seren_ccd | Tight Coupling: Chapter 8

Title: Protect - Theme 097
Series: Tight Coupling
Rating: PG
Pairing: Tony/Pepper-ish, movieverse
Disclaimer: Still not mine. All Marvel's.
Summary: Motown, reciprocity and someone’s gonna get fired.
A/N: So sorry this took so long. My muse decided to work on something else and I had to tie her down to work on this one.

Thank you so much to everyone who is following this and reviewing! Please, let me know what you think about this one.

Pepper waited for the elevator after her meeting with Adam Roberts, Stark Industries Executive Secretary. She sighed deeply.

Today had been the deadline for the departments to submit their new projections. Most of the departments were on schedule. Energy was blasting away at the new arc reactor and seemed very happy. The other standard departments, IT, Accounting, Public Relations, they were all fine. Telematics was not. The projection given wasn't even a projection. It was more like a list of complaints about the direction Stark Industries was heading. Pepper was now faced with the task of telling Tony all about the meeting and get his opinion on the future of most of these.

"Grand," she said to herself sarcastically.

The elevator pinged and the doors opened. She headed up to her floor.

Pepper exited the elevator and started to walk briskly to her desk when she realized that there was music being played incredibly loudly from Tony's office. While, loud music and Tony often went hand in hand, it tended to be either mullet rock or thrash metal.

Not the Greatest Hits of Mo-town.

Pepper exchanged humoring smiles with the secretary and steeling herself walked into Tony's office.

The man himself was standing at his desk and working on a 3D model of the miniature arc reactor.

And singing.

To the Four Tops if Pepper was correct.

She considered interrupting him, but decided that the view of an at-ease Tony Stark was too enjoyable to miss.

Tony walked around the model and looked up when he caught sight of Pepper standing in the doorway. He smiled. Pepper smiled back and told herself that the feeling in her stomach was only hunger pains and not butterflies at the sight of a genuine Tony Stark smile.

"Pepper!" he called. He grabbed a remote to turn down the music. "Why did no one tell how awesome this music is? I mean I suppose I must have known about it on some level. Everyone hears this stuff at some point in their lives. But the sheer awesomeness of it! Seriously, why did no one tell me?"

"Well, in order to tell you about it, you'd have to be able to hear them and considering your usual level of volume, I don't think anyone wanted to bother," she explained.

"Well, it's super," he said. "The music. I love it. So simple and yet, so meaningful."

"Really?" Pepper said coming to stand in front of his desk. She put down her paperwork and waited.

"You know 'Respect'? By Aretha Franklin?" he asked.

"Tony. Every woman is born knowing that song," she told him dryly.

"Ah, but do you know what it's about?" he asked with a little smile.

"Umm. I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's about respect," she said.

"Nope," he said happily.

"No?" she said.

"Nope," he repeated.

"Okay," Pepper said cautiously. "What's it about then?"

Tony grinned.

"Sex."

Pepper blinked. Then laughed.

"Tony," she said. "Not everything is about sex you know."

"This is," he said still grinning.

"Tony," she sighed shaking her head.

"Think about it. 'Sock it me'? 'Profits'? 'Whip it to me'?" Tony explained. "It's all about reciprocity Miss Potts. Givin' it to her when he gets home."

Pepper just glared at him and crossed her arms over her chest. Tony chuckled at her.

"Just when, exactly did you have time to figure this out today?" she asked. "Please tell me it wasn't while meeting with the Dean at the technical school."

"Ha! I figured this out a while ago actually," he said. "During a linear algebra class. The most useful thing I learned that week."

"My God, just how bored did you get in college?" she asked incredulously.

"Horribly. In fact I don't know how I managed before all this actually," Tony said.

"All this?" Pepper repeated.

"You know," he said eyes shining. "This. The suit. I'm doing something Pepper. Imagine that."

Tony shook his head and sat down at in front on his computer and logged in.

"So, how did your meeting go? Are all my little Stark ducks in a row?" he asked.

"Most of them," Pepper said. "A few have fallen a bit behind, but not irrevocably so. Accounting is pretty optimistic about the new investments. Umm, Telematics may be a problem though."

