Welcome to the Big Leagues
Peter Parker had really hit an all time low.
To be fair, even though his life wasn't exactly a bed of roses beforehand, these past six months had really been some of the worst for young Peter Parker. Before this, he was simply Peter Parker, the prodigious but flaky teenager by day and the shunned but efficient hero by night. He'd been smart enough to graduate high school top of his class at the age of 15, and immediately got accepted to Empire State University where he'd done a double major in engineering and chemistry. That in itself was a bright spot in an otherwise horrendous high school year (Uncle Ben, Aunt May's health, bills on top of bills on top of bills etc). However, his Spider-Man related activities had been a strain on him. The troubles of maintaining a double life started to get to him, and although he tried to handle both facets of his life the best he could Spider-Man would always take priority because he valued other people's lives over his own. As a result his schooling and social life began to suffer. His grades began to dip, he became even more of a social recluse than he was in high school and his mental & emotional state took quite a hit.
That all changed after he turned 18. He had acquired his masters and was prepping to begin his doctoral studies when he met one of the most impactful and influential people in his life: Dr Otto Octavius. The man was a genius of nuclear and atomic science, and was in charge of Octavius Industries, a small but up and coming scientific research tank. Peter was interning under him and they immediately bonded over their love of science, and reclusive dispositions. Peter had found it easy to confide in Otto, and minus his Spider-Man related problems he came to Otto for all sorts of advice, solace or even meaningless drabble when he failed to save someone and couldn't be alone. Dr Octavius never pressed, but he became a calming and reassuring presence in his life. He'd also introduced him to Harry Osborn, the son of the school's main financial benefactor Norman Osborn and Gwen Stacy, a biochemistry undergraduate who had become a favorite student of one of his colleagues and close friends. They too had developed a near instantaneous bond, although theirs was of a more romantic type.
Peter had truly been in love with Gwen. She was smart, shared his dry sense of humor and was so full of life. She could always make him smile regardless of his mood, was always comforting him when the pressures of his double life started to pile up...He'd even told her the truth about him being Spider-Man, and after her rather amusing freak-out she'd accepted him with open arms. And to think he'd even been worried she wouldn't want to have anything to do with him if she ever found out. ("You're a hero, Peter. An honest to God, selfless hero. How could I not want to be with you?"). For a while he'd been happy. He had a few good friends in Harry and Mary Jane, a brilliant mentor, an amazing girlfriend and a seemingly upwards career path. Plus, he'd struck up friendships in the heroic community with the Fantastic Four. And he was cool with a few of the Avengers and X-Men.
Then Ock went and killed Gwen's father, Captain Stacy.
He'd just created his magnum opus, four mechanical arms attached to his nervous system through his spine that could be controlled at will like actual arms. They could help improve efficiency in lab work, increase precision during surgeries...their potential applications were endless. He'd meant well, but the external connection to his nervous system messed with his brainwaves, long story short he'd lost his morality and strived to save the world in his own warped, twisted way. Peter had battled him as Spider-Man, but lost. Ock was about to kill civilians unfortunate enough to still be in the crossfire, but Captain Stacy valiantly stepped in between them and Ock, sacrificing his life to save theirs. Of course, J Jonah Jameson blamed Spider-Man and the public who were still generally on the fence concerning him seemed to lean towards JJ. Gwen said she didn't blame him, but Spider-Man had become a strain on their relationship as Gwen worried more about his safety after losing her father.
Norman Osborn then became the Green Goblin. He killed Gwen, drove Harry to drug addiction and nearly killed Aunt May, just to spite Peter once he discovered his dual identity. His biggest fear had been realized. His identity had been discovered and his loved ones hurt as a result. He'd been crushed after that. He'd lost confidence in his ability to be a hero and hadn't pursued his education further. He just took up a freelance job as a tech repair guy. The few people left in his civilian life were worried about him, deducing that all his personal losses killed his motivation but not knowing how to help and his fellow heroes pondered Spider-Man's disappearance. JJ claimed he was in cahoots with the Green Goblin and fled New York after his capture by SHIELD, but the general public felt his absence the most, with crime rates particularly around Queens raising rapidly. Peter knew all this, he desperately wanted to go out and make a difference. But his newly developed paranoia that someone would find out his secret identity was too strong to overcome. His paranoia had also affected his civilian life, as he'd turned down Mary Jane out of fear that she'd have a similar fate to Gwen Stacy.
