Most of the characters in this story belong to Marvel Comics and whoever else has current legal ownership of Iron Man at the moment. No infringement on any corporate, business, or individual's rights is intended in any way. This story is not being written for profit, just for enjoyment.
A Tail of Two Bunnies
All things considered, it was a nice morning for a drive, she thought to herself as the beautiful scenery slipped slowly by the limo's passenger window made of reinforced glass. It was late morning, so traffic was extremely light and it almost seemed as if they were the only ones on the road. She flexed her fingers wearily and sighed heavily suddenly feeling a need for a break after sending her 8th email since Tommy had ushered her into the back seat of the heavily fortified limo for her morning commute from Malibu into SI in LA some 20 minutes ago. She stretched her back and turned her neck from side to side glancing through the rear window as she did so. She couldn't keep a frown from forming on her face when she saw the black Escalade filled to the brim with SI security and weaponry only 30 feet behind her limo. She also knew for a fact that there was an identical Escalade in front of her limo too. Yes, gone were the days when just her and her Audi would make this scenic morning drive into the office. The logical side of her brain understood the reasoning behind these security precautions, but the other half of her brain felt suffocated and resentful of her loss of freedom to simply enjoy sharing a beautiful day with nature, behind the wheel of her own car. She glanced up above the tree line to see the slow moving vapor trail of the Mark VII suit that Tony had modified to act as a sentinel to provide a protective 'eye in the sky' of sorts for all of her business trips. Jarvis had primary control of the suit, using the Mark VII's sensors and cameras to monitor her surroundings and track her movements. The suit had been further modified recently by Tony to also act independently of Jarvis in order to protect Pepper from any and all harm should the suit lose contact with Jarvis. Pepper had been a little unnerved by her unmanned shadow at first. But she finally gave in when Tony begged her to let the Mark VII do its job so that he could rest easier when he was away from her side. She knew that Tony had been possessive of her since she had first started working for him so many years ago, but since they had officially become a couple, his over protectiveness was just hard for her to deal with sometimes.
Pepper blew out a tense breath that she didn't realize she was holding as she looked down at her phone again, and re-opened her email Ap. Without warning, Tommy suddenly brought the limo to a complete stop in the middle of the road. She knew that this stretch of road had no traffic lights or stop signs on it, and she looked towards the front of the limo in order to question Tommy about the reason for the stop.
"I'll be damned." Tommy said before she could get a word out, surprise apparent in his voice. "What the heck is wrong with that rabbit? Code One Niner." The Escalade in front of them suddenly stopped and started backing up. Tommy rolled down his window and yelled at the front of the limo "Hey Buggs! Mind moving it! Yeah and sometime today would be nice."
Pepper smiled to herself realizing what was happening, and she opened her door just as Tommy was opening his to get out with the obvious intent to chase the small rabbit now standing somewhat defiantly in front of the limo back into the underbrush.
"Stop Tommy!" Pepper called out to him as Tommy turned to look at her, puzzled at her command.
Within seconds Pepper, Tommy, and the very calm rabbit were surrounded by 15 armed SI security men. Before she could even get out a single word of protest to her over zealous security team, she heard the unmistakable thump of heavy metal footsteps and turned just in time to see the Mark VII clanking its way towards the rabbit, raising one arm as the repulser in its raised gauntlet glowed to life.
Pepper immediately raised her right hand in an attempt to control the Mark VII. "Don't You Even Think About It!" She said in her most commanding voice. The Mark VII slowly lowered its arm as the repulser powered down.
Pepper was suddenly struck at the similarities between her current situation and the scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, where the knights drew their swords and prepared to battle the 'killer rabbit'. She chuckled to herself as she turned, walked over and picked the rabbit up by the skin behind its long ears. "This baby is obviously a lost pet, and by the looks of it, a gorgeous Black-Orange Tri-Color French Lop. About 6 weeks old, I'd say."
Tommy had started to lunge at her in order to stop her from picking up the rabbit, but one look from Pepper had him stopped dead in his tracks. "What if that thing has rabies or something? You shouldn't be picking up stray animals, Ms. Potts."
"Tommy, domesticated rabbits generally don't get rabies. Since my Tetanus shots are up to date because I am living in a house surrounded by metal mayhem most of the time" She turned to look at the Mark VII and could swear she saw its head duck down slightly as if in embarrassment. She quickly shook her head to clear it of such a thought "I don't think really I am at risk by picking up this cute fur ball." She laughed, watching Tommy calm down slowly. "The question is: what do we do with him."
