So this one gets a little darker as we all who read this enjoy. So lets get into it. Also, I'm not a fan of character death either, well I am, but not in my fics anyway ahaha! So fear not, Tony shall live, but he won't have it easy by any means!

I sat on the couch watching the latest news; reports from Afghanistan showed that Iron Man had averted an imminent disaster. I smiled at the grinning Tony Stark pictured in the news reports. At least he knew how to embrace being a celebrity hero.

'Hey, ready?' Happy yelled up the stairs.

I switched the TV off, and picked up my purse. 'Coming.'

We made our way down the flight of stairs, living in this tower made me feel as though I had become unfit. I insisted that we take the stairs whenever time would permit.

'The boss did well.' Happy said with a grin, nodding toward the heart pendant.

I smiled, 'yes, he did.'

'I'm glad it was worth getting me out of bed at six in the morning to buy jewellery.' Happy said with a huff.

'It could always be worse.' I said with a smile.

Happy nodded, we made it to the lobby and were greeted by reporters. I took a deep breath and prepared myself for the duties as the CEO and PA of Tony Stark.

'It's good to see Iron Man back in the skies, is there any reason it took him this long to return?' A blonde woman for Time Magazine asked as she thrust a recorder in front of my face.

I poised myself, as I did thousands of times before, I smiled curtly, 'of course there is, Tania, Mr Stark has been working on the intel he'd received in relation to this raid, he needed to be sure, as did the government, that they were acting in the nation's best interests.'

Chatter erupted around us again as another woman from Rolling Stone magazine stepped up with her recorder, 'there are rumours that Mr Stark is gravely ill, what's your take on that?'

I must have frozen, because I felt Happy tugging at my hand discretely.

'No, no such rumours warrant any concern.' I tried to wave it off as a tabloid rumour. 'Mr Stark is perfectly healthy, so much so that he's jet setting around the world again.' I offered as sincere a smile as I could muster up.

The reporter looked at me intently; I could see that she wasn't one to take being lied to lightly. The others seemed quite pacified by my statement. I continued smiling as much as I could without over doing it as a few more reporters threw their questions at me.

'We have to go, Miss Potts.' Happy said loudly enough for the crowd to hear, I nodded and smiled at the reporters.

'Thank you.' I whispered to him as he rushed me through to the waiting car.

'Who could know?' I felt my face burning up, I slammed the door.

Happy drove away swiftly.

'No one knows.' I said sternly.

We both drove in silence.

Happy cleared his throat, 'maybe it's just conjured up rumours, he has been out of action for more than a month.'

I shook my head, 'no, she knew something.'

'How do you know?'

'I saw the look in her eyes, call it women's intuition.' I frowned, 'I need to see Tony.'

'You've got a full morning of meetings.' Happy protested.

'I can reschedule, I need to see Tony now.' I insisted.

Happy shook his head, 'if you cancel your meetings, whoever knows about what's going on will have their answer, you need to go on with your day as planned.'

I knew he was right, but despite that I still couldn't shake the desperation I felt to be with Tony, I needed to tell him, to warn him.

'Tony's safe, he's with Rhodey.' Happy said confidently.

I nodded, 'you're right.' I sat quietly, I looked down at my PDA, I flicked through the calendar and took mental note of which meetings could be rescheduled without raising suspicion. I settled on two meetings in the afternoon. A Japanese deal and a dignitary from Korea. Both were here for several more days, and they had indicated that they would prefer if Tony could attend. Luckily for me, Tony was on the news, being Iron Man, so rescheduling the meeting would be favourable. I sent through the confirmation of a new date, and promptly received a thankful reply.

Happy pulled in to the driveway of Stark International and walked around to open my door.

'You ready?' He asked holding his hand out.

'That was broadcast live; I'm going to get bombarded with questions.' I said helplessly, 'I don't know if I can do it.'

Happy knelt down beside me, 'you can, and you will. You're in charge of this company because you're amazing at what you do, you've done this before, and you can do it again.'

'This is different, and this is worse.' I said weakly.

I was shaken by a stranger, in my own territory. I didn't know if I could hold it together when it was something so personal. I found this difficult to deal with on my own, much less in the public eye.

Happy took my hands in his, 'trust me, you can do it, Tony wouldn't have put you in charge if he didn't think so.'

I inhaled deeply, 'Tony put me in charge because he was dying, and he was delusional.'

'You know that's not true, not even close.' Happy said firmly, 'he may have been sick, but he knew what he was doing.'

'I know I'm sorry.' I muttered.

Happy stood up and held his hand out, 'let's go.' He said with a smile.

I took his hand and we walked toward the building, a group of reporters stood waiting at the entrance, he shielded me as he pushed through the wall of people.

'Well, that was intense.' Happy laughed.

'I'm sure you're used to it.' I said breathlessly.

'I am with Tony, not with you.' He said still laughing.

I straightened my skirt and fixed my hair, 'there's a first for everything.'

Happy nodded, he led me up the stairs to my office, 'I'll pick you up after four, I'll be here.'

