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Tony was listening to his mother tell him about the vacation she and Howard were planning when Friday interrupted them.
“Pardon me, Boss, but Spider-Man is here. He’d like to know if you are available.”
Tony wanted to tell Friday to tell the kid to run for the hills to avoid the tongue-lashing of a lifetime, but his mother was watching him with that ‘take one wrong step and you’ll get it’ look and Tony was trapped. Shit.
“Uhm, tell him to meet me in the lab.”
“Tony.”
“Yeah, mom, I know. I’ll talk to him.” Better him than his mom, he thought.
He did not run out of the room and her disapproving glare, because that would be cowardly and beneath him. He was a superhero, and he was not afraid of anything. Absolutely.
“Mr Stark!” Peter exclaimed as soon as Tony walked in the room, bouncing about like he was on speed (Jesus, the kid was even more high-strung than Tony had been at that age – but still adorable). “Mr Stark, my project was selected for the State-wide competition!” He took the mask off, showing lots of white teeth in a wide smile. “It’s so awesome! Thank you so much for all your help!” He rushed at Tony and hugged him (kid was a hugger), careful not to crush him with his super-strength, which Tony really appreciated.
“That’s great, Peter, I’m really happy for you.” He grinned back and felt awful for the fact that he was about to burst the kid’s happy bubble.
Dum-E rolled over from his charging station to say hi to Peter. “Hi, Dum-E.” The bot made an inquiring beep and tilted his arm in the direction of the kitchen area. “Oh, okay, I’d like a drink, if that’s what you’re offering.”
Dum-E let out a series of excited beeps and rushed off. “Not coffee!” Tony yelled out at his bot. Peter on coffee was not something Tony wanted to handle. “Friday, keep an eye on him.”
“I’m on it, Boss.”
“So, I have some ideas on how to make it better, my project I mean, and I was hoping that you could help me with it a bit. I mean, if you’re not busy. You’re probably busy, it’s okay, I get it. I just…”
“Peter, slow down. And yeah, I’d love to help you.”
“Awesome!”
And now Tony felt even worse in the face of the kid’s unbridled enthusiasm. Sometimes being an adult sucked.
Peter started talking a mile a minute about his project and Tony listened, figuring he might as well let the kid have some fun before the lecture. Dum-E brought over some fruity thing he’d taken to making lately and circled them as they talked, making them laugh. And if they got distracted taking science, well… who could blame him?
“Boss,” Friday said some undetermined amount of time later, a warning note in her voice.
“Yeah?”
“I’ve been asked to remind you of a certain conversation you need to have with Mr Parker. And I’ve been instructed to tell you that you are running out of time.”
Oh, great, now he felt like a kid stalling to do his homework. Next thing his mom would show up and tell him he was grounded. Who exactly is the adult here?
“Is everything okay, Mr Stark?” Peter asked with a frown.
“Okay, Peter, here’s the thing,” he began, then realized he had no idea how to do this. How did one tell an underage superhero that he couldn’t be out superheroing without his guardian’s consent? (Or at all, really, Jesus…)
Peter looked worried now. “Did I do something wrong?”
Well, that was a really tricky question, wasn’t it? Shit. “Okay, okay. The thing is… Peter, this Spider-Man gig… it’s… well, really dangerous and I’ve been awful in encouraging it, and encouraging you to keep it from your aunt.”
“You didn’t do that, I asked you not to tell her.”
“Yeah, well, that doesn’t really get me off the hook. I mean, I should not have listened to you on that.”
“Are you… are you going to tell Aunt May? Oh, Mr Stark, please don’t. Please.” And now Peter was looking at him with puppy eyes and Tony really didn’t want to continue this conversation. Because he was a coward. And he didn’t want to hurt the kid. Or his aunt.
“You see, I don’t want to do that. But…” But his mother was right that letting the kid keep this secret was incredibly irresponsible of him. Borderline criminal, really. Christ, he was such an idiot.
“Mr Stark, you can’t tell Aunt May. She’ll flip! She’ll… I don’t know, but she will not be happy.”
“Yeah, well, hate to break it to you, kid, but that really isn’t something to be happy about, you know.”
“I’m doing good!”
“Yeah, I know, but… you’re a kid. It’s not your responsibility.”
