Pros and Cons of Anonymity
Disclaimer: Premise and characters belong to Marvel, I'm just playing with them.
Chapter Five: A Superhero's Girlfriend
"It's good to have you back," Pepper told Foggy as they left one of the SHRA meetings. "And I have to say, I'm impressed by the work you do on sick leave. The ACLU is turning into a big help."
Foggy smiled, "I had some help figuring out how to relate the concerns and pressures to people who aren't directly involved."
"So your friend's coming around?" Pepper asked. "How is he doing?"
"Right now he's helping more out of boredom than anything else," Foggy admitted. "But I'm hoping if he keeps putting effort into making SHRA a good law he'll become invested." He glanced around to make sure no one was listening too closely then lowered his voice. "We managed to get the equivalent of an X-Ray to a medical practitioner he trusts. He's got another week of bedrest and strict orders not to do anything strenuous for another month unless he wants to risk things never healing right. Which… More time for me to keep him working on SHRA." Foggy grimaced, he'd rather Matt wasn't hurt but he wasn't above using the circumstances to get him engaged in improving the new law.
"We do what we have to," Pepper said. "Use what's given to us."
"On that note, I get why you're keeping his injuries in the news, but could you please cut it out," Foggy said, lowering his voice even further. "Down in the Kitchen we've got enemies coming out of the woodwork hoping to take advantage of him being hurt."
"Are you two safe?" Pepper asked.
Foggy nodded, "He's got a few friends dealing with the opportunistic for us… And no one knows where to look. No one knows who's under the mask."
"FRIDAY figured it out," Pepper said. The AI had adapted the search parameters and techniques Tony had used to identify Spider-Man and employed them on all the other vigilantees making news. "I wouldn't bank on the bad guys not being able to do the same."
"Even if they do, our last quarrel was pretty bad, pretty public. I'm not who they'd think he go to for help."
Pepper grimaced. "I'll try to let the publicity about his injuries die down. The news cycle's moved on from the fight that caused them by now."
The two of them parted ways. Foggy headed for the front door and the subway station around the corner from the government building. Pepper took the elevator down to the garage floor. A worried frown crossed her face when she didn't see Happy waiting with the car. Reaching for her phone she turned to head back to the building and some grabbed her from behind. "We won't be put on your kind's Indexes," a harsh voice hissed.
Pepper took a deep breath, forcing the glow to die out of her eyes even while she primed herself to consciously call on Extremis if she couldn't talk her way out. "Have you really thought this through?" she asked. "I'm one of the delegates holding the middle ground. What do you think attacking me is going to accomplish?"
"The ones like you, the ones who's honied words disguise the poison, are the worst of all," the man hissed. His hand tightened in Pepper's hair forcing her head back.
"There is no lie," Pepper insisted. "I am fighting for a law that serve us both."
"You humans with your promises, you lies," he sneered. "We didn't want to be part of your world. All we wanted was to be LEFT ALONE. But you came with your lists and your guns. Afterwards they said it was us that started it, the victors truly write the history books, but I was THERE. It was your planes that opened fire on our home!"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Pepper insisted. She was just about to let Extremis show, demonstrate that she had every reason to fight for a fair law in a way that might be understood, accepted when the ground shuttered.
Both Pepper and her assailant were knocked off balance. A dark haired woman in a knit cap flung herself out of the shadows, she struck the man in the face, then the throat. He lost his hold on Pepper and she dropped to her knees and quickly scuttled away from the fight, cursing her awkwardness. She scanned the garage for Happy or the car. There was a muted crack, Pepper caught a glimpse of a blue muzzle flash as the gun in the woman's hand barked again. The man collapsed.
"Happy!" Pepper shouted as she got back to her feet.
"Your driver's gonna have a nasty headache when he wakes up, but he's okay," the woman assured Pepper.
"Thank you…" Pepper trailed off.
"Call me Quake."
Pepper eyed her curiously, "That doesn't sound like someone who'd support the Accords."
