A/N: A few clarifications. Pepper was trying to look like a dumb bimbette (that needed to be saved by the 'powerful Ironman'). She wasn't being one. As for why she got all pissed off, well just keep reading.
- - - - - - - - - - - - -

The Invincible Ironman

Chapter 03: When It Rains...

Pepper wanted to say something, to explain herself.
But she couldn't, wouldn't open her mouth because she didn't how to say what she wanted to.
Her mind was stuck, and she was revolted that she had allowed herself to break composure and get to him.

She had known what that look would do.
What effect her biting caricature of his previous conquests would have on him.
But she was angry.
So she just watched Tony walk out.
And though it had been fifteen minutes since he had left, she still couldn't take her eyes off the door.
"I know you didn't mean it like that at all, Tony."
She felt her eyes and nose growing hot.
"You see, I didn't mean it like that either.." she said, her voice breaking.

She got out of the bed, slipped into a pair of jeans and walked out onto the balcony.
It was dark and cloudy outside.
We're definitely in for some rain, she thought bitterly.
Her head was aching with the things that she had said and the things that she hadn't.
"But how do I tell you Tony?" she said aloud. "How do I tell you I don't want your protection?"
She closed her eyes, fighting back the images that surfaced all too easily.

A big steel gray metal suit.
The hissing, the fire. The acrid smell of burning rubber, of oil, of damage.
And the helplessness.
The helplessness she felt when faced with the giant mechanical monstrosity that had once been Obadiah Stane.
And then a smaller suit. A red-gold one.
Slamming into Stane. Pushing him away. From her.

The hissing, the fire. The acrid smell of burning rubber, of oil, of damage.
And then the helplessness again. The helplessness made alive by the metallic hues of red.
She didn't even know where the suit ended and his blood began.
Because there was only red and there was only gold.
Blood and gold.

"No," she said vehemently, "No, Tony. I don't want you to protect me."
And when she felt the drops on her face, she couldn't tell if they were the rain or her tears.

- - - - - - - -

She was being unfair, thought Tony angrily.

He had decided to take a stroll on the walkway near the sea that their hotel faced.
It was darker there, and he preferred it to the occasional flashes of neon close to the building.
He pulled up the hood of his jacket against the wind.
What was she on about, anyway?, he thought, kicking a pebble across the path.
He could never see Pepper as a defenceless, screaming twit.
She was Pepper.
She was smart.
Independent.

Headstrong.

He sat down on the parapet and gazed at the hotel in the distance.
If he squinted enough, he could almost make out the balcony of his room. Almost.
He wondered what she was doing right now.
Was she also as miserable as he was?
Was she regretting what she had said, just as he was regretting his storming out?
He began to wonder why she had yelled at him.
Pepper did a lot of things he didn't understand,but she didn't do this, Tony thought.
She didn't randomly blow up at him.
Of course, key emphasis being on the word randomly, he thought ruefully, rubbing his beard.

So he wanted to protect her. How was that such a bad thing?
After all, wasn't that what you did when you were with someone?
Care for them? Look out for them?
This is hopeless. I need to focus.

The engineer in Tony began to methodically pick apart the problem, breaking it into its component pieces.
Think, Stark.
When was the last time you saw her this upset?
Tony began sifting through all of the possible answers in his head.
He picked up a twig and began mechanically breaking it into pieces.

I suppose the last time she was this upset was when I'd blown up the arc reactor at the factory
.
But that was to be expected, he thought.
After all, he had nearly destroyed his own arc reactor, broken three ribs and nearly blown them both to pieces.
How did that even tie in with her being unable to take care of herself, he thought angrily.
How could she have expected herself to defend herself against the metallic juggernaut that Stane had become?
If anything, he had been the one who had come off the worse for the wear.
He shuddered involuntarily as he thought of how close Pepper had come to being hurt. Or worse.

Doesn't she see that she needs me, thought Tony, crumbling the remnants of the twig underneath his heel.
I'd die before I let anything happen to her! I mean, I almost did the night that Stane-
Oh.
Tony's eyes widened in comprehension.
Damn.

The rain had begun to fall, but he didn't notice.
He began the long run back to the the hotel.

A/N: To be continued! Soon, people. Happy ending I promise. :)
I have the idea all in my head, just gotta put it down.
Remember to review; a whole bunch of hits with no reviews makes me feel like I'm putting out crap out there. Which, btw, if I AM, do let me know. One would like to change these things...