Here's another one for you lovely people
Rhodey landed at the military base after being called back by one of the sergeants, he looked around suspiciously trying to work out what the reason was behind being called back so abruptly.
His flight home, to base was more than five hours, so the request was highly unorthodox, and it came as a complete surprise to him.
'Thank you for coming in so promptly, Colonel,' a senior officer who stood before him said in a firm voice only raising more suspicion from Rhodey.
'Of course, your man said it was urgent?' He followed him across the tarmac and inside under cover.
The area they'd been monitoring had become an active warzone so being away from it made no sense to him, but under these circumstances, whatever they were, he guessed this task was more important.
Once inside Rhodey dismantled the suit and stood before the captain awaiting eagerly the reason for being called back.
The captain closed the door and walked over to Rhodey expelling a heavy sigh.
'Please sit, Colonel.' He spoke quietly gesturing to the chair behind the desk, never breaking eye contact with him.
Rhodey furrowed his eyebrows, 'ok,' he sat down apprehensively.
'I wanted you to see this for yourself before you heard it from a nosy reporter, you know how they get…'he trailed off.
Rhodey shifted uncomfortably as scenario after scenario popped up into his head, each one more impossible than the previous.
'What is it sir?' He asked finally as curiosity ran fiercely through his blood.
The captain opened the drawer under his desk and retrieved a tablet slowly handing it to Rhodey.
He took it from him giving him a quizzical look before finally pressing play, the lump in his throat grew as the image panned across the familiar stretch of the pacific coast highway, and where Tony's Malibu home should have been, lay a pile of million dollar rubble.
He felt his breath catch as the reporter's solemn voice came through the speakers, "Billionaire, Futurist, Tony Stark presumed dead as terror attack on his Malibu mansion leaves Americans in fear, reports emerging show CEO Pepper Potts has survived the attack and has not been available for comment at this stage."
Rhodey placed the tablet carefully on the desk and stood up without a sound.
'I'm sorry Colonel.' The man stood up.
Rhodey only managed a nod while his insides raged with pure hatred and anger.
He clenched his jaw shut and stepped out of the office making his way through the men who all tried to wordlessly console him.
Without a word he rushed back to his armour and finally broke down as the War Machine encased him in his own personal safe house.
He input the coordinates to fly home as Tony had programmed it. Oh god, Tony…he squeezed his eyes shut as tears threatened to consume him.
The suit flew faster and faster as his heart slammed mercilessly against his ribs.
Memories involuntarily flashed before his eyes rendering him a complete mess, he could see the look on Tony's face as he left a man and came back a hero, the look on his face when he first told him that he was in love with Pepper, and the look on his face when he told him he was going to propose…
Rhodey blinked away the watery haze as the highway came into view and along with it the haunting memory of where his friend's house once stood.
He landed a few yards away; police were still hovering about as the fire brigade still struggled to get the several burning blazes under control.
The armour slowly came away from his body allowing him to step outside and he was immediately hit with the smell of fire mixed in with the ocean breeze which only made it worse.
He walked without any sense of direction, he stammered and stumbled across the grounds, several hands touching him trying to hold him back and all he could do was push past and mumble something about being a friend and being authorised to be here.
He finally managed to free himself from prying hands and broke through the crowds, he found himself in the courtyard surrounded by the rubble which once formed the balcony and he recognised the tiles beneath his feet as those from the bathroom upstairs.
He recognised remnants of what once was the workshop wall as shattered glass crunched beneath his feet.
His stomach dropped as he recognised the redhead who sat in a heap in what once was their living room.
'Pep,' he managed, though barely a whisper she heard him.
Happy released her from his arms as she got to her feet and staggered toward him.
He weakly draped his arms around her feeling her cold shivering body in his arms. But then again, he wasn't feeling any better. The cold sweat spread through his veins as bile started to build up in the back of his throat and the pounding in his head grew louder and louder.
Happy joined them nodding weakly at Rhodey, 'thank you for coming.'
Rhodey nodded and managed a sigh, 'I, I don't know what to do.'
Pepper let out a painful sob, 'I don't know either.'
Happy squeezed her shoulder, 'we need to get you away from here, then we can think straight.'
She shook her head, 'no, no everything is here, if I leave it's gone, it's over.'
Rhodey pulled back, 'he's right, Pep, we need to get you somewhere safe,' he looked around at the strangers invading their land, 'come on, you can stay with me.'
Pepper pulled free from his grip, 'no, Rhodey, I'm not leaving, this…this is our home, I can't leave.'