Quake shrugged, "I don't agree with what he just did and he had some of his facts wrong but he also had a good point mixed in: Things tend to spiral out of control when people try to control us."
"You mean S.H.I.E.L.D.," Pepper said. "I don't. I'm not going to be satisfied with shunting responsibility for regulating the Enhanced over to some shadow organization with more than it's own share of accountability issues. I'm talking about real transparency, about making you part of the mainstream."
"I thought that way once," Quake said. "I was naive."
Pepper shrugged. "Democracy is a naive notion, I still prefer it over any of the alternatives. When Tony told the world he was Iron Man instead of letting S.H.I.E.L.D. cover up the truth, I thought he was crazy. Now I agree with him. When the government wanted to take Iron Man away from him they had to put him in front of the Senate, they had to let him argue his case. If he'd done what S.H.I.E.L.D. wanted, what S.H.I.E.L.D. told him was safer for him, they could have just taken it, put someone else in the suit with none the wiser."
Quake hesitated.
"I know Tony being Tony made the choice easier for him," Pepper said. "There was never a time in his life when he didn't have to deal with the media. There was never a time where he could be secure in the knowledge that the people around him were interested in him not in what they could get from associating with him. He never had a private life, a normal life to give up. The exposure he got from being Iron Man wasn't an entirely different beast from what he'd always had to deal with for being Tony Stark. But being in the open made it challenging for shadow organizations to get a hold over him. You can't blackmail someone without secrets. And when you're out in the open the bad guys have to come out to get to you."
"It's dangerous," Quake said. She nodded toward the man she'd shot. "I can't even guarantee he won't come after you again after he wakes up. This isn't your fight. Why make yourself a target? I can't believe being Tony Stark's girlfriend is enough of a reason for you to take up his cause."
Pepper shook her head. "Protecting Tony's memory is more than enough of a reason," she said firmly. "But you're right it's not my only one." She thought about Extremis threaded through her DNA and more importantly, through her daughter's DNA. Pepper knew it was Nettie who kept her more vengeful side in check, that gave her a reason to lock away the part of her that could have expanded her hatred of Steve Rogers to everyone like him and yet, neither Nettie nor Tony were the ultimate reason she wanted to be a part of the accords. "You think it's just my ties to Tony, to Iron Man that gives me a right to be heard, for my voice to matter? I'm part of this world!" Pepper exclaimed. "Even if I had powers like yours I'm not the sort to go after the bad guys with guns blazing. I recognize that sometimes violence is the only choice but it's not my choice, it's not how I solve problems. Even so, I'm part of this world. Why shouldn't I have a say? I don't want to oppress you but I'll be damned if I let you dictate to me!
"You have no idea how sick I am of the implication that underlies the actions of every person who declares 'The safest hands are our own.' Every single one of you who claims that is setting themselves above the law. You've decided that you're somehow special and that entitles you to make choices for the rest of us. That you have a right, no more than that, an obligation to 'help' wherever you can, regardless of the consequences. Well, who asked you to? I understand you're afraid of being persecuted for your differences but you're not a powerless, downtrodden minority. You act more like a privileged elite. You have power, enough power to level cities and wipe out entire armies and when anyone threatens your privileged status, your perceived right to ignore the laws the rest of us normal people are subject to, you lash out with that power." Pepper's eyes blazed with determination, "No one gets to tell me to sit down, shut up and let the big boys make the serious decisions. Not SI's board of directors, not Captain America and not you. You think SHRA only affects you? It affects our entire society, it's taking our heads out of the sand and acknowledging that you exist, that you're a part of our world whether we like it or not. I am involved because this is my world too and I have a stake in how we choose to move forward."
"I hope what you're trying to do doesn't get corrupted," Quake said.
"I could always use more of the people SHRA's meant to regulate working within the system to make it a good law," Pepper said. "
"I can't," Quake shook her head. "I just can't. Too much has happened."
After the young vigilante had left with her prisoner, Pepper found Happy slumped against the door of the car, a large goose-egg behind his ear. "You okay?" he asked blinking blearily up at her.
