Like Father, Like Son
"I think you should go in and talk to him.”
Rhodey nearly spat out his coffee, eyeing his friend with incredulous eyes. He had just gotten back to Wakanda an hour earlier after being back home for a few days, knowing Tony was about to break the news to Peter, and wanted to be there for moral support. Not to mention, he liked checking in on the kid himself.
“I don’t think I’m the one who he’s going to want to talk to, Tony.”
“He loves talking to you. He always seems more relaxed when you’re in there with me.” Tony shrugged, eyeing his own coffee suspiciously, like it wasn’t some of the best coffee they have ever had. Rhodey knew he was just trying to avoid eye contact, rather than there actually being anything wrong with his drink. They’d be hard pressed to find any actual flaws in anything in Wakanda. It was actually kind of annoyingly perfect.
“Tony-“
“No, I’m serious.” He was cut off, and if it wasn’t for the urgency and desperation in his best friend’s voice, he would have stopped him. His eyes had finally pulled away from his cup, and Rhodey was only half surprised to see that his eyes were glassy with unshed tears. “I just stress him out, Rhodey. He’s had more panic attacks with me in the room than anyone else. You think that’s a coincidence? Because I don’t. The only thing I can do to help fix this I can’t even give him yet, so I’m just here floundering and I’m pretty sure I’m making the kid worse in the mean time. I don’t know what I was thinking dropping all that on him now.”
The Colonel raised his eyebrows but said nothing, despite having an argument for every thing Tony had just said, knowing that the floodgates were finally opening and he wasn’t about to stop him from finally opening up. Instead he just kept a solid gaze on Tony as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.
“Just thought it would be better to do it before we moved him into the lake house,” he continued, his voice strained. “If he doesn’t want anything to do with me he should have that option. I just keep hurting him. It’s like a never ending cycle. Like I’m stuck in one of Strange’s time loops.” He let out a frustrated huff and sat his coffee on the table next to him. His mouth opened and closed a few more times, like there was more he wanted to say but had ended up deciding against it and Rhodey took that as his cue to jump back into the conversation.
“Tony, you said yourself when I got here the first thing he said to you today was that he thought you were avoiding him, right?”
Tony pursed his lips but nodded, returning to his previous game of avoiding eye contact at all costs. He was now frowning at a piece of artwork on the wall as if it personally offended him. It was always one step forward - two steps back with this guy.
"He likes you."
Rhodey snorted at that before he could stop himself, but it at least got Tony to look at him again - even if he was now looking at him with offense. "Yeah, Tony. He likes me. Probably because I don't treat him like he might break if I look at him wrong." He retorted, with heavy emphasis on the word like as he already begun standing up, which he was pretty sure went right over his friend's head. "I'll go talk to him. How long has it been since anyone has been in there with him?"
Tony looked down at his watch. "It's been two hours and 40 minutes. Perfect time for you to go in and give him some company. I'm gonna go steal Fitz from his scary wife for a little bit to work in the lab Shuri is so graciously sharing with us before it's time for me to call Morgan." With that, he stood up and walked away, putting an end to the conversation.
———
“It’s fine. You can come in Rhodey” he heard Peter call out before he even had the chance to say anything the second he finished knocking.
”Alright, is your hearing seriously that good? How did you do that?” He pushed through the door, relieved to see the boy sitting up, and he even smiled a little as Rhodey made his way to the chair closest to him. The one he knew was mostly occupied by Tony or May. His cheeks were flushed and tear-stained though, and his eyes red- eyes that were staring at him suspiciously in a way that was crazily similar to an expression Tony was wearing not five minutes ago.
”Mr. Stark sent you in here, didn’t he?”
"Maybe, but I was coming to visit you anyway, so I didn't really need the push," He shrugged, keeping his face as casual as possible. "So stop staring at me like I'm here to interrogate you or here against my will or something."
"My hearing really is that good by the way," Peter smirked, picking absently at the sheet on his bed. "It's been a little more enhanced since being here. I think it's just because it's really the only part of my extra abilities I've been using in here."
"That actually is really cool. So, how did you know it was me? How far out could you hear me? Could you hear my conversation with Tony?" He couldn't help hope that he had been able to hear them.
