Chapter Text
“Boss,” the Irish lilt of his AI penetrated the haze that clouded his mind. Tony blinked a few times and shook his head, trying to shake off the inventive binge that clung to him, “Yeah Fri?”
“You wanted me to remind you when Mr Parker has arrived?” Friday replied.
Tony looked around for a clock, a virtual one popping up on the hologram nearest to him helpfully. “Huh,” he muttered, “Time really flies. He’s here already? Send him down then.”
“That’s the thing boss,” Friday responded hesitantly, “He sent a text earlier, saying that he would be slightly late. He isn’t here yet.”
“When was that?”
Friday hummed, “About an hour ago, his class for today finishes at one.”
Tony was torn between feeling proud at his girl for being able to take her own initiatives and repressing the urge to be hypocritical by pointing out that she shouldn’t have stalked the kid’s schedule when he knew full well he would have done the same thing.
He settled for being proud.
“Well okay, can you get fish boy down here? Tell him I have something urgent for him.”
“Lying is bad boss.” Friday scolded lightly, though the amusement in her voice was audible, she did so love to - what was the word - troll Percy.
“This had better be damn good
Sir
.” Percy growled, stalking into the lab, dressed in a casual tee for the day, “I was actually busy with work, you know, the thing normal people have to do?”
“Someone’s snappy today,” Tony commented, raising an eyebrow, “You know, most people won’t talk to their bosses like that?” the genius pointed out.
“Most people don’t have you as their boss, Sir.” Percy sassed back.
Tony had to grin at that, forcing himself to focus after Friday prompted him. “I need you to pick up someone -”
“For fuck's sake, I am not your driver -”
“- It’s Parker.”
Percy cut himself off, straightening subconsciously. Narrowing his eyes, he asked, “Trouble?”
Tony shook his head, “No, or at least, I don’t think so. He was supposed to be here after class, and class ended at one. He sent a text at about two saying that he was gonna be late, but its been an hour since then.”
“You think he found some kind of trouble to follow.” Percy stated.
Tony shrugged, “The kid has a good heart, he might have gotten sidetracked by some old lady needing help to cross the road.”
“Or, he could have found himself in some kind of trouble.” Percy muttered.
The billionaire didn’t respond, but they both knew that each were thinking of the Vulture incident. Peter had a habit of biting off more than he could chew, something that Tony was trying to control by upgrading the suit as much as possible, providing as much safety measures as he could. He was new to this mentoring thing, Lord knows he had been all but panicking when Peter kept asking him about the next Avengers mission, but damn if he wasn’t going to do right by Peter after dragging him into the mess in Germany and then ignoring him the months after. He would probably never shake off the guilt when he realized that the kid had taken off after a villain who had been gunning for his tech.
“So you want me to go pick him up if he’s just late and fish him out of trouble if he actually went looking for it?” Percy summarized, sighing when Tony nodded.
“Alright, I’ll let you know when I find him. In the meantime, FRIDAY can you let my boss here see just how much paperwork he needs to complete by today?”
The holograms of his designs switched to an entire screen full of words, to which Tony just scowled, the demigod already turning to leave the lab.
“Peter!” Ned whisper-shouted at his best friend, hiding the bulk of his body behind a brick wall. He looked around surreptitiously but there didn’t seem to be anyone around who would’ve heard him. He turned back to his best friend, finding the other boy slowly creeping towards the abandoned warehouse. There were several warehouses in fact, most of them run down and dilapidated, all probably due for some deconstruction soon.
“Peter!” Ned called again, “Peter we need to go, I don’t think this is a good idea.”
Peter waved him off, peering around his own cover - a group of empty metal barrels - scrutinizing the building in front of him. He was still a ways away from the building, which had a fence surrounding it. There was a sign hanging off the fence, claiming that it was electric, but Peter couldn’t hear anything that suggested it was still active. Nevertheless, he didn’t want to take the off chance that it could be activated by touch. Straining his ears, he waited with bated breath, but hearing nothing, he climbed onto the metal barrels, crouching. His leg muscles coiled and - with a spring - he launched himself over the fence, shushing Ned’s alarmed cry.
“Wait here, I’ll be back soon!” He whispered back, then darted into the building.
