The next chapter! I hope you like it, please let me know! In this chapter, we'll meet a character who will play an important role in the future.

The song to this chapter is 'Always Remember Us This Way' by Lady Gaga.

I don't own the characters or places!

Pepper

The sun was shining, bathing the room in a warm, yellow light. Outside, birds were singing and in the distance, I could hear the faint sound of cars on the roads. The light of the sun was blinding me, but I didn't change my position and moved to another chair around the big conference table. Even if I still had the chance to do so, the others didn't arrive yet. I was alone. Not that I minded, of course. At the moment, I preferred being alone to the company of others. Mostly because I could let my thoughts wander then.

And they were always wandering back to one person. I couldn't help it, no matter how hard I tried. Every time I closed my eyes, I could see Tony's face in my mind. The way he smiled at me. This beautiful slight smile that made his eyes shine. Or the way he was running a hand through his hair absent-mindedly, most of the time not even noticing that he was doing it. Or the way he said my name...

The door opened suddenly, ripping me out of my thoughts. Daisy walked into the room, followed by Phil and Jim. Daisy was carrying a newspaper in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other one. In fact, they were all carrying something to drink. I noticed that Jim was carrying two cups and realized that one was for me.

"You should stop looking so sad." Daisy said loudly when she sat down and threw the paper onto the table in front of me, right on the documents I'd just been reading. Well, or the ones I'd pretended to read.

When I saw the picture on the front page, I froze for half a second before I grabbed the newspaper and unfolded it hastily. "Tony Stark returns to Los Angeles" The headline was simple and didn't give away very much. Just like the picture, which showed Tony, smiling widely at the camera. The others were standing behind him, also looking in the direction of the photographer. The description didn't mention where the picture was taken, but I assumed that it was in the Stark Industries building in LA. After all, Tony had told me that all the employees had welcomed them there.

I read the article, but it was short and didn't tell many things. Except for the fact that Tony was in LA now and there would be an interview the next day. An interview in which he'd tell the world that he was producing clean energy now instead of weapons. I could already imagine the reactions to this.

"You really should stop thinking about him." Daisy said into the silence surrounding us. "It will all work out, Pepper."

I sighed loudly. "It's not that easy." I wasn't sure how often I'd already said this.

"You have other things to focus on at the moment. More important things, I have to emphasize." I knew that Daisy didn't mean to hurt me with her words, but I felt a stab of pain in my chest once more. And also guilt since I'd neglected a few duties as President in the past days.

I sighed deeply. "I know that. So what's going on?" I tried to sound calm and hoped that the others would just drop the subject of Tony's departure. Luckily, they did, even if the sad smiles told me that they wouldn't forget how I was feeling any time soon.

"The job interviews for our new team members are this afternoon." Phil began and handed me three files. "These are the ones for your personal assistant."

"I still don't get why I need a personal assistant." I muttered and opened one of the files. A beautiful young woman with blond hair and brown eyes. Maureen Brown. What a fitting name. 29 years old, from New York. Studied politics in Atlanta.

"Because I can't do that for you all the time." Daisy reminded me. I knew she was right. After all, Daisy had also taken all of Rebecca's tasks when she left us.

"But I have Phil as well." I looked at him expectantly.

He smiled. "The assistant will do paperwork for you. Make appointments, read over speeches to check them for mistakes and so on. When I also do that, I won't be of any use otherwise."

I groaned. "Why do you always have to be right about this?"

Second file. Another woman, with short dark hair and dark eyes. Her parents were from China, but she was born in Seattle. Also studied there and after that, she went to Washington to work in politics. Her CV was impressing, but I wondered why she never had one job for more than one or two years. When I voiced my thoughts, the others just shrugged. "Seems like we have to find out about that once we talk to her." Jim said simply. I closed the file after that and reached for the third one.

