The conversation with Vision is a rare example of one of the more positive debriefs Rhodey's had the pleasure of delivering over the course of his career. It makes for a nice change to be able to alleviate some of the guilt Vision has been wearing on his sleeve the last few days, and to be able to reassure him that he's fine to stay where he is. Small comfort perhaps, after what they've all been through, but Rhodey will take his victories where he can find them.

"You are quite certain you do not require my assistance?" Vision asks for the second time, sincere in his offer but clearly grateful that he won't be asked to make a choice.

"We're good. Really. Take all the time you need. And don't worry about manning the fort. FRIDAY's got it covered."

Vision's image flickers slightly, the energies he emits interfering with the signal. But Rhodey doesn't need to see him clearly to hear the quiet relief in his voice. "Thank you, colonel," he says after a moment. "A few days would be welcome. If there is anything I can do in the meantime, you need only ask."

"Just take good care of her," Rhodey tells him. He signs off with a mock salute, and Vision inclines his head solemnly before the image goes dark.

Tony's already sitting up in bed by the time Rhodey drops by to check on him later that morning. He looks better for being rested, and the pain medication is strong enough that he's all easy smiles and cheerful greetings when Rhodey brings him his coffee and eggs.

FRIDAY's imaging software displays the fracture in Tony's left radius and the damage to his ribs with an array of bright, peppy colours that belie their undoubtedly painful nature. Tony dismisses the image with his good hand and settles his braced arm more comfortably against his abdomen.

"How are you feeling?" Rhodey asks him, trying his best not to peer too obviously at the dark circles under his eyes and the bruising that's nowhere near ready to fade.

"Like the truck that ran me over came back for a second go. Which compared to this time yesterday amounts to feeling pretty spectacular, actually." Tony's grin takes some of the sting out of his words. "Don't sweat it. I'll be fine."

"Right, sure. Is that what we're doing now? Breaking out all the old chestnuts?"

"Chestnuts," Tony snickers. "Don't be such an old man."

Rhodey busies himself clearing aware the detritus Tony has already begun to accumulate across the bed spread. "Neither of us are exactly getting any younger, Tony."

"Speak for yourself. Plenty of miles left in this tank yet."

The critical eye Rhodey passes across Tony's many welts is answer enough to that. "Uh huh."

Tony makes a 'pfft' sound. "Anyway. Speaking of what takes a licking and keeps on ticking, Loki give you the full low down yet?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"He seem okay to you?"

That makes Rhodey pause. "I guess. Shouldn't he be? He's bounced back from worse."

Tony waves that off. "I'm not just talking about the super duper speed healing. Which I'm not at all jealous about, by the way. I mean, don't get me wrong, it was a crappy deal all round what with the running for our lives and the side order of torture. But I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess he didn't tell you about the trip down traumatic memory lane."

"The what now?"

Tony presses his lips into a line as though holding back something he thinks is not his to tell. It's obvious when he speaks again that he's intentionally leaving out the detail. He smiles grimly. "Yeah. Fun times. The upshot is, bits are coming back on their own. For a second there I really thought it might be curtains."

It's difficult to tell if Tony is being completely serious when he says this. He has such a habit of glossing over anything weighty with a witty rejoinder that Rhodey often finds he has to dig deep to get past the several layers of defensive sarcasm Tony has in place. "Should we be worried?"

"Probably. Not sure what we can do about it though, other than be ready to deal with it when it happens."

Or to help pick up the pieces, Rhodey silently supplies.

Tony shakes his head then, seemingly not happy with his own words. He revises them, and his mood is a shade more serious this time. "I don't know, honestly. Sure, I panicked a bit, but I don't think I was in any real danger. Things have changed."

"You mean you've changed your mind about him."

Rather than argue the point as strongly as Rhodey expects, Tony smirks. "I wouldn't quite go that far. But I guess there's something about having your ass pulled out of the fire that makes a guy grow on you."

"Coming from you that's a glowing recommendation."

The irreverent tone creeps back into Tony's voice as he brushes that off. "Don't get used to it. How's our reluctant house guest settling in, anyway?"

