Fic: The Long-Suffering Assistants Club
May. 21st, 2008 12:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bennet_7Hi, my name is Bennet and I am obsessed with Iron Man. For reals. Especially Tony/Pepper. When I walked out of that cinema the first time (oh yeah, I've seen it twice) I immediately went home and prayed that someone, somewhere had written fic. Someones (yes! plural!) have written fic and it is mostly awesome.
Since then I've Iron Man-ified my layout, made icons, and now that I've finally finished my assignments, I've written fic (pick your jaws up off the floor people!). Everyone and their dog has compared Tony and Pepper to Josh and Donna from The West Wing, so I decided to take a whack at Pepper and Donna's totally awesome friendship that would have definitely happened had they ever met. Hopefully this will be the first of many fics (I have two more planned in my head but that doesn't mean I'll actually write them).
Oh, and I finished writing this at 6:00 AM so it may be crap.
Title: The Long-Suffering Assistants Club
Fandom: Iron Man (movie-verse)/The West Wing
Characters: Pepper Potts, Donna Moss, Sam Seaborn, Tony Stark, mentions of other West Wing staffers
Rating: PG - if that
Word count: 1,292
Warnings: None except for extreme West Wing geekery
Summary: Pepper Potts and Donna Moss meet at a Hollywood fundraiser. It's the start of a beautiful friendship. Pre-movie for Iron Man, mid-season 1 for West Wing
Notes: I am a huge West Wing geek so there's a few references which won't make much sense to non-fans. For those brave enough to try and read this without having seen one, here's a quick breakdown: Pepper Potts is the Personal Assistant to Tony Stark, genius weapons designer and CEO of Stark Industries. Donna Moss is the Senior Assistant to Josh Lyman, Deputy Chief-of-Staff. Both women have to deal with bosses who are sometimes demanding, possessive jackasses and with whom they share rampant UST.
I was originally going to set this during the West Wing episode '20 hours in L.A.' but I decided not to. Still, similar circumstances.
There are two bands, three bars, eight ice sculptures, four fire-eaters, a team of acrobats on the south lawn, fireworks in half an hour, and five dozen tall men in dark suits because, oh, the President of the United States of America is here too.
Tony had actually introduced her to him when they’d arrived, and though Bartlet only said “Nice to meet you” to her, for Pepper, it was almost enough to make up for the day she’s having.
Almost, but not quite, because Pepper was sitting in the empty library of a certain Hollywood studio boss, making a phone call, and was not outside enjoying his party.
Scrolling through the list of recently called numbers on her phone, Pepper pressed re-dial.
“Dr. Milsom? It’s Pepper Potts again. Any developments?”
“Sorry, Pepper,” was the frustrated scientist’s reply. “We can’t find any explanation for why the satellite’s tracking system isn’t coming online. The satellite must have sustained damage while exiting Earth’s atmosphere. It’s certainly not – ”
“Well, keep looking, just in case it is a programming problem. Call me if you find anything,” and she disconnected the call before Milsom could insist (again) that the problem with Osiris II was NASA’s fault.
Leaning back in the stiff leather chair, Pepper rubbed her temples before dialing a different number.
A clipped voice answered: “Miss Potts. Do you have anything to report on your end?”
“No, General Osborne. Our team is working diligently, and they’ve ruled out several possibilities, but they suspect that the satellite might have endured some structural damage – ”
“Miss Potts that is not the case. Now tell your people to find out what is wrong with our satellite or we’re going to have to reconsider our contracts with Stark Industries in the future.” And then he slammed the phone back in its cradle.
“Bastard,” she spat, and shook her head in an attempt to dispel the ringing in her ear.
“Excuse me?” said a voice, and Pepper looked up to see a young woman with blond hair standing by the door.
Standing abruptly, Pepper blushed.
“No please, excuse me. I’ll just get out of your way. I’m sorry for intruding, I just needed a quiet place for my phone call.”
