There was a moment of confused silence between them, the blood rushing loudly through Tony's ears.

Rhodey stared and the wrinkle between his eyes told Tony that he was trying to figure out what game he was playing at.

"Leg braces?" Rhodey asked slowly, "What are you even talking about?"

Frustration rose alongside his desperation. Nothing was making sense and now even Rhodey was treating him like he was crazy.

Tony gripped his hair tightly as he tried to piece together what was going on.

"Your leg braces! The ones that you need to walk? You're paralyzed from the waist down Rhodey, I'd imagine that's hard to forget."

His words came out harsher than he meant, but the panic was still creeping in, threatening to consume him whole. If he didn't get answers soon, he wasn't sure what would happen. And he never liked being left in the dark.

There was no anger on Rhodey's face, however. Instead, there was concern.

"I think you should come inside Tony."

Rhodey stepped aside, actually stepped aside, to let Tony through. They made their way through the familiar house, and he felt himself start to calm. His breathing slowed and the constant buzzing of his head died down.

They sat at the kitchen table, Rhodey across from him with his arms folded in front as he waited for Tony to explain further.

"How are you doing Tony? Are you drinking again? The last time we talked you said you were going to stop for a while."

"What? No, I'm not drinking. Well, I was, but that's not what's going on. There's something wrong, Rhodey. The world doesn't make sense. You are paralyzed. It was my fault, I couldn't save you in time. Vision accidentally blasted you out of the sky."

Rhodey took a deep breath, clearly trying to figure out how to deal with the situation. It probably looked like he was having a psychotic break.

It felt like it too.

"Vision? I've talked to Vision like one time and you were there. We've never flown a mission together and I know damn well that I'm not paralyzed."

Tony shut his eyes. His mind was racing, but he needed to figure out what was going on. He had either been drugged and was hallucinating this whole thing, which he really hoped was the case, or this was all real and he had actually travelled back in time.

His eyes snapped open. "What year is it?" he asked, startling Rhodey.

"What?"

"The date!" he exclaimed, practically jumping out of his chair and sending it scattering across the floor, "what year is it?"

"2016."

It took a moment for that information to sink in, but as soon as it did, Tony spiralled into a panic deeper than he had felt all day. His breathing was fast, so fast that it felt like he wasn't breathing at all. The rushing had come back too, blocking all other noise.

"No, no, no, that's not possible," he muttered, covering his ears to try and stop the deafening sound. It felt like his heart was about to beat out of his chest, growing louder with each beat.

A rough hand on his shoulder broke him out of his stupor and caused him to turn. Rhodey had walked around the table and was saying something that Tony couldn't understand with his hands over his ears.

He lowered them slowly and Rhodey helped him into the chair he had abandoned on the floor. Then he walked over to the sink and filled a glass with water before handing it to Tony and kneeling in front of him.

"Tony, what's really going on? Why does the date freak you out so much?"

He drank from the glass with shaking hands, not realizing how thirsty he had been. With the glass drained, he set it on the table and turned to Rhodey, calm enough to tell him his side of things.

"I know this is going to sound crazy, but I need you to believe me when I tell you that yesterday I was in 2019."

Rhodey stood up and barked out a laugh, placing his palm on his forehead before he shot Tony an incredulous look.

"You're joking right? This is just one of your big pranks? Cause let me tell you, this one has crossed the line. You really had me worried for you there."

"No! I need you to listen to me. Please James."

Rhodey paused and lowered his hand, the weary smile on his face wiped off completely. Tony rarely used Rhodey's real first name and when he did, it was usually for something serious.

"Okay," Rhodey said, taking a seat, "I'm listening."

Tony sucked in a shaky breath. "The last thing I remember, I was in my lab, in my house, in 2019 and then everything went black. I woke up in some disgusting alley, called Pepper, who instantly blew me off, and then decided to come here. I didn't know what else to do. I'm freaking out Rhode."

The Colonel studied him carefully for a minute before he finally spoke, choosing his words carefully. "Okay, Tony. I do believe that you think you were in 2019, but that's-"

"I'm telling you the truth! And I can prove it."

Tony knew that he sounded crazy. Even with aliens invading earth, the thought of time travel was still an absurd thing to claim. If he wanted Rhodey to believe him, he needed to give him facts. Things that could be proven. So, he decided to tell Rhodey everything that happened from this moment all the way to the snap.

At first, Rhodey just listened, but as Tony went on, he got up and started pacing. When Tony finished, Rhodey sat back down, his head in his hands.

It took a while, but finally he lifted his head, his face unreadable.

"That's a lot to take in, Tony. A giant purple alien came here from space and then used glowing rocks to turn half of the planet into dust?"

"I know it sounds crazy. It happened to me and I still have a hard time processing it, but I wouldn't make this up."

"I know you wouldn't." He sighed and shook his head. "I'm probably going to regret this later, but I believe you."

Tony could have melted right then and there he was so relieved.

They continued talking and he figured out that he was indeed in 2016 and that today was the day that he was going to introduce his new technology BARF at MIT. He also realised that he and Pepper, at her request, had gone on a break and that was why she had been short with him earlier.

