Chapter 4: Happy
Happy Hogan absolutely loved his blissfully silent days spent locked up inside his home. It was nice to be able to curl up on his couch with a good book while Downtown Abbey played in the background. He loved being able to sip at his coffee, or tea, or munch on a roll while the noise of the city bled into the noises from the screen. It was oddly soothing, and all too much for a Thursday afternoon.
Something wasn't right.
Oh no.
For one, Peter Parker was never silent, and had never, since the day Tony had given the boy his number...Peter Parker had never not blown up Happy's phone with ridiculous text messages of his after school vigilante-ing.
With mild panic settling in his sternum, Happy stood from his comfortable position and made his way over to the small table that sat just by the entryway. Worried brown eyes glanced down at the two cell phones that sat in the insurmountable silence.
Just to make sure, the older man tapped softly on the screens twice, waiting for them to light up and alert him to a message that he had missed receiving. Nothing came up.
No alert from P. Parker. Nothing from The Kid.
There were plenty of messages from Tony though; but it wasn't exactly uncommon for Happy to ignore him on his days off. Still, he grabbed both of his phones with a huff, before settling back down in his comfort zone.
Slowly, he flipped through the messages, taking the time to read and reply to each and everyone of them. Mostly, Tony was spazzing about some kind of break through with Steve, or was complaining about Pepper dragging him to one thing or another. Nothing that Happy could have deemed important; or would have rushed to reply to at any other point during his day off.
Nothing was a red arrow screaming at him that the Kid was up to something; and that was even worst.
Heaving a sigh, Happy found Peter's number in his phone before giving pause. Should he bother the kid? What if he really was doing nothing, and being a normal kid for once?
Nope. That wasn't how Peter Parker worked. He felt like he had an obligation to the city of New York even though they've never done anything for him. It didn't really make sense to Happy; the need to protect and help everyone that needed it. Especially when they would turn on him in the blink of an eye. And they didn't even know that the cruel words and whines and shots were all aimed at a teenager who was still trying to figure out who he was.
It was only seconds before Tony's name had popped up on his caller ID. Sliding his finger over the green button, the man put the phone to his ear with a fond sigh.
"Yes, Tony?" Happy rolled his eyes as he leaned his head back onto the cushion of his couch.
"Has the kid been quiet all day?" Tony's voice was full of anxiety. He hadn't been released completely from the med bay after the hit. The kid had demanded that he stay by his side for as long as the adults would allow him—until Tony had kicked him out with the demand that he go to school and continue his normal life. All Tony wanted, was for the kid to take a break. The past year had been crazy; May's mugging, the attack on the high school, the attack on the tower. The kid had been there for all of them, and Tony felt it necessary that Spidey lay low for a while. But laying low, did not require the kid to be quiet.
"Yeah, I don't know if that's a good thing though." Happy sighed pinching the bridge of his nose. Even when the kid was quiet, there was still something going on. There would always be some type of stress and anxiety attached to his very name.
"Of course it isn't a good thing, Happy. It's Pete. When is the kid ever quiet, huh?" Tony grunted to himself. In the background was a loud clang. The man could just imagine the billionaire as his brows lowered into a deadpan, before he turned and yelled incomprehensibly at one of the robots in his lab. It brings a smile to the man's face, but it can't reach his eyes.
"Touche," Happy snorted a bit brushing a hand over his face. "I'll get dressed."
"Meet you downtown in five," Tony chirped groaning at another clash. Happy sighed heavily as he hung up on his boss and made his way towards the door of his apartment.
His hand reached out for the door knob, keys in his hand, when something grabbed his shoulder.
Every instinct in Happy's body screamed simultaneously: Danger. Someone had broken into his home, and managed to do so rather silently. Said person currently has their hand near his neck—a soft point, a dangerous point. If their fingers moved swiftly, they could wrap around his throat and strangle him. Not without a fight, of course. But Happy didn't know who had him, or if he would be able to take them on without completely losing and embarrassing himself.
"It's just me!" The voice bounced off the walls, easing into Happy's consciousness slowly. The bodyguard turned, eyes narrowing in annoyance at the young man standing before him. "Just me, Hap." Spiderman sighed heavily. His shoulders slumped forward, almost as if the world had been lifted. "You have to get out of here,"The kid keeps his voice low and raspy. It sounded as if he was trying to swallow air, but was swallowing too much in one gulp.
"What's going on, kid? What have you gotten into now?" Happy is like a brick—immovable in even the harshest of winds. His lips pursed against his lips, pulling over them in a reprimanding sneer. Peter stiffened before him, all nerves on end as his head jerked towards the window in Happy's kitchen. "What's going o-" Happy doesn't have a chance to blink. The kid is on top of him, shielding him from the flames that have thrown them both to the ground. The fire spreads quickly from his stove, engulfing his carpet before making its way up the walls, eating at the decorative wallpaper.
"Gas leak," Peter whispered groaning heavily. His muscles trembled under the strain of his own weight. "Gotta get everyone out," The teen grunted rolling off of the man below him. Happy grunted, coughing slightly as the smoke began to fill the apartment.
