Oh wow, major sorry for the lateness. This chapter did NOT want to be written. That, plus I just discovered the many, many Tumblr pages of RDJ.

Thank you to the website Baby Name Genie for supplying me with Daniel Dowling, Alex Fields and Mr. Steven Kimball. This is officially the most research I've done for anything ever. 90% of writing this chapter was searching the net for the correct information!

A week had gone by since Tony's offer of a job, and in that week Pepper had managed to quit her job (this had included what Tony had dubbed 'a shit scary bitch fit of doom' at Jerry), found somewhere to live in Malibu (after refusing to let Tony buy her a house or move in with him), packed up all her stuff and sent it to the house, and now she was taxiing up the runway at LAX having spent a good part of the morning sitting next to an obnoxiously loud snorer and watching some crappy cheese fest of a movie. As soon as the plane had come to a stop and she was able to retrieve her hand luggage from the overhead storage, her phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID and smirked at the name flashing at her.

"Hello?"

"Pepper! Where are you?" Tony asked excitedly.

"I'm on a plane. Moving day today, remember?" she tucked the phone into the crook of her neck and hurried towards the exit of the plane.

"Of course I remember, I was just wondering if you'd landed yet." There was a lot of noise on the other end of the line and Pepper wondered silently where he was.

"I'm literally stepping off the plane now. I'm about to go and get my luggage." She saw a sign for the baggage claim and headed for it, along with the other passengers.

"Good, good." Tony said distractedly. "Hey, listen, I've got most of your house all set up, furniture in place and what not, I really think you'll like what I've done with the place." She could practically hear the smile on his face.

"That sounds ominous." She replied, only half joking, as she finally reached the baggage claim and waiting in line for her bags to come out.

"I'll have you know that if I hadn't been a genius wunderkind, I so could have delved into interior decorating." Pepper heard a voice over a loudspeaker and a few people laughing.

"Tony, where are you?" she asked. Her bags poked through the little chute at one end of the conveyor belt and she edged forward, ready to grab them.

"Just out and about." He said offhandedly. "So, you got any plans for the day or you just gonna crash when you get home?"

Pepper grabbed her bags, struggling slightly to get them both on one shoulder each and keep her ear to the phone.

"Well," she said when she finally regained her composure and started making her way to the exit. "I've just moved away from the city I spent over a decade of my life and the majority of my friends, to a city where I know a grand total of one person, and from the sounds of it, he's already out raving the night away," she narrowly avoided bumping into an old woman as the crowd spread out to be greeted by their friends and relatives in the arrivals gate. "so it looks like I'll be catching up on Heroes all by myself tonight."

"Well that sucks." Tony sighed. Pepper made her way through the majority of the crowd and headed towards the exit that would lead to the taxi rank. "Hey Potts, there's a woman here that looks just like you from the back."

"Because that's not slightly disturbing." She chuckled. "Listen, I'm about to get into a cab so I'll have to let you go."

"A cab?" Tony sounded outraged. "Hell no, you're not getting a cab."

The 'bing-bong' of the loudspeaker sounded through the airport and the same sound trilled at her through the phone.

"Well I'm open to suggestions. Tony, where did you say you were?"

"Turn around, Potts." He said before he hung up.

Pepper span around and was faced with Tony standing five feet behind her, phone in hand, grinning manically.

"Need a ride?"

With Tony carrying the bags, they made it out to the car, a Bentley Continental GT, and where greeted by a rather burly man dressed in a chauffer's uniform.

"Pepper." Tony turned to her once they had gotten the boot shut and held out a hand to the driver. "This is Happy Hogan, my driver, bodyguard when Iron Man isn't around, and my friend." He patted the man on the back and introduced Pepper.

"Nice to put a face to the name." Happy chuckled gruffly as he shook her hand. "All I've heard for the last week is Pepper Pepper Pep-"

"Alright, Harold, I think it's time to go now." Tony said, the tips of his ears slightly red. Happy chuckled again and opened the door for them both before getting in the car himself. Tony coughed awkwardly and motioned for Pepper to get in. She slid in with a small smile gracing her lips, and Tony followed.

"So, wanna check out your new apartment?" Tony asked. "Or maybe go for some dinner first?"

She spotted the small spark in his eyes as he said this and chewed the side of her lip. "Well, how about we go to my apartment and I'll cook us something?" She suggested.

Tony smiled, that same smile from years ago. "That sounds nice." He gave Happy the address and they set off for Pepper's apartment.

"So, you excited about your first day at Stark Enterprises tomorrow?" Tony asked as they settled in for the drive. He leant back into the seat and put his arm over the top of the bench.

"I'd say more nervous than excited." Pepper replied.

