I t occurred to me after i had posted this that i never quite explained how this was a homework assignment for A.P Human Geography. Well the assignment was to create our own longitude and latitude story using at least five locations and it had to be atleast a page long. well it turned out to be seven and originally this was supposed to be a story with characters from Smallville,Psych,NCIS,Burn Notice,Suits,Bones,NCIS:LA, and Iron man and clearly that was not at all how this story turned out. So with that said i hope you continue to read on and enjoy this homework assignment turned fan fiction.
Five Destinations
It had started out as a simple day for Pepper Potts, well as simple as a day could get when you were dating world renowned billionaire, superhero, and ex playboy, Tony Stark. They had been dating for nearly eight months and while there was the media speed bumps and superhero mission potholes things were pretty much clear skies and open roads for the two. He was trying his best to change for her and in doing so he had gotten her in trouble at the office when Natalie Natasha Rushman Romanov had walked in on their impromptu make out session started by Tony with the business partners for her meeting that day to talk about the budget. She had since banned him from the office and insisted he just stay at home in his workshop working on his Mark V Iron Man suits with JARVIS. So when Tony had just showed up in her office that day with a silly grin on his face dressed up in a tux while she was responding to emails she was skeptical to say the least.
"What are you doing here Tony? I thought we agreed that you weren't ever to come and see me during work hours."
"First of all you agreed to that I just nodded my head and second it's past work hours my dear Pepper and time for our date."
Pepper looked on her computer screen at the time and her eyes went wide as she read just how late it was, eight o' six already. Normally she just worked until six or seven but she was so busy and consumed with all of the day's meetings and reports and emails she had completely ignored and was oblivious to the fading day light in her office. "Oh and was this date on my calendar?"
"You have a calendar?" He asked with a smirk.
Pepper gave him a disapproving annoyed look and replied," Yes Tony, professionals keep a calendar to stay organized and prepared. Not that you would even know what the word professional means, it's not in your vocabulary."
"It is too in my vocabulary, I just choose to find loop holes around the word. Now are you going to come and let me give you a good time on our date or continue to sit here and make me pry you off your laptop and force me to make you have a good time."
She smiled and closed her laptop knowing Tony would continue to be persistent about this date until she finally gave in and said yes. "Alright but since you are all dressed up I have to go home and change."
"I think you look beautiful Pepper."
"You also think I look beautiful in one of your shirts so I'm going to change or im not participating in this surprise date."
"But you do look beautiful in one of my shirts, sexy." Tony said with a smile. Pepper rolled her eyes and allowed Tony to escort her to the car that was waiting out front. As they got in Tony said to Happy, "We're going home Happy."
"Alright Sir."
"So are you going to tell me where we are going on this date of yours?" Pepper asked as she was in their room putting on her dress.
"Well actually it's a bunch of different places and you may want to bring a sweater because we may or may not be getting there via. Iron Man."
"What?!" She asked alarmed. "As much as I would love to be flying around the world in your arms Tony I don't think that would be a good idea."
"What? Why not?" Because my hair would be all messed up and my dress would be ruffled."
"And yet you would still manage to look stunning much like you do now." Tony said sitting on the bed watching her put on her make up in the bathroom. Pepper peeped out of the bathroom to meet his eyes and walked over to him placing a small kiss on his lips.
"Let's just take the jet." She said softly.
"Yeah but that would take too long, especially when we have five set destinations. Iron Man can get us there much faster. Plus JARVIS wouldn't get us lost unlike a pilot." Pepper rolled her eyes and threw up her hands in defeat.
"Fine, but you better not lie to me when I ask you how I look and just say beautiful because I will kill you if I am out in public and my hair is ruffled. I have an image to maintain too as the CEO of Stark Industries."
"Yes dear." He said with a grin. He got up off the bed to leave and prep the suit before he leaned into the bathroom where Pepper had walked back to in order to continue getting ready and said sincerely," Pepper you really do look beautiful tonight, don't let anyone tell you otherwise." He placed a kiss on her head and walked out catching the blush that had spread to her cheeks.
"JARVIS begin prepping the Mark V II suit."
"As you wish Sir."
"How is the weather for flying tonight JARVIS?"
"It is 73 degrees at our current location, and the weather conditions are fairly moderate in all of your pre-destined destinations. Miss Potts is approaching, will you be prop-"
"Mute." Tony said quickly as Pepper entered her code into the keypad and walked in. "Ready to go?"
"Ready when you are." She replied with a smile crossing over to where he was sitting.
"Good. Let me suit up first." Tony said and walked onto the platform for JARVIS to assemble the suit around him. Tony lifted up the face mask on the suit and walked back over to pepper who was wearing a backless black dress with thin straps. She had her hair down and curled and minimal make up applied except for the essentials; foundation, mascara, eyeliner, and lipstick.
