Chapter Text
The sun had gone down over New York hours ago. Midtown High was quiet, even the janitor had clocked out from his shift and called it for the night, locking up the front doors.
The whole building was dead, aside from a lone faint glow in the corner of the library, one stubborn computer operated by a stubborn boy.
Peter wouldn’t say that hacking into top shelf security systems was a regular hobby of his, he just wanted to give himself a challenge for once. A challenge that was at best questionable in its legality. He was tucked away in the farthest corner of Midtown’s library, keys clicking with his face illuminated in the light of the screen. He had butterflies in his tummy as he stared at the console, eyes wide. He felt a bit of terror wash over him when it really kicked in that he’d done it.
He was looking at the internal servers of Stark Industries, with access to a ridiculous amount of information that the public would never dream of seeing. His blood ran cold for a second as he frantically double checked that nothing had been set off, that he was still under the radar.
He relaxed when he didn’t notice anything to be off, nothing alerting to his presence. He didn’t want to do serious jail time for a dumb stunt, he hadn’t even thought he’d be able to pull it off in the first place. He figured he was doing Stark Industries a favour, finding the backdoor before anyone with real malicious intent would.
He furrowed his brow, staring at the few lines of code that had opened the security system up to an easy breach. It looked like a big mess of test code that hadn’t been intended for the database, where some idiot had forgotten to delete their dev password. It was left behind.
Peter spent a few minutes rewriting the code bloat, optimizing it, and then left behind a little message for anyone that might find it.
/* fixed your backdoor issue. You’re welcome. You should fire your programmer.
Peter exited the software he used for the breach and moved it to the trash. He deleted it off his school’s computer, leaning back and stretching out his arms over his head. He yawned, wondering if May was asleep yet, or if she was still waiting on him. He pulled out his phone, leaving her a message to let her know he was finishing up with his ‘homework’ and about to head home.
The last light left on in Midtown High switched off as Peter put the PC to sleep, giving it a love pat for its efforts before he hauled his bag over his shoulder and stood up to go sneak back out the window he’d left open on the southern side of the school.
He stayed in the security camera blind spots, avoiding them even though he was pretty sure they turned most of them off at night, or at least the ones that weren’t near the entrance or exit. Next time he was just gonna ask a teacher if he could stay late in the library instead of sneaking around like a criminal. He cursed himself as he stumbled in the dark, tripping over his own feet before catching himself on the wall and continuing until he found the classroom with the open window.
He clambered out with sweaty hands, anxious to fall as he made his way onto the roof. It was straightforward from there, he scaled down the side of the building onto one of the smaller sheds that they stored some old phys ed equipment in. He landed on the metal roof with a twangy thud, and from there he jumped off onto the ground. He looked up at the cloudy sky, noticing the lack of a moon to light his way.
His brow furrowed. “Must be a new moon,” he mumbled to himself, dusting off his pants as he made his way around the side of the building to the back of the fence, finding the broken section that the school hadn’t bothered to fix since four years ago when some kids broke in to spray paint slurs on the stairs to the entrance. He pulled the chicken wire they’d replaced it with aside and squeezed out, wincing as his flannel caught on a sharp end. He pulled his arm back cautiously until he was free from the barbed piece of wire, and then made his way through the unruly grass and out into the street.
Peter moved into a jog as he came onto the sidewalk, glancing at his phone to check in case May had messaged him. He sighed when he found his notifications empty, and pulled his hood over his head.
Maybe Peter was a little scared of the dark, although he didn’t think it was irrational. All sorts of weirdos hung out in the streets at night, queens was by no means the safest place in the world. He was careful walking past alleyways, he kept his head down while still staying alert and aware of his surroundings. He got home without any trouble, punching in the code to his apartment complex and heading up the stairs. He found the door unlocked, and as his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he saw May asleep on the couch.
He took a breath, pulling his jacket off and hanging it up on the coat hanger. He shuffled his shoes off and kicked them into the corner, setting his backpack down next to them. He padded over to the sofa, shaking May’s shoulder gently.
“Hmph… wh…” she stirred, eyes flickering open as she slowly came to. “Oh, Peter,” she sighed, relaxing again with a small, tired laugh. “This is too much. You’re not allowed to study this late,” she mumbled, sleep still lingering in her voice with the way her words slurred just slightly.
“I know, I’m sorry,” he kept his voice low. “I’m gonna get ready for bed. You should too, I didn’t mean to keep you waiting.” He gave her a quick hug, which she reciprocated. “Love you,” he said. Peter stood, heading to his room to get his pajamas on. He heard May get up to do presumably the same. She called out an I love you too back to him before stretching to wake her body up just enough to make it to the bedroom.
Peter was happy to finally decompress, settling into bed with his favourite stuffed animal and keeping the nightlight on. He didn’t care if it was childish, he didn’t like all the shadows that danced about his room when he only had the light from his window. He always felt like he was being watched whenever the darkness got to be too much. His pajamas were the ones May had gotten him for Christmas last year, little red and blue candy canes dotted all over, along with snowflakes of various patterns.
He turned off his bedside lamp, wondering to himself what he was going to get May for Christmas this year. It was already November. He’d have to start planning soon, he wanted to get her something really nice this time around, something fancy and expensive. He drifted off to sleep slowly, all while debating what gift would be the best. He’d already forgotten about his Stark Industries stunt.
Unfortunately for him, someone hadn’t forgotten. In fact, someone was just finding out.
Tony Stark was standing before his holoscreen, a fang digging into his bottom lip. It was a bad habit.
“You said there’s been a what?” He grumbled, jaw clenched. He hated not knowing things. This had gone right under his nose, that never happened. It was interesting, at the very least. Interesting was becoming harder and harder to come by these days.
”A breach, Sir,” Jarvis repeated calmly, once again pulling up the message that was left by the rat that had chewed its way into Tony’s system.
“A breach,” he laughed, “in my security database. A breach in the Stark Industries security database.” Disbelief was the thing he was feeling, yeah, that was an accurate descriptor. He rubbed at his eyes, trying to dispel the stress migraine that he could feel coming on.
”yes, that’s what I just said,” Jarvis quipped.
“Now is not the time for you to get sassy with me.” Tony paced for a few seconds before he fell back into his lab chair and wheeled back over to the screen. “Jesus,” he grumbled as he stared the message down. Just a block comment, allegedly innocent in nature. Tony was mostly worried that this someone had gotten into the files and stolen private information. Even that didn’t worry him too much, if they wanted to blackmail him he could handle that. He couldn’t count the number of times he’d been blackmailed for money, God knows he had more than enough cash to spare.
