When you do, you will change the world…

Don't own the Avengers or the characters of Marvel Comics, but happy to play in their backyard.

"You've been asleep Capt…"

-Nick Fury, Captain America The First Avenger

Chapter 1—Coming up to Speed

Pepper felt good today. Things were looking up. She had been able to watch the last touches being put on their house in Malibu. She paused and thought about that. It was their house now. There was no doubt now. They were together and this was their house. Jarvis had given her a virtual walk through of the rooms including the new bedroom, office and labs. There were touches of both of their styles. And she convinced Tony to put her office with his lab. She smiled as she left her office in the new Potts and Stark Tower near the LA airport.

As she walked to the next office she thought back about what had happened. It had been a long time since turning on the power in the first Stark Tower. She remembered back to when she arrived in New York after the battle with the Chitauri. Her Stark Industries flight landed at LaGuardia shortly after the Governor of New York reported the National Guard had the city under their control.

She realized the feeling before landing and getting through to Tony was the same as when she recently looked over the cliff for signs of Tony. It was a feeling of real heartbreak and devastation, losing everything. To say she was frantic would have been an understatement. She had watched the reporting and saw the trail of the missile as Tony guided it to the wormhole. When she finally reached for her phone, she saw the missed call from Tony.

After repeated attempts to return the call and contact Tony, she got Jarvis. His report that communications with Mr. Stark were off-line did not help the situation. With Jarvis' assistance, Pepper got through to the Helicarrier and Agent Hill. Then holding the phone in both hands, praying they would know what happened, Pepper asked, "Hi Maria, I can't get Tony. Where is he? Is Nick available?"

"Pepper, I am not sure. We haven't been able to get through. And Nick is tied up with the Council. Hold a second," Agent Maria Hill continued to monitor the displays and was directing actions to reestablish communications. But establishing communications was another matter. The closing wormhole and nuclear blast on the Chitauri battleship directed the resulting EMP like a flashlight. It effectively knocked out communications below the wormhole.

Pepper listened to the directions Maria was giving. She broke in, "Maria, if they're next to Stark Towers, we should be able to get through any second now. The tower's communications should be rebooting. We built in shielding and a power supply that should reinitialize the system. You should be able to establish contact with the team through that." Pepper continued, "Jarvis will send your communications specialists additional instructions to establish the links."

When they got through to the team, Tony announced, "Hey, a little busy, call back in a few."

Pepper was beaming that he was on the call and alive, but it was typical Tony. She called out, "Tony…Tony. Are you okay? Tony?"

Steve replied, "We're headed up to get Loki. We'll need a new containment cell for him. Oh…what…okay, Thor said he'll be taking him back with the Tesseract." He added, "Tell Director Fury that we all agree."

Pepper was listening to the report and was getting a little impatient waiting to hear something about Tony, "Is he okay?"

Steve automatically responded, "Yes ma'am. But we have to go."

Maria was not as easily satisfied. Pepper later learned Maria had seen the battle through the street and security cameras in the area. She knew that Steve had a large gash in his side and the others appeared to have several wounds. "We'll have a containment cell for Loki and medical team in the front of the Stark Tower in ten minutes. I'll see you there."

Pepper listened for a few more seconds. Hearing no more from the team, she turned back to Maria, "When there is time, call me back."

Maria immediately replied, "I'll make sure he's okay."

"Thank you," Pepper sat back and relaxed. She looked over to Happy Hogan, "Please reschedule our meetings and ask Eddy to head back to LaGuardia."

Happy was on the cabin phone for a minute with Eddy, their pilot, and looked back at Pepper, "All set, an hour till we land."

Coming into New York Pepper remembered getting through to Tony, the second time, as they were going into the shawarma diner. She was still a little upset. "What did you mean to do? You ride a nuclear missile like you're pretending to be Slim Pickens."

"No, not any more. I was going to tell you, but someone did not pick up their phone." He thought for a second, "You're coming in, right?"

"Yes, to LaGuardia. On the ground in thirty minutes," Pepper replied rather impatiently.

"I'll get a shawarma for you. You haven't eaten, right? Do you want a mixed meat, chicken, turkey, lamb? Hummus? Any sauce?" She found from Bruce that he was listening to the owner asking Steve what he wanted for his meal at the same time. "Fries?"

