Hello! I'm back! I know, so soon! I got bored, and I write when bored. Plus all of your comments made me feel confident to keep going. Thanks guys, it means a lot. To my reviewer asking me to make a wattpad account: First off, thanks! Stop it, you make me blush! *fans face!* Really though, thanks. Anyways, yes, after much pain and suffering ( .suffering), I made an account. You're welcome. To anyone who wants to know, I couldn't get the name Booklover0318, so my name is maddiebunnylover. I did put my 'full name' as booklover0318 though, so maybe you can search both... Whatevs. If you search for Den des Chasseurs on there, you should find me. Enjoy this chapter!
Tony yawned and ran a tired hand over his face. He was so. Fucking. Bored. You think running a multi billion dollar company would be rather enjoyable, at least not boring, but no. Instead of being locked in his lab (the one he designed himself), he was stuck doing hours of paperwork. He had to the the math, and he was confused on that. Didn't he hire people for that? Whatever. He signed another paper, something about his new designs for more defensive technology, and sighed again.
So. Fucking. Bored.
His siblings were having a great time at their jobs. The nineteen year olds were a hit with the media. Riley was already considered one of the top lawyers in the country, Jace had made groundbreaking work in his study, and Evan was at the top of his class at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
Riley had only lost one case in the past year she'd been working, and the man who'd been released was mysteriously killed by Hyena six days later. People from around the country had come to her. Riley specified in cases of sexual assault.
Jace had discovered that the reason some mental disorder Tony couldn't remember the name of was caused by a slowing of the neurons firing in their mind and nerves. The solution, also discovered by Jace, was a simple surgical procedure to mend the affected areas.
Evan was considered one of the top three residents that the hospital had ever accepted into their program. He had already preformed some of the most complicated procedures with little difficulty.
Tony was brought in more profit and ideas than any other large scale company in the past fourteen months than many brought in their entire careers.
The media loved Tony's attitude, and ate up what he threw at them. Riley took no nonsense from the media, and protected her clients fiercely from the animals that were the reporters. Jace was bashful in the lime-light, and often kept his head down about in public when someone asked him for an interview. Evan even (ha!) got the occasional interview due to his talent, and the reporters loved him too. Tony found it funny that Evan, Riley, and himself were the most attention seeking of the group, but Jace currently got the most attention due to the fact his discovery was recent.
Tony shook his head to clear it, and took a drink of water. Blinking at the paper, he picked up his pen once more with a groan. He needed a personal assistant. With his permission, they could sign off on these things for him instead. The last forty-three (literally) hadn't worked out. Twelve had run out of the building screaming, twenty-one had burst into tears before leaving in a sobbing mess, and ten had ranted for almost five minutes before storming out. They couldn't handle the stress of working with Tony Stark.
So now he was stuck doing his own paperwork. Damn. Suddenly there was a commotion outside, a hissing sound, followed by howls of pain and a few crashes. After a second of surprise, he got up and opened the door.
He wasn't sure weather or no burst out laughing or yell. There was a woman staring at the guards with a look of satisfaction. When she noticed Tony staring at her, she glared at him, marching towards him.
"Mr. Stark. I found an error in your math. Believe me or not, but it's there." She took a small folder of paper and shoved it into his shocked hands. He had caught the mistake himself about a week ago (he made it due to exhaustion), but sent it down anyway to see if someone would correct him.
The woman stood, still glaring, arms crossed, foot tapping quickly, eyebrows raised. Tony looked up at her, and burst out laughing. The woman snorted, and spun on her heel before stalking away.
"Wait!" She froze, turning her head to look at him.
"Yes, Mr. Stark?" He coughed a few times to stop laughing, and stood up straight.
"Step into my office, would you?" He suddenly remembered the groaning men at his feet, and glanced down at them. "Uhhh, Francis, Tyler, you good, guys?"
"Fine, Mr. Stark." One moaned, rolling over, slowly pushing himself to his feet. The strawberry blonde took a step over them contentedly and walked ahead of Tony as he entered the office. He chuckled, and shut the door behind him.
"So, why'd you pepper spray my guards?" He asked amusedly. She glared.
"They wouldn't let me in to see you." She spat calmly. "If that would be all Mr. Stark, I need to go pack my desk up." She motioned toward the door. Tony furrowed his eyebrows.