I hugged him goodbye and made my way into my office. I sat down and brought up the files of all the prospective clients. I sat back in my chair and viewed them for a few minutes.

'Miss Potts, Mr Stark is on the phone for you.' My assistant announced over the intercom.

'Thank you.' I said eagerly sitting up to take the call.

I pressed the button on the intercom and picked up the handset, 'Tony.'

'Hey Pep.'

His voice sounded harsh.

'Are you ok?' I whispered.

I heard him clear his throat, 'are you going to be home later?'

'Of course I am, why, what's wrong?' I turned away from the door, speaking quietly. He was always good at deflecting questions.

'Tony?' I began.

He cut me off, 'I need you.' He said simply.

I swallowed hard, 'I'll be there, I can leave now.' I insisted.

'No, no stay there, finish your meetings, Happy will be waiting for you at four, I'll see you soon.' He said quietly.

I ran my fingers through my hair, 'is everything ok?' I held my breath for his answer.

'I don't know.' His words were barely audible.

My heart sunk. 'Everything will be ok, I promise.' I said as firmly as I could manage. I almost convinced myself.

He laughed softly, 'I love you.'

I smiled, 'I love you too.'

He disconnected the call. I felt a sharp breath escape from my lips. I barely managed to end the call before I felt myself break down. I wrapped my arms around my stomach and tried to supress the sobs.

I quickly walked over to the door and flipped the lock. I found myself standing with my back against the door; it took all the strength I had no to collapse to the ground.

'Miss Potts, your nine o'clock is here.'

I turned my attention to the clock on the wall, ten minutes to nine, I walked over to the intercom; 'thank you, tell them I'll be out in a minute.'

After a few moments to myself, I cleaned my eyes and quickly reapplied my makeup. I made my way to the boardroom and greeted the group of businessmen and women.

'I'm so sorry to keep you waiting.' I said politely and took my seat at the end of the conference room.

'Mr Stark won't be joining us?' A middle-aged woman asked curiously.

I looked up at her briefly and offered her a smile, 'no, he's still debriefing with the US military in relation to the raid they conducted early this morning.'

Her snarky expression made my blood boil; I looked down at my notes before looking back up at the room of people.

'What's on the agenda today Mr Lazar?' I smiled at the minute keeper.

'We're discussing the role of Stark International in the wider sector.' He replied.

'Ok, let's get this started shall we?' I sat back and listened to the arguments put forward about the company, its shares and its future. It was all a blur to me, I couldn't recall whether I had agreed to anything, or declined anything. I merely sat there like a ghost, staring into nothingness. My mind was on Tony, and the conversation we just had. I felt like I couldn't breathe, I felt the onset of hyperventilation. I tried to steady my breathing. I gulped down at least half a gallon of water while I sat there, pretending to listen. Tony was right, these meetings were incredibly boring.

After three long hours the meeting was over and I rushed out of the room and locked myself in my office. This time I let myself slide down to the floor. I sat with my back against the door. I looked down at my watch, midday. Four more hours until I could see Tony.

The next three meetings were much shorter and thankfully much more interesting; my attention flickered between Tony and the discussions at hand. After four long hours I raced down to the foyer and met Happy there. He handed me my regular cup of coffee.

'Did Tony call you?' I asked as we rushed toward the car.

'Yeah, he called to make sure I was here at four to pick you up, why?' He asked curiously.

'He rang, he didn't sound good.' I confessed.

We reached the car and hastily made our way out of the car park. 'He asked me to take you to the Malibu house.' Happy explained, 'I brought you a night bag.' He pointed to the Louis Vuitton suitcase in the back seat.

I nodded, 'I'm worried.' I said quietly.

'Leave the worrying to him, you just be there for him.' Happy offered.

I looked sideways at him, 'you know, you should have majored in psychology.' I said sarcastically.

He shrugged his shoulders, 'you laugh now, but you'll see, he's doing enough worrying for us all, what he needs is a level head by his side, he needs you to be there to pick the pieces up when he falls.'

His heavy words fell on my worried heart. I nodded silently. He was right. We drove to Tony's private airfield, within minutes we were up in the air. I looked down at my watch; ten hours until I would see Tony. I leaned back in my seat and closed my eyes. I remembered when he tried to tell me about his failing arc reactor all those years ago, we were flying home from Monaco, I was so preoccupied by the repercussions of the incident on the company that I failed to see what was going on behind the scenes. I hated myself. That look in his eyes still haunts me, the look he gave me before turning away. He tried to tell me the most important thing in his life, and I had shut him down and for what, the company, and the image? I sighed, I pushed the thoughts away as best as I could. I needed to get some sleep. The gentle hum of the engines lulled me into a comfortable state; before I knew it I was asleep.

So i hope this wasn't too sappy for anyone, fear not, more angst is on the way, moreso than anythign we've seen so far! And even better, to those who commented, there is a little more action and a little less conversation on the way in the next few chapters ;) Enjoy!