Archive of Our Own

I am Iron Man...

The heavy chords of Black Sabbath sounded through the room. Pepper paused in typing up an e-mail to her cousin, eyeing the remote cell phone hookup that flashed on her laptop's screen. She had not changed her ringtone, which meant that Someone had done it for her. Again. That alone very nearly made her ignore the call. If Someone were going to go playing with her electronics, she had a right to ignore him. Especially when she was supposed to have the afternoon off. Especially when he'd just taken out another wall in the basement with his experiments. And especially when he hadn't even had the decency to tell her ahead of time that he had a meeting all the way across the country with Persons Unspecified in Location Unspecified for Topic Unspecified and Probably A Hundred Gorgeous Blonde Women In Tight Clothes Unspecified...

She twitched.

Tony's face smiled back from his ID picture in the top right-hand corner of the screen, sunglasses perched low on his nose as he batted his eyelashes for the camera. Incoming Call flashed in sedate blue text, and underneath it a GPS tracker located him...

Right at the front door. Which begged the question of why he was calling when he could just come inside.

He'd probably broken the lock. Again.

Closing her eyes with old pain, Pepper tapped her screen. "What do you want, Tony? You're supposed to be half way to New York by now."

"Yeah, well, I got carried away and ran on ahead. Come on, open up. I've got something I need to work on." Tony's voice bounced excitedly on the over-head speakers, like a toddler on pixie styx, making her frown. Someone murmured something in the background, and Tony's voice faded as he presumably turned to speak. "I mean, we've got something to work on. I meant we, really. You didn't think I'd forgotten you, did you Doll? You're the reason I'm here!"

"Doll? Who's Doll?" Pepper's voice rose as she set down her laptop and made for the front entrance. Her bare feet slapped the cool tile floor as she crossed the main hall to get the door, taking her sweet time. She wasn't even wearing shoes! Tony and whoever he'd dragged with him could be patient. "You didn't kidnap anyone, did you Tony? We just got the charges dropped from the Bain incident, and now you're doing it again, aren't you? I don't care what they did, it's not worth the damages for you to just take them up to the nearest roof, it's criminal, what were you thinking when you— oh."

The door swung open, and Pepper found herself on eye-level with the most magnificent specimen of masculine musculature she had ever been blessed enough to behold. The simple, thin blue shirt clung to every curve and line of his chest in pornographic detail, and was just short enough to show a peek of blond navel hair. Her eyes lifted, noting the marble column of a neck, brilliant blue eyes, chiseled cheekbones and shy smile. Every detail was perfect—perfectly white teeth, perfect tan, even a perfect dimple.

He was gorgeous. And blond. Of course blond. Tony loved blonds. She couldn't even begrudge the mistake she'd made in Gorgeous Blonde Women In Tight Clothes.

"Hello, Ma'am." He held out his hand. His big, strong, slightly callused hand. She shook it automatically, eyes wide and head tilted back to take in as much of the glory as possible. "I'm Steve Ro—" A cough from Tony interrupted him, and he blushed. Blushed. Like a teenage boy caught holding a Barbie doll. It was so adorable that Pepper felt her blood sugar levels rise on the spot. "I'm Steve."

"Pretty— Pepper. I mean, Pepper Potts," she heard herself reply from a distance. The man was huge. At least six feet tall and built like a Greek God. Did people even get that big naturally? Or were there steroids involved? Pepper couldn't imagine him taking anything like that though. He looked like the sort that would be horrified at the abuse of aspirin.

Abruptly, she realized she was still shaking his hand, long after he'd started trying to reclaim it. Red rushed to her cheeks as she yanked her hand back, putting it behind her back before she could give in to the urge to pet him.

Clearing her throat, Pepper smiled and tried to reclaim a hold on her crumbling professionalism. "I'm Pepper Potts, Tony's PA. Are you a friend of Tony's?"

"PA...?" Steve glanced at Tony, who dropped the faceplate to the thumbprint pad, as if she hadn't already figured out that he'd tried to break in again.

His suit was rumpled and sharply creased in odd places, sure signs that he'd been in the Iron Man suit without bothering to change. One of these days, she was going to make him start wearing spandex under all his clothes, so she wouldn't have to worry so much about ruining ten thousand dollar suits. It worked for every other "out" super hero she'd heard of, it would work for him.

"She's my keeper. Long story." Tony grabbed Steve's well-muscled bicep and propelled him inside. His other hand carried the case for the Mark V suit. "Hey, Pep, have a room put together, will you? Steve's going to be staying for a while. And if Nick Fury calls, I'm in Malaysia doing— I dunno, something heroic. Rescuing kittens."

"And I'm not here!" Steve added. He kept twisting around, trying to face Pepper, while Tony dragged him onward towards the gym. His expression was so earnest, she almost forgot that she was standing barefoot in the foyer, in minimal makeup and with her hair a mess in front of her boss-slash-boyfriend and the most gorgeous man she'd ever seen. "You've never met me!"

"Never met you, right..." A suddenly suspicious set of absences struck Pepper as she closed the entry. "Tony, where's Happy? And Natalie? They were supposed to be with you. And what about Iron Man?"

"Rhodey'll take care of Iron Man." Tony, true to his nature, never paused as he shoved Steve through a door. "Happy and Natalie... They're— oh, about half way to New York right now. Oh look, a gym!"

The door slammed shut.

Pepper stared at it for a long moment, then sighed and tipped back her head, resting a finger against her already pounding head. She loved Tony, she really did, but sometimes he made her wonder why, and if a stable-ish relationship was even worth the strain. It was hard enough being taken for granted as just his assistant.

Pity parties wouldn't get rooms ready, though. Promising herself an Advil after she was done, Pepper headed for the stairs up to the guest rooms. "Jarvis?"

"Yes, Ms Potts?"

"I need you contact Happy on the Stark-9 jet. Tony's here and safe. Insane, but safe. Happy's to get the plane turned around and head back here as soon as he can." What else did she need to do...? "Ask where he'd like to refuel and make arrangements. Oh, and tell Natalie that if she wants to give Tony a boxing lesson, I'll look the other way this time."

"Very good, Ms. Potts. Would you like me to warn them of the visitor?"

Pausing mid-way up the stairs, Pepper thought on that. She recalled Steve's lovely chest, and his school-boy smile. Then she considered Natalie's probable reaction. If it was anything like hers... "No, I don't think so. But Jarvis?"

"Yes?"

"Have a camera ready."

***
An hour later, the guest room was aired, dinner was ordered and Pepper had taken time to make herself presentable. Since it was still officially her half-day off, this involved putting on some light makeup and flats without changing out of her blouse and loose linen pants. It wasn't couture, but she'd be damned if Tony's whims were going to cost her a day in her comfy clothes.

He probably wouldn't even be looking at her, with Steve nearby. Not that she could blame him. Steve was certainly an eyeful. Tony would have to be taken over by personality-destroying alien slugs to not notice someone like that. Even then, it was even odds which would win, the slugs or Tony's libido.

After making certain that there was absolutely nothing forgotten, Happy had turned the plane around, and there were probably less than a dozen government agencies trying to call in at once, Pepper let herself into the gym. Dull thumps and grunts echoed in the room, a sure sign of someone actually working out. Immediately, her eyes went to the figure on the blue gymnast's mat. Steve was going through some sort of routine that involved a lot of punches, rolls and high-kicks, still dressed in his t-shirt and jeans—probably nothing in the locker room fit. The lack of proper exercise clothes didn't seem to bother him at all as he kicked over backwards.

She'd had no idea a man that big could also be that bendy.

Off to the side of the mat, Tony had crossed his arms and was watching Steve go through his paces. Tie and coat missing, sleeves rolled up, collar undone, he looked almost as good as the vision on the mat. His eyes were narrowed with concentration, lips slightly parted. She knew that look. It was the same expression he had when some wonderful new technological marvel appeared, and he was trying to figure out how it worked or, more likely, how to make it explode. Even though they were hidden, Pepper imagined she could see his fingers twitching with the urge to take a hands-on approach.

Taking a place at Tony's side, Pepper crossed her arms. Her eyes stayed firmly on Steve as he twisted around and kicked an imaginary target in the jaw. "So. Where did you find him?"

"No where special. I just gave him a ride."

"Is he a 'friend'?"

"Will be, I hope."

"No, is he a 'friend'?" She tried to make the air-quotes as audible as possible.

"Probably not. Maybe. Can't hurt to try." Tony hummed a bar from a showtune, making her wince at the broken pitch. "Unless you object? You know, we're technically sort of dating, you can totally call it in. Just say the word."

"Do you want me to?" Her breath caught, before reality sank its claws in again. "I mean—no, no, not at all." Laughter bubbled out of her in a nervous giggle that she cleared with a cough before it could turn hysterical. "Why would I do that? No, have fun. Really. Really, really."

"If you say so. Really."

Really. Pepper's mouth pursed as she glanced sideways at Tony. He was still wholly focused on the man in front of them. Stable-ish, Pepper, she reminded herself sternly. They hadn't agreed to anything permanent. Tony could date around all he wanted. It wasn't any of her business how Tony spent some evenings. No matter how much she loved him, Pepper hadn't wanted to get caught up in the Stark Perpetual Disaster Machine any more than she already was. This way, when everything inevitably went wrong and she found herself completely and totally single again, they could go right back to where they were. It was safer that way.

That didn't stop it from hurting.

She kept her voice carefully light as she replied, "Just be careful. You don't know where he's been."

"Actually, I do."

Anger sparked in her chest. "Then he doesn't know where you've been." How like Tony, to make assumptions and leaps like that. Couldn't he see that she was just worried for him? And for herself! They did have sex, and something like a relationship. Tony's screw ups weren't just his problem. They never had been, but this time Pepper was willing to put her foot down.

She wished things could have stayed simple, the way they had been when everything was new, and things were more stable than –ish. It hadn't even been very long ago, when Tony had made an effort to take her out, to treat her like a girlfriend instead of just a friend/keeper with benefits. Just last month there had been that lovely dinner in Chicago... That had been interrupted by the Melter. And the next day he'd gone on that super secret mission with all the cold weather gear and she had to stay in LA to handle the Board of Directors and that had taken a month, but he'd been really nice when he'd gotten back, but that had only been a week ago and...

And they really hadn't slept together since Chicago.

Her outburst finally got him to look at her. Tony's eyes were wide, and a surprised little smile played at the corner of his mouth. "Why, Ms. Potts. Are you jealous?"

"Of course I'm not." Pepper refused to look at him. Steve had bent himself over backwards, which was much safer than Tony's puppy eyes. "We agreed that we could both see other people, remember? I just want you to be careful."

A hard thump sounded as Steve pushed off of a handstand into a somersault, landing with perfect form. Then, silence. Presumably, he was done.

Maybe he was straight, Pepper told herself. Maybe it would just be a passing interest, and Tony would go right back to her. It was possible. Tony had the attention span of a mayfly, and as much tact as a cat in heat. What were the odds that anyone else would be able to put up with him the way she had? Even Rhodey didn't, most of the time, and he was practically canonized for what he did put up with.

Tony clasped her on the shoulder and took a couple steps towards Steve, turning around to talk to her as he walked. "Hey, you know me. When am I ever less than careful?" Before she could open her mouth, he held up a finger. "Don't answer that. Just... trust me. Okay?" The warning finger turned into a small measurement between it and his thumb. "A little?"

Trust him. Pepper nodded and forced a smile, though her throat was tight. "Of course I trust you."

