Chapter One: The Dog in the Alley

~O~

"Dude remember 6:00, my house, science project, got it?" Ned asked standing beside Mj. Peter rolled his eyes playfully slamming his locker shut.

"Yes, you've probably installed it in my head by now, and I won't forget. Happy now?" He asked, walking towards the school front doors. Ned and MJ quickly raced to catch up. Ned scoffed, laying his hands on his knees trying to catch his breath.

"Yes," he replied. Mj rolled his eyes, readjusting her textbooks before leaving.

"See you at six losers, and don't be late arachnid," she said, before exiting out the school building. Both boys halted, not expecting the confront.

Ned covered his mouth from other students passing by. "You know I'm never going to get use to her knowing." Peter nodded, his eyes bright and careful.

"Yeah, but I'd rather have her with us then against us," he replied. Ned nodded in agreement. It was a frustrating process when Mj found out. Trying to explain something she already knew was hopeless, until Ned explain his internship with Stark Industries was both fake and true. Now that was something to remember. Peter will never forget Mj's prejudice look he received. But after three hours of back and forth of tough debate they settled it as a compromise. That only lasted for precisely two days and fourteen hours when Peter saved Mj well mostly just watched as a mugger got attacked by MJ when the idiot tried to muggle her. After they talked, and MJ finally admitted it was the worst decision Peter has made they welcomed her to the group.

Ned broke from Peter's side heading to a red Ford Focus where his mom waited. "See you tonight and remember..."

"Six o' clock I got it! Bye Ned!" He yelled back. Ned gave a small sloppy salute making Peter shake his head before getting in the car and driving off. Since Happy was on his day off in ten years, Peter decided to walk to the Tower. Fours hours till six would be enough time to repair his suit with Mr. Stark and make it to Ned's house, and hopefully on time. So no patrol tonight or until the suit was completely fixed.

Peter made a stop at Delmar's buying his usual order. Along with a few extra turkey as he made his way to the Tower. Along the way, a silent yelp caught Peter's ear that indicated it was a few blocks away. His ears ringing softly. Curious, he put his half eaten sandwich in his backpack and followed the far away cry. From what Peter could tell it sounded like an animal. It made Peter walk a little bit faster. Peter walked into an alley. Unlike the alley he changes into this one was dark and was fully of garbage. The air thick with cigarette smoke, and alcohol. It made Peter gasp and cringe at his surroundings. A small whine cut the air and Peter slowly walked forward taking in every detail and full alert. Snuggled in a tight grey ball, Peter squatted slowly and laid a gentle hand on the animal. The ball tightened earning a painfully yelp making Peter's heart clench. Peter eyes widened and slowly he made a pitifully sigh. It was a dog, a female, and she was in terrible shape. Deep bruises marked on her legs and side. But what made Peter upset was the ribs sticking out of her bruised side.

Peter gave a soft whistle, earning the dog's attention. "Hey girl," the dog immediately whimpered, and tried to escape, but failed. Peter quickly stepped back putting his hands in front of him, calming the sick dog. "H-hey, it's okay. I'm not going to hurt you, see." He said showing the inside of his flannel. The dog looked up fearfully, and tried to get up but her leg gave up after she put slight pressure on it. Peter got an idea and opened his backpack slowly letting the dog watch him. He pulled out his lunch from Delmar's and pulled out the extra meat.

She must have smelt it cause she slowly lifted her head towards Peter. He silently cheered in his head as he stretched his hand towards the frightened dog, the meat extended. "It's okay, here you can have this. I'm not going to hurt you. Yeah that's it..." He said nudging the meat closer. He let her do the rest, but she couldn't. Peter gave a shuddered sigh and scooted closer. This time the dog didn't move, but watched him carefully. Peter stretched his arm until he could almost pet her and let her smell his hand.

She smelt his hand, and slowly took the turkey from Peter's hand earning a small laugh from the boy. "See? I'm not here to harm you," he said. The dog watched him tilting her head to the side, and then moved. Peter watched her curiously, thinking she was trying to take off, but instead she nudged his leg. Peter smiled and spread out his legs letting her lay down.

