Bad Reputation

Rumor Has It…

By Christine Everhart

Week two of the new school year kicked off with a bang! A few bangs, as a matter of fact. Rumor Has It… that blue-eyed dreamboat Bucky Barnes returned from a year abroad, and while he could not be reached for comment, it would seem that Mr. Barnes is far more interested in a certain new girl (see pg. 6) than making amends for his disappearance resulting in Marvel High's disappointing football season last year. When Mr. Barnes isn't too busy making googly eyes at a certain senior transfer, he's putting that strapping arm of his to other more nefarious uses, namely fighting with playboy Tony Stark and his buddy Bruce Banner… (cont'd. on pg. 6).

[Page 6]

Rumor Has It… (cont'd.)

The real talk of the town is senior transfer student Natasha Romanoff. Not only has the new girl caught the eye of Bucky Barnes, she also seems to have made an impression on serial womanizer Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, and now the mayor's youngest son.

Sources say that Miss Romanoff was spotted leaving the lunchroom Tuesday on the arm of Loki Odinson, but neither of them were seen for the rest of the day. Another informant claims that the two were spotted at the infamous Red Room bar along with the trouble-making Maximoff twins.

Yikes! Not a great start for Miss Romanoff. Someone might want to have a friendly, little chat with her before she gets a reputation.

Natasha put the school paper down with a huff.

"I don't see what the big deal is," she told Clint.

"You don't see what the big deal is?"

Natasha shrugged. "Aside from her attempt to slut-shame me, not really…"

"Attempt? She didn't attempt, Nat, she succeeded. Everyone's talking about you, and it isn't good."

"Pfft. Let 'em," she said with another shrug. "I didn't do anything wrong except cut a few classes, and you're the last person who should be lecturing me about that."

"Nat," Clint murmured, kneeling in front of her, "Loki's bad news. You shouldn't be hanging around with him. It's not gonna lead anywhere good."

"Seriously? Are you still on that? What happened to letting me make my own decisions? We just had this conversation several times last week. Tony, remember? Come on, Clint, I feel like we're talking in circles. Stop trying to control everything I do!"

"That's different," Clint claimed. "Tony has his issues, yeah, but Loki's on a whole other level."

"Well, he was a perfect gentleman to me."

"Oh really?"

"What?"

Clint threw his hands up in the air. "You stumbled home drunk at 3 in the morning with a hickey!"

Natasha rose from her seat. "Now who's slut-shaming me?"

Clint rolled his eyes. "You know it's not like that."

"No, Clint, I'm not sure I do." Natasha crossed her arms over her chest. "You party all the time. You drink at those parties. You've hooked up with your fair share of girls. But I do it one time—one time—and you completely lose your mind."

Clint's jaw dropped. "You hooked up with him?"

"No," she replied quickly. "All we did was kiss. It was fun. I'm seventeen. I'm allowed to have fun."

It hadn't looked possible, but Clint's jaw dropped even further. "Fun? Did you even read the article?"

"You just watched me read it, you asshat."

"Are you—"

"Clint Barton," Natasha interrupted. "If you ask me one more stupid question or make another insinuation about my activities or character, I will rip your intestines out through your urethra, am I clear?"

The room was quiet as Clint shut his mouth. He stared at Natasha for a long time.

"Dude…" he finally said, his voice barely above a whisper. "That's messed up."

Even though they were in the middle of what seemed like an endless series of fights about her personal life, Natasha couldn't help but smirk. Soon, they were both chuckling at the intensity and the sheer hysterical image her threat had conjured. As their laughter died down, Natasha wandered over to her bed and plopped down face-first.

"I know you're worried about me, Clint, I really do," she mumbled into the mattress, "but I just need to let off some steam now and again. That doesn't mean I don't know what I'm doing, and it doesn't give you the right to interfere. You gotta stop playing the protective, big brother role and just be my friend." She raised her head and propped herself up with one arm. "Listen closely, the next time we have this conversation, I will not hesitate to…you know," she finished, narrowing her eyes and wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

Clint scoffed. "Fine."

Natasha nodded. "Good. Now that we're done with round three of this nonsense, I believe you owe me a sundae or something for putting up with it."

He grumbled but led the way out of Natasha's bedroom.

