A/N: Hello hello :) Sorry for the wait, it's been a crazy week. This is supposed to be the stuff I do to relax, haha.
Anyway, hope you liike :) See you at the bottom.
TheIronBat: Thank you so much! You don't know how much your words encourage me :) I'm truly grateful. Hope you like this :)
Chapter 3
Tony's lips brushed against Pepper's hair and he inhaled the light, sweet smell of her shampoo.
"Sir," Jarvis' cool British accent cut through his trance-like state.
"Hmm?" He twiddled a strawberry blond lock of hair in between his fingers. Pepper batted his hand away. "You better have a good reason to have interrupted, Jarvis."
"Director Fury is attempting to contact you, Sir. Shall I put him through?"
"No," said Tony at the same time that Clint, Natasha and Pepper said "Yes."
"Outvoted, Tony," Pepper smirked. Tony hated it when Director Fury called. He was always bored to tears. "Jarvis, put him through to the conference room."
"Certainly, Miss Potts,' said Jarvis. Tony pouted.
"I should also tell you, Sir that a blocked third party tapped into the system a few moments before the call came through. It stayed on for approximately eight seconds before disappearing."
"That would be Fury," said Tony rolling his eyes.
"Would you like me to set up the necessary firewalls, Sir?"
"Don't bother, Jarvis. Let him think he's still under the radar, the nosy bastard. You two," he pointed a threatening finger at the two assassins on his sofa, "keep your mouths shut." He glared to emphasise his point.
Natasha frowned and opened her mouth to retaliate but Clint interrupted. "Let's go see what Fury wants, shall we?"
"Right." Tony gave Pepper one last kiss and headed for the elevator. "Jarvis, tell Steve and Bruce to meet us at the conference room."
"Yes, Sir." Pepper gave them a parting wave as the elevator doors closed.
Humming, she twiddled her thumbs for a couple of seconds, her eyes flicking now and then to the elevator doors. After a minute or two, she rolled her eyes.
"I'll go nuts if I stay here wondering what they're up to. Jarvis, tell Tony I went out."
"Yes, Miss Potts. Should I get a car ready?"
"No, that's fine, Jarvis. I'm going to the usual place. I'll walk."
"Very well, Miss Potts. Have a good day."
Louie POV
I retied my hair into a ponytail, pulling the strands back harshly. I know it made my hair resemble the tail of a broomstick but really, I could not care less. Lunch was always the insanely busy hour.
I wiped down the counter, served the couple by the window seat and then ducked into the kitchen for a breather. I really needed to look for a better job. The past few weeks had put me on edge; my nerves were frazzled and I was clumsier and quieter than usual.
"Montgomery!" I jumped as Robert barked my name. "This is the third time I've caught you day-dreaming. Pull yourself together and go serve the lady at table four. She's one of your regulars." Nodding, I straightened my skirt and walked out. I knew who Robert was talking about. Table Four was one of the tables outside the bakery, yet in a secluded corner. The woman seated at the table was wearing a large pair of sunglasses that covered half her face and her hair was tucked into a large, wide brimmed hat.
She was tapping away on an expensive piece of Stark tech when I approached. She looked up and smiled at me and I smiled back.
"Hello. You want the usual?" I asked politely. She was a proper regular. She always sat at table Four, always wore big sunglasses and a hat and always tapped away on a piece of Stark tech. She never spoke to anyone else, and since I always served her (it was two weeks ago that she first started coming to the café) she never had the need to. However, she was really nice; even if I dropped the order in her lap (yes that happened) she wouldn't complain to Robert. So it's safe to say I liked her a lot.
"Oh, well, just a coffee would be fine," she started before pausing before adding, "oh, a chocolate muffin too, I guess." I grinned and wrote it down. The usual then. Heading back to the counter, I put a muffin and a mug of coffee on a tray along with a single packet of sugar. She accepted it with murmured thanks and tipped her hat even lower over her face.
I was momentarily distracted when a toddler who was fussing in his high chair knocked a glass of water to the ground with his flailing limbs. I hurried over to help, cooing to the baby and murmuring words of comfort to the poor mother at the same time. Another server came over with a dustpan and broom and after I made sure there were no shards remaining I returned to table Four to retrieve my notebook.
"You have very nice handwriting," said the lady conversationally as I reached for the little book. I dipped my head shyly.
"Thanks. I got a lot of practice."
"Waitressing?" she asked, taking off her sunglasses and giving me a view of sparkling blue eyes. Suddenly, she looked oddly familiar. I shook my head.
