Chapter 6
“You have got to be fucking kidding me!” Peter cried out as the news story unraveled on the TV screen before him. He could vaguely hear Wade say something as he walked into the living room.
“Two masked vigilantes found to be IN LOVE! Wade Wilson has got a new partner in crime AND a new partner in the bed! More to come after this break.” The news woman spoke in her annoyingly perfect voice, and it was cut to commercial. Peter was dumbfounded. This was the first Peter had heard about anybody having any evidence that they were dating.
“How the fuck did they find out?!” Peter shouted, turning back to Wade. White hot panic boiled in his stomach, surfaced to his throat, and the tears stung in his eyes. There was no way any of the Avengers knew, the only person Peter could think about was Charles Xavier who could read his fucking mind so of course he knew that Wade and him were dating but he wouldn’t be telling the news people, would he? There would be no reas-
Wade pulled him out.
“Peter, it’s okay. It’s okay. We can handle this. This is much better than people finding out Peter Parker and Wade are dating. The world would explode if they found out I was dating a seventeen year old-”
“We haven’t done anything illegal.” Peter immediately cut him off. They hadn’t had sex, both Wade and Peter deciding it would be better to wait until he’s eighteen, even if they’d been tempted. They’d done other things, but nothing illegal had happened, Peter made sure of it. Wade could be a masked criminal, but there was no way he was a pedophile. They’d fallen in love on the job, but when Wade found out that Peter was under eighteen he laid low until Peter had initiated a kiss, and since then it’d been history.
Kinda weird that they lived together and never had sex, though. But that’s the kind of relationship they had: kind of weird. Peter was counting down the days until he turned eighteen.
“Although we have not crossed that legal line, I’m sure we’ve crossed that ethical line at this point. Nobody knows how old Spiderman is. Nobody knows you’re Spiderman except a few people. It’s really not changing anything except some tabloids, and I’m sure some very raunchy fanfictions.” Wade waggled his eyebrows and Peter put his head in his hands. They watched the news segment as it came back on. Someone had snagged a picture of them on some rooftop that Peter didn’t even recognize, hands gripped together.
The picture was taken on the night Wade had come home from his mission in Russia, and they were reunited. Peter knew he shouldn’t have let his guard down, they almost never touched like that in costume.
“That’s a lot to assume that two people are dating from one picture where they are holding hands. What if-” Peter was cut off by another picture flashing up on the screen, Wade holding Peter by his back with Peter’s legs wrapped around Wade’s waist. Peter gasped, and put his head down in embarrassment.
“How did somebody even get these pictures?! And where can I download them immediately?!” Wade whipped out his phone, clearly on a mission.
“Those bastards caught us in a vulnerable state.” Peter grumbled, settling back into the couch. It was rare they were both relaxed at home, out of costume. Wade browsed through their trending twitter tag, #SpideyPool. Wade read all the tweets aloud, despite Peter’s begs not to.
“BoneDaddy21 writes ‘thank god there are more gay icons other than problematic Stony’, I love her! Following!” Peter groaned at the mention of his parents.
“At least Tony doesn’t know. Tony can never know I’m dating you. I think he will have an aneurysm.” Peter had to put into perspective that it could be worse, that Tony could know everything and that was something he would just have to be grateful for.
“You mean he’s not getting invited to the wedding?”
~
Wade was right, this wasn’t going to change much. Peter said that over and over in his head, reminding himself that this was okay, that he was okay.
On patrol later that night, Peter ran into Hawkeye. They were on the Brooklyn bridge, and Peter was sitting at the edge, watching the night.
“Hey loverboy.” Hawkeye rang out and Spiderman stuck up the middle finger.
“We all gotta love somebody, Clint!” Peter called out, as they crossed each other’s paths. Peter had always been a fan of Clint.
“Surprised you picked a criminal, Spiderman. Very unlike you. Guess we all like a bad boy sometimes, huh?” Peter was glad his mask was on because he was blushing like a mad man.
“You’re all the gossip at the towers right now. Natasha laughed her ass off when she found out.” Peter could close his eyes and imagine the Black Widow laughing at his misery. “She said good for you, though. I say good for you. You’re right, we all do have to love somebody. Especially the way we work.”
Peter nodded, grateful for the little bit of understanding. Clint sat down next to him.
“What’s everybody else think?” Peter asked, and Clint shook his head.
“Tony grumbled something to himself,” Peter’s heart stopped at the mention of his father. “Banner laughed it out with Nat, I admit I laughed a little when I first saw it. Those pictures-” Clint burst into laughter and Peter wanted to curl up in a ball and die.
