Pepper came awake slowly, completely relaxed in a bed that was much softer than her own. She opened her eyes, the events of the night before coming to her mind as JARVIS told her the weather and water conditions of the beach she could see outside the blinds. Pepper stretched and sighed, feeling rested for the first time in a while when she froze. "JARVIS, what time is it?"

"It is currently ten thirty in the morning, Ms. Potts."

Pepper gaped. "Ten thirty? I thought I set the alarm for seven!"

"You did, but Mr. Stark ordered me to turn it off."

"And why would he do that? No, you know what; I'm going to go ask him myself!"

Pepper pulled a pair of pajama bottoms and a tank top over her sport bra and panties and hurried from the room, finding Tony in the shop. "Tony, what the hell?"

Tony looked up in surprise. "Oh, hey, Pep. I thought JARVIS was going to tell me when you woke up."

"Tony, what were you thinking, turning off my alarm? I do have to go to work, you know!"

Tony held up his hands. "Pep, relax. Nobody is expecting you to come in for another two weeks. Effective one twenty last night, you are on a mandatory two week vacation, courtesy of me. You work too much; I wanted you to take a break."

Pepper simply stared at Tony for a moment and Tony squirmed. "Uh, did I cross some kind of line? Because if I did, just let me know. Pepper?"

Pepper broke into a smile. "Thank you, Tony."

Tony grinned. "Yeah. You kind of scared me for a moment there, Pep. I thought you were going to yell at me."

Pepper rolled her eyes. "You gave me a two-week vacation, why in the world would I be mad?"

"I don't know, you're Pepper."

Pepper chuckled. "Will that be all, Mr. Stark?"

"Not even close. I had some clothes brought here for you, they're outside the door by your room. There should be a swimsuit. Put that on and meet me in the kitchen."

"Any particular reason why?"

"You are relaxing today. I have it all planned out. There's a café down by the beach I think you'd like."

Pepper smiled. "Okay, I'll go get ready."

Tony grinned as Pepper left the room and he cast his gaze between the door and the suit he was working on, deciding just a moment later that the suit could wait. Tony washed his hands and changed from his work clothes into a pair of swim trunks and a tee-shirt. He was waiting in the kitchen ten minutes later and only a moment after he sat down, Pepper came out, wearing a white sundress over a bikini that Tony could just see under the dress. Her strawberry blonde hair was down, falling in gentle curls down her back. Pepper smiled. "You know, I don't quite remember having some of these clothes in my closet, Tony."

"Yeah, that's because I had some new stuff ordered for you. I didn't want Happy in your apartment, going through your clothes like an eighth grader on a dare."

Pepper laughed and grinned. Tony smiled at her. "Ready to go?"

"Yes. Are you?"

Tony chuckled. "For once, I am. And, don't bother with shoes. You don't need them for the café and we'll be walking along the beach so you'll get sand on your feet either way."

Pepper nodded and Tony opened the door, ushering her out.

They walked down the beach, the sand warming their feet as they chatted; first about the company and then meaningless things such as book and movie preferences. When they got to the café, Tony and Pepper approached the counter. The cashier smiled at them. "Hello, welcome to Christy's Café, would you like to try our strawberry iced tea?"

Pepper opened her mouth, but Tony cut her off. "No, thanks. We'll have some peach iced tea and two omelets with everything."

The cashier nodded and put in their order and Tony paid the bill, no matter Pepper's objection. Tony got them a table outside and as they waited, Pepper looked to Tony. "Don't like strawberry?"

"I like it just fine, but you're allergic. I don't want you to have an allergic reaction and all my plans to go to waste."

Pepper smiled, Tony for once, remembering her allergy to strawberries. As they ate, they talked a little more and then walked down the beach before Tony settled on a spot not too far from the house. From seemingly nowhere, Tony produced a pair of towels, an old sheet to put on the sand to sit on, some sunscreen, and a cooler full of water bottles.

Pepper grinned widely and Tony spread the sheet out, motioning for her to sit down before taking a seat himself. They sat and just watched the waves crash against the shore for a moment before Tony looked at Pepper. "So, are you gonna go in the water? Because I totally am."

Pepper shrugged and grabbed the bottle of sunscreen and began rubbing it onto her arms. "I'm thinking about it."

Tony smiled and nodded before tossing his shirt to the side and running into the ocean. Pepper laughed as she watched him run through the waves like a kid as he went too far out and would get knocked over by a wave and then washed back to shore. After a few minutes, Pepper removed her sundress and joined him.

A/N: So, thoughts? A ginormous thanks to all of you who reviewed and to clarify, this is before Iron Man 2 but after Iron Man 1, although, it probably won't follow all the events of the second Iron Man movie.