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"Mr. Stark?" Peter sleepily slurred as he was awoken by the car rolled to a sputtering stop. The drive back from their tour of the MIT campus was taking longer than expected. Heavy traffic had led the man to take a few backroads despite FRIDAY's insistence that staying on their current course would be faster. When he got no immediate reply he rubbed his eyes and sat up in his seat. "What happened?"
"Not sure, Kiddo." Tony finally answered with a deep sigh. The road they were suddenly stranded on was dark and to make matters worse it was pouring rain despite the calls for clear skies and mild temperatures. "This car is brand new. I just bought it. It shouldn't be cutting out on me," he said, completely irritated by the situation.
"Oh," Peter replied in mild surprise. "What are we going to do now?"
"Call a tow truck and a cab I guess," Tony said before yanking his phone out of his pocket only to realize that he had no service. Giving it a quizzical look, he tapped the screen a few times and then held the device closer to the window as if that would actually help. Then he growled in frustration and dropped his head heavily onto the steering wheel. "How do I not have any bars? This is ridiculous."
Peter frowned and looked out the window, through the heavy rainfall and spotted a nearby building at the top of a hill. Upon further inspection, he realized that there was also a blinking hotel sign, advertising 'vacancy'. "Maybe they have a phone," he suggested as he ran a hand over his eyes and yawned.
"Maybe," Tony agreed even though his mind kept reminding him about was how wet they were going to get during the short trek down the side of the road. Then he looked at Peter who looked five seconds from falling back to sleep against the window and made a decision. "Let's just grab our bags and plan on staying the night. Sound good, kid?" he said in defeat. He knew it wasn't going to be anywhere near the five-star accommodations that he was used to but he figured it was better than spending the night in the car.
After making sure that the man was serious, Peter leaned over the backseat and grabbed both of the overnight bags that had been packed for their one night stay at a classy little bed and breakfast near downtown Cambridge. Once he had them, he pulled his hood up over his head and got out of the car, flinching when a clap of thunder boomed as he did so.
"You're not scared of a little thunder and lightning are you, kiddo?" Tony chuckled as he too climbed out of the car, pulled his leather jacket a little closer to his body, and adjusted the cap on his head.
"No," Peter indignantly stated, though it sounded less so with his teeth chattering as they were. Late October rain was cold and it was so heavy that it had nearly instantly soaked through both his jacket and his shirt. "I'm not scared of anything. I'm spider-man."
"Famous last words," Tony sing-songed and then began to trudge through the puddles towards the unlit driveway.
By the time they made into the office that was no bigger than a broom closet, both Peter and Tony were soaked down to the bone. Tony pulled his saturated wallet out of his pocket and rang the tiny rusty bell that sat upon the cluttered counter. He hoped that the state of the front desk wasn't an indication of what the rest of the hotel looked like. He didn't have much time to think about it before an old woman came shuffling up to the counter wearing a robe and slippers.
"Can we get a room?" Tony asked, already holding his license and credit card out for the woman to take.
"Of course," the woman as she reached to accept the payment with her shakey hands. She took her time manually running the credit card and writing into an old log book before handing Tony a singular key with a tag that read '217' on it.
Tony accepted it with a quick thanks before opened the rickety front door and urging Peter forward. However, before he could get out of the room himself, the woman said, "You know, it'll be nice knowing that I'm not the only one sleeping here tonight."
"Well, that was kind of creepy," Peter mumbled to himself as he started towards the old staircase that would take them to the upper floor. Then he felt a finger run down his spine and shivered. "Stop it, Mr. Stark. You're not funny," he said with a roll of his eyes before he noticed that Tony was still at the bottom of the steps shoving his identification back into his wallet.
"What did I do?" Tony laughed and then cantered up the steps to catch up with his overly tired mentee.
Peter blinked back at the man for several seconds before deciding that what he felt must have been a bead of water rolling down his back and shook his head. "Nothing. It was nothing," he said causing his mentor to smirk at him.
"Right," Tony huffed as he pressed past Peter and made his way over to their assigned room to unlock the door.
Upon entering the room, Tony coughed and waved a hand in front of his face. The room had clearly not been occupied in some time and while it wasn't moldy, dusty, or dirty, per se, it was stuffy and reeked of stale air. "Why don't you set those bags down and turn the air on, Kid," he instructed as he fumbled with one of the windows, in hopes that it would open but of course it didn't.
"It won't turn on, Mr. Stark," Peter groused from where he was kneeling on the floor in front of the ancient-looking window unit.
Letting out a long breath from his nose, Tony knelt down beside where the kid was fiddling with the power switch, cringing as his damp, cooling clothes shifted against him. "Let me give it a try. You go change into some dry clothes," he said, waving the boy off towards the bathroom.
