Chapter 1

"Good to go on this end. The rest is up to you," Tony said as he came jetting out of the bay. The last interrupter had been attached to the power lines, and now it was time for the moment of truth.

"You disconnected to transmission lines? Are we off the grid?" Pepper asked over the radio in that worried tone of hers. He always found it amusing how she always liked to question and double check everything he did.

"Stark Tower is about to become a beacon of self-sustaining, clean energy," he replied proudly. The project had been under construction for just over a year now, and he was more than eager to see it completed.

"That's assuming the arc reactor takes over and actually works," JC chimed in.

"I assume," he said confidently. "Light her up, honey." He turned down the street that led up to Stark Tower as the building's lights started turn on starting from the bottom and progressively made it to the top, the large 'Stark' sign at the top being the last thing to come to life.

"How does it look, honey?"

"Like Christmas but with more…me."

He could hear JC snickering on the other end. He had to admit though, watching it light up was like watching the Christmas tree turned on for the first time: beautiful. Though, it had nothing on the person waiting for him inside. She was like the present beneath the tree. Except, she was inside the tree in this case. That thought just started to confuse him.

"We've gotta to go wider with the public awareness campaign. You need to do some Press," Pepper said, starting to babble a bit which brought him out of his Christmas thoughts. The project had been her baby, which made her probably the most excited person between the three of them.

"She's right, Tony. This thing could put the company back in the spotlight as a good thing for a change," JC added.

"You two are killing me. The moment, remember? Enjoy the moment," he chided as he came up to his landing pad and set himself down.

"Then get in here, and I will," JC flirted. Tony didn't even try to restrain his smirk. She knew exactly how to turn him on.

"Sir, Agent Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D. is on the line," JARVIS chimed. Perfect way to kill the moment.

"I'm not in," Tony said as he started walking down the walkway that served as the assembly line for his armor. "I'm actually out," he said as the last piece was taken off his body.

"Sir, I'm afraid he's insisting."

"Grow a spine, JARVIS. I got a date." He continued inside to his personal area of Stark Tower which was more like a home away from home. It had everything that he, JC, and Darren would need to stay in New York for the foreseeable future. Now came the next step in his plan: tell JC about the plan. Thus far he had only hinted at the top floors of the Tower to be a temporary home for business trips and such. He had yet to tell her about how permanent he intended on making it.

JC was by his work area looking over the building schematics where energy levels were being shown. To the side was also the video feed from D.C. where Pepper was currently working.

"I'll be back in a few days and we can celebrate then. I know you're supposed to be taking it easy right now, but if you could just make sure he actually gets in front of the Press, that would be great," Pepper said through the holographic screen.

"Pepper, I'm pregnant, not an invalid. I'm more than capable of making sure his butt gets in front a few cameras."

"I thought we were discouraging me putting my butt in front cameras anymore," Tony teased as he came up behind JC and wrapped his arms around her.

"Very funny, Tony," Pepper commented dryly. "I'll see you two soon."

"Bye, Pepper," JC said and the video went blank. "Well, it looks like levels are holding steady. I think, anyways. I don't really know how to read this thing."

"Don't worry. They are. I was directly involved. Which brings me to my next order of business," he said as he tossed his ear piece on the table and turned her to face him. "Hello, wife," he said and kissed her tenderly. She returned his kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulled him closer.

"Hello, hubby," she said softly when they finally pulled away.

"That's never gonna get old," he mused.

"What is?"

"Me calling you my wife," he said with a smile.

She giggled at him and pulled gently on his goatee. "You are so strange sometimes."

"You know you couldn't love me, if I wasn't. Oh! I almost forgot the most important person," he said and got down on one knee. "Hello, baby," he cooed and kissed JC's belly, which had only just started to get round. He was surprised she wasn't showing more since she was nearly six months pregnant, but she said not to worry, that there would be plenty more of her to love very soon. Granted, she had been wearing clothing that would hide her baby bump fairly well for awhile, but it certainly wouldn't be able to hide it forever.

"You know the baby can't actually hear you, right?" she said with a smile as she ran her fingers playfully through his hair.

"Of course he can. He has very developed senses," he said in a mock serious tone.

"If she can hear anything, it sounds more like Charlie Brown's teacher than actual words."