"Why would you need to pack up your desk?" He asked, puzzled.
"My boss fired me for daring to question the great Tony Stark." She stated dryly. "If that would really be all-"
"No, no. I'd like to offer you a job." He cut her off quickly. She started slightly, looking surprised.
"Why?"
"Well, first off, I knew I made that mistake, but sent it down anyways. I wanted to know if anyone actually did any work down there. Clearly only one, as you were the only one here to correct me. Secondly, I need a new PA, and I think you'd be great for the job, Pepper." She raised an eyebrow.
"Pepper?"
"You pepper sprayed my guards. It fits." Tony shrugged. He leaned back with a pleading look on his face. "So, what do you say?"
Pepper gave him a reproachful look. "And if I refuse?" Tony shrugged again.
"You'll go back to your old job with a raise and a new boss." Pepper looked a little surprised, but nodded.
"I accept under two conditions." Tony made a go on gesture. "If you attempt to get me into your bed, I quit. And if you treat me like a scapegoat, I quit."
"Deal. See you tomorrow, Miss…" He looked at her meaningfully.
"Potts. Virginia Potts. That'll be all, Mr. Stark?" She smirked at Tony, who smirked right back.
"That'll be all, Ms. Potts." Pepper turned, and walked out of the office.
When the door shut, Tony smiled. Oh, this was going to be fun…
xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
The next few months were hectic. Tony made many advancements in his technology, and Riley had won her most recent case. Jace's discovery was being considered for a Nobel Prize, and Evan had operated for the first time on a heart.
And Pepper Potts (who was annoyed yet glad the nickname had stuck) had met them all.
She met Jace first, and was surprised the kind young gentleman was friends with a wild child like Tony. Then Riley, who she was surprised about. In the courtroom and on t.v was calm and collected. Not the crazy ball of energy she had met. Evan came last, and Pepper could see why he and Tony were friends. They shared the same dry humor, and calm exterior attitude.
Pepper had liked them all, and found them good for the man that was her boss.
Like right now. She had found that there were only three ways to get Tony out of his lab. Number one, call his friends over. They had him out of the lab in seconds. Number two, threaten to lock him out of his lab once he finally did leave. Number three, threaten to 'accidentally' leak the false information that he was having an affair with Lady Gaga.
Something Riley had given her the idea for.
Pepper was used to the odd quirks Tony had. Such as the fact he always knew when she entered, despite having his back turned. Or when he entered, and she didn't notice for almost five minutes. On occasion she would find weapons hidden in odd places. Such as the gun in the fake plant, or a knife in the lampshade. The random bursts of excitement, usually involving Tony sprinting out the door, only to come back with new plans for a piece of tech. A couple times with chinese food...
Pepper had been shocked the first day on the job, to say the least. She expected an easy day fending off Tony's flirting, along with some paperwork. No, that's not what happened. Instead she walked into Tony's office that morning, holding his coffee (two sugars), and found him standing on his desk, attempting to catch a bird of some sorts with a box.
She had blinked once, twice, and another time to be sure. Yep. Her boss was attempting to catch a bird in a box.
As it turns out someone sent it in his fanmail for some reason (and she later learned that wasn't the weirdest…), and it had gotten loose. After twenty minutes, the finally got the bird back in the box. Tony had gotten a guard to run and get a cage, the man didn't even blink, and Tony named him Batbird.
So, yeah. But by now, Pepper thought she had seen everything from her slightly eccentric boss. Boy was she wrong.
XxXxXxXxXxXxX
Tony was tired. Really tired. Like, falling asleep on the floor because he was too lazy to move to his bed. He groaned, and turned over. The last couple missions had been a bitch. The first three were with his siblings. All in separate time zones. Then, another six with Evan, two with Riley, and three with Jace. Six in different parts of the world, the rest in America.
The final one had been last minute, and he went in alone. Of course, they didn't realize that the target had caught on and beefed up on security, so it had been a really long, tiresome fight. Plus, a four hour flight home. And he couldn't fall asleep because he had to do mission reports for his missions. It was why they hated mission bursts, and prefered single missions at a time.
