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"Where is daddy?"
Pepper let out a quiet sigh and smoothed down her pencil skirt before taking a seat beside Peter on the red couch. "Your dad is talking to the police right now, Peter," she said. Knowing it would help calm him, she gently threaded her fingers through his hair, stroking it soothingly. "He's just in the next room."
"Because they caught the bad guys?" Peter asked. He understood why his daddy was talking to them, but he still wanted to be with him. He was scared. Pepper's comfort had always been one of his safest places, but nobody could replace his dad.
Nobody.
"That's right." Pepper continued running her fingers through his hair in the same steady rhythm, looking directly into his eyes. Every now and then, though, her gaze drifted to the bruise on his cheek. Whenever she did that, Peter felt a strange urge to hide it.
She continued, "They caught the bad guys, and now they're discussing what to do with them. They're also trying to find whoever was behind all of this so it never happens again."
"But it won't happen again, right?" Peter asked quietly. His voice was hoarse from all the screaming he'd done earlier. He tried to keep his eyes from filling with tears. Apparently, he failed.
Pepper made a sound that was almost a sob and, clearly needing the comfort as much as he did, lifted him into her lap and wrapped her arms tightly around him.
Peter buried his face in her shoulder and let a few tears fall. It was the first time he'd cried since those first shock-filled moments after everything happened. But Pepper had been his safe place for as long as he could remember.
So it felt good. Two hours had passed since the incident.
Peter, his dad, Pepper, and Happy had come on a week-long vacation together. His dad had been working a lot lately, and he'd promised Peter a vacation with absolutely no work. That was why they'd come to Italy, where Peter's grandmother had connections, and everything had been going great.
For four whole days, Peter had the time of his life.
They swam, played, and explored Italy with Happy tagging along as security. Everything was amazing. His dad really hadn't looked at a single work-related thing. Pepper was there too. Sometimes she asked his dad questions about work, but Peter didn't mind. Listening to his dad talk about grown-up things had always fascinated him. And he was happy Pepper was there because she was the best. He wished Uncle Rhodey could've come too, but he had work with something called the military. Peter didn't know much about it.
So everything had been perfect.
Until that afternoon.
They were all sitting together on the private stretch of beach reserved for them, away from the crowds. Then an ice cream vendor appeared on the public side of the beach, and Peter got very excited. Because who wouldn't get excited about ice cream?
"Daddy, please?" Peter said, pulling that face that always worked on his dad and he puckered his lips.
His dad put his hand over his heart and let out a dramatic sigh. "Oh, Happy... It is serious. He's doing the puppy eyes again."
He gave a kiss on Peter's curly hair. So, unable to withstand Peter's persistent begging, Tony and Happy headed toward the vendor. It wasn't far away—still within sight—but there was a line in front of it.
That left Peter with Pepper. She was lounging on a sunbed with a book in her hands while Peter sat in the sand in front of her, decorating what was undoubtedly the greatest sandcastle he had ever built with seashells.
A security team stood behind them as usual, far enough away not to bother them but close enough to intervene if necessary. There were three of them. Peter didn't know them. He'd never even spoken to them before.
Daddy had always been obsessed with security.
According to Uncle Rhodey, Peter being born had increased that obsession by about three hundred percent, which sounded like a very serious amount.
Then the most unexpected thing happened.
Peter didn't see it because he was looking down at his sandcastle. But he heard it.
A deafening sound unlike anything he'd ever heard before. It hurt his ears so badly that he immediately covered them. So when the same sound rang out a second time, it didn't hurt quite as much.
He saw Pepper scream and start running toward him..But before she could reach him, a man shoved her roughly backward and forced her to the ground. Peter was still trying to understand what was happening. Even after the noise stopped, he kept his hands clamped over his ears. Desperately, he wanted to run to Pepper and help her up. If anyone was supposed to be okay, it was her.
But before he could move, strong arms grabbed him. He must have been screaming since the first moment because as those arms lifted him into the air, a hand clamped tightly over his mouth. For a second, Peter couldn't breathe.
After struggling helplessly in the man's grip, an idea suddenly came to him.
He swung his right leg as hard as he could and kicked the man in the crotch. The man yelled in pain. The brief lapse in his grip was enough. Peter broke free and bolted forward but the man didn't give up.
He caught Peter by the arm and yanked him back before striking him hard across the face, probably trying to knock him unconscious. Peter burst into tears from the pain. But he didn't stop.
Being small and wiry had its advantages. Twisting his body in a way that would've made Daddy proud, Peter somehow slipped free again.
The bad guy took off after him.
Peter was already running toward another man who was pressing something black against Pepper's head. He didn't know what it was. But it looked very, very bad.
He had to protect Pepper.
Just like Daddy always protected them.
Fortunately, Peter running straight at the man must have distracted him. Because he never had time to react to the hard hit that came from behind. The next second, a familiar figure emerged behind the two men.
Happy.
