The Universe's Mixer

Halloween.  Tony Stark's favorite time of the year.  The weather was perfect, not too hot or cold, trees around the city were changing colors.  And he had no reason in the world to complain here.  He and Pepper were together, and it'd been a blissful few weeks since their initial union.  For the first time in years, Tony could say he was happy and satisfied.

He'd sent out invitations city wide in hopes of drawing in the citizens to his home for him to have a chance to meet them.  He hadn't ventured out much since he'd been here, mostly because even if he was ever the social butterfly, Tony was too focused on fixing the once damaged relationship between him and Pepper.  Now that was all taken care of and here he stood in his bedroom putting on his costume.  He'd laid his choice of cstume out on Pepper's bed for her to put on, chosen since she'd lost to him in a little game they'd played to determine what they'd spend this night as.  It was custom tailored to fit her form perfectly, having taken the dress she'd worn for their first night together and used its measurements.

He stared at himself in the mirror, thinking that his goatee would make wearing the mask a little awkward at best, but he didn't care.  He thought since he should play the mysterious host of the night, that he should don the look of someone just as mysterious.  Taking a step back from the mirror, he attempted to twirl the cape, almost tangling himself up in it the first few times until he got the hang of it and smiled.  Affixing his mask to his face, he smirked as he gave his appearance one last once over.

The Phantom of the Opera was ready for his grand entrance.

[ooc: If you're character is showing up, feel free to start your own thread under this.  Tony will attempt to greet everyone but might not for getting sidetracked by others.  If you plan to crash the party, I will start a separate thread after a day or two to give people a chance to do regular party stuff.  Have fun, and don't be shy with your characters!  This is a very social log!]

Bruce's eyes marveled at the lush, trendy apartment atop the skyscraper. High-tech art graced the walls, throwing sci-fi shadows and lights on the walls. Water trickled down one wall into a delicate, green garden. Still, as he was currently the only occupant, it all felt somehow cold. "Sure is nice, though," Bruce said aloud.

"I am sure Mr. Stark would appreciate the complement." The British, male voice had come from everywhere at once. Bruce dropped his portfolio in surprise.

"I - I have an appointment," Bruce said in defense. "Security said I could come up."

"That is correct," the voice confirmed. "You are scheduled to meet with Mr. Stark at 2:15 pm. Mr. Stark is running late, and sends his apologies in advance."

Still looking for the source of the voice, Bruce inquired, "who are you?"

"I am Jarvis, an artificially intelligent program in charge of the internal systems in Mr. Stark's home. Would you care to learn more?"

"Maybe later. Has Dr. Jones has arrived, yet?" He had invited his colleague from the Institute, Archaeologist Henry Jones, Jr. to this meeting, and hadn't gotten a definite answer from him.

"Dr. Jones has not arrived."

Bruce gathered his papers from the floor and found a seat. If Tony knew about Bruce's condition as he had implied, he would want to appear as calm as possible. "You got any Sigur Ros on file?"

This would be the last time Tony Stark would ever make himself responsible for his own food.  How dare she leave at 6:30 and leave him to fend for himself all alone?  Oh yeah, because he screwed up and broke her heart a few days before.

Tony had taken it upon himself, instead of doing the more intelligent thing and ordering out, to cook his own late night meal.  By cook, that meant reheating some leftover Chinese that he didn't really recognize what it was as it had set in the fridge since the day they arrived.  This topped with the few espresso shots he'd downed from the machine down in his workshop didn't sit well on his stomach at 1:27 am.  By four o'clock, Tony had to stop in the middle of typing and haul ass to the bathroom to vomit.  Vomit should never have that color he thought to himself before he trudged upstairs, thinking that it was best he go to bed before he wore himself down.

At 5:16, Tony had already vomited 7 times and had already emptied his stomach to the point of bile and had to crawl back to his bed.  Around six, his forehead and torso were sweaty that he'd pulled off his t-shirt and had stripped down to his boxers.  Despite having three blankets pulled tight around him, he had weakly asked Jarvis to heat his room to a good eighty degrees.  He couldn't stop shaking and by the time he'd gotten reasonably warm from the chills, he had to run to the bathroom and vomit again.

Food poisoning sucked, Tony had decided, and this wasn't even a serious case.

