Chapter 1

"Pepper, where's my drill? Pepper!" Tony yelled as he climbed up the stairs from his basement lab. He had been slowly restocking his tools and trinkets since they had moved back into their Malibu home a few weeks ago, and he had just now begun rebuilding his two faithful work companions: Dum-E and Butterfingers.

"Pepper? Pepper!" Tony continued his incessant screaming for his wife as he reached the living room to find his children lying on the floor, on top of a blanket. The twins were surrounded by a baby fence and were silently playing with their toys. Tony leaned down and addressed his kids as if they understood every word he said.

"Robbie, Gigi, do you know where your mommy hid my toys?"

The two babies stared at their father for a second as if determining whether what their daddy was doing was anything amusing enough for them to continue directing their attention at him. An instant later, they decided that it was not important enough for them and returned their eyes to their toys.

"Nope? Didn't think so." The billionaire said before looking up and heading to the kitchen. "Pepper? Honey, I need my drill!"

Tony reached the entrance of the kitchen to find Pepper and a strange woman heading to the door, almost bumping into the bewildered man. Pepper had been at the front of the two-people line, so he placed his hands on her upper arms, keeping her in place and from leaving the room.

"Hey, babe, have you seen my drill?" Tony asked as if the other woman was not even present; his one-track mind preventing him from acknowledging the stranger in their home. Then again, he had an idea of what the woman's reason for being here was, and he knew she would not be around for long if he had any say in the matter.

"Tony," Pepper began in her all-business tone, "this is Gillian Smith." She said as she pointed to the woman behind her. "She's interviewing for the caretaker position."

Tony directed his attention to the woman long enough to look at her up and down before returning his attention to his wife. "I don't think so. My drill?"

Pepper cleared her voice as she looked over her shoulder and apologized to the woman, asking her to ignore Tony's comment. The woman, however, still felt uncomfortable with Tony's immediate dismissal of her opportunity to work with the Stark family, but tried her best to keep a neutral face.

"Ms. Smith, do you mind giving us a minute? Why don't you get to know the babies a little bit better?"

Tony's retort to Pepper's request died in his mouth when Pepper discretely pinched Tony's arm as she moved them both to the side so that Gillian could leave the kitchen. Tony waited until the woman was out of earshot to remove his fake smile.

"Ouch! What was that for?"

"Tony, honestly! How are we ever going to find a babysitter if you keep scaring off every single one that makes it to the final interview?"

Tony pursed his lips, remembering the long line of babysitters that had run away, fearing for their life when Tony had tried testing their resilience by using them as target practice for calibrating his suit's repulsors.

"Pepper, we don't need a babysitter. Dum-E, Butterfingers and Jarvis will do just fine."

Pepper's face of almost controlled annoyance was all the response he needed from her before he continued making his case.

"Sweetheart, you know we are never going to find someone who can put up with our lives. We'd need someone to live here with us all day in case a mission comes around. Why don't we just ask Rhodey and Happy to move in? They did once before already, and…"

"No. I'm not going to bother them with more babysitting. They've got lives too, you know?"

"They do?" Tony asked, scrunching his nose.

"Oh, brother." Pepper said as she pulled herself from Tony's grasp and headed to the exit. Tony quickly caught up with her, pulling her back inside the kitchen before she could leave. He pushed her back against the edge of the counter and surrounded her by resting his hands on the edge of it.

"Pep, sorry, OK? I just…I don't trust anyone to watch over my kids, you know? Hell, sometimes I don't even trust myself."

Pepper exhaled deeply, shaking her head. She too had concerns about hiring outside help for their children, but her duty as an Avenger now called for her to considering options she had not wanted to think about before. She had been aware that accepting Nick Fury's offer would bring complications to their lives, but she had not realized how difficult it would be to find competent help they could both trust.

"I know, Tony, but what else am I supposed to do?"

"Well," Tony began, shrugging at her, "we could always do what I suggested. I can stay behind. They don't really need me, right? I'm just a consultant."

Pepper lifted her hands and held his face within them. She rubbed his cheeks with her thumbs, giving him a small smile.

"You're not just a consultant. You are Iron Man."

"Yeah, well…" he said, unable to finish his retort. He knew they really did not need him unless they needed someone to break all the laws of the United States to perform research, or a fancy and handy piece of technology they could not find anywhere else. His suit had become obsolete the moment a demigod, a 70-year-old superhuman, two master assassins, and a gamma-radiation monster appeared in his life. And, now that the elite team had added another member with super strength and the ability to incinerate a villain's ass, his gold-titanium alloy toy was as useful as a lifesaver in the middle of the fucking desert.

"Tony, you don't give yourself enough credit. Fury needs you; The Avengers need you. I need you."

