Tony Stark eyed the enthusiastic teenager skeptically.
"Five Guys and an Escape Room?"
"Yeah… what's wrong with that?"
"Nothing, kid, I just thought when I said, 'You only turn 16 once, the sky's the limit,' that you would have aimed a little higher."
"Well, I really love Five Guys burgers right now, and Ned and I have been wanting to do an Escape Room, like… forever. Plus, part of it is I want you to do it with us. How much cooler can you get than getting to solve an Escape Room with Tony Stark?"
Tony pursed his lips. The kid had a point. "Okay, I'll give you that one," he said, smiling.
"Actually, between you, me, and Ned, I'm kinda hoping we can break a record on our first try," the kid said cockily. "We might need to do a little research first, though."
"Yeah, you're right. That does sound like a party," Tony said dryly.
"Mr. Stark, come on. Maybe May and MJ can come too. And Happy, but only if he wants to. And Pepper, but only if she's not busy…"
"I'll check with her, kid. Your birthday's Sunday, right? You want to do it like Saturday night, so you don't have school the next day?"
"Yeah, that would be awesome. But I have to check with everyone's schedules."
"You do that, and get back to me."
"Oh, if MJ comes, can we get her something else instead of burgers? She's mostly vegetarian."
"Of course, Pete."
"And can we eat here at the Tower before we go to the Escape Room? Ned's already kind of mad at me that MJ's met you twice and he only saw you at the school that one time when I was kinda out of it. If he got to come to the Tower, too, it might make it up to him."
"You're suddenly full of requests, aren't you?"
"I mean, we don't have to, it was just an-"
"I'm kidding, Pete. Of course we can eat here first."
Saturday night had come, and it was time for the kid to cash in on Tony's promises. May was supposed to bring Peter, MJ, and Ned to the tower at 5, and the food should be there shortly after. Tony had gone a little more over the top than just Five Guys, but there were plenty of bacon cheeseburgers and fries coming, as well as some vegetarian pitas for MJ, and something a little nicer for the adults. He'd gotten all of Peter's favorite sodas, and a ridiculously impressive Spiderman cake, and the old Avengers common room was completely decked out in red and blue streamers and balloons.
"Wow, Tones, you really went all out," Rhodey said. When he'd mentioned the party to his friend, Rhodes had asked if he could come up as well, and Peter had been shyly excited to add him to the celebration.
"I wanted it to be nice. My 16th birthday was nothing like this," he said, looking at Rhodey meaningfully.
"What?" Rhodey said, deadpan. "You're saying Peter's not going to drink a few upperclassmen under the table and bring three others back to our apartment with him? I'm shocked."
"You didn't have to spell it out," Tony glared at his friend. "But yeah, we should celebrate this, and I want Peter to know it's important to us." The end of that sentence, 'unlike it was to my parents,' was unspoken.
"It looks great, Tones," Rhodey said, squeezing his friend's shoulder. It's gonna be a fun night. Is Pepper going to make it?"
"Yeah, she's on her way."
"Actually, Boss, she and Happy are just entering the garage, and Peter's group is five minutes out," FRIDAY said.
"Okay, here we go," Tony said. He was looking forward to this more than he thought he would. He couldn't wait to see Peter's reaction to everything. Peter was a great reactor.
"Boss, the food is also here. It will be up shortly ahead of the Parker contingent."
"Great, FRI. You never cease to amaze me with your timing. Thanks."
"You're welcome, Boss."
"Holy crap , Mr. Stark! What did you do?" The kid's eyes were wide and staring as he craned his head to look all around the common room, almost walking in backwards in his wonder. May looked impressed too, if a touch overwhelmed but the next-level-ness that Tony Stark always was.
