Pepper and Betty were currently sitting in the lab talking and watching their men hard at work while Jane was helping out the men with some of the equipment she is familiar with. Betty sighed as she watched the men and Jane.

"How did we out of all the women in the world get chosen by two of the greatest superheroes of all time?" Betty asked out loud. Pepper smile.

"I ask myself that everyday, only I didn't just win the superhero, I won the billionaire playboy, too."

Betty smiled, "Oh that is quite true. Tony was already famous before Ironman came along."

Pepper snorted, "Well famous isn't the word I would use."

Betty gave a small laugh and looked back at the men. She looked at Tony, who looked very focused. "Do you think you would have ended up with that Tony if he hadn't been kidnapped?"

Pepper sighed, "In all honesty, I don't think so. He was so different back then and although part of me liked him I would never have enforced those feelings. I'm not saying I am happy he was kidnapped, but I'm happy at the person he has become."

"I can understand that," Betty said. "Bruce is still afraid of hurting me. I can tell… he is distant even though we are with other people. I won't give up on convincing him though."

Pepper smiled at her new friend's determination. Pepper felt the baby move a bit and she smiled even more. Betty took a guess that it was the baby.

"It feels weird, having another life inside of me." Pepper tells her. Betty nods.

"I don't doubt that. It's worth it in the end though. Was it easy telling Tony?"

Pepper shook her head, "Oh no. We had just gotten engaged and I found out I was pregnant. I didn't know how to react myself…."

Pepper stood in her bathroom the Malibu house while gripping the sink and looking down onto the counter. Lying in front of her was a positive pregnancy test. For a moment, she felt no emotion come on. She didn't know how to react. She always wanted children when she was younger with a house in the country and a big backyard. Now, that whole dream had changed, but she didn't mind. However, she never thought about having children with Tony or if he ever thought about it. She moved from the bathroom and to the bedroom and sat down on the bed. It's not like she and Tony were as careful as they should have been.

"How do I tell him, Jarvis?" Pepper asks softly.

"I'm sorry Miss. Potts, but I cannot help. It might be in your best interest to know he is coming up from the garage."

Pepper's eyes went wide. She raced to the bathroom and threw out the pregnancy test so Tony wouldn't see it. She wasn't ready to tell him. Not even close. She still had to get a grip on it herself. As she left the bathroom, she saw Tony enter the bedroom. He was all greasy and dirty.

"Hey, I think I finally fixed the problem with the model car for the presentation to the public. I'm going to change, shower, and then take it for a test run. You want to join me?" he asks as he shuffles through his huge closet looking for clothing. Pepper bit her lip.

"The shower or the car ride?" she playfully answers, but was still nervous. Tony came out with a grin on his face. He also had a blue shirt and a new pair of jeans.

"Both would be nice."

Tony smiled and kissed her softly before moving towards the bathroom. Pepper went to another closet and grabbed some towels while Tony prepared the bathroom. Her legs were a bit shaky and she knew why. She felt like she was lying by not telling Tony she was pregnant and when she lies her legs get shaky.

"Hey, why don't we just make it a bath?" Tony says and Pepper can hear the smirk in his voice. She rolls her eyes and smiles a bit. She walks into the bathroom and finds him preparing their rather large bathtub.

"Whatever you want." She says and puts the towels down. Tony frowns and looks at her. Pepper doesn't see him staring at her as she undoes her shirt.

"What's wrong?" he asks. Pepper stops at the third button and looks at Tony and pretends to be confused.

"What are you talking about?" she asks.

"You aren't yelling at me for delaying time with the car and the bath so we are late to whatever banquet we have to go to for tonight?" he says. Pepper raises her eyebrows. With the whole pregnancy thing she had completely forgotten about that.

"Oh, well I just forgot." She casually says, but Tony doesn't buy it.

"You never forget anything!" he says and crosses his arms as he walks over to her. "Come on Pep, what's wrong? You're legs are shaking what aren't you telling me?"

"Nothing is wrong Tony!" Pepper snaps and glares at him. She then stalks off and slams the bathroom door behind. Tony watched her leave with wide eyes. She hadn't snapped at him like that since a magazine came out of him grabbing her lower area while leaving an event.

"Jarvis do you know anything about this?" He asks.

"I'm sorry sir, but it is not my place to tell." Jarvis answers. Tony rolls his eyes and mutters something under his breath.

