(Hello! I know I haven't written anything in a very long time but I think this is a perfect story to come back with. I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of this, this is all the work of masters, and I am simply an amateur with an idea. The only thing I won is Saffron, and even that is a little iffy because she's actually a combination of a comic book character and Saffron from Joss Whedon's Firefly. But less skanky and thievy.)

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The Stark Tower was still in repair after all the damage it had received in the battle against Loki and the Chitauri army, and wind blew in from the broken windows of the top floor that was Tony Stark's penthouse. Police and various news teams stood outside of the tower, the events of the night still a confused jumble but all anyone knew was that an attempt had been made of the life of Pepper Potts.

Tony and Pepper had finished talking to the police as well as their S.H.I.E.L.D protection detail and they were finally alone. Pepper was still shaken up as Tony led her to their new bedroom that was on the far side of the building from the damaged parts of the tower. She silently sat on the bed and allowed him to undress her and lay her into bed, quickly undressing himself and climbed in behind her, wrapped her up in his arms and soothed her to sleep.

…

The next day Pepper searched all his usual places and finally found Tony standing outside on the balcony, staring off into the darkening sky.

"Have you eaten today? And I don't mean anything that qualifies as liquid." Pepper approached him and quickly found his hand; he immediately pulled her close to him. The battle and the loss of Phil Coulson and to top it off the attack on Pepper, still shook the snarky billionaire, his fear kept him up at night and made him constantly worry about the safety of the only person that he cared about more than himself.

Three weeks ago the light in his chest had been out and that was it, there was nothing more to it, the one thing he would regretted was that he never said goodbye to her but the Hulk had other plans. It was not a feeling he would ever get used to, not that he ever wanted to, but it had become a bit of a habit the last few years.

Breathing in the scent of her hair, Tony pulled away and looked into her eyes and uttered four simple words.

"Will you marry me?"

…

After a few months and a few more attempted attacks, the Avengers team started to pile into the tower and take up residence, none of them specifying why. None of that was half as strange to Pepper as what happened a week after the team moved in.

It had been a few months now of convincing each other that it wouldn't or would be a good idea to get married in public, or not tell anyone at all. Then the decision was made that the wedding would be on the top balcony of the tower, which meant waiting for the towers repairs to be completed, then they finally were able to start going through the process of planning the wedding, but there was one small detail that Tony was about to change.

"Here's the deal, I'll pay for any kind of wedding your heart desires, only if you allow me one thing." Tony looked at his soon-to-be bride and smiled his best dazzling debonair smile. Pepper sighed and glanced up at him, already swamped with paper work that needed to be handled before they took leave for their honeymoon which was still at the least a month away.

"Tony, as I have said before, you can have a bachelor party as long as you show up on time for the ceremony, in your tux and never, ever tell me what transpired." She continued with her paperwork, not giving Tony a chance to catch her attention again. Pepper reached her hand to her phone and pressed the page button, requesting that her assistant bring in the payroll paperwork so she could sign off on the days she wouldn't be there.

"That's actually not what I was going to ask for but I will hold you to that, it's less about the foreplay and more about the protection." Tony had come to sit in the chair across his fiancé's desk and just waited for her assistant. Pepper gave him a curious look before turning to her office door that opened to reveal a young woman who was holding the paperwork that her assistant should have brought in.

"Hello?" Pepper greeted the woman and threw Tony a suspicious glare, not exactly knowing what he was up to this time set her off balance. "Please tell me that this isn't another S.H.I.E.L.D agent."

Tony tried to dazzle her again with his smile and failed, again. Shaking his head he stood and threw an arm around the younger woman. "Not even remotely connected to S.H.I.E.L.D, which is exactly why I picked her, and replaced your old assistant, who by the way was stealing sticky notes and thought no one would notice."

Pepper shook her head, closed her eyes and raised her hand to pinch the bridge of her nose, recognizing that all too familiar Stark related headache. "Tony… Why did you bring her in?" opening her eyes she looked at him with patience and tolerance, knowing that was the only way to really get any real information out of him.

"Well, since the Avengers have decided to stick close by, they are under a most watchful eye by our newest big brother S.H.I.E.L.D, myself included, I wanted to make sure nothing could ruin our day and any days leading up to said day, and any day after said day. Also I picked her because she looks like you; which is in fact crucial to the story that we are going to sell in case Pirate Fury comes sniffing around, she is to be your long lost cousin who needed a job. " Trying to be convincing as well as sincere was really an effort for Tony; he thought to himself that Pepper should be proud that he's thinking of others. Well mostly just about protecting her. As well as screwing S.H.I.E.L.D over if at all possible.

"Okay…" Pepper narrowed her eyes, feeling slight jolts of pain radiating up her neck from her very tense shoulders. Sighing and standing in the same breath, Pepper brushed the wrinkles out of her suit and addressed the younger woman with a smile. Walking around the desk she held out her hand and introduced herself, no matter if it was pointless, it was polite.

