Tony rubbed his hands together as if he'd just won some sort of prize. "Fantastic. Today we'll get your paperwork squared away and you can move in. You start tomorrow."

Pepper gave you a tight smile. "You will need to consent to a full background check before your job is official."

"I'm pretty sure Mr. Stark already took care of that."

He shrugged. "Well, it's not finished yet, but I'm not particularly worried about it. And call me Tony."

Pepper rolled her eyes. "Of course, you're not worried about it. Why would you be?" She turned her attention from her boyfriend to you. "If you'll come with me, I'll take you down to human resources and you can get started on the forms."

"Not necessary. I've got the forms I need right here."

She arched a brow at him and things were beginning to feel more than a little awkward.

He smirked and kissed the corner of her mouth. "Calm down, sweetheart. She's employed by the Avengers, not Stark Industries. Whole different set of paperwork."

"Well, I'll just leave you to it then, shall I?" It you hadn't already known she was pissed off, her pinched expression would have given it away.

Tony sighed after she disappeared through the door. "Sorry about that. She's a little...protective."

Yeah, that wasn't the word you were thinking of. "It's fine. Should we get started?"

***

By the end of the day you were exhausted. You'd thoroughly read and completed every form then Happy had taken you to your hotel to gather your things. Your 'apartment' turned out to be a room on the communal floor of the Avengers portion of the tower. The bedroom was the size of your entire hotel room and there was an attached bathroom. The kitchen was just down the hall and you had access to the entirety of the tower. You were certain you'd be just fine there, but if you weren't you could always look for your own apartment later.

After unpacking your few belongings, you called your parents. Your mother was thrilled you were sticking around to get to know your soulmate. Your father was less pleased. After all, he was not only your dad, he was your boss. He wasn't happy to have to replace you at the firm but the mention of the salary was enough to keep him from any further protest. You were fairly certain you now made more than him.

A glance at the clock showed it to be nearly 8:00 already. You huffed out a breath when you realized you hadn't eaten since breakfast. Now was as a good a time to familiarize yourself with the kitchen as any other you supposed. Tony had told you to help yourself.

The living room and kitchen were empty and you breathed a sigh of relief. You weren't sure you were up to meeting the Avengers just yet. Tony was supposed to introduce you to the team tomorrow. You dug around the fridge, smiling when you found some leftover pizza. After tossing a couple of slices on a plate, you warmed them up in the microwave. You opted to just stand at the island to eat.

You had just taken your first bite when the elevator opened and noise flooded the room announcing the arrival of several of the team members. Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton all stopped to look you over when they came into view of the kitchen. You swallowed your food past the lump in your throat and gave them a little wave. "Hello."

"Can we help you?" Steve asked. He sounded friendly enough, but his shoulders were tense and his stance indicated he was prepared for an attack.

"No one is allowed in the private levels of the tower without an escort. How did you get here?" Natasha didn't even feign friendliness.

And then there was Clint. "Is that my pizza?"

Natasha gave him a look and he shrugged. "What?"

"Priorities, Clint."

"Exactly, Nat."

Your lips twitched as you fought back a laugh. Finally, you cleared your throat and introduced yourself. "Sorry to startle you. I'm your new assistant. Tony intended to introduce us tomorrow."

"My assistant?" Clint asked, obviously surprised.

Natasha smacked him with the back of her hand. "She's for all of us. Not just you. We discussed this at the meeting last week, remember?"

The archer scratched his head and dropped onto the stool across from you with a smile. "Obviously not." His held out a hand. "Hi. Clint Barton. Nice to meet you."

You shook his hand. "A pleasure to meet you as well, Mr. Barton. Sorry about the pizza."

He waved a hand through the air in dismissal. "Tony paid for it anyway. And it's Clint. Or Hawkeye."

You nodded before turning to the other two. Steve was staring at his phone with a furrowed brow while Natasha read over his shoulder. Clint followed your line of sight then leaned toward you. "They're checking out your story," he mock whispered. "Me. I'm more trusting."

That made you smile. "Well, even if I was lying. There are three of you and one of me so I'd say you don't have much to worry about."

"And there's that," he agreed.

