Author note: I do not own the Avengers, sadly. Only Tessa. I hope you'll like it, this is probably not an AvengersxOC, except if you insist on it. I simply enjoy giving this family a mother of some sorts who can deal with them. Please enjoy!

"Pepper!" someone yelled.

The woman sighed and passed a hand on her face. "Yes?" She shouted back at who she guessed was Tony.

"Do we have any coffee left?"

"I don't' think so."

"Why not?"

"Someone took the last bit of it."

"Awww! But I need it to function!"

"Go buy some!"

"Me?"

"Get some milk and cereals too!" yelled Clint.

"And some bread please!" said Steve.

"Pepper!" shouted Tony once again and she grunted.

"Fine! I'll do it, after my appointment." She came down the stairs and Tony looked at her expectantly. "What?"

"You have an appointment?"

"Yes."

"With who? Is it a business appointment? Anything I should know about?"

She shook her head and grabbed her purse on her counter. "My friend is in New York for a while so we're going to hang out while we can."

"Your friend? Anyone I should know?"

Pepper shot her boyfriend an annoyed but sweet glare. "Maybe you'll meet her. I'm sure she'd be able to put you back into place."

He stuck his tongue out at her and she chuckled, getting into the elevator. Before the doors closed, she heard a «have fun!» from the Avengers. She smiled and looked at her watch, cursing in her mind as she saw she was late, but remembered her friend surely wouldn't be much better.

She stepped in the restaurant and went to the waiter, who smiled politely at her. "May I help you, Miss?"

"Yes, I have a reservation for two under the name of Pepper Potts."

"Ah, yes. Your friend has already arrived. Follow me, please. We placed you on the balcony, near the window. Does it suit you?"

"It's perfect, thank you."

She followed him upstairs and to a table where a woman sat, looking outside the window while playing with the sleeve of her dress. Pepper smiled brightly, amazed at how her friend had not change since the last time they saw each other, and hurried closer. The woman noticed her when she was just a few steps away and got up, smiling from ear to ear.

"Pepper!"

"Tessa!"

The two woman threw themselves into each other's arms and laughed happily before parting while holding hands. The sat at the table and Pepper took her time to take the woman fully from head to toe. Although not one to wear fancy clothes, her friend had wonderfully pulled off her dark green dress with long sleeves who stopped at mid-thigh. Her usual mane of hair was left falling on her back in dark brown curls and her shining blue eyes looked livelier then before. Her high-heels made her even taller then she already was and she seemed to have gained some weight, making her hourglass curves look better then a few years ago. Her bronze skin shone beautifully under the dim lights and her face, almost completely denied of makeup, looked as pretty as ever.

Their hands still entertwined, the two women stayed silent for a while, until Pepper finally dared to speak.

"God, Tessa, you don't know just how much I've missed you."

Tessa chuckled. "I've missed you too, Pep. Maybe even more then you did."

"I think that's impossible. Sure, having you as an adviser through email is great, but it would be so much better to have you always with me."

"That much?"

"The Avengers are one hell of a ride to live with, and that still excludes Tony…"

"Tony is something, isn't he?"

"Jesus Christ, yes! He's making me insane sometimes!"

"But you still love him." teased the brown woman with a grin. Pepper shook her head, laughing.

"Yes I do. How about you, how's your love life?"

"As boring as ever, sweetheart. No one in toll for me. Not that I'm searching anyway."

"You know… I think Natasha is single. Maria and Dr. Cho are single too. I could hook you up with one of them." the redhead said with a wink.

"Nonsense. You know very well they are surely not swinging that way. Besides, I feel like Natasha should be with Bruce, from what you've told me about them."

"Hm, you're right. I could try setting them up. That would be adorable. Oh! I totally forgot about something!" She let go of Tessa's hands and hastily pulled her phone out of her purse, quickly typing something.

"What did you forget?" asked her friend after sipping her wine.

"They need me to buy some things before coming back to the Tower, but I don't remember all of it. I'm asking them what they need."