His grin was the blinding, billion dollar smile that he saved for the cameras. "Knew I could count on you." Then he turned and jogged to his guest, who was watching them with a puzzled frown. "Hey, Steve, that was great! Think you can show me some moves?"

From the sidelines she watched as Steve put his hands all over an eager Tony, showing him stances that she thought she recognized from a few movies. For his part, Steve seemed entirely innocent of any lewd intent. That reassured her, a little, but if anyone could draw out latent bisexuality, it was Tony Stark.

After fifteen minutes, she left to go finish her e-mail. Tony never noticed.

***
"Where is he?" The door slammed open as Natalie burst into the kitchen, where Pepper was helping herself to a slice of Pity Cake and milk. Natalie's red hair was all over the place, half pulled from the bun she'd put it in for the plane ride, and her face was pale with anger. The subdued black and chrome of the kitchen fixtures only made her look fiercer, bringing out the bright copper highlights of her hair and the russet tones of her skirt-suit. It even showed her legs to advantage, the dark cabinets making her thighs look even creamier than usual. A mini-skirt definitely suited her.

Blushing slightly, Pepper looked away from her evaluation of Natalie's figure. Happy was hiding in the doorway behind the avenging redhead, looking as though he'd rather be anywhere else. That was a good distraction. There was little as amusing as watching a six foot man hide behind a much smaller woman.

Calmly, Pepper reached for another plate and cut Natalie a slice of Pity Cake. It was triple chocolate, with a liquid fudge core and real raspberries, the absolute acme of Pity Cake. If Steve were going to hang around for long, Pepper would have to see about finding a less fattening version of it. "Tony's in his workshop—"

"Not Tony!" Natalie snapped. When Pepper blinked at her in surprised hurt, she visibly reined her anger in. "Not Tony. The other one. Big, blond—"

"Looks like a sex dream come to life?" Pepper asked wryly, pushing the plate and fork across the glass table towards her. The table was small and round, just big enough for three people. Four would have to be very cozy with each other. She didn't bother to ask how Natalie knew about Steve. Natalie knew all sorts of things she really shouldn't have. She was like Pepper in that regard. "Steve's with Tony. I think they're going through some of his father's old projects."

Natalie stared at her. With an enormous sigh, she dropped down into a chair and picked up her fork. "So you met him."

"I have. Seems like Tony hasn't traumatized him yet, though that could be good act." Twelve years ago, that had been her. Pepper wondered if she'd ever find out how she'd survived while being that naïve. "He's the only person I've met in five years who's completely fallen for Tony's 'Harmless Eccentric' routine, though."

Dark fudge dripped from Natalie's fork as she picked up a bite. She watched it drip, lips curved into a thoughtful frown. "He didn't seem... upset? Or confused?"

"No kidnapping this time." Happy stared at her from the doorway with the sweetest, most pleading puppy-dog expression. Silently, Pepper flicked her fork at him, giving him permission to leave before the girl talk descended into anything more graphic than it already had. The man fled. "He was fully complicit in things."

"Of course he was." The last of the excess fudge finished dripping, and Natalie popped the bite in her mouth. Almost immediately, her sulky expression melted, eyes closing in bliss as she chewed.

"La Rocca does excellent cake."

"Mmhm." Eyes still closed, Natalie nodded dreamily. When she finally looked at Pepper again, her expression never quite regained the infuriated edge of before. Pepper chalked another point up in Pity Cake's favor. "What does Tony want with him? He doesn't usually snatch people up." A pause, and they both sighed. "Except Bain."

"Except Bain," Pepper agreed distractedly, helping herself to a raspberry. It burst between her teeth in a tart flash of flavor. "He wants what Tony always wants with tall, gorgeous blonds. It's just a question of whether or not he'll get it this time."

She realized her mistake a few seconds too late, when Natalie's fork clattered to the plate. "He wants what?"

Quickly, Pepper ran over everything Natalie had seen over the past year, hoping to think of something that would have outed Tony to her before now. She'd gotten so used to Natalie being one of the family, she'd completely forgotten that she'd only been with them for a year. But Tony had been wrapped up in the Iron Man thing, and SHIELD, amd the changes in Stark Industries, and he'd been mostly dating her... There hadn't been much of a chance for Tony to bring home a man for the night.

Did Tony do the usual background check before he'd hired her? Or had he forgotten? Pepper was usually the one to handle personnel matters, and Natalie had been so last-second, it didn't seem likely that Tony would have covered all the bases. And he'd thought he was dying at the time, which could have affected things. Pepper would have thought he'd at least looked into it for her sake, but it wouldn't be the first time Tony had been too caught up in his personal drama to think of other people. "Surprise?"

"Tony's gay?" Natalie seemed shell-shocked, lips parted, eyes huge. It was the first time Pepper had ever seen her caught so unawares. "The files didn't say—but he's with you..."

If they were going to have this discussion, Pepper was going to do it over cake. "Tony's bisexual," she corrected, filling her fork again. "It's not something we advertise, for obvious reasons."

"But—"

"If you have a problem with it, just say so." Pepper carefully didn't look up from her cake. "We'll make arrangements, and you'll have a good reference. Just putting up with Tony for as long as you have will take you a long way." They'd really only kept Natalie on because neither of them were good at firing. It had been nice to have someone else to help Tony-sit. No one would think twice if she was let go, now that Pepper was firmly back in her old position and obviously not going anywhere.

"You'd fire me." Natalie sounded like she couldn't believe it. "If I had a problem with his sexuality, you'd fire me."

"Because you wouldn't be able to do your job." Pepper dropped her fork and finally looked up. Natalie still looked flabbergasted. This obviously had hit her too hard for her usual quick recovery. That was too bad, but this was one area where Pepper refused to let her empathy get the best of her. "You're a personal assistant, and if you can't handle the personal part of that, then we have to let you go. Tony will occasionally sleep with men, and you will occasionally have to deal with it, both shuffling them off in the morning and making sure that it doesn't get around in the tabloids.

"Can you do that, or should I get a resignation form started?"

"No resignation form required." Short, pink-polished nails drummed on the tabletop, ringing hollow against the glass. Natalie's eyes were lowered, as focused on her cake as Pepper had been a moment ago. "This would be the time to admit that I am too. Not bisexual—lesbian. I told Tony when he hired me. He explained Stark Industry's non-discrimination policy and the health plan. It seemed like a good idea, to keep him from hitting on me."

Sinking horror pinned Pepper to her chair. He'd known. That jackass had known, and he hadn't thought to tell Pepper. All that time worried about Natalie getting too close, and then this whole uncomfortable discussion that could have been avoided, and now Natalie probably thought she was a...

She stabbed her fork into her cake, hard enough that the tines scraped over the porcelain plate. "I'm so sorry," she babbled, hands coming up to twist helplessly in the air. "Just—you have no idea. I had no idea—I shouldn't have threatened you like that, oh God—"

Just then, she could have marched down to his workshop and put a stiletto in her mostly-boyfriend without remorse.

"It's okay." Natalie reached across the table to grab her hands, holding them in the middle of the table. Pepper stared at her, absently noting that Natalie had a very strong grip for a woman. "You were just trying to protect him. That's what you do best."

"God knows why." There was no point in trying to get her hands back, and it felt good to have someone holding them, even if it was something of a death grip. Tony had never really been the hand-holding type, and it had been years since she'd had anyone before him. "Since we're sharing, I should probably tell you that I am too. Bisexual. I'm bisexual, I mean. Tony hired me because of it."

Natalie's expression shifted from confusion to understanding to indignance in rapid order.

Pepper panicked.

"No, no, no, not like that— well, probably like that, he's Tony, you know how he is. He's layers on layers and all of them thinking about—no, never mind. He just—" She took a deep breath, twisting her palms up to hold Natalie's wrists in case she got it in her head to do something stupid, like confront Tony. If anyone were going to beat Tony to death with footwear, it was going to be her. "He wanted someone who would understand."

She didn't add that she'd been young, inexperienced and extremely stupid, and hadn't realized how admitting to a live-in girlfriend would affect her chances at being hired. Fresh out of college and loaded down with student loans was a horrible time to be idealistic. If it hadn't been for Tony, and his own brand of stupidity, who knew what would have happened to her.

Maybe one day she'd get drunk enough to tell Natalie about it, but it was going to take a lot of olives.

Natalie's anger faded, but she didn't let go. "You're still being understanding, aren't you?" she asked cryptically. Before Pepper could answer, she squeezed her hands and stood, pulling Pepper with her. "Come on. You need to get your mind off this."

"'This'? What 'this?'" Pepper stumbled around the table as Natalie tugged. "There is no 'this'."

"You're not upset that Tony's going after Steve? He's dating you." Natalie didn't even need to look behind her as she walked backwards in four inch heels.

Pepper was impressed at, and a little jealous of, Natalie's dexterity. If she'd tried that, she would have ended up tripping over the rug and needing a donut-shaped pillow for a week. "We're not— we're only sort of dating. He's allowed to see other people." That was her story, and she was sticking to it. If she got jealous every time Tony flirted with someone else, she'd never survive the break up.

"Then this can be only sort of letting off steam." Smiling sweetly, Natalie reached behind her and opened the gym door.

***
Pepper stared down at her padded and gloved hands with mistrust. "I don't think this is a good idea." She didn't have a helmet, or shin guards, or anything else that might keep her from going crunch. Natalie had said that she'd be doing all the hitting. Pepper wasn't sure how that was supposed to help. The only change of clothes Natalie had allowed her was to kick off her flats. And now she was standing in the middle of the boxing ring, with someone she knew had taken down at least six bad guys while Happy had been swarmed by the other twenty.

There was just no way this could end well. "I really don't think—"

"It's fine." Natalie finished pinning her hair back into a messy ponytail. She really did have beautiful hair, Pepper had to admit. It was a lovely dark auburn and thick with curls, absolutely nothing like Pepper's own lank orangey-strawberry color. "I'll show you a few things. It'll barely hurt."

That was so not reassuring. The bright blue mat under her feet squished as she shifted her weight awkwardly. It was bouncy. "How is this supposed to help me not think about Tony?"

"When you're thinking about muscle aches, you're not thinking about heart aches." Padding slipped down Natalie's chest, covering her from thigh to neck, and Pepper quietly thanked God for it. They both needed all the padding they could get.

How did she get talked into this?

Natalie settled the helmet and popped in a mouth guard, taking a position right in front of Pepper. She looked different; it took Pepper a moment to pin-point how. Normally, Natalie looked soft, rather quiet and sweet, except when she was angry, when she looked loud and violent. That was normal around Tony though. Everyone got that way, so Pepper didn't really think much of it. But this Natalie didn't really have any expression at all, like she'd locked herself away and left just a body, ready for any sort of action that came for her. It was new. It was disconcerting.

It was kind of sexy.

"—me."

"Hm?" Pepper shook her head, blushing at how she'd spaced out. Tony's short attention span must have been contagious. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

New-Natalie didn't even roll her eyes, or smile, or really do anything that Pepper would have expected. "Hit me."

"What if I hurt you?"

That earned her an eye-roll, which made Pepper feel a little more sure of herself. "I'm wearing four inches of padding on everything except my toes. Try to hurt me."

She had a point. Still, Pepper hadn't hit anyone since that one board member had patted her rear, and that had really been more of a slap than a hit. It had stopped him from doing it again, but she wasn't really sure it counted. Anyway, she was pretty sure she'd hurt herself more than she'd hurt Natalie, and while that was probably a good thing for Natalie, Pepper really didn't want to hurt herself either—

"Pepper." Natalie stomped a foot on the mat to get her attention, making Pepper jump. "Stop delaying and hit me."

