So this is my first foray into Marvel… This story is set in the Movie-verse and basically fills in the scenes that were not seen in the movies. For example the first four chapters of this fic are scenes that are not covered in the first Iron Man film. It's called 'Connections' because eventually later chapters dealing with other MCU films will mention events in earlier chapters. This fic will include all the other Avengers which is why I am posting it in this section.

I'm not sure about posting this as it's a new fandom for me… So feedback would be appreciated!

Title: Connections

Author: the-writer1988

Rating: K+ (could raise to a T)

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or any of the associated characters.

Summary: Missing scenes from the MCU, from the first Iron Man film until the end of Civil War.

Connections

One: The Kidnapping

He couldn't believe what had just happened.

He'd only been five minutes behind.

In five minutes everything had gone spectacularly wrong.

When they finally caught up to the rest of the military convey, Lieutenant Colonel James 'Rhodey' Rhodes flung open the passenger door to the Humvee, grabbing a gun on his way out, followed by the rest of the men he had been travelling with.

Two Humvee's had been destroyed whilst the others had been littered with bullet holes. Bodies lay scattered amongst the land, their guns lying next to them. Rhodey breathed sharpish. Everyone was dead. His eyes found the Humvee his friend had been travelling in. It hadn't been destroyed but there were multiple bullet shots through the bodywork. The three soldiers that had been tasked to protect Tony Stark were dead beside the vehicle, killed instantly they exited it, their blood staining the side of it.

He knew what the outcome would be. If everyone else was dead…

Rhodey made his way over to the Humvee, accompanied by the other soldiers, all of whom held their guns up, gesturing around, looking for any sign of the attackers. Rhodey reached forward and grasped the handle of the Humvee and pulled it open. His friend was not there.

The seat was empty and the glass that the billionaire carried with him was shattered on the floor. The portable radio was in pieces.

"Tony?" Rhodey asked weakly. Where was he?

"Colonel!" a voice shouted out to him from behind.

Rhodey turned away from the Humvee and looked towards the solider who was gesturing at him from behind a pile of rocks situated just two hundred metres away from the road. He hurried over, rounding the rocks, expecting to see a body but he didn't.

Tony's phone lay abandoned in the sand, speckled with blood. He never went anywhere without it. Small shards of metal lay in the dust. A rocket had exploded here. A large patch of blood was stained into the earth. A body had lain here. Rhodey swallowed. Footsteps, mostly covered now by the whirling sand in the air, had dragged a body away.

"They took him," stated Rhodey calmly. He was a soldier. He couldn't let his emotions get the best of him. He tried to follow the footsteps but the sand in the air had already settled, obscuring the tracks. He had to think, he had to command. "We need to find Tony. I'll alert Bagram Air Base. Everyone get to work!"

Making the call back to Bagram Air Base was one of the most difficult things Rhodey had ever had to do. He knew it wouldn't be the hardest. Breaking the news to Pepper would be the worst. But he had to report. The plane due to take Stark back to America had been on standby to fly him back. Now he had to stand it down. He stepped aside as the rest of the soldiers began to work on tracing the now vanished footsteps, opening his radio and calling back to base.

"This is Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes reporting to base. We have a situation, over."

"What is the nature of the situation, Colonel, over?" the reply came quick and brisk.

Rhodey breathed deeply. "There's been an ambush. The convoy escorting Mr Tony Stark back to base has been attacked. All the soldiers are dead. Tony is… missing."

It was late evening and Pepper was just getting ready for bed when her phone rang. She wasn't expecting a call but she knew Tony would have completed his weapon's demonstration in Afghanistan by now. She glanced at the caller ID before answering. Rhodey. Odd. She shrugged it off and answered.

"Pepper? Is it okay to talk to you?"

Pepper frowned. Rhodey sounded shaken. "It is… Are you okay? What has Tony done?" She could only think her boss must have done something to make Rhodey sound uneasy.

"No… no…" Rhodey replied hastily. "Are you sitting down?"

Pepper had the distinct impression something was wrong. "Rhodey? Please tell me! What is going on?" Before he could ask her the same question again, she snapped: "Yes, I am sitting down!"

"Pepper…"

He struggled to find the right words, she could tell.

"Something happened…"

"Is Tony…?"

Rhodey came right out and said it. "Tony's missing, Pepper."

She blinked, mouth hanging open in shock at his words. She had not expected him to say that. She leaned back on the bed.

"On the way back to base…" Rhodey began slowly. "Tony left with the first part of the convoy… They were ambushed…"

"Rhodey…" Pepper wanted to interrupt. This couldn't be happening. It had to be some elaborate joke the two of them had cooked up.

"We were behind them by five minutes… They killed all the soldiers, Pepper, and took Tony. It was terrorists, Pepper. We're trying to find him, bring him home… but I had to tell you first, before anyone else… I'm sorry…" Rhodey fell silent.

Pepper didn't know what to say. She burst into tears, clutching the phone to her chest. She didn't disconnect the call but couldn't speak as grief overwhelmed her. She curled up on the bed and let the tears slide down her cheeks.

All the while, Rhodey remained on the other end of the line in Afghanistan, listening to her, knowing he needed to be there when she could finally speak.

-End-

The next missing scenes are set dealing with the reaction to Tony's kidnapping.

I am aware there is a deleted scene in Iron Man which shows Rhodey during the attack on the convey but in a tie-in comic which I have read about places him as arriving after Tony's kidnapping. I think this is a more accurate version of events because I find it difficult to believe terrorists would be able to kidnap Tony from the convey if Rhodey had been there, especially since, based on where Tony is injured by the missile shards that he lands on the side of the convey where the terrorists are not attacking from. To get to him they'd have to get around the stationed vehicles and then take him, after killing everyone in the convey. And we do see in the film Tony's Humvee drive off before Rhodes gets to his so I think it is reasonable to assume this is a more accurate version of events.

I don't know how often I will update this but I hope to keep a semi-regular posting schedule. I have other ideas for other films throughout the MCU. I'm only new to the MCU so if my characterisations are off please let me know as I want to get the characters right and accurate. I haven't read any of the comics so please do not expect any references to that medium. I am working solely from what I have seen in the films.

The only MCU film I have not seen yet is 'The Incredible Hulk' so, at the moment, I will not be able to include any filler scenes from that. If anyone has any other ideas of scenes they would like to see, please let me know and I will consider inserting them in!

the-writer1988