Raven's Watch A bag full of cats.

You? What in the world would possess me to do that, Mister Stark? She shot right back at him, her tone a mixture of playful and serious to the point where anyone listening might think she was his angry ex-wife, but he'd have known better. Or maybe not. Maybe she really was super annoyed, because after all of time, after expending so much energy and worry over her best friend, she was met with a poor subsitute. Then again, she realized her attempt at being a smart ass was just leading him on to more conversation - which she didn't want - and before he could respond, she cut in: I thought you were Hogan. But I guess I'm not that lucky.

No, this wasn't Hogan at all. It was irritating to some degree that Stark was just sitting there, grinning like an idiot, probably enjoying his time as a vagabond far more than she was. The fact he didn't hold Hogan's scent was telling. It meant, to her at least, that Stark had not found their shared friend - and that Hogan wasn't here. It put a damper on her spirits for sure, but Pepper wasn't about to show her weakness in front of this silly boy. He'd enjoy that too much, she thought.

Have you seen him? The poor fool heard about you leaving, so he went to find you. I thought maybe - ah, there was that tiny shred of weakness, that hope, and it caught in her throat; but Pepper pursed her lips, stood tall, and stopped her descent in to rambling. I thought wrong. I'll just be going then. Except... She didn't move yet.