Laura's POV
*Takes place between Iron Man 1 and 2, but a bit closer to Iron Man 2

Somehow, an archives professionals conference in Santa Monica turns into a Meet-Tony-Stark-Dinner-in-Tony-Stark's-Fancy-Ass-Malibu-Mansion-with-Secret-Agent-Boyfriend. This is apparently her life now. Shrug it off and roll with it.

Laura tried not to fidget under Stark's stare. Fuck Tony Stark, she decided, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow in challenge. No entitled billionaire was going to intimidate her, no sir. She felt Phil's supportive hand at the small of her back.

"You're not really who I pictured for Agent," Stark commented.

She blinked and watched as Starks eyes darted between her face and Phil's. "I stand corrected…That's freaky. Have you always been able to pull the same facial expressions?"

Pepper swatted him on the arm and she turned to their guests. "I apologize. I told Mr. Stark to be on his best behavior."

"Hey," the genius objected. "Am I sober?"

Pepper sighed and turned her gaze heavenwards. "Yes."

He shrugged smugly. "Then I'm on my best behavior."

Laura managed to bite back a groan. This was going to be a long dinner. Phil, who somehow knew what she was thinking, stroked her back calmingly. "Well I'm glad you felt that this dinner was worth you being sober," she commented mildly.

Stark's eyes narrowed. "You're doing the face...thing again."

She felt her face settle into a severe frown. "Mr. Stark, I've worked with Congress; I've had to deal with government agencies who don't want their records declassified despite approved FOIA requests; and, I've been through divorce court. If you think you can intimidate me by being a childish asshole, you've got another think coming."

Suddenly Stark's face broke out into a more genuine smile. "Feisty. I like it."

Laura had a feeling that however she responded would set the tone for the rest of their acquaintance. "Oh, you haven't seen feisty yet."

Pepper jumped in. "Laura! I was wondering if I could get your professional opinion on some books we're going to donate to a charity auction."

Laura disengaged herself from Phil. "Of course! Manuscripts may not be my primary specialty, but I know enough that I could give you ballpark figures you can expect."

Pepper took her by the arm and led her away. "Oh, ballpark figures are fine. I just want another opinion than the appraiser's and I trust yours."

Once they were out of earshot, Laura turned to the other woman. "Pepper, you didn't have to sacrifice your evening for this dinner. I'm sure you had other things to do than making sure Tony Stark behaves for a government agent and his girlfriend."

Pepper waved her hand in kind dismissal. "Nonsense! Or did you forget that I enjoy your company?"

Laura laughed. "Of course I didn't forget! I was just making sure this wasn't pulling you away from some important Stark Industries thing."

"Nothing important at all," Pepper reassured her as she opened a door.

The ambient temperature of the room was cold. "Well you have the first step of preservation down- low temperature and humidity!"

Pepper drew her further into the room. "There's one in particular I want you to see. Here." They stopped at a positively ancient-looking tome resting on a book cradle."

Laura visually examined it before determining that it was in good enough condition to hold. She gently picked it up and turned it around in her hands. "Matthews-Tyndale Bible…" she murmured brushing the lettering on the spine. She opened it to the first page. "Antwerp, 1537. Tyndale… William Tyndale… how do I know that name? Yes! This is the first Bible to have been translated into English from Greek and Hebrew- he didn't translate from the Latin. He didn't quite finish the entire Bible before he was executed for opposing Henry VIII's divorce from Catherine of Aragon. John Rogers completed the text and printed it in Antwerp, where the two met. Incidentally, Rogers was the first Protestant Mary I of England had executed for heresy."

Pepper looked at her in awe. "How did you know that?"

Laura shrugged. "I'm honestly surprised I remembered it. My professional expertise is political records, but many moons ago when I was an undergrad, I took a course on the Protestant Reformation. Wow! I can't believe I remembered that!"

"That's so impressive! I always had trouble with history in school," Pepper admitted.

"The education system goes about teaching history all wrong," Laura groused as she carefully turned the pages, brushing the paper with a reverence that didn't match her tone of voice. "It's all white-washed and the textbooks have all the fun parts sucked right out- holy crap the condition of this is amazing! There's no rodent damage… there's a little bit of mildew, but it's not like this thing was left outside in a hurricane. Damn. I'd say this could fetch at least $100,000 at auction."

"That much?" Pepper asked, suddenly all business.

"That's a conservative figure. Anything that survives from that period in this good condition is easily worth that much. But a Bible with this one's particular history could fetch a lot more with the right crowd."

"Excellent."

Laura continued, "Obviously, your target audience is wealthy. But you're going to want people interested in the humanities, and book collectors, and people like that. Maybe people active in their church communities… but that's the kind of crowd you want. Frankly, most scientists won't give a shit and it'll be a toss-up with the business community. You'll want to market well that this is what you're donating to that auction. Drum up some interest."

"Do you think any universities would be interested?"

She nodded. "Oh, for sure. They're just not going to pay that sort of money. That's the average salary of three staff, or about the operating budget of a small historical society with one processing project. Now, if you were willing to donate it directly to them, that's a different story."

Pepper chuckled. "Since the board of the Maria Stark Foundation decided the proceeds from this year's charity auction are being split between domestic violence shelters and Alzheimer's research… whoever purchases it can do with it what they want."

"And hopefully be at least an adequate custodian of that history," Laura added.

"Yes, and be an adequate custodian. What do you say? Shall we go back?" Pepper suggested. "I want to make sure T-Mr. Stark didn't do anything to make Phil shoot him."

Laura didn't say anything to call attention to Pepper's near slip. "I should hope that Phil has a bit more self-control than that," she joked.

When they returned to the room, there was an awkward silence hanging in the air. They must have just missed something Stark said, because he had a shit-eating grin on his face, and while Phil remained impassive, Laura could see the hand that was not holding a glass of scotch twitch slightly. So, she walked up next to him and took his hand.

"How were the books?" Phil asked with a smile.

"Fabulous." She turned to Stark. "Mr. Stark, I'm impressed with the effort you've put into preserving your manuscript collection."

He brushed it off. "It was all JARVIS. Tell her what you did."

Laura prided herself in the fact that she only jumped a little bit.

"I searched through several peer-reviewed journals and the manuals from both private and public institutions, including the national archives of multiple countries. I then applied the aggregate recommendations for climate control and security," said the disembodied voice.

"Artificial Intelligence butler," Phil whispered to her.

"Well I'll be damned," she breathed. "Can it hear me?"

"I can, indeed, Dr. Schulz," JARVIS responded.

"You did an excellent job and should be proud, JARVIS," she praised.

"I am not programmed to feel emotions, but your approval has been noted, Dr. Schulz."

Laura wasn't sure how to respond to that, but was saved from any awkwardness by Pepper. "Let's have some dinner, shall we?" she asked and led everyone into the dining room.

Laura slipped her hand in the crook of Phil's arm, and they followed.

A/N: Whew! This is a bit longer than is typical for this fic. It got away from me a bit, but I'm really happy with it. Let me know what you think in a review! I love hearing from people!