Hooray for chapter 2! This was a lot of fun. I wrote half of this at starbucks and the other half at the high school parking lot while I transported my sister back and forth across town and performances. So in was interesting to say the least. This story is making me insanely happy because it is a fic I really like to write. So enough babble. REMEMBER: review. Tell me what you think. IM TALKING TO YOU MISS-IM-JUST-GONNA-SUBSCRIBE-BUT-NOT-REVIEW!

Pepper Potts worked hard at everything she did. And making waffles at one in the morning was not an exception. Having to find everything was a pain, but with the help of Jarvis she was able to locate all of the necessary equipment. It took her a minute to decide which recipe she could make using what they had there, but she soon figured it out. She even added the addition of some fresh blueberries on top to add some health benefits to the meal. She had learned early on when working for Tony that if she wanted him to eat healthy she had to disguise it well. She would take the upperhand whenever possible when it came to Tony Stark's diet.

Pepper walked into the elevator with the two plates of piping hot waffles. Once the doors closed, she let out a deep breath to steady herself. It had been a long day and based off of how Tony had acted earlier it was clear that he wasn't about to let her slink off to bed anytime soon.

The elevator dinged, announcing her arrival on the correct floor. However the doors remained closed. Pepper smiled, glad to see that the security system seemed to be working just fine. She placed one of the waffles carefully on the floor and reached up to the buttons on the elevator. Unlike most elevators in the world, the one in Stark Tower was as unique as the Arc Reactor powering the place. Although Jarvis could take the elevator to the correct floor without much direction, he couldn't open the doors on certain floors. That's where the buttons came in handy. The buttons were actually a key pad in which a person would have to enter the correct sequence in order to get on to the more private floors. The more secure the floor, the harder the sequence was. Naturally Tony had been insistent that all of the labs have complex combinations. Pepper pressed the complicated series of buttons being glad that she had spent the time to memorize the different floor patterns. After pressing a grand total of fifteen buttons, the doors finally opened allowing Pepper to enter the floor. She grabbed the waffle on the floor and walked in with a smile.

"No, no, no the left," Pepper heard a man say. There was a crash followed by a small moan that was recognizable as Tony's. "The other left."

"You could have told me that sooner," Tony said with a grunt.

"I apologize. I didn't realize you meant you were going to do it right that second."

"Boys," Pepper interrupted. "I brought waffles."

Tony bounced out from behind a set of shelves set up in the middle of the room. "Come on big man, time for food. When was the last time you ate anyway?"

"Unlike you I actually did have dinner," the voice said. A man with a lavender shirt with the sleeves rolled up and dark grey slacks came out from around the corner. His hair was dark, and he had wire glasses on that Pepper couldn't help but describe as "cute" as one might call a puppy. She assumed this must be Dr. Banner.

"Oh yeah," Tony challenged, "What did you have? Half a doughnut you forgot about?" Tony bounced over to Pepper and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek as he took one of the plates from her.

"It's still more than you technically speaking." Dr. Banner said as he came over to accept the waffles.

"Where are my manners?" Tony said, "Bruce, I'd like to introduce you to Miss Pepper Potts. And Pepper, this is Doctor Bruce Banner."

Pepper smiled and reached out to shake the man's hand, "it's nice to meet you doctor."

"Likewise. Welcome home Miss Potts." Pepper couldn't help but find the man's timidness a little odd. If the great Tony Stark had not only allowed for you into the lab, but allowed for you to use it for your own projects, you had to be really smart. Tony was, after all, very protective of his private labs.

Then she remembered, this was not only just a friend of Tony's, but a fellow hero in the battle that had terrorized NYC. And actually, this was the person she had to thank for the safe arrival of the great Iron Man. Without Banner, Tony wouldn't have made it and this would be a completely different situation all the way around.

Pepper couldn't understand how this man grew into the big green Hulk that she had seen in the footage. That guy had looked to be about four times the size of the man who stood in front of her. How did the green being that seemed as if he could snap a person like a twig turn into this small meek man that barely wanted to look her in the eye? She knew from the little research she had read over Tony's shoulder that the Hulk only made himself known after some sort of trigger was set off. What could trigger the transformation?

She watched as Banner and Stark ate their waffles as they stared at some experiment's readings or something. The more she thought about what she knew about the Hulk, or rather what she didn't know, the more she realized she should probably be afraid of the guy. Maybe that was why Banner seemed hesitant, he knew she should be afraid. And yet, she wasn't really. Tony wouldn't have brought him here if he thought it was a bad idea. And if Tony thought that Banner was safe, then Pepper could trust that.

Pepper snapped out of her thoughts, "How has Tony been treating you? Surely he has remembered at least some of his manners."

Tony pretended to be offended, "I know how to treat guests. I am feeding the man am I not?"

"Technically I brought the food," Pepper reminded him.

Tony waved it off. Banner smiled, "Not to worry, Tony has taken care of me. And then some. I hear that I have you to thank for the existence of these labs. They really are very nice."

"Not that you have had much to compare it to," Tony said with a mouth full of waffle. "He was in Calcutta before SHEILD dragged him back to the States."

"What were you doing in Calcutta?" Pepper asked. The more she learned about Banner the safer she felt having him in the tower.

Banner shrugged as he stabbed his waffle a few times, "Just… helping as I could while staying out of trouble."

"Did you like it there?"

"Well," Banner laughed coldly, "I liked it more than most people in the US would. I had a purpose for being there. It helped to make things… easier for everyone."

"Would you go back?"

