After all the snow we got today, I decided what better time than to resume writing none other than, SNOW STORM! It's been a while I know! I mean seriously, I checked and it was the BEGINNING OF JUNE, since I last updated...Yeah, not what I wanted, nor planned for this story! Anyways, please forgive the long wait and ENJOY!

Disclaimer: IMAA is not mine, I'm not making a cent off of this.

Tony's arms eventually did give out, dropping the sleeping Pepper into a large pile of snow ahead of them. It was crazy how cold it was. And it was still snowing!

Pepper woke with a jolt as she landed, the snow really did cover her fall. She looked at Tony, who was kneeling next to her, tiredly panting. When he noticed her looking at him, he gave her a warm smile. Well, a welcoming smile.

"Just n-need to rest a bit." He chattered.

Pepper nodded, understanding. It had to be hard carrying her through the snow like that. She wondered where they were. They sky was dark out, so she must have been out for a while.

"W-where are we?" She questioned.

"I-I had to t-take the…the long way…" Tony said through his chattering teeth. "Sh-short cut was cut o-off."

It wasn't necessarily the answer she wanted, but it answered the question of why they hadn't made it yet. If Tony kept moving on like that, he should have at least made it so they could see his house. But apparently, they were still deep in the city.

Pepper scanned the snow filled area. She was practically buried in the snow, after all, she hadn't really stood up yet. So, she pushed some of the snow away so she could see. The snow drafts covered most of the doorways to buildings, and cars were basically buried themselves.

"M-maybe we sh-should take a…a break somewhere…" She suggested shivering heavily.

Tony shook his head. "m'not b-breaking i-in any…where." He stated.

Pepper wasn't suggesting that they did, but that's how he took it. Though, she had to admit, that breaking in somewhere, would not only be a lot warmer, but it would be understood why they did it. As long as they didn't steal anything they should be fine, right? But she knew how stubborn Tony was. Even if it was the last thing they could do, Tony would never agree to do that.

Pepper shook her own head. "T-then what do…do you s-suggest?"

Tony didn't answer in favor to pulling her against him. It wasn't like she didn't like that he wanted to cuddle or whatever, but it didn't seem like the time to do that. She thought maybe if they found a place sheltered from snow, they'd be safe from frostbite or maybe just freezing to death.

"N-not now." Pepper said, but she didn't pull away.

Tony actually chuckled through his chattering teeth. "A-actually, it's a g-g-good idea." He said, tightening his grip. "Body…h-heat."

Pepper didn't say anything. Of course. How could she forget something so obvious? The body naturally gives off heat, so they just needed to share their body heat and they would be warm. Well, as warm as they could be in the middle of a blizzard. After all, that's what she was doing back at the armory. Why should now be any different?

So they cuddled up close together, sharing their body heat.

…

Surprisingly, they eventually fell into an uneasy sleep. Even though they didn't stay asleep for a long time, they still felt more rested than before. Especially Pepper, who had more than her fair share of sleep.

Standing up from where they had fallen asleep, they were relieved to find that the snow had actually let up from being a full on blizzard, to a light snow. It was still snowing, but at least it wasn't drastically heavy. Now they could actually see past three feet without having to squint.

It was exceptionally dark; with no power and everything. But the dazzlingly white snow reflected off the almost full moon's light, making it seem a lot earlier than it truly was.

"Ugh," Pepper groaned out, stretching her chilled to the bone arms. "I'm starting to really hate the snow."

"I think it's actually really pretty." Tony commented, still sounding dazed and half-asleep. "And don't you dare call me girly."

She raised her arms in front of her. "No, no. I wasn't going to!"

"Good."

Pepper brushed off the snow that had just recently covered her, and was now still sticking to her clothing. Tony did much of the same thing as he woke himself up some more, shaking out stiff and sore limbs. Despite the late hour, they or at least she, felt more awake than they had when they were still in the lighter hours. So trekking through the snow shouldn't be too hard, as long as they could manage the cold and bitter temperature.

Still waking herself up, she rolled her shoulder, groaning as she did so. "Worst sleep ever."

"It w-wasn't so bad." Tony said. "Just have to look past the c-cold and uncomfortable flooring beneath us."

She shrugged. Truthfully, it wasn't all too bad, but that didn't mean that she had to like how sore it made her afterwards. "Let's just g-go. I w-want…o-out of this c-cold weather."

"Alright," Tony smiled, stretching his arms out towards her. "Want a lift?"

She shook her head. "No, I'm f-fine."

"A-afraid I'll d-drop you?" Tony teased, lowing his arms to the side.

"You already did, but no," She chuckled as best as she could with her chattering teeth. "I'm not scared."

Tony just shrugged and scanned the streets, wondering where it was he was heading in the first place. As hard as it was to see properly, he could tell perfectly well where it was they needed to go to get to his house as soon as possible. It also helped that he almost knew the whole of New York from the back of his head. Maybe that has something to do with all the times that he's flown over the place.

The pair trudged along in the snow, hoping to make some real progress to getting to some place warm, and fast.

…

The sun rose up a few hours later, bringing more snow with it. Like they needed any more snow than they already had. As it was earlier on, it wasn't a blizzard, but nonetheless, it was probably inches of snow that they didn't need. Not probably, it was.

Pepper had her gloved hands clutched into the back of Tony's coat as he acted as a human plow, forging a pathway for them to follow through the snow. As grateful as she was that he was taking on the snow and cold so she didn't have to, she wished that he'd let her do something. After all, she was the one with the gloves, the least she could do was lend him her gloves. But they wouldn't fit him anyways.

"Are we close yet?" She chattered out.

"Closer." Tony replied, his own teeth chattering like mad. "I'd say about a good five blocks away from my neighborhood."

Pepper groaned, not liking the answer. It was cold out, and she did not want to stay out there anymore. She didn't really want to be out there in the first place, but the thought of a warmer place, with food and everything, was a lot sounder than the armory with little food and no water.

Tony crouched down. "Want that ride yet?"

She was tempted to accept it, since he has offered that 'ride' all of four times since he first asked. But, she refused to add on to his already troublesome task of hand-plowing. So, she shook her head. "No."

"Aw," Tony pouted standing up again. "Why not?"

Then Pepper had an idea.

"Let me take a turn 'plowing' and I'll let you give me a ride."

He actually paused to think about it. It must have been a pretty tempting offer, because he thought about it for a good minute.

"Fine, but only for a while." His teeth chatter so badly, it was hard to understand him. She figured she was talking like that too.

As they switched, Pepper to front and Tony to back, Tony bent down, picking her up. Then he joined their lips together in a very cold kiss, which still managed to warm her insides. Too bad it didn't warm her externally, which would help out tons.

After that, it was Pepper's turn to plow.

Great.

It's short, but hopefully good enough for the long wait. Actually, half of this was written in, I think, September. I wonder if you guys can notice where it was that it happened. The switch off from today and last September.

Fun Fact: Christmas is my favorite holiday, because it's the one day I usually get to see my whole family together, and sadly that includes my dad... I hardly get to see him these days.

I've got to go to bed, so I can't stick around, but hopefully you can so you can wait for the next chapter which will be one of the last chapters! :)

Hugs and Love, SilverPedals! :D