fic: No Air
Chapter 9
“I am asking again. Who told you about the mission?”
Rhodey stood behind the desk, listening carefully the discussion between the dark-haired cop and the Arabian terrorist.
The Arabian didn’t seem to process the words coming from the cop’s mouth so he decided to keep staring at the window.
“If you don’t cooperate with us we’ll need to arrest you for 31 days.”
Silence.
“Where is Tony Stark?” The policeman asked again.
The Arabian raised an eyebrow and looked oddly at him.
“Tony Stark?” He asked after a couple of minutes.
Rhodey stood up and stared at the strange man.
“Who is Tony Stark?”
Rhodey huffed and turned to make a call.
“Come on Tony. Pick up. Pick up. Pick up-“Click.
“Huh?” A well known voice was heard through the cell-phone and Rhodey couldn’t help the sigh coming from his throat.
“You freakin’ idiot. Where the hell are you?” He yelled at him.
“It doesn’t matter.”
Rhodey couldn’t put his finger onto what happened or not but it seemed that Tony wasn’t quite well.
“Are you all right?” He asked.
“Yeah…”
“If you say so…”
Rhodey took a deep breath before opening his eyes.
“You sure?” He asked once again just to be sure, because even if Tony was pretending everything was alright, Rhodey didn’t believe him.
There was no response and that made Rhodey pace around the empty office. When he heard Tony sniff he winced.
“Tony??”
“Yee-ah…” His voice was shaky and incredibly soft. It wasn’t the way Rhodey was used to.
“Look… I’m sorry for yelling at you but - but you need to tell me where you are because something has happened.”
Tony laughed. But when Rhodey didn’t say anything he realized that something really happened.
“I’m in Boston. What’s the deal?”
“You’re missing for three days and you believe me and Pepper won’t worry about you.”
“She’s not worrying for me…” Tony stated shakily, tears threatening to fall from his eyes.
Rhodey sighed and turned around to look outside.
“Well…”
Tony’s breathing increased only a bit. ‘What if something bad has happened and I wasn’t there?’
“I think it’s your turn to worry about her.”
“If you d-don’t tell me…”
“Yesterday afternoon her apartment was turned into a blazing inferno. The firefighters didn’t found anybody but the police suppose that someone did that on purpose and -“He stopped because he couldn’t tell him this on phone.
“Rhodey.” Tony called him like that only when he had done something very bad and this wasn’t his fault.
“They found so much blood.”
On the other part of the country, Tony swallowed hard at those words and grabbed the Iron Man helmet from one of the chairs.
“Go on.” He told Rhodey with a tone that shocked his friend. He was so detached, he sounded like he didn’t care at all.
“We don’t know whether she’s alive or not. Tony…”
“Yes?”
“We need you to come here safe. Don’t try and do anything. We’ll talk to the police and send the best team to get her back.”
“I suppose I need to find a new PA, don’t I?” He said, smirking.
Rhodey huffed and felt his blood raising.
“What the hell, Tony?”
“I don’t care.” He told him simply.
After a few moments of quiet, Rhodey spoke the first.
“You suck at lying.”
“You find her, moron. I don’t want to have any other connection with her anymore.”
“After what she’s been through with you…huh?”
“Screw you.”
“Thanks.”
The phone hit the wall with great force and then the last pieces from it scattered over the expensive glass on the floor.
An hour later, an empty Jack Daniels bottle rested onto the king-sized bed along with its possessor.
We don’t have time left to regret, hold on.
‘Cause an empty room can be so loud
There’s too many tears to drown them out
The empty room was indeed too quiet and not too later, it was filled with sobs and unleashed tears for what he’d lost.
“I am asking again. Who told you about the mission?”
Rhodey stood behind the desk, listening carefully the discussion between the dark-haired cop and the Arabian terrorist.
The Arabian didn’t seem to process the words coming from the cop’s mouth so he decided to keep staring at the window.
“If you don’t cooperate with us we’ll need to arrest you for 31 days.”
Silence.
“Where is Tony Stark?” The policeman asked again.
The Arabian raised an eyebrow and looked oddly at him.
“Tony Stark?” He asked after a couple of minutes.
Rhodey stood up and stared at the strange man.
“Who is Tony Stark?”
Rhodey huffed and turned to make a call.
“Come on Tony. Pick up. Pick up. Pick up-“Click.
“Huh?” A well known voice was heard through the cell-phone and Rhodey couldn’t help the sigh coming from his throat.
“You freakin’ idiot. Where the hell are you?” He yelled at him.
“It doesn’t matter.”
Rhodey couldn’t put his finger onto what happened or not but it seemed that Tony wasn’t quite well.
“Are you all right?” He asked.
“Yeah…”
“If you say so…”
Rhodey took a deep breath before opening his eyes.
“You sure?” He asked once again just to be sure, because even if Tony was pretending everything was alright, Rhodey didn’t believe him.
There was no response and that made Rhodey pace around the empty office. When he heard Tony sniff he winced.
“Tony??”
“Yee-ah…” His voice was shaky and incredibly soft. It wasn’t the way Rhodey was used to.
“Look… I’m sorry for yelling at you but - but you need to tell me where you are because something has happened.”
Tony laughed. But when Rhodey didn’t say anything he realized that something really happened.
“I’m in Boston. What’s the deal?”
“You’re missing for three days and you believe me and Pepper won’t worry about you.”
“She’s not worrying for me…” Tony stated shakily, tears threatening to fall from his eyes.
Rhodey sighed and turned around to look outside.
“Well…”
Tony’s breathing increased only a bit. ‘What if something bad has happened and I wasn’t there?’
“I think it’s your turn to worry about her.”
“If you d-don’t tell me…”
“Yesterday afternoon her apartment was turned into a blazing inferno. The firefighters didn’t found anybody but the police suppose that someone did that on purpose and -“He stopped because he couldn’t tell him this on phone.
“Rhodey.” Tony called him like that only when he had done something very bad and this wasn’t his fault.
“They found so much blood.”
On the other part of the country, Tony swallowed hard at those words and grabbed the Iron Man helmet from one of the chairs.
“Go on.” He told Rhodey with a tone that shocked his friend. He was so detached, he sounded like he didn’t care at all.
“We don’t know whether she’s alive or not. Tony…”
“Yes?”
“We need you to come here safe. Don’t try and do anything. We’ll talk to the police and send the best team to get her back.”
“I suppose I need to find a new PA, don’t I?” He said, smirking.
Rhodey huffed and felt his blood raising.
“What the hell, Tony?”
“I don’t care.” He told him simply.
After a few moments of quiet, Rhodey spoke the first.
“You suck at lying.”
“You find her, moron. I don’t want to have any other connection with her anymore.”
“After what she’s been through with you…huh?”
“Screw you.”
“Thanks.”
The phone hit the wall with great force and then the last pieces from it scattered over the expensive glass on the floor.
An hour later, an empty Jack Daniels bottle rested onto the king-sized bed along with its possessor.
We don’t have time left to regret, hold on.
‘Cause an empty room can be so loud
There’s too many tears to drown them out
The empty room was indeed too quiet and not too later, it was filled with sobs and unleashed tears for what he’d lost.