As the dust and debris settled from the tornado of a press conference, a storm of epic proportions was brewing in the floors above as one Colonel James Rhodes flew up the stairs followed by one very pissed off Pepper Potts to teach a certain CEO some humility.

Without giving any warning or that famous restraint that the military life had ingrained into him, Rhodey flung Tony's office door open and his right fist met Tony's head with a hard thud which sent Tony to the floor

"What in hell is wrong with you?" Rhodey spat as Tony tried to get back up only to be pushed down again.

"What are you talking about?" Tony shot back as he put a hand up to his now bloody nose.

"I don't want to hear it. Do you have something wrong with you in that you can't follow simple directions? Ready, fire, aim was not going to work here." Rhodey spat as his tirade was just getting started and not letting Tony get even a syllable in. "All you had to do was read the damn cards and you seemed to be physically incapable of that. Ever since you were a kid, you fly off the handle when someone baits you. Call me when you finally learn some damn self control." He roared before walking out of the office.

"Pepper? Can you give me a hand here?" Tony asked with a small smile of relief when he saw Pepper standing behind Rhodey as he tried to get up.

"Help yourself this time," Pepper replied icily as she crossed her arms and did not move from the door frame. "I can't talk to you right now." She said as she turned to leave.

Tony's smile quickly faded when he felt Pepper's shards of ice hit him. He scrambled to his feet. "Pepper, wait!" he screamed out only to have his office door slammed in his face. He stumbled backwards and hit the floor again. What in hell had just happened?

Pepper had quickly caught up to Rhodey as he walked away and when she did, she smacked him hard in the shoulder.

"What was that for?" Rhodey shouted as he rubbed the spot he got hit.

"You didn't have to hit him." Pepper spat back. "You gave him a bloody nose."

"I'll apologize later but he deserved it this time." Rhodey countered. "Most of the time I hold back but this time…impulse took over."

"Next time, try to restrain things a bit better." Pepper shot back. "I may be angry with him but that does not mean I want him hurt."

Half an hour later, Tony was reclining in the back of his limo alone as Happy set off to take him home.

"How are you feeling, sir?" Happy asked with concern when he noticed Tony putting the glass of ice over the bridge of his nose.

"I've been better. Do you know where Pepper ran off to?"

"I took her back to the mansion a little while ago. She seemed extremely angry. Excuse me for saying this, but did you do something wrong?" Happy asked.

"I am still trying to figure that out," Tony said as he looked down at the blood stains on his white shirt. "I just told the truth."

Tony walked into the mansion ready for a battle when he saw Pepper dealing with her flooded inbox thanks to his little announcement.

"I believe I'm owed an explanation." Tony snapped.

"I believe you're not." Pepper quickly countered without even looking up at him.

"I am not owed an explanation when you walk out on me?" Tony asked with a bit of disbelief. "What the hell did I do to deserve this?"

Pepper looked up from her laptop with a cold glare. "Well…let's see here. In addition to not sticking to the cards and blurting out to the entire world that you are in fact Iron Man, you didn't think about how that simple little admission would impact those around you and since you didn't use that billion dollar brain of yours, you have made my life and my job about ten thousand times harder. So besides for all of that…you did absolutely nothing."

Tony was taken back at Pepper's full on attack and found himself speechless for a moment. "I know I didn't stick to the cards but for some reason I just couldn't lie at that moment. I acted on impulse."

"That isn't going to cut it this time, Mr. Stark." Pepper said emotionlessly. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have work to do picking up the mess you made." She told him without even looking at him once. This time, she was too angry.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry," Tony said genuinely before heading down to his workshop to begin the repairs on his suit and build himself a new chest piece.

Over the course of the week after "The Announcement," Tony tried his best to stay out of Pepper's hair to limit how much she snapped at him or gave him that frigid stare. He watched silently from the background as she spent hours each day, often working until the early hours of the morning and still coming in by six with very little sleep, as she meticulously dealt with the emails, phone calls, interview requests and paparazzi stalking the perimeters of the property. Tony's heart broke as he saw her consume way too much caffeine and very little to eat and just going on pure rage and adrenaline. It took a few days before the ice melted even the slightest bit. She wasn't about to bite his head off any longer but he knew she was still extremely angry with him. If he had thought about what he was going to say before the words left his mouth…he never would have spoken those infamous seven words.

It was when the ice started to thaw a bit that Tony had an idea. He and Pepper needed to get away from the circus…a vacation of sorts…just to regroup and Tony could apologize properly.

"Jarvis? Bring up some travel sites for me." Tony said as he sat down in front of his computer.

"Where would you like sites for, sir?"

"What's nice this time of year?"

"The Mediterranean is beautiful this time of year, sir."

