You tried not to be hurt by Tony not showing up to the meeting, but you couldn't help it. You buried yourself in work and school for the next week. You had decided that you were going to give Tony one more week and if he failed to show up again, you weren't going to plan on meeting him again.
You took your time getting to the meeting spot, swinging through the city leisurely. Stopping at the building across from where you were supposed to meet Tony, you looked over. You could help but smile when you saw the Iron Man suit laying on the thick edge of the building. You could tell that Tony was in the suit by the way his arm was playfully swinging over the edge.
Swinging over, you flipped above him, landing on the roof.
"Nice to see that you're alive, tin man," you said, trying to convey how you weren't happy that he hadn't shown up the week before.
Tony sat up and faced you. "I only have myself to blame for that one, I'm sorry. I forgot."
"You forgot?"
Standing up, he took a step toward you. "I did and I know that's not a good excuse. In fact, it's a complete shit excuse. I'm sorry, honestly."
You nodded, not really knowing what to say. You didn't really know him, so you didn't know whether to believe how sorry he was.
"Did you swing by the Tower last week?" Tony wondered, trying to get you to talk.
"Yes," you answered quietly. "I just... Well, I guess I wanted to see what you were up to." You shrugged. "But I really had no right to do so. We honestly don't owe each other anything. We don't even know each other."
"But we could.... Get to know each other. It's kinda why I wanted to meet up regularly."
"Why would you want to get to know me?"
"I kinda like the idea of a mysterious friend that none of my other friends know about."
You couldn't help but laugh. It was almost cute, how serious he was. "As long as I don't have to take off my mask."
"That's fine... though I can't promise I won't tease you about it."
"I can work with that."
~~~
Tony and you talked for hours, sitting on the edge of the building in your suits. You talked mindlessly about things: favorite colors, restaurants, food, and things to do. Nothing that would really give your identity away, though you had already told him your real name. You trusted that Tony wouldn't use that to figure out who you really were.
You wouldn't know this, but that night is what held Tony through his next week. As CEO again of Stark Industries, Tony was required to go to meetings and this week there were a lot of them. It was long and hard on him but your talk on the roof and the thought of your impending talk the next week is what was keeping him sane.
It was Friday now and Tony and you had spent the last four Saturdays on the rooftop talking away. Currently, you were trying to not focus too much on being excited to see Tony again while working in the school's lab on your project.
"Y/N," your professor was all smiles as he walked toward you, "just the person I was looking for."
"You were looking for me?"
"Yes. An opportunity has come up and I think you're the perfect person for it."
"What opportunity?"
"Dr. Bruce Banner has reached out to the university. He's looking for a lab assistant. The university has recommended you for the job."
"What? Me?"
"Yes. It's a paid assistant position. You would live at the tower to be available to Dr. Banner whenever."
You began coughing, choking on air. "Wh—What?"
"This is a great honor. If you were to accept, the university is prepared to just give you your PhD due to the fact that we know that you are more than ready and because you'll learn more with Dr. Banner than we could ever teach you."
"Uh... when do I need to give you a response?"
"Monday. You have the weekend to decide."
"Thank you, Professor. I am honored that you and the university thought of me."
"You are an extremely bright woman, Y/N. I know you'll make the right choice and do us proud."
You gave him a nervous smile and a nod as he walked away. Your mind was running at a thousand miles per hour. What your professor had just presented you with was a great honor and opportunity.
But... you knew that the Avengers were looking for you, or looking for your superhero alter ego. Just because you lived there, didn't mean they'd find out, right? You could make work where you could keep your identity hidden and still take the assistant job. This is literally everything you worked for, with the person you longed to work for: Dr. Bruce Banner.
Though, Tony would be there. He could easily guess the truth about you. Would that change the friendship that was forming between you? Would he tell everyone the truth and force you into the evaluation? You honestly didn't know. Of course, you could be as careful as you could, but would that be enough?
Your mind couldn't stop thinking about it, even when it came time to meet up with Tony. You had arrived first, using the time alone, above the city, to think about your options.
"Hey, spidey girl," Tony greeted as he set himself down beside you.
"Hey," you replied.
Tony's head tilted in the mask as he took in your tone and lack of 'tin man' (which he was only fond of when it came from you). You were physically right there with him, but he could tell that your mind was someplace else.
"What's up?" Tony asked.
"Mhmm?" You hummed, not really listening.
"You seem a little lost in your head. Did something happen?"
"Yeah, kinda."
Tony immediately became overcome with worry. "Are you okay? Did someone hurt you?"
