138 Combat Missions.

@howwasthefunvee​ - tony & rhodey!

“you know, you missed all the fun,” tony said without preamble, coming up behind rhodey and clapping his shoulder like they’d just seen each other five minutes ago. “we were having this huge bash. really epic. music, dancing, booze, everything. made our MIT days look tame.”

tony would have called it ‘breaking the ice’; someone else (like rhodey) might have called it trying to avoid the inevitable awkwardness of having to say “hi i’m dead – but not really” to your best friend; “also, i figured out that orange really isn’t my colour. by the way, how’s morgan? she conned any juice pops out of you yet?”

really, if he stopped and thought about it, he’d have to acknowledge that painful heart-squeezy feeling that was lurking in his chest at the sight of rhodey. rhodey. the one constant in his life, through thick and thin. the guy who’d been collateral damage of his craziness too many times. godfather to his kid. there were few certainties in life, but tony knew one thing - his death would have hurt for james rhodes, and if there was one thing that tony had hoped never to do again, it was to break honeybear’s heart.

….so much for that. 

if it were any other situation, any other point in their lives, rhodey would just... go with it. he’d let tony play this off as just another day, another casual moment in their friendship, nothing to worry about. he’d deal with the gravity of things in his own more subtle way. but this isn’t the same. this isn’t any other situation. this is... tony died. and yeah, he did it for a reason. sacrificed himself for the whole universe. but he still died. his best friend for basically half of his life. and there was nothing he could do. no way he could save tony, all he could do was... sit there and stare as the light left his eyes.

he stares for a moment, still reeling from the clap on his shoulder, from the voice he was so sure he’d never hear again. “orange is - orange is not your colour. at all. which makes this that much more...” hilarious is where that’s going, but there’s nothing funny here. not a thing.

stephen hadn’t realized he was hyper-fixating so much on tony stark until james rhodes cut him off mid-question. tightening his lips into a thin line, the sorcerer narrowed his gaze and gave the other man an assessing glance before pausing. “he’s… an interesting figure…” stephen stated carefully, eyeing rhodey before continuing on.

“someone i believe i should know more about since i am the reason he decided to.. well,  you know.“ he paused and took a deep inhale. “yes, that’s of course the main reason - am i really asking you many questions about him? have i not asked you one about yourself?“ he blinked, attempting to change the narration. “how… are you?“

so, here’s the thing. he and tony have been friends for a long time. and as a result, rhodey has seen all kinds of people come around wanting to know all about the famous tony stark for all kinds of reasons, all kinds of curiosities. you name it, rhodey’s watched it unfold into some kind of disaster. so at strange’s words he can’t help but raise an eyebrow, resisting the urge to smirk. not worth it just yet. “an interesting figure.” he repeats, not at all convinced.

( @howwasthefunvee​ ) 𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙖𝙨𝙝𝙖 𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙛𝙛 & 𝙟𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙧𝙝𝙤𝙙𝙚𝙨

“rhodey?“ natasha asked as she happened to look up to see him standing there. she was certainly surprised to see him - and she was positive he would be surprised to see her but she couldn’t help the small lilt of surprise and happiness that escaped her lips. the last time they’d seen each other was on vormir and she’d hugged him. one of the last few people she felt comfortable around.

approaching him, she pulled him into a hug before stepping back and giving him a look over. “god, it’s good to see you but… you shouldn’t be here. none of you should.” she admitted, frowning and stepping back onto her heel. “you should know… tony’s here too.” she wouldn’t be surprised if he cut and run to find his best friend, after all if she was in the same position she would do the same.

rhodey’s not sure he’s going to really adjust to seeing all of these people again. specifically, all of these people they’d lost. he’s a soldier - it’s not that he’s a stranger to loss and death. but losing the people closest to you, people who have seen you go through the ups and downs, highs and lows, it’s something else, losing natasha, losing tony.. you lose a piece of yourself.

it’s not that rhodey doesn’t recognise him, of course. it’s hard to forget the man that brought all of their friends, their brothers in arms, back into the fight at just the right moment. stephen strange. some kinda wizard or something, from the bits and pieces rhodey’s heard. and it’s not even the magic that has him narrowing his eyes as the conversation continues.

no, it’s the questions.