Be Careful What You Wish For
Adopted from Kactus Wrynn
Disclaimer: If you recognize anything, I don't own it
A/N: Alrighty peeps, we've crossed into uncharted territory, here 'thar be monsters. Or in non-pirate terms, this is the first chapter of this story written by me. Enjoy, or I'll make ye walk the plank matey.
Bella pried her eyelids open the next morning, wanting nothing more than to collapse back onto her bed and sleep for a few more years. One look at her clock made her quickly change her mind, there was no way in hell she would be late to work two days in a row. She grit her teeth as she jumped into an ice cold shower, hoping that would wake her up, which it unfortunately didn't that much. Bethany had kept a plate from breakfast warm for her like the angel she was, and Bella kissed her adoptive mother's cheek lovingly as she sat down to eat. Tom looked on in amusement as Bella wolfed down her food, shaking his head while quietly chuckling.
"Easy there filly, you'll make yourself sick if you keep eating like that. I'll get you to work on time." Bella smiled warmly at him, eating a little slower. Thankfully she did get to work on time, Tom pulling up to the Tower just as the clock struck seven. Pepper however wasn't there. Bella went up to the desk, as Ms. Potts said she should if she ever wasn't there. Katherine smiled as she saw Bella approach.
"Well, if it isn't the guardian angel!" The blond receptionist said, green eyes glittering in the bright light of the lobby. "A good half of the staff is ready to bow down and worship you after the small feast you left in the breakroom yesterday." Bella flushed scarlet.
"They liked it then?" She asked. Katherine snorted.
"Liked it? I thought Sampson was going to cry from joy at one point." Bella blushed even deeper, and tried to change the subject.
"Glad to hear it. Anyways, I need to get up into the penthouse to cook breakfast, mind letting me in?" Katherine smiled.
"Sure thing Bella. Password?"
"Eleanor." Katherine grinned and pressed the intercom to the penthouse. "Cook is here, letting her in, so don't blow her head off!" She called into it cheerfully. "House full of overly paranoid superheroes, a cleaning crew went in unannounced once and nearly got the full Avenger welcome mat." She explained. "That's why Ms. Potts generally escorts people in; they don't react if it's her authorization code." Bella nodded. "I suppose that makes sense. If I were a superhero living in a place as conspicuous as this, I'd be paranoid too." Katherine nodded.
"Stop by on your lunch break if you have time, we can grab a coffee." She offered as the elevator to the penthouse opened. Bella smiled.
"Will do."
The trip up to the penthouse was almost instantaneous, the top of the line elevator zooming up all twenty stories in seconds. Bella made her way to the kitchen, wrapping her apron around her when she stopped short in the doorway. There, on one of the many stools lining the island stood her employer, Tony Stark staring expectantly at her.
"You look like crap." He offered at once, grinning devilishly. "Didn't get enough sleep last night, any interesting dreams I should know about?" Bella rolled her eyes, any idea of a hassle free breakfast long gone.
"Unless the fate of the world is resting on a penguin that can play the tuba, I sincerely doubt it." Tony's sharp brown eyes lit up like Bella was some sort of machine he was tinkering with.
"Fascinating, tell me more about this penguin. What breed was it, Emperor? I should get that made into a movie, it'll be the next Happy Feet." He said, nursing a mug of coffee and grabbing another mug. "Here, have a cup, it'll help with the fatigue." Bella wrinkled her nose. "What, you don't like coffee?"
"Never had it." Bella replied. "Do you know what that stuff does to you?"
"Coffee is the lifeblood of America!" Tony declared.
"A country so far in the shitter, we don't even see it anymore."
"Don't let Capsicle hear you say that." Tony laughed.
"I'm not hearing a denial." Bella retorted.
"As someone who used to make his billions off of the depravity of this country, how can I?" Tony said, seeming to be completely at ease with the memory of his less-than-moral past. Unless you looked at his eyes, deep inside the almost manic brown you saw the deep pool of regret he carefully hid from the world.
"Everyone makes mistakes." Bella said gently, meeting his eyes directly with her own. Tony was quiet for a minute, before filling the empty mug and handing it to her.
"One cup won't kill you." He said. "And it'll help with the tiredness, I promise." Bella eyed the brown liquid that was the same color as Tony's eyes, and knocked back the entire drink in one go, spluttering in disgust as she came up for breath.
"What was that, toxic waste?" She demanded. Tony shrugged.
"Hey, I like my coffee like I like my women, hot and strong." He said, winking at Bella. She shook her head.
"I need to start breakfast, or I'll be late for cleaning duty." She said, walking over to the fridge to get the ingredients for spinach and mushroom omelets. Tony looked at her in horror as the spinach came out.
"What the hell are you doing?" He demanded.
