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Peter walked into the rental car place that Tony had reserved for him. He went up to the counter and said, “Reservation for Peter Parker, Please?”
The man typed on the computer with no response. He acted as if Peter wasn’t standing in front of him, “No reservation for that name.”
“Peter Benjamin Parker?” He tried again.
“No.” The man rolled his eyes.
“Anthony Stark?” Peter figured it could be under Tony’s name since he booked it.
“I can’t speak about a reservation for someone else with you.”
“The reservation is for me.”
“I don’t have a reservation under that name.” The man insisted again.
“So what can we do here? Can I book another reservation?”
“No cars.”
“Sir, I think if you called—“
“No.” The man stood up, “And I think this conversation is over.”
~
Peter walked outside hyperventilating. He was screwing this up. Tony had sent him here to handle one thing and he was failing the first day. He pulled out his phone and called the person who felt like home to him.
“You good? I didn’t get a text that you got to the hotel.” Tony answered.
“I need help and don’t call me stupid or judge me or lecture me or—“
“Peter—“ Tony’s voice softened, “Just talk to me.”
“I went to pick up the car but they said they don’t have a reservation in my name. I tried giving your name and they won’t even check. The dude is super annoyed by me.” Peter felt tears prick his eyes, “And I’m in the middle of nowhere which is why you rented me the car and I don’t know what to do.”
Tony was listening on the other line but he wished he was there to handle this in person, “How about you Uber or Lyft to the hotel and we’ll get the car straightened out after you’ve had some sleep?”
Peter had left NYC at 5AM so rest did sound like a luxury at this point. “Uber and Lyft is going to cost an arm and a leg in a place like this.”
“Don’t worry about it, kid. Just go to the hotel and we’ll get this straightened out later.” Tony reassured, “You have to be exhausted. Are you sure you don’t want me to fly out?”
“No. We decided I’d handle this because you aren’t feeling well. I can do this.” Peter put the phone on speaker so he could call a Lyft to pick him up, “Just rest and get better. I’ve got this.”
~
Peter made it to the hotel and went up to the counter, “Reservation for Parker.”
“Of course. May I have your first name?” The woman typed into the computer barely glancing his way. He was used to this if he was honest. People only paid attention to him if Tony was with him. It made sense too. The world thought of him as a nobody. That had been the plan since figuring out Tony was his dad. Tony wanted him to have as normal of a life as possible.
“Peter. Peter Parker.”
The woman kept typing, “I do have a reservation for you. The room you requested isn’t available though. We had to give it to a VIP guest. I can offer you a different room though.”
Peter didn’t care, “Whatever is available is fine.”
“Perfect. Thank you for understanding.”
~
Peter settled into his normal room instead of the suite Tony had paid for. Tony would have thrown a fit if Peter had called him which is why he just kept quiet about it. He just wanted a shower and a couple hours of rest. He had to prepare for a speech in a couple days when he wasn’t the best at public speaking.
His phone rang and he answered because the person would call back if he didn’t, “Hi May.”
“Hi baby. Just calling to see that you got settled in okay?” May’s call was filled with background noise from the shelter she worked at.
“Just got to the hotel. I’m about to take a shower and then get a bit of sleep.” Peter opened his suitcase while they talked and started to pull out the items he would need.
Peter felt his pulse start to race when he realized his suit was nowhere to be found, “Uh May? I have to call you back.”
“Oh, is everything okay?”
“Yes, love you.” Peter hung up. This was a mess. He had no car to get to the speech and now he had nothing to wear. There were moments like these he wished he had grown up as a Stark because he would know what to do then. Tony always knew what to do.
Peter started to pace before making another call. The line rang and finally the other line was answered, “Uncle Rhodey?”
“Hi kid. What’s up?”
“I am messing everything up.” Peter sat on the bed, “And I can’t call dad.”
“Why not?” Rhodey didn’t tell Peter he sat across from his dad in that moment, “You know your dad loves you and he’ll help even if you make a mistake.”
“I know but he’s sick and he’ll want to fly here to help me!” Peter whined, “And I can handle this.”
“So handle it?” Rhodey suggested. Tony was giving him a look that told him that was the wrong response, “I mean why don’t you tell me what’s going on and we’ll figure it out together?”
Tony nodded his approval. He was sure Peter hadn’t called because he didn’t want Tony fixing things while he wasn’t feeling good but he was grateful Peter had reached out to his best friend that might as well be his brother.
