~Iron Family~

Protection

That night, Tony knocked on Pepper's office door.

"Come in," she called, sounding tired. Tony slowly opened the door and peeped his head inside. Pepper was sitting at her desk, piles of work stacked all around her. She was staring at her computer screen, looking bored. She had bags under her eyes and her hair was a little out of its work bun.

"You okay?" Tony called. "You look frazzled."

Pepper smiled. "Oh, I'm all right..."

"You wanna turn in for the night?" he closed the door and leaned casually against the wall. Pepper nodded. He went over to her and pulled her into an embrace, rubbing her shoulders and inhaling the scent of her shampoo.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "You wanna talk about it now?"

"Well," Pepper sighed, turning away to face the window. "I'm just worried."

"About what?" Tony stood by her and massaged her shoulders. She relaxed and he could see her smile in the window.

"Thanks. That feels good, I was sore there." She rubbed her eyes and stared at Tony in the window's reflection.

"I'm just...concerned," she started. "This boy, he's...he's just different, that's all. We're not used to different."

"He needs help," Tony mumbled. Pepper wrinkled her brow and took a shaky breath.

"Oh, I know. That boy needs help I'm not sure we know how to give. But we don't know him. What if he hasn't had his shots? What if he's got some crazy contagious disease? What if he cusses all the time? I don't want Morgan to start cussing, she's only four."

Tony bit his lip. "Yeah, about that--"

"And it's not just him being around Morgan I'm worried about," Pepper continued, ignoring him. "Harley doesn't seem to like him much. He's taking away from our family time. Plus, you saw how he looked when he first walked in here... Clothes all smelly, face all dirty, hair all wild..."

"He's homeless, he doesn't really have the opportunity for luxury bubble baths."

Pepper sighed and hugged Tony's arm. "I just don't know what to do."

"I do," Tony kissed the top of her head and they watched the traffic down below. "We let him stay here until the state comes to get him, but don't let him near the kids until we get to know him a little better."

"He seems like he might be a nice kid," Pepper admitted, "but I'm concerned of what the last six months have done to him."

"Yeah...that is just awful. It's terrible, what can happen on the road. When you're least expecting it."

Pepper glanced up at him. "You been thinking about your parents?"

Tony nodded and Pepper kissed him on the cheek. "It'll be all right."

Tony smiled. "I don't deserve you."

Pepper started heading out of the office. "No, you don't," she called over her shoulder.

***

Tony couldn't sleep.

He kept tossing and turning, all of the bad memories he possessed flitting through his mind. He couldn't help but worry about Peter Parker. Would he be messed up for life now that Tony brought him to the Stark Tower for a few days? Now that Tony was turning him in?

The state was coming any day now. There was still so much to do with Peter, though: give him new clothes, cut that awful hair, arrange a doctor's appointment. He needed to make a list, to get his hands busy and get his mind off freaking out.

He slipped out of the room and into the quiet kitchen. Harley's school notebooks were everywhere, so he tore out an empty page and started writing down a list.

Seeing the school books had sparked another idea in him.

Sign Parker up for school, he wrote carefully.

He wasn't sure how hard that would be--since he wasn't Parker's parental guardian--but he was a billionaire, so he was sure they would work it out somehow. Parker loved learning and clearly missed going to school. Tony had looked at his school records and his grades had been surprisingly high.

He started to list more items on the to-do list. Haircut, new clothes, and doctor's appointment. He knew Banner had a medical degree--maybe he could do a quick eval.

Tony wondered if the kid had had fun tonight. Hopefully the Avengers hadn't been too weird.

He decided to go check on him, to see how he was doing on his first night sleeping here. Might've been too 'Dad-ish' of him, but he was worried about the kid.

His slippers echoed softly down the empty hallway as he made his way towards the living quarters. When he made it to Parker's door, he heard noises inside. Trying not to flip out, Tony threw open the door.

The bed was empty. Literally. All the blankets had been stripped off, leaving the spaceship fitted sheet. Happy had picked that out.

The windows were showing a Queens skyline at night. There were noises playing throughout the room, of cars driving and the occasional honking horn or dog bark.

Tony noticed the closet door was cracked and peeked inside. The Parker kid was under the table, wrapped in blankets. He looked so young and peaceful sleeping there, his face relaxed of tension and worry. His chest rose and fell gently.

Tony felt an unfamiliar emotion stirring in him that he usually reserved for Morgan and Harley: protection. He wanted this kid to be safe.

He would do everything in his power to make sure it became safe for this kid and then stayed that way.