"No ma'am. I wrote a lot of essays in college. Did an English degree."
"In that case, what's a smart girl like you doing waitressing for?" I flushed, a little embarrassed.
"I'm applying for jobs. I just haven't found anything yet. Recession and all." She must have sensed my discomfort because she smiled apologetically.
"I'm sorry if I came off as nosy. I'm just a very inquisitive person"
"It's fine," I grinned, then hesitated before asking, "Do I know you?"
She looked at me oddly and smiled. "You're not from around here, are you?" I shook my head. Oh, lord. Was she someone important? I racked my brain frantically. She didn't seem to mind me not knowing her.
"I'm Virginia, she said, sticking her hand out.
"Louie." She had a firm handshake.
"I know."
"You do?"
"It's on your nametag."
"Oh."
She laughed.
"Am I supposed to know you?" I asked bluntly, "it's just that you're right, I'm not from around here. I came to Manhattan a few weeks ago."
"Well, personally, I think it's a relief to be around you. It's quite refreshing not to be hounded by random strangers who know who you are," she said, putting her sunglasses back on.
Hmm. Was she a celebrity, then? My knowledge of such thing was minimal so I had no way of knowing. I shrugged. In this city, I would find out eventually enough.
"Montgomery!" A voice barked and we both jumped. I noticed that Virginia's coffee had vibrated slightly even though neither of us had done anything to disturb it. Crap.
"Montgomery," Robert was glared at me. In a sickly sweet voice he reminded me, "We have other customers to serve, Montgomery. Get on with it, please."
"Yessir," I said and scurried back into the kitchen. I'd lost count of the number of times Robert had told me off. It was so embarrassing.
For the rest of the day I stayed in the kitchen, hiding from Robert and choosing to do the other odd jobs. Once, when I dared to venture out of the kitchen, Virginia was gone. The day passed by achingly slowly and when closing time drew near, I was exhausted. A headache was building up and I had already nicked my palm when washing up the knives. The flood of customers had thinned down into a slow trickle and except for me; the only employees left were the cashier, Robert and one other server.
"Montgomery," Robert beckoned to me from his office. "A word, please."
I sat in the chair in front of his desk. I knew what was coming. It wasn't the first time it had happened.
"Montgomery," he sighed. "That was the third time I had to tell you off today alone. You know it's not the first time this has happened. Two tables went unattended because you were chatting with your friend out there. Do you realize how bad that is for business?"
I cast my eyes downward, ashamed. "I'm sorry, sir."
"Sorry doesn't really cut it, Montgomery."
I nodded miserably. "I know."
"Then you'll understand when I say I'm going to have to let you go." I froze.
"W-what?" Robert looked at me apologetically.
"I'm sorry, kid. But with the recession going on I can't afford to keep this many people around. Someone's gotta go." He passed me an envelope.
"Two months wages," he said, nodding to it. I picked it up slowly. So that was it? Apparently it was.
"Okay then." I said quietly and rose to leave. "Thanks for... this." Robert nodded, looking a little embarrassed. I walked out of the office, my throat tight. Taking off my apron I hung it on the back of the kitchen door before grabbing my purse and coat and hurrying out the door. It was getting darker, and it looked like it was about to rain. My head was pounding like someone was playing five aside football in there.
Someone honked their car horn and I winced.
"Can you not be quieter?" I snapped in the direction of the offending vehicle.
It drew up alongside me as I walked. It was an old fashioned, beat up, rusty looking thing. Around five or six young men were in it, their music cranked up high and cigarettes dangling from their hands. The driver noticed me looking. He had sunglasses on even though the clouds were so thick it was a miracle that light was filtering through and a snake tattoo on his forearm.
"The hell are you looking at?" He asked roughly. I narrowed my eyes. Big mistake. Snake gritted his teeth and swung over onto the curb, barely missing a shiny limousine as it did so. All five of them hopped out, Snake at the head.
"Did you hear me?" he leered, "what the fuck are you looking at?"
I clenched my fists and shook my head. "Nothing."
"It didn't seem like nothing, sweetheart," said Snake, moving in so close I could smell something illegal on his breath.
"Maybe she likes what she sees," said one of the others and all of them laughed.
"Is that right, darling," murmured Snake, grinning away.
I glared. "No."
I took a step back and started walking away quickly. I shouldn't have turned my back on them. I hadn't gotten two steps further when a hand clamped onto my shoulder and spun me around.