“But I have these powers, Mr Stark. I didn’t ask for them, but I have them. And I have to… I have to do good things with them. Because… my uncle used to tell me that with great power comes great responsibility and he was right. And now I have these powers, so that means that I also have the responsibility to use them to–”
“Okay, I’m gonna have to stop you there, ‘cause that line of thinking… that’s dangerous, Peter.” He took a deep breath. “Look, I get it, I really do, but that’s… you’ll drive yourself crazy thinking like that. Listen to me, kid, shit happens. Shit happens and it’s not your fault. It is not on you to save the world. Hell, it’s not on me, either. We can help, yeah, but there’s only so much anyone can do. You’ve got powers, yeah, and you should use them well, I’m not arguing that. But you are also a kid, and that means there are some decisions that you shouldn’t make on your own. You can have the best intentions in the world, Peter, but good intentions can only take you so far. You have to accept limitations, you have to listen to others when they tell you you are in over your head. Peter, listen to me: you are in over your head. And it’s partly my fault, because I’ve been sorta encouraging you, but… that’s wrong. This superhero thing… it’s complicated, and it’s messy and it is fucking dangerous, and how do you think your aunt is going to feel when she finds out on television that you got your ass kicked by some crazy villain or something? Or worse, killed? I know you want to do good, and that’s commendable, but you. Are. A. Kid. It’s not your job. It’s my job. It’s my job to protect people, and I need to protect you too. Because if I don’t… if you get hurt out there… that will be on me. Because I’m the fucking adult here and I let you do dangerous shit that you shouldn’t be doing, no matter how super you are.”
An awkward silence filled the room and Tony wondered whether anything he’d said had gotten through.
“I just wanted to help,” Peter eventually said, eyes on the ground. Tony felt a sudden burst of empathy for his father. This parenting thing was fucking hard – and Peter wasn’t even his son.
“I know, Peter. I know you mean well. You’re a good guy, you got your shit together – much more than I did when I was your age, that’s for sure. But you’re still in over your head,” he said, as gently as possible.
“But what if I see something happening right in front of me? I can’t just do nothing, Mr Stark. I can’t!”
“Okay, I get it. Look, I… Tell you the truth, I don’t really know what to do here, how to make this” he gestured to the two of them, to this messed up situation they found themselves in “better. What I do know is that you can’t go on doing this behind your aunt’s back. And I can’t, in good conscience, let you. So, you need to talk to her. Come clean. After that… we’ll see what we can figure out.”
“She’s gonna be so mad, Mr Stark… Like, really mad.”
Yeah, if she was anything like his mother, he had no doubt. “I know. But face it, Peter, she’s got every right to. Gotta own up to your crap, Peter, and take the consequences.”
“I’m gonna be grounded until the end of forever,” the kid whined, not really helping his case.
“Yep. And she’ll probably want to skin me alive too.”
Peter looked at him, then back to the floor. “Well, she doesn’t really need to know about you at all.”
“Nope, we’ll come clean together. We both lied, this is my fault too.” He was not looking forward to May Parker slapping him in the face (or worse). Maybe he should take his mom along, so May would know he’d been given a proper scolding on it too. He put a hand on the kid’s shoulder and waited until Peter looked up. “You are a good kid, Peter, but you shouldn’t be doing this. I just want you to be safe.”
“I’m tough, you know.”
“Even tough guys can get hurt, Peter. You never know what new psycho is going to crop up. If the world is about to end I promise I’ll call you, but aside from that… I shouldn’t have taken you to Berlin. I put you in danger and I’m really sorry for that.”
“I wanted to help!” Peter said, big eyes on Tony. “It was such an honor, Mr Stark.”
“No, it was idiotic, is what it was. I can’t tell you how sorry I am for dragging you into that mess. In my defense I was kinda desperate and not really thinking straight; which is no excuse, of course. I gotta do better here, Peter. For you.”
“I’m not fragile, Mr Stark.”
“No, you’re not, but that doesn’t make it right.” With a sigh, he took a step back. “So, telling your aunt.”
“Do we really have to? What if I say no?”
“You’re a minor, Peter, so it’s not really your decision. As an adult, I can’t just keep quiet. Even if you don’t want to tell her, I have to, do you understand? I’ll tell her without you. But it should come from you, Peter.”
The kid deflated, shoulders hunching in. He really had the puppy look down pat, but Tony Stark was made of sterner stuff and refused to be swayed by sad eyes. (Really, he did. Aw, shit, look at him…) Dum-E awkwardly patted Peter’s arm.
“Buck up, kid. If we survive this and your aunt doesn’t file a restraining order against me, we’ll work on your project next weekend.” (It was kind of a big if there.)
