hee! oh new Jon icon. you make me grin.
Okay. So, I haven't actually written anything new. But! I can pretend I have, because conveniently enough I have some Ironman fic I never posted here. So! Enjoy?
Title: Five Women Pepper Potts Has Shown To The Door
Rating: PG
Pairings/Characters: Tony/Pepper, of course. :] Camille Saroyan (Bones), Kelly Kapoor (The Office, US), Elle Bishop (Heroes), Jean Grey/Phoenix (X-Men) all make an appearance. :]
Warnings/Spoilers: Just spoilers for the movie in general. But I'm sure you were expecting that. ;]
Summary: "Good morning," Pepper says pleasantly. The woman starts. "Your clothes have been dry-cleaned. I'll give you a minute to change." Pepper shows five women from five different fandoms to the door.
Notes: The first Tony/Pepper story I ever wrote, finally posted to my journal.
Disclaimer: They do not belong to me. I cry every night, gnash my teeth, etc., etc.
i. cam (bones)
Pepper marches into the mansion on a Saturday morning, heels clicking against the wood floor of the hallways, and begins the day's work.
"Jarvis?"
"Yes Ms. Potts?"
"Anyone in his room?"
There is a pause, then an apologetic, "I'm afraid so Ms. Potts."
She knows without asking that it isn't Tony.
Pepper allows herself the tiniest of sighs. One more thing to do before she can start answering Tony's e-mails. They pile up even more quickly now that he's Iron Man, and she was planning to talk to him about setting up a separate e-mail account for his armored alter ego, but now that will have to wait.
She moves down the hall and peers into Tony's room. An olive-skinned woman lies asleep in the bed. There's only a depression in the pillow where Tony should be, though of course she wasn't expecting to see him. Pepper silently gathers up the clothes -- a gray suit, nicely tailored -- and leaves.
Jarvis dry cleans them like the miracle machine he is, and by the time they're finished Tony's guest is awake and glancing around, wide-eyed, the sheets held to her chest.
"Good morning," Pepper says pleasantly. The woman starts. "Your clothes have been dry-cleaned. I'll give you a minute to change."
The woman's hasty obedience confirms Pepper's first assessment -- this is an efficient, smart, capable woman, embarrassed to have been bowled over by the well-known charm of Tony Stark. Nothing out of the ordinary.
When the woman emerges, fully clothed, she hesitantly holds out a hand.
"I'm Dr. Camille Saroyan. I'm a pathologist."
Pepper is taken aback for a minute, then extends her own hand to shake. "Pepper Potts, executive assistant."
"You must have quite a job description," Dr. Saroyan says with a slight smile. There is awkward silence filled only by the sound of Pepper's shoes moving over the floor. The sooner Dr. Camille Saroyan, pathologist, leaves the less embarrassing this will be for her, and the sooner Pepper can start moving through the rest of her to-do list. It's better for all involved, she learned early on, to get overnight guests out of the house quickly.
"You realize how far ahead this place is, technologically?" Dr. Saroyan says unexpectedly.
"Mr. Stark likes to keep ahead of the curve," Pepper replies. Polite conversation has become the order of the day.
"I think I can guess what maybe half of these things are," Dr. Saroyan continues, "and I'm pretty sure at least some of this would be incredibly useful in my work."
They've reached the door. Pepper waits a beat, then makes up her mind. After all, following up when a business interest is expressed is just another part of her job description. She slips a business card from her bag.
"Feel free to contact Stark Industries if you have any questions about our technology," she says, brisk and business-like. The woman hesitates, and Pepper softens.
"You won't need to talk to Mr. Stark, or even me. Any purchase you make will be conducted entirely through a company representative."
Dr. Saroyan smiles. "It was a...pleasure, meeting you Ms. Potts."
Pepper replies with only the slightest hesitation. "And you Dr. Saroyan. Please do contact us for any future technological needs."
It's just a sale, she thinks, but it leaves a bad taste in her mouth.
ii. kelly (the office US)
Tony's in New York for a tentative meeting with S.H.I.E.L.D., and with a group called The Avengers. Pepper is trying not to let her head spin too much. She has a job to do after all.
