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seren_ccdTitle: Tight Coupling - Chapter Four (Theme 56 - Spider Sense)
Rating: PG
Summary: Pepper visits the Finance Department.
A/N: Sorry that this one is so short! I am really getting somewhere I promise. The plot is beginning a little in this one. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far. It just makes my day! Please let me know what you think of this one.
Chapter Four – 56 Spider Sense
Pepper was on her monthly tour of the different departments. In past years, this tour could be completed in a day, day and half. This month however, it had been spread out over a week. Everyone was desperately trying to keep to the schedule and churn out new proposals.
She’d visited the new and improved Energy Department earlier in the week and had to struggle to keep a smile off her face as Tony himself showed her what the Pasa Linda project entailed. The practical application of the reactor was potentially world-changing. His enthusiasm was infectious and the department had resembled a slumber party more than a place of work.
Today, Pepper was visiting the Finance Department. The hum of the processors and the clicking of keyboards made her smile inwardly at the familiarity of the place where she had first been employed. Stark Industries being the size it was not only had accounting facilities, but also housed a great number of number crunchers whose sole purpose was to come up with possible outcomes for their investments.
She let the current Finance head show her the latest earnings and the graphs showing the steadily creeping upwards motion of the Stark stocks. On the whole, it looked fairly safe. Dr Cummings, the new head was a tiny man with thick glasses that kept sliding down his nose, at one point she had to stop herself from pushing them back up.
The tour was nearly over and a thought occurred to her.
“Whatever happened to Dr Stephens?” she asked. “I know he left a few months ago, but I haven’t heard anything from him and was just wondering. He was one of the better bosses I ever had. He left so suddenly.”
Dr Cummingslooked puzzled. “You know I’m not altogether sure. I had heard he got a position, somewhere on the west coast, but beyond that...” He shrugged his shoulders. His phone rang and with a “Oh excuse me Miss Potts,” he walked off to answer.
She turned away and looked into the room commonly known as the Hive. She caught sight of Danny Morgan, one of the whiz kids brought on a few years ago. One of Tony’s finds actually. In one of his rare fits of responsibility he’d come across the kid at a conference and hired him on the spot. They got along surprisingly well, but Pepper surmised it was probably due to the fact that despite the suits (the metal one as well as the Armani) Tony was essentially a geek. Danny was currently leaning against a desk watching the stock ticker with apparent fascination and making notes. Every now and then he’d furrow his brow and swallow heavily.
She wandered over.
“Hi Danny,” Pepper said with a smile.
He jumped.
“Oh, god,” he said. “Hey, hi, Pepper. Miss Potts.”
“Pepper,” she corrected him. “How are you?”
“Oh you know,” he said. “Just, ah, working. A lot. Working. Yeah. Uh, you?”
“Oh you know,” she said amused. “The same old, same old.”
“Well, but it’s not!” Danny said quickly.
Pepper looked confused.
“I mean, what I mean is he did it!” Danny said waving his hand a bit. “He made it! It’s amazing.”
“You mean the suit?” Pepper said realization dawning on her. Conversations with Danny always felt like she was running a marathon and never quite catching up to the leader. “Yes, it is really quite something. You should stop by and have a look. Let him know if he’s done something wrong. Really, all the accolades will go to his head. He probably needs good old-fashioned criticism.”
Danny shook his head. “Nah, I’m more the numbers man. You know...”
He waved his hand in the air.
“Yeah,” Pepper said. “How are the numbers these days? I heard that we’ve more or less pulled back up in the stocks. What do you think?”
Danny seemed to get a little more nervous. He started to twirl his pen around his hand.
“Oh, well,” he started. “We, I mean Stark Industries, definitely took a hit. Especially with Mr Stark changing things. But, um, that can be turned around. I’d be more worried about the others.”
Pepper furrowed her brow a little.
“The others?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Danny said eyes darting back up to the stock ticker. “Others who, you know, invested in Stark Industries. A lot of, um, people did.”
“True,” she said thoughtfully watching the ticker herself. “But that’s how the stocks work though isn’t it? Always changing and it’s not like anyone could have seen all this coming.”
“Maybe,” Danny said quietly. She looked over at the young man and wondered what exactly he was seeing that she couldn’t.
“Miss Potts?” Dr Cummings called. “Are you ready to see the new forecasts?”
“Oh, yes thank you,” she said. She turned to Danny.
“Take care of yourself Danny,” she told him. “And I meant it. Stop by.”
“Thank you, ah thank you Miss Potts, Pepper,” he said quickly meeting her eyes and then looking back up at the ticker.
Pepper continued on her tour, but Danny Morgan’s quiet ‘Maybe’ stuck in her head and she wasn’t sure why.
