Voraces Lector: Yep. Apologies for the lack of feel-good moments, but I'm a sucker for angst and misery and struggle.

MoonlightSkies16: There goes our boy! Protecting his boy!

Karlicm: mmmmmmmmm what Richard wants will be expanded on later *zips lips*

Guest: I'm so delighted by the comments I've gotten about distrusting/disliking Richard. He'll be coming up again later and his thoughts will be expanded upon. Let's just say Tony wasn't wrong that Rich wasn't saying what he wanted to really say.

Peter likes to go places but he doesn't really like to go to places. He wants to be an astronaut when he grows up, but he also wants to be a scientist. He wants to invent a machine that lets you teleport anywhere you want to go.

When his mom was still alive, she and Peter didn't get to go on vacations a lot. They went to the beach sometimes, but it was pretty close anyway. She told Peter that vacations cost a lot of money and if they went on vacation, then she couldn't work, and she couldn't make money. Before Dad came, Peter had never been on a plane before, and the only boat he'd ever gone on was one of the ferries that went around the Statue of Liberty.

Now he travels all the time with Dad. But Dad travels more than he does. He does a lot moving and Peter and Uncle Ben or Aunt May or Uncle Ben and Aunt May just move a little bit until they meet up. It's always fun once he actually gets there. He wants to tell all his friends about the museums and parks and all the other places he goes to, but one time his friend Oliver asked how he and his aunt and uncle can go to so many places if they're so busy all the time and the only reason Peter didn't have to answer him was because the bell rang.

Peter doesn't like to sit in the car for a loooong time reading books (which makes him carsick) and listening to Uncle Ben's CDs (which Peter doesn't really like but he tells Uncle Ben he does because he doesn't want to hurt his feelings). Sometimes when he comes home it's really late and he has to be carried back up to the apartment because he's asleep. He's asked Uncle Ben and Aunt May and Dad to just wake him up because only babies get carried like that, but they still do it.

Peter would like it if he and Dad could just do normal hangout stuff. He wants to ask Dad if maybe they can make pizzas at home one night, or if they could get another one of those really-super-mega-big LEGO sets and work on it all day.

But Dad is always really happy when they go on their trips, so Peter doesn't say anything. It still makes him happy no matter what. He likes spending time with Dad, especially now that they're so far away from each other. He wants to go back to the lab and see the Iron Man up close again. He misses seeing Pepper and Happy and he even misses Malibu even though he didn't like it that much when he first got there. But for right now all he and Dad can do is meet up for trips—even if that sometimes meant going to the Stark Expo while Dad was there but not with him.

Peter really wants to go back. He also really doesn't want to go back. Going back to Malibu means neither Uncle Ben or Aunt May will have him around, and Peter would feel weird and scared if he had to live in a place by himself, so now he sleeps one night at Aunt May's apartment and the next at Uncle Ben's. He has friends in Malibu, but he has friends here, too, and they've had to say goodbye and hello and goodbye and hello over and over again. Moving isn't fun, either. Peter hates moving.

Also on Sunday mornings Uncle Ben makes pancakes and bacon and no one makes pancakes and bacon like Uncle Ben does and Peter loves Dad but Dad can't really cook and the last time he tried to make pancakes they were flatter than pancakes are supposed to be even though they're pancakes.

Plus, he just kinda knows he's not going to be able to go back. Not just because he's older and smarter now, and not just because Dad told him "maybe" in that "no" way adults do. Aunt May always lets him and Dad talk alone, but after she comes in the room and smiles and asks if he wants to do anything later. Sometimes Uncle Ben asks him if he's okay and if he's happy when it seems really weird to—like when Peter is just working on his homework.

Peter doesn't know if they don't like Dad and they think he's going to gethim hurt, or if they just love him and don't want him to go. Peter doesn't ask because he doesn't want to. Aunt May and Uncle Ben don't ask about what he and Dr. Rittenburg talk about. They just ask, "Did it go okay?" and that's that. But Peter thinks that they want him to talk to them, and Peter knows it's because they want to take care of him, but even though everything is "normal" now, he still feels like he's a problem. Aunt May and Uncle Ben already have to take him to school and pick him up later and take him to the doctor when he's sick and make breakfast and lunch and dinner for him.

