Chapter 2
It was drizzling this morning. The sky was gray and dreary and a perfect reflection of how Peter was feeling.
Not only did he have to face the crushing feeling of it being Monday, but there was the added burden of now living and going to school with his de-aged mentor. Which wasn't entirely unpleasant, but certainly not something to look forward to.
His day started with May banging on his door, telling them to get up. She had a shift at the hospital, so she was out the door before Peter had the chance to roll out of bed, which left Mr. Stark as his responsibility.
That was a strange thing to think, considering how Peter had been his responsibility for months, and despite the fact he looked 17, Mr. Stark is was very much the adult in the room.
Apparently, that didn’t make him the morning person in the room.
Peter told him to get up, then went to start breakfast. He came back, shook Mr. Stark awake, then went back to finish breakfast. He left Mr. Stark's portion on the counter before shaking him awake again and then went to shower and brush his teeth. By the time Peter finished getting dressed, Mr. Stark still wasn't up and he'd had enough.
"Get up," he said, shoving Mr. Stark out of bed.
With a loud thump, the man landed on the ground, still tangled in the sheets. He let out a high whine.
"Kid, what the hell?"
Peter didn't have any sympathy left for him, they were going to be late on Mr. Stark's first day back at school.
"Your breakfast is on the table, you have 5 minutes to get ready or we're going to miss the subway," Peter stated.
"God, I miss when you were all hero worship-y. You were a lot nicer then," Mr. Stark grumbled, slowly extracting himself from the sheets.
"If you don't hurry up, I'm going to leave without you."
Mr. Stark tossed the blankets to the side, standing up with a stretch. The silk pajamas he'd brought with him hung a little loosely off his frame. "Ugh, kid, did May not tell you?"
Peter paused, tilting his head slightly to the side. "Tell me what?"
"Happy's driving," he said as if it would be obvious. "No offense, but the day you catch me riding the subway, feel free to shoot me."
Peter wondered how Happy felt about this. Even if he had warmed up to Peter in the past few months, he had never been elated about ferrying Peter back and forth for lab days. Peter doesn't imagine driving two teenagers back and forth from school every day is what he had envisioned when he was hired at Stark Industries. But then again, Mr. Stark and Happy were good friends, so maybe he wouldn't mind because it was Mr. Stark.
He was hesitant to just accept this change in his routine. Not only because he liked his routine, but he also didn’t want to draw a lot of attention to himself by being shepherded to school by a bodyguard in a Rolls-Royce. Peter wasn’t popular or well known, but the people who did know him were well aware that Peter was a scholarship student whose family didn’t even own a car. They didn’t really need one, because they lived in New York, but the point still stands.
Peter was already going to get attention for being related to the new kid. Midtown rarely got any transfers due to the rigorous admissions process, but Miss Potts and Director Fury had managed to work it out. People were going to talk no matter what he did.
"Ignoring how painfully out of touch that was, I don't think that's a good idea," Peter said, shuffling back and forth. He's already pushed Mr. Stark out of bed this morning. He didn’t want to test his luck by arguing with the man as well.
Mr. Stark shuffled by him, his socked feet barely making any noise on the floor. Peter had no clue how he slept with socks on. His senses would go insane if he ever tried that.
"Good thing I don't pay you to think," he snarked. And... ouch. Was Mr. Stark always this grouchy in the mornings?
"You don't pay me at all. And if you did, you literally would be paying me to think, considering how much time I spend in the labs.”
Mr. Stark moved over to the coffee machine, making himself a cup from the pot May had made earlier. Peter didn’t drink coffee, and May always said he's already too hyperactive, but Mr. Stark downed the drink like his life depended on it. Then, he went back for seconds.
Peter waited awkwardly in the entrance to the kitchen while Mr. Stark started on his second cup, savoring it this time.
"Besides, too late to catch the metro right?"
Peter wrinkled his nose. "Subway, Mr. Stark. It's the subway."
The older man just waved his hand. "Whatever."
He finished off the cup, washing it out in the sink before moving back towards the room. "I'm gonna get changed. Happy should be here already if you wanna head on down." And with that, the door to his bedroom swung shut. Mr. Stark didn't even look in the direction of the eggs Peter made.
