[Iron Man - PG - Pepper] A general lack of sick days
Title: A shameful lack of sick days
Author: nicpick (Nic)
Characters: Pepper Potts, Tony Stark
Rating: PG or thereabouts; as much as talking to Tony Stark can be
Summary: In which, among other things, Pepper ponders, works, and is not in love with her boss (no really), and Tony Stark is at the same time completely different and entirely the same.
In her years of employment as an executive assistant to high profile persons (no matter what the press said, Tony Stark was not her proverbial "first") the young woman who wasn't young enough to go by the name Virginia had been taught many, many important life lessons, most of which she didn't need nor want to remember.
Her job with that one particular House member had been particularly illuminating.
Not that she would willingly speak of it now.
Keeping that in mind there were several things (more than several, really, but several that were still very important to her) that she never needed to be taught.
By nature, Miss Pepper Potts, executive assistant (never secretary) was:
1. Organized to a fault
2. Smart enough to handle anything the world (or Tony Stark) could throw at her
3. Loyal to her employer(s)
Because of number one, Pepper woke every morning at five exactly, showered, dressed, did herself up, and strapped on her stilettos without even thinking about it, her mind already occupied with the rest of the day's agenda.
Because of number three, Pepper did this every morning, and qualifying this (for this morning specifically); even when she should have been smart enough (see number two) to realise she had a head cold.
So, the adapted list should be shown as such:
1. Organized to a fault, and really how did she manage to catch cold in the middle of June when said organization accounted for cleanliness and lack of general icky germs?
2. Smart enough to handle anything the world (or Tony Stark) could throw at her, but still stupid enough to get out of bed before the sun did when not enough powder in Miami could hide the redness of her nose
3. Which was probably due to said unfailing loyalty, and also maybe a bit of pride as well
Pepper smiled, pressed a finger to her forehead when that made her brain twinge, and took two perfectly round aspirin before heading to Tony's.
She had a job to do, and Mr. Stark was notorious for not giving her an inch of help in that direction.
She acknowledged, of course, that things had been changing ever since Tony's (mildly regrettable but not actually unexpected) announcement to the press of his, shall-she-say, extracurricular activities; but at this point it was really only a matter of the different ways Tony continued to not do his job.
Late night parties (and early morning Vanity Fair articles) had disappeared almost entirely, replaced by even longer hours in the shop, and blowing up things in the Middle East.
Pepper blinked once, fighting the urge to close her eyes in frustration, and keeping her eyes on the road, which was full of the sharp corners Tony loved.
She didn't approve, she didn't approve, she didn't approve.
No matter how much Tony could joke about her role as damsel-in-distress ("Except for the part where I run your life completely, and you wouldn't last a day without me?" "Yes. Except for that. Of course.") in his action-packed life as a superhero, she did worry about him dying.
Someone had to, because Tony had proven he wasn't going to look out for himself.
No matter how much she scowled at him.
And working with a (very mild) head cold was entirely the opposite of getting bolted into a (gold-titanium alloy) suit and fighting crime. Even if Jarvis's first words to her were:
"Feeling a bit under the weather today, Miss Potts?"
Rather than:
"Good morning Miss Potts; you'll find Mr. Stark in the workroom today, testing configuration C-14 on the new flight stabilizers," which she had gotten with varying numbers and letters on the last half of the sentence every day of the previous week.
She swore Jarvis never sounded quite that intellectually stimulated (Was that how it worked for AIs? Was it impolite to ask?) before "Mark II", or quite that smug on the days Tony fell on his face due to a miscalculation.
Tony might claim that his math was always right, but his distance judgement when it came to flying into walls during test runs wasn't quite up to par.
Though he was better at landing, these days. Even if he kept refusing to let contractors look at the hole in the roof.
And Pepper can still think and work at the same time.
Really.
Coffee to replace the long-since-congealed goo lingering in the bottom of Tony's forgotten mug.
Clipboard in hand with all of today's notes.
At least the glass panels Tony had taken out during testing had already been replaced, which meant Pepper was pushing open the door with her shoulder, and starting to talk before the atmosphere shifted.
"I see you're getting better at the bright eyed, cheery faced waking-up-when-you're-supposed-to thing," and she was smiling when she said that, even if she didn't sound perfect, and the dark circles under Tony's eyes didn't exactly squash her (entirely misplaced because he was her boss not her boyfriend/brother/friend) worries.
And.
Tony stared at her.
Pepper ducked her head into the clipboard, and set the coffee down firmly.
Tony continued to stare.
And stare.
Pepper cleared her throat, unsure if she should attribute the sudden spike of nervousness to being (sick) not her best, or to general embarrassment (because it definitely wasn't Tony's dark eyes, the force of his stare, the way the arc reactor blazed brilliantly through his very thin shirt, or the fact that he was actually looking at her, of course not, because he was her boss and that would be weird).
