A/N: Thank you everyone for you feedback on the introduction of Maggie in the last chapter. I see she has mixed reviews, which is absolutely fine by me. ;)

Lots of Pepperony in this chapter for you to enjoy, and yes, finally some movement is being made on the 'is she/isn't she' front.

Hope you enjoy...

Chapter Forty-Six

Tony moved restlessly in the bed, sleep evading him. He rolled over onto his side and was greeted with the graceful sweep of Pepper's naked back as she lay sleeping on her front. It was impossible not to envy the way she could fall asleep so deeply and automatically. Tony's brain would simply not switch off that easily. When he wasn't immersed in trying to solve the intricacies of the nano-technology or fiddling with the workings of the safety pod prototype, his thoughts were with Hammer and what that madman and his band of cronies were up to. Tony wasn't used to having his thoughts so divided and he was having trouble concentrating on any task properly. It was frustrating and annoying and stealing his sleep from him.

What was really worrying Tony was the fact that he hadn't been able to get to the bottom of the nano-technology yet. A solution to a problem rarely eluded him for this long and he would have loved to have been able to talk to Noble Maniatis about his work. The guy being crazy didn't mean he wasn't brilliant. Tony's jaw hardened as he thought about how conveniently Hammer had made Maniatis disappear and he knew that with each unchallenged success on the behalf of Hammer, the cockier and out of control he was going to get. The need to be in control of this situation overwhelmed Tony and his brain refused to switch off as it ran through multiple thought patterns at the same time. Suddenly Tony had a thought about the formula he'd been using to try and decipher the nano-ridden metal he'd collected from the mantises. His brain exploded with ideas and equations as a new approach came to him. Tony rolled over in bed and grabbed the sharpie pen lying there but there was no paper. Frantic not to lose his thoughts, Tony wrote on the first blank canvas he could find, Pepper's naked back. His hand moved like a dervish as he jotted down line after line of scientific formulas on Pepper's back. He'd filled her entire back in less than a minute and was already eyeing off her arms when Pepper stirred.

"What are you doing?" she mumbled into the pillow.

Tony immediately stopped writing. "Ah, nothing."

She lifted her head from her pillow and looked up at him blearily. Pepper focused on the pen in his hand and then back at Tony. "What are you writing?" She blinked a couple of times. "What are you writing on?" Pepper sat up in bed abruptly, twisting so she could look over shoulder, her face clouding over when she caught sight of the formulas on her back. "You've been writing on me!" she declared in outrage.

Tony thought quickly and gave a little snort, shaking his head and pretending to wake up. "Wh-what's happening, what's going on?"

"Oh please," Pepper snapped, "you weren't asleep."

"Yes, I was," protested Tony hotly. He made a show of looking at the pen in his hand and then her back. "Oh my God, I must have been writing in my sleep."

"That's not a thing," said Pepper curtly.

"Yes, it is," responded Tony indignantly, "that's a huge thing."

"You were wide awake and too lazy to get out of bed and find some paper!"

Tony sucked in a gasp of feigned distress. "It's just as well I love you as much as I do, Pepper Potts, so I can take these outrageous slurs against my character in my stride." He held up a hand. "You don't have to thank me."

Pepper jabbed an angry finger at the door. "Get out!"

"But-" Tony started to protest.

"Get out, get out, get OUT!"

"I'm sensing you might need your space right now-" Tony didn't get to finish his sentence as Pepper hit him full in the face with his own pillow. It was surprising how painful feathers could be if applied to your face with enough force. He finally got the hint and climbed out of bed, collecting his clothes and walking to the door. As soon as he was through it, Tony turned around and opened his mouth but Pepper was out of bed, slamming the door in his face before he could say anything else. Tony grimaced as he scratched his beard. "I guess it's a bad time to ask if I can take a photo of her back and those formulas before I go."

"It's clear why they call you a genius, sir." Jarvis' cool voice agreed with him.

Tony looked up. "You saw all that, huh?"

"I see everything."

Tony pulled a face. "That's kinda creepy."

"I am what I have been designed to be."

"Okay, but you saw Pepper overreact in there, right? I mean, I've clearly got the higher moral ground in all of this."

