Chapter Text
Ned nudged him, almost knocking him out of his seat. Peter scrambled to collect himself.
“Hey!” He hissed at Ned, turning his head to glare at him.
“If I don’t have time to stare at Liz, you don’t have time to either. C’mon man, we need to focus on our project that’s due in two weeks.” Ned reasoned, gesturing towards the stack of papers in front of them. The group of papers consisted of their outline and guidelines for their English project, which is some sort of analysis over Macbeth. Peter groaned, seeing as English was his worst subject. As he once said to Ned, ‘it’s like a formula except I’m not given all the variables, it’s frustrating! Why do all these authors of literatures have to be alluding to something, just be direct with it’.
“She’s just so pretty.” Peter sighed, turning to look at Liz again. She was wearing a red top that fit her figure flatteringly and jeans that hugged her in the right places.
“She’s always pretty, that’s not surprise there.” Ned said, basically agreeing with Peter.
Peter nodded, feeling as if he was melting whenever he looked at her.
“Still, c’mon. Am I still heading over to your place tomorrow to work on this? We can put together that new Lego set that my mom just bought for me as well if we finish a bit of this.” Ned bargained.
“Sure, come over around eight tomorrow, okay?” He offered, looking at Ned as he waited for his reply.
“No problem. Want me to bring over any snacks?” Peter nodded. A few seconds later, the bell was sounding, and students were hurriedly packing up their belongings. Students were rushing out of the halls but for some other students, they were heading to auditorium for their practice meeting.
A few students took their places on stage, getting ready to answer the questions that were asked by the decathlon captain, Liz. Elizabeth Toomes, the girl that was invading Peter’s mind at the moment. She was smart, she was pretty, she was level-headed. She was everything. Peter sighed internally, smiling lightly.
Not only was Liz pretty and the main focus of his attention during decathlon, but he also didn’t have to deal with Flash anymore. He was kicked out of decathlon at the same time he was switched to the other side of the school.
Liz’s voice rang out once the session started.
“When do Celsius and Fahrenheit show the same temperature?” Her voice was clear but gentle and soothing.
Kalum, one of the boys that were sitting on stage, quipped. “Uh. Like 25? Maybe? No?”
Liz shook her head and another one of the students on the stage, Cassidy, answered. “I think it’s 40.”
“It’s 40.” The flash cards in Liz’s hands were shuffled slightly and the card that was just answered was slid onto a table. “We need to be studying harder if we expect to win at Nationals.”
Peter attention was stolen away from Liz by a tapping on his shoulder. His decathlon teacher, the person in charge of the club, sat down beside of him.
“Are you sure there’s no way that you can make it to nationals? We’d really need you there.”
“I really can’t go, I would love to, but I have too many responsibilities that I can’t call off at the moment and it would just be a mess to try and go.”
“You’re not going to Washington?” He heard Sally ask behind him.
“No.” Cindy said, a girl sitting next to Sally. “No, no, no, no. You’re going. We don’t have a replacement for you on the team ever since Flash got kicked out, you have to come. We have to have the correct amount of people with us and without the correct amount, we can’t compete. You’re going.”
Peter winced, feeling himself at a loss. “Cindy, I’d love to go but there’s so much to do.”
“Please, Peter, I’m begging you. We need you.” Cindy said, throwing her hands up and intertwining them together to show a picture of begging to Peter.
Peter sighed, already mentally preparing himself to give up Spider-Man for a day. Ever since he started going out as his persona in his new suit, it’s been hard trying to give it up for more than a few hours.
“Fine, I’ll see what I can do.” It’s not a yes nor is it a no, but it was surely taken as a yes. Cindy squealed and hugged him while the rest of the team cheered. He got a few pats on the back from various members and a handshake from his teacher whenever Liz’s voice interrupted the commotion.
“Hey Peter.” Peter’s head shot up in wonder. Liz was talking to him? Peter cleared his throat.
“H-hey Liz. Wh-what’s up?”
“I’m having a party at my house this weekend. You should come. You can bring Ned with you as well.” Peter looked in Ned’s direction and was rewarded with Ned staring at him with his jaw hanging open. Peter grinned and looked back at Liz.