“Oh I don’t work here,” said the young woman, moving into the room. “If you’re trespassing, then I am too.”
She grinned and Pepper wondered who she was. Like Pepper, she was dressed in knee length cocktail dress and was holding a cell phone.
Holding out her hand, “I’m Pepper Potts. My boss is here for the party but there’s uh, a bit of a problem with the company that he wants to be kept appraised of.”
The young woman shook her hand with enthusiasm.
“I’m Donna Moss, and that’s my excuse too except my boss is the Deputy Chief-of-Staff to the President and I think it’s less about me keeping track of NASA and more about him denying me the opportunity to meet Brad Pitt.”
Pepper laughed and they settled into facing chairs.
“My boss is Tony Stark, so you missing out on Brad is possibly our fault.”
“Oh I’m pretty sure that even if there wasn’t some kind of quasi-emergency Josh would still find a way to keep me out of the party. He’s kind of the fun-killer.”
“So you’re his assistant?”
“Yeah, since the campaign.”
“It must be exciting working in the White House.”
“Every day’s a challenge, that’s for sure,” she said with a tone of exasperation that Pepper knew only too well. But with a smile and a look of pride she added, “It never gets old though.”
“I’ll bet,” said Pepper. “We’re in Washington a lot but mostly for meetings at the Pentagon or the D.O.D. I never seem to make it the White House.”
“Well the next time you’re in town, I’ll give you the tour. We assistants have to stick together.”
“I’ll say. Nobody else ever understands what I go through to get Tony – Mr Stark out the door, to the right place, and on time. Is it the same with your boss?”
“Pretty much but probably with more diatribes against the Republican Party.” With a laugh, “Josh loves the sound of his own voice. Though, if my boss looked liked yours I’d happily give him my full attention.”
“Trust me: ‘The World’s Sexiest Arms Dealer’ is no prince. Once inspiration strikes and he heads down to his workshop, personal hygiene goes out the window for the next week.”
“And then there’s the late nights – ”
“The endless meetings – ”
“The messy love-life you always get entangled in – ”
“The never-ending sexual innuendo – ”
“And the way people always assume you’re in love with your boss.”
They both laughed.
“Why do we put up with it?” Pepper asked with a wry chuckle, her hands smoothing non-existent creases in her dress.
“I have no idea,” replied Donna, her smile wide but with a wistful look in her eyes.
The unsettling silence was punctuated by the appearance of a man – thankfully not one of the ones they had been discussing.
“Hey Donna, have we heard anything new?”
“Sorry, Sam. NASA’s not admitting to anything until they’ve found a way to blame someone else.”
“Sounds about right. I’ll let CJ know so we can prepare something for the next briefing.” With a nod to Pepper, he closed the door.
She waited five seconds before turning to Donna.
“That was Sam Seaborn,” she said with a nervous laugh and a blush. Trying to recover: “He’s so well spoken in interviews.”
Donna gave her a knowing grin and Pepper gave up her attempt to be coy.
“I don’t suppose you could introduce me properly?”
Donna shook her head, the ends of her blond hair dancing.
“No point. He’s hung up on our boss’ daughter – though she’s a redhead too.”
Mentally reviewing the President’s daughters, Pepper started. “Zoey Bartlet? But she’s only 18.”
Donna hastened to clear Pepper’s confusion.
“Oh we don’t think of President Bartlet as our boss. Leo McGarry, the Chief-of-Staff, handles uh, the staff. Don’t worry,” Donna said, her smile returning, “She’s age appropriate. Though that doesn’t comfort Leo at all.”
Pepper’s frown disappeared, the object of her admiration vindicated.
A sharp crack outside was followed by an explosion of light that bathed both women’s faces in blue. They rose to stand at the window, side by side, members of the Long-Suffering Assistants Club.
The last firework fizzled out and the crowd assembled outside applauded.
Still looking at the night sky, Donna offered: “You don’t see that many stars here in LA. Not like in Wisconsin.”
