I don't own Marvel or its characters. This is a work of fiction and I make no monetary gain. Hello everyone! Here's the next installment of this story! I'm excited and happy about the support it's getting and it fuels me to get these chapters written out! Thank you to everyone =D
Chapter Two
Tony was on his seventh bottle of Evian. SEVENTH. And yet he still did not have the urge to piss and he had been down in the lab for nearly an hour. He was downing water like a dying man and tossing the empty bottles over his shoulder, pitching them into the lab for DUM-E and U. They were more than taken with the sport, whirring and beeping happily as they retrieved the bottles and put them in the recycling bins. Every now and then there'd be a clatter of metal hitting the floor, where DUM-E ran into tables and toolboxes and knocked something down in his excitement.
He finally got Pepper to leave. Don't get him wrong; he loved Virginia Potts from the first hair on her beautifully groomed head down to her manicured toes in a strictly 'we tried but it will never work out and we are both too dependent on each other to stop being in each other's lives' sort of way, but that woman could be a goddamn harpy when she wanted to be. Finding Tony half dead-ish on his garage floor was a harpy trigger, apparently.
The best they could come up with for his now roguishly youthful face was he took an extended vacation and while on it, decided that staring 50 in the face was midlife crisis material and underwent an extensive plastic surgery that restored him to his former glory. It was Peter's idea that said he decided to try an experimental trial of injecting his fat into the cells of his face that had enhanced collagen to revitalize the skin after the surgery.*
The science behind it really was brilliant, if Tony himself had anything to say about it. He let Peter run with that since if anyone could really crack the code, it would be Peter. Tony was discovering more and more how multifaceted Peter was in his intelligence. Some part of him in the back of his brain even acknowledged with the right guidance and education, Peter would probably someday surpass him in that department.
While Tony and Pepper deliberated over SI business, Peter kept himself busy by starting his research into the anti-aging theory. When Tony finally got Pepper into the elevator and FRIDAY confirmed she was out of the building he found the kid surrounded by blue holographic screens displaying dense medical research and even one screen was displaying a liposuction procedure. Tony made a face at that and parted Peter's screens.
"Kid, I got something to show you. I didn't want Pep to see it; not today at least, after everything that already happened. Let's go up in the common area; FRIDAY, if you'd please."
"Sure thing boss," FRIDAY quipped and Peter followed Tony into the elevator, FRIDAY lifting them automatically to their destination.
Peter surveyed Tony's face and it was impassive but he didn't need his spider-senses to tell him whatever Tony was about to reveal wasn't good stuff. If he was hiding it, from Miss Potts of all people, it definitely was bad business. Peter had come to be able to read Tony's body language like a book after spending so much time at his side and knew Tony was the king of closing off all emotion, putting on and hiding behind the celebrity persona that Peter was slowly learning to hate.
Peter hated silences and filled the elevator with excited chatter edged with nervousness about what he had read in some of the medical journals about some experimental trials and the findings. He knew Tony was only half listening and was ok with it that not everything he was saying was sticking anywhere in the older genius's brain. Even if it was only momentarily, even if it was just partially, Peter was glad to provide some sort of comforting distraction to the man he so admired. Even after having a considerable amount of Tony's attention for the couple of months since Siberia, Peter still had episodes of word vomit around Tony that left him flushed with embarrassment.
The sadness in his eyes when they stepped out of the elevator onto the commons floor wasn't something Tony couldn't hide either as he swept around the room. The ghosts of his family that was now nothing but tattered shreds of misplaced anger and regret still haunted this place. This was only the second time since Siberia that he set foot on this floor. The first time was just after he was cleared to leave medical and he went into Steve's abandoned room where it still smelled like Old Spice and clean soap, collapsed on the perfectly made bed and screamed into Steve's pillows with so much anguish and rage he ripped the stitches open above his left eye.
In Tony's mind, he could see Clint seated atop the back of the couch, screaming obscenities into a head set while he slaughtered online players in Call of Duty. Vison and Wanda would be huddled around the stove while she attempted to teach the android to cook. Natasha and Bruce were doing yoga poses that even Tony wouldn't dare on mats near the western windows where the afternoon sun flooded in and bathed them in it's warm light. Thor and Cap would be engaged in some silly challenge initiated by Thor, like arm wrestling, and Tony would be on a Stark Pad, bitching at the two of them not to break his house for the thousandth time just to have his eye twitch at the sound of splintering wood.