“Sure, yeah, thanks. No problem, I’ll be there. Thank you for inviting me, us, ya know?” Peter stumbled over his words, mentally slapping himself in face.
“Cool.” Liz said, smiling gently at him. “It’s on Saturday, starts at eight. See you there.”
“Yeah, see ya.” Peter watched as Liz waved at him and walked off back towards the stage to continue quizzing the other members.
“Dude!” Ned whispered.
“Yeah.” Peter said, a goofy expression on his face. “We got invited to a party this weekend.”
“We got invited to a party? Sweet.” Ned said, fist pumping.
As soon as practice was over, Peter had headed home and sat his backpack in his room. Home now referred to Tony’s house and not his foster parents house. He had already switched into his suit and had headed downstairs to grab something to eat before he took off to stop some crime. He grabbed an apple and munched on it. He turned at the sound of footsteps entering the hallway near the kitchen.
“Hi, Mr. Stark.” Peter said before the man even entered the kitchen.
“Hi, Peter.” Tony entered. He had dark circles underneath of his eyes and seemed to be shuffling his feet. He had a mug in his hands, presumedly empty, and was searching for fresh coffee.
“Long night?” Peter asked, worry seeping into his tone.
“Long week, month, and life.” Tony replied, going over to the counter where the coffee pot was at and making fresh. “Been working on the accords still, trying to accommodate it to fit the standard needs of every super that’s out there.”
“Am I going to have to sign the accords eventually?” Peter asked, voice quiet and unsure.
Tony sighed. “To be honest, I would love if you never have to, bud. But someday, you probably will but you won’t until I’m sure that it doesn’t require for your personal identity to be outed and that you’re not held to stupid regulations that make no sense. Trust me, you’re not signing until it’s Tony Stark pre-approved before it’s even pre-approved. And until you’re at least eighteen.” Tony said, staring through the coffee pot.
Peter nodded and walked up behind his dad. “You look like you’ve been up for over twenty-four hours.”
“Actually, he’s been up for fifty-two hours and twenty-four minutes, Mr. Parker.” FRIDAY’s voice sounded from above, inputting herself into the conversation.
“Snitch.” Tony said, muttering it with a flat tone.
“Tony. Tony. You need to sleep. You can’t help at your best when you’re feeling at your worst.” Peter reasoned, hoping to get his dad to at least go to sleep for a few hours.
“I can’t help at all if I’m getting shut-eye in my bed. At least I’m awake when I’m feeling bad.” Tony said, grabbing the coffee pot that had finished pouring and poured some into his mug. He didn’t add any sugar or creamer to it, drinking it straight black. Peter scrunched his nose, not understanding how the man could drink the bitter stuff consistently. Peter also didn’t agree with Tony’s reasoning but left it alone, knowing that Tony had technically been taking care over himself for over thirty years and didn’t need a kid’s input.
“Alright, alright.” He said, conceding. “Try to rest some though, please.” Peter leaned in and gripped Tony’s wrist, trying to convey his message. Tony nodded so Peter squeezed one more time before releasing him.
“I don’t have any homework to do so I’m heading out on patrol a little early, if that’s alright. Oh, and I kinda gave into my decathlon team members demands and I’m going to Washington with them for nationals.” Peter said, always willing to let Tony know details of his life so that he can be a part of them.
“Yeah, it’s good, kid. And nationals is in two weeks, isn’t it? Hmm. I should be able to go unless some important meeting slides in at the very last second. Don’t forget, I’m headed to India this weekend to discuss some contract details with a big company over there, as well as attend a wedding for them. Good publicity, you know?” Tony said, taking another gulp from his coffee.
“This weekend?”
“Yeah.” Tony said, raising an eyebrow at Peter’s tone of voice. “Is that a problem?”
“Well, there was this party that I was invited to and I was wanting to go, and Ned was invited too! It’s our first time being invited to a party so we’re super excited and nervous at the same time. We’re both generally nervous going to events that we’re never normally invited to and…”
“Hold up. A party? Peter Parker going to a party? I thought you said you weren’t interested in parties before.” And true, Peter had said that before as an offhand comment to Tony in the lab.