"If the higher moral ground entails you standing naked in the living room and locked out of your sleeping quarters, then yes, your moral ground could not be any higher, sir."

"Shut up, Jarvis," Tony sulked.

oooOOOOooo

Tony gave a little snort and slapped at his ear was something touched it. He was in the lab and had been working on some more equations when he must have finally fallen asleep, face down on his work bench. His ear was flicked again and Tony sat bolt upright, sleep addled and giving a bleary glare at the man in front of him. "Quit it," he grumbled, rubbing the ear Bruce had been flicking.

"Sorry, Sleeping Beauty, it was either the ear thing or I was going to push you off your chair because no way in hell was I going to kiss you."

"Thank God," muttered Tony. "I have standards."

"Unlikely." Bruce peeled a post-it note off the side of Tony's face which had become imprinted there as he slept. He looked Tony over. "You been here all night?"

"Since about one, yeah."

"Working?"

Tony thought of the notes he'd written on Pepper's back and how he needed them to get any real work done. "Not really."

Bruce's eyebrow shot up. "So, what, you're sleeping in the lab instead of with Pepper because of choice?"

"Absolutely," said Tony without hesitation. He picked up a circuit and fiddled with it. "Pepper's."

"Aha," said Bruce knowingly, "I suspected as much."

"She's being unreasonable," Tony protested.

"Is she?"

Tony sighed and put down the circuitry. "No."

"What did you do?"

"It was nothing, not really."

Bruce folded his arms in front of himself. "Clearly Pepper doesn't have the same definition of nothing as you do. So, what was this nothing precisely?"

"I wrote on her."

Bruce paused and then grimaced. "Is this a sex thing? Because, if it is, I'm going to stop you right now."

"No, no, I wrote on her." Tony made as if he was holding a pen and wrote in the air. "I wrote on her."

"Okay," said Bruce slowly. "I'm gathering by your current sleeping arrangements they weren't sweet nothings like 'I love you'."

"It was a formula for unbinding the nano-metal from my suit," said Tony unhappily. "It came to me in bed and I had to write it down right away before I forgot it."

"So you wrote it down on Pepper?" asked Bruce in disbelief.

"Her naked back was right there," Tony tried to explain. "I didn't even have to get out of bed."

Bruce covered half his face with his hand. "God, Tony, why can't you just cut your toenails in bed, or eat in bed, stuff that a normal man would do."

"That's a very good question." Pepper's calm voice came from behind Bruce and they both turned to see her walk into the room, fully dressed for a day at the office.

Tony couldn't help but smile at the sight of Pepper, but then, she always had that effect on him. "You know what they say, Pep, buyer beware. You knew what you were getting when you signed on the dotted line for me."

Pepper gave a sideways look to Bruce. "Unfortunately, there is no refund policy for this particular package."

"Bummer," noted Bruce.

Pepper smiled at him. "Bruce, would you excuse Tony and me for a moment? I need to have a word with him."

"Sure." Bruce went to leave them alone.

"If you don't see me around in an hour or so, call the police and have them start dredging the Hudson River for my body," Tony called after him.

"Like Pepper is going to leave enough of you to dispose of after what you did," Bruce threw back over his shoulder at him.

Tony looked at Pepper and gave her his most winsome smile. "Can I plead temporary insanity?"

"Yours or mine for having you in the bed with me in the first place?" she asked dryly. "You can be so thoughtless and inconsiderate sometimes, Tony. Why would you do something like that?"

"I wasn't thinking," he said apologetically. "I'm sorry, Pepper, it won't happen again."

Pepper shook her head. "Sometimes you just exasperate me, Tony Stark."

He gave her a coy look. "But you love me anyway, don't you?"

Pepper groaned as she let Tony pull her into an embrace. "It's an ugly, thankless task, but someone has to do it," she admitted grudgingly.

Tony rubbed Pepper's back and smiled at her. "And no one could do it was well as you do, Pep. I don't deserve you."