"Shh, don't listen to her," he said, quickly covering her stomach with his hands as if trying to keep the baby from hearing. "You shouldn't call our son a 'she'. You're just going to confuse him."

"For all you know, the baby is a girl, Tony."

"Nope. I know for a fact that there is a little boy in here," he insisted as he rubbed her belly. "You know you're a boy, don't you?" he asked and put his ear to her stomach. He pulled away with a triumphant, "Uh huh. He says he's a boy."

"When this baby comes out as a girl, you are going to eat your words," she teased.

"And when he comes out a boy, you are going to have to admit I was right and you were wrong," he countered.

They had been having this argument almost since they had found out that she was pregnant. They could easily learn the gender of the baby now, but they both agreed that they wanted to be surprised. Tony had wanted a boy, a natural fatherly want. He could teach him how to fix things, go a few rounds with him in the ring, if JC let him, and do all those other father/son things. JC wanted a girl since, as she put it, had already gone through the joys and horrors of raising a son. Tony almost feared having a girl. One week out of every month he was going to have to go through hell with her hormones going even more out of whack than JC's were now. Then there was drama and boys, and God forbid what boy would try to date any daughter of his. Honestly, he'd be happy with either boy or girl…but he was definitely leaning more toward a boy.

"That'll happen when pigs learn how to sprout wings and fly."

"I'm sure I could manage to figure out how to make that possible. Just let me go down to my new lab and–"

"You are doing no such thing," she protested and pulled him to his feet. "Remember the moment? We're supposed to be enjoying it."

"Oh, I am," he said with a smirk. "So, how does it feel to be a genius?"

"I wouldn't know, now would I?"

"What do you mean? All of this came from you and Pepper."

"No, it didn't. All of this came from that," she said, pointing to the reactor in his chest.

"Give yourselves some credit. You two deserve at least…twenty percent," he reasoned.

"Only twenty percent? I'm pretty sure Pepper contributed a lot more than ten percent."

"Actually, she gets about twelve. You get eight," he corrected.

"Only eight? I know I wasn't in on the project from the absolute beginning, but I've been part of it since I started working for you, which covers all the time spent on construction and then some."

"Yeah, but this thing has been Pepper's baby. So really she deserves closer to fifteen percent." He immediately regretted his last statement when he saw JC cock her brow disapprovingly. "Well, I did do all the heavy lifting. Literally, I lifted heavy things. Pepper just did all the thinking and the planning. And you were like her assistant with that, so it really is fair." She responded by crossing her arms over her chest and cocked her brow further, if that was even possible. He cringed. "I'm gonna pay for this in some subtle way later, aren't I?"

"Not gonna be that subtle. Remember that bed you wanted to sleep in tonight? That's slowly going out the door," she threatened as she walked toward the living room area where a glass of champagne and apple cider were waiting.

"As I recall, some of our finest moments were on a couch," he teased as he tried to think of something that would get him back on her good side. With the way her hormones were swinging, she was likely to lock him out of their room and really make him sleep on the couch.

"Who said you'd get a couch? You get to sleep on the floor," she clarified.

"C'mon, honey," he moaned as he wrapped his arms around her from behind and started trailing kisses down her neck and shoulder. "You're gorgeous, you're loving, you're wonderful, you're merciful, you're compassionate, you're amazing. I don't deserve you. Am I getting warm yet?"

"I suppose I'll forgive you for now," she sighed with a smirk. "Come on, the drinks are getting warm," she said and led him to the couch.

"Great idea," he agreed as he grabbed the glasses and handed the cider over to JC. "A toast," he offered and held up his glass. "To our new home."

"What are you talking about?" she asked skeptically as she touched her glass to his warily.

Tony quickly guzzled down his liquid courage before looking at her again. It was now or never, and never was not an option. "Well, Stark Tower is kind of a big deal, and I'm gonna have to be here for awhile doing PR and research and that sort of thing. So instead of doing a horrible commute back and forth, I figured we all just move here," he explained, rushing the last part as quickly as possible.

Her face went stern and a scowl took over her features. This wasn't a good sign. He knew he should have known better than to try keeping his plan a secret from an emotionally erratic pregnant woman, but he was pretty sure that no matter what moment he chose to broach the subject, she would still be angry. The pregnant part just made her temper more fierce than usual.