"It's very nice to meet you Ms. Potts; Mr. Stark has told me much about you. You're quite impressive." The woman smiled and shook her hand with a firm grip, belying her size with her strength.

"So, since you will be working me and apparently are now related to me, what is your name?" Pepper looked at her expectantly waiting for her reply when Tony interjected. "She won't even tell me, some kind of code of arms, or was it coat of arms?" Tony ignored the glare coming from the newest member of the Stark Company.

"Since she's going to be your cousin, I say we stick with a spice name of some sort. But not salt, that would be far too obvious." Tony started thinking about names of kitchen spices as the women began to converse.

"So you will be my protection detail for the foreseeable future?" Pepper looked her over tactfully, taking notice of her light coloring; the light freckles that seemed to cover her from head to toe, Tony was right, they did bare a striking resemblance in coloring, not quite so in features and height. Pepper stood almost a foot taller than her but that wouldn't be enough to make anyone suspicious, and the woman's features were softer and more rounded compared to Pepper's angular structure.

"Yes ma'am, I'm sorry for you to find out this way, Mr. Stark informed me that you already knew."

"Did he?" Pepper stuck him with a well place look that spoke of a conversation that they would definitely be having later. "So what is the back story that he's decided to go with for this?" Tony decided to interject upon the woman's behalf again, not really caring what she would have said anyway.

"She was a college student back home in Iowa and her parents passed in a tragic…uh house fire. Yes, house fire will fit nicely; it will make up for her lack of paperwork proof that you two are related. And since she was out of family and home, she came to her beautiful cousin who gave her a job and a home from the very goodness of her heart." Tony once again tried his best beam, but was shot down by Pepper's eyes that saw right through his bullshit.

"We can call her Rosemary! Wait, no, that sounded better when I was thinking it. What's another spice name?" Musing to himself for a moment before once again cutting the woman off just as she opened her mouth. "Saffron! Saffron Potts. Has a nice ring to it." He puffed out his chest in a display of self-pride as the women rolled their eyes in unison.

"There, see? Already taking after each other." With his work done he proudly bid the women goodbye and went to treat himself to a victory of the liquid variety.

"Well then, it's nice to meet you, Saffron." Pepper smiled and began discussing what she would need of her newfound cousin, since Tony had replaced her assistant without any notice. The woman was a quick learner and very well mannered; she would be a nice addition to the building.

….

Surveying his handy work on Pepper's new family tree that now included her 'cousin' as well as her deceased aunt and uncle. Leaning back in his chair, Tony stretched his arms high and decided to find someone to brag to. Walking out of his lab, he followed the familiar path to his large kitchen in one of the lower levels of the tower, which had become home to the Avengers.

"Man of Iron! My brother in arms! It is good to see you, friend. We have all greatly felt your absence in the planning of your marriage ceremony." Thor's entirely too enthusiastic greeting met Tony's ears just as he entered the kitchen. Thor himself sat at the table with Jane seated on his lap, Clint sat near them at the table with a folder in hand. "I didn't notice any difference in his absence, just enjoyed it."

Tony disregarded Clint and turned to Thor and Jane who seemed to really be enjoying each other… on his furniture. Gross. "Is there a chair shortage that I'm not aware of?"

Jane pulled away from Thor's lips and giggled as her face started turning red, apologizing quickly she led the lumbering God of Thunder out of the kitchen, not leaving anyone with a curious thought of what they were going to do. It was obvious.

Natasha swept into the room silently as Tony got a cup of coffee until Clint's voice stopped his hand. "Saffron Potts the orphaned daughter of Thomas and Rosemary Potts, birth certificate: missing, Social security number: forged, date and place of birth: unknown, place of residence before the Stark Tower, gee what a shocker, that's unknown too." Clint closed the file and pinned Tony with a hard look.

"Rosemary and Saffron, was that really the best you could do, Stark? Be honest, you just opened your spice cabinet and blindly picked two, didn't you?" Natasha slid into the chair next to her archer companion and opened the file again.

"You two are way too good at your jobs. I just finished with her family tree, how do you have the file already? Are you two cyborgs? Oh, please be cyborgs that would make my day." Tony's emotions were of wide range and heavily doused with sarcasm but he was still a bit surprised that the two agents already had his phony info on Pepper's 'cousin' in their hands, on paper.

He suddenly had a fear that he hadn't secured it enough but then again the only two people that could really do anything about it or cared to, were sitting in front of him.

"Smart move, despite the horrible names, I think it was best that you brought her in. I may still be an agent but that doesn't mean I still trust them." Natasha and Clint had been wary of Director Fury and the organization that failed to tell their two best agents about the weapons that they were creating, since the battle with Loki. They had returned to their posts but opted to stay in Stark Tower when they were not needed, partly due to the nice pile of dirt that Tony was gathering on S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Nice to know I have your approval, but I really wasn't asking for it." Tony waved his hand at them and left them to their own devices.