"Nervous?"

"Yeah well, I don't want to sound all high school, but what if no one likes me? I mean it's not like what I did at my old job was anything amazing, and now out of the blue you hire me as a Corporate Secretary..." she trailed off looking a little embarrassed. Tony smiled kindly.

"Pepper, you are the most capable, qualified, trustworthy person I've ever met, and you're gonna do great." He winked at her. "Screw what everyone else thinks. You have any problems tomorrow, you come see me, ok?"

Pepper sighed. "But you don't even know me."

"I know enough." He said firmly, his face totally serious. "I know you didn't have to stay with me that night, you could've walked out when I told you to, but you didn't. Everything else is superfluous."

Pepper opened her mouth to say something else, but Tony's phone trilled happily. Tony winced and mumbled an apology before whipping it out of his pocket and answering.

"Yeah? I'm kinda busy right now." He glanced at Pepper and sighed deeply. "No, of course I know how important it is, but that doesn't change the fact that this is voluntary on my part, you came to me." He was silent for a few seconds and Pepper could just make out the angry voice of the other person on the line. Tony glanced at her again, a slight expression of panic in his eyes, but he brushed it away. "No, fine, I'll be right there." He ended the call and groaned with frustration.

"Something wrong?" Pepper asked.

"Kinda." Tony mumbled. "I'm gonna have to skip dinner. I, uh, have a meeting to get to." He smiled apologetically and told Happy to pull over.

"Hey, don't worry about it." Pepper smiled. "Just let me out here and I'll get a cab or-"

"Don't be silly." Tony interrupted. "You think I'd let you haul all your baggage yourself? Happy will take you to your apartment, I'm being picked up." He popped the door open and swung one leg out, still facing Pepper. "Have a nice day at work tomorrow dear." He flashed a grin at her before stepping out of the car and shutting the door.

Happy pulled away from the curb as soon as the door was shut and Pepper span in her seat to watch out of the back window. As the Bentley stopped at a set of lights, she watched as a black H1 Hummer skidded to a halt next to Tony. He yanked the door open and jumped in, the vehicle already moving before the door was shut. It pulled a fairly illegal U-Turn across two lanes of angry traffic and sped off in the opposite direction. Pepper frowned and turned back around.

"Happy?" she leant forwards to address the driver.

"Yes Miss?"

"Um, does he do that a lot? Go for meetings with people who drive military issue Hummers I mean?"

Happy shifted in his seat slightly and glanced at her in the rear view mirror.

"Not as often as they'd like him to, Miss." He said with a slight edge to his voice which led her to believe that the conversation was off limits. This only confused her further, but she didn't want to get in the bad books with the only other friend she had in the entire state, so she let it slide, figuring she could probably ask Tony about it the next day.

Twenty minutes later, Happy was just finishing unloading her bags from the car and helping her to carry them up the small staircase to her apartment. One he had placed her luggage in the living room and given her his cell number 'just in case', Pepper flopped down on to the plush sofa that Tony must have had delivered there and sighed contentedly. Upon opening her eyes again, she took a good hard look around the room and smiled. She'd seen pictures of the apartment but hadn't actually visited the place herself, Tony had instead volunteered to inspect the building top to bottom and had concluded that he approved, as did she. It was...peaceful. Contemporary and yet had a sense of age too.

After contemplating her new living environment, she decided to inspect the rest of it. She moved through each room, scrutinising every little detail, from the colour of the walls to the layout of the new furniture and her own. When she reached the master bedroom (the apartment having two in total) she spotted her bed, neatly made up, a deep blue carpet underneath, and her computer desk, complete with computer off to the side, but there was something else on the desk part above the keyboard drawer.

As she approached the desk, she saw that the mysterious objects on the desk were in fact a laptop, a BlackBerry phone, and a note, which she picked up and scanned.

Pepper,

Welcome home! I've taken the liberty of arranging a few basic bits of furniture around the place (feel free to move them obviously) and I hope you settle in ok.

As you may notice, I've left you a few presents. The laptop is for work mainly, and the phone is to replace that ancient brick you carry around with you, 'cause what if it dies and I need to contact you or something? You know it makes sense.

See you tomorrow.

Tony.

P.S. I did a few tweaks on your desktop as well. You should really think up a new password, Pepper.

Pepper twisted her mouth in a grin as she finished the letter and picked up her new presents. She then turned her computer on to see exactly what Tony's version of 'tweaks' were.

As it turned out, Pepper's first day didn't go quite as planned. She'd woken up early enough, but the traffic, combined with not entirely knowing the right direction to Stark Enterprises meant she only just arrived on time. She practically burst through the door at the main reception, making the woman behind the desk jump slightly. She turned to Pepper, her beady bespectacled eyes boring into hers, and Pepper smiled politely.

