Hi everyone, this is my Pepperony Christmas One-shot. I do hope you like it. There is fluff, figured it's Christmas, people need some fluff. For those of you who think, wow that name looks familiar, its because i have a couple other stories out here. Like five or six one shots and three stories, one of which i just updated yesterday. Fear, you should check it out if you have time or are looking for another good read. So it's the giving season, so i give you this one shot.

Read, enjoy, Review.

Christmas Cookies

It was Christmas Eve in Malibu and the Stark Mansion was eerily quiet except for the sounds of Christmas cheer being sung and the electrical noise of mixers filling the air. Pepper Potts was alone in the kitchen dressed in red and green stocking pajamas, baking batches of Christmas cookies. It was nearly Christmas morning. Two more hours and the clock would strike midnight and so would begin her Christmas alone. Her steady boyfriend of nine months, World- Renowned Superhero, was currently somewhere in Africa with the Avengers taking care of some super-secret national threat. Fury had said they would be gone nearly a week and would be missing both Christmas and New Year's Eve. In Tony's defense, he had put up a hell of a fight trying to stay with her. Fury and the Avengers literally had to drag him out thrashing and yelling threats about how they would all pay because he was missing out on his first Christmas with Pepper as a couple. Pepper loved Christmas and because she loved it, Tony chose to love it too and had put some lights up in the house. They had put up a modest tree together and decorated it with red and gold ornaments. There were a few presents underneath the tree collectively from themselves and friends. They had established a maximum number of gifts and money each could buy for the other. It was mainly so Tony wouldn't go spending millions of dollars. And as Pepper was making cookies, she had on Christmas music and danced around the kitchen singing, trying not to let the fact she was alone bother her. Besides, she wasn't really alone; she had Dummy, Butterfingers, and JARVIS. Yup, she was definitely alone on her favorite holiday of the year.

"Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful, and since we've no place to go, let it snow let it snow let it snow." She sang rolling the last peanut butter cookie dough into a ball and placing it on the cookie sheet to go in the oven. As Pepper walked back over to the counter from the oven, to the bowl with the remaining peanut butter cookie dough, she looked at it questioningly. It looked as though some dough had gone missing. Pepper just shook her head and blamed it on her sleep deprived brain. She had probably put it on the cookie sheet. Pepper looked at the five bowls of different double batch cookies and wondered which one she should put in the oven next. 'Macaroon, peanut butter, thumbprint, chocolate chip, or Tony's favorite, the chocolate cherry cookies?' She thought to herself looking indecisively at each bowl. Pepper grabbed the bowl of Tony's favorite cookies and began rolling hem into balls and placing them on the Crisco greased sheet. As she rolled the cookies, she harmonized angelically with the voice singing the song she could very much identify with this season. "All I want for Christmas is you. I don't want a lot for Christmas. There is just one thing I need." The oven began to beep and Pepper continued to sing, all the while thinking of Tony as she took out the cookies and sang. She set them down on the counter opposite of the bowls on an oven place holder and walked over to where she had been rolling cookies and noticed there were two empty spots where cookies should have been. "Great, I'm losing my mind." She scoffed. The next time Pepper came back from walking away to get a glass of milk to try the peanut butter cookies with, she saw a row of four of the cookies were gone. "What the hell?" she asked the air. Pepper heard a faint scuffle and reached for an empty cookie sheet as her weapon of defense. Grabbing it she nervously and silently crept out of the kitchen to identify the noise. As she walked closer to the couch she heard a muffled crunch and began thinking that another wild animal had snuck into the house or been let it by Tony. One could never be sure, not after the Ramon squirrel incident, and Ferdinand. As she silently moved to the noise, Pepper gripped onto the sheet and swallowed nervously hoping that what she would find wouldn't be a raccoon. When she reached the source of the noise she stopped and stood there speechless and motionless. A hundred emotions ran through Pepper, but joy quickly dominated and the cookie sheet fell from her hand and she launched herself at the hunched over figure sitting criss cross on floor with their back turned to her.

The clang of the cookie sheet falling to the floor snapped Tony out of his cookie reverie bliss and turned around just in time to feel a body collide with his and knock him backwards onto the floor, the cookies in his mouth surviving the tumble.

"Tony you're back!" she shouted gleefully with the biggest smile on her face.

"mm fmm ug gm." He said through a mouthful of Pepper's cookies.

Pepper wrapped her arms around him and cuddled into his chest, her cheek resting beside the arc reactor. Tony swallowed his mouthful of what he called, 'Cookies from heaven', and wrapped his arms around her also very happy to be able to be holding her in his arms.

"I missed you too, Pep." he said softly.

"I thought Fury said you would be gone until next year?" Pepper questioned confusedly lifting her head to meet Tony's eyes.

Tony grinned and replied, "I snuck away to be with you for Christmas." Kissing her head.

Pepper smiled but then it was quickly replaced by a look of confusion. "Why are you hiding behind the couch?" She asked as her brain began to get over the initial shock of seeing him.

"Well…you see… I uh…"

"You were stealing my cookies?" She accused.

"Well yes, but I knew if I just walked in and tried to grab some you would smack my hand away so I figured the best thing to do was sneak some cookies then jump out and surprise you."

"That means you've been here long enough to actually come up with a somewhat decent plan to where you saw me… oh god and heard me…oh brother." She said smacking her forehead and wiping her hand over her face.

"I was very entertained by your dancing, especially in what you're wearing and I thought you had the voice of an angel. How come you never sing around me?"

"Because I don't like singing in front of people." She groaned. Tony just smiled and kissed her sweetly and softly as she lay in his arms. The oven resounded and Tony broke away but Pepper didn't move.

"Uh Pep, you're cookies are done."

"You're the only cookie I'm interested in right now." She said seductively with a lick of her lips.

"Kinky Potts. I didn't know you were into that sort of thing." Tony grinned.

"I'll always have things you don't know about me." She said with the same grin. The oven dinged again only this time Tony tried to get up to get the cookies so they wouldn't burn, but Pepper pushed him down. "Stay boy and I'll be back with some cookies." She grinned mischievously with a raise of her eyebrow.

Tony grinned and watched her leave thinking about how good those cookies were going to taste especially if she was going to be the plate they were put on.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxMERRYCHRISTMASxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx

So i do hope you enjoyed this. Please review, give a little something back, tis the season to give and be merry. See you tomorrow if you read Fear with chapter 17! Happy Christmas Eve, well for me at least it's Christmas Eve day.