Driving to Tony's house, Brown stood at the front door and asked Jarvis to open it. Jarvis first checked with Tony to see if it was permissible, as this was Brown's first visit since leaving his job, meaning he naturally lacked the necessary authorization.
Once the door was opened, Brown headed straight down to the basement workshop, where Tony had already opened the door and was waiting for him.
"Haha, Tony, how is the suit coming along?"
"Not bad," Tony said. "It's just that after Yinsen left, I find myself stuck on a lot of things, and I still need Jarvis to help me with some of the assembly work."
"That's already pretty good. Jarvis can offer suggestions and help you put the armor together—what a great AI to have," Brown comforted him.
"True, but... I still prefer someone who can give me sudden flashes of inspiration," Tony replied.
"Aren't you afraid Jarvis will hear that and get upset?" Brown said. "Let me give you a suggestion: you'd better develop a few portable suits to deal with emergencies."
"You're right. I'll start working on that right now." With that, Tony plunged back into the workshop.
Seeing that Tony was once again engrossed in his R&D, Brown went back upstairs, watched some TV, and had a few drinks. By noon, seeing that Tony showed no signs of coming out, Brown told Jarvis:
"Let Tony know I'm leaving. We'll get together another time when he's free."
"Very well, sir," Jarvis replied.
Brown then went straight back to his car, stopped by McDonald's, and ordered a combo meal along with a few burgers. After finishing his lunch, Brown drove to Stark Industries and headed straight for the CEO's office, where he knocked on the door.
"Come in."
Brown pushed the door open. Seeing Brown, Pepper's first thought was: wasn't dinner supposed to be tonight? Why is he here already in the afternoon?
"Is there something you need, Brown?"
"Nothing, nothing at all. Just dropping by to inspect the company. Seeing you work so hard puts my mind at ease."
Without even raising her head, Pepper retorted, "Capitalist. A capitalist who just sits back with his hands out waiting to collect the money."
"Hey, hey, hey, don't say it like that. This is your company too, you know—between you and Tony, that makes you a capitalist as well."
Pepper just smiled and chatted with Brown while continuing to work.
Right in the middle of their pleasant conversation, Brown received a call from the Mercedes-Benz 4 dealership informing him that his custom Maybach 62S had arrived. Upon hearing this, Brown immediately bid farewell to Pepper, telling her he would come pick her up for dinner in the evening.
Arriving at the dealership, Brown laid eyes on the Maybach he had been yearning for. Like a young bride reunited with her husband after a long separation, he was beyond ecstatic.
After sitting in the front passenger seat and then trying out the back seat, Brown felt it was finally time to hire a chauffeur. He paid the remaining balance in full and had the dealership staff drive his G-Wagon back home along with him. Once home and with the G-Wagon safely parked, he immediately hopped into the 62S and drove off to Stark Industries to pick up Pepper.
Parking the car downstairs, Brown sent Pepper a message from inside: (*Wrap up what you're doing and come straight down. I'm waiting for you at the entrance so you can ride in my car.*)
At seven o'clock in the evening, Pepper came downstairs and saw a Maybach. Assuming it wasn't Brown's car, she walked right past it. It wasn't until Brown honked the horn that Pepper turned around and saw him.
"You changed cars? I didn't even realize this was yours."
"Yeah, that afternoon phone call was letting me know the car had arrived. Hop in the back and see how it feels."
Once Pepper settled into the back seat, Brown drove off.
"Where should we eat?" Brown asked.
"It's your treat, you pick the place," Pepper replied.
"So what are we in the mood for? French, Japanese, or Italian?" Brown inquired.
"Let's do French, I quite like it," Pepper said.
"Alright, then we're heading straight to Le Bernardin." Receiving a definite answer, Brown drove toward the restaurant.
"New York traffic during the evening rush hour is truly deadlocked," Brown complained.
"Do you want me to find you a driver so you can just sit in the back from now on?"
"That works, I could get used to being pampered."
As luck would have it, Gwen happened to be in the next lane and spotted Brown driving, with a woman sitting in the back whom she recognized as the one who had bailed him out. Gwen said to the taxi driver:
"Keep up with that Maybach in the next lane and see where he goes."
