All My Life

41| Homecoming

Tony's pov.

I slump into the chair, a tired sigh escaping my lips due to the hours of fruitless attempts of locating the unknown phone call. It's ridiculous, the location keeps being jumble-d up every ten minutes. The second I am even remotely close to a breakthrough, the encryption swaps and I am back to the first block all over again. This is bigger than I thought, it's not a one-man thing. There's a whole team dedicated solely to cause diversions. It's been nearly a month, an entire month and I've nothing which is simply working in their favour, giving them more time to lay out their next plan. A plan none of us has any clue about. We are in complete darkness.

This is ridiculous!

"Sir, we have received an E-mail from Midtown high. Would you like me to patch it through?" The statement grabs my attention. Peter joined back just a few days earlier, claiming he needed to distract himself, keep himself busy. I complied, though with a bit of reluctance, afraid that the workload might overwhelm him but I complied, anyway. From what I know, according to Happy's report, everything's been going pretty smoothly, so, there was no chance of some complaint or serious issue that needed to be addressed.

"Yeah, pull it up." A new hologram screen pops up in front of the previous ones and my eyes skim through the words.

Dear Mr Stark,

We are writing this in order to inquire why Mr Parker has not turned his permission slip for the annual Homecoming. We request you to address the situation and send a response as soon as possible.

Regards.

My eyebrows furrow in confusion and I re-read the E-mail, my eyes glued to the word Homecoming. I sigh, knowing exactly what was going on, not even feeling surprised.

Seems like there's some need of interference...

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"Is there something you might want to tell me, Pete?" I watch as Peter's head jerks in my direction, my eyes fixing upon the noticeable dark crests under his eyes as he hurriedly shuts his phone suspiciously but I ignore it. His eyes remain wide and I can easily imagine the doubts running in his head.

"I-uh...no? Why-why do you think so?" He stutters out and I narrow my eyes at him. "Perhaps, you might want to pull out a permission slip." I suggest and watch realization settle over him as an 'Uh oh' look covers his features while I cross my arms across my chest.

"How did you even find out?!"

"I'm sorry kid, but your school's a snitch." I shrug as he mutters something inaudible under his breath. His eyes stare at his hand which worries me. He is not doing so well, at least not as much as we were aiming for and the worse aspect was that he has learnt to hide it now. Of course, I know about him tinkering around with Jarvis' codes regarding the monitoring protocols and against my better judgement, I decided to leave the situation unaddressed, a tiny part of me thinking that the kid might need some space. I guess I was wrong.

Gosh, I am awful at parenting...

"Peter, what's going on, kid?" He remains silent and I walk towards him. "Is it the nightmares, again?"

No response...

"Why didn't you show me the slip?" I ask, knowing it would be stupid of me to poke the obvious wound unnecessarily. I'll simply turn the protocols back on.

"What would May think, dad? I can't be enjoying and having fun, not when she's, you know..." Of course, he's letting his thoughts and doubts pull him back, again. Though, I don't blame him, not when I remember doing the same thing. Sure, I turned to alcohol and parties after my parents' death, trying to distract myself and cover up the fresh wound with a useless bandage of temporary 'fun' but, that doesn't change the fact how each morning after the nights used to be a complete nightmare as my own brain tortured me with similar thoughts, how it continuously punished me for running away from reality, asking if that's what mom would have wanted me to do. I know what she would have wanted me to do. She would have wanted me to be happy, but, I wasn't happy. So, I turned to the labs, finding it a better approach.

"Well, for starters, she wouldn't want you to be trapped in your own mind, kiddo." He looks up at me, his hazel eyes glued to mine. "She would want you to be happy, kid. You can't just drown in your grief and let go of everything else. That's not what she would have wanted, don't you think?" I watch as his eyes glaze over and I can visibly see him fighting an internal war before he finally looks up to me.

"I might need your signature," I smirk at him, feeling pride flow into my veins, knowing my kid won the battle against himself. "And a date. Who is it? You might want some tips from your old man." I watch as his cheeks turn pink in embarrassment and I can't help but laugh.

"Daaad!"

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"Hey, Pep! Mind helping me out a bit?" I say before stepping into the living room only to be greeted by the love of my life. Her eyes widen at my statement, "Am I supposed to be scared because that's exactly what you said before you were summoned by that Senator. I'm too exhausted for this!"

"I am impressed that you still remember my words, but..."

"That's called survival instincts, Tony." I frown at her as she smirks at me before deciding to continue. "I was thinking maybe you could take Peter out. You know, get him some nice suits or something." She raises her eyebrow, demanding for further elaboration. Maybe, it wasn't as good an explanation as it sounded in my head...Oh, well.

"Apparently, his school is organizing the annual Homecoming program in a few days," Her eyes widen in excitement and I can't help but feel amused by the woman's reaction. From, all of my previous experience, the woman is not a huge fan of shopping, unlike Wanda. But, it's always her who chooses my suits because according to her, apparently, I have awful sense of fashion which might I add, I disagree with.

"In a few days? You couldn't have told me sooner?" I continue to stare at her, finding myself speechless in front of the excited woman. "Wait, does he have a date? Of course, he does. Who is it?"

"I am just as clueless as you are, Pep. I-" I am cut off by Jarvis' voice which makes an annoyed frown etch upon my face. "Sir, I apologize for the interruption but Colonel Rhodes has entered the facility and is approaching."

Oh shit...

I am in for a long, long lecture. "Pep, please tell me you didn't tell him about Pete, yet." Her lips twist into a smirk before she turns upon her heels and heads towards the door. "You might as well brace yourself, Tony."

"Oh, come on!"

The woman disappears just before the sound of the elevator's metal doors opening echoes around the silent room. I turn in the direction of approaching footsteps, my eyes waiting for the familiar man to appear. The moment he does, I know I am in a bit of trouble, the annoyance on his face proving the fact.

"I am gone for a month and you get your damn son back? Why do I always miss out on everything and you," He says pointing towards me. "You have a lot of explaining to do, Tones."

"There's nothing to explain, Rhodes." He glares at me before stalking towards me. "I wanna see my nephew." He demands and I take a quick glance at my wristwatch before looking up to give him a sorry look. "It's 1 am, Rhodey. The kid's asleep." He huffs and mutters under his breath before is eyes turn serious and I heave a sigh at the familiar look.

Something's wrong, again...

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A/N

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