"Tony, just get over here." Then a second later, a whispered, "You owe me." Then, "Lamb, hummus and their special sauce, fries too." She smiled at the memory, it turned out that was really good.

Pepper remembered the next day too. She wasn't letting Tony go anywhere without Jarvis watching him and being connected to her office. She watched as Thor activated the Tesseract and he and Loki vanished into the wormhole. Then Tony got in the Acura with Bruce. She heard the interaction.

Tony asked, "You got that under control?"

"Right." Bruce looked around and saw Steve on a Harley-Davidson Softail Slim, "Nice ride."

Tony looked in the mirror, "Yeah, he'll work. I saw his collection. Dad kept them for him. One was a new 1940 Harley. Swore it could have been one of Babe Tancrede's." Pepper could see Steve go down the street and remembered Tony finish, "He is going to stop by his old neighborhood in Brooklyn and then head over to the Tower."

Snapping back to the present, she remembered that most of the Avengers were coming back today. Steve was on one of his Harley's and Jarvis had reported that he was just south of Ventura on the Pacific Coast Highway. Clint and Natasha were still in San Francisco and would head down tomorrow. They had not heard from Thor, but Bruce was already here. He had come in that morning, after a long trip from Chile. There had been another cave in and he had just finished with the rescue efforts. What he had been doing all day with Tony was a small mystery, but she was about to find out.

She walked into the office. Bruce was rubbing his eyes and Tony was getting up. He was stretching a little as he walked toward Pepper. She was still a little worried about him. But those panic attacks seemed to be subsiding and after his operation he was doing even better. She watched him and asked, "Are you okay?"

Tony smiled and nodded at Bruce, "Yeah, we had a good talk. Although I think he might need some coffee."

Bruce held up his hand, "No, I am good. Saying that," he got up and looked at Pepper, "How about you? I went over the test results with Tony. I don't think you'll have any more problems."

Pepper's mouth drew tight, she was still not used to people knowing about the extra "ability" she now had. As Tony said, looking hot in a sports bra was one thing, but this was a whole other level. "Yes, I am fine," she acknowledged. She gave Tony the look.

Tony knew actually what was intended. He had been learning, actually he had given it a great amount of thought and study. He was now an accomplished "Pepperologist." He grew to know her even better. Now he kidded her by calling her The Pepper every time she worked out in her sports bra. He answered quickly, "You know that he is the only one who knows. And you know that I know no one in SHIELD or anywhere else knows, not even Rhodey knows." He paused, "Okay, that was a few too many…"

"Stop," she shook her head. "I got it Tony. And Bruce, it's okay. I am glad you do."

Bruce thought a little about Tony mentioning SHIELD. He wondered and looked over at Tony, "Are you still tied into SHIELD?"

Tony pointed to a screen, "Jarvis?" Immediately the display showed the same kind of displays as seen on the SHIELD Helicarrier. Even Fury's face was displayed along with the shadowy faces of the Council, again in some heated discussion.

Bruce shook his head and said, "What's with Fury?"

"He's been on them for a while about New York and recently their apparent indecision about The Mandarin," Tony began.

Pepper continued and was visibly upset with just a light glow beginning. "They had several opportunities to stop the madness before we got involved…"

Bruce did not understand, "How do you know that?"

Tony pointed to her and shrugged his shoulders, "She is amazing. Ever since Coulson, she has taken an active interest in SHIELD and their agents."

Pepper then went on, "Yes, I had become interested in SHIELD after the first encounter with Phil Coulson and the fight against Obadiah Stane. I learned its history and the names of most agents." Then she jumped ahead pointing at the screen, "But the biggest problem is Senator Stern. He's making noises that the Avengers need to be under the US Government. Others are calling for separate super teams or a planetary defense system. With the election coming up, I'm not sure what will happen."

Tony smiled, "But as my dad use to say, 'it won't matter; they'll still need us.'"

Bruce thought about it as they watched Fury, "You're not going to have all of us at the Tower. Are you?"

"Uh, no. Just you, the Captain, and I, well everyone but Thor is coming. Selvig is going to give us a hand. And Jane Foster got in last night." He nodded at the look Bruce gave him. "Pepper took care of making sure no one would know we are together." He looked over at Pepper, "What was that, something about needing us if Selvig and Jane come up with something."

"She's the astrophysicist?"

