No More Lonely

Ch. 2

Although Tony's grilled cheese was a little black on one side and not toasted at all on the other side, Peter devoured it. It had hardly been finished when Peter said it was the best grilled cheese he had ever tasted. He then went on to explain how usually he and his mom found food in dumpsters, but it was still good. Some restaurants would even give them leftovers if they waited until they closed.

Once they were both finished eating, Tony loaded the dishwasher while Peter explored the Tower. He had quickly learned about JARVIS and the two had become best friends which was great for Tony. While Peter was out of sight, JARVIS kept him informed about where Peter was and what he was doing. What JARVIS did not inform him of, however, was that Pepper was arriving. The sound of the lift dinging and the doors sliding open were his only announcement.

Tony quietly cursed and quickly searched for a place to hide. Unfortunately, the kitchen didn't offer very good hiding spots and before he could crawl under the sink, Pepper was staring him down with her hands on her hips.

"You just missed dinner," Tony told her. He pointed to the freshly washed frying pan. "Grilled cheese. Made it myself. Wasn't that good, but the kid liked it."

He flinched when he realised he had been the one to bring up Peter and now Pepper had a good lead-in for what was about to be a very angry speech.

"Speaking of the kid,e" Pepper said, narrowing her eyes, "Could you please enlighten me on how you came across one and decided to bring one home?"

Tony gave her a tight smile and glanced out the window.

"Um, JARVIS pointed him out first," Tony said. Pepper didn't look amused, but she also didn't look surprised.

"If I may, sir," JARVIS interrupted, "You were the one escaping work to fly in the suit."

Tony grimaced and Pepper's frown deepened.

"Thanks, buddy," Tony mumbled before turning to Pepper and saying, "To be fair, I waited until I finished my work."

"Tony! You can't just take a kid off the streets," Pepper said, throwing her hands up exasperatedly. "That's kidnapping!"

"Is it, though?" Tony asked. Pepper looked at him as if to say 'really' and he continued hurriedly. "I mean, a superhero sees a kid being abused and rescues him. Said kid then reveals that his mother is dead and his father is not in the picture. What was I supposed to do, Pep? Leave him to die? He's four!"

If Pepper was surprised to discover the kid was so young, she did not show it. However, she also didn't have time to reply before Tony sighed and looked behind her. Turning around, she was faced with a very small child in ragged clothes standing behind her. He looked like he was about to cry and Pepper was not going to have that.

"Hey, kiddo," she said softly. She knelt down in front of him, but Peter just stepped back. "I'm Pepper. What's your name?"

"Peter," he said, barely above a whisper. "Am I in trouble? I don't want to stay here if you don't like me."

Pepper quickly shook her head and again reached out for Peter's hand, but he stepped back again.

"No, Peter," she told him, "This is not your fault. When adults like Tony take kids off the streets, people get upset, so I have to make sure he doesn't go to jail, okay?"

When Peter nodded, Pepper stood back up and faced Tony

"I'm going to contact your lawyers and see if they can find anything on him," she informed Tony, "We need to make sure his dad isn't around. He could press charges."

"Sounds good."

Pepper glanced back down at Peter who was staring at Tony. "What's your last name, Peter?"