Work Text:
Tony pulled up the schematic and rotated it, trying to figure out what it was. It was some kind of writs contraption, that much was obvious, but he didn’t remember building it.
He moved the schematic into exploded view to figure out what it did. It looked like a sort of gun, able to shoot things from the underside of the wrist. That was a bid odd. Wouldn’t shooting from the top of the wrist be easier and more efficient?
He took a closer look at the ammo cartridges. They didn’t seem to be proper ammo at all, in fact. It looked like it might be liquid. There was a chemical equation attached, but he couldn’t work out what it was supposed to achieve.
He loaded the schematic onto a tablet and headed for the elevator, pressing the button for Bruce’s lab.
“Bruce! I need your help with something.” Tony called as he strolled into the lab.
“This had better not be dumb, Tony.” Bruce warned. Tony had a penchant for interrupting sensitive experiments with trivial annoyances. It was enough to drive Bruce around the bend.
“It’s not, actually. I found this in my schematics folder, but I didn’t make it and I was hoping you could help me figure out what it does.
“Who’s building stuff and saving it in your files? Bruce asked as he wiped his hands on a rag.
“I don’t know. Maybe Peter, which is a bit worrying.”
“Why, what is it?” Tony pulled up the schematic for Bruce to see.
“It looks like some kind of wrist gun, but not for shooting bullets or any ammo I recognize. Do you know what this is?” Tony asked, showing Bruce the chemical equation.
“Wow, that is quite the substance.” Bruce said quietly after a minute. “It would be liquid in a container, but as soon as it hit the air, it would turn into a strong solid sticky substance. It wouldn’t last more than an hour before dissolving though.”
“Holy shit. Peter what are you doing?” Tony muttered to himself.
“Hey now, don’t jump to conclusions. You don’t know for sure that this is Peter’s work, after all.” Bruce said.
“I can’t think of anyone else capable of engineering this who has access to my files.” Tony said as he headed for the elevator.
“Tony! Don’t fly off the handle here. Remember he’s just a kid. And who’s to say he’s even built it? It could just be a mock-up and nothing else.”
“Thanks Bruce, but he’s my kid and I’ll parent him how I choose. I just want to know what he’s doing.” Tony called as the elevator doors closed.
**
Steve entered the kitchen after his run to find Peter with headphones on, bopping around and mumble singing while he made a sandwich. He went to clap a hand on Peter’s shoulder, but before he coudl comprehend what was happening, his hand was yanked up behind his back, his fet kicked out from under him, and his face was pressed into the kitchen floor.
“Um, hi?” Steve asked.
“Oh shit.” Peter said before releasing him and scrambling back to the kitchen counter, breathing hard.
“Watch your mouth.” Steve said automatically as he got up off the floor. He glanced at his son as he swept dirt off his pants. Peter looked terrified.
“Well, I’m glad you’re improving at hand to had combat, but usually your partner should know that you’re sparring before you start. Also, the kitchen isn’t exactly a prime locations for practice.” Steve said as he crossed his arms and raised and eyebrow.
“I’m sorry Pop, I didn’t mean to do that.” Peter said. He looked like he was trying to make himself as small as possible.
“Peter, are you okay?” Steve asked, suddenly concerned. He’d never seen Peter look so skittish, and it worried him.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” Peter said quickly, his voice cracking a bit at the end. Steve narrowed his eyes. Peter was 15 and voice cracking was fairly normal, but this sounded different. But pPeter looked freaked out enough, so he didn’t want to press the matter.
“Alright, well try to keep sparring practice in the gym in the future, okay?” Steve said. He turned to head for a shower, but before he could get far Tony burst out of the elevator with a tablet in his hand.
“Hey guys, join me in teh living room, I want to show you something!” He said, bounding across the entranceway. He hopped lithely over the back of the couch and settled into the cushions while he waited for Steve and Peter to join him.
“Look at this thing! You put it on your wrist and you can shoot from it.” Tony said excitedly as he showed them the schematic. He mimed shooting with his wrist, complete with pew pew sound effects.
“That’s cool, Tony, but who’s it for? That’s a very specific design.” Steve pointed out. He met Tony’s eyes and tried to ask him what was going on with a glance. Tony just shook his head minutely in reply.
“You know what?” Tony said cheerily, “I was hoping Peter could help me figure that out.” He turned to Peter at the end of the couch.
Peter was frozen in place. His eyes were as wide as saucers as he stared at the schematic, and all the colour had drained from his face.
“Peter?” Steve asked cautiously. “Are you okay?”
“Want to tell us what’s going on?” Tony added. Peter groaned and leaned forward, putting his head in his hands.
“This isn’t how it was supposed to happen.” He said, his voice muffled.
“Mind telling us how it was planned then?” Tony asked, leaning back into the couch. Steve reached over and rubbed Peter’s back in calming circles.
