"Boxes. Crushing my dreams since birth." Calico mumbled to herself, fingering the material of her dress sadly. Little white shoes. Lacy white dress. Pepper and Tony obviously hated her, otherwise they wouldn't have bought her an extensive collection of outfits fit for a baby-doll.
Cute wittle dwesses, in the words of Pepper.

She groaned and stomped toward Tony's room to complain (amazing that she could now navigate her way there perfectly without getting lost), but instead ran into the chest of a slightly older woman. The chest in question was large and somewhat soft, (so there were obviously no casualties) and her hair was thick and blonde (But her eyebrows were pretty black, so Calico figured her hair wasn't really blonde). Her lips were painted an apple red and they were smiling smugly down at the ginger.

Calico blushed as she stepped away from the woman. She wasn't quite in the mood to face one of Tony's girls.

"Are you Anthony's maid?" the woman asked, crossing her arms over her chest. Calico felt her face burn even more so - more out of irritation that embarrassment.

She didn't bother answering (she was still cripplingly shy around strangers), and instead tried to walk around Blondie. Instead, she stuck out her arm, effectively stopping Calico. She waggled her other finger at Calico and shook her head.

"No no, you don't want to clean in there yet. Mr. Stark is still in there. You should know better than to clean when your boss-"

"I'm not a maid." Calico stated blandly, walking under the stick thin arm with a pout. Blondie scoffed, muttering something offensive about Calico's red hair. Calico felt her eye twitch in annoyance, so she turned around on her heel and gave Blondie the most menacing glare she could muster.

"I have two things I want to tell you. The first is that your boobs go in your shirt, like mine." Calico groped her smaller breasts for emphasis.

"You're just jealous that Mr. Stark would never want your ugly ass!" Blondie retaliated. Calico ignored her.

"The second is that I'm Tony's assistant, his friend, his protegee, and you're nothing but another piece of-"

"Whoa, Calico!" Pepper ran up the stairs with what could only be the woman's clothes in her hand (and a relatively shocked look on her face).

"Here you are ma'am, and the door is that way. I'll call a cab when you're ready. I'm so sorry for this girl's behavior." Pepper gave Blondie (Currently glaring at Calico) a tight lipped smile. Blondie turned and smiled politely at Pepper, proceeding to saunter away. Calico crossed her arms over her chest and sniffed indignantly.

"She shakes her butt any harder she's gonna break something." she spat bitterly. Pepper gave Calico a small hug and suppressed her fit of giggles.

"Why were you so upset, Cali? You can't harass Tony's whores, because there's always plenty around for him to bed. He's a playboy; it's what he does." Pepper broke down, patting the top of Calico's head.

"I know he's a playboy. I just..." Calico wrinkled her nose and stepped away from Pepper, tilting her head to the side.

"You don't have a... a crush on him, do you?" Pepper asked, taking a few slow steps toward the smaller woman.

"N-no! I just don't want to have to share him. He's the only person other than you, Rhodes, and Happy that I don't want to kill with fire." Calico mumbled, tugging at the hem of her dress with a small blush and pout.

"Uh-oh, why does Freckles look like a kicked puppy?" Tony's voice echoed as he made his way over to Calico and Pepper.

The cousins exchanged looks - Calico's was more confused and embarrassed, where Pepper's was mildly proud. Calico finally broke the eye contact by looking down at her shoes, cheeks still burning.

"One of your girls insulted Little Cali and she stood up for herself!" Pepper chirped, clapping her hands. Tony raised a brow.

"I didn't know you had the guts." Tony teased, throwing an arm around her shoulders. Pepper smiled cheekily.

"I know, right? I've never been more proud!"

"Oh, shut up! Both of you!"

Calico probably shouldn't have been messing around in Tony's basement, because those vintage cars meant the world to him. In fact, if she were to even think about taking one of them apart (which she was), Tony would potentially destroy her.

Which was why she heard him give her a greeting from so close to her left ear, she nearly had a heart attack.

"Tony!"

"I have amazing news, Calico." Tony said sarcastically, not a trace of a smile on his handsome features. Calico flinched, waiting for the worst. He slid into the worn seat-cushion next to her with a slight pout.

"Well?"

"My blood toxicity is at thirty-three." He answered, resting his head on Calico's small shoulder and looking at her with sad brown eyes. Calico wrapped one of her arms around him.

"Tony... I swear to god that if you die, I will kill you." Calico threatened, giving him a slight shake. He chuckled at her.

"Neither of us have found a substitute for the palladium core in the arc reactor."

"I know." Calico lowered her eyes in slight shame.

"Don't look so sad. I made Pepper the CEO, so when I die..."

"If Pepper's the CEO, who's taking Pepper's place?"

"Babe named Natalia." Tony said smugly, tapping his fingers against the dashboard of the car. Calico rolled her eyes.

"Might as well enjoy my last days."

"Don't say that, Tony. We'll find something that works! Besides, you and I both know you love yourself too much to die."

Sorry it's so short and sorry it took so long to upload! XD I spent the past few days in withdrawal (I quit drinking coffee after drinking a MINIMUM of three cups a day for my entire life...)! Remember to review? ^^