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Peter Benjamin Parker Stark was born into one of the most influential families in the world. His Dad was Tony Stark, his Mum was Pepper Potts-Stark and his older brother by 5 years was Harley Anthony Keener Stark. Despite this, no-one other than those closest to his Mum and Dad knew. He grew up in the shadows and any paperwork or publicised information about him was always in the name of his Mum's best friend growing up, May Parker. As far as the world knew, May Parker was the sole guardian of Peter Benjamin Parker. School documents and public outings were always with May. His brother Harley had been the same except he was named after his fathers cousin, Julia Keener. It was only when Peter turned 18 and Harley 23 that they planned to announce to the world that Peter Benjamin Parker and Harley Keener Stark were actually the joint heirs to the entirety of Stark Industries.
There was one other piece of information that was only known by those who needed to know. Peter had been deaf for his entire life. He had been born with a GJB2 gene mutation which meant that he had bilateral severe hearing loss. He had never known any different. It had never got better, it had never got worse. His family had been amazing, they immediately began learning ASL as soon as they found out and always ensured that even if Peter wasn't involved in the conversation, they still signed it. Peter knew he was lucky, he couldn't have asked for a better family. His parents fought for ASL to be incorporated into more settings and fought for all of the staff within Stark Industries to learn it just in case.
When Peter turned 3 Tony Stark, his father, began to work on a prototype. A small hearing aid that could be worn in each ear that would allow Peter to hear to the same level as his peers. By the time Peter turned 5 the prototype was a published product. Even then, the Stark family still ensured that Peter knew that he was in control of his deafness. If Peter wanted to go to school with the hearing aids in and then keep them in at home as well, they would support him the entire way. If Peter decided that he wanted to not wear them and to communicate entirely in ASL and lip-reading, they would support him the entire way and ensure that he had a competent ASL translator to work alongside him at whatever school he wished to attend. In the end, Peter decided to have the best of both worlds. He wore his hearing aids at school to ensure that he could keep up with his classmates (They quickly learnt that Quantum Physics is quite hard to translate for an ASL translator when you aren't used to it) and that at home he would take them out and relish in his own silent bubble. They ensured that the tower became deaf friendly. They installed vibrating alarm clocks, flashing fire alarms and once JARVIS and FRIDAY became incorporated into the tower, Tony ensured that they would work with the Family to ensure that Peter was always contactable no matter where he was in the tower.
Despite how deaf-friendly the tower was, Midtown high wasn't but the Stark family didn't blame them. They had never been told that Peter was deaf so why would they think to make the school deaf-friendly? Peter thrived at Midtown, he was at the top of his class in every subject and was constantly pushing the teachers to teach him more. He was loved by many people and was always the person that people went to if they needed help. Many people thought that Peter should have been at college by now. Although Peter had thought about it and talked it over with his family, he had decided that he would prefer the social aspect of high school better. It also allowed Peter to stay with his 2 best friends, Ned and MJ, who were the only people at Midtown who did know that Peter was deaf. Of course, as soon as they found out they began to learn ASL. They had visited the tower many times and had slotted into the Avenger family really well once they got over their starstruck states.
Peter sat at the back of Mr Harrington's classroom, tinkering with a small project that he had sneaked into school. He had been working on it for a while but just needed to get the finishing touches down. Mr Harrington had never really minded what Peter did, just as long as Peter could prove that he knew the content that he was teaching. Just as Peter screwed the last screw in, Mr Harrington began to make an announcement.
"Tomorrow we are going to be going on a field trip. We have been very lucky to be gifted this by a local business so no-one will be required to pay. The only thing that you need to do is get a slip signed and submitted online by your parent or guardian."
Around the room, whispers spread. Voices spilled into Peters hearing aids which, thanks to Tony, distinguished them for him so he knew who each voice came from. Next to him Ned leaned in and started to talk to him.
"I wonder where we are going?" he asked excitedly.
"Probably somewhere like the hospital or observatory. They're both known to give trips to local science groups." Peter replied.
