It was only 3 pm and yet Tony was exhausted. He was walking quickly towards the Conference room at the Avengers facility.
The whole day had passed by in a rush and he hadn't had a chance to think straight.
"First the Vision sets off all the electromagnetic alarms by mistake! All the security personnel on high alert. Then Clint, Parker and his friend get stuck in the training module program! Then the meeting with the Security Council!"
Friday murmured softly, "You have forgotten the upcoming visit from the school, Sir..."
At that, he stopped abruptly. "Oh crap! The school children!"
He turned on the spot and jogged towards the main entrance. "Potts will kill me! Why didn't I remember this earlier!!"
The local schools in the district, had always wanted to meet the Avengers and tour the facility. So Pepper had finally managed to schedule a visit, trying to make sure that most of the Avengers would be in attendance. As luck would have it, most of the Avengers, including Captain America, had been called away on providing security for a nuclear weapon consignment operation.
Pepper had said they could reschedule But Tony hadn't wanted to disappoint the kids, so he had pleaded with her, not to cancel the visit.
"And I had plain forgotten it till now! Friday, where are the students now?"
"At the main hall, Sir. Assembling, so to speak. Miss Potts and Miss Romanoff are with them."
Tony was on the ground floor. He hurried forward and climbed up the staircase to reach the first floor.
Then he heard Friday beep loudly in his earpiece.
"Now what?!"
"I have just been informed, Sir, that the British Arms and Missiles Convention has been hijacked by a group of terrorists. Led by none other than..."
"The Ten Rings. Connect Natasha and any other Avenger in the vicinity."
As Friday began to add participants to the call, Tony turned around and ran back down the stairs. Then he began to run towards the hangar.
He panted out, "Alright, who is coming with me?"
"Me." He heard Natasha mutter tensely.
"Me too, Stark." Said Bruce cheerfully. "I'm already by the Quinjet now."
"I will be there in 5 minutes."
He tapped his nano Arc and as the nanobytes began to envelop him in the suit, he said, Friday, call Pepper please!"
The call paged through and he began, "Pepper... I-"
Pepper said quickly, "Tony, it is alright! Natasha explained before running off. Go! I'll take care of the kids, don't worry. Be careful out there! Call me if you need backup!"
He smiled as he reached the hangar door. Tony could hear the cacophony of kids talking excitedly in the background.
"I love you, Pepper." He whispered softly
And heard her say with a smile in her voice, "I love you too, Tony. So you'd better get your ass back here in one piece. Today is date night, remember?"
"I remember, honey. Ill be back on time."
His suit was on now and Tony cut the call as he flew towards the hovering Quinjet.
The mission was over, the terrorists captured and the threat neutralized.
Tony flew slowly towards the Avengers facility. He was bone tired and bruised but not hurt badly.
He descended carefully and landed on the green clear grass by the main building.
As he walked towards the entrance, he saw the school buses parked outside and remembered.
"Friday, call Pepper please." He said tiredly, taking off his face guard and rubbing his brow.
"Sir, I am afraid there is a situation."
"Whatever it is, Friday, I'm too tired. Tell them to call Captain in Alaska. Or send the Vision and Parker. Send anybody but me, please."
"Sir, it's Dr. Banner."
Tony stopped on the spot, his entire body tensing. "He's coming home in the Quinjet. What happened?"
"Well Sir, Dr. Banner landed the jet in the hangar safely enough but something must have aggravated him because he's now in his Hulk form and is tearing up the place."
Tony's blood ran cold.
"What! It can't be!"
"Yes, Sir and he can't be allowed to enter the main building because-"
"Because of the children! Damn it, Bruce!"
He flew towards the right, to reach the back entrance of the hangar.
Natasha had stayed back in London, to help the British Security force with clean up and prisoner containment, so Bruce had returned in the Quintet on his own.
Tony approached the hangar, the sound of yelling reaching his ears. Then he heard a distinctive beast-like roar of anger and grimaced.