“We don’t have to do it now, right? I mean, I’m sure you’re… busy. And being as I’m gonna be grounded for eternity, I think we should work on my project now. You know, just in case.”
Tony checked the clock. Yeah, they had some time. God only knew if he’d get to hang out with the kid again after his aunt figured out what they’d been up to.
They spent another hour talking science and enjoying themselves, until Friday spoke again.
“Boss? I’ve been instructed to ask you if you would accept some company.”
Looked like his mom wanted to meet Peter. Tony thought about it, and decided he trusted the kid.
“Peter?”
“Do you need me to go, Mr Stark?”
“No, no. Can you keep a secret?”
Peter looked at him like he was a moron, and Tony winced a bit. Right. Dumb question. “Okay, thing is, I’ve got kind of a secret too, one that I’d like to share with you.”
“Sure. I swear I won’t tell anyone. You can trust me.”
Had Tony ever been that young and earnest? He couldn’t remember. “Okay. So, this is gonna sound completely insane, but bear with me.” So he explained about the Soul Gem, Aemon the Great (which earned an eye roll from the kid) and the resurrection.
“So, your parents are really back? Alive?” Peter asked, wide-eyed.
“Yeah. I doubt it would work again, though. It was a complete fluke the first time, so we don’t want to tell people. We don’t want anyone to think that… that this is something that we can do now. Get people’s hopes up.”
Peter nodded sadly. “Yeah, I get it.”
The boy had lost a lot of people too; he would. “Anyway, I’m telling you this ‘cause my mom wants to meet you.”
“Me?”
“Yeah, you. Also, she was pretty mad at me for, you know, putting you in danger. Tell you the truth, she threatened to go talk to your aunt herself if I didn’t get you to. And I don’t know your aunt, but my mom can be pretty ‘persuasive’, if you know what I mean.” He shrugged. “Parents, you know?”
Now Peter was smiling. “Did she say she’d ground you?”
“Not in so many words, but I wouldn’t put it past her.”
“Aren’t you, like… uhm…” He smirked.
“Do not say old.”
“A bit old.”
“Well, older than you, so don’t sass me, kid. So, what do you say?”
“Okay. I mean, I’m not in trouble, am I? Is she gonna lecture me too?”
“Oh, probably. A bit, at least. But she’ll go easy on you, I’m sure.” (He hoped.) Tony smiled as Peter fidgeted. “You’ll win her over, though, I just know it.”
“Okay then. But why does she want to meet me anyway? I mean, I’m not, like… important or anything.”
“You’re my friend. She wants to meet my friends. I haven’t had a lot of those, you know.”
Peter’s eyes widened and he flushed a bit. “Oh, wow, that’s… I’m your friend? Really? Oh, wow. That’s so awesome!” He bounced in place a bit, then hugged Tony again. “You’re the best, Mr Stark!”
Tony couldn’t help but smile. Kid really was something.
“But what if your mom doesn’t like me?” Now he sounded nervous. “Oh my god, she’s gonna think I’m awful.”
“Of course not, Peter. Why would she think that?” Tony was the one who was awful for letting the kid risk himself like that. Peter was only 16, one could hardly expect reasoned life choices from him. “She’s gonna love you.” Really, how could anyone not love Peter? (It made his blood turn cold when he thought of how badly the kid could have been hurt in Berlin because of Tony. And because Rogers hadn’t been pulling his punches at all, the fucking son of a bitch.)
The elevator door opened and Maria came out. She was smiling, so Tony figured they were probably off the hook for another lecture on stupidity and irresponsibility.
“Mom, this is Peter. Peter, this is my mom.”
Peter gave a tentative smile and shook her hand. “It’s very nice to meet you, Mrs Stark. And… uhm… it’s great that you’re not dead anymore.” He grimaced, as if regretting his words. “I mean, that you’re okay.” He glanced at Tony with a ‘save me’ expression.
Tony just laughed. Dum-E gave a happy beep at Maria, who reached over to pat the bot on his arm (Tony loved that his parents and friends treated his bots like they mattered, because they did.)
“It’s lovely to meet you, Peter,” Maria said warmly, putting the kid at ease. “That’s an interesting outfit you’re wearing.”
“Oh, the suit. It’s awesome! Mr Stark made it for me.”
“Which was a very bad idea.” Tony gave the kid a sideways look.
“Oh, well, uhm… yeah.” He lowered his head. “Do I have to give it back?” There was the kicked puppy look back, aimed at both him and Maria now. Tony wondered if his mom would be able to resist it.
