(fic) Something Different 3/3
Something Different 3/3
Missing Scene
By tsukinofaerii
Beta: caer_swan & valtyr
Rating: SNAP
Warnings: Sex, Crack.
Spoilers: Movie: Iron Man 2
Series: Iron Man (movieverse)
Pairings: Pepper/Natalie; Tony/Pepper; suggested Tony/Steve
Summary: Roughly a year after the events at the Stark Expo, Pepper's "stable-ish" relationship with Tony has deteriorated into more -ish than stable. Tony has been keeping secrets, and he's brought home a mystery blond who occupies all his time-including the time he should have been using for work. While holding things together, Pepper finds herself getting much, much closer to Natalie. But Natalie may be hiding a few secrets of her own. (~23,000 words)
This story is a work of transformative fiction, such being defined as a work which incorporates characters and situations which have been created by other authors/artists. No infringement of copyright is intended and no profit is being made from the creation or dissemination of this work.
***
Rhodey didn't yell at Tony after that first outburst, but he obviously wasn't pleased, and every time Pepper had reason to interrupt them, he was eyeing Steve like he was Tony's latest explosive gadget. For the most part, Pepper kept herself busy elsewhere and tried to ignore the worst of it. Rhodey, she reminded herself, had every reason to be angry. Tony had dumped the job of defending the country on his shoulders at a moment's notice, and all so that he could play hide and seek with SHIELD. She checked hourly to make sure no one had died, and provided dinner at five o'clock. Beyond that, she washed her hands of it.
When eight o'clock passed and no one had brought the Thai boxes back, Pepper gave up on waiting and mentally clocked herself out for the night. If Tony forgot, they would only mold a little over night, and it was much more likely that Steve would take care of it. He'd proven himself remarkably thoughtful that way.
Pepper removed her shoes as she headed to the gym. Natasha had been kept running all day; Pepper had barely seen her since Rhodey arrived. She didn't have any proof, but she was a little suspicious of the errands downtown that had magically appeared just after they'd been caught out. Not that she blamed Tony. She couldn't blame Tony. That didn't stop it from being extremely annoying.
There was no sign of Natasha in the main room, so Pepper passed the mat and went straight for the lockers. If she'd been caught in traffic, or Tony had waylaid her, Pepper could at least stretch a bit and do what she could on her own, which wasn't much.
When she pushed open the swinging door, a shuffle overhead warned her. Pepper dropped to the floor and scrambled backwards as someone fell from the ceiling. She was already pushing to her feet and preparing to run when the red curls and black body suit finally came into focus.
Pepper froze where she was, dropping her head back to glare nearly directly upward. Her eyes wanted to linger on the tight, tight bodysuit, but she made them rise until she was staring Natasha in the face. "That wasn't funny."
"I thought it was." Full lips curved into a smile as Natasha held out a hand, helping Pepper up. She was wearing thin, soft black gloves that didn't feel quite like leather, but Pepper couldn't tell what else they might have been. Some super secret, high-tech material made out of unstable molecules or something, she bet. "You moved quick, but next time try to stay on your feet. You'll get away faster."
"This was a lesson?" Pressing a hand to Natasha's sternum, Pepper stepped into her personal space. The bank of benches kept her from retreating. In their bare feet, Pepper was taller by a good margin. It gave her a little rush when Natasha had to tip her head back to meet her eyes. "No. Not quite. You were just doing... spying and- and stuff. Weren't you?"
"Maybe a little. I have a second job, you know, Ms Potts." Natasha didn't stop smiling as she hooked her arms around Pepper's neck. "But maybe I wanted to surprise you, too. See how you're coming along."
"That's cheating," Pepper whispered. They weren't in the den, or in a car, Pepper realized with a shock. No one would interrupt them.
"I never said I play fair." Their lips brushed, and the few second thoughts Pepper had started to dissolve away. Natasha seemed to see where her thoughts were headed, because she kissed her again, until Pepper's knees started to feel shaky.
When the kiss ended, Pepper closed her eyes and forced herself to pull away an entire inch. More than that seemed impossible, but an inch was better than nothing. "We should-I want to practice. Throwing you, I mean. And kisses-kicks! I mean kicks. I like the kicks." Mortified, Pepper dropped her forehead to Natasha's shoulder. "You know what I mean."
"You're right." Natasha sounded as out of breath as Pepper felt. Her hands came up between them, fingertips dipping under Pepper's waistband. "You're doing well. We shouldn't... get distracted. Should we?"
It was only an hour, and she'd never had any trouble controlling herself before. Whatever it was about Natasha that pulled her strings, it worked. "Right. No distractions." Pepper told her legs to move, but the traitors moved in the wrong direction, pressing her in close again. "I'll just... go. Get changed. Right?
Natasha sat down heavily on the bench as Pepper crowded her. "You should."
Unthinking, Pepper dropped down onto her lap again, the way they'd been one the sofa. The hem of her blouse bunched around Natasha's wrist, leaving a pale line of skin visible up to her ribs. Even gloved, Natasha's fingers were warm.
"I should," Pepper agreed. Bad time and bad place bounced around in her head, but when would be a good time? And they were as private as she'd ever get, working for Tony.
She wanted it. She'd gotten so good at denying herself. Just once, she wanted to take a risk.
Silk whispered as Pepper gripped her shirt and lifted. It didn't make a sound when it dropped to the floor, leaving her in just a plain cotton bra. Biting the inside of her lip, she looked down at Natasha. "Are you going to help, or not, Ms. Rushman?"
"Romanov. And yes, Ms. Potts, I am." Velcro ripped, and the gloves followed the blouse to the floor with little whmphs of impact. Their lips barely brushed as Natasha twisted the back of Pepper's bra band to pop the hooks, and added it to the pile. Without the gloves, Natasha's hands were more than warm, a sharp contrast to the chill of the locker.
Pepper grabbed the zipper at the front of her bodysuit and tugged, surprised when her thumb brushed from Natasha's breastbone all the way past her navel without ever touching cloth. "No...?" She lost track of the thought when Natasha's fingers dipped low. Her knees ached from the cold stone bench, but it was easy to ignore when her skirt was being pushed up.
"Built in. Just in case," Natasha murmured, tongue touching Pepper's bottom lip in a teasing flick. "Can't always have a bra handy."
That was actually a really good idea. She opened her mouth to say so, but the words got caught in an embarrassingly high squeak instead when Natasha found her goal. Pepper shivered, and Natasha laughed and curled her fingers in a way that made Pepper squeak again.
Determined not to be left behind, she slid her hands inside the very-definitely-leather suit and squeezed. It earned her a soft moan as Natasha's back arched. Her fingertips followed the lines of Natasha's body, feathering over the sensitive skin on the side of her breast and firming over the more ticklish ribs.
It was so simple to fall back into the patterns, she thought, squirming to get out of her skirt. It became a dance: her trying to get her clothes off, and Natasha trying to keep her still. In more time than she liked, Pepper had gotten Natasha peeled down to just the bottom half of her suit. Most of her clothes were in a pile, but her grey lace panties had been lost somewhere when she'd kicked them off her ankle. With Natasha's skin under her hands and mouth, tasting faintly of leather and sweat, she didn't even mind much.
The bench made things awkward. One of Pepper's feet stayed on the floor, while her other leg pressed up against the locker, wedged between it and Natasha. Cold metal dug into her thigh as her lips followed a slow line down Natasha's breast. Her hand in the cat-suit barely had any room to move, it was so ridiculously tight.
"Take it off?" she asked, muffled by Natasha's skin. A wiggle of her wrist let her hand slide a little lower, and Natasha gasped. In turn, her fingers curled, and Pepper's concentration vanished in a haze as she ground down into Natasha's hand.
"Not without standing-this is good. Very good." Natasha's hips lifted, her eyes large and pleading when Pepper looked up at her. "Don't stop. Please don't..."
