Running through the house made me realise how fucking big the Stark mansion really was. It also made me realise how much quicker I was than Coulson. I was down the stairs and punching the keypad to the workshop so hard I was sure I was going to break it. Locking the door behind me, I turned around the massive room to try and find Tony. He wasn't hard to find.
What I definitely wasn't expecting, was him sitting in front of several really large screens idling flicking through a file with my photo on it. My old USAF ID photo. My anger quickly grew. Not only was he snooping through my phone, he was now going through my files.
"Did you know SHIELD has your file locked up tighter than a nun's virtue?" Tony said, his tone light and joking. He didn't even bother to turn around to face me. "Your old USAF record was very easy to find though. Why it hasn't been deleted it beyond me. Your boyfriend was easy to find too."
"I don't have a boyfriend," I said through gritted teeth. "Why the fuck are you going through my phone and files?"
"Curiosity," Tony said like it was the simplest thing in the world. "Nice shot of your ass by the way, especially to someone who isn't your boyfriend. Is he gay? He'd have to be to not make a move on you."
I started to grind my teeth as I took a step closer towards Tony. He didn't look too tough. I could probably whip his ass quite easily. Coulson wouldn't mind a little maiming, he might even approve of it.
"Huh, look at that. Your not boyfriend was an Army medic," Tony continued like he didn't care he was about to get an ass whooping. "Decorated too. Must have seen some action."
That made me falter. Instead of getting Tony in a choke hold, my head snapped to the screen he was currently looking at. On it was a photo of Greg in the same standard issue terrible military ID photo that I had, except in an army uniform. Private First Class Gregory Lawrence Anderson of 68W, the US Army Combat Medic unit. Funny how that had never come up in conversation. Part of me wanted to go looking through his record, but then I quickly reminded myself why I was here.
"Stark I swear I will beat your ass if you don't get out of my phone and files right now," I managed to get out through my gritted teeth.
"I'm curious about why SHIELD has your files so tightly sealed up," Tony asked, turning around to face me. "And why a fighter pilot decided to join SHIELD completely out of the blue. You know, I think I heard Rhodey mention you a few times. And the word mutant might have gotten thrown around with your name too. So what's your power hot stuff? The ability to eat whatever you want and still look thin?"
"None of your fucking business." 2 minutes and my patience was already gone. Though a small part of me wouldn't mind freezing the screen that had all of my information on it. The paper thin computer monitors looked top of line and incredibly expensive. But then I'd give into his demands on actually showing off my powers.
"That's an interesting one," Tony said with his infuriating smirk he did so well. "Maybe it's the ability to not be that great at undercover. Cuz I'm guessing that was your brother and he's really not an arms dealer otherwise SHIELD would be very unhappy about that."
Fuck me, that felt like a life time ago when Jared and I did that night of undercover work in Vegas. Before I could snarl off a reply, the door to the workshop swung open despite me locking it and Coulson came walking over. Unlike me, he looked very calm and not at all surprised about Tony's current snooping.
"Please don't go through Kari's phone," Coulson said with all the patience in the world. "The threat of tasing you and watching SuperNanny while you drool into the carpet still applies when you're annoying my agent."
"I just like to know who I'm working with," Tony replied with a shrug. My files on the screen quickly disappeared with an unseen movement from Tony. "God, you're no fun Agent."
"And you're meant to be working on a very big problem you currently have." Coulson didn't rise to the bait. I suppose after having a teenage Clint in the house, not much would rattle Coulson these days. "Not annoying my helper. Like I said before, she's Natasha's protege and just came off 2 weeks of learning to torture someone. I have no problems with her maiming you a little if it keeps you on task."
I knew Coulson wouldn't have a problem with me maiming.I covered my glee as best I could but I could still feel a little smirk tugging at the corner of my lips. It'd serve Tony right too if I smacked him in the face. I'd never know someone to be so infuriating.
"Pfft, whatever," Tony rolled his eyes and opened up a new screen. "Maybe you can make her help me. Someone with a near perfect SAT score and who gets into both Cal Tech and MIT for aerospace engineering has at least half a brain."
The man had done his digging, I had to give him a little bit of credit for that.
"Not a chance." I refused to be standing here any longer than I needed to. "I'm going to bed."
With my declaration, I turned on my heel and stormed out of the room. As I opened the door, Tony's voice called out to me.
"You're welcome for the coconut oil."
If I wasn't so annoyed, I may have felt a little guilty. He had done a nice thing getting the coconut oil for me. But the way he went about it was completely the wrong way. I stormed through the mansion and slammed the door to my guest room. I was tired and tomorrow would hopefully be a new day. I didn't bother to check my phone, I flopped down onto the bed face first and pulled the pillow over my head. It didn't take long for me to pass out again and not wake up until the sun was starting to peek over the horizon.
I groggily dragged myself back out of bed and went to the bathroom. The sunburn on my body ached terribly this morning. I could barely move because the skin felt so tight. It took me far longer than it should to get the aloe vera and coconut oil on. A little part of me wanted to throw the coconut oil out due to Tony's snooping. But it helped, a lot more than I would ever admit to him. Once I was dressed, I stumbled out to the kitchen in desperate need of a caffeine hit.
Coulson was nowhere to be found, which wasn't surprising for the early hour. I stared at the coffee machine, willing it to work without me having to touch anything. Unfortunately, telekinesis wasn't my power and I had to use my hands for the machine to work. It didn't take long to get a cup brewed and it was gone before the machine finished doing my second one. This one I savoured, as I went over to the table to read through my phone. I hovered over the unread text from Greg from late last night, my mind going to what I saw in Tony's lab.
