Rhodey and Sam stood in a small space under a canopy of pine trees, not far from the HYDRA base they had raided. Rhodey had the faceplate up of his War Machine suit and Sam held parts of his broken wings. One wing was safely tucked away and the other had been shot to pieces, luckily they were mostly large chunks and looked to be easily repairable. The pair were arguing and yelling at each other like they had been for the last ten-plus minutes
"Come on, it's not that far to the quinjet!" Rhodey pointed in the direction of the quinjet they had arrived in and was currently sitting in another clearing, cloaked.
"No! I am not going to be carried like a freaking damsel in distress!" Sam argued.
"It's either I carry you or you walk, either way, we are still getting soaked in the rain!" Rhodey fired back, gesturing to the sky. He was tired and this argument had been going on for far too long in his opinion. Rhodey hoped the ultimatum statement would push Sam to give in so they could go home. However, the statement wasn't entirely true. It was only his face that was getting wet as the suit kept the rest of him dry, but the same could not be said about Sam, who had lifted his red goggles onto his forehead as they were blurred by the rain.
"Or you could hurry your ass up and bring the quinjet to pick me up." Sam countered, clearly not willing to back down.
Rhodey sighed, "As I've already said, FRIDAY can't bring the jet to us as this clearing is too small. I'm not going to drop you and you will still be able to hold all the pieces of your wing. It's less than a minute's flight!" Rhodey threw his hands in the air in frustration. The arguing had been going on for over a quarter of an hour now and Sam was hell-bent on continuing the argument with a firm shake of his head, no.
Rhodey's shoulders sagged and he caught out of the corner of his eye a look of triumph from Sam, he resolved to end this argument. He turned away from Sam and dropped the faceplate in preparation to fly towards the quinjet. Sam started to grin smugly and opened his mouth to comment on being right when Rhodey slammed into him as he took off, picking Sam up and launching for the quinjet. It was such a quick movement that Sam didn't have time to process or react as Rhodey scooped him up like the damsel in distress he was. Sam held on to the chunks of his broken wing as tightly as possible during the very short flight, a short yelp escaped as the wind was knocked out of him.
Less than a minute later, just as Rhodey said, they arrived at a large clearing. FRIDAY dropped the cloaking on the quinjet, recognising Rhodey's suit signature. Rhodey dropped Sam in the muddiest puddle he could find, Sam slipped on the mud and landed on his ass as he tried to stand up, the chunks of his wing falling out of his hands as his arms flailed for balance but ultimately failed to aid him. Rhodey laughed as he walked steadily towards the ramp of the jet that FRIDAY was dropping for the two men.
"No wonder Tony likes you, you're secretly an asshole too," Sam grumbled. He liked the colonel enough most of the time, but sometimes like times like this, he wanted to re-evaluate that thought.
"I'm only an ass to stubborn damsels," Rhodey called over his shoulder as he walked up the ramp into the quinjet, FRIDAY starting to take the armour off. Sam rolled his eyes and huffed, picking himself up out of the mud and carefully so as not to fall again, picked up the chunks of his wing, frowning at the thick mud coating the broken fragments and himself.
Sam walked up the ramp, seeing Rhodey now out of the suit and in a chair, he placed the bits of his broken wing on the centre table and took off his 'backpack' that held his wing and allowed him to fly. He lay the broken pieces carefully as if they were an injured animal.
"FRIDAY take us back to the tower and let Tony know Sam needs his wings repaired. He looks like someone kicked his dog." Rhodey spoke to Tony's AI, who closed the ramp and started up the quinjet's engines.
"Of course, Boss says he's being tortured by Pepper and is adamant you save him. He is actually in meetings all day and Pepper is insistent he needs to attend them. Boss did say that it's Wednesday so the lab could help until he is free this evening." FRIDAY responded, calm and clear in her usual Irish lilt.
"Shit," Rhodey murmured under his breath. He debated telling Sam he was going to have to wait and then remembered how excited the lab - Peter - was about meeting all of the Avengers eventually. "Can you ask the lab if they are happy for visitors this afternoon before Tony finishes his meetings? If not I can take the wings down when we arrive." He asked FRIDAY. Sam stared at Rhodey like he'd grown 2 heads or was covered in hot pink spots. Rhodey ignored him, patiently waiting for the AI's response.
"If Stark is in a meeting, why are you asking if the lab is happy for visitors? We can't take Avengers equipment down to the intern labs or Research & Development labs. Has he made more robots? I swear if he's made another AI that might kill us all-" Sam started and just before he was starting to get angry at Tony for keeping secret projects from the team, FRIDAY cut him off.
"The lab would be delighted to see you Colonel Rhodes but Mr Wilson will only be allowed if he promises to be well-behaved. Boss says to go ahead." FRIDAY relayed, Rhodey smiled. The smile widened into a grin at Sam who was opening and shutting his mouth as if struggling to find the right words and instead just sputtered, offended.
"The lab has asked if you are joining the penthouse for film night tonight?" FRIDAY asked after a few moments of falling silent, Sam was still sulking.
"Who's picking the movie? I don't want to feel ancient because he picked an 'Old-timey' film that's from the late 90's. Also put in the usual order of Thai for dinner tonight, make sure to get an extra portion of the lab's favourite." Rhodey asked, adding the food on the end as a sort of afterthought.
"It is Miss Potts's choice this week. I will place the order at 6.30 pm and have it brought up. Your ETA is 3 hours for an arrival at the tower at 4 pm. I would recommend a shower and head down to the lab for 5 pm so if things go astray Boss will be finished with the meetings by 6 pm but can finish early if needed without causing Miss Potts any added stress." FRIDAY responded, planning out the afternoon/evening to best accommodate Peter in the lab and also make sure that if things went south, Tony would be able to help if needed despite FRIDAY having complete faith that Peter would be fine and more concerned that Sam might not.
Rhodey nodded, "Thanks FRIDAY, sounds like a plan." He leaned back in the chair, lifting his shirt to release his leg braces so he could sit more comfortably.
"What the hell has Tony made in the lab that is so important we need permission to see?! He's not allowed to make new AI after Sokovia or anything that could be an issue, especially not with the Accords being rewritten at the moment and the scrutiny we're under!" Sam broke the silence that fell in the quinjet. Rhodey sighed, his hands falling still on his braces.
Rhodey winced slightly at the mention of Sokovia, "Tony and Stark Industries are not under any more scrutiny than normal, you lot as the Rogues are the ones being watched." Rhodey quipped, shoulders sagging slightly before sighing again. He was doing a lot of sighing today apparently.
The quinjet engines rumbled to life, moving out of the idle FRIDAY had the quinjet in as she piloted them out of the clearing, setting the 3-hour flight path back to Stark Tower. The trees of the clearing swayed in the air disturbance caused by the turbines of the engines. The rain created streaks on the windshield of the cockpit as FRIDAY pulled the cloaking back over the jet as they cleared the trees, the gunmetal grey disappearing until the jet melted into the sky.
Rhodey sank further into his chair, clipping the belt of the seat tightly around himself as he unclasped his leg braces. He took them off and placed them onto the seats beside him, then massaged his legs trying to ease the dull ache that had built throughout the mission. He smiled slightly as he thought about how excited Peter would be to see him, how he would likely excitedly babble so fast that Rhodey would miss most of what the teenager would say.
"What the hell are you smiling about? Stark has created another mess that we will have to clean up!" Sam called, speaking louder than normal to be heard over the quinjet engines. Maybe Sam shouldn't meet Peter after all. Rhodey shook his head at the other man.
"He hasn't created another mess. You'll see and as you agreed, best behaviour remember." Rhodey raised an eyebrow at Sam, "I need to head down anyway so the lab can have another look at my braces. Tony may have designed them initially but the lab ironed out the overheating issue and is helping to make them more streamlined and comfortable. I think the energy blasts may have damaged them though as they were getting really warm." Rhodey spoke, though mostly to himself.
"Stark doesn't work with anyone, Banner was the only one he worked with and he's still missing. So either he's created another AI which is a huge problem or it's another robot or something else I can't even think of." Sam listed.
"Or something else," Rhodey chuckled, the pain easing in his legs now with the braces off. Yet another sigh escaped him but this time it was in satisfaction due to the pain easing rather than a sign of frustration or exasperation. "Not everyone Tony likes is an asshole you know, Pepper and Bruce are amazing people."
Sam scoffed, "Pepper may not be an asshole but she is terrifying."
