Chapter 13: Repulsor Technology

A/N: In which Rhodey and Tony see each other again for the first time in a while.

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.

-x-X-x-

"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.

"Tony…"

"Yep. All yours, Rhodey."

He tries not to act too much like a kid in a candy shop, even as he very carefully sets aside his hat and pulls off his jacket, folding it properly and making sure it's secured. Then, he walks very fast but does not run over to the weapon's platform, climbing up the steps to where the seat behind the large turret sits.

As he settles into place, Tony climbs up next to him and points out a big red switch that Rhodey flicks with no further prompting. The whole machine comes to life at that, and Rhodey's eyes dart over the readouts, even as Tony points things out to him. Truthfully… it's surprisingly intuitive for a piece of military hardware.

In a jet, for instance, the cockpit is filled with a million different switches. Redundancies on top of redundancies, and the training is no joke. But this… Rhodey finds himself taking hold of the controls rather quickly and staring down the sights of the turret at the far wall in short order.

"Weapons hot, Rhodey. Fire when ready."

"What's going to happen when I do, Tony?"

Scoffing, Tony just grins.

"C'mon man. Live a little."

Truthfully, that's all he needs to hear. With an almost vicious glee, Rhodey presses the red buttons on the top of the handheld controls… and watches with wide eyes as a beam of white light shoots out of the end of the turret and slams into the far wall, leaving behind a crater in the concrete.

"… Holy shit Tony. You made laser weaponry?"

But Tony is already shaking his head.

"Not quite, Rhodey. Energy? Yes. Lasers? Not really. I call it Repulsor Technology. At its core… it's a form of propulsion more than anything."

Rhodey's mouth opens and closes at that for a moment before he gives his friend an incredulous look.

"Propulsion? You can't be serious."

Tony just smiles and points to another button on the console with one hand, while the other hand reaches back and grabs a railing. Rhodey reaches out and presses the button… only to gape as what he'd thought was a stationary turret platform suddenly begins to float.

"Whoa… Tony, what the hell?"

"It's all the same technology, Rhodey. Like I said, Repulsor Technology. You can use it for offense, defense, and even movement. This is 1% power right now that you're using to hover. The beam you just fired was about 40% power."

Only 40%?! That meant at a hundred percent it could probably demolish a wall, and if fired correctly, bring down an entire building! Blinking, Rhodey realizes the controls actually do seem a little like a steering wheel. Instinctively, he pushes them forward… and yelps as the hovering platform starts to move into the weapons testing area. Slowly, he drives them in a circle.

"… Could this be used in jets, Tony?"

Grinning, Tony tilts his head to the side.

"Sure it could. It would put your modern jet engine to shame, honestly. Though I haven't developed a Repulsor Jet just yet. And I should warn you now… it's all black boxed."

Rhodey gives Tony a look at that, but the weapons developer just shrugs, completely unrepentant.

"Sorry but not sorry, Rhodey. This is proprietary stuff we're talking about here. I'm always happy to sell to the United States Military, but you and I both know they'd love to crack my stuff open and have my competitors make it cheaper and with worse quality but for half the price. Well tough. Try to crack any of my Repulsor Technology open, try to repurpose any of it… they won't like the results very much."

When Rhodey doesn't stop staring at Tony, Tony just smiles wickedly.

"Mess with this stuff too much… and it turns into a bomb."

Eyes widening, Rhodey suddenly feels a lot less safe about where he's sitting as he looks down at what is apparently a giant bomb that he's sitting on. Tony just laughs.

"Oh come off it, Rhodey. It's perfectly safe. And the casing is made of some stern stuff. It can take a ton of damage from conventional weapon's fire before anything would hit anything vital. But just like with anything that costs a whole lot of energy, if you manage to damage the integrity of the core, you're going to have an explosion on your hands."

That was… a bit fairer, Rhodey was forced to concede. Still…

"What even is at the core of this thing Tony? This sort of technology, it's…"

Here, Tony just chuckles.

