A/N: Set pre-Avengers and early season 4 for Primeval. Gen with background Tony/Pepper and a lot of flirting, for which I blame Tony, and any insinuations he might make about who is sleeping with whom at the ARC can be taken or left. :)

In Case of Fire

James was going to strangle Philip. "Do you not grasp the meaning of the words 'high security'?"

Philip dismissed him, seemingly without even a thought. "Tony's an old friend. He won't talk."

"Yes, I'm quite inclined to trust that the man who outed himself as Iron Man at a press conference can keep his mouth shut."

"Relax, James," Philip said, annoyingly patronising. Thankfully he stopped short of giving James a comforting pat on the shoulder. "Just think of what Tony Stark could do for us. The man's a genius- give him five minutes with Connor's tech and he'll have thought of improvements we could never have dreamed of."

Actually, strangling was too good for Philip. Becker probably knew a good number of useful techniques for just this type of situation.

In the end, James was forced to abandon his daydreams of giving Philip what he deserved and instead, Philip got his way. The problem with a public/private partnership (well, one of the myriad problems) was that it seemed the person with the money always got the bigger say.

Tony Stark - billionaire, genius engineer and inventor, Iron Man - was coming to the ARC.

James was stocking up on whisky.

The minutes ticked by slowly the day Tony Stark was due to arrive at the ARC. James found himself continually checking the clock as the day dragged on. It wasn't that he wanted the man to arrive - on the contrary, James wished he wasn't coming. It was more that he thought he would simply like to get the moment of doom over with so he could move on.

Finally James saw Philip approaching from the lift, in the company of two others. Philip held the door to James' office open. Tony Stark was instantly recognisable, considering the media loved him and he certainly made no efforts to curtail that fact. He was accompanied by a tall, slender, red-haired woman who exuded elegance and professionalism. She was dressed in a perfectly fitted skirt and blouse with a pair of heels that made James wince just looking at them, but she moved effortlessly on them.

James stood up and walked in front of his desk, schooling his features into a mask of politeness. "Ah, Philip," he said.

Philip looked from Tony to James. "Tony Stark, meet James Lester, my business partner. He handles most of the day-to-day business at the ARC."

Tony stuffed his hands into his pockets, rocking back on his heels as he gave James a once-over. "So Philip's the brains and you're the help?"

"I can see that you are as charming as I would have expected, Mr Stark," James said and dug his nails into his hand behind his back.

"Surprisingly enough, I don't hear that very often." Tony pressed a hand to the small of the red-haired woman's back. "Allow me to introduce Miss Pepper Potts, former CEO of Stark Industries and my personal lifesaver. I make an effort to never leave home without her."

"For his own safety and yours," Pepper said, the gentle amusement on her face covering a trace of long-suffering.

James just knew that he and the lovely Miss Potts would get along splendidly. Shame about her companion.

"It is a pleasure to meet you," she said as she offered James her hand.

"Likewise," James said with sincerity he didn't even need to fake before addressing both Pepper and Tony. "I assume Philip has impressed upon you the necessity of secrecy?"

Tony was walking around the office, examining the contents of James' desk, and he made a dismissive gesture with his hand. "We had the lecture on the drive over, don't worry. Signed the forms in triplicate. Besides, I'm an old pro at keeping highly sensitive secrets."

"I'd expect nothing less after seeing how well you concealed the identity of your alter-ego. Iron Man, I believe you call him?"

Pepper pressed her lips together to clamp down on a smile but Tony made no such effort. "You saw that? See, Pepper, I told you I had fans across the pond. You're a lot older than most of my following and a different gender from the rest, but hey, I'm always open to trying new things."

James swept his eyes disdainfully down Tony's form. "I do so hate to be the bearer of disappointing news, but I can assure you that you are certainly not my type, Mr Stark."

"That's a shame. I bet you're loads of fun," Tony said and actually winked. Then he clapped his hands together and turned to Philip. "Okay, Philip, show me what you brought me here for. I want to see your toys."