“…Nothing’s been leaked since this happened, right? Do I have any threatening voicemails?” Tony asked, scrolling through the edited code.
“No. I’m monitoring social and news networks, nothing outstanding.”
“Pull up a side by side of what this looked like yesterday compared to the current version.”
Jarvis did as instructed, and a hologram materialized of the previous code. Tony squinted as he inspected both, huffing a small indignant laugh at the absurdity of what he was seeing. This ambiguous person had swept in and practically done janitor’s work for Tony’s programmers. “That’s ridiculous,” he mumbled, sticking his pen between his teeth to keep his lip from being chewed in two.
They were right, he should fire whoever left his security system with a liability that obvious. “God, I thought I wouldn’t have to be reviewing this stuff by now. Shame on me for trusting anyone to do their job,” he rolled his eyes, closing the old code. “Did they use a VPN?“
“No, they did not. Would you like me to track the signal?”
“Yes please. You never let me down, J,” he smiled at the screen as various windows appeared and closed to visualize Jarvis’s search. Eventually the make, model, and location of the computer all loaded up.
”Sir, it appears the signal of the breach tracks back to Midtown School of Science and Technology,” Jarvis said as an image of the high school came up next to the coordinates.
Tony’s eyes widened in scepticism. “Oh my god, a high schooler? It just keeps getting worse,” he laughed again, this time out of either surprise or shock. Tony spun around in his chair, kicking his feet up on his desk. “Can I get a name, or was it seriously a school computer? Am I gonna have to guess to find this kid?”
”It appears the perpetrator used one of the school’s computers, yes.”
“Keep an eye on that specific device, okay? If it picks up any satellite communications after regular school hours, you notify me,” Tony instructed.
”Smart idea, Sir.”
—
Peter woke up the next morning to the sound of construction outside his house. He shut his eyes tightly, trying to drown it out and go back to sleep, but any effort he made was useless as always. He looked up, checking his alarm clock, and groaned when he saw how early it was. 6:00 am was way too soon to be getting up for school. He fell back down into his pillows, considering his options. He could get up now, or he could stay in bed and rot for an hour before getting up to get ready.
He pushed himself out of bed and reluctantly got dressed, finding that May was already up making coffee.
“You’re up early. That almost never happens,” she said with a smile. “Coffee?”
“No thanks, I’m okay. Do you know when the construction guys are gonna be gone?” Peter mumbled, glancing out the window.
“Sorry, honey, I don’t. But I do know they don’t work weekends, so we won’t be bothered then.” She poured Peter a glass of juice and brought it over to him, to which Peter gave a tired thank you.
“I can make you a pbj, if you’re hungry,” May poked him in the shoulder. “You should eat something.”
“Yes please,” Peter said as he let his head fall onto the wood grain of the table.
May toasted the bread slightly and then cut off the crust, just how Peter liked it. A small smile snuck its way onto his face. He took a bite.
“So how’d your date go last night?” Peter asked through a mouthful of peanut butter and jam sandwich.
“Oh, it was fine. He was a bit of a weirdo, really into crypto stuff. Probably not gonna be seeing him again.” She replied.
“Jeez, you should really get off the dating apps,” Peter said with an amused look. “All of the people on there are weirdos, seriously.”
She swatted him lightly in the shoulder. “You never know when you might find a diamond in the rough, okay? I’m being hopeful. I’ll give it another go. One more chance. Or maybe two more chances.”
Peter rolled his eyes, taking another bite of his sandwich. He finished it up fast and then got up to pack his bag. “I’m gonna head off,” he mumbled to May.
“Kay honey, don’t forget to bring a jacket, it’s gonna be cold out today.”
He gave May one last goodbye hug.
“Stay safe,” she said quietly.
“I will.”
He put on his backpack and shoes, heading out the door with his jacket half way over his shoulder. He pulled it on and zipped it up while he headed down the stairs.
May was right, it was colder than usual today, and the clouds were blotting out the sun. Typical New York autumn. He worried it might start raining later, maybe he should’ve brought an umbrella. He stepped out of the doorway and headed onto the sidewalk, making his way to the station.
He walked past the Stark Industries building on his way there, and kept his head down. Anxiety crawled up his spine every time he thought about that stupid stunt he’d pulled off last night. He only hoped that he wouldn’t get caught. It wasn’t like he did anything bad, he didn’t know why they’d care to come looking for him.
The train ride was uneventful, no crackheads wandering the cars this time. He made it to school without a hitch. He was absolutely gonna brag to Ned about not getting caught (yet) for his SI security breach.
He avoided making eye contact with Flash on his way to his locker, pretending not to hear it when Flash yelled something that was probably insulting in his direction.
“Peter!” He heard Ned call out to him from his locker. He hurried over.
“Hey, man,” he smiled as they did their little handshake, glancing around just to make sure nobody who would make fun of them for it was looking. “You’re never gonna guess what I did last night,” Peter grinned.
Ned furrowed his brow, trying to guess what Peter was talking about. “Was it a date?” He perked up. “Oh man, Peter, you went on a date??” Ned’s eyes lit up at the idea.
“What? No, no- no way, dude,” he laughed awkwardly, giving Ned a little shove. “I like, totally hacked into the Stark Industries database.”
“What?” Ned’s jaw dropped.
“I didn’t actually do anything! Or, I mean, I didn’t steal anything. I just… y’know, fixed their bloat problem and patched up a backdoor that was left by one of the developers.” Peter rocked back on his heels, looking down at his feet.
“Dude. That is still totally illegal. What if you get caught?? Was it on the school computers? Oh my god, Peter, that’s so cool. And crazy. You’re insane.”
“Shh! Stop yelling. And I’m not gonna get caught, it’s fine. Really.”
“You don’t know that!” Ned kept his voice hushed this time.
“I didn’t even do anything, they wouldn’t arrest me for that. All I did was fix stuff. I did them a favour, if you think about it,” Peter shrugged. “Anyway, are you coming to AcaDec after school?”
“Sorry, dude, I can’t. I’m volunteering at the library again today.” Ned and Peter started walking towards their chemistry class together.
“You’re always volunteering. You should get some time off so we can hang out for once,” Peter felt a little shot down, but he tried his best to ignore it. “All I ever hear you talk about is the damn library,” he mumbled.
“Hey!” Ned swatted Peter in the arm. “I need hours. I wanna get a job. Become a productive member of society, y’know?” He said somewhat wistfully.
“Yeah, whatever,” Peter grumbled as they both found their seats at the back of the room at their usual table. “Screw being a productive member of society.”
“Well, when you get arrested for breaking into secure databases maybe you’ll change your mind.”
