The Hamptons' House

2012: Part 4

Pepper had left the day after Tony's birthday so that he could see out the rest of the week with you and Rhodey, as was traditional. The whole visit had done so much for Tony. He was feeling lighter and a little more hopeful. He'd even gotten marginally more sleep than he had been lately which still wasn't a lot, but he'd take any sign of improvement as a good thing at this stage.

Everything about Pepper's visit had reassured him. The fact she had shown up at all had indicated she was at least willing to attempt to understand the bond he had with you, and how important it was to him. The fact that she'd initiated the threesome was a sign that even if she didn't quite understand that the bond with you was different and not a threat to what he had with Pepper, that she was at least trying to curb the jealousy into something enjoyable that she could control. The fact she left the following day and told him to relax and enjoy himself seemed to show that she got that he needed the time alone with you. Even if she didn't understand it, she was trying to integrate it into her life and make room for him and his eccentricities. Maybe she could accept Iron Man too. Maybe he could have a happily ever after with her.

It meant he wasn't as high-strung for the rest of the week and he was able to put the outside world back on the outside where it belonged and just relax in the bubble world that was the Hamptons' house.

On the final day when he woke up beside you, he had the unusual feeling of actually being excited to go home. Not that he wanted to rush out and leave this behind. He still wanted to drag the day out and spend as much of it as he could relaxing with you and getting in a last few rounds to tide him over. In the past though, he always felt like the only thing he had to go back to was stress. Now he had Pepper, and the other Avengers - who, granted, were all a little scattered now, but they were a team. He was part of something and he had a group of friends now, not just Rhodey and the people he paid. He and Pepper had been making plans for an Avengers tower and funding the group as a private militia. Given the team had been put together by SHIELD he might even be able to get government funding. Bruce Banner had already agreed to move in and was just waiting for the building to be made structurally sound before he moved in. He'd been enjoying spending time with Banner. He was the first person Tony had ever met who challenged him academically. He liked the man too. The quiet soft-spoken scientist was the polar opposite of Tony but he felt like that difference complimented him in the lab and that together they could achieve amazing things. They'd already started work on an artificial intelligence project called Ultron that would guard the world against alien threats.

He even liked Steve Rogers. If anyone had told him that one day he would meet the man that his father had spent his whole life comparing Tony to - the man that Tony couldn't compete with - Tony would tell them they were crazy. If they'd added that not only would they meet him but they'd become friends - Tony would have pulled out a restraining order. Yet here they were. Tony genuinely liked Steve Rogers. He was infuriating and stupidly good-looking, but in a way, that added to Tony's adoration.

That was for later though. Here and now it was you and Tony and he had to make it count because it would be another three years before he saw you again.

He rolled closer to you and began nuzzling at your neck and nipping at your earlobe. You smiled but didn't open your eyes and you curled your arm around him. "Good morning," you whispered.

"Morning," he whispered back and nibbled at your pulse point. You tried to stifle a laugh as he began to pinch and tease your nipples but broke and rolled over so you were lying on top of him and looking down into his eyes.

"You're trouble," you teased.

"That is a well-known fact about me," he agreed, running his hands down your back and over your ass. "I think there's a whole article that covers it in GQ."