He touched the ground and walked towards the hangar area.
The Hulk was standing in the middle of the area, pounding his fists on the ground in rage, surrounded by security staff. He was reaching around around wildly, trying to grab someone or something.
Tony stretched himself, preparing for another fight and dreading it because he was just too tired. Especially to deal with the Hulk.
Then something flashed in his eyes, gold and bright. He blinked once, twice, to clear his vision and saw a slender figure, glimmering in black and gold.
Then he heard Pepper's soft voice in his ear. "Tony. I got this. Hang back."
Tony's heart started to thud hard with fear. "Pep! No! Are you crazy!"
He took two slow steps forward and saw her, svelte and gleaming in her black and gold titanium suit. Her face plate was off and she quietly moved around the Hulk, keeping close to the wall.
"Pepper!" he hissed urgently. "He's dangerous!"
"I know, Tony. But we are understaffed and I've got an idea. Calm down."
Tony wanted to rush forward but he knew that would be a mistake. Sudden moves upset the Hulk and he would just get more violent.
He could see Pepper creep against the wall, towards the maintenance panel.
"Potts! What are you doing?"
"He needs to calm down, right? So I'm going to try..."
Suddenly water started to gently rain from the ceiling. The guards and the Hulk were startled but the Hulk just roared loudly and shook his head angrily to shake the water off.
"Okay, you have turned on the fire hydrants in the ceiling. But the alarm-"
"I switched it off. I know the sound upsets him."
Then Tony couldn't believe his eyes as he saw Pepper move through the guards surrounding the Hulk.
"Pepper!" He whispered. "Pepper!"
She didn't respond, she just moved quietly forward. The Hulk was roaring loudly, rotating in place as he suspiciously regarded the guards.
Then he looked straight at Pepper and Tony's heart nearly stopped with fright.
He was close enough to hear her say firmly, "Hulk, No!"
The Hulk blinked once and then roared in her face. She raised her hand and said in a loud commanding tone, "Hulk, No!"
He stopped roaring and then soft music filled the air. Tony realized the gentle haunting melody was coming from the PA system. And as he heard the words, he recognized the song.
"When you wish upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires will come to you"
The guards moved restlessly but Pepper said slowly and firmly, "Everyone relax. Just stand still."
Tony also stood still because he was shocked by the Hulk's reaction. The big green giant had closed his eyes and had lowered his hands.
Why is he... swaying... every so faintly... on the spot??
The music sputtered and died as Pepper moved closer to the Hulk. He opened one eye and growled low in his throat. The group of guards tensed.
Tony instinctively raised his arms, powering up his wrist blasters. He was on the balls of his feet, poised to fire when he heard Pepper whisper, "Easy, big guy, I am not going to stop the music. Relax."
True to her word, the song restarted on the PA speakers and the Hulk visibly relaxed. Then it started to hum loudly and off key.
Pepper gestured with her hands and the guards moved back, one of them bumping into Tony.
Tony moved forward, making sure his arms were lowered and that the Hulk wasn't threatened by him. But he was pleased to see the giant smile blissfully.
"Do you like the music?" Pepper asked softly and the big green guy said with a growl, "HULK LOVE THIS SONG."
She turned up the volume slightly as the song approached its ending and the Hulk sat down on the ground.
Tony watched with amazement as it turned into his nearly naked friend, Bruce Banner. He looked up at them both, a sheepish grin on his face and said softly, "You remembered? After all this time?"
Tony was confused but Pepper smiled softly and said gently, "Of course I did, Bruce. How could I forget? It was the first time I had met the Avengers and you were tipsy."
Then she moved closer to Tony. "And my boyfriend at the time, had just flown up a wormhole into space. I had been sitting on a couch, playing with his hair as he snored peacefully, his head in my lap. I was so happy that you were all back safe and sound. And so happy to meet one of the men, who had fought beside him and had plucked him out of the air, as he fell."
