An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
The post-Iron Man 3 angsty Extremis fix-it that we never got in canon. A.K.A. this author is still salty that they gave us Exremis!Pepper, and then it was never mentioned ever again.
Just gonna drop the link for my dead A03 onto my dead Tumblr account, because I decided to post this fic draft that I started probably 5ish years ago in the hopes that publishing it somewhere will motivate me to finish it because I really miss writing fic, dammit.
If anyone remembers me at all I used to write under the pseud tonysbruce, but I changed it to tony_starked :)
i don't know if you're taking requests and I don't even know if you write for pepperony but maybe Pepper remembering when he assigned the 'Pepper' nickname to her?
I usually don’t take requests because I usually am not able to write them, but this made me so soft. And you caught me in a writing mood,
I’m sorry it’s really sad :( Pepperony :(
word count: 1.5k
Sprinkled.
Virginia Potts had always been proud of him. It had been from day one that she knew that Tony was going to be both her most overwhelming nightmare and her loveliest of dreams. Anthony Edward Stark. Tony. Tones. It hadn’t come to her plans to fall in love with him. If she had only known she would’ve warned the clumsy and young and redheaded Virginia who had first walked into that office. Not to stop herself, no, she wouldn’t regret it, but a little heads up would’ve been good.
She remembered it like it had been just yesterday, he was behind his desk looking at some sketches he had on it, he was biting on a pencil and mumbling something to himself. He was wearing an ac-dc t-shirt. He looked so professional, and just as Miss Potts had imagined him to be, not that this was the first time meeting him, but this was the first time really seeing him if that made any sense at all, it did to Virginia. She was feeling unusually nervous, her hands were sweating as she was standing outside his office and watched him from the opened door. She had a matching black skirt with a blazer which she had so neatly chosen in the morning and some black heels, her makeup was subtle, except for the fact she was wearing a bright red lipstick to give her a little bit of confidence.
Suddenly seeing him so casual made Miss Potts feel self-conscious, maybe she had dressed up too much for the occasion. The red lipstick she was wearing was probably a little bit too obnoxious, she still liked it, however. She took out a handkerchief and cleaned it off, it was too much for the occasion. She had walked up with dignity and waited for Mr Stark to look up. He hadn’t, he was still talking to himself, making Potts uncomfortable, just slightly.
Miss Potts had been working for a little while in the Stark industries and Tony-Mr. Stark had personally asked for her to be his new assistant. Of course, it was a big deal to her, Howard Stark’s son had personally asked for her. She must have done something right. An almost new secretary being called by the one and only? That was something Virginia wanted and was definitely going to swank. But she was also terrified of this, knowing damn-well that sometimes men in charge liked to take advantage of their said positions. Aldrich Killian had been the perfect example, and she was not willing to deal with any of that crap again.
Harold Hogan, Stark’s bodyguard and chauffeur, a man she had met minutes before, walked into the office and Virginia moved to the side holding on to her briefcase.
He grinned at Miss Potts before turning to Mr Stark. He frowned with a chuckle, knowingly. “Tony,” he said.
Tony, not Anthony, not Stark not even Mr Stark. Tony. The man didn’t look up as Virginia still fidgeted with her briefcase.
“Just a second, Happy,” he said. “I’m trying to figure out the correct way to say hello to the lady with the pink-kinda red smudged lips here who’s been standing there for 5 minutes without saying a word.”
Virginia had blushed instantly and regretted cleaning off her lipstick, she cleaned the remaining lipstick with her hand. “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to interrupt you.”
Tony chuckled as he finally looked up and smirked. “But you should have, Miss Potts.”
“Well, you already know my name,” she smiled, getting back on her confidence. “So, I’m your new-”
“New assistant, yes,” Tony finished her sentence. “I asked for you, you seem to have potential to help me run the company, you know it better than I do,” he said.
Harold-Happy raised an eyebrow chuckling. “Oh, she’s running the company?”
“She’s in charge of me so she basically is,” Tony chortled. “You’re the boss of me, Miss Potts.”
“May I ask why it was me, Mister. Stark?” Virginia had been dying to ask since she had first heard the news.
“I asked around, to see who was the most competent in here, and your name always popped up,” Tony grinned. “It’s you, it’s always you.”
She chuckled. “Well, I’m glad I’m doing okay,” she said.