'There's nothing left, this isn't…I know this is hard, but you can't stay here.' He stepped toward her closing the gap between them, he took her hand into his, 'it's not safe, if they were targeting both of you…they know you survived, we have to get you somewhere safe.'
Happy squeezed her shoulder, 'come on, Pep, we need to go.'
Pepper finally gave in nodding as tears streamed down her face, not another word was exchanged between them as they walked to Happy's car.
He pulled the door open and waited for Pepper to get inside, once seated he closed the door and leaned heavily against the roof making eye contact with Rhodey who mirrored him on the other side.
Rhodey chewed on his bottom lip looking over at Happy who looked like he wanted to speak but words evaded him, 'what do we do now?'
Happy shrugged, 'I don't know, I was meant to take Pepper on a trip, he wanted her safe while he worked this out…'
'Man,' Rhodey bowed his head, 'how did this happen…'
'I don't know.' Happy sighed pulling the door open and getting inside, 'We'll meet you at your place,' Happy nodded to Rhodey who already stepped into the War Machine.
Pepper sat in the passenger seat looking out at the ocean as they drove in silence as the stars twinkled cruelly against the dark backdrop. The smell of the smoke had ingrained itself into her clothes still stinging her already raw eyes as new tears fell without warning.
Happy sighed looking down at the clock, they would have been in the air, on their way to a beautiful retreat while Tony worked everything out, look after Pepper, that was all he had to do, and now that's all he would ever do.
'A reminder for your appointment Mr Hogan,' The automated voice began to speak, Tony had installed anything and everything he invented into the Rolls Royce, it was his way of irritating Happy and sometimes he would leave important messages, sometimes he would just leave messages of Tony being Tony, always annoying beyond belief but always making him laugh.
This time he sighed as he braced himself knowing there was no way to silence the message and no way to stop his voice from breaking the silence.
'Hey Hogan, just reminding you to bring Pepper home in once piece, and preferably still interested in me, oh and don't forget to pick up that thing I told you about, remember, the store on fifth, under your name buddy, anyway, I've got a lot to do, wish me luck and I will see you soon.'
Pepper sat frozen in place and only after the message ended did she realise she was holding her breath.
She finally let out a shaky sigh, and looked down at her hands.
'He loved you so much.' Happy managed breaking down as he spoke.
'We were having a fight…' she looked at him, 'We were arguing because I was upset about his obsession with the suits...'
Happy wiped away the stray tears which fell from his own eyes as he listened to Pepper speak.
'He was trying to get me to understand, and I wouldn't let him talk, and that was the last thing we spoke about,' she spoke quietly and calmly, looking out through the window never turning to face Happy.
'He saved me, I watched as the house came crashing down around him, he didn't even stop to think about himself, even after everything that I said, he still saved me.'
There were no words that would suffice; her suffering was something which would only grow worse, and harder and more impossible by the day.
The drive was a silent one, save for Peppers crying and Happy's own choked sobs. Once they finally arrived at Rhodey's apartment block, he pulled into the visitor's car park.
Neither of them moved.
Happy finally broke the silence with a heavy sigh, 'is there anything I can do?'
She shook her head weakly.
'Ok,' Happy opened his door and slowly made his way over to her side, 'come on.'
They walked together to his apartment in silence, once they reached the door Happy alerted Rhodey and he buzzed them in.
He stepped back and allowed them to walk in gently closing the door behind them.
'I've left some fresh towels out for you in the bathroom, and some sweats, take your time.' He explained to Pepper who walked through the apartment without a word.
Happy and Rhodey looked at each other with concern, 'I'll get some coffee ready, and I've ordered some pizza, pepperoni, your favourite,' he tried to interest Pepper.
She nodded absently and made her way to the bathroom closing the door without a word.
Happy rubbed his face and dropped into the couch, 'god, I can't believe it.'
'I can't either.' Rhodey managed.
They sat in silence, neither touched their coffee and neither man spoke and both tried to pretend that they didn't hear the agonising sobs coming from the bathroom, both tried to pretend that they weren't feeling the same, only they could never feel the same.
What Tony and Pepper had was a connection very few people in the world ever found, and when that connection was lost, the result was catastrophic.
'I don't know how to help her, what are we supposed to do?' Happy looked to Rhodey for the answers he knew he didn't have.
Rhodey shook his head, 'I don't know, I can't even think about this right now.'
Happy stood up shaking his head, 'we have to, for Pepper, she's not going to cope, not this time.'
'I know,' Rhodey dropped his head in his hands, 'believe me I do, but this is not something we were ever prepared for, I don't even know where to begin.'
