Chapter 12

"Will you pass the patatas bravas?" Rhodey asked.

Tony handed his friend the plate while he shoved two olives into his mouth and washed them down with some scotch.

"We used to come here a lot," Rhodey remarked, dipping the potato chunks into the aioli.

"You talk like you're close to retirement age," Tony retorted, "Used to... back in the day..."

Rhodey ignored Tony's remark and snatched an olive from him. The two had arranged to meet for a few appetizers at a tapas bar, something they had usually done more often. However, that had been before Iron Man. Rhodey felt as if it had been half a lifetime ago.

Somehow, he didn't feel like having a merry session and joining Tony's "pretending it's nothing" mode. The Ten Rings' attack and Tony's short cardiac arrest was harder for him to digest than he had initially thought. Rhodey was worried. And when Rhodey was worried, going out drinking was usually the last thing he felt like doing. He wanted to be clearheaded and able to think, find solutions, make plans, make connections. That wasn't possible with alcohol in his blood. Tony, on the other hand, didn't seem to be affected by these events at all. There were a lot of people in the bar, it was loud and bustling, and in the background some 90s songs were played.

So there Rhodey was, drinking a glass of red wine, very uncharacteristic for him under the circumstances, while Tony was already downing his third glass of scotch and didn't even seem to get tipsy. Rhodey looked down at his glass, filled with a 1995 Château Cheval Blanc. The immense price of this vintage didn't make the bland aftertaste go away. He set the three-quarter-full glass down on the table, leaned back in his chair and stared ahead.

"Bro, you're going to make me nervous. Why don't you relax? Besides - I told you wine wouldn't be the right thing to take the edge off. A glass of whiskey would be better," Tony said as he waved at the waitress at the bar to bring him another Scotch.

"Are you really that unconcerned?" Rhodey asked incredulously. "You were dead for a moment just a few days ago. Those terrorists have managed to gain access to your property again."

Tony waved it off. "Stop coming back to this. I didn't call you to go to group therapy. It was to spend a few frisky and fun hours with a friend."

"But I think it would do you good to talk about all of this. And to come to your senses a bit - instead of drinking them away."

"Yeah, well..." Tony just said disinterestedly as the waitress appeared with his new glass of scotch. She glanced at Rhodey and pointed at the glass.

"Is there something wrong? Can I get you anything else?" she asked worried.

"No, no, everything-" began Rhodey, but Tony interrupted him by putting a hand on his shoulder and smiling kindly at the waitress.

"Hi, sweetie. Will you bring the Colonel a full glass of that excellent scotch I have?" Tony asked with a wink.

Tony smiled at her with that look Rhodey sometimes liked to have too; something about it seemed to make all women melt away. The waitress nodded, her cheeks blushing slightly red now, then she disappeared giggling behind the bar. Rhodey shook off Tony's hand and frowned.

At that moment, a skinny, yet beautiful young woman in high heels and an outrageously skimpy mini dress came over to their table. She put a hand on her hips and thrust out her long, much-too-thin leg.

"Hey, Tony," she said at length, wrapping one of her black curls around her finger.

"Um. Hey?" Tony asked.

"Don't worry, you don't know me. But I know who you are."

"Congratulations," Tony returned dryly, turning back to Rhodey.

"I'm Mia," the lady said unperturbed, leaning down a bit toward him and placing her hand on Tony's thigh. "I heard from a friend that you were fun to spend nights with. So I thought I'd drop by."

"Okay. Mia. Honey. Listen for a minute, ok?" Tony said, turning back to her. Rhodey, meanwhile, buried his face in one hand. "You look really good. More than that, you are absolutely beautiful. But I'm not going to sleep with you. If you heard this firsthand from your friend, you're probably - like her - a model. Which means you'll bore me beyond belief before we even make it to a bed. Not necessarily because you're stupid. Rather because your brain can't work properly anymore from being hungry all the time. So how about ordering some sandwiches on your way back to your table. If you want, you can wiggle your tight ass while you're at it and give me another seductive look over your shoulder."

"Who do you think -"

"You are? ... I thought you know me."

The woman looked at him in shock and opened her mouth.

"Bye, Honey," Tony said before she could even get another word out.

Mia turned around, didn't order any sandwiches on the way back to her table, and didn't wiggle her ass. The look she gave him was anything but seductive.

"Woah, Tony," Rhodey opined. "That wasn't exactly nice."

"You know what's not nice? Coming here, interrupting the conversation we have, and chatting me up thinking it would be enough to be hot to get me into bed right away."