Without needing to be asked, FRIDAY confirms Loki's status for them, although Rhodey notes that there are no privacy-infringing visuals this time.

"Still sleeping, boss. Coming up on 14 hours now."

"Guess he needs it."

Rhodey thinks that's something of an understatement, personally. And he's not going to let Tony off that lightly. "Isn't that the whole point of all this, anyway?" he presses. "To help Loki get his memories back? What were you expecting would happen?"

The shrug Tony produces is slight, mainly because of his injuries, but also, Rhodey suspects, because he doesn't want to admit that he hasn't thought that far ahead.

"You've been ignoring that part, haven't you?" Rhodey guesses. Consequences had a tendency to feature towards the bottom of Tony's list of priorities at times.

"You mean the part where the semi-feral house cat we've taken in reverts to full-on feral and goes ballistic?"

The part where the prickly, vulnerable, almost-friend that's slipped in past your defences is replaced by a dangerous unknown you shouldn't have forgotten was still in there, Rhodey reads.

Rhodey's not entirely sure himself why he feels the need to take Loki's part in all this. Perhaps it's something to do with the moment of sheer terror he'd experienced to hear Vision report Tony as missing in action, contrasted with the watery relief of having him returned again. "Maybe it won't be that way. He'll still be the same person underneath all that."

Tony produces a look that suggests he thinks Rhodey is being a bit naive but doesn't outright refute this. But then he sobers, his thoughts apparently returning full circle.

"He came back, Rhodey. He came back on his own."

"Yeah," Rhodey agrees, surprising himself somewhat with the note of wonder in his voice that matches Tony's own. "Yeah, I know."

Rhodey's in the kitchen, prodding idly at the instant ramen he's heated up for himself (out of a vague sense of it being an appropriate thing to do rather than because he's actually hungry), when Loki finally emerges.

He is subdued and cautious, as though still uncertain of his welcome, and hovers at the far entrance to the room while he waits for Rhodey to notice him. He has found the assortment of spare clothing FRIDAY had directed Rhodey to leave out (yet another contingency Tony had planned ahead for) and has changed into fresh casual wear. His hair is clean and bound loosely behind his head in a rough knot.

"Find everything you need?" Rhodey asks him, beckoning him over.

He approaches slowly, scanning the room in what Rhodey has come to recognise as an habitual defensive reflex. "FRIDAY has been most accommodating," he says as he does. On Rhodey's insistence he eventually takes a seat at the counter opposite. After a few moments of silence he stifles a poorly-disguised yawn.

Rhodey pours two cups of coffee and slides one to Loki, dumping two heaped spoons of sugar into it without needing to ask. He receives a head inclined in thanks for his efforts.

"You want this?" Rhodey asks, pushing his untouched ramen forward.

Loki leans over to peer down into the steaming bowl. "What is it?"

"You'll love it. Trust me. Everybody does." Rhodey turns to the drawers behind him and roots around for utensils. When he turns back, fork in hand, it is to see Loki already digging in with Rhodey's discarded chopsticks, apparently without any difficulty.

Loki pauses when he notices Rhodey watching him, a second portion of noodles halfway to his mouth. "What?"

Rhodey suppresses a wider smile. "Nothing."

Leaving him to it, Rhodey begins to stack the dishwasher, using the task as a cover to prepare his thoughts. When Loki has finished eating Rhodey clears that bowl away too.

"Good, right?"

Loki bestows upon him the slightest of wan smiles in response. It's all the encouragement Rhodey needs.

"Can I ask you something?"

This catches Loki off guard. He searches Rhodey's face for a second, perhaps debating with himself the motivation behind Rhodey's question. Then he drops his eyes and says, "By all means."

Here goes nothing. "What made you decide to stay?"

Loki doesn't answer right away, and Rhodey begins to wonder if he will at all. Perhaps he shouldn't have said anything. The guy looks down at his hands, folding them over themselves as the moments stretch on. "I suppose I am just very tired," he says eventually.

