27 Chapter 27

"Mew, really?"

She scoffs. "Yes, really. And I know, a weird name for my species, but that's what I am. I would transform but I'm currently wearing clothes and I'm too lazy to put them again once I'm back into human form."

"Oh," she says. She then looks at Tony with a glare. "I hope you created an identity before introducing her to that party with tons of reporters ready to dig into your new contest."

"Excuse me?"

Pepper seems to realize what she said, because she apologies and explains. "I'm sorry, but that's what the public will see you like. You would have to hang around Tony more to be seen as part of Tony's inner circle and not just a fling."

She can appreciate how direct she is; she likes it.

"I guessed it. Anyway, I'll probably do that as he is my friend. It's too late for me to leave him alone." She rolls her eyes before pointing at Tony with a thumb. "You're not getting rid of me that easily, so don't even think about it."

"Never thought about it," he says with an amused tone before it turns mischievous. "Though because you don't work for me, you will probably look like more than a friend."

"You're right." She nods before humming and turning to Pepper. "Any advice?"

"In being seen as more than a friend?"

She blinks. "Er. No. In being seen as just a friend."

Pepper looks at Tony, which makes her glance up at him. She watches his expression shift from annoyed to icy as Pepper suggests, "Tony could be seen with another person or you could do the same and find a significant other."

She thinks hard before slowly nodding. "Well, I can confirm my identity by being seen more around. Maybe go out at night sometimes and go on a date or two and—"

"Yeah, no." Tony's quick to stop her by placing a hand on top of her head and ruffling her hair, hard. She tries to look at him, but his hand is stopping her from moving much. She wants to swat at him, but then stops when he says, "Are you doing it on purpose?"

"What— Hey, stop with the ruffling!"

Luckily, he stops. She looks at him to glare but has to blink when she finds him giving him a glare already. "What?"

"Are you that dense?"

She squints at him. "I'm not dense."

"Sure, you aren't," he says, rolling his eyes. He walks away from them and goes up the stairs. When he's almost gone, he says out loud. "Then I guess I'll just have to wait for you to find out."

"You know what he's talking about…?" she asks Pepper when Tony is out of sight.

"No hints, Pepper!"

Well, busted.

She looks at Pepper but receives an amused look for her troubles. She huffs, her breath coming out in a gust of air as she angrily thrusts her hands out.

"You both deserve each other," Eva grumbles as she follows Tony.

In the end, they find the printer where Pepper said it was. After printing the files, Pepper leaves with the address Fury gave them after Tony texted him.

"Are you sure about leaving her to go alone?"

Tony shrugs, still looking annoyed. "She's going to give the files to the Agent Coulson. He's the one who will walk up to the Stark building and then set off for the address. She will be safe in her office."

"Oh," she mutters. And she doesn't know why she didn't think of it before. It's not like Tony to leave Pepper to go to a mysterious place all on her own. Though their love is not as prominent as it was in the later movies, she knows Tony still cherishes Pepper all the same.

"Anyway, let's go back to the lab."

"Okay. Want to see more of my powers?"

He shakes his head. "I'm not in the mood. Maybe tomorrow."

She glanced in his direction, her eyes wide with curiosity, but instead of voicing her thoughts, she let out a small shrug. It's early but maybe she can cook something or—Oh. She's got an idea. Smiling up at Tony, she says, "Sure. Then you go back to the lab alone, I'll go out."

She turns around to leave, before he stops her with a 'wait.' So she casts a glance back over her shoulder, her face creasing into a frown as she inquires, "Yes?"

"Where are you going? Just so I know you're not getting into any trouble." He seems to be nervous for some reason.

She felt her heart soften as she looked at his anxiousness, thinking it's caused by the fear that she would leave him alone. "Don't worry, I'll return. I just want to get a look at the surroundings. Maybe help some people out."

"And you're going out like that?"

She quickly threw a glance at herself, before her eyes locked with his. He looks away for a second before turning back and looking her in the eye. "Erm, no? I'll go in my Mew form. I'm sturdier that way, you know?"

He lets out a breath. And yeah, this is getting weird. She could feel the hair on the back of her neck raise, reminding her of the possibility of something she didn't want to consider. Tony loves Pepper, after all, and she's a different species most of the time. Even if she does admit she looks quite stunning in her human form.

Shaking the dumb thoughts out of her head, she smiles. "Don't worry, I already memorized your house for teleportation. So, if I'm in danger, I can be back quickly."

"Oh. Want to go the superhero route, too?"

She nods. "You can't be the only one, right? Probably I'll just save a couple of cats out of trees and help old ladies to cross the street."

Letting out a snort, he patted her head before his hand moved to her shoulder, a gesture that filled the air with intimacy. She felt her body stiffen and her heart beat faster in response to the movement, but she was able to keep her composure. She felt the warmth of his hand on her shoulder, and when he moved it to the back of her head, the tenderness of his gaze made her heart flutter.

Shit.

When the hold lasts for a longer second than necessary, she quickly turns into a Mew. The clothes falling off her. Tony blinks before he looks down at the pile of clothes. He looks up at her with a smirk on his face.

She looks down too and can see the red panties she put on barely hidden by the t-shirt. She quickly grabs everything up into a ball and floats away, glad she can't blush in this form and also happy her bra wasn't seen because of being inside the shirt.

"You noticed, then?" yells Tony when she's almost out of hearing distance.

She hopes she's wrong, but still she can't help but yell out in his mind, 'Instead of being cooped up in the lab, go to your company and help Pepper!'

She can almost feel him wince at her volume. It doesn't make her better and when she leaves the clothes in the laundry room, she quickly rubs her face with her paws, hoping to be wrong.

'They were my favorite pairing,' she wails when she's out of Tony's house.

Though maybe she can still help make it happen. After all, the spark must still be there. She's sure she saw it in that ball when they danced together. Maybe she just needs to bring it out by playing matchmaker?

She cannot let Morgan not be alive.

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