This AU is based on the movie Tremors and is a gift for the lovely Blondsak! If you haven't watched Tremors, you'll probably be able to understand the story regardless, but I think you should watch it because it's a pretty great monster movie. Enjoy!

1. Welcome to Perfection

Tony glanced over at the boy beside him, lips twitching a little as he watched the kid hum to the radio, foot tapping to the music while he typed on his phone. Probably a message to MJ, although Tony didn't ask. He'd already teased the boy plenty about getting a girlfriend in Europe. Besides, he didn't want to think about what had happened to Peter in Europe. Didn't want to think about getting the phone call from a crying Peter asking for help or flying out to find the boy covered in gashes and bruises with at least four broken ribs going his best to hold himself together.

He didn't want to think about holding the shaking boy in his arms, lips pressed to his hair in the middle of a field of beautiful flowers. He didn't want to remember, and he didn't think Peter did either. Judging by the way the kid was barely sleeping, and the fact that May had finally come to Tony, asking if he could help, Tony would say the kid was suffering from some serious PTSD. But he knew that Peter wasn't ready to talk about it.

So he'd suggested a road trip. To California.

After getting the call from May, he'd come up with the plan and had immediately double checked with Pepper that it would be okay to take a road trip, then had set off for the Parker's apartment. It had been a surprise, so when he'd knocked on their front door, knowing that Peter had been the only one home. The boy had answered the door, hair unkempt and eyes wide beige he'd smiled a little, the bags under his eyes nearly purple.

"Hey...hey Mr. Stark. What are you doing here?" As if automatically, the boy's eyes had flashed down to Tony's side, obviously searching for Morgan..

"What, can't a guy just drop in to see his favorite Spider-Kid?"

Peter had stared at him suspiciously, narrowing his eyes and glancing down the hall as if waiting for some kind of crazy surprise, but Tony had just laughed, moving forward and wrapping Peter in his arms. Immediately, the kid had relaxed, letting out a breath and putting his arms around Tony's shoulders. "How are you feeling, kiddo?"

"Uh...fine. I'm good." Peter had shrugged, but Tony hadn't released the hug for another moment, giving Peter another squeeze before pulling away, hands on his shoulders as he'd given him a critical once over.

"You sleep at all last night?" Peter had flushed a little and given another shrug. Giving up on that, Tony had just patted his shoulder. "You want to invite me in?"

"Oh, of course!" The kid had blinked a few times as if trying to wake himself up, and Tony had felt a stab of empathy. He remembered plenty of days like that...days with a vague pain in his head and a feeling of exhaustion so thick it had been like moving through a fog. Lately, he hadn't been having that problem. Despite missing Cap and the occasional nightmares about finding his old friend laying on the battlefield, gauntlet in hand, covered in burns with eyes that slowly lost focus, he had started to feel like he could finally relax, if just a little. Thanos, the threat that had been looming over him for years, was gone. He had both of his kids in his life, both healthy and relatively safe. He had Pepper and his lakehouse, and his penthouse in the city where they stayed most of the time now that he had a reason to be in the city. Sam and Bucky were taking care of most of the superhero stuff, so his Iron Man armor mostly stayed in storage in his lab.

He'd never thought he'd get to retire, but, he had thought as he'd stepped into the Parker's half-unpacked apartment, it suited him.

Peter had offered him a drink that he'd declined, and then the two had found themselves on the sofa, a new Netflix show playing unnoticed in the background. The fact that Peter didn't even bother to pause it clued Tony in a little on what the kid had been doing. If he hadn't been sleeping, he'd probably been trying to.

"So, senior year starts in a few weeks. How are you feeling?" Tony had asked, grabbing the remote and pausing the show for him. Peter hadn't even seemed to notice.

"Fine. Uh...just kind of tired, but…" he'd trailed off with a shrug.

"Yeah? I'm sorry your vacation was ruined."

"It wasn't...I mean, it's fine."

Despite his protests to the contrary, Tony knew that Peter had been at least a little disappointed. He'd wanted just a few weeks where he could be Peter Parker instead of Spider-Man, and it had all been ruined by Nick Fury. "Well, I'm still pissed on your behalf." That had coaxed a smile from the boy, and Tony had patted him on the shoulder, no hesitation in the gesture. "Which is kind of why I'm here."

"So you didn't just drop in to see your favorite Spider-Kid after all?"

Tony had chuckled. "I did. But I may have had another motive. I was wondering how you'd feel about taking a trip with me?" He'd gone on when the boy had cocked his head, interest obviously piqued. "I was thinking we could take a little cross-country road trip. Nice hotels, stop and see the sights along the way...I've got a vacation house in California right on the beach. We can spend some time there, play around in the lab, then fly back. What do you think?"

"But...what about Morgan? And Pepper?"

"Morguna's still a little young for a road trip. She and Pepper are going to spend some time together doing 'mommy daughter' things." He held up his fingers in air quotes and Peter grinned. "Maybe they'll fly out and meet us in California if you want? We'll have a little family vacation."

