"Excuse me, Miss Potts," the cultured voice of Jarvis said.
Looking up from her tablet, Pepper blinked, coming back to reality from the myriad of reports that she'd been reading, all to do with the running of Stark Industries.
"Yes, Jarvis?" she asked.
"The quinjet will be landing in five minutes," Jarvis informed her.
"It will? About time," she replied. "Thanks, Jarvis."
Without waiting for a reply, Pepper clicked off the pad before dropping it onto the top of her desk. As she rose, she instinctively flattened the front of her skirt before striding towards the door.
A short elevator ride later and she stepped out to see the landing deck of Avengers Tower across the room and out the glass doors. The deck itself wasn't large, but more than capable of accommodating a helicopter if needed, although its primary purpose was to berth the quinjet that was assigned the Tower.
A glint of metal off in the distance caught her attention and she smiled as she hustled across the room. It didn't take long for that far-off glint to resolve itself into the shape of the Avengers' quinjet. It banked hard before hovering just off the end of the deck, its stylized 'A' plain for all to see. Its manoeuvring thrusters fired, bringing it backwards, even as the tips of both wings folded up and in.
The instant that it touched down, servos built into the deck itself activated, quickly latching onto the wheels of the quinjet and drawing it backwards before locking it into place. As the turbines wound down to a stop, the rear ramp lowered and Pepper rushed forward.
"Pepper!" a beaming Tony exclaimed, his arms opened wide as he stood on the ramp.
"Tony!" Pepper exclaimed before bounding up the ramp to give him a great hug.
"Miss me?" Tony asked, his voice all playful. "Really, what am I saying? Of course, you missed me! Who wouldn't miss me?"
"Just this once, I'll admit that I did," she replied, before giving his cheek a lingering kiss.
It was only then, as she was pulling away, that movement over Tony's shoulder caught her attention and her eyes widened.
"Thor! You're back!" she exclaimed, pulling away from Tony to greet the tall, muscled man with a quick hug.
"It is pleasing to see you again as well, Lady Pepper," Thor laughed.
As she stepped back, Pepper took note of the remaining people in the quinjet. Harry, Clint and Matt were all expect. As was Peter, although his inclusion caused Pepper to frown. And then she saw the last one, attempting to stay hidden from view by keeping both Matt and Peter between them.
"Anthony Edward Stark!" she exclaimed, whirling about, her hands automatically settling on her hips. "What is the meaning of this? You took Doreen with you? It's bad enough that you took Peter out of school, but to take Doreen as well?"
"Hey, don't blame me, it's not like it was my idea," Tony replied, trying to defend himself. "She snuck on board. I didn't even know she was there until we were nearly in London."
Pepper stared at him, her eyes fierce, unblinking, making him visibly cringe away.
"Don't blame Tony, Pep," Doreen said, stepping forward, Monkey Joe riding in his usual place high on her shoulder. "I did sneak aboard without any of them knowing."
Pepper couldn't help but snort at that.
"Really? You really think that one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top spies couldn't detect you? Or Matt with his extraordinary hearing who can hear a heartbeat across the room? Or a full-on wizard?" she asked, shaking her head. "Maybe I should just as Jarvis, hmm?"
"No, no, there's no need for that," Tony interrupted quickly. "Besides, it was good for her. Doreen learnt a lot; see it as a part of her and Pete's Avenger Academy training."
Pepper lifted a single eyebrow before turning to take in the rest of the group. Every single one of them was very obviously trying not to smile.
"At least tell me that you didn't have them involved in any fighting," Pepper pled. "I know that it'd be too much to assume that you lot could stay out of trouble and didn't find yourself in some kind of fight."
"It was great!" Doreen said, bounding slightly where she stood. "We got to fight aliens and wizards. Not that I thought much of those Elves, really. They were an easy take down."
"You would not think that if they were not under an enchantment," Thor replied. "The reactions of the Dark Elves were greatly hindered without their full faculties available to them."
"Which is a good thing," Harry stated. "It meant that we could get those kids away safely without anyone getting hurt."
"You were rescuing kids?" Pepper asked.
"A bunch of wizards and Dark Elves had taken them hostage," Tony replied. "We had to do something."
"Well, alright then," Pepper said. "Come on, I'm sure Jarvis has already arranged for some food to be delivered."
"Indeed," Jarvis confirmed. "Chinese, to be precise. It will be here by the time you have all cleaned up."
With matching grins, the group quickly strode down the ramp and headed into the Tower.
ooo00ooo
Bruce lifted his hand to knock on the door, hesitated through the simple method of shifting his bag more comfortably on his shoulder, before biting the bullet and knocking firmly on the door thrice.
He could hardly believe that he was back in Los Angeles so soon. Especially after having so recently been hitching rides to get to the opposite side of the country. Indeed, he'd barely been there a day, not even long enough to unpack any clothes into what Jarvis and Pepper assured him was his room in the Tower, when he'd received word from his uncle via a truly roundabout method that he was needed back in L.A.
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