“I’m not gonna get arrested!” Peter sighed.
“Did you even use a VPN?”
“…no.”
“Oh my god, Peter. That’s like, top secret illegal hacking 101.”
“It’ll be fine. They aren’t gonna go looking for someone that didn’t even do anything threatening,” Peter mumbled, propping up his face with his hand. “Stop haranguing me. It’s too early, I was up late.”
Ned paused. “…it is pretty cool,” he conceded.
Peter grinned. “Yes! It is. It’s very cool.”
They both quieted down as their teacher began to call for attendance.
Peter’s mind kept going back to his Stark Industries breach throughout the day. He really hadn’t thought it was that serious, but Ned seemed to think it was.
By the time lunch arrived he was starting to get a little paranoid. “Hey,” he asked Ned once they sat down at their usual spot, “d’you really think I’m gonna get arrested?” He tried to mask the worry in his voice.
Ned thought for a moment, then shook his head. “I don’t think a company as huge as Stark Industries would care to press charges against someone as non-threatening as you.”
“What? I’m threatening. I can be threatening.”
Ned gave a Peter a look.
“Why are you looking at me like that? I can totally be threatening.”
“Sure.” Ned took a bite out of his cafeteria pizza.
Peter huffed, trying his best to move on from his nerves about being threatening and getting arrested.
“Really, you don’t have to worry about it so much. Plus, you’re underage, which means you can’t really get serious jail time for stuff like that.” Ned gave him a reassuring smile.
Peter nodded along, but he wasn’t really listening. Too busy thinking about how he might evade the cops if they ever came looking for him.
“Did you hear about that thing that happened in central? They found another body,” Ned mumbled through a mouthful of pizza.
“Yeah, actually,” Peter perked up with recognition. “I did hear about that. The girl,” he took another bite.
“Yeah, apparently they’re saying it was an animal attack, but they said she was totally bled out. I think it’s gotta be some freak doing it, animals don’t have that precision.”
“You never know, maybe there’s a blood sucking bear living in Central Park.” Peter snickered at his own joke.
“Breaking News: Vampire Bears in Central Park! More at 8:00.” Ned did an impression of a reporter, acting extra dramatic.
“Mhm, terrifying.”
Peter’s worries subsided after lunchtime. He said goodbye to Ned after spending a solid five minutes whining about math class, and then reluctantly headed off for that said math class. He knew Ned wouldn’t be at Academic Decathlon, so that was probably the last he’d be seeing of him all day. Peter sat through the slog of his math class with a teacher whose soul had been sucked out of her decades ago. That’s what too many years of teaching junior high algebra does to you, Peter figured.
It was worth it once the bell finally rang and he could head to the AcaDec practice. Sometimes Mr. Harrington just let him sit in the back and study whatever the hell he wanted, with the occasional pop quiz question to keep him involved in the team, but since Peter had started getting every single question right he really hadn’t been forcing him to be practicing all the time at the meetings. He needed the time to finish his essay for the next day, mostly.
Peter arrived outside the AcaDec practice room, peeking inside just to see who was there today. He frowned when he caught sight of Flash’s face, and his frown stayed when he realized MJ wasn’t there either. Ugh. Besides MJ and Ned, most of the team seemed to be there that day. Peter found a spot near the back.
“Hey, Penis!” Flash yelled with an evil little smile. Abe smacked him over the back of the head, and Peter had to cover up his laughter with a fake cough. He caught the glare that Flash shot the other boy.
Mr. Harrington was about five minutes behind schedule before he walked in. “Peter, hi. Where’s Ned?”
“Oh, he’s at the library again today.” Peter tapped his pencil against the desk.
Mr. Harrington furrowed his brow. “Please remind him to let me know when he’s planning to skip practice for his volunteering. Alright,” he opened up his textbook. “We have a new questions package for everyone to look through. Peter, if you’re gonna be studying back there, I trust you’ll look through this at home.”
Peter nodded diligently. “It’s just the essay due tomorrow, I really need to-“
“Yep, it’s fine, just make sure you look through that tonight.”
Mr. Harrington trusted Peter because he knew he was one of the only kids that actually looked over the material outside of school. Peter did make an effort to listen to the lecture while he was writing about greenwashing and carbon credits. Unfortunately for him, the practice ended before he could get it done, which meant he’d be in the library late again.
He went up to Mr. Harrington as he was packing up for the day. “Mr. H?”
“Yes, Peter?” He turned around as he packed his laptop into his bag.
“Could you let me into the library? I really need to finish my essay, and I don’t have a laptop at home anymore.” Peter cringed every time he remembered stepping on his own laptop when he was getting out of bed. The screen had cracked and become practically unusable. May didn’t have the money to replace it just yet.
“Of course. The pursuit of knowledge can’t be stopped!” Mr. Harrington smiled. “C’mon, I’ll let you in. If anyone asks you if you’re supposed to be in there, just tell them you have my approval.”
Peter nodded, following him to the library. He thanked Mr. Harrington and pulled up a chair in front of his usual computer. He checked the time. It was 5:15, the practice had gone pretty late. It was already twilight. It’d be dark out soon enough. He messaged May, letting her know that he needed to stay at school later than usual to finish his homework but that he would be back before dinner. Hopefully.
He powered on the PC and pulled up his word document, taking a breath before forcing himself to put something on the page. He was starting to regret going so in depth with his analysis.
Before he knew it, an hour had passed, and he was so close to finally finishing up. Just a few more paragraphs, and then he could go print it out and head home.
He had barely noticed the sun dipping all the way down below the horizon, and suddenly he was in the exact same position as he was last night.
He was too focused on the computer screen to pay attention to the sound of dress shoes clicking across the school’s linoleum flooring in the dark.
“Boo.”
Peter nearly jumped out of his skin, half falling out of the chair before he caught himself on the table. He whipped his head around to put a face to the strangely familiar voice that had snuck up on him, and-
Oh. Oh no.
Peter felt his whole face get very red. He knew what this was about.
“Hey, this is some pretty impressive stuff. Not as impressive as yesterday, but still,” Tony reached for the mousepad, and Peter swatted his hand away. He immediately drew back, realizing his mistake.
“I-I mean, sorry. I didn’t mean to do that. And, uh, sorry about yesterday. Are you gonna arrest me?” He felt like an insect about to be crushed. An ant under a magnifying glass, unable to escape the approaching beam of white hot light.
“You compromised the Stark Tower security database to fix a bug, and then left your own paper trail,” Tony said with a playful lilt in the way he spoke. “Mind walking me through how exactly a fourteen year old boy gets through million dollar security on a school computer?” He cocked his head, giving Peter a once-over. He was leaning up against the chair like he already owned it.