So Peter didn't really like to travel, but when Dad told him that he could come to Monaco for the race, Peter realized that it would be the first-ever family vacation they'd all have.

Peter had never heard of Monaco before, and he spent so long on the computer looking up stuff about it that Aunt May had to come in and tell him to go to bed. Monaco was a really pretty place. It looked like the places in the paintings he sees in Italian restaurants, orange and white with an ocean that looks like it's filled with blue paint. He looks up all the things there are to do in Monaco and they all look so cool, even if they're in French and he doesn't know how to speak French.

More than anything, Peter is happy that Aunt May and Uncle Richard get to go on a cool vacation instead of just driving him to where he and Dad are going. He's happy that they get to have fun and shop and go to the beach without worrying about school or work or who's going to cook dinner. He thinks that after this trip things won't be as weird.

Peter is so excited that Aunt May and Uncle Ben have to tell him to calm down a lot. When they come off the plane, everything and everyone is bright and colorful, and speaking languages that sound like baby garbles to Peter's ears. Uncle Ben has to use Google on his phone to ask a taxi driver to take them to their hotel, which is nothing like the hotels back home. Those are all shiny and gray and this one is brick and orange. The beds are huge, the bathtub is huge, and the ocean is right outside (and huge), but Peter's seen all that stuff in Malibu so he just waits until everyone stops looking around going whoa and you've gotta be kidding me so they can start doing stuff.

They don't, because they have to get over jetlag, which is hard because Peter can't go to sleep when there are so many things to do.

The race—Uncle Ben and Aunt May say it's a Grand Prix, but Peter just calls it "the race"—has more people than Peter has ever seen in one place. He can't find one spot where something isn't going on. Some people are dressed for the beach and some people are wearing fancy suits and shiny jewellry. Sometimes Peter hears people stuff like over here and I'm coming. Everything else is French and Italian and a whole bunch of sounds he's never heard.

Aunt May doesn't like crowds. She never has, so she always tries to be doing something when she's in one, like getting drinks or going to the bathroom. Right now she's looking at a little map to find their seats, except it's in French and Aunt May doesn't know how to speak French, either. "Okay, I think we're close. Or really far away."

Uncle Ben walks up, holding Peter up near his shoulders. He looks at the map while Peter looks out at all the heads that are moving around, and the giant road where the racecars will be. They're walking behind the bleachers, and every time they pass a staircase Peter gets excited but then they keep walking.

"Show me where we are, again?" says Uncle Ben. Aunt May shows it to him, but Uncle Ben looks up and shakes his head. "I don't know if that's right."

"No, see, we just passed that, so now we're here."

"I think we just passed that."

"How? That's way over there."

Uncle Ben flips the map rightside-up. If anyone else did that, it would be mean, but Uncle Ben does it in a nice way. Still, Aunt May ducks her head because she's embarrassed and says, "Okay, we need to go back, then."

So they turn around, and Peter asks, "Can I walk now?"

"Pete, I don't want you getting lost in this crowd," Uncle Ben says. "Way too many people here."

"You don't have to carry me. I can walk with Uncle Richard."

"Alright. But you hold his hand. And don't let go!"

Uncle Ben sets Peter down, and Peter waits until Uncle Richard comes up so he can hold his hand. Uncle Richard smiles and Peter smiles too, but it's kind of weird because Uncle Richard has been kind of weird lately.

Aunt May and Uncle Ben don't want Peter to go back to Malibu, but Uncle Richard really doesn't want Peter to go back to Malibu, even though he lives in Malibu, too.

When Peter was in the hospital and asked Uncle Ben and Aunt May if he was going to keep living with Dad, they said, "We'll see, buddy" or "Don't worry about it, hon." Uncle Richard said, "I don't think so, Pete." The last time Uncle Richard came over to visit, Dad called Peter and when he left to go talk to him, he heard Uncle Richard asking if Dad should be calling Peter at the same time every day instead of just whenever.

Peter thinks that Aunt May and Uncle Ben like Dad a little but he thinks Uncle Richard doesn't like Dad at all.

