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seren_ccdChapter 11: Warm - Theme 027
Series: Tight Coupling
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1596
Disclaimer: All Marvel's. Not mine.
Summary: "Do you want to hear what I found out about those companies or do you want to continue to steal my food?" Pepper asked.
A/N: Thank you so very, very much to everyone who has left reviews. It makes me walk on air for days afterwards.
To say that Tony Stark flew home from the gala, would of course, be exaggerating. And false. Not, however, impossible. But he didn't have the suit on him (Potential new function #189 - how to have it nearby at all times.). So, while he didn't fly, he did drive really, really fast.
Pepper saw the car pull into the garage and she started to count down from 60. She'd reached 15 when Iron Man flew straight out of the garage opening. She blinked and watched the blue light of his arc reactor disappear into the night sky.
"Only took him 45 seconds," she mused.
"47.325 seconds Miss Potts," Jarvis corrected her. "And to be honest, I'd already had the suit ready. All Tony had to do was stand still."
Pepper smiled. "Not the easiest thing for him to do is it?"
"No," the AI replied with a sigh. "However, I only had to admonish him three times instead of the usual five. He was quite eager to test the modifications."
"Where is he now?" Pepper asked as she sank onto the couch.
"Hovering over the interstate. Now he's headed out to the coastline and is skirting the Pacific Coast Highway," Jarvis told her. "He plans to head northeast and maneuver over the Rockies."
Pepper smiled.
"I'll hold off on ordering take-out," she said.
"That may be best," Jarvis agreed.
Three hours later Tony emerged from his workshop exhausted and very satisfied with the latest upgrades to the suit to find Pepper perched on a stool at the kitchen island with cartons of Chinese food and her laptop laid out in front of her. She was frowning at the laptop and making notes.
"Is that Bamboo Garden?" Tony asked. He wandered over and reached for one of the boxes when chopsticks came out of nowhere to rap him on the knuckles. "Ow! Hey!"
"That is mine," Pepper said calmly. "The other five are yours."
"Did you get those little red bean puff ball things?" he asked sitting on a stool and pulling the boxes towards him.
"They're called steamed buns, and yes I did," she said. "However, they only had one coconut one left, so we may have to fight over it later."
"Awesome," was the reply and Tony dug into the nearest carton and started shoveling noodles into his mouth. Pepper shook her head and picked up her carton and began to eat.
They ate in silence for a few minutes, Pepper still looking over lists and Tony focusing on how he could wrangle an extra spring roll without Pepper noticing, when a thought occurred to him.
"Hey," he said, Pepper looked up from her laptop. "I could actually get Chinese food from China now. You know, 'cause I can fly now."
"Well, yes," Pepper said. "Theoretically. However, it might be a bit cold by the time you got back. Do you have any spare room in the suit to put take-out? It's a snug fit as it is."
Tony's eyes lit up and Pepper groaned internally.
Never, ever give him an opening like that, she scolded herself. Never!
"Why Miss Potts! You been checkin' out my suit?" Tony asked.
Pepper blushed and set her jaw.
"No," she said firmly.
"You're blushing," he said.
"It's the General Tzo's I just ate," Pepper said.
"You're eating sweet and sour chicken," he observed.
"Well, it's more sour than sweet," she said matter-of-factly.
"Really?" Tony asked. He leaned over and speared a piece of breaded chicken and and immersed it in the red sauce. Then, without breaking eye contact with her, put the food in his mouth leaving his bottom lip slightly red with sauce. He chewed and then smirked.
"Tastes pretty sweet to me," he said.
He licked his lips and grinned.
"You're a very bad man," Pepper informed him.
"Actually, according to Esquire, I'm a brilliant and charming rogue with a Peter Pan complex, Miss Potts," Tony replied.
"Do you want to hear what I found out about those companies or do you want to continue to steal my food?" Pepper asked.
"Oh, I'm sure I'm capable of doing both," he reassured her. "Hit me. What'd you find out?"
