Still property of Marvel and company. I'm just having a little fun with them.

sailorraven34: I'm glad I made you laugh. I like to hear that (as long as that's what I meant. I'd probably be a bit embarrassed if someone said one of my love scenes or dramatic scenes made them laugh)

LoverofDogs94: I thought about Frozen, but I figured he probably wouldn't have seen anything very recently, particularly kids type movies. And the Muppet Movie is one of my all time favorites.

Ella: Thanks.

All For Jesus: Glad you're enjoying.

So thankful for all the follows and favorites, too, but I must admit, reviews are my favorites. Here's day 4.


Date Night

Maria sat in a lounge area of Avenger's Tower, skimming through some reports as she tried to ignore Tony Stark. Never an easy endeavor.

Now, he stood in the middle of the room, dozens of images floating in the air around him. He expertly maneuvered them, pulling this one closer, pushing that one away, enlarging or minimizing as he carried on a conversation with Pepper, whose image watched with interest.

"Is that Maria?"

She looked up when she heard Pepper call her name.

He glanced over. "Yeah. Deputy Director Hill. Hard at work No time to chat."

"Hi, Pepper," Maria chimed in, her curiosity aroused by Tony's sudden eagerness to end the call. "Looks like Stark Industries is keeping you as busy as SHIELD is keeping me," she said, leaning back in her chair and watching Tony fidget nervously.

"What is it they say? 'No rest for the weary?'"

"'Wicked,' actually," Maria corrected.

"That, too," the other woman agreed with a smile. "Guess that's why I'm so looking forward to tonight. A chance to sit down and relax with friends. We really appreciate the invitation."

Before Maria could respond, Tony jumped between them. "Talk later, ladies. Lots of work to do. Love you, Pep. See you tonight!" He quickly ended the call and started towards the door.

"Stark!"

He picked up his pace, clearly aiming to be gone before she demanded an explanation.

Suddenly, a bullet slammed into the floor mere inches from his foot. With a startled squeal, he halted suddenly and spun to glare at her. "Are you trying to cripple me?"

"No," she replied, casually sliding her sidearm back into the holster. "If I was trying to cripple you, you'd be in the floor bleeding." She eyed him. "So. Do you want to explain this now, or do I get to beat it out of you?"

He looked uncomfortable. "I suppose I may have told her that you and Patch invited us to join you tonight. Sort of a double date kind of thing."

She rubbed the bridge of her nose and shook her head. "And exactly why would you do that?"

"Self preservation," he explained. "Someone at the office offered her tickets to this experimental theater thing tonight. Sounds absolutely horrible. So I told her that we already had plans. I had to come up with something quick, and since I had just finished reading that strange memo Fury sent out about team bonding activities not causing property damage or posing risk to civilians." She opened her mouth to interrupt, but he held up his hand. "If you're going to tell me that memo was in response to that little incident with Clint, Thor and I at the park, no one was ever in any real danger and the property damage was actually quite minimal."

She shook her head again.

"Anyway, I figured a nice, quiet, evening with the Director and Deputy Director would fit within the parameters he laid out."

"So, let me get this straight. You invited yourself and your wife to join Nick and I for a date night. Were you planning on mentioning this or just showing up at our quarters?"

"No. Weren't you listening? You invited us. And I did tell you. Just now."

"And just what are we supposed to do on this double date?"

He looked at her again. "I don't know. You invited us, remember?" He grinned and moved towards the doorway. "You're quick on your feet. You'll come up with something. I told her you were really excited, so it should be something pretty amazing."

As he darted through the doorway, she pulled out her weapon and fired again. Coming back into the room, he stuck his finger in a new hole that had appeared in his tattered sweatpants.

"Hey. These were some of my favorite sweats," he protested.

"That was one of my favorite bullets," she countered with a shrug.

He studied her warily. "I told her we were meeting you here. I figured when you didn't show, I'd just tell her something came up." He watched her gun hand. "Can I go now?"

She waved him off as she re holstered he weapon again and turned back to the chair where she had been sitting earlier.

Only to find it occupied by her boss and lover.

"And that ends that little drama," he intoned.

She glanced around, then slid onto his lap. "I'd think you know me better than that by now," she replied, giving him a hard look. "Stark wants a date night, he's going to get a date night."

He laughed and pulled her close. "That's my girl. What do you need from me?"

