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Chapter Text

Tony just finished making his coffee when an alert from Friday popped up on his starkpad about this spider-man. He groaned, swiping his fingers to project it into the kitchen to read more.

“Friday, what’s up?” He’s been trying to figure this dude out for weeks now. The kid would pop up randomly in a red and blue onesie, either rescuing a puppy from a tree or stopping a car from slamming into a family of four with his bare hands. No in between. Tony tried to figure out patterns with this kid, anything that would let him know who the hell he was and why he had strength that could match Cap’s. And why the kid mostly spent it on walking old ladies across the street. So far, he found nothing.

The kid knew how to protect his identity, that’s for sure. Either way, Tony couldn’t stop tracking this guy. He assumed he was in his early twenties with the way he talked to criminals through one liners and plus his suit was just some old clothing stitched on top of each other. Tony’s lips turned inward, not even trying to hide his distaste about how horrible this guy’s “suit” was. He understood that not everyone is like…Tony Stark, but come on. A hoodie with goggles? Be so for real right now.

Friday answered calmly as usual.

“Yes, boss. Spider-man was spotted in Manhattan at approximately 3:30 PM today.”

Tony frowned. He checked his watch, it was 3:31. “What’s he doing?” Tony asked, taking a sip of his coffee. He immediately felt more alive and cracked his knuckles as he started to digitally scan through documents Pepper had sent over to him about work. He barely got through the first line before dismissing them from his screen.

“He is currently trying to stop five bank robbers downtown.”

Tony simply sipped his drink, raising an eyebrow.

“And why are you telling me this?” This was pretty normal spider-man stuff. Friday wouldn’t have shared this unless something was up.

He pulled up the webcams and sure enough, Spider-Man was trying to stabilize five men in masks at the bank, throwing webs at them to stick them to a wall. Tony took another sip of his coffee. He could never figure out how this guy had so many webs. Or where he got them. Or how he could crouch on the ceiling like he was doing now. To be honest, nothing about this kid made sense to him. Was he enhanced or did that disgrace of a suit have a bunch of hidden elements that Tony didn’t know about?

Friday spoke again, her crisp voice breaking Tony out of his thoughts of how weird this spider-dude was.

“Boss, it appears Spider-Man has a knife sticking out in the lower quadrant of his stomach. Vitals are stable for now, but his moves are more sluggish than usual.”

Tony narrowed his eyes and leaned forward to look, using his fingers to make the screen project even bigger around him. He noticed two things. First, the way the kid tried to aim his web shooters at the robbers but kept missing. Weird. He never missed. At least, not that many times in a row.

Second, Tony saw his hand pressed against his stomach. Tony squinted his eyes, noticing the damp blood leaking out of the knife wound onto the kid’s suit- staining it a deeper red than before. When he looked even further into it, he noticed the kid’s body movements. Confused, staggered, unsure. Scared. Huh.

Tony whistled, getting his suit on. Jesus Christ. “How deep?” Tony knew the kid could probably handle himself, despite being injured and possibly bleeding out. But, he was looking for an opportunity like this. To know more about Spider-Man. To figure him out. And tell him that his suit sucks. Kindly, of course. Tony snorted, what was he thinking, he was going to berate this man for going out in a onesie to fight villains.

“It’s deep. It’s surprising he is still conscious. Based on his data, he won’t be able to fight for much longer without passing out. One of the men is hiding a gun in his bag, spider-man hasn’t noticed yet.”

Tony nodded, his worry growing slightly, as he took off to the balcony, his thrusters doing most of the work.

Peter had been having a good day. Well, good in his own way. He usually stayed near Queens, but after seeing something online about a potential bank robbery up in Manhattan, he decided to take a day trip and check it out as spider-man.

The first red flag was how close it was to the Stark Tower. That was rule number one for Peter. Stay away from Tony Stark as Spider-Man. And as Peter Parker, for good measure. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust the man, it’s just his spidey-sense would always tingle whenever he got close to the tower. Like he was being watched. Peter didn’t like being watched, his senses interpreted it as danger every time.

He wasn’t an idiot, he knew Tony Stark was powerful and as an enhanced kid, he couldn’t take that risk. He stuck to fanboying over his work on the side, imagining what it would be like to work alongside him.

Then, came the news article a few months ago. “Iron Man’s insight on the new vigilante in New York: the friendly neighborhood spider-man.” The article was pretty tame, just Tony speaking briefly about Spider-Man’s powers and technique. It was obviously a small interview that the newspaper had decided to try to suck out every last drop of content from, despite there being not much to say. It would have been fine, except for the last line- a quote from Tony Stark.

“Spider-Man’s identity may be unknown, but I am working on finding him. He’s doing good work but still needs to be questioned to see if he is enhanced. To see if he’s dangerous. I have the technology and resources to find him anytime. ”

Peter had no idea that Tony was lying straight out of his ass in this interview. Despite everything, Tony Stark could not figure out who this spiderling was for the life of him. Tony did have the technology and resources, but apparently spiders are hard to catch when they constantly are aware of danger right before it hits them.

Still, the article had ended there, and without any reason to not believe it, the hairs on Peter’s arms slowly stood up straight, a shiver echoing through him. Ever since then, Peter had avoided the Avengers tower. Or Manhattan in general. If this was true, if Iron Man could just find Spider-Man and figure out it was a fifteen year old kid behind that mask, Peter would be done for.

He lived with his aunt, going to a school that specialized in science and math. He had friends, a normal life. But he also had baggage that weighed both him and spider-man down. His parents were dead, his uncle shot right in front of him. Aunt May had said it wasn’t his fault, but he knew deep down it was.

He also knew if Aunt May ever found out he was Spider-Man, she’d rip his mask along with his identity away from him faster than the time she almost burned down the kitchen making meatloaf. And if Tony Stark found out? He would probably be sent straight to the government for testing. Peter shivered, thinking about this. Ever since the accords, enhanced individuals weren’t safe, especially not children. If found, kids were sent to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters- a place Peter only heard horror stories of.

So, Peter stayed far away from the Stark Tower. Or Tony Stark in general. Except for today, apparently. He didn’t think the bank robbery would be as close as it was to the skyscraper and mentally cursed when he saw the looming building in the skyline as he dropped down silently on top of the bank’s roof, crawling through a window to crouch upside down on the ceiling. Either way, he came to do a job and he couldn’t ignore the screams from the bank as a few men raised their guns and demanded access to the safe. Nor did Peter want to ignore it. He loved being spider-man. The thrill of saving people. The feeling that despite being helpless in his Uncle’s death, he was making a difference. Being the nephew his uncle would be proud of. With great power comes great responsibility.

He swooped in like usual, shooting out a web that stuck one man’s gun to the wall.

“You guys have to stop being so obvious,” he said, crawling over on the wall and lifting his arm in the spider web shooting pose to take the gun from the other man. “You always do the same tricks, it’s like you want me to come!” Peter paused, thinking.

“Wait…do you guys want me to come? Are you guys fans?” Peter said, laughing. The men growled and looked up, trying to find him crouching on the ceiling.

“Damn, Spider-Man. I thought you said he doesn’t come into this part of New York,” One of the robbers accused the other, who looked around helplessly before spotting him.

“He doesn’t,” The man growled, shooting his gun at Peter who’s spidey senses allowed him to jump out of the way and onto the ground right before it hit.

That’s when things went wrong.

Peter looked at the huddling group of civilians and smiled behind his mask. “You guys are gonna be safe, don’t worry.” He hoped his voice was comforting, especially with the voice changer making it a bit deeper. Lord knows New York didn’t need a squeaky voiced teenager claiming to protect everyone.

His spidey-senses didn’t go off, because the thought never even crossed his head that the civilians hiding in a corner would be dangerous. His spidey-senses, his focus, his everything, was on the robber as his hand stretched out and string flew out of his web shooters to tie him up.

So, he didn’t feel any sort of warning as a knife suddenly plunged into his side, causing him to stagger.

Peter looked around, clutching his stomach, trying to see which robber had managed to sneak by him. He froze in place when he noticed only hatred seeping out of the civilians he was trying to protect. Among them, a man with his outstretched hand glaring at Peter with true disgust. Peter felt like cold water had just been thrown on him.

The people were angry- glaring at him. This was new. It was normal the police got pissed off, and obviously the criminals. But the people? His neighborhood? Never.

The man who stabbed him spat at him. Peter flinched and stepped back, confused and dizzy from the sudden influx of pain that flooded through him.

“You enhanced pests need to get the hell out of our home.” The man said, his voice riddled with hatred and disgust. This was different from anything he had experienced before. Peter usually was welcomed, seen as a hero. Or at least, thanked reluctantly by the police. His head spun as he tried to process what was happening while still keeping an eye on the one robber not tied up behind him.

The rest of the group started yelling at him to fuck off. Saying the NYPD could handle it and they didn’t need any freaks bugging up their home. Saying he deserved to be locked up.

Peter locked eyes with a woman in the crowd, all hairs on his body standing up when he saw the look on her face. Her eyes were narrowed, her lips contorted in a deep frown. The hatred spewing from her eyes felt almost as painful and distant as the knife still lodged into his body. Why were they looking at him like that?

For the first time in years, Peter froze, not knowing what to do. He barely heard the bullet whisking through the air towards him, and was startled back to reality when he heard the loud clank of the bullet on titanium before it somehow didn’t hit him. Peter looked up and staggered backwards. THE Iron Man was now standing in front of him, his arm outstretched as the bullet bounced casually against it and onto the floor. Oh shit.

Peter’s breathing quickened, his heartbeat the only thing he could hear as he watched numbly as Iron Man easily took down the bank robbers. What the actual fuck. He looked back at the civilians, to see happy faces distantly cheering on the red and gold armor standing before them. A complete change from the hatred they were looking at Peter with just a second ago. They looked at Iron Man with hope, while they looked at Peter with disgust. They looked at Peter like he was a literal bug under their shoes. A nuisance. An infection.

A sharp sting from his stomach brought Peter back to the present moment, as Iron Man turned slowly to face him. Oh shit. He had to get out of here. Things were worse than he thought, enhanced individuals weren’t just seen as monsters in places like Sokovia. It was everywhere. He was a threat. Every inch of his body was flooded with unsafety, seeing danger in every corner.

Peter didn’t know it had gotten this bad. Iron Man was probably out to capture him and send him to the Raft or some shit. Or maybe to pull off his mask and expose him in front of the people, ruining his and his aunt’s life. CPS would come back, try to take him into the foster system just like when his parents died. Everything around Peter spun.

Peter’s breathing quickened and a panic attack overwhelmed his body. His whole body tensed up and his heart tightened. He had that strange urge to curl up into a ball in hide, the same urge he felt when he watched Uncle Ben die. Shit shit shit. Not now, not like this. He had to get away, every inch of him filled with a fight or flight response. Goddamnit, how could he be so stupid? Breaking his number one rule. Stay away from Tony Stark. Now the man was in front of him, ready to probably lock him up or worse.

Idiot idiot idiot, Peter gripped where his wound was and squeezed tightly, trying to feel grounded by the pain. Iron Man took a step forward with his arm out, almost like he was trying to stop him from hurting himself. Peter barely noticed.

When he stared back at the hatred from the civilians, all he could see was Uncle Ben. Staring at him with such disappointment and disgust. Every wrong move he had made throughout the last few years, every time he let a villain get away, the shot he wasn’t fast enough to stop before his uncle crumbled on the ground- it all slammed into him like that train he couldn’t quite stop with his hands before it almost crashed into the water.

Water. Peter felt like he was underwater. His only focus was to get out. Get back to Queens. Get back to safety. To get out from the drowning pressure he felt overtaking his whole body as the glaring eyes of the civilians never relented. He yanked the knife out of his side and threw it on the ground, getting ready to swing away.

That was a mistake, because as soon as the sharp metal left his skin, he staggered and fell to his knees, his vision going dark as pain overflowed his senses. SHIT. All he could remember was falling into red and gold titanium arms before passing out from the sudden emptiness the knife left in his side. Damn it.

Chapter Text

Peter woke up in pain. The knife had left his body aching. But that wasn’t what was hurting the most. No, the raw wound still exposed was the fact that the people he was trying to help looked at him like he was vermin. Maybe he was. He felt like dirt was clinging to every inch of him, inside and out.

He wondered where he was and suddenly! It all came rushing back. The robbery, the knife, Iron Man randomly showing up, the knife…and then…he tried to remember what happened right before everything went black. Oh yeah, he had fainted in Iron Man’s arms. SHIT, WHAT THE FUCK.

His eyes shot wide open as he clawed at his face. He relaxed a bit when feeling the comfort of his mask still protecting his identity. Protecting him. Leaning up on his elbows, he looked around cautiously. He was lying on a couch in the coolest apartment he had ever seen. Scratch that, a penthouse. The glass windows, the minimalistic furniture, the cool gadgets on the walls…it was epic.

Until, he looked to his left and saw Tony Stark standing across the room with his back turned, doing something on his Starkpad. Which sucked, because under different circumstances being around this much technology would have him jumping off the walls with excitement.

“Shit,” he thought again.

He carefully tried to sit up completely on the couch- silently, as he kept his focus on the windows in front of him to escape.

The plan fell through at the sitting up part. The still healing wound in his stomach flared up in sharp, shooting pain- causing him to gasp. Oh, right. That thing.

Tony turned when heard the noise coming out of the injured vigilante and slowly started walking towards him. His only thought was to get out. Now. He scrambled up, wincing in pain, until he felt a strong hand on his shoulder, guiding him back down to lie on the couch.

Then, he heard Tony’s deep voice.

“Woah…buddy, I’m not gonna hurt you. Calm down.”

He kneeled down on the floor next to him and helped him sit up. Peter scowled at him, even though he wouldn’t be able to tell with the mask on. Tony smirked. He assumed it was because he was planning to give him to the government or some shit. In reality? Tony was just looking at his “suit” up close.

“So... you're the Spiderling. Crime-fighting Spider. Spider-Boy?"

He just continued to glare at the man as adrenaline rushed through him.

“Spider-man.”

He said bluntly.

Tony raised his eyebrows.

“Oh of course. Excuse me for not noticing the manliness behind your onesie.”

He laughed like it was the funniest thing in the world and slapped Peter on his shoulder. Peter was not amused.

“Anyways,” he says, his voice becoming softer and more serious, “You got stabbed pretty bad. It’ll take a few weeks to heal.”

Before he could stop him, Tony lifted the tear in the suit slightly to see how the wound was doing. Which…was a problem. Because Peter Parker, aka spider-man in all his glory, had accelerated healing. And although the almost closed wound hurt like hell…it wasn’t exactly the stab wound Tony was expecting.

“Huh,” Stark just said, frowning as he looked at it, “Interesting.”

Peter shoved Stark’s hand away and stood up, ignoring the sharp tremors in his body begging him to sit back down.

“Why am I here.”

Tony raised his arms in defense, his eyebrows raised in confusion. Pain flared up in his stomach and he had to grab Tony’s arm for support so he wouldn’t fall. God damnit.

“Woah, kid. I’m not here to torture you or anything. Literally just to talk. And also because you fainted? In front of me? I wasn’t just gonna leave you there.” He chuckled. He didn’t say anything about how Peter clutched him like a lifeline as he helped him sit back down on the couch.

“Talk about what.” Peter crossed his arms defensively, glad his mask also hid the slight blush on his face.

Tony shrugged casually, like this was a normal day thing for him. To be honest, it probably was. Having injured heroes lying on his couch while he cracked jokes like a child who can’t seem to sit still. For Peter, and especially for Spider-Man, this was the kind of day that he sought to avoid. Every second he was here was a second Iron Man could figure out his identity and reduce Peter back to nothing.

Stark pulled up a bunch of projections of Spider-Man, from youtube and news articles mostly.

“I’ve been watching you for a while. You do good work, but…” He eyed the suit. “I’m a bit confused about your choice of outfit.”

Tony snorts, fingering the guy’s sleeve before he sharply moves it away from him with a glare. Damn, touchy.

Peter rolled his eyes. “So you kidnapped me to talk about my fashion sense.”

Tony snorted. “Kidnap my ass, you fell into my arms when you fainted. I wasn’t just gonna leave you there. It just so happens that I wanted to ask you a few questions anyways.”

He paused, smiling at him with what he decided was an evil grin. “So I guess it worked out for both of us. You didn’t die, I get some answers, ta-da! We both go home happy.”

Peter stayed silent for a few seconds before speaking. “Why were you even there in the first place?” He crossed his arms over his chest anxiously.

Tony shrugged. “Friday told me you were in trouble. You know, with the knife thing.” He said that last part sarcastically, pointing to his stomach.

“Friday…?”

Stark smiled. “Yeah, it’s my AI. Say hi, Friday.”

Peter jumped when he heard a calm, female voice coming from the ceiling.

“Hello boss. Hello Spider-man.”

“Jesus…” he muttered. “Why did she tell you? That’s so weird, like why does she care. Not that she cares! Or that she’s a she. Because…she’s AI. How does that even work? Is it hard to make an AI to that level, how did you do it?” Peter couldn’t hide the nerd in him, Friday was epic.

Tony laughed and then got more serious. “I ask her for updates about you.”

“So you’re stalking me.” Peter said bluntly.

Tony rolled his eyes. “No, spiderling. I just happen to keep tabs on what you’re doing.” He paused and then smiled. “Okay, I'm stalking you.”

Peter stared at him in disbelief. Why would a powerful man like Tony Stark waste his time watching HIM?

Tony shrugged. “I have a theory about you.”

“What…”

“You’re not gonna like it.”

“Tell me.” His nervousness grew. How much did this guy know?

“You don’t have anyone to back you up.”

Peter stared at him again. “Excuse me?”

“I just mean, you’re always alone fighting and then you disappear to god knows where. I don’t think anyone knows shit about you. You could be bleeding out in a dumpster one day and no one would know.” He paused, thinking. “So…I decided I wanted to know. The best I can, I mean, you’re really hard to keep track of.”

He smiled at that. THE Tony Stark, a genius billionaire had trouble figuring out where Peter went. Nice.

His smile quickly faded when he realized that Tony Stark, the genius billionaire, was keeping an eye on him. For…safety reasons? Bullshit. He wanted something.

“And because I’ve been needing to talk to you. Ask questions, yada yada. Who you are under the mask, how you got your powers, why is your suit so lame, the usual.”

Peter sat up straight, trying to appear intimidating. “You are NOT going to find out who I am under the mask, understand?”

The older man raised his eyebrows. “Sensitive topic, wow. Okay…why can’t I know? I can keep a secret. Mostly.” He tilts his head, pretending to think.

“I can. I mean besides that time when I immediately told everyone I’m Iron Man.” He chuckled as if reliving a good memory, as if that moment hadn’t thrown the entire world in chaos. Peter rolled his eyes, this dude could not be real.

“My identity stays a secret.” He repeated.

Tony nodded slowly. “So the mask stays on, I’m guessing?”

When Peter nodded stiffly, Tony just sighed and shrugged.

“Okay, whatever. Just know you can’t hide forever. And that isn’t a threat, it’s a statement. You are you, spider-man and whoever the hell is behind that mask. It’s the same guy.”

Peter begged to disagree, but stayed silent, not wanting to talk about this more.

Tony shrugged again, sensing him shutting down. “Okay, let’s talk about what the fuck just happened back there in the bank.”

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Tony stared down at Spider-Man, confusion and determination in his eyes. For some reason, he felt oddly responsible for this kid. Excuse me, for this “man.” Tony held back a snort, yeah right. But still, he had been paying attention ever since the first time this guy had surfaced on the internet. He knew more about him than anyone. Which…wasn’t a lot, but still more than others. So. Yay.

He wasn’t worried about the knife wound, especially now that the kid apparently had super healing. He wasn’t even worried about the fact that he couldn’t handle all those guys. We all have bad days. It was mostly the moment when he saw the kid falter. He wished he could have seen the emotion behind the mask in that moment. He wanted to know if it was panic, fear, or perhaps contemplation of his next plan of attack. Tony knew though, deep down, that the guy was terrified and stuck.

Tony knew what a panic attack was, hell he lived through dozens. But this spider-kid seemed young. Maybe still even in college. And by what he saw today, this dude had no knowledge of how to ground himself. Which, wouldn’t be as much of a problem except for the fact that he was surrounded by bank robbers and guns pointed at him and civilians.

He frowned and sat beside him on the couch. Spider-dude stiffened and Tony moved over to give him some more space.

“Look, Underoos,” Tony began, “You got hurt real bad. It doesn’t matter if it’s healed or not, there’s obviously some shit you’re dealing with. And from experience? That stuff doesn’t get better until you somewhat process it.”

The spiderling didn’t answer.

He hesitated but continued. “Kid, do you have anyone to talk to? Like obviously, you work alone as spider-man but are you like alone, alone? Sorry, that sounds mean. Not to say you don’t have any friends or family. Except…kind of saying that? Asking that?”

The spiderling finally spoke. “I’m not a kid. And no offense Mr. Stark, but it’s none of your business who I talk to.”

Tony raised an eyebrow. “Take your mask off and prove it.”

When the kid just stared at him. The older man smirked and raised his hands in defense.

“My bad, can’t blame a guy for trying. You are a kid though, you’re like what, early twenties? Still in college?”

Tony swore he saw the boy hesitate before nodding. Interesting. He filed that one away for later.

He sighed. “So, how’d you get these powers?”

“Bit by a spider.” the spiderling mumbled. Yeah, Tony was gonna call him Spiderling, he decided.

“Interesting. I’m guessing you won’t tell me the story due to your inability to share anything personal about your life. So you’re enhanced?”

The spiderling looked tense for a second, the type of body language you have when you’re hiding something. He nodded stiffly.

Tony understood, being enhanced was…different, these days. After the accords, after a bunch of the avengers got locked up for a month in an underwater prison. Wanda, he thought, sadly. She didn’t talk to him much anymore. He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. Focus, Stark.

Tony hesitated before awkwardly putting his hand on the boy’s shoulder. The kid stiffened slightly but didn’t move to push it away.

“I’m not here to hurt you,” he began again softly, “I understand that you’re scared. Maybe even of me, I don’t know. But you’re safe. I don’t know what you’ve read or heard but I literally do not give a flying fuck if you’re enhanced. Some of my best friends are.”

Well, ex-best friends, but the spiderling didn’t need to know that. Tony was making a point.

The spider-boy raised his head, his mask staring at Tony.

“Okay,” he mumbled finally. Tony nodded and awkwardly removed his hand from the kid’s shoulder.

“Glad we’re on the same page, buddy.”

The kid nodded, and turned away. Jesus, it was like pulling teeth with this guy.

“You do good work.” He offered softly.

The spiderling didn’t answer.

“I’m gonna assume you’re blushing, biting your lip with joy under that mask at that comment,” Tony said, and cackled when he caught a glare from the spider-man dude.

“Look.” The kid mumbled. “It was nice meeting you sir, I’m a big fan and thanks for saving me. But I still don’t get why you were there in the first place. I had it handled. It was just a bank robbery.”

Tony sighed.

“Okay. The real reason why you’re here? Besides wanting to talk to you and make sure you’re okay? Because apparently you are incapable of accepting that I don’t want our newest neighborhood superhero to die?”

Tony paused, trying to word this right. “Things are dangerous with the accords. I’m not saying I disagree with them, or regret signing them, I knew that the government would get their grubby hands on it and manipulate it. That’s not the point. The point is that I signed it to keep people safe, and part of that is keeping enhanced individuals away from the government being assholes.”

The kid raised an eyebrow, trying to appear nonchalant but very obviously hiding his nerves.

“So…the government is after me?”

“Not necessarily, from what I gathered you haven’t popped up on their radar yet. But you might. You will. And then they’re gonna want you to come in for questioning, and I promise you- they won’t be as nice as me. Your mask would be taken off the second you walked in.”

The kid said nothing. You could practically feel the nerves radiating off of him.

Tony sighed again, rubbing a hand against his temple.

“I don’t mean to scare you, just want you to be aware of the state of the US right now. From someone who’s somewhat on the inside.”

“Anyways,” he started again. “How about you stay a bit longer? I have more questions and I know you have more answers. We need to come up with a plan to keep you away from the eyes of the government and shit. Also, get to know each other. I mean, not many people can stop a whole ass train with their bare hands.”

When the boy immediately shook his head and stood up, Tony cleared his throat and also stood, towering above him. Oh hell no.

“My bad, I should have clarified. You are gonna stay and answer my questions.”

******************************************************************************

Well shit, thought Peter.

“There’s no need for me to,” Peter said. He just wanted to swing out of there and hide in his room. Also, he had to leave before Aunt May got back from work…another stressor. He couldn’t catch a break, apparently.

When he saw Tony hesitate and shift uncomfortably, he knew there was more to this guy’s request than just wanting to see if he healed. Or that accords shit.

“Kid…I’m worried about you,” Stark began. “You obviously have some mental issues, I mean- heck, you literally had a panic attack in front of me. And I’m not gonna pretend I didn’t see you hurting yourself even more on purpose after you got stabbed.”

It felt like cold water had been thrown on him. Dear god, this man sees everything. For the fifteenth time in the last hour, Peter thought, shit.

“It wasn’t a panic attack. I just…needed a moment. Besides, I had it handled.” He crossed his arms defensively.

“It was ‘cause of the way those people were looking at you, right kid?” Tony’s voice was now soft and he almost recoiled at the genuine caring tone in it. Bro, shut the fuck up.

He had to play it cool. He was good at that. Kind of. No, he was. Besides being a crime fighting spider, dude was epic at avoiding talking about his feelings. His last ten failed therapists could attest.

“They were looking at me? I didn’t notice.”

That caused Stark to snort with laughter. Okay, maybe not that good at playing it cool.

Peter continued. “It’s fine, I mean I’m sure people look at you with disgust all the time. With the suit and without it.” He slid an insult in there, hopefully to get the man distracted.

Stark raised an eyebrow at that statement. “Harsh. And that last part was unneeded.” He looked him up and down again, no doubt judging his suit. Bro needed to realize that not everyone’s box of scraps were filled with metal.

He decided he had enough. Meeting his hero was kickass, but each question felt like he was taking off each part of his suit. Leaving him in just his mask. That couldn’t happen.

“Where’s your bathroom?” He casually asked. Tony blinked at him, not expecting the sudden change in tone. To his defense, Peter went from sounding anxious and mad to sounding like he was just talking to a friend.

“Uhh…” Tony started, pointing down the hall. “Down there. But, I want to talk about this after you come back out, okay?” The lines around his face creased in worry. And something else, curiosity. Peter fought the urge to roll his eyes behind his mask. Tony Stark’s poker face was crumbling.

Peter rationalized that the worry was fake. It was just because Mr. Stark wanted to learn who he was. His powers, his weaknesses. Yeah, Peter thought. That was why. That thought kept him grounded as he spoke. This was safety, getting out was the safe option.

So, he nodded, ignoring the lack of tingling in his spidey-sense.

“Yeah, of course. I promise I'll talk after.”

Seeing the man’s unbelieving expression, he realized he had to really get into the act for this to work.

“I mean,” Peter said, “I kinda suck at talking about my feelings. And I hate it.”

He looked down, pensive.

“But, I get it. You were scared. And I’m sorry, I just had a bad day today.” He hesitated before sighing.

“I’ll talk to you about it after. I can’t promise how much I’ll say, again- not really the type of guy to want to dig deep in my emotions. I tend to leave them alone. It’s better that way.”

Tony smirked. Ditto.

He sighed one last time, sealing the deal with flattery. “It’s really cool to meet you Mr. Iron Man, sir. You’re like…my biggest hero.” That part wasn’t a lie.

“So…I’ll stay and talk about what happened with you. I owe you that much.” That part was.

Tony nodded.

“Okay,” the man finally said, “But let me tell you this- If you bail on me, I will be pissed. And I will find you. Mask or no mask. You get me?”

Peter nodded and walked to the bathroom.

The gods were on his side because right as he walked away Tony got a call from someone. Thank you, universe. He quickly closed the door and scanned his surroundings.

******************************************************************************

The kid walked down the hallway and Tony sighed, pulling out his phone. It was Pepper. God damn it.

“Hey, Pepps.” He said casually.

Pepper’s tired and slightly annoyed voice rang out of the phone.

“Tony, why on earth were you on the news for stopping a bank robbery with Spider-Man? Isn’t that a bit below your paygrade?”

He just sighed, pushing his hand through his hair.

“It was a special circumstance.” He mumbled into the phone.

He could practically see Pepper’s eyebrows raise in disbelief. “Either way, this is toeing the line with the accords. Ross is gonna be furious.”

Tony snorted, staring at the hallway the kid left just a second ago. “Let him be mad, I did nothing wrong. Helping stop a bank robbery is not something the government needs to give permission for. And if he’s mad about this spider-dude?” Tony let out a deep breath, looking down. “Tell him I’m looking into it. I’m trying to get a read on this kid. To see if he’s dangerous. I don’t want them getting their hands over him.”

“Kid?” Pepper replied, suspiciously.

Tony shrugged even though he knew Pepper couldn’t see.

“Man’s suit is a glorified onesie. He’s still learning how to kick ass and is tiny as fuck. I’m guessing he’s still in college.” That earned a whistle from Pepper.

“Wow…college and fighting off men with guns? That’s a lot.”

Tony added helpfully, “And saving puppies and helping old ladies cross the street.”

Pepper did not find that quip as amusing as he had hoped she would.

“Does he…have anyone?”

Tony sighed, glancing back at where the kid had walked away to. Speaking of the kid, he was in the bathroom for an awfully long time. He shook his head. Focus, Stark.

“That’s the thing. No one knows who this guy is under his suit. And even with the suit, he keeps to himself. There’s virtually nothing known about this guy. I talked to him for an hour and I’m still confused.”

Pepper paused. “Where is he right now? Please tell me you did not just say all this in front of him.”

He stood up, stretching, his phone still plastered against his ear.

“Kid went to take a piss.” He frowned, glancing again at the empty hallway. “Like ten minutes ago.”

Pepper laughed sharply. “So he ran away.”

“He didn’t run away!!!” Tony defended the kid. And himself. It would seriously piss him off if the spiderling did that even after his warning.

You could hear the smirk in Pepper’s voice as he made his way to the bathroom. “Fine. But you have to take me out to a fancy dinner tonight if I’m right.”

Tony laughed, knocking on the door. No response.

“Well, now I’m hoping the kid isn’t here.” He waited for a response from behind the door and when he heard nothing, he sighed.

“Hold on, Pepper. I’ll call you back. Possibly for a reservation for dinner, we’ll…see.”

He hung up and knocked on the door again. “Kid…? Are you there? Did your spider bite also make you take forever to piss?” He chuckles at that one.

No answer. When he pressed his ear to the door, he heard nothing. Annoyance rose in him as

Tony called out again. “I’m coming in, last chance little guy.”

Nothing. He sighed. “Friday?”

“Yes boss?”

“Is anyone in the bathroom?”

“No boss, it has been empty for about nine minutes.” He left in the first minute. Didn’t even pee first.

“And you didn’t tell me?”

“No. You told me not to interrupt your phone calls with Pepper Potts.”

Tony rubbed a hand over his face. Of course. “Jesus, Friday. Unlock the door.”

A click sounded and he pushed the door open, leading to an empty bathroom with an open window. Typical. The spiderling didn’t want to talk to Tony Stark so much that he jumped out of a 93 story penthouse.

He pulled out his phone again and called Pepper.

She immediately answered. “So, he’s gone?”

Tony grumbled. “Yeah.”

Pepper laughed softly. “Told you so. I’ll be over at six for dinner.”

Tony smiled tiredly, moving the call to speaker as he sat back down on the couch. He glanced at the empty space where the spiderling just was.

“Yeah. Sounds good.”

“Where do you think he went?”

Tony rubbed his hand over his face tiredly.

“I don’t know, but I’m gonna track him down. Partially because I’m nosey and also because I am almost certain the kid has no one else. If I didn’t show up at the bank to catch him when he fainted, he would have still been there lying on the concrete. I’ve been watching this guy for awhile, and he avoids any chance at real human interaction besides signing autographs and taking selfies with kids.”

Pepper was silent for a moment before speaking. “So you’re gonna be there for him? That’s nice of you, Tony.” She sounded almost unbelieving, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

He rolled his eyes. “Don’t get your panties in a twist, Pepps. I’m just making sure he doesn’t die. Have you seen his suit, no- his costume? It sucks. And again, I hate not knowing things.”

He thought for a second and kept talking. “Also, he ran away from me and I warned him that I would track his ass down if he did that. So…it’s his fault for jumping out of a 93rd story penthouse instead of being a man and just talking to me.”

Pepper choked, her voice getting frazzled and sharp.

“HE DID WHAT??????”

Chapter Text

The next week was a rollercoaster of paranoia and fear for Peter. The phrase, “mask or no mask,” bounced around Peter’s head much more than he would like to admit. Everytime he closed his eyes he felt himself falling into Iron Man’s arms as the people he was trying to save glared.

He sat on the floor of his room, building a lego death star with his friend Ned. Well, watching Ned build it as he stared blankly at the half constructed lego set. His mind was still going over the other day. Specifically, the escape. How he lied to the billionaire genius and jumped out a window to avoid answering questions. His spidey senses made it seem like he was in total danger in the moment, but now? Peter fears he could have just stuck out a few more minutes answering stuff and then left naturally.

He suddenly groaned, causing Ned to jolt and almost drop a lego, “Bro, why did I sneak out? I could have just told May I was at your place or something…”

Ned did not seem as anxious as Peter, in fact, after hearing his friend talk through this for the hundredth time, he almost tuned the constant anxious chatter out. He clicked a lego into place before speaking softly.

“Dude, I promise you, no one’s gonna know you’re spider-man. I mean, no one is gonna suspect a fifteen year old boy is swinging across the city fighting off robbers. If Iron Man IS looking for you, he’s not gonna be looking for…you. No offense.” Peter rolled his eyes, it was true though. Stark wouldn’t be going through high school yearbooks to find the vigilante. Still…

Peter rubbed his forehead, his voice becoming even more stressed, “But like, I know if he wanted to, Stark could find me. I see him everywhere, I hear him on the train to school. I’m too scared to go out as spider-man, or go outside at all. Even as Peter Parker.”

His breathing quickened, suddenly a thousand pounds weighed against his chest. “It’s driving me insane. I can’t believe I managed to get Iron Man to track me.”

Ned shrugged and suddenly seemed really focused on getting two stuck lego pieces off each other. Peter raised his eyebrows at the sudden apprehensive look on his friend's face.

“What.” Peter asked bluntly.

Ned hesitated before answering, still not looking up. “What if it’s your spidey senses not working again? Like where you get all paranoid because of anxiety or whatever,” Ned mumbled.

Peter stood, climbing onto his bed and jumping slightly. His brain felt like it was running a trillion miles per second. “I get your point, but it’s not because of my anxiety. It’s real. I feel him watching me. Even now! Dude, I have to check the closet at night for him like he’s some sort of boogie man. I should just turn myself in at this point.”

Ned rolled his eyes. Peter wasn’t exactly helping his case.

He looked up slightly and eyed Peter with a concerned look. “You also ‘felt’ that bridge almost collapsed that one time you forgot to do your math homework. Your spidey senses told you, and you freaked out. Like full blown panic right on the bus. But nothing happened.”

Peter crossed his arms, not liking that memory. Flash had mocked him for weeks. “Look, that was different. This is real, an actual threat. I know he’s after me, he told me. It’s like if the bridge told me it was gonna fall.” He was aware that the last sentence made no sense, but rationality seemed to have also fallen out of the 93rd floor of the Stark Tower. His lungs felt clear, too clear, and each breath stung.

He sat down on the bed, his brain running in five different directions. A buzz filled his brain and no matter what, he couldn’t get rid of the thought that he was in danger. He bounced his leg rapidly, biting his lip.

“I’m not saying he’s NOT after you,” Ned said. Peter heard him as if through a wall of water. He sounded all muffled. “I’m just saying he isn’t after Peter Parker.”

Ned glanced behind him and saw the apprehensive glint in his friend’s eyes that was slowly turning into a tunnel of self doubt and overlapping thoughts. He sighed and stood up in front of Peter. He snapped his fingers at him. “Pete. SNAP OUT OF IT. You are safe. If you weren’t, then Iron Man would have found you days ago.”

Peter bit his lip even harder, nervously looking up at Ned, barely seeing him through the wall of tears gathering in his eyes. “But what if-”

Ned shook his head immediately, “I’m not going to keep going around in circles with you. You know how I feel, you’re safe. I can’t keep telling you that just for you to not listen. It’s been days and I just want to build legos with you.”

The spider-boy felt a pang of guilt deep within his stomach, branching out to his aching heart. He blinked and shook his head to try to clear the stream of thoughts.

“I…I’m sorry, Ned. I won’t talk about it anymore.” He curled up into a ball in the corner of his bed. Self hatred overtook every inch of him. He destroyed everything he touched, his uncle died because of him, and now his best friend hated him. Suddenly, a hand reached out and gently touched his shoulder. A wave of fresh air was welcomed into Peter’s lungs as he felt himself calm down.

Ned spoke softly, “I’m not saying you can’t talk about it, you can. The thought of Tony being after you is terrifying, I get it. All I’m saying is that this constant overthinking isn’t gonna solve anything. We can talk about it, just stop pretending that your anxiety has nothing to do with this.” Peter sat up slowly, wiping away his tears.

He smiled weakly and leaned into Ned, sharing a rare moment of vulnerability. Ned said nothing and just placed his arm around his friend.

Peter spoke softly after a few seconds, “I’m just… so anxious. He said some things back there and we both know how smart he is. He has the ability to connect the dots. How do I know he won’t?”

“Okay, but maybe.” Ned paused, “Just maybe. You aren’t Tony Stark’s biggest problem right now. He's got the whole government and world to deal with, I’m sure he isn’t spending all his time trying to figure you out.”

Peter turned his head to look at him, mumbling a quiet “yeah.”

“I just don’t think it’s his top priority right now. He’s probably pissed off that you ran away from him, but unless you swing right by his window, I doubt he’s gonna try to track you down.”

Peter sniffled and laughed quietly. Ned always knew how to cheer him up.

Peter spoke, closing his eyes, “Thank you. I’m glad you’re my best friend instead of Flash.”

Ned smirked, “You and me both.”

Everything would be fine, Peter thought. He needed to stay grounded in reality, not improbable scenarios floating around his fucked up brain. He tried to lock the irrational fear up along with the memory of him faltering after seeing the angry civilian’s faces. Just stay off Tony Stark’s radar, he told himself.

They spent the rest of the night building legos while watching Star Wars. Occasionally, Peter would bring up the Stark issue and Ned would gently redirect his attention. For the first time in weeks, he felt safe.

***************************************************************************

Tony napped on the couch, the same one the spiderling had laid on just a few days earlier. He tried to not think about that. About how this kid, this vigilante, had lied straight to his face and ran away from him. It pissed him off. Tony smiled slightly in his sleep, at least enjoying the mental picture of the Spiderling being scared to death that Iron Man would track him down.

He heard the front door open and groceries being placed down in the kitchen. He pretended to sleep, not wanting to interact with anyone right now.

That plan soon failed as Pepper Pott’s sharp heels clicked her way to the couch, standing in front of Tony’s head. A freshly manicured finger tapped against his forehead. He groaned and opened his eyes, annoyed.

“Hi,” he said as he raised his eyebrows at the blonde woman standing before him.

She was wearing a freshly pressed pants suit and despite just putting down groceries, had a manilla folder clutched to her chest. “You’re pretty,” he mumbles before closing his eyes again. Of course, Pepper hated his guts, so there was another sharp tapping on his forehead. He groaned and sat up.

“Fine, I’m awake. God…” he muttered. Tony Stark did not like to be woken up from his naps. Pepper just rolled her eyes as she sat down next to him.

She shifted so she was facing him on the couch, her expression serious and focused. “When was the last time you’ve done any work for Stark Industries?” Tony sighed and immediately scooted away. He knew Pepper already had the answer ready.

“I don’t know, tell me the answer to your rhetorical question, Pepps. How long?”

“Over a month.” She said sternly as she reached out to adjust his suit. “You need to stop hiding in your little tower all the time. People are starting to think you’re dead.” She pressed a finger to her temple.

Tony raised an eyebrow and asked calmly, “Your point?” Maybe he shouldn’t have been taunting Pepper like this, but hey. He was sleeping! Also, who gave a shit if people thought he was dead. Made things easier on him, less bricks thrown through his window.

“My point is that you need to get back out there. It’s affecting the company, the stock has gone down two percent in the last week. You can’t just show up on TV helping spider-man with a random bank robbery and then continue to hide from the public.”

Tony shrugged, not seeing the problem.

Pepper sighed, “My job is harder because you’re not showing up. You have to somewhat involve yourself with this company, like it or not. Because I’m getting tired of being called the b word because I murdered Iron Man to take over Stark Industries.”

Tony snorted, his eyes widening. “People are saying that?” He probably found that funnier than he should have.

Pepper smiled softly, “Well…one internet message board did. But my point still stands, for the company, for ME, you have to get back out there.” Tony could tell she hoped bringing her into this would cause him to feel guilty. Tony hated that it worked.

He nodded slowly. “Fine.” He spoke casually, crossing one leg over another. He tried reaching for his sunglasses so he could secretly sleep during the rest of this conversation, but Potts swatted his hand away.

Pepper tilted her head, watching the now pouting Tony Stark. “Really?”

Tony shrugged. “Yeah, why not. I’ll do some PR junk. And start going to the office again. Can’t have the public thinking you murdered Iron Man.” He smirked.

Pepper groaned. “That’s gonna become a thing, isn’t it.” Regret filled her eyes and Tony could tell she wished she didn’t tell him.

Tony just laughed and nodded. Oh yes it was. “So, Pepper Potts. What’s your plan? Nothing too drastic, I hope.”

Pepper kissed him gently on his forehead where a few minutes ago, her finger (rudely) tapped to wake him up.

“Nothing too drastic,” she promised.

******************************************************************************

Peter felt good. It’s been more than a week since the incident with Iron Man and he finally went out as spider-man again. It started off as a nervous swing through the city, but when nothing happened, he began to get more confident. By the third day, he was stopping bike thefts and finding lost dogs. It seemed like Iron Man was leaving him alone. For now.

Peter wasn’t an idiot, he knew Stark was probably tracking his every move on his fancy little Starkey phone or whatever he called it. But, as of this moment? Peter would rather show up on Tony’s little technology AI thing than hide away in his apartment. He sighed, swinging back home, making sure to not wake Aunt May. Her finding out Peter was spider-man would be the LAST thing he needed right now. What both of them needed, he thought grimly as he imagined May working her two jobs to support them.