You quickly shook your head. "No, no, I'm physically fine. And no one hurt me. It's just..." You sighed. "I have an opportunity that came up and I don't know what to do about it."
Tony could tell that you didn't want to go into much detail about it but he was still going to be willing to help. "Is it an opportunity that is good?" He cringed at his own words. Pepper had frequently told him that he didn't know how to really have deep conversations, but he was going to try to do better with you.
"It is. It's really good, what I've always wanted... I guess I'm just scared. It's new and unknown territory that would change my life."
"I say do it. Yes, it's scary but you can do it, I know you can."
"You think so?"
"I really do."
You reached over and took his armored hand in your gloved one. "Thank you, Tony. Really."
"Anytime, Y/N." He looked at you through the suit and silently wished he could see what you looked like. He wasn't going to push you on that yet though, but he knew that there was one thing he might be able to do. "Did you sew this suit yourself?"
"I did."
"You're clearly not a professional seamstress."
"Hey!" You playfully swatted at him. "Like you could do better."
"Actually, I could. A lot better."
"Are you offering to make me a suit?"
"Only if you want it."
You shrugged. "I'll think about it."
"You'll think about it? Tony Stark is offering to personally make you a suit and you're just going to think about it?"
"Oh yeah." You were smirking under the mask.
"You can't be serious?"
"Completely."
He shook his head. "You're unbelievable, spidey girl."
"I know."
You threw yourself from the building letting yourself free fall for a bit before catching yourself by shooting a web up. The web caught onto the Iron Man suit, as he was flying down to you. You laughed as Tony took that as a sign to take you on a ride. The two of you laughed as you zoomed between the tall buildings of New York City.
After a little while, you flung yourself in front of Iron Man, who surprisingly caught you before you could get a web flung. Your breath hitched at the closeness even though there were masks between the two of you. Neither of you really knew what to do or say, but the suit kept on flying. Your hands were on his arms while his hands were trying to be as gentle as he could as he held onto your waist.
Before either of you knew it, you were back at the rooftop meeting place. Tony didn't let you go as the suit came to land on the roof.
"I guess I'll see you next week, tin man?" You whispered, not making any move to go just yet.
"I'm not planning on being anywhere else, spidey girl," Tony replied, his voice soft through the mask. "My Saturday evenings are reserved for you."
Your heart stopped. You felt like you could possibly cry at the meaningfulness of it all. You wished you had the confidence out of the suit as you did because you would have totally brought him in for a kiss.
"I should go," you said softly, still not moving.
"Yeah..." He responded, "I should too."
It took another long moment for the two of you to step away from each other. You kept looking at him as you backed up into the ledge. It took you a second to get the will to jump off and swing away.
~~~
You were still scared of what might happen if Tony found out who you were, but you were going to accept the assistant position. You would be stupid to pass it up. After accepting the position, you had a week to get your things situated and packed up. You were moving in on Sunday, which meant you had one last meeting with Tony where he for sure wouldn't know who you were.
Tony was waiting on the rooftop for you. He wasn't sitting down but pacing. You landed on the ledge beside him.
"You alright, tin man?" You wondered.
"I can't stay long," his voice was serious, putting you on alert.
"Is something wrong?" You quickly came up to stand in front of him.
Tony sighed, his head hanging down. "I've got to go."
"Go? Go where?"
"I'm being sent on a three-week mission."
"Oh. I thought it was going to be something more serious than that."
Tony snapped his helmeted head up. Your reaction was surprising to him, Pepper never reacted well to longer missions. "You aren't mad?"
"Why would I be mad? It's part of your job—part of who you are. Will I miss our meet-ups for the weeks you're away? Of course. But I understand that being a hero is your job."
"You're amazing," he breathed out, a lovesick smile forming over his lips that you couldn't even see.
You looked away, embarrassed. "No, I'm not."
His armored fingers hooked under your chin and helped move your head back to face him. "Yes, you are, and I owe you big time. You have no idea the good you've done for me—what you continue to do for me." You heard an Irish female voice coming from inside the suit, causing Tony to sigh again. "I've got to go. But I'll see you in three weeks, alright?"
"I'm holding you to that, tin man."
"Good. Someone's got to hold me to the promises I make."
"Stay safe."
Tony chuckled as he backed away. "Hey, it's me. I'm always safe."
You shook your head. "Not from what I've heard. Just don't do anything stupid, please. I kinda enjoy meeting up with you."
"Good, cause I'm not going anywhere."