After the doctor had repaired Tony's ribs, Rhodey had called Pepper while they waited for Tony to wake up after the procedure. He told her what the doctor had said and about how the injuries had occurred in the first place. It felt good to share the burden of knowledge and let himself be angry.

Pepper's tone was horrified when he told her about Howard and Maria Stark's murder, and how Steve had used the shield against Tony and left him in Siberia. "He what? How the hell - I mean, I'm sure he gave as good as he got during the fight, but ... I thought they were friends!"

"So did he. He broke the Accords to help with the threat of the other Winter Soldiers, but Zemo was just setting them up. Rogers chose Barnes, over and over again. Over the safety of his team, the concerns of a hundred and twenty nations, and over Tony. If he hadn't lied about Howard and Maria's murder, Tony wouldn't have been so blindsided and might have been able to think rationally. Hell, if I hadn't been laid up, I would have been with him and I would have made certain he had someone objective to talk him down. As it was, he was already burning his candle at both ends, and he just snapped. He admitted he snapped and went after Barnes, and I think he even regrets it a little bit, but I think witnessing your mother's neck being broken might be a little much for anyone to handle."

Pepper was crying, he could tell, when she asked, "How did he even get home, if the suit was deactivated? God, I just can't - he's had way too much trauma to his chest even before this, with the reactors, the removal, the heart surgery ... even if the reactor was just powering his suit, the memory of Obie, and the terrorists ... shit, Rhodey. What are we supposed to do with this? He needed help even before this Avengers stuff started, and I - I left him. I'm a part of the problem here, really. How can I help without hurting?"

He paused. She was right, of course. Being around her too much was just going to give Tony false hope if she didn't intend to get back together. He was too vulnerable right now.

"Honestly? I think the best thing you can do is keep running SI and doing a great job at it. He's not up to it right now and so much of his time is consumed by Ross, the Accords, and looking for a way to bring the idiot squad back from Wakanda."

Pepper huffed softly. "Do they still think we don't know where they are?"

"Apparently." He could almost feel her epic eyeroll through the phone.

"Well, then. I suppose I should let you get back to him. Thank you for keeping an eye on him. I wish I could be more ... present, but if he's still ... well, dangling myself in front of him like a carrot he could earn and leaving again ... he deserves better."

Rhodey sighed. "That's what he said about you, that you deserve better. The two of you are just about the best people I know, so if "better" isn't the both of you, I don't know what is, but that's your own business, between the two of you. I'll keep you in the loop as much as I can."

"Tell Tony I'll handle SI right now. If anything requires his attention, I'll let him know personally. I'll check with you soon. Bye, Rhodey."

"'Bye, Pep."

Rhodey let his cell phone drop into his lap and allowed himself a few moments of just being angry before the door opened to admit the doctor into the waiting room.

"How is he?"

Dr. Haskell smiled. "The surgery was minor and was a complete success. He's having a little bit of trouble coming out of the anesthesia completely. I suspect his body wants to get all of the rest it can with or without his permission."

Rhodey rose slowly, reminded that his leg braces were the only thing keeping him upright, and that their creator had designed and created them while apparently suffering from his own injuries. Anybody who tried to tell him that Tony Stark was a selfish bastard could just take one of his mechanically-supported boots to the ass as far as he was concerned.

Tony was groggy, out of it, and so happy to see Rhodey that he almost fell off of the bed trying to get to him. Between Dr. Haskell and Rhodey, they managed to get him to a safe, secure sitting position.

"How are you feeling, Tony? Ready to go home?" He gave his friend's shoulder a gentle squeeze.

"Can't go home. House blew up and it's just a big closet without Pepper in it anyway."

Tony lurched sideways, his eyes half-closed, and the doctor caught him. "Mr. Stark, can you tell me what year it is and who is President? I don't feel comfortable releasing you if you're still this affected."

Tony struggled to open his eyes. "2001. Al Gore is President. We live in peace and harmony and all of the other countries still think we're pretty." He listed to the left, his head resting on Rhodey's arm for a moment before he sluggishly righted himself. "Our alien overlords are benevolent dictators and only take an annual cull of 50 humans per year. May the odds be ever in your favor." He tried to stand up, but sat right back down, blinking owlishly up at Rhodey and Dr. Haskell. "Oh, god. Am I in the wrong timeline again?"

The doctor looked a little bit horrified for a moment before he realized Tony was joking. "Mr. Stark, when one works for S.H.I.E.L.D. for as long as I did, you see a few things. Things that make the presence of beings like Thor seem quite commonplace. Can you stand up?"

Laughing, Rhodey helped Tony stay standing the next time he tried. "Let's get your ass out of here, Mr. Stank. Your marbles are a little loopy."

