Going Through Changes -> Peter Parker

14.

Dinner with Tony was always a nightmare. The Guardian and the son he never wanted just stared at each other. This was the first time they saw each other in person since Tony's return from India, shortly after the lake incident, and both of them were too proud and stubborn to move on from the past. And in the middle was Pepper, the kindhearted woman that came closest to a mother to Liam, trying her best to get her two boys to make up already. But she had failed so far.

But much to his dismay, Liam knew pretty damn well he had to make the first move eventually. But not before they had finished their meal Pepper had cooked for them. Just in case things escalated again. He wasn't going to disrespect her affords.
So under the brown-eyed glare he despised so much, Liam finished his last piece of chicken.
"That was excellent, Pepps," he smiled at the blond woman, who immediately beamed back. Pepper didn't cook often, but whenever she did, it was a delight. "I'm glad you liked it.", she smiled back contently. Every meal they finished without her two men jumping each other's throats was a win to her, and both of them tried their best to avoid controversial topics. But with Pepper cleaning the table, it was on.

" So why are you here? Did you steal something again and break it?" Tony asked, swinging the red wine in his glass casually while his gaze bore into Liam. But that was a game for two, so Liam intensified his stare back. To other people, his look was unsettling and chilling to the bones, the gaze of a monster. But Tony was completely unaffected because he knew the boy too well to falter for this bluff. "I never broke anything.", Liam chose to reply instead of starting an argument. He wanted something from his guardian, after all.
But of course, Tony wasn't in the mood to be friendly:
"Really? So why is the Mark missing an arm?" Because you made it detach itself to get me out of the suit.", Liam shot back, trying hard not to grind his teeth in frustration. That one little mistake he made a few months ago was haunting him like a bad joke, and Tony was enjoying it way too much, reminding him of it.

" So what do you want then? You're surely not here to spend some time as a family.", Tony continued to ask, still convinced the boy had done something critically. Tony had always been excellent at judging others by his own standards. But he tended to forget that it doesn't matter how much the two of them seemed to be alike; Liam always had the potential to take a hard turn in a completely different direction.
"I'm here to inform you that I'm going to DC tomorrow. And I need you to sign this."  Out of the pockets of his hoodie, Liam pulled out the pertinent slip Mr. Harrington had handed out to the team earlier. Carefully, while holding the eye contact, he slid it over to Tony, who eyed it indifferently. " Decathlon?"
" I'm good at it. ", Liam shrugged, leaning back in his seat. "I thought you hated school," Tony tilted his head while nipping at his wine. "I do. But I like winning. As you can see, it's the national championship. Good competition."  Tony hummed. That could be either a good or a terrible sign. Liam watched as Tony grabbed the Stark glass next to him to search the database for information about the championship. There was nothing curious for him to find. The teen had checked that himself.

"Hmm, Peter Parker is on the team too." Tony spotted the potential for trouble immediately. "He doesn't plan to go." Liam shrugged again. Another hum from Tony. Then he looked up. "Why didn't you sign yourself? You've never been one to ask."  Liam crossed his arms over his chest. "It is less about the signature as it is about the Iron Suit hot on my heels." 
"You still have it following, Liam?" Pepper joined the conversation being back from the kitchen with a glass of wine in her hand as she sat down again. "It's better to have him under supervision.", To y explained to her what made her shake her head. "You're unbelievable." "He stole my suit, he gives Happy a hard time, and on top of that, he almost got himself and my spiderling killed. I think my sepsis is reasonable.", Tony pointed out while flicking through more information on his glass pad.  "Also, don't you think Decathlon is a weird choice? He's never been interested in anything academic."  "It's a school trip, Tony. Let him have some normal experiences. That's why you sent him to school in the first place, ain't it?"

Liam could always trust Pepper. But betraying hers, what was made his stomach ache. He had to remind himself that if everything went according to plan, nobody was getting hurt, and she never had to know about his betrayal. But he had to find something special to make it up to her regardless.
"So you think I should let him go to another city to wreak havoc?" Tony looked at Pepper as if he was waiting for her to pick his side. Of course, he was. Pepper just looked back at him with that sweet smile that meant her opinion was set in stone. She never let Tony influence her decisions. Liam loved her for that. But this was his battle. He had to fight for himself, or Tony would never start to take him seriously.
" I promised the team to go, so I will. I'm not letting them down.", he made clear with another of his intense glares.  "Well, you won't get my signature." Tony's final decision.  "Then don't expect your precious spy suit to return." With that, Liam rose from his seat. "You won't break that suit again!", Tony exclaimed, pointing his finger at the boy accusingly.  "I'm going to light that shit up like it's the fourth of juli", Liam grinned back wickedly, turning to leave. "Hey! We're not done! Where do you think your going?", the billionaire shouted after the boy who just strided away provocatively.  "Home.", he called back right before he walked out of the room.
Excactly 15 minutes later, when Liam was wandering the streets of New York, his phone vibrated. A quick look at the display was enough to confirm that somehow, Pepper had managed to convince Tony to let him off the hook. So much to fighting his own battles.