Pepper hadnât been surprised when Tonyâs invitation to join him in Star City had been an offhand mention in one of their rare phone conversations followed up by a set of keys arriving in the mail. As she already had keys to everything else Tony owned she assumed they were to whatever properties he had procured in the city. The nonchalant nature of the invite was one-hundred percent Tony. What had surprised her was that Tony had asked her to come out in the first place. Things had beenâŠwell, frankly they hadnât been great between them for a while at that point.
So, suffice to say, the casual invite and subsequent keys hadnât been expected, and Pepper had taken a couple days to think it over before making her decision. Of course, her initial instinct had been to go, but not only did she have a company to make arrangements for, but she didnât like to make spur of the moment decisions when it came to the important things. In the end it took her a couple weeks to make the proper arrangements so that she could run Stark Industries from Star City in addition to Los Angeles and New York. Tony had said âvisitâ when theyâd spoken, but she knew Tony and she doubted it would be a simple week-long vacation.
Even with all the time Pepper had spent making preparations and getting things set up, sheâd still had to end up leaving her assistant in LA to wrap up the last few loose ends before the younger woman joined her in Star City. Honestly, Darcy was an invaluable assistant. She was a bit quirky and high energy, but she got things done and as long as everything was done legally Pepper wasnât really too bothered with how it got done. Â
So, when sheâd heard that Darcy was finally on her way Pepper was pleased. Cassia was irreplaceable, of course, the AI was almost always in Pepperâs ear (especially after the incident at the riots), but it would be nice to have another human being to talk to during the day that wasnât yet another stuffy, insufferable business man.
Pepper was scrawling out some proforma signatures when Darcy arrived, and at the sound of the brunetteâs voice Pepperâs head lifted with a warm smile. âDarcy! Glad to see you made it in one piece.â There was an amused smile on her lips as she gestured towards one of the chairs in front of her desk. âWell, only having come back to work last week Iâm unfortunately low on the gossip.â It was hard to collect gossip from a recovery bed.
âYâknow it was touch and go for a few secs. Iâm pretty sure I lost wifi for like twenty minutes on the copter ride over and I felt like I was gonna die.â She lived for internet access, not only for her social media presence (which was pretty damn good if she said so herself) but sheâd been drafting a few last minute emails and instructions for the new heads of the LA branch on her way over. She was sure theyâd be fine but Darcy didnât want to let Pepper down.
âYea, that reminds me.â she took her seat and lightly smacked the back of the older womanâs hand, âNever get hurt again! You had me worried sick and I couldnât get out here to help you. I think I gained many grey hairs. Are you sure youâre well enough to be back here?â Her shrewd gaze took the other in; after years of working with Jane, Darcy was well acquainted with badass women who overworked themselves and needed to be physically put to bed at times.
âI can always give you some of mine though, since Iâm that great,â Darcy grinned, trying not to linger too long on a negative subject, âYou know Jan from RD? She and Ricardo from HR finally got together and Nikia foundâem canoodling in the break room.â she smirked, âEarned me twenty bucks in a bet.â And she wished the love birds well, âIn less fun gossip though, apparently the head of Kord industries is in town and Iâm not sure if thatâs a good or bad thing?â she half-asked, wanting to see what the other thought about it. Â Â