He sighed, not knowing where to go from there.
It was so difficult, trying to reconcile the larger-than-life hero Peter had been mentored by and the moody teenager with a coffee addiction. He wasn't sure which held more truth, but it made Peter's head hurt.
Figuring he wasn't going to make any progress on that dilemma, he grabbed his backpack and made his way out the door.
Just as predicted, Happy was waiting outside, fingers tapping impatiently on the wheel. He didn't seem too worried, which could be attributed to Mr. Stark's chronic lateness.
Peter opened the back door, sliding in with a peppy "Good morning, Happy!"
The older man just grunted.
Not deterred by Happy's normal attitude, Peter quickly picked up the conversation. "So, is this going to become a normal thing?"
Happy paused as if he knew that if he answered this one question he wouldn't be able to extract himself from further conversation attempts. Eventually, he nodded. "Yeah, until Tony's back to his usual ancient self."
Peter snorted. "I don't know how happy he would be to hear you call him that."
"He can be as grouchy as he wants, I'm not scared of any shrimpy teenagers."
"Not even me?" Peter asked curiously.
Happy scoffed. "Please, kid."
"I could bench press this car with my pinky finger."
"Yeah? You also apologize to people who run into you."
Peter grumbled in the backseat admitting defeat.
Happy glanced at him through the rearview mirror, Peter could tell he wanted to say something, but they were interrupted by Mr. Stark opening the passenger's seat door.
"What are we all sitting around for? Let's get a move on, Hap," Mr. Stark said. It looked like the caffeine's kicked in. "Can't have the kid missing homeroom."
"Or you, don't want to make a bad impression on your first day," Happy pointed out. Mr. Stark reached out to turn on some music, but Happy swatted his hand away. Peter knew the man didn't like to listen to anything while he drove. He said it took away concentration that could be used for monitoring threats.
"I'm not going to be there forever," Mr. Stark scoffed. "Besides it is high school, how hard could it be?"
That comment raised both Happy and Peter's eyebrows. It took a moment for Mr. Stark to notice their incredulous stares.
"What?"
Peter cleared his throat. "Mr. Stark, how long ago did you go to high school?"
Mr. Stark looked between Peter and Happy, confused.
"I didn't. My education was... unorthodox at best. I started college at 14. Why?"
Happy muffled a quiet laugh underneath his breath, which only seemed to annoy Mr. Stark.
"What?!"
Despite knowing that death was waiting for Peter at the steps of his school, he couldn't help but grin.
"Mr. Stark, welcome to the worst years of your life."
______
“You coming, kid?”
Mr. Stark’s hand was on the door handle, he only paused to look back at Peter, a furrow in his eyebrow.
They had pulled up to the school in silence. Peter had been too busy wondering just how many ways his life could implode by letting Mr. Stark enroll at his school, and Mr. Stark had been too busy contemplating what Happy and Peter had said about the true high school experience. Happy was probably just pleased to finally get some peace and quiet.
The closer they got to the school, the more Peter felt as if his head was being laid across the chopping block. He knew it was immature. Peter had faced murderers and villains, and yet the prospect of Mr. Stark seeing how truly lame Peter was terrified him. He could feel his heart fluttering in his chest and his palms growing sweaty with every passing minute.
Happy was the one to answer Mr. Stark’s question. “Yeah, he’ll be out in a minute, just give us a sec.”
Mr. Stark gave Happy a strange look but granted the request. He slid out of the car, sliding his backpack on like it was natural. Sometimes Peter envied his careless grace.
Sensing Happy’s eyes on him, Peter turned to the older man.
“Did you want to speak with me?” He asked, unsure of why Happy held him back.
“I wanted to check in with you, I can’t imagine this is easy for you.”
Peter huffed. “Why do people keep saying that?” There was no heat behind his tone, but Happy frowned anyway.
“Because it’s true. I had the opportunity to talk through everything with Tony yesterday, but I wanted to make sure you were alright. This is a lot of change, and it’s not exactly a situation where you can rely on the support of your friends.”
