Most of the characters in this story belong to Marvel Comics and whoever else has current legal ownership of Iron Man at the moment. No infringement on any corporate, business, or individual's rights is intended in any way. This story is not being written for profit, just for enjoyment.
Meeting Happy for the First Time
About one o'clock on the afternoon of her first day as Tony Stark's PA, Tony walked into her Malibu mansion office and laid a large laptop case on top of her desk.
"Here's your laptop, Ms. Potts." He told her as she quickly unzipped the case placing the black laptop on her desk and sliding the black leather case aside.
She was immediately puzzled at not seeing any type of brand insignia anywhere on the computer. "Mr. Stark" she began "What brand of computer is this?"
"My brand." He answered curtly "You really don't expect the CEO of Stark Industries to buy someone else's computer, do you?" He reached down around her and powered the computer on, visibly impatient with her question.
She narrowed her eyes at him, assessing his impatience with her as the laptop booted up. Yes, in the five hours and twenty-three minutes she had been working for him she had realized that one character trait that Tony Stark possessed in spades was impatience. Of course there was the expected rich brat impatience at simply just not getting his way immediately if not sooner. But she could also now see that a fair amount of his impatience was simply the result of his mind working so much faster than every one else's around him. She had the feeling that he was just tired of waiting on everyone to catch up to his thoughts and ideas.
After their 'test drive' of the Audi TT Coupe this morning, Tony had driven them to hole-in-the-wall taqueria near one of the public beaches in Malibu. He had offered to buy her breakfast at the open air café, which had surprised her a little. But what had really surprised her was that he had ordered six huge breakfast tacos for himself. He had paid for their $20 meal with a $100 bill and had the cashier keep the change. At first she suspected that his refusal to accept his change was due in part to his refusal to let others hand him things, but after hearing the conversation he had with the employees of the taqueria in fluent Spanish, Pepper also suspected that Tony had known them for a long time and was perhaps just trying to be nice to them.
Pepper had remembered Claire telling her that Tony was a good man at heart and she was starting to see a little of that for herself already in between all of his bravado and snark. As they sat at an old wooden table overlooking the beach and far away from everyone else, they talked about his current and future projects. Pepper was quick to understand most of the technical terms he was throwing into their conversation and she asked a lot of questions about terms she was unfamiliar with. Tony had wolfed down all six of his tacos within minutes after they sat down and Pepper had thought back to what Mr. Stane had told her about Tony forgetting to eat while he worked.
Suddenly back in the present, Pepper made a mental note to include meal and snack breaks into his work schedule which would be one of the first things she intended to take a look at on her new laptop.
"Put your right thumb on this pad." He directed her as she complied with his instructions. Jarvis had scanned both of her hands when they had returned from their 'test' drive and, in his usual efficient form, had already uploaded her fingerprints into the mansion's elaborate security system." You will also need to speak into the laptop just like you did with your Audi in order for you to be allowed security access into your laptop."
She looked at him and was now able to make out a faint twinkle in his eyes as he asked her to speak into the laptop. She was already very much aware of what that twinkle could mean for her. He had teased her repeatedly about her nickname during their drive.
"Pepper Potts" she said as she laid her right thumb on the small touch pad next to the larger one.
Suddenly the laptop came to life and beeped twice at her in confirmation. As the machine finished booting up, Pepper could now see the background graphic of hundreds of peppers of all shapes, sizes, and colors on the screen.
"I thought it would make you feel right at home, Ms. Potts." Tony teased, leaning his head down in order to look both at the screen and at her face wanting to make sure that he caught her reaction.
"Ha, ha." She said looking over at him disdainfully as he snickered under his breath. "I should have never told you my nickname."
"You didn't." he replied with a knowing smile "I pried it out of Claire when I spoke with her yesterday."
"That's cheating, Mr. Stark." She accused.
"Not at all, Ms. Potts." He countered walking around her desk and pulling one of her chairs over next to hers. "Pull up my schedule so I can tell you which meetings I will be skipping."
