Disclaimer: Nope. But I do own some pretty awesome Iron Man T-shirts.

AN: Ok, I think I mentioned this before, I did not have the fortune of growing up with the comics, so most of my storylines are based on my imagination. I do not know the real story behind Tony and Maya (I know the basics). So for the sake of my story, I created my own history for them. Just in case you were expecting to read something truthful and accurate. I don't know why you would...the imagination is always better than that stuff. *wink* Enjoy!

The sun was high in the sky as they walked along the shore. Hand in hand they watched their bare feet sink into the moist sand below. Their footprints faded as the waves washed over them.

Quietly they strode in one direction. It was only when they neared the next stretch a private coastline that they turned around to head back home.

Tony huffed, his gaze focused on their path. "Our footprints are gone." His comment was stated as a mere fact. No real emotion presented itself in his words.

Pepper nodded as she moved her eyes from the waves to the sand. "But not completely." She sounded hopeful.

"I'm not sure how I feel about that." He shrugged.

Pepper looked to her side to observe her boyfriend's features. "What do you mean?"

"They were once evidence of something I left behind. An accomplishment. A journey."

She furrowed her eyebrows as she listened to him speak.

"And now they're gone. Whatever I left behind is no longer there for others to see. Or to follow in my path."

A sad smile surfaced on her face. "They're not entirely gone." She pointed with her free hand. "There's traces. Indentations of where you were."

"Then there's that." He shook his head with a small smile. Her inquisitive look urged him to continue. "Well if they are there, however small the evidence, what if it's all of the crime?"

She resisted any smart comments at his deep questions, but let a small laugh out. "You're very pensive today, Mr. Stark."

Tony nodded somberly. "What if all I leave behind in this world is the stuff I've tried so hard to overshadow?" He turned, urgently asking Pepper for her opinion, her assurance.

She stopped them in their tracks. Her arms moved to drape around his neck. "Tony, you have done more good than anyone I know. Your heart is in the right place, and it is because of that that you were able to build Iron Man. It's because of that that you have been able to help so many people…the world. What you may have started off as…what you were unknowingly a part of…doesn't matter any except in how it helped shape you." Pepper fought hard against the growing pool of tears, but a few lonely tears escaped the corners of her eyes. Her heart ached seeing Tony so doubtful of the man he had become. Of the noble things he had accomplish. And most of all, of the legacy he would leave behind some day.

His heart thumped hard within him. Knowing she had so much faith in him only helped to motivate him more. As hard as he tried, he could not ignore the elation within him that rose with her words. There was so much he still wanted to say to her about what he felt in his heart, especially given the moment of sincerity between them, but he held back for no particular reason.

Sensing his inner struggle, Pepper decided to end that conversation. She felt the sand sink beneath her toes as she reached to place a long kiss on his lips. His hands quickly wrapped around her as he pulled her closer. Their lips on fire from the hunger they felt for each other.

Out of breath and with a wide smile, she nodded proudly, having been able to make him forget the turmoil in his mind.

"So…" she turned to walk away, leaving him, like so many times before, frozen in place. Pepper looked back with a grin, and signaled with her hand for him to follow. Tony was able to break the trance as he quickly caught up to her side. He shook his head at her. "Speaking of journeys and roads taken…" the look on his face as he looked up at her let her know he sensed where the discussion was headed. "Maya seems like a nice person." Her smiled widened as she looked at him.

Tony nodded. "She is." He shrugged. "She always has been."

Pepper took his hand in hers and weaved her fingers with his as she eyed him curiously. "There's a story there, somewhere." She grinned.

He chuckled at her and sighed. "Not really. Well, maybe a small one." He shook his head. "I don't know."

"It's not that hard, Tony. Either there's a story or there isn't." She turned her head to look out at the ocean. "Which one is it?"

Knowing that the curiosity Pepper possessed would allow her to continue her questioning, he chose to let her in on a tiny part of his past. "She was...and I don't mean to sound arrogant at all, smitten."

Pepper rolled her eyes at her boyfriend.

"I'm only stating the truth…" she smiled at his words. "Do you want to hear this or not, Potts?"

"Alright, I apologize. Please continue."

"Anyway, she was always a person I liked to spend time with. One of the only ones I could stand to be around. My parents had just passed and she filled a void that I thought no one ever would." He shrugged. "I liked the company, and our conversations were never boring. We talked about our experiments, our goals, what we thought we would have accomplished by the time we turned thirty. Every time we talked, it was like I was talking to my equal, something I hardly experienced until very recently." He paused to smile at his redhead before he squeezed her hand. Her small smile sent shockwaves straight to his heart. "She mirrored my aspirations, and eventually even my traits."