"Mr. Stark?" Peter asked the man, would had ceased movement after getting three feet into the room. Peter could see he was remembering and that it was painful. Tony didn't respond to him and Peter knew the older man was a little bit lost in the fog of the past right now. He bit his lip and tentatively placed a hand on Tony's shoulder, the warmth of his palm seeping through the cotton of Tony's faded AC/DC t-shirt and the light weight of his grasp snapping Tony from his reverie.
Peter smiled shyly but kindly at his mentor, his brown eyes earnest.
"You still got me, Mr. Stark. I-I know it isn't much, certainly not the same as having everyone around, but I really like being here with you every opportunity I get."
Peter could feel his face heating up at the confession, but the small genuine smile that broke out over Tony's face at his admission made the embarrassment totally worth it. Peter loved it when Tony smiled, real true smiles, and on his now younger face he could see how ladies had just dropped into his bed with just a look. He got distracted from that line of thought when Tony wrapped a hand around the back of his neck, squeezing lightly, and Peter hoped Tony wasn't feeling the same heat on his skin that he was feeling. The skin beneath Tony's work-roughened hand suddenly felt like molten lava.
"Thanks, kid. These last few months have meant a lot to me. I'm afraid maybe our positions have been reversed; I think you've been more of a rock for me than I have been a mentor to you."
"No-no sir," stammered Peter, shaking his head, "you have nothing to apologize to me for! You've been great, amazing! Really sir, being able to come spend the weekends here is the only thing that gets me through the week at school."
Tony shook his head.
"You need better friends, kid, if hanging out with me is the highlight of your week. Come on," he said, sliding his hand down to place it between Peter's shoulder blades, guiding him toward the wide wrap- around white leather couch, "you are going to want to sit down for this one."
Peter sat on the couch while Tony preferred to stand, eyeing Peter and for once choosing his words carefully.
"Alright, kid, what you are about to see is top secret for now. I'm the only other person who knows about it; I'll share it with Vision separately. So, I need to know you can handle the weight of something of this caliber."
"Oh my God, of course Mr. Stark! I'd never tell anyone, I swear!" Peter exclaimed sincerely.
Tony arched a brow.
"Not even Ned, Peter. I'm serious about this."
"I swear, Mr. Stark, not Ned, not Aunt May. Not even under torture, I swear I won't tell a soul!" Peter assured in that mile a minute way of his, leaning forward slightly in his seat.
"Alright, let's not get extreme. Nobody would torture you for this information…"
Tony paused, rethinking that statement.
"Well, actually, there are probably numerous villains that would like this information although it won't do them a bit of good for world domination plans," he mused and caught Peter's slight jaw drop at his honesty, "but that's neither here nor there, I swear, I don't know how I get off on these tangents around you," he quickly added. Shut up, Tony! he screamed at himself.
"Ok, right, so kid, trigger warning. There's something you are about to watch that's rather, well, gruesome? Hard to swallow. So, if you need FRIDAY to stop playing the video, just say the word."
"Alright," agreed Peter, his long fingers splayed out across his knees, so eager to get on with it that it twisted Tony's guts into knots and he felt as if he was suffering a bout of food poisoning.
"Action, FRIDAY," Tony spoke to the AI, who obliged him wordlessly with a 3D playback of what happened in the garage, starting with Stephen Strange suddenly stepping through a portal whilst Tony was occupied beneath the car.
Peter watched with rapt attention, his eyes rounding with barely contained excitement upon witnessing the Sorcerer's powers. His eyes bounced back and forth, following the person who talked as Tony and Stephen bantered and then it happened- Strange started showing Tony the end of the world.
Tony watched Peter's face as it slowly morphed in horror, eyes pinned on his own lifeless form hanging in the alien monster's hand. The brown orbs took in the deceased bodies of his fallen comrades and all the other dead heroes he had yet to even meet. His fingers gripped tightly around his knees until his knuckles turned white and his eyes snapped up to find Tony's, full of panic and questions that even Tony probably didn't have answers to. Tony didn't like it at all; it hit him in the chest and curled tight beneath his sternum. He never wanted Peter to look at him like that ever again- large brown eyes nearly hopeless and filled with doubt.
