The Butterfly Effect: a Peter Parker Fan Fic

Part 41; Alive

I conclude with a sigh and throw the blanket on top of him. He still doesn't wake, only murmuring something incoherent and adjusting his position a little. This boy is a heavy sleeper.

The throbbing in my head increases again, the daggers seeming to poke into my brain again. Someone clears their throat behind me, sending my already sore mind into a frenzy. A middle-aged man stands in the doorway. His brown hair is cropped short, revealing small strands of gray hairs. He's also dressed very tidily in a black suit and tie with a white, silk undershirt. "Rav--" he begins, but I cut him off almost immediately.

"Sh!" I hiss, nodding my head at Peter.

He shakes his head, clearly irritated, and steps out into the hallway, implying I should follow him out. I stand up, but take one last look at Peter. Wherever we are, he's here. And if he's here? That means I should trust this stranger. A small smile spreads on my face as I wander over towards the door.

A keypad rests next to the entrance to the room, meaning this place is pretty, very high-tech. A million different suggestions flow in and out of my head, but none fit the entire criteria. "Are you coming?" the man asks, his voice hush.

It brings me great pleasure that I am able to control him... yet I am still hesitant. I slowly exit the room and the door shuts behind me automatically. It doesn't take my attention off from him. "Great, let's go. He's waiting for you," he orders me.

Who is he? My mouth opens to say something, but he begins to walk ahead of me without providing the opportunity to ask any questions. I try to follow after him at his pace, but a sharp burn spreads up my leg quickly. A groan escapes my chapped lips which manages to swipe his attention.

"Are you alright? Do I need to get some help?" he calls out.

I stand up tall and straighten my back, refusing to let this bring me down. "Who are you?" I ask, "and more importantly, who are you taking me to?"

He shakes his head and sighs, shoving his hands into his pockets, "my name is Happy Hogan. And I am right-hand man to Tony Stark."

Tony.

Tony Stark.

Uncle Tony?

None of this makes sense. But here I am, sitting on a leather seat in what appears to be one of the many modern rooms in his bachelor pad. The real question is, is he still a bachelor or is there a chance he's actually taken? I mean, there's no chance that I would have been following his life so there is no possibility that I know what his current relationship status is.

But what do I even say to him when he comes? Am I even mad at him anymore? He's not to blame for dad's death, that's for sure. But he can still be blamed for the affair.

"Raven," the voice that used to send a raging fire through my spine, now makes me react in no way; neither in content nor anger.

Should I even look at him? I mean, here I am chilling in sweatpants and it is likely that he'll be rocking some Armani and--

He's wearing jeans and some old rock band t-shirt. "Well this is a nice break from the bling," I tell him honestly.

He shrugs, "there's no point in me dressing up for you." When he sees my confused expression, he reiterates, "oh, no, no, no, don't take it that way! I just mean it as in... you're family. I don't need to go all out to look good for you... if that makes sense."

In a weird way, it sort of does make sense. It's even somewhat... sweet.

"Listen, we have a few things on the agenda to talk about, clearly and I don't want to waste a lot of your precious time," he says and when I begin to speak, he continues, "I am aware that you have a lot of questions, so let me explain everything that I know you will ask me before you do. But first, would you like anything to drink? I can't serve you alcohol because you know, you're underage. A soda perhaps?"

I can't help but beam at his awkward, yet typical, uncle-like self, "a soda sounds great, thanks."

"Already on it," someone, a female, announces. She appears in the room, carrying a bottle of beer for Tony and a can of soda for me. She is pretty stunning, if you ask me. Her blonde hair is straight, flowing down to her back. Her eyes are sharp and filled with intelligence and determination, with a touch of warmth; exactly the kind of woman I strive to be.

"Thank you, Pepper," Tony says as we are both handed our drinks.

"Thank you," I mutter.

She grins at me, revealing her perfect, pearly white teeth, "so you're the infamous Raven, huh? I am Pepper Potts. Future Mrs Pepper Stark."

My brows knit together in both amusement and shock, "no way. You're engaged?"

He nods, heat rising to his cheeks, "yes. Yes, I am. She's a good one, this one."

It feels strange to be having such a normal conversation with him, but it feels so natural. Having a tension lingering between the two of us would feel untypical.

Pepper leaves hurriedly, obviously aware of the issues we have yet to resolve. Tony buries his head in his hands and exhales deeply, "so let's begin with something simple to explain, shall we? The fire. I don't know exactly what happened, because Peter didn't know either. But clearly, you're in bad shape so it must have been pretty bad. He called me, because apparently you're also a superhero too? And like Spider-Man, not many people know The Butterfly's true identity. So if he took you to a hospital, they would have checked your blood and seen something abnormal and bam! The whole world would have known. He's a smart kid that one."

So, let's add Tony to the ever-growing list of people who know about my alter-ego.

"Can you explain on your behalf?" he raises an eyebrow.

"I don't like long stories, so I'll keep this quick. You're all up to date with stuff about dad's lab. I went to visit him on the summer, there was some chemical leak in the butterfly room and I can deceive people, he made me a suit and then I gained new abilities like reliving someone's memory and..." do I tell him? I think not, "the fire. You should be aware of Bloody Mary by now. Well turns out mom's fiancee works for her! Mom kicked me out of the house, because you know, teenagers. I went back home later, the house was empty, but Mary was there and Phil was there and Cam was there. They gave me a fucking concussion and set the house on fire. And she took Cam, Tony. She took Cam!"

His emotions quickly changed throughout my entire explanation. From understanding, to shock, to anger, to rage, to determination. "You have to help me get him back, Tony," my voice is merely a whisper, "I already tried to go against two of them and I lost. I nearly lost my life, in fact. But dad is gone and I don't want- can't. I can't lose Cam too."

He isn't even looking at me anymore, simply focusing on a spot on the floor. His hands cover his mouth as he attempts to process everything. To be honest, he doesn't even need to say anything. There's a silent agreement between the two of us. He'll help me. He will.

"Your father..." his voice trails off.

"I was on the warpath. I was lashing out. I was blaming you. But I shouldn't have. It wasn't your fault, Tony. Whether about what you said about the affair was or wasn't true, you didn't contribute to his death," I reassure him.

He shakes his head in his palms, "I stand by what I said to you all that time ago; she made her move on me, not the other way around. But I should have given him the money. I should've."

I bite my lip before replying, "I shouldn't have stressed him out, but I did. We've all done things we regret and there's nothing we can do to take them back. The only thing we can do is move on and do good things to people to try and relieve ourselves. What can we do? Well, there's only one thing we can do. Take down Bloody Mary."

His head lifts up, staring at me with a glimmer of hope in his eyes. He honestly believes me and that cliche pep talk I gave him. Never in a thousand years would I have expected Tony Stark and I to get along; never, ever.

"Well, I have some good news and some bad news," he declares, hurriedly getting into action mode, "bad news: your suit was pretty badly destroyed in the fire and Peter told me about the broken wing. Good news? I took the liberty of making you a new one. This time, with some very high tech additions."