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AN: Story takes place between IM 2 and Avengers/IM 3, for reference.
For the record, Dilly was a real cat, and her name really was Teeny Tiny Delicate Cat... -RB
--ooOOoo--
"But, Pepper, look at her, she's tiny, and cold, and she's...she's...alone..."
Tony's last statement just about broke Pepper's heart, the lost-little-boy sound of it. This was the child shunted off to boarding school at five. This was the man who still desperately searched for his father's approval, so many long years after the man's death.
With a sigh, Pepper nodded her head, unable to leave the tiny creature there any more than he could.
--ooOOoo--
It had started out as a normal Saturday now that the two of them were officially dating. The Iron Man debacle with Hammer and the government had been, mostly, put to bed, and Pepper had found a way to deal with the fact that Tony had been DYING and had tried to keep it from her. She also understood, looking back, that he had tried to tell her...but she hadn't been savvy enough to pick up on his attempts.
They had been driving down the quieter coastal road in Malibu, heading into the city proper for a late lunch at a small, family owned sushi restaurant Tony knew Pepper loved. It was into that bright and airy top-down drive in the roadster that they had seen it, a tiny black and white shape darting across the road a few yards in front of them. Tony immediately put on the brakes to investigate.
Not even bothering to open the door, Tony just hoisted himself over the side of the car, hurrying over to the edge of the highway, eager to see what had run in front of them.
It moves too quickly to be a skunk... was his first thought, neatly echoing Pepper's called out admonition to be careful.
"Tony, be careful, what if it's a skunk? I am NOT driving back with you if you get sprayed, and you're DEFINITELY not sleeping in our room if you get skunked!"
Cocking an eyebrow even as he inwardly smirked to himself, Tony immediately thought of six different ways to prank her, even as he never paused in his strides over to the brush.
"Nah, it ran too fast, skunks kind of...waddle...This little thing was quicker, almost like, a..." But Tony didn't finish his statement, too busy crouching down and trying to reach into the undergrowth.
Feeling Pepper coming up behind him, he paused a moment for her to say something, but she seemed content to stay silent, though he could feel the interest and concern radiating from her.
She's worried that it might be injured, too...Tony thought to himself.
Moving a few inches deeper into the plant life, he was surprised to hear a tiny, sweaking, mewling sound over to his right, followed by a very slight rustling. Looking over, he saw the tiny creature. She was, quite possibly, one of the tinest kittens he had ever seen, though her eyes were open, so she had to be at least two weeks old, probably older; as her blue iris's had already started being flecked with the green shade they would be when she was an adult.
Assuming I can catch her and she makes it to adulthood, Tony thought with a grimace.
Preparing for a claw lashing if not outright biting, Tony grabbed her as gently as he could, while still being quick and firm, so as not to let her wiggle out of his hands.
To his surprise, she was quite docile immediately, not fighting in the slightest at his abrupt handling, only squeaking slightly in shock at the sudden change in circumstances.
Behind him, he heard Pepper caution, "Oh, Tony, be CAREFUL, it's so tiny...and...why, why is it wet?"
Getting up from his crouch, Tony shook his head, unsure himself why the tiny cat was soaking wet, and, now he realized, trembling in his hands.
"It rained hard yesterday, and I'm sure there are drainage culverts around here, I wonder if maybe she fell into one? She doesn't seem hurt, though, so I don't think it's drool from any predators," Tony said, even as he rubbed two fingers together to test the consistency of the moisture.
Peering into his hands, Pepper reached out a tentative finger to gently touch the top of the black and white head.
"Come on, we'll order dinner in, she needs to get home, cleaned up, and warm. It's an Iron Man Mission-Minor Rescues Division, come on Pepper, you can be my side-kick! Ooh, we can be Team Pepperony!" Tony was already wrapping the tiny kitten into his button down shirt and heading back to the car.
Smiling, Pepper followed, there was no stopping Iron Man on a mission.
--ooOOoo--
"Well, she's a Teeny Tiny Delicate Cat. I think that fits."
Rolling her eyes, Pepper chuffed out a laugh, "TONY! We cannot call her that, that's awful! She needs a NAME!"
Cocking his eyes skyward, Tony paused for a moment, not totally willing to give up on his teasing quite yet.
