Rogue (An Avengers Fanfic)

Chapter 5: Pepper Potts

"I'm all done," I said, unpacking the last box.

"It was nice of Stark to give you the whole floor," Agent Hill said, looking around and admiring my new home. Stark Tower (aka Avengers Tower) was huge. My floor was the 10th, halfway up. On that floor, I had a bedroom and bathroom, plus a kitchen and living area. I had never lived anywhere nearly as grand. All of the Avengers had their own sleeping quarters, but as I was the only one (apart from Stark) who would be living there on a permanent basis, Stark gave me the whole floor.

"Since when has Stark ever done anything nice?" Nat asked rhetorically, entering my new bedroom with a scoff.

"You're too hard on him," Hill commented.

"Too hard? This is the guy that is an arrogant asshole to everyone he comes into contact with!" Nat argued. I had heard all of the stories about the bad things that Stark did, most of them coming from Nat or Fury.

"He did save the world though... more than once," I reasoned, to which Nat rolled her eyes and shrugged.

"I expect you to defend him."

"Why?" I questioned as there was a knock at the door. Stark came in, an eyebrow raised.

"Talking about me again girls?" he asked, smirking the same smirk that he always did.

"I have to go," Nat said, pushing past Stark as she left.

"Wait, were you guys actually talking about me?" he asked curiously. Hill avoided eye contact and I scoffed, also keeping my head down; I had never been a good liar. "Anyway Rogue, I just wanted to know if you wanted to celebrate moving in... with drinks this evening?"

I could feel Hill's eyes on me as I answered. "Just... me and you?"

"And Cap, Banner and Hawkeye, maybe Romanoff, what's the problem?" he questioned suspiciously. I mentally face-palmed myself. Why was I creating a problem? Of course Stark didn't want to take me out, he had an amazing girlfriend and I wasn't attracted to him in the slightest. What was I thinking?

"No problem," I said quickly. "I'd love to, thanks," I smiled at him, earning myself another Stark smirk.

As he left, Hill turned to me. "Rogue, what's going on? Do you like Stark? Because you know he's with Pepper right?"

"Hill, I don't like Stark, not in that way anyway. Trust me, Pepper's completely safe!" I promised her. "Now, come and help me find something to wear!"

***

I eventually settled on a cute red dress, opting for flats instead of heels, which I could never walk in, and straightening my hair, which was the only way that I could get it under control. I got in the elevator and went down to the ground floor.

"OK, I'm ready to go," I announced to the room, expecting all, or at least most, of the Avengers to be waiting for me. Instead, it was just Stark. "Where's everyone else?"

"They're meeting us at the bar," he said with a shrug. "Wow, you look..." he trailed off.

"Thanks," I replied sheepishly.

"You must be Rogue," someone said from behind me. I whirled around to see a tall blond woman smiling at me.

"And you must be... Pepper?" I said, taking a guess. She smiled and shook my hand firmly.

"Pepper Potts, CEO of Stark industries... and Tony's girlfriend."

"I've heard so much about you," I said politely as she released my hand.

"So have I! From the sounds of things, you're exactly what the guys and Natasha need right now," she said. You know when you meet someone really nice, and you have no reason to dislike them, but you hate them anyway? Yeah, that.

"Ready to go?" Stark asked me, putting an instant finish to our conversation. I nodded, waving at Pepper as Tony led me out of the door and towards one of his many cars.

"How does it feel to be a billionaire?" I asked, climbing into the Audi.

He thought for a second. "Like being a millionaire, only with more money!" He laughed at his joke and I rolled my eyes.

"Can you be serious for, like, a minute please?" I asked.

There was silence for a moment. "OK, serious answer. I don't remember what it feels like to not be rich," he said.

I frowned. "But you weren't rich all your life right? What about your childhood?"

"I try not to think that far back," he said with an uncomfortable smile. I didn't want to pry, but I wanted to know if he trusted me.

"I don't understand that. You have all these childhood memories with your parents and friends just there, in your brain. I wish I had that," I said the last part softly, praying that he didn't hear me. I had tried time and time again to think of my parents, to try and remember the things that Agent Frollo had conveniently made me forget. Something as simple as their names or their faces had me stumped, and I hated it. What person couldn't remember who their parents were?

"I'm sorry... about what that guy did. It must suck to not know who you are," Stark said, obviously trying to be sympathetic, as we pulled up at a bar. I was surprised that it took so little time to get there, but then again, when you're traveling in an Audi, everything was faster.

"Thanks," I said, flashing him a genuine smile, which he mirrored.

***

"Where are they? We've been here for so long!" I said an hour later. We were still waiting for the rest of the Avengers to turn up, and we had had a lot to drink in the process.

"I have no idea, they're not replying to my messages. Maybe you should stop drinking," he added as an afterthought.

"No way, I've had just as much, more, no less to drink that you have," I said, stumbling over my words.

"Yeah, but I'm used to it," he said. I frowned at him

"Where's sarcastic, snarky Stark? I haven't seen him all day! Maybe if you were like this more, Nat wouldn't hate you so much. I don't get it," I announced. He chuckled, never taking his eyes off me.

"What don't you get?"

"I don't get why you're such an... a douche to everyone. You make enemies every two minutes. But when we're alone, you're open and s-sweet. Why don't you ever let people see the nice guy?" I wondered, making him laugh.

"You've definitely had too much to drink," he said, taking my current drink out of my hand, but I wasn't letting him get away with ignoring me.

"Answer the question," I demanded. He sighed.

"Sometimes it's nice to not be a dick. Y'know, to just be Tony?"

"Then why do you do it? People see you as a dick because that's all you show them. Take me and Nat. Nat hates you, because you've only ever been a dick to her. But me, I don't think you're a dick. You're a nice guy when you want to be, Stark."

"Thanks," he said with an eye roll. I kissed his cheek. Then, without thinking, I kissed his lips. Within a millisecond he was kissing me back, one hand in my hair and the other on my waist. Suddenly, a vibration brought us to our senses. "Pepper," he said, breathing heavily and looking at his phone.

"We should go," I said, standing up and stumbling. Immediately his hand shot out to steady me, gripping my arm. "Thanks," I mumbled, as we left the bar together, completely ignoring the fact that his hand never left my arm.

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Thank you so much for 100 reads, I can't believe it!

Rogue and Stark kissed! Is it going to stop there or do they actually like each other? And what's going to happen when Rogue starts her first mission? Find out in the next chapter!

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