Tony walked down the stairs with his tie draped around his neck. He looked down at his tie and began to look at both ends. He took a shower and trimmed his goatee in a matter of thirty minutes, which is surprising considering his reputation for taking his time in the shower and resisting getting ready on time. Pepper stood near the counter with her back turned to him. She wore the same black blouse she had been wearing throughout the day—actually, she didn't change her clothes, but she did remove her hair tie and let her hair breath on her shoulders.

Pepper turned around when she heard someone walk down the stairs. She saw Tony look down at the black colored tie in confusion. Pepper walked over to him with a wide smile on her face.

He knew she was approaching him, but his fixation on his tie kept him from looking up. Pepper saw that he was about to ask her to tie it for him but she reached up and grabbed his hands that were attached to the tie.

"Pepper—"

"Take off the tie." She told him. Tony stood there, staring blankly at her.

"But—"

"Tony, this is just dinner. It's not supposed to be formal." She began to laugh.

He looked at her attire and then at his. He was wearing a white dress shirt and black formal pants. "But… I want to look good for you."

Pepper smirked and slowly removed the tie from around his neck; their hands were still connected, firmly holding the tie between their bodies. She widened her smile and pulled the tie from his grasp.

"I'll go put this away." She began to walk upstairs.

Tony watched her walk up to his room. He silently sighed and began to grin. He couldn't get her out of his head. He loved every single bit of her; her personality, the way she always took care of him—but what did he do for her? Yeah, okay, a 'coffee date' and a movie night… and a few things he wasn't telling her. But it was for a good cause—it was to protect her, right? Tony thought about the trouble with his stolen weaponry and the attack on Leon Industries. He closed his eyes, trying to get the damn thoughts off his mind. A slight buzz from his cell phone in his pocket did just that. He took his phone out of his pocket and looked at the screen.

'Romanoff: Tony, do you have a minute?'

Tony glared at the text message and angrily replied back, 'NO'. He sent the message and heard foot steps approaching him from the stairs. He quickly tucked away his cell phone and glanced up at Pepper.

"Ready?" Pepper asked him with a small smile.

He nodded and grabbed her coat from the couch. "Yup." He opened the door for his girlfriend and with a wide smile, he put his hand on the small of her back and led her to the car.

He opened the door for her and let her climb in before he ran around the car to open the driver side door. He climbed in as well and began to search for his keys. He furrowed his eyebrows and checked every pocket.

"Uh…" He began to panic. Tony glanced over at Pepper and saw her smirk.

"Forget something?" She raised an eyebrow.

Tony's lips formed a quick smile. "I'll be right back." He opened the door and leaped out of the car. He quickly rushed to the front door and unlocked it. The door swung open and he quickly looked around for his keys.

"Keys… keys… keys…keys…" Tony looked around the couch and in the kitchen. He stood in the middle of the living room and scratched the back of his head. He could've sworn he put his keys inside his pockets after he slipped on his pair of pants.

"Looking for these?"

Tony swiftly turned around and saw Natalie leaning against the wall nearest to the staircase with his car keys dangling on her index finger. He rolled his eyes and walked towards her.

"What the hell are you doing here—how did you even get in?" He tried to snatch the keys from her hand but she quickly retracted her arm.

"JARVIS let me in."

"Why the heck—" Tony looked up. "JARVIS, what's you with letting women control you like that?"

"My apologies, Sir." JARVIS quickly apologized. "Ms. Romanoff is an ally, so I assumed—"

Tony waved his explanation off. "Give me my keys."

"I need to talk to you about something." She insisted.

"Pepper and I are supposed to go out to dinner together. Can't this wait?" Tony heavily sighed.

"Aren't you worried about her safety?" Natalie narrowed her eyes at him. She wasn't in a business suit, or a skirt and blouse. She was in her Black Widow outfit. No doubt, she was probably sneaking around and obeying Fury's orders.

"Of course I am." Tony angrily grumbled. "You can't expect me to lock her up in here and tell her that the world is after her. She doesn't know about the guy who's trying to screw me over and she certainly doesn't know about this whole entire shit storm that's running its course on everyone's lives." He practically yelled at her. He was actually surprised that Pepper didn't come running in from the front door in confusion.

"I'm glad that Pepper doesn't know but I really need to talk to you about something."

"Tell me when I get back." Tony angrily grounded out. He held his hand out in front of her, waiting for her to give him his car keys. Natalie pressed her lips together and slipped them into his palm. Without even saying a word, he turned around and walked towards the front door.

Natalie stood there and watched as he exited his house.

Tony arrived at his car and angrily climbed back in. Pepper was sitting in the passenger seat with her Blackberry in her hands. She glanced over at him and noticed his silent frown.

"Everything okay?" Pepper quietly asked, noticing how forcefully Tony inserted his car keys into the slot.

"Yeah." He mumbled, turning the key, making the engine roar.

"Did something happen?" She lowered her Blackberry in worry.

