The Girl Who Played With Fire// •Sequel To Miss Trix•

03 - Party Time

"Well, you know, the suit can take the weight, right? So I take the tank, fly it right up to the General's palace, drop it at his feet, I'm like, "Boom! You looking for this?" Thor and I just look at him blankly. Is that it? "Boom! Are you looking..." Why do I even talk to you guys? Everywhere else that story kills."

Like, kills the mood or? "That's the whole story?" Thor asks.

"Yeah, it's a War Machine story."

I cringe. God, if I ever tell a story that anticlimactic, shoot me in the face "Well, it's very good then," Thor laughs "It's impressive."

Don't lie to the poor guy, Maria comes back with my beer, I thank her and open it up quickly "Quality save. So, no Pepper? She's not coming?"

"No."

"Hey, what about Jane? Where are the ladies, gentlemen?"

"Well, Miss Potts has a company to run," Tony shrugs.

"Yes, I'm not even sure what country Jane's in. Her work on the convergence has made her the world's foremost astronomer."

I throw my head back. If I have to hear this stupid argument again--"And the company that Pepper runs is the largest tech conglomerate on earth. It's pretty exciting."

"There's even talk of Jane getting a... um, uh... Nobel prize."

I roll my eyes. I could get a Nobel prize, it's not that hard, don't see me bragging about it "Yeah, they...they must be busy because they'd hate missing you guys get together" Maria mock coughs "Testosterone! Oh, excuse me."

I smile "Want a lozenge?"

She nods "Um-hmm."

"Let's go," Maria and Rhodes walk away.

Thor laughs quietly "But Janes is better." Thor mutters. I have a theory that Tony is really scared of Thor, and that's why he gets more annoying when he's around, to compensate for it. When Tony ignored him, he walked away.

"You know I'm right?" Tony says quietly.

My theory is correct.

"About what?" I ask finishing my beer.

"Pepper. She's awesome."

Is she? I roll my eyes "Please don't make me choose. Pepper is basically your mother Tony," I grab a couple of bottles of wine from the bar "Think about that the next time you guys are in bed together."

I leave him alone, walking towards a free spot near the balcony. Bruce was on the seat beside me, looking kind of lost "Having fun?" He nodded staring at the bar. I follow his eyes to Natasha, then look at him again "You like her don't you?"

"We're friends."

"No," I smile "You don't want to be. You like her."

"We're friends," He says again "She just likes to flirt."

"Bruce, Natasha does not flirt with her friends. Believe me, I have tried. If you like her, and she likes you, just go for it." I drink from the bottle "God, this tastes terrible."

"Did you say--."

"Where's Thor?" I look up and see him beside Steve. I stand up "Bye, Banner," I go to Thor and watch him pour the drink into two glasses. He notices me and hands me one of the glasses and the other to Steve who looked at the glass nervously.

"I gotta have some of that!"

"Oh, no, no, no. See this, this was aged for a thousand years, in the barrels built from the wreck of Brunhilde's fleet, it's not meant for mortal men."