The slide of the kiss was less tentative when they kissed this time. Natasha's lips were full and soft, slightly sticky with lipgloss. Even the kiss was hard to focus on, with Natasha's clever fingers distracting her. Pressure built, slow but demanding, dragging over her nerves like a wet finger on a wineglass rim.
Natasha lost it first. Her head fell back to the bench as she arched up, shuddering. A soft little cry caught in her throat, strangled off. Pepper worked her through it, coaxing out everything she could. Dimly, she thought that she should have forced the clothing issue. If they'd both been naked, there could have been so much more.
Still, she shouldn't have been surprised when Natasha recovered, and immediately doubled her efforts. Her thumb pressed down at the same time as her fingers curled up. So close, there was only so much Pepper could take, and that was the limit. Eyes closed tight, she came, head falling forward. Her groan was much louder than Natasha's, thrumming in her ears and bouncing off the ceiling.
When she opened her eyes, it was to darkness and the sound of their breathing. She blinked hard and relaxed when the nearly imperceptible change from dark to pitch black registered. Probably just the electricity. She hoped. "Did- did the lights go out?" Pepper asked between deep breaths. "If that was good enough to-if this is just me, we're going to rethink this."
"It's the lights." Something scraped the bench in the darkness, and Natasha scooted up and out from between Pepper's knees. "Tony must have done something stupid agai-"
Twin explosions cut her off, rattling the lockers. Both women froze, waiting for any following sounds, fire alarms or even shouts, but everything was silent. When it became obvious that nothing more was coming, Pepper slipped off the bench and started searching for her clothes. From the sound of a long zipper rising, and a muttered oath in Russian, Natasha did the same.
"I'm going to go check on the boys," she said, and then cursed again. Soft footsteps sounded on the floor, and a crack of pale emergency lights from the gym appeared in the doorway. Natasha's body blocked most of it. "It's probably nothing, but meet me in the kitchen. Be careful." Then she vanished, leaving Pepper in the dark.
"Probably nothing," Pepper echoed, groping at the floor. She managed to lay hands on her bra and skirt. They would have to do. Nothing even like a shirt seemed close, and she wasn't going to find her underwear until the lights were back on. If she was very careful, she could check to make sure the building wasn't collapsing, and then scuttle back to find something to wear.
She felt more than a little salacious and incredibly exposed as she eased into the gym. Arms over her breasts, Pepper looked around for anyone who might see her. The backup generators hummed, just barely audible, and only every fifth light was lit. "Jarvis?" Pepper asked, padding barefoot for the kitchen. "Are you still running?"
Silence. Not even a quip about nearly naked women. Jarvis needed rebooting, then.
The usual route between the kitchen and the gym went through two different entertainment rooms and passed the foyer. There was nothing Pepper could do about the first one, but she ducked through the edges of the shadows in the others. One spare light lit both rooms; with the electronics gone dark, it was easy to hug the walls and stay out of easy sight.
Somewhere nearby, a boot scraped the floor. Instantly, Pepper hit her knees, huddling behind a foosball table. Her breasts weren't anything Tony hadn't seen before, but if Rhodey or Steve caught her, she would die of embarrassment.
Another shuffle of footsteps, and then a crackle of white noise. "Unit Charlie reporting," an unfamiliar male voice said. "West wing is clear. No sign of Target."
Ice gripped Pepper's gut. That's not Tony. She stayed low, slipping under the table and curling up as close to the wall as she could. Frozen with fear, she watched as the intruder walked past her hiding spot, not even pausing to look under it.
When he'd passed, Pepper scuttled out from under the table, a whole new objective in mind. Tony, Rhodey and Natasha could take care of themselves, she knew. But Steve was different. He wasn't a spy, or a superhero-he hadn't spent the past two years with people in colorful spandex blowing things up around him. He was just a very pretty, very bendy civilian, who Tony was probably going to get killed if she didn't get him out of the way.
Panic tickled along her nerves as Pepper slunk through the house. Goal: the den, where she could get down to the basement. With luck, all three men would be there. She could shuffle Steve out and leave the heroing to the people who knew it.
For the first time ever, Pepper appreciated Tony's open floor plan. It provided her with plenty of places to duck into when one of the intruders got close. No time to find a shirt; she'd just have to ignore the embarrassment. Pepper knew she wasn't a hero, wasn't anything more than plain Virginia Potts. But when she'd agreed to keep her contract, she'd bought into the superhero thing as much as Tony had. She couldn't leave Steve to get caught in the crossfire.
When she reached her goal, Pepper knelt down low and pressed close to the wall, peering through the open entryway. It was hard to be sure, but she thought she saw scorch marks on the wall, and the glass waterfall had been shattered. Most of the glass had fallen inside. Emergency light glittered off of fragments that hadn't. Pepper stepped carefully as she eased into the room. Cutting her foot open and bleeding to death was not in her plans for the evening.
She'd only made it half-way when the sound of glass crunching brought her up short.
"Hands up where we can see them, lady."
So close. Closing her eyes in frustration, Pepper lifted her hands overhead and turned. A slim, male figure stood in the doorway she'd gone through, dressed in a loose green suit with a strange flat helmet, and his chest was decorated with some sort of weird skull and snake motif. Her eyes locked on the handgun he held on her. Intimidating person: no. His weapon more than made up for that.
The intruder kept the gun trained on her as he lifted an old-fashioned radio. "I've found the secretary-"
"I'm not a secretary!"
"-and I'm bringing her to the rendezvous point. Confirm?" When he let go of the button, only a static-y, completely incomprehensible voice answered. He cursed and tried again, with the same results.
Pepper stayed still as he lowered the radio, concentrating on her breathing to keep calm. "Walk in front of me." Dull gunmetal glinted as he pointed her towards the foyer. The feeling of exposure increased tenfold; she couldn't see his eyes, but she knew he was looking at her breasts, and suddenly a bullet was only one of her worries.
Natasha had prepared her. She was used against Tony too often for it not to happen again. No heroics, she just needed to escape, and she could do that. They were strangers, they didn't know the house. She could find someplace and hide, wait for Tony and Natasha to take care of it.
Escape plans whirled through her head and were discarded, one by one. It would have been nice if they'd planned for guns.
Her heart was ridiculously loud in her ears as she followed the gun, moving as slowly as she dared. If you're not being restrained, run away, Natasha's voice said in her memory. But Pepper was walking on glass, and, again, the gun. Okay, okay, that just meant she had to be able to duck behind something when she ran. Would the kitchen island block a bullet? A wall? Maybe the wall. Tony had put a lot of reinforcement in after the incident at his birthday.
Two other men were in the foyer, dressed just like the first. Pepper smiled nervously at them, and kept her hands up. If she looked harmless, maybe they'd be slower to shoot.
That became moot almost immediately. A bright blue glow from the arc reactor announced Tony, along with the high-pitched whine of a repulsor gauntlet warming up. He stepped in from the side, wearing a thin white undershirt and the glove. "Let her go."
Instantly, two out of three guns were trained on him. The man behind her jabbed the barrel of his into her back. A plastic-gloved hand gripped her upper arm hard enough to bruise. "We're not here for you, Stark," he said. This close, Pepper made out a faintly nasal twang. "We just want the vibranium."
Tony's hand didn't lower, and Pepper realized with horror that he wasn't going to back down. Against his beard, his teeth were too white, clenched together in a grimace, and oh God he was going to get himself killed. "Tony. Tony," she tried, keeping her voice steady. He was going to get himself shot if he kept it up, and without the armor there was no way he'd survive. "Put it down, Tony. I'm fine. Don't be stupid."
"Listen to your girlfriend, Stark," another one of the green-clad men said. "Take off the glove."
"If they haven't hurt you," Tony asked, voice so calm that it was even scarier than the gun in her back, "where's your shirt?"
