Maybe Your Friends Think I'm Just A Stranger
"Natasha-"
"James-"
"Listen, I need a favor."
"You need a favor, or Tony needs a favor?"
"Just me. I'm trying to keep this off his plate right now. I'm not even sure what this is. I need you to be discreet about it."
"..."
"Okay, forget I said that. I forgot who I was talking to."
"That's better."
"I need you to tell me everything you can find out about a sophomore we met at Caltech. A Benjamin A. Fitzpatrick. The whole shebang."
"Did you just say shebang?"
"Shut it."
"I'll look into it. Is there a reason you're not using Stark's AI? This seems right up his alley."
"Tony is...struggling. Not going to lie, I'm getting worried. This is more a favor to me. We've had a bit of a setback here with Morgan and I'm concerned this guy may be hiding something."
"On it. I'll get back with you. Oh, and Rhodes?"
"Yeah?"
"Take care of them."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Don't call me that ever again."
James Rhodes was not a stupid man. Being best friends with a literal genius and billionaire, people typically forgot about his own accomplishments—that he graduated with Tony, quickly climbed ranks in the Air Force, gaining three master's along the way. A well-respected military leader and superhero to boot, Rhodey was no slouch. Even if at times he felt like a glorified babysitter.
If you asked Col. Rhodes—if you pushed him to be honest with his feelings and not a smart-ass about them—Tony Stark was not just a friend, but a brother. A very aggravating, idiotic brother who made snap judgments and questionable decisions and had a self-sacrificing streak a mile wide. No one would describe Tony as soft or emotional, but Rhodey, who had spent many nights nursing Tony back to health after week long binges, who sat with him during his wife's labor, who held him up at his wife's funeral, who rescued him from captivity and coached him through panic attacks, felt that the best part of Tony Stark was his heart. Watching Tony's hard edges slowly smooth with every fond look from Pepper and giggle from Morgan was something Rhodey felt profoundly privileged to witness.
Then everything went to shit. And Rhodey didn't know why Tony ended up with all the bad luck. It was like the universe said to him, "Sure, you can have all the brains and all the money and the best family, as long as you shoulder all the trauma and responsibility the world has to offer." And thankfully for those who fiercely loved him, he did so without slipping back into addiction, but Rhodey knew his sobriety was hard won and a temptation growing stronger after every loss. Right now, Tony was holding on to Morgan like a lifeline, and he was getting concerned at how sustainable that would be as she got older. It didn't help that their grief had been overshadowed by misplaced memories and odd dreams and a mystery even Rhodey didn't know how to crack.
So when Tony knocked on his door, Happy in tow, looking disheveled and rambling about Morgan going missing, Rhodey did what he did best and took charge. 10 minutes later, a drunken tweet pointed them in the direction of a Caltech dorm building, and 5 minutes later they were walking through the door into Rhodey's past. The smell of alcohol and weed swiftly brought Rhodey back to their MIT days, where a 16 year-old Tony Stark held court. From the look of things, Benjamin Fitzpatrick could've given him a run for his money.
"Will-will she be ok?"
Rhodey looked at the boy sitting on the couch in front of him. His eyes were glazed and he looked pale and clammy--Rhodey knew that face, knew what was about to happen and gestured at Happy to get him a trashcan. He observed the kid (because he was really a kid, just 19 years old if Dr. Prentiss was right) and felt a deep longing inside of him. As if he had known Benjamin in a past life and cared for him greatly. As if it really mattered to him that this literal stranger was drinking himself into oblivion. Rhodey shook the thoughts out of his head as he watched Benjamin throw up spectacularly. Something kept niggling him at the back of his head. It seemed kind of odd that this boy, who they had only met once before, in the throes of some arrogant and snarky rant to his professor, who seemingly hated Tony Stark and resented their presence, seemed so concerned about Morgan. He shared a look with Happy, and then looked back at Benjamin who was spinning a ring around his finger.
A ring that looked achingly familiar.
Rhodey schooled his features and said something to Benjamin (he was pretty sure it was brilliant and full of wisdom) and went to shake his hand. The kid was pretty out of it by the time they left, and hadn't even noticed when Rhodey slipped the ring off of his hand and into his pocket. He and Happy drove back to the hotel in silence. Happy seemed lost in his thoughts as well. They all did these days.
Tony was in his room, pacing back and forth when he got back.
"I don't know what to do, Jim." Tony was visibly upset. He only called Rhodey by his name when he felt out-of-control and overwhelmed. Rhodey could see tears pooling in his eyes. "She's asleep now—thank god—but I have never seen her like this before. Even when Pep di...even when everything with Pep happened, she wasn't this hysterical."
"It was bound to hit her at some point, Tones. It's bound to hit you too." Rhodey guided Tony to the couch. He handed him a bottle of water. "She is just as stubborn as her parents, you know." Tony laughed wetly.
"Yeah. I just wish I could take these fucking dreams away from her, you know. God, Rhodey. She is adamant he's her brother. Even after all that, she told me all the way back that he just doesn't remember but when he did, we'd all be a family. What am I going to do?"
Rhodey hesitated. "Tony, I know you don't like talking about it, but do you think there's any way there's something to all this?" He touched the ring in his pocket to make sure it was there. "I mean, I know it sounds wild, but crazier stuff has happened to us. And it's not like she's the only one dreaming here." He looked at his friend pointedly. "Last month you said that you dreamed you were talking to Pepper in an apartment in Queens. That's a weirdly specific dream."
"What? You think I have a son that we all fucking forgot about and he's a student here at Caltech?" Tony looked at him incredulously.
Rhodey rolled his eyes. "Of course not. But, hell, I don't know. Maybe someone's drugging us. Maybe we're being played. Maybe it's some fucking magic spell?" They both smiled at that last part and Tony rolled his eyes. "We'll figure it out, man. Just. In the meantime. Let's be careful, yeah? Maybe I should be the one going to the meeting tomorrow. You stay here with Morgan?"
"As much as I would love that, we can't do that to Albert. We'll both go. It'll be a few hours, half a day at most. I bet the kid won't even show up. He looked like shit tonight."
"He looked like you tonight." Tony scoffed. "Seriously. He may not be your son, but the guy has young Tony energy."
"An alcoholic with daddy issues?"
"No, a kid who acts like he's got no one in his life to care about him."
They both slipped into a comfortable silence. Tony got up after a few minutes to head back to his room. Rhodey casually reached into his pocket and brought out the ring. "Oh, I found this at the cabin and completely forgot about it. I remember you were looking for it."
"Honey Bear! Wow. Thank you. I was going to show Morgan this the other day—my MIT class ring. Look here. I had my initials put on it and everything. Thanks, man."
Rhodey watched him leave and sank uneasily on to the bed. There's no way some random kid in California should have Tony Stark's class ring. Something wasn't adding up. Something was terribly wrong. He heard his phone ding and saw a message from Tony.
Al just called and changed locations for tomorrow. Apparently the lab is in use tomorrow. He invited us all to his house in Lancaster instead. He said we can have brunch and he has a pool for Morgan to swim at while we talk shop. He asked us to pick up the kid on the way.
James Rhodes was not a stupid man. But sometimes, even smart men can be tricked by evil ones.