Pepper rolled her eyes. "Well, that goes without saying." She sighed. "Just try and think about how your actions have an impact on those around you, Tony," Pepper urged him. "You don't live in a vacuum, there are people in your life now and you have to consider them. It can't always just be about what you want to do or how you're feeling all the time."

Tony grimaced. "You want me to grow up."

Pepper stroked his face. "I love the child in you, Tony, I don't want to turn you into a different man, I just want you to be able to recognise when your actions have an impact. I love that reckless, impulsive, self-absorbed side of you, but he's got his place, and that place isn't necessarily in our bedroom, that's all I'm trying to say to you."

Tony nodded slowly and wondered how he was going to broach the still touchy subject. "I understand. So, umm, Pepper, about those formulas I wrote on your back. I remember most of them but there were a couple-"

"I've already taken a picture of them in the mirror and sent them to your phone," she interrupted him. "Far be it from me to stand in the way of science."

"But they'll be backwards," Tony noted.

"You're a genius, I'm sure you'll figure it out."

Tony looked at Pepper in wonder, knowing he'd never find another woman who understood him better and accepted him more. "I love you and I'll try and be more considerate of your feelings in the future."

"I love you too and I know you will."

Tony grinned and pulled her between his legs. "You and I fit together so perfectly. You'll always be the blackboard to my chalk, Pep."

Pepper fixed him with an unimpressed look.

Tony pulled a face. "Too soon?"

"Way too soon," she said dourly. "I recommend you stop talking and just kiss me."

"Now, that I can do," said Tony happily and pulled her into a series of drawn out kisses. His hands wandered lower to Pepper's backside, thoughts of turning this into a proper make up session but Pepper pushed on his chest.

She shook her head at him and smiled knowingly. "I have an early meeting."

"I'll be quick," Tony promised her, squeezing her bottom. "Five minutes top, I'll be in and out before you know it."

Pepper laughed. "Wow, you really know how to sell the romance, Mr. Stark."

"Cancel your meeting and I can promise to at least double that time," he urged her.

Pepper's lips twitched. "Tempting, but I really can't cancel this meeting with Mr. Hu, it's very important."

Tony pouted. "Unlike me."

"Remember our not behaving like a child conversation?" she teased him and kissed his pout away. "I'll be back before ten." Pepper went to leave and then noticed the half-formed safety pod in the corner of the lap. She frowned at it. "Is that what I think it is?"

"No," said Tony quickly, "absolutely not."

Pepper sent him a warning look. "Tony."

"It's not a hamster ball," Tony protested. "It's the opposite of a hamster ball!"

Pepper put her hands on her hips. "What's the opposite of a hamster ball?"

"Umm... an anti-hamster ball?"

"You are unbelievable," she said in exasperation.

oooOOOooo

Justin Hammer rocked back and forth on his heels as he addressed the men standing in front of him. "Defenders, I want to give you all kudos for the sterling work you have done so far."

Rhino frowned and looked to Backlash. "He's thanking us for doing a good job." Backlash translated.

"Then why not say that?" grunted Rhino in his thick, Russian accent.

Beetled grinned. "We are doing great, aren't we? Did you see the big special CNN did on us last night? We're bigger than Elvis!"

"No one bigger than Aleksei," said Rhino indignantly.

"I meant we're more famous than him," said Beetle impatiently.

"Who?"

Beetle rolled his eyes. "Elvis."

"Elvis who?"

Blizzard shook his head. "Get out, man, it's quicksand."

Beetle gave up. "Never mind, Rhino, my point is that we're all famous now." He looked at Hammer in satisfaction. "Your plan worked, General."

Hammer smiled. "My plan is only just beginning, my dear Beetle."

Beetle waved a distracted hand at him. "Right, right, the Avengers thing, I got it but honestly, boss, is it even worth it? We're already kicking their butt when it comes to who the people want to protect them and we're going to make a ton of money once all the endorsement deals come in. What more do we want?"

Hammer knew the answer to that question, but he wasn't going to share it with an underling like Abner Jenkins. "This game is far from over, Beetle, let's see how this plays out and what happens when the Avengers truly show their hand."

Backlash frowned. "You think they'll be coming for us, General?"