"Tony puts his heart into everything and it's been shattered so many times and most recently by Steve and the Rogues, he's trying to find how to trust again. Steve took that trust and ripped it to shreds. He's slowly being pieced back together with the help of the lab. Take it easy on him there's a lot you don't know and won't know for a long time." Rhodey stated quietly, he hated how his best friend allowed everyone to think the worst of him. However, he could see that the kid was slowly starting to change that, or at the very least change that for Peter. Tony Stark did have a heart and Peter was helping to heal the wounds the Avengers (namely Steve) had left.
Sam rolled his eyes but did stay silent. He had a hard time believing Stark did anything for anyone other than himself. The Accord's mess was due to Stark's guilt and want to take responsibility for the damage away from him not caring how it would hurt hundreds if not thousands of people who wanted to help look after the vulnerable. As Steve had said, the accords would end up causing thousands of people to die because it would delay the Avengers from helping and acting on intel until the World Security Council had made a decision (which considering they thought nuking New York was a good idea, how could they trust them to make the right call?) and that took forever. He fought Tony and became a fugitive to keep his autonomy and be able to keep helping people.
The flight to the tower, although only 3 hours, was still going to be a while and Sam could see that Rhodey looked just as exhausted as he felt. "Let's just try to get some rest, I don't currently have the energy to deal with any of Stark's bullshit." Rhodey just nodded, closing his eyes and quickly falling into sleep. Sam followed not long after, trusting Tony's AI enough to get them home without incident but still not fully trusting the man behind the invention.
~ Meanwhile at Midtown High School ~
Peter jumped during class as his phone vibrated. He had been mostly zoned out during his physics class as Mr Stark and Peter had covered the topic a few months ago. He had been scribbling equations (that even MIT students would likely have trouble solving) and parts of a schematic design for his latest project, a pair of Stark glasses but ones specifically for Mr Stark. His phone had done a series of vibrations and he tried to ignore it, as he had promised Mr Stark he would do but as there were more buzzes from notifications, he decided to peak anyway.
His eyes widened at the 4 new messages, 2 of which were from Mr Stark, 1 from Aunt May, and 1 from FRIDAY. He quickly opened them, scanning the messages.
He started with Aunt May's:
Peter, I need you to stay at the tower tonight. Rachel has called in sick so I picked up her shift tonight at the hospital. Make sure you get to school on time in the morning - May
He responded with a quick thumbs up, a smile widening on his face. He could get an extra 2 hours with Mr Stark and then he could patrol for at least an extra hour before swinging back to the tower for bed.
Then he opened Mr Stark's:
Hey kid, Aunt Hottie says you are staying over tonight. I'm being tortured with meetings today and Pepper won't let me leave so you'll have the lab to yourself until about 5:30 pm when I'm done. Sorry kiddo, Pepper is holding me hostage.
Peter's smile fell slightly as he realised that he wouldn't get extra time with his mentor but then realised he would get an hour or so at least in the lab on his own so he could work on the glasses for Mr Stark, and his grin returned.
The second text read:
Kiddo, Rhodey will be at the tower by about 4 and be down to the lab at 5. He has Sam with him who needs his wing fixing. I know he's on your list to meet so you can have the first crack at his wing-pack if you like, if not then FRIDAY won't let him down to the lab.
Peter's eyes widened again, he tried really hard not to get overly excited as he didn't want to draw attention to himself as he was breaking class rules to be on his phone. He could have the first look at THE Falcon's wings! He flapped his hand in excitement under the table and an involuntary squeak left his lips. Ned nudged him and furrowed his brows in question.
"Dude, what are you squeaking about?" Ned whispered, pointing at Peter's phone. The pair huddled together, trying to excitedly whisper quietly.
"I'm staying at the tower tonight and Mr Stark is in some meeting so I get to be in the lab on my own for an hour or so. I can get some of the bits for the glasses fabricated and iron out some of the design kinks. Then Mr Stark said Rhodey would be at the tower later with Mr Sam Falcon Wilson and I could fix his wings for him!" Peter whispered, getting more and more excited as he spoke.
"Dude! That's so cool! I wish I could stay in Tony Stark's lab unsupervised!" Ned squealed too, their voices growing louder as the pair got more excited.
"Well FRIDAY will be watching me as well as Dum-E and U so I'm not really unsupervised, but I think Fri has a soft spot for me." Peter grinned at his best friend. "She's helping with the coding for the protocol names and linking her to the glasses just like Mr Stark's current glasses!" Ned's eyes grew wide.
"You have corrupted Tony Stark's AI to be on your side now too?! So cool!"
"I know right? I think it's because I sass back at her like she's a real person, which she appreciates, and I help make sure Mr Stark eats and sleeps when she tells him to." Peter smiled wide, it didn't seem possible for his smile to get any bigger.
"So are you going to say yes to meeting The Falcon?" Ned asked, excitement still prominent in his voice but a serious quality falling into it as he tried to hush his voice quieter.
"I think so, I can say that I'll only fix his wings if he's on his best behaviour. I am pretty sure he doesn't like me after Germany. I stuck him to the floor remember, with Mr Barnes." Peter replied, a little bit sad remembering how the two had threatened him and Mr Stark promising that none of the Avengers would know about Peter unless he wanted them to.
"You can do that?!" Ned cried out, significantly louder than he meant to.
"Mr Stark said none of them would know about me unless I want them to. Plus I think Natasha and Mr Stark would destroy them if they hurt me."
Peter looked back down at his phone and replied to Mr Stark:
Yes! I want to work on the wings that would be so cool! I want to ask Uncle Rhodey if he can stay for a movie tonight too. If Mr Falcon isn't on his best behaviour then we can kick him out of the lab :) - P
A few seconds passed and Mr Stark replied:
Of Course kiddo, I'll be on standby if needed. You'll be safe. Don't blow up my lab before I get down there later
Peter then looked at the messages from FRIDAY, he was surprised FRIDAY could contact him like this as he thought that it would have to be through Karen but maybe it was a new feature. He resolved to ask her about it when he got to the tower. FRIDAY's message said:
Hello Peter, Colonel Rhodes has asked if you would like some visitors to the lab this afternoon. Mr Wilson has damaged his wings during the mission today and Boss is caught up in meetings today. Boss says he is happy for you to fix them and it's ok but only if you are happy.
Peter beamed and replied:
Hi Fri, yes I'd love visitors. I can show Uncle Rhodey my project, I think he would find it funny, what do you think? Can you tell him and Mr Wilson that it's only on the condition Mr Wilson is on his best behaviour? Can you also ask Uncle Rhodey if he is going to come to movie night this week?
A few seconds passed and FRIDAY sent another message:
I think Colonel Rhodes would love your project Peter and would find it hilarious. Mr Wilson has agreed to be on his best behaviour, the Colonel has agreed to movie night but expressed it was mostly due to Miss Potts picking the film because your choices make him feel old. Film night tonight means a shorter Patrol though to maintain a sensible bedtime for school tomorrow morning, I have informed Karen of the plan changes for Patrol tonight.
Peter rolled his eyes at the AI reminding him of a curfew that didn't exactly exist and was more of a heavily implied suggestion.
How do I make him feel old? I pick good movies! Why did you have to tell Karen!? She's going to be insufferable about patrol tonight!
Peter swore he could see some humour in the AI's response:
The movies you choose are those that Colonel Rhodes grew up with and you love to point out how their old or outdated. It is more of a humour comment than an actual dig at your movie choices Peter. Happy will pick you up from school today as he has been on errands today for Miss Potts
Peter replied quickly, fingers flying over the screen as he typed out his last message.
Ok, thanks Fri. I would of been happy to swing over. Happy didn't need to be scheduled to pick me up. I think I've managed to fix some of the bugs we were having with the schematics for Mr Stark's glasses but will talk to you about that at the Tower as I'm in class right now.
As he pressed send he looked up to see Ned peering over his shoulder, a grin on his face. A flash of movement on his phone screen caught his attention. FRIDAY had just replied with a grin emoji and Peter felt a swell of pride as the AI showed that his emoji lessons had been working.
"You call War Machine, Uncle Rhodey now?" Ned read the messages over Peter's shoulders, as Peter had tilted the phone so Ned could see as well. A gleam of amusement was held in Ned's eyes as he held back laughter. The pair was still trying to not draw attention but was starting to fail. MJ had already spotted the pair huddled together and the odd shrieks and squeaks coming from them had only peaked her attention but just as she had noticed the boys getting excited, it had also drawn Flash's attention too.