Suddenly, the last bell of the day rang. Peter swept all of his belongings into his backpack and began to walk towards the far exit, not before saying goodbye to his friends. He walked down the road until he was far enough away from the building to be noticed and slipped into the black sedan that was waiting for him. Sat int he drivers seat was Happy Hogan, his Dad's Head of Security.
"Hey Happy."
"Hey Kid, good day at school?" Happy asked, voiced laced with interest but Peter only recognised it because he had know Happy for a long time.
"Yeah, we're going on a trip tomorrow. I need to get May to sign the form for me. I'll call her later and ask her to send it over."
"Sounds cool Kid. Enjoy."
"Thanks Happy."
Peter slipped his hearing aids out and revelled in the silence. Happy glanced at him in the mirror and acknowledged that Peter was ending the conversation. He looked forwards and focused on getting the two of them back to the Tower. As they pulled into the parking garage Happy swung a hand back into Peter's view. He began to sign to Peter.
*Your Dad wants you in the lab. He says to go straight up*
Peter nodded and hopped out of the car.
*See you later Happy*
Peter headed out of the parking garage and walked towards the elevator. Without pushing any buttons FRIDAY sent the elevator up to the 100th floor, the penthouse where Peter and his family lived. Peter stepped out, placed his backpack down and then headed back to the elevator to travel back down to the 91st floor, the floor with Tony's, his Dad, lab on. Peter stepped out and watched as the large glass doors slid open. Around him he could feel the bass of the rock music his dad was playing vibrating through his body. He walked over to a stool and sat down, waiting for his dad to finish what he was doing. Eventually Tony slid out from underneath the car he was tinkering with. He spotted Peter immediately and began signing to him and asking him questions about his day. Peter stopped him immediately.
*Dad, my day has been fine but why did you want to see me?*
*Oh, I forgot about that. I want your hearing aids. I'm going to elongate the length of the battery life. I want you to be able to go longer without them dying on you so that you don't have to worry about them.*
Peter nodded and immediately pulled the pouch with them in out of his pocket. He handed it over to his dad before turning towards the door to leave.
"Ive got to message May because I have a field trip tomorrow and then I'm going to go and sit in my lab and finish my project. I'm nearly done."
Peter left immediately, not waiting on a reply as he was facing away and wouldn't hear it anyways. He jumped into the elevator and went up a floor to the 92nd. He walked out and walked into his lab. He immediately sat down on the blue sofa in the corner of his lab. Pulling out his phone he messaged May, asking her to sign the slip and to email it into the school. Once he had finished he stood up and grabbed his latest project. He had begun to work on a wearable speaker that would allow deaf people to feel the vibrations of music in their chest whilst walking around. He grabbed his tools and took it apart. Peter pulled parts out of drawers and yanked screws off the magnetic bar above his work bench. He pulled the motherboard out and observed which components needed altering and which were working correctly. Suddenly, FRIDAY flashed an orange light above him. Peter stopped what he was doing and walked back towards the elevator. He knew that an orange light meant that dinner was ready. When Peter was younger, dinner happened separately but now him and Tony were making a conscious effort to eat dinner with Pepper as a family. Friday took him straight up to the common room floor which confused Peter. Normally during the week, they ate in the penthouse. As he walked out, he noticed that more people were sat around the table than normal. He realised that the Avengers were there, clearly having come over for the weekend like they normally do. Usually they come for Friday evening but must have something important in the tower in the morning as they had come a day early.
Nat immediately noticed him and began to sign.
*Hey Pete, you beat your Dad up*
Peter chuckled, a sound that the Avengers soaked up due to it being their favourite sound. Friday immediately put the recording of it in the 'Baby Noises' folder, a folder that Tony had set up for noises that Peter made that they all loved (him sneezing made up a large percentage of the videos).
*I'm hungry* Peter replied.
The elevator pinged and Tony stepped out.
"* Peter is hungry Tony, hurry up *" Thor bellowed across the table.
