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"It's not a big deal, Mr. Stark."
"Not a big deal! Happy said that little shit pushed you down a flight of stairs!" Tony was running his hands over the back of Peter's head, looking for bumps.
"It was like five or six stairs," Peter countered, but didn't pull away from his mentor, "and I've fallen off the top of a building before with only a couple bruises to show for it. I'm fine."
Tony still insisted on FRIDAY scanning him, and only toned down his mother-henning when the AI gave Peter a clean bill of health.
"See, it's all perfectly fine, I told you," Peter smiled in reassurance.
"Still not perfectly fine, Pete. How long has this been going on? Why didn't you tell me about it before?" Tony questioned as he steered him over to the living room couch.
"Because it's really not a big deal. I can handle it. Flash is mouthy, and occasionally pushy, but I can take it," Peter insisted, curling up in the corner of the couch, and then mumbled, "Better me than someone else."
Tony rubbed his hands over his face in frustration, "I'm not even sure where to start with all the wrong in that statement," He took a deep breath and tried to explain, "Behavior like that, when it's left unchecked, it escalates, Pete, it doesn't go away – and I highly doubt he only behaves that way with you."
"It's not like that, Mr. Stark," Peter tried to argue.
"Have you reported him to your teachers? To the school?"
"There was no need," Peter insisted, starting to get frustrated as well, "I can handle it! Why won't you believe me?"
"Because you're acting like a self sacrificing idiot," Tony said, throwing his hands in the air.
"Wonder where he got that from," Pepper snarked as she strolled into the room.
"We can focus on my laundry list of character flaws later," Tony said as he pulled Pepper down onto the cushion beside him, "Peter is being bullied at school."
"What?" Pepper yelped as she lept back to her feet and hurried over to where Peter was sitting, kneeling down in front of him, "What happened? Did you get hurt? What is the school doing about it? FRIDAY run a–"
"Mr. Stark already did that – I'm fine. I also already told him that it's not a big deal. It's high school drama. You guys are freaking out over nothing," Peter insisted, but still allowed Pepper to pull him into a long hug before she settled back on the couch between Tony and Peter.
"It is a big deal. The kid pushed him down the stairs after school today. And the school isn't doing anything because Peter didn't report it," Tony answered the rest of Pepper's questions with a scowl as he stood up and started pacing around the room.
"And I was fine – it didn't even hurt me!" Peter snapped back.
"This time!" Tony was practically yelling at this point, "You're enhanced, you're not immortal! Do you have any idea how many people die every year from falling down the stairs!"
"That isn't helping Tony, sit down," Pepper calmly commanded. When Tony only crossed his arms, she leveled him with a look, "Now."
With a huff he perched on the back of the couch, and Pepper turned to Peter before he could start up again, "We're all going to discuss this calmly and rationally, but, honey, we do need you to explain what's going on so that we can understand why you haven't told anyone about it."
"Fine, but only so you'll understand it's all stupid. Flash gets mad when I do better than him on tests and stuff, and he lashes out, but it's nothing serious, I promise. It's usually just immature name calling."
"How often has it been something other than name calling? Has he been physical with you before today?" Pepper asked as she put her hand on Tony's knee, probably to stop him from making another scathing remark.
Peter squirmed, and finally told them, "Only a few times, but even then it was just like shoulder checking or bumping me into my locker."
Pepper and Tony glanced at each other, neither of them actually believing Peter. The kid was a terrible liar, but by unspoken agreement, they didn't press. At least he'd been honest enough not to pretend like today was the first time his bully had gotten physical. "How long has he been acting out like this?" Pepper asked, trying to draw as much information from Peter as possible.
Peter looked down and toyed with a loose thread on his shirt, "Only for a little bit."
"How. Long?" Tony demanded.
Peter just shrugged.
Tony had enough, "FRIDAY, call Michelle Jones–"
Peter's head snapped up, "No, Mr. Stark! You don't need to do that!" Peter tried to stop him, but FRIDAY had already connected the call.
"Hello?" a confused voice sounded through the speakers in the room.
"Michelle, It's Tony Stark. How long has this Flash kid been bullying Peter?" he asked without preamble.
"Since the beginning of freshman year," she answered without hesitation.
"And how often does Flash's bullying get physical?" Tony asked through gritted teeth.