"Skipping, Mr. Stark? She countered glancing at him curiously "I thought it was part of my job description to keep you on a schedule."
"Yeah" he responded lazily "but on my schedule, not some else's."
"Mr. Stark" she began turning to stare at him intently "Until I completely understand the full nature of your scheduled meetings, I'm afraid that you cannot skip any of them."
Tony narrowed his eyes at her in a silent challenge. "Ms. Potts" he said his voice low and serious "Let's get one thing clear here….I am your boss. So if I want to skip a meeting then you will just simply have to reschedule it for me."
They continued to lock eyes with one another for almost a minute, neither one of them eager to give in or give up. Finally with a shrug of his shoulders, he silently gave in to her "OK, then." He sadly said in defeat. "Click on each of the meetings and you can read up on them if you want to, but it's still up to me which meetings I decide to skip."
"Why of course, Mr. Stark." She agreed as he raised his eyebrows in surprise. He looked at her with curiosity at her sudden acquiescence and Pepper could tell that he was now trying his best to figure out her motives. After a few seconds of practiced silence she spoke "We can then agree together which meetings that I will reschedule for you." She couldn't help but let a small smile tug at the corner of her mouth.
Tony's mouth dropped open slightly knowing he had just been had big time as she continued smiling at him enigmatically. "First things first, Ms. Potts. We need to get some furniture in here, and so your official first assignment as the PA to the CEO of Stark Industries will be to decorate the mansion." he said reaching down and taking both her elbows in his hands and pulling her up quickly to stand with him.
She couldn't help but quietly gasp at his unexpected touch. It felt as though a static charge had just passed between them. She noticed the surprised look in his eyes as if he had felt it too. She quickly cleared her throat trying to clear her head of the feeling. "You've got to be kidding." She said sarcastically suddenly remembering her earlier conversation with Jarvis as he quickly let go of her and stepped back from her slightly.
"Come onnnnn." He actually whined at her "take a look around you. The mansion is practically empty." he explained as he smiled almost shyly at her, then he quickly walked away from her to look out of her office window and stare at the ocean. "I'm good at setting up labs, workshops, and computer equipment rooms, but not so good with living areas. I had Jarvis order all of the appliances for the kitchen and laundry room, but other than that, the rest of the mansion is bare."
"I did notice that, Mr. Stark." She noted as he stole a quick glance at her and then turned his head back to stare out the window.
Pepper realized that he had probably had never shopped for furniture or furnishings in his life given that this mansion was actually the first home he had built for himself. She was willing to bet money that he had always lived in either furnished apartments or in his parent's homes which had already been furnished.
"Mr. Stark" she began as she walked over to join him at the window. "I don't even know your tastes.
She was surprised to hear him breathe out a long sigh at her remark, one which almost sounded sad.
"I don't have any tastes, Ms. Potts when it comes to this sort of thing." He quietly admitted still staring out of the window.
She glanced over at him and noticed that his face had the most somber look on it. She was fairly certain that he was actually being quite serious with her right now.
"Well then" she began as he turned his head to look at her. "from looking at your home's architectural design, I can see that you like the open, natural look." She stated, noticing that he was now gazing intently at her. "There is one store in Malibu that might have just the right style of furnishings for you. They also offer interior decorating services. One of my boyfriends worked there during the summer for a couple of years making deliveries for them." She walked back to her desk and sat down at her laptop to quickly Google the business and then opened up their on line catalog. "Here, take a look."
Tony leaned over the desk so he could see the furniture and furnishings in the on-line catalog. He placed his left arm on the back of her chair and his right hand on her desk next to her laptop, occasionally clicking the pages on the catalog in order to scan through the pages.
"Well then, I suppose I'm going to need measurements of all the rooms you want furnished." She said with a small sigh somehow never expecting her first assignment with Tony Stark to be interior decorating.
Still paging through the catalog on her laptop "Jarvis, send virtual tours with all measurements to Ms. Potts' laptop so she can properly discuss furnishing the mansion once she meets with the interior decorator."