“Well, maybe, my eyes have just been opened up and I’ve had a revelation.”
“Revelation. Yeah. Totally. What’s the real reason?” Tony asked, staring at Peter as he peered at him over his coffee mug. Peter stumbled for a reason, feeling his cheeks flare up the longer it took for him to answer.
“Okay, totally a crush, got it. Who is she?” Tony said, a smirk coming to his face. Peter groaned and threw his hands to his face and hid himself from view.
“She’s just a girl, okay? And she invited us to her party and I don’t want to appear like a total loser in front of her, Mr. Stark!” Peter exclaimed, his voice muffled from behind his hands.
“Hey.” A hand tugged his hands away from his face. “You’re not a loser. Don’t imply it. I mean, you can’t be a loser, you have the Stark genes.” Peter rolled his eyes at Tony’s words. “What time does this party start and who’ll be there?”
Peter groaned internally. Tony’s protective instincts were coming out but right now, they were not needed. “It starts at eight o’clock on Saturday and probably just a bunch of people from decathlon and her friends. It’s more of a get-together than a party.”
“Lemme compromise with you. You can go, as long as Happy drops you off and you message me when you get there and when you get home. That’s it, I promise.” Tony said, draining the last gulp of his coffee before pouring another cup for himself.
“Sure, yeah, I can do that. Thank you so much, Mr. Stark.”
“Kid, it’s Tony. Call me Tony.”
“But you’re an adult, therefore you’re a mister. Mr. Stark. Mr. Tony. Pick your choice of weapon.” Peter said flatly, ducking the hand that swatted at him.
“You’re a brat.” Tony said light heartedly. “Go on, go swing around in your onesie and stop thieves from jumping old ladies.” Peter rolled his eyes and waved goodbye to Tony, opening up a window and crawling up to the room. He pulled his mask on and scanned the area, looking for any immediate signs of trouble.
Later that night, Peter sat on the corner of a rooftop, tilting his head as he watched a group of people break and enter into a bank. They were wearing masks of the Avengers and Peter held back a snort. He swung over to the bank and walked in nonchalantly, leaning against a wall and crossed his arms, looking at his invisible watch.
None of the four guys had noticed him yet so Peter cleared his throat.
“What seems to be the problem guys? Need to open an account?”
Two of the four guys turned on their heels to look at Peter. “Woah, you guys are the Avengers! It’s so nice to meet you guys! What are you guys doing here?”
One of them, the one wearing the Thor mask, came swinging at him. Peter dodged easily, grabbing the mans arm and pushing him away into a wall. The one with the Hulk mask shot at him and Peter jumped upwards, attaching himself to the ceiling.
“Hulk, Thor, huge fan, I must say.” He spun around and shot a web at masked-Thor’s gun and swung it backwards, hitting masked-Iron Man and masked-Captain America with it, knocking them backwards.
“Yo, Iron Man, what are you doing here? Aren’t you, like, a billionaire or something?” Peter asked with confusion in his voice, having too much fun with these simple robbers when all of the sudden, he feels like he’s moving in slow motion. He looks over and sees Hulk with a gun in his grasp, glowing purple.
“Woah, this is so weird.” Peter says, his voice being distorted. The gun ends it’s weird purple light show, and Peter barely has a second before he’s being thrown from the ceiling to the floor. Somehow, Peter is able to get a grasp on floor and holds on with his sticky adhesive fingers. He shoots a web at the desk in the back corner and pulls hard, swinging it back and towards the masked-Hulk.
“I really, really need to be heading home, guys. School night, ya know?” Peter said, tired of this back and forth between the group and himself. Masked-Thor grabs the purple gun and shoots at the wall next to Peter, cutting directly though metal and concrete and leaving a gaping hole. Peter gasped and looked at the wall with shock before turning around and seeing the gun pointed at him.
