Look at me, pretty much double updating. These characters are adorable.
I am not Marvel and I do not mean to infringe on their stuff.
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"Claire?" The CEO watched as the young (though exceptionally talented, if one was to believe Tony; and if there was any field in which Pepper trusted the father of her yet unborn child without any reservation, it was engineering) engineer looked up at her voice and smiled when she saw her.
"Miss Potts! Tony went to have a nap... which I conclude actually means 'sleep for two days straight'. He takes some getting used to, that's for sure." Pepper noted how that smile grew even warmer when the younger engineer spoke of her mentor.
"You seem to settle in well, though. You've been a huge help these last few months. And it is Virginia - or Pepper. You don't have to keep calling me 'Miss Potts'. You don't call Tony Mr Stark, now do you?" she added reasonably.
Claire chuckled. "No, but titles are for adults. Would you include Tony in that definition?" Pepper laughed and conceded the point.
"Did you want to talk to me about something?" Claire questioned, considering that the older woman didn't seem like she was thinking about leaving. Or often came by the workshop, for that matter.
"How are you faring with the paperwork, with your hand?" It was audible how Pepper was stalling.
"I am fine. It is mostly just sorting, and Jarvis helps. I can cope. Bruce said it will be all healed in a week or two." Claire's voice was softly self-assured, not worried. She had come a long way since the day of the injury, when she worried about her place.
"Alright... and how are you faring with the work in general?" Pepper's tone was both more to the point and more cautious, as if she was getting closer to whatever question she was avoiding.
"It is fine. Good, even. Tony gives me a few unusual tasks sometimes, but I manage well, I think." At the older woman's questioning look, the young engineer elaborated. "Tony delegated to me weeks ago to manage my own schedule. I am glad that technically you are my boss - Tony is too absentminded. I understand his thinking in such cases though; it is easier for everyone that I manage those things. He's not good about 'normal people hours' or that sort of... problems. It doesn't bother me or anything."
Pepper looked at Claire for a moment, studying her, before she nodded. "Tony can be eccentric. You are good for him, though. I just hope his influence isn't bad for you," she admitted.
Claire smiled warmly in response, looking down onto her papers for a moment, finding words, before she responded. "I don't think so, unless you worry about the occasional curse word. I learn a lot about engineering working with him, but he is a nice person, under the whole playboy persona. I feel safe with him - and with me, that means a lot."
"Don't fall for him though. I can give that advice from experience." Pepper sounded like she didn't know herself if she was worried or just joking. She couldn't help but smile, anyway, when Claire burst out laughing.
"Yeah, I think I am safe on that account. Much as I love Tony, he is a little old for me. It might sound strange, but he's the favourite uncle I never had," she confessed softly, relieved to look up and see Virginia Potts warm, recognising, understanding smile. It seemed they got one another perfectly.
If anyone had been actively been watching the gentle closeness between Bucky and Steve, any time when the couple was curled up together on the couch or cooking side by side, they might have noticed (or been baffled by) the softness between them at all times.
Some might be expecting two men as fierce as them to be rougher between themselves, but they never were. Whether it was hands entwined or good morning kisses, the two treated each other with a reverence which came not only from respect, but history.
Steve had lived through the scare of seeing Bucky go to war without him, only to scare Bucky in return by following. He had seen his best friend fall to his death, stumbled upon him brainwashed and had eventually recovered him injured.
In return, Bucky had memories from when he was not in control of his own actions, of trying to kill the one man he'd least want to hurt; and endless other, earlier memories of caring for his weaker, ill, fragile friend. All of that history mattered, even now, to the both of them, making grips gentle and eyes loving, even though they technically did not need to be cautious with one another. Physically, that is. Mentally, they really needed to.
Some of their teammates could tell, of course, while others didn't. Thor was oblivious, and Tony pretended to be, though they all knew him too well by now to believe his shallow persona. It had doubtlessly once been the truth, at least in part, but they knew better than to believe it was the truth any longer.
No one ever thought anything other than that Natasha knew absolutely everything (and that would be correct), though for once, Pepper might not be around enough to know and might reasonably miss it. Clint was surprisingly oblivious for someone with hawkeyes, and Bruce saw most everything but spoke of very little.
Claire, too, saw much more than she spoke of, but her eyes always filled with warmth when she saw them together, like now, when Steve was frying a wook while Bucky chopped vegetables, the both of them standing so closely together that their hips brushed against their partner at every move.
Maybe, Bucky thought as he welcomed the young woman - looking tired after doubtlessly much paperwork - into the kitchen, that was why she found it so easy to trust the two of them. Because she saw, and she knew what really mattered to the two of them - no matter what anyone else might tell her of their personalities. Symbols or fighting tools, warriors or soldiers, he and Steve were really about trust, loyalty and caring for your family. And he knew, he just knew, that Claire understood that; and he didn't doubt that she could guess that she was counted within that definition. Neither one of them had ever had a little sister before, but it was a good feeling.