"At least twice a week."
"MJ," Peter whined.
"What? Just because you feel some misguided need to cover for him, doesn't mean I'm going to."
"I told you I was handling it," Peter countered.
"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result," MJ told him sharply.
"Albert Einstein didn't actually–"
"I know he didn't say that," MJ cut Peter's argument off, "But it's still a perfectly valid point."
"It's completely besides the point," Peter sighed, "I told you it was fine. I can handle Flash, and if he's focusing on me, he's leaving everyone else alone."
"He's really not," MJ said, "You may be his favorite victim, but you're definitely not his only one."
"I'm not a victim," Peter argued.
"No–you know what, you're right, you're not a victim," Michelle snapped back, "Because you could stand up to him at any time, you just don't. You let him treat you like shit and get away with it. Which at the end of the day only makes Flash worse, because as far as he knows, what he's doing is working!"
Tony jumped back up again, motioning toward the speaker's, "Exactly!" Without saying anything further he strode out of the room.
"Thank you, Michelle," Pepper joined the phone conversation, "We really appreciate your insight on the situation, but I think tempers are getting a little high. I know it's all coming from a place of concern for Peter, but I think we all need to focus on the issue at hand, and not Peter's previous responses to Flash's behavior."
"Sorry, Ms. Potts, you're right," MJ quietly admitted, "And I'm sorry for snapping at you too, Peter. I just wish you'd stop being such an idiot when it comes to Flash. At some point he needs to find out that he can't just push everyone around to get what he wants."
Pepper thanked her again before Peter could respond to either her apology or her other comments. Then Pepper quickly reassured MJ that she would ensure the problem was dealt with appropriately before ending the call.
Peter pulled his feet up onto the couch, wrapped his arms around his legs, and rested his chin on his knees, "I don't get why you all are making such a big deal over this. I'm perfectly fine."
"Because we all love you, sweetheart, and none of us want to see you getting hurt," Pepper told him as she slid over on the couch and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. He was about to point out that he hadn't been hurt when she added, "Even though we all know you're resilient, and can take it, you shouldn't have to."
"I'm helping people by letting Flash focus on me," Peter tried to explain, "What if someone else couldn't handle his taunts, or if he bullied them and they actually got hurt?"
"Then that would be on Flash, not on you. Michelle and Tony are right though, it's highly unlikely that you letting him pick on you is stopping him from acting that way towards anyone else. It also isn't helpful for Flash in the long run."
"What do you mean?" Peter was confused. Flash hadn't gotten in trouble with the school, or with anything else - that seemed pretty helpful to him. Not that Peter didn't fight back to keep Flash out of trouble. It was merely an unintended side effect.
"Sweetie, what's going to happen to Flash if he's having a bad day and mouths off to someone he doesn't know? Someone without your temperament who won't just walk away? Or if he 'shoulder checks' someone in the street and it turns out to be the type of guy you web up in alleyways?" Pepper didn't even give him a chance to answer though and plainly said, "He could get himself seriously injured."
Peter just nodded, he'd seen enough of the ugly side of the city to know she was right.
"What Tony and MJ were trying to point out is that by letting his poor behavior go without any resistance, he's learning not to expect it. So when he comes across someone who won't tolerate his mistreatment, he is going to be woefully unprepared to deal with the situation."
"Yep," Tony popped the p in the word as he came back into the room, arms filled with plates and food, looking quite a bit calmer, "And then he's going to get his ass handed to him."
Peter took the chopped cheese sandwich that Tony handed him, silently eating while mulling over what they'd said. He could see their point, at least somewhat, but he still thought everything was probably being blown way out of proportion. When Peter had finished his second sandwich and pulled himself out of his own thoughts, he realized both Tony and Pepper were still curled up on the couch with him. Remnants of their own afternoon snacks littered the plates on the coffee table, while they quietly chatted about the upcoming launch of the newest StarkPhone.
Peter waited for a lull in their conversation before asking, "What's going to happen now?"
"Well," Pepper began, looking at her watch, "since it's four-thirty on a Friday afternoon, I doubt anyone would be at the school right now. So, I propose we all go get changed into something comfortable and have a movie marathon this evening. We can have food delivered for dinner later, maybe from that Moroccan place you were telling me about?"