"* Well we better not leave the baby waiting, should we *"
Peter rolled his eyes but immediately began to devour 3 men's portions of spaghetti and meatballs. Peter grabbed 6 pieces of garlic bread and 3 handfuls of grated cheese to sprinkle over his dinner. Around him conversation happened. He could feel everyone talking but when he looked up he noticed that they still all signed, just in case he wanted to join in. He was always included when those who loved him were around. Just as they all finished up their food Tony slid Peters case back over to him.
*I'm not finished with the batteries yet so I've put the old ones back in for you so that you can go out on patrol. Come to my lab later and I'll swap them again.*
Peter put his thumb up, took his plate out and hurried to get his suit on to patrol.
Peter woke with a start as he felt the vibrating alarm clock beneath his pillow. He jumped out of bed, excited for the day ahead of him, ideas of where they were going on their trip racing around his head. He got dressed, brushed his teeth and grabbed his hearing aids from his bedside table and threw them into his school bag. He jogged into the kitchen and grabbed a handful of waffles off of the plate on the island. Clint bumped him out of the way and began angrily signing about Peter stealing his breakfast but Peter just walked away and ignored him. He slung his backpack over his shoulder, waffle still hanging out of his mouth and signed a swift *see you later* over his shoulder, not looking back for a reply. He rode the elevator down to the parking garage in the basement and launched himself into the back seat of the black sedan that Happy had pulled up in front of the door. Happy knew that Peter took a while to put his hearing aids in so just pulled away and began to drive through the thick morning traffic. As Happy got closer to the school Peter pulled his hearing aids out and slid them into his ears, checking in the mirror like everyday to see if they were visible. Once confident that nobody could see them he hopped out of the car.
"See you later Happy."
"Bye Kid!"
Peter practically skipped into the building, stopping at his locker to put the homework that he had worked on last night into it so he wouldn't forget it next week. He had stuff he wanted to do over the weekend so he had tried to get everything done before the trip. Ned tapped him on the shoulder. Peter spun around and started their handshake, MJ watching on with a lack of emotion on her face. Together the trio walked towards the physics classroom and sat in their normal seats at the back of the classroom. A quiet hum of chatter overtook the classroom as they awaited the staff that would be accompanying them on their trip. At exactly 8:30 AM, 4 members of staff walked through the door. Mr Harrington walked to the front and began to take attendance while Miss Coleman checked that everyone had a permission slip signed and submitted. Once both members of staff had finished their jobs they and the 28 teenagers they were taking with them walked out and boarded the school bus.
The trio walked their way to the back seat, allowing Peter to tinker again like he always did. MJ pulled out her sketchbook and began sketching Peter's concentration face whilst Ned talked about where he thought the trip was going to be to. 15 minutes into the bus ride Peter began to notice everyone going quiet. He whipped his head up and glanced around. He realised that nobody had stopped talking, he had stopped hearing. Suddenly it hit him. After patrol the night before, he had not gone back down to the lab to change his batteries back, and his Dad must have gone to bed and also forgotten. Fear filled him instantly. He had never told anyone other than MJ and Ned about his deafness. His teacher weren't even aware. His brain began to think about how to fix it but every plan he could think of ended in an ending he didn't want. He was screwed. He decided not to tell Ned or MJ that his hearing aids had died. They would just stress. He packed everything up and stayed aware. if Ned or MJ were going to speak to him then he needed to be ready to lipread them. After 5 minutes the bus came to a shuddering halt. Everyone stared out of the window and, even without his hearing aids in, Peter felt a gasp that travelled down the bus. Their secret trip was to....
Everyone stepped off the bus, a bustling vibe pulling through the class. in front of them a tower loomed up into the clouds. A funny shaped protrusion stuck out above them, many floors above. Glass windows shimmered, freshly washed, on every floor. Peter felt dread fill him from the feet up. The trip was to Stark Industries, Avengers Tower, his home. The class formed a line and began to walk into the lobby. Around them workers bustled and shoved. Peter looked around, trying to spot whether he knew anyone. He felt a tap on his shoulder and spun around. MJ and Ned were stood talking to him but he couldn't understand them because they were talking at the same time. Eventually they both realised that Peter couldn't hear them.
