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Ch. 1

"I don't see why I have to go,"  Peter complained, not for the first time that night.  Tony didn't bother answering as he fixed Peter's cuff links so they weren't crooked or forgotten.  "It's not like May will be upset if you leave me alone for the night."

"We've been over this before, Parker,"  Tony said, flattening Peter's cuffs and looking up at him.  "I don't want my home blown to bits and if I have to go to boring CEO galas, you have to come with me."  He gave Peter a snarky grin and Peter glared at him.  When Pepper walked into the room, both stopped immediately and turned to face her.  She was on her phone, typing something in quickly before she looked up and smiled at them.

"Are you boys ready yet?"  she asked.  Peter nodded, still not happy that he had to attend the gala.  Pepper smiled encouragingly at him and rubbed his arm.  "You'll be fine, Peter,"  she promised,  "There won't be a single moment where you're alone and we're not staying more than two hours."

"I say we just stay here and forget about the gala,"  Tony said, snaking an arm around Pepper's waist.  She gave him a look and Peter looked away, fighting the red that crept up his neck.  Even though he'd turned away, he knew the two were kissing and seriously, did they need to do that in front of him?

"We're going,"  Pepper told Tony firmly, patting his cheek once then stepping out of his arms and walking towards the door.  Happy was waiting outside in the limo, ready to take them from the Stark house in the suburbs to the gala in Manhattan.  After selling Stark Tower and moving upstate, Tony had lasted a whole three days before buying a town house near Peter and his school to prevent the kid from doing too much stupid stuff.  If he did, at least he was close enough to come to the rescue when needed.

The ride to the gala wasn't terribly long.  The whole time, Pepper quizzed Tony on important people he was supposed to talk to while Peter played Flappy Bird on his phone.  Whenever Tony didn't get a name and face right, Pepper would turn the photo to Peter and he'd barely have to glance up before the name came to him.  Tony would roll his eyes and claim he just wanted to test Peter, but they all knew that wasn't true.  Peter had been called upon to help answer questions a total of three times when they finally arrived at the gala.  Pepper put the photos away and turned to check on Peter who was nervously looking out the limo window.

"You ready, Peter?"  she asked.  Peter nodded, but hid in his seat when Happy opened Pepper's door.  She gave him another encouraging smile then slipped out of the limo, into the bright flashing lights coming from the various cameras.  When she looked into the car for Tony and Peter, Tony waved for her to go on without him while Peter continued to hide in his seat.  She did, drawing the paparazzi away from the car while Tony gave Peter a pep talk.

"Alright, kid,"  he said, shifting in his seat so he could face Peter better.  "Here's the plan: we treat it like a SHIELD mission, right?  Our goal is to find the bad guy,"  Tony paused, grabbing the folder full of photos and shifting through them to find someone he knew wouldn't be coming.  "This guy!  He's our bad guy, alright?  We find him, we can leave.  It's just a mission.  Think you can do that?"

"Yeah,"  Peter said softly, staring at the face of Robert Paltrain, the man Tony had chosen as their target.  Tony pulled Peter in for a slightly awkward hug, the limo making it a little harder.

"Let's go get 'em!"  Tony said.  He made sure not to mess up Peter's hair as he let him go then scooted across the seat to the door.  Happy was still standing outside the car, watching as Pepper spoke to some of the cameras.  When Tony tapped on the window, he jumped then opened the door, giving Tony an irritated glare.  Tony grinned and patted him on the shoulder as he stepped out.  Once people spotted Tony, they surrounded him.  Tony panicked just a little, glancing behind him as Peter slipped out of the limo.  The cameras suddenly became more aggressive and the usual questions ("Mr. Stark, tell us about your latest project!", "Who are you wearing tonight, Tony?", and "Are you going to accept Russel Vaugn's proposal of collaborating?") changed to questions regarding Peter.

"Mr. Stark, is this your son?"

"Young man, who are you?"

"Back up!  Move!"  Tony yelled, gently grabbing onto Peter and pulling him behind him.  The cameras followed them all the way to the doors.  When they stepped inside to where the gala was actually taking place, the paparazzi weren't allowed to follow the two anymore and Tony released Peter.  Sometime between the limo and the car, though, Peter had grabbed tightly to the wrist of Tony's suit jacket, no doubt wrinkling it in his quest to calm himself.  Even though Tony had released Peter, Peter didn't let go of him.  When Tony asked if he would let go, Peter shook his head.

"I never want to do that again,"  he said softly.  Tony felt bad for dragging the kid through the paparazzi, but it was time Peter learned how to face them.  He was graduating high school in two weeks and after talking to Pepper, May, and Peter about it, Tony had decided Peter would take over Stark Industries when Tony was done.  Unfortunately, that involved galas and rude paparazzi.

"Hey, you're okay now, Peter,"  Tony said,  "It's all over now."  He carefully pried Peter's fingers off his jacket and Peter grabbed onto his hand.  Tony was immediately reminded of Peter's super strength.  "Maybe cool it with the grip, yeah?"  Peter slowly loosened his grip on Tony's hand until he had all but let go.  "Good job, kiddo.  You're doing fantastic!  Now we just have to talk to stuffy businessmen while trying seek out the target.  Remember who it was?"

"Robert Paltrain,"  Peter muttered.  Tony grinned and nodded.

"Good job,"  he said,  "Now, let's go get some drinks then find our bad guy."