Greg was a mystery to me in so many ways. I really had no idea why we had this strange little friendship going. Beyond those few drunken messages, he'd never shown any type of attraction towards me. But there was something I couldn't put my finger on. I sighed into my coffee cup. It was too early for deep thoughts. I was over thinking shit as usual. What went on in Greg's past was none of my business. If he'd seen action, there was probably a very good reason he's never brought it up. There was plenty of stuff Riley never brought up from his time as a SEAL and I never dug into it either. Thinking about Riley brought the familiar stab of pain that I was so used to these days. It made me wonder if there would ever be a time when I didn't miss him. There were still some days where I missed him so much it made my heart ache. I put my head into my hand, rubbing my temples wearily. It was too early and I was still way too jet lagged to have my brain run away on me. Especially on the Riley train of thought.
It took another 2 cups of coffee, banana and apple to get me up and moving. I forced myself back into my room and got dressed for a run. It was the last thing I wanted to do right now, but I needed to get my body back into some sort of routine after the last 2 weeks of none at all. A morning run would probably do my brain the world of good too.
The mansion was quiet as I walked out after getting dressed. Not even JARVIS disturbed me as I stepped out into the fresh morning breeze. The salty air perked me up considerably but the sand kicking into my shoes quickly drove me insane. I kicked them off, wandering to the edge of the waves, staying far away enough that the sand was still damp but I wasn't getting wet. It was still a struggle to pick up even a slow jog, but I pushed myself to keep going. The first few minutes were torture. My body struggled at the slow pace, I could feel every muscle in my legs burn from the exertion. No matter how many deep breaths I took, I felt like I couldn't get my breath properly. But I pushed on. It hurt so badly but I finally hit through the barrier and it became a little easier. I ran until my muscles wouldn't cooperate any longer. Then I turned around and enjoyed wading through ankle deep water back to the mansion. I'd be sore tomorrow, but I felt a little bit better.
I went back to the guest kitchen and took the bottle of orange juice out of the fridge, downing half the contents in a few thirsty swallows. I found some bread and my favourite type of peanut butter in the fridge, so that went in the toaster while I was finishing off the gallon of orange juice. I knew I should drink some water, but the fresh squeezed orange juice was pure heaven in my mouth.
"Agent Lyngley." JARVIS' voice startled me. The orange juice nearly came out of my nose at the surprise of hearing him. "I'm sorry to make you choke on your juice, but Agent Coulson asked me to pass on the message that he would be busy in the lab all day with Mr Stark. He suggested you head into Malibu and enjoy the free day."
Another free day all to myself. I must be in the good books in a big way with Coulson. Last time we'd been here it'd been so busy I didn't get a chance to enjoy any time for shopping. I may as well make use of the time while I had it.
"Thanks JARVIS," I smiled up at the ceiling. That was an unexpected surprise. "Any suggestions on where to go?"
"Miss Potts has standing reservations for whenever she needs it Westlake Village Day Spa," JARVIS' reply was nearly instant. "I can book you in if you'd like. There are numerous shopping boutiques near by for you to enjoy after your relax at the spa."
A nagging feeling came into the back of my mind that this had already been planned for me. But it could also be JARVIS being helpful. I'd experienced Pepper's high roller lifestyle last time we were out here. She was very fond of the nice things in life and a day spa like JARVIS suggested wouldn't be out of character for her at all.
"Sounds great." I gave in pretty quickly, pushing the nagging feeling away. I deserved something nice after having to watch someone getting tortured for 2 weeks. The toast popped, startling me once again. I rolled my eyes at my own stupidity, grabbing the peanut butter and smothering it on ridiculously thick. "Can I get a cab in about an hour to go then?"
"A car will be waiting for you when you are ready to leave," JARVIS almost sounded offended that I would ever consider calling a cab. "The booking has been made and confirmed. All your services will be going on Mr Stark's account so please feel free to enjoy anything you want."
Another twinge of nagging doubt hit me hard. Why did I get the horrible feeling I was being shoved out of the house for some reason? Again, I pushed it away as I shoved my toast in my mouth. Coulson always had his reasons. Most of the time he wouldn't share those reasons so there was no point asking. I finished my toast and threw down a protein shake before heading back to my room for a shower and another coating of aloe vera and coconut oil since I sweated most of it off. It didn't take long to get dressed and heading out the door. As promised, JARVIS had a sleek black Bentley waiting out from for me, complete with a man in a suit probably worth more than I made in a year.
"Good morning Agent Lyngley," the man addressed me promptly. He opened the back door of the expensive black car, revealing a crisp cream interior. "I'm Archie, your driver for today. Please get in and make yourself comfortable."
I could get used to this life very easily. I smiled and thanked him, sliding into the leather backseat. I felt very underdressed in my light blue floral sundress and sandals. This was the kind of car you'd rock up to a red carpet event, with an evening gown on. Not something I'd thrown on because it was backless and not going to sit on my sunburn too much. But I was grateful to whoever packed my bag. I at least had a lot of choices to wear out today.
The car had a selection of fruit and bottles of water waiting for me. I happily picked up another apple and sunk my teeth into the red flesh. At least my appetite was good today. The thought of food made me have an interesting idea. I pulled out my phone and scrolled through until I found my last text from Pepper. It was 0730 now, she would have been out of bed for hours now.
I'm in town, wanna catch up for lunch?
I smiled as the message came up as read nearly straight away. It was no surprise that Pepper's phone was glued to her hands, especially being CEO now.
YES! I haven't heard from you in WEEKS! Marchello's at 12pm. Are you staying with Coulson at the mansion giving Tony his ass kicking? Not that I'm meant to know about that. I'll send Happy around to pick you up.
I laughed at the quick reply I got. Pepper was amazing. I wasn't surprised she knew SHIELD was involved in Tony's latest disaster. She had a knack for knowing everything that went on around her. It was a nice friendship we'd formed over our forced time together. I was really looking forward to seeing her again. Maybe, just maybe, I'd get a glance of Natasha as well.
I'm heading out to do some shopping this morning, so I have a car and driver thanks to JARVIS. He sounded very offended when I said I'd take a cab. I'll see you there.
The message came up as read straight away again, but I didn't get a reply. No doubt she'd be neck deep in CEO stuff until lunchtime now. I stuck my nose in my phone, eating my apple and started replying to my messages that came in overnight. I was halfway through replying when my phone started to ring. Evans' name flashed up on the screen half a second later.