*What happened to your hearing aids loser?* MJ asked subtly after checking that no-one was looking at them.
*Dad swapped the batteries and I forgot to swap them back. They've died. It's fine though. I know everything about the tower, I can cope.*
MJ looked at him with a disapproving look.
*Your dad's lab is literally above us. Go and swap them*
*I can't, Nobody knows so it will be weird. No-one can come down either because that will look even weirder. And no, you aren't translating for me.*
Ned looked down, clearly upset that Peter had turned down all of his ideas before he had even brought them up.
*I'll be fine*
The three of them walked back towards their class who had moved forwards further into the lobby. They stood waiting. After 5 minutes a tall, brown-haired boy walked over to the group. Peter glanced up and rolled his eyes. As if this day couldn't get any worse, his brother was leading the group. Had any other intern run the tour then he may have gotten away with not listening but Harley was going to know very quickly. Despite this Peter decided to see how long it would take someone to notice. As a group, they were taken to a gate on the other side of security. Although they had to go through a metal detector, they weren't going to have to go through the scanners, a sure fire way of the class learning Peter's other secret. They made it through and Harley began to lead them towards the visitor elevator, a cab that could hold up to 50 people.
"Good Morning Midtown!" Harley bellowed out once in the elevator. "I'm Harley and I will be your tour guide today. Normally you would get one of our interns but Mr Stark made the decision that with you guys coming from that fancy science school or whatever that you would get me."
The class looked around in confusion.
"What makes you better than the others then?" Flash asked with a sneer.
"I work with Mr Stark personally and I happen to be very close to his personal intern so to speak."
Peter had lip read every single word of what Harley had said and scowled, glad that he had. Harley had clearly wanted a reaction from that. Harley continued on, talking about the history of the tower and its owners. Peter made himself look like he was listening but secretly tried to figure out why Harley was actually here. He very rarely was asked to lead tours. He was also very rarely at the tower before 4 PM on a Friday and after 8 AM on a Monday. Peter let the thoughts rattle around his head. As they reached their first floor Peter noticed that it was the legal department. Harley walked up to a small table and picked up a large pile of papers. Peter realised that they were NDAs so Harley had probably had the 'Don't share anything you see or hear outside of the tour' spiel and that the class had probably just been told that they all needed to sign the paperwork. Peter glanced around. Most people looked excited at the prospect of learning things that were secretive. As Peter's eyes landed on Flash he noticed that he looked furious. Peter chuckled under his breath, clearly Flash had come on the trip in hopes that he could fill his No.1 Tony Stark Fan Page with lots of information. Peter pulled a sheet off of Harley's pile before smiling at him. Harley mouthed 'Are you OK?' and Peter just nodded. He signed the sheet, passed it back and went to stand back with his best friends.
Once they had all signed the paperwork, Harley lead them up a flight of stairs that Peter recognised would take them to the Chemistry labs. Peter knew a handful of people around the tower but not many of them worked the day shifts so he thought he would be pretty safe. Unfortunately he didn't expect to walk into the lab and see Bruce Banner. As the group slowed down to a stop, Peter attempted to hide enough that Bruce wouldn't see him but so that he could still read Bruce's lips. He watched intently, and attempted to guess what Bruce was talking about. His best bet was the polymers that they had been working on together the previous weekend as Bruce had pulled out the whiteboard that they had used. Peter stood at the back the entire time attempting to look interested in what Bruce was saying. He followed the gaze of everyone else when they looked around and stared intently when those around him did too. Occasionally he noticed Bruce staring at him in a funny way but brushed it off as him not expecting Peter to be there. Once Bruce appeared to be finished, Harley took them back to the visitors elevator. Peter looked down at the floor, attempting to not make eye contact with anyone. Unbeknownst to him, Harley had shifted around and was whispering in his ear to test his and Bruce's theory.
Harley led them out on a floor that Peter knew very well. They had arrived on floor 95, the Avengers Gym floor. In front of the class stood the majority of the Avengers all kitted up for their normal training sessions. Around him, Peter could feel the excitement filling the room. Suddenly the lights flashed red. Peter's head snapped up. That was FRIDAY telling him to look up. In front of him he could see Steve talking. More importantly, Steve was signing.
