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"Katelyn?" My mother's small voice rang out from under the door. I ignored it. I was honestly surprised. She had come home from work early. Usually, Dad did all this feelings stuff. Not that he was great at it. "Darling, you have to let me in," she begged, but I didn't move. I needed to be alone right now. The lab was locked, and I had hacked the code, disabling their access. They could get in if they tried hard enough, but I just wanted to be alone.
Her voice broke through my thoughts. "Alright, don't let me in. Can we talk?" I just whimpered in response. "You have to know this isn't your fault, Katelyn. He shouldn't have turned off his suit. It's built to protect him. You helped build it, for crying out loud!" She said gently. She was walking on eggshells around me like I could break at any second. I thought I already had.
The lab didn't really have a door. It was open-concept, but the wall (door) could be brought down by my command. I heard the engines spinning to life, and the wall started to lift. My first thought was to be mad, but I was too exhausted. I collapsed toward my mother's open arms.
"Mom, is he-" my voice broke, "is he okay? Is he dead?" I asked pinching my eyes closed at the thought.
"He's ok. He woke up about an hour ago," it's been an hour? I thought. "But he wants to see you," she added, releasing herself from my hug. "Love you, honey. Now go talk to him."
I nodded my head in surrender and started towards the med-wing.
-o-
Dad and I almost run into each other at the door of Peter's room. We don't share any words, just a reassuring squeeze of our hands and a nod. He lets me go in first. Holding my breath, I walk in and see Pete. He looks like, well, like a bomb exploded on him. My hand covered my mouth to hide my shock and tears.
"No, it's alright. I get it. I look like shit," he said, chuckling. He immediately regretted it. His hands flew to his stomach as he attempted to mask his pain.
"Pete…" I cried. It was all I could get out. I ran to his side and checked him out for myself. I needed to know. After giving him a thorough checkup, I stepped away and crossed my arms. He braced himself, knowing exactly what was coming.
"Peter Benjamin Parker, I cannot believe you took a bomb to the face." He tried to interrupt, but I cut him off. "Yes, I do sound like my dad, and no, I'm not going to think this through more. I have thought about it long enough. You are banned from all Spiderman duties until further notice," I finished, my voice firm.
"You can't do that! Kate, I am Spider-Man. He's not just some toy I play with. I have to help. What if someone else had gotten hurt?" He argued.
"Then I'm sure their family would be worried sick, also. I'm not letting put yourself in harms-way like that again," I said, my voice rising. His face turned red with anger.
"You're not the boss of me! Okay? I can pick and choose my own battles!"
"You mean pick every single one?!" I shot back.
"This is ridiculous. I did not come here to be criticized. You always do this. You try to control me!" he yelled. "Maybe we should take a break," he added.
I had no comeback to that. My breath hitched in my throat. After what felt like forever, I spoke. "If this is how I'm treated for trying to protect you, then maybe we should," I said with a wavering voice. I knew I was close to tears, and so was he, so I tried to get out of there quickly. However, I did have some dignity, so I managed to throw a dramatic door slam in as I ran away from the med-wing. My dad threw me a glance, obviously having heard the whole thing, but he went in to talk to Peter anyway. That just made me madder, and I stormed down the hall into my room.
-o-
AN: Trying a new perspective so you get some IronDad in here! Basically, this is Tony as he protects his daughter. Hope you like it!
Kate was crying as she left. Oh no, I thought to myself, now they're both hurt. I'll have to check up on her soon, but first, I need to give this boy a piece of my mind. Trying to stay calm, I entered.
He was crying too. "Hey Pete, what's up?" I asked, keeping my voice kind and light. He's hurt, I reminded myself.
"Nothing Mr. Stark, I'm fine," he replied with a sniffle. Why couldn't he trust me? He was hurting, and he wouldn't talk to me.
"I'm calling bullshit, kid. You look far from fine," I said. I honestly tried to be nice. I tried to keep the conversation away from Katelyn, but she's my daughter. I couldn't help it. "What happened with Kate?" I ask.
He grimaced. "Mr. Stark," he started.
"Or maybe I should go first." I interrupted. "Here goes. What the hell?!" I scream at him. "Yeah, she was way out of line asking you to quit being Spider-man. Rather, forcing, I guess. But then you go and scream at a girl who's done nothing but worry about you and blame herself for what happened for 12 hours straight! Her mental health is down the drain, and you break UP WITH HER?!" my voice was rising, and I was out of control. My fists were clenched. Seeing the fear in his eyes, I reigned it in a bit. "Just, why?" I asked, much softer now.
He openly sobbed now, not trying to hide it anymore. "I can't do this, Mr. Stark. If she doesn't love Spider-man, she doesn't love me," he said with a voice full of conviction.
