the skies are grey

fall

"Do you even know where we're going?" Peter asks, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jacket. He had actually forgotten about it, for a brief time. His backpack certainly looks more deflated now that it's out. "You don't even know where Rhodey's at."

"He's somewhere in Jackson, I know that much," Tony admits. He pulls his own jacket closer as the cold wind blows around them. "Where exactly that is, I don't know."

"How exactly did you two seperate?" Peter kicks a loose rock on the road, and he can see Tony shaking his head at him out of the corner of his eye. "If you're so sure he'll help us, you two must've been close at one point."

"I've known him since I was your age," Tony admits, his voice going soft. Peter looks up and notices a faraway expression on the older's face. "Rhodey used to pull me out of my lab, back before. I'd spend hours working on new projects, blasting my music, and I would often forget about the time. I spent too many nights locked up in there, not taking care of myself. It was almost always Rhodey pulling me out of there."

"You didn't answer my question," Peter points out, though not unkindly. Getting information out of Tony about anything of his life before was like pulling teeth. He's thankful for anything he can get.

Tony goes quiet again. Peter doesn't say anything else as he waits for Tony to collect his thoughts. "We, uh. Got into a pretty nasty fight," he says after a moment. "I think the Fireflies are a joke and he... he believed pretty strongly in them. It's why he joined for a while. Then shit really hit the fan, and he left. I can't even remember what the argument was even about anymore."

"And you're sure he's willing to help?"

Tony stops walking, and it takes a second for Peter to notice. When he does, he turns and looks at the man, but his face looks like he's looking elsewhere. Lost in a memory, most likely. Again, Peter doesn't speak up and break through the man's train of thought.

"Pretty sure, yeah," Tony says. He gives Peter a small smile before letting out a breath and walking forward once more.

Their walk through the woods leads them to a large plant. It isn't anything like Peter's ever seen before. It's sat on the river, a small building greeting them as water falls over a small stone wall. Water pools out of a small man made pond and flows out towards the rest of the river in a constant motion.

"Uh, what the hell is that?" Peter asks, stopping in his tracks to stare up at it. The water running through is pretty noisey, but it isn't loud enough to drown them out entirely from talking.

"It's a hydroelectric power plant," Tony answers. "It uses the river's moment and turns it into electricity. It's obviously been shut down since, but it looks like it's still in working condition."

"Wow," Peter breaths out. "So, like, it can generate electricity without gas? That's, like, limitless. Did everyone use this back then?"

"Sadly, no." Tony sighs softly, looking up at the large front of the plant. "Cities couldn't use this kind of power unless they were near a large body of water. Like coast cities, or any place along a river or lake with a strong enough current. Inland places didn't have this sort of luxury."

"Oh," is all Peter says. "It's still pretty cool to see."

Tony smiles. "Yeah, it is, isn't it?"

They don't waste much longer staring at the plant before moving their way through. When they get to what Peter assumes is the front gate, Tony lets out an irritated huff.

"There's no way around it," he explains, seeing Peter's look of confusion. "We'll have to cut through if we want to make it to the other side."

He heads over to the gate and starts pulling it open. Peter hears the sound of a gun cocking and he's instantly pulling his out, pointing it straight at the woman who appears at the top of the wall.