Well, and here's another chapter! I hope you like it, even if it's kind of short. Sorry for that. But as I already mentioned in the last chapter, my motivation for this story is leaving me at the moment. I'm thinking of ending this story rather sooner than later. I still have the list with all my ideas of what I want to write in this, and I plan on doing that. But I think that's it. About 16 chapters in the end, maybe one or two more, I'm not so sure. Again, I'm sorry that those are kind of bad news, but I could need some time away from writing about Tony and Pepper. After so many stories over the years, I need some change. I hope you understand.

But for now, I really hope you like this chapter, it would be great if you could let me know! And as usual thanks to everyone who read the last chapter and left a review, you're amazing!

The song to this chapter is 'people pleaser' by Cat Burns.

I don't own the characters or places!

Pepper

The clock on the wall was ticking endlessly. Normally, it was a comforting sound, but in this moment, it was driving me crazy. Just like the rain that was making noises on the roof. For the fifth time in twenty minutes, I looked up from the report I was reading and sighed loudly. If things would continue like this, I would be through with it in a few days. Which would be far too slow. The meeting to discuss this topic would be tomorrow.

It was a report about the current state of the US. Finances, economy, foreign policy... The list was endless. Since it were all things I needed to know about, I had to read it as fast as possible. Which wasn't so easy with nearly two hundred pages. I'd already made many notes, but it still felt like I'd forgotten half of the things in this document.

Again, I glanced at the clock. Nearly six pm. Then it would be already time for my next meeting with my team. While I was busy with the report, they dealt with everything else. Which was also far too much work for them, I knew that. Hopefully, it would get better once my new assistant, John, would join us in a few days.

I forced myself to focus on the report once more, but after only a short time, the door to my office opened and Daisy came in, followed by Jim and Phil. I raised my eyebrows at the fact that she didn't knock, but Daisy only smiled apologetically. "You should stop staring at those papers all the time." She said instead of a greeting.

"The meeting to discuss all this is tomorrow. I need to be prepared." I threw in.

"If I recall it correctly, they want to make sure you're up to date tomorrow, and not discuss everything." Daisy said simply and placed her laptop on the table, together with a cup of coffee. When she pushed the cup to me, I couldn't hold back a small smile. "You need to relax, Pepper. Otherwise, you'll break down soon." Even if she said it lightly, I could hear the concern in her voice.

"I'm fine." I replied simply, but knew that it wasn't the complete truth. A look in the mirror confirmed that. Pale skin, dark rings under my eyes... There was always so much to do, it was driving me crazy. Of course I'd known what I would get myself into when I decided that I wanted to become president, but imagination and the reality were two completely different things. That I missed Tony terribly didn't make it easier.

"You're absolutely not." Daisy shook her head. She also looked tired from all the work, but I knew that she took some time off regularly. All the others did. "You don't have to do everything alone. That's what all the people in this building are there for."

"I think it will get better as soon as Mr. Knight starts working." I threw in.

"That would be in two days." Phil agreed with a thoughtful nod. He glanced at the papers in front of us on the table and for half a second, he looked doubtful, nearly as if he considered not telling me about everything that was going on just now. But then he just sighed and handed me the first folder. "Statesmen from all over the world want to come here and visit you." He began and just like that, more work followed.

Later that night, I was lying in bed and kept thinking of all the topics we'd discussed in the afternoon. Actually, our daily meeting was planned for an hour, but today, we'd needed three. So much was going on, it made my head spin. Not that I didn't like it all, I was happy to be the president. But I also knew that it would take some time to get used to all this. The responsibility was weighing heavily on me.

In this moment, I heard Tony's voice in my mind. How he told me that everything would be fine. That I'd do such a good job. That he had faith in me. The memory made me smile, just like it made my heart ache. I missed him so much.

Not that I would tell him, of course. He was needed in LA. It was still all over the news that he'd taken over Crafting Enterprises, named it Stark Industries now and was going to invent some new secret technology. There were wild speculations about what it would be, but nothing came close to the truth. Tony had made it very clear that he didn't want to destroy any more lives, but there were so many possibilities, it was nearly impossible for someone to guess the truth. I knew he liked all those rumours, saying that it made the surprise even bigger in the end when it was obvious that everyone was proven wrong.

When I thought of him now, I had to smile. In interviews, he didn't hide behind the mask of Robert Smith anymore. Even if he didn't change his personality too much back then, the difference was still shocking. Where Robert had been polite, calm and sometimes also modest, Tony was cheeky, witty and very self-confident. While Robert had been popular, Tony was loved by everyone, especially the women. The previous day, Daisy had shown me an article in some kind of magazine for women. The way they talked about Tony and how handsome and brilliant he was made me roll my eyes. Not that it wasn't true, but why discuss this so openly?

For a brief second, I considered calling him. After all, it wasn't that late in LA yet. But then I let go of that thought. I couldn't always come to him whenever I was feeling upset. He also needed time for himself. Otherwise, he would never finish the reactor and get the opportunity to visit me in Washington. So I just turned around in bed, hid my face in the pillow and tried to think of nothing at all. When I finally fell asleep, the sun was nearly rising again.

