A/N: Hey guys, sorry this chapter took a couple of extra days, but after all that I wrote in the last 3 chapters, I needed a little mental break from this story. Thank you to everyone who commented on the last chapter and thank you to everyone who is continuing to read the story, I truly appreciate each one of you. :D

Now, there are two things I just want to clarify before going into this chapter.

First of all, Pepper's big secret is indeed the Chinese deal. I'm sorry I haven't made that clearer, I'll try and clear that up in this chapter. If you go back and read Pepper's thoughts about her secret, the China deal does fit in, it's just that I was being sneaky and trying to misdirect you all. LOL Naughty Aunty Lou. ;)

Second of all, just a quick response to one of my guest reviewers who seemed to think I was trying to please everyone and changed my mind with how the baby s/l is playing out and that it was a flop. This has always been the baby s/l I imagined for this fic. Nothing has changed. I'm not writing for other people, I'm only writing for myself and what entertains me. I shared with folks as to why I thought this kind of baby s/l in a Pepperony tale with them being this early in with their relationship works for me. My only hesitation was that it wouldn't work for everyone but I can only write the stories which are in my head. I can't write anyone else's story or how they think this fic should go.

I'm always happy to listen to suggestions like people wanting more of this, or less of that, but all the beats I'm playing out are entirely mine and how I pictured this story from the beginning. Nothing has altered from reading all of your comments because it simply can't, that's the story in my head. Like I said, I can only tweak and give out little things along the way, like an extra Pepperony scene or another action scene but that's only if it fits with the overall flow of my original story and the idea interests me. Other people aren't affecting the direction of this s/l, that sinks or swims with me and I'm cool with not everyone liking my choices. Not everyone is going to be looking for the same thing from a story, that's why there is such a vast range to stories on this site. It's all good. I just knew this baby s/l had the potential to disappoint quite a few people and I don't like doing that... but it was always the way that particular story was going to play out, even if that left me with no readers. LOL

The muse wants what the muse wants. ;)

Okay, waffled as per usual. I'll just quickly let you know I'm hoping to post another chapter tomorrow, I'm eager to get us to the big showdown and give you some pay offs for all of these s/l's I've introduced into this story.

This chapter isn't thrilling, but it's necessary, hope to see you soon...

Chapter Forty-Eight

Clint moved restlessly in his chair beside her, making the plastic creak. "Sit still," Natasha admonished him.

"I am sitting still," he muttered.

"You're the one who wanted to come to this," she reminded him. "Don't make me regret letting you."

Clint gave a little snort. "You didn't let me. I owned you at air hockey and you had to concede."

"You cheated."

"How, by being really awesome at air hockey?" asked Clint triumphantly.

Natasha hid a smile. He looked so pleased with himself and she was almost tempted to tell him she wasn't half as put out as she was acting but then he'd know that she really did want him along at this doctor's appointment. That little fact Natasha could barely admit to herself, let alone to Clint. Now that she'd decided to go ahead with the operation it was all becoming very real and it felt good to have someone she trusted in her corner. Natasha snuck a look at Clint as he picked up a magazine and flipped through it and couldn't help but think about the kiss he'd 'threatened' her with. He hadn't made a move yet and Natasha wondered if he'd forgotten about it.

"You thinking about when I'm going to kiss you?" Clint hadn't given any indication he'd noticed her watching him as he closed up the magazine and threw it on the table in front of them in the waiting room. He turned his head and arched a challenging eyebrow at her.

Natasha tried to hide her surprise and had a sudden concern that she'd spoken her thoughts aloud without realising them. She really hoped that wasn't going to be a side effect of this tumour otherwise her usefulness as a spy would be less than zero. "I haven't given it a second thought," she lied.

Clint's eyes dropped to her lips. "I have." He gave her a lop-sided smile. "Probably more than is healthy, to be honest."

"Is this you making your move?" she challenged him. "In a doctor's waiting room? Nice timing, Barton."

He sent her a playful look. "Nat, when I make my move, you're going to know it."

Natasha couldn't help but enjoy Clint's confidence. She was getting soft in her old age, it seemed. "You're just bored and stir crazy because Fury has put us on lock down," she countered.

"I'm pretty sure I'd still be thinking about kissing you even in the middle of some big battle," he argued.

