Chapter Text
Throughout the next week, Peter isolated himself as much as he could. He didn't have the energy to interact with people. He knew that recently, he had been using that excuse all the time to be left alone, but he seriously couldn't remember the last time he felt okay.
As Spider-Man, he rescued the owner of a local hotel. The man told him he could stay whenever he needed to for free, and while Peter hated to take advantage of that, he couldn't handle the way his friends began to look at him.
While he was isolating himself, he still wanted to be loved- the way Aunt May had loved him before she found out what he really was.
He went to the bathroom during lunch. He didn't want to eat. He went on his phone and texted Tony, "hi, are you busy??"
"Not at all, kid. What's up?" Peter was so relieved the man was free, but he felt guilty for taking up his time as well.
"idk. just not feeling great rn. sorry lol" Peter began to regret even texting him in the first place.
"Don't apologize. Aren't you at school right now? Pay attention to your teacher," Tony scolded Peter.
"yeah but im in lunch, but the cafeterias too loud so im skipping lol"
"You're gonna eat once you get home, right?"
"im kinda homeless now remember?"
"Fuck, right. Sorry. It's important for a kid your age to eat, though."
"if i go into the cafeteria id probably have a breakdown"
"Ah. Do you want to talk about it?"
"theres not much to talk abt, im just really stressed. dont know what im gonna do. lol" Peter tried to joke.
"Well, your field trip's tomorrow. You know those are one of the ways Tony Stark picks his interns, right? :)"
"i didnt. thats cool" Peter didn't want to get his hopes up. While he'd love to get an internship, his grades had started to slip.
"Keep your head up. Things are gonna get better eventually, I promise."
"thanks. the bell just rang. gtg"
"Bye, Peter."
"Hey, Clint. Are you free?" Tony asked, leaning against the wall.
"Yeah! What's up?" Clint adjusted his hearing aid.
Tony sat next to Clint on the couch, anxiously tapping his fingers on his thighs, "Fuck. I don't even know how to explain this. Around a week ago, a kid texted me, uh- wrong number situation. He was really badly injured, and he couldn't go to the hospital, so I told him how to deal with it.
Apparently, he's homeless, I'm 90% sure he's suicidal, and his class is doing a tour here tomorrow. I don't know what to do- do I talk to him?" Tony rambled on.
"Tony, calm down, man. What's his name?" Clint asked, but Tony didn't understand how that was relevant.
"Peter. Why?" Clint's chill expression fell for just a second.
"So we don't have to keep calling him 'kid'. Does he know who you are?" Tony shook his head. Should he have told Peter who he was?
"No, but he knows my name is Tony and that I work at SI. I told him Tony Stark chooses interns from these tours."
"Mm, you're probably thinking of choosing him as an intern?" Tony nodded.
"Me, personally, I'd probably only hire him if he was actually, ah... smart. So he doesn't think you hired him out of pity, you know?"
"Oh. Yeah. Fuck, do I tell him who I am, though?"
"Uh... dude, I have never seen you so emotionally in touch. I guess you should? I mean, you're gonna have to eventually, right?"
"Yeah. Um, I guess I could do that tomorrow? Near the end of the tour, maybe?"Clint nodded.
"Sounds like a good plan to me."
"Should I even hire him as an intern at that point, though? Why don't I just adopt him?" Clint opened his mouth but took a few seconds to think.
"Maybe because you barely know him and have no idea on how to be a father?" Clint argued, but Tony couldn't let the kid just be homeless and guardian-less.
"I know, I know, this is insane. But I don't want him to think he has to work for me. I just need- I don't even know," Tony justified.
"I'm not gonna stop you from adopting him. Anything that you do is your choice, but if you need any help with him, just let me know," Clint offered, patting Tony's tense shoulder.
"Thank you, Clint. I don't know why I'm so nervous about this. I'm... gonna go now. Se e you," Tony awkwardly left for his lab.
He worked until he physically had to stop.
Peter had his hood up, hoping Ned and MJ wouldn't recognize him on the bus there. Ned tried to sit next to him, but MJ pulled him into the seat across.
"I don't think Peter wants us talking to him, Ned," Peter heard. He felt his chest tighten, but he didn't say anything. He was so tired.
Peter stared at the window, ignoring all the snide comments Flash made. Nothing felt real. He wanted to sleep so badly.
He could escape the field trip pretty easily and go back to his hotel, but he knew that he should be ecstatic, so he decided to stay as long as he could.
His phone buzzed and he knew it was Tony, but he felt like he couldn't move to take his phone out of his pocket.
He remained stuck and unable to move until the bus pulled into a parking lot. He shakily forced himself to stand up and leave the bus, mumbling a thank you to the driver.
The tour guide looked to be about Peter's age. He introduced himself- Harley Keener. He had a gorgeous Southern accent as he spoke.
He called all of his classmates names and handed them name tags, but when he handed one to Peter, they made eye contact for just a second.
Harley looked like he recognized Peter, who quickly made his way to back of the group.
"Do you know him?" Ned asked. Peter shook his head.