"And Robbie and Gigi need me more. I can always stay online with you via Jarvis. Besides, I won't be of much use if I spend half of the mission gawking at you instead of keeping my eyes on the target, right?"

Pepper bit her lip as she remembered the outfit she had been assigned to wear during missions. She had been given a cat suit much like the one the Black Widow wore, but it had quickly turned to be counterproductive for her type of powers. With this thought in mind, she had agreed for it to be modified so that it was sleeveless and paired with shorts rather than pants since she tended to feel constricted when she had to heat things up. The knee-high boots complemented her long legs, and while it had been designed with the intention of allowing Pepper's skin to breathe when she had to use her fire power, she could not dismiss the possibility that Nick had asked for this particular tight and revealing design just to mess with Tony's head.

Her mind wandered as she remembered the first time Tony had seen her wearing the uniform, and the dramatic scene the darn outfit had caused.

Pepper took advantage of Tony passing out in his lab to try on the uniform that had just arrived from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s offices. She opened the box and stared at the tight and revealing outfit, wondering how many people would confuse her with a prostitute rather than a member of The Avengers. However, she had conceded with the designers that she needed something that would breathe and adjust to her powers without leaving her naked in the middle of a mission. As a mother, she was not fond of showing off her legs and curves to the world, but she had also learned she needed to feel she was not limited by the clothes she wore.

Sighing loudly as she stared at herself in the mirror, she took off her clothes and put on the black piece of spandex and boots. If the Avenger symbol had not been embroidered on the left side of her chest, she could have easily passed as a lady of the night, working the corners of the streets. Her thoughts prevented her from hearing the door of the bedroom opening, and it was not until she heard it close followed by Tony's gasp that she realized she had been caught.

"Yeah! That's what I'm talking about!"

Pepper turned around and tried to cover herself with a blanket, suddenly feeling uncomfortable with Tony's look.

"Babe, if I'd known you were into that, I'd have brought it up sooner! Let me get my leather outfit and we'll get it on!"

As Tony began walking around the room looking for said outfit, Pepper frantically tried to stop him while dragging the blanket with her.

"Tony! It's not what you think! Stop!"

"Pep, there's no need to be shy!"

"I'm not shy! This is not for…that."

"What do you mean it's not for that?" he asked as he continued rummaging through his drawers. "If not for that, then what's it for?"

Pepper sighed loudly, grabbing his hands to stop his search and pulled him to face her. She looked to the side as she let go of the blanket she had been trying to cover herself with and pointed to the symbol on her chest.

Tony stared at it for a second before his eyes widened. He then stared at her and at the symbol consecutively a few times before bending down and picking up the blanket, covering Pepper's body completely with it.

"What the fuck is he thinking? You're NOT going out to the streets dressed like that!"

"Tony, listen to me…"

"NO! Nope, NOT gonna happen!"

"Tony, I asked for something like this."

"Uh, hell no! You don't need a fancy outfit," he began, not bothering to listen to what she had to say. He began staring everywhere around him as if looking for a quick alternative to solve his new predicament. His eyes lit up when he found one, walking away from her and running to the window.

"See? This! This is perfect!" he said as he pulled at the fabric.

"Tony, that's a curtain!"

"Yes! And you know what curtains are good for? COVERING WHAT SHOULDN'T BE SEEN BY THE NEIGHBORS! It's perfect!"

"TONY!" Pepper said, her arms flailing in the air and causing the blanket to fall to her feet once more.

"Don't like it? Too old school? Well," he said as he walked back to her, picking up the blanket from the floor and placing it on her shoulders. "This blanket doesn't seem too bad either. I can…uhm, cut some holes in it for your arms, and then…"

"TONY!"

"WHAT?"

"I'm not wearing a blanket or a curtain to missions!"

"Why not? It's…progressive!"

"Progressive, are you kidding me?"

"Not at all." He said, convinced of the accuracy of his statement. When Pepper narrowed her eyes at him, he sighed and shook his head. "OK, OK. So, maybe the curtain or the blanket is too much."

"Thank you…"

"But, what about a nun outfit? You can be the…the…uhm…Flying Nun?"

"It's taken."

"How about the eh-uhm, Flying Woman?"

"Flying? What does it have to be flying? I don't fly."

"Well, how about the Non-Flying Woman…Nun?"

"Tony…"

"Pepper…"

"The outfit is staying."

"But…"

"No buts."

"See? That's what I said! No butts, especially yours…I mean, God! How did you put this on? Using grease?"

"Tony…"

"I mean, if you're into that stuff I can get in on it, too."

Pepper stared at him, waiting for his little random rant to end. When Tony realized she was no longer going to respond to his incoherencies, he exhaled.

"Fine! But if anyone tries anything stupid I swear…"

"It's OK. If anyone does try anything silly, I'll give you their name and address. Alright?"

"Alright."