"Bring those up." Tony said as he was quickly provided with a long list of places alone the Mediterranean. He scanned through them quickly and one quickly jumped out, Europe's playground – Monte Carlo. "Give me listings for high end hotels in Monte Carlo."

"As you wish, sir." Jarvis responded as a listing of hotels in Monaco appeared.

Tony scanned through several of the websites that offered the highest of luxury and the best beaches and finally settling on Hotel Le Méridien, a very modern resort perched upon a rocky outcropping overlooking the blue-green waters of the Mediterranean and boasting the only private beach of any hotel in the principality of Monaco. It seemed perfect. So perfect that Tony picked up the phone and made the reservation himself without a second thought.

After making the reservation, Tony was addressed with a different problem – how to get Pepper to go when she was barely speaking to him. He leaned back in his chair and thought about it. He had to be careful or this could blow up in his face. Tony knew he could not come out and order her and he couldn't tell her because it would ruin the surprise. He had to invite her as sweetly as possible. This involved help and he could only think of one person who would help him right now as he dialed the phone.

"Mr. Stark's office…"

"Mary, it's me."

"Good afternoon, sir. How can I help you?"

"I have a few favors to ask of you."

"Anything I can do to be of service, sir. What will you be requiring?"

"First, I need you to clear mine and Pepper's schedules for two weeks starting from Sunday."

"Certainly, sir. Will there be anything else?"

"Yeah. I'm going to be sending some flowers to the office tomorrow for Pepper and I need you to get her there without directly telling her why. I am also going to make sure she has her favorite restaurant deliver lunch for her. Can you do that?"

"Of course, sir. It would be a pleasure." Mary replied. "Will there be anything else?"

"Nope, that's it. Thanks. You're a life saver, Mary." Tony said with a smile as he hung up and started working on his invitation.

Around noon on Friday, Pepper showed up at Stark Industries after receiving a call from Mary, Tony's secretary, saying that there was a package that required her immediate attention. She walked into her office and found a huge arrangement of flowers and a candlelight lunch from her favorite Italian restaurant set up on her desk. Pepper sat down with a small smile on her lips as she picked up the card set by the vase.

'Pepper,

Consider this the first of many apology gifts for me being a complete idiot. Second, give yourself the rest of the day off and go home and pack for two weeks. Make sure you include a few exquisite things for nighttime, a cute bikini and your passport. Third, meet me at the jet on Saturday night at seven for apology gift number two with your bags. I am really sorry and I want to make it up to you.

Tony'

Pepper was a bit taken back by the seeming sincerity in Tony's note but how could she just up and leave when there was so much to be done. Despite his efforts, Pepper knew she would need to decline.

Once back in the mansion, Pepper was forced to seek Tony out to tell him she could no go with him. The first place she looked was the workshop.

Pepper descended the stairs to find Tony up to his shoulders in the chest piece of his armor doing repairs. She turned his music down and approached him.

Tony heard his music turn down and for once he didn't say anything. He was trying to get on her good graces again.

"Tony, thank you for the flowers and lunch but I can't go with you." She said firmly.

Tony came out of the armor with a saddened look on his face. "I want you to come with me. You deserve a break and I am trying to give it to you." He said honestly.

"There's too much to do here. I can't just go jet setting with you whenever you want." Pepper stated. "I'm sorry…no."

Every no was like one of the pieces of shrapnel going into Tony's heart. "I had our schedules cleared and you can even bring the laptop and Crackberry with you if that makes you feel better. I want you to come with me. No…I need you to come with me. Please, Pepper…" Tony pleaded with sadness in his eyes.

Pepper saw that look in his eyes and she knew he would not give up and would resort to begging and bribes if necessary to get his way. She sighed deeply. "I'll consider it. If I show up on Saturday night at seven, I'll go. If not…you know my answer."

Tony nodded even though it was not the answer he wanted to hear. "I can agree to that. I do hope you decide yes."

"We'll see." Pepper said sharply before heading back upstairs.

Saturday evening quickly rolled around and Tony was waiting on the steps of his jet fifteen minutes before seven, hoping that Pepper would take him up on his offer. He hadn't heard any clues from her since she left his workshop Friday afternoon and he was starting to think she may actually mean no. The feeling got worse when seven o'clock came and went with no sign of Pepper.

By half past, the realization that Pepper was not going to come hit Tony hard and he slowly turned to head into the plane alone. He had just hit the top step when the Rolls pulled up and Happy stepped out. Hogan went to the trunk and pulled out several suitcases and loaded them on to the plane and then went back to the car and opened the back door.

Pepper stepped out of the back of the car gracefully and looked up the steps at Tony before she started her ascent.

As soon as he saw her red hair coming out of the car, Tony sighed in relief and smiled as he offered his hand to Pepper to enter the plane and ordered the pilot to take off as soon as they were set. A near heart attack averted.