"*Good Morning Midtown. Please excuse Friday flashing the lights, she does that occasionally. My name is Steve Rogers, also known as Captain America. You have been brought up here to have a go at some of the Avengers' favourite training activities with us.*"
Betty Brant's hand shot up.
"Mr Rogers, Why are you signing?"
Nat began to translate. Steve looked around, eyes stopping on Peter for slightly longer before turning back to Betty. Peter felt his heart jump into his mouth.
"*Hawkeye has hearing loss so needs us to sign when he takes his hearing aids out, just so he knows exactly what were saying. He can hear us mostly but when lots of people are talking he just needs the clarification.*"
Clint nodded. Peter sighed deeply, relief filling him. He subtly looked around at the Avengers.
"*So, does anyone else know sign then?*" Clint asked.
The rest of the class stayed quiet. Ned, MJ and Peter kept their hands down. Nat immediately shifted, clearly taking this as permission to subtly sign to Peter at some point. Around Peter, people were pulled into groups. Nat immediately claimed Ned, MJ and Peter.
"*Im taking my 3 into the dark room to show them sensory deprivation.*"
Harley followed them, making a claim of needing 2 adults in the room, but knowing what was actually going to happen. Nat guided them through the door to the deprivation room and locked the door, placing the sign on the door that stated that it was occupied. She turned the normal light on and sat on the floor, motioning for the other 4 to follow. As soon as Peter hit the floor, Nat began to interrogate.
"*What's going on?*"
"Nothing. I'm fine." Peter replied with his best poker face. (When your father is Tony Stark, you learn quickly)
"*You can't hear us but I know you put your hearing aids in this morning because Happy told us that he saw you check them.*"
"I can hear you!" Peter replied with a slight hint of betrayal in his voice.
Harley, who had sat right behind Peter began to whisper once again.
"Peter, you cannot hear us"
Peter sat in silence, eyes scanning around. As he turned his body and let his eyes land on his brother he realised that he had messed up. Harley looked at him and waited. Peter realised that he had finally been caught out.
*Dad swapped the batteries in my aids last night to work on them and when I got back from patrol I forgot to go and swap them back. They died on the way here. I couldn't just walk off to go and find Dad and get him to change them because it would look weird. Equally, I couldn't ask anyone else to do it for me because I'm not meant to know any of you. I just thought that I could make it through the day and nobody would notice and I could fix it tonight when I get back.*
Harley looked at him with a slightly sympathetic look. He knew how difficult it was to hide their family from the world, never mind also hiding a major disability.
*Do you want me to go and get the batteries?* Nat asked.
Peter thought about it. he thought of the positives, then negatives, how it would look to his peers.
*No, I'm alright staying without them, I just need people to not assume that I can hear them. Harley knows of course and so do Ned and MJ but if my teachers try and talk to me because they think I'm not listening then I'm screwed.*
Harley sat thinking.
*Why don't Nat and Clint join us on the tour. I'll have to sign then because we've told the class that Clint needs it. And then Ned and MJ can tap you if someone talks to you. I'll call on you occasionally, make your teachers think that you're participating.*
*OK.*
Peter sat there for a minute thinking.
*How did you figure it out?*
*You were lip reading me too much. You lip read all the time but you were squinting to see what I was saying and you didn't react how I expected you to when I joked about knowing Dad's personal intern. Then Bruce pulled me aside and mentioned that you looked slightly dazed, as though it was taking too much effort to keep track of what was happening.*
Peter nodded dejectedly.
*I tested it in the elevator* Harley continued, *I whispered in your ear, like in here, and told you that I had broken your Star Wars Lego. I haven't but I knew that if you could hear me that I would get a reaction. I got nothing so I texted everyone to get them to help me figure it out. We were worried about you.*
Peter looked sheepish. He had thought that he had managed to hide it for a lot longer than he apparently had.
