Yes, Virginia, There Really Is An Iron Man: Chapter Fifteen
TITLE: Yes, Virginia, There Really Is An Iron Man
AUTHOR: Quicksilvermad
SUMMARY: (Movie-verse) Pepper deals with Tony’s newfound lease on life and ends up making a mountain out of her molehill of emotion where her boss is concerned.
GENRE: Humor/Romance
RATING: PG13
PAIRING: Tony/Pepper
DISCLAIMER: Iron Man etc. belong to Marvel Comics et. al.
Chapter Fifteen:
Tony Stark was pissed. He’d come home rather late after sending out his engine specs to his employees and board members to find some asshole with an eye patch and a sword standing in his living room blathering on about something called the “Avengers Initiative.”
So SHIELD was putting together a band of “superheroes.”
Tony wasn’t having any of it-at least not until he’d fixed what Obadiah had done. He said as much to Nick Fury.
Now, standing in his kitchen with a cold beer sweating in one hand (for some reason he’d been avoiding scotch like the plague lately), Tony tried to calm down.
Jarvis was still running an emergency repair program, so more than half the house was chilled in darkness and so silent that Tony could hear his own breathing echoing through the rooms.
Suddenly, the beer wasn’t the only thing sweating.
The cot in the garage was starting to sound like a good idea…
Tony actually began walking towards the stairs when he realized what he was doing.
“Shit,” he kicked the wall. “Jarvis, call-”
Tony knocked his head on the same wall he kicked. “Dumbass,” he said to himself. After a short moment of self-flagellation, Tony stalked over to his sofa and dug through the cushions to find the phone. Automatically, his fingers hit “redial” instead of the speed-dial number he’d programmed from Dr. Horowitz’s business card. Later, he’d notice that his subconscious was furiously at work.
The phone rang six times before anyone picked up.
“H’lo?”
“Pepper… I’m, uh, sorry to be calling so late but-”
He heard sheets rustling and got a vivid mental picture of his assistant sitting up in bed-her fiery hair mussed with sleep and her blue eyes heavy with the irritation of being woken on the AM side of the clock.
“Oh my God,” she whispered in a throaty voice. “Are you okay?”
“Uh, I’m… Fine. Sort of… I can’t sleep. And there was this guy from SHIELD-the director, actually-he broke in and-”
Tony heard Pepper shoot out of her bed. “Oh my God,” she repeated. “Tony, if you want to you can come over here and borrow the guest room. Is Jarvis okay?”
Tony picked at the corner of one eye and sighed. “He’s running his repair program. At least, he is if the diagnostic program is finished. I, uh, can’t tell-there’s only one keypad working.”
He stopped talking and looked blindly at the stairwell leading to the work room. “You know what, I’m coming over.”
They both gave quick goodbyes and Tony jogged up to his bedroom to grab jeans and a T-shirt. He was back in his Audi and out on the road in less than five minutes-hands and feet on autopilot as he drove to Pepper’s beachfront house.
It had been his first birthday present to her.
Pepper had seen his headlights as he pulled into her driveway and opened the front door to stand on the covered porch. She wore a loose flannel robe over a tank top and a pair of cotton shorts and looked just as Tony imagined her. Before he could open his mouth to say even a simple “hello,” Pepper raised a shushing finger and glared at him.
“If you say ‘sorry,’ I’m committing you. Now say: ‘good morning,’ Tony.”
He grinned. “Good morning, Tony.”
Pepper dropped her head in shame, having clearly set that up for him to take advantage of.
“May I enter, oh beautiful, perfect assistant of mine?”
Pepper blinked at him and Tony strode inside her home with his spare clothes tucked under one arm. She pointed at this and smiled as she locked the door behind herself.
“Good for you.”
“I’ve even remembered more of my social security number.”
Pepper led him upstairs and looked over her shoulder in expectation.
“Nine,” Tony said proudly after they stopped in front of the guest room. “It’s five, nine, something, something, something…”
Pepper laughed and opened the door to the guest room. “You’re still missing a few.”
Tony finally felt himself relaxing-calming down. It was then that he realized how easily Pepper could take over his brain. He bit his lips and looked down at her (a novelty-usually she was wearing heels that made her about an inch taller than him) curiously.
Their eyes met, and Tony felt that gut-punch sensation again. “This scaring you?” he whispered.
Pepper refused to look away from his warm bourbon eyes and swallowed the sudden lump of nervousness that had risen in her throat. “No,” she whispered back. “You?”
The jeans and T-shirt he’d been holding fell from his slackened arm. “A little,” he admitted. “But in a good way.”