Tony walked straight through the projection to Peter, taking a knee in front of the boy and placing his hands on both of Peter's shoulders. Peter shuddered just slightly beneath his touch and Tony gripped just a bit harder, wanting to ground Peter with his presence and chase out the fear. This was so much, compiled with everything he already put the kid through; too much if he was being perfectly honest with himself, for a 15-year-old boy. It was selfish, and the guilt roiled in Tony's heart.
"Pete, look at me," Tony said, letting authority leak into his voice but keeping his tone soft, waiting for Peter to raise his eyes to meet his own, steeling himself under their force when Peter met his gaze. Up this close, for the first time, he noticed that Peter's syrup brown eyes were smattered with tawny flecks. Not sure why his supposedly genius brain was noting and filing that away right now, he shoved it aside in his mind.
"Listen to me, Parker. What you saw there, I swear to you I am not going to let that happen. Whatever reality I failed in before, it's not going to happen now. I know I haven't been the ideal mentor. I'm putting more on you than I have any right to, but right now you and Vision are all I have. We are going to stop that monster, and I will not let him destroy you, or the world. Understood?"
Peter smiled, glad Tony wasn't touching anywhere on his body that would give away how his pulse was racing right now. He felt like his brain was short circuiting right now. Having Tony's complete and intense attention on him like this overwhelming to say the least. He swallowed hard, willing his voice not to shake.
"If anyone can do this, it's you. I have complete faith in you, Mr. Stark."
Tony sucked in a breath and nodded, hoping the kid was right to believe in him. He wasn't feeling as confident as he led Peter to believe, but he meant every word he said. He'd go down trying to keep this world from burning.
"Ok, so I know I'm not going to be ready for any science-ing after all that. Why don't we go drown our sorrows in greasy hamburgers and milkshakes? I'm just realizing how hungry pending world destruction and being de-aged makes me."
Peter smirked.
"I could do with some comfort food."
"Great!" Tony exclaimed, pushing himself up and away from Peter, who stood and followed Tony back to the elevator. The doors opened with a barely there "shick" and they stepped inside.
"FRIDAY, notify Happy we are making a burger run."
"On it, boss!" his AI replied in as close to a happy chirp as her computerized voice could get.
Happy dropped them off at this hole in the wall burger joint in lower Manhattan. It was near closing time and the place was all but deserted. Tony knew the owner and exchanged pleasantries with him, keeping on his overly large sunglasses and joking about "having to keep his face pretty for the company" when the much older gentleman noticed the difference. The guy was a friend of a friend of his father's, from an older time and Tony knew he'd never breathe a word of Tony being here or his appearance.
They sat at a secluded vinyl booth in the back of the restaurant away from the windows. It wasn't the most capacious design and Peter flushed hotly as his legs brushed against Tony's beneath the table. He snatched up a menu and hid his flaming face behind it, trying to focus on reading the words. He chewed his bottom lip as he tried to contemplate why suddenly being within close proximity and even touched by Tony now affected him like this, when so many times before the same actions barely blipped on his radar beyond the awe he always held for Tony.
"What looks good, kid?" Tony asked, and Peter lowered the menu enough to peer over the laminated sheet at Tony, who'd removed his glasses and some sort of amusement was glowing his eyes. Peter swallowed thickly and glanced back at the menu, registering pictures. He sighed to himself and lowered the menu with a half-smile.
"I'll have whatever is your favorite."
Tony smirked at that.
"Hope you brought your appetite kid. This body isn't almost nearly 50 anymore and worried about coronary heart disease."
When the waitress came back, Tony made double orders of triple decker cheeseburgers with all the fixings except onions, with larger baskets of fries and salted caramel milkshakes. Peter amended his to be chocolate, but promised he'd at least try Tony's when Tony insisted it was one of the best things on the planet. Peter filled the time of waiting for the food by engaging Tony in his ideas for safer blunt tip cannulas that would inject automatically from the pilot needle. Stark used his Stark watch to pull up 3D schematics right there on the tabletop, and he and Peter hunched over it, twisting and turning the model as they discussed the inner workings of the automation of the needle.
Tony spotted the waitress headed their way, laden with a larger tray of food.
"FRIDAY, upload these to Peter's files please," Tony asked his AI through the watch, and they both watched as the hologram disappeared.
