Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.

Challenges at the bottom.

Word Count - 1700

Written for my very own Honeybear. I hope you like it hun :D

Strong Arms (To Hold You Up)

or

Five times Rhodey held Tony up, and one time Tony returned the favour

I

Rhodey watched the kid and shook his head. He was young, too young to be at a party like this, probably too young to be at MIT at all. He'd heard tell of the Stark heir, the genius teenager that could run rings around adults without even trying.

He'd never expected to be rooming with him when he arrived at MIT though.

Tony was nothing like Rhodey would have expected. Not that he'd really thought much about what he'd be like, but Tony wasn't like any other genius child either.

He watched the kid stumble and shook his head, putting his own drink down. While he wasn't sure how he felt about being on babysitting duty, he could let himself relax and just forget about Tony.

He couldn't just leave him to the group of people surrounding him, pouring more and more alcohol down his neck.

It wasn't right.

Rhodey pushed himself through the crowd and wrapped a strong arm around Tony, holding him up easily. He really had to get some food into the kid, damn!

"C'mon, Tony. Time to go."

"M'fine," Tony slurred. "You go. I'll see you later."

"He's fine with us, Rhodes," Tiberius Stone said, a peculiar look in his eyes. "We'll look after him."

Rhodey snorted. "Uh huh. Not that I don't trust you, Stone, but I don't trust you. C'mon, kid."

He led Tony from the party, refusing to let go of him despite the minor fight Tony put up. As soon as they hit the fresh air, Tony sagged against him.

"M'sorry," he whimpered. "M' a mess."

"Yeah," Rhodey agreed. "Come on, let's get you tucked up in bed."

…

II

"You're coming home with me."

Tony had never expected to hear those words, and yet, during their second Christmas break at MIT, Rhodey had said them.

And he'd refused to take no for an answer.

Tony hadn't known what to expect. He really hadn't. Christmas in the Stark household hadn't been… great. Oh, he got plenty of presents, and there was always plenty of alcohol, but it was just all very… bland.

Except for the party. Because then there were people to put a show on for.

So, Tony didn't have any experience with a real family Christmas, and Christmas with the Rhodes family had been eye-opening.

After eating more than his actual weight in food, and then offered more, Tony had escaped to the back porch of the house for a breather.

The whole day had been surreal. Rhodey's family were just so… kind and caring. Tony had never been asked if he needed anything so often in his life, and he'd grown up with staff that were paid to ask that very question.

He'd never seen such good natured teasing, never known the warm smile Mrs Rhodes gave without thought, never seen such exuberant responses to the simplest of presents.

"You good?"

Tony turned to see Rhodey stepping towards him, looking slightly concerned.

He nodded, smiling.

"Then why are you crying?"

Tony blinked, slowly raising a hand to find that his cheeks were indeed wet with tears. His legs threatened to fail him, but before they could, Rhodey's arm was there, steady and strong as always, holding him up.

"I just… I've never had that," Tony admitted, nodding back towards the house. "You're really lucky, you know?"

Rhodey nodded. "I know. And hey, I'll share with you whenever you want, okay?"

Tony smiled.

…

III

Rhodey stood silently beside Tony, his hand resting on the small of his back, just in case. He felt a little awkward, in the front row of the church, when he'd only met Howard and Maria once before, but when they'd entered, Tony had gripped his hand tightly and Rhodey hadn't wanted to force him to do this alone.

Because, for all of his seventeen years and numerous staff and people after his money or brain, Tony didn't really have anyone else.

Obadiah Stane stood on Tony's other side, an appropriately sombre look on his face but there was just… something about the grip he had on Tony's shoulder that Rhodey didn't like.

He wasn't trying to hold Tony up. He was pushing him down.

The service was long and wordy, but eventually, they were parading outside to the gravesite.

Long after everyone else had left for the wake, Tony remained, staring down at the uncovered graves in the ground.

Rhodey wasn't expecting it, and so he barely caught Tony when his legs finally stopped holding him up.

He didn't say anything; there was nothing to say. He held Tony against his chest and stroked a hand through his hair, for long minutes, while Tony sobbed.

This was why he'd come. Because nobody else was going to hold Tony up.

Later that night, when Tony had spent hours being the son the world expected at the wake, accepting condolences with his usual charm, Rhodey helped him into the bathtub in his own small flat.

He washed his best friend's hair, and then helped him into too big sweats and Rhodey's MIT jumper.

With a bundle of blankets under one arm, and Tony leaning into the other, Rhodey set them up in the living room with their own little blanket fort and crawled inside, wrapping himself protectively around the seventeen year old.

