Three

August 20th, 2016 – Inventions Ft. Rhodey

Tony's throat tightened as he took in the lab. He sighed, he wasn't looking forward to this day or this video.

"Hello, I'm Tony Stark and above all else, I am an engineer…And something that I think that is miscommunicated about what I do." Tony held up a rough sketch of the braces that he made for Rhodey. "These are braces that I made for Rhodey, who as a result of the "Civil War," Tony put down the paper and used air quotes. "Crashed the suit and became paralyzed. This is an invention I wanted to create not only to help my best friend, but can help a ton of other people. But this one invention, one of hundreds that I work on at one time, takes a lot more work than people think." Tony reached and adjusted the camera, zooming out.

"Each invention goes through about fifty revisions. Between rough drafts, supplies not being in stock, Dum-E spilling motor oil on my draft and I have to start over. I prefer to write my drafts on paper before it becomes digital, just my preference. This specific product is the 25th revision. Now, Rhodey is going to be here any minute and we will troubleshoot any issues as they come up!" Tony chirped, trying to hide the pain in his eyes and heart. "Science!"

The video cut and when it started again, Rhodey was there, in a wheelchair.

"Tony." Rhodes greeted.

"Hello, honeybear." Tony purred and Rhodey rolled his eyes.

"Ready for another test?" Rhodey smiled wearily.

"Yep." He looked conspiratorially at the camera. "Rhodey hates tests."

"I hate medical tests, you I don't mind." Rhodey replied.

"Good, hate to have to write that in my diary: Rhodey was mean to me today, Sincerely, Tony." Tony smirked at his best friend, who rolled his eyes. "So, anyways, here are the braces, I'm going to fasten them to your legs and after this if you place them near your leg, they should adhere easily. Let's try and stand." The brace wrapped around his legs, molding all the way up to his waist, the nanobots climbing the way. He held out a hand for Rhodey to grab, his hand gripping as he leaned out of the wheelchair, rising to his feet, uneasily. He took a step forward and then another.

"Tony…" He whispered amazed, his voice tight.

"Anything for you, man." Tony whispered back. Tony gestured to a chair. "Let's sit. We can do more exercises later. First, my newest series is interviews. So basic overview, what's your position with SI or the Avengers, what is your experience and education and what is a typical day in the life. We can venture from there. So, Rhodey, state your name and what your title is."

Rhodey smiled and looked to the camera. "My name is Colonel James Rhodes, Colonel in the Air Force and best friend to this shmuck." Tony scoffed, offended. "My official title as of now is in their air. War Machine is a full-time Avenger. As of right now, possibly co-leader of the New Avengers." Rhodey looked at Tony.

"You will be the co-leader. This will not hinder the use of War Machine." Tony reassured. Rhodey didn't say anything but shrugged. "So, your education and experience."

"Well, I had a pretty normal high school career, got accepted into MIT and completed a Bachelor's degree in Psychology, paid for by the Air Force, of course. I went into service shortly after graduating. I met Tony when at MIT, we weren't friends in the beginning, that's for damn sure. A rivalry between the white, rich, entitled kid who was in way over his head and myself lasted for a lot longer than it should have. I became a liaison to Stark Industries through the Department of Acquisition and became close with Tony." Rhodey smiled at his best friend. "In my experience, I ran 138 missions, and at any time I could have been killed, kidnapped, tortured, but I made it. Because the fight needed to be fought. And despite my paralysis, I know I did the right thing." Rhodey stated confidently looking at the camera.

"We're not really talking about the Civil War on this channel, Rhodey." Tony interjected.

"Well, maybe you should." Rhodey shrugged.

"Well…moving on…" Tony cleared his throat. "Describe a typical day."

"Well. My days vary greatly these days. They are mostly filled with physical therapy and meeting of what ifs. I am being honorably discharged from the Air Force as of yesterday so my schedule will no longer contain the meetings and stupid emails that I had to spend so much time writing, the government moves so slowly…" Rhodey trailed off.

"You were discharged? But the leg braces will help you walk." Tony queried, his brow furrowing.

"They don't care, Tones." Rhodey smiled at him.

"Well, I think that's all I have for now…Do you have anything you'd like to say?" Tony asked Rhodey.

"Hm. Well, I'd like to say that despite what the media says, I do not regret what led to my paralysis, Tony is my friend and I respect him and believe him. I'd always be on his side. I also, can't help but remember Tony when he was in MIT and you wouldn't believe how adorable and young he was…"

"Okay, okay, that's enough…" Tony interjected before Rhodey could get too much further, Rhodey's laugh cackling through the lab.

War Machine and Iron Man are friends goals.

Rhodey! *heart emoji*

Where's the War Machine merch? We need to know.

Tony building stuff to help his friends. My heart.

Wishing War Machine health and happiness.

Tony braced his hands on the lab table.

"Are you sure that you're okay?" Tony asked again.

"Tony."

"Because I swear, if I knew you'd get hurt because of…"

"Tony."

"Me I would have never done it. It really wasn't worth all that…"

"TONY!" He shouted, Tony being startled into pausing.

"Yes, honeybear?" Tony asked, deflecting.

"I believed in what you had to say. I would have fought on your side, in any reality. Period." Rhodey placed a hand on his best friend's shoulder, squeezing. Tony swallowed and nodded.

Maybe this time it will finally get through to him.

Maybe.