The Life of an Olympian

7 | Tony

Tony's POV

967 words

I tried drinking away my problems, but it didn't work. First I yelled at the kid, then I practically got fired by one, then I pushed everyone who tried to help away.

God, my life was a mess.

I was anxious to hear what would happen tomorrow with Percy. As much as I hated it, if he didn't continue to fund us, I'd have to pull back from my infrastructure projects if I wanted to continue the SPP project. In anger, I threw my glass across the room. It shattered into pieces all over the floor. That was when Natasha and Clint barged in.

"Tony, pull yourself together. We've got something to show you," Natasha snapped.

"Nat, I'm really not in the mood for this."

Clint stepped in next. "Well, I think you'll be in the mood after you hear this." He pressed play on the tablet he brought.

"Sir, they're draining your money, your time, your resources. Why would you keep funding them?"
"Because they're working for a good cause."
"Yes, but at what point do we draw the line? It's not even water related! For god's sake, Tony hired a 15-year-old child to work in your labs. The explosion could've been disastrous!"
"Yet it wasn't, Andrew, was it?"
"As your legal advisor and with the advice from your accountants, we highly suggest you abandon this project."
"No. End of discussion. I'm offering them my private facilities tomorrow at about noon and that's final. Money won't ever be a problem. Not when the health of the Earth and everyone on it can benefit from this project. And the fact that I'm a billionaire."
"Fine. But I suggest you change the contract so that any liabilities fall to Stark. If the kid gets hurt, I don't want to deal with a lawsuit. Better yet, have the kid fired."
"The kid is a genius, Andrew. I was watching him for over an hour. He's not going anywhere. If Stark doesn't keep him on his payroll, I'm putting him on mine."
"Sometimes I don't understand you, Percy."
"Few do. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Good night, Sir."

Clint paused the recording because the rest was just static.

"How'd you get this? Did you plant a bug on him?!"

"Yeah, we did, Tony."

"What the hell?!"

"Calm down. He knew about it. This is the only feed we've gotten off of it since we first put it on him. He disabled the tracker and it's been radio silence up until now, so he obviously wanted you to hear that conversation or else he wouldn't have worn the bug," Natasha explained.

It took me a minute to process everything the recording said, but when I did, I was jumping up and down like a kid on Christmas. Out of nowhere, I stopped being so giddy when something else dawned on me.

"I've got to tell Peter! I've got to apologize!"

I ran out of the room before turning around to grab the tablet and running out again. I jumped into my fastest car and sped off towards Peter's house.

I ran up to his door and furiously knocked. It was close to 9:00 pm when I arrived. May answered the door. She didn't look pleased to see me.

"Please, I have to talk to him."

"He's hurt, Tony. He looks up to you and he feels as though he disappointed you. I don't want him to get hurt anymore."

"I know- I know- I know just please, I have to talk to him."

May gave me a once over then opened the door wide enough for me to squeeze in.

"Thank you!" I said over my shoulder as I made my way to the kid's room.

Without thinking, I burst through the door and scared the crap out of Peter.

"Mr. Stark! What are you doing here?"

"Kid, I'm sorry. I was angry and frustrated, but it wasn't your fault."

"So... I'm not fired?"

"No! God, no! Look, I'm not the best at communicating, but you're a good kid. I'm lucky to have you." I was running my hand through my hair as I tried to explain. "And I'm not just saying this because of what you're about to hear. I'm saying this because I don't want to lose you. You've done well, and it wasn't fair of me to shut you out the way I did. I'm sorry."

Damn. I apologized. I never apologize. The kid deserved one though.

"Lose me? Where would I be going?"

"Here," I said as I handed him the tablet.

He pressed play and listened to the conversation. I saw his cheeks and ears grow red when Percy complimented him, but he seemed pleased.

"Natasha and Clint bugged him, but he knew about the bug. This is the only recording it's picked up, so he wanted us to hear it."

"So... he kicked us out 'cause he was pressured to do so, but he's giving us an upgrade?"

"Yes! No outside enterprise has ever stepped foot in his personal facilities. Only his top scientists have access, and they're all sworn and contracted to secrecy."

"Whoa. This is huge!"

"Yeah, but we'll find out more tomorrow. He's not coming until noon, but we can prepare ahead of time. Meet me at the Avengers Tower at 8:00 am sharp."

"You got it, Mr. Stark!"

I left Peter at his desk grinning ear to ear. I was so relieved that the kid wasn't mad at me any more that I couldn't restrain the same smile from appearing on my face too. May noticed and offered me some walnut date bread. I knew it tasted horrible but took some to be polite and headed off to my tower, ready for the future.

Or so I thought.