Work Text:
Set between IM 2 and The Avengers.
Part of the Cat Dad Series
It was Board Meeting Day. It happened every fiscal quarter, and Tony LOATHED it with a fiery passion. But ever since Obie had tried to freeze him out with the injunction after Afghanistan, Tony could no longer justify to himself just skipping them and only sending Pepper. It was seriously obnoxious.
Tony was in his workshop, and had been since...sometime...three days...before? He'd had a nap on the workshop couch a few hours ago (29 hours ago, to be exact, but who was counting? Well, Jarvis was, but he hadn't ratted him out to Pepper, not yet anyway...), so Tony felt like he was pretty good to go. The tremor in his hands was probably due to the twelve cups of coffee he'd had over the last day or so, but that was nothing to worry about. It was into this situation that Jarvis announced the imminent arrival of one Virginia Potts.
Letting herself into the lab via her key code, Pepper marched over to Tony, carrying a smoothie that had not been made by Dum-E (and as such did not contain motor oil...The poor bot could not be convinced that the same oil that kept him "healthy" was not recommended for his human 'Bot Dad.) and a handful of file folders she was going to brief him on in the car. But her mission at that moment was to get Tony showered, dressed, hydrated, and out the door.
"Tony, I need you to head upstairs and get showered, we need to leave in thirty minutes for the board meeting," Pepper addressed the back of Tony's head, noting the way his shoulders slumped in defeat the moment he heard her heels clicking against the concrete floor. She almost felt bad for him. Almost.
"Do I have to go? Can we not, I don't know, stall them or something? What if I'm working on the next greatest prototype for the company? They wouldn't want me to stop engineering just to sit in some stuffy room with a bunch of stuff-shirted idiots who don't know their head from a hole in the ground..." Tony trailed off, noting the stern look in Pepper's eyes.
"Nope. Not an option. And I know that you know that you're just playing with the Iron Man suit again. That can wait, the board members on the other hand, cannot. Now, upstairs. You're at twenty-eight minutes."
With a sigh, Tony shuffled up the stairs, dragging his feet like the man-child he often was. "It's not playing, Pepper, it's tinkering" Tony muttered even as he complied with her demands. She was even more efficient at running his life since they'd started dating. She had...leverage...now.
Shaking her head, Pepper just smiled as she followed him up and made sure he headed towards the bedroom.
Once in the room, Tony took a quick shower, but as he stepped out, he noticed that there was a small black and white bundle sitting smack in the middle of his suit coat where Pepper had laid it out on the bed. With a grin, he quickly sat down next to her, leaving the wet towel on the floor, and wearing nothing but his boxers.
"Dilly, little girl, what are you doing on my suit? You're going to leave your hair glitter on it. I mean, I don't mind, but I think that maybe Pepper will be irritated. If only you were a dark gray, then your cat confetti wouldn't be so obvious." Tony said, even as he picked up the tiny cat and gentle cuddled her. Dilly, ever pleased with the attention of her favorite person, purred loudly in response, rubbing her small face against the corner of the reactor. Her brother, Phil, quickly popped out from under the bed, and began rubbing himself between Tony's ankles.
"Ahh, there you are master Phillip! And how is my best marmalade boy this afternoon? I have to tell you, your very, very mean Mommy is making me to go a meeting. That's akin to torture. I believe it's actually prohibited by the Geneva Convention. I have brought up this human rights atrocity, but she refuses to believe me, and Jarvis is a traitor!" This last sentiment was spoken more loudly, and clearly directed towards the ceiling.
"Unfortunately, Sir, in this instance you are mistaken about the outlines of the Geneva agreement. I have compiled data for you to review at your convenience upon this matter," Jarvis responded from the ceiling, his tone matter-of-fact, but still somehow with a hint of reproach at Tony's attempt at prevarication.
