"We don't get the happy faces huh?" Rhodes mock grumbled at Tony's guide in an attempt to lighten the atmosphere as they all sat around the breakfast bar. The hastily prepared extra food had been plated and unceremoniously dumped in front of the uninvited guests.

The Sheriff raised an unimpressed eyebrow but made no response. It was Tony who answered as he plunged the fork into his smiley syrup smothered pancake. "You are only being fed right now because my sneaky guide wants me to eat, more than he wants to remove you with prejudice from the premises."

He smirked at the pair of them though irritation was clear in his amber eyes. It wasn't an expression that was normally directed at either Pepper or Rhodey. Pepper looked taken aback and then slightly affronted whilst Rhodey winced but nodded his head in acceptance. Satisfied with the reaction Tony turned his attention back to his delicious but oddly anthropomorphised breakfast and snagged one of the blueberry eyes.

Pepper couldn't quite conceal the exasperated sigh but before she could say anything, the Sheriff uttered disapprovingly "Do you always treat your boss like a tiresome toddler Miss Potts?"
Both Pepper and Tony stared at him in surprise. She flushed but stuck her chin out stubbornly.

"Tony, we can explain…" she began but again the Sheriff interrupted. His blunt words were addressed to his sentinel but his eyes never left their two unexpected guests.
"Tony eat the damn pancakes, you can still listen. It's not hard to do both you know. Though seems like actually listening and not just hearing what's said is a skill in short supply around here at the moment"

Rhodey winced again and Pepper's ears turned red. There was an uncomfortable few minutes as Tony watched in fascination, his gaze sliding from his unimpressed guide to his unannounced guests and back again. He cut into the pancakes, straight through its syrupy nose, and began eating again when John directed that raised eyebrow of doom at him too. He was delighted to discover that he could feel exactly how pissed his guide was. For a moment his brain raced with enticing thoughts of how he could quantify the side effects of the bonding. He should get rid of Pepper and Rhodey to see if his guide was up for some sexy "science" but before he could open his mouth to try to smooth things over, he noticed that eyebrow was still elevated, those blue eyes were stern and there was an unhappy twist to those firm lips.

Oops maybe his guide was getting feedback from Tony too. So he opened his eyes wider, offered an innocent smile and took an executive decision. Something that he had been doing since he took over SI from his father even if most people tended to forget it and concentrate on all the negative press. Tony was going to let this play out between the three of them without interference. Well not much interference. Okay he could try to keep quiet. No promises though. Eating more of the pancakes would help keep his mouth occupied.

The main reason that Tony managed to keep his mouth shut was that much of John's anger felt like parental outrage. For his JARVIS. That was an automatic pass as far as Tony was concerned.

If that anger had only been focused on protecting Tony then he would have put his foot down. Pepper and Rhodey were his two closest friends and he trusted them. They belonged to him. His territorial possessive instincts were ramping up since he came online.
Although maybe territorial was the wrong word. It usually wasn't a place or location (except for his personal labs but that was nothing new. He had actually bitten Stane at the tender age of 7 years old when the man had the temerity to enter his playroom without permission and fiddle with the circuit boards he was making. Howard had not been pleased to say the least.)
He had even allowed Pepper to have twelve percent of the new SI tower under construction hadn't he?

He was more possessive of his people. Pepper and Rhodey were part of him, but even after all these years they still didn't seem to understand just how important JARVIS was to Tony.
John had immediately and instinctively accepted the bond between his Sentinel and his AI. Maybe it was because John was actually a parent. As far as he was concerned JARVIS was Tony's kid.

Of course it was Pepper that took the bull by the horns and interrupted both Tony's rambling thoughts and his eating. She focused on John and raised her chin.

"Look I'm sorry. But we didn't know what was happening. Obadiah Stane is missing and we couldn't get hold of Tony. JARVIS just wasn't responding to my requests" she gestured between herself and Rhodes, "rather, our requests to speak to him. We had to know if Tony was okay."