"By all means, yes, let me take you to the centre of our operations," Philip said, leading them out and beaming like Tony was God's gift.

Pepper gave James an apologetic smile and went after them, leaving James to follow stiffly. It took all of his willpower not to accidentally trip Tony down the steps.

The main team was all gathered around Jess' station as if they had been eagerly anticipating Tony Stark's arrival. Becker was off to the side, affecting a bored and uninterested demeanor but his eyes were carefully assessing everything. Matt was studying Tony unabashedly while Abby smiled indulgently at Connor. Connor, who, along with Jess, seemed to be all but bouncing in excitement.

Philip opened his mouth to speak but Connor beat him to it, gazing in wide-eyed admiration at Tony. "You're Tony Stark."

Tony made a show of looking around. "Tony Stark? Oh my God, where?" He turned back to Connor with a completely insufferably smug expression. "Right, that's me. And you are…?"

"Connor! Connor Temple. This is so amazing, I've followed your work, and… Such a big fan. And when you came out as Iron Man? So cool."

Jess butted her way in, practically glowing, and James noticed with distaste that her dress was rather more low-cut than usual. "I'm Jess, Jess Parker. Mr Stark, it is such an honour to meet you. This is my station, you know, I'm the one who runs the tech-"

"Yeah, but the design is mine," Connor interrupted. "I built it from scratch all on my own, years ago."

"The modifications are all mine, though. This is a new version of Connor's original system that I built."

"That Prospero built, you mean, you only helped."

Tony was watching this exchange with undisguised glee. James, on the other hand, must not have been concealing his growing disgust as well as he'd meant to because Philip broke in with a gentle suggestion. "James, why don't you leave us to the technical aspect while you give Miss Potts a tour of the ARC?"

James hesitated, torn between a desire to be far, far away from all of this fawning over Stark before he vomited and a reluctance to let the man out of his sight.

"It's all right," Pepper said. "If you can trust one thing about Tony, it's that if he breaks anything, he'll rebuild it better than the original."

"Aw, Pepper, that was almost a compliment," Tony said as he crawled underneath Jess' station with no regard for the obviously expensive suit he was wearing. (If James were ever forced to find something nice to say about the man, it would be that he had excellent taste in menswear.)

"Don't get used to it. Mr Lester, if you would be so kind?"

As James was apparently powerless to resist Pepper's easy graciousness (not to mention her big blue eyes), he nodded and began to lead her further into the ARC. "Of course it would be my pleasure to show you around."

Becker slunk away from the others to join them. "You don't mind if I come with you, do you, Lester?"

James noticed the way Becker surreptitiously slid his gaze over to Tony and the rest of the team and then back to James, as well as the tiniest hint of pleading in his dark eyes. If James said no, Becker was going to go and sulk in his office. "Of course not. Miss Potts, this is Captain Becker, our head of security."

"Ma'am," Becker said as he shook her hand.

Pepper laughed. "Please, there is no need for that. Miss Potts will be fine. You're young for a captain, aren't you? And the head of security, no less."

Becker preened at the compliment and James rolled his eyes. He had escaped one smug bastard only to be saddled with another.

James brought Pepper to the different labs to give her an idea of the sort of thing they did at the ARC and then to the menagerie, where she stood silently and simply took it all in, astonishment and wonder on her face. Finally she said, "It is truly amazing what you do here. I've seen some crazy things working with Tony, but I would never have believed this if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes."

"Sometimes I hardly believe it myself," James admitted, uncertain as to why he was even speaking. "I look around myself and think, how did this ever happen? How is this my life?"

Becker was staring at him in unveiled surprise but Pepper's eyes were soft, like she understood exactly what he meant.

