Pepper was having such a great time at the wedding reception that she forgot it was celebrating the matrimony of the worst woman ever to her father. So when she turned to see them dancing together, she felt sick to her stomach. She immediately pushed past the small crowd of people and sat on a bench outside.

Tony, noticing his girlfriend's absence, went looking for her. When he found her outside, he sat beside her.

"Hey, you okay?" He asked. He knew the answer, but he knew to ask for courtesy reasons.

"No," Pepper answered. "My dad's married that…creature, and there's nothing I can do about it. The stupid…ugh, lady, wants to send me to boarding school. If I didn't know any better I'd say she'd rather just kill me." Pepper said. Tony glanced into the reception room to see Amy sporting a rather unfriendly smile, and back to Pepper.

"Isn't this just like that fairy tale about that girl who gets that evil stepmom?" Tony asked. Pepper wanted to laugh at Tony's ill knowledge of the common folk's entertainment.

"Yes, it's called Cinderella. Thank god Amy doesn't have two evil daughters…" Pepper explained.

"Look, Pep, no matter what happens with Amy you know you can count on me. I'll do anything you need, I promise okay?" Tony said, rubbing her back in comfort.

"Thank you Tony, I know I can always count on you." Pepper said, resting her head on his shoulder.

Tony heard the faint sound of a slow song playing and stood, holding out his hand for her.

"May I have this dance?" He asked smoothly. Pepper smiled.

"Of course you may," She said, taking his hand and following him back into the reception room to dance.

~…~

That's perfect, you stupid teenager, because now I know what will destroy you enough for me to get close enough to Potts…

Amy watched through the window at Pepper and Tony had their moment outside. She hid her staring when they came back into the room, but that wasn't important now; she knew what she had to do, and she knew the exact list of people to get rid of before she could get rid of Virgil Potts, FBI Agent. And she knew exactly how she was going to go about doing it.

~…~

Tony and Pepper were still slow dancing when most of the guests had gone home. Virgil and Amy told them it was time to go home, so the four of them drove back to the Potts' apartment. Virgil and Amy took their suitcases for a weekend-long mini-honeymoon getaway in Maine.

After Tony kissed Pepper goodnight and left for home, Pepper turned to see Amy standing behind her, arms crossed and evil smile decorating her cheeks.

"So, you can call me 'mom' any time."

"In your dreams," Pepper responded, crossing her arms angrily.

"Well this dream's about to get all too real. You better bet you're being shipped off to some boarding school at least twenty miles away." Amy threatened.

"Why? Why can't you just be a nice person and actually like the daughter of the guy you just married? That is, if you even love him…"

"Look, kid, I don't like you and I have your father wrapped around my little finger. So if I want you in a boarding school, I'll have you in a boarding school. And I'm not afraid to make you."

"You can't make me do anything!" Pepper yelled.

"Oh, maybe if I destroy your life, maybe your school and, oh, maybe even your boyfriend…maybe then you'd surrender." Amy said, smiling as if she'd won. "Hey, who knows, he's actually kinda cute. I might spare him for a night or two first,"

This just made Pepper furious beyond any amount of anger anyone could possibly have.

"Don't you dare touch my boyfriend, or so help me god I will make you so sorry that you didn't see the large painful metal pole I shoved up your—" Pepper warned, only to be cut off by Virgil coming down the stairs with his suitcase.

"Ready to go, darling?" He asked cheerily. Pepper backed off to make the scenario less suspicious and looked away as Amy seductively told him she was ready to go. Virgil went to get his coat and car keys.

"You have no idea who you're messing with, so you better back off, 'cause we can hit back harder than you think." Pepper warned as she stormed into her room to change into her comfortable pink sweatpants and white tank top (decorated with pink, blue, yellow and red patterned hearts) before she called Tony.

Virgil said goodbye to Pepper for the weekend, making sure he could trust her before he left the apartment to her for a whole weekend. Pepper promised him she could be trusted, then collapsed on her bed and dialed Tony's cell.