He's been mobbed by crowds of adoring fans since he stepped off the jet, and she isn't shocked to hear a female voice answer when she knocks on his hotel room door at 7:00 AM sharp. She had wanted to run through his schedule.
"My name is Pepper Potts. I'm Mr. Stark's executive assistant. May I come in?"
"Um, yeah! Totally." The voice is hesitant for all of two seconds before it turns bubbly and welcoming. Slightly bemused, Pepper opens the door.
There is a pretty, dark-skinned woman standing by the bed, tugging on her shoes and taking in Pepper with unabashed fascination.
"It must be so cool to have a boss who's a superhero, and I mean, seriously, he must be the hottest superhero ever, right? God you should totally pull a Spiderman and kiss him upside down in the rain. You have red hair and everything! Do not let anyone tell you that would not be romantic because that would be so romantic."
Pepper feels herself blush.
"I can have your clothes cleaned, if you'd like," she says after a moment's pause.
"Oh no that's totally fine. God I love your shoes. I'm Kelly Kapoor, by the way!"
Pepper cannot even manage a, "pleased to meet you" before Kelly is off again, slave to some kind of conversational starting gun only she can hear.
"Oh my God this has to be the nicest hotel room ever. Seriously, like, this thing has at least three rooms. It must be so amazing to get to stay in places like this all the time. And I bet you meet the most awesome people -- wait, wait, is there a Spiderman? Like, really? Have you met him? Because Toby Maguire is hot, but the real Spiderman might be hotter."
The answers are yes it is, yes I do, and no, not to my knowledge. Pepper can't decide whether to give them, but luckily Kelly decides for her. Without even pausing for breath she starts to talk about Seabiscuit (he looked so good on a horse, seriously) and Pepper leads the way to the hotel lobby, aiming for unobtrusive.
She begins to go over the day's to-do list, letting Kelly's words go in one ear and out the other, managing several polite nods and smiles at appropriate moments.
Finding Tony is first, for obvious reasons (I cannot believe Cate Blanchett didn't get the Oscar -- I mean she is so amazing in those Elizabeth movies, right? She totally deserved to win!) and then she needs to review the day's schedule with him. She has to call People and smooth any ruffled feathers over Tony's behavior at the photoshoot yesterday (oh my God, Jamie Lynn named her baby Maddie Briann, isn't that so seriously adorable? I cannot believe everybody's being so mean about her having a baby young -- she is being so mature about the whole thing, and it's totally nobody's business but theirs, right?). She has to catch up on all of his e-mails. She has to remind him what he is and isn't allowed to promise The Avengers (I'm totally not a slut, you know? And people just do not get that --) and --
"Doesn't it bother you?" Pepper blurts out.
Kelly tilts her head and raises an eyebrow. "Doesn't what bother me?"
"That -- that he --" Pepper realizes that she has very suddenly lost control of a conversation that, up until a moment ago, was a monologue. She lowers her voice. "That he just -- I mean, he left before you got up, and you'll probably never see him again -- doesn't being used like this make you mad?"
It's not the kind of question Pepper usually asks. It's completely inappropriate, and unprofessional, but Kelly Kapoor is so happy, and opinionated, and open, and she hasn't even asked to leave a message for Tony. Most of them don't.
Kelly shrugs, still smiling. "Honestly? I have so dealt with corporate executives before. And, like, if you're going to sleep with one of them? It might as well be the totally hot, superpowered one. Right?"
Pepper's pretty sure that's not an answer at all, but it seems to satisfy Kelly, who smiles, gives Pepper hair advice by way of farewell, and hails herself a cab.
Find Tony, Pepper thinks hurriedly, and does her best to forget the entire conversation.
iii. elle bishop (heroes)
When Pepper hurries down the hall it is to find Tony's door open and his guest awake and propped up against the pillows, humming to herself.
She is petite, and blonde, and looks overwhelmingly young. Pepper swallows the anger that is twisting in her stomach and knocks on the door frame.
