A First Meeting
Tony Stark was in his apartment. Tony Stark was in his apartment. Tony Stark. Iron Man. Iron Man was in his apartment.
“Peter! Mr Stark was just telling me about the internship you applied for, why didn’t you tell me?”
Internally, Peter was panicking. He definitely had not applied for an internship at Stark Industries. Which meant that Mr Stark probably knew he was Spiderman. Or he had realised that Peter had recently hacked the new Stark Phone. Either was possible. But he had been Spiderman for almost eight months now, so surely it couldn’t be that.
“Uhh…I really didn’t think I would get it, so I didn’t want to get you excited in case nothing happened.”
Peter thought that was a rather good save, considering how bad he was at lying. It had only taken May a month to figure out he was Spiderman. Another reason to think this was about the Stark Phone. Surely if it was Spiderman related, Mr Stark would’ve just told May?
“Mrs Parker, would you mind if I spoke to Peter privately?”
May nodded and Peter led Mr Stark to his room, only remembering after he had allowed Mr Stark in just how much Iron Man memorabilia was in his bedroom. Peter could see Mr Stark looking around out the corner of his eye. Blushing, Peter glanced around to make sure there was nothing incriminating on show. Satisfied, Peter turned to Mr Stark, waiting for him to speak. Peter would not be first to speak. He wanted to know what Mr Stark knew before he accidentally spilled a secret.
“Big Iron Man fan?”
Peter stammered, that wasn’t what he was expecting.
“Uh, yes sir. You saved my life, kind of hard not to be.”
“I did?”
“Yeah, at the Stark Expo. A robot was going to shoot me and you took it out. So thank you, I guess, but what are you doing here? Because I didn’t apply for an internship, as much as I would like one.”
Mr Stark looked a little shocked, Peter thought. Maybe he wasn’t expecting Peter to be quite so in awe of him.
“Yes. Well. You hacked my new phone. It was supposed to be unhackable.”
Peter breathed a sigh of relief, his Spiderman secret was safe.
“Oh, also you’re Spiderman. That’s why I’m here.”
Peter felt the blood drain from his face. Well, there went that secret.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, sir.”
Peter would deny everything, that seemed the safest route. If he admitted to one of those things he may as well admit to both.
“I traced the hack to you, and then I kept an eye on you. I’ve literally seen you leave in those pyjamas you call a suit.”
Peter felt he could continue to deny, Mr Stark had no proof.
“Can you prove it?”
Mr Stark reached up and released the hatch into the little roof space, causing his suit to drop to the floor. Peter’s jaw dropped, well there was no use denying being Spiderman now.
“Okay fine, what do you want?”
“I need you to come to Germany with me.”
Peter’s mind ground to a halt. That was insane. Peter may idolise Iron Man but even he wasn’t stupid enough to follow a stranger halfway across the globe.
“I can’t. I have homework.”
Peter winced internally at his lame excuse. But it was all he could think of on the spot.
“That is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Why would I go to Germany with you?”
Mr Stark frowned at him.
“Cap’s gone mad, we need reinforcements.”
Peter frowned, that sounded unlikely.
With sudden realisation, Peter thought that this must be something to do with the Sokovia Accords. Peter had read the Accords and honestly thought they had a point. Peter still remembered the wreckage that was Manhattan after the 2012 invasion, and the Avengers had literally destroyed an entire country just over a year ago and then multiple people had died in Lagos.
But Peter also knew he would never sign the Accords himself. He had too many people to protect to register his identity like that. Recently, on the news, Peter had seen the terrorist attack on the building where the Accords were being signed. He recognised the supposed perpetrator. The Winter Soldier; he was included in the file dump from SHIELD, and based on the implications in some of the files, he had killed Mr Stark’s parents.
Peter had read every single file pertaining to the Winter Soldier, both HYDRA and SHIELD, and there was a small addendum in the mission list. Attached to one of the dates the Soldier was reported to have had a mission was a newspaper article about the deaths of Howard and Maria Stark. Peter had put the pieces together.
“So, you want me to what? Go to Germany and fight Captain America? And whoever else is on his side? I don’t have a death wish, thank you.”
“I don’t want you to fight him, you’re a child. No, I want you to web his shield away from him. If we can get the shield away from him, we can come to a compromise. That’s all I want you to do, I swear.”
Peter thought it over. It actually didn’t sound too bad. He wouldn’t be involved in the fighting, and he would also get to meet the Avengers, which was pretty cool. He would have to ask May obviously.
“Before I decide, can I actually have an internship at Stark Industries?”
Mr Stark chuckled at him.
“Sure, kid. You’re smart. I think you’ll do well at SI. I’ll get Pep to sort the paperwork for when we’re back.”
“Cool. Two seconds.”
Peter opened his bedroom door and looked at May.
“Hey, Aunt May? Mr Stark needs Spiderman’s help in Germany for something. Can I go? I promise I’ll do all my homework on the plane. And he says I won’t be fighting anyone, I’m just back up.”
