Rhodey And The Mystery Boy

Chapter 1: Rhodes Back Home - A Surprise Discovery

Chapter summary:
Rhodey comes to the compound for the first time in months after his nearly fatal fall at the airport in Germany. He finds Tony asleep on the couch with a teenager. Was Tony hiding a son from him?
Author’s note:
I’m sorry about the bad puns... If there are trigger warnings you feel I should mention or something, please tell me.

Chapter 1
James Rhodes, also known as War Machine, looked around the enormous complex of buildings known as Avengers Compound, which he hadn't seen in months. It felt strange to be back here again, after everything that had happened. He had missed the Compound. He had not set foot in it for months, eight excruciatingly long months. He had missed his own bed, his own space, and most of all, his best friend Tony. But it felt strange and empty. He had been away for about eight months, ever since the devastating accident at the airport in Germany. After his nearly fatal fall, he had to undergo physical therapy and extensive rehabilitation. It had been a difficult time, a long and challenging road; the physical therapy had been gruelling, and there were times when Rhodey had been unsure if he would ever be able to walk again. Tony visited him regularly, keeping him updated on the SI and Avengers' activities. But this was the first time in forever, only the second time since the fallout, Rhodey would be back at the Compound, at what could only be described as home, and he was excited to catch up with his old friend. Seeing Tony and Pepper and all his friends regularly visiting and video calling was amazing and helped Rhodey’s well-being a lot. But this was nothing compared to finally being back home, to what had become his second home over the years, the place he missed more than he could describe in the last eight months. But he had persevered, and now he was finally back at the Compound.

Rhodey had always felt at home at the Stark Tower, Avengers Tower, and finally Avengers Compound, surrounded by Tony's genius and remarkable technology. He had spent countless hours tinkering (or, well, pretending to, he was an engineer who graduated from MIT, but this was way out of his league) with his War Machine suit, asking for new tech, talking ideas with Tony, giving Tony a hand, training in the gym, and attending endless board meetings with Tony and Pepper. The Avengers Compound had become his sanctuary, a place where he could let his guard down and be himself.

And though he was tired from the long trip, he wanted to see Tony. Sure, he'd been visiting Rhodey regularly during his absence, but it had been a while since Rhodey had stepped foot outside of hospitals and Physiotherapy offices, just to have a friend to be with. As he arrived at the Compound after so many months, Rhodey was filled with a sense of excitement and anticipation. He couldn't wait to see Tony and catch up on old times. He had missed his friend terribly, and he was eager to share all the stories he had accumulated over the past few months when Tony kept all his own issues quiet to concentrate on him. He had been looking forward to seeing Tony for weeks, to catching up and seeing how he was doing after everything that had happened in the past year. Rhodey could only imagine how all of this was on his friend: Tony always blamed himself, was hard on himself, and struggled with allowing everyone in... Unless he really trusted you, there would always be the narcissistic persona Tony invented to keep everyone at bay. With Pepper and him broken up and all the Avengers dispersed when he was just starting to let them in... Rhodey knew it would not be pretty but Tony is too much of a self-sacrificing idiot to allow Rhodey a glimpse of how he was struggling while Rhodey was in PT. Now, Rhodey was back here and he would be damned if he did not take care of his friend for once!

For now, though... He was sleepy and needed to rest, so he would go to his room to get some sleep after a quick hello to his friend. As he made his way to Tony's Avengers Compound, he wondered if Tony would be working on any new projects maybe Rhodey could join him on. As he walked through the doors, he was greeted by the familiar disembodied sound of the AI, FRIDAY, clinging from the ceiling.