IronDad/SpiderSon One-shots

Bad Day at School

Third Person POV:
Word Count: 1,227
Spooktober 2022 Day Twenty-Eight: Rescue

Tony was sitting in some boring conference that Pepper had dragged him to when his phone went off. Trying to be sneaky, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and glanced at the screen. He would have put his phone away right there but the person that messaged him caught his attention. Glancing around at the people around him, he opened his phone and looked at the message.

Spider-Kid @ 12:21: You wouldn't happen to be doing anything super busy right now, would you?"

Glancing up from his phone, he looked around the room. Pepper was at his side, engrossed into whatever the presenter at the front of the room was saying. She had been taking notes on and off the entire conference. It was definitely something that he should be paying close attention to. He knew it had something to do with Stark Industries, hence why he was here, but he didn't care. That's one of the reasons he made Pepper the CEO of Stark Industries. He hated to actually do stuff with the business. Where he failed, she thrived.

He typed a message back as quickly as he could.

Metal-Dad @ 12:22: not at all whats up

He turned his phone off after that, glancing over at Pepper. She glanced his way and raised her eyebrow, eyes going to the phone. So she had seen it. He mouthed 'Peter' in her direction and she nodded. He was still sitting, so it couldn't have been all that urgent. At least, that's what she thought. She could tell that Tony was getting anxious by the no reply from Peter after a couple minutes. She leaned over and put a gentle hand on Tony's knee, trying to calm him down.

It wasn't until almost ten minutes later that Peter responded. Tony immediately opened his phone, not caring if he drew attention. There were thousands of people here. What was one person on their phone going to affect?

Spider-Kid @ 12:30: I don't want to be at school anymore.

Spider-Kid @ 12:31: Can you come pick me up??? I'd ask May but she's working a double and won't be home until late tonight.

That was a red flag. Peter absolutely loved school. Tony thought it was very strange at first, because Tony grew up absolutely hating school. He hated how boring it used to be. He knew that Peter was smart. The classes he took hardly did anything for him. He learned more with Tony and Bruce than he did in actual school. But, he still knew that the kid loved it. He would come to the lab and talk about what he did in class and how he enjoyed it. He also loved decathlon, which had practice today after school. Peter wouldn't miss the practice for no reason.

Still, Tony would never deny his kid, especially if he needed to be rescued.

Metal-Dad @ 12:31: on my way

Putting his phone back into his pocket, he turned to Pepper with a knowing look on his face. She looked at it and just turned towards the doors. "Go," she whispered. She leaned over and kissed his cheek before turning her attention back to the front of the room.

Warmth spread through his chest as he looked at Pepper for a moment. He really did get lucky with her. She was perfect for him, literally. He loved her so much. He put a gentle hand on her shoulder and squeezed for a moment before leaving the room, doing his best not to disturb anyone on his way out.

When he got out of the conference, his phone buzzed again. He pulled his phone out of his pocket. He also started walking towards where he had parked the car, making a mental note to shoot Happy a text to pick up Pepper after he had gotten Peter. Something told him that he was probably going to wind up spending the afternoon with the kid.

Spider-Kid @ 12:34: Are you sure? You don't have to if you can't. Really, I'll be fine.

Spider-Kid @ 12:34: I just really, really, really don't want to be at school.

Yeah. There was no way he was leaving Peter at school.

Metal-Dad @ 12:35: meet me in the office in ten

True to his word, Tony strolled into the office ten minutes after he had sent the text. Peter was sitting in one of the office chairs. His appearance took Tony back. The kid's eyes looked bloodshot and his usual happy radiation was lacking. Extremely. The kid had to have been crying, which was not good. Especially since he was at school. He kept his glance at the kid short, though, not wanting to draw attention that he could already see that something was majorly wrong with the kid.

He walked up to the book that the parents or guardians had to use to sign their kids out. The office ladies were bored and oblivious, so they paid no attention to Tony as he signed Peter out. For the reason, he simply put that he was taking him out for personal reasons. If they had questions, they would call. They probably wouldn't, and if they did, he'd give a reason. They weren't going to stop Tony Stark from taking his sad kid out of school.

Nodding towards the door, Tony started to walk towards it. Immediately, Peter stood up and walked to it. Tony helped open the door for Peter, allowing him to walk through. He did the same thing for the other door, ignoring Peter trying to reach for it first. When they got through the two sets of doors, they made their way out to Tony's car.

They didn't say a word. Obviously, Peter didn't want to talk about whatever was bothering him right off of the plate. If he did, he would have given Tony the reason over text why he didn't want to be in school. That was fine with Tony. He'd know by the end of the day, almost a guarantee. That's how Peter was. He wanted a little bit to keep it to himself and think about whatever was bothering him before he cracked. There was no point in trying to pressure him into sharing. He wouldn't feel as inclined to share with you if you did that. Tony learned that the hard way.

Wordlessly, the two got into the car. Tony started it, handing the aux cord to Peter. Peter just stared at him for a moment before slowly taking it out of his hands. Tony very rarely shared the aux cord, and when he did Peter knew that he meant business. Something that came as a surprise to Peter was that Tony never once got mad about the song selection. Not once did he even comment on it. He would just sit and listen, occasionally asking what the song was before nodding and taking mental note of it. It wasn't bad. It was just shocking.

As Tony pulled out of the school, Peter picked on his usual playlist and shuffled it. Happy Together started playing through the speakers of the car. A smile formed on Peter's face. Tony was right there for him. He always was. No matter what the situation was. Big or small, Tony was right there to rescue him.

Peter couldn't be more thankful.

That's it for this chapter! Remember to drink some water, eat something, take medicine (if you have to), and rest today. You did a good job and I am proud of you :)
Till next time
- Storm