"Yeah?" Tony said furrowing his brow over a model. "How so?"

"They haven't come close to giving a clear projection. They've stopped work on their current projects and I've heard that quite a few of the team members are thinking of going elsewhere," she explained.

"Well, if that's the way they feel, let 'em," Tony said a bit carelessly. "We can hire new people."

"Tony, I don't think the team is the problem, it's the head," Pepper said with some effort. "He's the problem."

Tony huffed a little and threw down his pen and leaned back in his chair and focused on Pepper.

"Who's the head again?" Tony asked.

"Marcus Hake," Pepper told him.

"Ah," Tony said turning his chair to look out the window. "That explains it."

"Why? I didn't know you knew him," Pepper said coming around the desk to look at his profile.

Tony smirked humorlessly.

"He was one of Obie's finds. A wunderkind of sorts with small robotics," Tony explained. "Met him once. Obie was praising his talents. I wasn't actually listening."

He looked over at her.

"What's he done?" Tony asked.

"Well, like I said, he's managed to halt production on some of the projects that are still viable under the new brief, he hasn't complied with the timeline to suggest new avenues for the department to head down, he's supposedly not working very well with his team," Pepper paused for moment and then decided to fess up. "He may have said something a while ago that could have been construed as a threat. Or at least a warning. Or something."

"To who?" Tony asked.

"To who, what?" Pepper frowned.

"To who did he threaten?" he clarified.

Pepper frowned. "I don't think that was correct grammar."

"Potts," Tony said warningly.

"Oh. Ah, me actually," Pepper said wryly.

Tony tilted his head in a way that made Pepper want to retreat.

"What did he say?" Tony asked in a low tone. "Exactly."

"Just that there were several people that were unhappy with the way Stark Industries was moving and that I, we, should be aware of that," Pepper said. "I suppose, it wasn't what he said, just the way he said it."

"Fire him," Tony said.

"Tony," Pepper tried.

"No," he said decisively. "Fire him."

"That may just exascerbate the issue you know," Pepper tried again, knowing that he was probably right.

"Of course it will," he said. "However, it will get him off my property and out of my company. He can plot whatever little revenge scenario he wants, at least it will be away from here."

Pepper sighed. "To be honest, Adam and I had already come to the same conclusion. Adam will do it tomorrow."

"Good," Tony said. "It's a good department. There is always potential in GPS devices and data storage. I'm just not putting them in weapons anymore."

He swiveled his chair back to his desk so quickly Pepper took a step back.

"Get Adam to give the usual severance package and get the guy outta here," he told her. "No one threatens my staff and no one railroads production in my company."

He thought for second and then said, "Unless it's me."

"I'll call Adam," Pepper said. "Do you really think he'll plan some kind of revenge scenario?"

"Of course he will," Tony said pulling up a schematic on the screen. "He's the type. He's Obie's type. That serpentine quality attracted Obie like nothing else. Arrogant and brilliant. Naturally, nothing like your humble and affable boss."

"Oh, naturally," Pepper agreed.

"Anything else to report?" he asked.

"No, everything seems to be --,"

"Great!" Tony cut her off. "I am starving and those sandwiches they give you at these meetings are inedible."

"Oh, well," Pepper said. "I've got plenty to do here. I'll be at the house tomorrow morning. Have a nice afternoon Mr Stark."

Tony shook his head, as though he were clearing cobwebs away.

"What? No," he said standing up and smoothly taking her elbow. "Potts, you're coming with me. I have to eat something really bad for me and then expand my music collection. I'll need moral support for this. Come along."

"Tony," Pepper protested and tried to pull her elbow out of his grip. Which proved a bit futile. Honestly, when had the man developed all those muscles? "I really do have a lot to do here."

"Please, anything you have to do here you can do on your little PDA," he waved his hand as they emerged out of his office. "Or Jarvis can do it. We're playing hooky, so shush and come quietly."

Pepper swiftly grabbed her purse and some folders without losing a step and then said, "Anthony Stark if you ever 'shush' me again..."

"Promises, promises," Tony said.