Always Been You | Tony Stark

Captiolo (13) Tredici ~ Natalie Rushman

"The notary's here!" Pepper yelled, walking into the room. "Can you please come sign the transfer paperwork?"

"I'm on Happy time!" Tony yelled back, still boxing with Happy.

"How's he been doing in there?" Pepper asked me when she got close. Morgan had been sitting with me on her iPad in her father's gym while he and happy spared.

"Pretty good. Except he's done about three-" I got cut off by Tony hitting Happy in the nose with his elbow. "Four illegal hits now."

"Sorry."

"What the hell was that?"

"It's called mixed martial arts. It's been around for... three weeks." We watched as the two went back and forth.

"It's called dirty boxing. There's nothing new about it."

"He's right!" I yelled, Tony giving me a dirty look as Happy held his hand out.

"Thank you!"

"All right, put them up. Come on." The two went back to sparing for a second, before Happy nodded towards the entryway of the room. I looked over and saw a beautiful woman walking in, her dark red hair coming down her back and shoulders in nice waves, her tall heels clicking on the floor with each step.

"Pepper, who is that?" I quietly asked.

Pepper looked up from her phone for a moment, seeing who I was talking about.

"It's the notary." She quietly said back, before raising her voice to talk to Tony. "I promise you this is the only time I will ask you to sign over your company."

"Hello, Miss. Potts." She smiled. "I need you to initial each box."

"Heads up!" I heard Happy yell. I look over to see him trying to get Tony's attention back. "Lesson one. Never take your eye off-" He got cut off by Tony kicking him in the stomach, sending him to the corner of the ring.

"Was that necessary?" I yelled out.

"That's it, I'm done. Yes!" He told his bodyguard before turning his attention to me for a moment. "What's your name, lady?"

"Rushman. Natalie Rushman."

"Front and center. Come into the church."

"No, your seriously not gonna ask her..." Pepper started, before getting cut off by Tony.

"If it pleases the court, which it does."

"It's no problem," Natalie told Pepper, starting to walk over to the ring. 

"I'm sorry. He's very eccentric." Pepper apologized.

"Miss Rushman, on behalf of everyone in this room I give you permission to kick his butt if he does or says something he shouldn't," I smirked at the woman, who gave a mischievous smirk back as she got into the ring, Tony holding the ropes apart for her.

"Yeah, dad. She'll kick your ass." Morgan nodded, not taking her eyes off the iPad playing the Jungle Book, her new favorite movie. Tony and I laughed at her use of a cuss word, while Pepper started scolding her.

Tony and Natalie stared at each other as Tony drank out of his water bottle.

"What?" He asked when he was done. "Give her a lesson, please." He asked Happy.

"No problem." Tony left the ring, walking over to Pepper.

"Pepper." He grumbled.

"What?"

"Who is she?"

"She is from legal."

"And she is potentially a very expensive sexual harassment lawsuit if you keep ogling her like that," I smirked, finishing Pepper's sentence.

"Morgan needs a new babysitter, right?"

"Yes, and I've got three excellent potential candidates. They're lined up and ready for us to meet."

"We don't have time to meet. We need someone now since Avery can't really do it and Caroline moved out of state for college. I feel like it's her."

"No, it's not." Pepper and I said at the same time, rolling our eyes.

"How do I spell your name, Natalie?" Tony shouted.

"R-U-S-H-M-A-N."

Tony clapped his hands, the glass table in front of him glowing and a screen popping up.

"What, are you gonna google her now?" Pepper gawked at the man beside her.

"Hmm? I thought I was ogling her." Tony scrolled threw whatever popped up for Natalie. "Oh, wow. Very, very impressive individual."

"You're so predictable, you know that?"

"She's fluent in French, Italian, Russian, Latin. Who speaks Latin?"

"No one speaks Latin." I chimed in, not looking up from my laptop. "It's a dead language."

"No one speaks Latin?" He zoomed into a photo, and I quickly covered Morgan's eyes seeing as it was Natalie in lingerie.

"You can read Latin or you can write Latin, but you can't speak Latin..."

"Did either of you model in Tokyo? 'Cause she modeled in Tokyo."

"Well..."

"Good for her."

"I need her, she's got everything I need."

"What you need, not what I need or even what Morgan needs." Pepper rolled her eyes.

I looked over at the ring at the same time Natalie looked over at us, seeing Happy about to lightly hit her jaw before she grabbed his gloved wrist, twisting it to the side and throwing her legs around his head, flinging him to the ground.

"Oh, my god!"

"Whoa!"

Pepper and Tony yelled as I stared wide-eyed, trying my best not to laugh.

"Happy!"

"That's what I'm talking about."

"I just slipped." Happy tried to find an excuse.

"You did?" Tony asked as he rang the small bell near the ring, Natalie getting out. "Looks like a TKO to me."

"Hey Natalie, think you could teach that to a girl with one leg?" I smiled.

"I'm sure we could work something out." She smirked.

"Tony, I love her. She can join our band of misfits."

"Who made you in charge?" Pepper questioned with a raised brow.

"Well, I'm pretty much in charge of Tony and you're kinda leaving the band so...me?" Pepper rolled her eyes at that.

"I uh... I need your impression."

"You have a quiet reserve. I don't know, you have an old soul."

"I meant your fingerprint." Natalie cut him off.

"Yeah, dad," Morgan grumbled, rolling her eyes at her father's antics, making Tony chuckle.

"Right." He said, going to do as told.

"So, how are we doing?" Pepper walked over.

"Great. Just wrapping up. Hey." Tony planted his thumb in the correct spot. "You're the boss."

"She was always the boss." I joked as Natalie closed the documents.

"Will that be all, Mr. Stark?"

"No."

"Yes, that will be all, Ms. Rushman. Thank you very much." Pepper cut Tony off, Natalie walking away a moment later.

"Can we keep her?" I yelled over at the same time Tony said "I want one."

"No." Pepper glared at both of us before leaving the room as well.