A/N: I know, I know: It's been a while since I updated. I took a little break, got stuck on writing about other things, took a month long hiatus, lost the chapter I had almost finished writing for this story when my computer crashed, and couldn't get back on the wagon. I'm still hesitant but I really want to get back to this so I'm gonna try…

"So he still has your laptop?"

Pepper nodded, looking stressed and anxious. "And he said he won't give it back unless I kiss him!"

"That's why you're worried?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "Well that's easy. Just close your eyes and pucker up. It'll be over before you know it. I'm sure he's had plenty of experience."

"No, no, that's not it," she replied hurriedly. "And I'm sure of that too, but it's just that…well…" She looked to me as if I should understand.

I didn't, and I showed it with an expectant expression, waiting for her to get to the point.

Pepper sighed. "You don't get it, do you?"

"What should I be getting?"

"There isn't supposed to be that kind of relationship between the boss and the assistant. It's unheard of and totally predictable. The whole thing would be weird and awkward for me personally. I really can't believe he texted me that…"

"Oh," I said exaggeratingly, understanding. "I see your point now. But it's not like you're in public. This house is big and secluded enough; the press can't get you here."

"I just can't do it. I'm still wound up from last night. I don't have to time to play these games with him."

"Alright, how about I get your laptop for you?" I offered.

"That would be great," she said sincerely, easing her tense shoulders. "You don't know how much trouble you're saving me."

"I think I can guess just by looking at the difference in you between now and five seconds ago. Why don't you get some coffee? I set it up for you how you liked it."

"Really?" she asked, glancing at the coffee pot. "That's really sweet of you."

"It's only part of a large debt I owe to you for grabbing my breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday, among other things." I walked to the stairs. "I'll be right back."

Through the glass, I saw Tony with his back to me. He had a welding mask on and was using a blowtorch on whatever part of the suit he was working on, I couldn't tell. I spotted Pepper's laptop on his wrap-around desk.

Well, that was easy, I thought. I'll just grab it and go. He won't even notice.

I put in the code quickly and opened the door slowly. Luckily, you couldn't here the beep of the roar of the blowtorch.

I hadn't taken two small steps before—

"Miss Howard has arrived," Jarvis announced.

I thought too soon.

Tony shut off his blowtorch immediately, turned around and lifted the mask in one swift motion, his famous lopsided grin abroad his handsome face.

"Were you expecting me?" I asked.

"Obviously."

"Well whatever it is, make it quick. I need to get Pepper's laptop and deliver it to her A-SAP. She has an agenda to keep." I stared accusingly. "Thanks to you."

"If you stopped telling me what I already know you could a lot faster."

"Alright then. Spit it out!" I rushed, putting a larger emphasis with waving hand gestures.

He leaned back on the table as he took off his thick, fire-resistant gloves. "If you're down here you must have heard about the text right?"

"Yeah."

"And she was freaking out I assume?" he asked, smirking.

"She was a ball of nerves when she walked through the door."

"That means she won't be down here for the rest of the day at least."

I raised an eyebrow. "Why don't you want her down here?"

"I'm gonna go on a test drive."

I stared. "You mean…you're gonna fly?"

"Yep."

"Out there?"

"Yep."

"Where everyone can see you?"

"Why do you sound worried? That's Pepper's job."

"Because what do you think people are going to say and do when they see a metallic man flying against the nighttime sky? Do you ever think your actions through-?"

"Oh don't start nagging. Is Pepper extremely contagious today 'cause you caught something from her personality."

"Just think for a second—"

"Uh no, I won't on this: I already did and I'm flying tonight, that's final. I don't care if you wanna be here or not but I was going to let you watch the feed from the helmet so you can see what I see as I fly. But, hey, your loss."

I grabbed Pepper's laptop and started toward the door, grumbling. "Alright, whatever."

As I was about to walk through the door, Tony asked, "You're gonna be here right?"

I rolled my eyes and pretended like I didn't care while mumbling, "Yeah…" No way would I miss out on this, and—unfortunately—he knows it way too well.

I closed the door behind me and walked up the steps before he could reply with some snide remark. When I glanced back, he was already back to work, blowtorch aflame and mask down.

I handed Pepper here laptop as she finished her last sip of coffee. "Thank you Cara. I can finally get my day started. Before I do…"

She stood up from the couch and walked to the kitchen while saying, "I have to grab another cup. You make my own coffee better than me!"

"Oh, well I'm glad you like it!" I smiled at the praise.

Pepper walked to the door. "I probably won't see you for the rest of the day with all the things I need to get done so make sure Tony eats and gets you something too."