"Hi," I answered instantly. It was so rare for Evans to ring me, my mind instantly jumped to something terrible had happened.
"Kari!" Alexi's high pitched toddler voice greeted me instead of Evans. "Kari, Kari, Kari! Missed you!"
"Hey Munchkin," I laughed, feeling my heart rate go back to normal. Cheeky girl must have gotten her dad's phone somehow. "Where's Dad?"
"Sleeping," Alexi said proudly, making a little snoring noise. I snorted, picturing her putting her head on her hands and pretending to sleep. It was 0430 in DC. Poor Evans probably fell asleep in her room while trying to get her back to bed. "Come home soon?"
Alexi's speaking was really coming along in leaps and bounds. Even after 2 weeks she was sounding more articulate than before. She was going to be a smart kid. Especially if she just figured out how to get into her Dad's phone and call me. Then again, I'm pretty sure Evans had a photo of me attached to my contact details. All Alexi would have to do was look for my face.
"I'll be home soon, I promise," I said, the smile only growing wider on my face. "We'll go to the park and get some ice cream. How does that sound?"
"Yay!" Alexi giggled, I could hear her hands clapping in the background. "No William, just Alexi."
"I promise, just you and me," I tried really hard not to laugh. It seems her dislike of her younger brother wasn't getting any better. "We'll ride on the carousel and anything else you want."
"Swings?" Alexi asked hopefully.
"Only if you go back to bed for me now," I said, seeing if I could bribe her into at least staying in bed for a few more hours. The rustling on the other end of the phone and barely audible little footsteps sounded like I was about to get my own way.
"Okay," Alexi said in a sing song voice. There was more rustling and the phone sounded like it dropped before Alexi spoke again. "In bed now. Read to me?"
"What book are we reading?" I smothered back another laugh. I knew most of her books by heart now I'd read them so many times. There were a few firm favourites I could easily recite to her.
"Hungry Caterpillar!" Alexi's voice was muffled. Of course she'd pick that one. I'd only read it to her 3000 times by now. At least I could definitely recite that one off by heart. The phone was put down again and there was a stretch of silence before Alexi came back on. "Ready now."
"In the light of the moon a little egg lay on a leaf," I started in a dramatic voice, causing Alexi to giggle some more. "One Sunday morning the warm sun came up and POP!"
Alexi giggled even harder at my dramatic popping the P on that word.
"Out of the egg came a tiny and very hungry caterpillar."
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see my driver Archie looking back as discreetly in the rearview mirror at me, a warm smile on his face.
"I'm hungry," I groaned in an over dramatic fashion as I heard Alexi turn the page. "He started to look for food."
As I went through the story, Alexi's giggles got quieter and quieter. By the last page there was no sound, except for the deep, heaving breathing of the toddler finally falling asleep.
"Night Munchkin," I said quietly, hanging up the phone carefully. It felt like if I touched the End button too hard she might wake up again. I stared at the screen, waiting for the call back. But none came. It was perfect timing, as I hung up we pulled into the drop off zone at the day spa. I hadn't realised it was actually at a hotel, a very, very upmarket one. I felt even more out of place right now.
"Contact the valet once your ready to leave." Archie turned around to me with a smile on his face. "Where did you want to go after this?"
"Pepper and I have a 12 o'clock lunch date at Marchello's," I said, feeling awkward that I was going to be driven around. Poor guy would be bored out of his mind while I was in getting pampered and at lunch. "Is there something I can get for you?"
"No," Archie laughed, a more genuine smile on his face this time. "But thank you for the offer. I have a really good book and with 3 kids of my own, I appreciate a few quiet hours to read. Enjoy your spa Ms Lyngley."
"Thanks." I didn't feel any less awkward as I climbed out of the car. Maybe I couldn't get used to a life like this. The spa was situation in a very upmarket hotel. Not something I could afford on a whim. I was very glad I wasn't footing the bill for this little expedition. As soon as I walked in the door, a small Asian lady was instantly greeting me.
"Good morning Ms Lyngley, I'm Li, the day spa manager" she said in a rush, her smile looked strained but friendly enough. "We're so happy to have a friend of Miss Potts visit us. Please follow me. We've cleared the morning schedule for your privacy. I have a menu of our services, please pick anything you want."
She cast a discreet but critical eye over my body as she handed me the thick menu of services. I didn't blame her critical eye, I certainly didn't match someone who would be friends with Pepper Pots. I was wearing a dress I picked up from Target in a 5 star hotel.
"We also have a hairdresser service for anything you require." Her gaze lingered on my hair which I had pulled back in a neat french braid. "Though I would like to compliment whoever does your colour normally. Thats an impressive platinum shade."
"It's natural." I fought back the sigh that always came when I had to tell people that.
"Many people would kill for that shade, especially around here," Li said, not looking the least bit embarrassed at her fumble. We came to a large set of glass doors which Li opened effortlessly. A swanky, modern looking lounge opened up to me with several doors leading into other rooms. A nearly folded up robe and slippers were waiting for me on one of the chairs. "Please, get changed and make yourself comfortable."
Like a ninja, she was gone before I could ask anything else. I shook my head with a small chuckle to myself. This morning was turning out very interesting. I got changed like I was told, enjoying the feel of the obviously expensive robe around me and sat back down opening the service menu. I forced myself not to look at the prices and quickly settled on what I wanted. As soon as I closed the menu, Li and a team of therapists were all at my side.
"What will it be today?"
The hours passed in a blissful blur as I enjoyed my massage, facial, mani and pedi and a haircut with a scalp massage that sent me to sleep in the basin. I thought my sunburn would get in the way, but the therapists were all amazing. I barely felt it as experienced hands soothed my daily aches and stiff muscles. The day spa I'd gone to a few times with Laura had nothing on this place. The temptation to cancel lunch and stay here for the rest of the day was great, but wanting to see Pepper won in the end. With a fresh haircut, waxing up to date and the light make up the hairdresser talked me into, I actually felt good enough to step into Marchello's without any trace of embarrassment.