Peter took a moment to look at Happy. The man seemed genuine, and Peter was a bit taken aback. He knew the man wasn’t as cold as he liked to pretend to be, but Peter never thought Happy cared a lot about him, no more than any of his other acquaintances.
“I think that’s the most consecutive words you’ve ever spoken to me.”
That wasn’t what Peter wanted to say, but it was all he could.
Happy gave him a look that could almost be described as sad. He sighed, before saying “You and Tony are a lot more alike than you think. Just try not to pick up any more of his unhealthy habits.”
Before Peter could say anymore, Happy was ushering him out of the car with a quick goodbye. As Peter got out, Happy rolled down the window to yell at Mr. Stark for good luck, and to remind him not to be such an ass on his first day. To which Mr. Stark replied by flipping Happy the bird.
Mr. Stark fell into step beside him as they walked up the steps of Midtown. Students milled about, most of them not sparing Peter or Mr. Stark a second glance. Peter saw a few staff members around, some walking up from the teacher’s parking lot, coffees in hand, others monitoring the front yard for any horseplay. Even with the cold, gray weather, it felt so achingly normal that Peter just had to relish the moment.
Which was, of course, ruined immediately.
“Peter, hey!”
Ned stood near the school entrance, wearing a maroon striped shirt, an unzipped orange puffy jacket, and an ever-present smile. MJ stood next to him, eyes down in a book. Peter’s enhanced vision told him it was Das Kapital, again.
It only took a few seconds for Ned to notice Mr. Stark, his head tilted in confusion. And it seems like Mr. Stark noticed him too.
“Oh, is that your ‘Guy in the Chair’? Ted?”
“Ned, and yeah,” Peter said, steering Mr. Strk towards his friends. At this point, MJ had looked up at them, giving Mr. Stark the same look she gave to people when she’s trying to figure out their whole life story entirely through minuscule details.
"Who's the chick?"
Peter rolled his eyes. "It's 2016, Mr. Stark. No one uses the word 'chick'. It's just derogatory."
In Mr. Stark's defense, he didn't get defensive about that. "Huh, sorry."
"That's MJ, or, Michelle. Only her friends call her MJ," Peter was quick to clarify. MJ didn't like people getting too familiar too fast. She said it looked suspicious. Peter said she was just being a pessimist.
Mr. Stark made a move toward them, but Peter carefully stepped in his way, causing him to pause. Mr. Stark raised an eyebrow at him.
Peter shuffled a little before deciding on the right words to say. He wasn’t going to apologize for Ned or MJ because he had nothing to apologize for. They were his closest friends and Peter wouldn’t trade them for the world.
But it was no secret they were losers, Peter too. They were the losers at a school exclusively for nerds and losers.
“Don’t say anything mean,” he settled for.
Mr. Stark almost looked offended. “Jesus, kid. Who do you think I am? Going around bullying children?”
“No, but you can't make fun of them as you do with me.”
“Kid, I’ll stop making fun of you when you start making good life decisions.”
“You know what they say about those living in glass houses, Mr. Stark?”
“Touché.”
Turning back around, Peter fiddled with the straps of his backpack as they made their way toward Ned and MJ. As he did, Mr. Stark fell in step beside him.
Peter knew no one would look too closely at Mr. Stark's disguise. People weren't expecting a 29 years younger version of the Tony Stark to randomly enroll in high school and pretend to be some kid's Aunt's other nephew. It was a frankly ridiculous idea and if anyone had suggested it, they'd be laughed out of whatever room they were in. There were a million different explanations that people would jump to before they jumped to that.
That didn't change the fact that Peter felt a spike of anxiety when MJ narrowed her eyes at Mr. Stark, clearly suspicious. Peter knew she was perceptive, but he was starting to believe she was a straight-up physic.
They stopped in front of the other two teenagers, Peter shooting a nervous smile at MJ, who hadn't even looked in his direction yet. She was too busy trying to read Mr. Stark's mind. To his credit, he looked unphased by the mental check.
"Who are you?" MJ asked, bluntly.