I laughed. "I'll make sure of that."

She waved in farewell and was gone.

For the rest of the day I relaxed in my room as Tony worked while sometimes emerging to get a snack. To my surprise, I found some chips and other stuff in the cabinets and kitchenette in his workshop. ("You actually have food!" "I'm not even gonna comment.") I expected him to get me when he was ready to really fly, but I was wrong.

The sun had set as I read through an engineering book Pepper had found for me that she thought I would like. I noted this in the back of my mind, subconsciously waiting for Tony to knock on my door to come down as I read about the specifics of engine intake. I would look up at the door, check the time, and skim over a few words that didn't end up sticking because I was so preoccupied with waiting for Tony. I repeated this cycle nine times before I strode out of my room, calling myself an idiot for thinking Tony would retrieve me himself or give me any recognition that he was flying right then.

I expected him to be gone when I came down the steps.

But he wasn't, thankfully.

"Where were you?" he asked, apparently ready to suit up. "Did you think I would come and get you?"

"No I just wanted to be punctual with my timing," I replied with a sarcastic tone and smile.

"I didn't give you a time to punctuate."

"Exactly."

He laughed. "I guess that means you're ready."

"Right on the money as usual Tony."

"My money or your money?"

I snorted. "Your money because it's a thousand times more than mine."

"How much do you have?"

As I opened my mouth to respond he cut me off: "My money's a million times more."

I could've said a bunch of rude remarks—and I wanted to—but they got all jumbled up at the tip of my tongue and I couldn't pick one, so I just shut my mouth in annoyed silence.

"Just sit at my desk and watch from there," he said, pointing vaguely to it. "Everything will be displayed on the monitors."

I sat right down and got comfortable, using the desk as a foot rest.

"Hey." Tony lifted my feet and dropped them on the ground. "No shoes on my desk."

"They're clean," I replied, replacing my feet on the desk. "I bet you put dirtier things on here, including your own shoes."

He didn't say anything, which means I was probably right.

I smiled smugly.

Before I could wipe it off, he caught a glimpse of it, and he smirked instead. "Watch this."

He stepped up to a certain spot on the black grid and the floor moved aside as his metallic rocket boots came up, as while as robot with various pieces of the armor as they starting assembling them onto Tony.

After only a minute, Tony was suited up in the sweetest thing I'd ever seen.

He definitely had smirking rights at this point.

He turned to face me, a mask of the armor obscuring his face.

"Did you watch?" I heard him speak from behind the helmet.

"How could I not?" I replied, not even bothering to disguise my amazement.

I didn't need to see his face to know for a fact that he was smirking as he turned to face the tunnel that led out of his house.

"Jarvis are you there?" Tony asked.

"At your service, sir," Jarvis replied.

"Board all preferences from home interface."

"Will do, sir."

"Alright what do you say?"

"I have indeed been uploaded, sir. Online and ready."

"Can you start the virtual walk-around?"

"Imported references and collaborating virtual environment."

"Good, check on control surfaces."

"As you wish."

As soon as Jarvis replied, the suit's parts started moving and going back into place.

"Test complete," Jarvis reported. "Preparing to power down and begin diagnostics."

"Uh Jarvis? Do you not remember what I was talking about this morning? Do a weather and ATC check and start listening in on ground control. We're flying."

"Sir, there are sill terabytes of calculations needed before an actual flight is—"

"Jarvis, sometimes you gotta run before you can walk."

"Can't beat that logic," I added sarcastically, loud enough for him to hear.

He ignored me again.

"Ready?" he said to Jarvis. "In three, two, one."

Tony lifted off and blasted into the tunnel, disappearing in a flash.

I heard him on the monitors, ("Oooh yeah! Whooo!") and I could tell he was having a blast.

I watched him fly over the ocean and the city, the view absolutely fantastic. He zoomed in on some kid on a Ferris wheel licking an ice cream cone, looking right at him, and the boy licked the entire scoop of ice cream onto the ground as what appeared to be his sister stared agape.

Though I was still worried about Tony stopping traffic and causing accidents—though that wasn't exactly new—I had to laugh.

Then Tony said, "Alright let's see what this thing can do." And he shot start up, eyes on the moon.

"What's SR-71's record?"

"That altitude record for a fixed-wing flight is 85,000 feet, sir."

"Record needs to be broken. Come on!"

I saw on the monitors his stabilizers levels grow as he blasted off even faster towards outer space.

"Sir there is potentially fatal build-up of ice occurring," Jarvis reported as ice did start to cloud some of Tony's vision.

"Go higher," he said, determined.