"A divided mind is a weak mind," she said disapprovingly, not wanting to think Clint might be distracted by her during a battle and get hurt.

Clint waved a casual hand at her. "Nah," he said dismissively, "I'm one of those rare things, a guy who can multi-task."

Natasha gave a little laugh. "I'll believe that when I see it."

Clint just smiled. "Watch this space, Agent Romanoff."

Natasha was enjoying their back and forth, it was nice not to be alone with her thoughts of mortality. Something she'd been pondering since yesterday came back to her. "Have you noticed something amiss with Steve lately?"

Clint moved in his seat and it creaked again. "Can you define the parameters of your question a little more?" he asked wryly. "That is a pretty wide net you just cast."

Natasha thought back to how withdrawn Steve had seemed during the dinner they'd all shared last night, sans Pepper and Tony. "He seems to have a lot on his mind."

"We all do."

Natasha shook her head. "No, he wasn't like that in the morning. I think something happened yesterday."

Clint looked intrigued. "Like what?"

Her lips thinned in frustration. "I don't know but something is not quite right with him."

"Why don't you ask him what's wrong?"

"I did, he said nothing."

"And you think he was lying?"

"No, I know he was lying," said Natasha simply and when Clint sent her inquisitive look she just shrugged. "I'm a liar by trade, I know a lie when I hear one."

"He hasn't said anything to me."

"I don't think he's said anything to anyone, and that worries me," said Natasha. "As a team we're very vulnerable right now, our dynamic is fragile and can be easily destroyed."

Clint made a frustrated noise. "Something I bet Hammer is counting on." He shook his head. "I can't believe that idiot got the jump on us."

"He was underestimated by everyone," agreed Natasha. "We let this happen."

"You're not responsible for Hammer getting the jump on us, Nat."

Natasha's brow furrowed. "I'm the spy, I knew the man, I should have anticipated this."

Clint snorted. "Who was going to anticipate the Camel Toe crew? That one was totally out of left field."

Natasha gave a short shake of her head. "Not really. Justin Hammer has always competed and lost against Tony. It makes sense that he'd try to emulate Tony's moves and attempt to better him."

"Justin Hammer is no Tony Stark," noted Clint.

"No, but Tony has far more to lose then Hammer and they both know it. Defence is not Tony's strongest play, he prefers offensive manoeuvres."

"Look, Fury is going to give us the call any day with the intel we need to bring these guys down," Clint reassured her. "You shouldn't be worrying about all of this, Natasha, you've got bigger fish to fry." He looked over at the door to the doctor's office and made a frustrated noise. "Where is this guy anyway? Your appointment was at ten."

Natasha knew Clint rarely showed impatience with waiting and it was a mark of his concern for her. She'd watched him wait for hours, days even, for that perfect shot to take down a mark. Clint understood patience and focus but it was another thing entirely when there were still so many unknowns about this waiting game. "He's only half an hour late," Natasha said calmly. "Doctor Weinberg is the top man in his field and is very busy."

"I don't like a guy who can't be on time," Clint complained. "It shows a lack of organisational skills and I don't know if I want a guy like holding your life in his hands."

"Medicine isn't like other professions. It isn't always easy to regulate. Things happen that can't be foreseen."

Clint slumped down in his seat. "Well, I don't want a guy who can't foresee things working on you either."

"Stop worrying and just relax."

Clint turned his head to look at her and half-smiled. "I think that is meant to be my line."

"I assumed it was implied when you called my doctor incompetent," she teased him.

Clint reached over took Natasha's hand and squeezed it. "I just want the best for you, Nat, are you sure this Doctor Weinberg is the best?"

"I've done my research and besides, he's the only doctor with the skill and willingness to touch this tumour," said Natasha firmly. "I trust him."

Clint sighed. "Then I guess I have to trust him too."

The door from the hallway opened and a fit looking man in his mid-fifties hurried through. He was wearing a white coat and had a full set up black hair which was just starting to grey at the temples. Natasha and Clint stood up as he smiled at them both. "I'm so sorry I'm late, Ms. Rushmore, I had to attend to an unexpected admission." He stepped forward and shook her hand. "It's good to see you again."

Natasha returned the handshake. "It's good to see you too, Doctor Weinberg, and thank you for making time in your schedule to see me. I know you're a busy man."

"Of course," he said without hesitation as he turned his attention to Clint. "And this is your partner?"

