See Chapter 1 for disclaimer.

A/N: As promised, double post today. :) Next chapter will be up sometime late on Sunday, exact timing will depend on when I get back in town. Hope everyone's still enjoying it!

Chapter 11

In the following weeks, Pepper found herself rearranging her schedule to ensure she would make it for movie and gaming nights at the Tower. Each night followed a similar pattern. After watching the movie or initial couple rounds of games, she and Natasha would end up in the kitchen with their coffee and tea talking quietly until at least midnight. And every time, Natasha conveniently borrowed one of Tony's cars to take Pepper home, insisting that after midnight was no time for her to be riding in a cab in Manhattan. Eventually, Pepper stopped even attempting to tell Tony she was leaving and he never brought it up.

The first time Pepper wasn't able to make it after Natasha had returned home, the SHIELD agent had shown up in Pepper's office with a portion of the food from the meal and given her a look that clearly said You will eat this food or I will make you. They had both ignored Kelly's incredulous look when she'd walked into Pepper's office later to find Natasha casually sharing a meal with Pepper and chuckling at their conversation. After it happened a few times, Kelly appeared to accept the strangeness that was her training evaluator, and the woman well known as being one of the most aloof agents in SHIELD, appearing in Pepper's office with food and staying for over an hour apparently socializing.

When Natasha had another mission that took her out of country for several weeks, Pepper found herself carefully watching the news every day for anything that hinted at where the spy was. After a few days she received an email with no sender and no way for even JARVIS to trace it. But the message simply read I'm fine. The coffee here is terrible. and she knew it was from Natasha. She didn't tell anyone about the email, but every few days another one appeared, always beginning with "I'm fine" and a second sentence referring to something that they had spoken of though never in enough detail to give away who or where the spy was.

Three weeks into Natasha's absence Pepper realized she'd had more communication from a generally incommunicado Natasha over the past weeks than with her own boyfriend. It was the longest period of non-communication between them ever. Both distracted by their new jobs and without needing his signature on everything, Pepper was surprised at how easy it had become to drift apart.

On a flight back from Los Angeles to New York, Pepper resolved to track Tony down. They could do their own dinner and a movie. She made sure to leave work early that day and made her way to the Tower. Letting herself into Tony's workshop, she found him halfway under a car, Black Sabbath blaring from the speakers.

Smiling fondly, she had JARVIS stop the music and waited for Tony to appear in outrage. When he saw her, his annoyed look morphed into a lopsided smile. "Hey, Pep. What are you doing here?"

"Did you know it's been over a month since we did anything together?"

"What? We do stuff together all the time!"

"I meant just us, Tony. Not with the rest of the Avengers."

He fell silent, frowning. "Really?"

She couldn't stop the small smile. He really was kind of adorable in his absent-mindedness. "Really."

"I… well, we should fix that. Busy tonight?"

"Not yet."

"Great. Dinner and a movie? My rooms? The others can handle entertaining themselves without my charming presence for one evening."

"Sounds good. But I'm not doing anything with you unless you shower first."

He stopped in mid-hug and looked down at first his grease covered shirt and jeans and then her impeccable skirt-suit. "Right. I'll just uh… Dummy! Clean this mess up. JARVIS, save all plans and hold until tomorrow." He smiled at her again. "Meet you upstairs in a few."

Dinner was spent mostly with Tony doing his usual ramble at breakneck speeds and Pepper attempting to follow his long-winded explanations of whatever it was he was currently working on. She thought it was something to do with modifying the Avengers' jet but she wasn't positive. After a while they both lapsed into silence to finish their wine, occasionally making a comment about a minor topic.

The slightly awkward silence continued into the movie. The pair sat on the couch, initially attempting to cuddle together like they'd used to and eventually edging apart. Finally the credits rolled and Pepper sighed, turning to Tony. He looked at her and she recognized the determined look in his eyes.