Peter perked up at the idea, quick to agree. "You mean you're not going to make me…"
"Oh it will be reported to the school, first thing Monday morning," Tony swiftly disabused him of any hope otherwise, "If not by you, then Happy and I will be going down there ourselves. He witnessed the entire thing with the stairs. It's past time for this kid to learn that even his actions have consequences."
"But by going through the school, he can learn the lesson without any permanent damage," Pepper added as they all started climbing off the couch to go change. Seeing Peter was still hesitant with the idea, she explained, "There has to be some kind of conflict for him to learn his lesson, sweetheart, behavior unchallenged goes unchanged, after all."
"Fine," Peter agreed with a sigh, "But could we maybe not tell Aunt May about this?" At both Tony and Pepper's raised eyebrows and looks of disapproval, he added "Just until she gets back from her trip – I don't want to ruin her first vacation in a decade with something she can't do anything about from Africa anyway."
Tony nodded, but then added with an eye roll, "You know when I told her she should go on a cruise, I didn't mean on a floating hospital."
"Hush, you," Pepper nudged him in the ribs as they headed towards their rooms, "Mercy Ships do amazing work, and if May wants to spend her vacation time volunteering, we should support her decision."
"We did!" Tony spluttered indignantly as the couple made their way further down the hall, "We gave them a half million dollars after she told us what she wanted to do – and added them to our regular donation pool."
Peter smiled at their playful bickering and made his way into his room. Movies and great food sounded like the perfect way to end this stressful day.
~~~
Peter sat atop a building in Midtown just after dusk, looking over the people in Bryant Park. It had been a quiet patrol, the nice weather announcing the beginning of spring seemed to have everyone in the city in a rather good mood. He was keeping one ear alert to the activity below, but his mind was running over the conversation he'd had with his pseudo-parents the afternoon before. He still wasn't one hundred percent sold on their insistence to bring the school into the situation. He half thought that getting Flash into trouble would probably escalate his bullying faster than almost anything else would. Plus, Flash's parents were great benefactors to the school. There would probably be more than a few people willing to pull strings to get Flash out of trouble with little more than a slap on the wrist. It seemed like that would only undermine the lesson that Tony and Pepper were so adamant that Flash needed to learn.
A raised voice below pulled his attention back to the street. It was a very familiar voice, one belonging to the boy that he'd just been contemplating. Out of curiosity, and to get a better view, Peter swung himself over to perch in one of the trees lining the park. Still, he could barely see into the vestibule of the restaurant where Flash and two of his cronies were arguing with the host.
"And I told you, I have a reservation, so find us a seat," the bully demanded.
"Sir, as I've already mentioned, the reservation you held was over forty minutes ago. Our company's policy is to only hold a table for fifteen minutes past the time on the reservation. And as you can see, the restaurant and patio are full tonight," the host calmly tried to explain, "If you would like, I can put you on the waitlist, but it's going to be about a half an hour before we will have a table ready for you."
"Man, I can't wait that long," one of the cronies told Flash, "I gotta be home soon, I'm bouncing."
"Yeah, me too man. We'll catch you on Monday," the other one added as they turned toward the door.
Flash didn't even seem to notice his friends were abandoning him, still arguing with the restaurant's employee, "There, that table is leaving, we'll take that one."
"I'm sorry, sir, but there are multiple groups ahead of you on the list, if you would like to be added to it."
"This is utter bullshit," Flash yelled, "I'm not putting up with it – and see if I ever come back!"
"As you wish, sir," the unruffled host said, turning his attention back to the book on the podium, "Charles, party of four, your table is ready."
As Flash stormed out of the restaurant, Peter saw him slam into the shoulder of one of the other guests that had been making their way toward the host stand, presumably a part of the Charles party, and then ignored their shouts of indignation. Stomping his way down the sidewalk and past the patio diners, he reached out his hand and shoved at one of the tables, sending all the food right into the lap of a diner. A voice in Peter's head, that sounded suspiciously like MJ, said, I told you so .
Peter was disgusted at his classmate's behavior. Flash didn't bother to turn and see the damage he'd done, not even when a strong Italian voice started yelling profanities after him. Peter sat there and listened, impressed at the colorful descriptions of the bully.
