Yes, Virginia, There Really Is An Iron Man: Chapter Twenty-Four
TITLE: Yes, Virginia, There Really Is An Iron Man
AUTHOR: Quicksilvermad
SUMMARY: (Movie-verse) Pepper deals with Tony’s newfound lease on life and ends up making a mountain out of her molehill of emotion where her boss is concerned.
GENRE: Humor/Romance
RATING: PG13
PAIRING: Tony/Pepper
DISCLAIMER: Iron Man etc. belong to Marvel Comics et. al.
Chapter Twenty-Four:
Tony adjusted his tie for the fifth time before he opened the back door of the Rolls Royce and exited. Pepper’s house stood before him like a bastion of comfort-it spoke of family outings to the beach beyond and long afternoons reading books and drinking sweet iced tea. For a brief moment, Tony wondered what it would be like to live there.
Pepper seemed to like it.
Before he could get to the stairs that led up to her covered porch his personal assistant-his girlfriend-opened the front door and locked it behind her with a single key.
One look at her and all the breath was knocked out of him.
Christ, she’s perfect…
“Wow,” he said as soon as speech capabilities returned to him. “You look… Very beautiful, Pepper.”
Pepper smiled at him and blushed. “Thank you, Tony. You look handsome as always.”
He took her hand and hooked it around his elbow.
“You’re absolutely stunning-really. You’ve always looked fantastic in green,” he added with a surprising glint of recognition in his eyes. Pepper smiled warmly at him.
“Thank you,” she kissed him right at the corner of his mouth and held up the key in her free hand. “Would you mind holding this for me?”
“Of course not,” he took the key from her and carefully placed it in the liner pocket of his blazer.
Happy stood by the passenger door and held it open for the pair of them. He was smiling slightly-a hint of sad joy in his eyes that spoke of a personal blow but a deep satisfaction to see Pepper as content as she was.
“Miss Potts, you look lovely,” he said as Tony helped her slide across the back seat.
“Thank you, Happy.”
He waited for Tony to settle beside her before he closed the door and returned to the driver’s seat. At Mr. Stark’s instructions he calmly drove to the Hilton.
Pepper was nervous. She’d been perfectly comfortable hanging off Tony’s arm in private, but this… Flashbulbs were snapping as they exited the car and a near endless row of reporters were shouting at Tony for a quote.
It made the walk inside irritatingly slow. The doors to the reception hall revealed a packed room that started making Pepper feel decidedly uncomfortable. She could feel the eyes sliding from Tony’s face to hers and her active mind was creating a billion different headlines for tomorrow’s papers.
Stark Finally Bags Personal Assistant
Pepper Potts: Climbing the Ladder of Success the “Old Fashioned Way”
Who Does She Think She Is?
Scandal or Resolved Tension? This reporter’s take on the strange Boss/Assistant relationship that Stark and Potts have had over the years.
Her grip tightened on Tony’s arm. In an unconscious gesture, he bent slightly and kissed her on the temple in response to her distress. Immediately, scores of flashes erupted from the crowd outside. As the reporters were busy having conniptions and conversing with one another to find a way to combine their names in traditional Hollywood fashion (if you counted recent trends as “traditional”).
Thank God for Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins.
The hosts of Child’s Play popped up in front of Tony and dragged him and Pepper further into the reception hall. They were both grinning so wide that their faces had to be hurting.
“Hey there, Mr. Stark!”
Tony smiled and shook Jerry’s hand. “Hey, Jerry-how many times do I have to say it?”
Jerry snorted. “Fine, ‘Tony.’ And Miss Pepper Potts is here with you tonight! What a surprise.”
Pepper shook Jerry’s hand and laughed when Mike intercepted and gallantly kissed her knuckles.
“Enchanted, Pepper.”
Tony laughed and tugged Pepper back to his side. “Watch it, Mike.”
The fellow creator of Penny Arcade grinned cheekily and winked at Tony. “Just saying ‘hi.’ Tony.”
