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Word Count: 484

Yours and Ours

She's always been ambitious, but this was beyond anything she ever could have hoped for for herself.

CEO.

CEO of one of the biggest companies in the world.

It was a hell of a promotion.

Pepper wasn't sure what Tony was thinking. She knew that there was something she didn't know, and she worried about him. While she knew he relied on her for, well, practically everything, she didn't think he realised that he was important to her too.

He was her boss, yes, but he was also her friend, and certainly the most important person in her life. She'd spent years being his PA, and she'd seen him through some of the toughest times of his life.

And he'd been there through some of hers.

Pepper accepted, because he wanted this for her, but she worried what it meant for him.

What was Tony going to be so busy with that he couldn't be CEO anymore? What was going on that he didn't think he'd be around to do his job for much longer?

What was she missing?

What wasn't he telling her?

So many questions that she had no answers too, and, she imagined, that he wouldn't answer for her.

He'd been different since he came back from Afghanistan. Understandable, of course, but the changes were… odd.

Gone were the women Pepper showed out come morning time, and gone (mostly) were the parties and indecent behaviour that she had to try and keep under wraps less the media catch wind of it.

He was quiet, more serious than she'd ever known him to be, and he was secretive.

She didn't like it.

"Are you sure?" she asked him, not for the first time.

He smiled at her, and for a moment, it was like having her Tony back again. "Of course I am. There's no one better for this than you, Pep. And I think you've earned it, putting up with me for so long. Just… enjoy it, okay."

She nodded. "You'd tell me if there was something wrong, right?"

His eyes flickered away, and he swallowed and his already paler than usual face paled further, but he nodded. "Course I would, Pep. Course I would. Get me a coffee, would you?"

She rolled her eyes. "Won't be long until you're getting me coffee."

He grinned. "Would you trust me?"

She laughed and shook her head. "Probably not."

She left him alone to get his coffee and bit her lip. He was lying to her, and they both knew it. About what, she wasn't sure yet, but she doubted it was anything good.

Maybe she should call Rhodey.

Maybe he'd be able to talk some sense into Tony.

He was theirs after all, and they had to look out for him. They were all he had; they just had to remind him that he was theirs as much as they were his.

Written for:

Showtime, 14. A promotion

Empire, 13. Ambitious