His body ached as he crawled into bed carefully, shedding the suit. He closed his eyes and tried to think about building the death star, but the instructions morphed into the disgusted face of the person who plunged that knife into him. After his talk with Ned, his anxiety had lessened. Especially with going back out as spider-man. Exposure therapy, yay! But, still. Everything from that day haunted him. No matter how many times he tried to shove it away into a box and light it on fire.

The next day, Peter and Ned walked into their homeroom. The class was…off. Excited whispers filled the air with a tension, an energy that was about to snap.. Peter looked at his friend MJ with confusion. She just shrugged and mouthed, “Field trip.”

Ned immediately gripped his arm and started bouncing up and down. “OMG!!!!! WHERE DO YOU THINK IT IS???”

Peter smiled and sat down, gently pushing his friend’s hand off of him. He also felt excited, although not bouncing off the walls. To be honest, if he bounced off the walls- he’d probably get stuck on the ceiling. That wouldn’t be good.

Everyone knew Midtown School of Science and Technology had the BEST field trips. From going to a research institution about clean energy, to visiting Oscorp. Peter paused and scratched at the back of his neck at his scar. Maybe that one was a bit too exciting.

Mr. Harrington came in and shut the door loudly. Peter jumped from the noise as the class immediately fell silent as their gazes fixated on the awkward looking man with glasses.

He came up to the front, holding a stack of papers. He stared at the students, looking confused as to why they were all looking so upbeat at eight AM in the morning. His eyes flickered over to MJ and he sighed. “MJ…did you tell the class?”

MJ didn’t look up from her sketchbook as she spoke. “Oh, you mean when you bumped into me in the hall, causing all the permission slip forms for a field trip to fall right in front of me?” Peter smirked, he loved MJ. She was so cool.

Mr. Harrington’s grasp on the papers wavered slightly. He puts them down and coughs.

“Right. Thanks…MJ.” He says stiffly. The class erupts in whispers and cheers, a bunch of kids raising their hands.

Mr. Harrington picks on this kid named Flash. Peter hated Flash, he was such a jerk.

“Where are we going, sir?” Flash asked smoothly.

The teacher sighed again. “And here I was, going to announce it at the end of the day…” he muttered before standing in front of the class and clapping his hands to get everyone's attention.

“Right.” He spoke once the room quieted. He eyed Peter for a second, noticing the boy doodling in the margins of his notebook. No doubt another spider, that kid was obsessed.

“Midtown School of Science and Technology has been offered a once in a lifetime opportunity, and we are extremely lucky to be one of the schools chosen out of hundreds of other ones.”

Peter kept doodling a little spider flying across a building. Pretty normal field trip stuff for a school like Midtown. What came next, caused him to drop his pencil.

The teacher cleared his throat, “Stark Industries reached out to us and offered a tour for our class. They don’t normally let high schoolers visit, obviously. But, an exception was made once they saw how advanced our school is in science and math.” He muttered under his breath, “Also, it’s some PR stunt for Tony Stark.” Mr. Harrington rolled his eyes when he thought about the email he read this morning.

He shifted nervously, mumbling, “maybe they found my message boards…”

Peter barely had time to question the last part because every piece of his body froze up. He felt like he fell despite being grounded on a chair, and he clutched the seat desperately to not lose balance. His eyes shut tightly as he tried to breathe. Four seconds in. Hold for four. Four seconds out. Repeat.

The class immediately cheered and talked excitedly. Peter’s head slowly came up as his breathing slowed. He stared at Ned, who of course, looked super excited. Peter looked at him with horror, trying to convey that he was oh so fucked. Ned smiled happily, trying to convey how kick ass it was that they’ll get to see Stark Tower.

Peter couldn’t help but smile slightly at Ned’s reaction. A few years ago, he would have reacted the same way. That bubbling excitement, starting in your chest and making your head all floaty and happy. Peter missed that. But right now, all he could feel was the burdens he carried. Uncle Ben. Spider-man. Aunt May. He cringed, thinking about Aunt May. If he got taken away for being spider-man, then she’d be all alone.

His train of thought was soon interrupted when a permission slip slammed onto his desk roughly. There it was, in fancy, inscribed letters. “Stark Industries Field Trip: Friday.”

Flash smirked at him and knocked his pencil off his desk before moving on to the next person.

The rest of the day was a blur. He would get distracted for a bit and then the memory of homeroom would come rushing back, clawing at his chest. The feeling crept up his stomach, swimming into his bloodstream before crawling up his throat. The day was filled with leg bouncing and finger nail biting. Peter barely made any web fluid, his brain too caught up in every horrible scenario that could happen if he went.

Finally, school ended and Peter went out as spider-man to try to clear his head. He sat on the edge of a building and removed his mask. He stared out at the New York City skyline for a bit before calling Ned.

Ned picked up right away and Peter smiled to himself, swinging his legs off the building. It was funny, before he had gotten bitten he avoided any high places- heck even the diving board at the pool. But now, it was comforting, to feel the weightless terror while knowing he had the ability to cling onto something at any time.

“PETER!! I’m so glad you called, I was just thinking about what I should wear for this Friday. I’m thinking about that cool fedora I have, you know, the one Aunt May says she likes?”

Peter moved the phone to his other ear, still staring at the now setting sun. “I feel like it would be weird to wear a hat inside.” Ned started arguing, obviously disagreeing with his friend’s advice.

Once Ned had run out of steam, Peter spoke quietly into the phone, “Should I go?”

Peter could practically see Ned’s shoulders slump . “Peter…this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. We already know that Tony Stark has no clue who you are. It’s fine, all you have to do is go with the class. It’ll be fine.”

“We don’t know, Ned. We guessed. This could be a plot by Tony to capture me and expose me. I’d get everything taken away from me, I can’t have that. I…I can’t risk it.” Peter’s voice was anxious.

He wished he could go. To see Stark technology focused towards projects and renewable energy and whatever else the genius billionaire was working on? That was the dream. He’d been inspired by Stark’s projects for years. It’s what made him start inventing things of his own.

Ned’s voice lowered into an almost pleading tone, “Please…Peter. We won’t even see him. This has been our dream since we were in middle school and besides, I may cry if I have to listen to Flash brag about his dad’s business all day.”

Ned paused, knowing how to get Peter to listen, “Also, I think it’d be more suspicious if you were the only person in the class who didn’t show up. Stark may look into the one kid who refused to see Stark Tower.”

Peter felt a flash of guilt dig into his chest. Of course, Ned and him had been talking about this for years, and now he was gonna bail? He couldn’t do that. Plus, Ned was right. If he didn’t show up, people would question. And besides, Aunt May somehow already heard the news and is excitedly texting him about signing the form when she gets home.

So, he spoke into the phone quietly, “I’ll think about it.”

Chapter Text

Peter’s classmates obliviously surrounded him. Their excitement for the long awaited field trip shined clear with the rising volume of their voices. And the fact that Mr. Harrington already went hoarse screaming at them to be quiet.

Peter, unfortunately, was not one of those classmates. He stayed in the back, biting his lip silently.

Ned nudged Peter as they waited outside the Stark Industries, the tower, where just a week ago he faced Iron Man. Not only that, but where he pissed Iron Man off. Nerves raced around him. What if Friday memorized his DNA and alerted him that Peter was here? Why did he even come—

“Dude, chill out,” his friend whispered, causing Peter to startle slightly and somewhat enter reality again.

“Everything will be fine, can’t you just enjoy this?”

Peter almost missed the soft mumble “for once” out of his friend's mouth. Almost.

Peter’s stomach turned. Ever since that night building legos, Ned acted differently. Distant. He would get annoyed whenever Peter showed the slightest bit of hesitation, or expressed the slightest worry.

Especially when it came to this field trip. Which, Peter knew, made sense. This was Ned’s dream and until the bite, Peter’s dream too. It wasn’t fair for him to be surrounded by his fear.

It still hurt when the shorter phone calls, excused dinners, and awkward goodbyes started. Ned never had so many family events than he did this week. Peter never spent as much time on rooftops staring at the sunset. He felt like shit.

“Sorry,” Peter mumbled, “I’m excited, really.”

The bus ride had been long and loud and unfortunately, Flash Thompson, the biggest dickwad in the school, decided to sit next to him. The whole time he talked about how his super rich dad made a website where you can report potential enhanced “pests” (Flash’s word) to the government. How helpful!

Peter ignored him, or tried to. Luckily, his constant turmoil of thoughts overpowered the idiot’s monologue that any other day would have sent him into a rage filled panic.

“What a loser,” Flash said, nudging his friend until they forced out a laugh as they were getting up to leave from the bus. “Look how anxious he is. Hey, Peter.” He flicked him harshly in the back of his head.

Peter tried to ignore him, hoping he’d get bored. That sometimes worked. This time? It didn’t. Because what better to distract a bunch of highschoolers waiting in a line than a scapegoat.

"You gonna have a meltdown if the lights are too bright? Or, if the technology is too loud for your little ears?” Flash laughed as if it was the funniest thing in the world, “You would think that someone so sensitive wouldn’t be so obsessed with tech, what are you even doing in this school man?”

Peter’s stomach ached. Flash hit it where it hurt, his fear that sensitivity would be the catalyst in proof that he was not built for the passions he loved so much.

Ned started humming, bringing Peter back to the present. The security guard finally stopped talking to Mr. Harrington and opened the doors. Friday’s voice rang out but Peter barely heard the muffled gasps of his classmates over the beating of his heart.

“Welcome, Midtown School of Science and Technology! Please walk through one at a time so we can quickly scan your data and make sure you’re where you are supposed to be.”

Dear god. It felt like a bowling ball had been thrown into his stomach and he barely had time to even prepare for the worst case scenario when it was already his turn. The machine in the doorway blinked green. Just like it had for every other kid so far. Yay, Peter wasn’t totally fucked.

He made a reminder to NEVER go through that doorway as spider-man, like it was a common occurrence for vigilantes with secret identities to randomly walk into one of the most famous (infamous?) companies in the world.

The only thing keeping him together was the improbability that Stark would show up. He couldn’t even imagine Stark signing off on a high school field trip, let alone supervise it.

The tour was cool, the security guard (his name was Happy, Peter assumed he was joking as he was definitely not happy) begrudgingly walked them through the lower level of the building. Lots of people in lab coats running around in semi-organized chaos with technology up the walls.

Flash bragged about his dad’s company and how a lot of the tech was the same. Ned acted like an excited puppy with his hand constantly raised. MJ looked overly critical of every task the workers were doing.

Peter smiled softly to himself when seeing his friends. Some things never changed. The pulsating thought, “You’re the one who changed” spread through his head. He shook it off and moved forward with the group. Play it cool, Parker.

The cafeteria was epic looking, foods that you could only dream of lined up with robot workers passing out each one. Peter gaped at it.

MJ came up beside him and said bluntly, “You know, these robots take away jobs from actual people in need.”

“Oh…that sucks.” Peter answered lamely, not knowing what to say. He still thought it was pretty cool, despite the ethical concerns.

He grabbed a little bit of everything from the cafeteria, his stomach aching slightly by his knife wound. It probably would have healed completely if he ate normally instead of a constant intake of protein bars.

Peter walked over to sit by Ned and MJ, and surprisingly a girl named Betty? She was making goo goo eyes at Ned. Even grosser was the exact same look Ned gave back.

Peter rolled his eyes, the kid spent one bus ride with this girl and now he’s in love.

He sat by MJ silently, starting to eat his food. They both watched Ned and Betty with disgust and fascination. The cafeteria got kinda loud at one point when all the interns filed in for lunch, but Peter just slipped on his earbuds. Everything was going smoothly, and the field trip started to be fun as his worries slowly faded away.

After lunch, Happy led them to the next floor, where more computers and screens lined the walls as people worked. He proudly talked to them about the progress the company has made in clean energy since 2008. Peter gazed awestruck at the data. It felt unreal, to be surrounded by the technology that completely changed the way nonrenewable and renewable resources were utilized.

The moment Peter walked into the next room, the hair on his neck stood up straight. Danger lunged at him from every empty corner. The whole room buzzed loudly in his ears.

The first thing Peter noticed was the cameras. News outlets lined up against the wall with cameras and tape recorders. Jesus Christ, what was going on?

Mr. Harrington cleared his throat loudly behind Peter. He blinked, all the other kids were lined up like they were waiting for something. Someone? He slowly got in line next to them, the hair on his arms rising as he shuddered.

It was an empty room besides a small podium in the front. There were arc reactors locked in glass cabinets. The whole room buzzed loudly, either from all the cameras trained on them or from the constant murmur of fear within his head. The sound was awful regardless. It felt like bees were trying to fly into his skull.

The kids talked loudly, pulling out their phones to take pictures. Their flash bounced off each glass panel and into everyone’s eyes.

Was he in a separate universe? The world was collapsing and yet everybody else was oblivious to the threats he couldn’t stop staring at.

Flash sauntered over to him with a smug look and started to speak. Peter only saw his mouth vaguely moving along with the overwhelming buzz eating away his brain. That thing Flash said on the bus. The website to report people like him. His spidey senses tingled and he knew right then and there. He had to get out of here. Now.

All the boy knew was that he had to get out of this tower. Everything that happened, the bank robbery, to Tony Stark’s oddly caring tone in the tower, to the relentless sound of buzzing that would not leave his fucking head.

His eyes and ears ached, the lights digging into his skull with a sharpened spoon as each person screamed every word. Walking quickly to the door, he focused on his feet. One step. Another. Focus Peter.

He almost made it out of the room when suddenly something soft collided with him, making him stumble backwards unsteadily.

☆

Tony forgot there even was a field trip until Pepper sent a text reminding him. Great. Time to avoid the lower parts of the tower.

That was the plan until Friday started yelling at him literally two minutes later.

“Boss, you need to meet the high school class in five minutes. They are in Conference Room ‘B’.”

The cup of coffee he held threatened to shatter against the kitchen floor. Tony stared at his kitchen table like Friday would magically pop out and take human form. …What would Friday even look like? Like Vision? Or Ultron? Tony shook his head, trying to stay focused. What was the message? Oh. Right. Meet teenagers.

He groaned and chugged his coffee. “Tell me Friday, why in the hell am I meeting a bunch of kids? Pepper said this was a PR thing, why am I going down there.”

Friday replied calmly, much to Tony’s distaste. He made a plan to program her later so she wouldn’t sound as… condescending.

“Pepper Potts has requested you meet the teenagers for a few minutes of the tour to make an appearance. There will be news outlets to take pictures, so please look decent.”

“I always look decent,” he grumbled. He chugged the rest of his coffee and placed it in his sink, massaging his already aching temple.

He went down the elevator in slow motion. This was gonna suck. Pepper, in all her glory, of course had to leave out the fact that he would have to be involved with her plan. The plan that apparently involved teens.

He stepped out of the elevator and made his way to the conference room. Jesus Christ he hated that room, what a load of bullshit. It was literally just an empty room with a podium. He paused, frowning slightly. Okay, maybe his coffee hadn’t kicked in yet. It was literally just a room.

Right as he walked into the doorway, something or someone barreled into his chest, causing him to grunt and step back. He caught what appeared to be a small boy to make sure he didn’t fall over.

He held him by his shoulders and gently gazed down on him.

“Woah, buddy, are you okay?” He chuckled lightly. He looked up to see the rest of the class plus the news already there.

Tony glanced down at the kid again. The kid has this deer in headlights expression painted all over his face. His eyes were darting around the room like he was planning to bolt the moment Tony let go of him. Why was this becoming such a common experience? Maybe he did make everyone want to run from him. Maybe the spiderling was onto something back when he threw himself out of his penthouse.

Tony cleared his throat awkwardly and patted the kid on the shoulder. He physically moved the frozen child to the side so he could step into the room. He noticed the kid’s bony shoulders but said nothing, saving the information for later.

He made his way up to the podium. Cameras already pointed at him. Jesus Christ, Pepper really went all the way. He looked down at his suit and straightened his tie. This was gonna be hell.

The supposed high school class (when had teenagers gotten so small?) whispered to each other and took out their phones to take photos before the teacher snapped at them to put it away. Tony smirked. Nice.

His gaze went back to the kid in the doorway. He was smaller than a lot of the kids and had this odd look of dread all over his face. Like he expected the sky was about to fall apart on him.

His eyes followed the boy walking shakily to the rest of the class and standing stiffly, clenching his fists. The rest of the students were smiling, at least somewhat, but this kid just looked like he was about to die.

Tony raised an eyebrow at the boy, noticing his tattered outfit and still terrified expression.The boy looked down quickly once he felt eyes on him and by the time he raised his head, his face was morphed into a smile that did not quite reach his eyes. The older man had to stop himself from snorting, clocking this kid immediately.

“Right,” Stark said in a booming voice, immediately cutting off the quiet whispers circulating the room, “Welcome to the Stark Tower. If I’m going to be honest, I had no idea this was happening until this morning. Nor did I know I’d have to be here.” His voice was deadpan. He was obviously not thrilled to be here.

The class nodded, the teacher a bit too enthusiastically for how early it was in the morning. He already felt the urge to roll his eyes.

“But, that being said. I did some five minute researching into Midtown High so I wouldn’t look like a complete jackass standing in front of you all,”

Mr. Harrington cleared his throat quietly at the curse as Tony continued, “You guys are lucky to have this school, it seems to be a great environment to foster skills.”

Stark sighed and slapped his hands against the podium, pursing his lips.

“Anyways, glad you guys are all here, heard some great things about your school, yada yada.” He coughed, trying to fill the silence. ““So…you guys have like a few minutes to ask me questions. If you want. Hell, of course you want to, I’m fucking Iron Man."

He could have sworn the small, almost malnourished boy who bumped into him earlier, scowled. Jesus, tough crowd.

Immediately hands shot up in the air from every angle. He sighed, a “few minutes” his ass.

☆

Peter watched cautiously as almost every kid in the room raised their hand. He kept his down, for now. If it turned out he was the only one who hadn't asked, he’d jump in. Or at least that’s what he told himself. He honestly didn’t even know if his mouth was capable of producing sounds right now, let alone full ass sentences.

Mr. Stark answered a few questions as Peter zoned in and out as he tried to regulate his heartbeat. A lot were idiotic, like asking about how he peed in the suit.

He focused on the stupidity of his classmates and tried not to think about how he literally walked into Tony Stark, the guy he was avoiding like the plague. And how Mr. Stark’s gaze kept flickering over to him. Peter couldn’t tell what that meant. The man looked curious, but about what?

Suddenly, Ned elbowed him in the stomach and hissed out, “smile.”

Right, the rest of the class were grinning and whispering excitedly with their hands raised, and he was just standing there looking like a scared puppy. To his horror, Tony raised an eyebrow at his fake ass smile. Peter groaned quietly and started looking for escape routes.

There was a sudden flash of light as a camera went off sharply. Peter squeezed his eyes shut and tried to ground himself against the sudden sharp light breaking against his skull.

Flash snickered next to him.

Mr. Stark shielded his face with his hand and looked around at the reporters. “No flash please.”

Peter swore Mr. Stark looked at him worriedly before saying that, like he somehow saw the boy’s reaction. Peter shook his head lightly. He needed to stop acting like the whole world revolved around him. Or at least Tony Stark’s world.

Speaking of Mr. Stark, the older man’s hand pointed to Flash. Great, just awesome.

“What advice do you have for someone who wants to be as successful as you?” Flash asked smoothly. Okay…maybe not the WORST question. But still, Flash sucked. Boo, tomato tomato.

Mr. Stark paused and stared at Flash for a second before answering. “Know your values and stick by them. If they’re compromised, then either the company needs to change, or you need to leave.”

Scribbling on notebooks was heard throughout the room from the reporters.

Flash nodded and completely changed the subject. “What were you doing with spider-man in that bank?”

Peter swore he saw annoyance flash through the older man’s eyes. It was gone before he could fully tell. The kid shifted nervously, not even pretending that he wasn’t interested in what the man would say.

Stark brushed a hand through his hair and sighed.

“I had some business to discuss with Spider-Man. I was in the area, so I popped by for a spell. Simple as that.”

Flash nodded, satisfied. The news reporters were not as agreeable and started shouting questions from the back. Peter stood frozen in place, unable to move.

“What type of business, sir?”

“Where does spider-man fall in line with the accords?”

“Is it true spider-man staged the bank robbery just to get the public’s approval?"

☆

Tony’s mouth fell open at that last question. How far up did this guy have to go up his ass to pull that out?

“Why…” he placed a hand on his forehead, getting annoyed with this whole field trip thing.

A notification buzzed in from Pepper on his StarkWatch, “Don’t answer that, please.”

Great, apparently this was also being broadcast on live TV. He truly wished at that moment that Pepper had prepared him more for what a “PR stunt” meant. Tony couldn’t help but smirk, knowing Pepper was probably thinking the same exact thing.

He should have left right then, but his eyes drifted over to that same kid in the front. He had a faint bruise on his arm and his clothes looked too small for him. He was skinny…too skinny.

A bright flash from a camera made Tony squeeze his eyes shut, realizing he needed to get the hell out before he lost it and turned into Iron Man just to get everyone distracted from the topic of spider-man. He felt protective over the spiderling in a weird way, not wanting the news to rip him apart as they constantly did to him. Or maybe it’s just because he hates answering questions.

“This has nothing to do with a high school field trip. I’m done, bye!” Tony waved at everyone’s surprised faces before walking down from the podium confidently and leaving the room. He nodded at a slightly annoyed Happy Hogan and gazed at the kid one more time, not even trying to hide his worry. The kid didn’t notice him, just chewed on his damn lip as he stared at the floor.

☆

Peter stood numbly as the rest of the kids started packing up their stuff to go back to school. He left the tower slowly, trailing behind Ned. Someone suddenly tapped him on his shoulder.

He turned around, exhausted, just wanting to go home to sleep. Of course spider-man had to come up. And what was that question, did people really think he staged a bank robbery just for approval? Things kept getting worse, people really hated the enhanced. He wasn’t safe.

Happy cleared his throat, gesturing Peter to follow him back to the tower. “Mr. Stark wanted to speak with you. He’ll arrange for one of his personal drivers to bring you home.”

To be honest? The kid was so exhausted he didn’t even feel the panic rising in him. He just wanted to go home. Everything and everyone was too loud and every slight gust of wind hurt.

Happy led a yawning Peter into a common room. Tony Stark sat on the couch, his legs slightly crossed. Happy quickly left, squeezing the kids shoulder before exiting.

Tony stood up, gesturing for the kid to sit down next to him.

“Have a seat. You aren’t in trouble, I promise.”

Peter walks over, his anxiety starting to grow. This was his worst fear. Mr. Stark was about to say he knew everything and there was nothing he could do about it. His eyes darted to the door, planning an escape.

Stark noticed this and groaned. “What is the deal with everyone trying to run away from me? Am I that scary?”

Peter said nothing. If only the man knew “everyone” in this scenario included just Peter Parker.

“Why am I here?” He asked quietly, his eyes trained on the floor.

“I wanted to talk to you.” The man’s voice was surprisingly soft and despite the rising awareness that this was really happening, Peter’s spidey senses didn’t go off. The tingle alerting him of danger didn’t go off, despite his racing heart. It was weird.

Stark paused, putting his hand around the edge of the couch. Not quite touching Peter.

“What’s your name, kid?”

“P-peter Parker…sir.” For a second he considered saying Ned Leeds.

Tony nodded as he stretched his legs out infront of him.

“Where do you live?” Peter froze. Dear god, he knew. It was all over. Being spider-man, living with Aunt May, his whole future. Tony rolled his eyes at the kid’s horrified expression.

“Relax, I’m not asking for your address or social security number. Just wondering who you live with.”

Oh. That made more sense.

Peter paused before speaking softly, “I live with my aunt. In an apartment. Queens.”

The man nodded, pressing a finger to his head like he was committing it to memory.

“Is your aunt…nice to you?”

Peter looked at him confused. “Yeah, she’s amazing, why?”

Mr. Stark sighed and sat up a bit straighter.

“Look, kid. You have some bruises on your arm and your clothes don’t fit you. You’re too skinny and when you ran into me you almost fell over.”

Peter tried not to scoff. He did not almost fall over!

“I just fall a lot.” He said blandly, glancing at his bruises. He felt like he did back in the tower. Exposed, vulnerable, scared. Somewhat safe, which made more fear rise like bile in his throat.

Tony nodded. “You’re a horrible liar. But, I’ll let it slide this time. The reason I’m talking to you personally is because I really don’t want to report this to your school. They’d overreact, maybe send CPS to your apartment. Not to take you, just to talk. But still, I’m sure you and your aunt wouldn’t like that.”

Peter shivered. He did not want that.

“Yeah, so I just wanted to check in on you. Like if you want me to file a report, I can, but I’d rather not for your family’s privacy.”

Peter shook his head quickly, “don’t need one. Promise.” His voice came out in a mumble.

It was true though, all his bruises and shit came from being spider-man. And he’d probably weigh more if he wasn’t constantly burning his calories swinging from rooftop to rooftop. As for the clothes? Peter hated asking his aunt for new things. Not when money was tight. He wasn’t a victim of abuse, just his own neglect for his well being in order to help others.

Stark nodded, gazing at the boy again. Like really gazing, like his eyes were an x-ray machine. Peter hated it. And kind of didn’t mind it. But he mostly hated it. So far, despite him staring at his soul, it seemed like the man didn’t know his secret.

☆

Tony stared down at the boy, his chocolate eyes full of worry. The small kid sat an inch away from him, leaning forward so he wouldn’t touch Tony’s arm draped against the couch.

He sighed and pushed the kid’s shoulder back until he was actually resting against the couch instead of awkwardly hunched over. He rested his arm over the kid’s shoulders, staring off into the distance as thoughts ran through his head about what to do next. He felt the kid tense up at the contact, but didn’t move away.

Tony had no clue if he was making the right choice. He just couldn’t call CPS on them. He remembered CPS talking to him when his parents died. They didn’t help, only intervened in business they had no part in.

“Mr. Stark?” The small voice broke Tony out of the rabbit hole of memories he was falling down in.

“What’s up, little guy?”

Peter spoke softly. “You’re my hero.” The boy swallowed nervously before continuing. “I started inventing stuff because of you. I look up to you so much.”

Tony raised an eyebrow, turning so he faced the teenager. “Yeah? I’m honored, you seem like a smart kid. What kind of stuff do you make?”

Peter hesitantly showed Stark the watch on his wrist.

It looked like a normal time keeper until the boy pressed a button on the side, causing the face to light up as if projected throughout the room. It had the weather, traffic updates, and news notifications. Constantly updating.

Peter blushed. “I use it when I…ride my bike.” Tony could tell the kid wasn’t telling the full truth but he decided not to comment. Let the kid think he was a good liar.

“That’s super impressive.” Tony said genuinely, as he shifted forward while watching the weather turn from sunny to rain. “I haven’t met anyone who’s been able to project things correctly.”

Peter shrugged as if it was just an ordinary watch and turned it off, his cheeks hinted red.

“I just edited your code a bit. It’s nothing.”

Tony snorted and shook his head.

“Give me your phone,” he said suddenly. Peter froze.

“W-what…why? I mean I will but why?”

Tony just raised an eyebrow and held his hand out. The kid hurriedly unlocked it and placed it in his palm. Tony made quick work of adding his phone number to the kid’s contact list.

“There,” he said, smirking at the boy’s shocked expression. “If you ever have any ideas you want to bounce off of me, go ahead. Can’t promise I’ll reply though.” Tony started to stretch, raising his arms behind his back.

“But feel free.” He paused and then added quietly. “And if you need help with anything. Like with food, or clothes, or even money troubles? You can reach out. Just because I’m not calling the social worker doesn’t mean I’m not totally positive your home life is safe”

He sighed, running a hand through his hair tiredly.

“There’s no literal evidence that anything is happening in your home, so I’m gonna take your word for it. If anything changes, tell me.”

Tony suddenly slapped Peter’s shoulder as he stood up, causing the boy to jolt in surprise.

“Anyways, let me call Happy to take you home. See you, kid.”

At that, Tony Stark left the room.

Chapter Text

Peter walked into the apartment and immediately saw Aunt May cooking dinner. She leaned over a pot as she held a tiny sheet of paper, scrunching her eyes to see what he assumed was a recipe.

He wrapped his arms around her. “Hi Aunt May,” he mumbled into her shirt. Guilt tugged at him for today, how Mr. Stark thought she wasn’t a good guardian. He never thought that dismissing his own needs for others could reflect badly on her.

She turned off the stove with a click and held him tightly against her chest, pressing a soft kiss to the top of his head.

“Peter…I’ve missed you, I usually get home so late.”

He nodded and finally pulled away.

“What’s for dinner?”

A soft, tired smile spread across his aunt’s face.

“It’s chicken soup with beans.”

He smiled back. “That sounds great, Aunt May!”

She looked him up and down.

“How was the field trip?”

Peter hesitated and then smiled. “It was good. I even showed Mr. Stark my watch, you know, the one I’ve been working on? And he said he liked it.”

A proud look came over May’s face as she looked down at him.

“That’s amazing, sweetie.”

They ate dinner together in mostly silence. Both May and Peter were exhausted. Despite not seeing each other in a few days, they both enjoyed each other’s presence more than if they shared every little detail of every little day.

Peter’s shoulders were slumped, his neck loose. His brain felt calm as he helped May wash the dishes.

After dinner and hugging May one last time, he went into his room to change into his spidersuit.

He stretched his arms behind his back and put on some upbeat music from the 2000s. Tonight was going to be good.

A notification sound from his phone cut through the music. Peter picked it up, hoping it was Ned. Maybe he wanted to hang out tomorrow! Deep down, he knew Ned was still taking some distance from him.

The text was from a certain “Mr. Stark”. His eyes widened as he stared down at the contact.

He opened the message, his fingers shaking.

“Hey Peter, it’s Tony. Stark, obviously. I’m wondering if you’re free tomorrow? There’s an empty spot in my lab and I’ve been needing a new set of eyes with a project.”

He stared at the message in shock. Mr. Stark wanted him as a lab assistant? Anxiety bubbled up inside him as he chewed on his bottom lip.

It made no sense. His invention was literally nothing special, just a watch that used Stark’s tech to make it project the screen. It was definitely not a good enough item to allow him to work with Tony fucking Stark IN HIS LAB.

There had to be something more. Peter swallowed hard. Of course. He probably researched Peter.

Oh god— did Mr. Stark know he was Spider-Man?

His fingers flew across the screen.

“I’d be honored to, sir. But I’m not as skilled as you think I am. I’m just a dumpster diver who knows how to build stuff.”

Tony reacted with a thumbs up emoji. What the fuck did that mean? Peter hated how old people texted.

His phone buzzed again.

“I’ll send Happy out to get you at 12:00pm.”

His jaw clenched. Fuck. He didn’t want to go. He paused, no he did want to. But he couldn’t. Saturday was a big day of crime fighting for him and he couldn’t miss it for some personal thing. Spider-man comes before everything. And that’s just the way it has to be. Besides, Stark was probably trying to lure him in. He should just block the number and be done with it.

Guilt rose in his stomach, knowing he was making any excuse not to go.

Eventually, Peter decided he did not want to witness the consequences for blocking Tony Stark, so instead he shakily wrote back.

“I’m sorry, I can’t.”

He sent it quickly, putting his phone down as he finished getting dressed as spider-man.

The phone never buzzed. Peter sighed with relief as his heart twinged with disappointment.

☆

Tony stared at his phone, his forehead creased with annoyance and confusion. Sighing, he put it down on his lab table before swiveling his chair to one of his robots that needed fixing.

He screwed a bolt in, squeezing his eyes almost shut to make sure he could see.

The security system beeped as Pepper walked in, looking flawless as always. She came in carrying a bunch of clothes. Hoodies, tshirts, shorts, boxers, socks, a brand new pair of shoes, a winter coat, etc.

She placed it on the table next to the lab and watched Tony carefully. To be fair, he was pouting after being rejected by the kid, but she didn’t know that yet.

“Happy dropped off the clothes,” she said softly as she pulled up a chair next to him.

He glanced over at her and nodded briefly before turning back to his very interesting task of finding the right screw.

“His name was Peter, right?” Tony nodded again in response, causing Pepper to roll her eyes at his refusal to speak.

“Right.” She cleared her throat lightly. “Happy found most of the stuff at thrift stores. We’re hoping the slightly used look will make the transition easier.”

She sighed when Tony just raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“Think about it. Imagine if a poor kid suddenly showed up to school in super expensive, brand new clothes. He’d get bullied, he’d stand out.”

Tony grunted. “Yeah, that makes sense. But they’re nice clothes, right? You didn’t get anything torn or the wrong size? Like you didn’t just pick whatever was in the worst condition just so he’ll look poor?”

She rolled her eyes. “First of all, I didn’t pick out the clothes. Happy did. He put a lot of thought and time into it. The clothes are all good quality, they just aren’t right out of the bag.”

“Got it, got it.” He waved her off before hesitating. “Happy…didn’t complain?”

Pepper smirked and shook her head. Huh, who would have thought Happy liked clothes shopping.

Pepper stood up and went to the coffee machine perched on an unused table.

“He’s coming by tomorrow to pick it up, correct?” All she heard was a loud groan from behind her. She turned around, clutching a mug with her eyebrows raised.

“The kid rejected me,” Tony mumbled.

“Excuse me?”

“Yeah. He rejected me. Said no.”

“Jesus…you didn’t tell him the real reason why you invited him, right?” She sighed and rubbed her forehead. “We talked about this! About what to say so he wouldn’t feel like he’s some charity case.”

“No, Pepper. I told him to help me in the lab tomorrow. ME, Tony Stark, offered a fifteen year old to spend the day building shit with me. And THEN my plan was to be like oh by the way we had a bunch of extra clothes lying around that somehow fit you exactly. But the kid said no. Imagine, a teen saying no to spending the day with ME.” He scoffed like that was impossible.

Pepper stared at him in disbelief. “Why did he say no?”

He shrugged. “He just said he couldn’t.”

“And you didn’t ask him WHY?”

“Oh.”

Pepper face palmed, exasperated. She grabbed Tony’s phone before he could react and opened his messages.

“Hey, how did you know my password–” he began to say but stopped short when she raised a hand, silencing him. Tony sighed and expanded his screen in front of them so he could see what she was doing.

Pepper’s fingers moved fast across the screen.

“Are you busy? We can do another time,” she texted him. Tony groaned and placed his head on his desk. That made him sound so desperate.

The boy responded quickly. Pepper frowned, narrowing her eyes and trying to decode what he said through all the typos.

“im busdy for awhiuele now and canrt make it. Porobably ever.”

Tony snorted at the misspellings. “He usually has perfect spelling, damn. Also that’s so blunt, did he just reject me for life? Ouch.”

A new message buzzed in a few seconds later, causing Pepper to frown once more.

“sorry, im doihng something right now and its hard to type. Or think. To be honest i proabbylyu shoudlnt be texting you right now.”

Tony sighed and rolled over to Pepper.

“Give me the phone, please.”

She handed it to him and watched as he typed out a response.

“Jesus, kid. What are you doing right now? Are you okay?”

They both watched the typing bubble appear and disappear before he finally sent something. This better be good.

“hoemwork,” it said.

Tony laughed sharply. Biggest load of bullshit he’d ever seen. He was about to call the kid out on that before Pepper grabbed the phone from him and shut it off.

“No cussing out children, Tony.”

He rolled his eyes.

Pepper’s voice softened. “What was he doing?” She saw a glint in his eyes and immediately shook her head. “And do not say what I think you’re about to say.”

He smirked. “Fine.”

☆

Peter had been spider-manning all night. The few texts from Stark threw him off, and to be totally for real right now? He should not have texted him back while flying off rooftops and webbing guns to walls. It was the equivalent of texting drunk. Now, Mr. Stark probably was suspicious of him! Another reason why he had to stay away from him. He should make a list.

On Saturday, he ventured a bit out of Queens for the first time since the knife incident. In some ways, talking to Tony as a kid rather than an enhanced being made him feel less anxious about the whole Iron Man Tracking Fiasco. Tony had a thousand things to deal with, and Peter was now one of them. Apparently. He still didn’t understand, nor trusted, the reason why the man wanted to interact with him.

He swung across the New York skyline as he watched the ground. Two people suddenly crossed an alleyway. He squinted. They were holding…wait was that a chitauri weapon??? The gun glowed purple in response. Shit.

His eyes widened as he swung down to watch the men. They had greasy hair and a rude ass look on their faces.

Peter frowned and called out to them, “Hey dudes, you guys need a shower. I’ll help, don’t worry!”

He stuck his hand out and webs rained down upon the men, trapping them to the asphalt. Unfortunately, it did not clean their stringy hair. He leaned down to look at the weapon. It was definitely from that time that dude with long hair brought a bunch of aliens to invade Earth. He recognized it from his textbook at school. Chitauri, it was called.

He reached down and picked it up, raising an eyebrow disappointingly at the men at his feet.

The men were screaming curses at him, most of which Peter ignored. One did break through, however.

“FILTHY PEST.”

“That’s not very nice, gentlemen.” He said sternly before scribbling a note to the authorities and swinging away. He tried not to take the words to heart. Pest. Filthy. This was the third time in a month he’s been called that. What was up with people? He was just trying to help. He did help. So why did people hate him for it? Just cause they didn’t understand it? Lame.

He swung up onto the top of a building and stared out into the sunset, still holding the alien gun. He didn’t really know what to do with it. Who took shit like this? It wasn’t safe to leave anywhere where a civilian could find it. Or even worse, people like those men who had it to begin with. If he kept it, he’d be in risk of getting arrested. Plus, what would Aunt May say if she saw? Peter already had too many secrets and an alien weapon would not make things easier.

He sat there for a while, swinging his legs as he went through each possible person he could give it to, trying to ignore the obvious choice.

He groaned and laid back. It was between Tony Stark and the government. Did he trust the government? The same one that was labeling people like him as pests and turning the whole country against him? No, definitely not.

But did he trust Tony Stark? No. Right? Peter sighed. Despite his beef with Iron Man, he knew that he was the guy to go to. He’s the one who organized the cleanup after the attack. He’s the one who literally spent most of his life developing weapons.

Peter sat up and stared at the Stark Tower in the distance. Guess he was making a visit. Again.

Peter reluctantly swung to Stark Tower as he took the scenic route. AKA the long route that wasted a lot of time. He put the gun in his backpack. Hopefully, it wouldn’t accidentally go off and destroy his homework or some shit.

He went through his plan in his head. Climb up the tower to the balcony. Knock on the door of said balcony. Refuse to come inside. Hand Stark the weapon and get the hell out of there.

Peter nodded as he landed on the side of the building. Sounds like a plan.

It was hard to climb, the wind kept pushing him down and he had to force himself up with tense arms and aching legs.

He finally staggered onto the balcony of the penthouse as wind painfully blew in his ears.

Immediately, Friday’s voice rang out.

“Tony Stark, the Spiderling is on your balcony.”

There was a big rustle, a loud crash, and finally footsteps. Tony appeared, raising a smug eyebrow at the kid through the glass door.

Peter hated this dude when he acted all arrogant.

Stark opened the balcony door and beckoned Spider-Man to come inside.

“Hey Spider-man,” he taunted. “Why don’t you join me here?”

Peter shook his head as he literally stood his ground. Well, he tried to. The wind was strong and kept almost blowing him over. He had to swing a web to the wall so he wouldn’t completely fall off.

Tony smirked at him. “What, you’re scared of falling off the 93rd floor? Where’s that brave little bug from before?” Goddamnit, Peter was already pissed off.

Peter tried to yell over the wind. It didn’t help that he was naturally quiet and Tony was…well loud.

“I NEED TO TALK TO YOU BUT I’M STAYING OUT HERE.”

Stark just shook his head, speaking at his normal volume and yet Peter could hear every word.

“Get inside.” He said calmly.

“You look like you’re about to be ripped apart by the wind and you’re obviously desperate if you come to me for help, so come on.”

Peter didn’t move, just staring at him.

“Make it snappy.” Stark repeated.

Peter’s bag (which, mind you, had the alien gun in it) flew off his shoulder in the wind. He barely grabbed it before it disappeared into the night sky.

He clutched his backpack to his stomach and glared at the man as he walked inside.

Tony just raised his eyebrows at the mask wearing vigilante and followed him inside, shutting the door and silencing the aggravating wind at the same time.

Peter stood there anxiously, looking around the penthouse. Not much had changed. The wall to floor windows still stubbornly looked out at the city. The couch where Tony made him sit was still there. He almost glared at it, but decided that would be immature.

Tony leaned against the grand piano, crossing his arms and staring at the kid.

“So. Spiderling. What can I do for you?”

Peter opened his mouth to speak but the man interrupted him.

“Uh uh, no. First, apologize.”

He stared at a very smug looking Tony Stark. “For what?”

Stark scoffed and walked closer. “For running away from me? For breaking a promise? For doing the one thing I told you NOT to do?”

He stood in front of spider-man as Peter gulped nervously.

“You know, you have some nerve showing up, kid. This better be good.” He crossed his arms again and looked down at Peter with a stern expression.

He hated how he missed the Tony Stark from yesterday. The soft one, who pulled him aside and asked about his bruises.The one who invited him to work in the lab with him. Not…this. He almost wanted to pull off his mask and gain some pity points with the man, just so he would stop glaring at him like that. Almost.

He put his bag down on the floor. He moved slowly and timidly, trying to blink back tears at Stark’s tone. Stop being such a crybaby, he thought. Man up.

He kept trying to tell himself Stark wasn’t mad at him, but at spider-man instead. Like that made a difference. Why did he even care what this man thought of him? He held him hostage. Kind of. Not really but it felt like it! That counts for something. Right?

Stark just stood there with his arms crossed, waiting for spider-man to hurry up. His foot tapped impatiently.

Okay, so don’t get on Tony Stark’s bad side. Except…Spider-man froze. What if Peter Parker already got on his bad side? He literally ghosted Tony Stark. WHO DOES THAT? The room around him began to spin as a pit in his stomach grew. Tony was probably so mad at Peter that he blocked his number. Maybe even blocked his name from any future sort of career with the Stark Industries. He ruined everything, Peter ruined—

Tony cleared his throat. “I don’t have all day, spiderling.”

Peter nodded numbly and tried to get himself back together. He unzipped the bag and pulled out the chitauri weapon.

