One thing about Colonel Rhodes that no one knew was the fact that he had a nice voice and could carry a tune quite well.
No one except for his best friend Tony.
His singing was soft and quiet as not to disturb anyone, yet loud and clear enough to be understood, always done when he was alone, whenever he was stressed, tired or worried about something. It was in a way his coping mechanism, something he had learned from his mother and something he didn't share with anyone.
The first time Tony heard it, he was so surprised that he almost dropped the heavy books he was carrying, thankfully he didn't, but by the time he got close enough the song ended.
James Rhodes was a few years older than him and his first real friend, when they met he took one look at him and asked,
“Aren't you too young for college?” but it wasn't said in a mocking tone the way Tony was used to, it was said with a genuine curiosity and something about that told him that he might have found a friend.
Not long after, Rhodes became Rhodey, both his roommate and the only one who was friends with him because he thought Tony was a good person. It was an unexpected change from the fake friends he had who were mostly after his money and didn't care about him, just for what he could give to them.
Rhodey was different, he couldn't keep up with him when it came to science, but oh my he was even more sassy than Tony with one difference, he always sounded calm and polite so his remarks were barely noticeable and a lot funnier.
Kind, humble and very honest, he was the most stable person in Tony's life and someone who looked after him.
Throughout the years they spent as roommates, on his bad days, when he felt like he could never get anything right, he wished to trade everything he had, just so he can have Rhodey as a big brother. He even admitted that when he was sleep deprived and running solely on coffee and the other boy brought him solid food and ruffled his hair like he was a puppy or something.
When Tony glared at him for the interruption from the project he was working on, he chuckled and ordered him to eat, claiming that he wasn't going to drag his skinny ass to the hospital if he fainted because of exhaustion.
“It's not fair, you sound like an older brother with those narrowed eyes, don't like it.” he mumbled while he was eating, realizing that he was famished, but not willing to admit it.
“Well, you sure act like a pain in the ass little brother, so it kinda fits.” Tony's heart skipped a beat at those words.
“Does that mean that I can borrow your clothes and pull pranks on you, and steal your food?” he started rambling.
“You already do all of that Tones.” his smile turned into a smirk when he added,
“But that would mean that I'll be allowed to pull your ears when you're not listening to me, put you to bed as early as I want to, let me see what else…embarrass you in front of everyone, hide the coffee from you…”
“Stop, Stop…that's so mean. I don't want you anymore. Shoo.” barely holding his laughter while trying to look annoyed.
Rhodey raised his hands in surrender and before he walked away he said ,
“Go take a shower too, I don't want my little brother to look like I left him to sleep outside.”
“Screw you! “ Tony yelled.
Instead of an answer, he heard soft humming coming from the other room and continued eating.
A week later he got invited to Rhodey’s house by his mother, something he couldn't refuse, but despite feeling nervous over the whole thing, he also felt honored to be invited since he heard nothing but good things about them.
To his surprise, Rhodey’s mother loved him, yes…she thought he was too skinny and that he should eat more, but at the same time she scolded her son for not looking after Tony, as if he was truly his little brother. It nearly broke his heart to be accepted and greeted with so much kindness and love.
Since then on, they became even closer friends, Tony would help him whenever he could, subtly trying to get him to accept more help but as always the other boy refused it. They were best friends, brothers in everything but blood, he didn't need his money.
When his parents died, he broke down and cried, drowning in pain and tears, shaking so hard he had trouble breathing, until his friend came and pulled him in a big hug. Then while he was taking deep breaths trying to come to terms with the terrible news he heard, Rhodey started humming. It sounded like a lullaby and Tony would have teased him about it, if it didn't feel like he would start screaming if he opened his mouth. Instead he focused on the smoothness of his friend's voice and before he knew it, he fell asleep.
Since then whenever Rhodey sang, he associated it with comfort, safety and above all family.
The next time he heard the same lullaby was when he came back from being held captive. After the whole mess and panic subdued, he wanted nothing more than to fall in his bed and sleep for days, yet he couldn't.
Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Yinsen’s face, his captors, the torture he'd been through and he always woke up in sweat. Three days with not more than five hours of sleep and lots of hours of tinkering, his friend came to intervene with his stubbornness not to give in to his fatigue. The clever bastard, managed to convince him to both eat and lay down to watch a movie before he subtly and softly interwove his lullaby with the background noises, Tony was asleep before he even tried to complain.
After the whole ironman confession, the suits, their fight and a whole lot of crazy things, Rhodey stopped being subtle and always hummed a lullaby or an old song in order to relax himself and keep him relaxed as well. Whenever he saw that his words had no effect on Tony's stubborn mind he sang, but never in front of anyone else.
“You should try karaoke, you'd be killing it.” he threw the suggestion in the air.
“Yeah, right. And give you more material to embarrass me in front of everyone. Besides, you're the little bro, it's my job to embarrass you.” and dodged the screwdriver Tony threw at him.
“I will record you.” he joked.
“No you won't.”
“Of course I will, right J?”
I believe that the Colonel has right, sir.