When the Italian stood up from the table and started following Flash, however, Peter stealthily shadowed them from the trees. He waited for both Flash and the man intent on confronting him to cross West 40th, before swinging across the street himself in pursuit. He was torn. On the one hand, Flash had brought all this on himself. He was the one who'd been abusing the restaurant's staff. He was also the one who assaulted the other diner - wait, was it assault if you're using food, Peter wasn't sure, but regardless. Flash had definitely instigated the oncoming fight with the Italian of his own accord. On the other hand, a very large, very angry, grown man was following a seventeen-year-old down the street. Pepper's voice echoed in Peter's head this time, when he comes across someone who won't tolerate his mistreatment, he is going to be woefully unprepared. Peter continued to follow the pair, knowing that this could get ugly remarkably fast.
The Italian caught up to Flash just as they reached the mouth of an alley. With a shove, the Italian made his classmate disappear from sight. Peter hurried to the edge of the building and scaled down the fire escape.
"You just ruined my proposal, you little shit," the man was yelling as Flash braced himself against the dumpster with one hand.
The boy's eyes were darting around even though he was trying to puff up to make himself look bigger. "Oh, give it up, man," Flash mocked the bigger man with the arrogant drawl he used in school everyday, "Nobody would take someone to a dump like that to propose."
He saw the glint in the Italian's hand as the man took two steps forward and Peter dropped to street level without thought. Pain ripped into his abdomen just as he landed between the two. He didn't even acknowledge Karen's, "I have notified Boss of the situation per the Bigger than a Boo-boo protocol. Iron Man is en route." Shocked, Peter just stared into the large Italian's horrified eyes.
"Oh my god, Spidey… I didn't mean…" the Italian spluttered.
"Yeah! See that! Who's getting the ass kicking now!" Flash hollered in glee from behind him.
"I saw what happened," Peter said with a slight shake of his head as a burning sensation started radiating out from his wound, "Get out of here - go back to your fiance and salvage your dinner."
"But…" the man gestured at Peter's stomach, where the knife was still protruding.
There was a click of the comms connecting in his ear just before the sound of thrusters filled the air. "Help's already here," Peter reassured the man while gently clutching at his stomach, trying to both stabilize the knife and stanch the flow of blood that was leaking out the bottom of the wound. The Italian looked back at Peter once in shame, and then nervously towards the sky, as he hastily made his way out of the alley. Apparently the whole city knew just how protective Iron Man was over Spider-man, Peter thought absently.
"That was awesome, dude," Flash told him in excitement as he circled around to stand in front of Peter, "This is the second time you've saved me, you know! Wait, why'd you let him go?"
Peter, irritated that the jerk didn't even acknowledge the knife sticking out of his supposed hero, told the boy with a resentful sigh, "Just go home. I've reaped the consequences of your bullshit for the last time."
Flash's protests were drowned out by the thud that accompanied Iron Man's hasty landing. The suit opened instantly and Tony quickly stepped towards him, "Whatever you do, don't pull that out!"
"Not the first time I've been stabbed, Mr. Stark," Peter told him dryly.
Tony crouched down in front of Peter and examined the wound, opening a pouch that seemed to have suddenly appeared and pulling out bandages. He watched as his mentor carefully pulled one of Peter's hands away to pack around the edges of the knife before guiding the hand back to hold them in place. As the crisp white of the bandages started turning red, Peter was distracted by an awed Flash exclaiming, "This is so cool!" He looked up at the idiot and noticed he was smiling as he held his phone up in front of him. Filming the two superheros, without a care.
"Keep that as still as you can, Underoos," Tony told him when he'd finished packing the wound. He stood, turning back toward his suit, "I'll give you a lift back to the tower."
"Before you go," Flash quickly said as Tony brushed past him, "There's this total loser at my school who lies all the time and says he's your friend - you don't know a puny nerd named Peter Parker, do you?"
"You've got to be kidding me! What the actual hell, kid," Iron Man snapped as he slowly and carefully lifted Peter into his arms. Before he took off into the night he snarled, "If that video ends up anywhere besides deleted, I'll be sending every one of my lawyers after your ass, Eugene Thompson!"
Peter could only groan as darkness started to invade the outer edges of his vision just as the tower came into sight.
~~~
When Peter managed to pry his eyes open next, it was to see three anxious and tired faces hovering over him. He felt sluggish and numb, trying to figure out where he was and how he'd gotten there.
