Chapter 11
"Rhodey?" Natasha asks intelligently, as if she knew everything.
"Yes, princess assassin, it was Rhodey," Tony smirked, then let out an annoyed sigh.
"Try to be normal," he asked the room of avengers.
"Don't worry Tony, he's not at all normal," Natasha patted Tony on the shoulder, then walked out of the room swiftly.
"I'll be in the workshop. Jarvis, tell me when his car enters the parking garage," Tony spoke to the invisible butler.
"Tony- You've already been in the workshop all night-" Bruce began, but was cut off by Jarvis.
"Of course sir," Jarvis replied briskly.
"That thing still creeps me out," Steve whispered to Clint once Tony was safely out of ear shot.
"I'll try to seem less creepy, Captain Rogers," Jarvis spoke over the speakers.
Steve's eyes opened, alarmed that the computerized voice could hear everything he said.
Clint laughed at Steve's obvious distress, but Thor also seemed freaked out by the strange voice.
Bruce shook his head, a smile on his face.
Thor and Steve were still in the main room when Clint left to find Natasha in the training room.
Her voice bursted from the speakers, "Steve, Thor, want to come down here and spar?" She seemed excited to kick some avenger butt.
"Sure," Steve said, having nothing better to do.
"Certainly, but I fear that Mjornir will be an unfair advantage," Thor said happily, swinging his hammer around as he followed Steve downstairs.
Bruce was in his lab for most of the morning, Tony was in his workshop.
When Jarvis' voice piped from the speakers, Tony's ears listened intently.
"Sir, Colonel Rhodes has parked his vehicle in the main garage, he is now entering the lobby. Shall I direct him to the main floor?" Jarvis asked politely.
"Yep, I'll be up there as soon as..." Tony didn't finish his sentence, instead he tightened the last wire into it's place on his suit's new boot and then hopped up the stairs to the main room as the elevator's doors opened.
"Hey buddy," Tony said, giving him a quick *manly* version of a hug.
"Hey, what's the sound coming from the training floor? Or don't I want to know?" Rhodey replied, signaling back towards the elevator.
"Well... You'll meet them soon enough," Tony said decidedly.
"How's everything going?" Rhodey asked, leaving the subject of the assassins and the god for another time.
"Tower's fully functional, Jarvis has a few more databanks to run through, then it'll be complete. How d'you like the "A" on the front? Pretty cool, huh?" Tony asked, leading him to the kitchen where he offered him a drink.
"Just water, thanks," Rhodey said, putting a hand up to the alcohol offered.
Tony took water too.
"I wasn't asking about the tower, I meant you," Rhodey said, seeming a bit on edge.
"What?" Tony asked, after being stared at for a minute straight.
"Have you seen the news?" Rhodey asked careful not to say it too fast.
"What's on the news?" Tony replied, sensing Rhodey's uneasiness.
"They're saying things about you," Rhodey said, trying to make it sound like no big deal, but failing.
"Jarvis, turn the TV on, channel 27," Rhodey said, turning to face the plasma screen TV in the room.
Tony remained quiet as the news reporter said things like, "Billionaire Tony Stark destroys suits, apparently uninterested in protecting the civilian population anymore," "Tony Stark, dead or alive? No word from him for three months now, supposedly he has been in the newly secured avenger's tower," "We have not seen the iron man armor in action except for one time, at which time we assume the pilot was Colonel James Rhodes,"
"They think when we took off for the SHIELD base YOU were piloting MY suit?!" Tony yelled at the television, throwing the remote into the screen, sending a large crack across the perfectly smooth surface.
"Tony, calm down, it's just rumors," Rhodey said, standing up, grabbing Tony's arm.
"Just rumors... Right, well, rumors have a way of being believed by everyone except the person they're being told about," Tony bellowed angrily.
Rhodey noticed the way his hands shook, he noticed the bags under his eyes, and he noticed the annoyed glare being thrown at him. Which would he confront first?
"I'm on your side, I was down there trying to get them to stop telling lies earlier. Tony, it's what they do, don't let it bother you. I shouldn't have told you in the first place," Rhodey said, pressing the button on the broken TV to make the screen go black.
Tony shook his head to clear it, then heard the familiar footsteps of Natasha, Clint, Steve, and Thor coming up the hall.
Tony saw that Bruce had joined them when they passed his lab, and they were entering the main room as Tony tried to think of a way to make sure they didn't see the news when Rhodey waved a friendly hand to them.
"Hey, I'm James Rhodes, but you can call me Rhodes," Rhodey said in greeting.
"That's my thing," Tony said jokingly to the group, pointing joking fingers at the smirking assassins, god, hulk, and super solider.
"Tony, I wanted to show you something on the war machi- Iron patriot armor," Rhodey corrected himself.
"War machine is so much cooler..." Tony said happily, leading Rhodey down the stairs to his workshop.
Rhodey rolled his eyes, but he didn't disagree.
Rhodeyness! :D
Anyways, what shall happen next will be extraordinary! It will be breathtaking! It will be- *spoilers not available at this time, come back when chapter 12 is released*.
I have everything where it should be, and honestly, I think I have this set up perfectly.
Can't WAIT to write the next chapter, and I hope you guys can't wait to read it!
-MarvelLuver
PS Take a moment, Follow, Favorite, and Review. Just a moment. Just enough time to put a smile on my face :DDDD!