For the first time since the news about the accident came in, Tony slept without passing out in an alcohol induced stupor.

…

IV

He refused to believe that Tony was dead. Not until he had solid proof.

He searched. He searched and he searched and he searched.

His commanding officers were sympathetic but also fast losing patience, because nobody expected Tony to still be alive.

Rhodey ignored every single one of them.

When the report came in of explosions, it took a moment to register in his mind. Because Rhodey knew.

Minutes later, he was in the helicopter, and minutes after that, he was throwing himself out of the helicopter before it had fully landed and running across hot desert sand towards his best friend.

He didn't catch Tony this time, the man was already on his knees, but he held him against his chest and let him cry his relief and pain in the relative privacy of his arms.

Rhodey held his own tears until later that night, while Tony slept beside him on the jet. His commanding officers had been surprised that Rhodey had been correct, but Rhodey had seen the simmering respect in their eyes as they granted his leave to escort Tony home personally.

He'd seen the questioning glances from his fellow Air Force colleagues, could tell they didn't understand the relationship between him and Tony, but Rhodey ignored them all. He knew that most people were seduced by the money and the fame that came with the Stark name, but he also knew that he was one of a very small number of people that were instead seduced by the mess that was Tony.

Rhodey knew, without doubt, that he would follow this man without question for as long as he lived, regardless of the time or the situation.

He knew, no matter what, his place was by Tony's side.

…

V

"I can't believe it was him," Tony admitted, staring into the whisky glass. "Even… even with the proof laid out in front of me, I never thought Obi would—"

"I know, Tones," Rhodey murmured. "For what it's worth, I never would have suspected him either."

"He tried to have me killed, Rhodey. It's not like… some ridiculous power move. He wanted me dead."

Rhodey wrapped an arm around Tony's shoulders. "You've still got me, Tones. And Pep, and Happy."

Tony leant into the embrace, feeling safe and protected in a way that he only ever did with Rhodey. For so many years, Rhodey had been the one to hold Tony up. Tony didn't know what he'd done to inspire that kind of loyalty from the man, but he hoped he never stopped doing it.

"I've got you, Tones," Rhodey murmured, resting his chin on Tony's head.

"I know," Tony whispered. "You always do."

…

+I

Tony spent weeks in a caffeine induced inventing frenzy. He was fine, this was just a good distraction from… nothing he wanted to think about. When he was finally done, he collapsed onto the lumpy couch in his lab and slept for fifteen hours straight.

"Hello, stranger," Rhodey greeted from the chair he'd been placed in before Tony's arrival.

Tony swallowed. "Hey, Honeybear."

"This wasn't your fault," Rhodey said, straight to the heart of Tony as he always was.

Not wanting to argue, but also disagreeing, Tony shrugged. "I brought you a present," he said instead, gesturing to the boxes two staff had just fetched in. "Leg braces. They, uh, you'll be able to walk around with them. Maybe, if I can find a way, even use them to pilot War Machine."

Rhodes swallowed. He'd wondered, when Tony hadn't been visiting him for a few weeks, if the man had been working on something for his legs, but he hadn't… hadn't dared hope for this.

"Can I fit them on you?" Tony asked, opening one of the boxes.

"Of course," Rhodey replied immediately. Not only did he really, really, want to be able to walk again, but he sensed that Tony needed the show of trust almost as much as Rhodey needed the braces.

"You'll be running around in no time," Tony murmured, as he carefully placed the braces just so. "Back to being a hooligan before you know it."

"If anyone here is a hooligan, it certainly ain't me," Rhodey replied with a snort.

Tony chuckled and nodded. "You're probably right."

Tony stood up, checking the braces a final time, before he held his hands out to Rhodey. "Take it slowly, and let me help you up," he said.

Rhodey placed his hands in Tony's and let the smaller man pull him up onto his feet. Tony let go of one of his hands to wrap his arm around Rhodey's back.

At Rhodey's raised eyebrow, Tony blushed lightly. "You've held me up for years, sour patch. It's my turn this time."

Written for;

Assorted Appreciation - 16. Something that revolves around the number 5. (5+1 fic)

Book Club; Tatamaru - Loyal / Running / Frenzy

Showtime - 19. Friendship

Attic - 3. Following someone without question

Arcade - C5. Seduce

Days of the Year - 28. Friendship fic

Flowers - Winter Jasmine; Theme; Protection

Element - Bathtub

365 - 19. Bundle

1000 - 19. Hooligan