She was working late as per usual at the main office. She thought she was alone, everyone else having left long before, so she kicked off her heels and sat back in her chair for a moment with her eyes closed before she set back to working. She had been working steadily for almost three more hours before she realized that she desperately needed a break. Her vision was getting slightly blurry and her shoulders were stiff. Standing up and grabbing a bottle of water from the mini-fridge she had installed next to her desk long go, Pepper stretched and took a swig of water before her eyes landed on the guitar that had been given to her by Tony on one of his crazy whims. She had seen it in a store and displayed an interest and Tony had just bought it and left it in her office with a picture of Iron Man taped to it.

Pepper decided that the instrument had been collecting dust for far too long and she was alone so she might as well play it. Pepper sat back down in her chair and pulled the guitar into her arms, her fingers settling over the chords as she strummed them gently before deciding on a song. Landslide by Stevie Nicks.

There was a soft clapping and Pepper whirled around, jumping in surprise and almost fumbling her guitar as she saw Tony behind her, sitting in the chair in front of her desk. He smiled crookedly. "I know I don't have an appointment, but I had to see who had such a glorious voice."

Pepper rolled her eyes and set the guitar back on the stand. "I was taking a break."

"I can see that. And I'm glad you did or I might have thought I bought that guitar for nothing."

Pepper chuckled and sighed, stretching again. Tony frowned suddenly. "How long have you been here?"

"Here as in the office?"

"Yeah."

Pepper looked at the clock, jumping a little in surprise as she realized what time it was. "Oh, well, considering the fact that it's almost one in the morning, I have been here for about twelve hours."

Tony shook his head. "Yeah, no, you're not staying here a second longer." Tony grabbed Pepper's hand and pulled her from her chair and led her to the door, his hands on her shoulders. Pepper frowned.

"Why are you here anyway?"

"I forgot a piece of the Mark VIII in my office when I came here this morning to get the speech from you."

"Oh. And what piece was that?"

Tony bit his lip, smiling sheepishly. "The helmet."

Pepper rolled her eyes. "You know, I'm pretty sure that's an important part you're not supposed to forget."

"I'm well aware. Now, I am not having you drive all the way back to your apartment. I'll drive you to the mansion and you can stay in the guest room."

Pepper eyed Tony warily. "It's only fifteen minutes to my apartment."

"Yeah, and that's fifteen minutes that you may fall asleep at the wheel and hurt yourself." At Pepper's look, Tony sighed. "I promise not to try anything. Scout's honor."

Pepper chuckled. "You were kicked out of the scouts."

"I'm telling you, I did not set that fire!"

Pepper laughed and shook her head. "Fine, I will sleep in the guest room. Let me just grab the change of clothes from my office."

Tony cocked his head to the side slightly, looking a bit like a confused puppy. "You have a change of clothes in your office?"

"I have pulled more than one all-nighters, Tony. I can't just come out wearing the same clothes as yesterday or people might be suspicious."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Suspicious of what? That you might actually be one employee that works hard enough to earn her salary? A salary I should probably raise, by the way."

Pepper grabbed a duffle bag from under her desk and following Tony out of the office. "No, I don't need any more money. I have plenty as it is."

"Not as much as me."

"Very few people have as much money as you, Tony."

"I know, it's awesome."

Pepper chuckled. "I am fine, Tony. I could probably never work another day in my life and be just fine."

Tony opened the passenger side door for Pepper and got in the driver's seat himself, tossing a worried look in her direction. "But you're not going to quit, right?"

"Good heavens, no. Not only would I have far too much time on my hands, but I can't leave you alone. You'd probably work to death in that lab of yours if I weren't there."

Tony considered this. "Good point. I can always ignore JARVIS or put him on mute. But you don't have a mute button. Plus, JARVIS doesn't make killer grilled cheese sandwiches."

Pepper chuckled. "No, I don't suppose he does."

Tony pulled up in front of the Malibu mansion and walked Pepper to the guest room before telling her goodnight and walking back down to the workshop. "Hey, J, how many times had Pepper stayed at the office overnight?"

"Twice in the past week, sir."

"And when was the last time she's gotten a full night's sleep?"

"As far as I am aware, Ms. Potts has not gotten more than five hours' rest each night for the past month and a half, sir."

Tony bit the inside of his cheek. "She told you to set an alarm, didn't she?"

"Yes, sir, for seven o'clock in the morning."

"Turn it off. As of now, Pepper is on a two-week vacation. I think I've overworked my assistant."

"Judging from the amount of work Ms. Potts does compared to the rest she has gotten, that statement is correct."

Tony sighed heavily. "Okay, don't wake her tomorrow, let her sleep in, and let me know when she's up. I want to take care of her for a change."

A/N: Questions, comments, concerns? I don't own Ironman or any of it's characters.