Considering how rich Stark is, Darwin thinks he could've hired a nicer driver.
Happy is grumpy and irritated when he picks Peter up in a fancy car at 6AM. He mutters 'not a fucking babysitter' under his breath as he hauls Peter's bag into the trunk.
"Does the dog shed?" He grunts as Peter and Darwin get into the back.
Peter shakes his head. "Oh, no, not that much, he-"
"Good. Make sure he doesn't pee in the car."
With that, Happy turns on the car and begins driving. Peter tries to make small talk, but it's obvious that Happy doesn't like kids. Still, that doesn't dampen Peter's good mood. He continuously shifts in his seat excitedly as they drive through New York. Darwin looks out the window and watches the city pass by.
Smiling, Peter puts his chin on Darwin's head and begins narrating in a deep voice, "New York. Queens. It's a rough borough, but hey, it's home."
"Who are you talking to?" Happy asks suspiciously.
Peter turns to him and quickly says, "No one. Well, Darwin, I guess. I like to narrate his thoughts. It's fun."
"Fun." Happy doesn't sound impressed.
Peter and Darwin glance at each other, then the boy asks, "So, uh, why do they call you Happy?"
Happy responds by rolling up the partition.
Darwin decides that he doesn't like him very much. He can't understand why anyone wouldn't like Peter. He's such a good boy.
They eventually arrive at some sort of air field. A small private plane is waiting for them when they get out of the car. It's very fancy and spacious on the inside. Peter explores a bit, peeking his head inside the cockpit to see that there's no pilot.
"Whoa, no pilot?" Peter exclaims in awe, "That's awesome!"
'We should probably sit down,' Darwin thinks as the plane starts rumbling beneath his paws. He gently nudges Peter towards the aisle.
The boy perks up and sits in the seat across from Happy.
"Is that where you're gonna sit?" Happy asks bluntly.
"Yeah."
"Is this your first time on a private plane?"
"This is my first time on any plane."
Without another word, Happy gets up and moves to a seat farther away. As he does, the plane starts firing up and getting ready to fly. The engine outside starts making a whirring noise and Peter glances at it anxiously.
"Should it- should it be- should it be making that noise?" He asks, beginning to feel nervous.
Happy doesn't bother responding.
Darwin frowns. 'Rude.' He sits down in front of Peter and puts his head in his lap. Peter starts petting him and calms down slightly, but he does clutch him tightly when the plane takes off. Thankfully, the flight isn't that long, probably due to the fact that they're on a private jet, and soon they arrive at an airport in Berlin. After that, it's a blur of Berlin streets, pretzel vendors, and street performers before they finally reach their hotel.
Happy points at a door before moving on to the next one. "This is you."
"Oh, we're neighbors?"
"We're not roommates. Suit up."
The room is very spacious, much fancier than any room Darwin and Peter have ever gone in. Peter looks around in awe for a moment before setting his stuff down. He quickly changes into his Spider-Man suit before turning to Darwin.
"Okay, buddy, I've got this, I- oh my God!" He suddenly exclaims, smacking his forehead, "I didn't bring any food for you! Oh, God, I don't know how long I'm gonna be gone, what if you get hungry?"
He starts rummaging around in his backpack before pulling out a bag of popcorn. "Dogs can eat popcorn, right?" He mutters to himself, quickly pulling out his phone to ask Google, "I mean, it's probably not healthy, but it won't kill you, and this doesn't have salt or any-."
"What the hell are you wearing?" Happy's voice suddenly snaps.
They both glance up to see the man glaring at Peter's suit in disgust.
"It's my suit," Peter says innocently.
"Where's the case?" When Peter doesn't know, Happy huffs in frustration and opens a door, revealing another area of the suite.
Peter gawks. "What? I thought that was a closet. This is still my room? My room is way bigger than-"
"There," Happy grunts, gesturing to a case sitting on the coffee table.
Darwin pads forward and snuffles at it. There's a card that says 'A minor upgrade- TS'. When Peter unlocks the case, it unfolds itself and pops open, revealing a high-tech Spider-Man suit with glowing holograms floating in front of it. Both Peter and Darwin's eyes widen.
"Whoa," Peter breathes, "Oh my God!"
He glances at Happy and the man looks at him expectantly. "Put it on."
"What the-" Peter stammers, "This is the coolest thing I've ever seen-"
"Let's go."
"But, yeah. Well, I don't understand. Is it for me? Happy, Happy, wait!" Despite Peter's protests, Happy leaves the room.