"Jarvis...call--"

"Already in progress, sir."  Jarvis, despite being an AI, knew this was a situation he couldn't handle with Tony and a last resort would have been to call a doctor.

His arm had slapped against side of the bed when he'd rolled over, an urge to get out of bed suddenly washing over him. This had been the first time ever in the history of Tony Stark's long list of women that he'd been the one to wake up alone. No, not alone. He knew Pepper was around the house, probably sleeping soundly with their new baby curled up in bed with her. He'd been wrong to just leave that night and expect her to watch Salt all by herself. He should have stayed home and took up his new mantle of father to watch her with Pep. But he hadn't. He'd grown weary of sitting inside idly. Tony Stark intended to take the City head on as he'd left to discover what he could about it.

Then he'd found Cameron, and the witty banter encased in alcohol had ensued, and it was like old times. He was acting like old times. Somewhere in the back of his mind he could hear Yinsen's voice urging him to not waste it. In the blink of en eye, he'd reverted to his playboy shell and lost himself in another woman when he had one at home waiting for him that would have done anything for him. Why had he run to another?

Because honestly, Tony was terrified of what would have happened. It was easier for him to sleep with someone he had no emotional attachment. He could brush her off. Pepper was a different case entirely. There would have been no brushing her off if he'd have initiated a kiss. There would have been a mingling of minds, tongues, possibly their bodies. But most definitely, their hearts. Pepper deserved better than him, but he knew that he was what she wanted. The level of loyalty and affection transcended employer and employee, even mere friends. Then why couldn't he bring himself to just say it?

He climbed out of the bed and stretched, though he had slept well, Tony instantly looked weary. He'd glanced over to the bedside table to see Cameron's card sitting propped up by the lamp, but he'd just left it there for now. He didn't care to even read what it said. After showering and shaving, Tony dressed and walked down to Pepper's current bedroom in the house and didn't find her. Huh. That was strange. Maybe she was already downstairs at work. It was after nine after all. But he didn't hear the television on as she sometimes did just for background noise. He peeked into her office and didn't find her hard at work with her nose pressed against the computer screen.

"Jarvis, do you know where Pepper is?"

"Sir, she left in the middle of the night and has not returned."

"What? Left? Where did she go?" a nervous look spreading over his features.

"I am uncertain of her location. She left when she saw something she didn't like on the workshop security camera," the AI said in a very sarcastic tone.

Damn. He hadn't expected that to happen. She was out there somewhere, there was supposedly a murderer loose, and it would be all his fault if she was dead.

As he stood there, Tony felt claws attacking his bare feet, and he jumped to evade the swiping paws. He scooped up what looked like a very offended Salt, the kitten giving him a strong glare that said "you hurt Mommy's feelings". He sighed as he pet the kitten, trying to get her to calm down. "Yeah, I really screwed up, didn't I?" He lifted the kitten up to stare at her. "I don't suppose you know where she went, do you?" Salt just stared back at him and mewed mournfully. "Didn't think so."

He carried the little bundle of fur around with him, trying to figure out what he should do. This place gives you whatever you want. "Jarvis, search any kind of phone book registry for this place to see if Pepper Potts has a phone or address listing."

"One moment, sir." Twenty seconds passed and Tony felt like his heart would fail in those long seconds waiting for what he hoped was a positive answer. "There is an entry for a Pepper Potts, sir. 246 Providence Drive. Building 327. There is a phone number listed. Would you like me to dial it?"

"No, I'm going over there and straightening this out."

"Perhaps you should wear the Mark III. It is probably the only thing that's going to ensure you do not get injured."

"That mad, huh?"

"Quite."

He sighed and set Salt down on the couch. "Be a good girl. Hopefully, Daddy will be back with Mommy. If he hasn't already fucked up too badly."

After searching for a bit and finally finding his trainers, he pocketed his keys and thought it best to take a different car than the one she'd seen him bending a woman over.

( It was such a pretty Cinderella story...unfortunately, 'happily ever after' simply was not meant for her. )

"Aren't you gonna eat your bread sticks?" inquired Gary.

"Not hungry," answered Roy. He lifted one of his elbows off of the Formica table from where it perched. "Aw, dammit! I got sauce on this shirt. This was the only one in Arkham that fit me. Everything was sized for that little creep." He attempted to wipe the red sauce off his elbow with a paper napkin. "Which begs the question, where did you find a size lardass in there?"