Oh my God, what is he doing? I cried in my head. He's an idiot! He could die!

Power levels were dropping dramatically until it hit zero. The system instantly broke down. The screen stated "Signal Lost".

"Tony!" I yelled at the monitors. "Jarvis try and get back online again!"

"I can't Miss Howard. The system is completely shut down."

"What?" I stared at the keyboard, wishing that the buttons could get the suit working again like a real computer. I felt completely helpless, an emotion I never enjoyed feeling.

Oh Tony I hate your guts, I thought angrily to myself.

Seconds later, the monitors announced "Signal Found" and showed Tony tumbling toward the Earth.

His rockets blasted back on right before he made a crater in the middle of a highway.

"Yeah!" Tony cried in triumph, laughing.

I fumed as he flew back to his mansion, stopping on the roof as he said, "Kill power."

I heard booms like thunder as Tony crashed through three floors and landed on his Shelby Cobra, making me jump out of my skin.

The fire extinguisher bot started spraying him with CO2.

He only sat there, covered in cement dust.

"Stop, stop," I told the robot as I approached Tony and it did.

I stood in front of him, wanting to insult him on his landing or tell him how stupid he was of almost letting himself die, but I swallowed my anger and asked, "Are you okay?"

"I crashed through three floors and landed on a car," he replied in a harsh tone. "Do you think I'm okay?"

"That's what I get for being concerned?" I cried, firing up again. "God Tony you're such an idiot! You almost died because you wanted to 'push the limit'! Where do you think that could've left me if you did?" I growled. "You are so selfish!"

I stomped out of the room and up the steps, leaving him to lie on his damaged vintage car.

As soon as I walked into my room, Jarvis said, "Mr. Stark wants you downstairs at this time."

"Tell him he can kiss my ass."

"Let me correct myself: Mr. Stark orders you to be downstairs this minute."

"No! Tell him he can come upstairs and apologize to me first!"

"Yes, because I'm sure he will," Jarvis replied sarcastically.

I threw myself on my bed and stared at the ceiling, fuming.

I got a thought: I rolled over and grabbed my iPod from my nightstand, shoving the ear buds into my ears and turning the volume up so high so I couldn't hear my own thoughts as I continued to stare at the ceiling.

Tony put an ice pack on the bump on his head, slamming the refrigerator door.

Why was she so sensitive all of a sudden? And then she needs to be smartass too?

Well, she's related to him, so that's not exactly her fault.

But the whole sensitive thing was new. Pepper's like that sometimes too. Is that like a girl thing?

Tony groaned. Why couldn't his sister have had a boy? I'm sure that a nephew would have been a lot less complicated.

He walked past the brown paper-wrapped box Pepper had left for him a couple days ago, putting down his ice pack. He took his old coffee cup off and ripped it open to reveal his old arc reactor in a glass case, with an inscription around the arc reactor saying, "Proof that Tony Stark has a heart."

He looked at it for a moment and looked toward the stairs.

He sighed and walked up the steps.

I was pretty much calmed down as my music blared in my ears with my eyes shut.

Then I felt a hand on my leg and I jumped, my eyes shooting open to see Tony standing in front of me, a little taken aback at my reaction to his touch. I took my ear buds out.

"Sorry were you sleeping?" he asked.

"No, just focusing on the music because the ceiling bored me after a while."

"Look, I'm sorry about that whole thing downstairs. You probably had a heart attack when my suit shutdown."

"Close to it."

"Yeah, I only said what I said that way because, well how would you feel if you expected to land safely on a roof but end up crashing through your room, piano and a restored Cobra?"

"Not very happy," I admitted. "I was still fuming about how you almost dying and I had swallowed my anger to ask if you were alright when I could've insulted you, and then you use this rude tone with me? Um, I don't think so."

"Good we understand each other."

I sighed. "Yep."

He paused. "You know I'm not used to being responsible for someone else so you gotta cut me some slack on that okay?"

"I already cut you enough…but I'm generous enough to cut you some more—lucky for you."

"I'm feelin' the love Cara."

I laughed. "Good."

"I hope you know that I'm trying to make this easier for you."

"I know. And I appreciate it. You just gotta think more about not getting yourself killed and we'll be good."

"You think I'm not already?"

"Not with what I saw!"

"Good point."

"You might want to get fixing your suit now, don't you think?"

"Nah," he said, turning to leave. "I think I'm going to bed. I'm sore."

I laughed. "I bet. I'm turning in too."

"G'night."

"Night."

And the door closed behind him.

Well, I didn't expect an apology so soon, I thought. I wonder what made him change his mind…