James Rhodes stood at the doorway of Tony's kitchen, watching his friend stare down a cup of coffee. The last 72 hours had been... a lot, to say the least. From Tony's sudden return from captivity, to his erratic behaviour in changing SI's business trajectory, to his insistance of having Rhodey fly back to Afghanistan to personally rescue Aubrey Howell... Rhodey had whiplash from the past three days.

But, he knew that this conversation would be the worst of it.

"The Ten Ring's moved bases after your escape," Rhodey said, stepping into the room. Tony flinched at the sudden entrance, and Rhodey winced at his own idiotic move. The man had spent almost two months in captivity, and had only been back for a few days. It was expected that he'd be a little jumpy.

"And?" Tony prompted.

Rhodey knew what Tony was asking, but dodged the question. "You sure did a number on them. Wanna tell me how the hell you did it?"

"Not really," Tony said easily, taking a swig of coffee. "Did you find the kid?"

Rhodey winced once more. He wanted to ease Tony into the news. He'd hoped he could coax his friend to sit down, to break it to him what he'd found. But Tony was too blunt and too clever to fall for any of that. So instead, Rhodey let out a sigh. There was no easy way to tell Tony. "She didn't make it, man. I'm sorry.

Tony stiffened, his breath hitching at the words. And then, his jaw clenched as he ran a hand roughly through his hair. He turned to face Rhodey, his eyes dark. "Nope. I don't believe that."

Rhodey's face fell as he let out a short breath. He was used to Tony's stubborness, he just wished it didn't have to surface now. "Tony... we've recovered the body."

Tony stared evenly at his friend, his hands balled into fists. His nostrils flared. "You saw her yourself?"

Rhodey nodded once as the charred remains flashed through his memory. There was a long pause as he waited for Tony to react. Tony was never one to get emotional. Even when his parents died, Tony still managed to keep himself pulled together. His blunt, sarcastic front was a shield he rarely let fall. But now, Rhodey wasn't even sure if Tony would accept that Aubrey - the kid - was really gone.

"How'd she look?"

Tony's questions took him off guard. The last thing he wanted was to tell Tony the truth about what he saw. "Did she- Was she in pain?"

Rhodey hesitated. Tony still hadn't told him what had happened that day and how he escaped. But there were puzzle pieces that Rhodey had been able to put together. They'd found Aubrey Howell's severed leg in the cave, and then her body in the centre of camp. Rhodey didn't want to tell Tony the truth. He didn't want to tell him that her body was so badly burned - so charred - that she had been completely unrecognizable from her photograph. He didn't want to tell Tony that they had only been able to identify the body based on her severed leg, right at the shin. He didn't want to tell Tony that Aubrey had died with her mouth twisted into a scream; her features melted together from the sheer heat of the explosions.

So Rhodey lied. "We think she died of blood loss. She would have just fallen asleep and not woken up."

Tony nodded once, a shaky sigh passing his lips. He turned to look down at his coffee again, a new concentration on his face. If someone had looked at him, they would never have thought he'd been grieving. But Rhodey knew Tony better than anyone. He saw the grief cross his face, and then relief. He swallowed once. "Good. She's suffered enough."

Rhodey hesitated once more. "Tony, her family is still looking for her."

Tony looked up, an incredulous look crossing his face. "You haven't told them yet?"

"They want to cover it up," Rhodey said. He fought to keep his voice neutral, to keep the disappointment out of his tone. He hated - hated - the thought of that family knowing the torture their daughter went through while held captive. But it was entirely unfair for them to not know. To think that she had simply run away or died in a car crash. Would either option give the Howell family closure? Rhodey doubted it.

"And they need me to go along with it?" Tony asked bitterly. Rhodey nodded once. "No."

"That's what I thought," Rhodey muttered, feeling the smallest bit of relief. No decision would be made until the DNA results were in from the severed leg found at the abandoned base. But at least the guilt was off Rhodey - they wouldn't dare lie to that poor family if someone as influential as Tony could easily blow their cover.

