Proof He Has a Heart

Hot Pepper

Me and Rhodes opens the cabin door where Tony has been remotely controlling his suit.
"Give me some good news, man" Rhodey said.
"I think they all made it" Uncle Tony said.
"Oh, thank God" I said.
"Yeah, but I missed the President" he said.
"You couldn't save the President with the suit, how are we gonna save Pepper with nothing?" Rhodey asked.
"Uh...say, Jarvis, is it that time?" Tony asked.
"The 'house party' protocol, sir?" JARVIS said.
"Correct" Uncle Tony said.
Me, Tony and Rhodes sneak onto Aldrich's oil-drilling platform. The smell of oil was all around us.
"Come on" Uncle Tony said.
"You're not gonna freak out on me, right?" Rhodes asked.
"I hope not" Uncle Tony said as I notice the President is hung up inside the Iron Patriot suit.
"Oh, my God" I said.
"He's strung up over the oil tank, they're gonna light him up, man" Rhodes said.
"Viking funeral. Public execution" Uncle Tony said.
"Yeah, death by oil" I said as we sneak further in to find a way to save the President.
"Broadcast will commence shortly. Take final positions" said the loud speakers as we walk through the platform.
"Is your gun up?" Rhodey asked as Uncle Tony points his gun up.
"Yep. What do I do?" Uncle Tony asked.
"Stay on my six, cover high, and don't shoot me in the back" Rhodey said.
"Six, high, back. Alright" Uncle Tony suddenly one of Aldrich's men start shooting at us, Uncle Tony shot back trying to shoot the lamp beside the guard but misses, Tony and Rhodes take a hiding position.
"You see that? Nailed it" Uncle Tony said making me smile.
"Yeah, you really killed the glass" I said laughing.
"I was aiming for the bulb! You can't hit a bulb at this distance" Uncle Tony said then Rhodes rises and shoots the bulb, hitting it perfectly making me laugh loudly.
"I'm out. Give me...give me...you got an extra magazine?" Uncle Tony asked moments later of shooting.
"They're not universal, Tony" Rhodey said.
"I know what I'm doing, I make this stuff" Uncle Tony said making me roll my eyes.
"Okay" I said.
"Give me another one" Uncle Tony said.
"I don't have one that fits that gun" Rhodey said.
"You've got like five of 'em. Alright, here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna spot. Ready?" Uncle Tony said as Tony quickly rises then sits back down.
"What'd you see?" I asked.
"Too fast, nothing. Here we go" Uncle Tony said he rises again and this time takes a good look before getting back down, "Three guys, one girl, all armed."
"God, I'd kill for some armor right now" Rhodey said.
"You're right, we need backup" Uncle Tony said.
"Yeah, a bunch" I said.
"You know what?" Uncle Tony asked as Tony nods for Rhodes and me to look ahead, we see Tony's suits flying toward us.
"Is...is that?" Rhodey asked.
"Yep" Uncle Tony answered.
"Are those?" I asked pointing to the suits coming toward us..
"Yeah" Uncle Tony said as all of Tony's Iron Man suits arrive.
"Merry Christmas, buddy" Uncle Tony said as the suits surround the Extremis soldiers.
"Jarvis, target Extremis heat signatures. Disable with extreme prejudice" Uncle Tony said.
"Yes, sir" JARIVS said as the suits hesitate for a moment.
"What are you waiting for? It's Christmas. Take 'em to church!" I said smiling as the suits being remotely controlled by Jarvis, the suits attack each of the Extremis soldiers. "Jarvis, get Igor to steady this thing" Uncle Tony said.
"This is how you've been managing your downtime, huh?" Rhodey asked.
"Everybody needs a hobby" Uncle Tony said making me smile as me, Tony and Rhodes watch the suits take out the Extremis soldiers.
"Heartbreaker? Help Red Snapper out, will ya?" Uncle Tony asked as the suits destroy the soldiers, the platform starts exploding around us, then one of the suits flies to Tony and opens up for Tony to enter.
"Nice timing" Uncle Tony said as I turned on my rocket boots.
