Tony couldn't avoid the conversation any longer. Pepper was actively making conclusions about everything that was happening in his life and none of them were good for him or even true. Distance between them had grown wider even when they were working together on a daily basis. He knew how things were looking for her. They had been close and then another woman had appeared and everything had changed, making everything more than suspicious.
Pepper had had every chance to come clean. Romanoff had not been able to come close to him and so Fury had not been able to put any pressure on him. The woman must have been told that the plan had failed. Tony had not looked in her communications again. He didn't want to be disappointed even more. Her first betrayal had been more than enough.
Rhodey had told him that despite it all, she had done it all from a place of love. Tony wanted to believe that with all his heart. It didn't make anything any better. Still, it helped in a way. The final decision would be a lot nicer than maybe what she deserved. Their future relationship would never be the same again. If it existed at all after the conversation. Professional partnership at best. That was already a lot.
"You wanted to see me Mr Stark?" Asked Pepper, entering his office without knocking.
Tony had never been the kind to spend time in the office at all. His workshop in his house was just so much more entertaining. Being there should have been a big tell that the conversation they were about to have would be important. Convenances had never been his thing. Who cared if you knocked on the door when people were actually expecting your arrival? Pepper's attitude though was not welcomed. Ton had always been the kind of person who could piss off people really easily. He wouldn't have judged her normally but she was acting as if she owned the place. He could have laughed at the irony there. She had been actually so close to being in that position. Now, it would never happen.
"Were you going to tell somewhere down the line or would you have kept that a secret forever?" Asked Tony, already tired of it all.
"Tell you what?"
Pepper was faking the surprise quite well but Tony knew better than that. She knew exactly what he was talking about. She was stalling, calculating her next move. That brain had made her an excellent PA and would have made her a force to reckon with as a CEO. She was using it against him now. Their friendship had sunk that low.
"Natalie Rushman, the profile, Shield."
"So you know." She just said.
"So I know." He answered with the same matter of fact tone she was affecting. "You are not going to try to defend yourself or anything?"
"Would it change anything to say I did that for you?"
"No."
"So let's just pass the civilities and just go to the part when you shout."
"I won't shout. I won't even fire you.Yet."
Tony went on explaining how Stark Industries was going to open a new medical branch. The Iron Man technology could actually help a lot of people with braces or prosthetics. Pepper would have to work there with doctors and specialists toward that. It wasn't about the benefits but the good they could do. The employees would regularly give him reviews of her job anonymously. Perhaps this time she would try to be nicer to the people around her.
"Do I owe all that to your new girlfriend?" Pepper asked, bitter.
"The implication is insulting here, Pepper. You had no problem when it was you, did you? But, not that I have to justify myself in any way, Agatha prefers women. You would have more of a chance with Agatha than me if you weren't such a bitch!"