Now here he was, currently attempting to fix some faulty lighting in his run down Hell's Kitchen apartment with some run off the mill tools he'd scavenged from the junk yard a few miles down south as he couldn't afford proper tools (he could barely afford rent, and even then he'd have to sometimes forego one or two meals a day to save up). There was a stack of overdue bills on his broken table top, and next to them a newspaper with a headline screaming about the rise in crime rates over the past four months.
Suddenly, there was a knock at his apartment door. He sighed. It was probably his landlord coming hound him about his late payment. The old man had been alright enough with him when he just moved in, but his constant flaky payments had run his patience with him down. "Just a sec!" He called out, wiping his hands on his jeans. He proceeded to the door at a slow pace, taking the time to come up with a good enough excuse to placate his landlord before he throws his ass on the street. Coming up with nothing, he took a deep breath and opened the door, the beginnings of a pathetic grovel for mercy already at the tip of his tongue.
"Look Mr Ditckovic, I can explain about the late..." Peter began, before the words slowly died out when he noticed who was at his doorway.
Previously expecting an irritated looking white haired man in her late fifties, his stunned to silence reaction was easy to understand when he instead came face to face with the Reed Richards and the Tony Stark standing at his doorway. "Pardon the interruption Mr Parker, but may we come in? We have much to discuss if it's not a bad time." Reed asked with a winning smile.
He'd been surprised to say the least.
Still unable to speak, he silently stepped aside to let the two genius superheroes into his rather iffy apartment. As Spider-Man, he'd been inside the Baxter Building numerous times over his 5 year vigilante career. It was a state of the art luxury condominium with probably the most advanced technology facilities on Earth. And, while he'd never been in Stark Tower, he knew Tony Stark to be the richest man in America with highly expensive taste. No way he was living in anything less than luxury. His apartment was...not. Neither Reed nor Tony seemed to mind and offered him kind smiles (well, Dr Richards' was kind. Stark's was more cocky, but not condescending).
Before he could question why the two of them, of all people, were in his beat down apartment, Tony spoke up. "Look kid, we're not here to beat around the bush so I'm just gonna be straight with you. We know you're Spider-Man. Have been since you were fifteen. Don't even try to play dumb, that's insulting to our intelligence, mine in particular." He quickly silenced the protest that Peter was about to voice with a dismissive hand wave.
Peter did his best to fight down the rising panic in his chest. Alright look Parker, he told himself, these guys aren't your enemies. Come on, you've known Dr Richards for years. Teamed up with the Fantastic Four a bunch of times. And Stark's with the Avengers, one of the good guys. Just take a deep breath, and let's get to the bottom of this.
"How did you-"
"Find out?" Tony finished for him with a smirk. Cocky bastard. "We're just awesome like that." At Peter's blank stare, he rolled his eyes. "We found out recently. We'd been searching for Spider-Man since you went AWOL. Got a bunch of people worried sick that something happened to you. So, we went to the last person who we knew had seen you, Norman Osborn. He told us who you were, and although we were suspicious everything added up. Gwen Stacy and your Aunt May Parker being taken by the Green Goblin as an act of revenge does make sense after all. Not to mention we did a bit of digging into Peter Parker's life, sorry not sorry underoos, and the last five years of your life do speak to a double life. Constant flakiness, inability to maintain a steady job despite your high intelligence and good grades, yeah definitely Spider-Man."