He glanced between Pepper and Tony and narrowed his eyes. Jerry got an elbow between the ribs when Mike saw that “something” that indicated a significant relationship change between the billionaire genius and his personal assistant. “Something in this picture looks vaguely familiar, huh Jerry?”
Jerry rubbed his chin and snapped his fingers after a moment. “Aha! You two are twitterpated! What are you standing here wasting time with us for? Dance! Drink! You missed the silent auction, but the live one starts in about an hour.” He poked Tony in the chest-safely to the side of the arc reactor.
“Before you go, can we borrow you for something later, ‘Iron Man?’”
“I see no one can pull the wool over your eyes, fellas. What is it?”
“Geeky conversation,” Mike interrupted.
“As long as I don’t see myself getting picked on in the next Penny Arcade, you’ve got it.”
They parted ways. Tony led Pepper to the open bar and rested a hand on her bare lower back.
“Love the dress, by the way. You should wear this backless stuff more.”
She smacked his arm. “Get me my drink, Mr. Stark.”
“Yes, Miss Potts.”
Pepper finally got to enjoy that extra dry vodka martini he failed to get her at the last benefit. With Tony giving her a heated gaze the whole time she sipped at it. “Good?” he asked.
Pepper sucked an olive off the little sword it was impaled on. “Better.”
“Tease.”
“Who’s teasing?”
Tony grinned and ate one of his own olives. “Are you suggesting something for later, Miss Potts?” he spoke around his mouthful.
Pepper shrugged. “I might be, Mr. Stark.”
He vaguely wondered when he’d smiled this much in one evening-smiled and truly meant it. “We are in the Hilton.”
“Perv.”
“You’re Miss Suggestive. I’m not alone in Perv Land.”
Pepper laughed. Mid-giggle she made the mistake of glancing over Tony’s shoulder at the other guests. A familiar blonde head popped up in the crowd.
Christine Everhart.
Vanity Fair did not cover Child’s Play.
“You have a stalker, Tony.”
From the tone in her voice, Tony knew exactly who she meant.
“Vanity Fair bimbo?”
“Mm,” Pepper nodded and sipped at her martini. Tony rolled his eyes and made a point to keep his hand entwined with hers on the bar top. “She’s looking over here and… Yep. Here she comes.”
Tony twisted on the barstool to face Pepper completely. Fortunately for him, Pepper was extremely good at her job-and she took a secret joy in cutting down these moronic women Tony used to have brief flings with in the past.
“Miss Everhart, I had no idea that Vanity Fair covered Child’s Play. Or did you make a donation?”
A cold look came over Christine’s face. “Excuse me, Miss Potts, but I’m here to speak with Mr. Stark.”
Pepper slid gracefully off her barstool and calmly smiled down at the other woman. “Mr. Stark is not taking any questions at this time. Should I write that down on something? Because I’ve noticed that the concept seems to elude you.”
Christine Everhart shoved a strand of bleached hair behind her ear and tried her best to look tough. “It’s about something that occurred two days ago in Afghanistan. Three weapons caches were destroyed by Iron Man and-”
Tony intervened, standing as well and wrapping an arm loosely about Pepper’s waist. “Then you already know what happened. No need to harangue me about it.”
He directed Pepper to the dance floor and fell into an easy waltz with her. “Well handled, Pepper.”
“Someone needs to punch her,” Pepper grumbled. It brought a wide smile to Tony’s face.
They danced uninterrupted for just one song-then Mike and his wife cut in and they were forced to swap partners. Two songs later, the crowd was directed to the dining area and Tony finally got to rejoin Pepper at a table in the front row where their meals were hot and waiting for them.
They were allowed to eat in peace for about twenty minutes that was filled with meaningful looks and mumbled conversation around pieces of steak, sautéed mushrooms, and crisp Romaine salad. Halfway through dinner, Tony pulled his blazer off and loosened his tie. Pepper wished she had something to adjust with her wardrobe… She was feeling a bit hot as well.
