Vignette #1

21 April 2011 – Veto Power

Blanket disclaimer for this entire series: Iron Man, Tony, Pepper, Rhodey, JARVIS, Nick, Natalie, Steve, Jane, Thor, Bruce, Clint, Christine, Dummy, Butterfingers … did I forget anybody? Anyway, they and their ilk are all properties of Marvel Entertainment and either Paramount or Disney Studios, and I am deriving no income from their use. So keep the lawyers on a leash, per favore. All original characters are mine, but may be used by other writers if they ask (and give credit).

Extra author's note: these vignettes build upon my previous story "Hearts and Souls;" you may want to read it first, because things here might not make sense otherwise.

Okay, we all set? Time to get on with Tony and Pepper's lives, then …

It was a quiet Thursday morning. Tony Stark was actually getting to like those. Married life must be agreeing with me …

He was plowing through a hefty breakfast of sausages, eggs, toast and grapefruit, while catching up on the latest news on his tablet PC. Across the table, Pepper continued her demolition of a big bowl of oatmeal with raisins. She'd been having oatmeal cravings throughout the pregnancy. Tony wondered if that was any indicator of what their child would be like. He vaguely recalled his mother talking about wanting lots of spicy Mexican food when she was carrying him. Of course, Mom was more or less Mexican, but …

Tony tabbed over to the sports news and the lead article caught his eye. "Hmmm … yeah … ah-hah! …"

"Care to share it with the class?" Pepper said with a smile.

"Sure – check this out." He passed the table over to her.

Pepper took it and read the indicated piece. As she did, her spoon slowed, then stopped, and her brow furrowed. Finally, she looked up. "Tony … no."

Tony attempted to look innocent. "No to what?"

Pepper gave him the who-do-you-think-you're-foolin' look. "Tony, I know what you're thinking when you see something like this. And the answer is no."

He gave up any pretense of confusion. "Now, c'mon! I don't think you get to decide unilaterally what I can and can't do …"

"… with our money?" Pepper finished for him. They had drawn up an ironclad prenuptial agreement before the wedding, guaranteeing that should they divorce, Pepper would be quite comfortable even if she lived to be 200, but wouldn't have any control of Stark Industries. Still, they'd also agreed that for as long as they were together, major decisions should and would be made together.

"Okay, point taken. But it, it's a pillar of the community, and it's fallen on hard times. We'd be doing a public service!"

"You do enough public service between the company and the suit. You don't need this."

"Pep, you grew up around here, same as I did. You know what a big deal this is …"

"Yes, I do. But you don't have to take charge of every big deal." Pepper sighed and went on. "Tony, it's not like you don't have enough to do …"

"Nothing like this. That's business – this is, this is fun!"

"What, business isn't fun for you all of a sudden? Being Iron Man isn't fun? You sure fooled me." She said it with a smirk that could almost have been one of his.

"It's not the same. C'mon, this is what every American boy dreams of, right? It's what I dreamed of, I know that."

"Maybe so. And when I was a little girl I dreamed of becoming a ballerina. There's a time to set aside childhood dreams and start embracing the adult ones."

"Killjoy." Tony made sure to show that he was joking. Or half-joking.

"Tony … look at your life. You've got Stark Industries humming along. We're going into the airplane business, the automobile business. We're getting into medical with the Pegasus prosthetics. You just bought a helicopter manufacturer. Almost all your weekday time is spent cutting a deal or working on the next piece of new tech. Weekends and some nights, you're getting in the suit and causing evildoers headaches. Plus, you have a wife now, and a baby on the way? Your schedule is full – full of things you enjoy. You don't have the time to take on something like this."

Tony felt a little defensive. "I can make the time …"

"And where will the time come from? From SI? From Iron Man? From me and the little one?" That one stung, and he knew she saw it, but she didn't slow down. "I've known you for a long time, Tony. When you latch onto a new project, you tend to dive in to the exclusion of everything else. But there are too many people depending on you now to be there for them – you've said it yourself. They need you. I need you. And we don't need you immersing yourself in something that is this big and, no offense, this far outside your areas of expertise. I know you could learn – but we need you here with us, not off learning a new field. Or re-living boy's dreams."

Tony had one card left he could play – the "what a great thing for our kid" card – but he already knew it wouldn't fly. "Eh, I suppose you're right. I wish you weren't, but …" He returned to his now-lukewarm breakfast.

"I know you're disappointed," Pepper said sympathetically.

"No way I can sell you on it?"

Pepper shook her head, but smiled. "There is nothing in this world that will convince me that Tony Stark needs to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers."

Tony sighed, and began finishing off his breakfast.

"However …"

He looked up.

"… if someone else comes to you and offers you a minority stake – non-managing, limited partner – we'll consider it. Okay?"

"Okay." A pause, then, "you're the best, Pep."

"Just doing my job," she replied with a smile, and returned to her oatmeal.