"You need a name, what do you think?" He looked for a collar, but found nothing but more cuts and bruises. Some even looked like cigarette burns. She had a soft grey pelt, and she was absolutely adorable. "Who did this to you?" She only looked at Peter with fear and pain. Peter rubbed his hand on her back getting a happy bark. He laughed, only to be stopped when the dog's ears peeked up and his spidey sense blared softly. "What is it girl?"

Peter was startled when she jumped up and took off. "No! Wait, stop where are you going...?!" Peter stopped when he heard glass shatter. Peter ran behind a dumpster seeing a shadow figure of a man. A cigarette clamped around his mouth sending a warm, and scary glow to his face. The man turned around and Peter plummeted to the ground praying he wasn't seen. He heard the man growl under his breath.

"Blasted dog, where are you piece of trash?!" He remarked, making Peter glare into the direction the man stood at. Soon the stranger slammed his bag into the dumpster in front of Peter and rushed into his apartment without a second glance. He stood in the position until he was sure he wasn't coming back out before looking at the direction the dog escaped from. He searched for her for ten minutes, but didn't find her. Hands in his pockets, he walked back to where he first found her.

How could someone do this? Abuse a dog that was completely innocent?! Peter clenched his fist in his pocket as a surge of anger boiled in his chest. The dog was literally starving to death. Peter was going to pack up his lunch, but instead he left it out of view behind an air conditioning unit for the dog to find and left. He looked at the building making a mental location to find later and walked towards the Tower.

~O~

"Sir, Peter has arrived," Friday announced, pulling Tony away from his suit. Tony closed the metal helmet, the wires connecting automatically. He wiped his hands on a greasy rag and threw it on the table.

"Thanks Friday. Where is he?" He asked, washing his hands. Clearly a rag wasn't good enough.

"On the couch in the living room," she answered. Tony turned off the water looking at the ceiling worried. He always came straight to the lab. He walked to the elevator and stepped on. When the doors opened he expected to see a hyper kid talking non-stop about his day. Not a kid slouching on a couch tapping his knee in thought while staring at the windows. Maybe something happened at school?

"Hey kid, how was school?" He questioned. Peter looked towards and his eyes widened as he fell of the couch. He stood up so fast Tony was afraid he might get whiplashed.

"Mr. Stark?! Oh, uh what are you doing up here?"

Tony rolled his eyes taking a seat on the couch. "I live here don't I?"

Peter glared at him, but it disappeared quicker than it surfaced. Tony patted a spot on the couch next and Peter sat down next to him. "What's on your mind, kid?"

Peter glanced at his mentor trying to figure out if he should tell him, but Mr. Stark has helped him with every problem he told him about, and it always worked out in the end. Peter sighed as he gave in. "There's this dog I ran into today, and it was terrible Mr. Stark. S-she had cuts and bruises. Plus, it looked like she hasn't eaten in days. Days! Who does that?! And I have no idea on what to do."

Tony listened as the kid talked. Spotting a genuine desire inside Peter's eyes to help the dog. "Does she have an owner?"

"Yes, at least I think so. She didn't have a collar, but he surely spoke like he owned her." Peter muttered, looking down. Tony laid a hand on Peter's shoulder tightening his fingers sympathetically.

"You want to help her don't you?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"Yes! If course I do, but for the first time I have absolutely no idea on what to do, and it's for a dog!"

Tony gave Peter a small look. "So? What's that got to do anything," he said. Tony ran his hand down his face before facing Peter. "I'm not good at this type of thing, but here goes nothing. If it's his dog it's his dog. It's his property, and you can't change that."

Peter nodded tapping his knee anxiously. "Its a dog not a piece of land and she doesn't deserve that, and aren't you a dog lover?"

Tony looked a little guilty. "Not much for pets kid.

"Well I am, but thanks Mr. Stark," Peter said. Tony groaned throwing his head back against the couch.

