Comfortember Day Two: Darkness

Tony was creating a new security system plan for the Parkers' apartment. Something that was much more modern and up-to-date. Their system was decent enough but Tony would feel much more comfortable if they had something stronger and more efficient. He kept this project a secret from them, though.

It was while he was working through the logistics that the power flickered. He didn't think anything of it. It happened in the past, so he kept working. But then the power flickered again much worse than the first time.

"Okay…"

He stepped back from his table and decided he'd go to the power breaker. The last thing he wanted to deal with was power going on and off while he was trying to concentrate.

Everything went black with a loud crack before Tony got anywhere near the breaker. It felt like the air was ripped out of his lungs and a sudden chill ran down his spine. His emergency generator should've activated seconds after the power went out but it didn't.

Tony was trapped in a void of darkness. There were no noises except for his uneven breathing. Where was FRIDAY, why wasn't she helping? Even when power went out, his AI was always functional and by now she should've said something. Why wasn't she saying something?

He stretched a shaky arm out and an Iron Man gauntlet flew to him and wrapped itself snuggly around his arm. At least that still worked but he still didn't feel completely secure. His breathing was still uneven and he felt he might just pass out from lack of proper breathing.

He didn't want to acknowledge where this panic was coming from.

A hand patted his shoulder. Tony whipped around and charged his repulsor.

"Whoa! It's just me, Mister Stark!"

Tony blinked as he came back to reality. There was some light in the room but it was only from Peter's cell phone light. Tony lowered his arm and let out a long breath.

"Sorry, kid," Tony said. He didn't remove the gauntlet. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see if you were okay after the power went out," Peter said.

"The power went out at your place, too?"

"The power went out all over New York!"

Tony raised a brow. "You left your aunt all alone in a dark apartment?"

"Nope. Happy is there with her. Besides, we lit candles not long after the power went out."

"How long has it been out?"

"A few minutes now. Fifteen or so." Peter shrugged.

Tony frowned and looked to the side. Had he been in his state of panic for all those minutes? He didn't even hear the kid come in and Peter could be rather noisy. He must've been out of it worse than he thought if he needed to be touched to get back to reality.

"FRIDAY, you there?" Tony asked, ignoring Peter's puzzled look.

"Yes, Boss. I've been trying to calm you down for the past ten minutes but you didn't hear me. When Peter arrived I told him where you were and asked him to help."

Tony sighed and ran his hands down his face. That was a long time to be panicking (and he still refused to acknowledge where the panic came from), and he felt bad that the kid had to see him like that and that FRIDAY herself couldn't do anything.

"Thank you for your efforts, FRI," Tony said. He looked down to Peter again. "Thank you, too, Webs."

Peter gave him a thumbs up and smiled.

"But how did you get in here if the power's out?"

"Oh, I uh...I kinda forced the door open…"

Peter turned his phone's light over to the door to reveal that the edges had dents in them and was forced to the other side, making enough room for two people to step through. Surprisingly, there was no broken glass.

"Sorry about that."

Tony waved his hand. "It's nothing I can't fix."

"Let's go upstairs and light some candles, Mister Stark. It doesn't seem like your emergency generator is going to activate any time soon."

Tony nodded and the two of them headed upstairs and made their way to the living room. Tony didn't miss Peter glancing at his arm every now and then. At least he didn't comment on it. He was also grateful the kid didn't ask him why he was having a panic attack.

The two of them lit four candles in the kitchen and six in the living room. While Peter texted May about staying with Tony for the night, Tony headed over to his large windows and stared outside.

Peter hadn't been lying. Looking out at how New York was now was like looking off into another abyss. Not even street lights were lit. The storm clouds really weren't helping the situation.

"Hey, FRIDAY, how long do you estimate the power will be out for?" Tony asked, walking back to the couch and sitting next to Peter.

"If you're lucky, the power will be back in a couple of hours. If you are unlucky, it may take over a day."

"Wonderful," Tony mumbled under his breath.

"Don't worry, Mister Stark, I'll look after you!" Peter piped in with a grand smile.

Tony couldn't help but chuckle. He patted the kid's head. "Thanks, Underoos."

"Y'know, I have some music on my phone. We can use that to help with the silence."

"You should probably save your phone's battery in case of an emergency."

"I guess you're right but if you change your mind-"

"I will let you know."

Peter smiled again.

It was around 7:30PM when Tony realized that he and Peter hadn't had anything to eat. Tony mentally smacked himself, knowing full well that Peter needed to eat more than the regular person. Peter was either distracted with something to not notice or he didn't want to feel like a bother, despite Tony telling him many times that he was never a bother.

"Come on, let's see what we can get you to eat."

Tony stood from the couch and headed to the kitchen. Peter followed him and hopped onto one of the bar stools. Tony searched through his fridge and realized that most of what he had in regards of leftovers wouldn't taste good cold. But the biggest portion of leftovers he had were from the lasagna they had the other night.

"If you're okay with cold lasagna you can have that. It's the 'biggest' meal I have," Tony said, pulling out half a case of said meal. He opened the lid and slid it over to Peter before getting him a fork. Tony also got him a glass of water.

"I'll take what I can get. Thanks!"

"I'll make you a sandwich too, okay? That should help fill you up," Tony said.

"Sure, but I can help you make it. Just let me finish this up."

Tony squinted at him. "Pete, please. I can make a sandwich in the dark. Besides, I'm making one for myself too. You just eat up."

"Oh, alright. But tomorrow I'll help with dinner!"

Tony chuckled. "Fine."

There was more comfortable silence after that as Tony constructed their sandwiches and started to eat up. It didn't take long for Peter to finish up the lasagna and start on his sandwich.

"By the way, your gauntlet is still on," Peter pointed out.

"I guess it is," Tony agreed with a shrug.

"Why?" Peter asked, tilting his head.

"I don't know. In case some dumbass tries to break in- I'll be able to incapacitate them easily without my full suit."

"You also have me by your side," Peter said with full confidence.

Tony smiled. Peter was always a ball of energy. Sometimes he could be a handful but that's what made him who he is. Tony wouldn't have him any other way. He was glad that Peter decided to check on him and stay over for the night.

After they were done eating they went back to the living room and got comfortable on the couch. Peter rambled about his day while Tony grabbed the blanket on the back of the couch and draped it over themselves.

Peter rambled on and on, not noticing that Tony was having trouble keeping his eyes open. It might've been the exhaustion from his panic attack that had him tired or it might've been the situation as a whole. Either way, he was finding it hard to stay awake and pay actual attention to what Peter was saying.

It felt like hours but was probably only minutes until Peter leaned against him and sighed in content. Tony wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him close.

Tony barely heard Peter say, "Sleep tight, Mister Stark."

XXX

When Tony woke up the next morning, he was lying on his back on the couch with his Spider-child clinging to him, using him as a pillow. Tony's gauntlet was off and on the floor. The power was back on but Tony couldn't bring himself to move. Or wake up Peter. So he got into a more comfortable position, held his kid close and shut his eyes again.

Author's Note: So I've read a few headcanons saying Tony has a fear of the dark and I can get on that boat, so I decided to play with it a little here. But I'm going to leave it up to ya'll to decide what Tony's mini freak-out was about.

That's all for now. I'll see ya'll in the next chapter.

Thanks for reading!

~Kurosaki