September 25th, 2016

The Mandarin – The Real Story. Q&A with Pepper Potts.

Peter was looking down at his paper that he was about to turn in, trying to tune out Flash's bragging.

He was such a tool.

"Did you see Tony Stark's latest video? I will totally win the $500 gift card." He crowed. "I mean obviously the last person is his doctor. He gets into so many scrapes, he'll need her to get wherever he is."

And damn, that's a good point but he isn't going to tell Flash that.

"But I know who it isn't." Here we go. Looks like Flash realized who was there. "It isn't Penis Parker, that's for damn sure." He sneered. "Looks like soon, you'll be exposed for the liar you are. Tony Stark said he only took college kids."

"He actually said he mostly took college kids. But details were never your strong suit, were they, Eugene?" MJ spoke from behind Flash, causing him to spin around quickly. Peter quickly hid a smile. "That was why we lost the Decathlon last year, wasn't it?" She pressed.

Flash looked around. "No…"

"So, Cleopatra isn't indeed Egyptian?" Peter bit a laugh back. Trust MJ to hold onto the grudge of Flash not knowing that Cleopatra was indeed Greek, despite being the last active ruler of the Ptolemy dynasty of Egypt.

"So what?" Flash stepped towards MJ. MJ rose an unimpressed eyebrow.

"Who doesn't know that Cleopatra was Greek?" She asked sarcastically. "She was the only Roman ruler to try and learn the native language. Maybe that's why she was so liked, despite her not being male."

"You and your stupid feminatzi views. Who cares." MJ crossed her arms.

"You'll care when you realize you being such a dick won't get you laid." She tossed her hair and made her way next to Peter, ignoring the frankly insulting things that Flash threw at her as she left.

MJ and Peter didn't say a word to each other as class began but Peter nonchalantly pressed his leg against hers, sharing the lab table perhaps a little closer than usual.

"Hello, interwebs! This is Tony Stark and above all else, I am an engineer…" Tony smirked. "And today I have with me, Pepper!" Pepper smiled and waved at the camera. Her hair was beautifully straight, and she looked like she was dressed in normal work attire. "Today we're discussing the Mandarin! What actually happened?"

"Okay, to start…Tony's an idiot." Pepper started.

"Hey!" Tony complained.

"It's true." Pepper stood firm. "Who else would go on national television and ask for their enemy to come visit their Malibu house?"

"Yeah, fair point." Tony groused.

"We've never really had the chance to talk about it, as we were both busy, recovering… and the media always tries to control the narrative. But we can tell the truth here." Pepper smiled.

"Yes. So Malibu. I loved Malibu, how about you?" Tony turned to Pepper.

"I did like it there. It was a different speed, than here in New York. But, it kind of felt like you were in a bubble, temperature wise." Pepper said, causing Tony to nod.

"Christmas Day and Fourth of July felt the exact same." Tony agreed.

"There is something quite charming about how it gets so cold here in the winter but nice and temperate in the summer. But I do miss the west coast beaches."

"The beaches!" Tony moaned dramatically, causing Pepper to roll her eyes.

"And I loved the mansion there."

"RIP."

"You made it die, Tony." She stated, exasperated.

"First of all, Killian did that, not me." Tony declared.

"Uh huh. Why don't we talk about Happy and how we noticed what was happening." Pepper changed the subject.

"Sure. So, Happy has been my driver and bodyguard for a lot time. We are friends. And the bad guy, Killian, almost killed Happy. I came out of the hospital and a reporter asked me if I had any words and then I just happened to give my address out. I was able to escape with a suit, Pepper got kidnapped…I landed in Tennessee…and then I saved the day!" He crowed.

"You missed a lot in between point a and point b there, Tony." Pepper dryly commented.

"SparkNotes version."

"Uh huh." Her voice was amused. "Well, I was indeed kidnapped by Killian and his goons. They were playing with some biological warfare level stuff. Making a serum to regrow limbs, regenerate, be super strong…But if it got too hot, you literally exploded. They injected it into me and I technically saved the day. Tony was getting his ass handed to him."

"I was not!" Tony complained. "I had it totally under control."

"Uh huh." Pepper rolled her eyes to the camera.

Tony sighed.

"Anyways… What's your full name?"

"Starting the interview to change the subject?" Pepper dryly asked.

"Name."

Pepper sighed. "Virginia Potts, nickname Pepper."

"How'd you get the nickname?" He asked.

"I'll take it to my grave."

"Spoilsport."

Pepper just smiled.

"Education." He demanded.

"Bachelor's in Accounting." Pepper smirked.

"Right. She found an error and I hired her for my PA. She was destined for better things, god bless her." Tony wiped away a fake tear. "What is your official title?"

"I am the CEO, or Corporate Executive Officer, of Stark Industries. I handle new contracts, overview the departments and make sure they aren't causing us to go up in flames and attempt to manage Tony's workload."

"I manage his workload." FRIDAY sassily replied.

"You do a great job, FRIDAY." Pepper complimented.

"I know." FRIDAY loftily agreed.

Tony bit back a laugh.

"Anyways…" Tony interjected. "The viewers leave a ton of comments about our relationship. Do you want to take that on?"

"I guess." Pepper said reluctantly. "Tony and I aren't together anymore. We are still friends."

Tony waited a few more second before saying with a laugh, "Pep, they want a little more detail than that."

Pepper twisted her mouth.

"Okay…" Tony drew out the word. "Well, Pepper broke up with me, for extremely valid reasons. And perhaps my delicate man feelings were hurt but I'm alright. I'm working on my health and she's working on hers and it's fine. We're friends, we're healing…"

"Boss, the primary comment left is something you've chosen to ignore." FRIDAY's voice came through a speaker.

Tony clenched his teeth. "For a reason, FRIDAY."

"Well, I'm sure the viewers want to know…Will you ever get back together?" FRIDAY asked.

Tony and Pepper looked at each other and looked away awkwardly.

"Well, I'll never say never but not right now." Pepper said awkwardly.

"Well, that's all. Bye!" Tony waved at the camera before turning it off. "Uh, bye!" He zoomed off to his lab leaving Pepper there all by herself. She sighed before getting off the couch.

She made her way to the elevator and hesitated a second too long before an alarm took over the floor.

"PROTOCOL TAKE OUT TRASHY HO! ALERT! ALERT!" FRIDAY's voice screamed over the speakers.

"Jesus, FRIDAY, I'm going." Pepper stepped into the elevator. "Stubborn AI." She grumbled as the elevator's door closed.

"Shouldn't have broke Boss' heart." FRIDAY replied salty. Pepper didn't have a reply. Mostly because the elevator doors were closed.

But still.

FlowerPower: TBH I'm still sad Pepperoni is no longer a thing…

TonyStark: Pepperoni?

FlowerPower: OMG. Hi Tony – it's your couples name! I love your YouTube channel!

TonyStark: Genius name. And thank you, Lily!

FlowerPower: How'd he know my real name….

DrearyMarie: Protocol Take Out Trashy Ho! OMG I'm dyinggggg.

WishesWerePennies: I wish we could have had a tour of his Malibu place. It looked crazy huge from the aerial view on the news.