The fifteen hour flight from Los Angeles to Monte Carlo was largely a silent one. As soon as they were in the air at a high enough altitude, Pepper pulled out her laptop and continued the exhausting labor that was handling the PR mess that Tony had decided to make with his little coming out party. Even though Tony was sitting directly across from her, she barely even looked at him much less spoke to him.

Being ignored directly to his face was an entirely new sensation for Tony and it was one he did not particularly like. Here Pepper was not two feet from him and he felt a wall between them with forbid him to speak out of fear of repercussions. To keep himself busy, he pulled out a PSP to keep his hand and brain occupied but it did not last for long. Just the faint scents of Pepper's shampoo and perfume were driving him nuts and he could not take it any longer. Sadly silent, Tony set the game down on the table in between him and Pepper and got up from the chair and walked back into the small bedroom that was situated off the main cabin. He instructed the flight attendants that he was not to be disturbed until about an hour before landing and then he shut the door behind him and flopped down on the bed in the darkness.

Nearly four hours had gone by before Pepper even looked up to notice that Tony was not sitting across from her, trying to pester her.

"Where did Mr. Stark go to?" Pepper asked almost dumbly to the first flight attendant that had walked by.

"Mr. Stark went to bed about four hours ago. He asked to be woken up an hour before we land but I am sure I could get him if you need him."

Pepper waved her off. "No…let him sleep." She replied. "I was just curious since I hadn't heard him in a while."

"Yes, we aren't used to such a quiet flight yet," the flight attendant stated. "Can I get you anything, Ms. Potts?"

"Some decaf please," Pepper asked. "I'm going to have to try to sleep at some point in time." She explained as the girl left to retrieve her request.

About a half an hour before they were scheduled to land, Tony reappeared impeccably dressed in a black suit, white shirt and a red and black striped tie that was only loosely knotted at the moment as he sat down to put on his shoes.

"Do we have an appointment that you did not tell me about?" Pepper asked as she took note of how Tony was dressed.

Tony shook his head as he tied his shoes. "Where we are going has a certain standard of decorum and showing up in a t-shirt and jeans would give off one hell of a bad impression." He explained as he tightened his tie and sat back down across from Pepper.

Suddenly Pepper felt almost self-conscious about her appearance, which was still professionally impeccable, and felt the need to quickly freshen up before landing.

As the plane touched down on the runway, Pepper finally got a hint as to where they were. As the plane taxied down the runway she saw a sign in both French and English that said 'Welcome to Nice Côte d'Azur International Airport' and she gasped.

"What are we doing in France?" Pepper snapped quickly and perhaps a little too abruptly. She had no idea that Tony's little break involved Europe.

"This is a stop over. The car that should be waiting for us on the runway will take us to our final destination." Tony said calmly even though he was a bit hurt by Pepper's less than happy reaction.

"Where are we going?" Pepper demanded.

"It's a surprise…apology present number two." Tony said as the plane came to a stop and the door opened for them to exit.

Once they descended the steps, just as Tony said, a black Mercedes was waiting for them. The driver moved quickly to gather the luggage and help them into the waiting card. Tony slipped the address to where they were going to the driver and then relaxed back against the back seat, subsequently driving Pepper mad since he wasn't telling her anything.

The fifteen mile journey from the airport to Monte Carlo took nearly forty minutes but it was well worth it to see the reaction on Pepper's face when she saw the Hotel Le Méridien. Shock and awe were the understatements of the century and it brought a smile to Tony's face. After all these years and every place that she had gone with him, Tony could still impress her with some things.

As the bell captain took care of their bags, Tony was a gentleman and offered his arm to Pepper to escort her in, even though he knew damn well how angry she was at him. That was why it surprised him so when she actually took it without an argument.

"Monsieur bonsoir," the concierge said warmly as Tony approached the desk.

"Buona sera," Tony responded as a silent hint.

"Italiano? Va bene signore. Posso aiutarLa?"

"Io ho una prenotazione per due persone."

"Quale il nome per la prenotazione?"

"Stark…Anthony Stark."

The concierge typed the name in and the reservation quickly appeared. "Io vederla qui…per il suite presidenziale per due persone. Come si chiama l'altra persona?"