"I like to call it 'post-modern weaponry'. We're moving beyond the need for conventional bullets, Rhodey. Be they for handguns or tanks, we're moving from physical ammunition to energy-based fire. This is the start of that. C'mon, there's more."

They put the hovering turret platform back into place and then Tony leads Rhodey to the rest of it. Stuff like Repulsor Rifles, Repulsor Gloves, Repulsor Hover Boots. To say Rhodey is impressed by the end of the show would be an understatement. When he says as much to Tony however, his best friend's answer shocks him to his core.

"Excellent? I'll just have to put you in touch with the CEO so you guys can work out a deal then, Rhodey-Bear!"

Stopping in the middle of putting back on his uniform jacket, Rhodey turns and stares at Tony.

"… You're the CEO of Stark Industries, Tony."

Grinning like the cat who caught the canary, Tony shakes his head.

"Not anymore, Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes. You're one of the first to find out, but as of this morning I am now the Chief Science Officer of Stark Industries, Head of Research and Development… but no more than that."

Rapidly processing what that means, Rhodey finds himself at a loss for words for a moment. Until finally he asks the most pertinent question of all.

"Who… who's replacing you, Tones?"

Grin softening slightly at the nickname, Tony gestures to the door.

"Let me show you to their office, yeah?"

In the end, Rhodey has no choice but to follow Tony if he wants answers. To say his anxiety is high all the way to the new Stark Industries CEO would be an understatement. But never has he been more shocked while also feeling immense relief when the door opens… and he sees none other than Pepper Potts sitting behind the desk. At his and Tony's entrance, the red head looks up from her work and then smiles broadly.

"Rhodey! I trust the demonstration went well then?"

Tony is the one who answers of course, staying by the door.

"That it did, Pep! He's on board, but obviously I'm not the one he has to deal with anymore. Don't fleece him too badly now, you hear? He's still a friend!"

Pepper hums at that, before looking at Rhodey with an expression that actually manages to send shivers down his spine.

"A friend maybe. But also a representative of the world's most well-funded military. Come in and have a seat, Lieutenant Colonel. Let's talk."

On the one hand, Rhodey immediately gets it. Pepper slots into the role of CEO like she was born to it, and as Tony retreats from the office and leaves Rhodey to his fate, he kind of understands why the other man made this decision. On the other hand… boy is this going to ruffle some feathers and shake things up a whole lot…

-x-X-x-

"Sir. Stark has provided an opening."

"Indeed, I just saw the news. Pepper Potts has been named CEO of Stark Industries. Let me guess, Tony Stark has yet to pick up a replacement for the position of his PA."

"Yes sir. This seems to be our one opportunity. I suggest we send in Agent Romanoff. She's done well in the months since she and Barton were split back up. A handful of solo missions under her belt now."

"Mm. Very well. But prepare her for this to be long-term."

"Sir?"

"We've been stonewalled for months. As you said, this might be our one opportunity at getting into Stark's inner circle. Agent Romanoff is to go deep undercover here. Make it clear to her that this isn't a one week mission. Probably not even a one month mission. We still don't know how Stark seems to know about every single attempt to surveil him. I don't want her to even try to report anything she learns to us unless she considers it worth likely blowing her cover."

"Yes sir."

"Make sure she knows how important this is, Agent Coulson. I'm sick and tired of not knowing what the hell Tony Stark is up to, and some of the things he's putting on market… I shudder to think what he's holding back behind the scenes for himself or anyone who might be willing to pay top dollar. Agent Romanoff is our best shot at finally figuring out just how much of a threat Howard's son has become."

"As you say, Director Fury. I'll make sure the briefing is very thorough."

"Excellent. Get it done."

-x-X-x-

A/N: Did Tony just make Pepper his CEO early just so he could bait SHIELD into sending in Natasha Romanoff to become his Personal Assistant? Yes. Yes he did.

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