"Where is she now, Jarvis?"

"Miss. Potts is currently sitting out by the pool. She does not seem happy."

Tony left the bathroom and headed out to the pool area and found Pepper right where Jarvis said she was. She was sitting next to the edge looking into the water. She heard Tony come outside, but didn't look at him. He sat down next to her, but didn't touch her. He just waited. He's learned over the years that he shouldn't push her and she'll talk when she is ready.

"Before I was born," Pepper finally says. Tony looks over at her, but she still looks away. "My room was painted yellow because my parents didn't want to know if I was going to be a girl or a boy. They were also repainting Jake's room at the time and his was going to be a shade of blue," Pepper says and then gives a small smile as she thinks back. "Jake wanted to help my mum paint my room and so when she wasn't looking he began painting my room blue. He was only two but they ended up painting my room blue."

Tony smiled at the story, but didn't know why Pepper was telling him this.

"Mine was always red," Tony answers trying to get more out of Pepper. "When I was nine I wanted to paint it black but my mother said no way in hell."

Pepper smiled a bit and took Tony's hand. Tony moved a bit closer and let her hold his hand.

"If you had the choice what would you paint a baby's room colour?" she asks. Tony, not understanding what she is saying, goes on and answers,

"If it were to be a girl then a reddish pink and if it were a boy red."

Pepper gave a faint smile, "Not the usual pink or blue?"

Tony smiled and squeezed her hand, "Oh please, have I ever done anything the usual way?"

Pepper didn't laugh though. She knew she had to tell him and now was as good as any time.

"So if you had to paint a room in our house for a baby it would be red?"

Tony was about to respond to that when he finally understood where this was going. His eyes went a bit wide and he felt his heart race increase. Pepper finally turned and looked him in the eyes. His jaw kind of dropped a bit, but not all the way.

"You're… you're…" he stuttered.

"Yes," Pepper said quietly and nervously. Tony was in shock. He was going to be a father, a father to his and Pepper's child. He hadn't said anything now for three minutes and Pepper was getting more nervous. "Tony… Tony please say something."

Tony looked her in the eyes and saw she was scared. He moved closer and lightly kissed her. Pepper squeezed his hand and he squeezed back.

"Maybe not a dark red…" he says when they part. "But I wouldn't want my child's room to be ordinary."

"And then he just went off on everything he wants to do when the baby is born, like taking him or her to Disney for their first birthday, building things in the garage together, and a bunch of other things." Pepper finished. Betty smiled.

"You would allow him to bring a newborn into the garage?" she asks. Pepper laughs.

"Oh no, however I feel like he will try to anyways."

Betty and Pepper laughed together, which caught the men's attention. Tony raised his eyebrows and Bruce just shook his head.

"Any ideas?" Tony asks. Bruce shrugs and Jane responds.

"They're probably talking about you." She says while focusing on the computer. Tony frowned and looked back over at the ladies. Tony, being Tony, became curious and made his way over to the ladies. Pepper just sweetly smiled at him.

"And what are we discussing?" Tony asks and steals Pepper's water.

"How you think you're going to bring our child down to your garage and hide out like you do sometimes." Pepper answers. Tony raises his eyebrows.

"I thought we agreed I was?"

Pepper laughed a bit.

"No, you thought we agreed on that."

"But you never responded when I said it."

"I believe I laughed and shook my head."

"Exactly so you agreed."

"When have I ever laughed and shook my head in agreement?"

"Oh I remember plenty of times."

"Tony…"

"Let's see there was last week… umm then a couple days ago…"

"Tony…"

"Oh! When we were on the plane coming home from the racetrack…"

"Hey! Let's keep this PG!" Jane says and notices Pepper blushing.

"I'm just proving a point!"

"No you are trying to convince Pepper she was stupid enough to agree to you building your child a mini iron man suit." Bruce answers. Pepper's eyes go wide and she looks at Tony. Tony groans.

"I'm sorry… a what?" Pepper asks. When nobody answers Pepper crosses her arms. Bruce realizing what he just said he turns and looks at Tony, who looks like he wants to kill him.

"It was just going to be a Halloween costume…" Tony says innocently.

"You are not building our baby an iron man suit!" Pepper snaps. Tony sees this going from playful banter to he-is-in-trouble banter.

"It wouldn't be a real one made out of titanium and an actual arc reactor!"