“I found this. Some thieves had it. I didn’t know what to do with it.” His voice sounded soft and timid. He flinched, he sounded too much like Peter Parker.

Tony frowned and stepped forward, taking the weapon and rotating it with his hands.

“Jesus, people are still selling these?” He sighed and then glanced at the kid standing awkwardly in front of him.

“Where’d you say you found this?”

Peter answered his questions about the weapons quietly. Tony’s voice had a lack of warmth that made him shiver. He just wanted to leave, but throwing himself off the 93rd floor again probably wouldn’t make things any better.

☆

Tony stared down at the spiderling. He could tell the kid was nervous.

He sighed and pointed over to the couch.

“Sit.”

To his surprise, the spiderling walked right to the couch and sat down. Tony joined him a few seconds later after putting the weapon on the counter. He probably should have put it somewhere more secure, but there was no way in hell he was leaving the kid alone. Again.

“So, how have you been, Spider-Boy?”

The kid just stared (or what Tony assumed was staring through the mask) at the ground in front of him.

“I’m sorry for running,” he suddenly mumbled. “W-why didn’t you find me? I mean, you said you would and I don’t think I’m that good at hiding my location. I’m just…confused.”

Tony shrugged. “I wanted to give you a false illusion of safety.”

He laughed as spider-man glared at him.

“That’s mean,” the kid grumbled.

He shrugged. “Anyways, I was gonna visit that little rooftop you love so much and talk to you soon anyways. So. This is perfect.” He didn’t miss the almost horrified glance spider-man gave him after he casually called out where the kid spent most of his time at. He smirked. Nice.

“Why…?” Spiderling fidgeted with his hands nervously.

Tony sighed, placing a hand over his forehead tiredly. He eventually stood up and started pacing mindlessly in front of the couch.

“Mostly to warn you. I don’t know if spiders keep up with the news, but there was a slight incident.”

The kid just tilted his head. Okay, so no news. Wow. How did this kid survive in this field?

“Basically,” he began, standing still as he towered in front of the smaller kid. “I was, dare I say against my will, forced to attend this stupid high school field trip thing at the Stark Industries.”

☆

Peter stared at the man. He tried to act surprised.

“Oh that’s um…lame? Why- why did you have to do that?”

“PR. That stands for public relations, by the way.”

Peter just looked at him confused. Did this guy think he never read the news or something?

Stark continued. “Anyways, the whole thing sucked. They had the news there. Live broadcast. No one told me until five minutes before it started.”

He sighed, obviously pissed off about the whole scenario.

“Anyways, some idiot kid just had to ask me about you.”

Peter bit his lip to contain his smirk after Tony Stark just called Flash Thompson an “idiot kid.” Beautiful.

“What…what did they ask? What did you say?” Honestly? Peter didn’t think what happened was that bad. Why was Tony so upset about it?

The man sighed and sat down next to him again. “He asked why I was at the bank with you.”

“Did you tell him it was because you’re a stalker?”

The billionaire just glared at him, not amused. “Haha, very funny. No, I said I had some business with you.”

Peter snorted and crossed his arms. “That’s one way to put it.” He paused as he frowned. “Why are you telling me this? That doesn’t sound that bad. Why would you need to warn me?”

The man looked…tired. “The government has been tough on me lately, more than usual. I didn’t think they would care that I used the Iron Man suit to help stop a robbery, but apparently!” His tone was bitter. “Those assholes didn’t like it because you were involved. Which means…”

Peter stiffened. “I’m on their radar.”

“Right.”

Peter bit his lip behind his mask. If the government watched him, they had the power to take him. Reveal his identity and send him to a lab or some shit. He took in a deep breath, trying to calm down.

“It’s not too bad, they just are aware you exist now. Just don’t show up in any big news stories and you’ll be fine.” Tony spoke in a soft tone, as if aware of the boy’s inner turmoil at the news.

The spider-boy scoffed. “Right. So stop helping people.”

Tony shrugged. “Sometimes we gotta help ourselves in order to keep helping others.”

Spider-man nodded although he one hundred percent disagreed. If Peter stopped being spider-man because of the government? He’d be a coward. One responsible for deaths in his neighborhood. No fucking way in hell, he’d keep helping even if he lost all his limbs.

This was a weird day. He came here to drop off a weapon dropped by an alien space ship, and now they were discussing how the government is low key after him.

He looked around the room and noticed a big stack of clothes next to the gun he brought. Peter glanced at Stark sitting next to him.

“Um…Mr. Stark?”

“What’s up, buddy?” Tony said. His voice sounded distant, like he was only half listening.

“Did you forget to put away your laundry or something?”

Stark glanced over to where the kid was pointing and snorted.

“No…no. Those are for someone else.”

“Oh. Who?”

The older man sighed. “It’s this kid I met. During that same field trip actually.”

Peter stiffened. Oh my god, was he talking about him?

“His clothes were all old and falling apart and shit. The kid just looked…alone. Like a lost puppy who hadn’t eaten in a week. And he had these bruises–” Tony paused, not wanting to say too much. “It just… was not the type of thing you want to see on a child. I’ll spare you the details.”

Stark gazed up at the ceiling, leaning his head back.

“Anyways, I bought him clothes.”

Peter’s mouth fell open. Tony Stark…bought him clothes? What? Also the lost puppy comment was so unneeded and oh so rude.

“Are you…gonna give it to him? For free?” He asked shakily.

Stark shrugged and closed his eyes. “I wanted to, but the kid completely ghosted me. I didn’t even tell him the real reason because I knew he’d say no. And he still refused.”

And…there it was. Tony Stark had never wanted to work in the lab with him. It was all a set up so Peter would accept charity. Maybe help Mr. Stark feel better about himself. His eyes burned under the mask as he tried to keep it together. The very little trust he had in the man evaporated that instant.

“So,” he said stiffly, “What are you gonna do?”

“Keep reaching out, probably. Maybe do some digging, find out more information. I’m not giving up on this kid, despite how much he’s obviously pushing me away.”

Peter’s eyes narrowed, starting to get annoyed. “Maybe he was just busy. You don’t know he was trying to push you away. You shouldn’t make assumptions.”

Tony glanced at the dude in the low effort spider mask. “Yeah, no. Kid couldn’t even come up with an excuse to explain why he couldn’t make it. I’m gonna look into him, make sure he’s safe.”

“So…it sounds like, maybe,” Peter swallowed nervously, not wanting to word this wrong, "just maybe, the guy doesn’t need you invading his privacy and stuff?”

Tony scoffed and stood up. “Of course you’d say that, Spiderling. You’re all about the secret identity life, aren’t you? Well, news flash, kids don’t have that liberty. If there’s something up, an adult needs to know.”

Peter stood up too, crossing his arms and trying to act tough.

“You said it was a high school.”

“So?”

“So, how old is the kid?”

“I don’t know thirteen?" It took every last bit of Peter’s strength not to correct him. IT WAS FIFTEEN HE LITERALLY TOLD HIM THAT YESTERDAY.

“Well. If that is the age. Which maybe it’s not, maybe he’s older.” He gave Stark a pointed look before continuing. “Then he deserves his own privacy like an adult.”

Tony just shook his head. “Not when it comes to safety. Not with situations like this.”

“I think I’m gonna leave.”

Tony blinked. “Now? Alright. But we need to stay in contact about this whole government thing. Can I have your phone number? Pinky promise not to trace it.”

The kid shook his head nervously. “No thanks.” Tony Stark did not need to see that Spider-Man and Peter Parker had the same exact number.

“Okay…” Mr. Stark said. “Well, I need to get in contact with you.”

Peter shrugged, still pissed off about the earlier conversation.

“I don’t think you do, Mr. Stark.”

“Excuse me? The government is deporting enhanced beings and you think I don’t need your contact information?” Tony’s voice escalated slightly.

“I just think it’s bullshit that you think it’s your duty to poke around in other people’s lives.” Peter replied coldly. “You aren’t that important, Iron Man. So get a grip and stop stalking me and also? Stop stalking random kids from field trips.” Peter felt a twinge of guilt saying that.

Stark was livid. He stepped forward slowly and glared down at Peter.

“You’re. Just. A. Kid. You don’t know how the accords work. I do. I am TRYING to help you.”

“You don’t know what I know and I’m not a kid!”

Tony almost growled. “What, you’re like twenty, twenty five? Oh, I have an idea, how about you take off that mask and we have a little look.”

“FUCK YOU.”

“Same goes for you, buddy. Have fun being sent to a lab to get tested on.”

Peter’s hand suddenly gripped a mug on the table next to him. Without even processing his movements, the mug went flying at Stark’s face. Stark dodged just in time and watched as it shattered into pieces against the wall. He stared down at the kid angrily.

“You. are the most stubborn CHILD I have ever met.” Tony saw the kid’s mouth open and quickly waved a finger to stop him. “No, this is where you ZIP IT. The adult is talking. You are not a hero. You’re some kid in a second rate costume you found at the bottom of your hamper. You are immature and unable to see the bigger picture. I don’t need to see you without your mask to know that.” His tone was heavy, each word crafted carefully to hurt the most.

Peter backed away towards the balcony, his shoulders slumping. Stark just continued walking slowly towards him, his eyes cold.

“You are not just a danger to yourself, you’re a danger to others. Why…why would you carry a fucking alien designed weapon in your BACKPACK? Do you know how powerful that thing is? Just because you’re enhanced doesn’t mean shit if you can’t take care of yourself. I’m worried about you. And about the people around you, Spider-Man.”

Tears streamed down Peter’s face behind the mask. He pressed his back against the glass door and grabbed the handle with his right hand. He had fucked up.

Stark’s tone darkened even more.

“My friend Wanda was locked up for months with a collar around her neck like some sort of animal. It takes ONE mistake for them to find you and put you away for good. I have to deal with the guilt of not being there for my FRIEND, so excuse me if I wanted to make sure the same fate doesn’t happen to everyone’s favorite neighborhood spider-boy.”

Peter flinched at the pure pain in the older man’s voice and opened the door.

Stark took a deep breath, his expression now calm. “Kid, if you leave right now? I promise you, I will find out who you are behind that mask. Next time you see me, I’ll be at your home– knocking loudly. I will not rest until I find you. Do you understand?”

Peter couldn’t take it anymore and threw open the door, swinging away from the tower. His tears mixed with the wind made his eyes ache. He didn’t look back, didn’t even try to see if Iron Man started flying after him. Just kept going until he reached his apartment and collapsed in his bed, sobbing.

Chapter Text

Peter stayed curled up under his covers for a long time. His mind was fuzzy, his pillow was wet from tears and it kept sticking to his face.

All he could do was wrap his arms around himself in a weak hug as he tried not to think about the pain.

What hurt the most was finding out Mr. Stark lied about wanting his help. He knew it was too good to be true.

Why would he do that?

Peter sighed and rubbed his red eyes with his fists.

Not like it mattered anyways, he rejected the man. Mr. Stark probably hated his guts just like he hated spider-man.

His heart hurt. It made no sense why he cared so much about what this man thought of him.

May walked in in scrubs.

“Hey, Peter…” she eyed him under the covers. “You okay sweetheart?”

Peter nodded, not raising his head. “Tired.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” May asked softly, knowing tired usually meant something more complicated when it came to her nephew.

“No,” he mumbled.

Aunt May nodded. She never pushed Peter. He sometimes wished she did, wished someone wouldn’t always take his one word answer as a fact. “Okay sweetie, let me know if anything changes. I’m heading off to work now, I’ll see you either late tonight or tomorrow morning. Okay?”

He raised his head from his blankets to see her. She smiled at his messy brown hair. She didn’t notice his red-rimmed eyes. Or if she did, she didn’t mention it.

“Bye, stay safe. I love you.”

“Love you too Peter.”

And with that, May left, leaving Peter completely alone in the apartment with his thoughts. His horrible, horrible thoughts. He grabbed his stuffed animal monkey and hugged it to his chest.

How long until Mr. Stark realized he was spider-man? Or, the thought that hurt even more, how much longer until Mr. Stark gave up on Peter the same way?

Sadness weighed down upon him. It felt heavy, like a weighted blanket that was slowly pressing all the air out of his body.

All Peter thought about when hugging his monkey was the soft, genuine kindness in the man’s voice after the field trip.

And then that compared to the harshness in Mr. Stark’s voice as he yelled at spider-man. His hands went up to cover his ears, wincing as he remembered.

The urge to talk to someone grew. Ned was mad. MJ wouldn’t get it. May already didn’t. There wasn’t anyone else. Well…

He chewed on his lip. Mr. Stark. It was idiotic that Peter still felt safe thinking about him. Despite everything, he kept coming back to when the man took him aside to ask if he was okay.

The monkey pressed against his chest as he stayed curled up into a little ball, trying to feel safe in a night that made him only face fear.

He bit his lip, tears ran down his face. He grabbed his phone hesitantly as his hand shaked. This was stupid. Texting the person who made him cry just an hour ago. He stared at his homescreen before hiding the phone back under his pillow. He refused to find comfort in the person who made him need it. That was pathetic.

Hugging the monkey tightly to his chest, Peter’s eyes shut. God, he was such a loser. A loser who missed his Uncle more than anything in the world.

He pulled the covers back over his head. This day needed to end.

☆

The next morning was boring. Peter stayed in his room, doing homework and sewing up holes in his suit.

Aunt May was still gone , despite promising she’d come home by now. That probably meant she decided to take extra hours. He sighed, looking out the window and tried to ignore the shame he felt.

This would have been the perfect day to go out as spider-man.

But, as he learned a few hours later, staying inside was just making him even more depressed. There’s only so much time you can spend in your bed before your limbs feel like they’ve lost all their bones.

He reluctantly threw on jeans and a shirt, frowning when he noticed the giant hole in the denim. He’d have to sew that later.

He wandered outside and started walking around aimlessly.

After getting a sandwich from Delmar's Deli-Grocery, and of course petting the cat that always perched on top of the cash register, he explored Queens for the thousandth time, this time though with his feet on the ground.

He kept an eye out for any trouble. Peter would always risk his identity if it meant saving people.

He tried not to think about last night. Instead, he thought about how the bread of his sandwich wasn’t too soft or too hard. And how the tomato didn’t have gross, gooey seeds leaking out of them. Things were good. Kind of.

The police department came up next down the street. He sighed and started to walk faster to get by it.

They weren’t trustworthy. Because they kept trying to arrest Spider-man. But also because they never did shit about his Uncle Ben. And he guessed the whole “backing the government on making enhanced people feared” was pretty bad too. Overall, fuck the police.

Peter halted suddenly, his enhanced hearing picking up on two voices. One of them almost sounded like…but no. That would be crazy. Right?

He turned the corner and quickly ducked behind a trashcan when he saw who it was.

Tony Stark was casually standing in front of the police department as he talked to a police officer. What the fuck.

Peter’s eyes narrowed as he watched the man that just yesterday threatened to figure out his secret identity, standing in his home. This could not be good.

Peter tilted his head so he could hear.

Stark stood there with his crossed arms. He had a grumpy yet smug expression. Typical.

After rolling his eyes, he snuck a bit closer, now crouched behind a bench. Thank god for super hearing.

“I mean, we’ve definitely seen him,” the police officer spoke.

Peter’s stomach immediately turned, he felt like he could guess who “him” was. Why else would Mr. Stark travel here all the way from his precious little tower? He started to bite his lip anxiously.

Stark nodded, oblivious of the boy eavesdropping. Even if knew Peter was there, there was no way someone normal could hear from that far away.

“Have you noticed any patterns besides his usual patrol times and locations?”

His heart sank, Stark was definitely talking about spider-man. God damn it. Peter chewed his lip anxiously, trying to stay out of Stark’s sight. He needed to start changing the times he went out as spider-man. Ugh, that would be annoying and hard, especially with school and stuff. But maybe he could go out really early before school? Still, each minute he wasn’t out there was people he was letting get hurt. Stupid Tony Stark.

The police officer shrugged. “Not really. He’s pretty fast with those webs, and we don’t have the time or the resources to keep a close eye on him. Some of our crew don’t even answer the 911 calls about him anymore. The whole city decided he’s impossible to arrest, despite being a fucking nuisence.”

Peter smirked. Yippee, he pissed off the NYPD! His heart felt a little bit lighter at that.

“Got it. Thanks for telling me all this. I’ll keep it in mind,” Tony said as he turned to leave. Peter froze and started desperately looking for a better place to hide.

The police officer held out a hand to stop Stark.

“Hey, hey. Wait. I wanted to thank you.”

Stark turned back around and with a quizzical expression. “Thank me? Did I recently save your ass as Iron Man or something?”

The officer laughed and shook his head. “Besides that alien invasion years ago, no.”

When Stark didn’t laugh with him, the officer cleared his throat quickly. Okay, so talking about the time when aliens invaded earth was a sore topic for the man. Got it.

“I’m just thankful you’re dealing with that enhanced one. Lord knows he’s a danger to our whole society.”

Stark stared at the officer with a blank expression. “Yeah. I never said he was a danger. Just that I’m trying to find him.”

“What’s your plan when you find him? I’d say turn him over to us and we’ll deal with him. A little payback, am I right?” He tried nudging Tony, but the man took a step back in disgust.

The officer continued, apparently unable to read a room.

“I’m just saying, if you find his house just slide me the address. My men and I will be there before you can count to three.”

“To do what?” Stark answered stiffly.

The officer had a sly smile on his face. “Oh, you know. The government gives us our orders.”

Stark glared at the man. “Your help isn’t needed, officer. Goodbye.”

At that, Tony turned and walked away. The cop stood there looking confused.

Before the man had even turned around, Peter was already standing up. He eyed the building in front of him, but decided not to use his web shooters. It was out in public, with Tony Stark RIGHT THERE, and he also didn’t even have his mask. Nah, he’d pass.

He looked around, panicking as he tried to think of a place to hide. He eventually sat down uncomfortably on the bench. His back was turned to the sidewalk and he prayed the man would just walk by.

Thankfully, Stark somehow didn’t notice him.

☆

After going home and quickly sewing his jeans, he got a text from Aunt May.

Aunt May: Hi sweetie, I’ll be home for dinner. I hope you’re having a nice day and you’re staying safe. I have a favor to ask, it’s okay of course if you’re too busy to do it.

Peter: I’m free! What is it? My day is alright, hope yours is too!

He bit his lip as he waited for her answer, praying it didn’t involve him going outside again.

Aunt May: I didn’t have time to pick up my prescription meds at the pharmacy today. Can you run down and get it for me? There’s money on the table. Insurance usually covers it but I’d bring it just in case.

Peter: Of course, I’ll see you soon. Love you.

Aunt May: Lots of love! Thank you, sweetie!

Peter quickly pulled on a jacket to hide the faint bruises he got from being spider-man. Just in case he saw Mr. Stark again.

☆

The little door bell rang softly as he walked inside the CVS, scanning the aisles for anyone he knew. Okay, fine. One person he knew. Luckily, no one else was in the store. He walked up to the counter, fishing something out of his pocket. He planned to make this quick.

“Hi…um.” Peter frowned, taking out the small piece of paper that had the information about Aunt May’s medication. “My name’s Peter Parker and May Parker’s my aunt? I’m here to pick up her medication.”

The pharmacist smiled at him and checked quickly on her ipad after Peter showed her his state ID for proof of identity.

“Ah, yes. Peter Parker. I’ve heard good things about you from your aunt! Which medication are you here to pick up?”

Peter barely noticed the bell jingling as he stared at the lady in confusion. What the fuck did she mean which medication. Aunt May only took one.

“What do you mean? She only takes one, right? For her stress?”

The pharmacist nodded. “Yes, we just got that one today. She also takes one for her heart. Would you like that too?”

She placed the stress medication in a brown bag for him.

The world stopped moving as he blinked slowly. His fingers reached out and clutched the counter tightly to keep balance.

“Um…I didn’t know my aunt took that. Or had heart problems. Maybe that’s someone else's. Aunt May is healthy."

Footsteps came up behind him, presumably another person waiting in line. Peter tried to ignore the sweat dripping down his back. He felt rushed and out of control.

May didn’t have heart problems. She couldn’t have. She would have told him.

The pharmacist paused and glanced up at the person behind him, her eyes widening when she saw who it was. Peter was too freaked out about his aunt to notice.

She cleared her throat and reached down to grab the heart medication, trying to keep the line moving quickly.

“All I’m allowed to say is that May Parker takes medication for her heart. I would ask her or her doctor for any details.”

She smiled gently at him as he just looked at her in horror.

What the fuck did she mean heart problems? May didn’t have heart problems. She had stress, from working two jobs and trying to support Peter all on her own. Oh my god…did Peter cause her heart problems? Because he stressed her out so much? Tears prickled the edges of his eyes, begging to come out. Before they had a chance the woman cleared her throat again, this time more forcefully.

“Payment?”

He stared at her again before nodding quickly. “Y-yeah. She said insurance pays for it.”

The woman looked down at her ipad and frowned. “Insurance unfortunately does not cover either medication.”

What the fuck was going on. He felt someone shift behind him.

“N-no.” His voice was quiet now, almost timid, getting louder in volume the more he talked.

“She said insurance paid for it. We can’t afford it otherwise, she told me insurance paid for it.”

She pressed her lips together firmly. “I don’t know what to tell you.”

“So…she’s paid in cash? This whole time? That doesn’t make sense. We don’t…we don’t have enough…”

Peter paused, not wanting to admit he was poor. Even though, he was sure the pharmacist already could tell.

“It just doesn’t make sense. Are you sure?”

The pharmacist nodded, her eyes darting up at the next person in line almost impatiently. “I can see this is a shock to you.”

Peter stood still as the world spun. His knuckles were white against the counter from how hard he was holding it. What the fuck was happening? Why was everyone always lying to him??

The pharmacist sighed. “Are you okay, Peter? Do you want me to call your aunt for confirmation?”

Peter’s eyes widened and he shook his head quickly.

“N-no, she’s at work and can’t answer. It’s fine, just- one second.”

He started pulling out the cash May had given him, staring at it crumpled in his hand.“R-right…um…she gave me cash too.”

Why would May lie? Did she not trust him?

He couldn’t bring himself to put the money on the counter. It was May’s money. The money she earned by working extra hours. The money she put aside so she could buy food.

The pharmacist sighed and gestured for Peter to step aside. “There’s someone waiting behind you, so how about we have this conversation after.”

Peter blinked back tears, staring up at her. “O-oh. Right. Sorry.” He turned to say sorry to the person behind him but froze when he saw a tall man with a familiar goatee standing there in an expensive looking suit. What the actual fuck was today.

His brain swam dizzily and he stared at Mr. Stark as he looked up with his mouth slightly open.

Stark looked down at him. His sunglasses hid his eyes and Peter couldn’t tell what he was thinking. What the fuck, why was he here?

All he saw was the reflection of himself in those glasses and remembered Stark screaming at him the night before. His stomach turned. How long had Mr. Stark been here, how much did he hear? Shit, this was bad. Really bad.

The pharmacist cleared her throat loudly, snapping Peter out of it. He mumbled a sorry to Tony and quickly stepped aside, still clutching the money in his hand in a tight fist.

Stark took off his sunglasses, tucking them in his suit pocket. He didn’t even look at Peter.. Of course he didn’t give a shit, why would he?

Stark spoke firmly and efficiently. “I’m going from store to store to ask if you have any information about spider-man. I’m currently trying to track him down, and any information is useful. I’m aware he usually patrols around here.”

Peter shrunk into the wall. This day sucked.

Mr. Stark glanced down at the terrified looking Peter Parker and gestured for him to go back in front of him.

“That being said,” the man continued, “I’d like our friend Peter to finish up first. I can wait.”

Peter slowly walked back up to the pharmacist, glancing nervously at Tony. He did not want to do this in front of him.

“U-um…hi” his voice was shaky.

She narrowed her eyes. “Payment.”

Peter shifted apprehensively, really not wanting to have this conversation in front of Mr. Stark. Stark already had way too much pity for him. It made him sick. Still, his Aunt would never tell him the truth so…

“W-when did she start taking the pills? For her heart?”

The lady sighed and pulled something up on her screen.

“About five months ago.”

He stared at her with his mouth open. “B-but that’s when–”

His mouth shut quickly when he remembered who was behind him. Any information the man found out would lead him closer to spider-man. Any information would make Peter more exposed to his help.

Unfortunately, the pharmacist did not have the same opinion.

She nodded. “When her husband, Ben Parker, passed away. I met him a few times, he was a good man.”

Peter wanted to punch her in the face despite the kind words. He thankfully couldn’t see Stark’s expression from behind him. This was bad. Uncle Ben was something he carried deep within him, it was the root of his trauma and his guilt, why he did the things he did. The motivation for spider-man.

“…Wait but that means—”

Peter froze, his legs shaking. Aunt May’s heart started having issues right when Uncle Ben had died. Right after Peter failed to save him. If he actually did something that day, maybe May would be healthy. Maybe they’d have enough money for food.

“I…I don’t understand,” he mumbled, almost losing balance.

He felt a heavy hand on his shoulder, as if it was trying to ground him. He just wanted to punch Stark. Fuck him for listening, fuck him for always getting into his buisness, fuck him for wasting his time trying to find spider-man.

He hated the man and resisted the urge to shove his hand off. Mostly because he probably would fall without it.

“I understand this is hard for you to hear,” she said gently, “That being said, perhaps this would be better to process with your aunt. I’m not a doctor and cannot share any advice or details. All I need is the payment.”

The hand on his shoulder, the bright lights, the annoying way she would smack her gum every few seconds. It was all too much. Everything was heavy, crushing and drowning him at the same time.

Once, when he was little, he fell into a lake while he carried his blanket. He couldn’t breathe and couldn’t move, just wrapped up in the thing that was supposed to comfort him. He just wanted to look at the fishies. Right now felt like that. The same trapped, relentless torment of not being able to get a breath of fresh air.

He hated her. Hated Stark for being here and listening. He just wanted to go home, go home to Uncle Ben and Aunt May where everyone was happy and safe. When everything was normal and he wasn’t called a pest for an accident he didn’t decide to have. When he didn’t wake up from nightmares screaming with cold sweat trickling down his neck.

His hand tightened around the money as tears came to his eyes. He slammed it down in front of her as he grabbed the pill bag.

Roughly shoving Tony’s hand off of him, he pushed him out of the way to leave. Maybe he used too much of his strength to push the grown man. Maybe it was weird that a fifteen year old boy could actually move him. He didn’t care, didn’t give a flying shit. Fuck everything.

He rushed out of the store, tears falling rapidly from his eyes. The world outside was blurry and his only thought was to get the hell out of there and run.

Right as he exited the store, the hair on his neck stood up and he quickly dodged someone’s hand from grabbing his arm right before it touched him.

“Woah, buddy,” a voice said softly, “It’s okay, it’s just me.”

Tony Stark took a gentle hold of his arm and turned him so they were facing each other. Peter glared up at the man, hating the soft and patient look in his stupid eyes. What the fuck did he mean “just me”. Stark was literally in his home trying to capture HIM.

“Let go,” he mumbled, trying to pull his arm away. His body was sluggish and nothing felt real.

Tony moved his hands to the boy’s shoulders, trying to comfort him and stop him from moving.

Peter struggled and tried to get out of the man’s grasp. His brain was going haywire and all he felt was the urge to run away. Stark kept him in place easily as the boy squirmed tiredly.

“Just breathe, Pete. I’m here,” Tony kept repeating in a calm voice. Peter glared at him, why the fuck was he acting like his presence would help him?

Tony started to rub slow circles against the kid’s neck, his touch steady and consistent.

“It’s okay. I’ve got you, kiddo.” Tony’s voice was still soft and the opposite of the harsh thoughts running in his brain.

Peter tried to focus on the anger brewing up inside him, on the hatred for the man before him, but all he could feel was the calming weight of Tony Stark holding him as he rubbed his neck comfortingly.

He hated how his body started to relax, he hated how he leaned slightly forward into Mr. Stark. He hated this man so fucking much.

His hold on Aunt May’s medication became gradually more limp. Mr. Stark kept whispering reassurances to him as he tried to calm the kid down.

Peter’s brain felt nice. Not loud, like it usually was. Part of him wanted to feel pain, maybe fingers crushing his throat instead of the quiet pressure that made his whole body melt.

Where was the anger from yesterday? The cold tone and dark look in Tony’s eyes? Would it immediately turn from warm to freezing if the man realized he was spider-man?

He felt pathetic and scared and safe all at the same time. It made no sense, this man had screamed at him and despite the mask being gone, he was still the same person.

All he could hear was Tony’s comforting murmuring as the man desperately tried to get the kid to come down from his panic attack. All he could remember was how his Uncle Ben used to hold him like this when he got overwhelmed.

“You’re okay, little man,” Tony’s voice was quiet but firm. “Just breathe. You’re okay.”

☆

Tony was unprepared, to say the least. When he came down to Queens to find information on spider-man, he knew there was a chance he’d see Peter. But like this? No.

Tony sighed and let the kid relax against him after he had finally stopped fighting.

Sadness raged in his chest as he looked down at the poor kid, leaning into him like he’s never been held before. He brushed some hair out of Peter’s eyes, noticing tears still falling down his cheeks. God damn it.

“You’re okay, buddy. It’s going to be okay,” he vaguely heard himself muttering.

Stark gently led a numb Peter Parker to a nearby restaurant.

“I’m gonna buy you a meal, okay?”

He kept his voice low, not wanting to scare the boy.

“And don’t even try to argue with me, you won’t win.”

Peter just nodded, too exhausted to fight him on this.

“Do you want to talk about it?” He asked softly as he helped him into the booth, sitting down next to him.

Part of him felt a twinge of guilt from last night, maybe this is how he should have reacted when spider-man blew up at him. Tony shook his head. He really needed to find this guy and make things better before he became his enemy.

Peter just shook his head and leaned against the man’s shoulder. Tony let him. He tried ignoring the soft protective feeling coming over his heart. He didn’t have time for this. He had an annoying spiderling to catch! But still, he wanted to be there for the kid. It was clear no one else was, at least right now.

The menus came but Peter didn’t even look at them. The kid became slightly withdrawn, scooting away from Tony to lean against the wall.

Tony said nothing, knowing the kid was probably embarrassed. He ordered them both a cheese burger and they sat in comfortable silence while they waited for it to come.

Well, Tony thought it was comfortable. He knew Peter was an anxious wreck right now and all he wanted to do was run. Thus, why he decided to sit next to the kid instead of across.

He didn’t blame the kid, knowing the last hour had been exhausting and traumatic. He tried not to think about what the kid would have done if he wasn’t there that day, just happened to look for the spiderling who happened to live where Peter did. In a way, the spiderling fight brought him and the kid together.

He snorted quietly, who would’ve thought that fight would have some good come out of it.

He looked down at Peter gently. “You know who spider-man is?”

The kid slightly tensed up, eventually nodding. Not exactly the reaction Tony was expecting.

Tony nodded back in response. He couldn’t tell if the kid had beef with spider-man, heck who didn’t at this point. But the silence was beginning to get awkward and he missed the sound of his own voice so he decided to yap about it to the currently nonverbal boy.

“Yeah…” Tony started, speaking to a Peter with his head down. Was he even listening?

“I met up with him yesterday. You know, cause I’m Iron Man and spider-man and I totally hang out as superhero friends all the time.” He said arrogantly as he nudged Peter with his elbow.

No response. Damn. Cheering up this kid was hard. He thought the kid would love hearing about superheroes having lunch and shit.

Instead, he swore he saw Peter roll his eyes. Maybe it was because Pete was like…how old? 13? 14? 15? Nah, he looked too small to be 15.

“Ummmm, anyways. We had a fight.” Maybe some drama would make this kid interested.

The boy looked up at that, his big brown eyes full of curiosity and fear. And something else that Tony couldn’t quite place.

“Fight?” he asked softly.

“Yeah, kiddo. We fought. Not physically, just…words wise.”

The kid kept looking up at Tony like a puppy. It was adorable and he couldn’t help but smirk at it.

The kid chewed on his lip anxiously, a habit Tony was beginning to see a lot. “Are you mad at spider-man?”

He paused. Was he? Yes. But also, no. Also, not the question he was expecting. He thought Pete would ask what the argument was about, or where it was when they had their epic showdown of screaming at each other.

He cringed, maybe this wasn’t the best topic to bring up in front of the kid who just had a panic attack after finding out his aunt lied to him about being sick.

The kid obviously didn’t think so and shifted so he was now facing Tony with his knees up against his chest. He looked curious but also guarded. Like he quickly built windows in all the walls he kept around him.

Tony sighed and turned to face him more. Goddamnit, where was their food? And why couldn’t Peter be a normal child and just be impressed he was with spider-man?

“I’m not mad. Just confused. And worried,” Tony replied honestly. The kid watched him carefully.

“Why are you trying to find him?”

Tony shrugged, not wanting to get into the whole accords shit with him. He looked like he had enough on his plate.

“I want to help him but he keeps running slash swinging away from me. He’s an angry guy, but doesn’t know what to do with that anger. He threw a mug at me and then almost started sobbing when I got pissed off.”

He smirked and looked at Peter, expecting a smile. A laugh. Anything. The kid just kept avoiding eye contact. Interesting.

“Maybe,” the boy started mumbling, “he threw that mug for a reason.”

Stark paused. He remembered his own words right before the mug crashed into pieces and cringed.

“Have fun being sent to a lab to get tested on.”

“Yeah, I know kiddo. We both lost our temper. I said some stuff I shouldn’t have.” He hesitated and then shrugged. “Still, I was speaking facts the whole time and he was delusional. I’m right, he’s wrong, period, end of story.”

The kid rolled his eyes again, this time not even hiding it. Tony smirked, he liked Peter.

“So that’s why I’m here in Queens today. I promised the little spider if he ran AGAIN, I’d find him. I don’t like to break promises.”

The waiter set down their cheeseburgers and Tony passed one to Peter.

☆

Peter bit his lip again as he stared down at his burger. “Are you close? To finding him, I mean?”

He waited apprehensively for the man’s answer. Of course, he doubted Tony would be having lunch with him if he knew the truth.

Mr. Stark sighed as he started to eat, first pouring ketchup for his fries. “The kid’s a mystery.”

Peter relaxed slightly at that. Good.

Stark continued after swallowing a big bite of his burger. Peter guessed it was just him that found it a bit odd to be having lunch with Tony Stark in a random burger joint.

“I’m assuming he’s like twenty. I thought twenty five, but after the mug incident?” He shook his head and chuckled. “No chance.”

“Anyways, I’ve been looking at all the nearby colleges and- nothing.”

Peter picked at his french fries, so far so good.

Mr. Stark raised an eyebrow at Peter not eating. “Eat your food.”

He just looked down at his knees. “But you’re Tony Stark.”

That made the man snort. “So?”

“So…it’s scary eating in front of you.”

Mr. Stark stared at the boy in disbelief. “I promise, I’m not judging, kid. I will judge you if you don’t eat that burger, however.”

☆

The boy nodded and turned slightly away from him before taking a bite of his meal. Tony could tell the kid was starving, the way he tried to not eat it too quickly despite his eyes wide with hunger. Tony waved down the waiter and asked her quietly to bring them two more.

Tony cleared his throat and tried changing topics. No doubt the whole spider-man drama was boring the kid.

“So, how’s home for you?”

Peter looked up and shrugged. “Good.”

Tony raised an eyebrow. “Really? So what happened in the pharmacy was good. Interesting. I admire your positivity, kid.” He said sarcastically, laughing when he saw the glare the kid threw at him.

“Shut up,” the boy muttered, eating his second sandwich. Tony also took another, not wanting to make the boy feel weird for having two. Also, he really liked cheeseburgers.

Stark tried to make his voice softer. “What happened must have been really scary for you.”

He didn’t add the fact that he already decided he would pay for the Aunt’s medication, knowing the boy would get angry.

Peter shrugged as he began to shut down. “No shit,” he mumbled almost angrily.

Tony raised his arms in surrender. “I’m just observing that you weren’t expecting that information. I know if I were you, I’d feel hurt that my family member didn’t tell me they were sick.”

☆

Peter found that highly hypocritical, seeing that Stark had hidden that he was dying from Pepper on multiple occasions. It’s not like Aunt May had money to buy eggs to make a fucking omelette.

Besides, this guy knew NOTHING about him. About his family, about his past.

Stark knew nothing about how he was the cause for his aunt’s fucking heart to not work right plus his uncle’s death.

He crossed his arms, putting his walls up. If he treated Stark like spider-man treated him yesterday, then maybe the man would leave him alone.

He pushed away the half eaten plate of his burger, ignoring the pains in his stomach craving more.

“Why were you eavesdropping on my conversation anyways? It’s none of your fucking buisness.”

The man didn’t seem angry or annoyed about the cussing. He didn’t even seem surprised at Peter’s sudden change of tone. Weird. No matter how angry he got, the man didn’t have the same reaction as last night. Peter hated it.

“I told you,” Mr. Stark repeated calmly, “I was going into shops to ask some questions about spider-man. I wasn’t there to see you, but then noticed you getting all upset.”

Peter just glared at Stark. He hated that the man was there and he hated that he actually comforted him. He hated that he was now eating fucking lunch with him. Tony Stark, the enemy.

The waiter dropped the bill on the table, Tony immediately taking out his wallet. Like Peter was some sort of charity case.

So, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the few dollars he had.

☆

Tony was finishing reading through the check when suddenly a bunch of cash was thrown his way. He sighed, looking up at Peter. “No.” He said firmly, passing it back. The boy scowled at him even more and gave it back to him. Tony just raised an eyebrow. This kid, Peter Parker, who had holes in his clothes and wolfed down the burgers like it was the first thing he’s eaten in weeks, was trying to pay TONY STARK for the meal. That was a new type of stubborn.

“You’re not paying for mine!” The kid said.

Tony just ignored him and took out his credit card. Guess it was a good idea to not tell him he was gonna pay for his aunt’s medication from now on.

He signed the bill and slid the card in. Peter once again thrusted his money at him.

Stark turned to face him fully. He sat up straight and stared down at him in an intimidating manner.

He crossed his arms with a stern look. “Peter Parker, if you try to give me your money one more time, I swear I will buy you this whole fucking resteraunt. You aren’t paying.”

The boy scowled but relented. Tony smirked. He used his “dad” voice. Nice.

As the two walked out, Mr. Stark hesitated and then glanced at the boy. He just wanted to get this next part over with. He spoke with what he hoped was a firm voice, offering no opportunities for argument.

“You need to come over to the tower soon. We…uh, had a clothing drive last year and have extra clothes that may fit you.” The boy rolled his eyes, seeing through the lie.

Tony sighed. “Look, just come, okay? Besides, you still owe me that lab date. I am lost without you Peter!” He put his hand on his chest dramatically. “Lost.”

The boy didn’t respond and started to walk quickly away. Typical.

He called after him. “Hey, I’m checking up on you because I decided to be nice and not to get a social worker involved, remember?”

The kid didn’t respond. Just hugged his arms around his body and walked away. Stark sighed and rubbed his temple tiredly.

At least Parker wasn’t as obnoxious as the Spiderling was. At least Peter didn’t just chuck an expensive ass mug at his face. God…

Tony sighed and started to move onto the next shop to ask about said Spiderling. He truly needed to find him. For the spider-boy’s safety and for Tony’s ego. It would suck if a someone in a weak ass costume succeeded in avoiding THE Tony Stark. No chance in hell would he let the spiderling win.

He paused and glanced at the retreating Peter. While waiting in line at the next store, he took out his phone and started an email.

Chapter Text

The door slammed and Peter jolted up with his eyes wide. His brain dizzily clung onto the nightmare he was having, and it took him a second to calm down, to remind himself he wasn’t in danger, and it was just Aunt May coming home. He was okay. Just Aunt May. Just the woman who lied to him. Multiple times.

After smoothing the hairs on his arms back down, he walked out of his room shakily. She collapsed on the couch and even from his doorway, he couldn’t miss the bags under her eyes. They were heavy from the exhaustion that clearly seeped into her face.

It was hard to stay angry at her. Should he be? If Uncle Ben wasn’t dead, then she wouldn’t be forced to provide for the both of them. She wouldn’t be so tired all the time. Maybe the pharmacy wouldn’t even know her. He fidgeted with his hands as he watched her. It was all his fault, and now he was angry at her? He didn’t deserve her.

He walked over slowly and sat down next to her. “Aunt May…?”

Her eyes fluttered open and she gave Peter a soft smile, his heart now both warm and cold at the same time. She loved him. Guilt blossomed as he bit his lip. This was a bad idea.

“I got your medication,” he ended up saying softly, “both of them. I didn’t know you had heart problems, are you okay?”

He hoped his tone wasn’t accusatory. The last thing he needed was her to get defensive.One thing they had in common was their stubbornness.

She sat up slowly.

“Thank you, Peter,” she said. He stared at her, waiting for more, waiting for her to address the elephant parading around the room. But she stayed silent.

“Aunt May?”

“Hm?”

“Why do you take heart medication?”

She smiled at him, one that didn’t quite reach her eyes. One that Peter could tell was fake. The last time she did it was after Ben’s funeral. She bought him a grilled cheese sandwich after the ceremony. He smiled too with the same dead look in his eyes. Peter knew he hadn’t been as convincing.

“It’s okay, Peter. It’s preventive. The doctors are worried that my stress may cause inflammation. You know how I’m on antidepressants? But. right now, everything's fine. That’s what the meds are for.”

Peter nodded, not knowing how to feel. On one hand, he still felt guilty. If he saved Uncle Ben, then she wouldn’t have chronic stress. On the other hand, he felt slightly lighter knowing it was just preventative.

He watched her slump back down, sighing as her back hit the cushion.“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, Peter. I didn’t want you to worry anymore than you already do.”

He bit his lip, shifting on the couch to face her more. “They said insurance doesn’t cover it, May. You told me it did.”

She tensed up at that, getting defensive. Shit. He cleared his throat, trying to rid the accusatory glint in his voice. “I’m not mad, just…confused.”

“I’m trying to find another insurance company,” she said bluntly, sitting up and getting off the couch. “Don’t worry about it, Peter.”

Peter furrowed his brow, “But—”

He barely got the word out when May turned to him, a tired yet firm look in her eyes.

“Peter, you are fifteen. You shouldn’t even know what insurance is. Focus on being a kid. I haven’t seen Ned in DAYS and then I find out, you’ve quit all your clubs? All you do is stay in your room and worry about things no teen your age needs to stress about. Focus on you, I’ll deal with the finances.” And with that, she walked away to her room.