"I mean...I don't want to take up all your free time…"

"Pete, I'm retired. My life is nothing but free time."

And so it had been decided. The next day, they'd set off, both with two suitcases full of clothes and power cords and e-readers. After a long goodbye with May and Peter and Morgan, they'd started their drive, making their way across the country and stopping along the way whenever they found something interesting to do. At night, they slept in the nicest hotels Tony could find, the two of them sharing suites and eating fancy room service food. They went to museums and local attractions and parks, always with ball caps pulled over their faces and sunglasses firmly in place.

There was no talk about superheroes or Thanos or Beck...at least not during the days. In the evenings, usually after nightmares, Tony had finally gotten Peter to talk. The boy had told him about the fight with Beck. About the things Mysterio had made him see. About his fears, late at night, that all of this was an illusion. That Mysterio had trapped him in that nightmare place and that he was still in Europe, still on a class trip. Still seeing things that weren't real. And Tony had held him, a hand pressed against the side of his head as Peter had listened to his heartbeat, assuring him over and over that this was real. That it was all real. That Peter would be okay.

"How's she doing?" Tony asked as they drove down the highway in Nevada, finally giving in to his curiosity.

"How's who doing?" Peter asked, a tiny smile turning the corner of his mouth. He looked so much better than he had two weeks ago, the bags under his eyes practically gone, his body obviously relaxed as he smiled over at Tony.

"I figure you're either talking to your aunt or your girlfriend so…" Tony trailed off, shrugging as he glanced down at the gas gauge. They were dangerously close to empty, as it seemed they were basically in the middle of nowhere, Nevada, so they'd have to stop at the next gas station they found.

"I'm talking to Ned, actually, and Ned is fine," Peter told him with a smirk. Reaching out without taking his eyes off the road, Tony ruffled the kid's hair. Peter laughed, batting him away without much force. "He was asking when we're coming back. Apparently he got the LEGO Millennium Falcon and he wants to build it before school starts."

"Tell him not to worry. We'll probably be home in another week or so." Tony gave a careless shrug, and Peter started typing again. He was glad that Peter had enjoyed their road trip...was glad to have got to spend so much time with the kid before he went back to school. Because, more likely than not, this would be the last time they got to spend time like this in a while, with his senior year and colleges and internships coming up. Then again, Tony thought, maybe he'd accept a Stark Industries internship...a real one, over the summer after high school. It would certainly look great on his resume to have spent so long working directly with Tony Stark himself. Deciding to bring that up later, he sat up a little when he spotted a sign for the next town that included a single gas station. "There we go," Tony muttered, grinning at the boy who glanced over at him, finally putting his phone down. "We'll get gas in…" He squinted at the sign as they passed, "Perfection, see if the town has anything to offer, and then we'll be on our way. What do you think?"

"Sounds good, Mr. Stark."

"You getting hungry yet?" They'd had breakfast less than two hours ago, but Tony was well aware of how often Peter needed to eat, even when he wasn't swinging around the city and stopping crime.

"I could eat."

Tony snorted. "You could always eat. Alright, we'll see if there's a restaurant in Perfection."

As it turned out, getting into Perfection was a little more difficult than Tony had expected, as they first had to follow a pass through what amounted to a mountain. He had to slow down for a group of three men with jackhammers who seemed to be attempting some sort of road work, making his way gingerly around them. One of them lifted a hand, and Tony gave a quick wave, driving slowly past. Peter flinched at the noise, but soon enough they were through and were headed down what seemed to be the main road through fields of grass and emptiness. As they drove, Tony taking in the emptiness, Peter stared down at his phone with a frown. "Weird...I lost service."

"I guess there are still dead spots in this country after all," Tony told him with a shrug, pulling his own phone out and checking to see if he had any bars. Sure enough, his phone informed him that he had no reception. "We'll get out of here soon so you can keep talking to Ed."

Peter rolled his eyes, a reluctant grin on his face, and Tony chuckled, turning his attention back to the road as they drove past fields broken up only by huge towers with telephone wires making harsh lines against the bright blue sky. He was relaxed too, he thought as he stole glances at the boy beside him. Relaxed and happy, although he missed Morgan and Pepper and would be happy to see them in California. He'd planned on flying May out too, as a surprise for Peter, and he wondered if he should get Ned and Peter's scary girlfriend in on it too. A big vacation at his beach house. It sounded nice. The perfect end to a perfect vacation.

And it had been such a good vacation.

"Tony?"

Tony turned abruptly at the boy's voice, eyes widening in surprise. Getting the kid to call him by his first name on this trip had been something of a personal goal of his. And it wasn't that Peter didn't want to...he knew the kid was just used to the more formal 'Mr. Stark.' He'd gotten better over the last week, especially in public so they wouldn't be hounded by people wanting to ask Iron Man a thousand questions, but it wasn't so much his name coming from Peter's mouth as his tone that surprised him. He hadn't heard Peter sound like that since...since Titan? "What?" Tony asked, the word coming out more sharply than he'd meant it to. Peter turned to him, eyes wide, then pointed.

