Never Again

Ch. 2

Tony's POV

Despite telling Peter we would only be out for a few hours, we ended up coming back to the tower by around midnight. I had gotten an alert from FRIDAY that a group of guys were trying to break into one of my storage facilities, so Peter and I had to go deal with that before we could head home. On the way back, Peter had spotted a gang of people trying to rob a local restaurant. He had refused to let them be, so I just sat back and watched him take care of them.

"Come on, kid," I said, climbing out of my suit. Peter was barely able to stand up straight he was so tired. "Time to go to bed. You've got school tomorrow." Peter yawned and nearly tripped over my work bench. I grabbed his shoulders to steady him and walked him up the stairs to his room.

Peter didn't even bother changing out of his suit. I led him over to his bed and watched as he collapsed on top of it, falling asleep seconds after his head hit the pillow. I pulled his mask off and set it on his bedside table before walking out of his bedroom and closing the door behind me.

I had been planning on working on my latest project tonight, but since we had gotten back fairly late, I decided to just go to bed. Besides, I had to drop Peter off at school tomorrow morning and I was not used to getting up before 8AM.

* * *

"Mr. Stark?" I groaned and tried to block the sound out by swatting at it. "Mr. Stark? You have to get up. I need to get to school and I'm gonna be late." I forced my eyes open and after a few seconds, I realized Peter was standing over me, fully dressed and carrying his backpack.

"Kid? What time is it?" I asked. I sat up, rubbing my face then tossing the blankets back.

"It's almost 7:30, sir," he answered. My eyes shot open and I whipped around to look at Peter. "I tried waking you up at 7AM, but you kind of made me go away." I fished through my closet for a pair of jeans and a decent t-shirt. Showers could wait, school could not. If May found out I had made Peter late for school, she would never leave the kid with me again.

"What happened?" I asked. I walked into my bathroom to change quickly and brush my teeth.

"You swatted me," Peter replied. I stuck my head out of the bathroom to make sure he wasn't kidding. Instead, I found him making my bed. "It wasn't that bad, but I decided to leave you alone for a while, let you wake up. Apparently you went back to sleep." I groaned and walked out of the bathroom, tugging my shirt over my head.

"Come on, kid," I said. "We'll get breakfast on the way and I'll talk to Principal Whatever when we get there." I hurried into the elevator with Peter close behind.

"I already had breakfast," Peter told me. I glanced at him to see him wide awake. It didn't surprise me. After the first night of having him stay with me in the Tower, I discovered he was a morning person.

"Alright then," I muttered.

We reached the parking garage and I unlocked my corvette. Peter climbed in the passenger side and I hopped in as driver. Without any warning, I shot out of the garage and onto the highway.

"I promise I will be on time tomorrow morning," I said. I glanced over at Peter who was busy looking out the window. "I guess I forgot to tell FRIDAY to wake me up." Peter shrugged.

"I could just take the subway," he suggested. He had suggested it earlier, but I had quickly denied it.

"No," I replied. "You will not be taking the subway or the bus so long as I'm in charge of you." Peter grinned at me before returning his gaze out the window.

"By the way, it's Principal Davis," Peter told me, grinning as I rolled my eyes.

We made it to Midtown High in record time. It was 7:56AM when I pulled into the parking lot and Peter didn't even wait for me to stop the car before racing inside. I followed at a much more leisurely pace, making it to the front doors right as the last bell rang. I guess Peter must have made it to class on time because he wasn't in the long hallway, so I just looked for the Principal's office.

When I found it, I knocked briefly then walked inside. Principal Davis glanced up from his computer then did a double take and stood up.

"M-Mr. Stark, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"Hi, yeah," I began. "I'm in charge of Peter Parker this week, his aunt's out of town, and I might have woken up late today. If he's marked tardy for his first class, could you just excuse it? That'd be great." Principal Davis nodded eagerly and scribbled it down on a piece of paper.

"Of course, Mr. Stark," he said. "Is there anything else I can do for you?" he asked. I shook my head, glancing around his office before turning to leave. "Good day, Mr. Stark." I paused for only a moment before continuing out the door. Way to make myself look like a fool when it comes to kid care.