"Hi, my name's Virginia Potts, It's my first day today and-"

"You'll want to go up to Human Resources and speak to Mr. Folan." The woman at the desk sighed and turned back to whatever she had been doing before Pepper had entered.

"Oh, thanks." Pepper mumbled and then glanced around, looking for a sign to inform her just where Human Resources was. When she saw no such sign, she turned back to the woman who tutted loudly and pointed down the hall, muttering for her to turn right at the end and look for the door marked 'HR Department'.

She thanked the woman, who merely grunted and continued with what she was doing, and Pepper walked swiftly down the hall. She located the door and knocked three times, immediately greeted with a low "Enter."

Turned out that Mr. Folan was even more of a douche than Jerry had been, and Pepper took an instant dislike to him. He was tall and thin, with what she suspected was a toupee perched atop his shiny head, and a moustache so bristly she was convinced he had glued the bottom half of a broom to his upper lip. His suit was far from the right cut for his lanky form (something Pepper had always hated on men) and after taking a short glance at his shoes, she silently bet he was the type of man to buff and polish them at the end of every day.

And it seemed that Peter Folan didn't much care for Pepper either. He gave her an incredibly disdainful look when he mentioned he had received instruction from Tony on how to handle her transfer, as if he heavily disapproved her employment at Stark Enterprises. Luckily, he kept the initial meeting very short, though he informed her that though Mr. Stark had hired her, she was under his purview as he was also her supervisor. That left her with a slight twinge of nervousness, but she pushed it aside as she stepped into the bustling office she would now technically be in charge of. Well, office was the wrong word, seeing as there were around thirty actual offices, so it was more of a corridor. Mr. Folan had escorted her through the building and was now hurriedly ushering her towards her office.

"These are the personal assistants to the Board of Directors." He stated as they walked past. Several heads turned towards her as she scurried past. "Technically, I'm in charge here, but seeing as Mr. Stark," he said his name through gritted teeth. "Invented this position for you, that makes you in charge after me." He stopped outside a door and Pepper noticed it had her name on it. "This is your office. The memo has been sent round, but if you want to go introduce yourself to the troops, go ahead." And with that, he was off, re-tracking the steps to his own office.

One he had left, Pepper took a glance around her own office. It was minimalistic, only a desk, computer and chair decorated the room, but she could certainly see potential. She went straight to the chair behind the desk and sat down, basking in its cushiony softness, and nudged the mouse of her computer. The black screen vanished and the Stark Enterprises logo flashed before her, along with a few other icons. She was just about to peruse said icons when a knock on her door startled her. She glanced up and saw a tall, well built man with a shaggy mop of dirty blonde hair and deep blue eyes smiling at her.

"Miss Potts? Hi, I'm Daniel Dowling, I'm Mr. Kimball's assistant. Just thought I'd introduce ma'self." His smile widened and he stepped into the room, a slight Dublin accent slipping through the neutral American. Pepper stood up again and approached him, hand outstretched.

"Call me Pepper, please." She smiled and shook the man's hand. "And I have no idea who Mr. Kimball is."

Daniel laughed softly. "He's one of the Outside Directors. He's not in very often, only really for bi annually meetings, so most of the time I'm left all on my ownsome." He feigned a hurt look. "But I soldier on through the rejection." He glanced around her office briefly. Pepper followed his eyes and suppressed a chuckle.

"Yeah, I haven't quite moved in yet, though to be fair I've been in the room for a full three minutes." She shrugged and turned back to Daniel.

"I think it looks grand. Very 'in' right now." He winked at her and smirked.

"I might keep it the way it is then." Pepper returned his grin and turned back to her bag which she'd dumped on the desk. "So, where are you from Daniel? I can hear a little Irish in your accent."

"Hey Pepper, you settling in ok?" Pepper span around as Tony's voice. The smile on her face that had automatically appeared when she heard him quickly disappeared when she saw his face.

"Tony! Oh my God, what happened?" she rushed over to him, brushing past Daniel, and grabbed his head.

Tony winced as Pepper examined the enormous bruise surrounding his right eye and tried to free himself. "Ah, Pep, calm down, it's just-"

"Calm down? Tony, it looks like your eye is about to fall out, what the hell happened?" she repeated. Tony grabbed her hands and held them away from his face.

"It's fine, one of the 'bots threw something at me last night, that's all." He smiled at her and then his eyes flickered to the other man in the room. "Hi."

Daniel paled visibly. "Uh, hello. Sir." He added.

