Chapter Text
Peter had always felt like he didn’t belong. Sure, he was orphaned at a really young age, unlike most kids, but it was more than that. After his parents died in a plane crash when he was four, he went to live with Richard’s brother Ben. Ben had married May when Peter was about two, so it’s just been the three of them. And they could not be more different. Peter found that he looked absolutely nothing like Ben. Sure, Uncle Ben was his dad’s brother but still…there should be some similarities there. And looks weren’t the only thing setting them apart. The three of them share none of the same interests. Uncle Ben and Aunt May find more enjoyment in the written world with books and plays while Peter would much rather be building something or working out math problems. Again, not a huge issue but just alienates him even more.
Peter Parker was a twelve-year-old boy with brown curly hair, he was pretty short for his age, nothing special about him. Honestly, he wasn’t even a fan of the name Peter and if you asked him to think back further enough he was convinced he once had a different name. He would have dreams of a man with brown hair and a woman with strawberry blonde hair, he had no idea who they were but those dreams were always the most comforting.
“Peter! Time for dinner!” He heard Aunt May call down the hall pulling Peter out of his thoughts.
“Okay Aunt May” Peter let out a sigh and pushed himself on his bed.
“New class project!” Ms. Stanley clapped her hands together before grabbing a stack of papers off her desk.
“Mr. Harrington and I have decided to create a project together through our classes” Peter and Ned exchanged a weird glance. “Since we have been studying family trees and you have been discussing genetics in his class you each are going to put together your own family tree. It’ll start with your own DNA sample and your tree will grow from there.” The class grew into a quiet chatter about what they think their trees will look like.
“Pete this will be so cool!” Ned whispered next to Peter.
“I don’t know man.”
“Oh, come on! Maybe you’ll finally find something out about your parents. What did May and Ben say their names were?”
“Mary and Richard.” Pete answered shoving the project packet into his backpack.
“Well, you’ll get to know more than just a name” Ned tried to encourage him as they made their way to the science room.
Everyone was still talking about the project from last class and with the machines set on the tables everyone was sure that is what they will be doing today. If Peter was being honest he was a little scared for this project. He had only known May and Ben. No other aunts and uncles or cousins or grandparents or even family friends. This was a large world of unknown for him.
“Alright everyone” Mr. Harrington got their attention “I’m sure Ms. Stanley announce the project so today you each will take a DNA sample from your mouth, and we’ll add it to our database. Afterwards we’ll start off easy and find direct family members like parents and siblings. Okay so everyone come up and grab a swab.”
Everyone pushed their chairs and rushed to the front to grab a swab. Of course, Peter was pushed to the back of the line, but maybe they would run out before he gets up there? One can dream right? But Parker Luck strikes again and right as Peter approaches the front desk Mr. Harrington opens a brand new package.
“You go first” Peter told Ned once they got back to their table.
Ned swabbed the inside of his cheek and rolled sample onto the scanner. It took a minute or two but soon the screen flashed:
“Edward James Leeds.”
Click to continue the investigation…
“Parents: Eric Leeds and Sarah Leeds nee Jones.”
“Woah!” Ned pointed to the screen before quickly writing everything down in the tree outline in the packet.
“Come on Pete your turn!” Ned told him all excited on how the machine actually worked.
Peter let out a breath before cleaning the machine. He swabbed the inside of his cheek before rolling it on the scanner. Peter’s took much longer to come across and he was wondering if it was because his parents were dead and therefore the machine had to work harder. But after a few minutes the screen shown with his results:
“Lucas Anthony Stark.”
Click to continue the investigation…
“Parents: Anthony Stark and Pepper Stark nee Potts.”
Peter and Ned share a look of disbelief before they both turn back to stare at the screen. Peter’s mind was running a mile a minute. What? No. The machine has to be wrong. Parker. It’s Parker. Not Stark.
“Lets….uh. Let’s do it again” Peter croaked out before asking Mr. Harrington for a new swab.
“Hey Betty, do you think we can use your machine? We think ours is broken” Ned asks to the table next to theirs. The girls clearly didn’t care and were too interested in filling out their family tree, so they just shoved the machine over.
Peter re-swabbed his mouth making sure to get a good sample before adequately spreading it onto the scanner. He impatiently waited for the scanner to stop and show:
“Lucas Anthony Stark.”
Click to continue the investigation…
”Parents: Anthony Stark and Pepper Stark nee Potts.”
Peter and Ned gave each other another look before clicking the button again.
