AN: Steve typically has the patience of a saint; but Tony has a way of pushing his buttons even on the best of days. So when Tony blows off dinner with him and Pepper once again, he decides it's time to make a point. Slice of life ficlet that came about when I was chatting with my beta Whimsicality. Pepper/Tony/Steve.


Just Desserts

Tony came out of his latest engineering binge, and blinked, surprised by the lack of light streaming through his workshop windows. Glancing over at them through blurry eyes, he noted that it was well past twilight and heading on into full dark. When had that happened? Hadn't it just been noon? He could have sworn that Steve had just been down with lunch and to nag him about something, but he couldn't recall just what at the moment.

"Time, J." he muttered, turning back to his screen, saving and closing the tab he'd been working in, which had been an upgrade to the arc reactor powering the building.

"It is eight-thirty, sir."

"Huh," Tony hummed absently to himself.

That was odd. Given the way they were always harping on Tony to lighten his work load and to stop spending all his time holed up in his workshop, he was surprised that neither Steve nor Pepper had been down yet to drag him out. Or that JARVIS hadn't reminded him of the passing time so he could greet his lovers when they got home.

"Save everything and close it down, JARVIS."

"As you wish, sir."

Tony tipped his head up and his gaze narrowed as he detected a clipped note of mild disapproval in his artificial intelligence's tone; but for the life of him, he couldn't think of a reason why JARVIS would be in a snit. Shrugging, Tony headed for the elevator and quickly made his way up in silence, and then paused in between the doors when it became obvious that the penthouse was dark and no one was home.

"Hey, J," Tony said, stepping into the lounge as he looked around. "Where are Steve and Pepper?"

"They are out to dinner, sir," JARVIS said, again, a note of disapproval in his voice.

"Without me!?" Tony exclaimed, a bit affronted that he hadn't been invited.

True, they didn't always have dinner together. That's the reason the relationship worked between three such disparate personalities. Sometimes they did things together, and sometimes it was just Tony and Pepper, or just Tony and Steve. And sometimes Pepper and Steve attended an event that Tony had absolutely no interest in. Like art shows. If Tony never had to go to another of those, it would still be too soon.

But usually they at least kept him in the loop when they had plans.

"If I may remind you, sir," JARVIS said, interrupting his indignant inner monologue. "They asked you several times today if you were attending. You changed your mind exactly nine times, the final being to tell them that you couldn't leave now because, and I quote, 'genius things are happening and genius waits for no man.'"

"But..."

Tony trailed off as he recalled his earlier impression of Steve coming down at lunchtime to talk to him about something, and Tony waving him off because he had been knee-deep in coding for the newest Starkpad. Steve had rolled his eyes, but left him to it, obviously resigned that he wasn't going to get anything out of Tony.

Right.

"Well, where are they? I'll just join them," Tony asked as he headed towards their bedroom. Yeah, he could be a self-centered ass, but he did try not to take them for granted, and it seemed that he had some serious making up to do.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that, sir."

"What do you mean you can't tell me?"

Tony halted his trek, his stomach sinking at those words. And now that he thought on it, he remembered a couple of calls from Pepper that he cut off with short answers.

"Ms. Potts left explicit instructions that if you were to finally emerge from your 'man cave' while they were gone, that I was not to tell you where they had went because 'if you couldn't find the time to have dinner with them,' then you can fend for yourself."

"What?" Shit. He was in so much trouble.

"I've also locked down both of their phones, so that you, and I quote, 'can't whine to them about leaving you behind."

"We'll just see about that," Tony muttered as he continued into their shared room, sloughing off his clothing as he walked. "Is the GPS still activated?"

Tony stepped into the bathroom, happy to see that the water was already running. JARVIS couldn't be too mad at him if that were the case.

"Ms. Potts has activated her 'I'm running your god damned company; leave me alone, Tony,' override. Captain Rogers' is still active, however."