Pepper nodded, "How about you?"
"Can't hardly feel the bump given how hard I'm kicking myself," Happy said ruefully. "Soon as we get home I'm getting out the armor Tony loaned to me and I'm getting Rhodey and FRI to give me some pointers on using it."
That night Pepper opened up a large jewelry box. The elaborate set included bracelets, earrings, a rather solid collar necklace, rings, pins for her hair, even anklets and a belt that wouldn't fit around her waist for months to come, all set with blue and opalescent disks glowing with an inner luminance. Pepper put on one of the bracelets, she took a deep breath and pressed several studs on the side of one of the gems. The bracelet unfolded, the largest of the 'gems' sliding over her palm to become a repulsor glove.
"Why couldn't I have had a sleepover with Cassie?" Mercedes whined two weeks later as she followed her mother around the penthouse apartment at Stark Tower. "Why do I have to come all the way out here just so Harley can go to some stupid party?"
"Because I'm thinking we might stay awhile," Marlena said. "After Pepper's baby is born. Maybe for a whole school term. I thought you might like to visit some schools with me but I could always decide without your help."
"I get to big sister baby Nettie?" Mercedes asked, perking up immediately. "Cassie's going to be so jealous!"
"You may help me 'big sister' her," FRIDAY interjected, her tone just a tad too forceful to be prim.
Marlena smiled. "I'm sure Nettie will love all her big sisters and brothers, as well as her aunts and uncles," she said as Harley walked out of room, a stylist trailing behind him. Marlena swallowed, "Don't you look sharp," she said, thinking that he looked much too grow-up in the tux he'd been dressed in for the gala. She irritated the stylist by readjusting his bowtie and smoothing his hair.
"Mom!" Harley protested.
"You're wearing make-up," Mercedes observed her eyes sparkling with mischief.
"Tease me about it and I'll tell Ms. Hope about Mr. Cuddles," Harley threatened.
Mercedes wrinkled her nose at her brother. "You wouldn't dare."
Pepper arrived a few moments later wearing a shimmering black gown with an empire waist gathered just above her baby bump. Her hair was put up with blue and opal pins, the matching collar and bracelets circling her neck and wrists, glowing softly against her skin. She immediately sank onto the couch, happy to get off her swollen feet even if it was only for a few minutes.
Happy showed up ten minutes later. "The car's waiting," he said then asked Harley, "You ready for tonight?"
Harley nodded, looking grim.
Pepper grinned, "Relax, the Gala should be a friendly audience. People will be curious about you but the paparazzi isn't allowed and it's a sufficiently formal venue to encourage civil behavior. We'll arrive thirty minutes before they seat us for dinner, and stay for another half-hour afterwards to allow you to mingle, at which point you can site homework to make your escape. We're sharing a table with the Sousas, what I gathered from Tony was that the previous generation were some of the very few people both Maria and Howard counted as friends. I think you'll like them, I do."
"Yeah, no problem… There aren't going to be a billion different forks and I'm gonna look like a moron for not knowing which one to use right?" Harley asked.
"Just the standard four utensils," Pepper replied. "Appetizers and Dessert will both be finger food to be consumed while mingling."
"Okay, that's good," Harley breathed a sigh of relief. "Wait! Four?"
"Salad fork," Marlena supplied.
"Right, we had those in the drawer, never used them," Harley babbled.
"It'll be okay," Pepper assured him. She slipped her shoes back on. "I'm going to feel so short without my heels," she mourned as Harley offered her his arm.
"Just like you told Harley this is a friendly audience, you can afford to leave a bit of your armor behind. I've got your back," Happy teased as he hefted the suitcase he was carrying. He turned to Marlena, "I'll have Harley back before curfew."
"Get them both back for a good night's sleep and I'll make you dinner," Marlena said eyeing the shadows beneath Pepper's eyes that make-up couldn't completely hide.
Peter tried not to gawk as he and Harry followed Norman Osborn into the sparkling hotel lobby where the Maria Stark Foundation gala was being held.
