Author note: I'm back with a chapter again! For the first few chapters, it will mostly be Pepper and her plan, but as soon as Tessa moves into Stark Tower, things are going to get fun. I'm really excited to get there, and I'd like you guys to give me some prompts in the reviews that I could write about as soon as we really get into the story. I have a couple of ideas, but I'd like some of yours ideas too.
As always, the Avengers are not my property, though I'd really like it. Enjoy the chapter!

Step one: Presentations

"But Pepper!"

"I don't want any of your excuses, Tony. You need to get out of the Tower more."

"I went out last week…"

"Exactly. Last week, and it was to go to a science fair with Bruce." Tony sighed, knowing he couldn't win this fight no matter what he did. Instead, he decided to comply.

"So? What are we gonna do?"

"We are going to take a walk, and…"

"A walk?!" he repeated in shock. His girlfriend gave him an exhausted glance from having to deal with him all morning.

"Yes, Tony. A walk. We are going to the park and we're going to meet up with my friend."

"The same friend you ate with a few days ago?"

"Yes. I want you both to meet. Come on, we have to go. We're supposed to meet there at 14:30."

He sighed once again and followed her to the living room to pick up her purse. Steve and Clint, who were watching Star Wars, looked at them and didn't even try to suppress their smiles as they saw the reluctant Tony following the woman of his life.

"Where are you guys going?" asked Steve.

"For a walk!" exclaimed Tony, throwing his arms up in frustration. "Can you even imagine this?"

Clint whistled. "Wow, that's rough, buddy."

He got a mean look from the millionaire, who pointed at him with a wannabe menacing finger. "Don't be mean, Legolas. I could very much hide all the birdseeds."

"Yeah, like that would do anything."

"And the Lucky Charms."

"You are a cruel person!"

"Come on, Tony, we have to go." Pepper interrupted their small fight by pulling Tony with her, wanting to join her friend at the park as soon as possible.

"Have fun!" said Steve.

"Yeah, like that will be possible." grumbled Tony. The redhead looked at him with exasperation before looking at her phone. Tessa just texted her that she had arrived early at the park. She smiled. Plan T was going to be a success.

"Tessa!" someone shouted. The brown woman looked up and saw Pepper a few feet away, followed closely by what appeared to be a pouting Tony Stark, dressed way to hot for the water. She even winced when she noticed all his clothes were black, wondering how he had survived the walk through the park. She got up from the bench and walked to her friend, smiling brightly. As soon as they were close enough, the women hugged, and Tessa noticed a tiny smile on Tony's face. They parted and Pepper placed a strand of hair back behind her ear.

"You didn't wait for too long?"

"Absolutely not, I enjoyed the view while waiting."

"Great!" Pepper tried to hide her excitement and turned to her boyfriend. "Tony, this is the friend I told you about, Teresa."

The two of them shook hands as Tessa gave the man a bright smile. "I'm Teresa…" she frowned a little. "Jones, I guess. Pleased to finally meet you."

Tony raised an eyebrow at the woman's hesitation. "Well, I'm 100% sure to be Tony Stark. Pleased to meet you too. Can I call you Tessa? That's pretty much the name I associate you with because of Pepper."

Tessa looked teasingly at her friend. "I wouldn't expect anything less from her."

"So, what are we doing here? Just staying in the sun, making me die of heat, or…?"

Pepper shook playfully her head. "I told you to wear something else."

"I didn't know it was that hot outside."

"Maybe because you never go outside."

"Not my fault if my genius mind continues to have great ideas."

Tessa chuckled at the couple's antics. "Well, I saw an ice cream shop not too far away, if that can help you."

Tony looked at her with a newfound joy and shook her hand once again, a smile appearing on his face. "I think I'm going to like you and your ideas very much, Tessa."

Pepper mentally cheered. Tony: check. It wouldn't be too hard to make him accept her into Stark Tower.

They stepped into the Tower, Tony and Tessa casually chatting about whatever movie they saw, Pepper half-listening to them, half-planning her next step into Plan T.

"No, but think about it: Dumbledore is one Hell of a motherfucker."

"I always thought he was shady. And when you think about it, he is a cruel man."

"I know, right? That's what I keep telling Bruce, but he won't listen. He says the old man 'only wants the best for Harry'."

"Maybe he didn't notice just how… "

Pepper decided not to pay too much attention to them, fully aware of how confusing and passionate her boyfriend and her friend were when it came to books and movies. They went up to the common floor where Natasha and Clint were watching a movie (yes, Clint seemed to have a marathon movie on that day).

"So? How was the walk?" said Clint with a grin. Tony shrugged and went into the fridge to grab a beer. Tessa seemed to frown when she saw it, but said nothing.