Peter had to remind himself again that they were on his side and weren't here for some twisted type of revenge. He took in a slow breath, and after taking a minute to digest the information given him he spoke up. "Sooooo," he drew out the word, still trying to remain calm, "You found me. So why exactly are you here? I mean, not to sound rude or anything, but I doubt you came all the way here just to tell me you know I'm Spider-Man."
Dr Richards nodded at this. "You're right about that Peter, which brings us to the real reason we came here. We have a proposition for you. One which, should you accept, will bring you a great deal of success in your dual lives. To achieve that, we're each here for one aspect of that. For both Peter Parker, and for Spider-Man. I myself am here for Peter Parker."
At Peter's surprised look, he explained further. "My wife Susan is two months pregnant with our second child." Peter was surprised. He wasn't expecting to hear that particular tidbit, but then again he'd been AWOL for a while now. "Congratulations Doc." He offered genuinely.
"Thank you." Reed responded. "As you can imagine, the adventures of the Fantastic Four will have to slow down. But, we've been talking for a while. Ever since Franklin was born, we've had to limit our outings. We've considered eventually retiring to raise our child properly for the past year, but now with our second on the way we plan to end the Fantastic Four permanently to focus on raising our children. Sue and I are going to spend more time focusing on our research and providing free aid in any way we can to members of the heroic community whether through scientific research and development, tech upgrades, monetary assistance or plain old physical back up." Reed gave Peter a pointed look. "While researching your background, we discovered your rather incredible scientific acumen and equally empressive progress in your education. For my part of the offer, I'm here with a job offer. As I'm going to be spending more time in my lab, I'm going to need someone to help me with my research. I'd like to hire you to fill that position."
"You mean you want me to be your lab aid?" Peter was barley containing his excitement. For a young nerd such as himself, to be the assistant to Reed Richards would be a dream come true.
"Actually, I was thinking more in the lines of making you my apprentice." He smiled at Peter's gaping mouth expression. "You'll have full access to the Baxter Building resources and facilities, and the chance to develop patents and carry out research with my help. You'll get a five figure monthly salary to work and research there and your own laboratory. However, one condition is that I'd like for you to go back to school and get your doctorate. It would be a shame if your great mind goes undeveloped to its fullest potential. If you're willing, I'll even guide you through your thesis." Peter blinked, taking everything Reed just told him in. However, he wasn't done. "However, this will only be a temporary position for you until you complete your education. As you may not be aware, when Octavius Industries was shut down I had purchased its intellectual property. Dr Octavius, for all his crimes is indeed a brilliant man and I would rather honor the wishes of the scientist he was before the accident and utilize his work for the benefit of mankind. My initial plan was to absorb his work into the Baxter Foundation under his name and donate the proceeds to all the families he affected. However, after discovering your work with him, and the fact that some patents are in your name as well, I devised a new plan. I decided to reestablish Octavius Industries under a new name, with a new team set up for it. I understand initially, it was just the two of you working under the banner name utilizing grants to register patents, correct?"
" Yeah." came Peter's dazed response.
"Well, under my new plan Octavius Industries will be rebranded as 'Horizon Laboratories'. The Baxter Institute will partner with it, as well as Stark Industries," Tony gives a wave at Peter, "so no specialized grants will be necessary. There's a fellow I knew from graduate school, Maxwell Modell, who I've asked to help run the place. He has a small research team out in UCLA who will come to work for Horizon. While you work under me, you will be prepped on how to run a research tank. As most of the patents are in yours and Dr Octavius' name, you'll be in charge of the operations. Maxwell, while a brilliant scientist in his own right will focus mostly on administrative work and daily operations while you'll be more in charge of the team research. The Baxter Institute will also cover the damages Otto caused instead, so Horizon will not bear the financial burden."
"Wait, hold up Reed." said Peter after a stunned minute of silence. "I know Max Modell, his team are researching orthotics and prosthesis. Doc Ock and I referenced some of their work when creating his arms. Why would they want to work for some no name kid."