Norman paused just outside the ballroom to address the two boys. "There will be champagne being served. The wait-staff is unlikely to check ID's. If either of you attempt to take advantage of this I'll have your hides," he threatened sotto voce. "You're here to make connections not to make a fool of me."
"Got it Dad," Harry said while Peter just nodded.
"Good," Norman replied. His expression morphed from menacing to jovial in a heartbeat then he led them inside. "Senator Bailey, a pleasure to meet your charming wife. May I introduce my son Harry and his friend Peter Parker?"
The boys dutifully trailed after Norman for several minutes smiling and shaking hands. Then Harry nudged Peter to peel off, ostensibly the two boys headed for a waiter and the plate of hor dourves he was carrying. "Dad'll be focused on the politicians and businessmen," Harry said softly. "Normally I'm relegated to making nice with society wives but with you along I'm supposed to talk with the sciency types until Keener shows."
"Why does your Dad want you to make friends with Harley?" Peter asked. "After how he reacted to my internship I'd think that would be the last thing he'd want."
"Rumor has it that Ms. Potts' obstetrician is some sort of hush-hush specialist and that she's going to have to go on bed-rest or risk losing the baby any day now," Harry said.
Peter's face scrunched up with doubt and worry, "Ms. Potts looks a little tired, but who wouldn't given the circumstances?"
"Maybe not, but she is over forty and Tony Stark wasn't exactly the posterboy for taking care of yourself, between the drinking, Afghanistan and flying a nuclear missile through an alien portal," Harry replied. "If there's something not right with the kid it won't be exactly shocking and Dad doesn't think Potts is the sort to just dump the kid with the help and get back to running her business. Tony Stark took over as SI's CEO when he was twenty-one but Keener's only fifteen, he wasn't raised to run a major business and if Potts can't keep going SI doesn't have anyone like Obadiah Stane waiting in the wings to act as regent until Keener's ready to step up."
"And your dad thinks what? If you and Harley are friends SI'll ask him to help out?" Peter shook his head.
"If SI starts going under Dad'll try to buy the divisions that still contract with the military," Harry said. "Having Keener's votes on our side wouldn't hurt."
"It's not going to happen," Peter said. "But I'm looking forward to meeting Harley in person anyway. We've been vid-conferencing every week since I started my internship."
Several minutes later they spotted Pepper Potts and Harley Keener coming in. Peter wasn't sure if the way Harley was glued to Pepper's side was proof that there was something to what Harry had said about the pregnancy or if it was just Harley feeling nervous. "Don't say anything you'd normally say about Dr. Stark," Peter warned as he started leading Harry over to them.
"I do have manners," Harry replied, rolling his eyes.
"Yeah, but are they good ones?" Peter sniped. "Harley!" he called a moment later as he waved.
Harley turned and grinned. "Peter, no one told me you were going to be here. No one told me there'd be anyone I knew here!" He glanced back at Pepper, she smiled and gave him a small nudge toward the other boys.
"Well, my friend Harry here got dragged by his dad. He couldn't find a date so he asked me instead," Peter said. "Harley, this is Harry Osborn, my best friend since kindergarten. Harry, Harley Keener, my long-distance lab cohort at SI."
"Pleased to meet you," Harry said. "I'm sure our school chem teacher really appreciates SI giving Pete a new place to blow up."
Harley laughed, "I'm sure Pepper and Rhodey have long since explosion-proofed every lab at SI… R&D's full of engineers and we all love explosions, I think it's like an unwritten qualification for getting the job."
"Judging from Pete, I'm sure you're right," Harry replied. "So is this the first time you've been to one of these things?"
"It shows?" Harley asked worriedly.
"Naw, just an educated guess," Harry said drawing Peter and Harley away from Pepper. "There are more painful ways to spend a night and once people have had a chance to get drunk you get to watch 'Celebrities Behaving Badly' live instead of waiting for the recap on TV."
"As long as it's not me," Harley replied.
