InsaneJournal

Who: Tony Stark and Jemma Simmons.
When: Mid-July
Where: The Agency
What: Random Encounter
Rating/Warnings: Low/None
Status: Partner Thread | Complete

Tony had been a busy bee over the last couple of weeks. What with the crazy, and Stark Tower taking damage because of the crazy, and Tony having to clean up the suit and the tower and… anyway, now that the crazy had passed and things were slowing back down to their equilibrium--whatever that was. Which meant he was wandering around the Agency to stick his nose in where it didn’t belong.

Headed down the hallway, peeking in doors, Tony stopped and grabbed an apple from a fruit basket in one of the rooms, then continued on, munching on the green goodness as he walked.

Jemma was relieved that things were over. For now at any rate. It would be a lie to say that she hadn’t been worried about the Monolith while everything was happening, the things that had come through. Thankfully though, there had been no activity on that front and no signs of It coming through. Still, it was something she made sure to check on at least a few times a week. Just to be sure. Jemma would never be able to be accused of being unprepared.

Coming back from the secure area, the biochemist was looking over her notes as she returned to the main hallway, only to quirk a brow as she noticed someone who didn’t quite belong. Well no. It was hard to keep tabs on all Agency employees. Jemma ran the lab, she knew them. She knew a handful of those in other departments. But demeanor and suit said something else.

“Mr. Stark, can I help you?”

She was also amused, which was obvious in the question, a brow quirked in curiosity. Just what would bring him there, poking around in different rooms?

Tony turned at the sound of the voice and recognition lit up his features. He suppressed a little smile only a second after it tugged at the corners of his mouth. “Ah. Yes. Yes, I believe you can. I’ve come to find a traitor.” It was obviously a joke, obviously teasing, but his nonchalance was part of his style. “In her natural habitat. You wouldn’t know where I could find one of those, would you?”

It was good to see that Jemma was doing well. He remembered how rough things had been for her at one point--having helped her out of a pretty nasty jam back when she worked for Stark. Now that she was at the Agency, he didn’t see her as often. (Almost not ever.)

Even though it had been a year since the unfortunate dream bleed over with the Chitauri virus, it was still a part of her, the lessons learned. The fact that it had ended up being one of the less traumatizing things she’d dream of was rather depressing, but that was the nature of the dreams and while they had started up again, she wasn’t nearly as on edge as she’d been at the beginning of the year thanks to dreaming of being on that dreadful planet.

“Ah, yes, well. I hear that traitors who have come here tend to find themselves rather busy in different labs and it’s rare to catch them in a hallway.”

She could easily fall into the banter, it wasn’t like science was all she discussed or focused on. Just mostly. She was hyper aware though and could (mostly) read social cues. Banter tended to be an easier one.

Good. She hadn’t taken his tease the wrong way. Tony hated it when he accidentally pissed people off--at least, people that he cared about. And Jemma was one of his, at Stark Tower. Once a Stark, always a Stark? Even though she’d come here. Tony couldn’t really blame her--the Agency was a great place to work. Doing good in the world, and all that. He gave her a smirk.

“Sounds like a traitor needs a bit of a break every once in awhile. Maybe for an iced latte? With a former boss?” He asked. Offered, really.

Not just a great place, but being able to work with Peggy Carter. Founder of SHIELD. And British. Really, as much as she had enjoyed working at Stark, there was no way she could have turned down the opportunity. Especially as she got to run the science division here and there were plenty of challenges that came with the strange happenings of Orange County.

“I’m sure that there are people who would agree with that assessment.” She had alarms to remember to eat after all, “So that should be definitely be doable.”

“Come on, then,” Tony said, giving her a smile. It would be nice to catch up with his former employee for a bit. And he might get info on what the Agency was up to. That was a side effect, though. A pleasant one. “Iced latte’s on me. There’s a cafe down the block, isn’t there?”

There wasn’t too much that Jemma was aware of in terms of long term things. Well, there was her training with Natasha and some of the undercover things there, but that wasn’t something she would reveal. Mostly she was just working on her report about the breaches. Plus the sample Shepard brought her. All the challenges, which she appreciated and put her mind to work. “That there is. Thank you.” Sending a message to the lab to let them know that yes, she was actually taking a break, Jemma started to the door. She wasn’t going to question how it was Tony had gotten in, it was probably less of a headache that way.