Chapter Text
“Hey.”
Peter prised open his eyes. “Dad? Is it morning already?”
He felt the bed dip under his dad’s weight when the man sat on the bed next to him. “Nah, kiddo. It’s the middle of the night.”
“Something wrong?” he rasped, turning on his side to look at the clock on his bedside table. The faint blue numbers read 2:43am.
“Not exactly. But I’ve got a mission.”
“Oh. Okay.” Peter wasn’t quite sure why his dad had woken him then. “You gotta go?”
Tony sighed. “Yeah, baby. But I promised I’d drive you to your field trip today.”
“It’s okay,” Peter told him, snuggling back under the covers and gazing blearily up at his father. “It happens. Is Happy going to drive me instead?”
Tony hummed; there was something unreadable in his eyes, but then, maybe that was just the dim light of his bedroom. “Nah, it’s Happy’s day off. I called Ben and he’s happy to come get you. I just didn’t want to go without telling you where I was off to.”
“Okay,” Peter said through a yawn. “You have to be safe.”
“I’m always safe,” his dad said, grinning wickedly. “Okay, baby. Daddy loves you. Enjoy your field trip and I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He kissed Peter on each cheek and once on his forehead, gave him a love pat on the side of the face and, getting off the bed, pulled the covers up. With another ‘love you,’ he was gone.
Peter turned on his side and snuggled into the fleece sheets. He sighed once and was out like a light.
It was the smell of breakfast cooking that woke Peter next. He looked over at the clock. In two minutes time, the alarm would go off. Not wanting it blaring at him, he rolled over to the side of the bed and switched it off with a minute to spare.
He could hear Ben singing off in the kitchen and he grinned. Ben was a better cook than his dad and if he was in the kitchen, that probably meant that he’d have a decent breakfast for once. He scrambled through his morning routine, impatiently styling his curls back so they didn’t look so awful. He was going to have to talk to his dad, there had to be a better way to style his hair than this…
He was halfway to the kitchen before he realized what an opportunity this was. Turning around, he skidded down the hall and ducked into his dad’s room, rifling through the hangers of clothing until he found it. His dad’s Hotel California sweatshirt. Snagging it, he scrambled into the sweatshirt, smelling the mix of his dad’s cologne and motor oil.
“Hey, Ben,” he chirped, coming into the kitchen.
“Hey, bubba. Does your dad know you stole that?” Ben’s voice was rich with amusement.
Peter gave him his best innocent look. “Stole? I’m borrowing it. Got to keep it in game condition.” He scrambled into one of the bar stools. “What’s for breakfast?” he asked, purposefully changing the topic.
“Panfries, eggs, fruit. May said to tell you ‘hi,’ by the way. Gotta eat fast, kid, we have to leave soon.”
“I’ll take it in the car with me!”
“Can’t hurt the car, I guess,” Ben said amiably and grabbing his keys, he followed his nephew down to the garage.
Peter wolfed down the food as they got on the interstate, heading for the science conference. In between bites he told Ben about the different exhibits they were going to see and what he thought they should be focusing on (biomedical engineering) and Ben told him in some detail, his plans to surprise May on a date that night.
Peter was only half listening. When Ned and he had found out Michelle wasn’t coming because she couldn’t pay the admission fee, they had ‘arranged’ for it to be paid through a scholarship opportunity from the school. In other words, he had asked his dad to pay for it. So Michelle was going to be there and he liked her and wanted to be friends, but also found her a bit scary…
“Pete? Pete. Hey, Pete.” Ben snapped his fingers right next to Peter’s ear and he jumped, coming out of his reverie. Oh. They were there.
“How long were you doing that?”
“Ten to fifteen minutes,” Ben said promptly and Peter laughed, hoping his uncle was joking. “Thinking about girls?”
“No!”
“Thinking about biomedical engineering?”
Peter laughed at Ben’s corny joke. “Yeah, that. You’re coming to pick me up?” With his uncle’s nod, he pushed out of the car and leaned back in before Ben could pull away. “Thanks, Ben! See you soon.”
“No problem, kid.”
Peter wandered over to where his class was slowly forming outside the convention center. He picked Ned out immediately; making a beeline for his friend, he exchanged the new handshake they’d been working on. He could see Michelle reading her book on the steps, a little apart from the group and just when he was thinking that maybe they should go over and ask if she wanted company, their teacher whistled and gathered them together.
