coconut-and-metal:

lightlypeppered:

“I don’t care that you don’t have any one qualified, we need people. Anyone, at this point, it’s just grunt work, they don’t have to be a genius!” Pepper snapped at one of the guards. At the best of times, she would never even consider talking to one of themlike that, but honestly, this was far from the best of times. And they depended on Tony’s handiwork, which made them in turn, dependent on her to some extent. She quickly walked away after the guard finally agreed to try to find some one to assist them.

She sighed, walking into the ammunitions manufacturing warehouse. It was dank, cold, and depressing, and she hated it there. She followed the noises coming from the back, and found Tony slaving away even faster than usual.

“They said they’d try to find someone, but I wouldn’t put too much faith in them coming through for us. Are we any closer?”

Tony heard her footsteps before he saw her come in, and leaned against the worktop, crossing one ankle over the other where he stood. He’d just poured himself a coffee, and as an afterthought, he turned slightly to pour her one, too, sipping at his own cup while watching her walk in. He could see the extra tension in her walk alone, and she wasn’t very fond of the place as it was.

“They say that,” he agreed, rolling his eyes. “More likely, they’ve gone on a coffee break while pretending to look.” He held her cup out as she drew close, gesturing with that hand when she took it from him. “You tell me. I figure if I pull another day and a half like this one I’ll get there, don’t worry.” He assured her. If he didn’t get too tired, that is, but that’s what the coffee was there for.

“It’s not like they’re the ones who have to deal with the consequences if we fall behind.” She sipped her coffee gloomily. “But let’s see how well they do against the rebels with no ammo.”

She put her coffee down and recounted the ones Tony had made recently. “You’re going to kill yourself if you keep up this pace.” She but her lip. “I mean, what’s the worse they can do? It’s not like they can replace you.”

coconut-and-metal:

Tony shoved his toolbox closed with a foot and started unstrapping the heavy gloves he’d been wearing while using the acetelyne torch, passing the back of his first free hand over his forehead, then dumping the gloves on top of it. He moved through the workshop, grabbing a piece of cloth from a desk as he did, and wiping his hands. There wasn’t much space to move around down here, it was cluttered, filled with machinery, tools, computers, schematics… He always thought of things he’d change, if he was allowed, but pushed them from his mind in favour of concentrating.

He was allowing himself a quick food break, but that was it. Pepper’d told him they were running dangerously low on their quota this week, so he’d been spending every spare minute and bit of energy down here to catch up. It was the look on her face when she’d told him that spurred him on; she tried to hide it, for everyone’s sake. They couldn’t afford to waste time being miserable about what they were doing, or to be seen to be miserable, but he saw the worry in her eyes, the way she bit her lower lip the tiniest bit.

He had no idea where the other workers were, disappearances weren’t uncommon, but he had to catch up, because he couldn’t let Pepper get upset over it. It was too easy already to be hopeless about it, with the nagging guilt of knowing what the weapons they were being made to create were being used for, being surrounded by these people everyday… There wasn’t even windows to distract them, take their minds of it, but they probably wouldn’t enjoy what they saw anyway.

But he couldn’t add to that, because being stuck in here, they had very little but each other to rely on. Seeing her upset was bad enough, but knowing what she was worried about, and what happens when they come short was motivation enough for him to make sure they reached that quota.

“I don’t care that you don’t have any one qualified, we need people. Anyone, at this point, it’s just grunt work, they don’t have to be a genius!” Pepper snapped at one of the guards. At the best of times, she would never even consider talking to one of them like that, but honestly, this was far from the best of times. And they depended on Tony’s handiwork, which made them in turn, dependent on her to some extent. She quickly walked away after the guard finally agreed to try to find some one to assist them.

She sighed, walking into the ammunitions manufacturing warehouse. It was dank, cold, and depressing, and she hated it there. She followed the noises coming from the back, and found Tony slaving away even faster than usual.

“They said they’d try to find someone, but I wouldn’t put too much faith in them coming through for us. Are we any closer?”

We are coming dangerously close to being under quota for this week.

Coffee, Mr. Stark? 

coconut-and-metal:

lightlypeppered:

coconut-and-metal:

lightlypeppered:

Well, all those brilliant new innovations aren’t going to invent themselves. Besides, think how great it’ll feel when you actually do get a day off.

Take the day off with me an it’ll feel even better. [grins]

Oh, really? *smiles* And what would we do on this day off?

Has it been that long since you had a day off that you lost your imagination for it? [winks, teasing, stepping forward to brush a bit of hair behind her ear and trail his hand down the side of her neck, then down her spine, stopping at the small of her back to bring her gently toward him and leaning forward to whisper] Don’t worry, I’ve got enough imagination for the both of us.

