A/N: My first IM story. Movieverse. Enjoy:)
STARK'S PRODUCT
For one Virginia Potts, Pepper for short, time was as important as life itself.
Time moved fast and Pepper, of all the people in the Stark Industries, knew that every tick of the clock should be spent as productive as possible.
Yet as she sat on the bathroom floor in her penthouse apartment, spending the last five minutes glaring at her silver Bvlgari timepiece as if the object had done something to offend her, she didn't feel the urge to do something productive.
There was a ton of paper that needed her signature, another ton of decision needed to be made, her Blackberry had been vibrating and ringing like a nightclub in Saturday night, her landline was just as busy, yet this was a rare Monday afternoon where Pepper's focus wasn't reserved for work.
She waited for another two minutes before pushed herself up and took a peek at the sink.
There on the edge of the white ceramic laid an item bearing a life-altering result.
Pepper stepped closer and the first thing she saw was Stark Industries logo on the white plastic stick.
She snorted.
She hadn't known that Stark industries produce digital pregnancy-test, not until she made a quick run to a drug store and asked the pimply sleepy staff on which aisle she could find the most accurate pregnancy-test.
The staff, in a sleepy voice, pointed at aisle seven, where packs of said test were in rows, all in assorted colors and had Stark industries logo on them.
She would ask Tony why he had agreed to produce such thing later. It was definitely from Tony's time as CEO not hers; Pepper would have found such product unproductive.
She glanced at the package inside the bin, the instruction told her to wait for three minutes.
Yet she had spent seven, no eight minutes to wait for the result.
What a waste of time.
But she would wait for another two minutes unproductively because she didn't have the nerve to see the digital reading.
What if it was positive?
What if she really was pregnant?
How would Tony react?
Tony. Pepper hissed at the thought of him.
He was probably playing virtual tennis with all the show girls at the expo right now.
After the "little" incident with Ivan Vanko, Tony had pulled every string he could pull and use every source he got to run the expo again in a short moment.
The flamboyant man probably didn't even remember the literally earth-shattering event that took place a month ago on the rooftop.
The event that was probably the cause of all the nausea and foul mood that Pepper experienced lately, an event that led her period to skip off the usual schedule.
Three weeks late and just like Pepper, her period was also always on schedule before.
Pepper tip-toed and craned her neck, trying to see the result without really touching the offending item. But the digital display was too small for her to see.
Now, if someday they asked her to raise the fund for pregnancy-test department, she'd ask them to enlarge the digital display first, make it nine inches wider or something.
Oh hell. Whatever will be, will be!
Pepper stormed toward the sink, snatching the pregnancy test in one swift movement and….
Clutching at the device like it was her lifeline.
She opened her palm slowly, peeking at the result, ready for whatever the reading was.
"Pepper! Are you in there?" A far too familiar voice rang from outside the bathroom door followed by rather loud knocks. "Why didn't you answer my calls?"
Tony.
"Potts, are you cutting your wrist? I know the whole CEO thing can be depressing but come on, heaven doesn't allow high-heels. You'll be more depressed in the after-life dear."
Pepper gritted her teeth, involuntarily hid the hand that was holding the pregnancy-test behind her back.
"What do you want Tony?" She asked, not even moved from her spot.
Yeah. What did he want? He had got everything. He had stolen Pepper's heart since day one. He even robbed Pepper off herself the night he kissed her senseless on that damned rooftop. Then he devoured her whole then and there, her dress barely divested, his expensive armor hastily taken off.
After that night he acted as if nothing had happened between them. As if his teeth hadn't left the mark on her neck. As if the flame she had seen in his eyes as he got down on her never existed.
And she was a naïve who had thought it was love they had. She should have known that when it came to Tony things tend to get ruined.
Now, he came to ruin her moment of peeking upon a pregnancy-test.
"Pepper… I want you to open the door."
Yeah, right.
"No. It's my bathroom. I only open it when I want to open it." She spat out.
"Oh… now you said that. You open the door to my bathroom without permission a gazillion times a day."
She waited for the sign of his leaving, yet she still could hear him breathing outside.
"Go away Tony."
"No. I'm comfortable sitting in front of your bathroom. The feng shui is that good huh?"
"Please." Pepper could no longer contain her tears. This was too much to take. She was probably bearing a child of the most careless man in the world. She sniffed as her fingers trembled against the cold plastic in her hand.