"Kid I thought we were above this. I'll literally give you a twenty dollar bill if you say Tony and not Stark." He said showing a twenty dollars bill.

Peter smiled grabbing the twenty dollars bill. "Okay Tony..."

Tony gave Peter a grateful look. "Thank you..."

"Stark." Peter finished laughing.

Tony growled, but Peter already hopped off the couch laughing. "Peter get back here! I want my twenty dollars back! I'll get you back Underoos!"

~O~

Peter threw his book onto his desk watching in satisfaction as it stuck the landing. Last night was tough. After his talk with Mr. Stark and finishing his three hour project with Ned and MJ he was exhausted. But with only a hour left of school he was excited to head back to the alley. Well he's not suppose to be, but he can't help it. He might be able to help the sick dog.

After school was over he practically ran to Delmar's ordering his usual but with extra meat.

"What made you change your order Mr. Parker?" Delmar asked.

Peter shrugged. "Um experimenting. May wanted me to try new things so I wondered if extra meat was a good start."

Delmar nodded, but you can still see the question behind his eyes. "Honestly, I would hardly call that a change."

Peter rolled his eyes, but grabbed his sandwich anyway. "Still change though." Delmar laughed and said goodbye as Peter rushed out of the Deli. With excited energy, Peter snuck in the alley avoiding piles of scattered glass. In seconds, the excitement turned to caution as Peter looked around.

Peter looked for a few more minutes, but found nothing. He was about give up when a happy yelp caught his ear. He quickly turned around and let out a breath of relief. The dog limped slowly towards him, and her small tail wagging. Peter bent down closer to her that way she didn't have to move as far.

Peter scratched behind her ears getting a happy bark. "Hey girl how ya doing?" He asked overlooking her injuries. His eyes narrowed when he spotted more and unfamiliar wounds.

"What happened to you?" He wondered as he opened his backpack revealing his lunch. He pulled out his sandwich grabbing the extra meat and giving it to her in small portions. He watched as she scarfed it down without even chewing it. He ran his fingers through her thin coat. "Easy girl I got enough. Hmm, I can't keep calling you girl. You need a name, but what?"

He sat there thinking, occasionally giving the dog pieces of meat. "Molia? Nope, how about Tris? Definitely not, okay what about Tessa?"

The dog stopped eating and gave Peter a curious look. Peter took that as a sign. "You like that name? Tessa?" She let out a soft huff budding her head against his leg.

Peter laughed. "Alrighty Tessa it is. Here you go," throwing the last of the meat towards her. "feel better cause I certainly do. What are we going to do about you, huh? "

They laid there for awhile, and played a small game of tag. Tessa couldn't do much due to her injuries, but she still held an uncontrollable energy that didn't stop her. An hour later, Peter had to go home, and start his homework. But Tessa wouldn't let him. She tugged on his pants and when that didn't work she just laid there with the most saddest expression a dog can make. Peter gave her a small scratch behind the ears smiling.

"Don't do that, I'll come back tomorrow, okay?" Tessa's ears drooped, but she let him go.

Peter felt bad, but he kept his promise. He returned the next day and the next day after that. Soon a week past and the two were nearly inseparable. Although as each day passed Peter realized Tessa was getting worse. He knew she needed medical attention, but he was afraid he may cause more trouble for Tessa and that was the last thing he wanted to do.

But it seemed she wasn't starving to death anymore, so he count that as a win. Tessa was always on his mind during school and when he was at the Tower. It seemed it was obvious when Tony ask him what was on his mind.

"Tessa," he replied. Tony put down his wrench looking confused.

"Tessa? Who's that? Kid do you have a girlfriend?" He asked with a smirk.

Peter shook his head roughly. "No! It's the dog I talked to you about a week ago. You know the one that's being abused?!" He said.

"You named her?! Kid how close are you to her?"

Peter rubbed the back of his neck. "Like how close are we talking about?"

Tony leaned his head back groaning. "Kid, you know your getting yourself into a huge problem right?"