"Ha! Gotcha old man!" Tony crowed as he stepped into the shower. Steve always forgot about the GPS. Quickly scrubbing up, Tony rinsed off and commanded. "Track it and give me the location, J. I need to get ready. I have a dinner to crash."

"As you wish, sir."

Tony could practically see the AI rolling his eyes, if he had them, but JARVIS did as he was told as Tony quickly dried off and sauntered into his closet to dress. If that's the way they wanted to play it, he was game. And was so much better at it.

... ... ... ... ...

"This was a great idea," Pepper smiled, her hair shining like rose-tinted gilt in the low light, and Steve couldn't help a soft smile in return at his thoughts. Once an artist, always an artist.

"I'm glad you're enjoying it," Steve replied quietly, sipping the wine that Pepper had selected to go with their dinner. He didn't know anything about wine, but it went down smoothly and tasted good with the steak he was eating, so he was happy.

And Pepper seemed to enjoy it, commenting every so often about cherry notes and a hint of chocolate, and other things Steve couldn't even begin to fathom, her cheeks sweetly flushed, and lips wet and full and stained just a shade darker. She reminded him of one of those Greek goddesses, and God, didn't he just love it. It was times like this his fingers itched to capture her in her full glory.

And he had. Often.

Steve flushed as his thoughts took him places that were impolite in public, made all the worse for the knowing smirk Pepper flashed his way.

"Well, I won't ask what you're thinking of," she teased, her bright blue eyes sparkling as she set down her glass. Steve's cheeks grew hotter, but he remained silent. His lover knew him far too well for him to even attempt faking innocence. "But it was. I'm glad you suggested having dinner here instead. I'm having a wonderful time."

"Me too," Steve said as he watched Pepper through his lashes.

And he was. He cherished every moment he got to spend with Pepper. With their busy schedules, quiet moments like this were few and far between. But there was, of course, something missing. Steve turned to the empty chair where their missing third would usually sit and his face darkened.

"I just wish..."

"Me too," Pepper said, a sad, resigned smile on her face. "But what are you going to do? You know how he gets when 'a genius idea' strikes him."

And Steve did. That genius was one of the things that drew him in, like a moth to a flame, from the very beginning.

"I know."

... ... ... ... ...

Tony got out of his car; he was beyond annoyed at this point. He had spent the last hour chasing down Steve and Pepper, and every time he got close, JARVIS would break in to tell him that they were on the move again, leading him on what was beginning to feel like a wild goose chase. He was this close to giving up and just locking himself up in his workshop when JARVIS gave him this location and said that it hadn't moved in the past fifteen minutes.

Looking up, he was surprised to note that it was a diner of some sort, but just shrugged his shoulders and kept walking. It wasn't what he'd been expecting when JARVIS had told him that Pepper and Steve went to dinner. He was way overdressed. But Steve did seem to have an odd fascination with cheap, greasy food, served in out of the way holes in the wall, so it wasn't that out of character either.

Sliding through the door, he tossed a quick smile at the stunned girl at the hostess stand and kept walking without a word towards the dining area. He paused and looked around, but didn't see the familiar face that he was expecting. Instead, Steve's friend Sam was sitting at the counter talking to a very good-looking blonde. Just not the blonde he was looking for.

"Sam?"

"Hey, Tony," Sam greeted, a warm, surprised smile sliding over his face as he turned to Tony. "What are you doing here?"

"I was..." Tony began, but then halted. He didn't really want to admit aloud that he had been tracking his lover's phone in a fit of pique because he'd gone out to dinner without him. "Where's Steve?"

"No idea." Sam looked surprised by the question. He exchanged a quick look with the blonde and when she shook her head, he turned back and shrugged. "I haven't seen him all day."

"But..." Tony trailed off, uncertain. He knew that the trail lead here. JARVIS was never wrong. "His phone...I tracked it..."

"Oh." Sam's eyes widened, nearly bugging out before they narrowed; then his voice went flat and his smile thinned as he pulled a familiar phone out of his jacket pocket. "Is this it?"

"Yeah," Tony nodded, confused. He took the phone from him. "What are you doing with it?"

