What You Should Remember

The missing scene where Pepper and Natasha settle their differences, specifically how Natasha as Natalie Rushman in Iron Man 2 was flirting with Tony Stark. I see this as occurring somewhere after the Avengers movie. Written in a relatively short amount of time and I have no idea where this came from, but I figured I'd go with it. Oh, just some context - this is set with the assumption that all the Avengers end up staying in Stark Tower together.

Enjoy...

...

"Good morning, Tony," came a very feminine voice from behind the kitchen counter.

The billionaire rubbed his bleary eyes, taking in the scene in front of him. A very-nearly naked woman, dressed only in his button up shirt from last night, was walking around his kitchen making pancakes and what smelled like blueberry sauce. His headache from his hangover only got worse.

"You're not Pepper."

"No. I'm not," she said with a smirk. She expertly flipped a pancake in the fry-pan and proceeded to dish up two plates, drizzling them with the sauce. Using a can of whipped cream she put a generous dollop on one of the plates. "You want cream, Tony?" she asked, licking off a drop of cream that had landed on her finger.

"N-no," Stark stuttered, still not comprehending the situation. This couldn't be happening, he thought.

"What's the matter, Tony, you couldn't get enough of the whipped cream last night," she teased with a sultry voice.

"You," he gestured to her, "and I," he gestured to himself, "could not have…" he gestured back and forth between the both of them.

"Don't you remember?" she asked innocently. "You must have drunk more than I thought."

"Natasha Romanoff, did you get me drunk and seduce me?" Stark accused, staring in disbelief at the redhead.

Natasha snorted, "I wouldn't need to get you drunk. Besides you did that all on your own, and then you came onto me. I figured I'd see if you were as good as you keep telling everyone."

He couldn't help it. "And?"

"If you can't remember I don't think you deserve to know."

"Jarvis?" Tony called.

"I'm afraid Miss Romanoff has neutralised the video feed of your evening, Sir," the disembodied voice offered. "I cannot recover it."

"Damn spy," he muttered. Then from somewhere behind his splitting headache he remembered some of the night before, and it was not a pretty thought.

He remembered promising Pepper he would take her out to dinner after he checked the rendering of one of his lab creations. He then proceeded to get distracted by something or other until he somehow made the decision to try and outdrink Steve Rogers.

He snarled out a very strong swear word that even impressed Natasha.

"Jarvis," he said, running his hands through his hair and looking the picture of desperation, "did Pepper see anything last night?"

"I believe Miss Potts is aware of the situation, Sir."

"Where is she, Jarvis?"

"Miss Potts has requested that she not be disturbed, Sir. As such I cannot give you her current location."

"But she is in the Tower, right?"

"She is," the computer admitted.

Stark headed directly to the door, intending to search every room of the Tower until he found Pepper and then beg her for her forgiveness.

Natasha watched him go from her position at the kitchen counter. When she heard the ding of the elevator sound through the door she relaxed her shoulders. "Well that went well."

"No, that was brilliant," laughed Pepper, walking around the corner and taking a seat on one of the barstools across from Natasha. "I can see why men are putty in your hands."

"It's both a blessing and a curse," Natasha smiled, shrugging out of Tony's shirt. She readjusted her tank top and rolled down the legs of her workout shorts until they were sitting in their usual position, just above her knees. Pepper had found her in the gym that morning, hence her outfit.

"Thanks for doing that though, Natasha," Pepper said, pulling one of the plates of pancakes towards her and taking a bite. "I should be used to Tony standing me up, but this time it was too much. I mean it was his idea in the first place."

"I think after this he'll be very attentive," Natasha supplied, taking the other plate and sitting at the end of the counter, diagonal from Pepper. "You are going to tell him nothing really happened, right?"

"Yes, yes of course, I wouldn't do that to you," Pepper reassured her. "Or him for that matter," she added. "But I might let him grovel for a day or two."

"Of course," Natasha laughed. The two women ate in a comfortable silence until Natasha had to say something. It had been on her mind since she infiltrated Stark Industries before the whole Loki situation. "Pepper, back when you knew me as Natalie…"

"Go on."

"I guess I just want you to know that I would never have gone further than flirting with Tony, and even then it was just a job. It sounds horrible, I know, but-"

"Relax, Natasha. I may not like it when you, or any other girl, flirts with Tony, but I know and he knows that I'm the one he comes home to. I'm the one that knows Tony as Tony, and not at the billionaire playboy philanthropist image all the girls go for. I've accepted the fact that Tony is a flirt and always will be a flirt, but it is only flirting. Tony has a weird way of showing it, but he does love me; you saw the way he freaked out this morning."

"Yes," Natasha agreed, "and you were the first thing he mentioned. I just want to make sure you don't see me as a threat," she admitted. "This morning's show is as close as I want to be to Tony relationship-wise."

"I'm not threatened and I'm not worried. If I was I would not have dragged you into my boyfriend's kitchen, dressed you only in his shirt and asked you to insinuate that you had slept together. Oh, and thank you Jarvis, you performed marvelously," she added.

"It was my pleasure, Miss Potts."

"Now, I was thinking that as a thank you for helping me screw with Tony's head, we could go out tonight, have a girl's night," Pepper offered.

"Pepper, that's not necessary," Natasha said, "screwing with Stark's head is enough thanks."

"I have season tickets to the ballet," she bartered, "and Tony never goes with me. I can't think of anyone else in this building that would enjoy the ballet."

Natasha took in the genuine excitement of the blonde. "Okay, I'll go with you. It will be fun," she with a smile.

"Excellent."

They continued to eat the pancakes, talking about this and that, occasionally checking the progress of Tony with the help of Jarvis. They turned together when they heard the door to the penthouse open.

"Hey Nat, Pepper," Clint said, taking a seat with them and snatching the pancake off of Natasha's plate. She glared but let him get away with it. "Does anyone want to tell me why Stark started to apologise profusely to me when I asked him why he was searching all the supply cupboards around the gym?" Clint looked between the identical grins on Pepper's and Natasha's faced. "On second thoughts, I don't think I want to know."

"Good idea," Pepper advised.

...