"Well, turns out that 94 of the companies present at the gala have Stark Industries stock," she said. "And everyone took a loss last quarter after your announcement. But, nothing that wasn't offset by their other investments."
She absently reached for a spring roll while looking at the numbers on her screen. Tony pushed the carton closer to her without a word.
"Fifteen companies didn't send a representative this evening," she continued. "But out of all 250 companies invited, five of them suffered massive set backs in the last few months."
Pepper glanced at him and Tony nodded for her to continue.
"Davies and Davies were one, which we already knew about. There was a smaller company that manufactured a synthetic paint used on the missiles, that had to declare bankruptcy," Pepper told him scrolling down the page and absently munching on the roll. "But, that was actually more due their internal management problems, not Stark Industries. The remaining three however..."
"Completely and totally due to Stark Industries, right?" Tony finished.
"I'm afraid so," Pepper said. She straightened up from being hunched over the computer and watched him stab his chopsticks into his chow mein.
"How and who?" he asked finally.
"Standish Metals, Lloyds and Sons and Boulder Manufacturing. They made the mistake of buying a lot of Stark Industries stock during your, um... absence," she said. Pepper looked up to gauge his reaction. Tony met her gaze with a raised eyebrow. "You have to understand, while you were gone, Obi- Mr Stane kept reassuring people that Stark Industries would continue to manufacture weapons. It was business as usual."
Pepper took a deep breath and chuckled a little, realizing that she still had a hard time saying the phrase that PR had drilled into her brain during those awful three months. She shook her head and found she really didn't want to finish the last half of her spring roll.
"Stocks actually did okay while you were gone," she told him. "Immediately after the news reported you were missing, people sold. But then, just as quickly people bought those stocks. Stark Industries continued to manufacture along the same avenues that it always had."
"Life goes on and all that?" Tony said.
"Well," Pepper said as she looked at the unfinished roll in her hand. "In a way."
Tony reached over and plucked the roll from her fingers, dipped it into the cooled sweet and sour sauce and popped it in his mouth. Then grinned.
The tension Pepper hadn't even been conscious of in her shoulders disappeared immediately.
"You're terrible," she said groaning at him. "Stealing food right out of my hands."
"Hey," he responded. "I told you I could do both."
Pepper could only shake her head. Tony kept the grin on his face as he rooted around the cartons for the buns.
"Look, find out all you can on those companies. Especially who was at the thing tonight," he said. "I've got a couple of faces I'd like to match up. How are those forecasts I asked for?"
"I left a message for Cummings to call me in the morning with them," Pepper said as she closed up her laptop.
Tony, about to take a large bite out of the bun he found, looked up with a frown.
"Why can't I have them now?" he asked.
"Because, it's 11 o'clock at night and most people aren't actually umbilically attached to their work," Pepper told him.
"It's 11? Seriously?" Tony looked shocked. "Well, what are you doing in here? Daily Show's on."
"I'm TiVoing it," she said. "I'll watch it when I get home. I'll be back early. You've got another trial run with the generators at the lab."
"I know, I know, 9:15 am sharp. And TiVoing the Daily Show? I see how it is. You're leaving me to go be alone with Jon Stewart," Tony said. "I think I'm hurt."
"I think you'll manage," Pepper said scooping up her laptop and her bag on the floor.
"Well, say hello to Jon for me and watch out for that Colbert fellow, I hear he's grabby," Tony said.
"Thanks for the warning," she said with a small smile. "Good night Tony."
"Night Pepper," he said. She headed towards the front door. He called out after her, "Pepper?"
"Yes?" she said turning.
He leaned against the wall of the foyer and traced a finger on the edge of the painting and didn't meet her eyes.
"While I was gone," he said and then stopped. He seemed to struggle to get the words out and then settled on. "'Business as usual' was the motto was it?"
Pepper waited until he raised his eyes to meet hers. She smiled a little ruefully and said, "Not for all of us."
Tony grinned back.
"Will that be all Mr Stark?" she asked.
"That'll be all Miss Potts," Tony said. He turned around and sauntered towards his workshop. "Have fun with the Comedy Central boys."