Harry gave him a sympathetic look, "At least you don't have to worry about your sixth birthday partying ending up in a tabloid."
"He didn't want girls there, but his dad invited them anyway," Peter tattled. "Harry knocked the cake off the table and the Enquirer suggested he needed anger management."
"I didn't know the table was that shakey!" Harry protested. "I mean the cake was last thing I wanted to hurt, I have no idea what the flavor was supposed to be but it was neon blue."
"Who would ever want to hurt cake of color never meant to exist in nature?" Harley agreed. "And I've got a sister who's still in the 'boys have cooties' stage."
"Finally! Someone who understands," Harry declared clapping the younger boy on the shoulder.
"Mr. Osborn, what a surprise," Pepper said as Norman offered his hand.
Rather than shaking Pepper's hand, Norman raised it to his lips, "Just because Stark Industries and OsCorp are business rivals it doesn't mean I don't wish to support the good work done by the Maria Stark Foundation."
"Your support is appreciated," Pepper said reclaiming her hand as quickly as could be considered polite.
"I also wanted to personally extend my sympathies. I know how difficult it must be continuing the day-to-day effort to run a major company so soon after the loss of your partner," Norman said, stepping closer to Pepper. "You're delicate condition on top of that."
Pepper rolled her eyes, "It's the 21st century, you can say 'pregnant'."
"If there's anything I could do to ease the burden on you just ask," Norman continued unperturbed.
"You could stop infringing on Tony's patents," Pepper suggested a hint of sarcasm creeping into her voice.
Norman frowned, "Ms. Potts I don't wish to bore you with technical details but process by which my gliders work has nothing in common with the Iron Man repulsor technology."
"Technical details never bore me, or SI's lawyers," Pepper replied sweetly. "But this isn't really the correct venue for an in depth discussion of how the differences between your glider's propulsion system and Tony's repulsors couldn't fill a teacup. We shouldn't talk business tonight, don't you agree?"
"Of course not," Norman said stiffly. "I simply wanted to spare you the trouble of a frivolous lawsuit when SI's legal team is currently being taxed by Avengers' business."
At dinner Norman boldly ignored the placards at the tables and seated himself, Harry and Peter at Pepper and Harley's table. "You don't mind? There are so few young people here," he excused himself to the Sousas. "I'm sure young Harley would appreciate Harry and Peter keeping him company for dinner?"
Pepper looked exasperated. David Sousa had noticed Norman monopolizing Pepper's conversations since her arrival and gave her a sympathetic smile. "Why don't we stop by for brunch in the morning? Get to know Harley out of the limelight?" he offered.
"That would be wonderful," Pepper said forcefully.
The three boys chatted easily throughout dinner while Norman told Pepper about how hard losing his wife had been on him. "I never expected to be raising a child on my own while running a business but I knew Emily was opposed to the notion of sending children off to boarding school so I persevered." Pepper glanced across the table and wondered if the conversation was as uncomfortable for the man's son as it was for her but Harry seemed completely oblivious as he and Peter traded embarrassing stories about each other for Harley's entertainment.
"I understand the pressure you're under," Norman said putting a hand over Pepper's. "And when it gets to be too much for you I want you to know I'm here for you."
"When?" Pepper slid her hand out from under Norman's and wiped it with her napkin. "Mr. Osborn, you seem to be under the impression that we're in some old Western. That I'm the poor widowed rancher's wife needing a man to come around and take care of things for me. I'll have you remember that I have been CEO of Stark Industries for six years. Tony trusted me to take care of his company and I won't fail him. I will not allow you to profit from the research you stole. I will never let you or anyone like you fold SI back into the weapons industry. You won't buy our patents or our company and you certainly won't charm it out of me."
Norman stood up abruptly, knocking his chair over. He grabbed Harry by the arm and jerked him to his feet then stormed away hauling his son after him.
Peter started after Norman and Harry then glanced back.