"Yes, I thought we would need them both to…" Pepper thought it best to begin a short explanation knowing that Tony, being Tony would jump in. "Disarray and disagreement in the Council and with Fury has all but paralyzed SHIELD. I've watched their intelligence ever since…"

"Since we took care of The Mandarin, she has been checking on things, worried that something else was coming. And I believe she is right," Tony pointed to a small threat summary in the corner of the display. "SHIELD has been tracking a signal for sometime now. It's off world. We could be looking at another invasion."

Pepper added, "Yes, and SHIELD is so divided they can't seem to take action. We need Jane and Selvig to find out what this is."

"Between us, they will be able to check the signal. And to prepare for the worst case, we should be able to develop the weapons SHIELD was working on. Hopefully, the Captain will be able to give us some insight into the old Hydra weapons." Tony saw Bruce's skeptical look and shrugged, "He agreed with Fury and so do I. Next time, maybe now, we might be fighting something like Thor's Asgardians or worse. While I don't suggest we build a nuclear option like Council was going to, we need some options. I know the Big Guy could smash all day long but at some point we would get overwhelmed." Bruce nodded in agreement. Tony continued, "You think the Big Guy could handle a weapon?"

Bruce was quiet for a while trying to remember. "I think I used a cannon one time like it was a club or baseball bat. But nothing that I ever shot."

"We could make that work. We'll see."

Bruce continued to look at the various windows in the displays, then he noticed something that caught his eye. "Yeah, they finally found the Erskine samples."

Pepper looked at the display and tried to remember that name. Then she remembered back to the sleepy people when she came in the room, "So, just what were you doing when I came in?"

Later that Afternoon

Pepper had the TV news on in the penthouse apartment. All the news channels and regular station news were on the displays. It had been a full day and many governments were thrashing back and forth with the United Nations and the World Security Council over the recent publication of details on the attack in New York and the on-going review of the President's kidnapping. Senator Stern was on almost every channel trying to gain momentum in his effort to get the United States out from under SHIELD. There were leaks from the UN of rumored shake-ups in the World Security Council. And there were reports of new superhuman events with sightings occurring in the most out of the way areas. And then there were fringe elements causing riots, claiming the world was coming to an end and nothing mattered. Disgusted, she finally turned it off.

After Jarvis announced that someone was coming to the apartment, Pepper went to the door and took a piece of paper from one of the receptionists standing there. "Tony, what's this?" Pepper held up a sheet of yellow paper. She looked over at Tony. He and Bruce were bent over a new display from Jarvis. Selvig and Jane were working at their laptops.

Steve was over on the couch reading through modern history on an iPad Tony gave him. Steve was still trying hard to learn this new world. He casually looked up at what Pepper held. He actually felt better that he knew something, and answered for Tony, "Looks like a telegram."

Tony called out, "Jarvis."

Jarvis had already scanned the telegram and analyzed its contents. "Captain Rogers is correct, sir. It is a telegram. Specifically, according to the records I just accessed, it was sent based on legal confirmation that Captain Rogers is who says he is. The SHIELD analysis of his blood has matched that of the World War II Captain Rogers in the Erskine samples. The Defense Department agrees and is using that confirmation to proclaim Captain Rogers is still in the military."

Jane looked up from her work, "Do you really think, they did not know he is Captain America?"

Bruce held up his hand, "Well in this case, people had been trying for a long time trying to duplicate what Dr. Erskine did. They have been searching for the samples that were taken after Erskine was killed. Without those samples of Captain Rogers, there has been an argument internal to the Department of Defense about the credibility of SHIELD's claim that he was the original Captain Rogers."

Tony spoke up with a sly grin, "Jarvis does that confirmation include seventy years of back-pay with interest?" His smile broke out at Steve, "What have you been doing for the past year, just bumming around?"

That drew a whack to the head from Pepper.

Jarvis continued, "Yes sir, that is apparently a part of the package that is to be presented."

By then Pepper had given the telegram to Steve. He read it and asked, "Sorry, but what does that have to do with the telegram. And just what does all this mean about Stark Industries stock?"

The apartment door opened at that moment and Maria Hill came out. Tony looked over to Pepper, "You know, we really need to work on security."

Pepper ignored Tony and smiled, "Maria, welcome. What brings you here?"

