Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, their lives, the actors, their lives, the movies, the comics. Zilch.

Author's Note: Thank you to all who have elected to follow this story. I hope you guys are not disappointed. Sorry for the delay…I will try REALLY REALLY hard to update more frequently. Again, not much action, but that will come later I promise. Sorry for any mistakes.

The Pierre

New York City

"To our team of misfits." Tony lifted his glass of scotch in celebration. "Cheers!" He looked around the huddle.

The rest of the team joined him as they touched their glasses together. "Cheers." They proceeded to smile and laugh as they drank back the brown liquid. Coughing fits ensued. Some of them were laughing through their coughs. Some of them coughed while they made odd faces. Tony simply smiled as he called one of the drink carriers over.

"Uh. This stuff tastes like battery acid." Steve managed to choke out as he stared at his empty glass in disgust.

Tony laughed. "No appreciation for the finer things in life, Captain?"

"No appreciation for alcohol period. Never did much drinking back in the day." He defended himself.

"I rather enjoyed it." Thor stated boastfully. "I have consumed a fair share of this…alcohol that you call. I had an enjoyable time with great company."

Tony grinned. "Atta boy, Thor. Another one you say? Sure!" He handed him another glass of scotch. "Any other takers?" The rest of the gang eagerly declined with a shaking of heads and hands. "No? Party poopers." Thor and Tony lifted their glasses and took the liquid in with one gulp.

Several guests danced under the gold and silver ceilings while the Avengers talked and laughed amongst each other. Everyone looked to be enjoying themselves thanks to Pepper's exceptional organization and planning skills.

After the mayor of New York had called Pepper to inform her of the scheduled awards ceremony for the Avengers group, she worked hard to organize the event. Though at first she did it mostly to pacify Tony's continuous rants about how "proper celebration" was "essential" to the "continuing unification of the Avengers team", she had also done it to give Tony an excuse to unwind and relieve some stress.

She looked toward the group of men, and Natasha, from where she stood next to the Mayor. They almost looked like they had known each other for years, and Tony was the ring leader. She spotted him pushing Steve towards a group of single and very good-looking ladies. Steve turned to Tony and glared at him. The group shared a laugh.

"I hope that he wasn't serious, Ms. Potts." The Mayor casually continued their conversation.

Pepper cleared her throat and returned her attention to the man. "I'm sorry, sir. I was lost in thought. What were you saying?" She smiled apologetically.

"The statue. I hope that Mr. Stark was kidding when he requested the city put up a statue of Iron Man." He smiled.

She laughed softly and sipped on her martini. "I hope so, too, sir. But with Mr. Stark…you just never know."

She lifted her gaze once again towards the group. She caught Tony's eyes and he winked at her from afar. She smiled back at him.

"So Tony, Fury told me about an…assignment he gave you. How is everything progressing on your end?" Bruce asked from across the circle.

Tony's light demeanor faded. "I wouldn't call it an assignment." He paused to drink from a new glass of scotch. "More like a top secret-blink and you might fail-humanity depends on you-again kind of death sentence." He flashed the group a smile that betrayed no one. They all sensed his uneasiness.

"That dangerous?" Natasha asked with a curious tone.

"Dangerous? For me? Maybe for you." He grinned.

"Seriously Stark. What does it entail?" Clint jumped in.

"Top secret, Barton…did I not just say that?" Tony sighed. "I guess I can divulge some basics…we all are superheroes now so..." He shrugged. "You know…a little bit of nanotech, some government conspiracies, and a few human trials."

"What?" Bruce shot out. "Human trials of nanotechnology? To what extent?"

"Wait…I'm pretty sure I can speak for Thor when I ask this…what is nanotechnology?" Steve questioned between Bruce and Tony.

"Well Captain, it's the best thing that ever happened for nerds around the world. This technology has been around since the eighties, really, but it wasn't until recently that governments around the world started to take it seriously…often spending big bucks to fund privately owned labs."

"What uses does this technology have, Stark?" Thor inquired.

"Many." He looked to Thor. "Some are…necessary for the future generations of this planet. Replacing and advancing fuel and energy resources, curing diseases, and potentially solving agricultural troubles."