"So silencing his protection was the way to find out?" The tone of voice was calm but the disbelief on the Sheriff's face made her flinch.

"That's enough" Rhodey barked impatiently "Pepper found evidence of missing weapons shipments and a recording of Stane talking to terrorists. We are sure that he's the one that set Tony up to be kidnapped if not killed by the Ten Rings. She called me and we had to make sure Tony was safe from him. Stane has a higher security clearance than Pepper on certain things and we couldn't be sure that he hadn't compromised JARVIS and taken Tony again because no-one was telling us anything."

The crack of his coffee cup hitting the counter top acted like the full stop to Rhodey's words.
Tony was very used to that growl in his old friend's voice so his eyes flickered to his guide involuntarily. Old familiar guilt began creeping through his veins. He could have prevented this if only… But before he could open his mouth, John threw him a sharp reproving glance. "Oh no you don't Sentinel" he spat, "you had more than enough to deal with"

"That, that right there, what did he have to deal with and why didn't anyone tell us" The Colonel's scowl was nearly as impressive as the Sheriff's as they glared at each other.

Tony rolled his eyes at the silent stand-off. Then proceeded to succinctly summarise everything from Stane's attempt to take the arc reactor and Stiles' kick ass rescue to SHIELD's humiliation at the hands of his guide and the intervention of the North American Alpha Prime Sentinel and Guide.
He also inadvertently dropped in the fact that SHIELD had tried to inject him with something to slow down the palladium poisoning, the chemical that he had successfully used after JARVIS's tests so that he now had more time to work on a more permanent solution that SHIELD seemed to think Howard had already discovered.

Pepper dropped her fork. She stared wide-eyed with horror at Tony and then the Colonel who sat there frozen with an expression of panic.
"Dear God Tony you never told us you were dying" the whispered grief stricken words made the Sentinel flinch and his anxiety started to ramp up until he felt his guide's empathic presence muting his discomfort. He hastily tried to distract them by explaining that the new element would almost certainly allow Stark Industries to revolutionise green energy.

Tony was surprised when that piece of news didn't have the desired effect. Pepper just closed her eyes and Rhodey buried his head in his hands. He instinctively looked towards his guide. John smiled at him. "Tony they are more worried about you than future SI profits" and for the first time his tone was approving. Tony could feel the muscles in his shoulders start to relax, he really hated the idea that his guide and his best friends were at odds.

Something niggled at Tony. He drew a deep breath "JARVIS why didn't you notify Pep and Rhodey that I was nesting with my guide?"

The Sheriff rolled his eyes "What, it isn't obvious?" he muttered under his breath, then repressed his amusement at the thought he was channelling his son. At least he hadn't bellowed it aloud like Stiles would have. Tony definitely heard though and raised an eyebrow right back at him.

But all attention was directed towards the AI as he intoned blandly. "Section 23 paragraph 12 of the Stark Industries security policy states "No contact or correspondence shall be entered into with employees under suspicion of illegal activities including but not limited to theft, fraud, embezzlement, corporate espionage and corporate manslaughter."

"What the hell J?" "Are you accusing Pepper and me of doing something illegal?" Both Tony and Rhodey erupted in startled anger at the words.

JARVIS continued smoothly "There is a different reason for the lack of contact with Miss Potts Sir, unfortunately both her personal and company cell phones have been compromised by SHIELD, undoubtedly the work of Agent Romanoff, aka Miss Natalie Rushman. I knew Miss Potts would arrive here at some point and I intended to inform her of your change in circumstances then. Unhappily I was silenced before that could occur"

There was a caustic bite to that last sentence that was unmistakable.

Before either the Colonel or Tony could react, Pepper cut across them both. "Thank you for the explanation JARVIS but I don't understand how your first justification is applicable to Colonel Rhodes as he is not an employee of Stark Industries, even if he had misappropriated something which I sincerely doubt".

JARVIS' response was cold enough to make Tony give an involuntary shiver. "I beg to differ Miss Potts, Lt Colonel James Rhodes is the military liaison to Stark Industries and as such his behaviour falls within the Security policy requirements."