"Well not to toot my own horn, Peter, but I do have quite the reputation. And so did Dr Octavius before his turn. When Maxwell and the team heard they would work under the young man mentored by the both of us, they were more than intrigued. Rest assured, they are willing to work under you. Plus, both the Baxter Institute and Stark Industries are donating significant financial backing into this venture. Mine and Tony's backing will offer not only significant finances, but the public collateral to be reputable. Plus, your work as my student will gain you some respect of your own."
"Wow." Peter said after a minute of shocked silence. "I don't know what to say Doc."
"That's gotta be first for you, Spider." Tony snorted
"This is huge." Peter continued, ignoring him. "It almost feels like too much. It's so crazy."
"Well then buckle up, underoos, cause I'm about to blow your mind." Tony said in a tone Peter imagined he used on potential investors or buyers. He even made a sweeping gesture with his arms towards nothing in particular. A showman at heart.
"As my highly elastic compatriot stated earlier," Reed rolled his eyes at Tony's words, "We're here with a proposition for both sides of your life. Seeing as the rubber band over there already gave you his pitch for your civilian life, I'm sure you've already divined I'm here for the web slinging vigilante. I was gonna offer you a well paying research job at Stark Industries before your Horizon gig commenses, but someone beat me to the punch for your genius brain." He gave Reed a pointed look (to be honest it was more of a pout) to which Reed returned with a triumphant grin. Peter tried to wrap his head around the idea that the smartest man in science and the richest man in science had a small scramble for his brain. He couldn't.
"Uh, thanks I guess Mr Stark." He responded awkwardly, not sure how to react.
"That's Director Stark to you, underoos." He responded with a grin. He then proceeded, noting Peter's confused expression. "I'm the new Director of SHIELD squirt. Alot of stuff is to long and boring to explain, so I'll give you the basic summary. I was appointed new head of SHIELD by Nick Fury because he faked his death to further investigate HYDRA movement in Europe. Yes, underoos, he's still alive. I'll show you the full rundown when you come over to Avengers Mansion later. Ask me why you're going to Avengers Mansion. "
"Uh, why am I going to Avengers Mansion later?"
"I'm glad you asked me that. You see, stretchy and I have been talking. Seeing as the Fantastic Four are retiring, there's gonna need to be a team to take their place as Earth's official intergalactic explorers and battlers. We decided that the current main Avengers team will take that position with Hank Pym and Bruce Banner taking Reed's role as their science expert. Ben Grimm's gonna be joining them cause he has loads of experience in the field of interplanetary exploration. To help minimize SHIELD's budget, I'm gonna bankroll the intergalactic team the way Reed did for the Fantastic Four, and I'm richer than he is so they'll have much cooler outfits. Reed and I will also be sharing the costs for a new Earth based Avengers team to fill the void they'll leave. That's where you come in Spider-Kid." He made a dramatic pause, letting the suspense build up unnecessarily. Although, Peter already had an idea of what Stark was offering.
"You want me to join this new Earth based team, don't you?"
"I want you to lead this new Earth based team kid." If Reed's offer sounded crazy, then Tony's sounded out right stupid. "Tony-oh sorry, Director." He ammended after seeing Tony's petulant frown. He gave a nod of approval after the correction. "I can't lead an Avengers team! I could barely even get into the original one. I was a reserve member at best, and that's only cause Fury wanted me on a leash."
Tony waves his arm dismissively at Peter's protest. "Sure you can! You're gonna head this team, seeing as it's gonna be filled with a number of younger heroes that would hopefully last for a long time as Earth's main line of defense. The other members will be your pal Johnny Storm, Kitty Pryde better known as Shadowcat, Anna Maria aka Rogue, Bobby Drake aka Iceman, Laura Kinney aka X-23 or Wolverine's freaky clone daughter and Wanda Maximoff aka Scarlett Witch. Of course, you're first in command because of your experience. Reed, Pym and I are currently designing and building a high tech headquarters for all of you on Hudson Bay in New York, and once it's done, I estimate in about ten months, the new squad would be announced with you as it's leader. And of course, you'll also get a salary from SHIELD. But, given the nature of the job, it's gonna be a little higher than seven figures. Also, you'll have the Defenders as an offshoot of the main Avengers team to help with localized crime in case you're pulled out of town for something big. The X-Men will also work in tandem with you to coordinate mutant related responses. World governments will be contacted about your position and will send liasons to coordinate with you about protocols for different regions, but will recognize your authority."