"Oh yeah, that's awesome. Give me a suit, okay?" Rhodey asked as Rhodes holds out his arms ready to get suited.
"Oh, I'm sorry. They're...they're only coded to me" Uncle Tony said.
"What's that mean?" Rhodey asked raising an eyebrow.
"I got you covered" Uncle Tony said as Tony flies off, then one of the suits lands in front of Rhodes and walks up to him.
"Good evening, Colonel. Can I give you a lift?" JARIVS said as the suit embraces Rhodes.
"Very funny" Rhodey said the suit flies off, carrying Rhodes. I used my rocket boots to fly up toward the platform.
"Sir, I've located Miss Potts" JARVIS said into my ear piece.
"About time. Taylor, meet me there" Uncle Tony said as I used my rocket boots to fly over to the building where Uncle Tony lands. We enter the small building and find Pepper under some rubble, as Uncle Tony tries to move the metal rubble, Pepper screams out in pain.
"Stop! Put it down, put it down, put it down" Pepper said as me and Tony puts the metal rubble down and Uncle Tony kneels in front of Pepper.
"See what happens when you hang out with my ex-girlfriends?" Uncle Tony asked jokingly as Tony holds out his hand for Pepper to take.
"You're such a jerk" Pepper said making me smile.
"Yep. We'll talk about it over dinner" Uncle Tony said as Pepper starts crying as she tries to take hold of Tony's hand.
"Come on. A little more, Pepper" I said as she manages to touch the tip of her fingers to Tony's, suddenly a heated orange hand breaks through the rubble making me scream and knocks Tony aside, the Aldrich comes out from under the rubble and looks at Pepper.
"Is this guy bothering you?" Aldrich asked as I crawl back away from him in fear. But that fear slowly disappears as Aldrich goes over to Tony and stands over him.
"Don't get up!" Aldrich said as he places one finger on Tony's suit and starts heating it up, "Ooh, is that hot in there? Stuck? Feel a little stuck? Like a little turtle, cooking in his little turtle suit?"
"Oh, Tony" Pepper said as I slowly started to crawl toward Uncle Tony and Aldrich.
"She's watching. I think you should close your eyes. Close your eyes" Aldrich said as Uncle Tony continues to stare at Aldrich, "Close your eyes, you don't wanna see this." Just as Aldrich raises his hand to strike Tony, I form a knife out of ice and jumped toward them and use it to slice off Aldrich's arm and he screams out in pain.
"Yeah, you take a minute" I hissed as Aldrich missing hand hits up the metal ground, the ground suddenly falls through and both Pepper and Aldrich fall.
"PEPPER!" I yelled as Uncle Tony manages to get out his suit and runs after Pepper as she is getting dragged across the platform.
"Jarvis, give me a suit right now!" Uncle Tony yelled as a suit flies in toward Tony, he misses getting into it, "Aw, come on!"
I watch as Uncle Tony continues to run after Pepper. I feel an arm loop around my stomach and lift me off the ground. I struggle trying to get out of Aldrich's grip.
"Let me go!" I yelled as he pulled me towards where Uncle Tony and Pepper. Uncle Tony reaches out to her but she's too far for him.
"Honey, I can't reach any further, and you can't stay there, alright? You gotta let go. You gotta let go! I'll catch you, I promise!" Uncle Tony yelled suddenly the rig moves and Pepper falls to the fire and rubble beneath, Tony watches in dismay and tears in his eyes, then he sees Aldrich ahead of him with a tight hold on me. He wraps an arm around my neck.
"What a shame, I would have caught her" Aldrich said as his arm started to glow. I placed my hand on his arm and ice started to creep up his arm. He let go and I used my rocket boots to fly over to Uncle Tony. Me, Uncle Tony and Aldrich start fighting, Aldrich looks as though he's winning after destroying two of Uncle Tony's suits using his ability generate extreme heat, he grabs hold of Tony in the suit.
"Well here we are, on the roof" Aldrich said as Aldrich uses his ability to rip Tony's suit apart, making Tony fall out of his suit, at that moment they see that one of Tony's suits is flying toward them.
