Spiderman Fan Fiction ❯ The Itsy Bitsy Spider ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

The boy sighed then poked his head out of the mug, glad to see he was alone. He'd never been around this many people in the lab!. Well, not people who didn't know about him, anyway. Here he had the advantage of people not trying to hurt him if they found him, though. 

Peter climbed down from the cup and once he was on the counter again, he looked around. Now what? He was told to stay where he was, but it wasn't his fault that Mr. Stark had come in and moved the cup he'd had to hide in. But, she didn't exactly tell him not to move from there...and he was finally out of his cage and able to walk around and explore. A grin came to the boy's face.

This was a perfect time to test out his abilities to check out this place. He turned, his mind going a mile a minute. He had so many places he could go! In the room, of course. But, he wanted to see the whole room, and not from a counter. So, running to the tiled wall, Peter placed a hand on it, then another, testing if he could stick to it. And he could. The cabinets above him were a challenge though. 

The small teen crawled up the wall as quickly as he could, his heart catching in his throat when he slipped a few times, but caught himself. He wasn't used to climbing with his new 'powers' yet. While the wall would be easy. the challenge would be the white wood of the cabinets looming over him. 

With a gulp, he brought a hand out, feeling it latch on, then another, until he was crawling upside down! Peter giggled as he made his way over, then up to the top of the cabinets. Finally able to catch his breath, the boy turned and looked around. The room was HUGE! It would probably be large even if he was normal sized, but like this, it was ginormous! 

"Wow," he whispered. He knew Mr. Stark was rich, but this....this was insane! The lights suddenly came on as the sun disappeared behind the horizon, which was beautiful to watch from where he was. The cabinets started vibrating more than they should have, and Peter fell back when Mr. and Mrs. Stark came in. Suddenly the woman stopped, her eyes on the spot where she had left the teen.

"Tony? Where's Peter?" she turned to him with a raised brow.

"Oh, Tom Thumb was over here...and he's gone." The man looked around. "Hey, kid, you can come out. You have an unfair advantage in hide and seek right now."

Peter breathed a sigh of relief and stood back up. "Up here, Mr. Stark," he called, beginning to crawl down the cabinet to be seen easier.

"Oh god!" Pepper cried as she saw Peter start to go over the side of the tall door and automatically went to reach out to catch him, when she watched him actually crawl down the cabinet door. Her face showed her shock and she looked between Tony and the kid.

"Yeah, freaky, right? He did the same thing on my suit, only he actually walked down it." Tony held his hand out for the boy to crawl onto. 

"Ho-how?" the woman asked.

"Um, the scientists, they uh...they gave me spider DNA...they even tried to make me able to make spider webs...no thanks. I don't need webs coming out of my butt." The boy shivered.

"Oh...oh, you poor thing," Pepper leaned toward him, a sympathetic look on her face. "How long did they have you?" The boy looked up at the ceiling.

"His file said he was taken six months ago," Tony said, letting the boy crawl onto the counter. He placed his hand next to him, leaning on it. "So that's it."

The blonde woman felt pity for the boy. "I'm so sorry, Peter." He smiled up at her.

"It's okay, because I got to meet the actual Avengers! I mean, yeah, it was a little late, but hey, what can you do?" He laughed when Mr. Stark's finger pushed him lightly.

"Enough out of you. I'm hungry." The man went to the fridge. "Pepper?"

"No, but Peter? Are you hungry?" She chuckled when the boy's face lit up.

"Yes!" he shouted, and then blushed. "I-I mean, yeah. Since this happened, I'm always hungry it seems."

Tony took out things to make a sandwich, making sure he didn't squish the boy. "Well, there goes my food bill," he joked. "But, if you're hungry, just say something. Someone will come." He started putting together his sandwich, cutting a small piece for the boy before he began eating.

Peter had never seen someone eat at his size, and it was terrifying. His entire body shook with how his senses were blaring at every flash of teeth he saw, every noise the man made while chewing. He watched Mr. Stark's Adams apple bob when he swallowed.

"What? Do I have mayo on my face? Pepper? Do I have something on my face?" he asked while turning to his wife.

"S-sorry...it's just, I've never seen, you know...." he waved toward the man and the sandwich, feeling his face warm. "You know, it's nothing, thank you for the food, Mr. Stark." Trying to ignore the now staring man, he grabbed what he could of the food and began eating, having to use both hands. He jumped when hands clapped together above him and he was showered with crumbs. "Hey, watch it!" he yelled, brushing the food out of his head and heard Mr. Stark snort.