Pepper headed home.
Series: Tight Coupling
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1596
Disclaimer: All Marvel's. Not mine.
Summary: "Do you want to hear what I found out about those companies or do you want to continue to steal my food?" Pepper asked.
A/N: Thank you so very, very much to everyone who has left reviews. It makes me walk on air for days afterwards.
To say that Tony Stark flew home from the gala, would of course, be exaggerating. And false. Not, however, impossible. But he didn't have the suit on him (Potential new function #189 - how to have it nearby at all times.). So, while he didn't fly, he did drive really, really fast.
Pepper saw the car pull into the garage and she started to count down from 60. She'd reached 15 when Iron Man flew straight out of the garage opening. She blinked and watched the blue light of his arc reactor disappear into the night sky.
"Only took him 45 seconds," she mused.
"47.325 seconds Miss Potts," Jarvis corrected her. "And to be honest, I'd already had the suit ready. All Tony had to do was stand still."
Pepper smiled. "Not the easiest thing for him to do is it?"
"No," the AI replied with a sigh. "However, I only had to admonish him three times instead of the usual five. He was quite eager to test the modifications."
"Where is he now?" Pepper asked as she sank onto the couch.
"Hovering over the interstate. Now he's headed out to the coastline and is skirting the Pacific Coast Highway," Jarvis told her. "He plans to head northeast and maneuver over the Rockies."
Pepper smiled.
"I'll hold off on ordering take-out," she said.
"That may be best," Jarvis agreed.
Three hours later Tony emerged from his workshop exhausted and very satisfied with the latest upgrades to the suit to find Pepper perched on a stool at the kitchen island with cartons of Chinese food and her laptop laid out in front of her. She was frowning at the laptop and making notes.
"Is that Bamboo Garden?" Tony asked. He wandered over and reached for one of the boxes when chopsticks came out of nowhere to rap him on the knuckles. "Ow! Hey!"
"That is mine," Pepper said calmly. "The other five are yours."
"Did you get those little red bean puff ball things?" he asked sitting on a stool and pulling the boxes towards him.
"They're called steamed buns, and yes I did," she said. "However, they only had one coconut one left, so we may have to fight over it later."
"Awesome," was the reply and Tony dug into the nearest carton and started shoveling noodles into his mouth. Pepper shook her head and picked up her carton and began to eat.
They ate in silence for a few minutes, Pepper still looking over lists and Tony focusing on how he could wrangle an extra spring roll without Pepper noticing, when a thought occurred to him.
"Hey," he said, Pepper looked up from her laptop. "I could actually get Chinese food from China now. You know, 'cause I can fly now."
"Well, yes," Pepper said. "Theoretically. However, it might be a bit cold by the time you got back. Do you have any spare room in the suit to put take-out? It's a snug fit as it is."
Tony's eyes lit up and Pepper groaned internally.
Never, ever give him an opening like that, she scolded herself. Never!
"Why Miss Potts! You been checkin' out my suit?" Tony asked.
Pepper blushed and set her jaw.
"No," she said firmly.
"You're blushing," he said.
"It's the General Tzo's I just ate," Pepper said.
"You're eating sweet and sour chicken," he observed.
"Well, it's more sour than sweet," she said matter-of-factly.
"Really?" Tony asked. He leaned over and speared a piece of breaded chicken and and immersed it in the red sauce. Then, without breaking eye contact with her, put the food in his mouth leaving his bottom lip slightly red with sauce. He chewed and then smirked.
"Tastes pretty sweet to me," he said.
He licked his lips and grinned.
"You're a very bad man," Pepper informed him.
"Actually, according to Esquire, I'm a brilliant and charming rogue with a Peter Pan complex, Miss Potts," Tony replied.
"Do you want to hear what I found out about those companies or do you want to continue to steal my food?" Pepper asked.
"Oh, I'm sure I'm capable of doing both," he reassured her. "Hit me. What'd you find out?"
"Well, turns out that 94 of the companies present at the gala have Stark Industries stock," she said. "And everyone took a loss last quarter after your announcement. But, nothing that wasn't offset by their other investments."
