A week had passed since Tony and Pepper had officially adopted Peter and in that time, his room had been completely changed and was now painted blue and red. Tony had helped him find an Iron Man bed spread and an Iron Man lamp as well as a few other toys, but Peter liked the Lego blocks best. That didn't mean he didn't play with the other toys, though. Unless Pepper or Tony reminded him several times to put his toys away, they were usually spread out across the penthouse.

On days when the penthouse was a disaster, Tony liked to time Peter and encourage him to pick up his toys even faster. Today was one of those days. It took Peter several trips between the living room and his room, but he raced as fast as he could to beat the five-minute time limit. When he finally dropped the last toy in his toy chest and ran back out to Tony, he bounced eagerly as he asked how long it had been.

"Sorry, Peter," Tony said. Peter's face dropped. "That took exactly two minutes and seven seconds!"

Tony cheered and Peter's face lit up again. As per usual, the deal had been if he could pick up all his toys in five minutes, they would go to McDonalds to eat.

"Can we go now?" Peter asked excitedly, looking at his shoes by the lift.

As Tony nodded, Peter hurried over to his shoes and tugged them on awkwardly. Tony helped him then grabbed his wallet and followed Peter into the lift.

Getting to McDonald's didn't take very long, but finding a parking space did. After doing a few circles around the lot, Tony squeezed into a spot he wasn't sure was for parking and turned off the car.

"We're here!" he announced, unfastening his seatbelt.

From the backseat, Peter cheered and unfastened his seatbelt as well. Walking around to Peter's door, Tony opened it for him and Peter jumped out to run inside. Peter stopped at the end of the line and Tony joined him shortly after. A few minutes later when it was their turn to order, the cashier was barely able to speak as he stared at Tony.

"Daddy? Can I go play?" Peter asked, tugging on Tony's shirt.

Tony told him to wait as he paid for their food. Grabbing his soda cup, he filled it up at the soda fountain then let Peter run towards the play area. Aside from one other woman, the playroom was empty. Tony could hear what sounded like two kids already playing and apparently Peter did too because he shot over to the play area before Tony could tell him to take off his shoes.

At the sound of Tony's voice, the woman looked up from her phone.

"Tony Stark goes to McDonald's?" she asked, raising an eyebrow as he took a seat at the table.

"What can I say?" Tony replied, "The kid likes french fries."

She laughed and shook her head.

"Does he want friends to play with?" she asked, pointing at the play place. "My two sons are up there and I was getting ready to go, but if he wants playmates we can wait."

"That would be great," Tony said, "Once we get our food I'll call him down."

It wasn't much longer before Tony glanced back and saw their meal waiting. He went out to grab it and when he returned, he saw the woman helping her two sons put their shoes on.

"Peter! Food's here," Tony called, setting the tray on the table.

He heard Peter run through the jungle gym then slide down the slide. A second later, Peter appeared and ran over to Tony, climbing up on a chair beside him. Tony handed him his happy meal as Peter excitedly told him about his two new friends.

"They said they didn't know who Iron Man was, though," Peter said, pulling out his fries and shoving some in his mouth. "But I told them he was a superhero and they thought it was cool."

Tony nodded, glancing up at the TV behind Peter when something caught his eye. It wasn't loud enough he could hear, but the subtitles were on and the heading was enough. James Ritchie's mugshot was plastered across the screen with the words 'Escaped Convict: Last Seen in Manhattan'.

Looking back at Peter, he put his burger back in its bag and said, "Peter, we're gonna have to eat this at home."

Although Peter drooped in disappointment, he nodded and helped Tony put his happy meal back in its box. Tony sent him to put his shoes back on while he finished packing up their food. Once Peter was ready to go, Tony grabbed his hand and they walked out to the car.

"Why did we have to leave?" Peter asked as Tony helped him buckle his seatbelt.

"Daddy has to go be Iron Man," Tony said, giving him a small smile.

From the backseat, Peter grinned. While Peter began musing about what Iron Man was going to do, Tony called Pepper and told her to shut down the Tower. Anyone that didn't work there was to get out in the next five minutes. When she demanded to know why, Tony quickly muttered that James Richie had escaped. That seemed to do the trick because a second later, she hung up and JARVIS told him she had initiated the lockdown and lockout procedures.