Apparently yes. “You will be speaking with your aunt about… being Spider-Man, won’t you?” The ‘or else’ was very heavily implied.
“Uhm, yeah.” He sounded like he was about to face the firing squad (though, actually, the firing squad would be a walk in the park for him compared to that). “Mr Stark said he’ll come with me.”
Oh, yeah, great. Throw me under the bus too, Tony thought, but his mom nodded approvingly.
“That’s good. So, tell me about these powers of yours.”
Peter was, like Tony, a talker. Get the kid started on something he was passionate about, and he could go on for hours with absolute enthusiasm. Tony actually saw a lot of himself in him, and watching his mother smile and nod at the kid (though she probably had very little idea what he was on about), it was obvious she thought so too.
“Boss,” Friday said while Peter was showing Maria how he could walk on the ceiling. “Mr Stark is asking about you and Mrs Stark. Shall I direct him here?”
Tony hesitated for a second, a knee-jerk reaction to wanting to protect Peter from past slights from Howard, then shook himself out of it. It wasn’t fair to keep harping on about mistakes when the guy was clearly trying to do better (and hadn’t actually been that terrible in the first place, at least not intentionally).
“That all right with you, Peter?” he asked. It had to be his choice whether to reveal his secret, after all.
“Uhm, yeah, sure.”
He was still upside down when Howard showed up.
“Jesus fucking Christ!” his dad exclaimed, wide-eyed at Peter hanging from the ceiling, which made Tony almost fall down laughing.
“Oh, my god, your face,” he told Howard, still clutching his stomach. Maria was hiding her smile behind her hand. Dum-E beeped at Howard.
“Uhm, hi, Mr Stark. Other Mr Stark. Mr Stark Senior? Well, that’s gonna be confusing.” Peter twisted himself around like a contortionist and got back on the ground in one smooth move. “I’m Peter,” he said, extending a hand that Howard shook. “Uhm. Spider-Man.”
“Fuck, kid. How the hell did you do that?”
“Howard, do try to mind your language,” Maria reprimanded him.
“Oh, he’s heard much worse, haven’t you, kid?” Tony said, clapping Peter on the shoulder.
“Oh, yeah. And I’m not a kid.” He turned to Howard with a shy smile. “I can stick to pretty much any solid substance. You know, like a spider.”
“That’s amazing. And those web things, you got that too? Is it organic?”
“Oh, no, I made those. I like chemistry. Took a while to find the best formula, though.”
“It’s pretty amazing, really. Kid’s really smart.” Tony interjected. Peter puffed up with pride.
Howard looked from Tony to Peter and nodded. “I’m sure he is.”
Dum-E beeped again, trying to get Howard’s attention by lightly tugging on his shirt.
“Hi, Dum-E.”
The bot beeped again.
“Uhm… I think he wants to know if he can make you something. He likes to do that,” Peter said, pointing to the empty glass on the table.
“Oh, okay.” Howard looked at Tony, as if checking what he should do. Tony shrugged. “Well, I could do with a cup of coffee, I guess.”
With a happy beep, Dum-E rolled away. Before Tony could say anything, Friday spoke. “I’m on it, Boss.” It was nice to have a well-oiled machine here, Tony thought fondly.
The four of them talked for a bit longer, and Maria invited Peter to stay for dinner, provided he called his aunt and got her permission.
“Ok. What should I tell her?”
“Tell her you’re having dinner with a friend. I’ll drive you home afterwards,” Tony replied.
“Oh, you don’t have to do that, Mr Stark. I can get home on my own.”
“It’s Queens, Peter, not the other side of the galaxy. It’s not that far. I can take you.”
Peter started to protest, but Maria interrupted. “I’m sure your aunt would feel better if you didn’t have to rely on public transportation at this late hour.”
It wasn’t really as if the kid was in any danger from muggers or anything like that, but his aunt didn’t know that. Not yet anyway.
“Ok.”
Peter, of course, completely charmed his mom – which made her give Tony an even bigger stink-eye for having put the kid in danger. Howard also seemed impressed – and Tony was only a little bit jealous that his dad was more obvious about it with Peter than he’d ever been with Tony himself. So it was, as it had been since he and his father had started to mend bridges between them, a nice relaxed dinner.
Afterwards, as promised, Tony took his least fancy car to drive Peter home.
“So, I’m going to come over tomorrow night so we can talk to your aunt together,” he said.
Peter tried the puppy eyes again but Tony wasn’t having it. “Okay, okay. I’m sorry, Mr Stark.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for, kid. This isn’t your fault, all right? It’s mine.”
