23:16
The red numbers were big, standing out on the white ceiling of his room.
Maybe I could lighten my schedule tomorrow, Rhodey thought, to spend time with Harley and Emily.
As soon as they had the opportunity, Bruce had been responsible for checking the list of the families and loved ones of superheroes, in order to figure out who could help them and who was still alive or missing. Among them were the Keeners, whom Tony had helped since he met Harley. Bruce had discovered that their mother had disappeared and that the boy had been taking care of his sister ever since, so obviously Rhodey made sure to bring them back to the Compound.
Unfortunately, they were the only children, with his niece, Sam's nephew and niece and Cassie Lang, who seemed to have survived. The Barton kids, Peter, Ned, Michelle, princess Shuri… They were all considered as missing.
23:17
No one had known what to do next. Not even the Avengers. There were so many places to go, so many people to help... They had been overwhelmed and only had a little time to mourn their friends, their families. Rhodey had the impression that days passed quickly but that the problems were still numerous.
Everyone was doing their best but they knew they were blaming themselves for what had happened. Especially Thor. They were supposed to protect the Earth against this kind of threat, and they had failed miserably.
What kind of Earth's mightiest heroes were they?
23:18
With a long sigh, Rhodey pushed back the duvet so he could sit on the bed’s edge. It was useless to stay here, tossing and turning, mulling over his thoughts, if he didn’t fall asleep.
Three weeks. That’s how long it had been since the snap. Rhodey snorted at the name. The snap. A childish name, for something so deadly.
He ran a hand down his face before laying both palms flat on his thighs. He did not sleep more than five hours per night. How could he?
The end of the world. That’s what people called it.
Mechanically his fingers found the little box lying on the nightstand, his weight reassuring him.
He was no stranger to nightmares. It was the business risks after all; but lately… The thought brought a shiver that coursed down his body. He remembered the deafening silence followed by the screams. Scanning the ground for any signs of Sam. Nothing. The realization of what had happened. The perspective of all those he cared for, gone in the wind.
If he concentrated enough, he could almost hear Tony humming the Italian lullaby his mom used to sing to him; the cadence of his voice and the caresses in his back always lulling him back to sleep. He would gently hold him during his night terrors, whispering comforting words to calm him down. Except Tony was not here right now.
For the first time in a long while, Rhodey felt weary; and not because he slept less than usual. There were still so much to do and a universe to save. These recent years had made him aware of his age. He was in his fifties henceforth and he was not as tough as before, although he liked to think the opposite, all these combat missions had not prepared him for that. Half of the population had disappeared as well as vegetation and animals. The wave of destruction had been worse than they could have imagined: planes and helicopters crashing into buildings or oceans, car accidents, families torn apart, climatic problems and so much more. In addition to people who vanished into dust, there were all those people who died because of the consequences of the snap — not to mention that crime had increased. The world was in complete chaos.
There was also this thick mist that never left, creeping him out since he heard someone says that it was the ashes of the missing people. It was a fucking nightmare and it's in those moments that Rhodey wished Tony was with him.
After realizing what Thanos did, one of the first things Rhodey did was to call his mama. The relief of hearing her voice quickly gave way to sadness when he learned that his pops had disappeared. There were still little mercies though, and he was glad to hear that Lila, his niece, was alive. They had no news of his sister, which was not surprising but he hoped she was fine wherever she was. Regrettably he has not had the opportunity to see them yet, his mom refusing to leave their house to live at the Compound and the superheroes being needed more than ever now.
They had spent the first days helping the Wakandians; the disappearance of King T’Challa and the princess Shuri as well as the damage of the battle having greatly affected the country. Once back in America, while everyone was busy with the fallout, Rocket started to work on one of The Avengers’ ships to travel in space to look for his team. His best shot was to track down their vessel and to improvise from there; there was so many variables to take into consideration: if it had been abandoned, destroyed or if they had disappeared... Thor immediately offered his help for this mission and Rhodey had also been determined to go with them too if it wasn’t for Pepper who convinced him that he was more useful on Earth — he was the superhero that people trusted the most out of everyone and his many years of experience gave him contacts everywhere, which was a great help to put a semblance of order on the streets. He also was the one who arranged an agreement between the United Nations and the former Avengers for an indefinite period. In the end, Thor had promised to do everything he could to find his teammates, the Man of Iron and the Spider-Boy.
