Title: Dog Years or Presidency

Rating: PG-13

Summary: What if Pepper didn't let Tony kiss her on the roof after he battled Whiplash. Spoilers for Iron Man 2!

"Oh my god, I can't take this anymore." Pepper exhaled sharply and pressed her hands onto her forehead.

"You can't? Look at me!" Tony said and waved his hands desperately into the air.

"My body literally cannot handle the stress. I never know if you're gonna kill yourself or... or wreck the whole company!" Pepper said and moved closer to him while he moved closer to her.

Tony gesticulated helplessly.

"I said I think I did okay!"

After a moment of silence Pepper spoke.

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

"What did you just say?" Tony asked and moved even closer to her. "You're done?"

He looked at the ruins of the expo and spoke.

"It's surprising. Nah, it's not surprising. I get it. You don't have to make any excuses."

"I-I'm not making any excuses." She whispered.

"You were actually just making excuses…"

"No, I wasn't making any excuses."

"… but you don't have to. Listen…"

"Because I'm actually very justified." Pepper continued at the same time.

"Hey, hey, hey… You deserve better." He said and took her hand in his.

Pepper looked down at their hands.

"Well…" She began, but Tony interrupted her.

"You've taken such good care of me. Been a tough spot but you got me through it, so… right?"

"Thank you." Pepper said sincerely and looked into his eyes.

"Yeah…" He said half-heartedly.

"Thank you for understanding." She continued.

"Yeah, yeah… let's talk clean-up."

"I'll handle the transition."

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

"With you it's like dog years." She admitted.

"I know…" Tony whispered back and looked intently at her. He leaned in softly and tried to press his lips to hers, but just like six months ago, she backed away.

"Or presidency…" She whispered, one hand on his chest plate, keeping him firmly away.

"Pepper…" Tony whispered and tightened his jaw.

"Take me down, please." The redhead whispered gently, though her voice trembled a little.

The superhero ignored the sting in his eyes as he grabbed his helmet from the roof and put it on. He held his hand up and waited for Pepper to take it. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and closed her eyes tightly, too afraid to look down as they descended slowly to the ground. When they touched ground, Pepper went to remove herself from him, but realized his arms were keeping her flush against him.

"Tony… let go." She said firmly and looked at him with a frown.

Tony looked back, though he held back tears. His heart was breaking even more at her actions, and he couldn't take it anymore. If he let her leave, he couldn't forgive himself. He loved her too much to let her leave him, and let's face it, he was one big selfish asshole and he didn't like to share anything, much less his beautiful goddess.

She shook her head at him and after a couple of seconds he released her. She reached up and kissed his cheek, saying.

"Just so you know you were a really good boss."

He nodded, feeling a little dazed.

"Thanks."

Pepper smiled at him then turned and left. Happy was waiting with the limo a few meters away and Tony couldn't take his eyes off the scene when he realized that Happy wrapped her up in his arms. He looked as if he was asking whether or not she was okay, but Tony didn't care. He just realized that Pepper and Happy were more than just two colleagues.

His heart seemed to falter as his arc reactor flickered a couple of times in its case. He quickly set down his face plate, ignoring the first tear that slipped down his cheek. He was really grateful for the fact that she couldn't see tears of hurt and disappointment falling down his cheeks right then. He looked at the couple once again and then up to the sky, before flying off into the darkness that surrounded him and his heart.

That's it. She's done with you selfish asshole.

A little bit too dark, I know, but I wanted to explore this side. R&R!