"Hey, DILLY, we can call her DILLY! TTDC can be her real name, but we'll call her Dilly. For short. Kind of like me, And you, actually. See, now she fits, we all have short names for our long names." Tony beamed at her, his face so ridiculously boyish with delight that Pepper couldn't scold him.
With a rueful smile, she answered, "Well, you do have a point. And, TT..D...C, oh my God, Tony, you named her the way you do the 'bots! Poor baby!" Pepper trailed off, laughing.
Shooting her a sideways look, Tony had the grace to look just slightly ashamed.
"Okay, fine then, what do YOU want to name her -- but the Dilly part stays. She likes it, don't you, Sweetheart?" Tony reached over and stroked the tiny head, secretly beaming at how she immediately pressed her face into his touch and her purr volume increased.
Rolling her eyes, Pepper answered, "Okay, fine, but, OFFICIALLY, her name ought to be...hmm...Daffodil. Those were your mother's favorite flowers, weren't they? That can be shortened to Dilly."
Pepper looked over at Tony, noticing with regret the slight cloud of pain that passed over his face at the mention of his mother. Even so many decades later, the loss of his parents still hurt. But he quickly pulled his mind back to happier times, brightening quickly, and nodded.
"Yeah, I can live with that. And she stays Dilly. Teeny Tiny Delicate Daffo-Down-Dilly Cat. Jarvis, make a note, it's official!" Tony instructed, hurryingly advising the AI to note the name for posterity before Pepper could stop his "additions".
Laughing full out now, Pepper just shook her head, knowing there was no stopping Tony Stark when he was determined. With a sigh, she swatted him lightly on the arm.
"This poor little girl..it's okay, little one, I won't let Daddy do anything else stupid to you..." She murmured down at the kitten, before softly giving her a head kiss.
"Wait, WHAT?! We are this creature's PARENT'S now? Hey, Potts, I'm not sure I'm ready for that level of commitment!" Tony burst out laughing at the "Daddy" comment.
Giving her a slightly evil smile, Pepper just raised her chin and stared him down, refusing to respond.
--ooOOoo--
A few weeks had passed, with Dilly growing slowly, and she was still very small. She had been checked out by the vet and declared healthy other than needing a deworming and her first set of shots.
Tony had come along to the appointment, and watching him grimace when they gave the tiny kitten her vaccinations gave Pepper a surprisingly warm feeling spreading throughout her body. The way he then scooped up the tiny kitten and held her protectively against his chest, glaring at the vet as he left the room, further cemented the feeling.
"Pepper, did you see the SIZE of that needle they used on her? It was almost as long as her tiny little legs, there's no way they really needed to use one that big on her...she's so tiny, they should have used, like, cat pediatric sized needles...Maybe we should find a different vet." Tony's outrage was still apparent even after they were back in the car and Tony was insistently holding the kitten while driving. She had curled up in a tiny little lump in his lap, purring contentedly.
Pepper, biting back a grin, only shook her head. "Tony, I think those are standard veterinary syringes, and Dilly seems to be perfectly fine. I think you're being just a tiny bit...overprotective."
Tony glared over at her, taking his eyes off the road for a long, long moment, enough to start to worry his passenger slightly.
"I am not!" He huffed back at her. "She's, she's little, she needs someone to protect her. To make sure she's safe, and happy, and, and, I don't know, just, she needs someone to make sure that everything is how it should be." This last was muffled slightly as he had scooped up the tiny feline and was nuzzling his mustache into her fur. Dilly just looked startled as her nap was interrupted, but not at all put out, as her continued purring indicated clearly.
"Okay, Tony. You do that. Meanwhile, could you watch the road, I'm pretty sure we're going to need to get home in one piece if we're going to keep her safe from...everything known to man," Pepper said, dimpling a smile as she did so.
Tony just glared over at her from under his bangs one more time before settling Dilly back into his lap and bringing his attention back on the road. He then turned the radio to a classic rock station and turned it up loudly enough to prevent any further conversation.
Fortunately, the trio made it home safely, and later that evening Pepper was surprised to find Tony in the living room of the mansion. Normally he would be in the workshop until well into the evening. But, there he was, reading a book, and with an odd bulge in the front pocket of his hoodie.