Despite that, it didn’t mean Rhodey gave up on Tony. He didn’t during his phases of self-destruction after the death of his parents or when he was himself dying, nor when he was kidnapped and everyone presumed he was dead. Not at all. He will not do it now. Thus, even if his options were limited he did the best he could with what he had. He contacted his contact at NASA to ask her to monitor communications and to scan the sky for Tony’s biometrics. Thanks to FRIDAY He took control of the satellites that Stark Industries had for constant monitoring. If the brunet ever tried to contact them or a ship approached, they would know.
The question was not if Tony was alive but when will he be back. It’s only been two weeks since the catastrophe. He once looked for him for three months and he was ready to do the same again.
He remembered meeting him when he was a stripling. He was only two years younger than Rhodey and actually one year above him but he was still surprised to see Tony here, at this shitty party. He had already heard about him — the kid who was just old enough to have a learner's permit and was always correcting the shit out of his professors. He had always thought it was just another rich white boy whose father had paid to bring him in. Ironically, that's when their friendship started. Rhodey could not just sit idly by and watch a miner be too drunk to consent to anything. Next thing he knew, Tony imprinted on him like a baby duck as his roommate had said; and Rhodey liked him.
Oh, it wasn’t always easy.
Tony had all these emotional walls around him, too much for such a young age — at first Rhodey had had a hard time understanding him and to delimit his character. He was caustic and will make a joke of everything or will withdraw into himself to avoid talking about his problems. He was really bad at taking care of himself and he just had to flash his big Bambi browns eyes to him and the minute after they were getting into troubles, like this time when they had a lightsaber duel.
Furthermore, he never liked when Tony was getting wasted, pretending to enjoy these stupid parties to act cool with people who don’t really care about the real him, but Rhodey never stopped him. Obviously he told him his opinion about it, yet he was always the one who gave Tony a piggyback when he was too drunk to return to his dormitory, it was him who made fun of Tony the next day when he woke up with a hangover telling him, "I told you". He wasn’t here to dictate Tony’s life but he was his friend, his best friend, and never stopped to be. They always had been, even when Rhodey was in this awful long hair phase or during these holidays in Monaco that both have sworn never to speak again. Even though death, through everything that has ever happened.
Tony Stark could be too much, but you couldn’t not love the guy.
He was this person who make him laugh all the time, who had no sense of limits and bought him a tank once for his birthday. He had a smile that wrinkles the corners of his eyes and makes them twinkled. He was so generous and cared a lot. Sometimes too much for his own good, every betrayal breaking him slowly. He was strangely vulnerable, for someone with such a perfected mask but it was just an act to hide the pain that he buried for so many years because inside his golden heart lied loneliness since his early childhood. He was just unconsciously begging for someone to love him as he loves without reservation.
His brain was beautiful and he had a million ideas per day, arriving at random times — according to Tony, his blowjobs were magic. He was always the happiest when he was in his element, building, creating and fixing things. He was the kind of person making party hats for his bots and to consider them as his children or to go to orphanages when he couldn’t get to sleep just to hold babies.
No matter how annoyed he could be sometimes, Rhodey loved Tony to the very core of his soul. It was just a fact. Like the Earth revolving around the Sun.
He watched the object in his hands. It was a little red velvet box, just big enough for a ring.
“One day I will marry you, Mister Rhodes.”
“I'm not going to be able to get rid of you, am I?”
“Funny that you say that because wherever I go, there's a shadow of you. Isn’t it strange?”
“…I warn you, we aren’t doing the Dirty Dance choreography for our first wedding dance.”
“You are such a buzz-killer, sourpatch!”
He remembered thinking a few months after the mess of the Accords that maybe it was time. Rhodey was no longer young and if the accident in Berlin had proved something he had known for a long time, it was that anything could happen. Except that Rhodey had new desires now... He wanted to be able to walk in the street with Tony and kiss him when he wanted, regardless of what others thought. There had always been something to prevent them before: first the army then Stark Industries and over the years they had just gotten used to hiding their relationship, never thinking to change that. Tony had even found it nice to be able to keep this part of his life for himself. Not that he was ashamed of Rhodey, never— he assured him several times, but his whole life he has been in the eye of the public and both loved the peace they had.