Before anyone could speak (or change the subject, which was what James had been intending to do), a chirping noise rang out followed by the fluttering of wings as Rex soared down and alighted on Pepper's shoulder.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, startled, but then stretched out her fingers to Rex in delight. Clearly Pepper was a woman used to taking the unexpected in her stride. "And who would this be?"

"That troublemaker would be Rex," James told her. "In theory we're waiting for an anomaly to his original time to open up so we can return him, but…" But they all knew Abby had passed up more than one opportunity to send Rex back to the Permian.

"But really he's Abby's pet," Becker finished. "She'd be gutted to lose him."

"He's so tame! And really quite beautiful, if unusual," Pepper said as Rex moved from her shoulder to the table and she got a better look at him. James would have sworn the little creature was gloating. "Was Abby the pretty blonde?"

"That's her. She's our animal expert, she takes care of the menagerie," Becker explained.

"Well, shall we continue the tour? I'm sure Becker would be more than happy to show off the shooting range." James said it mostly as a joke but Becker lit up immediately, a fact which Pepper noticed as well.

She said, "I'd love to see it, I'm sure."

As Becker bounded off, Pepper hung back a step to whisper to James, "I fake enough enthusiasm at Tony's projects to be able to appease your Captain Becker. Men are all the same, aren't they? Always eager to flaunt their pride and joy regardless of whether anyone wants to see it or not."

"I'm sure I haven't a clue as to what you mean, Miss Potts."

Pepper let her arm brush against James'. "You're a smooth one, aren't you? I wonder what it is that you care about."

James smiled to himself. "I'm afraid you'd need a much longer visit to discover that."

Philip had arranged for a fancy dinner that evening for Tony, Pepper, James, and the main field team. He was obviously looking to impress as he had made reservations in a French restaurant so expensive that Connor looked scared to breathe on anything too hard lest he break it. They were seated in a special room in the back that they had all to themselves.

Tony took a seat in the middle of the table, Pepper sitting beside him and James across from her. There was a momentary scuffle as Connor and Jess got into a semi-discreet shoving match over who got to sit across from Tony. Connor won so Jess settled for the seat next to Tony, with Matt sitting on her other side and Abby next to Connor. Becker took the last remaining chair next to James and across from Philip, which seemed to suit him fine as it was as far from Tony as he could get.

Philip ordered wine for the table (James was reluctantly forced to admire the man's taste) and tongues loosened quickly. Connor could barely stop gushing about Iron Man and Stark Industries long enough for Tony to get a word in edgewise while Jess was hanging on Tony's every word and move. Abby seemed to have accepted the fact that she was unlikely to receive any attention from Connor and was instead laughing with Matt.

James was deeply sorry that it would look terrible if he got drunk.

Thankfully Pepper was an excellent conversationalist and easily engaged Philip and James. She was even able to draw Becker in on occasion.

"You remind me of someone," Tony said, pointing his fork at Becker.

Becker seemed to be preoccupied with his food so James kicked his foot under the table. Becker kicked him back - cheeky bastard - and then said, "Me? Do I? …Sir?" he tacked on.

Well, at least Becker was making an effort, James supposed. A minimal effort, but still.

"Yeah. She doesn't talk much either and I can never tell when she's joking. She can actually kill a person with her thighs, can you do that?"

Becker shrugged. "Thighs are easy. I could kill you with my thumbs. Would you like me to show you?"

Tony grinned broadly. "With a straight face, too. Pepper, write this down: Never introduce Natasha to- What was your name again? I don't think I caught it."

"Becker. Captain Becker."

"So is that a last name or…?"

"Just Becker."

"Right. You know, I'm not sure that whole one name thing works for anyone besides pop stars and Brazilian soccer players."

Becker was giving Tony his best poker face. "Haven't you heard my new single? Maybe it hasn't reached the US yet."

Pepper covered up a laugh with her hand while Tony's mouth quirked, a spark of appreciation in his eyes. "Well, I know which file I'll be hacking into first."

