Pepper Potts had only been Tony Stark's personal assistant for a few weeks when she came to work for the first time and he wasn't in his office and didn't look like he was going to be there at all. Usually, if she didn't get it, his secretary Mary would have put the coffee on for him since everyone knew he was not a morning person. The morning papers would have been arranged on his desk for his perusal and the general environment actually seemed less tense when Mr. Stark was around, maybe it was the fact that a twenty-three year old was the CEO and if pushed, could make captains of industry piss their pants but was generally fairly nice to the people that worked for him. It was only to people who tried to tell HIM what to do was when he got mad.
"Ms. Potts, I have a message for you from Mr. Stark." Mary told Pepper as she was putting her purse down on her desk.
"Yes? What is it?" she asked his secretary.
"He said that he would not be in today since he was not feeling well and you are to report to his house."
Pepper was a little bit stunned at this. "I have to take care of him when he's sick too?" she exclaimed.
"As his assistant, you do anything and everything that he asks. " Mary replied. "When he called, he sounded very ill so he'll probably sleep most of the day and stay out of your hair. Just deal with the phone calls, cancel his appointments and get him a glass of juice on occasion. He's too sick to try to make a pass at you."
"He always tries to make a pass at me." Pepper noted.
"Pepper, to survive in this job, you are going to have to learn to resist Mr. Stark's charms. I know it is hard to resist all his tricks but you are going to have to. Be his assistant. Care for him, he needs to know that someone does. Be his friend…Lord knows he needs them…but don't get into his bed. The other twenty-three assistants forgot that."
"How do you know all of this?" Pepper asked as she was gathering her bag back up again.
"I was his father's secretary first so I have known Tony Stark since he was in diapers." Mary admitted as she handed Pepper a slip of paper. "That is his address. You should already have your access codes to get in."
Pepper took the slip of paper and noticed the Malibu address and looked a bit worried. She had almost memorized the codes Mr. Stark had given her but not quite yet.
"Don't worry so much, dear. He likes you and he must trust you or else he would not have asked for you." Mary reassured her before Pepper walked out and got into her car.
Pepper pulled up to the multi-level mansion built into the hills of Malibu and was awestruck. She thought she was prepared for this but realized she had clearly underestimated what she was going to see.
She gathered up all the portfolios and documents she had brought over to work on, her bag and then attempted to type in her access code but couldn't quite hit the numbers. She tried it three times and three errors meant a lock out. Pepper was told about Jarvis, the A.I. that ran the house, but she still was not used to asking a computer for help, which is what she should have done despite her discomfort. Instead, she chose the old fashioned method and knocked on the door.
"Sir, your assistant is knocking on the door." Jarvis' voice interjected into the darkened bedroom where Tony Stark was trying to sleep.
"Just let her in. Why are you bothering me?" Tony grumbled from under his cocoon of blankets.
"She attempted to use her access code and inadvertently locked herself out so I can not open the door for her."
Tony muttered a few choice phrases under his breath as he slowly sat up and swung his legs over the side of his bed. He had a raging fever, his head was spinning which didn't help his stomach, and he had chills and ached all over. He felt like a truck had hit him…twice… and he had to go open the door.
As he padded downstairs cautiously after missing the first step, Tony grabbed the blanket that he had left on the couch from the night before and wrapped it around himself. When he finally made it to the front door, Tony stood behind it and braced himself against it so he wouldn't fall over as he opened the door.
Pepper walked in cautiously as she saw the door open without someone attached to it. Once she got past the door and could see behind it, Pepper screamed when she saw Tony there.
"Don't scream, please. My head feels bad enough as it is." Tony pleaded as he shut the door.
"Mr. Stark, I am so sorry. I couldn't get the door open and then I was startled." Pepper stammered out as she was confronted with her boss in his pajamas, pale and feverish and looking like death warmed over.
"Why didn't you just ask Jarvis to open the door?" Tony asked as he started to move back towards the stairs so he could sink back into the welcoming comfort of his bed.
"I am not used to talking to a computer, sir."
"Well, get to know him. He's real enough. He'll be better company than me. I'm going back to sleep."
"What do you wish me to do here, Mr. Stark?"
