By Moonlight (P.P + M.J)

42. Your Very Own Rhodey

Peter walked down the hall back to the lobby, and he found Mr.Stark waiting for him. He was wearing an expensive-looking suit and sunglasses. Happy was there too, talking into his phone. His mentor smiled widely when he saw the boy, and he slapped on his hand on Peter's back.

"Great work, kid!" Tony said, his eyes shining with pride behind him sunglasses, "great work. Wolfy too. You both did beautifully. You took down your bad guy and proved your friend innocent all in one fell swoop. Could've been a bit cleaner, but it was still a job well done."

"Yeah, sorry about the tower going down," Peter apologized, bowing his head, "I didn't think things would get so out of hand."

"Nah, don't worry about it. Nobody on the ground was hurt and Damage Control got paid some overtime for it," Tony replied with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"Mr.Stark, about Jack," Peter began awkwardly, "what are you going to help him with?"

"Now, is it Jack or Jacob?" Tony asked, "the only thing we found on him was a name change in California, which is where he's from, but he's got no record here or anywhere else."

"He goes by Jack."

"Well, I wanted to offer Jack the position of being your partner," Tony replied, "I can't offer him an Avenger spot for obvious reasons, but this is the best I can do currently. Consider it like having your very own Rhodey. I also wanted to talk to him about other things, living arrangements and the like."

"But why?"

"Well, he'd be homeless otherwise. He's got no relatives in the area and his mother is-."

"Yeah, I get that but I'm thinking more along the lines of why you're helping him," Peter clarified, "it's just that, Jack's done so much bad, and I defended him despite that. Doesn't this kind of remind you of what started the fights between you and Captain America?"

Tony stopped walking, going silent, and Peter worried that he may have struck a sensitive cord in his mentor. The Avenger took off his sunglasses, folded them and put them in his coat pocket. He fixated his brown eyes on Peter, and the boy grew anxious under his stare.

"I made many mistakes during that time, and did things out of impulse because I wanted to protect everyone, including Rogers," Mr.Stark began, and he had to take a steadying breath in order to go on, "but I'll admit I'm almost... proud that you turned out like Rogers when put in the same situation."

"So helping Jack means..?"

"It means that I'm not looking to make the same mistake twice," Tony sighed, patting Peter's shoulder, "I lost Rogers because I didn't trust his judgment. I'm not losing you for the same reason. If you believe that Jack is good, I'll do what I can for him."

"So, you're gonna make him my sidekick?" Peter asked. He remembered that Jack didn't necessarily care for being considered a sidekick. "Think he'll go for that?"

"Hell yeah!" Jack's voice exclaimed through the hall, and Mr.Stark and Peter both turned. Jack was striding down the hall wearing a blue flannel shirt with a white tee underneath and tawny cargo pants with black Adidas.

"I mean, we can work on the "sidekick" part, but I'll roll with it for now," Jack said as he approached them, and he regained his composure upon facing Tony, "hello, sir. Jack Russell, at your service."

"I just figured that, if you're gonna get anywhere with the public in this city, you might need someone with you to prove you're one of the good guys," Tony said, resuming his cheerful nature as he shook Peter's shoulder, "you two make a pretty good team. I've made an announcement that the hero named- "Werewolf", is it?- would go through rehab and work as a consultant for the Avengers alongside the Spiderman."

"Rehab?" Jack questioned, frowning slightly.

"Basically, it's saying that you're not gonna be a bad guy anymore," Tony clarified with a wave of his hand, "you'll go through some light training to satisfy the authorities but that'll be it."

Peter and Jack gave each other excited looks. They would be working together! Spiderman and Werewolf, protectors of New York City. Peter hoped that the people would take to Jack's true personality, and forget about what he did in the past.

The Avenger looked at his watch, "well, I'm actually gonna need a few minutes with Wolftstein here. We need to go over some things. But I'll call you later, 'kay Peter?"

He then walked away with Jack, throwing his arm across his shoulders, Happy following after them. Mr.Stark said something to Happy about finding "that Strange guy" before leaving through the front door. Then it was just Peter. After standing so close to him, Peter hadn't realized how tall Jack was. Jack had maybe four inches on him. He was even taller than Mr.Stark.

But what could they be talking about? Peter didn't think it would be anything bad, considering that he had just helped save New York and had even sacrificed his life, both to save the city and Peter himself.

Wanting to do something, he took out his phone and dialed MJ's number. He put his phone to his ear and waited for her to pick up.

"What up, Webs," MJ greeted, making Peter smile, "is Weirdwolf alive?"

"Hey MJ, yeah he's recovered and talking to Mr.Stark," Peter responded, laughing at the nickname while looking out the window, "I was wondering, do you wanna meet somewhere?"

"Where ya thinking?" She asked, not even questioning him.

"Go to the Broadway Cafe," Peter instructed, "I'll meet you there, okay?"

"You trying to be mysterious is like the most pathetic thing in the world," MJ said in her usual deadpan voice, "see you there."

She hung up abruptly, and Peter ran back to his room. He closed the door and tore off his clothes, pulling back on his suit. It smelled like fresh flowers and was softer than before. He carried his mask as he left his room, and he went to the front desk where a receptionist was working.

"Hello, Mr.Parker!" She said in a friendly way, giving the young web-slinger a smile, "what can I help you with?"

"Uh, I don't really know how I got here last night," Peter began, shuffling his feet as he leaned on the counter, "can someone here take me back to Manhattan?"

The receptionist nodded, "of course. Just wait outside, and someone will pull right up."

"Thank you very much," Peter said, walking away. He pushed through the door and waited on the steps. He would have to make up his mind about MJ before he saw her, but he still had no idea what to do.

Was he willing to break his own heart in the name of safety, or was he willing to risk it all because he might love her?

We're almost done and this story has already surpassed 300 votes! What an amazing thing to see!

~Fargone5