Inevitable
______
Peter stared at the specimen in the container. He no longer felt sick, but he didn’t exactly feel like moving either.
He did promise Cap he’d go down to dinner, but that meant facing Tony, and that was the last thing he wanted to do right now.
After holding an internal debate he reluctantly headed for the door. Turning the knob, he yanked the door off its hinges.
“What the--”
Peter held the entire door by its knob. He attempted to drop it, but found the handle was somehow stuck to his hand. He yanked and pried his fingers off, one by one, but then found his other hand was stuck. With horror, he recalled the side effects and defects of his father’s early tests. ‘Spider traits… The subject had an adhesive-like grasping ability…’ He looked at the door. ‘Lift ten times the subject’s weight…’ He recalled his fight on the train. He squinted at his fingers. Sure enough, he could see every ridge, every fleck, every blemish, and small black ridges, poking through the surface of his skin.
“It’s stable.” He whispered. “It works!”
______
He took another peek at his father’s notes. So far, his symptoms were matching up with the successful test. With that knowledge, he headed down for dinner, feeling slightly better than before. His eyes were adjusting, and he was careful not touch anything. These developments would take some time to get used to, but with his impending confinement to the tower, it seemed like Peter would have plenty of time to figure things out.
Tony and Steve were already seated when he arrived. Cap offered him a smile, whereas Tony was suddenly very interested in his peas.
“You’re just in time.” Steve broke the silence first.
Peter took his seat across from them. “Yeah…” He looked at his plate and found his senses going haywire. He swallowed hard. ‘Okay, I can do this. Uh…’ He picked up his fork and knife. ‘Gently now…’ He sliced into his porkchop. ‘I'm going to have to be extra careful with everything from now on…’
While Steve and Peter were both treading lightly, Tony wasn’t up for ‘Happy Super Family Power Hour’.
“So, Peter--”
Peter froze at the sound of his name.
“Did you find anything at OSCORP?”
Peter opened his mouth to speak as Tony continued. “We saw the camera footage.
What happened to your shoulder?” He looked at more sympathetic than Peter had expected, and the knot of guilt grew inside Peter. Tony was not the angry Dad type. He wasn’t the angry anything type. He, Bachelor-Vigilante-Billionaire hailed by some as the most self absorbed man on the planet, had taken Peter in at a very confusing point in both their lives. He was supposed to be concerned.
He was allowed to be upset.
“Are you okay?” Tony asked with a huff.
Peter blinked at the question. “ Oh...Sorry. I spaced out there.”
‘If Dad’s not going to skate around it, then I won’t either.’
“I...Did find what I was looking for. It's a little damaged, but the carrier should still work.”
Tony shrugged. “Oh, the carrier is only a little damaged. Great, that’s just great.” He nodded his head towards Steve. “Now are you going to tell him, or should I?”
Steve frowned. “Tell me what?”
“Why Peter went in there in the first place.” Tony leaned back in his chair. “There’s no reason to leave that secret.”
Peter bent his fork in half. “Oh. Okay, fine. If we’re going to talk about secrets, let’s start with you explaining why you bought my Uncle’s house and never told me about it.”
Steve looked disappointed. “Tony…”
“There was no reason to tell you about it.” Tony didn’t budge. “Nothing would have changed.”
“Are you kidding me!?” Peter stood. “I grew up in that house! It belonged to my family for generations! My Dad grew up, and his Dad...And that’s where they--”
Flashbacks of the night he was kidnapped were starting to bubble up but Peter fought them back down. “How can you say that?”
“It was either me and SHIELD, or OSCORP.” Tony replied. “But last I checked you didn’t want anything to do with that place.”
“I didn’t.” Peter admitted. “I wanted to forget everything. It was easier that way.” He stared down at the floor. “I didn’t want to go back there after wanted happened to Aunt May and Uncle Ben…”
They were silent for a moment, each considering the actions that brought them to this point.
“But...I had to go back.” Peter said. “I was looking into my Dad’s research because I thought I could find something to help you.” He looked Steve in the eye. “I’ve already lost so many important people in my life. I don’t want to lose you too.”
“Peter…” Steve rose from the table and gave his son a hug. “I’m not going anywhere, okay?”
Peter wasn’t buying it. “But you’re always going somewhere. I just wanted to help you get better so you wouldn’t go where I couldn’t reach.”
They both looked at Tony, who remained in his chair. “What?”
“It’s your turn to say something.” Steve gave him a look.
Tony sighed. “I should have told you about the house.”
“And?”
“I’m sorry for yelling at you earlier.”
“And?”
“And if I keep apologizing this food is going to get cold!” He looked up. “Clint!”
Hawkeye dropped down from the ceiling. “Is the awkward family thing over now? Because Tony’s right, the mash is nasty when it’s cold. No offense Cap.”
