Richard Parker was not having a good night. All things considered, no one could really blame him.
His day had started out like any other. Wake up, get ready, go to work at Oscorp, check up on the abandoned Roosevelt subway cart that he had converted into a lab, then go home for dinner. It was at that time that things started to turn sour.
Richard always knew they would come for his work, but he thought he had more time. When he heard his six year old son, Peter, yell for him he knew that time was up. He stopped the video where he was recording the truth, after tonight many would call him a traitor. He just hopped Peter didn't believe them.
When he got to his trashed office, the glass balcony doors were shattered with Peter standing behind the desk. There was no doubt in his mind who had broken in and what they were looking for. Quickly calling for Mary, picking up Peter and handing him to her when she walked in, he opened the drawers in his desk, and pulled out the envelope that held the secrets that could cost his family their lives, from the fake bottom.
"Get the bags, we're leaving," he told Mary, going over to the chalkboard to erase the evidence there.
Mary's eyes widened slightly before she turned around and quickly stalked out of the office, shifting Peter in her arms. She too knew what was going on, having worked in the same science branch at Oscorp as her husband before Peter was born. Like Richard, Mary dreaded this day coming, through for entirely different reasons. Tonight would be when her secret came out, and she didn't know if Richard would ever be able to forgive her, if they lived long enough for him to. She had planned to take that secret to the grave, no doubt she would be punished for it in the afterlife, wherever that may be, but she could have cared less as long as Peter had a happy life with them. That had been her plan, her foolish hope, but fate had something else in mind.
Mary grabbed the bags from the hall closet, there were only a few, having just packed the bare essentials, and slugged them onto her shoulder, not bothering to sit Peter down. Walking into the living room, she looked around, making sure they didn't need anything else. Weather they lived past tonight or not they wouldn't be coming back to this house.
Mary stopped her search when Richard swiftly walked in, a duffel bag over his shoulder and leather briefcase in hand.
"We'll have to speed it to Ben and May's place, I'm sure they will want an explanation so we'll have to make it quick," Richard said already halfway to the door.
"Wait," Mary said in a rough voice, looking at the floor, shifting her feet.
She brought her hand, that had been resting on Peter's back, up to his head, threading her fingers through his soft brown locks. She would love to say that they were the same as hers, but no matter how much she tried to fool herself, she knew the truth. If you didn't already know you wouldn't notice the slight difference between the shades of their hair. Mary knew though, the only one to know until tonight, and she could see the dark brown of Peter's hair, the color he got from neither her nor Richard.
Feeling even breathing on the side of her neck, she realized Peter had fallen asleep, it being past the normal hour he would be in bed, and she was slightly thankful for that. She didn't want Peter to hear the conversation her and Richard were about to have. While most children wouldn't understand at his age, Peter always seemed to be able to figure out what was going on , even if he didn't know all the details. she blamed his father.
"Mary, we don't have time to wait, they could come back any minute," Richard said urgently, grabbing hold of Mary's upper arm trying to get her out the door. Locking her knees to keep from being moved she said, "I know, but there is some place else where Peter will be more protected,"
"What are you talking about?," Richard asked not letting go of her arm, "We've talked about this, Ben and May are the only one's we can trust to take care of Peter,"
"I know… Yes we've talked about it...but there's something I haven't told you," She said hesitantly. She stilled her nerves, knowing if she didn't tell him now she never would. "You're probably going to hate me..but I hope you don't blame Peter, he's innocent in all this,"
"You're not making any sense, why would I blame Peter for anything, he's six, and I could never hate you, I love you, you know that," Richard told her, trying to think of a way to make this conversation end faster. The longer they stayed here the more danger all three of them were out in.
Swallowing the thick knot in her throat she said, "I never wanted to tell you. I wanted to stay in blissful ignorance and live the perfect life with the perfect family, but now I see we're far from perfect, both of us have done things we're not proud of," her eyes were watering and she was desperately trying to keep them at bay. She had to be strong , not just for herself, but for Peter to.
"What are you so afraid to tell me?," Richard asked, a sense of fear gripping him, showing in his brown eyes. This wasn't the Mary he knew. She never acted like this. His Mary was always strong willed and independent, never letting anything deter her. Now she seemed on the verge of crying, holding Peter like a lifeline. He moved the hand holding her arm up to her cheek, cupping it as she leaned into his palm.
"It's about Peter," Mary said, her breathing coming out harsher.
"What about Peter, is something wrong with him?," Richard asked running his thumb over the side of her cheek. His mind was running a mile a minute. What could be wrong with his son? Was Peter sick and Mary never said for some reason? No, that didn't make sense, Peter was acting fine when they were playing hide-in-seek and was hardly ever ill. While Peter was smarter than most kids, something Richard liked to think he got from himself, there was nothing wrong with Peter physically or mentally.
"He's not…," Mary forced out, knowing it would be better to rip the bandage off quickly, "Peter isn't your son,"
The thumb caressing Mary's cheek froze along with the rest of him. Richard's mind was a buzz with all that statement meant. 'He's not your son.'
"Why would you say that, of course he's my son," Richard said, his throat going dry.
Closing her eyes and shaking her head, Mary told him, "No, Peter may have come to call you dad, but you're not his biological father,"
Mary looked up when she felt Richard's hand fall from her cheek, and flinched at what she saw. Richard's shoulders had sagged, the bag almost slipping off, and his eyes unseeing. Richard wasn't a renowned scientist for nothing. He was smart, he knew what Mary meant even if a part of him didn't want to accept it.