So she started talking, "You have a meeting with Professor Gibbons, the head scientist you hired for the new energy project, which you really should attend, since no one but you seems to understand the production of -- "
She pursed her lips, even though she was only speaking so she could say, "Are you listening, Mr. Stark?"
"Yes. No.
"Your voice is different." Tony never was one to mix words, Pepper thought, with some measure of affection mixed in with all the annoyance.
"Well I'm not contagious, and you still have a business to run." She folded the clipboard a bit closer to her ribs, daring him to backtalk.
Somewhere in her head, the list was being revised.
3. Loyalty to employer non-functional when faced with cold, hard truth (and a headache)
Or maybe it had always been that way.
And it would completely ruin the effect if Pepper smiled right now.
"Cancel it," and Pepper thought, well obviously, the company only needed that technology to work three weeks ago, why not cancel it?
Tony Stark would rather play with robots in his basement.
And who cared if he was still staring at her anyway? Pepper didn't.
"You know what we need, Pepper?"
"What do we need, Mr. Stark?"
"Well, for one you need to call me Tony, but what we need is a nice, relaxing day off."
She frowned, and definitely didn't laugh (at the sheer ridiculousness of it, and maybe Tony's expression, even if she wasn't admitting to it).
"What?"
She continued in the same vein.
No-nonsense, Mr. Stark has a schedule and he's sticking to it if Pepper had to handcuff him.
(She did not just think that.)
And Tony got that slow smirk that just screamed he was about to say something awful and too amusing for her not to laugh. (Again.) "Miss Potts! I'm ashamed you'd think something like that. I was only suggesting a movie, curled up with blankets on the couch, maybe some snuggling. A nice dip in the --"
(Shut him up. Whatever it takes, shut him up.)
"That sounds lovely," she cut in, "I think I'll do that, Mr. Stark. Tony."
She smiled winningly, a second before extending her clipboard towards him with practised ease, "You'll just be needing this, and the directions to the meeting, these are the papers you have to fill out, sign, and send to these department heads. There are five of them, but the last two have to be filled out twice for tax reasons.
"Then you have a conference call with the board of directors, who, I might add, are still trying to fill Obadiah's place. No one can make a decision because you hold the controlling interest.
"After that is lunch with one of the reporters at Fortune, his name is Michael Hamel and he's on the fence about superheroes, so you'll want to push him a bit, speaking of, SHIELD is still waiting on you for Iron Man's involvement in the Avengers. They weren't very pleased when you delegated that to me, seeing as it was a bit of an international secret.
"So, it would probably be a good idea if you called them today, or else they're going to send someone to break in again. If they haven't already.
"Now if you've got all of that down, I think I'll enjoy my day at the spa."
She smiled again, and ignored the fact that even the robot arms were staring at her now. Instead, "You're amazing, Tony."
Even the waves seemed to stop crashing.
Pepper's smile had accidentally turned into a smirk when she wasn't looking.
And it was always dangerous when Pepper smirked.
Mainly since she tended towards being:
4. Blindingly mean-spirited when faced with Tony Stark's flirtations
("Only in the best of ways, Potts." "Your bandages are showing, Mr. Stark." "I'd like to show you my bandages." "Don't you think I've seen enough?")
5. Not at all intrigued by said (sweeter by the minute, not that she was smiling when she thought that) flirtations
Pepper waited, throat feeling only the littlest bit sore after her very long run-on sentence, for Tony to recover from his currently shell-shocked state of being.
"Uh."
Pepper smiled (vindicated), and pulled back the clipboard she had been holding out. " You have half an hour before that meeting. Get dressed, I'll take care of the paperwork."
"You're sick," and that might be the truth but Pepper hadn't fallen for that puppy-eyed stare and soulful voice since she'd taken this job and who said it mattered that he was probably being sincere this time.
"And last week you dislocated your shoulder and still went golfing with Rhodey."
Take that, Mr. Stark.
Except he was doing the puppy eyes again, and Pepper's frown was wavering.
She pursed her lips together even harder, dropped her gaze to the clipboard (there was no way to look at him when he was doing that, there just wasn't) and made a mark on the schedule, crossing something out in black.
"Tomorrow, six to ten in the morning, you've been freed."
"Make it 'til two."
"You have a --"
"Cancel it."
And maybe there was a sixth talking point to the list of traits in Pepper's mind, and maybe it was something like: "Unlocks hidden depths in people (like Tony Stark)", or maybe she just wanted a bubble bath at ten in the morning on a day that wasn't her birthday.
Dream big, as her mother said.
End.
Author's Notes: Thanks to everyone who read. This is my first piece of fanfiction in a long time, and I'm not sure if I got everything down perfect. I appreciate any and all comments you want to give me, since I distinctly remember the warm 'n' fuzzy feeling if nothing else.