Steve shrugged. “Pull up a chair. To be honest I forgot you were up there.”
Peter looked at the bent fork on the table and slowly sat back down as the others took their seats. He pretended to knock it off the table, picked it up and went to the sink. “I’ll be right back.”
“Can you pass me a fork, Pete?” Clint asked.
“Sure…”
As he ran the tap he tried to bend it back into position but he applied to much pressure and it snapped. He dropped it into the garbage disposal and plucked two new forks from the set.
When he sat down their talk resumed, but now with Clint leading the inquiry. “So Pete, what was with your shoulder?”
“I...I hit it on my way out of there, but it’s fine.” The lie was quick and part of Peter regretted it the moment he told it. But the Avengers had enough to worry about, right? He would tell them about his own condition AFTER they found a way to help Steve.
_____________
Peter’s ‘grounding’ remained in place but he didn’t mind the punishment--it gave him more time to adjust to his powers and work on his personal projects.
He wanted to keep Johnny up to speed but using any form of communication meant Jarvis could listen, so decided to hold any conversation regarding his new abilities until they were face to face.
Following Tony’s comments on his adhesive, he decided to make the solution more web-like.
Two days into his ‘punishing’, Natasha returned to the tower. Peter greeted her at the elevator, happy to see his aunt after her absence.
He was caught off guard when she suddenly slapped him. The amount of force caused Peter to reel back and clutch his face. She berated him in Russian, and Peter froze on the spot. It was scarier with his encounter with Tony, that was for sure. When she dragged him by the ear into the elevator and took him down to the gym, and Peter was honestly afraid she was going to literally beat some sense into him.
What happened next was both strange and terrifying. Their impromptu sparring let Peter see a new side of his new abilities. Natasha’s movements were still powerful but he could now see them broken down at a quarter of the speed he was used to. It made her easier to evade, but he tried not to rely on it. The blows that she did land on him still hurt, but the pain subsided somewhat quicker than before.
But as he was quicker to recover that only made the fight longer. An hour had passed before they realized it, and Natasha put him down in a spine hold but he tossed her with ease, sending her sailing across the room. Her back collided with one of the weight machines, and she rolled over onto the floor.
“Aunt Natalia!” He dashed across the room. “Oh crap...Aunt Nat, are you okay?”
Natasha sat on the floor, calculating.
He offered her a hand. “I-I’m so sorry…”
“You’ve gotten stronger.” Natasha pulled herself up from the floor. “Have you been working on your muscles?”
“Uh...yeah, sure. But are you okay?”
Natasha rolled her shoulders.“A little more left and I might have hit my spine--”
Peter felt like he was going to be sick. ‘I could have really hurt her...What if she had hit her spine? I could have paralyzed her! Forever! What if I had used more force... What if the machines weren’t there? She could have went straight through the window--’
Natasha snapped her fingers in his face. “Petya. Stop.”
“Huh? Aunt Nat--”
“Shh.” She pressed a finger to his lips. “Stop.”
“....”
______
During another late night night in the lab, Tony’s tinkering was interrupted by Bruce and Steve. Bruce observed the various screens with a frown. “What exactly are you working on in here?”
Tony shrugged. “A couple of things. World peace mostly.”
Bruce leaned against a desk. “I was afraid of that.”
Steve crossed his arms and took his usual brooding stance. “ Did you talk to Peter today?”
“Sure. At breakfast. Pretty sure he said ‘morning’ and I responded. Most likely.”
“I remember a time when Peter couldn't wait for your lab door to open, just so he could tell you everything he learned.” Steve said. “ But over the years he's come up here less and less.” He shifted on his feet. “Considering what’s happened, don’t you think it's time to break down a few walls?”
Tony could feel Steve’s gaze. He looked away from his screen.
“Look, I don't know how to parent, okay? The first few years were easy--Peter listened, didn’t do anything outside the tower, it was great. But now…”
“It's time to let him out.” Steve said.
Tony sighed and repeated the statement in a defeated tone. “It’s time to let him out.”
_________________
“Peter…”
“Dad?” Peter was rinsing his web adhesive from his hands in the kitchen.
Tony held out a keycard. “Here.”
“What’s this?” Peter asked, taking it.
“It’s the keycard that goes to the Parker house. Obviously you don’t need it since you found your way in but…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “This is more of a symbolic thing. It’s your place, if you want it. You can go there after school.”
“That’s grea--Wait, what?”
“St. Margaret’s of Midtown.” Tony looked his son in the eye. ‘When did he become this tall string bean?’ “ It’s only a fifteen minute ride from here, tons of rich kids so no one will be hitting you up for lunch money, and a security team full of ex-marines.” Tony crossed his arms. “Now I'm warning you. You’ll probably be bored out of you mind by third period, the food is bland at best and the teachers--”
Peter squeezed him with a sudden hug. “Thanks Dad. You’re the best.”