Natasha knew the doctor meant that romantically rather than professionally and she moved to correct him but Clint was already shaking his hand. "Clint Barton," he introduced himself, not seeming to care about the misunderstanding.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Barton," said the doctor cordially. He smiled at Natasha. "I'm so glad you took my advice and brought a support person along, Natalie."

"I had to play seventeen straight games of air hockey to beat her, but we finally came to an understanding that Nat needed me along for the ride today," admitted Clint freely.

"I let him win in the end," said Natasha, a small smile playing on her lips.

Clint made a disbelieving snort. "You nearly punched me when I won that last game, you didn't let me win squat."

Doctor Weinberg laughed. "I do like my patients to have a fighting spirit."

"Then you're going to love, Nat," said Clint dryly.

The doctor indicated his office door. "Now, shall we all sit down and have a talk about this operation? This is a big step you're taking, Natalie, and I want you to fully understand the risks and possible complications but I also think you're making the right decision."

Clint slipped his hand around hers again and held on firmly.

His silent support immediately settled Natasha's nerves. "I know," she said quietly but firmly.

oooOOOOooo

Jerry hovered over his computer keyboard like an expectant father as he nervously put in the last of the data and waited for the results of his testing to be relayed back to him. He glanced around the empty room which had basically become his home since he'd been working on Hammer's secret project. At least the coffin with the frozen Noble Maniatis was gone but Jerry was under no illusions that if he didn't perform well and keep his mercurial boss happy, then the chances he'd end up as a human popsicle were pretty high. He sat down on his chair and stared at the computer screen, anxiously awaiting the test results.

oooOOOOooo

"Damn it, where are you?" muttered Happy as he crawled around on his hands and knees in Tony's lab. He'd lost the car keys to the Rolls and Happy just knew it was when Tony had been dangling him upside down like a Christmas ham. There was a spare set of keys, but Happy didn't like things to be unaccounted for. This wasn't the kind of job where you just assumed that the little things didn't matter. Happy was always conscious that he had a responsibility towards Pepper and Tony to be ready in an instant if they ever needed him. In this job, lives could depend on it. "It'll just take a minute, Happy," he grumbled. "I just need to calibrate the pod, you're not going to get hurt." In a way Tony had been right about the pod not hurting him directly but that still didn't mean Happy wasn't sporting a band aid over his left eyebrow.

By the time Tony finally let him out of the pod, all the blood had pooled in Happy's head and when he was right way up, the blood all drained away quickly, leaving him light-headed and unbalanced. Happy had stepped out of the pod and promptly toppled over, hitting his head on the side of a nearby robot droid. It was only a little cut, but Happy had made sure to make Tony feel as badly as he could about it. He now had an extra week worth of vacation time, which Happy felt only fair. Working for Tony was like working in dog years, one year equalled seven, so a little extra R&R was only to be expected.

A gleam of metal caught Happy's eye behind the safety pod and back against the corner. He stood up and tried to squeeze his broad frame into the gap between the pod and the wall, fingers straining to reach the keys. Happy grunted as he pushed himself as hard as he could into the small space. Giving up, Happy attempted to move the safety pod, which still looked like a damn hamster ball, no matter what Tony said. Placing his hands flat against the domed reinforced glass, Happy pushed with all of his might, hoping to move the device enough so that he could have more space to get to the keys.

A movement out of the corner of Happy's eye had him suddenly stopping. He straightened up, blinking a couple of times and wiped at the sweat on his forehead. Tony's infected Iron Man suit lay stretched out on a nearby table, a specially reinforced glass shield entombing it. Happy squinted as he looked at the suit, not sure if what he was seeing was a result of some sweat in his eyes or something else. For a brief moment it looked like the suit was shimmering, the metal rippling all over before settling back into its original form. Happy walked over to the contained suit and peered down at it, looking it over intently. Everything looked completely normal and Happy shook his head and chastised himself for being so jumpy. It must have just been the way the light was catching the glass containment unit. He shook his head and chastised himself for being so jumpy. Everyone in this place was on edge at the moment and it must be catching. The Avengers were prowling around like caged lions waiting to be let out to hunt and Pepper wasn't going to relax until she told Tony about her big secret Chinese deal and they were all rubbing off on him. Happy turned around and headed back to the safety pod, intent on retrieving those keys and dismissing the event entirely.