"Look."

Although his eyesight wasn't as good as Peter's, Tony slowed down and followed Peter's line of sight, heart stuttering a little when he spotted it. A body...no, he reminded himself, he didn't know that. A man. A man up in one of those huge telephone towers. He hit the brakes, pulling off to the side of the road, and before he could speak, Peter was scrambling out of the car. Swearing under his breath, Tony climbed out as well. "Wait! Peter!"

The kid stumbled to a halt, staring back at him incredulously as Tony hurried to his side. "What if he's stuck?"

"Kid, we don't know what's going on here. Why don't we go to the town…"

"That could be miles away! If I help him down, we can take him to town...see if he needs help!"

Tony stared at him, then up at the man, finally giving a harsh sigh. "Be careful," he finally warned. Peter scoffed a little.

"You know I've climbed the Empire State Building?"

"Yeah, and I asked you to stop reminding me." He gently cuffed the kid on the side of the head. "Go on. I'll see if I can get a signal." Peter nodded, then took off toward the telephone tower. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, Tony stared at it, then held it up in the air as if that would get him any more bars. No luck...not even a single bar. Opening his texts he tried to send one to Pepper as an experiment, but the little red exclamation point told him that it hadn't gone through, no matter how many times he tried. Huffing out a breath, Tony put a hand over his eyes to shade them from the sun and squinted up at Peter.

"Um...sir!" Peter called to the man up in the tower as he climbed. The guy didn't move, and Tony felt a twinge of something in his chest. Nerves? Anxiety? Why hadn't they waited until the next city to get gas? But surely a dangerous person wouldn't be sitting up in a telephone tower waiting for some random kid to climb up and offer help. That wasn't exactly a common villain strategy. "Sir, are you okay?"

"Pete...be careful!" Tony called again, unable to help himself as the nerves turned into full blown dread. He wanted to tell Peter to get back down...he wanted to turn around and take his chances on the expressway. If they ran out of gas, they would just walk. At least they'd had cell service outside of this valley. Stomach clenching, he turned around, scanning the field surrounding them. Nothing but dirt with the occasional patch of grass and weeds. Maybe a lizard. But it was so quiet out there...deathly quiet.

"Sir? My name's Peter. Do you need help…" Peter's voice cut out as soon as he reached the man, the boy's body going just as still as the man's, and Tony knew.

The man was dead.

Closing his eyes and pinching his nose, Tony rested a hand on a rung of the metal tower. One vacation. That's all he'd wanted. One vacation where his kid could just be a kid.

"Tony?"

"Come down, Pete," He called, squinting up at him once more, trying to shield his eyes against the sun.

"He's...Mr. Stark, he's…"

"I know, buddy."

"I need to…"

"Come on down." Tony tried to make his voice gentle instead of afraid. There was nothing to be afraid of. Besides, Peter was the one with the weird danger sense, not him.

"I need to get him down," Peter argued in a voice that wobbled.

Tony sighed, ready to give in. "Okay. If you can…"

"Um...he has a gun."

Tony frowned at that, head snapping up as he wished he'd brought his suit...that either of them had. "What?"

"It's...I think it's a shotgun."

Images of Peter accidentally shooting a hole in himself...of falling limp from the telephone tower mixed with images of him falling from that spaceship mingled in his mind and Tony couldn't take it. "Okay, look...we'll go get help. We'll get someone from town to help get him down. Leave him up there for now." When Peter hesitated, Tony made his voice harder. More stern. He couldn't risk his kid. Not again. "Peter, come down."

After a moment, the boy did, climbing backwards until Tony could reach out, resting a hand on his leg, then his back, then wrapping his arms around him once he was on solid ground once more. The boy shook a little, and Tony rubbed his back. "He...his eyes were open a little and…"

"Hey, hey...you're okay. It's okay, Pete. We're going to get someone to get him down."

"Why would he have a gun? It was like...he wasn't hurt or anything. He just...climbed up there with a gun and...and died?"

Tony glanced back up at the body in the telephone tower and shook his head. "I don't know. I don't know buddy. Let's get to town, get some gas and food, and get out of here. Okay?" He ruffled Peter's hair. "Maybe they know him in town. Maybe...I don't know, kiddo. Maybe he had Alzheimer's or something. Either way, you need food, the car needs gas, and I could use a drink." The last part was said almost as a joke, and Peter gave a shaky smile.

"You don't drink anymore."

"Water, Pete. A drink of water. What did you think I meant?" The kid let out a breath and tried to hold the smile, but his eyes shot back up to the man up in the tower. Tony wrapped an arm around him, steering him away from the tower and back toward the car. "Come on, buddy. You look like you could use a drink too."

Thank you for reading!