(Hello fans! :D I'm back! Sorry this took two years to update lol thank you for those of you who are sticking with it as well as new fans. *hugs* Love you all! Ok, here's the chapter! As always, review and don't be shy at offering ideas or making requests, who knows! It might end up a part of the story :)

Alright, I still don't own Iron Man or any of the characters or the Wizard of Oz or the song, Somewhere over the Rainbow. Ok think that covers my butt. Onward!)

Chapter 4: Where Troubles Melt like Lemon Drops

Tony did have a small array of woman's clothing in his spare bedroom. Some pieces Pepper unfortunately recognized from women in Tony's past. They were pieces that had escaped her old dry cleaning routine. She was thankful that since Tony's transformation in Afghanistan she hadn't had to resort to her 'clean-up-Mr.-Stark's-conquests' routine. Tony's mind was always bouncing from project to project to Iron Man these days. He was still a playboy, but not as much as he had been in the past. Pepper admired this change in him, although she would never say it to his face. Especially not at this moment, as she was rather upset with him.

Tony had left the room to throw on a t-shirt and slacks while Pepper changed in the spare room. She had picked out what she wanted to wear before he left the room because she would have to change laying down, so the clothing had to be left on the bed for her. Putting clothing on was a challenge with a lame ankle.

Pepper had chosen what she thought would be comfortable in her current state. Tony had suggested some other pieces but much to his disappointment she had refused to wear them. Pepper slipped on a button up dress shirt and some wide-bottom grey slacks that fit over her cast. She was naturally skinny so she was surprised and happy to find something that she wasn't swimming in. They were a tad shorter than her dress pants at home but not many women were her height ether.

There was a slight knock at the door followed by a voice, "Are you decent?" Before Pepper could answer Tony entered the room. He saw that indeed she did have clothes on and muttered, "Damn, you are."

Pepper rolled her eyes and shook her head. She propped up a pillow to make her current spot more comfortable.

Tony shrugged, "You know me, I think you're beautiful in whatever you're wearing…or not wearing" A pillow hit the side of his head, one that had been thrown by Pepper. Tony would have caught the pillow but currently his hands were full. He held some ice packs in one hand and a bag of potato chips in the other. "Hey! Is that any way to treat your doctor?"

Pepper had gotten her spot the way that she wanted and sat back against several pillows. She avoided his question and looked him in the eye, "Tony, why did you throw that party?"

He avoided her eye contact, feeling guilty once more, "Why do I ever throw parties? I was bored." He shrugged.

She raised an eyebrow, "You were bored? I had a trillion things to do-"

"A trillion wow." he interjected as she spoke.

"with your life,"

"Hmm, are you sure, that's figuratively impossible." he continued to speak as she spoke.

"and you were bored?" Pepper concluded.

There was a pause then he shrugged, "You're my PA, that's what you do, it's your job."

"Ha! My job? And what, your job is to have parties and carelessly throw around your identity as if you were invincible?" she shook her head, "It seems that being the responsible adult, running your life and fixing your problems is my job. But sometimes you're just so!" Pepper growled and turned her gaze to look out at the deluge outside. She sighed letting her frustration melt into disappointment.

There were so many words Tony could have inserted at the end of her sentence. He stared at her briefly then set down the ice packs and chips on a near-by coffee table. "Yeah, I'm so…I get it." He looked down and sighed, "Pepper, I apologize. I guess being a super hero and being Tony Stark is an oxymoron….well, actually Tony's been acting like a moron lately. But you got to admit, that was a great party. I mean did you see how many people were there? And those girls were all-"

She glared Tony into shutting up, "Ruining the apology Tony."

"Ok ok, I'm sorry, no more reckless parties." He grinned. "Good?"

Pepper smiled slightly, "Better."

"Besides," Tony picked up the things off the coffee table, "I'm going to make it up to you. Miss Potts, you are in good hands." He set the chips next to her on the bed. "I'll be taking care of you while you're out of commission."

Pepper grinned, "Really? You?" She said with sarcasm.

"Yes me. Really Pepper your lack of confidence in me is starting to sting." He set the ice bags down on her ankle.

She cringed, "Ow, cold."

"Ice is cold." He smirked

She ignored that, "Tony, what about my job? I can't just lie around! Who's going to take care of that?"

There was a long pause. "I'll do it."

Pepper just stared at Tony. She tried to process if she had heard him correctly. She blinked and shook her head, "What?"