"Whatever..." Tony muttered to himself as he reluctantly put Dilly down on the bed, and he started putting on his under-layer shirts to help hide the glow of the reactor. It's existence actually in his body was a closely guarded secret, ever since Obie's attempted murder upon his person. Tony shuddered at the memory, quickly pushing it aside as he reached down to stroke Phil's pumpkin colored fur as a grounding exercise against the anxiety.
With five minutes to spare of Pepper's alloted timeframe, Tony was just finishing the knot in his tie when he looked over to see Dilly sitting on the corner of the dresser. A slow, secret smile started to creep across Tony's face as he reached into his pocket and visually measured the size of the still very small cat against the depth of the well-tailored pocket...
Two hours later, Tony was bored out of his mind, and desperately trying not to fall asleep. Bill Withers would simply NOT shut up about...something involving the Asian market and stocks and was there something in there about the price of Koi? Did they sell something to do with ornamental ponds, and he'd just missed the memo?
Pepper, seated next to him, had already kicked him under the table, hard, twice, and his right shin was still smarting from her most recent assault. He glared over at her, but she simply glowered back at him, so with a sigh, he rest his head back into his palm and tried to pay attention.
That was when the trouble started. Tony felt it before he heard it, but he already knew his cover was blown. Before he had time to stop her, Dilly was wiggling around in his pocket, the movement obvious to George Pickering, head of communications, seated on Tony's left side. Tony tried to surrepticiously stick his hand down into his pocket, but before he could get there, a small black tail popped out of the corner, and there was a soft chirruping meow that accompanied said tail.
Glancing over, eyes going wide, George looked first at Tony's pocket, then at Tony himself, his eyes questioning even as his mouth started opening to ask the obvious question.
Tony tried giving the other man a blank, very innocent, expression, but for once his charm wasn't going to cover up this incident.
"Is...Is there a...is-is that a...kitten in your jacket pocket?" George stage whispered to Tony, leaning over into the Chairman's personal space slightly, which, of course, Tony couldn't help but pull away from. He had never been good with people in his space even before Afghanistan, and he was much more leery ever since his captivity.
Tony was quick to hiss back, trying to quiet the other man with the glare in his eyes. "No, of course not, that would be insane." The look George gave him was not reassuring.
Tony rolled his eyes in response.
Unfortunately, Dilly chose that moment to poke her head out of his pocket with a chirruping meow of greeting.
Tony sighed deeply, closing his eyes for a moment even as a begrudging smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. The jig was up, but the mingled looks of amusement, anger, and confusion on the faces around the table was...definitely not boring.
Reaching down, he gently stroked her head, doing his best to tuck her back down into his coat. It was bad enough already, he really didn't need her crawling out for an impromptu meet and greet with the SI board of directors.
Finally deciding that he should say...something, Tony did his best to diffuse the situation. He could actually feel Pepper's disapproval coming in waves on his right hand side. "Oh, you mean THIS. She's not a kitten. She's a tiny child. This is my daughter, Pep said so."
Sophie Stroud from R&D spoke up from across the table. She was one of the members who were grinning. Tony knew her better than several of the others, and really liked the woman for her quick wit and dedication to the company's new clean energy direction. He also knew she wasn't going to miss this chance to torment him. She had loved playing Devil's Advocate to his ideas on more than one occassion previously. "I very much doubt that's what she meant, Dr. Stark," the older woman stated a little too loudly, the sardonic tone clear.
Doing his best to completely ignore Pepper's outraged spluttering at his side, Tony did what he could, which was to maintain his Party Line, in for a penny, in for a pound. "Ah, ah ah, I think I know my girlfriend's mind better than you do, Sophie. And don't bring my doctorates into this, that's just low, you know we don't talk about those. Now hush up. I'm doing this on the fly," Tony responded, giving the older woman a wink even as he did so. This caused a few very unprofessional giggles, quickly stifled, but more smiles were starting to be seen around the table. Tony knew he was getting to them.
Looking down, he muttered softly, "I really thought she'd be good and stay tucked up in there..."