Bruce looked at her thankfully. "Thank you, Pepper, for bringing me back. And may I say, your suit is amazing."
"Thank you, Bruce. Tony made it for me." She said, dimpling prettily and taking his hand as she stepped to his side.
Bruce continued, "In fact, you look so feminine, yet so powerful in your suit. Much better than Tin Man over here." He pointed at Tony with a smirk, never taking his eyes off Pepper.
Tony did not like the appreciative gleam in Bruce's eyes as he looked at his fiance and decided to break up the conversation.
"Banner, you have a wardrobe malfunction situation going on. In the interest of public decency, maybe you should put something on?"
It was his turn to smirk as Banner turned a bright red and quickly shuffled to his feet, scrambling to cover himself as Pepper looked away.
One of the guards handed him a jacket and a shirt.
"I'm also going to need pants." He whispered loudly and Pepper giggled cutely.
"So Pep," Tony said, trying to spare Bruce any more embarrassment. "How did you play the song? I am especially curious because I know that your suit does not have speakers. And I know this because you explicitly asked me not to add an audio system to it."
Pepper said dryly, "Aside from a can opener, you have managed to stuff every possible appendage and sub system into this suit, Tony. So I had to say no to a sound system. Besides, I do not like to announce my entrance by blaring AC/DC from my suit. Unlike some people."
Bruce snickered and then said hurriedly as Tony glared at him, "But Pepper, how did you play the song?"
"Well, I had my phone on me, connected to the suit." She tapped a panel on her suit, to expose her phone.
"I knew I had to play the song but I wanted it to be loud enough for you or rather the Hulk, to hear it. So I asked Friday to remotely hack into the PA system. Then I used my phone to control the PA's audio feed and played the song on YouTube, so it would play over the PA's speakers."
Tony said with amazement, "That was some damn quick thinking, Potts!"
Bruce said with wonder, "Yeah, brains and a suit... Move over, Iron Man and make way for Rescue!"
Pepper flushed and hid her face against Tony's shoulder as he said with pride, "Indeed, Bruce! She's going to join the team, as a honorary member. We need someone like her on the Avengers."
"I agree completely, Tony!" said Banner.
She raised her head and was about to say something when he heard her gasp. Pepper tightened her grip on his arm and said worriedly, "Tony, you are bleeding!"
He quickly shook his head to deny it. "Pep, it is nothing! Just a few scratches, that's all!"
But she was having none of it. Pepper said firmly, "Bruce, please excuse us. I need to see exactly what injuries Tony is hiding from me."
Banner chuckled and waved at Tony as Pepper dragged him towards the building. Tony obediently followed her, realizing she was leading him towards the medical bay.
Once inside, she made him sit on a bed and moved towards a table. He wrinkled his nose as he smelt the bittersweet distinct smell of antiseptic.
Pepper approached him with a ball of cotton in one hand. She quirked her eyebrow at him. "Suit off, Stark!"
Tony smirked as he tapped his Arc and the nanobyte suit began to dissolve into him.
"What's so funny, Stark?" she asked with a smile as she dabbed a cut on his neck with the cotton ball.
He struggled manfully not to hiss at the sting. Then Tony caught her hand and brought it to his lips.
"Your true superpower, Potts, is that you always take such good care of others. Even idiots like me. Who don't deserve your care."
Pepper used her other hand to push his hair back from his brow. "You, my lovable idiot, are the real reason I am here. I love taking care of you, Stark. And I hope to ensure that if I am on the field with you, you won't get injured so much."
Then she threw away the cotton and lowered her head, touching her forehead to his. Pepper raised her hands and gently caressed the back of his neck.
"I love you, Tony. Thank you, for making this suit for me, for wanting me to be part of your team."
"I love you too, Pepper." He said fiercely, winding his arms around her. "And I thank you, for taking care of me all these years. Without any suits or powers."
They stood there for a long moment, grateful for each other's presence in their lives.