"As you wish, sir." Jarvis replied quickly.
Tony suddenly closed out of the catalog window and reached over and powered down her laptop. "I approve." He suddenly announced, quickly standing up and digging into his back pocket for his wallet. "You're going shopping, Ms. Potts." He said as he pulled out a black credit card with his name on it from Chase Manhattan. "Just make sure they can deliver by tomorrow." He said with a smile noting the confused look on her face as she stared at the card. "Jarvis has already set you up with signing authorization on my card and your own card is being FedEx'd here. Jarvis, call Hogan."
"Very good, sir." Jarvis replied obediently. "He is on his way, sir."
"Who's Hogan?" she asked quickly, her eyes still locked with his as she took the card out of his hands gingerly.
"My bodyguard and driver." He replied as he turned away from her and walked back again to the window and resume staring out at the ocean. "This boyfriend of yours, Ms. Potts. Does he still work for this furniture company?" he asked quietly, almost tentatively.
"No." Pepper replied now curious at his question as she packed her laptop neatly into its case. "He graduated and is now a CPA with his father's firm in Norfolk, Virginia." Pepper could have sworn that she heard Tony actually let out a breath of relief at her answer.
"Good. I mean…" he started, still facing away from her "I mean… I just don't like competition…I mean competition for your time of course, Ms. Potts." He tried to explain finally turning around to face her.
She looked at him thoughtfully. "Of course, Mr. Stark."
He nervously smiled in relief at her words as she suddenly heard heavy footsteps behind her effectively interrupting her curious assessment of his apparent relief that one of her ex-boyfriends now lived across the country from them.
"Good, Hogan, you're here." Tony said clearing his throat as he attempted to take charge once again. "Ms. Potts, this is Hap Hogan. Ms. Potts is going shopping and she is going to need an escort."
"No problem boss." Hogan replied looking at Pepper tentatively. "Pleased to meet you Ms. Potts." He said reaching out to shake her hand.
"Likewise, Mr. Hogan." Pepper replied with a smile shaking his hand firmly.
"Hogan" Tony said firmly, staring at their joined hands with almost a scowl "just make sure you get her back here ASAP after she orders the furniture and furnishings for the mansion. And on your way back pick us up some burgers and fries for lunch from Al."
Happy half saluted Tony. "Does that mean that I finally get to ditch my folding chairs now? Those things are just too small for my large a…. ah body to fit in."
Tony chuckled. "Who knows Hogan? If you take good care of Ms. Potts she may even buy you a super-sized rolling chair for you to sit your super-sized body in."
"Be still my heart." Happy deadpanned politely taking her laptop case from her as he walked to the door holding it open for Pepper so she could pass through the door first.
Pepper followed Happy as he walked down the walkway towards the main elevator. He stood to the side of the elevator door allowing her to enter the car before him. Once inside the elevator, he pressed the 'G' button and the elevator began to move downward.
"So" he began quietly not looking at her as he spoke "Jarvis says that you are Tony's new PA."
Pepper looked at him as he turned his head to look at her. "Yes I am." She replied politely, not at all surprised that Jarvis had been in communication with Mr. Hogan.
He cleared his throat before he began to speak again "Well…it's just…that you don't seem to be like Tony's other PAs at all…." He looked at her expectantly as if hoping that she understood what he meant by his words.
Pepper immediately felt her cheeks heat up and gripped the handle of her purse tightly. "If you mean by your words that I don't look like a super model with breast implants….then no, I guess I really don't seem to be like Mr. Stark's other PA s at all." She snapped defensively as the elevator car came to a stop.
"No, no, no. That's not it at all Ms. Potts." He replied a blush growing on his own face at her words. "It's just that you seem….well you know….really nice and smart, that's all."
The elevator door opened and Happy immediately held the door open and motioned for Pepper to walk through the opening and into the garage.