But he doesn't really know that, and he doesn't want to tell Dad because he doesn't want to hurt his feelings, and he doesn't want to ask Uncle Richard until he knows 100% that it's true. Uncle Richard is a doctor, and everyone tells Peter that being a doctor is hard because you work allll day, even on holidays, and you don't get to take breaks, so it's easy to get all grumpy. And he loves Uncle Richard, and he knows Uncle Richard loves him. Sometimes the adults just get a little too upset about him, like when Aunt May freaks out because she didn't put a fruit in his lunchbox, or when Uncle Ben was going to take him to the movies but he got the time wrong.

Peter hopes that this vacation will help Uncle Richard relax. He thinks it's working because everyone is having fun even if they've been busy so far. They keep going wow and look and that's so beautiful. Uncle Richard is like Peter; they keep looking out at the ocean because it doesn't look the way it does in Queens or Malibu.

"How're we doing?" Uncle Richard asks when they're walking together.

"'M okay." Peter holds up his water bottle, which isn't as cold anymore but is still all drippy. "Here, you have some. You're sweaty."

Uncle Richard does that weird smile he does when he doesn't want to take something from Peter but he also kinda does. Peter holds onto his shirt while he's unscrewing the bottle cap.

"Have you ever been to a race before?" Peter asks.

Uncle Richard shakes his head. "When I was a teenager I did track at my school, and we had races then. But that's all."

"You drove racecars?"

"No, like running and jumping and all that." Peter doesn't really mean to, but he guesses he makes a face or something, because Uncle Richard laughs in a way that doesn't really sound that funny. "It was way before I lost my leg, bud."

"Oh." Somewhere a speaker comes on and a man's voice says something in French. It's loud but far away and Peter can't tell where it's coming from. "I don't know what he's saying."

"Me neither. Probably just saying the race is going to start soon. Hey, Pete, look."

There's a tall stand covered in little flags on poles. Peter recognizes some of them, like America, Italy, and France, but some he doesn't. People are just walking up to the stand and grabbing flags without paying for them, because the man at the stand keeps saying "Take one! Prends-en un!" When he sees Peter he waves at all the flags but he keeps really pointing to the French one. When Peter takes the American one instead, the man throws his head back and howls, and Peter and Richard both laugh. Then they hurry to keep up with Uncle Ben and Aunt May.

Peter twirls the little flag in his hand and looks up at the buildings. They aren't like they are in Queens, not just because they're not shiny and made of glass. They all just stand there without signs, no Hyatt Place or Holiday Inn or Warwick.

"Where's the Hotel de Paris?"

Uncle Richard takes so long to answer that Peter almost pulls on his hand again. "I dunno, Pete. I can't really tell."

"I hope Dad can see. Hey! Why are we going to our seats if it's just a race? I-I still want to, but if they're just going to go one time, why do we—why does anyone come out here to watch? What if you're in the bathroom when they pass by?"

"Races have laps. The cars don't just pass buy one time, they'll probably come by…Fifty? Sixty times? Maybe more than that."

"Ohhhh. How long is it going to be?"

"I don't know. Hey, Peter—"

"How fast are the cars going to go? I thought you're not supposed to go too fast in a car because you can crash, so how come it's okay if you're doing a race?"

"It's—Well. I'm not sure. Hey—"

"Are the cars going to crash? Do cars crash when they're in races?"

"The cars aren't going to crash, Pete, I promise. Now, hey. Listen for a second, okay? There was something I was wanting to ask you."

Peter ducks really quick because a lady wearing heels almost as tall as him just walked way too close and almost hit him with her leather bag. Uncle Richard gives her a mean look while she walks away, but Peter just asks, "What?"

"Why did you want to come here?" Peter doesn't like feeling stupid, but he does, because he doesn't really get the question. So now Uncle Richard has to say it in a different way so he can get it, because that's what adults have to do when kids are too dumb to get it. "I mean. Okay…What were you looking forward to the most when Dad asked you if you wanted to come to Monaco?"

Peter's trying not to shrug so much anymore but he does this time. "I like to go places. Don't you like to go places?"

"Well…yeah. But I mean—what about—here, what is…"

Uncle Richard does this sometimes, and Uncle Ben and Aunt May tell him not to get angry with him for it and not to make fun of him. Peter keeps talking so he doesn't have to.

"I like going places that are new. And I like eating new food. And I've never been to a race before, so I wanted to go to one. And it's really pretty here. And I wanted us all to go on a trip together."

"Yeah?"

"Uh-huh. I don't think me and you and Uncle Ben and Aunt May and Dad have all been on a trip before."

