"Aaww, but Rhoodey! Why can't I get in the armor myself?" Pepper whined.

"No way, Pepper! Tony would kill me if he knew I let you get in danger like that! Just stick to the plan, okay?" Rhodey responded. Pepper crossed her arms and huffed in frustration.

"Stupid overprotective Tony, ruins all my fun..." She pouted.

~...~

As Tony watched the stealth armor regain his consciousness, he was happy and relieved to discover that Pepper had saved him.

"Pepper...you're my hero," He said. He was truly impressed that even though she was controlling the suit remotely from the armory, she still proved to be a true help in battle. And boy, was she good at flying the armor. Just imagine how good shed be if she actually got in a suit...

As the two got up to fight, Tony watched the stealth armor take part of the beating they were getting. Even though he knew she wasn't getting hurt for real, he still couldn't help but be angry that someone would want to hurt her.

However, once the stealth armor exploded, he couldn't help but feel very, very angry. And not just because of the loss of an armor, but because he could picture what would have happened if she really had been in the armor. She would've been gone, no doubt, and just the thought of that made him angrier than imaginable. He wanted to extra pummel Titanium Man now. He deserved no better than the lowest criminal in any prison and even if Pepper was perfectly safe, jus the thought made Tony want to wring the life out of Titanium Man just then.

But when Rhodey stopped him from finishing him off there, Tony knew there were better ways to resolve his problems.

~...~

Once Tony announced to Pepper that he was making her armor, he was comforted to feel her warm embrace. It was moments like those that made him glad he had met her in the first place. He wanted the hug to last longer, but he knew to let her go.

The moment Tony knew he really had a couple of true friends by his side, though, (not that he'd ever doubted it, of course) was when they immediately promised they'd help with Stark Solutions. He smiled widely at the sight and looked over his logo, knowing that though things looked bleak at first, everything was looking up for him once again.

~…~

About a week or so later, Iron Man, Rescue and War Machine were battling Unicorn and Killer Shrike when Unicorn fired his laser-horn at Rescue, sending her crashing into a building. Enraged, Tony charged at Unicorn, firing repulsors from both hands at him.

"Aww, does Iron Man have a crush on his little friend?" Unicorn teased with a taunting smile to match as he stood up again, firing his little hand-missiles at Tony, which ricocheted off his armor and was sent flying back in the direction it came very briefly, only to slowly fall to the ground. Tony's eyes widened and a large blush appeared on his cheeks as suddenly a booming laughter could be heard.

"Ha! Even Unicorn thinks you like her! Haha, admit it dude, he's so right." Rhodey teased. "Hey! Way to side with the villain!"

"Oh, calm down, I'm only teasing." Rhodey said, continuing to beat up Shrike.

"W-what? I don't...I mean, well...that's none of your business!" Tony responded, shocked at the criminal's accusations. Why did everyone think that?

As Pepper shook it off, she overheard the back-and-forth and was surprised by Tony's response. What was THAT supposed to mean? 'Does that mean he LIKES me?' Shaking the improbable (at least to her) thought off, stood and rejoined the action.

Unicorn, however, sensed Iron Man's denial and scoffed.

"Nice tough guy act, Iron Man, but I know you're just in denial." Unicorn said as the fight continued. Irritated by his taunting, Tony fired the uni-beam and sent Unicorn crashing to the ground.

"Too bad War Machine is kicking your buddy's butt over there, or else maybe you would've had a chance." Tony scoffed, in a lame attempt to change the subject. Rhodey rolled his eyes at the action and the three went on fighting.

~...~

"Seriously, dude, you can't deny it. You know you like her. Just admit it." Rhodey said as the three arrived back at the armory (Pepper had gone home because it was late), crossing his arms.

"Well, I...I mean, I...she..." Tony began. "So maybe I do, what's the big deal?" Tony huffed, crossing his arms in frustration.

"I don't know, uh, how about telling her?" Rhodey suggested, at first sarcastic.

"What? No. No way. I'd be so embarrassed if she didn't feel the same way." Tony said.

"Fine, fine, but what I'm getting out of this is that both Unicorn and I were right and you were wrong." Rhodey said with a victorious smile.

