Out Of Time

twenty-nine

Cleaning up Tony's 'I am Iron Man' fiasco was harder for Pepper than anyone else. Y/N and Happy teamed up to be Tony's security, since the press was on top of him more than usual lately. Y/N also helped Pepper with her personal assistant duties. Rhodey was around more, trying to help calm things down.

Fury had notified Y/N that he had talked to Tony about the Avengers Initiative, but that Tony had turned it down. He told her that he still needed her to keep a close eye on Tony. She agreed to it, sending in her report weekly to Coulson, who frequently reminded her how much she was missed at SHIELD Headquarters. Tony was harder to watch once he had outed himself. He still was going on missions to destroy all his weapons that had been sold to the wrong side. Y/N was never able to go with him, but Tony had JARVIS keep her updated the whole time.

Four months after Tony announced himself as Iron Man, Tony came up with an idea.

"I want to bring back the Stark Expo," he stated as he walked towards Y/N and Pepper. Both women were working on their laptops while sitting on the couch.

"The what?" Pepper questioned.

Y/N's heart filled with the longing of times that were long gone. "It's something his father ran," Y/N replied. "It was all about people presenting advancing technology."

"Correct," Tony said. "And I want to bring it back."

Tony went on for a few hours about what he wanted and by the end of the week, the expo had been announced and the date was set for two months from now. Y/N was currently working on updating the program, when Tony strolled into the kitchen. He had been looking for Y/N, luckily he had a handy AI on his side. The two had still been flirty, and would often find themselves asleep together on the couch when nights were too rough. But nothing happened more then that.

"What you working on?" Tony inquired as he pulled things out of the fridge.

"Updating the program for the expo," Y/N answered, not looking up from her computer. "We approved a few more presentations."

"Anything interesting?"

"Nothing as interesting as yours," Y/N smirked.

"I hope not," he smirked back. He moved so that he was standing on the other side of the island, right in front of Y/N. "How have you been sleeping?"

"Fine."

She immediately looked back down at the computer. In all honesty, she hadn't been sleeping that great this week. Ever since Tony mentioned the Stark Expo, she's been reliving her past life. Y/N just didn't want to bug Tony about it. She felt like she was always running to him for help, when it came to sleep. It was also getting harder to keep up her alibi. Y/N wanted to tell him the truth so bad, she just knew she couldn't.

"No, you're not," Tony reached over and closed her laptop. "What's bugging you?"

"I just... I just miss my brother and his best friend. I see them every night in my dreams. And it's... it's killing me."

"You don't talk about the best friend like you have your brother... why?"

"He- I- we-"

"You guys were in love." It was a statement. Like it was obvious. Y/N gave him a small nod, refusing to look at him. Tony walked around the island. "Come on," he urged as he grabbed her hand. "Let's go to bed." Y/N let Tony lead her to her room. "Get ready for bed and I'll be right back, okay?"

"Okay," she softly responded.

Tony gave her hand a small squeeze before letting it go and heading to his room. Y/N slowly changed into her pjs before going to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face. As she removed the wash cloth from her face, she caught a glimpse of her hand. It was honestly a little concerning how much she hated that hand and all that it reminded her of. She moved it around as the memory of falling played in her head. Y/N could still hear Steve's and hear own agonizing screams. She hadn't noticed Tony's presence or the tears that were slipping down her face, until he was right beside her, wiping the tears off of one of her cheeks.

"I'm sorry," Y/N said. "I don't know why I'm crying."

"You know you can talk to me, right?" Tony said.

"You know it goes both ways, correct?" Tony looked down, causing Y/N to tilt her head to see his face. "There's something going on with you, too. Something you're not telling us."

"Nothing's wrong. You're the one who's not been sleeping." He grabbed her hands and pulled her towards the bed. "So that's what what we're going to be doing. Sleeping."

"Tony..." Y/N pulled her hands out of his grip.

"It's nothing."

"It's never just nothing."

"Just drop it, Y/N!" He shouted. Y/N immediately took a step back from him. His eyes immediately filled with guilt. "I... I'll be in the workshop." Tony quickly turned and left.

Y/N sighed, clasping onto her bed. "JARVIS," she called, staring at the ceiling.

"Yes, Ms. Barnes?" The AI replied.

"What's going on with Tony?"

The AI was quiet for a few seconds too long. "There's nothing wrong with Mr. Stark."

"Yes there is. But neither of you are going to tell me the truth, aren't you?"

"I'm afraid not, ma'am."

"I'm just trying to help... I just want to help."

"He knows, Ms. Barnes. He's just used to dealing with things on his own."

"But he doesn't have to... At least not anymore."

The next three weeks, Y/N watched Tony more carefully. She noticed that he hadn't been using the suit like he had been. Tony had also been testing his blood frequently and been drinking weird smoothie mixtures. Y/N had stopped trying to get him to talk about it, he was refusing to. And the more she pushed the more distant he became with her. She was heading down to the workshop when she heard JARVIS speaking in the kitchen. Y/N snuck up to hear what the AI was saying.

"-cores have been finished," JARVIS stated. "They are waiting for you on your desk."

"Thank you, J," Tony responded.

"I do suggest telling someone, again, sir. It is not smart to hide your condition."

"Nope. Not gonna. Thanks again, J. Now let's drop it."

Y/N heard footsteps and quickly hid. Something was wrong with Tony. And he wasn't telling anyone, why? The weeks following, Tony pushed himself away more, drank more, and began partying like crazy again. It was hard for Y/N to watch, though Pepper helped a lot. Y/N began to think that she was over her head with this mission, and that perhaps she needed to end it. But she couldn't get herself to. Y/N was pacing in her bedroom when JARVIS interrupted her.

"Ms. Barnes," the AI called.

"Yes?" She responded, still pacing.

"I'm going against my protocol doing this. But it has to be done."

Y/N froze in place. "What has to be done? What are you talking about JARVIS?"

"Mr. Stark, I can not say. But the files are being displayed on the window. Please do not mention this to Mr. Stark. Someone just needs to know."

Y/N turned around to see the window had been darkened and turned into a screen. She quickly read it. Her eyes stung with tears the more she read. The arc reactor was saving Tony and killing him at the same time. She immediately took a picture of all the information and pressed the #1 speed dial on her phone.

"Agent," Fury's voice sounded over Y/N's phone, "do what do I owe this pleasure?"

"There's something wrong with Tony," she immediately said. "And I need your help."