Chapter Text
“So, are you distinguishing a pattern, genius,” Rhodey asked as he sipped on his beer, affectionately using Tony’s college nickname. Tony was letting Dum-E spin him around on his stool.
“That’s enough, Dum-E. What kind of pattern,” Tony asked, reaching for his own beer once Dum-E puttered away.
“Well, Cap and Romanoff didn’t bother calling you in during that Shieldra fiasco even though you could have easily handled the tech side without any property damage or loss of life,” Rhodey shrugged. “Why not?”
“Romanoff said they didn’t have a clear line of communication,” Tony said looking at Rhodey seriously.
Rhodey took a long swig of his drink.
“You believe that, genius,” he asked, not looking at Tony.
Tony sighed.
“No. They clearly trusted whatever tech Fury handed them off before he did his disappearing act. If she could handle checking that upload for bugs then she could handle checking the special issue phones I gave all of the Avengers. And, miraculously, I didn’t have to go after Clint and his family even though everything else got dumped,” Tony said, shaking his head. “It was a choice and a poor one at that since she burned EVERYone else.”
“Right,” Rhodey said, raising his drink in a mock toast. “And Barton has a family? Since when?”
“For a while. He just hid it from everyone, not that I blame him. And I wouldn’t know if I hadn’t started digging through all of the crap Romanoff dumped. She left a clear line in the code where she picked out Barton’s info before dumping everything else.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. She only dumped about a quarter of her own info too. Probably enough to make it look like she had nothing else to hide. I found a shitload more that she buried, though,” Tony said seriously.
“Have you finished data-mining it all?”
“No. Got sidetracked by the Mandarin debacle. And now Pepper’s got me on lock-down.”
Rhodey rolled his eyes.
“OK. I’m gonna say a couple of things, genius,” Rhodey said, getting up from the lumpy old lab couch and walking over to hip check the brunette that he had claimed as his own all those years ago back at MIT. “First, the Avengers aren’t your team. They don’t like or even respect you, Tones. Not a damn one of em’.”
“Tony was fiddling with a piece of metal on his drafting desk, but he looked up briefly at Rhodey and gave a brief nod. The sight and sound of his Adam’s apple bobbing was the only tell of how hard it was to acknowledge the truth that Tony was too smart not to know. Only Rhodey would know what it cost him. “This next one is gonna be hard, Tones,” Rhodey added, gripping Tony’s hand.
“You only knew Pepper for a bit before Afghanistan. She doesn’t really grasp exactly how much that nightmare changed you—at your core, Tony. When you say that you are Iron Man . . . Pepper doesn’t really get it. To her, it’s Tony Stark: Yes, Iron Man: Not Recommended. You get that, right?”
This time Tony didn’t nod or shake his head, and he avoided looking at Rhodey altogether.
“Genius,” Rhodey said affectionately. “She doesn’t get it. And she will keep trying to change you. You have to make a choice here or you’re both gonna get hurt, Tony.”
“I want something real. I want someone to want me,” Tony whispered.
“You know that I will always be here? I will never leave you, Tony. But I can’t stand watching you disrespect yourself and tear yourself apart for people who want you to be something you’re not,” Rhodey sighed.
“You don’t think Pepper gets me?”
“I think Pepper has forgotten two things. First, being in a relationship means that you take your lover as they are. You can grow and develop, sure, but you don’t date potential. That’s what all this “You’re not the suit, Tony” crap is really about. She wants you to put a ring on it and, here’s the part I’m really not liking, sit down and shut up.
Tony, she’s handling you, pure and simple. That’s not a partner.”
“She does,” Tony nodded with a shrug. He’d known that for some time now. “But I think I need that, Rhodey.”
“OK. I’m gonna give to you straight, man. Ever since the palladium and Romanoff’s bullshit profile, you’ve been spiraling. Pepper treats you like a toddler, Tony. She may be a CEO now, but you were running SI for years before you blessed her with that gift. And she has everyone believing the hype that she is SI, Tony. She encourages Romanoff’s and Roger’s bullshit everytime she acts like the poor, put upon girlfriend who can’t get her unruly boyfriend to grow up and act responsible,” he said.
He went on. “She actually has about half of SI believing that shit. Only the lifers and R&D know you and know better. She’s acting as CEO, but treating you like she’s still your personal assistant because it suits her—and let’s be frank, she needed you watching out for her as she took the reigns. You’ve been right beside her as she transitioned. She gave you no credit for the incredible opportunity you gifted her by trusting someone that had nowhere near the experience she needed to fill that position. Then she gave you no credit for anything you did to help her. And now she acts like you don’t do anything, instead of acknowledging that you guys have been tag-teaming all along while you ARE STILL the head of RD. And if we’re still being real, that’s the most important job in SI, Tony. You can put someone else in the CEO position, but your ideas and your ability to inspire the others in various fields and bring them together to innovate is what is keeping SI on top. Pepper doesn’t really have to work very hard for it because you make SI’s success happen by being the best. I’m sick of her acting like she’s doing you some great favor to stay.”
“Rhodey?”
“The Avengers have been pissing me off, but everyone is blind to Pepper’s faults, Tony. I just don’t get it. If I walk into the Tower one more time to hear how sorry everyone is for poor Pepper,” Rhodey said, shaking his head. “It’s time to decide. You need to cut the dead weight, man. I think it’s obvious with the Avengers. They sure didn’t call to see if you were really dead or alive, even though it was a matter of national security. But I think it’s time for you to seriously think about kicking Pepper to the curb too. She’s getting worse, not better. I’d say she’s a better friend than a partner, but she’s got to do some serious soul-searching before she even cuts it in that department, Tones.”
“Let me think about it” Tony said, with a decisive nod. And then he was building again and Rhodey went back to his seat to watch the magic happen.