Peter tried to ignore the hurt blossoming through his body like thorns on a rosebush. Why was she treating him like a child? He was fifteen, and was pretty sure a lot of fifteen year olds knew what insurance was! If they didn’t, that would be concerning. Right?

Peter groaned and covered his face with his hands, slumping down on the couch almost like May was a few seconds ago. Why was everything so complicated? And why did May shut him down every time he confronted her about something?

He clenched his jaw, thinking about what she said about his extracurriculars and Ned. She probably thought Peter was bed rotting all day.

No, he was swinging through the streets of New York saving people’s lives, and she didn’t even trust him to tell her she was sick.

And Ned was still pissed at him.

His stomach hurt whenever he thought about it. It wasn’t like Ned never said anything. No, that was the worst part. He mentioned multiple times how draining being around Peter was. The field trip was probably the last straw, Ned practically had to drag him to go and then he ran out in the middle. Well, he ran into Tony Stark.

Maybe everything would work out with Ned. Maybe he was just busy with Betty and didn’t have time right now to text him. Maybe he was excitedly keeping track of all the things he’d tell Peter next time they’d have a sleepover.

He hesitated, biting his lip. Yeah, things would work out. Same with Iron Man going door to door in his neighborhood to try to find out where spider-man lived. Same with the fact that Aunt May was sick and never told him. Same with the fact that the government was turning the whole country against people like him. How could things ever sort itself out when the tangle of his identity ran through every vein of his pathetic body. He punched the couch cushion.

All he wanted to do was to go out as spider-man. To go crazy and prove to Aunt May, proof she would NEVER see, that he wasn’t just a kid. That he keeps this neighborhood safe for her. She could at least tell him when she’s struggling!

Who knew how many people were dying right now, because he wasn’t out there saving them? All because he was scared. All because he was a coward. A true hero would still go out, and fucking fight anyone who tried to stop him. But no, he’s sitting on his couch, useless, after having a panic attack in front of one of the most powerful men on earth.

Peter slammed the door of his room, cringing at the loud noise. His accelerated strength was always harder to hide when he was emotional. At least this made him seem like a typical moody teenager. May should take notes! See, he was normal! He ran a hand roughly through his hair, laughing sharply.

He eventually sank down against the door to stare at his bed. This day sucked so bad. It got even worse when his phone buzzed, a familiar contact name staring up at him from his homescreen. Peter felt the dread rise in him even before he picked up the phone.

Mr. Stark: Hey kid, you feeling better?

That just pissed him off even more. He hadn’t wanted Tony to be there! He didn’t want him to comfort him or hold him or whatever! He blushed and covered his face with his hands. Humiliating.

And now the man thought it was his responsibility to check up on the kid. He shouldn’t have even been in Queens. Was spider-man ruining his life as Peter? No, spider-man was saving him. It was just Mr. Stark who was complicating everything

His heart hurt whenever he thought about it. Hatred and fear was the only way he knew how to interpret it. He hated Tony Stark.

He grabbed his phone and texted back, still pissed off from his conversation with May.

Peter: Why do you care?

Mr. Stark: Uhh, I don’t know. Maybe because I witnessed you having a full blown meltdown today?

His eyes blurred as he stared at that message. Fuck this guy.

Peter: I feel fine. Didn’t have a meltdown.

Fuck him for calling it a meltdown.

Mr. Stark: Whatever you say, kid.

Tears swam in his eyes as he threw his phone across the room. He heard Aunt May get into her bed, the sheets rustling while the bed frame creaked.

Aunt May, whose heart was hurting since Uncle Ben died, since HE let Uncle Ben die. Aunt May, who lied to him about struggling with money and lied to him about her health.

Everyone kept lying to him. Mr. Stark did too. Of course he did, why would the billionaire tell the truth when he could buy off anyone who questioned him? Tony Stark was no hero.

He gritted his teeth as he sat stiffly like a statue on his bedroom floor. Fuck people with savior complexes. The man was just too self absorbed to realize when people didn’t want his so called “help.”

☆

Tony stood outside the kids apartment in a nice suit, holding an empty briefcase for show. This day went so differently than he expected. He planned to knock down the door of the Spiderling, but instead he was politely tapping to see a kid. A kid, who just hours earlier, cried into his arms.

Tilting his head, Stark rubbed his temples. Jesus, he turned soft. It was hard not to be, at least with Peter. The kid pushed everyone away. Just like him when he was that age. Of course, he was applying to MIT by then, but still.

The door opened tentatively, and the first thing he saw was brown eyes poking out of the doorway. They widened immediately in fear. Tony could only watch as the boy quickly tried to shut the door on him. Jesus Christ, this was gonna be a long night.

The man sighed as he easily stuck his foot between the doorway and successfully halted the little boy’s escape plan. Crossing his arms, Tony arched a brow at the kid.

A woman with long brown hair and caring eyes walked up behind Peter and placed her hands on the boy’s shoulders. She looked just as shocked as the kid, yet slightly less terrified.

He sighed, maybe he should have planned this better. To be honest, all he did to prepare was send a quick email to Pepper asking permission—not that her saying no would have stopped his (brilliant, might he add) plan.

Surprisingly, Pepper didn’t say no. Even more surprisingly, she actually encouraged his idea. That was new. Maybe because his idea involved helping someone else instead of an unsafe decision he thought would be fun.

“Hi, you must be May Parker?” His voice was deep and confident, like it was perfectly normal for him to be here.

She nodded slowly, still looking like she saw a ghost. He hid a smirk, he had that effect on people.

“I’m here to talk to you about your nephew, Peter.” He gestured to go in and May hesitantly stepped aside. The kid just stood there in the doorway, even more tense than before. Tony stared at the little boy blocking his way, furrowing his brows at the boy’s expression. He looked like he was about to be murdered.

Eventually, Tony decided to pick the kid up gently by the shoulders and move him to the side so he could get by. Without a second glance, Tony strolled to the living room.

Tony sat down slowly, looking around the place.

It was nice. Small, but nice. Decorations flooded the place and Stark could tell this was home for the boy. A bit of relief, at least.

Still, it was confusing. The kid's bruises, his weight, the fear constantly shining in his eyes? Why did he have that? His home seemed safe, his aunt did too. Of course, he didn't know what happened behind closed doors. Maybe it wasn’t. Although, the way the aunt looked at Peter screamed love and care.

After some gentle parading from his Aunt, the kid finally sat down in an arm chair diagonal to Tony. His aunt stood off to the side, looking confused and concerned. Mr. Stark flashed her a smile, trying to charm her. She probably thought he was here to arrest the boy. He missed Peter rolling his eyes.

Stark cleared his throat. Right, the plan. Maybe he should lead into it? Give a little speech… nah. Time to wing it.

“May Parker, I am offering your nephew an internship at Stark Industries.” He sat back slightly and waited for their reaction to boost his swelling ego. This would be fun.

It did not disappoint. May, wide eyed and smiling, immediately began asking questions in shock and awe. The kid? He was just sitting there, looking suspicious. Tony sighed. The kid had a right to be.

Tony cleared his throat once more, shifting his position awkwardly so he wouldn’t see the kid’s reaction to the next part.

“It’ll be paid.”

He could practically feel the kid’s gaze darken and sensed the way his shoulders slumped in understanding. Peter was too damn smart for his age and it drove Tony crazy.

After May hugged a stoic Peter Parker, Tony decided it would be best to speak to the boy alone. He walked the kid into his room, one hand on his back to make sure he wouldn’t bolt. The kid just sat on his bed, not looking up at him.

Mr. Stark’s eyes flashed to the computer in the corner, a screwdriver next to it. Did he make that himself? He tried to regain focus, putting aside the obvious scraps the boy had somehow made into a computer. He could talk about dumpster diving later with the boy.

“I know you may not believe me, but I truly think you are extremely talented and gifted. Okay?” Stark started off as he made eye contact with Peter, his attention solely on him. Mistrust flashed in the boy’s eyes. God damnit.

“That being said,” Mr. Stark continued in a softer tone, “I’m not going to lie and tell you what happened today didn’t impact my decision.”

Peter scowled, shifting back on his bed defensively. “We. Don’t. Need. Your. Charity.”

Tony shrugged, as the boy’s annoyance grew. He knew the boy would react this way, and unfortunately for the kid, he wasn’t gonna back down. This was happening, one way or another.

The man sighed and stepped closer to Peter.

“Kid, I need you to listen to me carefully on this next part, okay?”

The boy reluctantly nodded, shrinking back at the firm look on the man’s face. Whenever Mr. Stark got like this, the boy always cracked. Tony couldn’t help but feel only a little bit prideful. He still had it.

Stark patted his shoulder awkwardly. “Good. You have a choice, Peter. I will either pay your Aunt’s medical bills directly, even if she fights me on it, or….”

Peter’s eyes hardened as Mr. Stark continued. The man knew the first option would suck for both the boy and the aunt. She’d fight it, but Tony would win. Eventually and with consequences. They were too stubborn to ever see the money as their own.

“Your other option is to be my intern. Which, I promise you, is not just because of your aunt. I went through your records and again, I am highly impressed with what you’ve accomplished so far.”

He paused, staring down at an emotionless yet overwhelmed Peter before continuing in a softer tone.

“I’d be paying you more than enough money to help out with her medication. This way, it wouldn’t be her OR you accepting charity. You’d work for the money. Either way though, you’re getting it. Understand?”

Peter looked down at his knees. “So you’re blackmailing me.”

Mr. Stark snorted out a laugh. “Kid, blackmailing is when you try to take money. Not give. But, yes. Technically, I’m black mailing you.”

☆

For some humiliating, awful, disgusting reason, Peter felt tears prick the corner of his eyes.

He groaned inwardly, why was he so fucking emotional all the time. This was insane. Part of him wanted to jump out his window (safely of course) and the other half wanted to hug the man.

He tried to focus on the fact that he couldn’t be his intern! He spent all his time being spider-man; he couldn't just drop that and work for the same man that hated his guts! But if he refused…

And, on the other hand…Aunt May. He failed at blinking back the remaining tears and felt them loosely run off his face. They fell on his sheets, little wet circles dotting the fabric.

Mr. Stark paused at the kid’s red eyes, looking concerned.

“Buddy, what’s wrong?” Hesitation and regret began to fill the man’s expression. Peter could tell the man was worried he went too far.

He just shook his head, tears now freely running down his cheeks. He wished they were tears of anger and frustration but unfortunately, they weren’t.

Peter had been stuck ever since he found out about his aunt being sick, frozen in terror and helplessness.

He knew that any job he got wouldn’t cover the cost and he knew May was spending the money she worked for on the pills. It was only a matter of time before the extra expenses caught up to them, especially with no insurance cushioning the harsh fall.

The worst part? He knew May would give up taking the medication and seeing the doctor in a heartbeat if she had to choose between herself and Peter. She always did. She’d let the stress consume her heart if she knew Peter would go to bed with his stomach full.

So, Peter tried to ignore the trembling in his voice and the shaking of his hands.

“She’s gonna be okay?” Peter asked quietly, his voice breaking slightly. Shame, hope, and guilt flowed through his body in a cocktail of emotions. None of which he wanted to feel.

Mr. Stark’s eyes softened as he reached out to gently hold the kid’s hands.

“Yeah, buddy. May is gonna be ok. I’ll pay for the best doctors, okay? And her medication.”

Peter nodded, trembling. It was charity, both options. But at least if he was an intern, May wouldn’t know. Maybe…it would be okay? He bit his lip. Stark probably wasn’t bluffing that he’d force them to take the money anyways.

This was the logical choice, for his Aunt of course. Not at all because an internship with Tony Stark was his dream since a kid. That would be insane! This was purely for May. Purely because the man didn’t give him a choice. Still…

“Don’t understand why you’re doing this.” He mumbled as he stared at Mr. Stark’s hands interlocked with his. They were warm and heavy, grounding him to this moment. Reminding him this is real. He couldn’t bring himself to pull away.

“Because I can. And also because I care about you.”

Peter flinched at the genuine tone. He wished Mr. Stark was lying, that would be better than this.

“Don’t say that.” His words came out sharper than he meant it to be. Sneaking a glance up at a probably furious Tony Stark, Peter surprisingly only saw patience in the man’s eyes.

“Okay,” Tony Stark said.

They stayed there in silence. Mr. Stark, grasping the kid’s hands while looking down at him worriedly. Peter, sitting there frozen, as he tried to stop the tears from escaping the wall of armour he tried so hard to build around his feelings.

Finally, Peter raised his head to the man still standing in front of him. His lip was almost swollen from how much he chewed it, and his brain hurt. Sleepy.

“I’ll do the internship.”

Mr. Stark smiled softly and squeezed the kid’s shoulder. “Good. I knew you’d make the right choice.”

Peter tried not to flinch as he nodded. Okay, he could do this. Put aside his ego to help Aunt May. It’s what she would do for him!

Even though… this sucked. He already had to limit himself on the hours as spider-man, with school and helping Aunt May and stuff… Now he had a fucking job? With the same man who hated spider-man? He couldn’t exactly swing out for lunch breaks and then come back in. Worry swirled around his stomach. May was more important. Family is everything. And without her? He’d have no one.

“I know you’re only doing it because you feel bad for me. And don’t you dare try to deny it!” He scowled at Mr. Stark, trying to convey a stubborn look but ending up just looking like a scared puppy as his voice trembled.

Mr. Stark didn’t respond, just watched the boy carefully. Peter lowered his gaze. He felt see-through. Like the man saw everything about him. He covered his body with his hands as if trying to hide his enhanced DNA.

“Mr. Stark…?”

“Yeah, buddy?”

“What would I be doing? You only hire college interns, right? Will I work with them? Also, isn’t that unfair to the college kids who wanna work for you?” He blushed and shook his head. “Not that I’m ungrateful I just—

Mr. Stark raised a hand to silent the kid’s anxious rambling.

“You’ll see.”

With that, Mr. Stark left the room casually. Peter heard him say goodbye to Aunt May (in a far too charming of a tone, if the boy was gonna be honest), before shutting the front door firmly behind him.

When Mr. Stark came into his room, he expected the man to suddenly stand up and tap on the ceiling tile, making his suit fall down. Or maybe pull up his spider-man videos on youtube as he angrily watched the kid’s guilty expression. Not… this. Not offering a job. Even if it was out of pity. Still…the man could have just donated the money through an anonymous source. He didn’t have to offer him a job.

The entirety of his body went ice cold as he thought about what Mr. Stark said. Oh god. The man had looked through his files, his records. What the actual fuck! He groaned and curled up against his pillow, clutching the fabric with his fists. Who knew how much the man found?

He hated this. Hated the confusion and mistrust and the fact that everyone seemed to be against him but promising to work with him.

Aunt May opened his door quietly. She kissed him gently on the head, murmuring a congratulations and a good night before she left. The last thing he saw was her eyes. Usually so tired and dull, they now sparkled with pride and excitement.

He curled into his pillow, grabbing his stuffed animal monkey into his arms. He held it close to his chest before picking up his phone and opening to his texts.

Peter: Thank you.

Chapter Text

He planned to take the bus. Maybe put out a few fires on the way, save someone in need, the usual. No one would know any better.

So, when a fancy ass car pulled up in front of his apartment, Peter wasn’t exactly thrilled. It was like Mr. Stark hated spider-man. Which he did, but like hated Peter as Spider-man. Which he would if he knew but…ugh.

He begrudgingly walked to the car, sighing as knocked on the window. This sucked.

The window rolled down. It was his tour guide…what was his name? Happy? The last name was something with an H, Peter couldn’t remember. The man did not look thrilled to see the boy. In fact, he looked rather pissed off.

“Do NOT tap on the windows. Understand?” Happy reluctantly pushed the door open so Peter could climb in, much to the man’s annoyance. Peter rolled his eyes, he wasn’t excited about this arrangement either.

They sat in silence for most of the drive, him pretending to ignore Happy’s constant side eyes.

Finally when they were almost there, Peter awkwardly asked, “You were my tour guide, right?”

The man just grunted in response.

Peter continued. “You’re, um. Happy. Happy… Hippo?”

The man slammed on his breaks causing the car to flinch forward. Okay, so not Happy Hippo. Learning experience! Happy (Not Hippo) looked like he was about to blow a fuse.

“Happy HOGAN. HOGAN. What- I?,” The man huffed as he furrowed his eyebrows, “Where do you kids come up with this stuff? Jesus…”

The man glanced over at Peter in the passenger seat, this time less discretely.

“Happy Hippo, my ass. You know, kid. I’m the head of security at SI. Idiotic that Mr. Stark has me babysitting some kid. Especially one that has no manners.”

He scoffed and muttered “Hippo. Really.”

Maybe making enemies with the head of security at Tony Stark’s company wasn’t the best choice. He fidgeted nervously in his seat.

“So…” Peter said. He really wished he was swinging through the streets right now instead of stuck in a car. “You and Mr. Stark friends?”

The man scoffed and rolled his eyes like it was obvious. “Yes.”

Peter nodded, watching as the Tower slowly came into view.

“Do you, um, know what I’ll be doing?” His voice was quiet, unsure. “Like…for the internship? Mr. Stark didn’t tell me and I’m kinda concerned? Not that I think he’s gonna like be weird or hurt me. Just…I don’t know if I’m gonna be able to do what he wants.”

Happy slid into a parking spot, facing Peter once the engine stopped.

“I have no idea, kid.” The man’s voice was slightly less gruff than it had been the whole car ride. Was that…sympathy?

He sighed before continuing. “I don’t know why he’d put you with a bunch of college assholes just trying to impress daddy and mommy. Seems like a suicide mission to me.”

His eyes widened and he cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Did I say suicide? I meant…a fun mission…You’re too young to know what that word means, right?”

Peter just nodded. How old did he think he was?

“I’ll ask Mr. Stark to tell me, don’t worry,” he said blandly.

Happy turned red at that and slammed open the door, wincing when his precious windows banged against the side of the car.

Despite making fun of the man, Peter couldn’t shake the unsettling thing Happy said. Why would Mr. Stark put him with a bunch of adults?

He chewed on his lip as he took off his seatbelt. He was probably, most definitely, smarter than them, but that would make things worse! They worked so hard to get a spot and then in comes this teenager from fucking high school. They’d probably just demean him and treat him like a lab pet. Just like Flash. Another space where he doesn’t feel safe in. Another place where he’s the scapegoat.

Happy led the boy with now slumped shoulders to the entrance. Peter barely had time to reminisce/panic about the last few times he was here because Happy suddenly stopped in his tracks in the middle of walking.

Luckily, Peter’s spidey sense tingled and he fixed his balance right before they collided. Unluckily, the reason why Happy stopped was staring directly at them. Tony Stark. Huh. Why was he here?

He stood behind the metal detector in one of his usual fancy suits. Hands clasped in front of him as he stared down at the boy through his sunglasses. Peter couldn’t tell what the man was thinking. All he knew was that Tony Stark was waiting for him.

☆

Tony smirked as he watched them move closer. Happy looked annoyed, which was great. He looked even more annoyed seeing Tony just standing there.

Happy grumbled while leading the kid to the metal detector. “You said you were too busy to get him.”

“Yeah.” Tony said with a raised eyebrow. “So?”

Happy didn’t respond, stalking off when Peter got closer to Tony.

“Hey kid,” Tony said, placing a hand firmly on the kid’s shoulder after he went through the metal detector.

It was funny, the kid always had this panicked expression whenever he went through any security device. Like he was scared he was hiding a secret metal arm or something.

Tony cringed and thought of Bucky. Okay, bad example. But like, still.

The kid was anxious for no reason and Tony didn’t know whether to be amused or concerned. Either way, props to the kid for actually showing up. He low key expected to have to chase him down each week.

Peter glanced up at him.

“Hi,” he whispered.

Tony led the suddenly extra shy Peter to the elevator. Frustration boiled up in him, although he tried to hide it. Each time he saw the kid, they had to start over. Had to get him to not act totally horrified in his presence.

Tony shook his head and tried thinking about the positive. Like how at least Peter made it. And how Happy was pissed off. That was funny. A smirk grew on his lips as he remembered the man’s face.

“I’ve never seen Happy so annoyed, what did you say to him?” Tony cackled. He impatiently waited for the elevator, still keeping a firm hand on the kid’s shoulder.

The boy shrugged and mumbled, “Thought his last name was Hippo. It wasn’t.”

Tony bursted out laughing. A person also waiting for the elevator gave them a weird look and walked away. Peter shrunk into himself even more. Okay, maybe that was a bit too loud. But still, Happy Hippo the Forehead of Security was brilliant. He’d have to make badges.

The doors finally opened, revealing a fancy elevator made entirely out of glass. The floors, walls, and ceiling were all transparent. All you saw going up was the view of New York. And the Stark tower? It went up high.

Pepper hated it. Tony loved it. He also loved everyone’s panicked reactions. He had it designed this way mostly because of them.

Peter, for instance, stepped in and immediately squeezed his eyes shut, the overwhelming sight of New York flashing before him.

Tony welcomed the weird weightless sensation that was intensified by the fact it felt and looked like you were about to fall. Tricking your brain was great. Usually, he thought as he watched the kid.

Peter had suddenly grabbed onto the man’s arm, his legs trembling as they stood unsteadily.

Tony sighed softly and brought the boy closer to him. Okay, maybe sometimes other people’s reactions weren’t as funny.

“Mr. Stark?”

Tony glanced down to see the kid still tensely clinging to his arm with his eyes shut. “Uh, what’s up, kid?”

“Happy said I’d be working with the other interns…are you. Sure that’s a good idea?” The boy asked softly as he fidgeted with the man’s suit sleeve. Tony didn’t think the boy even realized what he was doing.

Tony snorted, trying to ignore that the kid was still desperately attached to him. “With the other interns? Hell no.” He politely left out the part that the interns would eat him alive. Unfortunately, his tone kind of implied it.

The boy glanced at him for a second before his eyes widened, seeing the view. He shut them again dizzily and pressed himself into Tony’s side. “So, what will I be doing?”

The elevator dinged. Tony had to admit, it was a lot more amusing when the person in the elevator with him was a middle aged dude trying to sue him. Not someone like Peter.

“I’ll tell you in a second, buddy. Come on, let’s get out of the elevator.” He led Peter out. Finally the boy opened his eyes, still looking overstimulated.

Tony stayed quiet as he led him down the hallway. A blush filled the kid’s cheeks as he abruptly let go of Tony’s arm when he realized he was clinging to it. Tony didn’t say anything, just shook out his sleeve and kept walking forward to his personal lab.

He punched in the keypad code and watched the kid out of the corner of his eye. Just in case Peter panicked when he realized where they were headed. Not that the kid wasn’t panicking now. But like, if he tried to bolt. A supportive measure, you could call it.

Peter watched hesitantly with his eyes furrowed, connecting the dots slowly as Tony placed his hand against the wall. It shimmered blue and buzzed in recognition.

He immediately backed away, eyes wide with apprehension. Tony sighed. Right. Why was he so scared of him?

“Pete. It’s just my lab.”

Maybe it had something to do with Iron Man. Once he went to visit a sick kid in the hospital. The child immediately threw their IV at him. Definitely not gasping in awe like the parents had insisted.

Tony rubbed his forehead as the double doors slid open. He remembered waking up the next day to see headlines of him covered in IV fluid. Apparently the kid had asked for Cap instead. Typical.

They didn’t walk in yet.

“Look, Pete,” Stark said, putting his hands squarely on the kid’s shoulders to get him to actually look at him. “If you don’t want to work here with me, then I can arrange something else. You’d still get the money. I’m not gonna force you to do something you’re uncomfortable with. Just tell me, okay?”

He looked up at Tony, obviously trying to blink back tears. Jesus, it was like no one had ever been nice to the kid before.

“I’m okay. Promise,” the boy eventually mumbled. “Just confused why I’m here. This is…this is insane. You’re gonna let me work with you?”

Tony didn’t respond as he led the kid in, watching his expression shift from slightly terrified to pure awe.

Tony smirked. His lab was pretty impressive. Multiple transparent screens lined the room, the blue lighting almost making the place almost look like it was underwater. Robots scurried around doing different tasks, avoiding the half finished projects piled on the desks.

And, of course, the wall holding his Iron Man suits. A space for each of them. His pride and joy. Tony looked down at the kid to see his reaction.

Peter looked at the suits in horror, his body so tense that Tony almost expected him to crack in two. He frowned and let go of the kid’s shoulder. Okay, so he was definitely scared of Iron Man.

Which kinda made sense, at least why he was so apprehensive around him and why he refused to come to the tower to pick up his clothes. Or be around him in general. Still, why the fuck was a fifteen year old so terrified of a metal suit? It’s not like the boy would ever cross him in it. Unless of course, an alien invasion happened. Again.

☆

“Wanna see them?” Mr. Stark’s tone was curious, like he didn’t know what the boy would say. Peter also didn’t know what he would say.

Hesitating, he nodded, slowly walking behind a confident Tony Stark. Jesus Christ, they were gonna kill him. The suits all stared judgingly at him, the only solace was the fact that the eyes weren’t glowing. Which was little comfort as the guy who made them glow literally stood next to him casually, watching the kid intently.

Mr. Stark cleared his throat. “You like Iron Man?”

Peter bit back the resounding NO and nodded slightly. Apparently, his nod wasn’t enthusiastic enough because Mr. Stark snorted in disbelief.

“You’re terrified of him.” He said bluntly, stating it as a fact instead of a question. “No!” Peter said defensively, still not looking away from the suits as if they were about to attack him.

Mr. Stark probably thought he was so immature. No, believe it or not, Mr. Stark, he actually had instances where Iron Man was fucking chasing after him. Bro was terrifying. So, yeah, so sorry he didn’t want to fucking hug and hold hands with the suits. He wasn’t scared…just cautious. Because of the circumstances. That the man knew nothing about.

Mr. Stark hesitated, looking down at Peter while trying to give him some space. “You…want me to like, get in the suit? To show you it’s not dangerous?”

Peter’s eyes widened and his head immediately shook violently back and forth. Oh hell no.

Mr. Stark raised his arms in defense.

“Okay, okay, jeez.”

He walked to his workstation and picked up a wrench. Throwing and catching it in the air as he watched Peter. His expression was…worried. Which was gross. Why couldn’t he be the typical asshole the news claimed and make fun of him for being a pussy?

Instead, the man’s voice was soft and careful. “Why are you so scared of him? Of it. Of me?”

Peter just shrugged and bit his lip. He hated this. Hated the weird warm feeling in his stomach leading up to his heart. Hated how he was standing next to his enemy.

Mr. Stark sighed and looked up at the ceiling.

“Hey, Friday?”

Peter stared at the suits in case they started moving. He cringed. Okay, so maybe that wouldn’t happen. But still…there was no way in hell he trusted them. Even Tony.

The man was the suit, afterall. That was a fact and he had to remember it for safety. Tony Stark could be just as dangerous without his armor.

“Yes, boss?” A female voice called out.

“Put away the suits, will you?”

Peter watched as the suits twirled around into their little chambers, out of sight. Of course they could do that, of course Tony only had them out for his giant ass ego. He tried to muster up annoyance, but all that came up was a tight feeling in his chest when he realized the man put them away just for him.

“Huh,” Mr. Stark said calmly, putting down the wrench and crossing his arms. “You’re afraid of my suits that cannot move without my command, but you aren’t afraid of the voice in the ceiling? Interesting.”

Shit. In his defense, he was terrified of Friday when he first heard it as spider-man! Not that Mr. Stark would know. God, he was such a loser.

Peter swallowed hard and tried to get back to the topic really bugging him. “Sir? Why am I here? This place…it’s amazing, but it’s your personal lab, right? Why…” The kid took a deep breath and looked at Mr. Stark. “Why am I here?”

The man shrugged like he always did whenever he was about to drop a bombshell on the kid.

“You’re working with me, buddy.” Of course he was. Love that Mr. Stark never told him why he did anything.

Mr. Stark showed him around. Peter tried to hide his excitement, but it was literally the coolest thing ever. In here, he could upgrade his web shooters…maybe even his suit. Not that he could, or would, but, with these resources? He could build anything. It had technology that he would never dream of. His hands itched, ready to get to work.

“You really want me working here? With you?” He asked softly, chewing on his lip. It made no sense.

Mr. Stark nodded as he pointed to a work table that was apparently his? Wow.

“I told you. I think you have potential.” Mr. Stark lowered his glasses slowly to look directly at him. “Not a pity invite, remember?”

Mr. Stark tossed him a screwdriver, which Peter caught far too quickly for his liking. At this rate, the man would figure out he was spider-man by lunch. The man said nothing, just raised his eyebrows slightly at the kid’s fast reflexes.

He had Peter work on some basic repairs, just seeing what the kid could do. Which… was a lot.

☆

Mr. Stark noticed how focused the kid got whenever he worked. How he pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes. It was almost impossible to get the kid’s attention when he was like this. Overall, Tony was impressed. And a bit annoyed at being ignored.

He stood behind Peter with his arms crossed, carefully looking over his shoulder. The kid didn't seem to realize he was right there, which was odd because he usually would flinch as soon as the man was near him.

Tony rolled his eyes. It was like the boy had this Tony sense.

But now? The kid worked diligently, fixing Dum-E. He couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows when the kid removed its little hand grabber and started tinkering with it. Not that many people would have the nerve to dismantle Tony Stark’s bots.

Peter finished fiddling with it and reattached it. Dum-E immediately began doing a full 360 with the hand.. Damn… why hadn’t he thought of that?

Tony coughed. The boy jumped and stepped away from the table, a red blush littering his cheeks.

“I’m sorry, sir, I should have- I should have asked for permission…”

Mr. Stark just held a hand up to stop the apology as it was pouring from the kid’s mouth.

“It’s okay. You know, I was totally planning on doing that with dum-e anyways. So…erm thanks.”

That was bullshit, Tony would never have thought of that. Partly because dum-e didn’t need that feature, but still. Who would he be if he didn’t add useless shit to his inventions to look cool?

Mr. Stark watched as a small smile graced the kid’s lips, the first genuine smile he had seen from the boy. Usually Peter’s expression was a mix of anxiety and mistrust. This? He looked almost happy.

Tony couldn’t help but smile back, a twinkle of pride in his eyes.

They kept working for an hour longer. Peter had taken it upon himself to update the man’s filtration system. Without asking, of course. Tony sighed.

He crossed his arms, his own work forgotten as he watched the kid anxiously. This was hard. He didn’t think twice letting the kid into his personal lab but now that he was like … engaging and messing with stuff?

Tony slightly detested it. This was his lab!!

He shook his head, trying to rid the protective feeling from his head. The kid was just here a few hours a week, it’s fine. Besides, Tony was paying the kid. He might as well help. And also, that smile. Pete needed this. Tony could let go a little bit of control to help him. He could. Right?

They worked for a few hours longer, before Peter’s head shot up suddenly. Mr. Stark frowned. A few seconds later, he heard footsteps come closer to the lab. His lab, which was not open to anyone else right now. His lab, which had multiple security systems to stop people from entering. Still, the doors slid open. Of course they did.

The Black Widow stood there with her arms crossed, like it was totally normal for her to just waltz in. Despite Tony telling her MULTIPLE times that this was fucking weird and annoying. But no, she did whatever she wanted. Of course she didn’t give a shit about what he thought.

Tony glanced at Peter with a frown. Like expected, the boy’s body language turned tense. His whole face looked tight and screamed fear. God, Tony really needed to teach him how to have a poker face. The little guy needed a mask or something.

The Black Widow walked closer, her quiet footsteps littering the otherwise silent lab. Tony cleared his throat.

“Natasha. What a pleasant surprise. For you to break in. To my lab. That I’ve told you not to go in. How can I help you?”

Natasha didn’t react, just glancing over at Peter, who stood by the wall.

☆

Tony walked over to him and put his arm around his shoulder. Protectively? Nah, that would be crazy. He probably just wanted to prove to Natasha that he had the ability to not be a complete asshole.

“Who’s this?” She asked casually. Although Peter could tell each of her words were chosen carefully, each with a purpose. He shivered, the hairs on his neck rising in unison. She was dangerous.

“This is my intern.” Tony said smugly. At least the man wanted to show him off? Was this how Mr. Stark showed affection?

The woman just arched a brow, crossing her arms. Her gaze traveled up and down the kid, noting his height and frightened appearance.

“Seems kind of young, Stark. Don’t you usually hire college students? And since when do you let your interns work in YOUR lab? I didn’t know you had the ability to let someone else interfere with your toys.”

Mr. Stark wrung his hands together, leaning back against his work table. It was a mixture of smugness and attempted confidence. Like there was a slight sense of apprehension he had with her. Like she outranked him slightly in some way.

“He’s smarter than most college students. Hence, why he’s here.” He said stiffly.

“I’m just concerned, he looks ten.”

Peter opened his mouth to say he was in fact fifteen, when Natasha kept going in a sarcastic ass voice.

“Did you at least get his mom’s permission?” She stared right at him. It was probably aimed to demean Peter, make him feel like a kid. Natasha couldn’t know his mom died. Which was fine, this happened all the time. The next part was just always awkward. No, he didn’t have a mom. No, there was no reason to apologize. You didn’t know, it’s okay.

Although, based on her calculating gaze, Peter couldn’t tell what she knew about him.

Meanwhile, Mr. Stark turned red and stuttered over his words to try to explain that Peter was in fact an orphan. Thus, her comment probably hurt the kid’s feelings and she shouldn’t assume things. The same awkward adult speech where they never quite knew what words to use. Weren’t his parents dead too, why was he so bad at this?

Peter was about to roll his eyes when he glanced up. Natasha was… smirking. Directly at him. Okay, not good.

“Right,” she said, cutting off Tony’s rambling like she didn’t even hear it. Like it wasn’t important. She arched an eyebrow and spoke casually. “You live with your aunt. How could I forget.”

She said it as a statement, not offering any excuse to disagree.

Peter felt his body freeze up. Cold. Natasha just stared at him as Tony began to look annoyed. Peter kept his head down, thinking what the actual fuck. How did she know that? And why did she keep looking at him?

It was then that Peter realized how much she planned everything. Each word to get to each reaction. To get to the next step, to dig people deeper into a hole. He’d be buried by the time he even realized she was holding the shovel.

“Ignore her,” Mr. Stark muttered to him. “Nat is obnoxious.”

Peter nodded numbly. Yeah, it wasn’t a cause for concern. She was raised by the KGB, right? So she probably just hacked into Mr. Stark’s email for fun. Did ex assassins have fun?

Natasha didn’t respond to Tony’s comment. The knot in his stomach grew. Something was off.

Natasha slowly walked up to Peter, looking him up and down again. He swallowed, this couldn’t be good. He knew what the Black Widow was capable of. The whole world did. To what extent, however, was questionable.

“Why does he look like he’s trying to hide something?” Natasha asked bluntly, jolting Peter out of his thoughts. Shit. He tried to arrange his face to make it look more serene but Natasha’s eyes still pieced through him.

He bit his tongue so he wouldn’t say that maybe. Maybe! He was nervous because she was staring at him and told him information she shouldn’t have known.

Mr. Stark just shrugged and patted the kid on the head. Obnoxious. “He always looks like that.” Peter would have glared if he wasn’t so focused on trying to read Natasha’s sharp gaze. How much did she know about him?

“That’s unfortunate. What’s your name, kid?” She asked smoothly.

He cleared his throat, trying to muster up the confidence to meet her gaze. “Peter. Wouldn’t you already know that though? Since you’re aware of my aunt.”

“Last name?” The way she asked was scientific, like she planned to collect all the information to do extensive research later, ignoring his other statement. She wanted to trap him deeper into the hole. Which, considering his secret, wasn’t exactly good.

He shifted uncomfortably, becoming more aware of her gaze on him. His spidey senses buzzed, telling him not to answer. So, he panicked.

“Why does it matter?” He cringed at his defensive tone. Shit.

“You know, that makes you seem even more suspicious, Peter,” she said with an arched eyebrow.

Thankfully, Mr. Stark stepped in front of the boy to stop her from staring at him suspiciously. “Stop harassing my intern. What do you need, Nat?”

The Black Widow sighed and finally focused back on Mr. Stark. Thank god…Peter thought Mr. Stark was scary but, this lady? No fucking way. He’d do anything not to cross her.

Of course, the world hated him as her next sentence nearly sent him into a panic attack.

“I did some research on Spider-Man, like you asked.” She stated calmly, her eyes betraying nothing. Peter’s heart betrayed everything, the beating now so loud in his ears he could barely think.

Mr. Stark’s annoyance relaxed into a smile as he stepped forward, unaware of the tension between Nat and Peter. Was there tension? Peter couldn’t tell anymore. Why couldn’t he get a read on her? Stark, on the other hand, seemed very clear about his motives at this moment.

“Yeah, what did you find? Please tell me you got his identity. I’m getting pissed off with this kid.”

Peter sucked in a breath harshly, keeping his eyes fixed on Natasha’s. Hands twitching, he made a note of all the exits.

There was no way she figured it out. He bit his lip, what the fuck of course she did. It was fucking Natasha Romanoff, the woman who was raised by the KGB. God, this was bad. Tony would be so mad…he’d probably fire him.

He scoffed to himself, like that was the biggest threat. No, he’d get sent away to a lab and his aunt would get locked up for child abuse. His life would end. Peter ignored Mr. Stark’s past reassurances saying he only wanted to help spider-man. It was a lie, to trick him.

His hands shook. He knew he had to do something, anything.

So, he did the one thing that any reasonable person trying to hide their secret identity from an ex KGB spy would. Peter casually knocked his boss’s coffee mug off the table.

The man hissed as the hot liquid splashed on his suit pants, turning to Peter angrily. “Kid, what the fuck?” The mug lay broken on the floor. Evidence of his cowardness.

Peter just shrugged, looking down despite wanting to stare at Natasha pleadingly. He had to play this cool. Or hot, seeing that he just fucking burned Tony Stark. This was a horrible idea, Mr. Stark was gonna kill him regardless of if he was spider-man.

“I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t mean to.” He leaned down and shakily picked up the now broken mug. He raised his eyes briefly to see the Black Widow staring at this whole interaction, not amused. Her foot tapped impatiently, like she was waiting for him to finish his temper tantrum.

What happened next wasn’t on purpose. Maybe only a little bit on purpose. In his defense, there was a lot of stress at the moment! So, when he picked up a piece of the broken mug, he saw his hand moving towards the sharp edge. And, he didn’t exactly move it. Maybe Natasha would leave if he kept distracting Mr. Stark. Not that the woman couldn’t just come back any time when Peter wasn’t here…but he had to do something. Anything.

“Kid, be careful-” came Tony’s voice. Peter pretended to flinch at the sudden noise. He stood up shakily, his hand now bleeding. It didn’t even sting, his adrenaline was too high. Also, he had a higher pain tolerance ever since getting bit by a spider. He was fine. Mostly. It would heal.

The only thing that mattered was Tony now being distracted.

“SHIT.” Mr. Stark hissed out, looking around with wide eyes for something to clean it with. Natasha didn’t move, didn’t even take her eyes off Peter. He wished she was wearing a pair of Mr. Stark’s sunglasses. Anything to hide the piercing glare she gave him.

A towel hit Peter in the chest, distracting him. He quickly pressed it to his cut to stop the bleeding while looking down at the floor. He prayed to whoever was out there. His fate rested on the Black Widow. Who right now looked annoyed.

“I-I’m sorry, Sir,” he mumbled, tears coming to his eyes. Okay, maybe not because of the reason Mr. Stark thought, but hey. Tears worked. It’s not like he was faking it, bro felt like sobbing and falling to his knees. Just not because of the cut on his hand or the coffee stain on the man’s pants.

“It’s…it’s okay, buddy. You alright?” Mr. Stark quickly picked up the remaining pieces of the mug to toss them in the trash. Peter nodded, still looking down at the floor. Tears landed in front of him, merging with the leftover spilled coffee. Everything was going wrong lately.

“I’m sorry for interrupting, Miss…” Peter glanced back at the Black Widow, pretending to not know who she was. Pretending he wasn’t shaking.

She leaned forward to meet his gaze.

“Natasha. I would tell you my last name, but I don’t see how it matters.” His own words were practically spat back at him. He flinched.

She turned to watch Mr. Stark carefully, disregarding Peter.

“Why are you trying to find the little bug again?”

“Because he’s stubborn and pissed me off.”

Peter swore he saw Natasha glance at him when he bit back a scowl.

“The real reason, Tony.”

Peter didn’t know if it was an intentional power move where she kept repeating his name, but it seemed to be working as Stark got more and more antsy.

He squared his shoulders before answering. “The spiderling is an idiot. He’s not safe, especially with the accords—“

“That you signed,” Natasha stated calmly.

Mr. Stark gave her a look and continued. “I wasn’t finished, Natasha.” Somehow the man using her name randomly at the end of a sentence didn’t quite have the same intimidation factor as when she did it.

“The accords are in a…transition stage. Meaning the government is being a complete asshole."

“Who would have thought? Oh, I know.” Nat said sarcastically. It was like she wanted to see him all riled up.

“NOT the time.” Mr. Stark seemed to have forgotten that Peter was still there, so he started to inch back. Maybe to grab his bag and make a run for it. A warning glare from Natasha quickly froze him to his spot.

“ANYWAYS, if you’d let me fucking finish. I knew the government would do this, but I’m not SO wrapped up in personal issues that I’d think denying all accountability is the answer. Like SOME people.” He gave a pointed look to Nat.

Nat didn’t seem amused. Peter just stood there awkwardly. The conversation obviously wasn’t about spider-man now. Which was good! Except for the tension between the two. That was concerning, especially considering the state of the Avengers after the whole Sokovia Accords debacle.

Peter knew things were rocky, but seeing it first hand was kinda crazy. Maybe they’d get so off topic they would forget about the whole spider problem…Start another civil war or something.

Natasha, also seemingly aware that the conversation pivoted, interrupted. “As much as I love debating this with you, get to the point about our little bug.”

Our little bug. Peter shrunk into himself.

Tony blinked, trying to get his thoughts in order and his anger bottled back up.

“Right. I tried to warn the kid about the accords. I offered him help. He refused and instead was a little crybaby and ran away from me. On multiple occasions."

“That reflects badly on you, Stark, not him.” Natasha stated dryly. Peter silently agreed.

Tony stared at her before continuing, mumbling a few choice words under his breath first.

“He isn’t safe. The world is becoming more aware of him and he still thinks they view him as a hero. He has absolutely no backup. No support whatsoever. He’s irresponsible and an idiot for going out in dangerous situations like his suit is made out of steel. Which it’s not, it’s made out of cloth and it shows.”