He was barely listening while Mr. Harrison went over the rules, impatiently bouncing on his heels as he glanced at the building before them. Companies had come from all over the world to bring their scientific advancements here for this presentation; he knew that Stark Industries was represented somewhere in there, but they’d been booked to see a special presentation by OsCorp at the end of the day. Dad hadn’t been too impressed by that, he thought, smiling a little.
“Come on Pete,” Ned said, slapping his arm impatiently and he realized he’d been zoning out. He grinned at the other boy.
They followed the exhibit aide that had been assigned to their group, listening as she described the innovations before them. Peter’s mind was whirring; that was why he liked this kind of convention. It made him think of all the different things he would like to do. Maybe Dad could help him and Ned if he came up with a project…
He scrawled notes in his sketching journal, ignoring Flash (who he could see sneering at him) in favor of making little models and sketches to help him remember the exhibits he was most interested in. Ned was keeping a running list of the exhibits they wanted to swing back to after lunch.
Michelle was near them but not with them, her head tilting slightly as she listened to the aide. It was hard to tell what she was thinking, her face impassive. He had the impression that she had several questions she wanted to ask, but wouldn’t, and resolved that maybe he could ask her what she thought at lunch time.
Despite their best efforts, he and Ned hadn’t managed to convince Michelle to be their friend yet. He didn’t think she hated them; usually she would sit at their table at lunch, but he wasn’t sure if she liked them either. A lot of the time, she would spend the period reading. He’d started using a trick from Steve and was writing down the titles as he observed them so that he could read them later. Walks Away Woman, the Jungle, Leaves of Grass, Antigone… he didn’t really know how she kept up with her own reading and still managed to read so many other books.
When it was lunch time at last, he steered Ned towards the table that Michelle had already sat at. “Dude, you’re like, eternally hopeful,” his friend commented.
“She needs a friend, Ned.”
He dumped Ned at the table to hold their seats and went off with the money his dad had given him to get their lunch. Flash was over at the pizza station and he instinctively went the other way, wishing once again that the other teenager didn’t seem to get such a thrill from harassing him. He got nachos instead and snagged a ginger ale and root beer.
“Hey, Michelle,” he said, when he got back to the table. “Are you having fun?” He held up the two drinks to Ned. The other boy pointed at the root beer and he handed it over.
She bit into her pizza, her eyes studying him critically. “Sure. Are you the reason I’m here, Stark?” she asked bluntly, surprising him. He opened his ginger ale too quickly and it fizzed over the top of the cap, spilling onto their table.
He sopped up the mess with as many napkins as he could and tossed them in the can behind them. “What-?” he asked weakly. “Well… yeah, maybe. Not me, really. Actually my dad likes to help out sometimes cause... “ He quelled under the look she gave him. “Because I asked him to, actually. But he didn’t mind. Really.”
“Why do you care if I go on field trips or not?” she asked him, continuing to study him as she munched on her pizza.
He looked over at Ned. Ned had dug into the nachos already and was following their conversation like a tennis match. He was no help. Peter cleared his throat. “I remembered in bio the other day you had mentioned being interested in Lisa Gunaydin and since she has an exhibit on optogenetics here, I thought…” he babbled.
“You remembered I was interested in a specific scientist and then looked it up to see if she was here?”
“I’m not obsessed, I’m just observant,” he said defensively.
She cocked her head. “Want some pizza?”
They traded some of their nachos for her pizza. Ned got out his notebook and wrote out a list of the exhibits they wanted to see when they were let loose after lunch. Their guide had taken them to specific exhibits that the school had chosen before they arrived and they all agreed that these had been lackluster, safely conservative exhibits that didn’t expand much beyond what they were already learning about in school.
He felt like he’d won a small victory when Michelle joined them after lunch. Ned, bless him, had put her pick at the top of the list.
Peter looked wistfully at the technology before him, wishing it could make him strong. He felt that it was the unfairest of ironies that he, son of Tony Stark, was such a weakling. All his life his dad had been a hero, strong and funny, the center of every room. ‘And me?’, he mused as he walked around the tech, analyzing the different components and trying to visualize what was under it. He nearly got killed by pneumonia last year. And this wasn’t exactly the 1840s…
Snagging his drawing pad from his bag, he began to sketch out the components that particularly interested him, adding notes in the columns. He liked sketching; Steve had been showing him how to draw and he found that it combined nicely with his dad’s explanations about design sketches. Like the two aspects of himself were melding together, science with art. He smiled vaguely. Maybe tonight he could show dad some of these sketches, tell him about the cybernetic enhancements that one company had discussed…
“Peter!” Startled, he looked up, scratching a line across his drawing.