Tony patted his back. “Alright, alright. You’re squeezing the life outta me.”
Peter let go, worried that he was serious.
“Don’t thank me, thank your old pop-sicle.”
“Okay sure. Is Pops around?”
“Nope.”
“Hydra?”
“Probably. Well, that’s enough air for me. Back to the lab.”
_____
Peter set up several stacks of empty soda cans he had scavenged from a recycling bin down on one of the ‘Stark Industries’ floors for target practice. He was alone in the gym, his only company was a tv broadcast on the far wall. The six o’clock news report began as he continued to test the accuracy of his gauntlets or as he had described to Johnny, his ‘web shooters’.
“--A string of robberies continues, as the sixth victim has come forward in the ‘M train muggers’ saga.”
Peter glanced at the projection. “The M train?” He recalled his fight on the train the week before. “It can't be.”
“--The latest victim was approached by two men in a empty train car last night around ten p.m.”
The report continued as artist sketches of the suspects appeared. “--Anyone with information on these crimes is encouraged to call crimestoppers at--”
“It's those guys from before…” As the news moved onto another topic, Peter paced back and forth. “It looks like they’re still at it…” He looked at his right gauntlet. With a flick of his wrist, he seized several cans. ‘If I had these back then, I could have nabbed those guys for the cops.’ He swung the bundle of cans into another stack, knocking them over. ‘Well, if I want to prove the functionality of my gauntlets, maybe I should.’ He re-stacked the cans. ‘ Dad did say I could go back to the house. If I happen to catch to crooks on my way there…well, there’s nothing wrong with that, is there?’
He recalled his sparring match with Natasha.
‘But let’s keep it light on the subduing and focus on the capture.’
_____________________
As Happy pulled up to the gothic style school building, Peter finally pulled himself away from the window. St. Margaret’s of Midtown was a elevator school for the elite, accommodating grades 6 to 12. Cobbled together from a large Catholic church and a more modern three story wing, it was tucked away into a corner of Midtown Manhattan, somehow accessible but not to the common man, as its rich patrons preferred it.
The school’s director was ready and waiting on the stone steps when they pulled up. Her demeanor changed slightly Peter noticed, when she saw that neither Tony nor Steve was coming along for the tour. Instead it was Bruce Banner’s turn to play guardian, as the others were busy protecting the free world.
As they walked along, the director gave her spiel and pointed out the school’s strong points, as Bruce scratched at his unshaven face and Peter asked question after question. It was a regular school day, but neither the students nor staff paid them any attention.
She took them up to the roof of the new wing, where students sat at tables and ate their lunch, studied, and all turned to look when Peter suddenly dashed across the cement. For at the other end of the rooftop, a freshly-released-from-rehab boy was about to take a leap off the gate and towards the sidewalk below.
Peter jumped after him, snatching him by his left pant leg and grabbing hold of a tree with his other hand. As he had the boy in his strong, adhesive aided grip, Peter tried to figure out if it would be more ‘normal’ to pull the boy into his arms and jump down or hop back up towards the roof.
“PETER!”
Peter glanced upward. Bruce didn’t look like he was about Hulk out, but he didn’t seem too pleased to see Peter hanging from a branch either.
“I got him, Pete!” Happy was ready to play the role of responsible bodyguard, abandoning his game of Candy Crush. He stood below the two dangling teens, arms open.
“You sure?” Peter asked.
He heard a snapping noise.
While the young man bounced into Happy’s open arms, Peter landed perhaps too gracefully--on his feet. He pretended to wobble for effect.
The boy was less than pleased to be rescued. “GET OFF ME!” He growled, and Happy dumped him on the sidewalk without another thought.
“Are you okay?” Peter asked, extending his hand to the fallen teen.
The boy was pale, a yellowish green present at the corners of his face. His long bangs obscured his face partially, and his thin frame, checkered shoes, and dark suit combo brought the phrase ‘2 edgy 4 me’ to Peter’s mind.
The boy looked up at him, squinting. His irritation was clear, but he remained silent.
There was something about his face that seemed oddly familiar, but Peter couldn’t figure out what it was.
“Mister Osborn!” The director dashed out the front doors, followed by two of the supposed ex-marines his father had spoke of. Bruce was right behind them, looking a little bit more agitated now than he had a moment ago.
“Osborn.” Peter whispered. He realized why Harry looked familiar. He had seen his face in a photograph at the Osborn home upstate when he was a child. Seeing him now he was sure he had seen Harry’s face as, it appeared on the occasional Osborn related news piece.
Harry dusted off his suit and stood, swatting the ex-marines away.
“I think I’ve seen enough of the place.” Peter took several steps back. “Thanks for the tour.”