"Um, hi...I-I...I'm Peter Parker," the boy said, paling when the eyes widened. Oh my god, he was talking to freaking THOR! The god of Thunder! He was in nerd heaven!
"Are you one of Stark's new projects? A miniature robot of some sort?"
"Um...no...I'm a kid.." Suddenly Peter felt gravity push him down as the man stood, the boy wobbling a bit.
"You are a mite smaller than a Midgardian child. Are you perchance a fairy child?" Thor's eyes lit up. "I have heard quite a bit about the children of the fairy realm, especially as a child myself."
Peter smiled. "No, just...just a regular kid..." He didn't know how to explain his situation.
"Oh, I see," The disappointment was clear in the god's eyes. But as he studied Peter, his head cocked to the side. "Is that why you are dressed like me? I've heard Midgardian children like to dress up as their favorite characters." The boy's face lit up red as he tried to explain himself, but was cut off.
"Uncle Thor!?" Morgan cried, and Peter struggled to see over the man's fingers, but froze when he felt his senses prickle the back of his neck and sunk back down.
"Oh thank God," the woman breathed as her head filled Peter's vision, relieved but angered eyes staring down at him. "What were you doing up in that tree? I told you not to wander. I was so worried when I heard you screaming and..." She reached into Thor's hands and picked Peter up, cautiously lifting his arms and legs, searching for injuries.
"I'm fine!" Peter argued, trying to tug his limbs back. "Even if I got hurt, it would heal in seconds."
"That is not the point, young man," Mr. Stark came from behind the woman, more anger than the boy had ever seen on his face. That must have been what his senses were warning him about. "Pepper trusted you, and you broke her trust by putting yourself in danger. You deliberately disobeyed her. "
"Mr. Stark, I was just-"
"I don't wanna hear it," the man said sternly. "From now on, when you're outside, you either have two choices. Shoulder or pocket, that's it!"
"I'm not your kid!" Peter shouted, suddenly freezing when every pair of eyes was focused on him, even Morgan looked surprised. "I-I mean...I'm not a child, Mr. Stark...I'm fifteen years old and have been looking out for myself since I was nine years old after my uncle Ben died. I'm sorry if I worried you, but-"
"No, there's no buts here, Peter," Mr. Stark snapped. "You may not be my kid, but I took responsibility for you, and right now, you're not a normal teenager who can take care of themselves. Right now you're less than four inches tall and until we can fix you, you need to learn that we're trying to keep you safe!" Pepper even flinched at the tone of voice her husband used.
Something in those words, coming from his childhood hero, the man that saved him, it was almost like he was treating Peter like the prisoner he was afraid of becoming, and that scared him into screaming,"well, who's choice was that? You were ready to drop me off at my home and just forget about me and everything, which I was perfectly fine with!" Tears were now leaking from his eyes as he ranted, unable to stop, unable to plug the emotion of knowing that he was defenseless in this world of giants he used to be a part of. "Stop treating me like I can't take care of myself!"
Tony stared at the boy angrily, jaw ticking."You know what, I'm done." Suddenly reaching out, he grabbed Peter between his thumb and pointer, dropping the boy into his breast jacket pocket, zipping it closed. "You can stay in there as long as you think you don't need help. I don't care if it's all night."
Peter was fuming when the man zipped up his pocket, slamming his fists against the man's chest. "Let me out!" he demanded, but received no answer. The others just greeted the god of thunder, the pocket vibrating with Mr. Stark's voice and laughter. After a few minutes, the boy had stopped trying to rip open the zipper and was now sitting in the fabric corner pouting, arms crossed over his chest. How did it come to this? He only wanted to stretch his legs. It wasn't his fault he got an idea that caused him to climb up a dumb spider thread.
Well, maybe it was. He huffed and the pocket started moving again, but this time the movements were jarring, signaling they were walking.
"Stark...is that really a child in your pocket, for I thought Midgardian children were much bigger" Thor said motioning to the raven haired girl in his arms.
"That's a long story, but he's just a kid." Tony said, feeling the kid move against his chest. He felt bad about where he put the boy, but there were worse places, plus it would keep him warm. "We're trying to fix him."
"Ahh, I see. Then it wasn't a small robot you were making?"
"No. Although, that is a good idea. Be able to get around in places we can't. Plus, if it gets destroyed, can always build another one. Are the others with you, or did you come alone this time?"
"No, it is just I. The others decided to stay on Yoromis for, Quail called it a 'honeymoon'."
Pepper smiled. "Was it Drax and Mantis who got married? That's great to hear."