"Thanks, doll," Tony said as the lady passed them their food, shooting the waitress that million-dollar press smile that caused her to blush and rush hurriedly away. Tony turned and looked at his burger in what Peter could only describe as predatory and he wondered briefly at the feeling of jealousy toward the dead flesh of cow. He picked up his burger when Tony did and went to take a bite but his efforts were thwarted when Tony bit into his burger and let out a low groan of pleasure at the taste.
Fire shot through Peter's veins and pooled in all the wrong (right) places. Alarms were going off in his head and he realized now what was going on.
Oh shit, I'm attracted to Mr. Stark!
Peter mentally face-palmed. Of all the people in the world to get a crush on, he had to choose Stark. The multi-billionaire genius who could get anyone he wanted who would not so much as look at a scrawny teenage boy in that type of way. Oh, he was so fucked.
What he wouldn't do to be fucked by Stark…NOT HELPING!
"Hey, kid, you gonna eat that?"
Peter snapped out of his traitorous thoughts and realized this whole time he had been sitting there with his mouth half open, his burger only inches from his mouth as he spaced out. He could feel the flush overtake his cheeks, he hated how easily he blushed around Tony.
"Uh, yeah, I-uh, just had a thought about the research is all," Peter stammered and promptly shut himself up by taking a large bite of his burger.
Tony eyed him while chewing thoughtfully on a fry. They elapsed into a mostly comfortable silence while they polished off their food. The waitress came back after a while and whisked away their trash and trays, and delivering their thick, handmade milkshakes. Peter pulled his happily to him, desperate for a sugar fix to make him feel better about his awkward realization.
"Ah-ah. Before you sully your taste buds with chocolate, real original, by the way, you need to taste this beauty," Tony commanded, dipping his silver long handled spoon down into his frosty treat and producing a heaping helping for Peter, extending it out to him.
Tony was fully unprepared for Peter to lean forward and capture the spoon between his lips, slowly pulling back from it, the ice cream having disappeared from the utensil and into his mouth while Tony was too busy staring at how Peter looked up at him from beneath his long, long eyelashes. Peter sat and innocently savored the treat in his mouth, looking thoughtful as the flavors burst across his tongue.
Tony realized his hand was still stretched across the table and pulled it back. This was Peter. He was an innocent kid, and Tony was obviously a pervert for thinking that Peter could've known how downright sexual that move was he just did. A disgusting pervert for how it made heat flash down Tony's body as his horrid brain replaced the spoon with his dick and Peter on his knees in front of him. He called up his best memory of Pepper saying, "Tony, NO!"
Peter caught his eye, and Tony was momentarily terrified the kid could tell what direction his thoughts had taken.
"I think," Peter said as he scrunched up his nose a little bit, "that's a little more sea salt than I'd like."
"Not a fan of salty foods?" Tony inquired, proud he kept his voice neutral.
"No, I like salty. That thing," Peter pointed at Tony's milkshake, "is an acquired taste."
Tony put the brakes on the emerging train of dirty thoughts slamming into the station. Tony, NO.
Peter went on happily eating his milkshake, molesting his spoon with his tongue. Tony kept his face impassive and called Happy from his watch, to let them know they'd be ready to go just to have something to do to take his mind off from the kid. Kid, kid, kid, Tony reminded himself.
The waitress came over with Styrofoam cups, pouring the rest of their shakes in the to-go cups. Tony went up to pay the bill, and Peter pulled his wallet out and placed a ten on the table. When Tony came back, he arched a brow.
"Keep your money, kid, I have more than enough."
"Thank you, Mr. Stark. But if you are going to insist on paying, I'm going to insist on you letting me leave the tip."
Tony simply snapped his glasses over his eyes and made the gesture that indicated 'after you.' Peter slid from the booth with his shake, and as he headed for the door Tony reached in his jeans pocket and pulled out a small wad of bills. He tossed it on the table without caring to count it and followed the kid, resolutely looking everywhere but at the kid as they climbed back into the car as Happy held the door open for them.
Peter watched the city go by out of the windows, sipping his shake. Tony pretended to be engrossed in his phone the whole way home, just one thing on his mind.
Tony, NO. Tony, NO. Tony, NO. Tony, NO.
End chapter. OOOOooo, yeah, Tony, NO! Comments and reviews always appreciated! 3