Chapter Text
Another day, another budget report.
All through college and throughout the few years after, she’d never been able to catch a break from people telling to go work for Stark Industries. Sure, it’s had its problems, but the Stark son is rebuilding it, they would say, trying to convince her. You’ve got such a knack for business, Virginia. You’re the one who could help him.
The first time she heard it was from her mother. And of course it came from her mother, because that’s just what mothers had to say. She didn’t really believe it, at least not until she heard it from professors, peers, other business professionals. It still seemed too far-fetched to be anything she could achieve, but hell, she tried it anyway. So at the fresh age of 26, she took a plane out to L.A. with nothing more than a duffel bag and a reasonable dose of hope, and found her way to an open interview at SI.
She got the job on the spot.
However, her minor in accounting got her farther than her actual Bachelor’s in business did, and she’d ended up stuck in the budget office at Stark Industries for a year to the day.
Well, at least I’m working here.
She sighed, pulling her gaze from the blank wall of her cubicle to refocus on the thick packet of papers that sat idle on her desk. It seemed like the damn font on those numbers got smaller and smaller every day, and she dreaded the day she started finding crow’s feet at the corners of her eyes from spending about 75 percent of her life squinting at papers or a computer screen. Her mind mused over that for a second, then wandered to what she might have for lunch as the clock inched slowly towards noon, then to what crappy program was on network TV that night. It was the typical routine she went through every day as she mindlessly checked off the numbers, making sure everything was okay to be approved by the next department.
She’d been about to flip the page before her tired eyes caught a particularly long string of numbers that was well into the billions instead of the normal millions, and she paused abruptly. Well, that couldn’t be right. She went back over the rest of the page and the pages before that, trying to find a reason for the gluttonous amount of money, but there wasn’t one. It couldn’t have been a typo, and a mistake in that particular fund—that could only come from the top.
She hastily pulled herself to her feet and grabbed the packet, walking briskly to the door with her eyes still trained on that disgusting number.
“Virginia?” Somebody poked their head out of a door as she walked by, but she didn’t bother to look to see who it was. “Potts, where are you going with that?”
“Nowhere important,” she called back dismissively. “I’ll probably be back in a minute.”
And she probably would be. Nobody in her department ever got in to see the Tony Stark, and there wasn’t any reason to believe that she could, either.
Whatever, though. The 365 days she’d spent working for SI had remained rather dull and static, maybe it was time to try something ridiculous.
The elevator ride to the executive floor was vaguely nerve-wracking once she realized how stupid this decision was, but before she could back out she was walking up to the expansive wooden doors that were etched with “Chief Executive Officer: Anthony E. Stark,” and guarded by a burly man who honestly seemed like neither his bark nor bite were very terrifying.
“Can I help you?” the man asked, and she gestured to the papers in her hands.
“I need to see Mr. Stark,” she replied, “it’s important.”
The bodyguard simply scoffed, looking her over before meeting her eyes with a quirked eyebrow. “Yeah, I don’t think so.”
“I do.” She should have left already. Dammit. Talking back to Tony Stark’s bodyguard was probably not the best way to get promoted. “Look, there’s a huge mistake in this report, and if Mr. Stark doesn’t see it, it could very well cost this company everything it has—”
“—yeah, okay, I’m sure that’s true. Take it to your manager, sweetheart.”
“No. He needs to see this.”
“And he will, eventually. Come on, let’s get you back downstairs.” The man stepped forward and gripped her by the arm, but the slender redhead was already two steps ahead of him. Before he realized it, she’d torn her arm out of his grasp and had a tiny can of pepper spray pointed at his face, finger on the trigger.
“Don’t touch me like that,” she warned, her hand trembling just slightly around the papers. “Or I’ll spray.”
The body guard sputtered for a moment, clearly not expecting that. “I’m calling security backup—”
“Happy, let her in.”
Slowly, she lowered the arm that held the spray, and turned her head to see Tony Stark, the actual Tony Stark, standing in the doorway. For a moment she didn’t even breathe, but she wasn’t sure if it was because he looked a lot better in person than he did in pictures or if it was the embarrassment that the CEO of the company she worked for just caught her about to pepper spray his bodyguard.
God, I’m so fired.
She finally came back to herself when she realized that Stark had been staring at her expectantly for the better part of a minute, and she hastily shoved the can of pepper spray back in her bag and nervously followed him into the office when he gestured.
“Who are you?” Stark asked, sauntering back to the desk chair that he sank back into while the woman was busy recomposing herself. “And did you really just threaten to pepper spray my bodyguard?”
“Um… Virginia Potts, sir.” She shifted uncomfortably, but was relieved when Stark leaned back in his chair and turned his gaze back to the things scattered across his desk, none of which seemed like they had anything to do with running a business. “And I suppose I did.”
“Huh. Feisty. Usually don’t expect that from… where are you from?”
“Accounting.”
“Oh, god. Really? Visits from accounting are never good.” Stark sighed and grabbed what looked like a stress ball, tossing it up in the air and then catching it. “What is it this time? Is it that fucking relief fund again? Look, I get that we need to have some charity, but I’m not—”
“It’s the hedge fund, actually.” The redhead stepped forward and carefully slid the packet of papers onto Stark’s desk, trying to ignore the man’s blatant lack of professionalism. She’d heard many things about Stark’s infamous persona, but she’d never been quite sure what to expect. “I didn’t think you wanted to invest that much. I get that we’re in a risky business here, but not that risky, Mr. Stark.”
“Oh. Shit.” Stark whistled after a quick glance at the papers, then went back to tossing the ball in the air. “Yeah, that’s a tad too much. I’ll get someone to fix that. Nice catch, Pepper. How long have you worked here?”
Pepper? She thought about correcting him, but given how the man had barely looked at her twice, she decided against it. “A year,” she replied, clasping her hands in front of her.
“Hmm. A year. Anyone ever mentioned a promotion?”
“I—uh—no,” she stammered, completely blindsided. She’d been expecting to walk in here and get fired by the CEO himself, but instead he was talking about… promotions? “I’ve been wanting to get into the business end of things, but I figured I needed some more experience down in accounting first.”
Stark hummed quietly, and it wasn’t until she looked up from the floor that she realized that his gaze had landed on her. The direct attention of Tony Stark was a surprisingly intense thing, and she suddenly wasn’t sure what to do with herself. “What if I said I had a different offer for you?”
“I suppose I’d hear it out.”
A slow smile spread across Stark’s face, and he spun around in the chair before looking back at the woman in front of him. “I’ve been looking for a new personal assistant. The last one was kinda flaky, definitely not the type of girl who would whip out a can of pepper spray to get in here to see me,” he explained, and she felt her heart stutter. “You’re feisty, and seem pretty damn smart. What do you say, want the job?”
Um… what? Did he actually—was this real? It seemed like the offer of a lifetime, but… she knew about how many PAs Stark had gone through in just the year that she’d worked there, and she had to admit the prospect of being just another statistic in the turnover was fairly terrifying. She’d heard the rumors about what the man was like personally, and she’d already witnessed was he was like (not so) professionally. It was probably a bad decision. Don’t do this, Virginia.
“Sure.” Her mouth seemed to form the word before her brain had a chance to stop it. Too late now. “I’d be honored, sir.”
“Fantastic.” Another one of those cheeky grins appeared on Stark’s face, showcasing his glimmering chocolate eyes and perfectly white teeth. “I think we’ll be a winning combo. See you tomorrow, Pepper.”
She did her best to stifle a sigh underneath a smile and a nod before the man went back to his previous activities. There it was again.
Pepper.
Okay, then.