When he finally dragged his feet through the door, he fell to the ground in exhaustion, not bothering to take off his mask or weapons. He moaned dramatically, and pushed himself to his feet, and slumped over to his couch. He lay down, and pulled off his mask before thinking: 'I should really go to my room… You know… Just a minute…'\
And off he drifted.
xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
Pepper gave the passcode to Jarvis the next morning angrily. She couldn't believe Tony had missed the meeting that morning. It was very important, crucial to a partnership for a new advertising campaign for the newest Stark phone. And he'd promised he'd be back from his business trip, and there.
She slammed the car door, and marched up the steps, throwing the door open.
"ANTHONY EDWARD STARK! You'd better have one hell of an ex…" Pepper trailed off seeing Tony asleep on the couch, dark circles under his eyes. And then they looked the rest of him over. And just about screamed. Weapons hung from him, and the mask on the coffee table actually did make her scream.
Not really in fear though, more bolted upright at that scream, looking around furiously, already in a defensive crouch. And then he caught on. Wincing, he slowly looked up at Pepper, who was open mouthed, and staring in shock.
"Uhhhh…." Tony stuttered, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly. "I guess we need to talk…"
"No shit." Pepper broke out of it to give him an out of character response. Tony gestured to the seat across from him.
"It's a bit of a long tale, and you look like you're about to faint."
xXxXxXxXxXXXxXxXx
Several hours later, they sat, Pepper's mind whirling with what she had just learned.
"So you're a…"
"Yep."
"And you kill…"
"Yep."
Pepper shrugged. "Ok. I'm a little mad you didn't tell me, but other than that… Just don't let it interfere with SI work too much and I'm good." She smirked, got up, and walked out of the house. It was Tony's turn to gape as she walked out.
XxXxXxXxXxX
She met Jace, Evan, and Riley as Tony's siblings the next day, when she went over to make sure he was ok. Pepper had decided a while ago that she would mother the boy a little, due to the fact he never really had anyone to look out for him before. Now she knew he did, but she still intended to mother him. Besides, who got you to do things better than a mother?
When she walked in she was greeted by smoke, swearing, a burning smell, and gagging.
"Dang, Riley! I thought you said you were baking?" Evan coughed, waving a hand in front of his mouth and nose.
"I was!" Riley scowled. "Or at least trying. How am I supposed to know how to cook, I grew up on the streets, then the den made my food for me, still do most days. I also eat at that cafe owned by Falcon and Crocodile down the road most days. Other than that, sandwiches, bitch." Pepper burst out laughing at the sight and conversation. Everyone finally took notice of her.
"Oh, hi Pepper!" Riley chirped, waving. Tony waved as well, scraping the burnt mess into the trash, while Jace got up to greet her.
"Hello, Ms. Potts." He said, ushering her inside, shutting the door behind her.
It took a minute, but everyone sat down. Tony wrinkled his nose.
"Jarvis, open the windows please."
"Of course, sir." The windows opened, and everyone took a deep breath of the ocean air.
"Thank god." Evan gasped dramatically, false fainting in relief. Riley rolled her eyes as the boys snickered.
"Shut it…" She grumbled. Jace took the lead.
"So, Pepper," He started, turning towards her, others following suit. "Do you intend to release any information Tony told you yesterday?" He asked. She shook her head.
"Do you intend to use the information against Tony in any way?" Riley asked harshly. The normally cheerful eyes filled with suspicion. Pepper almost flinched.
"No."
"Do you intend to attempt to harm Tony in any way?" Evan asked. Pepper replied in the negative once more, and they all relaxed.
"Ok. Good. Just remember, you do anything with this information we don't like and, well…" Riley trailed off, and Pepper got the idea.
"Got it." They all smiled.
"Good! Ok, who wants real cookies?" Jace asked, standing quickly, heading towards the kitchen.
"Mememememememememememememe!" Evan and Riley cheered, dancing around. Pepper watched the rest of the day in awe at the devotion they held for each other. The love they felt, and the true bond they had. She wondered how in the world she had missed it.
Sorry if I got the hospital wrong, looked up best hospitals for residents in California, and picked one. Let me know how you liked it, and don't forget about my new Wattpad account. I might be posting my own story on there soon, an original I've been working on. Ok, I'm done. Bye!