(A/N ok sooooo I came up with this the other day….I hope you like it…I do not own IMAA.)

Pepper laughed when Tony told one of his stupid jokes, Rhodey chuckled and shook his head. "Wow Tony…that what dumb." Pepper said giggling. Tony smiled brightly at the redhead happy to be able to make her laugh. They all sat at a picnic table outside of the Rhodes house with their parents, Virgil sat next to Pepper and Howard sat next to him. Roberta and David walked out of the house with burgers and lemonade. "Eat up guys!" David said grinning; Roberta smiled at her husband before serving out glasses to them.

They all talked and laughed as they ate. Tony told Pepper dumb jokes just to see her laugh; Virgil and Howard looked at each other and smirked. "They seem to like each other…" Howard whispered. Roberta chuckled "Oh please…I'm already planning the wedding…" she said quietly. Virgil shifted in his seat but smiled, he looked over at his daughter and Tony. He smiled when he saw how happy she looked.

The sound of a helicopter made them all look up. A black helicopter landed on the grass thirty feet away from them, "What in the hell…" Virgil muttered and stood. A very well dressed military man stepped out of the helicopter and strode toward them; Virgil paled and walked toward the man. They both saluted each other and began talking, the man said something that made Virgil's shoulders sag. "W-what are they talking about…?" Pepper asked nervously. Tony looked over at the redhead and slid his hand across the table and took her hand, "It'll be alright Pep…" he whispered.

The man handed Virgil a piece of paper and saluted again before he left. Virgil looked down at paper and up at Pepper with a saddened expression. He returned to the table and sat down, "Dad…what was that…?" Pepper asked shaking. Virgil looked up at his daughter and glanced at everyone else, he saw that Tony was holding Pepper's hand. He sighed "I'm being called back into the military…they want me in Afghanistan for a year training soldiers. I leave in three days." He said quietly. Pepper shook her head and stood and ran. Virgil groaned and put his head in his hands, Roberta put a hand on his shoulder. Tony looked at everyone sitting at the table and stood up; he put down his napkin and made his way after Pepper. Rhodey got up and followed his best friends.

IMAAIMAAIMAAIMAA

Pepper wasn't thinking, she just ran. "PEPPER!" someone shouted but she didn't stop. She didn't realize she was in the old armory until she came across and old Iron Man helmet. "Pepper!" Tony called and moved towards the redhead, "Hey...you shouldn't be in here…it's dangerous." He said whispering. Pepper fell to the floor sobbing and not caring that she got ashes on her clothes, "He can't leave! He promised he wouldn't leave again!" she practically shouted. Tony sank down onto the ground next to her and pulled her into a tight hug, "Everything will be alright…" he whispered but Pepper shook her head. "It won't be alright…something bad is going to happen! It always does when he leaves!" she said hiccupping. Tony pulled back a little to look at the redhead's face, "What are you talking about?" he asked quietly. Pepper wiped the tears off her face and took a deep breath, "The last time my dad left for the military…my mom died. We went into the bank to get some money for grocery shopping…and three men came in wearing masks and holding guns, they got angry when the bank clerk wasn't giving them their money fast enough…one of the gunmen pointed his gun at one of the hostages and shot them in the heart. My mom pushed me behind one of the couches and told me to be quiet….then she was gone. I was five." She said and Tony pulled her in close again, "I'm so sorry…" he whispered.

Rhodey stood in the doorway of the old armory hearing about what happened to Pepper's mom. He sighed and left Tony and Pepper alone. As he walked back to the adults they looked at him curiously, "How's Pepper?" Virgil asked. Rhodey shook his head "She's upset…Tony's with her calming her down." He said sitting down again. Everyone was silent until Virgil stood up, "Can you please tell Patricia that I'm going home to get ready…" he said his old cold military poker face coming back out. Rhodey nodded and Pepper's dad left.

Three days later Pepper watched as her dad got into a cab with his bag and uniform. He waved and Pepper waved back and then he was gone, she sighed sadly and went inside her very quiet apartment. "This is going to be one long year…" she whispered and went into the living room.

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It's been a week since her dad left, Pepper has always been alright on her own but she got lonely. Tony and his dad had to fly to London for Stark International and Rhodey, David, and Roberta went on a family vacation in California. Pepper sighed sadly and looked at the living room clock, it was midnight but she didn't care. A loud thud came from upstairs and Pepper sat up quickly, another crash sounded and glass broke. Pepper quickly got to her feet and kept completely still, and man moved down the stairs and froze when he caught sight of Pepper. "Damn!" he cursed and pulled out a gun, he pointed it at Pepper. "Please…j-just take whatever…" Pepper said quietly. The man moved down from the stairs and towards the redhead with a smile, "Hmmm whatever? How about I take you…" he hissed in her ear. Pepper shivered and took a step back.

The man chuckled and followed her, "G-get away from m-me!" Pepper said stuttering. The man raised his gun at Pepper, just as he was about to fire Pepper ducked to the side. But the bullet lodged into the redheads shoulder, Pepper cried out in pain. The man was just about to finish her off when the sound of police sirens sounded, he cursed looked at Pepper and ran out the back door.

Pepper clutched at her shoulder when the police came through the door with their guns drawn. "Miss! Are you alright?" one of the officers asked, Pepper shook her head and the officer noticed her shoulder. "Mack! Call an ambulance!" he shouted. The officer picked Pepper up and brought her outside.

(A/N Ok what do you think? Should I put up the next chapter?)