A/N. Wow. 3 updates in one day. I'm on FIRE! Ahem, anyway. Here's some fluff and bonding and a lot of girly mushiness before things get ugly. The calm before the storm, if you will. I figured that since Betty is still rather new to the Tower and has been spending most of her time with Bruce, she and Tania haven't had time to actually bond that hasn't been planning the wedding. So I gave them a girls night :D Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

CHAPTER XIX

Later that evening, as the Avengers all hid in the gym to avoid (hide from) Felicity, they decided to have one big workout session. Natasha and Clint teamed up to continue training Tania in hand to hand combat while Pepper and Betty joined in like a class. Steve and Thor were taking turns working the punching bag, being the only ones who could hold each other's still long enough not to break it right away. Tony and Bruce were in the ring, but they weren't doing much wrestling. Tony was more trash talking his Science Bro while the doctor kept trying to convince his friend that this was a bad idea. Graham was lifting weights in the corner and watching the ring with amusement written all over his face.

After about an hour of this, they all decided to switch stations after a fifteen minute break. During this break, something occurred to Pepper. "Oh! Tony!" she turned to her boyfriend who was chugging a water bottle (turns out he actually got Bruce to spar – and without Hulking out too). "You promised me a date, remember?"

"I did?" he asked, wiping his mouth of the excess water from his mouth.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Yes, you did. And I know where I want to go."

"You do?"

She slapped his arm lightly. "Just let me finish. I want to go see a musical."

"A musical?" Tony asked astonished. "I didn't think that was your thing."

She shrugged. "It's not. But it's the Wizard of Oz and it promises to be really good. It's premiering tomorrow night."

"Did you just say Wizard?" Natasha asked, suddenly extremely serious.

"Yeah, it's the musical production of the Wizard of Oz. I don't suppose you'd be interested?"

"No, but I think I know someone who might." She stood up.

"Austerlitz," Steve filled in. "Of course. And the theatre's not too far from the Tower. It's perfect." He stood up as well.

"Wait, what? I'm lost. Someone fix it."

"Tony, remember the German word I caught on the phone? The word was Wizard. What other context could it be used in? They're going to make their move tonight."

"We think," Natasha corrected. "We should go and investigate. But we can't all go. I'd say six of us, absolute maximum."

"I'm going," Clint stated immediately.

"So am I," Natasha volunteered.

"We were going to go there anyway, right Tony?"

He sighed. "Right. Fine. I'll go."

"I'm coming too," the Captain declared.

"Steve," Natasha started, "Don't overreact, but I think we need to bring Tania."

"What? Why?"

"Because she knows his face and can be our eyes and ears while the rest of us scope out the place. She and Pepper both Not to mention it would look weird if we all had dates and you didn't. And you can't show up there alone. No one does that."

"Why can't Betty do it?"

"No offense Betty, but Tania has a bit more experience than you do."

"It's fine," the newly wed reassured.

"What about Bruce? I mean, not as... a date, but, uh... a lookout." He began blushing.

"This is a stealth mission. Bringing the Hulk might not be the best idea."

"And Thor?"

"Too big and conspicuous. Attracts too much attention even in disguise because of his height. Graham can't come either, he's also not as experienced as his sister."

"We'll be leading her straight into the line of fire!"

"Which is why they'll never suspect that we'd bring her. It's perfect. We'll all be in disguises anyway. Steve, she's coming."

They a staring contest until he finally sighed and conceded. "Fine. But I'm not leaving her side."

"Fine. Clint, and I can do the snooping."

"What about me?" Tony piped up.

"You're too recognizable. Even in a disguise in such a public place where everyone knows you it's too risky."

"So I have to sit still for hours and watch dancing monkeys on a stage in a penguin suit?"

"Pretty much."

"Why am I coming, again?"

"Because it's going to be our date, whether or not a mission is attached we are going to this show," Pepper told him, leaving no room for arguments.

He sighed. "Fine. But only because I love you."

She kissed his nose. "Thank you. And I love you too."