What I wasn't expecting, was Natasha to greet me at the door. I did a double take and had to squash down my glee at seeing my best friend again. She had a cool look of indifference on her face, still in her undercover role. But her green eyes were sparkling with barely contained mirth.
"Good morning Ms Lyngley, I'm Miss Potts' assistant. If you'd like to follow me, she's already at your table," Natasha's voice was a cool and professional as she looked. Her crisp business suit and heels were a different look than I was used to. She didn't wait for an answer from me, she turned on her very nice looking green satin heels. I was pretty sure those were my heels. No wonder I couldn't find them when I went looking for them a few weeks ago.
As we walked through the restaurant, Natasha's hand came behind her back and she discreetly slipped a piece of paper into my hand. I pretended to look at my phone and slipped the note into my handbag without looking at it. No doubt it'd be something good for me to read after lunch. Maybe a secure line we could gossip and bitch on without anyone else knowing. I didn't have time to ponder on it, we came to our table with Pepper sitting at it. She was on the phone, like always but hung up instantly when she saw me.
"It's so good to see you Kari!" Pepper jumped out of her seat and pulled me into a tight hug. For a skinny person, Pepper had a very good grip.
"You too Pepper," I smiled, hugging her back just as hard. "God it's been forever."
"I know." Pepper released me, holding me at arms length. "You look great, come on lets eat. I'm starving and I've already ordered a bottle of champagne."
"Dom Perignon?" I asked with a small laugh, thinking back to our last lunch. "You look great too. Very CEO like."
Pepper looked ever inch of the power woman she really was. Gone were the neat suits that blended her into the background. Now she was dressed sharply in a skirt suit that screamed for your attention.
"Of course," Pepper grinned back at me, sliding into her chair. I did the same and as soon as my ass hit the chair our entrees were brought out and champagne poured. I went straight from my champagne, ignoring the oysters kilpatrick for the moment. The glass paused at my lips as it hit me what happened last time after I drank this. I'd nearly thrown myself off the roof of our apartment building in the suffocating grief I felt back then. If it wasn't for the incredible group of friends I had around me, I might have ended up doing that eventually. But here I was. Healthy and having more good days than bad. It was a long journey, but at least I was on the right track.
I caught sight of Natasha watching me discreetly from her table a few away from us. She was on her phone, but even at the glance I got of her I knew she wasn't paying attention to it. The little tilt of her head as she watched me meant I was in for an interrogation Romanoff style once we could get together. I gulped down the champagne quickly, pushing aside the thoughts of unhappier times for later. Perhaps with a less expensive bottle of alcohol as well.
"So," I began, picking up an oyster. They were the biggest I'd ever seen in my life. "Tell me everything. I want all the details."
"God, where do I even start?" Pepper took a huge drink from her glass, one that was less than refined. "What have you heard?"
"Only what's on the news."
Pepper launched into the story of how reckless Tony had been since he'd come out of the world with his Iron Man armour. I'd heard most of it, but coming from Pepper it sounded worse. The missing piece of her puzzle was that she didn't know the arc reactor was killing him. So Pepper assumed the worst and thought he was being the arrogant asshole he always was. I didn't miss the subtle shift in the dynamics of their relationship though. There were definitely feelings beyond boss and assistant happening between Pepper and Tony. Neither of them would admit it, but it didn't take a genius to see that Tony making Pepper CEO was to make sure she was looked after for the rest of her life.
We'd finished our main course and first bottle of champagne by the time Pepper's story wrapped up.
"So what's been happening in your life?" Pepper asked, casually sipping her drink. "Besides getting hurt and staying in hospital for ages. Can you talk about that yet?"
"No," I grimaced a little bit. "It's so classified. I'm sure it'll be buried forever due to the mess we made. All I can say is Jared and I were so lucky to keep our jobs. I'm pretty sure Coulson was going to kill us both for the stunt we pulled."
Pepper had gotten a very condensed version of what happened in Pripyat. All she knew if we were somewhere classified and nearly got ourselves blown up.
"It hasn't all been that bad though." I sat back against my chair feeling very stuffed. The lobster Pepper had ordered for mains was nearly too much for me to fit in. "I did a fighter jet demonstration a few weeks ago at Langley. That was a lot of fun."
"I heard about that from Rhodey," Pepper said with a small smile. "He was very disappointed you never called and then turned down his job offer."
"I know he was," I chuckled. "At least he was polite about it. As much fun as it was being back in fighter jet, I also remember how boring the day to day stuff could be. At least in SHIELD my day to day stuff keeps me busy. Like baby sitting megalomaniac billionaires."
"You need a pay rise for baby sitting that certain megalomaniac billionaire," Pepper snorted, picking up the champagne bottle and topping us both up. "Do you know what SHIELD are going to do with him?"
"Keep him out of the spotlight until the press dies down I'm assuming," I lied a little while taking a drink. "I don't know. I just do as I'm told, occasionally."
"Well, if you need to get out of the mausoleum he calls a house, I live 5 minutes down the road in a perfectly normal sized house," Pepper offered with a smile. "You're more than welcome to come down for wine and nachos. I leave for New York the day after tomorrow though. I have to oversee some things happening at the Stark Expo. Please, lets talk about more normal things. How's Alexi?"
Pepper rolled her eyes at the mention of Stark Expo. I snickered in my champagne glass. I guess I wasn't the only one who thought it was Tony's ego blown out of control. Talking about Alexi and her antics was always a good way to lighten up anyone's day.
"As cheeky as ever, I had someone over the other night and she threw up all over me in front of him. I was mortified but then she also escaped from the bathroom and made me chase her around the apartment half naked." I shook my head, feeling my cheeks go pink from embarrassment just thinking about that night. "She rang me this morning too. I had to read to her over the phone so she'd go back to bed."
"I really hope that wasn't a potential date," Pepper laughed. "What a cheeky but clever girl. She sounds like a handful."