Peter takes off his mask and grins at Darwin. "This is insane! Insane! Look at this thing! Look-Look at the eyes! This is the greatest day of my life!"
Despite his worry, Darwin wags his tail. Peter's excitement is contagious. He's also glad that Stark took the time to make Peter a new suit, one that's hopefully going to protect him more than the baggy sweatshirt he calls a suit.
"Come on, kid!" Happy urges.
"Right, right!" Peter says. He quickly puts on the new suit, oohing and ahhing the entire time, and tosses the bag of popcorn onto the coffee table where Darwin can reach.
"Okay, buddy, see ya later!" Peter says as Happy ushers him out of the room, "There's snacks for you and-oh, and if you need water you can use the sink in the bathroom- I know you know how to turn it on, alri-"
Happy interrupts him by slamming the door behind them. Darwin blinks and glances around, suddenly alone.
'I guess all I can do is wait, now,' he thinks.
Peter is gone for a disturbingly long time. The first couple of hours are fine, Darwin can feel his emotions through their bond and he just seems really excited, but as more time goes by, Darwin's anxiety grows. It feels like Peter's fighting right now.
'Who knows what he's fighting against?' he worries, 'He's used to taking down muggers or stopping car crashes- he's not ready to fight other superheroes! What was Stark thinking?'
He does end up eating the popcorn, but it doesn't distract him for very long. Just like with April, he's antsy and restless whenever Peter is gone. The next few hours are torture, so when Darwin finally hears Peter's footsteps coming down the hallway, he perks up and dashes over to the door. As soon as it opens, Darwin rears up on his hind legs and crashes into Peter, licking his face frantically.
'Oh, thank God you're okay!' He thinks worriedly, 'Oh, you're all dirty and sweaty- but I can clean that up! Gah, I'm just so glad you're alright!'
Peter grunts under his weight and grimaces when his tongue slobbers over his face. "Ugh! Darwin! Darwin, buddy, I'm fine, I'm fine! Get off, you're getting your slobber all over me!"
Reluctantly, Darwin drops down onto all fours and instead sniffs Peter for injuries. Peter wipes the drool off of his face with his sleeve. "I'm glad you missed me," he snorts, then suddenly perks up, completely forgetting the licking.
"Oh my God, Darwin, it was the most amazing thing that's ever happened!" Peter exclaims, obviously still high on adrenaline, "So Mr. Stark was like, "Hey, Underoos!" and I just sort of flipped in and I stole Cap's shield. I was like, "Hey, what's up, everybody?" And then-"
There's a knock on the door and Peter backflips over to it, but before he can open it, Happy enters in a bathrobe.
"Hey," Peter greets breathlessly.
"We have thin walls here," Happy says tiredly.
"Oh, right!" Peter says, lowering his voice, "I'll keep it down."
"Good." With that said, Happy disappears into his own room.
Peter huffs before going back to Darwin. He pulls his phone out of his pocket and says, "Okay, I recorded everything so you can see. Here, look-"
Darwin, who's still sniffing Peter, wrinkles his nose at the stench of sweat. Peter notices and runs a hand through his limp curls. "Oh, wait, I should probably take a shower, I stink." He places the phone in front of Darwin and clicks play. "Okay, watch it while I do that."
He backflips into the bathroom and Darwin rolls his eyes. The video shows Iron Man, War Machine, Captain America, Black Widow, and Black Panther confronting each other. Peter narrates what's going on, but he has to set the camera down for most of it, only occasionally picking it up and filling in what happened during brief pauses in the battle. Because of course it ends up being a battle, despite Stark's reassurances otherwise.
Thankfully, when Peter is finished showering, he doesn't appear to be injured. Sore, definitely, but mostly just tired. He flops onto the bed and groans.
"Ughhhhh," he moans. Darwin jumps up onto the bed and sniffs his face. Peter scrunches up his nose when the dog's whiskers tickle him and he pushes his face away.
"C'mon," he says, reaching over to the hotel phone, "Happy said we could order room service. Let's get some dinner."
He quickly looks at the menu in the small pamphlet on the table and orders his food over the phone. Soon enough, Peter and Darwin are staring at what looks like a full buffet of delicious-smelling food being wheeled into their room.
Peter immediately digs in, ravenous after his day of fighting. As he eats, he tosses burger patties and hotdogs to Darwin, who gobbles them up hungrily.
"Good thing Aunt May isn't here," Peter says as he chews his food, grinning at Darwin.
