Chapter 3: Pepper Potts

A/N: A Pepper Perspective and the fic's first sexy times~

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Pepper Potts has always considered herself something of a feminist. Not to be too cliché about it, but she'd have even gone so far as to describe herself as a strong, independent woman who didn't need no man.

… And yeah, she recognized the contradiction that many others would bring up if she were to actually proclaim either of those things out loud. How could she possibly be a feminist when she worked for a billionaire playboy like Tony Stark? Didn't they say he was contractually obligated to womanize at least one woman before breakfast, else he would lose access to his capitalistic power? And how could Pepper really be a strong, independent woman who didn't need no man when she was literally paid to support and assist someone like Tony Stark, a man who's very existence helped perpetuate the Patriarchy?

Well for one, Pepper wouldn't exactly call some of the people who would screech those things at her proper feminists either. And for two, Tony wasn't wholly like the picture that the media and people all liked to paint him as. Mostly. For three… there was a difference between romance and work. Just because she worked for a man didn't mean she couldn't also be a strong independent woman… right?

Except, for the past week a small part of Pepper had been clamoring in the back of her head, telling her that if she were a real feminist, she would have reported Tony for the sexual harassment she'd experienced on the tarmac before they'd driven to the Press Conference. It hadn't been hard to silence that small voice in the back of her head though. Tony had just gotten back from three months of captivity and torture.

Allowances had to be made.

Except, was it really an allowance? Because there was another part of Pepper, larger than the first, that was starting to wonder. Harder to silence that little voice, the one reminding her every single day how much she enjoyed him kissing her. How much she enjoyed the way he'd looked at her, like she was the only person in the whole world he'd been trying to make it back to.

"God Pep, I missed you."

Five simple words, but they haven't stopped ringing through her mind since that day a week ago. The first words he'd said after an incredibly intense kiss. She couldn't get it out of her head. Not the words, nor the kiss. Had she invited it somehow? Was she the one who was leading Tony on? Did she… did she have feelings for her boss?

In the end, Pepper had tried to put her head down and just soldier on. If Tony didn't want to bring it up, then nothing more would come of it or so she figured. There was just one problem with that plan… for the past week, Tony hadn't had a CHANCE to bring it up. They hadn't seen each other in seven days at this point.

And not for lack of trying on Pepper's part. She'd wanted to visit him sooner, but Obadiah had stepped in and told her that Tony needed some space. And when Tony hadn't made any effort to reach out to her… she'd believed him. To hear Obadiah say it, Tony was hard at work on getting all those designs he'd talked about at the Press Conference out of his head and onto paper. Or rather, onto the digital interfaces that he worked with in his Malibu Lab.

Either way, Pepper had done her job, playing interference with everyone else while allowing Obadiah to play interference between her and Tony. So long as Tony didn't call for her personally, she'd figured she was better off staying away. That conviction had lasted all of seven days. She couldn't help it anymore. Call her what you will, but Pepper Potts was not shy. And she was sick and tired of beating around the bush.

If Tony didn't want to face her anymore, he could do her the favor of firing her to her face. That was at least one of the thoughts running through Pepper's mind as she drove herself up the long winding driveway of her boss' Malibu Residence. Parking and climbing out of the car, she walks with purpose towards the front door, a little too afraid to try the side door and find out her access had been revoked or something.

Before she can even arrive however, the front door is already opening… and there he is. Looking surprisingly healthy for someone only a week out of captivity, handsome as ever but with bags already under his eyes, Tony Stark smiles at her just like he did back on that tarmac a week ago.

"Pep."

She walks forward, fully intending to brush past him into the house with a 'Mr. Stark' on her lips and an itemized list of things they need to talk about. Really, she does. Only, Tony doesn't give her the chance. Oh sure, he shifts to the side to give her access, but in doing so forces her to turn so she can sidle past… and that's when he strikes.

His rough hands are on her face again, gently caressing her cheeks. And his lips are on her lips again, even as his facial hair rubs against her chin and nose. Pepper freezes in shock, inhaling sharply as Tony kisses her right there on the doorstep of his home. A week ago was one thing. A week ago, he'd just survived a truly horrific experience. Allowances had to be made.

But now… now he was kissing her again, and this time it seemed a lot harder to make the same allowances for him. Sure, he couldn't possibly be recovered from his months-long captivity, but he SEEMED so put together that it was hard to just chalk it up to trauma. But then… did that mean it was real?

Tony at least has the good sense to walk them back inside, even as he keeps kissing her. And much to her chagrin, Pepper kisses him right back. She knows she should stop this. She knows she shouldn't be letting it happen. And yet… the proof was in the pudding as they like to say. The facts are staring her right in the face and Pepper can't deny them anymore.

She has a crush on her boss. She's HAD a crush on her boss. It's a tale as old as time and Pepper knows it all too well. Unrequited love between a man too good to take advantage of their power imbalance and a woman who would never make the first move.

Because THAT was the truth of Tony Stark. That was the true nature of their relationship. The media might call him a playboy and a womanizer, but for all that Tony was a very sexual creature, he had never taken advantage of their power dynamic to make a single untoward action towards her. Even now, it wasn't like he was threatening her job or forcing her to pleasure him for a raise or something awful like that. No, he was just kissing her… and Pepper was kissing him back.

The door closes behind them of its own accord and Pepper shivers as they continue to mash lips. Her hands go up to his arms… perhaps to tug his hands down so she can pull away? Except she doesn't do that. Pepper can't bring herself to follow up on even that small token resistance.

