Pepper Pots wasn't sure what to think anymore. She had thought she had made it when she became the personal assistant to Tony Stark, the CEO of Stark Industries.
Sure, he was known as a playboy, but he was rich, young, and successful, and it was a job she had fought tooth and nail for, she had earned it, and she was proud of herself; she had gotten something others could only dream of.
There were naturally many people who thought she had gotten the job by sleeping with Tony, and there were many whispers and rumors like that going around, but she still held her head high, knowing that they were wrong and that they were just jealous of her.
Working for Tony had been a ride. He was every bit the playboy the media made him out to be. Half the time, she had to deal with his woman once he was done playing with them. But he did pay her well, and she secretly liked throwing those once sneering models out the door, knowing that only she could stay with Tony without spreading her legs.
Sure, her professional life wasn't exactly what she had envisioned from being the assistant to a CEO like Tony, and her personal life was also not what she had expected.
For one, she was kept super busy by Tony. He was brilliant once he decided to work. He could solve problems that had stumped her for hours in a minute before making another billion-dollar product before the end of the day.
However, that was only when he wanted to work, and often he didn't feel like it, or he was tinkering with something that just couldn't be sold for one reason or another, and all that just added to her plate.
She was almost doing the work of a CEO and also as a nanny for Tony; it was exhausting, and it left her little time for her own life outside of work and Tony.
Other men always seemed to back away when they learned she worked so close with Tony, no doubt thinking she was sleeping with him. One guy had even told her that to her face! She had hit that idiot as hard as she could before storming off, burying herself in work to distract herself.
She also couldn't help but find that most men didn't really match up to Tony, he was infuriating, but he also was impossible to forget about; he always caused some trouble that she needed to clean up, but he would then apologize in that stupid way only he could do.
Falling for Tony hadn't ever been something she had planned on doing; in fact, she had long since promised herself that she wouldn't do that. But there was just something charming about him; to see sides of the man the rest of the world never did.
Yet, just as something began to happen between them, he went and got himself kidnapped. She had been worried out of her mind as the entire world thought he was dead, not to mention she suddenly had to keep his place in his company secure for when he came back.
She had been happy to be able to lose herself in work rather than worry, but it wasn't until later that she realized why someone seemed so eager to take Tony's company.
But finally, her prayers had been answered, and Tony had come back alive and whole. Even if he had clearly changed and continued to worry her, not to mention give her more work to do as he shut down the most profitable part of his own company.
Then, his whole obsession with his new armor, the fact that his home got raided multiple times, and that Obadiah Stane had been behind the kidnapping, he caused her so much worry and stress that half of it would break a lesser woman.
But he won, beat the bad guy, and saved the day. He wasn't just a rich CEO; he was suddenly a superhero!
Pepper Potts had thought things would finally calm down after that whirlwind of chaos, but of course, with Tony Stark, there was no such thing as "calm." He had publicly declared himself Iron Man, and with that, the world's eyes were fixated on him—and, by extension, on her. She had been right there when Tony decided to blow his own cover, turning what could have been a quiet night into global headlines.
At first, she hadn't understood the full ramifications of what Tony being a superhero meant. She had spent the next few weeks dealing with the fallout—fielding endless calls from reporters, coordinating with the legal team to prepare for potential lawsuits, and managing Tony's never-ending parade of public appearances. She became his gatekeeper, the one who sorted through the noise, the chaos, the scrutiny—all while trying to keep Stark Industries running smoothly.
But something had shifted in her. While she had always felt responsible for Tony's professional life, now she felt responsible for his safety as well. Every time he donned that suit, every time he flew off to some battle or emergency, her heart leaped into her throat. She wasn't just dealing with a reckless billionaire anymore—she was managing a man who was risking his life.
And yet, somehow, she couldn't pull away. There was something intoxicating about Tony's new purpose, about the way he had shifted from being a self-absorbed playboy to someone who genuinely wanted to make the world a better place. It wasn't just the armor or the gadgets that impressed her—it was the man underneath. She had seen the fear in his eyes after he returned from Afghanistan, the guilt he carried for the lives lost because of the weapons his company had made. And now, he was doing something about it.
Their relationship—whatever it was—grew more complicated. There were moments of vulnerability between them, brief exchanges that hinted at something deeper than the professional bond they had always shared. But Tony was still Tony. He was erratic, unreliable, and maddeningly charming. Just when Pepper thought she had a handle on things, he would do something reckless again, pulling her back into his world of chaos.
Though that was hardly the strangest of things when it came to Tony, first was his strange relationship with the Ricci family, which was nothing but a bunch of criminals.
However, even that paled in comparison to what nonsense he was getting into with their future kids coming back from the future to save him with a time machine he would build in the future.
It was pure madness, really, them have children? She might not dislike him… might like him just a little, but really? Them having kids together? That just didn't seem likely.
Not to mention that even for him, something like time travel was impossible. Yet she also had to agree that he seemed to at least try to treat her better since his near-death experience, during which he met his future kids.
Now, Tony wasn't about to go see anyone about something like that, but she had discreetly inquired at a skilled psychiatrist about the situation. And it wasn't uncommon for people who had a near miss with death to hallucinate.
Apparently, it might be some suppressed wish of his to have children of his own, and he wanted those kids to care about him, proof that he had been a good parent, something she knew he felt his own father hadn't been.
Still, she had to admit that it was all rather flattering. At his most vulnerable and deepest parts of his heart, what he truly wanted was a family, and she was apparently the number one pick to start one with.
Overall, she wasn't all too unhappy these days. Sure, he might be working a bit too hard on things that had nothing to do with the company. She was working hard to keep running, but at least for now, he seemed happy enough to stay at home and not fly around too much doing dangerous stuff.
Even if he did go for a fly in one of his suits, it was mostly for popularity these days. Like when he helped out up in Canada, all he did was fly around to reassure people, and everyone was happy with that. The stock price had never been higher than it was now, and that was still without any real way of earning even half of what they had lost on stopping the sale of weapons.
People just believed in Tony, and it was almost cute in a way.
Nonetheless, she wished he didn't spend so much time in his workshop, but he was completely obsessed with his new toy. "Only a guy could be so interested in a damned metal." She cursed under her breath as he failed to notice her new haircut.
Still, a metal is better than some other woman.