Out Of Time

twenty-five

Y/N slipped on a pant suit, making sure she had her guns and knives hidden on her. Her and Pepper were quiet the whole drive to Stark Industries Headquarters, and even into the building. Y/N followed Pepper's lead but made sure to stay right beside her. She could feel the nerves radiating off of Pepper the closer they got to Tony's office. Once they were in there, Pepper sat in the chair with Y/N standing behind her. Pepper plugged the flash drive in and logged into the computer. The drive found the ghost drive almost immediately. It began pulling up the files for download. One of the files came up, making Y/N lightly gasp. The file held blueprints of a suit. Sort of like Tony's, but bulkier.

"Sector 16?" Pepper questioned quietly. "What are you up to, Obadiah?"

"It's a suit," Y/N whispered. "Like Tony's."

Another file pulled up. It was a video. Pepper pressed play. Both of the women were taken back by what they were seeing. There were a bunch of men surrounding Tony, all pointing guns at him. One of the men was speaking Arabic. Pepper quickly made the computer translate the video.

"You did not tell us that the target you paid us to kill was the great Tony Stark," the video voice over stated. "As you can see, Obadiah Stane-"

"I was right," Y/N whispered.

"-your deception and lies will cost you dearly," the voice over continued. "The price to kill Tony Stark has just gone up."

"So," Obadiah's booming voice came from the door way, causing both the women to jump. Y/N slowly brought the knife that was in her sleeve down into her hand. "What are we going to do about this?" Obadiah asked, walking into the room. Pepper nervously looked between Obadiah and the computer, while Y/N remained calm. "I know what you're going through, Pepper." He poured himself some of the alcohol that was in the office. "Tony. He always gets the good stuff, doesn't he?"

Pepper let out a nervous chuckle as she covered the drive with a newspaper. Y/N's eyes never left Obadiah's figure. The man began to head over to the two women. Y/N quickly, but almost with no movement, had the computer change to it's screensaver.

"I was so happy when he came home," Obadiah said once he was next to the desk. "It was like we got him back from the dead. Now I realize, well, Tony never really did come home, did he? He left a part of himself in that cave. Breaks my heart."

"Well, he's a complicated person," Pepper said. "He's been through a lot. I think he'll be all right."

"You are a very rare woman." Obadiah stared at Pepper. "Both of you are." His eyes then moved to Y/N. "Tony doesn't know how lucky he is."

Pepper scoffed. "Thank you. Thanks. I'd better get back there."

Pepper stood, reaching for the newspaper and the flash drive hidden under it. The two women began making they're way out of the room.

"Is that today's paper?" Obadiah called after them.

"Yes," Pepper replied.

"Do you mind?" Obadiah held out his hand as he walked up to them.

"Not at all." Pepper handed it over.

"Puzzle."

"Of course."

"Could I also borrow Ms. Barnes for a second?"

Pepper glanced over at Y/N, who nodded. "Yes, of course. I'll be waiting in the car."

"Don't bother," Y/N said. "I can borrow one of the company cars. There's no need to wait. Plus I think you have an appointment waiting for you."

"Oh yes. I'd better go take care of that." Pepper turned and headed towards the door.

"Take care," Obadiah called after her. Once the door was shut, he immediately made his way to the computer.

"You needed to speak to me, Mr. Stane?" Y/N questioned.

Obadiah ignored her, slamming on the keyboard once he saw that the file had been opened. He glared up at Y/N, marching towards her. She immediately pulled out her gun.

"I knew you were more than just a security guard," Obadiah chuckled. "Who do you work for?"

"It's not important," Y/N stated. "Why did you pay the Ten Rings to kill Tony?"

"Oh..." Obadiah looked over Y/N. "You've caught feelings for him now, haven't you?"

"This isn't about me."

"Isn't it though? I saw the way you and Tony interacted at the gala. You're much more to him then just a body guard. And that may come of use to me."

Obadiah took a few steps closer to Y/N. She still held the gun at him. She knew that it wouldn't be smart to shoot him in the office, in the middle of the work day, but she was so tempted to. Y/N watched as he put plugs in his ears. She furrowed her brows in confusion. Then she noticed a small device in his hand, but before she could do anything he had pressed the button. The device let out a high pitch sound that caused Y/N to freeze. Her legs gave out and she fell onto the floor.

"Don't worry, the paralysis is short-term." Obadiah knelt down beside Y/N. "I'll come back for you after I get what I need from Tony." He stood up straight, fixing his jacket. "I hope you said goodbye today. You may never see each other again."