You will be the best
Tony spent all night in his lab.
He was trying to find any missing children reports from eleven or twelve years ago. Then he tried to find any missing children named Peter but without a last name, he couldn’t find much.
All he knew was that Peter was a boy, and was either eleven or twelve. That’s all he knew.
It wasn’t much to work on and now he had to face Fury and General Ross in just a few hours. This was going to be an extremely long day.
He worked in his lab well until the very last minute then he retreated to his bedroom where he took a shower, trying to make himself look even a bit more presentable and awake. He then got dressed in a suit and headed downstairs to check up on the kid.
It’s been about six hours since Tony left him and he hoped the boy had been sleeping this whole time. “FRIDAY, is Peter asleep?” He asked, his hand on the door handle, about to open it.
“Peter is in a deep sleep, boss. He has been asleep since 4:34am.”
Wow. Only ten minutes after I left his bedroom.
“Let me know when he wakes up.” He whispered, suspecting the kid had super hearing or something. He ever so slowly opened the bedroom door and walked in, walking to the edge of the bed. Peter had one arm thrown above his head and the other, to Tony’s surprise, had his thumb in his mouth. He frowned. He didn’t know anything about kids but he thought that was… strange for his age.
He left the bedroom again, quietly shutting the door behind him and going to make himself a coffee. While he was waiting for the water to boil, he pulled out his phone and went to google.
What causes thumb sucking in older kids?
He scrolled through a few websites, quickly skimming the words.
Comfort
Stress
Overtired
Anxiety
Bored
The list went on but he was more focused on the reasons why Peter had to resort to that. That he wasn’t getting comfort anywhere so he turned to his fingers for it.
Tony then pressed the search bar again.
How to stop thumb sucking at age twelve
He stopped himself before he pressed on any websites. Why the hell was he looking that up? It wasn’t his responsibility to worry about that or get the kid to stop. Tony wasn’t going to get involved with that.
He knew once Fury and Ross arrived, they would want to take the boy and deal with him; however they were going to deal with him and Tony was going to have a child-free house again.
Not that he cared that much about having a child currently living with him. It was only temporary though.
“Boss, General Ross and Fury are requesting access to the tower. The Avengers are waiting in the conference room for you.”
Tony groaned and grabbed his coffee, making his way towards the elevator. “Let them in.”
He arrived just after the two men he hated the most arrived downstairs. Tony hated them in his tower. He didn’t trust Ross. There was a time where Ross tried to demand that he get all access to Tony’s tower, claiming he needed to keep an eye on his reckless behaviour. Tony laughed in his face and took away his access to even step foot in the lobby altogether.
And Fury, he was just bossy and annoying.
“Stark, I’m surprised you came to join us.” Fury said, already getting annoying. Tony scuffed and sat down.
“I can’t say the same for you. You two are like vultures.” He commented and took another sip of his coffee. “Let’s make this quick. I'm a busy man.”
“No. We will not make this quick, Stark.” Said Ross. “You’re harbouring a dangerous weapon.”
Did he actually have the audacity to call a child a fucking weapon. “He’s a child. Not a weapon.”
“We don’t know what he’s capable of, Tony. He could have killed you last night while you were sleeping.” Steve was still under the impression that Peter was going to kill him but Tony knew he wouldn’t. He was a fucking child who was currently sucking his thumb because he was so desperate for comfort.
“Too bad I didn’t go to bed last night.”
“That’s not my point.” Steve sighed.
“Enough.” Fury stood up to walk around the room, trying to look like he was in control. Okay, maybe he was. “So you found the child at an abandoned Hydra base. Correct?”
Tony looked at Steve. “That’s right. One point for Mr. Obvious. Isn’t that why you’re here? The kid was found at Hydra. Who knows what they did to him there. And now he’s here.”
“So then he has abilities.” Ross said. “Do you know what they are, Stark?”
Tony didn’t want to tell them but it might be better if he did. “He has super strength and super hearing. That’s all I know right now. He also has these weird bracelets on and he freaked out when I told him to take it off so he can shower.”
“So he’s dangerous.” Fury concluded and it angered Tony. The boy wasn’t dangerous. He was a child for god's sake.
“No. He’s not. I don’t know if you missed the part where I said he’s a child.” Tony defended Peter but he seemed to be the only one doing that.
