Pepper Potts

“I overheard a conversation between a few of my students earlier and found out that ‘netflix and chill’ doesn’t at all mean what I thought it meant… Honestly I’m kind of upset no one told me what it meant sooner.”

“What did you think it meant?” Pepper had, sadly, known about that because all the interns once got hooked on the 'meemies' for that phrase.

Dinah frowned, nose scrunching up as soon as she took a sip of her coffee. “Gross.” She’d grown used to the bitterness of coffee, but that didn’t mean she liked it. At all. “I think the barista forgot a sugar or ,like, five.”

Pepper scrunched her nose at the thought of getting a bitter coffee when least expected. She didn’t mind it now of course, but still. “Are you going to go back and ask for some sweetener?” 

“Just know I’m still learning and are in no way at the amazing level as my mom  is herself.” Sabrina said with a grin as she began shuffling the cards. 

“Everyone has to learn skills at one point or another. Tony Stark certainly wasn’t a natural flyer. ” Pepper said with a wry smile as she leaned back and watched the young girl shuffle her deck. “Should I close my eyes?” 

“Want to see me do another card trick or is that too cliche for me?” Sabrina ask with a grin on her face. Maybe it was bit on the nose but she was thinking how cool it would be to be magician just like how mom was back in the day. 

“Why not?” Pepper said with a chuckle, watching how much the young woman enjoyed doing them. It was relaxing and a little fun to watch if she was being honest with herself. 

dot liked her little office. she lived in a small, administrative part of the school, just above the sick room. it was a nice, quaint little space that she’d decked out with as many candles as possible, and was rigged with a small camera, just so she could see whenever somebody had come to see her. hopping down the stairs to greet her newest patient, she smiled politely. “hello!” she signed, making sure there was a notepad nearby in case she needed it. “how can i help?”

Pepper hobbled into the nurses office, her broken heels in her hand as she limped over to lean on the wall. “My heel broke and I tripped on the grass.” She told the woman with an embarrassed tone. “ I think I might have done something to my ankle” 

Piper hesitates before nodding, sitting down and taking the offered coffee. “The Purge, huh?” She likes that, chuckling to herself. That’s what people got for underestimating hackers. Assume you’re being attacked at all times, or you will be. Especially for a company like Stark. “Yeah, okay. I’ve got time.” She had a lot of time, actually, but she didn’t want to admit it. Or admit that she was conflicted about taking Pepper’s job in the first place. Still, she wants to hear about what happened.

Sitting down close to the young girl, yet not close enough to be considered invasive, Pepper started to talk, a twinkle in her eye as she discovered the events that happened. “ So in the end, we were able to fire everyone that we could and should. I was able to promote more people into jobs they deserve and HR is only giving me a small cold shoulder. Most of the people now though want to know who I got to do the job, thinking it was a person already hired into the company.” Smiling a little more warmly, Pepper took a sip of her coffee before continuing “I would like to tell them it’s someone who’s going into Orientation next week for an intern position, but I could always just tell them an outside source as well.” 

❝ of course, pep. i love looking at art with someone who can appreciate everything i can’t. makes me feel like i’m learning something. ❞ while she considered herself an admirer of the arts, betty had to acknowledge that she wasn’t the most knowledgeable about the subject. she couldn’t look at a painting and imagine how she would frame it or set it up in her house. beyond looking at a picture and thinking it looked pretty, she couldn’t say much. ❝ what kind of thing are you looking for ? ❞

Pepper thought about the question, in her quiet townhouse away from the city she still had a modern minimalist feel to it, yet softer than what she normal went with. Instead of having black and white with marble theme she had a lighter cream and tan bases to her furniture, with navy blue as the accent color. “I’m thinking a something to blend into the environment, maybe something minimalist?”Pepper gave a small shrug as she looked around, not really seeing anything she liked just yet. “How have you been by the way?” 

it only takes him five seconds to bring the cup filled with steaming coffee to his lips, eyes closed as he dramatically savors his beverage, but his attention is fixed on his mother’s words. when he opens his eyes, the smile present as much in the hazel as it is on his lips. “get them to work, mom,” he chuckles. “it sounds the perfect time to send in my résumé. don’t know if i’d be good enough for the ceo, though,” he quips playfully. working there has certainly always been the goal but he wanted his master and phd before doing so full time. 

