"Hey, Iron Patriot," Eva grinned as she wiped down the table next to the one he was sitting at.
Rhodey looked up from his laptop to narrow his eyes at her. "How come you only ever called me War Machine my name was still officially that?"
"Because it's one of the few sources of amusement in my miserable life of drudgery. How's it going, colonel?"
"It's going good. New things happening, old things settling down. Hey, did I tell you about the thing with-"
"The tank?" she finished for him. "With your sweet one-liner? Yeah, you told me."
He nodded, looking satisfied. "That was a great one liner. Everyone with a sense of humor laughs at that- right?" he asks her, a note of concern in her voice.
She shrugged, and flipped the rag over as the streetlights came on outside. "I guess so."
"Yeah," Rhodey muttered, turning back to his laptop, "it was good, it was good."
"You okay, colonel?"
"Hm? Oh, yeah."
"You're in here a lot more than you always used to be," she noted aloud. "You moved nearer to Stark?"
He snorted. "Not by choice. No, I've got this thing- Tony actually isn't involved in it, for once. At least, not anymore. People actually want me for me, now, not as his government counterpart." He straightened his collar. "War Machine's joining the big leagues."
"Good for him." Eva kicked the chair back under the table. "But what about James Rhodes? You look exhausted." She sat down in the chair opposite him; she had always had a soft spot for Rhodey, who always seemed to get eclipsed by the spotlight of his rather more narcissistic best friend.
"Just work stuff. I'm working for the government and a private corporation now, I gotta figure out how to juggle them, y'know?"
She nodded. "Oh, yeah. I mean, if I'm not at college I'm working, and if I'm not working I've got a dissertation to write, and then I've got my cat to look after…" she trailed off. "I mean, it's not War Machine level, but it's busy."
"Hey-" Rhodey pointed at her. "You just called me War Machine, coffee girl."
"Did not," she said immediately.
"Did too!" He grinned. "You said it, no take-backs!"
She laughed at his excitement. "Okay, maybe I said it. Don't expect it to happen again."
"Thanks for that."
"It was completely by accident," she assured him. "You're never gonna forget it, are ya?"
"Uh, no way." He leant back in his chair. "I'm gonna need all the self-esteem I can get, considering who my new colleagues are."
"Oh?" she raised an eyebrow.
He tapped his nose. "That's for me to know and you to not find out, kid. Stop pouting."
"One day that'll work," she muttered. "What use are superhero customers if I don't get top secret stuff out of them to sell to Wikileaks?"
"Not funny," said Rhodey.
"Eva!" she jumped out of her skin as her rarely-seen boss materialised next to her. "What are you doing? Get back to work?"
"Sorry, Mr G," she muttered, standing up and hurrying back to where she had left her cleaning stuff.
"You're on your last warning, girl. One more time and you're fired."
Rhodey stood up, towering over her tiny boss. "Sir, it was my fault- I invited her to sit with me. She did right by stopping, rather than ignoring me. Don't hold it against her, I'll pay for the time I took from her work." He pulled out his wallet, and Mr G's piggy eyes watered at the crisp notes inside.
"Very kind of you sir, very kind," he babbled, reaching out for them. Rhodey held the bills just out of arm's reach.
"She's not going to get in trouble?" he asked.
Mr G wavered for a moment, then- "no, of course not."
"Good." The boss scuttled away into the back room.
"Thanks," said Eva, "I owe you."
"Call it payment for using my badass name." He smiled at her. "Night, kid."
"Night, Iron Patriot."
He went back to a scowl.
A/N GUYS WE'RE NEARLY AT 100 FOLLOWERS THIS IS SO EXCITING