Chapter Text
In the weeks following your breakup with Steve, you’ve found yourself spending more and more time in Tony’s lab - it’s something that Steve had frowned upon. He never approved of your friendship with Tony. In fact, that was probably the final straw for you – the insinuation that Tony was a man who only fought for himself. It is one of your greatest regrets that you didn’t stand up for Tony when you first met him on the helicarrier that day.
Looking across the table you’re working at, you smile. Your project is coming together nicely, with no shortage of help from Tony. You speak loudly enough for your voice to carry over the loud music over to Tony, who is working a short distance away. “This is so nice. Not being criticized for my music choices or volume. Just working and not feeling like I’m being watched.”
The steady clicking of his ratchet ceases and Tony ducks down from under the open chest of the armor suspended above him to look at you, concern painted across his face. “I know he has a massive stick up his ass, but was Rogers really that bad?”
“He even kept reminding me to correct my posture,” you reply dryly, tossing your head to dismiss the memory.
“That must have been foreplay to him,” Tony quipped. You know he’s just trying his best to lighten the mood.
“At least there would have been some,” you grumble under your breath.
Tony practically leaps up, narrowly missing smoking his head on the armor he’s building. His eyes are wide as he all but skips towards you, scooping up his coffee mug and a rolling stool along the way to your workstation and planting himself across the table from you. “Now this I have to hear more about.”
You drop the wires you were untangling and bury your face in your hands and groan. “God, why did I bring that up? You cannot tell him I said any of this,” you drop your chin and raise your brows, waiting for Tony to agree with you.
He leans forward, propping his elbows on the tabletop. “JARVIS, what’s Lab Rule Number One?”
“ ‘What happens in the lab, stays in the lab.’ Or perhaps you were looking for the Unofficial Rule Number One: ‘No bossing Mr. Stark around in a non-sexual manner’?”
Mirroring your own expectant look, Tony raises his brows, creating a perfect line across his forehead. “I expect you to adhere to both of those, by the way.”
You throw him a loose two-fingered salute, then sigh, staring into your own mug of coffee. ”I don’t even know if I remember what good sex is like.”
Raising his mug with a wry grin, Tony nods. “I’ll drink to that.”
There’s no stopping the incredulous laugh that bursts from your chest, it’s so uncontrollable that you have to close your eyes for a moment. When you finally compose yourself and open them again, Tony’s face is unamused, with one corner of his mouth downturned into the ghost of a scowl. Swallowing hard, you tilt your head as you look him up and down. “You’re telling me that the Anthony Edward Stark, ‘genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist’ doesn’t have good sex? Forgive me if I feel like you’re mocking me.”
“Oh, he does. It’s just that he’s not currently partaking in that version of it. Maybe it’s a time thing? Two year semi-stable relationship slump? Certainly nearly dying again didn’t help the Missus muster any more enthusiasm in the past few months.”
You shake your head in disbelief. That woman has Tony fucking Stark in her bed and isn’t treating him right? You couldn’t imagine wasting that opportunity, not that you’d ever get it. “Always go into bed ready to throw down. Something I’ve learned real quickly is why bother if there isn’t any passion? Steve thought me taking control was emasculating. Honestly, looking back, I think he thinks anything but missionary is emasculating.”
“Someone clearly doesn’t know the true joy of being completely used as a fuck toy,” Tony commiserates, “what I wouldn’t give for a bit of that treatment once in a while.”
“Shoulda found yourself someone who knows how to ride, Stark,” you reach out and tap the tip of his adorably perfect nose playfully. What’s the harm in flirting if you know it will go nowhere.
“Could you offer some lessons to Pep? I mean, we are talking about you, right? Please tell me we’re talking about you.”
Fuck is he good at this. “That sounds like a 100 level course, Tony, I don’t teach beginners,” you allow yourself a smug little grin before you continue. “Don’t get me wrong, I know my way around the package, but honestly, right now? I’d prefer to be slammed against the nearest hard surface.”
“Yeah? I definitely had you pegged as more of a scholar. How do you feel about instructing her on the finer points of blowjobs? Maybe Cocksucking 301: Advanced Ballhandling Techniques?”
You snort. “As long as you teach Steve about Pussy Eating 069: How to Make Her Come For Once.”
The shit-eating grin slides right off Tony’s face. “Not even once?”
“Not without significant effort on my part,” you wrinkle your nose, then quickly switch back to the game. “How about Dirty Talking 401: When To Call Her a Whore and How to Read the Room When She Won’t Ask.”
Pursing his lips, Tony’s eyes crinkle with joy. “I’d say that’s a prerequisite for Spitting 404: Which Hole and When.”
“Naturally. One of my personal favourites, along with Choking and Hairpulling 454: How Much is Too Much.”
Tony laughs, a full-bellied sound that startles you. “Rogers has no idea what he missed out on. Your sense of humour was completely wasted on him. Please save yourself the grief and pick someone fun the next time,” his voice still carries a ghost of his laughter, but his eyes are locked on to yours as he shifts uncomfortably in his seat.
“Yeah, well, I think I’m over dating–”
Movement behind the glass door behind Tony catches your eye and you clear your throat. “Incoming,” you dart your eyes between Tony and the door, then you make a point of picking your wires back up, as if you had just been asking him for advice and not shamelessly flirting.
Tony instantly clocks your warning and rolls back a little, and you steal a glance from under your lashes.
Oh, god.
He is sporting quite the hard-on, evident even through his dark denim pants.
