Chapter Text
By the time Pepper made it down to the lab for her last task of the work day, her feet were throbbing, her shoulders ached, and she could feel the beginnings of a killer migraine creeping up her skull.
“Save me from crusty old board members!” She groaned and dropped herself onto the lab couch.
“That good, huh?” Darcy asked, approaching the couch with a cold bottle of water from the lab fridge, a granola bar, and a bottle of excedrin.
“Bless you Darcy!” Pepper gratefully accepted the items from her and took the excedrin right away, following it up with a long drink of water.
“Anything I can do to help?” Darcy offered.
“Thank you but no, this is just one of those fun days I regret becoming CEO.” Pepper tilted her head back and closed her eyes.
“I need a vacation.”
“You should join us tonight.”
“Thank you, Darcy but I don't think I am up for going out tonight.”
Darcy shook her head. “Neither are we. It's nightmare club.”
“You mean movie night?”
“Tonight, yes but nightmare club sponsors many activities for the sleep challenged.”
“You don't mind me coming without Tony?”
“Of course not! I know it's technically called Avengers Nightmare Club but it should be avengers and avengers adjacent.”
Pepper thought for a moment. She'd planned on taking a two hour painfully hot bubble bath with a bottle of wine but she'd spent a lot of nights in a similar fashion this week with Tony gone on a business trip. Maybe some company would be a nice change.
“What time?”
Darcy beamed. “7pm. Common living room. There will be pizza and snacks. Jane picked the movie this week so hang on...hey Jane!” Darcy yelled across the lab to her best friend.
“Hmmm?” Jane acknowledged Darcy without lifting her head from her microscope.
“What movie did you pick?”
“Ummmm… labyrinth!”
Darcy beamed, turning back to Pepper. “Labyrinth!”
Pepper nodded appreciatively. “That sounds fun...maybe I will join you.”
“The more the merrier!” Darcy exclaimed.
***
Three hours later, after completing the task she'd dragged herself down to the lab for in the first place (getting Jane and Bruce to sign some paperwork for projects they were doing for SI), taking a very hot shower, and changing into her most comfortable leggings, oversized sweater, socks, and slippers, she made her way down to the common living room: an area Tony had modified for avengers nightmare club after Darcy started gathering them all together.
There were multiple comfy couches, a gigantic smart TV, a minibar and kitchen, tons of cozy blankets and pillows, and Tony's incredible selection of movies and TV shows to stream.
Pepper entered the room to see Darcy, Jane, Bruce, Clint, and Natasha in the process of gathering their preferred movie snacks and arranging themselves in the living room. She eyed the assorted pizza boxes, bowls of popcorn, a few bags of candy, and the fridge had bottles of water, juice, and soda.
The five of them greeted her cheerily and passed her a plate to fill up. She helped herself to a slice of pizza and a handful of dark chocolate almonds.
In the living room, Clint and Natasha were wedged around each other in an oversized armchair, their knees and elbows fitting together smoothly and easily, suggesting they did this all the time. Natasha tucked herself easily against Clint and Pepper saw their hands clasped together. It was more intimacy than they usually showed in public and Pepper felt reassured that they felt safe enough in the tower for these little displays of affection.
Bruce, Darcy, and Jane occupied the couch with Darcy leaning against Bruce, cuddled against him with his arm around her waist. Jane's head was on a small pillow in Darcy's lap and Darcy gently stroked her hair.
Pepper started for the other oversized armchair on the other side of the couch and Bruce reached out to rest a hand on her arm.
“Sit with us.” He said softly.
The couch had a giant chaise lounge section so Pepper installed herself there next to Bruce. He smiled softly at her and she grinned back, playfully nudging his shoulder with hers.
“Jarvis! Take us to goblin city!”
“Of course, Ms. Lewis.”
Darcy grinned and took a bite of her pizza as the movie started.
Pepper hadn't watched Labyrinth in many years. In high school, it had been one of her favorite movies along with the usual angsty teen choices.
Watching it as an adult was an interesting experience but she was surprised to find she still knew all the words to the Magic Dance song.
By the time Jennifer made it to the heart of the labyrinth and confronted the Goblin King, Pepper was dozing off, her head resting against Bruce’s shoulder. As the end credits scrolled on the TV, Pepper opened her eyes to find she had tucked herself against Bruce and he’d put his arm around her.
“Oh, Bruce, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to be in your space!” Pepper attempted to extract herself and Bruce let her get up but gently grasped her hand as she slipped out from his embrace.
“Pepper, you don’t need to apologize.”
“Yeah, Nightmare Club was invented for self-care purposes AKA snuggling with friends and feeling safe.” Darcy explained as she walked into the living room with a trash bag. Clint and Natasha were gone from their chair already and she couldn’t see Jane anywhere.
Thinking about it, Pepper did have to admit she felt more relaxed than she had in a long time.
Tony’s business trip was unusually long and Pepper, despite her frequent proclamations to the contrary, severely missed her practically husband even if they had no rings or marriage license when he wasn’t around.
At the very least, her shoulders didn’t ache, the migraine had been tamed early, and her feet felt much better free from heels.
“Believe me. I understand.” Darcy continued, “Bruce is really comfortable. He’s soft and warm like a teddy bear.”
“I don’t know how to feel about that observation.” Bruce chimed in as he consolidated the leftover pizza to two boxes.
Darcy grinned and tucked herself against his side. “I love my scientist teddy bear.”
“What about Jane?” Bruce teased, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
“Jane is my scientist puppy. She needs constant supervision.”
“Hey!” Jane exclaimed from her armchair underneath two blankets and Pepper jumped.
“Jane, my dear, do you need assistance?”
“Maybe?”
Darcy laughed and gently removed herself from Bruce’s embrace to rescue her friend.
“I’m glad you joined us.” Bruce said softly.
“Thank you for inviting me.”
“You’re always welcome, you know. Tony doesn’t have to be here.”
“I don’t want to intrude…”
“You’re never intruding. Tony is sometimes.”
Pepper laughed and hugged Bruce. “Thank you.”
“No problem.”
Pepper rested her head against Bruce’s chest. “You are a scientist teddy bear.”
“Right?!” Darcy and a half-asleep Jane draped across her back approached and Pepper offered to trade Bruce for Jane. After a delicate exchange, Pepper escorted Jane back to her room.
“I know how you feel.” Jane murmured.
Pepper glanced at her.
“Thor’s gone a lot. He has a lot of responsibility on Asgard. It’s hard not seeing him but it helps that I’m not alone here.”
“You’re stronger than I am, Jane. Tony is at least on Earth, even if he’s busy.”
“Yeah, but he still carries the world on his shoulders.”
Later, when Pepper was curled up in bed, she checked her phone and saw a few texts from Tony that she’d missed during movie night. He was complaining about meetings and Pepper smiled, texting back Miss you.