Natasha just nodded, her gaze back on Peter. It was obvious she already knew the answer to her next question.

“So, why are you trying to find him?”

“To keep him safe. Because I promised when I signed the accords I would keep enhanced beings away from the government. He needs a reality check and I’d rather him get it from me than having the world see just how cruel the higher ups can treat people like him.”

Peter stared at his feet, chewing on his lip. He already knew this, Tony literally told it to him that day at the bank. But, still. Hearing it again was rough. Maybe he should let him in? But then again, if he did, Stark would find out he was just fifteen. He’d ban him from helping people, the man already treated him like a fragile little kid. Plus, now that he knew Peter personally, he’d fire him. He needed this money. May’s heart needed this money.

He’d been able to avoid the government so far, he can keep doing it. His eyes hardened. This was just the way it had to be. Who cared if people hated him, saving their lives was why he did it. Not for thanks. Mr. Stark was just too self obsessed to realize that.

Stark finished, “Plus, again, I told him if he ran I’d find him. So I’m not gonna let him think I left him off the hook. Look, Nat, what did you find out? This is idiotic and a waste of time.”

A shiver went through Peter at her sudden cold gaze.

She made sure they made eye contact before speaking again. “I have some questions for Peter.”

Stark groaned, rubbing his hand against his temple. “You are insane, you’re wasting both of our time! You can have a little lunch date with the boy later. Tell me what you found out. Now.”

She ignored him, keeping her eyes on Peter. “You’re his personal intern?”

Nod.

“You’re too skinny. And you have bruises all over your arms.” She said bluntly.

Mr. Stark jumped in after Peter just stood there. “We’re working on that. Got a bunch of clothes for the kid to take home today. We’ve been helping his family out with money and I’m keeping an eye on the home situation.” Peter couldn’t even flinch at the mention of charity, nor question what he meant by “home situation.” He was too busy wondering where Natasha was going with this, besides willingly insulting him just because.

She nodded in response, turning back to Tony abruptly. Every movement she planned out, everything was intentional. That scared Peter more than he’d like to admit.

“I couldn’t find anything about spider-man.” She stated, her eyes revealing nothing as they stayed fixated on the now disappointed Iron Man.

Peter let out a shaky breath, his body relaxing slightly. Kind of. It didn’t make sense, why would she lie?

“Seriously?” Stark said, raising an eyebrow. “You’re…well you. How the fuck did you not find him?”

“I just didn’t.” She answered. For some reason, she was covering for him. This was…weird. But nice. Maybe he had an ally? Someone who also thought Stark was crazy for trying to babysit spider-man?

The look in her eyes said otherwise. It was clear. The only reason she covered for him was because Tony had gotten what he wanted, even if he didn’t realize it yet. Peter was safe, under his care. Tony Stark WAS babysitting his Spiderling.The boy cringed at that, realizing how true it was. He somehow did exactly what spider-man swore not to do.

She started to walk away before turning back again. “Tony?”

“Yeah?” the man replied helplessly.

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out. From what I did see, our little bug friend has a horrible poker face.”

With that, she left the lab, the doors closing behind her sharply. Mr. Stark flew up his hands in frustration, mumbling something about how spider-man always wore a mask, before turning back to Peter.

“Your hand okay?” His voice was gruff, almost cold. Not the same soft almost mentor-like voice he heard before. This was his voice he used with spider-man when Peter pissed him off. He stepped back nervously and nodded. His blood felt hot. Was he safe right now? Couldn’t tell.

Stark bobbed his head for a bit and then ran a hand through his hair. “Go downstairs, we’re done for today. Happy will drive you home.”

Peter wasted no time in grabbing his bag. He practically ran out of the lab. “T-thank you, sir,” he stuttered out before disappearing through the door.

Peter walked outside, half expecting to see Natasha waiting for him. But no, no Natasha. The Black Widow wasn’t the type to linger. She made her point clear.

Peter bit his lip in front of the elevator, remembering the dizzying view waiting for him. He turned and headed for the stairs.

Yeah, he could have ran or grabbed his web shooters from his bag and made it down in less than a second, but after today? He’d rather spend an extra fifteen minutes walking.

His phone buzzed in the car, a message from an unknown number. He read it and quickly turned his phone off before Happy could curiously glance over.

If anything changes, I’m telling him.

Chapter Text

Peter sat curled up against his windowsill, his fingers fiddling with the hole in his pants. A shiver went through him and he pressed himself further against the glass. It didn’t help, to be honest it made him colder, but being pressed against something meant stability. Protection.

He ran his fingers over his web shooters. He’s been wearing them a lot lately. Mostly around the house. It helped when the heat broke a few nights ago. It somehow made him feel safer, warmer.

He shivered, curling up even tighter as he stared out at a snowy Queens. He missed being spider-man. So much that the fear of Mr. Stark and even the Black Widow began to fade. All he wanted was to get back out there.

He hesitated and then shot a web at his ceiling, smiling when his suit dropped before him. The red and blue cloth frayed into each other, the cloth tattered from all the times he miscalculated a jump or ran through a burning building. His fingers touched it. Soft. Safe.

He rubbed his hand over the fabric absentmindedly. Mr. Stark always made fun of it. It wasn’t fit for a battle, that was true. He made it to hide his identity after Uncle Ben. And for a while? That’s all he needed. To help people while keeping what was left of his family safe.

But…there was no avoiding that New York was evolving. The world changed and lately his friendly neighborhood felt more like individual homes forced to live next to each other. He’d be an idiot if he denied that the public’s opinion on Spider-man is the same as it was five months ago when he first started. He let go of his suit, thinking. Maybe…

Peter sat down at his desk and opened his sketchbook. He needed to adapt. To protect him against criminals. And… civilians. People were angry and he felt weak in his suit. Vulnerable. He remembered the glares he got at the bank and shuddered. Yep, definitely needed more protection.

His phone buzzed constantly with updates these days. It started with warnings of the enhanced. Then, evidence. Single stories in a whole swarm of untold ones, carefully selected to cause the biggest reaction. Wanda was the focus of a lot of them. The picture of her at Lagos, next to a burning building. It didn’t matter her hand covered her mouth, the horrified look in her eyes. All that mattered was the destruction. All that mattered was the horror people reacted with. A horrible accident, now turned into an example of why a group of people were dangerous.

It didn’t matter that there was another school shooting the other day. Or a man dying just because he rang a doorbell and happened to have a different skin color than the man who answered. People were being hurt by other non-enhanced people every day and the government said nothing. Thoughts and prayers as a quick bandaid on a gaping wound.

Peter pressed his pencil deeper into his page, his eyes furrowing. It was unfair. People knew how to define war, they knew how to define suffering.

But the enhanced? They were different, they didn’t quite fit into anyone’s construct of society. And the world hated what they couldn’t understand. Peter watched from a distance and up close as people like him became the focus of fear mongering, of choosing a group and claiming danger to keep the illusion of control. The government knew they could never truly erase the enhanced, that’s what made them the perfect scapegoats.

He sketched a suit, pursing his lips in concentration. Wanda was in hiding, no one knew where. Guilt flooded through him, like it did whenever he thought about her lately. She didn’t have a mask to hide behind like him. She had to truly disappear. He needed something that could protect him if that happened to him. Protect what was left of his family.

Mr. Stark was oblivious, thinking Spider-Man had no idea the current state of the world. Peter knew more than him, he lived it every day. And Mr. Stark lived in his fancy tower, away from the truth, away from reality and struggle.

Yet, the man was insistent on helping Spider-Man, just because he had a fancier outfit and more money. It wasn’t fair.

Peter bit his lip as he looked down at his drawing. It’s not like he needed to prove something to Mr. Stark. He was just tired of no one believing in him. Maybe if he created a better suit, then Mr. Stark would understand. Would stop chasing him, stop seeing him as a kid.

His stomach churned slightly. Maybe he wasn’t just talking about spider-man with that one.

He stared at his sketchbook, wiping the eraser residue off the page. He didn’t have the resources to create a suit that would make Tony Stark proud. No amount of dumpster diving could make it bullet proof or fly. Still, he could maybe add a headset for him and Ned. Maybe make it warmer, more agile.

Peter’s heart panged. Ned. He still hadn’t told his friend about the internship. How could he? There wasn’t a way he could word it without mentioning how scared he was. Would Ned understand or shut him out again?

He pushed himself away from his desk to his suit that still hung from his ceiling. Maybe he could use some technology from Mr. Stark’s lab. Even though it would mean he was accepting the man’s help. Was it accepting if he stole it? Or if Mr. Stark didn’t know? Could he steal from him? Would he forgive him if he found out? About everything?

Would Tony still like him when he found out his secret?

He shook his head and started to put on his suit. He needed to get back out there, despite the accords, despite Mr. Stark, despite the Black Widow, despite not having the best protection. He had a power that no one else had. He had a responsibility. With one last look at his sketchbook, he pushed up his window and raised his hand in a familiar, comforting gesture.

☆

Tony held hands with Pepper as snowflakes flurried around them. He loved snow. His dad would take him sledding each year. Well, he made Tony a sled and sent him on his way. Howard Stark never had the time for anything more.

Still, Tony couldn’t help but think fondly of it. He always felt safe, fully believing his dad wouldn’t let him get hurt. The sled would protect him, because why would his dad create something that would hurt him?

Pepper squeezed his hand as they watched the snowflakes fall.

“Should we go inside?” Her soft voice almost felt warmer than her body pressed against him.

He nodded, smiling softly as he led her into the restaurant.

He kept his head forward, his hand tightening a bit around Peppers when they walked in and it immediately became void of sound. An older woman sitting with her husband slowly raised her phone, pointing it at them.

Tony pulled Pepper protectively closer to his side. It was like the public thought he couldn’t see them. He turned to the hostess and sighed, taking his sunglasses out from his suit pocket and sliding them on. A comfort item, if you will.

“Hi, me and my…” Tony paused, staring down at Pepper who now watched him carefully with a raised eyebrow, “...my Pepper have a room reserved for us in the back.”

The hostess smiled nervously as she led them to a private part of the restaurant. Right before he left he slid down his sunglasses at the woman with her phone out, giving her a dirty look before sliding them back up. She looked horrified. Good.

Pepper sighed when they sat down in a room with soft lighting. They were the only two there. “Did you genuinely call me your Pepper? Is that the best thing you could come up with?”

He cringed, running a hand through his hair before tucking his sunglasses back in his pocket. He didn’t need them around her. “I panicked.”

She rolled her eyes, though there was no true hostility hidden in them. She placed a hand over his. “Tony.”

He grumbled but didn’t move his hand. “What would you call us?? We both agreed to not tell the public we’re married.”

“Oh, I don’t know. Your date? Your partner? Your girlfriend?” She suggested gently.

He cringed. “Girlfriend sounds so middle school coded.”

Pepper rolled her eyes again. “Just because you’re forty six doesn’t mean you can’t have a girlfriend.”

He smiled softly and shrugged. “Maybe I’ll have to propose in public this time.”

Pepper laughed. “I fear Stark Industries couldn’t take another controversy. Imagine if they found out the new CEO was actually the wife of Tony Stark.”

Tony was about to snarkily reply when his StarkWatch buzzed. He pretended not to hear it, not wanting work to interrupt them like always.

“Tony…” she said softly, her fingers twitching over his hand.

“No.” He said softly. “Peps, you said no work during dinner. We…we never get a night out.”

Pepper raised an eyebrow, gesturing to his watch. “Humor me. If the world is going to shit, I want to know what went wrong sooner rather than later.”

Tony sighed, hiding his smirk. He loved her so much.

He stared at the notification. Huh. “Spiderling’s out and about again. First time in nearly a week.”

She sighed and rubbed his hand with her thumb. “You do realize the guy’s terrified of you, right?”

He shrugged. He was sick of people being scared of him. Peter. Spider-Man. The whole world whenever he knew he had to save it. His heart twinged when he thought of Ultron. People never trusted him. Not that Ultron was a good example, that kind of went to shit. He cringed, remembering Cap’s wary reaction when he first brought up the idea of a suit of armor around the world.

"Every time someone tries to win a war before it starts, innocent people die,"

Well guess what Cap, people died anyways.

“What’s he doing?” Pepper’s voice jolted him back to reality.

“Hm?” he murmured. Oh, right. The spiderling.

“Street cameras that I totally have legal access to show him stopping a bunch of guys ganging up on a girl in an alleyway.”

Pepper nodded thoughtfully, choosing not to mention the fact Tony was breaking the law. “Is Ross after him yet?”

Tony cringed and shook his head. “They’re aware of him but luckily don’t see him as a threat. Unluckily, the kid would thrust himself towards danger at any point if he thought he could help.”

She snorted. “Sounds like someone else I know.”

Tony raised his hands in feigned innocence. “Hey! Trust me, Ross is VERY aware of me right now. And I don’t try to find danger, it finds ME.” His eyes twinkled softly as he watched Pepper laugh.

Suddenly, she got quiet and bit her lip. The waiter came by and placed two steaks down in front of them, but it was like she saw right through it.

“Does Ross know you’re trying to find him? Spider-man?” Her voice was quiet, like she was scared someone would hear them despite no one else in the room.

Tony shrugged, picking up his fork and knife. “I’m sure, the idiots keep an eye on me like a dog chasing a squirrel. Aka, the dog never catches the squirrel because the squirrel isn’t an idiot. It looks good in my favor though. As long as I don’t cause a news story like I did at the bank, I don’t see how or why they would care.”

The lie slipped out of him far too easily. If Pepper could tell, she stayed quiet and focused on unfolding her napkin. Tony didn’t want to talk about Ross. He didn’t want to acknowledge he called him after Natasha and Peter left.

The way Ross asked Tony to keep an eye on him. Wait for some dirt to come up, for the little bug to slip up and accidentally hurt someone like the enhanced always ended up doing. At least in Ross’s eyes.

Then, the government would have a reason to detain him. To villanize him. He sighed, rubbing a hand against his temple. The kid was so stupid, he didn’t even realize the degree of what he was dealing with. The implications it had on the world if the government caught him.

Especially catching him messing up… it would be the last nail in the coffin in convincing the public that the enhanced were dangerous. This was bigger than spider-man, bigger than Tony. And the boy was walking around carrying alien weapons in backpacks.

The world needed accountability. Not more fear. But no matter what Tony did, spider-man seemed to hate him. And then there was the rumor that Cap was back in the US. Tony didn’t know if Ross was lying, maybe waiting for a reaction to see how much he knew. Either way, he was worried. If he brought Wanda…he shook his head. Steve wouldn’t be that idiotic, right? He had little trust left in him.

Tony spoke quietly into his watch. “Friday, tell me if my little bug is at risk of pissing off the government.”

The screen flashed green in response. He grumbled as he picked up his utensils again, flashing a hesitant smile at a worried Pepper. As long as the kid stuck to stopping normal street crime and stayed away from alien weapons and shit, he’d be safe. For now.

☆

Peter walked into Tony’s lab the next day, feeling lighter. Happier, even. Something about swinging through the city as snow trickled down right in front of his eyes was healing. He finally felt normal again.

He stared at Mr. Stark, hunched over his work table, a screwdriver in his hand and a focused look on his face.

Pete stepped forward, making his footsteps a little louder so he wouldn’t startle the man. Did he get the date wrong? Was he not supposed to come today? He shivered and pulled down the sleeves of his sweatshirt. Happy had handed him a hoodie right when he stepped into the car, but Peter declined. He wouldn’t take charity. Halfway through the car ride he caved and slipped it on. It was too big for him and smelled like coffee and motor oil and a weird cologne he couldn’t tell if he liked.

“Uh, Sir?” Peter said softly, trying to figure out what Mr. Stark was working on.

Despite his attempts at not giving the man a heart attack, Tony jolted when he heard Pete’s voice.

“Peter! Hey, how was the ride? Happy treat you well?” Mr. Stark looked tired, bags under his eyes and lines against his forehead. Still, he seemed genuinely happy Peter was here. Which was weird.

Peter bit his lip, nodding. “Happy showed me this cool band…AC/DC I think.”

He lamely pointed to his new hoodie which had their logo. Tony blinked at it before raising an eyebrow.

Peter shuffled nervously, wrapping his arms around himself.

Why was he looking at him like that?

“Sir? Did I do something wrong?”

The man stared at the hoodie for a few more seconds before shaking his head, his voice uncharacteristically soft. “Nothing buddy, don’t worry about it.”

Stark stood up, his back cracking. Jesus, how long had the guy been sitting there? “Let me see your hand, Pete.”

Peter froze. Right, the cut. Okay, so maybe the anxiety was coming back a little bit. It’s just that it’s been a day since he got hurt. And unfortunately for Peter, his cuts healed way too fast. His bruises stayed for weeks. But his hand? There was no trace of the mug he ‘accidentally’ dropped on the floor.

God that was the second time he broke one of Tony’s mugs. Spider-man threw one at the man’s head and then Peter purposefully decided to burn the guy. Maybe there was a trend. Something about avoidance? He tilted his head, thinking. Nah.

“It’s okay, sir,” he placed his hands in his pockets in what he hoped was a casual manner. “My aunt's a nurse, she looked at it. Said it’s fine. It’s already healing.”

Tony’s eyes softened as he watched the kid sink into the oversized hoodie. He smiled at him, nodding.

“Okay, kiddo. Let me know if anything changes.”

Tony paused and his eyes softened even more. “Yesterday was…pretty intense. How are you doing with all that?”

Peter cringed at the worry in his eyes, that pitiful expression he’s slowly growing to despise.

“Intense?” Peter glanced up at the man with wide, innocent eyes, pretending to be the naive boy Mr. Stark thought he was. “Was I in danger, sir? I thought the Black Widow and you were friends. That’s what the news said.”

Mr. Stark paused, watching the kid carefully. Peter couldn’t tell if he believed him. Finally, the man sighed and patted the kid on the back. “Yeah, Pete. Nat and I are friends.”

He couldn’t help but feel slightly hurt that the man bought it that quickly. How stupid did he think he was? Still, he backed him into a corner on purpose. He guessed he couldn’t complain.

☆

Tony knew the kid was bullshitting him. Peter was too smart not to connect the dots, plus, the kid looked terrified when Nat walked in and even more so when she walked out.

That being so, it was easier to pretend the boy was oblivious to the tension between them yesterday. When push came to shove, the kid shouldn’t have been there during that conversation. There shouldn’t have been a conversation to begin with.

His fists clenched slightly, what was Natasha thinking, breaking into his lab? And why the fuck was she stalking his intern, knowing he lived with his aunt? God, this was such a mess. He just had to traumatize Peter on his first day. Natasha Romanoff was not exactly the ‘you’re safe here, don’t worry’ intro he was gearing towards.

It’s not like he thought Peter would tell anyone about the interaction. The kid seemed like he knew how to keep a secret, which was funny, because he wasn’t a very good liar. As long as no one asked Peter directly what happened, Tony should be fine. Also, no one would believe him. Hopefully.

He sighed, leaning his head back to look at the ceiling. Not many people knew Natasha betrayed him when she played the double agent card in Germany. They kept it quiet, keeping distance from each other as much as they could. Not that their trust was really strong to begin with, Nat originally met him through a cover, Natalia Rushman. Can’t really come back from that.

He only reached out to her because he was lost with the spiderling. And she didn’t even find anything. Supposedly.

But, now, a fifteen year old with a panic disorder was somehow in the loop? This was dangerous. If the world found out they weren’t on the same page like they claimed, that Natasha Romanoff, who signed the accords with him, snuck off to help Steve and Bucky escape? He shuddered, that couldn’t happen. For Natasha and him. The illusion they carefully built would collapse. Maybe it already did, for the kid at least.

Tony hesitated and glanced down at the boy.

“Pete?” When the boy didn’t respond, he placed a hand on his shoulder. Brown eyes looked up at him curiously. God, he was like a puppy. Tony tried not to smirk.

“Are you sure you’re okay? From yesterday I mean. She kinda went after you.”

Peter shrugged, staring at the floor.

“It’s fine, Mr. Stark.”

Tony rubbed his temples and nodded.

The boy looked up at him, his expression guarded. “Sorry about spider-man.”

He shrugged. He felt sick whenever he thought about it, the obvious lie in Natasha’s voice for a reason he couldn’t quite place. But the kid didn’t need to know that. No one did. Not about Ross calling him, not about the grainy photo Friday sent him this morning of Steve and Wanda walking out of an airport.

He had bigger things to worry about. Still, keeping this kid safe needed to be a priority.

“Hey buddy,” Mr. Stark smiled encouragingly as he met the boy’s gaze. “Next time someone comes in here, you hide in that storage closet, okay?” He pointed to a small door in the back of his lab. It was technically a safe room, but the boy didn’t need to know that.

Peter didn’t respond, just kept staring up at him. He had this strange expression of defiance met with determination met with worry. God damn it. It was crazy how stubborn the boy could be while also twitching with anxiety.

Tony cleared his throat, becoming a bit more stern. “Peter. I need you to answer.”

The boy shrugged and immediately turned away from him. Tony feared he needed a bit more reassurance than that.

Tony let out a deep breath, letting go of the kid’s shoulder to cross his arms against his chest. “Pete,” he said firmly. This wasn’t negotiable, the kid could not be in here if something like that happened again. It wasn’t safe, no matter if he knew Nat wouldn’t hurt him. The kid was unsafe just from listening, just from being in the room. The more he knew, the more he was in danger from mere approximation to Tony.

Maybe this intern thing wasn’t a good idea. Even if the boy was fifteen, no minor should be exposed to the shit he had to deal with. He was still a child and Tony had a responsibility to keep him safe. With everything that was going on…maybe this was a horrible time for this.

He gently turned Peter around to face him. “I need a verbal answer, little guy. Do you understand? Next time ANYONE comes in here, you hide in the closet and don’t come out till I say so. Do. You. Hear. Me?”

He swore he almost saw a hint of stubborn annoyance flash through the kid’s eyes. Tony hoped for both of their sakes that he imagined it. There was no way the kid was fighting him on this.

Tony stared at the kid, taking a second to realize they apparently were not on the same page. “Peter.” He groaned at the tone of his voice, he sounded like his father. At least, a father. Probably not his.

“Did you even…hear what I said?” Tony tried very hard to keep the annoyance out of his voice. Maybe Happy was right, maybe having a teenager working with him was an idiotic move.

“About hiding?” The boy’s eyes hardened. “Yeah, I heard that, sir.”

Tony gaped at him. It was literally just a simple request.

All he asked was for him to hide if people came talking to Tony about shit like the accords. Why was Peter so interested in listening to that, shouldn’t teenagers be like playing sports or doing drugs?

Tony shook his head. No, Peter was different. That’s why he spent all his time at his lab. That’s why, despite Happy’s warnings, Tony enjoyed having him around. He saw himself in the boy. Which got on his nerves more than he liked to admit.

Stark watched the kid in disbelief. “Why the sudden attitude, Peter?”

The boy hesitated and looked down. “I’m sorry, Mr. Stark. I just…”

Peter’s mouth opened as if he was about to say something, but eventually shook his head and closed it. Huh. “I’ll hide next time, I’m sorry.”

Tony cleared his throat awkwardly. “Good. Just to keep you safe. You don’t need to deal with shit like that.”

☆

Mr. Harrington slapped Peter on his shoulder, smiling down at him in a somewhat proud manner.

“Hey Peter! I heard the big news.”

He snuck a glance to the side. Yeah, so the whole classroom was staring at him. This wasn’t good.

“What news?” He asked softly, playing with the sleeve of his new hoodie. He liked it, made him feel safe.

“Your internship!”

He cringed. Flash stood up slowly and sauntered his way over. “Peter Parker got an internship? Where, at the money factory?”

MJ spoke bluntly behind him. “Flash, that doesn’t even make sense.”

Ned stayed quiet, watching the whole interaction.

“Mr. Harrington? I really don’t need this to be public—” Peter started to say quickly, avoiding eye contact with Ned.

His teacher just scoffed and squeezed his shoulder. Peter tried not to cringe. This man was so performative.

“You need to be proud, Peter! Not that many highschoolers get an internship at Stark Industries.”

It was odd. Everybody was talking, most not even listening to them. But right when Mr. Harrington spoke those words, the whole class turned with their mouths open.

Flash spoke first. “What…what do you mean Stark Industries? Like as their janitor?”

“Yeah, what do you mean, Peter?” He turned to see Ned watching him, his eyes wide and unbelieving. Maybe Ned would be so excited he got this that he wouldn’t be mad! Looking deeper into his friend’s eyes and seeing the betrayal shining in his pupils made that hope quickly die out.

“I…” he swallowed roughly. “It’s not a big deal. I just…got an internship. Applied for something and got it. It’s fine.”

Flash snorted. “Liar.”

He just shrugged. If the class wanted to think he was lying, that was better for him.

“Okay.”

MJ poked him in the neck with the pencil. It low key hit his spiderbite, which was just mean, not that she’d know. Or maybe she did, Peter could never tell with her.

“You meet Tony Stark?”

Mr. Harrington crossed his arms, waiting for the answer just as much as the rest of the class.

Peter was about to shake his head when he saw the taunting look in Flash’s eyes. He remembered all the times he had bullied Peter, belittled Peter. Shoved him into lockers before and after the bite. He never could fight back, not when he had a reputation of being weak.

He nodded. “Yeah. I work with him one on one.”

Flash looked like he was about to shit himself. Peter tried not to look at Ned. School ended in a bunch of whispers and dirty looks. No one believed him. Good.

Patrolling was quiet that night. Not that much movement, Peter guessed that made sense with all the rumors about Steve Rogers running around. People were scared. He knew he was, but for different reasons.

A girlfriend and boyfriend screamed at each other as Peter watched numbly. He’d interfere if it escalated.

Things had already escalated with Ned.

With Mr. Stark, with spider-man. Everything was falling out of control.

He didn’t hesitate when the guy’s hand started to rise towards the girl. He jumped down from the rooftop, shivering as he landed in front of them.

“Don’t you dare hit her.” Peter spoke slowly, his jaw clenched.

The man nodded and backed away with his hands raised. “Who are you?” The man shot a look at the girl.

Peter blinked. Right.

The girl shrugged and turned to spider-man, looking him up and down.

“You’re a lot smaller than I thought you’d be.”

He just gave a little nod. What was he even supposed to say to that?

The man scratched his head. “You know him?”

She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “He’s spider-man, dumbass. Don’t you watch the news?”

His eyes widened. “Yooo, that’s spider-man? You’re a lot smaller than I expected.”

Peter just rolled his eyes under his suit. “Yeah. We covered that. What was your fight about?”

The girl smirked and walked close to him. He forced himself not to back away but he didn’t like the cold glint in her eyes.

“Why would we tell you?”

Pete shrugged. “So I can help you work it out? Or like knock the shit out of him if you want me to?”

The guy raised his hands in defense and started to step back. “Duuuude, no trouble, no trouble. We just had a little argument. I wasn’t actually gonna…hit her or shit.”

She shot the guy a look and made a shooing motion. He hesitated but ran off, leaving her alone with Spider-man.

He crossed his arms, watching her carefully. This wasn’t going as he expected.

“You know, Spider-man.” She said, inching forward to him. “You took longer than I thought. Assumed you’d panic at the first word he yelled at me.”

He blinked, trying to understand. “What are you talking about?”

She rolled her eyes and said nothing.

Peter glanced down the street to see the guy still running away. “This was staged? Jesus, why? Also he’s a horrible actor.” He pointed after the running guy, cringing when the man almost fell right on his face.

He stiffened when he felt something cold pressed against his temple. He glanced up at her hand. Oh. A gun, of course.

“Where is she,” the girl practically growled angrily.

Peter just blinked, confused as fuck.

“Who?”

She jammed it further into his head. “YOU KNOW WHO. WHERE IS SHE?”

He kinda just stood there. Maybe that was idiotic, he didn’t even have a bullet proof suit. But still, he didn’t really feel threatened. He could shoot a web and knock the gun out of her hand at any time.

“I promise, I don’t know who. We can play this game all night, or you can tell me who it is. Pretty please, the second option.”

She sighed, lowering the gun slightly.

“Wanda. Where is she?”

He blinked. Wanda? Why the fuck would he know where she was?

“I…I don’t know.” He raised his hands in defense as the woman’s grip on the weapon tightened. “I swear I don't. Why…. are you trying to find her? And why would I know where she is?”

“BECAUSE. You’re the same as her.”

“Not really. I’m a spider.” He said helpfully, knowing what she really meant. They were both enhanced. Which was stupid too, like what, did she think all enhanced beings had this connection with each other?

“Why are you trying to find her?” he asked again.

Her expression became cold abruptly, causing him to flinch as his whole body tensed up on its own. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a badge. Shit.

“Spider-Man, I’m with the FBI, and you’re under arrest for attempted interaction with the terrorist, Wanda Maximoff. You have the right to remain silent.”

He froze. Oh, shit.

“I never fucking spoke to her, I’ve never even met her.” He said dryly, trying to ignore his beating heart, the fact that he, Aunt May, everything he loved, was in danger right now. He couldn’t panic, just had to get out of here.

He could run, he was good at running. But how…the FBI lady was holding her gun kinda loosely now, like she didn’t see him as a threat. Okay, he could work with that. He was used to being underestimated.

Peter bit his lip and shot a web half hazardly to her gun. It didn’t even stick and she laughed. Peter just rolled his eyes and took her moment of weakness to grab the gun with his hand and quickly wrapped webs around it to crush it.

She growled at him and pulled out a knife, goosebumps on his body rising right before she lunged.

He quickly shot a web up to the rooftop, his heart thumping.

He swung onto the ground, wincing as his knees skidded across the unforgiving concrete. He was about to swing to a more discrete location when he heard someone move behind him.

He turned slowly to see a familiar yet terrifying red and yellow suit standing there. Peter didn’t really know how to feel. The people down there were the enemy right now. So was he too? His pulse beat quickly and he felt frozen.

The man’s face plate lifted and looked the spiderling up and down, an almost bored expression on the guy’s face.

“Now, do you see why I needed to talk to you?”

Peter glanced down at the streets where police and FBI cars surrounded the perimeter. The woman who had the gun on him was angrily talking on the phone, her eyes scanning the horizons for him. He cringed and stepped back so she wouldn’t see him.

“Fine.”

☆

Tony was exhausted. He spent the whole day doing damage control while still trying to protect two people who he hated. Well, not Wanda. He didn’t hate her, just mildly annoyed and pissed off at her. But Steve? His jaw clenched, thinking of Siberia, thinking of Bucky. Thinking about the video of his parents. He didn’t give a shit about Rogers.

Still, the government had their panties in a twist. Rhodey and him sat through a LOT of meetings today. They explained over and over again that they had no idea what Cap’s motives were or where they were hiding.

It was exhausting. Once again, he got sucked into problems created by a man with even less impulse control than him. Still, even if he did know where Cap was, he wouldn’t give them up. Despite…everything. Tony couldn’t give Cap up. Maybe because his father was so obsessed with him, or maybe that’s why Tony hated him. Either way, Cap had a plan and despite hating the guy, Tony trusted him. Somewhat. Less so after Siberia. But if Cap was risking his life AND Wanda’s by coming back here? Something was wrong.

Regardless, Tony was less than thrilled that Friday alerted him that the Spiderling was, guess what, pissing off the government right when he got home. He sighed and called his suit over. Damn Steve Rogers.

Now, here he was. Staring at the Spiderling who looked. Well, his suit looked like shit. And he looked cold. Tony scoffed. God, he couldn’t even line it with fleece or something? Still, now was not the time to degrade the kid. Even though he really wanted to.

Unfortunately, Pepper had given him very strict rules on how to NOT make Spider-Man freak out and run. He was to get them back to the tower with no complications.

“So. Spiderling. Let’s get going.”

The kid nodded, the eyes on his mask narrowed.

He sighed, getting ready for the inevitable fight about to happen. Sorry, Pepper. “I had a car down there waiting but it’s not safe because of all the idiots swarming the place. I’m gonna carry you to my tower, okay? I’ll fly quickly.”

The kid just rolled his eyes and shot a web at Tony. He barely had time to move before it covered his mouth. It was sticky, and unfortunately Pepper had not given Tony any coping mechanisms to control his anger, so that wasn’t great.

He wiped it off slowly, glaring. “Right. Your little web trick. Do that again and you’ll regret it, understand?”

The spiderling just shrugged. “Carry my dead body.”

“You’re gonna swing, all the way from Queens to the tower?”

Spider-man shrugged again. “Yeah, why not.”

Tony scoffed, crossing his arms, his suit clanking with the movement. “Because the whole damn state is looking for you. Because it’s a long time to swing from building to building. Because we need to be high enough so no one sees ME with YOU.”

“You’re NOT carrying me.”

“Look, I won’t…I won’t make fun of you. It’ll be quick. You can’t swing through just air all the way to Queens. We don’t know how serious they are taking this down there. We don’t know if helicopters are coming or shit.”

Tony opened his mouth in disbelief as the kid turned on his heel and started to crawl down the side of the building. What the actual fuck was he thinking?

“You said you had a car?” The spiderling simply called up to him as he completely ignored everything the man just said. Oh dear god, they were going to die.

“Kid–I…what about being discrete do you not get???” He hissed as he quickly (and as quietly as he could) flew down to meet him.

He shrugged, looking around. No one saw them, thankfully. “It’s not my fault you’re too embarrassed to be seen with me.” Spiderling said before opening the door to Happy’s car and getting into the back. Wait…how did he know that was the right car? Was the guy really that stupid, getting into a random ass car? Jesus Christ. Tony quickly put his suit away, keeping an eye over his shoulder as the head of the NYPD barked orders behind him.

Tony sat down next to him in the back, wondering if he should give the kid a safety talk about getting into stranger’s cars.

Happy looked back at them curiously. “Thought you weren’t gonna use the car.”

Tony grumbled. “Change of plans. SOMEONE apparently has no survival instincts.”

Happy glanced back at the kid sitting as far away as he could from Tony.

“Hey. Um…I’m Happy. Nice to meet you, Spider-Man.”

“Nuh uh uh, don’t call him that. He is not a man.”

The kid ignored Tony. “Nice to meet you. Happy.”

Happy looked like he was about to freak out that Spider-Man said HIS name, but after a glare from Stark, he quickly put the divider back up and started driving.

Tony adjusted his body so he was facing the little bug. “So. How’d you know this was the right car to get into?”

He just shrugged. “How’d you know the government was after me?” “Dont change the subject.”

He scoffed. “What, cause figuring out the one car hidden in an alleyway was yours after you told me you had one is more important than the fact that you just happened to show up right when the FBI tried to arrest me?”

He stared at the kid. “Um. Do you think I staged that whole almost chase scene or something? Because if you did, that would be extremely idiotic and dumb of you.”

The spider-boy just turned to stare out the (tinted) window as they passed by all the commotion. Flashlights shone in every direction.

“I don’t know what to think anymore.”

A cop flagged the car down to stop, walking over with an annoyed expression. Great. Stark couldn’t help the anger that flared in him.

Tony threw his hands in the air and hissed, “See, kid? THIS is why I wanted to just fly you over. Great job.”

Happy slid down the window. Thankfully the divider was still covering them, or Tony would have just picked up the little Spiderling and blasted through the roof of the car so fast no one would see them.

The boy said nothing, just stared straight ahead. “Go fuck yourself,” he finally whispered.

The cop shined a flashlight on Happy’s face, causing the man to wince and cover his eyes.

“Officer, I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m in a hurry and don’t have time for this. Neither does Mr. Stark, who I’m sure won’t be happy that you made me late.”

The cop’s face faltered through the one way glass divider. Tony slowly placed a hand on the kid’s knee, trying to get him to stay quiet. The kid just glared at him, mostly because he was already dead silent.

Tony didn’t notice, too focused on the guy in the window. He breathed out slowly. No one could see them together. This was a nightmare.

“Fine.” The officer finally said gruffly. “Just lower the divider and I’ll let you go.”

Tony cursed under his breath. Leaning closer to the annoyed Spiderling, he whispered in his ear. “If he lowers that, you’re gonna have to take the mask off, okay? He CANNOT see you just sitting here.” Tony hesitated and then quickly took off his suit jacket, throwing it around the kid to hide the suit. He motioned for him to take off his face covering.

Tony grunted as a sharp pain shot up his lower leg. Did the Spiderling just…kick him? Jesus Christ.

“You’re impossible.” He hissed, instead deciding to move his jacket so it was covering the kid’s head. They were fucked.

Happy was busy talking up the officer. “Sir, do you have a warrant?”

The police officer hesitated as other members of his unit started to yell at him to hurry up.

He leaned in closer to Happy through the window, sweat dripping down his forehead. “I don’t need a warrant. You’re at a crime scene. Let me see the rest of the car.”

Happy just shrugged. “How is this a crime scene?”

“It’s none of your business.”

“Well, I think it should be if it’s stopping me from getting back to work. I’m sure Mr. Stark would agree too. Should I call him?”

The cop nearly growled at Happy. Peter had to admit, Happy ate with this, this shit was impressive.

“Just…just go. Don’t tell Mr. Stark.”

Happy just smirked before he sped away. “Depends on if you make me late or not.”

☆

Peter’s head hurt as he leaned against the window of the car. Not exactly the patrol he wanted tonight. Or ever. How long would this take? He needed to be back before May came home from work. But with the investigation…he bit his lip. Could he go back? He lowered Tony’s suit jacket from his head. It had the same cinnamon smell kinda like the sweatshirt Happy gave him.

Tony Stark was still glowering, which was kind of funny and kind of terrifying. Peter rolled his eyes. Did he actually think he would take off his mask or, hell, let the guy carry him to the tower? Be so for real.

At least he wasn’t cold now.

They stayed quiet for a few minutes, Peter trying to calculate when Aunt May would be home and realize he was missing. The rooftop was far away from their apartment, he made sure of that. But still, Queens wasn’t that big.

The window divider lowered again and Happy glanced back at them. “You two okay?”

Peter just stared out the window. Mr. Stark sat stiffly, obviously annoyed but trying to reign it in. Not like it was helping much, but still. They both ignored the fact that his hand was resting on Peter’s knee and his suit jacket still over the boy.

“Yeah…” Mr. Stark looked at him and sighed, “We’re good. How long is the drive?”

“Twenty minutes. You know, they’re gonna still look into me after this. Into you. Makes no sense why one of your cars drove through Queens at 11:00pm at night.”

The man rolled his eyes. “Uhhh…I don’t know. Maybe because you were picking up my intern? You know, the guy that you pick up every single week in Queens? Obviously.”

Peter sat as still as he could. Partly to not reveal anything, also because he wanted to know what Happy was gonna say.

Happy just glanced back at them. “At night? Tony, I love you man, but that would open a whole new can of worms.”

Mr. Stark hesitated and then shrugged. “Fine. Also I don’t want Pe—” he glanced at spider-man, closing his eyes for a second before opening them. “I don’t want the kid getting involved with this.”

Peter pretended to be a fly on the wall. Or a spider on the wall. Either way, he pretended to not exist. As either form. He was just chilling. This was fine, totally casual. Sitting next to Tony Stark as spiderman while he talked about him to the driver that picked him up every day.

Tony sat up straighter, removing his hand from his knee. A shiver shook through him. It was like the man’s hand was keeping a lid on his spidey sense. And now? Now, he felt everything. Mostly fear, adrenaline from before crashing into panic. He tried to pretend he couldn’t hear every little noise the car made.

Still, he slipped off the man’s suit jacket and pushed it towards him.

Mr. Stark slid on his sunglasses, despite it being night time. “So, what’s our excuse? You know, besides that Spider-man here couldn’t follow my orders.”

Happy glanced back at them. “I don’t know, I’ll just say I was bringing the clothes to the kid. That makes sense, right? It’s like…charity. Win win.”

His stomach lurched at the word “charity” but he stayed quiet.

“Fine. But I find that pretty unbelievable considering the fact that you haven’t given him ANY of the new clothes we bought him.”

Peter frowned. He had the new hoodie. Right? Happy smirked through the rearview mirror as they merged into traffic.

“Hey, if you want it back, you can take it from him. Not my fault you randomly sprung this kid on me and made me his new personal chauffeur.”

Unease grew in his stomach.

Stark just rolled his eyes. “Have you seen the kid? He’s obsessed with it. Plus, it’s adorable. There’s no way I can just take it back, that’d be cruel. Like taking candy from a baby. I just don’t understand why you had to pick the one I wear the most.”

The realization hit him slowly. The similar scent of his suit jacket, the coffee and fancy cologne mixed with bourbon and cinnamon. Peter had been wearing Tony’s sweatshirt this whole time.

Peter’s face went red under the mask. He took back everything he said about Happy. Guy was a jerk. He remembered how he’d been wearing it a lot. How it smelled familiar. Safe. How the suit jacket also felt that way wrapped heavily around him. He breathed in heavily, trying to calm down.

He glanced at Tony as they parked, unable to stay silent.

“You should have told him it was yours. That’s a dick move.”

Tony laughed quietly, surprised that Spiderling joined in on the conversation. “Oh, most definitely not. The kid pretends to hate me, he’d be humiliated if he knew. But love how passionate you feel about this, Spiderling! Let’s channel that energy into staying away from the government.” He patted spider-man on the top of his head. Peter felt like his cheeks were gonna burn a hole through his mask.

He felt numb as they walked inside towards the elevators.

The doors opened. Shit. He forgot about this, usually taking the stairs after the first day incident. AKA the Peter holding onto Tony Stark incident. The glass walls looked even more ominous in the night time. He hesitated before getting on.

“Didn’t you say we were trying to keep a low profile? It’s kinda stupid to be in a glass elevator.”

Mr. Stark just chuckled as he walked in with Happy. “Sounds like you’re scared. Besides, it’s a one way glass. We can see out, they can’t see in. Like I’d ride in a glass elevator, do you know how many people want me dead?”

“I’m starting to guess.” The kid muttered as he stepped inside too.

He quickly shot a web at one of the walls, keeping him steady. Mr. Stark rolled his eyes and mumbled something about how hard it was to clean spider webs off of glass, but Peter didn’t care. He didn’t clutch Tony’s arm, and that was enough.

The elevator doors opened and Happy nodded to them from inside as they got out. “Gonna check the security tapes. Have a good night. Nice meeting you spider-man.”

Tony smiled gently at his friend. “Good night, Forehead of Security. Thanks again.”

