To be honest, Pepper wasn't sure what to expect when she entered Stark Mansion just before 7 PM. More than half of her thought she might find this superpowered keg party in progress, while the other possibilities she pondered included finding the foyer smashed due to more remodeling (or an accidental Hulk incident) or perhaps some terrifying training exercise involving hidden snipers designed by Clint and Natasha.

Instead, she found a house to be surprisingly peaceful.

"Jarvis," she said, addressing the AI, unable to contain her suspicion. Quiet and Tony Stark were not two things that were ever good together. It usually meant he was planning something. "Are the Avengers in?"

"Yes, Ms. Potts."

"Really?"

"I am surprised by the lack of chaos as well. Mr. Stark and Mr. Barton are in the basement, discussing the installation of the firing range. Captain Rogers, Doctor Banner, Agent Romanoff and Ms. Lewis are in the den, while Mr. Thor and Doctor Foster are in their room. I believe they are attempting to temporarily seal the gaping hole in the roof."

Having Jarvis around really did make her job a bit easier sometimes.

Since the den was on the ground floor, Pepper took a left and strolled toward the room with the large television.

She slowed as she drew closer, listening to the sounds of TV and conversation.

"I've never heard of most of these foods," Steve was saying over the sounds of Chopped.

Peering into the den, Pepper saw the four of them sitting peacefully on the couches. Bruce seemed transfixed by the TV, sedately watching some chef attempt to debone a tilapia. Sookie, the Yorkie, was sprawled on his lap, seemingly delighted to have him pat her back.

Pepper had once read that people with pets were less stressed, so this was probably a mutually beneficial situation.

"Don't feel bad. Neither have I," Darcy reassured Steve. The two of them were sitting cross-legged, facing each other, Natasha watching them with interest. Steve had one of Darcy's hands in his and was bent over…painting a delicate design on her nails.

Further inspection revealed a box of multicolored polishes on the girl's lap. In Steve's large hand, the brush looked absurdly tiny but he seemed comfortable with it.

It was Natasha who noticed her, giving her a tiny smile before declaring, "I'm next."

"Good evening, Miss…Ms. Potts," Steve said, pausing what he was doing to look up and acknowledge her with one of his heart warming smiles.

"Hey!" Darcy greeted her with a grin and brandished one of her hands. "Look what Steve did!"

The base color on her nails was a shining, almost metallic blue onto which Steve had added numerous, intricate swirls of white and silver. The finished effect was quite lovely.

"Beautifully done," Pepper replied, wondering how Captain America had gotten himself roped into playing manicurist. Then she recalled reading a biography of the man that mentioned that he had been an artist. "How went the shopping expedition?"

"No outright disasters," Natasha replied, then raised a brow. "Though you'll probably be fielding questions about the seeming harem Stark's acquired."

Rolling her eyes, Pepper pled, "Oh, don't say things like that! I wouldn't put it past Jameson to run that as his headline!"

"On the bright side, the paparazzi probably won't pick up on the fact that Steve's Captain America, seeing as how they think he's dead," Darcy said, waving her now finished nails to air dry them. "Plus, if my mom sees those pictures, she'll be thrilled. Don't ask."

Pepper wondered how much sugar and caffeine the younger woman had ingested as Steve said, "I'm sure the news service wouldn't run anything to inflammatory about Tony. He's a Stark."

When he said things like that, Pepper just wanted to pat him on the head. From the expressions on their faces, Darcy and Natasha felt the same. Rousing himself from his Food Network tunnel vision, Bruce turned and said, "Modern newspapers feed on scandal, Steve. The dirtier the better in their opinion."

Frowning as though about to say more, Steve held his tongue when Natasha lifted a bottle of wine dark polish. "This one," she declared and Darcy surrendered her spot, allowing Natasha to sit in front of Steve. "Don't worry about the press, Steve. Pepper is used to doing damage control for Tony. You can trust her."

As he shook the little bottle, Steve blinked. "Of course I trust this Potts. Tony trusts her and I trust him."

Again, Pepper just wanted to ruffle his hair. Maybe give him some milk and cookies.

It was Darcy who chuckled. "Tony is all kinds of awesome, but why do I get the feeling that sometimes listening to him is the reason you end up in Mexico with a monkey and no pants…though if the frat boys in New Mexico managed actual Mexico, I imagine Tony'd be more creative, like Cuba or Tunguska."

She was not entirely wrong in that assessment. Rhodey could attest to that. "Speaking of Tony…."

"Still in the basement, Ms. Potts."

"Thank you, Jarvis," Pepper said, then looked at the four of them and bemusement. Darcy had joined Bruce in watching the show well Steve was carefully coating Natasha's nails with the Burgundy polish. "Have fun up here."

"Bye," they chorused as she turned and strode towards the stairs that led to the basement. She'd long ago learned not to use the elevators during any of Tony's home renovation projects.

You never knew when he'd feel the need to take the power off-line.

"I was thinking we could set up some kind of random target generators…holo-emitters mixed with real physical targets…."

"So we're lauding this whole side of the level for training?" Clint sounded quite pleased by that idea. "With the gym and training room beside the pool?"

Pepper rounded the corner in time to see Tony gesture. "That's right! The labs will be in the subbasement below us."

"Is that really wise? A few miscalculations and the foundation could be compromised," Pepper commented, causing both men to turn and stare at her.

Tony waved a hand. "I'm going to reinforce the walls, which are already…."

"3' to 3.5' thick."

Until she spoke, Pepper hadn't noticed Liz Cook hovering by one of the far walls, some insanely complicated piece of electronics in hand.

"Tony," Pepper hissed. "You do realize Thomas and Liz don't actually work for you, right?"

"I know." He looked put out for a moment, then grinned. "She wants to help. Next year, Liz is heading off to my alma mater."

Oh. Pepper did not like the little gleam in his eye when he said that. All this world needed was for Tony to decide he wanted to take on the protégé to mold into his own image. Hopefully, he'd lose interest and hopefully Sarah had managed to impart some of her common sense to her granddaughter.

Deciding it would be best to distract him, Pepper asked, "Dare I ask how many paparazzi you baited on your little shopping trip?"

Tony snorted. "Like they need to be baited. Clint was the one who put one of them in the sleeper hold."

Turning her gaze to the other man, Pepper ground out. "What?"

The sniper shrugged. "He snuck into the dressing rooms. Thor wanted to throw out the window, so I wouldn't say I overreacted."

"That's the point against which we are measuring the appropriateness of our reactions? Better or worse than throwing someone out of a window? And now you're designing a space in the basement where there will be intentional explosions instead of the usual unintended ones. Lovely."

Tony just grinned. "Great, isn't it!"

Not the word she'd use, but then Pepper considered the fact that he was interacting (more or less civilly) with a group of people, had eaten at least two meals today and was sober.

Maybe all this craziness would lead to something great.

Comments, pretty please?