Peter was feeling a bit too overwhelmed with everything he'd been told in the past ten minutes. It felt like a weird dream, no way his life actually winds up going this well. Not with his experience with Parker Luck.
"Also," they still had more?! "We're in the beginning stages of creating a little think tank for the heroic community called Future Foundations. It's gonna be led by the boneless wonder over there. Myself, Sue Richards, Bruce Banner, King T'Challa, Hank Pym, Hank McCoy, Amadeus Cho, Jane Foster and you my wall crawling friend."
"Okay enough!" The two older men were taken aback at the outburst, but understood. Naturally Peter had to have been overwhelmed. "I appreciate all this, I really do, but why? Why all this, and why now?"
Tony smiled at him like he'd expected this question (he probably had). "We've been talking kid. We discussed, and we know that being a hero is probably the hardest job on Earth. We agree that our weird hero community needs to be more united and willing to help each other. It's actually part of the reason that there's quite a few mutants on yournew team. We talked with Charles Xavier and agreed that their presence on an Avengers team would go a long way in winning over public approval of mutants. Time's are changing underoos, and we want you to be a part of this change and to one day rise to the top of our ranks."
"But why me? Why so much fuss over me? What the hell did I do to get all this help and have all this confidence placed in me? There's much better, smarter and more deserving heroes out there who you do all this for. I couldn't accept all of this when I don't deserve it."
"That's where you're wrong, Peter." Both Tony and Reed's faces had taken on a more serious expression than they had since they walked in. It was also the first time Tony had called him by his name. Peter was taken aback by them a bit.
"You've got potential kid, as a hero and as a scientist, but taking on the burden of a dual life by yourself is stunting you. With some help, your potential would be near limitless. We hate seeing such a talented individual suffer through life, and we knew we had to step in and give you a helping hand.
That's not all though. We may be the smartest men there is, but even we haven't figured out immortality. We're not gonna be here forever, and we need to make sure that there won't be any void left to protect the world when we're gone. Guys like you, you're the next line of heroes. You're generation is the future, and we're here to help you do that to the best of your abilities. What you've done with street level crime is amazing, and it's inspired heroes everywhere despite what the Bugle says about you. That shows that you can be the one to lead your generation and inspire the next one, kind of like what Cap did. But it's time to step up kid, like I said things are changing. And you're gonna be spearheading that change. This isn't just a little boost to make your life easier. This is a responsibility of the highest order, and we all know how seriously you take responsibility. We wouldn't be offering this if we didn't think you weren't the man for the job."
"It isn't just the hero community that will have voids to fill when we're gone." Reed had taken over after Stark's honest speech. "We're some of the best minds the world has to offer. I myself am the smartest man on Earth. Tony is the greatest engineer of our time. When were gone, who's going to be there to solve the world's biggest problems? Or counter the next generation of brilliant madmen like Victor von Doom or Otto Octavius? Think about our proposed think tank. Only you and Amadeus are under the age of 20. The rest of us are over the age of 35. That's why I'm taking you under my wing. Someone's going to have to take my place one day, and you have the intellectual capacity to do just that. I've seen your IQ scores, you equalled the scores I attained at the same age you were so I know you can. The world is always going to need brilliant minds to help steer progress in the right direction, and people like you and Amadeus will be the minds people turn to in the future for that direction. We're not just aiding you to make your life better, we're training you be the best possible version of yourself to help others."
"So that's why your taking me under your wing and doing all this for me." Peter responded, looking at the two but mostly at Reed. "You're not just helping me be a better scientist and hero. You want to groom me to be your eventual replacements."