"Yes. The ceremony was short, but quite beautiful." Thor smiled at the memory. "Drax was quite overcome with emotion...and sickness at the thought of consummating the marriage with Mantis. Very emotional."
Tony and Pepper smiled at each other knowingly. "Sure it was. Will they be coming any time soon?"
"That I do not know, I will ask Quail. But, let us talk of other things! How have you been faring?" He slung a hand over Stark's shoulder, but stepped away when he realized he was pressing against the man's pocket, feeling the small thing occupying it jump and smack his chest.
"Don't worry about him. He's just in a mood." Tony rolled his eyes. "Let's go." He took Pepper's hand as they walked and talked.
Meanwhile, Peter felt forgotten and slumped in the pocket, Mr. Stark vibrating and pounding all around him. It was true that it was comforting, but he hadn't been punished in such a long time, he had forgotten what it was like. May never had the heart to do it, which he guessed now, that was a bad thing. Peter figured that once he was able to see her, they need to talk.
The boy sighed and let himself move with the jacket, thinking about what had happened and feeling bad about it. He would have to apologize, but first he needed to be out of the pocket.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Justin was settled into his chair, about to start work on a new droid, when suddenly there was a loud crash from another room. The man groaned, his head falling back and smacking the wall, making him wince. "You've got to be fucking kidding me!" he screamed and forced himself up. "I'm out of jail for one day and already my home is being destroyed. Unbelievable."
He stormed through the large house to where the crash came from. "Ah, Mr. Toomes! Or, is it Vulture while you're dressed like this? I forget."
"Where is my family?" the man growled, his voice sounding more sinister behind the mask.
"Oooh, so scary. But seriously, take off the suit, sit down, have some coffee or something stronger-" he was cut off when Toomes lunged forward, gripping his throat.
"Give me my family...Now."
Hammer choked out a laugh as he pressed his watch and out of nowhere a battle droid came running and grabbed Toomes' arm, squeezing until Justin could hear the bones rubbing together and the man let go, cursing. "Now," Hammer panted. "Is that any way to treat a team member? Come on."
Rubbing his throat, the man leaned against his droid. "Your family is safe and sound, in a well protected, undisclosed area. Here, look." Hammer brought out his phone and tapped the screen, a hologram of Adrian's wife and daughter popping up. "See? Safe and sound."
"Why are you doing this?" Adrian asked, pulling the mask off to see his family more clearly.
"Oh, you know, because I was set free on the off chance you would join me on a mission," Hammer smiled, then it quickly turned into a frown. "Why the fuck do you think I'm doing this!?" he screamed, veins popping out of his neck. "I just got out of the hell hole Pepper Potts put me in, and I am not going back. So you either help me take back whatever it was Tony Stark and his Ass-vengers stole from Mr. Bloom, or your family dies. So, what do you think?"
Hammer stared at the man who in turn, stared at the hologram of his family. "I need an answer, here, Mr. Toomes. You see, my 'friend,'" he used air quotes, "has a very tight schedule. So, he needs to get this little thing back, but he can't do it alone. I mean, he has the resources, but he needs help now. And his help will take too long to get there. Can you see his predicament?"
Toomes only nodded. "So, you want to know if you and your employer-"
"Friend," Justin corrected, his mood becoming pleasant again.
"Oh, yeah, your friend, can get this thing back from the Avengers? It must have been something valuable." Toomes' eyes were still on his family as he spoke. This was the only way to keep them safe.
"Oh you have no idea. It was a piece of very valuable research material, nothing like it. Worth millions, actually." At least that's the idea he got from talking to Mr. Bloom.
"So, what is it we're stealing back from the Avengers?" Toomes knew this was a dangerous thing to be doing, especially who they were doing it too. He needed details, for sure.
"That, I don't know. My friend never told me, just that we would know it when we saw it. Said it was something small, but amazing." Justin didn't like not having details, but for something like this, for revenge against Tony Stark, he didn't need much to do that. "But, you'll get to see your daughter again. Think about that one. Imagine the look of love when your family sees you, think of them running to you in joy when you come to rescue them!" He clapped his pale hands. He needed to get out of there to tan soon...
Adrian sighed deeply. He could die if he did this...but then again, if he didn't, his family was going to die definitely. "Fine," he said. "You have a deal. But, I want your word that my family will not be harmed."
Justin smiled, a strange glint in his eyes. "Fine, that's fine by me, hey I'm just glad to have you on board. Shake on it?" He held his hand out for a second before Toomes grabbed it, and his smile grew deeper. "Good man."