Rating: PG
Summary: Pepper visits the Finance Department.
A/N: Sorry that this one is so short! I am really getting somewhere I promise. The plot is beginning a little in this one. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far. It just makes my day! Please let me know what you think of this one.
Chapter Four – 56 Spider Sense
Pepper was on her monthly tour of the different departments. In past years, this tour could be completed in a day, day and half. This month however, it had been spread out over a week. Everyone was desperately trying to keep to the schedule and churn out new proposals.
She’d visited the new and improved Energy Department earlier in the week and had to struggle to keep a smile off her face as Tony himself showed her what the Pasa Linda project entailed. The practical application of the reactor was potentially world-changing. His enthusiasm was infectious and the department had resembled a slumber party more than a place of work.
Today, Pepper was visiting the Finance Department. The hum of the processors and the clicking of keyboards made her smile inwardly at the familiarity of the place where she had first been employed. Stark Industries being the size it was not only had accounting facilities, but also housed a great number of number crunchers whose sole purpose was to come up with possible outcomes for their investments.
She let the current Finance head show her the latest earnings and the graphs showing the steadily creeping upwards motion of the Stark stocks. On the whole, it looked fairly safe. Dr Cummings, the new head was a tiny man with thick glasses that kept sliding down his nose, at one point she had to stop herself from pushing them back up.
The tour was nearly over and a thought occurred to her.
“Whatever happened to Dr Stephens?” she asked. “I know he left a few months ago, but I haven’t heard anything from him and was just wondering. He was one of the better bosses I ever had. He left so suddenly.”
Dr Cummingslooked puzzled. “You know I’m not altogether sure. I had heard he got a position, somewhere on the west coast, but beyond that...” He shrugged his shoulders. His phone rang and with a “Oh excuse me Miss Potts,” he walked off to answer.
She turned away and looked into the room commonly known as the Hive. She caught sight of Danny Morgan, one of the whiz kids brought on a few years ago. One of Tony’s finds actually. In one of his rare fits of responsibility he’d come across the kid at a conference and hired him on the spot. They got along surprisingly well, but Pepper surmised it was probably due to the fact that despite the suits (the metal one as well as the Armani) Tony was essentially a geek. Danny was currently leaning against a desk watching the stock ticker with apparent fascination and making notes. Every now and then he’d furrow his brow and swallow heavily.
She wandered over.
“Hi Danny,” Pepper said with a smile.
He jumped.
“Oh, god,” he said. “Hey, hi, Pepper. Miss Potts.”
“Pepper,” she corrected him. “How are you?”
“Oh you know,” he said. “Just, ah, working. A lot. Working. Yeah. Uh, you?”
“Oh you know,” she said amused. “The same old, same old.”
“Well, but it’s not!” Danny said quickly.
Pepper looked confused.
“I mean, what I mean is he did it!” Danny said waving his hand a bit. “He made it! It’s amazing.”
“You mean the suit?” Pepper said realization dawning on her. Conversations with Danny always felt like she was running a marathon and never quite catching up to the leader. “Yes, it is really quite something. You should stop by and have a look. Let him know if he’s done something wrong. Really, all the accolades will go to his head. He probably needs good old-fashioned criticism.”
Danny shook his head. “Nah, I’m more the numbers man. You know...”
He waved his hand in the air.
“Yeah,” Pepper said. “How are the numbers these days? I heard that we’ve more or less pulled back up in the stocks. What do you think?”
Danny seemed to get a little more nervous. He started to twirl his pen around his hand.
“Oh, well,” he started. “We, I mean Stark Industries, definitely took a hit. Especially with Mr Stark changing things. But, um, that can be turned around. I’d be more worried about the others.”
Pepper furrowed her brow a little.
“The others?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Danny said eyes darting back up to the stock ticker. “Others who, you know, invested in Stark Industries. A lot of, um, people did.”
“True,” she said thoughtfully watching the ticker herself. “But that’s how the stocks work though isn’t it? Always changing and it’s not like anyone could have seen all this coming.”
“Maybe,” Danny said quietly. She looked over at the young man and wondered what exactly he was seeing that she couldn’t.
“Miss Potts?” Dr Cummings called. “Are you ready to see the new forecasts?”
“Oh, yes thank you,” she said. She turned to Danny.
“Take care of yourself Danny,” she told him. “And I meant it. Stop by.”
“Thank you, ah thank you Miss Potts, Pepper,” he said quickly meeting her eyes and then looking back up at the ticker.
Pepper continued on her tour, but Danny Morgan’s quiet ‘Maybe’ stuck in her head and she wasn’t sure why.