Rhodey waited for something more, but Tony had moved on. Or, he had moved on from talking about the dead girl. When Tony looked up to his best friend again, anger simmered under his gaze. "I have another favor to ask."

Rhodey had gotten used to doing 'favor's' for Tony since they were in college. It was usually something stupid, and usually involved Rhodey lying to cover up Tony's ass. When Tony missed an exam at MIT because he was hungover, Rhodey was there telling the professor that there was a serious family emergency. When Tony had skipped one of his many awards ceremonies, Rhodey was there giving the speech on his behalf. When Tony was bored, he asked Rhodey to borrow one of the fighter jets - which Rhodey had finally put his foot down. It didn't stop them from taking the jet out for a spin after Tony dumped a large sum of money to the Air Force.

But when Tony usually asked for a favor, he never looked so... determined. He never had that burning hatred in his gaze Rhodey leaned in, his eyebrows furrowed. "What is it?"

Tony glanced around, as if to see if anyone was listening, despite being alone in his home. "I think Obadiah was the one to do it."

Rhodey blinked. "Do what?"

"Have me taken by the Ten Rings."

At this, Rhodey let out a loud laugh. Obadiah Stane, the man who was basically an uncle to Tony, had sold him off to a terrorist organization? No. Tony had only been released from captivity mere days ago; he was clearly recovering from some paranoia or PTSD. "Obie? You think Obie hired someone to kidnap you? No, Tony. You need to rest. You've been doing too-"

Tony, predictably, ignored his friend's words. "J.A.R.V.I.S, bring up the last seen footage of Aubrey Howell."

"Right away, sir," the automated voice sounded.

Over the kitchen counter, a holographic screen appeared. The video that Tony had watched so many months ago started to play. It showed Aubrey, looking frazzled as she entered Obadiah's office, and then looking slightly calmer when she left. Rhodey had seen the video before, on the plane ride to Afghanistan as he went to recover Aubrey's body.

When the video ended, Tony turned to Rhodey. "Obadiah told me she was burnt out, that he put her on leave. I spoke with her, Rhodey. She said she'd discovered SI was selling weapons to Afghanistan. She told Obie about it and the next day she was captured."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up. Stark Industries has been selling weapons to Afghanistan?"

Tony let out an annoyed huff. "What, you think I was kidnapped as a hazing ritual? Obadiah will clearly do anything for a quick buck, even if it means selling out his country and my life. You saw the base, you must have seen the weapons as well."

Rhodey hesitated, glancing from the paused footage of Aubrey leaving Obadiah's office, and then back to Tony. Rhodey wanted to tell Tony that he was having some sort of manic episode, and that they would talk once Tony agreed to rest. But there was a seriousness in Tony's eyes that told him he wasn't having some sort of crisis. And then, Rhodey thought of the doubts that had been bothering him since Tony first told him about Aubrey.

Aubrey Howell was, for lack of a better word, a nobody. She was just some fresh-faced intern who suddenly disappeared... and then was found months later in Afghanistan? Tony having some sort of mental health break could explain his sudden distrust in Obadiah, but it didn't explain how Aubrey ended up in a terrorist camp on the other side of the world. He briefly considered that she was a hallucination that Tony's mind cooked up to deal with the trauma of being captive. Rhodey had sent Aubrey's severed foot for DNA testing to confirm it was her - which would take a few weeks - but that only led to more questions.

And the final nail in the coffin was what Rhodey had seen at that charred base camp. Because Tony was right; among the destruction was the Stark Industries brand. And in far too great of a quantity to be stolen in a one time assault.

"What do you want me to do?" Rhodey asked, matching Tony's even gaze.