To my surprise, it was a man. About my age, with black hair and blue eyes. Slightly tanned skin. He had a beard and his smile on the picture looked somewhat amused. John Knight. Born in a small town in Minnesota, moved to San Diego when he was still young. After school, he studied in LA, but not politics. He was also an engineer and found his passion for politics later, when he became aware of all the problems in the world. So he started to study again and used his job as an engineer to finance his studies. I was surprised to see that he studied at the same University I did, only a few years later. I didn't know him, though. I looked through the file slowly and somehow, I'd already expected all his grades to be very good. In fact, it looked like he was one of the best students the university had ever seen. I really wondered why I didn't know him.

"When we had the first interview with him, he seemed to be very shy." Jim, who'd looked over my shoulder to see which file I was reading, said.

"A little too shy for my liking." Daisy threw in.

"That could also be because an interview for a job in the white house is a big deal." Phil noted. "He had every reason to be nervous."

"He seemed to be very shy in contrast to the others anyway." Daisy said simply. "But there was something about him... I think he could do a good job."

They began to discuss the online job interview and while I listened, I looked at the picture again. I wasn't sure why, but somehow, the dark hair and the beard, together with his smile reminded me of Tony. Even if the eyes were all wrong. And his skin was far too tanned. There was also something about that smile... Tony's smile was warmer. I couldn't describe it any other way.

"Those three will come this afternoon?" I asked in the end and raised my eyebrows at the others.

They all nodded.

I held back a sigh and forced a smile on my lips. "I can't wait to meet them."

The first two job interviews were unspectacular. I liked Maureen Brown, but couldn't warm up with Lily Chang. During out conversation, I began to suspect why she never had a job for more than one or two years. She seemed to get bored quite easily. And she was so... thrilled by everything. There wasn't another way to describe it. Everything excited her. It was exhausting.

When she was gone after nearly an hour, I let out a relieved sigh. Next to me, Phil also smiled slightly. "I assume we should remove her from the list?"

I nodded, already about to say something, but then the door opened again and the third person entered the room. Inwardly, I cursed. Why did Daisy and Jim have to plan the job interviews like this? A little more time between the conversations would have been great.

John Knight was a tall and skinny man. His skin was even a little darker than on the photo I'd seen and I wondered if it was just a tan from spending much time in the sun or if he had roots somewhere in the south. Or maybe even Europe? His blue eyes had a depth I didn't expect and his smile looked exactly like the one he'd worn on the photograph, even if I had to agree with Daisy that it also looked somewhat shy.

"It's good to finally meet you in person, Mr. Knight." Phil greeted him with his usual warm smile and they shook hands.

"It's an honour to meet you, Ms. President, Mr. Coulson." He said with a wide smile, addressing me first, even if he was still shaking Phil's hand. He had good manners, that couldn't be missed.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Knight." I also shook his hand. His grip was firm, even if his hand was a little cold.

We all sat down after that and Phil began to ask the usual questions. Why did he want to work for the white house? How did his interest in politics start? What were his goals for the future?

At one point, he surprised me. "What do you think of all the news ever since Ms. Potts was elected?" Phil asked calmly.

"The people should mind their own business." His eyes widened slightly when he realized what he'd just said. I just exchanged a silent look with Phil. "I mean, you did nothing wrong. I've been following all your steps in the campaign and after what happened at the inauguration, it became obvious that something was off, had been for a long time. I just couldn't grasp what it was until that TV interview in which you told the people your story. And the article that was published in the papers, of course. I would never blame you for lying, it was the best choice at that time. Even if Mr. Stark had also to pretend being a politician and you had to stick to that lie. He would have made a good politician, by the way." This made me smile slightly. "What I actually wanted to say is that no one should talk about it as much as the people do at the moment. You did the right thing." He glanced at Phil. "I'm sorry for my harsh first words, I didn't want to insult anyone."

"You didn't." I threw in. "You seem to be very observant, Mr. Knight. Would you enlighten us and explain how you came to the conclusion that something was off during the campaign?" To be honest, I was really curious about this.

