Everlasting • Tony Stark✔️

29 | ceo potts

"The Expo is your ego gone crazy," Pepper said seriously.

Tony picked up a painting of Iron Man. "Wow. Look at that. That's modern art. That's going up," he said to Lyra. "Help me, Agent Redfield?"

"You've got to be kidding," Pepper drawled as he grabbed Lyra's hand. "Don't feed into his ego, Ly."

Tony ignored her. "I'm gonna put this up right now. This is vital," he said to Lyra, using her shoulder to help stand on the counter.

"Stark is in complete disarray. You understand that?" Pepper tried. "Lyra!?"

"Tony," she warned.

"No. Our stocks have never been higher," Tony said as he picked up a painting off the wall.

"Yes, from a managerial standpoint."

"You are... Well, if's messy then let's double back."

"Let me give you an example," Pepper said.

"Let's move onto another subject," Tony said instead.

Pepper realized what he was doing as he handed Lyra the painting on the wall "No, no, no, no. You are not taking down the Barnett Newman and hanging that up."

"I'm not taking it down. I'm just replacing it with this," Tony said with a grin as he jumped down afterward. "Let's see what I can get going on here."

"Okay, fine. My point is, we have already awarded contracts to the wind farm people," Pepper said, following him. Lyra sighed as she had no control over the situation.

"Yeah. Don't say 'wind farm.' I'm already feeling gassy."

"And to the plastic plantation tree, which was your idea by the way. Those people are on payroll—"

"Everything was my idea."

"—and you won't make a decision."

"I don't care about the liberal agenda any more. It's boring. Boring. I'm giving you a boring alert. You do it," Tony said seriously, turning to face her.

"I do what?"

"Excellent idea. I just figured this out. You run the company," Tony said before his eyes flickered to Lyra. "Right? She'd be perfect."

"Yeah, I'm trying to run the company," Pepper stressed.

Tony placed his hand on her shoulder. "Pepper, I need you to run the company. Well, stop trying to do it and do it."

"You will not give me the information—"

"I'm not asking you to try—"

"—in order to—"

"I'm asking you to physically do it. I need you to do it!"

"I am trying to do it!"

Lyra smiled softly. "Pepper, you're not listening to him."

Pepper glared her way. "No, he is not listening to me!"

"I'm trying to make you CEO. Why won't you let me?" Tony said loudly.

Pepper paused, backing away. "Have you been drinking?"

Tony smirked. "Chlorophyll." He sighed. "I hereby irrevocably appoint you chairman and CEO of Stark Industries effective immediately. Yeah, done deal. Okay? I've actually given this a fair amount of thought, believe it or not." He pulled Lyra to sit down on his lap as Pepper sat next to them. DUM-E brought him a tray with a bottle and glasses on it. "Doing a bit of headhunting, so to speak, trying to figure out who a worthy successor would be. And then I realised it's you. It's always been you." Tony poured champagne for the three of them. Pepper looked shocked and confused. "I thought there'd be a legal issue, but actually I'm capable of appointing my successor. My successor being you." He tried to hand her a glass. She did not take it. "Congratulations? Take it, just take it."

"I don't know what to think. Did you know?" She asked Lyra.

"I had a feeling it would happen one day," Lyra said with a smile.

"Don't think, drink. There you go."

When Pepper had left that evening, Tony stayed staring at the wall as Lyra stayed silent.

After a moment, Lyra grabbed his hand. "I know you're worried about your health," she said, going against Fury's orders. "We'll figure it out."

Tony's head snapped to hers. "How'd you know?"

"I wrote the notes, remember?" she whispered.

"I thought you forgot," he said with a shrug, "with your new life and all."

She sighed. "I'm trying, Tone. I am. I am trying to find a cure," she said softly.

"There is no metal that'll hold without killing me," he said with a smirk. "Maybe you should leave me before you end up getting hurt."

"Leave you?" Lyra said with wide eyes. "Tony, I'm with you until the end of the line," she said softly, leaning her head onto his shoulder.

He turned, using his hand to gently lift her face with his fingers on her chin. He captured her lips once, holding it there for a while before backing away with a sigh. "I do love you. I don't think I ever stopped."

She smiled. "Good to hear. I never stopped loving you either," she said before crashing her lips to his harder than before, smiling when he pulled her body onto his.