Tony stood at the bar at the gala, already wishing he hadn't come. It was hot and crowded, and numerous people whose names Tony couldn't remember kept trying to make conversation with him, but he wasn't in a talking mood tonight.

Tony knew he had acted rashly in coming here. He'd come because he wanted to make a statement. He wanted to show the world that Tony Stark was still an icon, and that his disappearance didn't mean he was ready to fade into obscurity. He wanted to show the world that he was a changed man, and make sure everyone understood what that meant.

But, once he had gotten to the gala, Tony had found that he really didn't know what to do. He found himself lost in the crowd. He felt like he was just another face with nothing to say or do that would make any difference. At least, no difference that mattered. It was unusual for him, this feeling of uselessness. It was not a feeling to which Tony Stark was accustomed. It was unsettling.

Each successive meaningless conversation seemed to go worse than the last, and it wasn't long before Tony started to think that maybe coming here tonight hadn't been a good decision. He may have come to send a message, but he started to worry that he was sending exactly the wrong message. After a few treacherous conversations with various people he should have remembered but didn't, Tony considered getting back in his Audi and fleeing. He thought about just driving into the night with no one but JARVIS to bother him.

But Tony knew it would look bad if he just disappeared. He knew what the news would say. What Obi would say. What Rhodey would say. What Pepper would say.

No, he couldn't flee. Not yet. Now that he was here, he had to stick it out. He had to play the game. Make the appearance. Keep up the show. As awful as that prospect seemed.

Already exhausted, Tony looked at his watch. The gala was scheduled to last at least a few more hours. Those hours yawned in front of Tony like a gaping black hole.

With no prospect for a better way to pass the time, Tony eventually escaped to the bar. Nodding to the bartender, he tried to play it cool. "Give me a scotch, I'm starving," he demanded as nonchalantly as possible.

At the sound of Tony's voice, the man next to him turned toward him. Tony groaned. Not another conversation, he thought. Why can't people just leave me alone?

Tony tried to pretend as if he hadn't noticed the man's attention. It didn't work.

"Mr. Stark."

At the sound of the man's voice, Tony squinted. It was vaguely familiar. He tried to cut through the growing fog in his brain and remember who the guy was, but he couldn't quite place him. "Yeah…?"

"Agent Coulson," the man offered.

A light went off in Tony's mind. "Oh, yeah yeah yeah," Tony said, trying to cover his embarrassment. "The guy from the, uh, Strategic…" he waived, struggling to remember what the man's agency was called.

Coulson smiled. "Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division."

Tony exhaled. "God, you need a new name for that," he joked, hoping the guy would leave him alone. The last thing he needed right now was to be talking to some secret agent from some super-secret, who-knows-what agency that no one knew anything about.

"Yeah," Coulson said, exasperated. "We hear that a lot." Wasting no time getting to business, Coulson said, "Listen, I know this must be a trying time for you, but we need to debrief you."

Tony tried not to sigh audibly. He looked away, avoiding the man's gaze.

Coulson continued. "There's still a lot of unanswered questions, and…"

Coulson kept talking, but Tony lost track of his words as he spotted a familiar figure across the floor. He frowned. It looked like…

Pepper?

No, it didn't just look like Pepper, it was Pepper.

But she looked… different, somehow. Better. She looked less like his assistant, and more like… Well, he wasn't quite sure what she looked like, but he was intrigued.

The glass that had been raised to Tony's lips dropped as he watched her. She was dressed to the nines and he was impressed. He was so used to seeing his assistant in her typical conservative business attire that the tight, satin, backless blue dress that she wore tonight completely threw him off guard. As he watched her make polite conversation with everyone on the floor, Tony became mesmerized by the way the shimmery material accented her movements, making her look like a dream. It made her look otherworldly, like a goddess.

Somewhat aware of the ridiculousness of this notion, Tony briefly wondered if he was drunk.

After staring at his assistant for a bit longer than he probably should have, Tony became vaguely aware that Coulson had said something, and it appeared that he was expecting a response. He hadn't heard what Coulson said, but he stuck his hand out to the agent anyway. Without taking his eyes off Pepper, he said, "Tell you what, you got it. You're absolutely right. I'm gonna go to my… assistant," he paused, hoping his real intent wasn't too obvious, "and we'll make a… date."