"Try not to move, baby," Aunt May told him gently as she stroked her thumb over the back of his left hand, "You were hurt, but you're going to be okay."
"What happened?" Peter croaked. Pepper stepped away for a moment, but returned at once with a cup in hand.
"You were stabbed, Pete," Tony explained quietly, giving his right hand a little squeeze while Peter sipped through the straw Pepper held in front of him.
Peter was thoroughly confused, "But that's happened loads of times before. Why am I here?"
May gave a choked noise off to his side, but it was Tony again that answered, "You caught the blade as you were landing, Underoos, it wasn't a clean cut. There was a lot of damage…"
"But, my healing?" Peter questioned in surprise.
"Can only do so much when your stomach is sliced open and its contents spill into the rest of your abdomen. Even with Cho and her team cleaning you out as soon as we got back to the tower, you started going into sepsis. Enhanced, Pete, not immortal." Both Pepper and May shot Tony a look at his bluntness.
"Gross," was all Peter could think to say.
"Jesus, kid. You almost died and your reaction to the news is, gross?" Tony pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand, even in his frustration he refused to release his grip on Peter.
"I'm sorry," Peter said helplessly, his cloudy brain still trying to process the information he'd just been given and link it to what brought him to where he was now.
"There's nothing to apologize for, sweetheart," Pepper told him as she held the cup up for him again, "We're all just glad you're going to be okay."
"Can I ask yet?" Tony questioned the two women in the room, but he didn't give them time to answer before asking Peter, "How the hell did you manage to get stabbed while protecting the little shit that's been bullying you at school?"
That was apparently what his brain needed to connect the neurons enough for the memory to rush back. "You guys were right," he admitted with a sigh, "Flash's behavior is going to get him killed."
"I'm more concerned that his behavior almost got you killed," Aunt May admitted with a sniff from where she still clung to his other hand, "What did that little brat do this time?"
Peter shrugged and told them about the scene with the restaurant host and Flash's tantrum that followed. He ended the story with the stubborn justification of, "I know he brought it on himself, he was definitely the one that started the whole thing, but I still didn't think he deserved to die over a bottle of wine and a couple steaks. But, that guy doesn't deserve to go to jail for what happened either," he quickly added, "He was just mad, justifiably so, and he acted without thinking."
"So nobody should face the consequences for their actions now, is that it?" Tony asked him dryly. "You're just going to pay them all, yourself?"
"No," Peter told them firmly, "I told Flash I'm not saving him from himself again. And I meant it. But, Pepper was right, if we go through the school he can learn in a way that isn't going to end up with him dead."
"It's going to be a hard lesson for him to learn, Pete," Tony told him with another squeeze of the hand, "He was trying to upload that video to social media before we'd even made it back to the tower. Even almost getting stabbed and then threatened by me didn't seem to phase the idiot."
"Oh god, the video," Peter groaned. It wasn't like it revealed his identity or anything, but still that wasn't a moment he wanted splashed all over the internet. The bully was making fun of his non-secret identity, and what's worse, he'd been too distracted by the stab wound so Spider-man hadn't even contradicted the bully's lies. School on Monday was going to be torture.
"FRIDAY caught it in time," Tony told him before he could spiral too far into panic, "Nothing got uploaded."
"And his phone unfortunately seems to have caught a virus," the AI announced through the speakers in the room, "All of the data was wiped clean, so he sadly lost the original video." There was no mistaking the glee in her voice or the proud way that Tony smiled up at her camera.
"Oh what a shame," Pepper said while fighting back a smile.
"A real pity," Aunt May agreed.
When Peter looked up to smile at his family, it suddenly hit him, "Oh my gosh, Aunt May – What are you doing here? How did you get here? You're supposed to be in Africa! I ruined your vacation! I'm so, so sorry!"
"Shhhh, it's okay, honey," Aunt May pulled him into a hug, careful not to disturb all the tubes and wires connected to the boy. "There is no place else I'd rather be right now. I'd be climbing the walls of that ship with worry if Tony hadn't sent Happy to collect me. They got me here just as you were getting out of surgery."
"But your vacation…" Peter presses, feeling horribly guilty.
"Happy will fly her back on the quinjet so she can finish her vacation as soon as you're back on your feet, kiddo, I promise," Tony was quick to reassure him, seeming to surprise Aunt May as well with his generous offer.