Mr. Stark shoved his hands into his pockets, trying to look casual. "Tony, Peter's cousin. You must be MJ. He talks about you."
Ugh. Why would he tell MJ that?
She shot Peter a look.
"Peter's cousin Tony?" Her voice was thick with disbelief. Peter is starting to wish they had chosen a different first name for Mr. Stark's cover. In retrospect, letting him keep the name of the man Peter was infamously interning for was probably not their brightest idea.
Ned was frowning. "I didn't know you had any cousins, Peter?"
Of course, Ned would know that. Ned had been his best friend since the beginning of middle school. Ned was well aware that Ben and Richard Parker had no other siblings, Mary Fitzpatrick was an only child, as was May.
Ned also knew that Peter lied about a lot of ridiculous things when it came to Spider-Man. So, there was a second question in his tone. Asking if this had anything to do with that. Ned was many things, subtle is not one of them. That being said, he wouldn't blurt it out in front of MJ when he knew Peter hadn’t told her yet.
That's not to say she didn’t already know. She had made far too many comments about the lies Peter concocted regarding Spider-Man to not know something was going on.
"Oh, really? I never mentioned him?" Peter said, trying and failing to keep his tone casual. "He's May's nephew. You know, her sister's son."
MJ was giving him a blank 'are you a dumbass?' stare and Peter felt like he was a criminal mid-interrogation. Which was crazy because MJ hadn’t even asked him any questions yet.
Ned quickly nodded. "Ah, right. Your cousin. From May's side... from May's sister."
Ned was a worse liar than him.
Mr. Stark looked like he was in physical pain as a result of this interaction.
"What are you doing here?" MJ's eyes finally left his face to turn back to Mr. Stark, who seemed to be handling this a lot better than Peter and Ned. His response was so relaxed that Peter would have believed him in a second if he wasn't already aware of what was going on.
"Temporary transfer. My parents are on an extended business trip, so I'm staying with Aunt May and Peter for a while," he said.
"I didn't think Midtown accepted mid-year transfers." She frowned.
"Maybe I just impressed them."
"Right..."
Peter thought MJ might enjoy meeting Miss Potts. They might share a profinity for seeing through lies and making Mr. Stark nervous.
Quick to distract Ned and MJ before more questions arose, Peter suggested they head off to class. They still had quite some time before the bell rang, but the other didn’t protest too much. MJ peeled off to go to her locker in another hallway, while Ned stopped in front of his and Peter’s.
It was just then that he realized Mr. Stark didn't have a locker. Or a schedule. Or a homeroom.
Yikes.
"Uh..." was all Peter was able to get out, not wanting to say anything more in front of Ned without the proper chance to explain. It took Mr. Stark a second to realize the issue as well, but he responded more calmly.
"Oh, I probably have to go get my schedule and stuff. Pete, do you mind showing me where the Office is?" Mr. Stark provided a smooth segway.
Peter cleared his throat. "Yeah, yeah. That's a good idea."
"Peter?" Ned questioned, clearly still confused about what was going on.
"I'm gonna take M-" Peter cut himself off, well aware he couldn't refer to Mr. Stark as such while at school, but it felt weird trying to force his first name out of his mouth. "-Tony. I'm taking Tony to the Office. We'll catch up later, right?"
There was a promise in Peter's voice, which Ned caught and nodded along, slowly.
Before he could ask any more questions, Peter scrambled around. He gently tugged Mr. Stark's elbow until he followed. The older teen didn't protest but instead made a strange humming noise.
"They seem interesting. That MJ girl is quite the character," he remarked. Peter just shrugged. MJ had an intimidating effect on people, but Mr. Stark never reacted the same way others did to a threat. If Peter were to wager a guess, he'd say Mr. Stark was more likely to start funding her career as a private detective.
"She's a good captain," Peter said, genuinely. Then he paused. "For Decathlon- Academic Decathlon. It's a club that I do. She's the team captain."
Mr. Stark shot him an amused look. "Yeah, I know, kid. Happy gives me updates about all this kind of stuff, and you mentioned Decathlon a couple times while in the lab."