The girl turns, wide-eyed, and the tips of her fingers spark. Ah well, Pepper thinks. Superpowers are nothing new around here.
"Um, hi," the girl says hesitantly, her knees drawn up to her chest. She is wearing a black suit, very professional, and still she manages to look incredibly vulnerable. Pepper has to swallow again.
"Good morning," she says, all business. "My name is Pepper Potts. I'm Mr. Stark's executive assistant. I can have your clothes dry-cleaned, or I can call you a cab right now if you would prefer."
"I'd like a cab please," the girl says, and then quietly, "my name's Elle."
"Pleased to meet you." Pepper says politely, and pulls out her cellphone.
Pepper is every inch the hostess, making Elle coffee while they wait for the cab. She's almost positive she looks more like a woman adding creamer to coffee and less like a woman inwardly seething over having a boss whose morals are so completely and utterly shot.
It isn't just that Elle is young. It's that she's incredibly naive. Her eyes remain perpetually wide as she exclaims over the kitchen, the house, the view.
"Wow, this place is huge," she says, her voice sounding small in the lofty kitchen. "I mean I've never been in a house this big before."
"Where are you from?" Pepper asks. Someone should care about this girl, she thinks. And it obviously won't be Tony.
"New York," Elle says, turning from gazing out the window to look at Pepper. "I'm here on business."
The is a cold flash in her eyes when she says it, and the way she snaps off the end of the word 'business,' making the 's' sharp -- that is not young at all.
This, Pepper thinks, suddenly certain, this is the woman Tony went to bed with. Someone smart and a little bit ruthless. Someone without a trace of naivety. She feels a rush of relief.
Even so, she's glad to get Elle out of the house. Those big blue eyes looked anything but ruthless, most of the time.
iv. jean grey/phoenix (x-men)
"I'm afraid there is a guest in his room Ms. Potts," Jarvis says when she comes to work in the morning. She could swear there is a note of apology in his carefully programmed voice. This is ridiculous, she thinks. It is small comfort to think that, after all, Jarvis is a very smart computer.
"Thank you Jarvis," she says in her best professional voice, and moves swiftly to start the day's chores.
The woman, still asleep, has dark red hair that is splayed every which way over the pillow. She also, Pepper notes, was wearing a pair of Rene Caovilla heels. Satin, with crystals. Pepper had almost bought them once for one of the obligatory galas that simply came with the job (the Fireman's Ball, maybe). She files all this away neatly in her folder labeled, For The Sake of Your Own Sanity, Never, Never Examine These Facts Too Closely, gathers up the clothes, and leaves the room.
"Good morning," she says when she returns, bearing the freshly cleaned blouse and skirt. "I'll give you a minute, shall I?"
The woman looks Pepper in the eye, utterly unembarrassed. Pepper is only mildly surprised when the clothes float from her grasp, fly across the room, and land, still folded, on the bed.
She waits outside the door, and it doesn't take long before the woman emerges, fully clothed right down to the sparkling heels. Pepper is beginning to wonder, against her own will, why she didn't buy them.
"You like them?" The woman asks, sounding amused. "I don't think these are what got him into bed, but it couldn't hurt."
Pepper flushes for an instant, and swallows her reply (there's nothing to attract him beyond the heels, is there?) much as she'd like to let loose. She can't, of course. Because it's unprofessional. Because it's immature. Because it's obviously not true.
"Shall I call you a cab?" She says instead.
"No thank you," the woman says. "I can take care of myself. Does it pay well, doing these little chores for him?"
"I'm satisfied," Pepper says. The woman raises an eyebrow.
"Are you?"
Pepper decides, furious and blushing, that the best course of action is to simply shut up.
"I can read minds you know," the woman says, as she opens the door without touching the handle.
"I --" Pepper begins. Opens her mouth. Closes it. "I'm sure that's a very useful skill."
The woman's eyes are dark for an instant, but when she speaks her voice is different. Quiet. "It's -- it can be more than you bargain for."