"No, just a friend. He was one of the doctors on my ward. She's such a handful but I love her anyway," I laughed as well. You had to with Alexi otherwise you'd cry instead. "William is cute too. For a baby anyway."
Not that I'd gotten to do much with my god son. Any time I went near him, Alexi demanded my attention back to her. I don't think I'd done much beyond hold him for about a minute. I couldn't wait to get back to DC to see them. Even from the pictured Abby sent, they both looked like they'd grown in leaps and bounds in the 2 weeks I'd been away.
"You sound like me when it comes to babies," Pepper chuckled, leaning back in her own chair looking very comfortable and happy. I didn't miss the subtle glances she kept throwing at her watch though. "Everyone my age is basically all settled down and now starting the whole baby stage. While I'm here running an international company and still eating ice cream for dinner most nights."
"At least you eat dinner. Most nights I'm having a beer and passing out afterwards," I chuckled with Pepper. There was a decent age gap between us, but we led very similar lives in a lot of ways.
"I've lost track of how many times I've fallen asleep on the couch these last few weeks while trying to catch up on TV shows." Pepper shook her head, but the amusement was clear on her face. "Never in my life did I expect this to happen."
"Believe me, I know that feeling all too well." At least I could speak from experience with being thrown in the deep end of life. "I think you'll be the best CEO Stark Industries has ever seen. You've practically run the company for the last few years. At least you're getting paid for it now."
"The pay is definitely one bright side of this job," Pepper giggled a little. "The stress that comes with it, that I'm not so sure of yet. Speaking of stress."
The good mood on Pepper's face fell away as she checked her watch again.
"Time to go save the world?" I joked trying to bring a smile back onto her face. It'd been such a nice lunch we had together. I didn't envy her at all having to go back to work for the rest of the afternoon.
"No, thank you," Pepper said dryly, but a small smile tugged at the corner of her lips. "No matter how much Tony insists I need an Iron Man, or Woman suit, I'm drawing the line at that one. You are more than welcome to go and be a superhero though."
"As long as I don't have to wear a cape, that sounds like fun," I grinned at Pepper as we both got up from the table. She reached over and gave me a firm hug.
"It's been so good to see you again," Pepper's voice was a little muffled in my shoulder. "I'd like to say don't be a stranger, but we're both workaholics. So I'll just enjoy this moment until we see each other again."
Being a friend with Pepper had been very easy. We had such different lives, but intertwined each others ideas and personalities so well.
"You too," I hugged her back just as hard. "Don't work too hard and we'll do wine and nachos when you get back from New York."
As we released each other from the hug, Pepper's phone started to ring. She sighed irritably and glanced at the screen.
"Back to the real world," Pepper grumbled staring at the screen before sending the call to voicemail. "Please, stay for dessert if you want."
"If I eat anymore I'll bust," I said honestly. Pepper had gone a little bit overboard with ordering today. She had remembered my love of seafood and didn't hold back on bringing it all out. "But I'll go and walk it off by enjoying some clothes shopping."
"Have fun." Pepper gave me another brief hug before walking out, with Natasha right on her heels.
I picked up my glass and drained the last of the contents. It felt so weird just walking away from the table without getting the bill. But Stark Industries had an account here, I knew that from the time we were here last. After not paying for my morning pamper or lunch, I was itching to go and spend some money. It'd been ages since I had a shopping splurge. I walked outside and Archie was there waiting for me right at the kerb, back door already open.
"I feel the need to make my credit card cry," I said to Archie as I slid into the backseat. "Any suggestions?"
"I know just the place."
While Archie got into the car, I dug into my handbag and snuck a look at what Natasha had given me. It was an address and time, nothing more. While we drove, I put the address into my phone, seeing what Natasha had in mind. It came up with a small Mexican restaurant, nothing extraordinary, just a step up from a hole in the wall type place. The meeting time was for 1800, so I had plenty of time to kill before then.
Archie pulled up to a smaller mall, with the promise of some really good shopping. It was a mix of high end stores and smaller boutiques. The hours easily passed as I casually went from store to store, enjoying taking my time and spending far too much money. I'd be eating ramen for the next month, but it was worth it. It was 1745 by the time I dragged myself out of the shops, arms full of bags. Archie was right there waiting for me at the kerb, exactly where he'd dropped me off.
"Sorry," I apologised with a small smile. "I got a bit lost for time in there."
"Don't apologise, here let me take those." Archie came forward and relieved most of the bags. "Did you want to go anywhere else Miss Lyngley?"
A small stab of guilt hit me as I thought of heading out to see Natasha. The poor guy had been waiting around for me the entire day. Knowing Natasha and I, we could be having dinner and drinks for hours. There was the small problem of I wasn't meant to be seeing Natasha either. I really didn't want to head back to Stark's place and head out again. It'd look a lot more suspicious than staying out.
"Can you drop my bags off back at the mansion?" I asked, putting on a sweet smile. "I've got a personal matter to attend to and I'm not sure how long I'll be. I can catch a cab back later."
"I have firm instructions about dropping you off once you're finished," Archie said with a firm smile. "No matter how long that may be."
"Then, can I have you drop me off a block away and ring you when I'm done?" I changed tactics for my approach. "I'd prefer to do this discreetly."
"Believe me, there is nothing I haven't seen or heard before," Archie said with a small laugh. "I will drop you off, you ring when you're done and pick you up again. I promise your location and who you're with will remain a secret."
"Thanks," I grinned, feeling relieved. That was a lot easier than I thought. I told Archie the address and in return he gave me his phone number. It didn't take long to get there and with a firm promise I'd call when I was done to Archie, I stepped inside. The smell of tacos made my mouth water despite the huge lunch I'd just had. Natasha was easy to find, she was in the corner overlooking the entire restaurant. A habit I still hadn't picked up. She caught my eye and inclined her head towards the seat, a grin spreading across her face. A near identical grin started to creep onto my face as well. This was going to be worth the trouble we'd get into.
"Hey stranger," Natasha said, standing up as I got to the booth. "Long time no see."
