Chapter 3
As promised, Peter was allowed to come back the next day. When Peter finally exited the lift, Tony was already waiting for him. He looked a lot better, he was wearing old but cleaner clothes for in the workshop. His hair was back to the neat, gelled style it used to be, although Peter could still see some curls left. He briefly wondered why but decided not to comment on it.
"Ah, Mr. Parker," Tony greeted him with a smile, standing up from the couch he had been seated in.
"Hi, Mr. Stark," Peter said, happy to see his mentor was mostly back to normal. Or, back to the way he was before yesterday. "Are- are you okay?" He couldn't help but ask, just to check up.
"Perfect, thanks," Tony answered with a smile. "Steve, we're downstairs. Don't break another extinguisher if you can, alright?" He told the blonde man who was seated on another couch, dropping the newspaper on his head as he walked past.
"Tony," Steve said in a warning voice. Tony gave Peter a look.
"Let's go," he said before grabbing his shoulders and quickly pushing him towards the stairs. Once downstairs the billionaire closed the doors, clapped in his hands and spread his arms.
"Let's try this again, shall we?" He smiled. "Now, if I remember correctly, we were working on those new web shooters of yours,"
Steve looked up from his paper. It had been a couple hours since the two geniuses had gone down to the lab, it was well past 2.00 PM now, and they hadn't had lunch yet. He was used to dragging Tony up the stairs to remind him to eat, but now that there was a kid involved (one with quite a big appetite) he started to worry.
"FRIDAY, are they still in the lab?" Steve asked, looking up at the ceiling, no matter how many times Tony had told him: 'the voice in the ceiling is not in the ceiling, Steve!'
"Yes, sir," the AI answered. Steve nodded, assuming there would be a camera around here somewhere. "Shall I call them for you, sir?" FRIDAY asked. Steve pondered over the question for a while before deciding;
"No, I'll get them myself," and with that, he descended down the stairs to the lab.
Before he entered, Steve decided to see what was happening inside, and what he saw melted his heart.
Peter was standing in the middle of the lab, facing the wall with his back towards Steve and his right arm outstretched. Tony was standing behind him, pointing at something Steve couldn't yet see. He had apparently been talking to Peter because the teenager nodded and Tony stepped away. Peter took a deep breath, followed by a small movement of his outstretched arm and the target that he had apparently been aiming for falling on the ground. Peter and Tony apparently weren't satisfied as they both nodded without saying a word, Peter taking something off his wrist and handing it to Tony who put it on the workbench. They both bent down over it, examining it. They talked softly to each other and both fiddled with it, working perfectly together.
When they were seemingly done, Peter put it back on his wrist with a smooth motion as Tony put the target, which was a simple cup, back on the table. He gave Peter a thumbs up and went to stand behind him. Peter again took a deep breath, again followed by a similar motion and a string shooting from his wrist. Only this time, the cup didn't fall on the ground. This time, it was stuck against the wall by what seemed like a spider web. Steve thought it had looked a lot like a web-grenade, as it wasn't attached to a long string it usually had.
Peter turned around triumphantly towards Tony, who laughed and clapped in his hands before giving the boy a high-five. They both walked over to where the cup was sticking to the wall. Tony gave it a gentle tug, but the glass didn't come off. He pulled a bit harder but it still didn't budge. Apparently, that was what they had been hoping for as they smiled at each other in triumph. Tony clapped the kid on the shoulder, pride in his eyes.
They were about to turn around, so Steve figured this was the best time to announce his presence. He pushed the door open, gaining the attention of the two geniuses.
"Having fun?" He asked, a smile on his lips.
"Aye aye, Captain," Tony said with a smile of his own. But Peter had a big grin on his lips as he was practically bouncing on his spot. Steve couldn't help but chuckle at the kid's antics.
"Good, 'cause I'm about to ruin that," the soldier said, earning a grunt from Tony.
"Every time," the billionaire murmured, taking the web shooter from Peter's wrist and laying it down gently on the workbench. "What is it this time?"
"Food,"
Tony stopped with whatever he had been doing, laying it back down on the workbench as he turned around, seemingly thinking it over.
"Okay. Peter, let's go," he concluded finally, taking the teenager by the shoulders from behind and pushing him past Steve towards the stairs. Peter happily complied, letting himself be pushed forward, talking excitedly about how amazing this day was and all that they had been doing. Over-excited he raced up the stairs, calling for the two men to hurry up.
"Come on, Mr. Stark. I could eat a whole horse!" His voice was heard from up the stairs. Tony chuckled quietly, turning towards Steve and giving him his rare, warm smile.
"Coming, kid," he called before walking over to Steve. "He's going to eat a horse," he sighed, letting his head fall on Steve's warm chest. The soldier chuckled, putting a hand on Tony's back and letting his other one play with the billionaire's hair.
"Better get to him then," he responded. He heard a tired groan from Tony, muffled by Steve's shirt. He pulled his head back, staring into Steve's blue eyes.
"Aye aye, Captain," he whispered before placing a quick, gentle kiss on the soldier's lips. The smaller man gave Steve a mischievous smile before jogging up the stairs, leaving the super soldier with his thoughts and Tony's taste on his lips.