Arc Three. Chapter Eighty-Eight. Mischief Maker

Pepper was furious, "What the hell did you do Tony?" she asked as she slammed the report down on his desk. Tony was spinning around in a circle and shrugged as he slid it off and peered at it,

"Blah blah, sexual harassment blah blah. Come on Pep, you know it's just a wannabe looking for a quick score." and he scrunched the paper up and tossed it as the small wastepaper basket next to his desk, raising his hands in victory as it went through the miniature basketball hoop around it.

Pepper tutted and Tony looked, "What? Three points." and she shook her head.

"Well, good thing I have a copy, as this isn't a wannabe looking to score. Thanks to your little stunt in the audition room, she actually has a case. Legal is up my ass about it already." Pepper stood in his office, tapping her foot and glaring at him with her arms crossed. Normally legal took care of things like this but this time the woman's case actually had merit, and with there being another 9 women at the auditions and three additional witnesses it had gone up the chain of command until it hit her desk.

Tony rolled his eyes and spun on his chair again, "so? Find out what she wants and give her that, it's not hard Pep."

"It looks like she wants your balls Tony, so shall I?" and he snorted,

"Just give her the lead. She's an actress, it's not hard to guess what they want, parts and fame. And if kissing me wasn't good enough then she just wants parts." and it was Peppers turn to tut. As she stood and crossed her arms she pursed her lips. Tony had always been a bad boy but now, after coming home, it was starting to cost Stark Industries, and more importantly, as she was unofficially running the company, cost her as well.

"Get yourself cleaned up and meet me at my office in an hour." Pepper turned and pulled out her phone, calling the number she had been given she spoke to the actress's agent, who was full of apologies for the way Miss Watson had acted but at the same time was angling for her to get a larger paycheck.

After spending an exhausting ten minutes on the phone she slumped down at her desk in Jebediah's old office. She had finished refurbishing it, removing all the collectables and what she thought of as 'old man junk' and it was now tastefully decorated in lighter glass and chrome cabinets, showcasing Peppers own achievements. The last thing she wanted was them to be tainted by Tony running his mouth off at an aspiring actress who'd sue rather than settle. Tony had a slew of sealed harassment cases and paternity suits hidden under non-disclosure orders and the last thing Pepper needed was for him to add more to it.

He had promised her he would change, after what she had heard of his time in the Middle East, and the man who had died to save him, she believed him. Even now, as the muscle and fat came back and his features filled out once more she could still see the haunted look on his face every now and again, and the pain the arc reactor he implanted in his chest caused him.

His only solace seemed to be in building Iron Man suits. Suits, suits, and more suits, but as they seemed to be helping she couldn't complain if he had no time for her. That was what made this piss her off more. He had time to build another suit, time to mess around with naive actresses, but not for her.

As she leant back in her chair there was a knock at the door and Tony's head of security. A buff but decidedly unhappy-looking man, Happy, stuck his head round. Pepper motioned for him to come in and as he sat in the chair in front of her seek she tilted her head, "well?" and he crossed his fingers,

"It's not as bad as the report says, it was just a kiss, and she did say no. Well, she was the only one to say no, but she did. Honestly, Tony's done a lot worse." and Pepper rubbed her forehead with a hand.

"That doesn't make it better, Happy. Tony got caught at a strip club with someone who looked underage, it was only a birth certificate that got him out of that one and he still paid off the prostitution charges." and Happy winced at the memory, as he had been outside that club waiting in the car.

"It's not bad Pepper. Honest." and as she shook her head her phone went and lifted the handset, "Well, she's here, and Tony?"

"Oh, I'm here too." And in he walked, a pale tan suit and an ACDC T-shirt, the arc reactor glowing underneath it. "It'll be fine, no one can resist my charms once I start," and Pepper stood, shaking a finger at him,

"Don't you dare, that's what got us into this mess," and grinning and raising his hands in mock surrender. He slid his sunglasses off and up into his hairline,

"I kid, I kid." and he sat back and smiled at her, much to her annoyance.

There was a knock at the door, "come" and a secretary showed in the young woman. Pepper was stunned and immediately could see why Tony was drooling over her. Tall, thin, feminine and curvy, she ticked all his boxes. Which then annoyed her more. Why was he chasing some young actress when they hadn't had sex for over a month? Was there something wrong with her?

Pepper stuck out a hand and motioned to one of the seats, Happy jolted and stood, "sorry" and moved to stand behind Tony.

"It's fine," and as she sat down, she gave Tony a glare and smiled at Pepper.