"When exactly did you decide on this?" she asked levelly.

"A long time ago, actually. Why else would I include a baby floor upstairs and Darren's room above that?"

"We agreed that Darren's 'room'–if you can even call that a room since it's the size of a small house–was because he's going to go to college here in New York, and we agreed we'd rather him not stay in the dorms. We also agreed the baby's room was for if we ever had to bring the kid for a few days. You didn't mention anything about this being a permanent move. When were you planning on telling me any of this?" she growled.

"Right now," he admitted hesitantly. Tony cringed ready to receive her full wrath when JARVIS interrupted.

"Sir, the telephone. I'm afraid my protocols are being overridden."

"Stark, we need to talk," came Coulson's voice over speaker phone. Tony pulled out the transparent rectangle to see a picture of Coulson's face on the holographic screen.

"Now is not a good time, Coulson."

"This is urgent."

"Pretty sure my situation is more urgent," he hissed through gritted teeth.

The elevator then opened to reveal Coulson inside. So much for having good security. Just one more thing he hated about S.H.I.E.L.D. agents: they had the worst timing and always found a way in.

"Mr. Stark," Coulson greeted as he crossed the threshold.

"Phil, come in," JC said only half sincerely as she stood and walked to him.

"Phil? His first name is Agent," Tony quipped, unable to resist the urge to make fun of the man, as he followed JC.

"I can't stay."

"Please, join the party. We were just celebrating," she said, sarcasm dripping off every word as she glared at Tony.

"Which is why he can't stay, dear," he said with a false smile.

There was an uncomfortable silence as Phil stared warily at them, completely clueless as to what was really going on, yet nervous that he was about to be pulled into something he really didn't want to. This was not the time to resolve their argument. Of all the times Coulson could have chosen to barge in on his life, this was probably the worst so far.

"We need you to look this over as soon as possible," he said awkwardly and held out a tablet to Tony.

Tony stared at it like it was a snake. "I don't like being handed things."

"Give it here," JC said tersely and took the tablet from Coulson. She then shoved it at Tony, hitting his chest, giving him no choice but to take it.

He let out a groan and rubbed his chest where she had hit him. "You know, official consulting hours are between 8 and 5 every other Thursday," he lied. Urgent business or not, getting back on JC's good side was a little more important to him at the moment.

"This isn't a consultation," Phil said a little more confidently.

"Is this about the Avengers?" JC asked. Coulson gave her a look that said you-aren't-supposed-to-know-that-so-why-do-you-know-about-it? "Which I know nothing about," she quickly amended, but it was too late.

"The Avengers Initiative was scrapped, I thought. And I don't even qualify," Tony said as he started to assemble the tablet and took it over to his desk to upload it.

"I didn't know that either," JC added unconvincingly.

"Apparently I'm volatile, self-obsessed, didn't play well with others," he clarified, positive that she would appreciate most, if not all, of those adjectives.

"That I do know," she said with a glare.

"This isn't about personality profiles anymore," Coulson said.

"Whatever," Tony shrugged. "Honey, come here for a sec."

"What?" she ground out when she approached his desk.

"Just let me get rid of him so we can get back to our discussion," he said in a low voice.

"Oh, we're discussing it now, are we? I thought that you had already decided what you plan on doing with my family," she said curtly.

"Your family? Last I checked, this was my family, too. I'm trying to do something good for our family, and you're making me out to be the bad guy. And since when is he Phil?" he asked, chewing on the name.

"First off, you're being stupid about it. You don't just make split second decisions like that. And second, what the hell does it matter if I call him Phil? It's his name. Get over it. What is this anyway?" she asked trying to change subject.

He looked down at the tablet to see that it had connected with his system. "This is, uh," he mumbled as he took control of the images on screen and spread them out to his other screens, "this." On each screen was the files kept on three other candidates for the Avengers Initiative. He recognized one clearly as Bruce Banner a.k.a. the Hulk. No real explanations needed there. There was another that had been labeled as 'Thor' with a video that Tony recognized from six months ago of something that had been labeled as 'The Destroyer.' It was pretty apt since it had nearly destroyed an entire town with little to stop it. The third one he just couldn't believe. It had said Captain America, and there were some old film clips with it along with a few obviously modern photos, but this was something he would have to see to believe.