“…I’m fifteen,” Peter corrected, shifting on his feet.
“Close enough. You are Peter Benjamin Parker, correct?” His gaze was more curious than interrogative, not a hint of aggression in the way he spoke. All his words were honey-velvet, his charisma was all the more evident in person compared to hearing him talk on the TV at home. Tony wanted Peter comfortable.
“How did you find me?” Peter said with anxiety in his eyes. “And, uh, why are you here so late?”
“I had my AI track the signal of the computer. How’d you get into my database?” He countered, ignoring the second question.
“…one of your devs left a backdoor,” he said while fidgeting with the hem of his hoodie. “I fixed it.”
“I know. Looks like I’ve got a mini genius on my hands. Listen, I want to make you an offer,” Tony looked back at Peter.
He’s wearing sunglasses in the middle of the night, Peter squinted, utterly confused. What the hell.
“Uh, sure? What is it?” Peter’s heart was still racing.
“It’s an internship. With Stark Industries, and with me. You’ll be like, I dunno, a little protege. Good learning opportunity, and it’s eye candy for anyone who happens to be looking over your resume. What do you say? Do we have a deal?” Tony flashed a charming smile, holding out a hand for Peter to shake.
Peter reluctantly accepted the handshake. “…I guess. Do you need my address, or-“
“Nope, already got it.”
Right. “Right.”
Peter stared at Tony’s hand, unable to keep himself from wondering why his hands were so cold. He definitely had some kind of circulation problem.
“Okay! Sweet. I’ll be at yours tomorrow, let’s say noon. Sound good?” Tony let go of Peter’s hand, still smiling.
“…uh, yeah. That’s… fine.” Peter’s hand hovered there for a moment before he remembered it was there and let it drop.
“Great. Looking forward to working with you, Peter.” Tony gave him one last shoulder pat before leaving exactly the way he came. Peter stared blankly for a moment, before shaking off the dreamlike encounter and turning back the computer. He still had to finish his essay.
It only took a few more minutes of writing before he could finally print it out and head home. He didn’t see anything else of Tony Stark for the rest of the night.
—
Tony popped open the door of his black BMW, smiling like he’d just won the lottery while he got into the drivers seat.
”I assume he said yes,” Jarvis spoke up as the car turned on.
“He did. Worked like a charm,” Tony felt almost giddy. He pressed his foot to the gas pedal and headed off back towards Stark Tower. “I think he might be just what I’ve been looking for.”
Tony was already getting attached. Steve would probably give him shit when the secret got out. He didn’t see what the big deal was anyway, the whole house has known he’s been looking for a new fledgling for at least a year. Nobody had even come close to meeting his standards until now.
“Would you like me to call Ms. Potts?”
“Yeah, actually. Thanks.” Tony drove one handed while waiting for Pepper to pick up the phone.
”Tony? What is it?” Pepper’s voice replaced Jarvis’s through the car speakers.
“Hey, Peps! I met the kid. He’s great. I think I’ve made up my mind.” Tony was smiling again. He couldn’t help himself.
He heard Pepper sigh over the phone. “It’s a little early to be making up your mind. You hardly know him. We should be pursuing charges,” she said while pacing around the kitchen.
“Oh, psh. He’s harmless. Seriously. And he didn’t even do anything, he fixed something for us. That’s not criminal,” Tony said defensively.
”But it is.”
“We’re not pursuing charges, that’s ridiculous. I actually offered him an internship,” he said slyly.
”Do we even have an internship program?”
“We have one now. Anyway, I do think he’ll be useful to me. He’s the kind of kid that graduates at 16 and then gets a masters by 19.” He sounded very genuine talking about the promise he saw in the boy.
”Fine. Just call me back when you meet the parents, okay?” Tony could practically hear her rolling her eyes at him. He didn’t care if she thought he was being rash, he wanted Peter and he was going to get what he wanted.
—
Peter went home that night in a bit of a daze. He kept playing the scene over in his head like a broken videotape. Tony Stark had found him in his school, alone, in the middle of the night.
There had been something off about him, something primal ticking in the back of Peter’s brain for their whole conversation, telling him he needed to run. The hairs on the back of his neck raised when the man spoke. Something about the way he moved, or his cadence, or the way he wore sunglasses in a pitch black room.
He made his way back home, skipped up the stairs and through his door with the lock that always jammed on him. May had dinner ready. He stepped through the door and kicked off his shoes, falling into the couch.
“Hey, honey. How was school? You get your writing done?” She passed him a plate of salmon.
He was quiet for a moment, still replaying his conversation with Tony Stark. He held up his printed out essay. “I have an internship with Stark Industries,” he said breathlessly. May nearly dropped her food.
“What? Peter! Seriously? She sat next to him on the couch, and when Peter sat up she gave him a bear hug, squishing his face in her shoulder accidentally. “This is huge! I’m so proud of you,” she had the biggest smile on her face, and Peter hadn’t even really noticed that he was smiling too.
He recounted the story of what happened over dinner, how Tony had found him after the security breach. May seemed slightly concerned about her nephew being tracked down by a strange man, even if he was a celebrity billionaire. Either way, she was ecstatic and her enthusiasm was contagious. Peter got an extra hug before bed.
He woke up late in the morning that Saturday, and as he slowly became conscious of the world once more he realized he hadn’t told May that Tony was supposed to be showing up at their house this afternoon. He checked the time, and when he saw the numbers on his alarm clock he shot up out of bed. It was already 10:40, he only had an hour before Mr. Stark was supposed to get there.
He pulled on some sweatpants and a more appropriate shirt, trudging out of his room to find May.
“Hey May?” Peter caught sight of her sitting on the couch with a book.
“Yeah?” She looked up, eyebrows raised.
“I forgot to tell you this, but-“ he fidgeted with his hands as he spoke, “Mr. Stark is coming here to talk with us about the internship.”
“Oh! When? Is it soon?”
“Yeah. He’s gonna be here in an hour,” he said sheepishly.
“Geez, you need to give me more notice next time,” she dog eared the page of her book and put it aside, standing up with a stretch. “I can make you some breakfast real quick,” she offered.
“That’s okay, I’m just gonna do cereal,” Peter headed to the pantry and grabbed the box of lucky charms. “I’m kinda nervous.”
“Don’t be nervous. He was nice last time, wasn’t he? I still think it’s a little weird.” She laughed as she got the milk out for Peter. “Sneaking around a school in the middle of the night to ask some teenager to come work for you is pretty weird.”
“I don’t think he meant anything bad by it. I think when you get a lot of money you start forgetting how normal people usually interact,” Peter smiled as he made May laugh again with his comment.
