A Flash From The Past ~ An Avengers Reacts Story

Nine ~ Tony

It had been about five minutes since the last memory was displayed on the screen, and when Kylie told them there was another about to play, they all looked up.

The screen lit up to see Tony and Rhodey looking quite bored sitting in their dorm room. Tony looked about twenty-one, and Hayden told them that he was still in MIT because he had taken an extra course. Neither of them were talking much, both looking tired, most likely from long days of classes and studying.

Tony's phone rang, then, and the contact on the screen showed it was Jarvis. Tony frowned, assuming Jarvis was calling to check up on him, which only seemed to happen once a week, yet he had heard from him yesterday. Tony answered the phone and held it up to his ear.

"Hello?" Tony said.

"Hello, sir, how are you?" Jarvis's voice could be heard through the phone.

"I'm alright," Tony frowned, "Haven't you already called to check on me this week?"

"Yes, I have, sir," Jarvis said, "But I'm afraid I have some bad news to give you."

"Wait," Steve said suddenly. "What year is it?"

"Um," Kylie sounded hesitant to tell him. "Late 1991."

"Oh," Steve said, knowing what this memory was. He felt Bucky shift in his seat beside him, but Steve put his hand on Bucky's arm to tell him he still trusted him, and knew it wasn't Bucky who killed Tony's parents.

Back on screen, Tony looked worried, wondering what would have caused Jarvis to call. He only ever gets calls from home from Jarvis, or something really bad.

"Well, what is it?" Tony asked worriedly.

"You are aware your parents were traveling to the Bahamas and stopping at the Pentagon?" Jarvis asked.

Tony was aware of where they were going, because he had been made to go back home, go to some meeting and had said goodbye then. He was aware of this, but all he picked up on in that sentence was one word.

"'Were'?" Tony asked, "What do you mean they 'were'? Jarvis what happened?" Tony asked this, even though he thought he knew.

"There was an unfortunate incident while they were driving to the Pentagon," Jarvis said, sadness laced in his voice. "There was a crash and... neither one made it."

Young Tony felt his heart stop, and his head spun. It was clear on the screen that he didn't know what to do. Tony had dropped the phone down slightly, and the Avengers could only just hear Jarvis offering words of comfort.

"Oh my god, Tony," Bruce sighed, "How old are you there again?"

"Twenty-one," Tony replied quietly.

Back on screen, Rhodey had noticed a change in Tony's attitude, and had stood up to see what was wrong.

"Tony?" Rhodey frowned, "You good?"

Tony hung up the phone and turned to face Rhodey, his eyes still cast downwards.

"My parents died," Tony said suddenly, still not moving.

"Shit, Tony, I'm so sorry," Rhodey said, "I-"

"No, no," Tony shook his head slightly. "No, it's..." Then Tony laughed, a small dry laugh, no smile behind it. "I was about to say 'it's ok', but it's not, right? I mean, it's not supposed to be. I feel as though I should be... sadder."

Rhodey stared at Tony, unsure what to do.

"Well," Rhodey began, "Grief is different for... different people."

"Yeah, I don't know if this is grief," Tony said, looking confused. "Yeah, I don't..." Tony trailed off and didn't say anything after that. He just left the main room of their dorm and went into his bedroom, leaving Rhodey standing there, unsure what to do.

"Well, uh," Rhodey shouted to Tony's door. "I've kind of gotta get to my class, Tones. I'll see you later, and... God, I'm really sorry, Tony." Rhodey wasn't really sure what he was apologizing for, but it felt right.

"Ok, so," Hayden said, "The memory is gonna skip to when Rhodey gets back from class, so about two hours later."

The screen showed Rhodey walking in and knocking on Tony's door. There was no answer, so he knocked again, more violently.

"Tony?" Rhodey said, knocking again. "If you don't answer I'm just gonna come in." There was still no answer, so Rhodey opened the door and saw Tony sitting on the side of his bed, a couple tear stains on his cheeks.

"I can't believe... my first thought was to feel relieved," Tony said quietly.

"Tony, you had just received news that your parents had... you know," Rhodey told him, "You were confused and-"

"But that's the thing," Tony interrupted him, "I wasn't. I knew exactly what I was thinking and I- I almost... smiled. How messed up is that?"

"Tony, there is nothing messed up about how you feel," Rhodey said, putting a hand on Tony's shoulder which he flinched at slightly. "You will get over this, I promise."

Tony was silent for a moment.

"Obadiah Stane called," Tony said.

"Who?" Asked Rhodey.

"The new head of Stark industries, until I'm old enough," Tony explained, "He wants me to come back to New York."

"Don't you think it will be a bit much?" Rhodey said, concerned for his friend.

"Yeah, but he insisted," Tony said, then sighed. "And I was wondering, would you come too?"

"What?" Rhodey frowned.

"Like, come to New York," Tony said.

"Tones, I haven't even finished my course."

"Neither have I."

"But you're different, Tony. You're set for life, whatever you do," Rhodey explained.

"You could be too," Tony said, "You could have a nice stable job as a military engineer. I could give you a great recommendation and you could work your way up from the bottom, just like you always wanted."

"I mean, that is the whole reason I'm here at MIT, trying to get that job," Rhodey thought for a moment. "Yeah, ok. I'll come back to New York with you. If I can stay at your place."

"Yeah, of course, I was gonna offer that anyway," And for the first time since he'd got Jarvis's call that morning, Tony smiled and the screen went dark.

"So, Rhodey stayed with you in New York, and that's why you guys are such great friends?" Clint asked.

"Pretty much," Tony said, "He never left."

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A/N

Hi, RedCorvette084 here!

Awww Rhodey is such a nice person

Hope you liked this chapter, keep the support coming  we really appreciate this x

Hey guys, Lulusurfista here!

I really hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Howard is finally dead…

We def gotta thank Bucky!

I also absolutely love the friendship between Tony and Rhodey

In the next chapter we are actually going to do a scene from ironman 1!