“I really wanted to be an Avenger.”
Tony sighed. “Yeah, I know. Maybe when you’re older and it’s not, you know, illegal.” He smiled. “So, see you tomorrow.”
“Yeah. Thanks for today, Mr Stark. It was really great and I had a wonderful time. And I like your parents.”
“They like you too, not that it’s a big surprise.”
Peter opened the car door and waved. “Bye.”
*****
Tony spent the whole day fretting about the upcoming conversation with Peter’s aunt. He tried to work out what he’d say in his head, but he’d never been good at that. All the times he’d actually sat down to plan what to say he’d ended up going off script the second he opened his mouth. Hell, even when he had it written down in front of him, he ended up winging it (like that memorable ‘I am Iron Man’ press conference). He was still pretty nervous, though (and he imagined poor Peter was even worse, which was why he’d proposed to do it as soon as possible, to put them both out of their miseries).
“She’s gonna be mad as hell,” he told his mom as the hour drew near.
“Of course she is, Tony. I certainly would be, in her place. Her child has been endangering himself and she had no idea.” She sighed. “It’s hard enough even if one knows. And even if the child in question is no longer a child.”
Well, didn’t that make him feel like shit? “Mom…”
“I know you’re doing what you have to, Tony. And I’m proud of you for it, but it’s not easy.”
“Any way I can make it better?” He hated to make his mom worry.
“You can try to be careful, but that’s not really a guarantee, so, no, not really. But you can do something about Peter and his aunt.”
Tony sighed. “I can try to keep him from it for a while, but I’m pretty sure he’s not gonna give up. And frankly, we need people like him. Well, a bit older and with a bit more training…” He looked away, at the skyline. “There are bigger threats coming, mom. And we’re kinda short-staffed here.”
“Then get more people.”
“Oh, I’d love to. Unfortunately, super powered people don’t grow on trees. We had some, but they proved themselves less than reliable.”
Maria scowled, no doubt thinking of the fugitive Avengers.
“So, if worst comes to worst, we might need Peter. I mean, I’d love to protect him, but if the whole world goes to hell it won’t do him much good.” Shit, way to cheer up the conversation there, Tony. And scare his mom. “Sorry, mom. That’s… I’ll sure it will be fine. We’ll figure something out. We always do.” He tried to smile. Great. Now facing Peter’s aunt was starting to sound appealing. “Sorry,” he repeated.
“It’s all right, honey.”
“Boss? You asked me to tell you when it was time. It’s time.”
Oh, wonderful. “Thanks, Fri.”
“Good luck talking to Peter’s aunt. And a word of advice, darling: don’t mention the end of the world. It really won’t help.” She kissed his cheek and shooed him off.
All right, Tony, he told himself as he stood in front of Peter’s door. You’ve faced super soldiers. You can handle an ordinary woman. He put on his best smile and knocked.
It was Peter who answered the door with an anxious expression. “Mr Stark. You’re… here.”
“Did you think I’d change mind?”
“Well, no, but I thought maybe you’d get an emergency or something.”
“Ha, I wish. Never a super villain attack when you need one. Come on, let’s do this.”
“Aunt May!” Peter shouted.
“Yes, Peter, what… Oh, Mr Stark! This is a surprise.”
“Mrs Parker, it’s a pleasure to see you again,” he said, kissing her hand. (The hand she’d likely use to slap him soon enough.)
“What… What are you doing here? I mean, is everything all right?”
“Well… Uhm…”
“Why don’t we sit down?” Peter said.
May looked from one to the other with suspicion. “Peter? What’s going on?”
“I have… uhm… something to tell you.”
“Yes?”
Peter looked helplessly at Tony, who mouthed ‘just say it’.
“Say what?”
“I’m… uhm… Spider-Man?” It came out like a question and Peter grimaced at himself. He cleared his throat and tried again. “I mean, I’m Spider-Man. Right. Yes. I’m Spider-Man.”
There was a very uncomfortable silence for a few seconds, before May rounded on Tony. “What?!”
Okay, here we go. “Mrs Parker–”
He didn’t get far. “You knew. You knew this and… There was no internship. Oh my god, you took him to Germany, to that crazy airport fight! To a whole lot of crazy fights! He is sixteen! Are you insane?!”
