Pepper's Forceful Advice (Avengers Fanfiction)

9

Two hours later, Tony and I were at a bar with Rhodey.

Tony had decided to fly his suit to the bar, it was so much better than sticking your head out a car window...

I was laying on the floor with my vest leashed to Tony's chair.

He and Rhodey were watching TV, "Central to my Administration's response to this terrorist event, is a newly minted resource. I know him as Colonel James Rhodes, the American people will soon know him as the Iron Patriot," someone on the TV was saying.

Another man said, "And how is President Ellis responding? By taking the guy they call War Machine and giving him a paint job,".

And then finally a woman, "Same suit, but painted red, white, and blue. Look at that. And they also renamed him Iron Patriot. You know, just in case the paint was too subtle."

Tony had been poking fun at Rhodey since we'd gotten here.

"It tested well with focus groups, alright?" Rhodey defended.

I huffed out a breath.

"I am Iron Patriot..." Tony mocked.

"Listen, War Machine was a little too aggressive, alright? This sends a better message," Rhodey defended again.

I sat up and got on my hind legs, resting one paw on the bar of Tony's stool and the other on his thigh.

Tony didn't spare me a glance, rubbing behind my ear.

I rested my head on his thigh as Tony started to talk again.

"So what's really goin' on? With Mandarin. Seriously, can we talk about this guy?" Tony leaned closer to Rhodey.

"It's classified information, Tony. Okay? There have been nine bombings," Rhodey muttered, leaning a bit closer to him.

"Nine," Tony echoed. That was a lot...

He nodded, "The public only knows about three. Here's the thing, nobody can ID a device. There's no bomb casings." Rhodey informed, side-eyeing everyone around.

"You know I can help, just ask. I got a ton of new tech, I got a prehensile, I got a...I got a new bomb disposal. Catches explosions mid-air," Tony offered, removed his hand to lean against the bar.

I gave a huff before sitting back on the ground.

"When's the last time you got a good night's sleep?" Rhodey questioned, successfully changing the topic.

"Einstein slept three hours a year. Look what he did?" Tony excused.

I huffed a breath loud enough to get Rhodey's attention, "Your dog begs to differ," he commented dryly.

Tony sent a small 'traitor' down to me.

"People are concerned about you, Tony. I'm concerned about you, hell, even your dog is concerned about you."

Tony refocused the look from me to Rhodey, "You're gonna come at me like that?"

Rhodey shook his head, "No. No, look, I'm not trying to be a dic..." Rhodey trailed off as two kids ran over to us, "...tator," Rhodey finished.

The girl started talking, "Do you mind signing my drawing?" she asked.

I laid back down on the floor as Tony sassed, "If Richard doesn't mind. You alright with this, Dick?"

I could practically hear Rhodey rolling his eyes, "Fine with me."

I could hear Tony scribbling with a crayon, "Erin," the girl piped up. "I loved you in A Christmas Story, by the way," Tony commented.

"Listen, the Pentagon is scared. After what happened in New York... aliens, come on. They need to look strong. Stopping the Mandarin is priority, but it's not..."

I thought this was classified Rhodey?

Tony cut him off with, "It's superhero business, I get it."

I lifted my head from my paws to look up at Tony.

"No, it's not, quite frankly. It's American business," Rhodey corrected.

"That's why I said I...got it," there was a small snapping noise and Tony's face went pale.

I jumped to my paws and whined, resting my head on his thigh.

"Are you okay?" Rhodey sounded concerned.

"I broke the crayon," was all Tony said.

"Are you okay, Mr. Stark?" the girl asked.

I gave a whine to get his attention before putting my paws on the chair to lick at his face.

"Take it easy. Tony..." Rhodey turned to look at Tony.

"How did you get out of the wormhole?" the boy piped up, that seemed to be the last straw for Tony. He shoved his stool away and walked out of the bar.

I tugged at the stool to try to free my leash.

Rhodey chased after Tony, "Wait a minute! Tony!"

I watched as Tony's suit flew off without me.