Chapter 1
“Mr. Parker,” Dr. Zhang intoned as Peter tried- and failed- to sneak into his class four minutes past its 8:30am start time. The man had obviously taken in Peter’s haggard appearance, because he continued, “While I can appreciate that this is relatively early for a Monday morning class, and we are approaching the end of term, can you please explain to me why you think it is appropriate to slink into my class hungover?”
Peter tried to process exactly what he’d meant, then hiked his backpack over his aching shoulders, wishing he was back at the apartment rather than here. “I’m sorry, sir?” He was confused. “I don’t understand.”
“That is precisely my point.” Apparently Dr. Zhang had reached an end, “How do you, or any of you, for that matter,” The professor waggled a finger at everyone one of the other students in the lecture hall, “expect to succeed in Principles and Applications of Genetic Engineering for Biotechnology and Neuroscience if you continue to not take it and its requirements seriously?!”
“But—” Peter tried to stop him... to explain, but the man was on a roll.
“Yes, the parties and socializing are enjoyable—even I remember what it was like to be young and stupid!—But now is the time to decide how seriously you are going to take your education!” He pointed to his syllabus, framed and hung on the wall beside the smart board. “You must commit! Exams are only weeks away. Can any one of you honestly say that you’re fully prepared?”
The students stayed silent as they watched their professor’s face grow more and more red, all of the refusing to become a part of the unscripted drama.
“Very well, then. What about you, Mr. Parker?” He turned his frustration back to its original target. “In your current state, do you think you’d be ready to pass this class if I handed you your final exam right now?”
Professor Zhang finally stopped for a breath.
Peter cleared away the tickle in his throat. “Uh, sir?” he felt that he’d caught up enough to what he’d been raving about to finally get a word in, “I’m not hungover. I’m just sick.”
Even feeling as fuzzy-headed as Peter was, he could see the righteous indignation evaporate and the embarrassment creep in as Dr. Zhang deflated and he realized his error. He heaved an audible sigh, pinched the bridge of his nose, and dropped his head, “Very well. Grab a mask from my desk and take your seat, Mr. Parker... and please make a greater effort to arrive on time for class going forward.”
Peter ignored the whispers coming from the rest of the students. He simply mumbled a, “yessir,” and shuffled to the man’s desk to pluck a mask from the box sat on its corner, put it on, and then finally made his way to the empty seat that was furthest away from the rest of his classmates.
This was going to be a long day.
/-/-/
It was as Peter was packing up his notes and textbook at the end of his third class of the day that he realized that he’d hit a wall and needed to be done. His throat was aching, his head was pounding, and he was fairly certain he was developing a fever, which was strange because when that usually happened, it was almost a guarantee that—
‘Thunderstruck’ blared from the phone Peter was positive he’d silenced before his first class had finally started for the day, but it didn’t even matter. What Tony wanted, Tony got, and Tony wanted to talk to Peter. He sagged in defeat, sighed, and pulled his phone from his pocket, propping it awkwardly against his shoulder as he accepted the call. “Hey, Tony,” he rasped.
“Yikes! You’ll have to forgive me for what I’m about to say, but I was just talking to Morgan and you know that once the ‘dad vibe’ starts flowin, it’s all but over, so.” Tony paused, then, “In light of how amazing you sound, the rock factory called and they want their gravel back.” Tony teased lightheartedly, then sobered. “And now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, I’m guessing you’ve noticed your biometrics are a little wonky, huh? And I’m hoping that means that I don’t have to fight to convince you to call it a day?”
“Oh, no convincing necessary.” Peter ground out painfully as he zipped up his backpack, and shifted the phone from his shoulder to his hand as he exited the room and ducked into an out of the way nook. “I noticed, and yeah, I think I’m gonna head back to the apartment. I’ve just gotta catch the TA for my next class to get the reading assignment before I go home and hunker down with this thing.”
Tony didn’t say anything for a moment, but Peter could hear the sound of traffic in the background and realized that the man was driving, “While that sounds like a solid start to your plan, kid, can I make it better for you? Perhaps by offering you a car ride home?”
Peter tried to chuckle, whimpered at the pain in his throat instead, and soldiered on with the conversation, “I’m not sure if you’re aware, Tony, but MIT is not exactly in Manhattan. Do we need to do the whole google maps thing for you?”
“Hilarious, kid, don’t even joke about google—you know that Stark Industries offers the superior product.”
“I do,” Peter nodded, even though Tony couldn’t see. “Doesn’t change the fact that you’re not exactly in my neighbourhood.”
“But what if I told you I was in town for the next couple of days for meetings and I’d planned on surprising my favourite spider-baby today with a big ol’ midday hug and lunch at my favourite diner before he’d gotten all diseased and festering?”
“Now who’s being funny?” Yeah, the drive and the hug sounded amazing, but idea of eating was about as appealing as the idea of lingering in the overcrowded hallway any longer than he had to, so he ignored that altogether, “But, uh, are you sure about the ride to the apartment?” Peter had to ask. “I’d hate it if you got sick because of me...”
