Pepper gazed dreamily out the car window, watching the buildings start to pass by, her skin still smelling of jasmine and sandalwood and her body and mind still in a state of total, satiated relaxation. She felt Tony grab her hand as soon as they left the Tower garage and pulled onto the street, and she turned her head to see him kiss the back of it tenderly. She smiled softly at him, and he winked at her, smiling warmly back.

After her better-than-heaven massage from Tony, he'd taken his time to tenderly, sensually, make love to her, showering her body with kisses and whispering sweetly to her things like, "I love you," and "You're so beautiful" while staring deeply into her eyes. His touch was extra gentle, and it was almost as if he was trying to memorize every curve of her body with his fingers. When the passion began to build, he'd held her close, their bodies working in tandem as they climaxed together, moaning and calling each others names softly until Tony enveloped her mouth with his and pushed them both over the edge.

Afterwards, they'd just remained where they were, not wanting their embrace to end until the very last second when they both knew their time alone together had run out, and Pepper had to get ready to go. Even then, when Tony had surrendered and slid to the side to allow Pepper to get up, he crawled to the edge of the bed and sat there, grabbing her hand as soon as she stood up, slowly turning her back around to face him. He wrapped his arms around her waist, and she let him, helplessly unable to resist. He looked up at her with forlorn eyes, and she stroked his lips softly with the pad of her thumb. They both silently stared into each others eyes for several moments, until Pepper bent down and kissed his lips sweetly, cupping his cheek. "I have to go," she whispered into his ear, the ache of their impending goodbye suddenly striking her heart with an icy stab.

"I know," he whispered hoarsely back. Pepper stood back up and he hugged her to him, resting his head on her stomach. Pepper ran her hands through his hair, and he closed his eyes, relishing her touch.

"It's only five days," she said softly, trying to sound reassuring.

"Yeah, I know. 5 days," Tony said. He pulled back as he broke his hold around her waist and rubbed his hands up and down her sides, looking at her bashfully. He shook his head. "So,why is this so hard? We've done this before, right?"

Pepper looked down at him and smiled lovingly. "It's because we're soul mates," she murmured, smiling. She held up her left hand and waggled her ring finger. "And now it's official," she said. "Goodbyes are gonna be hard from this point forward."

Tony smiled sadly and chuckled, despite himself. After a moment, his face went sullen again. "I'm gonna miss you," he said sadly, looking back up at her.

Pepper smiled weakly back at him, her brow furrowed. "I'll miss you more," she said. "But I'm only a phone call away."

"Or a text? Or a Skype call? Or an emergency plane ride?" Tony said, wincing directly after, knowing he was being foolish.

Pepper chuckled. "Or you could remember this was your idea in the first place," she teased.

Tony nodded and shrugged. "I know," he said. "And that's how it has to be this time. But I promise, Pepper. It'll be worth it," he resolved with a sense of conviction he hadn't displayed about this before.
Pepper studied his face, a little taken aback at the seriousness of his expression. She nodded. "Okay," she said, smiling weakly. She nodded again. "Okay, Tony. I believe you."

When they both were ready to go and they'd climbed into the elevator, Pepper had wrapped her arms around one of Tony's and squeezed it. He bent to kiss the top of her head, and then laid the side of his head on hers. They rode to the parking garage in silence.

When they'd walked out of the elevator toward the town car, Happy was looking at them very expectantly, wearing a goofy grin. "So?!" he'd asked Pepper, positively vibrating with anticipation. "He did it, didn't he? He popped the question?!" the driver had blurted out to her.

Tony winked at Pepper before speaking, "Uh, yeah, Hap. Could we not talk about that? She hasn't given me an answer yet," he said, trying to look serious.

Pepper smacked his shoulder, and Tony flinched. He chuckled as Pepper held out her hand to Happy. Happy looked like he was going to faint on the spot. "Oh, Pepper, it looks gorgeous on you," he cooed. "See? Didn't I tell you he wasn't going to disappoint?" he gloated. Pepper just smiled and nodded, chuckling. He looked mirthfully at the two of them. "So happy for you guys. Really. I can't say it enough," he said. He shook Tony's hand vigorously, and gave Pepper a big bear hug around the shoulders. She and Tony both looked at each other and chuckled happily at his overwhelming excitement for them. "Oh, you guys are the greatest, you know? You really are," he said, as they piled into the car. Tony gave Pepper a knowing look and she smiled bashfully, her cheeks blushing at Happy's outpouring.

