*3RD POV*
"Boss."
"Hey Hap, how's the moving going?"
Tony had been smiling softly when his friend had first called, though, he pauses his work as the line goes silent.
"Uh, you see," he says, stumbling over his words.
Well shit.
That's not a good sign, is it?
"...How's... the moving going?"
He wishes he hadn't asked again.
God, he's stupid.
"The, uh, the plane's crashed. On Coney Island."
His screwdriver drops with a loud 'clank' onto his desk.
"It's crashed," Tony mutters hysterically, sucking in a breath. Apparently, the shock has sucked out his ability to breathe. "Hap, how'd it crash?"
"It got broken into. The vulture guy the kid was talking about, he- he was stealing a bunch of your tech and-"
"How much was stolen?"
Tony scrubs a hand over his face because he knows he doesn't want to hear the answer. He's sure this is going to turn into a whole other problem- there was a lot of dangerous tech in there. This guy's going to have a whole new sponsored-by-Stark-tech-getup and make his life a living nightma-
"Nothing. I mean, you lost a lot in the crash and-and the fire but... That Parker kid had it handled."
"Peter?"
His heart immediately begins to race.
He thought he'd stopped the kid from-
He took away the suit.
He shouldn't have-
"I'll be there in twenty."
He hangs up the phone and makes a break for his suit.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tony takes pride in his ability to make it to places at such a quick speed (when he wants to) but then be more than fashionably late when he deems fit. It keeps people on their toes.
Pepper calls it bad time management but Tony, he calls it skill. With that, to make it to Coney Island in twenty minutes would be worse case scenario.
Twenty minutes would be there's suddenly traffic in the sky, keeping him from making it to his destination in just under ten.
Apparently Happy doubted him though because he acts surprised.
"Tony, how'd you get here so-? It's a 40-minute drive."
"I flew."
"Still."
"Where's the kid, Happy."
"Oh, I dunno. I thought you were here to get your stuff and... help?" He gestures towards their surroundings, patches of land and debris lit on fire.
"He didn't have the suit we have to find him first. He could be really hurt."
"Hey! We've got something over here!"
Happy and Tony whip their heads around towards an officer. They jog over and are surprised to see the Vulture guy... webbed up. With a note.
FOUND:
Flying vulture guy
- Spider-man
p.s. sorry about your plane
Tony purses his lips, tapping his foot against the sand. He's doesn't know what to do. Peter might be home by now which... may be a good thing. Hopefully, that would mean he's alright. Unharmed.
Though, it would be pretty hard to come out of a plane crash and a fight with a guy in a metal vulture suit unharmed.
He could be hiding it.
Fuck.
He tips his head back with a sigh, though, when he opens his eyes, he sees a trail of webs. His brows furrow and he looks around. In the distance, he sees a silhouette perched on top of a billboard. Absentmindedly, he taps his watch, allowing it to encase him in the red and gold nanoparticles.
"Yeah, take care of that, will you? I'll... be right back."
He shoots forward and lands behind Peter in just a few seconds. He's unsure if he should break the calming silence that encases the two of them but he couldn't stop himself from getting his attention.
He needed to know he was ok.
"Kid?"
Peter looks a bit startled at first, which worries Tony more. He has that creepy sixth sense. Wouldn't he sense him coming?
"...Hey Mr. Stark," he says slowly. "Um... I'm really sorry about the plane."
"To be honest, I don't give a shit about the plane."
His face screws up in confusion. Stark tries to ignore it and focus on making sure he doesn't drop dead right in front of him.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah."
"You didn't even take a second to think about that. Let me rephrase: what injuries are we dealing with?"
"No, I'm fine Mr. Stark. I don't need-"
"Injuries."
Peter snaps his mouth shut for a moment, looking a bit like a kicked puppy and it makes Tony hate himself a little more.
"Sorry- just- hit me, kid. Tell me what we're dealing with."
"It's not that bad but I- his claw thingies- they..."
He grazes his fingers along his shoulder, grimacing in his pain.
He pulls down the cotton collar of his suit, revealing the nastiest fucking gash Tony has seen in a very long time.
"Jesus," he hisses. He's freaking out. He doesn't know how to help. He's supposed to be a genius, yet he didn't even think to bring a first aid kit with him. (idiot)
"It-it looks worse than it is! I swear it's-"
"Yeah, I highly doubt that, kid. Anything else?"
"I dunno... my ribs, the- the burns and... my head hurts pretty bad but that could just be my metabolism."
Metabolism.
Food. That's something Tony can do.
"Are you good to swing down from here?"
He nods and with some help up to his feet, Peter attaches a web to the bottom of the structure and slowly lowers himself to the ground. Tony's there at the bottom to grab hold of him when he stumbles forward on his first step.
"You didn't mention the limp."
He flinches. "Forgot."
"Right," he deadpans. "Where's Hap- Happy! You got a first aid kit in your car?"
Hogan whirls around and his eyes widen at the kid's beaten appearance.
"Always."
Thank gods for Happy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Other than the more serious injuries Peter listed, he just had a sprained ankle and wrist.
He was really freaking Tony out when they first got in the car. He'd tipped forward at some point and almost taken a nose dive. The man had gasped and pulled him back to rest his head against the seat.
He snaps his fingers in front of his face.
"Hey- new car rule: No sleeping. You've gotta entertain the driver."
"I'm the driver," Happy pointed out.
"Scratch that, Entertain me. Talk to me, should I be taking you to a hospital or something?"
"No."
I'm not gonna regret listening to you?"
"No."
According to Peter, he has a 'crazy good' healing power or something but Tony at least wants to make sure the wounds don't get infected. One of the gashes on his shoulders needs stitches but he's lucky he didn't break his damn shoulder.
It... could've been worse.