….

Saffron talked with Pepper for a while about her schedule and what she would need, what her family was like since it was now Saffron's family too, and among other things Pepper informed her that the Avengers were in fact living in the Tower along with Tony and herself as well as the Astrophysicist Jane Foster and her assistant Darcy Lewis. Saffron had done her own research on the team of heroes, and found that they had been volatile when thrown together until they found a common goal to fight for.

It was unsettling that it took such a tragedy to make them set aside their egos and fight the good fight. It made her slightly edgier than usual that there were such uncontrollable personalities under the same roof, however high up the roof might be. She was mentally mapping out the layout of each floor even though she had plenty of copies of the blue print, but she was a hands-on learner.

Walking past what looked to be a library and saw the young woman Jane Foster in the arms of the Thunder God Thor, who immediately knew someone else was near them and looked up just as Saffron turned away from them, not wanting to be seen so early.

Jane and Thor walked by her barely acknowledging her in their hurry to be somewhere private, but as Thor swept by Saffron he froze. There was something that caught his attention, something familiar about the woman's presence that was sending all of his asgardian senses racking his brain for what it could be. Jane tugged him along, just giggling in her giddy haze at the confused looked that he had. As they rounded the corner, Thor looked back and crystal blue met pale green in split second recognition.

Saffron quickly made her way to what she knew to be the kitchen where Agent Barton and Agent Romanoff sat with what looked to be her falsified file. Clint looked up and nudged Natasha as Saffron began looking the kitchen, investigating everything that seemed necessary.

"Ms. Potts, correct?" Natasha greeted in a guarded tone, forcing Saffron to make it comfortable between them by immediately responding to her new name with a nod and a smile, she stepped toward them with her hand extended and it was Clint who stood and met her half way, shaking her hand while introducing Natasha.

The perturbed Agent that still sat at the table nodded as she noticed Clint's face, he had a sort of loopy look on his face, as if he was looking at his favorite childhood candy. Natasha scoffed and stood, sweeping out of the room, dragging Clint with her and Saffron was alone in the room.

"Well, this should be fun." Saffron sighed and leaned against the counter behind her, closing her eyes and silently almost regretted taking the job.

….

As the first day turned into the second, then the third; Saffron was learning a lot about the resident heroes, and much to the dismay of a certain agent, the heroes weren't learning much about her. As the first week came to a close, it found the Avengers all gathering around a table on the balcony of Tony's flat on a Sunday evening.

Thor bellowed out a mighty laugh as Tony finished his story of how he had proposed to Pepper, Saffron had just walked into the large lounge area, carefully watching the group that sat at the table outside. She hadn't met all of them yet, being as it was a very large building and she didn't really have the time to seek out all of them. As Agent Romanoff spotted her, Saffron approached and gracefully stepped out to the balcony and greeted everyone.

"Ah, if it isn't mini Potts! My third favorite kind of pot! So glad you could join us, and out of uniform too." Tony had a large slightly drunken grin on his face as he slung an arm around her and guided her to a chair in between Steve Rodgers and Thor. For a moment she shifted uncomfortably at being so close to the Asgardian but it quickly faded as she smiled at all the eyes that were now on her.

"Well I figured it was time I meet the rest of the legendary Avengers, I've only had the pleasure of meeting a few of you." She was about to introduce herself to Steve when Tony cut her off with his bragging.

"See, I told you she looked like Pepper, I mean not really but enough to not be weird and subtle enough that if she starts getting crazy or goes on a coke binge, she won't be mistaken for Pepper." Tony smiled and took a sip of his drink, completely oblivious to the glare of death that his intended bride was sending him.

"And what Tony means by that is, she is a perfect fit to supposedly being related to me, she's very professional and very much a lady." Pepper smiled at Saffron and reached over the table to hand her a drink of champagne.

"Thank you very much, you're too kind. I will say that this has been one of my easier assignments as of late, and I'm very thankful to be able to be in the presence of such legends." She raised her glass and glanced at Tony, seeing that he was now engaged in conversation with Dr. Banner, she was able to introduce herself to the famous Captain America without interruption.

"Hello Captain Rodgers, I've heard a lot about you, it's an honor; my name is Saffron." She held her hand out and watched as he smiled and took it with slight hesitation. He was dazzlingly handsome as all the stories said, but not as charming as people had led her to believe, he had a shy way about him. Saffron held onto his hand a second longer than necessary, before pulling away and sitting back, removing herself from his personal bubble, which smelled enticing, but kept herself in a position that read open for conversation.

