A/N Hey, guys, I'm baaack! So this is an idea I came up with contemplating what would have happened in various situations if Tony had never existed to save the day and how different everyone's lives would be without him. School starts for me Monday (tomorrow), but I already have five chapters typed up so I just have to edit them and upload. If you have any questions regarding this, feel free to ask in a review or PM me!

I hope everyone enjoys! XD This is a bit of a slow chapter.

IMAA doesn't belong to me.

Chapter One

"...I'll be completely erased from the space time continuum. At first you might have dim recollections of me. There might be people who remind you of me, there could be memories of conversations that never took place, friendships never forged, but then they'll fade. When they do, I'll be gone forever. But no, don't cry... You won't remember me, so you won't be upset. Just...if this is the end, I want to say... Pepper, I..."

The redhead jolted awake, her breathing ragged and heartbeat erratic as her wide chocolate brown eyes snapped open and stared at the ceiling overhead. She sat up on the bed mattress, kicking the suffocatingly thick comforter off of her legs as she tried to recall her strange dream. Despite her attempts to preserve the memory of her vivid dream, it was fading as quickly as sand slipped between someone's fingers. There was something she should remember, something important... There was a boy, with a bright red shirt and electrifying blue eyes, who tried to reassure her about...about what? The memory had faded almost entirely, and with it the sense of urgency she had felt when she had tried to retrieve it from her mind.

But it didn't matter, anyways, she finally concluded with a yawn. It was just a dream, so it didn't matter if she didn't remember.

She pushed herself off of the bed, her bare feet hitting the hardwood floor with a dull thud as she stood, arching her back and stretching her arms over her head. She stumbled across the room, glancing at her tousled hair and puffy red eyes in the mirror before walking to the bathroom to brush her teeth and ready herself for the day.

Half an hour later she appeared in the living room, dressed and freshened up for the school day. She noticed her dad had left the television set on when he left for work and she sighed, dropping her backpack onto the couch and walking across the room. She paused, watching the screen intently for a moment, her interest captivated as she turned up the volume with the buttons on the side of the screen.

"-as Howard Stark continues to talk about his latest manufactured weaponry. Back to you, Jim."

"Alright," the spiky-haired blond with striking emerald green eyes said, flashing a toothy grin at the camera, "we have here with us Howard Stark, the sole mastermind behind the weapons company, Stark International."

The camera panned out to where both thin, sapphire blue-eyed Howard and muscular Jim were in the frame. Howard had a dulled look in his eyes, dark circles lining them and his greying brown hair unruly. Pepper felt a pang as she stared at the image, as if she was supposed to connect the man with something, but then the sensation passed as quickly as it came.

"So tell me, Howard-can I call you Howard?" Jim continued. "What are the weapons called? What do they do?"

"Well," the multi-millionaire said, intwining his fingers on the desk in front of him as he leaned back in his vinyl chair, "they're called the Eliminator missles. They have a blast radius of up to twenty-seven miles and can wipe out several towns with one dropped nuke." He paused. "The fatalities would be quick and, for the most part, painless, of course."

"There you have it!" Jim said, the camera's attention again focusing on him. "Next we'll be covering the government's takedown of a green menace called the Hulk and discuss-"

Pepper scowled in disgust, turning off the television and glaring at the blank screen as though it had wronged her. "Weapons don't solve a problem, they only create more."

Where did that come from? she wondered. It was good advice, although she couldn't place who she had heard it from. Maybe she should use it.

Her phone began buzzing inside her purse and she hurriedly took it out, checking the caller ID before her face split in a grin and she lifted it to her ear.

"Hey, Dad! Are you-what? No, I-I'm not upset, it's your job-can I come? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, I'm an untrained adolescent. No, I just have a paper due today-you know I'll try. But wait-oh. Okay, I love you. B'bye." She hung up, frowning before tucking the phone back in her purse and starting for the front door, grabbing her backpack as she passed by the sofa. She paused, her eyes landing on a can of pepper spray lying on the stand beside the couch, before scooping it up and tucking it safely inside her hot pink side pouch. She couldn't be too careful, what with all of these masked menaces running loose in New York.

There should be someone to protect the city from all of these supervillains, she thought as she stepped outside, closing the front door behind her.