Hello, ModernDayBard here! Yes, I'm still working on my YJ story, but I've been wanting to post something from the Marvel universe for a while; well, something besides the Brooklyn stories I'm writing in connection with TaliesinTaleweaver and WovenInASong (Adventures of Brooklyn—look it up). Anyway, one night, WovenInASong came across a head cannon on Tumblr that inspired this story...then she insisted I write it.
Pepper wasn't worried.
Concerned, maybe; annoyed, unquestionably; even possibly confused as she paced the halls of the Avenger's Tower, but not worried. After all, if she couldn't find Tony the conventional way, she did have other options.
"J.A.R.V.I.S.?"
"Yes, Miss Potts?" the computer answered promptly and politely. (Pepper personally thought Tony could learn a thing or two from the system).
"When you said Tony was in his workshop, did you mean to one on the sixth floor or the R and D labs on the tenth?"
For a moment, there was no reply, except a sense of...well, for lack of a better word, hesitation on behalf of the computer system. "J.A.R.V.I.S.?"
"Actually, Miss Potts, I was referring to the lab in the third basement."
"The third base—Tony said that was a file storage area, didn't he?" Another pause. "Didn't he?"
"I do believe that was the impression he wanted to give you," J.A.R.V.I.S. answered with evident reluctance. "In truth, he has a personal workshop there which he tends to frequent in relative secrecy so that he does not...worry you."
Pepper wasn't worried—but now she was definitely annoyed. "Is there a reason I should be worried?" Silence. So much for the computer answering promptly—apparently J.A.R.V.I.S. was learning from Tony, instead of the other way around. She ran down a mental list of possible scenarios, then chose her next question carefully. "Has he been there long?"
"That would depend on your parameters for 'long', Miss Potts."
Now the system was dodging questions. Not a good sign. "J.A.R.V.I.S., how long has it been since Tony ate?" Her boyfriend could get distracted when tinkering on a project—she knew that only too well.
"I have prompted him every few hours, and he has responded well. I believe he just finished a sandwich, as a matter of fact."
"So, he's not working on a project?" Now she was even more confused—it didn't fit Tony's 'workaholic' pattern. Still, she wasn't worried.
"He began several, but I do not believe any of them were pursued for very long."
Pepper's frowned deepened as the elevator carried her down to the third basement. Was this what happened when she didn't check in for a week? She went to one little conference without him and... "J.A.R.V.I.S.?"
"Yes, Miss Potts?"
"How long since Tony's slept?"
"...Four days, Miss Potts," came the answer at last, just as she arrived at her desired floor.
"Oh, dear," she muttered, concerned.
She still wasn't worried, though.
Tony didn't notice her at first as she entered the cluttered lab, strewn with half-finished tech projects. This gave her time to take in his tense stance as he stood, back to her, staring with intense focus at something that she couldn't see. Then he raised his hand and, before Pepper processed that the weapon she could see was, in fact, a paintball gun, she dove behind a nearby table, knocking over a box of tools in the process.
Still, any noise she might have made was cover by the sound of several shots in quick succession, which made her fervently hope this 'secret lab' was soundproofed.
"Bored!"
At Tony's exclamation in a bad attempt at a British accent (and since he'd stopped firing), Pepper dared to raise her head, taking in the yellow smiley face that'd been spray painted on the workshop's wall. Apparently, it had been Tony's target, as it was now splattered with red impact marks where each paintball had hit, following the outline fairly closely.
"Tony, what on earth—"
"Bored!" he repeated, flopping onto a nearby chair and leaning his head on the desk, not even registering surprise at his girlfriend's sudden intrusion into his 'hidden sanctuary'.
The odd wall décor having helped her decipher the reference, Pepper crossed her arms. "That's it, Tony. No more Sherlock!"
"Doesn't matter if you cut me off," came the sullen reply. "It's on hiatus again, anyway."
Now Pepper was worried.
Well, there you have it—my first attempt at a stand-alone one shot. If you want to read my other Marvel-based work, head over to WovenInASong's profile and read Adventures of Brooklyn. As for this story, if you liked it, or saw something I can improve on in the next one, don't hesitate to leave a review!