James carefully pried Becker's fingers out of the death grip he had on his knife and then took the knife away, placing it on the far side of his own plate. He understood the sentiment but stab wounds were so messy.

Tony had obviously noted that exchange and smirked at James' expression. "Not that I would ever dream of touching any of your secure files."

"And if you did, we'd have to have one of our little talks, wouldn't we, Tony?" Pepper said sweetly, resting her long fingernails on the inside of Tony's wrist.

Tony patted her hand. "We do have the loveliest chats, Pepper, but I'm sure this one can be avoided."

"That's what I like to hear. Now, Philip," Pepper said, turning to him, "I know Tony would love to hear about your work at Prospero."

James could feel his respect for Pepper Potts growing with every second. He doubted a situation existed that she wouldn't be able to smooth over.

The following day James got a welcome respite as Philip had taken Tony and Pepper to Prospero for the day. He was just thinking about how nice it would be to have nothing but paperwork on his plate when the procession started.

Matt was first. "James, surely you must realise what a bad idea it is to give a stranger full run of the ARC, not to mention its systems. Especially someone as..."

"Annoying?" James supplied.

"As volatile as Tony Stark."

"I completely agree with you but unfortunately my opinion doesn't count for as much as I would like. We'll simply have to do our best to control the situation."

Matt sighed and nodded, walking back out of James' office with his shoulders hunched like he was carrying the weight of the world. He may have been overreacting a tad.

Jess came in next, wearing what looked to be a new dress. "Tony- er, Mr Stark isn't coming in today?"

"No. He's spending the day at Prospero."

"Oh." Jess' face fell.

James shooed her out sourly. "Please take advantage of the lack of distraction to get some work accomplished, Miss Parker."

Half an hour later, Connor appeared. "Lester, Tony is going to come back to the ARC tomorrow, isn't he? Philip's not stealing him? Because I ran some ideas past Abby last night and-"

"Yes," James interrupted before Connor could start boring him with techno-babble. "Mr Stark will be returning tomorrow. In the meantime you'll have to make do with your regular colleagues, I'm afraid."

An expression of utter relief came over Connor's face. "Great. He's incredible, isn't he? Hey, you don't think he brought the Iron Man suit with him, do you? What I wouldn't give to get a look at it!" He flew out of the office, presumably going in search of someone more amenable to his enthusiasm.

And then finally, Becker slouched in, dropping down into one of the chairs in front of James' desk. "God, I missed the quiet," he said.

James put his pen down and said, "My thoughts exactly."

Becker either missed the implication or chose to ignore it. Probably the latter. "I don't suppose there's any chance of Philip keeping him at Prospero? Didn't think so," he said with a sigh at James' reaction. "Do you think Stark would be interested in seeing the EMDs? Accidents do happen sometimes, you know. What a shame it would be if one of them just happened to discharge."

James couldn't help but reciprocate Becker's small smile as he envisioned the blissful sight of an unconscious Tony Stark. "Why are you so bothered about him, anyway?"

"Because he's a self-centred, arrogant arsehole who thinks he knows everything, walking about like he expects the world to fall down at his feet. The way everyone's tripping over each other to fawn over him, it's disgusting."

"Jealous?"

Becker snorted. "Not even close. And I don't like the way he flirts with everyone," he added more quietly, averting his eyes.

Before James could examine that interesting admission further, the ADD went off. He met Becker's eyes and saw his own sentiments mirrored there.

"Thank God Stark's not here," Becker said as he got up. "Just... just imagine..." He shuddered.

"I don't know if he brought the suit," James said, feeling horrified at the mere thought of that logistical nightmare. He could see the headlines now.

"Thanks for the nightmares I'm going to have," were Becker's final words before he ducked out.

Well, at least James knew someone else shared his pain.

The next morning, Tony started working in earnest. It would be a lie if James said he didn't have a sick coil of worry curling in his belly at the thought of a stranger messing around in the ARC's systems, but there was nothing to be done for it. If Philip trusted Stark, then James was going to have to do the same.