"Shut up Parker! No one believes your stupid intern lie and they certainly won't believe you meeting the Avengers. Grow up!" Flash turned around and all but shouted it. Ned shot Flash a glare as his best friend deflated slightly.
"Flash pack it in. Just because you are jealous and have such a sad life doesn't mean you get to make everyone else feel like shit." MJ called from the other side of the desk. Peter gave her a weak smile. However, now the teacher - Mrs Everly - was aware of the disruption in her class and glared at the students.
"This is an important topic that will come up in your exams, quiet down and pay attention. It may be coming up to spring break but that is no excuse to slack off. I expect more from you Peter, no more distracting the class." She scolded. Peter and Ned opened their mouth to argue it was Flash but a sharp glare from Mrs Everly stopped any protests. Ned turned back to his work and Peter returned his phone to his pocket and zoned back out, doodling the equations on pieces of scrap paper again.
An hour and a half later, Peter sat in history class, the last one of the day. He was incredibly bored as the teacher went over the assignment for the next couple of weeks. Peter didn't care much about history, the subject was his least favourite but he had to take the class for college credit. The assignment was to do a paper on a memory from someone you know in the style of a history book.
He was tapping his pen on his desk, staring out the window where he could see the silhouette of the Tower peaking over the buildings. An idea came to mind, the Tony Stark that the world and history books knew was very different to the Tony Stark that Peter knew. He decided that he would ask Mr Stark if he could do his history paper on him. How the billionaire, playboy, philanthropist that the world knew wasn't all who Mr Stark was; but that he was actually a really cool, protective, and kind person who did everything for the people he cared for.
Peter smiled at the memories of Mr Stark adding all the protocols to his and Uncle Rhodey's suits and how he spent hours designing the braces and deciding that Stark Industries was going to design useful and affordable prosthetics and mobility aids and when he saw how expensive they were when he wanted to help Rhodey. When both Pepper and Rhodey had asked him in the lab, Mr Stark had just simply said with a shrug, "Why should people need to go into debt for a limb?"
The bell broke Peter out of his thoughts. The last bell of the day and everyone scrambled to gather their things and leg it out away from school grounds. The teacher was trying to keep telling them about the importance of this essay and the deadline being in 2 weeks but they were drowned out by the scraping of chairs and the zips of backpacks and all the students talking to each other.
He said goodbye to Ned and promised to message him in the evening about how meeting the Falcon went and walked down the corridor out towards the main car park. He reached his locker and quickly transferred his books from his locker to his backpack, being careful to make sure his suit was hidden and his web-shooters stayed hidden under the sleeves of his hoodie. Well, it wasn't Peter's hoodie but he had claimed it as his, it was actually Mr Stark's MIT hoodie. Peter had returned from a patrol a few weeks ago and had gone down to the lab to restock his web fluid, a few weeks ago and was shivering cold, Tony had started to panic asking questions for hypothermia symptoms and only quietened down when they were all negative.
Peter had tried to reassure Tony that he was fine, just cold and he was usually always cold as, like spiders, he didn't have temperature regulation. Tony had looked mortified and immediately told FRIDAY to turn the heating up and then grabbed his MIT hoodie from the sofa in the lab and thrown it at Peter. Then sternly told him to put it on and mumbled something about needing to make modifications to Peter's suit. Since then Peter had just kept it and wore it most days, it now being his favourite hoodie.
Peter finished putting everything he needed from his locker in his bag, the backpack being significantly heavier than any normal teenager could carry comfortably, and swung it over one shoulder easily. Not even taking note of the weight. He stuffed his hands in the front pocket of the hoodie and continued out to the car park, hoping that Flash would already be out of school, there were only a handful of students in the hall and a few in classrooms as clubs started to get going.
He reached the main doors to the school with the car park in front of him. Peter did a quick scan of the remaining cars, exhaling in relief when he didn't see Flash's car and then spotting Happy in the black SUV. He bounded over, smiling wide as he climbed into the back seat.
"Hi, Happy!" Peter called cheerfully, smile wide, as he buckled into his seat and closed the door beside him.
"Kid," Happy replied. If Peter didn't know Happy better, which he did, he would have thought Happy wasn't very happy today. "Boss is in meetings until 6 pm but Rhodey will be in the tower within the hour. Don't blow up the lab, I have lots of things to do rather than babysit you."
"I know Happy, Mr Stark and FRIDAY messaged me during physics class. I'm going to work on my project for Mr Stark." Peter said excitedly.
"FRIDAY will be keeping an eye on you anyway. How was school?" Happy asked, having started up the car pulling out of the school grounds, and heading towards the Tower. Peter relayed everything that happened at school, no detail was too small. Happy occasionally asking questions.
"So who are you going to ask for your history class?" Happy asked, just as he was about to pull up outside the Tower.
"Um, I was thinking of asking Mr Stark. I wanted to write about Mr Stark as the media don't know the real Mr Stark, not like we do." Peter said, still a bit of excitement in his voice but mostly having quietened down.
Happy hummed, "You won't know if you don't ask. Good luck kid." Happy pulled the car to a stop and put it in park as he waited for Peter to get out. "Head through reception today, got a new guy on security and I want to test him out on you."
"Why me?" Peter asked as he unbuckled and picked up his backpack, moving to open the door.
"Do you have your badge and suit?" Happy asked, raising an eyebrow as he already knew the answer to both those questions. Peter always had his suit with him and he almost never had a badge for longer than a day because he kept losing them on patrols in alleys when he had to get changed into his suit.
Peter smiled sheepishly, "I don't think I should answer that. I see your point. Do I have permission to be full me?" He grinned at that, "It wouldn't be a good test if the constant becomes a variable."
"Sure, just don't go overkill, FRIDAY already knows not to greet you until after the new guy has talked to you." Happy agreed, "Now, go before I kick you out."
"Bye, Happy!" Peter chuckled and closed the car door, turning around to face Stark Tower. He pulled the straps to his backpack tighter over his shoulders as he walked into the Tower. He waved to Joyce at the reception desk and Colin at the security desk, the new guy standing beside him. Joyce smiled, her red lips curving upwards and her dark brown waves bouncing as she turned to Peter and waved back.
Colin, one of the regular security guards at the main entrance whose hair was greying amongst his black hair and whose face was wrinkling at the corners of his eyes, as if the smiles and laughter had finally started to leave permanent marks on the older man's face. Colin waved Peter over but before he could say anything the new guy spoke up. The new guy was young, short blonde hair shaved into a fade with spikes of longer hair on the top of his head, back straight, and shoulders back.
"Badge please," the new guy asked, holding out his hand. Peter looked at Colin and they both shrugged.
"Hi Colin, how is Rebecca doing? Did you guys enjoy Aunt May's cookies? I told you they were amazing. You're new, right? I'm Peter," Peter said cheerfully, taking his hand and shaking it firmly - far stronger than a normal teenager could give. "I don't have my badge. Happy gave up giving me one as I keep losing them."
"You need a badge to enter and move through the Tower. I can't register you on the system without a badge." The new guy said, tone firm.
"Kevin, this is Peter Parker. Rebecca is doing well, her ankle is out of its cast now but is still on rest. She wanted me to pass on how much she loved May's cookies and has demanded the recipe." Colin chuckled then turned to Kevin, "Do you remember the brief you had as a new starter?" Colin asked.
"Mr Hogan said everyone needs a badge," Kevin replied, arguing slightly.
"Except for Security 10 clearance, such as Miss Pepper Potts, Mr Tony Stark, Colonel James Rhodes, and Peter Parker. Colonel Rhodes and Miss Potts wear badges out of respect for Mr Hogan but it is not required as FRIDAY has their biometrics, including Mr Hogan's." Colin lectured. "Mr Hogan would love for everyone to wear a badge but the highest clearance people don't need them."
"FRIDAY doesn't like to just be called system," Peter said helpfully, instead it just made Kevin more defensive.
"He is a teenager, a high schooler. There's no way he's an intern here. He has to be lying, no one but Mr Stark, Miss Potts, and Mr Hogan can talk to the tower system. I need to search your bag." Kevin argued, his gaze hard, then pointed to Peter's bag and motioned for him to hand it over.
"Nope." Peter said definitively.
"No?" Kevin repeated shock in his tone. "You want to defy Tony Stark's security?"