Peter felt his face flush. Huh. He wasn't expecting Mr. Stark to remember something like that. It felt nice.
"Right," Peter said. "Do you have a schedule or anything like that? Did Pepper arrange for that?"
Mr. Stark shrugged, casually avoiding getting run over by a big guy in a basketball jersey as they walked along the halls.
"Probably, that seems like the type of thing she'd think of. Figure the Principal or someone would have it anyway since I am actually enrolled and everything," Mr. Stark said. His eyes wandered the walls of the school. It certainly wasn't as impressive a building as Stark Tower or the Avengers Compound, but it had its highlights. Trophy cases stacked with achievement upon achievement, both athletic and academic. Art scattered across the walls and ceilings that the various design classes were asked to create. Fun decorations and bulletin boards that were created by the teachers. It was a big step up from the bleak, beige hallways of some of the other schools Peter had seen over the years.
One thing in particular seemed to catch Mr. Stark's eye. The large portrait above the stairwell of a few great scientific minds. Howard Stark just so happened to be painted up there.
Mr. Stark froze where he was, earning himself a few dirty looks from everyone trying to walk around him, but he didn't seem to care. There was something unidentifiable in Mr. Stark's eyes as he stared up at the portrait of his father. The rest of his face went blank, with no smile, frown, or smirk. Just this strange artificial emptiness.
Peter didn't know whether or not it was his place to say something, so instead, he just stood silently by Mr. Stark's side.
The older man didn't speak. Instead, he sighed with bone-deep exhaustion, his eyes fluttering shut as if he couldn't bear to look at it any longer.
Without a word, he turned to start marching down the hall, leaving Peter and the portrait in the dust.
Peter scrambled to catch back up, unsure if he should bring it up or let it rest. In the end, he kept his mouth shut. It seemed to be a private topic and they didn’t need to be fighting this early in school. Rather, he offered some more lighthearted information.
"Y'know, they have a picture of you in my Chemistry class. And one of Dr. Banner in my Physics class."
That seemed to slow Mr. Stark for a split second, the genius taking a moment to process Peter's words. He took that as an opportunity.
"Which is cool. Because you're great, obviously, and Dr. Banner is an icon-"
"Why don't you call me Dr. Stark?" He cut Peter off. His tone wasn’t upset though, just curious.
"Technically, I'm supposed to be calling you Tony now."
"You do know I have multiple doctorates, right? Like I didn't spend my entire time in college partying and snorting cocaine off a girl's-"
"That's enough," Peter said, gagging. "Just because we look the same age doesn't mean I want to know anything about that. Ew, Mr. Stark."
"Again with the 'Mister' thing?"
Peter wrinkled his nose. "I'll call you whatever you want as long as you never mention anything about your pre-Iron Man years that wasn’t directly related to academics."
Mr. Stark laughed at that, which was a nice change from the frighteningly vacant look he had just minutes earlier.
They stopped in front of Principal Mortita's office and he stepped back to let Mr. Stark knock on the door and handle the rest.
Peter didn't say much, not wanting to put himself on Principal Mortita's radar again after the disastrous pre-Homecoming shenanigans. Most everything was ready, Mr. Stark's locker (just down the hallway from Peter's), his schedule (they shared four of the eight classes), a gym uniform (a size too big, not poor planning on Miss Pott's part, but the lack of available options halfway through the year), and the basic informational packet (map, honor code, rulebook, etc.) that all students receive.
All-in-all? Not a terribly interesting meeting that Peter needed to be at, but oh well. He got to skip Homeroom anyways.
Principal Mortita was the first to stand, straightening out his suit before reaching a hand out to Mr. Stark. Rising from his chair, he took the hand and shook it.
Peter watched as Mr. Stark thanked the Principal with a flawless charm, passing the paperwork back to Peter without even looking in his direction. Peter huffed because he certainly wasn't that type of intern. But there were better times and places to debate that.
"Of course, we're glad to have you here. Please let me know if you ever need anything," Principal Mortita said, smiling.
"I will."
"Right, well- Welcome to Midtown Tech, Mr. Reilly."