Though, it could've also been much, much better. Especially if he had his actual suit on him
(This is all your fault, Tony)
He'll definitely be sore tomorrow if he isn't now.
"Jus' tired. And... hungry," he says.
Tony clicks open the little white first aid box.
"Hap take us somewhere to eat."
By the time they get there, it seems Peter's already healing well. The stitches were in, he'd said his ankle was pretty much better, and the gashes that had been less deep were mending slowly.
And for some reason Tony doesn't understand, Peter wanted to go inside of the McDonalds. He had just planned on going through the drive thru but...
"If that's what you want, kid," he said.
He'd thrown him an old band t shirt and sweats before heading in and allowing him to just change in the car. He doesn't think it would really matter though because the fast food restaurant is practically empty. That's pretty understandable though, for how late it is.
They eat quietly.
Tony still keeps an eye on Peter because his half-lidded eyes are making him nervous. He hopes the kid's just exhausted and not actively dying.
He hates that he can't just check his suit for reassurance. He never should've taken it away. He should apologis-
"Do you think Liz'll hate me?"
"Who?"
"Liz. The- the girl I went to homecoming with... Her dad was the scary vulture dude."
His voice is quiet and raspy. He seems as if this is all he's been thinking about instead of focusing on... not passing out.
"I'm sure she'll be fine, Pete."
"But I ditched her and then got her dad thrown into prison."
"Her dad got himself thrown into prison. It's his fault you even had to leave in the first place. He shouldn't have been doing illegal shit anyway."
"... I never wanted to hurt her feelings."
Tony sighs, "That's a high school relationship for you. Feelings get hurt, hearts get broken... I'm sure she'll forgive you though. I mean, lookit you."
"The hell is that supposed to mean?"
"You're pouting. Christ kid, you look like a puppy."
His jaw drops. "Hey! No making fun of me I'm injured."
"Uh-huh."
"You wanna see my shoulders again," he challenges.
"No. No thank you. I might puke."
Peter smiled and stuffs some French fries in his mouth.
"Slow down. You'll choke."
"K dad," he says.
"Sorry, would you repeat that? Was that sass, Parker?"
"Course not."
Tony rolls his eyes.
"Yeah. Right."
Suddenly, they become silent for a moment, so he takes the opportunity to offer a (probably shitty) apology.
"Uh- kid," he says. "For what it's worth, I am sorry."
He tilts his head.
"What for?"
"The suit. I shouldn't have taken the suit. You wouldn't have had as much of a hard time with birdie if you had it."
"No it's fine," he assures, "it's- I wasn't really being- I was a total jerk and I was doing all the wrong things. I- I was supposed to help those people but-"
"It's my job to help you though. I shouldn't have jumped ship when things got a little rocky. You're new to this- of course you need a little guidance. I'll do better next time, kid. Scout's honor."
Peter smiles.
"Thanks... I will too." Then suddenly, "Wait, you were a Boy Scout?"
"I don't want to talk about it."
Tony feels his mouth twitch up in a grin when Peter begins to laugh. The kid's making him soft.
He's thinking he should have him over at the tower more. They're going to need to take this mentor-mentee crap more seriously. He needs training too.
The other avengers could pitch in on that... They could do weekends, maybe?
He'll talk to his aunt.
Speaking of...
"Kid, I can't take you home, can I?"
"I mean... you can, I just don't know how to hide my, uh," he gestures to his face, covered with little cuts and bruises. "She'll be awake. She usually waits until I get home to go to bed."
"I was going to take you back to the tower to get checked at Medbay anyway. I could call her."
"I can just tell her I'm staying over at Ned's."
He huffs out a laugh, "No. No more lying to your aunt. She's already called me about your sneaking out."
"What?! She can't call you- you fired me!"
"I didn't fire you."
"You fired me."
Ok maybe he kind of did.
"Whether I fired you or not, she loves you and, I dunno, she needed someone to yell at."
"She yelled at you?!"
"Barely. Pep does it all the time I'm used to it."
Peter drops his head onto the table in his embarrassment.
"Careful," Tony chastises. "You're going to make that concussion worse."
"At least then I'd forget all this happened."
He scoffs to hide a laugh, "Dramatic much?"
"You're one to talk, Mr. Stark."
"Anyway, no more lying to her. Spidey's enough. And no skipping class I heard you got detention for that too."
"Oh my- what don't you know?"
Tony grins. "You know I know everything."
"I know you're nosy."
"You've got a mouth on you tonight, kid. I was going to call your aunt and put in a good word but I think I've changed my mind."
Peter laughs, reaching inside the red and yellow cardboard box, "Yeah ok."
He pulls out a figurine wrapped in clear plastic. Smiling, he turns it around to look at the label before ripping it open.
Tony raises a brow.
"Hey Mr. Stark. They've got your favorite."
He slides a little captain America action figurine across the table. Tony glances up, throwing the kid an unimpressed look.
"You are insufferable."
He throws his head back with a laugh.
"C'mon!! It's funny!"
"This place has no taste I'm never coming back," he picks it up with his thumb and index finger. "I'm throwing this away. Cap doesn't need more of an ego."
Ok, that was probably the most hypocritical thing he's ever said.
He pauses.
"Actually, I've got the perfect place for it."
~~~~~~~~~~~BONUS~~~~~~~~~~~
"Tony, what is this?!"
"Something wrong, Rogers?"
Stark smirks when the kid next to him smothers his laughter into his hands.
"This isn't funny."
Tony could tell he found it funny. He was smiling. That was his own mistake though, because all it did was encourage him.
Steve picks up the ice tray and bangs it on the table, popping out the frozen squares, only to show one of them holding the captain America toy in the center.
It was comedy fucking gold.
"What? It's a Capsicle."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Words- 2240
Check the picture at the top for reference 🏃♀️