Chapter Text
It was his fault. He saw the roof crash down on her, he smelled the ash - the smoke - he smelled the burned skin.
He wasn't strong enough.
The bitter soot was all he could taste. The heat had found his eyes, and his throat, and his skin, and his suit, and was all-encompassing as he rushed towards her, but he was too late.
He wasn't smart enough.
They must have known who Spiderman was behind the mask. They must have. They must have known that Aunt May was close to him. They must have been getting back at him. They must have been playing out a sick, petty revenge plot - and they succeeded.
Spiderman wasn't responsible enough.
He should have been more cautious. He should have made himself harder to track. He should never have let his ego inflate so high that he had developed the idiotic idea that Peter- 15 year old high-school loser Penis Parker who still cowers at bullies - could save precious lives.
He wasn't powerful enough.
Actually, he wasn't powerful at all.
🕷️
Another thing that Tony Stark liked to believe was that when he wanted something bad enough, he could get it. That seemed to be true for a lot of things in his life: getting secrets out of hardened criminals, earning victories against supervillains, and becoming one of the most powerful heroes on the planet. However, today Tony realised that this fact was in fact true for everything except for one, disgustingly impossible goal: getting in contact with a 15-year-old high school student.
Why is it so hard to reach a random kid?
He checked his phone for the 1000th time since he sent the emails. Neither Peter, nor the guardian listed on his internship form, had responded to him. He even called Peter's guardian himself. Twice. Still no response. So much for an emergency contact.
So, now Tony Stark was sitting at his computer.
“FRIDAY, give me the rundown on Peter’s school again.” He leaned back in his chair, waiting for the file to load.
“Pulling up data on Midtown High..”
An array of images and stats popped up across his 3 floating monitors: Midtown’s website, their Wikipedia article, their social media page. The whole shtick. He lifted his arms to the touch-screens, scrolling quickly to scan the pages. Nothing interesting.
“Okay, FRIDAY. Trips, extracurricular activities… School events. Have there been any of those recently? Go.”
“There was a ‘wear your Christmas jumper to school’ day, on the 15th of November. ”
“Very helpful, FRIDAY.”
“Sorry, Boss.”
Actually, it was slightly helpful. It confirmed there were no school-verified reasons - like a residential trip- that explained why Peter had been completely off the grid. This proved that his absence from Tony’s lab had to be the result of a completely different factor.
“Has he been attending school recently?”
“Peter is a minor, Boss. I cannot access his personal school information.”
Tony frowned. Of course she can't.
“What about assignments....Has he been handing in assignments? Homework and such?”
“That's confidential, too, boss.”
“...Has his face been picked up by the school security cameras?”
“Their camera footage isn't public. I don't have access.
“Is everything confidential?”
“Most things, Boss.”
Why haven’t you just hacked it?! He didn't say it out loud, but he had to fight it from spilling out of his lips in frustration.
She won't hack it, because FRIDAY was programmed to hack into criminal databases, villainous technological conglomerates, and hostile extraterrestrial networks for world-saving missions. She won't access confidential files from a random, harmless high school without Tony directly ordering her to. And he won't do that. Because it’s none of his business what a kid is up to, and he doesn't care.
He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms in frustration.
He couldn't quite place why he wanted to know in the first place. What answer would Tony prefer to receive? Did he want to hear that Peter had been attending school just fine, but was completely ignoring the internship? Because that would imply Peter simply lost interest in working alongside Tony. And that could imply that - maybe - Tony had offended him, or Peter had a new commitment he preferred. Or, maybe he’d simply been too busy with his teenage life to drop in. He might have been feeling overworked, or maybe he had just had enough.
Would he prefer to hear that Peter had been ignoring school as well? Maybe he was in a rebellious teenage phase and ignoring all his commitments. (Unlikely; Peter was a goody-two-shoes.) Or, he was ill. (More likely, but it would have to be concerningly serious to explain being away for two entire weeks.) Or, it could be something worse…
No. No. Absolutely not. Tony shook his head, and with that motion he shook away all the oncoming, terrifying mental images as well. Tony wouldn’t follow that line of thought.
Because he really didn’t need to know.
Because he didn't care.
Seriously, he didn’t care one bit.
Tony sighed.
“FRIDAY, pull up Midtown’s phone number.”
-
When Tony had called Peter's school, it went a little like this:
“Hello. Midtown High?”
“Hi. I’m calling for information on Peter Parker.”
“One second… Yes! Found his file.”
“Perfect.”
“You’re his father?”
“No.”
“..Guardian?
“No..”
“….. Babysitter?”
“God, No.”
“Are you just- a stranger?”
“...No.”
“What's your relation?”
What was his relation?
“Just- is the kid in today?”
“Um, I’m afraid I can't give out any information to just anybody. Student information is strictly confidential.”
“...What’s the address?”
“You won't get a different answer in person, sir."
-
So now, Tony was parked in front of Midtown.
“Is this really it?”