The rational, scientific, part didn't know why he was having such difficulty. Mary had been unfaithful to him. Even though she was his wife, she went and bared another man's child. It was as simple as that. Right? But then, the other part of his mind, the part that held the image of Mary being the perfect wife, wanted, needed, to come up with a reason to defend her.
"Wa-how?," for once in his life Richard was rendered speechless.
Before Mary or Richard could say more a crashing sound of broken glass coming from down the hallway got their attention.
Stepping into motion, Richard grabbed Mary's arm once more and pulled her outside. This time him being the one refusing to meet her eyes.
"We'll finish this talk in the car," Richard ordered.
"You'll need to head toward Midtown Manhattan," Mary told him softly, buckling Peter into his carseat, putting a folded blanket between his head and shoulders.
As they drove the atmosphere in the car was a combination of anticipation and awkwardness. The mix only grew when Mary told Richard the place Peter would be the safest at, Stark Tower. Richard knew where that was, even the most homebound New Yorker could find their way there.
Richard's suspicion on who Peter's biological father was confirmed a soon as "Stark" left Mary's mouth. Ever since they had left their home behind, he had been creating a timeline in his head of six years prior. At that time Mary had still been working at Oscorp in the same branch as him. While Mary had been an amazing scientist, her people skills were greater, and she was the one often chosen to go undercover at other business' to see if there was any information worth taking for their own. Most of the time it was just to help Oscorp with their own research, but there were times when something would be leaked, something that could ruin the companies themselves, if used in the right way. And that is exactly what Oscorp did.
2007 had been a relatively peaceful, but busy year. There had yet to be an outbreak of superheroes and villains, and Oscorp was using it to their full advantage. Mary had undertaken many assignments, a lot more than any other year, like Oscorp had know the peace wouldn't last and wanted as much research as they could possibly get their hands on. While Richard couldn't remember every company and company worker she had gotten information from, there were a few names that stuck with him and Stark was definitely one of them.
"He's Tony Stark's son, isn't he?," Richard asked, not taking his eyes off the road.
Mary glanced back at Peter, still asleep, with pitying eyes, before returning her attention to the raindrop covered window, "Yes,"
Richard's grip tightened on the wheel, turning his knuckles white. The small part of Richard that wasn't seething had to give it to Mary, she was smart, something he already knew, for keeping who Peter's father was under raps. If Oscorp had found out they would have made it the biggest publicity scope of the century. Neither her nor Peter would have gotten a moment of peace.
"The time you took the job to find research from Stark Industries,"
Mary nodded, knowing she was just confirming what Richard already knew.
"You told me you stayed the night in a hotel,"
"I lied," Mary said, trying to keep the emotion out of her voice, "I was at the Stark tower till morning,"
For awhile the only sound in the car was the patter of rain from outside and Peter's soft snores. With it being almost midnight not as many cars were out, it being a weeknight adults had work in the morning and kids had school. That being said they would still pass a few taxi's once in a while, or see a group of people, usually drunk,"
"Why?," Richard voice broke the silence making Mary jump slightly.
Taking a deep breath Mary prepared herself to tell her story, knowing Richard wouldn't interrupt until she was finished, maybe not even then.
"As you probably remember, I was posing as a reporter from a small newspaper company, it started out fine in one of his offices, but as the night drew on he invited me up to her pinthouse. It was stupid of me to accept, I knew, as everyone did, his rep for one night stands, but I thought I could get more information out of him. Throughout the day he had been tight lipped and evises to almost every question I asked," She paused to take a breath, Richard wasn't going to like the next part. Hell, she hated herself for weeks afterwards.
"Once we got there he lead me over to his bar, and we drank, and drank, and drank. I don't remember much after that. I do know I woke and left before him, going to a hotel to freshen up before heading to work. After I told you I stayed in a hotel for the night, I tried not to think much about it. It had worked for awhile, everything went back to normal, until I found out I was pregnant. I didn't want the affair to be discovered, for many reasons, so I told you-,"
"That you were carrying my child," Richard finished for her.
When she had told him that it had been one of the best days of his life. With both of them working as full time scientist, there wasn't much thought of children coming into their lives. They had barely even talked about the possibility before Mary had had Peter.
It had been hard at first, him not knowing how to care for a miniature human being, but his fondest memories were with Peter.
Richard guessed that was what made Mary's betrayal hurt even more, an innocent life had been brought smack dab in the middle of it. An innocent life that had stolen his heart when his first words were "dada,"
Richard was so deep in thought he didn't notice the black car parker sideways in the middle of the road, two men in black suits standing beside it, until Mary screamed his name. He slammed on the brakes making the seat belts lock, stopping him and everyone else from flying out the windshield. When they were at a full stop he looked over to Mary to make sure she was alright. Her eyes were wide, one hand was flat against the window and the other clenching the side of her seat, but otherwise she was unharmed.
"Dad," a soft voice made him look back at Peter, as hard as it was to do now, before seeing a combination of Mary and him, now only that man was present. Beside a rude awakening and a red streak across the side of his neck from the seat belt, he wasn't hurt.
"Everything's going to be okay, Peter," Richard said in a strained voice he can never remember using with the boy before. The slight widening of his fear reflecting eyes let Richard know Peter had had a similar thought.
"Richard, we need to go, now!," Mary said, looking at the two men walking forward, a hand reaching into the inside of their jackets. When she glanced at him, her hard eyes showed that she had caught his earlier slip up to.
Pushing both of them to the back of his mind, he threw the van into reverse and started driving back the way they came. The firing of guns and the back windshield breaking made him yell, "Peter, keep your head down," before turning all his attention to putting as much distance between them and the men in black.
"Get off the highway and take the back roads, we may be able to lose them," Mary yelled over the gun shots.