“That’s true. Maybe he’s just eccentric.” She sat back down on the couch with her coffee. “Come sit,” she patted the spot beside her, gesturing for Peter to come over.
He finished up with his cereal and did as told, heading over to sit with May. He pressed his shoulder against hers, letting May put an arm around him. She gave him a squeeze.
“You don’t have to be nervous,” she reassured him while he ate his cereal. “I’ll keep an eye on it. If anything weird happens at the internship, you can come to me, okay?” She pressed a kiss to his hair. Peter giggled in response.
“Okay, yeah,” he gave her a little push for embarrassing him with the kiss, and she held him tighter in response.
“Finish your cereal and put on something other than sweatpants. You don’t wanna look unprofessional.” She gave him an extra pat before letting her arm drop from his shoulder to pick up her book again.
Peter finished up his cereal as fast as he could. He checked the time again, only half an hour until Tony was supposed to be there.
“And you’re sure you didn’t dream this interaction with Tony Stark up out of sleep deprivation?” May suggested with a smirk.
Peter shot her a look as he headed off to go put his bowl in the sink. “No! It happened,” he shot her a look and went to his room to put on his nice jeans instead of the sweatpants. He almost tripped over himself in the process.
“There you go. Much better. You look great,” May said as he stepped out, coming closer to brush the hair out of his face. He tried to duck away. “Let me fix it, stop moving,” she furrowed her brow, continuing to brush it out with her hands. “Okay. Now it’s good.”
Peter settled at the table and waited for a knock, for something. He wasn’t even sure if Tony was the one that would show up, maybe he’d send an employee or something.
It took 20 more minutes of Peter waiting anxiously, tapping his feet on the floor incessantly until finally he heard a knock on the door.
He got up immediately, almost falling over himself to get to the doorknob. He turned the lock and pulled it open, finding Tony Stark standing on the other side in a black tailored suit. He was wearing red tinted sunglasses still, despite the gloom of the day.
“Mr. Stark, hi,” Peter said, unable to keep the nerves out of his voice.
He turned back to May for a moment, who was still on the couch, and then looked back to Tony, who was still waiting to be let in. “Oh! Uh,” Peter stepped aside. “Sorry. Come in.”
Tony thanked him with a nod and a smile.
“…I take it you’re Peter’s mother?” Tony directed his attention to May.
“Oh, no, I’m his aunt. But I am his legal guardian.” She gave him a polite smile.
“And it’s just you two?” He gestured between Peter and May. He really hadn’t been expecting Peter to be an orphan, but he could put two and two together.
Peter nodded. “Yeah.”
“So, Mr. Stark, Peter told me about the internship.” May said as she moved to stand up from the couch.
Tony had to grit his teeth in a smile as he watched her put an arm around Peter’s shoulder. He shoved the feeling down. “I mean, Peter already said yes, but I didn’t want to go forward anything without involving whoever’s responsible for him.” He glanced over to Peter, a little glint appearing in his eyes. His jaw was clenched in an effort to keep himself from doing or saying something he’d regret later.
“I mean, I’m fine with it, but I’d like to know what exactly an internship entails.” There was something in the way she spoke, something guarding. Tony didn’t like it, it was setting him off a little. “My name is May Parker.” She held out a hand for Tony to shake, and he took it reluctantly.
“Well, he’d be staying at the tower for every other weekend. He’d help out with research, learn what it’s like to work in the field, and of course I’d be giving him guidance,” Tony knew they’d say yes, but he was still intimidated. He didn’t like how May was standing by Peter as if claiming ownership over him. He read defiance into her, into the way she kept the boy close and flaunted her legal guardianship. Tony knew in the back of his mind that he was just acting up out of his desire to have Peter, and that he was being unreasonable, but the other part of him, the much louder and primal piece of himself was tense at the thought.
May furrowed her brow. “I didn’t think it would be entire days, I was assuming it would be more like an after school type of thing.”
Tony kept his cool, “he’ll get his own room and he’ll be well taken care of. It’s like boarding school once every couple weeks,” he said with an easy smile, relaxing slightly as May’s expression softened at the reassurance. “We can have a little trial period just to make sure it’s right for him, if it helps,” he offered.
May nodded slowly. “Hm. I don’t see any issues. I’m sure he’d have a lot of fun,” she smiled at Peter, giving him a little affectionate squeeze. “Why not?” The polite expression returned to her face.
Tony felt elated. “Right, great. I have some paperwork I need you to sign, May, if that’s not too much trouble,” he headed over to the table, pulling up a chair for himself, and laid out a few forms for her to look over. Tony took the time to watch Peter while May sat down across from him, noticing how awkward he looked standing alone across the room while he stared at his feet and fidgeted with his sweater. It only served to endear Peter more to Tony.
“He’s very grateful for the opportunity,” May spoke up while she read through the forms, drawing Tony’s attention back to her. His odd possessive streak had died down now that they were sitting casually rather than staring each other down like it was a stand off.
Tony’s smile became less forced. “Well, you can tell him I said he’s welcome.” He relaxed in the chair.
“He’s a pretty big fan,” she said with raised eyebrows and a little smile, glancing up to Tony. She didn’t seem intimidated. That was a strange thing for him to encounter after so many years of being at the highest rung of both the metaphorical and physical food chain.
“Really?” He looked back to Peter, who had now moved to lie down on the couch. He lowered his voice so Peter wouldn’t overhear their conversation.
“Yep. He’s always raving about the latest Stark Innovation.” The pen scraped the paper as she went down the lines, signing where required. In that moment, Tony felt more like her equal. They were both just people that cared about Peter and his future. His sharp edges softened.
“He’s a really smart kid, I’m looking forward to working with him. He has a lot of potential.” Tony’s eyes crinkled around the corners with his smile as he glanced back to Peter.
“I just want to make sure he doesn’t seriously hurt himself with all that curiosity he’s got,” she followed Tony’s gaze to Peter, and the two of them shared a look of understanding.
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep him out of harm’s way. I know how teenagers are,” he said with a huffed laugh. May nodded in agreement as well as appreciation at the promise. She handed back to papers to him.
Tony stood up, hand held out to shake her’s once more. “We’ll be in touch.”
“Sure will. Thanks, Mr. Stark.” She smiled in earnest. Tony was a little bewildered by how much trust she was placing in him, although some kind of solidarity had passed through the two of them while they were sitting at that old wooden table.
He glanced to Peter one last time before he headed out the door.
