wow i have a bunch of WIPs and i need to post. but the fic i've been working on is just not cooperating. so i'm throwing caution to the wind and posting up a deleted portion of a past fic with minimal editing, minimal thinking, really. which is...insane for me to do in the first place. (i am particularly critical of myself and take forever editing). i'm doing this so i can cross one thing off my to do list at least and feel semi-accomplished at something in my life.

basically this was a portion that was originally in "homecoming", but i took it out at the last minute due to various reasons. you don't need to have read that fic to get what's going on.

i just really love team stark okay i really do.

TÊTE-À-TÊTE
deleted from homecoming fic. im1. the waiting game. alternatively, limbo.
players: virginia potts and james rhodes.

...[Tony] is surprisingly - surprises himself - respectful in choosing not to watch any of the house recordings of said three months. Or - maybe he just would rather not know. He has enough telling him that he's missing a chunk of this year, a chunk of his life.

(What Tony would see, if he did watch the recordings, is this:

Rhodey in the house on particularly tough nights, after long meetings that were thought to be going somewhere productive, but evidently not. Or Rhodey using the massage chairs set out in patio 3, after a arduous training session with recruits, the frustration working itself out by tossing around the recruits, or more masochistically - tossed around by the recruits. The frustration - a result of a conveniently cancelled, "I'm sorry, Rhodes, but something's come up for the forty-fifth time, maybe we can- or really, we won't ever reschedule that lunch and there won't be talks about arranging plans to search for Stark. It's best you stop, Rhodes." Rhodey's been in the game long enough to know how to read between the lines.

Or, he's in the house on nights that were supposed to be Game Nights. The date is marked up on each of their ((or in Tony's case, Pepper's)) calendars. He could have, but didn't, turn off the phone alerts set to go off in the morning, to remind him of said Game Nights. ((Rhodey can get forgetful. Friendship is about effort, no matter how longstanding the said friendship.)) Something about giving him the motivation to keep trying, to remind him that he couldn't, wouldn't, disappoint himself. Tony, Pepper. Obie, Happy, the bots even - and God, what would happen to the bots - Howard, Maria.

(("He's a handful, I know, but... You know, he never had anyone in the way of friends, at boarding school. His being a Stark and everything - it just. Well." A sigh. "But you're good for him. You don't let him get away with anything. Which is really," another breath, softer, "really, good. I... I hope very much that he's good for you too." "Depends on the day." A laugh. "Maria, James." A firm, but sincere squeeze of her hand over his.

Maria was a genuinely warm person, open to experiences, to people. She had trusted him rather quickly, even. Tony had once told Rhodey that he worried about that part of her, whether she'd be taken advantage of. He had complained about the times when she was. And in his angrier moments - frustration masked in a half-joke - Tony would say her openness was how Howard and she ever even got together. That she fell for him without knowing what she was getting into.))

Sometimes, if Rhodey is up for it, he might play a game or two against, or co-op with JARVIS, before leaving the house. The victories, the losses, all that game play, are in JARVIS's history. Rhodey leaves simple messes for the bots to clean up. Most of it is dealt with by the more capable hands of the remaining members of the house staff. He doesn't give too much work for either party, because that isn't the point. He just wants to keep everyone busy.

The remaining staff is composed of the older members, mostly Maria's past hires. They stayed on, out of respect, and possibly more significantly - loyalty. Some of them are so much older now that it would be impossible to move on in the first place. The others that left of their own accord, a month after Tony's absence; each were given recommendations, by Obie personally.

As for Pepper, she is in the house on days she just doesn't want to be in the office. It's not that she can't handle it, the talk. It's just some days she just doesn't want to have to gather the energy. There's a difference of being unable to do something, and just simply not wanting to. And Pepper is not the type to "can't" - she can, does, but she's also only human.

At the office, her colleagues look at her in a confused way that says "why are you still here?" because they think she's only here for Tony. Her more closer colleagues look at her with a "hang in there, we know how great you are at your job, we depend on you, and before we all know it, he'll be back and giving us hell all over again." And that's sweet, the "we're in this together" feeling, but it's also draining in a different kind of way.

Then, there's the cynical, but realistic conversations in the halls, "hey so what do you think's gonna happen now? It's been so long now," "I doubt they're going to be able to find him. I know, chill, how bad that sounds, but I mean...," "Mr. Stane must be so stressed out," "he's the only reason why I haven't started looking for a new job. Even with Mr. Stark out, SI is in good hands." And yes, of course, SI will survive, Pepper has a meaningful place here no matter what, but it's still unsettling to hear, to know.

Working from home is inconvenient also because of her neighbors. She knows how the public views her relationship with Tony, even if the speculations have died out since the fifth year of her career. And thank you for your concerns, but no she hasn't been laid off, Ms. Torres, yes the economy has been very rough lately on everyone, and oh that's too bad for your cousin.

Pepper's job is a grab bag of responsibilities and duties, far more than most expect and think. Tony's absence doesn't make things stop; in some ways, it only accelerates and isn't that so very Tony, even without him around. So there she is, working in the Stark living room. Legs up on some surface or other, papers in an organized disorder the only way Pepper can, fingers brushing through hair absently as she works. JARVIS keeps the fridge and cabinets stocked (or rather, he ensures grocery deliveries are not stopped) with snacks, beverages for her benefit. There is no one to bother her, except for the calls and the emails requesting, begging, for her expertise. And it's Pepper, to the rescue, capable as ever.

