Spider-Man. The House Of Venom

Pepper was furious. ”What the hell did you do Tony?” she asked angrily as she slammed the report down on his desk. She had already received paperwork that Tony was being investigated. A complaint had been filed and it was only courtesy it wasn't going to the District Attorney. It alleged that Tony was using fake movie auditions to sexually assault young women. Matt Murdock had worked quickly and efficiently.

Tony was spinning around in a circle in his office chair. He shrugged as he slid it off and peered at it, “Blah blah, sexual harassment, blah blah. Come on Pep, you know it's just a wannabe looking for a quick score.”

He scrunched the paper up and tossed it into the small wastepaper basket next to his desk. He raised his hands in victory as it went through the miniature basketball hoop around it. Pepper tutted and Tony looked, “What? Three points.”

She shook her head. “Well, good thing I have a copy, as this isn't a wannabe looking to score. Thanks to your little stunt in the audition room, she actually has a case. Legal is up my ass about it already.” Pepper stood in his office, tapping her foot and glaring at him with her arms crossed.

Normally Stark’s legal department took care of things like this and he was normally right. This time the woman’s case actually had merit. Tony had no right to be there and had chosen the scene they were using. Until Miss Watson had stopped him, he had worked his way through the entire audition. Several of the others had already claimed he had promised them the part. It was now a legal nightmare and it had gone up the chain of command until it hit her desk.

Tony rolled his eyes and spun on his chair again, “so? Find out what she wants and give her that. It's not hard Pep.”

“It looks like she wants your balls Tony, so shall I?”

He snorted, “Just give her the lead. She’s an actress, it's not hard to guess what they want, parts and fame. And if kissing me wasn’t good enough then she just wants parts.”

It was Pepper's turn to tut. As she stood and crossed her arms she pursed her lips. Tony had always been a bad boy but now, after coming home, it was starting to cost Stark Industries. More importantly, as she was unofficially running the company, cost her as well.

“Get yourself cleaned up and meet me at my office in an hour.” Pepper turned and pulled out her phone, calling the number she had been given. She spoke to the actress’s agent, who was full of apologies for the way Miss Watson had behaved. It was obvious, however, that she was more interested in the payout and damages, not if Miss Watson was okay. Pepper may have sounded calm but inside she was furious.

After hanging up, she called the number on the complaint instead.

"Mr Murdock. Can we resolve this amicably?" she asked.

"Miss Potts. Given Mr Starks reputation, I don't see why not. Against my wishes, Miss Watson will be attending your meeting. While I would like to be there I have instructed her not to sign until I read over the settlement."

Pepper huffed. He was good. Good enough that Tony might not come out of this one unscathed.

"I can accept that Mr Murdock." and she hung up.

After spending an exhausting ten minutes on the phone she slumped down at her desk. As acting CEO she had taken over  Jebediah's old office. She had recently refurbished it. Removed all the collectables and what she thought of as ‘old man junk’. It was now tastefully decorated in lighter glass and chrome cabinets.

Each one showcased Pepper's own achievements. Since taking over as interim CEO stocks were up and Stark-Tech was reaching a new peak. The last thing she needed was for them to be tainted by Tony. He already had enough harassment and paternity suits hidden by non-disclosure orders. This was just another one to add to the pile.

He had promised her he would change. After what she had heard of his time in the Middle East, and the man who had died to save him, she believed him. Even now, as his features filled out once more she could still see the haunted look on his face every now and again. She knew it wasn't the pain the arc reactor he implanted in his chest caused him.

His only solace seemed to be in building Iron Man suits. Suits, suits, and more suits, but as they seemed to be helping she couldn’t complain if he had no time for her. That was what made this piss her off more. He had time to build another suit, time to mess around with naive actresses, but not for her.

As she leant back in her chair there was a knock at the door and Tony’s head of security. A buff but decidedly unhappy-looking man, Happy, stuck his head around. Pepper motioned for him to come in and as he sat in the chair in front of her seek she tilted her head, “well?”