Maria saw the telegram in Steve's hand. She took Pepper's hand and said, "Thank you, seems like this was right on cue."

Pepper was happy to continue a surprise and went on, "What do you mean right on time? Oh, what is that?"

Maria held up a thick envelope. "It's for Captain Rogers, a package related to the telegram. There are some conditions that come with this package. Some you may not like."

Steve stood up and reached for the envelope. He noticed a Department of Defense address on it. He tilted his head looking at her.

Maria sighed, "You could consider a reenlistment package."

"So, what is the problem?" Steve asked.

Maria shook her head. Fury had her intercept the package. She answered, "If you accept it, you'll be working directly for the Department of Defense, the US Government and be back in the Army. Although, the Air Force claims that you could reenlist with them. And really it's not an enlistment. You were an officer and each offer comes with an updated commission."

Tony picked up on the bottom line, "So the real problem is that you'll be working for them and not SHIELD."

Bruce added, "Yes, and the part that you really would not like, is that they could turn you into a lab rat. Throw you into a bunker and continue experimentation."

"You were meant for more than that, you know?" Maria automatically added.

Steve winced at those words. Too many memories of Peggy flooded through.

Maria saw his reaction and realized the impact of her statement. She had been so interested in Captain America; she listened constantly to the stories from Phil Coulson and Peggy Carter's grand-nice, Sue Carter. She stepped up to Steve after realizing what she had done and put her hand on his shoulder, "Oh, I am sorry, really sorry. Please forgive me."

Pepper knew something had happened there and faintly remembered something Tony had said about Steve being rather shy around girls. Then she remembered it was something passed on by Tony's father.

Tony missed that interaction completely. He looked at the package Maria had with her. It made him wonder, "So, did the Council send you over here? To get this reaction? Make sure he doesn't sign with the Army? And make sure he doesn't get his back pay? Make sure he only gets paid by SHIELD?"

"What?" She considered her answer for a second, "No, well not quite. Director Fury is off trying to mend fences between the Council and the President's National Security Advisor. He called me and said this package was going to be delivered. I came over to talk with Captain Rogers about the package and offer our legal services. Agent Romanoff really does have a degree from Harvard Law and could handle the details. And I don't know what they will do with him if he elects to go with the Army or Air Force. There is too much friction over the Council's actions and inaction. And it's not just the US; other nations are making charges against the UN and Council. It could result in everyone trying to put together their own team."

In a second there was another call. Jarvis announced, "We have another telegram delivery for Captain Rogers."

Pepper got it and handed it to Steve. He looked at it and handed it to Maria. "Is this what you thought I had?"

She read the telegram. "Yes, this was supposed to be delivered prior to me bringing the offer. So what did you get there?"

Jarvis chimed in, "Well to answer Captain Rogers' earlier question, the finding by SHIELD and subsequently the Department of Defense that Captain Rogers is the real Captain Rogers as certified by a DNA match led to an automatic trigger and release of a file. Mr. Stark previously locked the file; in this case Howard Stark locked it. It presents close to a twelve percent share in Stark Industries to Captain Steve Rogers."

Pepper turned, "Welcome to the twelve percenters." She smiled at Tony.

"Okay, okay. Is this going to haunt me forever? I thought that after Potts and Stark?" Tony looked at a smiling Pepper. Her grin got bigger. Tony went on, "Jarvis, show us the file and display the likely amount of money accrued from the Stark shares and the back pay from the military that is owed."

Steve looked at the files, "Wow, the military must be paid a lot more now than when, well, back then." He looked over at the balance from Stark shares. "You're kidding. That's like hundred times more than the military pay. Just how big is Stark?"

Bruce looked over at Steve, "When he told you he was a billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, he wasn't kidding."

"Well, unless I am counting my digits wrong…okay, how does this work? Or better how did this happen?" Steve asked.

Tony shrugged, "Jarvis?"

"Well sir, it appears Captain Rogers invested his money wisely…with your father, almost all of his pay. And your father kept a careful eye on it. He personally managed the account until they had given up on the search. At that point he invested all the money into Stark Industries and maintained it as a blind fund to be opened if Captain Rogers or his descendants were found."

Pepper jumped in, "But wait. You could turn down the offer from the military and align solely with SHIELD. But…" Pepper paused and went on, "Even with as much trouble we've had with Senator Stern, I have to agree with him. I did not like the idea of the Council sending a nuclear weapon against New York City and their subsequent bungling of The Mandarin almost got Tony killed. We need someone new in charge of SHIELD."