She didn't give me a chance to reply before pouncing on me, wrapping me into a hug so tight I could barely breath. I hugged her back, just as hard. It'd been far too long since we'd seen each other. There weren't any words the describe how much I missed her.
"Too long." I held onto Natasha for a few more seconds before letting go. This would be worth the trouble we'd get into late. "You look amazing."
Unlike me, Natasha had put the weight back on she'd lost after Pripyat. Even dressed down in casual cargo pants and a black tank top, Natasha still had a very polished look to her. Her make up was minimal, but flawless. Her normally chipped and chewed nails were manicured and her hair purposely curled and styled.
"So do you, I love your haircut." Natasha gave my blonde locks a small flick of her fingers. She hugged me again, not as hard this time. "Come on, lets eat I'm starving."
"Are we eating real food, or hard liquor and pretending there's a plate of nachos in every bottle?" I joked, letting go of Natasha and sliding into the booth.
"Oh we're having tequila, there's no getting out of that," Natasha laughed brightly, twisting around to look for a waiter. "But I have a serious nacho craving thanks to Pepper."
"I could go for nachos if we're having tequila," I grinned but inwardly cringed. Tomorrow morning wasn't going to be pretty at all.
The waiter came over quickly, taking our order and not even raising an eyebrow at Natasha's insistence of bringing over an entire bottle of tequila. As the waiter finished up, my phone vibrated in my handbag. I fished it out, glancing at the screen. It was from Greg.
You've been quiet all day. Is everything all right? Hows the sunburn?
I wrinkled my nose as I stared down at the screen. I'd ignored my phone since I turned it on silent at the day spa. There was another few messages from Greg on there as well. I wasn't ignoring him on purpose, but there was still that nagging feeling I had about him. It was so frustrating.
"Greg?" Natasha asked, breaking through my train of thought.
"Yeah." I put my phone back in my handbag. A reply could wait until later. I could at least talk this over with Natasha and sort my head out. "Fucking Stark went through my phone last night and went digging through Greg's history. Did you know he was an Army medic?"
"Yeah, I knew about it." Natasha looked at me, her head tilted to the side. "I don't think it was a good time in his life. He wouldn't talk about it at all. I only found out because I watched Coulson doing his security clearance paperwork. When I asked him about it, he clammed up pretty quickly so I dropped it."
"So, no reason to be pissy that he hasn't told me about it?" I asked Natasha. I needed her brutal honestly more than anything right now.
"No reason at all." Natasha shook his head. "I did a bit of digging and he went through some shitty times in Afghanistan. He got discharged on medical reasons, PTSD actually. So I wouldn't touch that with a 10 foot pole if I were you. Not unless he brings it up."
"Duly noted," I said wryly. We all had our demons and I was more than willing to let this go very quickly. Thank god for Natasha and her habit of snooping. "So, I just spent a fun 2 weeks learning interrogation off Rumlow. Hows your time here been?"
"Did he teach you how to waterboard to really fuck with people's heads?" Natasha asked, her eyes sparkling with humour. "Its boring here. I hate it."
Those words were enough to make me know Natasha didn't want to talk about work right now. This was a girls night out and we needed happier topics. Like interrogation and torture.
"Yes," I chuckled a little, but I sobered up. "I hated it. I felt like I needed to go scrub myself in bleach every time I was in that room."
"Who was it that was being interrogated?" Natasha asked, reaching over the squeeze my hand. "It's ok to feel grossed out about it. I'd be more worried if you weren't to be honest."
"Dante Gunnarson." I wouldn't forget that name in a hurry. Natasha wrinkled her nose at the name. "Nasty piece of work apparently."
"And has ties to the crazy bitch who calls herself Madam Hydra," Natasha said, spitting out the name like it left a bad taste in her mouth. "Good riddance to one less piece of shit in the world. I hope he rots in the Fridge for the rest of his life."
Before I could reply, the waiter came over with our bottle of tequila. There was also 2 fruity looking frozen cocktail as well.
"Courtesy of the gentlemen at the bar," the waiter said in his heavily accented voice, tipping his head towards 2 guys in suits who were watching us with confident smiles. They were dressed a little too nicely to be in a place like this. But they weren't completely out of place. Amongst the families and couples, there were also a few suits and designer labels as well. Being in Malibu there could be a movie or sports star sitting 2 tables away and you wouldn't notice unless you looked carefully.
"Thanks." Natasha smiled at the waiter but completely ignored the 2 men. I snuck a glance over to them, only to see the dark haired one scowl in our direction. Someone obviously didn't take rejection too well.
"You don't want to invite them over and see if we can score some expensive booze off them?" I suggested, turning back to Natasha who was slurping down the cocktail.
"Nope." Natasha popped the P in the word. "Girls night, just you and me. If they come over and cause a stir, we're lesbian lovers."
"Some guys like that," I chuckled, but I know I'd go with the plan anyway. "I told the asshole that was in the interrogation with Rumlow and I that you and me were lovers. He threw the whole 'I'm fucking Barton and it's the only reason I'm here' line at me."
"When will guys learn to be creative with their insults," Natasha rolled her eyes, but looked amused at the choice of insult. She had heard the same thing in her time in SHIELD.
"I also said that we let Barton watch sometimes, but he isn't allowed to touch. I thought Rumlow was going to choke on his tongue," I said with a giggle. "I guess he liked that mental image."
"Oh god lets hope not," Natasha groaned, but a snort of laughter escaped as well. "He spent the first year when I joined SHIELD talking to my tits. He does not need any encouragement thinking about me naked."
"Speaking of STRIKE guys and your tits." The thought came to me suddenly. "Have you heard from Sam lately?"
"Mmm." The sound of non commitment coming from Natasha as she took another long drink was confirmation enough for me. I looked at her with raised eyebrows, patiently waiting for a real answer.
"Stop looking at me like that," Natasha scowled at me. She reached over and undid the lid on the tequila, pouring out 2 shots. "Drink."