Word Count: ~1800
Author: nicpick (Nic)
Characters: Pepper Potts, Tony Stark
Rating: PG or thereabouts; as much as talking to Tony Stark can be
Summary: In which, among other things, Pepper ponders, works, and is not in love with her boss (no really), and Tony Stark is at the same time completely different and entirely the same.
In her years of employment as an executive assistant to high profile persons (no matter what the press said, Tony Stark was not her proverbial "first") the young woman who wasn't young enough to go by the name Virginia had been taught many, many important life lessons, most of which she didn't need nor want to remember.
Her job with that one particular House member had been particularly illuminating.
Not that she would willingly speak of it now.
Keeping that in mind there were several things (more than several, really, but several that were still very important to her) that she never needed to be taught.
By nature, Miss Pepper Potts, executive assistant (never secretary) was:
1. Organized to a fault
2. Smart enough to handle anything the world (or Tony Stark) could throw at her
3. Loyal to her employer(s)
Because of number one, Pepper woke every morning at five exactly, showered, dressed, did herself up, and strapped on her stilettos without even thinking about it, her mind already occupied with the rest of the day's agenda.
Because of number three, Pepper did this every morning, and qualifying this (for this morning specifically); even when she should have been smart enough (see number two) to realise she had a head cold.
So, the adapted list should be shown as such:
1. Organized to a fault, and really how did she manage to catch cold in the middle of June when said organization accounted for cleanliness and lack of general icky germs?
2. Smart enough to handle anything the world (or Tony Stark) could throw at her, but still stupid enough to get out of bed before the sun did when not enough powder in Miami could hide the redness of her nose
3. Which was probably due to said unfailing loyalty, and also maybe a bit of pride as well
Pepper smiled, pressed a finger to her forehead when that made her brain twinge, and took two perfectly round aspirin before heading to Tony's.
She had a job to do, and Mr. Stark was notorious for not giving her an inch of help in that direction.
She acknowledged, of course, that things had been changing ever since Tony's (mildly regrettable but not actually unexpected) announcement to the press of his, shall-she-say, extracurricular activities; but at this point it was really only a matter of the different ways Tony continued to not do his job.
Late night parties (and early morning Vanity Fair articles) had disappeared almost entirely, replaced by even longer hours in the shop, and blowing up things in the Middle East.
Pepper blinked once, fighting the urge to close her eyes in frustration, and keeping her eyes on the road, which was full of the sharp corners Tony loved.
She didn't approve, she didn't approve, she didn't approve.
No matter how much Tony could joke about her role as damsel-in-distress ("Except for the part where I run your life completely, and you wouldn't last a day without me?" "Yes. Except for that. Of course.") in his action-packed life as a superhero, she did worry about him dying.
Someone had to, because Tony had proven he wasn't going to look out for himself.
No matter how much she scowled at him.
And working with a (very mild) head cold was entirely the opposite of getting bolted into a (gold-titanium alloy) suit and fighting crime. Even if Jarvis's first words to her were:
"Feeling a bit under the weather today, Miss Potts?"
Rather than:
"Good morning Miss Potts; you'll find Mr. Stark in the workroom today, testing configuration C-14 on the new flight stabilizers," which she had gotten with varying numbers and letters on the last half of the sentence every day of the previous week.
She swore Jarvis never sounded quite that intellectually stimulated (Was that how it worked for AIs? Was it impolite to ask?) before "Mark II", or quite that smug on the days Tony fell on his face due to a miscalculation.
Tony might claim that his math was always right, but his distance judgement when it came to flying into walls during test runs wasn't quite up to par.
Though he was better at landing, these days. Even if he kept refusing to let contractors look at the hole in the roof.
And Pepper can still think and work at the same time.
Really.
Coffee to replace the long-since-congealed goo lingering in the bottom of Tony's forgotten mug.
Clipboard in hand with all of today's notes.
At least the glass panels Tony had taken out during testing had already been replaced, which meant Pepper was pushing open the door with her shoulder, and starting to talk before the atmosphere shifted.
"I see you're getting better at the bright eyed, cheery faced waking-up-when-you're-supposed-to thing," and she was smiling when she said that, even if she didn't sound perfect, and the dark circles under Tony's eyes didn't exactly squash her (entirely misplaced because he was her boss not her boyfriend/brother/friend) worries.
And.
Tony stared at her.
Pepper ducked her head into the clipboard, and set the coffee down firmly.
Tony continued to stare.
And stare.
Pepper cleared her throat, unsure if she should attribute the sudden spike of nervousness to being (sick) not her best, or to general embarrassment (because it definitely wasn't Tony's dark eyes, the force of his stare, the way the arc reactor blazed brilliantly through his very thin shirt, or the fact that he was actually looking at her, of course not, because he was her boss and that would be weird).