There wasn't any help for it. "All right. Here it goes..." Wincing preemptively, Pepper took careful aim and swung. She didn't even see Natalie's padded forearm come up, but suddenly it was there, blocking her face. Pepper's fist bounced off gently, with barely any force at all.

"That's great," Natalie deadpanned. "If you don't want to hurt your assailant, that's exactly what you should do."

"I'm sorry!" Pepper tried to put her face in her hands, but only managed to smack herself in the forehead. Gloves, right. "I just don't want to hurt you. This is a bad idea. I'm really not the fighter type."

The mouth guard distorted her face a bit, but Natalie was clearly frowning at her. "You're right," she finally said, taking off her helmet and popping out the mouth guard. "You're not cut out for this. You're more likely to need rescuing than to rescue."

"What?" Pepper blinked in astonishment. Of course, she'd wanted Natalie to agree, but she hadn't thought she would so quickly. Her eyebrows drew together. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing." One of Natalie's gloves hit the mat, then the other. "Just that Tony's had to save you how many times now? I thought you'd rather save yourself. I guess not. My mistake."

"What? No— that's not it at all!" Of course, Tony had rescued her a few—dozen—times. But she was usually in danger because of him. "Tony's a hero. Iron Man. It's different. I'm just me. It's totally, totally different."

"I agree." Another piece dropped—the torso padding. Natalie had changed clothes, to something black and spandexy and tight, that showed off all the muscles and curves she had and Pepper didn't. "I'm sure he won't have to rescue Steve at all. But it's different, right?"

Pepper nodded along, watching as Natalie twisted and bent to take off the protective gear. She remembered how Steve had flexed and moved doing his routine earlier. He wouldn't have been kidnapped by Hammer's flunkies six months before, she bet. Neither would Natalie, or Happy, or Rhodey or really anyone else that Tony had around him these days except Pepper. Dead weight, that's what she was. Good enough to nag Tony into sometimes not being as stupid as he normally would be, but not useful at all in the life of a superhero as anything except a damsel in distress.

She didn't want to be a damsel in distress.

"Put the padding back on."

"Pardon me?" Natalie looked up from working at one of the shin guards.

Pepper was still in a little shock at the sound of her own voice, but barreled onward, before she could change her mind. "I said, put the padding back on."

Natalie stopped tugging at the straps and stood up, crossing her arms under her breasts. "Are you sure? I thought it was different."

The pose pushed Natalie's breasts up, and made Pepper's eyes want to drop down to them. She resisted. That was something Tony would do, and if there was one thing Pepper would never, ever, ever do, it was anything Tony would do. "I'm sure—I mean, it is different. Really different. But it— it can be a different kind of different." Oh God, she sounded like she was sixteen again. She felt like she was sixteen again.

Was this how Tony felt all the time? No wonder he was crazy.

She wasn't sure if she'd been anything close to coherent, but Natalie nodded, and bent to pick up the torso piece.

Watching Natalie put the pads back on, Pepper had to admit in the quiet of her heart that she'd never be a hero, or probably ever even very good at being violent. The idea of deliberately hurting someone else was abhorrent—it just felt all wrong. But maybe, if she worked really hard, she could at least go down fighting the next time someone realized who the easy target in Tony's life was.

***
Natalie had been right. Muscle aches did make heartache easier to ignore. Pepper stared at the dark ceiling of her bedroom while an alarm screamed in her ear. Four in the morning. Time to get up.

She couldn't move her arms.

"Jarvis," she croaked, closing her eyes. Her head wasn't aching, and her sinuses felt clear, so it probably wasn't a cold. Maybe she should have believed Natalie when she'd suggested a massage. "Jarvis, turn off the alarm."

The alarm died with a cheerful beep. "Good morning, Ms. Potts," the AI whispered. Tony was probably still asleep, then, if Jarvis wasn't at full-voice. "Would you like me to have your usual latte and toast prepared and brought to you?"

"No, thank you, just have it ready when I go to the kitchen." Rocking slowly, Pepper worked herself free of the goosedown comforter. Bone-deep aches locked her arms in place, forcing her to flex slowly as she levered out of bed. Even her back hurt, from the nape of her neck all the way down her spine.

But while her whole body throbbed with the effort to just get her feet on the floor, she definitely wasn't thinking about how empty the bed was. She did give a little thought to the chances that Tony's bed wasn't empty, but it was only a little thought. Even if Steve liked men, he didn't look like the kind of guy who put out on the first date.

Going through the stretches Natalie had shown her took her mind off it even more, though Pepper wasn't sure if white hot agony was much better than lonely.

At least she'd had the sense to use "her" bedroom instead of going home, Pepper thought as she forced her arms overhead. If she had to drive across LA, she'd be better off calling in sick and risking one of Tony's awful omelets. Or worse, no omelet at all.

An hour later, dressed in one of her spare suits and made presentable with the make-up and hair supplies she'd learned to keep at Tony's, Pepper made her way to the kitchen for Jarvis' promised latte. Her suit was plain black all over, for convenience, but it would do. More worrying, her high heels made new and interesting places on her thighs burn with every step. She could have worn the flats from the day before, but Pepper would be damned before she'd give up her shoes because of a little pain.

The house was eerily hushed so early, with only the waterfall and her footsteps to break the silence. Pepper liked the quiet. It meant Tony hadn't blown anything new up.

In the kitchen, the light was her first clue that she wasn't the only one awake. Jarvis and Dummy used sensors. Pepper frowned at the door, wondering if she should check with Jarvis. But no, the AI would have definitely mentioned if they had an intruder. She poked her head in carefully anyway, just in case.

Steve was seated at the table, with a bowl of cereal and a slice of Pity Cake. Dummy hovered over his shoulder, fidgeting every few seconds.

Even the robots liked him. Of course.

Pepper put on her Perky Voice. "Good morning," she chirped, sailing by with only a slight limp. On the counter, her latte and toast were just finishing, so she grabbed them before Dummy tried to "help". She didn't have enough clothes at Tony's to risk having the ones she was wearing ruined. "Did you sleep well?"

"Miss Potts," Steve looked up and smiled. It was a hundred-megawatts, specially designed to melt the heart of anyone human within a fifty mile radius. He was still wearing the loose black pajama pants and white tee that she'd provided, and his hair was a tousled mess. He reminded her of a little kid, if little kids were huge and muscled and a little scruffy. "I slept great, thank you. I didn't know you lived here, though."

In spite of herself, Pepper caught herself smiling back honestly over her cup. It was just so damned hard to dislike the man, even if he was probably on a fast-track to Tony's little black book. "I'm always here early, so sometime's it's just not worth driving home." And sometimes she just stayed in Tony's bed, and then it really wasn't worth driving home. Not that Steve needed to know that.

"Oh. I see."

Steve didn't look like he did, but at least he didn't look like the word slut had sprung to mind either, so Pepper let it pass and sipped her latte. It was thick and rich, warm on the back of her tongue, with just a hint of sweetness from the cinnamon Jarvis liked to use. Perfect.

She sagged back against the black granite counter in bliss, which turned out to be a bad idea. Her back screeched a protest as her muscles discovered the ability to develop razor-sharp edges as they rubbed against each other. Pepper's teeth ground together as she hissed, pushing herself back upright.

"Are you okay?" Steve was half out of his chair, face tight with worry.

"Fine— I'm fine." Pepper smiled tightly and waved him back down. "Just a little sore. I—" Spent an hour the day before pretending to beat up guys in cheap suits while Tony looked on in admiration. That didn't sound weird at all. "I had a good work out."

"But you're already so shapely." Tony strode in, already dressed in a pair of ripped jeans and a white button-up. Creases still lined his cheek from the pillow, so he'd at least actually used his bed instead of passing out on a workbench. He ruffled Steve's hair and dodged out of the way before Steve could shove his hand off. The espresso machine gurgled as Dummy started making Tony's morning cup. "Good morning, sunshines. Hey, Pep, do I have any calls?"

"Nick Fury called last night and threatened to throw you in jail if you don't return 'the project' immediately," Pepper reported automatically. "I told him you're in Malaysia rescuing kittens. He didn't believe me."

Tony wedged himself between her and the corner of the counter to get to his coffee, planting a kiss on her cheek that made her blush. "Of course he didn't. So, did Natalie come by?"

"Of course she did— what does Natalie have to do with anything?" Which reminded her that she was angry about that too, but that wasn't a conversation to have in front of a stranger. "Tony, we need to talk."

"Later, Pep. We've got all day." Coffee in one hand, Tony slid an arm under Steve's elbow and tried to pick him up out of the chair. Steve, being a kinder person than Tony had any right to expect, stood at the tug. "Come on, Sleepy Head, I want to show you something I thought up last night."

Steve kept glancing behind him for help as Tony hauled him out of the kitchen. Pepper nibbled on her toast and ignored the silent begging. He could learn to tell Tony no on his own. Everyone had to, sooner or later.

***
Pepper peered around the dark, open-air garage. When Tony didn't need driving anywhere, Happy spent most of his time in the garage hanging around the cars, just in case he had an excuse to use one. While Tony was hiding out from Nick Fury, there wasn't really much of anything for Happy to do. She was hoping to use that.

Cool air blew in under the collar of her coat as Pepper wandered between cars. Muck coated the bottom of her shoes where she'd waded across the garden as a shortcut. It would have been nice to know they'd been freshly fertilized. Luckily, it was thick and loose. She'd be able to get it off easily once she was done.

Being up and active for a full three hours had eased the worst of her aches, but not all of them. Twisting the wrong way hurt, and she couldn't reach overhead. Both of those limitations just forced her to realize how out of condition she was. Someone who couldn't even manage one measly work out definitely wasn't going to be saving her own day.

Working with Natalie the night before had been nice. Really nice. It had felt good to hit things. By the time it was over, Pepper had felt like she could take on anything. Morning had brought reality crashing down. She didn't know how to hit someone, or kick, or even how to get away. The numerous times she'd ended up in danger proved that. One night of punching things wasn't going to help.

But working with Natalie had been much, much, much too nice. With everything —ish between her and Tony, Natalie was kind, and attractive, and suddenly far too accessible for Pepper's peace of mind.

That was where Happy would, hopefully, come in. He would teach her to defend herself, and she wouldn't be tempted by the Available and Gorgeous and Interested in Women Natalie Rushman.

Pepper's heels clicked on the poured concrete as she marched up to Happy, where he was mooning over a lime green Ferrari. She rolled her eyes when he didn't look up. Even Tony, who loved his cars almost as much as his armor, didn't spend that much time just polishing a hood, and Happy didn't even have the excuse of being on the job. There were plenty of mechanics around whose only job was to make sure Tony's cars were always ready, down to the least little smudge.

"Having fun?"

He whirled around, hiding the polishing rag behind him like it was a raunchy magazine. Dark streaks of polish stained Happy's jacket, where it rubbed the hood of the car, and another streak glued a piece of his hair into a spike. "Pepper! What are you doing out here?"

"Oh, just keeping busy." She dragged one of her short, pink-glossed nails over the curve of the Ferrari's fender. Pepper mostly preferred her cars a bit more sedate, but she had to admit it was a sexy one. Most of the cars in the garage were, and they were nothing next to the ones Tony kept in the lab. "Tony still thinks he's hiding, so I thought I'd take time to ask you something."