"Wait, you want to admit that a super villain was right?"

"In this situation, yes. Face it, Tony, any way you put it Unicorn and I were right and you were wrong. You're whipped. Hit by cupid's arrow. You got it baad, dude." Rhodey explained. Tony rolled his eyes, sighed and sat back in his seat.

"It's not THAT bad, is it?" Tony asked.

"Yes, it's that bad." Rhodey answered.

'Dang.' Thought Tony. He knew there was no way around it. Tony sighed in defeat, and by the sound of it, Rhodey knew he had won.

"Hah, I win! I know something Tony Stark doesn't know!" Rhodey celebrated. Tony grunted in defeat.

"Oh, lighten up, I can help. I can even tell her if you want me to."

Tony's eyes widened and he blushed.

"Don't you dare tell her!" Tony warned. Rhodey smirked, forming a devious plan.

"Oh, is that a threat? Just for that I think I will,"

"Don't you dare."

Rhodey stood from his seat. "Ooh, I'm gonna do it," He said, pulling out his phone.

"Stop!"

"I'm dialing her number," Rhodey said, unlocking his phone and pulling up Pepper's contact.

"Stop right there!"

"I'm gonna call her," Rhodey taunted.

"I warned you!" Tony said, suddenly jumping on Rhodey and tackling him. Rhodey chuckled and pressed the call button.

As Tony and Rhodey wrestled, Pepper answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Ahh! Tony really likes you!" Rhodey shouted.

"Rhodey!" Tony shouted, taking the phone from his grasp and hanging up.

On the other end, a confused Pepper listened to the brief shouting and chaos until the dial tone sounded.

"What was that all about?" She asked aloud to herself. "Toy really likes me?"

She sat on her bed, thinking about what it could possibly mean until she decided she would ask about it at school tomorrow.

~…~

The next day at school, Pepper found the boys at Rhodey's locker, Tony pouting and Rhodey smiling as if he'd just won an argument.

"Hey guys…what's up?" She asked.

"Oh, the usual." Rhodey responded, due to the fact that Tony just plain didn't want to say anything at the moment.

"Oh, by the way, what was up with the random call last night?" Pepper asked.

Tony blushed lightly. "Uh, n-nothing. I think Rhodey butt dialed you earlier." He lied.

"It sounded chaotic, and I heard Rhodey shout something…are you sure it's nothing?" She asked. Rhodey just chuckled and went to class.

"No, Rhodey was just being mean." Tony explained.

"Mean how? I heard him say you really like me?" Pepper asked shyly.

"Maybe that's 'cause I do…" Tony muttered. Pepper froze. She heard him loud and clear, even if he didn't want her to.

"Wait you do?" She asked. Tony blushed.

"U-uh, yeah…" Tony answered nervously, staring down at his feet.

"Well that's really relieving, 'cause actually, I really like you too." Pepper answered. Tony lifted his head in surprise.

"Y-you do?" He asked. Pepper smiled and nodded.

"A-a lot, actually. The only reason I didn't make you your armor before is because I didn't want to risk losing you. You saw how badly I got hurt fighting Whiplash that one time, and how I nearly died last week in that fight with Titanium Man and his goons. I didn't want the same thing to happen to you. I'd be lost without you, Pep." Tony explained. Pepper smiled.

"Tony, that is so sweet!" She said. After a moment of hesitation and awkward silence, Pepper gave Tony a peck on the cheek. She looked him straight in the eye and grabbed his hand, Tony of course smiling at the action and wrapping his fingers between hers, and together they went to class. Tony smiled.

'You've rescued me in more ways than one, Pep…'

Don't shoot me, I know the ending was bad. I wanted to post the thought about Pepper and Tony during 'Hostile Takeover', and I wanted to do the Iron Man-Rescue-War Machine in combat together idea separately, but they were both short, so I said 'ehh, what the heck, they'll work together.' And whalla, they did. So if I want to edit it I will do so tomorrow. And ik, the title doesn't really make sense, but I like it. So it stays. Don't judge me, lol :3 Anyways, review?

BTW still in love with Hostile Takeover! 3333333