"Oh, Tony, I didn't expect you to be up here! You should have told me you weren't going downstairs, those emails could have been answered later if I'd known" Pepper said as she came around the couch and sat down. She quickly snuggled up to him, bringing her legs up underneath her and putting her head on his shoulder.
Tony smiled back at her, his eyes bright with happiness as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in even closer. "I would have, but it was kind of an impromptu decision. I was headed down there, but then I realized that I desperately needed to have some reading time. Here, on the couch, where it's warm, and soft, and, uhm, upstairs..."
Lowering her brows in confusion, Pepper pulled back slightly to look at him askance. "That doesn't even begin to make sense, Tony...Oh. I get it. You're two-timing me!" She laughed as she said it. "And, who do we have here, what is this small, warm, little bundle you have all cuddled up there against you?"
Giving her a rueful smile, Tony pulled her back in against him again, before pulling back the corner of his pocket, and revealing a two sleepy green eyes blinking at the sudden change in light, before yawning with the tiniest pink tongue. Tony felt his entire skeletal system <span;>melt<span;> at the sight of her tiny little teeth, and his heart thumped painfully behind the arc when Dilly made a little mewling sound as she tucked her little head back into his pocket.
"She was cold, and she doesn't feel good, after her shots. She needed me to cuddle. And she likes my pocket."
Biting her bottom lip against the cute factor that threatened to overcome her, Pepper only nodded, before going on, "You're never going to take that sweatshirt off again, are you?"
Grinning widely, Tony nodded, "Nope." I'll just need to order another six or so, so that when they're in the wash, I can switch out."
Pepper shook her head, even as her shoulders shook with repressed laughter.
--ooOOoo--
"Tony, man, what are you up to down here? Pepper said you were in the workshop--oh!" Rhodey stopped, staring at the unexpected sight before him.
There was Tony, busily coding some new...something...At his desk, which was pretty standard, but what was surprising was the half-grown black and white kitten perched on his shoulder. Even as Tony looked up to say hello to his friend, the kitten mimicked the same action, including a small, meow that sounded somehow...welcoming...
"Platypus! Hey, come check this out, I've got a new prototype for the suits, and I think it can be really useful for underwater applications," Tony called over, getting up from his stool, the cat never missing a beat and staying perfectly perched on his right shoulder.
Rhodey, still trying to process this interesting new development, only half heard what his friend was saying.
"Tony, who is your little friend, there? When did you guys get a cat? I didn't even know you liked cats?" Rhodey questioned, unable to simply talk about Iron Man technology when there was a black and white mystery to be solved.
Coming up to Rhodey before gently pulling the kitten from his shoulder and holding her out to Rhodey proudly, "this is Dilly! Teeny Tiny Delicate Cat, I found her a few weeks back in the road. Pepper says that we're her parents, and I know better than to argue with The Boss." Tony pressed the kitten into Rhodey's chest, clearly wanting the other man to take her.
Rhodey just stared for a moment before his arms automatically came up to hold the small cat being pressed into his chest.
"You know, this is my dress uniform, and I have to meet with some top brass after I leave here...And her white hair is going to really be obvious on my jacket..." Rhodey looked down, even as Dilly started rubbing her chin against him, eyes squeezed shut and already purring.
Smiling broadly, Tony took no notice of Rhodey's complaint, simply reaching out to play softly with the kitten's tail. "Ah, you'll be all right, just tell them it's a perk of coming to visit the Stark R&D department!"
"Tony, they're still not totally sold on you since the whole, 'I'm immediately shutting down the weapons division of my company' followed by 'I am Iron Man, and if I give you the suits that requires me to give up myself, and that's indentured servitude, or prostitution'. You remember those little speeches you gave? Yeah, they're still a little hot about that. I try to mention you as little as possible..." Rhodey tried to explain, already realizing that Tony was absolutely not listening.
Leading Rhodey over to the digital drafting table, Tony was already starting to list off the technical specs of the underwater developments he had mentioned before.
Rhodey followed, but not before he gently put the kitten down on the desk, leaving her to her own devices. As Rhodey came along behind Tony, he watched the kitten scamper past him, then climb up Tony's pant leg, reaching his waist where the other man picked her up with unthinking practice and placed her neatly back on his shoulder. He never missed a beat in the conversation, and the movement was clearly something he had done a great many times before.