“Wait, no, no, no, no.” Peter said, grabbing the thief next time, masked-Iron Man, and yanking them out of the way. There was a sharp, loud bang and Peter looked up to see a hole in the wall where he just stood. Peter had to roll away quickly again unless he wanted to be shot. Another loud noise rang, and Peter looked to see that a shop had been the target this time. Peter immediately jumped up and ran out of the bank through the hole in the wall and towards the shop, running by the flames and over knocked over merchandise to grab the cashier that was working at the time and getting him out of the danger zone.
Peter turned around and groaned. The thieves were all gone.
“Awe, come on man!” Peter whined. He groaned again and looked back at the cashier, who was on his phone and presumedly calling the cops.
“You got this handled right? Right?” He said to the cashier, throwing a hand out towards him. The guy regarded him with unfocused eyes. “The cops don’t like me that much, ya know? Kinda don’t want to deal with them. Thanks, cashier dude!” Peter said before running down the street and jumping off a car, sending a web into the air and landing on a wall, using the momentum to swing himself around a corner.
Peter got home relatively quick, landing on the roof of Tony’s house. He jumped off the roof and down into the backyard, making his way in through the back door.
“Welcome back, Mr. Parker. It is currently 10:29 PM. Boss is waiting for you in the kitchen.” Friday said to him. Peter cussed under his breath, running off to his room.
“Let him know I’m going to be a few more minutes, okay, FRIDAY?”
“Message had been relayed.”
Peter opened his door and hit the spider in the middle of his chest, loosening the suit from his body. He ran off to his bathroom, stumbling and falling once before reaching the shower. Within minutes, he had gotten in and out of the shower and was dressed. His hair was still dripping wet and his clothes were tugged on harshly, but he was able to run off to the kitchen.
The smell of cooked chicken and marinara reached his nostrils and his stomach howled with how loud it growled. He walked into the kitchen and turned to where the table was and was met with the sight of two fully fixed plates, one had bigger portions than the other, and Tony was scrolling through his phone. It seemed like aimless scrolling though, for as soon as Peter entered the room, the phone was put down and Tony’s eyes were on him.
“Hey Spider-baby.”
Peter hummed, mouth watering as he sat down. He grabbed his fork and started to dig in, chewing each bite thoroughly and sighing between mouthfuls of food. Tony was watching him with amused eyes. Peter let his hunger drift away for a second and was reminded of the weapons that were used at the bank heist.
“Mr. Stark!” Tony raised an eyebrow, fork halfway raised to his mouth.
“Earlier, there were these men robbing a bank and I thought it was normal business, ya know? But then there was this guy with a gun and when he aimed it at me, it made things disorienting for me. Then there was another gun and it shot through metal like it was paper and it was insane!” Peter explained, hands gesturing around as he talked.
Tony nodded, taking out his phone. “I’ll make a note of it, alright? If I see anymore ‘magic’ tech, I’ll take care of it. Don’t worry about it, kid.” Tony said, typing something into his phone before sitting it back down. The rest of dinner was spent with minimal conversation and the sounds of food being chewed.
“Hey kid, Happy’s going to be taking care of a situation for me for the next month. You know the tower, the Avengers Tower? Yeah, well, I sold it. We’re moving upstate and he’s going to be in charge of the transportation of objects and stuff. He might be a bit busy. Keep that in mind whenever you send updates to him whenever you’re not over here.” Tony said as the pair finished up dinner. Peter tilted his head but nodded.
Peter opened his window and crawled into his room, his foster’s family’s room for him, the next day. It was just about eight o’clock at night and Peter was wearing his suit. He would’ve already been changed into his normal clothes, but his backpack had been stolen when he checked the alley. Of course, the day that he decides to start patrol right after school and not go to Tony’s was the day that someone would steal his backpack of normal clothes. He crawled up the wall and onto the ceiling, slowly making his way towards the door. He shut the door and let himself land quietly on the floor.
He sighed and turned around, freezing at the sight of Ned on his bed. Ned was staring at him with his mouth gaping open and his textbook and folder fell to the floor.
“You’re Spider-Man.” Ned gasped out.
“I’m not.” Peter said, flinging a hand out before smashing the spider on his suit. “I’m not.”
“Dude, you were just on the ceiling!”
“No, I wasn’t.”
“Dude, look at what you’re wearing!”