Rhodey left for the military a few months after he was graduated of MIT. It was also the first time Tony told him he was in love with him right before he had to leave, not giving him the time to answer back that way. They saw each other again almost a year after it, when the soldier showed up at Tony’s place with no warning to surprise him. Their official first kiss — there was this time when they were snuggled in his bed after a party, watching a movie when Tony kissed him softly before the older boy pushed him gently away, assuring him that he owed him nothing and that they will be friends no matter what — was during the date Rhodey planned in the evening, a nighttime picnic on the beach where they ended up lay down in front of the stars. Only then Rhodey told him that he loved him too. Tony always said it was the cheesiest declaration he ever heard but he knew the man secretly loved it. And this time, it was Rhodey who initiated the kiss.
Their relationship was just another step in their life. One day they were friends and the next day they were boyfriends, it seemed natural.
Nobody had ever suspected anything. He was always knew as James Rhodes, the best friend of Tony Stark and later the liaison between Stark Industries and the U.S. Air Force. Though Tony never hesitated to call him by his ridiculous nicknames in public, to touch him every time he could and hug him or even on a few occasions to kiss him on the cheek, it was just considered as another of his eccentricities. Conversely, each time he was near a woman, she was considered as Tony’s new conquest. They had played with that at the beginning, but he did not even need to try in the end. He could not believe that people even spread rumors of a wedding between Pepper and Tony when they had already denied rumors about their relationship years ago but it seemed impossible for the media that Pepper could live with Tony in Malibu without both having a relationship.
Perhaps it was time for people to know that Tony hasn’t been single for a very long time. Maybe they could get married and think about the question of a family. He knew about his lover’s recent dreams about their future child. Rhodey had thought they were not stable enough for a kid but perhaps it was time to really think about that... He just needed Tony back for that.
They all grieved differently, but what they had in common was their will to work. Bruce, Steve, Natasha, Pepper… Everyone was focusing on the missions they had. They would probably all work to the point of exhaustion if it was not for May, who was a true force of nature despite everything. She had convinced Pepper to take leave earlier that night and both of them had gone to one of the restaurants still open. The red hair was doing her best as Pepper Potts, CEO of Stark Industries, but also as Rescue, whose abilities were focused solely on defense and protection. When Rhodey went to his room an hour ago, they were laughing, lying on the couch of the living room, watching some movie.
He should tell them about Emily's birthday. Harley had approached him shyly about it not long ago, poor boy wanted to do something for his sister but did not know what, or at least, could not afford to. They could prepare a surprise party for her, and it would be good for everyone to relax the pressure a little. Maybe they could even bring Lila and—
Suddenly, FRIDAY’s voice rang out. “Colonel Rhodes, Miss Daniels wants to inform you that one spaceship has just entered the earth's atmosphere.”
“…What?” For a second, Rhodey thought he’d imagined it.
“It will shortly enter in the mesosphere.” She paused, before speaking again. “According to my scans it is the Avengers’ quinjet.”
“FRIDAY warn Bruce, Rogers and Romanoff!” He shouted, looking for his exoskeleton. He realized that his hands trembled and that his heart was pounding really fast.
It was too soon. They have been gone for less than two weeks, the space was huge.
*****
Natasha was already standing outside, doing the last checks on her guns when Rhodey finally arrived, followed shortly after by Steve and Sharon, hand in hand. The last one to arrive was Bruce, his clothes wrinkled from the long hours spent in his laboratory. Despite their likely lack of sleep they were all alert, trying to not let the seeds of hope overshadow their judgment.
“FRIDAY said the final trajectory of the jet was the Facility's terrain.” The scientist informed them.
Sharon pointed at the sky, “Look!” It was dark outside, except for the light of the ship that was getting closer and closer.
