Iron Man
Peter raised his hand, made a fist and threw away his hundredth virtual scrap sheet. It made a ‘ding’ sound when it reached the trash can and Peter had half a mind to destroy the system for taunting him.
His webs were weak. After his little after school special with Bucky & Sam, he knew his web integrity was slipping. Granted he hadn’t made it with withstanding an exploding super-bomb in mind, but now that is was a very real threat it was time to get with the times. The blast must have really messed with something on his right hand web, as the swing back home was short-lasting and resulted in an infinitely embarrassing Spider-Man face diving into a busy New York intersection. The videos were all over Youtube and Ned had personally taken it upon himself to edit slow-mo and the song ‘O Fortuna’ to the exact moment Peter’s face met the pavement. If he was planning on going toe-to-toe with alien gun wielding super villains, he was going to need the tech for it. Despite his rapid healing, his jaw still hurt and he wiggled it left & right like that would kick start the healing when a knock sounded at his door.
Quickly Peter closed out the program he was working on and tried to sound like his heart didn’t just jump through his chest when he said “Come in!”
Tony Stark walked through the door, hand over his eyes. “Are you decent? I know I’m rich, but I could never afford a good enough therapist for-----“
“Dad!” Peter laughed. At the sound, Tony removed his hand and smiled down at Peter. Another second spent just relishing in the fact they were in the same room again, and then simultaneously, they went for the hug. He knew he’d missed his dad but with the way he clung so tightly now he hadn’t realized the gravity of it. He was alive & Peter was alive and finally their paths had crossed. They split a moment later and sat side by side on Peter’s bed, but Tony’s hand still rested on Peter’s back like an anchor.
Everything had been so up in the air lately. And phone calls and texts served their purpose but there was no band-aid quite like physical connection. He understands why Tony was currently on-call for every super villain attack, but it didn’t make the separation any easier. Not to mention, he was still kind of waiting for the news that literally everyone else knew. Hell, Ned told him his parents were getting married before Tony did.
There was a thick tension in the air as Peter waited for the grand moment where Tony finally confided in him.
“So you heard the news?” Tony asked casually. After years of history between the two, Peter was smart enough to know that this ‘casually’ was forced. Tony Stark put on an impressive front for the media, but he really knew how to work up the nerves for just about anything. Luckily his outlet was something productive like tinkering, but there’s a critical point where a genius goes from Einstein to Doctor Frankenstein.
“Yeah, and look dad, I’m really happy for you---- I just don’t get why you didn’t tell me sooner.”
“How could I? I only found out about it this morning!”
Peter did a double take.
“You found out about your own engagement… this morning?”
“OH! You’re talking about the engagement.”
Peter rolled his eyes. Yeah, his dad was basically one big ball of stress trying to mask itself in bad humor. What’s new?
“Yes, I’m talking about the engagement! What are you talking about?”
“Ben & Jerry’s new flavor, Avengers Ice-emble. I thought the title was a little derivative but…”
“Dad.” If Peter doesn’t stop him now, he’ll talk himself into oblivion. Why the hell were two of the Earth’s mightiest heroes so afraid of the opinion of a fifteen year old kid? And more importantly why couldn’t they see he was supportive? It was literally every fifteen year olds dream to be raised by Iron Man and Captain America, it’s not like he was planning on screaming “I object!” at the ceremony.
“I think it’s a great idea. And about time, honestly. I was really getting tired of throwing away little scraps of paper that said ‘Mr. Tony Rogers’ with little hearts all over them.” Missing him doesn’t mean Peter isn’t about to give his old man some shit for the delay of information.
Tony gave him his signature Tony look™ of rapprochement.
“Okay, first of all, I would never take his name. Do you know how much the big ‘STARK’ sign on the tower cost? More than Steve’s shield.” Tony scoffed at the notion. And honestly yeah, Peter was a little satisfied with that. Peter Parker Stark-Rogers sounded like a bit of a mouthful.
“And second of all… you’re really okay with it?” Tony continued cautiously. His grandiose had left and now was the man who kept watch over his bed when Peter was young and afraid of the dark. They’d been so out of step these past couple of weeks that Peter had forgotten how nice it was to just… sit still with his father.