Tony didn’t expect the kid to attend such a small school.
FRIDAY had told him Peter’s school specialised in science and technology - which checked out - but with how bright Peter was, he still expected something grand and special. This, however, looked like a completely average high school. It certainly wasn't run down - a humble brick building nestled in the middle of a field - but it didn't look like a high-end institution by any means.
Well, you should never judge a book by its cover.
Tony climbed out of the car, patted down his black suit, strutted towards the front office, and thrust the door open.
The sole receptionist at the desk was a thin woman with greying hair and green reading glasses, tapping away slowly at a cheap keyboard.
He walked up to her. She seemed completely unaware of his presence, but he was ready for the face of pure shock to fall onto her when she finally looked up: he'd seen it 5000 times before. He may as well trademark that expression.
"Excuse me."
She got halfway through her rehearsed customer service greeting before she went pale.
"Oh. Oh! Oh my goodness. You're Tony Stark.."
"That's my name."
The receptionist gulped, and nervously looked around. Presumably for comfort or social support. Unfortunately, she was the only one at the desk. Tony knew he was famous, but he could never quite understand why his presence had such a stressful effect on people.
Shyly avoiding direct eye contact, she continued her rehearsed performance - but with a noticeably more nervous quality to her voice: “What brings you to Midtown's office today?"
"I'm looking for information on Peter Parker."
"Ah- you... Did you call earlier?"
"That was me."
"I'm so sorry, sir. But I'm afraid I cannot give out any information"
"Even to Tony Stark?"
The receptionist choked on air.
"Um, I'm sorry, sir. I wish I could give it to you, truly. But, I'd lose my job.”
Tony crossed his arms and sighed. It made the woman shift uncomfortably in her chair, but he couldn't care any less about that. Frustrated, he began to tap his foot and let himself get lost in thought.
Peter's absence from his internship was inconvenient.
Very inconvenient.
Borderline offensive, actually.
He’d got really used to the kid’s help around the lab, and now he swore he was getting withdrawal symptoms. He couldn't get back to the same level of efficiency in his lab without someone to double-check his equations as he worked.
That's why he was so desperate for information on his whereabouts. It was a matter of statistical necessity - an important variable to maximise the chances of meeting his quotas. However, since Peter's involvement in SI was only an internship - not real employment- he had a 0-hour contract. Peter technically had no legal obligation to be there on time, or to report back to him, and was technically allowed to tap out whenever he wanted without a formal resignation (so long as he continued to abide by his NDA.) Despite this, it was still morally wrong to let a guy get so used to your presence (as a competent assistant) and leave with no warning. He's working on a difficult project now, and it's proving to be exhausting without the little shit handing him tools.
The kid better apologise when he finally fishes him out.
Tony finally developed some semblance of sympathy for the woman squirming uncomfortably in her chair, and broke the ice.
"You asked about my relationship to him? What difference would it make?"
"Um. Well, I can give information to certain authorised guardians."
Tony did know that, obviously, but the rule was really pissing him off right now, so his question was more of a complaint.
"Well, I'm Peter's employer."
“He’s fifteen.” She said it like a question.
"He’s my intern."
She looked even more confused.
"Peter Parker has an internship with Tony Stark?"
There was a long pause. Tony gave her a look and raised an eyebrow
"...So?"
"Well, I'm afraid I still can't help you. Employers aren't entitled to confidential information... I apologise."
Tony Stark never walked away from a situation empty-handed. Not today, not ever.
Tony narrowed his eyes, before looking around for company. He placed his forearms firmly on the desk, and leaned towards the sitting receptionist, looming over her in a final act of intimidation.
"Right. Let's cut to the chase then. How much will you spill for? Five hundred?”
Since famous Tony clearly didn't work on this lady, it was time for billionaire Tony, because there's no problem you can't throw some money at.
Her eyes widened so much that Tony was pretty sure she'd accidentally plugged herself into the national power grid. She looked at him like he was insane.
He raised an eyebrow. “One thousand?”
Her mouth was agape, too.
"Nobody will need to know."
She didn't even seem to be thinking about it. She was just stunned - Completely places into shock by the proposition. After a long pause, and all at once, she seemed to regain consciousness. She immediately startled back into her chair, nearly falling off the thing. She put her hands up in defence, and waved them in front of herself in animated rejection.
"No! That won't work, sir! I'm sorry!”
Tony sighed, and stepped back from the desk, returning to his musing position - eyes closed, arms crossed, tapping his foot.
He wasn't used to being in an environment where his identity held no power. He especially wasn't used to dealing with problems he couldn't solve with enough cash. He stayed still for a few more seconds, and went in for the offensive again.
Well, Rich Tony was out.
“Has anybody ever told you how beautiful your eyes are?”
“Are you really.. Are you really trying that on me?”
Tony rolled his eyes. Fine, maybe he was a few years too old for that one now.
He really felt like a fish out of water.
"Ugh. Just give me a visitor lanyard. I'd like to talk to the principal."