"Yeah, that's an outrageous presumption. You've never done anything like that before," Rhodey said sarcastically.

"I don't care about that anymore. I have more important things to do. That's enough stress."

"You indeed seem stressed."

"Do I?"

"Yes, and you know what, I am stressed, too. With your heart stopping and you coughing up all that blood. I thought you were going to die. Did you debrief with S.H.I.E.L.D. about this incident?"

"No, they wouldn't talk to me. Romanoff and Coulson just disappeared. I tried to bribe the agents at the gates with some fresh mint and elder soda to get some information, but they wouldn't say a word."

"You made them soda?"

"Well, I made my housekeeper make them…"

"Anyway… So, they didn't talk to you at all?"

"Just to stay home. This time for real."

"That's weird… And what about your injuries? You coughed up blood."

"Yeah, because one of the splinters touched my lungs."

"Wait, what?!"

"Just touched it. Calm down, it's not that bad. I'm going to be fine."

"Did you see a doctor at least?"

"Of course, what do you think of me? I saw Dr. Jarvis. He says I'm ok."

"You are unbelievable… Tony, you've been a bit careless with your life lately, it seems to me."

"What do you mean?"

"You're flying off to Afghanistan all by yourself -"

"I'll stop you right there. I've flown to Afghanistan alone several times before. I've been able to track my weapons and destroy most of them by now."

"Tony... you know what I mean. You had that blackout at the Stark Industries company party. Raza managed to break into your house at night, you could have been killed then already. The attack in Griffith Park, where you took off your armor and could have just as easily been killed again. Pepper told me you skipped a committee hearing in Washington to go to that kid's funeral. Then you impulsively flew to Afghanistan to take down the Ten Rings. Tony, come on… You've lost your focus. Something seems to be distracting you and affecting your decisions in a way that worries me."

"What would distract me?"

"Hmm, let me think... Maybe three months of captivity? Obadiah's death? The things I just listed all of?"

Tony stared grimly at Rhodey.

"Remember when we found you in the desert? Just after you escaped from the terrorists?"

"Of course, how could I forget?"

"Then you understand that I'm worried? You've been through something… traumatic. You were completely out of it shortly after we found you..."

"I was dehydrated."

"Tony..."

"Man… You really know how to put a person in a bad mood, you know that? I don't want to talk about it."

Rhodey sighed. He sighed even heavier when the waitress returned with the overflowing glass of scotch. Staring at the drink in front of him, Rhodey felt Tony's gaze.

"Do I have to make you?" Tony echoed, raising his eyebrows. "Down it."

Rhodey shook his head, but somehow had to grin. Then he picked up the glass and took a sip. Now he was being carried away after all. He didn't have to do it, of course, but he wanted Tony to stay cheerful and maybe get him into talking by that. Rhodey raised the glass again and this time drank it completely. Tony then patted him on the shoulder with a laugh, downed his fourth scotch, and was already waving at the waitress again; she had been watching the two of them the whole time.

"Bring us two more scotches," Tony told her sweetly.

"Wha-? No!" Rhodey exclaimed, still shaking from the hard whiskey. "Tony, honestly, I don't feel like it today. I want to get home soon and enjoy my day off tomorrow without a headache."

"Oh come on, Rhodes. One last drink."

Rhodey hesitated while both Tony and the waitress looked at him expectantly. Then he nodded. "One."

Hours later. Rhodey set the emptied tequila shot down on the table with an unintentionally hard clonk. The world was spinning around him and a silly giggle involuntarily escaped his lips. As he looked over to the front door of the bar, he could have sworn he saw someone who looked vaguely familiar... But Tony distracted him by spilling some whiskey over his hand.

"Watch it!" Rhodey cursed, giving Tony a mild elbow smack before drying his hand with a napkin.

"Listen," Tony called out a little too loudly and with noticeable impairment in his pronunciation. "Do you think Pepper likes me?"

"What?" Rhodey asked unintelligibly, crumpling the napkin with one hand.

"Pepper. Do you think she likes me? You saw how she hugged me in that S.H.I.E.L.D. hideout, right? That was… I mean…"

"Um..." made Rhodey, but Tony waved his glass with such a sweeping gesture that he immediately spilled whiskey all over Rhodey's sleeve again.

"Toooony!" Rhodey shouted, exasperated, reaching for the nearest napkin again.

"Well, look who's here," Tony said.

Rhodey looked up grumbling. At that moment, he could see the man he thought he recognized earlier. He felt his whole body stiffen, as his face grew hot and red.

