Fall of the Mighty ★ [4] ✔

When We Meet Again

⏳ 2016

The base had never been emptier than it was now two months later. The Vision was always skulking around playing chess with himself and wandering through the walls (what were doors, anyway?). Nat had gone off the grid. The Kitty Prince had screwed off back to Wakanda after a lovely lunch date with Everett Ross and the Task Force about Zemo's fate. I was considering bringing Spider-Kid to bunk in one of the dozens of spare rooms, but he'd have to prove himself first.

And that left Rhodey.

I strolled along side him as he conducted his therapy, gripping one pole and a hand rested on my shoulder. The new braces on his legs I'd designed seemed to be working well. He'd be walking in no time at this rate.

"It's just the first pass," I said.

"Yeah," Rhodey replied through breaths.

"Give me some feedback, anything you think of. Shock absorption, lateral movement." I shrugged. "Cup holder?"

Rhodey grinned at me. "You may wanna think about some AC down in—"

He gasped in pain as his legs gave way. I tried to catch him, but gravity got the best of me, and he nearly faceplanted to the ground. Guilt sucked me in. Not just that I was a bad friend for not catching him. But because he was in this position because of me. No matter which way I looked at it, he was paralysed because of my decisions. If it weren't for me, he'd still be walking.

I crouched by him and held out a hand. "Let's go. I'll give you a hand."

Rhodey waved me off. "No, no. Don't-Don't help me."

He moved into a sitting position as I set down to one knee. A pause took over, a silence that riddled my guilt even further into me.

Rhodey looked up at me and scoffed. "A hundred and thirty-eight. A hundred and thirty-eight combat missions. That's how many I've flown, Tony. Every one of them could've been my last, but I flew them." He watched me carefully. "Because the fight needed to be fought. It's the same with these Accords. I signed because it was the right thing to do." He glared down at his legs bitterly. "And yeah, this sucks. This is, uh...this is a bad beat."