"Oh no." Pepper shook her head sadly in a teasing manner.

"You might think of it as a bad thing, but I'm quite proud of how she learned to handle herself in certain situations. My sarcasm and witty remarks eventually soaked in and she was a walking female rendition of me."

"I was right…oh no." She laughed.

Tony shook his head and stared her down. "The boys were all very aware of her ability to make them fall at her feet, and of how she could detach herself completely from them. In a way, it made her more appealing. Much like myself." He added the last comment to tease her, which earned him a playful slap at his chest. "So everyone was in love with her, but she never showed any real interest. And the one person she was interested in never showed any real interest in her." A sad smile etched itself across his face.

"Were you that person?" Pepper asked knowing what his answer would be.

He nodded. "Yeah. But it wasn't because I was a jerk, or because I didn't like her." He lifted and dropped his shoulders. "I was only a kid. I had lost the two most important people in my life. However much absent they could be from it. I was afraid to get too close. I kept myself at a distance, worried that when and if I ever lost that connection, I would die. I didn't think I could survive another thing like that."

The sadness she felt inside overwhelmed her as she once again fought the tears. This time though, she succeeded, only letting a hint of sadness to rise to the surface in her smile. Her need to console and support him allowed her to stay strong. "I can only imagine how you felt. It must have been difficult."

Pepper reached across her to rub his chest with her free hand in a loving gesture. Tony looked down at her motions and smiled up at her.

A small nod escaped him. "So…" he continued. "Maya tried her best to make me see her. Not in a desperate way. She made an effort around me, flirted, said all the right things, tried to pull me out of my shell. But…" he cringed at what he was formulating to say next. "I guess I only took what I needed. Her attention, her devotion, her comfort."

"You mean…" Pepper looked at him questioningly.

"No…no. I mean we could have, and she would have, but I wasn't crossing that line with her." He chuckled. "She probably hates me now that I think about it. I led her on. We would go out, we would…make out, and we even slept in the same bed a lot, but I never let it go any further. She was actually one of the only girls I wanted to keep as a friend. I knew doing more and then pretending like nothing happened would ruin that."

"How long did this go on?" Pepper spoke.

"Um, all through college." He smiled with a sense of guilt. "Until I decided to leave and come to Los Angeles. To take over as the CEO of Stark Industries." Tony sighed. "She was devastated when I told her I was coming out here. She accused me of abandoning her. I told her she would be fine, that she was strong, that she didn't need me. That someday someone who deserved her would make her happy." He chuckled. "She threw a very heavy microbiology book at me when I said that. Told me that she was happy."

"Wow." Pepper absorbed his story and tried to process it all.

"Yeah…" he cleared his throat. "Like I said, we were kids."

"Dramatic." She teased.

"Oh that's nothing. A few days later she came to at night and took me to the roof of my apartment building. Gave me a speech about choosing the roads that had yet to be taken. Spoke of destiny. I laughed through most of it while she got progressively annoyed with me. It was very amusing until she gave me an ultimatum of sorts."

"Oh?" She tilted her head in curiosity.

"Maya got a call from one of the directors from the CDC, offered her a position as a head researcher at their headquarters in Atlanta."

Pepper nodded.

Tony sighed. "She asked me if she had a reason not to go." He looked down at their moving feet. "I told her no. I insisted she follow her goals, and listen to all the reasons that told her to go. That her road was the one that led to her taking the job." He looked up and out at the waves past Pepper. The feeling she was looking deep into him made him focus on her. "So she left. I didn't fight for her. And I never saw her again. Until we had lunch."

"The MIT friend was her." Pepper nodded to herself.

"Yeah. She sent me a random message. Told me she was going to be working out here for some time. I wanted to make sure she was doing alright, but a very big part of me wanted to find out what she was working on. I had a feeling I knew, but I wanted to be certain." He stared long at Pepper. "Does that make me a bad person? Am I using her…again?"

Pepper thought long and hard. She knew her answer had to be as close to the truth as she could deliver, but she also wanted to lessen the burden he carried. She stopped them again, forcing their bodies to face each other. "Do you feel like you are using her?"

He shrugged.

She decided to help him answer his questions. "You're not a bad person, Tony. You were genuinely concerned, and wanted to see how and old friend was doing. The rest was just you in need of finding answers. To resolve this mess we're all in." He nodded at her before she kissed his cheek. "Just promise you won't lead her on this time." Pepper poked his ribs softly, and laughed.

"I promise." He held his palm up in the air. "I swear. All there is between us is a deep admiration. As colleagues and intellectual equals. Nothing more." He chuckled.

