Disclaimer: I do not own "Iron Man: The Animated Series" or the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They are property of Marvel Comics and the Walt Disney Company.

"Betrayed"

By TwilightSparkle3562

…

Tony Stark sat in his office at his newly built Stark Enterprises lab in upstate New York feeling nothing short of betrayed. He had taken a young boy named Peter Parker under his wing and was grooming him to be a member of his group the Avengers. But, he had gone behind Tony's back and as a result, Tony had taken Peter's high-tech Spider Man suit and abandoned him.

Now, Tony was left thinking why such a promising young man like Peter would just disobey him like that. This caused a great deal of concern to his longtime friend and partner, Jim Rhodes, and his Chief Operating Officer, Julia Carpenter, who was also his girlfriend.

"He's been just stuck in there ever since he got back from New York," groaned Jim as he and Julia stood right outside his locked office. "I can't hear a groan, a sigh, nothing."

"Guess what Parker did must have really depressed him," sighed Julia, placing her hands on the doorknob. "Stand clear, Jim. I'm going to have to use my spider strength on this one."

With every ounce of her strength, Julia pulled the locked door open to Tony's office, ending his solitude.

"You know that the door was locked," Tony said, seemingly unfazed by his girlfriend's forced entry as he looked out over the courtyard of his new building.

"Tony, you've been stuck in here ever since you got back," explained Julia in a concerned voice, walking into his office along with Jim. "You could have at least let out a groan, a sigh, a call for service, at least something! But, I can understand why you are feeling depressed."

This made Tony turn around and face his girlfriend and best friend.

"It must have been difficult for you," remarked Julia. "To just dump Peter like that."

"He had it coming. I warned him to not abuse what had been given to him and he didn't listen! I had to do it, guys. What else would I have done?"

"Tony, you make the laws and you had Peter suffer the consequences," said Jim. "Because he didn't obey them."

"Exactly, Jim. But…"

A deep sigh befell on Tony's face when he tried to say what he wanted to say next.

"Part of me feels like Parker…" he said, folding his hands and bending himself forward. "Was like the son I could have had. In fact, he was like a son to me and I had to be the disciplinarian father like my old man was."

At that moment, both Julia and Jim felt sorry for their friend and business partner, especially for Julia. She knew just exactly what was going through Tony's mind. After all, she had been a mother herself since she was 18 years old. Grabbing a chair, Julia sat down across her boyfriend's desk and immediately sympathized with him.

"I…guess I'll leave you two alone then," said Jim, scratching the back of his neck and leaving both Julia and Tony alone in Tony's office. "And don't worry, I'll lock the door."

Once the door was locked, Julia and Tony were left to discuss Tony's grievances.

"Tony," Julia explained. "I know you did the right thing. Children need to be disciplined and Peter was just that, a child. But, I know how hard it is for you."

"You ever did the same thing with Rachel?"

"Yeah, it's never easy," Julia sighed, remembering how tough it was to discipline her own daughter. "There were times that I had to ground her because she went behind my back more than once. I had to do it, Tony. Otherwise, how else could she learn from her mistakes and grow into someone like me?"

Tony listened intently and realized that Julia was somehow right. However, he wasn't prepared for what she said next.

"But, even when I felt like abandoning my daughter," continued Julia. "I didn't, because she was my child, my flesh and blood. With every time I disciplined Rachel, I kept reminding myself never to abandon her and to realize that with every disciplining moment, the stronger our bond became."

Tony felt very ashamed, sighing back in his chair and staring up at the ceiling.

"Are you saying that I gave up too easily on Parker, Julia?"

"Yes," she answered bluntly. "In fact, both Peter and I can relate in some way. We were both bitten by spiders and gained powers beyond our imagination. Yes, Peter is a kid, but he will learn from these mistakes that he got himself in. Sooner or later, he will get better and he will grow up. But, you need to let him learn from his mistakes, Tony. Let him prove to you that he can be a member of the Avengers."

Tony considered the matter and as much as he wanted to, he couldn't go behind the advice that his girlfriend was giving him. After all, he had been though enough, the civil war between him and Rogers; the revelation that Bucky Barnes killed his parents, all of it. This was the last thing that he needed to tolerate.

"I suppose you're right, Jules," he sighed. "Parker does have potential. But, that is no excuse for going behind my back when I told him not to."

Just then, Tony's buzzer rang, and he answered it.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Tony, turn on the tv," he heard Jim say. "Parker was in a fight with someone named Adrian Toomes."

At that moment, Tony turned on the television and saw reports of Spider Man fighting against a figure in a mechanical flying suit near a crashed airplane on Coney Island. Seeing this, Tony began to realize everything that Julia was saying was indeed true. He did need to give Parker another chance and Parker proved it by defeating whatever this threat was.

"By the way, Tony," Jim said again on the intercom. "The plane was traveling here from New York, so it's one of ours."

"Did you hear that, Tony?" asked Julia.

But, Tony was too fixated on the television to take any notice. Right then and there, Peter Parker had indeed proven himself to be worthy of Tony's mentorship and at that moment, he got in touch with his head of security, Happy Hogan.

"Happy?" he said into his cell phone. "Bring Parker here as soon as you can. I have something to say to him."

Satisfied that her boyfriend had come to his senses, Julia chuckled and left Tony alone to wait for Peter to arrive and once again be taken under Tony Stark's wing once again.

…

THE END