Chapter Four
"What do you want your engagement ring to look like?"
Carter was glad that she'd finished drinking her coffee before Tony had called because if she'd had any liquid in her mouth at the time, she would have spewed it across the table and all over Bruce. Frowning out at nothing, Carter shook her head. "What?"
There was a scoffing sound on the other end of the line. "You're going to marry me. What do you want your engagement ring to look like?"
"Well, I'm not gonna marry you unless you ask politely," she replied, completely unable to see where this was going.
Bruce, who'd been mid-bagel at the time, started choking. When he managed to swallow, he gave her a horrified look."Wait, what?"
"Nothing," Carter said, shaking her head and laughing a bit as his expression. "Tony's probably just being an idiot."
"Hey!" the idiot in question squawked indignantly. "I heard that!"
Carter rolled her eyes. "You were supposed to. Now, care to explain what's going on without forcing me to commit?"
"I'm engagement ring shopping and I wanted a womea's opinion. The only other person in the store is some old guy, and how's he supposed to know what Pepper wants?"
"You're getting an engagement ring for Pepper?" A sort of foreign, girlish delight filled her. Across the table, Bruce visibly relaxed and gave her a weak smile.
Tony snorted again. "Well, yeah. I mean, she's been nagging me for practically forever and we've been living together for years. We're pretty much already married; I just wanted to make it official."
"If you really wanna marry her, you'd better not say that while proposing."
"Right. Got it." There was a sound like Tony had just opened a case on the other end. "But seriously. I need advice. What did Bruce get you?"
Now it was Carter's turn to choke. First Lily saying something along those lines, and then Roan calling him 'Uncle Bruce', and now Tony? Really? "Why does everyone keep... I... Look. What does Pepper like?"
"Um... strawberries," he decided after a moment. "Or maybe she's allergic to strawberries. I can never remember which You know what, that has nothing to do with jewelry, so never mind. I think she likes... diamonds? Don't all girls like diamonds? Diamonds are a girl's best friend, so that's probably a given."
Carter face-palmed and did a silent prayer for Pepper. "Yes, Tony. Diamonds are a given. Let's try something else. What is she like?"
"What do you mean?"
"Just..." Carter shrugged and waved her hand in the air. "Describe her for me."
Tony paused. "Well, she's beautiful. Not overly overbearing like some women, but kind of classically pretty. And she's, um, well-shaped. The proper phrase would be clean-cut, but you know that that's not really what I meant. She's the best thing that's ever happened to me, and I really don't deserve her."
"That is the most romantic thing you have ever said. I'm proud of you, wingman. Now just go tell that old guy everything you said, and he'll find you a ring that's like her."
"Really?" Tony sounded genuinely surprised. "That works? Huh. Well, thanks. I'll just - oh, shit! Rhodey's outside the window and he's glaring daggers at me. Gotta go. Thanks, Carter!"
With that, the other end went dead. Rolling her eyes at her wingman's behavior and just him in general, Carter slipped the phone back into her pocket. When she looked up, Bruce was giving her a weird look.
"What was that about?" he asked in a slightly strangled voice. He wasn't still choking on bagel bits, was he? No, that wasn't it. Bruce had been acting strange ever since they'd gotten to the airport. It had gotten worse after they went through security, when he'd been pulled over because of something he'd had in his pocket.
He was so jumpy that at this rate, people would begin to think he was a terrorist.
Instead of pressing the matter too much, Carter gave him a simple reply. "He wanted a girl's opinion on the kind of ring he should get Pepper."
"Oh?" Bruce raised an eyebrow, his voice an octave higher than normal. "Is that all he said?"
"That, and his friend Rhodey was pissed at him." Carter pulled her ticket out of her pocket and looked at the boarding time, then to the clock. "Hey, why are we stopping in Philly?"
"I, uh, couldn't get a direct flight."
