Tony sighed. The hotness of Afghanistan slowly burning him from outside, and he felt lucky that his performance for the military had done just fine so he could on his way back to the State with those soldiers. Poor those boys and girls, he thought, happily joining with one of them in a quick selfie.
The camera light was just flashing, and so was the explosion.
His humvee almost flipped upside down with a hard hit from its left. All the soldiers jumped out of it, shoved themself into an unexpected attack to protect him. It was all chaotic and blurry in his view. He scrambled out of the car in panic, ran and yelling for help, only to be thrown out of the main road to the harsh desert by another explosion.
Tony acted on his instinct, he quickly hid behind a rock to cover himself. His trembling fingers took his phone out, trying to call someone, anyone.
Then there was a fucking Jericho landing next to him before his finger could land on the call button. Tony knew too well what it could do. Every beeping sound was like calling bells from death. Only moments later it would explode and Tony couldn’t even breathe.
A man – a soldier, it seemed – suddenly appeared in front of him. He took the missile with his bare hand and (Tony glued his stunned eyes to this scene) threw it away to the sky.
It exploded as expected. But the man was not. Tony never thought there was anyone who could do what this man had done (it was a missile, not just a ball, for fuck sake). He took a look closer: that man was tall and handsome, all armed to the teeth, his dark skin was gleaming lively under sunlight.
Jesus, this man was hotter than this fucking desert.
He stretched out a hand to help Tony to stand up. His cocky smile was bright and surprisingly calming Tony down after a near-death experience. He gestured for Tony to go with him which Tony easily complied. Oddly enough, the rifle that the man was holding only made Tony felt more secure.
“Do we know each other?” He walked with the man, still looked at him in awe.
“Very few people in this world not know about you, Mr. Stark.” The man smirked. “I’m Erik, by the way.”
“Erik.” Tony tested the name on his tongue innocently, somehow got a smile from the other in exchange. “You can call me Tony. And thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Hearing Tony calling his name made butterflies fluttering in his stomach. This was the man he had been hearing a lot since MIT, a legend that he wished to meet someday, the figure that Erik still idolized from those years in college to the present (or even had a childish crush on him), when now he was a grateful soldier for those finest weapons helping him, saving him through missions by mission all these years.
He still recalled the moment a Jericho missile landed next to Tony, his heart almost jumped out of his chest. Adrenaline pushed through his veins at a speed of flash and he took into action.
When those warm amber eyes looked at him in awe, seeing only him and nothing else, his pride swole bigger than the day he gained the moniker “Killmonger”.
He saved Tony, and he would help this man back to the US unscratched. The panther inside his soul would not allow any otherwise.
The attack ended as quickly as it came. They could hear someone shouting over there, maybe searching for Tony.
“Hey, that’s my Rhodey bear,” Tony said, relieved that his friend was okay.
“Let get you back to him, then.” Erik led him forward, carefully cover Tony from any threat might have but stopped at a safe distance from those remaining soldiers after the attack.
“You won’t come along?” Tony paused, hesitantly asking him with those warm amber eyes full of hope.
“Unfortunately, that’s not my place,” Erik replied. He stepped back a bit, his bright eyes encouraged Tony to move on. The military still with Tony, this was not the time for Erik to capture this man for his own use. There would be another chance and he believed that day would come soon.
“See you next time, Tony.”