Title: Keeping Up with the Joneses
Author: doc_sock
Fandom: Iron Man movieverse, Nolanverse
Rating: Gen? Pepper/Tony-ish if you squint? Definitely G, though.
Warnings: none
Words: 500ish
Summary: "I want a car that comes when I call it."
Author's Note: Look, just because Gotham isn't a real city doesn't mean the DC universe can't coexist with the Marvel universe. Also, unbeta'd.


“-and that's the last of the meetings this week. Do you think you could manage to attend at least one of them?”

Pepper stood in Tony's workshop, staring at his feet – the only body part that stuck out from underneath the car he was working on. She waited in silence for his response, only half-wondering if he'd fallen asleep under there. It wouldn't be the first time he crashed in the middle of working on a project, especially not since the whole Iron Man business began.

“Hey Potts,” Tony suddenly said from underneath the car. “You still there?”

“Of course I'm-” she started to snap, and then caught sight of the iPod half-hidden behind a rear wheel.

Oh. That's why there had been no music for her to turn off when she wanted his attention the past few days. Smart, but not smart enough. She used the heel of her shoe to turn it off, proud of herself for not putting on the extra half pound of pressure that would send her heel crunching through to the ground.

“Don't turn off my music,” Tony said as he shoved himself out from under the car. He was smiling, though, and there was grease on his cheek and across his forehead, and his hair was standing on end. He popped the earbuds out and sat up.

“Do I need to go through the whole-” she started to say, but was cut off.

“I've been thinking Potts,” he said, dangling the wrench between his knees. “I want a car that comes when I call it.”

The years working for Tony had her well-trained, and she didn't blink. “You already have a metal suit that comes when you call.”

“Yeah, but it's not a car.” He reached back and tapped the bumper. “You know, Batman has a car that comes when he calls it.”

“Batman doesn't have a flying tin can on call,” she pointed out, quite reasonably she thought. Tony opened his mouth to protest her calling it a tin can, but she was too quick to continue. “If that will be all...” She knew it wasn't, but she turned around and headed through the workshop anyway. If he was busy trying to program a car to drive itself, the whole week would be shot anyway. She needed to get on rescheduling meetings and reassuring people that what Tony was doing was very important work for the government and not at all self-indulgent flights of fancy whenever the mood took him.

“Batman has a butler, too. I should get a butler,” he shouted after her as she climbed the stairs.

“You have JARVIS,” she called back.

“Can you hire me a butler to go with my car?” He was at the bottom of the stairs, covered in grease, hair wild and arc-reactor shining through his shirt. “Really Potts, you can't let Batman show me up. It wouldn't be good for my public image.”

She realized she was smiling.

END