"Oh, dude, there's a whole wardrobe in the west wing. Musta been personal effects for all the crazies that were locked up in there. They had every size and color and style you could imagine." Gary took another healthy bite of pepperoni pizza. "I swear, it was like the dressing room for a high school drama department," he said amid a muffled mouthful.

"Is that why you're dressed like Uncle Pennybags?"

"Totally." Gary modeled his fancy suit. "This belonged to some guy named Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot. Can you believe that name? It's like his parents were trying to raise a supervillain."

"Or the douchiest kid in school." Smiling now, Roy took a bite of bread stick.

"What do you think Jack's story was? I never found out."

"Who knows? Maybe his mind got fried by a joybuzzer or something. He seemed pretty b-list."

"I don't know. I think he was pretty intense. We coulda had a good thing there."

"Maybe. What do we do now that he's gone?" Roy put down his bread stick.

"I dunno. I guess we'll have to work for a living again."

Allowing Tony Stark to go on a shopping trip alone was always not the brightest idea. Letting the man go anywhere near a pet store was even worse. But when he saw the little beast, Tony couldn't help but fall madly in love with her. Those large blue eyes, that somewhat vacant stare that said "I'm hopelessly devoted to you. Please love me and take me home." He couldn't resist. Tony had always been a sucker for big blue eyes.

When he came home, he set the little carrier on the floor near the door before he went back out and grabbed the multitude of toys and food (one of every kind because he thought she should get to choose what she liked) and brought them in, setting everything up for his new project, so to speak. A small stainless steel water and food dish sat on the floor near the archway of the kitchen, a litter box not far from there, and several little toys with cat nip were strewn so she could pick out what she wanted to amuse herself with.

He didn't think she was going to stay so underfoot once he let her out, but the house was large and probably very scary to such a small kitten, solid white, and Tony couldn't help but think it was cute. "Aw, come here, Salt," and he picked her up and gathered her in his arms where the kitten playfully batted at his chin, purring all along the way. Let's go find my other favorite condiment and introduce you."

He pet her head and she started to gnaw on the end of his finger with her little baby fangs. "Pepper! Hey, Pep! Where are you?" he called out as he walked around.

Early morning light spilling down across her bed and over her closed eyes was what first began to rouse Pepper from her drowsy state that morning.

She shifted around in her bed, face buried deep into her pillow against the intruding brightness. All too soon her alarm clock would be going off and she'd be forced to drag herself out of bed. Force herself to get up and greet a brand new day of mind-numbing work and having to deal with whatever new and ingenious way Tony managed to get himself into trouble today. Force herself to go into her office, only to find a stack of papers at least three feet high, all with headliners on "Iron Man" emblazoned across their black and white pages.

Soon enough she'd be forced to deal with all of that...but for right now, she just wanted a few more minutes of sleep. Just a few more minutes to snuggle deep down into her silk sheets and smell the sweet lavender perfume of her pillow.

Wait a minute. Silk sheets...lavender...?

Outside she could hear the sweet, melodic chirping of birds and something that faintly sounded like the pleasant tinkling of wind chimes blowing in the breeze on a nice, summer day.

Wind chimes..? I don't own any windchimes!

Bright blue eyes snapped open wide and Pepper gave a startled cry as she sat bolt upright in her bed.

No...not her bed...a bed.

"Good morning, Miss Potts," the droll voice that could only belong to Tony's A.I., Jarvis, spoke suddenly, earning him a startled cry from her as she jerked the sheets up around her body in reflex. "I trust you slept well."

Pepper gaped, looking around the unfamiliar room with rising anxiety. Sure, she'd had just a little bit to drink last night...but nothing more than her usual nightcap before going to bed! How could she have possibly come to be in a foreign bed...and with Jarvis?

"J...Jarvis? What...what on earth is going on? Where the hell am I?"

"It seems, Miss Potts, that during the course of the night, something rather odd has taken place. I advise you to look out your window."

The blinds that covered each individual window slowly parted as Pepper eased herself out of the bed, wrapping the silk sheet around her body as she moved and padded over to the glass. Her eyes widened at the sight that greeted her and her jaw dropped at the same rate as her stomach.

All around, she had a full, panoramic view of a vast, magnificent City.