"Signorina Virginia Potts." Tony said quickly.

"Per quanti giorni resterate?"

"Due settimane…quattordici giorni." Tony replied. "Quando ho fatto la prenotazione, ho chiesto per amenità speciali. Io vorrei fare certo che ci sono pronti."

The concierge looked Tony's request up in the computer but did not find anything. "Mi dispiace, Signor Stark ma c'è un errore quale io posso corregiare. Per quali amenità speciali chiedere?"

Tony sighed in irritation. "Io voglio due machine, una per me e una per Signorina Potts per varie gite, le spese a tutt'altro noi avremo bisogno. Io voglio i fiori fresche nella camera di Signorina Potts ogni giorno durante la nostra resta qui e una lista di servizi della spa per lei. Anche, per la domanda della mia carta di credito, la firma della Signorina Potts è uguale a mia. Lei ha libertà totale per tutti i negozi e servizi. Hai capito?"

"Si certo, Signor Stark. Io capisco. Come pagherà?"

Tony pulled out his wallet and set his credit card on the desk. Pepper was a bit surprised that he even knew where they were. The concierge promptly swiped the card and then returned into Tony.

"La camera è già pronta. Benvenuti all' albergo Le Méridien." The concierge stated as he handed Tony the keys and ordered someone to quickly take the bags up to the massive suite on the roof of the hotel.

As they followed the bellman and ascended in the glass elevator to the roof, Pepper looked over at Tony in shock. "When did you learn to speak Italian and perfect Italian no less?" she asked in shock.

"My mother taught me when I was little. She wanted me to be able to converse with some of my relatives on her side."

"Your mother was Italian?" Pepper asked, not remembering seeing this bit of info any where before.

"Half." Tony corrected her. "Her maiden name was Carbonell which my grandfather had changed from Carbonelli as to make things a bit easier and have fewer stereotypes thrown around."

"Why didn't you ever say anything about that?" Pepper asked in shock.

"I didn't exactly think it was important," Tony said with a shrug as they reached the roof.

Pepper sighed as she entered the room. She wanted to tell him that little bits of personal information like that should be shared with someone you cared about but she didn't feel like wasting her breath.

Tony gave the bell hop a rather large tip before turning back to Pepper. "I had them set everything up in your room already and you have free reign over my credit cards for shopping or anything else you want. There's a car at your disposal twenty-four hours a day and I'll do my damnedest to stay out of your hair."

Pepper looked inside the room and saw a beautiful vase filled with exotic flowers as well as a bottle of wine and a basket of fruit next to the spa listing. It truly was beautiful and she wanted to thank Tony but when she turned around, he was not directly behind her. "Tony?"

Tony came out of his room when he heard his name called. He had loosened his tie and was shoving his wallet in his pocket with his cell phone. "Did I miss something?"

Pepper shook her head. "Are you going somewhere?"

"The casino," Tony replied. "I told you I'm going to try to stay out of your hair. Remember this is a vacation…take advantage of all the benefits I give you for once. I'll catch ya later. Don't wait up." He said with a small smile as he exited the suite. Once the door was closed behind him, he exhaled the breath he was holding. He knew damn well that he was taking a huge gamble thinking that space may allow Pepper to cool off so he was in her good graces again. As Tony headed down to the lobby, preparing to spend the rest of the night at the tables and his mind hadn't started to focus on blackjack yet, he realized that leaving Pepper alone could also potentially blow up in his face.

It was late morning when Tony had finally made his way out of the casino and headed back up to the room. Since he had a fourteen hour nap on the flight over, staying up all night was easy and he still had energy and winnings to spare. He bounded up to the room only to change into his swimsuit and hit the pool and maybe persuade Pepper to join him.

Tony opened the door to a largely silent room. He had thought that Pepper had taken him up on his offer and headed to the spa or shopping until he saw her open laptop and Crackberry lying ready for use on the table. Tony sighed sadly as he went into his bedroom to change and get out of the room before Pepper saw him. It irritated and saddened him in the same breath as he left the room once more that even on a vacation that was designed to give her a break, Pepper just wouldn't quit working for even just a little while.