Peter threw himself into a rolling chair throwing his hands up in exaggeration. "I know! But I can't help it. She's so adorable and hyper you can't help but love her. You know what I mean?"

Tony gave a small smile looking away from Peter. "Yeah kid I do." They talked about her a little longer before Peter had to head home.

The next day Peter grew worried when he came back to alley only to find her gone. "Tessa? Tessa where are you girl?" His spider sense blared to his left and he turned towards it. He had to dodge to miss the glass bottle that swung over his head. Peter looked where it was thrown and the same stranger he saw a week ago was facing him holding another empty glass bottle.

"Who are you and what are you doing on my property?! " the man growled. Peter dusted himself off suddenly looking everywhere for Tessa. He could tell the man was half drunk, and he was looking for a fight.

"Nothing sir just looking for something?" He said. The man walked closer his balance sluggish. A cigarette tight in his mouth as he sneered.

"For what brat?!" he snapped grabbing Peter's shoulder. Peter tried moving his shoulder but the man had a really tight grip. Suddenly a growl came from the side of the dumpster drawing the attention of the stranger enough for Peter to free himself. Peter watched as Tessa moved growling at the man threatening. But the man didn't seem fazed by it.

"Return did you," he said facing Peter. "so your the reason I can never find it around here anymore."

Peter frowned. "Her..."

"What did you say?!" He asked tightening his hold around the empty bottle. He stepped closer to Peter and Tessa growled louder.

"Her, she is a girl not an it," he said having a sudden courage.

"I don't care! I can call her whatever I want!" He sneered. " and what are you going to do about it?!" Peter saw it coming when the man push him, but he didn't expect him to push that hard. He stumbled backwards and his eyes widened when a loud bark scraped the air as he fell. Peter watched Tessa tense her muscles and got into an attack position. "No! Tessa don't!"

Tessa lunged biting the man's leg. The man screamed in agony and quickly maneuvered his leg and kicked her hard in the side. Tessa let out a pained yelp, and Peter quickly pushed the man back. The man grabbed Peter's arm and twisted it back behind his shoulder. Peter gasped, but quickly kicked the man's shin. The man let go and stumbled back where Tessa limped and he kicked her again only for her to yelp and latch onto his butt. The man screamed and leaned back grabbing her by the neck and throwing her against the edge of the dumpster.

Peter cried out and pinned the man down. Only for the stranger to elbow him the neck. Peter's breath hitched as the man rolled him over and pinned him against the cement. Peter kneed the man in the stomach and punched him on the nose letting him escape. Once he was free Peter ran over to Tessa who let small streams a whimpers. Peter look at her guilty and ran a hand through her fur. "It's okay. It's okay, your going to be fine..."

He was cut off when a hand grabbed his shoulder and threw him backwards onto his feet. The man let out a furious sneer and pulled back his arm to land a perfect hit on Peter's face. Peter was trying to move, but the man had a death grip that could match Steve Rogers. Maybe alcohol wasn't the only thing wrong with him. Peter looked away as the hit came, but it never did when a voice rang out.

"Hey get your hands off the kid, now!" Peter sighed in relief as Mr. Stark walked over to them with the most serious expression Peter has ever seen and he thought the Ferry incident was rough. The man let go of him and Peter immediately ran to Tessa making sure she wasn't severely injured. He couldn't tell and that scared him as he calmed down the hurt dog.

Peter stood back up as the man took a step towards Mr. Stark. "Who are you?!" The man asked threatening. Pete took off his light green and grey fennel and draped it over Tessa. Tony watched as he straightened his suit jacket.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Take a wild guess."

The man's eyes narrowed as his face moved into a sickening grin. "Hmm, your a Stark. A family of blood hounds that are good for one thing and one thing only death."

Peter looked at Mr. Stark worried. If Mr. Stark took offense to that he didn't show it. Tessa whimpered loudly and Peter grabbed his backpack grasping his water bottle. He poured the water into his hand and let Tessa lick it off.

