Summary: SEQUEL TO THE FIRST YEAR. How far will Tony go to keep Pepper out of his life? It's for the best, or so he thinks, but he ought to know by now that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Standard disclaimer for all my stories: My stories are graphic, angsty, frustrating, filled with cliffhangers, drama and foul language. Read at your own risk – medical issues and subsequent bills are not covered by yours truly ;) If you don't like, please don't read. I appreciate reviews and constructive feedback but if you cannot stand the plot, save yourself and me some time and walk away. You don't have to love all IMAA stories :) I don't own IMAA. My stories are better viewed by using the "half screen" option of FFNET

THIS IS A SEQUEL TO THE FIRST YEAR. READ THAT FIRST OR BE FOREVER CONFUSED!

The Second Year

Prologue

"So, Mom told me Pepper moved out. Care to tell me why?"

Rhodey asked from his position by the hall as he stared at the inventor sitting on the floor inside the now empty room that had once belonged to the redhead. Tony's back was against the wall, his head hung in shame. Rhodey's arms crossed over his chest and he frowned. He held no sympathy for the broken-looking billionaire before him despite how miserable he looked.

"Because I'm a lying asshole," Tony deadpanned. "That's why."

"Well, I already knew that part," Rhodey said with a shrug. He then walked inside the room and joined his friend on the floor, to Tony's left. "But what's the crime now?"

Tony sighed loudly and scratched the back of his head with his right hand, more out of anxiety than from having an actual itch.

"She remembered what I had Gene do to her. She remembered everything."

Rhodey pursed his lips for a moment and then shook his head in disapproval.

"Yup, that'll do it. I take it she's mad at you?"

Tony scoffed.

"Mad? Mad? Rhodey, she left me! She packed up her things and left me! She didn't even give me a real chance to explain anything! She just… she just assumed I did it because I wanted out. She assumed I did it to sleep around with other women, even though the only one I've slept with is her!"

The inventor sucked in a deep breath, his eyes opened wide, and he covered his mouth with both of his hands when he realized what he had just said.

"You, WHAT?!"

Tony immediately flinched; he was not aware Rhodey could be as loud as his ginger could be.

"Did-did you just say… did you and Pepper… Oh, MY GOD!"

"Here we go…" Tony said and rolled his eyes.

"Oh, no! Nuh-uh! This is not a game, Tony! You and her… did you… please tell me she found out BEFORE you guys slept together."

"What kind of stupid question is that?" Tony groaned. "Don't you think she'd still be here if she had?"

"Oh, nuts! Dude! This is… this is serious, man. You don't do that to a girl! You…. ugh! Damn, she's never coming back. She's NEVER coming back."

Tony turned to his left and glared at Rhodes.

"Jeez, thanks for the confidence boost. I'm so lucky you're here to help me through this difficult time in my life."

"YOUR difficult time? What about Pepper? You're just getting what you deserve. I told you, Tony. I told you, a long-ass time ago, to make up your mind. See what happens when you don't listen to me? See what you caused? Do you have ANY idea how terrible it was to mess with her mind like this?"

"The end justifies the means."

"Oh, sure! Whatever! I'm certain that if she had done the same to you, you'd be taking it much, much, much worse than she's taking it now."

Tony's head jerked back. "No, I wouldn't!"

Rhodey scoffed. "Sure, because you took it real well when you found out that Gene had lied to you, and then when you thought that your father had lied to you about building weapons, and then when you thought that he was building that weird weapon when we were heading to China to stop the Mandarin, even though he was just making a Makluan energy cancellation-gun-shit, whatever it was."

"It was a Quantum Dot Energy Field Suppressor."

"Yeah, I ain't remembering that," Rhodey shrugged. "Anyway. The point I'm trying to make is that, instead of moping around here, you should be on your knees in front of Pepper, begging for her to at least care enough about fixing your friendship to yell at you about what you did."

"She already yelled at me."

"Well, then should be doing anything you can to make it up to her and have her listen to your stupid reasoning for doing what you did."

"Already tried."

"And? She still didn't listen?"

"Well…" Tony began fidgeting. "She, uhm, she did listen… a little bit… but, but then… then I… ahem…"

Rhodey arched a single brow. "Then, what?"

"N-nothing," Tony looked away.

"Tony…"

"Uhm…" Tony again rubbed the back of his neck with his right hand.

"Tony," Rhodey began. "What did you do?"

"I, uhm… I might've pissed her off even more with… some stuff I said."

"Might? What stuff?"

"I, ahem, I might've told her to go to hell?"

"What?"

"Not in those words!"

"Oh, yeah! Because that makes it better!"

"I was mad!"

"You? Talking shit when you're mad? That's not possible!" Rhodey said with every ounce of sarcasm in his body. "You never overreact when you're mad!" he rolled his eyes.

"Bite me."

"In a minute," Rhodey said. "What exactly did you tell her?"

Tony exhaled loudly and groaned, but then quoted to Rhodey the last words he had told Pepper by the river, word for word. With every word that came out of Tony's mouth, Rhodey's frown deepened, and by the time Tony finished quoting himself, Rhodey had already stood up.

"Well," Rhodey rubbed his palms together in an up and down motion, as if he were dusting his hands after completing a difficult task. "It seems my job here's done."

"What?" Tony stood up as well. "Where are you going? I still need your help!"

"You need something, alright," Rhodey said and walked to the door. "But it ain't my help you need."

"What do you mean? What do I need?" the genius asked, but Rhodey continued to walk out the bedroom and into the hall, prompting Tony to run after his friend. "Rhodey, wait! What do I need?"

Rhodey stopped his walk in mid-hall before he sighed and turned around to stare at his friend's desperate pose. He felt bad for him now, he really did, and even if what he had done was the worst thing he could have ever done to their common friend and he did not approve of it at all, he still felt the pain of his friend as if it were his.

He knew how much Tony cared for the ginger – loved her, and he also knew that Pepper – despite how mad she currently was at the billionaire – also cared about him a whole lot, too. Nevertheless, he also knew that even though Tony had been nothing but well-intentioned in his actions, fixing this problem would take the execution of some serious life-altering happening between them, and the two of them had had enough of those experiences already to last them a lifetime and a half.

"Rhodey, please," Tony said, head hung, his right hand holding his weight against the wall. "I want her back," he then lifted his head to stare at Rhodey and placed his left palm onto his chest. "I need her back, Rhodey. What… what do I need?"

Rhodey swallowed hard, and his once-tense shoulders suddenly sagged. He hated being the bearer of bad news, but it appeared that with his two friends, it always fell on him to be the bad guy even though he had never asked for the job. He looked away for a second, and when his eyes returned to his friend, he sighed.

"A miracle, man. That's what you need."

Tony's eyes glistened before he lowered his gaze and gulped. He licked his lips and his arms fell to his sides. Rhodey gave the inventor a moment to say anything else, but when he saw Tony's hands and eyes clench, Rhodes knew he needed to be alone now.

"I'm not returning to the Air Force until next weekend," Rhodey said. "You know where to find me, T."

Tony did not say or do anything until after Rhodey finally left the apartment, and even then, his only move was to fall on his knees and scream.

A/N: Alright, my Faithful Readers, here is some of the reward for being so patient with me. I am posting the entire story at the same time and the Prologue and first chapter of the next story: The Third Year. This means that updates will take longer than usual while I catch up, but I figure I've made all of us suffer for too long. So, even if this story makes you want to kill me or run away from it, please don't. Stick to it, read every chapter and take in deep breaths while you do, and when you get to The Third Year and you finish reading Chapter 1 of it, you'll just love these Last Chronicles that much more!