“More than okay. I mean someone needs to keep you in line when I go to college.” Peter shouldered Tony jokingly and Tony was gracious enough to feign hurt.
“Bold of you to assume you’re not going to Stark Universities in this very compound.”
“There is no Stark University.”
“Yet.”
Peter laughed but the seriousness of the implication did not evade him. It was what, a mere three years until Peter would vacate his room? The one constant in his life, and surely Tony’s had always been each other. People, places, times---- everything changed. Tony was the one thing he’d thought they’d have forever. It’s not like college meant death or anything, but it definitely meant change.
The silence had not been as contemplative for Tony as it had been for Peter. He fidgeted for a whole minute, his eyes scanning the room but never landing on Peter until he spoke. When he did, his brown eyes shone with a harsh reserve that had Peter questioning the severity. What did he know?
“Okay, fine, Pete. You want to be the first to know about things?”
Peter’s eyebrow quirked as if daring Tony to continue. If this was another passive or self-deprecating joke, Peter was going to get emancipated.
“Will you be my best man?”
Whatever snarky reply Peter was about to snap back with died before manifestation. There was a long list of things Peter had expected his father to say and that had not even been a footnote. Best Man? This was the wedding of the millennium and the billionaire, superhero, engineer legend wanted Peter as his best man? Not to mention, there were many people in his life who would happily take that spot, with the credentials to back it. Rhodey, Bruce, Strange, hell even Clint would make a joke out of it but still feel honored. Peter was just a kid. Sure he was Tony’s kid but he figured he’d be something embarrassing like the usher or ring-bearer at most.
“M-me?” He asked, still vaguely skeptical this was all some elaborate prank.
“No, my other son. Yes you, Pete! I want you up there with me.”
He hadn’t realized what he’d been waiting for, but now that he had it he couldn’t believe he’d been okay without it. His dad wasn’t upset, or dodging him, or done with him. He was nervous. Nervous to ask Peter a clearly important question and nervous because he thought, for some ungodly reason, that Peter might say no. It would be laughable if he knew he wouldn’t get grounded for ruining the moment.
“Dad…” Peter said, still slightly confused on why it was even a question. “Of course!”
Tony smiled one of those rare, genuine grins that was usually only reserved for a new invention, or Peter’s report card. The usually coy and vocal Tony Stark seemed to have lost his nerve, and instead of quip about what an honor it was, he simply wrapped his arms around Peter tightly. His hands came to rest on the back of Peter’s head and back, and for a brief moment he felt like he was 8 years old again. Regardless of the recent Iron Man edition, Tony had always been Peter’s hero. But with the way Tony was holding so tightly onto him now, the sentiment was clearly mutual.
There was a knock on the door, and Tony still didn’t end the embrace.
“Leave a message!” His voice was slightly muffled by the crook of Peter’s shoulder, but definitely audible enough through the door. Peter repressed his own call to leave them be, grounded only by the embrace. It had been two weeks since they’d been in the same room, didn’t they deserve a minute before the next emergency?
“Tony, you’re going to want to see this.” Rhodey was probably the only person Tony would not excommunicate for interrupting, but even still when Tony finally pulled back Peter could see the annoyance etched on his face.
“Yeah, the office is closed right now.” He added. Peter was simultaneously torn between not wanting Tony to go so soon after being reunited, and knowing how much value he was to the team. The world may need him when it’s in peril, but Peter just simply needs him. There was still so much to talk about----- Peter’s embarrassing Home Ec story, how Sam had ordered Bucky’s suit with the words ‘SENIOR CITIZEN’ embroidered on the pocket, and the conversation he’d eavesdropped in on between Bruce & Thor the other day. But, the needs of the many, though right Mr. Spock?
“I wouldn’t be asking if it wasn’t important.”
Tony sighed, but pushed up from the bed regardless. A very irate Tony mumbled “just one day…” as he opened the door. Rhodey’s face showed no signs of playing around, and Tony snapped into super hero mode instantaneously.
“What is it?”
“We’ve got a location.”
“Hammer?”
“Vulture.”
Tony swore and didn’t even bother to pretend to be ashamed.