"Yeah, sorry. We need to figure out a sleeping space for now." the man said, going to the fridge to grab a water bottle. "What about next to Wanda?" Apparently he was speaking to himself, since Pepper was currently washing something at the sink. "No, she might make him float away. Oh, what about Clint's old room?"

Peter grabbed another slice of the sandwich, watching the man guzzle down gallons of water. 
"I-I don't need a whole room," he said suddenly. "Just give me a corner somewhere, preferably on the floor."

"Oh, I think not, Stewart Little. We don't want to have to wash what's left of you off the floor. Even though we have tile, have you ever seen how hard it is to get a person off it?" Tony threw out his bottle. "No, you'll get a room. I think there's a empty room next to Sam's."

Peter could only gasp when he was suddenly lifted in a fist, popping his head out to breathe, scowling at the billionaire. "Warn me, please! I just ate!" Mr. Stark only  nodded. 

"Yeah yeah." Truth was, he had no clue how to act with this new little being that was dropped into his life. He wasn't used to his own body being a weapon from just stepping into a room. It was kind of scary. He walked and had to stop himself from moving his one hand and risk the kid getting motion sickness.

Peter could feel the footfalls and looked up at the man. He was used to this sort of handling, but at least Mr. Stark wasn't hurting him, and, truthfully, the man made him feel safe. Secure. But, he was starting to feel a little hot. He wiggled his arm out of the man's hold, sighing when cool air his his skin. "M-Mr. Stark?" he called. "You're hot!"

Tony suddenly stopped and stared down at the kid who was now wriggling like a worm in his hand, his face red. "Th-that's not what I meant! I meant, you're hand! It's hot!" The man felt the relief come over him like a wave and he chuckled. 

"Good, because I can't deal with a crush right now, not with the way Pepper glares at women who throw themselves at me." He brought his hand up to his chest and opened it, hearing the boy let out a breath.

"That's better, thanks." He tried to cool his face with both hands, panting. When they started moving, he no longer needed his hands, the wind washing over him was more than enough. The man stopped in front of a door and he opened it, switching on a light. 

"Well, here it is," Tony stepped into the room, going to the bed, tipping his hand so the boy fell gently to the covers. "Um...okay, so, get some sleep."

With that, he walked out of the room and switched off the light, leaving Peter in the dark. The boy whimpered as he tried to get his footing on the  blankets. Now, he'd never been afraid of the dark. But, that was before when he was bigger than most things and not in an unfamiliar face. His breathing quickened, but then he noticed something. It was pitch black, but somehow he could still see outlines of things. True he couldn't exactly make out what the thing was, but he could see shapes. Peter felt his breath coming more even, but he was still panicked. 

"Hello," an Irish voice called and Peter screamed, jumping up and looking around.

"Who said that?!" he cried.

"My name is Friday. I am the compound's personal AI." Peter felt his heart calming from the scare.

"So, you're the new computer! I haven't heard much about you, but it's um...it's nice to meet you, Ms. Friday. I'm Peter."

"Nice to meet you, Peter. I noticed your breathing and blood pressure had raised. Would you like me to notify Mr. Stark?"

Peter's eyes widened. "N-no! Definitely not. I'm okay now, I promise. But, can you please raise the lights a little?" It took a second, but the lighting was raised until the teen said it was enough. Now with the ability to see, he felt so much better. "Thank you, Ms. Friday. I'm better now." He stood as best he could and looked over the vast bed he was on. The pillows were so far away, but that's where the end of the blankets were. With a sigh, the boy started trudging through the blankets. It almost felt like walking through snow, or deep mud, except his feet stayed dry. It was a peculiar feeling. 

Finally he reached the pillow and stared up at it, wanting to cry. The top was so far away, and even if he reached the top, he wouldn't be able to reach the blanket. So, he just lifted the gray blanket as much as he could and crawled under it, feeling cold. A few minutes under the comforter he began to warm up and started to fall asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Peter woke in the morning, the first thing he noticed-besides he was hungry- was there were no bars over him. Confused, he sat up, pushing the thick comforter off his body with a grunt. Looking around he noticed he was in what looked like a bedroom. He was trying to think when suddenly the Irish lady spoke.