"Come on Nat," Clint said, shouldering his duffel bag, "let's go do some prep." She nodded at him and followed him into the elevator.

"Tania, Betty." Pepper called, turning away from her boyfriend and towards her brunette friends, "would you guys be able to help me pick something to wear?"

"Sure," they both agreed.

"Aren't you just going to wear a dress?" Tony asked, confused.

Pepper rolled her eyes before leaving with the girls. Steve leaned forward and decided to quote Howard on this, whether or not Tony knew it. "The moment you think you know what's going on inside a woman's head is the moment your goose is well and truly cooked."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "That doesn't sound like you."

"That's because I didn't come up with it. It works in this situation, don't you think?"

"Well my goose doesn't appear cooked, does it looked cooked to you? On second thought, don't answer that. I don't want you looking at my goose."

Steve rolled his eyes. "Wasn't planning on it."

"What? Is my goose not good enough for you?"

"How do you manage to turn everything into a dirty joke?"

"It's my super power."

"Maybe they should call you Iron Goose then," Graham suggested from his weight corner.

Bruce and Steve chuckled while Tony started a rant. "You know, I don't even know why they call me Iron Man. My suit is made out of gold titanium alloy which looks nothing like iron. Not to mention that if it were iron, the ability to control and manipulate my suit would be totally different. I mean, come on? Who wants to wear an actual suit made of iron? Certainly not me. Who in their right mind…?" and so on and so on.

In Pepper and Tony's bedroom, the three women (minus Natasha and Felicity, whom JARVIS was keeping an eye on to make sure nothing bad happened) were practically raiding the CEO's closet.

"What about this one?" Pepper held up a gorgeous red floor-length dress.

"It clashes with your hair too much," Betty stated, shaking her head.

"Well then I'll probably never wear it. Do either of you want it?"

"No thanks Pepper, it's not really my style," Tania declined.

However, Betty was eyeing it warily. "Do you mind?"

"Not at all!" Pepper reassured and handed the dress to her friend.

Betty was admiring it with her mouth open in wonder. "It's beautiful. I wonder when I'll get to wear it."

"There's an annual Stark Gala you can wear it to this year."

"Perfect!"

"Hey Pepper, what do you think about this one?" Tania held up a short violet Vera Wang dress.

The woman dubbed Rescue by the press shook her head. "Short dresses aren't acceptable for these kinds of events."

"Good to know."

Tania placed the hanger back on the bar. "What about this blue one?"

"That's the dress I wore to the Gala a few years ago where Tony and I danced together."

"Aww… that's sweet."

"But then he ditched me halfway through the night."

"Okay, not so sweet."

The three of them chuckled as Pepper sat on the bed and Betty hung her new dress on the doorknob to the closet before helping Tania look. "I suppose because of your hair colour, yellow and orange are ruled out too?"

"Right."

"Why do you even have these dresses if you won't wear them?"

"A lot of them were bought when I was upset that Tony forgot my birthday and then I would buy myself something and pretend it was from him."

"He didn't forget this year."

"I reminded him the day before."

"Did he at least get you something?"

"Yeah, he got me a pair of really expensive shoes I told him to buy along with a matching purse."

"Haha nice. Ooh, what about this white one?" Tania pulled a white ball gown style dress.

"It looks more like a wedding dress than something I would wear to a musical."

"Okay, so no white, red, orange, or yellow. My you have a lot of dresses in here."

She laughed. "I've been working for Tony for over a decade. I've bought myself quite a few birthday presents."

Betty and Tania laughed along with her before the older of the two grabbed a hanger from the rack. "Ooh, this one is gorgeous!"

"It's green. Green clashes with my hair."

"What doesn't?"

"Black."

"But black is so… depressing." Betty wrinkled her nose. "I don't like wearing black. I feel like I'm going to a funeral."

"I happen to think it looks very professional. Colour is more for partying, don't you think?"

"Okay then, how about muted colour or super dark colours like this navy one?" Tania suggested, brandishing a navy velvet dress.

