Welcome to Saturday's update!
I'm sure you've all been waiting for this one as we will finally meet 2016 Peter! I can't wait to hear what you think.
Chapter Ten
Rhodey sat down in the kitchen of Tony's penthouse in the Tower and stared out of the floor to ceiling windows as he sipped his coffee.
He was a little on edge. It had been a week since Steve and Tony shared the implausible story of their presence and of Peter Parker, and today Rhodey was going to meet the kid himself—though, technically, he supposed it was the second time meeting him.
His memory of the kid in Afghanistan was confusing and strange. He remembered the strange eyes, the bright smile and energy of the kid, not to mention the fact that he had so clearly known Rhodey while Rhodey had no idea who he was. He'd dismissed it in the years between, told himself it was some kind of hallucination or dream from stress and lack of sleep during one of the most trying times of his life.
If what Tony and the others said was true, though, and Rhodey no longer doubted them in his heart, that kid was about to become one of the most important people in his life.
Tony said Rhodey was basically his uncle. Rhodey already had a nephew and two nieces, but he'd never imagined Tony would give him another kid to love. If this kid had found a place in Tony's heart, he had to be pretty special—special in more ways than the Stones gave him, which Tony and Steve had not been able to explain enough to satisfy Rhodey.
He finished his coffee and glanced at his watch. It was after ten, a full thirty-minutes after Tony said he wanted to leave. Rhodey was confused as Tony had obviously been excited to go to this science fair to see his kid. He'd emphasized that Rhodey couldn't be late more than once.
That was funny coming from Tony, who was never known for his timekeeping and once kept Rhodey waiting three hours before their flight to Afghanistan. That trip had become a nightmare when Tony had chosen a different Humvee and been kidnapped. Getting the radio call that his convoy was under attack was one of the worst moments of Rhodey's life, and getting to the scene and finding that Tony was missing, not even a body, thank god, to find had been hell. The three months that had followed were a haunting memory, and then that kid had come.
Peter Parker, who Rhodey would love, had come to ease his pain.
Another five minutes ticked by, and Rhodey got to his feet and said, "Friday, where's Tony?"
"He's in his bedroom, Colonel," she reported. "He's changing his clothes again."
"Since when was Tony a fashionista," Rhodey muttered, heading to Tony's bedroom.
He knocked once, then threw open the door and said, "We're late, Tone, and you were the one that wanted to be on time for this, so… What are you doing?"
Tony was standing in front of the mirror, wearing a white vest and black boxers, and in each hand was a pair of pants. One pair was dark-wash jeans, and the others were navy dress pants. He didn't even seem to have noticed Rhodey's arrival.
As Rhodey watched, he lifted the dress pants, held them up to examine, and then lowered them again with a curse.
"No matter what outfit you choose, he's still going to see Iron Man," Rhodey said.
Tony startled and spun around, eyes wide. He stared at Rhodey for a moment as if not recognizing him and then relaxed. "That's the problem," he said. "I don't want him to see Iron Man."
"Okay," Rhodey said slowly. "Who do you want him to see?"
"Me!" he said emphatically. "Tony!"
Rhodey stared at him a moment, understanding dawning slowly. Tony was about to see the kid he loved as a son, and the kid was going to have no idea who he was. He wouldn't see his dad; he wouldn't love him as Steve and Natasha assured Rhodey he did in the future. He was going to see Iron Man, superhero, or perhaps, best case scenario, Tony Stark, genius billionaire. Either way, it wasn't going to be what Tony wanted.
Rhodey struggled to know what to say. He wanted to reassure Tony, but what could he say when he didn't know this kid or how Tony and he had bonded before.
He took a breath and worked through the problem in his mind, then asked, "Did you love Peter from the beginning?"
Tony frowned, considering. "No. It took a while. It was complicated. I think it grew from the beginning without me realizing it. At first, he was just an asset for the fight against Steve, and, yes, I know what kind of asshole that makes me, but you don't know what the situation was, what was at stake. I wanted to do right by him after, though. I'd made him a new suit for the fight, and I let him keep it. It was safer than the onesie he was running around in. I created all kinds of features and put protections in place; I figured that'd keep him safe."
