Stark Crossed Lovers

Chapter Thirteen

Sam woke up to a loud banging noise on the other side of her door. Groaning, she rolled out of bed to open the door. As the door slowly opened, she realized that the loud noise had been coming from her father. He was banging a pan with a wooden spoon right outside her door. "I must be having a nightmare," Sam moans, completely annoyed. "No dear, that would be I who was having the nightmares, that's why I am playing rock band outside your door," Tony said back to his daughter. "Either your joke wasn't I funny, or I am still half  asleep and just can't comprehend English right now," Sam said while rubbing her eyes. "What I mean is, is that you are gonna get up early everyday from now on and train," Tony said firmly. "Train? For what? The couch potato Olympics?" Sam joked back. "Just put on something comfortable and come down stairs please," Tony said closing Sam's door to walk back down stairs. Sam rolled her eyes assuming that training meant working out. She turned to get ready, she put all of her hair back into a tight ponytail, threw on some black leggings and a black racerback top, and some black tennis shoes before slowly heading down stairs. This morning there was no smell of bacon in the air, or the sound of the news. When Sam reached the living room she realized that the couch had been moved and cleared away to leave a giant open space in the room, standing around her was her dad, Steve Rodgers, Natasha and Clint. "Are we hosting a intervention for someone?" Sam said confused. "Because if so, I believe dad needs one." She said trying to relieve some tension. "For what exactly?" Clint questioned confusion written all over his face. "Take your pick there's a big list," Sam replied trying not to laugh thinking about how funny she was. "You're smart kid! But that's not gonna protect you if you find yourself in danger," Tony said as he stared at his daughter. "No disrespect dad but when do I ever get to leave the house to actually be caught in the middle of anything dangerous?" Sam said slightly cocky. "Kid, just listen okay? Someone could break in, another incident like the mall could happen..." Tony finished, trailing off. "So we are going to train you on what to do in that situation," Nat said finishing Tony's sentence. "So like fighting?" Sam inquired. "Not exactly, more like self defense. Knowing you could defend yourself until all of this Doc Oc stuff is situated could give me a piece of mind," Tony said. As he finished his sentence he felt his phone buzz. He pulled it out to see a text from Peter letting him know he was outside. "Now while I would love to watch your attempts at fighting back against Nat, I have a meeting I have to get too, I love you munchkin," Tony said kissing his daughter on the forehead and leaving the room. Sam thought it was strange that he would leave right in the middle of something like this, but she pushed the thought far away and got ready to learn some basics from Earth's mightiest heroes. When Tony made it to his lab he saw Peter already standing in the middle of the room waiting for him. "What did you call me in for sir?" Peter said smiling nervously at Tony. Peter couldn't help but be a little scared as he looked Tony up and down waiting for a response. Peter was worried that Tony had possibly seen him leave from Stark Tower, and he was ready to rip into Peter about seeing Sam. “First off, I want to thank you for saving Sam the other day, I don't know how to thank you enough. Which is why I have come up with a compromise,” Tony said to Peter. “A compromise?” Peter questioned back to Tony.  "I had a thought, you can text Sam, virtually keep her company and also serve as another way to keep her safe." Tony was staring blankly as he spoke. “How would me talking to her keep her safe, exactly?” Peter questioned softly wondering why he had a change of heart. “If you two become closer friends, she will trust you. She will tell you what she is doing, what she sees, and how she feels. You will know if something sketchy is going on. If something bad should be happening, I don't personally know if I could stop it or them without your help,” Tony said still not quite finished. “But this is ONLY a friendship Peter, do you understand?” Tony questioned sternly. “Yeah, of course, Mr. Stark!” Peter said guilty knowing that he had already long broke this rule. “Good, because if she had you as a boyfriend, who knows what kind of trouble that would cause for her, especially right now,” Tony said grimly handing Peter a piece of paper. The paper read What would it be like to lose everything Mr. Stark? It was handwritten he noticed. Peter quietly studied the paper for a moment before questioning Tony. “What does this mean?” Peter said, searching his brain. “It means that the kraken wanna be knows who Sam is,” Tony said, the sadness and frustration clear in his voice. “So, he's threatening Sam now?” Peter said. His mind started to imagine punching Doc Oc right off his giant mechanical arms. “Well more so to hurt me I think, but yes.” Tony said forcing the tears to stay in his eyes. Just the thought of something happening to his best friend and only child made him sick with despair. “How does he know Sam?” Peter said. "I don't know kid," Tony said, frustrated that he didn't. “Mr. Stark, why can't we just go knock this guy's head off  right now? Get it done and over with, yah know?” Peter said, getting himself psyched up to go do something. “Don't you think I've already tried that?” Tony said with an edge in his voice. “I rounded up everyone after she went to sleep the other night, even the big green guy, and it's like this guys a ghost. I researched for hours, I thought I had him and then when we got there, there was nothing there. Just some old abandoned warehouse.” Peter looked back at Tony trying to read his face. He had never seen him like this. Broken, and worried. “I just really need your help Peter. Besides Sam is aching to have a friend, I can tell she's lonely,” Tony said to Peter attempting not to sound as hurt as he felt deep inside. “So what do you say kid? I know you like her and all but its too big of a risk. Could you push that all aside and just be there for her?” Peter looked up at Tony trying to find the words. What was he supposed to say? He felt so deeply connected to Sam, and after the night they shared on top of the tower, where she let him call her his girlfriend, Peter couldn't just ignore that. But could he really lie to Tony? The man who gave him everything from his suit to a opportunity to be this amazing hero he was becoming. And that was another problem, he was THE Spider-Man. How many double lives could Peter juggle? He sighed. Guess I am gonna figure it out along the way, he thought to himself. “I will keep her safe Mr. Stark,” Peter said with a guilty conscience. He needed Sam like he needed air, but how long could he hold up the act before Tony realized?