Cocking her head at him curiously, she waited to see what he was going to do. They hadn't said a word to each other since before the movie had started and she was still casting around for something to say that wasn't completely inane. Tony dragged himself closer, turning to face her. At his questioning look, she nodded slightly, giving him a smile. Tony leaned forward to press his lips softly against hers.

The kiss was over almost as soon as it had begun and he sat back with a rueful smile, the determined look gone. She met his smile with a wry one of her own.

"So," he said before trailing off.

"Yeah."

They were both silent again.

Tony sighed and gave a little shrug. "I'm sorry, Pepper."

"Tony… don't be. It's not your fault. It's not mine. It doesn't always work out, you know."

"I know." He gave her a wary look. "You're not going to resign again are you? Because I really don't think anyone wants me in charge of the company again. Including myself."

She laughed and fondly patted his cheek. "No, Tony, I'm not going to resign. I am, however, going to go home."

"Hey, Pepper? You know you've always got a home here if you want one. I mean, I could remodel another floor."

"Thanks, Tony. But really, I'm good with my apartment. Living at work is a bit much even for me."

He grinned. "You just need more fun work!"

Laughing Pepper stood. "Sure I do." She gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you later, Tony."

He nodded and when she turned back around at the elevator he was still watching her with a fond smile. She smiled back and he gave a little wave before she entered the elevator and left.

Natasha let out a weary sigh as she trudged out of the elevator. It had been a very long three and a half weeks and she hadn't slept in over 48 hours. Her voice was tinged with exhaustion as she spoke to the AI on her way through the apartment. "JARVIS? Seal off the floor. If Barton tries to get in before it's been at least twelve hours, you have my permission to stop him in whatever way you desire."

"Yes, Ms. Romanoff."

She was passing through the living room on her way to her bedroom when she stopped, cocking her head in puzzlement at the stack of mail on one of the end-tables. "JARVIS?"

"Yes, Ms. Romanoff?"

"What's all this?" She waved a hand at the pile, having finally gotten used to the idea that the AI could actually "see" her gestures if needed.

"Your fan mail, Ms. Romanoff. Your regular mail is on your desk."

"My what?" Natasha dropped her bag and wandered over to the pile of envelopes, thoroughly confused.

"Your fan mail."

"Since when do we get fan mail?" She flipped through the envelopes, bemused. The majority were addressed to "Black Widow" though a few used her known alias of "Natasha Romanoff."

"Since approximately one week ago. Captain Rogers thought it appropriate that people have a way to contact you all. Agent Coulson has set up a small SHIELD office to act as the public address for the Avengers. All mail is thoroughly screened before being delivered daily to the Tower."

She raised an eyebrow slightly, still flipping through the letters. "Censored?"

"The others vehemently opposed any form of censoring. The mail is tested for danger and then passed through without censoring."

Natasha wasn't sure whether that was good or not. She knew what sort of things could appear in fan mail and while it may not be physically dangerous, she was certain some of it could possibly be dangerous to her eyesight and mental health. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"That is up to you, Ms. Romanoff, though I believe Agent Coulson wishes everyone to respond if possible in order to promote positive public relations."

"Of course he does." Natasha sighed and scrubbed at her eyes for a moment. "Ok, I'll get on this then." She didn't believe in delaying things until later; it was far easier to get unpleasant, or at least undesired, activities over as quickly as possible.

"Yes, Ms. Romanoff. I have started the coffee maker."

Natasha nodded tiredly. "Thanks, JARVIS."

She had started moving to put her bag in her room and change when JARVIS spoke again. "Ms. Potts left a message three days ago requesting to be notified when you returned. Shall I inform her now?"

"Did she say why?"

"She did not."

"Sure, let her know." Natasha glanced at the time, nearly midnight. "But silently. Don't wake her up."

"Of course. Message sent."

"Thanks."

Her gear unpacked and having changed into workout pants and an over-sized sweatshirt, Natasha padded back into the living room with a mug of coffee. She had just curled up on the couch and begun opening letters when her phone chimed with a message.