She absently reached for a spring roll while looking at the numbers on her screen. Tony pushed the carton closer to her without a word.
"Fifteen companies didn't send a representative this evening," she continued. "But out of all 250 companies invited, five of them suffered massive set backs in the last few months."
Pepper glanced at him and Tony nodded for her to continue.
"Davies and Davies were one, which we already knew about. There was a smaller company that manufactured a synthetic paint used on the missiles, that had to declare bankruptcy," Pepper told him scrolling down the page and absently munching on the roll. "But, that was actually more due their internal management problems, not Stark Industries. The remaining three however..."
"Completely and totally due to Stark Industries, right?" Tony finished.
"I'm afraid so," Pepper said. She straightened up from being hunched over the computer and watched him stab his chopsticks into his chow mein.
"How and who?" he asked finally.
"Standish Metals, Lloyds and Sons and Boulder Manufacturing. They made the mistake of buying a lot of Stark Industries stock during your, um... absence," she said. Pepper looked up to gauge his reaction. Tony met her gaze with a raised eyebrow. "You have to understand, while you were gone, Obi- Mr Stane kept reassuring people that Stark Industries would continue to manufacture weapons. It was business as usual."
Pepper took a deep breath and chuckled a little, realizing that she still had a hard time saying the phrase that PR had drilled into her brain during those awful three months. She shook her head and found she really didn't want to finish the last half of her spring roll.
"Stocks actually did okay while you were gone," she told him. "Immediately after the news reported you were missing, people sold. But then, just as quickly people bought those stocks. Stark Industries continued to manufacture along the same avenues that it always had."
"Life goes on and all that?" Tony said.
"Well," Pepper said as she looked at the unfinished roll in her hand. "In a way."
Tony reached over and plucked the roll from her fingers, dipped it into the cooled sweet and sour sauce and popped it in his mouth. Then grinned.
The tension Pepper hadn't even been conscious of in her shoulders disappeared immediately.
"You're terrible," she said groaning at him. "Stealing food right out of my hands."
"Hey," he responded. "I told you I could do both."
Pepper could only shake her head. Tony kept the grin on his face as he rooted around the cartons for the buns.
"Look, find out all you can on those companies. Especially who was at the thing tonight," he said. "I've got a couple of faces I'd like to match up. How are those forecasts I asked for?"
"I left a message for Cummings to call me in the morning with them," Pepper said as she closed up her laptop.
Tony, about to take a large bite out of the bun he found, looked up with a frown.
"Why can't I have them now?" he asked.
"Because, it's 11 o'clock at night and most people aren't actually umbilically attached to their work," Pepper told him.
"It's 11? Seriously?" Tony looked shocked. "Well, what are you doing in here? Daily Show's on."
"I'm TiVoing it," she said. "I'll watch it when I get home. I'll be back early. You've got another trial run with the generators at the lab."
"I know, I know, 9:15 am sharp. And TiVoing the Daily Show? I see how it is. You're leaving me to go be alone with Jon Stewart," Tony said. "I think I'm hurt."
"I think you'll manage," Pepper said scooping up her laptop and her bag on the floor.
"Well, say hello to Jon for me and watch out for that Colbert fellow, I hear he's grabby," Tony said.
"Thanks for the warning," she said with a small smile. "Good night Tony."
"Night Pepper," he said. She headed towards the front door. He called out after her, "Pepper?"
"Yes?" she said turning.
He leaned against the wall of the foyer and traced a finger on the edge of the painting and didn't meet her eyes.
"While I was gone," he said and then stopped. He seemed to struggle to get the words out and then settled on. "'Business as usual' was the motto was it?"
Pepper waited until he raised his eyes to meet hers. She smiled a little ruefully and said, "Not for all of us."
Tony grinned back.
"Will that be all Mr Stark?" she asked.
"That'll be all Miss Potts," Tony said. He turned around and sauntered towards his workshop. "Have fun with the Comedy Central boys."
Pepper headed home.
