𝒩𝑜𝓌 𝐼 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝓈𝒽𝑒'𝓁𝓁 𝓃𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓂𝑒 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓃 𝒶𝓈 𝓈𝒽𝑒 𝓇𝓊𝓃𝓈 𝒶𝓌𝒶𝓎
Audelia Motter and Tony Stark had each other's backs through thick and thin. But after the abduction of the billionaire in Afghanistan by the Ten Rings...
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"I'm not sure what's worse: Joan Rivers or the War Machine re-brand,"
The bar was fairly crowded for noon, but when the entirety of the Iron Man suit is parked right outside it attracts a fair bit of attention. The large TV on the wall was playing Joan Rivers on E! News as she talked about Rhodey and the suit at the President's televised debrief early that morning.
Audelia glanced at Tony with a smile as he laughed at her comment, shoveling more of his burger into his mouth as she adjusted the briefcase containing her suit between her feet. She might have retired after New York to spend time with her daughter, but that didn't mean she couldn't keep it close by. After the events on the TV last night, she wasn't letting it out of her sight
"It tested well with focus groups, alright?" Rhodey shot back, tossing a fry at Audelia who just tossed it back as Tony put on his worst impression of the president.
"I am the Iron Patriot-"
"Listen, War Machine was a little too aggressive, alright?" Rhodey tried to defend himself once again. "This sends a better message."
"So what's really goin' on? With Mandarin. Seriously, can we talk about this guy?"
"That's classified information, guys," Tony and Deli raised their eyebrows at their friend, knowing he would tell them with just a little bit of pressure. He sighed, looking around before leaning closer to them across the bar table. "Alright, look...there have been nine bombings."
"Nine?" Tony questioned with wide eyes as he took a bite of his food.
"The public only knows about three. Here's the thing: nobody can ID a device. There's no bomb casings,"
"Rhodey, you know you can ask us for help, right?" Deli chimed in, her voice laced with worry at the thought of not being able to catch this guy. She had too much on the line. "I might be in early retirement from the superhero life, but that doesn't mean we're not working on tech. I have a prehensile, I have a new bomb disposal device. Catches explosions mid-air."
"She's not wrong," Tony chimed in, mouth full of fries as his bloodshot eyes stared at the TV screen. "She's got all sorts of crazy tech down in the lab."
Rhodey paused, grabbing at Tony's chin and turning him to face him, looking over the bags under his eyes and the red in the whites of his eyes.
"When's the last time you got a good night's sleep?"
"Five nights ago when he fell asleep on the couch holding Aurora," Deli automatically chimed in, sending Tony a look. "You've barely slept since that night."
"Einstein slept three hours a year. Look what he did?"
"People are concerned about you, Tony," Rhodey told his friend, casting a glance over at Audelia who averted her gaze. "I'm concerned about you."