"Steve, please ma'am. It's nice meeting you, although I have a feeling Tony has been telling tall tales about you; you don't seem…um you don't look like you could…uh well your very… lacking in stature?" She had to stop herself from smiling at the way he fumbled and flustered as he tried not to offend her. He sat there scratching his head and blushing ever so slightly when Hawkeye started chortling next to Natasha across the table from the flustered man.

Natasha had even cracked a smile as Steve covered his eyes and sighed at his own stupidity. Saffron cleared her throat a bit and replied with a tone that Natasha knew all too well. "Well, if you're wondering if what Tony says is true, and are wondering how I get the job done with being as small as I am; then the answer is yes and I always find a way." Tony grinned with inappropriate smugness as the others took in the information and quickly decided to pretend nothing happened, different conversations resumed between them as Steve looked down at his hands.

"I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to imply anything or offend you, ma'am." He looked at her from under his lashes, trying his best to project his apology. Saffron was honestly use to that question, in her line of work; the issue tends to come up. She sighed and crossed her arms, noting how his eyes flicked down for a half second, barely noticeable had she not been looking for it. "Don't be sorry, I was a bit rude I'm sorry, it's nothing new really, to be asked about it, but I would much rather talk about you or possibly anything else at all." She smiled at him trying to ease the tension. He smiled and moved his arms to fold them but stopped and put them back down, not knowing what to do with himself.

"Well then how do you do? I'm Steve Rodgers, I've been known for my skills in putting my foot in my mouth, and you are?" He put his best smile on and put his hand out, shaking her hand before quickly pulled away. He began asking about her life before the big city, to which she gave a few short vague answers, never letting out any information that sounded solid. Natasha knew the act all too well as she watched the woman and Rodgers chat about nothing at all.

The agent had already run her picture through every database known to man and machine and nothing came up. All that was left was to make sure she was even human, which a few years ago that thought would have been more of a joke than an actual reality.

As the even wore on, two by two the team and their significant others retreated for the night, leaving only the agents and Saffron and Steve at the table. Conversation died down between the four of them and Natasha decided to take her leave, Clint quickly following, only stopping to bid their goodnights and Clint called over his shoulder. "Are you calling it a night too, Captain? I'll hold the elevator."

Steve's eyes were currently locked onto Saffron's face as she looked out over the night sky, shaking his head he looked at Clint, who could tell that the answer would be no, and the agents walked away.

"I don't trust her." Natasha let out as the elevator doors closed; Clint nodded his head in acknowledgment.

..

Saffron and Steve sat in silence for a few minutes; she watched the skies while he fidgeted until gathering enough courage to speak again now that they were alone. He tried not to stare at her but the way her face looked in the candle light and her eyes shone bright as she stared at the stars, kept him mesmerized. She suddenly let out a large sigh and closed her eyes, slouching a little in her chair, almost like a switch had been flipped and let out all the pressure and tension she had been holding in.

"I'm sorry if I haven't been the most interesting company, it's actually a bit of a tough job to be on guard all the time, especially when I have the Black Widow trying to find something incriminating on me." She finally opened her eyes and looked at him, looking more worn than she should for someone so young, it made him want to reach out to her, no young woman as beautiful as her should be so weary.

"Why do you think Agent Romanoff is trying to find dirt on you? It doesn't seem like she has any suspicions." Steve tried to do his best to be convincing but he found himself wondering if there was anything for Romanoff to find. All the things he had heard about her and having read her file, it made him wonder how much more was there to this small woman besides her obvious reason for being hired.

"Let's just call it a woman's intuition. I know I am an outsider, along with not declaring my allegiance to any agencies or countries for that matter, I'm sure she's just trying to make sure there are no wolves in her hen house." Saffron let her frustrations go into the night as she took a deep breath of cool air. Deciding to take her leave she stood and turned to say goodnight to Rodgers, but almost ran into his chest as he stood and turned to do the same. They apologized to each other awkwardly and walked together to the elevator, riding in silence until the doors opened on her floor.

"It was a pleasure talking with you, and I'm sure we'll run into each other again." Saffron said and smiled at him, extended her hand once more. "The pleasure was all mine, ma'am, and I do hope to see more of you." His eyes widened as he realized what came out of his mouth. "I didn't mean it like that, I promise, I just meant that… you know, see you around." He shook her hand and let the elevator doors closed him in with his stupidity. Steve huffed a sigh and leaned back against the elevator wall, awaiting his floor while his mind wandered back to Saffron, the tiniest bodyguard he had ever seen. Pushing off the wall as he stopped on his floor, his brain began picking at their conversation, wondering why he couldn't seem to shake it off, wondering why Natasha was so suspicious of her, and why Thor was so quiet after she joined them, Steve can't recall him saying more than a few words the rest of the night. Steve decided to shrug it off for the night and get some sleep; nothing could be done about it for the moment.

…

(Enjoy! Please review, even if you have awful things to say, I wanna know how to make this story better.)