A/N: The cocktails Lara asks for are actual drinks but I didn't take the time to look up the ingredients...Tony Stark is present in this chapter...
Me: Say 'Hi' Tony
Tony: Hi...
Anyways enjoy :)
The bar to her surprise was practically empty when she reached it, with only two men standing against it; the bartender was halfway through the older of the two men's order, which left Lara leaning idly against it, her eyes every now and again shooting in Amanda's direction, where she saw her talking to some strawberry blonde haired woman in a blue dress. Her nostrils flared, for someone who didn't know what kind of relationship Amanda and her had she was quite possessive.
Her mind went blank when the bartender finally took notice of her; she furrowed her 'brow as she tried to remember what it was that Amanda had wanted.
"I'll have a B&B please –on the rocks and a, errr...a ummm..." she paused a bite her lips as she thought of what it was Amanda had asked for, she blushed when she remembered what it was, trust Amanda to try and embarrass her like this, "a wet pussy." She said forcing a confident non-abashed smile to her lips.
The man next to her choked on his drink, the contents spraying half way across the bar, the bartender looked non-phased and continued with mixing Lara's drinks, the man besides her continued to splutter and cough.
He finally cleared his throat and turned to face her, a charming almost tantalizing smile gracing his lips, and had Lara been straighter than she was (as she believed herself to be bi-sexual even though she tended to tilt more towards the company of women), she would have fallen for it within a heartbeat.
His eyes were sincere, "English, right?" he asked her, his accent American, he picked up his drink and took a small sip from the amber liquid.
"Very." Lara replied calmly, her eyes followed the movements of the bartender as he place one of her drinks on the bars surface, the brandy glass a dead giveaway that it was her chosen drink, she picked the glass up by the stem and titled towards her male companion before taking a rather large gulp, it bit the back of her neck as it trickled down her throat.
"So, did you get dragged to this thing too, or...?" he gestured with his drink around the room, he frowned slightly in the way Lara had done moments before as his eyes set over to where Amanda and the redhead were talking.
"Actually, I accepted the invitation." She replied politely, flashing the man a genuine smile, she noticed Amanda watching them from the corner of her eye, feeling her heart lift as she saw a slight tint jealousy shine in blonde's eyes.
"Really? What on earth persuaded you do that, my assistant over there," he said throwing his thumb over his shoulder to the redhead in the blue dress, "practically dragged me to this thing since we're here on business and all." He said earning a small giggle from Lara, as she mentally pictured it.
She took another sip from her glass and then picked up Amanda's drink, having only just noticed it; she turned and slowly made her way over to the two women, "I can't very well miss my own party now, can I?" she questioned over her shoulder with a teasing smile.
He stopped in his tracks before rushing to catch up with her through the crowd, "Wait, so that means you're Lara Croft." He said disbelievingly.
"The one and only." She said upon reaching Amanda, she extended her arm and offered her the drink, which she took with a seductive smile, it did not go unnoticed, the man looked between her and the blonde.
"Ah, so you're that kind of Tomb Raider?" the man asked unabashed, Lara stared at him slightly shocked that he'd just come out with the accusation, were all Americans like this? She had her answer when she noticed Amanda trying to scoff a chuckle followed by an attempt to take a sip of her drink.
"Tony!" the redhead exclaimed whacking her boss across the arm, Tony just shrugged.
"I refuse to answer that with a dignified response." Lara said curtly.
"I'll take that as a yes." He said rocking back and forth on his heel, looking rather smug with himself; Amanda was still trying to stifle her giggles, Lara looked at her sharply and they died down instantly.
"Sorry," Amanda apologised, a smile still plastered on her face, "Lara, this is Pepper Potts, personal assistant of Mr. Stark here." Amanda gestured to the redhead, who in response to the introduction nodded politely, while Mr. Stark gave her a shit-eating grin, how Miss. Potts dealt with this man daily she didn't know, for here she was not ten minutes in and she already wanted to throttle him.
"Nice to meet you Miss. Potts, Mr. Stark." she said forcing a pleasant smile on her face, it hurt her cheeks to make the effort.
"It's Tony." Mr. Stark said quickly, earning a nod from Lara.
"I've just been telling Miss. Potts here," Amanda began as she took notice to the ever a mounting tension between Lara and Tony, "about your security needs." Lara's turned her focus onto Amanda, trying to figure out what she was talking about.
"My security needs...?"
"For the Mansion." Amanda offered, hoping that Lara would pick up on what she was getting too, the fact that they'd been talking about it with Zip in the car not one hour ago made Amanda doubt Lara's intelligence, but then again her IQ was sure to drop within this man's company, he may be a genius but right now he sure was an idiot.
"Ah, right, yes of course, how could I forget? My security systems were recently bypassed and my home broken into and I was just wondering if Mr. Stark could possibly upgrade my software, so to speak." Lara said to Pepper, completely ignoring the fact that Mr. Stark was standing right there beside's her. "Money of course, will not be a problem." She added hastily.
Miss. Potts turned to Tony, "I don't think that'll be a problem, should it Mr. Stark?" Lara raised an eyebrow towards Amanda gesturing towards the woman's quick change in honorifics, Amanda just shrugged.
