Tony Stark is not a coward. He is not hiding, thank you very much
He may be holed up in his snazzy panic room; but let it be noted he is NOT hiding.
Instead, he is being a very responsible adult.
The moment he saw the rather vicious drama unfold in the corridor due to Spiderling's malfunctioning (yes he was going to go with malfunctioning till his dying breath) web slinger; he grabbed the kid and stuffed him into the safe room. Now while doing so, if he had managed to lock himself in too; then he is going to maintain that he did it because the room was untested and he was worried about the kid's safety.
After all, Aunty May only allowed their play date after repeated begging- from both Peter and him; he had to return Peter back in one piece- singed eyebrows aside. He was in no way scared of Ice Candy Beta. Now, Darcy Lewis was a totally another matter. Her heels of retribution had had him cupping his crotch protectively all the way to the safe room. He did have some amount of self-preservation after all- only against capable, badass women. And this woman was after all- The One Who Tased The God Of Thunder!
Peter- the poor little naïve baby lamb however, was not aware how the big bag world worked. He was all for walking out in the open, into the war zone and explaining the whole misunderstanding to the emasculated Frost Stick and Darcy. Perhaps he was hoping to save Ice Baby from agony and thereby elevating his position in Steve's eye.
That boy! He was a worse fanboy than Agent! Tony had made him a new suit, so many cool new toys, helped him with his homework; but nooooo it was Captain TightAss that got Peter Parker's spidey senses all tingled up! But Tony Stark was nothing if not magnanimous. He would keep his mouth shut and continue to defend the clueless boy from certain Death- by- Darcy. Without the perpetrators and evidence-
Oh Shit! In his hurry to safety, he never erased the security feed! This never happened before. He was a firm believer that you did not do it unless you get caught. Damn, he must be getting old! Oh they were dead, so very very dead. Poor Pepper, she would be a widow before the wedding. Not that he had proposed yet. But he had the ring, the gift (new shoes… Oh the irony), the speech all ready to go- he just had to man up and propose.
But now… Well, at least his Will was all up to date.
He cast his eyes to the ceiling where Peter was hanging from. Such a naïve little boy. So carefree, so innocent. He had no idea of the shit storm that they were in. Did he really believe that just because they were in a sealed room, they would be safe from that Yeti and Darcy? Huh, maybe ignorance is bliss after all. Maybe he should let Peter live in denial for the last few minutes of his life. Because once that blasted security feed was out in the open, it would be pest swatting season in the Avengers Facility.
Suddenly, soundlessly, out of nowhere the panic room door simply disappeared.
Huh, Tony thought: so this is the end. No bang, only a whimper. And from the space where the door once stood; there emerged Steve Rogers grinning like a maniac and Dr. Jane Foster banishing her- now that he realised- Wonky Homemade Portable Wormhole Generator.
Oh! they were so FUCKED!