I want all yal lovely ppl to when every and or at the end tell me what you thought. And boy OH boy WHAT THE FUCK SHOULD HAPPEN TO THIS DICK!!!!

TRIGGER WARNING FOR A MINOR GETTING SLAPPED

The smack echoed across the room.

For some reason, the only thing that penetrated the shock of the situation in Tony's head was that stupid Schoolhouse Rock song. A shot heard round the world...

Except this wasn't a shot, and it didn't start the Revolutionary War.

No. This was so much bigger, and so much worse.

This was the sound of someone slapping his kid.

In essence, it was also the sound that signed their death warrant."What the fuck?" Tony snarled, stalking forward. He felt coiled in a way he'd never experienced before.

Primed and angry and full of cool conviction. "I hope you have one hell of an excuse for me to completely disregard keyed up."

The man, one of the shareholders that had been getting on Tony's nerves for what felt like literal decades, spun to face him with a surprising amount of confidence for someone who had just made the biggest mistake of their life. The moment he saw the look on the billionaire's face, however, his entire being shriveled and shrunk.

Good, Tony thought, you should be afraid.His gaze trailed briefly to the right.

Peter was standing flush against the wall, eyes wide and cheek red. He glanced over at Tony as if he was looking for answers. Looking for a cue on how to react.

Frankly, he had nothing to offer him. He couldn't see past his own blinding anger. No matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't set it aside.

His want to comfort Peter was being overridden by his fury.

It was such a Howard thing to do, and that realization left a bitter taste in his mouth.

I'm supposed to be better than he was.

"He-He was-"

Tony cut the shareholder off before he could even attempt an excuse. "I'm sorry. Is there anything you can possibly say to justify hitting a child?"

His shoulders collapsed. "No."

Tony swallowed. Fuck you, Howard. Fuck you and your legacy. I am not you. "Get out." He waved a hand at the rest of the room. "All of you. Out." He pointed his next words to the ceiling. "F.R.I.D.A.Y.? Tell Happy what happened. He'll deal with him."

"Yes, Boss."

The man left without another word. Smart. Maybe he did have some self-preservation instincts, after all.

Just not enough.

By the time he got enough of a choke hold on his anger to breathe, the room was empty except for him and the kid, who was watching him with suspiciously teary eyes.

Unacceptable.

"Hey, Pete." Tony extended a hand out to him, and the teenager stumbled over to him as if they were matching magnets. "C'mere."

As soon as he was close enough, he brushed a thumb over the kid's cheekbone. There wasn't even the tiniest bit of evidence that suggested he'd ever been hit. Tony didn't know if that was because there hadn't been any real force behind the blow, or because of Peter's advanced healing.

It didn't really matter, he supposed. That shareholder was fucked no matter what.

He'd make sure of it.

"I-I'm s-sorry, Mister Stark." Peter swallowed, hard. Tony could hear the sobs he was trapping in his chest through his inflection. "I d-didn't mean to make him a-angry. Honest."

"You don't need to apologize, bud." Anger flared through him at the thought that Peter actually felt guilty after some asshole had fucking slapped him.

"It wasn't your fault."

"I'm still really, really-"

"Listen, kid. Don't finish that sentence for both our sake's. My poor hearts been through enough today."

Peter grinned, a tiny bit of the weight lifting from his eyes. "Okay, Mister Stark."

"I know, Mister Stark."

"Seriously, Pete. Quit with the Mister Stark. You make me feel old."

"Sure thing, Mister Stark."

He looked at the innocence on Peter's face, hope still unmarred by the harsh realities of the world.

Unmarred by one of the harsh realities he'd just come in contact with. Peter could look into the dark and still come out seeing only light.

And Tony was going to do everything in his power to keep it that way.