Walking the Tightrope 🕷 Peter Parker [2]

eight

Alexandra

"Isn't this technically Ms. Potts' company?" Alexandra asked as she lifted her head off the floor and looked at Tony. He glared at her and then rolled his eyes before Ms. Potts ran into the office, Happy hot on her trail.

"Tony!" She exclaimed, her eyes wide. "What the hell is going on?!"

Tony shook his head. Alexandra considered pulling her phone out and sending a text to Peter, but then realized that he was going to be busy enough with all of this. Plus, she was with Tony Stark, who happened to be Iron Man. She would be fine. Peter knew that, even if he was mad at Tony.

"Okay, Hap, you need to get Pepper and the kid out of here," Tony said to the security guard. "Now."

Ms. Potts rushed to his side and grabbed Tony's arm. "And what exactly are you planning on doing?" She asked.

"Something really clever, probably."

The CEO rolled her eyes and looked at Happy, who raised his hands. "Hey, don't look at me. We both know we can't do anything to stop him."

"Do you even have your armor here?" Ms. Potts asked. "I thought you didn't bring it with you—or you were working on—nanotech or something."

Alexandra raised an eyebrow at him. "Nanotech?" She questioned, but he waved her off.

"I've got a backup," He replied simply. "Now, get the hell out of here—don't get yourselves killed. I'm gonna find whoever thought it was a good idea to attack us."

Happy opened the (mostly intact) door of the office and motioned for Ms. Potts and Alexandra to follow him. But the two women didn't move, they stared at a man wearing a mask standing at the door, a gun in hand. Tony took a step forward and pushed Ms. Potts behind the desk. Happy finally noticed and took a step back, his hand going for his gun.

The man held his own up and pointed it at Happy. "Please don't." His voice was soft. Alexandra's heart was pounding inside her chest and she suddenly wished she had texted Peter.

Happy moved his hand away from his gun slowly and raised his hands in surrender. "Who are you?" Tony asked. "What do you want?"

"Ha! I'm not surprised that you don't know who I am, Mr. Stark," He replied venomously.

"Well, kinda hard to figure out who you are considering you're wearing a mask," Tony replied smartly. He sent a look to Ms. Potts, glancing once at her and once below the desk. She glanced down and noticed what he was referring to.

Alexandra was trying to find her courage, but she just couldn't. She was frozen in fear. She thought about her parents, who would likely lock her in her room for the rest of eternity after they found out what happened.

The man raised his gun steadily and pointed it at Tony, who seemed unfazed, calm even. "I'm tired of putting up with your bullshit!" He yelled. "You've treated me like dirt for far too long! Never giving me the appreciation I deserve! Well, not anymore. I'm tired of being a nobody to you, Stark!"

"Okay, it's time for you to calm down." Tony sent Ms. Potts a look and she kicked a red and gold suitcase towards him. Alexandra watched in awe as the suitcase began to unfold and Tony grabbed it. It formed around him, creating his Iron Man suit.

The man took a step back, as though he weren't expecting that to happen. "Look, buddy, I don't think you want to do anything stupid," Tony said to him. "So why don't we all just calm down. I won't use mine if you don't use yours." He gestured to the man's gun.

The man stared at him, he began to breath heavily, his anger getting the better of him. Alexandra hesitantly took a step back and watched anxiously. 

With a yell, the man held the gun up and fired it at Tony. The bullet bounced harmlessly off of his armor, and Tony immediately retaliated with a repulser blast towards the man. "Happy, get them out of here now!" Tony yelled to the other man. 

"Right!" Happy grabbed Ms. Potts and Alexandra by their arms and quickly ushered them out of the office. They were trying to get out of the building when Happy realized that the fire from the explosion was moving towards them. The man had engineered all of this perfectly. The bomb went off on the lower levels, the fire was moving upwards—they wouldn't be able to get down.

"Okay, so we go up!" Ms. Potts declared, moving towards the staircase. She grabbed Alexandra's arm and guided the startled girl along.

They made their way up the stairs and finally, to the roof. "How are we going to get down from here?" Alexandra asked.

"Tony will be along soon," Ms. Potts replied.

Happy suddenly shouted as he was shoved out of the way by the mystery gunman. He grabbed ahold of Ms. Potts, who yelped in surprise and let go of Alexandra's arm. Tony followed close behind, his armor barely scratched. The man held his gun against Ms. Potts' back. "Stay back!" He yelled at Tony. "Or I'll shoot!"

Tony held his arms up. "Okay, I'm staying back," He replied. "Let her go."

"Take off the armor," The man countered.

Tony sighed, but complied with the demand. The suit folded neatly back up into its suitcase form and closed with a lock. "Let Pepper go."

"All I want is to be recognized. To mean something to this damned company!" The man ignored Tony, pressing the gun harder into Ms. Potts' back. Alexandra noticed that the man was paying little attention to her, he was more concerned with Ms. Potts and Tony than he was with her or Happy.

Slowly, she began to move around the roof and behind the man. She was more scared than she had been in a while, but Alexandra refused to be deadweight. She had to do something, Ms. Potts was in danger, after all.

"You don't have to threaten anybody to be recognized here," Tony tried to reason.

"I've tried everything else!" He snarled back.

Alexandra was behind the man now. She and Happy exchanged a knowing glance and nodded to each other. Was this dangerous? Yeah, probably. Stupid? Probably that too. 

Happy tackled the man from behind and knocked both he and Ms. Potts to the ground in a heap. Alexandra rushed over and kicked the gun away from the man's hands before helping Ms. Potts to her feet.

The gunman pushed Happy off of him and looked around for the gun. He spotted it and quickly rushed towards it. He grabbed it off the ground and aimed at Happy. Alexandra didn't even realize she was running at the man until she had a hold on his arms.

"Get off of me!" He snapped at her, but Alexandra didn't let go. The gun was pointed in the air now, and he pulled the trigger. The sound was overwhelming, Alexandra never realized how loud gunshots were.

After the gun had been fired, Alexandra stomped on the guy's foot and used the self defense skills she knew from her lessons to wrestle the guy to the ground. She elbowed him in the stomach and he winced, curling into a ball on the ground. He let go of the gun, which Happy quickly snatched up.

"Okay—I'm never complaining to my dad about those stupid classes again," Alexandra declared. as Ms. Potts pulled her away from the danger.

As the man regained his composure and began to sit up, Tony grabbed the Iron Man suitcase and slammed it against his head, knocking him out cold. He grinned, spinning the case around in his hand. "I knew this thing would come in handy again someday." 

"I hate you." Ms. Potts declared, shaking her head. Tony smiled at her. 

The roof access door flew open, revealing a disheveled Spider-Man. Alexandra smiled and waved. "Hey, Spidey!"

Peter stared at the scene in front of him. He threw his hands in the air. "I wasn't even gone five minutes!"

🕷

Well I hope that didn't suck!

Thanks for reading guys! Happy Thanksgiving (if you celebrate it)!