"That was rude, darling," snapped Snake, his eyes gleaming. I was suddenly aware of how the wind was blowing hard, picking away strands of hair from my ponytail. Shit. I had to get away. Snake pulled me closer. I lashed out, fists connecting with his face and neck and made a run for it.
"You little shit!" Their car revved and honked.
"Oh crap," I moaned, throwing a glance backward. Where would I go, where would I go? I turned into the next alley I could find, my bag slapping against my ribcage. There was a screech of tyres and several doors slammed. Horrified I threw a glance backwards. They were following me. There should be a worse swear word for moments like these.
I ran faster, breathing heavily now; I was never much of an athlete. They were still following; I could hear the insults and curses being thrown at my back. I took a right, then a left, another left, hoping to throw them off. A right, and another and - fuck. I skidded to a halt, gasping and clutching a stitch in my side. Dead end.
"Oh god, oh god, oh god," I whimpered through clenched teeth. Why was I so stupid? Why did I duck into the alley, why did I hit Snake, why did I stare? The sound of pounding feet announced their arrival. I swallowed thickly.
Snake came around the corner first. He skidded to a halt and stared at me, a grin spreading across his face. I did not like the look of that grin.
"Well, well, well," he cooed, strolling forward casually. He got right up in my face again, as I backed up against the wall. I held my breath and stared blankly. His hand twisted into my ponytail and held it tightly. I clenched my teeth against the pain.
"Sweetheart," he said drawing a cigarette out, "you really shouldn't be so rude." Someone passed him a lighter. He pulled on his joint deeply and blew the smoke into my face. Coughing I turned away, scalp pulling as I did so. Jamming the cigarette in between his teeth, he slammed me against the wall.
"Let me go, you son of a -!" With a single hand he grabbed both of my wrists and held them above my head.
"Shut up, you little bitch," he snarled brandishing the cigarette in my face, "or I'll burn your eyes out." I froze.
"Let me go," I said trying to hide the tremor in my voice. "Let me go and I won't report you to the police." He laughed.
"Oh, sweetheart, you won't be reporting anything to anyone. I have big plans for you," he whispered in my ear, his cigarette so close to my cheek I could feel the heat off the glowing tip.
"And once I'm done, I'm sure all my friends would like a turn too." The grip on my wrists tightened further and his lips crashed onto mine.
It all happened very suddenly after that; everything became a big blur. I do remember though, that the cigarette in Snake's hand went up in flames. And by up, I mean up up. Like, flames six feet in the air, up. Snake jumped back with a yell.
"What the fuck!"
I felt so dizzy, so very dizzy. I stumbled. Then, someone was shaking me by the shoulders.
"You little freak, that was you wasn't it? You're one of those mutants, aren't you?" Everything was spinning and I whimpered.
"Oh god, no, what have I done, what did I do, I'm not a freak, I'm not, I'm not-"
The last thing I heard before everything went dark was the faint cry of someone calling my name.
Pepper POV
Pepper sipped her coffee, feeling slightly guilty and a little thrilled. Thrilled because here she was, Pepper Potts, CEO of stark industries, Tony Stark's girlfriend, sipping coffee at an ordinary bakery. No mess, no press. And not for the first time either. It was a luxury she couldn't usually afford because she was always so busy, but as of late she had always found half an hour or so which she used to come to this bakery.
Nobody recognised her in her super disguise. Her sunglasses were so large they sometimes slipped off her nose and her trademark strawberry blonde hair was tucked into a large hat. Good lord, if she had known it was this easy she would have done this ages ago. Even the waitress, Louie, hadn't recognised her, after serving her for three weeks straight. Then again, reasoned Pepper, the girl was new to the city; no wonder she didn't recognise the famous Pepper Potts. Pepper felt extremely pleased at her good fortune and wondered how long it would last. Maybe she could convince Louie to keep her secret…
This brought her back to the cause of her guilty conscience. The poor girl had gotten into trouble with the manager because she stopped to chat with Pepper for so long. Pepper hoped that she was okay.
She seemed like a sweet person with definitely more brains than what was required for a simple waitressing job. Tony would have teased Pepper ten times over by now for being such a Good Samaritan.
As if the damned man had known he was thinking about her, her phone rang out in that obnoxious ringtone he had programmed especially for himself. She made a mental note to remind Jarvis to change that.
"Hey," she smiled into her mug, "So which one was it? Did you sneak away or throw a hissy fit?"
"Not… quite… the meeting isn't over yet." Tony sounded rather worried. "Pep, where are you?"
"At this bakery, near the Tower. What's wrong?"
"Oh, it's nothing serious-" he broke off for a second and there was some low murmuring in the background.
