ILLYRIS | xiii. "I LIKE PETER PARKER!" THE IRON DAD PROTOCOL
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
THEADORA PLAYED AT being fire turned to flesh. She always strived to put on a brave face. Her muscles had been trained in fighting styles, she had defended herself tirelessly for years, acknowledging the weight of her last name. But sometimes she still felt like a scared little girl, all alone in a world that would never understand her. Sometimes, all she wanted to do was go home.
Which sounded quite desirable in the precarious, ferry situation she found herself in.
Thea's legs dangled from the roof of a building she had retreated to. She counted the number of rescue boats escorting shaken civilians off the ferry and into safety. The sound of helicopter blades chopping the air resounded around them. Peter sat right next to her, his mask discarded leaving his face wrought with distraught. Every so often he would wince as his arms moved— he had been holding together a freaking ferry. She offered heat from her palms to soothe his muscles. He was silent.
Her heart deflated when she heard the sound of air rushing behind them.
"Previously on Peter and Thea Screw the Pooch, I tell you to stay away from this... instead, you hack a multimillion-dollar suit so you could sneak around my back doing the one thing I tell you not to do."
Peter's jaw was clenched, eyes almost welling up with tears by the way the sun's golden angle shined on his sullen face. "It wasn't Thea. It was me. Is everyone okay?"
"No thanks to you," Tony responded in a bitter tone.
At that moment, Thea looked down, wondering if she would survive the fall from the ledge and into the murky blue waters below.
Her shoulders tensed as Peter turned around swiftly, walking close to the slowly descending metal suit with his fingers curled into fists. "No thanks to me? Those weapons were out there and we tried to tell you but you didn't listen! None of this would've happened if you would've just listened to us!" His voice was shrill, loud and he chuckled wryly. "If you even cared, you'd actually be here."
Thea's blood froze the second the mask unfolded... revealing Tony Stark in the flesh. No hollow metal, no long-distance phone call. The rest of the suit unfolded so he could step out and walk closer to them. Peter backed away in shock, his anger vanishing at once. Tony stared down at him, a flicker of disappointment on his face that made Thea look back down at the rippling water. Would it be that bad of a fall?
Tony sniffled, scrutinizing Peter. "I did listen, kid. Who do you think called the FBI, huh?"
That drew Thea's attention away from the bay and to the two. She had no idea he was the reason behind the random agents that nearly compromised their mission. Swinging her legs around the ledge, Thea quietly lowered herself to the ground. Her eyes landed on Peter's discarded mask atop the ledge and she took it in her hands. If there was one thing she knew about being chastised by a parent figure, it was that the consequences could bite.