Bruce chuckled, "Like the great Miss Pepper Potts."

Tony whispered to himself, "Stern still owes us."

Jane and Selvig nodded in agreement. Jane added, "I think she would be great. Then they wouldn't go around stealing everyone's equipment. We would have someone responsible in place."

Selvig laughed, "Remember they only borrowed it."

Tony smiled and went off to one of the consoles and typed out a few messages.

Maria was still standing next to Steve, "Well, what do you want to do?"

Pepper went over to them and said, "Before you do anything, let's call Natalie…" Pepper still used Natalie at Stark Industries and asked her to keep her cover name. She looked at Maria, "Natasha, and ask her to do that legal review. We'll ask her to set some conditions, like no bunker and no experiments. We'll see if they are serious and give you a little time to think about it." Pepper paused, "When SHIELD was started, it was mainly a military unit. So even with you in the military, you could belong to SHIELD. Natasha can figure that part out."

Maria asked, "You know where she is?"

Tony almost started to laugh, "She's with her boy toy." In a second Natasha's face was on the screen. "Well, I see you're…"

There was a chorus of, "Tony!"

Pepper went on, "Sorry to interrupt, but if you could come a little earlier tomorrow. We have an offer for Steve from the Government we'd like you to analyze."

Natasha quickly assumed her role as Natalie, "Why certainly Miss Potts." She glanced behind, turned back and said, "We'll be over in the morning." The screen went blank.

Tony smirked, "See."

Steve shrugged at Maria and started another subject, "So, what is Fury doing?"

"He is still busy with the Council. They are responding to inquiries through the UN. It is good that the Avengers have been 'in hiding.'" She made quotes with her hands. "It has thrown off the news reporters. They are looking everywhere but the obvious place for you." She pointed to the TV, "It would be best to keep a low profile."

"Maria, so there has been no word on the new communications development?" Pepper winced when she asked.

Then Maria turned to Pepper nodding, "Something is happening and it just has not been released. But I don't think the fight is over yet."

Bruce looked suspiciously at her, "You know it would help if they let us know a little about what was happening."

Pepper looked at the display, "Remember if the Council asks, you're not here. You gave the package to the Captain and agreed to meet with him and Natasha tomorrow." She saw her nod. "Jarvis, bring up their display."

The display was shown on the big screen TV in the room. Jane and Selvig were the first to realize what was being displayed. Selvig began, "They are looking at the NOAA fast scan satellite feed of an anomaly that presents itself before a wormhole is established."

Jane added, "Yes, but the link is not being established. There is an alpha particle interaction but no ionization is occurring and there is no illumination." She saw Steve who had a questioning look on his face, "Our measurements showed that a wormhole is preceded by an aurora of some kind, like the aurora borealis."

Tony smirked, "There's a big light show before it opens."

That earned him another smack over he head, "Be nice." Looking back at Jane, Pepper said, "So someone is trying to make a connection but they are not getting through?"

Bruce pointed down at the bottom of the screen, "Yeah, and that may not be all. That looks like a Hubble feed. It is pointed at one of the Goldilocks planets. See the designation is K-33."

Jane did not need to look at her notes, "That could be one of the nine realms of the cosmos." She knew she needed to explain, "When Thor and I went through my notes, he said that Earth or what he called Midgard is connected to eight other worlds. One was Asgard, his home world and another was Jotunhiem, home of the Frost Giants. Those were the beings he was fighting when I first met him. The Goldilocks planets contain Vanaheim, another of the nine realms, and a sister planet to Asgard. Thor said they had friendly relations with them." She looked over at Selvig who was nodding. Then she added, "The Chitauri, Thor's name for the aliens you fought, are from some other world which is not a part of the nine realms."

"Looks like the Council is getting ready to fire something called the Light of the Sphere," Tony was pointing to another part of the display. "And they're counting down a firing sequence." The countdown lock showed seventeen hours to full power.

"We can't do that. Thor said they were friends," Jane turned to Pepper.

A/N Hey, new to the Avengers site. Thought a little story with Steve and then Pepper, as the centerpiece would be interesting.

Hope you enjoy. Reviews appreciated.