A/N: You'll notice that the summary has "C1" on it. That's because the series Not My Sins is being written out of chronological order as the stories come to me. C1 indicates that this is the earliest chronological story in the series. Part One means that this was the first story actually written.
When Pepper arrived at Stark Mansion the next morning the house was quiet, and she was unsurprised to see no sign of Tony, or Rhodey. "JARVIS, where is Tony?" She asked when Tony's bedroom proved empty. After the kayak incident, Pepper refused to search the house if she couldn't find him in under three minutes.
"He is in the workshop," JARVIS replied, "with Colonel Rhodes."
Pepper nodded and headed for the stairs; it was time to get to the bottom of what had happened the night before. As she descended the stairs, however, Pepper felt a nagging worry that something was wrong. As she gained her first view of the workshop, she realized that she wasn't hearing Tony's music for a change. Usually she could hear it from the stairwell unless Rhodey had turned it down himself. She cleared the stairs and looked into the workshop.
It took a moment for the scene to settle in her mind, but she doubted it was something she would ever forget. Tony was leaning against one of the walls, a glass in hand, laughing, Rhodey was sitting on the chair from the desk, gesturing as he spoke. In the middle of the workshop, however were two young men, one of which was wearing a polo shirt and khakis, with shaggy, dark blond hair, and sneakers. The other had short cropped, blond hair, had a set of muscles that would make her ex-boyfriend sigh in envy, and wore only a bright red Speedo. Embedded in the young man's bare chest was an arc reactor. This young man spotted her and his easy smile faded as he looked over at Tony and said something.
Tony saw her and his smile faded a little, but he got up and walked over to open the door. "Code not working?" He asked, leaning against the door frame and blocking her from entering the workshop.
"No," Pepper said trying not to stare at the strangers, "I just didn't expect you to have guests." She gave him a pointed look and reached for the door to push it further open.
"They aren't exactly guests," Tony replied, he smiled his 'I'm being a brat and you love it' smile, reached to put an arm on her shoulder and all but pushed her further into the workshop. "Virginia 'Pepper' Potts, I would like you to meet my sons, Doctor Robin Goodfellow," the young man in the polo shirt waved; now that she could see his face, Pepper realized that only the man's glasses kept him from being identical to the other; "And Steven Goodfellow."
"Stark," the Speedo wearing brother said in a crisp, English accent, "Steven Stark."
"I don't understand," Pepper began, looking from Tony to Steven and back again.
"Do you need me to explain where babies come from?" Tony interrupted her, "Didn't you learn that, in like, the sixth grade?" He glared at the twins as they snickered.
"No," Pepper said sharply, then shook her head, "I mean yes, but," Pepper stopped talking and took a deep breath. Unable to remember her original question, she asked, "How come I didn't know you had children?"
"Only three people knew," Rhodey said, standing up, "Tony, the boys' mother, and me"
"Well, five if you count the two of us," Steven said, gesturing to his brother. Dr Goodfellow gave her a little half smile before looking at a phone Pepper hadn't noticed him holding. Whatever he was doing, it seemed to serve as a distraction from the rest of them.
"Well, thank you Captain Obvious," Rhodey replied.
Steven crossed his arms, "You're welcome, Lieutenant Sarcasm,"
"Hey, that's Lieutenant Colonel," Rhodey snapped, "show some respect soldier."
"They were born before I ever hired you," Tony said, raising his voice and stopping the fight before it could escalate. "And before my parents died. Bridgett, the boys' mother, raised them in England to keep them from the press, and my father."
"Your father," Pepper repeated, wondering if it was the topic or the twins that was keeping Tony, mostly, serious. She would have to bring one or both of the twins to the board meetings, they might actually get some work done.
"Howard Stark had already scared one girl into having an abortion when Tony was sixteen." Rhodey said, moving to stand closer to Tony than he had been. Dr Goodfellow showed his phone to Steven, who seemed grateful for the distraction. "Obadiah also scared a few girls after Howard died. There may have been more, but we don't know. Bridgett didn't want an abortion, and Tony was still technically a minor, so she ran. Went home to England and never told anyone who the father was."
"It's not like he abandoned us," Steven spoke up, not looking up from the phone, "even if he couldn't be there all the time, he wrote us letters and tried to make the big occasions. When he couldn't, Uncle Jim showed up with a camcorder so that Dad could share the memories."
"I knew you weren't sterile," Pepper said, then flushed as all four of them stared at her. "Right after I started working for the company, back when I was in finance, everyone was talking about those five woman who sued for paternity. After you had paternity tests done and they were all negative, people started saying you were sterile."
"No," Tony shook his head, "Obie."
The temperature of the room dropped. Pepper looked around to see that Rhodey had a look of hatred, but Steven had paled and Dr Goodfellow looked stone faced.
"I mean, I got a vasectomy when I was twenty-one," Tony said hastily, his face neutral. "Since I wasn't going to settle down then, we, I didn't want to risk us having paternity claims that turned out to be true. I already had Steve and Robin if something happened to me, and if something happened to them, it is possible to reverse the procedure."
Pepper took a deep breath, combining what she had learned yesterday, Stane had hired people to kill Tony, with what Tony had not said, she realized that Stane had been playing a very long game. She decided to change the subject, "Why does Steven have an arc reactor?" Pepper asked, nodding towards Steven. Dr Goodfellow had his arm over Steven's shoulders and they were leaning in towards each other. From the looks of things, she'd managed to divert them from one touchy subject to another.
"Yeah well," Tony said, "we didn't tell the truth about the convoy. I actually wasn't alone with the soldiers that day Pepper. Steve was with me. We were going to Switzerland to see Robin before going our separate ways."