Uh-oh. "It's a long story," Pepper started to say, but Tony's fingers flexed and the repulsor whined again. "It's in the gym they didn't touch me Tony put it down you're going to get us both killed!" she blurted. The gun pressed against her spine wavered. Seizing the moment, Pepper jabbed her elbow backwards as hard as she could. He doubled over with a groan, and she twisted, grabbing his wrist. Something clicked, and everything she'd practiced with Natasha came back, working through her muscles instead of her head. The man flipped over her hip, landing on his back with a hard thump. She kicked his gun across the room, then yelped and hopped, grabbing at her newly-throbbing foot.
Someone else loomed in the entrance to the den. "Pepper! Tony! Get down!"
"What?" Pepper twisted, just as the first gunshot went off. Screaming, she dropped to her knees and covered her head. Something discus-like whirled through where she'd been standing, ricocheting off a wall and returning at a right angle. It hit one man in the gun-hand with a crunch of breaking bones. The other man ducked, but it clipped him in the shoulder and sailed directly back the way it had come.
Pepper stayed on her knees until it was obvious that none of the bad guys were getting up again. When it seemed clear, she pushed up, trying to keep her foot off the ground. Nothing big felt broken, but it hurt like Hell.
A big hand gripped her elbow, helping her. She looked up to see Steve's worried face. The discus-thing turned out to be a round metal shield, painted with red and white concentric circles and a white star on the blue bulls-eye. Pepper blinked at it, seventh grade world history coming back to her in a rush. Her class had watched old movie reels from World War II, and all her friends had sighed over a specific person. He'd been famous, and brave, and ridiculously handsome. Now, he was ridiculously familiar.
Impossible. She looked up at Steve, noticing the extremely square jaw, the height, the broad shoulders. Mentally, she added a mask and a helmet, and that worked too. The worried expression didn't really match, but everything else... Or maybe not impossible.
"Pepper?" Tony touched her other shoulder with his non-gauntleted hand. "Are you okay?"
It was too much. She closed her eyes and took a slow breath. This wasn't just crazy, it was bordering on mad science. Frankenstein-levels of madness. "Where- How- You-you kidnapped Captain America? Tony, how could you, we've talked about this!"
"She's okay," Tony answered himself, and just that popped Pepper's balloon of anger. He didn't see any problem in bringing home a sixty-years-dead national icon and not telling her. It was just the way he was, and trying to change him would be useless.
With a heavy sigh, Pepper let it go. "I'm fine." She leaned into Steve, not wanting to deal with Tony just then. He would just make her angry again. "Where's Natasha?"
"Natasha?" Tony asked. "How did you know-"
"I'm right here." Natasha faded into view from the shadows. It was impossible to be sure in the dim light, but Pepper had the impression that she was frowning. "Rhodey and I took care of everyone outside. SHIELD agents are on the way to help with clean up. We're going to report it as a burglary gone wrong. I got her."
Gratefully, Pepper switched her weight from Steve to Natasha, ignoring Tony's bemused look. He didn't look hurt, and they'd survived. That would be enough. "Is there time for me to find a top?" she asked. Steve was being kind enough to keep his eyes on her face, but she knew that as soon as Tony came down from the adrenalin rush, he would start making cracks, and she really just didn't want to deal with it. "And I think I broke my toe."
"Your shirt is under the bench, and a medic will arrive with SHIELD," Natasha promised, helping her hop along. Behind them, Steve murmured something to Tony, who responded with a laugh. That was something she would have to deal with very, very soon. But it could wait until the lights were back on and the hero business was dealt with.
"How bad is it?" Pepper asked, trying to ignore the feeling that people were watching them. Natasha said that it was safe, so it was safe. If she couldn't trust the super-spy... "The explosions?"
"Both of our cars," Natasha answered brusquely. Her hand on Pepper's back was bare-her gloves were still in the locker room somewhere. "Some of them had SI name tags, so that must be how they got access. If I put you down in the kitchen, will you stay put while I get your clothes?"
She flushed. "Please? I don't want to try hopping there."
They were both silent after that, until they reached the kitchen and Pepper sank into one of the breakfast table chairs. Then she grabbed for Natasha's hands, looking up at her anxiously.
"Are you okay?" she asked, realizing that the question was belated. "You didn't get hurt?"
Natasha kissed her cheek. "Ninja."
Pepper had worked with Tony long enough to know a dodge when she heard it. But if Natasha didn't want to tell her, then she would just have to find out later. "Alright, then. Go get my shirt before I flash SHIELD agents on accident."
"You don't mind flashing me."
She smiled tiredly and kissed Natasha's lips, slightly dizzy with the rush of it all. As soon as she calmed down she was going to hurt all over, but just then she could concentrate on Natasha's lips, and her hand on her shoulder, and the faint smell of smoke in her hair. It was exhilarating and more comfortable than it had any right to be. "That's different."
***
Thiry minutes later, Pepper was fully clothed and alone at the kitchen table. Her foot stretched out under it, propped carefully on a chair. The rest of her was folded over to press her forehead against the cool glass tabletop. Natasha had inspected her toe and declared it definitely broken. Apparently, kicking guns while barefoot was a bad idea. How had she been supposed to know? Movies made it all look easy.
SHIELD had moved in like Tony at the Playboy Mansion's Halloween Bash-they were everywhere, all at once, and probably sticking their hands in places that would only cause trouble. Natasha had gone, probably to report to Fury. Pepper had made her promise not to leave without saying goodbye, but the more minutes that passed without a sign of Natasha, the less Pepper actually believed she'd see her again. The SHIELD agents weren't helping Pepper's worries at all. Every few minutes, one of them would look in on her, mutter something into some sort of ear-piece-microphone-thingy, and then leave again. It had happened three times already.
She was tired, dirty, worried sick and her foot throbbed. The last thing she wanted to do was sit and wait and worry. Each intrusion made her a little tenser, knotting along the back of her neck and spine, and she wasn't going to put up with super-secret-agent ridiculousness on top of it all. So when the kitchen door opened for the fourth time, her patience broke. "No, I haven't run off with your ninja yet, and you can stop acting like I'm going to!" Pepper snapped without looking up.
"I didn't think you were. Broken toe, isn't it?"
At Tony's voice, Pepper yanked up from the table so fast that the legs of her chair bounced. "Tony!"
Looking rumpled and tired, Tony still smiled at her as he stood in the doorway. The thin undershirt had been switched for one that hid the arc reactor, a light beige polo that really shouldn't have been worn with his skin tone. It looked familiar, but it was so bland that she couldn't place it. "Thought you could use some company. You know, while getting on with the healing and pain and all."
That was... thoughtful. Very thoughtful. Tony being very thoughtful.
Immediately, Pepper's guard went up."Is that the only reason you came?" She patted the seat next to her and scooted her chair sideways, so he could sit. Pain jolted up her foot when the move jarred it, but she gritted her teeth and ignored it as best she could.
"No." Tony's smile faded as he sat, and her heart hurt a little to see it go. He settled in, resting his chin in one hand. The gauntlet was nowhere to be seen-knowing Tony, he'd probably hidden it with the rest of the armor. "So. Natasha, huh?"
Pepper mirrored his position and raised her eyebrows. "Steve, huh?"
"Touché." Tony laughed and shook his head, looking away. "What gave us away? I checked for bite marks."
"You have a closet full of clothes, and you're wearing that shirt?" Reaching out, she plucked at his sleeve. Oil and grease stains were barely visible along the back. Someone had been shoved down against a worktable, and she was willing to bet that it hadn't been Tony. "I'm happy for you."
Tony went quiet. When she touched the back of his hand questioning, he looked up, eyes dark. "If you and Natasha hadn't-I mean would you have... if..." Abruptly, he shook his head. "Never mind. I'm a fountain of bad questions. Watch me fountain."