"Ms. Potts." Jimmy, her head of security, spoke up hesitantly "My aunt is a volunteer at the 'Too Many Bunnies' Rabbit Rescue Shelter in Redondo Beach. I could give her a call and see if they would take this little guy in."
"Good idea. Thanks Jimmy!" Pepper replied. Jimmy activated his Bluetooth as he returned to the Escalade to put away his assault rifle. About a minute later he returned to the group. "My Aunt Lacy said they would be delighted to take the bunny off your hands Ms. Potts. I went ahead and programmed the GPS in the Escalade for the shelter. We can drop Buggs, Jr. here off and still have you to your meeting this morning on time.
"Sounds like a plan." Pepper replied looking over her shoulder to smile at Jimmy as Tommy quickly herded her and the bunny into the back seat of the limo.
Pepper buckled herself back into her seat belt and gently began scratching the bunny's long silky ears. She couldn't help herself as she leaned in to gently nuzzle the little creature. As she breathed in the bunny's scent, her mind drifted back to her childhood raising bunnies for show at her 4H club. Yes, good memories indeed. No stress, no worries, just the simple pleasures of being a kid with all the freedom she could ask for. She closed her eyes and smiled as she continued to rub the bunny's incredibly soft fur, lost for the time being within the simple pleasure of touch.
In less than 30 minutes, they arrived at the shelter. She had called Jarvis to make sure that the Mark VII would not make an unwanted appearance while they were at the shelter. The last thing that she wanted this morning was a PR calamity involving the Mark VII suit and hundreds of innocent bunny rabbits. Jarvis had agreed to keep the suit out of sight for the duration of her visit to the shelter.
As Pepper and Jimmy entered the shelter, Jimmy's Aunt Lacy was there to greet them.
"Hi nephew!" Lacy called out to Jimmy giving him a big hug.
"Aunt Lacy" Jimmy started, pulling his Aunt gently over to stand in front of Pepper "This is my boss, Ms. Virginia Potts."
The two ladies shook hands warmly.
"Please call me 'Pepper'" Pepper said to Lacy offering her a big smile.
"And who do we have here?" Aunt Lacy said looking down at the bunny calmly nestled in the nook of Pepper's left arm.
"That would be 'Super Bunny'." Jimmy said jokingly "His super power is the ability to stop motorcades with a single hop."
Pepper and Aunt Lacy laughed as Pepper walked over to a nearby table and gently placed the bunny on the tabletop. "I'm just glad Tommy was able to stop the limo before this little guy became a casualty instead of a super hero."
Aunt Lacy began to examine the bunny. "This guy looks in pretty good shape." She turned him over and continued her examination. "About 6 to 7 weeks old, already neutered. Given today's date, my guess is another Easter throw-a-way."
"Easter Throw-A-Way?" Pepper questioned.
"Yes" Aunt Lacy explained as she held the bunny out to Pepper who placed the bunny back into the nook of her left arm "About a month or so after Easter, either the kid or the parent gets tired of taking care of the 'cute' Easter present. Most of the time they just dump them at the side of a road near some vacant land. Some times they literally throw them in the trash." Lacy noticed the look of anger now on Pepper's face. "I know, sad but true. Most of them end up as road kill. This little guy was lucky that Tommy has quick reflexes."
At that moment, the front door of the clinic opened and a mother and daughter stepped through the doorway.
Pepper took note of the young girl, hair in pigtails, probably no more than four years old, who turned wide eyed to stare at the bunny currently held securely in Pepper's arm. Pepper noticed that the girl's mom stood closely at her side, one hand holding the little girl's hand securely within her own. Pepper smiled at the little girl, suddenly remembering when she was that age, and the thrill of getting a rabbit all her own to raise and care for.
"Oh Mamma!" the little girl excitedly cried as she tugged gently at her mother's hand. Pepper nodded amiably at the mother who then released her daughter's hand. The little girl walked slowly towards Pepper, her eyes still locked on the bunny. She stood still in front of Pepper looking longingly at the bunny in her arms. "I want this bunny! She is bu-ti-full!" she said quietly, in almost a hushed reverence.
Pepper chuckled good naturedly at the little girl's pronunciation. "Hi there!" Pepper said to the little girl, glancing at her mom quickly to reassure her. "You are right. This bunny is beautiful….and brave."
"Brave?" the little girl parroted back to Pepper.