Peter reluctantly dug through his bag until he found a clean shirt and the sweat pants he'd worn to bed the night before, and went into the small en suite where he swore he could hear people laughing in the room next door. "Do you hear that, Mr. Stark?" he asked, sticking his head out the door so that he could make eye contact with his mentor.
"Hear what, kid," Tony strained as he tugged at the power cord in an attempt to try another outlet.
"People," Peter whispered, straining his ears to see if he could still hear them in the main part of the room.
Tony paused and listened as well but when he didn't hear anything he shrugged his shoulders. "I've got nothing, Buddy, but it's not exactly surprising. These walls are probably thinner than paper," he said and then turned back to the task he's yet to complete.
"Yeah, but I thought the lady said we were the only other ones here," Peter hesitantly replied to which Tony rolled his eyes.
"Pete. That lady was in her nightgown looking like she celebrated her ninety-ninth birthday last week. She probably didn't even know what she was saying," the man said with sarcasm that quickly turned to amusement. "You're not scared, are you?"
"I'm not scared," Peter scoffed because he wasn't scared. He was more creeped-out than anything else but he decided that he could probably write that off as exhaustion. It had been a long weekend already. "Why would I be scared?"
"You tell me, Spider-man," Tony chuckled.
After taking a moment to glare at the man, Peter sighed and turned back towards the bathroom door. "I'm going to go finish changing clothes," he said, closing the door behind him. He'd just pulled off all of his wet clothing when a knock came at the door, startling him more than he would ever admit. "Yeah?" he asked once he'd slowed his heart to a normal rhythm.
"I can't get this damn thing to work. I'm going to change clothes out here and then run back down to the office to see if we can switch rooms. Okay, Kiddo?" Tony stated with exasperation because the entire situation was becoming stupid. There he was, Tony Stark, having to beg for decedent service at what looked like the Bates Motel. And on that note, he added, "Stay in here. I'll be right back," before hurriedly changing his own clothes and slipping out the door.
Being alone, Peter took his time. He finished changing, used a scratchy towel to dry his hair, and splashed some cool water onto his face. Then he exited the bathroom to fall into bed and wait for Tony's return. However, he was surprised when he saw that his mentor was already back and standing by the window. "Oh, That was quick," he said, wondering why the man hadn't announced his reentrance. "Are we going to change rooms?"
"No. I changed my mind. This one's fine," Tony said with a smile.
Peter brought his brows together in confusion because not even ten minutes prior the man was complaining about the window unit being non-functional. "But the air doesn't work," he said even though he wasn't really sure what sort of a response he was expecting.
Tony smiled and flipped the switch, causing the numbers to light up and a light hum to fill the room. "Fixed it."
Peter nodded his head and sat down on the bed closest to him, eyeing the rotary phone that was on the bedside table. "Are you going to call about the car?" he asked because he was still unsure about what exactly their plans were.
"What about the car?" Tony distractedly inquired.
"To get it towed or whatever," Peter returned with a frown but when his mentor lifted a hand to his own head and turned around to smile at him, he relaxed. It wasn't unusual for the man to get lost in his own head. Though he did wonder what he'd been thinking so intensely about.
"Right. Yeah, of course. I'll take care of that tomorrow," Tony said with a shake of his head and then crossed the room to sit down on the bed opposite the one that Peter was already occupying.
"Okay," Peter, replied. He' sort of expected the man to have changed his mind about sleeping there once he'd seen the room but apparently they were staying, which was just fine in his book. The bed may not have been as soft as the one he'd slept in while in Cambridge but he was tired and it would do. So, he started to pull the duvet back and climb under the sheets.
"You're not going to sleep already, are you?" Tony asked and Peter wanted to say that he was but when the man looked disappointed, it that made him pause.
"I mean, I was going to but I guess if you want me to stay up with you I can," he said as he sat up and scrubbed his hands over his face. He supposed that since it wasn't quite midnight and his mentor was something of a night owl, that it made sense that he would want to stay up for a little while longer.
"Great," Tony replied, sounding pleased. "Ever played Rummy before?"
"Yeah," Peter cautiously replied. "You and May taught me how to play when the electricity went out at the apartment. Remember, Mr. Stark? You came over to fix it and then stayed for dinner?" he probed, finding it odd that Tony would forget something like that. Usually, the man remembered every detail of everything that ever happened.
"Huh, I'd completely forgotten about that," Tony said with a sheepish grin and a light laugh. "I was asking because I found some cards in the drawer there," he said, gesturing towards the nightstand and Peter agreed to a game.
Once they started playing, the talking fell to a minimum. Mostly one or the other of them commenting on the game. It wasn't uncomfortable but Peter was left to wonder why they were playing cards instead of watching television or something. At least he could lay down if they were doing that but he didn't complain.
"You're really good at this game," Tony said when Peter won the hand. "Having fun?"
"I guess so," Peter yawned but when he saw that his mentor was frowning sadly in his direction, he tried to backtrack. "I mean, yeah. This is fun. I like spending time with you."