“He wasn’t as weird as I thought he’d be. The sunglasses though, you were right about that,” May said with a little laugh. “He seems to see a lot in you, I’m glad.” She stood over Peter while he was lying on the couch, kneeing him lightly in the arm.
“So it’s done? When’s my first day?” Peter’s eyes widened. It was real now, it was tangible.
“Next weekend. You’d better tell me all about it when you get back, okay? I want a full recap. And I want you to have fun.” She ruffled Peter’s hair as she sat next to him. “That’s my rule. You have to have fun. If you’re not happy with it, you can let me know and you can stop going.”
“Yeah, I know. Thanks.” Peter nodded.
—
“What!” Ned practically yelped. At least three kids in the hallway turned to stare.
“Shhh! Shut up, dude!” Peter hissed.
“You got an internship with Stark Industries? for compromising their systems?” Ned rolled his eyes so hard they looked like they might fall out of his skull. “Come on! That is so not fair!”
“It’s not like it’s paid.” Peter clicked the lock back onto his locker after pushing it shut. “I’m getting my hours up like you said! This is my library thing. Becoming a productive member of society, or whatever,” Peter snickered.
“Next time I’m gonna break into a corner store with my expertise and they’ll hire me to be their locksmith. That’s ridiculous! I wanna meet Tony Stark. You have to take me to meet Tony Stark.” Ned rambled, very obviously jealous. “Is he gonna come pick you up in a fancy car? Why didn’t you tell me sooner? You should’ve told me on Monday.”
“It… slipped my mind,” he said lamely with a shrug, knowing it was an obvious lie. He hadn’t told Ned because he knew he would freak out like this.
“Psh. Whatever. Go have fun running around in the nanotech labs, I’ll be jealous forever.” Ned walked out with Peter, eyes widening with something like wonder when he saw the sleek black car that was parked right out front of the school. He looked over at Peter, as if to ask is that it?
Peter nodded. He was suppressing a grin.
“I’ll tell you all about it when I get back, swear,” he said to Ned before almost running off, but then turned back to do their secret handshake. He gave one last short goodbye and then finally headed off to the car.
He climbed into the passenger’s seat, immediately noticing just how tinted the windows were. It was almost entirely dark in the car, if not for the windshield. Peter wasn’t even sure if it was legal.
“What’re you doing? Get in the back, kid,” the driver spoke gruffly. He sighed when Peter just stared in confusion. “It’s a security thing,” he explained vaguely. Peter got out anyway, getting into the back seat.
“So, you’re Peter?” The man spoke as he pulled out of the pick up area.
“Yeah,” Peter was already nervous. “Um, you are—?”
“You can call me Happy,” he replied curtly.
Ironic, Peter thought. The man’s tone was cold and begrudging. Peter opted not to make small talk for the rest of the ride, setting his backpack down in the middle seat.
He took a minute to take in how nice the car was. It was a little cold, but the seats were made of real leather and there was hardly a speck of dust in it. Peter didn’t think he’d been in a car this nice his whole life.
He had definitely adjusted too quickly to that lack of light in the car, because by the time they arrived out front of Stark Tower and Happy opened the door for him it was like a flash bang. He blinked repeatedly, completely unprepared for the change in brightness. Peter rubbed at his eyes.
“You get used to it,” Happy said callously.
Peter nodded in acknowledgment, and his eyes adjusted quickly enough. He went to grab his bag.
“Tony’s in the lobby. Hey, kid—“ he added, hand landing on Peter’s shoulder.
“Be careful.” He had a firm look in his eyes, brow knit.
Peter gave him a confused look, but nodded slowly anyway. Happy let go of his shoulder and Peter headed up the walkway to the entrance, shaking off the strange interaction. He had a bad feeling in his gut, and he couldn’t tell if it was just nerves for his first day or if it had something to do with the ominous warning he’d just gotten.
He stepped through the doors, following the arrows on the ground toward a scanner. He pressed his hand to it, and it returned that he had full access to the tower. Peter couldn’t stop the giddy feeling from bubbling up in his chest and drowning out his worry. He headed through security and found Mr. Stark waiting by the front desk. He purposefully straightened his posture a bit.
“Peter! Hi. I would’ve come and picked you up myself, but I had a meeting. Happy’s my head of security, he introduced himself, right?” Tony started walking, a firm hand on Peter’s back to guide him forward. He allowed himself to be led into the elevator, standing there as the doors started to close.
“Yeah. He’s not exactly happy,” Peter joked. “Is he always that bad?”
“He can be a little grumpy sometimes. Depends on the day,” Tony bantered.
”Welcome back, Sir,” Jarvis spoke up once the doors had closed, making Peter flinch slightly.
“Holy-!” He jumped a little at the voice. “What the hell is that?” Peter stared up at the speaker it had come from.
“Geez, you’re jumpy. That’s my AI. Say hi, Jarvis.”
”Hello, Mr. Parker.”
Peter was in awe already. “Wow. Can he- can it do whatever you ask? Like, is it actually intelligent?”
”I find your use of object pronouns quite insulting, Mr. Parker.”
Peter shrunk a little, looking sheepish. Tony laughed.
“Oh, he’s just joking around. He doesn’t care. Yeah, he can do pretty much anything. He runs the tower. Very helpful. J, take us up to the 90th.”
Tony spoke to the AI like it was close friend.
”Yes, Sir.”
Peter looked completely starstruck. “That’s so cool,” he said softly.
Tony felt pride warm his chest while he watched Peter fondly. “Well, you’ll be hearing a lot from him. He does a lot for me.”
“Is it gonna take a while to get all the way up there?”
“Usually it takes about a minute, give or take.” Tony shrugged, glancing between the door and Peter. “Hey, Peter, I’m not trying to scare you, but I need you to listen real quick.”
Peter glanced up to meet Tony’s attention, eyes curious.
“When we get out of the elevator, stay close to me. Do as I do, you got that?”
Peter’s brow furrowed. “…Why?” That was the second creepy warning he’d been given on his way up here. Peter felt his excitement dampen slightly in favour of his anxieties.
“I just… live with a few fuses. It’s nothing. Just follow me,” Tony stepped to the front of the elevator as the door opened, and Peter’s imagination ran with the idea.
I live with a few fuses. what was that supposed to mean? Who was he referring to? Peter didn’t have a lot of time to think up his own worst case scenario in his racing, nervous brain, because Tony was already walking and he had just been told to stay close at risk of… of something.
He followed Tony close, keeping his head low, but he caught sight of a few different people. Tony put a hand on his shoulder, his grip tighter than usual, and Peter couldn’t tell if it was intended to be protective or possessive.
