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Time: Early January 2001
Location: Malibu, California
##
Pepper Potts sat in the backseat of the sleek black car, her fingers tapping a restless rhythm against her leather purse. Her breath fogged the window as the car weaved through the Malibu hills, and she shifted in her seat, trying to focus on the coastline outside..
Okay, Virginia, Deep breath. This is just a meeting. A job. A new start. You're a professional. she told herself.
Taking this job had been a spur-of-the-moment decision—practically a leap off a cliff. After being unceremoniously let go from a prestigious Fortune 500 company for "not fitting the culture" translation: she dared to stand up for herself.
She'd promised herself that her next gig would be different. No more invisible walls. No more inappropriate "jokes" in the elevator.
This new job had come out of nowhere—an impulsive yes after a low week and a strong drink. It was supposed to be temporary. Just a resume patch. Until the next big, stable opportunity.
But this?
Working for Tony Stark?
The name alone carried a whole storm of implications. Genius. Billionaire. Playboy. Media darling. The kind of man who probably thought HR was short for "Hot Receptionist."
She sighed, pressing two fingers to her temple.
Don't judge a man by his headlines, she reminded herself. Just meet him. Keep it together. You're not here to date him, you're here to organize his life.
"You're awfully quiet back there," came a voice from the front.
She blinked and looked up. The driver glanced at her through the rearview mirror with a crooked smile.
"Sorry," she said quickly. "Just... mentally rehearsing."
Happy Hogan chuckled. "That's normal. Everyone does the first time. You'll see, he's not as bad as people say."
That doesn't exactly fill me with confidence. she thought.
After a few more minutes weaving through private drives and palm-lined roads, Happy pulled into a curved driveway that looked like it belonged on a magazine cover.
"We're here," he said, stepping out and opening her door with a small flourish.
Pepper stepped out, eyes squinting slightly at the sprawling Stark residence. It looked less like a house and more like a futuristic cliffside laboratory with a view.
"Follow me. Don't touch anything unless you want to launch something into orbit," Happy said over his shoulder with a grin.
She forced a small smile and followed, her heels clicking softly against the pavement. As they neared the main doors, they whooshed open automatically, causing Pepper to blink.
"Welcome, Miss Potts. Welcome, Mister Hogan," a calm, distinctly British voice said through unseen speakers.
Pepper jolted slightly. "Was that—?"
"Jarvis," Happy said, not even slowing down. "The house AI. He's everywhere. You'll get used to him."
An AI? In a house? She raised a brow but said nothing.
"Jarvis, where's Tony?" Happy asked, descending the staircase.
"Master Stark is in Basement Two assisting young master Leo with his newest project."
Pepper's steps faltered for a beat. Young master Leo...? So he really does have a son.
Happy nodded like this was the most normal thing in the world. "Come on, it's just down here. He'll want to meet you."
They passed through Basement One—filled with display cases, sleek vehicles, and more tech than she could name. Her anxiety ticked up a notch.
No backing out now. she told herself. Smile. Speak clearly. Don't trip on anything expensive.
At the bottom of the stairs, through a thick glass door, Pepper caught her first glimpse of him.
Tony Stark.
Tousled hair, rolled-up sleeves, slightly grease-streaked shirt—was crouched beside a boy no older than seven. The two were fiddling with what looked like a mechanical arm. Tony slipped a sleek glove onto his left hand, wires linking to the arm on the table.
It wasn't what she expected.
He wasn't holding a martini. There were no models in sight. No cameras, no glamour, no late-night scandal.
Just a man and his son, building something together.
Something in her chest shifted. She felt her cheeks flush.
Oh… wow.
She hadn't realized she'd stopped walking until Happy nudged her forward.
Tony turned at the sound of the door opening. He stood, flashing a grin that could power half of New York.
"Well, well, Happy didn't tell me you were hiring angels."
Pepper blinked.
And there it is.
Any illusion of the grounded, loving father figure evaporated as quickly as her patience.
She folded her arms. "I'm Virginia Potts. Hired to be your assistant."
Tony's grin widened. "Fiesty, Huh? I like that. I will call you Pepper from now on."
She raised an eyebrow. Maybe the tabloids weren't completely wrong.
#
Pepper stared at Tony Stark, her expression caught somewhere between bafflement and disbelief.
"You're saying... I'm going to be the CEO?"
Tony, now wearing a clean black tee under a crisp blazer—looking slightly more like the billionaire she'd expected—nodded, utterly casual about the bombshell he'd just dropped. "Yup. You're in charge. All of it."
"And I report... not to you," she said slowly, "but to your son?"
"Leo's the boss," Tony confirmed with a grin. "I'm just the guy who pays for the toys."
Pepper blinked. "You're serious."
