The Doctor
Peter didn’t sleep well that night, dreams of his aunt May and her worried face haunted him and as soon as the sun hit the water of his temporary home he jolted awake.
The boy looked around and sighed. The artificial tiles in that unnatural shade of white, the sand and the shape of his pool everything was suddenly too much.
He longed for the sea, for the natural taste of water, for life around him. Slowly he surfaced and looked at the sea, he couldn’t stay any longer, Tony was nice but he was a human and the two of them were never supposed to meet in the first place.
His eyes wandered around and spotted the blanket he always used, he grabbed it and revelled how soft and comforting the fabric felt under his fingers.
Maybe Tony would let him keep it and he could show it off to his friends. Most merfolk didn’t collect human stuff but Peter always liked to collect things and sometimes tinker with them.
The blanket however he would not mess with, no he would keep it and treasure it. With a soft smile he pulled it into the water and as he sat down on the floor he put it around his shoulders enjoying the comfort it brought him.
Tony didn’t sleep well either. He tossed and turned until he gave up and stared at the ceiling until morning arrived. It was frustrating and together with the lack of sleep from last night, it was really nerve grating.
With a sigh Tony sat up and rubbed his face in exhaustion. He stood and put a pair of boxers on not ready to face the world or wearing pants.
He slowly walked into the kitchen yawning while Jarvis, the good soul, already prepared some coffee for him. With another yawn he took the cup and took his first sip trying to ignore the urge to walk out on the balcony.
He was not ready to face Peter, yet either.
The genius passed two hours by sipping coffee and reading the newspaper when Jarvis spoke up.
“Sir, Miss Potts and a guest are here to see you.”
Tony, almost awake now, waved his hand, “let them in.”
“As you wish Sir but I recommend you to put on some clothes.”
The genius emptied his cup and only let out a, “huh?” as Pepper already walked in. She was followed by a man who looked like he got grey too early and probably because he went through some serious shit in his life.
Pepper stopped dead in her tracks as she spotted the genius in his underwear, “god Tony I am bringing a guest put some clothes on for goodness sake.”
Tony, manly to irritate her, ignored her outburst and walked up to the man, “Tony Stark nice to meet you Mr...?” The man shook Tony’s hand a slightly confused smile on his face, “actually it is Dr, Dr Banner.”
The genius nodded fully aware that he was making the other man uncomfortable, “ah yes the scientist I employed yesterday. Good to meet you so soon I guess.”
He pointed at his living room and put his cup down, “make yourself at home while I put something on before you devour me with your eyes completely.”
Pepper rolled her eyes and Dr Banner let out a nervous laugh looking at her for guidance. Tony left them and the woman led him to the couch so they could sit down.
“Is he always this...,” Bruce asked and gestured with his hands in lack of words. Pepper smiled at him trying to appear professional, “well Tony is a genius and you probably know that people like this have their...quirks.”
The man smiled at her in a polite way and nodded, “yeah we are all a little strange.” Pepper smiled, “ah yes you are a genius too, right?” Dr Banner nodded, then shrugged and Pepper chuckled nervously, “sorry if I offended you.”
The Doctor smiled and shook his head, “not at all I was just-who is that?” Pepper sighed and rolled her eyes, “probably one of Tony’s one night stands,” she said before turning around and following the wide open gaze of Dr Banner.
Her mouth fell open.
Both of them stared at the young boy who just pushed himself out of the water of the pool and both of their jaws dropped as they saw the fishtail.
“Holy shit,” Pepper exclaimed.
“Fascinating,” stated the doctor.
“Here I am all dressed up just for you,” Tony remarked as he entered the room. He had simply put on a pair of jeans and a shirt he found on the floor.
“Tony!”
The genius and the boy both flinched at the cry and Peter, who now noticed the humans staring at him, stared back with equally big eyes. Tony jumped and put himself in front of the door while Peter just let himself slide back into the water.
“I-I can explain,” Tony said as Pepper and Dr Banner rose to their feet. The redhead crossed her arms in front of her chest, “oh can you? I highly doubt that Tony.”
The genius rubbed his bearded cheek while Dr Banner slipped past him and out to the pool. He squatted next to the water and looked down at the merman who looked up to him with wide frightened eyes.
“So beautiful, ah sorry my name is Dr Banner. Do you understand me?”
Peter did understand although his voice was muffled through the water, he nodded. The man smiled and oddly enough Peter didn’t felt threated by him. Slowly he rose and peeked out from the water.
“You can call me Bruce,” the human said and smiled at him from where he sat. Peter gave him a shy look, “Peter.” Bruce opened his mouth to say something else as Pepper stormed past Tony and Peter dived down again.
“Pep please it is obvious why I kept this a secret to you,”
Tony said as he followed her. The woman looked furious and even through the water he could hear her clearly.
“You want to tell me that you accidently caught a merman while, probably drunkenly, steering your yacht? You, out of all people?”
The genius laughed nervously and looked to Bruce for help but the man only cleared his throat and looked away, clearly not wanting to choose a side.
With a sigh Tony looked at Peter who stared with wide eyes at Pepper who in turn stared at Tony angrily.
Honestly Tony didn’t think less of Peter for being scared of Pepper, she was a frightening woman and he himself was also utterly scared of her. Not that he would ever admit that out loud.