“Pete, stay here.” He commanded, before calling his Iron Man suit on his watch and running away alongside Rhodes. Despite the buzz in Peter’s fingers to act now, he patiently waited until they were out of sight to pull up the exact specifications of Rhodey’s claim. “FRIDAY, what’s happening?” He asked, watching news clip after news clip of the chaos in New York.
“Attack in Queens, sir. An explosion went off on Maple Street. First responders arrived and shots were fired.” The screen he was now watching seemed more like a cloud of soot haphazardly broken apart by pedestrians running for safety.
Steve, Clint, and Sam emerged from the scene and Peter let out a sigh of relief. It wasn’t an easy battle as those guns held their own against the enhanced, but Peter found solace in the fact that the whole team would be there eventually----defending it. He’d been really toying with the fates by how many times his path had crossed the Avengers considering he’d teamed up with five in the past month alone; but the one line he would not cross is fighting alongside his father. He was content to only suit up if things turned sour before he noticed the corner store in the back of the shot.
“Is that….” The smoke occupying most of the screen faded slightly so Peter could read the sign. His heart stuttered & stopped as he realized that he knew that shop very very well.
Mr. Delmar’s.
A block away from May’s house.
He ignored FRIDAY’s calls about following Tony’s orders and had his suit on & functional within minutes of this revelation.
“FRI, if Tony comes back and asks----I’m at Ned’s. Override command.”
No one was home so he was able to leave the compound at top speed, dragging his webs through the skyscrapers of New York with a painful velocity. It was a late Friday night---- May was always home then. Being his only living relative on his birth mother’s side, Peter made an attempt to see her as often as possible, usually on weekends or holidays. He’d even stay with her, and formerly Ben when Tony was away for those longer stretches. May was always home, and if there was trouble he would do absolutely anything to save her.
“Karen, call May!” Peter yells into the mask, doubling past 10th street, 9th, 8th… nearing the outskirts of Queens but still having a ways to go. The call started, but every brrrriiing sent electric shock through Peter’s bones. May hated phones, and rarely ever kept hers on, but by god she had to pick up just this once. If she was…
“Call unavailable.”
“Call again!”
Peter groaned loudly into the mask, and rounded a corner into a certified shit-show. There was soot and dust everywhere from where the outside of a building had collapsed, and it was only broken by streams of light from guns or Avengers. May’s house was mere minutes from here, but he’d have to go through the chaos to get there. Behind the noise of a ringing phone there were screams and grunts from both friends and foes alike and Peter had just dodged a wayward fire when the phone finally stopped ringing.
“Peter?”
“May!” He dodged a hit and turned into a shadowed back alleyway. She didn’t sound in peril, but maybe it was like shock or something. “Where are you right now?”
“Peter honey, I can’t talk right now. I picked up an extra shift at the hospital, and there was a crisis! Do not go to Queens right now, there’s-----there’s something happening!”
He could feel the relief fill his veins. She wasn’t home. Since he was already out here, he’d stay in the fight and just steer clear of the iron man in the sky. Maybe run perimeter, keep any other pedestrians out of harm’s way. But at least he could find solace in the fact that May was away from danger.
“Alright, May, I-----“ BOOM. A loud explosion shook the building Peter was standing next to, and he was reminded instantly that he was kind of in the middle of something.
“Peter, what was that?”
“Surround sound movie…. I gotta go, May, I love you!” The call ended and Peter sprung back into action. Wanda and Rhodey were ushering a group of people escape in the opposite direction of the central building and Peter took the cue to help the stragglers. He’d headed towards a couple on the opposite end who had fallen when a whirring gun blocked his line of sight. The guy hesitated and Peter was able to web him up before a shot could fire, but his spider sense alerted him to another threat behind him. He had no time to react except to make a motion to move which got him out of the direct hit.
The blast shot backwards through glass on sheer proximity alone. He hit the ground head on, and felt a nasty lump form from where his head met the flooring. He could hear the goon advancing on the crunch of glass and although Peter knew he needed to get up, his body resisted. He could take a shot right? Those guns could literally shoot through titanium but he could just take one, right? He wasn’t supposed to be in this fight anyway, there had to be something on his suit or in the air he that could save him.
