WOW. I totally made myself sad writing this, and the next one was even more difficult, but we need to get through the darkness to see the light. I promise there will be light, lots of happy, warm light, just bear with me until then hehe :)

I regained control of my suit again; I swallowed hard, 'Jarvis, what's happening?'

'Mr Stark has initiated the self-destruct sequence.' Jarvis replied.

'Self-destruct?' I pushed faster through the sky, 'what the hell does that mean?'

I flew toward the house. My stomach dropped, the horizon was alight. I flew toward the flames and landed a few yards away.

'He has erased the Extremis.' He replied coolly.

'Tony.' I yelled through the flames, the roar of the fire was deafening, I couldn't hear myself, let alone anybody else.

'Tony!' I repeated, I couldn't make anything out from within the flames, I shielded my face, the armour kept me cool, but the flames were menacing. I blasted through the shattered building; the walls flew apart like foam.

'Jarvis where is he?' I yelled.

'His signal is lost, I cannot locate him.' He replied.

No, Tony, what the hell, this can't be happening. Panic pulsated through my veins, I ran through the burning building, bodies of the subdued guards lay strewn across the fallen levels, I rushed around from room to room, I finally caught a glint of red and gold armour, 'Tony!'

He lay amongst the flames, the roof collapsed around him, blasted the debris away from him.

'Jarvis, contact Fury, Tony is down, I need him to have S.H.I.E.L.D paramedics on standby.' I yelled, I made my way to his side, I knelt beside him, I took hold of his arms and pulled him.

The house collapsed around us, I dragged his body through the rubble, I finally made it outside and collapsed beside him.

'Colonel Rhodes, what is the situation?' Fury's voice came through.

I tried to catch my breath and control my voice, 'I don't know, I can't get a read on his vitals, I can't open the face plate, Jarvis has no signal, it's bad, get someone down here, now!'

'ETA for pick up is three minutes, hang tight Colonel.'

The call disconnected.

I knelt beside Tony, 'can you hear me Buddy?' I tapped on his helmet, 'come on Tony, you can't do this.'

I hit the chest plate on his armour, 'come on, wake up!' I yelled.

No response, the reactor was still lit up, that was a good sign, 'come on Tony.' I hit him again.

Nothing.

The helicopters landed a few yards away; Natasha, Thor and Steve came running. I raised my face plate, 'hurry.' I pleaded.

Thor knelt beside Tony; he ripped the face plate off.

He was still, his eyes were closed and a trickle of blood escaped from the corner of his mouth. My heart sunk.

'No, something is wrong, the reactor is working, why isn't he waking up?' I muttered.

'We have to get him to base.' Natasha instructed the Paramedics to bring a stretcher.

Thor lifted him onto the stretcher and they took him away to the waiting helicopters.

I got in with Tony, I stood by the doors, I watched as they tried to revive my best friend. The harder they tried, the less hope I had. His eyes remained closed, unmoving.

'We need to get the armour off, we can't assess the situation like this.' One of the paramedics yelled, she motioned for Thor to come over and assist.

I flinched as he tore away the armour, piece by piece, I could just imagine Tony's reaction if he saw this.

The armour lay in pieces around us, only now could I see how dire his condition was. The lower half of his body was drenched in blood which still continued to flow.

'We've got a stab wound, most likely a punctured lung; we need bloods on standby when we get back to base.' The same paramedic explained.

I watched on as they worked, they cleaned his wounds; another paramedic took his heart rate.

I bowed my head, I couldn't take it. Natasha came to stand beside me, Tony's blood marked her arms, 'what happened?' she asked firmly.

'They took Pepper, it was a rescue op, it was straightforward.' I muttered.

She shook her head, 'as far as he told you.'

I looked at her, curiosity ignited within me, 'you think he lied about the specs of the mission?'

'I would, if I knew there was no other way.' She explained.

Of course he would lie, he knew what was waiting for him, I remembered our conversation instantly.

'See, easy, in and out.' I had said.

His face betrayed his response, 'yeah.'

My heart sunk.

'Don't blame yourself.' She said as if knowing what my mind was processing.

The rest of the flight was quiet; they had given up on him. His body lay on the gurney. The reactor glowed innocently, false hope resonating from within it, his eyes remained closed, body unmoving.

I watched as if in slow motion as they pulled the sheet over his face, 'no, what are they doing, Tony!' I heard myself yell, 'what are they doing?' I moved towards them.

Thor stood beside me; he took hold of my arm, 'I'm sorry.' He whispered.

'No.' I looked back at him, 'he's not dead, let me go, you're making a mistake.' I struggled against his hold.

I saw why they had brought him on board.

Everything else was a blur; a vague sequence of events was clear in my mind. We landed, they took him away, and I sat in his makeshift workshop, I used his workshop to disassemble my armour.

I sat with my head in my hands, Pepper. I couldn't even comprehend telling her, how could I tell her when I didn't believe what was happening.

I let tears fall silently, I was completely shattered.

'Can I come in?' Natasha stood at the door.

I nodded wordlessly.

She took a seat beside me, 'I know this isn't the best time, but it needs to be done.' She handed me a folder.

I took it and looked at the label, "Incident Report".

'We need to know what happened, take your time.'

She stood up and awkwardly touched my shoulder.

'He's not dead.' I muttered.

'His mind is no longer there, he's gone.' She said simply.

That's it, as simple as that, his mind is gone and my best friend is never coming back.

'There has to be something.' I couldn't accept it, I just couldn't.

'I'm sorry Rhodey.' She said quietly, she stopped at the door, 'we're keeping him in the infirmary until everyone pays their respects.'

I was left alone.

I sat in the room, I looked around at the small bits and pieces which made this his. Tools, books, computers and tablets. And a small black, leather bound book. I picked it up and flicked through it. I broke down, photos of Pepper, photos of us from college, newspaper clippings about Iron Man and War Machine, specs and ideas for upgrades.

I closed it and put it back; my phone rang and jolted me.

My heart sunk, Happy. I stared at the caller ID. I couldn't answer it. Call after call dropped out. He called over and over again. I must have missed about eleven calls before I finally answered.

I tried to steady my voice.

'Happy.'

'Pepper's in recovery, she's going to be fine, did you find boss man?' His voice was a haze.

I couldn't answer him, I couldn't speak. I swallowed away the pain. But it still lingered.

'Rhodey?' He repeated.

I dropped my head in my hand, 'he's gone.' I whispered. My hands shook; I clutched the phone as hard as I could. I took a deep breath. Words failed me.

'What, who's gone?' Happy asked firmly, 'Rhodey?' He called my name, 'Rhodey what the hell is going on?'

I cleared my throat, I could barely breathe, the tears assaulted me, 'they killed him.'

Happy didn't answer, I didn't speak. Silence.

'I'll see you at the hospital.' I managed finally and hung up.

I let the phone drop the floor. There was nothing more.

As always, let me know what you think, any advice is much appreciated :)