Iron Maiden

I saw a flash of grey and metal arms wrapped around me, plucking me off the ground like a hawk does a mouse. We flew away from Stark Expo as it began exploding, landing on a roof not five seconds before my dad and Pepper. My dad ripped his mask off, the Ironman suit looking like it had gone through a trash compactor.

"Oh my god! I can't take this anymore!" Pepper yelled.

"You can't?"

"I can't take this."

"Look at me."

"My body, literally, cannot handle the stress. I never know if you're gonna kill yourself or wreck the whole company."

"I think I did okay."

"I quit. I'm resigning. That's it."

"What did you say? You're done? That's surprising. No, it's not surprising. I get it. You don't have to make any excuses."

"I'm...I'm...I'm not making any excuses."

"You actually were just making excuses. But you don't have to."

"No, I wasn't making an excuse. I'm actually very justified."

They began getting closer and closer to each other.

"Listen. Hey, hey. You deserve better."

"Well..."

"You've taken such good care of me. Of Skye. I've been in a tough spot, but you got me through it so...right?"

"Thank you."

"Yeah."

"Thank you for understanding."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's talk clean-up."

"I'll handle the transition. It'll be smooth."

"Okay. What about the press? Because you only had the job for a week. That gonna seem..."

"Well, with you it's like dog years."

"I'll know."

"I mean, it's like the Presidency..."

My dad cut Pepper off by kissing her.

"Ew." I whispered.

They pulled away slowly.

"Weird." My dad said.

"No, it's not weird."

"It's okay, right?"

"Yeah."

"Run that by me again."

They leaned in for another kiss.

"It's think it was weird." Rhodey said. Thank goodness for Rhodey. They pulled apart, looking at us. "You guys look like two seals fighting over a grape."

"It's had just quit, actually."

"Yeah, so we're not..."

"You don't have to do that. We heard the whole thing."

"You should get lost." My dad pointed to Rhodey.

"It's was here first. Get a roof."

"It's thought you were out of one-liners?"

"That's the last one."

"You kicked ass back there, by the way."

"Thank you. You too. Listen, my car got taken out in the explosion, so I'm gonna have to hang on to your suit for a minute, okay?"

"Not okay. Not okay with that."

"It wasn't a question." Rhodey blasted off into the sky, leaving the three of us on the roof.

"How are you gonna resign if I don't accept?" My dad asked.

Pepper shook her head and my dad turned to me. I couldn't bring myself to look at him so I settled with looking at the suddenly interesting rooftop.

"Will you excuse us, Pepper?"

My dad's clinking steps came closer to me until I was staring at the metal boots of the Ironman suit.

"Skye...I know I should have asked you first..."

"Im happy for you. I really am." I gave him a half hearted smile that was probably more of a grimace.

"Then what's wrong?"

I looked back to the rooftop. "I don't know if I can do this." I murmured.

"Do what?"

"It hasn't even been a year yet, and twice I've been kidnapped and had my life threatened. I don't know how much more I can take..."

"Hey. Look at me." I lifted my eyes to his. "Let's just put this all behind us and go to New York City to the penthouse. I'm working on a blueprint for a building and you can kick back and relax for a while."
I smiled a little, looking into his eyes. My mom was right. I did look a lot like him.

"Your mother?"

Crap. Did I say that out loud? "Yeah. I had a little meeting with her while I was away."

"Was she as crazy as she was when she left?"

I wrapped my arms around the metal suit, resting my head over the light where the arc reactor was.

"I'm so happy I have you."

He wrapped his arms around me for a second before stepping back.

"Let's get me out of this suit. I really have to pee."