Rhodey nodded. "Okay, so you weren't an asshole. You tried to protect him. When did it become about more than that?"
Tony threw the pants down on the bed and sat down. "When I nearly lost him. I messed up, and so did he. He was out of his depth against this guy, and I thought I could tell him to stand down and take care of it myself. I got the FBI onto it, and I figured it'd be okay. Pete was a stubborn little jerk, though. He went after these arms dealers that were using alien tech, made a mistake, and almost got a ferry full of civilians killed. I was mad as all hell." He shook his head, eyes distant. "It definitely didn't feel like love then."
"But that changed?"
"Yeah. I took the suit back and told him to stand down. I thought he'd go back to his old ways of just patrolling the neighborhood, stopping muggers and getting stranded cats out of trees. He didn't, though, and he shouldn't have had to. The arms dealers came after my store of alien tech, hijacked the plane it was all on. Hell, Rhodey, if they'd gotten hold of it, it would have been a disaster. The damage they could have done…" He winced
"But Peter stopped them?" Rhodey prompted.
"He did. He crashed the plane on Coney Island and caught the arms dealer, a souped-up villain with a damn flying could have died in the crash, and then that asshole went after him, really hurt him." He smiled slightly. "I think that was when, after that. it became about more than responsibility. I always liked him, even though he could be annoying. He was driving Happy crazy, spamming his inbox, and leaving rambling voicemails, but he was a good kid. After the thing with the plane, I made his internship real, brought him here to work in the lab with me. I started to care about him."
"He does sound special," Rhodey said.
"He is." Tony drew a deep breath. "I didn't know I loved him until I lost him, though. Steve told you me and Pete were on a different planet when Thanos snapped. He died in my arms, just drifted away into dust. He was scared, in pain, and I couldn't save him; I couldn't even say anything to comfort him. I only knew when he was gone, with what it did to me, that I loved him, and then it was too late to tell him."
"But he came back," Rhodey said. "And you told him then."
Tony rubbed a hand over his face. "I told him. It still took a little time, since I was an idiot about saying it, but I made sure he knew I loved him, that he was my son. He is my son, Rhodey, I love him, but he's not going to know that when I see him."
"He's not," Rhodey agreed. "But this is your chance, Tony. You said you didn't see it before, that you weren't there, but you can be this time. You're not going to recruit Spider-Man for a fight—You're going to see Peter Parker. You shouldn't even tell him you know he's Spider-Man until the Accords are done, as it puts you in a prime position for prosecution if Ross finds out you know. You have a chance to get to know Peter as he is now that you missed before. He's not sixteen; he's not the bearer of these crazy power stones. He's Spider-Man, sure, but he's also just a kid, and you get to see him grow. You can help him grow."
Tony stared into the mirror opposite him for a long time, blinking drowsily, and then he jerked as if shocked, and a broad smile spread over his face. "I get a do-over!"
"You do." Rhodey grinned. "And it's probably going to be the best thing to ever happen to you."
A smile quirked Tony's lips, and he shook his head, something in his eyes that Rhodey couldn't define. "It's going to be one of the best things," he said enigmatically.
Tony got to his feet, looked back at the pants on the bed, and said, "I'll aim for Tony Stark instead of Iron Man, but if I screw that up, I'll have time to show him the truth." He grabbed the dress pants, put them on and fastened them, then grabbed an AC/DC shirt from the pile on the chair and put it on. He checked himself in the mirror, then pulled on a sports jacket and grabbed his glasses from the dresser.
"I'm ready," he said.
Rhodey looked him up and down, saw Tony Stark at his best, and said, "You are. Let's go."
Tony ran a hand through his hair then strode out of the room with a spring in his step.
Rhodey thought he'd gotten through to him, and he was pleased. Now he could look forward to meeting Peter Parker without worrying about his best friend.
Rhodey hadn't spent much time in high schools since his own. He'd done a couple career days for his nieces and nephew, but that was a while ago, and they'd been younger. In fact, he didn't think he'd stepped into a high school since he'd been a student in one.
The memories came rushing back at him, though, when they walked in. He remembered his high school had smelled of bleach left by the overzealous janitor and was always crowded with clamoring voices, the clatter of locker doors, and laughter. The sounds were absent this time, it was unusually quiet, but the smells were the same, and the same rows of lockers were lining the walls.