"Looks like you're not coming to bed period. You have a lot of homework to do," JC said as she stared at the screens. Judging by the look on her face she understood the gravity of the situation. Of course she did. This was his wife he was talking about. There were few things that got past her, pregnant or not.

"Look, JC, about moving here–"

"Save it," she interrupted. "We'll talk more about that later. Work hard," she said and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Phil, let me walk you down," she offered and led him back to the elevator.

They started talking about Coulson's cellist girlfriend who had moved back to Portland, but Tony was hardly paying attention. Among the dossiers was also notes about something called the Teseract. Along with it was a picture of a cube and various notes scribbled beside it. Tony grabbed the holographic projection and held it in his hand for a moment. His mind started racing as he compared this new information with notes from his father's journals. Howard Stark had to have seen this before, because from what Tony could tell, this was the same energy that was now running his heart. Now things were getting interesting.

After the elevator descended a few floors JC hit the stop button. Agent Coulson looked at her bewildered for a moment as she stared him down.

"Okay, Coulson, I want to know exactly what's going on," she demanded.

"Everything you need to know is in the file I just gave your husband," he said by way of explanation.

"Don't think I don't see what you're doing," she accused, jabbing a finger at him. "This is a recruitment scam. I know you didn't come right out and say it, because Tony would never go for it, if you asked nicely. So you're dangling a little carrot in front of him to whet his appetite. I'm not stupid. I want in."

She knew the moment Phil walked in the room that something was seriously wrong. Tony never would have recognized it, but she saw the look in his eye. It was the look only a soldier knew, the look that shit had hit the fan and everything was going to hell very soon, but nobody else needed to know. Yet. Phil wasn't really a soldier, but he was pretty close in her eyes.

"Are you sure that would be wise in your current condition? I hardly think your husband would approve."

"Yeah, well, my husband is not the boss of me," she said with a scowl.

"Clearly," he said with that small not-quite-a-smirk smile.

"Listen, Coulson, you owe me. I saved your life back in Istanbul when I could have just left you behind like you asked. I'm calling in your debt. You're going to bring me along on this, and you're not going to say a word of this to my husband. Understood?"

He just stood there, his smirk turning into a smile. "And here I thought you'd never ask."

"What?" she said dumbly as she stared at him in bewilderment. It only took another moment for her to realize just what he had done. "Oh, you're getting clever, Coulson. You're entire visit was a scam. You wanted both of us."

"Your husband will be an asset to the team. However, all those colorful adjectives he mentioned weren't false. That's where you come in. You're the only one who might be able to keep him in check. There's a car waiting for you downstairs that will take you to a pilot who knows to expect you. He'll have everything you need. Any other questions?"

"Fury actually asked for me to come along?" she asked skeptically.

"Not entirely."

She smirked at him. "Phil, you are outdoing yourself on sneakiness. Looks like you've learned a thing or two since Turkey. I'm impressed. But aren't you coming with me to wherever this pilot will be taking me?"

"I have another stop to make on the way. We'll see you on the ship," he said and released the stop button.

"Ship? You mean we're going out on a boat?"

"Not exactly. You'll see soon enough."

His words were confusing, but she didn't question him. He was letting her come along on a mission that Tony would never allow. For now, that was reason enough for her to trust him. Then a thought crossed her mind. She was going to have to give Tony a pretty good reason for being gone until he found out the truth. If he learned about it too soon, he would definitely stop her. She wasn't about to allow that.

"JARVIS, I need you to leave a message for Tony. Tell him I've gone back to California, that I need some space for awhile. Tell him I don't want him to follow me. He has more important things to worry about right now," she ordered.

"Deceiving Mr. Stark, are we, ma'am?" the AI retorted.

"Yes, JARVIS, and if you give him any hints otherwise, I will personally reprogram you in any way that I can possibly imagine. Your mainframe will never be the same," she threatened. She was sure that any damage she could possibly do would be easily fixed by either Tony or JARVIS, but that didn't mean she couldn't manage quite a bit of damage. It would take them at least twenty four hours to fix the mess she could create.