The only thing for it was time, but Pepper squeezed Tony's hand anyway. "I'm sorry." If she could have, she would have wrapped him in a hug, but moving her foot would end with her sprawled in pain on the floor and that wouldn't do anyone any good at all. "I didn't mean to hurt you. But... I don't think Natasha changed anything. It just wasn't working. We both know that."
"I guess." His mouth turned upwards on one side in a lop-sided smile. "Worse ways for it to work out, though. I always did like vintage action figures, and this one comes with real shield-throwing action." Tony turned his hand around and returned her squeeze. "So, wanna go save our significant others from Fury? Maybe hit up an ambulance on the way. I hear there's one outside."
In response, Pepper lifted her other hand pointedly. Tony helped her up, balancing on one foot and slotting himself neatly under her arm.
Bad foot well off the ground, Pepper hopped along and clutched Tony for support. Every little move made it ache. She really didn't want to know what it would be like to put weight on it. Together, they made their way outside, where sleek SHIELD cars were lined up bumper to bumper with cargo vans across Tony's lawn. Floodlights mixed with the red and blue lights that turned slowly atop the ambulances, turning the dozen men lying in cuffs on the ground into an art piece instead of imminent justice.
She wondered where Rhodey was. Playing media clean-up for Tony again, probably. Pepper frowned and craned her neck, hoping to catch a glimpse of him somewhere. The part of her mind that had been Tony's keeper for too long clicked into motion. Would a gift basket be out of place? What was an appropriate thank you to someone for helping to fight villains with bad fashion sense?
"Potts!" someone bellowed from the far side of the line of cars. Emergency lights shone on Fury's bald scalp as he stalked towards them. Natasha and Steve flanked him in military lockstep.
"Oh, boy," Tony muttered. "Busted."
"Shh!" Pepper chided, doing her best to stand up straight. "General Fury."
"I thought I told you to watch out for him!" Fury didn't show any signs of caring that she was injured. Not that she'd expected him to even ask why she was using Tony as a human crutch. Sure enough, Fury proved that he had the empathy of a too-small shoe by just jabbing a finger in Tony's direction. "You're supposed to be his keeper, girl. Where they hell were you when he needed keeping?"
Pepper forced herself to smile through gritted teeth. Kicking him would probably be a federal offense. And anyway, her foot was hurt. "I don't think that's any of your business, General," she replied as sweetly as she could.
"Oh, I think it is, when the answer is canoodling with my best agent." He loomed. It was the only word for it. Pepper instantly felt a foot shorter, and much more mortal. Natasha's eyes went wide and panicked behind him, but she didn't make a move to protest.
"That's none of your-" Pepper started to repeat, but Fury cut her off.
"I'm making it mine. Black Widow!"
"Sir!"
"Agent Coulson will relieve you tomorrow morning" Fury snapped, and Pepper's heart plummeted. "It's been noting but trouble and insubordination from you since you got this job. You're to report to me at oh-eight-hundred tomorrow for reassignment-"
"No she isn't," Tony jumped in, almost dropping Pepper when he tried to step physically up to Fury. Yelping, she grabbed his shoulders t o try and stay upright. Before she could fall, Natasha had slipped into Tony's place, sliding an arm around Pepper's waist to hold her up. Pepper hadn't even seen her move-she was just there, like magic. Ninja, Pepper reminded herself, gratefully switching her grip to Natasha.
Fury and Tony stared each other down, Tony utterly calm and a bit smug, while Fury looked like he might pop a blood vessel. "And why," he asked slowly, "is that?"
"She quits," Tony said simply. Pepper hand on Natasha's shoulder tightened in shock. What did he think he was doing? She stared at Tony, trying to read him. Years together, and he still surprised her every day, but there was something there, something she couldn't quite name...
"She quits?" Fury's mouth dropped open.
"I quit?" Natasha echoed incredulously.
Pepper shushed her. Something about Tony's expression-the smirk, the way he leaned into Fury's space-made her breathe easier. For all the hell he put her through, no one outfoxed Tony Stark.
"Yeah. She quits." The bustle of the crime scene around them slowed as agents stopped what they were doing mid-arrest, watching the drama unfold. Tension wracked up Pepper's back from being at the center of it all. She dealt with it by glaring at anyone who watched too closely. Bad enough that they'd tromped all over Tony's lawn, they could at least do their jobs instead of gawking like drivers going past a bad accident on the freeway. "See, you guys at the government don't want me on your little project. And you know what? That's okay. We're cool. I'll just start my own superhero team."
Fury's mouth shut and his expression flattened into a disbelieving glare. "You're shitting me."
Tony grinned, the wide grin of someone who knew he'd won. "Not even a little. We're called the Avengers. Already trademarked, sorry. Widow's on it. So's Steve. You'll have to find someone else to fire."
Slowly, Fury turned his head to stare at Natasha from his single working eye. "Is that so?"
Natasha kneaded Pepper's side nervously, looking sideways at her in question. Pepper could only shrug a shoulder helplessly. It was news to her too-which was surprising, to say the least. She didn't think Tony even knew how to begin to file for a trademark on his own.
After a second, Natasha nodded and turned back to face Fury. "Sir," she said, voice firm and determined, "I'd like to tender my resignation."
As if in disbelief, Fury's head turned the other way. "Cap?"
Steve only shrugged and stepped over to Tony's side. "He's very persuasive, sir."
"I'll bet." The gimlet stare somehow turned on all of them simultaneously. Maybe it was a trick of the light, but Pepper thought Fury's lips might have twitched. She suddenly found herself wondering what the odds were of Tony breaking into SHIELD headquarters and kidnapping Captain America with enough spare time to fly safely back to LA before the wrath of SHIELD descended. It had been two weeks before Fury had done anything about Tony's so-subtle "go straight home and say I'm not there" strategy. He'd never had any trouble beating Tony to the punch before.
The stare went on long enough that Pepper's good leg started to get tired when Fury turned his back on them and stalked away. Steve and Tony kept glancing over at each other, like teenagers eager to get away from the teacher.
Natasha seemed to see it too. "I'll help Pepper to the ambulance," she said to Tony, tightening her arm around Pepper's waist. "I'm sure you and Steve have better things to do."
Neither of them needed a second hint. Tony latched onto Steve's arm and dragged him back to the house, babbling about rebooting Jarvis. Pepper rolled her eyes at them and leaned into Natasha. It might take Tony a while to get over the hurt of the break-up, but she was pretty sure he'd be okay.
"So," Natasha started, voice unusually hesitant as they hobbled towards the ambulances. "I'm a private ninja now. Not going anywhere."
"Hmm." Pepper nodded along, then took a good look around to see if anyone could hear them. Not many; everyone was trying hard to look busy, in case Fury came back. A group of people were dedicatedly inspecting the shrubs, while others made a big show of rounding up already-rounded-up prisoners and reading them their rights in loud voices. "You know. I want to kiss you. Right here. Now." Natasha stopped walking, making Pepper hop awkwardly to stop with her. "There's no reporters," she continued, rallying her Inner Tony. "Just a lot of agents, and Fury already knows about us, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't know that Tony and Steve are probably making out behind a door somewhere. It's our job, isn't it? Protecting them. But I also just want to ki-"
Natasha dragged her close, firm lips and gorgeous red curls falling all over. Pepper clung and tried to remember to breathe. The scent of body-heated leather and smoke filled her nose. Lack of balance forced her to press up close, but Natasha's arm slipped around her back as their mouths slid across each other. The gathered agents were too professional to catcall, so there wasn't even that to distract her. Even the pain in her foot seemed distant.
When the kiss broke, they stayed close enough that Pepper could feel Natasha breathing. "So, Ms. Potts," she whispered. "Natalie Rushman seems to have vanished and you need an assistant. I'd like to apply for the job. My name's Natasha Romanov."
Pepper smiled. "Well, Ms. Romanov, let me check my schedule, and we'll see about working you in." It felt like every eye was on her, but she kissed Natasha again anyway. There was a sort of exhilaration in not caring. "I think you'll like working for Stark Industries."
fin
Missing Scene
By tsukinofaerii
Beta: caer_swan & valtyr
Rating: SNAP
Warnings: Sex, Crack.
