Sam: A Summer With My Uncle (Tony Stark fanfic)

Clean Up Crew

  "Ow!" I whined, pulling my hand back.
  Tony looked up and narrowed his eyebrows at me, "Well don't cut yourself!" He exclaimed, like I was meaning to slice my finger open from the shards of glass.
  I threw the pieces of glass back on the floor in frustration, "What are you a... Billionaire?! But you can't hire someone to do this?"
  The building was a wreck after the fight with the robot and Tony expected the two of us to clean it up by ourselves. So, Tony was picking up large chunks of drywall and throwing them into a garbage bag, while I was cleaning up glass near the windows. Tony threw another piece of drywall into the bag then looked up, wiping some sweat from his forehead, "If I let everyone do everything for me, then do you know how out of shape I would become? Besides, the press would be all over this."
  "And you're scared Ms. Potts will find out?" I tested, raising an eyebrow.
  "Ms. Potts?" Tony looked at me.
  I grinned, "You're the only adult that wants to be called their first name."
  "Am not," Tony muttered but continued to pick the debris off of the floor.
  I was more careful as I started picking up the glass again. I stopped then turned my attention back to Tony, "So, what's the plan?"
  "We act like nothing happened... Or, at least, like we don't know who it was," Tony explained.
  I didn't look at him, I just focused on cleaning but my mind kept racing like race cars were in my head. "Isn't that a little dangerous?"
  "No, because we're prepared now. When he gets too comfortable, that's when we bust him," Tony Stark explained, making it sound so easy.
  I stared at the floor, my body freezing as my mind was processing the plan. It sounded easy enough, but knowing Tony it's never as easy as it sounds. "We can't just call the cops?" I asked, then realized how cowardly it sounded, but, hey, I was not the bravest person.
  Tony realized that I was embarrassed that I had said it so he didn't nail me with an insult, he explained softly, "We don't have any proof. If we go to the police now, then he'll deny everything, and have time to escape or take us out... Which ever benefits him most."
  "Does this happen to you, a lot?" I wondered, realizing - for one - how calm he was, but also how planned he was. Like he had experience. 
  Stark had to think about it but he answered with a nod then explained, "Yeah... A lot, actually."
  I tried not to think about it too much as I continued to pick up pieces of glass and throw in a bag. "So, how are we going to bust him?"
  "We're going to walk into his lair to get proof of his suits," Tony explained like it was nothing.
  "What?!" the answer caught me so off guard that I squeezed the glass in my hands too hard and it sunk in through my skin. "Ow!" I cried and dropped the glass, looking down at my wound.
  Tony quickly stood up from his knees, "Oh, shoot." He walked over to me and grabbed my wrist, then looked at my palm. "Alright, I'll get you some bandages or something," he walked toward the cabinets.
  My palm started stinging and burning but I shook my head, "No, it's not that deep."
  Stark narrowed his eyebrows at me and my stubbornness but he didn't object, he just sighed and replied, "Alright, but I'm still going to clean it." Tony grabbed a rag and knelt beside me, then he pressed the rag against the cut. A little more blood squirted out but he soaked it up with the rag, and completely cleaned it off. "Please, be careful."
  "Then next time don't come up with stupid plans," I snapped at him. Tony didn't look mad at the insult, he just smiled and shook his head. So, I continued to sweep the glass into the trash bag, "So... how long do we have until you want to break into a psycho's lair?" 
  "I'd give it a week," Stark guessed.
  So, we have a week until the battle begins, I thought. I started wondering if we should spend the week planning, or spend the week like we were going to die; either way it didn't sound fun. I looked over at a clock - that still worked - and stood up, "I think I'm going to take a break." 
  Tony stopped cleaning to look at me, "Okay, I'll finish up."
  I felt bad for leaving to make Tony do the rest of the work, but I needed some time to think and relax. So, I staggered to my bedroom and shut the door. I slid the curtains open and glanced out of the huge window. It was getting dark, so I pulled up a piece of furniture that was in my room and dragged it to the window. After sitting down, I stared at the view that Tony had. There were cars racing down the street, people walking and chatting, buildings flared with life, then something caught my eyes. There was a couple with a kid, and they were swinging the child back and forth with its arms while the child was giggling with happiness. I sighed and looked away, finally realizing that this place wasn't going to be a permanent solution. I was only staying at my aunt's place for a while, but I would have to go back into foster care or something until I could actually be adopted. 
  I closed the curtain quickly as a lump in my throat started forming, then I moved the furniture back and hopped on my bed. The bed relaxed all of my muscles as I sank into mattress. I told myself that I would change into my pajamas in a few minutes but I found myself dozing off before I could move. 

(I want to apologize for the wait because I realize that it has been a long while since I have posted but I have time now, so I can definitely work on this series a lot more. Thank you for all the reads and votes - and everything, really - it means a lot. I hope you guys like the story and I promise that I will be posting a lot more, so yay!

~~~~~ LL2z)