Peter's reaction to the decor had been everything Tony had imagined, and Ned had thoroughly freaked out at officially meeting Iron Man and War Machine and being in Avengers Tower, much to Peter's chagrin. MJ had maintained her normal aloofness, but he was pretty sure he had seen her smile slightly both at all the decorations, and at Ned fanboy-ing. Peter had opened his presents, which were mostly gift cards and LEGOS, as well as an offer of two Saturdays of driving lessons from Happy (True to his word, Peter had recently gotten his permit). He had seemed super excited when Tony had given him his present, which was a trip to visit MIT's robotics lab in a month. It had been hard to work around the measly dollar amount May had asked him to stay within, but Tony was creative. Since he still owned a small townhouse in Cambridge, he could argue that the only expenses were gas and food.
Peter had blushed at the cake, but had also taken about twenty pictures of it with his phone, including a selfie, and had eaten at least four pieces.
Now they were all crowded into the Escape Room lobby. This place had the best reviews by far, and Tony had booked their most popular experience. They also had a leaderboard for the fastest time, sorted by how many hints had been used, as well as a Hall of Fame board if you stayed on the top for at least a month. So it met all of Peter's requirements. Tony and Peter had even done some of that "research" Peter had talked about, so they knew what kinds of puzzles were likely to pop up.
Of course, not everyone was fully prepared to be a contributing member of the team. Pepper and MJ looked doubtful, but were trying to be good sports for Peter's sake. Rhodey had never even heard of an Escape Room, but was intrigued. Happy was just there, trying not to frown at everyone. But those four all exchanged skeptical glances as the game master set the stage. May looked ready to have fun.
Apparently there was a theme and story behind it all.
"You all arrived at the campsite much later than you hoped. It was already dark, and the wind was picking up. It had rained recently, and you were having a hard time finding dry wood for the fire. One of your friends said they'd go further into the trees to look for some. Suddenly, you realized they had been gone far too long, and that the small noises of animals and insects had ceased. The woods were eerily quiet."
The game master paused, letting the silence sink in. Suddenly there was a blood curdling scream that sounded off to the right, and Pepper and Peter nearly jumped into Tony's arms from either side. How would that have worked out? Peter recovered quickly and grinned at the adrenaline spike, but Pepper glared at Tony and started muttering something about how much trouble Tony was going to be in. Whoops.
The game master continued. "Unfortunately, when you were finally brave enough to go looking for your friend, you found them. Dead." Thunder rumbled helpfully in the distance. They really had the timing on their script down.
"And it wasn't pretty. You all tried to get back in your vehicle and go for help, but unfortunately it wouldn't start. It was also dead." Tony scoffed lightly to himself. If this was a real scenario, he gave himself ten minutes, tops, to figure out what was wrong with the car, fix it, and blow this bloody popsicle stand.
"In the distance you see a small cabin. It might have a phone inside where you can call for help, but it's locked up tight with two different padlocks. But there is a lockbox. If only the owner had hidden clues to help you figure out the code to the lockboxes that probably contain the keys," the game master finished mysteriously.
If only. Tony thought. This was all kind of silly, but Peter looked like he was eating it up, so Tony was happy to play along.
"Excuse me, what's the record for this particular scenario, please?" asked Peter when he finished the set-up. The game master raised his eyebrows, but consulted his tablet and said "With no clues: 40 minutes, with one clue: 38 minutes, and with two clues: 37 minutes."
"Thanks. Did you get that, Happy?" Happy had agreed to come along only if all he was in charge of was writing things down to help keep track of stuff." Happy gave him a baleful look over his notebook. No tablets or phones were allowed to be out during the competition if they wanted to be in the running for any records.
Once the game master shut them in, all of the other special effects kicked in, and it was quite creepy. Everything from rattling and scratching and animal noises in the distance to a somewhat spooky soundtrack, complete with the sound of wind whistling through the "trees." Of course, it was quite dark inside their "forest," and the first things they had to find were assorted flashlights and lanterns. Pepper acted like it wasn't bothering her, but Tony knew she had very little tolerance for spooky stuff, and was sticking close to his side. Not the worst side effect ever, actually, he thought, pulling her in close for a moment.