As he was disproving his own hypothesis he heard a familiar whir of thrusters and suddenly he was staring down a red and gold back rather than a hired gun. He heard rather than saw the repulsors power up and take down their mark and Peter was still blinking back stars trying to process this. Did the man who had asked him to be best man twenty minutes ago just unwittingly save him? He had enough coherency in that moment to wish that literally anybody else had saved his ass. He would’ve taken any other Avenger, or hell even Deadpool but instead he was staring down Iron Man’s arc reactor now. Would it be rude to run away?
“I heard you were in on the action, underoos.”
Peter was still breathing heavily, shaking his head to clear it and pushing up quickly. Karen’s voice modifier had never let him down yet, but this was the ultimate test. Keep your sentences short, Parker. You’ll never see another lab again if Tony figures it all out after literally saving his life.
“Yeah, uh… mutual enemies?”
Tony nodded, and then motioned towards the doorway. Spider-Man scrambled up, but kept his distance.
“Good to have you join the party. Arachnids first.”
Peter didn’t need to be told twice to put space between them. They were now in the main building that had obviously caused this whole ordeal to spiral. In the distance he could hear the grunts of a fight, and the firing of several shots every few seconds. They’d been chasing the Vulture for weeks now, and he’d caused enough damage to the city and his family. It ends here, it has to end here.
Peter pushed forward into the next room until his spider sense acted just a moment before an explosion set off and he had a second to jump and tackle Iron Man down with him.
“Fuck, doesn’t this dude ever take a vacation?” Iron Man was breathing hard and clearly shocked to have been saved by a low-level vigilante. He didn’t seem as controlled as he did in the media clips. He would never have missed a clear red flag when walking into a fight, and surely wouldn’t dwell on it now. He was rushing---- trying to get out of this quickly, and that made him sloppy. Peter doubted any of Spider-Man’s words would pacify the man so if they were going to survive this, they were going to need a quick fix to quench Tony’s urge to rush.
“Why not use the magnetic repulsors?” Those could disable the Vulture’s weapons system long enough for a physical attack, and gain Tony & Steve the upper hand they needed to apprehend this thug.
“The magnetic repulsors are programmed to hone in on guns that respond to regular polarity, we don’t know what kind of weapons we’re dealing with. At best it lags his guns, at worst it destabilizes all of our-------wait,” He turned to face Peter head on now, his masked eyes raking over a formula Spider-Man could not see. “How did you know about the magnetic repulsors?”
There was a crash somewhere in the background that sounded like it caught fire and Peter thought that that accurately summarized the mood. He had literally written the code for those blasters, but considering they were a prototype the exact specs hadn’t been released to the general public yet. With the mask was still down, Peter didn’t have to face his father’s imploring glare but the implication was tangible. He wouldn’t get away with the ole ‘saw it in a file’ trick.
“I-----I may have been in your lab recently. Dr. Bruce…. Stitched me up after an unfortunate…. Stabbing.” That made sense right? That he would’ve seen it while fighting away the cold clammy hands of death? Sense or not, he was going to have to commit now that it had been verbalized.
“I saw the blueprints----- good design.” He was basically complimenting himself, but Tony seemed to take it. He gave a little half shrug and said “I’ve got a good tech” simply.
Behind them another explosion shook the ground, and a few grunts of pain could be heard. Even if they weren’t in the middle of a fight to the death, Peter would have taken any excuse under the sun to get away from the man under the mask. Tony could get a bit scatterbrained (a hereditary trait passed on to his only son), but when he really analyzed something he went all in. It was only a matter of time before Peter choose the wrong words and the illusion was shattered.
“Care to do the honors, Spider-Man?”
Peter nodded and webbed up to the ceiling. From there he saw the Vulture, desperately fighting against Clint, Sam, and Steve with an onslaught of hyper-tech. There were goons rushing to the scene, but Captain America easily disposed of them as they appeared. Without thought or possibly reason Peter understood that for this to work Tony needed to be their surprise attack. And Peter the distraction.
“Hey! Big bird!”
The call definitely diverted his attention----- and weapons. The Vulture screeched something animalistic and followed Peter’s trajectory with dangerous precision. “Cockroach!” He yelled, the sound echoing through every crevice in the joint.
“Actually, Spider!” The other Avengers were beat back momentarily, and the Vulture’s focus solely on the teenager.