They started running in the general direction of the ship’s landing, the anticipation eating them alive. The rumble of the engine broke the silence of the night and became more and more overwhelming as it approached the ground; The Avengers, or at least what was left of them, were midway to the ship when it finally landed.
The sudden silence that fell into the night was heavy with tension. It felt like time was slowing down as they waited. What if Tony wasn’t aboard? The knot in his stomach tightened when the front gate of the jet finally began to open. He didn’t know what he would do if the brunet wasn’t here. He was the one constant thing in his life. It couldn’t be—
His brain abruptly stopped.
Rhodey held back his breath and his body was moving forward before he could even begin to realize what he was seeing. He was aware that Bruce and Sharon were talking behind him but he couldn’t pay attention to them because—
“Rhodey…” It was nothing more than a murmur, but he heard it.
He let out a breath, the relief flooding his senses.
It was him.
Tony was huddled into Thor’s side, the god’s arm seemed to be the only thing holding him up. He had a blanket on his shoulder and was still wearing his tank top and jogging pants he had put on that morning for his run with Pepper. His brown hair was all ruffled and standing up and his beard had grown messy. At their side was a humanoid woman with a blue skin looking like she was arguing with Rocket.
He was alive.
“How was the flying donut?” He said softly, making Tony chuckle.
“Terrible,” his laugh got stuck in his throat, turning into a little sob. “M’sorry, I’m late. We had some spaceship problems.” He moved out of the blonde’s grasp, stumbling as he lost his balance.
Immediately Rhodey rushed forward and grabbed onto Tony, pulling him close so his body was pressed against his. He felt Tony’s entire being relaxing into his hold.
"Always got an excuse, don't you, Tony?” He whispered, burying his face in Tony’s neck. “Maybe next time I won't be there to—"
"To what? Literally catch me when I fall? You're James Rhodes. That's who you are. It's what you do."
“Yes… Yes I do. I’ve got you, Tones.” His tone was choked, fighting back emotions. “Welcome home, pumpkin.”
“You cannot get rid of me so easily, honey bear.”
He couldn't help but run his shaking hands over the other man’s chest, looking for any wounds that would require medical attention. At the grimace of his genius, he just carried him in his arms towards the Compound’s med bay enjoying his gasp of surprise. He nodded for the others to follow him knowing they will all need to talk.
From the corner of his eye, he noticed Bruce wrapped in Thor's arms, whispering to each other until Natasha interrupted them while Steve went to help their new ally, or at least, tried to.
*****
Rhodey stood just outside of the room, watching the man he promised to always keep safe sleep. He seemed small and fragile, an intravenous line inserted in his arm to restore his fluids and to boost his vitamins and minerals. Tony and Nebula, the humanoid woman, were lucky they weren’t in a coma when they were found. Both ran out of food for twelve days and of water for four days; they had almost run out of oxygen too but had managed to counter this problem long enough to be rescued. Consequently, Tony had lost muscle mass and Rhodey could already hear him grumbling about it.
One of the first things Helen did was to heal the wound that Tony had received from Thanos — and Rhodey refused to think of the idea that he had almost lost his lover, not now — and had also managed to convince Nebula to stay in bed so she could tend her.
Tony explained the events that had happened on Titan, the way they almost removed the Infinity Gauntlet but that they failed, that he had failed. Then he told them the last mysterious words of Doctor Strange, and his vision, bringing a glimmer of hope to the others Avengers. However, Rhodey could see the way Tony’s shoulders were slumped by telling that, the guilt in his beautiful eyes; he was haunted in a way he has never been before.
The geneticist chased the team away shortly after, claiming that her patients needed to rest. Tony, exhausted, fell asleep with Rhodey sat in the chair next to his bedside, holding his hand.
Reluctantly, Rhodey had walked away after a moment. Although he hadn’t wanted to leave his lover alone, he also had needed to inform Pepper of the recent events. As he suspected, the woman had been ready to kill him for not warning her immediately of the arrival of their genius, before falling into his arms in tears. After a little discussion, she decided that she would come back in the morning for the breakfast and left in order to inform May of what happened.
Needless to say, it was not a restful night for anyone.
