Written for Evil Little Dog at Comment Fic.
Prompt: Pepper is the Black Widow.
THE ASSISTANT
by Leni
The last time Natasha was this surprised, her boss had returned from the dead. After that, she'd believed that nothing he did would shock her anymore, but now Natasha must admit that surprise is again among her chief reactions. In the history of Tony Stark's grand gestures, handing over his company to his personal assistant is the grandest of all.
And the smartest, she quickly concludes.
"All right."
Stark blinks. "That's it?" he asks, peering at her incredulously. "No doubts? No trying to convince me to take on the responsibilities as CEO? No 'Stark, think before you act'." He actually looks wounded by now, though Natasha knows it's just a mask. Stark was good at building masks long before he donned a golden one. "You aren't even calling me a brainless moron. I feel like you've been using me to this end, Tasha."
Natasha arches an eyebrow. "You just outed yourself as Iron Man," she tells him, and before he can look proud, she snarls, "of course you're a moron."
He pouts.
If there wasn't a sharp intelligence behind that mock-hurt gaze, Natasha would have walked out of their contract years ago. But Stark is smart, and Natasha does enjoy working for the best - even if it includes keeping him in shape at the gym while he pretends to ogle her (pretends only, because she'll really hurt him if he tries anything, and he knows it) and making multiple calls so others can pick up his mess.
"Do you know how much you're costing this company?" she asks, ignoring his pretty entreating face. "All the damages people are going to demand wepay?"
"I was being a hero!" he protests.
Not a victim! she hears.
And he will cling to that belief unless someone reminds him of the truth of it.
"You were being a fool," Natasha says, softly because she doesn't mean to hurt him, "you just happened to find something heroic to do along the way."
This is why he keeps her as his personal assistant, after all.
Most of the time, Stark doesn't mind that she rips through his masks so easily; he actually enjoys the challenge. The man is not too lazy when he is put in line, so Natasha's job is to keep him interested in something that pertains to Stark Industries and doesn't belong in the lab.
If that interest sometimes lands them in the bedroom instead... well, they both know how to keep a professional distance the morning after.
They are not friends, but their alliance is firm and based on mutual respect.
It's what has allowed them to work together for this long.
"I should fire you, Romanova."
"I believe I can fire you now, Mr. Stark."
"We haven't signed any papers yet."
"Isn't a hero's word his bond?"
They bare their teeth at each other. It's as much of a cordial smile as they can exchange right now.
He acknowledges his defeat with a dismissing gesture.
Natasha doesn't move. "I'm just saying we could have discussed your announcement before you made it," she tells him, letting her hackles settle down and moderating her voice into a calm tone. Only Stark can make her lose her patience, with his childish acts and now with the self-sacrificing streak he's dug up from the depths of his personality.
If he's going to subject her to this new whim of his, if he must risk their very lives on top of their livelihood, then he will listen to her, and listen carefully.
"I'll do my best to help you," she promises. "I'll even help Iron Man, because you're... not wrong. The world can use a hero."
"But?"
Natasha walks up to him and leans until their faces are close together. His eyes drift closed out of habit, and then they snap open when she hits the back of his head. "But you must think before you act, Stark!"
He is still laughing when she leaves.
.-.
Natasha sees Stark's look when he catches sight of Pepper Paxton. His distraction makes him falter, and she takes advantage to lock her arm around his neck and drop him to the mat.
"Brava!" Happy shouts, jumping from his seat.
He is such a dear, always rooting for her, though his clapping stops at Stark's poisonous look. He lifts his shoulders and says, "It's the first lesson, Mr. Stark. Never take your eyes off-"
A fight glove smacks against Happy's head, making him yelp.
Under her, Stark makes a noise of satisfaction.
Miss Paxton cries out Happy's name, but her worry dissipates when he signals that he's okay. Then she turns toward Natasha and Stark. "Good morning?" she says, and when Natasha focuses on the newcomer, it's obvious that she cannot quite hide a smile at the scene. "I'm sorry if I interrupt. Ms. Romanova, Mr. Stark" -she gives small nods in their direction, pretending that the CEO of Stark Industries and their in-house hero aren't scrabbling like children in a playpen- "I was told I'd find the both of you here..."
Ah, right. The legal department needs every i dotted and t crossed. Natasha shouldn't have let herself be distracted by Stark's offer to let her replace Happy in his training today. As fun as it is to kick his ass, she does have a company to run now.
"A bit of air, Tasha," Stark gasps from beneath her, exaggerating as always.
