Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.

Challenges listed at the bottom.

Word Count - 682.

Fic Detail - TonyRhodey / Soulmate!au / Warning for child abuse.

Bad Memories

Rhodey wasn't sure what to do when the kid walked into his room. He didn't look old enough to have left school, never mind be going to MIT.

He wondered if it was someone's little brother, exploring the dorms instead of exchanging farewells.

"Uh. Can I help you?"

"Um. I'm Tony," the kid said, and Rhodey felt his eyes widen when he realised that this scrap of a kid was actually his roommate.

Tony waved awkwardly, but aborted the movement quickly, shifting where he stood. "Um. Which bed—"

"Oh. Sorry. That one," Rhodey pointed to the bed he'd put his suitcase on and lifted it off quickly, straightening the sheets. "I was just about to start unpacking, sorry."

Tony waved him off and pulled his own suitcase inside the room. He perched on the edge of his bed and bit his lip. Rhodey knew he was staring, but he couldn't help it.

Tony was tiny.

"I'm James," he said, eventually remembering his manners. He held his hand out, and Tony shook it.

The last thing James heard before he was sucked into his own mind was Tony gasping in shock.

A small boy stood by a large metal table, holding what looked like a soldering iron in bare hands. He was whimpering, and tears were streaming down his face even as he dropped the tool from his hands.

A man towered over him, a disgusted sneer on his face. "If you can't be useful boy, you can get out!"

"But—"

"I don't want to listen to your excuses, Tony! Go on, out!"

"Dad—"

The man rolled his eyes. "Snivelling little shit."

He pressed a button on his desk and a voice filled the room. "What can I get you, Sir?"

"Come and get Tony and take him upstairs. He's whining again and it's grating on my last nerve!"

"Of course, Sir. I'll get him at once."

"Dad, please—"

"One more word out of you, and you'll wish you'd never been born boy!"

The little boy's face scrunched up at the threat, and he shouted, "I already do!"

The man snorted. "So do I."

An older man stepped into the room and gathered Tony up in his arms, turning his back on the boy's father without a word as he left.

"Tony—"

"I don't need your pity," Tony muttered, turning his head away. "Whatever you saw…"

"Hey," James said, tugging Tony back towards him easily but gently. "I'm sorry that your Dad is awful, but I don't pity you. You're here, aren't you? How can I pity someone that has the brains to get away like you have?"

Tony sniffed and relaxed against James. "M' sorry about your Dad," he mumbled.

James' heart clenched and he realised that Tony must have seen the day his dad had died—a day he'd realised his soulmate would see long ago. He'd only been ten.

"Come on," he said, looking down at Tony. "We can unpack later. I'm craving pizza."

Tony looked up at him shyly and smiled. "Are you a heathen though? Because Jarvis said that only heathens eat pineapple pizza, and I'm not allowed to associate with such people."

James laughed. "Whoever Jarvis is, he knows what he's talking about."

…

Belly's filled with pepperoni pizza and diet coke, the two of them had given up on packing and curled up on James bed together. James had taken the time to make sure that Tony knew, soulmates or not, they wouldn't be doing anything beyond kissing until Tony was an adult.

No matter how much Tony complained about it, James thought he was happy about the clear boundaries, when he curled up against James chest and closed his eyes.

"Night Honeybear," Tony murmured.

"Honeybear?"

"Hmm," Tony agreed sleepily. "My Honeybear."

With a feeling like he wasn't going to lose that title anytime soon—and not minding in the slightest—James closed his own eyes and tightened his grip on the slighter figure in his arms.

It wasn't what he was expecting on his first day at MIT, but he couldn't say that he was mad about it.

Written for:

Romance Awareness, Day 19 - The first time you touch your soulmate, you relive the best or worst day of their life.

Romance Awareness, Extra - 11. Sharing a bed

Galleon - 45. Waving

365. 217. Threat

1000. 461. Pizza