I hope I got my thoughts out clearly on this...I wrote it in like 20 minutes though so I don't expect it to be that great. In any case, this was an idea I've had running around in my head for a while that I finally got to writing. Hope you enjoy!
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Tony is well used to people hating him. Whether it was because he used to make weapons or he was a playboy or jealousy over his money or his general lack of respect toward authority figures, he couldn't remember a time when at least someone was looking at him with derision and making no attempt at hiding it.
The military hating him is a new one, though if he was in their place and he had to downgrade to Hammer Tech after Stark Industries stopped weapons productions, he would be reacting the same way. Hammer Tech sucked, and to have to pay the same prices for subpar materials would get anyone's panties in a bunch.
There was a compromise, though – not that Tony would ever admit that he was compromising with anyone, because Tony Stark always gets what he wants (or so people think). He goaded Rhodey into taking another Iron Man suit, one that he knew would be taken to the military but would only work with Rhodey's body inside. Granted, this was at a time he was dying so he didn't think that he'd have to continue seeing the armor in the military's hands. But he wasn't going to take it back, instead taking everything in stride and pretending he would've done this anyway.
He called the armor War Machine, because that's pretty much what it was. It was bulkier than his own armor, and could carry more weapons with its support structure. And that was why the military wanted it – for war. It was a snarky sort of name, a jab at the military who was all about weaponry and war, something Tony had left behind months ago.
And then, they painted it red, white, and blue. He didn't care much for that, even though it looked like Captain America had barfed all over his creation. What he did care about was how they renamed it – the Iron Patriot.
And he knew – he knew with the same certainty he had that his father never cared for him as a child – that the similar name to his own was intentional. It was just enough to show people how similar the armor was to Iron Man, just enough to get people reminded of his own armor, before they were reminded that this one – this monstrosity painted in the colors of the flag, who visited children's hospitals as well as keeping America safe – this was the better one. Because this one was a patriot. And Tony Stark, with his ostentatious red and gold armor? He was just a man. And not just a man, but not the patriot.
It was a subtle distinction, but Tony was observant. He understood exactly the intended purpose in the name.
He didn't say anything about it, though – best not to show how the words cut. Tony had learned that more than anything at his father's knee, and it was a lesson he would not soon forget. So what if the military was pissed at him? They couldn't actually do anything about it, because technically Tony loaned the suit to Rhodey. It was still his, and he could take it back at any moment. He wouldn't, but the point was still there.
So he pretended to pout, made it a joke. Said his name was perfectly fine, and the military was too picky. He didn't know if Rhodey picked up on the distinction of the new name, but he never said anything about it.
If the military was going to be like that, they could deal with Hammer Tech without him feeling a trace of guilt about it.
Because at the end of the day, Tony adopted the same attitude towards them as he did with most everything else in his life, the same attitude that had gotten him this far without breaking down –
If they don't agree with you, fuck them.