Pepper stopped once they were both outside the elevator realizing that Happy was being sincere and she immediately felt bad for her choice of words and her tone. "Look, Mr. Hogan" she began turning to look at him squarely in the eyes "I'm sorry I spoke harshly to you, but it's just that I guess I am a little sensitive about my image being new to this job and trying to come to grips with Mr. Stark's reputation and all."
"I'm sorry too, Ms. Potts" Happy apologized back "I didn't mean to make you mad. It's just that you seem to be….different…but in a good way, of course."
She put her hand out to him as he looked down and tentatively reached out to shake her hand. "How about we start over again?" she asked as she smiled at him. He immediately smiled back at her in return. "And enough with the 'Ms. Potts' already. Please call me Pepper."
"Fair enough…Pepper." He replied as he shook her hand gently "And please call me Happy or Hap. Mr. Hogan is my dad's name."
Pepper laughed as he motioned her towards a black Bentley. Pepper's eyes went wide at the site of the luxury car as Happy opened the rear door for her.
She hesitated momentarily. "If it's all the same to you, I can ride up front."
"No can do, Pepper." Happy replied taking her arm and gently tugging her towards the open door. "You have to ride in the back. Its standard safety and security practice for SI executives."
Pepper blinked once as the word 'executive' sank in. "OK then, Happy." She said smiling at him "I wouldn't want to get you in trouble with our boss."
"Thanks, Pepper" Happy replied, closing the door for her and walked quickly to the driver's door immediately sitting down in the driver's seat. "Jarvis has already sent the store's GPS location to the Bentley's onboard computer. Traffic is fairly light so it won't take us any longer than 15 minutes to get there." He then closed his door and buckled his seat belt and looked at her in the rear view mirror "Just sit back and enjoy the ride."
"Thanks Happy." She said putting her seat belt on as she looked around the interior of the Bentley. It was immaculately clean and well kept. There appeared to be a small bar between the front seats which opened into the passenger area.
"If you're thirsty there are some waters in the bar." He said as the car began to move up the ramp leading out of the garage. "Jarvis and I didn't know what you liked to drink so I put some Fuji waters in there for you. So just let me know what you like to drink and I will keep them stocked in the Bentley and limos for you."
"Thank you, Happy." She replied smiling at him in the rear view mirror. "Water is just fine with me." She leaned over and quietly opened up the bar noting the expensive scotch and brandy as well as ice and expensive crystal glasses also in the bar.
True to his word, they arrived at the store in only twelve minutes. Pepper noticed that Happy was a very safe driver although he seemed to drive a little on the fast side. But considering who he worked for, having a fast driver just seemed to fit with Mr. Stark's personality.
Pepper noticed that Happy parked illegally on the road in front of the store and quickly walked around the Bentley to open her door for her.
She raised an eyebrow at him as he held his arm out for her, helping her out of the low back seat. "You know that you are parked illegally." She said as she stood up next to him.
"Yep" he replied as he closed her door and remotely locked the Bentley guiding her towards the front door "Jarvis will pay the parking ticket. I get paid to guard you, and sometimes that will mean getting a few parking tickets. No big deal."
Pepper looked at him and politely shook her head in disbelief. She was definitely going to have a talk with Jarvis later.
As they entered the store a woman eagerly stepped up to greet her.
"Ms. Potts" the woman said happily "I was told to expect you. My name is Emma and I am one of the interior decorators on staff here. It will be my pleasure to help you with your order today."
"Thank you Emma." Pepper replied politely, figuring that Jarvis was the one who had called ahead to the store. She briefly thought about asking Emma to call her Pepper, but something told her that keeping formalities between them would actually help create a professional respect for her new position as PA for Stark Industries. "Is there someplace I can set up my laptop so we can discuss furniture requirements for the Stark Mansion?"
"Of course, Ms. Potts." Emma replied leading the way towards a beautifully decorated office. "Right this way."