It was weird, seeing him interact with a friend. With anyone really. Peter enjoyed painting the guy as an asshole but it was times like this when the black and white dichotomy didn’t quite fit him. Peter didn’t like it. Especially when the man’s eyes softened whenever he mentioned his intern.

Tony hesitated and stuck his hands in his pockets when it was just the two of them in the hallway. “One more thing. My um…wife is joining us.”

Peter’s eyebrows raised. Wife?

Mr. Stark looked away to avoid eye contact. “She’s erm…concerned how I’ve handled things with you in the past. So…she’s basically there to make sure you don’t jump out a window.”

Peter rolled his eyes, following him to the penthouse with a rising level of dread. “You mean she’s making sure you don’t make me jump out a window.”

The man scoffed and smirked down at him.“Same thing.”

Peter was lying if he said he didn’t wanna run right now. Going back in that room in the tower, after everything that happened there the last two times? Also, would there be someone else there? He chewed on his lip. He had to stop panicking, bro just escaped the FBI and was worried about a middle aged couple. He swallowed harshly, forcing himself to continue.

☆

They walked inside, the windows covered and lights dimmer than usual. It was obvious they weren’t trying to draw attention to themselves. Tony sighed, glancing down at the tense Spiderling. He had hoped telling him the truth about his and Pepper’s relationship would make him trust him more, see him as just a guy instead of this big powerful figure. So far? Did not work.

Pepper stood up and walked gracefully over to them. “You made it, good. I got worried, I thought you agreed you were just going fly over.”

Tony scoffed and shot the kid a look. “Yeah, well, like I predicted, he wasn’t exactly thrilled with that idea.”

Tony walked down to the large sofa, rolling his eyes when the Spiderling just stood there. He tugged the kid’s hand, making him follow.

She watched them sit down, frowning slightly before following them. She stood in front of the spiderling, her hand held out.

“Hi, it’s Spider-Man, right? I would offer you some water, but Mr. Stark tells me you don’t take off your mask. Is that correct?” Pepper’s tone was soft, gentle. Tony wished he could be annoyed but all he felt was admiration at her when the little bug seemed to relax slightly under her presence and shake her hand tentatively after nodding.

“Okay, sounds good. Just let me know if you need anything, my name is Pepper, okay? We can always look away while you drink something. Same if you’re hungry. Same if you want a break from the mask.”

Tony scoffed and Pepper sent him a little glare. In his opinion, she was being too nice.

“Mr. Stark is going to talk to you now. I’m just here as a third person in case it gets too much. Just pretend I’m not here, okay?”

In other words, she was there to make sure her husband behaved himself. The boy shrugged and shifted away from him.

Tony turned to him.

“Are you okay?” He asked.

The boy nodded.

Tony sighed, rubbing his head with his hands. “Gonna need more than just nods, buddy.”

“Am okay.”

“Good. Tell me what happened.”

“Was a fight. I went to stop it.”

Tony nodded and gestured for him to continue.

“She made the other guy leave. I think he was high or something. But she got even more serious and mean when he left.”

Tony glanced at Pepper, who also seemed just as perplexed by the kid’s story.

“Continue.”

“Um… she pulled out a gun and started asking me where Wanda Maximoff was. When I told her I didn’t know, she pulled out her FBI badge and said she was gonna arrest me. So I ran.”

Tony stood up abruptly, making the kid shrink back. “What do you mean she asked where Wanda was? How the hell would you know?”

“Tony.” Pepper shot him a warning glance and he cleared his throat, trying to lower his volume. He sat back down slowly but his leg bounced up and down. This was bad.

“I don’t know why,” the spiderling said, wrapping his arms around himself protectively. “I don’t know where she is.”

Tony placed a hand on the kid’s shoulder. “Of course you don’t. They just wanted to arrest you and finally came up with a reason.” He spoke gruffly.

The boy looked down quietly at his knees. “But I ran away.”

“Yeah, you did. Which was the right move. You…” Tony looked away, staring at the floor before glancing back at him. “You did everything right, handled it well.”

The Spiderling raised an eyebrow. “Did you just compliment me?”

Tony shrugged. “Look, I know you think I’m some evil guy who’s trying to hurt you, but my stance hasn’t changed since I first met you at the bank. I want to help protect you. You don’t understand what’s at play here.”

He quickly held up a hand at the way the kid's mouth immediately opened to disagree.

“Uh uh. Don’t even start. This…” he gestured around them, “is bad. Really bad, kid. You ran away from the FBI and they don’t take that lightly. I don’t…we need a plan. You may be on the run for a while.”

Peter’s muscles twitched. He couldn’t be on the run. Aunt May would worry, maybe she’d even go to the cops. Which would only lead them closer to them.

“I’m not going on the run.” He said stiffly. He glared at the two adults sharing a look.

“Kid…”

He ignored him. “No. I’m not going on the run. I have responsibilities, non spider-man related!” He tried to stand up but Tony stopped him. Pepper silently went to the other side of Peter, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Not happening, buddy.”

Peter was slowly starting to see why Pepper was here. His muscles jerked impatiently as he tried to calm down.

“I can’t…be on the run. I don’t even know what that means!!” He imagined himself swinging through city after city, always afraid of being caught. Aunt May sobbing, her heart getting worse with the stress.

Pepper placed a hand on his shoulder. “Spider-man,” her voice was too soft and too comforting, “we wouldn’t send you out to live on your own. You’d stay here, with us. Until things cool over. It would just be for a few days.”

Peter stood up before anyone could stop him. No fucking way was he staying here.

Instead of tackling him like he thought, Mr. Stark and Pepper just looked at each other again. He was starting to hate their stupid unspoken language.

Tony hesitated. “Friday, turn the TV on. Channel five, Queens.”

Peter stood there as the blinding flat screen lit up. The woman who threatened him was being interviewed. He froze.

“Yes, we believe Spider-man has intel where the fugitives Captain America and Wanda Maximoff are. He right now is a threat to this nation and any tips on where he is would be greatly appreciated. I repeat, the enhanced are not to be trusted.” She spoke into the camera as Peter felt chills run through his body.

“Do you have any leads so far?” The reporter asked.

“The car of Happy Hogan, Tony Stark’s right hand man, was found driving through the investigation scene.”

Tony groaned, muttering something about how idiotic this was and avoidable that could have been.

“Do you think Tony Stark is involved in this?”

Even though Peter knew it wasn’t possible, it felt like she was staring at him through the screen. His legs shook slightly but he didn’t dare move to sit back down on the couch.

“We aren’t sure. Based on the accords, it is unclear if Mr. Stark would have the permission to interfere with this.”

Tony cursed under his breath.

The camera turned back to the reporter, who frowned. “It seems we have a call coming in from Sergeant Ross. This is highly unexpected. Let’s hear what he has to say.”

Tony froze and stood up slowly. Peter felt his stomach turn at the sudden coldness in the room. A man, Peter assumed Ross, joined the live. He had greying hair and a mustache.

The man smiled, sending a chill down Peter’s neck. “I wanted to come on here to tell you all I trust Tony Stark. After all,” he chuckled, “He has saved us multiple times. With the government’s help, of course.”

Mr. Stark scoffed next to Peter and crossed his arms tensely.

Peter could only watch with horror as the man continued. “We kept this from the public, but I asked Tony directly to find spider-man. If he was somehow connected to this, it would be him helping us.”

The world got really distant, really fast. Like a tunnel with air rushing through so bad, he couldn’t close his eyes.

Mr. Stark stood frozen, watching him very carefully. “Friday?” He said quietly. Pepper stood up and walked quickly out of the room, grabbing her phone from the counter. Blood rushed through Peter violently, making his legs shake.

“Yes boss?” Friday replied.

Peter’s brain slowly caught up to his body and he immediately lunged towards the balcony.

Tony sighed from behind him. “Lock down the Penthouse, will you, Fri? No one in or out.”

“Right away, boss.”

Peter barely made it to the balcony door when a shield around the door slammed down, blocking the exit. The distant thudding of every door and window around him thundered in his ears.

He slammed his fist against the door, ignoring the pain that radiated when the bone connected with something far stronger than metal. He winced and stepped back as the world spun.

☆

“Jesus.” Tony muttered as he grabbed the spiderling and turned him around “Calm down, Underoos. Do you really believe that shit? That I called the FBI??? That I set you up?” He tried to stare into the kid’s eyes, which was hard, since that stupid mask was still on. Still, Tony looked down at him carefully.

He could tell the boy didn’t trust him, but he did stop trying to escape. Maybe because he gave up, maybe because a part of him knew the man wasn’t lying. Either way, Tony kept his hands on his shoulders, his thumbs now rubbing soothing circles against him.

“If I wanted to turn you in, I would have done so. Okay?”

Maybe not the best way to comfort someone, but he didn’t really care. The kid slowly relaxed, but his muscles would jerk every few seconds uncontrollably. Like he was trying to force himself to not run away.

Pepper walked back in a few minutes later, her steps less frantic.

“Tony.”

He glanced back at her. “What’s the damage?”

She shook her head, eyeing Peter. “I called all the news sources and said you aren’t taking questions right now. Natasha is aware of the situation and is trying to find more information. She believes Ross was telling the truth. He believes you were,”

Pepper sighed and clenched her jaw. “Trying to get dirt on him just like Ross ordered you too. Which is new information to me, thanks for that, honey.”

Tony winced. Maybe not telling Pepper was a bad idea. He knew that already, but still. He should have told her.

His grip on the kid loosened as he thought about his options. Okay. Not that bad, Ross still trusted him. The public still trusted him. Maybe this would even work in his favor. Maybe. If he played it right.

He let go of the Spiderling. There was nowhere for the guy to run and if he wanted to bounce off the walls trying, so be it.

To his surprise, the little bug just crawled back onto the couch and hid his face in the cushion.

Tony and Pepper looked at each other confused but neither said anything. He checked his watch. It was 1:00am. Oh, how he wished for a big glass of bourbon right about now.

To his surprise and dismay, Pepper grabbed a blanket from a closet and put it over the Spiderling. What the fuck. Even more surprising, the kid didn’t immediately push it off.

“He’s not a child,” Tony whispered to Pepper in disbelief. Despite that, his voice stayed quiet as if not to disturb him.

Pepper shrugged and gestured for Tony to follow her into the kitchen. She was nervous.

“It’s late, he’s tired. He had a long day.”

Tony rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms and leaned against the kitchen counter.

“You’re babying him.”

“Tony, I…” She glanced at him, biting her lip delicately.

“What is it, Peps?”

“I think he’s younger than twenty.”

He frowned, putting his hands in his suit pockets. “Yeah?”

She nodded, a solemn look on her face.

Tony sighed as he glanced back at the now sleeping spiderling. “Great.”

He glanced out at the window and watched snowflakes heavily trickle to the ground.

He thought of that one year, when he slid too far out on the new sled his father made for him. Part of him expected it to fly, unable to skid across cracked ice.

He shivered thinking about it. The frozen lake cracking, cold overwhelming his bones. His body gasping for air, only receiving mouthfuls of sharp water that tasted like death.

He kept imagining his dad’s arms pulling him out of the frozen lake, holding him close to his warm chest. The hope that even though Howard Stark was busy, he still cared, still made sure his boy was safe. While struggling in the water, he swore he heard his dad’s heartbeat. Now, he knew it was only his echoing loudly in his ears as it began to stop.

He ended up somehow pulling himself out of the lake with his own two trembling hands, collapsing after every last bit of strength he had in him drained out. The warm chest was the cold ground covered in snow. The heartbeat being the pulsing in his freezing fingers as he tried to stop them from turning blue.

Tony hesitated before walking over to the kid, placing his suit jacket on top of him.

Chapter Text

Tony sat in an armchair, staring at the Spiderling sleeping. Light now streamed through the windows of the tower and illuminating every last impressive piece of his home. He only had eyes for the kid covered in his suit jacket and a blanket, though.

A warm mug was pressed into his hands. Pepper.

“Thank you,” he said quietly, taking a long sip of the coffee. He was awake most of the night in his lab, trying to figure out what exactly was going on and how to proceed from here.

There were many different elements to this. Firstly, two wanted criminals for breaking the accords managed to get back into the US. He sighed, thinking about Cap and Wanda. They’ve been keeping quiet, so far at least.

Which brought him to the next element. Ross. Ross knew he couldn’t catch Steve Rogers, especially not with Wanda with him. It took Tony almost all night to wrack his brain to think why Ross would then go after spider-man.

Until it hit him. The last element. He was trying to draw Cap out by arresting a local, enhanced vigilante. He was trying to make him angry. Because when Captain America got angry, he became reckless. Vulnerable.

Spider-man was just a pawn in Ross’s game. Tony shuddered when thinking of the things they may do to him to get Cap to react.

The Spiderling started waking up, the same stupid mask still covering his face. Tony just wanted to rip it off at this point. But instead, he settled for pretending he had x-ray eyes as he stared down the kid who was now sitting up and looking around him.

“Hey, little bug. Have a good nap?” He spoke into his coffee mug with perhaps a slightly condescending tone, ignoring the glare Pepper sent at him. Tony couldn’t help but smirk when the kid noticed Tony’s suit blazer over his shoulders like a blanket. Of course, he hadn’t put it on him to embarrass him, but seeing the kid throw it on the floor like a toddler was a beautiful bonus.

He raised his eyebrows, taking a sip of his drink casually. “Watch it, Spiderling. That’s expensive.”

The boy suppressed his glare and looked down at his hands. Aww, he was embarrassed.

“Any updates?” The boy asked, not daring a look at them.

Tony sighed and put his drink down on the little table next to him. “Yeah, kid. We have updates.”

The kid shifted restlessly when he made no move to elaborate. “Okay…can I know?”

Tony smirked. He was annoying him already.

Tony leaned back in his seat, deciding to give the kid some pity. “They couldn’t find you, obviously. They’re still in Queens as an appearance but Intel says they’ve given up and are relying on the public to find you.”

The kid furrowed his brows, sitting up straighter. “Why would the public—?”

Pepper interrupted softly from behind Tony. “There are people who support you, Spider-Man. But the majority right now are scared. Even if they don’t agree with the government’s stance on the Enhanced, they will still most likely turn you in if they see you.”

The kid fiddled with those web shooters on his suit. The only thing Tony was KIND OF impressed by. Like…where did the kids even get those webs? When he first met him, he low key thought it came out of the boy’s skin.

“Um…do they know I’m here? Since that Ross guy said he told Mr. Stark to find me. Not that…” the Spiderling stuttered, “not that I think you gave me up or called the FBI just like…wondering if they made any connections yet? You know…Cause I am here.”

Tony smiled softly in response. His scattered and panicked explanation reminded him of Peter, explaining things that the boy wrongly assumed were misinterpreted.

“They don’t know you’re here, little bug.” He replied in a quiet voice. This time, no condescension.

“Ross wants to question Tony later today. We have a source from someone who says he isn’t suspicious, but I’m not sure if I believe that,” Pepper said.

Tony snorted. “Don’t let Nat hear you doubt her.” It was true, Pepper doubting the Black Widow was hilarious and slightly terrifying.

At the name ‘Nat,’ the kid on the couch froze slightly. Interesting.

He frowned, leaning forward. “Did you piss off the Black Widow too?”

The spiderling shook his head fast,. “N-no I don’t I just, think she’s kind of…scary?”

☆

Tony didn’t even try to hide his loud laugh. Peter almost flinched in response, thinking he was being made fun of, before noticing the man’s eyes twinkling. “You and me both, kid.”

Peter relaxed slightly, looking around the penthouse. “Um…can I go back now?” His voice trembled slightly. Mr. Stark didn’t respond for a second, staring down at his mug. “Back where?”

He blinked. Was the man stupid?

“Home.”

Pepper and Tony glanced at each other, their eyes hardening in the way that adults do whenever they make a decision he was not to be a part of. He felt his heart deflate slightly.

Mrs. Potts cleared her throat. “Where is home for you, spider-man?”

Pete glanced up at Tony, who was avoiding eye contact with his arms crossed. His neck prickled. Something had changed.

His voice came out far less secure than he wished. “Why? Why can’t I go back?” Anxiety swarmed in his stomach.

Tony sighed and stepped closer, still keeping a distance from the kid as he tiredly rubbed a hand across his forehead. “You could technically go back to Queens. Not be spider-man for a bit. Let everything cool down.”

Oh. Good. Peter sat up immediately, ignoring the dizziness that rushed through him like a train going off the rails. All that mattered was him going home.

“Okay. I’ll leave now.”

Before he could even take a step, there was a pressure on his shoulder gently guiding him back down to sit back down on the couch. Both adults looked weirdly worried and a dull pain went through his stomach. Peter’s eyes narrowed.

“How…how old are you?” Mr. Stark asked with his lips pressed firmly together. Bro, what a stupid ass question.

“Twenty.” He spoke perhaps a bit too rushed, maybe a tad too confident for someone in this situation.

The man’s mouth opened like he was about to say something, but Pepper interrupted before he could anger the boy even more.

She stepped forward, her eyes holding…was that pity? “You’re twenty, huh?” She spoke in a gentle, almost patronizing voice that made him flinch. She didn’t believe him. One glance at Tony confirmed he didn’t either. What the actual fuck!

“Why…I am twenty. How old do you think I am?” He tried to keep his voice calm, mature. Older. He was very thankful for his voice changer right about now.

Pepper smiled softly. “We’re just concerned.”

He glared at them. “Is it cause I’m not like six feet tall? I can’t control how tall I am, but thanks for that.”

Their argument was idiotic and even if it was true, he couldn’t stop the anger rising in him. If he could spend the rest of his life out of their line of vision, he’d be ecstatic.

“You CAN control how you respond to things,” Tony said stiffly, but oddly, without malice. He seemed genuinely concerned. Peter blinked slowly.

“Are you calling me immature?”

”Yes.”

Peter scoffed at the man’s immediate and curt reply. “Wow, I didn’t realize that saving lives was childish.”

“It is when you do it like this, kid.”

Peter breathed in sharply as his fists clenched.

Pepper stepped forward, almost as if shielding her husband from spider-man’s glare. Or maybe shielding him from Tony’s? Probably both. Either way, she looked slightly annoyed, like she was holding back the urge to call them both immature.

“Look, we would send you home if we could trust you’d be safe. You’d take a break from…this.” She gestured to his suit. “But we don’t know where you live, who you’re with, or anything about you that isn’t right here in front of us hidden under a mask. You need to give us something, we can’t just send you off home not knowing if you even have one.”

Peter felt a strange combination of feelings. One of them was anger, of course. But another one, that unfortunately was overpowering the harsh thoughts in his head, made him feel… safe. Seen.

He didn’t want that, right? Then… why did his heart flutter every time Pepper spoke softly to him? Not like he was a freak, a mutant. But like he was just…Peter.

He shook his head. Stay focused, Parker. It was morning, Aunt May could be home at any moment. He HAD to get out of here.

“So what,” he said as angrily as he could even though it was hard to remember why he was like this in the first place, “You’re gonna refuse to let me go NOT because the government wants to kill me, but because you’re fucking worried about my home life?”

Tony shrugged, finishing his coffee. “A little bit of both, bud. We can’t just send you on your way to Queens dressed as the guy the whole damn country is trying to find. You’d have to leave this tower as whoever you are behind that sorry excuse for a mask. BUT, as we know, you’re a bit of a stubborn bug. Aren’t you?”

A flinch ran through him. Okay, now he remembered what pissed him off. “Yeah, not happening. I’m not telling you shit.”

The man put his drink down, yawning lazily before continuing in a nonchalant attitude. “Yeah, thought you said that. Another reason why we can’t let you go is the whole issue of you refusing to keep in contact with me. So…I guess we’ll wait for you to crack.” He chuckled, walking towards Peter. His hand started to lower as if to pat his head. Oh hell no.

Peter’s hand shot up, grabbing the man’s wrist in a death grip right before it landed. “Don’t you fucking dare,” he growled.

Mr. Stark looked slightly surprised but eventually tilted his head with a curious expression. “Okay.” He made no move to try to get out of Peter’s grip. So he was kinda just holding Mr. Stark’s hand? He hated him so much.

Pepper rolled her eyes at their childish antics and walked away. “I’ll be monitoring the news, okay? Don’t kill each other.”

Peter was about to cuss Tony out when the man’s phone rang.

Mr. Stark easily removed the kid’s tight grip from his wrist as he sat down next to him. Peter scowled as Tony’s arm slung around him to drag him into his side. His head felt light and floaty and he tried to ignore the way his body wanted to just curl up in his arms.

Peter didn’t think shit could get any worse until he saw the name of who was calling.

May Parker.

☆

Tony frowned at the caller ID. Why would Peter’s aunt be calling him right now? His finger froze above the answer button hesitantly, wanting to step out but also not wanting to leave his Number One Flight Risk alone.

He glanced down at the Spiderling now pressed against him. He looked like he was one step away from trying to break a window. Still, he didn’t try to move away from him. Tony snorted softly, thinking about Peter always doing the same thing.

He rolled his eyes, it was always the ones that refused comfort that craved it the most. Tony forced himself to remember he was pissed off at the Spiderling, and doing this to annoy him, not comfort him. He should probably let go though. (He didn’t.) Both had to be aware that neither one of them were pulling away.

He quickly broadcasted the call on the screen. God, this was gonna be an awkward conversation. Maybe Tony could cover the Spiderling’s ears if it got personal.

He glanced at the kid, who was unusually stiff. Even more than usual. Was he scared? Jesus.

Tony rolled his eyes and tugged the kid closer to his chest as the call started to connect. “Relax, Underoos. It’s just my intern’s aunt. It’s probably nothing important.”

The kid shot him a heavy glare at that, but Tony couldn’t even process what the fuck THAT meant because a frantic voice filled the room, tensing his back and making the room feel much colder.

May’s voice sounded thick with tears and her panic-struck voice caused him to unknowingly pull the kid even closer to his side. “It’s…it’s Peter. I can’t find him, Mr. Stark. He wasn’t here when I got home and— I don’t know what to do.”

Tony gritted his teeth as he closed his eyes. Peter was missing? He suppressed the need to panic, trying to slow his racing heartbeat. Why the fuck was his first instinct to get in his Iron Man suit to make sure the kid was safe. He low key hated this protective feeling that came over him whenever Peter came up.

Still… if ANYONE hurt the kid, he’d kill them. No, that was drastic, stay calm Tony. But he’d definitely beat them up. Yeah, that was a good middle ground. A shudder went up his spine as he imagined Pete trying to defend himself. That little boy couldn’t throw a punch at a stuffed animal.

He blinked, trying to remain rational.“Right. Um, did you check his friend's house? That…Jed kid? Or what about the girl he obviously has a crush on? TJ?”

He ignored Spider-man’s fidgeting next to him.

“Shh,” he whispered, giving the kid’s shoulder a light squeeze. To comfort the weirdly scared and now annoyed spiderling? To intimidate him into being quiet? To be honest, Tony had no clue. His mind was focused on Peter.

“No…I…I called all of them and he isn’t there. Please, is he with you? I just came home from work and he hasn’t been answering my texts. After all those people came to Queens to investigate and I’m…I’m terrified something happened to him.”

Tony could sense the panic in the woman’s voice wasn’t recent. She must have been freaking out for a long time before deciding to call him. It was a last resort, no one dared to call Tony Stark for just anything. Honestly, how did she even get his number? He removed his arm from the spiderling to sit up straight. He barely noticed the spiderling shivering when he leaned away from him.

“He’s not with me,” he spoke as calmly as he could. “Are you sure there isn’t anywhere else he could be?”

A sob broke out through the phone, and they both tensed at the clear pain and panic in her voice.

She sobbed into the phone. “He’s not anywhere. The…the whole NYPD is still close to our apartment. It scares me. What if Peter somehow got wrapped up in that? I know it’s not logical but—”

Tony glanced at the Spiderling before squeezing his eyes shut to think. “What exactly do you think he’s wrapped up in?”

“Spider-man is dangerous. How do we not know he didn’t kidnap Peter or something? Should I call the police?? What if he’s using Peter as a human shield?”

Stark abruptly stood. Oh hell no. Despite his worry for Peter, blaming this shit on spider-man would only make things worse.

“NO,” he spoke firmly, “Do not call the police. Spider-man has nothing to do with Peter. We’ll find him. Just…hold on.”

He started pacing around the room, running his hand through his hair. If she called the police, the Daily Bugle wouldn’t hesitate to jump on the headline that Spider-Man was now a child abductor. He hissed lowly as he thought about it. Peter lived right by the rooftop where the whole fiasco happened so a child disappearing right when spider-man ran away from the law? It wouldn’t be hard to fabricate a story, in fact it’d be common sense for those money hungry idiots.

Then again…where the fuck was the kid? Was he in danger? If he was, Tony was putting spider-man above Peter’s safety. A sharp pain of worry went through him as he imagined the kid’s terrified face.

Pepper walked into the room with a worried expression after hearing the commotion from the other room. He felt like his head was gonna split, torn between protecting Spider-Man and Peter Parker. There had to be another way to find the kid without the police getting involved. He couldn’t leave to find Peter, not with the bug in his watch. Maybe…he could call someone.

His breathing was unsteady and far too fast. No one he didn’t know well would be able to tell it was uneven, but Pepper and the spiderling both watched him like he was about to erupt.

“I’ll…I’ll deal with it, Ms. Parker. Okay? Don’t call the police, not yet. Just…give me a minute.” He barely heard May’s hesitant acceptance before he looked at Pepper with widened eyes after putting the lady on mute.

“Peter’s missing.”

☆

Peter sat there numbly. The panicked voice of his aunt, the way Tony’s eyes shined with genuine worry, the way May already made connections between him and spider-man was too much. He just wanted to go home.

Pepper took a deep breath, trying to understand the rapid fire of events being thrown at her. “Okay. Where did they last see him?”

Tony shook his head frantically, grabbing Pepper’s shoulders. “The aunt wants to call the police. She thinks spider-man had something to do with it. They can’t—They will pounce on that. I…”

The man looked around and started to raise his hand to call his suit. Pete’s heart dropped. Oh shit. “I’m gonna go over to his place to find him. And… you know. Keep her from calling.” The boy’s eyes widened. What the actual fuck was Tony thinking?

Luckily, Pepper was also horrified by the man’s idea. “NO.” She said firmly, grabbing Tony’s arm.

Pepper looked carefully into his chocolate colored eyes as if she was desperately trying to stare some sense into him. “I’ll go over there. You stay here with Spider-Man. I’ll make sure she doesn’t call the police—” Tony tried to interrupt her but she placed a finger over his lips. “---and make sure the kid is safe. If we can’t find him, I’ll get Nat to help. Okay?”

Tony hesitated but nodded, wringing his hands. “He’s probably fine.”

Pepper nodded gently, “Of course,” before walking out the door.

Tony cursed and started pacing, bringing up multiple screens on…well Peter.

He stared at his own face reflecting back at him.

Everything was overwhelming right now. Aunt May was hurting because of him, Tony also, which was odd but it still made him feel like shit. He felt a twinge of guilt when he thought about how hard he’s made the man’s life in the last 24 hours. Or honestly? The last few weeks. Or more? Who knew how long Mr. Stark had been stalking him.

Peter heard footsteps and then the door of the penthouse slammed open. He immediately flipped behind the couch in a panic, crouching as he clutched his pounding heart.

“Boss?” A familiar voice spoke. Happy. Okay, he knew Happy. Happy was fine, a bit of a jerk with the sweatshirt incident, but still. Peter relaxed and stood back up.

Happy walked in angrily, accidentally leaving the door open. Interesting, Peter noted with a raised eyebrow.

Stark wasn’t really paying attention, still scrolling over the kid’s school records. He kept frowning when he saw how many clubs he had dropped recently. Peter just cringed quietly. Maybe dropping EVERYTHING wasn’t the best choice to avoid suspicion.

“What?” He said over his shoulder without looking.

“Pepper just called me about the kid. We have a serious problem.”

Mr. Stark glanced at Happy for the first time since he came in before immediately directing his focus back to the floating screens. “I told her to go over there..”

Peter tried not to scoff. As if Tony told her, he was about to launch himself into the sky with no plan before Pepper managed to convince him to let her go instead.

Happy hesitated but nodded. He seemed like he didn’t believe that either, but that wasn’t why he was here.

“Tony…please tell me you’ve done some sort of PR about the whole ‘taking a struggling kid under your wing and mentoring him’ type thing. Because I can’t find any, and I”m starting to get nervous.”

Peter’s mouth dropped open at the wording. Mentoring was a reach and he wasn’t fucking struggling. They were such assholes with savior complexes.

He glanced at the open door and started to edge towards it slowly.

Mr. Stark just shrugged and continued his work on stalking Peter. “Why would I?”

“Because the whole reason you did that idiotic field trip in the first place was to make you look better in the eyes of the public? People would have eaten up the story of you helping that kid.”

Tony turned to his friend. “I told you. I don’t want the kid involved in any of this. Look… why are you talking about this right now? There’s more important things going on.”

Peter bit his lip, eyeing the entrance. He moved carefully, inching closer and closer. If he could just get home, before anyone called the police and this thing blew up even further, he’d be safe. His identity would be safe, spider-man would be safe.

Happy anxiously shifted, making the hairs on Peter’s arms rise. “I got questioned by the press about why I was driving in Queens last night. Which, we expected. I told them our excuse about bringing clothes to the boy. But now, the kid’s missing. I’m worried, Tony.”

Tony crossed his arms. “Oh yeah? And why is that?”

The man scoffed as his voice grew in volume. “You can’t just hire a fifteen year old intern and expect the world not to notice. Especially if you’re using that kid as an excuse when it comes to shit with spider-man and ESPECIALLY if his fucking aunt believes the guy kidnapped him.”

A red faced Happy gestured to Tony rapidly, “Imagine. They look into the kid spider-man allegedly kidnapped, and they find out he’s your secret intern. Then what? Ross already is hesitant on trusting you, and now you’re directly involved with this case. If they come here to question you, they’re gonna find spider-man. It just…it doesn’t make sense. There’s too many connections. It all comes back to you.”

Peter froze slightly before continuing to inch to the door. ‘Too many connections’ repeated back to him in a taunting loop.

Tony scoffed and looked away. “They’re gonna find the kid. He’s probably at the store or something, he hasn’t even been missing for 24 hours yet. And besides, Ross was gonna question me regardless.”

Happy rolled his eyes, obviously not believing that. It was clear Tony didn’t either. As for Peter, bro desperately wished he was at the store. “It’s just, we’re relying on the aunt here. How long until she panics even more and calls the cops? Even with Pepper there, you can’t expect her not to worry.”

He coughed, speaking in a lower tone. “Also, is it wrong of us to stop her from seeking help from the authorities? I mean, damn, a kid has gone missing in the middle of a crime case.”

Peter imagined Aunt May’s terrified face, her already weak heart beating way too hard at the sudden disappearance of the last piece of family she had. A cramp grew in his stomach and his head felt fuzzy again like it was filled with flies. He needed to get home. Now.

Happy and Tony’s bickering continued softly in the background as he finally made it to the door. When his hand tentatively reached out to push it open the rest of the way, a familiar voice erupted from the ceiling.

“Boss, Spider-Man is attempting to leave the penthouse. Initiating locked door protocol."

The door slammed shut before he could make it out.

☆

Tony closed his eyes in annoyance at the kid. Like Tony was gonna actually let him escape. Again.

“Thanks, Friday,” he said as calmly as he could regarding the circumstances. He turned to Happy. “Just, calm down. Keep me updated. I’ll…I’ll fix this. Just leave. Also, great job for leaving the door open.”

He grabbed his blazer and pulled it on, adjusting his tie and sliding his sunglasses over his eyes before strolling over to the Spiderling. Okay, maybe he didn’t need to do all that, but it couldn’t hurt to look intimidating. Also, he wanted to be ready. For Ross or for anyone to dare to question him. Maybe he just wanted to feel in control.

The man didn’t answer, just looked down at his feet. Good. Tony rolled his eyes as he looked down at the boy, his hand surprisingly fitting easily around the boy’s arm. Huh. He was smaller than he thought. Interesting. How did someone with strength like Captain America have little to no muscles?

Happy hesitated and then turned to leave the room to prevent any further disruptions. “I’m just gonna…” he whispered to his friend before he slammed the door closed, side-eying spider-man nervously.

“Incoming call from Pepper Potts, would you like me to answer it?”

Tony nodded, still watching the kid curiously. “Go ahead.”

Pepper’s voice echoed around the penthouse. She was whispering, which was never a good sign. “Tony…”

“What’s up, Pepps?”

“She…she’s gonna call the police.”

He cursed under his breath.

“So you’re telling me you can hack into Obadiah Stane’s computer, but you can’t convince a middle aged woman to wait a few minutes to call the police??”

“Tony, we found blood on the carpet of the boy’s room. I think. I think the police need to be involved. This is serious, honey.” Pepper sounded unsure. Scared? Either way, his muscles involuntarily tensed and his grip on the Spiderling got a bit tighter as she spoke.

Tony’s heart stopped in between the motions of breathing. It felt like air was pouring over his head, too much to breathe in at all. Why the fuck was there blood on Parker’s carpet? He needed to be there, to find him but—

Shutting his eyes, he tried to not suffocate on the air no longer entering his lungs.

Fuck. This was bad. “Call Nat, Pepper.”

“I don’t know…she’s trying to talk down Ross right now. I know you care about Peter, but I doubt she’d leave her current job to find your intern.” She hesitated. Natasha Romanoff and Pepper Potts didn’t exactly have a relationship built on trust, but this felt like something more.

Tony gritted his teeth and his hand clenched even more unknowingly at the Spiderling’s arm. “I don’t care. Call Nat. Tell her to drop everything and find the kid.” He hesitated and quickly added, “You know…because of spider-man. This affects spider-man.”

Jesus Christ, this was a fucking mess. “Pepps?” he asked softly.

“Hm?”

“How much…how much blood was on his carpet?”

Silence.

“Pepper,” he said more firmly, possibly more desperately, “How much blood?”

“A lot, Tony.” Her voice was unnaturally gruff, “It was very light, someone obviously tried to clean it. I only noticed it because you try to hide this kind of thing from me every day. It’s very light but it’s a lot.”

He let go of Siderling and used his fingers to widen open the window on the call, making it so he could see Pepper’s face. She looked tired, the bags under her eyes reflecting the events that transpired in the last 24 hours. Tony’s heart clenched.

She smiled tentatively at him. “I’ll call Natasha, honey. Stay with spider-man. I’m…I’m not accusing him of anything but it is suspicious that Peter went missing right as he did.”

What the fuck was that supposed to mean? Tony rolled his eyes. “Yeah, except we have the dude with us and no Peter. I think we can PROBABLY cross off the kidnapping option. Unless you’re implying he killed the boy—”

Pepper shook her head slightly, looking around like there were ears on the walls. “I’ll talk to you later, Tony. I’m calling Natasha. Please, just keep an eye on him.” She hung up.

☆

Pepper’s words rang in Peter’s head long after the call had ended. Did she…did she know? Because Mr. Stark was right, what the fuck was she implying?

He was so focused on panicking that he didn’t notice Tony’s glare until he happened to glance up. Oh. Shit. Did he really think he killed Peter Parker? This whole situation was weird. Bizarre and fucked up and Peter low key didn’t give a shit anymore. Things had gotten so out of hand he low key expected to wake up in his bed any second from now.

Tony raised his arm while maintaining strict eye contact, his eyes cold and piercing. The pieces of his Iron Man suit flew over to him and attached sharply, covering his whole body before finally covering the intense glare the man was giving Peter.

Peter’s eyes widened and flipped backwards to keep some distance as the face plate closed. Was Iron Man gonna beat him up? He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to think. He didn’t really wanna be beaten up by Iron Man. Bro had aluminum steel arms and he only had web shooters that were probably gonna be empty soon. There was no way Mr. Stark thought he killed Peter. That…that would be insane. But why the fuck would he suit up if he didn’t think he was a threat?

To his surprise, Mr. Stark didn’t lunge at Peter. He didn’t start choking him to death or pulling off his mask to beat his face into a pulp. No, instead he just turned quickly on his heel and started walking to the balcony, throwing open the door, glass shattering against the wall. What the actual fuck was going on.

Peter watched numbly as Iron Man’s thrusters fired up before he flew off into the distance. Peter blinked, and quickly shot a web at the door right before it closed and locked him in again. Dude, what?

He glanced up at the ceiling as he slowly made his way to the door. “Friday?”

“Yes, Spider-Man?”

“Where’s Iron Man going?”

“He’s headed for Peter Parker’s apartment.”

Right. Makes sense. Kind of. No, it really didn’t. Why the fuck was Mr. Stark so worried about him? Bro just abandoned spider-man, who if he was caught would literally throw the world into chaos, just to help this intern he only met a few days ago. Peter had mixed feelings.

He swallowed stiffly, tensing his arms. “I’m…I’m gonna leave, Friday. I need you not to tell him or try to lock the door on me.”

Silence. Peter waited nervously as he stood in front of the slightly ajar door.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that, Spider-Man. My orders are to follow Mr. Stark’s protocol and he has made it very clear you are not to leave.”

He swallowed roughly, trying to keep his thoughts straight. Would Mr. Stark even come back if Friday told him he escaped?

“You have to. It’s for his own safety, like Mr. Stark is obviously not in the right mental space right now.” Peter’s voice grew more confident as he babbled on, “He just left me here. That’s stupid and he isn’t thinking straight. That Ross guy could come any second! Didn’t Mrs. Potts say he was gonna come to the tower later? I’m in danger here, Fri!”

Friday’s voice chimed through a few, tense seconds later. Peter brightened up. Did the AI actually fall for it?

“It appears someone has hacked into my system.” Oh.

“WHAT?” Peter looked around, horrified. What the fuck did that mean???? Didn’t Tony like design Friday?? How could she get hacked—

“The Black Widow will not allow me to prevent you from leaving. However, I must warn you. Mr. Stark will be very unhappy if you leave the tower. I sincerely hope you will heed this warning and know this is not in your best interest.”

Peter barely understood that last part as he pressed his middle and ring fingers into his palm with his thumb, pointer, and pinkie fingers pointing to the horizon.

Chapter Text

Before Peter could shoot a single web from his wrist, his headset turned on with a click. He froze. No one had access to that yet, not even Ned.

“Hey, little bug,” a voice slowly taunted him. He breathed in shakily. The Black Widow.

“Hi,” he mumbled.

A bunch of drawers opened and slammed closed. “I like your monkey stuffed animal. It’s cute,” she said casually. “And your notebook of your web fluid formulas, very nice. Not hidden very well, I must say.”

He flinched. Okay, so she was in his room. That was fine. This was fine. He low key had the urge to ask her not to hurt him (as in his monkey) but decided painfully to ignore her obvious bait at teasing him. Taunting him? Not like it was a big deal that a trained assassin was holding the one thing that brought him comfort. Pfft. This was fine.

“Thanks. Is um…Iron Man there?”

She laughed, the sound made him shiver as it reverberated through his eardrums. “Not yet. Which brings me to you, Peter Parker.” She said his first and last name sharply, each syllable carefully crafted.

He shifted from one foot to the other uncomfortably, squeezing his eyes shut. “Great. Me.” Don't ask about the monkey, don’t ask about the monkey. It was kind of sad he was more worried about his stuffed animal than the web fluid he’s been working on perfecting for the past year.

“Let me guess. You’re standing on Stark’s balcony, about to flee with absolutely no plan, is that right?”

God, she was annoying. He almost wanted to deny it out of annoyance. Like, shut up, just ‘cause you’re a spy, doesn’t mean you can fucking infer things about everyone all the time. “Yeah. So?”

“So…” her voice drawled. “I’m here to tell you that you have…” Peter imagined her glancing at her watch. “Maybe two minutes before Happy figures out his unstable best friend slash boss left the wanted criminal spider-man alone in his mansion.”

Her tone turned ice cold as rain started to leak out of the clouds.“You’re going to follow my instructions exactly how and when I say them and I promise I’ll get you out of here. Understand?”

Peter nodded before remembering she wasn’t actually standing there next to him. “Yeah. Okay. Will this…involve me revealing my identity to anyone?”

Behind him, he heard footsteps going up the stairs. Happy. He moved closer to the edge of the balcony.

A scoff came through his earpiece. “I assure you, this isn’t some master plan to force you to act mature for once. You are not my priority, just my current mission.”

The footsteps got closer and he swallowed roughly at her blunt response. “Okay, that’s a bit harsh. How…how can I trust you? You know, that you won’t like tell Mr. Stark or anything.”

“Parker, you have a lot more to worry about than me telling a narcissistic billionaire with a savior complex your little secret. Did you forget you’re on the run from the FBI?”

His face brightened. “Hey, I think he has a savior complex too! Wow, we have so much in common.”

Silence. Okay, so Natasha didn’t like avoidance techniques.

“Right um…” he chewed on his lip, “FBI. I’ll follow your plan, what do I do first?”

A door slammed from her end. He heard voices but couldn’t tell who.

“Hm, well it looks like your dad finally joined the party, Parker. So, here’s the plan. Swing down to the alleyway across the tower. Take off your suit. You have normal clothes under it, right?”

He blinked as he stretched his wrist out. “N-no.”

She groaned. “Okay, I hid some clothes just in case behind a dumpster. Get them, put them on, and hide your suit in exactly the same place. I’ll pick it up later. Go. Now.”

Blinking, he tried to understand what the fuck any of this meant. Then he heard a distant voice taking over his apartment. Mr. Stark. Oh. His heart fell. That’s what she meant by “dad”.

Before he could even process what was happening, the door to the penthouse started to jiggle.

“Natasha?”

“Goodbye, Peter.”

His headset went silent. He swung off the balcony right before Happy opened the penthouse door.

☆

Tony barged into the apartment, nearly breaking the door with the amount of force he threw it into the wall.

Pepper wasn’t exactly happy that he was here, in fact— she looked like a vein was about to burst.

May hadn’t been jumping up and down either. Well, she almost fell down, if that counted. After she nearly fainted. He cringed. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. Especially with his whole flight risk problem back at the tower, who he just brilliantly decided to leave alone.

He ignored Pepper’s death glare as he walked to the kid’s room, scanning the floor for blood.

“Wow,” Natasha snorted as she leaned against the kid’s bed, making him jump. “You should check your surroundings whenever you walk into a crime scene. You’ll never get into the Avenger initiative if you keep messing up like this.”

God, she was insufferable. “Haha, good joke.” He stepped forward, looking her up and down. “First of all, this isn’t a crime scene. Second of all, how in the hell did you get here so fast? Pepper literally just called you.”

