Beautiful Peace (Avengers Fanfiction)

Chapter One

"Fuck!" Screamed Kit, lurching his hand away from the hot welder. From the other side of the small shop (garage) Tony's head appeared from below the hood of a car, almost like a gopher popping its head up from its hole. Instinctively he jumped up to help his son. "Are you kidding me?" He said angrily, grabbing Kit's wrist to observe the burn. For a split second he looked before dragging Kit by his scolding arm to the opposite end of the shop, to a sink. He turned the water on cold and held the burn under it. In response Kit winced, attempting to pull his arm out from under the water, but Tony wouldn't let go of his wrist. Soon the pain started to fade and Kit began to relax.

At the first sign of wellness Tony saw, he smacked Kit upside the head. Not meanly, but in a disciplinary sort of way. Kit flinched, not daring to make eye contact with his angered father. "I told you to always let the machines do the welding," Tony reminded Kit. His son rolled his eyes, almost unnoticeably. "I'm seventeen, I'm old enough to handle a welder, dad," he assured him, pulling his hand from the water, but not wanting to dry it in fear of a towel stinging the burn even more.

Tony's eyes widened and he gestured to the burn. "Evidently not, Christian," he argued. After a second of silence Kit reached for a towel to dry his hand off, but Tony stopped him. "No," he started, "Go put some ice on that. And a hundred band-aids," he instructed jokingly. Kit let out a deep breath, relieved that Tony wasn't actually mad at him.

As Kit turned to walk out, Tony pushed on the back of his head teasingly to speed him along. Once he reached the bottom of the stairs Tony called, "And, carrot top." Kit turned to face him again. "If your mom asks, just don't tell her you were working on this," he said, gesturing to Kit's project on the welding table. With a laugh and an eye roll Kit replied, "Sure, dad. And quit calling me carrot top."

"The more it annoys you, the more joy it brings, Kit!"

***

Pepper actually didn't ask about her son's injury as he came up the stairs and went straight to the freezer for an ice pack. Kit sat at the counter island in the center of the kitchen while he watched his mother buzz about. She looked almost like a mad woman, her hair in a mess and an apple hanging in her mouth. Kit didn't even know what she was doing, but he smelled something burning.

"Offawldetings," Pepper started over her apple, soon removing it, knowing her speech was incomprehensible. "Of all the things in life I thought I'd be," she said as she threw the apple away, picked up two hot pads for her hands, and opened the oven, "I never thought I'd be a cook for two boys." She leaned down to look in the oven, groaning as she pulled a pan with something yellow (and a little black) in it.

"You've been doing this for twenty years, mom," Kit reminded teasingly, "Can you still not make a frittata?" Pepper studied her dish, tossing her hot pads on the counter above the oven. "You've been alive for seventeen years, you still can't help your mom in the kitchen?" She retorted. Kit laughed, his eyebrows raised. "Ha, no way. That's women's work," he joked, walking toward the freezer to replace the already melting ice pack on his wrist. He could sense Pepper shaking her head behind him.

"What's your dad doing down there?" She asked. Kit wondered if she was referring to his injury. He turned to face her to see her putting her hair in a ponytail, an expectant look on her face. "Not working on the suits, if that's what you're worried about," he assured her. Pepper half nodded, accepting that as a full explanation.

In the silence Kit walked toward an open window of the house, watching the sunny outdoors. Tony wasn't kidding when he'd vowed to live on a farm once he settled down. Kit was sure happy his dad bought this place, he felt more at home out in the sticks than in the city.

Pepper came up behind Kit, giving him a quick hug. "Okay, I'm off," she told him. She has to travel into the city every day, to the headquarters in New York, for her job. While Iron Man retired, Pepper still had a company to run. As she walked toward the door, Kit followed.

"Why can't you work from home? Today or ever?" He inquired. Pepper chuckled and looked in a small mirror beside the door, her eyes half on Kit and half on herself as she applied lipstick. "If you wanted a steady company to run in the future, you'd know better than to ask such a question," she said almost cryptically. Kit rolled his eyes. "Today's just phone meetings anyway, I'll be home early," she assured him, picking up her briefcase beside the door.

She was already leaving late, why not stay here and make the stupid calls? Oh, right, so nobody could track and find this place.

Without another word Pepper was out the door, leaving Kit to stare at his reflection (most resembling Pepper) in the mirror in front of him. It seemed counterintuitive and babyish, but Kit missed his mom a lot of the time. He loved his father, of course, but he wished he could spend time with both of his parents.

It seemed like even when Pepper was here, they still weren't a real family. She and Tony never even showed any hints of love toward each other anymore. Not like they used to, like when Kit was littler.

He wondered what was wrong between them, he wanted to ask Tony about it. But Kit figured that showing any hint of caring would dull his image in his father's eyes. "Never let them actually see you care," Tony would tell him, as he was teaching him about Stark Industries, "But work out the problem subliminally. And blow everybody's mind when you come up with the solution." Kit didn't know how to fix this problem. Not subliminally, anyway.

He heard marching up the steps from the garage, and sped into the kitchen, expecting Tony. Once up the stairs and in the kitchen he looked around. "Where's your mom?" He wondered. Kit shrugged. "She was gone before I got up here...work," he lied.

Tony rolled his eyes as he walked toward his son, his hand out in front of him. "Let's see your battle wound," he suggested, changing the subject. Kit held his arm out to him and his dad studied. "That's gonna leave a scar, pal," he informed him. Kit shrugged again, as if shaking it off. He pretended like it didn't hurt.

Letting go of Kit's arm, Tony walked back into the kitchen, now studying Pepper's creation on the stove. Kit could feel the disdain radiating off his dad. "Ya know, I think your mom and I are gonna take a trip," he said randomly. Kit felt a surge of excitement. "You would be able to handle yourself here for a couple days while were away, right?" Forgetting everything his mom had told him about a stable company, Kit assured Tony of it.

***

Upstairs in his room, Kit could let loose. He put on some music and threw his school books and binder on his desk in the corner of the room, debating on whether or not he should start studying for his big AP Physics final next month. He could just wing it, like every other test, that always proved to be a good method.

That's exactly what he decided on, and he took his phone out, typing out a text to his cousin to see if he wanted to hang out.