For a purpose, of course. Stark may have the smarts of a genius, but he is also so obvious.
(Proof #325: Red and gold armor. No camouflage for Tony Stark, oh no.)
He usually succeeds anyway.
Indeed, Miss Paxton does glance in his direction with concern, but she squints doubtfully and doesn't rush to his help.
A smart woman, then.
We do need more smart women around here, Natasha thinks as she stands up easily, leaving her former boss to pick himself up to his elbows and then, with a full-body shudder that's not faked, rise to his feet. "I don't suppose you'd like to..." he tells the blonde, making an inviting motion into the ring.
Natasha sends him a warning glare.
He ignores her, his attention fixed on Miss Paxton. "Just a quick lesson. Nothing much," he says as his eyes roam over the woman's figure. "Must make sure all employees are fit."
How he says that with a straight face, Natasha doesn't know.
Most women would either shy away from his frank interest or rise to the challenge to prove their worth and put him in his place. Miss Paxton does neither. Instead she pulls up a sweet, condescending smile, and presents an open folder to Stark. "I need your impression, sir."
"Deep down, you're the life of the party. And it just happens that-" He cuts off the quip, and when Natasha angles herself so she can look at Miss Paxton's face, she understands why. The blonde doesn't look upset or even taken aback; she is just looking at Stark with a tranquil gaze that says she's not taking his crap.
"...and you mean my fingerprint," Stark tapers off, showing Miss Paxton his ungloved hand and meekly doing her bidding.
Natasha approves.
Her eyes meet the other woman's, and the blonde quirks her lips in amusement while Stark's head is bent, and then smooths away the expression when he finishes.
Natasha walks over to add her own signature to the document, and stays at Stark's side while Miss Paxton thanks them for their help. Then she adds, her tone as patient as when she pointed at the dotted spaces. "Oh, and Mr. Stark? I'm not the kind of woman who bothers filing a sexual harassment complaint." The smile she aims at Stark is not quite dangerous, but it could be. "I hope we understand each other."
She nods at the two of them and gives a cheery goodbye wave to Happy before going on her way.
Beside Natasha, Stark gulps audibly.
"I've never seen her like that," Happy says, looking wide-eyed at the door Miss Paxton just closed behind her without even a hint of a slam. "I think she just threatened you, Mr. Stark."
"She did," he breathes, and he looks transfixed by the idea. Then he turns to her, "I want one, Tasha."
Well, he does need a personal assistant, and the three candidates Natasha was considering have adequate skills on paper, but she doubts they'd manage Stark as adroitly as Miss Paxton just did.
"I'll think about it."
And Stark beams up.
.-.
"You aren't mad?" Pepper Potts - the Black Widow - asks, biting at her lower lip nervously.
Natasha tries to find the reputed assassin in the woman before her. The tugs and pulls she's placed on her contacts in the government have brought back whispers of a terrible background or another, all contradicting each other. But Pepper just looks... sweet. "I don't believe so," she answers.
It's the truth. She is angrier at Miss Paxton, for abandoning her post without notice and leaving Natasha to handle an assistant-less Stark, than at Pepper for lying to her in the first place.
Friendship doesn't need to be reasonable, Natasha thinks, and after the last few weeks, she and Pepper are friends.
(It helps that Stark is properly horrified at that prospect.)
"Good," Pepper sighs, relieved and grinning. "And... this thing with Tony...?"
Natasha has never believed in love at first sight, and she still maintains that it was raw lust what she witnessed at the gym that morning. But Stark is set on playing the romantic hero, and it's a hard mask to break when he can rebuild it with a single look at Pepper or even just a call over the phone.
"Stark seems... content," Natasha tells the other woman, but the look they exchange tells the rest of the story: Stark is head over heels in love, and he has no idea what to with it. It's almost cute, from Natasha's vantage point. "I know you can't go back to work at Stark Industries" -she pauses just in case Pepper tells her otherwise- "but as long as you keep him distracted and out of his lab for enough sleep and at least half an hour of sunshine..."
"And filling meals," Pepper continues the list.
Natasha nods. "I'll give you a key that overrides his security codes."
Pepper blushes. "I got one already."
Stole it, she means.
"Perfect." Natasha grins. If Stark was planning to closet himself with JARVIS and his projects, he doesn't have a chance now. "I see we'll work well together."
Pepper smiles back. "That's what a good team does."
Being part of a team...
Natasha has always believed herself to be a loner, but with Stark (whom she trusts) and Pepper (whom she likes), it doesn't sound like such a bad idea after all.
THE END
01/10/14