Giving a slight roll to her eyes, Pepper knew Leo wasn’t serious about taking over the company just yet. “Well I don’t think you’d have time anyway” Pepper started, taking a sip of her coffee before starting back up. “ What with school, hanging out with friends, fixing up the new car I got you, it just wouldn’t fit into your schedule just yet.” 

“you are amazing, mom.” for a lot more reasons than anticipating his needs like she had always seemed to do so easily, but right then, yes, that was one of the top reasons. as if to prove the extents of her powers ( as if anyone needed more proof ), his name was called. “i don’t know how you knew it, but i needed to get out of the labs for a bit,” he admitted, sitting back with his beverage and wrap. words that were rarely spoken by the teenager. “how’s your day? did you destroy any middle-aged men with ego problems today?” honestly, his mother was a saint for dealing with si’s board members. 

Leo was one of the sweetest people Pepper had ever met, and that wasn’t just because he was her son. Chuckling at his complement ,she rested her head in her hand and looked at him with a mischievous grin. “ Better, I was recently able to let go of  almost every single slacker and lazy member of the IT department. The last three weeks have been promoting people and hiring new talent” There were a few that shaped up when her White Hat Hacker had come into the system, and she was willing to give them a second chance. Forgiven but not forgotten. 

Piper had done some… light editing of her permanent record over the years. But for the most part, she stayed away from it. She didn’t want to give the police reason to link her to the bigger hacking jobs she’d been a part of. Even if they didn’t think it was her, just linking her would give her shit. So she was instead just careful with what information they ever got. With what most people got, in fact.

After doing the white hat hacking job for Ms. Potts, Piper had quietly taken her money and slipped back into the student body. Until, a few weeks later, she found Pepper waiting in the quadrangle, with coffee and food. Exactly where they’d first met. It was a signal if ever Piper had seen one, especially the way Pepper seemed to be waiting. She sighed and approached.

“Did they get their pink slips alright?”

Turning to look at Piper, Pepper smiled warmly at the girl. “They did, coffee?” the CEO asked pleasantly as she offered the cup she wasn’t sipping on to her. “I was hoping if you had a moment I could update you on what happened after, what the whole IT department is calling, The Purge.” 

Pepper had been ruthless in her firing after Piper left, especially since many of the members of the department that had failed to even notice the hack until they saw others frantically running around were the ones who thought they were entitled to their jobs. In her mind though you only get to keep your job if you actually do your job, or at least attempt too. The ones who stayed on had been vigilant in trying to get Piper out of their systems, and Pepper had rewarded them for their hard work with promotions and raises. After everything, 12 people were fired and 16 were promoted which made the past few weeks hell for HR, but better for the company in the long run.

Good thing she never really cared what people said after she married Tony. Piper didn’t have any affiliations to any other major company that was blacklisted and put on a ‘do not hire from’ list, and no known records of her preforming villainous acts in the Avengers data base either. Going to the outdoor area where she met Piper the first time all those months ago with two cups of coffee and food, Pepper hoped she would run into the girl or at least find someone who would know where she was. @mutanthacker

he had been so deep into his work when he had received his mother’s message that he had almost missed it, and had it been anyone else he would have probably come up with some excuse and reschedule, but not his mom. it didn’t take more than a couple of seconds for his eyes to fall on the girl, a smile appearing as he made his way to the table his mother had chosen. “hey, mom.” the teen inclined to give the woman a hug, kissing the top of her head before he pulled back. “coffee, please. and food.” now that he was thinking about it, he was starving after forgetting to eat earlier that day. 