They shared a tender kiss before they proceeded to walk. The wind blew around them, and the waves began to crash loudly, but that was the only sound they heard.

It wasn't until a few long and quiet minutes passed that Tony spoke up. "You know, things are starting to make sense. Despite the circumstances that I…we are currently in."

"What do you mean?" Pepper knitted her brows.

Tony smiled lovingly at her. "My road was always the one that led to you. I was born to protect you. To fight for you." The earnestness of his words sent shivers down his spine. Because they were powerful. Because they were true. Because he meant them.

Her heart fluttered with something she had never really felt before. Longing, relief, perhaps even pride. But most of all, she knew she loved him. The fact that she felt safe, and sure that he no matter what, he would catch her if she fell, was just a very fortunately added bonus. A gift from a higher being, maybe. And there was no doubt in her mind that she would do the same for him.

It took her a long while to recover from the depth of the situation, but even then she could not gather her thoughts enough to form words. She was speechless. So Pepper Potts did the only thing she knew would assist her with reciprocating what she felt to the man before her.

She pulled him, almost roughly, by the collar of his t-shirt. She could have been gentle about it, he would have followed willingly, but her need to kiss him forced her to act passionately.

His eyes widened as he felt himself crash into her. It wasn't until his lips descended fully over hers that he allowed his lids to close and simply drown in her. Immediately he wrapped his arms around her, carefully positioning them where he wanted them the most. A hand held her close, firmly planted in the middle of her back. The other tangled itself in the loose strands of her red hair.

They moaned together. Raw passion swirled around them as they tasted not only each other, but the saltiness of the breeze that encircled them.

Pepper wound her arms tightly around his neck. No amount of space between them was acceptable to her, so he molded to herself as much as she was allowed.

A guttural moan of frustration could be heard coming from her as Tony nibbled on her bottom lip, just before he pulled away. He grinned and pulled on her hand in order to rush back to the house. His feet dug deep into the sand in a sudden stop when Pepper wouldn't budge.

She laughed softly when he faced her with a look of desperation and need. But she didn't care; in fact, she pulled on his hand to move him back towards her.

"No, no, no, we're going the wrong way." He chuckled as he pecked at her lips. Her laughter against his lips caused him to smile, truly content with the woman in his arms. He hugged her close and picked her up.

Pepper giggled as she wrapped her legs around his waist. She felt as light as a feather with everything that Tony was doing to her. And when he moved to kiss her neck, she craned her head back to grant him the access.

The waves grew louder in her ears, and when she was coherent enough to know what was going on, it was too late. Tony walked them straight into the cool water. A loud yelp escaped her, and he could not help but laugh out loud.

"Tony!" She squirmed in his embrace, but it did her no good. He was in chest-deep by the time she could open her eyes. The chill of the ocean ran up and down her body as she pushed at his chest. "I can't believe you, Stark!"

"You should have followed me back to the mansion, Potts." He shrugged in between roars of laughter. Feeling his grip on her loosen, he refocused his energy into keeping her in his arms. "You're not going anywhere. Stop fidgeting."

"It's freezing!" She groaned.

Tony flashed her his playboy smile just then. His arms tightening around her waist. "I can assist you with that, you know." His words captured her attention. She stopped wriggling in his arms, and locked eyes with him.

"You think?" She asked teasingly about whether he believed he was up to the task or not.

He nodded eagerly. "Oh yeah." It was then that he pulled her in as he leaned towards her lips.

Their feet shuffled as they struggled for balance when a bigger wave pushed onto them. But nothing, not even Poseidon himself, could separate the pair. Never breaking their ardent kiss, Tony anchored them to the floor. A victorious smile broke out against her lips.

Pepper was not a fan of salt. Never had been, but there was something to be said about how it made her feel at the moment. Its strong taste, mixed with something that was uniquely Tony, sent a rush of adrenaline and excitement throughout her body. Something she could not seem to get enough of.

So she made her move.

To be continued…

Muahahahaha. I'm sorry, but I felt the need to leave you hanging. Only because I think the next half of this is too much to handle all at once. Hehehe. Stay tuned!

P.S. less than 9 hours! Right after work, I am heading to the theater, lining up to get a great seat, chatting it up with my crew…and other fans, while I wait for this movie to be my undoing. I have a feeling I'm going to love it! And I won't be able to get enough of it. Should I break my record? I watched The Avengers 7 times on the big screens. Should I go for 8 with Iron Man 3? We shall see. Ah! To all of my fellow peeps watching it today…ENJOY it! I will be thinking about you guys while I watch it!