Pepper nodded her head in agreement.
“And somewhere amongst those unseen stars there’s a satellite that doesn’t work.”
Pepper’s phone rang and she made her way back to her chair to pick it up.
“Tony? What’s wrong?”
“Now why do you assume something is wrong?”
Rolling her eyes at Donna, “It’s 9:30 on a Friday night and while disasters generally occur at more inconvenient times, the President is here, so obviously the universe is going to provide you with the opportunity to look ridiculous in front of him.”
“You know, you’re not a very generous person.”
“Where are you and what have you done?”
“Hedge maze at the end of the lawn. You’re gonna see a girl in a blue dress calling my name in a manner that one might call deranged. You’ll want to avoid her.”
“I’ll order the car and come find you.”
She turned to Donna.
“That was my boss. He’s done…something.”
Donna’s mega-watt smile returned.
“Tell me about it next time you’re in DC. We’ll get lunch and I’ll give you that tour.”
“I’d like that.”
“Nice to meet you, Pepper Potts.”
“Likewise, Donna Moss.”
Since then I've Iron Man-ified my layout, made icons, and now that I've finally finished my assignments, I've written fic (pick your jaws up off the floor people!). Everyone and their dog has compared Tony and Pepper to Josh and Donna from The West Wing, so I decided to take a whack at Pepper and Donna's totally awesome friendship that would have definitely happened had they ever met. Hopefully this will be the first of many fics (I have two more planned in my head but that doesn't mean I'll actually write them).
Oh, and I finished writing this at 6:00 AM so it may be crap.
Title: The Long-Suffering Assistants Club
Fandom: Iron Man (movie-verse)/The West Wing
Characters: Pepper Potts, Donna Moss, Sam Seaborn, Tony Stark, mentions of other West Wing staffers
Rating: PG - if that
Word count: 1,292
Warnings: None except for extreme West Wing geekery
Summary: Pepper Potts and Donna Moss meet at a Hollywood fundraiser. It's the start of a beautiful friendship. Pre-movie for Iron Man, mid-season 1 for West Wing
Notes: I am a huge West Wing geek so there's a few references which won't make much sense to non-fans. For those brave enough to try and read this without having seen one, here's a quick breakdown: Pepper Potts is the Personal Assistant to Tony Stark, genius weapons designer and CEO of Stark Industries. Donna Moss is the Senior Assistant to Josh Lyman, Deputy Chief-of-Staff. Both women have to deal with bosses who are sometimes demanding, possessive jackasses and with whom they share rampant UST.
I was originally going to set this during the West Wing episode '20 hours in L.A.' but I decided not to. Still, similar circumstances.
There are two bands, three bars, eight ice sculptures, four fire-eaters, a team of acrobats on the south lawn, fireworks in half an hour, and five dozen tall men in dark suits because, oh, the President of the United States of America is here too.
Tony had actually introduced her to him when they’d arrived, and though Bartlet only said “Nice to meet you” to her, for Pepper, it was almost enough to make up for the day she’s having.
Almost, but not quite, because Pepper was sitting in the empty library of a certain Hollywood studio boss, making a phone call, and was not outside enjoying his party.
Scrolling through the list of recently called numbers on her phone, Pepper pressed re-dial.
“Dr. Milsom? It’s Pepper Potts again. Any developments?”
“Sorry, Pepper,” was the frustrated scientist’s reply. “We can’t find any explanation for why the satellite’s tracking system isn’t coming online. The satellite must have sustained damage while exiting Earth’s atmosphere. It’s certainly not – ”
“Well, keep looking, just in case it is a programming problem. Call me if you find anything,” and she disconnected the call before Milsom could insist (again) that the problem with Osiris II was NASA’s fault.
Leaning back in the stiff leather chair, Pepper rubbed her temples before dialing a different number.
A clipped voice answered: “Miss Potts. Do you have anything to report on your end?”