Pepper cannot summon much sympathy. Maybe, she thinks, maybe this is it. Maybe this is his perfect woman. Scathing, smart, and ultimately uninterested. No entanglements. The world, Pepper knows, is this woman's sandbox. She swallows, and tries not to think, and isn't that just about right?
v. pepper potts
She wakes up to soft, pre-dawn light filtering in through the open window, and blinks once, twice. Her feet are cold, but the rest of her is delightfully warm, and she cannot -- oh. Oh.
Her feet are cold because they are sticking out from under the blanket. And the rest of her is warm because -- well. Because Tony Stark has one arm flung across her waist, and most of the blankets have somehow ended up on her side, and --
And his face looks really, incredibly peaceful when he's asleep. Which is not a thought she meant to have. Not, in fact, a thought that will help the situation.
She carefully and quietly extracts herself from under his arm. Gathers up her skirt, her blouse, her shoes. Silently thanks any cosmic powers that happen to be listening for giving her the good sense to keep an extra set of clothes in one of the spare bedrooms.
She turns back to look at him once before she slips out the door. His feet are kicked out at odd angles, pointing in two different directions. He is snoring. And his arm is still lying over the faint depression she made in the mattress.
She sighs, short and light, and leaves. If there were anyone to hear it, she might have ladled sarcasm over, "I'll show myself out."
She wonders for an instant, standing in the kitchen, clutching the bundle of clothes to her chest. She knows the one hundred and six different ways this could go wrong. In her more frantic, enamored moments she has made lists. And now, in her bare feet on Tony Stark's kitchen floor, she finds they do not help at all.
"Jarvis?" She says. There is a whir and then the familiar computerized voice answers her.
"Yes Ms. Potts?"
"I have some laundry for you," she says.
Pepper pours herself a cup of coffee and turns on her Blackberry. At least, she thinks, one chore is finished already.
Notes!
1) I have little to no expertise in the world of high heels, and turned to queen_haq's post, here for help regarding Jean's shoes. The heels I actually have her wearing though, were bennet_7's idea, in the comments. :]
2) If you have no idea who any of these women were and find your interest piqued? Camille Saroyan. Kelly Kapoor. Elle Bishop. Jean Grey and the Dark Phoenix storyline.
Title: Five Women Pepper Potts Has Shown To The Door
Rating: PG
Pairings/Characters: Tony/Pepper, of course. :] Camille Saroyan (Bones), Kelly Kapoor (The Office, US), Elle Bishop (Heroes), Jean Grey/Phoenix (X-Men) all make an appearance. :]
Warnings/Spoilers: Just spoilers for the movie in general. But I'm sure you were expecting that. ;]
Summary: "Good morning," Pepper says pleasantly. The woman starts. "Your clothes have been dry-cleaned. I'll give you a minute to change." Pepper shows five women from five different fandoms to the door.
Notes: The first Tony/Pepper story I ever wrote, finally posted to my journal.
Disclaimer: They do not belong to me. I cry every night, gnash my teeth, etc., etc.
i. cam (bones)
Pepper marches into the mansion on a Saturday morning, heels clicking against the wood floor of the hallways, and begins the day's work.
"Jarvis?"
"Yes Ms. Potts?"
"Anyone in his room?"
There is a pause, then an apologetic, "I'm afraid so Ms. Potts."
She knows without asking that it isn't Tony.
Pepper allows herself the tiniest of sighs. One more thing to do before she can start answering Tony's e-mails. They pile up even more quickly now that he's Iron Man, and she was planning to talk to him about setting up a separate e-mail account for his armored alter ego, but now that will have to wait.
She moves down the hall and peers into Tony's room. An olive-skinned woman lies asleep in the bed. There's only a depression in the pillow where Tony should be, though of course she wasn't expecting to see him. Pepper silently gathers up the clothes -- a gray suit, nicely tailored -- and leaves.
Jarvis dry cleans them like the miracle machine he is, and by the time they're finished Tony's guest is awake and glancing around, wide-eyed, the sheets held to her chest.
"Good morning," Pepper says pleasantly. The woman starts. "Your clothes have been dry-cleaned. I'll give you a minute to change."
