Yes, Virginia, There Really Is An Iron Man: Chapter Thirty-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.
AN: Three chapters in one day! I'm so ecstatic that these classes are over that I finally found the key to that stupid cage my muse was being held in... Hmm... I should draw that.
Chapter Thirty-Four:
Jim Rhodes took one of his leave days on Monday and commuted down to Malibu early. He drove leisurely for once-enjoying the view and thinking ahead about the test flight. He had the familiar sensation of a nest of wasps flying around in his stomach and he savored the buzzing flutters. It had been a few years since he’d been this excited before testing new technology.
Rhodey chalked it up to spending so many of his recent years teaching instead of flying.
As he pulled up to the gated driveway of the Stark estate, the security camera blinked at him.
“Good morning, Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes,” said Jarvis.
“Tony not letting me in?”
“Nonsense,” the gates opened. “Enjoy your day, sir.”
There was a distinct tone behind Jarvis’s words. Rhodey squinted at the camera lens and drove forward slowly.
There was movement in the kitchen window.
Rhodes hopped out of his truck and juggled his gym bag and keys as he entered the key code that unlocked the front door.
He was immediately struck with the perfect smell of strong coffee.
“Oh, damn,” Rhodey groaned and dropped his things by the door. “You’d have better made enough for me, Tony!” he called out.
A glass clattered against the granite countertop and Rhodes heard feminine swearing.
What the hell?
Jim rounded the corner and had to pause in the archway. Pepper, glass carafe of orange juice in one hand and the hem of a shirt in the other, stood dressed in Tony’s boxers and MIT T-shirt in front of the flat cook top. She bit her lip and cleared her throat.
“Um… Hi, Rhodey.”
“Pepper…”
“Tony, uh, just went-” she motioned to the walk-in pantry with the OJ, “-in there to find some cereal.”
There was a green plastic basket full of chemically enlarged strawberries on the counter. Choosing to ignore Pepper’s state of undress, Rhodey snagged the largest strawberry he’d ever seen in his life and shoved the entirety of it (well, minus the stem) into his mouth. “Bad timing on my part, huh?” he suggested around his mouthful.
Pepper cleared her throat and poured her juice. “Pretty much.”
“I found it!” Tony suddenly exclaimed and jogged back into the kitchen with a box of Lucky Charms. He smiled tightly at Rhodey. “You’re early,” he said as he grabbed a bowl. “Like, super early. Didn’t I say Monday evening? I’ve still got an R&D meeting to go to.”
“I mean, you are really early,” Tony repeated himself.
“I can see that,” Rhodey pointed at his friend’s lack of shirt and vaguely gestured at Pepper’s nude legs. He shoved more strawberry slices in his mouth. “I checked with a few military contacts yesterday. Our boys in Afghanistan are getting some unexpected heat in the Wakhan Corridor-I was hoping we could help ‘em out today.”
Tony immediately looked to Pepper as he grabbed milk out of the fridge. The redhead was unconsciously staring at the glowing arc reactor imbedded in her (boyfriend? Partner? Manfriend?) lover’s chest. He could see the memory flicker behind her eyes-sticking her hand into the metal hole to remove a copper wire he couldn’t reach-helping him replace the reactor again-seeing it for the first time… He swallowed thickly in the bright morning sunlight and watched her eyes roam across the faint scars Afghanistan had left behind on him.
Someone’s stomach growled. Clearing his throat, Tony resumed his breakfast preparation and met Rhodey’s eyes again.
“If the test flight goes well enough…”
Rhodey snorted.
Tony cut his eyes back to the bowl, jug of milk, and box of Lucky Charms. “…If it goes well enough, you have to promise me,” he pointed at Jim with the sugar canister, “that you’ll follow my lead. I know you’re Mr. Military, but these situations are…”
“Different,” Rhodes agreed.
Tony nodded and idly poured more sugar into his cereal even as he picked out some extra marshmallows for it. Beside him, Pepper took his discarded “plain” bits, dropped them into her own bowl, poured milk up past the top, and started spooning it all into her mouth. Rhodes watched her do this with a crooked eyebrow.
Pepper ignored him and swallowed her mouthful. “Hmph. And what will I be doing while you boys are out risking your lives? Sitting in front of the TV?”