"What the hell Tony" Rhodey protested angrily. Tony patted his hand in a clear sign for him to shut up, as most of Tony's frowning attention was devoted to his AI.

"J, my honey bear hasn't breached the security protocols, you know that" he began to protest but to his surprise the chill in Jarvis's voice actually intensified as he responded.

"The fact that I have video evidence of his assault on your person and the unauthorised removal which is therefore theft, of a patented Iron Man suit during your ill advised birthday party ensured that I followed the protocol even though you refused permission to contact law enforcement Sir."

"Assault?" both John and Pepper echoed as they glared jointly at Rhodey.

For a second Tony wasn't sure if his AI was more pissed off at him than Rhodey, but he continued doggedly "JARVIS you know damn well that the War Machine suit was designed specifically for Rhodey" They both ignored the startled "What?" from the Colonel.

Again that cold voice interrupted him before he could finish. "Indeed Sir, however the suit was taken violently from you and you were left physically damaged in your then weakened and terminal condition."

"What the actual fuck Rhodes?" the Sheriff rose menacingly from his seat, his hand not so subtly going for the non existent holster on his hip and not taking his eyes from the stunned Colonel whilst the Colonel stared at Tony white faced. "It wasn't like that John, I had too much to drink and I provoked him. It's done. We're good. Water under the bridge"
Tony could feel the moment when John's anger with Rhodey turned to utter exasperation with his Sentinel.

"Christ on a bike Tones, I didn't realise, I am so sorry, it was so stupid. We haven't fought like that since MIT, I was angry and not thinking straight" Rhodes almost stuttered the words, ignoring the way Tony's guide was glaring at the pair of them. The frown on Pepper's face was almost worse.

Tony nudged Rhodey's shoulder but spoke firmly to his angry AI. He had just about hit his limit with emotional outbursts including the one from the self-aware coding he called JARVIS. Because damn that last response was the equivalent of a toddler throwing his teddy out of the cot in AI terms.

He needed to focus on the practical whilst all that feelings crap percolated in the background. He just knew that John would insist on a better explanation and a session of meditation later. He would try his hardest to sweet talk the stubborn bastard into a bout of vigorous sex instead.

"JARVIS, you will rescind that protocol and acknowledge the suit is lawfully within the Colonel's possession, but only the Colonel's possession. Reinstate him immediately to his normal authorisation levels" Tony demanded.

"You might want to restrict override access to JARVIS at the same time" John's low voiced snarky comment was only clearly heard by Tony and JARVIS. Tony flashed an aggrieved look at his meddlesome guide but the eyebrow of doom was back.

"Indeed Sir, now the Colonel has apologised for his actions I will most certainly reset the applicable security protocols."

How they couldn't hear the underlying satisfied smugness in JARVIS's tone John would never know. The AI was pissed, he must have been waiting for the perfect opportunity to embarrass the hell out of the Colonel with the additional benefit of scolding his creator.
Tony might have forgiven his best friend by whatever complex guilt and PTSD driven justification that haunted his sentinel at that point in time but his son certainly hadn't.

"I thought you were more than just a clever computer programme JARVIS, I thought you had made the leap to sentience and could make reasoned judgements so I don't understand why you thought this was reasonable because apparently Tony doesn't have a problem with Rhodey." Pepper queried with confusion.

John couldn't help it, he began to laugh, amusement wiping out the last of his ire. JARVIS had kicked ass better than he could. He didn't think either of them would forget this lesson in a hurry.
"You guys definitely don't have much to do with kids do you?" He grinned openly at the redhead. "That's not an obedient piece of software getting stuck in the rule book, that's Tony's son getting his own back for Rhodes screwing over his father. He's just being logical and using the rules to do it, he's such a little shit just like my own…"

He suddenly stopped laughing and the other three people in the room turned to stare at him. They watched as he paled slightly and his eyes widened in horror.

"Oh dear God help us all, you've already met Stiles haven't you JARVIS?"