You Are Not Tony Stark

And Then It Was Black...

Chapter summary:

"Friday, show me the unfinished projects."

"You have one unfinished project right now."

"And what is it?"

"The Rescue protocol."

Or, Peter has a panic attack.

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Peter watched Pepper read through some papers. It was strange to see her again in her working self. She was so relaxed during their vacation in Malibu, she was even wearing comfortable clothes and not her work ones. It was easy to forget that she was the CEO of one of the most successful companies in the world.

"Do you really have to work?" he asked, knowing the answer. She deserved a proper vacation, but Peter somehow already understood that it wasn't entirely possible in her position.

"I know we promised you a holiday that includes only the three of us, but I really have to handle this call. Why don't you go to the lab when the weather is bad today? Tony will be glad to have a few extra hands, and in the meantime, I will be ready for the call. I suppose it won't take long, I haven't encountered any complications so far, so I could be done before dinner," she said, smiling at him.

"You know what, Mom? That actually sounds like a good idea! I haven't worked with Dad for a long time," he said excitedly.

"Okay, I'll get you when the dinner is done," she said, and went back to reading the papers, and Peter went down to the lab. The workshop here was not as big as in New York, but Peter had to admit it had something in itself.

"Hey, Dad," he said as he stepped inside.

"Hi, stranger. I was starting to think you forgot that this place existed," Tony teased.

"Haha, we have a lab in New York too, so I wanted to enjoy the pool," he said, sitting down beside him.

"You want a pool? You know you just have to say, and we can have a pool in New York too."

"Oh my god! No, don't you dare," Peter groaned.

"Okay, end of chatter. Let's get to work."

"What are we working on?" Peter asked curiously, starting to look at the plans. It looked like a suit, and Peter frowned at the design. After Thanos, most of them withdrew. Tony still had his suits and was ready to go save the world at any time, but most of the time he didn't create new ones. Eventually, he only worked on minor adjustments. Also, this suit seemed quite small on the plan. It might be a suit for him, but he looked more like an Iron Man than a Spider-Man.

"Oh, I started playing with it during the Thanos period. It's a suit for Pepper," he explained, and Peter gave him a shocked look.

"What?!"

"You've heard. Let's be honest, she's never wearing what I buy her anyway, but I think she should have one."

"No! You can't!" he blurted, and Tony looked at him intently.

"Pete, are you all right?" he asked worriedly.

"You can't give her a suit!" he yelped, then put his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. His whole body vibrated strangely and he felt sick. "I can't breathe. Why can't I breathe?!" he wheezed.

"You can. You can breathe, buddy," Tony said, grabbing his hand to his heart so Peter could copy his pulse. Though he was so frightened now that he didn't know if his heart wasn't beating as fast as his son.

"That doesn't help," he murmured, and then it was black.

(...)

"What happened?" Peter asked in confusion as he woke up in his room and Tony sat beside his bed.

"You obviously had a panic attack. Eat this," he said, handing him a chocolate energy bar. Peter didn't protest. He was quite hungry. "I need you to tell me what has worked up you so we can avoid it next time," Tony said worriedly, and Peter had to look into his memory to capture how he got into this situation. And then he remembered. The suit!

"I just don't want mom to go out there in a suit and fight bad guys. It's already so difficult that you do it," he murmured, tears in his eyes. He knew he was a hypocrite because he did it himself, but he couldn't help himself. He just didn't want to lose another family member.

"Oh, kid," Tony sighed. It all made sense now. "We both love Pepper, and neither do I want her to do what the two of us do. All I can think of is that when you disappeared, I was lost in space and she was alone. She was alone and vulnerable. I just want her to defend herself, Pete. We don't always have to be here and what if someone goes after her? I need to know she'll be safe," Tony explained, Peter could not help but tears.

"I think it's a good idea," he sniffed. Tony sat on his bed and pulled him into his arms.

"I am so sorry! I tried to speed up the call as much as I could," Pepper blurted out, invading his room.

"It's all right, Pep. We've got it under control," Tony said with a small smile, and Pepper was relieved.

"What happened?" she asked, sitting down on the chair where Tony sat before. Peter was still hiding in Tony's hug. He didn't want Pepper to see him crying. She didn't need to be unnecessarily stressed.

"Just a panic attack," he replied, then mouthed to explain it later. Pepper nodded and looked at Peter, who hadn't said anything yet.

"Peter, hun? Are you all right?" she asked carefully.

"Yeah, Dad helped a lot," he replied, finally looking at her. He knew she would know he was crying, but now he was reassured, and that was all that mattered.

"Glad to hear that," she said with a smile. "I've been thinking about lasagne for dinner."

"I will never refuse these."

"Excellent. Why don't you go to the kitchen and prepare the ingredients? I'll change into something more casual and I'll be right there," she suggested, and Peter nodded.

"That was an experience," Tony said relievedly as they were alone. He was so frightened that he almost had a panic attack too!

"But you did it perfectly. I love you," she said with a smile on her face and leaned over to kiss him.