The next day, Pepper strode into the rec room and called out, "The notary's here!" Tony and Happy were in the middle of a boxing match. "Can you please come sign the transfer paperwork?" "I'm on Happy's time," Tony called back. He punched Happy in the face. "Sorry," he said quickly as the he jolted backwards. "What the hell was that?" the bodyguard demanded. "It's called mixed martial arts, it's been around for…three weeks," Tony replied. "It's called dirty boxing and there's nothing new about it," Happy retorted.
"Alright, put'em up, c'mon," Happy said. Then his gaze turned to behind Tony. The billionaire turned around. The woman standing there watching them was gorgeous, with shoulder length, deep red curls. Her low cut shirt and tight pants were bordering on the edge of inappropriate for work. "I promise you this is the only time I'm going to ask you to sign over your company," Pepper said drily.
Tony watched as the woman told Pepper, "I need you to initial here, and here…" Happy punched him in the back of the head. "Lesson one, never take your eye off your…whoa!" he yelled as Tony kicked him in the chest, to the other side of the ring. A quick flurry of punches and they were finished. "That's it, I'm done," Tony said as he picked up his bottle of Gatorade.
"What's your name, lady?" he called out, pointing to her. "Rushman, Natalie Rushman," she replied. "Front and center," Tony ordered. "Please enter the church." "No," Pepper said. "You're seriously not gonna…" "If it pleases the court, which it does," Tony replied. "It's not a problem," the woman said, striding forward to enter the boxing ring. Before she stepped in, she kicked her heels off. Tony held up the ropes for her to enter.
He was right that she was gorgeous. Auburn hair, full lips, pale skin, deep green eyes…Tony took a drink of Gatorade. She watched him the whole time. "Ah," Tony said. "What?" he asked at the small smirk on her face. She said nothing. "Can you, uh, give her a lesson?" he asked Happy. "No problem," the bodyguard replied as Tony stepped out of the ring.
"What?" Pepper asked as he walked over. "Who's she?" "She is from Legal, and she is potentially a very expensive sexual harassment lawsuit if you keep ogling her like that." "I need a new assistant, Boss, I need a new assistant," Tony replied. Pepper didn't look up from her phone. "Yes, and I have three excellent potential candidates; they're lined up and ready to meet you." "I don't have time to meet, I need someone now, I feel like it's her." Pepper finally looked up, but she didn't look at him. "No, it's not."
Tony could barely hear Natalie's conversation with Happy. "You ever boxed before?" the bodyguard asked. "I have, actually, yes," she replied. That wasn't expected. "What, like Tae-bo? Booty boot camp? Crunch, something like that?" She looked down as Tony called out, "How do I spell your name, Natalie?" "R-U-S-H-M-A-N," she called back.
"What, are you gonna Google her now?" Pepper asked. "I thought I was ogling her," Tony replied as he searched the SI employee database. "Oh wow. Very, very impressive individual. She's fluent in French, Italian, Russian, Latin…who speaks Latin?" "No one speaks Latin, it's a dead language." Tony zoomed in on one of the photos, of Natalie in some very suggestive lingerie. "You can read Latin, or you can write in Latin, but you can't speak…" "Did you model in Tokyo?" Tony interrupted. ""Cause she modeled in Tokyo." He could faintly hear Happy's boxing lesson in the background. "Well…" Pepper said.
Natalie began to turn around as Tony said, "She's everything that I need." "Rule number one," Happy said condescendingly. "Never take your oppo…" he began to punch her, but she caught his glove and twisted it. He twisted in pain, and she flipped, grabbing his neck between her thighs and taking him down. "Whoa," Tony said as Pepper cried out, "Oh my God!" Natalie let him up as Pepper came over. "Happy," Pepper called. "That's what I'm talking about," Tony said, impressed.
"I slipped," Happy said. "You did?" Tony asked. "Yeah," Happy said as Tony hit the bell twice. "Looks like a TKO to me." Natalie climbed out of the boxing ring. "Oh," she said as Tony came up to her. "I, um, need your impression." Tony got a thoughtful look on his face. "You've got a quiet reserve, I don't know, an old soul…" "I meant your fingerprint," she said, extending the ink and the contract. "Right," Tony said.
"So how we doing?" Pepper asked as she came over. "Great, just have fun, okay?" Tony replied as he fingerprinted the document. "You're the boss," he said as Natalie snapped it closed. "Will that be all, Mr. Stark?" Natalie asked. "No," Tony said, just as Pepper said, "Yes, that will be all, Miss Rushman, thank you very much." The woman turned and left the room. Tony and Pepper watched her leave. "I want one," Tony said. "No," Pepper replied.