Pepper made a point of purposefully ignoring Tony's words, refusing to let him get under her skin despite the brief dirty look she shot at him as he tried to excuse her absence to their guest.
"Virginia Potts, actually," she spoke, holding out her hand once again respectfully towards Bruce Banner after finishing cleaning it off with the rag Tony had provided for her. "But...yes...everyone just calls me Pepper."
She wasn't going to bother trying to explain the reasoning for that. How it had all started out as just an 'inside joke' when Tony stuck her with the nickname after she'd threatened to pepper-spray one of the security guards that was trying to lead her out of his office. She'd only wanted to alert him to some rather faulty mathematical work on his part on a very important business document. He'd been so impressed with her pluck and spirit that he'd taken her under his wing, made her his assistant and...well, the rest, as they say, was history.
She smiled lightly at the mention of Happy, stepping over towards Tony where he held the calmed kitten in his arms. Using the rag he'd given to her, she began to clean away the last remaining traces of grime from the tiny creature's fur. Her thoughts drifted towards that ex-boxer and she gave a quiet sigh, wondering where he was and what he was doing right now. He must be beside himself with worry and concern for their well-being. Probably tearing their world apart alongside of Rhodey trying to find them.
It was all just one more reason why they had to get back home. Back to where they belonged.
"Wasn't there suppose to be one more coming?" she inquired, turning her green eyes over her shoulder towards Dr. Banner. "A Mr. Jones, if I remember correctly?"