She smirked. “I could ask the same question to you. Isn’t it irresponsible to leave your little bug all alone?”

Tony didn’t even question how she knew spider-man was at the tower. She was Natasha, of course she knew. “Look, this is more important. And it’s fine, Friday will watch the kid.”

“You have got to be kidding me.” An angry voice from behind him said. Uh oh. Pepper. This was an ambush.

He turned to her smiling. “Hi honey.” This was fine.

She simply gave him a death glare as she poked him in the chest. “You sent ME to deal with this. It escalated, and you said to call Natasha. I did. So tell me, Tony. Why the hell are you here right now, do you understand how irresponsible this is?”

He shrugged. “Technically, you volunteered to deal with this. I wanted to go.”

Natasha snorted from behind them. “You two are so much alike.”

What the fuck was that supposed to mean? “Me and Pepper?”

She raised her eyebrows with a smirk. “Sure.”

“What—”

“DON’T change the topic, Anthony Edward Stark.” Pepper looked livid. “Ask Friday if he’s still there.”

Oh god, Pepper used his full name. “Of course he’s still there, this is crazy.”

“ASK.”

He grumbled into his watch. “Hey Fri? Can you tell us that the kid did not, in fact, somehow escape?”

Silence. And then… “I’m sorry, boss. Redacted escaped exactly two minutes and twelve seconds ago due to a security breach.”

What the actual fuck.

Natasha frowned. “Security breach? That’s not good.”

Pepper just face palmed.

“Who hacked into it?”

“The hacker hid their identity from you. Apologies.”

He turned slowly to Natasha, who was standing there with an innocent look on her face. She was the only one who had ever hacked into his tech before, so unless Spider-man had some hidden tricks up his onesie…“You did this.” Anger rose in his chest.

She shrugged. “Can’t prove it. Personally? I think it was the bug.”

“I can prove it.”

“No, you can’t.”

Pepper groaned. “Can we focus on the fact that he escaped?”

“W-who escaped?” May whispered from behind them after coming to see what the commotion was all about.

The room went silent real fast. Shit. Think, Stark.

“My puppy,” he blurted out. “He’s always running from me. But he loves me…just needs a leash or something.”

Pepper scoffed. He shot her a glare.

“Sorry about your puppy,” Natasha said softly. Oh my god— did she have fucking tears in her eyes? She was actually horrible.

He tried to not completely look like he hated her. “It’s…fine. I’ll find him, I always do.”

Natasha sighed softly, shaking her head. “It really is quite sad, isn’t it? Tony lost his puppy, and May lost her nephew. Really makes you think, doesn’t it?” She stared right at him during the last part.

Tony blinked, not understanding what the fuck she was getting at. Pepper just looked uncomfortable.

“I’m…I don’t know what to think anymore.” The exhausted May Parker muttered, not realizing the tension between them.

A frown traced her lips as Natasha gracefully touched the woman’s shoulder. “Oh, you are so brave. It must be horrible. Especially after what happened last night, I can’t even imagine how terrified you are.”

Tony rolled his eyes. Why the fuck was she making the lady even more scared? It served no purpose. Well, none of his purposes…what was she up to?

“I really wish you’d let me call 911. I appreciate you all helping, but…” May gestured hopelessly around her.

To Tony’s horror, Nat smiled softly, bringing the woman close and handing her a phone. “I agree. This has gone on long enough, we need to get the authorities involved.”

☆

Peter felt like an idiot wearing the outfit Natasha had picked for him. Hello kitty pajama pants and a ‘I survived nyc’ tshirt. It was idiotic.

It didn’t help that rain poured down against him, his pants dragging through every puddle he tried to avoid. Plus, it was fucking cold. It was already winter in New York that just made it ten times worse, especially when the Black Widow gave him a short sleeve shirt made of polyester.

His phone rang this time. “You dressed?”

“Yeah,” he grumbled.

“Good. Mess up your hair and look upset.”

Peter blinked. “What?”

She didn’t respond. He groaned and shoved his hands through his hair a few times.

“Here’s your story, little bug, you’re depressed because your aunt is dying.”

Peter scowled. “She’s not—”

She cut him off immediately.“Quiet and listen.”

He shivered, closing his mouth.

“You’re not in a good place, okay? When the sirens went off near your home, you got scared and ran. You ran to find your beloved Tony, but got lost on the way to the tower. Now you’re here, upset. Get it?”

He frowned. “I don’t think that’s realistic. Why would I try to find Mr. Stark? And why would I get scared at a siren? No offense. Just…doesn’t seem believable.”

He could practically see Natasha rolling her eyes.

“Kid, I know for a fact you flinch at loud noises and I know for a fact you’ve cried into Tony’s arms on multiple occasions.”

His cheeks turned red as his mouth hung open. She was mean. He flexed his fingers around the phone, trying to regain some feeling in them.

“Whatever.”

“Good, glad we’re on the same page. Look, there are too many connections between you and spider-man. We need to get the NYPD and FBI off your tracks.”

“Okay.”

“Call Tony. Crying.”

He froze. “W-why?” He knew she said act upset, but crying?

“People are less likely to suspect a scared little boy of having powers.”

He hated that it made sense. “Okay but isn’t there—?”

“You’re scared, okay? You’re calling him because he makes you feel safe. He’s gonna come get you and you’re going to cling to him because you’re a terrified kid who has no ability to defend himself.”

She sighed. “Remember, your aunt, Tony, Pepper, the NYPD, hell the FBI, will be listening to this. Make it believable. We need to remove as many connections you have to spider-man as possible.”

“Uh huh.” He fidgeted with his phone uncomfortably. “Nat?”

“What’s up?”

“You know how we both bonded over the fact that Mr. Stark has that annoying savior complex?”

She snorted. “I wouldn’t say bonded. But go on.”

Peter bit his lip. “This is just gonna make it worse. He already sees me as this little kid…I don’t want him…I don’t need this.”

“Again, this has the purpose of getting the FBI away from Peter Parker. Not Peter Parker away from Tony Stark. Understand?”

Not really. This was stupid. “I guess.” A sharp pain went through his fingers and it was hard to think. He couldn’t tell if they were turning blue or not.

She stayed silent for a few moments. He low key began to think she hung up on him.

“Tony’s a good guy,” she said quietly. “A savior complex just means he’s an idiot with how much he’ll do to protect you.”

He sank down against the dumpster, wrapping his arms around himself in a failed effort to preserve body heat. “I don’t even know him.”

“He knows you.”

“No, he doesn’t.” Peter rubbed his hand over his face, his words slurring. Mr. Stark didn’t know shit. He had no idea the things he’s done. If he did, he wouldn’t even pick up the phone. Peter shivered, the rain relentless.

“...Just call him, kid.”

The line went silent.

He sniffed and wiped his eyes shakily. He couldn’t do this. He pressed his fingers against his eyes to stop the tears from rolling down his cheeks, before curling up into a tight ball.

He slowly typed in the numbers he wished to forget, cringing when the man picked up almost immediately.

“Pete? Where are you? Are you okay?” The man’s voice was rough, almost frantic.

All he had to say was two words. I’m lost. Tears already ran down his cheeks so he already looked the part. He couldn’t. Couldn't bring himself to ask Tony Stark for help. It was admitting defeat.

“Peter, answer me. I hear rain. Are you outside?”

He stayed curled up the ground, letting the rough gravel press into his cheek. It was all too much.

“Can you turn your camera on for me, Pete?”

☆

After a few seconds, Tony saw a blurry Peter curled up and shivering next to a dumpster. Everything about him looked wet, his clothes, his hair, his shoes. Was he wearing…flip flops? Tony’s heart sank. He must be freezing.

“Pete? Can you see me?”

The boy nodded, his eyes seeming to soften as they met Tony’s.

“Mhm.”

“Good job, buddy,” he said, watching Pepper trace the call out of the corner of his eye. “Can you tell me what happened? Do you know where you are?”

The boy shook his head, taking a shaky breath before coughing from the cold. Jesus. Tony raised his elbow, his suit assembling around him.

“Th-there were sirens. Too loud. Ran.” His voice shook heavily with each syllable. It was hard to hear him over the sound of the rain.

Tony frowned. He knew the kid was skittish and hated loud noises, but running away?

“And you got lost?”

“Mm…yeah.” He sniffed, curling up even more on the harsh gravel. “It started to get dark and rainy and I tried to find your tower but I couldn’t and now I’m cold.”

“Shh, you're okay, buddy. Just take some deep breaths for me.” He forced his voice to stay calm even though the screen had collected so many water droplets, Tony could barely make out Peter. “We’re gonna get you home, okay? Are you hurt?”

Peter’s voice cracked in fear, his eyes shooting up with an indescribable terror. “ “W-what do you mean we? They’re gonna hurt me—”Any chance of his breathing slowing was now futile.

He sounded so small that Tony’s heart nearly broke in two. Who was he so afraid of? Who did he think was gonna hurt him? Tony swallowed roughly. He’s never seen him like this. Yeah, upset, but even then the kid would try to hide it under layers of sarcasm and avoidance. This felt raw.

“Hey, hey, calm down little guy. I meant me, no one else. I’m gonna come get you and bring you home where you’ll be safe and warm. Just me and you, bud. Doesn’t that sound nice?”

The boy’s whole body shook, his eyes glassy. “Okay. Just us?” Tony could see a hinge of blue covering his skin.

Friday buzzed, pinning a location on the map.

He let out a shaky sigh of relief.

“Just us, baby. I’m on my way right now. Are you hurt? Bleeding?”

“Cold.”

Tony sighed as Friday led him to the kid’s window. “I know bud, it’s raining pretty hard, isn’t it? Just stay there, I’m coming.”

The lock was already undone, which was weird for a room this high up, especially in the winter. He shook his head, trying to focus as his faceplate slid back on.

☆

Peter shut his eyes and banged his head against the dumpster. He just wanted this to end. The plan made no sense, it had so many holes. Why would he call Mr. Stark and not Aunt May? Why didn’t he answer any of their calls? Could Natasha Romanoff even make a plan with holes?

He was cold and scared and he hated how naturally the panic came to him during the call. He hated how his heart slowed down when he saw the man’s face like it actually meant something to him. How he opened his mouth to lie and the truth poured out of his mouth like water.

“How you doing, kid?” Tony said through the phone. If he heard or saw him hit his head against the cold, metal dumpster, he didn’t say anything.

Peter just shivered painfully and hid his face in his knees. All he felt was the overwhelming terror he’s experienced in the last 24 hours.

The gun pressed to his head, demanding to know where Wanda Maximoff was. His barely successful escape, immediately thrown into another panic, another danger. Most importantly, Aunt May sobbing to Mr. Stark about him.

“You don’t have to come get me,” he mumbled. “M’ okay.”

“I know you're okay, kid. I’m gonna come just in case, I promise.”

Peter’s eyes fluttered shut as coldness pierced through his skin with each taunting raindrop. It was raining when Uncle Ben died too. He remembered being cold, colder than this.

He shivered, thinking of the hospital after Uncle Ben got shot. The doctor who screamed at him when he wouldn’t leave the man’s side. The nurses who dragged him as they wheeled the man away. He still remembered the bitter, uncaring feeling of their hands. How sore his throat felt from the unheard screaming.

How Aunt May broke down at the police, asking why they didn’t do anything. Even though…it was him who didn’t do anything.

The wind cut into every enhanced and nonenhanced nerve he had.

His breathing got shallow, barely remembering if he was wearing his mask or not. Was he spider-man or Peter right now? Did it even matter?

He hummed to himself as he rocked back and forth. Maybe Natasha did this on purpose, making him sit in the icy rain with no jacket. Maybe Tony wasn’t even coming and she was just punishing him. Maybe he was already locked in a lab with tubes attached to his chest, the government trying to figure out what makes him such a freak. “Mr. Stark?” he asked softly, playing with the strings on his pajama pants.

“What’s up, Peter?” The man’s voice was soft and made him even sleepier.

“Eyes heavy.” His whole body felt cold and weighed down with water.

“Can you keep them open for me? Just until I get there, then you can sleep, I promise.”

“Sleepy.”

“I know bud, keep talking to me okay? I’m almost there.”

He passed out a few seconds later.

☆

Peter was huddled in an alleyway, his arms around his body as his face pressed into the concrete ground. Stark flew down and landed beside him. He looked so small and cold.

“Found him,” Tony said softly to Pepper as he checked the kid’s pulse.

She breathed a sigh of relief. “Is he okay?”

He swallowed, watching the boy’s chest slowly move up and down.“Fri?"

“He’s unconscious but not in any serious condition. I recommend getting him out of the rain before the first stages of hypothermia starts.”

“Well, there you go,” he muttered, picking up the boy.

“It’s just me and Nat here, the officer left.”

Tony frowned. “What about May?” He raised a hand to shield the kid from the rain the best he could.

“She’s um… she’s actually going with the officer. To the station.”

Peter suddenly stirred and opened his eyes halfway sleepily. “Aunt May going to police?”

Tony froze. There was no way Pete actually heard that from his helmet.

“Shh, don’t worry about it, go back to sleep,” he murmured.

He quickly turned the volume down. Did Peter have super hearing or something?

“Why is she at the station?” He asked quietly once the kid’s eyes closed.

“Tony… there was a blood stain on his carpet. He’s far too skinny for his age and you’ve said he has bruises covering his skin. Think about it, someone has to be held responsible. And his Aunt does leave him alone for long periods of time because of work…”

The boy looked so small in his arms. Someone had to take the blame. Even if May didn’t hurt him, she still wasn’t keeping an eye on him. Tonight proved it.

Tony forced his hands to stop shaking. The poor kid. He was trying to keep CPS away from him, but…maybe that was a mistake. Maybe if he noticed the stains earlier, he could have done something.

He cradled Peter in his arms, quickly checking for wounds. He needed to get him home.

“We’re coming.”

He was about to take off when he noticed a raised scar on the kid’s neck. It had two indentations that looked almost like a bite mark. Without thinking he brushed his thumb over it.

The kid gasped sharply, goosebumps spreading over him. What the hell? Tony bit his lip. Maybe the kid was just skittish, he always was. Still, the way the kid jerked so violently wasn’t normal, even for Peter.

Maybe it was a fluke. The sleeping Peter’s hand abruptly flew up and grabbed the man’s wrist right before he tried touching it again.

“What the…” he muttered, failing to pry the kid’s fingers away from him. Since when was he so strong? Tony assembled his armor back over his hand and wrenched it away from the still sleeping Peter.

Okay…that was. Weird, to say the least. Tony shook his head, flying the kid home. The kid had super hearing and super reflexes, apparently. Totally normal.

☆

Pete woke up in his bed. It was like nothing had happened. For a second, he believed it. The FBI wasn’t after him, he didn’t just get carried home by Mr. Stark.

Although, the lingering coldness on his skin said otherwise.

At least he wasn’t wearing those stupid hello kitty pajama pants anymore! He vaguely remembered Mrs. Potts handed him warm clothes and blankets to change into before he collapsed under his covers. He was very pleased to see Natasha hadn’t tortured his monkey.

Each time he asked where May was, Mrs. Potts redirected his question until he got frustrated with asking.

And Mr. Stark was nowhere to be seen.

Which made sense, the man probably made sure he was safe and then had bigger things to deal with. Like Spider-man, or Cap and Wanda. He bit his lip, trying to hide the small pang of disappointment when he woke up with an empty spot next to his bed.

Why wasn’t he happy that Mr. Stark left?? Didn’t he hate him? He pressed his head into his pillow, groaning.

The front door slammed and Peter sat up. He really hoped it was Aunt May.

Instead heavy footsteps that were definitely not his aunt’s walked towards his door. Peter slumped back down. He wanted his aunt.

“Hey, Pete,” Tony said softly, opening the door.

“Are you feeling better?” Tony kneeled in front of him.

The boy rubbed his eyes sleepily as he tried to focus on the man in front of him.

“Confused,” he whispered. It was true. He had this horrible feeling something bad happened to May and no one was telling him.

Tony nodded. “I know buddy. Do you remember what happened?”

Of course Peter did. How could he forget the gun pressed to his forehead just last night?

“No, I just remember being cold and wet.”

“Yeah. You got lost out in the rain, you were in pretty bad shape.”

“Oh…” he drew his arms around himself in an effort to look ashamed. Natasha did say to play the part, didn’t she? “Was I gonna die?”

Tony chuckled and brushed hair out of Pete’s eyes. “No, buddy. You were just cold. We had a doctor come to check on you—”

Wait. WHAT? He sat up sharply. Tony nearly flinched back.

“Wh-what do you mean, a doctor?” He asked frantically. If she did any tests—or even looked at him too closely...

The man just tilted his head curiously. Like he didn’t just fucking commend Peter to doom. “Yeah, it was a friend of mine, Dr. Helen Cho. I was here the whole time, don’t worry.”

Peter ignored the fact that Mr. Stark thought simply his own presence would comfort him. He chewed on the inside of his cheek. “I…What did she do????”

“Uhh, she just made sure you didn’t have hypothermia.” He gestured. “Which you don’t, by the way.”

He tried not to roll his eyes. Was he supposed to be thankful?

“Did she do anything else?”

Mr. Stark shrugged, scratching his head. “Yeah, I mean she took some blood. Not a lot. Mostly to test to see if you’re eating enough.”

No. His whole body went rigid. “You can’t just do that, I didn’t…I didn’t consent to a blood test. You…you have to get rid of it.” This couldn’t fucking happen. He didn’t even realize his leg bounced up and down rapidly until the man placed a hand on his knee to still it.

Tony didn’t even have the decency to look apologetic, which pissed him off even more. “You’re a minor, Pete. Your Aunt gave us permission.”

“BULLSHIT.” He pressed his hands to his eyes, trying to calm down. He was tired of being treated like a fucking child all the time.

Tony looked shocked that he actually raised his voice at him. Peter didn’t give a shit. Okay maybe he gave a little shit at how hurt Tony looked, but it didn’t matter. Not in the long run, not when healthcare had access to his enhanced DNA.

☆

“Erm,” the man awkwardly scratched his head. “Okay. No need to get all fussy over it.”

Tony stared at the furious little boy sitting in front of him. He didn’t get what the big deal was. Was he afraid of needles or something? “Can I…can I ask why you’re so upset about this?”

The boy wrapped his arms around himself anxiously. “The hospital can’t know. Please, sir. They can’t.” He looked up at him with wide eyes.

Tony blinked. “Dr. Cho isn’t connected to the hospital, kid. She wasn’t going to send the results to them anyways.”

Natasha had made sure of that, she blocked the door when Tony tried to carry the kid to the emergency room. Said something about Tony bringing a kid into the hospital wasn’t exactly keeping the whole thing quiet. He had to agree.

The kid still looked panicked. “Please, Mr. Stark. Promise me. Promise you’ll tell her to destroy my blood. Please…I. I can’t.” His voice broke with each word and Tony half expected the kid to start crying.

He frowned. “Is it because you’re sick? Do you not want me to know?”

Maybe Peter was scared Mr. Stark would insist on paying for the treatment. He rolled his eyes. Damn right he would pay for it. If the kid stopped being stubborn for one damn second…

The boy blushed and shook his head desperately. “No, I’m not sick, I promise. I just really don’t need anyone having my blood, please Mr. Stark. Promise you’ll make her destroy it.”

He sighed, wringing his hands against each other. “It’s not that big of a deal—”

Tony paused as the kid’s breathing escalated, uneven and shallow. Honestly? He couldn’t tell if Peter was faking it but either way he really didn’t know how to deal with this kid.

He raised his hands, just wanting him to stop tweaking out. “Fine. I promise. I’ll get Helen to get rid of it.”

Peter calmed down almost immediately. Yep. He was totally manipulating him. That was just mean. And smart…he couldn’t help but feel a little proud. But mostly concerned.

“Okay. Thank you, Mr. Stark.”

He grumbled, rubbing a hand against his face tiredly. “Yeah yeah, don’t mention it.”

Pepper poked her head in. “Hey… Nat wants to speak with you.” Tony started to stand up, ignoring the anxious look on Peter’s face. Before he even got off the bed, the Black Widow came waltzing in like she owned the damn place.

Peter stiffened, shuffling close to Tony. He didn’t blame him. He placed a strong hand on Peter’s back. “You’re okay,” he whispered. “I’m here.”

He turned to Nat. “Hey.”

The spy crossed her arms, glancing at the kid practically clinging to Stark.

“Hey, yourself. I wanted to update you. I handled Ross, set him up on a wild goose hunt which will lead nowhere.” She tilted her head, a look of annoyance flashing in her eyes. “Of course, we’ve lost our lead because of you, so who knows who will find him first.” She didn’t imply who him was. He breathed a small side of relief, at least she was kinda trying to keep it from Peter.

Still. Tony massaged his temple. This…was not the best place to be having this conversation.

Tony brushed the kid’s hair out of his eyes. “It’s fine, I’ll…I’ll find him. Thanks for dealing with that…and dropping everything to help Peter. We really appreciate it.”

He ignored the kid wiggling uncomfortably next to him. Okay HE really appreciated it.

He started to stand up. “Have you…located him? We can go into the other room to talk about it—” He really did not want Peter hearing about spider-man. If the kid knew he risked everything just to help him, he’d feel like shit. Plus, Peter couldn’t be involved in this shit, Tony wouldn’t allow it.

Before he could even finish his sentence Natasha chucked a bundle of blue and red fabric at Tony. No, not at Tony. At Peter’s face.

☆

Peter’s reflexes went off and he caught it before it slammed into him. What the hell? Was this his…

The man grabbed it from him angrily. That…it couldn’t have been.

“W-what was that? What do you have???” Peter’s breath quickened. It couldn’t be, why would it be here? But yet, the unmistakable blue and red onesie stared back at him in Mr. Stark’s hands.

“W-why do you have that? Sir? Why is that here?”

“Shh,” the man soothed. “It’s nothing important, just some grown up stuff.” Peter glared at him, he didn’t need fucking reassurance like he was a baby. He needed his suit. And to know why the fuck Natasha brought it HERE.

Natasha’s expression betrayed nothing as she kept her eyes on Tony. “Spider-man won’t be going out, at least for a while. You’re welcome.”

Mr. Stark rose slowly from the bed, ignoring a horrified Peter.

“Nat?” Mr. Stark said calmly, although the fire in his eyes suggested a very different tone.

“Yes, dear?”

“Can I talk to you outside?”

Peter stood up too, his fists clenched. “Why is that here???? TELL ME.” Maybe his voice sounded too angry for a random bystander, but adrenaline pumped through his veins so violently he didn’t care.

She did say she’d get his suit once he hid it…Oh god, why did he trust her? He didn’t, did he? She left him in the cold. He almost died. Well, not really but he could have! She was evil.

She raised an eyebrow at him. A reminder, a warning. “Why are you so upset about this, Peter Parker? This has nothing to do with you.”

Mr. Stark hesitated. “Uhh…not to agree with her, but yeah. This doesn’t concern you. Just…sit back down.”

Peter's brain clouded as the one man stubborn enough to fight him tightened his grip around his secret identity.

Oh god. He went back to his bed, his leg bouncing restlessly. “I’m…just wondering why spider-man’s suit, the guy who the whole country is looking for, is here in my apartment. It..doesn’t seem safe.”

☆

Tony rubbed his temple. “I agree with the kid. You brought a risk factor and chucked it at my intern’s face.”

“I’m sorry, I misjudged my throw.” She did not look sorry. Nor did Natasha Romanoff ‘misjudge her throws.’

He glanced at Peter before looking back at her.“Okay…just. Where did you find it? Do you know if…” He hated this situation so much, it was insane. Peter should not be hearing this. In fact he should just grab Nat’s arm and pull her outside—

“If he’s safe?” Natasha replied bluntly, completely disregarding the obvious fact that this was not the right place to have this discussion. In fact, it was HIGHLY unprofessional she was doing so. Maybe he could report her to Fury, or something. He cringed. Yeah, no. That wouldn’t end well.

He clenched his jaw, sitting back on the kid’s bed. “Well? Is he?”

“He’s getting there.”

He rolled his eyes. “So helpful, thanks. Let me ask a follow up question, if the kid is without the suit, do you know who he is?”

Natasha frowned and gestured to Peter who was staring at her with wide eyes. “Tony, forgive me for being rude, but I don’t think this is the most appropriate place to discuss this. You should know better.”

What the actual fuck. NO SHIT THAT’S WHAT HE— no, he wouldn’t rise to her bait. He’d be mature. “Oh, really?” He said with his jaw clenched.

Nat nodded, like it was the first time Tony heard the idea.“How about you focus less on me and spider-man, and more on your little puppy.” She frowned as she tilted her head at the kid. “I mean, Mr. Stark gave up a lot to come help you, didn’t he, Peter? You should be thankful.”

Peter gaped at her with an expression Tony didn’t quite want to understand.

“Gave up what?” Peter asked softly, staring down at his hands.

Tony shook his head. “Just…I left some work at the tower to make sure you were safe. It’s not a big deal, kid. I wanted to be here.”

The boy watched the suit crumpled up in Tony’s hands. “Oh.” He didn’t seem that concerned which was surprising. Maybe the kid really was oblivious.

Peter shrugged and his gaze went back to the suit tightly in Tony’s grasp. “So…what are you gonna do with that?”

Tony fiddled with it, annoyed he was still asking about it. “I don’t know, Pete. I need you to not worry about this, okay?”

“Kinda hard when she threw it in my face.”

That was true.

Nat just raised an eyebrow as she stepped forward. “I’m sorry, Peter. I promise, you won’t have to deal with that suit hurting you again. Okay, bud? Does that make things better?”

Tony nodded, placing a hand on the boy’s knee. He ignored Nat’s patronizing tone. It was low key good advice besides the intense sarcasm soaking through each syllable.

“Nat’s right. I don’t want you thinking about this. I’m not…I’m not letting you get involved. If anyone asks, you’ve never seen this before and it most definitely did not hit you in the face.” He sent a glare at Natasha for good measure. She should know better. He was just a kid.

Natasha took the suit back from Tony with a smirk. “ALMOST, hit him in the face, Stark. Peter’s reflexes are quite impressive, don’t you think?”

Peter scowled at the floor. “I don't give a shit about my reflexes.”

Jesus, this kid was so sassy today.

Tony’s phone buzzed. Pepper was on her way.

“Right…” He stood up, cringing at his aching knees. “Pepper should be getting back from…” don’t say the police station, don't say the police station, “Getting back about now. She’s gonna want to update us, okay? Are you good to get out of bed? You can uhh, bring your little teddy bear if it makes you feel better.”

That earned Tony a glare. The boy stalked out of the room, and Tony half expected him to flip them off.

He turned to Natasha, very unamused, after he left. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“What?”

“Why the fuck would you involve the kid in this? Throwing the suit at his face—Are you idiotic?”

She crossed her arms. “You know I’m not, Tony.”

It was true. She involved the kid for a reason, she did everything for a reason.

She annoyed the crap out of him sometimes.

He sighed. “I…I have to make a phone call. Can I have some privacy? If that’s possible for you?” He needed to call Dr. Cho. Maybe to follow through Pete’s promise, he hasn’t decided yet.

“Hm.” She tilted her head curiously. “You’re really not gonna look at the kid’s blood test?”

How the fuck did she know… “I haven’t decided yet, thanks for that.”

She shrugged, an unreadable expression crossing her face. “It’s my job, Tony.” She frowned, her face softening. “I’m glad the kid’s okay. I didn’t know he’d be at risk for hypothermia. If I did, I would have handled things differently.”

He blinked. “Yeah, none of us did. It’s fine, it’s not your fault or anything.”

She nodded and left the room, closing the door.

Tony sighed and pulled out his phone to call Dr. Cho. He bit his lip, waiting for her to pick up. If Peter told him not to look, doesn’t that mean he’s hiding something?

The phone clicked.

“Hey…have you gotten the results back yet from the kid?” He muttered under his breath. Just in case the kid really did have super hearing.

“I didn’t know it was urgent. I can run them now, is everything okay?”

He brushed a hand through his hair. Should he break his promise? Peter was obviously hiding something. He bit his lip, remembering that weird scar on the boy’s neck. The way he got so defensive over the small amount of blood they took. The way he had a pattern of refusing charity that would benefit him in the long run.

“Can you um…send the blood to me? Don’t run it, just…send it to me and I’ll…um. Deal with it.” Okay, maybe breaking the boy’s trust was bad but if it meant keeping him safe, then he didn’t give a shit.

She was quiet for a moment. “That’s quite unethical, Tony.”

“Yeah, I know. Please, I…he doesn’t want anyone to see but me.”

It wasn’t totally a lie. Just half a lie.

She sighed. “I’ll send it over to your lab.”

“Thanks…when you looked at him, was there anything unusual?” He fidgeted with his expensive watch. There was this looming feeling something was off.

Dr. Cho hesitated. “I mean, nothing popped out at me. I’ll send you the blood sample, okay?”

He’d just quickly glance at it, make sure the kid wasn’t as malnourished as he looked. Maybe buy him a few vitamins, sneak it into some hot chocolate. It’d be fine, he’d never have to know.

☆

Tony groaned as he walked into the kitchen, low key wishing he was taking on Spider-Man instead of witnessing, and probably being in, the inevitable fight about to happen.

“Right…” Pepper straightened some files after he sat down next to the still angry looking kid. “I just got back from meeting with your Aunt. Um…”

The boy crossed his arms and nodded stiffly. He was on the verge of shaking with anxiety. Maybe they should lean into this, start small—

“She’s being questioned by the police,” Nat said bluntly.

Tony nearly groaned. God damn you, Romanoff.

The kid’s eyes widened. “WHAT???” You could practically feel the waves of panic coming off him.

Tony squeezed his shoulder. “Calm down, Peter, it’s—”

The boy growled, slapping the man’s hand. “DON’T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN. WHY IS SHE BEING QUESTIONED?”

Tony rubbed his now stinging hand. Ouch. Okay, they’d take this slow. “They’re just wondering what happened, Pete. You were missing for awhile and they’re concerned why May wasn’t here to look after you. Especially because of your…uh…mental state? When we found you.”

Peter stared at Tony. “MY MENTAL STATE?”

He was mad, to say the least. Tony didn’t blame him, he hated when people used his very normal meltdowns to justify he needed a break from something. Just cause he got drunk and destroyed his Penthouse doesn’t mean he can’t be trusted alone! God, people these days.

Pepper interjected, trying to calm the boy down. “He just meant you were in distress, honey.”

“So????”

Pepper swallowed roughly before continuing. “So, when a child is banging his head against dumpsters to hurt himself—”

“I NEVER DID THAT.”

Tony stayed silent. He had the video footage to prove it.

The kid’s face crumbled, his breathing uneven. “What’s gonna happen to her?”

Tony sighed, preparing for the next part. This whole situation sucked. “CPS is gonna investigate her for neglect. You had blood on your carpet and you’re not in the best physical, or mental, condition. You can’t just scare everyone by disappearing without people asking questions. May Parker should have been there.”

The boy looked like he was about to cry. Tony had the slight urge to pull him into a hug, but didn’t really want a broken nose right now.

“But…but that’s not because of Aunt May, I promise!” The boy stuttered and looked around desperately.

Pepper leaned forward, frowning. “Then why, honey? Why do you have so many bruises? Why was there blood in your room?”

Tony raised his eyebrows, waiting to see what the kid had to say. His face turned red and to everyone’s surprise, the boy suddenly pointed at Nat. “SHE DID THIS. SHE SET ME UP.”

Tony frowned. What the fuck? He understood the kid was upset, but come on, this was crazy. “Pete? Calm down, buddy. Nat didn’t do shit. You’re the one who ran away from home.”

The boy was breathing quickly and looked like he was about to crawl over the table and punch her. The Black Widow. This…wasn’t good. Nat just looked impassive, her arms crossed as she watched the kid’s temper tantrum with a raised eyebrow.

“Peter,” she spoke softly, “I understand you’re upset, but I don’t think this is the appropriate time to be having this conversation.”

The kid looked confused at the sudden change in tone. Tony was too.

“B-but–”

“We can talk later, okay? I promise, taking your anger out on me isn’t going to solve anything. Take a breath, sit down, and get all the information before you make any rash decisions.”

Tony nearly snorted. Talk later? Like they were buddies gossiping at a sleepover? Dear god what was happening.

Tony tried to make eye contact with her to figure out what the hell was going on but she avoided it with every glance in her direction.

Peter wiped tears from his eyes harshly, his hands rubbing against his cheeks before he slumped back down in his seat. “Fine. Whatever. Just…When will she be home?”

Pepper smiled sadly. “I’ll tell you, but please stay calm.”

“Tell me.”

Pepper nodded in confirmation. “May’s coming back soon.”

The boy’s shoulders slumped in relief. Tony cringed, knowing she wasn’t finished.

“You’re going to move out for a few days, okay? Until the investigation is finished. May will be here…but you won’t.”

☆

Peter’s face flashed with horror. This couldn’t be happening. “W-what? Where would I go?”

Mrs. Potts glanced at Mr. Stark, having a silent conversation right then and there. He hated them so much. Natasha just looked like she didn’t give a shit, even though she literally caused this. She was the reason why Aunt May was being taken away from him. He hated her the most.

“TELL ME.” He banged his fist against the table, ignoring the pain shooting up his wrist.

Pepper placed a hand on his knee which he immediately pulled away from. “Peter, I found a foster family close by that’s willing to take you in. They’re lovely people.”

Tony smiled weakly. “We made sure of that. You’d be safe.”

He was gonna throw up. The thought of living with strangers…he didn’t trust anyone else. He could barely fall asleep around Ned anymore, let alone random people he’d never met.

“No.” He mumbled, pressing his face into his hands. “No foster home.”

They kept trying to get him into the foster system after Ben died, ‘just in case.’ He even had to hack into their database and remove his name. There was no fucking way he’d let himself be added back.

There were news stories of what they did to enhanced foster kids. He’d be sent straight to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Or worse. He shuddered. He’d rather die.

Pepper leaned forward. “There’s another option, honey.”

“Stay here?” He asked hopefully, scowling when she shook her head. Wasn’t fair.

“No, baby.” She hesitated before turning to her husband, “Can I talk to you outside?”

Peter glanced up at the two adults, confused. What the fuck was going on. What the fuck did they mean Aunt May neglected him.

Everything was HIS fault. If he didn’t go out as spider-man…but he couldn’t confess. Right? He pulled at his hair, roughly trying to stop the tears from forming. Maybe he should. The words were on the tip of his tongue, then May wouldn’t be accused of anything. She’d be safe.

Mr. Stark nodded, standing up, leaving him and Nat alone. He banged his head against the table. The pain felt good so he did it again. Before he could do it a third time, Nat’s hand caught his chin and raised it so he was looking at her. “Stop,” she said gently.

Peter shook his head, trying to get away from her grip. “It's all your fault.”

She frowned as she easily kept the kid in place. “No, Peter. I didn’t know this would happen.”

He glared at her. “Bullshit.” At least she had the decency to look away from him when he called her out. She knew. Maybe not to this degree, but she fucking knew.

She sighed, glancing over to the front door where Tony and Pepper were speaking in hushed tones. “Look, I’ll make sure May doesn’t get in trouble for the bruises and stuff caused by spider-man.”

She looked down at him. “Confessing to the police won’t help her case. She’s being investigated for neglect, so if they find out you’re enhanced, she’d get into even more trouble. Not to mention you.”

Tears filled his eyes. “Why are you helping me? Why do you care?”

She brushed her thumb against his chin, a sad smile on her usually emotionless face. “I know what it’s like to think you don’t need anyone.”

She raised his chin to meet her gaze more, her eyes unblinking.

“Peter, whether you like it or not, you have people who care about you, and I’d be damned to let you throw it away.”

Before Peter could respond or even process what the spy said, Mr. Stark and Pepper walked back in. Nat quickly leaned back into her chair, resuming a facade of nonchalance.

He blinked back the remaining tears, rubbing an arm over his face, trying to wrap his brain around what Nat said plus the fact Pepper was holding papers probably to send him away in her hands.

“Don’t wanna go to a foster home, please. Just wanna stay here with Aunt May, please Mr. Stark. You…you don’t understand.” He whispered, shrinking into his seat.

Pepper sighed and walked over to him to pull him into her arms. He couldn’t help but lean into it, just like he did with Natasha. Just like he always did with Mr. Stark. He was so weak.

“We’re not going to make you do that, baby. Okay?” She wiped a loose tear off his cheek, a hand guiding him to look at her.

“Okay,” he mumbled, confused and tired.

“Sweetheart, the social worker made an exception, just for you. They don’t usually do this, so you need to think carefully, okay?”

Great, so they bribed the social worker.

He hid his head in the crook of Pepper's neck, trying to avoid Mr Stark’s gaze. He felt less alone when her fingers played with his hair. He liked Pepper, she smelled like roses and tea and only a little bit of Tony.

“What’s the compromise?” He mumbled into her, trying not to think about how embarrassing this was.

Tony squeezed his shoulder gently. He wanted to hate it, to cringe and pull away, but it felt so warm. He hated how the man was starting to catch on how he reacted when people touched him. Peter didn’t deserve to feel safe nor did he want to. Not after the things he’s done.

He didn’t deserve to feel the safety he felt with Uncle Ben after killing the man.

Tony moved closer to him, trying to get the boy to look up from Pepper’s shirt. “How does living in the tower for a few days sound?”

The words sunk in slowly before every muscle tensed up in panic. Peter jerked away from the couple, scrambling out of their arms.

“NO,” He yelled, curling up behind the couch. This was where he’d go when he was scared as a kid, and Uncle Ben and Aunt May weren’t home. Safe. He wasn’t a spider here.

Placing his head against his knees, he tried to stop the incoming dizziness. It didn’t help, the world kept spinning.

All he knew was that there was no way in hell he’d live with them, even if it was for one night. No. Not at the tower, not anywhere. He didn’t need charity, he didn’t need Mr. Stark. Unfortunate events just kept happening that made it seem like he did. But he survived his whole life without him, so why the fuck would he start now?

Pepper slowly walked towards his hiding place, kneeling beside him. “You’re okay. I know this is a lot to process. Can you drink some water for me?”

She raised the glass to his lips.

Peter didn’t want it. It didn’t look safe. He turned his head so his cheek pressed against it, deciding he liked the sting of the cold glass. This was nice, he’d stay like this.

A whimper escaped him when it was taken away, the comforting pain gone. It wasn't fair. None of this was. He could barely remember where he was, just tunnel vision only focused on his next breath. You could have told him he was wearing his spider mask and he would’ve believed you.

The glass was brought up to his lips again, this time held by Tony.

“Drink, baby,” he murmured. Peter hated how his head immediately felt all soft from the vibrations of the man’s deep, calming voice.

He whimpered but opened his lips, his stomach uncoiling slightly as the cool liquid calmed the aching fire in his head.

“There you go. Good job, kid.” The man’s voice was nice, it felt safe. Like Uncle Ben’s. But he wasn’t his uncle, his uncle was dead and this man tried to stop him from being spider-man.

His stomach lurched. They were still forcing him to leave Aunt May, plus his suit, and he couldn't forget that. Mr. Stark was trying to rip them apart, rip him apart.

Aunt May would be all alone while the police blamed her for things she didn’t do. She…he couldn’t. He pushed the water away from him and curled into himself, his forehead pressed on the cooling ground. He didn’t deserve comfort and they didn’t deserve to comfort him.

“Peter,” Pepper said quietly, “You have a choice. We know staying with us isn’t perfect, but we thought it would be easier than starting over with new people you don’t trust yet.”

“Don’t trust you guys either,” he mumbled.

Tony nodded slowly. “I know, Pete. But you know me, hm? Do you at least trust that I won’t hurt you? That’s all I’m asking, bud.”

Peter shook his head, ignoring the pang of guilt in his heart. He shouldn’t trust him and that’s all that mattered.

Tony sighed. “Alright, kiddo. It’s okay. We can call the foster home to get you situated for the next week or so. We just wanted to give you the option of staying with us if that would make things easier.”

Peter’s blood ran cold. He actually was gonna leave him. Send him away to live with a bunch of strangers.

“What????” Tears swam in his eyes. This couldn’t be happening. Everyone was slipping away, Ned, May, now even Mr. Stark wanted nothing to do with him. He probably only offered his tower to be nice.

“We can help you pack, okay? But we need to start moving.”

He whimpered. It made sense, Tony was always focused on his best interest. Besides, he left spider-man without a second thought. Of course he’d do the same for Peter. At least Mr. Stark had a purpose for spider-man! Peter Parker had nothing but disappointment and slight pity. He was nothing but a charity case.

He reached out for something, anything, to stop the feeling of falling. He grabbed onto someone’s arm, leaning into them with his eyes shut tightly.

☆

Tony grunted slightly when the boy threw himself on him. He quickly shifted his weight, pulling the boy into his lap so they wouldn’t topple over. The boy’s chest heaved as sobs were ripped out of him violently. All the man felt was confusion and pain. Did he cause this?

Tears streamed down the boy’s cheeks as his voice shook. “I don’t want to go, sir. Please. I don’t wanna go, I don’t wanna go.”

“Shh, buddy, you’re okay. I won’t make you live in a foster home, okay?” He said softly, carefully laying Peter’s head on his chest in a hope his heartbeat would calm him down. The kid clung to him like he would break into infinite pieces of dust if he let go.

“You’re alright,” Tony murmured reassurances into his ear, “I’m not going anywhere, little one. Just breathe, in and out. I’ve got you. You’re safe.” Did he understand why the boy was crying? Not really. He literally rejected Tony, said he didn't feel safe with him, and then started sobbing when Tony didn't push it. God, teenagers.

Tony closed his eyes as he drew steady circles against the kid’s back, whispering what he hoped was calming words. To be honest, he had no clue what to say to make things better, but weirdly him just being there seemed to do the trick.

It seemed to be working, at least kind of. The kid melted into Tony, holding onto him desperately. Yippee.

It was weird. Tony’s heartbeat, which once stopped beating because of the weapons he created, now soothed a terrified boy to sleep.

How could his hands, which built death disguised as peace, have the ability to comfort someone, to make someone feel safe?

He bit his lip, unsure of what to feel. He didn’t know if he deserved this. He still didn’t understand what was this kid running from and why the fuck was he running towards Tony Stark, of all people. He still didn’t understand what was this kid running from and why the fuck was he running towards Tony Stark, of all people. He wasn't exactly the role model parents wanted their kids to have.

He knew Peter had a tough life, but the kid acted as if he was in constant danger. He thought when he first met the boy during the field trip, how he looked at him terrified. How he later shyly admitted Tony was his hero.

