Growing Up

12 Years Old

When Peter arrived at the Tower, he was not surprised to find it empty. Pepper had warned him that Tony was out on a mission and she was still in Malibu. Although Pepper wouldn't be home that evening, Tony would be back in time for dinner, so she suggested he order food to the Tower. With a sly grin and knowing that Pepper wouldn't approve, Peter told JARVIS to order an ungodly amount of pizza when Tony was fifteen minutes away from the tower.

Unfortunately, once the pizza arrived and Peter had finished his homework, his dad still wasn't home. It was dark out and even though Peter knew that technically his bedtime was soon, he wanted to stay up for when his dad returned.

"Hey JARVIS?" Peter asked, glancing away from the clock.

"Yes?" JARVIS replied. Peter hesitated, debating whether or not he should ask JARVIS his question. "Would you like to know when Mr. Stark is returning?" JARVIS asked.

Peter felt his face heat up but nodded nonetheless.

"But don't tell him I asked!" Peter said hastily.

A second later, JARVIS's response came. "Mr. Stark will be returning in about an hour. I did not tell him you asked."

With a grin, Peter returned to his game on his tablet and told JARVIS to turn on some music. At the very least, he could enjoy staying up past his bedtime before he got scolded.

* * * * *

Tony had the suit on autopilot. He didn't have enough energy to keep his eyes open on the flight back and he ached all over. The last thing he wanted to focus on was flying back home even if it meant he could see Peter again. Covered in bruises and what JARVIS assured him were superficial cuts, Tony would be lying if he said he wasn't taking his time getting home.

He'd only been gone for about 48 hours, but he knew how much Peter didn't like him going on missions. In an effort to ease Peter's panic when he was younger, they had started making a party out of it when Tony returned. Pizza and movies until late into the night. Unless it was a school night, of course. Tonight was not a school night, though, and Pepper was in Malibu, so Peter was sure to be bouncing with energy. Tony hoped not. The last thing he wanted was for Peter to stumble out onto the balcony and see him injured.

Maybe the kid had gone to sleep early. He'd woken up early according to Pepper, so maybe he was exhausted and fast asleep in his room. It was past his bedtime after all, but Tony wouldn't put it past him to stay awake later when the Tower was empty.

"Hey, J?" Tony mumbled, "Where's Peter?"

"Peter is currently in his room," JARVIS responded. When Tony asked what he was doing, JARVIS told him, "Sleeping."

"Great," Tony said. "Don't tell him I'm coming. Let him sleep."

* * * * *

Peter glanced at his watch. JARVIS had said Tony was fifteen minutes away twelve minutes ago so he'd prepared quickly. The pizza was rewarmed and Peter had already queued Star Wars on the TV. All that was missing was his dad.

Waiting on the landing pad had never felt like such a long time. When he was sure it had been more than three minutes, Peter glanced at his watch again. Seven minutes had passed but his dad hadn't landed. Frowning, Peter walked inside the penthouse. Maybe his dad had entered through the lab. But that would mean the Iron Man suit had taken a beating. His breath hitched and Peter raced downstairs to the lab to make sure his dad wasn't injured.

JARVIS let him in without pause but Peter stopped in the doorway at the sight before him.

Tony stumbled out of the Iron Man suit and hissed in pain. He didn't need a mirror to know there was a long cut across his forehead as it was slowly trickling blood down his cheek. His nose was broken from when he'd landed a little too hard on his face and now that he was out of the suit, he could tell something was wrong with his leg.