*Does Dad know?*
*Not as far as we are aware, he's been in meetings all day and is due to be in one until the Q&A at the end of the tour. Before you ask, Mum has had to fly to Miami to meet with a possible investor so even if she did know, she couldn't do anything to help.*
Peter looked more comfortable. He knew that although his Mum and Dad wouldn't be angry or disappointed that he wasn't wearing hearing aids, they would question why he didn't attempt to either get working batteries or get some other way of understanding what was going on around him.
*Please don't tell Dad* Peter asked with a pleading look.
Harley agreed but made Peter promise that, as soon as he got home again that evening, he would tell Tony himself so that Tony could create a spare pair of batteries for Peter to keep in his bag for emergencies like this. A knock on the door pulled the 4 of them who could hear it from the conversation. They all stood up and made their way back out to the main hall. Steve stood at the door with a questioning look on his face. Nat whispered, allowing Steve to use his super-hearing, to explain the plan whilst Harley gathered the rest of the class. The sweat covered class gathered around him, Bucky handing them all SI embroidered face towels to wipe their faces.
"*We are now going to go down to the 71st floor. Mr Stark made sure that when he had the tower built that there would be a floor dedicated to being a food court. He brought in a variety of food vendors, making space for local businesses to have the space to sell where they wanted. Clint is going to hand out cards to you. You will get 3. One will get you a main meal, one will get you a drink and one will get you a dessert. If you hand them to the vendors, they will then exchange it for your chosen item. Mr Stark will them pay them back for it this evening when you have gone home.*"
As Clint handed the cards around he skipped Peter, Ned and MJ. Peter pulled out his credit card that was specifically for the food court, his Dad making sure that he had enough money on it for his enhanced metabolism. Peter glanced around. Everyone had split off to a variety of different vendors. Him and his friends bee-lined towards Delmar for their usual sandwiches. Delmar immediately made up their normal order as soon as he saw them. Peter payed, Ned picked it up and MJ thanked him. Together they headed towards a small table in the corner. They ate in silence just savouring each other's company. Around him, Peter noticed interns who noticed him and looked as if they wanted to say hello but held back. Eventually, Harley called them back to a group. He showed them where to put their rubbish and collected in any spare cards that anyone had left. Together they walked to the elevator and Peter watched as Harley scanned his ID card, clearly showing that they were going to a private floor. As the elevator went up, Peter realised that they were going to come out in Harley's lab. He stood looking confused. Why would Harley be taking them to his lab?
The door to Harley's lab opened and Peter could see a selection of Stark Industries Medical projects dotted around the workbenches and a large pile of scraps on Harley's main bench. Harley summoned the class to gather around. He began to explain all about how hard Stark Industries works to ensure that a variety of people get support where necessary. He explained all about the medical equipment that Stark Industries had invented, explained how people can apply for grants to help them to access the medical equipment and how when people couldn't afford it at all, the equipment was given to the people under a foundation called the Jarvis Foundation. Peter watched as the class around him stood in awe, clearly never understanding the true difference that Stark Industries have made over the years.
"* You are all going to have a go at inventing a piece of medical equipment from scraps. I'm going to give you an hour. You can only use the things we give you, you don't have to have it fully working and you must work in groups. First though, I want you to look around at some of the things that Stark Industries have already created.*"
Peter walked around, spotting projects that he had supported in designing or building. Suddenly his eyes shot over to his spare hearing aids. They were so much bulkier than his current ones but his Dad made him put them in his luggage if they ever went anywhere for a long time, just in case. They didn't have the batteries in, he could see that for where he was stood, but it was interesting to think that they looked so different. He slipped the ones that he was wearing out of his ears and lay them next to the old ones. Abe came and stood next to him. He turned to look, sensing that Abe was talking to him.
"That's strange. There was only 1 pair there a minute ago."
Peter looked startled.
"Maybe someone was holding them?" He said, trying to get the attention off them.
"The tour guide told us not to touch them."
