Work Text:
“I miss you,”
It had been 50 years since James Rhodes had seen his best friend. 50 years since the final showdown in Siberia had resulted in Tony’s death.
It had been a while, a long while, since Rhodey had gone to visit Tony’s grave. There was only so much pain he could take in his life. And looking at Tony’s grave was a little too much. But something inside him had been pushing him to go visit his friends grave, so he did.
There were a lot of things Rhodey wanted to say, he just didn’t know how to put them into to words.
It had taken him too long to stop burying himself in his grief. He didn’t know how to explain to anyone just how badly he wished the fall had killed him. Life without Tony wasn’t worth it. He didn’t want it. It took him too long to realize that he was one of few people that could possibly keep Tony’s legacy alive.
Rhodey had been interviewed about Tony more times than he could count, every time it happened he had new stories about his best friend. New stories from the people he saved, or from the children he interacted with, new stories that painted Tony in a different light than the press used to shine on him.
He took up Tony’s old position at SI, or… he tried to. There was no way he could keep up with Tony. But he somehow managed to finish up all the projects Tony left waiting, and he sent them to R&D to get developed. But SI was never going to be the same without Tony creating new and brilliant things for it.
Pepper and Happy helped him, as much as they could, and for as long as they could. But now they were buried near Tony’s grave. They always came through when he needed them.
But even after their deaths there was still so much to do. And no matter how much he got done, there would never be enough time to do all the things Tony could have done if he had just been given a little bit more time. But no, it was Rhodey who had been given that time.
After Pepper’s death, the position of CEO of SI went to a young genius by the name of Harley Keener, who had both saved and been saved by Tony Stark. Rhodey went through Harley to fund children's homes and orphanages all over the world. It was the one thing Rhodey was most proud of. He spent a lot of time in the Homes of New York. He saw Tony in so many of the children. He saw Tony in their excitement to learn new things, in the way they interacted with the world. He saw Tony so much.
He had lived a long life. Longer than he wanted, but still, somehow, it wasn’t long enough. He couldn’t help but wonder, after 50 years of protecting a legacy that wasn’t his, if someone would tell his story as faithfully as he’d told Tony’s.
“I can’t wait to see you again,”