Natasha Stark: Arrival

Chapter 14:

Tony: That night we sat at the dinner table. Pepper sat next to me. "So how was your day?" she asked.

"Well," I said, "It was eventful."

"How?" Pepper asked.

"Well," I said, "I made the Audi more fuel efficient, Tasha joined the Avengers, and I started Mark 52 of the Iron Man suit."

"Excuse me?" Pepper said, "Tasha joined the Avengers?"

"Didn't you hear what I said about the Audi? You can get close to 53 miles per gallon now," I said.

"Tasha joined the Avengers," Pepper said.

"Yes," Tasha said, which made me grown. 

"How?" Pepper asked.

"Well," I said, "Fury came over. And she sort of signed up." Pepper gave me a look that I hated. Like I had just thrown away her mothers ashes or something. 

"Okay, don't make it sound like that's some sort of summer camp. Fury was over? He actually let her join?" Pepper asked, her voice panicked and breathy. 

"Well, he signed her up and I sorta said I wanted her on my team," I said, knowing I was just making things worse. 

"Tony," Pepper said, "She's 16!"

"Well, he said I could be on any team, but he had to be on the same one, so Fury signed me up for the Avengers," Tasha said.

"And you practically signed me up for New York," I pointed out.

"Well, you're you and she'd 16," Pepper argued. 

"Glad I mean a lot to you," I said sarcastically. Pepper rolled her eyes.

"What happens if she gets hurt?" Pepper asked. 

"We help her out," I said, shrugging. 

"What if she gets so hurt you can't help her?" Pepper asked.

"Well, uh, I'm kind of counting on her never going into an actual battle," I said.

"Tony, don't you think this should have been a decision for all of us to make?" Pepper asked.

"Well, yes, but Tasha didn't give me much of a choice," I said. Tasha rolled her eyes. "Besides, if it comes to an actual battle Coulson would most likely bench her."

"Excuse me?" Tasha asked.

"You know they wouldn't actually do that Tony," Pepper said, "If the world needs the Avengers again then she'll be signed up just like the rest of you. In fact, they might take more help than they actually need in."

"Its SHIELD," I said, "Who understand them but them."

"They play by a general war book," Pepper said.

"Since when does my pretty little butterfly know anything about war?" I asked.

"Since her husband started saving the world, she was taken by Extremis, and she saw Saving Private Ryan on Netflix," Pepper said, growing quieter and quieter as she listed things. I laughed.

"Ah, there's the not so spicy Pepper I know," I said. Pepper rolled her eyes.

"Extremis?" Tasha asked, "I've heard of that."

"Oh," was all Pepper said.

"Sorry, bad subject?" Tasha asked.

"Pretty much," I said.

"Sorry," Tasha said, "But can I just ask for a small heads up if you feel like you're going to explode at Earthly core temperatures."

"Ha ha," Pepper said.

"We got rid of that. A little tinkering did the trick, and now she may actually be colder than normal human temp," I said. Pepper rolled her eyes.

"Anyway," Pepper said, "I just want you ask me if it's okay for the 16 year old to be put in inter-universal war situation."

"I'll train her Pepper," I said, "She'll be okay." Pepper nodded and dropped the subject.