“Peter, it’s Thursday, you’ll miss school.”
“Can you call and say I’m sick? Also, he says I can have the internship at SI.”
Peter held his breath as May visibly thought it over.
“Fine. But I want you back in time for school on Monday. And I expect updates as usual, okay?”
“Thanks May, you’re the best!”
Peter shut his bedroom door again and came face to face with a gobsmacked Tony Stark.
“What?”
“What do you mean ‘what’? She knows you’re Spiderman?”
“Well, yeah. We live in the same tiny flat. She was gonna notice. She figured it out in a month. We have a system. And I can go but I have to be back in time for school on Monday. Is that cool?”
“Yeah, it will only take a day, maybe two at most.”
Peter was sat in an airplane for the first time in his entire life. Mr Stark had even gotten him a passport which, admittedly, Peter hadn’t thought about.
“For your internship, the first thing you’re doing is designing a new suit. I’m not having you run around in a onesie.”
“It’s not a onesie, Mr Stark, it’s a suit. I made it myself. But a new suit would be good. Can I put my AI in it?”
Mr Stark looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
“You have an AI?”
“Well, I’ve designed one. I don’t know if she’ll work until I program her into something.”
“If it works, you can do it. And that goes for anything you wanna put in the suit.”
Peter smiled to himself, his mind working on overdrive as he tried to plan what would be most helpful to add to the suit.
“Are all the Avengers gonna be there or is it just Captain America?”
“It’s pretty much everyone, Spiderboy. I’ve got Rhodey, Vision, Nat, and T’Challa. He’s the king of Wakanda. And Cap has Bucky, Clint, Wanda, Sam, and a guy named Scott who can turn into an ant, maybe you guys can be friends.”
Peter had honestly stopped listening after Mr Stark said he had Nat on his side. Peter was going to be on the same team as the Black Widow. This was the best day of his life. He wondered if he would be able to ask for some fighting tips. Would she even want to talk to him? He was also surprised that she had decided to sign the Accords, from what he knew of her that was surprising. Peter stayed silent for the rest of the flight, thinking over what he knew. He was going to be stealing Captain America’s shield, which felt vaguely like a crime to Peter, who had idolised Captain America growing up. Peter had lingering doubts that this wasn’t going to go as well as Mr Stark hoped. Having read the SHIELD files, Peter knew that Captain America had never backed down from a fight in his entire life, and he doubted this time would be any different. Abruptly, Peter wondered if Mr Stark knew that the Winter Soldier had killed his parents. Peter reasoned that he must, SI was equipped with the best technology in the world, he must’ve decrypted the HYDRA files at some point, or someone would’ve told him. Either way, it wasn’t Peter’s place to say anything.
Disembarking the plane, Peter was hit with a new wave of nervous excitement at the fact he was about to meet the Black Widow. He hoped she liked him, he would be devastated if she didn’t. Mr Stark seemed to like him, or at least respect him, despite his age, so he hoped Black Widow would be the same.
“Come on Spiderboy, put your mask on.”
“It’s SpiderMAN.”
Peter grumbled but complied, nonetheless. Mr Stark had stressed the importance of not letting the others know who he was, to protect himself and his family.
“Where have you been?”
“I told you, I needed reinforcements.”
Peter had to remind himself to breathe as he caught sight of Black Widow.
“This is Spiderboy.”
Peter felt annoyance flash through him.
“It’s Spiderman, Mr Stark.”
Peter surprised himself at how cold his voice sounded. Evidently, he surprised Mr Stark, who was looking at him with a raised eyebrow.
“Whatever. Guys, this is Spiderman. Spiderman, this is Nat, Vision, and T’Challa. Where’s Rhodey?”
“Scouting the area. He’ll be back in a few minutes.”
It had slipped Peter’s mind that Vision was an android, and he found himself caught unaware, staring at the man’s red face. He couldn’t wait to ask Mr Stark about the coding involved in creating him. His attention was drawn to T’Challa, who had come forward to shake his hand.
“Oh, uh, hi Your Majesty, it’s nice to meet you.”
Peter internally warred with whether to bow; he had never met royalty before.
“No, no. Just call me T’Challa, we are on the same side after all.”
“Okay, T’Challa, sir. Can I just say I think your suit is really cool? I’d love to speak to whoever designed it.”
“That would be my sister, Princess Shuri. Perhaps after this, you and Mr Stark can pay a visit to Wakanda. We do, after all, have the most advanced technology in the world.”
Peter grinned widely under his mask. He could hardly wait. He hoped Mr Stark would agree.
“So, this was your Queens plan?”
Peter spun round to find Black Widow analysing him. He gulped nervously.
“Yeah, pretty good, right?”
“We’ll see, Stark.”
Peter stepped forward, holding his hand out.
“Uh, his Miss Black Widow Romanoff, ma’am, it’s very cool, nice to meet you.”