"Yes, very brave." Pepper continued, kneeling down to the child and letting her pet the bunny. "This bunny is so brave that he took on an entire army today and won! We found him on the highway this morning."
The little girl's eyes widened at Pepper's story. Then she quickly turned and ran back to her mom pleading with her. "Can we get the brave bunny….PLEASE!"
Her mom's eyes met Pepper's and Pepper smiled broadly at her. "We are bringing Mr. Brave Bunny here in to the shelter, because he needs a good home. He needs someone to care for him, and love him." Pepper knew by the look on the child's face and her mannerisms that she was the type of person who would be a good caregiver for the bunny. Pepper looked up at the girl's mom and smiled again.
"I can care for him, and love him too!" the little girl replied gently pulling on her mother's hand. "Please, Mamma, please!"
The girl's mom smiled brightly at Pepper and began to laugh. "I think that maybe Mr. Brave Bunny here would like that a lot, Emma."
Emma hugged her mother quickly, and then turned back to Pepper, a huge smile now spreading across her small face. "Thank you for saving Mr. Brave Bunny for me." The little girl said quietly and sincerely.
Pepper smiled back at her, knowing immediately that Mr. Brave Bunny, the throw-a-way rabbit, would be going to a new home with a loving child. "You are most welcome!"
"Lewis" Aunt Lacey called out to the back as an elderly man with a kind face walked up to the group. "This young lady here is going to be adopting this bunny this morning. Can you help them please?"
"Sure thing, Lacy." The old man said with a wink and a smile as he gently took the bunny from Pepper and turned towards the mother and daughter.
The mother suddenly spoke up in a worried voice. "How much are the adoption fees?"
Lacy responded. "The usual cost for adoption is… well in this case they are"
Pepper interrupted "Free." Pepper caught Lacy's eye and smiled as she pulled on Lacy's elbow gently taking her to one side of the room. Pepper spoke in a low voice once they had moved far enough away. "I'm paying for all of the adoption fees."
Lacy tried to counter. "I was actually going to waive the fees in this case."
"Well then" Pepper said firmly, noting a poster indicating that the shelter was in the midst of a fund drive trying to raise money for a shelter building expansion. "please consider my check as a donation towards your building fund."
Lacy smiled and nodded her head in agreement as Pepper pulled out her check book from her brief case she had removed from her shoulder.
When Pepper handed Lacy the check, Lacy's eyes grew large much like the little girl's had when she first saw Mr. Brave Bunny. Pepper had always promised herself as a little girl that if she ever had money to spare, she would always help those in need. And she had been making good on that promise ever since she started working for SI. Pepper sensed a strong need for help here at the shelter.
Pepper quickly held up a hand in a preemptive motion against any argument over the hefty amount on the check. "Consider it an early Easter present for the shelter….. one that you can't throw away." Pepper then held out her right hand as Lacy held hers out in return. "A pleasure to meet you, Aunt Lacy." Pepper said as she shook hands warmly with the woman. Aunt Lacy suddenly pulled Pepper into a quick but fierce hug.
"Nephew" Lacy said firmly after letting Pepper go "You take good care of your boss, here. She is definitely a keeper!"
"I will Aunt Lacy." Jimmy replied pulling his Aunt Lacy into a good natured bear hug in return.
Pepper smiled warmly at Lacy. "Be sure to keep me posted on the progress of the building expansion."
"You bet I will!" Lacy called after them as Jimmy held the door open for Pepper.
Once outside, she saw Tommy opening up the limo door for her.
"Sorry Ms. Potts, but traffic control is reporting congestion from a wreck on our route into the office. Looks like we won't be able to get you to your meeting on time." Tommy said as he helped her into to the back seat of the limo.
"Don't worry about it, Tommy. I'll call Bambi and have her delay the meeting an hour. It was just an in-house meeting. No big deal." Pepper replied buckling up and grabbing her cell phone as she prepared to call her secretary. "After all, it's not every day that you get the chance to rescue Mr. Brave Bunny."
Tommy chuckled as he pulled out of the Shelter's driveway and onto the road. "That's for sure!" he exclaimed.
