ᴛʜᴇ ᴛᴏᴡᴇʀ ᴏғ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍs

The drift compatibility test never lied. That's what his father had told him in any case before going down with his jaeger. Howard Stark had been the one to develop the damn test, but Tony fails to see its scientific value at times. He had taken over the Jaeger Project in the wake of his father's death, but he never intended to pilot one of the damn things himself. He's only in the pool because they're losing pilots faster than they can train them up and pair them off. The last thing he ever expects is to get a hit, and even less so for it to be an adolescent rival of his.

James Rhodes, or Rhodey as Tony had once called him what seemed like a lifetime ago, had attended school with him many years ago. They had fallen out of touch after Rhodey went on to join the Academy. It's an awkward reunion, at least at first, but soon they're as they ever were and Tony finds a new normal at the man's side. They have to do everything together, from showers to breakfast to teeth-brushing and even to bed. The drift process means synchronizing everything they do, and once they are absolutely inseparable their first mission is issued.

The storm rages, causing the ocean to slosh around them like a giant bathtub. A Kaiju is terrorizing ships off the coast and it's their job to put a stop to it. It seems straight-forward until they're out there, honestly. And when he catches his first glimpse of the creature paralyzing fear creeps through their connection. This is the same beast that put his father down, the scar across the monster's face making it immediately identifiable. Before Tony quite knows what's happening, the Kaiju takes them down, and it's all he can do to fight just to stay alive. He thinks they got a few good shots in before the Jaeger hit the water, but now he has to focus all his energy on not drowning.

They had still been connected, and Tony didn't look like he was going to make it. In fact, when he blearily opens his eyes, he assumes he's dead already. The clinical room filters in around him in shades, bandages wrapped tightly around his sternum and arms. Everything hurts, his throat is dry, but all he can think about is Rhodey. Where is he? What happened out there? He scrambles at the wrappings, getting them open so he can see for himself. The mechanism whirring in his chest is like something out of an old movie and it's all he can do to get away. He gets up too quick and immediately goes down, hard, on the tile, his IV ripping right out of his arm and causing a faint trickle and staining his bandages red.