"Mm-hm." Uncle Richard nods and nods and nods even though Peter didn't ask a question, but okay. "Was there anything you weren't looking forward to?"

Peter doesn't get this question, either, but he doesn't let himself feel stupid again. "I don't like it when I have to sit on a plane or in a car or something for a long time. I get bored."

"Hm. Well, me neither."

"I don't like it when planes get bumpy or when I can't move around. And I don't like it when there are babies that are crying or when someone's talking too loud. And I don't like it when they have movies but all the movies are for adults or little babies or I've already seen them before—"

"Let me ask you this, buddy." Richard squeezes his hand. Peter knows that that means Uncle Richard is about to get a little serious, and he doesn't like it. He never does, but he really doesn't like it now, when they're supposed to be having fun on vacation and when they're about to see a race. "Do you like going on trips a lot?"

"We don't go on trips a lot."

"Well, no, we don't. But you and To—your dad do. Do you like that? Does that make you happy?"

Peter scratches under the ballcap that Uncle Ben let him wear. He doesn't want to lie to Uncle Richard but he doesn't want him to baby him when he tells him about something that makes him sad.

"I like hanging out with Dad. And I like going to the movies and museums and restaurants and the beach and parks and—"

"Yes, Pete, yes."

"But." Peter almost shrugs again, but he stops himself. "I don't know. I wish we didn't always have to go and do things. Like sometimes I wish he could just come home and we could watch a movie there or something. Or maybe we could just go to the park. We haven't built Legos together for a long time. But maybe we can only do big stuff because Dad's always busy so he can only stop working when it's a big thing and not a small thing."

Uncle Richard doesn't say anything for a long time even when he's done talking. At least it isn't super quiet. Everyone's talking and yelling and walking so it's still really loud.

"So if you didn't get to go on a trip with your dad for a while, would that make you sad?"

Peter shakes his head. "I would only be sad if we couldn't—I wouldn't be sad if we couldn't go on trips, but I'd be sad if he didn't talk to me or call me. Even when he gets sick or really busy we still talk on the phone."

Uncle Richard squeezes his hand again, but this time he says something that isn't that bad. "Do you want me to tell him that?"

"Um…" Peter scratches his ballcap again. Aunt May has been saying he needs a haircut and now he's thinking she's right because his hair feels all sweaty and scratchy on his neck. "No. Maybe…Maybe I'll just ask him if we can do small stuff. Not like all the time but sometimes. But I'll—I'll tell him, you don't have to."

Uncle Richard doesn't say anything this time, but Peter doesn't know if he was going to. All of a sudden Uncle Richard is yelling and falling and he lets go of Peter but Peter holds on because Uncle Ben told him to so he ends up stumbling but not falling.

There's a lot of popping and bopping and Uncle Ben saying, "Whoa!" Peter lets go of Uncle Richard's hand so he can push himself back up, and looks back to see what happened. There's another souvenir stand, except this one is selling cups instead of flags, and it's been knocked over instead of standing up. The man selling the cups doesn't seem angry that Uncle Richard knocked the stand over, but it's hard to tell because he's speaking French. All around them people are backing up and stepping over because the cups are rolling everywhere.

Aunt May helps Uncle Richard up on his feet. It's not the first time she's done that, and just like every time before, Uncle Richard looks really embarrassed and Peter feels sorry for him. Sometimes Uncle Richard's prosthetic foot (sometimes Peter can't really say that word right, pross-theh-tick, but Uncle Ben asked him to stop calling it his "fake foot" so he tries) makes him stumble and trip on things. Uncle Richard always gets really embarrassed even if people are really nice about it, but they're not always nice. Like that time he knocked over the microphone of a street performer and the performer said some really bad words but afterwards Uncle Richard said I'm sorry to PETER just because he heard the bad words.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Uncle Richard is saying, and Peter tries to help him out by telling the man selling the cups, "He's excusez-moi! He's excusez-moi!"

"Oh, here, here." Aunt May is picking up as many of the cups as she can, but she still has the map and her water bottle and backpack.

All the adults are stooping down to pick up the cups. Peter tries to help, too. He hopes that the man can still sell them even if they're dirty now, and he wonders if they're going to be late for the race but he knows they should help.