Feeling they'd come to an agreement, Pepper hugged Tony, almost forgetting his earlier suggestion. "So, leather, huh?" she managed to purr before Tony lifted her from the floor and took her to their bed.

"Tony, you can't spend the next 18 years putting your life on hold for the kids. It's not healthy and it's not fair. Why don't we compromise?"

"How?"

"You can watch over the kids a few days out of the week while you train our new babysitter so that when you do have to leave them behind, you feel comfortable doing so. How does it sound?"

Tony considered his options, and while he was still reluctant to accept, he knew Pepper was correct. One day The Avengers might need him in action, and he could not risk leaving them hanging –leaving Pepper on a mission hanging, just because he refused to hire a nanny.

"OK. But she won't live here. I like our privacy."

"Deal."

After giving Tony a quick peck on the lips, and telling him his drill was in their bedroom where he had dropped it last night, Pepper left the kitchen and returned to the living room to hire Gillian Smith.

xxxXXXxxx

Steve was in awe at meeting the twins for the first time. Pepper and Tony had brought them to S.H.I.E.L.D. again to get analyzed for side-effects of the Extremis virus as they had for a couple of weeks now. When they had been conceived, Pepper had not been infected with the virus, but Tony had implanted a variation of it in him. Afterward, Pepper's exposure to the virus had been present during their development, so the two parents worried their children could fall prey to the misfires the previous Extremis soldiers were victim of.

"I can't believe these are Stark's kids!" Steve said as he held Gigi in his arms. The baby girl had taken an immediate liking to the soldier, and Robbie had taken to Natasha. "I mean, I didn't think anyone would want to have Tony' Stark's kids!"

The Black Widow suppressed a chuckle, silently almost agreeing with Steve. Truth was that the shock of learning someone normal was attracted enough to the billionaire to the point of marrying him was great enough, but finding the former playboy had also managed to convince the poor woman of bearing his kids was beyond Steve's comprehension and belief.

Romanoff, however, had seen the interaction between Pepper and Tony, and had expected this moment sooner rather than later. She could not figure out how they made it work, but they did, and in the end that was all that mattered to them.

"Don't let Stark hear you. He'll never shut up his bitching."

"Yeah, I know." Steve said, smiling down at the giggling girl. "Where are they, anyway?"

"They're getting ready to talk to Killian." Hawkeye said as he walked inside the room. He stole a quick glance at Natasha and at Steve, feeling uncomfortable to find the two sharing a personal moment such as this. Clint was not blind to the attraction that the Captain had for the Russian-born assassin, but he had dismissed it early-on knowing Natasha found love to be an inconvenience; a waste of time.

However, seeing how much Natasha and Steve had been bonding since they had been assigned to work together on missions rather than with him anymore, their interactions had become more personable, leaving him to wonder if the charm of the Man out of Time was winning her over, little by little.

"Hey, Barton, want to meet them?" Natasha offered as she walked up to her former partner. Clint nodded to her and took Robbie from her arms, expertly cradling the baby on his chest.

"Hey, there little guy! Please don't grow up to be a jerk, like your dad, OK?"

Natasha snickered at the sincerity with which Barton had uttered his plea to the infant. It seemed it was common hope that neither of the babies grew up to be like the billionaire.

"When you're done with that one, you and Steve can trade." She suggested, almost missing the look of disdain in Clint's eyes. He blinked it away and replaced his gesture with a smile before concentrating on playing with Robbie.

"Well, the new recruits are waiting for me to train them. Keep the babies alive, OK?" The Black Widow said before giving the babies one last glance and leaving the room. The two men stared at each other for an instant, not sure what to do now that the object of their affection was gone.

"Wanna trade?" Steve finally asked, feeling uncomfortable to be in a room with the man he knew had picked up on his intentions with Natasha.

"Sure, why not." Clint responded before walking closer to the Captain and awkwardly exchanging the infants. Their silence ended when Clint turned on the television of the waiting room, making sure cartoons were visible to entertain the kids.

xxxXXXxxx

"Are you sure you're ready, Potts?" Tony asked his wife by using the engrained term of endearment, following her closely behind as she headed to the entrance of Killian's containment cell. She had just undergone a procedure to implant a chip on the base of her skull, and it had been painful enough to make her ask for a moment to compose herself. All the efforts from S.H.I.E.L.D., Bruce and Tony had come together to create a device that would prevent Killian from controlling her again. However, the procedure to make it functional had been rather uncomfortable and left her with a headache and a feeling of dizziness.

"I'm OK, Tony. It won't take long." She assured him as she stopped in front of the doors that lead to Aldrich's room.

"If he tries anything funny, Pepper, just holler, alright?"

Pepper nodded to him, more to comfort him than in agreement. If the chip in her body did prevent her from becoming Aldrich's slave again –testing its effectiveness being the main purpose of this meeting, she was confident that if Killian did try something she did not approve of, she'd be capable of handling it herself.