Tony gave Peter a reassured smile. "What my family has done is a past tense, and worth nothing to me. There achievements are but a small convenience. So instead of wasting my time give me back my kid."

The man looked between Tony and Peter intrigued. "So he's your kid?!"

"Yes and no," Tony said. Peter was shocked. Tony just called him his kid. His kid! Peter's chest was filled with happiness as he watched his hero back talk with the stranger.

Tony looked past the man, and gestured to Peter if he was okay. Peter nodded, but he pointed to the dog telling Tony she wasn't doing good. Tony nodded looking the man in the eye.

"Let's go kid and bring the dog," he said. Peter didn't argue as he slipped his hands under Tessa and gently lifted her off the cold ground. Once Peter had her tucked in his arms comfortably he walked towards Tony but came to a halt as the man slammed his hand on Peter's shoulder. Tessa whimpered from the sudden movement. The man dug his nails into Peter's shoulder as another hand latched onto the man's wrist.

Tony glared the man as his fingers tightened. "Get your hand off him."

The man only sneered. "It's my dog and you have no right to take her." That angered Peter. He says it's 'my dog' when she is covered in bruises and burns. Plus he literally just threw her against the edge of a dumpster. Peter shook off the man's hand harshly.

"She doesn't have no collar, therefore, she's no ones." Peter said rubbing his thumb against Tessa's side.

"Don't have the money to buy one, you brat!" He remarked hastily. Peter only grew more determined and angry.

"So what's with the pile of empty alcohol bottles? Cause those don't appear out of thin air, mister." The man made a move to lunge, but Tony laid a hand on the man's chest stopping him.

"Don't. How about I buy her off you? How about four hundred and fifty dollars? Sound good?" Tony said pulling out his wallet. Peter and the man watched dumbfounded. Even Tessa watched the man widely as she laid comfortably in the boy's arm.

The man tilted his head to the side his eyes squinted, untrustworthy. "Your kidding, four hundred and fifty dollars for a piece of trash..."

"She is not a piece of trash. You on the other hand... hmm, maybe," Peter replied before he could stop himself. Tony hid a small smile but let it go as he returned to the multi-billionaire investor.

"I can drop to two hundred if you want..."

"Fine, I'll take it. Go ahead and take her. She's useless as it is." He said as he left muttering about how many cases of beer he can buy. Peter opened his mouth to defend Tessa when Tony laid a hand on Peter's shoulder shaking his head telling him to let it go. Peter smiled and nodded as Tony guided him out of the dark alley.

"How did you know where I was?" Peter asked. He could feel Tessa's tail wag the further they walked away. She must of figured out she was no longer a piece of property to the cruel man. Tony opened the passenger door to his Audi and let Peter slip in. Once everyone was buckled in Tony headed back to the Tower.

"I was in the area, and I knew one way or another you were going to face him so I wanted to be around." He said.

Peter looked at him. "So you followed me?"

"Yes and no." He said with a smile. Peter shook his head roughly, but in truth he was grateful. He knew that he had Mr. Stark all the way, and he had nothing to worry about.

A small, but comfortable silence settled over them. Peter looked at Tony from the corner of his eye. "Thank you Mr. Stark. I owe you one."

"No problem kid, and you can owe me by calling me Tony. Please I literally paid four hundred and fifty dollars for her. "

"You set the price!"

"So? You still owe me. So what do you say..."

Peter groaned. "Thank you Tony, " he said. "nope I'm sticking with Stark.

"Kid!"

"At least I said it!"

Tony waved him off, accepting the lose. "Fine, fine you win. So what are you going to tell your aunt about your newest addition?"

Peter's eyes widened in realization as they continued up the road to the Tower. Oh no May!!

A/N: Wanted to try something new, so I'm trying a one-shot book. If you like it thanks, and if you don't I'm sorry, but thanks for reading anyway.

Any requests are welcome! Please, I need some! Review and tell me your opinions.

Requested by: Blueflame4676

Date of Publish: 8/27/19