'We'll get through it together, somehow.' Happy said quietly making his way over to Rhodey's fridge, he pulled out two beers and brought them over to the couch.
With a sigh they both took a bottle each and gently tapped them together, 'to Tony,' as Pepper's sobs resonated through the bathroom walls, a sombre melody to their drinking.
The water ran over her body washing away the dust which had settled in her hair and on her skin, continuous tears flowed down her cheeks getting lost in the water making her cry even more.
Breathing was becoming harder and harder as her shallow breaths became sobs, and the sobs became agonising cries. Before she could stop herself she was leaning heavily against the shower wall, sliding down to her knees. She collapsed against the wall curled in a heap.
'Pepper?' Rhodey's voice sounded feint behind the bathroom door, 'are you ok?'
She couldn't manage words, whenever she opened her mouth only a gargled cry came out.
'Can I get you anything?' He asked.
Pepper shook against the wall, wrapping her arms tighter around her stomach, 'no,' she managed loud enough.
'Ok.' Rhodey called back.
She sighed heavily sobbing into her hands pushing her hair away as it fell over her eyes, 'why, why did you let this happen, why?'
Pepper sat under the running water, crying to herself letting as much out as she could, the tears were no longer controllable and the water no longer ran hot, but her body was so far from feeling; the cold may have been hot, it may not have been there at all. She was so completely numb that the pain was no longer a conscious thought; it was merely a throbbing thorn in the side and something which would become a permanent fixture in her life.
'Come on Potts,' she finally hissed to herself, 'get up.'
She dragged herself to her feet clutching onto whatever she could to find her feet, once she stepped out onto the cold tiles she grabbed the towel which Rhodey laid out and wrapped it around herself allowing the water to drip from her hair.
'Pull it together.' She whispered to her foggy reflection.
Finally she managed to dress herself without bothering to dry her hair, the sweater she pulled on was almost instantly drenched by her hair but she found she couldn't care less.
Slowly, after close to an hour of deliberating what to do, she finally pushed the door open and made her way to the living room.
Rhodey and Happy remained seated and she mentally thanked them. She dropped her clothes into a bag she retrieved from the kitchen and disposed of them in the trash.
'The pizza is a bit cold, but I can reheat it for you.' Rhodey said from the couch.
She shook her head and pulled a slice out of the box and slumped into the couch beside Happy.
'It's better cold anyway, better flavours.' She murmured taking another bite.
She found the food good but everything was so difficult to do, breathing was hard, eating was almost impossible and this was only the first day. She closed her eyes and felt more unstoppable tears invade her.
'You can take the bed, and I'll stay here, Happy's offered to stay as well.' Rhodey explained as gently as he could.
Pepper nodded weakly, 'I'll take care of everything tomorrow, I'll start planning…everything,' she trailed.
Rhodey leaned forward still holding the beer bottle in his hand, 'you don't have to, just take your time.'
'I have to start, I can't let the company fall, I have to focus on that…the shares…everything will start dropping.' She knew she was rambling but it was the only thing she could do to keep from crying.
Happy placed his hand on her shoulder which she immediately shrugged away uncomfortably; he repositioned himself beside her and cleared his throat, 'you arranged everything to be taken care of for at least a week without you.'
Pepper shook her head, 'I think this situation is a little bit different from the arrangement which I made.'
'You're right, Pep, I just…' He trailed off getting to his feet, 'he was my friend too and I'm trying to make this work.'
Pepper shot him a look immediately cursing herself. Of course he would be hurting and Rhodey as well; she dropped her head into her hands and allowed Rhodey to comfort her.
'I'm so sorry Happy,' she looked up as new tears welled up in her eyes and spilled over, 'god I'm a mess, I'm sorry.'
'Don't be,' He sat down on the coffee table and took her hands into his, 'we'll be ok.'
Rhodey placed his hands on top of theirs and offered a weak smile trying to hold back a sob as his red-rimmed eyes welled up.
Pepper pulled her hands free and clapped them over her face and began to cry without much warning to herself, 'god, no, Tony,' she cried as hard as her body would allow and somehow managed coherent words, 'I can't believe this is happening.'
Happy pulled both her and Rhodey into an embrace, whatever they were feeling was overwhelming and painful and impossible to deal with.
Pepper cried and cried, she was utterly and hopelessly inconsolable, Rhodey and Happy tried whatever they could to be there for her to hold her up, but it was impossible as neither of them were able to find their own feet either.
As I mentioned last time, most of this is losely based on the Extremis comics, not the movie version... sorry for any confusion. So for the next parts of the story that's what we'll be seeing.