He wasn't sure whether he was having a harder time putting his faith in Philip Burton or in Tony Stark.

James was currently outside his office, standing with his hands clasped loosely and resting on the rail at the top of the steps leading to the hub, watching Tony work at Jess' station. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen Connor this animated, so full of excitement and enthusiasm.

The click of stilettos across the tile alerted him to Pepper's presence before she appeared in his peripheral vision. "I think it's going well," she said.

"Yes, it does appear that way." Nothing was on fire yet, at least.

"I usually don't start worrying until there's smoke."

James focused on Pepper, wondering fleetingly whether she actually read minds. "Does that happen often?"

Pepper's mouth curved into a small, private smile. "More than you might think. Tony has a lot of ideas and not all of them are very good."

"Makes you wonder if being a genius is really only a good deal of guesswork and getting lucky."

"Plus alcohol, if we're using Tony as a model."

"No wonder he starts a lot of fires."

Pepper's mirth transformed her whole face, made her completely light up. If what James suspected about her relationship with Tony was true, Tony was a very lucky man.

In the evening, Pepper knocked lightly on James' door before stepping inside. "I wanted to stop in and tell you good night. Tony will be ages so I'm going to head back to the hotel on my own."

James started to stand up. "Would you like me to arrange transportation for you? I could probably drive you myself, if you like."

"Oh, no," Pepper said, waving him back down. "No, but thank you. Philip's provided for everything."

"Of course he has," James said, apparently failing to disguise his bitterness.

"I'm sensing that there's some friction between you and Philip," Pepper said gently. "You didn't want Tony here at all, did you?"

James closed his eyes briefly. "No, I didn't. I've found that when one is running a secret government project, it's generally best to keep it secret."

"That does seem reasonable." Pepper moved farther into the room until she was standing just on the other side of the desk. "If it means anything, Tony really is trying to help. He loves this sort of thing; it's great for his ego."

"I suppose in this case, I'll count it as a plus, then."

"That's a rare thing, believe me," Pepper said in the tone of someone long used to dealing with said ego. "You aren't staying because of Tony, are you? You really don't need to worry about him and I'm sure Mr Temple and Miss Parker can provide him with adequate supervision."

"Please rest assured that it is quite normal for me to work late, Miss Potts." There was no need to tell her that even though he did trust Connor and Jess to keep Tony out of trouble (to a certain definition of trouble, at least), there was no way in hell he was going home while Tony Stark was still in the ARC.

"Why am I not surprised?"

"Somehow I imagine that you aren't one to talk."

Pepper laughed. "You've caught me. I guess we might be a pair of kindred spirits."

"It seems so," James agreed. "But please, don't let me keep you any longer. Have a good night."

"Good night. I'll see you tomorrow. Oh, and Mr Lester? Please, call me Pepper."

"Only if you'll call me James."

"James, then," Pepper said and left.

It must have been late when Tony knocked on James' door, but James had completely lost track of the time. He waved the man inside. "Finished for the day?"

"Yeah," Tony said and took a seat. "I guess I got carried away; you didn't have to wait."

"I wasn't waiting for you."

"Have you got any alcohol around here? I'm dying for a drink."

James probably should have told Tony to get out and find his own alcohol, but instead he reached for the whisky in his drawer and poured two generous glasses.

"Cheers," Tony said, lifting his glass and taking an appreciative sip. "You've got great people here. The Temple kid, he's bright. I'd love to steal him away for Stark Industries."

"You're welcome to ask but he'll never leave the ARC."

"Not even to assist me with Iron Man?"

James considered for only a moment because he knew what choice Connor would make. Not even Iron Man could lure him away from the memory of Nick Cutter. "I'm sorry to have to tell you that Connor's reasons for working here are strong enough to resist even the promise of superheroes."