The woman's hasty obedience confirms Pepper's first assessment -- this is an efficient, smart, capable woman, embarrassed to have been bowled over by the well-known charm of Tony Stark. Nothing out of the ordinary.
When the woman emerges, fully clothed, she hesitantly holds out a hand.
"I'm Dr. Camille Saroyan. I'm a pathologist."
Pepper is taken aback for a minute, then extends her own hand to shake. "Pepper Potts, executive assistant."
"You must have quite a job description," Dr. Saroyan says with a slight smile. There is awkward silence filled only by the sound of Pepper's shoes moving over the floor. The sooner Dr. Camille Saroyan, pathologist, leaves the less embarrassing this will be for her, and the sooner Pepper can start moving through the rest of her to-do list. It's better for all involved, she learned early on, to get overnight guests out of the house quickly.
"You realize how far ahead this place is, technologically?" Dr. Saroyan says unexpectedly.
"Mr. Stark likes to keep ahead of the curve," Pepper replies. Polite conversation has become the order of the day.
"I think I can guess what maybe half of these things are," Dr. Saroyan continues, "and I'm pretty sure at least some of this would be incredibly useful in my work."
They've reached the door. Pepper waits a beat, then makes up her mind. After all, following up when a business interest is expressed is just another part of her job description. She slips a business card from her bag.
"Feel free to contact Stark Industries if you have any questions about our technology," she says, brisk and business-like. The woman hesitates, and Pepper softens.
"You won't need to talk to Mr. Stark, or even me. Any purchase you make will be conducted entirely through a company representative."
Dr. Saroyan smiles. "It was a...pleasure, meeting you Ms. Potts."
Pepper replies with only the slightest hesitation. "And you Dr. Saroyan. Please do contact us for any future technological needs."
It's just a sale, she thinks, but it leaves a bad taste in her mouth.
ii. kelly (the office US)
Tony's in New York for a tentative meeting with S.H.I.E.L.D., and with a group called The Avengers. Pepper is trying not to let her head spin too much. She has a job to do after all.
He's been mobbed by crowds of adoring fans since he stepped off the jet, and she isn't shocked to hear a female voice answer when she knocks on his hotel room door at 7:00 AM sharp. She had wanted to run through his schedule.
"My name is Pepper Potts. I'm Mr. Stark's executive assistant. May I come in?"
"Um, yeah! Totally." The voice is hesitant for all of two seconds before it turns bubbly and welcoming. Slightly bemused, Pepper opens the door.
There is a pretty, dark-skinned woman standing by the bed, tugging on her shoes and taking in Pepper with unabashed fascination.
"It must be so cool to have a boss who's a superhero, and I mean, seriously, he must be the hottest superhero ever, right? God you should totally pull a Spiderman and kiss him upside down in the rain. You have red hair and everything! Do not let anyone tell you that would not be romantic because that would be so romantic."
Pepper feels herself blush.
"I can have your clothes cleaned, if you'd like," she says after a moment's pause.
"Oh no that's totally fine. God I love your shoes. I'm Kelly Kapoor, by the way!"
Pepper cannot even manage a, "pleased to meet you" before Kelly is off again, slave to some kind of conversational starting gun only she can hear.
"Oh my God this has to be the nicest hotel room ever. Seriously, like, this thing has at least three rooms. It must be so amazing to get to stay in places like this all the time. And I bet you meet the most awesome people -- wait, wait, is there a Spiderman? Like, really? Have you met him? Because Toby Maguire is hot, but the real Spiderman might be hotter."
The answers are yes it is, yes I do, and no, not to my knowledge. Pepper can't decide whether to give them, but luckily Kelly decides for her. Without even pausing for breath she starts to talk about Seabiscuit (he looked so good on a horse, seriously) and Pepper leads the way to the hotel lobby, aiming for unobtrusive.
She begins to go over the day's to-do list, letting Kelly's words go in one ear and out the other, managing several polite nods and smiles at appropriate moments.