Spoilers: Movie: Iron Man 2
Series: Iron Man (movieverse)
Pairings: Pepper/Natalie; Tony/Pepper; suggested Tony/Steve
Summary: Roughly a year after the events at the Stark Expo, Pepper's "stable-ish" relationship with Tony has deteriorated into more -ish than stable. Tony has been keeping secrets, and he's brought home a mystery blond who occupies all his time-including the time he should have been using for work. While holding things together, Pepper finds herself getting much, much closer to Natalie. But Natalie may be hiding a few secrets of her own. (~23,000 words)
This story is a work of transformative fiction, such being defined as a work which incorporates characters and situations which have been created by other authors/artists. No infringement of copyright is intended and no profit is being made from the creation or dissemination of this work.
***
Rhodey didn't yell at Tony after that first outburst, but he obviously wasn't pleased, and every time Pepper had reason to interrupt them, he was eyeing Steve like he was Tony's latest explosive gadget. For the most part, Pepper kept herself busy elsewhere and tried to ignore the worst of it. Rhodey, she reminded herself, had every reason to be angry. Tony had dumped the job of defending the country on his shoulders at a moment's notice, and all so that he could play hide and seek with SHIELD. She checked hourly to make sure no one had died, and provided dinner at five o'clock. Beyond that, she washed her hands of it.
When eight o'clock passed and no one had brought the Thai boxes back, Pepper gave up on waiting and mentally clocked herself out for the night. If Tony forgot, they would only mold a little over night, and it was much more likely that Steve would take care of it. He'd proven himself remarkably thoughtful that way.
Pepper removed her shoes as she headed to the gym. Natasha had been kept running all day; Pepper had barely seen her since Rhodey arrived. She didn't have any proof, but she was a little suspicious of the errands downtown that had magically appeared just after they'd been caught out. Not that she blamed Tony. She couldn't blame Tony. That didn't stop it from being extremely annoying.
There was no sign of Natasha in the main room, so Pepper passed the mat and went straight for the lockers. If she'd been caught in traffic, or Tony had waylaid her, Pepper could at least stretch a bit and do what she could on her own, which wasn't much.
When she pushed open the swinging door, a shuffle overhead warned her. Pepper dropped to the floor and scrambled backwards as someone fell from the ceiling. She was already pushing to her feet and preparing to run when the red curls and black body suit finally came into focus.
Pepper froze where she was, dropping her head back to glare nearly directly upward. Her eyes wanted to linger on the tight, tight bodysuit, but she made them rise until she was staring Natasha in the face. "That wasn't funny."
"I thought it was." Full lips curved into a smile as Natasha held out a hand, helping Pepper up. She was wearing thin, soft black gloves that didn't feel quite like leather, but Pepper couldn't tell what else they might have been. Some super secret, high-tech material made out of unstable molecules or something, she bet. "You moved quick, but next time try to stay on your feet. You'll get away faster."
"This was a lesson?" Pressing a hand to Natasha's sternum, Pepper stepped into her personal space. The bank of benches kept her from retreating. In their bare feet, Pepper was taller by a good margin. It gave her a little rush when Natasha had to tip her head back to meet her eyes. "No. Not quite. You were just doing... spying and- and stuff. Weren't you?"
"Maybe a little. I have a second job, you know, Ms Potts." Natasha didn't stop smiling as she hooked her arms around Pepper's neck. "But maybe I wanted to surprise you, too. See how you're coming along."
"That's cheating," Pepper whispered. They weren't in the den, or in a car, Pepper realized with a shock. No one would interrupt them.
"I never said I play fair." Their lips brushed, and the few second thoughts Pepper had started to dissolve away. Natasha seemed to see where her thoughts were headed, because she kissed her again, until Pepper's knees started to feel shaky.
When the kiss ended, Pepper closed her eyes and forced herself to pull away an entire inch. More than that seemed impossible, but an inch was better than nothing. "We should-I want to practice. Throwing you, I mean. And kisses-kicks! I mean kicks. I like the kicks." Mortified, Pepper dropped her forehead to Natasha's shoulder. "You know what I mean."
"You're right." Natasha sounded as out of breath as Pepper felt. Her hands came up between them, fingertips dipping under Pepper's waistband. "You're doing well. We shouldn't... get distracted. Should we?"
It was only an hour, and she'd never had any trouble controlling herself before. Whatever it was about Natasha that pulled her strings, it worked. "Right. No distractions." Pepper told her legs to move, but the traitors moved in the wrong direction, pressing her in close again. "I'll just... go. Get changed. Right?
Natasha sat down heavily on the bench as Pepper crowded her. "You should."
Unthinking, Pepper dropped down onto her lap again, the way they'd been one the sofa. The hem of her blouse bunched around Natasha's wrist, leaving a pale line of skin visible up to her ribs. Even gloved, Natasha's fingers were warm.
"I should," Pepper agreed. Bad time and bad place bounced around in her head, but when would be a good time? And they were as private as she'd ever get, working for Tony.
She wanted it. She'd gotten so good at denying herself. Just once, she wanted to take a risk.
Silk whispered as Pepper gripped her shirt and lifted. It didn't make a sound when it dropped to the floor, leaving her in just a plain cotton bra. Biting the inside of her lip, she looked down at Natasha. "Are you going to help, or not, Ms. Rushman?"
"Romanov. And yes, Ms. Potts, I am." Velcro ripped, and the gloves followed the blouse to the floor with little whmphs of impact. Their lips barely brushed as Natasha twisted the back of Pepper's bra band to pop the hooks, and added it to the pile. Without the gloves, Natasha's hands were more than warm, a sharp contrast to the chill of the locker.
Pepper grabbed the zipper at the front of her bodysuit and tugged, surprised when her thumb brushed from Natasha's breastbone all the way past her navel without ever touching cloth. "No...?" She lost track of the thought when Natasha's fingers dipped low. Her knees ached from the cold stone bench, but it was easy to ignore when her skirt was being pushed up.
"Built in. Just in case," Natasha murmured, tongue touching Pepper's bottom lip in a teasing flick. "Can't always have a bra handy."
That was actually a really good idea. She opened her mouth to say so, but the words got caught in an embarrassingly high squeak instead when Natasha found her goal. Pepper shivered, and Natasha laughed and curled her fingers in a way that made Pepper squeak again.
Determined not to be left behind, she slid her hands inside the very-definitely-leather suit and squeezed. It earned her a soft moan as Natasha's back arched. Her fingertips followed the lines of Natasha's body, feathering over the sensitive skin on the side of her breast and firming over the more ticklish ribs.
It was so simple to fall back into the patterns, she thought, squirming to get out of her skirt. It became a dance: her trying to get her clothes off, and Natasha trying to keep her still. In more time than she liked, Pepper had gotten Natasha peeled down to just the bottom half of her suit. Most of her clothes were in a pile, but her grey lace panties had been lost somewhere when she'd kicked them off her ankle. With Natasha's skin under her hands and mouth, tasting faintly of leather and sweat, she didn't even mind much.
The bench made things awkward. One of Pepper's feet stayed on the floor, while her other leg pressed up against the locker, wedged between it and Natasha. Cold metal dug into her thigh as her lips followed a slow line down Natasha's breast. Her hand in the cat-suit barely had any room to move, it was so ridiculously tight.
"Take it off?" she asked, muffled by Natasha's skin. A wiggle of her wrist let her hand slide a little lower, and Natasha gasped. In turn, her fingers curled, and Pepper's concentration vanished in a haze as she ground down into Natasha's hand.
"Not without standing-this is good. Very good." Natasha's hips lifted, her eyes large and pleading when Pepper looked up at her. "Don't stop. Please don't..."