Pepper keeps the bots company, requesting little errands they can run for her - or at least, to the best of their limited abilities. She felt less silly, or perhaps the better wording would be less alone, when Rhodey had admitted he thought maybe the bots, JARVIS, missed Tony. The both of them kept particular watch on the oldest, DUM-E.

She leaves at exactly the hour that her workdays are supposed to end - 6PM - with a JARVIS politely sending her off. Overtime is less frequent and that's on the list of changes, her not needing to clock in her overtime.

At times when Rhodey comes by for the night, she passes whatever it is that Rhodey and her are doing here - looking over the house? holding down the fort? coping? - to him. Or sometimes, she stays, if he looks like he needs the company. If she needs the company. They eat, drink, laugh, talk about things to do with Tony ((memories, stories, never for any long duration about /the/ "what ifs")). They talk about themselves, conversation kept lighthearted to produce a laugh, or sometimes revealing things that ends up strengthening their friendship, mention the mundane but still significant details about their day, week.

And while a little confused with the sudden shift in her life, Pepper goes on with that life for three months. Her work is a large part of her life and can everyone stop looking at her as if they understand, know, anything about that work and her admittedly unconventional work/friendship dynamic - but still not what everyone keeps suspecting - with Tony? She is only relieved from such intrusiveness when it's Rhodey or Happy looking at her, who know precisely how to look at her, with her; not pitiful, but supportive, more hopeful than she allows herself to feel, and understanding in all the right ways. Pepper normally doesn't let herself be bothered by others' assumptions of her. She knows who she is and is very proud of that, what she does. But it does bother her, has been for these few months. It bothers her that she can't figure out why.

But Pepper goes on with her life. On video are Pepper's personal phone calls to friends, her confirming that she's about to leave work and of course she'll be able to make it for drinks. She's the one to arrange times for the customary Friday night drinks, rather than them accommodating her. The hours they meet vary from week to week, but it's something they always do. Pepper does things she loves, at home - things that she already makes time for anyway, even before all of This, but it's different. Easier. Not that it was difficult before - challenging is the better word - but it's easier. Too easy. As much as things have indeed accelerated in her work life, other things have simultaneously slowed down to let her slow down. That is unsettling, as well.

Then, there's video of Pepper, Rhodey, Happy, fending off everyone and anyone trying to enter the house, access Tony's shop and personal files, claiming he had given them permission after a legal period of time, for some R&D project or other. They're described as modern Cerberuses, as they deal with the persistent reporters at the gate. Reporters try and try to get an exclusive with either three of them - the trustworthy friend, PA, driver - those that knew Tony Stark and provide the public a new side of him! And then there are people poorly disguised, pathetic really, pretending to be police or a member of the investigative team; they got a possible idea of where he might be and you didn't get our call? Well, we're here now. We just need a look into the house to see if soandso and thisandthat, and bull. Shit.

Obie had nearly convinced them to let him into the shop. He needed to assuage the Board with something, anything, that Tony had in the works, to use to stabilize and secure the company. Pepper and Rhodey wouldn't have it; Happy had no say, but still felt uncomfortable with it. Even more, Obie never really acknowledged him.

Pepper and Happy knew Obie meant well, of course he did, he wanted the best for Tony and SI always, but they both made Tony promises and while Tony had a poor record of keeping his? They felt compelled to do right by him.

Through it all, perhaps the most frustrating thing was that no one understood, acknowledged - Obie, of all people, even - how well they knew Tony.

And Rhodey and Pepper have a thought, a conversation, that maybe, maybe that's a good thing. That Tony, with all that spotlight ((that started the minute Howard informed the press of Maria's pregnancy, three and a half months in)), all the fame, and his celebrity presence to bring anyone onto the stage with him whether intentionally or not, made it so that no one would pry into Rhodey or Pepper's lives. To make it so the media didn't know the particularly close relationships he had with them, beyond the basic profile of "James Rhodes, 39, friend and military contract" and "Virginia 'Pepper' Potts, 32, supremely trustworthy and more than a decade long PA." Both statuses, glimpses of their places in Tony's life, more than enticing enough for the hungry media.

They realize - in a confused way of how they hadn't realized it earlier - of how little the media pays attention to them, besides the now and then call for interviews. They know it could be worse. They make a toast to that.)

the ridic game idea running in the fic that this was in, carries in this portion in a ridiculously obvious way. whatev.

also: on the subject of media v pepper/rhodey - not sure how i feel about it. there's gotta be moments where the media/gossip mags/pop culture peoples have managed to get SOME info about their lives and publicized it. i just figure tony's got enough clout to do something before it gets REALLY problematic and invasive.

(please ignore the weird timeline/ages set up for rhodey and pepper. pepper might be a little too young for 2008. i've seen so many friggin' estimates/timelines that hell if i know which one is the most accurate. and i am too laze to do quality checking on this fic SHHH.)

alsoalso: love letter to & in no particular order:
PAS - 'cause of my bombarding ficwoes posts/promises of fic, on tumblr for the past few months. so i apologize for that. or you've TSed it, in which all is well in the bar. happy hour every hour in that bar.
usual suspects - for being victims to my overthinking editing process, thanks for that.
between the waves - for being the initial guinea pig to this, thanks also for that.
regular reviewers - i see you guys. i 'preciate it, seriously.