Someone needs to Genius Interruptus her.

[geniusnotclever]

-Another nightmare had plagued Natasha Stark so she's down in her workshop working and welding away at different things. Sparks are flying and she's working on minor improvements to her suit.-

Comments

[tasergoddess]

[Yikes. That? Not cool. All she had to do was make sure Natasha Stark slept for five hours a night. This? Not five hours. Maybe two. Possibly two. Actually, she was pretty sure Natasha didn't sleep more than thirty minutes.

Whatever. She was all on top of this.

Darcy tiptoes down to the lab and keys in the code Pepper gave her, holding a nice mug of chamomile tea and enough Unisom to take down the Hulk.]

[geniusnotclever]

-Nope, not even two hours this time. More like 15 minutes. Maybe. She smells the tea before she's even aware of Darcy's presence-

Look, if you're gonna be Pepper's junior helper, you are gonna need to get used to my not being around all the time upstairs so go facebook yourself or something.

[tasergoddess]

One. I am Coulson's helper. And two, dude, you know exactly how Facebook works, so don't even try. Three. Drink this. Lewis family recipe. Guaranteed to make you sleep like a baby.

[geniusnotclever]

Don't need sleep. Gotta work on the suit. Try again, half pint. What do you want? I'm busy.

[tasergoddess]

I want you to sleep so Pepper will buy me kickass shoes, and I can walk around SHIELD a good four inches taller and maybe gouge a nice heel sized hole in Adams' ass.

I have my goals.

You have nice chamomile tea. Which you will drink. Or I will convince JARVIS to sync up my IPod and you'll be unable to listen to anything but Indie Rock until you go to bed.

[geniusnotclever]

-Indie rock? Hell no. Not on her watch. She glares at her-

Jimmy Choos. Go to bed. They'll be appearing in your apartment.

[tasergoddess]

Have you ever disappointed Pepper, Stark? You know how her eyelid twitches and her lips get thin? Your shoes cannot convince me to leave.

[geniusnotclever]

Whatever's bribing you, I'll double it.

-she goes back to her work-

[tasergoddess]

JARVIS, my man? Playlist Seven, please?

[geniusnotclever]

Do that and I will program you to speak in nothing but limericks.

-Sorry, Darcy. But JARVIS answers to one person and one person only-

[tasergoddess]

[Yeah. Whoever has Tasha's safety in mind. The playlist, naturally, starts. Hey. It's so not her fault JARVIS is his own computer mind.]

We can do this the easy or hard way.

[geniusnotclever]

Traitor!

-still, she ignores Darcy and the Lewis Drink-

[tasergoddess]

How many times can you hear Barbie Girl before breaking? We can consider it a science experiment.

Or. You can end your pain now. Drink this and curl up on your sofa over there. I'll even tuck you in.

[ohpleasetony]

[Pepper has never actually understood why it feels ten degrees colder down here in the workshop, but she pulls her robe a little tighter around her and crosses her arms against the chill as she keys in the code and lets herself in.

She watches Natasha at work for a moment before, stepping closer so that she's in her line of sight.] It's 3 AM.

[You know, in case you hadn't noticed the clock while you were slipping out of bed.]

[geniusnotclever]

Yup. I'm not so bad off, Pep, that I can't tell time. Social security number's a different matter. Where did that shipment of experimental alternatives to adamantium get settled?

-she's looking around, half asleep, half wild, the look that she is best at-

[ohpleasetony]

I don't know.

[A lie. It's stacked neatly in the corner organized by reactiveness. Pepper moves closer, her eyes watching Natasha closely.]

Was it another dream?

[geniusnotclever]

Can't sleep. Might as well be productive somehow and I'm gonna call liar liar, panties on fire, Pepper, you know exactly where that shipment is.

[ohpleasetony]

Or you could try talking to me.

[She knows this how Natasha deals with things and ordinarily that's fine, but this is hardly the first time this has happened and whatever is on her mind she clearly doesn't have any intention of sharing without a little force.

She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, resting a hip against the workbench.]

Maybe I do.

[geniusnotclever]

Either you tell me where it is or I have JARVIS scan the whole house but I already have him working on a few other things at the same time.

-she crosses her arms-

New Jimmy Choos to tell me where it went.

[ohpleasetony]

Oh, I see. [She nods.] I tell you, you give Jimmy Choos and I go back to bed alone? Is that how this deal works?

[geniusnotclever]

-she goes right back to tinkering because it's better than looking at Pepper and seeing the questions in her face and in her eyes-

I think you might benefit more than I would out of that deal.

[ohpleasetony]

[Pepper sighs and moves a closer, butting a hand wordlessly on Natasha's shoulder.]

[geniusnotclever]

-she slumps a little at the touch-

I can't sleep, Pepper.

-just those words carry so much gravity. It's different than before. Before she could crash. It was fine. Now...she couldn't even do that-

[ohpleasetony]

I've noticed. [A beat.] What is it?

[geniusnotclever]

Nightmares.

-that's all she's willing to say, Pepper. That's all she needs to say-