Tony folds his hands and rests his head on them. "Right... well you better go to bed, Perce."
Percy stares at Tony, unimpressed. "From one insomniac to another, don't even try."
Tony opens his mouth to say something and then closes it. "Good point." He stands up, "So, you wanna go get a tattoo?"
"Of course."
"J," Tony looks at the ceiling. "be a dear and get a car ready please."
"Already done, sir."
"Thanks, J."
Jarvis hums.
Percy runs over to the stairs and rushes down them. Tony shakes his head and chuckles at his antics. He walks over to the elevator and hums along to the AC/DC song playing. The elevator comes to a stop. Tony walks out just as the stair doors open and Percy jogs out. Tony looks at Percy and twirls the keys he grabbed of the key rack on his finger.
"Percy, you wanna drive?" Tony holds up his hands to stop Percy's rant. "And before you say no, the tattooist lives on a back road, there's barely any cars on the way there. It's practically a straight shot. It's the perfect place to practice some driving."
Percy hesitates for a moment, looking back and forth from the keys to the car. He bites his lip. "Are you sure? That's a really nice car."
"Ki..." Tony trails off when he receives Percy's glare. "Percy, look around. I have a ton of cars here. I have plenty to spare if we get in a wreck. It'll be fine."
———————-
Tony holds onto the seat as tight as he can. His seat belt is buckled for the first time in a while. "THIS IS NOT FINE!"
He glances at the speedometer. "PERCY, WE'RE GOING 95 IN A 30!"
Percy looks around frantically, trying in vain to press the brakes. He looks up just in time to see a deer. "MOVE!" He screams at the top of his lungs, looking at the deer in the middle of the road. "MOVE, I'M GONNA RUN YOU OVER!"
Tony's eyes widen as he looks at the deer and he grabs his seat tighter. "PRESS THE BRAKES! PRESS THE BRAKES!"
"THE BRAKES AREN'T FREAKING WORKING, UNCLE TONY!"
They both stare at the deer in the middle of the road as the car speeds towards it, screaming at the top of their lungs.
At the last second, the deer jumps out of the way.
"I DIDN'T HIT IT! I DIDN'T HIT IT!"
Tony lets out a whoop as he realizes his nephew did not in fact run a deer over. His phone vibrates and he digs it out of his pocket. "It's Steve."
He answers it. "Hey Steve. No no, we're fine." He pauses talking as listens. "We're on our way to um... an art place. Yes I'm sure."
Tony glances at Percy. "Percy pay attention to the road. Yes Steve, Percy is driving." Tony pauses, taking a deep breath. "He's doing... okay? I'm aware that sounds like a question, Rogers. I-"
"THERE'S A STOP SIGN!" Percy screams, interrupting Tony's conversation.
Tony holds the phone away from his ear. "THEN STOP!"
"DID YOU FORGET ABOUT THE BRAKES?" Percy screams as he barrels towards the stop sign.
Tony hears a voice coming from the phone and holds it up to his ear. "SHUT UP, STEVE! WE'RE FINE-"
He's cut off by Percy's scream. "WE JUST RAN A STOP SIGN!
Percy screams even louder when he realizes there's a red light. "PEOPLE!" He pushes the brakes over and over with no effect. "WE ARE NOT FINE!"
Tony's eyes widen in panic when the car veers sharply towards the left and into the grass. "PERCY, WHAT THE HECK?"
"IT'S OKAY! WE'RE SLOWING DOWN!"
"THIS IS NOT OKAY!"
"SHUT UP! YOU'RE DISTRACTING THE DRIVER!"
Tony holds onto the car tighter. "YOU'RE DISTRACTING ME!"
The car comes to a slow stop and Percy turns it off, panting heavily. "I am never ever driving again."
"I agree." Tony replies, still in the car and trying to calm down. He raises an eyebrow as Steve says something over the phone. "No Steve, you don't." Tony lets out an unimpressed hum. "If you're that sure, then I'll get an abandoned field in the middle of an abandoned island that is far from here for you to teach him how to drive."
