10461/Hulk Busting Makes Me Feel Good

Hulk Busting Makes Me Feel Good
Date of Scene:	13 March 2022
Location:	Stark Tower: Pepper's Office
Synopsis:	Natasha takes Pepper up on her offer of aid with the chaos of the Hulks and catches up.
Cast of Characters:	Pepper Potts, Natasha Romanoff

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Pepper Potts has posed:
Midafternoon in New York City. With the time change, the sun is just a little higher in the sky past the desk, shining through the floor to ceiling plate glass, giving a bright illumination to the office at large. Things are quiet; the television isn't quite as loud as it goes through the news cycles of the day, of the week, and the lady herself, the 'owner' of the office, is leaning back in her white leather chair, going through her tablet, green eyes taking in the information before her.

Dressed in a tailored business suit, the colors of her fabric begin to display the spring collection. To any who know fashion, it has all the telltale signs of a Janet van Dyne original. Literally, original. There are no other copies of her suit skirt, the light pinks, yellows of the season.

"HOMER," Pepper calls out; she's doing several things at once, and adds another to the balls in the air, "I need you to get Mr Okura on the phone."

<<Yes, Ms Potts.>>

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff is currently heading in to meet Pepper. She's made an appointment in advance, though it might have taken just a little bit of work to get in without saying who she actually was, just doing a subtler go at it. Some things one didn't awnt to make a show about. Particularly when they were going to ever so subtly try and go past what normal Avengers and SHIELD operational parameters were. So with a chime she's going to request access from down on the entry-hall, pulling back a hoodie over her face to let the scanners see who she was.

Pepper Potts has posed:
The wonderful thing about Stark Tower is that it does have a rather 'robust' identification system. Natasha is absolutely in the databases in the system, and she actually had been keyed for access the moment she stepped into the foyer. The arrival keys a message on Pepper's screen, and a glance is all that's needed to catch her. The elevator door opens with a *ding*, and it's the one that allows for access to the upper levels of the Tower. Not everyone knows about this lift, much less riding in it.

Up, up, and up, the door chimes as it opens, letting Natasha out onto the floor, the foyer filled with rich art works, carefully curated over the years. It's changed a little in terms of decor since Natasha had been there a couple of years ago.. a more feminine touch.

Pepper herself rises from her seat; she'll give the woman that courtesy and coming around to the front of the desk, she'll wait for the Avenger to come through the door; HOMER will open it the moment she's near.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff would enter out of the door a few moments later, dipping her head as she would etner in, "Pepper, a pleasure to see you. I believe that I'm going to take you up on your offer. Forgive me for not getting back to you sooner on it or giving you more of a heads up on it. Things have been quite busy on both fronts." By 'Both Fronts' she no doubt meant both SHIELD and the Avengers.

"I believe that something a littel smallers cale will be needed rather than heavy equipment. My.. I mpressions from what data I've been given is that we'll have to be responding with something stealthy in a scale against which I'm not quite sure. So I'll need something of relatively small scale that I can take with myself on a stealth mission where we're likely to run into.." One of thsoe possible Hulk tier beings.

Pepper Potts has posed:
Pepper's leaning against her desk, her hands settled on either side of her which pushes her shoulders up a little. Red hair is pulled up in a ponytail, the wisps of escaped hair framing her face. It never lasts a full day, but it does allow for a slightly different 'look'. "Natasha," it's a single word, but it's filled with honest, genuine greeting, a smile rising to her face. "To what-"

And there it is.

Straightening from her lean, her head rocks back slightly as she takes in the information, the suggestions, and the 'taking her up'. Nodding slowly, "Oh dear. Is there anything you can tell me that'll make it a little easier?"

She doesn't move to her computer set up immediately, The PA turned.. mini spy needs a little more information, parameters, locations even before she can begin. "It's fine," and a hand waves, the smile growing once more, warm and friendly. "I'm used to a second's notice." After all, she works and now lives with Tony. The dictionary picture under the definition of 'impulsive' at times.