"No, but I can see it escalating as our child grows older to one actually made out of titanium!"

"Hey! I found something!" Jane says and interrupts Tony and Pepper's mini argument. Tony walks back over and Bruce walks over to Jane's station. "There were some unexpected weather patterns two nights before Thor arrived. They were in Dallas, Texas."

"That's where…" Tony began when the doors to the lab opened.

"Is where they are building the new avengers headquarters." Steve finishes. Behind him are Natasha, Clint, and Thor.

"Any luck?" Bruce asks.

"Mandarin's face was identified in Malibu right near…" Clint begins.

"My house?" Tony asks. Clint nods.

"But that isn't all…" Natasha says and throws Tony a computer chip. "This was at the place Steve and I scoped out."

Tony looks it over and then puts it into his computer. It was a video file. He opened it up on the screen and had Jarvis project it. The face that popped up was one they were all too familiar with, Loki.

"I'm guessing that is Loki." Betty whispers to Pepper, who nods in response.

"Hello my dear friends! It has been a while since we were in company." Loki begins.

"Jarvis, run a diagnostic on this and see if you can pin point a location based on background." Tony orders.

"Yes sir."

"I'm sure you're all aware of my presence on earth and the new friend I've made! It seems that it is very easy to find a person who hates Tony Stark just as much as I do," Loki says with that evil smirk on his face. "However, I have others I must deal with as well. How is Mr. Barton doing these days? I miss his company and I miss the lovely conversations I have with Miss. Romanoff. Do you still have red in your ledger? Or how is our man stuck in the twentieth century? I can't forget about the monster as well. I've did some reading into the famous Avenger team."

"Oh boy…" Clint mutters.

"I've learned just what I need to take down the team, of course I'm not naïve enough to say all of what I have learned although the Mandarin and I are quite interested in Mr. Stark's newfound love… Virginia is it?"

The team glanced over at Tony, who had gone stiff, and his jaw clenched. They watched Loki reach for something behind the camera and he pulled out a magazine. It was a picture of Tony and Pepper dancing at Lizzy's wedding.

"Awe how sweet to see that Tony Stark has a heart. To think I thought my so-called brother only had a soft spot for a woman but then I see our famous green monster has a soft spot as well. Betty I believe her name is? Quite the videos I've seen on youtube. And I know Mr. Barton has a soft spot for the spider."

Everybody looked at Clint, who didn't look at anybody else, and then they looked at Natasha, who was biting her lip.

"Can't only imagine the other research he has done." Steve says. Tony picks up his glass and goes for a drink when the last words of Loki make him do otherwise.

"I'm afraid I must go now and speak with my sidekick, but I was having much fun with this video. I was talking with the Mandarin the other day and you know every villain has a sidekick or partner in crime, but of course we need an apprentice… perhaps the baby Miss. Virginia is carrying will be the perfect one," Loki says and laughs. Tony throws his glass at the wall, which startles some in the room, but Loki continues to speak, "Now that is one prize I will be most looking forward to at the end of this battle."

The video then clicks off and the room is silent. Tony is gripping the side of a counter and just looking down at the ground.

Pepper slowly moves from her chair and goes over to Tony. The others in the room see this, as a moment they need alone and quickly file out of the room until it were only Tony and Pepper. Pepper approaches Tony and lightly presses into him.

"How could he have found out?" Tony says in a low voice. Pepper doesn't know how to answer that, so she just shifts the question.

"Don't focus on the how, Tony. Focus on how to stop him."

Tony's arm wraps around Pepper and he brings her as close as he can.

"He made it personal…"

"That's not the point."

"That is the point! That's Loki's point… he hit us all right where we live, why?"

"To tear us apart…"

"Yeah… divide conquers… great, but he knows he has to take us out to win, right? That's what he wants. He wants to beat us… he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience."

Tony looked up and Pepper looked up at him curiously trying to figure out what he was thinking. She knew that look. It was the look of him putting two and two together.

"What are you thinking about?" she asks.

"It's a squeal…" Tony says, but not really to Pepper. More to himself.

"A squeal? You mean like part two of his takeover?" Pepper asks. Tony's head isn't really into what she is saying though.

"Please tell me you're going to appeal to my humanity."

"Uh actually I'm planning to threaten you."

"You should have left your armour on for that."