Percy rests his hands on his knees, panting heavily. "Tell him I decline. No thank you."
"He said no, Steve. Yup, we'll be home soon. Okay. Bye." Tony hangs up the phone and hops out of the car. "Percy, the tattoo place is right up the road."
Percy gives Tony a thumbs up, grumbling something under his breath about suns and chariots as he walks towards the tattoo parlor.
~~~~
Elsewhere, in the avengers living room
~~~~
Steve practically falls off the couch, laughing as hard as he can. He opens his mouth to say something to explain himself to the other avengers, but all that comes out is a wheeze.
"Tony-" Steve wheezes again, his face grows even redder. "And then-and then," he pounds his fist on his knee, laughing so hard his laughs are practically silent and tears stream down his face. "and Percy... and the deer." He wheezes again, but in the middle of wheezing he snorts, which causes him to laugh harder.
Natasha raises a delicate eyebrow, smiling at Steve's laughter. She holds her phone steady, recording this for her vine account. She smirks, thinking about the time Fury found out someone was videoing the avengers without them noticing (either that or hacking Jarvis) and it ended up causing a lockdown on the whole tower. Jarvis knew, of course, but he had her back. He wouldn't tell anyone. (Besides, he found this quite amusing.) Tony went through and talked to every one of his employees, trying to figure out who was recording them without their knowledge. (She was sure this was because of the video she took of him when he decided to try 'old school' shaving and broke his razor halfway through, (they still don't know how he managed that) and ended up running through the halls screaming at the tops of his lungs about a miscalculation while half of his face was still covered in white shaving cream.
"What did Percy do?" Clint asks, drawing Natasha back to reality. "Did he kiss the deer?"
Steve wheezes. "D-Driving... almost-almost hit it!" He laughs even harder.
"How's that funny?" Clint asks, genuinely confused.
"The-the brakes!" Steve leans back against the couch, tears from laughing so hard stream down his cheeks. "Went out, screaming into the phone..." Steve takes a deep breath, "ran a stop sign!" He begins laughing again, tears still streaming down his cheeks.
Clint blinks, very confused. "I am confusion."
Bruce looks up sharply at Clint. "You..."
Clint slowly turns towards Bruce. "You too?"
Bruce grins and nods, his eyes showing pure delight. "Jimin?"
Clint smirks. "Jimin!"
A knock resounds from the window and all the avengers jump. Steve jumps up and grabs a plate that was sitting near him, holding it like a Frisbee. Natasha pulls out her gun, pointing it towards the window. Bruce and Clint, who are standing close together, back up until their backs touch.
"If I may," Jarvis begins, "that's only spiderman."
The window opens and spiderman crawls through. Instinctively, all the avengers know he's slightly upset even though his mask completely covers his face.
They all relax from their fighting positions and Steve carefully places the plate down on the couch, patting it awkwardly and hoping no one saw him almost try to use a plate to fight.
"Hey, guys,'' Spiderman says, his voice sounding slightly mechanical because of the voice modifier he installed into the suit. "where's Mister Stark?"
Natasha sits down on the couch. "He's with Percy, his nephew."
"They're going to an art place." Steve says.
Spiderman gives them a thumbs up. "Cool. Umm... is it okay if I wait here, or should I go and patrol for a bit until he gets back?"
"You can stay here!" Bruce says. He quite enjoys spidermans company, he's one of the few people not afraid of the hulk. Besides, spiderman can keep up with his science rambles.
Spiderman walks over to Bruce and sits beside him. "So how has your book been doing? Tony told me you were working on writing one about the quantum theory and how it involves gamma radiation..."
~~~
Elsewhere, at the tattoo parlor
~~~
The tattooist, a lovely lady by the name of Ria, grins and wipes her hands off on her pants. "There we go! Now, leave the protective covering on for about two weeks and come back if you have any problems."
Percy salutes her. "Will do."
