Iron Boy [Peter Parker x Male Reader]

Chapter Forty Two

I pulled a shirt over my shoulders and began to button it as I waited for my laptop to load. I heard the sound of water as Charlie took a shower.
There was a chime from my laptop and I leaned over the desk. I leveled my face with the camera.
      "Retinal scan complete." the automated voice said, "Fingerprint analysis required."
      I pressed my finger to the box on the screen and a line bounced up and down.
      "Analysis complete...Authorization complete...Identification complete..." the computer voice said.
      There was a brief pause as a data display appeared on the laptop.
      "Good evening, Mr. Stark." Friday said.
"Friday, thank god you're back," I said. "What happened?"
"I'm not entirely sure, but I do know that your father is in trouble."
"How so?"
"I have several audio logs linked to the problem at hand, would you like to listen?"
"...yes."
"Now playing audio file #127." she said.
The data on the screen shifted.
"It is currently...November 17th, 8:16 pm. And if you're listening to this, then something went wrong. It started as a deal, for the company, but it spiraled into something much worse, a deal for my son's life." my dad's voice said.
      The audio file clicked away and another one popped up.
      "It's currently November 26th, 7:47 am, two days till Thanksgiving, and I have to tell my son that I won't be there for his first one with us. This deal I made has taken so many turns, but I'll do whatever it takes, to keep Y/N safe. His life is on the line."
      Another one.
      "The date is November 29th, 5:34 am. Thanksgiving was yesterday, and I heard through the grapevine that Y/N had a good time after all. But it's time I clear up everything that's been going on. An organization reached out to me, claiming that they had developed some technologies that have a small grasp on the control of time. Clearly interested, I went to investigate, and they showed me some incredible things. I made a deal with them, through Stark industries, but it made me vulnerable, they had leverage...and now I see that I made a deal with the devil..." he scoffed and sighed, "if that's you listening,Y/N, I'm sorry..."
      The audio files went away.
      A tear slipped down my cheek.
      "Is he alive, Friday?" I asked.
      "I believe so. I was programmed to receive a message whenever Tony's chest reactor no longer served a purpose, or when it was shut down. I have not received one. But if these people were able to shut me down, who knows what else they can do."
      "I need to find him, Smoak. Where are we on the tracker?"
      "I believe I decoded it. But you'll have to try and make sense of it."
      A string of random words and phrases appeared on my screen.
      I heard a shout from the bathroom, then the door swung open. Charlie stepped out with a towel around his waist, water droplets still clinging to his chest.
      "Y/N Stark! What the hell?" he said.
      "What did I do this time?" I mumbled, staring at the screen.
      "You just weren't gonna tell me that today is your fucking birthday?"
      "It's not that important..." I mumbled.
      "The hell it is!"
      "Not to me."
      "What do you mean, 'not to me'?"
      "I haven't celebrated a birthday in years, it's just another day for me."
      "Oh, come on, Y/N..."
      "What?"
      "It's your birthday! It means you survived another year, and with the life we lead that's a pretty big accomplishment, and something to celebrate."
      "It's not that big of a deal to me, Charlie. I have bigger things on my plate anyway, listen to this." I played the first file for him.
      I sat on the bed as he listened through all of them.
      "Well, what does all this mean?"
      "I have no idea and neither does Smoak."
      "You're Y/N Stark, I think you'll figure it out."
      "I hope so, because time might me running out."
      "Then let's get to work."
      I nodded once and sat down at the chair, scanning the code again.
      "I'm gonna do a once around of the city, see if I can find anything."
      I nodded, "Okay. Be safe."
      "Will do."
      "Come on, dad...if I were you, how would I code this so only I would know?"
My phone began to ring.
"What did you forget now, Charlie?" I said to myself reaching for the phone.
"Hello?" I said answering.
"Happy Birthday!" the all-to-familiar voice said.
"Thanks, Peter."
"I know you said your birthday isn't that big of a deal to you, but I couldn't help it, I had to tell you."
I laughed a little.
"Any idea when you're gonna be back in town?"
"A few days maybe, I don't know, it's up in the air."
"Where are you anyway?"
"Uh, Brazil."
"As in, South America, Brazil?"
"No, as in Canada, Brazil..."
"What are you doing in Brazil?"
"Just a mission, trying to get to the bottom of a case, nothing too exciting."
"Well, let me know if you need any help."
"Will do, Pete. I gotta get back to work now, I'll talk to you later?"
"Yeah, okay. Love you, bye."
"Love you too." I said hanging up.
I plopped down in my seat.
"Jesus, dad, half of this isn't even actual words, just slang..." I muttered, scrolling through the page again.
I leaned back in my chair and within moments, my eyes were drifting shut.