There were two people sitting in the lounge area that doubled as a sort of entryway, and Peter knew they were staring at him. He couldn’t get a good look at them, he was too scared to make eye contact. He felt their eyes burning holes into the back of his head.
He did accidentally catch the eyes of the tall blonde that looked to be bench pressing more than Peter’s entire body weight. He also didn’t miss the sharp look that the man shot Tony. He didn’t quite see whatever expression Tony made in response, but he noticed the way he tensed up. He was pulled along quickly down a short flight of stairs.
The stairs led down into what looked like Tony’s lab, and that it was. When Tony closed the door behind them, Peter spoke up again.
“So, who were those people?” He tilted his head to the side like a curious dog, picking at his cuticles while he took in the lab.
“I guess I could say they’re family. Not blood related, but you know,” Tony shrugged, letting his hand fall from Peter’s shoulder. Peter did know, he knew very well what it meant to have a family that was unconventional.
Peter’s eyes went wide again. He fell back into one of the spinny chairs, turning around in it to get a good look at the whole room. There were holoscreens, cardboard boxes filled to the brim with expensive custom PCBs and scrap parts, micro welding tools, and…
And a miniature arc reactor.
Sitting on the desk like a paperweight.
Peter’s eyes turned to saucers.
He pushed up off the chair and stood, walking towards the thing like it might disappear if he wasn’t careful enough.
He heard Tony laugh behind him. “You wanna mess around with that thing? I figured you’d be interested in it, since that paper you were writing was on carbon credits.”
“You remember that?” Peter looked back at Tony.
He gave Peter a little smirk. “When I said it was pretty impressive, I wasn’t just saying it to say it. Why d’you think you’re here?”
Peter felt something warm fill up his chest. His cheeks went slightly pink. It wasn’t a grand gesture, but it was nice that Mr. Stark paid such close attention.
“Oh. Thank you,” he replied with a sheepish smile, averting his eyes back to the mini reactor.
“You ever mess around with one of these in person?”
Peter shook his head no. Tony came to stand beside him, passing him a pair of safety glasses. Peter put them on.
“I was testing this new model, it implements vibranium,” he said quietly as he picked the device up carefully. “The future of clean energy,” he said dramatically as he held the thing up in a little display for Peter.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen something so blue…” Peter said, awe evident in his voice. Tony grinned.
“You wanna take it apart?”
Peter’s brow furrowed for a moment. “Why? Aren’t they expensive? And this- this one has vibranium in it, I don’t want to…” he trailed off.
Tony passed him a little kit of microtools, eyebrows raised expectantly. “Oh, come on. I have a ridiculous amount of money. Anything you break, I can replace.”
Peter’s expression changed, half disbelief and half giddy excitement. Tony’s smile returned when he caught the little glint of boyish joy in Peter’s face. “Alright, go nuts,” he tossed the bag of tools to Peter. “But not too nuts. I gotta go grab some stuff from another floor for a project real quick, I trust you to be alone in here without destroying everything.”
Peter paused. “…I don’t know if I trust myself, Mr. Stark.” He earned a snort from Tony.
“You’ll be fine, just ask Jarvis if you’re unsure on something. You have full clearance,” Tony stood up, ruffling Peter’s hair.
“Hey!” Peter swatted the hand away, smiling despite his played-up irritation.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” Tony grinned before heading out of the door, a flash of oddly sharp teeth that Peter barely noticed.
Peter was completely engrossed in dismantling the arc reactor. It was fascinating. He could take all the different components out and put them under a microscope, or find out what elements they were composed of, or do quite literally anything he wanted. For now, he was busy devoting all his attention to finding out how exactly this little machine functioned, understanding the purpose of every single piece. He untangled the wires, carefully making sure nothing snapped, and melted away soldering when he needed to.
Tony came back half an hour later to find Peter still at it. “Wow, you’re really into that,” he said, smile audible in his voice. “Pop quiz, what’s the ring made out of?”
“Palladium, originally, but this one is vibranium,” Peter rattled off easily, holding up the tiny ring of the worlds most expensive metal and closing one eye so he could look through it at Tony.
“Make sure you don’t drop that.”
“I thought you said anything could be replaced?” Peter laughed mischievously.
“That there, is one of the few things that can’t exactly be replaced with exuberant amounts of money,” Tony pointed. “They safeguard that stuff like crazy in Wakanda.”
“How’d you get this?” Peter put the piece back down on the table, flipping it over once, then twice.
“I’m a smooth talker.”
“Sure,” Peter said sarcastically.
“Oh, you’re a little rascal, aren’t you?” Tony punched Peter in the arm lightly.
Peter rolled his eyes with a smile. He could get used to the banter.
When Peter was done with his autopsy of the arc reactors disembodied corpse, he got up and let Tony take over the desk. He bounced around the lab, checking out every machine and either asking Tony about its purpose or going off himself about what it did for the ones he already knew about.
“Oh my god, this is a 3d printer for PCB parts, right?” Peter pressed his face to the glass window of the printer.
“Don’t do that, you’ll get condensation all over the glass and your face will be imprinted on it forever,” Tony reprimanded while he tried to keep the circuit he was working on from shorting. It was like bringing a ten year old to Disney land, Tony thought. Peter was practically in a candy store.
“Sorry!” He called back, pulling his face away from the printer.
It was comfortable for Tony, having the extra noise. A heartbeat for him to listen to and monitor, to hear jump whenever Peter saw something else that he was interested in.
Peter also spent a good amount of time appreciating the view as the sun went down. Stark Tower of course was known for having a great view, because it was the only view from which you couldn’t see Stark Tower, but it was also just a really tall building. The tallest Peter had ever been in. Seeing the orange and red lights reflect off the neighbouring skyscrapers, while pink clouds drifted above in a purple sky, that was nice.
“When do you feel like going to bed, Pipsqueak?” Tony asked from across the room.
Peter whipped his head around. “Pipsqueak!?”
“I asked you a question,” Tony said with a sly smile.
“…I haven’t had dinner yet.”
“Oh! Shit. Yeah, almost forgot,” Tony put his project down and took his glasses off. “Wow, first day and I’m off my game.” He huffed a little laugh. “Don’t tell May about this.”
Tony went over to one of the drawers that was designated for snacks, opening it up to find something for Peter.
“Are you on a first name basis with my aunt?” Peter asked as he walked over to stand next to Tony and peer into the fridge that was next to him.
Tony paused his rummaging, thinking for a second. “…yeah.”
“Since when?” Peter was wrapped up in a blanket. He raised an eyebrow.
“Why are you wearing a blanket, it’s not cold in here.” Tony took out a pack of Oreos and popped one into his mouth. He offered some to Peter, who refused.