The driver didn't ask questions and simply followed the customer's instructions—as long as he was getting paid, it didn't matter.
Just like that, the traffic slowly edged forward. Brown and Pepper chatted animatedly in the car, laughing from time to time, while Gwen, watching from diagonally ahead as the two of them conversed so happily, couldn't help but let her imagination run wild.They were chatting so happily, they must be good friends. Should I go ask Brown about it when we get out of the car? What if they really are husband and wife?
Lost in these imagined scenarios all the way, Gwen grew more and more downcast, while Brown and Pepper chatted away happily, as if the two of them were experiencing heaven and hell respectively.
When they arrived, Brown parked the car and hurried over to open the door for Pepper. Seeing this, Gwen's suspicions solidified even further. Watching the two of them walk into the restaurant, Gwen followed them inside, but was stopped at the entrance.
"Miss, do you have a reservation?"
"Um... no."
"I'm sorry, you cannot enter without a reservation."
"Oh, alright." Gwen walked back out.
Intending to peek through the windows, Gwen realized that the upstairs private dining room where Brown and herons had gone could not be seen from the main lobby.
With that, Gwen abandoned her peeking plan and decided she would just have to wait until she saw Brown next time to ask him straight out, or wait by the car for him. Gwen chose the latter; if she didn't get answers tonight, she wouldn't be able to sleep.
So Gwen stood in front of Brown's car. When her legs grew tired from standing, she squatted down for a bit. After waiting two and a half hours like this, Brown and Pepper finished their meal and walked over to the car, chatting and laughing, only to find Gwen squatting in front of it.
"Hey, Gwen, what are you doing here?"
"Um, come over here for a second, I need to talk to you," Gwen said awkwardly upon being spotted by Brown.
Without a word, Brown walked right up to Gwen and asked, "How long have you been waiting here? Why didn't you call me? Did something happen?"
Taken aback by Brown's rapid-fire questions, Gwen began answering them one by one.
"I waited for two and a half hours. I saw you go in to eat and didn't have the heart to disturb you. Who was the woman you were eating with?"
Hearing Gwen's question, Pepper chuckled from behind Brown and said, "Brown, looks like your little girlfriend is jealous. Alright, you don't need to drive me home, go comfort your little girlfriend instead."
With that, Pepper called Happy directly to come pick her up. Looking embarrassed, Brown said, "I'm sorry, Pepper, I can't drive you home tonight."
Then he turned to Gwen and said, "Let's go, get in the car and I'll drive you home. We can talk on the way."
Hearing this, Gwen's heart leaped with joy. She had confirmed one thing: Pepper and Brown were not a married couple, just very good friends.
Once she sat down in the passenger seat and told Brown where she lived, Gwen gained a whole new understanding of him along the way.
"You're saying you're the second-largest shareholder of Stark Industries? And the woman you were having dinner with is the CEO of the company? Oh my god!"
"Yes, I am the second-largest shareholder. Don't be too surprised—there are still plenty of surprising things waiting for you to discover."
"Are you saying you still have secrets I haven't found out about? Just how many secrets do you have, you bad man?"
Brown smiled faintly at this, feeling quite pleased. Just then, a mood-ruining phone call came in. Seeing Coulson's name flashing on the screen, Brown hung up immediately.
"Don't hang up! If you have work to do, you should go take care of it."
"My job right now is to escort you safely home."
Brown's words made Gwen blush all the way from her face down to her neck. Brown thought to himself that using cheesy pickup lines from decades in the future was practically a dimensional strike in the present. The only downside was that Coulson kept calling and interrupting.
When they arrived downstairs at Gwen's apartment building, George was waiting outside for his precious daughter Gwen. Before getting out of the car, Gwen whispered to Brown, "Bye, Brown. I had a really great time tonight."
Then she got out and followed George upstairs. As they walked up, George lectured, "Gwen, you're still too young. How can you know that what you see of him is who he really is? Your father has spent a lifetime in the police department—I can tell what kind of person someone is at a glance. That kid is up to no good."
Listening to her old man's words, Gwen let them go in one ear and out the other.
Downstairs, Brown called Coulson back to ask what was going on.