Peter had never been so happy to see anyone in his life.
Beach security was finally rushing toward them too, but his dad got there first.
Dad charged straight at the man—the one who had hurt Peter—and drove a punch directly into his face.
Everything became even more chaotic after that.
More people were shouting. More people were running. Peter was crying harder than ever.
Then, suddenly, he found himself in Pepper's arms. She was crying too. Not loudly, but hysterically. She held Peter as though he were made of glass. Maybe he was.
Peter had seen glass cups fall and shatter before. And right now, he felt exactly like those broken pieces. Scattered and Fragile. Like one more hit would turn him into dust.
The shouting around him was so loud that he couldn't make out most of what people were saying. But while he was tucked safely in Pepper's arms, he heard his dad yelling things at the bad guy that he definitely wasn't supposed to say. There were other voices too.
Then, before Peter could even understand what was happening, he was suddenly in daddy's arms. And Peter grabbed onto him with everything he had. Burying his face against him, he cried and cried and cried.
Even though daddy was trembling—which was strange, because daddy was always strong—he held Peter so tightly that it almost hurt. They were both shaking, and Peter vaguely remembered Pepper's elegant, gentle hand rubbing soothing circles over his back while daddy kept him pressed securely against his chest.
Daddy must have wanted to get him somewhere away from everyone's eyes because he carried Peter as he stood up, and when Peter finally managed to focus on something other than his own panic, he realized that people had gathered all around them. Most of them had probably come running from the public side of the beach along with daddy and Happy. When Peter looked toward the bad guys, he saw that both of them were in handcuffs now, and both of their faces were covered in blood.
Sometimes Peter bled. Sometimes daddy did too.
Daddy usually got cuts while working on things in the workshop, and Peter sometimes got hurt when he fell, or during that incident three months ago—the one that had affected Daddy so badly that he'd spent the entire day hovering around Peter like he couldn't bear to let him out of his sight. Peter still had a scar on his hand from it, and sometimes when daddy noticed it, he would go strangely quiet and distant, like his mind had wandered somewhere dark. Because of that, Peter tried not to let him see it whenever he could.
But the blood on the bad guys' faces was different. It was a lot of blood.
Peter's stomach had already been churning, but seeing that made it even worse. The bad guy who had hurt him the most looked especially awful. Peter couldn't remember what had happened after daddy charged at him because everything after that had simply felt too loud, too much all at once.
When he looked at the man's face now, he couldn't even make out his features beneath all the blood. Even though the man had hurt him, the sight still made Peter feel sick and sad in a way he couldn't explain, so he buried his face deeper into daddy's shoulder and pressed himself closer. Daddy, still breathing heavily, let out a low sound that almost sounded relieved when Peter cuddled closer, and somehow managed to pull him even tighter against his chest.
After that, they went back to the villa, and for the first half hour his daddy barely let go of him for even a second, keeping Peter in his arms while trying to calm him down. The first thing he'd done after they arrived was carefully examine Peter's reddened cheek, and a look had appeared in his eyes that unsettled even Peter. His jaw had tightened so hard that it looked painful.
Afterward, he'd pulled Peter against his side while being careful not to touch the injury and had continued murmuring comforting words until Peter eventually stopped crying. He hadn't said much himself. He'd simply leaned against his dad and drifted into an uneasy sleep.
When he woke up, daddy was gone.
Once he became fully awake, he planned to go look for him, but just as he started to sit up, Pepper appeared beside him.
And now here he was, sitting safely in Pepper's arms while his dad talked to the police because the bad guys had hurt him—hurt all of them.
"I'm sorry, Pep," Peter mumbled quietly, looking up at her.
Pepper blinked. "Why are you sorry, sweetheart? Everything's okay now. You're safe. Your dad will never let them get near you again."
"Yeah, I know," Peter said, picking at the fabric of his shirt. "And I'm not scared right now because you're here, but they hurt you too, and they hurt me, and daddy got really mad and hurt them back, and that was really scary. And I don't want you to get hurt. I don't want anyone to get hurt."
"Oh, baby." Pepper pulled him closer and held him tightly. "No one's going to hurt anyone again. Not like this. Even if your dad somehow can't stop it, I will make sure this never happens again. Just even thinking about someone taking you..." Her voice caught for a moment before she continued. "Oh, Peter. Your father is a disaster sometimes, and even if he somehow fails, I'll make sure nothing like this ever happens again."
And Peter believed her.
When his dad finally walked back into the room, Peter immediately lifted his head from where it had been resting against Pepper's shoulder. Pepper stood and gently transferred him into daddy's waiting arms. As she headed toward the room his dad had just come from, probably to speak with the police herself, Peter felt a flicker of sadness because he didn't want her out of his sight either.
But the moment he settled back into his daddy's safe, familiar arms, relief washed through him so completely that he couldn't focus on anything else.