"Damn. Ah, well, you can't win 'em all." They sipped at their drinks in silence for a while before Tony gave James a considering glance. "You married?"

"A personal question, Mr Stark?"

"What can I say, I'm nosy."

James didn't know exactly why he answered, but he did. "Not married."

"Girlfriend? Boyfriend?"

"You're seeing the lovely Miss Potts, I assume," James said in lieu of replying.

"Lucky me, right?"

"Indeed."

A strangely wistful expression flitted across Tony's face. "She's so much better than I deserve."

Even Tony Stark had layers, apparently. "Aren't they always?"

Tony raised his glass as if in a toast and then swallowed the last of the whisky. "Well, I'm off. I don't suppose you want to give me a hint as to who's waiting in your bed?"

"That would ruin the fun of guessing."

"My money's on soldier boy. And, hey, kudos if he is," Tony said with a mock salute. "I think I have to admit that he's got me beat at speaking in innuendoes. I'm not sure if it's that amazing poker face, the posh accent, or the natural English reserve. Makes everything sound subtly dirty except you always think you must be imagining it."

James rolled his eyes. Trust Becker to malign Tony for the flirting and then flirt right back at him. Competitively, even, it seemed. "Good night, Mr Stark."

Stark just asked me if you like Italian food. Is he trying to take you on a DATE?

James stared at the words on his mobile screen in befuddlement before texting back to Becker, Are you twelve? Did that really need to be capitalised?

Does Stark LIKE you?

James simply ignored that as well as the text that arrived five minutes later: Watch his hands, shortly followed by, Or does he only do that to me?

After that forewarning (and also, what the hell were Becker and Stark getting up to?), James wasn't surprised when Tony stopped by ten minutes later. "So I was thinking we should have dinner."

"Have you asked the others yet?" James said without looking up.

"No, not with them. You, me, and Pepper."

Alarmingly, it appeared that Becker had been right. "Oh, that seems cosy."

"I figured this probably is pretty stressful for you and maybe we should all get to know each other better."

That was unexpectedly thoughtful. "Pepper suggested this, didn't she?"

Tony squeezed the top of the chair he was standing behind, leaning forward slightly. "I'm getting the feeling I should be insulted by that, but I'm not. And it was my idea, actually. So, are you in?"

"It seems rather rude to refuse, doesn't it?"

"Extremely," Tony agreed. "Especially since I was going to offer to pay for your meal."

"Oh, no, that's not necessary. In fact, I believe it would be the done thing for me to pay for you, being our guest, after all."

Tony waved him off. "The last thing I need is someone treating me to dinner, believe me. How soon can you be ready?"

James thought for a moment. "Half an hour?"

"Great. I'll get Pepper."

Tony and Pepper were one of those couples, the nauseating ones. They knew each other backwards and forwards and bickered affectionately, their regard and fondness disgustingly obvious even when they appeared to be insulting each other. Whenever Pepper was preoccupied with James, Tony would sneak in and steal food off her plate, but Pepper would then simply lean over and snatch something of his.

And yet, somehow, James was charmed rather than sickened. He attributed it to the impossibility of Pepper inspiring negative feelings.

James' mobile buzzed and he said, "I'm so sorry," looking at the text because it could be important.

It was from Becker again. Have they invited you back for coffee yet?

Not important, then. As if I'd kiss and tell.

"Is everything all right?" Pepper inquired as James put his phone away.

"Perfect," he assured her. "Captain Becker was merely interested to learn how our evening was progressing."

"You're sleeping together, right? Come on, you've got to tell me," Tony pleaded.

Ignoring him completely, Pepper asked, "And how is the evening progressing for you, James?"

James considered and was forced to say, "Surprisingly well, actually." In truth, he'd been having a highly enjoyable meal.

Tony was stroking his fingers over the stem of his wine glass. "Well enough for your boyfriend to be jealous?"

"Of a business dinner? If I did perhaps have a boyfriend to be jealous, I hardly think a business dinner would do the trick."