She had put on a spritz of Tony's favorite perfume that he had bought her from Monaco the last time they were there. She was wearing high, high heels that were a shiny black like her dress and she had a small clutch purse that could be turned into one you wore over your shoulder. She figured if she was going to be flying around having a chain on her purse might be a good idea. He wrapped his arm securely around her waist and smiled at her affectionately before the mask shut. "Jarvis input coordinates 48.8661 degrees North and 2.3379 degrees East."
"Route planned for Paris, France. Estimated time of arrival, twenty minutes and 19 seconds."
"Paris? Tony?" She asked her eyes sparkling. He knew that Paris was one of her favorite cities to visit and he had placed a reservation at one of her favorite restaurants to eat at, Le Grand Véfour.
"Hold on tight Pepper. JARVIS set thrusters to 80%." The thrusters on his suit started up and a second later they were flying through the sky and over America. Exactly twenty minutes and nineteen seconds later they were landing in the alley just beside the restaurant. Tony set pepper down and spoke into the helmet, "JARVIS disassemble into the briefcase." The suit began to come off in pieces and disassembled itself allowing Tony to step out. "See that flight wasn't so bad."
"I do have to admit I did slightly enjoy seeing the world below." She said not giving him complete satisfaction.
"So it had nothing to do with the fact I was holding you in my arms."
"mmm" she said pretending to consider it and then replied, "nope." With a smile on her face.
"Ouch. Well that hurt." He said in feign injury above his heart. She smiled and took his hand.
"Come on superhero, I'm looking forward to my dinner." She said with a smile of contentment.
"And just think it's only dinner not dessert." Tony said happily.
Nearly an hour and a half later the pair came walking out hand in hand laughing. Tony had his suit in hand and Pepper her purse in hand. They allowed the press to snap their photos without letting it bother them too much and had enjoyed their dinner. They walked back into the alley and Tony suit the suit the ground activating it with his foot and then proceeding to put it on his chest and let it assemble around him.
"So where is our next destination?"
"You'll see in just a minute when JARVIS inevitably tells you." Tony said rolling his eyes. Pepper smirked and waited patiently. "JARVIS input coordinates 47.768639 degrees North and 11.255214 degrees East."
"Planning route to Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy. Estimated time of arrival, five minutes." The AL spoke.
"Art Museum, Tony how…how did you know?"
"You're my girlfriend Pepper it's my job to know what art museum you've wanted to go to since you were six."
"Mmmhhmm, you saw the brochure on my desk didn't you?" She asked.
"That may have been a slightly helpful hint." He said nonchalantly. Pepper smiled and gave him a short, sweet kiss.
"Thank you Tony." She said. He smiled and nodded his head. He shut the mask and his thrusters started up lifting them into the night sky overlooking all of Paris.
"Wow." Pepper said breathlessly. She knew Tony wasn't one into art which is why the notion of him taking her here was all the more special. She knew his idea of art was a painting of Iron Man. " Look at da Vinci's Annunciation, unfinished Adoration of the Magi . Its examination reveals how he planned and built up painting; it's the early Baptism of Christ with his teacher Verrocchio."
"mmm, interesting." Tony said only half paying attention all this art stuff bored him but if it made Pepper happy then he was happy. His idea of art was the secret ring he kept hidden in the inside pocket of his tux. He knew that some of the places they went he would look a little out of place but he didn't care because he wanted to look his absolute best when he proposed to Pepper and he wanted it to be memorable and special leading up to the proposal.
"The museum will be closing in thirty minutes." Said two voices overhead, one in Italian and the other repeating in English.
"Are you ready to ditch this place? We still have three places to visit and I know you'll be upset if you don't get to see all of the, especially the last one." He said with a smile.
Pepper smiled at his mischievous smile and said, "Sure. Let's go."
They walked up to the roof of the building where Tony put on the suit once again and input the coordinates into JARVIS. "42 degrees North and 1 degree East."
"Planning route for Pyrenees Mountains, Spain. Estimated time of arrival, 11 minutes and 42 seconds." The al said.
"Tony why on Earth are we going to the mountains?" Pepper asked raising an eyebrow.
"Don't worry, it's spring and you'll see once we get there so when I tell you to close your eyes I need you to close them or it will ruin the element."
Pepper rolled her eyes and agreed. "Fine." Tony smiled and wrapped his arms around Pepper.
"I love you Pepper." He said before taking off.
"I love you too." She whispered back kissing him tenderly.
"Alright, it's time to take off now otherwise we'll never finish." Tony said dramatically. Pepper laughed but held on tight as they propelled into the air.
A minute before they landed Pepper shut her eyes as Tony asked and waited until they landed to open them again. Before her she saw shining in the sun a hot air balloon waiting to be ridden in. She gasped upon seeing it. It was another one of the things she always wanted to do. This however she knew Tony had not seen anywhere and he had come up with all on his own.
