Out Of Time

twenty-three

Y/N arrived with Pepper. It was her first red carpet, but she was quickly able to handle any nerves. She was a SHIELD agents after all, blending in was second nature. Obadiah Stane was talking to reporters on the red carpet, eyeing Y/N as she walked passed. Once the two women were inside, Y/N went straight to the bar. She knew she was going to need a drink. As she took small sips of her drink, Y/N observed her surroundings. She noticed that Coulson was already here, talking to Pepper.

"Surprised to see you here, Ms. Barnes," Obadiah's voice came from behind her. Y/N turned around, plastering a pleasant smile on her face. "Thought you would be watching the golden boy."

"Mr. Stark is fine without me for a few hours," Y/N replied. "Plus, his AI is hooked to my phone. I'll be notified if he does anything stupid."

"Except that JARVIS was made by him and can be controlled by him."

"You'd be surprised at how often I get JARVIS on my side." Y/N took another sip of her drink, keeping it close to her just in case Obadiah wanted to do something to it.

"Would you care to dance?" Obadiah held his hand out to her.

Y/N's phone buzzed, and without even looking at it, she knew Tony was on his way. "You might want to go back outside, talk to the press and greet the guests."

"And why is that?"

She moved so that her lips were close to his ear, "I just know you can't handle dancing with me... All the men I end up dancing with spill all their secrets. And I can tell you have a few big ones."

"Like what?"

"Like how Tony's kidnapping really happened."

Obadiah cleared his throat and stepped back. "It was good to talk to you, Ms. Barnes."

"And to you as well, Mr. Stane. Maybe after your done pleasing the masses, we can have that dance."

Y/N turned around and headed into the crowd. She was close to being on the other side of the room with a hand fell on her arm. She turned to see Coulson.

"Phil," she smiled, extremely relieved to see him.

"Y/N," he smiled back. "You look amazing."

"Thank you. Just so you're aware, Tony is on his way over."

"I am aware. The agents there informed me that he sped off the property. So I figured he saw the news and headed over. Does he know you're here?"

"No. Both Pepper and I didn't give him any information as to where we were going. I simply told me I was meeting up with an old friend. Which wasn't a lie."

"No," Coulson chuckled. "It wasn't."

Coulson glanced around the room, noticing that many people were dancing. He grabbed Y/N's hand and began leading her into the crowd of dancing couples. Y/N followed his lead.

"How are you?" Phil asked.

"I'm... I'm fine."

"You don't need to lie to me, Y/N/N."

"I'm not. It's true. I'm fine. And I'll work on not breaking down in front of my mission... Did you tell Fury what happened?"

"I did. Even tried to get you off the mission. But Fury said that you'd pull it together and use it to your advantage."

"He's not wrong." As Phil turned, the entrance came into view for Y/N. She saw Tony waltzing in. "Tony's here. This might be your time to talk to him."

"On it."

Phil quickly let Y/N go and made his way towards Tony, who was now at the bar. Y/N walked around the crowded room, taking in all the exits and noting of anyone that looked suspicious. Y/N walked along the edge of the room, trying to stay out of Tony's sight. She was almost in the clear until he saw over while he was dancing with Pepper. He quickly excused himself and made his way over to Y/N.