Chapter Five

With various Tomorrow Academy students taking over the vigil near Happy at the hospital, Rhodey was finally able to go home and sleep. Whitney had done an impressive job of coordinating enough people to keep Happy company so he was never alone and no one person had to shoulder too much of the responsibility. The Irwin twins raised funds to help keep the volunteers fed. Happy's parents were still who-knows-where but had called to authorize his treatment. With parents so neglectful it was amazing that Happy had grown up to be a decent human being. Happy's medical bills were being taken care of by the Maria Stark Foundation.

Rhodey staggered drowsily downstairs. He'd managed to shower and dress on auto-pilot. Now he hoped Mom had remembered to buy cereal.

"Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey," a too-damn-cheerful-for-this-time-of-day voice sang out and Rhodey rounded the corner to see his best friend pulling a lightly toasted waffle out of a waffle iron and onto a plate.

The table was set for two, complete with a carafe of juice and a platter of scrambled eggs and bacon.

Tony smiled at Rhodey's utter shock and set a plate of waffles at each place setting along with maple syrup and a bowl of fruit compote. "Hope you're hungry, man, 'cuz I kinda overdid it."

Rhodey sat, then made a show of looking at an imaginary watch. "And what time do you call this, young man? I expected to see you yesterday."

The brunette shrugged, rather cheerful for someone searching for one of his best friends two days straight. "Sorry. You know what a colossal pain in the ass Fury is. For him, finding one ordinary citizen isn't a priority, even when saving her could help stop a supervillain from rising to power. Finding her is a priority for us. I had to get his help the old-fashioned way; extortion. No Pepper, no help with helicarrier maintenance. And no help from Iron Man when they can't handle the villain du jour."

The boy in gray raised a brow in surprise of his friend's strong-arm tactics. "So I take it we're not invited to the SHIELD Christmas party."

Tony pushed the egg and bacon platter closer to Rhodey. "Nope. But he's working with Interpol to help track the Mandarin. He claims to have some leads. How's Happy?"

Rhodey swallowed and told him. "Better. The heavy drugs have worn off and he's now in a lighter coma. There's even been a jump in brain activity."

"That's good to hear." Tony's answering smile was small but sincere.

There was silence and then Rhodey noticed, "Hey you're not eating. Your food is gonna get cold."

In answer Tony pushed his food away and faced his friend. He smiled but there was something not quite right about his eyes. "Androids don't eat, Rhodey."

"Not bad, huh? He can even do corny in-jokes."

The real Tony Stark emerged from his bedroom with a triumphant smirk on his face. He shared a look with his doppelganger who stood up and let him have its seat. Pouring syrup on the waffles Tony asked, "Not just anyone can fool the always observant James Rhodes. How did we do?"

Rhodey scoffed, disbelieving that man and machine could have planned this together. "I should have known something was up when you cooked something that was actually edible. Hell, the fact you actually did anything resembling housework."

The two Tonys laughed and the android said. "I've been programmed with over three thousand recipes, including those featured on the Food Network."

The tall boy was suitably impressed. "Hey, I could learn to like this guy. Maybe even more than you. Do you do housework too?"

Tin Tony nodded. "I can also speak five languages and am knowledgeable in a variety of subjects."

Rhodey smiled wryly. "Wow. It's C3PO."

"I think I've topped myself this time," the teen genius bragged. "Tony 2.0 has an exact copy of my brain scanned and uploaded into his. I even have a few backups in case anything goes wrong." The two Tonys grinned at each other at a private joke. "Exact copy" might be a slight exaggeration. The mechanical Tony wasn't in love with Pepper. He was devoted to Whitney as long as she wanted to be with Tony.

"Well, yeah, but-" Rhodey groaned and covered his eyes. "You're gonna use him as a cover aren't you? So you can keep searching for Gene and Pepper. Man, you're gonna get caught the first time he short circuits in the pool."

"I'm waterproof," the fake Tony spoke up in a hurt tone. It almost sounded as if its feelings were hurt.

Rhodey nearly apologized then caught himself. "So you were testing it out on me because if it can fool your best friend it can fool anyone. Good job. Thanks for trusting me enough to let me in on your little secret." His tone was sarcastic to cover up his disappointment at being shut out. Again.