So she started talking, "You have a meeting with Professor Gibbons, the head scientist you hired for the new energy project, which you really should attend, since no one but you seems to understand the production of -- "
She pursed her lips, even though she was only speaking so she could say, "Are you listening, Mr. Stark?"
"Yes. No.
"Your voice is different." Tony never was one to mix words, Pepper thought, with some measure of affection mixed in with all the annoyance.
"Well I'm not contagious, and you still have a business to run." She folded the clipboard a bit closer to her ribs, daring him to backtalk.
Somewhere in her head, the list was being revised.
3. Loyalty to employer non-functional when faced with cold, hard truth (and a headache)
Or maybe it had always been that way.
And it would completely ruin the effect if Pepper smiled right now.
"Cancel it," and Pepper thought, well obviously, the company only needed that technology to work three weeks ago, why not cancel it?
Tony Stark would rather play with robots in his basement.
And who cared if he was still staring at her anyway? Pepper didn't.
"You know what we need, Pepper?"
"What do we need, Mr. Stark?"
"Well, for one you need to call me Tony, but what we need is a nice, relaxing day off."
She frowned, and definitely didn't laugh (at the sheer ridiculousness of it, and maybe Tony's expression, even if she wasn't admitting to it).
"What?"
She continued in the same vein.
No-nonsense, Mr. Stark has a schedule and he's sticking to it if Pepper had to handcuff him.
(She did not just think that.)
And Tony got that slow smirk that just screamed he was about to say something awful and too amusing for her not to laugh. (Again.) "Miss Potts! I'm ashamed you'd think something like that. I was only suggesting a movie, curled up with blankets on the couch, maybe some snuggling. A nice dip in the --"
(Shut him up. Whatever it takes, shut him up.)
"That sounds lovely," she cut in, "I think I'll do that, Mr. Stark. Tony."
She smiled winningly, a second before extending her clipboard towards him with practised ease, "You'll just be needing this, and the directions to the meeting, these are the papers you have to fill out, sign, and send to these department heads. There are five of them, but the last two have to be filled out twice for tax reasons.
"Then you have a conference call with the board of directors, who, I might add, are still trying to fill Obadiah's place. No one can make a decision because you hold the controlling interest.
"After that is lunch with one of the reporters at Fortune, his name is Michael Hamel and he's on the fence about superheroes, so you'll want to push him a bit, speaking of, SHIELD is still waiting on you for Iron Man's involvement in the Avengers. They weren't very pleased when you delegated that to me, seeing as it was a bit of an international secret.
"So, it would probably be a good idea if you called them today, or else they're going to send someone to break in again. If they haven't already.
"Now if you've got all of that down, I think I'll enjoy my day at the spa."
She smiled again, and ignored the fact that even the robot arms were staring at her now. Instead, "You're amazing, Tony."
Even the waves seemed to stop crashing.
Pepper's smile had accidentally turned into a smirk when she wasn't looking.
And it was always dangerous when Pepper smirked.
Mainly since she tended towards being:
4. Blindingly mean-spirited when faced with Tony Stark's flirtations
("Only in the best of ways, Potts." "Your bandages are showing, Mr. Stark." "I'd like to show you my bandages." "Don't you think I've seen enough?")
5. Not at all intrigued by said (sweeter by the minute, not that she was smiling when she thought that) flirtations
Pepper waited, throat feeling only the littlest bit sore after her very long run-on sentence, for Tony to recover from his currently shell-shocked state of being.
"Uh."
Pepper smiled (vindicated), and pulled back the clipboard she had been holding out. " You have half an hour before that meeting. Get dressed, I'll take care of the paperwork."
"You're sick," and that might be the truth but Pepper hadn't fallen for that puppy-eyed stare and soulful voice since she'd taken this job and who said it mattered that he was probably being sincere this time.
"And last week you dislocated your shoulder and still went golfing with Rhodey."
Take that, Mr. Stark.
Except he was doing the puppy eyes again, and Pepper's frown was wavering.
She pursed her lips together even harder, dropped her gaze to the clipboard (there was no way to look at him when he was doing that, there just wasn't) and made a mark on the schedule, crossing something out in black.
"Tomorrow, six to ten in the morning, you've been freed."
"Make it 'til two."
"You have a --"
"Cancel it."
And maybe there was a sixth talking point to the list of traits in Pepper's mind, and maybe it was something like: "Unlocks hidden depths in people (like Tony Stark)", or maybe she just wanted a bubble bath at ten in the morning on a day that wasn't her birthday.
Dream big, as her mother said.
End.
Author's Notes: Thanks to everyone who read. This is my first piece of fanfiction in a long time, and I'm not sure if I got everything down perfect. I appreciate any and all comments you want to give me, since I distinctly remember the warm 'n' fuzzy feeling if nothing else.
Word Count: ~1800