Work Text:
December 16th 1999
She'd been working for Tony Stark for one month.
It was nearing the holiday season, and Pepper was looking forward to spending it with her family.
She had today and tomorrow to work, and then she had two full weeks off!
Stark Industries was one of the few businesses that gave its employees two weeks fully paid holiday over Christmas, besides a rather generous twenty days off during the rest of the tax year at the discretion of the employee.
It had been a rather intense month since she had started her new job, and Pepper needed the time for a much-needed break. Tony Stark was a handful. He kept her on her toes. And she enjoyed the unexpectedness part of the role. Every day was different. Tony Stark was truly something else.
They had gotten into a good routine. She'd work mainly at his house unless he needed to be at the office. She had passed his tests, and was now trusted with his home address. Instead of Happy driving her from Stark Industries, Pepper could now drive herself there, which shortened her commute.
The morning of December 16th 1999 had rolled around quickly. She'd got herself ready to leave, checking her phone to see if there was any messages stating whether she should go straight to Malibu Point or head to Stark Industries. It was rare she was told to go elsewhere.
Surprisingly, there was a text from Happy informing her to not go to Mr. Stark's house. Pepper shrugged. She didn't mind it. It was rare she spent the day at the office, but at least she'd be able to catch up with her colleagues. Tony must have meetings he had to attend to in person.
She arrived at Stark Industries and proceeded to the floor his office was located at. She smiled at Bambi who oversaw a team of secretaries located in the outer office. She had worked for the Starks for years, having had the pleasure of working for both Howard and Maria Stark. She was one of the nicest people Pepper knew, and over the short time she had been in Tony's direct employment, Bambi had helped her and given her invaluable advice.
"Good morning, Pepper!" Bambi smiled warmly at her. She was middle-aged, with curly blonde hair tied up in a bun. Glasses sat on her nose and she peered over the top of them at Pepper.
"Hi! Is Mr. Stark in his office?" Pepper asked. She didn't want to barge in there if he was in an important call.
"No, he's not in today," answered Bambi.
"Oh." Confusion swept across Pepper's face. "Is he at home then? I should get there…"
Bambi shook her head. "You are to work here for today, Pepper."
Though Bambi wasn't her senior (technically Pepper was above her), but Pepper always relied on her to keep her in the loop. "But if Mr. Stark is at home, I should be there." She saw the other secretaries exchange glances. Her suspicion rose. "What is it?"
"You don't know, do you?" Bambi guessed, watching her carefully.
"No." Pepper shook her head, confusion echoing across her face.
Bambi looked sad. "Today is December 16th."
"I don't understand…" Pepper trailed off.
"December 16th 1991 was when Howard and Maria Stark died in a car crash," Bambi explained softly. "We never see Tony on this day."
"He's all alone?" Pepper whispered.
"It's better for him. He'll spend it drinking."
"He shouldn't be alone." Pepper stated firmly. "Has anyone ever tried to be with him?"
"His business partner, Obadiah Stane, advised us all to leave him alone on this day. He's known Tony Stark since the boy was in diapers." Bambi explained quietly. "Trust me, Pepper, I've known the Starks for a long time. There is plenty of work for you to do here."
She felt reluctant but had no other choice but to settle down and complete the tasks Bambi gave her for the day. It felt wrong to be here when deep down she knew she needed to be with Tony.
When it was her lunch hour, she decided to go to the staff canteen. At least, that is what she told Bambi. In reality, Pepper went against everything she had ever been taught. She got to her car and drove to Mr. Stark's mansion. If Mr. Stark did not want her here, then she could return to the office before her lunch hour was up. She had to check on him. Had to make sure he was alright.
She input her code to the front door and stepped through when the door opened.
"JARVIS?" she asked quietly.
"Yes, Miss. Potts?"
"Is Mr. Stark here?"
"He is."
"Is he ok?"
JARVIS was silent.
"Where is he?"
"I would advise you to -"
"JARVIS. Where is he?" Pepper was not leaving until she knew for sure Tony was ok. Judging by the AI's silence on that particular question, she assumed he was not.
"He is in the cellar, Miss Potts. I would advise caution when approaching him."
"Noted." Pepper was committed now.
He was drunk then. That much was obvious. Today must bring a lot of hurtful memories to the forefront.
Pepper made her way down to the cellar, deciding to slip off her heels and walk in her socks. She had to go through his workshop to get there, noting that a few things lay smashed on the floor. She hoped Tony wouldn't regret smashing what he had.
Cautiously, she made her way down to the next level where she knew Mr. Stark kept his alcohol.
"Mr. Stark?" she asked cautiously. The lights were dim, and she could see the glinting of shattered bottles on the ground. She found her boss sitting on the floor, his back against the wall, drinking from a bottle. His hair was mussed and his eyes unfocused. He didn't seem to recognise that she was there.
"Mr. Stark?" She knelt down next to him.
"Pffft…… gosh…asway…" he muttered, attempting to brush her away.
She had never seen him so drunk before. Granted, one month of working for him hadn't shown her much, only that he did like to party.
"No, I'm not leaving you like this, Tony." Saying his first name felt weird on her tongue. But saying 'Mr. Stark' didn't seem right, not when she was trying to help him personally rather than professionally.
He tried to push her away with his hands.
"No. I'm not leaving. You need someone," she explained.