He looked up at her. “Virginia sounds too formal, though,” he acknowledged as he looked up at her. “Virg, Gina,” he wrinkled his nose. “Hm, I’ll come up with something. By the way, the red lips look good.”
Miss Potts grinned. Unbeknownst to her, she wasn’t going to have it easy. But with that, it had started. And suddenly Virginia Potts found herself worrying for a man who didn’t have his head on his head. She was mental, taking care fo Tony was like taking care of a child. Arranging his schedules and having to figure out ways to apologize for him being late. Picking up his dry cleans, and arranging his dates. Making reservations and then cancelling them because, of course, Tones didn’t have the time for them.
“I like your freckles, Miss Potts,” he said once. “I like your red hair, it’s like they’ve sprinkled pepper all over on you.”
“They’re waiting out for you, the conference started ten minutes ago,” she reminded him as she looked down at her notes.
“Give me a break, Pepper Potts,” he grinned. “I like that one, Pepper, Pepper, has a ring to it, doesn’t it?”
She smiled. “Miss Pepper Potts for you, sir.”
It stuck.
The job apparently had been an ‘instructions-not-included’ package that Virginia hadn’t had the time to assimilate. It had been a nightmare, honestly, but getting to spend time with Tony-Mr. Stark made it worth it. Even if he was a bit of an idiot sometimes Miss Potts---Pepper knew that she was the one to get a nice side from him. Pepper-- realized that Tony was himself whenever he was around her.
There was something she learned about him, however. Tony never rested. The man lived on coffee.
Suddenly she found herself flirting with him, even when it hurt taking out the trash in the morning. It had become a non-pleasant routine that left Pepper heartbroken. Seeing how the thousands of women were flinging by and then she’d be the one to face them, smirk on her face.
Pepper was the one to stay, she was aware of that. Whatever happened, she’d be the one to stay by his side, even if he didn’t like it. Pepper did whatever an insane woman could do, fall in love with him. But it didn’t matter, because he was in love with her, too. Even if they both tried to hide it, it was obvious.
And he’d remind her how much he loved those freckles, and she’d be reminded every day that she was just his assistant. Until… she wasn’t anymore. Maybe the distance between their lips had just been unnecessary.
And it had stayed that way, from when he got kidnapped, to when she stopped having her red-hair.
He mentioned it.
“So you’re not sprinkled with pepper anymore, except for your freckles of course,” he commented. “I like it, blonde looks good, Miss Potts, brings up the red lipstick. It’s like light, I like it.”
And it did look good, so it stayed like that for a while. It has been blonde since. And she had been there for him, too. Every situation. Even if it was just 12% of the situation, or even if she needed a break from him. It was just like that, with Tony she needed to rest because he never did. Tony Stark was an adventure.
In dark times, that’s when he needed his light.
“I was never the romantic type, never the hero type, if I told myself a few years ago I’d be here,” he chuckled. “I would probably laugh at myself. But I look back, at everything, and I know it, the motivation to be a better person, the reason why I’ve been kept alive all these years, my coffee in the morning, the pepper sprinkled on my food,” he laughed. “You’re it, Pepper, you’re what’s kept me alive all those years, you’re the reason I’m awake, it’s you, it’s always been you.”
That’s how he had proposed. They lived, quite a life. With Morgan, and with Tony not being able to sleep at night. But she’d be there, comforting him. Reading books with him, and she was finally resting. But he never did, he never truly did.
“You can rest now.” And she had kissed his cheek.
But now, Pepper looked at her blonde hair and she didn’t like it anymore. It had been difficult. Tony was resting, now. Had she failed to keep him awake? It had been the right thing to do. Maybe he had fulfilled his purpose.
And she’d wear his t-shirts at night whenever she missed him, and she’d hug Morgan tighter. A blonde, sad but proud Pepper Potts. But something seemed off, Pepper Potts wasn’t Pepper Potts without reason. So she dyed it back red as if someone had sprinkled Pepper on her.
Pepper laid in her bed for a good 10 minutes trying to take control of her emotions but she was just finding it completely impossible. She threw her covers off and stormed out of her room heading straight for 221B. She didn't bother knocking, just simply threw the door open.
"You do NOT get to do that to me Anthony Edward Stark! Not again,you don't get to run away because you are fucking scared! You are such an asshole and I have no idea why the hell I can't just move on and that makes me want to hate you so much... but I can't and that makes me even angrier!"
