2012-09-15 Where The Heart Is

After doing her homework and getting in touch with Ling, Bethany is packing. It's hard to pack around the boxes still cluttering her third-floor apartment. She's not sure, still, whether to fly everything back to Germany or to establish a larger apartment for herself outside of CMS. 
She kicks Sal out for fussing and puts on some quiet classical music, checks the weather in Madripoor. Rainy. Of course. Oh, well. It won't show on the all-black gear she'll be wearing for most of the trip. She'll spend the whole flight there trying to work out how to resolve this without shooting anyone.
Having received his official clearance (which mostly seemed to consist of Sal's approval), Rhodey now has relatively free access to the facility. He lets himself in and follows the sounds of music. Literally. 
 
When he reaches Beth's door, he gives a quick tap-tap that's made sharper than it should be by his metal knuckles. Once he's announced his presence, he lets himself in. His flight suit is a dark, dusty blue color today. One hand is tucked at the small of his back as he takes a few steps into the room. "Hey," he says, keeping his voice low, barely louder than the music.
 
The apartment is a studio apartment, small and sparely decorated. There are some photos of little-Beth on the entertainment unit, as well as heaps of photos of her school friends and a woman who is probably Nanny. The bed on the far side of the room is made neatly but there's a crumpled heap of blankets on the long leather couch. The place does tell a story in a quick glance. 
Beth whips around anyway, then relaxes. She's wearing a loose black tank-top and yoga pants and nothing else. Her hair is still damp from a quick wash. "Hey. What brings you here?" She gives him a smile, then knots her hair back in a twist to get it out of her face... from which it immediately begins to unravel. It's the usual battle when she can't be bothered to find an elastic.
"Just wanted to see you one more time before you left," Rhodey admits. "And to bring you this. A going away present." 
 
With a sheepish, crooked smile on his face, he takes a step closer and pulls his hand from behind his back. He's holding a bandolier. There's a small, perfect rose with the stem clipped short tucked into the top loop. The rest have small grenades hooked to them. Each one is normal in appearance; olive drab with a pin and an arming handle, but they're about the size of a golf ball and have 'V40 MINI' stenciled on the side in yellow lettering. There are eleven of them altogether. 
 
The whole kit is offered to Bethany. "In case of emergency. Be safe, okay?"
 
Bethany might be annoyed with someone else but Rhodey just gets a sweet smile and a little hop-skip as Bethany comes over to take it from him. "You know if I'm doing my job, they never see me coming, Mr. Rhodes," she sasses as she takes it from him. She has this almost-laughing look she gets when she's being cheeky like that. "Are you suggesting I can't do my job?" 
Then she puts her free hand on his cheek and stands up on her toes to kiss his other cheek. "You're lovely, thank you." Somehow that turns into a fierce hug, grenades in hand or no. "Really."
Rhodey doesn't hesitate; he scoops Beth into his arms and returns the hug warmly. With his cheek pressed to hers, she's in contact with both the human and metal portions of his face at the same time. They're the same temperature, and the metal is surprisingly smooth. "Like I said, just in case." 
 
He pulls back far enough to give her a wink. "I almost brought my sidearm, but when I put it in a box it felt like I was bringing a ring over here. Don't get me wrong, I like you, but we just moved in together."
 
"Yes, I think that would be a little much. I'm still wearing black, you know." Not withstanding the fact that she wears it all the time for work--the figurative is more important here. Bethany hugs him again, this time for reassurance more than just happiness. "Thank you for thinking of me. You do a very good job of that."
"Ooh..." Rhodey winces. "Insensitive. Sorry. With the..." No saving that one, so he waves a hand and forges on. "You're welcome. You do the same for me all the time." 
 
Another hug, this time a gentler one. "I don't have a lot of friends," he says gruffly. "I have to take care of the ones I've got."
Activity In 1 Hero MUX 02:43 AM
 
"It's okay. Sometimes I forget. And it happened to me." Bethany stops hugging but holds onto his hand. "I feel like a terrible person for that, but... It is what it is." It was more of a business arrangement than a marriage, no matter how much she loved Alex, no matter how much she'd once adored him with a childlike ferocity. The distance saved her but that didn't make her feel better now. "Come on in. Sorry about the mess." The boxes, the packing going on, the general sense of unrest about the place.
"Don't sweat it." There's something about Rhodey's tone. He's not just talking about the apartment. There's a measure of understanding and compassion to the simple statement. He knows what it's like to lose people and then move on. 
 
He lifts their joined hands high in the air to clear a stack of boxes as they walk by on either side of them. "You still have to keep living your life. And you are. I'm proud of you."
 