“Yes,” he said, looking her in the eye with complete sincerity. “Yes to all of that. I did know and I took him there and you have no idea how sorry I am. I never meant for him to get hurt. I didn’t think there was going to be a fight at all. But that was incredibly bad and stupid and irresponsible and I’m really, truly sorry. And I should not have let Peter keep this secret for as long as he did, or let him get into fights – though, in fairness, most of the time he just showed up – and I should have handled this whole thing completely different. I am completely and entirely wrong here and I’m sorry.”
May stared at him. “Well, that’s… You are. Wrong, that is.” Tony nodded.
“Aunt May, it wasn’t really his fault. I mean, I was… I was doing stuff before. Mr Stark has been trying to keep me safe.”
“By dragging you into fights?”
“He didn’t drag me. I wanted to go.” May gave him a withering look. “And… uhm… all the stuff after the airport… that was all me. Mr Stark didn’t tell me to do any of that. I just wanted to help.”
“Mrs Parker,” Tony said, waiting for her to switch her attention back to him. “Peter’s got some amazing powers, and he felt like he needed to use them to protect people. That’s a nice sentiment, but of course he’s far too young to be doing that. I… I might have encouraged him more than I should have, which was wrong. He’s a good kid, and frankly he’s more conscientious of his power and responsibilities than other so-called heroes I could mention. But the truth is that there’s no way to undo this, to take these powers away. He’s gonna have to learn to live with them whether he wants to or not. And I promise I will do everything in my power to help him in any way I can.”
May took her time responding. Tony felt like a bug in the microscope under her shrewd gaze.
“You are going to tell me absolutely everything,” she said eventually, addressing them both.
Peter, looking as if he’d rather be anywhere but here, obeyed. Tony told her his part in it, from making the suit to the few training sessions they’d had at the Tower. He didn’t bother to excuse himself any further as he’d never believed in skirting responsibility for his screw-ups (unlike other people) – in fact, he’d been told he sometimes took on far too much responsibility for things, even those that weren’t really his fault. This, though, this was on him, at least in part, and May deserved the truth, for her sake and for Peter’s.
Once everything was out in the open, Tony (and Peter) waited anxiously for the axe to fall.
“Peter,” May said with deadly calm after she had apparently digested all their revelations. “You are grounded. You will not be going anywhere but school until I say otherwise.” Peter opened his mouth to protest but Tony shook his head and the kid wisely kept quiet. “If I find you have disobeyed there will be consequences. Spider-Man is out of commission.”
“But aunt May, what if something happens? Like, right in front of me?”
“If you see a crime in progress then you should call the police. If it’s some crazy enhanced person the police can’t handle then you can call the Avengers. I imagine you have the number.”
Peter lowered his head, doing his best kicked puppy impression, which unfortunately for him seemed to have no effect whatsoever on his aunt. Poor kid.
“Go to your room, Peter. I’d like to have a word with Mr Stark alone.”
Oh, I’m screwed, Tony thought.
“But aunt May…”
“Now, Peter.” May had the ‘you will do as I say or else’ look. Tony wondered if that was a mom thing (and it was a little uncomfortable to realize that he’d seen the same look on Pepper's face many a time).
With a last apologetic look at Tony, Peter went, dragging his feet just like Dum-E did (metaphorically, of course) when told to go to his charging station after making too much of a mess. And wasn’t that also a weird thought.
“Now, Mr Stark.” May turned to him, glare firmly in place. Tony felt like a misbehaving child.
“I’m really sorry, Mrs Parker. I don’t know what I was thinking. Well, I wasn’t thinking, obviously, which is bad. Really bad. But I swear I’d never endanger Peter on purpose.” Which, of course, would have meant exactly squat if the kid had been killed or seriously injured. Shit.
“I do believe that, Mr Stark.” She sighed, then deflated. “I can’t believe I didn’t notice. You think… You think you know your kid, that you know what’s going on in their lives, that things are under control… then you find out they’ve been moonlighting as a god dammed superhero of all things.”
Tony had no idea what to say to that. “Ah… Well, kids can be… uhm… secretive.” Once again, Tony found himself feeling a great deal of sympathy for his parents for having to deal with his rebellious teenage self. He hadn’t gone the superhero route, but he hadn’t exactly been a model son.
“There’s secretive and then there’s dangerous secretive, Mr Stark.”
“Peter is a good kid, Mrs Parker. He wants to help, and he doesn’t – didn’t – realize that there are other ways of doing it. What happened to his uncle…”
“Yes, I understand that. But he’s just a kid.”
“Yeah.”
They lapsed into silence for a while. Tony wondered if he should say what was on his mind, if it wasn’t too presumptuous of him.
“This is not what I wanted for him, Mr Stark,” May finally said.
