All of Madeleine's life, she'd never wanted for anything. Her father was a successful businessman, making lots of money, so she grew up comfortably. When she graduated college, her parents agreed to pay the rent for her apartment for her until she found a job.

She was job-hunting, but at her leisure. She wanted a job she would enjoy doing, not just a job because she needed money. She had the luxury of finding her perfect job. With a degree in business, and being fluent in french, a lot of employers had offered her jobs. She had politely turned them down, not feeling like she'd found her perfect job.

How she wishes she'd taken one of them now.


All her belongings packed into her suitcases, she stood outside her apartment building - old apartment building- trying to decide what to do. She only had 20 dollars cash, and no money in her bank account, as she'd relied on money from her parents for the essentials. She'd never taken too much, but they'd always insisted on her having some of their money on hand. They didn't have any left to give.

As she felt the tears start to well up in her eyes, she rummaged around in her handbag to find her phone, deciding to call the one person she knew wouldn't judge her.

"Hello?"

"Can you come get me?" She said between silent sobs, which could all be heard through the phone.

"Of course. Where are you?"

She gave her the address, then hung up the phone.


10 minutes later, a sleek black car pulled up to the curb, a familiar face rushed out, her strawberry blonde hair shoved up into a ponytail.

"Maddie!" She cried as she pulled her into a bone crushing hug.

"Hey, Pepper." She attempted a weak smile.

"Come on, lets get you to the Tower."

Madeleine followed Pepper to the car, dragging her suitcases behind her. A tall man exited the driver's seat and took her bags from her, only to put them in the boot of the car. After Pepper and Madeleine were in the car, the driver, who introduced himself as Happy Hogan, started the car and took them to the famous Stark Tower.


On the drive to the Tower, Madeleine had explained to Pepper everything that had happened in her life recently. Her parent's had been caught, and subsequently arrested for embezzlement; she'd had to go to court and testify that she knew nothing about the embezzlement or she may have had to go to prison as well; she currently had no job, no money and as a direct cause of the previous two factors, was now homeless. Pepper's only reaction was "Why didn't you call me sooner?"

Pepper looked like she was about to say something more when they pulled up to the Tower. Telling Happy to bring Madeleine's bags in for her, Pepper motioned to her to follow.

They walked straight through the lobby, into a spacious elevator. Instead of pressing the button of floor she wanted, Pepper opted for speaking to the elevator.

"The loft please, JARVIS."

"Right away, Miss Potts. Sir asked me to inform you that Dr. Banner and himself are in the labs, and should be finished in about half an hour."

"Thank you, JARVIS."

At Madeleine's slightly bewildered look, Pepper told her that JARVIS as an AI that Tony had built, and was built into the building's systems. Every floor had access to JARVIS.

When they reached the loft, Pepper pulled off her shoes and gestured for Maddie to do the same. She then lead her over to a comfy couch, and sat down, pulling Maddie down beside her.

"Now, answer me truthfully, why didn't you call me as soon as you found out about what your parents were doing?"

Maddie shrugged her shoulders. "It was about a month ago, and New York was still recovering from the alien attack and I didn't want to bother you. I knew you would be fussing over Tony, who had fallen out of the sky. I didn't want to add another thing to your plate."

Pepper scoffed. "Nonsense. Madeleine, you are practically the sister I never had. You're supposed to call me whenever something's wrong, you're supposed to be able to talk to me. I don't want you to ever feel like you can't, or that you're being a bother. You aren't. I promise, you could never be a bother to me."

Maddie smiled slightly, wiping at the tears that lingered on her face.

"Now, about where you're going to stay... I'll have Tony clear out one of the empty apartments on the floor below."

Maddie's jaw dropped. "No! I couldn't ask that of you, plus I have no way of paying rent because I have no job and I doubt anyone in New York is going too want to hire me after the scandal that was my parents' arrests."

Pepper smiled knowingly. "That's why I was also going to offer you a job. My new assistant, to be precise. I've been looking for an assistant ever since I took over as CEO of Stark Industries, but I haven't been able to find someone competent enough and discreet enough to be able to handle working - and in your case, living - in the same building as the Avengers. Who better than the girl I already view as my little sister?"

Maddie shook her head slightly in disbelief. "Are you, are you sure? Are you sure Tony wouldn't mind?"

"Maddie, you're practically family. He won't mind."

Maddie stared at Pepper, thinking about the times growing up when it had just been the two of them, when their parents had gone out together or when Pepper had taken her on trips to the cinema to celebrate either of their birthdays. Yes, they were family. Pepper was practically her older sister.

"Okay."

Pepper squealed, then proceeded to tell her that she would stay in Pepper and Tony's guest room for the night, then they would get an apartment sorted out for her tomorrow. Then, she would start her new job on Monday, after getting acquainted to life at the Tower. They would also have to get her some sort of identification, so that she could move freely through the Tower without having Pepper with her.

Pepper was so excited about Maddie moving in that she didn't notice Tony come in.

"Pep? I didn't realise we were having guests."

"Tony!" Both women were so engrossed in their conversation that, when Tony spoke, the noise caused them both to jump.

"This is Madeleine Edwards, my new assistant. She's going to be staying in our guest room tonight, then I was thinking we could move her into one of the empty apartments tomorrow." Pepper explained.

"What, kid, got no other place to go?" Tony asked curiously, not meaning anything by it but, being Tony, he managed to hit a nerve.

"Tony!" Pepper scolded, as Maddie smiled slightly to tell Pepper it was okay.

"Actually, no, I don't. I got kicked out of my apartment because I have no money and therefore can't pay rent. I called Pepper because she's practically my sister." Maddie saved Tony from being reprimanded by Pepper, though she didn't managed to save him from the heated glare Pepper sent his way.

"Alright, kid. You're Pepper's family, you're free to stay. Just don't break anything." He smirked, while Maddie's eyes widened slightly at how easily he'd accepted her into his home. He didn't know her. But then again, he did know Pepper, and Maddie knew from experience, never to mess with Pepper Potts.

Tony informed Pepper that they were all going to eat on the communal floor, a man called Barton was getting pizza, and he even extended an invitation to her, claiming "You're going to meet them at some point, why not just meet them now?". After Pepper's muttered "You don't have to if you don't want to," Maddie agreed to go down and join them.

She wondered if they would all accept her into their home as easily as Stark did.