138 Combat Missions.

138 combat missions. That's how many I've flown, Tony. Every one of them could've been my last, but I flew 'em. Because the fight needed to be fought.

[howwasthefunvee]

ofironsouls​:

@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.

it’s the question about morgan that really breaks him, though. just picturing her face, remembering how hard she’d taken tony’s death, all the tears and the questions and the sadness in her eyes. before he knows what he’s doing rhodey’s reaching for the man, pulling tony into a tight hug, squeezing his eyes shut. “she’s doing good, tony. as good as.. she could be after what happened.” rhodey pulls back from the hug after a few moments, resting a hand on tony’s shoulder. “and she gets all the juice pops she wants. i’m not a monster.”

[howwasthefunvee]

mortalstrings​:

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.

as stephen continues to explain, though, rhodey has to resist the urge to scoff. at least their egos match. instead he chuckles and shakes his head. “look, you don’t know tony all that well yet, but he did what he did for a lot of reasons.” he pauses, his expression softening for a moment. “don’t hold all of that on your shoulders. his choice wasn’t your fault.” well, to his credit at least stephen’s trying, even if rhodey gets the feeling he just wants to ask more about tony. “you asking because you wanna know, or because you’re trying to distract me from your new tony-obsession?” grinning just a tad, rhodey decides to leave it be. for now. “considering... all of this?” he waves around them absently, “i’m as good as you could expect. just trying to track down who’s here, who’s.. back, make sure we know what’s going on.”

[howwasthefunvee]

mortalstrings​:

( @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.

but here she is. back, breathing very much alive like so many others. “c’mon - you don’t get to look surprised. that’s my job right now.” he says with a smile, stepping in to hug the woman without hesitation. the smile doesn’t last long, though, when she pulls away, her statement more than a little ominous. “i know, but we are. no point in freaking out about the fact that we shouldn’t be here. just gotta find out way back home.” it doesn’t surprise him that tony’s around - rhodey’s been trying to find him, trying to track him down but it’s not exactly easy to do here. “you know where I can find him?”

[howwasthefunvee]

closed starter for @mortalstrings - stephen strange

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.

incessant, endless questions about one man. tony. his best friend. a man who has just come back from the dead. for reasons that aren’t clear to any of them right now, really. “okay, before you shoot another six questions at me, let me ask you one.” rhodey says, cutting the man off before he can launch into another tirade of curiosity. “what’s got you so curious about tony?”

[howwasthefunvee]

[ seven nation army by the white stripes, rules lawyer, faint lavendar laundry powder ] your world has gone black, time has shifted and halted still. wake up, JAMES “RHODEY” RHODES, you’re in a new world now. you used to be known as WAR MACHINE back on earth, and were FIFTY-TWO at the time of your disappearance. now you must adapt at life within the soul stone or accept your fate. survive or disappear. it’s on you now. [ don cheadle, he/him ] ( lana, your she/her, aest, 25+ )

following the events of avengers:endgame how does your character feel about everything that has happened?

rhodey is pretty worn out to say the least. the events of avengers:endgame, the war against thanos yet again, and the sacrifice - tony’s sacrifice, losing his best friend, the person who probably knows him best, it took such a toll on rhodey. for a man who’s not easily beaten down - look at how hard he clawed back up to his feet after losing his legs - he’s pretty ready to lay down and just… stop, even if it’s only for a little while. so to now be thrown into a whole other universe, one where nothing is as they know, isn’t exactly ideal and rhodey’s wearily gearing up for another fight.

what has your character brought with you into the soul stone?

his war machine suit, absolutely, a couple of handguns and some extra ammo. but rhodey’s a soldier, he’s not super sentimental on objects and he travels light so he’s not going to have brought a lot with him.

give us a bit about your character, tell us how you see them.

rhodey is often seen as the more serious side to the tony-and-rhodey friendship but he definitely has something of a rebellious streak in him! he knows how to let loose and have fun - but at the right times. he loves his job and what he does, being part of the air force, flying and serving his country but he’s not going to be taken for a ride either, and he knows the difference between right and wrong. he’s got a huge heart and he knows it, he’s pretty good with his emotions, processing them, reacting on them in a way that’s not going to screw him.

he’s not your usual air force grunt - tony and rhodey met at MIT, safe to say he is smart. like, hella smart. the boy can handle weapons and engineering equipment like it’s nobody’s business. he’s not on the same level as tony but you bet he knows his way around.

he’s more than a little cheeky - you think he’d be friends with tony all this time if he wasn’t? - and he’s not afraid to let out more than a little sass when you least expect it. he is also very protective of his friends, even when they disagree. he’s no pushover though, even those closest to him will have a hard time walking all over him no matter how hard they might try.

headcanons:

he’s not big on sweets, but he could gorge himself on savoury snacks like his life depended on it if he’s having a cheat day he has some stories that could challenge even tony’s wild moments - and tony knows all of them he’s a big morning person - something about seeing the sunrise makes him wanna fly uhh i will add more to this as i go