"I need you to look into it," Tony said, "I was going to confront him, but-"

"But you need to be smart about this," Rhodey finished. If what Tony was saying was true, Obadiah had multiple people kidnapped and even killed to cover his own tracks. He shifted on his feet, suddenly feeling as if he was being watched. He knew Tony's home was a safe zone with J.A.R.V.I.S always watching but still... he'd hate to experience whatever Tony did during captivity. "Listen, I'll take a look. If Obie really did set you up, we need evidence. He's a powerful man, Tony. Maybe not as many billions as you, but he won't be easy to take down."

Tony nodded once before slapping Rhodey good-naturedly on the back. The seriousness dissolved from his eyes; the conversation was over. "Knew you were the man for the job."

Rhodey finally took the time to lighten the mood. The news about Aubrey, and then Obadiah... it was all a lot for one conversation. He needed them to step back into their familiar roles of just friends from college. "Always doing your dirty work, man."

"Right," Tony said, stepping away from the counter. "I was never one for getting my hands dirty. Silver spoon, you get it."

"I get it," Rhodey chuckled easily, feeling the first sense of relief. This situation was... complex, to say the least. With that girl's death and Obadiah's potential betrayal, he still wasn't entirely convinced that Tony's request wasn't partially fuelled by fresh trauma. But Rhodey was Tony's best friend for a reason; he wasn't going to let him spiral alone.

Tony looked to his friend with an air of finality. "As much fun as this conversation has been, I'm a busy man. Gotta go destroy my business and my old man's legacy."

This time, Rhodey snorted. To say Stark Industries was tanking after Tony announced he was halting weapons production was an understatement. Tony walked with him towards the front door. "Man, the Air Force is not happy with you."

Tony shrugged apathetically as he unlocked the door. He didn't yet open it for his friend. "You know, if my weapons didn't end up in the hands of terrorist organizations, maybe I would reconsider. But I'm not going to keep building more dangerous weapons, only for them to be used against me."

Rhodey nodded once, understanding the pain hidden beneath the words. It wasn't just Tony; it was the people who had died helping him escape. "I'm with you, man, no matter how crazy your decision may seem."

Tony nodded once. He had never been one to get mushy gushy and share his feelings. But there was an unspoken rule between the friends. Even though Tony may have been betrayed by someone he once considered family, James Rhodes would always have his back.

Aubrey was vaguely aware of what was happening, yet still not at all.

She felt the heat of the blasts around her. She felt the dirt moving under her, as someone dragged her away. She felt the rumble of a vehicle as the drove down rough roads.

Her mind tried to make sense of what she was feeling. She imagined it was Tony who had dragged her to safety, after fulfilling his promise to save her. The vehicle she was in was his, or at least belonged to the military as they rushed her to the nearest hospital. Her memory was choppy, split up from periods of unconsciousness. She remembered a doctor, and the feeling of bandages wrapping around her leg.

When Aubrey would open her eyes, she'd be in a sterile hospital - hopefully in the USA - with her family on one side of her bed and Tony on the other. She'd cry both tears of joy and tears of grief. For her lost months in the cave, for losing her leg trying to escape, and for Yinsen. But with the help of her family, she'd slowly recover. She wasn't sure how long she'd been out, but she knew it had to be a while.

When Aubrey did open her eyes, she had a hard time reconciling what she was seeing. The lighting was dim, and the room wasn't nearly clean enough to be a hospital. It took her a few minutes to realise she was in a tent, not a room. Was it some sort of medical tent she'd seen in war movies? But where were the doctors, or the other patients? Aubrey twisted her head to look around the room, but froze when she saw a familiar man sitting in the corner, staring at her with dark eyes.

No.

Raza smiled crookedly. Half of his face was badly burned, preventing him from fully stretching his grin across his face. Aubrey flinched back, as if the mere sight of him had caused her physical pain. Was this some sort of nightmare? She couldn't connect the sight of him with the image she had created in her own mind. If she had been rescued, Raza couldn't have been there. But there was no way Aubrey couldn't have been rescued. Tony promised her.