"Ah, Mr. Stark - and Colonel Rhodes?" the man said slightly questioningly, looking at Rhodey with an unidentifiable expression on his face. He was standing next to him at the table, his hands in the pockets of his Air Force uniform. Rhodey opened his mouth but did not produce a single sound.

"General Gabriel," Tony said instead, gesturing for the man to sit down. To Rhodey's and Tony's surprise, the older man sat down across from them.

General William Gabriel, Rhodey thought, wishing he could have buried his head in his hands, his superior in the U.S. Air Force. The man who had also been at Tony's presentation of the Jericho months ago and had survived the terrorists' subsequent attack.

"What are you doing in a fancy bar like this?" Tony asked frankly.

"I came straight from work. We had a mission out of country and just landed. Because of the time difference, I guess I'm going to have to hold over until I can sleep. I do that here sometimes."

"What a coincidence," Tony remarked, visibly amused.

Rhodey was less amused and still couldn't get a word out. Instead, he reached for his beer - by now hard to say how many he had - and drank the considerable remainder without taking a breath, while noticing Gabriel watching him with mild astonishment.

"And what brings you two here today?" the general asked.

"Just a leisurely round. Bit of a, uh, switch off," Tony explained.

"I see," Gabriel said, his gaze still fixed blankly on Rhodey. "Switch off."

How awkward was this going to get? Rhodey knew that he would surely slur his words ten times worse than Tony was already audibly doing if he tried to join this conversation now. Did his general, of all people, have to go to this bar tonight?

He imagined Gabriel was staring at him in a suspicious way, but it was hard to tell because Rhodey couldn't focus his gaze properly. He'd had way too much to drink, but he still knew he should go home before he did something he might regret. Tony had another glass of scotch in front of him - the waitress now seemed to be giving him a refill without being asked - and didn't look like he was in any better condition.

"And you, Colonel Rhodes?" Gabriel addressed him directly this time. "I see you're taking advantage of your day off tomorrow?"

"Excuseme?" Rhodey asked, and he had to admit that his articulation was a bit more affected than Tony's after all.

General Gabriel grinned to himself and waved at the waitress. While he was ordering a beer, Rhodey turned to Tony for help.

"Let'sgetthefuckoutofhere," he whispered urgently.

Tony was forking an artichoke and shook his head. "And miss all the fun here? It's just getting interesting again."

"Tonyplease!"

Tony was about to shove the artichoke into his mouth when Rhodey nudged him rudely to add emphasis to his words. It didn't have the desired effect, though. Instead, Tony's hand was jerked around, the piece of artichoke left the fork and flew directly onto the general's uniform. There it stuck oily to the shirt he wore under his uniform jacket. Gabriel hadn't noticed, he turned back to the two of them and smiled politely.

"Well, we miss you in the military, Mr. Stark," he then said.

For a moment, Rhodey's gaze wandered to Tony, who was apparently also looking at the artichoke wide-eyed and with his mouth half-open. Rhodey quickly looked away; he wasn't sure if he was about to have a laughing fit or perhaps dissolve with embarrassment.

"I understand that, I would miss me, too. Unfortunately, I can't go back," Tony countered, and a half-suppressed laugh did worm its way to the end of his sentence.

"Yes, you could. Is there really no way at all that you want to return to weapons business?"

"OutofthequestionHe'soutForever," Rhodey replied, hoping Tony would get a grip.

"Well, that's exceptionally unfortunate."

The waitress reappeared and handed a beer to the general, who then exchanged a few friendly words with her. Rhodey and Tony both stared mesmerized at the artichoke, which left an oily trail on the general's shirt as it made its way toward gravity. Slowly, like a snail. Then their eyes met briefly, and they again looked quickly in opposite directions. The impending fit of laughter was hard to prevent.

"Do you two have a ride?" Gabriel asked as he took a sip of beer and then twirled the bottle in his hands.

"We'll take a cab," Tony said quickly, grinning broadly.

At that exact moment, the artichoke slid deep into the neckline of the jacket and then disappeared inside. Tony was the first to snort, while Rhodey stood up laughing loudly and shouted just as loudly: "Wemustgonow!"

"It might not be the worst idea," Gabriel agreed, but watched with a thoughtful expression, as Rhodey had to hold onto the table to keep from falling over. "Do you mind if I make sure you both find your way into a cab instead of Mr. Stark's car that I saw parked outside?"

Although it was a question, Gabriel didn't really ask, but rather told them it would be just like that.