“It is so totally cold in here.” Peter grabbed a sprite from the fridge and inspected the food options. There wasn’t really a lot in terms of actual meals, so Peter instead moved to look in the drawer. He grabbed the bag of cheese puffs and a banana.
“Tomorrow we can go out somewhere for dinner, I can’t have you eating junk food all the time.” Tony stole a puff from Peter. “Also, you think it’s cold, you know who can fix that?”
Peter cocked his head.
“That guy.” He smirked, pointing up to the ceiling. “Jarvis, turn up the thermostat,” he said expectantly, clapping his hands together.
Slowly, the room started to warm up.
“You know that’s never gonna not be mind blowing for me, right?” Peter was smiling again, looking at the ceiling with wonder.
“Yeah, alright. Let me show you to your room. You need your sleep, teenage brains get crazy when they don’t get sleep.”
Peter shed Tony’s blanket and Tony reassured him that it was fine, he didn’t need to put it away. They left the lab and headed over to the elevator, and this time Peter asked if he could give the instructions.
“Wait, which floor do we need to go to again?”
“It’s the 93rd.” Tony stood patiently.
“Jarvis?” Peter said nervously, looking a the speaker over his head.
”Yes, Mr. Parker?”
He paused, suddenly intimidated.
“Canyoupleasetakeustothe93rdfloor?”
The elevator started moving, and Tony barked a laugh. “What was that?”
“It worked, right?”
“Well, yeah, but you don’t have to be so nervous. He’s supposed to help you.” Tony gave Peter a pat on the shoulder, and then the elevator was at the 93rd floor.
The doors opened.
“…Woah.”
The penthouse. He’d only ever heard about it in news reels. It was huge.
Peter was about to leave the elevator, but he stopped himself.
“You aren’t keeping any scary people around here, right?”
Tony laughed softly. “No, it’s just us. But Pepper lives up here too, she’ll probably be back in a few hours. C’mon,” Tony lead Peter out, and Peter followed him, but he took the liberty to stare at everything as he passed.
They went over to a door, and Tony stepped aside to let Peter through first. “This is where you’re gonna be sleeping. It’s a guest room, you’ll like it,” Tony said while he leaned up against the doorframe.
Peter immediately went up to the huge window on the outside-facing wall, staring at the New York City skyline. It was beautiful. “Mr. Stark, this is amazing,” he blinked at the light of the sun that was still slowly going down over the horizon, dipping below the lines of buildings. He dropped his sprite and his bag of cheese puffs on the bedside table.
Tony was about to close the door, “It’s all good? You don’t need anything? Because I’ll just be in the living room if you do, and if I’m not there you can ask Jarvis to call me.” He tapped the doorframe.
“Yeah, this is great, good night,” Peter spoke through a yawn, and Tony closed to the door behind him. The light was already turned off, and now that Peter had a bed right in front of him he was really starting to feel his exhaustion kicking in. It had been a long day.
He climbed into bed, and immediately noticed how different it was from his bed back home. It was like lying on a cloud. The duvet was insanely thick, and Peter didn’t really know how to feel about it, because he didn’t like how sweaty he got when he had too many blankets. This was roughly the same feeling.
He turned on his side and stared out the window, watching the sun go down as he drifted off to sleep. The sound of whatever movie Tony was watching in the living room played distantly, quiet enough to tune out easily.
—
Steve wasn’t a fan of Tony bringing home a teenager, he’d made that clear the second the idea was first pitched.
Natasha didn’t seem to care much if at all, and Thor was excited to meet the kid. Bruce had some objections, but overall he didn’t mind. Steve had realized early that he was really the only person in the coven who seemed to care about the fact that Tony was planning to take away Peter’s autonomy and life.
Rogers was tapping a pen against the table in his frustration.
“Can you stop doing that? It’s grating,” Tony said, gesturing to the pen.
“He’s fifteen, Tony,” Steve said with a malice in his voice that he hadn’t directed at one of his own in a long time. “He’s too young for this.”
Steve knew that they all had a sadistic streak, even himself, but there had to be a line drawn in the sand somewhere. Tony seemed to have gotten the worst of the possessive instincts, something his lack of self control amplified.
“Oh, come on, you’re being dramatic. He’s smart enough to make his own choice,” Tony paced in front of Steve, already restless and getting worse as Steve pushed back against what he wanted. Tony didn’t like when people resisted. It was something he was supposed to be working on.
“You’re not talking about a choice,” Steve growled, standing up.
“He’s smart enough to make the right choice,” Tony corrected, eyes steely as he stared Steve down.
If Tony was anything, he was stubborn.
Steve huffed, rolling his eyes. “Fine, fuck, ruin the poor kid’s life. I’m sure he’ll be so grateful,” Steve drawled.
Tony shoved him. Hard.
“Don’t say that shit to me.”
“You know I’m right.” Steve shoved right back, claws digging into Tony’s shirt.
“Why don’t you stop pretending you’ve got some kind of moral high ground over the rest of us? Or did you forget about what you did to Buck-“ Tony was cut off as Steve shoved him once more, winding up to sock him across the jaw.
“Lay off, both of you,” Natasha interrupted, grabbing Steve by the collar and dragging him away from Tony like a dog.
“That comment was unwarranted,” Bruce chimed in from where he had his face buried in a book, his words aimed at Tony.
Tony glanced at Bruce, then back at Steve, who did look rightfully pissed off about what he’d said. “…I didn’t mean that.”
“I agree with Steve, for the record,” Bruce looked up from his book, eyeing the three of them. “He’s young. Really young. And I don’t know if I trust you to make these decisions when you get all weird and manic like that.” Bruce narrowed his eyes, giving Tony a judgmental once-over.
Tony sighed. “Look, I’m keeping him around, but nothing is final right now. Obviously I’m going to wait a bit before I do anything serious.” He sat down at one of the tables next to Bruce, kicking his feet up.
“Get your shoes off the table,” Bruce grumbled, going back to his book.
“It’s my house, I’ll put my shoes wherever I want to,” he said petulantly.
Despite his words, after a few seconds Tony took his feet down and sat normally. Bruce gave him a thumbs up.
“I for one would like to meet this young man,” Thor said cheerfully. He was sat across the room, listening in on the argument.
“Boy. He’s not a man,” Steve corrected stubbornly, arms crossed as he turned to Thor.
“I could kick you out and send you to the streets whenever I wanted, Cap,” Tony said sarcastically.
“You like me too much,” Steve teased, the two of them slipping back into banter easily.
“Holy fuck, you guys argue like middle schoolers. It’s not even funny,” Natasha said, leaving to go work out. She was clearly amused.