Once Tony seemed to have paused in his technical monologue, Rhodey took advantage to once again steer the conversation back to the curiosity in the room.
"She, she can, ride like that? Like a parrot?"
Blinking, Tony seemed to take a moment to change his mental tracks before answering. "Yeah, don't they all do this? I've never had a cat before, I thought they all did this. She's done it ever since she came down here with me the first time. She also likes to ride in pockets! It's awesome, she's so tidy! She's, like, she's this portable little cat! The vet thinks she's going to stay little like this, which is probably good, because otherwise I'd have to figure out how to make a carrier or something, so that she could ride around with me..."
Fighing a losing battle with hysterical laughter, Rhodey was able to squeak out his reply, "You are describing a baby bjorn. For a cat. Tony freaking Stark is describing strapping a CAT to his CHEST so that she can, what, be close to you? Learn some engineering? Are you going to send her to school, next? MIT for kittens?"
Smirking himself now, Tony shot back. "Of course not, she's too young for college yet. She needs to finish her primary education first. We're working on the basics right now, but I expect her to be ready for the theoretical physics stuff in a couple of weeks," Tony answered back, doing his best to keep as deadpan as possible.
Now laughing hard enough to snort, Rhodey gave in completely, and each time he looked at the other man the hilarity renewed.
"Just, Tony, you should SEE the look on her face! She's, she's so...innocent, those big eyes, and she cocks her head, Man, she even LOOKS LIKE YOU when she does that!"
"Oh my God, it's finally happened, it was inevitable, I guess...TONY STARK, EVIL GENIUS MAD SCIENTIST, I'm going to come down here one day and you're going to be dressed in a green caped great coat, holding that cat in some big leather chair that you slowly swivel around before asking me about Mr. Bond..." Rhodey trailed off, heaving with laughter at his own joke.
Tony got that far-away look for just a moment, before a leering grin slowly spread across his face.
"So, does this mean Pepper is going to be one of those Bond Ladies? I mean, some of them were seriously hot! I wonder if she'd let me--"
"NO, NO, DON'T FINISH THAT SENTENCE!" Rhodey interjected, not at all wanting to know what Tony's mind was coming up with in horrifying detail.
Tony grinned back, evily, before slowly bringing up his hand to rub Dilly's head.
"Tony, only you could make that look somehow menacing, and adorable at the same time..." Rhodey shook his head, turning to head back up the stairs.
Rhodey heard Tony following along behind him, and he stopped at the door, turning back to his friend.
"Tony. You have become...a Cat Dad." And without waiting for a reply, Rhodey took the stairs two at a time up to the main floor of the mansion, leaving Tony and his little furry henchman to follow along behind.
--ooOOoo--
Pepper was in her office, just ending a video call with the SI board when Tony walked in.
He routinely interrupted her day like this when she worked at home, and she had learned to largely just ignore him. Sometimes he would want to talk, but mostly he just liked to walk in, roam around for a few minutes, then head back out. He would fiddle with pens, and post-it notes on her desk, before swanning back out again for some unknown purpose.
Today, apparently, he wanted to talk to her.
"Pepper, what do you think about getting Dilly a sibling? I don't think she should be an only kitten. What if she gets lonely, or she doesn't have a proper social upbringing and she's awkward with other cats? Rhodey said I was her Dad, and you said we were her parents, so you're her Mom, we need to make sure that we're covering all the bases on this." Tony leaned his hip against her desk and looked at her questioningly.
Pepper leaned back in her chair and squeezed her eyes shut before taking in a deep breath to ready herself for this conversation. "Tony, did you find a kitten online that you want to adopt?"
Leaning over her desk and picking up a highlighter, he immediately starting flipping it through his fingers, the man was physically incapable of staying still for more than thirty seconds.
"No! Not online...but Jared, the guy who delivers the mail in the office, the stuff that doesn't come electronically? He told me the other day that his Mom had found a mamma cat and her kittens in their barn the other day, and he's looking to find homes for them. There's one, a little boy, and he's orange and white, and...Pepper, he just, he has these little white paws, and his eyes are blue, and, I really think that Dilly needs a brother. I was an only child, and it was really lonely, I don't want her to be lonely!" Tony exclaimed, and the brief flash of pain in his expressive eyes dissolved any argument Pepper had come up with.