Raza stood, slowly walking towards the girl lying on the cot. His smile fell with each step. "You've caused me a lot of problems, little girl." His voice was low and scratchy.

Aubrey didn't say anything. What could she say? He didn't deserve to be the last person to hear her words. She'd save those for Tony, so that he could remember her for her bravery during their escape, rather than her cowardice during death.

Raza's face screwed up in disgust. Aubrey had been so focused on his face - those cruel eyes - that she didn't notice the gun in his hand until it was pressed to her forehead. "Give me one reason I shouldn't kill you right now."

Aubrey stayed silent. She couldn't help the tears that welled in her eyes, but refused to let them spill over. Raza laughed once, bitterly, before his face fell back into the same angry expression.

"Most of my men are dead because of you. My resources were destroyed. You and Stark took everything from the Ten Rings. So tell me, little girl, why shouldn't I put a bullet in your head?"

Holding her breath, Aubrey squeezed her eyes shut. She didn't want to see Raza's face when she died. Instead, she pictured her family. She pictured their last Christmas together, when Karen had gotten Jean and Aubrey matching PJ sets. At the time, Aubrey had thought it was embarrassing; now it was the last image she wanted to see when Raza inevitably killed her.

"I'll tell you why," Raza continued. At his words, Aubrey's eyes peaked open. He lowered his gun, but his face still held the same cruellness. Whatever he had planned would not be better than death.

Raza turned his back, only for a few seconds as he walked to a nearby table to retrieve something. Aubrey only saw a flash of the silver metal in his hand. It was badly charred, but Aubrey knew what it was from the brief glance at it. Raza held the crude mask in front of Aubrey's face. "You built the suit with Stark. You can build it again."

"No," Aubrey said immediately. She was met with a swift hit to the face.

"This isn't a choice," Raza said.

Aubrey swallowed, knowing what would happen from her words. "I won't do it."

Another hit, this time harder. Raza was heaving, out of anger moreso than his own exertion. He turned his back on the girl, as he took a moment to calm down. After a few minutes, he finally turned back to Aubrey, his face stoney. "So be it. Don't build the suit. I won't kill you... but I won't feed you either."

With those final words, Raza stormed out of the tent. There were a few other people remaining - one who appeared to be a doctor - who eyed Aubrey wearily. Aubrey didn't care about their stares as she closed her eyes, letting out a shaky breath. Raza was prepared to let Aubrey starve to death, or at least break her will down. It doesn't matter, Aubrey decided. Tony would be coming for her. She just needed to hold out for a few more days. She could do it.

Being reintroduced into civilization had been harder for Tony than he thought. Especially since he had to play up the whole 'traumatized billionaire' piece to make avoiding Obadiah more believable. The old family friend had already tried contacting him a few times, but Tony had managed to keep his unbothered mask on long enough to discuss Stark Industries. When Obie tried to talk about what Tony had seen while in Afghanistan - that was when he had to remove himself from the situation.

Luckily for Tony, he already had a habit of holing himself in the shop when working on a particularly interesting project.

Obadiah and Pepper thought he was just perfecting the arc reactor, since it was the new premise of SI after all. But what Tony was really working on was a lot more interesting than any arc reactor.

He pulled up the new designs on his computer. Mark 2.

'Don't waste it. Don't waste your life,' Yinsen had said. Tony thought back to those late nights in the cave as Yinsen told them about the Afghan dishes and taught them about his culture. He thought about those rare times when he saw Aubrey smile. And then, he saw Yinsen's eyes close for the last time, and heard Aubrey plead for him to save her.

'I promise I'll come back for you.'

Tony had built enough weapons to last a lifetime. But this would be the one that would be powerful enough to keep the promises he made.

