Peter Parker's illustrious Internship

(iv) Just Like Him

Rhodey knows about the Kid. Of course, he does, he's met Peter at family dinner nights and interacts with him on Twitter, but Rhodey hasn't necessarily spent any time with the Kid to get to really know him. All he knows is that Peter was Tony's intern, and the vigilante Spider-Man that Tony swears is the reason for his heart problems with all of the injuries the Kid seems to get while on patrol. Despite knowing how dear Tony holds the Kid, Rhodey did not expect to see him.

See, today is the anniversary of Tony's parent's death. Every year, without fail, Rhodey goes to the tower holding their regular order of Chinese takeaway, and always finds Tony alone in his lab usually drinking away the day. And when he went sober just over a year ago, Rhodey would find him in the lab having drunken litres worth of coffee and mocktails looking worse for wear.

So, in their usual fashion, Rhodey waits in the lobby of the restaurant, waiting for his order to be complete and checks twitter trending.

1. Trending
#Maria&Howard
The World remembers Howard and Maria Stark on the anniversary of their deaths
Trending with Tony Stark, Avengers Civil War, and Stark Industries
76.5k Tweets

SI Official ✔️@StarkIndustries
Today we honor our founders Howard Stark, and his wife, Maria Stark. May they rest knowing they brought the world into a new era of technological revolution. We miss them, may they rest in peace. #Maria&Howard

A wave of sadness washes over Rhodey as he thinks about his best friend, practically his brother, and what he must be feeling today. He's jolted out of his daze when his name is called. He grabs his order, pays then thanks the waitress before bolting out of the door to get to Tony.

The rest of the walk to the tower is a quiet one, Rhodey makes sure his hat is covering his face and speed-walks into the tower using the back entrance. He nods at Happy Hogan and makes his way up the tower using the elevator manned by FRIDAY.

Rhodey knows Tony like the back of his hand, they had been roommates during their MIT days, Tony spends holidays with him and his parents, and they've been best friends for as long as he can remember. He knows his best friend's coffee order, when he hasn't slept for days when he uses inventing as a coping mechanism, and that Tony Stark does not open up to anyone. He uses ego and money to cover his sorrows in glamour and expensive clothes and cars.

So to say Rhodey is surprised to see that Tony is not only drinking water and listening to quiet music as he calmly tinkers on the newest version of Stark Phone is an understatement to say the least. Although as Rhodey's eyes find Peter, asleep on the couch in the lab in an old MIT crewneck and an open Chemistry textbook slewn on his chest, Rhodey realizes that maybe he shouldn't be that surprised.

Rhodey, wary of the Kids' insane hearing range, quietly places the food in front of Tony who looks tired, but better than Rhodey has ever seen him on this day. Tony tiredly smiles and opens the food, divvying up their usual orders between the two before splitting his in half onto another plate for the Kid.

"How are you doing, Tony?" Rhodey whispers as he quietly munches on an eggroll, watching his friend with curious eyes.

Tony, who is watching Peter, still fast asleep on the couch, shrugs and turns to Rhodey, "I've been better, but I've also definitely been worse." With a fatherly shine to his eyes, Tony continues, "He's been a real help today. Been keeping me busy and eating and hydrated, doing what he can to keep me distracted... He understands in a way I wish he didn't have to, Kid's lost so many people, yet he still manages to smile."

Rhodey finds himself nodding and feeling grateful for Peter and the sense of normalcy he has brought into Tony's life. "The Kid is good for you. And you're good for him... You're a good father, Tony."

Before Tony can adamantly refuse, Peter starts to move, waking up. He stretches slowly and his textbook starts to fall off his chest- his Spider Senses seem to tell him and despite his eyes still being closed, his hand shoots out and catches the book still open to the page he was on.

Peter's eyes open and he turns to the two adults, he gives a huge smile and his eyes shine happily reminding Rhodey of a golden retriever. "Hello, Mr Stark! Col Rhodes!"

Tony nods at the Kid and nudges the plate on the work table, Peter gets up and sits on the stool next to his mentor. "Eat up, Kid."

The rest of the night goes like that, a domestic night full of quiet jokes, light-hearted arguments on theoretical physics, and Tony smiling more than Rhodey has ever seen him on this day. Despite this, Rhodey can't help but feel like he has a metaphorical itch he can't quite scratch, and he just cannot figure out for the life of him, what it is.

It is not until after Peter goes out on patrol and promises Tony and FRIDAY that he'd be back in his room in the tower before midnight, that Rhodey realizes what had been bothering him the entire night. "He's just like you in the lab! Enamoured by science and having the same sense of humour for shitty science puns."

Tony scoffs, "He is not..." Tony then looks out the window of his lab before continuing, "He's better." Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Tony turns to Rhodey, "Thanks for coming to visit me, Rhodes. It means a lot." Tony flips a small screwdriver between his fingers as he turns back to the long-forgotten Stark Phone he was tinkering with earlier. "I'm going to ask him to take over one day, Rhodey. He'd be good for the company, keep us honest. If he'd want the position that is."

Humming, Rhodey messes with his leg braces and turns to his friend, "He's a good kid, you couldn't have made a better choice for the future of SI-" Rhodey stands and collects the containers of Chinese and starts to put their leftovers in Tony's mini-fridge- "and he's good for you. I'm glad you found a family, Tony. You, Pepper, Peter- they're good for you... I'm happy you've made your own family, you're happier than I've seen you in a long time."

Tony thoughtfully looks at the couch where the Kids schoolwork is still laid strewn about, "Yeah, I am."

A week later, Tony finds himself in the lab with Peter as they work on a new model for Rhodey's leg braces. "Hey, Kid... I was wondering what you want to do in the future?"

Peter looks up from the wires he was soldering and shrugs, "I'm not really sure, yet. I want to do something with inventing things, and of course, Spider-Man is still going to be swinging around New York, but besides that, I'm still unsure- which my school counsellor is a little agitated at me for." Peter snorts and taps his fingers on the table, "Everyone at Midtown knows what they want to do. MJ wants to be a lawyer, Ned wants to be an ethical hacker, and even Flash knows what he wants to do- a doctor. But I'm still... unsure."

Tony finds himself nodding and shakily asks, "Well, if you want... You could work here?"

Peter perks up and smiles at his father-figure. "You mean it, Mr Stark? That would be- that would be fantastic!"

Feeling more confident, Tony continues, "And, if you wanted, of course, you could... take over my job one day? If you don't want to, of course, no pressure- but do know that the offer is on the table indefinitely, you could accept today, tomorrow, a couple of years from now- or even never." Tony puts his hand on Peters's shoulder and gives it a friendly squeeze, "The cards are in your hand, Kid."

"You mean it, Mr Stark? I mean I don't think I could ever run a company that's insane-"

"I mean, you wouldn't be alone if that's what you're worried about! God knows SI is too big for one person. Pepper is training someone to take over her position, a kid I know from Tennessee, and if you wanted to, you could take over mine." Tony smiles at Peter, "So... What do you say, Kid?"

-=-

SI Official ✔️@StarkIndustries
We are happy to announce that Tony Stark is training an heir to our company! We will not be releasing any further information at this time except that we are glad to welcome them to our team!