𝑫𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝑫𝒂𝒅 (1)

Epilogue

Half a year later, summer

"Mr. Stark, it's finished!" Peter wiped away a bead of sweat that was steadily making its way down his face, and stepped back to survey the coding he had just completed.

Tony was tinkering with one of his suits on other side of the lab, and headed over at Peter's announcement. He skimmed over the coding on the computer. "Looking good, kid. Nicely polished. Let's try it out."

"Okay, here we go." Peter cleared his throat. "NATALIA, say hello." 

"Hello, Peter." A female voice with only a hint of Russian accent spoke from the computer.

Tony glanced at Peter. "NATALIA?"

Peter smiled sheepishly. "It's named in honour of Ms. Romanoff, and it's also an acronym. Stands for 'Not Average Technology, Ass-kicking Logical Intelligent Assistant'."

"Brilliant." Tony took a sip from his mug of strong coffee. "So, you gonna tell me about that field trip?"

Peter grinned. "We're going to Europe! Or at least that's what Mr. Harrington claims. I hope the hotel's good."

"You know I can always fund the whole trip."

"But Mr. Stark, you can't just buy the whole field trip! It'll be fine. Plus, you're still hiding from the press."

"I wouldn't necessarily call it hiding." Tony sighed. "Alright then, go have fun. Have a great vacation. And try not to worry about, y'know, your spider business. I'll try not to interfere. You can go back to your apartment and prepare now, if you want." 

Peter's eyes lit up. "Really? Thanks Mr. Stark!" Tony watched as the doe-eyed boy bounded excitedly out the lab, staring wearily. He had to admit, he was worried.

"Mr. Dad, Peter will be okay," NATALIA reassured, to Tony's surprise. He let out a bark of laughter at the nickname Peter set for the AI to call him.

Suddenly, the telephone started to ring from a nearby table. Tony strode over, and upon noticing how it said it was an unknown number, exhaled out of annoyance, but picked up anyway. "Hello?"

"Stark. Had a nice nap?" Director Fury's voice said in a deeply annoyed tone, making a smirk slowly spread on the billionaire's face. "We need you, so get your lazy ass over here. I don't care if you're still hiding."

"Sorry, but the answer's-"

"Oh, would you just listen for once?" Fury sounded really pissed, so Tony decided not to hang up yet. "I'm in Ixtenco, Mexico-" 

"Great, nice place to be on vacation."

Fury was unfazed. "Locals say the cyclone had a face."

"Are you kidding me? What, are we fighting the weather now? They were probably just seeing things while freaking out."

"Agent Hill said about the same thing." There was some loud background noise like a vacuum cleaner, then Fury's voice, farther away this time, "what the..? Who are you?"

Tony ran a hand down his face. "Are we done here now? Can I hang up?"

"No." Fury growled. "There's what seems like a strange new superhero wearing a fishbowl full of green smoke fighting with a dusty creature-"

That caught Tony's attention. He shifted his position into a more attentive one, eyebrows furrowing. "A new super? Wearing a fish bowl? I'm sorry, what?" He sighed, sitting down on the table, resigned. "You know what, I don't care. That's great, this guy can help you. A 'dusty creature' is a little below our pay grade if it's not earth-threatening, and I already have a teenager on a field trip to worry about, so bye!"

"Stark-"

Beep.

Tony dropped the telephone and headed back over to the suit he was playing around with, calling out to his AI, "FRIDAY? Block all calls from 'Unknown Number'."

"Yes sir."

As long as his kid was safe, Tony couldn't care more about these small problems.

The End

... or is it?