"Smaller scale sometimes does work," is agreed. "Are we looking at tracking with people on the ground, or..." It's something she's actually not too bad with.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff would shake her head, "Unfortunately not very much. I'm going off very vague assumptions here myself. I don't know the circumstances or the opposition. I've not had any luck contacting Banner or Walters. My very minimal understanding is that there's some sort of acility involved, but I know very little of the particulars if any. I just know if tehre's a facility then we're going to have to go in rather subtly rather than with any heavy equipment."

Natasha is very annoyed. Her profession -relies- on information for planning. While she's entirely capable of going in without any sort of preparation or recon, she finds it extremely irritating to do so. Even more when there's only a very vague idea of even -where- they might be going. "I need something that can at least slow such a being. It doesn't need to be of a scale that would injure them. Just slow them enough to bypass them or isolate them." Any sort of weapon that could do more will -definitely- escalate things well beyond what she would like.

"I'd ask for satellite imagery but I'm not even sure where it is. I do have a feeling that Banner and Walters are in some sort of trouble and that's what we'll be having to deal with. So having something on standby for extraction will be useful as well though I can't give any specifics as I don't even know them."

Pepper Potts has posed:
Pepper finally leaves her spot and begins a slow walk, considering. "It would take JARVIS a little bit of time, but he could do a time lapse if there are any pulse of gamma radiation that might give us a hint?" She does know about all of that; who doesn't? Well, who doesn't within the circle of their organizations, that is. "If we could narrow the scope, then perhaps? We could check the news reels for any hint of appearances. I could have HOMER do that."

She stops at one of the couches that is just beyond, the tips of her fingers touching the top of the back of it. Pepper frowns at the suggestion that the good doctor and Jennifer might be in some danger, and she shakes her head slowly, but definitively. "That is also going to call for chatter on the radios. No one gets people like that without mentioning it." If SHIELD can monitor frequencies, how much better could they do it? "That's another task for JARVIS, I think."

Pepper exhales in a sigh, her expression certainly showing that she does //get it//. Her tones soften, and she nods slowly, "I will absolutely be there for extraction support. Wherever and whenever. No matter the time."

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff would nod at Pepper, "I appreciate it. I don't know the specifics of things so any information would be helpful, if even to give an idea of posible environments we might be hitting. And also give me something that if it works isn't likely to enrage whomever I run into." She would note dryly but with amusement. "Since they do tend to have very healthy healing factors and the more annoyed they get the faster things tend to clear from their system."

She would smile at Pepper, "Thank you, that will be very useful to have on hand. I'm appreciative to have someone on standby in the event thigns escalate adn we need a quick evacuation."

Pepper Potts has posed:
"I'm sure we have a Quin around here, too," Pepper notes dryly, with no little humor. "At the very least, a helicopter." For extraction, that is.

She does approach Natasha from her spot, stopping a few steps away from the Avenger and spy. "I think we might be able to find something that'll keep the rage to a minimum." Oh, she knows exactly to what Nat is referring. "I'm sure if I ask Tony," and she puts a hand up, "I'm not going to tell him everything, it'll just be a question.. I'll ask if he's got anything that might keep something like that from happening. Even for a couple of minutes." Time, any time, might be helpful.

"For your safety."

She moves away and heads towards her coffee bar; she's got water, coffee and tea set up, and and offer is made, "Would you like anything?" The coffee pot is set up, the sound of the brew burbling. "This might help me, too. There's something going on at Hammer that I'm not sure about. It might be a problem." Pepper does actually sound concerned. "JARVIS found it, and I did speak to Phil." Phil. Agent Coulson.

"But, I think we can start with those parameters.. unless there's something you think might help? How much time do we have?"

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff wuold nod, "Appreciated. I'm not sure how well coordination is going to go and how this particular thing would be run. So a Quinjet on standby if we don't have one would be invaluable just in case. And even if we do a secondary one in case of backup is always a necessity." Spoken as someone that had taken far too many missions where the primary extraction method would be obliterated en route.

"Thank you for all this, Pepper. How have you been doing lately? And that's all the.. Business end of things that I have at the moment>"

Pepper Potts has posed:
"Well, we'll do what we can. We do have the coms, trackers, and an amazingly intelligent AI." Pepper is extremely proud of the setup that surrounds her; there is an amazing array of tech at her beck and call, including things that no one knows about beyond, well, two people. "If there is any chance of losing communication one way, I'm positive it can be made up in another. Even if it's IR tracking." Oh, she's sounding technical!