Glancing at the sender she felt her lips pulling into an automatic smile. Wincing slightly as the smile caused the bandage on her temple to pull slightly, she pulled up the message.

Welcome home.

She dropped the current letter into the neat pile mentally labeled as "from children" and tapped out a response, turning her full attention to the phone. Thanks. I thought you'd be asleep.

Not quite. Are you ok?

Natasha hesitated before answering. I'm fine. No major injuries.

She frowned slightly when a few minutes went by without a response. She was about to call Pepper when JARVIS called quietly, "Ms. Romanoff, Ms. Potts is requesting floor access."

Laughing ruefully and wincing again, Natasha said, "Let her up." Nearly inaudibly she added, "Should have guessed."

Quietly she sipped her coffee, waiting for the elevator to open. A few minutes later it did so, the doors sliding open in near silence. Pepper stepped off and glanced around, her gaze zeroing in almost immediately on Natasha.

Natasha watched as a warm smile curved Pepper's lips. The taller woman moved into the living room, hanging her coat up as she passed the entry closet, and Natasha studied her guest in silence. Pepper wasn't dressed quite as casually as Natasha, but still more casual than Natasha could recall ever seeing her outside of the Picnic Incident, in jeans, a long sleeve shirt, and boots. Even for movie nights Pepper tended to come over straight from work and was usually still in a suit.

When Pepper was close enough, Natasha spoke quietly, "Hey."

"Hi." Pepper's smile faded slightly and Natasha could tell the precise moment her friend got a good look at her face. "Tasha! You said no injuries!"

"I said no major injuries," Natasha corrected.

Pepper sighed. "So a wound that looks like it could have taken out your eye is minor?"

Natasha half-smiled. "It was never close to being that dangerous, though the guy who gave it to me thought so." She inclined her head to the couch, silently indicating the other woman should sit down.

Pepper glanced at the few scattered letters that Natasha had already gone through. "What's all this?"

Natasha groaned and dropped her head back to stare at the ceiling. She could hear the petulant tone in her own voice and, for the moment, didn't care. "Fan mail apparently."

Pepper laughed softly, pulling off her boots and curling up at the other end of the couch. They were both silent for a few minutes before Pepper commented, "You look exhausted."

"I am."

"When was the last time you slept?"

Natasha considered the question for a long moment.

Pepper sighed. "If you have to think that hard about it, it's been too long."

Natasha gave a short laugh. "At least forty-eight hours."

"Then why on Earth are you trying to deal with this stuff now?"

Natasha could hear the outrage in the other woman's voice and rolled her head so she could look at Pepper. "Why wait? Procrastinating rarely accomplishes anything."

"I don't think waiting until after you'd slept would have really counted as procrastination." Pepper was giving her a distinctly disapproving look.

Natasha shrugged, raising her coffee cup slightly. "That's why they invented coffee."

Pepper raised an eyebrow, looking unimpressed. "You should be in bed."

"It won't take me long. Just need to organize them then it's easy to figure out which ones require a response." Natasha tried to remember the last person who'd tried to insist she sleep instead of work. Clint? That was likely as most people didn't bother to try, much less insist after her first denial. But Pepper was still giving her that disapproving look and for a fleeting moment Natasha wondered if the other woman was actually going to try and force her to go to bed.

Finally Pepper sighed. "Fine. And then, you're getting some sleep."

Natasha grinned faintly. "Yes, Ms. Potts."

Pepper rolled her eyes. "Don't start. I'm going to make some tea."

"You don't have to stay. You need sleep also."

"It's Friday, I can handle it." Pepper rose and waved her hand at the letters. "Go on, resume."

Natasha laughed softly and did as told. The two fell into companionable silence when Pepper returned. Absently Natasha noted that Pepper had pulled out a tablet and appeared to be doing her own work. Smiling to herself, Natasha turned her attention back to sorting the fan mail, content to sit in silence and grateful that Pepper appeared to feel the same.