When JARVIS announced that Pepper had arrived back at the tower, Tony told Betty to wait in the living room and then went to meet Pepper at the elevator.

Tony smiled and leaned in for a kiss when the doors opened. "Hi," he said.

"Hi," she said. She handed him half of the four bags she was carrying. "You owe me a foot massage, and we have got to get you talking to the press."

Tony sighed. "That bad?"

"Yes," Pepper said. "Mike's worried about public opinion turning against the Avengers. It's not a problem yet, but if the only people talking are the ones blaming you guys for saving the world... we have to get out in front of this. I don't know what SHIELD's planning on doing but we can't wait for them."

"Yeah," Tony said. He wasn't thrilled about needing to do the press circuit, but knew Pepper was right. Someone had to start talking to the press, and since everyone else had conveniently taken off... "Book me something for tomorrow afternoon or evening. I'll set up a meeting with Fury tomorrow morning. If I say anything about his secret organization without talking to him first, he might shoot me. You're coming to that meeting, by the way."

"I don't have clearance," Pepper said.

"I'm getting you clearance, because seriously, it's just silly at this point. Fury already knows I tell you everything."

"Right," Pepper said. "We shouldn't leave Dr. Ross waiting. Come on and introduce me to our guest."

Tony led the way back to the living room. Betty stood when they entered. "Betty, Pepper Potts. Pepper, Dr. Betty Ross."

Pepper shook Betty's hand and smiled warmly. "It's good to meet you, Dr. Ross."

"Please, call me Betty, and I'm so sorry for imposing on you-"

"Nonsense," Pepper said. "It's no problem. Has Tony shown you to your room yet?"

"No, and really, if it's any trouble, I can-"

"No trouble at all," Pepper said. "As I'm sure Tony has mentioned, we have five floors filled with nothing but apartment suites for guests to Stark Tower. Come on, we'll go to your room and I'll show you what I picked up for you, make sure it's all right." She took the bags back from Tony.

Betty seemed to finally register the four bags. "Oh, that's far too much-"

"Billionaire, remember?" Tony said. Betty didn't have a response as Pepper started ushering her to the elevator. "You ladies have fun."

While they were gone, Tony put in the call to SHIELD. He had to talk to a couple of low-level agents before he finally got connected to Agent Hill. Fury was apparently unavailable. Tony had to argue with her for a good five minutes about the need for talking to the press so soon. He was convinced that she only gave in because she had to go deal with something else, but as long as he got his meeting with Fury, he didn't care.

Pepper came back without Betty. "She's taking a shower and changing before dinner," Pepper said.

"How's she doing?" Tony asked.

She paused before answering. "How much did she tell you?"

"She's upset she missed Bruce, embarrassed and I think a little angry that she dropped everything to run after him, and worried about what to tell her boyfriend, who she's suddenly realized she doesn't like as much as she thought she did."

She nodded. "That's essentially what she told me. Her reaction to all of this has thrown her for a loop. I told her she should stay a few days, give herself time to work things out."

Tony nodded. "Good idea. She go for it?"

"It'll take a little more convincing, but I think she'll accept," Pepper said.

Tony nodded. "Meeting's all set for tomorrow. Agent Hill wasn't exactly happy about it, though."

"Did you do that thing where you order around people who don't actually work for you?" Pepper asked mildly.

"Actually, it's more that she doesn't understand the need to start talking to the press right now," Tony said. "So be prepared to help me convince them it really is necessary. They'll probably believe it from you more than they will me."

Pepper nodded. "I'm going to call Mike, he'll get you booked somewhere. I'm thinking one of the news shows tomorrow. It'll show you're taking this seriously."

Tony grimaced. She was right, of course, but he really hated some of those pompous windbags. "Just please, no one who is going to turn what happened into another attack on me for shutting down weapons manufacturing."

Pepper smiled. "It'll be someone relatively friendly, I promise. Though you will have to talk to some of those other people eventually."

"As long as it's not tomorrow," Tony said. "I'm going to have to do the whole circuit, aren't I? News, entertainment..."

"Unfortunately, yes," Pepper said. "It seems everyone wants to talk about the aliens that attacked New York and the superheroes who stopped them." She patted his shoulder then went off to make the call.

Betty came back up right as Pepper was finishing. They sat down to dinner and made inconsequential small talk for about 20 minutes before JARVIS interrupted.

"Excuse me, sir," JARVIS said. "Security is reporting that a Dr. Jane Foster is here."

It took Tony a moment to place the name, then he remembered the briefing on Thor's first visit. "Let me guess, she's looking for Thor?"

"Yes, sir," JARVIS said.