Finding Tony is first, for obvious reasons (I cannot believe Cate Blanchett didn't get the Oscar -- I mean she is so amazing in those Elizabeth movies, right? She totally deserved to win!) and then she needs to review the day's schedule with him. She has to call People and smooth any ruffled feathers over Tony's behavior at the photoshoot yesterday (oh my God, Jamie Lynn named her baby Maddie Briann, isn't that so seriously adorable? I cannot believe everybody's being so mean about her having a baby young -- she is being so mature about the whole thing, and it's totally nobody's business but theirs, right?). She has to catch up on all of his e-mails. She has to remind him what he is and isn't allowed to promise The Avengers (I'm totally not a slut, you know? And people just do not get that --) and --
"Doesn't it bother you?" Pepper blurts out.
Kelly tilts her head and raises an eyebrow. "Doesn't what bother me?"
"That -- that he --" Pepper realizes that she has very suddenly lost control of a conversation that, up until a moment ago, was a monologue. She lowers her voice. "That he just -- I mean, he left before you got up, and you'll probably never see him again -- doesn't being used like this make you mad?"
It's not the kind of question Pepper usually asks. It's completely inappropriate, and unprofessional, but Kelly Kapoor is so happy, and opinionated, and open, and she hasn't even asked to leave a message for Tony. Most of them don't.
Kelly shrugs, still smiling. "Honestly? I have so dealt with corporate executives before. And, like, if you're going to sleep with one of them? It might as well be the totally hot, superpowered one. Right?"
Pepper's pretty sure that's not an answer at all, but it seems to satisfy Kelly, who smiles, gives Pepper hair advice by way of farewell, and hails herself a cab.
Find Tony, Pepper thinks hurriedly, and does her best to forget the entire conversation.
iii. elle bishop (heroes)
When Pepper hurries down the hall it is to find Tony's door open and his guest awake and propped up against the pillows, humming to herself.
She is petite, and blonde, and looks overwhelmingly young. Pepper swallows the anger that is twisting in her stomach and knocks on the door frame.
The girl turns, wide-eyed, and the tips of her fingers spark. Ah well, Pepper thinks. Superpowers are nothing new around here.
"Um, hi," the girl says hesitantly, her knees drawn up to her chest. She is wearing a black suit, very professional, and still she manages to look incredibly vulnerable. Pepper has to swallow again.
"Good morning," she says, all business. "My name is Pepper Potts. I'm Mr. Stark's executive assistant. I can have your clothes dry-cleaned, or I can call you a cab right now if you would prefer."
"I'd like a cab please," the girl says, and then quietly, "my name's Elle."
"Pleased to meet you." Pepper says politely, and pulls out her cellphone.
Pepper is every inch the hostess, making Elle coffee while they wait for the cab. She's almost positive she looks more like a woman adding creamer to coffee and less like a woman inwardly seething over having a boss whose morals are so completely and utterly shot.
It isn't just that Elle is young. It's that she's incredibly naive. Her eyes remain perpetually wide as she exclaims over the kitchen, the house, the view.
"Wow, this place is huge," she says, her voice sounding small in the lofty kitchen. "I mean I've never been in a house this big before."
"Where are you from?" Pepper asks. Someone should care about this girl, she thinks. And it obviously won't be Tony.
"New York," Elle says, turning from gazing out the window to look at Pepper. "I'm here on business."
The is a cold flash in her eyes when she says it, and the way she snaps off the end of the word 'business,' making the 's' sharp -- that is not young at all.
This, Pepper thinks, suddenly certain, this is the woman Tony went to bed with. Someone smart and a little bit ruthless. Someone without a trace of naivety. She feels a rush of relief.
Even so, she's glad to get Elle out of the house. Those big blue eyes looked anything but ruthless, most of the time.
iv. jean grey/phoenix (x-men)
"I'm afraid there is a guest in his room Ms. Potts," Jarvis says when she comes to work in the morning. She could swear there is a note of apology in his carefully programmed voice. This is ridiculous, she thinks. It is small comfort to think that, after all, Jarvis is a very smart computer.
"Thank you Jarvis," she says in her best professional voice, and moves swiftly to start the day's chores.