"I don't see why not. What type of security do you currently have?"Mr. Stark asked in full business mode.
"I honestly don't know. You'd have to ask my technical assistant, Zip." Lara said uncomfortably, she was rather embarrassed about not knowing what security she had, but Zip was always on top of such things, only checking the monthly reports he sent her, she put a great amount of trust in him.
"Is there a contact we could use to get in touch with him?" Miss. Potts asks as she pulled out a PDA though slightly more advanced than Lara's and seemingly out of now where.
"Of course" Lara said as she removed her own PDA from her purse for the second time that night, it was preferably easier with two hands. She scrolled through her contacts before handing it to the redhead with a smile.
All the while Tony had been suggestively looking at Amanda, who simply rolled her eyes and took a sip of her drink only to find it empty, she frowned she hadn't been aware that she'd been drinking it.
"Here, let me take that." Tony said pulling the glass from Amanda's fingers before she could argue the matter, having already taken both Lara's and Peppers empty glasses, he threw her a mischievous look as he walked away intent on re-filling her drink, it wasn't every day he had a chance to get a lesbian drunk.
Amanda, without anything to occupy her hands, stood awkwardly, rubbing her arm up and down as she watched the interactions between Lara and Pepper, who looked like two nerds huddling over their game-boys while they fought each other on versus mode, as they swapped information on their PDA's.
She watched as Lara paused half way through a sentence, and frowned slightly, before raising her head at Amanda, the brunette bit her lip teasingly before sending Amanda a bright smile, and then directed her attention once again at Miss Potts, picking up her sentence from where she'd left it; the redheaded woman barely took notice.
Amanda blushed slightly as her stomach flipped, barely able to contain her smile, after all those years of hating Lara, it sure hadn't taken her long to give those feelings up, it was too much effort to constantly hold a grudge against some-one, the fact that she'd managed to hold on to it for so long, she realised, had been all thanks to her Wraith Stone, the relic had subtly manipulated her in believing she'd been in control, when really she hadn't been, spinning her emotions around uncontrollably.
Those six months ago when Lara had asked her to stay, Amanda had felt conflicted, her old feelings for the brunette had resurfaced and had battled tediously against the one's of hate that she'd carried around for years and then, in a rage, she'd smashed the stone, throwing it against the garden wall, and had then proceeded in shooting the darn thing until there was nothing left of it, she felt lighter now than she'd done in years, happier even and it scared her.
She jumped slightly when someone touched her arm, "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." Mr. Stark said sheepishly as he gave her, her drink, she smiled at him as she took the glass, muttering a polite 'thank you' she did so.
"I'll make you a deal" Tony said to Lara over his own glass, once he'd pick up on the current conversation, a dirty smile spreading across his face, Pepper groaned involuntary, while Lara raised her eyebrows, willing for him to continue, "I'll give you the software for free, if you two," he gestured towards Amanda and herself as he spoke, "make-out, oh for at least," he checked his watch, "a minute."
Lara contemplated it for a second, running her middle finger along her bottom lip as she thought, her eyes caught Amanda's briefly, the desire in them was unmistakable, but as much as she fancied the idea, she couldn't risk it, not with the press milling about.
She was about to politely refuse the offer but was interrupted by the shrill sound of AC/DC's 'Back in Black'. Tony excused himself as he pulled a slim transparent, very high-tech phone from his pocket, and walked away from the three women, sharing look with Pepper before he left the main room, and headed for the hallway.
Pepper, who had been vibrant and chatty all of five minutes ago, suddenly became very quiet, the colour drained from her face, and she worried her bottom lip between her teeth nervously, she nodded tentatively when Amanda asked her if everything was okay.
The other two women shared a look, everything was definitely not okay with the redhead, but they didn't dare pry any further.
Tony cautiously came back after a few moments, his lips set in a grimace, "I've gotta go." He said apologetically, Pepper nodded, her face ashen, she looked like she was going to be sick.
"Fury?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly.
Tony nodded, "C'mere." he pulled her into a hug and kissed her forehead, before placing a chaste kiss on her lips. Amanda and Lara looked at each other, slightly confused with the scene before them, were they dating? "I'll be fine Pep. Just a small hostage situation in Russia, it shouldn't take long, I'll be back before you know it." he said with a calming smile, he ran his hands soothingly up and down her arms before kissing her once more, he looked regretfully between Amanda and Lara for a second and then without another word he left the museum.
A red-gold titanium blur past the window not seconds after, "So, I'm guessing that was Ironman?" Lara asked Amanda referring to said blur, Amanda nodded, Pepper looked at her as if she'd grown a second head, "What!" Lara said defensively, suddenly getting the urge to check both shoulders just to be absolutely sure that she hadn't sprouted another head.
Amanda saw the look that Pepper had given Lara, and giggled slightly, she nudged Pepper with her elbow lightly, "She doesn't get out much, and she's English." She said as if that explained everything, Pepper nodded seemingly happy with the reason, Ironman obviously didn't make the headlines as much in the U.K as he did in America.
Their conversation was cut short by the patter of a spoon tapping against a glass, heads turned in its direction only to find Dr. Goodman standing at a podium ready to give a speech.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you all for coming..."
A/N: Thanks for reading...