He knitted his fingers, holding his hands in front of his stomach, “It's not as bad as the report says. It was just a kiss, and she did say no. Well, she was the only one to say no, but she did. Honestly, Tony’s done a lot worse.”

Pepper rubbed her forehead with a hand. “That doesn't make it better, Happy. Last year, Tony was caught at a strip club with someone who looked underage. It was only a birth certificate that got him out of that one and he still paid off the prostitution charges.”

He had sworn that was the last time, as usual. It was a string of last times. Happy winced at the memory, as he had been outside that club waiting in the car. “It's not bad Pepper. Honest.” The guilty look on his face told Pepper that it was even worse than she imagined.

As she shook her head her phone went and after listening to her secretary, she motioned for Happy to sit. “Well, she’s here, and Tony?”

“Oh, I'm here too.” And in he walked, a pale tan suit and an ACDC T-shirt, the arc reactor glowing underneath it. “It’ll be fine, no one can resist my charms once I start.”

Pepper stood, shaking a finger at him. “Don't you dare, that's what got us into this mess,” He grinned and raised his hands in mock surrender. He slid his sunglasses off and up into his hairline,

“I kid, I kid.” He sat back and smiled at her, much to her annoyance.

There was a knock at the door, “come” and a secretary showed in the young woman.

Pepper was stunned and immediately could see why Tony was drooling over her. Tall, thin, feminine and curvy, she ticked all his boxes. Which then annoyed her more. Why was he chasing some young actress when they hadn’t had sex for over a month? Was there something wrong with her?

Pepper stuck out a hand and motioned to one of the seats, Happy jolted and stood, “sorry” and moved to stand behind Tony.

“It's fine,” and as she sat down, she gave Tony a glare and smiled at Pepper.

“Miss Potts, I got the call from my agent but uh, why am I here?”

Pepper looked over at Tony. “You didn't get your agent to threaten to sue us?” He just shrugged, and Pepper was now confused, "Matt Murdock?"

MJ frowned and shook her head. “My uh, boyfriend's lawyer. No, if my boyfriend found out about Tony,” and the look she had on her face was a mix of disappointment and fear. “He uh.“ MJ was unsure of how exactly to let them know Venom might have stalked the hallways looking for Tony. “He would be upset and he would not care you were Tony Stark,” she said pointedly.

Tony just snorted dismissively.

Pepper glared at him. “Miss Watson. We don’t want to make a big deal out of this, and from your resume, it does seem that you would be suitable for the part. How about we get legal to draw up some papers and if you sign today then we can guarantee a part in the movie?”

Pepper would make sure that the part wasn’t specified. If the young woman made waves she could have her pour a coffee and then have her edited out on the cutting room floor.

“Uh, I get that Mr Stark is in trouble, but, why are you so,” MJ paused and chuckled. “I get it. This isn't the first time, is it?”

As Pepper looked over at Tony he shrugged, but Happy behind him had the guiltiest look on his face.

“Right,” and she straightened herself up. “First, I want to speak to Miss Potts, alone. Then, my boyfriend is a big fan, so a signed headshot or two, some t-shirts and some of that new merchandising, maybe a tour. Then, I will get my new lawyer to look over the legal stuff. I will apologise for my old agent's behaviour, She isn't the most reliable person, and I am ditching her,”

And thanks Muse, she said in her mind, following the symbiote's prompts.

While MJ was a bit slow on the uptake, Muse had been spawned from Poison and originally from Peter. The one thing the symbiote was not, was stupid. After talking her through what to say the symbiote kept listening in. She was making sure MJ wasn’t taken advantage of.

No trouble MJ, we will make sure the Stark pays for insulting us.

“You want to talk in private?” Pepper asked, slightly confused at that but MJ nodded. “I don’t see why not,” She motioned to Tony who was busy staring at the ceiling. Happy tapped him on the shoulder,

“Pleasure,” was all he said as he flipped his sunglasses down and walked off. Happy shrugged apologetically and closed the door on his way out.

“Miss Watson, I can,”

MJ lifted a hand, interrupting her. “Miss Potts, this is separate and uh, kinda embarrassing. So uh,” as MJ’s face dyed red, she reached into her purse and pulled out a tin of low-strength cream. “My chemist friend, she makes this but she can't get approval.”