Peter winced at his mild word vomit. Not a good first impression. He raised his free hand to brush over the Black Widow symbol on his chest, he could do this.
“Just Nat is fine, kid. Stark told you what we need you for?”
“Yes, Miss Romanoff. I have to take Captain America’s shield and then stay out of the way.”
Black Widow nodded at him and then walked away to stand with Mr Stark on the other side of the room. He accidentally tuned into their conversation before he could stop himself and immediately wished he hadn’t as Black Widow’s scornful voice filled his ears.
“Geez, Stark, where did you find him? Preschool? He looks like a strong breeze would blow him over.”
Peter’s heart sank. She didn’t like him. She didn’t think he could do this. To his horror, he could feel tears pooling in his eyes. Now was not the time to be upset about this. He could cry about it later in his room, where he wouldn’t embarrass himself in front of all his favourite superheroes. He stood motionless for a few seconds, collecting his frayed emotions. He would just have to find a way to prove to her that he did know what he was doing. He knew it wouldn’t make her like him, but at least he would have the satisfaction of proving her wrong. Besides, he had been training. He had perfected all the fighting moves he had copied from old clips of Black Widow fights he had found on Youtube, and even incorporated a few of his own. He had also been getting help from some of New York’s vigilantes.
Daredevil had helped him hone his superhearing, allowing him to completely drain out background noise and focus on the minute movements of criminals that gave away what they were going to do before they did it. Deadpool, weird as he was, bought Peter food sometimes and gave him some actually pretty useful crimefighting tips. And there was a whole list of vigilantes that Deadpool knew who had helped him train as well. Peter could even use knives in a fight now. Deadpool had wanted to teach him how to use a gun as well, but Peter had firmly said no, he wouldn’t touch guns after what happened to Ben.
“Right, suit up guys. Let’s go.”
Peter was drawn out of his musings by Mr Stark’s commanding voice. Giving himself a mental shake, Peter geared himself up for his minimal but very important job.
Honestly, Peter could really do without this right now. Mr Stark and Captain America were talking. He had webbed up the shield no problem. It was going well. And then Mr Stark had told him to keep his distance and now he was chasing The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, The Winter Soldier, through an airport terminal. This was pretty much every single thing Aunt May didn’t want him to be doing as Spiderman, she was going to give him so many chores when he got back. Peter was impressed, however, with the Soldier’s metal arm; the programming that went into it must have been incredible. He would need to reread the HYDRA files and see if there was any information about it.
And then, Peter was going one to one with Captain America and actually holding his own. Of course, he knew he was basically losing, but it was a more evenly matched fight than he thought it would be. Peter didn’t know if that said more about his skills or Captain America’s. Peter webbed up the Captain’s ankles before springing out of reach, muttering to himself.
“We shot him in ze legs because his shield is the size of a dinner plate, and he is an idiot.”
Unfortunately for Peter, said shield was a very effective frisbee and did not at all respect the laws of physics, causing it to hit Peter when it really shouldn’t have been able to. Peter felt two of his ribs crack, and knew he was pretty much done for. He patched himself through to Mr Stark.
“Uh, Mr Stark? Captain Righteous broke my ribs, I don’t know how much more use I’m going to be.”
While he was distracted, Peter missed Captain America breaking the supports that held up whatever it was that he was stood under. His Spidey sense, as he had taken to calling it, alerted him and he quickly threw his arms up to catch it. He barely managed to stop himself vomiting as he felt his broken ribs move around in his chest, it was truly a disgusting feeling. By the time Peter had gotten himself free, Captain America had disappeared.
The flight back home was quiet. Mr Stark had not come back with him. Nobody had, actually. Mr Rhodes had been accidentally shot down and he was on a jet with medical facilities on board. Vision was, actually Peter didn’t know where Vision was, not on the plane with him at least. Perhaps the thing that was bothering Peter the most was the fact that Natasha Romanoff had betrayed Tony. She had let the Captain and the Winter Soldier escape and had then disappeared. The rest of Captain America’s team had been captured, which Peter also wasn’t happy about. The whole reason they had not signed the Accords was because they didn’t want to be controlled, and now they were in some super secret government prison somewhere. Mr Stark had gone to Siberia, saying that that was where the others had gone, and that he would see Peter in New York in a few days.
Peter adjusted himself in his seat, wincing slightly as he jostled his ribs. They were almost healed but they would still hurt for a couple of days. He pulled out his phone to call Aunt May. It went straight to voicemail.
“Hi, Aunt May. I’m not sure what time it is there but I just got back on the plane a few hours ago. Things didn’t go…well you’ll probably see it on the news. I’m alright, though! I’ll try to be quiet when I get in. Oh! And Mr Stark said my internship starts next week. How cool is that? He’s going to send a car to pick me up. We haven’t talked about hours and stuff yet but I’ll bring any paperwork home so you can read it too. Love you!”
Peter shut his phone off and reclined the seat. He wanted to catch up on as much sleep as possible before he had to go to school on Monday.