My James, Your James

By: Writer-At-Heart0

James Rhodes sat in Avengers Tower, surrounded by a horde of superheroes eagerly waiting for this party to begin. James still wasn't quite sure why he was here, but it was upon the request of Steve, and since it was being held at his best friend's place, Rhodey figured he may as well be there. He sipped his drink as he contemplated the events that had led them here.

Last year had been the fallout between the Avengers over the Sokovia Accords, or as Clint had so aptly named it, Civil War. Since then, a lot of things changed for the superhero team. For one, Tony had fought tooth and nail to revise the Accords to a document that Steve and his cohort agreed to sign. Second, Tony had also negotiated the freedom and pardon of Steve and his cohort in exchange for Tony serving time. After Tony had gotten out of prison, he had set to work on figuring out a way to help James Buchanan Barnes.

This is where Rhodey was always confused. In the immediate aftermath of what had happened between Steve and Tony in Siberia, which Tony still had not revealed the whole story, Rhodey was fairly certain Tony would never forgive Steve or Bucky. But upon returning from prison, Tony had said something along the lines of, "There's a difference between the Winter Soldier and Bucky Barnes." Rhodey didn't see it—the man had killed his best friend's parents. But if Tony was willing to forgive, then Rhodey could too.

So Tony figured out how to undo the Winter Soldier Programming, and here he was, with all the Avengers, prepared to welcome home Bucky. The real Bucky with no threat of becoming a mad hitman. Rhodey's gazed swept across the room. He could see the Avengers talking and mingling, Wanda and Vision were quietly talking at the couches, while Sam was regaling Natasha with a recent story about a mission he'd just finished. The Avengers seemed to harbor no hard feelings for Civil War—it had been a misunderstanding on the means to the end they all wanted.

Before Rhodey could think more about the events of last year, the elevator to the Tower dinged. The chatter ended almost instantly, and all eyes swiveled to the elevator. First to enter was Steve, who smiled at everyone warmly before turning and looking over his shoulder. In the next instant, Bucky Barnes, outfitted with a new silver arm and smiling, entered the Tower. And last to enter was Tony, who had been the reason for this celebration in the first place. Tony watched as people stood up to greet Bucky before turning and heading down towards his labs.

Rhodey only noticed because he had been expecting Tony to come say hi to him, but he also knew that despite Tony's forgiveness of Bucky, part of him still hurt. Not to mention, some of the younger Avengers were icy to Tony, blaming him for Civil War even though he had worked on righting his wrong. Rhodey shook it off and went to meet Bucky. He stood shakily and crabbed his cane. Tony's braces had done wonders on Rhodey's physical therapy, and a couple surgeries with Dr. Steven Strange and more physical therapy over the year had left Rhodey in a stage of mobility much better than a year previous. He walked to the edge of the crowd and listened to everyone's greetings.

"Welcome James Buchanan Barnes. It is a pleasure to meet you." Vision inclined his head politely.

Bucky nodded at Vision. "Nice to formally meet you as well."

Clint held out a hand. "It's good to see you again, man."

Bucky shook Clint's hand vigorously. "I'm glad I can be back."

Steve placed a hand on Bucky's shoulder in a brotherly fashion. "I'm happy you could all be here. I'm really glad you can all be a part of my life, and we can all be a part of each other's lives. We are here to celebrate Bucky's homecoming, but we are also here to celebrate the expansion of the Avengers family."

Natasha's lips twitched up minutely before holding her martini in the air. "To family."

The rest of the group lifted their glasses and cheered, "To family!" before dispersing again. Rhodey waited patiently before he approached Bucky.

"Nice arm, looks state of the art." Rhodey acknowledged. Bucky turned and met his eyes, a look of confusion on his face. "Sorry, I'm Colonel James Rhodes, United States Air Force, and the Iron Patriot. I'm Tony's best friend."

Steve looked between Bucky and Rhodey before slowly backing away to go talk to Sam. He figured Rhodey wanted to speak with Bucky alone since they hadn't interacted at all except to fight, unlike the other Avengers who had time to get to know one another.

Bucky held out his hand, looking Rhodey in the eye. "Colonel, it is a pleasure. It is good to see you up and walking. Steve told me you had taken a bad hit last year. I'm sorry."

"It wasn't your fault Bucky." Rhodey patted Bucky on the shoulder, giving him a warm smile, but not shaking his hand. "You were a victim in this as well."

Bucky nodded and lowered his hand awkwardly. He looked over the room and saw Steve talking with Sam and Natasha. "He seems to have adjusted fine."

"He has a lot of good friends. But he has never forgotten about you." Rhodey smiled. "Best friends don't leave each other behind or forget one another. It's hard to remove such a vital part of your life from your memories."

Bucky looked at Rhodey and something clicked. "You said you were Tony's best friend. How long have you two known each other?"

Rhodey laughed, sipping his drink before answering. "Way too long. Tony seems to find trouble even when he isn't looking for it. We went to college together and he's the reason I'm aging faster than normal."