“Pfft. Kid, if I can survive Morgan’s preschool and kindergarten years, I think I can manage driving you home and getting you sorted for the rest of the day—or at least until one of your buddies gets home to tag in— or kicks me out, if it’s MJ, whichever comes first.”
The idea had Peter almost weeping with relief. “That sounds great,” Newly motivated, Peter made his way toward the building exit, “Where do you want me to meet you after I find my TA?”
Tony went quiet again, then, “I’ll be on Amherst in about twenty minutes. Does that give you enough time to get things done?”
Peter calculated how long he’d need to find Anne in the next building over and to get what he’d need for what he guessed was going to be the next few days. It would be cutting it close, but Tony knew the area and could loop back if worse came to worst, “Yeah, I think I can do it.” He stepped out into the cold early December air. “I’ll see you soon.”
/-/-/
“Yeesh! Kid! What the heck are you doing?!” Tony called out as a still face-masked Peter jumped into the front seat of the car. “Your aunt would murder you dead if she saw you without a coat!”
Peter didn’t reply, only tossed his backpack onto the floor, pulled up his hoodie hood and tighten the strings as he shivered. “I am young and I am invincible.”
Tony put a hand to the part of Peter’s forehead not covered up and winced in sympathy, “I think the word you’re actually looking for is ‘idiotic.’”
Peter hugged himself for warmth. “Shh. Be nice to me. I’m sick,” he insisted as he tried to get comfortable.
“I’m not sure how much ‘nicer’ I can get?” Tony pulled away from the curb, ignoring the honks of the cars behind him and wound his way through traffic. He looked over to his son-in-all-but-blood. “Though I do feel obligated to say that I’m not sure I can make the fact that you look like death warmed over sound any nicer either?” He pressed the button to turn on Peter’s seat warmer and adjusted the vent to help the kid out.
Peter glared. “Ugh. Don’t even. I mean- I knew something was coming on this morning, but I can usually fight it off pretty quick.”
“Maybe it’s something going around campus?” Tony asked.
“Not that I can tell- classes are still full enough.” Peter shook his head as he answered, then stopped. “I wonder if—” While it shouldn’t have been possible, Peter paled even further. “Aww, man. I wonder if I caught something from that guy I had to perform CPR on when we were all home for Thanksgiving?”
“Oof. It could explain things.” Tony thought for a second, “You’d think we’d have found a way to work around the whole mask thing by now, though, huh? But no! That’s not a now problem,” he shook off the distraction. “Did you want me to follow up and see if I can access his medical records from after he was admitted to hospital? See what the deal was?”
“Yeah,” Peter relaxed and melted into his now warmed seat. “At least I won’t need to worry that I’ve caught the plague or something.”
“Anything for you, kid—FRIDAY? Can you jump on that?”
“Of course, Boss,” the AI echoed through the car, “Though it would seem New York Department of Health is currently reconfiguring some systems and have implemented additional security features. There will be delay while I navigate—with apologies.”
“All good,” Tony replied, then glanced over, “So did you still want to head to the apartment or should we head to the tower and get you checked out by your favourite doctor? Especially if you’re worried about it.”
Peter glared back, “Don’t promise to take me to my own bed and then try to take it back, mister.”
Tony only caught a glimpse of his death stare, but chuckled nonetheless. “Alright then, no need to tell me twice, but if it gets any worse...”
“I’ll say something, Tony. I promise.”
Satisfied, Tony nodded, and the car grew quiet, staying that way until Peter’s apartment block came into view.
“Home again, home again, jiggety-jig.” Tony sang to himself as he pulled into one of the visitor parking spots. “Okay, Pete,” he unbuckled his seat belt then shifted to face a very dozy Peter. “Let’s get you upstairs. You can take a quick shower, and while you do that, I’ll set up the couch for a movie marathon to end all movie marathons and double check the grocery situation just in case you need any soup or the like. Sound good?”
Peter barely shrugged. “Sure,” he mumbled then unbuckled his own seatbelt with some effort.
“Perfect!” Tony exited the car with a spring in his step, “Let’s get this party started.” He walked around to the passenger side door and took the backpack from a struggling Peter. “And if I forget to say this later,” Tony wrapped a supportive arm around Peter’s shoulder and guided him to the apartment entrance, “Thank you so much for getting sick today. Pepper had me attending a meeting with Accounting, if you can believe it!”
Peter snorted, “I’m glad I could be of some use to you.” He winced as he spoke.
“Zoinks, kid! I wasn’t sure it could happen, but I think you’re sounding worse! Let’s get you upstairs.”
“Agreed,” Peter whispered, not even trying to pretend.
“And no texting anyone that I’m taking care of you, either.” Tony demanded as they arrived at the elevator, “They’ll skip class and come rushing to your aid like the Scooby gang that you all are—don’t tell MJ I said that.” The elevator door opened and they stepped in, Tony pressing the button for the sixth floor. “All joking aside, now that you’re all grown up, I don’t get to take care of my first kid all that often and, you know—”
Peter sighed. “I know... Pepper will send reinforcements and make you go back to your meetings?”
Tony chuckled, “And Pepper will absolutely make me head back to my meetings.”