Peter looks up and sees another cup—he thinks it has the Russian flag on it?—still rolling away. He tries to run after it, but then someone kicks it away without even noticing.

He tries to grab it over and over but then it gets kicked again and agin. He's starting to bump into people, and some of them say Oh! and Whoa! and a few words he doesn't get but he thinks aren't nice. He tries to say excuse me as much as he can.

Peter thinks he's finally about to get it when it goes past an open door behind the bleachers and down a staircase. Peter hears it pink-ponk down the steps. Uh-oh.

He stands outside the door and looks down—the sun is really bright, and even all the way at the bottom of the stairs, he can see where the cup is. He looks on the other side of the door, but the sign's in French again. It says P-E-R-S-O-N-N-E-L and U-N-I-Q-U-E-M-E-N-T and he has no idea what that means, but if it was important than the door wouldn't just be open like this, right? Besides, he's just running down real quick to grab the cup.

He tries to be fast and careful at the same time—it's quieter here, and all the noise outside sounds cloudy. Peter grabs the cup, stacks it with the other two that he has, and turns around to go back up the stairs.

But then someone shuts the door.

All of a sudden it is dark. Not pitch-dark because there's a tunnel at the end of where Peter is and he can still see sunlight, but darker than it was before.

He goes back up the rest of the stairs extra careful, but when he tries to press on the bar on the door, it doesn't move. Is it locked? Is someone holding it shut? Is he just not strong enough?

"Aunt May," he calls out. His voice hurts his ears. "Uncle Ben!"

They can't hear him.

Peter turns back around, holding the cups so tight they go oval. It is dark, and quiet, and he doesn't know where he is or where he's supposed to go, and Monaco is big and new and filled with strangers.

He feels small and lost, but worse than that, this place is reminding Peter a lot of the staircase back at Stark Industries. The long, dark one that he had to run down all by himself while Stane was looking for him and trying to kill him.

But Peter tries to be brave. He's not a baby anymore and he's not going to sit here and cry.

He goes back down the stairs and walks towards the end of the tunnel. Outside there are a lot of fences, and the giant road that the racecars are going to drive on. Peter is pretty sure he's not supposed to be here after all, but he hopes he won't get in trouble if he tells everyone he was just trying to help the man selling cups.

The closer he comes to the end of the tunnel, the more Peter can hear—lots of people, and the man speaking French on the speaker. Suddenly a big group of men in orange suits come jogging by. They aren't police officers, but Peter is pretty sure they work here. He calls out to them, but they don't hear. Peter starts running to try and catch up with them.

Being back in the sunlight doesn't make him feel any better. The fences are tall and wide; they look like a giant maze. There are signs and arrows and bright stickers, and even though Peter can't tell what they say, he knows that children aren't supposed to be here.

There are some men in suits and helmets a little far away, but Peter doesn't know how to get to them. He doesn't know if he should go left or right, or even if he should just turn back around and wait by the stairs.

Aunt May and Uncle Ben and Uncle Richard are probably worried, Peter thinks. Uncle Ben told me to hold Uncle Richard's hand so I didn't get lost but now I am. They're going to be mad.

Peter keeps walking without even knowing where he's going, but his courage doesn't last long. The closer he comes to being seen by the crowd, the more nervous he is. Will everyone start freaking out when they see him? Will people point at him and yell at him? All he wants is to get back with his family but he's scared of getting in trouble when he wasn't trying to be bad.

He turns around. He'll go the other way or he'll go back to the door.

Then Peter sees one of the men in the orange suits, and the man sees him, too, because he's very close.

Peter feels kind of…scared while he looks up at the man. He is very tall, so tall that Peter has to back up just to see him right. He has a serious face that Peter thinks means he's angry a lot. He has long black hair and a mustache, and tattoos that Peter can't really see that well. His hands are huge. He looks very strong, but Peter's scared that it makes it easier for him to hurt people.

Still, Peter doesn't run away and he doesn't say anything. Mom and Uncle Ben and Aunt May and Uncle Richard have always told him not to judge other people just because of how they look. He thought Happy looked a little scary when they met but Happy's his friend now, so maybe this man is like that.

The man is looking down at Peter kind of funny, squinting even though the sunlight isn't on him. He's wearing a helmet that says INTERVENTION on it, and Peter knows what that word means, but he doesn't know what the man does.