"Yeah, seen a bit of mileage and you've got the glowstick of destiny. Would you like a drink?"

"Stalling me won't change anything."

"No no threatening. No drink you sure? I'm having one."

"The chitauri are coming. Nothing will change that. What have I to fear?"

"The Avengers… it's what we call ourselves, sort of like a team. Earth's mightiest heroes type thing."

"Yes. I've met them."

"Yeah, takes us awhile to get any traction I'll give you that one, but let's do a headcount here, your brother, the demi-god, a super soldier living legend who kind of lives up to the legend, a man with breathtaking anger management issues, couple of master assassins, and you, big fella', you've managed to piss off every single one of them."

"That was the plan."

"Not a great plan. When they come and they will, they'll come for you."

"I have an army."

"We have a hulk."

"Oh I thought he beast had wandered off?"

"Yeah you're missing the point there's no throne. There is no version of this where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes and maybe its too much for us, but it's all on you cause if we can't protect the earth you can be damn well sure we'll avenge it."

Tony grabbed Pepper's hand and pulled her out of the lab and to where the others were. They had gone up to the main living area and were all waiting. They all stood when they saw Tony.

"He's stalling us." Tony says as he reaches them. Everybody looked at him a bit confused.

"How?" Steve asks.

"He's stalling by making it personal." Tony answers and wonders if Steve will get it. And he does. Tony can tell by the eyebrows lifting on his face. Everybody around them are confused.

"That's not the point." Steve says. Tony gives a small smile.

"That is the point. That's Loki's point… to hit us all right where we live. Why?"

"To tear us apart…" Steve answers and Tony nods.

"Exactly! Divide… and conquer. He knows he has to take us out to win…" Tony says and Steve picks up the sentence.

"And so he makes it personal… he threatens us with our personal lives… he threatens to take your child making you stick with Pepper…"

"He threatens Bruce with Betty because she is his soft spot…" Tony adds.

"And he knows how Thor feels towards Jane… divide our priorities. Focusing on protecting…"

"Rather than defeating!" Tony finishes.

"And so while we are busy protecting he is busy creating an army and making allies, who probably already have standing armies ready…" Steve goes on.

"But he wants the throne… he gets the ally's armies, but then he plans on defeating us."

"And when he defeats us…"

"He defeats his ally with the army."

"And wins the throne."

Everybody was just staring at Tony and Steve as they thought this through and solved it by finishing each other's thoughts. However, they followed what the men were saying and it makes sense and it sounds like something Loki would do.

"Now he has already made his mark in New York, but he still wants that audience." Tony says after a moment of silence. This time Bruce is the one to speak up.

"So the next most populated place would make sense?" Bruce asks. Tony crosses his arm and thinks.

"He wants…" he begins and walks over to his bar to get a drink. Steve follows him.

"He wants to beat us and he wants to be seen doing it." Steve says.

"Like every great warrior who has overthrown something," Clint says. Tony and Steve nod. "Like Napoleon…"

"Or Lenin." Natasha adds.

"Right," Tony says and takes a sip of his drink. "But he wants to be looking down at everybody as if they are below him."

"He used Stark Tower last time." Thor points out. Tony nods.

"So somewhere with skyscrapers?" Clint asks. It was then Pepper who spoke up.

"Dallas." She says. Tony meets her eyes and they come to the same realization.

"Besides the headquarters what would be in Dallas?" Thor asks.

"The second Stark Tower," Pepper answers and goes over to the projection table and brings up the file. It looks similar to the one in New York, but with a few modifications. "It is still under construction, but based on the information I receive daily it is nearly complete. The shell is finished, it is mostly the interior that is still under construction."

Jane stands up and goes towards the men. "That is where Loki landed on earth, too."

Pepper blows up a still of the tower and looks more closely at it and the notes attached the file she was sent.

"Tony and I are set to go to the opening of the tower in two weeks." She says. Thor claps his hands once and says,

"That will be his audience then."

Tony nods. "We have over 1,000 people set to come… including the President of the United States."

Natasha walks over to Pepper and the still of the tower. "Tony and the President would be the Mandarin's side of the bargain. The Mandarin is interested in taking down the government, remember?"

"Loki won't make his move until then," Thor concludes. "If he wants his audience he will wait."

"But we don't know about this Mandarin guy," Steve adds. Clint and Bruce nod. "For all we know he could give us the opening act to this big performance."

