lt colonel james rhodes

“The last I heard, the pot was empty. But if you are lucky, someone will have remedied that before you get there. I find it amusing how much you all rely on that drink in the morning.”

“Lame. That’s what you are, lame. You would be bored anyway, I’m working with my new prototype nanoparticles.”

“I am, Rhodes. Though I am not completely sure of why, I will take it while it lasts. It is fleeting nowadays, isn’t it?”

“Shit– sorry, that was rude of me.” Daisy replied and then yawned. “And don’t call me agent. I haven’t been an agent for a while now, though–” Her sentence ended abruptly and then she kept quiet.

“No. Image is easily perceived the wrong way and manipulated.”

“You got any kind of fact checker to go up against that sort of thing?”

“I had to learn that the hard way. For years, I thought I was doing the right thing. Turns out, I was one of the bad guys. Sometimes we just tell ourselves what we want to hear, and that’s it.”

“Well, at times I wonder if I could have stopped it. Watching friends bicker amongst themselves has never been something I am good at ignoring. But perhaps intervening could have made it worse. And maybe it’s best that we’ll never know.”

“Focusing our efforts, instead of letting them wander. Start there.”

he shrugged. “maybe so— but then i wouldn’t be havin’ as much fun. you terrans gotta get thicker skin if you wanna get anywhere.”

“Oh yeah, Shuri. Met her once, pretty soon after I got back. She’s brilliant, no offense taken. And she’s such a big fan of mine, so how could I say no.” Tony took another sip of his coffee. “She say where and when we’re having this meeting? Gotta plan my sleep cycle.”

“Is it improper for a King to play practical jokes?”

“you know, it’s insulting that people threaten to call animal control instead of the cops when i start causin’ trouble.”

“You seein’ this?”

Reed nodded. “Well, I wish I could say it’s comforting to know that there are people out there who disagree with what’s happening to mutants. It does, but it doesn’t seem like enough.”

“You’re bad at being quiet.” Daisy groaned, sitting at a table with both hands pressed to her forehead.

“I can pass your compliment along to them. The Champions are well, Colonel Rhodes. Thank you for asking. I believe we are still being effective.”

“Sounds like it. I see good stuff on the news. Not that we can trust cable, can we?”

“Yes.” It was a simple answer but it carried weight– after all his loss, being together with everyone he had left meant more than he could express. “I am grateful to have you and the others. When I heard of the split between Stark and Rogers I was sorry that I hadn’t been present– though I suppose no one could talk sense into either of them at the time.”