This is a peek into what Tony has been doing behind the scenes. Needless to say, this isn't the only way in which he's been shaking things up and making lots of money doing so.
"Rhodey-Bear! It's been too long!"
Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes turns at the sound of that familiar voice. Dressed in his full Air Force Uniform with his hat tucked properly into his side, he still can't help the sardonic smile that lifts his lips as he greets Tony Stark.
"And whose fault is that, Tony? You know, my superiors in the USAF were starting to wonder if I'd lost my touch. Or maybe just my connections."
Tony scoffs and waves off Rhodey's words, even as he turns and begins to lead him inside.
"Fuck 'em. If they ever try to underplay your worth, just remember you can jump ship to join me at any time, Rhodey." Raising an eyebrow at that, the Lieutenant Colonel makes a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat. Tony is his best friend and always will be. But… the United States Air Force is his family. His home. Still, Tony knows that. Rhodey has always been able to straddle the line between the two, mostly thanks to the close relationship between Stark Industries and the United States Armed Forces. In fact, he ' s made his military career out of straddling that line.
However, ever since coming back from Afghanistan and that ill-fated press conference, most people haven't seen much of Tony Stark, Rhodey included. Oh sure, they've talked on the phone a few times, but outside of things like attending Obadiah's funeral, Tony has become a complete home body these past several months. Only the promises he'd made at that press conference had kept the hounds at bay, really. Finally, it seems like he's coming out of his shell.
"You know I'm not going to do that, Tony."
Flashing Rhodey a carefree smile, Tony chuckles from behind his sunglasses.
"I know Rhodey, I know. But don't you fret. After what I have to show you today, the brass are going to be sniffing your ass, saying your shit doesn't stink, and trying desperately to shower you in accolades."
Rhodey can't help but wrinkle his nose a little bit at that. Still, he's nothing if not used to Tony's colorful way of speaking. The man has always had a way with words. That said…
"Big promises, Tony. It's okay if it's nothing too major, you know. We've seen how busy you've been lately. Hell, some my bosses were starting to worry you were planning to pull out of weapons production altogether with how much success you were finding in other sectors. Just having you call for this meetup had them all rather excited."
Tony scoffs and waves a hand dismissively at that. "Pull out? Why would I pull out? I'm the Merchant of Death, aren't I? Gotta live up to the title. Besides, those other things… just a handful of extra projects. A new phone, a couple of drugs, some consultancy work. Nothing too special."
Rhodey scoffs at that, even as he narrows his eyes slightly. It' s the first crack he's seen in Tony's armor. Calling himself the Merchant of Death? That was never something Tony had done before. That had been something other people called him, but it hadn't been a title he'd worn with pride.
The soldier was well aware that his captivity in Afghanistan had changed his best friend. You didn't go through three months of torture and not come out of the other side a little different. Rhodey had wanted to be there for Tony, but in the end it had seemed better to just give him some space. And frankly, even with how Tony was talking, that still seemed to have been the best idea.
Not only was Tony now dating Pepper, but he was honestly downplaying his achievements over the past several months. First, Stark Industries had released its own smartphone called a Starkphone that was currently taking the world by storm. The thing was apparently so far ahead of it's time that the other phone giants were struggling to keep up.
Second, they'd gotten a drug approved through the FDA just a couple weeks ago called PlusExtra. It wasn ' t anything special… except for the fact that it apparently lowered the mortality of accident victims and surgery patients by a whopping ninety percent. People were calling it a damn miracle drug. Apparently, PlusExtra alone didn't save lives, but it stabilized human beings like nothing else ever had.
For paramedics, it was rapidly becoming the go-to drug for anyone who got mangled badly enough to need an ambulance in the hospital. For surgeons, it was being paired with anesthesia and was apparently key for making sure life-threatening surgeries were a whole lot less life-threatening. Rhodey wasn't a scientist, but from what he understood, the drug did two things. It bolstered the immune system by a shit ton, and it bolstered the regeneration of red blood cells a hundredfold. Basically, if you were bleeding out and injected with PlusExtra, you could survive hours longer because you'd be producing more blood as fast as you could bleed it.
And finally, there were the things Tony was said to be consulting on. Things like that new Regeneration Cradle that Doctor Helen Cho from over in South Korea had apparently invented. She'd come over to the US months ago to consult with Tony on her project, and from what Rhodey had been told, he'd helped her get the damn thing operational years before she could have managed it herself.
His friend had been busy. Very busy. So Rhodey wasn't even trying to be mean when he said he wasn't expecting the world from Tony today.
Of course, Tony is grinning at him when Rhodey finally gets out of his own head. "Oh yeah, been investing in some promising young scientists too while I'm at it. You ever heard of Dr. Jane Foster?"
Rhodey raises an eyebrow at that.
"You know I haven't, Tony."
Grinning teasingly, Tony rolls his eyes.
" Well
maybe if you read more science journals, Rhodey-Bear … anyways, Jane Foster and her research partner Erik Selvig are some of the world ' s leading astrophysicists. They ' re doing some amazing work with Einstein-Rosen Bridges at the moment, and they were working out of an old travel van that I swear came right out of the Seventies! So I hooked them up with some extra cash flow. I' m pretty sure they're going to change the world." Rhodey tries to follow along. Really he does. But…
"And what are Einstein-Rosen Bridges?"
Tony chuckles.
" Wormholes, Rhodey. Currently, they ' re tracking some anomalous activity. Who knows, maybe they ' ll uncover aliens!"
Rhodey snorts derisively at that. At least Tony still has a sense of humor, he supposes.
"And they're only the tip of the iceberg. Stark Industries is investing in different research projects all over the world. They call this era of human history the Age of Progress, Rhodey. Bout time to see just how fast we can really go in my opinion. Speaking of which…" They finally reach the end of a long hall, at which point Tony throws open the doors and reveals the room on the other side. It's a rather large room and clearly set up for weapons demonstrations given the wide empty concrete space on one side. Rhodey's eyes are immediately drawn to what can only be described as a weapon's platform with a big honking turret on top of it though.
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