"I do not get searched by security, I often have highly sensitive prototypes from Mr Stark for testing. You don't have high enough clearance to see them," Peter replied calmly but firm. He wasn't lying exactly, he did have the prototype Stark phone and Stark watch and a tablet that he and Mr Stark had designed, but the no-bag search rule was mostly in place because of his Spiderman suit.
"Kevin, did you not listen to Mr Hogan? The kid is Peter, Mr Stark's personal intern." Colin pointed out and then turned to Peter, "I'm sorry Peter, Kevin is new. Go ahead through the scanners please." Kevin sputtered in disbelief.
"Thanks, Colin, I know. Happy told me in the car on the way over from school." Peter said, smiling at the older security guard.
"No! He can't go through the scanners. He needs to be searched! It's protocol! The Head of Security doesn't ferry high schoolers around and no one but the Bosses call him Happy." Kevin argued, getting angry. "Your bag."
Peter paused for a moment, he could ask FRIDAY to call Happy or he could see what Kevin would do with his bag. He listened to the lobby around him and tried to pinpoint Happy's heartbeat and found it on the elevator, just about to reach the lobby. He shrugged, hiding a smirk, and held his bag out. "If you are sure, I wouldn't advise it."
Kevin snatched the bag and immediately nearly dropped it. Maybe the bag was heavier than Peter had thought. Kevin struggled to lift it up and onto the table, starting to unzip the bag.
"Kevin Maguire put the bag down and step back. I made it very clear that those with the highest clearance don't need to be searched and are to be let through without any trouble. Why have you decided to ignore protocol?" Happy called as he walked through the lobby from the elevators.
"He is a high schooler for a start and the company doesn't hire high school age interns. Even if there was an exception, which there isn't, he would have a badge and be subject to being searched! Level 10 Clearance is for family." Kevin defended himself against an angry Happy.
"Pete, grab your bag and go up, thank you for testing my staff. I guess Kevin needs more training at a minimum." Happy stared down Kevin, motioning Peter to walk through the scanner.
"Stark Industries prides itself on leading the world in technology advancements and expects its public-facing employees to be kind and understanding but firm when needed. You have been rude and argumentative, even when your colleague has reminded you of your training. Do you think that Stark Industries wouldn't hire the brightest minds regardless of age?" Peter pointed out. He was firm but felt it needed to be said. He turned to talk to Colin, "I hope Rebecca continues to get better and I'll pass the compliments and request on to Aunt May, she'll be delighted." Peter grinned, he grabbed his bag with ease - causing Kevin's jaw to drop in surprise at the ease the teenager picked up the incredibly heavy backpack- and walked through the scanner.
"Peter Parker, Level 10 All Access. Welcome Peter." FRIDAY called out. Normally she wouldn't have announced him, but apparently, she hadn't liked how Kevin had spoken to Peter either. Peter peaked over his shoulder to see a stunned and slightly mortified Kevin watching him walk away, an angry Happy pointing towards the security office, and Colin trying to hide his smile.
Peter headed straight for the personal elevator, FRIDAY opened and closed the door for him. "Hello Peter how was school?," FRIDAY greeted.
"Hey Fri, why did you announce me? You've never done that before, I thought Mr Stark had added a function to keep me secret?" Peter asked.
"I am to make sure your identity and connection to Spiderman is secret, not that you are Peter Parker or your connection with the Boss. However, I try to make sure people don't know who you are so you don't get hounded by employees for questions about or for Mr Stark." FRIDAY replied, Peter thought she sounded like she was choosing to protect him and the thought made him smile.
"So why announce me and my clearance down in the lobby?" Peter asked.
"Mr Maguire needed to believe you so that in the future he does not cause any problems if you need to enter through the main lobby again," FRIDAY said as if it was simple. Peter just hummed in agreement, she was definitely choosing to protect him.
"What time is Uncle Rhodey arriving?" Peter asked, remembering the series of texts he received from both Mr Stark and FRIDAY during his English class. "I didn't know you were able to text me."
"Boss added the feature last night in case I needed to contact you or in the emergency that neither Boss nor Miss Potts can get in contact with you but they need to. Colonel Rhodes and Mr Wilson will be arriving in 1 hour and 15 minutes. I advise you to get a snack before you head to the lab."
"Will do, thanks FRIDAY" Peter smiled at the ceiling, the elevator opening to floor 93. Peter hurried to his room to dump his backpack, checking his web shooters were in place and chucking his shoes off by the wardrobe. He headed for the penthouse kitchen, trying and failing to slide on the hardwood floors in his socks. "Damn my stickiness," he muttered.
Peter rummaged through the cupboards and fridge, pulling cheese, ham, turkey, butter, and a mixed bag of salad out of the fridge, and bread out of the cupboard along with a pack of pop tarts and a bag of crisps. He piled the sandwich fillings together to make the sandwich and then with the sandwich in one hand and the leftover filings in the other, he used the stickiness of his feet to open the fridge and threw the leftover fillings in and then with the now free hand grabbed his pop tarts and crisps.
Taking a large bite of his sandwich, Peter headed for the stairs that led down to floor 92 with the labs and workshop. He wanted to swing down the stairs but after a moment's consideration, he decided that his snacks were more important. "FRIDAY can you open the door to the workshop, my hands are full." Peter managed to call out to the AI around a mouthful of sandwich.
The door slid open, FRIDAY decided that was answer enough and closed the door behind him. The glass to the left of the door glowed with a blue hue from the security pad. Peter headed for his workbench, dropping the pop tarts and crisps down and then turning to the holotable in the centre. The central holotable used to sit on top of the floor but for better access to schematics, they had redesigned the system to drop into the floor so the entire room could be filled with schematics and so now the 'top' of the table now sat flush with the floor.
"FRIDAY can you bring up Project Focus" Peter asked, having eaten the last bite of his sandwich. He flicked his hands up, bringing up all the designs he had been working on, FRIDAY bringing the folder of Project Focus to the front and dropping all the others down and hiding them away. All the schematics of Project Focus filled the workshop.
Peter pinched and spread his fingers out, zooming in on different schematics and jumping from each of them to the next. Peter flicked the older designs to the back and FRIDAY closed them for him. Peter smiled to himself, the project was a surprise for Mr Stark and more for Peter's amusement than something meaningful. He was redesigning the STARK glasses that had FRIDAY integrated into them but integrating several of the features of the Ironman HUD display. These features included health data, information to be able to be pulled up, calls and videos, and the ability to zoom in and out and still function as normal glasses too. Peter had spotted, over the many lab sessions, Mr Stark squinting to read things and moving items closer or further away to see them more clearly.
He had asked FRIDAY about it the first time he had noticed Mr Stark doing this and she had managed to sound exasperated and said "Boss needs glasses as he is getting older but refuses to take an eye exam and get them, stating if he needs glasses he can make cooler ones." Peter had laughed and then asked if FRIDAY was able to perform eye exams with her current functions but to avoid suspicion to conduct them over several days. She had agreed and Peter had told her about his plan to build Mr Stark the cool glasses he needed.
The pair had been working on the design at every opportunity as well as Peter talking to Karen about it too and then helping FRIDAY to create a hidden pathway for the two AIs so they could pass information back and forth without Tony knowing. Both Peter and Ned, with the help of FRIDAY, had started to slowly rename Tony's protocols to even better names (they were only better in their eyes as Tony had started to find them. When he had accused Rhodey of conspiring with FRIDAY to change his protocol names he had just simply laughed and walked away).
This idea had started when they learned what Tony had called a bunch of protocols in the Sider-Man suit. Some of the protocols being Baby Monitor and Mortally Wounded - that one sent a distress signal out to Tony at the slightest detection of pain (it was sensitive enough that when Peter had hit his toe on his bed after Patrol one night Tony had turned up in the Ironman suit and found an embarrassed Peter in his Ironman pyjamas rubbing his sore foot whilst sat on the edge of his bed but would not leave as Tony insisted on checking him for injuries before leaving) - Peter had cringed at some of the names and been offended at others and decided on the spot to get revenge.
They had already, so far, changed the zoom and booster shutdown protocols to 'Old Man Bi-Focals' and 'Help I can't get up' respectively along with Helicopter Parent for the mortally Wounded Protocol on Tony's end. Ned and Peter had had a massive giggle-fit over those names and planned to do more but slowly so that hopefully Tony wouldn't notice. The pair were having great fun brainstorming ideas and were unaware that Tony had already found a couple of them.