With that taken care of, Tony hurried across the floor to where Pepper stood making small talk with yet more people that he probably should have recognized but didn't. It didn't matter. He wasn't here for them.

"You look fantastic," Tony called, a little louder than he meant to.

At the sound of the all-too-familiar voice, Pepper turned. Her mouth dropped open when she saw her boss heading toward her across the floor.

"I didn't recognize you," Tony lied.

Pepper hoped her surprise wasn't too evident. She hadn't been expecting to see Tony here tonight. "What are you doing here?" She asked, incredulous.

Tony shrugged. "Just avoiding government agents."

"Are you by yourself?" Pepper asked, as innocently as possible. She would never admit how much she had hoped the answer to that question was yes.

Tony avoided the question, unable to keep his eyes from roving. "Where'd you get that dress?"

"I…" Pepper was momentarily thrown off by the change in direction, but she recovered quickly "Oh, it was a birthday present," she said, "From you, actually."

Tony smiled. "I got great taste," he said quietly, approvingly.

Pepper smiled back. "Yes," she nodded, unsure of what else to say.

Before he thought better of it, Tony asked, "You wanna dance?"

Pepper's eyes widened. Dance? With her boss? Now? Here, of all places? In front of all these people? In this ridiculous dress? She'd probably trip over her own two feet and embarrass herself in front of everyone, and that was the last thing she wanted to do.

"Oh no," Pepper demurred, shaking her head. "No, thank you."

Tony barely even heard Pepper's response. He had already taken her hand and was leading her out to the dance floor.

He found an empty spot and pulled her close, starting to sway to the quiet music. He looked away for a few seconds, but when he brought his eyes to meet hers, Pepper smiled and looked down, blushing.

"Am I making you uncomfortable?" Tony asked, desperately hoping that he wasn't.

"Oh, uh, no," Pepper said, silently praying that Tony wouldn't be able to see how red her cheeks were becoming under her makeup.

It wasn't a lie, per se. She wasn't uncomfortable, not really. Not in the way she thought Tony meant it. But being this close to him, and dancing like this… Dancing with her boss, with the man she really shouldn't care about in anything more than a professional capacity… The man she had missed more than anything for three long months… it was a different kind of uncomfortable. One that she had never really felt before. And Pepper didn't quite know what to do about it.

When Tony didn't say anything, Pepper tried to hide her nervousness behind a joke. "I always forget to wear deodorant and dance with my boss in front of everyone that I work with in a dress with no back."

Tony didn't even think before he said, "you look great, you smell great."

"Oh, god," Pepper sighed, not sure what to think anymore.

"But I could fire you, if that would take the edge off," Tony offered.

Pepper laughed, glad that he was joking with her again. This was much safer ground. "I don't, I actually don't think you could tie your shoes without me," she laughed.

Tony considered that. She was probably right. He shrugged, "I'd make it a week."

"Really?" Pepper challenged with a grin. "What's your social security number?"

Damn it, Tony thought, I should know that. He met her eyes. She was grinning, already triumphant. With a sigh of resignation, he said, "Five." He was pretty sure that was right, at least.

"Five," Pepper echoed, the laughter evident in her voice. "You're missing just a couple of digits there."

"The other eight," Tony acknowledged, laughing at himself. His voice was lighter than it had been all evening. Pepper laughed. Tony loved it when she laughed. Shrugging again, he said softly, "I've got you for the other eight."

Their eyes met briefly, and Tony was briefly aware of feeling like he never wanted to look away. Pepper's gaze dropped, and Tony could have sworn it paused on his lips before she looked down at the ground with a smile. Tony was similarly unable to avoid looking at her lips, silently wishing he could pull her even closer than she already was.

They swayed to the music for a few seconds in companionable silence before Tony bumped into someone behind him, breaking the spell. He suddenly realized there were far too many people in this room. For some reason he could never explain, Tony suddenly wanted to be alone with Pepper. And he wanted it now.