“No, General Osborne. Our team is working diligently, and they’ve ruled out several possibilities, but they suspect that the satellite might have endured some structural damage – ”
“Miss Potts that is not the case. Now tell your people to find out what is wrong with our satellite or we’re going to have to reconsider our contracts with Stark Industries in the future.” And then he slammed the phone back in its cradle.
“Bastard,” she spat, and shook her head in an attempt to dispel the ringing in her ear.
“Excuse me?” said a voice, and Pepper looked up to see a young woman with blond hair standing by the door.
Standing abruptly, Pepper blushed.
“No please, excuse me. I’ll just get out of your way. I’m sorry for intruding, I just needed a quiet place for my phone call.”
“Oh I don’t work here,” said the young woman, moving into the room. “If you’re trespassing, then I am too.”
She grinned and Pepper wondered who she was. Like Pepper, she was dressed in knee length cocktail dress and was holding a cell phone.
Holding out her hand, “I’m Pepper Potts. My boss is here for the party but there’s uh, a bit of a problem with the company that he wants to be kept appraised of.”
The young woman shook her hand with enthusiasm.
“I’m Donna Moss, and that’s my excuse too except my boss is the Deputy Chief-of-Staff to the President and I think it’s less about me keeping track of NASA and more about him denying me the opportunity to meet Brad Pitt.”
Pepper laughed and they settled into facing chairs.
“My boss is Tony Stark, so you missing out on Brad is possibly our fault.”
“Oh I’m pretty sure that even if there wasn’t some kind of quasi-emergency Josh would still find a way to keep me out of the party. He’s kind of the fun-killer.”
“So you’re his assistant?”
“Yeah, since the campaign.”
“It must be exciting working in the White House.”
“Every day’s a challenge, that’s for sure,” she said with a tone of exasperation that Pepper knew only too well. But with a smile and a look of pride she added, “It never gets old though.”
“I’ll bet,” said Pepper. “We’re in Washington a lot but mostly for meetings at the Pentagon or the D.O.D. I never seem to make it the White House.”
“Well the next time you’re in town, I’ll give you the tour. We assistants have to stick together.”
“I’ll say. Nobody else ever understands what I go through to get Tony – Mr Stark out the door, to the right place, and on time. Is it the same with your boss?”
“Pretty much but probably with more diatribes against the Republican Party.” With a laugh, “Josh loves the sound of his own voice. Though, if my boss looked liked yours I’d happily give him my full attention.”
“Trust me: ‘The World’s Sexiest Arms Dealer’ is no prince. Once inspiration strikes and he heads down to his workshop, personal hygiene goes out the window for the next week.”
“And then there’s the late nights – ”
“The endless meetings – ”
“The messy love-life you always get entangled in – ”
“The never-ending sexual innuendo – ”
“And the way people always assume you’re in love with your boss.”
They both laughed.
“Why do we put up with it?” Pepper asked with a wry chuckle, her hands smoothing non-existent creases in her dress.
“I have no idea,” replied Donna, her smile wide but with a wistful look in her eyes.
The unsettling silence was punctuated by the appearance of a man – thankfully not one of the ones they had been discussing.
“Hey Donna, have we heard anything new?”
“Sorry, Sam. NASA’s not admitting to anything until they’ve found a way to blame someone else.”
“Sounds about right. I’ll let CJ know so we can prepare something for the next briefing.” With a nod to Pepper, he closed the door.
She waited five seconds before turning to Donna.
“That was Sam Seaborn,” she said with a nervous laugh and a blush. Trying to recover: “He’s so well spoken in interviews.”
Donna gave her a knowing grin and Pepper gave up her attempt to be coy.
“I don’t suppose you could introduce me properly?”
Donna shook her head, the ends of her blond hair dancing.
“No point. He’s hung up on our boss’ daughter – though she’s a redhead too.”
Mentally reviewing the President’s daughters, Pepper started. “Zoey Bartlet? But she’s only 18.”