The doors finally opened and she walked inside the anteroom of the unit. The doors locked behind her before the doors in front of her opened to reveal Aldrich's form standing in the middle of the room. Tony joined Nick Fury in the monitoring room, eyeing Killian's every move.

Inside the unit, Pepper took enough steps to clear the anteroom's area, but not enough to stand close the man she had learned to loathe. When the man in question also did not make any attempt to coming near her, she crossed her arms in front of her chest and cocked her head to the side.

"So, what do you want?"

"Is that really the way to greet your alleged lover, Pepper?" Killian asked referring to the fake video he had made sure the world saw.

Pepper was not amused at the comment, knowing he was trying to get under her skin. She in turn gave him a mocking smile Tony had only seen her use when she was escorting out the easy bitches he used to bring to his home.

"This is how I greet the lovers I've had that left me unfulfilled in bed."

Killian chuckled, taking on the challenge she had just set on the table for him. It was this fire in her that had attracted him to her since they've met, and it was this fire that had led him to try and keep her for himself.

"That's not how I remembered it, love. I remember you asking for more."

Pepper smiled again, daring to take enough steps to stand inches away from him. "Of course I'd ask for more. Didn't I just say I wasn't satisfied? You know, for a guy who is always hot," she said as she poked his chest, heating it up so that it burned thru his clothes, "your bedroom skills leave far too much to be desired."

The tip of her finger finally reached his skin, digging in deeper, burning through flesh, cartridge and bone. Killian tried to keep his composure, but he knew the version of Extremis Pepper had was capable of producing a more intense heat than his, so he took a step back to stop the torture that could end in his death.

"What is it, Killian? Am I too hot for you?" Pepper asked in her best impression of Tony's usual condescending tone.

Killian covered the hole in his chest as he waited for the regeneration to take place, feeling the pain but secretly admiring the power the woman now held. "Did Fury tell you what you're here for?" he asked, trying to change the subject to protect his weakness.

"He told me you need to keep a deal you made with him."

"Did he give you the details?"

"I don't need any details. Just tell me what you want so you can go back to dying in here."

"You hurt me, my dear. Aren't you thrilled to spend some time with your creator?"

Pepper narrowed her eyes at him, her patience growing thin with his games. She walked up to him and grabbed him by his throat, immediately glowing orange as she burned the flesh of his neck.

"Either you tell me right now what you want, or I'll pull the information from your dead body."

Killian grabbed her arm with both of his, trying to remove her grip from him. When his effort proved unsuccessful, he nodded to her, leading her to drop him on the floor. He coughed as his vocal chords and pipe regenerated before speaking again to her.

"Pepper, darling, you have not learned to control your powers, yet. You need to be taught how to do so in order to find your brothers and sisters."

Pepper controlled her anger the best she could, the glow diminishing considerably but still present in small amounts. Killian stood up and dared to come close to her once more, admiring her figure up and down.

"God, you're as gorgeous as I remember you. You were already beautiful, and now you're also lethal –perfect combination. Did Tony lose the cast yet?"

Tony's cast had been removed a week ago, but he was still having trouble using his arm as it adjusted itself back to full mobility again. She knew he was fishing for information that he could not obtain from the media. Pepper's eyes darted to the corner where she knew Nick and Tony watched their meeting, as if trying to communicate with them that she was done talking to Aldrich for the day.

When her eyes returned to face Killian once more, the smile on his face made her stomach churn. "When do we start?"

Killian clapped a single time before putting his overlapped hands over his chest. "Wonderful to have you on board, Pepper! How about in a week from today? I think I can fit you in my busy schedule."

"Why not now?" Pepper asked, fishing for information herself.

"Because, Pepper, patience is the first thing you need to master in order to control your gifts. Without patience, you won't learn a thing."

"Have it your way. You aren't going anywhere, anyway." She said as she shrugged at him. "I will see you here in a week." She finished, eager to leave the room. She then turned around and, as soon as her back was to him, he enthusiastically smacked her right butt cheek. He enjoyed his victory for only a second before Pepper jumped in the air and roundhouse kicked him in the face, dislocating his jaw with the hit.

Killian fell to the floor once more, but this time he remained on it as he tried to put his jaw back into place.

"I will wait patiently all week to do that to you again," Pepper said before walking to the anteroom. The doors opened as soon as she reached them, and closed immediately behind her retreating form. By the time she reached Tony, he was being held down in place by Nick, Phil and Bruce.

A/N: Hera, girl, you cracked me up! Thank you all for setting up your alerts and leaving wonderful reviews. I will try to sneak some writing time during breaks and afternoons, hoping I can update faster than anticipated. As with the last story, I have only a vague idea of where it's going, so just bear with me, please. Can't wait to hear more from you!