This bit was actually in Part One originally and comes before Matt's nightclub scene in the previous 'chapter', but after a bout of merciless revisions I cut it from the main story. Thus, here it resides as a one-shot because it stands on its own just fine. For readers who finished Part One before 5/22/16, you've already read this segment. For everyone else, please enjoy!


- Tony & Pepper, 2010 -

Pepper sighs as she sends a text to the company board director. "You can't just adopt a teenager, Tony."

"Um, no, I wouldn't try-"

She looks at him across the seat. "You said you're paying back a favor, I think you've overpaid it."

"I offered her an internship with you, she didn't want it, she wanted to see the suit."

"Okay, well I think you should say goodbye now."

"Is this because I didn't tell you about the internship?"

"I'm not even sure why you told her about an internship."

"She's my student, I'm teaching her."

"The awkwardness has continued long enough-"

"You scare her."

"I- what?"

"It's true, she thinks you hate her."

"No, I don't hate her. Why would she think I hate her?"

He shrugs. "You obviously don't like having her around."

"Tony, this is really questionable stuff- Do her parents know?"

"Honestly, I don't think they care."

"Well, I care, and if she doesn't want to intern at the company then that's settled, she rejected your favor. The longer this goes on the harder it's going to be when you have to actually break it to her that she can't stay. Okay?"

"Well, I can't break it to her I don't want to yet-"

"See this is why-"

"-and since you're the one who doesn't want her around I think you should break it to her."

"Excuse me? This is your respons-"

"We're agreed. You do it."

"Oh no, this is not one of your cheap 'dates' that you make me send out the door. You are going to do this yourself and you're going to be a grown-up about it."

He rubs his eyebrows. "I can't."

"Why can't you?"

"She's a smart kid, she's learning fast and- Okay, you know, I'm doing something good for someone else, I'm being…selfless."

"You are unbelievable."

"I am, but that's beside the point."

"Tony. Tony. Enough. You've got a lot on your plate right now, and there's no time to fit an unofficial apprenticeship in there or whatever you want to call it."

Tony stares at the back of the seat in front of him, thinking. "That's perfect. Apprenticeship. Those still happen right, they're a thing? Celebrity Apprentice only I have better hair than Don."

Pepper sighs with disgust. "Fine, Tony, expo or apprenticeship, you can choose one, but for legality's sake we need to call her parents."

"See, that's not a balanced trade-off. The expo is taking a googolplex of time, but it's a piece of cake if I show her how to install a converter, and she's seen Mark's one through three, but that's not cool, Pepper, alright. Making suits is cool."

"Yep, I'm so very done arguing with you tonight." Pepper picks up her phone again to address the seventeen messages missed while arguing with her boss.

Tony shrugs, content in believing he won the argument. Ruffling Pepper's feathers is always an enjoyable exercise, and he has no intention of turning away his new friend and admirer. But…it's not an ego trip, please. Ace is too mean to him to flatter his ego.