They finished their lunch, and Tony stood up to kiss his wife goodbye for the afternoon. Pepper asked him what he had planned for the rest of the day. "Oh, a little me time in R&D," he said nonchalantly.

Pepper smiled. "Working on next year's project deadline?" she asked hopefully.

Tony stammered. "Uh...yeah. Yep," he said nodding. "Of course. What else?"
Pepper looked at him curiously. "O-kay," she said, skeptically. "Is there something else you'd be working on?"

Tony spluttered. "No, of course not. That's it. Why?" he asked. He scooted closer to her and cocked an eyebrow playfully. "What have you heard?" he teased, smirking, his voice a low rumble.

Pepper dismissed him. "Alright, alright, just go," she said. "You never miss an opportunity to mess with me, do you?" she asked.

Tony smiled broadly and chuckled. "That's kinda my job," he said.

"You're job," Pepper repeated. "To mess with me?"

Tony nodded smugly. "And I'd say I'm doing it well so far, wouldn't you?" he joked.
Pepper smacked his shoulder playfully. "Okay. Go. Get outta here. Now you're just being a pest."

Tony giggled and she giggled back. He pecked her lips one more time. "See ya' tonight, baby," he said.

He patted her side and turned to leave the office. Pepper smiled as she watched him walk out the door. He smiled and winked at her one last time before he disappeared behind the door. Pepper just stood there, her expression slowly changing from happy to one of concern, with her brow furrowed in thought, and her lips pursed.

XxXxXxXxXx

Tony closed the door behind him, and nodded politely at Bambi as he left. He exhaled once he left the reception area, and shook his head in disgust at himself. "Yeah, real smooth, Stark," he said to himself, as he punched the down arrow on the elevator and stepped inside the opening doors. He pushed the basement button, which would take him to the secured back entrance of the R&D department. It was quicker than going out of the main entrance and walking around the main building to the front entrance of R&D. Plus, if he accomplished what he expected to today, he'd be walking out with something he wanted to keep to himself for the time being. Easy access to parking without a lot of notice from other people was a must. If word got back to Pepper that he was carrying something with him when he left, she'd get very curious, and he'd risk ruining everything. He already knew his near miss just now, in her office, probably already had her thinking.

He was anxious to get to work on what he planned for the images that Nick Fury had sent him. Especially now, since he had a clear deadline on when to complete the project. His conversation with Pepper over lunch had made him realize it was really only just a few short weeks away. Before now, he'd debated about when to show her what he was doing, whether he should wait until completion, or start with the initial pieces, and add to it as time went along. But now it seemed so plain. And it couldn't be more perfect, in his mind.

The elevator doors opened, and Tony walked out. He scanned his access card with the infrared reader. It beeped, and he heard the door locks click. He pulled the door open and walked inside.

"Mr. Stark!" Tony heard a man's voice say.

Tony looked to find Bill Riva bustling over to him, with an arm full of files and folders.

"Mr. Stark!" Bill said again. "I'm glad you came in today! I thought we might talk about the..."

"Sorry, Bill, can't do it today," Tony interrupted. "I've gotta get moving on a little project of mine, but, um," Tony said, surveying the pile of folders and files that Bill was holding. "I can only guess this has to do with the conference next month?" he asked.

Bill nodded. "It does, yes," he replied. "I've got my work cut out for me with this presentation. So, if we could, Sir, I'd like to schedule a time to go over it? To make sure I've included everything you'd like me to include?" Bill asked anxiously.

Tony exhaled. He clasped his hands together, and stepped closer to the man. "I need you to remember something, Bill," Tony said, putting a reassuring arm around Bill's shoulders. "Moving into the automotive sector was your idea. You pitched it to the Board, they liked what they heard, and they funded it, right?"

"Right," Bill said.

"Right," Tony agreed. "So, no sweat, then," he assured. He patted the man's shoulder. "You got this. If you can persuade the Board, the egg-heads at the Clean Energy Conference will be like shooting fish in a barrel. You'll have manufacturers lining up out the door to sign on."