"Look man, I have no idea what's going on." Sam held up his hands in front of him. "I saw Natasha at the store and she handed me this phone and told me to take it with me. No explanations. No directions outside of that."

"And you just took it?" Tony arched a skeptical brow.

"Would you argue with Natasha?" Sam said, an unreadable expression on his face. "I like my dick attached to my body, thank you very much."

"Point."

Tony reluctantly chuckled and the blonde at Sam's side snorted in a way that told him that she was all too familiar with Natasha and her tactics. Which made sense since she was SHIELD if he recalled correctly. But all humor flew away to be replaced by perturbation, embarrassment and a hint of hurt as he stared at the phone.

Why would...?

"Sorry, man," Sam continued softly, apologetically. And Tony didn't even want to know what his expression looked like to put that sad, compassionate look in Sam's eye.

"I really haven't seen him at all today. I called him this morning, asking if he wanted to join me and Sharon for dinner, but he said he had other plans. And then earlier this evening, Natasha came up to me, and I really do not want to know how she found me so easily, and handed me this phone and told me to keep it on me while I ran my errands today. That's all I know."

"Yeah, I get it," Tony said, rubbing a hand over his face as he tucked the phone in his jacket. "Sorry you got caught in the middle of...I'll take this with me. They shouldn't have involved you no matter how annoyed they might be at me."

"Hey, it's no problem," Sam said, waving off Tony's concern. "Seriously. I know how those things work. I don't blame you. Although, when you do catch up to Steve, tell him I'm not too happy about being put in the middle of...whatever this is."

"Will do," Tony nodded, a tight smile on his face. He lifted his hand in a halfhearted wave. "You two enjoy the rest of your night."

And then Tony turned on his heel and stalked out the door.

... ... ... ... ...

"So, on a scale of one to ten," Steve asked, toying with the last of his meal. Pepper watched as he absently moved it from one side of his plate to the other, a frown on his face. "Just how mad do you think he'll be when he figures it out?"

"Oh, definitely at least a twenty," Pepper drawled knowingly. She swirled the last of the wine in her glass, feeling warm, relaxed, well fed and just a touch smug knowing exactly how Tony would react to their scheme.

And she was glad for it.

It wasn't that she wanted to sow the seeds of discontent or strife between her lovers. She really didn't. But this had been building up for a while and Steve needed to make a point, just as she did during the palladium scare.

She loved Tony heart and soul, and had for years. She was used to his thoughtlessness and had a thick enough skin to let it slide off her back. But Steve was so young, and he was new to their relationship. He hadn't developed that callus yet, and Tony needed to see that he couldn't be careless with his feelings, unintentional as it was.

"Good." Steve said, and Pepper bit back a laugh at the vindictive tone. "I should feel bad about this, but I told him about wanting to cook for you guys earlier this week. And then three days ago. And then again last night. I even put the time, date and where on his calendar. If he can't be bothered to look at it, well, I can't be bothered to remind him yet again."

"I'd say, he'll learn his lesson..." Pepper paused, a shrewd smile on her lips. "But he won't. He'll get better for a time, but this will happen again. I guarantee it."

"How have you put up with this for years?" Steve "It's only been six months, and he's already driving me crazy."

"I love him," Pepper said simply, meeting exasperated blue eyes. "And his strengths and good points more than make up for his faults."

"Yeah." Steve deflated, his shoulders slumping as he rubbed his hands over his face. "Doesn't make it any less aggravating."

"Well, no," Pepper conceded, and then paused to finish off her wine. She set the glass aside and fixed Steve with a direct look. "But this is Tony. He has changed, but...

Steve looked skeptical. And Pepper couldn't blame him for that because he didn't have the history, the knowledge she did of Tony.

"Oh, believe me, he used to be worse than this before..." Pepper paused, a subtle shudder rippling through her as she recalled those months that Tony had gone missing, "...well, before. He's got his issues, but he tries really hard to be better, to be more than what he was, and to stop taking everything for granted. But...Tony thinks on a different level than most people, and sometimes he forgets that we can't follow him. It's a work in progress."

