Chapter Thirty

                                    

                                          
*narrator pov*  
The car pulled up in front of the compound. 
Steve opened the door and helped you out. 
Tony set up the wheelchair and you sat in it. 
"So y/n" Tony said as you headed inside "what do you think of the new compound?" 
"It's... big" you remarked. "And isolated."
"That's it?" Tony laughed. 
"It looks good, Tony" you smiled. 
Someone appeared at the other end of the hallway. 
"Tony. Is the kid here yet?" she said. 
"No. But this one's here" Tony pointed at you. 
"You must be y/n" the woman smiled "I'm Pepper Potts." 
She shook your hand, then stood by Tony. 
He put his arm around her and kissed her. 
"Hi Pepper. Nice to meet you. How come Tony's never mentioned you?" you asked, raising an eyebrow at him. 
"She's my hidden treasure" Tony winked at her. 
"Shut up" she laughed "when's Peter getting here?" 
"He'll be here soon" Tony assured. 
"Okay well I'm going to wait in there. Please be quick" Pepper begged, and she walked through a door. 
Steve was about to follow with you, but you stopped him. 
"Wait Steve. Can you leave me with Tony? I'll come in a minute." 
"Yeah of course" Steve bent down and kissed you, before following Pepper into the other room.  
Tony started walking down the hallway. 
"Tony wait!" you laughed, as you wheeled your chair forward. "I'm still trying to get the hang of this." 
Tony walked slower next to you. 
"I wanted to say thank you Tony. For looking out for me this whole time. It wasn't your place, but you did it anyway. Thank you." 
"Yeah. It's no problem." 
"But can I ask why?" 
"What do you mean?" 
"Why do you care so much? We barely know each other." 
"You, um. When you were here last time, you had a panic attack. And I realised, you're still young, despite your age. I... pitied you." 
"Thank you? Not sure I feel great bout being pitied, but I'm glad you care I guess." 
Tony looked up past you, and you took a minute to turn your wheelchair. 
"Oh there they are. How was the ride up?" Tony asked. 
"Good" Happy nodded. 
"Hey Pete" you grinned at him. 
"Y/n! You're okay! You look... good" he smiled. 
"Thanks" you laughed. "It's so good to see you." 
He bent down to hug you gently, and you patted him on the back. 
"Wait. I swear you guys only met once?" Tony looked confused. 
"Yeah but we talked on the phone a lot in the past couple of weeks" you explained. 
"Right. Give me a minute with the kid. Help y/n." 
"Seriously?" Happy groaned. 
"Yeah I gotta talk to the kid" Tony said. 
"I'll be close behind" Happy called as Tony walked off with Peter. 
"How about a loose follow? Alright? Boundaries are good?" Tony called back. 
You laughed as Happy rolled his eyes and pushed your wheelchair. 
"It's good to see you y/n" he muttered. 
"Never thought I'd hear you say those words" you grinned. 
"Mhm. I'm just glad you're okay." 
"Aw you really do care about me. You're my favourite babysitter Happy." 
"Okay you can be quiet now." 
"That didn't last long" you laughed. 
You caught up with Tony and Peter outside the door Pepper and Steve had walked through a while before. 
"Yeah anyway. There's about fifty reporters behind that door. Real ones, not bloggers" Tony pointed. 
He pressed a button his watch, and part of the wall moved, revealing the Iron Spider suit. 
"Wow that looks dope" you remarked. 
"Why don't you try that on? And I'll introduce the world to the newest official member of the Avengers: Spider-Man." 
Peter's jaw dropped. 
"I..."he admired the suit. 
"Yeah. Give that a look" Tony smirked. 
Peter looked at the suit, at Tony, at Happy, then you. 
You smiled at him, and he hesitated before turning back to Mr Stark. 
"Thank you Mr Stark. But I'm good" he told him. 
"You're good? Good? How are you good?" Tony asked, confused. 
"Well... I mean... I'm..." Peter stuttered "I'd rather just stay on the ground for a little while. Friendly neighbourhood Spiderman." 
"Someone's gotta look out for the little guy" you smiled supportively. 
"You turning me down? You better think about this. Look at that" Tony pointed at the suit "look at me. Last chance, yes or no?" 
"No" Peter shook his head. 
"Okay. It's kind of a Springsteen-y, working class hero vibe that I dig. Uh, Happy will take you home. Yeah?" 
"Yeah" Happy begrudgingly agreed "mind waiting in the car? I need a minute." 
"Thank you Mr Stark." Peter grinned.
"Yes Mr Parker. Very well" Tony sighed. 
"See you around." 
"Okay." 
Peter turned to you. 
"Call me?" you asked him hopefully. 
"I don't have your number..."
"Then call Happy..."
"Please don't" Happy interrupted. 
"He'll give you my number" you laughed.
"Fine" Happy moaned. 
Peter bent down and hugged you, and you waved goodbye. 
Peter started to skip down the hallway. 
He paused after a moment, and turned back to Tony.
"That was a test right?" Peter asked "there's uh, there's no one back there?" 
"Yes you passed" Tony nodded. 
"Uh Tony..." you started. 
"Alright skedaddle there young buck" Tony addressed Peter, ignoring you. 
"Thank you Mr Stark, thank you" Peter smiled, and carried on outside.  
"Yeah thank you" Tony called as he left. 
"Told you he's a good kid" Happy smiled. 
"Yeah like you'd know. You barely spoke to him. You always told me to" you stated. 
Pepper walked in through the door.
"Where's the kid?" she asked. 
"Tony told him to leave. Happy told him to go wait by the car" you snitched. 
"Everybody's waiting! Did you guys seriously screw this up?" Pepper complained. 
"Yes they did" you smirked. 
"Y/n... shut up" Tony demanded. 
"Are you kidding me?" Pepper carried on "I have a room full of people in there waiting for some big announcement. What am I gonna tell them?" 
"Think of something. How about, um... Hap, you still got that ring?" Tony asked. 
"Do I... I, uh..." Happy started patting down his pockets. 
"An engagement ring?" your eyes widened. 
"Are you kidding? I've been carrying this since 2008?" Happy held up the ring. 
"Oh... my god" you gasped. 
"Okay" Tony nodded. 
"I think I can think of something better than that" Pepper said, giving Tony a questioning look. 
"Well, it would buy us a little time" Tony said. 
Pepper smiled, and kissed Tony's lips. 
"Like we need time" Tony grinned. 
"I can't believe you have that thing in your pocket" Pepper remarked, before heading back to the conference room. 
"Want me to get the door for you, hun?" Tony offered. 
"I got it" Pepper laughed lightly, and left the room. 
"Wow, Tony, that was the worst proposal I have ever seen" you chuckled. 
"You haven't seen nothing yet" Tony winked and followed Pepper. Happy tossed him the ring, and he caught it. 
You rolled your eyes and entered the room behind him. 
You smiled as you saw Tony on one knee in front of Pepper, regardless of Pepper saying moments before that she'd think of something else. 
"They're cute together aren't they?" Steve asked as he found you. 
"Yeah. But I never knew Pepper existed until like 10 minutes ago" you admitted. 
"Well they've been on and off" Steve explained. 
"Ugh I can't wait to get engaged" you grinned as you watched Tony slip the ring onto Pepper's finger.   
Steve bent down and kissed the side of your forehead. 
"Me neither" he whispered softly in your ear.