Tony, having finished fixing his Lucky Charms, snapped the fingers of his free hand and shook his head. “Huh-uh. You do get to sit in front of the TV, but!” he grinned-sugar caught in his beard. “You get to yell at the both of us while we’re out risking out lives. How’s that?”
Pepper shrugged and reached over to brush the sugar off his face. “So that would make me base command?”
Tony snapped into a smart salute, and (feeling playful now) Rhodey copied him.
“Ma’am,” said Rhodes.
Pepper rolled her eyes. “Knock it off, you two. And Tony, you do realize you’ve got a board of directors meeting in New York tomorrow, right?”
“I do now,” he muttered into his coffee.
Pepper groaned. “If you get hurt and miss this one, I’ll… I’ll…”
“I won’t miss it, Pep. I promise,” Tony reassured.
“I’m going to hold you to that, Mister. And you’ll need to make up the R&D meeting before the end of the week.”
He nodded and walked briskly over to the stairwell. “You got it. Jarvis?”
“Yes, sir?”
“Link up the Mark III HUD with the house systems and give Pepper full access to main systems and communications.”
“Done.”
“Eyes on the main screen, Pepper. If I miss anything, you tell me.”
Pepper shifted into a familiar stance-however softened by her attire. “Will that be all, Mr. Stark?”
Tony grinned widely. “That’ll be all, Miss Potts.”
He jogged down the stairs ahead of Rhodey. Pepper dragged her favorite chair into a better position-facing the main window with the main stairs at her peripheral.
Jarvis activated the Heads Up Display as Tony suited up.
“Pepper?”
She smiled and opened up her laptop. “Yes, Tony?”
Though she could only see a display of the shop with an overlaying topographic map and a connection to ATC showing current flight paths, Pepper swore she could see the reflection of Tony’s grinning face overlaying everything.
“Reschedule that R&D meeting for five. At the earliest.”
Pepper grinned and watched him rocket out of the garage with Rhodey right behind him. “You’ve got it, hon.”
“Hon?!” Tony howled with laughter. “Hey, Rhodey! I got my first real pet name!”
The silver and black War Machine to his right sped up to pass him with almost a smug gleam in the bright eye slits.
“Shut up, you’re spoiling my fun,” he joked.
TBC
Back | Forward
Now the hard part... Writing battle scenes. *HUGE GRIN*
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.
AN: Three chapters in one day! I'm so ecstatic that these classes are over that I finally found the key to that stupid cage my muse was being held in... Hmm... I should draw that.
Chapter Thirty-Four:
Jim Rhodes took one of his leave days on Monday and commuted down to Malibu early. He drove leisurely for once-enjoying the view and thinking ahead about the test flight. He had the familiar sensation of a nest of wasps flying around in his stomach and he savored the buzzing flutters. It had been a few years since he’d been this excited before testing new technology.
Rhodey chalked it up to spending so many of his recent years teaching instead of flying.
As he pulled up to the gated driveway of the Stark estate, the security camera blinked at him.
“Good morning, Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes,” said Jarvis.
“Tony not letting me in?”
“Nonsense,” the gates opened. “Enjoy your day, sir.”
There was a distinct tone behind Jarvis’s words. Rhodey squinted at the camera lens and drove forward slowly.
There was movement in the kitchen window.
Rhodes hopped out of his truck and juggled his gym bag and keys as he entered the key code that unlocked the front door.
He was immediately struck with the perfect smell of strong coffee.
“Oh, damn,” Rhodey groaned and dropped his things by the door. “You’d have better made enough for me, Tony!” he called out.
A glass clattered against the granite countertop and Rhodes heard feminine swearing.
What the hell?
Jim rounded the corner and had to pause in the archway. Pepper, glass carafe of orange juice in one hand and the hem of a shirt in the other, stood dressed in Tony’s boxers and MIT T-shirt in front of the flat cook top. She bit her lip and cleared her throat.
“Um… Hi, Rhodey.”
“Pepper…”
“Tony, uh, just went-” she motioned to the walk-in pantry with the OJ, “-in there to find some cereal.”
There was a green plastic basket full of chemically enlarged strawberries on the counter. Choosing to ignore Pepper’s state of undress, Rhodey snagged the largest strawberry he’d ever seen in his life and shoved the entirety of it (well, minus the stem) into his mouth. “Bad timing on my part, huh?” he suggested around his mouthful.
Pepper cleared her throat and poured her juice. “Pretty much.”
