Just A Normal Kid

Chapter 13

A few months after the entire mess in New York, Rosie was half-way through her second year at MIT. She and Suzie were celebrating the end of mid-terms with a Rush Hour movie marathon. The older girl returned from her trip to the convenience store to grab some popcorn earlier than Rosie had expected. 

She seemed to have run all the way back, since she was gasping for breath as she said. "Did you see the news? Tony Stark's on every channel!"

Startled, Rosie switched from Netflix to the local news channel. There was the aerial footage of a familiar house going up in flames with the caption, "Stark Home bombed and destroyed, CEO Pepper Potts and Billionaire Tony Stark missing, presumed dead." 

Rosie's head was spinning, and her vision was becoming blurry. She could hear Suzanne calling out to her, but it sounded fuzzy, as if she was miles away. Black spots danced in her vision, and she let the darkness take her.

"-SIE! ROSIE!" She awoke to someone shaking her. Was that water on her face? She opened her eyes to see Suzanne's worried face hovering above her head. She slowly sat up, holding her head. The fog in her brain cleared, and she suddenly remembered what she had seen on T.V. She grabbed hold of her friend, gesturing to the now switched-off gadget with a shaking hand. "Is it true? Are they really..." she couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence.

"I'm not sure, actually. Just before I switched it off, they were saying that Miss. Potts might have survived the explosion. But why..."

Suzie was her friend. She'd been planning to tell her the truth any day now... Crossing her fingers, Rosie hoped she wouldn't lose her best friend because she'd lied about her family.

"Look, it might sound a little crazy at first, but bear with me, 'kay?" 

"This is sounding too ominous for my liking."

Rosie cleared her throat and spoke to MARLENE, who was active on her phone. "MARLENE? Scan for any devices which are in earshot." 

"None except for Miss. Wilson's personal cell and laptop and your own, Rosie."

"Thanks, Marls." She turned back to Suzanne who had pursed her lips so tight that they had been reduced to a thin line. 

"There was a reason why I never told you my middle name." Rosie took a deep breath. "It's Rhodes. I'm Rosanna Rhodes Carter." She waited for her friend to make the connection.

"Rhodes? As in Colonel Rhodes, best friend of Tony Stark who he trusted enough to give a suit of his own?"

Rosie nodded. "The War Machine, or as they tried to rebrand it, Iron Patriot. Dad adopted me a few years ago and I've lived with him. That house-" she pointed to the T.V, "-was where I spent most of 2011, cuz he has to leave home a lot for duty and didn't want to leave me alone. We live with-with U-Un-Uncle To-Tony and Aun-Aunt P-Pepper-'' 

Suzanne's eyes widened as she realised what Rosie was trying to say and she enveloped Rosie in a warm, comforting hug. "I-I ca-can't lose th-them. Not af-after the E-Expo."

"I doubt you have to afraid of losing them, Rosie. Tony Stark's survived a whole lot worse and if Pepper Potts can kick ass in a boardroom as the CEO of a company like Stark Industries, I bet she's not the type to go down without a fight. Besides, I'm quite sure he has multiple contingency plans in place, given that he just issued a challenge to the Mandarin a few hours ago."

"HE DID WHAT?!"  The now-familiar feeling of fury and exasperation at Tony's antics was welling up in her gut. "Did you just say that he pissed off a goddamn terrorist known for bombing public places?"

"I shouldn't have said that-"

"No, tell me. What did he do?"

Suzie gave her a wary look before she replied, "The news crews caught him coming out of a hospital after another Mandarin attack. He announced his address and told the Mandarin that he was waiting for him. Said the door would be unlocked and the Mandarin should show up if he was a 'man'."