"How about a little air?" He suggested, praying that she wouldn't refuse.

"Yes," Pepper agreed, "I need some air."

Tony smiled softly. Still holding her hand, he led her through the ballroom toward the staircase that he knew led to the roof. If anyone saw Tony Stark leading his assistant off the dance floor, her hand in his, they had the good graces not to say anything about it.

When they made it to the top and the door to the roof opened, Tony breathed a sigh of relief into the night air. He had never been so glad to get out of a crowd. He led Pepper over to the retaining wall along the edge of the roof before realizing he had no more excuse to keep holding onto her hand. He reluctantly dropped it and leaned on the wall.

The hand Tony dropped immediately went to the end Pepper's hair. She absently twirled a strand of it around her finger. It was a nervous habit of hers, Tony had noticed. It was why she tended to wear her hair up in business meetings, so she wouldn't twirl it. Tony didn't think she knew she was doing it now. He smiled.

"That was… Totally weird," Pepper said.

Tony's smile faded at that. He hoped he hadn't made her too uncomfortable. "Totally harmless," he asserted.

"Totally not harmless, by the way," Pepper insisted.

"We were just dancing," Tony persisted, "no one was even watching."

"Everybody who I work with…" Pepper began, somewhat frazzled. "No, you know why?"

Tony shrugged. "I think you lost objectivity. I think they just, people just… We just danced."

Pepper looked at him incredulously. He really didn't understand what had just happened, did he?

"No, it was not just a dance!" she exclaimed. "You don't understand because you're you. And… everybody knows exactly who you are, and how you are with girls, and all of that," Pepper said hastily before realizing that her normally hidden jealousy was slipping through her typical resolve, "which is completely fine," she lied, "but you know, then me, you're my boss, and I'm dancing with you…"

"I really don't think it was taken that way," Tony tried to argue, but Pepper was still talking.

"No because it makes me look like the one who's trying to…" Pepper started before catching herself and pausing. Realizing what she had just said, Pepper was shocked to see how close she had come to putting a voice the fear that she'd always had. No matter what feelings she may have had for her boss, Pepper had always tried her best to deny them, because she knew how it would look. It would look like she was using him to get to the top. It would look like she was selling herself for professional gain. It would look like any number of things that Pepper could not stand to even thing about. It wouldn't be fair, but that's how it would seem. Anything they could ever have together would never look real to anyone else, so Pepper had never allowed herself to make any of it real.

When she trailed off, Tony said, "I just think you're overstating it, that's all."

Pepper barely heard him. Her mind was racing, her thoughts at war with themselves. On the one hand, she knew how bad it would look if she gave in. But on the other, she knew how incredibly badly she craved to give in. Just this once.

Pepper was hardly aware of her words as she rambled on. "And we're here, and I'm wearing this ridiculous dress…" Tony wanted to tell her how absolutely NOT ridiculous she looked in that dress, but Pepper went on, "and we were dancing like that, and…"

Pepper's words trailed off as her eyes met Tony's. His were wide as globes as he stared at her, unsure where this was going. He had no more arguments to make, no more words to say. All he could do was stare at her.

Pepper blinked, hoping that would manage to break whatever spell had come over them.

It didn't work.

Whatever force it was that always pulled her toward him was stronger than ever right now. She'd felt it before, this pull. Like gravity. There had been other moments, other times when things were quiet and it seemed like they were the only two people in the world. But until now, until this exact moment, she'd always been able to deny it. She'd always been able to tell herself that it would never work. That he would never feel the same. That it could only end badly. That he was her boss and he was a playboy and all she would do was ruin her career and break her own heart.

But right now, Pepper didn't care about any of that.

All she cared about was Tony.

And she couldn't deny it any longer.

Slowly, she leaned toward him. To her surprise, Tony didn't lean away. She grasped his arm and closed her eyes.

Tony stood still a moment, unsure if any of this was real. He, too, had always felt drawn toward Pepper. He'd been drawn to her from the first moment he had met her, though he could never say exactly why. But he, too, had always told himself that it would never work. He knew he wasn't good enough for her. Pepper deserved someone better than him, someone who would take care of her, who could love her the way she deserved and would never hurt her. And that just wasn't him. It couldn't be.