"That doesn't sound dangerous." Steve chimed in. "I think it sounds great."

Bruce looked up from where he was currently staring at his shoes. "Sounds great. But where there is good, there is bad." Steve shook his head and looked to him for more of an explanation. "The other side to the coin is uglier. It's the stuff that everyone fears. With great advancements and higher power come greater risks."

"I love it when you speak from the heart, Banner." Tony joked in an attempt to lighten the mood once again. "Needless to say, Steve the other uses are… controversial. The opposition thinks of it as playing God. They believe that kind of power and knowledge shouldn't be granted to human civilization. Some say we are not actually as advanced as we believe…not morally anyway. And to have this kind of control…we could end up destroying each other. If this ended up in the wrong hands, the consequences could be unimaginable."

"You of all people know that sometimes risks must be taken to help others. You built the Iron Man. It could have gotten into the wrong hands..." Steve continued.

"It did." Natasha added, cutting Steve short.

Steve nodded as he looked back to Tony. "But you knew that this creation of yours could do greater things than people could have imagined. And it has."

Tony smiled. "You're right Capsicle. It has. And I'm the first to endorse scientific advances for the greater good, but this could be devastating. We're not ready for this." He finished his drink and placed the glass on the bar table behind him. "Now if you boys...and girl…will excuse me, I see a lady that has been dying to dance with me all night. Don't stay up too late kids." He patted Steve's shoulder and walked away from the group.

Pepper looked in Tony's direction after the Mayor turned to discuss something with his personal assistant. Once she noticed that he had left the group and was making his way to her, her heart sped up and a big smile grazed her face. He had always had that effect on her when he wore a tuxedo. That had been one of the reasons why she would always accompany him to events such as this, even when she knew he would be going home with someone other than her. She was glad things had changed in her favor.

"Excuse me, sir…" Pepper turned to the Mayor. "I see Mr. Stark is headed this way, I better get to him before he comes over and starts to lay out the plans for his monument." They shared a small laugh before she nodded and walked towards her favorite superhero.

They stood toe to toe. "Ms. Potts, I see that you've been eying me all evening." He put his best playboy smile on his face.

Pepper smiled. "I have no idea what you are talking about, Tony."

"Right. Because my handsome self, rocking this tuxedo, doesn't do things to your insides…I'm sure." He fixed the lapels of his suit jacket before brushing invisible dust off his sleeves. He made sure to smile at her as he readjusted his already perfect ensemble.

She shook her head and looked down to her feet. "You are the cockiest person I have ever met, Stark."

"I know right. But it works for me. It's a good quality. A hard one to come by, actually. You should be thankful that you have such a confident man by your side." He smirked.

"You are hopeless."

"And you look beautiful." He gently took her martini glass from her hand and handed it to the drink carrier as he passed by them. "Let's dance." He laced his fingers with hers and led them to the busy dance floor.

"You don't look too bad yourself." She smiled when he pulled her to him with a hand to the small of her back. She happily accepted his left hand as they began to move to the rhythm of the band.

"You smell great." He looked her in the eye.

"Déjà vu, anyone?" Pepper chuckled.

Tony laughed and let go of her body to twirl her once and pull her back in. "Except this time you're not self-conscious about the fact that you are dancing with the hottest man in the room, who happens to not be your boss anymore, by the way. And you are definitely wearing deodorant this time." She smiled almost shyly. "But…you're still as nervous as that time." His smile was full of pride.

Pepper was not one to stroke his ego, but she definitely never lied about how he made her feel. "You still make me nervous."

He pulled her closer and touched his cheek to hers when he whispered into her ear. "Good, that means you're as helpless against me as I am against you." He smiled touching the side of her face before placing a kiss on her cheekbone. They continued to dance and enjoy the moment, repressing any fear of what could go wrong with Tony's impending assignment.

To be continued…

Taking this time to say thank you to your continuing support of Our Lives In A Song and Caveman Tony and Pepper Potts. I get very excited when I see people are still reading them and favorite-ing them. Hopefully this story gets the same response. Updating soon!