“It’s a costume…Look, ok, you can’t tell anyone. Mr. Stark gave me this suit and I don’t want to disappoint him.”
“Mr. Stark, your biological father, gave you that suit? Does he know that you’re his son?”
“Yes, he gave me it and yes, he knows that I’m his son. Albite, he didn’t know that I was his son until after he gave me the suit but eh. Look, no one, not even the Brown’s can know. You weren’t even supposed to know. It’s to keep everyone safe.”
Ned picked up his textbook and folder, sitting them on the bed. “Okay. I’ll keep your secret. If you answer my questions.” Peter’s never nodded his head so fast.
Which he ended up regretting.
By the time that Ned left that night, Peter was exhausted by the amount of sheer ridiculous questions that Ned asked. No, I can’t spin organic webs from my veins. No, I can’t send a spider army at anyone. No, Ned, I can’t lay eggs, what the fuck?
Saturday couldn’t come sooner. It seemed like the week continued to drag on and on. Tony had left for his big meeting in India on Thursday and had reminded Peter to message him. Happy was driving him to and from school and everywhere else he needed to go.
After tortuous hours seeming to slowly slip by, Saturday had finally arrived. Peter, like the dork he is, was dressed and ready for the party at four in the afternoon. He was bringing his backpack with him, just in case he wanted to spend the night at Ned’s afterwards or something happened (as he had his Spider-Man suit in his backpack along with pajamas and his toothbrush). He spent the rest of the night pacing aimlessly through his room at his foster parent’s place He was talking to himself, trying to work his confidence up and not stutter. He didn’t want to seem like a pathetic loser to Liz and wanted to come off as cool to her.
The clock displayed ‘7:50’ and Peter shook his hands nervously. Happy still hadn’t shown up and Peter was starting to freak out.
“Come on, Happy, come on.” Peter said, tapping his feet anxiously against the floor. He wanted to show up on time, show Liz that he was interested and had actually taken in what she said.
Five minutes later, a black sleek car was pulling up on the curb and Peter rushed towards it. He opened the door and flung himself in, strapping his seatbelt in.
“Hey Happy! Are you running late or something, I’m supposed to be at Liz’s in five minutes but it’s okay though, I understand…”
“Kid, an unofficial party rule. Don’t be the person that shows up on time. It’s cool to show up fashionably late. Like, ten to fifteen minutes late. Showing up on time for a party makes you seem like a try-hard.” Happy’s flat voice reached him, tiredness and exhaustion laced in his tone.
Peter nodded and resolved himself to sitting back and playing the seatbelt. He didn’t want to run his mouth and annoy Happy, especially with how busy and strung out he seemed to be.
They got to Liz’s house easily. Peter exited and grabbed his backpack, slinging it over his shoulder.
“Text Tony.” Was all Happy said before driving off. Peter nodded and pulled out his phone, glancing at the time. It was 8:12 and Peter let out a relieved sigh, he wasn’t too late. He clicked on his messages and clicked on the thread with the person named ‘iron dad’. Peter honestly thought he was clever when he came up with that name. Iron Man yet he was Peter’s dad therefore, Iron Dad. Eh, maybe it wasn’t as good as he thought.
To: iron dad
From: petey
made it to the party safely! Hope you’re having a fun time in india, message you when i leave the party!!
Peter stuffed his phone back in his pocket, feeling it buzz but knowing that it was just a confirmation text, leaving it alone. He walked up to the door and knocked on it and it almost opened immediately. Liz and Ned were on the other side.
“Peter, hi! Thanks for coming, glad you could make it.” Liz’s gentle voice reached his ears and Peter smiled, greeting her back. Liz smiled at them, Ned and himself.
“You guys are relatively early compared to when others, so feel free to help yourself to anything. I’m going to wait here for the other guests. And don’t worry, my parents aren’t home, so you won’t have to worry about running into them.”
Peter walked further into the house with Ned trailing behind him. They made their way over to the table with refreshments and made small talk about random things as more filled the house. About thirty minutes later, there was about forty people in the house.
Music was blasting and people were dancing around or chatting with one another. Ned and Peter were standing near the table where drinks and food were placed, mindlessly chatting about anything. Randomly, Ned gasped.
