Charlotte Owens was no Pepper Potts when it came to finding a good assistant, but Tony would take her over any of the other possibilities. In fact, it was Pepper that had reminded him that Charlotte could be an option; she was in on most of the things they did, anyway, and she was a college graduate.
Tony had rolled his eyes at the idea for a whole two weeks until he realized Pepper was being serious when she said she would no longer schedule any of his appointments ("I'm you're CEO, Tony!"). So Tony sucked it up, hired the first business major graduate on the stack of resumes on his desk, promptly fired them two weeks later, and sucked it up enough to know that he would have to give Charlotte a chance.
It wasn't that he didn't like the girl. He could sit down and have a beer or two or ten with her, and hold a conversation. She was curious without being abrasive, and seemed to be unflappable. Really, he liked her just fine, enough to feel comfortable texting her from time to time just to see if she would respond (and she would, sending him equally weird emoji-filled texts, sometimes even pictures of a grinning dog). She was fine, incredibly normal, really, but there was just something about having Steve's girlfriend working with him that made him a bit cautious. It was one thing working with the guy, tolerating him even, occasionally, but it was another hiring his fiancée.
"You're hiring Charlotte, Tony, not Steve." Pepper had dismissed his ranting, not even bothering to look up from the contracts she was looking over.
The opportunity to talk to her in person presented itself at the opening of Cap's Smithsonian exhibit. He had texted her the morning of, mentioning that he would be there, and had added a couple of irrelevant emoji for the heck of it.
She had responded with a thumbs up, an apple, a train, and a boxing glove emoji, making him chuckle briefly before turned his attention back to the meeting he was sitting through.
It had been easy getting her to agree. Like with almost every other conversation he had had with her previously, she seemed nonplused when he casually mentioned he needed an assistant, had answered correctly when she told him she needed to give two weeks (a sign of a good employee, if Tony knew one), and that was that.
By the time she began working with him, he came to realize that Pepper may have been right (at least 12% right). She was professional, addressing him as "Mr. Stark" in front of everyone, but reversing to Tony in private, smiling beside him, scheduling everything for him promptly, and hauling him off wherever he needed to be on time.
She was no Pepper Potts, but who could be?
"You should come up for dinner. You too, Happy. Steve made spaghetti." Charlotte mentioned with a smile as they reached her apartment complex.
They had just gotten back from Japan on a two-day trip to check on manufacturing, and had landed in D.C. early enough in the morning to attend a few meetings. Tony had tagged along on his way to the airport towards New York.
Before Tony could turn her down, Happy was opening the door for her, quickly popping his head back into the car when she got out to inform Tony that they hadn't even had lunch. Tony answered with a scowl that Happy returned all too quickly.
"And I've got a pie that I just need to pop into the oven for dessert," Charlotte informed him, her bags on the floor next to her.
And that's how Tony found himself in an elevator going up to the fifth floor with Charlotte and Happy chatting about dogs.
The grinning dog from Charlotte's pictures greeted them at the door, overexcited to see Charlotte who had been tackled to the floor the minute she crossed into the apartment. Steve popped his head from the kitchen greeting them and telling them dinner was almost ready.
"Make yourselves at home! I'm just gonna go set my stuff down," Charlotte said, batting away the dog who seemed desperate to lick her face off.
Charlotte lifted the dog (who looked all too heavy to be lifted) and carried him into the bedroom with her.
"We could be having steak right now," Tony whispered furtively, giving Happy a glare.
The man rolled his eyes, "it's a home cooked meal, Tony."
Charlotte came back barefooted, the dog padding after her, before he seemed to finally notice the new strangers and quickly sat in front of the two men, giving them that weird dog grin of his.
"His name's Timber," Charlotte informed them as she passed by on her way to the kitchen.
The dog stared at the men expectantly until Happy bent down to pet it behind the ears, at which point he lifted himself onto his hind legs to lick at Happy's chuckling face.