The slide of the kiss was less tentative when they kissed this time. Natasha's lips were full and soft, slightly sticky with lipgloss. Even the kiss was hard to focus on, with Natasha's clever fingers distracting her. Pressure built, slow but demanding, dragging over her nerves like a wet finger on a wineglass rim.
Natasha lost it first. Her head fell back to the bench as she arched up, shuddering. A soft little cry caught in her throat, strangled off. Pepper worked her through it, coaxing out everything she could. Dimly, she thought that she should have forced the clothing issue. If they'd both been naked, there could have been so much more.
Still, she shouldn't have been surprised when Natasha recovered, and immediately doubled her efforts. Her thumb pressed down at the same time as her fingers curled up. So close, there was only so much Pepper could take, and that was the limit. Eyes closed tight, she came, head falling forward. Her groan was much louder than Natasha's, thrumming in her ears and bouncing off the ceiling.
When she opened her eyes, it was to darkness and the sound of their breathing. She blinked hard and relaxed when the nearly imperceptible change from dark to pitch black registered. Probably just the electricity. She hoped. "Did- did the lights go out?" Pepper asked between deep breaths. "If that was good enough to-if this is just me, we're going to rethink this."
"It's the lights." Something scraped the bench in the darkness, and Natasha scooted up and out from between Pepper's knees. "Tony must have done something stupid agai-"
Twin explosions cut her off, rattling the lockers. Both women froze, waiting for any following sounds, fire alarms or even shouts, but everything was silent. When it became obvious that nothing more was coming, Pepper slipped off the bench and started searching for her clothes. From the sound of a long zipper rising, and a muttered oath in Russian, Natasha did the same.
"I'm going to go check on the boys," she said, and then cursed again. Soft footsteps sounded on the floor, and a crack of pale emergency lights from the gym appeared in the doorway. Natasha's body blocked most of it. "It's probably nothing, but meet me in the kitchen. Be careful." Then she vanished, leaving Pepper in the dark.
"Probably nothing," Pepper echoed, groping at the floor. She managed to lay hands on her bra and skirt. They would have to do. Nothing even like a shirt seemed close, and she wasn't going to find her underwear until the lights were back on. If she was very careful, she could check to make sure the building wasn't collapsing, and then scuttle back to find something to wear.
She felt more than a little salacious and incredibly exposed as she eased into the gym. Arms over her breasts, Pepper looked around for anyone who might see her. The backup generators hummed, just barely audible, and only every fifth light was lit. "Jarvis?" Pepper asked, padding barefoot for the kitchen. "Are you still running?"
Silence. Not even a quip about nearly naked women. Jarvis needed rebooting, then.
The usual route between the kitchen and the gym went through two different entertainment rooms and passed the foyer. There was nothing Pepper could do about the first one, but she ducked through the edges of the shadows in the others. One spare light lit both rooms; with the electronics gone dark, it was easy to hug the walls and stay out of easy sight.
Somewhere nearby, a boot scraped the floor. Instantly, Pepper hit her knees, huddling behind a foosball table. Her breasts weren't anything Tony hadn't seen before, but if Rhodey or Steve caught her, she would die of embarrassment.
Another shuffle of footsteps, and then a crackle of white noise. "Unit Charlie reporting," an unfamiliar male voice said. "West wing is clear. No sign of Target."
Ice gripped Pepper's gut. That's not Tony. She stayed low, slipping under the table and curling up as close to the wall as she could. Frozen with fear, she watched as the intruder walked past her hiding spot, not even pausing to look under it.
When he'd passed, Pepper scuttled out from under the table, a whole new objective in mind. Tony, Rhodey and Natasha could take care of themselves, she knew. But Steve was different. He wasn't a spy, or a superhero-he hadn't spent the past two years with people in colorful spandex blowing things up around him. He was just a very pretty, very bendy civilian, who Tony was probably going to get killed if she didn't get him out of the way.
Panic tickled along her nerves as Pepper slunk through the house. Goal: the den, where she could get down to the basement. With luck, all three men would be there. She could shuffle Steve out and leave the heroing to the people who knew it.
For the first time ever, Pepper appreciated Tony's open floor plan. It provided her with plenty of places to duck into when one of the intruders got close. No time to find a shirt; she'd just have to ignore the embarrassment. Pepper knew she wasn't a hero, wasn't anything more than plain Virginia Potts. But when she'd agreed to keep her contract, she'd bought into the superhero thing as much as Tony had. She couldn't leave Steve to get caught in the crossfire.
When she reached her goal, Pepper knelt down low and pressed close to the wall, peering through the open entryway. It was hard to be sure, but she thought she saw scorch marks on the wall, and the glass waterfall had been shattered. Most of the glass had fallen inside. Emergency light glittered off of fragments that hadn't. Pepper stepped carefully as she eased into the room. Cutting her foot open and bleeding to death was not in her plans for the evening.
She'd only made it half-way when the sound of glass crunching brought her up short.
"Hands up where we can see them, lady."
So close. Closing her eyes in frustration, Pepper lifted her hands overhead and turned. A slim, male figure stood in the doorway she'd gone through, dressed in a loose green suit with a strange flat helmet, and his chest was decorated with some sort of weird skull and snake motif. Her eyes locked on the handgun he held on her. Intimidating person: no. His weapon more than made up for that.
The intruder kept the gun trained on her as he lifted an old-fashioned radio. "I've found the secretary-"
"I'm not a secretary!"
"-and I'm bringing her to the rendezvous point. Confirm?" When he let go of the button, only a static-y, completely incomprehensible voice answered. He cursed and tried again, with the same results.
Pepper stayed still as he lowered the radio, concentrating on her breathing to keep calm. "Walk in front of me." Dull gunmetal glinted as he pointed her towards the foyer. The feeling of exposure increased tenfold; she couldn't see his eyes, but she knew he was looking at her breasts, and suddenly a bullet was only one of her worries.
Natasha had prepared her. She was used against Tony too often for it not to happen again. No heroics, she just needed to escape, and she could do that. They were strangers, they didn't know the house. She could find someplace and hide, wait for Tony and Natasha to take care of it.
Escape plans whirled through her head and were discarded, one by one. It would have been nice if they'd planned for guns.
Her heart was ridiculously loud in her ears as she followed the gun, moving as slowly as she dared. If you're not being restrained, run away, Natasha's voice said in her memory. But Pepper was walking on glass, and, again, the gun. Okay, okay, that just meant she had to be able to duck behind something when she ran. Would the kitchen island block a bullet? A wall? Maybe the wall. Tony had put a lot of reinforcement in after the incident at his birthday.
Two other men were in the foyer, dressed just like the first. Pepper smiled nervously at them, and kept her hands up. If she looked harmless, maybe they'd be slower to shoot.
That became moot almost immediately. A bright blue glow from the arc reactor announced Tony, along with the high-pitched whine of a repulsor gauntlet warming up. He stepped in from the side, wearing a thin white undershirt and the glove. "Let her go."
Instantly, two out of three guns were trained on him. The man behind her jabbed the barrel of his into her back. A plastic-gloved hand gripped her upper arm hard enough to bruise. "We're not here for you, Stark," he said. This close, Pepper made out a faintly nasal twang. "We just want the vibranium."
Tony's hand didn't lower, and Pepper realized with horror that he wasn't going to back down. Against his beard, his teeth were too white, clenched together in a grimace, and oh God he was going to get himself killed. "Tony. Tony," she tried, keeping her voice steady. He was going to get himself shot if he kept it up, and without the armor there was no way he'd survive. "Put it down, Tony. I'm fine. Don't be stupid."
"Listen to your girlfriend, Stark," another one of the green-clad men said. "Take off the glove."
"If they haven't hurt you," Tony asked, voice so calm that it was even scarier than the gun in her back, "where's your shirt?"
