Disclaimer: I do not own Iron Man: Armored Adventures.

I only played with the characters a bit.

--

Appropriated

"A lie can get halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on."

~ Winston Churchill

--

"So as mad as I am at Gene for saying that stuff to Pepper, it isn't his fault. It's mine." Rhodey finished guiltily.

Tony said nothing for a moment, seeming to absorb all of this information.

"I should probably call Pepper over here right away and apologize if she'll accept it." Rhodey said getting out his cell phone and dialing Pepper's number.

"I was stupid too…I mean I knew something was up…but I guess I thought it was safer if she stayed out of the Makluan ring stuff too." Tony said finally.

"So should I call her?...or are you suggesting…that we…don't tell her?" Rhodey questioned helplessly.

Tony was silent for a moment, unable to come up with the answer himself.

He knew what he wanted; he wanted to tell Rhodey to call Pepper over right now and tell her that they had lied and that he wanted her back by his side immediately…but was that what was really best for her?

If she was unhappy but safe would that really be okay? Or is it better that she be put in danger but be free to do as she pleased and help with 'Team Iron Man' as she had affectionately dubbed them.

It was a decision that shook him to the core and forced him to question his most base morals.

It was also one that he would never get the chance to make.

The alerts on his police scanner went off and drew their attention to the map that had suddenly appeared on the screen. He and Rhodey rushed to the monitor and stared getting their bearings on the situation.

Business as usual…except it wasn't.

"Computer, hack into radio systems." He told the monitor seriously already heading towards the armor. Pepper would have to wait because Iron man was needed again.

The voice of police officers suddenly echoed around the lab.

"It looks like we have an abduction of two underage youths, we got a call about an hour ago from a cell phone and her Parents have since been located and contacted. We were able to obtain this short message before the line was cut off…"

A static-filled, but hauntingly familiar voice suddenly filled the lab.

"Please, my name is Pepper Potts and there are strange men on my street."

The voice was higher than normal and clearly panicked, but it made Tony's heart stop all the same.

"They're coming, they have Happy! Please I need He-!" Her plea for help was cut off rather abruptly by a deep, masculine voice which seemed to shake to monitor.

"No service needed, sorry to bother you." The static suddenly became unbearably loud and seemed to explode out of the speakers. Rhodey and Tony had to cover there ears. It was soon drowned out by an even louder metallic crackling. Then it all very suddenly stopped and for a second the silence was even for deafening than the noise.

Then the police radio kicked back in.

"So we have an address?"

"No, but some neighbors saw an unfamiliar vehicle in the area before the time of the call and there has been a substantial amount of blood found at the alleged scene. The best we can do is question everyone in the area and see if we can't track the vehicle."

At the word 'blood' Tony had the immediate feeling that the bottom dropped out of his stomach. He felt as though he would be sick. This answered his question for him—he saves Pepper and begs for forgiveness.

He stumbled drunkenly towards the doorway to the armor. He closed his eyes as he felt himself being slowly encased in metal.

He was out of the lab and landed in front of Pepper's apartment before Rhodey even came online in the controller chair.

"Tony slow down; we don't know what's going on."

"Oh, have you not been keeping up?! Pepper has been kidnapped and it's our entire fault!" Tony snarled into the receiver. "If she had come over like she was supposed to, than this wouldn't have happened."

Police officers came to his side at that moment so he muted Rhodey's response.

"Iron man, what are you doing here?" The senior officer asked.

"I got a call and I came to help; It's kinda what I do." He replied with no small amount of sarcasm.

"It's just a domestic dispute; nothing we can't handle." The officer replied, and gave Iron man a prideful glare.

Rhodey's audio line beeped impatiently and Tony switched it on with reluctance.

"Tony, don't get the cops mad at you or the city might start suing you for damages." Rhodey warned angrily.

Tony ignored Rhodey and turned away from the officers and started scanning the crime scene.

He was immensely frustrated to find that there really was nothing to find. He was hoping it wouldn't come down to the blood, but it did. He scanned it warily and was upset to find that it did indeed belong to Pepper. Aside from the big puddle there was a small trail of it leading up to the side of the road, to a place where a dark van might have parked.

It was parked on the right side of the road, towards the north. He relayed this information to Rhodey.

"And there's nothing else?" Rhodey demanded.

"I told you I scanned the entire area; there's nothing—" a certain shine caught his eye. He walked to a dumpster down an alley next to Pepper's apartment building.

Pepper's phone lay at its base, snapped cleanly in two.

That gave him an idea.

"Rhodey replay that police message!" He said, taking off suddenly flying into the air to hover over the city.