You can’t judge, you’re practically sitting in a puddle of your own arousal after your discussion about all the things you’ve been missing out on.
All the things you’d give your left tit to experience with Tony.
Those wires suddenly become the most interesting thing on the entire planet. Swivelling to the side – surely to adjust himself – Tony takes a moment to get up to greet his visitor.
The door swings open and it’s as if the air turned sour in your lungs. The immediate shift from a little too friendly to hostility is palpable.
It’s in this moment that you become painfully aware of the music that has been blasting in the background. Nine Inch Nails’ Closer. You’re certain you’re going to slide under the table in embarrassment as Pepper strides in time to the lyrics:
I wanna fuck you like an animal
The sound of a record player’s shrill needle scratch brings the music to a shocking halt.
You’re choking on your own saliva as you cover your smile.
Pepper doesn’t acknowledge the music choice – or Tony’s less than subtle programming of JARVIS to indicate the party is over when she arrives – she simply takes her time in casting a disgusted look across the lab. Her cold blue eyes land on the torso of the latest Mark, hanging from the gantry above. "Is that another suit? Really, Tony? This is how you’ve decided your time is best spent?"
Tony looks like he’s glitching and you take the opportunity to push away from the table. “Maybe I should—” you begin.
But Pepper has other plans for you as she holds her index finger out at you. “No, you stay there so you can see how out of his mind he is. Can you believe he had the nerve to ask me to move in with him after the renovations and he has only spent two nights with me in the penthouse?”
Wincing, you hold your hands up. The last thing you need to be involved in is Tony’s relationship woes. Nope, you’re getting the fuck out of here as soon as you can sneak past them.
“Come on, Pep, you know where you can find me, it’s not like I’m out having fun. I’m here, working to keep you safe,” Tony isn’t yelling, he’s completely surrendering. That just doesn’t sit right with you at all.
“Please, Tony, if you wanted to keep me safe, you’d quit this ridiculous hero business. You’re the one putting a target on our backs. You need to stop wasting time on Iron Man and start acting like a grown-up,” Pepper crosses her arms, looking at Tony like he’s a speck of dirt. It’s a wonder she hasn’t grabbed him by the ear and drug him out of the lab yet.
Something in you cracks open and white-hot rage bursts from your chest. "You're the CEO of his company, not his life, Pepper. He survived Afghanistan and those alien fucks without your help! He doesn't need you micromanaging his every waking moment."
Pepper’s glare is positively murderous, but you match her intensity with your own.
“What gives you the right to speak to me like that?” She turns her attention back to Tony and you’re sure you see smoke coming from her ears. “Tony, aren’t you going to do something about her?”
You stand up, too full of manic energy to sit any longer. “Maybe as his friend and teammate, I actually give a shit about him. I thought being his girlfriend would also include you under that umbrella, but apparently not,” you pause to let that sink in before stepping beside your table. “I should leave now before I say something I’ll really regret.”
Tony holds his arm out in your direction and makes a placating gesture at you as he places himself between you and Pepper. “No. You stay,” he says softly, then snaps his head toward Pepper in a manner that makes your own neck seize. “You should go though.” There was no gentleness in the way he said that.
The way Pepper’s eyes nearly bug out of her skull is bordering on cartoonish. “Excuse me? We were having a conversation!” Her voice is panicked and shrill enough to make any dog within a three mile radius cringe.
Squaring his shoulders, Tony jerks his jaw to the side, narrowing his eyes at Pepper for an intense moment of silence. “You know, I thought I was the difficult one in this relationship, but there really is no pleasing you. Just a few months ago, the sky and streets were flooded with Loki’s army and you’ve forgotten that so easily? You’re right, Pepper, things haven’t been the same since that day. I’m not the same,” he motions to the armor he’s been working on for the past week, “This is how I deal with it. We got lucky that day. This was a warning. We aren’t prepared.”
Pepper has the nerve to scoff at that.
“Typical Tony. You think you’re the only one smart enough for the task. As if there isn’t an entire government agency dedicated to these types of threats.”
The exasperated growl that escapes Tony’s throat sends chills down your spine. “I told you when I got back that I survived for a reason. I couldn’t live with myself knowing people died when I could have done something to save them.”
“That’s just a fancy way of saying you need your ego stroked.”
Pain flares as your fingers curl into tight fists, your nails biting into the flesh of your palms. The audacity of this bitch is too much for you to take, but before you can say as much, the tension from Tony’s shoulders disappears.
“Tonight’s on me, stay in the penthouse. But tomorrow, I expect you out,” his voice is devoid of any discernable emotion. There’s no anger, no bitterness, just…acceptance.
Pepper steps closer to Tony, and you see him shift his weight to his heels. “You can’t mean that! Tony, we just spent months renovating for me to move in!”
“We? I don’t recall being an active participant other than providing the cash. I believe you made it your personal mission to scrub every trace of me out of the design process. If you want the decor, by all means, I’ll pay for a moving company to haul everything out for you.”
Her lip curls up, but her eyes remain wide with disbelief. “You’ll come crawling back when you realize how much you need me,” Pepper huffs, her hands shaking as she reaches for the door. Then she turns to look at you. “Don’t think I’m not onto you. Enjoy your new sugar daddy, you’ll find out just what a treat dealing with him every day turns out to be.”
Pepper slams the door, leaving the glass wobbling from the force. You watch it, blinking slowly at the wild exchange that you unwillingly just participated in. Had she been this awful to Tony for the two years they have been together? You can’t bear the thought of him suffering in silence for that long.