Pepper gave Tony a look that said she thought he was very cute when he was being over-protective of her, but incredibly frustrating. Being fair, she really couldn't blame him for his attitude toward Doom, considering what the dictator had done to the both of them only a year ago, but she had her reasons for keeping the lines of communication open between them. Reasons, she knew, Tony was still not happy with, even though claiming responsibility for Banner's transformations had been her only recourse.
"If Doom wants to get in touch with me, I'm sure he'll find a way to manage it, whether you approve, or not. Nothing against your abilities, honey." She truly believed in Tony's intelligence, his creativity, and his perseverance, but Pepper knew - in the same way she now knew that Tony would always find a way to win - that Doom would not be hindered just because Tony was jealous. "Besides, it seems to be working out in our favor."
Pepper had only a passing acquaintance with Bruce's children, except for the oldest, with whom Tony was closest. He had visited enough over the years that had he been in the tube on the screen, she would have known him instantly. She knew the names of the others, but her opportunities to meet them had been much more limited, though not entirely lost. It was just little enough that she hadn't known him through the glass, but it didn't matter, because his significance was more important in this instance, and she was thinking furiously about Doom's terms as Tony reacted in a manner she could hardly fail to recognize.
"Tony." Pepper stood up, still calculating as she went after him. "Tony! Stop." These conversations were familiar for them - conducted across a room at full volume, talking over each other, with her chasing him around the room until one of them won. Not this time. She caught up with him and cut him off in several long strides, putting both hands on his shoulders so that he would stop moving, stop talking, and for once, just listen.
"We need to work with him. No-" Pepper held up a finger to cut off his argument. "Just listen. Right now, he thinks Tim is some nobody. If you and Batman go rushing in there, Doom is going to get suspicious, and want to know why he's so important to you both. Once he's curious, he's not going to stop looking, and it's going to put them in danger."
At this point, she thought it might be safe enough to at least let him go, so she did, and took a step back, but not too far. "I'm going to call him, and I'll negotiate that he gives us the coordinates now, in exchange for my promise that he can have the Skrull without interference. In addition, I think we should tell him something about Tim. Didn't he just get married?" Tony had only discussed the scandal with her recently. "If I remember correctly, she was also a Skrull, and her father is one of Gotham's big criminals."
That could work. It could have nothing to do with Tim at all. And they didn't have to know, just have a theory. "He's also Bruce Wayne's son. Theories - it doesn't matter, but Doom gives us the coordinates, and we'll send some people from Gotham to go get him." It was logical. Tim was from Gotham, why wouldn't his own collect him? "He can have his Skrull, we get Tim back, no one gets beat up."