The combination of her martini, two glasses of merlot, and the way Tony was looking at her was making Pepper feel slightly dizzy. After the waiters came around and started to pick up the dishes and refill empty wine glasses, Jerry and Mike stepped up on a dais at the front of the room and thumped on a microphone.
“Okay!” Jerry smiled and introduced himself and Mike (as Tycho and Gabe of Penny Arcade) before he launched into his memorized speech. “As you know we recently reached just over one point six million dollars in donations for the Children’s Hospitals around the world.”
Mike cut in. “After tallying up the donation checks for this year’s charity dinner-and despite the fact that we’ve held this one earlier that usual-we have made a fantastic discovery. This evening we received a check for ten million dollars from our good friend Mr. Tony Stark!”
Applause erupted.
Jerry grabbed the mic again. “Wonderful to know that beneath that Iron Man suit there’s still a gushy-hearted guy who really cares about these children, huh?”
More ecstatic applause.
Pepper glanced at Tony across the table and noticed that his eyes were shining strangely.
The guys talked some more-explained how the auction would work and how the silent auction went earlier in the evening.
By the end of it all, Tony had bid on and won a print of his favorite Penny Arcade comic, an autographed maquette of Samus Aran from Metroid Prime, and a sketch Mike had done just before the start of the auction-he had draped a sheet of Bristol paper over it and just before it went up as the last item he gave Tony a significant wink over the rim of his glasses.
By the end of the evening Pepper felt like she’d spent less time with Tony and more time watching him. He had to wait in a line of other item winners to collect his loot and write a check for it all, and Pepper bit her lip in indecision.
She had an idea.
An impulsive one.
Quickly, she walked to the front desk rented a suite with the credit card she borrowed from Tony’s pocket, and returned to her chair like she’d never left it. Nervously, Pepper flicked the keycard for the room with her fingernails. Tony noticed.
Oh, how he’d noticed…
TBC
Back | Forward (next chapter contains some adult content)
AUTHOR: Quicksilvermad
SUMMARY: (Movie-verse) Pepper deals with Tony’s newfound lease on life and ends up making a mountain out of her molehill of emotion where her boss is concerned.
GENRE: Humor/Romance
RATING: PG13
PAIRING: Tony/Pepper
DISCLAIMER: Iron Man etc. belong to Marvel Comics et. al.
Chapter Twenty-Four:
Tony adjusted his tie for the fifth time before he opened the back door of the Rolls Royce and exited. Pepper’s house stood before him like a bastion of comfort-it spoke of family outings to the beach beyond and long afternoons reading books and drinking sweet iced tea. For a brief moment, Tony wondered what it would be like to live there.
Pepper seemed to like it.
Before he could get to the stairs that led up to her covered porch his personal assistant-his girlfriend-opened the front door and locked it behind her with a single key.
One look at her and all the breath was knocked out of him.
Christ, she’s perfect…
“Wow,” he said as soon as speech capabilities returned to him. “You look… Very beautiful, Pepper.”
Pepper smiled at him and blushed. “Thank you, Tony. You look handsome as always.”
He took her hand and hooked it around his elbow.
“You’re absolutely stunning-really. You’ve always looked fantastic in green,” he added with a surprising glint of recognition in his eyes. Pepper smiled warmly at him.
“Thank you,” she kissed him right at the corner of his mouth and held up the key in her free hand. “Would you mind holding this for me?”
“Of course not,” he took the key from her and carefully placed it in the liner pocket of his blazer.
Happy stood by the passenger door and held it open for the pair of them. He was smiling slightly-a hint of sad joy in his eyes that spoke of a personal blow but a deep satisfaction to see Pepper as content as she was.
“Miss Potts, you look lovely,” he said as Tony helped her slide across the back seat.
“Thank you, Happy.”