"The cover story is that Dad had a freelance reporter with him," Steven said, "someone doing a write up on the Life of Tony Stark. The unofficial line is Dad had a private bodyguard in addition to the soldiers; a discrete bodyguard. Said bodyguard was also taken by the Ten Rings, and killed at the camp as part of the persuasion they employed to get Dad to do the work." He glanced around, "By the way, can we finish this so that I can get dressed? It is much too cold in here to wear a Speedo."
"I'm not doing it," Doctor Goodfellow said suddenly, stepping away from his brother as if he'd been shocked. "You two changed his diaper, this really shouldn't be a problem." It was, Pepper realized, the first time she'd heard him speak. He had the same light tenor voice his brother had, but he wasn't as loud.
"A diaper is a totally different thing," Rhodey protested, holding up his hands and taking a few steps back.
Tony turned away and headed for the bar, just behind the desk, "I never changed your diapers." As Tony mixed himself a drink, the three began to argue.
"Sorry about them," Steven said, catching Pepper's attention again. He was moving closer to her, making it easier for her to hear him.
"What's going on?" Pepper asked, trying to ignore Tony and Rhodey as they shouted at each other.
"We need to measure my inner thighs for Dad's project," Steven replied, "no one wants to do it, and I always move the tape before I can get an accurate measurement."
There was a sudden silence, and Pepper looked at Tony involuntarily. "We could always ask Pepper to do it." Tony smirked at her in challenge, "What do you say, Pepper?"
Rhodey made a noise of protest.
"Brilliant idea," Steven said dryly, "ask your PA to measure the inner thigh of the strange, half naked young man she just met. Seriously, how have you not gone bankrupt from sexual harassment suits yet?"
Pepper sighed and held out her hand, "I'll do it. Hand me the tape measure." She gave Tony one of those looks he never seemed to understand, the 'I'll do this, but there will be an expensive charge on your credit card later' look. She had been eyeing that Coach bag for months.
"It's metric," Steven told her as Dr Goodfellow handed it over.
"I think I'll manage," Pepper said politely.
Steven fell into what Pepper recognized as parade rest, hands resting at the small of his back. She walked over and knelt down, realizing as she did so that Steven was actually shorter than Tony, he had just seemed taller because he stood up straight naturally. She wondered if pointing out that his son had better posture would get Tony to stop slouching. Using that thought as a minor distraction, Pepper quickly measured, and called out the numbers for the others, then she stood up and backed away. Steven gave her a small nod, "Thank you Ms. Potts."
"You're welcome, Steven," Pepper replied.
Steven flushed a little, "You can call me Steve, or Puck if you want, Ms. Potts."
Pepper smiled, "Only if you call me Pepper."
Tony cleared his throat, "Now that we have those measurements JARVIS, let's see the render."
"Working on it sir," JARVIS replied.
"Tony," Pepper said as Steve and Dr Goodfellow left the workshop muttering about clothes and tea, "about last night."
"That wasn't me," Tony said firmly, almost vehemently, "I didn't fight Stane at Stark Industries." He waved his hand at Rhodey, who leaned against the desk.
"Don't lie to me," Pepper stated calmly, "Obadiah Stane is dead, and I watched you kill him!" She paused, startled at how quickly her voice had risen into a shout. Pepper hadn't realized just how upset she still was about last night.
"It wasn't me," Tony protested, he put the glass down, started towards her with his hand outstretched, "you have to believe that."
"And let me guess, that wasn't you at Gulmira either, right?" Pepper challenged him, looking him straight in the eye even as his advance caused her to take a step back. Wrong move, she thought as Tony dropped his eyes to hide a flash of hurt before looking at her again. Rhodey shifted a little from his spot at the desk, looking uncomfortable.
"Uh, yeah no. That, that actually was me," Tony pointed to himself. "Last night though, that, that wasn't me," Tony wagged his finger.
Pepper pressed her lips together, "Fine," she said, still not believing him, but unwilling to push him to the point where his innate cruelty overcame his self control. They'd made it nearly three years since the last time he'd driven her from the mansion in tears, convinced she'd lost her job. She had to admit the dress and shoes he paid for during his apology were her favorite. "I've already ordered the clean up started, but that fight caused a lot of damage to public property." Pepper looked at the tablet she was carrying, "And we should discuss the press conference you asked for, but Agent Coulson would like to meet with you before you speak to the press."
"We'll help with the clean up. But don't let the city guilt you into paying for everything. That's what tax money is for," Tony told her, turning away and heading for his drink. "That road was a menace to drivers already." He paused before taking a sip, "Was anyone hurt?"
"Some of the other agents were hurt, thankfully no one was killed," Pepper said, mentally pulling together a list of people that she needed to call. Not only Coulson and the press, but security. Realizing what she'd said, Pepper added, "But that was Stane, before you got there. You caused property damage and destroyed some cars. If anything, you saved lives, Tony, by keeping Stane on the property for the most part."
"Right," Tony said, flicking his hand at her dismissively. "Find out who lost a car, get them a new one, and pay off what they owe on the old."
"Tony," Pepper started to say.
"What?" Tony asked, his voice strained, "Isn't that something that should happen? I mean, I didn't actually crush the cars, but it happened because of me, so I should do something about it. You know what's reasonable for those people to drive, keep them off the IRS radar and all that. Oh, and Steve and Robin are going to be here for a few weeks. Steve might stay, but Robin has to go back to England when we're done with our face to face."
"Tony," Rhodey said, "just breathe."
"All I really wanted to say," Pepper said with a smile, "is you're a better man than you like people to think you are." She squared her shoulders and lifted her tablet, "Will that be all, Mr Stark?"