Homecoming (or "How Pepper Potts learned to stop worrying and love his job")

Summary: Toni Stark comes home at last.

Dedication: This is for Cleo the Muse and Milena D. If not for their enthusiasm I probably would not have started this little gem. It is also for xxDark-Elfxx for being as batty as I am in all things (And I mean that as a compliment!).

Disclaimer: I do not own Iron Man but it owns me. Also I do not own anything recogniable from the movie or adaptation novel

A/N: This is an AU Iron Man and Stargate SG-1 fic. Quite simply; Vala is Antonia 'Toni' Stark and Daniel is Virgil 'Pepper' Potts. This is how I picture them. A meshing of my favorite show and favorite Superhero movie. Kind of like a crossover, but not really. Oh yes I was thinking of this idea for a while but just without Daniel and Vala filling the roles. A male Pepper and a female Stark that is. It didn't occur to me though, until a very short time ago that Vala would make an excellent Toni and Daniel a male version of Pepper, their personalities just seem to mesh with those characters so well. I also hope to stay true to what makes Pepper 'Pepper' and Toni 'Tony' (I hope that wasn't confusing).There may be more fics like this in the future. Some of the things I've written here can neither be found in the movie or the novelization.

It was all Pepper Potts could do to hold himself together. It had been three months since he'd last seen Toni zoom off to one of her personal jets in her silver Audi. Eighty-nine days since he found out that the convoy Toni was being escorted by had been attacked and she went missing. Eighty-nine days of worrying whether or not he'd ever see her again. Despite the reassurances from Rhodey that they were doing everything they could to locate Ms. Stark, Pepper had never felt more helpless than he was right then. He called James Rhodes, Toni's best friend and Air Force colonel, every day just to see if there were any sign of Toni at all or if her kidnappers had made any sort of demands. But there was nothing. No sign of Toni at all in the days that followed.

It wasn't until Rhodey had finally called him a couple of days ago and told him the good news, Toni was alive. She was a bit banged up but in better shape than they hoped to find her in, despite the nasty surprise that had left her with a hole in her chest. Pepper didn't need to hear anything more before he murmured a grateful 'Thank you Rhodey. Thank you for finding her alive for me."' and hung up not realizing his little slip. Now here it was two days later and here he was standing on the tarmac at Edwards Air Force Base waiting for her to land. He tried to stop from fidgeting but his nerves were getting the best of him as he finally hears in the distance the sound of a C-17 heading their way.

After what seems like a lifetime the back of the plane finally opens and there she is sitting in front of Rhodey, in a wheelchair she looks like she doesn't want to be in but is grateful to be home none-the-less. Pepper can't help but break into a grin at the sight of her. He could see her mutter something to Rhodey with a bit of a smirk on her face. Then without help from anyone she began to stand up. Pepper had to force himself to stay put when she rose out of her chair, as she refused to be hindered any longer than she had to be. When she faltered he took an involuntary step forward as if to help her before he saw that Rhodey had caught her good arm before she fell face first onto the tarmac below. Having Happy there beside him reminded him to be as professional as he could be despite the circumstances.

He watched in silence as Toni took the arm Rhodey offered her and guided her down the ramp and towards himself and Happy.

As Rhodey escorted Toni towards the others, he could hardly miss Pepper's smile. At this he couldn't help but to gently tease his old friend. "Looks like someone here missed you Toni." he chuckled softly as he noticed the smile on Pepper became shyer as they closed the distance between the plane and Pepper, Toni swatted Rhodey's arm. Pepper however, must've heard him because he'd flushed pink and ducked his head almost as if to hide it. "Now see what you did Rhodey? You made Mr. Potts blush. If you were my employee I'd give you a raise for that."

Pepper just ignored the teasing jibe and shook James' hand and smiled a little wider. "Thank you." Rhodes just nodded, "Don't mention it Pepper. It's just good to have her back where she belongs." Pepper turned to face Toni, who seemed to be studying him. "What's this? Your eyes are red. A few tears for you long-lost boss?" She lifted a hand almost as if to wipe away an imagined tear but quickly put her hand down when she caught herself. Pepper looked a little surprised at the gesture but quickly hid his expression.