He waited for Tony to settle beside her before he closed the door and returned to the driver’s seat. At Mr. Stark’s instructions he calmly drove to the Hilton.
Pepper was nervous. She’d been perfectly comfortable hanging off Tony’s arm in private, but this… Flashbulbs were snapping as they exited the car and a near endless row of reporters were shouting at Tony for a quote.
It made the walk inside irritatingly slow. The doors to the reception hall revealed a packed room that started making Pepper feel decidedly uncomfortable. She could feel the eyes sliding from Tony’s face to hers and her active mind was creating a billion different headlines for tomorrow’s papers.
Stark Finally Bags Personal Assistant
Pepper Potts: Climbing the Ladder of Success the “Old Fashioned Way”
Who Does She Think She Is?
Scandal or Resolved Tension? This reporter’s take on the strange Boss/Assistant relationship that Stark and Potts have had over the years.
Her grip tightened on Tony’s arm. In an unconscious gesture, he bent slightly and kissed her on the temple in response to her distress. Immediately, scores of flashes erupted from the crowd outside. As the reporters were busy having conniptions and conversing with one another to find a way to combine their names in traditional Hollywood fashion (if you counted recent trends as “traditional”).
Thank God for Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins.
The hosts of Child’s Play popped up in front of Tony and dragged him and Pepper further into the reception hall. They were both grinning so wide that their faces had to be hurting.
“Hey there, Mr. Stark!”
Tony smiled and shook Jerry’s hand. “Hey, Jerry-how many times do I have to say it?”
Jerry snorted. “Fine, ‘Tony.’ And Miss Pepper Potts is here with you tonight! What a surprise.”
Pepper shook Jerry’s hand and laughed when Mike intercepted and gallantly kissed her knuckles.
“Enchanted, Pepper.”
Tony laughed and tugged Pepper back to his side. “Watch it, Mike.”
The fellow creator of Penny Arcade grinned cheekily and winked at Tony. “Just saying ‘hi.’ Tony.”
He glanced between Pepper and Tony and narrowed his eyes. Jerry got an elbow between the ribs when Mike saw that “something” that indicated a significant relationship change between the billionaire genius and his personal assistant. “Something in this picture looks vaguely familiar, huh Jerry?”
Jerry rubbed his chin and snapped his fingers after a moment. “Aha! You two are twitterpated! What are you standing here wasting time with us for? Dance! Drink! You missed the silent auction, but the live one starts in about an hour.” He poked Tony in the chest-safely to the side of the arc reactor.
“Before you go, can we borrow you for something later, ‘Iron Man?’”
“I see no one can pull the wool over your eyes, fellas. What is it?”
“Geeky conversation,” Mike interrupted.
“As long as I don’t see myself getting picked on in the next Penny Arcade, you’ve got it.”
They parted ways. Tony led Pepper to the open bar and rested a hand on her bare lower back.
“Love the dress, by the way. You should wear this backless stuff more.”
She smacked his arm. “Get me my drink, Mr. Stark.”
“Yes, Miss Potts.”
Pepper finally got to enjoy that extra dry vodka martini he failed to get her at the last benefit. With Tony giving her a heated gaze the whole time she sipped at it. “Good?” he asked.
Pepper sucked an olive off the little sword it was impaled on. “Better.”
“Tease.”
“Who’s teasing?”
Tony grinned and ate one of his own olives. “Are you suggesting something for later, Miss Potts?” he spoke around his mouthful.
Pepper shrugged. “I might be, Mr. Stark.”
He vaguely wondered when he’d smiled this much in one evening-smiled and truly meant it. “We are in the Hilton.”
“Perv.”
“You’re Miss Suggestive. I’m not alone in Perv Land.”
Pepper laughed. Mid-giggle she made the mistake of glancing over Tony’s shoulder at the other guests. A familiar blonde head popped up in the crowd.
Christine Everhart.
Vanity Fair did not cover Child’s Play.
“You have a stalker, Tony.”