Tony perked up at that and started to gather all of the cards. "Another round then?" he asked with enthusiasm.
"Okay," Peter agreed with a forced smile and watched as the man began to shuffle the cards. It didn't take long for another yawn slip out and it crossed his mind that some soda might help keep him going. "Did you see any vending machines or anything outside, Mr. Stark?"
"Nope," Tony replied without ever looking up.
"Oh. Yeah, me neither," Peter sighed, having already resigned himself to a lack of caffeine. Then he flopped back onto the mattress only to sit back up again seconds later. "I'm gonna go use the bathroom before we start the next round. I'll be right back."
"Sure, go ahead," Tony replied as he continued to shuffle and reshuffle the deck.
A couple of minutes later, as Peter was washing his hands, he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. At first, he thought that maybe it was an incorrectly set alarm since there was no cell service where they were. Yet when he pulled the device out to check it, he realized that there was a text from Tony flashing on the screen.
'Sorry, this is taking so long, kiddo. I'm still trying to get someone's attention,' it read, much to Peter's confusion. Then he slowly opened the door and peeked out to find that the man sitting on the bed still shuffling the cards. He had to double-check the time stamp to make sure it wasn't a delayed message. It wasn't and for some reason that made his stomach turn.
'Are you messing with me?' he texted back, after ducking back into the bathroom without a word. It was only a few seconds before he got another text but it wasn't any kind of reassuring.
'Why would I be messing with you, Buddy? Are you okay?' Peter read to himself before taking a deep breath and peeking around the corner one more time. He didn't know what he expected to find but it wasn't an empty room. Tony was gone along with the cards.
"Mr. Stark? he asked out loud, half expecting his mentor to jump out of a closet and grab him by the waist but there was no answer. That led him to slowly pad across the room and peek out the window but the man wasn't there either. Though he did note that it was no longer raining. Then he walked over to the nightstand and carefully pulled the drawer out to find a dust-covered box of cards. He was just about to pick them up with the door cracked open causing him to yelp as Tony walked back into the room.
"Kid?", Tony asked once he'd recovered from his own startled reaction. He'd not meant to sneak up on the boy but once he got a good look, he realized that the teenager had been more than just a little shocked. "You're as white as ghost. What happened, Pete?"
For a moment, Peter slowed his breathing and watched as Tony cautiously approached him. All he could think was that the man had to be teasing him. It was one big joke and he was falling for it. "Nothing. Nothing happened," he said before realizing that the window unit was no longer running, causing him to pale further.
Unsatisfied with that answer, Tony reached out and placed his hand on the boy's clammy cheek. "You're scaring me, Buddy. What happened in here," he pressed because the kid looked terrified.
"I- You- We-," Peter not-so-eloquently began and then continued to stutter his way through a rambled recap of everything that had taken place over the last half an hour. "But that was all you, right? You were messing with me because I said I didn't get scared, right? That's what happened?"
Tony pursed his lips, narrowed his eyes as he tried to decide how serious the kid was being. "I was in the office the whole time, Kid. I texted you as soon as I realized that I could and then came back after I asked you if you were okay and you didn't answer me," he said, then pulling the shivering teenager into a hug.
"Well, for the record, I am not okay. Definitely not okay," Peter mumbled into his mentor's shirt and Tony nodded, feeling a little unsettled himself.
"Yeah, I'm thinking that maybe a night in the car doesn't sound so bad after all," Tony said, giving the boy one last squeeze before grabbing their wet clothes and shoving them into their bags so that they could get out of there as quickly as possible. Then they were off, only stopping briefly at the office to toss the room key into the mail slot before practically sliding down the muddy hill and charging back to the car.
Deciding that it was worth a try, Tony turned the key and was surprised when the engine revved to life without hesitation. He didn't question it though, he simply drove without so much as a glance behind him.
As they rolled past the driveway, Peter looked out the window and gasped, blinking his eyes a few times to make sure he was seeing things correctly. "Mr. Stark!" he shouted, causing the man to hit the breaks so hard that he was nearly garroted by the seatbelt.
"What?" Tony replied while trying to catch his breath.
Still staring out the window, Peter tapped on the glass and swallowed hard. "Look," he said without explanation and Tony leaned forward to see what the kid was talking about.
Squinting his eyes in the darkness, Tony realized that up on top of the hill that he was pretty sure was the one that they had just run down was a hotel but not the one they had just left. The one he was looking at was dark, boarded up, and surrounded by numerous no-trespassing signs. Yet, he could see their shoe prints in the mud leading down the dirt driveway.
"What just happened?" Peter whispered as he turned towards his mentor with wide eyes.
"I have no idea, Kiddo but we're getting out of here," Tony returned and then pressed the gas pedal down as far as it would go, causing the tires to squeal as they peeled off into the night.