“Dude, this is your chance.”
Peter made a noise of confusion.
“You’ve heard how much she likes Spider-Man, remember? In gym class?”
Peter groaned and rolled his eyes. “Dude, that was the only time she mentioned it and it was only for a moment. Besides, I want her to like me, not because I’m ‘associated’ with Spider-Man.”
Suddenly, the sound of glass breaking could be heard, and Liz’s groan filled Peter’s ears.
“Seriously?” Her voice sounded. “My parents will kill me! I don’t even know who invited you, Flash, because I know I didn’t.”
Peter froze, the name bringing up past memories. He never thought Flash would be here, especially not around his decathlon friends and crush. He didn’t think he would ever have to see him again.
Peter breathed deep, reminding himself that he’s Spider-Man and he’s faced scarier things than Eugene Thompson. It sometimes harder to remember that he’s both Peter Parker and Spider-Man and that they aren’t two separate people.
Flash’s gritting laugh echoed in his ears and Peter could feel himself getting a headache already.
“I’ll be back, okay? Flash is here and I just need a moment to myself.” He told Ned, who nodded sympathetically. Peter walked out of the backdoor of the house and stood on the back porch, staring at the sky and taking in the calmness of the night. He took a deep breath through his nose and let it out through his mouth, relaxing a little bit. Peter closed his eyes and opened them.
He cocked his head when he saw a bright blue explosion in the distance. Peter gets a flash of a memory from a couple of nights ago, the robbing of the bank with the glowing purple guns.
Narrowing his eyes, he holds on tighter to his backpack that he’s still been carrying and runs away from the house until he finds an alley, changing into his suit quickly. He hits the spider on his chest and feels the suit tighten around him. Tugging his mask on, he webs up into the sky and towards where the blue explosion came from.
Eventually, he stumbles across a group of people who are hooting and laughing as they destroy trucks with their guns.
“Try this one, it’s a reclaimed sub-Ultron arm straight from Sokovia.” One of the masked dudes say to a seller, who is standing to the side, stiff as he could be.
“I just wanted something lowkey, dude, why are you trying to upsell me?”
“Don’t worry, don’t worry. I got what you want. I got tons of amazing stuff here. Give me a minute.” The masked man walked towards their own van and opened the doors, revealing the loot of stuff to Peter. Peter’s mouth dropped open. It was full of machinery and weapons.
“Let’s see. Black hole grenades, Chitauri railguns…”
“Hurry up. Are you letting shots off in public now. Times are changing, the world is changing. We’re the only ones that are selling these high-tech weapons.” The other dude, the other henchman, said as he stood menacingly on the sidelines.
Peter shook his head distastefully. This had to be where the ATM robbers got their stuff from. It has to be!
“Listen man. I just need something to stick up someone. I’m trying to send them back in time or anything.”
“I got some anti-gravity climbers?”
The buyer got intrigued. “Climbers? You’re lying, let me see.”
Peter gets startled when his ring tone starts going off and starts cussing violently in his head. The henchmen look around alarmed as the yodeling tone keeps echoing in the small area.
“Yo, what the hell? Did you set us up?” The meaner of the two yelled, pointing his gun at the buyer. The buyer starts backing away with his hands in the air. Peter shoves his phone back in his pocket and flips into the scene.
“Hey! You wanna shoot at someone, shoot at me.” The two mean dudes turn towards Peter, the meaner one grinning.
“Don’t mind if I do.” But before they get the chance. Peter sends a web at the two, disarming them. He had completely forgotten about the van of tech, so he let his guard down, unfortunately. In the small window frame of time, one of the dudes had gotten one of the other guns and shot a burst of energy at Peter. Peter is sent vaulting into a bridge and flops onto the ground. The two dudes quickly bustle into the van and speed off.
“What in the world?” Peter whispered before he got up and shot a web, attaching it to the van. He’s thrown side to side, knocked into trashcans as the van tries to make him lose his grip. Bursts of energy flew through the back of the van as Peter hears them talking about calling ‘him’. Maybe the big man in charge? He’s not sure and he doesn’t have time to worry about it.