Spider-Man danced through an onslaught of fire for a few seconds before ultimately having to dive behind an adjacent wall of steel. It had been only seconds that he could withstand the heat, and definitely not enough time for Tony to do whatever genius plan he’d concocted. He needed to get back out there, but he also needed a better plan than some light banter with the enemy.
Apparently he wasn’t the only seeking refuge.
“Spider-Man.” Clint nodded cordially towards Peter, before loading his arrow and side stepping out to fire. There was a small collision sound and a scream of pain so clearly Clint hit whatever his mark was. A little ways down Captain used his shield to stop a direct hit on Falcon and soon all of the Avengers currently in battle were now recouping.
“M-Mr. Hawkeye.”
Seriously, was this a meet & greet? Did Spider-Man unwittingly win some contest to slowly meet all of the Avengers one by one? Because if so, he’d like a refund and compensation for the heart attacks he was being dealt daily. He doesn’t mean to be ungrateful, but if he’d wanted a big family get together he would’ve thrown a birthday party.
“Heard you’ve been teaming up with some of the Avengers. Should I be offended I wasn’t invited?”
Peter laughed softly, the motion highlighting that there was some bruising on his ribs that made the action painful. After being shot through a window and getting hit by one futuristic gun after another he was going to have some battle scars that would be difficult to explain to mother hen Tony. He doubted he could come up with a convenient bully that attacked him during the exact times of the fight in Queens. Whatever, that’s a problem for future Peter. Present Peter has enough problems to deal with.
“Not unless you like losing.” He responded comically. Clint laughed, but the moment was ruined by the more pressing matters at hand. Tony didn’t wait for the distraction any longer and he, Steve, and Sam attempted to attack head on. Clint moved from the shadows and joined the fight by taking down the goons as they charged by and Peter webbed up what he could. Sam & Clint got stuck at the perimeter with a wave of new guns to take down, and the rest surged forward. The Vulture kept a pretty impenetrable shield of high tech weapons at his disposal and Peter, Steve, and Tony were working as one to distract and attack from all angles. Although he was a little busy taking down another one of the Vulture’s henchmen while simultaneously attempting to sideswipe the Vulture’s legs, he couldn’t help but realize this was their first family reunion in a month. He’d mention it, if the notion wouldn’t get him grounded until the ripe old age of infinity.
Moments passed, and the realization that their attacks were doing little dawned on him. Every thought Peter had, the Vulture was a step ahead, and his workers were only multiplying by the second. Iron Man was firing on all cylinders, and Steve was blocking hits with his shield as fast as they came but the Vulture had defenses far beyond their realm of knowledge. They were losing. And just as the thought came to mind, it seemed to have crossed Tony’s as well. Following his reckless streak, he mumbled something about “using the prototype anyway” and turned to position himself. In that moment where Tony’s back was to the action, a hired gun had lined up the shot, and fired.
Suddenly he was swinging in between Iron Man and the blast.
When it collides with his suit, all of his nerve endings scream in protest. He understands that he’s falling, and more accurately crashing through an adjacent wall. He understands that he’s lying in the rubble of it---- in some dark room where the only sound comes from the battle he left. He understands he should get up and get back out there, help his dads, and the rest of his family finally take this guy down.
But none of it matters. He can’t move a single strained muscle, and the copper he’s tasting in his mouth is definitely his own blood. One side of his brain is campaigning to get up, ignore the pain until they’re out of this and then deal with it later, while the other is making a very compelling case for sleep. Minutes pass and the only indication of change he receives is that of his multiple contusions trying and failing to fix themselves.
His dulled senses register that there’s someone walking over the gravel anyway. Someone’s come for him, to rescue him! They must have won! He’s struggling to breathe through such pain that he wouldn’t even care if it were Tony Stark himself, ready to unmask the vigilante who was stupid enough to jump into the direct line of fire. He would take a thousand Steve-lectures and disapproving Tony glares if it meant that someone, anyone could stop this pain from spreading.
His eyelids start to grow heavy, and his consciousness slipping, and just before the final close, a face comes into view. It’s hazy and distorted through a warp of confused thoughts but he definitely recognizes it.
One thing becomes abundantly clear before his vision blacks out:
this is not a rescue mission.