“Exactly. A child who only knows what Hydra put in his mind. Who knows where he came from. For all we know he could have been cooked up in a lab. Hell, he probably was.” Fury pulled up the empty chair beside Tony. “Him being a child makes it even more dangerous because he doesn’t know any better. He isn’t thinking for himself or know anything else.”
Tony stared at him. Fury had a point, as much as Tony hated it.
“How old is he?”
Tony looked down so Steve spoke up. “Cho checked him out. She thinks he’s eleven or twelve years old. And she actually thinks he may be a girl. Judging by the slim built.”
“No. He’s a boy.” Tony corrected. Cho had a good point though, he was awfully small and even though he hadn’t started puberty yet, he was still small for his age, almost looking closer to ten years old.
“You know that for sure?” Asked Steve so Tony rolled his eyes.
“Yes, Steve. I know my anatomy, thank you very much.” He took a sip of his now cold coffee and started shaking his leg up and down, both from exhaustion added with the caffeine coarsening through his blood and the anxious feeling he felt.
He hated the idea of Peter leaving with these two random men who only cared about one thing; Peter’s powers.
“Alright,” Fury spoke, breaking the tension. “We’re gonna leave with the boy and do an assessment. We’ll follow up as soon as we know more.”
“No. No, he’s not going with you guys.” Tony stood up. “An assessment. That’s bullshit. You mean you’re going to give him tests, cut into him, figure out what he’s capable of, all for what? To continue in Hydras legacy; turning little boys into super soldiers.”
“You have no idea how to deal with this, Stark. I suggest you bring the child to us and let us deal with it the way we know how.” Said Fury but Tony wasn’t having it.
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Oh like you know how. You’ve done this before? You’ve taken in an abused, experimented on and terrified child. Huh? Have you?”
“Not exactly, Stark, but-”
“Then you don’t know what you’re doing.” Tony narrowed his eyes at Fury, waiting for him to say something but someone else spoke.
“Boss, Peter is waking up and seems to be in distress.”
Tony grabbed his cold coffee and started making his way towards the door to leave but not before Fury called out after him.
“You don’t know how to deal with him, Stark. You’re making a huge mistake!”
Tony ignored him and made his way upstairs, placing his coffee in the sink and walking to Peter’s room.
He was about to just open the door and walk inside but he didn’t know how Peter would react to that. He was a scared child whose been through god only knows what and now he’s in a stranger's house, so Tony knocked.
He carefully listened in on the other end but he didn’t hear anything so Tony turned the door knob and pushed the door open, making his presence known. “Kid. It’s me. It’s Tony. I’m coming in.”
When he walked in, Tony saw Peter sitting up in bed. It looked like he had a rough night if his messy curls sticking up in every direction was anything to go by. The blankets were all twisted and kicked around, making Tony think that the kid had a nightmare and started tossing and turning a lot in his sleep… Tony only thought that because that’s what his bed looked like when he woke up from a particularly bad nightmare.
“Hey. How’d you sleep?”
Peter looked at him as if he just realized he was standing in there.
“Are you hungry?” Tony asked when he assumed he wasn’t going to get a response from the first question. “I’m not a very good cook but I’m sure I can whip up some pancakes or waffles or something.”
Peter tilted his head in confusion. “Pancakes?”
Did the kid really not know what pancakes were? “Yeah. Pancakes. Like… breakfast foods.”
Peter glanced around the large bedroom. The bed was comfortable and he fell asleep quickly, maybe because he was both physically and mentally exhausted from the past few days, more like years but who was counting.
“Okay.”
“Great.” Tony clapped his hands together but it made Peter flinch so he cleared his throat awkwardly. “How about you go into the bathroom and wash up then I’ll meet you in the kitchen.”
Peter looked Tony up and down then watched him turn and walk out of the bedroom. It was hard to imagine him being The Iron Man he was told about. One of the most powerful men in the world, if not, the most powerful man in the world; now making Peter pancakes for breakfast foods. Peter didn’t care what they tasted like, as long as it got rid of the hunger feeling in his stomach that he learned to live with now. It didn’t bother him anymore.
He slipped out of the bed, his feet landing on the cold floor. Peter walked into the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror, he oftentimes forgot what he looked like. It wasn’t like he could look at himself in the mirror back home, he didn’t have a mirror in his bathroom.
