Work Text:
Peter was practically vibrating with excitement as he walked through the air force base, admiring the jets they passed with wide eyes.
Rhodey chuckled softly next to him. “What do you think of this one?” he asked, leading them to a large, impressive looking jet.
Peter stared up at it, unable to form a full sentence. “Woah… it- I mean- it’s- wow.” He had never gotten the chance to see a jet before, much less this many and this close.
“It’s a SR-71 Blackbird. Fastest jest we have here– technically retired but I convinced them to keep it around for fun. It’s a joy to fly, unlike anything you’ve ever experienced.”
“I can imagine.” Peter breathed back, eyes still scanning over the design, trying to figure out the engineering behind it.
He was pulled out of his analysis as Rhodey spoke again with a proud smirk. “Why just imagine?”
Peter whipped his head around to look at the man next to him, confusion spreading across his features. “What do you mean?”
“I mean you don’t have to imagine. We’re taking it for a ride today.”
“We? As in- as in you and me?” he asked, incredulous. Surely the military wouldn’t let a teenager ride in a jet just for fun.
“Yes, as in you and me. That’s why I brought you here today. I wanted to show you what it’s like. Plus, I’ll take any excuse to take a joyride in one of these babies.” Rhodey grinned at Peter, patting the side of the nose of the jet.
“But Mr. Colonel Rhodey-”
“How many times do I have to tell you, just Rhodey is fine.”
“Sure it is, Mr. Colonel Rhodey. But how am I allowed in a military jet? I’m just a random teenager. What if I mess something up?”
Amusement appeared in Rhodey’s eyes at that. “You do know how influential the Avengers are, right kid?”
“Well, yeah, but I’m not an Avenger!” he yelped. Technically he had been offered a spot but he had refused that and Rhodey didn’t know about that particular spider-related activity of Peter’s, so he really was just a random teenager in this situation.
“Yes, but you are connected to the Avengers. Tony would do anything for you, kid. Plus, I have a feeling you could easily get all of the rest of them wrapped around your finger.”
“Mr. Stark arranged this?”
“Well, no. But he’s not the only Avenger who likes you, kid.”
At that Peter finally processed the warm smile Rhodey was giving him, his hand gently resting on Peter’s shoulder.
“You… you like me?” he asked, eyebrows raised in disbelief.
Rhodey sighed, huffing a slight laugh. “Yes. You’re a good kid. From what Tony has said and what I’ve seen, you’re smart and kind. Plus, you’re a good influence on Tony. I haven’t seen him so happy in years, and you make him more responsible. So I trust you in a jet. Hop in. I’ll make sure it’s a fun flight.”
Peter stood, frozen for a moment as the words processed. Rhodey trusted him? The Avengers liked him? He made Tony happy?
He shook himself out of his thoughts as Rhodey gestured for him to get in the back seat, excitedly climbing in with a speed just slightly faster than a non-enhanced teenager would have, but thankfully not enough to be noticeable.
Peter buckled in and scanned over all the buttons and lights on the panel in front of Rhodey, whose seat was visible in front of him through the glass cover, only able to make out the details because of his enhanced vision. He spent the time when Rhodey was getting ready to fly and talking to someone over the radio to try and figure out what each button did. Tony had taught him a little bit of how to fly in the quinjet and he did go down a rabbit hole of researching it for a bit a few months ago, so he managed to figure out the basics fairly quickly. By the time Rhodey started the jet, he was fairly certain – though not confident enough to test it – that he could at least try to fly it, though he didn’t know how good he would be at steering considering how his attempt at driving Flash’s dad’s car had went.
“Ready, kid?” Rhodey asked, excited confidence radiating in his tone.
“Absolutely, Mr. Colonel Rhodey!” Peter heard an amused sigh in response to the name, but Rhodey simply started moving the plane to the runway.
Peter felt his heart rate speeding up at the anticipation as they slowly rolled into place, waiting for confirmation that they were good to go. He felt like he could hardly breathe because holy shit he was about to fly in a fast as hell jet with Rhodey. He was bouncing slightly in his seat, holding his breath.
Peter heard a confirmation spoken through Rhodey’s comms, just loud enough for Peter’s enhanced hearing to pick up through the glass and over the roar of nearby engines, and he braced himself as Rhodey gave a thumbs up to someone directing them from the runway.
As he sucked in a breath, the jet shot off the runway into the sky. Peter felt all the air leave his lungs at the force of their launch, letting out a giggle at the odd feeling. He adjusted quickly, super strength letting him manage the G forces better than most, and was quickly overwhelmed with a giddy excitement.
Rhodey was right, this was absolutely unlike anything he had ever felt. He watched the clouds zip by him in a blur and felt forces of the speed they were going. He was flying. And not in the way that swinging through the city felt like flying – that, while still fun, was really just falling – but this was actual flying and at a speed Peter had dreamed of.
He let out a breath as he admired the feeling, a wide grin spreading across his face.
“Having fun, kid?”
“Absolutely Mr. Colonel Rhodey, this is awesome!”
“How about we make it more interesting?”
Peter raised an eyebrow at that. “More? But how-” he let out a yelp as the Jet suddenly was pointed at the sky. It was beautiful, sunlight streaming through the clouds, so high Peter felt like he could reach out and grab the sun. But the view suddenly changed again and, with a pleased chuckle from Rhodey and definitely not a shriek from Peter, they were tucked into a barrel roll, hurtling towards the Earth.
Peter knew that normally, he should be afraid, but between his trust in Tony’s friend and his familiarity with falling, he couldn’t help but grin and let out whoops of excitement as they sped up, spinning over and over until they were dizzy, Rhodey suddenly pulling up sharply right before they reached the ground, and they were off at top speed again zipping low over the city.
“Holy crap this is awesome” Peter breathed.
They spent a while longer zipping around the city, Rhodey showing him tricks and testing the speed, both letting out excited yells and laughs at the especially fun tricks.
When Rhodey had finally landed and got out, helping Peter down from his seat, he smirked at the wild grin Peter had on.
“So, what did you think?” Rhodey asked as he took off his helmet, thoroughly pleased with his not-to-rusty piloting skills.
“That. Was. Awesome! You are so cool! Planes are so cool! Thank you Mr. Rhodey, that was so fun!”
Rhodey let out a surprised huff as Peter suddenly hugged him. He smiled down at the boy, hugging him back gently. Tony had a good kid. “No problem, kid. And hey, if you ever want to join the air force-”
“Mr. Stark and Aunt May would kill me if I joined the military, but thanks for the offer, Mr. Rhodey!”
Well, even if the recruitment didn’t work, Rhodey was satisfied with having gotten the kid to at least drop one title from his name. He would work on the “Mr.” part later. (and the military part too, but he had a feeling that would take more convincing with Tony than with Peter, because he doubted he could get the kid to do anything like that behind Tony’s back. He saw the way he looked at Tony like he held the whole world in his hands.)