"Good morning, Peter," Friday sounded and raised the lights, the windows lost their shading and the boy was gifted a view of the expansive fields outside, the sun hitting his face. He stood on the bed, sinking into the soft mattress, soaking it all in.

"Mr. Stark is on his way."

Peter didn't have time to answer before Mr. Stark was opening his door. "Hey spiderling," he said with a grin, walking to the bed and looking down at the small boy lost in the covers. "Sleep okay?" The boy nodded. "Good, otherwise I would be worried. This is a thousand dollar bed, after all. So, are you hungry?" He sat on the bed, which caused the boy to tumble against his thigh.

"I-I.." he swallowed as he looked up into Mr. Stark's expectant face. "I can come out of my room?"

Tony stared at the kid like he'd said something stupid, then rolled his eyes."No, you're not allowed, which is why I asked you if you wanted breakfast. Come kid, really think I would do that to you? But, this," he waved his hand over the spot where he thought Peter might be against his thigh. "This is getting ridiculous. Hold on." He lowered his hand to the bed and searched by his thigh until he heard a small yelp. 

Pinching the teen's middle he brought him up to see his face. "Now I can see you. So, let's go get some grub." He got up and started walking, not missing how the boy held on to his thumb for dear life, his feet dangling in what Tony thought must have been a terrifying height. "Sorry," he mumbled and brought his other hand up, dropping Peter into his palm. He was new at this and didn't know how to carry a three inch person.

Peter let out a small 'oof' when he fell into the man's palm, shaking his head a bit. Although he was glad for the semi-stable surface, he didn't like how rough Mr. Stark was with him. 

"Look who's finally in the land of the living," Mr. Stark announced as soon as they reached the kitchen and he felt the boy tense up as four pairs of eyes settled on them. Everyone was focused on the boy in Tony's hand, and he couldn't help but let his mouth fall open. All of his childhood heroes were sitting at the table.

"Good morning, Peter," Pepper said with a smile, kissing her husband who pouted as he sat next to her. "Did you sleep alright?"

"I don't get a good morning?"

"No, Tony. Not after what you did last night." The woman glared at him, but was grinning.

Before Peter could answer the woman, a finger came and poked him in the side, surprising the boy and made him jump and giggle at the same time. "Don't do that....it tickled," he protested, trying to give his best glare to the blue eyed man who stared at him.

Clint couldn't help himself and leaned closer to the small thing that was moving near Tony's arm, his finger still trying to poke it. "What is it?" he whispered, then yelped when Tony slapped his hand away.

"He is not a thing. His name is Peter. He's an unfortunate experiment we found in the HYDRA base yesterday."

Peter looked down at the memory of being in the lab and shuddered. Suddenly the finger was back, but Peter flipped over it before it could touch him.

"Woah. Have you always been this size?" Clint tried poking the kid again, only to have his fingertip slapped by 'Peter', and turned it into a sparring war, seeing the boy was smiling a little. He didn't even notice the rest of the table watching them, this was to much fun!

"No," Peter said, ducking the finger so it sailed over his head, but falling when it came back as a hook to try and grab him. "They gave me-" jump over the finger- "some kind of serum to-" slap "-to do this to me." He was breathing heavily now and starting to sweat, but this was the most exercise he'd had in six months! He was glad for those gymnastics and dance classes, even though he got made fun of for the latter. 

Suddenly the man opened his hand to grab the boy, a grin on his large face, but at the last moment the teen jumped over the hand and, unfortunately, misjudged the height, and stuck to the bottom of Mr. Stark's mug as it passed over him as the billionaire told the archer to quit it. He brought it up to take a sip, and stopped when he  heard Pepper gasp, her hand flashing out to hold under the man's cup just in case Peter fell.

"And this is why you can't bring kids to the adult table," Tony sighed, grabbing the boy between two fingers, peeling him from the mug. "You need to eat, so enough playing." He pulled a box over and flipped it open, revealing pancakes and eggs, dropping the kid in front of it.

Peter's eyes went large at the amount of food in front of him. A few months ago, that would have been enough to fill him, but now, it was like a literal mountain of food before him. He walked towards it slowly, the scent of the syrup so sweet it made his mouth water. Grabbing a pancake he tried to rip a piece off, but apparently he pulled too much and the entire thing unexpectedly came flying at him, covering him like a blanket.

Clint tried to suppress a laugh behind a snort at the moving pancake, lifting a bit to see the red faced boy underneath. "Hey, we have rules about trying to hide in your food around here, little buddy."