Harley led them to a lab, where Tony Stark was standing. Tony, after everybody calmed down, explained that they would each be designing a simple robot.
Harley sat across from Peter and took a sip from his waterbottle before asking, "Hey, you're Peter, right?"
"Uh, yeah. Hi," Peter awkwardly smiled.
"You doin' okay? I noticed you're not lookin' too well. Could I get you some water?"
"Oh, uh, yeah, I'm good. Just..." Peter couldn't think of an excuse, "I'm fine, but thank you."
"You sure?" Peter nodded, turning his attention to his robot, which was based off a centipede, "Alright, well, if ya need something, don't be afraid to ask, okay?"
Harley walked to Tony and looked to make sure no one was watching or listening to them. Peter wanted to eavesdrop, but they were just too far away.
Flash approached Peter and made a disgusted face, "Ew, is that a bug?"
"Don't look so disgusted, Flash, it's obviously based off you," MJ responded. Flash clenched his jaw. Harley looked at them.
"Okay, everyone! Let's take a look at what you all have done. Back to your robots, 'n if you're too loud, you're automatically disqualified because I'm in a bad mood today," Harley cheerily announced.
Peter wasn't sure anyone noticed, but Tony Stark was taking notes as he observed. Peter then remembered the other Tony mentioning that
Peter watched as Flash's robot worked well for a few seconds, before it started sparking and had to be turned off. He started hoping his would break down as well, because he knew that if Flash outperformed him, Flash would be pissed.
MJ recognized the fear on Peter's face and pat his shoulder.
Peter's centipede quickly crawled around the floor, up Peter's leg, then over his shirt, before staying on Peter's arm. Flash opened his mouth to say something, but Mr. Harrison was staring directly at him.
After two other students, Tony announced that he had to leave, but he would be at a Q&A later. Peter couldn't pretend he felt no relief when the man left.
Tony had a sort of overwhelming prescence. It wasn't that Peter's spider sense had gone off around him, more like Tony was expecting something of him, something he couldn't live up to.
Harley stood next to Peter again, who was shaking, and whispered "Hey, Peter, I get you're sayin' you're fine, but I really don't believe that. You look like you're 'boutta faint, I'm gonna sneak out and get you a water bottle."
Peter couldn't do anything but nod and mumble a quick, "Thank you."
Harley snuck out of the room before returning with a cold, plastic water bottle that Peter took slow sips from. When he wasn't drinking it, he held it against his wrist to ground himself.
It didn't help too much, but he couldn't easily sneak out to the bathroom to pursue any of his less-than-healthy habits.
The moment they continued the tour, Flash casually approached Peter, "Why does the tour guide keep talking to you? You fucking him? Is that the only way you feel loved, Penis?"
Flash spoke quietly- quiet enough that Peter doubt anyone else was even aware he spoke. Peter put his hood up, and Flash smirked.
Peter spotted a bathroom and snuck into it. It was a single use stall, which was amazing, in his opinion. He held his face and tried to stop himself from crying.
He grabbed his phone to see what Tony had texted him from when he was on the bus.
"Hey, kid. Let me know if you need anything during your field trip, okay? Just text me if anything happens," Peter felt himself begin to cry.
"i hate this stupid fuckihg school" he texted back. He felt terrible for how often he vented to Tony, but the guy always seemed genuinely concerned for him.
"What happened?" Tony quickly responded.
"my classmate just accused me of fucking the tour guide because he got me a water bottle. i hate this school so much"
"Jesus. Listen, I know this is hard, but you need to hang on for a few more hours, okay?" Tony ominously demanded.
"why??"
"Can't say. Just trust me."
"okay"
"Good. Do you think you're safe?" Peter didn't know how to respond. He knew he wouldn't hurt himself on a field trip, but he wanted to so badly.
He decided against bothering the man and responded with, "yeah. thanks. i should probably get back to the tour now, lol. bye :)"
Luckily, Peter's group hadn't moved too far ahead and he easily caught up with them. MJ glanced at him, obviously upset about him ignoring them. He would apologize later.
Ned looked between Peter and MJ before deciding to stick with MJ but giving Peter a small wave and smile. Peter waved back but kept his head down.
Harley led them through an exhibit with every Avenger's first costumes. Peter actually paid attention- maybe he could take some inspiration to improve Spider-Man.
He wasn't oblivious to Harley glancing at him throughout his explanations, and unfortunately, Flash wasn't either.
The moment Flash opened his mouth, as if a gift from God, Harrley spoke, "Okay! I'm gonna take y'all to the cafeteria, where you all have twenty dollars to spend using the QR code in your name tags, then for the rest of your trip, you'll be in the museum on floor 14 and able to explore freely."
Peter sat down immediately, knowing he wouldn't be able to bring himself to eat anything. He felt the table shift and saw Harley, who had a sandwich, fries, and soda.
"Hey, Peter! You're not gonna eat?" Peter lifted his head and smiled.
"Nah. Not that hungry. Still not feeling that well," he effortlessly lied, but the tour guide clearly didn't believe him.
"Are you sure? Could I get you somethin'? How 'bout an apple?"