I almost laughed. Kids. They overreact to everything. "What makes you think she doesn't love Spidey, kid?" Wasn't it obvious that she was just trying to protect him?
He relaxed at the use of the nickname. "Well, she wants me to quit, so…" he looked at me, confused.
"No, she wants you to take a break. I agree with her, but that's not my concern right now, Parker," my voice grew cold again, "Right now, I'm worried about my daughter and who hurt her. Which, at the moment, is you. So, we're going to put this conversation on hold, but believe me, Aunt May will not be happy." He gave me puppy eyes as I stood up, but for once, I was able to resist. "I'm going to go comfort my daughter," I said, glaring at him as I walked out.
"Hey Friday, alert me if Spider-boy tries anything," I order.
"Yes, boss. Would you like me to lock his window?" she asked, knowing exactly what I meant.
"Please and thank you, Fri, and also lock his door. Some timeout could be good for him. Tell Aunt May what happened," I finished, reaching Kate's door.
I braced myself to be ready for anything, and then I knocked lightly, "Hey kid, ya in there?"
-o-
Kate's Perspective
I pulled my head out of my pillow to Dad's voice. "Hey kid, ya in there?" he asked. I groaned in response.
"Alright, can I come in then?" he questioned again, not scolding me for lack of words. Mom would have.
I knew my dad didn't do love stuff, but I needed someone right about then. "Yes," I said quietly.
The knob turned (Unlike my lab, my room had a door). "Hey," Dad whispered. He sat on my bed next to me and handed me a bag of Hershey's Kisses. "Thought you might need a little pick me up," he said.
I lay my head on his lap and he stroked through my hair. We ate chocolate and cried for hours until Mom got home from work. Friday played soft music in the background and kept us distracted with fun word games. When Mom got home, Friday stopped and told us.
"Mrs. Boss is home. Shall I alert her of your, um, predicament, sir?"
Dad got up despite my whimpers and attempts to pull him back. "Put her through," he said into an earpiece. I couldn't hear their conversation, but I wasn't worried. Most likely, he was just telling her how awful I looked. Honestly, I just wanted Dad back on the bed with me. He finished up and came back. We had just sat down and opened our third bag of Kisses when the door opened again, and Mom walked in.
"Sweetheart!" She exclaimed as she hugged me tightly. We didn't say anything; she just rocked me back and forth for a bit. Dad silently stood up at one point and snuck away. I pretended not to notice. "Let's watch a rom-com and throw popcorn at the screen and the stupidity of it," she said, and she started to braid my hair. We turned on Hitch, one of my all times favorites. Will Smith was great.
"Where's Dad going?" I asked eventually, a little way into the movie.
"He's just dealing with some stuff," she replied without missing a beat. That's my mother, always prepared for nosy interviewers.
"SI stuff or Avengers stuff?" I pestered. I might need to worry if it was the latter. I hated when Dad did Avengers stuff without telling me.
"Don't worry. Just some Dad stuff," she answered, but I wasn't satisfied. She squeezed my shoulders and turned up the volume. "Let's just watch the movie, ok?"
"Do I have to go to school tomorrow?" I speak up again.
"I don't know; that's up to Tony. Please, can we watch? I love Hitch."
"Fine."
The movie went on and many unlucky assistants were asked to bring us ice cream. When it was over, we did our hair, put on some makeup, and got changed. Mom told me that the best way to get over a guy was to look like you were better off without him until even you believed it. I was too mad at Peter to be sad right now, so I went along with it. Once we were dressed up, we decided to go out. We drove to our favorite mall, and, perks of being a billionaire's daughter, I got three new pieces of jewelry from Jared's and a PINK backpack. When we were on our way home, though, the comforting spell was broken. Outside our car window, a security alarm went off, and a red figure was swinging down the street. My Spidey was out fighting crime the day after his injuries! Dad let him out of the med-wing. I slapped at the window, desperate to stop him.
"Goddammit, Mom! He's going to get hurt!" I exclaimed angrily.
Mom whispered to Happy, who was driving us around, then turned to me. She grabbed my arms and pushed me down. "Honey, he's not yours to worry about. You're starting a scene." Sure enough, there were phones out around the car. Happy was a godsend, however, and he easily avoided the crowd.
"Mom, I miss him already," I said, laying my head on her shoulders.
"I know, sweetheart. But you can't control how he reacts. Only how you do. And I hate to press, but people are going to notice that you're single," she replied, her work face back on.
"Mom, I know that. I don't need a CEO right now. I don't need a PR manager. I need my mom," I said, kissing her cheek. She just pulled me into a hug in reply, but I swore that I could hear her cursing Dad under her breath. I saw her discreetly send a text, no doubt to my dad about what had happened. Happy sped home, and I went straight to my lab to distract myself.
I didn't see Dad or Mom the rest of the day, and I didn't go to school either.