"Dead serious. I don't do boardrooms, stockholder meetings, or mission statements. Leo doesn't enjoy it either. But we both know it needs someone with actual sense running it."
"But the job description—"
"Vague? On purpose." Tony leaned casually against the workbench, tossing her a knowing look. "You passed the entrance gauntlet. Which, by the way, Leo wrote."
Pepper's mouth parted slightly. "Wait. Those questions...?"
"Every scenario. Every logic puzzle. Entirely Leo's." Tony gave a proud glance toward his son, who was now sitting cross-legged on a stool, quietly adjusting a robotic hand with a screwdriver.
Pepper turned to look at the boy. He looked up, as if sensing her gaze, and offered a small nod. She wasn't sure what shook her more—Tony's laissez-faire attitude or the fact that an elementary schooler had just evaluated her professional worth more thoroughly than any executive board she'd ever met.
Maybe this is just how geniuses function, she thought. Different rules. Different reality.
She straightened up and gave a short, professional nod. "Alright. I'll adjust."
"Attagirl," Tony said, clapping once. "Now, I'm gonna head upstairs and put in a breakfast order. Leo, you want anything?"
"Wendy's," Leo said without missing a beat.
Tony groaned. "You've had Wendy's every day for the past week."
"I like consistency."
Tony gave Pepper a mock-suffering look before heading upstairs. "Have fun bonding!"
The door closed behind him, leaving Pepper and Leo alone in the hum of the high-tech lab.
There was a moment of silence before Leo looked up at her with a calm, inquisitive expression. "Do you have any questions?"
Pepper laughed nervously. "A few hundred, yes."
He tilted his head, giving her his full attention. "Let's start with the big ones."
She stepped closer. "What exactly is Lionheart's mission? The job description said I'd be assisting your father, but now I'm apparently running a tech company. And the exam was... impressive but vague."
Leo nodded like he'd expected this. "We kept it vague to filter out people who can't handle ambiguity."
That... actually made sense.
Leo pressed a button on the nearby console. A holographic interface sprang to life, floating between them in sharp, responsive blue light.
"This is Friendlist," Leo began. "It's a social network—kind of like a digital yearbook, but live. People can connect, chat, share photos and thoughts, form communities. It's designed to make relationships stronger through the internet."
He swiped again, and another window opened. "This is MyTube. It's a video-sharing platform. Anyone can upload, stream, and comment. We want to give creators a space to grow without needing TV studios."
Pepper leaned in, eyes wide. The interface was sleek, futuristic—decades ahead of what she'd seen in the tech world.
"And finally," Leo said, expanding a third window, "Enigma. It's a browser with a built-in search engine, designed with user privacy and intuitive learning in mind. It adapts to how people search, and it doesn't track data without permission."
He tapped the floating panel again, and a small prompt appeared. "Wanna try?"
Pepper hesitated for just a second before nodding. "Sure."
Leo created a temporary account for her, and in seconds she was scrolling through Friendlist, watching videos on MyTube, and even searching on Enigma. The speed, the design, the customization—it was incredible.
She turned slowly, her voice breathless. "Did... you make all this?"
Leo shrugged. "Technically? Dad helped. We built it together. But most of the designs were mine."
Pepper stood there, momentarily stunned. Her brain felt like it was running ten steps behind.
She took a breath, composing herself. "Sorry—I spaced out."
Leo gave a soft laugh. "No worries."
She squared her shoulders. "Look, I've never been a CEO before. I've managed departments, led projects—but this?" She motioned to the dazzling holograms. "This is big. I don't even know if I'm the right person."
Leo smiled at her, the kind of smile that didn't feel like it came from a kid. "That's why you are."
She blinked. "What?"
"You were the only one who treated the exam questions like they were real. You didn't chase numbers or brag about connections. You asked the right questions. You thought about people. Out of all the applicants, your answers were the most satisfying."
Pepper felt her cheeks warm, pride mingling with humility. "Thank you... that means a lot."
"Don't worry, You're going to do great." Leo said simply.
Pepper let the moment settle, then smiled.
"Alright then," she said, adjusting her blouse and pulling up a chair beside him. "I have a lot more questions..."
#
Pepper Potts walked out the front doors of the Malibu mansion with an energy that could've powered one of Tony's arc reactors. Her stride was confident, her eyes sharp with purpose, and for once, the air around her didn't smell like stress—it smelled like victory.
"Ms. Potts!" Tony called, leaning over the railing of the second-floor landing. "You're looking suspiciously enthusiastic. Did someone spike your coffee with success?"
Pepper turned, smoothing a hand over her blazer. "Just doing my job, Mr. Stark. Or rather, my new job. Thank you for the opportunity."
"Oof, she pulled out the full title." Tony grinned. "Should I start calling you Boss now?"
She raised an eyebrow. "Only if you want to be audited."