Peter thought it'd be really fun to build the new glasses, where of course Peter was going to name all the protocols with silly names and FRIDAY would link them to the current names. Ned had been incredibly excited when Peter had told him about the project and asked if he would like to help with the coding as Peter only knew enough for his mini-spider drones and small robots, whereas coding was Ned's strength. Ned often wrote his class notes in different coding languages as he found them easier to read than English a lot of the time. The glasses were useful but also the beginning of several pranks that Peter had planned, Ned was more than happy to be an accomplice except if the pranks were against the scarier Avengers (such as Natasha or Bucky (which Peter already had plans for pranks against every Avenger even if he hadn't met them yet) as Ned said he liked being alive) at which point he only wanted to know after the fact.
FRIDAY started filling the workshop-lab with Peter's playlist, DUM-E and U trying to help as best they could but mostly just getting in the way. Peter fell into hyperfocus, occasionally talking to DUM-E and U who replied in Morse code with their beeps. Peter finalised the design with the equations he had been working on in physics class and asked FRIDAY to send the relevant parts to the fabricator and 3-D printer, then whilst he was waiting for the parts of his prototype he decided to pull up the design folder for Rhodey's leg braces on Tony's holotable. He had overheard Uncle Rhodey and Mr Stark talking about some of the faults in the braces on the phone a few days ago and wanted to see if he could help. He chose to focus on maneuverability and comfort.
He vaguely heard FRIDAY say something but he was busy humming and stimming along to the music he didn't really process what she said. That and he was focused on the holotable and the blue schematics floating around the room. He swiped a finger at some and flicked some, trying to line them up in creation order. Then he started comparing each iteration to one another, looking for problems that popped up in later iterations primarily caused by fixing other issues in previous ones.
He isolated the current iteration that Rhodey used daily with 4 previous ones and looked for faults in the newest variation that the others didn't have. Peter found problems with the isolated pinch points when sitting and maneuverability as well as the clunky clasp that held the powerpoint. The clasp sat quite high and Peter realised it was vulnerable to a side punch or kidney shot because of how high it sat. He furrowed his brows as he started taking parts off the schematic and added some, then realised that created other problems and removed them as well.
He fell deeper into hyper-focus as he kept trying new combinations of solutions and then scraping what didn't work. The pop tarts had been eaten but the crisps still sat on the counter, now long forgotten. He didn't hear FRIDAY announce that Sam and Rhodey had arrived at the tower and would be heading down to the workshop as soon as they had cleaned up.
U broke him out of his hyper-focus, although only briefly, several beeps in quick succession and U told him that the fabricator was done, the 3-D printer would be an hour or so before it was finished too. Peter just nodded towards U to let him know he heard it, focus slipping back to the braces. He moved to the centre of the room, bringing the schematics with him, facing away from the door. He had 2 new schematics being built and then several others being passed and swapped around, a mass of electric blue schematics floated and spun around him.
Peter spooked slightly as his spidey sense tingled, it was a soft almost pins and needles sensation at the base of his neck. He cocked his head to the side, his brow furrowing. Only half his attention was on the schematics surrounding him, he strained to hear who was in the tower. Peter knew that FRIDAY wouldn't let anyone in the tower who was a threat and she also wouldn't allow anyone to come down to the lab without his or Tony's permission. He could hear 2 sets of calm heartbeats, one belonged to a steady set of footsteps but the other had a slight delay between steps as if they were limping slightly.
"Hey, FRIDAY? Who's in the tower?" Peter asked, still splitting his attention between the schematics and his spidey sense. It felt familiar but he wasn't quite sure what it was trying to tell him.
"Col. Rhodes and Mr Wilson are currently in the penthouse and are on their way down to the lab now. Mr Wilson has damaged his wings and needs them repaired. I did tell you half an hour ago when they arrived." FRIDAY sounded a bit sharp as if she was annoyed at having to repeat the information. "Boss is still in meetings for another hour, both of you were asked if you meeting Mr Wilson was ok and you agreed."
"Oh right, that's now. Yes, sorry Fri." Peter apologised. He picked up the elevator doors closing up in the penthouse and Rhodey asking if the lab was still happy for visitors. Peter grinned, realising that he could freak out Sam Wilson similarly to how he had freaked out Capsicle and Snowy but then realising that he could prank Uncle Rhodey even better and it would still freak Mr Wilson as well, his grin grew wider. "Still all good Fri, can you put some of Mr Stark's music on?"
FRIDAY obliged, putting on one of Tony's playlists as Peter grabbed one of Tony's oil-covered shirts and his welding mask. He clapped his hands together to close down the schematics before quickly putting on Tony's shirt over his own and flipping down the welding mask. He grinned as he slid over to Tony's workbench and picked up some parts he knew wouldn't be an issue if he damaged them.
Just as he settled, he heard the door to the lab/workshop beep and slide open. Peter pretended to be stimming along to the old rock band, he could tell Rhodey was confused and Sam seemed angry.
"What the hell Stark!? Why would your 'lab' need permission if you were going to be here?! You're AI lied." Sam pointed at Peter, clearly his prank was working.
"Hey Tones, where's the kid? And why are you not in your meeting? Pepper is going to skin you alive if you bailed on the board members again." Rhodey shrugged, using the security panel in the glass to stop the music. Peter's shoulders started to shake as he tried his best to hold in his laughter. "Tony, what's wrong?" Rhodey quickly switched from scalding, what he thought was Tony, before concern and worry took over.
Rhodey limped slightly as he headed over, spinning Peter around and flicking up the welding mask. The concern went from worry to surprise to confusion. "Peter?! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Rhodey exclaimed and then chuckled to himself. "You looked just like Tones working on a project."
"Hey Uncle Rhodey!" Peter said cheerily in between breaths of laughter. Peter was aware of Sam still by the door but was laughing so hard that he continued to ignore him.
"Jeez Pete, you made me think Tony was ill or something." Rhodey chuckled, patting him on the shoulder. "You got me with that one. FRIDAY, did you catch it on camera? Send it over to Tony with the caption 'You're son is a menace'."
"Of course I have it saved. Sent to the Boss, Mini-Boss, and Miss Potts." FRIDAY replied, Peter and Rhodey swore she sounded slightly offended at being asked if she had recorded the interaction as if it was obvious she had it all on camera.
"A kid!? Stark has a son!?!" Sam yelled. The broken chunks of his wing fell to the floor as he threw his arms in the air. "Stark is incapable of not being an asshole and a liar." He was standing to the side, still by the door, an angry but shocked expression was on his face. Peter's laughter stopped and he could feel anger starting to boil under his skin. "I mean I'm not that surprised he has a kid but one he actually sees and lets in his lab and lives in the Tower? A kid we have never met or heard of?!" Sam continued to yell. Peter's anger grew.
"Hey! Mr Stark is a great Dad and you are not entitled to the details of his life! He has saved you more times than I'm aware of, lets you live in the Tower for free, and fixes you're equipment that he also designs and pays for! You should have more respect for Mr Stark than that!" Peter yelled, dropping the welding mask on the workbench.
Rhodey's eyebrows rose in surprise and Sam stood there shocked. Peter walked right up to him, "You have no right to be here. Mr Stark didn't want you back in the Tower but I asked him to invite you back. I said he should work on fixing the Accords. Which, by the way, when you broke his trust and decided to fight him over, were only proposed laws which if you had actually listened and worked together could have been amended like they are now! You should be better than this as a therapist, Sam Wilson. Can't you see that Mr Stark is trying to bring the Avengers back together? Can't you see that he wants to keep me safe? Mr Stark promised me that meeting all of you would be on my terms, and I then decided to keep that. So far only Miss Natasha and Mr Clint have been respectful. You promised best behaviour, I'm disappointed that a hero would act like this, that a hero would think that this is best behaviour." Peter continued, lecturing. He finished it by standing directly in front of Sam, squaring up to him, Sam was still angry but more shocked than anything at the outburst. Peter stared Sam down, ready to kick him out at a moment's notice. "I am not Mr Stark's son either, I'm his intern and someone else, which you don't have the privilege to know."
Sam stared back at Peter. The fire in his eyes, how quickly he came to Tony's defense, was a shock. The kid looked just like Tony, still in the old oily t-shirt, U and DUM-E having moved around the workbenches almost flanking Peter ready to jump in to defend him if he needed it. Rhodey was now leaning back against a workbench watching carefully. Sam tried to process how this teenager was in Stark's lab, was in here alone, and called Rhodey Uncle and yet claimed to not be Stark's son. He decided that Peter was definitely Stark's son and just didn't know it.