“Shut up. I bet there are some pictures of you and your wife out there I could giggle myself off to.” Peter’s grumpy voice made Clint laugh harder.
“Nat and I always knew something was going on with you two, just thought you were close friends. Wanda just did that freaky witch thing. Thor couldn’t care less, barely even knows who Wade is. Everyone else doesn’t matter. Nobody matters, kid. Just remember that.” And before he knew it, they said their goodbyes, and Peter was alone again.
What a life he lived.
~
It was a beautiful Thursday morning as Peter walked into school. April had come around, warmed things up a bit, and even the flowers around the school started to bloom. He should call Tony tonight, plan for lunch, but other than that he wasn't very busy. As he turned the corner to his classroom, a sight surprised him.
STARK ASSEMBLY BEFORE LUNCH: THE AUDITORIUM in bright red letters was written on the bulletin board outside of his homeroom. Peter shook his head, unsure if he really read it right. There was an assembly for Stark?
At first Peter just assumed it was some service thing for thanking the Stark company and the Avengers for dealing with some other worldly thing. Then that feeling settled in his gut, but he couldn’t pinpoint what it was. Peter thought about skipping, but the mark on his attendance meant that he would probably get a detention, which meant less time patrolling: and he had already skipped last night to spend it with the new X-Men trainees.
The day was slow until the assembly. Peter had a long lunch today so he could actually go off campus with Wade, which would be nice because he hated when Wade would try to come into the school. When the assembly time was called, Peter was extra thankful because he got to leave his AP World History class, which was seriously trying to put him to sleep. He walked out with MJ, listening to her talk about one thing or another, and they met up with Ned to go sit in the auditorium.
Peter got comfortable in his seat and took out his notebook to doodle about a new web shooter he had been thinking about.
The assembly started when two men with very familiar uniforms came out and set up their laptops to show the presentation. There was a new internship program at Stark Industries, and they were looking for candidates. Peter said no, dear god no way, and continued on with his new design. They talked about what the intern would be doing, when they would be doing it, etc. Peter at one point shut his eyes to take a breather.
When the auditorium lights came back on, Peter shimmied back up in his chair as MJ and Ned whispered about something. He couldn’t process a single word that was being said on the stage as the principal stood up and walked to the stage.
“Only seniors can apply for this program, and these particular people have been selected to apply. Sally Avrill, Barry Hapgood, Peter Parker, Michelle Jones Watson, and Charles Weiderman please join us in the Physics B classroom after this assembly to meet with Stark employees.” Peter’s eyes widened and his heart sped up in his chest. Absolutely not. The thought in his head as he pulled out his phone to text Wade.
Just got asked to go into a classroom with Stark employees
Wade immediately typed back.
Don’t go just meet me outside
Peter couldn't agree more as people started filing out of the auditorium. He was going to skip whatever that was.
“Come on, Peter.” MJ beckoned him along and Peter stopped in his tracks.
“Nah, I already have an internship this summer. I’m just gonna bounce.” He tried his hardest to sound like he didn’t care, but MJ sent him a look.
“Well, more of a chance I’ll get it then. See you guys later.” She waved as she made her way to the Physics classroom.
“You seriously aren’t gonna go?” Ned asked Peter, and Peter nodded. “Also why didn’t you tell me you had an internship?” Peter didn’t know how to answer that one. He shrugged as they continued to walk down the hall, towards the door.
“I-” He was cut off by his favorite teacher, Mr. Warren, screaming down the hallway.
“Peter! Why aren’t you in the Physics classroom?!” Peter immediately hid his face and tried to slink away.
“I will give you twenty detentions if you are not in that room. You have ten seconds.” Peter straightened up and gave Mr. Warren a look.
“I already have an internship, Mr. Warre-”
“I don’t care if your internship is with the pope, Peter! This is Stark Industries, one of the WORLD’S top companies! You get your little butt i-” Mr. Warren stopped for a second and squinted his eyes at Peter.
“Just get in there.” Peter hung his head and made his way begrudgingly to the classroom while Mr. Warren watched, and Peter internally cursed at him.
When he opened the door, the two uniformed men stood at the front of the classroom with his peers sitting in the seats. Everyone snickered at him, including MJ, as she stuck out her tongue as he sat down.
“Sorry I’m late.” Peter mumbled out, and one of the men grabbed a clipboard.
“Peter? Peter Parker?” Peter nodded, and the man put the clipboard down and picked up his phone. He gave Peter a look, and typed something on his phone, pressing the send button and turning it off. Peter’s heart sped up as he slipped his phone out of his pocket.