Staring incredulously after him, Ned was left like a gaping fish. Peter had dragged him aside during gym today, telling him in a low tone that he’d found several promising leads on Spectral, the latest villain that had popped up around Queens a few weeks ago. Well, villain would be too much of a stretch, the man or woman in question was more like a criminal mastermind like the Vulture, intent on establishing some local network but nothing as big as conquering or destroying the world. Ned had been excited a few hours ago when Peter invited him along, ready to get some 'field action' as he had dubbed it. The both of them had spent the rest of the afternoon enthusiastically discussing how they would go about following the leads.
Now? Now Ned wasn’t so sure of himself anymore.
He hadn’t expected their adventure to go more than a few blocks, and in full view of the public, much less take them to some run-down section of the city, a cliched setting of an abandoned warehouse. Everything about this screamed ‘Danger!’ to him, but Peter had refused to budge, saying that this was the only lead he had so far on this Spectral character since nothing else had turned up fruitful.
Ned peered around the corner again, anxiously fidgeting with the web shooter that Peter had handed him ‘in case’. A hand landed on his shoulder and -
Ned jumped, screamed and fired the web shooter, his heart thundering rapidly in his chest. He stared wide eyed at the person who had tapped him.
Percy scowled, looking between the kid who had honest to god jumped a foot in the air and the sticky web that now coated the lamp post behind him. The kid at least had the decency to look embarrassed, lowering the weapon in his hand.
“I - oh my god - I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to -” Ned cut himself off, perking up when he realized just who he was talking to, “Wait, you’re Mr Stark’s assistant aren’t you? Oh my god I’m looking at Tony Stark’s personal assistant -”
Sighing, Percy pinched the bridge of his nose, “Where’s Parker?”
Ned’s brain screeched to a halt, “I - uh - Peter? Why would Peter be here?” He laughed nervously, “Nope, no Peter here, just little ol’ me -” he shut up when Percy gave him a disbelieving look.
“Look,” Percy said, “I’m not here to get you two in trouble or anything. Parker has an appointment with Mr Stark today and he hasn’t turned up. My boss,” the demigod growled, “is wondering where exactly he is.”
“Mr Assistant, Sir - Mr Jackson -” “Just call me Percy before you give yourself an aneurysm.” “Mr Percy, Peter is uh -” Ned noticed the rapidly darkening look on Percy’s face and silently apologized to Peter, “- in that building over there.” he confessed, pointing to the building in question.
Percy took in the building, looking at it suspiciously, “Why is he in there?”
“Um,” Ned began, “We kind of found some leads on this guy named Spectral and wedecidedtofollowithere.”
Percy whirled back around to level an incredulous glare at Ned, “Why in Hades would you do that?”
“I -”
Instincts flaring, Percy pulled Ned backwards, pushing the kid behind him as a portion of the abandoned building exploded. Percy tightened his grip on Ned, the kid ready to bolt straight towards the fire.
Snarling, Percy yanked him backwards, pushing him away from the building, “Get out of here now.”
“Peter -!”
“I’ll get him, now get out! There should be an SI car waiting by the road, get in, stay in and wait.”
Percy met the terrified eyes of the boy and gently pushed him towards where he had come from, turning and running straight to the building, using the barrels and a bit of his powers to vault over the fence. He landed in a crouch, skirting around the flaming corner. Slipping into the building, he kept himself close to the walls and the ground as he gave himself time to adjust to the dimness of the room. He heard wracking coughs echo loudly in the dust and gloom, and slowly inched his way there.
“Parker!” Percy called once he could make out something in the dust that permeated the air, crossing the few steps to where the teen was kneeling on the ground, coughing. He shook the teen slightly, getting a croaked ‘I’m fine’ as a reply.
Frowning, Percy hauled the teen to his feet, Peter swaying slightly before he shook his head, trying to get rid of the ringing in his ears. “Are you okay? Did you hit your head anywhere?” Percy demanded, checking the teen surreptitiously for visible wounds.
Peter shook his head, “No, the blast just caught me by surprise.”
“Alright, lets get out of here.”
Peter shook his head, “No, there’s - there’s something else.”
“What?”
“I - “ Peter hesitated, “My senses are telling me that there’s something else, something’s coming.”
Percy narrowed his eyes and scanned the area, knowing that the foreboding feeling in his gut was shared with the kid as well. He flicked his eyes up, realization dawning. Cursing, he pulled Peter aside, the kid yelping as he forced him to move.
Above them, attached innocuously to one of the support beams was an ugly, squarish device. The numbers gleamed a bright crimson as the timer turned to zero and their world turned into fire.
