AN: Sorry I haven't written anything in a while. Just haven't been in the mood. While watching Winter Soldier, I noticed that there wasn't a certain face on that list. Because that face wasn't there, this came into existence.
Disclaimer: I do not own The Avengers. Marvel does.
"Identification, please."
"Potts, Pepper."
It only took the machine a moment to recognize her voice, and a moment more to decipher her retinal scan and decide that it was safe to let her in; there were no signs of distress, no signs of her being forced to give someone else access, and so it was safe.
The doors to the S.H.I.E.L.D. base opened, and Pepper Potts entered.
The reason for her visit was simple: some of the scientists Director Fury had asked to take a look at one of Tony's suites (which she had finally convinced him to let the organization borrow for the weekend) had found something they had a few questions about. Tony, being who he was, had claimed he was unavailable and had sent her instead, knowing that her knowledge of him would let her answer any questions that might arise.
Two flights, three different car rides blindfolded, and seven different security checks later, she was finally here.
"Ms. Potts!" One of the scientists said excitedly as she entered the lab, the agents who had been assigned to show her around for the day falling back to stand by the door. "Thank you so much for coming!"
"My pleasure," Pepper said pleasantly as she slid her purse to the ground, shrugging off her jacket so she could mess around with the suite freely if need be. "I'm sorry Tony couldn't be here, but you know how he is."
"Yes, Ma'am," the scientist said with a laugh. "Even without having read his file, everyone knows how Mr. Stark is. Now, if you could, take a look at this thing on the arm. We've been trying to figure it out, but…"
It took the two of them and four other scientists almost seven hours of examination, combing through schematics, trial and error, and a growing ill will towards the suite's creator to realize that it was a toaster oven, sized for mini bagels and placed so he could get at it one handed and still fire a couple rounds of bullets while the food cooked.
"I'm not sure if I should hate the man or love him, " the scientist sighed as he flopped into a chair, slowly shaking his head back and forward as he stared at the small slits that had bested S.H.I.E.L.D.'s best minds for days.
"Try living with him," Pepper groaned as she put her coat back on and picked up her purse, "and then you can make a decision." Wincing as the muscles in her back twinged as they stretched, crying out against having been bent over a low table for so long trying to figure everything out, Pepper decided right then and there that Tony was in trouble and owed her so much when she got home. A back rub, at the very least. "I have to be heading on out," she told him, holding her hand out to shake his goodbye. "There's a lot I still need to get done back home, and the flights back will take a bit."
"Thanks again for coming out. I'm so sorry this took so long," the scientists said apologetically, ignoring her hand as he stood up to pull her into a hug instead. She went willingly, having heard from Natasha that S.H.I.E.L.D.'s scientists were a huggy bunch, and meant no hard by their desire for physical contact. Even when he pressed his lips against her ear, Pepper Potts made no move to stop him, instead listening to what he had to say.
"Hail Hydra."
Pepper's smile was pleasant as she pulled away, patting the scientist on the arm before finally leaving the lab. It didn't take long to get her to her own car; now that her identity had been verified, S.H.I.E.L.D. allowed her to come and go as she pleased without twenty minutes of driving in pointless circles to make her think the facility was farther away from the parking lot they had picked her up in than it really was. Well aware of the cameras and the sound detectors that would have been set up (for "her own good," of course) it wasn't until Pepper was in her car and well on her way to the airport that she was finally able to respond.
"Hail Hydra."