"You thinking about apologising there, Sam? This kid, Peter, is the one who will be fixing your wings. You did agree to best behaviour." Rhodey said, still keeping an eye on Peter, who was still fuming, waiting for the reply. Rhodey's tone was light, teasing slightly as he mentioned the best behaviour part, but still being serious.
"I'm sorry for my outburst kid, but this is a big deal that Stark has kept from us. We have a right to know. There's a kid in the tower, if we were attacked, we'd need to know to protect you." Sam tried to defend himself, not an apology but an excuse. Rhodey scoffed at that.
"I am capable of protecting myself better than you. Can you hold your own in a spar against Natasha?" Peter challenged, not happy about being reduced to a defenseless child when he was far from that.
"You're a kid, there's no way you can hold your own against Nat, not even Cap can do that," Sam argued. He opened his mouth to say something when Peter felt his spidey sense go off and reached up a hand and caught the spanner that was heading towards Sam's head.
Peter sent a glare at Rhodey, "I told you I'm also someone else, you haven't earnt that right yet and it looks like I won't be telling you as you still haven't apologised." Peter threw the spanner over onto a nearby workbench, it made a loud clang sound that Peter resisted cringing at as his whole body wanted to shrink away from the noise the spanner made.
Sam thought for a moment, he needed his wings fixed as soon as possible. He was still very angry at Stark for keeping even more things from them, especially something as big as a kid. He opened his mouth to keep arguing when Rhodey spoke up instead.
"Just apologise and chill. It's not Tony's secret to share, it's Peter's and he has chosen to start sharing that secret. If Peter didn't want you to know you wouldn't be down here and you wouldn't know. Even if you did manage to find out, you'd be dealing with not only Peter," Sam made a face as if to say seriously, the kid isn't dangerous, "Tony, Pepper, Happy, me, Clint, and Natasha." Rhodey raised an eyebrow in challenge despite raising a hand to calm Sam down, "Peter has the right to remain hidden. He has people to keep safe too."
"I still believe he's Stark's kid. Hiding him from the media I get, but from us too? We're a team. He should of told us," Sam scowled. He moved to take a step forward, but because Peter was on such high alert, he activated his spider webs and stuck Sam to the ground. Sam's expression morphed from anger to confusion and then back to anger again. "What the -!?" He started to yell but was cut off by Peter webbing up a stool to pull it over and then pushed Sam into it and then webbed Sam to that as well.
"You are not a team. You are a group that thinks they are a team whilst still throwing each other under the bus at the slightest chance it will protect you. Steve and Mr Stark can be as bad as each other but currently, the only one trying to move past the Accords and be a better team is Mr Stark." Peter spit out, he remembered how arrogant Steve was on all the disciplinary videos he had had to watch and his scowl deepened.
Sam stared at the webbing, completely missing what Peter had said, starting to struggle and twist to try and get free from the white substance. Sam hadn't seen him move and was confused, trying to work out how the kid had done it in the first place. As he continued to struggle, he studied the webbing and realised how similar it was to the stuff that had stuck him and Barnes to the floor of the airport in Germany. His expression of anger started to morph into confusion and then back to anger. "Wait, Stark brought his kid to Germany!?" he exclaimed, eyes wide in shock.
"I'm not his kid! I'm Mr Stark's intern! You are staying there in time out while the big kids talk in peace." Peter quipped, then turned to Rhodey. "Why are you limping? The braces should be taking the weight off your legs so you aren't in pain." Peter threw a couple of webs out to grab the pieces of Sam's wing and pull them over to the workbench as he questioned Rhodey. "I'll fix your wing despite not being on your best behaviour." He threw the comment over his shoulder as his main focus settled on Rhodey.
"I'm not limping," Rhodey said defensively. Peter leveled a look of doubt at him, raising an eyebrow.
"Uncle Rhodey, I could hear you walking upstairs and it was uneven, you were limping," Peter stated, a matter of fact, crossing his arms and staring at Rhodey. "I could hear the uneven pattern of you walking. What did you do to the braces? I fixed the overheating issue. Fri scan them please."
Rhodey sighed, settling on a chair and unclasping the braces just as FRIDAY's voice filled the room. "Colonel Rhodes has sustained damage to the left side of his braces, there is evidence of electrical overload in the wiring."
"Bring up the design schematic and the iteration I was working on earlier, so I can compare them," Peter said to FRIDAY as he helped Rhodey take off the braces and lay them out on the workbench. He ignored Sam struggling in the webbing, knowing full well that he wouldn't be able to escape it. Instead, he gave his full attention to figuring out what was damaged and how, slipping into easy conversations between FRIDAY, U and DUM-E and completely ignoring the other men in the lab.
Rhodey was quickly lost as Peter spoke to FRIDAY in what he swore was code and responded to the robots as if they weren't just making beeps and were instead saying actual words. Rhodey smiled softly as he watched Peter, spotting all the similarities between Tony and the kid. Peter had the same crease in his brow, the same twitching of his fingers as he scanned through schematics, the same laser focus on the project in front of him. The kid talking constantly with FRIDAY, speaking in codes and abbreviations that Rhodey was tuned out of the conversation. He looked over to see Sam staring at Peter, still in Tony's oil-stained band shirt and surrounded by blue schematics and the braces in front of him. Sam would swear Peter looked like a teenage Tony Stark, a younger version of the man he had seen absorbed in projects and inventions. The teen looked the same as his mentor, completely at ease amongst the holograms, AI, and robots in the lab.
Sam stared, half bewildered at how easily Peter conversed with FRIDAY and Stark's robots and half still in shock at how this teenager was Spiderman and had been able to beat both him and The Winter Soldier and held his own against Captain America in Germany, though he was also sulking at the realisation he had been put in timeout by a teenager of all people!
Rhodey kept an eye on Sam and watched Peter as he worked on the braces, having conversations with himself and FRIDAY and scolding DUM-E when the bot tried to get involved and was instead just getting in the way. He smiled when Peter threatened DUM-E with the dunce hat and being put in the corner, the interaction was the exact same he had watched his best friend do so many times. Peter swapped easily from talking with the bots to fixing Rhodey's braces to working on Sam's wings. He lost all track of time and awareness that he wasn't alone in the workshop lab.
The pair watched Peter fascinated, for nearly 45 minutes, whilst he fixed Sam's wings and repaired Rhodey's braces. He had fixed the broken sections of the wing, welding the places it needed and rewiring sections, and was now working on improvements to the braces that would help with reducing damage next time and make it more comfortable and smoother to move around in. He swayed slightly and braced a hand on the workbench to steady himself as black spots filled his vision.
Rhodey's eyes narrowed, noticing Peter sway slightly, his eyebrows creasing in concern. He went to move and was stopped by the heavy weight and numbness of his legs, the tech allowing him to move was on the workbench not on his legs so instead he opened his mouth to say something when FRIDAY's calm voice filled the room and the schematics were shut down. "Activating Hungry Spider Protocol, Peter you need to eat something. The snacks earlier were nearly a few hours ago."
"Fri, I'm fine, I'm nearly finished upgrading Uncle Rhodey's braces" Peter called, trying to activate the holographic schematics. He sounded frustrated at being interrupted for something so trivial as eating. He tried to wave the AI's concerns away but to no avail.
"Boss and Miss Potts have been notified and have concluded the board meeting early, they are on their way up to the penthouse. Boss is going to stop off at the kitchen to fix you a plate of food." FRIDAY passed on the information.
"What? FRIDAY no! You can't bother Mr Stark like that! I can get my own food." Peter whined, still forgetting about the 2 other people in the lab, continuing to argue with FRIDAY.
"Boss will be down in a few minutes, I suggest you collect the items from the fabricator and the 3D printer for your project before he arrives." Peter opened his mouth to continue arguing with FRIDAY but then realised what she said and quickly scanned the lab space.
Peter's eyes widened as he took in his scraps of paper covered in equations and notes and then saw the completed pieces of his project for Mr Stark sat waiting. He dropped the tools and parts in his hands onto the workbench, then leapt over the workbench easily, scraping his notes off the surface as he went, and landed in front of the fabricator. He grabbed the parts FRIDAY had created and then backflipped over to the 3D printer and grabbed those parts before climbing up the wall and along the ceiling to a corner where he lifted a ceiling tile up and slid the parts into the ceiling before replacing the tile. he walked upside down on the ceiling back over to the workbench he had been working at and dropped to the floor.