Tony had woken up several times by his nightmares and Rhodey had never felt so helpless, seeing the man he loved trapped in a hell of his own making. All he could do was to cuddle him, to wipe away his tears and to play with his hair, whispering that he was safe at home.
“Peter’s—he—he’s gone, Rhodey,” Tony had mumbled, “He died in my arms.”
Although it remained unspoken, Rhodey understood. Tones cared deeply about the kid and it was a colossal loss for him. He dreamed of having a son, only to lose the one he already has. Because that’s what Peter was to Tony, even though no one had ever explicitly said it; and Rhodey liked to have the kid at home, to watch the two geniuses working in Tony's workshop. He was a bigger nerd than Tony and him, and had been very determined to beat Rhodey in chess.
Rhodey had finished the end of their night on the chair next to Tony’s bed, his head resting on the mattress, near their joined hands.
In the morning, with Helen's consent and Steve's help, they brought Tony to their room. The man hated the med bay and besides it would be better for him to be in a familiar and intimate place.
It was now almost time for lunch and Rhodey's mission was to wake up the superhero, although it bothered him to do it. Tony really needed all the sleep he could but the capacity of his stomach has been reduced and he needed to readjust to eating.
A voice pulled him out of his daydream, “What are you looking at, stranger?”
“I’m looking at you.” He chortled, and came to sit on the edge of the bed.
“I missed your smile.”
“Tones…” He reached up and caressed his cheek, and the brunet turned his head, kissing his palm. “I was so afraid of losing you.”
“I thought— I wondered if you had disappeared. All of you, like my worst nightmares had shown me. I don’t know what I would have done without you. This all my fault, Rhodey. Strange gave up the Stone in exchange for my life and then I lost the kid and everyone died and—”
“Hey, No! Look at me,” Rhodey took his chin between his fingers and thumb, turning Tony towards him. “The team spoke with Wong. He assured us that Strange would never have abandoned the Time Stone voluntarily if he didn’t have a plan. And May does not blame you Tony, she herself told you that this morning. I know it's not going to take away guilt as if by magic but no one blames you. We have all failed despite all that we did but we still have a chance to fix that. We will bring them back, Tones. We are the Avengers, that’s what we do. We save people.”
Tony was silent for a moment, his gaze stuck in his as if he was searching for the truth, “I love you.” He said fondly, “I am so lucky to have you in my life.”
“I love you too.”
Rhodey kissed him carefully, cradling his face with his hands. It was tender at first, nothing more than a brush, soothing kisses, but then as minutes trickled by, with a surprising urgency, he began to passionately kiss Tony, tickling his tongue with his own, then proceeded then to explore every inch of his mouth. The brown-haired man answered with his own desperation, wrapping his arms around the taller man; he sucked Rhodey’s lower lip, gently, making him flutter inside. Finally he broke the kiss, breathing hard, and pressed his forehead against his. Tony moaned as their kiss broke apart. He was panting too.
Seeing the little smile on his lover's lips, he could resist the urge to kiss the tip of his adorable nose, making the other laugh, “Stop it, dumbass!”
Heat instantly blasting through his belly, enjoying this little moment of peace and joy, in their own bubble. He kissed Tony’s nose one last time, then his forehead and finally his cheeks and moved back.
“Bruce made your favorite soup, he should be coming soon with it. And while you're eating, I'll tell you all the things you missed. Alright?”
“Okay.”
Rhodey wrapped an arm around him, and Tony curled into him, his head pressing against his shoulder and his hand clinging to Rhodey’s dog tag, near of his heart. He leaned down a bit, inhaling the scent of his fluffy hair.
Maybe they were in the endgame, but it was Tony and him. They were in this together until death do them part.
He caressed the ring box in his pocket. Soon.
*****
“The thing is, I miss you a lot. Even when you annoy me more than I ever thought possible. When something funny happens, I still look around for you so that we can laugh ourselves into tears while no one else quite understands what is going on. I miss our stupid conversations. I don't really know when something changed between us. It was a thousand little things that, when you added them all up together, meant we were supposed to be together. And then I knew. I can always count on you to be there and not change. Maybe falling in love with you was never my intention but I'll never regret it. You changed my life, Tony. I love you and I’ll love you till the last digit of pi.”