"Oh, come on. We wouldn't be driving ourselves after all. We'll take a cab, of course," Rhodey said, now taking extra care to pronounce each word in such a way that Gabriel would think he wasn't nearly as drunk as he actually was. "We'll be fine," he added, to make sure Gabriel did understand.

Gabriel did already understand. "Of course, Rhodes," he said as he rose from his seat and grabbed Rhodey's upper arm with one hand because he almost fell over.

Tony was still chuckling - presumably because of the artichoke - but now stood up as well and came over to the two while also holding onto the table.

"I got this," Tony said, draping Rhodey's arm over his shoulders.

Gabriel looked more than skeptical and tilted his head. "You sure?" he asked, turning to Tony.

Apparently, he didn't trust Rhodey with anything anymore and left him out of it.

"Sure. It was nice to see you again, General," Tony said, "Well, not really."

Tony and Rhodey stumbled out of the bar. Tony was completely blinded for a moment as the sun shone head-on in his face.

"Rhodey!" he called out with a laugh, tapping his friend. "We've been in the bar all night. It's morning already!"

While Tony could barely keep himself on his feet with laughter, Rhodey seemed less amused. He looked a bit pale and held his hand protectively over his eyes.

"Can I have the first cab, please?" Rhodey asked, holding his obviously booming head.

"Sure," Tony replied just when his cell phone rang. "Yah?" he said long-drawn as he put the phone to his ear.

"Mr. Stark?"

"Yah?" Tony repeated, chuckling at Rhodey's distraught expression.

"Where are you?"

"Who is this?"

The man on the other end of the line apparently paused for a moment. "It's Happy," it then chimed in. "Where are you?"

"I - I don't know," Tony giggled.

"Boss. I was supposed to pick you up at 9.30 a.m."

"Yeah, right… Why again?"

"Because of the appointment! At 11:30 a.m. Meeting with the supervisory board to talk about the future of Stark Industries."

Oh...

Tony hadn't thought about that anymore. Damn it, he couldn't miss that appointment. Especially not on such short notice. A lot depended on him appeasing the board of directors, who were understandably growing increasingly displeased that he was taking so much time to decide where the company was going. Tony watched Rhodey who just raised his arm to flag down a cab.

"Fuck... I'll drive there myself, Happy. Already on my way."

"Mr. Stark… I don't mean to be presumptuous, but you sound like you're -"

Tony ended the call. A cab pulled up and Rhodey opened the back door.

"Thanks," Tony said, weaving past his friend and getting in.

"Hey!" Rhodey exclaimed, stumbling to the side. "I thought you were letting me have the first cab!"

"Just take the next one!" Tony shouted back, before slamming the door with a hard thud and muttering the address of Stark Industries to the driver.

Pepper nervously smoothed out an unsightly dog-ear of her papers and glanced at the watch again. It was twelve. Where was Tony? How could he be late again? He couldn't be serious. The three gentlemen and two ladies from the supervisory board looked annoyed, but not surprised. And in fact, it was Tony's habit to show up late – but seriously?

"Have you heard anything by now?" one of the men asked, not for the first time, casting an impatient glance at his watch.

"Mr. Stark should be here any minute," Pepper said politely, also not for the first time.

Happy had texted her some time ago that he was on his way. So, it really couldn't be much longer.

Pepper hadn't quite finished the thought when, indeed, Tony entered the room. He fumbled awkwardly with the doorknob as he closed it behind him. For a moment, Pepper wondered why he didn't appear neatly dressed in a suit and tie, but merely in a light blue business shirt with the sleeves rolled up; on the other hand, it didn't matter. The main thing was that he was finally here.

Tony turned and smiled politely, his eyes swimming around somewhat aimlessly. Then he slowly approached the long table. Pepper had a funny feeling, but pushed it aside and put the prepared papers in front of his seat. Again irritated, she watched as Tony literally dropped into the chair next to her, then held onto the edge of the table.

"Glad you could make it, Mr. Stark," one of the older two ladies said somewhat flippantly.

Tony just nodded and then gestured with a simple hand motion for them to speak.

"Well, Mr. Stark. Due to time constraints, we'll get right to the point. What's going on with the company? We have not been producing weapons for months now. As you know, we support your decision - we respect your decision. What we can no longer condone, however, is you missing to propose an alternative."

Tony cleared his throat quietly and stroked his face. He looked tired and worn out. Had he spent the night in the workshop again? Had he forgotten about the appointment?

"The Stark Industries stock is worth virtually nothing. It can't go on like this. We urgently need to bring something to the market that will make us money - and prestige. The competition is laughing at us."