The smell of charred wood assaulted his nose, Percy coughing as he tried to clear his lungs. Groaning, he shifted, hissing as pain flared up in his back. Squeezing his eyes shut as he rode out the pain, he slowed his breathing, taking care not to jar the injury. He opened them again, trying to adjust to the sudden lack of light. Below him, Percy recognized the prone form of one Peter Parker.
Wincing, he slowly shifted until he got to his knees, pushing away fallen beams and reaching out to shake the teen.
“Parker! Hey! Can you hear me?”
Peter groaned, blinking slowly as he came into consciousness, “Wha - what happened?”
“Explosion,” Percy stated, “We were right under it. Are you hurt?”
The last question was directed to Peter, who flexed his body, relaxing when he felt no sudden pain, just a dull ache from the bruises. He shook his head in the negative, looking at the beams that had fallen around them.
“I - you saved my life.” He whispered, looking at the other man. He’d survived a building collapse before of course, but this had been an explosion directly above them. From his memories, he recalled Percy dragging the two of them as far as he could, then covering him with his body when the explosion hit.
“Are you okay?” he asked instead, scanning the other for signs of injuries.
“I’m fine.” Percy replied shortly.
Whatever reply Peter had for that was silenced when a voice rang out, “Little spider, why don’t you come out?”
The both of them tensed, peering through the smoke as best as they could. Using only the barest minimum of his powers, Percy could sense about eight individuals, not that he could identify who they were, just that they were there.
Glaring at Peter to stay where he was, Percy made to stand. The smoke that obscured their vision - and obscured them from the enemies as well - suddenly vanished, having been blown to the side by an abnormally strong wind. Enhanced , Percy thought uncharitably, scowling heavily. Peter came to stand by his left, very clearly ignoring Percy’s instruction to stay the fuck behind .
He would have to deal with that later.
Right now, it seemed that they were faced off with eight individuals, one of which was enhanced. A casual look had Percy identifying the individual in the middle as the ringleader, his goons around him already aiming their guns at him.
He could take them, he knew that. Powers or no, he could take them with his hands tied behind his back and blindfolded. But Peter was with him, and hero or no, he doubted that the kid had been exposed to the true carnage that came with cold-blooded killing. And that was what this would be. He could kill them all with a thought, before they can even pull the trigger. But doing so would mean that Peter would have a front row in watching just how a human body should never bend.
Judging by the tense body beside him, Percy knew the kid was torn between proving that yes he really was Spiderman - and no, he wanted to tell the kid that he had enhanced speed and strength, not bulletproof abilities - and denying the man’s statement to hell.
Stepping forward, he drew the attention to him, angling his body such that Peter was situated behind him rather than off to his side. “Look, I think this is all just a big misunderstanding,” He said, raising his hands in a placating manner, “Spiderman isn't here.”
The ringleader, a man in a dark blue suit that seemed so out of place considering the ragtag outfits his goons wore, allowed his lips to curl in a sneer, his pale grey eyes gleaming with amusement. “I am a very busy man and I have little patience for liars mon amie . Why don’t you start telling the truth?”
“It’s true!” Peter shouted, peering from behind Percy, who could have strangled the kid right there for speaking up, “I’m not Spiderman, I just -”
“He’s just a kid,” Percy interrupted smoothly, offering a roguish grin, “And I’m sure you know what kids do don’t you?”
The ringleader - and Percy was just going to call him Blue for simplicity’s sake - Blue, just sighed, “I notice you say he, as in, referring to one person.” Percy felt the dread pool into his gut once again, “And yet, imagine my surprise at finding another...child as you would say, skulking about outside.”
The man signalled one of his men, who touched his ear and spoke rapidly in a foreign language. The dread intensified when two more men dragged someone in.
“Ned!”
Percy turned - slightly - and caught Peter, whose terror could be heard plain as day in his voice. He pushed the teen back, snarling for him to stop. It was a good thing that he’d had experience dealing with people who were physically stronger than him because there was no way he could have kept Peter back otherwise. The boy had forgotten all about his super strength in his desperate bid to reach his friend.
Percy scowled, looking between Ned’s terrified face and Blue’s lazy smirk. The smart dressed man held out a hand to the side, and Percy’s heart plummeted just a little bit more. One of the goons beside him handed him a gun, and he watched as the criminal mastermind flicked the safety off, pressing the barrel to Ned’s head. The boy in question squeezed his eyes shut, the fear on his face plain for all to see.
“I will count to three.” Blue commanded softly, “You will tell me who you really are, and why you are here. If not, I might find my finger… slipping.”
“One.”
Tony was so going to kill him.
“Two.”
