Rhiley sat curled in the passenger seat, her body heavy with exhaustion. The dim morning light filtered in through the windshield, casting soft, tired shadows across her face.
"So now you're just gonna leave me here," Harley said, his voice low and raw, "like my dad?"
"Yep." Tony's reply was too fast, too dry. Then he glanced at Harley, frowning. "...Wait. You're guilt-tripping me, aren't you?"
Harley pretended to act cold. "I'm cold."
"I can tell." He kept his eyes on the road. "You know how I can tell? 'Cause we're connected."
The tires crunched over gravel as they pulled away from the house. Rhiley didn't respond. Her eyes drifted shut for a second, not to sleep, just to rest.
"He's a good kid," she murmured.
"Don't talk." Tony's voice came sharp. "You died. We don't even know how injured you are. We need to get you to—"
"A hospital?" Rhiley gave a soft, breathy laugh. "That won't work."
Tony hit the brakes and pulled over to the side of the road. The car idled as he reached into his jacket and pulled out his phone.
"Who are you calling?" she asked.
"A tight-ass." He put the phone on speaker just as the line picked up.
"Hello?" Rhodey sounded winded. Gunfire echoed faintly in the background.
"You ever have a chick straddling you, and you look up, and suddenly she's glowing from the inside out, kind of a bright orange?"
Rhiley's lip twitched. "I haven't slept with Rhodey," she muttered, deadpan.
Tony visibly cringed. "Don't." He pointed at her with mock horror. "Ever."
"Who is this?"
"It's me, pal," Tony said, eyes flicking to Rhiley. "Now, last time I went missing, if I remember correctly, you came looking for me. What are you doing? -- And Rhiley died," he added casually.
"What?"
"She's alive now," Tony followed up like it was the most normal thing in the world.
"Good way to bring that up," Rhiley muttered under her breath, forehead resting against the cool window.
"She came to save me, but it didn't work out."
"Because she died?" Rhodey asked, incredulous.
"I'm alive," Rhiley called out.
"I'm making friends in Pakistan right now. What are you doing?"
"Your redesign. Your big rebrand," Tony said. "That was AIM, right?"
"Yeah."
"I'm gonna find a heavy-duty comm sat. I need your login."
"It's the same as it's always been. 'WarMachine68.'"
"And password?"
"Well, I gotta change it every time you hack in, Tony."
"It's not the '80s, nobody says 'hack' anymore. Just give me your login."
Rhodey sighed. "WAR MACHINE ROX. With an 'X.' All caps."
Tony laughed. "That is so much better than Iron Patriot."
As the call ended, Tony pulled off again, only to slam on the brakes a moment later when he spotted a suspicious-looking van parked off the highway. Without hesitation, he jumped out of the car and jogged toward it.
YOU ARE READING
Radioactive | Bucky Barnes
Fanfiction"I want to go back to the time you first told me your name." Rhiley, the twin sister of Howard Stark, finds herself wrapped up with the one and only James Barnes. The next time she sees him is on her new assignment with the 107th Infantry Regiment...