"Do what you would normally do; it's just a change of location." Tony said through a yawn. "Get to know the house, whatever. Jarvis will tell you if I need anything." He added as he finished climbing the stairs and went back to his bedroom and crawled under his blankets.
"Forgive him, Ms. Potts. He's usually not in a good mood in the morning." Jarvis interjected.
"It is more my fault since I did wake him up." Pepper admitted reluctantly to the A.I. as she sat down and attempted to go through the folders she brought with her.
This lasted about five minutes before her curiosity got to her.
"Jarvis? Would you mind giving me a tour so I don't get lost in this place?"
"It would be my pleasure, Ms. Potts. Would you like the guided tour or for me to answer any questions as you go through?"
Pepper thought about it and did not know how far Jarvis' voice would carry and not wanting to wake her boss for the second time in one day. "I think I will opt for one question at a time, thank you." She answered the A.I. as she ascended the stairs to start on the upper most floors.
Upstairs, she found mostly bedrooms and a few bathrooms attached to them. Most of the doors were shut. Pepper peeked into a few of what she assumed were guest rooms and found them lavishly decorated with all the fineries – king sized bed, satin sheets, great views of the ocean. As she continued to explore, she found one open door and this surprised her by what she had learned about her boss so far. The one open door was Tony's bedroom.
She gently pushed the door open to peek inside as well as check on how Tony was doing. Despite how dark the room was, she could see that it was simpler than the others. Definitely not what she would have expected. Pepper then looked over to the bed and its sleeping occupant. Tony had buried himself up to his ears with his blankets and was snoring slightly. She crept over to his bedside and collected the empty glasses he had left on his nightstand and brushed a lock of hair out of his eyes. Just from that brief touch, Pepper could feel the high fever that Tony had radiating from him.
"Has he taken anything for this?" Pepper whispered to Jarvis.
"Actually yes…for once." Jarvis answered with as much sarcasm as a computer could manage. "He felt bad enough to admit to it this time."
Pepper slipped out of Tony's bedroom and closed the door mostly behind her. "Jarvis, please tell me when he gets up or if there is any change. He'll probably be hungry by then."
"Of course, Ms. Potts."
"What does Mr. Stark usually eat?" Pepper asked as she descended the stairs back into the living room.
"A lot of take out."
"He doesn't cook?"
"The extent of his cooking skills is limited to cereal and peanut butter sandwiches."
Pepper had an idea as she made a quick perusal of the kitchen and pantry. "I know something that may make him feel better. Jarvis, could you have some thing sent over from the supermarket?"
"Anything. Just type what you wish me to summon on your computer and it will be sent right over."
"Where is my computer?" Pepper asked cautiously.
Jarvis answered her by turning on the lights in an office just off the living room. "This was designed to be Mr. Stark's office but since he does most of his work in the garage, he gave it to you."
"That was nice of him." Pepper admitted as she turned on the computer and quickly typed in a shopping list before descending to the last floor…the garage.
She peered through the window at a row of classic and high powered cars, a dozen or so robotic arms and a mass of computers that would make Steve Jobs jealous.
"How much time does Mr. Stark spend down here?" she asked.
"If there is ever a time when you can not find Mr. Stark, look here." Jarvis replied. "Ms. Potts, you asked me to tell you when Mr. Stark awoke. He is watching television in his bedroom at the moment and your delivery has arrived."
"Thank you Jarvis. Please tell Mr. Stark that I will bring his lunch up in a little while." Pepper stated as she climbed the stairs and headed into the kitchen.
"As you wish, Ms. Potts."
It wasn't long before the aroma from what was in the kitchen wafted up the stairs and definitely peeked Tony's interest.
"Jarvis? What smells so good?" he asked as he flipped the TV to another game show.
"Ms. Potts is cooking for you."
Tony was actually surprised. "I guess I finally found a good one. If she could help me down the stairs so I don't fall and make a fool out of myself, I'll eat down there with her."
"I will tell her, sir." Jarvis replied before contacting Pepper. "Ms. Potts?"
"Yes Jarvis?"
"Mr. Stark sends his compliments to what he smells and requests that you come upstairs to help him get down so he can join you for lunch."
"He needs help? He came down fine this morning?" Pepper asked as she stirred the soup she was making.