Tony 2.0 was silent but looked troubled; arguing with Rhodey seemed to upset it. Tony did his best to reassure his best friend.

"It wasn't like that! I trust you." The brunette lowered his voice as if afraid Roberta could walk in at any time. "You're one of the few people alive I can still trust. But I have to find Pepper before it's too late and I have to be Iron Man. I can't be in two places at once. This was the best solution and I didn't take the time to consult you. I'm sorry." Tony stared at him regretfully and Rhodey gave in.

"Fine." Rhodey was too stressed to argue. "I'll take your mini-me to class and out on patrol. I can't wait to see how an android becomes Iron Man.

The android's response was to raise its arms to shoulder level as familiar metal plating rose from synthetic skin and covered its body until it was a perfect replica of Iron Man.

"Tony designed me with the armor embedded in my skeleton," it told Rhodey proudly. "It's how Iron Man and Tony Stark can meet with SHIELD at the same time."

"It's the perfect cover. Tony 2.0 has my memories and all of the armors' abilities built in. He can become anything from the stealth armor to the Hulkbuster. I'm still working on the arctic armor. But no one except you will be able to tell the difference and that's only because we let you in on our secret." Tony's voice was even more arrogant than usual and it rankled Rhodey to hear that note of superiority.

All hail the King of Assholes, Rhodey thought sarcastically.

This idea was very clever and very complicated. Any number of things could go wrong while Tony stood around being praised by his machine for being so brilliant. The young inventor made it obvious he hated school; there was a danger he'd come to rely too much on the android and shirk responsibility yet again.

All this didn't matter for now. Rhodey learned a long time ago to pick only the battles he knew he could win against Tony Stark. Arguing with his best friend while Tony was hyped up with worry about Pepper was not the best idea.

"We need to scan the city for Makluan energy readings." Rhodey finally said. "Maybe shake down a few lower-level Tong for information. That's after school. We also have homework and checking after Happy. Oh, and fighting crime. Let's not forget about that."

"I don't need to sleep," Tony 2.0 reminded him. "I'll do what I can while you rest." The armor plating retracted and he became Tony's twin again.

"Yeah, but I don't feel right leaving you out alone." Tony was obviously forgetting how his armor became sentient and started acting on its own.

The original Tony snickered. "He can fight better than either of us. Remember when the armor became sentient? It nearly took out Mister Fix. I programmed him with hundreds of fighting techniques. It'll be okay."

His best friend frowned in disapproval. "I think that should be a cautionary tale, not a comforting one. Remember? Your armor tried to kill me!"

"Hey!" The android spoke indignantly before the original could say anything. "My primary objective is to keep you safe. I've also been programmed with Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics. I couldn't take a human life, nor cause harm to come to one."

Rolling his eyes Rhodey help but think this would all backfire horribly. He finished his breakfast and made his way towards the door. "Time for school. Let's go, Data."

The android obediently followed him and they left Tony to eat and clean up.

Now unobserved, Tony allowed himself a secretive smile. This was all too easy. The city would be safe, no one but Rhodey would know he was gone and now he could devote all his time to protecting Pepper.

With that happy thought he ate and put the leftovers in the fridge, tidying the kitchen. After locking up the house he became Iron Man yet again and was away.

As they arrive at school Rhodey couldn't stop himself from sneaking wary glances at his android companion.

"Yes?" It asked him finally.

The black teen couldn't say what he was really thinking so he blurted out; "It's kinda creepy when you smile, you know? Next time try reflecting your smile in your eyes. Then it'll look like you're smiling with real feeling."

"Okay," it agreed and then smiled with genuine feeling.

They continued in silence until the doppelganger laughed under its breath.

Rhodey stopped and looked at it. "Something funny?"

It shrugged. "Oh, I was just thinking about the irony. First Tony fell in love with Pepper. Now he's obsessed with keeping her safe. No matter what, she's all he ever thinks about."

And that's the last time we'll see Rhodey in this story. Byyyyyyeeee! (waves). Just kidding. We'll see him later.