Peter climbed onto the counter, squatting in front of the mirror to look at himself up close. He had tiny, faded dots lining his cheeks, just under his eyes. He opened his mouth, pulling his cheek back to look at his teeth. He had two pointy teeth growing in but most of his tiny teeth had already fallen out. That was scary. He thought he was dying when he lost his first baby tooth, thinking his body was falling apart.
Peter smiled. He liked his smile.
He jumped off the counter and pulled up the giant shirt Tony gave him, then he sat on the toilet, swinging his legs back and forth as he relieved himself.
Once he finished up in the bathroom, Peter left the bedroom and walked down the hallway, turning the corner and looking up at Tony. “Thirsty?” Peter said, hoping Tony was kind enough to give him something to drink.
He had to earn a drink back at home, but he didn’t know how to earn a drink here. So he hoped he just got one.
“Would you like some water? Apple juice maybe?” Tony definitely needed to go grocery shopping, and by go, he meant send in the order of what he needed and have his personal assistant get it for him.
Peter wasn’t so sure. He pointed at the tap. “Water.”
“I’ve got bottles of water, kid. Tap water tastes weird.” Tony handed Peter a water bottle and flipped the last pancake onto a stack of them, knowing the kid was probably hungry and Tony wanted him to actually eat something.
Peter chugged half the bottle and took a seat on one of the stools. The pancakes smelt really good. It made his mouth water but he didn’t start eating it until Tony gave him permission to, just in case, he didn’t want to get in trouble.
Tony pushed the plate closer to Peter. “It’s for you, eat, kid.”
So Peter grabbed a pancake and ripped it apart, taking a tiny bite just to see what it tasted like. It was sweet and fluffy and made his stomach feel good.
Tony watched him carefully, it hadn’t looked like the kid ate anything in days, and maybe that was the truth. He had no idea what Peter was put through at Hydra or what they did to him. Tony just wanted to help the kid but Fury was right, he had no idea how to really help him.
Even if Peter was a normal kid, he still wouldn’t have any idea on how to help him or take care of him.
He looked over at the kid and saw him staring at him already then quickly looked away when Tony made eye contact with him. He smiled to himself. The kid was cute, he had a cute face. God, Tony didn’t know what he was thinking, he was Tony fucking Stark. He didn’t think anything was cute.
Tony reached across the table to grab the syrup. “Here, this makes it taste better.”
He carefully watched the kid dip a finger into the sticky liquid then lick it off. Tony figured Peter’s never tasted anything in his life like that before because his eyes lit up. He knew pancakes and syrup were a big hit.
Breakfast passed by in silence.
Peter ate almost all of his pancakes and then was led over to the living room by Tony where some random cartoons were put on and Peter’s eyes were glued onto the tv, having not experienced anything like this before.
The only time he saw a tv was if he was in the computer room and looked at the cameras.
He knew he was supposed to be finding out information on Tony Stark and sending it back to Hydra but that could wait. He loved this tv. He never got to experience anything like it before, at least what he could remember.
Tony finished cleaning up after breakfast and watched Peter. He wondered what the kid was thinking, how he was processing this whole situation. He must be absolutely terrified and yet, Peter didn’t seem to be scared. Almost like being there didn’t surprise him.
Tony checked the time on his phone and saw four missed phone calls from Pepper. Fuck. If he was being honest, he forgot about Pepper. He definitely needed to call her back and update her on what’s going on.
Fuck, how the hell was he supposed to explain this to her. He didn’t even fully understand it.
Tony clicked on her contact but another phone call came through. It was Natasha. Pepper was going to have to wait.
“Hello?”
“Can you meet me in your lab? I found some information on Peter.”
“I’ll be there.” Tony wasn’t going to pass up on the opportunity to find out who exactly Peter was and to know his story. He looked back at the kid, he was going to tell him where he was going but Peter seemed so engaged with the tv and Tony didn’t want to ruin his focus so he just left, making sure not to stay too long.
Natasha was already down there, sitting at his computer. She was one of only a handful of people who had access to his lab. Tony trusted her.
“What’d you get?” He was sounding just a tad desperate.
“I had FRIDAY hack into Hydras database and there’s only one Peter there so it turned out to be easier than I expected.”