“Oh hey, Ned. You surprised me, man.” He held up the ruined picture.
Ned bumped his shoulder. “Sorry, dude. But you’ve got to see this, come on.”
He glanced apologetically back at Michelle, but she nodded at him and followed them into the next room. It was pretty cool, he had to admit. The room was full of animals, everything ranging from insects to birds to a Golden Retriever with a prosthetic leg. Genetically modified animals, the sign at the center of the room read and he felt his stomach twist a little. He didn’t know that he approved of using animals for research.
Adding to that, Flash was in this room. He kept a weary eye on the bully as he followed Ned and Michelle through the room. There were cats that glowed in the dark. A placard described how the cats were being used to shed insight on Aids. He read it and glanced at the tabby in the pen before him. She looked like an ordinary cat, staring at him haughtily. He felt bad for these animals and turned to look for his friends, wanting to get out of the room.
Turning, he found that they had moved down and were looking at a cage with frogs in it. He was going to join them when heard Flash laugh. The way the other kid laughed always made the hair on his arms stand up. He glanced at the source of the noise. Flash and his friends were tapping on a cage and he paused, incredulous.
Making a choice he had a feeling he would regret, he stepped away from where his friends were and moved towards Flash. “Cut that out,” he said loudly.
Flash’s friends oohed. “Hey, Penis,” Flash said in a mock friendly voice. “Am I upsetting your little friend here?”
“I said cut it out,” Peter repeated, trying to sound braver than he felt. He looked around. Why wasn’t there ever any adults when you needed them?
“Daddy’s not here to save the day this time,” Flash taunted him and he stiffened. The other boys laughed.
“Leave it alone.” He stepped between Flash and the terrarium. It was a spider in there, he saw, feeling nauseous. Spiders scared him and this one was gigantic, the size of his fist, and weird. He’d never seen a spider like this before, black with red markings and pincers…
“Why don’t you make me?” Before he knew what was happening, Flash had shoved him and he stumbled, falling against the terrarium and knocking it off the display. They all watched, aghast, as the cage tipped forward and the top of the terrarium fell open. Peter thought perhaps the spider had been killed by the fall or perhaps stunned, but a moment later it clicked its pincers and scuttled forward.
“Oh god, no,” he said. The other boys made noises of disgust and took off. One almost killed the spider by stepping on it and Peter felt a surge of sympathy mix with his repulsion.
While the others ran, he righted the terrarium and, feeling like he was going to vomit, scooped up the spider from the ground. He quickly dropped it back in its cage; just before he let go of it, there was a pinching feeling on his wrist and he drew his hands back reflexively as soon as he let go of the spider.
He grabbed the top of the terrarium and slammed it down before anything else could happen. He looked around him. Surely someone would have noticed this absolute disaster, he thought, but there were very few people in the room at this point. He heaved the terrarium back onto its shelf and looked at his wrist, expecting the worst. Dad would kill him…
To his surprise, there was no mark on his wrist, no sign of a bite at all and he relaxed. He must have imagined a bite. He even ran his fingers over the arm. Nothing.
“Jeez, that was close,” he murmured and looked at the spider in its cage. It clicked his pincers. Suddenly, he felt a little bit fond of the spider, feeling like he had saved it. “We’re both bullied,” he said quietly.
He looked around for Michelle and Ned. They were nowhere to be seen. He lingered by the spider display longer. Taking out his phone, he snapped a picture of the information sheet next to the cage. He made a rough sketch of the spider, almost wishing he could lift it again to see the underside and then decided that was a terrible idea.
Still, he thought, who doesn’t lock the top of a terrarium when a bunch of teenagers are going to look at your pet spider. He glanced at the packet they’d been given that morning and received a shock; he was supposed to be at the Oscorp presentation! Swearing, he took off from the animal room and jogged as quickly as he dared to the auditorium.
He found his class in the darkness of the auditorium and slid into the seat Ned had saved him. “Dude, where were you?” his friend whispered as soon as he sat down.