The genius made a gesture that was supposed to help his assistant to calm down, “now Pepper you clearly scared my guest half to death, which is very rude by the way, so I would like to suggest that we go inside and talk like the grownups we pretend to be while Peter can choose to join us if he likes.”
Bruce nodded, “that is actually a good idea.” Pepper shot him a glare too and the man looked at his feet instantly, but in the end she just let out an exhausted sigh and walked back inside.
Tony let out a breath and winked at Peter before following her and Bruce inside. Peter slowly peeked out of the water. He was unable to understand the humans as they talked inside.
The merman bit his lip as he tried to find the courage to join them. On one hand he was not supposed to talk to either of them, on the other maybe Tony would spill something important if he was not there to shush him.
Swallowing his fear of the red woman he got out of the water and into the wheelchair, pulling his blanket back over his tail. As predicted his wound was completely healed, merpeople always healed fast.
Slowly he pushed his chair into the room and the humans went silent as they stared at him, “uh hi.” Pepper blinked, “hi…I-I am Pepper by the way.”
Peter managed a small smile, “I know Tony told me, you work for him right?” She nodded and slowly stood, “ah may I…touch you? Otherwise I cannot believe you are real.”
The two men watched the exchange with curios expressions, Tony was ready to tell Pepper to back off if her request was too much for the boy but to his surprise he smiled at her.
“If I may touch your hair? It has a really interesting colour.”
Pepper nodded and slowly she walked to him, her fingertips brushing his shoulder while Peter had only eyes for the strands of hair that fell in front of her face.
Her hand pulled the blanket aside and she brushed over the scales with eyes wide in disbelieve. Peter had his fingers brush through her hair and he got a whiff of the shampoo she used.
It smelled the same as the pink one he had spilled in Tony’s bathroom. The boy frowned, was she possibly his secret mate? He looked at the genius surprise to see a dark expression on his face.
She had to be indeed his mate or else he wouldn’t look so displeased at their interaction. The boy cleared his throat and the woman straightened her back, “ah sorry I got carried away.”
With a few quick steps she was back in her seat rubbing the bridge of her nose. She looked stressed out, “well it is good to know that the boy is not one of your experiments,” Tony opened his mouth but she just continued, “although I don’t know how you would have done that. It is also good to know that you two are obviously not lovers.”
Both of them exchanged a look and while Peter frowned, Tony just shrugged.
“But we have a really serious problem here at hand, what do we do with him?”
Tony sighed, “if you would have just let me explain without overreacting,” Pepper shot him an almost deathly glare, “I would have told you that I planned to let him go today. He was injured because of me, I took care of him and now he is fine and can leave.”
Peter nodded, “yes it is like he said, but I really must return home, my aunt and friends will already be searching for me.”
Tony looked at him and bit the inside of his cheek to keep his feelings at bay, he had known from the beginning that the boy would leave, though he hadn’t thought it would be this soon.
This time it was Bruce who got up and walked towards the merman, “do you have to leave? I would love to study you; you are a fascinating being, unlike everything I have ever seen.”
Peter licked his lips and Tony felt the need to stand protectively in front of the boy, “ah sorry but I cannot let you, my people are forbidden to talk with your kind. I have to make sure no one finds out I stayed with Tony or I may get punished.”
Tony felt rage rise inside of him at the thought of the boy getting punished because of his mistake, his hands turned to fists. Pepper knitted her eyebrows together, “well if that’s the case everything is alright and I don’t have to deal with some kind of disaster. Farewell Peter.”
Bruce looked rather disappointed but nodded, “yes, well I guess it is farewell. If you ever want to go on a vacation, I can find pool or a bathtub for you to sleep in.”
Peter laughed and Tony was almost ready to throw the Doctor out of a window as Jarvis spoke up.
“Sir there are three unknown helicopters approaching the house, they are not responding to me.”
Tony looked surprised and Pepper turned to him concerned, “could it be the military?” The genius shook his head and looked outside, “they would have announced themselves or at least Rhodey would have called.”
The woman nodded and her look became even more worried.
“Sir it seems like they are readying their weapons, I suggest that you retreat.”
Tony watched as the helicopters readied their weapons, of course they were equipped with Stark Industries missiles, as he turned around to grab Pepper, “down!”
The first missile hit the structure that held up the house on the cliff and it tilted dangerously. Peter let out a shriek as his chair rolled out on the balcony but Bruce jumped after him and wrapped an arm around his waist his free hand grabbing the doorframe.
Tony looked up to search for them but Pepper, in her panic, had her arms wrapped tightly around his neck and he was unable to rise.
“Peter!”
“Mr. Stark!”
Another missile hit the house and the upper floor went up in flames. One of the helicopters hovered over the balcony and three figures dropped down, full in black combat gear.
Tony only saw the weird symbol on their front as they shot in his general direction making him crawl behind the bar. Pepper still clung to him so he just pulled her along.
The two others marched forwards to grab Peter but the boy swung his tail and knocked the feet of one of them from under him. Bruce yelled something but the other two now focused on them and they didn’t stand a chance.
Peter was torn away from the Doctor and knocked out as one of the men hit his temple with his weapon. Bruce lost his hold on the doorframe and slid towards one of the men who simply pointed his gun at him.
“Take your hands off him!” Bruce yelled and kicked the man in the shin. With a hiss the guy knocked him out too.