Tony fast forwarded it to Pepper's phone call.

"They're coming, they have Happy! Please I need He-!" Tony stopped it there.

"Did she just say that 'they have Happy'?" Rhodey asked, quickly catching on to what Tony was thinking.

"Think Hogan would have his phone?" Tony asked as he quickly put in a command to the computer to dial Happy Hogan's cell phone number.

--

Today was his day. He just knew it! He had to escape.

He glared over at the guard that now stood by the door. He had come in after they took Pepper away and had said nothing since. Happy had tried to antagonize him into attacking or something, but the guy remained stubbornly frozen in his position by the door. He didn't talk. He didn't move. He barely breathed. He could have been a statue for all of the life he displayed to happy. But he had to find a way to sneak past him, rescue Pepper from what ever they were doing and get to his match—he had to. Today was his day!

Before Happy could further contemplate this; his cell phone went off. The song 'Stronger' by Kanye West started playing from his pocket and was not quiet.

He swore at his bad luck and scrambled to try and grab it out of his shorts. This was proving especially difficult considering the fact that his arms were tied behind him and his phone was in his front pocket.

The guard turned for the first time and walked towards him.

Happy squirmed and scrambled enough to actually snatch it out of his pocket. He started pushing buttons quickly and was able to actually activate the speaker phone.

He wasted no time from there.

"Help! Whoever you are, help! They have me and Pepper tied up in a ware house!" He howled quickly, not letting the caller get in a single word before his guard snatched the phone from his hand and calmly turned it off as if nothing were out of the ordinary.

Then without warning he kicked Happy's chair out from underneath him so Happy landed painfully on his face. His rear end was raised embarrassingly in the air because he was still stuck to the chair. He felt like a jackass. But at least he had answered the call. There was the creak of old wood as Happy struggled to right himself in the chair. A small, but sharp splinter bit into the delicate flesh of his wrists.

That was all they needed, Happy was confident.

Today was his day, it had to be enough.

--

It was.

In those few short seconds Tony was able to track his cell phone signal to what ware house Happy was talking about.

He took off at full speed pushing his boot jets to their limit. Rhodey had to remind him not to blow all of his power on flying alone. He almost ran into a few buildings and low-flying air crafts in his eagerness to get there. Only one though was on his mind.

'Wait for me Pepper, I'm coming.'

--

The man with the gravelly voice led her down a long, dark hallway that she was completely blind in. He shoved her impatiently when she was only able to manage a slow, stumbling pace due to her lack of sight. They finally came to a room lit only by a series of large computer screen monitors that nearly filled the room. In front of each of these monitors sat a man clothed in similarly dark clothes as their captors.

"Pepper Potts?" A tall man in the corner of the room called to her. She couldn't help but notice that though this man seemed as unextraordinary as the others in the room, he sat in a large and fully cushioned chair and had a large gun balanced on side of it.

He gave her a friendly smile and gestured her over to him. Her captor shoved her roughly towards the man but did not dare venture close himself. She stumbled and fell right at the base of the large chair. She was also uncomfortably close to that gun.

"Oh my, aren't you the clumsy one." He said with a playful chuckle. He had spiked white hair and a completely lazy demeanor. But he was no slouch; he was built like a body builder and looked as big as a giant even from his seated position. It wasn't those things that scared her though; it was his babyish face and excited black eyes which frightened her. They had a cruel look to them, like a child torturing ants with a magnifying glass.

"Who are you?!" She demanded angrily, putting up her toughest front.

"Well my men call me 'Boss'…" He answered in a sing-song voice. He reached down towards her from his throne— it was a black, leather, lazy-boy, but Pepper could not think of it as anything else. He grabbed her around the waist and, despite her protests, pulled her into his lap. "…but you can call me 'Big Daddy', I'd like that."

"Make me!" She snapped angrily, trying to squirm out of his grasp.

Before she could even blink, that large gun was off the floor and pressed against her already wounded head. "As you were saying?" He sang cheerfully.

She stayed silent, frozen with fear.

He pulled the gun away with a giggle. "Don't worry dear; I wouldn't use that on you. I'm saving this for whoever comes after you."

"Whoever…comes after me? Why?" She questioned weakly, not able to get the slight tremor out of her voice.

"You want to know the real reason?" He asked giddily, leaning close like they were best friends. "I can't stand Mr. Fix."

She looked at him blankly and he giggled some more. "Now, I know you know who that is, because he is the reason I kidnapped you…well the first reason at least."He said this last part with a smooth and sultry tone that was in no way innocent. He adjusted her on his lab so she was straddling him, she tried to squirm away but his arms were like steel.

