Wanda/Pepper

*** I own nothing. I'm just having fun. ***

"I just can't believe you, Tony. What were you thinking? 'A suit of armor around the world' is your idea of peace?" Pepper stared at him open mouthed, completely flabbergasted.

"Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time," Tony said with a sardonic, yet flirtatious smile.

"Most of your ideas do," Pepper replied. "And Where was Bruce in all this?" She stopped herself at the hurt look in his eyes at the thought of his missing friend. "You know what? Never mind." She sighed heavily. "What am I gonna do with you, Tony? I mean, first you destroy all your suits, and I think you've given Iron Man up, and then you start Avenging again, and now this. Do you have any idea of the PR nightmare you've created? Not to mention that the team destroyed an entire city."

"Hey! That wasn't completely our fault." She raised her hand at Tony's defensiveness.

"I get that, but this company, the one you gave me control of, it's involved in cleaning up the mess. Your mess. Again." Tony shrugged, and even though she knew he was acting this way because of his deep sense of guilt, she still let it get under her skin. Her patience was wearing thin.

"Well, it is still my company. I mean, my name's still on it and everything," he quipped.

Pepper wanted to scream, pull her hair out, something. Talking to Tony when he was like this was about as productive as banging her head into a wall. She growled and threw her hands up.

"What do you want from me, Pepper? You want me to tell you I'll stop Avenging now? That I've seen the error of my ways? That's what I'm trying to do! I'm trying to make this right." He opened his arms to her, his face alight with hope, but she'd been fooled before. She'd believed him the last time he made this promise. Tony was great at the grand gestures, not so great with the follow through, and she didn't want to let herself in for that again, damn it. Even if she did still love him, and always would.

"Just stop, Tony," she said sadly, and his face fell before he quickly recovered and resumed his usual devil-may-care facade.

"I'll prove it to you, Pep. You'll see," he said with forced lightness, and the smile she sent him was strained.

"Sure. We'll see," she said, unable to take away his hope, but she pressed her hand against her hip where her soul mark lay, wondering if things would be different now if he was her soulmate. Wondering if she would've been enough to make him want to change.

Weeks went by, and Tony was true to his word. He kept to the sidelines, preferring to work on tech than actually going into the field. He spent a lot of time tinkering with and improving the gear of the other Avengers. Pepper watched them make appearances sometimes while she was on the phone in her office, and she had to admit that Tony was taking good care of them. She was proud of him for sticking to his guns on this, so far anyway.

She was also proud of him for being able to accept the female Maximoff twin into his life in any way, after what she'd done. Wanda Maximoff was a pretty young woman, who rarely smiled, it seemed. Not that she had much to smile about these days, with her twin gone. Pepper couldn't imagine the pain the girl had and was going through. Still, the Scarlet Witch, as they were calling her now, had hurt Tony and the rest of the team very badly, and Pepper couldn't help but feel angry with her for it. Tony was moving past what happened, though, or attempting to. The least she could do was try to manage the same.

The problem was the presents. Tons of them, of varying degrees of ridiculousness. From rooms full of flowers, to entire displays full of candy, to the finest jewelry, concert tickets, dresses... He was insane. She told him to stop more than once, but he insisted, something about wanting to "spoil her."

She wasn't happy. Tony's money was never what she wanted.

Pepper suggested he donate to charities instead, and so he did, in her name. She didn't have to feel guilty about that, at least. His money was going towards good causes, not thrown away on a relationship she wasn't sure she even wanted anymore. Tony was trying so hard to win her back, had been on his best behavior since returning from Sokovia, but it hadn't made any difference to her heart.

She sighed loudly as she walked through the new Avengers facility, headed for the armory. She hadn't been in the building before, and she had to admit she was impressed. Tony had converted the property into an amazing complex for the Avengers' use. They weren't just training here, they were housed here as well, which Steve had been adamant about, citing team building concerns. She probably shouldn't know so much about the inner workings of the team, but Tony didn't keep much from her these days, both for personal and professional reasons.

Tony had insisted she come by and see it sometime, and today seemed as good a day as any. He was holed up here all day, working, so maybe they could have lunch and really talk. Tony wasn't great at the whole 'expressing emotions' thing. He could talk rings around anyone, and never say what was really on his mind. If she was really honest with herself, Pepper knew it was way past time to tell Tony this wasn't going to work. She just didn't feel the same way she used to.

When she reached the armory, Tony wasn't alone. The Scarlet Witch herself was standing there, modeling her new uniform while Tony took notes of any adjustments he needed to make. They both looked up when she walked in, and Tony's face lit up with a wide smile.

"Pepper! You finally decided to grace us humble beings with your presence," he joked. "Wanda, meet Pepper Potts, head of Stark Industries. Pep, you know Wanda."