Uh-oh. "It's a long story," Pepper started to say, but Tony's fingers flexed and the repulsor whined again. "It's in the gym they didn't touch me Tony put it down you're going to get us both killed!" she blurted. The gun pressed against her spine wavered. Seizing the moment, Pepper jabbed her elbow backwards as hard as she could. He doubled over with a groan, and she twisted, grabbing his wrist. Something clicked, and everything she'd practiced with Natasha came back, working through her muscles instead of her head. The man flipped over her hip, landing on his back with a hard thump. She kicked his gun across the room, then yelped and hopped, grabbing at her newly-throbbing foot.
Someone else loomed in the entrance to the den. "Pepper! Tony! Get down!"
"What?" Pepper twisted, just as the first gunshot went off. Screaming, she dropped to her knees and covered her head. Something discus-like whirled through where she'd been standing, ricocheting off a wall and returning at a right angle. It hit one man in the gun-hand with a crunch of breaking bones. The other man ducked, but it clipped him in the shoulder and sailed directly back the way it had come.
Pepper stayed on her knees until it was obvious that none of the bad guys were getting up again. When it seemed clear, she pushed up, trying to keep her foot off the ground. Nothing big felt broken, but it hurt like Hell.
A big hand gripped her elbow, helping her. She looked up to see Steve's worried face. The discus-thing turned out to be a round metal shield, painted with red and white concentric circles and a white star on the blue bulls-eye. Pepper blinked at it, seventh grade world history coming back to her in a rush. Her class had watched old movie reels from World War II, and all her friends had sighed over a specific person. He'd been famous, and brave, and ridiculously handsome. Now, he was ridiculously familiar.
Impossible. She looked up at Steve, noticing the extremely square jaw, the height, the broad shoulders. Mentally, she added a mask and a helmet, and that worked too. The worried expression didn't really match, but everything else... Or maybe not impossible.
"Pepper?" Tony touched her other shoulder with his non-gauntleted hand. "Are you okay?"
It was too much. She closed her eyes and took a slow breath. This wasn't just crazy, it was bordering on mad science. Frankenstein-levels of madness. "Where- How- You-you kidnapped Captain America? Tony, how could you, we've talked about this!"
"She's okay," Tony answered himself, and just that popped Pepper's balloon of anger. He didn't see any problem in bringing home a sixty-years-dead national icon and not telling her. It was just the way he was, and trying to change him would be useless.
With a heavy sigh, Pepper let it go. "I'm fine." She leaned into Steve, not wanting to deal with Tony just then. He would just make her angry again. "Where's Natasha?"
"Natasha?" Tony asked. "How did you know-"
"I'm right here." Natasha faded into view from the shadows. It was impossible to be sure in the dim light, but Pepper had the impression that she was frowning. "Rhodey and I took care of everyone outside. SHIELD agents are on the way to help with clean up. We're going to report it as a burglary gone wrong. I got her."
Gratefully, Pepper switched her weight from Steve to Natasha, ignoring Tony's bemused look. He didn't look hurt, and they'd survived. That would be enough. "Is there time for me to find a top?" she asked. Steve was being kind enough to keep his eyes on her face, but she knew that as soon as Tony came down from the adrenalin rush, he would start making cracks, and she really just didn't want to deal with it. "And I think I broke my toe."
"Your shirt is under the bench, and a medic will arrive with SHIELD," Natasha promised, helping her hop along. Behind them, Steve murmured something to Tony, who responded with a laugh. That was something she would have to deal with very, very soon. But it could wait until the lights were back on and the hero business was dealt with.
"How bad is it?" Pepper asked, trying to ignore the feeling that people were watching them. Natasha said that it was safe, so it was safe. If she couldn't trust the super-spy... "The explosions?"
"Both of our cars," Natasha answered brusquely. Her hand on Pepper's back was bare-her gloves were still in the locker room somewhere. "Some of them had SI name tags, so that must be how they got access. If I put you down in the kitchen, will you stay put while I get your clothes?"
She flushed. "Please? I don't want to try hopping there."
They were both silent after that, until they reached the kitchen and Pepper sank into one of the breakfast table chairs. Then she grabbed for Natasha's hands, looking up at her anxiously.
"Are you okay?" she asked, realizing that the question was belated. "You didn't get hurt?"
Natasha kissed her cheek. "Ninja."
Pepper had worked with Tony long enough to know a dodge when she heard it. But if Natasha didn't want to tell her, then she would just have to find out later. "Alright, then. Go get my shirt before I flash SHIELD agents on accident."
"You don't mind flashing me."
She smiled tiredly and kissed Natasha's lips, slightly dizzy with the rush of it all. As soon as she calmed down she was going to hurt all over, but just then she could concentrate on Natasha's lips, and her hand on her shoulder, and the faint smell of smoke in her hair. It was exhilarating and more comfortable than it had any right to be. "That's different."
***
Thiry minutes later, Pepper was fully clothed and alone at the kitchen table. Her foot stretched out under it, propped carefully on a chair. The rest of her was folded over to press her forehead against the cool glass tabletop. Natasha had inspected her toe and declared it definitely broken. Apparently, kicking guns while barefoot was a bad idea. How had she been supposed to know? Movies made it all look easy.
SHIELD had moved in like Tony at the Playboy Mansion's Halloween Bash-they were everywhere, all at once, and probably sticking their hands in places that would only cause trouble. Natasha had gone, probably to report to Fury. Pepper had made her promise not to leave without saying goodbye, but the more minutes that passed without a sign of Natasha, the less Pepper actually believed she'd see her again. The SHIELD agents weren't helping Pepper's worries at all. Every few minutes, one of them would look in on her, mutter something into some sort of ear-piece-microphone-thingy, and then leave again. It had happened three times already.
She was tired, dirty, worried sick and her foot throbbed. The last thing she wanted to do was sit and wait and worry. Each intrusion made her a little tenser, knotting along the back of her neck and spine, and she wasn't going to put up with super-secret-agent ridiculousness on top of it all. So when the kitchen door opened for the fourth time, her patience broke. "No, I haven't run off with your ninja yet, and you can stop acting like I'm going to!" Pepper snapped without looking up.
"I didn't think you were. Broken toe, isn't it?"
At Tony's voice, Pepper yanked up from the table so fast that the legs of her chair bounced. "Tony!"
Looking rumpled and tired, Tony still smiled at her as he stood in the doorway. The thin undershirt had been switched for one that hid the arc reactor, a light beige polo that really shouldn't have been worn with his skin tone. It looked familiar, but it was so bland that she couldn't place it. "Thought you could use some company. You know, while getting on with the healing and pain and all."
That was... thoughtful. Very thoughtful. Tony being very thoughtful.
Immediately, Pepper's guard went up."Is that the only reason you came?" She patted the seat next to her and scooted her chair sideways, so he could sit. Pain jolted up her foot when the move jarred it, but she gritted her teeth and ignored it as best she could.
"No." Tony's smile faded as he sat, and her heart hurt a little to see it go. He settled in, resting his chin in one hand. The gauntlet was nowhere to be seen-knowing Tony, he'd probably hidden it with the rest of the armor. "So. Natasha, huh?"
Pepper mirrored his position and raised her eyebrows. "Steve, huh?"
"Touché." Tony laughed and shook his head, looking away. "What gave us away? I checked for bite marks."
"You have a closet full of clothes, and you're wearing that shirt?" Reaching out, she plucked at his sleeve. Oil and grease stains were barely visible along the back. Someone had been shoved down against a worktable, and she was willing to bet that it hadn't been Tony. "I'm happy for you."
Tony went quiet. When she touched the back of his hand questioning, he looked up, eyes dark. "If you and Natasha hadn't-I mean would you have... if..." Abruptly, he shook his head. "Never mind. I'm a fountain of bad questions. Watch me fountain."
The only thing for it was time, but Pepper squeezed Tony's hand anyway. "I'm sorry." If she could have, she would have wrapped him in a hug, but moving her foot would end with her sprawled in pain on the floor and that wouldn't do anyone any good at all. "I didn't mean to hurt you. But... I don't think Natasha changed anything. It just wasn't working. We both know that."