Another thing that Tony knew was that today was also the day that the Secretary of State was going to call him. It was as if the Universe had set him up to correct his mistakes. Make things right before they lead to disaster.

This was it. This was his chance to turn everything around.

"Rhodey, I have a plan."

– - - - - - - - -

It still didn't feel real. Being in 2016, pre-snap, everything felt like a dream; as if Tony was walking through a thick haze. But he had to accept that this was how things were right now, even if it didn't make sense. He had to focus on his mission. Steve needed to agree to sign the Accords and that would be no easy task.

One by one, Steve, Nat, Vision, Sam, and Wanda filed into the meeting room of the compound.

Surrounded by glass walls, it made the space feel huge and inviting as the sun innocently shone through the long pane of windows that lined the hallway. It lit the surroundings in a warm glow that brought peace, a mask for what was really going on. It was a harsh contrast to how Tony felt inside.

He strummed his fingers on the giant oak table, feeling the smooth oak table below. It helped ground him and took his focus away from his racing mind.

As the Avengers finished taking their seats, the growing silence between the team turned the air thick.

It seemed like no one was ready to speak, the emotions of what had happened had turned the usual camaraderie icy, so Ross cleared his throat and moved toward the head of the table, right in front of the projector marked with an Avengers "A".

Everyone looked at the General expectedly, unsure of what they were to expect from this sudden meeting. The only ones who knew why Ross was there were himself and Rhodey, the meeting kept on the down-low to ensure that the other Avengers would even show up.

In soldierly fashion, Ross got straight to the point and showed them the footage of their previous attacks, the havoc they had wreaked on so many innocents, before he slapped the Accords down on the table and laid out his plan for the rest of the Avengers to see.

Steve eyes the stack of papers with distaste. "The Avengers were formed to make the world a safer place. I feel we've done that."

Ross smirked but there was no humour in his eyes. "And how has that turned out, Captain? Do any of you have any idea where Thor and Banner are?" He strode across the room and put his hands on the head of the table, in a position where he could stare them all down.

"Face it. You need to be put on a leash before you do anymore harm; it's simply the way it has to go."

Tony saw Steve's shoulders tighten, a clear indicator that he was ready to fight back, but Nat shot him a look before speaking up.

"And If we come to a decision you don't like?"

"You retire," Ross replied and walked out of the room. His statement was clear, there was no room for negotiation.

"So we're clearly not doing this, right?" Sam asked as soon as Ross was gone.

Steve shook his head and crossed his arms as he turned to face the whole group. "It makes no sense; confine us and all you end up doing is putting more innocents in danger. What happens when the next crisis, and there will be another one, emerges and we're told to sit it out? How are we supposed to sit idle when we could be out there doing our part?"

"We cannot put our personal feelings in front of the facts. Ever since Mr. Stark announced himself as Iron Man, both the number of people claiming to have powers and the number of super-level attacks has increased exponentially," Vision supplied.

Sam rounded on him, an incredulous look on his face. "So you agree with this? How could you possibly-"

"Enough!" Tony yelled, effectively cutting Sam off and turning everyone's attention to him.

He had been silent up until now, but it was time for him to make his move.

"You guys need to think about this. This goes a hell of a lot deeper than any of you could imagine. This isn't just about which missions we'd be let on, it's a matter of life and death."

They shared confused looks, but Steve was the one to speak up.

"What are you talking about, Tony?" He asked, head tilted as he attempted to figure out Tony's motives.

"What I'm talking about, Captain, is the difference between the end of the world and saving innocent lives. If we don't all agree to sign the Accords, if we create a rift in the Avengers, we will never recover from it. And the ones we love will pay the price."

The confusion shifted to concern and it looked like Steve was going to respond, but he was interrupted by his phone buzzing.

As he read the message he had received, his face paled before he set it into a neutral expression, void of any emotion at all.

"I have to go." Was all he said before he walked out the same door that Ross had exited only moments ago.

Nat soon followed and with two members gone, the rest decided to leave to think things over, but Tony knew they wouldn't be swayed unless Steve was on board, so that was the battle he planned to focus on.

Tony sat heavily in the chair, resting his head on its plush back. How was he going to convince Steve, one of the most head-string people he knew, to sign a document that went against everything he believed in?

He felt Rhodey sit down next to him. He expected him to say something, but instead of his voice, he heard a strange beeping noise instead.

He sat up and looked around in an attempt to find the source. He had just convinced himself he had imagined it when he heard it again, louder this time.

Then, it became quicker. Steadily it beeped, growing louder and louder in his ears until it was all he could hear.

He jumped to his feet and spun around searching everywhere the sound could be coming from.

As it continued, Tony felt his heart hammering in his chest and he realized that the beeping was synched with each thunderous beat.

Just as the beeping reached unbearable levels, Rhodey grabbed his shoulders and turned him to face him directly.

"Tony! What's wrong?"

Instantly, the beeping stopped. The silence was almost deafening after the roaring of his ears. But a thought clicked in his mind, triggered by the beeping inside his head. It was something he had totally neglected before this moment.

Tony faced his friend and looked him dead in the eyes. "The UN is going to be bombed tomorrow."

To be continued!