"Mark 42 inbound" JARIVS said.
"Well I'll be damned. The prodigal son returns" Uncle Tony said making me smile as Tony gets ready get suited in Mark 42, the suit catches on the iron platform and falls apart, Aldrich smiles at Tony.
"Whatever" I said.
"You really didn't deserve her, Tony. It's a pity, I was so close to having her...perfect" Aldrich said as Aldrich jumps down in front of Tony and me, ready to attack again.
"Okay, okay! Wait, wait! Slow down, slow down! You're right, I don't deserve her! Here's where you're wrong, she was already perfect" Uncle Tony said suddenly Tony gets Mark 42 suited onto Aldrich, trapping him.
"Jarvis, do me a favor and blow Mark 42" Uncle Tony said.
"NOOOO!" Aldrich yelled as me and Uncle Tony jumps out of the way as the suit with Aldrich in it explodes. Me and Uncle Tony watches the head piece of Mark 42 suit burn he suddenly sees Aldrich appear out of the fire and walk toward us. Uncle Tony pulls me toward him and holds me close.
"No more false faces. You said you wanted the Mandarin, you're looking right at him. It was always me, Tony, right from the start. I am the Mandarin!" Aldrich yelled suddenly Aldrich gets knocked aside and Pepper with a metal pole in her hand, Tony looks at her in shock.
"I got nothin'." Uncle Tony said at that moment one of the suits flies in toward us, "Jarvis, subject at my twelve o'clock is not a target, disengage!"
But Jarvis can't hear him as I notice Uncle Tony's earpiece had fallen out of his ear, the suit tries to attack Pepper but misses, Pepper then turns and runs toward Tony and me.
"What? Oh, what, are you mad at me?" Uncle Tony asked as Pepper uses Tony to jump up high and grab hold of the suit, she then rips the arm apart and uses the plasma blaster in the suit's hand to destroy Aldrich. After Pepper kills Aldrich, me and Uncle Tony stand there in shock.
"Honey" Uncle Tony said.
"Oh, my God. That was really violent" Pepper said making me smile.
"You just scared the devil out of me. I thought you were-" Uncle Tony started.
"I was dead. Why? Because I fell two hundred feet? Who's the hot mess now?" Pepper asked.
"It's still debatable" I said.
"Probably tipping your way a little bit. Why don't you dress like this at home? Hmm? Sport bra, the whole deal" Uncle Tony said.
"You know, I think I understand why you don't want to give up the suits. What I am gonna complain about now?" Pepper asked.
"Well, it's me. I'll think of somethin'." Uncle Tony said as me and Tony comes toward her, "Come here, babe."
"No, don't touch me!" Pepper said.
"No, don't worry about it" Uncle Tony said.
"No, I'm gonna burn you!" She said.
"No, no, you're not" Uncle Tony said as he touches her, "See. Not hot."
"Am I gonna be okay?" Pepper asked.
"No, you're in a relationship with me, everything will never be okay. But I think I can figure this out, yeah. I almost had this twenty years ago when I was drunk. I think I can get you better. That's what I do, I fix stuff" Uncle Tony said as he wrapped an arm around me.
"And all your distractions?" Pepper asked.
"Uh...I'm gonna shave them down a little bit" Uncle Tony said.
"Jarvis? Hey?" Uncle Tony asked.
"All wrapped up here, sir. Will there be anything else?" JARIVS asked.
"You know what to do" Uncle Tony said.
"The 'clean slate' protocol, sir?" JARIVS asked.
"Screw it, it's Christmas. Yes, yes" Uncle Tony said as me, Tony and Pepper embrace, me and Pepper watches as Jarvis destroys each Iron Man suit remotely, which looks like fireworks being set off.
"Wow" I whispered.
"Okay so far? You like it?" Uncle Tony asked.
"It'll do" Pepper said as Uncle Tony picks me up and puts me onto his shoulders. Pepper puts her hand on my leg as we watch in amazement. Uncle Tony wraps an arm around Pepper and kisses her cheek. Best Christmas Ever!