Pepper stepped closer and the moonlight from the window overlooking the Pacific washed over her bared skin. She looked like she was glowing from the inside and her eyes were positively bewitching. They had to be, because Tony could not look away.
She came even closer and Tony admired her even more as she took the reins on the situation.
Pepper’s heart was beating so fast that Tony could see her pulse along her neck. She licked her lips and tilted her face up slightly-breathing the same air as him for a few moments before she took that last step forward and brushed her lips across his. His beard tickled and Pepper smiled slightly at the sensation. As far as kisses went it was the most innocent Tony had ever received-and yet…
It was the best kiss he’d ever experienced.
He felt his knees tremble and opened his mouth to suck lightly on her lower lip. Her hand dug into his hair and tugged lightly at it to tilt his head further into her access. Tony’s hands stayed on her lower back and against her neck in an unconscious, closer, pantomime of their dance.
Pepper bravely dragged her other hand underneath his pullover and ran her short nails along his bare side. His muscles tensed involuntarily, but she kept moving.
To finally be in this moment with him on her own terms was a powerful thing. She wanted him to know that she wasn’t another one of his flings and he did know it-he had always known.
It just took a life-changing experience to hammer this fact into his mind. Virginia Potts was the only sort of woman he needed-the only one capable enough to love him completely. Flaws and all.
Pepper broke away from the kiss with her hand splayed across the smooth bare skin of his back beneath his shirt and tried to catch her breath against his neck.
Tony had to sit when his knees decided to quit on him. Pepper sat with him on the mattress and pressed her bruised lips to the side of his mouth-whispering something.
He couldn’t speak. Instead, he mouthed the word “what” and blinked languidly. He felt like he was underwater-drowning in every part of her.
Again, feeling brave and utterly womanly, Pepper gently kissed his lips once more and whispered just a bit louder. “I think this might be love, Tony Stark.”
His eyes stayed open and trapped in hers even as she backed away from him slightly. Pepper felt like her world just might fall apart if he didn’t say anything soon.
Tony smiled. It wasn’t a smirk, a grin, or his usual flirty quirk of the lips. It was a full on smile that creased the corners of his eyes and made him look astonishingly young. “That’s good, Pepper Potts,” he finally said-whispering like her. His voice shook as he spoke, “Because I think it might be love, too.”
Pepper smiled as well.
TBC
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AUTHOR: Quicksilvermad
SUMMARY: (Movie-verse) Pepper deals with Tony’s newfound lease on life and ends up making a mountain out of her molehill of emotion where her boss is concerned.
GENRE: Humor/Romance
RATING: PG13
PAIRING: Tony/Pepper
DISCLAIMER: Iron Man etc. belong to Marvel Comics et. al.
Chapter Fifteen:
Tony Stark was pissed. He’d come home rather late after sending out his engine specs to his employees and board members to find some asshole with an eye patch and a sword standing in his living room blathering on about something called the “Avengers Initiative.”
So SHIELD was putting together a band of “superheroes.”
Tony wasn’t having any of it-at least not until he’d fixed what Obadiah had done. He said as much to Nick Fury.
Now, standing in his kitchen with a cold beer sweating in one hand (for some reason he’d been avoiding scotch like the plague lately), Tony tried to calm down.
Jarvis was still running an emergency repair program, so more than half the house was chilled in darkness and so silent that Tony could hear his own breathing echoing through the rooms.
Suddenly, the beer wasn’t the only thing sweating.
The cot in the garage was starting to sound like a good idea…
Tony actually began walking towards the stairs when he realized what he was doing.
“Shit,” he kicked the wall. “Jarvis, call-”
Tony knocked his head on the same wall he kicked. “Dumbass,” he said to himself. After a short moment of self-flagellation, Tony stalked over to his sofa and dug through the cushions to find the phone. Automatically, his fingers hit “redial” instead of the speed-dial number he’d programmed from Dr. Horowitz’s business card. Later, he’d notice that his subconscious was furiously at work.
The phone rang six times before anyone picked up.
“H’lo?”
“Pepper… I’m, uh, sorry to be calling so late but-”
He heard sheets rustling and got a vivid mental picture of his assistant sitting up in bed-her fiery hair mussed with sleep and her blue eyes heavy with the irritation of being woken on the AM side of the clock.
“Oh my God,” she whispered in a throaty voice. “Are you okay?”
“Uh, I’m… Fine. Sort of… I can’t sleep. And there was this guy from SHIELD-the director, actually-he broke in and-”
Tony heard Pepper shoot out of her bed. “Oh my God,” she repeated. “Tony, if you want to you can come over here and borrow the guest room. Is Jarvis okay?”
