Colonel James Rhodes considered himself a military man but, above all, a patriot. The servant of his country. Sometimes, that honor was a serious thing. And sometimes, it meant babysitting Tony Stark. It wasn't James' favorite job, but Tony was a good man and a friend. For the past few months, however, they had increasingly clashed. Tony had gone from chief military contractor to sold out for the liberal agenda, except when he decided to fly his latest toy into a war zone. Some sharp words and Pepper's good influence on him had brought that more or less to a stop.

"Come in," Tony said through the comm, opening the gate with a button.

James drove down into the garage, where Tony was now apparently keeping all his… suits. There were four of them now. One was plain steel, the next one was red and gold, a thinner, lighter red one was hanging on the wall, and a blue one with a star on its chest around the mini arc reactors.

"Tony," he said. "Unless you're going to be handing those over like you should, why are we meeting in here?"

"Rhodey!" Tony said with a smile before downing a green drink so dark it was almost black. He made a face. "It's good to see you too."

"It's good to see you Tony," James said, doing his best to be patient. Tony was fun, but he was, ah, unpredictable. He'd settled down a little since he got together with Pepper, but in the context of Tony that didn't mean a whole lot. "I just don't get why we couldn't have met somewhere else - A club, a restaurant, a park. Somewhere that wasn't, you know, your bunker."

"Rhodey this is a garage." Tony said, "Surprised you don't know that. Though I kind of like the sound of that. 'Bunker' sounds likes something I'd have as a mad scientist."

Was he ever going to get a straight response from this guy? "Pepper worries about you."

"Pepper worries about everything."

"Yeah, Tony, that's what girlfriends do."

"No, I mean, not just me, Stark Industries, climate change. Crime, since that quote-unquote mugging."

"You're being paranoid," James said. "There's no evidence that guy was anything other than a normal mugger."

"So he claims," Tony said, beginning one of his circling, anxious walks around the shop. "Who doesn't recognize me?"

"Lots of people, Tony," Jame said, exasperated. "You're not Jesus or George Washington."

"I mean, I think of myself as more of a Prometheus, but I could see the case for a kinder, gentler kind of god."

James resisted the urge to smack Tony. "A little humility, Tony."

"I'm kidding, you know that right? You know I'm kidding? See, so why are you complaining about a joke? Really, Rhodey, you need to lighten up."

"I need to lighten up, you spend most of your days underground working constantly on what's basically a personal tank!"

"It's more of a jet, or a prosthesis, it's not really a tank. Those have these big treads. I mean, come on Rhodey, you're a fighter pilot."

"Tony, why am I here? Because if you're just looking for the chance to rag on me, I've got other things to do."

Tony paused, almost like he'd been struck. "No, no, it's not… I'm sorry. I wanted to talk to you about taking the Iron Man suit."

"Tony, we talked about this. I don't want to work for you."

"No, no, you wouldn't be working for me. You'd be working for your country. And Pepper, of course."

"Of course." James said, "Tony, it's not about you personally. You know I like you. You're not always as serious as you should be, but you're a good guy. And in spite of your pacifist kick, I know you really care about our troops and our country. But I'm a soldier, Tony, not a hired gun."

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

"It's not," Tony sighed and leaned against a wall. "It's not that. It's…" Tony took a deep breath and looked as serious as James had ever seen him. "I'm dying, Rhodey."

"Is this some kind of a joke?" James said, mind reeling.

"Would I joke about something like that?" Tony paused and thought about it, "Okay, yes, it's not a joke."

"God, Tony," James said. Tony was his friend. He was a good man and, James would never have said it out loud, sometimes even a great one. "I'm so sorry."

"Well, happens to everybody," Tony said, trying to sound philosophical about it. "Pepper's the only other person I've told."

"What's wrong?"

Tony tapped the glowing circle on his chest, "Palladium's toxicity is pretty low - But these things do eventually melt the stuff. Tried some other things, but basically no way to power the thing without incident. More power is worse, so I've been keeping out of the sky. You're welcome for that, by the way. I'm trying to get everything in order for-" Tony put a hand over his mouth, "Well, I want things to be simple for Pepper when I'm gone."

"Well, is there anything we can do?" Jame said.

"I don't think so," Tony said with a sigh, "But if they have some kind of magical cure for blood toxicity, I'd love to have it. Anyway, we're straying from the point."

"The point? Tony, you're dying."

"And, again, that happens to everybody. I'm… I'm trying to leave behind a legacy, Rhodey, of something other than war. Of peace and prosperity, not bombs and bullets. My father, all his life, the thing he was proudest of… It was his participation in the Captain America project. He invented so much stuff, but he had this… fixation. And as I find myself staring down the inevitable, I want to do something like that too. Oh, I'll fix climate change and plastics and all that before I go, but I want to leave a legacy that's a little bit more heroic. A bit more George Washington than Albert Einstein."

James shook his head, but tried to focus. If this was what Tony wanted to focus on, it's what Tony wanted to focus on. After a few seconds he said, "Tony, look. I can't."

"Can't what? I've got a sheet of paper here," he turned and looked at the robot arm, "That's your signal," and the robot arm brought over a clip board with a stack of papers as this a Rhodey's hand, "that lends the Patriot suit of armor to the U.S. government, to be piloted by James Rhodes or whomsoever he should appoint on missions of national security importance, as determined by the U.S. government and an independent ethics commission elected from the MIT Philosophy department and including one Ms. Pepper Potts. We'll even cover the cost of maintenance."

"What?"

"I mean, I know MIT's philosophy department isn't great, but it's our alma mater Rhodey, don't act like it's a ridiculous suggestion. Just, take this back to your superiors and think about it."

James took the clipboard and thumped it against his hand. "Alright, but I'm not giving up on you just yet," he said. And then he hugged.

"Alright," Tony said, hugging him back, "That's, yeah, it's alright."