Aubrey overestimated her own will power. It had been two weeks since Raza vowed to stop feeding her. It wasn't so much the lack of food that crushed her spirits, but the lack of all care. Some of Raza's men pitied her, and snuck her morsels of food. Or, on the rare occasion that the tent emptied, she would drag her body to the bins to scrape leftover food into her mouth. If all Raza did was hold out food, she would have been able to survive until Tony recovered enough to save her.

But Raza held all care. He held the pain medication for her severed leg. He held antibiotics. The pain was torturous, but Aubrey did her best to tough it through. But when her injury grew an infection, and she felt illness spread through her body, she knew Tony's window to save her was shrinking. She was so injured and ill that she couldn't move, and festered in that uncomfortable cot. The doctor had tried to rotate her, but Raza responded by beating him down until his face was unrecognizable.

Pressure injuries developed along her spine, and then, those began to grow infections as well. Without food or medication, she was wasting away. Aubrey realized then, in her dazed state, that she couldn't keep waiting for Tony to save her. Even if he arrived in the next week, it could very well be too late. She didn't want to die this way - decomposing in a cot.

"I'll do it," Aubrey croaked.

She couldn't see whether Raza was nearby, but she knew he would be. Their new base - the tent - was small, and Raza no longer trusted Aubrey to leave her alone. Someone was always watching, not that she had the strength to try and escape. As she suspected, within seconds, Raza's face had appeared in her field of vision. His expression did not give Aubrey any hint of what he was feeling.

Raza didn't say anything, but he nodded at someone that Aubrey couldn't see. She was too weak to turn her head to look. But Raza stepped away, and in his place, was the doctor, with a tray full of medication. Aubrey couldn't see what he had for her, but she allowed herself to relax when the first needle entered her skin. Aubrey let her eyes to lull shut once more, too exhausted from the brief moment to fight unconsciousness any more.

The results were immediate. When she woke up, hours later, the pain in her leg and spine had subsided. In a few days, she had enough energy to sit up. The infection had gotten so bad that it took nearly another two weeks before Aubrey could stand, leaning against one of the tent's support beams. Raza, surprisingly, didn't push her to work on the suit before she was ready. Maybe it was because he had seen how delirious Aubrey had been from the infection. She wasn't sure.

On one hand, she was grateful for the relief from the pain. On the other, she knew she couldn't bide her time too much until Raza would force her to start working on the suit.

With each passing day, she woke up fully believing Tony would arrive to save her. How long had it been since his escape? A month, at least. She began to wonder if Tony had even managed to escape at all, or if Raza was covering up his death so Aubrey wouldn't lose her will to live. If Tony was alive, and only injured, wouldn't he be able to at least send someone to save her?

Maybe their sudden change in base had made it harder for Tony to find her. He was looking for her - he had to be - but it was hard to find a single girl in all of Afghanistan. He would come for Aubrey. He promised.

Finally, when Aubrey was well enough that neither she nor Raza could deny it, he finally pushed. Aubrey couldn't say no.

He had set her up with her own work station, with the pieces of Tony's suit lying around her. The blueprints were laid scattered on the table, as if someone had attempted to fix the suit but grew confused and gave up. Aubrey noted that the weapons on the suit had all been removed or deactivated. The bullets were removed from the guns, and the gasoline drained from the flamethrower. Not that it mattered to Aubrey; she wouldn't have been able to use the weapons against Raza without a power source anyway.

Aubrey decided a week prior that she wouldn't tell Raza about the arc reactor. As far as he knew, it was just any regular power source. Aubrey wouldn't have been able to build a miniature one even if she tried. She was smart, sure, but she was no Tony Stark. But she had her own plan forming in her head.

The suit - whether it was built or not - didn't really matter. All she needed was time. She had to give Tony time to find her, before she finished the suit and Raza finally decided he'd had enough of her. She would need to work slowly, to waste as much of Raza's time as she could. He could demand that she work faster, but she'd be able to point out that Tony had taken a full month to build the suit, with the help of a doctor and engineer. Aubrey had no one. She could take longer. She was certain she could take as long as three months to put the suit together, even under Raza's watchful eyes.