They fell into silence after that, each lost in their own thoughts, and Pepper briefly considered getting another bottle of wine, but that meant she'd have to get up, take the elevator to the penthouse, grab a bottle and come back. And she was far too comfortable to move. She supposed she could just ask Steve. He'd be happy to do it. But it might be wiser to maintain a clear head for what was to come.

When Steve came to her after lunch, frustrated because Tony had changed his mind yet again on dinner, she'd been the one that suggested moving their dinner from the penthouse to Steve's apartment a couple floors down. Well, what had once been his apartment. He spent more time in the penthouse these past few months than he did here. His moving in was only a formality at this point considering most of his stuff was already there.

But she kept the apartment open for him, as she also kept her own floor, because as much as she loved Tony, he could be a little much to handle and sometimes you just needed space. Not to mention some peace and quiet. But she digressed.

The dinner had originally been planned for the penthouse, but Tony would have come in and just sat down, and Steve would have allowed it because for all that he was unyielding in a fight, he was also soft touch when it came to those he loved. And then Tony wouldn't have learned a damned thing, and Steve would become resentful.

And that would be bad for their relationship.

It was good for Tony to realize that they weren't pushovers and that he needed to be more aware of how his actions affected the people in his life.

But...

She also knew that under his sometimes rampant ego-centrism, lay a fragile heart. And while this will infuriate him, it was also going to hurt him to a degree. Tony thought far too little of himself on the best of days, and when it came to something like this...

Actually, maybe she should have that drink after all.

"You know that once he figures it out, he's going to lock himself down in the lab and sulk," Pepper said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah I know," Steve sighed, sitting back in his chair.

"You do also know that it's your turn to extract him," Pepper reminded him.

"I thought today was your day?" Steve looked up, vaguely unsettled by that thought.

It had long been a running joke between them on whose turn it was to pull Tony out of his cave. And maybe it was her turn, she had trouble keeping track, but she wasn't touching this one with a ten-foot pole.

"Oh, sweetheart, no." Pepper shook her head. "This is all on you."

"I pulled him out for that board meeting..."

"Steve, I've been doing that for over ten years; it doesn't count."

"It should," Steve said a bit petulantly. "Do you know what he's like as soon as he hears the words 'board meeting...'"

"Yes," Pepper laughed. "Yes I do. And you'll get no sympathy from me."

... ... ... ... ...

Tony came back in a proper snit.

At least that's how Pepper would have termed it.

Frankly he felt he was justified in his anger since his lovers sent him on a wild goose chase all across Manhattan for no apparent reason. He stormed into his workshop, yanking off his suit jacket on the way, and tossed it at the chair, his mind in turmoil and seething over the night's events. He came to a halt in the middle of the room, blue holographic light popping up around him as he raised his hands.

"JARVIS, lock it down," Tony commanded through grit teeth, steadily ignoring the pang in his heart even as he said it. "Code Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo Uniform."

Because fine, if that's the way they wanted to play it, they could do it on their own. No skin off his nose. He didn't need them anyway. He was perfectly happy here on his own.

"Pull up the schematics on the new arc reactor. I want to run some more…"

And that's when he noticed it.

A bright red square flashed at him from the corner of one of his screens. Turning his head, he noted that it was his calendar. Tapping on the square, his ire melted away and his stomach sank as he looked at it for a long minute, and then cursed under his breath.

"JARVIS, what day is it?"

"Friday, April 12, sir."

Tony's stomach sunk further. "Shit. Steve's dinner."

"Captain Rogers was indeed planning on making dinner for you and Ms. Potts tonight."

"Well, fuck," Tony said; he sat down heavily and dropped his head in his hands. "I screwed that one up, didn't I, J?"

The silence that followed was the only confirmation he needed.

... ... ... ... ...

Steve smiled at Pepper's teasing, and opened his mouth to respond in kind when he was interrupted by a voice from overhead.