But he had to let go, because Tony, Peter, May, and Ned were ready when the timer started. They started foraging for clues immediately, and putting together pieces of code that were part of the same puzzle. Rhodey caught the spirit and jumped in pretty quickly, while Happy looked bored on standby with his pen and paper. Tony knew for a fact he wasn't one for spooky stuff either, though (more of a Downton Abbey guy than a Saw 3 guy) so he didn't waste time trying to get him to engage. Peter was so into it, he didn't notice anyway.
"Ned, help me turn over this log!" The other teen ran over, and they upended the "log" to find a complicated answer key to one of the codes underneath. "Awesome," Peter breathed. "Now everybody find pieces of the code! They have a letter and a number. We have to get all of them before we can translate it and put the answer into one of these padlocks!"
MJ and Pepper dutifully started looking for clues, though Pepper wasn't very eager to move things around. Ned had already triggered one "jump scene" where a faux dead rat fell on his head.
"These rocks just have different shapes on them," MJ said doubtfully. "Are they part of it?"
"No, they'll be a different code," Peter said gleefully. "Just keep them all together."
"Honey, I think there are some weird scratch marks on these blinds. Do they mean something?"
"Yes, probably! Happy, will you go help May document those?" Peter was in his element.
"Pete, I've got all the pieces here. You translate it and I'll put it into the padlock," Tony said rapidly. He knew the kid was serious about getting that record, and it wouldn't be because of him that it didn't happen.
MJ and May were actually really great at finding clues, Pepper helped on several decoding exercises, and Rhodey, Tony, Peter, and Ned were fantastic at thinking outside the box and solving some of the harder puzzles. Happy dutifully played record keeper. They made their way through the creepy screen door into the "cabin" in less than eight minutes. There were two more "stages" to move through, and there were two fairly intense jump scenes (Pepper nearly climbed up on top of Tony when one of them happened), but none of the puzzles stumped their team, even the recipe where they had to find different cans and boxes of "food" and weigh them to come up with the right numbers, (May was particularly proud of that one.) They made it to the phone to "call for help" in just 37 minutes, with zero clues from the game master.
"Mr. Stark, we did it! We got on top of the leaderboards!" Peter was flushed with excitement and practically bouncing. What did he expect with the combined brain power in that room? Tony couldn't help but grin back at the kid though, and obediently picked out a sign to hold for their group picture at the end. Tony's said "The brains of the operation." Pepper's was "I helped a little," and Happy refrained from signage, but did cooperate for the group picture anyway. Peter got to hold a birthday sign as he grinned, and MJ held a paper birthday hat on a stick above his head. It was so freaking adorable, Tony had already decided to print an actual paper copy to put in his home office.
They grabbed some celebratory ice cream after that, avoiding being recognized by Tony wearing his hood up and staying back behind the group while they ordered. It also helped that no one expected "Iron Man" to be out buying ice cream at a food truck at 10:30 on a Saturday night. He had, of course, also bought out the whole Escape Room location for the time they'd be there, to avoid running into other participants. He didn't tell Peter that. He was afraid the kid would want to take advantage of it and do another scenario that night. Maybe another time, though.
The food truck was right across from Central Park, and their group commandeered two picnic tables. Tony watched Petwr from across the table as they all ate their cones. The kid's eyes were shining as he laughed at something MJ and Ned had just said. It had been a long time since Tony had done anything like this. Just having fun together in a group of people, most of whom he knew well. The last time he could remember enjoying a big group evening like that was probably… well, just before Ultron had broken up the party in a spectacular way. He shook off a melancholy feeling, remembering the camaraderie they'd all felt at that point. Things had gone downhill, obviously, and he'd probably never get some of those relationships back. He didn't even know where Bruce and Thor were. But life was good again. Peter was good. He'd reawakened some part of Tony that he thought might be gone for good after Siberia. He was glad the kid was having a good birthday, and pleased he had a role in making it happen.
