Out Of Time

twenty-six

Tony was upstairs when his phone began ringing. He walked over to couch, pulling up pillows until he found it. He had been waiting for a call from Y/N or Pepper for most of the afternoon. So he was relieved to see it was Pepper. He answered it putting it up to his ear, but before he could say anything a high pitched buzzing caused him to freeze. Pepper's voice called out to him from the other end of the phone as Obadiah took to phone out of his hand.

"Breathe," Obadiah instructed. "Easy, easy." He guided Tony so that he was laying against the couch. "You remember this one, right? It's a shame the government didn't approve it. There's so many applications for causing short-term paralysis." Obadiah moved so that the was in front of Tony. "Ah, Tony." He forced Tony to look at him. "When I ordered the hit on you, I worried that I was killing the golden goose." Obadiah got another device out and put it against Tony's arc reactor. "But, you see, it was just fate that you survived that. You had one last golden egg to give." Tony gasped as Obadiah pulled the reactor out of his chest. "Do you really think that just because you have an idea, it belongs to you? Your father, he helped give us the atomic bomb. Now, what kind of world would it be today if he was as selfish as you?" Obadiah yanked the wires out of where they were connected in Tony's chest.

"Oh, it's beautiful. Tony, this is your Ninth Symphony. What a masterpiece. Look at that. This is your legacy. A new generation of weapons with this at its heart. Weapons that will help steer the world back on course, put the balance of power in our hands. The right hands. I wish you could've seen my prototype. It's not as... well, not as conservative as yours." Obadiah put the reactor in a brief case. "Too bad you had to involve Pepper and Y/N in this. I would have preferred that they lived. Though... I might keep Y/N. She sure is a prize. She stayed behind to talk to me. But I used the same trick I did on you, on her. I had my people come and get her and now she's waiting with them. Waiting for this." Obadiah shook the briefcase, standing up. "She'll be able to guess what happened once I show up. Like I told her, I hope you said goodbye."

Obadiah walked out, leaving Tony struggling on the couch. He needed to fight. For himself. For Pepper. For Y/N. Sweating and breathing very heavily, he some how made it to the elevator. He knew there was no chance for him on the stairs. He leaned against the walls, feeling as if he could die any second. As he leaned against the door, he saw his old reactor on a workbench. Pepper had given it back to him in a case. Tony fell to the floor and crawled across the workshop to the workbench. He tried to reach for it but failed. Good thing his robot, dum-e, grabbed it and handed it to Tony. Tony grabbed it from him.

"Good boy," Tony said, before smashing the glass case.

He got it in, but was still struggling to gain his strength back. He was still on the floor when he heard Rhodey entering the house, shouting his name.

"Tony!" Rhodey yelled when he saw Tony. Rhodey flipped Tony onto his back. "Are you okay?"

"Where's Pepper? Y/N?" Tony instantly asked.

"Pepper's fine. She's with five agents. They're about to arrest Obadiah."

"That's not going to be enough. And Y/N? Did she say anything about her?"

"Only that she's afraid that Obadiah has her."

"He's got to be stopped."