Hi, there.

Chapter 10

"Now, that's not fair!"

"It's perfectly fair," Tony argued back, going through his files at Stark Industries. For the fifth time that minute, he considered programming JARVIS into the Stark Industries' current software – then quickly realized he would rather keep technology like JARVIS to himself.

"But I'm your friend," Rhodey said, defending himself.

"I don't see what that has to do with anything. The point of the matter is that you're with Air Force."

"And so?"

"What do you mean 'and so', that's the whole point of this conversation."

"But that's separate."

"No," Tony said shaking his head without looking at him. "You're part of The Air Force, which makes you off limits."

"I swear if you give me the suit, I won't take it to the army."

Tony rolled his eyes and grimaced to himself as he shut down the computer and grabbed his keys. "I already said no, Rhodes."

"But you promised!"

"Bullshit," Tony muttered to herself as he walked toward the garage. He was stopped on the way, handed a full stack of papers to look through. Tony reluctantly accepted them, knowing quite well Pepper would be the one to peruse through the documents labeled "URGENT".

"I won't tell anyone."

"Rhodey, your priority is The Air Force. Always will be. What do you think they're going to do once they find out I decided to give you a suit as your Christmas present? Forget it. You can play around with them but you're not taking any-"

"Good afternoon, Mr. Stark," someone-or-other's secretary greeted as she walked past him.

"Hi-" Tony answered back cordially. But back to Rhodey he said much more harshly, "And why are you still following me?"

"Mr. Stark-"

Tony's ears perked up at the familiar voice directly behind him. He whirled around and she nearly rammed into him but he didn't seem to notice. "Ah, excellent! These are for you."

He dropped the heavy stack of papers into Pepper's hands, but she didn't seem perturbed.

"Meeting at three," Pepper rattled off, as if reading from a notebook.

"When is that?" Tony asked.

"An hour ago," she answered smoothly.

"I assume you were there, then?"

"I've already e-mailed you the minutes, JARVIS should have printed it out by now – they're on your desk at home. Also, ABC, CNN and CNBC are all requesting interviews-"

"Not interested-" Tony interrupted offhandedly, not even looking at her as the three of them approached the main exit towards the parking lot.

"As well as Ellen and The Rolling Stone-"

"Ellen?" Tony seemed to perk up, slowing down just slightly.

"So I'm going to…decline the first three and absorb and deflect for Ellen and The Rolling Stone?" Pepper checked, making a note on her phone.

"I think you just read my mind, Potts."

"That's what I'm here for," Pepper sighed back, the words coming from her mouth like a memorized script. "Also, I know you're not interested in sharing the reactor technology but The Air Force really would-"

"Ah ha!" Rhodey exclaimed, pointing out Tony. However, Tony suddenly wasn't as friendly as he was five minutes ago and instead of rolling his eyes or telling him to shut up, he glared at him threateningly.

"I'm not meeting with-"

"It's out of your jurisdiction now, the board's already agreed to a meeting which means you'll be attending," Pepper interrupted, handing him a sheet of paper. "Next week Tuesday and I can't cover for you."

"Is that it?" Tony asked, as if ready to be rid of her. He scanned the sheet of paper before folding it twice and stuffing it into his right pocket.

"That's all, Mr. Stark," she answered quickly before breaking away from the two of them and disappearing down a hallway.

Rhodey frowned after her, then at Tony. "What did you do?" he asked suddenly.

"What?" Tony asked, not even bother to look at him.

"What was that?"

"You're not being very clear."

As they approached Tony's car, Rhodey stood by, still demanding some sort of explanation. "You skipped the last board meeting," he instantly deduced. "Didn't you?"

"What makes you think that? And I didn't skip that meeting," Tony added. He remembered that particular meeting. Well, he remembered almost falling asleep during the last five minutes.

"The Great Wall of China was probably less obvious than whatever you two are mad at each other about."

Tony ignored him, knowing quite well that what he was saying was true. Two weeks in the making, he thought to himself. In just two weeks, he'd managed to push Pepper far enough away that their longest conversation lasted about three and a half minutes and was completely devoid of eye contact. This gave her much more time at home with Robert-what's-his-face and meant he had longer conversations with JARVIS.

Which was all right, he supposed. Still, it took a little getting used to. He missed smiling at her. And talking to her about anything other than work.

"So, I'm right, then?" Rhodes checked, with a raise of his eyebrow.

Tony nodded halfheartedly. "Sure, Rhodes," he answered before getting into the car.

"So can I get the suit?" Rhodey asked again, knocking on the window on the passenger side.

Tony smirked at that, shaking his head as he drove off, on his way back home. Alone.

