Now or Never

Chapter 5 ~ Somebody's Watching Me

Your POV

"What you working on Uncle T?" I ask as I walk into his workshop.

"That nanotech suit you tried on the other day." Tony answers without looking up from his work.

"Need some help?"

He stops what he's doing to contemplate that. "Sure. I could use an extra set of hands." He says with a shrug and gestures me to come over.

I go over and we get to work. A holographic screen appears in front of me and we work on designing it.

"What do you think of this paint job?" He asks as he changes the color of the suit.

I shake my head. "Nah the classic red and gold works perfectly fine with this."

He smirks. "Alright."

"Can I be the one to try it on whenever we finish?"

"Absolutely not."

"Oh come on!" I whine and give him the puppy dog eyes.

He looks at me. "Aww, don't give me the eyes." He says and looks away to avoid being guilt-tripped.

I pout instead. "Bet I'll wear one of your Iron Man suits," I say with a mischievous smirk.

"Ha! Like that'll happen."

"Just you wait."

Tony chuckles. "Whatever you say kid. I'm not losing this bet though."

I chuckle too and we continue working on the algorithms of the suit and the design.

"Mr. Stark." FRIDAY's voice suddenly fills the room.

"What's up, FRIDAY?" Tony asks.

"The tracking device on Mr. Parker's suit has been disabled."

"WHAT?!" Tony yells.

I lower my head and shake it. "Pete what are you doing?"

Tony drops everything. "I gotta find him. He might do something stupid."

"Well knowing Pete he's probably still going after that vulture dude. He's very stubborn like you sometimes."

"I know where he's going. Come on." Tony rushes out of the room.

I follow after him to the elevator. "Ummm... Tony I can't go." I gesture to the cuff.

"Oh, right. I'll be right back then. You okay here by yourself?" He asks concernedly.

"Yeah. Just go." I wave him off.

He nods and presses the button on the elevator to the roof. I watch from the window as he drops from the roof. His armor attaches onto him just in time and he flies off. I turn away from the window and go to the elevator, taking it down to the ground floor. I walk out back to the dock by the lake. I grab a few rocks and start skipping them across the water.

'Pete you better not be doing anything stupid.'

I throw another rock across the water. It skips three times before it goes into the water. Memories flood back to me. Happy ones. I find myself smiling at them. I go to pick up another rock but stop dead in my tracks as the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I look around only to find nobody.

'Calm down (Y/n). You're just being paranoid.'

I take a deep breath and the feeling goes away. That was until I heard a twig snap. My head whips around to the sound and I can't tell if my eyes are just messing with me or if I really saw a figure dash behind a tree. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up once again.

'Okay now I really think somebody's watching me.'

I cautiously tiptoe over to where the sound came from. Now I'm on guard for anything. I'll kick their ass with or without superspeed. I feel a hand on my shoulder and I immediately grab it, twisting it as I throw whoever it is over my shoulder. I climb on top of them, putting a knee on their chest and raising a fist in the air.

"Jesus Squirt. What's your problem?"

I look in shock as I stare back at Tony. I jump off of him.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." I say as I help him to his feet. He dusts himself off.

"What's got you all worked up?" He asks with a tilt of his head and a raised brow.

"It's-I-uh." I stumble over my words. I sigh and look to the ground. "Nothing. It's probably just me being paranoid." I brush it off. "What happened?"

"I took the suit away."

My eyes widen. "What?"

"He deliberately disobeyed me, hacked a million-dollar suit, and people could've died on that ship if I wasn't there."

"Well I mean this wouldn't have happened if you told him you called the FBI in," I mutter.

"You're siding with the kid now?"

I chuckle at his defensiveness. "I'm not siding with him. I'm just saying maybe you should have told him about the FBI and he probably wouldn't have tried to go after that vulture dude." Tony raises his eyebrows in agreement.

"You should've seen his face, it hurt me to take that suit away."

"I can't imagine the depressing voicemail he probably left on my phone." I sigh and look back out to the lake.

Tony looks at me worriedly. "Reminiscing?"

"Yeah," I say with a soft smile.

Tony puts an arm around my shoulder, pulling me into a side hug. "C'mon. Enough with the sappy stuff."

I chuckle. "Alright. What do you suggest we should do?"

"Bet I can beat you in Mario Kart."

"You're on! Race ya!" I say and pull out of his grip and start running.

"Hey!"

Tony runs after me. I laugh as Tony chases after me and he laughs too. For the first time in two months I didn't feel so alone anymore. I didn't feel depressed. I felt whole again.

—ASE715