"It's no simple task," Reed confessed, "but we truly do not see anyone else able to walk in these shoes. So yes, Peter, we wish for you to take up the mantle of being one of the world's main problem solvers and heroes for the day when we are not able to. I hope that day doesn't come any time soom, but we will not take any chances. I want to start making plans for the future today."
Peter sat in contemplation, going over everything they said. He understood what they were saying. The world did need contingencies in case anything happened to these two. But still, could he do it? He'd barely managed with what he'd had responsibility over for the last five years. But then again, Tony and Dr Richards said they believed he was the best choice for this, and in the time he knew them they had never been the type to lie about serious stuff like this just to appease one's ego. And they did say they'd be there to help him throughout, so unlike before he wouldn't be alone...
"Before you can give us a response Peter, there's one more thing you should know if you accept." Reed and Tony exchanged looks, as if agreeing on something, then Reed continued. "Although we've made proposition for the two facets of your life, ultimately those two facets need to become one."
Peter had a bad feeling about that. "What are you saying?"
"We're saying that once you step into this, Peter Parker and Spider-Man can no longer be two separate entities. The world respect us and we have the confidence of the world governments because we don't hide behind our alter egos. We own up to them and take responsibility publicly. The same has to happen for you. No one will accept the leader of Earth's main defensive front being an anonymous figure. The world has to know that Peter is Spider-Man."
Peter didn't even hesitate to respond. "No dice."
"But-"
"No." He said, more forcefully this time. "Do you have any idea how many enemies Spider-Man has? Do you know what people like Doc Ock or Miles Warren would do to everyone I care about if they knew who I was? Hell, look what Osborn did to my Aunt and my girlfriend. I'm sorry but I can't accept those terms."
"Peter, do you know how many civilians Tony and I have as loved ones? Friends, relatives, old professors...we have quite a few people we want to protect as well. Do you know how we've been able to keep them safe, even with public identities?"
"Well, if I had to guess I'd say because you guys had the resources and connections to keep them safe."
"And so will you. Think about it Peter. You'll be a fully fledged Avenger, backed completely by the world governments with all your fellow Avengers as back up. Not to mention, you'll have myself and Sue. In fact, look at Sue and I. Do you think we'd have kids if we thought we couldn't keep our loved ones safe under such conditions? Trust me Peter, you're loved ones will be completely secure.
"We understand your reluctance, goodness knows you of all people deserve to feel that way but you must realize, the sole reason we have the public's trusts is due to the fact that we don't hide anything from them. As the leaders of the Fantastic Four and the Avengers, Tony and I are completely transparent to our elected officials as we answer to the government and do not shy away from doing so. We have their trust, and that is a valuable tool to have. When I order a town to evacuate due to an alien threat, they do so without question or hesitation. That kind of trust must be earned, and you can't keep secrets from anyone if you're going to operate as a leader with that kind of power.
Peter looked back and forth between the two. "You guys didn't come here prepared to take 'no' for an answer, huh?"
Tony smirked at him. "We're billionaires kid. We're used to getting what we want."
"So what do you say Peter? Will you step up? Become the hero Earth will one day need even before they need you?" Reed asked with a serious expression.
Peter was quiet for a few minutes, debating the pros and cons of the decision. Either way, he understood that such a position would be needed in the future, and if the two smartest superheroes believe he was the man for the job, he'd do it if only in the name of helping people the best way he could. He looked them both in the eye. "You guys will help me not fall on my ass, right?"
Reed gave him an encouraging smile. "We promise to be there to help you every step of the way, Peter."
Peter locked eyes with him for a moment, then smiled "I guess I'm your spider then. Although I still think there's someone better than me for this job."
"Like who, Deadpool?" Stark rolled his eyes. He then smirked at Peter and held his hand out for him to shake. "Welcome to the big leagues, underoos."
Peter smirked back and shook his hand. He may have hit an all time low. But at least from there, things could only go up.