On a clear, starry night, in a dark room in New York City, Whitney Stane stood at her window, staring at the streets below as a couple her age passed by, holding hands. The boy, all too familiar to her, had dark brown hair, electric blue eyes and a wide smile on his face. The redheaded girl looked equally happy to be with the boy, as they were clearly dating.

Whitney squeezed the empty can of soda she had been holding until it bent severely inwards, crushed beyond repair.

"It's not fair. Why should she get to be with you? Why is she so important?" Whitney said aloud, to no one in particular. "She's not so special. I'm the ones you've been friends with since we were kids…I'm the one you should want to be with. Why should she get your heart? Why should she get anything good? She deserves to suffer!"

Whitney dropped the can to the floor and walked down to the lab located in the basement. She walked over to some sort of serum sitting in a needle, resting on a countertop. She recalled the serum she had injected Howard Stark with. This was the same thing, except stronger. A lot stronger.

"Pepper Potts deserves nothing more than to suffer and die." She said, picking up the needle. "and I'm going to make sure that's what she gets."

And with that, she and her mask were gone.

~…~

It was just an ordinary day in the new and improved life of Pepper Potts- she'd spent a good portion of the day with her new boyfriend, Tony Stark, and it had been a great day. She had done some awesome superheroing in her new armor, and it was time to hit the hay. She had brushed her teeth, changed into pajamas, washed her face, and was crawling under her sheets, ready to tuck away for a nice, long night's sleep.

If she'd known what was lurking outside, however, she wouldn't have fallen asleep that night. Because once she did, Virgil came into her room quietly and carefully, and once he had come in and shut the door, he turned back to Madame Masque. Masque, with needle in hand, approached Pepper's bedside. Before she could get the chance to hesitate, she stuck the needle into Pepper's arm and pushed the syringe downwards. The poisonous fluid began flowing through her veins with her blood.

Upon initial injection, Pepper moaned in pain. Before she could wake up or move, the poison worked its magic and quieted her quickly. She laid there in her bed, not to wake up.

Whitney removed the needle from Pepper's arm and stuffed it back into her pocket. She turned back into Virgil. Before walking out, she looked down to the sleeping redhead and smiled, letting out an evil chuckle.

And just like that, she was gone.

~…~

Tony was tiredly shuffling himself up to his bedroom after having spent a few hours in the armory, repairing the War Machine armor from a recent battle, when suddenly his phone rang.

"Hello?" He answered.

"Hello, Tony." A female voice responded.

"What the…Whitney? I thought you were in SHIELD jail, how are you calling me?" Tony asked upon recognizing the voice immediately.

"Let's just say I took care of those SHIELD losers. Besides, you shouldn't be concerned about where I am at a time like this."

"A time like what? What's going on?" Tony asked worriedly.

"Well, I've recently decided to exact my revenge on you. You not only ruin my life, but start dating a girl who is clearly not right for you, whom I hate and you know it…you remember the poison I injected your father with, don't you?" Whitney responded, her voice sounding innocent yet creepy.

"Yes, why?"

"I have injected your precious Pepper Potts with the same poison, except this time it is a thousand times more lethal. And now you have twenty-four hours to find the antidote, or she dies." Whitney explained.

"You WHAT?" Tony yelled.

"Relax! I've hidden the antidote where you'll never find it. Your stupid little girlfriend is as good as dead. In twenty-four hours the poison will have reached every square inch of her stupid body and will have stopped every organ from functioning. Rendering her dead. But I'm not completely heartless, I'll offer alternative choices: dump the stupid whore, and I'll give you the antidote myself. Or you could just find it…good luck with that." Whitney explained.

"I'll never dump her! Where is the antidote?" Tony demanded.

"Aw, poor Tony, you think it's that easy…but if you insist, I'll give you one hint: you'll have to go through me to get the antidote. Good luck finding it. And if you need to find Pepper, you can find her resting soundly in her bed. Goodbye, Tony."

Before Tony could respond, Whitney had hung up. Tony, frozen in shock for a moment, raced to Pepper's apartment, calling Rhodey on his way over. After knocking on the door and answering to Virgil (and explaining the dilemma to him), Tony raced up to Pepper's bedroom to see her sleeping in her bed, just like Whitney had said on the phone. He shook her to try and wake her, but she wouldn't budge.

"Come on, Pep, please wake up!" He begged. Tony hastily picked her up off her bed and rushed her to Stark International's state-of-the-art hospital room. Tony dialed Dr. Yinsen's number and explained the situation to him.

Within fifteen minutes, Dr. Yinsen had arrived and began his assessment of the girl immediately. Tony sat by her bedside, holding her hand until Rhodey arrived.

"Tony, what happened?" Rhodey asked upon arrival.

"It was Whitney, she's poisoned Pepper!" Tony explained.

"What?" Rhodey exclaimed.

"Rhodey, we have twenty-four hours to find the antidote or we lose her forever." Tony said. Rhodey saw in Tony's eyes just how scared he really was. He placed his hands on both of his friend's arms.

"Pepper's dad can stay here with Pepper. We need to find that antidote. Come on, we need the armors!" Rhodey said, hastily pulling Tony out of the room and towards the armory. Tony refused to go. When Rhodey looked back, he saw Tony looking back to Pepper, who was lying unconscious on the hospital bed.

"Tony, she's going to be okay." Rhodey assured him. Tony took a deep breath and quickly made his way to the armory.

"What clues did Whitney give us to find the antidote?" Rhodey asked.

"All she said was we'd have to go through her to get it. So it must be on her…but where is Whitney?" Tony explained.

"That's what we need to find out. Can you track her cell phone signal?" Rhodey asked. Tony dialed her number and waited. After a minute, a bleep and a prerecorded message played.

"She disconnected her phone…" Tony said quietly.

"Let's check her house first." Rhodey said, getting into the War Machine armor. Tony stood in the armory, looking down to the floor. Rhodey walked over to his forlorn friend and placed an armored hand on his shoulder.

"Tony, we'll find the antidote. We won't let her slip through our fingers." Rhodey assured him.

"But Rhodey…what if we don't? What if Pepper dies? I can't lose her, Rhodey…" Tony said. Before continuing, he lifted his head and looked into Rhodey's eyes.

"I can't live without her, Rhodey."

Rhodey looked into his friend's eyes and saw how deep his concern was written into them. He was truly scared of losing her.

"Tony, I promise, we won't let her go. We're going to search for that antidote, and if we can't find it, we're going to make our own. In fact, Dr. Yinsen is coming up with one as we speak. I promise, Tony, everything's going to be okay." Rhodey said sternly. Tony knew he was right, so he swallowed his fear and armored up. The two took to the skies, heading towards Whitney's house.

Dun dun dunnnn! Uh oh, looks like Pepper's in trouble! What is Tony to do? More importantly, I just came up with another idea for a story! Yay for me! That hasn't happened in a while…XD but my wrist is starting to hurt, so I'm gonna stop writing for a while…review?