Peter glared at the man and wiggled out from under the hot food. "Ha ha, very funny, Mr. Hawkeye. I was trying to rip a piece off it." He yelped when the pancake was lifted and turned to see Pepper ripping the pancake in pieces and laying them next to him. "Thank you, Mrs. Stark," he said and lifted a piece to eat it.

Clint laughed. "Kid, you need to cut it with the mister and misses business. I'm Clint," he offered a finger to the kid, who backed up a step before he figured out what the man wanted and grabbed said finger.

"Hello, Mr. Clint," Peter chirped cheekily, earning a chuckle from Mr. Stark.

"Give it up. But the kid could help with your manners," the billionaire said, amusement in his tone.

"Um, why are we introducing ourselves to a child from a HYRDA operative base?" Steve finally asked, setting his coffee down. "Last I checked, they were still evil, or did you not see what they did to those other experiments, Tony?"

"I agree with Steve," Natasha said, eyes landing on the boy who backed away before Clint's hand covered him and the man glared back at the woman. "He gets out, not a scratch on him...for all we know, he could just be a spy. Look at what they did to Bucky." Steve nodded next to her.

"Well, if anything happens with the kid, I will take personal blame for it, okay?" Tony rolled his eyes at the team. "You need to ease up. He's just a kid, a little kid, literally. And if you haven't noticed, he was an experiment that we were able to rescue, so just back off."

"At least let us ask a few questions," Natasha offered, leaning back in her chair, hands disappearing under the table. 

"Uh, that would be a no," the billionaire made a face which the woman rolled her eyes at and brought the knife she'd been playing with to the top of the table.  "Leave him alone."
"Yeah, but he's a kid who was in Hydra's hands, and came out of a lab with not even a scratch." Steve said, as if alliterating where Peter was from.

"I-it's okay, Mr. Stark....they can question me...I-I'm not afraid." The boy stood as tall as he could and Tony snorted into his coffee cup.

"That's cute, Pete, but I know those two, and they won't stop pestering me about this until I agree."

There was silence at the table, until Tony finally sighed. "Fine, but it's done after breakfast, with me and Pepper in the room with you, and if the kid is uncomfortable, we stop. Got it?" The man glared at the two smiling Avengers who nodded. "Good. Now, let Tom thumb eat, Mr. Clint," the man teased, chuckling how red Peter's face went. 

Clint poked the boy as soon as he lifted his hand and pointed to the pancake pile. "Better eat, kid, or," he swiped a piece from the pile, "it'll all be gone." He smiled around the food as Peter glared and quickly sat and started eating way faster than anyone thought he would, impressing them by eating the whole pile. "And I thought Steve could eat," the archer said. "Looks like you have competition."

Rogers only watched the little thing on the table, his eyes focused. What would HYDRA be doing with such a tiny person?

"M-Mrs. Stark?" Peter said, nervous from his childhood hero literally staring him down. 

"Pepper," she reminded the boy who nodded.

"Pepper, i-if it's possible, could I have some c-coffee please?" The woman nodded as she stood.

"I got this for you yesterday out of Morgan's room. I thought you would like it. It came in one of her Barbie sets Tony had to buy her." She grabbed something off the counter and dipped into her own coffee cup, setting down the now visible Avengers cup made out of Iron Man's head. 

Peter picked it up and laughed for a second at the icon, Tony leaning in to see it and smiled. "Of course I have to buy her everything Iron Man, or else how is she gonna know who her dad is?"

The boy smiled as he sipped his coffee, a blissful look coming over his face. Even though he could still feel Mr. Roger's eyes on him, it had been too long without the bitter taste of the drink. "Thank you," he said, taking another sip.

"You're welcome, sweetie. Are you still hungry?" The boy shook his head.

"No, Mrs-Pepper," he corrected himself at a look from her. "I'm not hungry." The woman nodded and pulled the box to Tony, who ate the remainders. 

"Are we done? I would like to question him today, if possible." Steve started reaching for the teen, seeing his scared face, which made him pause. "Son, are you okay with me holding you?"

Peter saw the hand, but he couldn't move. The man's hand was huge up close, and intimidating to say the least. Then, the teen was suddenly scooped from behind, yelping as he fell backwards into a rough hand that smelled like the outdoors and wood oil. He looked up to see Mr. Barton's smiling face.

"Sorry, kid, but it's my turn to hold you. Steve doesn't get a turn until he behaves." He stuck his tongue out at the soldier, bringing Peter closer to his chest. "You lead the way, Cap."