Tony pulled up a chair. “I could have done that…” He honestly didn’t even think about asking FRIDAY to do that. With the sleep deprivation and all.
“But you were busy taking care of a child.” Natasha supplied, giving Tony a strange look before putting her attention back on the screen. “Okay. So Hydra kidnapped him. Nine years ago. His name is Peter Benjamin Parker. He was born on August 10th, 2010.”
Tony tried to take all of that in. “So he’s thirteen years old.” Wow. The poor boy was a child. A fucking kidnapped child. “What-what happened to his family?” He couldn’t even imagine the pain his mom and dad were going through. Tony was going to have to find them and let them know their son was found but that… he wasn’t the same boy they lost.
God, Tony felt sick thinking about that.
He didn't even want to imagine what his poor parents must be thinking.
“They’re dead, Tony.”
Tony’s heart dropped. “What?”
“Mary and Richard Parker.” Natasha read off the names, with a picture of each of them staring back at Tony. Tony noticed that Peter had his fathers chocolate brown eyes and his mothers button nose. “They died in a plane crash two years after Peter went missing.”
Somehow that was even worse, Tony thought.
They would never get to see how their sons story turned out. “So… so Peter would have been four years old when he went missing.” He turned to look at Natasha. “Do you think he remembers his parents? That he had a… normal life before Hydra?”
Natasha was silent for a few moments. “It’s unlikely. Everything he went through, even if he does remember, he’d probably just think it’s a dream or a very faint memory.”
She was right. That only angered Tony even more.
He looked away from Peter’s parents’ pictures. “Can you find any information on what they did to him there?”
“Tony, maybe you should go get some sleep before we get into this. You don’t look too good.” Natasha never voiced her concerns over him so Tony knew that he must look awful.
He waved her off. “Just tell me. I can’t sleep until I know.”
“I’m afraid you won’t sleep when you do know.”
He looked at her. “It’s that bad?”
“I think you found a soft spot for the boy. It’ll be hard for you. I’m sure you can already imagine what they did to him.”
Tony couldn’t stop imagining it since he brought Peter to his tower. “I need to see.”
With a sigh, Natasha turned the computer screen to face him and stood up. “I’m going to leave you to it. Please call me if you need me.”
“Yep. Thanks, Nat.” He waited until she was gone and then he clicked on a folder labeled Spider: Test 1. Tony was terrified to see what was on there.
He clicked it anyways.
He opened up a picture of four year old Peter.
He was naked and tied down on a bed by his ankles and wrists. Tony’s heart broke. Literally broke. He felt his breaths coming in and out way too quickly for measure.
Peter looked absolutely terrified. He looked exhausted and Tony couldn’t even imagine the pain and fear he was feeling, being taken from his parents, his life, everything the small toddler ever knew, and to be surrounded by strangers hurting him.
Tony saw the tear streaks on the boy's face and it looked like he was screaming. Tony wished he could reach through the picture and grab him.
He wondered what he was doing at this exact moment. He wished he could go back in time and rescue Peter from the hell he was about to face.
He scrolled down and saw a photocopy of some notes.
First dose given. Failed. October 3rd, 2014.
Tony did the math in his head. Peter was four when he was kidnapped. So this must have been just after he was taken then…
Tony did some more research. He found a missing child report for four year old Peter Parker. He was kidnapped on September 28th, 2014. Wow. So these bastards didn’t waste a second starting with their sick experiments.
Tony clicked back onto the file and scrolled down.
He came across another picture of Peter. This time he was wearing a hospital gown.
Peter didn’t look as scared as last time. If anything, he looked dead. He wasn’t showing one bit of emotion on his face. That was even scarier.
Tony scrolled down, wondering what they did to this poor boy in that time.
Second dose given. Seems to be a success. Project Spider was able to lift up to 105 pounds today. December 13th, 2014.
Tony looked away. The fact that Peter was going to spend Christmas there and the next Christmas’s there for that matter, while he should be at home with his parents, opening presents on Christmas Day like every child deserved to.
Tony thought about four year old Peter having these powers. That was a scary thought. If four year old Peter could lift 105 pounds, how much could thirteen year old Peter lift and what exactly was he capable of?
He wasn’t a big child, if anything he was very small.
It both scared Tony and made him curious as to what the kid was capable of.