#rhodeyfest2k18

Most of the newer recruits are pretty convinced that he has a secret wife and kids - well, not secret, just quiet. He gets a letter every week during deployment, but rarely does anyone see any photos around him.

One time at homecoming a small girl who resembles him runs up and leaps into his arms for a hug. Harrison is convinced that proves his ‘secret family’ theory correct until they learn that the girl is his niece and came with his parents.

There are a surprising large amount of galas and events to attend once you reach higher ranks… at least when you’re as classically handsome as Jim Rhodes is, make a good ‘god bless America’ story, and are the best friend of Tony Stark. It really only adds to his reserved image because he always brings a date, and she’s always beautiful, but there’s never any rumors. There’s no scandals, there’s no drama, there’s just Jim Rhodes with a beautiful classy lady on his arm.

The military wives swarm around Janet VanDyne, ask her for the scoop about Rhodes and she just smiles and says he’s a dear dear friend.

It’s decades before anyone hears Rhodes talk about his partner and then one day Ramirez and Keller are bitching about “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” being rescinded. It’s something that they’ve been discussing ever since the talks started and it stops almost immediately after Rhodes stops, places his hands on the table and remarks that he and his husband are pretty fucking pleased about it and if anyone disagrees they’re welcome to kiss his ass and take a walk.

Everyone is silent as the General walks into the room and silent until Rhodes walks out.

At the next event, Rhodes doesn’t come with Janet VanDyne as usual. But he doesn’t bring a date either, he just sits with Tony Stark as usual.

After the next deployment his mom is there to greet him the way she always is (he’s such a momma’s boy, she’s there every time no matter what) but she’s not with any boyfriend. She gives him a hug, and they get into one of Tony Stark’s cars, and that is that.

It’s Machado who notices first. She’s at an event and at the table next to Rhodes this year. He’s there with Stark as usual, and… maybe that’s the point? It’s been two months since DADT was repealed, and everyone she knows is still a little wary about it. Marino’s been married to her wife since Massachusetts legalized it in 2004 and she’s still too spooked to wear her ring. Everyone knows someone who has gotten shuffled out of the service because of DADT and very few people are sure that the habit is completely over. But anyway, Machado is walking over to as Rhodes to a dance - the man never turns down a dance, even from Stark for crying out loud - and she sees Stark lean over and mutter something to him Rhodes laughs and gives his friend a fond look and… for a second… he brushes his hand against the one Stark has resting on the table.

It’s nothing they haven’t done before but…

Rhodes wears a ring now, he has since October 2011. It’s slim but solid gold. If anyone were paying attention they’d notice that War Machine has a gold band around it’s ring finger as well. Marsh is the one that notices that, and that Iron Man has a matching marking on its finger - in chrome. He doesn’t tell anyone, but he knows now.

“Hey Tony?” Rhodey said suddenly, three years after the repeal of DADT. Tony looked up, eyes sleepy from where he had been drifting off with his head resting on Rhodey’s shoulder.

“Yeah?” He asked.

“Could you have JARVIS post a picture of us to your instagram? Your hair is really cute like this - you look like a drunk duck,” Rhodey replied with a smile. Tony sat up with a start.

“Are you sure?” He asked. Rhodey nodded.

“Yeah.”

“J?” Tony called out.

“Posting ready sir, would you like to set a caption?”

“hmm… ‘Rhodey says I’m getting old but I’ve been falling asleep during movies for decades now’ hashtag goodnight hashtag platypus hashtag Disney movies are soothing.’” Tony reels off. Rhodey laughs and presses a kiss to his nose.

In 2014 someone notices that Tony Stark is wearing a ring on a chain around his neck. Further investigation shows that it’s been there for awhile. In an interview about the Avengers, someone asks and he gives a throwaway comment about how when he wore it on his hands he’d lose it every week in the lab.

“But what is it?” One reporter asks, frustrated.

“It’s a wedding ring,” Tony replies with a tilt of his head. “I’m married. And, keeping to the actual purpose of this interview, the Avengers are officially a division of SHIELD which means that my husband would qualify for Federal Benefits alongside me. Though… I’m only a consultant so we’re keeping my Stark benefits.”

The best headline the next day is “BIRON MAN” and Tony has that page framed.

Tony’s invited to speak at a fundraising event for The Trevor Project.

“I was honored to be invited to speak tonight,” he started. “I’ve never hidden who I am because I never had to. Everything I did was written off as experimentation or acting out. I’ve had two major boyfriends in my past, but the only one that matters is the man who became my husband on New Years day 2009. The Trevor Project means a lot to me, but it means more to him so with the organizer’s permission, he’s going to say some things tonight instead of me.” And then with a smile, Tony steps away from the microphone and Rhodey enters from stage right in full dress blues. The hall is quiet, and Tony reaches out and squeezes his hand before taking a few steps back. Rhodey clears his throat.

“I’ve known I was gay since I was sixteen,” he said. “I told my sister at seventeen, and then my parents at her funeral when I was twenty. And I was lucky - I was blessed with a loving family that supported me no matter what. Not everyone has that, and that’s why organizations like the Trevor Project are so important. Even today it seems like my Mom is texting me every week to tell me about the poor kid sleeping on her couch because their parents kicked them out.” He pauses.

“I’ve been in love with my best friend nearly since I met him. In 2009 after nearly losing him, I stopped pretending that I wasn’t. In 2012 he flew a nuclear warhead into a wormhole to defeat an invading army coming from outer space. I proposed to him the minute I got stateside.” He spares a moment to glance back at Tony who shrugs and Rhodey smiles- warm and open - and that image is front-page on a number of websites and papers the next day.