The Devil With The Face of an Angel | Irondad, pepperony

Chapter 1

"Send it to Mr. Stane as soon as you're done," said a woman with strawberry-blond hair.

"Of course, Miss Potts," the girl sitting at the reception murmured. Virginia sighed. She didn't want to be mean at the employees, but it was better when it was her than if it was Stane.

She was just about to leave when a child was put into her hands and Anthony Edward Stark himself stood in front of her.

"Could you watch him for a while? I promise it will be just a moment. Thank you!" he blurted, not bothering to wait for an answer.

"Mr. Stark!" she shouted at him but the brown-haired man disappeared without hesitation in the elevator.

"I like your hair," the little boy in her arms spoke, and she gave him a look. She had to admit that he was a really cute toddler who was an exact copy of his parents. Which wasn't a bit difficult when both adults had brown hair and eyes.

"Uh, thank you," she said hesitantly, then looked at the receptionist, "when Mr. Stark is done, send him to my office," she ordered, and this time she didn't bother to wait for an answer either.

"Where are we going?" Peter asked curiously as they stepped into the elevator and she pressed the button with the floor number where her office was located.

"To my office. I think I'll find you some papers and pencils," she said with a small smile, "don't you want to tell me your name?" Virginia, of course, knew his name, she was PR! But she didn't want to scare the little boy. How would he feel if a stranger called him by his name?

"Peter," he said simply, examining her.

"Nice to meet you, Peter. My name is Virginia."

"Do you have kookies?" he asked as they stepped out of the elevator.

"Cookies," she did not forgive herself the correction. She did not know much about the children, but she would say that lisping should always be corrected to keep them from talking like that in adulthood.

"Yeah, do you have them?"

"I will take a look, meanwhile, you can draw," she said, handing him the blank white papers and two pencils she found in a drawer on the table.

In the end, Virginia had no cookies, but fortunately, Peter took it just fine. She was very pleasantly surprised by how good a toddler he was. He was painting all the time and she could even do her job.

"I'm done," he said proudly, putting the pencil on the table. Virginia looked away from the computer screen and looked at the picture that young Stark had drawn. She didn't recognize anything on the paper, most of them were just doodles, but that was to be expected when Peter was only two years old.

"What is this?" she asked with interest, pointing to a black ball with two lines sticking out.

"That's a bat! Daddy says I'm like a bat," he explained. "Is it time for my lunchtime sleep?" he asked, yawning. Virginia checked the watch on her hand. Two o'clock in the afternoon.

"You can lie down on the couch," she suggested, pointing to the smaller couch she had along the wall.

"All right," Peter agreed and went to the couch. It was barely five minutes and the low and tiny snorts spread through the office.

Virginia went back to her work and only glimpsed occasionally at young Stark on her sofa. She worked uninterrupted for about half an hour when she heard knock on the door. She raised her head and wanted to allow the stranger to enter, but before she even opened her mouth, the door had already opened and Tony Stark himself appeared in her office.

"I think I owe you an apology. I thought of you as one of the receptionists," he spoke with a little nervousness at a safe distance from the red-haired woman.

"Even the receptionists have a job to do, Mr. Stark. But I guess nothing happened for once."

"I hope the little bat has not caused you much trouble," he said and took a slow step toward her so he could sit in the chair.

"Not at all. In fact, I hardly knew about him."

"Seriously? You must have charmed him with some magic then because Peter usually doesn't even sit calmly for five minutes," he laughed, then rubbed his eyes sleepily.

"An unexpected meeting or an explosion of babysitting?" she asked without hesitation. Tony gave her an examination look similar to the one from Peter, and for a moment she was afraid she'd crossed the line.

"The meeting was planned and indeed a long time ahead. Peter was supposed to be with his mom, but she had to work unexpectedly. Again," he murmured, staring at his sleeping toddler.

"Your girlfriend is working?" she said in surprise, of which she regretted. It was rude of her. And above all, it was Anthony Stark who she spoke to! All he had to do was snap his fingers and she could lose her job.

"It will be so. She always loved her work. I never expected her to be at home 24 hours a day, but I didn't expect her to be practically nonstop at work too," he sighed, "but ignore me. I don't even know why I'm telling you all this."

"Sometimes we need to confide in someone who doesn't know anything about us and our situation," she said simply, and he gave her a small smile.

"Well, I am not going to keep you away from work any longer, miss?"

"Potts, Virginia Potts."

"No, definitely not," he said disapprovingly, and she gave him a puzzled look.

"Excuse me?"

"Don't be mad at me, but that's a horrible name," he explained thoughtfully, pausing for a moment, staring at her again. "I've got it! We'll call you Pepper."

"Pepper?"

"Yes, yes. Do me a favor and change it in the company file, Pepper."

"I can't just change my name, Mr. Stark. That's crazy!"

"Would you rather be Virginia? That name's a pity for you. And please call me Tony."

Virginia stared at him in shock, trying to absorb what had just happened. Before she could recover, however, a child's voice spoke, "Dad, you're here!"