It Happens to the Best of Us

5: Grin.

Tony grabs the keys to his old corvette. The man slides his hand over the smooth, elegant curves of his favourite car. "I've missed you," he says.

"Are you seriously feeling up your car?" Peter watches from the elevator.

Kinky.

What is wrong with you.

"She seems lonely. Did no one keep her company while I was out?" He jokes.

Peter cringes. "Don't make me regret bringing you back."

Tony chuckles and turns the key. The car hums to life.

Peter much preferred walking (parking in NY was such a pain in the ass), but he obliged and hopped in the passenger seat.

They pull out of the garage and Tony turns on the radio. Immediately, the latest pop songs start blaring over the vintage speakers.

"What in god's name is this?" The billionaire stares at the wood console in horror.

Peter just laughs, and Tony has no idea why.

"Minutes later, Tony pulls into an empty alley next to In-and-Out.

"What are you doing? You know you can't park here. I mean, you probably can, but..."

They climb out of the car, and Tony fiddles with his watch. Bug-eyed, Peter watches as the car folds up into the size of a large cat, and attaches itself to the wall.

Dude.

Don't geek out, don't geek out, don't geek out.

Tony saunters toward the restaurant entrance.

"So, when did that happen?" Peter asks, struggling to disguise the wobble in his voice.

The man smiles, holding the door for him. "During your five year vacation, I had to do something. After all, man can't spend his time venting to alpacas and drinking mojitos forever."

It really wasn't a vacation. Peter thinks back to his time in the soul realm-how stuck he was, how powerless.

Don't go there, not now.

There are entire landscapes of memory he has yet to traverse-and he doesn't intend to, but Peter isn't sure if he can hold himself back any longer.

The teen can see the eagerness in Tony's eyes, and he braces himself for the barrage of questions.

"So, kid, uhm....what the fuck happened? Did you go on that Europe field trip you said was coming up? How've Morgan and Pepper been? Wait-what about May? She knows you're here, right? Ohmygod Peter Benjamin Parker why are you not in school right now??"

Peter's eyes are the size of saucers.

"And more importantly," Tony finishes, "how the hell did you do it??" He's grinning now, absolutely thrilled. Peter fiddles with the sleeves of his hoodie, unaccustomed to so much attention. I mean, having a parent be proud of you is one thing, but..

It's Tony frigging Stark.....

After living around him for years, Peter still could hardly contain his inner fanboy.

"I-I don't really..."

"Just start from the beginning, kid." The mechanic props his chin on his hands, a little startled by the cool metal meeting his cheek where skin used to be.

Okay. The beginning...

Peter recalls the events that took place after Tony's....disappearance. The funeral, the field trip, everything that went down with Quentin Beck, and by the time he got to the advanced learning mechanism, the two were knee-deep in food, Tony careful to only use his flesh hand.