"Need some help bringing it home?"

"I won't refuse your help, and the opportunity to have your company a little longer."

They both smiled and their waitress arrived to take their orders.


"Why would they need sprinkles?"

"It's better not to ask, Tessa."

Pepper and Tessa strode through the market's alleys, throwing the needed items into the basket before going to the cashier.

"Ten frozen pizzas? How is that even healthy?" Said the brown-haired woman, bewildered. "Please tell me this isn't how you always eat."

Pepper gave her a sheepish look while putting their items on the counter. "Well, sometimes we order some take-outs, or once in while, someone decides to cook something. I usually go eat at a restaurant of some sorts"

"How are you guys not dead?"

"Avengers?"

"This is not a way of living. This is insane. Someone has to take care of you guys, or next thing I'll know, I'll be attending your funeral."

They walked in silence, Pepper having decided against calling anyone to pick them up, enjoying the warm night and the company of her friend. She knew how Tessa was, always worrying about people's well-care. The CEO had once gotten sick while in university and it was her friend who took care of her, staying by her side during the night, making her meals, making sure she took her meds. And while they stayed together, she was the one who went grocery shopping and who cleaned the apartment, Pepper being extremely busy with studying and working. Tessa was basically like a mom… something all the Avengers needed.

She glanced at her brown friend, thinking about it a little. They desperately needed someone who would care for them, who would take care of them and make sure everything was fine. A couple of them had never had a mother, something Tessa could easily become the figure of. Pepper gave herself a mental high five. If her friend did stay at Stark Tower, it would also allow them to spend more time together and not be several countries apart. Now only if she could convince her…

"So, Tessa?"

The brown-haired woman looked at her friend, smiling. "Yes?"

"What do you plan on doing next?"

"I don't know… maybe establish somewhere, get a job… I'd like to adopt a kid, too. That would be nice…" she said, a dreamy look in her ocean-like eyes. "Hey, we're there, Pep."

They had indeed arrived at the Tower. They got in the lobby and Tessa followed Pepper in the elevator without being asked. They went up to the common floor and deposed the grocery bags on the counter. Pepper left her shoes at the entrance and took out glasses to serve them some water.

"You sure you don't want to stay for the night?" she asked again, like she had while they were shopping.

"I can't Pepper. My things are at the hotel and I can't just intrude here."

This is gonna change soon, Pepper thought with a smile. "Let me at least call you a cab."

"I won't say no."

"JARVIS?"

"Yes, Miss Potts?"

"Call a cab, please."

"As you wish. It should arrive in five minutes."

"Thank you, JARVIS."

"At your service, Miss Potts."

The redhead looked back at her friend, who looked at the ceiling with a smile on her face "Well that's convenient." she said with a smile.

"Isn't it? Tony created him at first to help him, but JARVIS soon became the helper of everyone in here. He's kind of another habitant of the Tower."

The cab arrived much too quickly to Pepper's taste and the two woman hugged each other. The redhead placed one of Tessa's dark curls behind her ear and smiled sweetly. "Take care of yourself."

"I should say that to you. Try to take on more healthy habits, would you?" Pepper chuckled and hugged her friend again.

"I'll call you tomorrow so we can try and meet up this weekend."

"That would be great. Good night, Pep." the brown-skinned woman reluctantly let go of Pepper and stepped into the elevator.

"Good night, Tessa. Get to your hotel safely."

The elevator doors closed and Pepper went to her room. "I have to get her to live here." she whispered to herself. She stepped into the shower and thought about her plan while shampooing her hair, forgetting she already shampooed it, and shampooed it again. When she stepped out, she climbed into bed and stared at the ceiling.

"JARVIS?"

"Yes, Miss Potts?"

"From tomorrow on, we are starting Plan T. I'll tell you more about it tomorrow, remember me to start working on it in the morning."

"Very well, Miss Potts."

Author note: Please give me feedback in reviews! I probably can't update regularly, but I'll try to do it as often as I can.