Tony looked around, too, his eyes seeming to take it all in.
"Brings back memories?" Rhodey asked.
Tony snorted. "Not even a little. You're forgetting, my high school experience lasted one semester before I tested into college. It's just I've never been here before, and this is a huge part of Peter's life. Happy used to pick him up and run him to the compound for lab sessions, so I never saw the place apart from when I drove past on my way to his apartment a couple times." He smiled slightly. "It's just nice to see it for myself, this part of his world."
Rhodey still wasn't used to this version of his best friend. He was so vastly different. Tony, as he'd known him two weeks ago, was impulsive and terse. He isolated himself and protected his heart at all costs. There were only a few people that made it past his walls to love and be loved by him. Tony now seemed to be open and free in a way Rhodey had never seen.
He wondered how much of that was Peter Parker and how much was just the natural transition of the additional seven years he'd lived.
A little down the hall was a girl standing beside an easel which bore a placard welcoming them to the science fair. She was writing something on a clipboard, but she looked up when their footsteps reached her. There was a beat in which she smiled politely and said, "Welcome to…" and then she registered who she was talking to, and her mouth snapped shut and eyes widened.
Rhodey wasn't under any delusions that it was him stunning her into silence. He was War Machine, people knew who he was, but he was nowhere near as iconic as Iron Man. Even before that life had dawned, Tony had been famous as the genius, billionaire, playboy, and whatever other tags the media had for him that week.
"Hi," Tony said, his smile gentler than it would have been even only two weeks ago. "We're here for the science fair."
She nodded, eyes wide, and then seemed to snap back to herself. A blush heated her cheeks. "Of course. Sorry, I was just…" She shook her head.
"It's fine," Tony said. "Colonel Rhodes is always stunning people into silence with his good looks. I'm immune after so long, but it's hard when you're not used to it."
She giggled, relaxing visibly. "Well, welcome to Midtown High. The fair is in the gym. I'll take you there."
"Great, thanks," Tony said.
She set down her clipboard, and they followed her along the halls. Tony asked her about her life at school, polite questions that he seemed genuinely curious about the answers to.
Rhodey was struck once again by the difference in his best friend. He thought this was going to take time for him to get used to. It wasn't a bad thing. In fact, it was nice to see the gentler side of Tony shared with more people than just him, Pepper, and Happy. It was different, though—definitely a little jarring.
Voices grew louder as they advanced along the hall, increasing as they reached open double doors and being joined by beeps and sounds of machinery, which Rhodey supposed made sense at a science fair for advanced STEM students.
The girl gestured them ahead, and Tony took the lead inside, then stopped and looked around. Rhodey stepped to his side and took in the room. A couple dozen tables were set up around the room with students displaying their creations, other people milling around them, and younger children dancing between the tables, who Rhodey guessed were siblings of exhibiting students.
"He's there," Tony breathed, his eyes wide and fixed on the opposite corner of the room.
Rhodey followed his gaze and saw the kid from the picture Friday had shown him. He looked even younger in person. He was smiling more broadly than he had in the picture, deep in conversation with a boy that looked around the same age, gesticulating wildly and head bobbing.
"We going to go talk to him?" Rhodey asked, watching Tony's face carefully as he worked through the emotions of shock, awe, sadness, then joy at the sight of his son.
"We are," Tony said.
He thanked the girl that had led them there, hovering at his side still, and then started to cross the room. People started to notice them as they entered, conversations trailing off and then starting again with more excitement.
Rhodey watched Peter as he took in the change in the room, and he saw the moment he realized who was there, Iron Man himself, as his mouth dropped open and his eyes widened. His friend was in no better condition. His hand was over his chest, and his mouth was working fast.
Before they could go far, a man in glasses with neatly trimmed brown hair and beard intercepted them and said, "Hello, gentlemen. I'm Roger Harrington. Can I help you?"
His voice was calm and polite, but his eyes showed the turmoil behind the professional façade. Rhodey supposed Tony Stark was pretty admirable to a teacher in a STEM school as well as its students.