"Hi, dog." Tony said when Timber turned to him. "No, thanks, I'm good." He said, batting at the dog when he tried to reach him.
"Dinner's ready," Charlotte said, coming back, her hair a bit more disheveled than when she had walked into the kitchen, lips bruised.
Tony didn't comment on it, but wiggled his eyebrows at her when he passed by her on the way to the table, Charlotte blushing lightly, but rolling her eyes all the same.
Steve patted his back in greeting, asking about Pepper as he shook Happy's hand.
"She's good. She's actually in Germany right now, getting an award for her innovation in the business world as a woman," Tony responded as Charlotte passed him the breadsticks, well aware of how proud he sounded. He was extremely proud.
Steve smiled, mentioning how he would have to send his congratulations later.
Charlotte sighed, and said "that's why she's my favorite."
"Do you know how many times I hear you say someone or something is your favorite in a day?" Tony asked rhetorically, serving himself an extra helping of meatballs.
"At least 60," Charlotte replied nonchalantly, not taking the bait. "Bruce is still my all time favorite."
"Geez, thanks, doll," Steve said, with no heat behind it.
"You're welcome," she responded, grinning, bumping her shoulder against his. "How's your mom, Happy?"
The dinner went on in such a manner, which was a bit strange for Tony. He hadn't had a home-cooked meal in a while (a long while), and the Cap's cooking was good. What was more strange, but perhaps not unwelcomed, was how utterly normal the meal was. It was just the four adults, the dog by their feet occasionally nipping at Steve's jeans for a meatball, with conversation that didn't involve intel on a bad guy, or about the inefficiency of SHIELD sometimes.
They talked about Happy's mother, about Japan (Charlotte had mixed feelings about the country), about how Timber had won Steve and Charlotte brownie points with the neighbors at the Halloween cook-out (and that was weird to hear), and about Tony's robots that Charlotte was so in love with.
They had apple pie and vanilla ice cream for dessert, and talked some more, this time about the fact that Tony had just found out that Steve had met Albert Einstein at one point during his tour to sell war bonds across the United States.
"Nice guy," Steve commented with a shrug. "Didn't get to have much of a conversation with him, though. He hung around Howard most of the night."
"Yeah, I got the pictures," Tony responded.
Happy turned to Charlotte as Tony and Steve started a conversation on World War II weaponry.
"You ever stop being impressed?" He asked, tilting his head towards Steve.
"I see him trip over air in the mornings trying to wake up." She responded with a chuckle. "Keeps me grounded."
"I updated your calendars and uploaded them to your phone, and sent a copy to Jarvis, so there's no excuse for you not making a meeting on time. I'll meet you at the airport at 5 am on Friday. I've got a meeting with Senator Stern to talk about government contracting tomorrow-Pepper sent me notes on it, so it shouldn't be too bad."
"Wait, since when do you talk to Senators?" Tony asked on his way out the door, an untouched cherry pie on hand (Happy carrying a blueberry one).
"Since I live in D.C. and your lobbyist for this kind of thing is on maternity leave." Charlotte responded, handing a bag of what looked like ciabatta bread to Happy. "I'm a part-time consultant now," she added with a small dance.
"Do you have experience?" Tony asked out of habit.
She shrugged. "I did policy research for a couple of campaigns and met with donors occasionally during undergrad. I think I can handle it."
Tony regarded her for a few seconds from under his tinted glasses before he nodded once, stepped out the door and began walking towards the elevators.
"I don't have to start looking for a new assistant already, do I, miss Owens?" He threw over his shoulder on the way to the elevators.
"Not yet, mister Stark," she called back, adding a goodbye to both men.
Happy and Tony stared straight ahead as the elevator took them down to the ground floor, pies and ciabatta bread in hands.
"She's a keeper, Tony." Happy said suddenly, not turning to face him.
"She's not the worst," Tony agreed with a smirk. After all, she was no Pepper Potts. But she would do.