This is what you wanted, he reminded himself, just as the sorrow started to crush him once more.

It was better this way anyway – he didn't fit in her life anymore. Despite how much he despised her boyfriend, Robert was her choice. He was the priority, and Tony was just getting in the way. She would move on and she would be happier. This is what I wanted – no, this is what I want.

Besides, now that she wasn't with Tony as often, she didn't know about the nightmares that he still had. Granted, nightmares were a significant improvement from the attacks he used to get almost twice a week. Nightmares he could take care of himself as long as he had a glass of wine as soon as he woke up. And she didn't know about those either – no need to call her back in again just as she was beginning to move forward.

This is what I want.

Next morning, 8:30 AM

"I'm going to be late for work," Pepper giggled childishly between his kisses.

"Well, so am I then," Robert answered, ignoring her rationality.

"We can't both be late-" she explained, though she wasn't putting much effort into tearing herself away from him either. "Idiot," she added as an afterthought.

Robert pouted. "That's not very nice."

"Stop…stop!" she squealed, holding his hands at her hips. "It's time to go. And you're not helping!"

"Alright, fine," he agreed, leaving his hands on her waist, but remaining close to her.

"You're going to have to let go," she reminded him.

"I don't think that's necessary."

"Oh, it's very necessary-"

"You sure?"

"I'm positive – because if you hold on to me I might have to call for a restraining order."

"I'm afraid you can't do that," Robert said offhandedly.

"Really?" Pepper asked, raising an eyebrow. "And why not?"

"Because…" he leaned closer so he was right by her ear. "You still have yet to agree to move in with me."

"Robert!" she exclaimed, pushing him away and grabbing her purse before he could stop her. She rolled her eyes, grinning. "You've been asking all week!"

"Well, you haven't said 'yes' yet!" he answered back.

She laughed, waiting for him by the door. "So…?" she pouted.

"Is that a 'yes'?" Robert asked, twisting his head to the side.

"That's a 'maybe'," Pepper answered.

He shook his head once. "Nope…not good enough. Not even close."

She pretended to think about. Then quietly told him, "Why not?" before bounding out of the apartment.

"Wait…is that a 'yes'?" Robert called after her.

She turned around, smiling broadly and nodded. "Yes!" she yelled back and watched her boyfriend do a hopelessly uncoordinated happy dance by the door.

Pepper laughed again walking towards her car in the lot. She found herself still smiling even as she drove out of the driveway.

She could picture a life with Robert – a permanent one. He was good for her, even if she didn't know quite what that meant. But what they had now was working, despite their latest argument two weeks ago; and probably their worst ever. Still, if they had made it out of that one, then they must have something going for them…

Her smile faded slightly though as she set her mind on her destination. Going to Tony's was never something she dreaded…well, not usually. But as of late it had just been…well, "boring" wasn't exactly the best word she could think of but it was quite accurate.

He just seemed…a little off, desperate to be alone. She could tell just by looking at him, and noticing that he didn't ever look back and that all their conversations ended with "Mr. Stark" or "Ms. Potts".

So she had decided that the best way to preserve their friendship was to give him the space he needed. For the last few weeks, his personal space always had her in it, especially after his admission into the hospital. But now that he was better, she decided now was the best time to leave him be.

Unfortunately, that plan had backfired and now she was nothing more than his assistant.

She sighed, deciding to ignore the entire subject. He'd be fine – he always was. And in time, she'd get to the bottom of it all. But for now, she needed to think about renting out her place.

It was brilliant.

Bringing it back – after almost 40 years, bringing it all back.

The idea had occurred to him at about five in the morning after a stupid nightmare that was really a complete recap of his three months in a cave. After that, he'd gone down to work in the shop, unable to get back to sleep. That was when he'd found one of his dad's old notebooks, stashed underneath a pile of God-knows-what, right next to the Sort-These-Out-Later pile. Notes on an event that had taken place about two years before his passing.

Notes about a particular expo that had been held in Flushing, New York.

Brilliant, really.

Of course, just moments after the idea had popped into his head, he had realized putting all of it together would require work. And meetings. He shuddered.

It would be enough to take his mind off…well, everything, really. And the idea was truly perfect – to put together the long forgotten Stark expo: a new reign, led by Tony Stark, The Iron Man. Not Tony Stark, the usually drunk, genius billionaire. His new legacy: to give a little something to mankind and to leave his fingerprint on the world.

Egotistical? Maybe. He wasn't quite sure. But nevertheless, it sounded like a damn good idea.

And he'd been on it for the last few hours – ordering JARVIS to bring up data from the last few expos and adding up estimations for costs. And once the numbers had finally been crunched, sometime around nine in the morning, he realized that if he worked efficiently and if everything was approved – he could get it all going in a matter of months.