Murmuring to the small feline in his pocket as he tucked her further down into his jacket, his muffled words were still clear. "Here, lovey, come on down in where it's warm. Daddy will be finished soon, and we'll go get coffee. You'll like the creamer here, it's the fancy kind with the hazelnut flavor."
Tony felt another, much harder, kick to his shin, and he had to bite back a hiss of pain, even as he rubbed his other leg against the stinging appendage. He still refused to look over at the incensed redhead to his right. He was going to pay, he was in serious trouble, but he also had the board eating out of his hand. Or, rather, Dilly had them eating out of her paw. He could spin this.
Tony looked back up at the board members around the table as he continued valiantly. "I checked the by-laws, we are an equal opportunity company, and I am full in my rights as a single father to bring my daughter to work with me as long as she is safely accomodated and not disruptive," Tony heard Pepper clear her throat, getting ready to refute his statement.
He hurried on before she could get a word in edgewise. "CLEARLY, she is none of those things." He narrowly avoided another sharp kick. He was practically sitting in George's lap now, but the other man seemed to understand, and was allowing the uncharacteristic encroachment. Not even PTSD was more terrifying than an angry Pepper Potts.
He felt her hand on his forearm, her grip was...so much stronger than one would think from such a small hand. Just before she decided to drag him out of the room, Tony tried to further justify himself and play on the sympathy card.
"And if that's not enough, if you give me five minutes, I can register her as an emotional support service animal, and she can stay. I think we can all agree that after my little...vacay...in a certain cave, I meet the qualifications?" Tony's eyes were wide as he asked, finding heads nodding in slightly baffled agreement from most members around the table.
But there were still a couple of holdouts. Gladys Humphries from the former weapons division still looked put-out, and Derek Peters looked like he couldn't decide what to think one way or the other. But everyone else seemed to be at least open to his suggestions. Besides, who was going to argue with him after he brought up Afghanistan? Even the very few details they knew had been horrific, it was the wild card he now kept in his hyperverbal back pocket, so to speak.
Before he could continue on with more rambling drivel, Tony felt that same small hand suddenly grab his arm and forcibly pull him upright and towards the doorway of the room. Even as he was pulled, he heard Pepper announcee that they were going to adjourn for a short break, and that the meeting would resume in fifteen minutes. "Dr. Stark and his service cat clearly needed a few minutes of respite from the stress."
Tony bit back a grin as he saw yet more stifled grins around the table. So he had fourteen minutes of life left. He could work with that.
Out in the hallway, Pepper spun him around to face her, her blue eyes very dark, even as her cheeks flushed bright pink and her chest heaved as she tried to steady her breathing. Thinking, not for the first time, how incredibly enticing she was when she was angry, Tony masterfully schooled his features into a sad, almost pleading countenance; completely belying the humor and desire that bubbled just below the surface. She was furious with him, he had to be careful, or she would possibly do him a knee-to-groin injury out of sheer frustration. He was pretty certain the HR department would be on her side.
"Anthony Edward Stark, what the hell are you doing with DILLY IN YOUR POCKET?" She hissed angrily at him, pointing to the pocket in question. Little did Tony know, Pepper was trying desperately not to laugh just underneath her ire. Only Tony, only the billionaire genius eccentric idiot she loved would bring his cat to work with him, much less to a board meeting. The way Dilly's little head had popped up out of his pocket was too adorable for words, and Pepper had almost melted on the spot right there when it had happened. But Tony could NOT know that. Not if she ever planned on being able to take him out in public at the company ever again. No. He had to be properly scolded. She had to play the Bad Cop. Later, in her office, she could laugh about this. Away from him.
Tony, now looking down as he gently pulled the kitten from his pocket and cuddled her close against his chest, silently pleading with the feline to be as cute as possible, responded. "But, but, Pep, she's my Emotional Support Cat. I need her. You know I don't like being around so many people, it makes me..feel...anxious, especially when they get hostile." He squeezed his eyes shut, the shudder was not completely for effect, he really did have trouble with groups of people, feeling surrounded and the ensuing panic it caused.