Happy swallowed, setting his Adam's apple to bobbing. "Sure thing. Anything I can do for you, just name it."

"I need you to give me self-defense lessons."

"Anything but that."

Annoyance pulled her lips into a frown. It had been a decent morning so far, other than being in excruciating pain for the first part of it. Pepper hadn't been prepared for such a quick brush off. "Why not?" She crossed her arms, cocked her hip and leaned against the car, trying not to wince when her muscles staged a protest rally. "Don't tell me you can't. I know you work with Tony. You're completely capable of training someone to defend herself."

"Well, yeah, but that's Tony, you know? It's different." Happy forgot his embarrassment at being caught polishing and waved the rag at her. "I don't want to hurt you or nothing."

"We have padding." The garage was shadowed enough that she couldn't be sure, but she thought she saw Happy blush. "And helmets. Gloves. You can't hurt me that much."

"It's not the same, Pep." His big face set into an expression not that much different than it had been the night before, when he'd wanted to leave her and Natalie in the kitchen. "I don't hit girls."

"What about Natalie?"

"I didn't hit her, did I?" Happy's expression bore the bruised innocence of a man whose honor had just sullied. "I let her take me down. You saw that."

Pepper's jaw tightened. "I see."

Somehow, he completely missed the warning signs. Smiling broadly, Happy straightened from his slump and turned back to the Ferrari. "Why don't you go take one of those classes at the gym? I hear they're specially designed for girls, and they've got lady teachers too."

A lady teacher. That suddenly seemed like a very, very good idea. Natalie might have been Too Available, but she wouldn't be dismissive. "I'll definitely consider it." Nodding to herself, Pepper reached down and slipped off her shoes, hooking her fingers in the toes. Experimentally, she hefted it a few times. "Oh, Happy? One more thing."

He turned just in time to catch a streak of manure across the face. The muck from her other shoe landed across the hood of the car, dark brown and slick across bright green paint.

"Hey!" He looked down at his ruined suit, and then at the car. "What was that for?"

Not bothering to answer, Pepper put her shoes back on and stalked off.

***
Pepper jumped up from her seat at the TV when Natalie staggered in, weighed down with boxes and shopping bags. They were piled so high, she couldn't possibly see over them. It was a miracle she hadn't walked into a wall. Most of them were plain—they'd probably been in bags, originally, until they'd been transferred to boxes for easier carrying. The few things that were labeled were easily identifiable. Gucci, Coach, Dior; someone had spent a lot of money.

"Hold—hold on—stand still!" One box at a time, Pepper took apart the top of the pile, until she could meet Natalie's pretty green eyes. "What's all this? Where have you been? You were supposed to be here hours ago!"

"I was here hours ago," Natalie explained, shifting a bag higher up her forearm. Her hand had turned the sort of dark red that meant she'd lost circulation in it. "Tony sent me out again."

Tutting, Pepper turned to dump her collection of boxes on the sofa. "What could he have sent you for?" She turned around, coming face-to-face with Natalie from only inches away. Yelping, Pepper leaped back, scattering merchandise everywhere. The heel of her shoe caught on a box lid, which slid as soon as she put weight on it. With a shriek, she started to go down.

Everything toppled to the floor as Natalie grabbed for Pepper's arms, keeping her from falling head over tail into the pile. Flailing, Pepper grabbed for her too, digging her heels into the carpet when they started to slip even more. She ended up at a forty-five degree angle, with Natalie bent over her in an l-shape, legs spread, keeping her from falling farther. She was wearing a mini-skirt again, Pepper noticed. It was shiny, black and stretchy, paired with a very tight top.

Casual day, then.

Slowly, Pepper took a deep breath, meeting Natalie's eyes as an alternative to looking up her dress. Her ponytail spilled over her shoulder and across her cheek. Somehow, her lipstick had gotten smudged, making a blurry coral line across the bottom of her lip that a few stray hairs clung to. "Okay—okay, lower me. Slowly."

Nodding, Natalie let her down. Pepper wriggled her way through the boxes, elbowing things out of the way until her rump touched the floor. Sagging backwards, she dropped her head onto a squishy bag. It crinkled, and probably would leave her hair frizzy with static, but it was soft. Laying on a hard surface and not moving felt good on her sore muscles.

With a foot planted on either side of Pepper's hips, Natalie's legs were impossible to ignore. Again. Tony is contagious, Pepper thought calmly, as if from a great distance. Her heart pounded and her palms were sweaty and her muscles had decided that this new mishap didn't sit well with them at all and she couldn't stop staring at another woman's body, even though she knew better than to ogle her coworkers. For all of that, she couldn't even care, as if she'd gone to some deeper place of zen. A place Tony-esque zen, where ogling brought inner peace and stomach butterflies.

Reaching upward against the protest of her shoulders, Pepper pulled the stuck hairs free from Natalie's smudged lips. "I feel like Tony," she murmured, blinking placidly.

"That's not good." Natalie moved, and the legs went away. She leaned over, frowning. "Are you hurt? Can I get you something?"

"I'm..." Suddenly, Pepper's shame returned, in roaring Technicolor. She blushed, brushing away the helpful hand at her forehead. "No, no, I'm fine. Just dazed. What is all of this?" Blindly, she reached for the closest box to her right hand and knocked the lid off. Her fingers touched what felt like denim.

Pulling the item out proved her right. Specifically, it was a pair of jeans, acid washed and ruined in the sort of way that took effort. They weren't that much unlike the sort Tony wore, but definitely not his size, unless he'd been working with Hank Pym again. "Clothes?"

"For Steve." Bags and tissue paper crinkled as Natalie settled herself in the mess, stretching her legs over Pepper's. Around them, bags and boxes crinkled as both women made themselves comfortable. "Tony's clothes don't fit him, and he said he's not comfortable wandering around in pajama pants."

"So Tony bought him a wardrobe." That was actually very like Tony. Pepper was a little surprised it hadn't happened sooner. It was curious that Steve didn't have his own, but maybe Tony just didn't want to bother sending for them. "There's no kill like over-kill, I guess. Did you tell him that I'd ordered some things already?"

"Tony claimed he needed more."

"Of course." Staring up at the ceiling wasn't fun, but she was still blushing. Pepper knew that if she looked down, she'd probably just do it more. The ceiling would be her friend. It didn't have an eye-catching amount of cleavage. "Who is he?"

"Who do you mean?" Natalie's usually soft voice turned guarded.

"You know who I mean." Pepper risked glancing down towards Natalie. When she saw that Natalie had leaned forward to rest her chin on her knees, she put her eyes back up on the ceiling. What was happening to her lately? She'd gone an entire year spending only a little more time than usual thinking about Natalie, and now she couldn't get it off her mind.

She was due for a period, and she and Tony hadn't been... Maybe that was it.

Warm skin brushed Pepper's knees as Natalie squirmed to make herself comfortable. She sounded completely calm and detached, which immediately set Pepper's inner alarms to ringing. "Steve? I know as much as you do."

Ceiling. Nice, lovely, simple ceiling. "Really, now? You wanted to know where he was when you came in. Not Tony. Steve."

Rustling, as something warm and cloth-covered pressed against the side of Pepper's leg. She tried not to think about it. "Fury called Happy while we were fifty thousand feet up, demanding to know where Steve was. That's all."

Pepper had a feeling that Natalie was giving her a Look, but she wasn't going to risk taking a peek again. That lesson had been learned. "I know that you know things. Things I don't know, things Tony doesn't know. Just—things. Lots of things. And I'm not asking you to talk about what they are or how you know them. But if you know something about Steve that's going to get Tony hurt, I need to know it too."

For a few moments, Natalie was quiet, and Pepper didn't feel like disturbing her. It seemed like the sort of discussion that should have been had sitting up, maybe while wearing trench coats and sunglasses. They could wear scarves over their hair and exchange secrets over coffee. Natalie could start with what happened over at the Hammer building the year before. Pepper could tell her about that spot on the back of Tony's neck. They could bond.

"You don't miss anything, do you?" Natalie's fingertips tapped Pepper's knee rhythmically. The smooth edge of her manicure didn't tug Pepper's hose at all, though they were an older pair and probably due to run any day.

Pepper told herself that was why her breath caught. Just the hose. "It's my job to pay attention."

"It's not. Why do you watch out for him, when he's off jetting around as Iron Man?"

That wasn't a fair question. Pepper frowned up at her ceiling. If she tilted her head just right, the top of Natalie's ponytail came into view. "I love him. He's brilliant, and funny, and he..." She blinked as her eyes misted over. "He cares. He really does, about so many things. He doesn't always show it, but..."

The gentle touches on her knee continued, never really moving beyond the kneecap. "Does he love you?"

She thought about stable-ish, which she'd been the one to push for. Tony had wanted commitment, but hadn't argued very hard when she'd told him that he he'd have to work for it. He hadn't slept around the way he usually did, at least, even though he could have. There'd been moments, when Tony was at his most charming and Pepper had though that maybe it could work. Then there would be an incident half-way around the world, or some sort of attack, or he'd just say something stupid, and it would all fall apart again.

In all of that, he hadn't said he loved her. "I don't know." The conversation was being very neatly steered away from anything Natalie might know about Steve, but Pepper let it happen. "It doesn't matter. What's the point in loving someone only because they love you back?"

"He doesn't deserve you."

"No, he doesn't." Pepper wiped her eyes, and Natalie was kind enough to not mention it. "Enough about Tony. I have a favor to ask you."

"Oh?"

"Would you teach me self-defense?" An ache had started in her lower back. Grimacing, Pepper forced herself to sit up before she could go stiff. Her shoulders burned, and her spine crackled. She hissed between her teeth, and Natalie's nose wrinkled in silent laughter. "You know how, obviously, and I don't want to be helpless the next time something happens."

Natalie's eyebrows lifted slightly. "Are you sure?" she asked, skipping the obvious what could happen question. One of the attacks they'd both been there for had been by a man with a horn on his forehead and too much purple spray-on latex. With people like that in the world, anything could happen. "It won't be easy like last night. I'll make you work for it. Do you know anything about aerial combat?"

Aerial combat? Pepper thought, eyes widening in near panic before she saw the corner of Natalie's mouth twitch. "You made me think—" Fumbling with her left hand, she grabbed something cloth from one of the boxes and swung.

The pale blue button-down shirt unfolded as it snapped through the air, wrapping around Natalie's face. Remembering how quick Natalie's reflexes could be, Pepper grabbed her shoulders and yanked her to the floor. Boxes and bags slithered as Natalie toppled over, laughing as she pulled the cloth from her face. A quick roll and Pepper planted a knee on either side of Natalie's hips and pinned wrists before she could move.

"You tried to trick me!" Pepper accused, glaring down. Her back burned, taking the chance to remind her that it didn't approve of rolling around on the floor. About the same time, she realized that Natalie's shirt had pulled up to expose her abdomen, and Pepper's black business skirt was nearly indecent with how she was kneeling. She blushed, but didn't move.

"You almost fell for it." Natalie sounded far more out of breath than a thirty second tussle should have accounted for. Her lipstick was even more mussed than before, and her ponytail was all over the place. "Are you sure you need lessons? Seems like you know how to handle yourself."

Not sure if she could speak, Pepper just nodded.

"Good. How about—"

Someone tromped on the steps. "Hey, Pep, has Natalie come—hello."

Mortified, Pepper looked up into Tony's wide smile. Behind him, Steve turned a shade of red she was sure matched her own face. Damned fair skin.