"Tony…you...I…" She wanted to jump and hug him and tell him she loved him so much, more than she thought possible but words wouldn't form in her mouth. Her mouth was failing her.
"You're welcome Pepper." He said for her knowing just how breathless she was. She did the same thing to him every day when he would wake up and see her smiling at him. She was the only person who managed to leave him struck in awe and breathless. He slipped his hand into hers and intertwined their fingers leading them to the instructor and pilot of the hot air balloon. Tony exchanged a few words with him in Spanish before they began to go up and the sight that lay before Pepper was amazingly beautiful. She now understood why Tony had wanted her to close her eyes. Seeing it beforehand wouldn't have the same experience it had now as she was ascending into the sky with Tony by her side.
When they finally landed they were ten miles from where they had started and had been up in the sky for forty five minutes. She had mindless chatter with Tony and was half into their conversation when she was really paying attention to all the beautiful scenes of nature surrounding her.
Now they were flying to 45 degrees 26' 12 North and 12 degrees 19' 59 East, also known as The Grand Canal in Venice, Italy. When they touched down Tony told her how she looked and stuck to his word of not just mindlessly saying beautiful like he so wanted to. He wanted to just hold her in his arms and tell her really just how beautiful she looked to him. He arranged for a gondola ride to an undisclosed location, well at least undisclosed to Pepper. It was his final destination where he would propose, 42.4361 degrees North and 12.305 degrees East, Hotel Cipriani. It was the hotel he had mentioned on their way back from Monaco almost a year ago, over an omelet that had taken him three hours to prepare. As they sat in the gondola looking ridiculously dressed up Pepper curled into Tony's side and let his arm drape around her to keep her warm, it was a little chilly for it being spring. As they were rowing along the canal Tony pressed a kiss to her head and smiled down at her when looked at questioningly.
As an hour passed by they sat in comfortable silence until Pepper looked to Tony and could tell by the smile on his face what was going on. He had been acting a little weird the last couple days and this wonderful, exhausting date was just the whipped topping to the cherry that was going to be put on top soon. She could tell that he was going to propose but she didn't want to ruin this perfect plan he had put into action. Even if it was a little too long he was still trying to get in the swing of things of trying to be a normal boyfriend but she knew he could never be a normal boyfriend but she also wasn't going to try and stop his efforts to do right by her and try and change to become a better person for her. A normal boyfriend wouldn't have had the money to bring her to all these pricey places and do the extravagant things however they also wouldn't have kept going from place to place for almost five hours. It was however the best and longest date he had ever had and just knowing that Tony was going to propose to take that next step sent shivers up her spine and let loose butterflies in her stomach and it melted her heart so much that just thinking of all this she leant up and gave him a sweet kiss.
"What was that for?" He asked with a smile.
"Just saying thank you for such a wonderful time, even if we have been out for a long time."
"You're welcome." He replied. "I would do anything to make you happy Pepper."
"We're here mister." The man said with a thick Italian accent.
Pepper looked around and a smile crept upon her lips when she saw a sign. "Cipriani." She whispered.
Tony paid the man and helped Pepper out of the gondola then grabbed his suit briefcase.
"Welcome Mr. Stark and Miss Potts, your room is all ready for you and your bags are waiting up in the room."
"Thank you Alberto." Tony said paying the man and then wrapping one arm around Pepper's waist and the other holding onto his suit as they were lead up to their suite. It was the penthouse one of course and as they walked in Pepper threw her purse onto the bed and kicked off her heels then proceeding to the balcony overlooking the sea. Pepper's back was turned to him as she closed her eyes and took in the smell of the sea and the sun's last rays of warmth on her face as it set. Tony's heart melted at the sight and crept up behind her wrapping his arms around her waist as she leaned back into him. "I love you Pepper." He said softly in her ear.
"I love you too Tony." She replied turning around and giving him a short kiss.
"I want this." He said.
"Tony you already have over half the shares in this hotel remember?" She said chuckling.
"No Pepper, us, this moment, you, forever." He said sweetly.
"Tony what are you saying?" Pepper asked trying not to smile.
Tony bent down on one knee in front of her and pulled out a small box with a ring inside opening it for her viewing. He had kept it simple, down to a single carat and she appreciated that. "What I'm saying is, will you give me the honor of staying by your side forever Pepper Potts?" He asked with a hopeful twinkle in his eyes. His heart was beating so loud he couldn't hear his own words and he hoped that she would.
"Yes." She replied picking him up off the balcony floor and embracing him in a heart melting and warming kiss. He could tell by the way she kissed him that she had secretly known all along and it made him happy that she hadn't said anything and had allowed him the honor of proposing to her all on his own. This was the first time he had had a true happy ending only now with Pepper he couldn't help but think that this was really just one of the many happy endings he would experience with this woman by his side.
So i hope you all enjoyed this and be sure to review it would be an awesome birthday present. Today is my sweet 16. so yeah. 9/10.