It was several weeks later. Tony had been gone for two days to Kansas overseeing the trial installation of a new wind turbine motor that he had invented recently, and he had only been back at the Malibu mansion for a few hours. And since Pepper wasn't there to keep him company, he had quickly gotten bored, changed clothes and made a beeline for his workshop. Jarvis suddenly announced to Tony that Jimmy was at the front door of the mansion with a gift for Pepper. Tony had been working on an upgrade to one of his suits, and was covered in grease and sweat, and in no mood for visitors. But hearing that Jimmy had a 'gift' for Pepper made him immediately uneasy, and he quickly found himself actually feeling jealous that someone other than himself was giving Pepper gifts. "You scanned the gift already, right?"
"Of course, sir." Jarvis replied flatly, sounding almost insulted "My sensors picked up nothing harmful in the package."
Tony grabbed a rag to begin wiping his hands as he jogged up the stairs and into the living area only to come unexpectedly face to face with a six foot tall, multi-colored gift bag in the middle of his living room next to the couch. The bag had a huge red bow attached to the top of it and a neon yellow tag which read "For Pepper" taped to the bow. He slowly circled the huge bag, before glowering at Jimmy.
"Please explain." He said to Jimmy never once taking his eyes off the bag.
Jimmy sighed quietly before beginning. He knew that Tony could be a real ass when it came to anything to do with Pepper. Especially if that particular 'anything' had tripped his jealousy trigger, which was what Jimmy suspected was happening at the moment. "My Aunt Lacy wanted me to deliver her 'thank you' gift to Ms. Potts because it was too big for her to carry over herself."
Tony visibly started to relax and spared a quick glance over at Jimmy who was now eying Tony with a mixture of both curiosity and humor.
"It's a thank you gift for a donation that Ms. Potts made to a local animal shelter that my Aunt volunteers at." Jimmy explained as Tony finally turned to face him. Jimmy could see the beginnings of a smile on Tony's face. Jimmy had worked for Tony for 10 years and was fairly at ease being around him and quite used to dealing with his mood swings. Jimmy knew better than most that you should tread lightly around Tony whenever Ms. Potts was concerned, especially now since they were actually romantically involved. But then again, Jimmy was not above teasing Tony whenever he had an opportunity. Jimmy suddenly remembered the little girl at the Shelter. "You know boss, Ms. Potts is so good with kids, maybe you and her should have a couple of kids of your own." Tony's eyebrows raised slightly at his comment. "They might not keep you any cleaner" Jimmy began, looking down pointedly at the grease filled rag Tony held in his hands "but they would make you a lot happier." Jimmy and his wife had five children of their own and he spoke with the voice of experience.
Tony slowly smiled at him and reached out to shake his hand warmly. "Duly noted. Thanks." Tony replied. And with that said, Jimmy nodded at him politely, and turned to walk out of the mansion's front door.
It was nearly 9:00 PM when Pepper returned from yet another long day at work. She took a deep breath when she entered the mansion and immediately smelled the unmistakable odor of grilled steak and lobster. Her and Tony were still new enough in their relationship that she was still amazed when Tony cooked for them. They had only been a few weeks into their relationship when they realized that each of them actually enjoyed cooking, and that each of them were fairly competent at preparing certain meals. As she walked further into the mansion, moving towards the kitchen, she found Tony sitting on the living room couch with the huge gift bag still unopened sitting beside the couch on the floor.
He immediately stood up and walked over to her, pulling her briefcase strap from her shoulder and taking it from her as he leaned in to kiss her tenderly. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders as they continued the kiss, and she pulled him even closer to her. After a minute, she pulled back from him, happiness clearly showing in her eyes.
"So what's the occasion Mr. Stark?" she teased, her right hand moving to cover the arc reactor tenderly. "Steak, lobster, and large gift bag. What gives Mr. Stark?"
"The steak and lobster are for us, but the large gift bag came specifically for you." He replied covering her hand with his left hand and squeezing it gently. "Jimmy delivered it here this afternoon, saying it was a thank you gift from his Aunt Lacy to you."
"That's right." Pepper said moving over to stand in front of the giant gift bag. "I received Aunt Lacy's email this afternoon stating that the shelter had achieved its fund raising goal for the shelter's building addition." Pepper turned to smile at him "She invited both of us to the grand re-opening of the shelter in August."
He smiled back at her knowing just how much she enjoyed going to charity events, especially now that they were a couple. Tony had been a philanthropist most of his life. His mom had taught him just how important it was to support groups that were dedicated to making the world a better place. He realized very shortly after Pepper had starting working for him, that she was every bit as much of a philanthropist in spirit as he was. And as the years went by, Tony realized that Pepper was not just a giver, but a doer too. Everything from rolling up her shirtsleeves and picking up a hammer to pound nails to build a house for a local family who had lost their home to fire, to calling in all of her network contracts from Europe to secure donations to relieve a food shortage at a nursing home in Scotland. Pepper's heart seemed to always be in the right place. Tony had realized many years ago that her selfless giving was one of her many personality traits that made him fall so deeply in love with her.