"Miss Potts, I got the call from my agent but uh, why am I here?" and Pepper looked over at Tony,

"You didn't get your agent to threaten to sue us?" and MJ frowned and shook her head,

"No, if my boyfriend found out about Tony," and the look she had on her face was a mix of disappointment and fear, "he uh," and MJ was unsure of how exactly to let Pepper know the Venom might have stalked the hallways, looking for Tony to throw from a window. "He would be upset," she said pointedly, and Tony snorted,

Pepper glared at him, "Miss Watson, we don't want to make a big deal out of this, and from your resume, it does seem that you would be suitable for the part. How about we get legal to draw up some papers and if you sign today then we can guarantee a part in the movie?" Of course, Pepper would make sure that the part wasn't specified, so if the young woman made waves she could have her pour a coffee and then have her edited out on the cutting room floor.

"Uh, I get that Mr Stark is in trouble, but, why are you so," and she paused and chuckled. "I get it. This isn't the first time, is it?" and as Pepper looked over at Tony he shrugged, but Happy behind him had the guiltiest look on his face.

"Right," and she straightened herself up. "First, I want to speak to Miss Potts, alone. Then, my boyfriend is a big fan, so a signed headshot or two, some t-shirts and some of that new merchandising, maybe a tour. Then, I will get my new lawyer to look over the legal stuff. I will apologise for my old agent's behaviour, She isn't the most reliable person, and I am ditching her," and thanks Muse, she said in her mind, following the symbiotes prompts. While MJ was a bit slow on the uptake, Muse had been spawned from Poison and originally from Peter. The one thing the symbiote was not, was stupid. After talking her through what to say the symbiote kept listening in, making sure MJ wasn't taken advantage of,

No trouble MJ, we will make sure the Stark pays for insulting us.

"You want to talk in private?" and MJ nodded, "I don't see why not," and she motioned to Tony who was busy staring at the ceiling. Happy tapped him on the shoulder,

"Pleasure," was all he said as he flipped his sunglasses down and walked off. Happy shrugged apologetically and closed the door on his way out.

"Miss Watson, I can-" but MJ lifted a hand,

"Miss Potts, this is separate and uh, kinda embarrassing. So uh," and as MJ's face dyed red, she reached into her purse and pulled out a tin of low strength cream. "My chemist friend, she makes this but she can't get approval," and as Pepper frowned,

"We don't deal in illegal drugs Ms Watson, or homemade cosmetics." and MJ hurriedly corrected her,

"No, no, it's uh, lubricant, see, my," and she shook her head, "never mind. My friend is a biochemist and she, uh, has issues, uh down there," and as MJ's eyes darted down Pepper raised her eyebrows and nodded. "She made a cream to make it a bit easier but without FDA approval then she won't get anywhere. It's not a threat or anything, just, please. I know a lot of women need something like this and uh, you can help."

MJ placed the tin on the table and leant back in her chair, "It's homemade, well, not 'homemade' homemade, Gwen is a really good chemist, I swear, we use it all the time and we don't have any problems." but Pepper lifted the tin, "it uh, makes, uh, 'it' easier."

MJ was silently crying inside. How do you tell someone you don't know that it makes you super excited and they were selling it in back alley whorehouses already, where they had so many orders that Gwen was probably richer than anyone else in the warehouse.

"I can get someone to look at it, what's your friend's name?" and as she turned she tapped on her computer,

"Gwen, Gwen Stacy. She, uh, had an internship at Oscorp before, well, before, so she's really smart, it's not a joke," and Pepper nodded but called up the file records from not only Oscorp but New York's Technical Academy, where Gwen was currently studying.

"She's the daughter of the police captain, George Stacy?" and MJ nodded. "I'll have this analysed. Can I get your number? Just in case I need to talk to you or her," and nodding MJ grabbed a pen and the note block on Pepper's desk and wrote both her number and Gwen's on it. Pepper lifted the note and copied it into her phone.

If Gwen's record was anything to go by she at least would give her a chance. An amateur made cream however would never get anywhere, and one promising to solve feminine intimacy issues would be a hard sell unless it actually worked and while Viagra was a good seller, no one had cracked the female equivalent yet.

"Thank you, Miss Potts, I really didn't think this would happen. I mean, he's a jerk but, I get that a lot, and he at least stopped." but Pepper shook her head,

"Miss Watson, that's unimportant," and she sighed, ''the fact you had to run out of an interview was enough that security was called. It's not just you, so it's okay. I might not like doing things like this but, the alternative is much worse."

MJ nodded and stood and after shaking Pepper's hand, "thank you, but uh," and as she took a breathe and pushed down on her embarrassment, "between you and me," and she pointed at the cream, "don't let any women test that, it makes you super wet and super horny." and before she could die from shame at talking to the CEO of Stark Industries that way, she bolted from the room.

Pepper stood in stunned silence as she stared at the door and then down at the tin. Opening the lid she gave the white cream a sniff and as its pleasant caramel sweet scent filled her nose she felt a small rush of heat flow through her and stop right in her underwear and as Pepper let the breath out she had been holding she knew she might have to go home and change.

Raising an eyebrow, she quickly tightened the lid back on the tin and made a mental note to follow Miss Watson's instructions to the letter, adding another to make sure that Tony didn't get his hands on it.