"Tony, that's not–" she started to say.
"I insist," Tony said, as if that would clear any objections.
Pepper diplomatically stepped in, "We'll discuss what May wants to do about her vacation later, shall we. For now, we should let Dr. Cho look over Peter so we can get an idea of when he'll be well enough to return to school. I think we should wait to set up the meeting with them until he can attend."
"I have to go to school on Monday," Peter firmly told them, "I have a calculus test I can't miss."
The adults shared a look before Aunt May carefully told him, "Honey, it's already Monday night. I'm sorry we didn't mention that before. You've been out of it for almost two days already."
Seeing Peter's eyes go wide, Pepper was quick to add her reassurances, "Don't worry about your test or anything else you'll miss. We spoke with the school this morning and you'll be allowed to make it all up when you return."
That helped calm Peter down quite a bit, but then a new worry struck him, "Why did you tell them I was out?"
"Stomach issues," she told him with a shrug.
Peter snorted at the truthful lie, but then wished he hadn't when the movement pulled on his still healing abdomen muscles.
~~~
It only took two more days for Dr. Cho to give her permission for Peter to return to school. Everyone was relieved. By Tuesday night Peter had been metaphorically climbing the tower walls, and by Wednesday afternoon everyone else was practically pulling out their hair trying to keep him from climbing them literally.
On Thursday morning his make-up assignments the school had sent via email were completed and in his backpack. Nestled right next to them was a thermos full of soup and a lunch sack filled with Dr. Cho-approved food Pepper had packed for him that morning. When Happy pulled up to the curb in front of the school, both Ned and MJ were waiting for him. Before he could get out, the gruff man told him to be careful and to text him if Peter needed an early pick-up. Peter was just glad to be free and back to his normal routine.
He went to give Ned their normal handshake once he'd stepped onto the curb, but his best friend had other ideas, pulling him into a hug while whispering, "Never scare us like that again!"
MJ even forwent her normal stance on PDA and held tightly to his hand as the trio made their way into the school.
All went well throughout the morning. His Calculus teacher sent him to the library to take his make-up test under the librarian's watchful eye. His Physics teacher had announced the term's project and left them alone to brainstorm ideas – Peter was toying with the idea of investigating the effects of annealing on the micro-structure of nanotech metals (since Mr. Stark had told him he was never going patrolling without his Iron-Spider suit again).
It wasn't until the break between second and third period that Peter had his first run-in with Flash of the day. Pepper had scheduled their meeting with both the school and Flash's family for three o'clock that afternoon. It was clear from the bully's face as he stalked down the hallway towards him, that Flash was not happy about the meeting. His spidey senses flared right as the bully was about to pass him and Peter tensed up his shoulder in preparation for the hit. Flash bounced back from the shoulder check he was attempting and spun around into the lockers lining the wall. Peter never broke stride or even turned his head to acknowledge the bully. He had promised he was through with tolerating Flash's mistreatment, and he intended to stick to that promise.
At lunch, after a thrown apple had been caught and offered up to MJ for a snack, Flash and his group of cronies made their way over for some bullying of the verbal kind.
"Hey Penis, did you hear your good friend Spider-man spent the weekend helping me take out some Italian trash?" Flash asked as he swaggered up to their table, "I mean, since you're his bestest buddy, I'm sure he must have told you all about it."
"That's certainly not the story I heard," Peter snorted and looked the bully right in the eye, "What I heard was that you threw a toddler-sized temper tantrum in the middle of a restaurant," Peter noticed the two guys who had left Flash at the restaurant shoot each other a knowing look behind his back, "and then when one of the patrons took exception to you throwing his dinner in his lap – and ruining his proposal to his girlfriend, I might add – Spider-man had to step in and save your stupid ass from becoming a human shish kebab."
"That's not–" Flash started to counter, but Peter kept going.
"He asked me to reiterate what he told you in that alley, because he didn't think you were actually listening to him. You were too busy fanboying and recording him while Spider-man had a knife – a knife meant for you – sticking out of his gut," Peter heard the gasps from the classmates surrounding them, all eagerly listening to Peter's rendition of the story Flash had been spouting all week, "He said to remind you that he's paid the consequences of your bullshit for the last time. The next time you run your mouth or pick a fight and you get yourself into trouble, he's not going to step in and save you. Whatever the consequences are for your actions, you're going to have to pay them yourself." With that said, Peter and his friends got up from the table and made their way out of the silent lunch room. Flash just gaped like a fish as they went.
