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Ch. 2

Pepper wasn't entirely sure what she was going to do.  The gala had only been two nights ago, but #TonyStarksSon was trending all over the internet and multiple news articles were already featuring them along with photos of Peter and Tony that had been taken throughout the night.  Obviously, neither of them knew about it yet unless FRIDAY had told them in the last fifteen seconds.  They had been so busy working in the lab since the morning after she was fairly certain they had forgotten to eat.  That meant she had the honor of breaking the news to Tony who would likely mess things up within ten minutes.

"Miss Potts?"  FRIDAY asked.  Pepper hummed in response, jotting down a reminder to call the Stark Industries PR agency.  "Mr. Parker is in need of assistance getting to school."

"Where's Happy?"  Pepper asked, looking up from her note.  "Or Tony?"

"Mr. Hogan is on his day off and Mr. Parker refuses to wake Boss up as he fell asleep three hours ago,"  FRIDAY replied.  Pepper sighed.  Yeah, they probably shouldn't wake up Tony.

"Alright,"  she replied, putting aside her papers and standing up.  "Let him know to meet me in the garage."

"Right away,"  FRIDAY said.  Pepper grabbed her purse and walked out of her office.  Other employees were just beginning to arrive, reminding Pepper just how early she'd decided to come in today.  It was barely 7:30 in the morning and she'd already been in her office for nearly thirty minutes.  However, the three had spent the night at the Compound when Tony and Peter refused to leave the lab, so it was easy for her to get to her office early.

When she arrived in the garage, Peter was waiting for her by the key rack, happily playing a game on his phone.  She smiled and greeted him softly, but he still jumped in surprise.  Apparently his game had been interesting enough he hadn't heard her approach.  He put his phone away, giving her an embarrassed smile and following her to the Audi she'd chosen.

"Good morning, Mrs. Stark,"  Peter said.  Pepper gave him a look and his face reddened even more.  He tried ducking his head down to hide his obvious embarrassment at forgetting to call her 'Pepper' yet again.  Pepper laughed softly and gave him a side hug as they walked to the car.

"How are you doing, Peter?"  she asked, releasing him so they could climb into their separate sides of the car.

"Good,"  Peter answered, stuffing his backpack between his feet and fastening his seat belt.  "Mr. Stark and I finished my new Spider-Man suit.  Well, actually Mr. Stark did.  He said he was going to finish up then go to bed, but FRIDAY said he stayed up until 4:17AM finishing it up before falling asleep, so I didn't want to wake him after he'd worked so hard on my suit.  I'm sorry you have to stop work to take me to school,"  Peter said.

"Don't worry about it, Peter,"  Pepper assured him, pulling onto the freeway and speeding towards Queens.  "I went in early anyway and I have to stop at Stark Industries PR agency which I can do on my way back."

"Oh,"  Peter said, nodding as if it was obvious.

"Don't hesitate to call me if you ever need me to take over for Tony sometimes,"  Pepper told him.  He nodded again then they fell into silence, Peter gazing out the window at the passing New York buildings and Pepper focusing on not screaming in frustration at all the drivers around her.

When they arrived at Peter's school, he had ten minutes before class.  Due to Pepper's slightly aggressive driving and knowledge of backstreets after a particularly bad pile up on the freeway, they made it right when Peter usually arrived.  Kids were pouring out of cars and from around the street corners, headed into the large building.  Pepper pulled around to the front of the building and let the Audi idle while Peter tugged his backpack up from its spot on the ground.

"Have a good day, Peter,"  Pepper said, kissing his cheek quickly.  He grinned and hugged her tightly, almost surprising her.

"Thanks for letting me stay the weekend while Aunt May was gone,"  he replied.

"Anytime,"  she replied, letting him go.  He slipped out of the car and pulled his backpack over his shoulders.  He took a couple steps before remembering to shut the door.  Pepper smiled warmly at him and he waved before shutting the door and bounding up the front steps.  Pepper headed out of the parking lot slowly, trying not to run over any students.  Once she was on the main streets, she let FRIDAY auto pilot while she called her PR agent, asking to meet with her in half an hour due to recent events.