"Calling so soon?" Tony answered.

"Ugh, you'll never believe what Amy just said." Pepper complained.

"Ew, an older woman thinks I'm hot. That's kinda creepy."

"Dude, an older chick thinks you're hot. I think that's a bit of a win." Rhodey commented.

"Alright, dude, that's weird…"

"Tony! Am I on speaker again?" Pepper whined.

"Sorry, Pep, I have to work on the armor." Tony explained.

"Ugh, fine. Anyways, I'm really worried. She said she'd destroy the Tomorrow Academy if she had to."

"Maybe she was just exaggerating. How could an average thirty year old woman destroy a whole high school?"

"I don't know, that's what worries me. We can't really even know who a person really is anymore, since Gene." Pepper said.

"Look, Pep, I know you're still hurt from that, we've all still got a few trust issues left over. But I don't think Amy is really going to destroy a whole school."

"Well, sure maybe not that, but she said she'd get rid of you too. Tony, I'm worried. What if she really hurts you? No offense, but in your condition, it's not that hard to do…" Pepper said.

"Pepper, I'm Iron Man. There's no way I'm going to let some woman kill me off. I'm a little bit stronger than that."

"Yeah, Pepper. If that's not enough I'm War Machine. So if Tony can't kick her butt, then I will. The three of us are perfectly safe." Rhodey added.

"If you say so…" Pepper sighed.

~…~

After their long weekend together, Virgil and Amy got home safely (after Pepper was convinced that she hadn't done anything to her father)—Virgil having some interesting news for Pepper.

"God, you're not having a baby are you?" Pepper asked.

"Gosh no! Honey, that' way out of the question!" Virgil explained.

"Good…" Pepper muttered.

"We wanted to talk to you about school." Virgil began. Pepper caught the satisfactory look on Amy's face.

"Amy and I have talked it over, and we think it's best if you enrolled in a…different kind of school."

Pepper immediately stood from her seat.

"Dad, no! I'm not going to boarding school, that's exactly what she wants you to do! She brainwashed you, there's no way I'm going to boarding school, I won't let you do it!"

"Pepper, it's for the best. This school is in western New York and we both think you'll get the best education there. We'll come visit you whenever we can, Pepper." Virgil tried. Pepper couldn't believe what she was hearing. Tears were pushing at her eyes.

"Dad, no! I won't do it, I won't go!"

"Pepper, we're not giving you a choice."

"Then you leave me with no choice! That's it, that's the final straw. I can't take it anymore. She's been here for two, maybe three months and she's already ruining my life! There's nothing you can do to get me to go to some school on the complete opposite side of the state, dad. I can't be that far away from my friends. Not that far away from Tony."

"Pepper, you have to. We're making you."

"Dad, don't you see what she's doing? She's manipulating you! She claims to love you but she can't even tolerate me? Don't you think that if she really loved you she'd accept me?"

"Pepper, you know we love each other. This isn't about us not caring for you, we just want the best for you!"

"But this is the best for me! I have a steady relationship, good friends and a promising future! Even if I can't make it to college I know Tony will have my back through anything! Dad you can't take me away from this! Have a soul, have an opinion! Have an individual identity! Where's the dad I know?" Pepper said, quieting down and letting tears fall from her cheeks. She brushed past the two, ignoring Amy's smug look. When she looked back to close the door, what she saw wasn't her father, an honest, caring, good man and his okay girlfriend. What she saw was her evil stepmother and her puppet father.

She closed the door and headed to the only place she knew would make her feel better.

Virgil, however, wondered if he'd made the right decision.

Eh I think that's enough for now. I hope I got the point across in that last part, because it's not just more meaningless drama from Amy. If you got a good point from it, then I'll be satisfied with the chapter. If not, feel free to message me and I'll be happy to answer some questions you may have…I just want to be sure I'm getting it clear across that Amy's maybe up to something…review? (Sorry I'm babbling -.-)