"I thought we could do it here, make the kid more comfortable," Natasha spoke. "I mean, unless you want to go somewhere else, like the labs."

The boy shook his head at that. "N-n-no." Peter scurried up Mr. Barton's arm to his shoulder, huddling close to the archer's neck. "Please, n-no more labs....please...." he begged. "I don't like labs.."

The archer tried to see the kid, but  it was like he disappeared. He took a chance and turned his head to look at Tony, who looked toward his neck, which the rest of the table did as well, with concern.

"Peter isn't comfortable in lab settings," Bruce came around the corner wearing a lab coat. "Hey, what's with the angry aura? Did Clint break something again?"

Steve shook his head. "No, Bruce. Just having a little discussion with the kid. Tell me, why don't you like labs?"

Peter shivered slightly. "When I was taken by Hydra, the first place I remember being was a lab. There was a doctor there, he went by Doctor Bloom. Every time I was brought to his lab, he forced needles into me. They...they made..."

Clint heard the boy sniff, his voice wavering as if he was fighting back tears.

"They made me...this," he shivered at the memory. "They had a whole group of people. Some my age, some a little older, some even younger..I was the only one who survived the experiment." A tear escaped as he thought of all those people screaming for someone to help.

"Do you know why?" Natasha asked, leaning forward and frowned when the boy shook his head.

"No, n-not really...I overheard them saying stuff like 'they needed the perfect spy', and 'it needs to be practically invisible'. But, that was after they gave me the serum that made me little." The whole thing sounded ludicrous to Peter, even as he said it. "It got worse when they started with the spider DNA...that hurt, worse the first shot.."

Everyone had a look of sheer disgust and astonishment on their faces as Peter spoke, looking at him with pity and sadness.

"And where did they get the, um, serum that made you little?" Tony asked.

"Actually," Bruce interrupted, holding up his clipboard. "I can answer that. It seems they were working with some of Hank Pym's particles," he laid his findings on the table, which Tony grabbed to read over, pulling up the holographic screen in order for the whole team to read. "Peter, do you happen to know how they got their hands on it?"

The boy was starting to settle down and was now sitting on Mr. Barton's shoulder, looking at his feet, his fist still clenched on the man's collar. "Sean said they found it in Berlin."
Steve groaned, leaning his head on his hand. Why did Berlin have to keep showing up? 

"How? Scott couldn't have just given them some, could he have?" Natasha asked, getting up to see what Tony was looking at, leaning close to the small teen.

Peter flinched away from her, but when she didn't even glance at him, he relaxed. "No, he was told that they found some sort of disk with some of the particles on it, though most of it was burnt and melted."

"And Sean," Tony asked, "who is he? You mentioned him before, too."

"He was a scientist,  kept there against his will. He..he tried to protect me." Tears burned behind Peter's eyes and he blinked them away. "His family was taken by Hydra and he was forced to do experiments for them." It seemed that whenever he got close to someone, they were taken away from him. From his father to his uncle Ben..everyone but his aunt May. He gasped. "Aunt May!" He leaped to his feet and turned to Mr. Stark, almost losing his balance on Mr. Clint's shoulder. "You have to let me speak to Aunt May! She's probably beside herself with worry!"

Tony put a hand up. "One thing at a time, Short stack. I have her number, I'm just waiting for the right time. Like when we finally get you back to normal."

The boy frowned. "And what if that isn't possible?" Bruce cleared his throat.

"Well, since the Berlin incident, Hank Pym has gone into hiding. No one knows where he is. I can put some feelers out though, see if anyone can find him. But, as long as I have Peter's blood, I can try and do some reversing agents on the serum that was used."

"What about the freaky spider things?" the boy asked. Bruce sighed, taking off his glasses to rub his nose.

"That, I can't undo, I'm sorry. The DNA has intermingled with your own. If I try to separate it, you won't make it." He couldn't look at the disappointed face on the small boy.

"Okay, are we done here?" the billionaire asked, unable to take the look on the kid's face. "I have things to do, missions to fund, things like that."

"I think we're done here. Peter, I'm sorry son, for everything you've had to go through." The boy nodded. 

"I have some work I have to do as well," Pepper said with a side glance at Peter, who still stood on Clint's shoulder, holding the man's hair. He really was adorable. She looked to Tony, who put his hands up.

