Beyond Control (PJO/HoO + Avengers Crossover)

Chapter 9

"UH MR STARK?" Peter Parker yelled from the floor. "SORRY I BROKE YOUR WINDOW BUT WHY IS HE HERE?"

Tony quickly ran inside and went to the elevator. He tapped his hands nervously against each other as he waited for the doors to open, and when they did he ran over the broken glass to get to the two boys. "Is he hurt?" Tony looked down at the unconscious for of Percy Jackson, "is he dead?"

Peter looked up at him. "I don't think so, he seems fine. Hey, how do you know Perce?" 

Tony looked at Peter. "It's a long story, wait you know him?" Peter nodded. "How? What? Since when?"

Peter up looked at Tony and smiled, as if remembering something fondly. "He used to go to one of my schools, until he got expelled. We used to be pretty close until I moved to Queens, he's a Manhattan kid. I guess we just grew apart."

"Okay, plot twist. Help me get him up, won't yah kid?" Tony cleared his throat while they leaned Percy against a wall, away from the broken glass. He had a few cuts from the glass, mostly on his side but one piece of glass was embedded deeply into his head. But Tony would leave that to Bruce. He just hoped Percy would be okay, he hasn't known him for a while, but he liked him. Even so, he was in Tony's care, he didn't want Percy to die. That would be on him.

"Good thing I got here when I did, huh Mr. Stark?" Peter said, taking off his mask and dusting off his palms by clapping his hands together. Tony was so focused on Percy for a minute, he forgot Peter also crashed through the window. Tony saw the kid wipe the mask over his face to wipe off any dirt and sweat, and he realized Peter was also bleeding. A deep gash, starting above his left eyebrow and ending at the end of his eye.

"Oh my god, Pete. Are you okay?" Tony doesn't know why, but he ran up to the kid and wiped off the blood running into his eye. Next thing he knew, he was giving Peter a hug.

"Yeah Mr. Stark I'm oh- Oh, this is nice." Peter said while hugging Tony back, his mask still in hand.

Tony realized what he was doing and backed away quickly. He wasn't one for physical affection, or any show of it. "I'm so sorry I didn't notice sooner, how did you get cut and all dirty? You were wearing your mask, right?" Tony spoke while looking Peter up and down to make sure there were no other injuries. While a gash is way more minor than most things Peter has faced, he still didn't want him in any more pain than necessary. He was pleased when he saw only a few pieces of glass embedded in his arm and side, much like his old friend.

"Oh, yeah. I guess I forgot to tell you..." Peter mumbled.

"Tell me what?"

Peter held out his mask and Tony saw that one of the eyes were shattered, with now a piece of what looked like scrap material covering what was once the high tech piece. "Sorry, Mr. Stark. I tried to fix it but me and Ned couldn't figure out how to re-program it correctly so I just scrapped my whole code and found something in the dumpster next to Delmar's." He cleared his throat. "You can yell if you want," Peter mumbled while kicking a piece of rock.

Wow, this kid was traumatized.

"Pete," Tony laughed while rubbing his eyes only to pinch the bridge of his nose. "I'm not going to yell at you. I just wanted to make sure you're okay. Here," he held out his hand, "I'll fix it for you." Peter handed over the mask hesitantly and Tony stuffed the cloth into his pocket. "So, uh. How'd it break?"

Peter looked down at his feet and found a different rock to kick. "Oh, uh. Yeah so. Uhm," he started mumbling and tried to stuff his hands into his non-existent pockets, only to laugh for a bit and stow them away behind his back. "That's- weird," he whispered to himself and scratched the back of his neck. Peter cleared his throat, "Yeah, I mean-"

Peter sensed someone was coming, and looked at the doors until Tony also turned and a group pushed through.