This question gave Banner pause. Even Tony stopped, apparently intrigued. "If the situation came up that going back made sense, then yes," Banner eventually answered.

Pepper nodded; she knew the feeling all too well. "So what have you two been up to? It sounds like whatever it is, it has sure kept you busy."

Banner looked at Tony, clearly not sure what to say. Tony put his empty plate down on the table and looked at the monitor in front of him. "We've been working on a bunch of things. Bruce wanted to try and find a cure to a disease he encountered in Calcutta."

"But we couldn't find much research without a security clearance. It seems like someone doesn't want anyone looking too far into it," Banner said as he looked away, clearly distracted with something.

Tony patted Bruce on the back, "So I broke through SHEILD's firewall and got their passwords to access the data. Everything we need to know will be at our fingertips once Jarvis finishes getting through the system."

"Whoa, wait a minute," Pepper said, her eyes growing big. "You hacked into SHEILD?"

Mr. Stark smirked. "You say that like it's the first time I've done it."

Pepper shook her head in disbelief. "Just because you have done this before does not mean it's less bad!"

"It's for a good cause, Pep."

Well, she couldn't argue with that, now could she?

Just then, Jarvis beeped, "Sir, we have successfully downloaded the files which you requested. Shall I display them on the monitor?"

Tony nodded, "Please do."

"And sir? Mister Barton is calling. He sounds rather frustrated. Shall I put him through?"

Banner laughed. "Only Clint would be calling at two in the morning."

Tony's eyes were busy darting back and forth across the screen in front of him. "No, Jarvis. Tell him I'm asleep."

Jarvis was silent for a minute, and then came back, "Sir, he is insistent. He claims to know that you are indeed awake and that if someone doesn't take his call he will march over here and deal with things himself."

"Wonder what's bothering him…"

"Jarvis, tell him I'll call him in the morning."

"Sir, he says that this is technically in the morning."

"I'll call him back."

"He said that he would believe that when Director Fury showed up to work in a pink…"

"Stark just take the call, what if it's important?"

"I'm not going to let Odysseus tell me what to do…"

Pepper reached into her pocket and pulled out her blue tooth. "Guys, how about I just take care of it? Jarvis, patch him through to me."

She took a few steps away from the guys before she talked into the headset, "Hello?"

"Who is this?" A gruff voice demanded.

"This is Pepper Potts. May I ask who you are?"

"Oh," Clint said, clearly losing some of his professionalism. "This is Agent Clint Barton. I… worked with Tony with the New York thing."

"Nice to meet you Agent Barton," Pepper said.

Clint regained his composure, "May I please speak to Mr. Stark?"

Pepper sighed, "Unfortunately Mr. Stark is unavailable at the moment. May I take a message for you?"

"No ma'am. I have to talk directly to Stark and I have to do it now."

"Well I'm sorry but I can't…"

"Okay, I get it. Look, we know that Tony hacked into SHIELD and we need him to stop it. We can't have him just hacking his way into our most secure files."

"I understand…"

"Listen," Agent Barton sighed, and his tone became hushed, "Tell Stark that if he needs something he can just tell me or Natasha and we'll see what we can do for him."

"I'll tell him," Pepper said. "Although I'll be honest, I don't know if he will listen. If you want him to stay away from your 'secure files' you might want to upgrade your firewall or something."

Barton sighed, "We're working on it. Sadly Tony can hack faster than we can upgrade."

Pepper nodded, she had heard that story before. "I'll give him the message. Anything else, Agent Barton?"

"No, that's all."

"Well it was nice talking with you," Pepper said with her natural professionalism that many only dreamed they could have.

"Likewise, although I wish it was under better circumstances. We'll be in touch if this problem isn't fixed."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Oh, and welcome home Miss Potts," the phone clicked ending the call.

Pepper sighed and went back to where the two scientists were working. Both were currently scanning the screens in front of them, their eyes darting back and forth like a type writer.

"Tony," Pepper called. She waited until the billionaire looked at her before she continued, "Agent Barton said that SHIELD knows you hacked them and that they aren't happy. They request that you stop or they will have to intervene."

"Was it just me or did he seem more… direct tonight than normal?" Tony said.

Banner shrugged, "I'm sure he's just stressed. SHIELD has been busy cleaning up New York and I'm sure Fury wasn't happy with your hacking."

"Wait, were you guys listening in?" Pepper asked as she processed the conversation between the two men. "What? Are you now hacking phones as well as computers?"

Tony rolled his eyes and muttered, "If they don't want me in their systems they shouldn't make it so easy to get into."

Banner laughed, "I'm sure they are doing the best they can to keep you out of their stuff."

Pepper looked at the clock and yawned. It was two thirty in the morning. She should have been in bed hours ago.

Just then, there was a knock at the elevator door. The trio turned around and stared at the sliding doors. Who knocks in an elevator? Pepper thought. Or more importantly…

"Who's in the elevator?" Pepper asked in a whisper.

"Jarvis?" Tony called, only to be met with silence. The knocking got harder causing everyone's eyes to grow larger, "Jarvis!"

"What happened to Jarvis?" Bruce asked.

Tony Stark's face remained stone still, which Pepper knew meant he was thinking very fast. "Tony? What's going on?" Pepper asked.

"Security Breach."

Now, my friends, you have learned just how horrible I can be when it comes to cliff hangers and what not. So your job right now is to REVIEW THIS TO KINGDOM COME! Hehehe *maniacal laugh*

ps: did you catch the blueberry thing? do i get points for that? if so, REVIEW!