"Cheers." I picked up the shot glass and slammed the tequila down in one swallow. It was cheap and nasty, burning down my throat and stomach. I coughed, my eyes watering from the burn. I quickly chased the burning feeling away with a sip of my cocktail. The frozen strawberry margarita did little to quench the burn, but it got rid of the horrid after taste.
"Oh that's fucking nasty," Natasha gasped, switching to Russian in her mild horror as she stared at the bottle. "I guess it'll have to do now its open."
"How many shots will it take you to tell me about Sam?" I teased, my voice a little hoarse from the harsh alcohol. There wasn't much I could tease Natasha about, so I was going to take every opportunity I could.
"Fine." Natasha gave in easier than I thought she would. There wasn't any pouting on her behalf, just another shot being poured and a smile she kept trying to hide. I didn't complain when she handed me the shot glass again. I threw it down with a grimace and quickly chased the burn away with a long gulp of margarita.
"So?" I prompted Natasha with a giggle. My head was already spinning from the tequila. If we kept this pace up, I'd be passed out under the table before our nachos came out.
"I may have flown him out here once for the weekend." Natasha cleared her throat, her cheeks going a faint shade of pink. Though that could have easily been from the cheap tequila we were drinking. "Maybe twice, could have been three times. Who's counting really."
"Apparently not you," I said with mock seriousness. It took about 3 seconds of each of us trying to keep a sombre face before we dissolved into giggles.
"Last weekend was to cheer him up," Natasha confessed, pouring us yet another shot. "Did you hear he got suspended? Like not allowed at the Triskelion until the drama is cleared up suspended?"
"No?" I felt both my eyebrows raise into my hairline. I hadn't heard that bit of news. "Not Sam, he's a good boy. What the fuck did he do?"
Despite his big mouth and loud antics, Sam was one of the better behaved STRIKE boys. He and Riley used to have that in common. Neither of them ever caused any real trouble.
"The team was at the range and Cobb and Sam got into an argument," Natasha explained, pushing the now full shot glass over to me. "Sam kind of shot Cobb in foot because he said something not too nice about Riley."
I closed my eyes and grimaced on Sam's behalf. Part of me was angry that Cobb would ever dare even think something bad about Riley. Maybe when we got back Natasha and I could have a quiet 'talk' with Cobb about him and his ego.
"With a live round."
"Oh fuck Sammy," I groaned, my head falling into my hands. "It just gets worse for him doesn't it?"
"If it wasn't for Evans stepping in, he'd be kicked out, no questions asked." Natasha threw back her shot. I raised my head and eyed off the glass, before doing the same. This one didn't burn quite as much going down. "Evans got him to a psych straight away. Whatever Sam said to the psych gave him a thread to hang onto instead of instant dismissal. It helped that Evans said Cobb deliberately provoked him."
"Do you know what Cobb actually said?" I said, pushing my shot glass away. I needed to stop until I got some food into me. Luckily, Natasha did the same thing.
"No." Natasha shook her head, looking sad all of a sudden. "He wouldn't tell me. All he said was Cobb was lucky neither Barton and I were in earshot. Otherwise the kid would be dead."
"Poor Sam," I sighed. Riley's death was hard on me, but it was just as hard for Sam. They'd been friends for a lot longer than Riley and I dated. He hid his pain so well behind his joking exterior though.
"Poor Sam," Natasha echoed with a small smile. "I think I cheered him up a little. He's gone home to his family for a bit instead of hanging around DC waiting on his fate. Has Barton been talking to you?"
"Constantly." My head reeled at the sudden change of subject. "He must be bored, he keeps blowing up my phone with endless texts. Why?"
"He's driving me nuts too," Natasha said with an eye roll. "It's seriously every 5 seconds. What the fuck has Coulson got him doing? He wouldn't tell me."
"Watching an astrophysicist in the New Mexico desert," I said with a small laugh. It must be driving Natasha nuts to not know what was happening and not be able to go snooping to find out. "I think he's bored. Wanna send him a photo of our nachos and tequila?"
"Fuck yes." Natasha's face lit up with glee. "Speaking of nachos, where the fuck are ours?"
Just as Natasha said it, the waiter came over with 2 plates of steaming nachos. My mouth watered as the smell drifted towards me. Despite the big lunch, my stomach growled in anticipated. The waiter set our plates down.
"Can we get another 2 of these please?" Natasha asked with a flirty smile as she held her nearly empty cocktail glass up. The waiter eyed off our tequila bottle, but gave in to Natasha's pretty smile fairly quickly.
Tomorrow was going to hurt. So bad.
I took a photo of my still half full margarita with the tequila bottle and plated of nachos in view. I sent it to Clint without any explanation. Natasha's fingers were busy on her own phone, smiling at whatever she was replying to. On a whim, I sent the photo to Greg as well with a hastily typed out message.
This is helping me not feel a thing
I put my phone away, making sure it was still on silent. It'd drive Clint nuts to see a photo of what we were doing and neither of us reply to him. It'd serve him right for spamming me so much with his nonsense and emoticon texts.
"Ok, one more shot before dinner." Natasha didn't wait for me to answer. She grabbed the bottle and poured out some more of the horrid liquid. My head was feeling fuzzy just looking at it. But I took the offered shot glass and threw it down, chasing it down with the last of my margarita. The first bite of nachos was spicy but so good. Our margaritas arrived by the time I was onto my third mouthful of spicy beef, so I had another big drink of margaritas to quell my burning mouth.
Bad idea. Very bad idea. Was my last coherent though.
I woke up face down, head pounding, mouth dry as a desert and my stomach giving me serious rebellion against the nachos and tequila. I lay there, trying to breath as quietly as possibly so it didn't hurt my head. Maybe if I just lay here I'd go back to sleep.
Or die.
Either would do me just fine.
"Good morning Agent Lyngley," JARVIS' cheery British voice was far too loud. I groaned, pulling the pillow tighter over my head. "I'm sorry to disturb you, but Agent Coulson requires your assistance in the lab urgently."
