natasha romanoff oneshots

and make up for forgotten years

i took down a few older chapters i didn't like. hopefully i'll be posting more consistently now- i've got a few drafts that just need finishing touches.

here's a peppernat soulmate au :)

the title is the last line in "hyperdontia" by ghost and creep-p!

—

"hello? miss potts?" someone from outside her office door asks.

a chill runs down pepper's back. right, someone from legal is coming to finish transferring the company over today.

she rubs her wrist where the name of her soulmate is, which is starting to ache.

"come in!" pepper calls.

she finds out the voice belongs to a pretty redhead.

"hello, i'm natalie rushman. i've got the forms you need to sign over the company," she says politely, "your receptionist told me i could come in..."

natalie rushman... so, not her soulmate.

"yes, that's fine," pepper says, trying not to feel too disappointed. she turns off her computer and stands up. "sorry, mr stark is just downstairs."

natalie smiles. "lead the way."

—

of course, tony does the opposite of what pepper asks him to. when doesn't he?

she tries not to stare too hard at natalie. she's not tony, after all. there's more to a person than their looks. and it makes pepper wonder what made tony hire her... or why he thought she should be ceo.

—

natalie seems to be more of pepper's assistant now, while tony's off doing god knows what. the ache in her soul mark has faded a little, but it's still there, and being around natalie only makes it come back.

—

natalie slams hammer down onto the table. "you tell me who's behind this. who's behind this?" she growls.

well, that's one way to get him to talk, is pepper's first thought, followed quickly by, i don't think natalie is just an assistant.

natalie-not-natalie storms past pepper without another word, leaving her to deal with hammer.

—

"thank you, agent romanoff," tony says drily before signing off.

agent romanoff... the ache in her mark comes back with a vengeance. it could be a coincidence, but...

romanoff turns to leave.

"hey!" pepper calls. "i think i deserve an explanation."

"coulson will want to debrief you," romanoff says coolly. "if you ask him nicely, i may be able to make it."

—

pepper quickly realizes that romanov is nothing like natalie. or maybe she is, and she just doesn't want to be around pepper. but if she isn't going to bring up their marks, pepper certainly isn't.

romanov is currently staring at her from across the table, her body tense and face blank.

coulson smiles sympathetically at her. "we thought it would be best to debrief you as well, given your... relationship with agent romanov."

"i was assigned to monitor stark. you were not originally part of the mission, but it ended up being more efficient to connect with you, instead of stark."