Tony looked at Betty and Pepper, who were confused. "Dr. Foster met Thor the first time he was on Earth. According to SHIELD's briefing, there was some romantic interest between them."

"Thor didn't get in touch with her while he was here?" Pepper asked.

"Apparently not," Tony said. "JARVIS, have we confirmed her identity?"

"Yes, sir."

"Okay," Tony said, getting up from the table. "I suppose I get to tell her that Thor left the planet."

"Bring her up here," Pepper said, a quick glance at Betty. "We'll help."

"Yes, I can certainly relate to chasing after a man and finding him gone," Betty said, and there was more than a hint of bitterness in her voice.

"Right," Tony said. "I'll be back in a minute."

It took more than a minute, because Dr. Foster refused to come upstairs until she had gotten the basics of what had happened. Tony at least talked her into going into the security office so they could talk about somewhat sensitive topics without being overheard. He gave her the most succinct overview he could, and it wasn't long into his story before she got very worried and very pissed off. Worried about Erik Selvig, who was a friend of hers, and pissed off at SHIELD, because she had figured out that they had been the ones behind her move to a small observatory in Norway and she was not happy about being deceived.

"I am going to find them and give them a piece of my mind," she snapped. "How dare they!"

Tony raised his hands placatingly. "Come upstairs with me. I have their phone number; we can give them a call."

"Fine," Dr. Foster said.

The elevator ride was made in silence. When they got to their floor, Betty and Pepper had stood to meet them.

"Dr. Foster, my girlfriend, Pepper Potts, and Dr. Betty Ross," Tony said. Pepper and Betty murmured greetings but upon seeing just how pissed off Dr. Foster was, didn't say anything more. Tony picked up a handset. "JARVIS, phone SHIELD, please." Dr. Foster held out her hand. Tony hesitated before handing it over. "If you'd like, I could-"

"No thank you," she said. "I'll talk to them." She took the handset and Tony moved over to Betty and Pepper.

"SHIELD moved her to some remote location to protect her from Loki," Tony said softly as Dr. Foster started ranting at whoever had answered the phone. "Only, they didn't exactly tell her about it."

"How nice of them," Betty said dryly.

Tony glanced at her, but didn't comment. Dr. Foster's rant moved on to mention Selvig, and Tony explained. "Dr. Selvig's a friend of Dr. Foster's. She's worried about him, too."

"He was one of the ones put under mind control, right?" Betty asked.

"Right," Tony said. "But if SHIELD asks-"

"I know nothing," Betty finished, smiling slightly.

"I will not go anywhere- I want answers now!" Dr. Foster yelled. "And if you can't give me answers then connect me to someone who can!" A pause. "Stark Tower." Another pause. "That's fine, that's great, send someone here! But they had better have the answers I want and they had better be able to get me in touch with Erik!"

She threw the phone across the room, then froze and turned to look at Tony, mortified. "I am so sorry."

"It's okay," Tony said, going across the room to pick up the handset.

"No, it's not okay, I should not have- and I normally wouldn't, it's just-"

"You're upset," Pepper said. "It's all right. We understand."

"Right, and it's not as if I haven't thrown things from time to time," Tony said.

"Or blown things up," Pepper said easily.

"Don't listen to her, I very rarely blow things up," Tony said. Dr. Foster still looked troubled. "I promise you, Dr. Foster, it's fine. Now, when should we expect our guest from SHIELD?"

She blinked. "I invited someone to your home without even asking! I am so sorry! I'll call them back, tell them-"

"You'll do no such thing," Pepper said, stepping forward and taking her arm and leading her into the kitchen. "We were just finishing up dinner. Can I get you a plate? Or something to drink?"

Tony left Dr. Foster - Jane, as she soon insisted - to Pepper and Betty. Between Pepper's hospitality and Betty sharing her story about rushing here to try and catch Bruce, Jane was soon a lot more relaxed.

Which was good, because fifteen minutes after her call, the SHIELD agent arrived. Agent Simmons. Tony disliked him on sight, though he couldn't immediately identify why.

Agent Simmons looked at Tony. "Is there somewhere Ms. Foster and I can speak privately, Stark?"

Tony saw Jane tense at the 'Ms. Foster' part, and he wasn't too fond of the man addressing him so casually, either. Tony would put up with that from certain SHIELD agents who Tony somewhat respected or who Tony knew could kill him in a hundred different ways without breaking a sweat, but this man? Had earned no such leeway. "It's Dr. Foster and Mr. Stark, thank you," Tony said coolly. "And we can talk in the living room, right through here."

Agent Simmons glanced at Betty and Pepper. "Mr. Stark, there is some classified information Ms. Foster and I need to discuss..."

Again with the Ms. Foster? Oh, this was not going to end well.

