Early Morning

Tony was startled as he walked into the kitchen to see Natasha there, calmly drinking a glass of water, wearing a dress and apron.

"Evening, or should I say morning, Natashalie."

She rolled her eyes and smiled, "Morning, Stark." She got up from her stool and walked to the sink, placing the glass there on the rack.

"Um, did JARVIS lace my coffee with a very effective hallucinogenic, or are you indeed wearing a dress, with an apron that has black and white roses on it?"

"What brand of hallucinogenic does JARVIS use? It is powerful."

"When on earth did Pepper buy an apron? And why? It's not like any of us cook. Can we?"

"Clint does, I do as well. And Pep didn't buy this, it's mine, the roses are awesome. Steve told me he makes a mean fondue, too. He mentioned that your dad taught him."

"Hm. So what do you cook? Chocolate Brownies?" His last question was put forward with the hopeful air of a kid who sees 'a really awesome ride' at the theme park.

"What, are they something even a genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist can't get here?" She raised an eyebrow at him, amused that he liked something so 'common'.

"Not proper chocolate brownies."

"You sound like Clint. He has it for breakfast with his coffee. You know, we got engaged before he found out I could cook, we still had different apartments, and we'd always eaten at SHIELD or out during a mission. When he did, Clint decided that we should have chocolate brownie as our wedding cake. So we did."

She let out a genuinely amused and happy laugh, smiling softly. It had been the first thing she cooked for him, and as it turned out, she hit the bulls eye.

"Smooth Legolas, smooth." As he spoke, he replayed her laugh in his head. Thinking back to when she was 'working' for him, and more recently to the week since the Chitauri invasion, he hadn't heard her laugh like that except once, when she had been talking to Clint after he had been released from medical at SHIELD.

"I'm not sure what Pepper's going to want for our wedding, but she has good taste, so." He shrugged, if Pep was happy, he was happy.

"Clint and I won the wager we had going with Bruce on that. Made twenty bucks." She smiled as if she were trying to hold back a flood of laughter. They had also lost a bet with Banner. Namely that Pepper would make Tony sweat before she said yes to forever being the wife of a genius, billionaire, ex-playboy, philanthropist who did not play well with others. She had not however, merely making a comment some minutes later about 'this time having 50 percent of the moment. Right?'.

Tony coughed, Bruce had told him about both bets over a beer a few nights ago.

"Why are you up this early anyway?"

Her face lost a little of the cheerful smile and she twisted the slim gold band on her left hand as she spoke.

"Clint had a nightmare about Phil's death. He's in the gym at the moment. These days I sometimes prefer cooking to beating up a punching bag, plus the sugar in the brownies helps get Clint back to normal. Steve should try it."

"Our Capsicle? Leaving him in a modern kitchen sounds brilliant. Mind you, I could video it from afar and laugh."

"Put him with Thor and it would be even better. JARVIS, what's the ETA on the brownies and Clint finishing up?"

"Your chocolate brownie concoction will be completed in approximately zero-point-five minutes, and Agent Barton is minus two seconds away."

"Morning Stark. Did I hear JARVIS say brownies, Nat?" Natasha was smiling again as Clint started talking. The reverential tone he used when he talked about her cooking always did that. Sure she could kill you in fifty different ways in half a second, a hundred more in another second, but sometimes this was more fun. Especially as it looked like she'd be able to threaten Stark with the withdrawal of brownies if necessary. Life was sweet.

"Hey Clint, perfect timing. Would you gentlemen care to try some? Obviously, they're hot." As she spoke she took the tray out of the oven and cut the slice into pieces.

"Should we get ready for going out, Nat?" Clint spoke around the food in his mouth, smiling when she laughed at two of her closest friends devouring food that was still too hot. For normal people.

"Mmm. 'Bye Tony."

Putting his arm around her waist, Clint and Natasha left the kitchen, both of them looking and feeling happier than they had earlier in the day.

Eating his hot brownie, Tony could only wave at them. They were a cute couple, and they were noticably happier when they were together. He mentally face-palmed when he realized what he had just thought. He desperately needed Pepper to start liking films other than rom-coms. For what was left of his sanity. And science.

As they made their way to the elevator, he could still hear bits of their conversation.

"Is that the dress we bought in Budapest, Tasha?"

"Still my favorite green."

The End

Hi guys, thankyou for reading.

This is my first fanfiction, so please leave a review with things you liked/absolutely abhorred.

Thankyou so much!