Two hours later, furniture and furnishings had been ordered and paid for to the tune of $395,324.33. Pepper was amazed when she signed off on the receipt for such a large amount of money that the credit limit for Tony's card was apparently quite high. Emma never once questioned the credit card or her signature which too was pretty amazing. Pepper was assured that all of the furniture would be delivered by tomorrow afternoon to the Stark Mansion as well as set up in each of the respective rooms as per their mutually agreed upon designs. Pepper was especially proud of the natural burl table that complimented the huge couch for the living room next to the fireplace. And she did noticed Happy's quiet sigh of relief when she ordered him an ergonomic rolling chair for his office in the garage.
Happy had stood by her side the entire time she was with Emma, politely refusing to sit down. Pepper noticed that he kept a close eye on everything happening inside and outside of the glass door of the office while she and Emma selected furniture and furnishings.
As they left the store Happy once again opening the door for her, Pepper noticed several men with cameras standing next to the Bentley. Happy quickly walked in front of her trying his best to shield her from them, but there were too many of them and only one of Happy. Her eyes were immediately blinded by the camera flashes, but she quickly felt a hand on her arm guiding her towards the back seat of the Bentley.
"Back off, bozo." She heard Happy yell at one of the men maneuvering closer to her.
"So you're Number 63, huh?" the man shouted at her as she sat down in the seat placing her purse and laptop beside her. "Nice legs, sweetheart!"
Happy quickly closed her door and within seconds she heard the front driver's door slam. She was just beginning to recover her vision from the camera flashes.
"Fucking paps" Happy muttered under his breath as he started the car. "Buckle up, Pepper."
Pepper managed to get her seatbelt on just before she was thrown back into the seat by the rapid acceleration of the Bentley away from the store and the annoying paparazzi.
After a minute of regaining her sight, she looked up into the rearview mirror at Happy whom she noticed was looking at her with concern clearly showing in his eyes.
"Does that happen often?" she asked locking eyes with him.
"Afraid so." He replied "I'm just glad there were only a few of them."
"So you're saying that it could have been worse." She replied already dreading his answer.
"Yep." He commented placing what looked to be a parking ticket on the dash. "Now you know why I parked where I did."
Pepper could only imagine what it would have been like to have had to walk a block or two to the parked car with the paparazzi dogging them. Maybe a parking ticket was worth it after all.
Pepper was replaying the words of the photographer again in her head. She wondered how it was that they already knew about her being the 63rd PA for Tony Stark. "How did the paparazzi already know about me being hired as Tony's PA?" she said out loud.
"Not sure." Happy replied as he maneuvered through traffic "The paps are like wild dogs, always nosing around for a story they can sell to the highest bidder. And any story they can dig up or make up about our boss always sells big."
Pepper had always enjoyed her privacy. She wasn't shy at all, but she was reserved. It suddenly dawned on her just what she was going to have to give up as well as fortify if she decided to keep the PA job.
Happy looked up at the rear view mirror at the next red light and caught her eye. "Jarvis told me that you and Tony agreed to a 60 day trial as PA." he began his eyes serious "Tony would probably kick my ass if he knew I was telling you this, but I'm saying it anyways." He continued dropping his eyes again to the traffic as the light turned green. "Tony's life isn't exactly easy on the folks that are close to him."
"I've gathered that much already." She replied staring at the back of his head as he drove "But I do appreciate the warning though. And I will definitely keep this conversation just between us."
After just a few minutes of driving, Happy turned the Bentley into the parking lot of what Pepper noticed was a local restaurant called The Country Kitchen. She then remembered what Tony had said about bringing lunch back with them.
"Come on Pepper. Let's get some lunch. Dealing with the paps back there has made me hungry." Happy said happily.
Pepper realized that Happy was in his own way making a joke and she giggled under her breath as he walked around the car and opened the car door for her.
"This place has some really good turkey wraps" he said patting his stomach tenderly "and I should know."
"Then I will trust your judgment and your stomach on that." She teased back as they walked up to the order window.
"Happy, my man." The gray headed man at the window said cheerfully as they approached the window.