Peter’s struggles renewed with fervor, the teen’s desperate shouts of his friend’s name striking a chord in his heart.
“Three.”
Gritting his teeth, Percy shoved Peter back one final time, “No stop!” he shouted, the man tilting his head as his finger hovered dangerously over the trigger.
Allowing his shoulders to slump as though in defeat, Percy let a look of resignation and helpless fury color his face. “They’re with me, alright? I’ve been looking into the empire you’ve built and i got a couple of runners. They weren’t supposed to come here, not without passing me the information first.”
Blue’s eyes narrowed, his gaze sharp and assessing. He lifted his finger off the trigger, but the gun was still pressed against Ned’s head, the boy carefully opening his eyes.
“And what have I done to warrant being placed on Ironman’s personal radar?” he questioned, "I do recognize you as his personal bodyguard."
Percy made a show of swallowing nervously, his hands still raised in a ‘surrender’ gesture. “You absorbed what was left of the Vulture’s network,” he heard Peter take in a sharp breath, knowing that the teen hadn’t expected him to know that, “and expanded it. Considering what the Vulture did… Can you see why I might be concerned?”
Tilting his head thoughtfully, Blue hummed, “And yet, sloppy work for Stark isn’t it?"
Percy tsked and let his eyes slide to side, knowing it gave him a disgruntled and mildly embarrassed look. “I was working on my own okay? He doesn’t know about this. He doesn’t need to concern himself with stuff like this.” The implication that the man opposite him warranted none of the attention of the big shots went unsaid.
Stiffening, the man clearly heard the words, though he did nothing more than glare at Percy. “Then it seems that we are at an impasse.”
Percy flicked his eyes back to Blue. “Let the kids go, they don’t need to get involved in this. They won’t tell anyone.”
“And what would I gain in return?”
“Me.” Percy stated, ignoring the startled gasp behind him and the way Ned looked at him with undisguised horror. “You get me.” he continued, chancing a step forward. “I’m Tony Stark’s assistant and bodyguard, you don’t think I’m valuable?”
Blue didn’t reply, he just looked at Percy suspiciously.
The ex-agent could have laughed.
“I’m unarmed,” lie, he laughed to himself, “and you’ve got what, eight, nine people surrounding me? I may be Stark’s bodyguard and I may be good, but I’m not that good. Nobody can dodge the bullets of eight guns and an enhanced coming after me.” Lie, his mind whispered, and he had to repress the urge to grin like a maniac. He could totally take them, he just needed Ned and Peter to be out of the line of fire.
The man seemed to be buying into what he was saying, which was a relief, because even though he’d had practice lying straight to the faces of beings who had the ability to smite him with a thought, he’d never been responsible for the life of another person in this manner.
“Walk over,” Blue ordered, “Slowly.”
Percy walked. He kept an eye on the trigger finger, the silence of the building serving only to feed the rising tension. He came to a stop in front of the man he had dubbed Blue in his mind, openly scowling at the criminal.
The man in question merely smiled serenely in response, undeterred by the hostility radiating off the demigod. Blue let his eyes rake over Percy’s form, smirking knowingly at him.
“You will forgive me if I take a little… insurance for myself yes?”
Percy bristled, but the man didn’t wait for a response, he just shifted his aim and pulled the trigger.
The demigod howled and crumpled to the floor, white hot agony burning through his leg. Distantly, he registered the slow chuckles of the man looming over him mixed with the panicked cries of the two teens he had come to pick up. He grit his teeth, eyes squeezed shut in pain. Percy tried to take a deep breath, the injury to his back reminding him of its presence when he tried to do so. Clenching his fists, he shifted, forcing himself to think through the pain. He pulled himself up slowly, panting harshly at the effort he needed just to do so.
The feeling of cool metal kissing his forehead made him stop.
“I’m a man of my word,” the soft voice intoned, and to the side, “Let the boy go.”
Percy didn’t dare to move, hearing the hesitant steps Ned took, clearly pausing to look at where Percy was kneeling on the ground with a gun to his head.
“Go on,” Blue commented, gesturing with his other hand, “Don’t let your employer’s bargain be in vain.”
Percy heard the footsteps waver slightly, then pick up as Ned crossed the room to where Peter was standing, wide-eyed at the turn out of the events, the two of them gripping each other for support.
The man crouched down to meet his eyes, the smile on his face somehow gaining a much darker edge, “You will come with me quietly, or I will shoot those two children where they stand. You see, I don’t believe for a second that those are your runners, I know exactly who they are. But I can sacrifice some pawns to get a knight.”
