Chapter Text
“No, not my kid, well, not exactly, he’s sort of mine, he-” Tony’s frantic speech was cut off by Happy shoving him into the car that stood waiting with the door open and a horrified looking Pepper sitting inside.
Tony was still trying to figure out what had just happened when the car door slammed closed, Happy quickly got in the driver's seat, and the car was speeding away from the hoard of reporters clamoring for a shot of the speeding car.
“Tony-”
“I know, Pep. I know, please just-” Tony cut himself off by putting his head in his hands and pressing his palms into his eyes, trying to ground himself. Everything was moving too fast. His attempts to start formulating a plan of what had to happen next kept getting muddled before Tony could process them, let alone verbalize them to Pepper. Blood from the adrenaline rush was still pounding in his ears and thinking was an impossible task.
Apparently, this was not a problem, as Pepper seemed not to be looking for Tony’s input. Pepper simply asked him if he had access to JARVIS at the moment, and then strictly told him to not touch his phone, despite the constant notifications now pouring in from various news sites and company message boards. When Tony stammered something about JARVIS being connected and handed over his watch, he urged his exhausted and adrenaline drugged brain to work, just to understand the impact of what he had just done.
How could he have been so stupid? All it took was one message that seemed to be from Peter in distress and Tony had ripped the boy’s life apart in his desperation to make sure the kid was safe.
Pepper asked JARVIS to mute all news notifications to Tony’s phone and to begin a level two security-related lockdown on Stark Tower, before asking JARVIS if there’s any way to disable tracking of what phone calls are made from Tony’s phone.
This catches Tony’s attention. He knows the AI will offer to run the protocol Tony set up in case he ever needs to escape the public eye for a bit, but he's not sure if that's exactly what Pepper is hoping for. SHIELD will track Tony’s phone closely as soon as that protocol is activated, and the attention of SHIELD could be overwhelming at the moment. There’s only one way to really achieve what Pepper seems to be looking for.
“I can activate Protocol Cla-” JARVIS starts speaking before being cut off by Tony.
“We’re good, J. Leave it.”
Tony puts his shaking hand over the watch face, effectively stopping what could be another mistake. He looks up to see Pepper's questioning look before beginning to rummage through his pockets. After a few seconds, he comes up with a cheap looking phone that he knows he will have to explain to Pepper once the dust has settled.
“Untraceable, even by SHIELD. It’ll open to your fingerprint. Used for emergencies.”
Tony tries to meet Pepper’s eyes as he hands over the phone, but is horrified to find that she doesn't even seem angry, or frustrated. She just seems worried. After handing the phone over, Tony decides his best course of action at the moment is to sit quietly and not make things worse. He slumps back in his seat, pressing his eyes closed as he listens to Pepper dial and then wait as the line rings.
The other line picks up. Pepper’s professional voice, typically reserved for company affairs, makes the whole conversation seem much more formal than Tony would make it.
“Is this May Parker? Hi, my name is Virginia, I’m an associate of your nephew, Peter Parker?”
It's a good thing Pepper handled this call. Tony would have called Peter directly, and then embarrassed himself if Pete picked up. Pepper was smart to call Aunt Hottie.
“Is he at home at the moment? Great, a car will pick you both up in about five minutes. There's been an incident we’re hoping to get ahead of. No, nothing to worry about. It will be handled. Thank you. Bye.”
Happy asks where he should be driving to, and Pepper confirms what Tony had suspected; Pepper has no idea.
“Tony, honey, how do you want to play this? How much do you want people to know? We can go to Avengers Compound, but SHIELD might see the kid. The public could see him at the tower, unless we sneak him in. The car is too high profile for the kid’s house, and you're too much of a mess to be in public at all. We need to get him out of that house, in case people figure it out. What are you thinking?”
Tony felt like he was going to cry, which made him panic even more. He needs to get a grip on himself before he sees Pete. He needs to make a plan.
His voice is more level than he feels. “We can’t decide anything without him so- We need his input. Lets just pick them up ourselves and ask him what he thinks. That work?”
Pepper nods, typing something into her phone, and begins giving Happy directions to the Parker household. Tony realizes that in minutes he will have to face the kid, and starts focusing on pulling himself together. If he seems to be panicking, Peter will follow suit, let alone what Aunt Hottie will think. He needs to seem like he knows what he’s doing. He’s testing out smiles as the car pulls up to the apartment complex and Peter and his aunt scurry out the door.
As soon as the back door is opened and Peter clambors in, uncomfortably pressing himself into the tiny middle seat to leave room for his aunt on the other side, Tony’s calm demeanor is tested. The kid looks terrified, glancing from Happy to Pepper to Tony in quick succession before anxiously wringing his hands in his lap. What’s worse, Peter is wearing a company crewneck. Tony had the foresight to put on his sunglasses so that he doesn't have to worry about eye contact in the car, and to hide the panic in his eyes that surely must be obvious to anyone who knows him.
“What’s going on? Where are we going? Is it the Avengers again? What happened?” Aunt May spits questions at such a speed that, even if anyone in the car had the answers, they wouldn't be able to give them fast enough. Almost in reply, Happy peels away from the sidewalk and starts speeding toward the outer city, likely trying to buy the group time to decide where they're going.
“Tony, you explain.” Pepper’s voice is firm but kind, and she does not turn in her seat to make the demand. Tony really is on his own. He clears his throat and hums quietly before beginning speaking. His speech is flat, and he makes an effort to present the problem logically. There is no time to get into the intricacies of his emotions at the moment.
“As you know, Peter has been working with me on some projects for Stark Industries, as well as giving me a hand in personal projects.” Both backseat passengers nod, now intently staring at him as Tony determinedly faces forward.
“What you may not know is that…” Tony feels the lump forming in this throat and clears it before beginning again. “-there is only one person under the age of eighteen who works at Stark Industries. That person being Peter, who is technically registered as an intern for the company.”
They still stare at him, waiting for the second shoe to drop. The quiet in the car is deafening. He can not look at them. Not for this next part. Tony takes a deep breath and says it quickly, before he can lose the nerve.
“I may have accidentally shared with the public that I’ve chosen my successor as head of the company, that my successor is a current employee, and implied that the successor is my child. Peter is the only person I could have been referring to, which the media will figure out soon enough. Which means I may have put a target on your nephew’s back, if people piece together that Peter is that successor.”
Both faces staring back at him seem dumbfounded. Aunt May looks like she might explode with questions, and Peter just looks confused. It hits Tony that he forgot an important detail to make the puzzle come together.
“Oh yeah, Pete, I was going to ask you if you’d like to take over Stark Industries. I want you to be my successor.”