“You should be on my side J.”
Apologies, sir. You've programed me to take care of your well-being, and since the Colonel has been approved of having a positive influence on you, albeit very small, it would be unwise to jeopardize that
“Thank you, JARVIS.”
“Alright smart-ass, I'll let it go for now, but no siding with honeybear J. That's an order.”
Of course, sir
To wake up to the voice of his best friend, was more than he could have asked for, especially after the long surgery he'd been through, and everything around him appeared hazy, as if he was trapped in a dream. In other situations, he'd be asking for JARVIS in an attempt to reassure himself that he wasn't a prisoner, drugged and tied up waiting for the bad guy to appear, but the moment that familiar voice reached his ears, all of the tension bled out of him and he even felt his lips pulling in a smile.
“About time you woke up, my throat is dry from trying to wake you up. How are you feeling?”
“Like I'll need ten cups of coffee to figure out how to use my arms and legs.” his voice incredibly raspy.
“Sorry, Tones, no coffee, you're high on meds.”
“Later?” he tried his best to look as miserable as possible, in order to break through Rhodey’s defenses.
“Don't give me that look, Tony. Pepper will kill us both…” he let out a tired sigh before he whispered,
“I might be able to sneak half a cup during lunch time, once you're out of those meds.”
“You're the best.”
“You better remember that.”
All those times, Rhodey was the one whose voice managed to both ground him and calm him, ever since they were in college. There was something in the way he spoke, firm yet gentle, exasperated but never angry, exactly the way an older brother should sound like according to Tony. His best friend oozed stability and protection for those who needed it, always the voice of reason, yet childish enough to banter and indulge in Tony's crazy ideas, probably because he was worried, though he'd never admit it.
He claimed that he took it after his mother, the overprotective streak, but never dared to say that in front of her.
“What can I say, I was raised to look after tiny, puppy eyed people, protect the weak or at least to make sure they don't get trampled by the big guys.” he used to say from time to time, just to provoke him, which was always followed by Tony's rant about how cooler he was, to end up with both of them laughing at everything they said, like the immature men they were.
This time Rhodey was silent, laying in a hospital bed, pale and unmoving, the way Tony had never seen him before and the fact that it was his fault hurt more than he could take. He was the problematic one, the one who had to be stopped before he blew up something, the one that worried and stressed Rhodey so much he barely resisted from teaming up with J and grounding him as if he was a misbehaving teenager, not him. His best friend didn't deserve to be caught in the fire because he supported him, because he stood by his side and Tony knew that he was extremely lucky to have him, but he couldn't stop the guilt from tearing him apart. His tech couldn't keep his friend safe, he put his trust in Tony and ended up in a hospital and by the looks of it, his condition was really bad. If he could go back in time he'd anything to stop him from joining the battle, everything be damned, how he was supposed to live with the fact that he ruined Rhodey’s life, simply by trying to redeem himself from ruining other people's lives.
No one stopped him from staying in the room, no one really tried, they took one look at his face and knew better than to argue with him. Tony made sure his friend got the best doctors and got placed in the best hospital, yet all he could do was wait. And he was waiting and planning to wait as long as it took for Rhodey to come back, the way he did for him.
Then after many hours, a thought came to his mind, not exactly a thought, more of a melody and he almost started crying when he recognized it. It was the same, stupid lullaby mama Rhodes taught her kids and the exact same one that his friend used to calm both himself and Tony. Not knowing what to do for the first time in a long while, he started singing. He tried to imitate Rhodey’s voice but he couldn't, so instead he focused on imitating the emotion behind the act, the comfort and warmth it brought him whenever his friend sang it, the feeling of having someone watching his back, of having a brother…because he was his brother in everything but blood.
Quickly he lost track of how many times he had repeated the same words when a croaked voice startled him.
“This is not the welcoming I was expecting…you skipped a few lines.”
He was awake, and by the look in his eyes, glad that he wasn't alone. “Since you took your sweet time waking up, I decided to do something about it.” he joked, incredibly relieved that he could finally hear his voice.
“You always were an impatient little brat.” his voice a bit cleared and stronger.
“Rhodey…” he started.
“Don't say it. No need to say it, Tones, I can see it on your face, you look like that puppy who chewed my trainers. Not a word about it.”
“How are you feeling? Do you need anything?”
“You playing a nurse now?” he joked to put them both at ease.
“Oh, come on honeybear, give me a few hours and I can be better nurse than all of the ones here.”
“With the amount of times you'd ended up in a hospital I'm surprised you haven't picked up anything.”
“Nice one, I'm going to find a doctor and make sure they take care of you properly.”
“Tony…” there it was, the humble person who didn't want special treatment, yet he deserved one more than anyone.
“Don't use that tone on me and don't go anywhere, I'll be right back.”
“As if I could go somewhere.” it was clear that he felt something was wrong but put on his brave face for him. It broke Tony's heart, to see him like that.
He quickly went back to his side, bent forward, gave him a kiss on the forehead the way he saw mama Rhodes do and with a quick,
“Welcome back, buddy.” he left the room.