Pepper gasped. "I completely forgot about that one! I bought it last year. It's never been worn."

"Perfect!" Tania tossed it on the bed next to her friend. "Do you want more options?"

"Sure, why not." Pepper shrugged. "So Betty, how's married life?"

She laughed a little. "It's wonderful. Bruce and I have been attached at the hip, getting to know each other again after all these years. And it just comes to us so naturally to act like a married couple around one another. It's great."

"That's fantastic. When's the honeymoon?"

"We're planning on leaving February first and then coming back at the end of the month to consummate our marriage over Valentine's day. Oh I like this one." She pulled out another dark purple dress, this time floor-length.

Pepper nodded in approval. "I like that one. Put it here." She tapped the navy dress by her side. Betty obliged and added it to the pile before returning to the humongous closet. "Where are you two going?"

"We're going all around the world. We're going to all the places Bruce went to while on the run and we're going to reunite with all the people there that he knew and tie up any loose ends while enjoying the culture of it all and relaxing on a nice vacation."

"That sounds nice."

"Doesn't it?"

"Oh, hey," Tania interrupted. "This one looks totally your style Pepper. Sorry to interrupt." She held up a black dress with white accents.

"No problem. Yes, I like that one. Put it with the others."

She obeyed. "I don't think there are any other dresses here suitable for this event. You should go try this on."

"Sure. I'll be right back." Pepper grabbed her dresses and strolled into the bathroom.

When the door was closed, Tania and Betty were left to their own devices. "You should try on that red dress, Betty. I wanna see how it looks on you. Not to mention if it fits."

"Well… okay. I'll just wait 'til Pepper's done."

"Cool, cool."

Awkward silence.

"Soo… Betty drawled, "I hear that you and Bruce are pretty close."

"I'd like to think I'm pretty close with everyone, but yeah."

"He talks about you sometimes."

"Really?"

"Yeah. He tells me that you can calm down the Hulk."

She nodded as the two of them sat on the bench in front of the foot of the bed. "It's true. He told me once that he likes listening to Latin music and that it's very calming. So one day, the two of us went grocery shopping when someone pushed a shelf over and it fell on top of us. Bruce almost hulked out but then I just… I don't know why I did it really but I started singing to him in Latin and he calmed down.

"Then when we were kidnapped by this Neil guy, he was injected with some… I don't know, stuff, and he hulked out immediately in retaliation. After some chasing and a bit of fighting, I sang to him again and he turned back to himself almost immediately. I've been doing it ever since."

"You must have a lovely singing voice then."

"Nah, it's… adequate, I guess."

"Don't be modest."

"I'm not being modest, honestly."

"Do you think… I could calm him down?" she asked as if she were insecure about herself.

Tania laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Of course. They both love you way more than they do me."

Before Betty could answer, Pepper opened the bathroom door and stepped out in the violet dress. She twirled into the bedroom. "Well? What do you think?"

"Gorgeous," Tania complimented.

"Beautiful," Betty added. "But… I don't know, I don't think this shade of purple really works…"

"Yeah, me neither. I'll go change into the black one. Be right back." Pepper was gone again, leaving Tania and Betty alone again.

"So, you know," Tania started, changing the subject, "Pepper, Natasha, and I have these bi-weekly trips to the spa for a girls day. Would you like to join us?"

A smile plastered itself on Mrs. Banner's face. "Really? I don't want to intrude…"

"You won't be. The more the merrier. Maybe one day, Jane will join us too."

"That sounds so nice."

"I know right? And with Pepper's money, because she insists on always paying no matter what, it's always super good quality. And trust me. As the girlfriend of a super hero, you are going to be needing these frequent spa days."

Betty laughed just as Pepper came out again in the black and white dress. "I like this one. It's nice and classy. Opinions from the peanut gallery?"

"I think it's perfect for this occasion," Betty consented.

"So do I, except… I think it might be a bit small, don't you think?"

"Hmm, now that you mention it, it does look a little… not properly proportionate."