Percy pressed his lips together, directing the wolf-glare towards the man. He was vindicated to see a flicker of unease and fear in the man’s grey eyes, but that was wiped away into a blank slate.
“You are right when you say that you are valuable, both as your standing as one of Ironman’s confidantes, and as a key hostage.” The man smiled again, “I know how to cut my losses. What is one little spider compared to you?”
“You said you always keep your word,” Percy growled, ignoring the throbbing in his left leg, as the man nodded. The demigod broke his composure and let a manic grin spread across his face, noting the alarm in Blue’s eyes, “I never said I would.”
Twisting to the left, he slammed a hand upwards, the instinctive shot going wild. Percy gripped Blue’s arm and pulled, slamming the man down to the ground. He cried out and Percy pressed his weight onto the man’s back, prying the gun out of his fingers. He turned and fired five shots in succession, each bullet finding their mark in the legs of the goons. The ex-agent heard the startled yelps from Ned and Peter as they tried to dodge, but ignored those, knowing that they were safely barricaded from the bullets by a wall of ice that suddenly appeared.
“You’re an enhanced!” Blue snarled from under him, bucking and twisting.
The weight shift coupled with his injured leg was enough to throw him off, but Percy rolled with the blow, instinctively throwing a hand up where a smaller but no less effective wall of ice stopped more bullets from hitting him.
He was caught by surprise when a force slammed into his side, his body colliding painfully with the ground. Gasping, Percy forced himself to move and he narrowly dodged an invisible blow, staring in shock at the gouge left behind in the concrete. He turned to face the enhanced individual that Blue had brought, a teen, dressed in a ragged hoodie, his face an impassively blank slate. A quick scan told him that Blue was gone, which didn’t surprise him, but still, he grit his teeth at having lost the man.
He met the heterochromatic eyes of the enhanced, suppressing a shiver at the soulless orbs that stared back at him. Behind the teen, the remaining goons who were not on the floor clutching their leg were aiming their guns at him.
Peter and Ned were nowhere to be seen, and Percy hoped that they had the common sense to run, although a shift in the corner of his eye told him the opposite.
Tired, bleeding and beyond done with this, Percy went on the offensive. He shifted his weight, feinted to the right, then darting left the moment the teen sliced his hand through the air. He heard the soft thwick as the goons were hit by the webs, the sticky fluid sticking to their hands, freezing their fingers in place. They tried to grab the web - stupid idea - and ended up having two hands stuck to each other.
Focusing on his battle, Percy went for the teen’s legs, sweeping them out from under him. He dodged another airblade - what was his life even, air blades? Really? - and grabbed the kid’s arm, twisting it behind his back. He didn’t wait to see if the kid could produce pressurized air like this and drew on the moisture in the air, solidifying it into a tight cage around the kid’s body, not giving him an inch of movement.
The sound of guns being cocked drew his attention to more goons who decided to storm the building. Whatever they had planned to do or say was completely drowned out by the sound of repulsors whining and the thunderous crash that followed as Ironman dropped into the building, demolishing the roof.
It was hilarious to watch the faces of the men who thought they’d had their prey cornered pale so drastically that Percy thought they were going to faint. He wasn’t going to deny that the emotionless face of Ironman’s mask and a repulsor aimed directly at them was not something anyone wanted to be on the opposite of.
The sound of sirens filled the air and the men all dropped their guns, getting to their knees with their hands above their head. If it had only been the police, Percy knew that they would probably have tried to get out using brute force. With Ironman hovering like a vengeful angel however, nobody was stupid enough to try and even twitch a finger.
“Good boys.” Tony drawled, the electronic undertone doing nothing to mask the fury in his voice.
When all the men had been taken away in cuffs - including the enhanced kid - Tony stepped out of his suit, heading to where Peter and Ned were standing, both looking exhausted while a police officer took their statements. The officer excused himself while Tony cast a concern eye over them, noting that they were studiously staring at the ground.
“Are you boys okay?” he asked gently.
Peter’s head jerked up in shock, before he looked down again, “Yeah,” he replied softly, “We’re okay.”
“Is - um - is Mr Jackson, uh is Percy okay?” Ned asked, guilt coloring his face as he looked shiftily between Peter, Tony and the ground. A similar look crossed Peter’s face as well as he echoed the question.
