Fury might not show it, but he actually liked Tony Stark. He appreciated the good in him that the man tried to hide and he would always feel grateful to him for saving New York after the rest of the council went crazy just because there were a few aliens on vacation there. So yes, he liked Tony.
That said, he didn't always appreciate the constant sarcasm or the irritating personality flaws (conceit being one of them) and he hated the perpetual tardiness that surrounded the billionaire like a bad smell. He was incapable of turning up on time to anything. The man would be late to his own funeral if it got him more attention.
But something about the guy he really liked? Pepper. He had only met her briefly and on those occasions she had been stressing because Tony was injured or missing or in trouble, but for someone with Fury's skill set those brief encounters had been enough to formulate an opinion. Romanov's reports of her time in the Stark family had also shown the director more of the woman's personality.
The fact that she had become best friends with two of his top agents said a lot about her on its own. It was clear that she was long since used to dealing with Tony and it would seem that she had taken the rest of the Avengers under her wing in much the same way. Even when the billionaire himself was fine, she would sit by the bedside of whichever member of the team was hurt to offer whatever comfort she could.
It was obvious from her track record that she was diligent (in Fury's opinion anyone that could be within Tony's life nonstop for over a decade must be dedicated to the job). She had helped to keep the billionaire on track too; with her guiding hand he had actually managed to turn in mission reports and he even came to some of the team meetings. It was a miracle.
When he heard that the two were getting married, he was genuinely happy for him. Very few people around the director had families (married to the job, just like him) and so the break from normality was almost sweet. Not that Fury ever referred to anything as sweet. He had a reputation to protect.
In a more selfish way he was glad that Pepper was sticking around to keep one of his Avengers on target, as well as providing some humanity to the rest of the team. Sometimes it was good for them to get a glimpse of the people they were working to protect; the director would like to meet anyone that was immune Pepper's natural kindness and the Avengers were no exception. Fury was fairly sure that any member of the team would put their life on the line to save her; he had seen it when she had been taken.*
It wasn't long after the announcement of the proposal that Pepper contacted him unexpectedly. She had calmly but firmly told him that if he did anything that would ruin their wedding she would drop him over the edge of his own ship; he didn't doubt that she would try and if she was able to recruit the rest of the team, she might actually succeed. And so he had told her he would leave them to their fun and would do everything he could to make sure they were undisturbed.
Tony had found him a few days later.
"Did Pepper ring you?" He didn't sound angry or upset, just curious.
"Why?" He made sure that his face was blank.
"Because someone from the tower rang your personal phone and I know it wasn't one of the team. And unless JARVIS got bored and wanted to chat, I'm going to say it was Pepper."
"You watch your own phone lines?" Even to a spy that sounded a little paranoid.
"No. I watch yours." Fury scowled at him but Tony shrugged, unapologetic.
"Yes, she rang me. Is that a problem?"
"Depends on why she was ringing you." He sounded... protective.
"Maybe she was bored and wanted to chat," he deadpanned and now it was the billionaire's turn to glare. Fury just grinned and wandered out the room. Behind him, Tony fumed silently.
The conversation was never brought up again and Fury assumed that the billionaire had taken it up with his girlfriend himself. He had never been bothered enough to follow it up.
The next time he encountered the red head was just under a month later when Tony lay in a hospital bed, his arm broken and leg heavily mangled. The doctors had assured them all that he would make a full recovery but for now he looked so fragile that Fury was having a hard time believing it.
Pepper sat at his side, clinging to his uninjured arm like a vice, silent tears streaming down her cheeks. The billionaire was pale and still and if it wasn't for the fog inside the oxygen mask he would have looked dead. Fury watched the pair silently, arms crossed.
After a time Tony stirred, his heart rate darting around as he panicked when he couldn't tell where he was. Pepper was immediately cupping his face whispering comforts in his ears until he calmed. She looked so used to such actions that Fury found himself wondering just how well the billionaire slept at night – many people who had gone through less than him suffered nightmares.
Tony spent longer than he would have liked in the hospital, guarded constantly by his teammates to stop him from leaving. Fury checked in every now and then and every time he did he would walk into the room to see Pepper sat in the same seat by his bedside, gripping his hand. Sometimes she would be asleep or he would be and other times they would be talking in quiet voices to one another but they never broke that contact. They always made sure that they were holding onto one another.
It wasn't long after that when Fury started worrying about Pepper's safety. And not just because he didn't want her to be hurt – which he didn't, she was an innocent civilian and as such it was his job to protect her – but for a far more selfish reason. If he lost Pepper Potts? He would lose Tony Stark. Without a doubt the man couldn't survive without her and even if the team worked to look after him (which he was sure they would – they protected their own) it wouldn't make any difference. The alarming truth was that without her, Stark wouldn't want to live, much less continue working with the Avengers.
It was down that train of thought that led the red head to being on S.H.I.E.L.D's watch list. She was under surveillance all the time (except when she was within Stark Tower – no matter how much he hounded Fury hounded his technicians, they couldn't get through the firewalls Tony had put in place) and there were always at least two agents within a few blocks of her position. Fury knew that Tony knew about it – the man seemed to know every move that S.H.I.E.L.D made – but he never complained or tried to stop them; it said a lot for how much Stark wanted her to be safe.
Fury didn't think he would really understand their relationship – for all his skills at reading people, there was a decade's worth of moments that he was unaware of that would tell their own story. But somehow, he didn't mind. Despite the fact that to the casual observer the couple were dysfunctional at best, once you looked closer there was an almost visible bond that ran between them and there was something so primal and pure about it that Fury realised that it wasn't meant to be understood. There was no logic to it. The spy had the impression that if he ever believed in soul mates, he would see them in Tony Stark and Pepper Potts.
Together they were strong – they would last through it all. And that was exactly what Fury was counting on.
*Due to popular vote, this is becoming a story. I'm going to post it on the end of this story along with the proposal scene.
I've also had a request from Sarcastic Musician to do Happy, which sounds like fun, so I'll get on it. The same request also mentioned Agent Coulson and I'll have a go, but I can't promise anything. He's harder to read than a brick wall. And the timeline for that would be completely out but I can try. After that I don't know if there'll be anything else, depends on what people want.
So. This didn't turn out as well as I might of hoped, but then again, I did warn you that I can't get a read on Fury. So I did my best.
I was amazed by the support that Clint's chapter got :O You're all amazing. I didn't think it was anything special, so it's nice to know that it was appreciated. Thanks guys.