Chapter Text
The night had been thick with smoke, people running from a burning building a block away from Peter Parker’s home. May and Ben Parker were laughing at the latest joke Ben said, giving May the best date she had in forever. They walked down the road, making their way back to the apartment when they were cornered. They never made it home.
“Peter!” Henry yelled from the stairs, “It’s time for school.”
Peter sighed as he took in his life as he always does when he wakes up. It had been 3 months and 11 days since it happened. 3 months and 11 days since Peter had stopped talking. He sat up from the corner in which he slept in. It was a small corner barely enough room for him but he never complained, not since Mr. Gonzalez had expressed himself violently.
There were 4 other residents in Mr. and Mrs. Gonzalez’s abusive home other than the parents. Eldest was Henry. A 16 year old boy that attempted to mend the bond between the adults in the house and the children. Although his attempts were futile, they worked sometimes. Next was Peter himself. He was 13 years old with a knack of knowing what to do with anything he put his mind to when it came down to computers and electronics. He did everything around the house when the other children didn’t, and he never complained anymore. Then there was Sofia. Being 12 she was the only child that was related to the Gonzalez’s by blood on her fathers side. She started living there when he went to prison. She kept to herself, kept quiet, and kept out of the way. Lately, there was Thomas. He was the youngest but the loudest. At just 8 years old he had already caused many arguments throughout the house, many in which Peter had to step in to protect him. Peter had been living in the foster home for a total of 3 months and 5 days.
He already wanted out.
Once he made his way to the kitchen area to attend role call, Mr. Gonzalez spoke with tension. “Just because it is the beginning of school, does not mean there are no rules in the house.” He eyed Peter harder than the rest, “What are the rules Mr. Parker?”
Knowing not to look in the man’s eyes, he spoke towards Mr. Gonzalez’s chest, “Never speak when not spoken to, Sir.” The man huffed in agreement as Peter continued, “Never lock any door without being told to, Sir. Never open the door without being told to, sir. Always be home before 8 in the afternoon, Sir. And no eating without permission, Sir.” His voice nearly died at the last sentence. It had been 2 days since he had last eaten, giving all his food to the rest of the children.
“Very well, you may go to school now.” Everyone nodded saying “Yes, Sir.” while keeping their heads cast to the floor.
Peter walked towards the front door when he saw Henry’s face. Red covered the entire right side of his face. Henry caught his glance and pleaded with his eyes not to say anything near Gonzalez.
They walked towards Midtown Tech together as they saw off the younger pair.
When they settled in silence after Henry had told him what had happened. Mr. Gonzalez did not like the fact that Henry called up to the rest of the children for school so in response he backhanded him, reminding him.
Anger seeped through Peter’s veins, he hated the way they were all trapped in the environment they were thrown into. He missed May. He missed Ben. He even missed his parents, the spare memories of them were all he had left other than being told who they were to others at the funeral.
It was the second week of school at Midtown School Science and Technology for Peter in his first year there. Henry had shown him the ropes of the clique groups and halls, where to go and not to go, and what the best food options for lunch were. Peter was a freshman while Henry was a junior. Henry was of age as everyone else while Peter had skipped grades and was outcasted amongst his peers. He both loved it, and hated it.
Since Ben and May’s deaths he had hated interacting with people. He shut himself off. Closing himself from conversations both good and bad. He liked the quietness of his life when he was in control of it, he hated the foster home full of loud yelling and arguments every night.
Henry said his goodbyes and good luck at Peter's locker while Peter headed to his homeroom in time for breakfast. He took his daily dose of staring and bad looks as he made his way to the line. Flash seemed to have been too distracted to bother him while he got his food.
The morning seemed to go by faster with every moment Peter found himself thinking about where he would stay after school. Usually it would be in a park, or library, or a few times in the church near his favorite park. It was that particular park that he found his only friend he had at the moment, James.
The evening that he had been itching to sit at his favorite bench James had been there, taking his spot. He had waited and waited, trying to not act like he was waiting for the man to get up, but the man had not made an attempt to leave for almost an hour until Peter finally walked up to the bench to take his rightful place.
He sat next to him quietly while the man looked at him. They sat in relative silence as the clouds and day zipped by. Eventually after realizing he was being talked to Peter started to have a conversation with the man, who introduced himself as James.
The conversation was mostly one sided given the fact Peter chose not to talk and wrote his thoughts on paper instead, but that didn’t stop both of them from finding out things about each other. James was new in the area after not being in New York for years. Peter had claimed the bench as his own for months before James laid his eyes on it. James liked to talk mostly about newer things, as if trying to understand certain concepts. Peter loved to explain said things to James as a time waster and to become more friends with him.
At the end of the day, close to 10 at night, he had decided he was going to continue to meet with James every Tuesday, the same time, every week. When he had gotten back to the Gonzalez’s he had been badly beaten, but in his mind it was worth it. James had been the first person he chose to get close to since becoming an orphan. That was almost 2 months ago.
Peter’s attention was brought back into reality when the last bell had rung, signaling the dreadful walk back to the Gonzalez’s. The day had gone by fast and uneventful, he had done at least 2 different test, completely died during gym, and almost had a heart attack looking at the dissection of a frog.
He named the recently deceased frog Eugene.
Tony had been thinking about the most recent conversation with Pepper. His mind was warped in the memory.
“Come on Pepper, you can’t be serious!” Tony huffed while throwing his arms in the air, adding to the dramatic tone in his voice. “I will not be able to handle bird-brained little shits running around the labs claiming they are the best over each other like screeching seagulls.”
Pepper gave Tony an unimpressed look before smoothing out her pants and standing, “We both know they will not be that bad. And as the labs are concerned, they will be under constant supervision by both the head labs and FRIDAY.” She stood in front of the whining billionaire.
