Spider-man: Alone in New York

~ Chapter 11 ~

"Okay, Pepper. I think we need to go up and do some work." Tony rubbed his hands in anticipation.

She rolled her eyes. "You and your lab, I swear you love it more than anything."

"Not more than you," He said, putting an arm around her waist and pulling her towards him. I felt like this is a private moment, so I became highly interested in the duct tape that held together my shoes, studying the sides that had slowly peeled off. I should get some more duct tape, I thought. Hearing a laugh, I looked up again and met Tony's eyes. "I think we're making Peter uncomfortable. Peter, would you please get the elevator for us."

I nodded and went back, pushing a button.

I couldn't help but hear the whisper from Pepper due to my heightened senses, "I scared him away, right? I messed up, ugh."

Tony murmured back, "No, it probably just takes him a bit to open up to people. I mean, he hasn't opened up to me either. And that's completely normal because I've only seen him once before. Give him time."

She probably nodded, so when the elevator arrived, Tony stepped into it with me. "See you, Pepper."

"Bye Tony. Bye Peter." She gave me a warm smile, and I couldn't help but smile back.

It was silent in the elevator as the doors closed, and it lifted up.

Surprisingly, the silence between us didn't bother me. It was comfortable silence until Tony had caught a look at my shoes and frowned. "What are those?"

I looked down, seeing my sneakers. I answered hesitantly, "Shoes?"

"No, let me see." He crouched down and looked at my sneakers, touching them with a finger. "Is that duct tape?" He gazed up at me.

"Ummmmm maybe..." I said, unsure of his next response, "They were falling apart, and I didn't have time to get a new pair."

"Didn't have time?" The frown returned to his face. He stood back up as the elevator doors slid open, and we walked out of the elevator. "Those are about to fall apart."

I shrugged. "Nothing a bit more of duct tape can't fix."

"Nothing a bit more of duct tape can't fix," He repeated, flabbergasted, "Hey Fri, order Peter here five pairs of sneakers."

Five pairs of sneakers, my eyes were bulging. What was he doing? "Mr. Stark, that won't be necessary."

"Nonsense." He waved his hand in the air, dismissing the matter, but I wasn't ready to dismiss it yet.

Friday asked, "Mr. Stark, what shoe size and color should I order?"

He turned to me. "What's your shoe size?"

"Mr. Stark, I can't accept that," I tried again.

"Friday, scan his foot and any color preferences?" He looked at me again.

I stammered, "I-I, Mr. Stark, I can't-"

"Get him a black one, white, gray, and hmmm. Red? You choose the last one, Friday." He slung an arm over my shoulders. "Those colors work well with any clothes. Oh, talking about clothes, do you need me to order you some?'

My voice rose. "No!" I quieted down, "I mean, no. I'm fine. Really. I don't need five pairs of sneakers either, so just-"

"Don't worry about it, kid." He patted me on my back and removed his arm. I sighed through my nose. He was as stubborn as you could get. It felt weird to be cared for like this, though. But I had to say, it was a good weird. I shouldn't get used to it, so I pushed the feeling down. I hadn't paid attention to our surroundings, too busy worrying about how Mr. Stark was buying me five pair of sneakers. We had gone into a lab, and boy, was it a dream. This was beating my expectations.

The newest technology, slick designed tables with tools and other materials strewn on top, and a cool, dark blue toned vibe that just all urge you to start building and designing something, whatever it is. Even now, it was drawing me in.

"You like it?" Tony asked behind me.

"Like it?" I breathed, "I love it."

Working with Tony in the lab made me more comfortable in his presence. My stuttering has been reduced as well as my blushing. I find myself enjoying the time. Around an hour or two had passed while we were building a new type of weapon.

Tony asked, "I can't find the screwdriver I just used. Do you know where it is?"

I dug through the tool box, not being able to find it. My eyes swept over the tables, narrowing in on a screwdriver with a blue hilt. "Got it!" I grabbed it and brought it to Stark, and he thanked me. We were huddled over a gun that did not need to be reloaded. It used a combination of kinetic energy and prolific fibers connected to Tony's suit that charged the gun.

"Mmm one more and-" The gun erupted in flames. We quickly stumbled back, Tony making sure that I was behind him as we gazed at the growing flames. "Fri! Water!" Immediately, the sprinklers turned on, drenching the fire and unfortunately, us too. We were both soaked in water from head-to-toe.

"Well," Tony started, turning to me, "You hungry? Cause it looks like a perfect time for a food break."