Well, I found this picture, (not on DeviantART) and couldn't let the idea go. Since it was short. Oh and this takes place before Tony leaves off for China or wherever to find Gene, the rings, or his dad.

Disclaimer: IMAA is not mine! Phew! I said it!

"Tony, stop worrying already!" Pepper said, crossing her arms at the genius next to her. "I'll be fine, just go!"

"No, I can't leave you alone!" Tony insisted. "I'll just stay, so I can protect you."

Pepper sighed a bit annoyed. They'd been arguing about her safety for the past 40 minutes. Literally. He wouldn't drop it. Even though it was him who said he had to go. It wasn't like she wanted him to go, it was more like she wanted him to drop the subject. That or just go so she can prove that she wasn't just any damsel in distress.

"Tony, I'll be fine!" She pressed. "Stop worrying! I have Rhodey if anything happens! And I'm not as defenseless as you might think!"

Tony stared at her for a moment. "No, leaving was a stupid idea, I'm not going to find Gene, or the rings, or…dad. I mean, my dad's dead! There's no way he's still alive!"

"Leaving is not a bad idea! Staying is what is! You might find Gene and you might find the rings. And who knows!? Maybe you will find your dad!"

"Maybe I won't!" Tony said. "Please just let me stay, so I can keep you safe! I don't feel comfortable leaving you for so long!"

"Miss me already?" Pepper teased.

"Yes!" Tony said nodding heavily. "I do!"

Pepper frowned she wasn't expecting that answer. She sighed. She didn't want to do it this way, but Tony was leaving her no choice. She grabbed his hand and dragged him to the open space in the armory, where they were arguing.

Tony eyed her while she stood directly in front of him. "Pepper, please don't make this any harder than it already is."

She shook her head and leaned in close. "I'm not, I'm going to prove that I'm not as weak as you think."

Before he could reply, Pepper wrapped her arms around his neck, rendering him speechless. She didn't hold back as she pressed her lips against his. But she didn't give him any time to respond. She just pulled away and stood about two feet away from him.

Tony blinked, his face completely red. He stared for a couple minutes. Then he shook his head. "Now I'm not leaving." He said, shaking his head stubbornly. "Nope. No sir! Not going! Not after you did that!"

Pepper smirked at him. "Now come at me!"

Tony stared, blinking. "What?"

"Come towards me, as if you're going to attack me!" Pepper urged, stretching her back.

Tony looked unsure. "I don't know, Pep…I don't think I can…"

"C'mon I know you won't actually hurt me!" Pepper encouraged.

"I'm not going to do that, Pepper." Tony stated.

Pepper rolled her eyes, annoyed. "Fine, I give up."

"I can stay?" Tony asked hopefully.

"I never said that." Pepper said, "But come give me a hug."

Tony raised an eyebrow, but walked to her with open arms. Pepper smirked mischievously. Now's her chance. Now is her chance to prove to Tony that she's not as weak as he thinks she is. She can defend herself easily.

He was less than a step away when she bent her knees and elbows, ready to strike. While he was shocked at what she was doing, she lunged herself upwards, hitting the top of her head to his neck/chin area, throwing his head back.

Before he could regain himself, she kneed his sensitive spot.

He shouted before he started to groan, crouched over himself. As he was like that she smashed her elbow into his upper back causing him to buckle.

As he fell, she grabbed his head, and crashed it into her raising knee. Then she tossed him to the ground, where he lay on his side. While his hands were covering his nose and mouth, Pepper raised her leg.

"Pepper!?" Came Tony's muffled voice.

She lowered her leg down into his side. He flinched and groaned. But he didn't move from his spot on the ground, where he remained a groaning heap.

Pepper smiled contently and patted her hands clean. That will show him.

The door to the armory opened and Rhodey walked in. "Sorry I'm late, mom made me clean the-…"

Rhodey voice cut off when he saw Tony curled up in a ball, groaning in pain. Pepper wasn't far away, looking quite proud of herself.

He blinked. "…Is this a bad time?"

Pepper smiled, proudly. "Yep! Everything's great!" She looked down to Tony. "Isn't that right?"

He didn't respond other than groaning.

"What happened to Tony?" Rhodey asked suspiciously.

Pepper didn't reply. She looked down at Tony again and poked him with her toe. "So, you'll go right?"

"Yeah." Tony finally said, through his pain.

Pepper happily skipped out the door.

Rhodey looked down to his friend in pain. Then he helped him up, not failing to notice the bloody nose and split lip. Or the way Tony cradled his side. Or the way he sat when he stood up.

"What on earth happened between you two?" Rhodey asked. "Did you guys fight?"

Tony shook his head, groaning a bit. "No…"

He got up to leave and mumbled just loud enough for Rhodey to hear him say, "Never ask Pepper for self-defense lessons…"

Poor Tony, he just wanted a hug! :)

I hope you guys liked it! It was fun to write! Very FUN! Oh dear, now I have a weird vision in my head where Tony and Gene are singing F is for Fun, from Spongebob. I am weird...

Fun Fact: I will never eat fish or mushrooms! Fish have the worst after taste, and I don't mind the flavor of Mushrooms, but it's the texture that I hate!

Hey guys I have a poll going on in my profile for what story you want my to work on next! :D Go check it out PLEASE!? :3

Okay guys, I'll probably say this again somewhere else, but oh well! It looks like plenty of you are in for a joint story! :) So for now, we need some of you to sign up for it! Just PM me! I'll give you more details on it if you want to join! And of course you could give you're own input to help out!

I was going to have something else up, but I was literally up WAY past when I usually go to sleep last night (monday night) And my room is BLAZING hot! So, I couldn't sleep at all, I finally fell asleep at 11 o'clock in the morning, only to sleep until 2 o'clock. Ugh! But tonight, I have decided to force myself to an early bedtime. T.T

I'm off, so I hope you guys will REVIEW, (PM me for Joint Story sign up), and check out my poll! HUGS and LOVE! SilverPedals!