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Rhodey had been searching for Tony for three months, twenty seven days, and approximately four hours. Since the Ten Rings’ ship had attacked his own and captured the prince, Rhodey hadn’t set foot on land. The closest he’d come was when he traded his impressive royal navy vessel (though badly damaged from the attack that led to Tony’s capture) for a smaller, faster boat in order to better pursue the other ship. Unfortunately, it was like it had disappeared into thin air, or sunk to the bottom of the ocean for all Rhodey could catch wind of it.
Three months, twenty seven days, and four hours. God, Rhodey hoped that Tony wasn’t dead. Forget that he was the prince of the Stark kingdom; he was Rhodey’s best friend, and Rhodey wasn’t sure what he’d do without him. He prayed he wouldn’t have to find out.
Three months, twenty seven days, and four hours. Rhodey knew Tony. The man wouldn’t go down without a fight. If anyone could survive nearly four months with the most ruthless pirates on the seas, it would be Tony. He was probably in control of the ship by now, making his way back to Stark territory and waiting for Rhodey to meet him.
Rhodey refused to listen to the insidious, practical voice that told him exactly what the Ten Rings did with prisoners. If he hadn’t found Tony yet, it was possibly because there was no Tony to be found. Rhodey wouldn’t-- couldn’t -- believe that voice, so he kept searching. He couldn’t face that his best friend could be dead because of him, because he failed to protect his prince.
“Ship!” one of his crew members called. Rhodey had left most of them with the larger ship, but a few had followed him on his search. “There’s a ship!”
Rhodey pulled out his spyglass, training it on the horizon. He found the ship in seconds. It was clearly damaged-- a section of rail was blown clean off the side, which had to be dangerous, and the sails had definitely seen better days-- but it floated along on a collision course to Rhodey’s own ship. He’d have to change his heading, because he was pretty sure the other ship wasn’t going to without a fight.
He sighed. He didn’t need a battle right now, not when every minute wasted could be Tony’s last.
“Turn us east!” he shouted back at his helmsman. He’d been on the ship long enough that he didn’t even sway as the boat turned in the tumultuous waves.
Rhodey assumed that would be the end of it. He looked through the spyglass one more time, just to be sure. He frowned when he saw that the other ship had changed its heading too, maintaining its trajectory right into Rhodey’s ship. It was closer now, too; the vessel was a small one, not weighed down with cannons and other heavy artillery, so it moved faster than Rhodey’s ship. It looked a lot like one of the Ten Rings’ scavenger ships, now that he thought about it.
Whatever it was, it was angling for a fight. Rhodey drew his sword from his belt. If their captain wanted a battle, Rhodey would make sure he got a good one.
“Prepare for combat!” Rhodey yelled to his crew. The other ship was coming towards them faster than should have been possible, even with the wind on their side. It was close enough that Rhodey could see that the damage was worse than he’d thought; it had clearly undergone a violent mutiny from the crew, seeing how damaged the deck was. For a moment, his heart was in his throat, thinking of Tony, but he squashed the hope when he saw the tattered Ten Rings flag still flying.
He could see the other captain fiddling with something up in the rigging, looking absolutely unconcerned about the royal navy crew heading his way. Rhodey couldn’t see the man’s face, but there was something almost familiar about how he held himself, recklessly proud. Rhodey’s hand tightened on his sword hilt almost unconsciously. Tony had the same cocky stance; Rhodey had learned not to underestimate overconfidence when his friend had kicked his ass in training. Sometimes, that level of confidence was deserved.
Rhodey squinted, trying to see what the other man was up to. He realized what was happening a second before the pirate started swinging from a rope tied to the mast.
“Prepare to be boarded!” Rhodey eyeballed where the pirate would land. It was a risky swing: their ships weren’t that close and he risked tumbling into the sea. It was the kind of jump only an idiot would make.
The idiot landed on their deck with a fluid roll. When he stood, he was already swinging his sword at two of Rhodey’s men. He bashed one on the head with his sword hilt and kicked the other, sending him sprawling across the deck. The pirate fought like a demon, flashes of steel whirling too fast to follow, but he didn’t fight to kill.
Rhodey didn’t have time to examine that, though. He jumped into the fight, catching the pirate’s next swing on his own blade. He locked eyes with the man-- then froze in place.
He knew that face. He knew those eyes. The pirate was Tony . His hair was shaggier and his beard messier, but Rhodey would’ve known him anywhere. Rhodey was shocked. What the hell was Tony doing, attacking navy ships that were trying to rescue him?
“Rhodey?” Tony breathed. His voice was hoarse from disuse.
Before Rhodey could say anything else, before he could demand answers, Tony was dropping to the ground like a sack of potatoes, completely unconscious. While they’d been distracted, one of his crew members had taken the opening to knock Tony out. He couldn’t blame them; to them, Tony was just another faceless attacker. How were they supposed to know that he was the missing crown prince they’d been searching for for four months?