With as much decorum as she could muster, Pepper released Natalie's wrists and sat up with her arms crossed. She didn't try to stand. There was no way to do it gracefully, and she wasn't going to act like something had happened. Nothing had happened. She'd just been caught in a compromising position with a minimally clad employee who was still lying quietly under her without any sign of distress, but nothing had happened. That was the important part. Nothing. Wrong.

"The next time you send someone I'm expecting to work out on an errand, warn me," she chided, in something as close to her usually tone as possible. "Natalie was due in much earlier. You have to tell me these things." Tony didn't seem like he was going to respond well, so she turned her attention behind him and tried to ignore Natalie's unsubtle wiggles. "Your clothes are here. We'll take them to your room in just a moment." Steve nodded, still looking shocked. "Excellent. Will there be anything else, gentlemen?"

Tony recovered first. "I— I think we're good. Don't you Steve?" Grinning, he grabbed Steve by the shoulders and turned them both around, headed back down the stairs to the lab. "Let's just go work on that—project—thing—that we were discussing earlier!"

After their heads had vanished from the doorway, Pepper looked back at Natalie, who had a finger over her lips. Silently, she lifted a finger, then a second, and then a third. At the fourth, the beep of the lab door locking echoed up the stairwell.

Pepper started giggling, catching herself on a hand as she collapsed forward. The other hand she stuffed in her mouth to muffle herself. Natalie wasn't nearly so quiet, knees and body curling upward as they laughed together. Every time she started to calm down, Tony's face popped to the front of Pepper's mind, mouth slightly open, eyes popping, and she'd start laughing again.

It took deep, gulping breaths to get the giggle under control, and closing her eyes so she couldn't see Natalie's face and break down again. She hadn't had a good laugh in weeks.

"Okay, that's it," she finally announced when she could breathe again, pushing herself to her feet. Natalie's eyes stayed on her while she rose and tugged her skirt down. If Pepper hadn't been all blotchy from laughing, she would have blushed. "We should get these things put up.

Silently, Natalie held up both hands for help.

Without letting herself think, Pepper grabbed Natalie's hands and braced herself while Natalie pulled herself to her feet. It involved a lot of tugging and stumbling, but eventually, they were both upright and standing so close that a deep breath made them touch.

Frizzy curls had worked free from Natalie's ponytail, catching in her eyelashes. She blinked it out of the way, staring at Pepper from a few inches distance. Voice low, she asked, "Any other orders?"

Pepper swallowed. She was with Tony. Sort of. But Tony was playing with Steve, and a little flirting would be harmless. Wouldn't it? "I'll be sure to think of you if I need anything handled."

Taking a step back, Natalie pulled her hands free and wiped at her messy lipstick with her index finger. Then she smiled. "Thank you, Ms. Potts."

***
After dinner, the menfolk were safely shuffled off to watch movies in the den, which Steve had expressed an uncommon interest in. Pepper didn't care why he'd been so fascinated with Tony's sixty inch flat screen, so long as he kept Tony occupied for a few hours. Hopefully, it would be the sort of occupied that kept their clothes on, but Pepper was too drained emotionally to give much thought to it. If Tony was going to sleep with Steve, then that was the end of it. Trying to stop it would only make her feel like a jealous harpy.

Having watched Tony hang all over Steve all day, Pepper was more than ready to punch things again. Her aches from the night before had settled down, and there was nothing to keep her from thinking about how, if she weren't such a coward, it could be her down there snuggled up against Tony's side, while Elijah Wood looked adorably Hobbit-y and Viggo Mortensen tried and failed to make the movie even a little heterosexual. Steve probably wasn't snuggled in, but she would bet money Tony would be before they'd gotten through the first part of the trilogy. Even the presence of Happy in the armchair off to the side wouldn't shame Tony into behaving.

Shame only worked on people who had it.

Pepper made sure that Dummy was stowed safely out of the way before going down to the gym. She shivered when the cold air hit her skin. Someone must have turned the thermostat down. "Natalie! Are you in here?" she called, stepping in and looking around. The gymnasium didn't look at all different from the night before. She felt a little betrayed by that. Her whole life felt like it was slipping out of control. The least the room could have done was look unkempt or have magically appearing bloodstains. It should have had melodrama. Instead, all it had was...

"Natalie!" The woman herself looked up from a set of splits that made Pepper's legs ache in sympathy. She'd taken time to dress in the same black exercise gear from the night before, and had braided her hair into a club. She smiled and stretched, rolling herself to her feet in a move that Pepper thought defied the laws of physics and the flexibility of the human spine.

"Ready?" Natalie bounced in the middle of the blue padding. None of the protective gear from the day before was visible, and she definitely wasn't wearing any of it. As if aware of Pepper's eyes on her, Natalie casually bent her left leg up and stretched it overhead. "I'm going to teach you how to stretch first. It'll help with the soreness, and you'll be less likely to pull a muscle."

Pepper nodded distractedly. Her cheeks burned from blushing, but it was hard to know what Natalie might have thought of it. She had the best professionally blank expression Pepper had ever seen. "Just let me change clothes. I can't do this in a skirt."

Natalie's nose wrinkled, but she just nodded and switched legs. Pepper fled for the lockers.

There were only a dozen plain lockers, but the shower facilities were the best money could buy, and Pepper had never heard of a gym locker with a walk-in closet. Like everything Tony owned, they were stocked with everything anyone could ever need, including clothes. The least garish color was simple black pants and matching top, which was probably why Natalie was in it. One day, Pepper was going to explain to Tony that not everyone looked good in red and gold, especially not redheads. The least he could do is see about providing some more neutral shades.

Or maybe she'd just buy what she wanted, and tell Jarvis to sound an alarm if Tony tried to get rid of them. That plan had worked with the espresso machine. She'd purchased it out of spite, and now Tony had a cup every morning.

While getting dressed, she was uncomfortably aware that some of her underwear was less revealing than the skin-tight spandex and, probably, the skin-tight spandex would end up revealing the lines of her underwear, making modesty moot. After a moment of thought, Pepper decided to risk the panty lines. Natalie was—well, she was nice, and gorgeous, and a very good female friend in a world that was regularly hosed down with testosterone. When no one else listened to her complaints about Tony, Natalie did. The last thing Pepper wanted to do was scare her off. Especially when everything with Tony was going so badly; what if Natalie thought she was just a rebound?

No, Pepper told herself firmly. She was with Tony, and even if they weren't exclusive, it would feel too much like cheating. If she broke up with Tony first, and Natalie somehow actually wanted her, that would be something else entirely. But she and Tony weren't going to break up. They were just going though a rough patch. Rough year. Rough decade...

Pepper closed her eyes and thumped her head forward against a locker. The bottom edge of her panties had already rolled underneath the spandex pants, making a very visible line under them. Thong underwear had never been her preference, and now she was regretting it. I am in so much trouble.

Gritting her teeth, Pepper stripped her bottom half again and stuffed her underwear into the locker with her clothes. Hopefully, Natalie wouldn't notice the lack. Or hopefully she would, Pepper wasn't sure which. Either way, what she wouldn't be noticing was Pepper's social awkwardness, and that was all for the best.

At least when Pepper returned to the main room, Natalie wasn't bending in impossible ways any more. Standing in the middle of the room with her hands on her hips wasn't much better, but she could hardly be blamed for being stunning.

"Are you ready?"

There still wasn't any personal padding nearby. Pepper looked around for it as she stepped onto the mat. "Where is everything?" Stretching, she could understand not needing much protection, but she was pretty sure she might land at least one solid hit the night before. Even if she didn't, luck had to favor her at least once, on accident, didn't it?

"Not going to need it. Feet apart. Like this." Natalie stood with her feet at shoulder width. Pepper tried to mimic her, but must not have done a good enough job because Natalie leaned forward and moved her feet a little wider. "You need to learn to run away before you learn to fight."

Running away sounded like an excellent idea. "That's probably for the best. You saw me."

A warm hand pressed between her shoulder blades, pushing forward and down. Natalie's hip pressed against hers. "Bend. And breathe. Hold that pose. I did, and that's why we're taking it slow." Natalie had bent with her, and Pepper could feel her bare stomach against Pepper's bare back. One of her hands was flat against Pepper's stomach, and she was almost positive that this much contact was not needed, but trying to say so just caught the words in her throat. "Now come back up. Baby steps."

Pepper nodded jerkily as she came back upright, and Natalie didn't move. "Yeah. Baby steps."

So. Much. Trouble.

***
The next two weeks passed quietly, with Steve taking up most of Tony's time, and Natalie handling most of the running for Stark Industries. As far as the board was concerned, Tony was taking time to handle Iron Man business, which was close enough to the truth that Pepper didn't even feel bad about it. She had spent most of her time getting her muscles to work without hurting too badly, practicing the moves Natalie taught her, and covering for Tony. The peace suited her, even if it did come with a constant reminder that Tony's attention was elsewhere in the way of Steve. Paperwork didn't forget her birthday, at least.

"Ms. Potts, your presence is requested in the laboratory."

Pepper paused in signing Tony's name to company memos, lifting her pen at the end of the T in Stark. "What is it, Jarvis?"

"I believe Mr. Fury has reached Mr. Stark via videophone. He has indicated that your interruption would be most welcome."

She frowned, but immediately picked up her work and headed for the stairs. Natalie had been managing the calls on the SI lines, and Jarvis monitored the house. How had Fury managed to get a call through? Tony's lines were tighter than the DOD's, or so he said. And Tony would know, since he'd designed the DOD's security.

Her shoes clicked against the concrete floor as she reached the end of the carpet and dodged the wreckage of Tony's last accident, this one a two-foot spread of gravel that used to be ceramic tile. Every step downward sent needles of pain up through her back especially when she wobbled on a chunk of debris. Pepper clenched her teeth and ignored it, promising herself an aspirin after she'd pulled Tony's fat out of the fire. It wasn't nearly as bad as it had been the day before, which Natalie would tell her was a good sign.

Through the glass door, Tony appeared to be in very earnest conversation with Nick Fury, whose one-eyed face loomed large on the flat paneled screen. Keeping her expression as professional as she could, Pepper tapped in her passcode and opened the door. Silence immediately blasted into noise.

"—telling you that if you don't give it up right the hell now I'll—"

"—and I'm telling you that I wouldn't give it up if you had the last dick on earth—"

Pepper cleared her throat loudly and kept her eyes on her nominal significant other. "Tony, I have the papers for the Melbourne deal for you sign. You've been putting it off for a month, and they're getting impatient."

"You see?" Tony demanded. "You're making me neglect my work." His fists were planted on his desk, and his white tank was rumpled as if he'd thrown it on hastily. "I have nothing to give you, and if you don't stop harassing me and my staff, I'm going to complain to your superior. How would you like that?"

Crouched low behind the desk in a brand new shirt and jeans, Steve kept out of sight of the screen. With the placement of the desk and the stationary camera, there was no way for him to move without stepping into the blue lines that marked the viewing area. He put up a finger for silence, staring at Pepper pleadingly. She flicked her fingers at him in acknowledgement, but didn't dare let her eyes wander. It couldn't have been more obvious that what Fury wanted was Steve, and Tony was hiding him out for some reason. She hoped he wasn't a criminal.

"You know damned well that I ain't got a superior. And that's another thing!" A big, leather-clad finger pointed at her. "You know what the penalty is for lying to a federal agent when he's asking official questions, Potts?"

Technically, she hadn't lied to Fury; she'd only said that she had been told to say Tony was in Malaysia.

