“What exactly is the purpose of this?” Rhodey asked boredly from his position reclined on the couch. His leg braces were spread across the table along with some of the tools Tony needed.
“This should greatly improve reaction time,” Tony muttered under his breath. He didn’t even look up from where he had a tiny tool inside of something that would give Rhodey a headache just looking at. “No more delay.”
“Tones, I didn’t really notice the delay anymore anyway,” he sighed.
“Just because you got used to it doesn’t mean I’m not going to make adjustments, muffin.”
Rhodey groaned, “Okay, no. That one is a hard no.”
The genuine laughter, bordering on a giggle, from his best friend was music to Rhodey’s ears. It’s not a laugh that just everyone got to hear, in fact Rhodey and Peter Parker are typically the only ones who are subject to receiving that laugh.
“I think someone doth protest too much, something to tell me, honeybear?”
“No matter how much you ask, the answer will always stay the same. I do not enjoy the nicknames.”
“Did you know that people are more likely to forego common word contractions in sentences when they’re lying? For example, when you just lied.” Tony sniffed.
“If there was a lie it’s only because there actually is one nickname I like, and that name is Tony Stank.”
Tony paused his work to turn his body towards the man lazily smiling on his couch. “The next time we see that cute secretary, what was her name, Tanya?”
“Taylor.”
“Doesn’t matter, because I’m going to kick your braces away right in front of her.”
Rhodey roared with laughter, clapping his hands. “Yeah, well I’ll-”
“Are we really going to have to witness you two flirting again?” Natasha drawled as she walked in, Steve not too far behind.
“Whoa, whoa!” Rhodey called, hands out innocently. “Don’t make me think about my dude like that, I’ll need bleach for my brain.”
“Yeah, leave the lovebirds alone, Nat.” Steve chuckled.
Natasha shrugged and took a seat in the corner of the room. Back facing the wall and eyes on the room-- some things never change. Steve flopped on the couch end Rhodey wasn’t slumped down on.
“Why are you two gifting us with your presence? Not that I don’t enjoy seeing you, Spangles,” Tony waved a hand in the air. “And you. Tweedledee. Where’s Tweedledum?”
Natasha only gave him a dry look and said something vague about a mission, but there was the slightest turn to her mouth that everyone knew Tony tended to be the cause of.
“The Parkers are on their way in to see you, boss. ” FRIDAY’s voice interrupted.
“What are they doing here on a Thursday night?” Tony wondered out loud.
“They didn’t say, but May Parker said it was incredibly important. ”
“Is something wrong with the kid?” Rhodey sat up slightly.
“Peter’s vitals,” Tony commanded, pushing his chair away from the table. Natasha watched Tony’s face as she listened to everything going on in the room.
“There appears to be nothing abnormal, other than a fast heart rate and outward signs of anxiety.”
Voices and loud footsteps were getting closer and closer. “May, wait stop, it’s fine!”
“Peter, no.” May sounded more firm than she usually was with Peter which was strange on its own.
“Please don’t. It’s not important, May-”
“Peter Benjamin Parker. This isn’t a debate.”
Steve jumped from his seat as May stomped in just a few moments later, red high on her cheeks and looking more upset and flustered than Tony had ever seen her. “What’s going on?”
“I need to talk to you about something.”
“No she doesn’t!” Peter exclaimed. His cheeks were red just like his aunt’s in his panic.
“Did something happen?”
“Yes.”
“No!”
“Should we go?” Steve asked, thumb over his shoulder. He was ignored.
May thrust the papers that had been rolled up tightly in her grasp at Rhodey, knowing by now not to hand them to Tony. “This- this asshole just got out and decided to approach Peter. I want a restraining order and I want to know that you’re aware of what’s going on so that Peter is always being looked after by one of us.”
“May,” Peter pleaded. Rhodey unrolled the papers and as his eyes moved he went from frowning to stone-faced. “It’s not a big deal, May is just overreacting. Nothing even happened.”
“If it’s not a big deal, why are you getting so worked up?” Tony’s eyes moved quickly, analyzing every part of Peter’s face.
“Tony,” Rhodey muttered. “You’re gonna wanna…”
He didn’t waste any time moving around the couch to read over Rhodey’s shoulder. Everyone in the room watched with bated breath as Tony’s expression went completely blank very quickly.
“What’s going on?” Natasha asked carefully.
“Mr. Stark…” Peter called, quiet and worried, with wet eyes.