Pepper quickly rushed to a mirror and twirled around in front of it, searching for the flaw the others had seen so easily. "I suppose your right, my stomach does look a little more round than I would like. But black is supposed to be slimming!" She turned to look at the back of the dress in the mirror. "But I guess I'll have to give this one away. Tania? Would you like to try it on?"

"I don't know, we're about the same size…"

"Oh come on, there's no harm in trying. Let's all change in different places into these dresses and come out at the same time. It'll be fun!"
Tania didn't look convinced. "How is that fun?"

Betty gaped at her. "Okay, we're doing this." She grabbed Tania's arm and pulled her to her feet. "This is like a fashion show. Trust me, you'll have fun,"

"If you say so."

Five minutes later, Pepper emerged from the bathroom and Betty emerged from the closet while Tania remained in the bedroom, each wearing their dresses.

They all gasped as they looked at each other. "Pepper, it's perfect!" Betty exclaimed, a hand to her heart.

Pepper's dress was navy blue and made of suede fabric. It fell to the floor gracefully white black lace underneath to make the skirt a little bit 'poofier'. It was long-sleeved, which was good since it was winter, and hugged her arms snugly up until her wrists before creating a triangle that pointed over the tops of her hands. The neckline was a V-neck but it didn't plunge all the way down. She was too old for that kind of thing. It laced up at the back to make a corset and it gave off an air of elegance.

"It looks amazing on you," Tania agreed. "And Betty, that dress flatters you so much! Bruce might just Hulk out when he sees you."

Betty giggled and twirled the dress back and forth. "Thank you. It's a perfect fit." Her dress was a bright, dynamic red and had a halter top neckline that tied around the back of her neck over her shoulders. There was a braided belt around the waist the same shade of red as the dress and it was ankle-length on one side before rising diagonally up towards her knee to the other side. It had a low back and exposed her shoulder blades and spine.

"Tania, I think my dress fits better on you than it does on me," Pepper told her while looking her friend up and down.

Tania blushed. "I… well, I guess I'm a little taller than you."

Pepper nodded her head. "That's true. But look in the mirror and see for yourself how stunning you look."

She turned around to face the full length mirror against the wall and she couldn't stop the smile spreading across her face. "Wow…"

"That's what Steve is going to say when he sees you," Betty teased as she sauntered up to look in the mirror as well, with Pepper following so that the three of them fit in the frame of the mirror.

Tania's dress was mostly black and fell her ankles before it angled down diagonally like Betty's but only from her ankles to the floor. It was one shouldered (she tended to wear a lot of those… oh well) with a thick strap on her left and had a thin black belt around her waist with white lines in the shapes of flowers creeping along its length. The hem of her dress and the strap and neckline matched the belt and with it being mostly black, she felt a lot slimmer.

"We are some gorgeous ladies," Betty mused from over Tania's left shoulder.

"Those men won't know what hit them," Pepper agreed from the right.

"I feel the sudden urge to take a picture," Tania said and walked over to her phone which lay on the bed. She held it up to the mirror. "Smile!"
The three women posed for the photo with picture perfect smiles for the first one and then made silly faces for the next one with the three of them giving each other bunny ears.

As the girls progressed through the evening looking for accessories, shoes, trying out different hairstyles and makeup looks, they snapped several dozen photos with Tania's phone and even cranked up the tunes and had a mini dance party.

Halfway through their little get together, Tania sent one of the photos of the three of them having fun to Natasha along with a text inviting her to join them. She texted back saying she was too busy prepping for the mission. But before Tania could feel disappointed, another message popped up saying that she would join in next time and for them to have fun. And there was a smiley face.

Tania toyed with the idea of Clint stealing Nat's phone and typing that but tossed it aside, deciding that it didn't really matter and relayed the message to the others before being pulled onto the bed and dancing around to Pitbull and a whole range of other top forties artists, making sure the door was locked so Tony couldn't come in and catch them.

They had been right. Tania did have a lot fun.