That was probably worth a laugh in court, and not much else.

Deliberately, Pepper stepped directly in front of the wall-fitted camera, crowding close. Behind her back, she waved a hand, hoping Steve would take the chance to scoot out of the room. "Presumably less than misusing government property to illicitly access the communication service of a private citizen?" she asked, raising her chin. "Is there anything else, sir?"

"Yeah, I got one more thing." Fury had to be as close to the camera as she was. The pores on his nose were visible on the screen, grotesquely enlarged. "You watch his back, girl."

Out of the corner of her eye, Pepper saw the glass door ease open. "Excuse me?" she demanded, raising her voice to cover any sound. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, there's a whole hell of a lot of people who'd like to get their hands on that new element your boyfriend's got sitting around in his chest, and he's got just enough sense to run straight off a cliff and into their arms. You watch out for him, got me?"

"I'm sure that Tony can take care of himself."

Fury's one eye opened wide in comical surprise. "I thought you were smarter than that. 'Course, you are dating him..."

"Hey!" Tony bumped Pepper aside, taking over half the screen space. "I'm right here you know!"

The giant index finger appeared again. Pepper's eyes crossed before she managed to focus them elsewhere. Video conferencing always left her with a headache. "And I ain't talking to you until you give back You Know What," Fury growled. "Fury out." The screen went dark.

Pepper rubbed her forehead and stepped out of the blue box. "Did you just have a couple's spat with Nick Fury?" she asked tiredly. It was too much to process quickly—people wanted Tony's arc reactor? Again? Fury wouldn't have said anything if there wasn't trouble brewing somewhere...

"I'll send him some flowers, he'll be fine," Tony promised, leaning back against the desk. He picked up something that could have been a screw driver mated with a Swiss army knife. "Thanks for rescuing me from the big bad wolf, Little Red Riding Hood. I owe you one."

"You owe me a dozen," Pepper snapped, still rubbing her forehead. The past two weeks had been brutal in more ways than one, and she'd been thinking so much and everything was still falling apart. "We need to talk."

"Sure, sure, just as soon—"

"No." She slapped the paperwork down on the cluttered desktop. Tony's blinked at her, expression completely innocent. "We're going to do this right now, when you don't have any gadgets or criminals or pretty blonds to distract you."

"Steve isn't really pretty, more rugged—"

"Tony!"

"Okay, okay." The screw-driver-slash-knife-thing dropped to the desk, and Tony held up his hands in the universal sign for surrender. "You've got me cornered. Let's talk."

Having him there, with his brown eyes and all of his attention on her for what felt like the first time in a month, every topic Pepper had been saving up scattered. There'd been so many, and she'd gone over them again and again, twisting them to every angle, trying to find some way to make them work but they wouldn't because Tony just didn't want to help at all. He was content just to skate by with things the way they were, never changing anything until it was broken beyond repair. Everything was just the way he wanted it—he had his toys and his suit and his lifestyle and her, and she didn't want to be just another toy.

"I can't do this any more."

Pepper froze at the sound of her own voice. She hadn't meant to say that, but it had come bubbling out anyway. It was the condensed form of everything that had been bothering her. The secrets, and the danger, and never knowing if this time Tony's attention would never come back to her, and not even knowing if he still wanted something more and being too scared to ask... "I can't. This is— I just can't. I quit."

Tony looked just as shocked as she did. He hopped off the desk, hands still up and empty. "No, no no no, come on Pep. You can't quit on me now. Who else is going to remember my social security number? I need you."

Quickly, she took another step back, before he could touch her. If he touched her—if he kissed her, that would be it. She'd never been able to resist Tony's kisses. No one could, really. "That's the problem, isn't it?" Pepper asked, throat tight. "You need me. You need me to pick up the pieces after you've broken them and to take care of you and to sit around waiting for you to remember I'm here and I can't do that any more. You don't care how hard you make it for me, because you know I'll be here when it's over."

"Pepper—"

"No, Tony." For once, she wasn't crying. Later, maybe, but for now she was dry-eyed. That worried her. She'd cried enough over him that she knew the signs of when there should be tears. "This is—I'm breaking up with you. That's it."

"But I love you."

She closed her eyes and took a breath that tried to lodge in her throat. "I know." More white lies, but it would make him feel better. "And I love you, too. This isn't your fault. It's just not working. I can't wait for you any more."

Tony moved into her space enough that she could feel his body heat. "If this about being exclusive? Because I don't mind—I want—"

"It's not just that. I thought you would change—that it could be different." Pepper opened her eyes. Up close, she could see where Tony's were damp with tears, and her stomach gave a painful lurch. "That was wrong of me. I'm sorry. You need someone who can keep up with the whole super hero thing, and that's not me."

"I can build you a suit—it would be no problem, I already have a design—"

She almost laughed. It came out as a choked giggle that nearly turned to a sob. He let herself lean forward, to rest her forehead against his shoulder. "Maybe later. But that's not going to help, I think."

"I'm sorry." When his arms came up around her, it felt good. She still wanted to sink into him and let him convince her, but she could resist it. "Are you really quitting? You don't have to—Natalie can't handle everything on her own, and the board trusts you to fill in for me and there's the social security thing... and you're—we're friends, aren't we? We agreed that we would stay friends. We're still friends."

Pepper nodded against Tony's shoulder. His skin was warm against her cheek, with the faintly static buzz of the arc reactor humming in her ear. She was going to miss it, which was why she pushed away. The mention of Natalie had her mind twisting over the future, playing out scenes where Natalie and Happy tried to keep Tony under control without her. Every possible scenario ended in disaster.

But those thoughts mixed with the memory of Natalie's hands on her as they worked every night, and her smile and her friendship. It hadn't been easy, but she'd managed to keep things on a level of just friends. That hadn't worked well with Tony. It didn't feel very safe with Natalie.

She would just have to be careful. "I don't know if—okay. Okay. No quitting. But you have to listen to me more often. And no more running off and leaving me to worry."

"Deal." He nodded earnestly, a little boy promising that he'd behave. Pepper would have liked to believe him. "And Pep? I'm sorry. With the Steve thing. I didn't mean it. I just wanted—I was stupid and I didn't mean it."

He was trying to make me jealous, she realized. Some tension she hadn't know she'd been carrying around eased. It didn't change anything, but it was better to realize that they were just that poor at communication than to think that she couldn't keep his interest.

"I'm sorry too," she said, meaning it with all her heart. "And if you wanted to do it with... I mean, I won't feel hurt if you do. He's good looking." Tony was looking more and more like she was breaking his heart, so Pepper broke off that line of thought. "Steve's probably waiting for the all clear. Do you want to come up or..."

Tony shook his head, letting her go easily when she pushed free. He wouldn't look at her eyes. That was probably for the best. "No, I think I'll stay down here. Just send him down. Or keep him up there. Whatever works. I just..."

"I know." Pepper turned for the door, before she could convince herself to stay.

***
Steve was waiting half-way up the stairs when Pepper came up. His long legs stretched out on the steps below, toes pointed. Bright and shiny and new and so incredibly young, that was what he looked like to her. His sneakers weren't even scuffed yet, Pepper noticed distractedly, even though he'd been in Tony's company for two weeks straight.

Remembering that he was a stranger, and couldn't have any idea what he'd been dropped into the middle of, Pepper forced a weak smile. "You might want to give him a moment," she said, stepping past him.

"I started to go back, but it looked like you needed privacy," Steve admitted.

Pepper paused, turning to look at him. Or, more accurately, to look at his back, since Steve hadn't turned to watch her climb. It wasn't his fault that things had gone so horribly. If she'd been brave enough to risk being exclusive... but she hadn't, and Tony hadn't told her he wanted it. By comparison, all Steve had was bad timing.

"We did." She reached down to touch the top of his head, ruffling the unfashionably short cut. "I'm sorry we didn't wait for another time, but Tony and I needed to talk about some things. But it's over now."

Steve's shoulders rounded, tugging at the seams of a dusky grey band shirt that was just slightly too small across his well-muscled shoulders. "If my being here is causing any trouble..."

"It's not." And strangely, that was the truth. It wasn't Steve's fault that Tony had decided to use him. "Just tell Tony... Tell him that I'm taking the rest of the day off. He knows how to order pizza. Probably. No, never mind that, just let Jarvis order the pizza. I'll be back tomorrow." She patted Steve's head again, and then left him on the stairs.

Purse, keys and cellphone were held up helpfully by one of the many unnamed robots as she left through the main entrance. Jarvis must have been listening in. That irked her, even though she couldn't blame the AI. He was the house, and Tony had programmed him with all the respect for personal space that Tony himself had.

No one had called for Happy to bring her car around, which Pepper was grateful for. She didn't want to explain to him what had happened between her and Tony. He'd get that hopeful light in his eyes, and she just wasn't ready to deal with it.

While she crossed the lawn to the garage complex, she popped in her earpiece and dialed Natalie.

It was picked up on the third ring. "What's wrong?" she demanded as soon as the line clicked into clarity. "You never call me on this line."

"Nick Fury got through on Tony's private line." Bright springtime sunshine faded into the cool gloom of the garage. Pepper's heels snapped against the concrete, the sound bouncing off the ceiling. Her gold Lexus waited exactly where she left it, apparently spared of Happy's urge for joyrides.

"What happened? Is there trouble?" Natalie asked, sounding worried. There was a steady, low murmur of voices behind her that was distracting. A television? "I've been monitoring the lines all day."

"I know, and I'm not blaming you. Fury has his ways." Pepper juggled her purse and keys to get the driver's side door unlocked. "Everything's fine. Really. Fury's angry, but he always is. I just wanted to let you know that he'd gotten through, and that I won't be available for our thing tonight." Leather seats creaked and squished comfortably under her as Pepper slid inside the car. Having Happy drive her everywhere was a luxury, but just then she was glad she'd maintained her own car.

"What happened?" Natalie demanded again, voice dropping a note. She sounded so serious that Pepper fumbled her keys, and ended up doing an odd dance where one hand dropped them just in time for the other hand to make a grab. She finally had them in a firm grip in both hands before she answered.

"It's... Tony. We talked. It's over." Saying it to Natalie suddenly made everything more real. Pepper couldn't just turn around and tell Tony that she'd changed her mind. Natalie was too good of a friend to let her do that. The tears Pepper had been missing finally started pricking the back of her eyes. She leaned forward, resting her forehead against the steering wheel. "I told him we're done."

"Oh, Pepper." Natalie's voice in her ear dropped low, and the sounds of the television conversation vanished in the click of a closing door. "What are you going to do? Did you quit? You know that Tony can't live without you—he'll blow himself up trying to make a better waffle iron."

"No—no waffle irons. I'm still working for him. I just... I need a night off. To get my head together." A noise in the garage caught Pepper's attention, and she lifted her head to see Happy staring worriedly at her from the other side of the building. Waving him off, she finally started the car and shifted into gear. "I'll be back tomorrow."

"What are you going to do tonight?"

Biting her lip, Pepper navigated the curves of Tony's driveway with ease. "I don't know. Therapy shoe shopping. Ice cream. Maybe an old movie." She hadn't thought that far ahead when she'd decided to take the afternoon off. Sitting home alone would just leave her feeling like she should be babysitting Tony, but she didn't know what else to do. There was no way she could deal with him just then.

"You're going to mope," Natalie corrected. "Go out somewhere. Have a drinks. You deserve it, and it'll take your mind off Tony."