He continued on like nothing had happened. "I hate Mr. Fix so much that I do the opposite of whatever he suggests. He suggested to all of his clients that everyone steer clear of you because you were 'untouchable'." He ran a hand up her thigh to cup her butt firmly. She yelled and jerked away bucking and squirming for all she was worth, this would have been infinitely easily if her hands weren't still tied behind her back.

"But I'm touching you now, and nothing is happening." He said with a smirk. He used his other hand to reach up and grab the back her neck pulling her face down close to his own. "Now tell me, Pepper dear, who exactly does Big Daddy have to look out for?"

There was a deafening crash and the windows overhead suddenly seemed to explode and glass showered everywhere. The floor cracked and caved inwards spreading out from the center of the room. Men screamed and cowered, covering their heads from the falling shards of glass. In the center of all of this chaos was an all too familiar red and gold suit of armor that she knew and loved.

"Iron Man?…interesting." The Boss said this while sounding no more bothered than if a bee had just flown in the window.

"Me." Tony, though it was only she who knew it was Tony, growled. "You have to look out for me." He glared at the two of them while standing up to his full height. "And I suggest you listen to your pal, Fix's warning if you want to keep your hands."

"Of course, of course; anything for Iron man."The Boss laughed and released Pepper's backside and neck to quickly reach behind him and grab the big gun.

"Look out! He's got—!" Her warning came too late as he had fired it before she could even finish. There was another explosion as dust kicked up everywhere and when it had cleared there was nothing but a pile of ash where Iron man had stood.

"…Is that it?" The Boss demanded in disappointment. "I expected a little more fight in him than that." With his free hand he grabbed the back of Pepper's neck and yanked her back down to him.

"Still… having Iron man on your side must make you pretty important…" He said in that silky smooth voice, licking his lips as he did. He pulled her hips back down and began grinding himself against her. She cried out disgust and shoved at his chest desperately, tears spilling rapidly from her eyes as she did so.

"No!" She yelled. "Iron man!"

"Come now! Don't be ridiculous, he's gone. Now, you will submit to me! " He said this with a delighted chuckle as though her tears just spurred him on.

"I don't think so." The large hand that had grasped her neck was very suddenly plucked away at the same time The Boss's large gun was lifted away.

She looked up in time to see the weapon bent and warped beyond recognition by none other than her favorite hero.

"Geez I can not believe you fell for that smoke screen trick. I expected a little more intelligence than that." Her hero openly mocked.

A crimson hand gently lifted her off the chair before punching the boss with all its metal might. He flew across the room to slam against the wall unceremoniously. Iron man then proceeded to bend the warped metal of the gun around the Boss's legs and wrists effectively hog-tying him next to his throne.

None of his lackeys came to his aide; apparently he wasn't much of a leader.

Cool metal hands reached behind Pepper and snapped her rope bonds with ease. Then, without warning Iron man spun her around and scooped her up bridal style. She gasped in surprise and was speechless for once. He marched out the doorway down the pitch black halls.

"Happy is around here somewhere, right?" He asked.

She nodded before she realized he might not be able to see her clearly so she said 'yes' quietly.

About halfway down the hall he stopped totally and set her on her feet in front of him. She was confused for a second but before she could ask him what he was doing he had wrapped his large, metal encased arms tightly around shoulders pressing her to his chest. She was squished to the point of being uncomfortable, but Pepper couldn't help but think that even covered in cold metal, he was infinitely more gentle with her than 'Big Daddy' had been.

"I…I saw the blood and… I thought…" He choked suddenly; he could not bear to voice his thought.

She blushed and even though inch-thick armor separated them she thought she could feel his warmth. "I'm okay…" She said gently.

"What about your head?" He demanded, and with infinite tenderness, he reached up and brushed back the short curtain of blood-crusted hair that covered the gash she had gotten. "Which asshole did this? If it was that Boss guy I'm going back there and giving him what he really deserves!"

He didn't hate her; Tony wasn't this good of an actor. How could she ever have believed Gene? She was the one who didn't even like him! Happy was right, for once.

His fussing warmed her heart and for the first time in a week, she felt happy.

Before she could lose her nerve, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and stood on the tips of her toes to reach up and place a feather light kiss on the metallic chin of his armor. Though he couldn't really feel it, she hoped he got her message.

"I'm fine. Thanks for everything…and always…" She trialed off and looked down, suddenly embarrassed.

There was a metallic whir, click and without warning her lips were captured in tender kiss. An armored hand came up to lovingly caress her cheek, instantly cooling her burning face. She leaned into that hand as they broke apart.