“He was supposed to be put away for years for… grooming,” May spat bitterly. “They let him out because of overcrowding and good behavior.”
Tony’s voice was eerily calm. “FRIDAY, is there a current address in the system for a Steven Westcott?”
“Searching now.”
Tony’s hand went up and a gauntlet surrounded his hand, the rest of his suit starting to follow.
“Tony, no,” Steve warned stepping in front of the man. He held his hands up in a placating manner but it only served to infuriate Tony further.
“Stay out of my way, Cap.”
“You can’t go and- and do whatever it is you’re planning, as Iron Man, and completely ignore the United States justice system! Think about this, Tony.” Steve moved in front of him once more.
“I am thinking,” Tony growled out. “Final warning. Stay out of my way or I’m blasting you through that window.”
“Rhodes, help me with him!”
“You’re lucky I can’t get up right now or I’d be helping him, that’s my nephew,” Rhodey muttered darkly. Later on, Peter would be warmed by the fact that Colonel Rhodes thought of him as a nephew, and the fact that it acknowledges the relationship he has with Tony, but it flew right over his panic in the moment.
“Wait wait wait!” Peter was ignored by both men.
“Tony, we need to do this the right way, we’ll file for a restraining order first thing in the morning,” Steve suggested.
“He hurt my fucking kid,” Tony yelled, the stone-cold face melting away to something furious and red.
“Mr. St- Tony!” Peter yelled over all the noise in the room as he caught a piece of the armor before it could reach his mentor. “Tony, stop, it’s fine!”
“Peter,” Tony said warningly. “Give me that boot.”
“It was a long time ago, seriously, you don’t have to do this.” Peter said desperately, but his wet eyes only made Tony want to destroy someone even more.
“Yeah, and he approached you today.” Tony stomped toward the teenager holding his boot captive. “He can’t fucking-- I’m going to knock his fucking lights out.”
“No, no, no,” Peter protested while Tony tried prying the metal boot from his hands. He made sure to stick his hands extra well to the piece of armor. “I’m fine! I’m fine, I- Dad! ” Peter cried out and everyone in the room stilled. Peter’s face was wet and he was clinging to the Iron Man armor in his hands. “I said I’m fine.”
Tony opened his mouth to protest before snapping it shut just as quickly and snatching Peter up into a tight hug. The boot fell onto the floor and they clutched each other tightly.
“No one is allowed to hurt you.” Tony murmured into Peter’s hair and the teenager burrowed his head as much as he could into Tony’s neck, ignoring everything else for now.
Steve looked away feeling as if he was intruding on a private moment, but May couldn’t help but openly watch with as much of a smile as she could muster, considering the circumstances. And so, no one noticed Natasha nodding her head toward the door with a raised eyebrow, or Tony giving a subtle nod over Peter’s shoulder.
--
“So the strangest thing happened,” May said, tossing a local paper onto the coffee table between them while he waited for Peter to grab his bag and some clothes for the weekend. “Skip was arrested yesterday for armed robbery. Isn’t that just so weird? That he armed a place while still on probation, the weapon was still near him when he was arrested off an eyewitness testimony, and he claimed to not know where it came from?”
“Yeah,” Tony started with his bullshitting tone. “That is really strange. Most people at least have the common sense to follow the rules of their probation, but I guess some people are just born repeat offenders who are likely to be going straight back to jail over and over for the rest of their lives.” He gave a nonchalant little shrug.
May sat across from him with a loud exhale out her nose. She studied his face for a long moment, long enough for him to almost comment on it, before she spoke. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“I’m not going to ask,” May shook her head. “But thank you for loving him. And wanting to protect him.”
“You know, he didn’t really give me a choice.” The appalled look on his face could do nothing to cover up what his eyes always said about Peter. “He’s like a little fungus. Once he gets ahold of you, he just keeps growing under your skin.”
Peter stopped at the entrance of the room. “Were you just talking about me? Did you just call me a fungus?”
“Of course not,” Tony scoffed. “I was obviously talking about Rhodey. You would not believe the stories I could tell you from college. He really is secretly a hot mess. Demands attention. Needed so much help- you know he just latched onto me and I haven’t been able to get rid of him.”
“I’m so not gullible enough to believe that, but I’m too excited for this weekend to argue over the fact that you definitely just called me a fungus.”
Tony’s mouth quirked up in an exaggerated innocent smile. Peter’s nose scrunched up. “Stop that, it’s creepy.”
“Listen here, you little twerp…”