"Okay so we know Loki's plan now we just figure out the Mandarin's agenda." Natasha states.

"That will be harder though considering we know nothing about him." Clint points out.

"We know he originated from China and that his father was wealthy." Natasha says back.

Tony, not listening to what they are saying, goes up behind Pepper and kisses her cheek. "Nice work." He whispers. Pepper smiles a bit, but doesn't turn around.

"We need to talk later." She says back. Tony frowns, but doesn't argue. He just nods.

"He was last spotted in Malibu. What would he be doing there?" Bruce asks.

"We have a house there." Pepper flat out answers as she is still reading a file on the tower.

"It could just be another stalling. We go there when the real action will be Stark Tower Two." Steve points out. Tony nods.

"So now we plan for then?" Bruce asks and everybody nods. "Do we let the event proceed and trap him or do we stop him."

That was the million-dollar question. If they trap him at the event they risk getting a lot of people hurt or killed, including the president. If they go after him now he may get away and possibly take someone with him. Nobody spoke as they all thought about this. Tony sighed and sat down in a chair next to Pepper.

"I think you're best bet of catching and ending this is to let him think he has the ball in his court." Betty speaks up. Bruce sighs and nods in agreement.

"She's right."

"But then we risk many other lives in the process." Steve says.

"It doesn't have to feel right to be right." Betty replies.

"And sometimes we have no choice," Bruce adds. Steve turns and looks at Bruce. "Either way this will end with an audience and someone will get hurt. We can't stop that from happening. However, we can plan and try to prevent another episode of New York."

The team mutters and nods in agreement.

"And what do we do about Fury?" Clint asks.

"Do what I do." Tony says with a smile. Clint rolls his eyes.

"I'm afraid to ask."

"Don't ask." Pepper immediately says and shoots Tony a warning glare.

"In all seriousness," Steve says and brings the conversation back at hand. "It is a good question."

"We don't tell him." Tony says.

"Well I think he would notice if his whole avengers team went off the charts for the next two weeks and then all of a sudden there is a massive battle in Dallas." Steve answers.

"We have what we need here." Tony argues back. Steve sighs.

"Yes I know that, but are we going to stay locked up in this tower for two weeks?"

"Tony and I aren't." Pepper answers. Tony raises his eyebrows, but before he can respond Steve continues talking,

"And Fury is bound to know Thor is here based on the weather."

A thought then occurred to Jane.

"Thor is it possible for Loki to get another army to earth from space?"

Thor crossed his arms and thought about it for a moment.

"Dark magic would have to be his source of power, but it is limited and it takes a lot. Then of course there is the… the bifrost."

Tony threw his arms in the air. "Great! He can just have his army zapped to earth!"

"Tony." Pepper says and throws a warning glare at him.

"Not without a fight though." Thor says.

"Plus the Mandarin will most likely have an army." Clint says. Natasha then adds,

"And we don't know if that is his only ally."

Tony sighed and grabbed Pepper's hand and began to walk away.

"Where are you going Stark?" Steve yells.

"Based on all this fighting looks like I'll need to be in shape." Is all he says and then he and Pepper disappear from their view. Tony and Pepper head into his bedroom so he can change his clothing.

"What is it you wanted to talk about?" Tony asks as he undoes his belt. "And why are we going out?"

Pepper sighs and sits down on the foot of the bed. "Maternity clothing, Tony. I'm not going to wear leggings for two weeks and you're shirts. Plus I need a dress for the event,"

Tony throws his belt into his closet and then takes his shirt off before sitting down next to Pepper. "Tony, Loki already knows so it's not like it will be a shock and addition to his plan."

Tony sighs, but finally nods.

"I know," Pepper runs a hand down his back and rests her head against his shoulder. "I thought we were going to do a press release?"

Pepper sighs. "It's to the point of me not caring how the public finds out. I'll wear my ring to and eventually we'll answer their questions."

Tony nods and wraps his arms around her. He doesn't think it is the best way to handle the situation, but he knows Pepper is tired.

"We'll go tomorrow," he says and kisses her forehead. "But would you be angry if I asked Steve and Clint to tail just to be safe?"

Pepper shook her head. "No, as long as I only have one man in the dressing room with me." she purrs. Tony smiles and kisses her. He may not be able to prevent a battle, but he can definitely prevent any other man besides him in her dressing room.