"Why don't you stay Peter?" Pepper suggested. "It would be no problem to give you a ride home." At her words Norman's grip on Harry's arm tightened viciously, a look of pain crossed the teen's face as he stumbled after his father.
"I think I'd better go," Peter said.
Harley glanced between the Osborns and Peter, chewing his lower lip.
"Some situations are easier for an adult to handle," Pepper said softly. "No matter how capable you might be. You're not obligated, Peter."
"No, everything's fine," Peter said shooting what he meant to be a reassuring grin at Harley. Then he hurried after Norman.
"That guy-" Harley started once Peter had gone.
Pepper grimaced. "He's been trying my patience since we got here but I shouldn't have set him off," she said. Then she reached up and touched one of her earrings. "FRIDAY, does Peter have his watch on?"
"Sure does Boss-Lady," FRIDAY confirmed.
Pepper nodded to herself. "Contact May, relay what happened to her. Also monitor Peter, if it seems like things are getting out of control May can call at a fortunate time and give him an excuse to go home if he needs it. Maybe May can think of a way to get Osborn's son out until his temper's spent as well, I can't think of anything that wouldn't make things worse." Pepper shook her head, "The way he reacted just now, I'd be much happier if both those boys were well away from him."
"Who does she think she is, talking to me like that, the trumped up little whore," Norman fumed as his driver took them back to the OsCorp building.
Peter and Harry sat quietly on the other side of the limo.
Norman suddenly smiled at Peter and reached across the car to pat him on the arm. "You were loyal, that's good, very good. Loyalty is a rare quality in this day and age. You know you could have quite the future at Oscorp," he rambled. "It's been obvious for years that Harry doesn't have what it takes to head OsCorp's R&D efforts as I have." Harry's mouth tightened but didn't seem surprised. "But you have the talent and I can trust you not to turn on him can't I Peter?" Norman's grip tightened on Peter's arm until it was an unspoken threat. Then he sighed, "With the way you two have always gotten on, it's just unfortunate that you weren't born a girl."
As Peter edged away from Norman he threw a bewildered look in Harry's direction. Behind his father's back Harry grimaced, his expression said 'just go along with it.' The moment the limo pulled to a stop in the garage of the OsCorp building Peter tumbled out and got a dirty look from the attendant who'd been moving to open the door for them.
"I have business to see to," Norman declared as he used his keycard to stop the elevator at his office floor. "You two boys can entertain yourselves I assume?"
Peter and Harry nodded in relief. Once Norman was gone Peter turned to Harry, "That was…"
Harry gave him a rictus grin, "Dad's always thought that way," he admitted. "I mean back when we were little kids that's why he picked you: You had the test scores I didn't. Machiavelli's his hero you know."
"That doesn't bug you?" Peter had to ask. "You Dad deciding…" Peter didn't know how to say 'Deciding you weren't smart enough and picking someone else."
"Maybe a little when I first really started getting it." Harry answered Peter's unvoiced question. "But then, you couldn't do the business stuff." He gave Peter a shaky grin, "You're too nice, that's why I always have to save you from Flash and he's nothing next to the sort of people my Dad deals with day-to-day.
"It's just business," Harry continued insistently, holding on to Peter's arm. "Dad had to create a hard shell to make the company successful and keep Mom and I sheltered. After Mom died, as I got older… Well, he knew I was going to toughen up if I wanted to ever run the company. He had to make me part of the shell but then there was nothing left inside to protect and… And this last year?" Harry glanced away. "Dad doesn't mean to be like that. He wouldn't normally say something like that to you, but maybe he's starting to think of you as family. I mean he tells me that kind of thing, he has to teach me how to run the company. It was better, he was better, when he had someone to take care of." Then something desperate and afraid filled Harry's eyes, even though his smile was bright and his voice full of a brittle sort of hope. "But you and I, we'll be okay. You'll be brilliant and I'll protect you from the world and we'll both have big families."
"Right," Peter said weakly responding to what Harry hadn't said, 'And I won't end up like my dad: Hard and hollow.'