Tony picked at the corner of one eye and sighed. “He’s running his repair program. At least, he is if the diagnostic program is finished. I, uh, can’t tell-there’s only one keypad working.”
He stopped talking and looked blindly at the stairwell leading to the work room. “You know what, I’m coming over.”
They both gave quick goodbyes and Tony jogged up to his bedroom to grab jeans and a T-shirt. He was back in his Audi and out on the road in less than five minutes-hands and feet on autopilot as he drove to Pepper’s beachfront house.
It had been his first birthday present to her.
Pepper had seen his headlights as he pulled into her driveway and opened the front door to stand on the covered porch. She wore a loose flannel robe over a tank top and a pair of cotton shorts and looked just as Tony imagined her. Before he could open his mouth to say even a simple “hello,” Pepper raised a shushing finger and glared at him.
“If you say ‘sorry,’ I’m committing you. Now say: ‘good morning,’ Tony.”
He grinned. “Good morning, Tony.”
Pepper dropped her head in shame, having clearly set that up for him to take advantage of.
“May I enter, oh beautiful, perfect assistant of mine?”
Pepper blinked at him and Tony strode inside her home with his spare clothes tucked under one arm. She pointed at this and smiled as she locked the door behind herself.
“Good for you.”
“I’ve even remembered more of my social security number.”
Pepper led him upstairs and looked over her shoulder in expectation.
“Nine,” Tony said proudly after they stopped in front of the guest room. “It’s five, nine, something, something, something…”
Pepper laughed and opened the door to the guest room. “You’re still missing a few.”
Tony finally felt himself relaxing-calming down. It was then that he realized how easily Pepper could take over his brain. He bit his lips and looked down at her (a novelty-usually she was wearing heels that made her about an inch taller than him) curiously.
Their eyes met, and Tony felt that gut-punch sensation again. “This scaring you?” he whispered.
Pepper refused to look away from his warm bourbon eyes and swallowed the sudden lump of nervousness that had risen in her throat. “No,” she whispered back. “You?”
The jeans and T-shirt he’d been holding fell from his slackened arm. “A little,” he admitted. “But in a good way.”
Pepper stepped closer and the moonlight from the window overlooking the Pacific washed over her bared skin. She looked like she was glowing from the inside and her eyes were positively bewitching. They had to be, because Tony could not look away.
She came even closer and Tony admired her even more as she took the reins on the situation.
Pepper’s heart was beating so fast that Tony could see her pulse along her neck. She licked her lips and tilted her face up slightly-breathing the same air as him for a few moments before she took that last step forward and brushed her lips across his. His beard tickled and Pepper smiled slightly at the sensation. As far as kisses went it was the most innocent Tony had ever received-and yet…
It was the best kiss he’d ever experienced.
He felt his knees tremble and opened his mouth to suck lightly on her lower lip. Her hand dug into his hair and tugged lightly at it to tilt his head further into her access. Tony’s hands stayed on her lower back and against her neck in an unconscious, closer, pantomime of their dance.
Pepper bravely dragged her other hand underneath his pullover and ran her short nails along his bare side. His muscles tensed involuntarily, but she kept moving.
To finally be in this moment with him on her own terms was a powerful thing. She wanted him to know that she wasn’t another one of his flings and he did know it-he had always known.
It just took a life-changing experience to hammer this fact into his mind. Virginia Potts was the only sort of woman he needed-the only one capable enough to love him completely. Flaws and all.
Pepper broke away from the kiss with her hand splayed across the smooth bare skin of his back beneath his shirt and tried to catch her breath against his neck.
Tony had to sit when his knees decided to quit on him. Pepper sat with him on the mattress and pressed her bruised lips to the side of his mouth-whispering something.
He couldn’t speak. Instead, he mouthed the word “what” and blinked languidly. He felt like he was underwater-drowning in every part of her.
Again, feeling brave and utterly womanly, Pepper gently kissed his lips once more and whispered just a bit louder. “I think this might be love, Tony Stark.”
His eyes stayed open and trapped in hers even as she backed away from him slightly. Pepper felt like her world just might fall apart if he didn’t say anything soon.
Tony smiled. It wasn’t a smirk, a grin, or his usual flirty quirk of the lips. It was a full on smile that creased the corners of his eyes and made him look astonishingly young. “That’s good, Pepper Potts,” he finally said-whispering like her. His voice shook as he spoke, “Because I think it might be love, too.”
Pepper smiled as well.
TBC
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