We're more alike than you think

47. Pit stop

Before you could go back to the boys, you had one last person you needed to visit. Had you planned on this? No, but you knew you had to get his blessings and thank god he had time for you. It wasn't a lot of time, but guess that's life in the air force. Travelling straight from New York to Malibu honestly was more of a shock than travelling from Europe to New York, simply because of how warm it was outside. You smiled when you saw your friend, even if he stood with his back towards you on the phone.

"Eyy, eyy, is it my man Rhodey here? The big guns?" You yelled over to him waving your hands as you got closer. He turned around, still rolling his eyes on you. God, you had missed him. The two of you did a hand shake before you got into a hug. "Y/n so good to see you, I hope Sam take good care of you under his wings" he said with a laugh. Did he really pull a bird joke on you? Maybe you had forgotten how childish his humor was. "Not as good as yours, but he is getting there" you joked back. He smiled and he took his arm around your shoulder as the two of you walked into the mansion. You loved that they had chosen to rebuild Tony's mansion and you certainly loved it more because you had access to it through Rhodey and Pepper. The two of you went down in the basement and you immediately started to get ready working as you had no time to spare.

"So as much as I would love to think that you just wanted to have a casual meetup with an old friend, I'm doubting that's why you wanted to talk" Rhodey said. Guess it's better to just cut right to the chase.

"Me and you Rhodey, we have known each other for 7-8 years now, right? And you were Tony's best friend... who for me kinda were like a father figure if I'm being honest" you started.

"No deep shit, Sherlock, never took notice of that," Rhodey said ironically before sitting down beside you. You just laughed and took up your suit, the suit that Tony had made for you. Rhodey looked at it then back up at you. What you wanted to ask of Rhodey was no easy thing and you were fully prepared he would kick you out of the mansion, but you had no choice. If you wanted to live your life truthfully, you had to be honest with your closet family and Rhodey was that for you. You opened your mouth, trying to find a good way of saying what you wanted to say.

"You know, probably better than anyone alive how much I have struggled... with myself.. with who I am, but it's one.. one little thing you don't know.. and you didn't know, because Tony didn't want anyone to know" you said, fighting to not get too emotional. Rhodey turned around in his chair so he was facing you. He now understood that this was a serious conversation and maybe not the best time to joke around.

"I'm.. I am.. I am a mutant" you whispered low staring at your suit.

Rhodey's eyes were basically popping out, but he tried to sit still and be patient. He could see that you were nervous and he didn't want to make anything worse for you.

"And the reason why Tony held it secret was not because of my powers or anything like that, but because of my father...Erik Magnus Lehnsherr" you said carefully, looking over at Rhodey.

"Are you trying to tell me your father is Magneto?" he said, trying to clearefly the whole situation. You could already see his head spinning. You couldn't help but worry about what he might think of you. What if he started to doubt you? or felt different around you? Rhodey had always felt like a brother to you. The two of you always argued and even fought each other verbally almost everyday, but you would always end the day with a good note again. You had deep respect for Rhodey and he had the same for you. He took a deep breath after a while and looked back at you.

"Magneto might be your father by blood Y/n... but I'm your brother and a brother never leaves her sista" he said with a weak smile and took his hand around your shoulder. "Nothing changes" he assured you. If it wasn't for the fact that you had been crying so much lately, you would've absolutely laid down on the floor and cried of happiness. Still a tear fell down your cheek. Hearing Rhodey accept you and where you came from so quickly, without hesitation were more than what you could ever dream of. He smiled at you and took you in for a hug.

"Don't cry, we don't cry here, now tell me, can you do the same things as your father? like lift metal and you know, bang bang?" he said with a laugh. That must be the stupidest description you had ever heard of your powers. "Yea, basically, but I just started recently to use them. I was up in New York earlier to get some help from Charles Xavier, which really helped, so hopefully I'll soon feel confident using them" you said with a smile. Rhodey had such a warm smile, almost like he was proud of you. He had always thought that it was something that wasn't 100% right with you, but he could never put a finger on what it was. This felt like the missing piece of putting you together.

"Don't be shy, you gotta show me what you can do!" He said and pushed you playfully on the side. You rolled your eyes and had a look around. This place was full of metal, but also of things that were super dangerous and you really didn't want to cause an explosion. You got an eye on a car in the parking area. "Okay, you looking?" you said as you tilted towards the car. Rhodey nodded his head and put all of his attention to it. It is as simple as you make it - you reminded yourself before you simply altered it and lifted it up 2 ft above the ground. Rhodey looked at you with admiration "Y/n, this is crazy" he said. You carefully put it down and turned to him.

"It is, and because of that, I would really appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone... Especially Pepper and Morgan, I would love to tell them myself" you said with a weak smile. He gave you a nod and looked down at the suit. "Have you thought about the Sokovia Accords?" he asked, his voice was now so soft, trying to make sure that you didn't get offended or anything like that and of course you didn't. It wasn't Rhodey's fault that the world was how it was and as you had told the boys in the prison, you would have agreed with Tony and Rhodey on the Accords if you were a part of the Avengers, but things had changed since then. After the blip the world was full of grey layers and being a mutant is very different from being a Super Soldier or a man in a suit of armor. They made a choice to be and who what they do, mutants never had that choice. Not only would it be difficult for you to follow the accords, but it would bring a whole new issue of you not existing in any systems for decades, and your fathers name. You looked back up at Rhodey.

"I have thought about it and I have chosen to ignore them. Tony thought it was best for the world and me that the outside doesn't know me. I intend to keep that promise" you said to him in all seriousness. You knew this was something that was very personal and dear to Rhodey. The man still works for the government and here you stood and basically gave it your middle finger. He smiled weakly "I don't love it, but I understand and respect it." That's all you really needed from him. "So why did you bring the suit here?" He looked down at the suit with curiosity.

"If I'm gonna commit to being myself, the suit gonna need an update" you said with a cheeky smile.