Of running? Of going it alone? Of this whole sorry affair? Rhodey wants to ask him to elaborate, but he's getting the distinct impression that this is as much as he can expect. He's also pretty sure that statement doesn't even come close to the full truth. "Well, whatever the reason, I just wanted to say thank you. For getting Tony out of there. He's a pain in my ass, but I'm kinda attached to him, you know? Not sure what I'd do without him."

Loki grimaces slightly as though even such a weak expression of sentimental attachment embarasses him.

"You need not trouble yourself. Stark has already said as much."

"Well I think it bears repeating." Rhodey waits until Loki glances up at him, then holds his eye. "So really. Thank you. For everything."

He almost misses it. It's tentative, and there's something about the expression that provokes a twinge of sadness in him, but there can be no mistaking it. For the first time since they've met, Loki smiles at him properly.

It's barely another day before Tony insists on being up and about, although he complains loudly and often whenever there's someone in earshot to commiserate. Rhodey's patience for it wears thin pretty quickly, and he catches Loki rolling his eyes more than once. But the man won't be told, blustering through every indulgence and half-assed attempt to wheedle him into taking it easy. Rhodey wonders, not for the first time, why he bothers with it at all in that case.

Tony spends much of his time obsessing over the security measures already long in place, fine tuning alarm systems and testing contingencies. He checks in with FRIDAY regularly to monitor goings on at the compound, but so far things have remained quiet on that front. Both he and Tony know that doesn't really mean much.

Conscious of giving too much away about his current whereabouts and the status of the team as a whole, Rhodey is limited when it comes to investigating the situation with Ross or, more importantly, tracking down the source of the illicit tech the senator has commissioned. They're all in agreement that if the opportunity presents, they should move to shut the operation down. How feasible that will be remains to be seen.

His last-minute leave of absence will only take him so far before questions start being asked, but Rhodey is reluctant to leave while Tony (and let's face it, Loki) are still finding their feet. He has maybe a couple more days before he's going to be expected to show his face again, and when he does he's going to have a job on his hands covering for Tony's sudden disappearance. They've decided on the eccentric billionaire turned temporary recluse angle for now, and are praying Iron Man's services will not be needed any time soon.

Tony ambles into the room when he's finished his call with Vision. He makes a deliberate detour around the edge of the furniture to take him past where Loki has folded himself into an armchair, his attention fully absorbed in whatever he's pulled up on the tablet in his hands. Tony has fixed him up with a number of ways to entertain himself in the house, including a full library of ebooks and a wi-fi connection, and Loki's occupied himself almost solidly since drinking in all the information he can find.

Tony leans in to glance at whatever it is Loki is reading. "Vision says hi."

Loki responds to this with a distracted grunt but doesn't otherwise leave off.

Grinning to himself, Tony carries on by, apparently satisfied that his plans have come off perfectly.

Rhodey tries not to make it obvious he's watching this exchange, just as he has every time he's witnessed the two of them interact while they've been here. Tony really is trying. And God knows Loki could use someone who will. It's been slow going, but Loki finally seems to be responding in a positive way to their efforts.

It's as though he had accepted a return to captivity and is still surprised by the smallest kindnesses. If it wasn't so hard to watch every time it happened it would have begun to grate on Rhodey's nerves. He's not sure he appreciates the light it casts him and Tony in.

It's like the guy has never had friends before. Rhodey knows he can't remember, but his almost complete lack of normal social skills is kinda… sad, actually.

Tony slides stiffly into a seat at the table. He makes a face at the newspaper Rhodey is flicking through as though it's the most unnecessarily antiquated way to keep up to date on current affairs that he can think of.

"So how's she doing?" Rhodey heads him off with before he can get started.

"Vision doesn't think she's up to it. Can't say I really blame him."

"That bad, huh?"

"Sure looked it." Tony flicks his eyes towards Loki, but he doesn't seem to be listening. "He thinks she's more worried than she's admitting. Interfering with her mojo, or something. Definitely not ready for another round with Loki, that's for sure."

None of this comes particularly as a surprise, but Rhodey is interested to note a hint of disappointment in Tony's voice. It seems the single-minded focus he devotes to his projects is being extended to fixing Loki, too. "Give it time. We don't need to rush this." He doesn't add that things could well sort themselves out without help.