Tony looked over his shoulder to where he could see Percy arguing with the paramedics who clearly wanted to take him to the hospital. He looked worse for wear, several cuts decorating his face. From what FRIDAY reported softly in his ear, he had some abrasions on his face and hands and some cracked vertebrae from the falling beams before he put up a shield on top of the gunshot wound. Tony felt his own mood darken at the thought. According to the description of events Ned and Peter recounted, Percy had offered himself up to the villain of interest in exchange for Ned’s freedom, and the man had shot him in cold-blood as ‘insurance’.
The thought of this man hurting not only his assistant and friend, but also his protege and his friend stoked a cold fury within him, not unlike the one that had fueled his crusade against the Ten Rings. This man, Spectral or whoever he was, would pay for trying to hurt his people. If he wasn’t on Ironman’s radar before, he was now, and when Tony finally finds him - it isn’t a matter of if, only a matter of when - he would make sure to rip the man to shreds.
Literally or figuratively, he hadn’t decided just yet.
Turning back to the two teens, he offered them a slight smile, “He’ll be fine, he’s strong.”
“Mr Stark…” Peter began, taking a deep breath, “I’m sorry about today. I didn’t - I didn’t mean for things to escalate this much. I - “
Tony held a hand up, stopping whatever else the spider-themed hero was going to say. Becoming serious, Tony looked at each of them in the eye, “I won’t deny, I’m upset and disappointed with what happened today.” they both flinched, but he continued, “But, whatever I have to say about this, it can wait another day. Go home, rest, go do some weird thing that normal kids do. I’ll see you tomorrow at the Compound right after school. Both of you. Understand?” the genius stared the both of them down until he got their acquiescence, then he turned and walked away, letting the police escort them home.
“Fri keep an eye on the both of them will you?” he murmured, tapping his glasses, receiving an affirmative chirp in reply.
He made his way to the ambulance, where Percy was sitting - and grumbling - but looking minutely content.
“You terrorize the poor paramedics enough yet?” Tony commented wryly, looking around at the lack of said paramedics.
Huffing, the demigod replied, “I told them I’ll be fine, it’s just a flesh wound.”
Frowning slightly, Tony peered at him, “It’s a gunshot wound, that’s not just a flesh wound.”
“Yeah but I’ve had worse.” Percy scowled.
“They don’t know that do they?” The billionaire pointed out, earning him a glare. He sighed, “I’ll get them to release you into my care,” he conceded, "I think we can call up one of the doctors I use when I wanna be discreet." Despite his own feelings on the matter of Percy not getting proper help from the hospital, the both of them knowing that going to a hospital meant that there would be checkups and follow-ups and if Percy healed as fast as he did, there would undoubtedly be some questions. The world already had precedents for enhanced individuals, but Tony knew that Percy didn't want to come under the spotlight just yet, and while they both knew that him insisting on staying by Tony's side would mean an eventual reveal, the genius wanted to give the demigod shelter for as long as possible.
“Parker and Leeds?” Percy asked gruffly, looking away.
Tony grinned, holding back a teasing comment about being soft, “They’re fine. Shaken up but fine.”
With a suspicious glare leveled at him, Tony raised his hands in surrender, “They’re fine, just bruises and some lingering shock. You got the brunt of it.” Narrowing his eyes, Tony felt his lips twist into a scowl, “And speaking of, what possessed you to try and sacrifice yourself like that?”
Instead of rising to the bait like he expected, Percy just calmly replied, “You would have been upset if they’d been hurt.”
Deflating almost instantly at the pointed comment, Tony sighed, “That doesn’t mean you should have done that. It doesn’t mean that I wanted you to do that.”
“I can take care of myself.” Percy said evenly, his seagreen eyes darkened with unnamed emotion, “Blue would have killed Peter for just being there. I know his kind of people, he sure as hell wasn't going to let the both of them go so I did the best thing I could.”
Tony wanted to reply, but his mind latched onto one thing - “Blue?”
To his surprise, Percy flushed lightly, “I didn’t know his name so I called him Blue in my head. Cause his suit was blue.”
Tony just stared disbelievingly, “You named a criminal mastermind Blue. Just because of the color of his suit.”
The genius barked a laugh, shaking his head incredulously while his friend just scowled harder and reached out to whap him on the arm.
“Stop it!”
“Oh no, I’m not letting this one go,” Tony chortled, “I’m calling him Blue to his face when I see him.”
“You’re hunting then?” Percy grinned, his eyes gleaming with anticipation.
Tony shared a predatory look in return, “Of course I am, nobody gets away with touching my stuff.”