"I'll do it. Really how hard could it be? Answer phone calls, write things down in a date book, plan benefit meetings-"

"It's a little more involved than-"

"There's nothing to it. I can build an arc reactor from memory, being my own P.A. will be a piece of cake." Tony looked to Pepper, actually waited for her to object. She felt annoyed and insulted but thought better of it. Pepper raised her eyebrows and smiled. As much as she hated Tony taking over her job, she knew it would teach him a lesson. He might even learn to appreciate her more. "Alright."

Now he was confused. Tony looked at her with a perplexed expression. She hadn't fought back, what was she planning? Instead of showing this lack of understanding he put on his poker face. "Ok then."

Pepper wasn't stupid of course; she would careful monitor Tony to make sure he didn't run all of her work into the ground. But, this would be the perfect lesson for him as well as the perfect punishment. She watched him as he walked back over to the end of the bed. He knelt down, putting her cast at eye level.

"Let's adjust this a bit." He said as he took off the ice packs and set them to the side.

She continued to watch him with keen interest as he gently elevated he foot with a pillow and placed the ice packs into the best possible spots. He exercised such care with her ankle, as if it were as important as her head. She noted his eyes; the care written in them was different than that when he would tinker with one of his inventions. This was not the look of a proud or thoughtful maker but, a look of intimacy and concern. Pepper felt her cheeks grow warm as she blushed. Tony Stark was a remarkable man. There was an awkward silence in the room. It felt uncomfortable, too uncomfortable for Pepper. She needed to say something to fill up the silence. Having quiet, interment moments with her boss were still considered uncouth in her mind. As much as she did love Tony, she didn't want the world to think of her as a slut. She looked away from him, outside at the rain. She loved rainy days like these. Pepper smiled as a memory from her childhood came to her mind. Before she knew it, the silence was being filled as she spoke the memory that had come to her, "When I was a little girl, my dad told me the story of 'The Wizard of OZ'. I loved that story, well; I loved anytime I could spend with my dad. I would ask him again and again to tell me that story but he'd say I'd have to wait. He would say, 'Ginny that story's a special story and that's why we save it for rainy days. It reminds us that after the storm a rainbow's coming, and with that there's always hope.'" She looked off at the rain as she remembered. Pepper brought herself back to the present and shook her head, "It's silly but ever since then, rainbows have fascinated me. I mean, I know now how they're reflected light and such but, I think they're beautiful, you know? They're a symbol of hope, and everyone needs that." She laughed slightly, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have shared all that."

"Why not?" Tony gazed at her in fascination. His eyes now reflecting his heart's care for her. He absorbed every word that she had to say. He didn't know a lot about Pepper's family or past for that matter. She didn't talk about it much. Of course he was her boss so she usually tried to keep their conversations only about business. Tony who was never about business though, always tried to steer her off course. This time though, he didn't need to do the steering. She had opened up on her own.

"Because, Tony, you're my…" She found herself starring back at his gaze, unable to look away. Her heart skipped a beat as her eyes reflected the same care he felt for her.

"What?" Tony asked.

"Sir, excuse me, Mr. Stark." Jarvis' voice interrupted.

Pepper released a breath she had been holding and looked down, turning red.

Tony grinned and found himself unwilling to look away from her. "Yeah, Jarvis?"

"Sorry to intrude but you have a call from Trump International on hold. He is asking a question in regards to the dinner tonight."

Tony sighed in annoyance and stood up, "Jarvis, what did I tell you about business calls?"

"Sir, you told me to patch though any important calls." The computer voice replied.

"Right and business isn't important to me so, what's the rule about that?" Tony asked.

"That's what PA's are for."

"Exactly." Tony replied and Pepper cleared her throat to get Tony's attention. He turned toward her, "That doesn't sound good; maybe you should get that checked out."

"Your PA is out of commission remember?"

"Oh…right, lame ankle-"

"So Tony, you agreed to do my job. That means taking this phone call."

Tony nodded his head, "I did say that, why did you let me say that?"

"Go get em Iron Man" Pepper responded with a smirk.

"Alright, patch it though to my cell Jarvis. Oh, and make me a list of those who will be present. Also have my tux pressed while you're at it." Tony waited as the AI responded.

Pepper was surprised, Tony was thinking ahead; maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

His cell started to buzz and he pressed answer, "Hey there Trumpy. You're fired! Ha, yeah I'm kidding. How's the 3rd wife?"

Pepper looked mortified, ok maybe not.