Peter didn't see Flash again until school had let out for the day. He had dropped his backpack off in his locker and was making his way through the nearly deserted halls towards the front doors to meet Tony, Pepper, and May for their meeting. His spidey senses flared as he approached the turn that would take him to the main hall. As he stepped around the corner, he shot a quick glance at the camera mounted above the doors to ensure it's red light was in fact on. Confirming that it was, he braced himself and allowed Flash to slam him against the wall. He didn't allow himself to be pinned for long though, using his arms to break the hold the bully had on his shoulders.
"I don't know why you woke up this morning thinking you were all big and bad, Penis, but I'm going to knock you down a few pegs and remind you of your place," the bully taunted as he stepped back and clenched his fists, "We're going to go in that meeting and you're going to keep your fucking mouth shut, you got me?"
Peter just stared at the bully, "Yeah, that's not going to happen."
The bully swung, aiming for Peter's still healing stomach, but didn't connect. Peter grabbed his wrist and used Flash's own momentum to swing him face-first into the wall while wrenching his arm behind his back to pin him there. "This ends today, Flash, I'm done with your bullshit as well."
A shriek filled the hall and Peter looked toward the front doors to find not only Tony, May and Pepper, but also Flash's parents as well. He stepped away from the bully, releasing him as he did, and motioned to Tony in the direction of the camera. Tony looked up and nodded.
"That monster attacked my son!" Flash's mother screeched as Principal Morita stepped out of the front office and into the hall, drawn by the noise. She rushed toward Flash, and gathered him up in her arms. Flash clung to her, whining and whimpering in what had to be some of the worst acting Peter had ever seen. He leaned against the opposite wall, and couldn't help but roll his eyes at their dramatics.
"You're going to want to pull this feed, teach," he tilted his head up, "I suspect it'll go nicely with what was caught in the courtyard last Friday," Tony said flippantly from where he leaned against the door frame.
The principal nodded and ducked back into the office to call their IT guy while the guidance counselor led them all down the hall toward a conference room. Flash was trying to play off his wounded victim act while his mother coddled and consoled him, promising retribution on his behalf. Flash's father, red faced and glaring, mumbled threats of expulsion under his breath as he followed behind his family. After receiving hugs from Aunt May and Pepper, and reassuring them both that he was fine, Tony wrapped his arm around Peter's shoulders and let him down the hall.
"Glad to see you finally sticking up for yourself, kid."
~~~
The meeting hadn't moved past Flash's parents demanding Peter's expulsion for attacking their son, while Peter's family sat calmly and quietly, when the land line on the conference table rang. Principal Morita quickly answered it and after a brief conversation he opened the laptop in front of him. The TV behind him flashed to life and silence filled the room as the video began to play. Even after it clearly showed Flash loitering in the hallway and ambushing Peter, and Peter not raising a hand against his aggressor except in his own self-defense, the Thompsons tried to make excuses.
"There's no sound," Mr. Thompson pointed out, "There's no way to tell what that kid might've said to cause my son to react like that."
"You got your phone on you, Pete?" Tony asked, sounding bored.
"Of course, Mr. Stark, why?" he replied, completely confused.
"Let me see it," Tony held out his hand. When Peter slipped it out of his pocket and handed it over, Tony merely slid the device into the middle of the table. "Karen, you with us?"
"Of course, Mr. Stark," The AI spoke clearly from Peter's phone.
"Karen is the AI that's uploaded onto Peter's cellphone," the genius quickly explained to the principal and guidance counselor, "Karen, do you have recorded audio from the hallway, from about fifteen minutes ago?"
Karen didn't answer directly, just played the sound clip of Flash saying, "I don't know why you woke up this morning thinking you were all big and bad, Penis, but I'm going to knock you down a few pegs and remind you of your place." Karen kept the recording playing through Flash's threats about the meeting only ending it when the scuffle sounded through the speakers.
Mr. Thompson somehow had gotten even redder and he practically yelled, "You can't just record someone without their permission–"
"New York only requires one-party consent for any audio recordings of conversations," Pepper cut in, "Peter, did you consent for that conversation to be recorded?"