XOXOXOX

Later that evening, Tony in a dark gray suit and tie and Pepper in a pale peach sheath dress, entered the lounge area quietly discussing their respective days. She looked at her watch.

"We're running a little late. You don't suppose they got tired of waiting for us already, do you?" she asked, concern evident in her voice.

The door to the kitchen swung open and Nick walked out carrying a bottle of wine and 4 glasses. Maria was close behind him, appetizer tray in hand.

"Just waiting. We figured that you were probably running on Stark Standard time and would be here about now," the director told them as he set the glasses on the table then turned to take the tray from his girlfriend. He smiled as his gaze took in her short, fitted black skirt and the royal blue silk tank top.

"Have a seat," she told the other two. "Dinner should be ready shortly."

"You cook?" Pepper asked, surprised, as she reached to take the glass Nick offered.

Maria nodded. "Worked my way through college as a cook in a high class restaurant in Chicago."

She accepted her own wine glass and took a sip, covertly watching Tony as he did likewise. His eyes widened slightly as he glanced over at Pepper.

"Interesting little wine," he commented.

Pepper pondered a moment. "Dates?" she finally posed.

Maria nodded with a smile. "It took some searching, but I finally found a small vineyard upstate that makes it."

"Why?" Stark asked.

"I promised you a date night," she shrugged, "So I thought it might be interesting to have a date themed dinner."

"That's so sweet!" Pepper told her. "Tony just loves dates. Remember how excited he was when one of our business partners in California sent that whole case of fresh dates?"

Actually, Maria remembered just the opposite. While he had put on a happy face for his wife, the agent had overheard him confiding to Bruce that he had never been a big fan of dates, figs, or other similar fruits. When asked why he didn't simply tell her, Tony laughed. "She's already mad at me about that incident at the charity dinner the other night."

"You mean when you set her dress on fire?"

"It was an accident," he protested. "Regardless, I'm not about to be anything less than appreciative of the effort she put into getting these for me."

The red-head leaned over and picked up one of the appetizers and studied it.

"Curried Cheddar Date Bites," Maria told her, popping one into her own mouth.

Pepper copied her motion, smiling as the flavor flooded her mouth. "That is delicious, Maria," she told the other woman, choosing another of the morsels for her husband. His smile was somewhat forced as he opened his mouth to accept her offering.

After several minutes, the four moved to the table where Maria set out the chilled salad bowls.

"It's a spinach salad with bacon, dates, and a feta dressing," she told them.

"Lovely," Tony muttered.

Pepper dug in, chewing thoughtfully, then nodded. "Perfect blend of sweet, smoky, and crunchy."

Tony nodded agreement. "Perfect."

After the salad had been consumed, Nick helped her bring out the main course. "Broiled salmon with apple-date chutney and steamed green beans and rice on the side."

The billionaire perked up a bit, forking up a bite of the salmon free of the chutney and some of the rice. "Really good, Hill. Who'd have thought you could be so deadly and yet so talented in the domestic arts, too?" he asked.

"This chutney is amazing, Tony. You really have to try it mixed with the rice," Pepper claimed, leaning over the combine the two on his plate. Smiling, she raised a bite of the mixture to his mouth. With a poorly suppressed sigh, he opened his mouth.

"Yeah," he agreed. "Amazing."

As the evening progressed and conversation flowed smoothly, Maria watched with amusement as Stark picked at his food, carefully rearranging what he didn't eat in an attempt to me it look like he had eaten more than he had.

Finally, Maria looked around the table. "Is everyone ready for dessert now?" she asked.

"Sure. Sounds good," everyone agreed, though Tony sounded somewhat less than enthused.

"Let me give you a hand," Pepper told her, gathering her own and Tony's plates and following the other woman into the kitchen. When the door swung shut behind them, the CEO laughed lightly.

"I don't know what he did to you, but I will certainly try to remember not to piss you off. You have an interesting method if revenge, Ms. Hill."

Maria responded with a raised eyebrow. "What are you talking about, Potts?"

"You do know that Tony absolutely abhors dates, right?"

"Really? But you got that whole case for him."

"Exactly. If you recall, that was just a few days after he set me on fire at that charity luncheon that we went to. I know it was an accident, but I had told him several times to stop playing with the candle. I knew that he knew I was angry at him and I just wanted to see how far he would go to make me happy, conveniently forgetting that I knew that dates, figs, prunes...anything similar kind of gags him."

"Hmm," Maria commented.