"As Mr. Stark said, my proper title is Dr. Foster," Jane said icily. "Please use it."

Simmons barely acknowledged her, instead looking at Tony, Betty, and Pepper with what Tony guessed was supposed to be an apologetic look. "I'm sorry," and the man obviously wasn't, "but without the proper clearance-"

Pepper spoke for herself and Betty. "We'll just go upstairs," she said, and they moved towards the elevator.

Tony didn't move, and as he guessed, Simmons tried to make an issue of it. "Mr. Stark, I-"

"I am sure that my clearance level is higher than Dr. Foster's and probably higher than yours," Tony said. He turned to Jane. "Do you mind if I stick around?"

"Of course not," Jane said. Tony shared a glance with Pepper before she and Betty boarded the elevator. When the doors shut, Jane spoke again. "Now, about my questions."

"Of course," Simmons said, gesturing towards the living room. Jane preceded him and Tony followed Simmons. When they were seated, Tony kept silent as Jane tried to get answers out of Simmons. She asked about Thor's arrival. Asked about Dr. Selvig. Asked why she wasn't informed of what was happening. She was doing well at keeping calm - a little cool, but not bad, especially since Simmons was being a condescending ass who kept calling her 'Ms. Foster' and didn't give her any real answers - just double talk about SHIELD doing what they thought was best to insure her safety, that Dr. Selvig was fine and Simmons would arrange for him to contact her soon... Tony would have hit the guy by now. But Tony stayed quiet; based on what he saw earlier Dr. Foster certainly didn't need his help to deal with this idiot.

It was about the time when Jane was asking why she wasn't brought in to help find the tesseract - which was a very good question - when Tony finally figured out what bothered him so much about Simmons. Coulson. Simmons was trying to carry himself with that quiet competence that Coulson had - and he was failing miserably. Instead of competent, Simmons came off as condescending, arrogant, and useless.

"Really, Ms. Foster, you don't need to-"

"For the last time, it is Dr. Foster, not Ms. Foster!" Jane snapped. Okay. She had evidently had enough. "And how dare you decide what I do or do not need!"

"Please, Dr. Foster, calm down," Simmons said.

Tony knew that wasn't going to happen, because the level of condescension had increased tenfold, even with the (obviously sarcastic) use of Jane's proper title.

"Do not tell me what to do," Jane said. "SHIELD has no right to tell me what to do or where to go-"

"SHIELD is interested in keeping you safe and we would appreciate not having our methods questioned. SHIELD will do whatever we deem necessary, and if that includes not informing you or moving you to a safe location with or without your consent-"

"Are you going to get me in touch with Erik?" Jane asked.

"Ms. Foster-"

"Get out," Jane said, standing up.

Simmons blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Get out. I'm done with this conversation. You're obviously not going to answer my questions or get me in touch with Erik so I am wasting my time with you. Leave. Now."

Simmons was actually thrown for a loop by the steely resolve Jane was showing. Tony was enjoying this. "I actually am prepared to escort you to-"

"To see Erik?" Jane interrupted.

"Well, no, you can't-"

"Then no, I will not be going anywhere with you," Jane said.

Simmons sighed, getting to his feet too. "Ms. Foster, I understand you're upset and emotional, but really, you have to see you're overreacting here."

This guy was like a guide of what not to say when faced with a pissed off woman. Tony was surprised he hadn't asked if it was "that time of the month" for Jane. Tony also noted that Simmons must never have met Natasha, because there was no way he could cop this attitude with her and live.

Jane elected to end the conversation by walking out of the room. Simmons made a move to stop her, but Tony got up and blocked him. "Let me escort you out, Agent Simmons," Tony said.

"Stark-"

"I insist," Tony said, grasping his elbow and starting to pull him towards the elevator. Simmons shook him off, but Tony shot him a glare. "You're done here, Simmons. You are leaving this tower, and believe me, I will be happy to use force if necessary."

"Oh? And exactly what do you think Director Fury would say to that?" Simmons asked.

As if that would make Tony back down. "I don't know what he'd say. I do plan on asking him tomorrow, though." Simmons tensed at that. "But we can call him right now if you'd like."

Simmons didn't say a word, just moved towards the elevator. Tony got on with him and made sure he left the building. A word to security that Simmons was not allowed access to Stark Tower anymore, and Tony got in the elevator. "JARVIS, pull the security feed of that video and send it to my phone. I think Fury might be interested in seeing what kind of assholes he has for agents these days."

"Of course, sir."

"Where's Jane?"

"In the kitchen of suite 5A. Ms. Potts and Dr. Ross are with her."

