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"Hey, Rhodey, that you? Of course it's you the armor wouldn't have powered on otherwise. You need anything?"

He needs air. He takes off the helmet, stumbles out of the suit in the middle of what was supposed to be some afternoon training - some kind of *distraction*.

The silence is a blessing. It's a growing nub of anger that keeps him from falling to his knees, even as ge gasps for breath in the cool air.

Tony is dead, he reminds himself, shaking his head. Holding up a hand to assure a concerned third party he was fine. And the idea of adding an AI with his voice to the suit *just in case* was exactly the mixture of long and short-sighted that Tony would have done.

He takes another minute to regain his composure before he puts the suit back on, half hoping it will be gone.

"Something I said?" Tony's voice asks him, barely moments after the display is lit before his eyes.

"Stop," James tells him simply. There's a brief silence as the command is sorted out, permutations considered.

"Okay, okay. You're the boss. I'll be here."

He lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Part of him hadn't been expecting it to work. Forcing himself to focus, he gets back to work.

"Not bad," he hears again, after a few admittedly impressive maneuvers. "I mean, I could have shaved almost half a minute off your time, but it's a start."

"I told you to stop," James reminds him, tension in his voice. He doesn't expect it to be picked up. Which is good, because it isn't.

"Tried it. Then I remembered you're only sort of the boss of me. Anyway, it was just a compliment. You don't have to be rude."

"You're not real." His voice is flat, accusing, the slightest bit hurt, but it stays level as he lands.

"Ooh. Low-blow, Rhodey. And... wrong. Human? No. I'll give you that one. But if I wasn't real, that would make you a little cuckoo right now."