Pepper smiled at the young girl, who nodded at her in greeting, face expressionless.

"You are the one Tony says puts up with him at great personal cost," Wanda said in acknowledgement.

Pepper's eyes widened in recognition of those words even before she registered the sting on her hip, the Flare of her soul mark.

"Is that what he says?" she asked without thinking, and finally got a reaction from the girl, a flash of wide eyes and slight hitch in her breathing, but Wanda covered it well, face going back to inscrutable within moments. Tony seemed to sense something was amiss, but shrugged it off and looked back at Wanda.

"Well, being with me does have its benefits," he said, smiling broadly and winking at the girl. Wanda ignored him, face blank.

"Are we finished?" she asked blandly.

"Yup. We're good. Take it off and I'll make it all better." Pepper cleared her throat at his choice of words, raising an eyebrow, but Wanda was already shrugging off her coat. To her great relief, and regret, Wanda didn't need to remove anything else. Pepper swallowed hard as Wanda walked towards her, pausing only when she was right next to Pepper, close enough for their shoulders to brush. Pepper looked into Wanda's eyes and she could swear she felt some sort of connection snap into place.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Pepper," Wanda said softly, face still expressionless, but eyes speaking volumes.

"The pleasure was all mine" Pepper said, and a jolt shot through her at the flash of heat in Wanda's eyes. The girl said nothing else, just took her leave, and Pepper turned back to Tony and wiped a hand over her face.

"We need to talk," she said simply.

Pepper knocked on Wanda's door, feeling more than a little trepidation, but unable to stay away.

Her talk with Tony hadn't gone well, of course. He was hurting, so he acted out. By the end of their lunch, he'd had way too much to drink, and she called James Rhodes to come get him. She loved Tony, and she always would, but she couldn't and wouldn't be his keeper anymore.

Lost in her thoughts, she gasped when the door swung open. Wanda stood there, looking as if she'd been waiting for Pepper to show up. She gestured for Pepper to enter her room, and Pepper could feel Wanda's eyes on her as she walked in on shaky legs and looked around. The room was still pretty bare, even after all these weeks being here, and she wondered how Wanda was really doing, because so far, the woman she'd seen wasn't doing very well.

The sound of the door closing brought Pepper out of her trance. Wanda was gazing at her warily, and Pepper gave her a nervous smile.

"Hi," she said, her mind too full of questions to focus.

"Hello," Wanda said quietly, her sultry voice sliding down Pepper's spine like liquid heat. God, she hadn't reacted to someone like this in...ever. This was visceral, instinctual. Her entire body felt this woman's presence. "I'm glad to see you again so quickly," Wanda continued. "I had hoped." She didn't say anything else, and silence settled between them.

"I don't know what I'm doing," Pepper blurted out suddenly. "I had just decided to end things with Tony, and then there's you, and I really wasn't expecting this. I have no idea how to handle it."

Strangely enough, Wanda smiled.

"I don't know what I'm doing either. I'm here, alone. A new country, new people, new everything, with people I swore to destroy." She grimaced. "And without my brother," Wanda said, pain now naked upon her face, and Pepper's heart broke for her. She stepped forward and wrapped Wanda in her arms. The younger woman slowly embraced her back, holding on tightly and shuddering as she held in her tears. "Can you feel it?" Wanda whispered into her neck. "Do you feel me like I feel you?"

Pepper shivered at the feel of Wanda's breath on her skin, and couldn't deny it.

"Yeah. I feel it too," she said. She released her hold on Wanda and backed up a step to look her in the eyes. "You hurt my friends, though."

"I did," Wanda said. "I am trying to atone for the things I've done." If Pepper had worried that Wanda would always be difficult to read, her worries were put to rest. Now that the girl was talking, her face was alive with emotion. She could see the fear of rejection baldly apparent in her eyes.

"I'm trying to get past it," Pepper said. She reached up to brush her fingers over Wanda's cheek, and the girl caught her hand and held it there, leaning into her touch.

"Please give me a chance," Wanda said, her voice trembling. "I would never harm you." Her eyes were pleading for acceptance, for forgiveness.

"It's okay, Wanda," Pepper said, smiling softly. "I know."

"I can't lose you. I just lost him. I can't lose you too." Wanda's voice was hoarse with emotion. Obviously words weren't going to be enough. Pepper leaned in and kissed her, her lips moving firmly but slowly over Wanda's. Wanda leaned into the kiss, not deepening it, but savoring.

They were both breathing a little shakily by the end of it. They stared, then reached for each other at the same time, fingers intertwining.

"I'm coming out of a relationship with a ton of emotional baggage," Pepper said.

"And I'm an emotional wreck with powers no one understands," Wanda replied.

They laughed together, finally at ease.

"We'll be just fine," Pepper said, confident in that, at least, and she leaned in for another kiss.