"Until we've got Ross breathing down our necks. Or hammering on the door."

"Let's just take this a day at a time. We've got no reason to think he's onto us. Not here, at least."

Tony makes a dubious 'hmm' sound. Rhodey shares his concern, if he's honest.

Loki manifests silently behind them and inserts himself neatly into the conversation, making Tony jump. "Have you been taking lessons from Vis or something?" Tony grumbles.

"I have a theory you may be interested to hear." So he had been listening after all. Rhodey wonders absently if he hears more than he lets on at other times, too.

Something clatters onto the table in front of them, coming to rest with two rows of concentric metal teeth and spider-like appendages exposed. The rust-red of dried blood is still embedded in its fissures. Tony eyes it without moving to pick it up, and Rhodey leans forward to prod at the thing without really thinking it through.

"What's this?" he asks, already suspecting he knows the answer.

"What they used on Wanda," Tony supplies. "And Loki. You kept this?"

Loki leans himself back against the counter behind them, crossing his arms over his chest. "I have been giving it some thought. About the nature of this device. About what it does, and how we might use it."

Tony shifts uncomfortably in his seat, and Rhodey feels a frown pulling at his mouth.

Loki continues. "I believe this technology is designed to cut off its target's access to whatever innate power they may happen to possess. That is why it was so effective on Vision's friend, and why it was not employed against you, Stark. Attempting to continue drawing on that power while it is activated then causes great pain and immobilises the target. Wanda is still suffering the after-effects."

"Wait a minute," Rhodey says. "That doesn't make any sense. You said they used it on you. But you're not using any magic."

"Perhaps that's just it, colonel. Perhaps this… unfortunate incident has exposed the problem."

Tony chimes in this time, apparently coming to the same conclusion. "Wanda said whatever was blocking your memory felt like it came from you instead of an outside source. It's your own powers that are causing this."

"That is my theory as well." Loki doesn't exactly look happy to have to admit that.

Okay so that… that would explain a lot, actually. The more Rhodey thinks about it, the more it makes sense. If something has gone wrong with Loki's magic, being unable to remember how to correct it would make it a self-perpetuating issue. It would also explain the unpleasant side-effects they've seen when they've started poking around the edges of it. Whatever Loki's power has done, it's strong, and it's defending itself.

"You think maybe that's why some of it's coming back on its own?" Tony hedges. "Figured maybe it was something Wanda had pulled loose, but maybe that thing has let something slip through the cracks."

The way Loki straightens at this and flicks his gaze towards Rhodey suggests he's not thrilled to know Tony has confided this piece of information. Something happened while they were on the run, and Rhodey's building a pretty unpleasant picture of just what that might have been.

Tony doesn't seem to notice the body language, or Loki's lack of answer. Rhodey decides to bring things back on course with a question of his own. "So just what are you suggesting?" he asks, and Loki directs his next words to Tony.

"You seem adept at inventing the most effective ways to harm me."

Tony actually looks a bit embarrassed by this. "Yeah, well. Nothing personal." He doesn't add that the idea for the cuff wasn't much of a leap; Rhodey knows he'd seen enough from the footage they'd got hold of to know what would work.

"Hmm. Nevertheless, perhaps you'd care to try this next." Loki walks to the table and picks the device up, holding it out on the palm of his hand like some twisted offering. "We'll need something powerful enough to break the impasse once and for all."

Tony frowns his disapproval. "Think I'll pass, thanks. Reckon we've already established we're not going down that sort of route again, anyway."

Loki produces one of his arctic little smiles. "Oh, but this is not for containment."

Tony levels a serious look on him. "I know that, genius. Still not sure I'm all that keen on taking a punt on something like this. It's not like what you're suggesting would just be for shits and giggles."

"Such a colourful turn of phrase." The way Loki says it makes Rhodey think the actual word he was looking for was 'vulgar'. "Call this an experiment. You like those."

The tone Tony uses says this is making less and less sense to him the longer they talk. "You're crazy."

"Perhaps."

But if the faraway look on his face is anything to go by, Tony's already thinking through the possibilities. And if there's anything Rhodey knows about his friend, it's that he never backs down from a challenge.