Battle Scars

Chapter 3

Tony rubbed his hands together as if he'd just won some sort of prize. "Fantastic. Today we'll get your paperwork squared away and you can move in. You start tomorrow."

Pepper gave you a tight smile. "You will need to consent to a full background check before your job is official."

"I'm pretty sure Mr. Stark already took care of that."

He shrugged. "Well, it's not finished yet, but I'm not particularly worried about it. And call me Tony."

Pepper rolled her eyes. "Of course, you're not worried about it. Why would you be?" She turned her attention from her boyfriend to you. "If you'll come with me, I'll take you down to human resources and you can get started on the forms."

"Not necessary. I've got the forms I need right here."

She arched a brow at him and things were beginning to feel more than a little awkward.

He smirked and kissed the corner of her mouth. "Calm down, sweetheart. She's employed by the Avengers, not Stark Industries. Whole different set of paperwork."

"Well, I'll just leave you to it then, shall I?" It you hadn't already known she was pissed off, her pinched expression would have given it away.

Tony sighed after she disappeared through the door. "Sorry about that. She's a little...protective."

Yeah, that wasn't the word you were thinking of. "It's fine. Should we get started?"

***

By the end of the day you were exhausted. You'd thoroughly read and completed every form then Happy had taken you to your hotel to gather your things. Your 'apartment' turned out to be a room on the communal floor of the Avengers portion of the tower. The bedroom was the size of your entire hotel room and there was an attached bathroom. The kitchen was just down the hall and you had access to the entirety of the tower. You were certain you'd be just fine there, but if you weren't you could always look for your own apartment later.

After unpacking your few belongings, you called your parents. Your mother was thrilled you were sticking around to get to know your soulmate. Your father was less pleased. After all, he was not only your dad, he was your boss. He wasn't happy to have to replace you at the firm but the mention of the salary was enough to keep him from any further protest. You were fairly certain you now made more than him.

A glance at the clock showed it to be nearly 8:00 already. You huffed out a breath when you realized you hadn't eaten since breakfast. Now was as a good a time to familiarize yourself with the kitchen as any other you supposed. Tony had told you to help yourself.

The living room and kitchen were empty and you breathed a sigh of relief. You weren't sure you were up to meeting the Avengers just yet. Tony was supposed to introduce you to the team tomorrow. You dug around the fridge, smiling when you found some leftover pizza. After tossing a couple of slices on a plate, you warmed them up in the microwave. You opted to just stand at the island to eat.

You had just taken your first bite when the elevator opened and noise flooded the room announcing the arrival of several of the team members. Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton all stopped to look you over when they came into view of the kitchen. You swallowed your food past the lump in your throat and gave them a little wave. "Hello."

"Can we help you?" Steve asked. He sounded friendly enough, but his shoulders were tense and his stance indicated he was prepared for an attack.

"No one is allowed in the private levels of the tower without an escort. How did you get here?" Natasha didn't even feign friendliness.