Tony sat there with the engine running and began to think. He stared out the front of the window and abruptly turned the car off. He glanced over at Pepper and wrapped his hand around hers. He gently squeezed her hand and smiled, but soon, the smile disappeared. He turned his head and locked gazes with her.

"Pepper…" He began.

"Hm?" She hummed, squeezing his hand.

"…I…Do you trust me?" He suddenly asked.

She stared at him blankly. "Of course I do."

"If I tell you to run, I want you to run and never look back." He told her.

"O-okay—but Tony, what is this about?" She asked curiously. He let go of her hand and immediately turned on the engine.

"If we don't leave soon, they'll probably give away our table." Tony responded, completely changing the subject.

"Tony…" She pressed her lips together. "Wait, are we eating at a public restaurant?"

"Yup." He nodded.

"But the press and-and the people—"

"I bought out the whole restaurant and made sure that the workers won't tell anybody." He told her.

Pepper's mouth gapped, closed, and gapped again. She was glad they were going out to dinner but he didn't necessarily have to buy out the whole restaurant just because they didn't want to go public yet. She appreciated what he was doing for her sake and for the sake of their relationship… but it didn't feel right. It felt like they were dancing around the press, taunting them with chocolate and candy.

The dinner was perfect—well, almost perfect. Tony brought Pepper to her favorite Italian restaurant. The three story building was beautifully lit and had vases of roses sitting everywhere. They ate on the third story where the beautiful view could be admired. Pepper talked about her day and Tony talked about Rhodey. He tried his best to steer her away from asking what he said in the car. Whenever she tried to get it out of him, he quickly complimented her on her looks but there were only so many things he could say about how charming she looked. He didn't realize it but he told her she looked gorgeous three times… in a row.

As the dinner was savored and the night ended, Tony and Pepper drove back to the house to enjoy each other's company. It was a successful night. There was only one waiter and two cooks. Tony seemed to have the situation under control… or he paid the restaurant twice the bill to keep them from talking to the press or the tabloids.

Tony got out of his car and quickly ran around to open the car door for Pepper. As she climbed out, he widened his smile. Once he closed the car door and locked it with his keys, she grabbed him by the lapels of his dress shirt and pushed him against his Audi. Tony widened his eyes in shock as he felt Pepper's thigh rub against his groin. She glanced down at his lips and slowly leaned in. He relaxed under her body and wrapped his hands around her waist. Her lips brushed against hers.

He tasted her cherry flavored lip gloss as it blossomed in his mouth. A moan echoed in the back of his throat as Pepper kissed him with more passion. She pulled away with a wide smile and buried her face in the crook of his neck. Tony tightened his grip on her held her close, gasping for oxygen.

"Couldn't wait until we got inside?" Tony whispered in her ear with a wide smile.

"You were taking too long." She joked, laughing.

"Sorry to interrupt." A voice behind them said.

Tony looked up and rolled his eyes in displeasure. Pepper turned around to look at the figure behind them and saw Natalie standing there in her Black Widow outfit.

"Natasha." She breathed.

"Her name is Natalie." Tony told the woman he held in his arms. "It's the first name she told us, so we might as well stick with it."

"That was her cover name, Tony." Pepper rolled her eyes.

"I need to speak with Mr. Stark about something, if that's okay with you, Pepper."

"It isn't." Tony snapped.

"It's fine." Pepper calmly said. She quickly kissed Tony on the lips and slipped away from his grasp. "I'll be inside."

Tony heavily sighed and watched as his date walked towards the house. Natalie walked towards him with her arms across her chest. He angrily looked at her. "You couldn't have waited until tomorrow morning?"

"Fury wanted me to inform you as soon as possible. You're lucky I didn't incinerate your keys to make you stay and listen to me." She snapped at him.

He rolled his eyes and began to walk towards the house. "Pepper and I were trying to have a romantic evening, but now you're here with your stupid information, and your stupid costume." He gestured towards her outfit.

"Why are you so angry, Tony?"

"I'm angry because you guys keep interrupting whatever we have planned." He spat at her.

"No." Natalie denied his explanation. "You're not angry about that."

"OKAY!" Tony turned around and shouted at her. "I'm angry because I can't catch this stupid guy. I'm angry because I feel like I'm killing Pepper. I'm angry because I can't seem to control my own weaponry. I'm angry because my wounds are still healing and there's not a damn thing I can do right now! I'm angry because I love Pepper. I LOVE HER! But wait—oh wait" He faked a laugh. "Here's the funny thing. Every time I want to tell her I love her, I ditch it. I completely ditch the idea." He heavily sighed and closed his eyes.

"You done?" Natalie asked him.

"Yeah." Tony nodded.

"Feel better?"

"Yup." He breathed. "A lot better."

"Good, because we still need to talk about something very important."

"And that important thing is…?"

"Greg Leon disappeared."

A/N: Short chapter. I had two weeks of midterms and this weekend, I said eff you to the world and relaxed by typing this chapter and playing some call of duty. Night everyone!