Dad carried them upstairs to his bedroom. After setting Peter down on the bed, he sat beside him and leaned back against the headboard. Peter immediately took advantage of the opportunity, crawling across the mattress until he could wrap his arms around Dad's middle and settle comfortably against his chest.
"Why are we in bed? It's only five o'clock. That's way too early for bedtime."
"Wow," Tony said, glancing down at him. "When do kids learn how to tell time? Elementary school? Look at you. You're basically a genius, baby."
Peter pouted. "I'm not a baby anymore. I'm almost six, which is basically an adult, and you still haven't answered my question."
Tony sighed dramatically. "First of all, let's retire this whole 'basically an adult' thing for today, okay? I've had enough stress for one day. You've had enough stress for one day. We've both did. That's why we're here." He picked up a remote and pressed a button, causing a television to rise smoothly from the cabinet across from them. "I figured we'd spend the rest of the day in bed watching movies."
Peter immediately lifted his head and grinned. "Can Pepper join too? She had a lot of stress today too"
The laugh Dad let out was strange enough that Peter didn't quite understand it. "I don't think Pepper is particularly interested in sharing a bed with me, but she'll definitely come see you before she leaves, and we both know that even a woman like Pepper has a hard time saying no to you."
Peter giggled softly, but the sound irritated his sore throat, and within seconds he was sitting upright and coughing. Dad dropped the remote immediately and placed a hand against his back.
"What happened, Pete? What's wrong? Talk to me."
Once the coughing fit finally passed, Peter looked up at him and couldn't stop himself from sounding a little sad. "When Bad Guy Number One grabbed me, he covered my mouth for a second, and I think he squeezed my throat too, so sometimes it still hurts."
Dad's eyes immediately dropped to Peter's throat and then flicked toward the bruise on his cheek. He started getting up.
"We need to have a doctor look at you. Then I'm going to go kill that guy."
Peter immediately grabbed his hand with both of his. "No, you can't. Please!" He tightened his grip. "Pepper already had someone check me when I woke up, and they said I'll be okay. You can ask her if you want. Please don't kill anybody or hurt anybody, daddy. Please just stay here with me."
Peter tried very hard to hold himself together, but a few tears escaped anyway and slid down his cheeks.
Dad immediately sat back down. For a moment, he simply cupped Peter's face and wiped away the tears with his thumbs, being especially careful around the injured cheek. "Baby, I'm not going to kill him. He's in prison, and he can't hurt you again." His voice softened. "And I hurt him because, like you said, they were very bad people, and they tried to take you—" His voice cracked. "They tried to take you, and they needed to pay for that."
Peter sniffled. "Why? Why did they do it? I never did anything bad to them."
Dad studied him for a long moment before offering a sad smile. "The world isn't full of good people, bambino. Some people are bad, and sometimes those people want to hurt us. Remember when we talked about being careful around strangers?" Peter nodded. "They were bad people. They wanted to hurt me by taking you."
Peter frowned in confusion.
"But don't they work for us? Why would they want to hurt you?" "Not all of them." Dad looked away.
Peter immediately tugged insistently on his shirt until Tony finally sighed. "As far as we've been able to figure out, there were three of them. One was one of my security guards. Another was a friend of his who approached from behind, and the third was the ice cream vendor who got us over there in the first place. They must've realized you'd notice him."
Peter thought about that for a moment. "Then if only one of them was your guard, what happened to the other two security guards?"
Dad took a slow breath. "The bad guard and his friend..." He paused. "They hurt them so they wouldn't be able to come help you." Peter could hear how shaken he sounded.
"But they're going to be okay, right?" Dad squeezed his eyes shut for a second. He couldn't seem to answer. Eventually, he just nodded.
Peter didn't push any further. Instead, he scooted closer and wrapped his arms around him. "We'll get through this stress," Peter declared, trying to comfort both of them at the same time. "Pepper is going to stop the bad guys from ever coming back, and we're going to stay here and watch movies for a really, really long time." Tony raised an eyebrow.
"How long?"
"Until morning."
"Yeah, absolutely not. Don't try to take advantage of the situation. You're still a growing baby."
"Hey!"
"Also, I told you this isn't going to happen again. Why are you acting like Pepper's some kind of armored knight? That's honestly very hurtful."
That finally earned a laugh from Peter.
Taking advantage of Dad's distraction, he shoved him backward onto the mattress so they could both lie down. Dad let himself fall with exaggerated defeat before immediately grabbing Peter and attacking him with tickles.
Peter's laughter filled the room as he squirmed and twisted, trying desperately to escape.
Because of everything that had happened that day, Dad eventually let him go much sooner than usual.
Afterward, he settled back against the headboard and pulled Peter into his arms once more.
For a while, he simply looked at him. Then he carefully kissed Peter's injured cheek before pressing a long kiss to his forehead.
"I love you more than anything, bambino."
Peter blinked. "More than anything?"
"More than anything."
Peter smiled and snuggled closer. "I love you too, daddy."