Tony closed his eyes where he lay on the couch. He wasn’t going to sleep. He just needed to rest. His whole body ached and the cold medicine was kicking his butt and he was pretty sure Rhodey had given him the nighttime stuff on purpose.
“I can work on the suit situation. I can either send yours overnight or I’m sure Tony has a contact that can get you one at the hotel.” Rhodey was saying.
Rhodey was fixing this. Peter was in good hands. Tony drifted off to sleep with the knowledge that his best friend wouldn’t let anything happen to his child.
~
Peter heard a knock at the door the next morning. He grumbled as he threw the covers off his body and stumbled out of bed to the door pulling it open, “What?”
“Rude. How about thank you for coming with your suit?” Rhodey teased.
“Sorry. You woke me up.” Peter stepped back, “I didn’t realize you were coming.”
“I decided to make the drive after Tony fell asleep on the couch.”
“He fell asleep?” Peter raised an eyebrow.
“I drugged him.” Rhodey glanced around the room, “I thought your dad reserved you a suite.”
“They said they had a VIP guest that they gave it to.” Peter started the coffee maker for his uncle.
“This isn’t going to work if I’m staying here tonight too. Go tell them you want your original room.” Rhodey sat on the edge of the bed.
“No. I told them this is fine!” Peter insisted, “Just go get another room.”
“No. You need to stop letting people walk all over you.” Rhodey insisted, “Get dressed. We’re going to fix this right now.”
“Please don’t make me.” Peter pleaded.
Rhodey threw a random t-shirt at the kid, “Now.”
~
Peter glanced back at Rhodey while he waited in line to talk to someone at the desk. Rhodey nodded in encouragement. Peter hated this. He wasn’t his dad. He didn’t throw a fit if things didn’t go as planned. It really didn’t matter what room he stayed in. He took a step back but heard Rhodey clear his throat. Peter groaned and stayed in line.
“Can I help you?” The man asked.
Peter nodded, “Yes, so when I checked in I didn’t get the room I paid for and I am hoping to resolve that today.”
“Oh. I see.” The man frowned, “Let’s take a look.”
“My name is Peter Parker.” Peter supplied.
“I see. It looks like we have you in a pool view room with a king bed. It’s quite nice.” The man raised an eyebrow, “Is there something wrong with the room?”
“Oh. No, sir. The room is fine—“
“—Great! Is there anything else I can do for you?”
“Oh. Umm.” Peter glanced at Rhodey who just gave him a look, “Yes. I need to be put in the room I paid for now, please.”
“That’s impossible. The room is being used by someone else.”
Peter glanced at Rhodey pleading with his eyes for him to help but Rhodey gave a subtle shake of his head. Peter glanced back and sighed, “My uncle is not going to let me walk away until you agree to fix this. Please for both of our sakes. Fix this.”
“I’m not sure what you think I should do. The room is not available.”
“But I reserved it.” Peter insisted, “So it should be mine for the duration I paid to use it.”
“I don’t know how an eighteen-year-old could afford the suite anyway. I can offer you a refund for the difference in cost.” The employee offered.
“That won’t be good enough, sir.” Peter pulled out his phone giving up and calling his dad.
“Hey, kid.” Tony answered right away.
“Dad. The employee won’t give me my suite and I’ve tried to be reasonable. I don’t know what else to do and Rhodey won’t help. He wants me to solve this on my own.” Peter whined.
“I was wondering where he went to.” Tony rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, “Pass the phone to the employee.”
The conversation lasted all of two minutes and the man was handed back the phone, “I sincerely apologize. I will get you moved to an upgraded suite immediately.”
“Thank you.” Peter smiled.
~
“Proud of you.” Rhodey told Peter at dinner that night.
“I didn’t solve the problem on my own. I had to call dad.” Peter took a sip of his soda, “Nothing to bed proud of.”
“Sometimes solving our problems means using resources and other people we know to help us. That doesn’t mean you didn’t solve the problem. Besides that guy was a jerk.”
“Yeah.” Peter agreed, “I guess you’re right.”
And in that moment Rhodey saw so much of his best friend in his nephew. He saw the geeky teenager that had walked into their dorm room that first day. Rhodey had decided he was going to keep Tony safe for life in that moment and he had decided that about his best friend’s son along the way as well.