"Cam-ping? What's that?" Tony asked. Pepper was smiling excitedly.

"You don't know what camping is? It's so fun! My parents and I used to go all the time when I was younger!"

"No, the word's never come up."

"Well I think we should go! It's so fun. What it is is you go out into the woods, or by a lake or river or something and you take a tent, enough food for however long you're going, and you sleep outside for a week! It's way more fun than you think." Pepper explained.

"So, we just sleep outside for four days?" Isn't that a little boring? I mean, there's nowhere to plug in a laptop or anything." Tony answered. Pepper sighed. The boy could be so clueless sometimes.

"Tony, the point of camping is to take a break from technology for a while and get closer to nature. We take it for granted so often because of all the technology we have. And personally, I think you two need to quit it on the technology anyways. You spend way too much time around it. Do you even know what a tree looks like?" Pepper asked.

"Yes! I've…seen them on TV…" Tony responded. Pepper sighed.

"That's pathetic. You need to get to where the real wilderness is. Look, my dad and I go camping every summer and this year we're going to the Catskills, and I think you and Rhodey should come with us. We'll have so much fun, I promise!" Pepper suggested.

"I don't know, a week without technology? What if the city needs Iron Man?"

"Oh, come on Tony, Gene is MIA, Whiplash has been taken care of for the time being, Unicorn and Killer Shrike are MIA, Iron Monger has been taken care of and Titanium Man hasn't been spotted for weeks. I think Iron Man can afford to take a week off. Come on, please? At least think about it?"

"I don't know, what if Fix tries to kill someone again?"

"Come on, he hasn't done anything in a while. Pretty please, Tony? For me?" Pepper shot him the puppy dog-pleading face. Tony hated when she did that, because it always made him cave. It softened him up inside, like butter. He sighed.

"Fine…I'll go, if you can convince Roberta to let us." Tony answered. Pepper squealed in excitement and gave Tony a sudden hug. Tony blushed and accepted the hug, forming a small smile when Pepper thanked him once more and went to ask Roberta about camping.

"Don't worry, I'll convince her if it's the last thing I do!" She yelled over her shoulder as she ran towards the Rhodes house, where Roberta could be found making dinner and Rhodey could be found working on his homework. Tony chuckled at her eagerness and followed her to the Rhodes house.

~…~

"Wait, you're actually going to let us go?" Tony asked, surprised.

"Yes, I think it's a very good idea! Pepper is right, you boys have spent too much time around technology, you need a break. I'd be glad to excuse you two for a week." Roberta said to the two boys with a smile. Pepper smiled widely.

"Thank you soo much Mrs. Rhodes! I'll go ask my dad!" Pepper squealed, running home.

Once she was out the door, Roberta turned to the boys.

"Now, I want to make one thing very clear. Especially to you, mister," Roberta pointed to Tony," She said, in a warning tone. The boys looked at her with curious gazes.

"If you come home and I find out you did anything with Pepper…" She started.

"Ew! Mom! We wouldn't do that!" Rhodey shuddered at the thought.

"And Pepper and I are just friends! I wouldn't dream of doing that! I know my boundaries! I'm still in high school…" Tony added.

"I'm just making sure. A mother can never be too careful." She said.

"I think I'm just going to go…you know, crawl in a hole or something…" Tony said with a heavy blush, going to his room to hide. Rhodey shook his head with a smile.

"He doesn't know he likes her yet."

~…~

Pepper zipped her backpack and ran excitedly down to the RV that was waiting outside their apartment building. She threw her bag aboard, wearing cargo shorts, a white tank top and a regular pink hat. Tony and Rhodey approached, throwing their own stuff aboard the rented RV, and wearing their own camping attire.

When Tony caught a glimpse of Pepper's camping attire, he blushed.

"I-I like your outfit…" He said, nervously rubbing the back of his neck.

"Oh...thank you?" Pepper responded nervously, blushing.

"How did you get your dad to let us go, anyways?" Rhodey asked, ignoring his friend's stupid attempts at complimenting Pepper.

"Oh, I wore him down…"

Flashback!

Pepper walked in the door of her and her father's apartment to find Virgil sitting on the couch, reading a newspaper.

"Daddy, can Tony and Rhodey come camping with us? Pretty please?" She asked sweetly, smiling.

"I don't know honey, Tony and Rhodey are a little…tech dependent. They may not be able to handle it." Virgil answered, not looking up from his paper.

"But dad, I already got him to go! They both agreed to it!" Pepper answered.

"Pepper, no."

"Come on, dad! Please?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"No!"

"Pretty please with rainbow sprinkles on top?"

"Pepper. Stop asking me!"

They were silent for a moment while Pepper thought of a plan.

"Okay, would you let them go if I promised you that we'd sleep in separate tents and I wouldn't go near theirs after nine, and that they would be on their best behavior at all times and that by the end of the trip you'll love them like sons you wished you had?" Virgil sighed in defeat.

"Fine. But I better not have a grandson after this!" Virgil shouted after Pepper squealed in excitement and rushed up to her room. She came down a minute later and hugged Virgil tight, then ran back up to her room.

Flashback endd.

Tony and Rhodey shrugged and the three of them boarded the bus.

Tony was finding his way to a seat next to his friends when Virgil stopped him.

"You'd better stay away from my daughter, you understand son?" Virgil said. Tony swallowed nervously and nodded.

"Good." He paused. Tony was about to walk to his seat when Virgil said, "and don't be so scared! We're going to have fun this week!" Virgil smiled, patting Tony's back. Tony smiled nervously and took his seat next to Pepper.

"This is going to be so fun guys!" Pepper said, putting her arms around her friends's shoulders. Tony chuckled nervously, still feeling Virgil's warning gaze on him even though he knew it was on the road, and Rhodey smiled nervously, thinking of missing the troubles that Iron Man and War Machine could be missing.

Another story? Unheard of! Lol, this idea's been sitting for a while. I had to do something :3 I don't think anyone else has thought of this…and yes, there will be PLENTY of fluff. Review?