Peter spun on his heels. He couldn't let this be the way that the class found out. He bee-lined for MJ and Ned and began to write down ideas for what he wanted to design with them. They managed to do the entire project without any verbal communication. MJ drew and wrote about the positive features of their project, Ned did the programming for it and Peter built the product. They worked like a well oiled machine, knowing what to do with their own jobs and what to do with each others jobs to support each other. They worked until the last second of the hour given and had managed to get their project up and running. Harley went around the groups and asked them to explain their product. The class heard of prosthetic hands that could be wired into the body, robotic leg splints and even a robotic service dog for those who are allergic to animals. Finally, Harley knowing he was leaving the best to last, Harley introduced Peter's group.
Peter slipped a pair of Tony Stark style glasses onto his face. Murmurs broke out across the lab as people noticed how alike Peter looked to Tony. Harley just smirked. MJ stood up beside him and showed the plans and descriptions.
"We have designed a pair of glasses for a deaf person. The idea is that if they are somewhere where they cannot communicate due to a people not knowing sign language or if someone's hearing aids were to suddenly die, they could slip them on. They are designed that if the person looks through them, a microphone will pick up the voices surrounding them and will provided closed captions in view of the user. If the user turns to face somebody, the captions will focus on the person that they are looking at to prevent the user from becoming overwhelmed by multiple lines of captioning. If the glasses are unsure on who to caption for, they will mark out where multiple voices are coming from so that the user can decide who to look at." Ned explained.
Peter was really impressed. These actually worked better than he had planned for a first try. Ned's words scanned across his view. It all made sense so must have been translating relatively well and it even picked up that someone was muttering in the corner. Peter turned his head and spotted Wanda talking to Bucky. Her words also scanned across the screen.
"Trust the kid to invent something because of his own problems"
Peter rolled his eyes and turned back to the group. Harley stood in front of him.
"*So, Peter, why did your group choose to invent this?*" He asked with a slight smirk that only someone who expected it would see.
"I noticed the hearing aids earlier and the fact that you were all signing for Mr Barton and it made me think. What would happen if nobody could translate for him?"
Harley smiled.
"*And how would you improve them?*"
"Well, that is already in the works. We are going to program them to have the ability to translate different languages to make the world more accessible for people who don't speak English too."
Harley smiled again, the pride for his little brother beaming out of his face.
"* That's brilliant guys! *"
Harley congratulated everyone on their projects and allowed them to take photographs if they wished. He then informed them that they would have to keep them in the lab to be dismantled.
"* I'd like Peter to keep his glasses with him as I think they would be amazing to show to Mr Stark! *"
Flash and Peter both rolled their eyes, for different reasons, and whilst everyone picked up their things, Peter grabbed his current hearing aids off the workbench again.
Peter walked towards the elevator, following the crowd of teenagers. He left the glasses on and focused on Harley, reading the captions it brought up for what he was saying. He knew that they were heading to the auditorium. He had seen Friday light up when his Dad had arrived home. As the elevator arrived at the right floor, everyone shuffled out. They were shown into the auditorium and Peter watched as everyone ran towards the front row. He meandered towards the back row and slouched down so that he wouldn't be seen. Ned and MJ slid in besides him, mildly annoying Peter as he knew it would draw more attention towards him. Eventually the lights went down. A curtain at the front of the room pulled open and a spotlight shone onto a lone stool. Peter looked around the room and noticed that all of the Avengers had left, leaving Harley sat on the end of his row. Suddenly Peter noticed movement out of the corner of the stage. Tony Stark walked across the stage and Peter's glasses immediately showed that there was an eruption of applause and cheering. Tony walked across to the stool and casually sat down, eyes scanning across the crowd and landing on Peter immediately. Peter sunk down even further in his seat, practically laying on the floor.
Slowly, Peter shuffled back up in his chair to watch what was going on. Mr Stark began a Q&A about the tower and the business, specifically saying that Avengers questions would need to wait until later. The class gave some amazing questions, asking about the energy sources, the legal departments and even about internships when they reached college. Throughout the whole thing though, Tony signed. Peter noticed it, knowing that it meant that his Dad knew about his hearing aids. Eventually Abe asked a question.