The gates opened for her car, and Pepper pulled out onto the interstate. There was no sign of the lunchtime traffic she normally would have expected, but it was a little early for it. Or maybe it was just a slow day. "I don't know, Natalie. I'm really not the type... I never go out, and I'm ridiculously lightweight—it's really not a good idea..."

"Just a few drinks. And maybe a few songs on the dance floor," Natalie wheedled, and in spite of her gloom, Pepper caught herself smiling. "I know a place. We'll make the rounds, and then you can go sulk with your ice cream and movies."

"I don't sulk!"

"Then prove it."

"Fine." Rolling her eyes, Pepper changed lanes. Talking to Natalie always made her feel better, even if it was only for the moment. "Just a few."

***
Pain.

Pepper groaned and buried her face deeper in the pillow as her alarm clock beeped cheerily. Her skull felt like the results of Tony's last experiment with the food processor—unpleasantly green and more than a little exploded. She pushed herself up a few inches, but her head spun and she ended up collapsing face-first to the bed again. Butterflies filled her stomach, but not the good, fluttery sort she got when Natasha or Tony or even Steve smiled. No, they were the sort that wouldn't settle down and kept trying to crawl up her throat.

Breathing shallowly, Pepper turned her face out of the pillow. The clock said 8:07, which was far too late. Time to get up. Swallowing, she tried to say, "Jarvis, turn off the alarm," but it came out mumbled and broken. Certainly, there was no pleasant voice acknowledging the request and offering her coffee.

At the thought of coffee, the butterflies collectively went on a rampage. No coffee, then.

Before she could make another attempt, the alarm cut off mid-beep. Pepper blinked at it in confusion. There was a hand on it. A big hand, with blunt fingertips and a few scars across the knuckles. Her eyes followed the hand up to the arm it was connected to, and then the shoulder. They didn't quite want to make the leap from shoulder to face, but when they finally did she found herself staring at Steve. Even through the goop-filled headache, he was terribly pretty.

"Mmrnnph?" she mumbled gracefully, brows furrowing. He was kneeling by her bed, wearing an old-fashioned button up pajama top and, presumably, matching bottoms. She remembered buying them, but hadn't actually thought he would wear them. They seemed significant for some reason, but trying to put her finger on it made her head pound.

"Jarvis thought you might need some human help," he whispered. After the bleating of the alarm, hearing a soft voice was a blessing to the ears. "I brought aspirin."

Aspirin. Aspirin sounded wonderful. Pepper mumbled something that sounded almost like gratitude, and tried to push herself upright again. This time, with Steve's help, she managed to work herself into a sitting position. The bed felt like it would drift out from under her, and the butterflies all flapped together, but after a moment it steadied. Helpfully, Steve pressed a glass of water and two little white pills into her hands, which Pepper downed gratefully, along with the entire contents of the water glass. She passed it back to Steve and started to take stock of the situation.

A quick examination showed she was still in her clothes from the night before, though they were much more rumpled than she remembered, and her new pumps were missing. Everything else seemed in place—she even still had her buttons done up properly. Still out a pair of shoes, but maybe she'd taken them off at home.

After plopping inelegantly back into the booth, Pepper stared accusingly down at her feet and pouted. She couldn't stand. It wasn't fair. Natalie could stand! In a fit of disgust, she kicked her shoes off and tried again. This time she was able to get vertical, with a lot of help from Natalie that also involved a lot of hands where they really shouldn't have been in public. She squeaked and dodged, almost falling over again until she was able to steady herself on the table.

Or not.

Steve's face was set with worry. "Are you feeling okay?" he asked, still speaking softly. Clearly, he was a man who was familiar with hangovers.

Pepper cleared her throat before she tried speaking again. "I'll survive," she croaked. At least her throat felt a little better than her stomach. "How did I... did I drive? Please say I didn't drive." She knew better than to drive after drinking. If she'd done it anyway, put all those other people at risk, she would never forgive herself. Just because it turned out well once didn't mean it was okay.

Worry about her potential stupidity eased when Steve shook his head. "You called for a ride," he explained. "Mr. Hogan and I picked you up. You were very... um..." His cheeks turned red as he visibly fumbled for words.

"Drunk?" Pepper smiled wanly, and pressed her fingertips to her forehead. The aspirin was taking affect, easing some of the throb. She remembered hugging Happy through the window, and something about ninjas, and the backseat...

"Not fair," Natalie muttered, scraping her nails up Pepper's thigh to just under the hem of her skirt. "You said not while drunk." Her lipstick had all worn off except for a little bit around the edge of her lips. Everything else that was left was Pepper's.

"Oh, God. Oh God, oh God, oh God." Blood drained out of her face, making her headache even worse. "I kissed Natalie!" In the car, while the men were right there. Embarrassed beyond repair, Pepper buried her face in her hands. "I am so, so sorry—you shouldn't have had to see that. Two grown women acting like hormonal teenagers, you must have been—I am so sorry."

Maybe they would put it down to the alcohol. People did crazy things under the influence, and Pepper almost never drank that much. Happy knew about her, but she was pretty sure no one had told him about Natalie, and Steve couldn't have known about either of them.

If they were in a contest to see who would blush redder, Steve won because Pepper's horror had made her pale, while Steve just kept darkening.

"I— ah, it's okay," he mumbled. "You fell asleep pretty quick, and... um, ammonia takes out lipstick stains?"

"Lipstick stains?" Pepper risked peeking through her fingers. Steve was staring down at the empty glass, so it was reasonably safe to drop her hands. Just like she'd feared, there was a creamy, pinkish smear on her collar. That was really very incredibly Not Good.

Okay, time to get a grip, Pepper told herself firmly. She'd woken up with no unexplained mess, no phone numbers, and most of her clothing. Even if she'd been all over a co-worker, who'd been all over her in turn, she was still ahead for the night. There'd been much more embarrassing morning-afters in college.

Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to straighten up. She had a job to do, and a hangover wasn't going to stop her. "Thank you for making sure we got home safe. And for the aspirin. And for putting up with us."

"It was my pleasure. You've been very kind to me since I came here." Steve was still the human shade of a ripe strawberry, but he smiled and stood. "I'll go see if Dummy knows how to make any hangover remedies."

Pepper wrinkled her nose. Hangover remedies, as far as she remembered, tended to be as disgusting as they were ineffective. But she owed Steve for the night before, and if swallowing down tomato juice and a raw egg would make him happy... "Thank you."

Once she was alone, Pepper set about dressing. Skirt. Flats, since her other shoes were missing. Blouse. Out of hose, but her last leg wax was still fresh; as long as she didn't have to go to the office, it would do. Other than that, the closet was empty of suitable business clothes. One lab accident and she'd be down to wearing her comfy pants again, unless one of the house 'bots had taken care of it.

She'd have to check Tony's closet. Dummy never remembered to bring her clothing to her room.

Hopefully, she wouldn't have to visit the office. Just straightening up from putting on her shoes made her stomach twist—trying to drive would be a Bad Idea. Happy might help, but that would mean looking Happy in the eye, which was best saved for when her head was attached more firmly.

Pepper gritted her teeth and forced herself through her usual routine. Hair—brushed and pulled back. Remove her old make-up, and then reapply. She hesitated, but put her lipstick in her pocket. She'd put it on after she ate something and brushed her teeth. Old liquor tasted disgusting, but she'd have to brush her teeth after eating anyway. It didn't take long to make herself presentable enough to appear in the kitchen. Just in case, she double-checked before leaving the room.

The house was quiet, with the tense sort of feeling that she got sometimes when Tony was working on something dangerous. She ignored the feeling of her spine creeping with long practice and made her way down the hall to the stairs.

Half-way there, one of the doors popped open. A hand wrapped around her upper arm and yanked her back into one of the bedroom. After a moment of stunned shock, Pepper punched her elbow behind her, trying to land a blow. The elbow missed, and when she tried to twist free her attacker moved too, shoving Pepper against a wall by her shoulders.

Natalie smiled down at her. There was no sign that she'd suffered the way Pepper was, but that was the sort of unfair that Pepper was starting to become used to. Natalie probably hadn't even needed any aspirin. Her hair was still a mass of abused curls, and she was dressed in the same clothes from last night, but her eyes were clear and her breath was minty fresh. Pepper swallowed and pressed her lips together, squishing herself back against the wall.

She knew she should have brushed her teeth.

"Good morning," Natalie smiled, leaning far too close into Pepper's space. In her heels, while Pepper was in flats, they were nearly the same height.

Pepper's lips pressed together in something like a smile as she tried to aim her morning breath away. It wasn't easy. Looking down gave her a wonderful look almost directly into Natalie's cleavage, and looking to either side would be almost as awkward as her breath. "Good morning."

"About that seduction thing. May I?" The inch of space between them vanished as Natalie pressed up against her. There were still pillow creases in her cheek, Pepper noticed, and her makeup was smeared from sleep. She must have woken up and laid an ambush immediately.

Natalie blinked up at Pepper placidly from her lap, getting a strange look as the waitress set down their shots. "Do you want to be seduced, Pepper? I want to seduce you. Even if I weren't a ninja."

Something had been strange about the whole conversation. Natalie had been so serious about being a ninja, of all things. That could have been the alcohol, but there'd been more than a few strange incidents since she'd signed on, incidents that Natalie hadn't seemed to have any trouble with. She'd always known that Natalie knew too many things for just a PA, but...

"That— that depends." Leaning back against the wall for support, Pepper damned her breath and looked Natalie in the eye. "Are you really a ninja?"

Natalie's expression changed subtly, turning harder and more serious under her smile. "Not exactly."

So many people wanted a piece of Tony. Names lined up in Pepper's mind: Hammer, Senator Stein, Moscow, the UK, Nick Fury... Two years as a hero, and Tony had pissed off a lot of powerful people. "Are you going to hurt Tony?"

"Tony knows who I am."

Great. That was just what she needed. Another secret Tony had kept from her. Pepper pushed down her anger—secrets were just another reason they hadn't worked. It was just like Tony. She was so used to being angry at him, it was ridiculously easy to ignore. Like the aches from the week before, she'd just gotten used to working through it.

What she wasn't used to was hurt from the other side. That was harder. She'd trusted Natalie, and for all she knew, everything she said had gone into a file somewhere to be read by complete strangers. Every talk about sex, or her problems with Tony, or her worries about the superhero thing.

She'd thought they were friends.

Pepper closed her eyes when they started to burn. "Did you mean it?" she asked, blaming her ragged voice on the hangover. "Did you—were we just friends so that you could... I don't know, spy on us, or bodyguard, or whatever it is you're here for? How much was a lie?"

"My name—my name is a lie." Natalie's voice was almost firm, but it hiccupped over the last word. Warm, slightly damp lips pressed against Pepper's cheek, leaving a faint tingle from the fresh toothpaste. "I didn't report anything private. Being your friend wasn't in the job description—I didn't betray any confidences. I swear."

"I like you." Pepper opened her eyes, and Natalie—or whoever she was—was right there, so close that she could pick out the places where her mascara had clumped. It was a bad idea to keep talking. Pepper's head still hurt, and her butterflies had gone into frenzy, but the words popped out of her mouth anyway, and she just didn't have the energy to stop them. "I really like you. I love Tony, but everyone loves Tony, and that's different. But I'm not sure I know who you are now."

"I'm sorry."

"So am I." One of Natalie's curls had fallen forward enough to tickle Pepper's nose. She pushed it out of the way, so that she could see the expression behind it. "I shouldn't trust you now. I don't even know your real name."

