For three days, Peter had been moping around the tower. Tony had hardly seen him, and he was starting to worry about the kid. I mean, how can a teenager sit in his room, almost silent for three days straight? The only times that Tony saw Peter was during meals, and most times, Peter would just take the food into his room, leaving Tony to eat alone.
To be honest, he was starting to wonder if he'd done something wrong. He wanted to ask Peter, but he didn't think the kid would really be open to talking to him. Still, he wanted to get Peter out of the tower. And he knew just the way to do it.
"Knock knock, Pete." Tony taps slightly on Peter's open door. He looks up from his bed, a small grin moving onto his face.
"Whatcha doin?" He leans against the door frame, watching Peter close his textbook and rub his eyes. "Just some homework."
"All weekend? That must be some homework." Tony scoffs. "Think you can take a small break?" Peter's eyes grow wide as he nods.
"What are we going to do, Mr. Stark?" Peter is up out of his chair and in front of Tony. He bounces on his feet, grinning.
"I was thinking a movie." Tony says. "I hear that new Star Wars one is pretty good." Peter jumps up, pumping his fist in the air. "Yes!" After his outburst, he looks at Tony, who has an amused smile on his face.
"I mean, yes, Mr. Stark, that sounds amazing." He composes his excitement just a little bit.
"Get ready. I'll see you in the garage in ten." He closes the door and goes to get ready. Ten minutes later, they're both in the garage. Peter has a very excited look on his face, and looks ready to explode with happiness. He jumps up and down, and grins even wider when he sees Tony.
"Ready to go?" Tony swings open the door to a blue mercedes.
"Actually, do you think we could walk to the theatre?" Peter asks, his big, innocent eyes peering up at Tony.
"Yeah, sure, kid. With the amount of energy you have, we probably need to before you explode." Tony laughs and slams shut the door. They walk out of the garage and down the street. It's only a ten minute walk, and it's hardly eventful. Apparently people on the street aren't looking for Tony Stark walking with a teenager. That, and Tony is wearing a t-shirt and shorts, so it's harder to recognize him.
The finally get to the movie theatre, where there starts to be a problem. Several people notice who he actually is, and who he's with.
"OHMYGODIT'STONYSTARK!!" One loud, teenage girl screams in a high pitched voice. Immediately, Peter and Tony are cramped into a ring of people, all clambering for a picture, autograph, or personal conversation.
"Who's the kid?"
"Mr. Stark, smile!"
"What movie are you going to see?" The questions are never ending, and Peter is starting to turn a little white. The flashes from the camera and the constant uproar of yelling voices are throwing his spidey senses way off. It's so bad, in fact, that he start to feel light headed, and leans against Tony for support.
"Hey!" Tony yells, throwing his hands to the side and putting Peter's arm over his shoulders. The loud talking stops and everyone takes a step back.
"You people are all great." He stares at each expectant face. "Great, great, great. But you're all a bunch of idiots. Let us pass, now." he shoves through, half dragging, half leading Peter behind him. They duck into the theatre and Tony pulls Peter to the side hallway once inside.
"Hey, kid. Are you okay?" Tony let's Peter slump against the wall and slide down. He just nods, shakes his head and bounds back to his feet after a minute. He's still tipsy, and seems to wobble a small bit when he walks, but he's back to his normal color and insists that he's fine, so Tony allows him to pick their seats in the movie theatre. They're close to the middle, and Peter has already forgotten about what happened. He's bouncing in his seat and rapidly whispering. Tony shushes him three times before giving up, realizing that he's never going to be able to stop Peter from being a crazy fan.
The entire theatre quiets as the lights dim and the Star Wars theme starts ringing. Through the entire movie, Tony watches Peter laughing, cheering, booing and jumping up and down. If there's ever been a bigger Star Wars fan, he wouldn't know them. He can hear the people behind them angrily whispering, but the second he turns back to look at them, they tightly shut their mouths for the rest of the movie.
When they walk out of the theatre, it's dark outside. Peter is talking endlessly about the movie and the fan theories that he has, chattering on and on. It makes Tony smile to hear Peter finally talking, even if none of it makes sense. It shows that he's going back to normal, and it's good to know that Peter isn't keeping himself away from the world.