"Captain Rogers, Ms Potts, I hate to interrupt, but Sir has returned and realized his error. I think now would be a prudent time for one of you to talk to him before he becomes morose and self-destructive."

"Shit." Steve swore under his breath, his gut tightening as stood immediately. He ran his hands through his hair and blew out a breath, looking away from Pepper almost shamefaced at his earlier attitude. He should have known better.

"I'll...I'll be right down, JARVIS. I shouldn't have..."

"Hey, none of that," Pepper said firmly, garnering his attention. "You did nothing more than make an important point to Tony. One that he desperately needed. He sometimes needs a kick in the pants to realize that he needs to pay more attention. It will be fine."

"But..."

"But nothing," Pepper reasserted, leaning forward with her hands clasped on the table, her posture forcing his continued attention. Steve studied her quietly, torn between remorse and justification in his actions. Pepper merely raised a brow at his dithering and continued quietly. "It will be fine. He will be fine. Trust me. Tony is made of stern stuff. Now go down and pick up our man and bring him back up for dessert."

Steve stared at his lover for a long time, his mouth opening and closing several times. He wanted to protest. He wanted to take the blame onto himself, to chastise his own actions. He'd known what Tony was like long before they started dating. That Tony got caught up in his work wasn't exactly news.

And Steve certainly could have made him listen rather than acting like a petty child. He really was just as much at fault. But Pepper just watched him serenely, a placid smile on her lips and he decided to trust her assessment.

"Yes, ma'am," he said, swallowing thickly.

"Good boy," Pepper nodded and sat back in her chair.

Steve huffed and rolled his eyes, but headed for the elevator nonetheless. He had a genius to wrangle and he wasn't certain of his reception.

... ... ... ... ...

Tony sat with his head in his hand for, well, he didn't know how long, but at the very least several long, painful minutes before JARVIS interrupted his looping, dark thoughts.

"Sir, Captain Rogers is approaching the door."

"Let him in, JARVIS."

Tony rubbed his hand over his face and then straightened as he heard footsteps behind him, but he didn't turn around. Instead, he chose to stare at an indistinct point at the back of the workshop. He braced himself as nearly silent footsteps crossed the room, expecting disappointed words at the very least, if not outright anger, but Steve only slid his hands onto Tony's shoulders and squeezed. And that just made him feel worse.

"I forgot about your dinner," he said, the 'I'm sorry' unspoken, but obvious in his tone.

"Yeah," Steve sighed as he rubbed Tony's shoulders, working out the knots that had built in the short time he'd discovered his mistake. And seriously, he did not deserve this man. "Yeah you did. But, it's okay. I know how you get when you're on an engineering streak."

"No," Tony said firmly, and hastily swiveled around so that he could meet Steve's eyes; Steve just stared at him placidly, his hands still resting on Tony's shoulders.

"No, no, no; that is never okay, Steve. You shouldn't be okay with this. You told me several times and I...I should have paid more attention. I never, never want you or Pep to think or feel like I'm taking you for granted. I promised, I made vows to myself after..."

But then Tony's words were cut off as Steve gently tugged him out of his chair and kissed him. He made a low, confused sound in the back of his throat and fought against the caress at first still trying to make his point, but he'd never been good at denying himself nor could he resist Steve when he got like this.

So, after a moment's pointless struggle, Tony melted, sinking into the kiss as he wrapped his arms around Steve. And God, he just loved this man so much. Loved everything about him from his stubborn refusal to back down to anything, to the sassy little shithead that challenged Tony on a daily basis, to the vulnerability that he hated showing to anyone.

Especially those closest to him.

Loved him to pieces, which is why it killed him that he had thoughtlessly shunted him aside in the middle of one of his 'engineering blackouts' as Pepper called them, where he heard nothing around him but the numbers and codes and metal. He'd promised to be better than this.

Sighing as Steve pulled away from the kiss, Tony opened his eyes and gave Steve a sad smile.