It was his new project – and he knew it was worthwhile. And needless to say, it was a bit of a challenge. He needed one, especially now.

"Mr. Stark…what on Earth-" Tony half turned around at Pepper's voice.

"Hi, Potts, what's up?" he greeted before his focusing attention back on the screens in front of him. He understood her surprise – the place was a mess.

"What are you doing?" she asked, not sure which piece of paper or which monitor to look at in order to get the information she needed.

"Nothing, it's not important-" he quickly said.

"What's this?"

He turned again to find her holding up a half empty wine bottle.

Oops, Tony thought to himself. He'd forgotten to move that. "I…had a snack," Tony answered.

"Okay…" she hummed, placing it back where she found it. She said nothing else, watching him as he scanned a few papers. And as he did so, she noticed something that she hadn't seen in some time now. His eyes…they seemed brighter, warmer…maybe even hopeful. Whatever he was working on, it was important to him.

So she quietly left him to his devices and was sure to let Ellen DeGeneres's secretary know that she'd contact her as soon as Tony was out of his meeting.

Tony didn't even process her departure. Instead, his mind was working at lightning speeds. This was feasible…he could do this. This was possible.

He had a few calls to make.

Pepper noticed the pattern immediately. Whenever he was downstairs, working on that new project of his, he was at peace. He wasn't necessarily happier than usual, nor did he smile more often, but she could tell that he believed in whatever he was trying to piece together. And judging from the many documents lying all over the place, it wasn't anything mechanical. She could only hope his new project wouldn't require a lawyer in the end.

But as soon as he was back upstairs or at Stark Industries, he was gone again – back to normal, or whatever "normal" was nowadays. A withdrawn and almost possessed Tony, who answered everything practically in monotone and whose eyes were as hard and cold as steel.

She wanted the other extreme. Two years ago, she probably would have prayed for Tony to calm down, to become less destructive and impulsive, but she craved that man now. She missed him. Desperately – and now she felt like a stranger in her own house.

Wait, what? This isn't your house, Pepper, she reminded herself. This is where you work.

And so? Why couldn't work be a little more impulsive…like before?

Where was Tony?

She noticed him when he was upstairs once: he'd brought one of the many documents in the shop with him and was looking through it. When she glanced at the sheet of paper, she saw it was a long list of numbers and immediately knew he was adding them up in his head. She smiled to herself…his mental math always seemed to amuse her

But then Pepper looked back at Tony, and saw his cold eyes. And her smile vanished. "Mr. Stark?" she called to him, hesitantly.

He hummed at her, holding up his finger to indicate that he couldn't answer her yet. His eyes darted at the numbers for another half minute before he looked at her. "Yes?" he asked, sounding tired.

Now that he was paying attention, she realized she didn't know what it was she wanted to say. What was she supposed to ask, anyway? In the end, she quietly and hesitantly said, "Are…are you alright?"

He frowned, his steel eyes melting slightly. "What?" he asked.

"Are you okay?" she repeated.

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing," she said quickly. "Just…is there anything I can do?"

Tony didn't answer at first. He just looked at her, stunned.

She faltered under his scrutiny. "I…are you okay?"

Still, he said nothing. Then, after a brief moment, he slowly nodded, as if unsure he could handle the simple movement. "I'm fine, Pepper," he told her, still nodding mechanically.

"Alright…" she said, not sure how to address him. Calling him Tony suddenly seemed…out of place. And she hated that. "Tony," she decided anyway. "Alright."

He was still looking at her, as if analyzing her expression. Pepper, not sure what else to do, took the sheet of paper, he'd been looking at and glanced at the numbers. But instead of focusing her attention on those, she checked the subject. Stark Expo – Partial Logistics and Financing.

The words meant nothing to her, so she looked back at the numbers again. "Did you just add them all?" she asked.

"Yeah," he answered.

"What was it?"

"About twenty five million," he told her.

"No, the exact number."

Tony had to think back, even though he had just crunched the numbers. She had distracted him. "Twenty four million six twenty-two thousand and one and hundred and one. And seventeen or seventy one cents, I don't remember."

Pepper smiled to herself, eager to run down to the shop and ask JARVIS if Tony was right. "That is so cool…" she muttered to herself as she made her way downstairs.

Tony smiled, laughing at her astonishment and when Pepper turned around to look at him, she saw that his smile had, for the first time in weeks, reached his eyes – though it was just for a moment.

Maybe that was all there was to it. Asking, that is.

End of this chapter, my pretties.

Don't forget to leave a nice/mean/interesting/humorous/critique-ing/whatever review before you leave! You know they mean oh so much to me.

:P