"This is Daniel Dowling, he was just introducing himself to me." Pepper said, taking her eyes off Tony briefly before re-focusing on his eye.

"Oh right, you're Steve's new aide right? Pepper, seriously, I'm fine." He stepped away from the woman, laughing nervously. Daniel fidgeted and cleared his throat.

"Well, you probably wanna get settled, so I'll..." he scurried from the room, Tony giving him a weird look as he went.

"What an odd man." He mumbled.

"Leave him alone, he was just being nice." She stood before him, hands on her hips. "Now about that eye."

Tony raised his hands. "Fine, if you want to discuss it, let's do it over lunch." He picked up her bag and handed it to her, beaming.

Pepper took the bag from him and put it back on the desk. "Tony, I just got here, I can't go to lunch."

"Why not?" Tony pouted.

"For one, it's nine-thirty, and for another, Mr. Folan already hates me."

"Screw Folan." Tony spat. "Though, not literally, because that conjures up some very disturbing mental images...oh God, get them out!" he screwed his eyes shut and swatted at the mental images. When he opened his eyes again, his right looked ever more bloodshot than it had before. Pepper's hand flew up to his face again and he winced at the contact.

"Seriously Tony, I think you should see a doctor about this." Her thumb ghosted over the small wrinkle in the corner of his eye as he smiled.

"Good thing I didn't come in before I put some ice on it then, you'd have dragged me there yourself. Though the thought of you dragging me somewhere does appeal to me..."

Pepper swatted his shoulder with her other hand but couldn't help smiling.

"So, about our date." Tony continued. Pepper raised an eyebrow at him.

"And what date would that be, Mr. Stark?" Tony made an odd noise in the back of his throat.

"Ooh, I do like the formal title." He grinned lecherously. "And I mean our date that you were late for last week."

"I thought we agreed I was the wrong person?"

"Ah, but it turned out you were definitely the right person, ergo; date."

Pepper laughed. "Don't you ever give up?"

Tony shrugged. "You can't fail if you don't give up." He cocked his head to the left and gave her the familiar grin. Pepper sighed and removed her hand from his face.

"Tony..."

"Oh, I'm sorry." An attractive brunette woman was standing in the doorway, eyes wide, trying to look anywhere but at them. "I'll just..."

"It's fine, Alex." Tony said, ducking away from Pepper's hands and walking towards the door. "I was just leaving anyway, apparently sitting in a stuffy crowded office," he gestured around the barren room. "has more appeal than lunch with my handsome self." He span on his heel as he reached the door and pointed to Pepper. "But you're coming to dinner tonight. I'll pick you up at your place at eight." He didn't wait for her answer and instead hurried down the hall.

"I guess you're going to dinner at eight then." The woman named Alex said, mouth turned up into a smile. Pepper chuckled softly and nodded.

"Guess so." she held her hand out to the Alex. "I'm Pepper."

"Alex Fields." Alex replied, shaking Pepper's hand. "So, how long have you and Mr. Stark...known each other." She seemed to be phrasing her question very carefully, something Pepper didn't like the sound of.

"That's a complicated question." Pepper confessed. "Technically I've known him for a week, but we met when I was eighteen."

"Uh huh." Alex hummed. "But he got you a job here, so you must know each other pretty well." She was looking at Pepper oddly, as if smug for some reason.

"I'm not entirely sure I know what you're getting at Miss Fields." Pepper said, raising her chin and preparing for battle.

Alex looked at her incredulously and let out a small amused noise. "Oh come on, Tony Stark? Playboy of the Decade? Notorious ladies man, serial polygamist? You're telling me you and he never...bumped uglies?"

Pepper blanched and her jaw dropped in horror. Alex's expression followed suit soon after and she raised a hand to cover her mouth. "Oh God, you've never bumped uglies!" he made a sound as if she was choking. "I am so sorry, the last girl he employed personally, well they...so I just assumed and...I'm going to go die now." She span around and sped out of the office, leaving a completely bewildered and slack jawed Pepper in her wake.

The rest of the day was going to be interesting.

As soon as Daniel left Pepper's office, he went straight to the men's room. People where still arriving into the building so he doubted anyone would be in there, but he still checked every stall. Finding each one empty, he locked the door and turned on one of the taps, just to be sure, before pulling out his cell and dialling a familiar number.

After three rings, the phone was answered.

"I told you never to call me on this number." A gruff voice from the other end of the line came through the earpiece.

Daniel grinned darkly. "Boss, you're gonna be glad I did. There's been a development."

TBC

Again, sorry for the lateness. I wanted to get this up before I go away on Monday for a week, and there was more of this chapter to be written, but this felt like a good place to end it. Plus, I can expand on the next bit now.