"Tears of joy." he said. "I hate job hunting."

She watched him for a moment before nodding almost accepting his answer at face value. She was about to say something more when Happy spoke up. "Good to see you again ma'am." Maybe Happy had noticed them staring just a little too long at each other and decided to break the silence or maybe he just wanted a little of the attention that she was giving Pepper. Smiling Toni gave Happy what he wanted, "You do something to your hair Hogan?" Grinning back he replied, "Wouldn't dream of it, ma'am." "Good, make sure that you don't." she smirked a little as she headed towards the car mussing Hogan's hair just for the hell of it just as she went by him. "Vacation's over, boys. Let's go."

A few moments later as in the Rolls Royce they were leaving the Air Force base with everyone, minus Rhodey, in tow. Pepper was consulting his blackberry, or trying to actually, he kept peeping up to check on Ms. Stark. He was trying to convince himself that everything was back to normal again despite his employer having a hole in her chest. Not only that but from the hole was a light emitting from it, he couldn't see it before in the bright daylight on the airstrip but here in the dim light of the car it was much more visible. Rhodey had warned him what had happened to Toni while she was held captive but Pepper still hadn't been fully prepared for the shock of blue that was now subtly glowing through Toni's blue dress shirt which she had wore in an effort to camouflage it. He tried not to look at it, he really did, but the glow was all but hypnotizing him as he was lost in thought trying to comprehend just what had happened to her that would've caused her to create the device sitting in her chest. He must've looked like he'd been staring while he was thinking, because the next thing he knew was an amused voice coming from somewhere above the device. "So…..Mr. Potts what can I do for you?"

Pepper's ears turned red but immediately glanced once more at his blackberry. Before he could answer though Hogan piped in. "Where to ma'am?" before Toni could answer. Pepper grateful for the distraction answered the driver himself. "Let's see. First, she's due at the hospital…." But she wasn't having any of it "No." Toni forced the word raspingly from her throat. It made Pepper look up from Toni's schedule bemusedly before giving her a look that plainly said 'What do you mean. No?'. Before he could voice this thought though Toni continued on. "I was just held hostage for three months and right now there are only two things that I want before we even think of doing anything else. One, I want an American cheeseburger, and the other... "

"That's not going to happen." Pepper butted in with a small disapproving frown adorning his features as he glanced her way, sounding more than a little annoyed. Toni only glared at him for a second but that was long enough to give Pepper chills down his spine. "It's not what you think Mr. Potts. I want you to call for a press conference for me now." It was all Pepper could do to keep his jaw from dropping. He could do nothing at stare, half in awe that she'd call a press conference so shortly after returning home and half at the sternness he'd so rarely heard in her voice. When he'd been silent too long for Toni's liking, she spoke again. "Honestly Mr. Potts, what did you think I wanted, some hot blond stud? No, you don't know me nearly as well now as you did then." Pepper had the grace to look chastened; they'd slipped into their old routine so easily he'd nearly forgotten what Toni had gone through. Toni ignored him for now as she told Hogan to drive to the nearest burger joint. They spent the rest of the trip in silence as Pepper kept himself busy making all the arrangements of putting together a last-minute press conference until they reached a Burger King at last.

Their silver Rolls Royce made quite the scene as they pulled into the drive-thru lane to place their order. The cashier at the pay window stood there slack-jawed and wide-eyed as Toni gave her a hundred dollar bill to pay for her two cheeseburgers, fries and soda. She took advantage of the poor cashier girl's shock and then spoke again. "Here take that and pay for every car behind me as well my own food. Then you can keep the change." Toni gave her a blinding grin as happy pulled away and headed to the pick-up window for her burgers. Pepper had to bite his lip in as effort to hide the grin he was fighting.

Yes sir, never a dull moment when Toni Stark was around and Pepper Potts was just moments away from realizing how very true that was.