Irondad and Spiderson

Is There Anything As Sweet?

The wind brushes a small strand of hair into Peter’s unconscious face. He leans against Pepper, her hair cascading down her shoulders in a glowing, incandescent blanket. Aunt May watches from a few feet away, fidgeting with a small remote tucked perfectly into her palm. It’s almost as if it was made for her.

She watched the pair, leaning against each other, and the different expressions hidden beneath their motionless faces. Peter’s looked young and innocent, with a hint of child-like hope laced in between. Pepper, on the other hand, looked tired. The strained, overworked look that followed her even when she was awake showed just how much of her energy she wasted each day on Stark’s billion dollar company.

May moved silently across the dusty floor and next to Peter. He looked like a fish snared in a net, with thick, rubber cables snaked around his body from his shoulders to his feet, and padlocked tightly together just over his stomach. Pepper had the same chord, but her’s bound her to the remainder of a cement pillar behind her, whereas Peter was free to move.

The beep from May’s watch stole her attention from Peter and Pepper. The small, illuminated numbers on the face of the clock read, “7:30”.

“An hour has passed.” May whispered to herself. Taking in a deep breath, she places a small vial of smelling salts underneath Peter’s nose. He takes a breath, before he coughs and shoots forwards into a sitting position. His eyes water with tears from the previous encounter, and he attempts to lift an arm to wipe them away.

“Where… am I?” He groggily squints around, before something clicks in his mind. This it it, the one place that Peter has always stayed away from, both physically and in thought. That’s the only reason that May brought him here.

    Well, crap.

    “Pepper?” Peter frantically looks around, taking a deep breath as he sees her slumped over next to him.

    Aunt May just watches him struggle, laughing quietly from a few feet away. A certain courage and triumph courses through her veins, and it feels amazing. Her brain is clouded by one thing, and one thing only: revenge on Tony Stark. He took everything from her, and now she’s going to do the same.

    Her phone rings, and Peter’s head snaps to see her. His eyes widen, and more tears well up in them, giving them a glassy, reflecting look.

    “Tony.” Aunt May has to repress laughing into the phone. Oh, revenge is sweet.

    “May, where are you?” Tony sounds out of breath.

    “Oh, nice try, Mr. Genius.” She taunts. “But you’re going to have to do better than that if you want your precious son and wife back.”

    “Don’t touch them!” Tony screams into her ear.

    “We’ll see.”

    “May, please.”

    “Tick tock, Tony Stark. It’s 7:30, and Peter’s awake. Better hurry.”

    “Let me talk to him!” Tony sounds hysterical, yelling into the phone. Aunt May just cackles in response.

    “Is that Mr. Stark?” Peter croaks from the side. “Please, can I talk to him?” Aunt May slowly walks over to Peter. Laying the phone next to his ear, she listens to their conversation.

    “Kid? Kid, is that you?” Tony desperately says into the phone.

    “Yeah, yeah, Mr. Stark, it’s me.” Peter says, half-grimacing, half-smiling.

    “Oh, Peter, thank God.” Tony whispers.

    “Me and Pepper are both here, we’re both okay.”