"It's Natasha." There wasn't any space between them, so when Natalie—Natasha—took a deep breath, their breasts brushed. "I work for Fury." Her cheeks twitched as if she were holding back a smile. "He's going to be angry when he finds out that you know."

That explained how Fury gotten through the phone lines. It would be easy enough to check with Tony to make sure Natasha was telling the truth. There wasn't any reason for her to lie, though, and Pepper was tired of going through Tony for everything.

More than that, she trusted her. It didn't make any sense, but Natalie had been her friend, and Pepper's gut said that Natasha was, too. It was completely irrational, but Pepper had passed the point of caring. "Okay."

Natasha frowned. "Okay? What do you mean, okay?"

"You asked if you can seduce me," Pepper explained. "Okay. Yes. You can."

For a moment, Natasha stared at her in confusion. Then her nose wrinkled, and she giggled, leaning forward to drop a kiss to Pepper's lips.

Her mouth was soft, distracting Pepper from her headache, but not from her other problem. She leaned into the kiss, but pulled away before it could be more than just a touch. "I have morning breath," she explained. "And a hangover."

"I noticed." Natasha smiled, and kissed her again, crowding her back against the wall. "I'll just have to catch you later."

Pepper swallowed back her butterflies and nodded. "Yeah."

***
Pepper succeeded in getting through a hair of the dog, three glasses of water and the smell of Steve's bacon and eggs without being ill. Natalie—Natasha, she reminded herself—took the opportunity to slip out and go find fresh clothes; unlike Pepper, she didn't keep extras. Steve hovered around being concerned until she'd promised him that she was okay. Then he'd vanished, probably to spend time with Tony. Happy was still hiding somewhere, probably too embarrassed to face her, and she didn't really care where Tony was.

Newspaper articles sorted, e-mail and voicemails checked, twitter forged and in/out boxed balanced, Pepper took stock of her work for the day. At a glance, nothing was very pressing. Tony keeping his head down had cut down her workload to nil. There was a board meeting coming up that she would have to whip him into, but that wasn't for a week.

Later she'd have to approach Tony about the whole Keeping Secrets That Really Shouldn't Be Kept, Like That the New Hire Happens to Be a Government Agent thing, but first, she had someone else to speak to.

Taking a seat on the sofa in the den, Pepper rested her aching head on the back cushions. "Jarvis, I need you to secure a phone line. Authorization code Virginia Potts, Beta Gamma Hulk Nine Nine Two. Block all lower-level access to information about the call. No one but Tony." If she could have, Pepper would have even blocked him, but she knew better than to think that Tony would have given even her that much control. She would just have to hope he didn't think to ask.

As usual, the house's smooth voice came from overhead. "There appears to be a tapped line on the main house connection. Should I route around it?"

Frowning, Pepper pressed her palm against her forehead. That was probably one of Fury's tricks. Natasha had a year to work in whatever bugs she might have wanted to, and Tony was clearly complicit. Or one of his competitors might have gotten a bright idea to snoop. Better safe than sorry. "Route around it, and tell Tony that you found it in an hour or so."

"Mr. Stark has requested that I remain silent." Jarvis' voice dripped with annoyance and, she imagined, a bit of hurt. But that was probably just a product of good programming. "Apparently, my advice is unwanted."

Tony couldn't ignore the Jarvis for long. He used him for too much. "Then tell him when he takes the restriction off. Route around it from now on, unless Tony tells you otherwise. For now, dial Nick Fury on the most private connection you can manage."

"Yes, Ms. Potts. Dialing Mr. Fury now. The call is available on the handset to your left."

The phone only rang once before someone answered. "Stark! This had better be about my soldier!"

Pepper didn't need a video screen to picture Fury's face. It would be in close-up, maybe with a visible vein, and very, very angry. The mental image lightened her mood. He was the reason Natasha had lied to her for a year, after all. "This isn't Tony. It's not even about him."

"Potts? What the hell—how did you get this number?"

"Tony had it." Since she shouldn't be seen, Pepper studied one of her nails, using her shoulder to hold the phone to her ear. It was getting rough at the edge, and a little long for typing. Time to file them down again. "You know that I control Tony's correspondence, right? That includes his phone book."

"And I know damned well that I didn't give it to Stark."

"You might want to ask him about that, then."

Nick paused. Unlike almost every phone call she'd ever made, the silence was absolute, without even a shuffle of papers to give her a clue. "Did you and your boytoy get in a fight? You ain't usually so quick to let him defend himself."

"That's not any of SHIELD's business." Pepper gave up on her nails and folded her fingers against her palm before she got the urge to chew them smooth. That never worked out. They'd just end up as nubs, and she'd have to go to a salon to get them fixed. Then the acrylic nails would be too long and pop off after a week, and she would look completely ridiculous. "I'm calling about an employee."

"What employee?" Nothing in Fury's voice changed. "Stark Industries personnel issues aren't my problem."

"It is when one of those issues is a spy in our system."

"What's that supposed to mean?" To Fury's credit, he didn't miss a beat. "SHIELD isn't covering SI's corporate ass without a damned good reason."

"Then it's fine that I turn Natalie in for corporate espionage?" When her neck started to ache, she rotated it until it popped. "I have proof that she's involved in some sort of spying on Tony, and probably Stark Industries in general. If it's not SHIELD, then it's someone else, and that means prosecution."

Pepper reveled in the long silence while Fury probably glared at the phone. She didn't get to jerk around high ranked people as often as Tony did, but she was starting to see why he liked doing it. While she waited, she helped herself to one of the mints in the candy jar on the coffee table. They were usually for show, but since the Morning Breath incident, she'd been paying more attention to things.

When Fury finally responded, it was with a mutter of curse words. "Okay, Potts. You got me. What do you know?"

"Just enough. So she's a SHIELD agent?"

"Let's just say that I have her name on a few of my files, and I don't disapprove of what she's doing."

Including seducing Tony, hm? Pepper thought viciously, recalling snatches of drunken conversation of the night before. Not that any officer would actually give that sort of order, but everyone knew how Tony was with girls. Fury had deliberately sent in a beautiful woman, instead of a man or someone with an engineering degree. It would have been nice to think that it was a coincidence, but she didn't have that much credulity anymore. "Alright, then I suppose that's it."

"Man, between you and Stark, I ought to just pull her out," Fury growled, and something snapped sharply over the line. "What good's an agent who's been found out?"

Sudden worry made Pepper sit up sharply. He couldn't pull Natasha out yet—they'd just started getting things sorted out! "More useful than not having one at all," she blurted. "And you're not getting someone else this close again. I personally guarantee it."

"I'll keep that in mind. Fury out." The call clicked to a close, leaving Pepper staring at the wall.

Oops.

"Did you just rat me out to my superior officer?" Natasha was back in a sleek summer dress, all pale green and matching heels. She leaned her hip against the doorjam, arms loaded down with files and paperwork. "I stopped by the office on my way back to pick up Tony's work for the day. Did you know they're remodeling the lunchroom again?"

"No one mentioned it. I'll ask Bambi the next time we speak." Any building that housed Tony for long eventually ended up being remodeled, and that had only gotten worse since Iron Man came on the scene, so Pepper wasn't very concerned. She waved Natasha over to the sofa, and tried to keep from watching her too obviously when she crossed the den floor. "You look recovered."

The file folders made a manila rainbow as Natasha spread them over the table. "You do, too." She sat just a little too close, making the cushions settle and causing Pepper to start sliding slowly towards her. "How are you feeling?"

A flush touched Pepper's cheeks as she battled the gravity of the sofa by bracing her heels. "Better. Much, much better." It wasn't working. The cushions were too soft and thick. She gave up, and let the seat suck her sideways, until their thighs were pressed together.

"And your head?" Natasha pressed two fingertips to Pepper's temple. "Still hurting?"

Breathing had become impossible. Pepper shook her head slowly. This time, Natasha's makeup was perfect, without an extra smudge or line. "Better."

We shouldn't, Pepper thought. And then, further, Why not? One kiss couldn't hurt. There were only five people in the house. Natasha was a government agent. Everything was already so complicated that there really wasn't much else she could do.

Swallowing nervously, Pepper twisted and pressed her lips to Natasha's.

Kissing Natasha when they weren't hung over or drunk was different. Pepper could track the surprised little inhale of breath, and the weight as Natasha shifted into her. Every detail was sharper, from the slide of her lipstick to the slight creak of the sofa under them.

In a moment of bravery, she slipped a leg over Natasha's and perched with her knees on the edge of the sofa. Natasha obligingly sank back into the cushions. One kiss slipped into two, just like the drinks of the night before. The muzzy feeling from too much alcohol made a return, filling Pepper's head with cotton and making her stomach twist.

A slip of her knees slid her down into Natasha's lap properly, pressing them together from chest to hips. Natasha grinned against her mouth, plucking at the hem of her blouse. "It's later," she murmured, rolling her eyes upward. Pepper laughed quietly and kissed her again.

Before they had a chance to follow through on that, a door slammed at the front of the house.

"Tony! You've got a damned lot of nerve—whoa!" Pepper and Natasha pulled away from each other as James Rhodes came to a sudden stop a few feet inside the den. The drunk feeling from Natasha's kisses flipped around and turned instantly to nauseous-hangover.

"Rhodey!" Pepper blurted. As gracefully as she could, Pepper yanked away from Natasha. She plastered on her best smile, acutely aware that her lipstick was a mess. "We weren't—you... What are you doing here?" Realizing that she was still sitting in Natasha's lap, Pepper scrambled to her feet, smoothing down her skirt and hoping she didn't look too rumbled. Natasha, who was probably much more accustomed to being caught out, just coughed and pushed back her hair, smiling innocently.

There was no fixing the damage. Rhodey lowered his face into his into his hand, rubbing his eyes. "Tony's contagious, isn't he?" he asked, sounding tired.

She'd just been caught making out with a coworker-slash-spy on her boss-slash-ex-mostly-boyfriend's couch. There was only so much twisting reality could take before it snapped. Pepper closed her eyes and reached for a modicum of inner honesty. "Yes," she answered. "Yes, he is."

"I'll start wearing a Hazmat." Rhodey still didn't look up at them. "Where is he?"

"Downstairs."

Without ever removing his hand from his eyes, Rhodey turned and headed for the steps. Pepper kept her smile locked on her face until he'd vanished. Then she collapsed back to the couch with a groan. With her head pillowed on the armrest and her feet firmly on the floor, she stretched out, covering her eyes with her forearm.

"That was so bad," she muttered. "Bad, bad, bad." Rhodey was going to tell Tony, she just knew it. And she'd only broken up with Tony yesterday, and they'd been on Tony's couch of all places. "We shouldn't have done that."

Natasha seemed to be following her thoughts, because she leaned over and rested her head on Pepper's hip. "Stop worrying. Tony's a big boy, and it's not like he hasn't been eyeing Steve like a steak dinner after a week-long fast."

"He's a big baby," Pepper corrected, but even though they were true, the words tasted sour. "You're right. I know you're right. It's just... my job to worry. Someone has to take care of him."

Rhodey's voice rose up from the stairwell. "You kidnapped Ca—"

"Borrowed," Tony said over him. "I borrowed him. Steve, back me up here."

Pepper heaved a sigh and looked down to meet Natasha's eyes. Three sets of footsteps were coming up the stairs, which meant they were out of time. "That's our cue." Together they rose off the sofa and went back to the job of keeping Tony's life together.

***
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."