Better Days | MCU IronDad AU

Chapter 13 ▬ Opals Under the Night Sky

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
— CHAPTER THIRTEEN —
OPALS UNDER THE NIGHT SKY

Tony's eyes trailed along the words that floated in front of him, the arc reactor clipped to his chest suddenly heavy. Eight words, each one no more than two syllables. In a post having only been published mere minutes ago. The post had already garnered thousands of views, thousands of comments. One person had even written, "Elon Musk created the Boring Company. Now Tony Stark is creating hybrid puppies? What kind of Christmas is this?".

What kind of Christmas was this?

It sucks when the hybrid puppies are stolen.

Tony never suspected his horrible analogy to bite him in the rear.

'What the hell is that supposed mean?' demanded Rhodey, the world's most bemused look painting his face. 'What the hell are hybrid puppies?'

'Hybrid puppies,' Happy murmured softly, looking as if he had seen a ghost. He glanced at Tony, his stony face giving way to complete slack-jawed shock. 'Hybrid puppies.'

Hybrid puppies. Words that Tony, despite hating them for biting him in the rear, never would have expected to be so relieved to hear them.

'What are you on about?' Rhodey asked, his confusion growing still.

Tony turned to his friend, then, feeling as if the world had dropped away from him and was weightless, floating without gravity, floating in free fall. He pointed at the words with a shaking finger as he said, 'It's Peter.'

Rhodey's face was caught between suspicion and relief. 'Say what? Tones, are you saying that's Peter?'

'It has to be,' agreed Happy, that look of shock still on his face. 'Tony, me, the kid. We were the only ones who heard those words. We were the only ones...'

Tony wasted no time. Straightening to his feet, he called to the ceiling, 'F.R.I.D.A.Y., trace the message. Find where it's signal originated from.'

'On it, Boss,' F.R.I.D.A.Y. chirped, the holoscreen dismissing the window with his Twitter page and pulling up a map centred on the East Coast.

But apparently Rhodey was not having it. 'Tones, just hold on a minute,' he said. 'How are you so sure that this is Peter?'

Tony glared at him. Something in his chest twisted as he said, 'Are you saying my intuition has to be questioned for every action I take?'

Rhodey grumbled a sigh. He said, 'What if it is an imposter? What if whatever organisation that's messing with you is trying to draw you out? You know how that works; maybe the kid isn't anywhere near a phone, or a laptop, or anything.'

Tony snapped.

'What do you mean?!' Tony asked, his voice going shrill with rage and desperation. 'This is the only thing we've gotten in weeks! In three weeks, Rhodes! We've looked in the city, in the suburbs and neighbourhoods! This is the only lead to the kid! I'm not going to let it go cold so quick and shoot down every possibility just because it sounds questionable!'

Happy and Rhodey just glanced at him with a slack expression. 'What?' asked Happy.

'I'm going,' Tony reiterated. 'I'm going, whether you want me to or not. I feel it in my gut, Hap, I'm not going to just give—'

'No, we get that,' Happy said, raising an eyebrow. 'But you said your kid.'

Tony blinked. 'Huh?' he muttered intelligently.