Celia rolled onto her back, staring up at the ceiling in frustration. The party stuff added in with the Steve stuff equalled no sleep for her so far. And there was no way she was going to crawl back into Steve's bed, not after assuring him that she'd be fine on her own. Celia was perfectly fine while Steve was out of town, but backsliding now would just make him worry even more. Tossing around in the bed all night felt like torture though.

"Hey Jarvis, is Steve asleep?" Celia asked.

"Captain Rogers is currently resting peacefully, would you like me to relay a message for you?" Jarvis replied.

"No, please don't," Celia whispered, crawling out of bed. She walked over to the dresser and slid on some more appropriate clothes. "Can you have the elevator ready to take me to the common floor?"

"As you wish." Celia felt kind of weird conspiring with a computer to sneak off, but that was her life now. She couldn't risk staying on this floor and waking Steve up though. Celia tiptoed across the floor, not relaxing until the elevator doors closed behind her. She knew Steve would figure out she hadn't slept, but that was a conversation she'd deal with in the morning. For now, she was going to sit on the common floor, hopefully alone, and snack on some junk food while pondering her life choices.

After digging out the super sugary cereal Clint had stashed in the back of the cupboard, Celia settled at the counter with a bowl and thought about the upcoming weekend. Wrapping her head around starting at the clinic on Monday had been enough to deal with, but socializing with people in positions of power was verging on too much. Life in the tower was pushing her so far out of her comfort zone, and it was only just beginning.

"Oh hello, I thought I was the only one still up," a voice sounded from behind her. Celia choked on her mouthful, trying to cough up her startled swallow. Someone sneaking up on her was something she'd probably never get used to, especially when it was a voice she'd never heard before. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"S'fine," Celia gasped, pounding on her chest a little. What would choking half to death even look like for her? Continuously losing consciousness just to wake up and suffocate on a throatful of cereal? That sounded like something to leave a mystery.

"Do you need me to grab you something?" the woman offered, sliding over a paper towel. Celia took it gratefully, covering her face while she got her breathing back under control. What a way to make a first impression.

"Thank you," Celia said, clearing her throat. Of course she would run into someone looking fresh and put together at 2am in this god forsaken tower. "Ms. Potts, right?"

"Yes, but Pepper is fine. And you are?"

"I'm Celia, I-"

"Oh right, Steve's girlfriend," Pepper nodded, walking to the fridge to grab a bottle of water.

"No, um- what?" Celia stuttered, shaking her head in denial.

"That's what Tony told me," Pepper explained, rolling her eyes as she stepped back over to the kitchen island. "Clearly I have to take all of his stories with a grain of salt."

"We're not dating, I'm just living on his floor. Which is in your tower. Oh jeez, I never even thought to make sure it was okay with you. Everything just happened so fast and Tony said it was fine, but if you have a problem with it, just say the word. I can be out in like ten minutes," Celia stammered. At this point, being kicked out was sounding pretty desirable.

"Oh no, you're welcome to stay," Pepper brushed off, opening her drink. "You know, if you don't want to share a floor with Steve, there are other places we can put you. Don't believe Tony when he says there is no room."

"No, I wanted to stay with Steve, it's fine."

"Oh?" Pepper asked, raising an eyebrow as she took a careful sip.

"It's not like that. It's just- it's complicated," Celia said with a shrug.

"Ah yes, I know what that's like. Tony and I have been complicated for a while now," Pepper said knowingly. Celia didn't bother arguing the point. She was pretty sure their particular brand of complicated involved sex, which was a whole different level of complicated she had with Steve. "So what are you doing up so early? Tony told me Steve liked to get up early to go on runs, but this is a little extreme."

"No, Steve's still sleeping, as far as I know. I'm just a little too stressed about the clinic party this weekend to sleep," Celia sighed, jabbing her spoon into her now mushy cereal.

"The gala, of course. That's actually what I'm here for. What's the problem?" Pepper asked.

"I just found out about it a few hours ago and I'm completely unprepared. It's not really my scene," Celia explained. That was a bit of an understatement.

"He likes to do that. Springing things on people so he can see how they react under pressure."

"Well, I kind of yelled at him through Jarvis, so I don't think I passed his test."

"Oh no, that's a good thing. You can't let him get away with stuff," Pepper laughed, tipping her bottle in cheers. "So what makes you think you're unprepared? It's just a party."

"I was prepared to face scrutiny because of the job Tony was kind enough to give me in the clinic, but I didn't think I'd be put in a position to have to defend my role to people who are only there to give money. I'm much better at proving my worth through my work, not arguing my case. What if I'm not good enough and they pull the funding? I don't want to be the reason people don't get their clinic," Celia explained, feeling a little better now that her fears were out in the open. Pepper might be a stranger, but she had a calming, older sister vibe to her that made you feel like you could trust her.

"I don't really think you need to worry about the money. Stark Industries has enough funds to cover the clinic with no help, Tony just likes to dig into people's pocketbooks because he can. And it keeps them from giving as much money to the competition. As for the other stuff, are you confident in your abilities? If you are, you shouldn't let anyone question them," Pepper said firmly.

"I know I'm good at what I do, but they aren't going to see that version of me. They are going to see the woman who is rough around the edges and wearing an ill-fitting pantsuit," Celia groaned, resting her head in her hands. She'd gotten her last job through a teacher from her school, so she wasn't used to having to put herself out there for things like this. Slinking around in the shadows was much more her style.

"An ill-fitting pantsuit?" Pepper questioned with a curious look on her face.

"I don't really have anything to wear. Even my fanciest item would make me stick out like a sore thumb," Celia admitted. The last time she'd worn anything remotely nice had been for her court dates years ago, but those hadn't fit anymore and she'd given them away. Celia had spent quite a bit of time indulging in her newfound freedom and had eaten everything she hadn't been able to before, gaining a bit of weight in the process. She was happy with where she was at now, not realizing how unhealthy she'd been before. There was no better diet than living in constant fear.

"Well, that just won't do. A big key in acting the part is looking the part," Pepper determined, looking at her critically. "What size are you?"

"Really, you don't need to worry about me. I'm sure I'll find something appropriate. You probably have so much to do to get ready for the event," Celia said, feeling uncomfortable from all the attention. She could use some of her emergency funds just this once to find something that wouldn't be too obviously low quality.

"I insist. I would hate to go and have a good time knowing you were uncomfortable, especially when it's something that can so easily be fixed."

"But why? I don't mean to sound rude, but why would it matter how I felt? We're basically strangers."

"If you're living here, that means you're important to Steve. And if you're important to Steve then you're important to the team. And since I like to consider myself team-adjacent, you're important to me as well," Pepper said with a smile. "Now, what size are you?"

"A ten, I guess? I haven't bought clothes with a number size in a while, so I'm not sure," Celia admitted. She was used to labels that measured in mediums and larges.

"Jarvis, can you scan Celia and run a search on dresses that can be picked up later today and send the information to my tablet? Do the same in my size as well, I could use something new," Pepper directed, sending her a wink.

"Of course Ms. Potts," Jarvis responded.

"You really don't have to do all this," Celia tried again. Why didn't she stay in her bed? She was never leaving Steve's floor alone again.

"I want to. We can even make a day of it. It would be the perfect excuse to take the day off work. When's the last time you had a girl's day?" Pepper asked.

"Never?"

"Oh, that just won't do. Jarvis, clear my schedule for the day," Pepper said, wagging a conspiratorial eyebrow in her direction. Celia tried to smile back, but she was worried. This was going to be a long weekend.