He’s never met anyone this scared. Well…

The Spiderling was like this. Tony couldn’t stop the twinge of guilt in chest when thinking about how he just left the kid in the tower when he obviously needed someone. The spiderling had buried himself in the same suit jacket Peter was clutching just hours before.

He frowned, petting the boy’s hair. Peter and his spiderling were so similar at times, in the best and worst of ways. Both too stubborn to admit they needed comfort, yet too broken to not lean into it when offered. Both fixated on running away instead of confronting their feelings.

Tony used to be like that too, he thought he still was, until he met Peter. It was weird, being the one needed. He sighed. Even though he fucked up with spider-man, at least he could offer some sort of comfort to Peter. He closed his eyes, hoping that wherever spider-man was, he felt safe. He hoped the kid had someone to hold him like he was holding onto the boy, and hoped he wasn’t too stubborn to let it happen. He also had a sinking feeling he knew exactly where spider-man was. But he didn’t want to think about that just yet.

The boy pushed his head deeper into his chest. He knew Peter would be annoying as fuck when he woke up. The kid would double down, act like he hated the man. Maybe even try to run away, all the usual Peter Parker stuff. Tony couldn’t help but smile softly thinking about it.

He also knew that despite this, he’d be there for him every damn step of the way. Whether the kid wanted to admit he needed him or not.

Tony rubbed slow, steady circles along the kid’s back. “You’re gonna be okay, little bug. I promise.”

Chapter Text

Peter packed his things silently, dreading the week ahead of him. He was bringing only a few outfits, his webshooters, and a toothbrush. Maybe by the time he ran out of clothes, he’d be home again.. He didn’t plan on staying long, regardless. He at least didn’t have to worry about hiding his suit seeing that a Russian spy took it. Yippee.

Pepper Potts attempted to smile next to him, trying to pretend like this was a fun adventure. You know, instead of his life falling apart even more. She was trying, at least. But the thing was, he didn’t need her to try. Hell, he didn’t WANT her to. There was nothing about this situation he was happy with.

She lifted up his bag, frowning at how light it was but choosing not to say anything. “You ready?”

He looked around the apartment, at all the pots and pans, the plants on the counter, and pictures of memories with a person he could never get back. It was his home, in its entirety. Everything besides Aunt May. His stomach hurt thinking about it. Apparently they weren't even gonna let him say goodbye before he was whisked off to a performative man’s charity act. It was cruel, to both him and her.

He shrugged. No, he wasn’t ready. In fact, his urge to dig his heels into the ground only grew as time went on. “Where’s Mr. Stark?”

She picked up his bag, frowning at how light it was. “He had a meeting, sweetheart. Did you need something from him?” Peter watched her

He blushed. Hell no, he wanted to know so he could stay far away from him. “N-no, I was just wondering.”

He wondered because the last time he was conscious, Mr. Stark had him in his fucking lap. Peter didn’t want to even think about Mr. Stark pathetically holding him, even the thought made him cringe with disgust. The worst part? It wasn’t Tony that made it gross, it was Peter himself, who held onto him like the world was going to end if he let go.

He bit his lip, thinking. Natasha did tell him to act like a scared little boy, so technically? Technically, he was just playing a part. He was an actor, a spy. He buried the piece of him that craved comfort as soon as Uncle Ben died because of HIS lack of actions. Someone like him didn’t deserve comfort.

They walked to Happy’s car and opened the trunk to put his bag down. To be honest, he could have just carried it on his lap, it was really small. He was thankful Pepper didn't say anything about the lack of items he brought, but her pursed lips kind of spoke for themselves.

Peter stood in the parking lot as he ignored the back door opening for him. He was waiting for May. She was coming after he left, so she was probably on her way.

Pepper sighed and took him gently by the arm. She led him into the car, sitting down next to him as Happy applied the child locks before Peter could reach the handle.

He scowled. “Seriously?” Pepper at least had the decency to look apologetic. Happy just shrugged and turned the car on. The worst part was when a police car pulled in right as they pulled out. Peter twisted and contorted his body as long as he could, but the door stayed shut, almost like they were waiting for him to leave.

“Bullshit,” he muttered, turning back around with a scowl.

For most of the ride, Peter just stared aimlessly out the window. It was weird how the stop lights still turned red on command, the traffic still slowly moved through the street, and cars still honked at mistakes they’ve done a hundred times before. Yet, Peter being forced out of his home had no impact on anything. Despite everything changing, the world didn’t cave in. Just like when Uncle Ben took his last breath.

Mrs. Potts tapped away on her Starkpad, oblivious to the true extent of turmoil Peter felt. He bit his lip, watching her nails clack against the screen. “Mrs. Potts?”

“Hm?” She signed her name on an electronic document elegantly, before turning it off.

He fiddled with the strings on his hoodie, well technically it was Mr. Stark’s hoodie. In his defense, it was the warmest thing he owned and he HAD almost died from hypothermia today.

“Uhhh… Thanks. For letting me stay with you.” He swallowed, deciding not to mention Tony in his thanks. To be honest, he didn't even want to thank her, but it felt like the right thing to do.

She touched his knee gently, a supportive smile on her face. “Of course, Peter. We’re happy to help.”

We’re. Peter tried not to flinch as he stared down at his ripped jeans. Forgive him if thankful wasn’t the exact emotion he felt right now.

Pepper led him through the lobby confidently, each step purposeful.Anyone, besides Peter at least. The random workers leaving work didn’t even get a glance from her, nor the security guards who stayed far away. He didn’t know how to feel as she kept her gaze on him the whole time walking. Not fully looking, but in the corner of her eye. Did she think he was gonna run or something? He shivered, not used to someone looking out for him.

She also wouldn’t let him carry any of his stuff, telling him he was a guest and she had it covered. He knew he was supposed to feel welcomed by this, but the warm action just made him feel weak and useless. His hands twitched as he followed after her wordlessly.

They walked past the elevators, him furrowing his brows in confusion. He expected them to go up the torturous journey of the transparent elevator.

Pepper, instead, swiped her badge on a heavily secured door he hadn’t noticed before. She winked. “Tony made me my own elevator, since he uhhh…had some interesting tastes with the public one.”

Peter smiled, shaking his head. Yeah, a glass elevator was definitely a personal taste. He didn’t know how much she was doing this for his sake. Maybe Mr. Stark told her how Pete preferred to walk up dozens flights of stairs than feel like he was dying. Either way, the ride up was very nice, he only had to worry about never seeing his Aunt again, instead of plummeting to his death. Great!

The elevator went up, passed Stark Industries, past the training floor and all the other ones he didn’t have access to, and past Tony’s lab. It opened at the penthouse and he walked out with a frown on his face. To his surprise Pepper immediately led him into a separate elevator. Were they going up, again? It astonished him how big the tower really was. For some reason, he’d been imagining himself sleeping on the couch in the main room. Not what he saw when the elevators opened. All he could do was gape in disbelief.

Yeah Mr. Stark was rich, but this was actually insane. There were giant common rooms, elaborate kitchens, and offices filled with paintings from long dead artists. Not to mention the numerous rooms that were closed, plus the kitchen., He couldn't even fathom what the floors above him were used for.

Pepper stopped in front of a room, hand on the doorknob as she waited for a shocked Peter’s eyes and legs dizzily caught up. “This will be your room, Peter. Ours is the one right across.”

She smiled encouragingly at him. “Good. That’s where Tony and I sleep.”

Peter chewed on his lip. They really gave him the room near theirs. Unfortunately, Pepper wasn’t done.

“If you need us during the night, at any hour, you come in and wake us up, okay?”

Peter forced himself to nod, his face turning red. The thought of waking one of them up in the middle of the night terrified him. It seemed so personal…so familial. Like when he had nightmares as a kid and would sneak into his aunt and uncle’s bed. That piece of him was buried with his uncle, so he threw the information away as useless. He wouldn’t be here long enough to need anything and even if he did, like hell he’d go to him

Pepper opened the door to his room and Jesus Christ— it was gigantic, maybe three sizes of his back home. He only saw fog through the windows. Were they in a cloud? He couldn’t imagine himself swinging through one.

Pepper gently placed his bag next to the king sized bed. That’s right, a fucking king sized bed for just one person. It was in the middle of the room too, which he didn’t like. His at home was cozy, pressed in a corner against a wall with blankets and his stuffed animals.

“You have your own bathroom, plus a walk-in closet.” He decided he liked the closet. It was small. It felt less overwhelming. Still, all he could think about was his Aunt being questioned by the police, while he living in a fucking mansion. His stomach stung from the guilt.

“Friday’s here to help if you need anything. Do you remember how to talk to her?”

“Yeah,” he mumbled.

“Good. She’s here to help, same with me and Tony. Feel free to eat whenever you need to. Our food is your food, understood?”

Peter nodded again, nervously looking down at the ground as he missed her pointed gaze. “Yeah. Got it. Thank you.”

She sighed, raising his chin to meet her gaze. “I mean it, sweetheart. I’m worried about you, you’re too skinny.”

He blushed. God forbid his body burned calories twice as fast. He hated that part the most. How May was gonna get accused of starving him, but he literally couldn’t control it and she didn’t have the money to buy double the amount of food.

He hesitated. “Where am I allowed to go? Like in the tower.” It felt like such a stupid question to ask and he immediately felt guilty for asking it. He should be waiting by the door with his bags still packed, not fucking exploring. Why couldn’t he stop being a little kid and just GROW UP FOR ONCE. He tugged at his sleeve anxiously. His focus needed to be on getting Aunt May out of the trouble he caused.

She gestured to the bed. “Let’s sit and talk.”

His stomach turned as he nervously sat, her sitting gracefully next to him. She was like an angel. He could never understand why she’d be with someone like Tony Stark.

“So,” she said, swiping through her notes on her phone, “Do you remember the main area where we came in on? The one with the really tall windows.”

He nodded. The one he cried in a lot. How could he possibly forget?

“You can go down there, or stay on this floor.”

“Okay.”

She smiled encouragingly. “All that we ask is do not go in our room unless one of us is in there, nor Tony and I’s offices.”

He nodded. Yeah, he didn’t want to go to either.

She brushed his fluffy brown hair out of his eyes so she could see him. “And, you’re obviously not allowed in Mr. Stark’s workshop alone, if you have any questions, ask me, Tony, or Friday.”

Like he’d actually ask Mr. Stark if he was allowed in a place. Bro would say no without even asking what it was. Also he knew for a fact Tony and Pepper were busy most of the time. He chewed on his lip, thinking. Maybe he could get some freedom before school.

“Mrs. Potts?”

“Call me Pepper, honey.”

“R-right.” He nodded quickly. It felt weird to call her that. Too informal, like he actually lived here. “I um…have school. Obviously. I can take the bus and—”

She cut him off. “Happy will drive you each morning and will pick you up each afternoon.”

He cringed. He was ninety percent sure that man hated him and each time they interacted that percent went up. “P-please, it’s okay. I don’t want to be a burden, Mrs. Pott- Pepper. I can just take public transportation.” Showing up to school in a fancy car wouldn’t be very fun either, at least not to him. Flash would find it hilarious though. God, if he knew he was a charity case for Tony Stark…

“It’s okay, honey. Happy doesn’t mind. He just has a grumpy resting face.” She laughed quietly, the sound tinkling throughout the room. He managed a fake half smile in response. She was so nice, it felt rude not to.

“Plus,” she said carefully, “we’d like you to be around one of us or Happy most of the time.”

The realization hit him like that time when Flash chucked a dodge ball at his face. (Before he got his spidey sense, of course). Tony and Pepper didn’t want to leave him alone. The look of disappointment must have shown on his face because Pepper smiled apologetically. “Just for safety reasons, okay?”

He nodded, counting down the seconds until she let him crawl under the covers and disappear. “Right. So when you said, stay here or downstairs, you meant…”

She reached out to rub comforting circles through his shirt, almost making him forget about the fact he was trapped here with his worst enemy. “Yes, you need one of us with you to go anywhere else.”

Of course. He nodded numbly, now just wanting her to leave. The penthouse felt smaller now, which was weird because it was ten times the size of May’s place. Still, there he could go out the window as spider-man whenever he wanted. Maybe he could still go out? He’d be careful, swinging at different hours than people expected him to. And he wouldn’t even stop crime! Unless someone needed help. But he’d still make sure to keep his face hidden. Mask or no mask, he still had a responsibility.

“I’ll…let you get settled, okay? Tony and I usually have dinner together around eight and we’d love for you to join us.” She gave him a quick pat on the shoulder before leaving. Peter rubbed his eyes tiredly. He would not be attending that dinner, thank you very much. As long as Tony was involved, he wasn’t interested. He hesitated, pulling his knees up to his chest.

“Friday?”

“Yes, Peter?” The familiar AI voice rang out.

He bit his lip, thinking how to word this without sounding suspicious. “Do you um…report back to Mr. Stark everything I say to you?”

“No, Peter. Only if you ask me to or it involves you putting yourself or others at risk.”

He nodded. “So like if I decide to try to jump out the window, you’ll tell him?” He fidgeted with the string on his sweatshirt.

“Actually, Mr. Stark has the windows currently locked as a safety precaution. However, in the hypothetical, yes. That would be a time where I would tell him.”

He sat down on his bed, his heart sinking. “Just in my room or everywhere?” Maybe he could hack Fri and get out through another window.”

“Everywhere.”

He frowned. “Is that only because of me?”

“Not the only reason, Peter. But yes, Mr. Stark has implemented many procedures to keep you safe.”

“Right,” he mumbled, trying to get comfortable on the soft mattress. It didn’t work, every movement just made him sink further into it. It was like a marshmallow, a gross, sticky one.

“What are the other reasons?”

“Mr. Stark has that information classified.”

Peter rolled his eyes. “I don’t really care what he says. But okay, whatever.”

He pulled his hood over his head, tightening the strings so he almost couldn’t see. Kinda felt like wearing his mask. Kind of, not really.

He groaned, leaning back on the bed in frustration. He needed to know something about what was going on, he didn’t even know what the investigation was specifically focused towards. “Friday, can you tell me any updates about my Aunt?”

“Mr. Stark has given me clear directions not to discuss that with you.”

He pulled his hood off angrily. “WHY?” It was HIS aunt and HIS life, what gave him the right to keep it from him?

“He believes it will be unhealthy for you.”

He glared at his legs. “Yeah, no shit. My aunt’s gonna get arrested cause of me, of course it’s fucking unhealthy.”

“Mr; Stark does not want you to spiral. He will tell you information as it comes up when he feels it necessary.”

He chucked his pillow at the ceiling as if Friday could feel it. What a fucking dickhead. “Can you tell him I hate him? Please?”

Friday went silent for a few moments. Peter shrugged, assuming she was ignoring him. Maybe she had some anti-tony-blocker where she filtered out all the hate.

“Okay, Peter. I have told Mr. Stark that you hate him.”

Wait, what???? His eyes shot open as he sat up quickly with flushed cheeks.“WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?”

“You asked me to.”

“YEAH BUT NOT ACTUALLY.” He groaned, pressing his hands over his face. This was so fucking embarassing.

“Mr. Stark responded. Would you like to hear it?”

Dear god no. Heat rose to his cheeks as he pressed his face flat against the comforter. “Mhm.” This was horrible.

“He will talk to you when he gets home about your disrespectful behavior.”

His eyes widened, looking at the ceiling confused and scared. “W-what???” Was Mr. Stark actually angry? It was getting hard to breathe and he curled his arms around himself to become smaller.

He raised his phone to his face limply after it vibrated.

Mr. Stark: Did I scare you? Hahahahaahaahahahhaha, you’re so gullible that it’s too easy. Anyways congrats on figuring out how to use Fri to insult me! New record! See you when I get home.

Mr. Stark: Whoospie did I say home? I meant MY home, your temporary living situation. Didn’t mean to make you panic twice.

Peter couldn’t tell if he hated him more or less at that point. Either way, he did smile.

☆

Fury leaned over the desk, his fingers interlaced with each other as he stared down Tony. Somehow, the man only having one eye made it worse. “So, Stark. You’re telling me that you have no idea where Spider-Man is, despite you being in Queens multiple times this week and one of your cars driving through the crime scene DURING the investigation.”

Tony cleared his throat, adjusting his glasses. “Uhhh. Yeah. That’s what I’m telling you.”

Fury sighed, massaging his temple. “This kid you were visiting in Queens. He just happens to be your intern? I thought you didn’t take high schoolers as interns, Stark.”

“Yes.” No. He groaned, trying to fight off a migraine. “Look, the kid is just some orphan I decided to help. He’s…” Tony swallowed roughly, hating the words coming out of his mouth. “Charity. He has nothing to do with this. I swear.”

The man’s one eye narrowed. “Tony, I really don’t want to investigate this Peter Parker of yours, but he’s our only lead right now. So just tell me what you know about spider-man, and I’ll leave the kid alone. Capeesh?”

Tony rubbed his forehead tiredly. He only knew a few things for certain, most of which pissed him off.

The first fact: He did not act rationally today, whatsoever. Perhaps he got a bit upset when thinking about Peter being hurt, perhaps he had a habit of picturing the kid as a hurt little puppy who would get stuck under a cardboard box if he tried hard enough. PERHAPS, that was the kid’s point. Calling him crying and shit, begging him to find him somehow right when spider-man breaks out of Stark Tower. Perhaps, like Pepper told him, he ‘underestimated the boy’. So, yeah. Jumping to conclusions and flying out of the tower leaving his flight risk alone was idiotic and he could have thought rationally for maybe a second.

He did not. That’s why he was here, in a S.H.I.E.L.D office, talking to a very annoyed Nick Fury. So, Tony shrugged. “I don’t know where spider-man is, I haven’t been in contact with him since the bank incident. Which I already got in trouble for, remember?” He remembered the angry call from Fury after pictures came out and fake shuddered.

The second fact: Spider-Man no longer had his suit. The last he’d seen of it was Natasha chucking it at Peter’s face. Why would she purposefully throw something that could incriminate the boy within seconds at his head? No clue. There was no rational reason. In fact, the only reason that made sense right now was the very opposite of rational. Plus, the very last thing Tony wanted to think about.

Fury tsked at his excuse and slid a few blurry photos over to him. “We have numerous pictures of the spider-man jumping out of your tower.”

He cursed under his breath. God damnit, if the kid literally didn’t try to run away every few seconds—

He took a deep breath. Focus on the big picture, Stark. “Oh, yeah. Forgot about those.”

Fury rolled his eyes at his casual tone. “Of course.”

The third fact: Friday ran an analysis on the kid’s scar and it was a spider bite. Not that it proved anything, or even insinuated something. It was just a fact Tony was working with. A fact that left a horrible feeling in his stomach.

Fury snapped his fingers loudly “Can you pay attention? I don’t mean to be blunt here, but if you have nothing for me, then the only lead is the kid. I’m gonna have to bring him in for questioning about spider-man.”

Oh hell no. No matter what, that couldn’t happen. He was not letting the kid be involved and it would stay that way, even if the kid turned out to be a liar who broke his trust and his heart.

“No. Absolutely not. Do not consent.” He said gruffly as he crossed his arms and leaned back into the chair.

Fury shot him a dirty look. “You his dad or something? ‘Cause it says here that his parents were killed in a plane crash. I don’t see how your consent matters in this situation, since you are not his legal guardian.”

Tony rubbed a hand over his face, just wanting to go to bed. “Please. Just let me handle it, okay? I’ll ask him about spider-man and get back to you. He trusts me.”

It wasn’t totally a lie, the kid did let him hold him multiple times. Yeah, he had to sob and break down completely first, clinging to the nearest person there, and yeah last time it happened right after he basically told Tony he did not feel safe around him, but like? Did that really matter? They had some connection, that’s all that counted.

“Someone trusts you? That’d be a first,” Fury chuckled, flipping through some documents.

Tony threw a pencil at him. Bro didn’t have to rub it in. “He does. Mostly. He does, okay? Just…tell me. Is the kid on anyone else's radar?” He leaned forward anxiously, not knowing what he’d do if he was. At least Fury was somewhat amenable. Hell, the government took control of S.H.I.E.L.D. The man wasn’t exactly dancing on rainbows here, so Tony figured his values hadn’t done a complete 360.

Fury shook his head after easily catching the pencil. Tony made a mental note to throw it at his left side. You know, in case he had a blind spot. “No Tony. Not Ross, not the government, not the FBI. You know why? Because they came to ME first. And then I report back to THEM what I find out and THEN they decide how to proceed.”

Tony wasn’t sure if his head was gonna split open right in front of the man. Despite everything he was trying to do to protect the kid, and spider-man, none of it fucking worked and now he (they?) was/were in danger. Happy’s stupid clothes excuse, the way Tony didn’t post any PR after taking in a high school orphan intern, the fact that he tried talking to spider-man MULTIPLE times about exactly this. Nothing worked. Each attempt to help the Spiderling backfired tremendously, now shown with photos of the guy jumping out of a building.

If something happened to the kid, either one of them… He swallowed, looking down at his hands. That would be on him. He didn’t need that on his conscience, not with everything else he had keeping him up at night.

Tony tried to clear his head and regain his confidence. As long as people thought Iron Man was indestructible, he was. “Nick,”

“Don’t call me Nick.”

“Nicholas,”

Fury shot him a warning look. “Careful.”

He sighed. “Fury. I understand this is a lot on your plate and that’s why I’m trying to help. Take some off, leave some room for you to maybe put on some dessert instead. The kid has enough going on and the last thing he needs is to be wrapped up in superhuman shit right now. Let me take the peas off your plate. And the peas off Peter’s plate. I’ll put them on my plate.” He cringed. This metaphor was getting stale quickly.

Fury didn’t respond at first, just twirling a pencil in between his fingers as he watched the man who threw it at him. “What’s your plan?”

Tony nodded in relief. Okay, they were getting somewhere. “I’ll question the kid, ask what he knows, all that fun stuff.”

“Teenagers lie, Tony.”

He hesitated. He couldn’t even argue with that, Peter lied to him constantly. God, how had he even gotten wrapped up with this kid? Fury was right, what the fuck do you mean he took on a fifteen year old intern, since when did Tony Stark babysit children? He shrugged. “Okay, so I’ll get Natasha to do it.”

Fury snorted at him. “Wow, so you’re trying to NOT traumatize the kid, but you’re gonna let an ex KGB agent slash trained assassin to question him until he gives up the little lying act?”

Tony swallowed. Okay, maybe not. He racked his brain, trying to think. “What exactly are you accusing him of?”

“I don’t know, Tony, all we know is that the kid is connected to you, and you’re connected to spider-man. You’re our only lead, thus, he is. Our only lead.”

Tony nodded, waving him off. “Right, right. Got it. You know, you TRY to do something kind for someone…”

“NOT in the mood, Stark.”

He gritted his teeth. “Fine. Here’s what I’ll do. I will question the kid. Harshly. I will find out everything he knows and relate it back to you. You can even send me a list of questions to ask.”

Fury eyed him suspiciously. “How am I supposed to believe you if you come back saying Peter Parker really knows nothing about spider-man?”

Tony bit down on his inner cheek. Maybe he could…wait. It was risky, but it could work. Possibly. He rubbed his forehead. “Is one of your assumptions that Peter Parker is…” he cringed saying it out loud, “really Spider-Man?”

Fury’s expression didn’t change. They both stared at each other, Tony narrowing his eyes and refusing to blink first.

Eventually, Fury nodded stiffly. “Yeah. That’s our concern.”

“Permission for this next part to stay between us, sir?” That was bullshit, nothing in this office was gonna stay between them. But it was fun to say and sometimes granted the illusion of trust. He needed that from Fury right about now.

Fury raised an eyebrow. “Permission granted.”

“I…have a sample of the kid’s blood. We were worried about his health and his aunt said it was fine. I can run it and send you the results.” Tony clenched his jaw, his eyes betraying nothing as he stared at the man sitting in front of him.

Fury nodded as he thought about it. “Okay. Send the blood test over to S.H.I.E.L.D, we’ll run it.”

Stark snorted. As fucking if. “Yeah, right. Send a minor’s blood over to the government. No way, either I do it, or no one does. And after? I destroy what’s left of it. Plus I’ll question him. Deal?”

Fury furrowed his brows, thinking as he tapped a finger against his chin. He casually glanced up to the ceiling, Tony following his gaze to see a little camera perched in the corner, the red light blinking in and out. Right.

He looked back down as if he didn’t see it. Fury looked at him as if he didn’t just show him it. “Okay, it’s a deal. You better be honest though, because if you think I’d hesitate to help a child for being enhanced—”

Tony nodded, a blank look on his face. They both knew what ‘help’ really meant. It meant locked up, either in a lab or a school, or kicked out on the streets with no prospects of ever having a future.

“Of course sir. We’d need to support the kid the best we can. And we will, if it comes to that. I…um heard there’s a school for enhanced kids. There’s always ways to help.” Stark stood up and reached across the table to shake Fury’s hand.

The man tightly shook it back, holding it for a second as he whispered into his ear. “Just avoid any news stories of you and the kid, okay? Stay away from each other besides the questioning.”

Tony hesitated. “Erm…well Pete’s actually kind of staying at the tower ever since his aunt is getting investigated for child abuse.”

Fury’s eyes darkened before he stood up straight, clapping him on the shoulder extremely hard (and painfully) with a fake ass smile. “It's always good seeing a friend. Take care, Stark. Don’t fuck this up.”

Tony nodded, his lips pressed tightly together. He strolled out of the office without a single look back. Fury could be so dramatic.

Despite Fury’s fancy new office and job title, the man obviously wanted no part in arresting a kid. It helped to have an ally. Stopping at a crosslight, he pulled out his phone.

Mr. Stark: Would you ever lie to me?

He waited for a response, a foot tapping impatiently.

Peter: No sir

Liar.

Mr. Stark: Do you know anything about spider-man?

Peter: No sir

He groaned and threw his phone down, driving the rest of the way home with an enormous headache.

He barely remembered getting up to his penthouse, just knowing exhaustion hit him like a truck and he had trouble registering Pepper’s kiss on the cheek before he collapsed into bed.

“Tony…”

He grunted in response.

She sighed. “Aren’t you going to ask about the kid?”

Oh right, the kid. He groaned. “Yeah. Was just about to before you interrupted me. Thanks for that, Pepper.” She didn’t look amused at his sarcastic tone, which was fair. It’s not like he felt his best right now and taking it out on the woman who dealt with most of his crap all day sucked.

She softly shook her head before taking a seat next to him, absentmindedly stroking his back. He relaxed into his pillow, trying to relax despite the circumstances weighing down on him like an anvil dropped from the sky.

“Peter’s okay,” she spoke quietly. “He didn’t pack much though.”

Tony shrugged. “Makes sense, the kid probably doesn’t want to be here long.” Not that bringing less items would help move the grueling process of CPS along, but hey. Whatever helped the kid sleep at night.

Her hand stilled on his back as her voice took a worried tone. “Tony…he only packed clothes and a toothbrush.”

“So, he’s a light packer. How is that a problem?”

“He didn’t pack that stuffed animal he sleeps with. I’m worried he did it as a punishment or—“

Tony rolled over onto his back, staring up at her. “He’s fifteen, Pepps. He’s a big boy, if he feels like he doesn’t need his teddy bear, then he doesn’t need his teddy bear.”

“Monkey, actually,” she muttered under her breath. “I’m just worried he’s not doing okay. I thought maybe…”

He sat up, raising an eyebrow. “You thought maybe I’d go to his aunt’s apartment and grab all of his little comfort items he refuses to acknowledge?” Tony snorted, shaking his head.

Pepper frowned. “It would show you care.”

He shook his head. “Pepper, I love you. But he would be embarrassed and that would make him shut down even more.”

“Just think about it, honey.” She kissed him on the forehead.

He rolled his eyes, although there was no ill will in them. “Fine. Did you invite Pete for dinner? Because knowing the kid, he’s not gonna eat unless we make him.”

She nodded. “I told him we usually have dinner at eight.”

He smiled and then placed his aching head in his hands. In reality, they haven’t had a sit down meal in the penthouse in weeks, but things were changing with Peter here. He fished out his phone, staring at Peter’s last message.

No sir.

Tony shook his head and went to the kitchen with Pepper. He read Fury’s obnoxious email list of questions as Pepper made dinner. They were designed to get the kid to mess up, to back him into a corner. Great!

He filled his wife in on Fury as she cooked. She frowned after hearing everything. “So you’re going to look at his blood? That’ll break his trust. I mean, you already did, seeing that you have the sample instead of it being destroyed.”

He shrugged, not really knowing what to say. “I mean, yeah. It’s not like the kid’s actually gonna be…you know. It’s just to ease Fury’s mind, thus Idiot Ross’s mind, thus America’s Mind.”

Pepper turned to him as she held a spoon, her face thoughtful. “And if he is?”

Tony sighed. “I don’t know. I’ll be pissed off so he’s probably gonna be focused on that instead of me breaking his trust. You know, cause this would mean he broke MY trust, which is much more important. I’ll try to get some information out of him at dinner tonight before I really question him. Just so I can prepare before I run the diagnostics.”

She did not look pleased at that idea. “Tony, that sounds like a horrible plan. Peter just got here, he’s scared and traumatized by today. You haven’t had an interaction, in I don’t know how long, without him ending up in tears, extremely upset to the point where he cries himself unconscious.” Pepper crossed her arms. “Which, as you know, just makes him want to push you away further. You are not doing that tonight.” Pepper stared at him with her Don’t You Dare Fight Me on This Look.

Tony stared back with his Please Reconsider look. “I’ll be natural!” Pinky promise.

She snorted. “That’s funny, Tony. No, you won’t be. Look… I’ll ask a few questions that I know won’t trigger him. But you!” She turned around, pointing the spoon at him. “You will behave, do you understand?”

He sighed. “Yes Ma’am.” He didn’t tell her about the kid’s little interaction with him earlier, smirking as he remembered getting a really loud ass message from Friday while driving to the S.H.I.E.L.D office. That was beautiful. Made his whole day. He tried not to think about his question the kid lied to on the way home.

Pepper’s eyes narrowed as she placed the dish on the table. “What are you giggling at?”

He coughed, remaining an amazing poker face that Pepper could totally not tell was fake. “Nothing, nothing. Anyways, it’s like eight. Where’s the kid?”

She gave him a suspicious look before turning to get the plates, ignoring the bots Tony had painstakingly perfected to do that exact task. “I told him he’s free to join us at eight, I assume he’ll come out when he’s ready.”

Oh Pepper. Oh his sweet, dear Pepper. He stood up, stretching. “Yeah…that’s not gonna work. I’ll go get him.”

She frowned. “I don’t know, Tony. I don’t think we should push him.”

“Do you not know the burger story?”

“....Why do I feel like this is going to annoy me.”

Tony smirked. Oh it was. “We got burgers. He didn’t eat until I made him. Said because I’m Tony Stark and that made it scary.”

Pepper looked like she didn’t know whether to be concerned or amused. But, he luckily wasn’t done.

“Let me tell you the best part.” He rubbed his hands together, preparing. “This kid just finished crying over not having money to pay for his aunt’s medications, right?”

“Right…” Pepper said slowly.

He suppressed a smirk. “He was livid when I paid the bill and started throwing the little bit of money he still had at me.”

Pepper rubbed her temple. She pointed to the direction of the kid’s room. “Go get him,” she muttered. He stood up happily and walked to the extremely stubborn teenager’s door.

☆

Peter sat in bed, mindlessly scrolling through his phone when there was a knock on his door. Mr. Stark came in, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed and a stupid smug expression on his face. He looked like he’d just won a bet or something. Peter rolled his eyes.

“Hi.”

“Hi.” Peter replied quietly. He was hoping he could just go to bed early and not see the man today. Or ever.

“Pepper made a nice dinner. Would you like to join us?” Mr. Stark raised an eyebrow at the kid almost like he was challenging him to actually say no. Peter took the bait. He wanted to go, mostly to see Pepper. But there was no way he’d go if Mr. Stark was there. “No, I’m sorry. I’m not hungry.” He stared at his bedspread and waited for the man to leave him to rot..

However, to his annoyance, the man did not leave. In fact, he didn’t even change positions, just kept staring at Peter. “I think I phrased that wrong. Do you want to guess how I should have phrased it?”

Peter narrowed his eyes and glared at him. Mr. Stark just raised an eyebrow, Peter eventually looking down in defeat.

Mr. Stark smirked. “Come on, kid. It’s good food, you’ll like it.”

Peter grumbled as he followed the man to the kitchen. Pepper was already sitting there, a beaming smile rising on her face. “You came, I’m so happy!”

Was she…proud? Peter tilted his head. “Oh.”

Tony chuckled, a hand resting against his back to get him to sit down. Peter didn’t understand what was so funny but sat in between the two at a circle table.

The food looked good, which made it horrible. This was his first dinner without Aunt May, and he was just gonna eat Pepper’s food like nothing was wrong? He clenched his fists under the table as his stomach turned from hesitant hunger to disgust. No fucking way would he eat.

Pepper eyed him worriedly. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”

Peter scowled. “Don’t call me that.” He flinched when he heard how harsh the words sounded coming out of his mouth. “I…I’m sorry, Pepper. I didn’t mean that. I’m sorry. I’m—”

She shook her head, a soft smile on her face as she gestured for him to eat. “It’s alright, I understand this is hard for you. Does May call you sweetheart?”

He blushed. “Yeah,” he stabbed a fork into the side salad. “She likes to cook too.”

Pepper nodded, placing hand on Peter’s arm for a second. He hesitated, looking at Mr. Stark. The man just gave him a tired smile and cut into the chicken.

Pepper looked back down at her food, which was good cause all the eye contact made him feel like he was under a microscope. “You know, Peter, I hardly know anything about you.”

He nodded. The food was good. He still felt guilty for eating it though, even worse for somewhat enjoying it.

“Can I ask you a few questions to get to know you more?”

He hesitated, biting his lip. Usually, he’d say no. But the other option was probably hearing Mr. Stark’s voice, and he really didn’t want that. So he nodded softly. Yeah, he’d answer some questions. What the hell!

☆

Tony watched in awe as Pepper worked her magic. She somehow got the boy to open up. Well, not quite yet but open up to the thought of opening up. He stayed quiet, eating his food slowly as if any wrong movement would cause the kid to remember he was there.

“So, you go to Midtown High?”

The kid nodded.

She smiled. “That’s a really impressive school, I’ve heard it’s hard to get into.”

Tony opened his mouth to ask the smart question of how in the hell did Peter pay for it but Pepper shot him a glare before he could utter even a sound. Right, leaving this to the big guns.

Peter nodded again, looking shy. “Mhm.” Tony couldn’t help but smile. He was adorable, with his fluffy brown hair covering his eyes and his little body all hunched over whenever anyone paid attention to him for too long. Tony made a mental note to get the kid a haircut.

“So,” Tony asked, making the boy blush and stare down at his plate. Pepper was trying to give him another warning glance but he ignored it. He’d be good. “How’d you find the school?”

“Mm…there was this science fair that was giving out scholarships if you won,” he answered quietly.

Scholarship, of course.

Pepper looked impressed. “Wow, so you won a whole science fair? You must be very smart!”

Tony couldn’t contain his bark of laughter. “Yeah, of course he is. He’s my intern, remember? Why would I pick someone stupid?”

Pepper and Peter both glared at him that time. Okay, he deserved that. Time to pivot.

“Erm…right. What did you make?”.

Peter hesitated before looking shyly up at him. “An energy core thing. Mostly ran on sun energy, it wasn’t that good and I could’ve fixed the calibracy but I ran out of time and—”

Tony smiled, trying to cut the kid off before he started shaking from nerves. “That’s super cool, kid.” He winked. “I see I chose the right person to help me in my lab.” Peter smiled shakily at him. Success!

Tony raised a fork at him. “I’m sure you know how much energy cores fascinate me.”

Peter nodded, chewing his lip. “That’s why I built it.”

Awwwww. “Oh?”

He shrugged, slouching back down again. “I don’t know, maybe not.”

This time, Tony wasn’t upset at him shutting down. Peter didn’t need to finish his thought for the message to be clear. He looked up to Tony. A warm feeling came over him, one that only happened when he was around the kid.

Finally, Pepper broke the silence.

“Are you in any clubs?”

“Y-yeah. Well, I used to be. I um, got really busy so I quit a lot of them. Most of them.”

Tony frowned. “Busy. Doing what?” He scowled when Pepper kicked him lightly under the table. She was right, of course, as the boy stiffened and shook his head, unwilling to elaborate. He decided to hand the floor back to his lovely wife.

Pepper shook her head. “Nevermind that. What clubs have you been in?” She chuckled. “Past or present?”

The kid started talking about different clubs, from band to some math team tournament thing? It seemed like a lot. Or, did seem like a lot, as the kid had supposedly quit most of them. Tony hesitated as a thought came to mind. “You didn’t quit because of the internship, right? Because we could’ve worked out the hours.”

Peter shook his head, not even looking at him. “No. I promise, I quit before."

Pepper and Tony shared a look. On one hand, they didn’t want the kid to feel interrogated, on the other hand, they had a lot of stuff to figure out and Tony desperately needed more information. Plus what was he busy with?

Pepper cleared her throat quietly. “How is it living in Queens?” Nice. Good spider-man pivot.

“It’s okay.”

Tony nearly groaned. Dude, give him SOMETHING to work with. Pepper shot him a look as she started clearing the table. He’d be patient. He was great at that.

“Hey, Peter? Could you help me with the dishes?”

The boy looked up excitedly, wanting to not feel useless. “Yes yes.”

“Do you want my help?” Tony asked lamely.

“Honey, do you want to wash the dishes or dry them? And yes please, Tony.”

He bit his lip, glancing up at Tony for a brief second like he didn’t want to make the wrong decision. Tony sighed, it was not a hard or serious choice. Or maybe it was, at least for Pete. He tilted his head. The kid did look morbidly disgusted by the food still on the plate. Right.

“I’ll wash. You dry.” He walked to the sink and threw a dishtowel to Peter, who happily stood beside him. He was so weird. Tony couldn’t help but ruffle his hair, the boy grinning briefly. For a second, he looked happy and like he didn’t hate Tony. Wow, how crazy.

Pepper put the leftover food away in the fridge, her mind was working fast, trying to decide how to ask her next question.

“You live close to where all that spider-man stuff is, right?” She asked softly, not looking at the kid or using an accusing tone. Just…asking. To be conversational.

The kid didn’t flinch, which was surprising. Probably would have if Tony asked it, but whatever. “Yeah,” he said quietly.

Pepper frowned, wrapping saran wrap around a bowl of salad. “Do you mind? I mean, obviously it isn’t pleasant when there’s sirens, but usually?”

He hesitated, chewing on his lip. Tony watched him carefully out of the corner of his eye. He didn’t know what the kid was thinking, and it took awhile before anything was said.

“Um…I mind. Yeah,” He muttered, to Pepper and Tony’s surprise.

“Oh?” Tony tilted his head at him. “You do? So you aren’t a big spider-man fan?”

The boy gripped the towel a bit tighter as he patted down a plate. “Mm…not really. I kind of am scared of the enhanced.” He glanced up, his eyes full of worry. “You know? They’re dangerous and hurt people sometimes.”

Huh.

Pepper hesitated. “Dangerous?”

“Yeah, didn’t you see what happened? Me or my aunt could have been hurt by him.” His gaze hardened as he rubbed the towel against the plate. “Spider-man should be in trouble for putting people in danger.”

Tony abruptly left the sink to pour himself a glass of bourbon. “So, tell me, Pete. You against the enhanced?”

He nodded, gripping the plate tighter. “Yeah. They’re um…pests. That’s what my friend Flash says at least.”

Pepper nearly choked at that, looking at the boy with a bewildered expression. There was no way this sweet little kid was spewing this hateful rhetoric.

Tony called bullshit, narrowing his eyes as he leaned back in his chair. “Hm, I thought Flash was the kid who bullied you?”

The boy scowled and opened his mouth to answer, but Pepper cut him off. “Okay, let’s change the topic.” She shot Tony a pointed look.

He, however, wasn’t done just yet. Why would he be? He wasn’t gonna let the kid win this. Like hell he hated the enhanced.

“What’s your opinion on those schools, kid?” He asked bluntly, staring at Peter’s face for any sort of tell. Pepper face palmed.

“What schools?”

Tony rolled his eyes at the kid’s feigned innocence. “The schools where they send the enhanced children. You know, when they catch them. The pests.” He said the last part in a hiss, leaning forward in his chair to put his drink on the table.

“Oh.” Peter chewed on his lip. “Um… yeah. Pretty…pretty cool schools. I don’t know.”

“Let’s stop talking about politics, please.” Pepper said quietly, watching the tense situation.

Tony ignored her. Which was probably stupid, but he’d be damned if this kid was more stubborn than him. “Yeah, I agree.” He said casually. He wanted the kid to admit he was lying. Even if the kid wasn’t…well. Either way he KNEW Peter and there was no fucking way he’d believe in this shit.

The boy’s widened eyes flew to him. “A-about what?”

Tony smirked. “About spider-man being a pest, a danger to society. I hope they catch him. Guy does more harm than good.” Okay, maybe he was pissed off by the fact there’s a chance Peter lied to him for the entire time he’s known him. Maybe, he was taking it out on him.

His wife groaned. “Goddamnit Tony…”

There was a loud cracking noise, Peter now standing by the sink with a plate broken cleanly in two, one piece in each of his hands.

Tony took a swig of his bourbon. Of course he could do that. “How fun, Peter. You just broke a plate cleanly in half.”

Pepper rushed over, taking it carefully out of Peter’s hands. Luckily, he didn’t hurt himself. Which made sense because it was a fucking clean break, like he just snapped it in two.

Peter didn’t even realize what happened, just staring at Tony with widened eyes. “You think that?”

He raised an eyebrow back at the kid. “Do you?”

He immediately blushed and shook his head.

Tony nodded slowly. “Right. I don’t either.”

Peter hesitated. “I–I’m gonna g-go to bed now.” He walked away, nervously waiting for someone to stop him. Maybe tackle him for the plate incident or demand why he lied. But, no one did.

“Good night, kid,” Tony said softly as he disappeared into his room.

Tony stared blankly at the door the kid had just slammed. Pepper came up behind him. “Tony…what are we going to do?”

He squeezed his eyes shut as he let out a heavy sigh. He didn’t know, torn between wanting to shake the kid to demand the truth and wanting to keep the act going just to protect him.“We keep him safe. No matter what.”