"Not that bad. We ate some ice cream."

"That's not fair! I want to eat ice cream too!" Natasha sighed at her partner's childish attitude but Tessa smiled at it.

"That's why we went to buy ice cream right after. I figured the summer heat would be easier to fight with some ice cream."

"Yay!" The archer left the couch to get into the plastic bag Pepper had just placed on the counter, and pulled out a box of ice cream, a smile on his face. "Sweet!"

His fellow assassin followed him and sat at the counter, glancing at the brown-haired woman who was smiling while looking at the two men in the kitchen fight for the ice cream.

"So? Who may you be?" she finally asked, and Tessa looked at her, slightly amazed at how cool the woman was.

"I'm Teresa, Pepper's friend." She held out a hand and Natasha shook it without hesitation, her grip firm.

"I'm Natasha." Clint seemed to finally notice the stranger behind him and let go of the ice cream box, making Tony fall down.

"I'm Clint, aka the Hawkeye." he introduced himself with a smirk and playfully bowed down in front of Tessa, who chuckled.

"I know that, my friend is Iron Man's girlfriend after all." she said with a smile.

"How come we've never met you before?" asked Natasha while taking hold of the ice cream.

"I don't live here, I'm just visiting New York for a while."

"Where do you live?"

"Um…" the woman seemed to hesitate again, brows furrowing. "In…"

The ice cream-eating redhead looked at her in question. "You don't really live anywhere, do you?"

Tessa laughed, which immediately calmed Pepper down, who had been anxious about how her friend would feel. "Yeah, I pretty much travel around the world. I just left my apartment in Italy, but I have a few others around the planet. But I wouldn't call them home, they're more like places where I crash in while in the country."

Natasha couldn't help but feel her heart slight ache, and didn't try to stop her words from coming out. "It was pretty much the same for me. Still is, I guess. I just crash here when I don't have any mission."

Pepper smiled interiorly. Natasha and Clint: check. It was even better then planned, since Nat seemed to have taken a liking to the middle-aged woman after talking for a while.

Tessa sighed in pleasure as the hot water ran down her skin when she stepped in the shower. The day had been fairly exhausting, with almost getting run over by a taxi, arguing with Tony Stark over who was the best couple in Harry Potter, meeting the Avengers, running away from a very creepy old man and finding two people having sex in her hotel room. After the hotel room matter, she called Pepper who immediately told her to come to Stark Tower. She refused and instead went into a very expensive hotel room, much less shady then the one before, that Pepper had reserved for her. Although she did try to fight against it, she was too tired and gave in as she heard her friend already calling to make the reservation.

She stayed in the shower for a good fifteen minutes before stepping out and getting to the almost impossible task of drying and trying to untangle her hair. She sat on the huge bed, which she thought was way too big for one person, but realized with a smile that it was perfect for a family pillow fight. One day she'd have her own, big family, she promised herself. The only ones who fit in that description were Pepper and a few people she had met throughout the world, but who obviously couldn't all live together.

She sighed and slid under the covers, glancing at the night sky outside her window. New York was a great city. She'd love to get established here, stay close to Pepper and maybe get friends with some people. She closed her eyes, feeling that warm thing in her chest again. She knew she was getting old, she had to do something about her life. Maybe Pepper could help her, that woman was always coming up with good ideas.

"Tony?"

"Leave me alone… I'm dying…" the redhead sighed and placed the glass of water on the bedside table. Her boyfriend had been feeling bad since the morning, and it had only gotten worst. She blamed it on the lack of sleep and the bad food habits. Pepper sighed deeply, she knew damn well that while she knew what to do for a basic flu, she wasn't a doctor. She wasn't able to know exactly what Tony had, nor what she had to do with him, and he absolutely refused to call a true doctor.

She looked at her phone and came up with an idea. She knew someone who could help her, and that someone was just a few streets away. She picked it up and quickly dialled the familiar number.

"Hello?" answered a sleepy voice.

"Tessa? Sorry to wake you up so late."

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, it's just that Tony is sick and I don't really know what he has, he's been feeling bad since this morning…"

"I'm there in a few minutes." Tessa hung up the phone and Pepper smiled, happy to see her friend was still the same as usual. She gently pet Tony's hair as she made her way out of the room to let Tessa in.

Although Step one of the plan wasn't quite finished, Step two had to begin.

Author note: So here we have it, Pepper is working on her plan, Tony is 'dying', Tessa is worried and Clint will probably get sick from eating so much ice cream. Please tell me what you think in the reviews, feedback is appreciated!
As I said before, I'll try to update as often as I can, though probably not on a regular basis. But I promise to do my best!
Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next chapter!