Peter clears his throat and says what he's been practicing for the past few days. "Mon nom est Peter. Je suis perdu. Pouvez-vous m'aider s'il vous plait?"

That's what Google told him to say, but Peter knows he's doing it wrong. He says his name like "Peter," not "Peet-air". The last sentence always gets him. He tries to go slow, but he knows he sounds jumbled and weird, like a baby that wants to talk but doesn't know how.

The man squints a little more. Does he know French? Even if he did, he probably wouldn't have understood…

Disappointment fills Peter, but the man bends down, putting his wrists on his knees as he squats down in front of Peter. He takes out the toothpick from his mouth and points at the American flag Peter still has with it.

"Are you American, зайчик?" Peter doesn't know what the man's is speaking, but it isn't French. And zay-chick doesn't sound French. "Do you speak English?"

Peter nods. "My name is Peter. I'm lost. Can you help me?"

The man squints again. "How did you get here?"

"There was a—a man selling these cups." Peter holds them up as proof. "And my Uncle Richard, he has a pross-theh-tick leg and he accidentally knocked over the stand, and all the cups went falling everywhere. We were all trying to pick them up to help, but one of them fell down the stairs over there, and I went down to get it but the door closed behind me and I couldn't open it again. I don't know how to get back to my family now."

While Peter is talking, the man stands back up to his feet and stops looking at him. He starts looking around but in a way that doesn't look like he's looking for something, just kind of looking. One of his huge hands scratches his cheek.

Without saying anything, he holds out his hand. Peter takes it. It's rough and hard—like Dad's hands, and Dad said they got that way because he worked in the lab a lot so maybe the man does something like that. He and Peter start walking, the man a little slower than normal and Peter a little faster. When they come out in front of the crowd, a few people look at them kind of funny but no one really says anything.

The man leans down. "Do you see your family?"

Peter looks as hard as he can. There are so many colors and too many people, walking and waving and clapping. He thinks he sees Aunt May's hat, but it's not her. He thinks he sees Uncle Ben's shirt, but it's not him. Peter is still really short, so he can't even see all the people.

"No, I can't," he answers.

The man stoops down, lower this time, and waves to Peter to come closer. Peter thinks he knows what he means but he still waits for the man to say, "Climb on."

When he's on the man's shoulders it's waaaay easier to see everyone. More people look at him, a few point, but Peter stays focused and looks all over. No, no, no. Maybe? No. No. There! No? No.

Finally, finally, Peter sees two arms way near the top of the bleachers waving back and forth. It's Uncle Ben. He's waving to Peter, and beside him Aunt May is waving too, and bouncing up and down. Uncle Richard knows he doesn't have to wave too, but does when Peter waves back. Aunt May puts a hand to her chest and sighs in relief. Uncle Ben starts rushing over.

It takes a minute of winding through the people and the fences and the stairs—Peter staying high and mighty on the man's shoulders—but finally the man bends down and lets Peter climb off. As soon as his feet are down, Peter runs to Uncle Ben and hugs him.

"Ohhhh, buddy." Uncle Ben lifts him up, holding a hand to the back of his head. "Oh, buddy, don't ever scare me like that again. You can't go wandering off like that."

"I wasn't," says Peter. "I was trying to get more of the cups, and one fell down the stairs and the door shut behind me and I couldn't get back out—"

"Okay, okay, slow down. I understand." Peter doesn't think he does. He talks too fast sometimes, especially when he's scared or excited.

"But this worker helped me—"

Peter turns around to thank the tall man.

But he's gone.

Peter looks left and right, but the man is just gone now. Like a ghost. Even Uncle Ben looks confused, but after a second he just says, "Well, it's alright now, Peter. Come on, let's head back. Race is about to start."

So he and Peter go back up to the bleachers, even though Peter feels guilty for not being able to say thank-you to the tall man. Aunt May and Uncle Richard say what he thought they were going to say. You had us worried sick and don't ever do that again. But they're not too angry, and finally they start going to their seats, which Aunt May is absolutely positive are very close now. Peter thinks he's going to be holding someone's hand for the whole rest of the trip, no matter what.

The trip hasn't been ruined, and Peter's happy about that. It's like when he pours a bowl of cereal but finds out they're out of milk. It's bad but everything's fine. Peter wonders if he should tell Dad or not when he sees him later.