Tony barely made it into the garage before JARVIS locked down the Tower. Grabbing their food, he followed Peter into the lift and upstairs to where Pepper was waiting anxiously. Tony set Peter's happy meal at the table and told him he could finish it now before moving over to Pepper.

"Hi, Pepper!" Peter said around a mouthful of fries. He waved and Pepper waved back before turning her full attention to Tony.

"How do you know Ritchie is coming here?" Pepper asked. Tony just looked at Peter and Pepper sighed. "You're going out, aren't you?"

"Of course I am," Tony muttered, "Stay here with Peter. I'll be back once someone has caught him."

Pepper nodded and watched as he walked outside and suited up. Seconds later, he was in the air and had JARVIS keeping him updated on anything related to James Richie.

"I have a report that says he was spotted on Third and Cedar."

Tony frowned but shot off in that direction. That was nowhere near the Tower. He must have been wrong in his assumption that James would go after Peter.

"Update me on any reports," Tony said, scanning the streets below him. He couldn't see anyone that looked like they were running from prison.

"No more have come in."

Tony dropped down onto the sidewalk and ignored the passersby that stared at him. Taking advantage of the stares, Tony ran facial recognition on all of them but came up negative.

"Are you sure the report was from here?" Tony asked, glancing around. "Have the police found him?"

"There is a squadron of police surrounding the Tower, sir," JARVIS told him after a couple of seconds. Tony frowned and took off into the air again. "They received a distress call when the front doors were broken."

Tony cursed and flew even faster back to the Tower. How had JARVIS received a false police report? The distraction had been just enough, too. If Ritchie had gotten into the Tower, he would likely find Pepper and Peter before Tony returned.

"Are Peter and Pepper still alone?" he asked. He was two minutes from the Tower, but if they weren't alone that might not be close enough.

"No," JARVIS said, "Mr. Richie with them as well as three employees."

Tony's upper lip twitched as he realised Ritchie either knew SI employees could access the Tower while in lockdown or had been in the Tower before it had been initiated. Either way, he would be updating the security protocols surrounding the penthouse. No one would be getting in after this.

"Send me through to the cops," Tony ordered. JARVIS called the police and connected and Tony to the sheriff outside his Tower. "Tell me what's happening. I'm a minute out."

"He's inside, Mr. Stark," the sheriff said, looking up for Iron Man. "We have him on a ransom call, but things aren't looking good."

"Get ready to arrest this man again," Tony said, hanging up and landing outside the Tower.

From the balcony, he could see Ritchie inside with Pepper and Peter. Just behind them, the three SI employees registered on his facial recognition scan. Well, they would be fired, to say the least.

"So glad you could join us, Tony," Ritchie exclaimed as Tony stepped inside.

In his hand, he held a knife that was closer to Peter than Tony would have liked. That being said, a knife near Peter at all was too close.

"I was wondering how long I would have to wait," Ritchie said, spinning the knife carelessly. "It's hard to restrain myself if you know what I mean."

"You know, group therapy can help with lots of bad habits," Tony said, scanning Pepper and Peter for any signs of injury. Fortunately, JARVIS reported none. "Pep made me go for alcohol. Remember that, Pep? Really helpful."

"You really do crack jokes at bad times," Ritchie mused. He chuckled and spun his knife up again. "I thought it was just a rumour."

"Rarely anything you hear about me is," Tony said as JARVIS calculated the best attack plans. So far, he hadn't come up with one with a high enough success rate that Tony wanted to try it.

"I hear Peter here is your son," Ritchie said, using his knife to point at Peter.

Curled up on Pepper's lap, Peter was trembling. There was no doubt in Tony's mind that Peter recognised Ritchie.

When Tony didn't respond, Ritchie grinned.

"He is! Oh," he hummed, glancing back down at Peter. "Things just got so much better."

"Ok," Tony said. JARVIS had a plan with a 97% success rate and Tony was tired of waiting. "We're done. Lead the way, J."