Tony smiles briefly at Ria and then grabs Percy's arm. "We've got to get home, Ria. Thanks for taking us in so late."
"No problem, Tony."
As they walk outside, Percy looks at Tony. "Um... Uncle Tony? How the heck are we gonna get home?"
"I could-"
Percy shakes his head, cutting him off. "I am against flying. I have enemies that will quite literally blast me out of the sky."
Tony sighs and looks at the long, winding road. "I hate you." He mutters, but it holds no heat.
"Love you too, Uncle Tony."
When they finally get to the tower, after a very, very long walk, and the attempted kidnapping of someone in the mafia (don't ask), both Percy and Tony pause for a moment, just trying to take a moment to breathe before they enter the hectic tower. Tony glances at Percy a few moments later and shoots him a glare as he steps into the elevator. Percy flashes him a peace sign and runs up the stairs, trying to beat the elevator.
The elevator opens and Tony stands there for a moment, still trying to get his breath back. He takes a deep breath and opens the door to the avengers floor.
Steve stands in front of the door with his arms crossed, grinning like a mad man. "So how did you make it back?"
Tony wipes his sweaty forehead off, still breathing heavily from all the running. "I... do not... want to talk about it." He tries to shove Steve out of the doorway. "Move, Rogers."
Steve complies and moves out of the way, his expression full of amusement. He looks at Percy and raises an eyebrow because Percy looks perfectly fine, not even out of breath.
Percy shrugs. "I've been training since I was twelve. Walking this far is nothing."
Natasha, who is sitting on the couch and out of view, because the elevator opens to the kitchen area and she's in the living room, narrows her eyes. Twelve? She thinks to herself, didn't he go into the military at fifteen? Obviously not twelve. So why did he say twelve?
Steve follows Percy and Tony into the kitchen. He watches as they both get a glass of water.
"We should probably all get to bed. It's 1am."
Tony eyes Steve for a moment and then shrugs. "I'm tired from walking so long anyway."
Percy crosses his arms. "I am not tired."
"But you're going to go lay down in your bed anyway." Steve says firmly, leaving no room for argument.
Percy opens his mouth to say something and then shakes his head, deciding against it.
Steve looks around the kitchen. "So we're all going to bed now? Because Bruce tasked me with making sure you both went to bed, and I don't want to get on his bad side.'
Percy folds his arms. "Yes, Steve. We will all go to bed now." He replies grudgingly as he walks towards his room. Once Steve can no longer see him he smirks. He said nothing about sleeping. Just that I had to be in bed.
As Percy walks towards his room Steve looks at Tony. "Spiderman came looking for you after you left. He seemed quite upset."
Tony looks up, surprised. "The kid came looking for me and you didn't tell me?"
"You were at the art place!"
"That doesn't matter, Steve! Call me when he shows up, especially if he's upset!"
Steve holds his hands up in surrender. "Okay! Geez, I'm sorry."
Tony crosses his arms. "Where is he?"
"He went back home. Said something about his aunt." Steve tilts his head, remembering something. "He also mentioned something about avoiding a disaster."
Tony waves his hand dismissively. "Oh, that's just his aunt. She burns water, so he tries to get home and cook before her to, as he says, 'avoid disaster'."
Steve nods his head, glad the spiderling wasn't in any serious danger. "He said he would come back tomorrow after patrol."
Tony smiles. "That's great. I'll be waiting for him." He claps Steve on the back. "Now, I do not want to get on Bruce's bad side either, so I'm going to head to bed. Night, Stevie."
Steve smiles sadly, remembering an old friend. "Goodnight." As he walks towards his room, he stops at a window. He looks at the moon and sadly mumbles, "Buck."
In the same tower, at a different window, Percy is doing the same thing, except looking at the stars. Quietly, solemnly and sadly he talks to the stars. "Bob says hello."
A/N
I tried really hard to make this chapter happy. I think I mostly succeeded. Might wanna grab your tissues for the next chapter though ( ＾◡＾)っ ♡
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