"Fewer words next time, Pepper." Tony smiled at her awed expression before he replaced his face plate and scooped her back into his arms.

"Now, we have to find Happy." He announced with sudden determination.

They didn't have to look hard for as they went a little further down the hallway a door suddenly burst open and a man in black, one of the Boss's lackeys, flew through it and slammed hard against the wall.

"What now, bitch!?" Happy roared, flexing his muscles victoriously as he emerged from the doorway.

He looked rough. His face was bruised and his nose was bleeding; but the lackey lying in crumpled heap on the floor looked worse, much worse.

He looked over at them in mild surprise. "Iron man? What are you doing here?"

"I got a call and came to help; It's kinda what I do." He said with more than a little boredom in his tone. "What's with everyone asking me that today? Can't you just accept the help?" He joked.

"Well sure; get me to the Tomorrow Academy! Today is my day and I can still make my match!" He demanded urgently before licking his bleeding wrists and wiping them on his basketball jersey.

"Are you still on about that?!" Pepper cried in outrage. "You're alive, be grateful! You'll live to see other days!"

"No! Today is MY day! Days like this come only like once a year! I can't waste it!"

Pepper rolled her eyes as Happy climbed onto Iron man's back. She had offered to ride there as well to make flying easier but Tony had flat out refused. He claimed that to do that she would have to hold on to Happy and he would never force a lady into such a compromising position.

Happy laughed like a Hyena, but didn't argue.

She rolled her eyes but was too pleased that Tony was jealous to really fight.

--

Pepper popped another chocolate chip in her mouth and hummed happily as it melted on her tongue into its sweet and creamy liquid form.

"That was your fifth chocolate chip. Why don't you let me lick the spoon, at least?" Tony whined from his position from the couch in the living room of Rhodey's house.

"Because I no longer trust you. You sabotaged my last batch."

"I don't know what you're talking about. That was a mistake." He scoffed.

"You mixed up sugar and salt. No genius could make that mistake." Rhodey inserted with a laugh

Tony glared at his friend before he turned back to the TV in a huff. "I don't see what the problem is; Happy would still have eaten them." He grumbled.

"Jealously is unbecoming of you, Anthony Stark." Pepper giggled.

"I was raised an only child of a filthy rich family and never went to school a day in my life before high school." He rose from the couch to sneak up behind her and wrap his arms around her waist and growl in her ear. "I don't share." He silently delighted in her shudder.

"Why are you baking Happy cookies again?"

"Because the coach withdrew him from his match for bleeding." She said simply, gently knocking his hands away as he tried to dip a finger in the cookie dough she was mixing.

"That's something to be celebrated?" He asked dryly.

"Yes it is."

"I don't understand why." He grumbled.

"I don't expect you to; it's far beyond your intellect." She stuck her tongue out playfully at him. He wished he could capture her lips again but he stopped himself as Rhodey walked into the kitchen. He pulled away from her slightly unwillingly and helped Pepper form the dough into gelatinous balls which would eventually become cookies.

They filled two cookie sheets, so there would be plenty extra for themselves, and Pepper placed them carefully in the oven.

"Finished!" She tossed her oven mitt towards the counter where it smacked against the bag of flour, which tipped over, spilling everywhere. It was suddenly as if a small smoke bomb went off in the kitchen, everything within a three-foot radiance of the bag was suddenly covered in flour.

This sadly included Tony and Rhodey who were leaning against the counter next to the bag.

They both blinked in shock and looked blankly at one another's flour covered faces.

"Oh my god! I'm sooooo sorry! I'll get a wet towel right away!" She rushed towards the bathroom down the hall before pausing in the doorway and bursting into laughter. "Wahahahaha! You guys look hilarious! But it's not funny…I'm very sorry." She put on a somber face before turning and running down the hall. They could hear her laughing all the way from the bathroom.

Tony sighed before grabbing a paper towel and beginning to wipe up all the spilt flour. Rhodey followed his lead, but not before turning to glare at the young genius.

"Do you ever get tired of cleaning up after Pepper's messes?" Rhodey had meant it as a rhetorical question but Tony answered all the same.

"Nope." He smiled fondly as Pepper walked back into the kitchen with a cheesy smile and a digital camera in hand.

"I love it."

--

A/n: Numero duo for ya! How do ya like me now? So yeah, check out my other IMAA story called Nightmares—if you haven't already. It's all new and edited like.

Thanks to all of those of you who reviewed and stuck with me. I heart you guys! I'll be back, you can't get rid of me that easily!

Review! If you do then perhaps you shall receive a cookie…or perhaps not. You will only see if you review!! Everyone counts!