The woman, still asleep, has dark red hair that is splayed every which way over the pillow. She also, Pepper notes, was wearing a pair of Rene Caovilla heels. Satin, with crystals. Pepper had almost bought them once for one of the obligatory galas that simply came with the job (the Fireman's Ball, maybe). She files all this away neatly in her folder labeled, For The Sake of Your Own Sanity, Never, Never Examine These Facts Too Closely, gathers up the clothes, and leaves the room.
"Good morning," she says when she returns, bearing the freshly cleaned blouse and skirt. "I'll give you a minute, shall I?"
The woman looks Pepper in the eye, utterly unembarrassed. Pepper is only mildly surprised when the clothes float from her grasp, fly across the room, and land, still folded, on the bed.
She waits outside the door, and it doesn't take long before the woman emerges, fully clothed right down to the sparkling heels. Pepper is beginning to wonder, against her own will, why she didn't buy them.
"You like them?" The woman asks, sounding amused. "I don't think these are what got him into bed, but it couldn't hurt."
Pepper flushes for an instant, and swallows her reply (there's nothing to attract him beyond the heels, is there?) much as she'd like to let loose. She can't, of course. Because it's unprofessional. Because it's immature. Because it's obviously not true.
"Shall I call you a cab?" She says instead.
"No thank you," the woman says. "I can take care of myself. Does it pay well, doing these little chores for him?"
"I'm satisfied," Pepper says. The woman raises an eyebrow.
"Are you?"
Pepper decides, furious and blushing, that the best course of action is to simply shut up.
"I can read minds you know," the woman says, as she opens the door without touching the handle.
"I --" Pepper begins. Opens her mouth. Closes it. "I'm sure that's a very useful skill."
The woman's eyes are dark for an instant, but when she speaks her voice is different. Quiet. "It's -- it can be more than you bargain for."
Pepper cannot summon much sympathy. Maybe, she thinks, maybe this is it. Maybe this is his perfect woman. Scathing, smart, and ultimately uninterested. No entanglements. The world, Pepper knows, is this woman's sandbox. She swallows, and tries not to think, and isn't that just about right?
v. pepper potts
She wakes up to soft, pre-dawn light filtering in through the open window, and blinks once, twice. Her feet are cold, but the rest of her is delightfully warm, and she cannot -- oh. Oh.
Her feet are cold because they are sticking out from under the blanket. And the rest of her is warm because -- well. Because Tony Stark has one arm flung across her waist, and most of the blankets have somehow ended up on her side, and --
And his face looks really, incredibly peaceful when he's asleep. Which is not a thought she meant to have. Not, in fact, a thought that will help the situation.
She carefully and quietly extracts herself from under his arm. Gathers up her skirt, her blouse, her shoes. Silently thanks any cosmic powers that happen to be listening for giving her the good sense to keep an extra set of clothes in one of the spare bedrooms.
She turns back to look at him once before she slips out the door. His feet are kicked out at odd angles, pointing in two different directions. He is snoring. And his arm is still lying over the faint depression she made in the mattress.
She sighs, short and light, and leaves. If there were anyone to hear it, she might have ladled sarcasm over, "I'll show myself out."
She wonders for an instant, standing in the kitchen, clutching the bundle of clothes to her chest. She knows the one hundred and six different ways this could go wrong. In her more frantic, enamored moments she has made lists. And now, in her bare feet on Tony Stark's kitchen floor, she finds they do not help at all.
"Jarvis?" She says. There is a whir and then the familiar computerized voice answers her.
"Yes Ms. Potts?"
"I have some laundry for you," she says.
Pepper pours herself a cup of coffee and turns on her Blackberry. At least, she thinks, one chore is finished already.
Notes!
1) I have little to no expertise in the world of high heels, and turned to queen_haq's post, here for help regarding Jean's shoes. The heels I actually have her wearing though, were bennet_7's idea, in the comments. :]
2) If you have no idea who any of these women were and find your interest piqued? Camille Saroyan. Kelly Kapoor. Elle Bishop. Jean Grey and the Dark Phoenix storyline.