Pepper and Harley stayed a bit later at the gala than Pepper had originally planned to make up for the time Norman Osborn had monopolized but they were still one of the first to leave. Happy called for their driver to pick them up then escorted the two of them to the hotel's porte-cochere.
Traffic bustled by at a sedate pace for New York and the full moon shown down on the city. A deranged laugh split the autumn evening and the Goblin who had been harassing the city dove out of the sky at them. Happy shoved Pepper and Harley back toward the lobby.
The Goblin buzzed them, the backwash of his glider sent Happy flying. As the Goblin spun around for a second pass Pepper activated her defenses. She felt the pins in her hair extend and twine together to form a glowing crown. Her necklace unfolded until it formed an abbreviated armor over her shoulders and upper chest. Wires raced down her arms to join up with the gauntlets covering her hands and up her neck to connect to her crown. Beside her she heard a mechanical whine and saw Harley also had a repulsor gauntlet covering his hand. Pepper nodded grimly, "Stay behind me," she said.
"You're going to fight?" the Goblin laughed as he hovered a half dozen feet over their heads. "How cute." Harley responded with a repulsor blast that the Goblin easily evaded. When he dove at them again, Pepper raised her arms, palms out, instead of a blast the repulsors created a field. The Goblin struck it full force and bounced, falling from his glider to the street below. He rolled to his feet with a snarl and pulled a grenade from the pouch slung over his shoulder.
A repulsor blast from the shadows sent the grenade flying. The Goblin turned, his eyes widened as Iron Man stepped into the light. "You're dead!" he exclaimed. Iron Man crouched slightly as he raised his hands, palms out. "Oh, I get it." The Goblin cocked his head to the side, "Empty can or stand-in?"
Harley took a potshot, striking the Goblin in the shoulder and sending him crashing into a parked car. Iron Man stepped forward, his repulsors whined menacingly as he maximized their power.
The Goblin rotated his shoulder, grimacing in pain, He glared at the trio opposing him then made a small beckoning gesture and the glider swooped back to him. "Later," he threatened as he jumped aboard and flew away.
Iron Man's arms dropped in relief, a moment later the faceplate flipped up to reveal Happy.
"Why didn't you go after him?" Harley exclaimed.
"First because chasing him would leave an opening for him to after you two," Happy replied.
"The Goblin has dozens of angled repulsors for much better high-speed maneuverability," FRIDAY confirmed. "The closest Iron Man could come to mimicking the glider's performance would require massive deceleration."
"That glider is OsCorp tech," Pepper said. "Osborn brought up the legal injunction SI filed against it just tonight."
"Gives the police somewhere to start looking," Happy replied.
"You said protecting us was the first reason," Harley argued. "But we weren't doing so bad."
"The second reason is I can't fly," Happy said with a shrug. "I can't even let FRIDAY fly the suit for me, can't seem to help fighting her control and the next thing I know we're crashing. Not everyone's cut out to be a pilot, I just can't seem to get the hang of maneuvering in three dimensions."
Harley's shoulders slump in defeat but Pepper gives him a wry, sympathetic smile. "At least we didn't end up needing a vigilante to save us this time," she said.
"But aren't you-" Harley started to object.
Happy shook his head. "Signed the Accords two days ago."
"I have a specific licence to carry and demonstrate SI tech," Pepper added.
"The UN only granted me limited permission to operate, only in my capacity as head of security for SI, but that covers tonight. I specifically am restricted from flying until Rhodey signs me off as not being a hazard to everyone around me… Which he won't be doing to do any time soon." He stepped out of the armor and let it fold back into a suitcase.
Pepper nodded, her expression tight, "As long Happy stays half-trained it's unlikely anyone on the committee would try to order him on a mission unless it was a serious emergency."
"And I'm not leaving my post for anything less," Happy added patting Pepper on the shoulder. "Not unless you start making me feel redundant with that armor of yours."
Notes: Minor AoS cross over with Pepper's attacker being someone evacuated from Afterlife who has been relatively isolated from events since then.