Irondad Oneshots

IO - Irondad

{In which Peter and Tony are the last two people on earth with Peter trying desperately to find a way to stay and Tony wants to take Peter to the last spaceship leaving earth.

(You don't need to have seen the movie to read this)

(This is so long I'm sorry and I've never written an AU like this before so I tried my best lmao sorry in advance if it sucks, I'm not used to writing this much description)

I watched IO today so have this AU.}

"This is Peter Parker. Day 143 alone on Earth. The honey bee project isn't going how we hoped. I don't think I'll be able to complete this project in time. There's no way of telling just how this will play out in the end. Either way... I can't make it to the spaceship site just with my ATV. I'd never make it far enough... Unfortunately, I think I'll have to live out my last days here while oxygen and food eventually run out. Over and Out."

The hot air balloon carefully landed just outside the area claimed by Peter and once by his dad when they were trying to discover how to make humans evolve to survive the polluted air. Unfortunately, his dad never came back from one of the expeditions into The Zone, abandoning Peter at their home. 

A man stumbles out of the hot air balloon. He's at least double Peter's age, oxygen mask carefully strapped over his mouth and nose, goggles obscuring the rest of his face, dressed in what used to be nice clothes but are now ratty and dirty with wear. He pulls off his goggles and oxygen mask, eyes wild as he looks over to the teenage boy who stands barefoot in the field, watching with cautious suspicion. 

"Who are you? Where's Richard Parker?" The man demands, dragging himself to wobbly legs. 

"He's out. Not here right now. I'm Peter. What do you need?" Peter asks, narrowing his eyes as the man takes another step towards him. "I can help you instead."

"I'm looking for Richard. Not for some kid. What the hell are you still doing on Earth?" the man says, frowning as he looks over the kid. The teenager somehow looks perfectly healthy despite living on a dying planet. He's wearing a pair of blue jeans, an MIT sweatshirt and is barefoot in the grass. Casual. As though he hasn't been alone for half a year and isn't slowly dying thanks to the toxicity of the air.

"Research. What are you still doing here? And who are you?" Peter questions, thankfully not feeling at all threatened by the man.

The man narrows his eyes in response, a frown tugging at his lips. "I'm Tony. Tony Stark. I'm here because I was working with Richard. Or at least I used to before my campsite got hit by a storm and I had to improvise. Figured I'd come to see if I could compare my results with Richard's," Tony explains. 

"Richard... Um, my dad's dead. Been dead for 6 months, give or take. I'm sorry," Peter murmurs, figuring he might as well admit it now instead of continue lying. If this guy is telling the truth, he must've been close to Richard if they were partners for this project Before.

"He's... He's dead?" Tony repeats, anger sparking in his eyes. 

"Yeah. Went into The Zone to get data. Never came back," Peter explains, nodding at Tony and offering a smile. "I could get you some water if you'd like, Mister Stark. Or food. I'm sure you're hungry after your journey."

A look of confusion crosses the man's face before he nods slowly and follows the teenager back towards the house. 

Sipping the water, Tony can't help but worry. This kid looks barely old enough to drive let alone live by himself with zero human interaction for months, holding down the fort and trying his best to collect data to save the planet. That just sounds messed up.