Out Of Time

thirty-two

It wasn't hard to get Tony onto his jet after the meeting. He was ready to go home just like the rest of them. Once Rhodey, Pepper, Tony, and Y/N were seated in the jet and the jet was up in the air, Tony began his talking.

"Tell him to apologize for ambushing me," Tony said, looking at Pepper, who was sitting right in front of him.

"I ambushed you-" Rhodey began to defend himself.

"Yeah you did!"

"-because I sent you a report a month ago-"

"I had no idea!"

"-with red letters on the top of it-"

"Did not," Tony scoffed.

"-saying, 'Tony, please fact check.'"

"You received it," Pepper stated.

"I didn't get that," Tony continued.

"It was on your desk," Y/N added, staring out the window. She couldn't deal with any of this right now. She was still thinking about her conversation with Phil and she was still scared to fall out of the plane.

"Oh, please, like I remember. That's not fair 'cause you know I wouldn't remember even if I did. Have you apologized yet?" Tony pointed a finger at Rhodey.

"I wouldn't hold my breath," Rhodey replied.

"This would be a good time. I'm supposed to be Iron Man, and you're supposed to have my back. And I got out of the game-"

"And I do."

"-and that left a vacuum and now you're with Hammer, and I'm sorry-"

"You know what would be great," Pepper interrupted, "is if we could get through some of the stuff on the list."

"I'm Iron Man. Okay?"

"Okay. Iron Man, could we maybe get through some-"

"You don't know what that means."

"-of the stuff on this list?"

"I protect the free world."

"We'll cancel Monaco."

"You guys are going to Monaco?" Rhodey asked.

"Unfortunately, yes," Y/N answered, looking at Rhodey.

"What do you mean, us guys?" Tony asked. "You're coming to Monaco."

"I can't come," Rhodey stammered.

"Oh, come on, dude," Tony turned to his friend, "that's our thing. We need this. We gotta-"

"Yeah, I got a lot of stuff to do, Tony. I have responsibilities."

"So you don't wish to come? Just say what you mean. You don't want to hang out with me anymore."

"I think," Rhodey hesitantly began, "hanging out with you is bad for our friendship." Pepper and Y/N both grimaced at that.

"What do you call that?" Tony turned to face Y/N pointing at her. She simple ignored the man, like he had been doing to her lately. "Call the shrink," Tony told Pepper. "Get him on the horn. I gotta find out what just happened. That was criminal."

"Let's move on to the birthday party," Pepper said, looking at her notepad.

"Let's."

"I think that in keeping with the economic times, we should do something small. Less wear and tear on your body. Maybe a retreat."

"Oh, yeah. Let's do some ashtanga yoga in a retreat in Ojai," Tony responded sarcastically. "What?"

"I'm not-"

"That's what you wanna do."

"I'm not saying we cancel it."

"Why cancel it? Oh, I get it. Here's the message that I'm getting, and tell me if I'm wrong again, because this is really, really super toxic at this point. Why celebrate my birth? Everything that is not pressing and unimportant, just heave it on me. I can take it." Tony shook his head, chuckling. "This is just super toxic. I've got you," Tony pointed at Rhodey, "who is my friend and is now refusing to hang out with me. You," he moved his hand to Pepper, "who wants to cancel my birthday. And you," he looked at Y/N, meeting her eyes, "who won't even talk, let alone look at me. And you know what? I'm Iron Man. I don't need protection anymore. I don't need you anymore."

"Tony!" Rhodey and Pepper both exclaimed. Y/N sat there, staring at him. She immediately went into Agent mode, which she should have been in the whole time, and hid her emotions.

"If that's what you want, Mr. Stark," Y/N said curtly. "I'll be out of your hair almost as soon as we land." She unbuckled and stood up. "I'm just going to make some calls to get my things out before we land."

She quickly left and went to the farthest part of the jet she could, trying not to cry. Tony immediately felt guilty, as soon as the words left his mouth. He couldn't let her leave. But he couldn't just go after her right away.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Pepper immediately asked once Y/N wasn't in sight. "Y/N has been nothing but supportive and has solved more of your problems than you even realize."

"That was out of line Tony," Rhodey shook his head. "Completely out of line."

Y/N found herself in the front of the plane, right outside the cockpit. She slid down the wall, crying as she hid her face inner hands. Was she really so crazy to believe that Tony could, at least at one point, have felt the same? She didn't know how long she was there. Her tears had dried up by the time she heard footsteps approaching. Y/N quickly sat up straight and ran her hands down her face. She looked away from the direction of the footsteps, not wanting to see who it was. The person came over and sat beside Y/N.

"We're landing in a few minutes," Tony said quietly. It honestly surprised Y/N to hear Tony's voice. She moved so that he wasn't brushing up against her. "I... you aren't fired."

"Did Rhodey and Pepper put you up to this?" She turned to face him, speaking harshly.

"No- yes. They wouldn't let it go."

"Yeah, thought so."

"But I really did want to come check on you. I... I just wanted to give us time to cool off. I was kind of afraid you'd kill me," he tried to joke.

"Don't doubt it just yet." Y/N moved to stand up but Tony quickly stopped her by setting a hand a her arm.

"I didn't mean it. I do need you."

"Well you sure have a funny way of showing it." Y/N yanked her arm away from Tony and stood up. "You've been pushing me away for weeks! I know something's wrong. There's something you're not telling me, but instead of talking about it, you just decide to push me away! Pepper and Rhodey are worried as well, but do they get pushed away? No!" Y/N turned around, trying to control her temper. "I can't... I... I quit."

"No!" Tony quickly stood up and turned Y/N around. "I-I didn't mean it. I need you, Y/N/N. You can't leave."

"Then tell me what's wrong." She met his eyes, pleading with him. "Tell me what's going on, and I'll stay."

"I-" He swallowed nervously. Honestly debating whether or not to tell her. "I-"

"I'll be gone as soon as we land," Y/N stepped back.

"No, Y/N, please..." She shook her head and turned around, walking towards the doorway. "Give me until my birthday." Y/N stopped. "I'll tell you... just not until then."

Y/N carefully turned around. "Promise?"

"I promise." Tony moved to her, setting his hands on my arms. "Just don't leave... stay..." He rested his forehead against hers, causing them both to close their eyes. "Just stay with me..."

"You have me until your birthday."