Chapter 8
Peter was still sitting upright on the bench in his cell when Officer Nicholson finally rolled around.
She offered him a kind smile. “Good morning, Peter. How was your night?”
“Long, restless, and sleep-deprived...to name a few.”
He had bruise-like dark circles sitting below his eyes, offering an estimate on how little sleep he got the previous night. She flashed him a sympathetic look, pulling her keys from her uniform pocket.
“Tony Stark is on his way to pick you up.”
Peter hung his head, unable to avoid the inevitable parental disapproval and anger that was bound to come his way. She pulled the cell door open, offering him his freedom back.
Peter seriously contemplated not leaving the cell, as he was fearful of what Tony would say to him. Ultimately he decided he might as well grow up and face his problems, and he took a step through the open door.
“He said he should be here in just a few minutes.” Officer Nicholson said. She handed him his keys and cellphone, which came up dead, for obvious reasons.
Officer Nicholson lead Peter through the police station, offering him a seat right near the front entrance.
“Unfortunately I can’t let you sit outside, Peter. You’re unable to leave the property without parental consent.”
Peter rolled his eyes, “Yeah, that makes sense. It still sucks though.”
Officer Nicholson smiled sympathetically, and Peter watched as she made her way back into the back of precinct.
Peter fiddled with the sleeves of his sweater, thinking about what he was suppose to say to Tony. He wasn’t sure whether he should apologize or not. If he chose to apologize he wasn’t entirely sure he would mean it, he didn’t quite regret what he did yet, he just wished he hadn’t been caught.
It was twenty minutes later when the front door swung open, revealing a tired, maybe even sleepless Tony. He was wearing his usual suit and sunglasses, trying to keep up appearances even at Brooklyn police stations, apparently.
Peter stood up, levelling himself with Tony.
“Imagine if May could see you right now.” Tony said, and his eyes flashed dangerously.
Peter bit the inside of his cheek, stopping any words from spilling out until he was sure he could taste blood.
Tony stepped forward, walking right past Peter and up to the front desk.
“Go wait in the car.” He instructed, and Peter dragged his heavy feet toward the door.
“Get me the officer I spoke to on the phone earlier.”
Peter fought the urge to stop and turn around, and he pushed the front door open. He made his way to the car, where Happy sat with an unimpressed look on his face.
Peter slid into the back seat.
“You should’ve seen the look on Tony’s face when he got a call from the police, kid.”
Peter didn’t respond, instead opting to study the floor below his feet.
They waited several minutes in silence until Tony returned to the car, and Peter silently wished he would choose the front seat instead of sitting next to Peter. Tony, however, took a seat in the back, crushing Peters silent hope.
Neither of them said anything, and Peter could feel the tension in the air. He spent most of the drive dreading the words that would come from Tony’s mouth, but nothing cut the silence. Peter started to realize how exhausted he was, but he was so on edge with Tony beside him that his eyes refused to shut and let him relax.
He watched quietly out the window, focusing on nothing in particular. His eyes were tired and sore, and he wished to rest them. Unbeknownst to Peter, Tony was trying to figure out what to say to the kid.
Tony was angry, disappointed, upset, and he couldn’t quite figure out what he wanted to put into words. Tony had hardly slept the night before, not after that call from the NYPD. Pepper had tried to convince him it was just an accident, Peter was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, but after officer Nicholson explained the situation to Tony he knew it wasn’t a coincidence.
He wanted to know where he’d gone wrong with Peter, maybe he wasn’t understanding enough to make Peter trust him. Maybe he was over protective of the kid, but he didn’t think he was being unreasonable. He just wanted to do right by May. All he wanted to do was help Peter, but Tony feared he’d crossed the line.
Peter was barely conscious when Tony spoke to him, for the first time in nearly three hours.
“What the hell were you thinking Peter?”
Peter nearly jumped at the sound of Tony’s voice, it was loud compared to the silence they’d been sitting in.
“What?” He said, looking at Tony with wide, startled eyes.
Tony’s expression grew more unimpressed, and Peter noticed they were only minutes from the compound.
“What the hell were you thinking?” Tony repeated, waiting for Peter to respond.
Peter was taken aback, unsure of what to say. Or rather, unsure of what Tony wanted to hear.
He decided to disregard anything Tony wanted to hear, this wasn’t about him. It was about Peter.
“I was thinking it was about time I actually did something.”
Tony wore a look of disbelief. “Was getting arrested part of the plan? Because you definitely did that.”
Peter scoffed, looking away from Tony and back out the window. “No. Getting arrested wasn’t part of the plan, I didn’t expect to-“
“Well what did you think was going to happen?!” Tony’s voice got louder, almost making Peter flinch. He glanced up to the front of the car, where he could see Happy looking back at them in the rear view mirror.
Tony continued, “I told you not to go through with this but you did it anyway! And for what, to gain a few points on your criminal record?”
The car stopped, signalling their arrival at the compound. Peter unclipped his seatbelt, throwing himself out of the car to get away from the confined space. He nearly tripped over his feet on the pavement, but he stood tall, shutting the car door behind him.
Peter whipped around, facing Tony across the roof of the car.
“He killed my aunt! What the hell else was I suppose to do?”
Tony’s shoulders were tense, and he pulled his sunglasses off his face. Looking at Peter with frustration in his eyes.
“What you weren’t suppose to do was break into someone’s house, Peter.”
“No, what you weren’t suppose to do was push me away, Mr. Stark. Maybe if you cared about anybody other than yourself you would see that I needed you.”
“Peter I do care-“
“Oh really? The billionaire, playboy, philanthropist who now takes in orphans too. Wow, my hero.”
Peter saw hurt flash across Tony’s face, and he looked anywhere but into his eyes.
Tony took a steady breath, “This is the part where you apologize for breaking the god damn law in spite of me.”
Peter laughed pathetically, giving Tony an incredulous look. He raised his voice.
“In spite of you?! Seriously?!”
Tony responded in a false calm voice, struggling to brush off Peters venomous comments. “Lower your voice, Peter.”
This only angered Peter more, and his voice was close to shouting.
“You know what?! No! You don’t have any authority over me!”
“Yes I do kid. I’m-“
“My legal guardian, right! I didn’t ask for that! I didn’t ask for my aunt to die and for you to fucking adopt me!”
Tony took a few steps around the car, closing some of the space between the two.
Tony had been trying to calm down, trying to be the adult, but Peter was grabbing at every last nerve he had.
“And I didn’t ask to bring a selfish fifteen year old into my life, but look where I am.”
Peter felt angry tears well up in his eyes, and he was speaking before he could think about what impact his words could make.
“You would make a terrible father.”
Peter spun around, facing the front doors of the compound, and Pepper was standing silently at the open door, her mouth slightly agape.
He pushed past her, brushing against her shoulder. Peter felt all those angry tears jump free from his eyes and pour down his cheeks as he stormed off toward his bedroom. If he had turned around to look at Tony, he would have seen a similar expression of anger and hurt on Tony’s face.
Tony looked to Pepper, his vision extremely blurry for someone who didn’t often cry.
Pepper rushed toward him, “He didn’t mean it.”
Tony didn’t respond, only letting her engulf him in a hug.
“Hey,” She cooed, always having been so good at calming him down. “It’s gonna be okay.”