Bill pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I...I guess so," Bill said hesitantly.

"There you go," Tony said, smiling. "I have full confidence in you, Bill. And Pepper does, too. She's looking forward to hearing what you present." Tony beamed at the man, who gave him a weak smile.

"She...she is?" he stammered.

"You bet. You impressed her twice before, both in her office, and at the Board Meeting. Trust me, she knows you can handle this. I know you can handle this," Tony encouraged.

Bill smiled. "Uh, thanks, Mr. Stark," he said, nodding appreciatively. "I won't let you down."

Tony grinned. "I know," he said. "Now, if you'll excuse me."

The men nodded in farewell, and Tony made his way to a private room with a computer, and a large 3-D printer, which stood in the middle of the room. Tony scanned his access card again, and the door locks hissed. He opened the door and stepped inside, his footsteps echoing in the silent space. He softly closed the door behind him, and flipped on the large overhead fluorescent lights above. They clicked and flickered to life with an ambient hum. Tony then pushed the power buttons of the printer. The central processor suddenly whirred and hummed, and the robotic arm at rest in the center of it shifted back and forth to the ready position.

"First things first," Tony murmured. He took a seat on the rolling shop stool in front of the computer and rubbed his hands together eagerly. He turned it on, opened the autoCAD program, and began designing a device into which he could load information via SD card, and translate it to holographic form. It would be rectangular in shape, and would measure 14 inches long by 8 inches wide, standing only an inch tall in total height. It would be made of a black industrial strength synthetic polymer with two graduated steps around the perimeter for decoration leading up to the main space of the flat surface where the holograms would ultimately appear. Tony was quite proud of its artistic design, as it reminded him of something someone would use to display a small sculpture or some other such important artifact.

This was just the housing, however, as he would need to install the processor, the motherboard, and the SD drive in it next. But just knowing this initial step was well underway to completion made Tony smile in satisfaction as he hit the save and print button once his design was finished. He transferred the files to his private server, and swiveled the stool around to watch the process begin.

The robotic arm shifted and clicked as the design schematics were transferred to the printer from the computer files. Soon, the arm moved to its start position and began constructing the real-life replica of Tony's holographic imaging platform. Up to this point it hadn't been necessary to have this platform, as any image he wanted to be created as a hologram could easily be done without it, so long as he was somewhere where the program to read the images as holograms was available, like what he had in the shop in the mansion, or what he currently had in various locations around Stark HQ. But this would enable the images that Nick Fury had produced for him to be accessible without limit, not just in those places. Which meant they could go anywhere, and be viewed at any time, as long as the viewer had the imaging platform he was now creating.

He watched intently as the 3-D printer worked, the platform slowly taking shape. Tony stood up and walked around the printer, circling it with anticipation. Finally, after several minutes, it was finished, and the robotic are went back to its default ready position. Tony carefully lifted it up off the table and turned it over in his hands. "This...will work," he said, with much satisfaction. He smiled and nodded. "This will definitely work."

He shut everything down, and quickly looked out for any of the other employees before quietly exiting the printer room. He snuck out of the entrance he'd come in earlier, with the platform under his arm, and quietly strolled down the corridor to the back lot exit, and out to where he'd parked the R8. He climbed into the driver's seat and sighed with relief. He'd managed to avoid all human contact on the way out, and now felt safe to look over his creation one more time before setting it in the passenger's seat and starting the car.

"Now for the guts," he muttered to himself. He gunned the engine and raced out of parking, anxious to get home to order the parts that would make up the inner workings of the platform.

XxXxXxXxXx

"Bambi, connect me to R&D, please? Tony should be down there, and I need to speak to him," Pepper requested into her intercom.

"Of course, Ms. Potts," the secretary replied.

Pepper waited until her office phone beeped, indicating someone was on hold for her. But after a couple of minutes she didn't get a response. However, the intercom buzzed.

"Yes?" Pepper asked.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Potts. But Mr. Stark has already left," Bambi said.