Just then, Peter caught his eye, and the boy's face shifted from joyful to questioning. He was so observant and… tuned in? that it seemed like he could already read Tony almost as well as Pepper. Tony shook off the lingering stormy emotions and smiled gently at the kid. He raised his cone as if he were making a toast.
"To Peter. Happy Birthday, kid."
"To Peter!" the rest of the two picnic tables chorused. They all laughed as they pretended to "clink" their cones, and Peter, predictably, blushed.
Everyone else had gone home, and Peter and Tony were hanging out in the penthouse kitchen while Pepper got ready for bed. May had switched her shifts so she could come to the party, but that meant she was working the next morning. She had asked if Peter could stay over, so he wasn't alone for the first half of his birthday.
Peter was, predictably, hungry again, and was attempting to reheat a leftover cheeseburger and fries in the air fryer. Tony shuddered at the thought, but the kid was optimistic that it would work.
Tony watched as the oven clock shifted to midnight. "It's August 10th, kid. Happy Birthday for real," he said.
Peter glanced up. "Oh, wow! Thanks, Tony. And thanks for everything tonight. It was epic. Just amazing. And I still can't believe we really broke the record!"
"Was there ever any doubt?" Tony asked, a brow quirked.
Peter smiled. "It was just seriously the best to have everyone I cared about all here at the same time." Tony understood that sentiment.
Peter took his reheated meal out of the air fryer, narrowly avoiding burning his fingers, and started eating.
"How is it?" Tony asked doubtfully.
"I've had worse," Peter said thoughtfully, but made quick work of the food.
"I'm glad you had such a good time, kid," Tony said, reaching out to tousle his hair. "You deserve it. Anything special you want to do tomorrow on your actual birthday?"
"Maybe we could order breakfast in?"
"Hey, what's wrong with my cooking?"
"Nothing," Peter said, wide-eyed. "I mean, it's way better than May's, and-"
"Teasing, kid. What do you want to eat?"
"That really big fluffy french toast from the bistro down the street?" Peter said hopefully.
"Of course. You got that FRIDAY? Maybe 9 AM? Bacon or sausage, kid?" FRIDAY blinked acknowledgement from her corner camera.
"Both? And eggs?"
Tony laughed. "What was I thinking? What about after that?"
"Maybe we could take a drive? And when we get out of the city, you could help me drive a little bit?"
Those dang puppy dog eyes were going to kill him. He leaned back in his seat and made a show of rubbing his temple with a hand. "You're really testing my love here, aren't you? I've driven with you once, and I'm still trying to recover."
"Hey, I've practiced some with May since then! And, awwww. Mr. Stark, you love me!" he said teasingly, a sly grin on his face.
Tony didn't even try to backtrack. "Yeah, kid, I do." The look on Peter's face softened into shy acceptance. "And yes, I'll take you driving. But I might have to take a Xanax or something."
Peter didn't reply, but leaned over to bump gently against Tony's shoulder. "Thanks. Really, for everything." Tony knew he wasn't just talking about driving or all the party stuff.
"No problem. Now, get to bed. I don't need a sleep-deprived teenage driver trying to kill me tomorrow."
"You could always wear the suit, sir."
Peter practically giggled at the look Tony gave him, and quickly took care of his dishes, preparing to leave the kitchen. But the shoulder bump had reminded Tony he had promised himself to be more demonstrative with the tactile teenager.
"Pete, c'mere," Tony directed, standing up. Peter approached him, curious. Tony pulled him in for a quick hug, cupping the back of his kid's head and pressing his cheek into the soft curls. "Happy Birthday. And, thanks."
Peter pulled back, looking happy, but confused. "For what?"
"Just for being you, kid."
"Well that was cryptic," Peter muttered with a smile. "G'night, Tony."
"'Night, kid."