The very first moment that he could get away from the fallout of fighting Ultron, and the rest of the team, Tony called Pepper. When she picked up on the third ring, Tony suddenly found himself so overwhelmed with relief and no small amount of longing at hearing her voice again that he couldn't speak.

"Hello? Tony? Are you there? Hello?"

"I-"

"Tony?"

He swallowed, and willed the lump in his throat to go away, "Yeah, I'm here, Pep. It's so good to hear your voice again."

"You.. too."

He heard the hitch in her voice, and he knew she was close to crying. So he cleared his throat, and said as lightly as he could, "I know how long board meetings can be, so maybe you didn't hear about what happened."

"Tony…"

"Right, not the time, sorry."

"Did any of the others get hurt or k…" Pepper couldn't bring herself to finish the question. Of course the Battle of Sokovia was all over the news, and of course she had been watching it since the story had broke. None of the major networks were reporting any deaths among the Avengers but she had been around long enough to know that kind of information was withheld until they knew how to tell the public. So she really needed Tony to confirm what she already heard as being the truth.

"Everyone who was on the original team in New York made it out of the with only a few scrapes and bruises. The newbies weren't so fortunate… and he was just a kid too really."

"Oh Tony, I'm sorry."

"Yeah, me too. I didn't know him that well, but he deserved to walk away from that just like the rest of us did." And probably a little more than I did, he thought but didn't say aloud.

There was a moment of decidedly uncomfortable silence between them, then Pepper said, "I need to go."

This was the first time in weeks that they had talked to each other in a way that didn't involve texting or messages relayed through JARVIS. It wasn't until the moment she was about to hang up that Tony realized just how much he never wanted to go so long without hearing her voice, much less not getting to see her, and so he blurted out, "Come home."

A beat of silence followed that, "Tony, I… I'm not sure if that's a good idea right now."

"Please, Pepper. I miss you so much right now, that it hurts! I need to see you. Please, come home."

"I…"

Tony sighed, "You know what? Forget that I asked. I know you said that you need some time to think things through. No matter how long it takes, I can wait for when you're ready because you are well worth the wait."

The hurt and disappointment were obvious in his voice but Pepper also he meant what he had said. He would wait for her to come home however long it took for her to be ready. Fortunately for him, although the government had been a very gracious host to her, she wasn't home and she had grown tired of being in South Korea.

"I'll be home in five days," she said quietly.

"What?"

"I said I'll be home in a week."

"You're really coming home?"

"Yes, I am."

"At the risk of sounding ungrateful and overly anxious here, could you make it two days instead of a week?"

Pepper couldn't help but smile, "No, it has to be a week."

"Why a week?"

"Because I have things I need to wrap up here, like oh saying goodbye to the government graciously enough that they'll be willing to continue to do business with us in the future."

"And that's going to take a whole week?"

Pepper rolled her eyes at his whining tone, "No, saying goodbye to the government is just one of the things I need to do. I've been working on other projects while I've been here you know, and they need to be wrapped up."

He groaned, "Always the busy beaver aren't you, Miss Potts?"

"You're one to talk, Mr. Stark," she retorted. "I'm not making any promises but I might could be home in five days instead of a week."

"Can you make you make it four?"

"No, five is the absolute best that I can do."

"I'll take it!"

Pepper aimed the phone away from her ear as she heard him yell triumphantly, only putting it back to when she heard him saying her name and hello. "I'm here, Tony, but just for a minute longer."

"Awww!"

"Hey, you're the one who wants me home in five days, and if I am going to get home by then, then I have a lot of work that needs to get done."

"I will let you get to it then."

"Okay, I'll see you in five days then."

"See you then," he agreed, "Hey, Pep?"

"Yes, Tony?"

"I love you."

"I love you too," she said softly, and then she was gone.

Grinning like he hadn't since before Ultron, Tony put his phone aside, and turned to the nearest computer screen, "FRIDAY, open up project file BIG ORANGE."

"Right away, Boss," the female voice responded.

Thumbnail sized pictures of rings appeared on the screen, and Tony began sorting through them.

"You have your work to do, Miss Potts, and I have mine," he muttered, stopping on a ring. He enlarged the picture, "FRIDAY, you're a woman… kinda. Do you think that is the kind of ring Pepper would like?"

"I'm afraid that my knowledge of Miss Potts' taste in jewelry is limited since you have only recently brought my system online, Boss. However, I believe that Miss Potts would find that particular ring too ostentatious for her preferences."

Tony scratched his chin, "You're right, she would think this one is too much. She goes for things a little more simple and classy and less than I do."

"I believe that you are correct, Boss."

"Okay, so let's eliminate all the rings like this one," Tony said, and adjusted the search parameters. But even after the adjustments and a few hours later, he was still no closer to finding the perfect ring.

"Perhaps you should take a break, Boss," FRIDAY suggested.

"Maybe you're right," Tony agreed but didn't close anything down. "JARVIS, buddy, I wish you were still here to help me out with this." He manually saved everything and shut it down. "What would you tell me if you were?"

Simple, Sir. I would advise you to make the moment that you wed Miss Potts and give her your family name the big affair. An engagement ring is a promise of love and a future together, yes, but it is you who is important to her, Sir, not the size of the diamond in the ring.

"You're right, J. But I'm not giving her a ring with a small rock either."

I never dreamed that you would, Sir. However might I suggest a ring that will help to enhance the beauty of Miss Potts instead of attract the garish attention that she despises? Might I suggest that you present Miss Potts with something you've designed yourself?

With those words, a light went off in Tony's head, "FRIDAY, open everything up again and get ready to place an order."

"Right with you, Boss. Where shall I put down for delivery?"