The Devil With The Face of an Angel | Irondad, pepperony

Chapter 43

"Go ahead, tell me," Beck said, as only the two of them stayed in class alone again.

"What? What do you mean?" he muttered as he slowly packed his things. Today, he really tried to get involved during the club so that he wouldn't have to have this conversation with him. Obviously, he didn't get involved enough so that Beck didn't get suspicious.

"Come on, Peter, tell me what's going on in that head of yours," he urged him again.

"I do not want to burden you with my problems. It's enough that I blurted it at you last time," he said, throwing his backpack over his shoulder.

"It's not a burden. I've seen you try to get involved today, but you still need to relieve your thoughts a little. I'm just offering. Plus, I told you about my problems at the exact moment I met you."

Peter paused for a moment, thinking carefully about his next move. He will either walk through the door as he had originally planned, or he will stay for a while and tell Mr. Beck his troubles. "It's about my Mom," he snorted in the end. He was right, he needed to get all those thoughts out of his head.

"Any new information?" he asked with interest, leaning against the table.

"Actually, yes... last week I stopped by and found some strangers moving into her apartment. She is gone. She probably went somewhere far," he breathed. He kept it to himself all this time. He couldn't tell anyone. He was too scared of how his words would sound aloud.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Why do you think she went somewhere far?"

"The miss, who moved in after her, said she was talking about a new beginning. She's probably not going back," he said in a low voice. He tried to avoid the truth, but how long could he lied himself his mom would return to them in the future?

"I do not know what to say. It's clear that nothing I can tell you right now it's not going to help you," Beck sighed.

"You know, the worst part is I haven't told Dad yet. You're the first who knows it. I wanted to tell him that day I found out, but he was in such a good mood. As if his hopes had grown and I didn't want to be the one to take them from him."

"It sucks, Peter, but you know you have to tell him. After all, everyone deserves to know what they have. Maybe there is still some hope, but maybe not. I lost my family, I don't want to see you lose yours. But if someone doesn't want to be somewhere, you can't keep them there," he explained.

Peter thought briefly about his words. He knew he couldn't keep her with them, but this was his mom who loved him. Who loved his father. He just couldn't understand it. He could be the greatest genius, but he couldn't figure out why she would believe anything that came out of Mary's mouth. "I know I have to tell him. I just need to figure out how."

"Just be honest with him."

"Thank you for listening," he muttered, stepping nervously on the spot. He probably had to go home now and talk to Dad. And that wasn't the conversation he wanted to have.

"It's out of the question. I told you that you can come to me at any time with anything," he said with a small smile.

"May I have a question?" he asked before he will head home.

"Sure."

"Have you considered returning to your superhero career?"

"No, to be honest, no. I couldn't save my family or my world. I doubt I could do it in your world," he replied, scratching the back of his neck.

"I didn't want you to feel uncomfortable. I'm sorry I asked."

"It's nothing. But if I would be needed, I would certainly do a better job than I did with saving my planet. And the end of those depressive speeches! Go home and enjoy the rest of the day."

"Thank you, Mr. Beck. Goodbye," he said goodbye to him and finally left the classroom.

•••

Tony sat in the workshop, thinking about a new suit for Peter. His current suit was made to be as safe as possible, but as Tony thought about it, it was still just fabric. His suit was much safer. So he decided to try Iron Spider. Nanotechnology was a beautiful thing, and he was sure Peter would be thrilled.

"Friday? Are you here with me?" he asked, rubbing his eyes. He had been working on it for a long time and a short break would benefit him.

"Always, sir."

"How's Pepper?" he muttered, almost ashamed. He knew he shouldn't interrogate, but he just couldn't stand it when he had no information about her.

"She's at work right now," Friday said, and Tony frowned slightly. She was at work?! Has she found a new job in Malibu already?

"Where she is working?"

"I don't know, sir. But you should know that the coding has been broken," she informed him.

"What do you mean? I solved this problem years ago with Jarvis when it happened," he said blankly. After the affair, he made sure it never happens again.

"One of the access keys has been used, sir."

"Then show me," he said, pushing the hologram of Peter's suit aside.

The codes changed quickly in front of his eyes, but he hadn't seen anything of interest yet. He should also check the access keys. He didn't know how someone else could get to them.

"Wait, wait! Stop it!" he blurted out when he noticed words that had nothing to do with the coding. His heart began to beat noticeably faster, and he read the lines at lightning speed. The lines which finally brought him at least a little joy after a few awful days.

"Something wrong, sir?"

"No, not at all. Delete it and send the new codes back to the access key address," he said with a smile and began writing.

Natasha was always brilliant, but this was absolutely amazing. Using codes for communication! Why didn't it occur to him sooner?! She wrote that she had returned to Russia and that Ross had no sign of her for now. He wrote to her how it had gone wrong with them and that he hoped to see her again soon. It was the first message he had received from her, and at least some of his concerns had subsided when he knew she was safe.