Tony spent most of the afternoon down at the pool taking in the sun and doing a few laps. Every once and a while though he would look up and scan the decks to see if he saw Pepper at all trying to enjoy the vacation he was trying to give her. Every time he looked up for her, there was not one sign. Before heading back up to the room in the early evening, he stopped by the front desk to see if Pepper had scheduled any spa time or even ordered room service and he found out that she hadn't made even one request the entire day. Tony sighed and was a little put off that she couldn't even fake relaxing as he headed back up to the suite to change for dinner.

When Tony entered the room once more, he found very little of it changed since he was there that morning but for one exception, Pepper was seated on the couch working feverishly on her laptop. So much so, she didn't even greet him when he came in.

"Have you been at that all day?" Tony asked rather bluntly and neglecting to hide his annoyance.

Pepper's face turns nearly the color of her fiery hair and her temper is seconds from exploding as she gives Tony a look that could easily knock him dead to the floor.

Tony puts up a hand to stop her when he quickly realizes the taste of his foot in his mouth and says, "Sorry, I am an idiot for asking that. Let me make it up to you and take you to dinner."

"I don't have time for dinner, Tony," Pepper snapped back at him. "I have just finally gotten on top of the media firestorm you set off and I don't want to fall behind."

There was that ice again that pierced through Tony's heart so well. "But I don't want you getting sick on me or passing out on me because you haven't eaten anything." He pleaded with her. "It's just dinner, Pepper. It will do you some good to get out of the room for a while."

"Well if this isn't the pot calling the kettle black?" Pepper stated at the apparent role reversal here.

"No, it would be the kettle calling the Potts black," Tony shot back quickly but then regretted the sarcasm when he saw the look that screamed either his head or his balls were about to be served up on a silver platter with a bottle of chianti. "And how often do I say no when you remind me that I need food and air that doesn't smell like car exhaust?"

Pepper looked up when Tony said that. He did have a point there. He had never denied her when she urged him to eat, sleep and get out of the garage. Reluctantly, she closed her laptop and set down her Blackberry. "Where are we going for dinner?"

Translation:

"Monsieur bonsoir," (Good evening sir)

"Buona sera," Tony responded as a silent hint. (good evening)

"Italiano? Va bene signore. Posso aiutarLa?" (Italian? Very well sir. How may I help you?)

"Io ho una prenotazione per due persone." ( I have a reservation for 2)

"Quale il nome per la prenotazione?"(What is the name on the reservation?)

"Io vederla qui…per il suite presidenziale per due persone. Come si chiama l'altra persona?" ( I see it here...for the presidential suite for 2 people. What is the name of the other person?)

"Signorina Virginia Potts."

"Per quanti giorni resterate?" (How many days are you staying)

"Due settimane…quattordici giorni. Quando ho fatto la prenotazione, ho chiesto per amenità speciali. Io vorrei fare certo che ci sono pronti." (2 weeks - 14 days. When I made the reservation I asked for special amenities. I want to make certain they are ready.)

"Mi dispiace, Signor Stark ma c'è un errore quale io posso corregiare. Per quali amenità speciali chiedere?" (I am sorry, Mr. Stark but there is an error which I can correct. What amenities did you ask for?)

"Io voglio due machine, una per me e una per Signorina Potts per varie gite, le spese a tutt'altro noi avremo bisogno. Io voglio i fiori fresche nella camera di Signorina Potts ogni giorno durante la nostra resta qui e una lista di servizi della spa per lei. Anche, per la domanda della mia carta di credito, la firma della Signorina Potts è uguale a mia. Lei ha libertà totale per tutti i negozi e servizi. Hai capito?" (I want two cars, one for me and one for Ms. Potts for various trips, shopping and anything else we may need. I want fresh flowers in Ms. Potts' room every day that we are here and a list of spa services for her. Also for the question of my credit card - her signature is as good as mine. She has total freedom with it for all stores and services. Understood?")

"Si certo, Signor Stark. Io capisco. Come pagherà?" (Certainly, Mr Stark. I understand. How will you be paying?)

"La camera è già pronta. Benvenuti all' albergo Le Méridien." (The room is already ready. Welcome.)