Good, that meant that Tony didn't have to try and calm Jane down or comfort her. They'd be much better at it, anyway. "JARVIS, we need to find out where Dr. Selvig is. Think we can get into their systems remotely? I'd really rather not talk to anyone from SHIELD again tonight if at all possible."

"Actually, sir, Agent Hill is on the line and insisting on talking to you," JARVIS said.

Of course she was. Simmons had probably called and fed her a line of bullshit. He considered blowing her off, but unfortunately, he couldn't risk pissing SHIELD off before the meeting tomorrow. "Patch her through, JARVIS," Tony said, really not looking forward to this.

"Stark?"

"Agent Hill," Tony said.

"Apparently an Agent Simmons is on his way to talk to Dr. Foster-"

"Oh, he just left," Tony said.

"Damn it," Hill said. Tony raised an eyebrow. Not exactly the reaction he was expecting. "All right, how badly did he piss Dr. Foster off?"

Excellent. Hill already knew Simmons was an idiot. "Well, let's see," Tony said. "He didn't answer any of her questions, told her that SHIELD could do whatever the hell they wanted with her whether she liked it or not, wouldn't get her in touch with Dr. Selvig, and kept calling her Ms. Foster despite being corrected several times."

"So... a lot, then."

"Yep," Tony said. "And she was already pissed off that she wasn't informed that Thor was on-planet and that Selvig had been kidnapped. Why wasn't she brought in to help track down the tesseract, by the way? She knows how Selvig thinks. That would have been useful."

"Stark, there were reasons, and really, that's all I have to say about it right now so please don't start," she said tiredly.

"You said please," Tony said. "My god, you must be having a bad day if you're being polite to me."

That got a slightly amused-sounding huff from Agent Hill. "Is Dr. Foster still there?" she asked.

"Yep. Talking with Pepper and Betty right now." They probably didn't know Betty was here yet, but they'd find out sooner or later. Might as well get it out of the way.

"Betty?" she said.

"Dr. Betty Ross," Tony said. "She showed up earlier today looking for Bruce. Then Dr. Foster showed up looking for Thor. By the way, if SHIELD knows of anyone else who might show up on my doorstep, I'd appreciate a heads-up. Because if someone comes here looking for Barton or Romanoff I don't think I'm going to invite them in."

"Probably a good plan," Hill said. "Look, if we think someone will show up looking for one of the Avengers, we'll give you a warning, but we did not know that Dr. Ross or Dr. Foster would go looking for Dr. Banner or Thor, and-"

She sounded truly annoyed, so Tony cut her off. "Agent Hill, that was a joke." Tony generally hated explaining himself, but made an exception because again, he did need SHIELD in a somewhat agreeable mood for tomorrow, and he also wanted to know what was up with Simmons. Neither of which would happen if Agent Hill was pissed off at him.

She was silent for a moment, then moved on. "Do you know what Dr. Foster's plans are?"

"Pretty sure Pepper's talking her into staying here for a few days, at least," Tony said. "Though, she's not going anywhere until she talks to Selvig."

"I'll get him to call her tonight."

"Good," Tony said. He paused, but even though he was pretty sure of the answer, he asked anyway. "I don't suppose Thor left a message for her?"

"No," Agent Hill said.

"Did he even ask about her?" Tony asked, because while Bruce was an idiot, Tony could understand his reasoning. Thor? Tony had no clue.

"I don't know," she said. "Agent Coulson would have been the one to talk to him about her."

Tony went silent for a minute, then pushed away the grief he was still pissed off he felt, and changed the subject. "So. Simmons. What's his deal? And how has he managed to avoid being eviscerated by any female agents yet?"

Hill almost sounded like she was smiling when she answered him. "He doesn't pull that attitude with agents," she said. "He gets some complaints from R&D, but for the most part it's civilians. You can assure Dr. Foster that it'll be discussed with him."

"All right," Tony said. "Give me an email address, Agent Hill, I'll send you some ammunition for that talk."

She paused. "Surveillance video?"

"Yep."

"I take it he didn't realize he was being taped."

"Nope, and that's another strike against him. All of you should know by now that I tape everything - well, almost everything - that goes on in my home."

She gave an email address. "There had better not be anything other than the video attached to that email, Stark."

"Agent Hill, are you implying I would do something nefarious to your computer systems?"

"You just hacked us a few days ago, Stark."

"I had to. You were keeping secrets from me."

"We're a secret organization, Stark, we have to keep secrets."

"And that's exactly what we need to talk about tomorrow," he said, dropping the joking tone.

"I am not having this argument with you right now," Hill warned.

"Okay, we'll postpone it till tomorrow," Tony said. "I can tell Jane that Selvig will be calling?"

"On my way there right after we hang up."

"Thank you, Agent Hill, she'll be happy to hear that."