The morning of John Knight's first day, I was waiting for him in my office. Phil was with me, but Daisy and Jim were busy somewhere else. They would tell him about his new duties later, after I'd officially greeted him.

When he entered my office, the first thing I noticed was the dark green suit he was wearing, together with a red tie. A strange combination I decided not to mention. His black hair was styled perfectly and his skin was even darker than the last time I'd seen him. Did he go on another holiday before starting to work? His blue eyes were fixed on me and he smiled widely. "Ms. President, it's so good to see you again!" He greeted me and then turned to Phil. "And Mr. Coulson."

"Good morning, Mr. Knight. Please have a seat." I replied and gestured for him to sit down at the small conference table. Coffee was already waiting for all of us, Daisy had made sure of that. "I hope the security didn't make you too much trouble? I know how difficult it can be when you enter the building for the first time."

"It was fine." He said simply. "I would never complain about necessary security measures."

"You look like you just came back from a holiday." Phil threw in, voicing the thoughts I had earlier. We'd decided not to be too formal with John, considering that he should be a part of our team in the future.

John chuckled. "I did. Surfing on Hawaii for a week with a few friends. It was amazing." In this moment, I heard Tony's voice in my head. The surfer? He'd laughed at that.

"I think in your place, my skin would have been burned from the sun." Phil chuckled. "The tan looks good on you."

It was obvious that he didn't know how to deal with this sudden personal turn of the conversation. "Since you will be a part of our team in the future, I think I should explain a few things." I threw in, interrupting the conversation. "As you might have already noticed, we don't work in a too formal atmosphere. Sometimes, we also talk about personal things instead of work. After all, it is always an advantage to know the people you're working with. Trust is also a very important point here. When you have something to say, do it and don't hesitate. It is of no use to keep secrets, mostly they just end in disaster." John already opened his mouth to reply, but I held up my hand to stop him. "And no 'Ms. President' when we're alone. Then, it's Virginia." I finished my little speech with a smile.

"Then you should call me John." He ran a hand through his hair, looking a bit surprised. "No secrets?" He repeated what I'd said last.

I nodded seriously. "None. Not when it's important for work."

After a few moments, he nodded slowly. "I think I can deal with that." Suddenly, a smile spread on his lips. A smile that reminded me of Tony. For a brief moment, I wondered why on earth I'd chosen an assistant who looked so much like the man I loved, but then I pushed that thought aside. He wasn't like Tony at all.

"So now let us come to your duties..." Phil began and for some time, I was content just to listen.

It turned out that John was a very good assistant. He got used to all his tasks very fast and only a few days after he started working, the tension which had accompanied us for so long lessened. John was very good at planning things and he did that with surprising efficiency. On day three, Daisy didn't even have to look over his shoulder anymore. Which I was glad about, she'd been far too stressed until now.

Finally, Phil also had more time to actually involve himself in politics. So far, he'd done too much paperwork. As to Jim... he carried on as before. I also noticed that John's presence made a few things easier for me. Instead of having to look into the topics of all my appointments myself, he gave me a list with a summary every morning. It was a relief to know that I couldn't forget anything this way.

Unfortunately, the better overview also had a dark side. Now I could see on paper how many things I had to do. All the decisions I needed to make. The problems the country had. Even problems the world had. It was driving me crazy, because I knew that I had to deal with all those issues.

I tried doing it as best as I could. Even when others insisted that I didn't need to deal with everything myself, I wanted to do it anyway. After all, I was the president and it was important for me to know about everything. And the country expected me to make decisions.

I knew that my team didn't approve of this strategy, but I didn't care. This was why I wanted to become president in the first place. I wanted to make changes. Not let others do the hard work and only decided what they should do. That wasn't how it worked.

I also tried to explain that to Tony, but he also sounded concerned when I told him about this on the phone. "You don't have to do everything by yourself, Pepper." He'd said. "That's not how things work." To be honest, my reply to that had been harsh. I'd accused him of not even knowing how things should work, because he wasn't even a real politician, after all. He should mind his own business, I'd said. In that moment, I'd just been so angry... Once the phone call ended, I regretted everything immediately. But when I tried to call Tony again to apologize, he didn't answer the phone. So I sent him a text instead, hoping that he'd read it.

Deep inside, a quiet voice told me that I couldn't go on like this, with so much work and only little sleep. However, I ignored it. After everything that happened so far, I didn't want people to talk about me as a lazy president. Or one who didn't do her work correctly.

On a very dark and rainy Friday afternoon, I finally lost my patience. Because the one time I gave a task to another person, it went all wrong. It seemed like my decision had been ignored completely and I already knew that the press would go crazy about this once I heard what happened. I knew that I would snap at everyone close by, so I did the only possible thing in this moment.

I stood up from the conference table and left the room without a look back. Luckily, I didn't meet anyone on my way back to my own rooms and once I was there, I reached for my phone to call Tony.