"Ugh, finally."

It was late at night, as Iron Man was finally done working at the Baxter Building for the day. He flew as fast as he could to Stark Tower, glowing among the New York cityscape. He practically crashed on his balcony's landing pad, dead tired, as various arms and claws popped out of it. As the billionaire was walking inside, the arms stripped him of his armor, leaving him in nothing but a Nirvana t-shirt and sweats.

"JARVIS!" He called. "I'm home!"

"Welcome back, sir," the AI responded. "I trust you had a wonderful evening with the Fantastic Four?"

"I had a great evening with three fourths of them. The other quarter, not so much," Tony stated, as he walked over to the bar, considering his various bottles of liquor.

"You always enjoyed your fractions, sir," JARVIS dryly commented.

"Only recently," Tony stated, as he picked a bottle, and poured himself a glass. "I think it's an age thing. So, did I miss anything?"

"Miss Romanoff and Mister Parker came in earlier," he informed him. "They didn't stay for too long though, as Miss Romanoff dragged Mister Parker out of the tower."

Tony was puzzled. "She dragged him out?" He asked, as he sat down on his couch, leaning back, drink in hand.

"By the ear, sir."

"Well, I'm going to assume that she didn't take him out back and shoot him. That's what I'm going to assume," he murmured to himself, as he took a sip of his...scotch, apparently he grabbed scotch. He thought it was whiskey. Oh well. "Anything else?"

"You have a call from Miss Potts."

Tony stiffened, as he suddenly felt very uncomfortable. "Tell her I'm busy."

"I'm afraid she's insisting, sir."

"So am I. Tell her I'm busy!" He ordered, firmly.

The AI went quiet for a moment, before chirping up again. "Sir, you do know I have nothing but your best interests at heart, correct?"

"JARVIS..." Tony warned.

Suddenly, the large screen TV in front of him turns on, to show an image of his girlfriend's beautiful face. Tony quickly sat up straight at sight of Pepper, as he cleared his throat, silently cursing his usually faithful AI butler. "Hi, honey," he greeted, with forced enthusiasm.

"I want to come home," she stated simply, her arms crossed, and her lips pressed tightly against each other in a deep frown.

Tony's fake happiness immediately disappeared, as he took a big gulp of his liquor. "Baby-"

"Don't 'baby' me," she told him, fed up.

"Pepper...it's not safe-"

"This again!?" She exclaimed. "It's never been safe with you! You've gotten kidnapped by terrorists, you've had multiple attempts at your life, and you've even had our house blown up! What makes this any different than that?"

"Pepper, I don't want to do this," he said, wearily, as he stood up from the couch.

"Well we're going to do it!" Pepper told him. "We are going to have this talk, and you are going to tell me why you don't want me around."

"I don't want to-"

"Why don't you-"

"Pepper-"

"Just tell me-"

"Because I can't lose you!" He exploded, hushing her. "I hate that it took me this long, but I grew up, ok? I realized what this life does. It puts people in danger. And it isn't like when this all started, no no, things are getting more intense now. People are coming for me that have the power to end the world if they really tried. And these people are nearby, at all times. It took having the kid around to realize that."

"Peter? What does this have to do with-"

"He fights a different bad guy every other week. And you should see these guys. People that can shoot lightning out of their hands, people who can destroy anything they see, people who could go toe to toe with the Hulk. The Hulk. The big green guy who can smash the entire city if he had a bad day? This kid fights guys who can go ten rounds with him. And they're only getting more powerful by the day."

"What's your point?" She asked, tired of Tony's blabbering.

"These are the same types of people who are coming for me," Tony said. "I know you don't see it, but I can feel it, and I know it. Peter has a secret identity. He doesn't have to worry about his loved ones getting attacked by Scorpion people. For half of his day, he's safe. I don't have that half."

Pepper stared silently at him. "I don't want you to push me away."

"I don't want you to get hurt," Tony admitted.

"Tony...one last chance...let me come home..."

Tony's jaw locked, as he stared straight at the screen. A million thoughts went through his head, as he knew that he was on the edge of no return. He closed his eyes in turmoil, before he opened them back up.

"Tony-"

"No," Stark decided, going quiet for a moment. "No..."

Pepper looked down, as the billionaire could see tears going down her face. "Then I guess it's over," she said, hurt.

"I guess it is," Tony stated, trying his best to remain firm and authoritative, but knew it was pointless.

"Goodbye, Tony," Pepper said, wiping her face. "I hope you know what you're doing."

The transmission was cut, making the screen turn blank, and leaving the billionaire alone. He chugged down the rest of his glass, as he looked to the floor, contemplating. He couldn't picture his life without Pepper, and now...now he would have to live it.

"Tony?"

The billionaire turned around, to see his best friend in the whole world, Rhodey, staring at him with a look of complete sorrow.

Tony wiped his goatee, his facial hair wet with liquor. "What are you doing here?"

The former air force pilot frowned. "I came by to hang out, but..."

"How long have you been standing there?" Tony almost demanded.

James just looked at him. "I'm so sorry, Tony."

Stark looked at his best friend in the eyes, and just broke down. He started crying, not being able to take it, as Rhodey came up to him, and patted his back, trying to comfort him as his world fell apart.

A few days later, Peter was sitting in his history class, his head resting on his arm, as he thought about literally everything other than history. The dance was tonight, and Peter was getting the jitters thinking about it.

Jitters? That's an old word. Steve was rubbing off on him. Maybe he could steal some of the American Icon's public admiration for Spider-Man.

Anyway, back to his current anxiety. Gwen seemed to really be looking forward to this. Every time they talked since he asked her to the dance, she had the largest smile on her face. He's pretty sure she told MJ something about it too, because every time they see each other, she gave him a knowing look.

Peter sighed at the thought of Mary Jane. Harry apparently told her not to talk to him, and while she let him know in no uncertain terms that she would talk to whoever the hell she wanted, she didn't want to hang around Peter too often. She knew he understood, which he did, and she knew that Harry needed something to hold on to, but Peter was just bummed about the situation in general.

Peter pushed that to the side, as he tried to figure everything out in his head. He was going to go home, put on his suit, take some pictures with Aunt May because of course, go to the store, pick up some flowers and chocolate, meet her at the dance, dance with her at the dance, and then 'smoothly' suggest that they get a bite to eat. They go to a diner, eat something, Peter will stick to the soup for he has enough to pay for the meal, and presto, happily ever after.

Assuming that nothing goes wrong. Which, because of the Parker Luck, will mean that everything will go wrong. Oh well, maybe he'll be pleasantly surprised.

That's it Parker. Be hopeful. That's never blown up in your face before.

Toomes smiled to himself, as he thought of how to go about this. He had finally found his opportunity. After the first failed attempt, Norman has locked himself away in his tower, not coming out. But Adrian had a plan.

He saw his opportunity. He saw it tonight. He was going to be more than happy to take advantage of it. He prepared himself with a few more upgrades, a few more toys to use.

No one will be able to stop him. Not Osborn, not the police, and least of all, not Spider-Man.