Donna hastened to clear Pepper’s confusion.
“Oh we don’t think of President Bartlet as our boss. Leo McGarry, the Chief-of-Staff, handles uh, the staff. Don’t worry,” Donna said, her smile returning, “She’s age appropriate. Though that doesn’t comfort Leo at all.”
Pepper’s frown disappeared, the object of her admiration vindicated.
A sharp crack outside was followed by an explosion of light that bathed both women’s faces in blue. They rose to stand at the window, side by side, members of the Long-Suffering Assistants Club.
The last firework fizzled out and the crowd assembled outside applauded.
Still looking at the night sky, Donna offered: “You don’t see that many stars here in LA. Not like in Wisconsin.”
Pepper nodded her head in agreement.
“And somewhere amongst those unseen stars there’s a satellite that doesn’t work.”
Pepper’s phone rang and she made her way back to her chair to pick it up.
“Tony? What’s wrong?”
“Now why do you assume something is wrong?”
Rolling her eyes at Donna, “It’s 9:30 on a Friday night and while disasters generally occur at more inconvenient times, the President is here, so obviously the universe is going to provide you with the opportunity to look ridiculous in front of him.”
“You know, you’re not a very generous person.”
“Where are you and what have you done?”
“Hedge maze at the end of the lawn. You’re gonna see a girl in a blue dress calling my name in a manner that one might call deranged. You’ll want to avoid her.”
“I’ll order the car and come find you.”
She turned to Donna.
“That was my boss. He’s done…something.”
Donna’s mega-watt smile returned.
“Tell me about it next time you’re in DC. We’ll get lunch and I’ll give you that tour.”
“I’d like that.”
“Nice to meet you, Pepper Potts.”
“Likewise, Donna Moss.”
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no subject
Date: 2008-05-20 07:45 pm (UTC)CJ approves.
no subject
Date: 2008-05-24 07:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-20 08:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-24 07:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-20 08:11 pm (UTC)Great job! :)
no subject
Date: 2008-05-24 07:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-20 08:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-24 08:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-20 08:20 pm (UTC)Highlight below :)
no subject
Date: 2008-05-24 08:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-20 08:50 pm (UTC)Only Assistants can truly laugh about their bosses.
no subject
Date: 2008-05-24 08:05 am (UTC)But thanks for reading! ;-)
no subject
Date: 2008-05-20 08:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-24 08:06 am (UTC)Thanks for reading!
no subject
Date: 2008-05-20 10:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-24 08:11 am (UTC)But thanks for reading and I'm working on Pepper and Donna in DC right now.
no subject
Date: 2008-05-20 11:11 pm (UTC)Loved the dialogue, the beginning and just about everything in between.
And this: “Hedge maze at the end of the lawn. You’re gonna see a girl in a blue dress calling my name in a manner that one might call deranged. You’ll want to avoid her.”
Made me laugh.
Awesome job.
Write more like this, yes?
no subject
Date: 2008-05-24 08:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-21 07:52 am (UTC)Really fun and adorable. Please keep going.
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Date: 2008-05-24 08:18 am (UTC)But I may just end up writing one big cracky fic where Tony and Pepper go to some DC function and Tony tries to seduce Abby and CJ while Pepper, Donna, Charlie, and Margaret bitch about the crazy things their bosses have done. And then Toby breaks something with his stress ball and Tony fixes it?
no subject
Date: 2008-05-24 09:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-21 10:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-24 08:20 am (UTC)a Josh/Donna fan since episode one
I was 12 when I started watching WW and so I didn't get the Josh/Donna thing for an appalling length of time ;-)
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Date: 2008-05-21 01:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-24 08:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-21 05:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-24 08:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-22 03:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-24 08:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-25 11:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-30 03:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-10-19 04:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-05 11:04 pm (UTC)(I adore your mood theme, any mix of Firefly and Veronica Mars is the best thing ever!)