"Robert Smith came out of nowhere." He began. "I did some research on him and everything looked perfectly well, but it bothered me that I'd never heard of him before. And he spent so much time with you, even more than your team." For half a second, there was something in his eyes I couldn't quite interpret. But it was gone so fast that I decided that I'd just imagined it when he continued to talk. "It just didn't make sense. Of course he was good and the people loved him, so it would have been unwise to send him away. But anyway..." He shrugged. "As I said, I couldn't grasp what was wrong, I just knew that something was unusual."

"A clever deduction." Phil admitted and from the tone of his voice, I could tell that he was clearly impressed. "But I'm sure you don't just want to work for Ms. Potts to get to know the true story."

Mr. Knight chuckled and somehow, there was something charming about it. "Of course not!" He looked at us seriously. "Ever since I went into politics, my dream was to do something good. Something useful. I always knew that I wouldn't be the one to make big changes in this world, but I wanted to do my part. This would be my chance to be a part of something bigger. To help you to make all your dreams come true, Ms. President. Because I am convinced that they're worth it. You will achieve great things in the next years."

I was impressed by his words and could already imagine this man working for me. I didn't even mind that he said what he was thinking in the job interview. Or maybe I'd just spent too much time with Tony, who was the same when it came to that. I wasn't so sure. But I liked Mr. Knight.

The rest of the interview went smoothly. Phil asked more questions about his career and I added my own questions sometimes, mostly when I was curious about something. In the end, we talked for a little more than an hour before we said goodbye.

"You like him." Phil said into the silence when we were alone.

I shrugged. "I think that he could do a good job."

"And this isn't because he reminds you of someone else?" Phil smiled slightly and I could see a mischievous gleam in his eyes.

"He's not like Tony at all." I argued. Well, except for the looks. And a bit of his personality, but not that much.

"If you say so..." Phil muttered and then we began to talk over the job interviews once more.

After the job interviews, I threw myself into work. It was a good feeling, doing something again. Of course I still missed Tony terribly, but since I'd realized that it was easier to distract myself with work, I used every opportunity for that. And there was enough work to do. I had always articles to read, decisions to make, phone calls to do and so on. The list was endless.

Only now I realized that I didn't do enough in the past weeks. I felt guilty about it, but also knew that I wouldn't change anything if I could go back in time. Because spending time with Tony had been my first priority then. Now that he was gone, I had to make sure that I took care of everything else. That would make it possible to spend more time with him once he was back in Washington. Maybe this wasn't the best solution, but it worked for me.

Before I went to bed that day, I took care of many points which had been on the top of my list. It felt good, doing something and being able to see the results. That's also why I felt quite content, at least until the phone rang and I saw Tony's name on the display. It made me realize once more how much I missed him.

"Hey Pep, how are things going?" He greeted me. I could hear a faint rustle in the background and realized that he was in a car, driving somewhere.

"Hi Tony. I'm fine. A little exhausted, but that's all. This day has been crazy."

"Job interviews for your personal assistant, right?" I wasn't surprised that he knew about this. Most probably, he'd hacked into a few servers.

"Yes, three of them."

"Was there someone good?" I could hear the interest in his voice. It was still his top priority to make sure that something like the events with Rebecca didn't repeat itself.

"I bet you can tell me more about those people than anyone else, considering that you've surely checked on them before Daisy even got a chance to invite someone?"

He laughed and the sound made my heart ache. I wished he could be here with me. "Maybe, but would it be so bad if I did that? After all, I have to do everything I can to make sure you're safe, Ms. President. Even if I can't be with you right now."

My heart swelled at his words. "I've got my own people to take care of me, Tony." I said softly. "You're busy enough without always looking out for me."

"Nonsense. I want to do it, Pepper." His voice was serious. "And there's nothing you can do to stop me."

I sighed. "Fine. So what about them?"

"They're all pretty normal, I guess. But did you know that the Chinese girl changes her job regularly just because she's bored?"

So my assumption had been right. "We suspected something like that. But don't worry, she's not on the list anymore."