Behind Happy's back, the suit rippled again, metal bonds dissolving and reforming as microscopic nano-bots undulated silently through them and sent out silent messages to its expectant controller.

oooOOOOooo

Jerry blew out a relieved breath when he saw the results of his remote testing. He quickly dialled his boss and it was answered within two rings.

"Hello, Jeremy," said Hammer jovially. "I've been waiting for your call."

"Actually, it's Jeremiah, sir," he corrected him without thinking. Jerry's stomach tightened as he braced himself for a reaction. It was well known that Justin Hammer didn't like to be corrected by anyone, ever.

"Really, Jeremiah?" he repeated, thankfully not seeming upset. "Don't tell me, you used to be a bullfrog."

There was this long pause and Jerry realised that his boss had just made a joke and was expecting a reaction but Jerry didn't have the first idea what he was talking about. He covered himself by giving a weak laugh. "Good one, sir."

"I know," said Hammer, clearly amused by his own wit. "So, I'm assuming you're the herald of good news, Jerry? I'd hate to have to kill you, I've grown rather fond of you."

Jerry swallowed hard. It was difficult to know if that was another joke on his boss' behalf, but he wasn't taking any chances. "Yes, sir, very good news," he said hastily. "We've gained remote control of the nano-bots in the Iron Man suit."

"You can make it do whatever you want?" Hammer asked eagerly.

"I believe so, sir."

"Another piece of the puzzle complete," gloated Hammer in satisfaction. "This is all going perfectly and right under Tony Stark's nose. Oh, the look on his face when he finds out." There was a brief laugh. "It's going to make all of my suffering worthwhile."

Jerry had a lot of doubts about this job, not least of which going up against the head of Stark Industries but by the time he'd worked out Hammer was insane, he was in too deep. The way Jerry looked at it, he just had to keep Hammer happy for as long as he could and as soon as this all went down, he was going to run for his life and never look back. He'd already picked out a pseudonym to disappear under, Chase Cavenaugh. It was the name of a sexy, confident guy who knew how to please the ladies, unlike Jeremiah Weems, the shy computer nerd who had never technically kissed a woman yet, despite being twenty-three years old.

All he had to do was not screw this up and there was a chance he was going to get out of this alive. Jerry wasn't on board with Hammer's plans and he felt badly about what he was doing but he figured he wasn't going to feel so great about dying either. He'd watched a documentary on the nature channel a while back that said a human being's survival instinct was its strongest drive and Jerry had to admit, that it was motivating him pretty strongly to ignore his morals about this and keep a heartbeat. "And the nano-pedes have just reached 91% integration," he finished off hastily, eager to please.

Hammer made an excited noise. "How much longer?"

"The integration should be complete by tomorrow and then I have to run some checks to make sure the system-"

"Give me a time frame," interrupted Hammer impatiently.

"Tomorrow night we should be good to go, sir," said Jerry, crossing his fingers that he was going to be able to come through on this one.

"Then the next day will be when the world as we know it ends," he said, obviously relishing the thought. "A new world order will be in play and there will be no Avengers to do anything about it."

Jerry felt like Hammer was expecting him to say something. "Congratulations, sir, your plan is brilliant." More like diabolical with an unhealthy slice of deranged, but there was no way in hell Jerry was going to say that.

"It is, isn't it?" preened Hammer. "And congratulations to you too, Jerry, you've gotten to be a part of something so much bigger than yourself. You, Jeremiah Bullfrog, are going to be remembered in history forever."

Jerry really hoped the bullfrog comment wasn't a sideways comment about him croaking in the near future but it didn't matter because Jerry Weems wasn't going to be hanging around for long, not if Chase Cavenaugh had anything to say about it. "Thank you for the opportunity to be a part of your greatness, Mr. Hammer." Jerry had quickly learnt that there was no such thing as laying it on too thick when it came to his boss.

"It was nothing, Jerry," said a pleased sounding Hammer. "I'm all about helping the little people. Now, you call me as soon as everything is complete, day or night, I want to know the moment everything is in place."

"Of course, sir." Hammer hung up and Jerry slumped back in his chair, the tension draining from his body, heart rate returning to normal. This job was going to be the death of him. He should have taken that job with Microsoft. Screw the money, what's the point of being rich if you're dead? Jerry grimaced. Why was hindsight always twenty twenty?