"See? You – you wanna seeeee it!"

"See what? What are you talking about – oh, for the love of God, Tony! Put that away! You're going to blind me with that pasty moon!"

He grinned. "Hospital gowns. I mooned you!"

"Yes, yes, you certainly did. I'm not going to provide you with a critique until you're no longer medicated and I can tease you about it without feeling like a jerk."

He located Tony's clothing in a neat pile, and set it down next to him. "See what you can manage with these, okay?"

The manic grin was gone, replaced with a worried frown. "I think – I think there was a meeting. Was I supposed to be in a meeting? A press conference? Am I going to be late?"

When Rhodey didn't immediately reply, Tony swore. "Shit. Pepper's going to be mad. I was supposed to be there, at SI, and …"

"No, no. You had a press conference earlier today, and you did a great job. I talked to Pepper while you were getting fixed up and she's not mad. She wants you to rest and feel better, okay?"

Tony swayed a little bit, then found his footing again. He sighed and started to dress. "Pepper. She's so pretty."

Tony seemed to be walking a fine line between sleepiness and silliness, with a melancholic edge, so Rhodey did the listening for him, entering the date for a followup appointment into his calendar, and memorizing prescription information. The last step was to get a shirt, pants, and shoes back onto Tony, who seemed to have decided that he was allergic to clothing while Rhodey and the doctor were talking. All he'd managed to put on were his underwear and his shoes, his hospital gown still on.

Dr. Haskell peered curiously at the inventor, who was trying to kick his left shoe off, mumbling that it was too hot and he just had to remove them.

Rhodey sighed. "He's always had strange reactions to medications. Nothing about his brain is 'typical'. So far, he's no worse than he was when he had his wisdom teeth out in college. I can handle this, doc."

He had forgotten how badly drugs affected his friend. He now remembered when Tony had had his wisdom teeth out and had oscillated between happy and high and terrified and sad. One minute the guy was hugging him and telling him how much he loved him and the next he was apologizing to phantoms for sins past and imagined. He remembered calling Tony's emergency contact when one of the "high" cycles had resulted in Rhodey having to wrestle his friend down from the balcony, where he was loudly proclaiming that he was "Captain America now, bitches!" and hurling the lid to the garbage bin down to the pavement below, startling several other students.

Instead of Tony's parents, he had gotten Edwin Jarvis, who had demanded that Rhodey read the name of the prescription Tony had been given. Meanwhile, Tony's high had turned into a low, and he was crying on Rhodey's shoulder, tears soaking the fabric of his t-shirt. He heard a very proper British accent swear eloquently for the first time that day. The drug Tony had been given should have been in his medical file as one he should not be given, as it had caused him to hallucinate once before. The old gentleman had said, "I'm afraid that the last time he was given that particular medicine, he was quite distressed. Can you manage him, Mr. Rhodes, or shall I arrange for him to come here?" Rhodey had taken about one second to decide, and had thanked Jarvis and promised to let him know how Tony was doing.

Something about the entire exchange had filled Jim Rhodes with a sick feeling of unease. His friend was ill and in pain and his parents weren't even on his medical file as proxies? When he had fractured his jaw in ROTC training and had surgery, his mother had stayed with him, brought him manageable foods, checked on him periodically afterwards, and even stroked his hair gently that first night when he had been particularly miserable. He had the distinct feeling that no one did that for Tony.

Surprisingly, Tony gave Rhodey very little trouble. He hated to put any pressure on the bandaged wound in his friend's chest, but he also knew that it would only take one paparazzo to thoroughly embarrass Tony by publishing a picture of him drugged and hurt, so he took his time helping Tony get it together. By the time he was properly tucked back into his suit, the effects were wearing off enough that he understood what was going on.

"I feel like crap," he announced, his tone too bright for his words. "Used crap. I might actually throw up. Sorry in advance if I get you with it." He put a hand to his forehead, then fumbled for his sunglasses. "Sorry I mooned you, Rhodey. Thanks for everything, Doctor H. Expect - expect a delivery from SI soon. Give me the bill for today in person and I'll pay you in cash. I don't want any record of it for anyone to use against me or - or the others later."

Rhodey pushed down the anger that his friend had the foresight even under the influence of heavy medication to conceive of others using his medical records against him, and that that anger was certainly born of past experience, and also that Tony was almost unconsciously still looking out for Steve Rogers. If the damage Rogers had caused a non-enhanced human, a teammate, no less, came to light in a hearing or something in the future, it would damage his reputation and by proxy that of the Avengers. Dammit, Tony, what's it like inside your head? Because from out here, it seems like you're engaged in an eternal game of chess, the terrifying cutthroat Russian kind. And then, as if on cue, his phone beeped. Natasha.