"Making breakfast." Bella replied, crossing her arms. "You know, the thing I was actually hired to do." Tony shook his head, taking the spinach away.
"No way in hell I'm eating that. You planning on torturing me?" He demanded. Bella rolled her eyes again. "Ms. Potts instructed me to make healthy meals." She said, reaching for the spinach. Tony held it away and over his head, where Bella couldn't reach.
"Yeah, well I say that I want pancakes for breakfast." Bella sighed tiredly.
"I don't want to get fired Mr. Stark." She began.
"Call me Tony." He interrupted. "And you won't get fired Bella Dupree, I sign your paychecks, remember?" Bella sighed again, relenting this time.
"Fine, but it's whole grain pancakes." She said, crossing her arms.
"Deal." Tony grinned. He promptly threw the spinach down the garbage chute, tossing it in a high arc from where he sat. "Goal!" He called out as it sailed neatly down the shaft. His attention turned back to Bella, and grinning like a fiend as he took seemed to take stock of her. "Is that a smile I see?" Bella looked down at her work, surprised to actually feel a small smile forming at her employer's almost childlike antics.
"Why I do believe that is!" Tony mock gasped, clutching his heart dramatically. "Does the ice hearted cook actually have a sense of humor?"
"Shut up." Bella grumbled, mixing the pancake batter with one hand as she blushed delicately. Tony laughed.
"Ooh, this is going to be fun." He said, his voice full of mischievous promise.
The rest of the breakfast preparation continued thus, with Tony deliberately being as immature and childlike as possible in many failed attempts to make her laugh outright.
"Is baby Bewwa tiwed of Tony aweady?" He asked in a mock baby voice, grabbing her arm as she tried to leave the penthouse to go down to her cleaning duties.
"I need to get to work Mr. Stark." Bella said sternly, trying to free her arm from Tony's surprisingly strong grip.
"I told you to call me Tony." Said man pouted. "And you're not going anywhere; you're going to eat pancakes."
"I already had breakfast Tony." Bella protested, kicking her attempted escape up a few notches until they both were doing some kind of shuffle. "I need to get to work!"
"You are at work." Tony protested. "You work for me, and I need you here to taste test the food. I have a lot of enemies, someone could have poisoned my food"
"I cooked the food." Bella deadpanned. "It's not poison."
"As far as you know." Tony said mysteriously. "They might have poisoned the ingredients."
"You really are paranoid, aren't you?" Bella asked with an eyebrow raised, unimpressed.
"Yep." Was Tony's careless reply. "That's why I need a taste tester." Bella noticed Tony's grip lessen a bit, and used the opportunity to jump away from him and towards the elevator, which opened to reveal Pepper.
"Ms. Dupree, I'd thought you'd be cleaning by now." Pepper said, before taking in Tony's presence. "Ah."
"Bella is going to be my new taste tester." Tony declared, crossing his arms. "She can't be cleaning when she's needed to make sure I'm not about to be poisoned.
"You're not going to be poisoned Tony, and you don't need a taste tester, JARVIS screens all the food that comes in the house." Pepper said coolly. "Ms. Dupree is needed elsewhere." Pepper stepped aside, letting Bella into the elevator, and closed the door.
"I hope he hasn't been like that all morning? Pepper asked, a mildly amused smile on her face.
"He threw out the spinach, insisted that I make pancakes, spent half the morning talking in a baby voice, and stole my shoe at one point." Bella said, relieved to finally be getting away from her lunatic employer. Pepper sighed.
"So it's going to be one of those days." She said resignedly. "Better batten down the hatches." She glanced at Bella. "You handled that rather well, you know. I assume you made pancakes?"
"Whole grain, and I sent out the sugar free syrup when he was distracted by trying to make the microwave talk like a sassy black lady." Pepper genuinely smiled then.
"Good girl. He probably won't even know the difference, and the last thing he needs right now is sugar." Pepper said. "None of the other Avengers are up yet then?" Bella shrugged.
"I didn't see anyone." Pepper nodded.
"Everyone must still be tired after last night then. Good, less chance of catastrophe when I only have to deal with one."
"What happened last night?" Bella asked curiously.
"Magneto used Lady Liberty to attack an anti-mutant organization. Didn't you feel the earthquake?" Pepper inquired.
"I sleep heavily." The redhead shook her head. "It would seem so."
Bella walked back into the kitchen of the penthouse to cook lunch a few hours later, grateful to see that her cocky, brilliant employer wasn't there this time. She popped her pre packed lunch into the microwave, unable to meet up with Katherine today due to her late start cleaning due to one Billionaire that shall remain nameless.
"Girl, I know you didn't just put that shit into me." The Microwave said. Bella sighed, it was going to be a long day.