Peter started to explain what had happened, but Mr. Harrison shushed him and he slumped down in his seat. He looked at his wrist again. No marks, but he was beginning to feel like he had a headache… He dismissed the idea as psychosomatic as soon as it came up and settled in to listen as Norman Osborne began to talk.
He was glad when the presentation finally ended, an hour and a half later. Dad was right. Norman Osborne was a creep, and he felt sick. Maybe not a ‘I’m afraid I’ll either puke or crap my pants’ kind of sick, but a hot and uncomfortable kind at least. He said goodbye to Ned and Michelle at the door and was relieved to see Ben leaning against his car just a little ways off. Ben waved and walked around the front of the car to get in.
“Hey, Ben,” he said, sliding into the front seat. “Get any good shots?”
“Yeah, some.” He jerked his thumb at the camera bag that was jammed down by Peter’s feet. “Take a look, if you want.” Putting his hand on the headrest behind Peter, he backed out of the parking space and tooled his car in the direction of the exit. “You have fun, sweetie?”
“Yeah, it was pretty cool. I’m not going to find any photos I don’t want to see again, am I?” He asked, holding up the camera.
Ben scoffed. “One time. And those photos were pretty tame. You just don’t like to see people in love.”
“Ben, they were cringeworthy. But- whatever. Anyways-,” and he launched into an explanation of the exhibits they had seen, describing his favorite pieces while toggling through the photos. He turned down the temperature of the car and cracked his window, feeling sweet relief. “These are pretty cool, by the way. You should stick to photographing buildings. Never people,” he said firmly.
“Funny. I guess I’m just not appreciated for my work.”
“We won’t really know your worth until you’re gone,” Peter deadpanned.
Ben sighed, low and dramatic. “It’s a shame.” He threw Peter a glance when he giggled and Peter tried to rearrange his features into a vision of shame. No dice; as soon as Ben wiggled his eyebrows at him, Peter couldn’t help but laugh. He quieted down again as he looked through the photographs that Ben had taken that day.
“I like this one.”
“Which one?” Ben asked, looking over and letting the car drift.
Peter slapped his arm. “Get back on the road. I’ll tell May.”
“Betrayed by my own nephew. I can’t believe this.” Ben corrected the car. They coasted up the interstate. “How’s your dad?”
“He texted me an hour ago to say that they were doing okay.” He swiped open the internet and did a quick search for Avengers and Iron Man specifically. Nothing came up except a brief news bulletin from this morning showing them leaving New York.
He groaned, his stomach lurching unexpectedly. “You okay, bud?”
He hesitated but his stomach seemed to settle just as quickly as the discomfort had come on. “Fine. Just feeling a little tired.” And he was, he realized.
He thought about telling Ben about the incident with the spider and decided against it. If he told Ben, Ben would tell at the very least May, and then Aunt May would tell his dad. And Dad would worry. And there was no reason to worry, he told himself firmly.
“Not surprising. Not sure how they kept up with you and Ned running around all of the place, geeking out,” Ben teased. He looked over at the teenager. “Sure you’re okay? I could stay with you until your dad gets home.”
“Nah, it’s nothing. Don’t you have a date with May tonight anyways?”
Ben parked, turning off the engine. “We can always reschedule…”
Peter slipped out of the car. Leaning in so that he could talk through the window, he flashed his uncle a smile. “Dude, no. I’m going to take a nap. I didn’t really sleep last night, cause I was excited, you know?” He didn’t know exactly why he was lying to his uncle, but he knew he didn’t want to interrupt their date. May worked such crazy hours as a surgeon…
Ben frowned. “I can make you dinner before I go.”
“Dad left me money for pizza! Love you, Ben.”
“Alright, love you buddy. Text me if you need anything okay?”
“I will. See you later.” Ben waited until he actually entered the Compound and then backed his car out, giving him a wave and heading for the interstate. Peter waited until he was out of sight and then let the smile drop from his face. Frowning, he passed a hand over his stomach. He really didn’t feel great...
Padding down the hall, he slipped into his bedroom, slinging his bag into the corner. He glanced at the clock. 5:03pm. He’d set an alarm for an hour or so and then get a pizza. He struggled out of the sweatshirt, feeling sweaty, and threw it on the armchair by his bed.
Swiping open his phone, he was disappointed to see no update from his dad. Hoping his dad would get back with the other Avengers soon, he climbed under the blankets and curled onto his side, trying to find a comfortable position.