"I got some important shit to do, as I just said." He winced when his wife slapped his shoulder. "What?"

"Little ears," she made a movement toward's Peter, who was laughing. "Clint? Can you watch him?" The man shook his head, his little passenger almost falling. 

"I can't. I got a call from Laura. That's where I was heading right after breakfast. One of the main pipes burst in the basement and she didn't want to call a plumber."

"I can watch him," Bruce said softly. The table all looked at him at the same time. "What? I actually like kids."

"I know that , Bruce, but..." Pepper looked at Peter, who had hidden once the man had spoke. "I don't think Peter's comfortable with you." He nodded with an understanding look.

"How about you, Spangles? You any good with kids?" Tony asked, and the man shook his head with  a scared look.

Peter felt horrible. He was causing problems. He hated causing problems, especially to the people who rescued him. Mr. Stark was still arguing with Mr. Rogers when the boy spoke. "I can look after myself," he said, his voice cracking out of nerves when every pair of eyes was set on him. "I-I'm fifteen," he said, his face reddening. "I can t-take care of myself." There was silence.

"Oh sweetheart," Pepper said. "We all know that, but right now, it's dangerous for you to be on your own. If someone doesn't watch where they're going, an accident can happen." She saw the sadness on the tiny teen's face and looked to her husband.

Tony finished his coffee and hissed through his teeth. "Fine, I'll take him," he agreed with a clap of his hands. "Clint, time to release the Lilliputian to me." Clint turned to him with a raised brow.

"Lilliputian?"
"What? You've never seen Gulliver's Travels?"

"No, and you have?" Clint raised a hand to his shoulder, feeling Peter crawl onto it.

"Yes, because I have a normal daughter who likes to watch movies and veg out on the couch, not be outside frolicking through the tulips with chipmunks." As soon as the man brought Peter closer, Tony reached out and pinched his torso between two fingers before placing him on his own shoulder and getting up.

"Tony, is that safe?" Pepper asked, holding her hand out just in case.

"He's fine, right Pete?"

The boy who had almost lost his balance from the large movements smiled at the woman. "Yeah, I'm fine, Pepper."

"See? So, you guys go play, while daddy gets some work done," and with that, he walked away.

To say it was weird to ride on Mr. Stark's shoulder was putting it lightly. Peter could feel every movement, every step rumbled through him. He head learned in the first few minutes to not look down and watch the giant feet miles below him. 

"So," Mr. Stark's voice sounded so close, the man's neck vibrating against the boy's white knuckles. "You went to a STEM school, right?"

"Y-yeah...for science and technology," the boy answered, looking out the windows, enjoying the view.

"What was your main subject? Or, is that college? I forget." Tony turned his head to see Peter looking out the window.

"I had an elective, which was chemistry. I took band, which Aunt May forced me to do for something, but I quit that after three weeks. But, I also took chemistry, physics, calculus and of course, P.E. which I was horrible at. Ned, he's my best friend, didn't like it either. He's better with computers then anything else, and was in the robotics club with me. We even built our own robot that could make a pizza, but it shorted out and there was dough everywhere. Aunt May wasn't even mad when she came home, she just told us to clean up the house and laughed." Peter smiled at the memory. He missed the woman, and hoped he could call her soon.

"Huh, really interesting," Tony said blandly. "So, you like building things?" The boy nodded. "Well then, you're gonna love the workshop. You're actually the very first civilian that has ever seen it, so be amazed, or at least pretend, okay?" He heard the boy laugh in his ear and grinned. He could grow to like this kid, especially if he kept laughing at his jokes.

They walked and Peter didn't see the short flight of stairs, too busy looking at the grounds, when Mr. Stark started bouncing down said stairs. The boy gasped and held on as his body jerked with each step, until not even his new abilities could hold him and with a scream, he fell.

Tony hadn't even realized the trouble the kid was having until he heard the tiny scream and looked to see Peter falling down the front of his shirt. With a curse that had Tony quickly brought his hands up, catching the kid just as he passed his waist, cupping his hands around the boy with a sigh of relief. "I'm so sorry, kid," he rushed. "I didn't even think. Are you okay?" He brought his hands up and looked in them.

Peter was shaking, which was a given for what just happened, but he nodded and gave a nervous laugh. "Yeah....that was scary though."

"Yeah, I can imagine. Let's get going, but no more shoulders on stairs," Tony furrowed his brows and folded his hands over the boy as he continued his descent.