Carter shot him a skeptical look. "You couldn't get a direct flight from the world's busiest airport to the world's most popular city. OK, what is it really?"
His face grew red, and he looked down at the ground, ashamed. He was so cute when he did that. "It's the second part of your birthday present."
She grinned widely. "You are absolutely amazing. Have I told you that recently?"
"No, but I already knew," he replied, matching her smile. In one swift movement, he stood slung his backpack over his shoulder. "We should probably get going." He held out his hand to her.
Carter let him pull her to her feet, a warm feeling spreading through her.
She was the luckiest person on the face of the Earth.
AVENGERS ASSEMBLE
Rhodey wasn't sure what embarrased him more: that he and Tony were over an hour late, or that the CEO of Stark Industries was wearing sweatpants and a ratty t-shirt to a club. Not a club where you go dancing, but a club were old ladies play bridge.
A club where Tony was going to be playing golf with the Bruce Wayne, the man whose company was predicted to surpass Stark Industries within the next year. Both Rhodey and Pepper had thought that it would be an excellent idea for the two self-proclaimed genius billionaire playboy philanthropists to be on good terms.
They weren't off to a very promising start.
Rhodey, who, even though he was only caddying, was sporting his Air Force uniform, stalked ahead of Tony.
"Hey, wait a sec! When did you get so fast?" Tony pulled even with Rhodey, a stupid grin plastered on his face. "You're really not even going to comment on the fact that you found me at Tiffany's, shopping for an engagement ring?"
Unable to take Tony and his flippant attitude anymore, Rhodey whirled around. "I am not going to comment," he hissed, "because what I have to say will get my ass kicked out of this club. This is an important business deal Tony, and you're not taking this seriously enough! Do you know that the army is thinking of coming after your suit again? If you don't become best friends with this man, you're company is going to be screwed over. And then we lose faith in your ability to do things. You're too... everywhere. Unless you focus on something, and believe me, the army wants it to be your company, you're going to get so fu-"
"Am I interrupting something?" A smooth voice said from behind.
The two of them turned. There stood the man they'd come to see.
The first thing that Rhodey noticed was that Bruce Wayne knew how to dress when you went golfing. A pair of black slacks, a white polo, and a Rick Santorium style sweater-vest (mind you, Wayne managed to look cool in his) told the lieutenant colonel that much. He shot them both a lazy smile, and peered over the tops of his dark sunglasses to give them an almost playful look.
"You must be Tony Stark," Wayne said, holding his hand out to Tony. Much to Rhodey's relief, his friend had enough sense to take it and shake it.
With an equally cocky grin, he replied, "That I am. Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Wayne. I hope my friend here didn't keep you waiting too long."
Before Rhodey could move to strangle Tony, Wayne laughed and shook his head. "It's not a problem at all. Truthfully, we were a little late as well. Alfred here couldn't find an ugly enough outfit."
"I think a did a fairly good. And from what you've said to me so far, Master Wayne, you agree," a cockney accent interjected. Rhodey turned his gaze once again to see an older man in a bright pink and yellow polo and green plaid pants.
"If you'd tried harder, I'm sure you could have found something," Wayne insisted. "Now. How about we play some golf?"
Tony had done nothing to help Stark and Wayne Industries form any kind of agreement. It was clear that he wasn't interested in that.
Fortunately, it seemed that Wayne wasn't either.
Another bright side was that the two billionaires seemed to be getting on famously. At first, they'd gotten into the general 'my island is bigger than yours' thing, but it had quickly progressed into something more.
"Favorite thing my money bought?" Tony asked, looking up from his putter. "Definitely to suit. I am Iron Man, you know. What about you? Which Russian ballet dancer is your favorite?"
Wayne laughed. "I didn't buy those dancers; I rented them out. But the best thing I've ever bought..." he trailed off. Then, with a quick glance back to Alfred, he replied, "My tank."
