~Iron Family~

Save the Donuts!

Tony was exhausted.

He'd almost fallen asleep on the couch, but when the movie had ended he'd had to carry a fake-sleeping Morgan upstairs to her bedroom. 

Resisting the urge to crawl into bed straight away, Tony peeked his head into Peter's room to make sure he was okay. The kid was sitting on his windowseat, wide awake and staring out at the lake, but he made it very clear that he did not want to talk.

The next morning, he'd asked Pepper to watch the kids while he went out scouting for Spider-Man with some of the gang. Well, people in the gang that hadn't gotten sugar crashes from eating a million gummy bears last night and fallen asleep laying on their stomach on the floor while watching the Princess Bride.

It was a good thing he did.

He had just stepped out of the compound and connected he, Clint, Sam's, and Nat's comms when FRIDAY had alerted him of suspicious activity at a donut shop's grand opening. Tony had brushed it off, thinking it was some petty criminal--way below his pay grade.

Ignoring the simmering guilt, they split up and took several sections of Midtown, staying low and keeping a watchful eye out for the web-slinger. He usually showed his sorry face in the evening or night, but since it was a weekend the loser might not have college classes.

Then he'd heard the screams and watched people streaming down the street, running away from something in terror. So, naturally, that's the direction Tony flew towards.

At the donut shop, the crowd of lucky people that had been outside were still running away. Some of the people were trapped inside the building, trying desperately to break the store's windows laced with pink words. From here, Tony could catch a vague glimpse of some ovens on legs.

Perfect. Time to catch you red-handed, Spider-Man.

"Clint, Sam, Nat--the new donut shop. ASAP."

"Copy that," three voices answered unanimously. Tony was glad for choosing the most serious gang to accompany him today.

He kicked down the door after ordering the civilians to stand back, surveying the scene with a deepening frown.

The place was in ruins--powdered sugar, cake, and donuts were splattered everywhere, drywall and broken glass shards were scattered across the floor, and there was a ginormous hole in the ceiling.

Two washing machines, three ovens, and a refrigerator dug into things like animals, prying jewelry away from customers or shoving the cash register into their doors.

And then Tony spotted it--a drone shaped like a spider he had seen Spider-Man use on YouTube videos.

"Aha!" he shouted aloud, aiming his repulsor at the little mechanical bug. It dodged easily, so Tony turned his attention from it to taking out its companions, which were starting to turn to attacking the civilians.

After some well-aimed blasts that sent them all powering down, Tony gestured to the door.

"Everybody out!"

At that, the other three Avengers ducked in and joined him.

"What've we got?" Sam asked, adjusting his red goggles.

"That." Tony pointed to the spider drone, which was scuttling up the wall and trying to get out through the hole in the ceiling. He aimed his blaster at it and only managed to knock it down.

It jumped back up and fired at his suit, where the little lasers bounced off harmlessly. Sam pulled out his gun and started shooting, but the annoying little creep dodged every one. Clint tried to chase it and step on it, but it just shot at him, knocking him to the floor unconcious.

"Clint!" Natasha yelled, rushing to his side. He groaned, looking up at the sky as it took a moment for him to move again.

"Nat? Izat you? What day's it?"

"Relax, drama queen," Tony snorted. "You were stunned."

"Hey! Where'd the little bugger go?" Sam yelled. "Man, I took my eye away for one minute--"

"FRIDAY, track that...'bugger."

FRIDAY wasn't able to 'track' it, essentially, but could bring up video feed from its last known location. Tony hurried out the door and started on a chase.

After awhile, he lost the connection. It had disappeared.

Rats.

He turned around and headed back to the donut shop, gritting his teeth in frustration.

Another defeat by that spider kid.

***

"Well, at least we know for sure now that Spider-Man is working with the appliances!" Sam supplied cheerfully. Clint glared at him from across the table as he held a package of frozen peas to his head.

"Yeah, and that little guy is armed."

"You were stunned, man. Quit being so dramatic."

"I say we not only take him in, we arrest him as well, at this point!" Tony interjected. "Who's with me?"

Almost everyone raised their hands, except for Steve, who was still clutching his stomach on the floor, and, surprisingly, Happy.

"Hap?" Tony looked on shock. "You're not up for putting the Spider-Boy in jail?"

Happy flinched. "Tony, I don't think this is Spider-Man's doing. I think he's being framed."

"Oh, really?" Tony snorted. "And what gives you that idea?"

Happy sighed and adjusted himself in his chair. "Well, I'm just saying--all those months Spider-Man was around, what did he have? Some silly string and a costume. And now all of a sudden he as access to a bunch of Saberling appliances? I don't think so. It doesn't seem right. I don't think we should move forward without a proper investigation."

"'Proper investigation?' Happy, do you hear yourself? The guy traumatized children on a school bus, robbed a bank, warped my foster son's mind, and now attacked a bunch of old men trying to get donuts."

"I--I was considering going," Happy mumbled under his breath, accepting defeat.

Tony resumed his speech to the rest of the Avengers, once again pulling up all their data on that Spider-Menace.

Where are you, Spider-Man?