That would be more than enough time.

When Tony saw Rhodey outside of his office, he knew it was going to be bad.

It wasn't unheard of for his friend to show up unannounced, especially in the days following his escape from the Ten Rings. It also was normal for Rhodey to be wearing a stern look on his face. But somehow, Tony knew this time was different. Somehow, he knew exactly what Rhodey had come to his office to discuss.

It had been a month since his return, and slowly things had started to return to normal. Tony managed to keep up enough appearances for Obadiah not to question him too much. On the few occasions that Obadiah invited himself over, Rhodey always managed to step in and make an excuse for Tony's absence. PTSD was a popular option. Currently, he was 'burying himself in his work' which really meant spending a few hours at the office, signing whatever document Pepper dropped on his desk. Tony was good at keeping himself busy anyway. The red and gold suit sitting in his shop was all he could think about lately.

Tony let his friend into the room, making a show of greeting him to anyone who may have been hovering in the hallway. But once they were behind closed doors, the smile slipped from his face. "What is it?"

Rhodey hesitated, looking around the room to be sure they were alone. Then, he looked back to his friend. "You were right."

Those three simple words could have been about anything. But he knew they were about Obadiah Stane.

Tony let out a breath, turning towards the window to cover any shock. "Told you so," he quipped. "Somehow that's not as satisfying as usual."

Rhodey ignored him, pulling a flashdrive from his pocket. "All the evidence is on here. The financial accounts, the PO numbers, the contact info... It was hell to get, but we've got him. He's been covering his tracks, I'll give him that. He must be paying off the right guys. You, of all people, knows what money can buy."

Tony turned to his friend, his jaw clenched. "Yeah, well, it can't buy a life back, can it?" Rhodey remained silent. Tony sighed once more, suddenly itching for a scotch. "So what now?"

"We have enough to charge him with treason," Rhodey said. "We have men tracking his every move. If we say the word, he'll be sitting behind bars in an hour. We can freeze his assets; even he won't be able to bribe his way out of this one."

Tony's gaze met Rhodey's. He knew what was coming. "Why haven't we?"

Rhodey shifted on his feet. "Because there's too many loose ends. The higher ups, they think Obie's been in business with more than just the Ten Rings. If we keep tracking him, we can start to clean up this mess. Arresting Obadiah won't bring back the nukes he's already sold."

Tony blinked, stepping forward. Anger simmered under his skin. "And what about justice, huh? Obadiah gets to walk around like nothing happened while hundreds of innocent people have died because of those weapons!"

"Arresting him now might guarantee we never get those weapons back, Tony," Rhodey argued.

A red and gold suit flashed across Tony's mind as he met his friend's even gaze. "I can get those weapons back, Rhodey."

Rhodey laughed, shaking his head in disbelief. "I'm not saying you're not a very powerful man, Tony. But there are some things not even you can do. We need information and locations before we get those weapons back. You may want revenge for Obadiah selling you out, I want to prevent his greed from hurting any more people."

Tony paused, thinking over the words. Rhodey was wrong. He knew he couldn't bring Aubrey and Yinsen back; he couldn't soothe the pain they'd already faced. But Obadiah didn't deserve to live his life while that was ripped away from so many people because of those weapons; to hug his friends and family, to attend lavish parties, to laugh over a glass of champagne. It wasn't fair - there had to be some sort of balance. Yin and Yang, or something like that.

So no, Tony didn't want revenge, he wanted justice. But Rhodey, with his hands tied due to the Air Force's wishes, couldn't be the one to deliver that. At least not soon enough.

"Fine," Tony said, his voice short. 'I'll just do it myself.'

Thank you everyone for your continued support! This chapter was definitely a bit less action packed as I wanted to show the 'behind the scenes' of what Tony (and Aubrey) have been facing. Next chapter should be a bit more exciting I think!