Pepper frowned. Already? That was fast!, she thought. "Okay, thank you," she said.

She grabbed her cell phone and dialed Tony. He picked up.

"Miss me already?" Tony quipped.

"You're already gone," Pepper said.

Tony was silent. "Uh, yeah, hence the reason why I asked if you missed me. I'm sorry. Did I miss something?"
"From R&D, Tony. You've already left?" Pepper said.

"Um, Yep. Quick day today. Why? What's up? What did I miss?" Tony asked.

Pepper shook her head. "Nothing, really, I suppose. I had a bit of a lull this afternoon, so I started looking for Obstetricians. And I think I've found the one," she said.

"Great!" Tony exclaimed.

"Yeah," Pepper said. "Only problem is that he's booked solid for the next few weeks. I can't get an appointment until the day before I leave for the conference."

"Wait, wait," Tony said. "He? As in a male doctor will be..."

Pepper let out an exasperated sigh. "Yes, Tony. He. He's the best in the city," she replied.

"Yeah, that's no good. No dudes. Seriously, Pep, I have a big problem with..." Tony argued.

"Tony," Pepper warned.

"Pepper," Tony warned back. "No guys. Really. I don't want another guy examining my wife's..."

"Okay, okay," she relented. "He's in a clinic. With two other physicians, I might add. Both of which are female. Better?" she asked.

"Much," Tony said. "So, what's the problem? Are they booked, too?"

"Solid," she said. "And same thing. I'd have to wait until the day before the conference for my appointment." Pepper shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I was hoping to see the doctor sooner than that. I'll be about 12 weeks along by then, Tony. It just seems like a long time to wait."

"So, find another doctor. Honestly, Pep, I think you're over thinking this," Tony said.

"But this women's clinic! It's supposed to be the best in the city! And it's not like they can't see me. They just can't see me right now," Pepper argued.

Tony sighed. "You wanna know what I think?" he asked.

"Yes," Pepper replied.

"Book it," Tony said. "Really. Get in while you can. I want the best doctor you can find. And, clearly, you do, too."

"I do," Pepper agreed.

"So do it, babe. It'll be fine," Tony assured.

"You really think so? It's not too far away?" Pepper asked.

"Hey, we know you're healthy. And by all indications, the baby's healthy, right? No major problems. Everything is clicking along. So...book it," he persuaded.

"Okay," Pepper said. "I'll do it right now."

"That's my girl," Tony said. "And, Pepper?"

"Yes?" she said.

"Stop worrying," he said. "I know you. And I know how you get. But everything will be fine, okay? Wanna know how I know?"

Pepper smiled and chuckled to herself. "How?" she asked.

"Because you're carrying a Stark," he said. "That trumps everything."

Pepper laughed out loud. "Even more than I want it to, sometimes," she retorted.

"Ho, ho!" Tony said. "That's a zinger! She zinged me!" he teased.

They laughed together for a few moments, and Pepper marveled at how Tony could always instantly ease her mind at precisely the moment she needed him to.

"Thank you," she murmured.

"For what?" he asked.

"For everything," she said. "This was weighing on my mind."

"I know," Tony said. "Hey, get outta there as soon as you can, huh? I miss you."

Pepper smiled. "I will," she said softly.

"Good," Tony said just as softly. "I just want you home early tonight."
"Believe me," Pepper said. "I want me home early tonight, too."

"Well, in that case, let me make you deal, Potts," he said. "Come home early, and I promise, I'll make it worth your while."

Pepper smiled coyly. "And you say my hormones are crazy," she teased.

Tony chuckled. "Hey, if one thing happens to lead to another, then...so be it," he purred. "But I'm talking about full on pregnant-lady pampering. Sound intriguing?"

"Ooo, very," Pepper purred back.

"Okay, then," Tony said. "So, shall we say, five-ish, then?"
"I think I can swing five-ish," Pepper teased. "It seems like most of the fires have been put out around here today, anyway, so that should be doable."

"Great. Can't wait," Tony said.

"And neither can I," Pepper said.