"The competition?" Tony asked with a smile. "What competition, then? You're not talking about the weapons business, I hope."

"Well... what point of comparison should we use?"

"We don't need to compare ourselves." Tony's tongue was obviously heavy, his pronunciation slurred.

"Every company has a need to compare themselves."

Tony paused for a moment and sniffled so noisily that Pepper winced in astonishment. What was wrong with him? He seemed completely out of it.

"I told you we are going in the direction of energy technologies," Tony said simply.

"Yes, that's months ago. When is it going to start? What are you waiting for, Mr. Stark?"

"I'm waiting for... the right time. As you may know, I have another business as well."

"Hasn't escaped our notice. We think it's all noble and good. However, we're sitting on the board of Stark Industries here. And with all due respect, Mr. Stark, we don't want to see you wreck the company."

"Woah," Tony exclaimed, giving Pepper a sideways glance with a laugh. "Now I'm sure we'll get right to the threats."

"Tony!" Pepper hissed quietly in warning and totally surprised again.

"What?"

And that's when the scales suddenly fell from Pepper's eyes. Tony was drunk. Startled, she stared at her boss from the side. Had he seriously shown up to this meeting drunk? Pepper shook her head in disbelief. This could cost him being the CEO. This could get him temporarily restrained.

Pepper inconspicuously placed her hand on his thigh under the table. Now it was Tony who looked surprised and met her with a questioning look. Barely noticeable, Pepper shook her head again. She didn't know if Tony had understood her, but he leaned back in response, crossed his arms, and didn't say anything more for now.

"I think what Mr. Stark is trying to say is that he is already on it…" Pepper began, thinking quickly.

She then set up a timeline of when Tony planned to submit proposals and how quickly they could be put into production. After about half an hour, she paused to look at five questioning faces, all focusing on Tony. Pepper turned to see Tony asleep in his chair; face tilted back over the backrest, legs stretched far from him. The only good thing was that he wasn't snoring.

When Tony opened his eyes, a splitting headache greeted him. Groaning, he straightened up and was puzzled by the location of his sleeping place at first. A meeting room at Stark Industries. There was no one else in the room except him. He immediately he could remember everything.

Tony couldn't believe it. Why had he come here, for God's sake?! He should have canceled the appointment! Of course, he should have cancelled it! Why on earth did he even think about coming here?

"Tony?"

Still groaning, Tony turned to see Pepper standing in the doorway.

"Enjoyed your nap?" she asked, and Tony understood the point.

"Fuck, Pepper…" he muttered, leaning his hands on the table in front of him. "That… fuck."

"Yes, clearly…" Pepper took a seat next to him again, giving him several variations of worried expressions. "Are you going to explain, or do I have to ask?"

Tony avoided her eyes and stared at his hands instead. An uneasy feeling was appearing inside of him. He felt almost scared. But scared of what?

"So I have to ask", Pepper said after a moment of silence. "I could barely appease the supervisory board. You put us - you put me in a really shitty situation. I had to lie to them, and they know I lied. Things have consequences! Just because you're Tony Stark doesn't mean you can sit drunk in front of the board and slurring your words. What were you thinking?"

Anxiety got worse. Tony tried to calm himself, he didn't even have time to catch up with this emotion. Why was he so afraid? Because of the board? He didn't even care enough about the company anymore.

"Not much apparently. I just had one drink at a bar with Rhodey." Tony buried his aching head in his hands now and groaned again.

"One drink, huh?" Pepper asked and then watched him closely. "Jesus, you're still drunk…"

Tony continued to avoid her gaze.

"Tony... what's been going on lately?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"You do know what I mean. You just don't want to say it."

Tony grumbled, and it wasn't apparent whether in agreement or denial.

"It's not my place to say anything. You have your private life and it's none of my business. And you don't want to talk anyway. But Tony... you can't do that. This was one step too far. If you care about any of this, you need to come up with something and you need to come up with it soon."

"Spare me, Pep. I know it was crap. I just forgot about the appointment and got bogged down in that bar. Won't happen again."

"Ok," Pepper simply said, and there was clearly doubt in her voice.

"Aaand – you're right," Tony added a bit annoyed. "It's not in your place to say anything."

"Yeah, sorry for crossing the line, Mr. Stark."

He heard her rise beside him and then her clacking high heels hitting the floor.

"You should get to know your limits, Tony!" she said firmly, and strode out the door.

Tony sighed deeply and put his aching head on the table.