"You've got a favourite?"

"Actually, we do." I wasn't sure why I hesitated before I said the next words. "Mr. Knight seems to be a good choice."

"The surfer?" Tony laughed. "One of his former employers wrote down that he's far too tidy. Can you believe it? It must be bad if someone writes down something like that."

"He was nice." In short words, I summarized the interview. "I like his honestly."

"Back when we first met, that was one of the things which bothered you the most." Tony threw in.

I chuckled. "Well, maybe you changed my point of view on those things."

"Always glad to help, love."

"So what are you doing? You're going somewhere, I can hear that you're in the car." I didn't want to talk about John Knight any longer. Even if it didn't seem to bother Tony that my new assistant would be a man, it kind of felt... wrong. Maybe because he looked so much like Tony. I wasn't so sure. Or I was just going crazy because I already missed him so much after two days.

"I'm on my way to Malibu..." Tony hesitated and I could hear that he was nervous. "You know, to look at the house."

"Is someone with you?" I asked immediately, knowing how hard this must be for him.

"No, I'm on my own. And don't say that this is a bad idea. The others already said that often enough. But I have the feeling that I need to do this alone." Tony's voice was thoughtful and serious. I could already imagine the look on his face.

"I don't like this." I told him firmly. "You shouldn't go there alone, Tony."

"It'll be fine, Pepper." He said and I wasn't sure if he believed it himself.

"I wish I could be there for you."

"You are." Tony said softly. "I love you, Pepper."

"I love you too, Tony. But honestly, you shouldn't do that alone." I repeated. "Why didn't you let Rhodey accompany you? I bet he wanted it."

"They all offered to do so. Even Obadiah. But Pepper... this isn't about them. It's about me. I'll be alright." His voice was firm now and I knew that he didn't want to worry me.

"Call me after you're done there?" I asked.

"Shouldn't you get some sleep? I know that it's already late in New York." Always taking care of me, even now. I rolled my eyes.

"I don't care how late it is. You will call me when you need me, understood?"

He chuckled. "I like it when you're bossy, Ms. Potts."

"Promise you'll call me. Even if you just want to tell me that you're fine." I urged him.

Tony sighed. "Fine. I promise. And you have to promise to call me after your conversation with Sattler tomorrow."

This came unexpected and it took me a moment to reply. "Do I even want to know how you got to know about this?" I didn't tell him that on purpose, knowing that he'd be worried otherwise.

"Phil called me a few hours ago." Tony answered simply. "He also knows that this won't be easy for you."

"Phil..." I whispered and shook my head. It was incredible that he was always taking care of me, even when I didn't want it.

"Don't be mad at him. He loves you, Pep."

"I'm not mad. Rather surprised." Suddenly, I felt like crying. "I miss you, Tony. More than anything."

"I miss you too." He replied softly. "Just say the words and I'll come back without hesitation, remember?"

"I do. But you shouldn't have to do that for me. I'll be fine. There's so much work to do, I think the time will pass very fast." The tone of my voice made it obvious that I didn't believe that, but if he noticed, Tony didn't let it show.

"I'm sure you'll do a good job, Pep. I'm really proud of you, Ms. President." He hesitated for a moment. "I really love you." He stopped and I smiled to myself, wishing nothing more than to hold him in my arms right now. Suddenly, Tony cleared his throat. "I've arrived in Malibu. I think I should just go, otherwise I'll sit here for hours and won't do it anyway. Which would means lots of explaining later, when the others ask me about it, so..."

"I love you, Tony Stark. And call me later."

"I will." He whispered before he ended the call.

I sat there for a long time, staring at the dark screen of my phone. I knew that I wouldn't get any sleep now, even if I tried. Alone the thought that Tony was in that house alone made me feel sick. I didn't want him to remember all the times he'd suffered in there. He shouldn't have to do that. But I also knew that selling the house would never be an option for him.

When my phone rang much later, I couldn't pick up the call fast enough.