Tony, who'd been in the middle of a put, hit the ball so hard that it went flying into the next hole's green (not for the first time). He looked up, eyes huge and mouth hanging open. "Tank? You have a tank?" Frowning, he turned to Rhodey. "Oh, so he can have a tank, and the army's cool with that, but if I make one little suit that technically has unlimited power, it becomes a big deal?"
"Yes." Rhodey scowled at Wayne. "You are kidding about the tank, though, aren't you? Because if you're not, I believe the army may have a bone to pick with you."
"The army's already got a bone to pick with me," Wayne said dismissively, waving it off. "They can't really do anything about it; I mean, I've got a tank."
"I'll take the nine iron gold-crest, Alfred," Wayne said in what was probably the most business-like tone anyone but Rhodey had used all day.
Alfred selected the desired club and handed it to his employer. "An excellent choice, sir."
After lining up, Wayne went smoothly into his swing, hitting the ball with a satisfying clinking sound. It flew several hundred yards, landing on the putting green and rolling within mere feet of the hole. Smirking, Wayne bowed to Tony. "All yours, my friend."
Rhodey knew what that determined look meant. Tony swaggered up to the tee, placed a ball on it, and pretended to think a moment.
"Rhodey," he said in a cocky voice. "I'll take my fifteen silver round-about with the molded handle and twelve percent drop."
"I have no idea what that means, Tony."
Tony gave him a horrified look. "My fifteen silver round-about with the molded handle and twelve percent drop! Come on, man! You know what I'm talking about." He sighed, shaking his head. "Fine. If you can't find it, I guess I'll settle for the three copper clubber with the jeweled encrusted side and the self-correcting swing module."
"Tony," Rhodey, growled, officially losing what little patience he'd managed to keep. "You have one iron, one chipper, and one putter. Pick from that. I am not Batman. I cannot just whip some magical bat-club out of my butt."
Both Wayne and Alfred burst out laughing. "Bat-club!" Wayne exclaimed as he clutched his side. "Oh, I need one of those!"
The other two men stared at them as they continued to laugh like a couple of crazy people.
Maybe there was some kind of inside joke he and Tony just didn't get?
AVENGERS ASSEMBLE
Tony was extremely proud. Sure, Wayne had beaten him by over forty point, but a one twenty was his PB. Plus, Wayne was going to take him out for a drink sometime, and Tony was always happy when there was alcohol involved.
Overall, despite Rhodey's obvious displeasure, it had gone pretty well.
Now, he walked through the halls of Avengers Mansion, trying to remember which room was his. Yes, it was technically his house, but he really just knew where the kitchen and his work-shop was. He usually didn't do things like 'sleep'. There was coffee for that.
Suddenly, Tony cocked his head to the side. Was that... crying? Was that a girl crying? He sure hoped so, because the only other guy in the house at the moment was Thor, and Thor should not be able to make such feminine sounds. That would be absolutely disturbing.
Following the sounds, Tony passed a couple of doors before entering one on his right. What he found made him feel awful.
Pepper looked up at him, eyes red and nose just as mis-colored. Next to her on the bed sat a box of tissues and some chocolates. Uh-oh. He must have forgotten something. Her birthday? Their anniversary? Had her cat died? Wait, did she even have a cat?
"Peps," he said, striding across the room and plopping down next to her. "What's wrong?"
Her lip trembled, and he was tempted to kiss it to make it stop. However, he's just asked her a question that he wanted her to answer, so he resisted that urge. Pepper's grey eyes, filled with tears and sorrow, moved their gaze to the floor.
"Wrong? I don't know if... I mean, it's just... I can't even begin to imagine what will happen now..."
Tony cocked his head to the side and wrapped an arm around her. "Is this how you feel when you talk to me? Because none of that made any sense, and I'm really lost now."
"Tony." She took in a deep, shaky breath. Then, like a frightened child, looked back to him. She shifted away from him, as if... scared of him. Of how he would react.
"I'm pregnant."