NYC & Also Steve's Apartment, Friday Afternoon
Rhodey
"Please pick up the phone, pleeeease pick up the phone," Rhodey
muttered, offering a weak smile to his new friends Rick and the
goddamn Hulk.
Steve
Steve picked up the phone, of course. "Hello?" he said a little
hesitantly, since he didn't recognize the number, and that could mean
reporters.
Or enormous emergencies. He wasn't sure which he would have preferred.
Rhodey
"Hi!" Okay, he should have given this more thought. LOOK, HE WAS VERY
FRAZZLED AT THE MOMENT. "Mr. Rogers. Sir. Um. There's a thing. With
Iron Man."
Yeah, that secret was going to hold, Rhodey. Somewhere in the
background something heavy fell from the half demolished building.
This was now his life.
"And the Hulk."
Steve
"Rhodes?" Tony's tiny Rhodes, if they were being specific. Steve
sighed and asked, "Did 'Iron Man' do something to set off the Hulk?"
Look, it wasn't the most unreasonable guess in the world.
Rhodey
He was totally not tiny, thanks.
"--no, he's not with the military," Rhodey said, half covering the
phone as he responded to Rick's annoyed little freak out at the Hulk
being mentioned. "Um. Actually, it was the Controller. He had, um, one
of the Hulk's friends under his control."
The Hulk had friends?
"And now he has Iron Man."
Steve
"Okay, who has Iron Man?" Steve had to ask, because there were
too many variables here. "The Hulk?" That was not going to end well
for Tony. Almost as not well as the yelling Steve was going to do
after this was resolved.
Rhodey
"No, the Controller."
A beat.
"I'm with the Hulk. And Rick. Rick says hi and that you're not allowed
to turn them into the army."
Steve
Okay, this was bad. "Tell him I wasn't planning on it," Steve said,
distracted. "So let me get this straight. The Hulk and Rick Jones are
with you," and no, Rhodey hadn't mentioned his last name, but it
wasn't like he'd needed to, "and the Controller has Iron Man...under
his control? Anything else? Is the army there?" It was still a lot of
variables.
Rhodey
"Right. No army so fa--HEY!" Apparently that was the key word to say
for the Hulk to scoop you up like a doll.
HULK
"No army," he rumbled, loud enough for the phone to pick up on it.
Steve
"No army," Steve agreed. "Right. Tell the Hulk no army. I'll
just...have you tried getting through to Iron Man? Or do you have an
override for the armor?"
Rhodey
"No army! No army!" Rhodey was going to murder Tony for all of this.
Slowly and painfully. "I've shut down everything I can. Motor controls
are still his, but the armor can't be removed and he can't transmit
sound. I don't have a full override. But, trust me, I will once this
is over."
Steve
Steve had a full override for his Tony. Really, Rhodey.
Get with it. "Okay. We can fix this," Steve said, his mind racing as
he came up with a plan. "Give me your location."
Rhodey
UGH. YOU'RE THE WORST, STEVE.
"Midtown." A beat. "Rick's saying that's going to change soon. How is
it going to cha--No. No, no, no. We are not jumping," he
hissed.
Steve
Steve wanted to bang his head against something. "If it's going to
change, fine, just as long as I can find Iron Man!"
Rhodey
"Just--get here and call this number. I can track him. I just can't control--"
There was a squeak of manly terror.
"Oh god, we're going to jump across town."
And then the call disconnected.
[[Preplayed with funveewhat! Contents NFB, but that Steve got a phone call is fine.]]