After she finished reading the article, Pepper laid the paper down and wrinkled her nose distastefully. She looked across the table to find Tony still reading, a troubled look on his face. When he finally put the paper aside, she watched him struggle to meet her gaze.

"So," she said, finally breaking the silence between them, "should I be concerned?"

Tony looked briefly at her and snorted.

"You know you can't believe a damn thing Everhart writes. She's a gossip columnist. That should answer your question."

"Yet, somehow it doesn't," Pepper replied.

Tony stood abruptly up and paced around his empty kitchen. He'd been riled up since Tuesday. It was now Saturday morning, and Pepper couldn't ignore his behavior anymore. Ever since the new girl left with Loki, Tony seemed distracted. For the rest of the week, Pepper hid her thinly veiled rage behind a practiced mask of concern for her boyfriend and his wandering eyes, but enough was enough.

"I don't know what to tell you, Pep," Tony sighed. "You wanted to get back together, so I did that. I know I'm not the perfect boyfriend, but I've never given you reason to believe that I'm untrustworthy."

Pepper opened her mouth, but Tony cut her off.

"As much as you like to believe otherwise, so save it, please. I've never cheated on you. Have I dated other girls? Sure, tons. But that was only when we weren't together." Tony stopped and leaned against the counter, his head hung in frustration. "I don't even understand why you wanted us to get back together. It's not like you don't have other options, and I never seem to make you happy. I feel like nothing I ever do is good enough for you, Pep."

Pepper rose and walked around the table. She wrapped her arms around his waist and nuzzled his ear.

"Don't say that," she cooed.

Tony sighed. "Then tell me what to say. Please."

Pepper pressed her lips to his temple, and Tony closed his eyes.

"Do you have feelings for her?" she asked.

Tony's eyes remained closed, but the lines on his face deepened.

"We're just friends," he groaned.

Pepper frowned at his evasive reply but continued placing kisses here and there, his neck, his jawline, his collarbone, pushing him towards another kind of response. She finally got it when she nipped at his earlobe. Tony moaned, and Pepper backed away, leaning against the opposite counter. Tony's eyes fluttered open at her absence.

"Just, please, tell me what you want, Pepper," he sighed, defeated. "I'm sick of having this conversation over and over again. Just tell me what to do to make you happy, and I'll do it."

Pepper pretended to mull his offer over as she played with the top buttons on her blouse. As soon as she knew she had his attention, she hummed while she flicked the first one opened. He watched her with wary yet fixed attention as she undid each of her buttons one by one.

"Maybe," she mused, "it would help if you steered clear of that girl for a while."

Tony dragged his eyes away from her hands, which were lingering on the final button.

"What?"

Pepper sighed, clutching her top closed. Tony looked briefly down at the movement but quickly refocused.

"It's just that things haven't been so solid between us lately, and with that article," Pepper looked pointedly at the school newspapers still sitting on the table, "people are going to talk…more than they already are. I shouldn't have to spend my days defending our relationship, especially when I'm defending it to myself." She crossed the short distance between them, once more toying with the final button. "We've shared something very special, Tony, but it's hard to keep giving myself to you when I'm constantly worried that you're thinking about another girl. That's not very fair to me, is it?"

Tony hung his head again. "No," he agreed reluctantly.

"It doesn't have to be forever, Tony," Pepper continued. "Just until we're back on solid ground and all of those pesky rumors die down." She kissed the hollow spot behind his ear. "I would never dream of trying to control who you hang out with, but this is necessary. Temporary, but necessary. Can you do that? For me?" she breathed the final question, enjoying the look of need on Tony's face.

After a stretch of silence, he nodded.

"Mm," Pepper moaned, kissing Tony's neck. "Thank you, Tony. Now, what do you say we put this business behind us and do something a bit more fun?"

Tony warily watched as she undid the final button.

Later, Tony was woken from an unpleasant dream by his phone buzzing. He rolled over and retrieved it from the nightstand to find a text from Natasha.

Hey Stark! Where have you been hiding all week? Clint's taking me out for ice cream, and I was hoping you'd join us. It's hard to believe, but I kinda missed your infuriating charm the last few days.

Tony looked back at Pepper's still form beside him. He knew her well enough to know that just because it looked like she was sleeping, didn't mean it was true.

Sorry, Natasha, he thought solemnly.

Tony swallowed past a lump in his throat and hit the "delete" button.