Tony watched intently as Pepper moved her hands to the bow and carefully loosened it from the bag, looking at the gift tag with a whimsical smile. Tony knew that there was a story behind this gift and he was determined to get the story out of her, but that could wait for later. He was having too much fun watching her try to figure out how to delicately get the bag off of her gift. After several discrete tries, she decided a direct assault was required and with a huff ripped the bag in half.
Pepper then stood back from her gift and let out a low whistle. "My goodness, but that's a big bunny!" She smiled as she read the sign around the bunny's neck 'A Big Thank You from All of Us Here at Too Many Bunnies for Making Our Dream Home a Reality!'
Tony took in the sight before him, chuckling at both the bunny and the look on Pepper's face. "So Ms. Potts, what are you going to do with Frankinbunny here?"
Pepper narrowed her eyes at him in warning. "This bunny is not a Frankinbunny. He's far too cute for that." She tenderly touched one of his long silky ears. "I shall call him 'Fred'."
Tony rolled his eyes at her. "Only you would give a six foot stuffed bunny with boobs 'Fred' for a name."
Peppers eyes flashed with mock anger. "And only you would see boobs where there are clearly stylized arms, and somehow have the ability to make this adorable bunny into a sex object."
"Yes, this ability of mine is truly amazing and very well documented on YouTube." Tony replied moving over to touch one of the bunny's arms curiously.
"Don't touch my bunny!" Pepper warned him as he laughed quietly at her.
"I'm just glad this isn't a cat Pep, because then you'd be saying that I couldn't touch your pu…" He started with a smirk earning him a gentle slap on the hand as she abruptly stopped him from saying anything further.
"Watch it, Stark" she warned, as she comically covered both of the bunny's ears with her hands. "Fred is very sensitive about his body image."
Tony laughed loudly as Pepper smiled at him clearly enjoying making him laugh so hard. She always loved it when he laughed so openly.
"So, are you going to leave Fred here in the middle of our living room?" Tony asked as he quickly snaked one arm around her waist massaging her hip in small tight circles. "You know, we could always put him in our bedroom. You do know that rabbits are considered as symbols of fertility, don't you?"
Pepper turned her head in an effort to read the expression on Tony's face, and a coy smile appeared slowly on her own face in response. They had decided several months ago that they wanted to try and have children together. But their schedules just hadn't allowed them to be together during the ovulation phase of her monthly cycle just yet. But as luck would have it today, she had just come into that portion of her cycle. So maybe Fred was a symbol of fertility. She looked deep into his eyes and heard him suck in a quick breath. She quickly glanced down at the pulse point in his neck and watched his heart rate increase suddenly.
"I think he would look better standing in the common area near the stairs." She teased looking up into his eyes again, watching his eyes dilate even more as he became further aroused. "That way he can pretend to be one of the Easter Island statutes, overseeing the mansion." She suddenly leaned her head over to his and kissed him languidly on the lips as she whispered. "It would be the perfect spot for our 'god' of fertility."
Tony growled into her mouth and Pepper felt both of his hands on her waist, pulling his now obvious desire into her hips. With a grunt, he suddenly let go of her hips and picked up Fred unceremoniously, quickly carrying him to the area by the stairs that Pepper had mentioned.
Pepper followed him and reached into tweak Fred's position slightly after Tony sat the bunny down on the floor. "Perfect!" she said as she stepped back to look at Fred.
Tony suddenly picked her up bridal style and started up the staircase with her, Pepper instinctively knowing their destination. "Tony, what about dinner?"
She teased as he increased the speed at which he was carrying her up the steps.
"Dinner can wait." He whispered in her ear "What can't wait is me. Come on Pep! We haven't slept together in two whole nights. I think that Fred would give us his sex god blessings if we delayed dinner for a couple of hours in order to indulge ourselves in a more horizontal type of fertility dance."
She gently nipped the side of his neck just below his ear and she felt him tremble slightly as the topped the stairs and turned down the hallway leading to their bedroom. She laughed quietly as she looked back down the stairs towards Fred as the bunny appeared to be staring out over the room serenely. "Thanks Fred, and thank you too, Mr. Brave Bunny."