Woohoo second chapter is here. Prepare for the amazing Rhodey!

Disclaimer: I no own characters.

When the first explosion went off, Rhodey was so caught off guard he simply stared for a good few seconds. Then all his training kicked in (never mind that he was in New York and things like this shouldn't be happening) and he was running toward the flames, shoving gawkers out of the way in his haste.

Stark Tower, home to SI and it's CEO Jarvis, was on fire. Rhodey heaved deep breaths as he arrived at the scene, his eyes taking in the burning holes in the side of the building, seemingly randomly spaced about but Rhodey figures they're most likely points of importance. There's no doubt in his mind that this was a terrorist attack.

There are sirens convening on the spot but Rhodey was there first and he can see people still trying to escape the burning building so Rhodey runs headfirst toward the danger, helping those left in the building to evacuate. Forty-three people helped to safety later and thirty-six floors up, Rhodey was sweating worse than he'd ever had in Afghanistan and his skin was starting to get overheated the closer he got to the fires. He was just finishing up checking the floor he was on (and honestly mostly considering heading out since the fire fighters had finally arrived and taken over) when a small noise stopped him.

It was just a low cry, the sound of someone in pain, but it was enough. Rhodey darted toward the pile of debris from which the noise came, carefully yet quickly separating the pile only to find…

A cat.

Rhodey stared. He certainly wasn't expecting to find that. The cat was lying on it's side under the debris, it's breathing labored and it's eyes barely open. A pool of blood spread beneath the cat. Rhodey let out a breath, reaching carefully down and picking up the cat gently. The cat's small frame shook in his arms as Rhodey desperately tried to ignore the blood soaking into his tee shirt.

He carried that cat thirty-six floors back down, all the while expecting the tiny thing to grow still in his arms with every step he took. The medic he met at the doors refused to help the dying cat because he said he had more injured people to deal with than someone's pet. Rhodey almost punched him in the face. Instead he forced himself to breath calmly once more as he ran the next three miles to the nearest vet, the cat now limp in his arms but not dead, not dead, NOT DEAD.

…

The cat was a menace. Rhodey should have known the moment he took the cat home from the vet only and it rubbed all of it's dark hair over Rhodey's white sofa, all the while staring innocently up at him. You'd think that since the cat was still bandaged, heavily sedated, and probably still in pain, that the cat wouldn't waste it's energy to cause trouble. You'd be wrong.

Everything on the kitchen counter had been either knocked over or knocked off. Multiple times. Rhodey's left slipper was missing. His favorite blanket claimed in Tony's bed. There were pieces of a toy mouse strategically placed throughout the apartment. And somehow the damn cat knew how to work the TV which was why it suddenly blared on at one a.m. Every. Night.

Rhodey was having the time of his life. He wouldn't ever admit it to anyone, but ever since he'd returned from being stationed overseas, he'd been lonely. Listless. The cat made his life interesting, gave him something to focus on other than his own suffering.

He wasn't an idiot though, he kept an eye on the news. He'd been watching when it was announced that SI's CEO Jarvis had awoken from his one week coma, apparently having been targeted by the terrorist bombings of the Ten Rings. However the news never reported a missing cat. Rhodey couldn't decide if that was a good thing or not.

It was another week of living with the cat (and Rhodey never did get around to naming him since every name he came up with just seemed wrong) when things changed. It started with a knock on his apartment door. Well not quite knocking so much as frantic banging. The cat followed Rhodey into the hall to investigate. The peephole revealed a blonde man in his early thirties looking nervously around from underneath his dark hoodie. Definitely suspicious.

"Can I help-" Rhodey only got so far before the man tried to push past Rhodey to get into the apartment. What the man only succeeded in doing was hitting hard against the immobile wall that was Rhodey. While Rhodey tried to decide what to do about the man trying to force his way into his apartment and whether or not he will need the handgun he keeps in a drawer next to the door. The cat let out a high pitched yowl, drawing both men's attention.

In the next moment Rhodey was staring down at the man who had dropped to his knees and was cradling the cat to his chest. And OH. It just clicked for Rhodey before dread settled into his stomach. The cat's owner had finally come for him.

"Uh why don't you come in?" Rhodey offered awkwardly, opening the door a bit wider and stepping aside. The man's head snapped up, seeming to have forgotten Rhodey was there. The man then stood up quickly, the cat still cradled to his chest (purring contently he might add), which makes Rhodey so unreasonably jealous because the cat never willingly let Rhodey carry him.

"I'm sorry, please excuse my poor manners," The man rubbed the back of his neck meekly with one hand. "My name is Jarvis." Rhodey blinked at the knowledge that he was suddenly hosting the billionaire CEO of Stark Industries in his small apartment. Feeling a bit overwhelmed, he simply led Jarvis into the living room.

"Ah I'm Colonel James Rhodes, but everyone calls me Rhodey," Rhodey gave politely, no matter how much he wants Jarvis to just get up and leave the cat.

They stood in awkward silence as both men stared at the cat who was purring contently in Jarvis' arms, rubbing his head affectionately against the man's chest. Rhodey fidgeted.

"So I guess then this is your cat?" Rhodey asked to confirm what he already had guessed.

"Tony," Jarvis announced, causing Rhodey to look questioningly at him. "His name is Tony. He's been with me for a very long time and I thank you for your actions in saving his life." Jarvis swallowed hard. "I don't know what I would have done if I had lost him in the attack."

"Ah well, it's no problem man." Rhodey squirmed. "But he's still got to heal some more and there's gonna be some bad scaring on his chest. The vet said that even if the hair grows back over that it'll probably be white."

"I understand," Jarvis' lips quirked into a slight smile. "I'll be sure to take especially good care of him from now on."

"Right." Rhodey muttered. Of course Jarvis would be taking his cat –Tony- back home with him. Another awkward silence occurred.

"Well then," Jarvis stuck his hand out politely. "I'd better get going then. Tony will probably like to be home as well."

"Uh. Yeah, 'course." Rhodey took Jarvis' hand and shook it quickly, his eyes not leaving Tony though.

Rhodey had to show Jarvis out of the apartment and watch as he took his cat with him.

And then he was alone again.

And he hated it.

And the next day he received a phone call from an unknown number consisted almost entirely of the noise of a yowling cat and a frustrated and frazzled Jarvis trying to speak over the noise. Rhodey almost felt sorry for him.

Tony's enthusiastic greeting when Rhodey arrived at Stark Tower made him feel a bit better for missing Tony so badly. And while from then on Rhodey may fuss and complain whenever Jarvis asks him to cat-sit Tony; well, Rhodey has never said no.

Well that's one more down, many more to go. So sit tight. And try not to be too afraid. Because there will be more coming. (Props to anyone who got that reference btw)