"Don't needsssss sanyone…" he slurred, nearly falling to the side. He put the bottle lip to his mouth.
Pepper gently grasped his wrist. "No. You've had enough. Alcohol is not the way to deal with your grief." Carefully, she prised the bottle away from him.
He didn't resist.
"Tony. I'm going to get you some water. You need to sober up. Please don't start drinking again." She knew she couldn't stop him.
She ran up the stairs, and to the kitchen. There was no glasses in his workshop. Filling up a glass of water, she made her way back down.
Tony was exactly where she had left him. He hadn't made a move to get more alcohol either.
"Please drink this." She raised it to his lips. He didn't take the offered water. If he was going to make it difficult for her, she would ensure he'd drink it. With the glass to his lips, Tony grudgingly drank the water. "Thank you."
"Come on, let's get you somewhere more comfy, shall we?" Pepper held at her hand to him.
Tony just stared at the offered hand. Confusion settled over his face and his eyes slid over the numerous bottles sitting in their racks around the celler.
Pepper shook her head. "No. You've had enough."
"But, Pep..." Tony's speech slurred.
"Another time." She couldn't stop him drinking completely but she could have some measure of control today. Helping him to stand was a mission by itself. He swayed and wobbled, collapsing back to the ground before Pepper was able to get him to the winding stairs. Getting him up them was going to be incredibly challenging. "Why do you not have a lift down here?"
"Didn't…. neeesh…..onesh…." Tony slurred.
Pepper frowned. "You will be installing one once you are sober."
Tony raised a hand and saluted her. "Yesh…mish…"
She wasn't going to take it personally. He was drunk after all.
It took a while, and a lot of resistance on Tony's part, for her to get him all the way up the stairs and then to the lift that went up to the next floor where she eventually got him to his bedroom.
He fell onto the bed, trying to pull her down with him, but she pushed him away.
"No, Mr. Stark. That is enough of that!"
He slurred. "Pepper…"
This wasn't in her job description, but she helped him get into bed, covering him with the covers. He tried to get up.
"More…. drink…"
"No." She was adamant about that. "You are going to sleep this off." Pushing him back down, she glared. "You don't want to see me angry."
God, she hoped he wouldn't remember this. He'd probably fire her, but at the moment, she cared more about his wellbeing than her job.
"Yoush… pre…tty…. whensha ….angerish," mumbled Tony.
"No." She sat on the edge of the bed, arms folded across her chest, glaring at him, until he settled back down. Without access to alcohol, and the fact that she appeared to have distacted him from what he was really mourning, he settled down quite quickly, falling into a deep slumber as she watched on.
- - - - -
He came back to awareness slowly. His mind was foggy as he climbed back into consciousness. Blinking slowly, Tony shifted in the bed and sat up. The last thing he remembered was drinking a shit-ton of alcohol in his cellar. Speaking of which…. Why wasn't he waking up slumped on the floor of his cellar like he always was after that day?
"JARVIS?" he croaked. "Why am I here?"
"Miss Potts helped you into bed, sir, after she became concerned for your welfare."
"Huh." Tony wasn't sure how he felt about that. But it also showed him, that she wasn't like his other PA's. "Wasn't she told to work at the office?"
"She elected to ignore it, Sir," observed JARVIS.
Well, she had certainly gone up in his estimations! No one had ever tried to help him before.
"Pass on my gratitude to her," he asked.
"You could do it yourself."
Tony's neck cricked as he swung round, causing a bout of dizziness as his head was still fuzzy. Pepper stood at the door with a jug of water and an empty glass. "Pepper."
"Mr. Stark." She placed the jar and glass on his bedside cabinet. "Drink this. It'll help with your hangover."
Knowing she was watching, he reached for the jar and poured himself a glass of water. "No coffee?" He drank the glass down in one.
"Not until later, though, once I return to the office, I won't be able to stop you," she admitted.
"Why are you so tense?" he frowned.
"Aren't you going to fire me?"
"Fire you? Why would I fire you?" What a silly question!
"I overstepped my boundaries… I went against orders to come here yesterday… I stayed the night to make sure you were OK!" Pepper blurted out.
Tony shrugged. "I'm not firing ya."
Flabbergasted, Pepper sat down on the edge of the bed. "What?"
She had obviously been expecting him to.
"Honestly, you should be getting a raise. In fact, yes, I'm giving you a raise!"
Surprise flickered across her beautiful face. "Why?"
"Because you helped me, looked after me on a day when I push people away. You didn't take a no to my bullshit. You stayed." He felt a bit vulnerable. "No one has ever looked out for me like that. Not even Obie, and he's mentored me for years."
"Losing people you love in tragic circumstances can be difficult to process," Pepper replied hesitantly.
Tony's lips twitched. He didn't want to talk about it. Not right now.
"I'm sorry you lost them in the way you did."
She didn't know the half of it.
"If you ever want to talk about it, I'm willing to listen."
That surprised him, yet he felt for the first time in a long time that someone actually cared about him, rather than wanting to use him for his money or brains.
Though he wouldn't talk to Pepper about his parents for a long time - at least not for another year - Pepper's willingness to help him and keep him grounded during a traumatic time of his life was just the beginning to a deeper bond that was only just starting to be forged.
It was on that day, 17th December 1999, that Tony Stark realised that Pepper Potts was not just simply his PA; she was a friend, and someone he could be his true self with.
It was the start of something big that would tie them together for life.
The End