All My Life

43| Suit up

Tony's pov.

My eyes shift away from the gauntlet in front of me as I notice the sudden silence that had enveloped the lab. The lab is almost never silent, not with Peter with me. I turn around before taking a quick glance at my wristwatch, 12:32 am. My eyes fall upon the boy standing near the large glass window that displayed the night sky of New York City. He continues to stand there, still and quiet, which makes me get up from my chair and walk towards him.

I wouldn't have allowed him to stay up this late, not when he has the whole Homecoming thing tonight but the desperate look in the kid's eyes didn't let me deny. Something's bothering him and it frustrates the hell out of me when I find myself unable to fix my kid's problems.

I stop beside him and put my hand around his shoulders, not speaking a single word. "Are you still mad about the Code Red fiasco?" I am taken aback by the unexpected question, confused as to what was going on in that head of his. Mad is not the word I would use to describe my emotions about that incident. Cautious? Definitely. Terrifying? Maybe. But, not mad. After all, I've learned my lesson from the aftermath.

"No. Why do you ask?"

His hazel eyes remain fixed upon the city lights glimmering down beneath us. "Will you let me be Spiderman, again?" Oh, so this is what it's all about. He misses it. He misses the thrill, the feel of adrenaline rushing through his veins. Of course, he does. I would too. But, I never stopped him from being Spiderman. Sure, I took the suit away but that was simply to keep him away from the dangerous missions that came with the advancements of the suit, the missions that he wanted but wasn't ready for.

"I never stopped you from being Spiderman, kid." His eyes snap towards me, a confused look plastered across his face. "But, you took away the suit." A small laugh escapes my lips at his words.

"The suit isn't Spiderman, kid. You are."

His eyes glaze over and I recognize the tell-tale signs of him falling into an internal monologue. A few moments pass before he looks back up to me, his eyes gleaming with a new-found contentment and I can't stop the smile that stretches across my lips.

"So, I heard you ordered something yesterday for your friend. Planning to keep that away from me?" His eyes widen in disbelief before it is replaced by an unimpressed look. "How do you even find everything out?"

"That's for me to know and you to not find out." He sighs before pulling a small box out of his pocket. I stare at his eyes which gleamed with pride as if he was proud of himself to be in possession of the thing in his hand. He slowly opens it up and then stretches his hand that held the box, towards me, almost cautiously and I hold the box with similar care. Anything important to him is important to me. My eyes fall upon the little locket in the box, a small flower being the main design. A dahlia.

My eyes look up to him as he starts speaking. "It's a black dahlia. MJ loves it," I watch as his eyes fill up with adoration and admiration for the girl he was talking about. "It's because of the Black Dahlia murder mystery. I know it sounds weird but I couldn't find anything she'd like more." I have only ever talked to the girl once, that too by blackmailing his friend into giving me the number. Some friends this kid has. One who wouldn't speak a word about the bully due to a stupid promise and the other who basically asked me to destroy him. There's no denying that I like them both.

"She seems to be an interesting kid. I'm sure she is a huge fan of mine, isn't she?" I let the cockiness slip into my voice as my lips stretch into a smirk.

"Sorry dad, she prefers Ms Potts."

Of course, she does...

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