"I'm pretty sure I never said this was a business dinner. We haven't been talking shop, have we?"

Pepper shook her head solemnly, the faintest trace of an impish smile upon her lips.

"In that case, I'm afraid I never allow a first date to go as well as you're implying," James said primly.

"Did you hear that, Pepper? There was a definite indication of hope for the future in that statement. I think he's starting to like me."

"That might be pushing it too far, Mr Stark."

"Then I think we need some more wine," Tony said, signaling for the waiter. "And for God's sake, call me Tony. You're going to make me think this is a business dinner when I only want to be friends."

Friends with Tony Stark? James really didn't know how he got himself into these situations.

"James, you wouldn't believe the improvements Tony's made to the ARC's systems," Philip enthused a few days later.

"I'm sure I wouldn't." And he really didn't care to have it explained to him. There was a reason he walked out whenever he accidentally stumbled upon one of Connor's rambling monologues. "His trip will be coming to an end then, I assume?"

"Yes, they're going to fly back tomorrow."

James tried not to look too relieved. Not that he hadn't enjoyed getting to meet Pepper, but it would be wonderful to have things back to normal. Tony Stark was an unnecessary distraction and an invitation for chaos.

And James was certainly not beginning to like him, just the tiniest bit.

Tony and Pepper visited the ARC briefly the next morning in order to say their farewells. Jess very embarrassingly (for James, at least) hugged Tony while Connor looked much like he was calculating his chances as to whether he could get away with a hug, as well.

"Think about my offer," Tony said to Connor as they settled on a handshake. "You ever get tired of prehistoric creatures trying to kill you, give me a call. Come work for me and you'll never have to worry about getting killed." Tony paused. "Well, not by dinosaurs, anyway," he amended.

"You have no idea how tempting that is," Connor said but James was soon distracted by Pepper.

"I feel like I should apologise for that," she said, glancing at Tony with a small measure of embarrassment. "We really didn't come here to steal your employees."

"Oh, don't worry," James assured her. "He ran it by me first. I told him he had no chance."

"You mean Tony actually pulled out his manners for you? I'm impressed."

"I do have that effect on people."

"I can believe it," Pepper said. "Don't worry about Tony. I'll make sure he stays quiet."

James nodded gratefully. "Pepper, if you ever tire of your current career choice, rest assured that I would hire you in a heartbeat."

She smiled and laughed and briefly set her perfectly manicured fingernails on James' shoulder. "Thank you for the tempting offer. I imagine it's up in the air what's more stressful- Tony or a group of rampaging dinosaurs."

"Tony gets my vote," he said in all seriousness.

"It's rude to talk about a guy behind his back, you know," Tony told them as he approached. "But completely fine if you do it to his face, so what were you saying about me?"

"Goodbye, James," Pepper said, leaning in for a quick embrace before walking off in Becker's direction.

"Goodbye," James said, feeling the smallest amount of warmth rising in his cheeks.

Tony was watching him with altogether too much amusement. "Hey, next time you're in the US, give me a call. Pepper and me, we'll take you out, show you all the best places."

"Okay," James said slowly, unsure whether it was a genuine offer or merely Tony taking the piss again.

Tony grinned and squeezed James' shoulder. "I like you, James. I stand by what I said- I bet you're loads of fun," he said suggestively, lewdness practically seeping out of him.

James raised an eyebrow. "Unfortunately I make it a habit not to mix business with pleasure. You'll simply have to imagine the levels of fun I can be. I hear you have a brilliant imagination."

Tony just laughed and began to move away, tossing back over his shoulder, "Bring the pretty boy with you, if you want. Pepper loved him."

And, indeed, Pepper was finishing her goodbyes to Becker with her hand on his arm and a smile on her face, while Becker was ducking his head and looking bashful. James resisted the urge to roll his eyes and decided that, yes, it was definitely time for things at the ARC to return to normal.

End