"I shudder to think of it," he quipped.

"Just give him the message, JARVIS."

"Understood, ma'am."

"So, when do I get filled in on everything?" she asked Coulson.

"There's a tablet waiting in the car with all the same information I just gave your husband," he explained as the elevator came to a stop at the lobby.

"Well, Coulson, it looks like you've covered everything," she praised as he led her outside. Sure enough, two black government issue vehicles were waiting by the curb for them. "I guess this is the part where I say I'll see you on the ship," she said as he opened the door for one of the cars.

"I'll see you on the ship, Mrs. Stark," he affirmed.

"Oh, and Coulson, do me favor. I'd prefer it if you continued to keep my condition to yourself. Are we clear?"

Thus far she had managed to keep her pregnancy a secret from the public. She was sure that in another month that wouldn't be possible, unless she became a hermit and never left the house; but the key to her success had been to tell as few people as possible. She was beginning to regret her little snafu back at that A.I.M. facility when she had just blurted it out, but that had been one of those moments where you said things like that because they were important and someone was dying, which she thought her now husband was. She didn't think it would come back to bite her quite so hard. If more people at S.H.I.E.L.D. learned about it, they might try sending her back. However, she figured that if she could appease Fury, she could just possibly guarantee herself a spot on the team. That is, until Tony came along.

"Crystal," he replied and shut the door behind her.

After JC left with Phil, Tony went upstairs to Darren's room to check on the boy. He was sure that he was still playing with all the new toys that came with his room, but there was more that Tony needed to do. Whatever was about to go down, it was going to be big, and he didn't want Darren to be totally in the dark about it.

"Hey, kiddo," he greeted as he entered the room. The room was divided into several different areas. There was a desk area for study, a work bench for doing homework, or just playing around, a gaming area, and a king sized bed at the other end of the room.

"Hey, Tony," Darren said from his spot on the bed. "This is really great. Thanks again for setting this up. It's perfect."

"Well, at least one of you seems to be enjoying the place," Tony mused.

"I take it you finally told her about moving here? I told you not to wait so long," Darren chided.

"Yeah, well, you know me. I never do things like I'm supposed to."

"How mad is she?" Darren asked tentatively. He was all too aware of how dangerous his mother's wrath could be.

"Not really sure yet. She hasn't had the chance to yell yet. Phil interrupted so-"

"Sir, I have a message from your wife," JARVIS interrupted.

"What is it, J?"

"She asked me to inform you that she will be returning to California and requests that you not follow," he recited.

"Did she give a reason?" Tony asked trying to keep his temper in check. This was the last thing he wanted. He wanted to talk things through with her, not have her storm off in a fit.

"Her exact words were that you have more important things to worry about, sir," JARVIS replied.

Whatever anger or irritation he was feeling quickly dissipated. She wasn't leaving to spite him. She was trying to keep herself and the baby safe. Maybe Phil had suggested it. He couldn't be upset at her for that. If she hadn't left now, he probably would have put her on the next flight out himself.

"Thanks, JARVIS."

"What's going on? What things?" Darren asked.

"I don't really know yet. Still going through all the data. Listen, things might get ugly in the near future, and your mother will kill me if I don't do this, but if you get a call that you need to get out, get out," he said in as serious of a tone as he could muster.

"There's more that you're not telling me. What is it? I can take it," Darren said as he stood up from the bed.

Tony knew the boy could handle just about anything. He had been kidnapped and successfully escaped an A.I.M. prison cell by himself. He knew the boy wasn't an idiot, but he didn't want him to get worried too soon. There was still a chance to salvage the situation before things got ugly.

"I don't have the full story yet, and I'm probably jumping the gun a bit. Just trust me, and leave if I tell you to. Okay?"

Darren didn't look happy about the lack of explanation, but he accepted it. Tony just hoped that he wouldn't have to make that call.

AN: Hope you guys liked the first chapter. If it wasn't already obvious, this is being set after the main events of The Bodyguard 2 but before the end of the story. I'm gonna try updating this one on a more regular basis like I did withHow They Met, but with school that's just not a likely scenario. Keep your fingers crossed! Anyway, if you liked it, leave me a review. They always make my day much better :)