Tea. Russians like tea, right?

Pepper makes a small pot of tea, steeping the leaves, and when done, she has her coffee in one hand, the tea in the other. Crossing the room, the strawberry blonde hands over the tea; the cup nice and warm. Perfect to wrap hands around. Once done, she does just that with her coffee mug, her manner and mien settling down into something more personal, a little more comfortable. Business is done, even if it's now running through her head; all the possibilities of how to help. How much to get Tony involved in. It does require subtlety, after all.

At the shift, Pepper smiles and nods quickly, "Anything I can do.." is assured. "I meant it." As to how she's doing? There's a ghost of a smile, and she exhales softly, "Things are good. Tony is in invent-mode, upgrades, and I think that's where he's happiest." So, a happy Tony makes Pepper's world easier. "Work is.. well, work. And who really has time for anything outside?" She chuckles before taking a swallow of her coffee.

"So, tell me something you've done, so I can live vicariously."

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff would smile over at Pepper, "Good. You sound like you've been doing well. And your array is invaluble for field operations for the team." By 'Team' she meant the Avengers. Her eyes would glance around over. "And the most useful thing in any operation where one doesn't know where they're going into is maintaining communications. Battles are lost due to lack of coordination. That will be the best thing we can have." And presuming that Tony's tech is better than almost anyone else's on the planet when it came to such things and pure number crunching.

"Thank you, I appreciate it very much Pepper. I'm glad that things are going well with Tony. I've not had a great deal of time to spend with him lately beyond field operations when we've both been deployed. I'm glad that the two of you are doing well. You match one another perfectly. You are one another's yin and yang." They balanced one another.

"And I've been primarily engaged iN SHIELD operations as of late. Too many things, not enough personnel. We're spread thin."

Pepper Potts has posed:
Pepper grins as she lowers her mug, "And even better? No one would suspect me." Everyone underestimates the 'secretary', right? Even moreso now, the one that now is at Tony's arm at events rather than in the retinue. Obviously she's not a threat, right? Even Stane didn't understand the depths of her loyalty and ability until it was too late, and he knew her.

"We'll find them," is offered softly, the thought genuinely optimistic. "We won't leave any stone unturned. LIDAR, InfraRed, radiation monitoring, communications.. nothing can hide for long." Of course, that's from afar, which means her intel has to be spot on in order for those on the ground to be safe.

She's beginning to understand some of the weight of responsibility Tony feels.. she cares about those whom she's come to call 'friends'. She has access to resources, so why not use them?

Natasha's musings about her and Tony though? There's a light pinking of her cheeks; in terms of personal life, she's .. fiercely private. The world looks into Tony's life, or it believes that it does, so those private moments are her own to cherish. "He's changed, Nat," is murmured. "Not even the same man from last year, much less five years ago. He's.." and she exhales in a sigh, but it's a fond one as she considers her beau. "I'm very proud of him, and more afraid than ever. He's more focused, I think." She smiles at the compliment, the words met with genuine warmth. "Thank you."

Gesturing towards a couch, Pepper silently invites Natasha to sit so the girls can have a long overdue chat. "I'm sorry to hear it. Really, if there's anything I can do," and quickly added, "within reason.. you know, that 'need to know'.." She knows a lot.. heh.. "Never hesitate to call me. I'll answer, any hour. I've gotten used to the hours," is added at the end.

"After we find them, I think we should sit down and just.. breathe."

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff would just smile, "Good. You're far more dangerous than too many give you credit for. They underestimate you to their own detriment and doom. You are incredibly cunning and dangerous. And far more creative than anyone thinks." How many times had Pepper surprised and made even Natasha had to reassess what hte woman was capable of? No matter what technology or training she had? Ms. Potts was on top of all else was incredibly stubborn.

"He's come a long way. I don't presume to know him as well as you have.. But he's definitely a changed man. A better one. Certainly better than I've ever been. A good one. And youv'e made him a lot better. You're his conscience."

Natasha would get up and smile, "We'll find them and if they need it extract them.. And then figure out the next crisis. Good day, Ms. Potts."