"He was quite dizzy this morning and I believe he does not want to repeat nearly falling down the stairs."
"You know that makes me feel even worse." Pepper commented as she turned the heat down to a simmer and started for the stairs. "Jarvis? Should I be warned about what Mr. Stark is watching on TV?" she asked as she stopped on the first stair.
"Nothing to worry about. He has been watching game shows since he awoke."
"Game shows?" Pepper questioned. She had more expected the news, a movie or something a little more private.
"There were no cartoons on that he wanted to watch." Jarvis deadpanned as Pepper went up the stairs and knocked on her boss' bedroom door.
As Pepper waited at the door for an answer, she could hear Tony talking to the TV. She opened the door after a few minutes to see her boss sitting up in bed and watching The Price is Right.
"How are you feeling, Mr. Stark?" she asked, trying to get his attention.
"A little bit better." He answered with a small smile. "Care to help me downstairs? I know Jarvis isn't the best company."
"I could bring lunch up, if you wish." Pepper suggested even as Tony started to get out of bed.
"I have been stuck up here too long and I'm bored. I want to come down stairs." He admitted as he let her help him up and she steadied him as they went downstairs.
Tony flopped down on the couch and Pepper threw one of his blankets over him and propped a few pillows behind his back to make him more comfortable.
"I should get sick more often. This is great." Tony said as he told Jarvis to turn the TV on for him.
"Don't get used to this, sir. You just looked like you needed it." Pepper commented as she started to fill two bowls of the soup she made.
"I always need someone to take care of me. It's the reason why I have an assistant and an A.I. to keep me on task. If someone doesn't kick my butt on occasion, I have a tendency to go off on my own and for some reason that worries people when I spend countless hours working on my cars." Tony rambled on. "What smells so good? I could smell it from my room."
"Homemade chicken soup." Pepper said as she set the bowl in front of Tony and one for herself. "My mother's recipe."
Tony took a few spoonfuls and his face showed how good it was. "My compliments to your mother's recipe. This is better than what my parents' cook used to make and he graduated from the Culinary." He commented between mouthfuls.
"Thank you, Mr. Stark. No one has ever said that to me before."
"Then they're just blind and dumb." Tony commented. "Is there any more?"
"Yeah, I made enough to feed you at least for two days since Jarvis told me how you eat." Pepper said as she got him more soup.
"You snitched on me." Tony shouted to Jarvis.
"Someone has to." Jarvis replied.
"You forget that I can reprogram you."
"I never forget that, sir."
After lunch, Pepper went back to work, returning phone calls and cancelling appointments for the week to give Tony time to recover. She had to secretly admit that it was easier to get stuff done while he was lying on the couch next to where she was sitting watching game shows than having to think of excuses to check on him every few minutes. She did notice that he was starting to get drowsy again when there was less talking at the TV. Pepper was a little amused by Tony playing along with the games from home. By the time Jeopardy! had come on, Tony was fading fast. He answered every question on the first round, missed a few during the second and very sleepily answered final jeopardy. He wasn't even awake to find out that he had the correct answer.
It was well past six when Pepper had finally finished for the day. Now, she really had a problem. Did she leave or did she stay? Did she wake up her boss or did she let him sleep? The second problem was solved as soon as she got up from the couch.
"Where are you going?" Tony asked through a yawn as he opened his eyes and was looking straight at Pepper.
"I was putting my things away so I can go home. It's getting late."
Tony looked at his watch. "It's only six. What about dinner? You can't leave before that. And then what happens at night? What if I need something? What if I fall and hit my head? You would feel really bad leaving a sick man like this. I think you should stay here for the night. My bed has more than enough room." He pleaded, laying it on thick.
Pepper was wondering when this was going to happen today and it answered question number one. "I made enough food for you to have for dinner as well and no, I can not stay here, Mr. Stark. If you really need something and I mean REALLY need something, then call me. I will be back early in the morning."
"I mean if it the whole thing in sharing a bed with me, I have guest rooms…" Tony tried again.
"Will that be all, Mr. Stark?" Pepper said, purposely cutting him off with a smile.
"That will be all, Ms. Potts. Have a good night." Tony wished her from his spot on the couch as he watched her leave.
"Good night, Mr. Stark."