"Besides, there's a giant magnet sitting in my chest keeping my heart going. It hurts. It's heavy. It's hard to breathe. Please let me have my kitten," Tony responded, looking up at her from under those stupidly thick eyelashes, his big brown doe eyes full of pleading.
Pepper closed her own eyes and gave a huffed sigh before she replied. There was nothing she could say against that defense. And those eyes. Dammit, why the hell did the universe give that man THOSE EYES? Pepper wondered, not for the first time...He's like a damn cocker spaniel with those things.
"If it gets you to board meetings, then, I guess if the rest of the members are okay with it, you can bring Dilly. But we have to get her registered as a legitimate service animal. Certificate and licensure and all. This has to be an official thing, we can't just let you bring her around because you're Chairman of the Board and your name is on the Company, and you can do what you want. Although we all know that's what's really going on." Pepper reached out to give the kitten a quick scratch under her tiny pink chin.
"Now, come on, I want to finish this meeting and get you back to your office where I can properly beat you senseless for this." Pepper turned away from him, her very expensive heels clicking determinedly back towards the waiting conference room.
Smiling to himself, Tony tucked Dilly carefully back into his pocket before following obediently behind.
Later, back in his office, Tony was being bombarded with "crap to sign off on" as he put it, but Pepper insisted on calling "paperwork that runs the company". Trivialities like that were what made a relationship fun, right? Dilly had been safely ensconced in a desk drawer with a blanket pulled from his office couch. He had, as promised, given her a small dish of coffee creamer when he had fixed his own espresso-laden mug, and the kitten was contentedly full and sleepy.
Pepper had gone to her own office to check a few emails, but had come back into his adjoining suite to check and make sure he wasn't goofing off. She couldn't help but smile when she came around the desk and saw the sleeping kitten, pausing for a moment to give her chin scritches, greatly enjoying the sleepy purrs that accompanied the attention.
"She really is the sweetest little thing, isn't she?' Pepper asked as she leaned into Tony's shoulder with her hip. Looking up at her from his chair, Tony gave her one of his genuine smiles, the one he didn't give the media, the real smile, the one that crinkled his eyes and made them bright. Pepper loved that smile.
Into that reverie, Pepper suddenly had a thought. "You--you're not going to have your suits altered to accomodate her...are you? I mean, she's tiny right now, but, later, when she's bigger, she won't fit as well. You're not going to-" Pepper cut herself off, her eyes going wide as she could clearly see Tony's mind working.
Brows lowered, Pepper started shaking her head, "Tony, no, no, you can't do that, those suits, they're expensive, you can't--" But before she could go any further, Tony cut her off, his mind having already jumped the track and run on ahead. Running amok is more like, Pepper's internal thoughts chided.
"It would just be the pockets, and the Tom Fords, they've got the roomiest pockets. I bet if I explained to a really talented tailor, that they could do it without ruining the lines, I totally think it could be done. I mean, after all, they cut sport coats to hide guns and holsters for security people, the police, FBI, the government, why not a small cat? Pepper, you're a genius!" Tony enthused, already he was grabbing a pencil and paper, ready to start sketching out schematics and pattern ideas as to how his new alterations could work.
"Ooh, Pep, she could be a trend setter! Pocket squares are out, pocket kittens are in!" Tony laughed even as he teased her, pressing his head into her hip as he did so.
Pepper couldn't help but grin at his enthusiasm. It was good to see him be so animated and happy after what had happened the last two years. Between his kidnapping and then the whole Obie incident, then Vanko and the palladium, there had not been a lot in his life to be happy over. If the man wanted to bring his cat to work with him, then who was she to stand in his way?
Besides, Pepper was fairly sure that his popularity was going to skyrocket when the rest of the company realized that their boss had a kitten he brought to work regularly...
Preeeeety sure there's a part 2 coming...with the Company's response to the new Stark Industries Offce Adventure Cat. ;)
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