"Pepper…"
She heard a rustling sound from outside the door. Maybe he'll leave now.
Apparently Pepper didn't know Tony as good as she thought she was. Instead of a sign of his leaving Pepper heard a loud bang a millisecond before the door busted open.
She shrieked.
Iron man, unmasked, standing in front of her, holding the door that he had taken completely off the wall.
"Pepper, are you okay?" He dropped the door behind him, and moved closer to her hesitantly.
She was speechless but unconsciously made a move to wipe her tears.
"Oh, No. Pepper, don't cry. You know how I hate it when a woman cries." He tried to envelope her in a hug, but the suit was proven to be quite a barrier from completing such task. "Why are you crying?"
He then unwrapped himself off the suit, a process that was rather slow to do without the help of mechanical arms.
Pepper used the opportunity to throw the pregnancy-test to the bin.
To her horror, Tony saw her movement.
"Pepper, what is that?" He looked up to her questioningly, one hand still holding the armor case, his T-shirt soaked with sweat.
"Nothing. Trash." Pepper shifted to shield the bin from Tony's prying eyes.
"Yeah, right." Tony rolled his eyes while confidently strode for the bin, purposely bumping into Pepper's shoulder. He leaned forward to see what was in the bin.
"Oh." He took a step back and visibly took a deep breath.
"Yeah." Pepper muttered. "Oh indeed."
"So." Tony sat on the edge of the tub. "We're parents."
"Really?" Pepper took a peek too; the pregnancy-test was lying upside down in the bin. She couldn't see the reading on the display. "Tony, I haven't seen the result yet."
"Oh." Still looked a little dumbstruck, Tony crossed his hands against his chest. "Why is that?"
"I chickened out."
A snort came out of the owner of Stark industries as he reached for the bin with his foot, effectively moving it closer to him. "Virginia Potts chickened out." He chuckled and attained the test from the bin. "It's just a small gadget Pepper, you've handled a gazillion bigger things." He tossed the test toward Pepper.
Pepper had no choice but threw her arm up, stopping the test at its curve and glared at Tony.
"What? It's your pregnancy-test, you read it!"
Pepper sighed, silently admitting her defeat. She sat beside Tony, clutching the test in her hand. "If… If it's … Will you… What…"
"Articulate Pepper… Articulate… I don't have the software to translate your stutter."
Pepper sighed louder. She had had enough of this. "You know what Tony? I don't need you here. Get out!" She motioned for the door.
"Pepper I have every right to be here. I'm the father."
"Who says so? You're not the only man in my life Tony." Pepper spat out.
"I think I am, at least for the last one month." Tony winked at her suggestively only to fuel Pepper's anger.
"You!" Pepper tried to push Tony away with her hands, causing the pregnancy test to slip out of her grip.
The clinking sound of plastic against the ceramic bathtub echoed in the bathroom as both Tony and Pepper tried to reach for the test and both failed miserably.
Tony fell butt first on the tub, Pepper followed suit and landed on top of him.
At first Pepper frowned, but the sight of the pregnancy-test wedged between the tub floor and Tony's butt brought out her chuckle.
The absurdity of the situation had taken the edge off of her. And she carelessly laughed while wiping tears off her eyes.
Now it was Tony who frowned. "What?"
"Nothing." She used Tony's chest as leverage, effectively hoisted herself up as she laughed one last time.
"What?" Tony stood too but not before bending to pick the test up. He handed the plastic stick to Pepper.
Pepper shook her head no. "I don't want to find out." She stepped out of the tub; her bare feet made a slow yet steady movement for the door.
"You don't want to find out." Tony, as if in trance, stood in the tub, hand holding the test out.
"Nope." Pepper threw a look over her shoulder.
"Don't you want to know if you're carrying the next billionaire, the successor of Iron Man."
"Nu uh." Pepper leaned at the broken door jamb, gazing at the sunset outside the large panel window. Time would tell.
"Why?"
Pepper averted her gaze to Tony. She knew she was right, the man who currently occupying her bathroom was the man of her life.
He had stolen her heart. It didn't matter if she was pregnant or not.
"It doesn't matter if I'm with child or not, Tony." Pepper smiled as she walked away. "I will always love you anyway."
FIN
So, how did I do? Fine, I hope, considering English isn't my first language. Please tell me in a review:)