Oh, I’m sure you do.  *smiles up at him, then pulls the cell phone out of her pocket, looking at his schedule*  You know… you don’t have all that much to do the rest of the afternoon.  Nothing that couldn’t be postponed anyway.”  *turns away from screen back to him, smiling*  Unless, of course, your imagination includes strawberries again.

Coffee, Mr. Stark? 

coconut-and-metal:

lightlypeppered:

Well, all those brilliant new innovations aren’t going to invent themselves. Besides, think how great it’ll feel when you actually do get a day off.

Take the day off with me an it’ll feel even better. [grins]

Oh, really? *smiles* And what would we do on this day off?

Coffee, Mr. Stark? 

coconut-and-metal:

lightlypeppered:

YES, you star. Being your own boss should mean more days off, seriously.

Well, all those brilliant new innovations aren’t going to invent themselves. Besides, think how great it’ll feel when you actually do get a day off.

Coffee, Mr. Stark? 

Wrapping it up 

powderedorfrosted:

Virginia “Pepper” Potts: powderedorfrosted: Virginia “Pepper” Potts: Wrapping It…

powderedorfrosted:

Virginia “Pepper” Potts: Wrapping It Up

powderedorfrosted:

Private Investigator Phil Coulson took his job very seriously. Every case was considered life and death to his clients, so he treated each case as if it were his own. The case that he working on at this…

Coulson took a drink from his mug before replying, “Long day, this time,” he set down his mug and held out his hand, “Phil Coulson. And you? Long day, as well?”

Pepper leaned over to shake his hand. “Virginia Potts. Call me Pepper, everybody does.” She took a drink of her own coffee when the server set the cup down, then watched him as he hurried away to the kitchen. She looked back at Phil, and smiled tiredly. “Sometimes it seems like that’s the only kind of day I have.”

powderedorfrosted:

Virginia “Pepper” Potts: Wrapping It Up

powderedorfrosted:

Private Investigator Phil Coulson took his job very seriously. Every case was considered life and death to his clients, so he treated each case as if it were his own. The case that he working on at this moment had him following a woman whose husband believed she was…

Coulson walked up to the counter and nodded at the server behind it, “Can I get a coffee and a piece of the apple pie? Thank you.”

As the server walked away, Coulson looked around the diner, his gaze landing on the only other customer, a pretty, auburn haired woman, sitting just down the counter from him.

He gave her a small, friendly smile, “Good evening.”

Pepper turned her attention to her left as a quiet voice broke the silence. A man, good looking in an unassuming sort of way, sat there. She returned his smile. “Hello.” The waiter, a teenage boy who seemed bursting with energy, asked for her own order. “Just coffee, thanks.” She turned again to the man who had spoken.

She indicated his coffee. “So, long day at work, or just getting up?” Perhaps he was working the night shift somewhere. She remembered the few times she had covered the night staff at the hotel she worked at through college. Every evening had started of with about a gallon of coffee, it seemed.

Wrapping It Up 

powderedorfrosted:

Private Investigator Phil Coulson took his job very seriously. Every case was considered life and death to his clients, so he treated each case as if it were his own. The case that he working on at this moment had him following a woman whose husband believed she was cheating on him. A significant amount of money was in play and so he wanted proof before he made any moves. Having gained some of the proof the gentleman was looking for, Coulson sat down at the desk in his office to take notes on his evening, while the details were still fresh in his mind.

The night air gently blew over the back of my neck as I kept a vigilant watch over my query. She had entered the third house on the right in a quaint suburban cul-de-sac. This would be nothing worth watching if it were not for the fact that this was not her home with her husband patiently awaiting her safe return. That house was on the other side of town. This was the home of her lover.

She had entered through the front door, using her own key at approximately 2247 and left at 0217, leaving herself enough time to return to her husband and be able to say that she had lost track of time while having a drink with “the girls”. Again at the front door, she kissed her lover goodnight, which allowed me to take the photographs for which her husband had hired me.

Closing his notebook, Coulson prepared to leave for the evening. Grabbing his hat off the file cabinet beside the door and placing it on his head, he locked up the office and walking out onto the street. Just down the block, at the corner was a little diner that would be a great place to get a cup of coffee and a piece of pie before he went home.

Pepper shut her folders with a sigh, filing them away for tomorrow. She definitely needed to stop working so late. Locking up her office, she began to walk back to her place. She was wide awake, despite the late hour, and she didn’t really want to just wait in her apartment until she finally was ready to go to bed. She looked at her watch. What she really wanted was a cup of coffee, but all her usual places were closed this late. She was so busy thinking about where to go, she almost passed the dimly lit diner. The only thing that made her pause was the door’s bells jingling as a man slipped inside it behind her. Shrugging slightly, she doubled back and pulled the door open.

The diner was clean enough, if a little more casual than the places she usually went. This was the sort of place she would hang around back in college and high school. Seeing the seat yourself sign, she sat down at one of the stools at the counter, and waited for the server to finish with the other customer.