"I've got an extinguisher in here somewhere," Happy rubbed a hand over his face as the heat in the room began to soar well over what was comfortable. He hissed slightly as the flames began to seep just close enough to be uncomfortable. "How did you know kid?"
"Smell it a few blocks east...The closer I got the more my senses kinda...kinda went crazy?" Peter's voice still cracked and creaked with an unyielding sound of exhaustion. "Figured I'd stop by, and noticed it was your apartment building. Even thought about taking the stairs."
"Kinda glad you didn't," Happy frowned, coughing slightly at the smoke that was starting to invade the rest of his apartment. Upstairs, probably a few floors, another minuscule explosion went off. Another stove heating up the gas just enough to cause it to expand too fast. "We need to warn everyone, and get the building evacuated."
"Already ahead of you," Peter grunted rubbing a hand over his face. He struggled slightly to stand, but straightened himself. Happy Hogan took note, but pushed it to the back of his mind quickly. He'd talk to the kid about it after everyone was taken care of, and when he didn't have to worry about being burned to a cinder. The teenager rushed to the door, ushering Happy out, before glancing around. Probably making a plan in his head.
"You get the ones upstairs, I'll get everyone below me, since I've gotta take the stairs anyway." Happy grumbled unhappily. He knew, as soon as he moved into the building, the stairs were one day going to be the death of him. He just figured he'd still have a few years to go before that happened. But of course, the kid and life had other plans.
"Yepp, yepp." Peter nodded quickly watching Happy wearily before glancing towards the stairs and rolling his shoulders. "Right. Meet you outside then." Peter took off before Happy could even give him enough warning to be safe. Hell, the man hadn't even gotten a chance to open his mouth when the teenager took off.
Inside his apartment, Happy noted, his fire alarm hadn't gone off. The entire floor was still silent. He would have to bring that up with the building's owner. It was a safety hazard—obviously.
Outside, the smoke that escaped the upper floors of his apartment building was astounding. It was blinding the news helicopters as they raced around the building trying to get just the right picture. It was broadcast live, Happy had it playing on his phone. His ears perked at every gasp, and every small explosion, and every baited whisper of 'Spiderman'.
The kid had yet to make it out of the top of the building.
It was taking far too long, and it was making Happy increasingly uncomfortable. His fingers fidgeted at his side, scraping themselves together, and twisting among the fabric of his sweat pants. The anxiety that had built up in his stomach was only curling up faster, and foaming at his gut. The kid should have been out by now, but the last sighting had been five minutes ago. Not long by any means, but in the moment an entire eternity. He had never really seen the kid in total action. But when Spiderman swung out through a busted window, webs flying wildly as he seemed to struggle with a direction change, Happy got it.
A cheer escaped his throat as he cheered the vigilante on. A proudness that he hadn't been aware was building erupted from deep within his chest.
Then came the explosion.
Just to the east side of the tower, as Spiderman was swinging around it, probably double checking his work, the building rippled. Glass shards fell to the ground causing the by standers to scream and scatter so as not suffer injury. The web that Spidey had been swinging on snapped violently, sending the teenager sprawling and flailing through the air. He had gotten disoriented, much proven by the way he tried to shoot his web at a building while he was tumbling. He had missed the concrete of the building, but, as luck would have it, managed to attach himself to a fire escape.
As Parker Luck would have it—for the longest time Happy believed it was just a superstition—when the web snapped taut, it sent the hero into the red bricks. The resounding slap echoed down to the citizens, just before a scream was released. He was falling again, and couldn't seem to catch himself. Panic and bile, all at once, rose into Happy's chest.
He felt like he was going to throw up.
Spiderman was never this clumsy.
Hell, the kid had Karen on the inside of his suit telling him where to aim and even when to shoot.
"Iron Man!" One of the residents from the building cried out as their hero was caught by his arm.
Tony glanced down at the man, before turning his full attention to Spiderman. The kid was unbelievably still in his arms.
Happy's heart was almost as still as the teenager.
"Is he okay?" Happy whispered in the hall. Spiderman was asleep in the med bay, but Happy hadn't felt the need to leave the waiting room yet. May had been called, and had yet to arrive. Tony hadn't even demanded Happy go pick her up. And that hadn't settled the dread one bit.
"He's fine, just some smoke inhalation," Tony waved him off with a sigh. His own lips pursed into a thoughtful line. "He was having some sensory problems..."
"Sensory...Is that why we hadn't heard from him?"
"Yea," Tony sighed brushing a hand through his mussed hair. "Yea pretty much. But he was walking home when his senses went off. Said he couldn't figure it out until he realized where it was taking him."
"He saved a lot of people..." Happy whispered staring at the floor. Tony wasn't the only one in the building with a guilt complex. But Happy would be damned if he'd be as obvious about it as the genius.
"Good for him." Tony groaned collapsing into a chair beside him. "Glad someone is watching out for the little guys."
A/N: Sorry for the HTML issue. Apparently and my writing program have formatting differences and doesn't give the option for a preview until it's out! So I'm sorry about the previous chapters, but I think I fixed it!