It was a good vacation. It was supposed to be a good vacation. They were all going to be happy, Aunt May and Uncle Ben were going to get along just fine, and Uncle Richard was going to relax, and Dad was going to spend time with all of them. It was going to be fun and normal and good.

So why did that change?

Peter doesn't know. Peter doesn't know anything.

When he was little, Mom would sometimes let him watch her grownup movies with her. Sometimes she'd shoo him back into his room if they started saying bad words or if it got too scary, but it was never stuff like that that bothered Peter. He didn't like it when the good guys and bad guys were fighting and everything just went crazy. He couldn't tell what was happening or who was who or where anyone was, and he always left during those scenes because he felt dizzy and stupid.

For a minute they're just sitting there while everyone is cheering and clapping. Uncle Ben spills his water bottle and he and Aunt May fight over whether he should take hers or not. While Uncle Richard is talking to Uncle Ben, Peter notices that the people in front of him have American flags and taps them on the shoulder, asking if they could maybe scooch over so Uncle Richard can see better without standing up and down and up and down.

Peter tries to stay seated until the race begins but then he looks at one of the giant televisions that have been set up and he sees Dad—dressed up in a cool suit and climbing into one of the cars. He screams, "He's going to race! He's going to be in a car!" and his family nods but shushes him, probably scared he's going to say "Dad" in front of everyone.

The race starts, and they wait, and everyone's cheering even when the road is still empty. Peter is jumping in his seat. It's warm and bright, and he twists his hat to cover his eyes so he doesn't squint too hard.

Then the cheering changes. People sound confused, not excited. Everyone's looking at something, and it's not where the cars are supposed to be coming. Aunt May says, "What's he doing?"

One of the men in the orange INTERVENTION suits is going out onto the road, but isn't that what they're supposed to do? Or maybe it's too late now and it's dangerous. Peter tries not to feel scared that the man will be hit. He tells himself, He knows what he's doing. This is his job.

But then the man is burning. His suit goes up in smoke and he's covered in metal, all over his arms and chest. People start to gasp and yell when he holds out two long whips that start to spark and zap, and it's scary…but what scares Peter more is the white circle in the man's chest. It looks like Dad's.

"What's he doing?" asks Peter, but he's just one scared kid in a crowd of scared people, so no one answers him. "What are those things?"

That's when Peter thinks of those old movies he watched with Mom. One second he sees the first car come zooming down the road.

The next second, the man throws out one of his zapping whips, and the car flies over his head in two burning pieces.

People scream. Peter screams. There are sparks and smoke and fire—the insides of the car are bright orange and burning and it looks wrong, like the inside of a person. The crash hurts Peter's ears. The person behind him sits up so fast he knocks into Peter.

Someone grabs him, and Peter starts to fight without looking—it's Uncle Ben. But it's a scared Uncle Ben, an Uncle Ben that's moving fast and sloppy, hauling Peter onto his shoulder and grabbing Uncle Richard's shirt to pull him. Aunt May is fighting through to the other side of the bleachers. Not everyone is moving like she is. Some people are frozen.

Peter is so scared and confused that his brain isn't working. He can't think of anything—just that he wants to stay, for some reason. Like maybe if he stays he can do something.

Peter is high in the air, bumping around on Uncle Ben's shoulders, when the next car comes.

And it's Dad's.

And it's burning and smoking and flying across the road in pieces.

They leave the bleachers. They run somewhere, far far away from the road and the crowd, until they can't even hear the man speaking French on the speakers. It doesn't matter how far they run, though, because all Peter can see is Dad's car all broken and smashed and burning while he was still inside of it.

"It's okay," Uncle Ben and Aunt May and Uncle Richard tell him over and over and over, "It's okay, it's okay."

Peter wants them to say that Dad is okay, but they don't have to, because for some reason he knows that. Dad may be scratched up and bleeding, but he's Iron Man. He's probably taking care of the bad guy right now.

That's not why Peter's crying, in that hiccupping, snotty, red way that babies do. He buries his face into Uncle Ben's shirt so no one can see. He's scared and confused and embarrassed. He tries to tell his family why he's like this, but every time he tries to say it, his voice just won't work.

It was the man, Peter can't say. It was the man that helped me get back to you guys. I was with him. He was right there. I could've stopped him.