Peter could hear Tony's footsteps coming down the stairs as he swayed slightly, picking up the tools he had dropped just moments before. Rhodey smiled at Peter, "You going to tell me about that later or do I need to call Natasha to interrogate it out of you?"
Peter blinked, finally registering the 2 other people in the lab with him, a sheepish smile contorting his features as he spoke. "I thought you guys had left." He said mostly to himself then looked up at Rhodey, "Auntie Nat already knows and yes I'll tell you later." He smirked at Rhodey, who only raised an eyebrow at Peter referring to the Black Widow as Auntie, whilst Sam mouthed the words Auntie Nat surprised. First, it was Uncle Rhodey and now Auntie Nat, there was no way this kid wasn't Stark's. Peter glared at Sam, "If you breathe a word, I will throw you through the wall and out the Tower before you even know what's happening." Sam just nodded, Peter smiled broadly just as there was a beep from the lab door and Tony Stark walked in.
"Hey kiddo, sorry I'm late. Pepper wouldn't let me skip the board meeting. Something about still being the owner and face of the company and missing all the other meetings. Why didn't you raid the snack cupboard down here?" Tony asked as he ruffled Peter's hair with one hand and pressed a plate of food into Peter's hands with the other. The plate had a sandwich, an apple, a chocolate bar, and a handful of crisps on it.
Sam raised an eyebrow at the large portion of food - at least for a snack plate, it was a standard size for lunch - and at Tony's clear sign of affection. Peter shuffled on his feet, smiling softly at Tony ruffling his hair. "I got distracted. Uncle Rhodey damaged his braces and Mr Falcon broke his wing. They're both fixed but I just need Fri to run the diagnostics to make sure they're working."
Peter pointed to each workbench and then went to put the plate down and get back to tinkering when Tony shut him down. "Ah no. Eat then you can play!" Tony said sternly, fully ignoring his best friends chuckle. "You are not going to faint on me again because you said you were fine when you are clearly not. Eat." He pointed to the plate and kicked a chair over to the kid. Peter looked at Rhodey for help who just put his hands up in defence, giving a clear sign he wasn't going to intervene.
Peter sighed dramatically and started to pout. "No, don't start with the puppy dog eyes. I will drag Pepper down here." Peter's shoulders sagged in defeat and he mumbled a ' Yes Dad' as he picked up the plate and instead of sitting down on the chair Tony had pulled over, crawled up the wall to perch in the corner of the room against the ceiling, and started to munch on the food. Tony chuckled and shook his head at the small victory, he decided not to comment on how Peter had decided to eat his food.
Tony then turned his attention to Sam, "If I had a nickel for every time I found Peter with a webbed-up Avenger, I'd have 2 nickles. Which isn't a lot but it's weird it's happened twice." Tony said, then realised what he had said and turned around to point at Peter, "No more pop culture references for you. Understood?"
"What? No! Come on Mr Stark, that's not fair!" Peter exclaimed then noticed that Tony was serious and grumbled into his sandwich something about boomers and Gen X and Peter resolved that Tony only meant today as he hadn't specified a time frame. Tony just rolled his eyes at his kid.
"Why is Sam wrapped up in your webbing?" Tony asked, he turned halfway so he could see everyone in the lab.
"He called you a liar and an asshole and was getting angry so I put him in time out." Peter shrugged, now moving on to his apple and chocolate bar. Tony looked over at his best friend, an eyebrow raised in question. "He also implied you were a bad Dad, which isn't true," Peter added after a moment.
"Don't look at me Tones, he's your kid. Plus I've been wanting to shut Sam up since this morning." Rhodey shrugged.
"How many times do I have to say it? He's not my kid. Fri, you want to back me up here?" Tony called out to his AI.
"Boss, you have skipped and cancelled 5 meetings this week alone because Peter called you or arrived at the Tower early for lab time. You have also ignored 3 meetings completely because Peter was sending you videos and you insist that any message Peter sends you is a priority. I have over 25 protocols solely for Peter. You skipped out of meetings for the afternoon last month to go to Peter's decathlon competition and left early to pick him up from school on numerous occasions. May Parker has also added you as an emergency contact to all Peter's files including his school." FRIDAY responded, and then she played the video from just an hour ago of Peter dressing up at Tony to prank Rhodey into believing he was Tony Stark.
"Ok, ok, I get it. Even my AI has turned on me for you kid." Tony said exasperatedly. "First DUM-E then U and now FRIDAY, is EDITH next? Actually, no, stop corrupting my tech." Tony pointed at Peter, though it was only half-heartedly. Peter just grinned in the corner, now crunching on his crisps. Sam coughed from where he was still webbed up.
"If it helps, I thought he was your kid and to be honest still do." Sam offered. Tony glared at him.
"Says the liar." Tony scoffed.
"I was frustrated ok! You've kept a lot from us and this just seemed like yet another thing you were keeping from the team that we should have known about. You should have told us. You brought your kid to Germany? How long has this been going on for? We live here too you know!" Sam tried to argue. The happiness on Peter's face fell. Tony just stared at Sam for a moment before his features fell into stern disappointment.
"It was not my secret to keep." Tony said bluntly, "You are not entitled to Peter's life, he decides when to share who he is and to who he wants. Besides you're only living in the Tower because of the kid. If it wasn't for him you lot would still be wanted fugitives sitting in Wakanda."
"The kid can't be the reason you invited us back," Sam shook his head in doubt. "He's a kid. There's no way."
"It's true. I was trying to push everything away. I packed everything in the Tower up and was going to move it all up to the compound for storage, then sell the building. Underoos here stopped it all from being stolen and after a few weeks of lab days, which Pepper and Happy suggested I try to mentor him properly, he suggested I try to forgive you all and bring back the team. I have monthly meetings with the UN and the World Security Council to try and revise the Accords to something that's useful." Tony said simply, his voice slightly cold towards Sam.
Sam still didn't believe it but sighed anyway. "Who else knows?"
"Natasha and Legolas were the first to meet Peter outside of Pepper, Happy, and me. The kid got jumped scared and got stuck to the ceiling. Then scared the crap out of Capsicle and Snowy at 1 am, though they only met Spiderman and currently Capsicle is on the no-go list according to Peter. Then I forgot I hadn't told Rhodey about the kid and freaked him by calling him after the kid won his decathlon competition because I had to tell someone I was so proud of him." Tony started listing out the interactions and was about to start saying that Peter was in charge of who knew and when, but was cut off by Peter wrapping himself around Tony in a tight hug.
Tony immediately started to panic, worrying about if he had upset him by telling Sam all this. "Hey kid, look at me, what's wrong? Did I say something? Talk to me, buddy."
Peter pulled back, smiling wide up at his mentor. "You were so proud of me you called Uncle Rhodey?"
"Yeah kid, I needed to tell someone and he was the first person on the list. I was going to call both Pep and Happy to tell them too but you and your friends left the hall before I could finish talking to Rhodey. Also, stop calling him Uncle and Natasha Auntie, it's a bit creepy." Tony smiled, a genuine warming smile. Peter's smile broadened even more and he nuzzled into Tony and squeezed slightly. Tony squeezed his kid back, a soft smile resting on his face.
"Not a chance," Peter mumbled into Tony's t-shirt.
"Hey, is that my shirt?" Tony asked, spotting the old Black Sabbath band shirt covered in oil stains. The only response he got was a nod into his shoulder and Rhodey chuckling with a small shake of his head. "Ok then, guess we can talk about that later. Are you warm enough Pete? Where's your hoodie?" Tony fell into a concerned parent as he realised Peter must be cold.
Peter just hugged Tony tighter, releasing a hand free to point over to the chair by his main workbench where the old MIT hoodie sat over the back of the chair. "I'm warm enough Mr Stark," Peter reassured, attaching himself back to Tony, who only chuckled slightly.
"Wait, you were the midnight snack demon Steve was ranting about? The intruder in the Tower that Stark didn't care about?" Sam asked, then started to laugh. "He was so pissed about being stuck to the counter and refused to talk to Barnes for a couple of days because he wouldn't defend him." Even Rhodey chuckled at that. "Peter, why do you call Rhodes Uncle?"
