No More Lonely

Ch. 10

After the conference, Natasha got to meet Peter. Pepper invited her up to the penthouse for lunch where Rhodey and Peter were busy playing with Legos. It took less than a minute for Peter to feel comfortable around Natasha and as soon as he did, he dragged her into the living room to show her his current Lego castle. Rhodey hadn't helped him this time, so Peter was able to proudly say it was all done by him, including lugging the box out into the living room.

When Tony asked him to take his Legos back to his room a while later, Peter insisted that Natasha come look at his new room as well. The Iron Man theme was completely unsurprising, whether it was Peter who had chosen it or Tony. Peter seemed to adore his dad, but she also wouldn't put it above Tony to design the room that way anyway.

"And I picked this out all by myself!" Peter said, pointing to the Iron Man lamp on his nightstand.

"That's pretty cool, Peter," she said.

Peter nodded excitedly then led Natasha back out to the kitchen where they were getting ready to eat.

At the end of the meal, Natasha offered to clean up and Peter promised to help her. Pulling up a stool beside the sink, she let him rinse the dishes while she scrubbed them. Rhodey waved goodbye and Pepper disappeared to her home office, but Peter seemed more than content to talk with Natasha and Tony as he played with the dishwater. When Tony's phone rang, Peter didn't even notice him leave.

"Sheriff," Tony greeted, stepping onto the balcony.

"We got that footage you sent," the sheriff said, "We asked Richie about it and he admitted to seven unsolved murders. He's either too proud or drugged."

"He wasn't just hit with tranquilisers, sheriff," Tony said. The sheriff stayed silent but Tony didn't openly admit to drugging Ritchie.

"He's been sentenced to death row," the sheriff said a few seconds later. "We're moving him to Jersey tomorrow and he'll wait there until they take him elsewhere."

"Good."

There was another long pause before the sheriff cleared his throat and announced he'd let him go. He said a curt goodbye then hung up, leaving Tony alone on the balcony.

* * * * *

Later that evening, Tony told Pepper what the sheriff had told him. Although uncomfortable with the idea that he was being sentenced to death, she seemed glad he was going out of state. Playing with his Legos on the ground in front of them, Peter seemed to have already forgotten about the incident.

"You know," Pepper murmured, glancing at Tony. "I'm glad you told those reporters they need to leave Peter alone, but now we'll have to take care of the backlash."

Tony shook his head and kissed her forehead.

"It shouldn't be too much," he replied. She gave him a doubtful look. "They can't report on Peter, remember?"

"I guess," Pepper hummed. Outside the window, the lights of New York blinked at her as she told him, "If there is any, though, let me deal with it. Iron Man is for criminals, not for bad PR."

"It would send a message to others," Tony said, raising an eyebrow suggestively. She smiled and shook her head.

"Not once they arrest you."

He shrugged and looked back out the window. From so high above New York (and with soundproof walls), the only sound they could hear was the soft classical music Pepper had asked JARVIS to play. The view from above had always been one of Tony's favourites, but it was all the better when he had Pepper at his side and Peter playing in front of him.

Hours later when Tony asked JARVIS to turn off the house lights, the lights of New York seemed to shine brighter. As Pepper curled around him and Peter slept soundly in his lap, he was certain that the Tower had never been this peaceful.