Steve finally nodded and slipped his phone back into his pocket. "Sorry about that. Tony hadn't mentioned he'd actually hired anyone. Steve Rogers. Call me Steve or Cap, if you'd prefer." You shook his hand.

"Natasha," was all the red-head said as she shook your hand as well.

"Nice to meet all of you. I promise not to be a nuisance. Honestly, I hadn't even considered if you would all mind me living here when Tony offered. I can find somewhere else if you'd prefer." Your words were rushed. Even the thought you might be an inconvenience made your skin itch. You preferred to coast along in the background.

Steve frowned. "Nonsense. I'm sure it will be fine. Besides, it will probably be easier for you to stay here. Sometimes we get called out in the middle of the night."

"Tony mentioned the beck and call thing," you admitted.

Natasha tilted her head to study you. "And you're okay with that?"

"For the amount of money he's paying me? Absolutely."

***

You weren't surprised that you were up and ready to start your day well before Tony made an appearance the next morning. You found your way back to Tony's office from the day before and helped yourself to a notebook and pen so you could take notes. "Jarvis, is Mr. Stark up yet?"

"Mr. Stark has not slept in thirty-six hours. He is currently in the lab."

You lifted your brows at that news. A day and a half with no sleep? That couldn't be healthy. "Do I have access to the lab?"

"Once your background was completed, you were given access to 98% of the tower. The lab is included in that percentage."

"Dare I ask what's in the other 2%?" you asked in amusement.

"I wouldn't advise it, Miss." You thought you detected a hint of laughter in the AI's tone.

"Thank you." Did you have to thank an AI? You still weren't used to randomly talking to the ceiling but supposed it would come easier as time went on.

"You're welcome, Miss."

You found your way to the lab with Jarvis's help. For a time, you stood outside and watched through the window. Tony was completely engrossed in his work. His bright eyes would glance up occasionally to consult the schematic in front of him before turning back to his project. Dr. Banner was working at a different table nearby, the two of them carrying on a conversation without detracting from their work. Tony smiled at something the doctor said and you realized this was his element.

This is where he was the most comfortable. The happiest. Now you understood the scars on your fingertips were mirrors of the ones he'd gotten spending countless hours in the lab. After you determined you couldn't stare any longer without it being considered creepy, you let yourself in. Both men's eyes, instantly found you. Tony grinned while Dr. Banner's smile was far more restrained.

"Good morning, gentleman." You sat the cup of coffee you'd brought for Tony in front of him. "I wasn't aware you were here, Dr. Banner or I would have brought one for you as well."

He shook his head. "I don't mainline caffeine like Tony. I prefer tea actually."

"I will remember that," you assured him.

Tony sipped his coffee before introducing you to Bruce. 

"I'd shake your hand but..." The doctor trailed off and indicated the chemicals he was working with.

"No problem." You turned back to Tony to find him watching you while he sipped his coffee. "Are you up for this?"

"What? Showing you around and going over your responsibilities? I think I can handle that."

"Jarvis says you haven't slept in 36 hours."

"Jarvis, you snitch." Tony sounded disgusted with his AI.

"I am sorry, sir."

Tony rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulder. "Sleep's not really my thing. Let's get started."

He ran through a list of your responsibilities and you jotted them down. You'd need to get a calendar so you could track the things you only had to do once or twice a month. "Can I ask you a question?" you said cutting him off mid-sentence.

"Sure."

"Not to put too simple of a spin on it, but my job is to take care of the team, right? To keep you guys from having to deal with the day to day and making sure things stay on track around here?"

"Yeah, pretty much." His gaze narrowed as he tried to figure out where you were going with this.

"I'm good at this, at organizing people's lives. Let me do it my way for a few weeks. If I suck we can go back to this never ending list you've been rattling off." You held your breath waiting to see if he'd take you up on it. You weren't lying when you said you were good at this. When you came into your father's office you had completely revamped the way they did everything from billing to filing. That had been years ago and they were still doing things your way.

Tony pursed his lips before finally giving you nod. "All right, hot stuff. Three weeks. Let's see what you can do."

A grin curled your lips before you could stop it. "I'm going to need a credit card."