"I don't know. I just don't have that big of an appetite, um... sorry," Harley shrugged and ate his sandwich.
Why was he still there?
"Don't apologize. How're you enjoying the tour?"
"It's, uh, good," Peter awkwardly responded. Harley nodded.
"That's good! Your robot was really cool. Ya like bugs a lot?"
"A bit. I like spiders."
"Oh, really? Why'd you make a centipede, then?"
"I had a staredown with one this morning on the subway."
"Eugh. Gross," Peter nodded, "Anyway! Are ya sure you don't wanna eat? Are you gonna have stuff to eat back home?"
"Yeah."
"Peter. This is gonna sound reallyyyy weird. Like, really, really weird. But I got good intentions, promise. Could ya follow me real quick?" Peter stared at Harley for a few seconds before shaking his head to snap out of it.
"Uh, yeah, sure? Are you gonna, like, kill me?" Peter stood up after Harley.
"No! No. Um. You know Tony?" Harley asked.
"Stark?"
"Noo... well- no. Other Tony that works here," Harley couldn't have been talking about wrong number Tony, right?
"Maybe? I know a Tony who works here, but, um, that's a really common name. Um. Why?"
"So... I- ah, why did he make me do this! Just follow me," Harley stepped out of the elevator and opened a door. Tony Stark was casually standing there.
Peter felt like a deer in headlights, "Uh- Mr. Stark! Hi! What's- what's happening?"
Harley swiftly left the room, shutting the door behind him.
"You texted me a few weeks ago."
Peter's face went red, "Holy shit. Wait?! Tony- oh my god... Mr. Stark, I'm so, so sorry, I had no idea, I just thought that- I didn't know- I'm so sorry, oh my god, I'm-"
"No, kid, stop apologizing, just stop. I'm not mad. You're not in trouble. I just have an offer. You wanna take a seat?" Peter nodded and slowly sat down, not taking his eyes off of the man.
Tony sat next to Peter, but Peter didn't feel safe in that exact moment, even though this was his idol, and backed up. Tony held his hands up.
"Sorry. Can I explain?" Peter nodded, "I was worried about you. The offer, it's not really an offer, I just- how do I even ask this? Look, I'm not really an emotions type of guy, I didn't exactly have great parents, so I have no idea how to say this.
Do you want to live here? You would have access to as much food as you wanted, a bed, doctors, whatever you need. I just can't let you live on the streets, kiddo."
"What?"
Peter tried to keep his breathing under control. He felt so confused; how did this happen?
"I don't- I can't- what? But you don't know me- I don't matter- I mean- you don't want to do that, really, I'm fine!" Tony shook his head.
"You clearly aren't. I understand that this is a lot to process, but you need to breathe. My offer is genuine. I want to help you. So does Pepper."
"Pepper knows about me?! Pepper Potts?! Holy shit! I'm sorry. This is a lot, um, I just really don't think you want to do that, I mean, there's a lot you don't know about me."
"I seriously doubt that anything you've done is bad enough for me to take back my offer."
"I don't deserve this."
"I'd argue you do. Pepper and Hawkeye as well," Peter looked up at Tony with his big, brown eyes.
"But I'm- I'm not a real boy. I thought you knew that."
"Peter, what do you mean?"
"I'm trans, I wasn't born a boy, and I hate it, but I have to be, I couldn't stand being a girl," Peter spat out.
"Trans is just an adjective, kid, if you're a boy, you're a boy. Doesn't matter the word you put in front of it."
"You really don't mind? But still, it's really expensive to have a new person live with you-"
"I'm Tony Stark. Kid, stop arguing, and let me help you. Even if you say no, I'm going to do something. You're not going back to the streets."
Peter looked like he was about to cry.
"Tears, um, shit- do you want a hug?" Peter nodded. Tony awkwardly wrapped his arms around the boy.
Peter melt into him like he hadn't had a hug in years.
"I've got you, buddy, you're okay," Tony soothed. Peter dug his fingers into his back, but they felt more like claws than anything.
"So, is this a yes? You'll let me adopt you?" Peter nodded.
"Okay. Uh. I'll send a car to pick you up after school. You should probably go back to whatever it is Harley's making your class do," Tony pat Peter's back as he let go.
Peter awkwardly left, staring at Harley, who was just outside the door, "Did- did you know that was going to happen?"
"Yeah. It went well, I take it?" Harley led Peter back to the elevator, pressing the '14' button.
"Tony Stark wants to adopt me," Peter was clearly in shock. Harley shrugged.
"He's all about grand gestures. If he thinks this is what you need, this is what he'll do."
"I just don't understand why."
"You gotta sad backstory?"
"I mean, I wouldn't say anything too bad has happened to me? I just don't exactly have a home right now," Harley stared at Peter with an unamused expression.
"Yeah. That's pretty bad, Peter. Anyway, go catch on with your friends, I've got tour guide stuff to do," Harley waved at Peter.
Peter went off to find Ned and MJ. Even if MJ was livid, she would definitely want to hear about this. Maybe she'd let him talk without killing him.