Rhodey And The Mystery Boy

Ch 7: Some Confusing Clearance - A Complication in the Compound

But what is right in this situation? Could he just tell May and Peter what his father is doing to their family? What the woman they adore and Peter treats like a second mother is doing to them? He had to, right? But he had to protect Tony and Pepper, too? He loved them. And they deserved happiness, and it is acceptable to want it from each other, is it not? But should Tony not break up with May, then? She deserves to be able to move on. Maybe he doesn't because of Peter? Rhodey could imagine Tony to try and protect his son like this. But Rhodey was not sure that was the right choice. Peter is a child, he needs stability and safety. He does not need this stress and fighting in his family.

God, what shall Rhodey do?

While Rhodey was standing in the kitchen entry trying to calm his mind and breathing, Happy arrived upstairs, sitting with them at the table.

"So, what is the situation? Am I to stay with them or will you?", he wondered.

"I'll know in a minute. Until then, let's make sure everybody is ready, ok?", Pepper replied.

Rhodey could not hear an answer and assumed Happy nodded, though he could not be sure. He could solely imagine what is going on. Rhodey took a deep breath and decided to think more about it later before he entered the kitchen.

"Morning, Rhodey!", came the chorus of Pepper, Happy and Tony immediately when he entered the kitchen.

"Listen, Rho, Pep and I gotta talk to you later. Properly. There are some – "

"Morning, guys!", came the voice of May, entering the kitchen.

"Good morning!", Peter added.

"Morning, May, Peter!", Tony and Pepper answered, while Happy blushed and nodded. Rhodey's mind was to full of other problems to make more than a mental side-note of this. Happy crushing on Tony's girlfriend is nothing compared to just the new stuff today. He could look at this later. "Come eat! Everything is ready!"

Tony quickly hugged and kissed May and Peter, before turning back to the stove, dishing out some plates of something for everyone. Rhodey sat down next to Happy, starting to eat. Trying to understand what is going on. Trying to decide what to do. Trying to understand what is going on. What he could do to help in this situation. Anything for them to do what is necessary. To protect. To be what he needed to do. For his family. For those he loved.

A phone rang and Tony answered it.

"Damn, really?", he groaned into it after a second. "Well, what would be the next step? ... Yes, I understand... Yes, we will be there soon. ... About fifty minutes, I guess. ... Sure, we can make it in thirty, but no guarantees. ... Yes, we will be there in twenty... Yes, we can do so, no problem..."

With those words, Tony hung up. "Sorry, kiddo!", he apologized immediately. "We have to go, SI emergency! Sorry!"

Pepper Potts hurriedly packed her laptop and files into her fashionable leather tote bag, while Tony Stark grabbed his suit jacket from the coat rack. The couple exchanged worried glances as they prepared to leave.

"FRIDAY?", May wondered. "What is going on? Where do they need to go for the emergency? How long will they be gone?"

"There's been a data breach. Someone has accessed some highly sensitive information from the SI servers. There is nothing much that can be done from here, so they need to take the Quinn jet to SI Headquarters. According to the flight data given, the Quinn jet back would be on standby from three hours from now anytime until five days from now. There is no clear situation, Tony and Pepper have tried everything from a distance they could, Miss Parker."

Tony and Pepper rushed to say goodbye to Peter and May and Happy and Rhodey, as quick as they could.

"Hey, kid," Tony said, ruffling Peter's hair. "Sorry we have to leave early. You'll be okay with Happy, right?"