"Hey, Al." Happy said back reaching out to shake the man's hand through the window. "The usual today plus a turkey wrap for Ms. Potts here."
Al stuck his arm out the window towards Pepper and she stepped up and shook his hand firmly, smiling up at him.
Al returned her smile with a brilliant one of his own. "Ms. Potts, I'm Albert Harris, but you can call me Al. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
"Ms. Potts is now working with me trying to keep Tony in line." Happy added as Pepper shot him a curious look.
"Well, good luck with that." Al replied with a toothy grin for both of them. "Happy here has been trying to do that for years now. You do have your work cut out for you, Ms. Potts."
"So I've heard. And Al, please call me Pepper." She replied as the old man smiled cheerfully at her and then quickly turned and immediately started barking out food orders to his cooks in the back of the kitchen.
"What will you have to drink, Pepper?" Al questioned, turning once again to peer out of the window at them.
Pepper looked up at the menu. "Some of your fresh squeezed lemonade sounds wonderful, Al." she said
"Coming right up." Al said quickly, ducking his head back inside.
"Al's a good guy." Happy commented looking at her "And he makes a mean burger."
Suddenly Al reappeared at the window with what appeared to be a huge ice tea for Happy and an equally large lemonade for her.
"Here you go, folks." Al said as they each took their drinks "Your food will be ready in about ten minutes or so."
"Thank you, Al." Pepper replied politely as Happy motioned her over to a table under an umbrella.
Happy and Pepper sat down at the table and each of them took a sip of their respective drinks.
"So, how long have you been working for Tony?" she asked him quietly.
"Almost 5 years now." Happy relied. "The first time I saw Tony, I was working as a bouncer for a club in west L.A. and I broke up a fight Tony had started, and ended up throwing Tony out the bar." He said taking another long drink of his tea.
Pepper started laughing at that. "Somehow I bet there's more to the story than just that, Happy." She teased and noticed a small smile break out on his face.
"A little. As I was stuffing Tony into the back of his limo, he handed me his business card and told me that he wanted to hire me as his body guard. I just thought he was full of crap and almost threw his card away the next day while I was watching the news. But then I saw a news report on Stark Industries about Tony and I thought to myself 'Hey, there's that little shrimp that damn near started a riot in my bar last night'. I was a professional boxer at the time, and not a very good one, so I was not well off and was making ends meet working as a bouncer. So I took a chance and called the number on Tony's card. He actually answered the phone sounding hungover as hell, but he did remember me and asked me to come to his office that afternoon. When I met him in his office, he hired me on the spot."
"Tony must have been, what 19 at the time?" she asked curious.
"Yep." He replied. "and scrawny as hell."
"So he really needed a bodyguard, didn't he?" she teased.
"With that mouth and attitude, he sure did." He said actually chuckling to himself.
They sat in amused silence for a moment.
Suddenly Happy turned to her his eyes serious again. "Tony still drinks a lot."
"I have heard that." She replied.
He stared at his tea and furrowed his eyebrows. "He can get out of control when he drinks too….blackouts even."
Pepper noticed that he continued to stare at his tea, now obvious tension in his body. She patiently waited for him to continue knowing that he had more to tell her.
"I've never known him to force a woman to…you know… because women seem to just throw themselves at him. But I end up driving a lot of his one-night-stands home or wherever." He said quietly looking up to finally meet her eyes. "Just be careful around him, Pepper. Don't end up like those women. I mean…you're too good for that….and I kinda wanna keep you around to help me with him. I think you'll be good for the little shrimp. He really needs someone as smart as him keeping him on track."
On hearing the sincerity in his voice, she couldn't help herself and reached out to lay her right hand on his forearm. "Thanks for the warning and the advice, Happy." She said, a small smile forming on her face. "You're such a good friend to Tony." She said patting his arm gently. "And I think we are going to work well together keeping the little shrimp in line."
Happy's face suddenly lit up in the biggest smile she had ever seen on his face, and they both began laughing out loud together.