"I guess." His mouth turned upwards on one side in a lop-sided smile. "Worse ways for it to work out, though. I always did like vintage action figures, and this one comes with real shield-throwing action." Tony turned his hand around and returned her squeeze. "So, wanna go save our significant others from Fury? Maybe hit up an ambulance on the way. I hear there's one outside."
In response, Pepper lifted her other hand pointedly. Tony helped her up, balancing on one foot and slotting himself neatly under her arm.
Bad foot well off the ground, Pepper hopped along and clutched Tony for support. Every little move made it ache. She really didn't want to know what it would be like to put weight on it. Together, they made their way outside, where sleek SHIELD cars were lined up bumper to bumper with cargo vans across Tony's lawn. Floodlights mixed with the red and blue lights that turned slowly atop the ambulances, turning the dozen men lying in cuffs on the ground into an art piece instead of imminent justice.
She wondered where Rhodey was. Playing media clean-up for Tony again, probably. Pepper frowned and craned her neck, hoping to catch a glimpse of him somewhere. The part of her mind that had been Tony's keeper for too long clicked into motion. Would a gift basket be out of place? What was an appropriate thank you to someone for helping to fight villains with bad fashion sense?
"Potts!" someone bellowed from the far side of the line of cars. Emergency lights shone on Fury's bald scalp as he stalked towards them. Natasha and Steve flanked him in military lockstep.
"Oh, boy," Tony muttered. "Busted."
"Shh!" Pepper chided, doing her best to stand up straight. "General Fury."
"I thought I told you to watch out for him!" Fury didn't show any signs of caring that she was injured. Not that she'd expected him to even ask why she was using Tony as a human crutch. Sure enough, Fury proved that he had the empathy of a too-small shoe by just jabbing a finger in Tony's direction. "You're supposed to be his keeper, girl. Where they hell were you when he needed keeping?"
Pepper forced herself to smile through gritted teeth. Kicking him would probably be a federal offense. And anyway, her foot was hurt. "I don't think that's any of your business, General," she replied as sweetly as she could.
"Oh, I think it is, when the answer is canoodling with my best agent." He loomed. It was the only word for it. Pepper instantly felt a foot shorter, and much more mortal. Natasha's eyes went wide and panicked behind him, but she didn't make a move to protest.
"That's none of your-" Pepper started to repeat, but Fury cut her off.
"I'm making it mine. Black Widow!"
"Sir!"
"Agent Coulson will relieve you tomorrow morning" Fury snapped, and Pepper's heart plummeted. "It's been noting but trouble and insubordination from you since you got this job. You're to report to me at oh-eight-hundred tomorrow for reassignment-"
"No she isn't," Tony jumped in, almost dropping Pepper when he tried to step physically up to Fury. Yelping, she grabbed his shoulders t o try and stay upright. Before she could fall, Natasha had slipped into Tony's place, sliding an arm around Pepper's waist to hold her up. Pepper hadn't even seen her move-she was just there, like magic. Ninja, Pepper reminded herself, gratefully switching her grip to Natasha.
Fury and Tony stared each other down, Tony utterly calm and a bit smug, while Fury looked like he might pop a blood vessel. "And why," he asked slowly, "is that?"
"She quits," Tony said simply. Pepper hand on Natasha's shoulder tightened in shock. What did he think he was doing? She stared at Tony, trying to read him. Years together, and he still surprised her every day, but there was something there, something she couldn't quite name...
"She quits?" Fury's mouth dropped open.
"I quit?" Natasha echoed incredulously.
Pepper shushed her. Something about Tony's expression-the smirk, the way he leaned into Fury's space-made her breathe easier. For all the hell he put her through, no one outfoxed Tony Stark.
"Yeah. She quits." The bustle of the crime scene around them slowed as agents stopped what they were doing mid-arrest, watching the drama unfold. Tension wracked up Pepper's back from being at the center of it all. She dealt with it by glaring at anyone who watched too closely. Bad enough that they'd tromped all over Tony's lawn, they could at least do their jobs instead of gawking like drivers going past a bad accident on the freeway. "See, you guys at the government don't want me on your little project. And you know what? That's okay. We're cool. I'll just start my own superhero team."
Fury's mouth shut and his expression flattened into a disbelieving glare. "You're shitting me."
Tony grinned, the wide grin of someone who knew he'd won. "Not even a little. We're called the Avengers. Already trademarked, sorry. Widow's on it. So's Steve. You'll have to find someone else to fire."
Slowly, Fury turned his head to stare at Natasha from his single working eye. "Is that so?"
Natasha kneaded Pepper's side nervously, looking sideways at her in question. Pepper could only shrug a shoulder helplessly. It was news to her too-which was surprising, to say the least. She didn't think Tony even knew how to begin to file for a trademark on his own.
After a second, Natasha nodded and turned back to face Fury. "Sir," she said, voice firm and determined, "I'd like to tender my resignation."
As if in disbelief, Fury's head turned the other way. "Cap?"
Steve only shrugged and stepped over to Tony's side. "He's very persuasive, sir."
"I'll bet." The gimlet stare somehow turned on all of them simultaneously. Maybe it was a trick of the light, but Pepper thought Fury's lips might have twitched. She suddenly found herself wondering what the odds were of Tony breaking into SHIELD headquarters and kidnapping Captain America with enough spare time to fly safely back to LA before the wrath of SHIELD descended. It had been two weeks before Fury had done anything about Tony's so-subtle "go straight home and say I'm not there" strategy. He'd never had any trouble beating Tony to the punch before.
The stare went on long enough that Pepper's good leg started to get tired when Fury turned his back on them and stalked away. Steve and Tony kept glancing over at each other, like teenagers eager to get away from the teacher.
Natasha seemed to see it too. "I'll help Pepper to the ambulance," she said to Tony, tightening her arm around Pepper's waist. "I'm sure you and Steve have better things to do."
Neither of them needed a second hint. Tony latched onto Steve's arm and dragged him back to the house, babbling about rebooting Jarvis. Pepper rolled her eyes at them and leaned into Natasha. It might take Tony a while to get over the hurt of the break-up, but she was pretty sure he'd be okay.
"So," Natasha started, voice unusually hesitant as they hobbled towards the ambulances. "I'm a private ninja now. Not going anywhere."
"Hmm." Pepper nodded along, then took a good look around to see if anyone could hear them. Not many; everyone was trying hard to look busy, in case Fury came back. A group of people were dedicatedly inspecting the shrubs, while others made a big show of rounding up already-rounded-up prisoners and reading them their rights in loud voices. "You know. I want to kiss you. Right here. Now." Natasha stopped walking, making Pepper hop awkwardly to stop with her. "There's no reporters," she continued, rallying her Inner Tony. "Just a lot of agents, and Fury already knows about us, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't know that Tony and Steve are probably making out behind a door somewhere. It's our job, isn't it? Protecting them. But I also just want to ki-"
Natasha dragged her close, firm lips and gorgeous red curls falling all over. Pepper clung and tried to remember to breathe. The scent of body-heated leather and smoke filled her nose. Lack of balance forced her to press up close, but Natasha's arm slipped around her back as their mouths slid across each other. The gathered agents were too professional to catcall, so there wasn't even that to distract her. Even the pain in her foot seemed distant.
When the kiss broke, they stayed close enough that Pepper could feel Natasha breathing. "So, Ms. Potts," she whispered. "Natalie Rushman seems to have vanished and you need an assistant. I'd like to apply for the job. My name's Natasha Romanov."
Pepper smiled. "Well, Ms. Romanov, let me check my schedule, and we'll see about working you in." It felt like every eye was on her, but she kissed Natasha again anyway. There was a sort of exhilaration in not caring. "I think you'll like working for Stark Industries."
fin