The dog nearly rolls his eyes and is tempted to scold him for talking with food in his mouth. He does, however, notice that Peter is able to eat an inhuman amount of food in a short time.
'Hmm,' he thinks, 'Must be a mutant thing.'
Once they're both comfortably full, they have the plates taken away and curl up together in bed, now that they have one big enough for the two of them. Peter starts watching some TV, but with the exhaustion from the battle and his full stomach, he's soon out like a light. He snores softly against Darwin's shoulder and the dog lets out a content sigh.
'All things considered,' he ponders, 'This could have gone a lot worse. Peter's happy, he's not hurt, and he's had fun. I'm sure the experience he got from fighting tougher guys will help him when he's on his usual patrols. I hope he can keep the suit, too. Hmm, speaking of suits, where's Stark? He seemed to have disappeared after the battle.'
They don't see Stark the next morning, nor do they see him on the plane back to New York, but he does accompany them in the car ride back to Queens. Darwin assumes the man returned to the States on his own private plane, or perhaps even his suit. Peter is thrilled to be spending time with the older man, despite it being a bit of a squeeze with both him, Darwin, and Stark in the back of the car. Peter chatters excitedly the entire car ride, but Darwin can tell something's off about Stark.
He's practically radiating pain and frustration, despite the stiff smiles he gives Peter. Darwin winces at his feelings of betrayal and anguish, but worst of all is the overwhelming feeling of guilt. The man is wearing sunglasses, even though it's nighttime, but Darwin can see some bruising on his face and assumes he has a black eye. His body is taut and he's holding himself stiffly, but his leg still bounces slightly, as if he's nervous and trying to hide it.
Darwin tilts his head. 'What happened to you?' He ponders, 'Hmm, maybe he's just worried because Captain America and his friend got away. Must've been hard, fighting someone who used to be your friend. He's sad about it.'
Leaning over, Darwin puts his head on Stark's lap and licks his hand soothingly.
Both the man and Peter seem surprised.
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" Peter squeaks, pulling Darwin's head away, "Ha ha, sorry, he's a licker!"
"No worries, no worries," Stark says cooly, "I've never been much of a dog person myself, but, uh, he seems like a… good boy." He awkwardly reaches over and pats Darwin's head.
"Yeah, he's great," Peter says nervously, running his hands through Darwin's fur, "He's nice, he… really, ya know, helps me…"
Stark gets that same curious look in his eyes, the same one he had when Peter first mentioned that Darwin was his emotional support dog. However, before he can say anything, Happy speaks up from the driver's seat.
"Dog's huge," he grunts, "Can't imagine having a horse like that in a tiny apartment. Kid narrates his thoughts and everything like he's in some sort of movie."
Peter's fingers tighten in his fur and Darwin feels a flash of indignance from him. Thankfully, Stark eases the tension. "Hey, hey, hey, the dog's great. And- movie! That gives me a good idea, we should make an alibi video for your aunt."
"Oh!" Peter takes his phone out of his pocket and holds it up. Stark takes off his glasses, fully revealing his bruised face.
"Hey, May!" He says cheerfully as Peter starts recording, "How you doing? What are you wearing? Something skimpy, I hope."
Peter frowns and glances at Stark while Darwin lets out a soft growl. The man chuckles and pats the teenager's shoulder, which encourages him to give him an uncomfortable smile.
Thankfully, Stark says, "Peter, that's inappropriate. All right, let's start over. You can edit it."
"Mm-hmm," Peter hums innocently before snorting.
Darwin rolls his eyes and rests his head on Peter's lap while they film their video, all fake smiles and too-cheery voices. They come to an abrupt stop after Happy and Stark bicker, then Happy exits to get Peter's bags, which surprises Peter.
He slowly lowers the phone in shock. "I can keep the suit?" He asks, his eyes wide.
"Yes, we were just talking about it."
Darwin listens to them talk. 'Eh, maybe Stark's not so bad after all,' he thinks approvingly, 'The fact that he's giving the suit to Peter means he cares about his safety. And he has Happy now- well, with his attitude he might not be too helpful, but it's good that Peter can talk to an adult about Spider-Man now. I'm glad I'm not the only one watching over him.'
There's an awkward moment in which Stark grabs the door for Peter, who mistakes the gesture as a hug and wraps his arms around him. It doesn't seem to dampen Peter's mood, however, and there's a definite spring in his step as he heads back into the apartment.
"They're gonna call me."