Fandom: Avengers
Character(s): Pepper P. | Iron Man/Tony S. | Spider-Man/Peter P.
Pairing(s): Tony/Pepper
Warning(s): mature themes, spoilers through Spider-Man: Homecoming
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The sound, tinny and artificial and very, very persistent was annoying beyond all belief. Annoying like the sound of a dripping faucet at the other end of a cold hallway. And, more than half-asleep but unable to completely drop off because of the sound, Pepper grumbled under her breath and clumsily rolled over to grope for her phone. She usually kept the device on silent, but had turned the volume up for some reason that she couldn't remember right now. Squinting grouchily at the screen, Pepper tried to make sense of the pixilated digits. 4:00am EST (also known as 1:00am PST).
Who could be messaging her at this hour?!
Pepper rubbed her eyes and blinked a few times as the icons on her screen came into better focus.
Candy.
The blond hair and wide grin of Pepper's PA flashed bright and alarming in the darkness as one message, then another, then another beeped into her device.
Pepper frowned. It must be something serious.
Sorry to disturb you, Ms. Potts - C
But I was just browsing through my newsfeed - C
And you really need to see this - C
asap! - C
There was an URL link attached to the final text...a URL link leading to The Daily Bugle Online.
Lovely.
Glaring at the screen, Pepper counted to ten. Slowly. Then she ran a hand over her face wearily and questioned what she might have done in a past life to necessitate the existence of J. Jonah Jameson and his ilk in this one. Leeches. That's all they were. Worse than tabloid reporters, since they did occasionally run stories on factual events, Tom Amos and Amber Russo and the rest of New York's most circulated muckraking rag were just the worst.
Pepper drew in a deep breath and blew it out slowly.
This was supposed to be a restful weekend. She and Tony were due in Montréal tomorrow afternoon to commemorate the anniversary of their engagement (Tony's idea, not hers) with a weekend of laziness and pampering. They had been planning this trip for almost two weeks - it was supposed to be the ultimate date.
Sighing, Pepper clicked on the link to open the webpage...only to have several utterly foul curses hiss out through her teeth.
Because this was worse than anything she could have imagined.
STARK'S SECRET SON SPOTTED! screamed The Bugle's headline, the bold, letterblock type accompanied by a full-spread picture of Tony Stark and Peter Parker standing side-by-side next to an Audi. The following article was standard Bugle affair - short, sensational, and salacious while simultaneously managing to be just short of outright libel. This one was so vague that Pepper didn't give it much thought. The picture was more worrying, however. Even though it was obviously taken by a phone camera (and The Bugle had thoughtfully blurred out Peter's facial features), all the rest of the image was only too clear - from the fond, easy smile on Tony's face to the comfortable way his arm was draped over Peter's shoulders. Any body language expert would have a field day!
Pepper groaned and dropped her head back onto the pillow with a dull thunk. This was just wonderful. And she knew exactly how it had happened.
Last Wednesday had been Peter's first official lab day at the Compound, and Tony had insisted on accompanying Happy to pick the kid up after school. He had been so excited that Pepper hadn't had the heart to veto the scheme...though she had given very specific instructions to Happy about parking around the corner from Peter's school so as to avoid attracting attention.
So much for that.
And so much for a romantic getaway in Montréal!
Pepper glanced over at Tony, sleeping away obliviously on his side of the bed, hugging a pillow to his chest in the way he had taken to doing ever since their 'break'. He looked so peaceful and - given that tonight he was actually getting a decent night's sleep, she was loathe to disturb him. But this was bad. And there was no way Pepper herself would be able to go to sleep now.
So instead, Pepper quietly slid out from under the covers and, donning a robe and a pair of warm slippers, padded out of their bedroom and into the connected sitting room where she opened her laptop and googled Tony Stark Father?
Then she cursed again.
The Daily Bugle article wasn't even at the top of the search results anymore! The article had only released at midnight, but Twitter had already gotten hold of the story. Everyone and everyone's grandma seemed to be weighing in on the latest Stark news...there was even a couple of rather hastily-shot reaction videos uploaded to YouTube.
This was mushrooming out of control.
Pepper leaned her heavy head on one hand and blinked listlessly. "I'm going to need a lot of coffee to get through this." She muttered. "So much coffee."
(Pepper had been speaking mostly to herself, so when FRIDAY's voice unexpectedly piped up, she nearly jumped out of her skin)
"The machine is freshly washed and ready for brewing, Ms. Boss." Tony's AI said perkily, somehow managing to sound sympathetic. "Would you like me to heat the water now?"
Pepper blinked, then rubbed a small piece of matter out of her eye with a sigh. "Oh yes, thank you, FRIDAY." A pause. "And could you also tell Tony whenever he wakes up that I'm in the kitchen?"
"Of course, Ms. Boss."
Rolling her neck slightly to work out the kinks, Pepper shot off a text to Candy (Thanks for the heads-up. I'm on it. - P) before folding up her laptop and making her tired, shuffling way out of the suit and down the hallway to the kitchen. She passed Vision's room where the android was meditating in the lotus pose...while hovering three inches off the top of his bed and cradling a fishbowl in his hands.
Pepper barely even gave him a second glance.
Once in the kitchen, she made herself an extra strong mug of Pepper's Pep-Up - the coffee blend Tony and Rhodey had given her for Christmas last year - and set up shop in the breakfast nook, tucking a blanket over her legs for extra warmth. She scrolled down through the Search Results, skimming through every blog post and social media comment with a nervous, writhing pit in her stomach.
Two weeks. Could they not go more than two weeks without some kind of disaster?
Sipping at her coffee and fuming quietly to herself, Pepper composed two emails, one for Danny - head of SI's New York legal team - and one for the PR Department Manager Monique. Then she placed a call to Happy who, after demanding rather brusquely if she knew what time it was, agreed to drive out to Queens as soon as he could get dressed. Given how fast things were progressing, someone from Peter's school might see the article and identify him at any moment, and Pepper didn't want the Parkers to get caught off-guard if and when that happened.
What. A. Mess.
TBC...