"Yes, absolutely," Peter confirmed while trying not to smile, "I gave my full consent to all of them when Mr. Stark was setting up Karen's protocols on my phone."
"It was an isolated event," his mother insisted. Flash seemed to pale across the table. His parents however didn't seem to notice.
"If it was an isolated incident, then what do you call your son pushing my nephew down the stairs on Friday, which might I add is what brought us to this meeting in the first place?" Aunt May asked sharply, "There is a clear pattern of bullying taking place here."
"We do have video footage of that incident as well," Mr. Morita informed the Thompsons, "Would you like to view that before we move on?"
"That won't be necessary," Mr. Thompson sneered, "Regardless, two incidents hardly make a pattern."
"I have recorded twenty-one hours of audio since September containing Eugune 'Flash' Thompson verbally harassing Peter Parker," Karen intoned from the phone on the table, "Would you like me to play them now?"
Everyone around the table's eyes grew at that number, Tony was the first one to recover from their shock enough to ask, "How about just a few minutes of highlights, if you would?"
They all sat silently as Flash's voice came from the phone once more. Aunt May tensed as the bully taunted Peter about his orphan status and his lack of wealth. Tony scoffed and crossed his arms as Flash repeatedly called Peter a liar and mocked him about his "fake" internship. Pepper drummed her nails on the table as Flash called Peter a pity case that didn't actually have any real value. Karen played each clip long enough to show that, although Peter's friends occasionally came to his defense, Peter never once responded in kind, only ever telling the bully to stop or to leave him alone.
"I think that's enough," Mr. Morita finally said about five minutes into the sound bites. "This is clearly an ongoing problem that needs to be addressed."
"I understand the position you're in, Jim," Mr. Thompson carefully addressed the principal, "But we'd appreciate it if you would allow us to handle the discipline for this issue at home."
"Absolutely not," Tony snapped, before Pepper covered his hand with hers in a silent reminder to maintain his temper.
"Look, I understand your concern for the boy," Mr. Thompson nodded in Peter's direction, "But there is no reason to possibly damage anyone's future just because these two don't get along."
"But it's not just me," Peter quietly said.
Tony's head snapped in his direction, eyebrows raised in question. Peter nodded back in answer.
"Mr. Thompson, are you aware that your son instigated a situation with this same type of behavior down at Bryant Park just this last weekend? Spider-man had to step in to keep your son from being stabbed in retaliation."
"Spider-man," Mrs. Thompson gasped. Then turning to Flash she said, "You told us it was a mugging."
"He dumped a table full of food into a guy's lap because he was mad that he lost his reservation," Tony told them bluntly, "I made Spidey's suit, so I have video from that one as well, if you'd like to see it for yourself. I'm also the one that had to medivac Spider-man out of that alley to get him treatment for the knife wound he took in your son's place."
Flash sank further into his seat, but didn't deny anything that Tony had said. His parents sat there white faced staring at their son.
Pepper leaned in and told the couple kindly, "Mr. and Mrs. Thompson, we're not here trying to punish Eugene solely for what he's done to Peter. We're trying to help him understand that his actions have consequences, before his behavior gets him killed."
The meeting proceeded unopposed after that. The Thompsons shakily agreed that in-school suspension for the rest of the year was an appropriate response to the incidents that had happened within the school grounds. Their insistence on protecting the bully's school record fell to the wayside at the realization that he'd been putting his actual health in jeopardy with his behavior. Flash's mother never once took her terrified eyes off her son, muttering phrases like almost stabbed and could have died , over and over.
It was a subdued group that left the meeting together. Flash slumped ahead of the group, head hung and silent. Pepper quietly spoke to Mrs. Thompson as they made their way toward the exit, passing the shaken mother a business card for one of the best behavioral therapists in town. Mr. Thompson, deflated from his earlier pomposity, asked both Tony and Principal Morita to send him the videos they hadn't shown in the meeting so that the worried parents could fully understand the extent of their son's actions. Peter and May trailed behind the others, exhausted, but content with the outcome of the day. Life would move on, and Peter could only hope that Flash had finally learned that even his actions had consequences. Peter had certainly learned his lesson about accepting consequences for actions that weren't his own.
~fin~