Once settled in, and on the road, they'd remained fairly silent during the ride, both dreading their inevitable goodbye. They rode most of the way holding hands until Happy pulled up to the private hangar at LaGuardia International Airport where one of the Stark jets was waiting on the tarmac. "Here we go, guys. Right on schedule," Happy announced.

Pepper noticed Tony's grip tighten on her hand as they both watched Happy get out of the car, and walk around to Pepper's side to open the door. Pepper moved to get out but Tony stopped her, lifting his thumb and forefinger to her chin, turning her head to him. "Ton-" she tried to say to protest before he crashed their lips together, kissed her hard. Happy noticed this and his cheeks instantly blushed. He turned his head, and cleared his throat awkwardly.

After a moment, Tony slowly broke the kiss, and Pepper slowly opened her eyes, trying to steady herself. She blinked, her head a little light. Tony just smiled. After a moment, Pepper smiled back, and went to get up out of her seat.

Tony followed her out of the car, buttoning the middle button on his long black wool coat. The late December air was brisk and they both shivered at the sudden chill. While Happy got Pepper's bags out of the trunk, Tony offered Pepper his arm. She took it, and he lead her to the foot of the jet's stair case. She stopped and turned to face him one last time.

He looked into her eyes for a long moment before moving to rest his head on her forehead. "I already miss you," he said sadly.

Pepper raised her hands to cup his cheeks. "Awww," she said, sheepishly, his puppy dog eyes burrowing a hole in her heart. "It'll be fine, I promise. It'll be over before you know it."

He raised his hands to grasp her wrists, stroking them with his thumbs. He pursed his lips and nodded. "Call me the second you touch down," he said. "Promise?"

"I promise," she said, moving her hands to his lapels. "In fact, I'll call you over Kansas," she teased. Suddenly, her eyes went wide. "Shit!" she said. "My mom! I forgot to call my mom yesterday!"

Tony chuckled. "Well, I did keep you pretty well preoccupied," he teased.

Pepper shook her head. "I'll have to call her on the plane! Oh, she's gonna kill me," she said. "I always call her on holidays! Damn it, what was I thinking?" she admonished herself. After a minute, Pepper's expression softened. "Well," she said, shrugging. "At least I have some good news to share with her, right?" she said, snaking her arms up around Tony's neck.

He wrapped his arms around her waist. "Damn right," he said, smirking. "She'll be happy. Your mom loves me," he touted, smirking and shrugging his shoulders cockily.

Pepper chuckled. "Yes, she does," she said. "And you're right. She'll be thrilled." Pepper reached up to kiss his lips again, but they were quickly interrupted by the head stewardess, who suddenly appeared at the top of the stairs.

"The plane is ready for take off, Ms. Potts," she said cheerfully. "Whenever you're ready."

"Thank you," Pepper said, looking back at the woman and then turned her gaze slowly toward Tony again.

"That's your cue, Potts," he said. Pepper nodded sadly. "A kiss for good luck?" he said, quirking up one corner of his mouth sheepishly, and wincing.

Pepper smiled softly and raised her lips up to his. Tony cupped her cheek and kissed her tenderly. "And one for the road," he whispered softly, when the kiss broke, softly pecking her lips again.

They pulled back to look at each other, and Pepper slowly stepped out of his embrace. Tony reluctantly let go of her, his grip sliding from her shoulder to her forearm down to her hand. He squeezed it one more time before letting go. She smiled weakly at him before turning to walk up the steps. Once at the top, she turned to wave at him, and he winked, mouthing "I love you," and smiling forlornly.

Pepper nodded and smiled forlornly back. "I love you, too," she mouthed back as she disappeared inside the plane's cabin.

Tony slowly walked backwards a few paces, keeping his eyes on the plane, until finally turning toward the car. Happy silently opened the door and Tony climbed inside. "Just stay until they take off, Hap," he instructed, when Happy climbed back into the driver's seat.

The ground crew raised the stairs, and flagged the plane for take off, and the engines fired up with a loud whine. The plane began to push back from the hangar and turn toward the edge of the runway. Tony swallowed hard as he watched it pick up speed, until finally he saw it leave the ground and the landing gear tuck into the underbelly, the plane growing more and more distant above the horizon in the west. Once he could no longer make it out in the sky, he sighed heavily. "Alright, Hap," he said softly. "Let's go home."

Goodbyes suck when you're in love, even if it's just for a few days. And you're also no good without each other, right? So we'll see how well Tony holds it together here. After all, he's got work to do.

Hope you guys are still enjoying catching what I'm throwing! LOL! Thanks so much for the reviews, etc.! See you in 22! (Phew!)