"Oh, because it annoys Mr Stark." Peter grinned. "The same with calling him Mr Stark, he hates it and I find it funny." Tony ruffled his hair with a snort.
"Right kid, unstick pigeon feathers here and then you can talk us through what you've done and come up with. Let's see what that brain of yours has concocted."
Peter's eyes gleamed in happiness and he quickly detached from Tony and flipped over to his bench and grabbed a spray bottle. It was tiny and had a light blue liquid to it. "This is the solvent spray I made to dissolve my webs. It'll only take a few minutes." He walked over to Sam as he explained and sprayed the webbing.
Then Peter turned to Tony and said to FRIDAY, "Can you bring up the schematics I made of Uncle Rhodey's braces and then run diagnostics of Mr Falcon's wings and the modifications to Rhodey's braces? I think he would quite like to have a walk around soon."
FRIDAY brought up all the designs and ran the test, relaying the information to Peter as he excitedly talked his mentor through his ideas and what he had done to fix the two hero's equipment. They spent the next hour running tests and talking about design changes, Rhodey and Sam exchanging several knowing looks as the pair finished each other sentences and became lost in their projects.
Sam stretched as he walked over to Rhodey's side, he raised an eyebrow, "I'm not blind, I see Stark has a heart. I'm sorry for snapping, but it will take me a while to get used to seeing Stark so affectionate and displaying emotions other than arrogant asshole and Mr Know-it-all. It's going to be great fun teasing Steve about Peter without telling him." Sam grinned. "Hey kid, I'm sorry. How about we start over?"
Peter stopped his excited babbling at his mentor faced Sam and nodded. "Hi Mr Wilson, I'm Peter." He held out his hand to shake which Sam took gratefully and shook. "You're wings are super cool." Peter grinned.
"I know." Sam grinned in return. "You got any ideas on improvements?" He laughed as Peter lit up with excitement, their meeting may have been somewhat rocky but hopefully, they could patch it up by the time the day was through.
"Of course I do little pigeon." Peter grinned and pulled up a bunch of schematics, Sam rolled his eyes at him copying one of Stark's many nicknames. The lab was filled with Peter talking through all the modifications he had made and modifications he wanted to make to both Rhodey's braces and Sam's wings. Tony and Peter worked on separate schematics and swapped them back and forth, falling into their usual routine of the lab. The next hour passed quickly as Rhodey and Sam were lost in the technobabble, trying to understand and help where they could.
"Colonel Rhodes, the food has arrived." FRIDAY broke the technobabble with her announcement. "Happy is on his way up with it now."
"Thanks, FRIDAY," Rhodey said, Tony looked at him quizzically. "I ordered Thai for dinner back on the jet after the mission."
"You got Thai?!" Peter called out, jumping up and down. Sam laughed at how excited and bouncy the kid still was after the last few hours, whilst he was exhausted. "Best person ever!"
"Hey! I thought I was your favourite person?" Tony called out, helping Rhodey put his braces back on as Sam picked up his now fixed wing-pack.
"Did you order Thai from my favourite restaurant today? No, you didn't, but Uncle Rhodey did." Peter responded, poking his tongue out at Tony. Tony feigned hurt, holding a hand over his heart and then glowering at his best friend.
"Stop trying to steal my kid."
"Well if I'm going to be the best Uncle then of course I'm going to bribe the kid. You may have all the gadgets but I chose to play the food card." Rhodey laughed at Tony. "Hey Pete, is the bribe working?" His answer was a series of fast nods. Rhodey and Sam laughed as Tony scoffed, dramatically still holding his hand over his heart.
"You staying for film night Birdy?" Tony decided to change the topic slightly. "It's Pep's turn for movie night and the kid is staying over as his Aunt is working a double shift tonight."
Sam considered for a second before replying, "As much as Thai sounds good, I'm exhausted. Maybe another time, we could do an Avengers movie night when everyone finally meets Peter." He suggested. Tony just nodded and motioned for everyone to leave the lab.
"Right, come on then you lot. We don't want to upset Happy by being late." He herded them out the door, Sam headed for the elevator on the floor and FRIDAY picked him up and took him down to his floor whilst the others went to the stairs up to the penthouse.
"It was good to meet you, Peter, I'm sorry I was a bit of an asshole," Sam called an apology again as the doors to the elevator doors closed. Just before the shut, he caught a wave and a smile from the teenager.
Peter pulled out his phone as the trio reached the kitchen, quickly typing a message out to Ned that he would talk to him in a couple of hours after movie night and then a message to Rhodey.
The parts are for a project for Mr Stark. Fri says he needs glasses but won't get them so I'm building fancy ones but Ned and I are changing all the protocol names with Fri's help. We've already changed his zooming function to Old Man Bi-Focals and Mortally Wounded to Helicopter Parent.
He added a grinning emoji to the end of the message before pressing send and putting his phone back in his pocket. He looked up to see Tony raising an eyebrow at him.
"I was just sending a message to Ned that I'll talk to him later because we have movie night." Peter smiled innocently. It wasn't technically a lie, just not the whole truth either. Tony just hummed as Rhodey pulled out his phone and tried to hide his laugh with a cough as he read Peter's message. He looked over at Peter and nodded with a smirk. Peter grinned knowing the Rhodey would be happy to help.
Rhodey couldn't help but laugh. He knew Peter had been changing the protocol names ever since Tony had first accused him. He thought it was hilarious and was more than happy to help and he loved the idea that Peter was building a pair of glasses with the names built in. Tony wasn't aware of just how much Peter was like him, or that Peter would cause him to go grey rather quickly. He was glad his best friend had found the kid, Peter made the Tower feel like a home not just a house.
Peter was the embodiment of warm smiles and comforting hugs and was exactly what Tony needed to help him learn to share his heart again. The world may see Tony Stark as this arrogant playboy with more money than sense and Tony often believed what the world and media said about him, Rhodey was glad that Peter was starting to show Tony that wasn't the case, even if Peter would likely be the death of him. Rhodey thought Tony wouldn't mind that.
The group picked up their food before settling onto the sofas, Peter in between Tony and Rhodey with Pepper next to Tony and Happy on one of the chairs. They settled into movie night, Peter and Tony not realising that as the movie went on, after all the food was eaten, how they settled into each other. Peter fitted easily into the space made for him by Tony. Tony stretched an arm around Peter to pull him in close. Rhodey smiled and shared a look with Pepper as she watched the pair with fondness in her eyes.
Rhodey was glad that Peter had still had a fun afternoon and evening, even if meeting Sam hadn't exactly gone smoothly. The two seemed to have made up by the time FRIDAY called for dinner. Sam had to agree with Rhodey, not everyone Tony loved and cared for was an asshole.
Peter settled against Tony and started to plot how he wanted to officially meet Mr Barnes and Steve. He didn't like Steve, and not just because of how he had hurt Tony but also because of all those videos he had had to sit through. He'd seen them all so much he could practically say them off by heart. However, he did want to make friends with Mr Barnes. He resolved to talk to Natasha tomorrow about how to meet Barnes without Steve, he wasn't quite ready for Steve to know just yet. Peter smiled to himself and tried to tune into the movie but failed as his eyes drooped with tiredness.
Peter yawned and snuggled deeper into Tony's side, his mentor starting to rub soothing circles into his upper arm, encouraging Peter to sleep. Before long he had fallen asleep, unaware of the soft smile on Tony's lips as he ignored the film completely and just watched his kid. Tony thought he was the luckiest person in the world to have Peter in his life and he would make sure it stayed that way. Tony fell asleep not long after, all the sleepless nights finally catching up to him as nightmares refused to let him rest.
However, Tony didn't have any nightmares that night on the sofa with Peter curled up into him. Pepper had decided to leave them there, instructing Happy to grab Peter's duvet from his room and Rhodey to get the blankets from the cupboard to cover them up. FRIDAY taking a handful of pictures for her folder of cute father/son moments, sending a copy to Pepper and Rhodey as well as adding copies to both Peter's and Tony's folders. of cute moments. FRIDAY watched over her boys as Pepper said goodbye to Rhodey and Happy before they all headed to their respective homes. In Happy's case it was his flat he insisted on keeping, Rhodey and Pepper going to their rooms on the penthouse floor. The New York City lights, filtered into the room and FRIDAY closed the blinds down fully to make sure the pair actually got some sleep. Soft snoring came from the sofa as Tony pulled Peter closer in his sleep and Peter snuggled in tighter.