"Thanks. I don't know what else to do, though, so I'm not sure how much there is to be proud of." Bethany gives his hand a little squeeze before she lets go in order to pack the bandolier away in a reinforced case that holds a number of other explosives. She removes a few pieces to made room. VBIEDs, car bombs, are Sal's thing, but he wanted her to keep it open as an option. 
"If I stop moving, I feel lonely. It's absurd because I'm really not without any resources I had before. It was the same when my parents died," she says quietly. She takes the rose and tucks it into the case that holds her sniper rifle. Hopefully, she won't have to use that, either. "I hardly ever saw them except for a few weeks of vacation a year. I mean, in my whole life. But when they were gone, I was bereft. I was so angry they ended up in a place with no fire exits, no security, that the warnings were out on the wires and their driver took them out anyway. It's how I ended up doing this, because their deaths were so very horrible and I was so lost... I had to keep moving."
"Stop. Stop. Stop moving." Against all odds, Rhodey is smiling at all this. He grabs Bethany by the shoulders to stop her packing and looks her in the eye. "You're not lost anymore. I found you. You're right here." 
 
It's silly. Stupid, even. But in a way, his logic is irrefutable. Now it's his turn to pull her in for a hug. "Jesus, kid," he whispers. "That really is terrible. You've been through too much."
 
Bethany puts her arms aroud Rhodey's waist and leans into him. When she talks, she sounds very young and bare. "Sometimes, I feel like I'm a machine. There should be someone inside me, but I'm just these programs that run and run and run. When you take your armour off, you're here. I can feel you. But I am my armour, Rhodey. If I take it off, I disappear."
"Can't disappear if I don't let you go," Rhodey says, stubborn to the core. He strokes her hair gently and brushes it back behind her ear. With his chin resting on the top of her head, his face isn't visible. He's free to let a stricken, pained look cross his face. "And I won't. Not until you tell me to. Promise."
 
"Then don't let go. Because I want to take my armour off, when I can. Just not now. I don't want to do this thing I have to do, Rhodey," Bethany says wearily. "It's not even done and I'm already sorry for it. I want to shake hands and call it a draw. And then I want to go to bed and sleep. But I picked the fight, I have to finish it. Ling won't let me finish it the way I want and she's right about that, so I have to do this thing. I wish the cheap bastard had sprung for a shooter who was a better shot is all. I should shoot him for that if nothing else, I guess."
"Don't talk like that," Rhodey says firmly. "You do what you have to do. When it's done, you come home and we'll set up our new place. Work on your armor. Move on." 
 
Maybe a little too firm. Heavy-handed. It's the way he tackles life. Attack an issue, beat it into submission, then on to the next one. He nods once, briskly. "You can do it," he says. "I know you can. Just be safe. Come home. It'll be here, waiting for you."
 
"I'm tired, that's all," Bethany admits, hugging Rhodey tighter. "I'm sleeping like shit. Which is stupid. I almost always slept alone and when I didn't, it didn't always go well. But getting in bed grates on me. I found Alex in this alley, on some mattress they'd pitched him on, or with. I sat with him while I waited for Sal and the cops and I could feel that tilt from his weight that always pulled me down. And all I could think was 'I'm never going to feel that again'. Every time I get in bed, it just runs through my head and I can't sleep. I keep checking."
"Come on," Rhodey says. Gently, he disentangles himself from the hug. Reluctantly, though. 
 
Then, still holding Bethany's hand, he leads her over to her bed. "You wanna be the big spoon or the little spoon?" he asks, cocking an eyebrow curiously. 
 
And it's as simple as that. He gives her a 'why not?' shrug.
 
Even Bethany has to sleep some time. "Little." She eyes her bed as if it's the enemy, then yanks the covers back. Stupid bed. Stupid sleep. She taps the pad on the bedside table to take down the lights in the room. Then, reluctantly, she crawls in and leaves room for Rhodey on the other side. She has a stubborn look on her face, though, jaw set and a hint of a pout. She's pissed off about it being an issue, angry at herself for continuing to feel too much about everything.
"You're adorable when you scowl," Jim says as he slips into bed next to her. True to his word, he stacks against her, wrapping his metal body around her and nuzzling his face against her hair. It's about as real as spooning gets. 
 
"Get some sleep, Little Spoon," he advises. "You've got a big day ahead of you."
 
"You're the best." Bethany finds his hand and pulls his arm tight around her, curving her body back against his. "Can I keep you?" She wriggles around to get herself sorted just so between him and blankets and pillows, then subsides with a sigh.
"Thought you'd never ask," Rhodey replies. He closes his eyes and relaxes; truly relaxes. He winds his fingers through Bethany's and lets out a quiet, happy sigh. There's a smile on his face that stretches from ear to ear as he cradles her against his chest. 
 
If home is where the heart is, then right now, at this moment, home is here. With her.
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