“I found it!” Tony suddenly exclaimed and jogged back into the kitchen with a box of Lucky Charms. He smiled tightly at Rhodey. “You’re early,” he said as he grabbed a bowl. “Like, super early. Didn’t I say Monday evening? I’ve still got an R&D meeting to go to.”
“I mean, you are really early,” Tony repeated himself.
“I can see that,” Rhodey pointed at his friend’s lack of shirt and vaguely gestured at Pepper’s nude legs. He shoved more strawberry slices in his mouth. “I checked with a few military contacts yesterday. Our boys in Afghanistan are getting some unexpected heat in the Wakhan Corridor-I was hoping we could help ‘em out today.”
Tony immediately looked to Pepper as he grabbed milk out of the fridge. The redhead was unconsciously staring at the glowing arc reactor imbedded in her (boyfriend? Partner? Manfriend?) lover’s chest. He could see the memory flicker behind her eyes-sticking her hand into the metal hole to remove a copper wire he couldn’t reach-helping him replace the reactor again-seeing it for the first time… He swallowed thickly in the bright morning sunlight and watched her eyes roam across the faint scars Afghanistan had left behind on him.
Someone’s stomach growled. Clearing his throat, Tony resumed his breakfast preparation and met Rhodey’s eyes again.
“If the test flight goes well enough…”
Rhodey snorted.
Tony cut his eyes back to the bowl, jug of milk, and box of Lucky Charms. “…If it goes well enough, you have to promise me,” he pointed at Jim with the sugar canister, “that you’ll follow my lead. I know you’re Mr. Military, but these situations are…”
“Different,” Rhodes agreed.
Tony nodded and idly poured more sugar into his cereal even as he picked out some extra marshmallows for it. Beside him, Pepper took his discarded “plain” bits, dropped them into her own bowl, poured milk up past the top, and started spooning it all into her mouth. Rhodes watched her do this with a crooked eyebrow.
Pepper ignored him and swallowed her mouthful. “Hmph. And what will I be doing while you boys are out risking your lives? Sitting in front of the TV?”
Tony, having finished fixing his Lucky Charms, snapped the fingers of his free hand and shook his head. “Huh-uh. You do get to sit in front of the TV, but!” he grinned-sugar caught in his beard. “You get to yell at the both of us while we’re out risking out lives. How’s that?”
Pepper shrugged and reached over to brush the sugar off his face. “So that would make me base command?”
Tony snapped into a smart salute, and (feeling playful now) Rhodey copied him.
“Ma’am,” said Rhodes.
Pepper rolled her eyes. “Knock it off, you two. And Tony, you do realize you’ve got a board of directors meeting in New York tomorrow, right?”
“I do now,” he muttered into his coffee.
Pepper groaned. “If you get hurt and miss this one, I’ll… I’ll…”
“I won’t miss it, Pep. I promise,” Tony reassured.
“I’m going to hold you to that, Mister. And you’ll need to make up the R&D meeting before the end of the week.”
He nodded and walked briskly over to the stairwell. “You got it. Jarvis?”
“Yes, sir?”
“Link up the Mark III HUD with the house systems and give Pepper full access to main systems and communications.”
“Done.”
“Eyes on the main screen, Pepper. If I miss anything, you tell me.”
Pepper shifted into a familiar stance-however softened by her attire. “Will that be all, Mr. Stark?”
Tony grinned widely. “That’ll be all, Miss Potts.”
He jogged down the stairs ahead of Rhodey. Pepper dragged her favorite chair into a better position-facing the main window with the main stairs at her peripheral.
Jarvis activated the Heads Up Display as Tony suited up.
“Pepper?”
She smiled and opened up her laptop. “Yes, Tony?”
Though she could only see a display of the shop with an overlaying topographic map and a connection to ATC showing current flight paths, Pepper swore she could see the reflection of Tony’s grinning face overlaying everything.
“Reschedule that R&D meeting for five. At the earliest.”
Pepper grinned and watched him rocket out of the garage with Rhodey right behind him. “You’ve got it, hon.”
“Hon?!” Tony howled with laughter. “Hey, Rhodey! I got my first real pet name!”
The silver and black War Machine to his right sped up to pass him with almost a smug gleam in the bright eye slits.
“Shut up, you’re spoiling my fun,” he joked.
TBC
Back | Forward
Now the hard part... Writing battle scenes. *HUGE GRIN*