once again.

I cannot tell you how many times I have hit one of my guy friends and they respond in such a manner. It's weird but funny all the same so I thought I'd throw that in there for ya. Well, again, I apologize for the long wait. I had this typed up but forgot where I had saved it….(I know, its stupid but its my excuse). Please review and be kind.