“Anthony Howard Stark”
Click to continue the investigation…
“Parents: Howard Stark and Maria Stark nee Carbonell.”
“Ned…Ne- what the heck?” Peter sighed dropping his head onto the table.
“Dudddeee this is freaky. Do you think it’s real!?”
“I don’t know but I mean we did it twice! And and and yours work! Hey Betty did your DNA thing come out correctly? See everyone’s is accurate! I can’t believe this… I mean. Oh my gosh. Ben and May. They-they. They lied to me….” Peter all but freaked out as the bell rang for the end of the day.
“What are you going to do?” Ned asked after they grabbed their jackets from their lockers. Peter just shrugged before they did their handshake and headed home their separate ways. Peter wasn’t sure what he was going to do when he got home. Can he even call it that anymore? If May and Ben have been lying to him all along who is to say they won’t continue to.
So when Peter got back to the apartment he did the first thing logical: google Lucas Anthony Stark.
Within the first three things to pop up he learned that the birthdays line up, the descriptions of their appearances line up also. But apparently Lucas went missing when he was four but Peter lost his parents when he was five. Well, that’s what he had been told. There were years’ worth of search parties ranging from local police to the National Guard but nothing was ever found. There was still the over arching question of…why?
“Peter I’m home!” He heard May’s voice from the front door.
“In here Aunt May!” Peter yells from the living room.
“How was school?”
Now or never.
“It was good. We started a new project. It was a cross with psychology and science. It’s a family tree assignment” Peter explained and could see May physically flinch back a little “So in science today we took our first DNA sample.”
“O-oh. Did you find anything interesting?” May asked trying to busy herself with straightening out the blankets and pillows.
“Yeah I did actually. How did my parents die exactly?” Peter asked staring at May but she wasn’t making eye contact back.
“We’ve told you honey, it was a plane crash” May said softly still not meeting his eyes.
“Really? Cause today I found out that both more parents are alive and perfectly healthy. Heck they live a half hour across town!” Peter was getting frustrated. How could one person lie so much to him? What was the reason?
“Peter…”
“No! Don’t Peter me! Because apparently I’m not even Peter I’m Lucas Anthony Stark. Yes, I know. Why did you lie to me May? What did you gain from keeping me from my actual parents?” Peter was fuming and pacing around the living room now.
“The machine mustn’t have worked Peter. You’re parents are Richard and Mary Parker-“
“No! Stop with the lies. They aren’t my parents. Ned and I did the test twice. And on two different machines. Everyone else in the class had correct answers as well!” he pulled on his hair as they front door flung open.
“What is going on here?” Ben asked walking into an apartment full of yelling.
“Are you in on it too?” Peter asked “Are you in on all the lies. How I’m not Peter Parker. I never was Peter Parker and I never will be Peter Parker?”
“Now you just calm down young man! You don’t know anything!” Ben started to advance on Peter who stood in front of the couch.
“Right. I don’t know anything because all you have done is lie to me! My parents. My REAL parents are alive and healthy. No plane crash. How did you even come into possession of me? What… did you steal me?” That last comment snapped something in Ben and he raised a hand and smacked Peter right across the face.
“We gave you everything” Ben says. Another hit. “A home. Clothes. Food.” Hit. Hit. Hit.
“Sure you gave me all that but what did you take away from me?” Peter asked back. This time he was shoved into the wall, and he hit his head.
“You will never go back to those people. You are ours as far as the state is concerned. There is no changing back. You will never leave here” Kick. Hit. Shove. One right after the other. Sure Ben had always been a little more strict but nothing like this before.
After Peter had looked like he gotten mauled by a bear, Ben picked up his bag and stormed out the door. May just stood in the corner frozen. Not saying anything or doing anything. Peter managed to stand up and make his way out of the apartment and out onto the street. He didn’t know where he was going. He was twelve! But he also knew he couldn’t be in that apartment anymore, so he just kept walking.
“Woah buddy!” Peter heard someone in front of him. His first instinct was to run but when he saw the look of concern on the man’s face he stood still.
“Are you alright? Do you need the hospital?” the man asked making his way closer to Peter or is it Lucas now?
Pet-Lucas didn’t think he needed the hospital until he reached a hand up to his face and felt blood dripping out of multiple cuts.
“Come on buddy. I’ll walk you there…. My name’s Scott.”
“pe-Lu-Peter. I’m Peter.”
“Well Peter let’s get you patched up.”