"Tony Stark. It's nice to meet you, Mr. Harrington," Tony said, extending a hand to the teacher who shook it. "This is James Rhodes."
"Yes, I know," Mr. Harrington said with a small smile. "I have to admit, I didn't expect to see either of you gentlemen at our ittle fair."
Tony smiled ingratiatingly "I wanted to get a look at the kind of talent you're hiding here. As you may know, my company has internships for promising students."
"Yes, graduate students," Mr. Harrington said. "It's something many of my students aim for later."
"Usually graduates," Tony said. "But I am thinking of creating a placement for someone younger." He paused. "Or more than one student."
Though the teacher seemed to miss it, Rhodey saw the flash of distaste on Tony's face with the addition. He supposed he was less interested in setting something up for a bunch of high school students when there was only one he wanted to see. Rhodey thought an actual extended project to other students might be necessary to maintain the cover, though, little as Rhodey wanted to get to know a bunch of kids.
"That would be great," Mr. Harrington said. "We've got so much promising talent here that could learn so much from you and your team. Okay… who to start with…" His eyes roved the room, and he said, "I think—" but cut off as a kid approached them, his hand extended to Tony and a confident gleam in his eyes.
Tony looked at the kid, then took his hand and shook it.
"Well then, "Mr. Harrington said. "This is Eugene Thompson, one of our students."
"Flash Thompson," the kid corrected. "And it's great to meet you, Mr. Stark."
Rhodey watched Tony's face, wanting to see the difference in his expectations of Tony as he knew him to who he was now when faced with the confident kid. He wasn't sure what to expect, but it was definitely not for anger to darken his eyes and for him to drop the kid's hand like it was burned.
"Nice to meet you, Flash," Rhodey said politely.
"Would you like to see my project?" Flash asked. "I'm working on upgrading a Roomba to play music as it works, changing track with each setting."
Tony's lip twitched. "I think someone's ahead of you there, Eugene. I know another kid that already worked that out." His eyes narrowed. "She's five."
The kid's mouth dropped open, and he gaped like a fish for a moment. Rhodey was curious to see how he'd recover—also to know what five-year-old girl Tony knew—but Tony was already looking away and asking the teacher, "Do you have something more original for us to see?"
Mr. Harrington looked a little amused. "Actually, I do. If you could go back to your station, Flash." His eyes scanned the room again, settling on Peter, who was carefully looking down at something on his table, not staring like his friend and so many others in the room. "Yes. Peter has something special to show."
Tony's smile grew, and his eyes shone as Mr. Harrington led them to Peter's table. Rhodey could tell Tony was struggling not to stride ahead, to get there faster, but he was doing well. When this was over, Rhodey would be able to tell him he'd handled it like a pro, with minimal visible overreaction.
So far, at least.
Peter and his friend looked up as they approached, his friend's mouth gaping and eyes wide, and Peter looked like a deer in headlights. It was actually kind of endearing to see him like that, knowing what he was going to be to Tony one day. Though Peter had no idea—he was reacting to meeting a superhero, or perhaps it was the genius side of Tony he admired—this was his first meeting with the man that was going to be like a father to him one day.
Rhodey realized then he had a privileged position to see this happen. He'd get to see Tony on this journey of meeting and building a bond with his son—though the bond was fully there on Tony's side already.
When they reached the boys, Tony's hands twitched as if he wanted to reach for Peter, but he controlled the urge and merely smiled.
"Gentlemen, this is Peter Parker and Ned Leeds," Mr. Harrington said. "They're two of our most promising students. Peter, would you like to show Mr. Stark and Colonel Rhodes what you've made."
Peter's friend, Ned, merely stared, but Peter snapped into life, eyes gleaming with excitement and hands a little shaky as he gestured to the table and said, "Yeah. I was working on a powered exoskeleton for a stroke victim who has weakness in one leg."
Tony's eyes widened, and he moved forward, seemingly automatically, to examine the contraption.
"My nanna," Ned rasped, then snapped his mouth shut and blushed furiously.
"Yeah," Peter said. "Uh… Ned's grandmother had a stroke six months ago, and she's not been able to walk since because of her left leg. So I took a passive exoskeleton schematic, which was much cheaper to build that companies are charging for it. And that's grossly unfair. I mean, they're basically penalizing a whole group of people because they can't afford the stuff they need to lead more independent lives. That's really messed up, right?"