"What inspired you to begin the medically equipment sector of the business?"
"* Well, I hadn't really focused on anything medically in my youth. I was very privileged to never need to. I hadn't met anyone who needed specialist equipment and so I never paid much attention. Then when I grew up I began to notice it a touch more. People with prosthesis, or with canes for example. Then someone who I love dearly needed me so I learned. I watched him, let him teach me. I wanted to make his life easier so I began with personal equipment for him, made it how he needed it. I watched it grow with him, I let him tell me what needed adjusting and what needed getting rid of. He supported me in designing them, in making them more personal. If it wasn't for him, I don't think I would have noticed it enough to want to make a difference. He is my reason. *"
Tony said all of this whilst looking directly at Peter. This didn't go unnoticed by Abe, who had already got an inkling that something was going on.
"Is that why the hearing aids that we saw had so many variations? and why you all learned sign language?" Abe continued, clearly not knowing how to be subtle.
Tony looked shocked. He hadn't expected those questions. He glanced at Peter and received a nod in response, Peter already knowing that his secret would need to be revealed today. Tony took a deep breath and looked towards the class.
"* Yes, I have got so many variations of hearing aids because that was my first project. My youngest son was born with a genetic condition that causes him to have very little hearing. For many years we left him without hearing aids. We signed to him, we made our home deaf-friendly, we let him choose whether he wanted to hear. He eventually decided that he wanted the option. He wanted to be able to hear when he chose to, such as at school, and when he attended events. We managed to make his hearing aids smaller when he wanted them to be less noticable. We made them so that he could play music through them and he could tune it into the TV to make it easier if necessary but he decided that at home he would just sign and so we supported him. All of the Avengers learned sign language for him, which came in handy when Barton lost his hearing as he could understand us. *"
"Why are you signing now then? Mr Barton isn't here." Betty asked.
"His son is in the room" Abe blurted out.
Tony sighed.
"* Yes, he is. You have all signed NDAs so this will not be able to go outside of these 4 walls. Peter, come here."
Peter stood up and walked towards his Dad, shuffling his feet along the floor. Suddenly he was so glad that his 18th birthday was only next week. It was going to make school a lot easier when everyone knew rather than just his class. He stood next to his Dad, taking the glasses off and letting Harley translate for him. Tony stopped signing, knowing that Harley was translating.
"Id like you to meet my youngest son, Peter Benjamin Parker Stark, who seems to be unable to remeber the batteries to his state of the art hearing aids, and seems to be too shy to go and get them from his own house. "
Peter blushed and poked his Dad.
* I couldn't just walk off! *
MJ helpfully (not if you asked Peter) translated for the class. The class erupted into chatter. Harley translated the main points that they seemed to be muttering about.
"Mr Stark, you said that Peter is your youngest son. Are we allowed to know who your older child is?" Cindy asked.
Harley stood up and loudly introduced himself.
"* Harley Anthony Keener Stark at your service! *" Harley bowed dramatically whilst Peter rolled his eyes.
The class eventually got over their new celebrity classmate and his surprise disability. The girls began planning how they could learn ASL, whilst the boys began contemplating how they could use Peter's knowledge of the company to their advantage. They got through the Avengers Q&A relatively quickly, still hung up on their prior news and eventually agreed to leave the building. Tony managed to persuade Mr Harrington that Peter was allowed to stay at the tower as it would be a wasted journey for him to go back to school. MJ and Ned vowed to come over the next day and Flash finally managed to say something after an hour of silence.
Once everyone had left, Peter lay on the sofa in the common room. Harley came in and sat down next to him. Peter shuffled up so that he was laying with his head on his brothers knee.
*I'm proud of you Bub!* Harley signed, the pride emanating from him.
Peter smiled and closed his eyes, tiredness setting in. As he began to fall asleep everyone else filtered in around them. They sat down and began talking about their days. Nobody mentioned though how they continued in sign language despite not needing to. And if Peter found a spare pair of hearing aid batteries in every bag and his bedside drawer, he didn't mention it to anybody.