Peter Parker one-shots

Sacrifice (part 3)

A/N: uhm... *sweats from eyeballs*

long time no talk?

so it's uh- it's been a while

but i'm back?

In all seriousness though, I'm sorry for being away for literally years. There was a lot of stuff going on which I'm not going to go into detail about, but I'm doing better now, thank God. I'm sorry to disappoint, but I think this'll be one of, if not the last chapter I post for this story. If not, cool (it'll probably just be crack, but still)! But, uhm, I'm most likely going to dicontinue the story after this.

Peter, Tony had learnt in the short few hours he had spent with him, was a precious little cinnamon roll.

A precious, stupid little cinnamon roll with absolutely no sense of self-preservation, but a precious little cinnamon roll, nonetheless.

With a ridiculously protective aunt who might just be the most terrfying force Tony had ever reckoned with. 

When Tony had first been informed that a 1.65m, 49.5kg woman had just hijaacked the Avengers Tower, he had to admit, he was a little impressed.

Then, when she stormed straight into the living room, eyes blazing with barely-constrained fury, equipped with only a hair pin and a pencil sharpener, Tony's awe was tinged with fear.

But when she strode right up to America's ass, himself, glaring up at him in all his 185cm glory, reared her hand back, and slapped him across the face, Tony decided that he wanted to be her best friend.

Until she came and slapped him across the face, and he subsequently decided that it would be too dangerous to ever introduce her to Pepper. 

("Uh, I think we should go," Clint whispered to the other avengers, who quickly agreed and left Tony to face May's wrath on his own.)

Now, she was clinging to Peter like her life depended on it, the two crying bitterly into eachother's shoulders after they had been re-united, and Peter filled her in on everything that happened.

("Do you realise how terrified  I was when it was literally hours after you were supposed to finish patrol, and I couldn't get a hold of you? You missed our movie, Peter."

"I know, aunt May. I didn't mean to scare you. I love you, and I'm so sorry."

"I'm just glad you're OK.")

Tony had been avoiding asking for a while, but eventually he managed to muster up the courage to question how on earth May managed to get in.

May's teary smile dropped. "Wouldn't you like to know, weather boy?"

"No seriously, I kind of need to know."

May eventually gave in, explaining what Tony needed to know (and by God he wanted to hire her to test the tower's security system because that was brilliant), but that still didn't explain how she knew where to go, and what floor to go on.

"One of you idiots left a shock arrow in an alley where I went searching. It wasn't hard to put the dots together," May chided.

"And the floor?"

"Well when I broke in, your wonderful wife saw me and asked what I was doing. Once I let her know, she just told me which floor and gave me a clearance card," May continued, pulling the small rectangle out of her pocket, and dangling it in front of Tony's face.

"She says hello, by the way," May laughed, raising an eyebrow.

Et tu, Pepper?  Tony placed a hand over his arc-reactor, simultaneously unsurprised and deeply betrayed.

"So," May began, turning back to Peter, "think you're ready to head home, now?" Peter nodded eagerly, and Tony couldn't help but notice his eyes lit up akin to that of a golden retriever's.

And then, the air shifted slightly, and a sadness washed over the billionaire. He was only just getting to know the kid; he didn't want Peter and May to leave.

"Well Spidey, before you head off, I've gotta say I am very impressed with this little web-slinging gig you've got going on. But if you're looking to expand a little, if you and your aunt don't mind, I'd like to reach out to you in the very near future to discuss you joining Fury's super-secret boy-band."

"I-" Peter stuttered, eyes the size of dinner-plates.

 "You'll fit right in," Tony cajoled.

"Thank you, Mr. Stark. But I'm good." Peter took a deep breath, looking shocked at his own words.

"You're good? Good...? How are you good?" Tony pressed.

"Well, I mean, I'd rather just stay on the ground for a little while. Friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Somebody's got to look out for the little guy, right?"

Tony stared in disbelief. "You're turning me down? You better think about this." Tony could see Peter genuinely contemplating, biting his lip as he thought. "Last chance. Yes or no?"
Peter sighed, and Tony already knew what the answer would be before it even left Peter's lips. "No."
"Okay," Tony replied, trying to mask his disappointment.

He musn't have hid it very well, because Peter quickly followed up with:

"It's kind of a Springsteen-y, working-class hero vibe that I dig. But thank you, Mr. Stark."

"Yes, Mr. Parker," Tony said, appeasingly. "Very well." He walked with May and Peter to the elevator, about to press the button to open the doors.

"That was a test, right?" Tony blinked, confused. "There's nobody back there?" 

The billionare paused, and then smirked at May, fondly. "Yes, you passed."

Peter's eyes lit up, and Tony couldn't fight the smile creeping onto his face in response, but quickly managed to cover it with a cool smirk. "Come and visit any time. I'll make sure the clearance card Pepper gave you doesn't expire." Peter nodded brightly, grinning at his aunt, who smiled softly and winked in response.

"Maybe if you stop giving me heart attacks," May joked fondly, and Peter huffed out a laugh.

"All right, skedaddle there, young buck," Tony said, pressing the elevator button.

"Thank you, Mr. Stark," Peter smiled as he and May stepped into the elevator.

"Thank you, kid."