I still do not own the Avenger's films - Nor have I seen them... still. I have been busy! I have seen Thor 2 now though! I am working my way through them - slowly.

TapTap

"Whoa, Steve, should I be jealous?" Bucky chuckled at the sheepish face of his best friend. Steve Rogers entered the room with a slight smile, carrying what Bucky judged to be approximately 50 kilograms of mechanical engineer.

"She had fallen asleep in the workshop, and Tony was about to blast AC/DC at full volume down there." Steve shrugged, movement unbothered by the fact that he was casually carrying a whole person, small as she was. "I thought I'd better move her somewhere she wouldn't be waking with a massive crick in her neck, either."

Bucky chuckled again as he went to open the door to one of the small guest rooms on the communal floors for Steve. "Probably a good idea. He really needs a better couch in there if he's going to keep an actual human being in there with him for so long." He ignored Steve's "be nice" glance in his direction and pulled the comforter away for him to lay her down. Removing her shoes, they then tucked her in and left before this could be considered less helpful and more creepy, even by modern standards. Their own moral guidelines, dated from the fifties, already considered it as very doubtful behaviour.

After that, they returned to their film, forgetting about the occurrence (perhaps they were a bit too used to having to manhandle Tony into bed being a regular thing) as they went up to their own floor.

It was at six am, when they were in the kitchen cooking breakfast, that they were reminded by a loud curse from her guest room. While Steve raised an eyebrow, Bucky chuckled. "She really has been spending quite a lot of time with Stark!" His friend merely snorted.

It was another minute or so before Claire Thomas emerged from the guest room, looking very wary. She relaxed a minuscule amount at seeing where she was, as if she hadn't known before. "Good morning!" Steve greeted her, making Bucky roll his eyes at how cheerful he sounded. Typical Steve.

"Good morning... how did I end up in there?" She asked, voice somewhat doubtful. She was seemingly trying hard not to be suspicious. Bucky didn't judge, and Steve didn't notice what was behind the question, which attempted to be casual.

"You fell asleep in Tony's lab, so Steve carried you upstairs. We just removed your shoes and got you a duvet, hope you don't mind," Bucky told her before his oldest friend could tangle himself up in too long of an explanation, returning to his coffee.

"Oh. She relaxed visibly at that, then seemed to register the scene in front of her. "Oh! I didn't mean to intrude or any..."

"You're not," Bucky assured her. "Natasha stayed over at Pepper's place yesterday, otherwise she would be here, too. The others are rarely awake this early, but it happens. Tony will appear and demand coffee after his all-nighter any minute, you'll see!"

Laughing, seemingly relaxing, she came forwards, accepting Steve's offer of some pancakes gracefully, and sat down next to Bucky, allowing him to pull out a chair for her without remarking upon their old-fashion manners. A surprising number of women these days apparently found it condescending, or at least quaint, so it was encouraging to think that maybe she genuinely didn't mind it.

"So, how's working with Tony?" Bucky asked, making Steve pause with pouring milk into his glass.

"Great, actually. It is engineering at a level I have never seen before, of course." She bit her lip, before seemingly coming to a decision and adding, "he's never condescending, either. It is surprisingly common that people don't think a 'blond little girl' can be a decent engineer. Sure, he dumbs things down a bit too much sometimes, but that's probably just because he always has to simplify a little bit no matter who he talks to".

"Probably," Bucky agreed, grinning across the table to Steve, "he's not driving you crazy, then?"

She shook her head with a slight grin "No. I don't mind his... eccentricities."

"Well that's great, mini-me, because I am about to be very eccentric!" And that, that was what announced the arrival of Tony Stark for breakfast. They were too used to it to even mind, any more, though he could have done with a shower.

Pepper looked at the search tab and blanched. It felt like the room spinned even more than it already had. She had not been feeling well, not for several weeks now, and had finally summoned up the courage to do a medical search online. Which, of course, you should never do, but this time, she felt it was warranted.

After dismissing a few outrageous (and impossible: she was completely certain she was neither malnourished nor had scurvy, for one) options, the answer was staring her right in the face.

Taking a few slow breaths, Pepper Potts closed her eyes for a few moments, opening them again with sheer force of will. It was an online search, not a test result. She was CEO of Stark industries, not a quitter, and she would get through this. It might not feel like it at the moment, but she would, she told herself. It did not feel real, and perhaps it wasn't.

She would need a medical appointment. She didn't want one. Now, someone less responsible, more like Tony, would summon courage, take a few days. Pepper wanted to do that, too. She knew that she couldn't. She had responsibilities. She would need all the time she could possibly get to plan if she was really right: Stark Industries would need all the preparation she could give it.

And Natasha. Oh, Natasha. She was finally happy with Natasha, who had already lost so much... and she would know. Of course she would, just from Pepper's voice or face, or anything, that something was very wrong. Oh, what was she going to do?

"Stop fussing," was the the immediate answer her brain supplied. Get a medical appointment, get your facts. Plan. Get yourself together and just do it. Well, that sounded about right.

With that, Virginia Potts rose, got her jacket and closed down the search field which still screamed it out in its black letters. Brain tumor.