Authors' Note: I wish I owned 'em. But sadly no, I'm not THAT innovative... I simply admire... Anywho, AU-ish.

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"Stay Put!" It was a simple order. Really, even a dog could follow such a simple order. This entire situation could technically blamed on him, all his fault. He didn't head to the warnings; He said his weapons needed to be tested in the environment that they'd actually be used in. Why he, himself, himself had to come? Showmenship, and the fact that Obadiah was breathing down his neck. Though James hadn't known that til AFTER the fact.

"TONY!" He called, returning to the humvee that he left his unarmed friend in. The humvee was riddled with holes, from killing the poor officers set to drive him back to the base. James had came running after the first explosion had taken out the humvee in front. As he was approaching, the gun fire immediatly started and took out everyone within the second humvee except for Tony. He reached the window to find the billionaire genius staring in awe at the carnage, there was raw fear in his eyes. Something James had never seen in his friend's eyes before.

He told Tony to stay put while he handle the situation, stay put until he returns. Rhodes had gone into the mist, firing at the returning fire while trying to maintain perimeter to keep Tony safe. That was the mission right now, the man was infact a major asset to the United States government in general.

He and the few remaining soldiers had been holding things down for a few seconds, until another explosion happened from where he had just left. He turned around and made a mad dash back to the humvee where Tony was. Or at least where he thought Tony was.

Of course, Tony didn't follow the damn order. He never listened, and it was going to get him killed. Rhodes began searching around furiously, trying to figure out where he went. He was no where within the humvee, that was certain. Rhodes then began to search the surrounding area, firing a few rounds here and there to keep the unknown enemy at bay.

"Tony!" He yelled as he rounded the humvee and spotted the person he was looking for on the ground. He wasn't that hard to spot, being the only one there wearing an armani business suit. It stood out against the desert. Rhodes made a mad dash towards the man, crashing to his knees beside Tony.

"Fuck me..." The colonel swore, something he NEVER did, as he looked down at his friend. A thin coat of dust layered the man before him, his eyes were wide open in shock, there was a few cuts across his face, but worse of all was when he looked over the rest of his body. Rhodes found a flowering blood spot right in the middle of the white dress shirt Tony had been wearing. It was partially opened in the middle, where his heart is, and found the armor that he had been wearing was pierced, badly.

For a moment he was captivated merely by the sight of the wound, but after that moment he returned to battle mode. He rose his gun up into firing range and stood guard. There were still bullets flying, and dust clouding everything, but most of it seemed on the other side of the trashed humvee.

He felt a tug on his pants leg and glanced down. Tony was staring right at him, his right hand had a tight grip on the fabric of Rhodes' pants. Pure fear and agony conved in his eyes, as it looked like he was struggling to breathe.

"Hold on." That was all he was able to make before remembering once more that there was a battle going on still. "Its' gonna be alright. Just stay awake Tony." He said, training his eyesight away again from his dying friend and focused on keeping anyone else from finishing the job. It was all he could do at the moment with all considering. If he tried to stop the bleeding, he and Tony would both be dead.

An eternity passed before there was nothing but silence. The adrenaline James had pumping through his veins had died down slightly, and fatigue began to set in ten-fold. He lowered his rifle with a sigh and glanced down.

Tony was still gripping his pants leg like it was a lifeline. The color from his face faded though, but his eyes were open still, even if it was only half way. His once white shirt was now completely red, and there was a small pool beneath him, leaking out onto where James' was sitting as well.

"Tony?" His glazed over stare shifted slowly over to Rhodes. James finally thought it was safe enough to set down his rifle and then straddle one knee over Tony's waist, he was now sitting on his knees with Tony underneath him. He then began carefully to remove the suit jacket, and work on the dress shirt. In no time his hands were covered in the red sticky liquid that was Tony's blood. There was so much. Too much.

"Stay with me now, It won't be much longer." Rhodes was talking more to reassure himself then Tony, who seemed for the most part out of it completely. One of the soldiers appeared at his side then.

"Colonel, theres no one left. Everyone's dead." The quivering voice said, trying to sound calm, but their facade was transparent. "Just stand guard til the back up arrives." Rhodes grounded out as he lifted the body armor off of Tony and gasped.

"Request ETA on back-up." Rhodes said immediatly as he saw the pool of blood which was Tony's chest. The center of the wound seemed to be at the center of his chest just where his heart was. It looked almost like a spiral design of punctures, both deep and artifical, but all filled with metal shrapnel.

"I can see them now, they have two humvees." The soldier said eagerly, relieved to see his fellow soldiers coming to their rescue. Rhodes sighed in relief, until he heard a single gunshot. He glanced up just in time to see the one survivor other then him and Tony fall dead at his feet.

James immediately reached for his rifle, but before he could he felt a blunt object being shoved roughly into the back of his neck, and then everything went black.

TBC