"No, I can't hear that far out. Well, I don't know how far you were. I can hear outside the door, if I listen hard enough. But if you walk down the hall a bit, I can't hear you anymore," He admitted with a half shrug, reaching over to his bedside table to take a sip of his water. "I can hear your heart beating right now. That's not how I knew it was you though. I could hear your legs," He smiled, eyes flicking down to the braces that Tony had built for him. "But I do have some heart beats memorized now so I can tell who they are by that. But don't tell Mr. Stark," and there was a glimpse of amusement in his eye that felt reminiscent to the Peter he met before Thanos changed everything. "He's been trying to figure out how I know it's him before I open my eyes, and... Well, I don't have a whole lot to find amusement in right now and his face is funny every time."
Rhodey chuckled, shaking his head. If he was finding a source of fun in giving Tony a hard time, who was he to take that away from him. "Your secret is safe with me, kid."
They fell into a comfortable silence for just a few minutes, as Peter continued to nurse his water before finally sighing and setting it back down- suspicion settling back into his features as he stared at Rhodey. "I know that you know. I'm pretty sure I was the last to know." When he didn't immediately get a response, he swallowed and dropped his gaze to his knees as he pulled them up to his chest. "I'm not sure how I'm supposed to feel about it. What I'm supposed to do now." And the way he sounded so scared tugged painfully at the strings of Rhodey's heart.
"No one is expecting anything from you. It's... It a lot. We all know that. Especially Tony. He loves you so damn much, kid. And the thing is - he cared and loved you before he knew you were actually his kid. Everything he did to bring you back? No one can tell me he wouldn't have done that regardless of what he found out right before he lost you. What you guys do now, that's mostly up to you."
Peter was quiet at first, but he let out a shuttering breath, and it didn't go past Rhodey's notice that there were tears in his eyes. But his breathing was mostly even, and his vitals all seemed to be in check, so the colonel took that as a good sign.
"Why?"
That gave Rhodey pause, and he leaned back with a quirked brow, not understanding the question. "Why what, Pete?"
"Why does it have to be up to me? I don't... I don't want to hurt anybody..."
"Hey, you listen to me, okay? No one is going to give you a hard time for however you want to handle this okay? Your life has been turned around and upside down in more ways than one. You want to scream and cry at us, you scream and cry. You want to tell us all to fuck off. Do it. Who cares what any of us think?"
"I do. I care. I've already hurt them so much. I can... I can see it in their faces... I can hear it. I just- I just snapped at Mr. Stark again today." Peter scrubbed his face with his hand, turning to meet Rhodey's gaze. "Everyone wants me to be better. I want to be better. But I'm - I'm not, Rhodey. I mean... I am.. I am better but I'm not. I still don't feel like myself, and now - now I know I never really knew who I was to begin with and...and I'm sorry, I really don't know why I'm dumping all of this on you. I- I'm sorry. I'll just..."
"Don't you dare say you'll shut up." He warned, his braces clicking as he stood up a little too quickly. "I'm not going to lie to you kid and say that Tony isn't bothered. He's dealing with all this the best he can, but he's... Well, he's Tony. But as long as you're alive and breathing. He'll be okay. That's the truth."
"He can barely stand to be alone with me," Peter pointed out, and Rhodey was surprised to hear a tinge of bitterness in his tone, but it quickly dissolved, his hand shaking as he ran his fingers through his hair, tugging at it a bit before letting his hand fall back into his lap. Rhodey felt completely out of his depth here, but there was no way he was going to act or look uncomfortable and make Peter feel like he was crossing some sort of line.
"It's not just him though - I've snapped at Fitz too. He was just trying to help - and - and May. God. May. What about her? She-" His face crumpled, and he quickly turned away to hide his face.
"I don't know your aunt- or the Fitz-Simmons couple. So I can't speak for them entirely. But I don't have to have known them for a long time like Tony to see how much they care about you too, and - "
"Mr. Rhodes, sir. I think I'd like to be left alone again." The second he heard him refer to him as 'Mr. Rhodes' he knew he was shutting him out. That he'd reached his limit of open vulnerability. If he didn't know any better, he would think he was talking to a young Tony Stark in that bed instead of Peter Parker. His face hardened, doing his best to lock away the emotion that had been on full display just a moment earlier.
"Thank you, sir. For visiting. It's.. It's always good to see you and -" His expression softened again - just a little- "Thank you for the chat. Really."
"Anytime." He smiled and ruffled the kids hair before turning to leave. "I mean it, anytime. I'll talk to you later, Pete." He almost made a comment about being Uncle Rhodey, but figured that it might not have been the best time. There was always next time.