Eventually he looked up. He drew in a shaky breath and started talking.
“So you remember how my biology class went on that field trip last month? To that lab?” Tony and Steve nodded. Peter’s gaze fell to his hands when he continued. “Well I got bitten by a spider there. An irradiated spider.” He paused, glancing up at his parents.
Tony’s eyebrows disappeared they rose up so high.
“Have you been checked out? Please tell me you told somebody and they shut the place down!” Tony said as he began to check Peter over, feeling for a fever or any other sings of radiation poisoning.
“Tony,” Steve said, placing a hand on Tony’s arm to still his movements. “Don’t you think we would have heard about it if an incident had been reported?” Tony gave him a sheepish look and pulled hi hands back into his lap. Steve took one of Tony’s hands in his and rubbed his thumb over the knuckles. “Go on, Peter.”
“Well, since then, I’ve been able to do … things. Things I shouldn’t be able to do.”
“Like what?” Tony asked.
“Well Pop already saw my reflexes. And I can also … climb walls.” Peter said quietly.
“What do you mean by climb walls, peter?” Steve asked.
“Like this.”
Peter pulled his socks off and walked over to the wall. He placed his hands against the wall as if to test it’s sturdiness and then pressed his toes up against the wall. He began to crawl up the wall with just his fingertips and toes until he reached the ceiling where he turned around, placing his back against eh wall so he could see his parents.
Tony and Steve sat like sacks of flour just staring at their son on the roof.
“Holy fuck.” Was all TOny could say. Steve was so dumbfounded that he didn’t even remember to admonish Tony for swearing.
“Please come back down.” Steve said quietly after a moment. Peter scuttled quickly down the wall and sat back down on the couch, this time between his parents.
“Is there anything else?” Tony asked.
“Well there’s the reflexes, but with that I get this sort of … well I guess it’s a kind of tingling at the back of my neck. It happens when there’s danger or something like that.”
“And have you encountered a lot of danger this month to test that?” Steve asked, his voice sounding tight.
“Well…” Peter started.
“Peter!” Tony yelped. “What are you doing!? And what are these for, because I know you made them!”
Peter jumped off the couch to avoid the yelling. He put his hands forward to try to calm his parents down, but it didn’t seem to be working.
“Listen, you guys are superheroes. You have these abilities, and you use them to protect people. Now I have abilities too. Why shouldn’t I be able to use them to protect people as well?”
“Peter, have you been …” Steve trailed off, his question answered when Peter gulped and nodded.
“Holy shit.” Steve said, leaning forward to place his head in his hands. Tony and Peter stared at each other, mouths agape. Steve never swore.
“The kid going around stopping muggers and car thieves!” Tony said, snapping his fingers in sudden realization. “That’s you, isn’t it?” Peter nodded. “And what are these for?” Tony asked again, holding out the schematics. Peter sighed and nodded.
“Okay, but please don’t yell at me.” Peter said before visibly bracing himself. “They’re web shooters. I created a synthetic spider web that I can shoot to hold attackers, or … swing on.”
“Swing on? What are you swinging from? The skyscrapers?” Tony asked, a little incredulously. Steve groaned, his face still buried in his hands as Peter nodded.
“Jeez.” Tony said as he leaned back into the couch and ran a hand through his hair, making it stick up in strange directions. “Well, you gotta give it to him, Steve. The boy’s got guts.”
“Are you being safe though?” Steve asked, finally looking up at Peter.
“Yeah, what are you wearing while you’re swinging through the skies and beating up punks? Are you recognizable? Are you protected if you fall?” Tony asked.
“I wear … uh, I wear under armour and a ski mask.” Peter admitted reluctantly. Tony stood up and whacked Peter over the head.
“You’re an idiot. Grab your gear and come with me. I’m going to make you a decent uniform. And I also want you to let Bruce look you over to make sure that the spider bite left no lasting damage. Sound good?” Peter nodded. “Good. Now go get your stuff and I’ll meet you down in my workshop.” Tony said, shooing the boy out of the living room.
As soon as Peter was gone Tony looked over at Steve who was still a nervous wreck on the couch.
“Hey, come here.” Tony said, pulling Steve to his feet and into a hug. Steve buried his face in Tony’s shoulder and tried to let the comforting smell of Tony chase away his anxieties.
“We can’t stop him, Steve. He’s going to do it with or without our permission. The least we can do is make sure he’s safe.” Tony said as he rubbed Steve’s back.
“He’s swinging from skyscrapers, Tony.”
“Yup. And he’s beating up bullies as he goes. You can tell he’s our son.”
Steve huffed out a shaky laugh.
“I hate you and your logic.” Steve said, but he was smiling. Tony kissed him.
“Why don’t you go relax for a bit. I’m going to build Peter the safest uniform I can. He’s going to be okay.”
“I’ll hold you to that, Stark.”