Pepper frowned, this was defiantly not what she expected. “We don't deal in illegal drugs Miss Watson, or homemade cosmetics.”

MJ hurriedly corrected her, “No, no, it's uh, lubricant, see, my,“ and she shook her head, “never mind. My friend is a biochemist and she, uh, has issues. Down there,” As MJ’s eyes darted down Pepper raised her eyebrows and nodded. “She made a cream to make it a bit easier but without FDA approval then she won't get anywhere. It's not a threat or anything, just, please. I know a lot of women need something like this and uh, you can help.”

MJ placed the tin on the table and leant back in her chair, “It's homemade. Well, not ‘homemade’ homemade. Gwen is a really good chemist, I swear, we use it all the time and we don't have any problems.” but Pepper lifted the tin, “it uh, makes, uh, ‘it’ easier.”

MJ was silently crying inside. How do you tell someone you don't know that it makes you super excited and super wet? That they were selling it in whorehouses and they had so many orders that Gwen was richer than anyone else.

“I can get someone to look at it. What's your friend's name?” Pepper turned and tapped on her keyboard. She might as well put on a show before sticking it in the trash.

“Gwen, Gwen Stacy. She, uh, had an internship at Oscorp before, well, before. So she’s really smart, it's not a joke.“

Pepper nodded but called up the records from not only Oscorp but New York's Technical Academy.  She saw Gwen's file and was actually impressed. The only black mark was Norman's meltdown where he fired every intern. The cream might actually be legitimate, and she could at least humour her to get into her good books.

“She’s the daughter of the police captain, George Stacy?” and MJ nodded. “I’ll have this analysed. Can I get your number? Just in case I need to talk to you or her.”

Nodding MJ grabbed a pen and the note block on Pepper's desk and wrote both her number and Gwen’s on it. Pepper lifted the note and copied it into her phone.

If Gwen’s record was anything to go by she at least would give her a chance. An amateur-made cream however would never get anywhere. One that solved feminine intimacy issues would be a hard sell unless it actually worked. Viagra was a good seller, but no one had cracked the female equivalent yet.

“Thank you, Miss Potts, I really didn't think this would happen. I mean, he’s a jerk but, I get that a lot, and he at least stopped.”

Pepper shook her head, “Miss Watson, that's unimportant,“ Pepper sighed. 'The fact you had to run out of an interview was enough that security was called. It's not just you, so it's okay. I might not like doing things like this but, the alternative is much worse.” Now came the CEO part. "But. You do also realise that Tony is a household name, and is very influential. I don't want to strong-arm you but,"

MJ raised an eyebrow, "Peter isn't afraid of Iron Man," she said sternly. "Tony Stark isn't the only person who uses his fame and money to get what he wants, and eventually goodwill runs out."

Pepper genuinely smiled back at her. not afraid of Iron Man. Iron Man, not Tony.

"Miss Watson, I was out of line, and I promise I will take this seriously."

MJ nodded and stood and shook Pepper’s hand. “Thank you, but uh,” and she took a breath and pushed down on her embarrassment. “Between you and me,” and she pointed at the cream, “don't let any women test that. It makes you super wet and super horny.” Before she could die from shame at talking to the CEO of Stark Industries that way, she bolted from the room. Muse could make her brave, but even she giggled in delight at MJ’s embarrassment at talking dirty to Pepper.

Pepper stood in stunned silence as she stared at the door and then down at the tin. Opening the lid she gave the white cream a sniff and its pleasant caramel sweet scent filled her nose. She let out a small moan as a small rush of heat flowed through her and stopped right in her underwear.

As Pepper let the breath out she had been holding she knew she would have to go home and change. She was soaked and was well aware that even the small sniff had made her orgasm. This would make billions, once she could prove it was safe.

Raising an eyebrow, she quickly tightened the lid back on the tin and made two mental notes. One to find out who Peter was, and why he wasn't intimidated by Iron Man. Second, to follow Miss Watson's instructions to the letter, and make sure that Tony didn’t get his hands on it.