In the end, Tony is the one who actually pulls away. After what feels like an eternity and not enough time at all, Tony drags his mouth off of hers and looks her in the eye, breathing slightly heavier. But that's okay, because Pepper is outright panting like… like a fucking dog.

"Pep. Pepper."

Suddenly, he looks intensely serious. His dark brown eyes burrow into hers and have Pepper going stock still under his gaze.

"I think at this point I've made my intentions pretty damn clear. And so far, you haven't shown any inclination that you're uncomfortable with… well, with my affection. That said, just say the word and it stops now. I won't hurt you. I refuse to ever, ever hurt you. Tell me no, tell me to back off… and I promise, the rest of our relationship will be as platonic as possible."

He means it too, Pepper finds herself noting with wonder. He means every word. About backing off. About not wanting to hurt her or make her uncomfortable. She wishes she could say something witty to fill the space. It's what their usual relationship was like. Banter between a boss and his personal assistant. That was what Pepper was most comfortable with. That was what she knew the best.

… However, staring into Tony's eyes, Pepper Potts realizes she'd been a fool to think they could go back to the way things were before between them. Something like what Tony went through, that was bound to change a man. There was… just no way for him to ever be the carefree playboy she remembered ever again, was there?

Still, his offer was on the table. All she had to do was say the word and he would back off. Sure, they wouldn't go back to the way things were before, but Tony would never dare to take liberties with her again.

… But she can't do it. She can't say it. Instead, Pepper does the only thing that makes sense in this crazy, nonsensical moment. She tosses her arms around Tony's neck and initiates the kiss herself this time, smashing her lips into his own and letting her eyes drift shut as they swap spit and wrestle their tongues together… all the way to the bedroom.

-x-X-x-

"F-Fuck, Tony… GOD!"

Grunting in response, Tony reaches up and grabs one of Pepper's hands and then the other. He interlocks his fingers with hers and pulls her arms up above her head as he drives himself into her, time and time again. The beautiful red head, stripped naked and on her back on his bed, looks absolutely glorious beneath him. From her freckles smattered across her face and chest, to her rock hard nipples, to the feel of her hot wet sex wrapped around his thrusting member.

Was he moving a little fast? Perhaps. But he couldn't hold himself back when it came to Pepper. Not after what happened in the future. The Snap was one thing… but Pepper's fate was what had truly broken him and set him on this path in the first place.

It was bad enough that Thanos had won. That the mad fucker had actually done it and wiped out half of all life in the universe with a single snap of his fingers. But it went beyond that. Because Thanos didn't just kill half of all life. He killed half of all life… and then left the rest of life to either adapt or die to the sudden change in circumstances.

In Pepper's case, there was no adapting. Not when she'd been on a Private Jet when the Snap happened. There was no chance of survival when both pilots had been Snapped off the plane, leaving her to fall and fall and fall…

Tony only found out after Carol Danvers, otherwise known as Captain Marvel, rescued him and Nebula from the brink of death and brought them back to Earth. But the straw that really broke the camel's back was finding the positive pregnancy test and learning that Pepper was pregnant when she died. And so Tony Stark had broken. But he was never the kind of man who broke towards despair. He was the kind of man who broke towards action. Thus, time travel was invented. Thus, he'd used it to come back and FIX things.

He just… he didn't have the patience to wait. Sure, he could have taken things slow. He could have seduced Pepper like he did the first time around, as hesitantly and fretfully as he had when he'd been afraid that she would reject him and he'd ruin the great professional relationship they had with one another.

The problem was… Tony wasn't afraid anymore. Well, that wasn't quite right. There were still plenty of things he feared. But fearing Pepper's rejection? After all that they'd been through, he simply couldn't bring himself to worry. Either Pepper had always been in love with him… or it would be better if they never got together in this timeline in the first place.

So yeah, he'd come on pretty hot and heavy from the get-go. The kiss right after getting off the plane was probably inadvisable, but he hadn't been able to control himself. The kisses at the front door, and what was happening right now… that was all far more premeditated.

All was well that ended well, Tony supposed. As he brings his mouth to Pepper's freckled chest while thrusting into her, the beautiful red head cries out, arching her back and shuddering as she presses her breasts up into his questing teeth and tongue. He suckles at one nipple and then nibbles at the next, all while continuing to piston in and out of her down below.

In the end, Pepper had turned out to be a lot more… tractable than he would have ever originally assumed. He never would have thought he could just kiss her and damn the consequences in the previous timeline, but here they were, already in bed together. It was like a dream come true.

Of course, it was far from a dream. This was all very real, and Tony still had his eye on the ball. Even as he fucks Pepper right there on the bed years earlier than it ever would have happened the last time around, Tony hasn't lost sight of what truly matters. He won't let the things that happened in the future happen again. That includes the fate that befell Pepper.

He'd been too cautious last time around. He'd been too hesitant to do things that would have protected her. He'd had a suit of armor for her for ages in fact but hadn't given it to her because he knew her dislike for them. He could have snuck nanomachines onto her that would have allowed her to survive the plane crash but hadn't for fear of losing her trust if she found out.

Just like he never should have let JARVIS die, Tony never should have let Pepper die either. And as the two of them come to a climactic, explosive, and mutual finish with one another, he swears to himself that he won't let either of them die in this timeline. No matter what.

Upgrading JARVIS to his current capacity was the first major step of Tony's Master Plan. And while there would be several minor steps along the way… the second major step would be upgrading himself and Pepper.

He wasn't going to shy away from power this time around. Not with what he had on the line.

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A/N: What do you guys think? Is Tony's rizz believable here? Overwhelming confidence instead of just a facade masking his own insecurities sure does go a long way amirite?

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