From the tone in her voice, Tony knew exactly who she meant.
“Vanity Fair bimbo?”
“Mm,” Pepper nodded and sipped at her martini. Tony rolled his eyes and made a point to keep his hand entwined with hers on the bar top. “She’s looking over here and… Yep. Here she comes.”
Tony twisted on the barstool to face Pepper completely. Fortunately for him, Pepper was extremely good at her job-and she took a secret joy in cutting down these moronic women Tony used to have brief flings with in the past.
“Miss Everhart, I had no idea that Vanity Fair covered Child’s Play. Or did you make a donation?”
A cold look came over Christine’s face. “Excuse me, Miss Potts, but I’m here to speak with Mr. Stark.”
Pepper slid gracefully off her barstool and calmly smiled down at the other woman. “Mr. Stark is not taking any questions at this time. Should I write that down on something? Because I’ve noticed that the concept seems to elude you.”
Christine Everhart shoved a strand of bleached hair behind her ear and tried her best to look tough. “It’s about something that occurred two days ago in Afghanistan. Three weapons caches were destroyed by Iron Man and-”
Tony intervened, standing as well and wrapping an arm loosely about Pepper’s waist. “Then you already know what happened. No need to harangue me about it.”
He directed Pepper to the dance floor and fell into an easy waltz with her. “Well handled, Pepper.”
“Someone needs to punch her,” Pepper grumbled. It brought a wide smile to Tony’s face.
They danced uninterrupted for just one song-then Mike and his wife cut in and they were forced to swap partners. Two songs later, the crowd was directed to the dining area and Tony finally got to rejoin Pepper at a table in the front row where their meals were hot and waiting for them.
They were allowed to eat in peace for about twenty minutes that was filled with meaningful looks and mumbled conversation around pieces of steak, sautéed mushrooms, and crisp Romaine salad. Halfway through dinner, Tony pulled his blazer off and loosened his tie. Pepper wished she had something to adjust with her wardrobe… She was feeling a bit hot as well.
The combination of her martini, two glasses of merlot, and the way Tony was looking at her was making Pepper feel slightly dizzy. After the waiters came around and started to pick up the dishes and refill empty wine glasses, Jerry and Mike stepped up on a dais at the front of the room and thumped on a microphone.
“Okay!” Jerry smiled and introduced himself and Mike (as Tycho and Gabe of Penny Arcade) before he launched into his memorized speech. “As you know we recently reached just over one point six million dollars in donations for the Children’s Hospitals around the world.”
Mike cut in. “After tallying up the donation checks for this year’s charity dinner-and despite the fact that we’ve held this one earlier that usual-we have made a fantastic discovery. This evening we received a check for ten million dollars from our good friend Mr. Tony Stark!”
Applause erupted.
Jerry grabbed the mic again. “Wonderful to know that beneath that Iron Man suit there’s still a gushy-hearted guy who really cares about these children, huh?”
More ecstatic applause.
Pepper glanced at Tony across the table and noticed that his eyes were shining strangely.
The guys talked some more-explained how the auction would work and how the silent auction went earlier in the evening.
By the end of it all, Tony had bid on and won a print of his favorite Penny Arcade comic, an autographed maquette of Samus Aran from Metroid Prime, and a sketch Mike had done just before the start of the auction-he had draped a sheet of Bristol paper over it and just before it went up as the last item he gave Tony a significant wink over the rim of his glasses.
By the end of the evening Pepper felt like she’d spent less time with Tony and more time watching him. He had to wait in a line of other item winners to collect his loot and write a check for it all, and Pepper bit her lip in indecision.
She had an idea.
An impulsive one.
Quickly, she walked to the front desk rented a suite with the credit card she borrowed from Tony’s pocket, and returned to her chair like she’d never left it. Nervously, Pepper flicked the keycard for the room with her fingernails. Tony noticed.
Oh, how he’d noticed…
TBC
Back | Forward (next chapter contains some adult content)