Tony chuckled as she disappeared into the waiting car with Happy Hogan behind the wheel. Just as the door shut, Leo appeared behind him, Wendy's bag in one hand, cup in the other.
"Dad, maybe don't flirt so early in the morning," Leo said, breezing past him with all the sass a kid could possibly carry.
Tony blinked. "Excuse me? That wasn't flirting. That was... friendly teasing. Professional charm!"
Leo plopped down on a chair, unwrapping his breakfast. "Uh-huh. Sure. And I'm the Queen of England."
As Pepper's car rolled out, Tony walked downstairs and took a seat across from his son. Silence fell between them like a heavy curtain. Leo munched on his burger calmly, eyes locked on Tony like a hawk studying a misbehaving lab mouse.
Tony squirmed. He hated silence. Especially when it came with contemptuous eyes.
"Okay, fine," Tony finally blurted. "I might be… slightly interested in her."
Leo didn't even blink. "Of course you are. That's exactly how I came to be."
Tony choked on air, coughing hard. "Leo!"
"What?" Leo shrugged innocently. "I'm just connecting the dots. Redhead. Redhead. You've got a type."
Tony groaned, rubbing his temples. "I'm starting to think I've influenced you too much."
Leo smirked, sipping his drink with a loud slurp. "Takes one to raise one."
Trying to change the subject, Tony straightened in his chair. "So… how is she? Pepper, I mean. As CEO material."
Leo leaned back thoughtfully. "She asked all the right questions. Or… at least, I felt they were right. I don't actually know if they were. But it felt like a professional would ask them."
"You do have a good sense of Intuition." Tony mumbled.
Leo nodded. "She'll be reporting to me monthly. Here. At the house."
Tony tilted his head. "Really?"
Leo narrowed his eyes. "Why do you sound like a teenager who just found out their crush will be sitting next to them in chemistry?"
Tony opened his mouth, closed it, then tried again. "What? That's ridiculous. I'm a grown man."
Leo put down his burger. "Dad... are you in love with Pepper Potts?"
Tony practically jumped. "No! I mean—maybe? Okay, possibly a fling? Or… a soft maybe?"
Leo stared at him for a long moment, then nodded slowly and picked up his food again. "I approve."
Tony blinked. "Wait, really? You're not upset?"
Leo shrugged. "I would be. If I were normal."
Tony frowned. "That's… a concerning thing to say."
Leo looked up at him, seriously. "Most kids wouldn't like one of their parents falling in love with someone new. But I'm not most kids. I know you, Dad. And I know my circumstances."
Tony didn't respond. He just watched, silent, as Leo pointed towards Tony's chest.
"That," Leo said, "is the heart of a shielded man. One who's scared to be hurt. One who hides behind jokes and half-truths."
Tony opened his mouth, but Leo raised a hand to stop him.
"But it's also the heart of someone who knows how to love. Someone who, if he ever truly gave his heart, would give all of it. No hesitation."
Tony's breath hitched. His eyes burned, just a little.
He quickly grabbed his hamburger and stood, waving a hand as he made for the balcony. "Right. Well. That's… a lot for breakfast. I'm gonna get some fresh air."
Tony walked a few steps, hoping Leo would drop it. But instead, he heard his son say softly, "I love you, Dad."
Tony froze.
A pause hung in the air like the first drop before rain.
Then Tony replied, not turning around, "But I love you 3000."
And with that, he stepped onto the balcony—into the breeze, into the silence.
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Word count: 2355
Author's note:
I will probably need to write one more chapter to showcase an important moment. Then the timeskip happens. So chapter 9 is when It truly begins..
Also The current schedule will be changed due to the following reasons:
1. Irregular Chapter update pattern due to there being an extra day in a week.
2. It gives me less time to think more about the plotline and to write the chapter as beautifully as possible.
3. It gives me less time to relax and be a reader myself. (This helps me brainstorm more ideas by feeling inspired)
New schedule shall be: 1 chapter per Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 10Pm Central Time.
Reasons being:
1. Easy to remember consistent Schedule for readers.
2. Gives me time to think more about what happens in the fanfic.
3. No stress.
4. Readers can read chapters in a row to easily remember what has happened and what will happen.
##
Current schedule: 2nd of May (Current Chapter), 6th (Next Chapter), 7th (Next chapter), 8th (Next Chapter) at 9am GMT+6 or Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday at 10 pm Central Time
Note: The former is my own country's time and the latter is Central time.
Weekly Challenge: 25 Power stone/hearts for 1 extra chapter. (upto 4 at max)
Monthly Challenge: 100 Power stone/hearts for 1 extra chapter. (That's all)
Note: heart is on scribble hub and power stone is on Web novel.
An ideal Example: Let's say you usually get 15 chapters per month. If you complete the challenges then you get upto extra 5 chapters that month. Thus it could be 20 chapters a month.