Sighing, Pepper gently took the highlighter out of his fingers before she replied. "Okay, I get it, and, really, there's no reason we can't have two cats. It's really no more trouble than just one, I guess. And maybe you'll be less obsessive about her if she has a playmate."
Jumping up from her desk like the little boy he actually was, Tony gave her a quick kiss.
Smiling at his simple happiness, Pepper then wondered just where the aforementioned tiny furry interloper might be. It was odd to see him without her while they were at the house. "Tony, where IS the kitten?"
Before he could answer, Dilly's little face snaked around from behind Tony's head, green eyes blinking as she gave an inquisitive meow. Tony just grinned and pointed up at the kitten in question.
"Is she -- where is she perched? Is she in your hood now?" Pepper shook her head in amazement at the sheer number of ways the cat had found to attach herself to Tony.
With a proud look on his face, Tony replied, "Yes! She figured it out the other day, she likes it back there, don't you, Dear?" And Tony reached up to scratch her under the chin as she purred happily and squeezed her eyes shut.
"Tony, they never gave you a pet, growing up, did they?" Pepper asked, already quite sure of the answer.
"No, why do you ask?" was Tony's bemused reply.
"Oh, no real reason...So what are we going to name this new boy? I'm sure you've already got something..."
--ooOOoo--
A year had passed since they had come home with Dilly, and roughly nine months had come and gone since they'd adopted Phil, so named because Tony had decided the cat bore a resemblance to Agent Phil Coulson of SHIELD. Pepper didn't see it, but it was better than Teeny Tiny Delicate Cat, so she just went with it.
It had taken some figuring, but eventually Tony had figured out ways to carry both kittens on his person most of the time. The most eccentric was wearing an old cotton bathrobe around the mansion over his clothes, just to have access to the large pockets that apparently held cats fairly well.
Unfortunately, Phil had grown too large to fit into any sort of pocket fairly quickly; but Dilly had stayed quite small, and she still regularly made appearances in hoods, pockets, shoulders, and any other perches she could balance herself upon.
Pepper regularly found the trio in various places throughout the mansion, and Tony's love for the cats seemed to only increase with time. Most evenings she found them in the living room, Tony reading, watching something on TV, or working on his laptop while the two cats would be draped somewhere on top of him. Dilly was fond of laying herself horizontally across his shoulders, her back against the couch, and Phil preferred Tony's lap, where his bulk fit more conveniently.
Pepper also found out, quite by accident, that when he thought she was gone, he would take them both down to the workshop couch and read to them. She found a random Doctor Suess book tucked into the back of the couch one evening when she was waiting for him to come home from a mission. When she asked him what it was about, after a minute of blustering and trying to change the subject, she finally got him to admit that the "kids" enjoyed the rhymes and he had been indulging them when "Mom" was out late doing work stuff.
Pepper had had to swallow hard to keep from laughing at the chagrined but proud look on his face when he finally told her. Later, she asked Jarvis for the video feed of the Cat Bedtime Stories, and she laughed until she was sore, but she made sure to be in her office where Tony wouldn't know.
Pepper also loved the kittens, having grown up with a series of dogs and cats as a child, but she had never owned a pet as an adult. She loved watching as Tony doted on them, allowing the softness he so rarely showed the world to express completely with his fuzzy compatriots.
For Pepper, they were particularly comforting when she was waiting for him to come back from Iron Man missions. Their warm, quiet presences were a welcome addition to the long hours spent waiting on the workshop couch, anxious for news or his safe return. Pepper would cuddle them close, enjoying the warmth they provided against the concrete chill as they all three waited for Jarvis to give them updates.
It was a strange little family they had created for each other, but it felt right somehow, too. The two lonely adults and the two unwanted kittens, finding one another in odd circumstances, but making a band of outsiders who loved, accepted, and trusted each other completely.
But, Pepper decided that if she discovered he was making Iron Cat Suits for them, she was going to have to draw the line...
AN: Reviews are bread and butter for a writer, if you enjoyed this, or have criticsms, please take a moment to review. And if you have anything you'd like to see happen in this little alternate universe I'm playing in, let me know! Plot bunnies love to share the toast and jam, too.
- RB