But when Pepper was so close that her perfume started to overwhelm Tony's senses, all objectivity went out the window. And when he felt her hand on his arm, he gave in to her pull.

Pepper kissed him, softly an unsure at first. He tasted like alcohol and sweat and recklessness.

Tony kissed her back, hesitantly at first too. She tasted like sunshine and happiness and promises.

Lost in the moment, Pepper ran her hand through Tony's hair, pulling his head closer and deepening the kiss, her hand tightening on his arm. Tony let her take the lead, but he was unable to stop his hands from circling her waist possessively. Her dress was so thin that he could feel every curve on her hip, and he loved it.

After too long, but also not long enough, Pepper pulled back. When she opened her eyes, Tony was smiling. His eyes were softer than she had ever seen them, and she didn't quite know what to think about that. She smiled back at him, not sure what to say. They stayed that way, each looking into each other's eyes, for a few blissful seconds.

Playfully, Pepper reached up and rubbed some of her lipstick off Tony's lips. As she did so, Tony placed a gentle kiss on her fingers, which drove a shiver down Pepper's spine.

And then, as if she suddenly got hit by a train, the reality of what she had just done sunk in.

Pepper's stomach dropped.

What had she done?

She knew what she done, of course. She had done the one thing she told herself she could never do: she'd lost control. She couldn't afford to lose control, because losing control meant she might lose this job, which meant she might lose him. And no matter what happened, she couldn't afford to lose him. If that meant denying whatever she was feeling, then she would do everything in her power to deny it. She had done everything in her power to deny it.

Until now.

Suddenly, Pepper needed space. She needed to be alone to consider what had just happened. She needed time to think, but Tony was still there. His eyes were still glossy as he looked at her, and a soft smile still played at his mouth. Pepper could tell that reality of their situation hadn't quite hit him yet. She needed it to.

All she could think to say was, "I would like a drink, please."

Tony's face fell as her words brought him back to reality. Pepper winced. She hated to send him away, but she didn't know what else to do.

"Got it," Tony said, knowing he'd been dismissed.

As he started to walk away, Pepper sighed. "I would like a, uh, vodka martini please," she called after his retreating form. She didn't even think he could hear her. "Very dry, with olives. A lot of olives." She knew she was rambling again, but she didn't care. "Like, at least three olives."

When Tony was out of sight, Pepper rested her elbows on the balcony railing and dropped her head in her hands. This was bad. Very, very bad. What she had done was bad.

She kept telling herself that. She kept repeating it to herself, like a mantra: this is bad. She kept reminding herself of that in a desperate attempt to quash the little voice inside her head that kept telling her that, in fact, it had been very, very good.

No.

It was bad.

She had let her feelings take over, which was something Pepper Potts never did. Despite her better judgment, she'd given in to her deepest desires, just this once. And now… well, who knew what would happen now?

Pepper, at a loss for what else to do, stood there on the roof and uselessly waited for Tony to come back. Her mind raced with options for what to say when he returned. Should she apologize? Should she tell him she had simply lost control for a moment and assure him it would never happen again?

Or should she tell him how much she desperately, fiercely, carelessly hoped that it would happen again?

Pepper mulled over this for what seemed like an eternity. The minutes seemed to drag on, one after the other, until she lost track of how long she had been standing there agonizing over everything. But, after a while, the realization slowly dawned on her: Tony wasn't coming back.

Her heart stopped when she realized it.

No, of course he wasn't coming back.

She'd ruined it. Ruined everything. Just like she knew she would.

Pepper blinked back the tears of anger that threatened to break free. How could she have let this happen? She berated herself for having given in. Now nothing would ever be the same between her and Tony. In fact, he'd probably fire her tomorrow. He probably ought to, she figured, after how she'd behaved. She told herself that it would be nothing less than she deserved. It would be what any reasonable boss would do in this situation.

However, despite Pepper's deep conviction that Tony ought to fire her the very next moment he saw her, the memory of the way his hands had tightened on her hips and started up her back when her tongue had met his gave her some slight hope that maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't.