“Yeah, I get that. Mrs Parker, I… Look, I’m just gonna say it, ‘cause… well, I’m not a parent, but I kinda understand where Peter is coming from and…” he sighed. “Thing is, I don’t think you can really stop him. Being Spider-Man is not… it’s not a joyride for him, it’s not a pastime or something he’s doing to impress a girl or whatever stupid shit kids his age usually do. It’s… he feels like he has to do this.” Tony thought about the suit and what it represented to him. How he and Pepper had crashed and burned over their inability to accommodate the other over it. How, even after the damn Civil War, even after Tony had wanted to just quit and be done with the whole thing, he just couldn’t. Because being Iron Man was a part of him now, a part that he couldn’t – didn’t want to – give up, despite the dangers, the pain and the loss. It was in him now, for better or worse. “While I can agree that it’s dangerous and complicated and that now is definitely not the right time for it, if he really feels this strongly about it, then lecturing him or punishing him isn’t gonna work long term. He’ll end up resenting you. And at some point he’s gonna have to do what he believes is right, and you’ll have to accept it, because it’s his life and he’s the only one who can make that decision.” He paused for a moment, looking away and running a hand through his hair. “The only thing we can do is help him through it, make sure has the necessary support to deal with it and all it entails. Be there for him.” He turned back to her. “You can’t put the genie back in the bottle now.” May had tears in her eyes and Tony felt awful for doing this to her. “I’m sorry.”
“I want him to be safe,” she said.
“Yeah, I know. So do I.” Unfortunately, that was impossible. No one was ever truly safe, because tragedy could always strike no matter what one did. The best thing – the only thing – one could do was be careful, make smart choices and hope for the best. Tony could no more promise May to keep Peter safe than he could promise his mother the same to in regards to himself.
“I appreciate you coming here to speak to me, and looking out for Peter.” She composed herself quickly. “How did you even know about him anyway?” How did you know when I didn’t, she meant.
“Well, I keep an eye on unusual people, you know, possible enhanced ones. I noticed the guy calling himself Spider-Man and tracked him down.” By using less than legal means, strictly speaking, but she didn’t really need to know that.
She didn’t seem reassured. “So you think other people could find out too? People who’d want to hurt him?”
“Oh, no, I doubt it. I have… uhm… resources most people don’t. Still, I’m keeping track of the guys Peter has dealt with who might have a grudge.” Tony wasn’t about to let some nutcase go after the kid.
“Oh, that’s good, I guess.” Then she turned more serious, eying him sternly. “Why did you take him to Germany?”
That was the big issue, wasn’t it? God, how Tony wished none of that had happened. “It wasn’t supposed to be a fight. I mean, I didn’t think it would be, not really.” How incredibly naïve he’d been to ever think that Rogers would listen to him, would trust him. “I thought Peter’s ability – the webs and his speed and agility – would help contain the situation quickly without anyone getting hurt.” I thought I was dealing with friends, not enemies. “He was supposed to keep his distance – I told him so repeatedly – but I guess it was stupid of me to expect him to actually do it. I had no idea fucking Rogers and his band of assholes would go for the no holds barred fight. If I’d known what a complete fuck-up that would be, I swear to god I would never have dreamed of taking Peter there.” Or Rhodey, or Vision, or anyone. Hell, if he’d known what a fucking traitor Rogers was, he’d have let Ross’s guys go in for the kill. (Well, no, he wouldn’t, but sometimes he wished he did.)
Tony remembered Wanda dropping all those cars on him without a single care even after Tony had tried to keep her safe (he should have let the Nigerian authorities take her for trial like they’d wanted to). He remembered fucking Wilson and Barnes teaming up against Peter, not giving a thought to the harm they might be inflicting. He remembered that idiot Lang who could have killed a whole lot of people – including himself – because he was apparently unable to think about what he was doing. And god dammed Steve Rogers dropping a fucking container on Peter, a guy he’d never seen before and knew nothing about, never once bothering to wonder whether the kid was strong enough to take it. God, the whole fucking thing had been a disaster. (Don’t think about Rhodey falling. Just don’t think about it. Rhodey is fine. He’s okay. He’s okay now.)
“I’m sorry,” he said, choking on a million regrets and bad choices.
May put a hand on his arm and offered a comforting smile. She was being a lot more understanding than he’d anticipated. He thought for sure he’d get slapped.
“I thought you’d be… angrier.” Damn, why could he keep his mouth shut?