Rhodey sheathed his sword and took a deep breath. “I’m taking him to my quarters,” he ordered. “I want to speak with him when he wakes up.”
His crew nodded obediently, not one of them protesting as he lifted Tony from the ground and cradled him in his arms. His friend was so much lighter than he’d been. The signs of starvation showed in his sharp cheekbones and collarbones peeking out the neck of his shirt. He looked exhausted, too, the shadows under his eyes a deep purple. Rhodey could see new scars where his shirt had torn, and they filled him with anger. Still, he was gentle where he touched Tony.
He could hear the crew’s whispers, but he ignored them and shut the door to his cabin behind him. He set Tony down on the bed and took the chair next to him. Rhodey put his head in his hands. He knew the crew was waiting for orders, knew that he was a bad captain for leaving them in the dark like this, but what could he say? He had tunnel vision when it came to Tony sometimes, and this was the culmination of four months of that tunnel vision.
Rhodey was not ashamed to admit that he had absolutely no idea what was going on. First, his friend got kidnapped by the Ten Rings, then he showed up captain of a Ten Rings ship? It didn’t make sense. Though, Rhodey supposed, it wasn’t like he’d actually seen any members of the Ten Rings on the ship this time around. During the last attack, they’d overwhelmed his crew with their numbers; this time, it had only been Tony attacking. Maybe Tony had staged a mutiny and won, all by himself. That seemed like something he would do.
Rhodey would have to wait for Tony to wake up to ask him, though. At least it wouldn’t be much longer now. Tony had a hard head; he was already shifting in the bed, making noises like he was on the verge of waking up. Rhodey took a moment to thank whatever sea deity was watching over his ship that his crewman had used the hilt of his blade rather than running Tony through with it.
Tony’s eyes fluttered open on the bed. Immediately, his hand flew to his belt. Rhodey was thankful that he’d left Tony’s sword on the deck. Tony looked terrified for a half-second, then he sat up and saw Rhodey.
All at once, the fight melted out of him, leaving a wary sort of hope. He looked at Rhodey like he’d never seen anything so wonderful, like he was dying of thirst and Rhodey was fresh water. His hand twitched, like he wanted to reach out, but didn’t. It was almost like he was afraid.
Rhodey had no such compunctions. Before he even registered doing it, he was flying forward to hug his friend. He held Tony so tightly that it must have hurt, but Tony only squeezed him back with just as much force. It had been a long four months for the both of them, it seemed.
“Tones,” he choked out, trying not to cry. He could admit that there had been a small part of him that thought he’d never see his best friend again. “ Tony .”
“I’m here, I’m okay,” Tony reassured, stroking circles on his back. “You found me, it’s okay.”
Rhodey pulled back, but he kept his hands on Tony’s arms. “Where the hell were you?” he asked. “What happened?”
Tony’s gaze went distant. He was quiet for a long moment. “The Ten Rings took me, which you already knew,” he said softly. His hands clenched into fists. “They wanted weapons. They wanted what I’ve been making for our military. They already had stockpiles of them, but they wanted more.”
Rhodey’s jaw dropped as he processed the information. Tony’s weapons were the best-- and the deadliest. They were only distributed through the regent-- Obadiah Stane-- and himself to the various troops for that exact reason. For them to have gotten into the Ten Rings’ hands…
“That means that--”
“I know what it means,” Tony cut him off sharply. “Someone is betraying us. The same someone who paid the Ten Rings to kill me, I’d assume.”
Rhodey frowned. “Are you sure?”
“Positive,” Tony smiled without mirth. “I’m only alive because they thought they could make me do what they wanted. They made a mistake.”
“What happened?” Rhodey repeated tentatively. Honestly, he wasn’t sure he wanted to know, but he just had to.
Tony grinned, showing all his teeth. In that moment, he looked like a different man. A ruthless one, one who’d done what he’d needed to to survive. “They made a mistake,” he said again. He clearly wasn’t going to give details, so Rhodey didn’t press. “And I took over the ship. It’s been just me for a month. I’ve been chasing down the rest of their ships and destroying their-- my -- weapons.” Here, he paused to look embarrassed. “Sorry about attacking, by the way. You’re in an unmarked ship, and they’ve gotten smart enough to travel in those recently. I’m a little paranoid, I can admit that.”
“It’s fine,” Rhodey said. “It brought you back to me, so I’m happy you did it.”
“Sap,” Tony smiled for real, bumping their shoulders together.
They were quiet for a minute, even though Rhodey was practically bursting with questions. He asked only one, though: “Are you coming back?”
“Yes,” Tony answered, looking like a man on a mission. “I’ve taken out as much of the Ten Rings as I can like this. Now I have to figure out who was behind this, and I can’t do that from here.”
“You mean we can’t do that from here, right?” Rhodey raised an eyebrow. “I know you didn’t just try to take this on yourself when you have me on your side.”
Tony’s eyes were suspiciously shiny, but Rhodey didn’t comment on it. He figured his were much the same. “Yeah,” he rasped. “We have work to do.”