Hush Little Baby (Discontinued)

Ch. 30

"Peter?"

The teen woke up to May leaning over him, hand on his shoulder. "Hey sweetie. Pepper picked Harley up, to take him back to the tower. Your dad is here."

Peter rolled onto his side, rubbing a hand over his eyes. "Dad's here?"

May nodded softly. "I'm heading out for my shift. I'll see you later, okay? Don't be too hard on him."

A wry smile lifted the corner of his mouth, and he shoved the blanket aside. "He's hard enough on himself."

She kissed the top of his head, straightening up, and moving to the door. "You can go back with him, or you can stay here, okay? I won't be back till late."

Apprehension twisted his stomach into knots, and by the time he'd gotten dressed, he was dreading going out into the living room.

The longer he waited, the worse it would get, so he yanked a thin sweatshirt over his head, and opened the door.

The first thing he noticed was the smell of food, followed by the sight of his dad, sitting on the couch, head in his hands.

“Dad?”

Tony’s head shot up, and he gave a tired smile. “Hey.”

Peter sat on the armchair across from him, tugging his legs up to wrap his arms around them. "Hi."

He said nothing else, and could see the smile starting to fade from his dad's face.

Then it was completely gone, and Tony rubbed his face with both hands. "I'm sorry, Pete. I'm sorry."

Peter met his gaze cautiously, tilting his head. "I know."

There was a small quirk of his mouth that was gone again in the next instant, and he dropped his feet to rest on the floor, elbows resting in his knees. "Me too. I shouldn't have gotten mad at you like that."

"You should have," Tony corrected him. "You absolutely should have. I promised not to push you away again, Pete. You just reminded me of that."

Letting out a giant breath of relief, Peter relaxed in his seat. “So we’re okay?”

The soft smile reappeared, and Tony nodded. “Yeah. Get over here so I can hug you.”

Peter rolled his eyes exaggeratedly, standing and moving to drop down on the couch beside his dad, where he was immediately pulled into a tight hug.

“I missed this,” he mumbled, hiding his face in Tony’s shirt.

“Me too, kiddo.”

The silence remained for several minutes before Peter broke it again. “What happened? Pepper said it was the team- is everything okay?”

"No." Tony rested his chin on the top of Peter's head. "But hopefully it will be."

“So…” Peter prompted after a long silence. “You gonna tell me?”

His dad nodded, inhaling deeply before letting it out. “Just trying to figure out how to say it. You remember Sokovia, right?”

Peter nodded, pulling away to cross his legs, watching his dad warily. “Yeah. 177 deaths, right?”

“Right.” Tony looked away, letting out another deep breath. “The UN is out for our heads right now. Calling for accountability.”

“Meaning…?”

“Meaning they’re calling for the Avengers to basically go where they want us to go, say what they want us to say. Get their permission for fighting threats, etc... Work for them, essentially, but with less freedom.”

Peter tilted his head. “I’ve seen articles about the proposed Accords. Is that what this is about?”

Tony smiled tiredly. “Can’t hide anything from you, can I?”

“Stop avoiding my question.”

“A lot of people disagree with the accords.” His dad lifted one shoulder. “From what you’ve read, what’s your general opinion?”

"I mean... I dont agree with all of it, but accountability's good, right? I'm not so enthusiastic about the registering-" he paused, voice filled with uncertainty. "Mutants."

"Don't say it like that, kiddo. It's not disgusting, or inhumane to have powers. It's just a fact of life."

"I agree with some of it, but not all."

"Yeah." Tony squeezed his shoulder. "Nat says that she thinks it's better to have one hand on the wheel than none. I have to agree with her."

"Will I have to register?"

"You're underage, so probably not. I can see if I can get you listed under me, as sort of a protege type thing."

Peter pressed his face into his dad's shoulder. "I don't agree with them being able to stop you guys from helping at their whim, though."

"Once we've all signed, we can revise it, I hope, get it changed more in our favor."

"If not?"

"If we don't, then we'll be criminals."

Peter nodded, and they sat in silence for several minutes.

"Are you okay, though?" Peter lifted his head. "I know this is stressing you out pretty bad."

"I'll be fine, kiddo. Although I don't want you here while we're hanging this out."

"What?"

"Hear me out, Pete." His dad faced him. "This could get ugly, and speaking both as your father and your mentor, I don't want you to be caught up in it, okay? I already got May to agree to both of you going on a cruise for a couple of weeks. She wanted to take you to Italy, so I set up funds, and the entire thing. Thought maybe you and her could go, and you could take a friend or two. It'll be fun."

Taking a deep breath, Tony waited for the answer.

Surprisingly, Peter didn't look upset.

"Is this a bribe?"

Scratch that, he looked very upset.

"No. It's me being worried about you, and taking care of you the only way I can."

"Taking care of me would not be shipping me off!"

"Peter. Please."

The teenager huffed, folding his arms and leaning back against the arm of the couch. "Can I bring Harley and Ned?"

"As long as Ned's parents are fine with it. You'll have to take your schoolwork with you."

"Okay. Fine."

"I'm sorry, Pete. But I need you safe. There's no telling what Ross could do to an unregistered enhanced individual once these are signed, and no way am I letting him get his hands on you."

The anger drained slowly from Peter's expression, and he let out a breath. "I guess I should go call him, then."

Tony watched as his son walked out.

I'm sorry I havent fixed it yet!

It will be, though.

Soon.

Sometime.

In the future.

Love you guys

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