Abruptly, Peter stops talking. He leans towards Tony, who leans his ear close to Peter's mouth.
"Those guys back there, I think they're following us." Peter says worriedly. Tony glances back, and sees three big, menacing looking guys all staying the same distance away from them.
"You got your web shooters, kid?" Tony whispers. Peter nods and flicks his wrist, the web shooters appearing and circling his lower arm and hands.
"Just, be prepared. If I tell you to do something, you do it. No matter what." Tony says, seconds before the men behind them shove them into a long alleyway.They stumble in, falling slightly against the wall.
"Hands where we can see them!" One flicks a knife out and points it at Tony. His hands jerk up towards his chest, and he watches Peter do the same.
"Don't move!" Another one yells.
"We're not moving, dumba-" Tony's snarky response is cut off by a fist colliding with his jaw. He cries out in pain and falls backwards, clutching his jaw. "Well, you guys are prepared." He says with a weak smile.
"Empty your pockets, kid!" The last one says, turning his long knife on Peter. Peter lowers his hands slowly and goes into his pocket before slinging a web and ripping the knife out of the man's hand and onto the wall.
"What the?!" The man cries, slipping another knife from his pocket. In one swift move, two of the man have Tony slammed against a wall with a knife to his throat.
"Hey, hey!" Peter cries, pushing his hands out in front of him. "There's no need for that I mean, c'mon guys." Both the men tighten their grip on Tony.
"Give us money, or else Mr. Stark is gonna need a funeral."
"He's just a kid, you idiot." Tony says, gasping as the knife is tightened against his throat, drawing a small slice and a drop of blood.
"Please, just don't hurt him." Peter says quietly. "Let him go, and we'll get you guys what you want."
"I have the money. Like a teenage kid is going to have a substantial amount of money on him." Tony rolls his eyes as they let go of him. He smoothes out his shirt and returns to Peter's side. Digging through his pockets, he pulls out a ten dollar bill. He tosses it to the man closest to him, who scoffs and crumples it under his foot.
"That's all?" He says angrily.
"Well, does it sound like a good idea to be carrying around your entire fortune when you're just going to the movies?" Tony shakes his head. While he's distracting them, he presses a small button on the cuff on his wrist that triggers one of his iron suits to fly from the tower. It'll take a minute or two, and he's starting to run out of things to talk about.
"Well, you better find some way to get us the money, now." One of them growls. "Wouldn't it be a shame if something were to happen to the kid?" He points to Peter, who looks at Tony with a blink of fear in his eyes.
"You're not going to touch him." Tony points a finger at each of them. "In fact, you're not even going to think about touching either of us. Why? Because-" He pushes his arms out from his body as the Iron Man suit moves around him. Two seconds later, he pushes his arm and points at each of them.
"It's time for Iron Man to have some fun." One of the men back up, and Tony swivels and shoots a beam against the wall next to him. He doesn't hit the man, but the bricks are singed, causing the man to gulp.
"Kid?" Tony says. Peter uses his webs to quickly pin each man to the walls. They struggle for a few seconds before Tony's mask dissipates back into his suit. "Don't you ever touch me or my kid again."
He pushes the center of his chest and he steps out of the suit. Ordering FRIDAY to fly it home, he turns to Peter. "You okay, kid?"
"Uh, yeah, Mr. Stark. That was... awesome!" He cries. Tony laughs and throws an arm around Peter's shoulders. He winces and clutches his throat, where a small amount of blood comes back on his hand.
"What do you say we go home."
"I'd say that's probably the best thing to do right now." Peter smiles. Together, they head back to the tower, talking.
For the first time in a while, Tony Stark feels at ease. That night, while he's tossing and turning while trying to sleep, he realizes that Peter Parker is one of the few people that he feels the safest with. And to him, that's one of the most comforting things in the world.
/AN/ Hey guys!! OMG THANK YOU FOR ALMOST 1000 VIEWS AND 50 VOTES AHHHHHH. When I started this thing I seriously doubted that anything close to this would happen. And now, I feel so fortunate that I'm surrounded by such amazing people who take the time to comment or vote and tell me that they appreciate what I'm doing. Seriously, I can't tell how much I love each of you and how gracious and thankful I am. You all are AMAZING and your support means the world to me. Thank you all, and have a great day! /AN/