"And since the 'date night' theme is way too cutesy for you, you had to have an ulterior motive for choosing it."

The agent smiled slightly, her mind already trying to come up with an answer for the question she knew was coming.

"Exactly what did he do?"

"Just a culmination of a lot of little things over time," Maria replied vaguely.

Pepper's eyes went wide. "Oh, no. You didn't invite us out tonight, did you? He did." She looked at the other woman for confirmation. "He really didn't want to go to the theater tonight so he came up with an excuse. I can't believe he would do that to you."

"You can't?"

"Well, yeah, I can. I'm so sorry, Maria. We'll leave."

"And miss out on my date, dried cherry and chocolate torte and date mead?" Maria asked, pulling out the dessert.

"It does sound delicious," Pepper considered.

"Look," Maria pressed. "Stark may have kind of manipulated this whole thing, but I've actually rather enjoyed it. It was fun getting back in the kitchen, looking up recipes. I found so many new ones I want to try. And it's been really nice spending some down time with you. Get to know you a little."

"Yeah, it has," Pepper agreed. "With the added bonus of watching Tony squirm."

"That, too."

The red head picked up the tray of mead and cups. "Time for dessert!"

"Time for dessert," Maria echoed, picking up the torte and leading the way back to the dining area. They moved out onto the outdoor deck to enjoy their dessert under the stars overlooking the lights of the city. Nick, Maria, and Pepper shared secretive smiles as they watched Tony. He took small bites when anyone was watching and snuck pieces onto his wife's plate when he thought no one was. The drink was surreptitiously poured into a nearby potted plant.

Finally, they stood, gathering their dishes and taking them into the kitchen where the housekeeper was already busy cleaning and packing away the leftovers.

"Would you like to take anything with you?" Maria asked Tony sweetly.

"Thanks, but no," he replied, patting his stomach. "I am so full right now. I'm sure some of the other team members would love to benefit from your cooking skills."

They headed towards the penthouse elevator and said their goodnights.

"We'll have to do this again sometime," Nick told the others.

"I'll even plan the next one," Tony offered quickly.

"Sounds good," the others agreed as the Starks stepped into the elevator and headed up to their private quarters.

Nick wrapped his arms around Maria and pulled her in for a deep kiss. "Ready to head back to our place?" he questioned.

She nodded. "Let me grab the rest of the wine." Hand in hand, they headed back into the kitchen.

There, they found Clint, Natasha, Thor, Steve, and Bruce standing around the island, forks in hand. In the middle, the remains of the feast spread in the middle. They all looked up guiltily.

"We've been having to smell this all day," Natasha explained. "It's only fair that we at least get to sample the leftovers."

Maria shrugged. "Help yourselves." She watched just a bit anxiously as the others dug in.

No one spoke for several minutes. Nick finally cleared his throat.

"What do you think?"

Steve swallowed quickly and wiped his mouth. "Sorry. This is delicious, Maria. I had no idea you were such a talented cook."

"Thank you," the deputy director told him. "I've always enjoyed cooking but haven't done much recently.

"You need to get back in practice then," Clint commented. "Maybe start cooking on a regular basis. I think we'd all be willing to do your taste testing."

"I do kind of have a full time job," she reminded them.

"Full time plus, actually," Bruce acknowledged.

Nick shrugged. "Sorry. There's already an excellent cook here and I kind of need her to keep doing the job she already has."

"You know, when I was a kid, my mom used to fix a special dinner for my birthday," Bruce told them.

"Mine, too," Steve added.

"I have a birthday coming up," Natasha told them, spearing another bite of the torte.

"Really?" Clint asked. "You always told me you didn't know when your birthday was."

"Hey, if I can get the deputy director to fix dinner, I can come up with a birthday," the assassin replied.

Maria shrugged, trying to hide her pleasure at their comments.

"We'll see." She picked up the wine bottle and grabbed Nick's hand, tugging him towards the door. "Right now, though, we have a date night to finish up."

Amid a chorus of laughter, they made their way to the elevator to head to their own quarters.

"So, how is this date night finish up?" he asked.

She pulled him close, stretching up for a passionate kiss. "Quite happily," she assured him.


And that's a wrap. The prompt that I saw was actually 'on a date,' but I decided to change it up a bit to serve my own odd ideas. I hope you enjoyed. Thank you for reading. I would love to know what you thought. Other updates are currently in the works and I to have something ready soon.