"I can understand that. Steve used to always get in fights, and I could not get him to just drop it. I spent a lot of time pulling him out of dumpsters and putting cold cuts of meat on his black eyes." Bucky gave a slight smirk. "Sounds like both of our best friends like being in trouble."

Rhodey nodded and shifted on his legs. Standing for long periods of time still bothered him. He tried not to let it show, but Bucky saw. "Would you like to sit? I'm interested in hearing more stories about Tony's adventures. He won't really talk to me except to be snarky."

Rhodey walked over to a table and sat down while Bucky sat next to him. "Don't take it personally. Tony hasn't had the best luck with trust. The fact that he is being snarky to you is a good sign though, just give him time."

Bucky frowned, crossing his arms. "What do you mean?"

Rhodey sighed, leaning back in his seat and swirling the ice in his cup around. "Tony's godfather tried to kill him, Howard wasn't a great dad, he and I fought right after he got back from Afghanistan, and Civil War happened. Tony is misunderstood, so he puts up a façade."

Bucky nodded slowly, looking down at his lap. "I tried to apologize to Tony, but he brushed me off. I truly am sorry for the Winter Soldier's actions."

Rhodey learned over and grasped Bucky's arm. "I can tell. But Tony just needs more time." Bucky nodded before Rhodey gave a light laugh and settled back into his chair. "So what kind of trouble was Steve getting into back in the day?"

And so James Rhodes and James Barnes sat and talked the night away, exchanging stories about their best friends. The Avengers who didn't call the Tower home had long gone, leaving just Bucky and Rhodey sitting at a table, talking and drinking the night away. Steve stood next to the doorway to the kitchen, out of sight, watching Bucky bond with someone. At some point, the two had traded stories about their service and were in a heated discussion about which was better: the Air Force or the Army.

Steve smiled, thinking that maybe Bucky would adjust just fine, especially with someone like Rhodes willing to give him a chance despite his past as the Winter Soldier. Steve was so lost in thought, he didn't hear Tony approach from behind him.

"Who would have thought that my James and your James would be friends?" Tony asked quietly, also watching Bucky laugh as he gave a good natured jab at the Air Force that made Rhodey glare.

Steve agreed with Tony. He figured Rhodes would have been cold to Bucky because of the pain he had caused his best friend, but that clearly was not the case. "I never would have thought it either. Best friends stick up for each other."

Tony shrugged, hurt crossing his eyes; Steve wasn't looking to see it. "Yeah, well, Rhodey has always been a better man than me. That's the reason he's my best friend—I need someone to bring me to reality. Plus, I told Rhodes to not hold the Winter Soldier against Bucky. I don't."

Steve scoffed lightly, turning his head to look at Tony. "All you do is snark at him. I don't think you've said anything less than sarcastic comments to him."

Tony smiled, but it was a cold smile. "At least I'm speaking to him. I could be a lot worse. Hell, I could have left in in cyro and not repaired his arm."

Steve rolled his eyes, feeling the fight coming on. Could Tony really not see that he was treating Bucky unfairly? Steve went to respond before he felt two new presences in the vicinity. He looked up and both Bucky and Rhodey standing there, similar scolding looks adorning their faces. All four friends looked between each other. Tony did the first thing that came to his mind.

"He started it." Tony pointed an accusatory finger at Steve and looked to Rhodey for back up. Steve glared and opened his mouth but was cut off by both Jameses.

"Nope, nope, nope. None of your excuses—either of you." Rhodey gave an extra hard look at Tony.

Bucky looked at Steve. "Stevie, you need to let up on Tony. You can't expect him to instantly forget and forgive. The Winter Soldier did something awful to him, and unfortunately though it wasn't me who killed Howard and Maria, it was my face that was in that video. You can't honestly say that if the roles were reversed you'd be all sunshine and daisies around me."

Steve guiltily looked away from the group, training his eyes out the window at the New York skyline.

"And Tony." Rhodey began, drawing the engineer's attention. "While I know that you're making progress and are actually being kind, Steve and Bucky don't know you like I do, and they aren't super spies and can't read you like Natasha or Clint. So maybe communicate with them."

Bucky held out his metal fist for a fist bump, which Rhodey returned. With that, the two new friends made their way back to their table, leaving Steve and Tony to watch them go. The two were still dumbstruck that their best friends had effectively shut down an impending fight. Tony looked at Steve, who stared back. Tony shrugged.

"My James and your James probably shouldn't have met." Tony quipped. "Now we will never get to have our little squabbles."

Steve chuckled. "Yeah, but maybe they need each other more than we need them." The two Jameses has once again fallen into conversation, animatedly gesticulating about something or another.

Tony patted Steve on the shoulder before turning to leave. "No, it's definitely us who need them. Now they just have each other to handle us. Must be a James thing." With that, Tony disappeared down the hall and then down the stairs to his lab. Steve thought over Tony's words for a minute before smiling slightly and turning to leave. Maybe Tony had a point.

It must be a James thing to handle a superhero best friend.