He groaned in annoyance, knowing she won the argument, she always did. “Do I have to pick one after the 2 month free trial? Why can’t they all just go away to their rich families and boast about their shiny new cars they will crash in a week of getting them.”
Pepper raised an eyebrow, “That sounds pretty hypocritical from Mr. Playboy.”
“Hey! Those days are behind me. You can’t hold that to me anymore!”
“Then you cannot hold those kids' family's title against them.” She crossed her arms, Tony felt himself almost shrink under her gaze. “Now, before I leave, I must remind you that I already sent over the entry test required for the internship to all schools we checked into. The test should be graded and reviewed within a day. So don’t try to ignore it any longer than you already have.”
“Fine, fine, anything for you.” Tony spoke before reaching his hand to Pepper, pulling her into a kiss.
On her way out she planted a thought that made him stop walking, “Who knows, maybe having someone as an intern will be for the best.” She smiled as the elevator doors closed, leaving Tony thinking about all the possibilities that it would be a good thing having a kid around.
He couldn’t come up with one.
The only thing that caused Tony to come back into what was happening in front of him was when Clint had fallen through the vent to his lab. The man fell in a heap and a small whimper escaped his lips before Tony yelled, “What the hell are you doing in my vents Barton?”
Clint all but got up and laughed, displaying the archers humor by adding “Your mom!” Before running through the lab doors.
Tony grumbled, annoyed but a bit distracted by the event, “Friday, lock the doors to the lab.” Once it was confirmed he added another order, “And next time tell me when Clint is sneaking through the vents.” An almost amused Friday reassured Tony as he dove into what Pepper had given him; the test results.
He spent an hour going through each test, making sure everything was right as they were graded appropriately per Pepper’s request. One by one, as he neared the 31st candidate, he got more and more bored. Until he came across someone that stood out. Peter Parker.
Peter Parker had stood out in more than one way. There were his test results, he had perfect marks on the entire test while even having small doodles across the pages of the packet as if he were bored doing the hardest test he would take in his life. The next thing that stood out was his age, he was barely 13 years old at Midtown School of Science and Technology with perfect grades and GPA. Tony wondered if it was a glitch in the system, until he graded it himself. It took him almost an hour to review it by eye, then by hand, then by taking the test himself. The kid was a genius.
Peter had managed to take the hardest test in his life, and even in Tony’s eyes, and answer everything like it was simple mathematics, with doodles and everything sprawled around the corners of each page.
Tony huffed in astonishment, he had never seen someone so young, so smart.
Discarding the rest of the test, Tony put his mind and technology into Peter Parker. To find out more about him. By the easy internet searches he immediately found out the worst of Peter’s history, or at least his family’s fate.
His father, Richard and mother, Mary Parker had both died in a plane crash that happened when Peter was just 6. They were on their way to becoming well known scientists in genetic mutations before their tragic end. There were a few pictures, all in different places showing the family before the accident. Peter, being the small 5 year old in the latest picture, was in the center of his two loving parents. All smiling as if they could live forever, happy and healthy.
After the accident Peter was taken in by his uncle Ben, and aunt May Parker. Both again had well enough lives to live with. No drugs, no alcohol, no scandals, nothing out of the ordinary. Ben Parker was a standard electrician, going on a 23 years worth of service while May Parker had been a nurse at their local hospital in Queens.
As he scrolled farther and farther he became warped into the reality that Peter had been a true orphan at just the age of 13.
He found the news article describing a robbery gone wrong near their apartment. How May and Ben were loved by the community. How the Peter Parker that everyone on the street knew was swept away into the foster system before settling in a foster home with an unnamed family.
Tony felt his heart pound after every article he found himself looking at. Everything that proved what he already knew caused his heart to hurt for the boy. He did not even know Peter, yet, but still wished none of that had happened to him. He did not deserve so much sorrow in the short life he has lived.
From that moment, Tony had the idea already made.
He would meet Peter Parker.
He would intern Peter Parker.
He would protect Peter Parker.
Peter looked around the street he walked on with Henry, Thomas, and Sofia. The atmosphere around him was bubbling with excitement. Henry had been talking about the test he had taken today. ‘The test of the future’ he called it. He laughed and picked up Thomas, “With this future we can all go on adventures all the time!” Thomas rode on Henry’s back while Sofia poked Peter’s hand.
“Will you come on the adventures Peter?” She asked softly, he knew better to shake his head no, so he agreed with a nod, causing a chain reaction of “Yes!” throughout the group of 4. Peter stuck to the back of the pack as they made their way to the house, he knew he would pop in and pop out for the day, he always did.
After getting to the house Mrs. Gonzalez requested help with raking the decaying leaves along the sidewalk and yard. Since no one offered their help Peter knew he would have to do it. He was the scapegoat when it came down to chores.
The chore itself was not hard. Getting back out of the house without getting caught and confronted was. Listening to the words being said in the living room Peter found the perfect moment to easily slip out the backdoor into the gravel road behind the house.
He made it 3 steps into the back kitchen area before a hand grabbed the collar of his shirt, he was thrown against the wall. “Really? Are you sneaking food?” Mr. Gonzalez spat in Peter’s face before kicking the arm that Peter was trying to support himself on.
“No, Sir.” Peter’s voice trembled, already unable to mask the fear in his voice. “I was going to a friend's house, Sir.” The man laughed at Peter’s weak attempt to get off the ground.
“Like anyone would want to be friends with you. You are nothing. You hear me? Nothing!” He sent another kick to Peter’s side before backing up to get the well known belt on the key holder planted on the wall. “Turn around, Parker.”
Peter forced his bruised and aching body into the all too familiar position against the wall.
His hands placed on the wall with his head hung low, his legs under his bent body as he readied himself for the incoming blow.
It always came.