"One way or the other," agreed Hammer. "Don't become complacent about the Avengers, it'd be a mistake to underestimate them." A sly smile touched his lips. "Because that is what they are going to do with us and it's going to be their downfall." Before anyone could ask any further questions, Hammer's cell phone vibrated in his coat pocket. "Gentlemen," he said, indicating the screen in front of them, "your next mission, read and review, please. It's time to make the Swiss fall in love with us. Your shuttle leaves in less than a minute, make sure you're on it." As the Defenders took in the information of the avalanche in the Swiss Alps which had buried a village, Hammer walked into his office to take the call. "Hello, Jerry, I do hope this isn't just a social call."

"Ah, no, Mr. Hammer, it's not," said the ever nervous Jerry.

Hammer liked it when people were uneasy around him, it made him feel powerful, which he was, of course. "Then I'm assuming you have good news for me?"

"The nano-pede integration is at 72.8 percent, Mr. Hammer," said Jerry quickly.

A swell of satisfaction moved through Hammer as he drew closer to realising his ultimate goal. Those metal centipedes he'd dispersed in the Avenger's Tower with his gift of roses to Pepper had been hard at work it seemed. "How long before it's complete?"

"Maybe another day, possibly two, then it'll be time to implant the relay device." He hesitated. "Which I'm not really sure how that is going to work because without it, the whole thing won't function but getting the device into the Avenger's Tower isn't going to be as easy as it was with the nano-pedes, especially now."

"You let me worry about the details," said Hammer blithely, "everything is well in hand."

"Oh," said Jerry uncertainly, "okay."

"Contact me when we get to ninety percent," Hammer instructed him, "and I'll make my preparations this end."

"Yes, sir."

Hammer hung up and nodded to himself. Things couldn't have been going more perfectly if he'd tried. This was going to be the ultimate in revenge and upend Tony Stark's world, changing it forever and it was all going to be because of him. Hammer couldn't help the grin which came to his lips as he thought about the most delicious thing of all, that Stark was never going to see this coming.

oooOOOooo

Tony tapped lightly on Pepper's office door. "Special delivery of cute awesomeness for the lady Potts," he said playfully as he walked into her office to find her not there. Tony looked around and pouted. "Damn, not back yet." He had thought he'd take her out to dinner tonight, to make up for the using her as a white board incident. Maybe Paris, it was always lovely this time of year.

Bruce appeared in the doorway. "There you are. I've got some thoughts about those formulas you wanted me to look at. Got a minute?"

Tony nodded. "Sure, I'm just going to leave Pepper a note to let me know when she gets back." He looked at her very neatly ordered desk but didn't see any scraps of paper. Tony started to go through her drawers, looking for some paper to write on but couldn't find any. "How can an office have no paper?" he complained.

"It's a paperless society nowadays," said Bruce philosophically.

"A paperless society is what had me in the dog house last night," muttered Tony. "If there was more paper lying around, I'd have less need to write on people."

"I'm sure in your head that sounds completely rational," said Bruce dryly.

"It does and I am," said Tony as he headed over to the elegant set of drawers over in the corner, still looking for paper. He opened the first drawer and his attention was immediately caught by the little white box with the ribbon on it. It looked like it'd be the kind of box which held a pen in it. Tony grinned and picked it up, turning around to face Bruce. "Look like my girl has gotten me a present." He went to open it.

"You sure that is for you?" Bruce cautioned him. "And shouldn't you wait until Pepper gives it to you if it is?"

Tony waved a distracted hand at him. "I'm great at faking surprise, it'll be fine." He lifted the lid off the box and the sight inside made him start as his heart promptly kicked into overdrive. A pregnancy stick with a bright blue positive symbol on it stared back at him.

"You're right," noted Bruce, taking in his reaction without seeing what was in the box, "you are good at faking surprise."

Tony didn't even hear Bruce speaking.

Pepper was pregnant.

All the blood drained from Tony's face and his knees went weak, the room spinning around him...

A/N: Now, for those of you who aren't sold on a baby in this story, give me one more chapter to convince you that this could be the beginning of something fun, that is all I ask of you. ;) Hopefully I'll have the next chapter for you tomorrow. :D