Letting out a soft chuckle, Pepper smiled as she looked up at her son from her seat as she held her still warm cup of coffee in her hands. He was so tall now, moments like this she remembered when he was so small he could fit safe in her arms. “I already told the barista your order, Largest coffee and a breakfast wrap. It’s under your name.” Living with scientists, the CEO got used to knowing that her children will never learn that meals need to happen more often than sparks of innovation. Some days she could remember them all calling sick from school not because of the flu, but because of exhaustion from building a rocket launcher the night before. At least it was solar powered. 

“i’m thinking of taking nate on the next time it’s my turn to organise a date, but– wait, actually, do you think we could stay at the tower next week?” hugo asked, looking over at his mother. though he was an adult, he always felt the need to get permission over staying in the tower and doing certain things. “mom, oh my god, marry him for the food. i could live with that. the catering at the wedding would be sublime.” he teased, although he truly wouldn’t be opposed to it. it’d be a match he’d certainly support. “oh, i’d go without the ballet, but i’ll absolutely hold you to that. done. sold. when do we go?”

Pepper may be CEO of Stark Industries and have her own rooms there, but she had made a point to also move into a penthouse in Manhattan away from Tony. She had spent around a third of the year traveling, a third at the Penthouse, and a Third at Stark Tower. As soon as she started living here for the lectures though for fall, Pepper would rarely be at her old Stark Tower rooms, though she hadn't really explained or told anyone else this really. “I’m sure it’s fine, just double check with your dad, I don’t know if he has plans.” Pepper said happily. “I’m not going to marry someone just for their food, I also have to make sure they’re not a Crocks Shoe fan.” Pepper jokenly said, hating the shoes so much it was laughable even to her. “Spring time, It’ll be lovely.”

Things at her new location were generally pretty slow. Now that she was in a small town, it was a good day if she had at least two customers. Back in the city she was constantly fixing things for tourists, but here, she was lucky to have someone come through asking her something that could have easily been googled. Never thought she’d say this but she sort of missed being busy all the time. For sure though, she was happy to have some distance between her and the man who practically ruled her existence for the past ten years of her life.

The sound of a bell chiming as the door opened broke her from her thoughts about her ‘new’ start. A heavy sigh passed her lips. “What can I help you with?”

Walking into the tech store, Pepper felt a little silly. She knew she chould easily have Tony or one of her other kids help her with this, in fact she really should go to them, but as soon as she found the tiny watch at the antique shop she wanted to see if it could be fixed. Smiling a little shyly, Pepper made her way over to the woman .

“I know it’s a little silly, but I found this watch at the antique store just a block away and I thought you may be able to fix it.” Taking out the watch from her purse, Pepper showed it to the woman. The watch was gold plated, a tiny yet sturdy gold chain connected to it. Inside the watch face though was little diamonds at the 12, 3, 6, and 9. It was elegant, and Pepper wanted to give it as a gift to Cassie for Christmas. 

He’s impressed her wallet isn’t in the obvious place, and it would stop most, if not all, petty thieves. More experienced ones however… Well. Bran knows how he’d get her wallet.

The easiest way is to make them think you’re going for their phone, or whatever else, instead. Misdirect, and the guard falls like dead weight.

“Stock is up to tip topped shape, madam.” He hums, checking her ID, before grinning. “I’ll be honest, American ID’s are still weird t’ me. I’ll get to making that for ye,” he assures, dropping another wink, turning to pull the gin down, giving his hips a little shake to the music.

Familiar movements, making this drink, one of the firsts he learned. Adding a generous dash of bitters, getting the extra olives, and he sets it down before her with a flourish. “Tell me how it stacks for ye.”

Watching the man move around the bar and trying not to chuckle at his movements, Pepper let herself place her elbow on the bar and rest her head in her hand. It was nice being here where no one really knows who she is. Sure they can assume, but in this small town no one really cared about what she did. It was relaxing in a way a trip to an expensive spa couldn’t compare to. Being just a person, who wants a drink, and a chance to not give a damn.

Letting herself softly chuckle at the ending flourish, Pepper brought the martini up in a silent salute of thanks before taking her first sip. “Oh god that’s good.” She mumbled before setting it down and letting the first sip really take the moment to relax her. Looking back up at the man she gave him a warm smile. “Has to be one of the best I’ve had.”