“Oh, I am, Mr Stark. But you made a good point earlier, about Peter doing what he believes is right. I know my child, and I can’t really imagine he would have stopped just on your say so. I appreciate that you have tried to help him and keep him safe. At least he hasn’t been going around completely on his own. I wish you’d told me this sooner, though.”
“Yeah, I really should have. I’m sorry.”
“And I appreciate that, that you’ve apologized.”
Sometimes it felt like Tony had been doing nothing but apologizing in the last few years, for his own mistakes as well as the mistakes of others.
“I hope when Peter is no longer grounded, that you’ll let him come to the Tower again. The internship was real, you know. He’s a smart kid with a lot of potential.”
“Yes, I know that. Which is why I wanted him to focus on school and get into a good college, not… this.” She waved a hand around sadly.
“That can still happen. Like I said, I’ll do everything in my power to help him with whatever he chooses to do with his life.”
May nodded. “Thank you. I… I’ll have to think about all this, decide how to handle it.”
“Right, yes, of course. If you need anything… To talk or… whatever, please call. Peter has my number.” He didn’t think she’d take him up on it – and he wasn’t sure he’d know what to say if she did – but he kinda needed to do something to help her cope after dropping this bombshell on her. And if all else failed, Tony could always ask his mom for help. Start a parents support group or something (adding in Hank Pym would be either really funny or a complete mess).
“Thank you.”
It sounded like a dismissal, so Tony figured he’d let her get on with her thinking. He stood up. “Can I say goodbye to Peter?”
“Yes, of course.”
Tony knocked on the door and opened it after a weak “come in”. Peter was lying in bed looking miserable.
“You okay, kid?” Tony asked, taking a seat on the bed next to him. When Peter didn’t say anything, Tony continued. “Did you hear all that?” He’d only now remembered the kid had better senses than average. The guilty look was all the answer he needed.
“Just the beginning. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, Peter. It’s gonna be okay, kid, but you’re gonna have to give this superhero thing a rest for now, all right? The world will still need saving when you get back, if that’s what you want.”
Peter nodded, still despondent. “I just wanted to help.”
“And you will, just not right now. We can figure out some sort of training program later, maybe. After you finish high school.” He smiled.
“That’s ages away.”
“It’s two years. Believe me, it goes by like that.” Tony snapped his fingers. Not that that had been his experience in high school, but he was sure Peter was doing better than him. “You have your friends to hang out with, and a lot of fun stuff to do and all that. And you’ll be back for your internship soon.” (He hoped.) “It’s not the end of the world. Believe me, I know those.”
“Yeah, I know.”
There didn’t really seem to be anything Tony could say now; kid needed some time to get his head around it all and come to terms with things. “You can still call whenever you want, all right?”
“Thanks Mr Stark.”
“Ah, hell, kid, come on. You’re killing me here with this kicked puppy look. Jesus, you’re worse than Dum-E.” Parenting was fucking awful.
That made Peter smile a bit, at least.
“Okay, so I’m gonna go now before you start to make me cry. I hate crying.”
This time the smile was a bit more real and warm. “Bye, Mr Stark.”
“I’ll see you soon, kid. And let me know how your project goes, okay?”
Tony stood and turned to leave, then paused and turned back. “Hey, come here, kid.”
Peter did, watching him curiously. Tony put a hand on his shoulders. “You’re a great guy, Peter. Really.” He drew the boy into a hug, which was immediately returned. “It isn’t that you’ve done something wrong, you know. This isn’t a punishment. We just want you to be safe.”
“Okay.”
They stepped away from each other and, with a last pat on the arm, Tony walked out of the room, calling a goodbye to May as he left the apartment.
Well, that wasn’t so bad.
*****
His parents were waiting at the penthouse when he got back.
“How did it go?” his mom asked.
“Okay, I guess. No threats of violence and no actual violence. Well, except the emotional kind – kid sure knows how to tug on the heartstrings with the doleful look.” Tony took a seat on the couch and put his feet up, feeling a weight lift from his shoulders. “I don’t envy May at all. Parenting is hard.”
“No fucking kidding,” Howard muttered.
“You did the right thing, honey. Peter will understand.”
“I hope so.”
“Speaking of parenting,” Howard said, “I thought you and I could try to work on something together when your mother and I get back. It’s kind of a shame that there are still no flying cars in the 21st century. I thought for sure it’d be a thing.”
Tony laughed. “Oh, god, imagine if everyone had a flying car. That would be a complete nightmare!” He smiled. “I’d like that, dad.”
Parenting might be hard, but it was worth it.