"Tony?"
"Pep, I gotta go," said Tony, "just stay away from Central Park, okay? I've sent Happy to get you, don't go anywhere without him."
"Okay, but Tony, what-" she cut off as the dial tone sounded. Huffing in frustration, she threw the phone into her bag, chewing her lip worriedly.
Happy came for her ten minutes later and after she grilled him for any information possible on what was happening (he gave away nothing) she decided to do distract herself by doing some grocery shopping. She might as well; with Thor coming tomorrow and bringing Jane and her assistant, Darcy, Stark Tower would be housing a lot of people soon.
She spent practically the entire day shopping, for all sorts of things. Tony had programmed Jarvis to be able to connect to her phone, and between the AI and herself, a manic shopaholic was born. Maybe they did go a little overboard with food and toiletries but hey, Thor and Steve ate enough for ten people. It would be perfectly fine.
They were nearing Stark Tower once more when suddenly, Happy jerked to a halt.
"Happy?" Usually he was such a careful driver.
"Joyriders," grunted Happy.
Pepper frowned out the window, looking out for the said careless drivers. Honestly, the people on the roads these days. Oh, that must be them, with the girl. They really were a motley looking bunch. They crowded around the girl, ugly smiles on their faces. Pepper's eyes slid over the young woman and her mouth opened in surprise.
"Louie?" She rolled down the window. Suddenly, Louie jerked forward and started running. Swearing and shouting, the men started to chase her.
"Happy," she said sharply, "stop the car and come with me."
"What - Miss Potts -" But Pepper had already hit the pavement and was chasing the men down into an alley.
Goddam her high heels to the depths of hell. Pepper sped up as much as she could without falling over. Damn, she could barely keep up with their sharp turns. Heavy footfalls behind her told her that the bodyguard-chauffer was on her tail. Suddenly there was a yell.
"LET ME GO, YOU SON OF A -"
Pepper inhaled sharply. "Louie."
Cautiously, she crept forward. Looking at Happy, she raised an eyebrow. "Think you can handle a bunch of idiots who are very likely drunk and high?"
With a stoic face, Happy laid a hand on the gun at his hip and nodded. Nodding back, Pepper peered around the corner. There was a nasty laugh; one man had the waitress pressed up against the wall, her wrists held above her head in one of his hands, while the other waved a cigarette under her nose. He bent and whispered something in her ear.
"Now," said Pepper. Happy strode out into the open, gun cocked but before he could say or do anything, Pepper saw Louie's eyes flash a brilliant white and the cigarette in the man's hand burst into flames, lighting up like the tail end of a rocket and shooting flames high into the air.
The man was shaking the waitress by the shoulders, screaming into her face.
"You little bitch, are you a mutant freak?"
"Louie!" cried Pepper. The others turned, looking for means of escape when Happy stepped forward.
"Don't even think about it." Held at gunpoint, all five men froze and raised their hands to their heads. The cigarette was still ablaze, an enormous fire crackling from the tiny, rolled up joint. Louie dropped to the ground, clutching her head. Pepper ran forward and cradled her in her arms. The young woman was mumbling and shivering
"Oh god, I'm not a freak, I'm not, I'm not-"
"Shh, honey," Pepper whispered soothingly. "It's okay, you're okay." She looked at Happy.
He nodded. He looked at the men.
"I'll deal with you later." He said coolly. "For now, scram." They scrammed. Happy looked at Pepper.
"What do we do with her?"
Pepper thought fast. The girl obviously had abilities she was not in control of. If they let her into a police station or a hospital, a panic attack might bring the place down. If she wasn't shunned like all mutants were - Pepper had heard the stories - she had only a few places left to go to for help, SHIELD being one of them and Pepper wasn't sure she wanted Louie to turn into another Maria Hill or Natasha Romanoff. So, the only logical conclusion would be-
"We take her to Stark Tower."
A/N: Question: Should this chapter have a trigger warning? Let me know if you think so :/ I apologize if, in my ignorance, I upset someone by not posting a trigger warning at the beginning of the chapter. Let me know and I will immediately post one.
Hmm, other than that, whadduya think? :D Next chapter is going to be rather interesting, I believe. Our two main characters will finally meet! If I'm not mistaken with the word count, there's a chance of a meeting between two other people too ;) Any guesses?
Please, do leave a review, they make me so happy. Oh, please. Oh, pretty please. *makes puppy dog eyes.*
25/07/2015: BIG GRAMMAR EDIT
Until next time,
Much love,
xo