He blinked up at Tony, who was staring at him with a look of adoration in his eyes, which Rhodey hoped Peter missed. There was more than adoration there, though. Rhodey could see the pride brimming over, and he was obviously impressed by what he was seeing. He also seemed to have lost all power of speech, so Rhodey took up the reins for him.
"You're right, Peter: it's very unfair."
He moved closer to the table and examined what Peter had made. It was crudely built, obviously lacking the materials which would have made it better, but the tech behind it was solid. Rhodey could see the concealed circuit board and the hydraulics he'd crafted out of what looked like small engine parts.
"This is really great, Peter," he said. "You did this alone?"
Peter blushed and nodded. "I had help. Coding isn't my thing, so Ned gave me a couple lessons."
Ned, who had been basically nonverbal with awe, snapped to life at this point and said, "No! It was Peter! I hardly had to teach him anything. He's the one that found the way to make it work, because he didn't have schematics for the powered ones.
"I'm sure you were very helpful, Ned," Tony said. "Is coding your thing?"
Ned looked like he was going to faint, and his head bobbed with a nod. "Uh… yes, sir. I know some, but Peter is good, too."
Tony smiled at him, then turned back to Peter. "Have you done a test drive on this?"
Peter nodded. "Yes, sir. His grandmother's been using it for a week, ever since I finished it. It's not good enough yet, I need to finetune it, and it'd be better if I could thin the design to make it sleeker and less bulky, but she was walking, right, Ned?"
Ned nodded and licked his lips. "Uhuh. Yeah. She really loves Peter right now."
"See, he's brilliant," Mr. Harrington said.
"You are," Tony said, eyes on Peter. "This is incredible for your level of education." He turned to encompass Ned in his words. "With a friend like this backing you up, you've got a great future ahead of you."
Ned's color grew even more, and he looked down, seeming unsteady on his feet. Peter, on the other hand, seemed to be working through something, his eyes distant and gleaming. Rhodey wondered what that was about, but he couldn't ask Tony if he had any insight until they were alone.
Tony patted Peter's shoulder and said, "Really, kid, this is great."
Peter looked up at him, and Rhodey said that there was awe there. Not the same awe of seeing someone he loved as there was in Tony looking at him, but the awe of someone he admired seeing something admirable in him, too. Tony stared at him a moment and then seemed to snap back to himself, drop his hand, and clear his throat.
"Would you like to see some of our other student's projects?" Mr. Harrington asked.
Rhodey knew Tony would rather stay here and talk to Peter until forced to leave his side, but that wasn't fitting their cover of being there, so he said, "Yeah, we'd love that, right, Tony?"
Tony dragged his eyes from Peter and nodded. "Yeah, that'd be great."
Mr. Harrington led them to the next table, talking about the potential of all his students, and Rhodey stayed in step at Tony's side. Mr. Harrington asked if they would be willing to hand out the winner's certificate and prize, and Rhodey agreed for them both as Tony was distracted again, probably leaving his thoughts behind with his son.
Mr. Harrington confided in a low voice that Peter's project was getting first prize, and Tony smiled then. Rhodey guessed he was pleased at the thought of another reason to be close to his son and to talk to him.
Rhodey didn't know how long Tony would be able to resist before creating the internship for Peter, if he would have the patience of at least building a pretense of seeing other students first. Still, he was willing to bet that Peter would be an official Stark Industries intern before the month was out.
Personally, Rhodey couldn't wait. He wanted to have a chance to speak to Peter without his friend and teacher watching, to get to know the kid Tony loved and to see what else he was capable of. He would try working his schedule to give him as much time in New York as he could from here on out. Not only did the Avengers need him while they worked through the coming issues and threats, but he also wanted as much time with Peter as he could get.
This kid was going to be his nephew one day, and Rhodey was impatient to build that relationship.
So… The (second) first meeting with Peter. I really enjoyed this scene, and I hope you do, too. I have limited time with Peter in arc one, which was tough, so I made the most of the moments we had. Let me know what you think.
Until next time…
Jadey xxx