"It's okay, sweetheart." Steve rested his forehead against Tony's. "It was just dinner."

"Yeah, it was just dinner this time," Tony said, his smile taking on an edge of bitterness. Because he was going to fuck this up. He knew he was. He'd forget again and next time he might not get the chance to make up for it. "But what if next time it's an anniversary or a birthday or some event that is important to you? I can't..."

Tony's words were cut off once more by soft lips; and he and Steve really needed to have a discussion on the appropriate way of shutting someone up, because this was unfair. He didn't have an adequate defense against Steve kisses.

Or Pepper ones for that matter.

He sensed a conspiracy.

Steve pulled away, leaving Tony reeling and uncertain of his standing. He'd expected Steve to be annoyed, or the very least hurt and disappointed that Tony had let him down yet again, given the phone incident. Instead, Steve looked vaguely apologetic as he studied Tony, as if he had been in the wrong. It didn't make any sense.

"If it were any of those things, you can be sure we would have been more insistent about you attending," Steve assured, but that didn't make Tony feel any better. In fact, it made him feel worse because it sounded like Steve was expecting him to forget an anniversary or birthday.

And Tony must have also become transparent, because Steve just gave him an exasperated look and said, "I said if. I really don't think that would be the case. But if it were to happen to any one of us, you can be sure that we would remind the other of why it was important. Or at the very least, we wouldn't have asked JARVIS to remain silent."

Tony swallowed thickly and looked away, unable to meet Steve's eyes, his hands clenching and unclenching around the soft line of Steve's shirt.

"I don't deserve you. Either of you."

"That's for us to determine."

Tony closed his eyes. Well, when Steve put it that way, what could Tony really say? If he were to insist that they were better off without him, he'd just be insulting their intelligence and then he'd really be in trouble.

An angry Steve he could deal with; Steve would get into his face and yell at him and tell him he was being stupid, and Tony would yell back, and they'd go back and forth until one of them were backed into a wall and they kissing the hell out of each other. And, well, and more.

And Tony could deal with that. He got that.

It was Pepper that got to him. Even after all these years, it was Pepper's reactions that made him feel small. Pepper of the tight smiles and clipped responses and wounded eyes and yeah...he couldn't do that to her. It was bad enough that she had that look in her eyes every time he and Steve left for a battle. He didn't need to add to it with his own stupidity.

So he didn't say anything, even if he didn't agree.

"This is my fault too," Steve said as he broke the silence between them. "Instead of talking to you, I got annoyed and petty."

Steve looked chagrined by that admission, garnering a little chuckle from Tony. And it was true. Few people realized that Captain America could be just as childish, petty and petulant as the rest of them. But then, that was the problem wasn't it? They were seeing Captain America and not Steve Rogers. The scrappy boy who wouldn't back down for nothing.

"It happens to the best of us," Tony smiled ruefully, rubbing the back of Steve's neck. "And it was kind of funny when Sam nearly shat his pants when he realized he'd unwittingly landed smack dab in the middle of one of our squabbles. You'll probably be hearing about that in the future. Just a warning."

Steve winced. And yeah, Sam was never going to let him live this down.

"I'll make it up to him," Steve muttered, rubbing his hand over his face. Then he dropped it and took Tony's hand in his and tugged him towards the door. "Come on, I saved you some dinner. And there is dessert afterwards."

"Dessert, huh?" Tony leered, waggling his eyebrows. Of course he did; come on, did you really think he wouldn't? "I'm already liking the sound of that."

"Tony..." And yep, the exasperated tone was back in Steve's voice. All was right in the world.

"Please tell me chocolate is involved because that, that is all sorts of fun..."

Steve rolled his eyes and headed out the door, but not before Tony saw the little smile twitching at the corner of his mouth, just as Tony had intended. Tony waved his hand, indicating to JARVIS that everything should be shut down and followed Steve, intending to prove to his lovers just how much they meant to him for the rest of the night.

He may not deserve them, but he sure as hell was going to enjoy (love) them for as long as they let him. And maybe even beyond that.