Pride Is Not The Word I'm Looking For

Chapter 12

SOrry for the future tears!

***

-+*+- Tony -+*+-

"Oh my gosh!" The woman squeaked, "You're Tony Stark! Can I get an autograph?"

Tony rolled his eyes internally and pulled Peter behind him. He flashed a smile at the woman and quickly scribbled his name on a tissue that the woman pulled out of her bag. He hoped it wasn't used.

Peter and Tony were shopping at one of the many central malls. They had only just gotten out of a store when a plump woman paled and looked at Tony. She ran over and half-screamed half-whispered if she could get an autograph and such. Tony, being the 'gentleman' he was, 'happily' obliged.

When the woman left, Tony asked if Peter was alright. He knew the answer but he just wanted to make sure. When he got a positive confirmation, they continued their shopping trip. It became a cycle. Tony would ask if Peter liked something and he would mumble 'sure' if it was below 20 dollars. Eventually, Tony just stayed quiet and watched Peter look at different clothes. If Peter's eyes lingered on something, Tony bought it.

It wasn't the best way to shop, but it was the only way Tony could figure out what the kid wanted. The Spider-Ling refused to have money spent on him and it drove Tony up the wall. He wasn't opposed to spoiling Peter. Heck, he loved it. He wanted to do it. The kid had gone through so much, he deserved everything money could buy and more.

Tony grabbed something off the rack that Peter had been eyeing for a solid 3 minutes and told him to go try it on in the dressing room to see if it fit. He watched the kid slink to the rooms near the back of the store holding an 'expensive' piece of clothing. He just wanted to make the kid happy and he didn't really know how, so he resorted to the way that usually worked for billionaires. Spoiling them.

Tony was waiting for Peter to come out of the dressing room. He was leaning on one of the shelves near the exit and was surfing youtube and such on his phone while he waited for the kid to come out. Peter was taking a while.

Tony got curious and walked into the labyrinth of dressing rooms calling for Peter. The store was huge so the fitting rooms had to be as well. He walked along the rows of curtained rooms when he heard it.

"Hey! Why won't you come over here we won't bite! I promise," The voice called.

Tony furrowed his eyebrows and turned the corner and saw two men were outside a curtained room calling to someone on the inside. He was about to tell them to stop and leave it be when he noticed a flash of color from the underside of the curtain.

White torn up sneakers with vine references written all over them. Peter's sneakers.

His body filled with rage and his blood boiled with fury.

"HEY!" He shouted, "Leave him alone!" His voice dripped with venom and he was visibly shaking with anger.

"Mind your own business old man," one of the two men taunted.

Tony's lip curled and he flicked his wrist and his IronMan gauntlet formed around his hand. He heard the familiar charge of the weapon as he raised it.

"I. Said. Get. Lost," Tony's words were filled with rage and venom. Who the hell were these people to catcall his kid? Who were they to try and hurt an innocent child? He had enough.

The men in front of him were frozen in fear. Tony took a quick step towards them and in a flash they were gone. He lowered his weapon and took hesitant steps towards the room where Peter was in. He heard a sniffle.

"Peter?" he called gently. "Peter, can I come in?"

He heard a soft 'yeah' from the other side and he slowly pulled open the curtain to the room. He almost collapsed to his knees.