Of course he did. At least I'd made it back here last night. Things could have been worse. I forced myself into an upright position, trying not to heave as my body protested the simple movement. I was still dressed in what I wore yesterday, minus my shoes. There was a glass of water and some aspirin sitting on the bedside table. Both of which I gratefully took before attempting to get out of bed. As I got upright, JARVIS' voice came again.
"I'm sorry to hurry you along Agent Lyngley, but it is quite urgent." JARVIS at least sounded apologetic.
"I'm coming," I rasped out. I managed to get out of bed and get changed without puking. I considered that a good start to this horrible morning. Through squinting eyes, I looked at my phone for the time. It was only 0700. Along with the time had a mass of unread text messages. The top one caught my eye straight away. Because it was a name I put into my phone and never sent a message because I was too chicken. It was from Gareth.
So drunken phone calls and attempts at phone sex aren't something I expected of you Knuckles. Gotta say, even though you were wasted it was really hot. Let me know how you pull up in the morning.
What little colour was left in my face felt like it drained away as I read over the text. Fuck my life. Did I seriously do that? I remembered nothing after starting to eat my nachos last night. The rest of the texts were from Greg and Clint. More Clint than Greg. Clint was cursing me for having a night out with tequila and Natasha without him. Judging by the deteriorating state of his texts, he also decided to go out and find a bottle of tequila. His last message was completely illegible except for a smiley face.
"Agent Lyngley," JARVIS prompted me again. "Staring at your phone will not make you move any faster."
"Right." I groaned, forcing one foot in front of the other. It was a long and painful walk through the house. The bright interior made my eyes hurt and my head spin. By some miracle I made it all the way down to the workshop and in the door. I was greeted by a very pissed off looking Coulson. Thankfully there was no Tony in sight.
"I'm sorry, are we disturbing you?" Coulson tapped his foot, arms crossed looking ready to explode.
"Yes."
I blame the remaining tequila in my body and my awful hungover state for saying the worst word I possibly could.
"Too fucking bad," Coulson snapped. "You were brought here to do a job. Not gallivant around Malibu shopping and getting drunk with Natasha, who you were told not to meet up with so she could keep cover."
"You told me I could spend the day out," I tried to make my voice as normal as possible. But I sounded like a pack a day smoker. The excuses sounded very feeble too.
"No, JARVIS told you that. Did you think to check it?" Coulson continued his snappy tirade. I meekly shook my head, not daring to say anything else. Even in my very hungover state, I knew I was in trouble.
"It's not your fault Stark got you out of the house so he could break perimeter as well. That I can deal with. What I can't deal with is you and Natasha deciding to break the rules because you wanted to get drunk together. Breaking the rules is what got her landed in this undercover mission to start with."
"I know," I said, cringing at how loud Coulson's voice was. It echoed around my head, feeling like he was personally inside my skull smashing it with a hammer.
"From what Natasha said, it was her idea." Coulson's voice thankfully dropped to a more acceptable level. "But that still doesn't mean you have to go along with it. So you can sit in this lab and not move unless I tell you, face to face, from now on. If Stark is in here, you are too. If he leaves to take a shit, you sit outside the toilet. Do not let him out of your sight. Understood?"
Coulson's last few words were punctuated very clearly and said through gritted teeth.
"Yes Sir." I didn't bother to argue. I was too fucking hungover to begin with and arguing would make my life hell.
Coulson stormed out of the room without another word. I waited until he was out of sight before collapsing into one of the chairs, pulling it up so I could rest my head on the bench. I was going to die. I hadn't been this hungover in a long time.
"Agent finished ranting yet?" Tony's voice called from somewhere in the lab.
Just when I felt like my life couldn't get any worse, I find out Tony was in the lab all along. I bet he got a real thrill out of hearing Coulson ream me out.
"Oh god, shut the fuck up," I groaned again, my voice muffled by my arms. "This is all your fault Stark. Leave me alone to die in peace."
Something slammed down right next to my head. I jumped in surprise, dragging my burning eyes up to see what it was. In front of me was a blender jug full of something that looked like green sludge. Tony was standing on the other side of the bench, looking very amused at the sight of me.
"Drink up Ice Queen, you don't mind if I call you that do you?" Tony's grin was absolutely infuriating. "We're going to be spending a lot of time together. Do you like AC/DC?"
"If you call me Ice Queen, I will stab you in the eye with an icicle," I said through gritted teeth. I wasn't surprised in the least he'd found out what my power was. The smell of whatever it was in the blender was making me feel even sicker than before. "And I fucking hate classic rock."
"Excellent." Tony reached into his pocket and pointed a remote behind my head. A second later, Shoot to Thrill began blasting so loud I couldn't hear myself think.
"STARK!" I shouted over the music. "Turn the fucking music down!"
"I can't hear you Ice Queen." Only 2 feet in front of me and I could barely hear Tony. "Come on, drink up. This is your fault we both got busted yesterday. We have a new element to create today."
As soon as Tony finished speaking, he turned the music up even further. My head felt like it was going to explode from all the noise. My stomach finally gave up and rebelled against the tequila and nachos. I leapt up from my seat and only just made it to the sink in time. It was a new level of torture puking in the sink with the music playing so loud I couldn't hear myself think.
Seriously, fuck my life. Today was going to suck.
Authors Note
I may have gotten a little carried away on this one. Oops! But I hope everyone enjoys this monster chapter.
300 reviews and favourites. I can't believe this story now has 300 reviews and favourites. You guys are amazing, I cant thank you all enough for your kind words and following of this story.
Shatter Me will be updated within the next week, hopefully, so look out for that one as well. If anyone ever wants to contact me, I have a Facebook page set up under my authors name, or you can PM me on here. I love hearing from everyone and their opinions and insights on how they think things will go in the future. So please don't ever be shy if you want to drop me a line.
I have a few new one shots lined up to come out sometime this month, including one featuring Riley which is adorable, but also sad because he's gone! I may have shed a tear or two writing it, but its from a much happier time. After doing a Marvel marathon, I have a lot of fresh inspiration, so hopefully it'll keep my writing churning along
Until next time.