Something feels weird, I’m in the classroom and stark guy just sent a text after asking my name
This time Wade did not respond immediately, and Peter’s chest tightened. He nervously looked around the room, and then raised his hand.
“Can I go to the bathroom?” Peter interrupted the man, unable to stay in here any longer. The man gave Peter an inquisitive look, and then looked at his watch.
“Can you wait a couple of minutes? I’m not repeating any information for you.” Peter swallowed the lump forming in his throat.
“You-um, won’t have to. I already have an internship with another company.” The principal stood up from the seat he was at and gave Peter a look.
“Peter, you can go to the bathroom in a couple of minutes. Just sit down and listen.” They talked about the application process, what the job would entail in more detail, and other various things and as time ticked on Peter felt the rock in his stomach become heavier. His phone buzzed on the desk.
Leave now
Peter’s senses heightened immeasurably. He was on alert. His eyes were clear, his chest was tight, his heart was beating wildly. Peter grabbed his backpack and bolted for the door. He was not supposed to be in that classroom, not supposed to be here, he needed to leave, needed to get out of-
He opened the door and ran into a body. He looked up, and there stood his father.
His father, wearing a navy blue striped tailored suit, with two bodyguards beside him, was standing in front of him. Peter’s eyes widened and Tony paused for a second, processing the look on his son’s face. Every single alert bell was ringing in Peter’s poor mind, every part of his body tingling in danger, and Tony quickly wrapped his arms around his son.
“Oh my god.” Peter muttered as his head landed on Tony’s shoulder.
“It’s okay.” Tony spoke, knowing exactly what Peter was thinking. Peter’s breathing had turned quick and shallow, and he pulled back from his dad.
“I knew you were going to do this. I knew that this assembly was not normal!” Peter’s voice had raised considerably and Tony hadn’t ever heard his son speak like that.
“Why couldn’t you just leave me alone?!” Peter exclaimed, his back pressing against the door to the classroom. He was happy it was lunch, because people would have been looking. He was already scared to look back into the classroom.
“Peter, it’s okay, let’s go talk-” Peter cut Tony off.
“No! I… I wasn’t ready! I wasn’t ready for this!” Peter’s eyes stung with tears and he tried to blink them back. Tony pulled back and looked at Peter, surprised at the tears.
“I’m sorry, I-I had to know-”
“You didn’t have to know anything! You were never supposed to know!” Peter, exasperated, threw his hands up to try to get Tony to take a step back. Tony did not budge and kept his ground.
“How was I supposed to deal with that?! ” Tony shot back, and Peter shrank a bit at the voice. “How could I not know my son?! I didn’t even know where you went to school! I didn’t even KNOW you were a senior until last week!” His volume was rising, and Peter set his hands up to bring them down.
“Tony, let’s-” Tony barked a laugh out loud.
“You called me dad. That’s what I am. Your father and I only got to know you because of some stupid DNA test Steve made me submit. Ridiculous. I am getting to know you whether you like it or not. I’m going to be in your life.” Peter felt tears pool in his eyes again, and he reached up and rubbed them.
“Can we please go somewhere else?” Peter practically begged, and Tony finally took a step back and looked around the hallway. He didn’t want to have this conversation in the middle of a high school hallway, with nosy kids peeking around the corner. Peter’s face was flushed and tears clung to his bottom eyelashes despite him wishing them away.
“Yes.” Tony grabbed Peter by the arm and guided him towards the front of the school. Peter’s heart was beating out of his chest, thumping against the walls of his torso, reminding him that he was alive and had to deal with this now. The bodyguards followed closely behind the two of them, ensuring safety as they finally made it to the door.
Tony opened the door for his son, hand on his lower back, and Peter felt a blush climb his neck to his cheeks. He was not used to Tony touching him like this, and he wasn’t exactly sure if he liked it. Tony’s car was waiting for him at the front of the building, Happy in the driver’s seat. Peter kept his head down, eyes aimed at the ground.
The bodyguards opened the door for the two of them, and Peter slipped in and slid all the way to the opposite side of the car. He felt his phone buzz in his pocket.
im running interference was the iMessage that popped up, and Peter’s heart dropped in an instant. He did not need Wade running in to save the day and probably make things worse. Peter’s fingers moved quickly in a negative response as the car started moving.
Wade do not do anything i just need to handle this and get it- The moving car suddenly screeched to a halt as something smashed into the windshield.
“What the fuck?!” Happy exclaimed as he turned to make sure the two in the back were okay. The bodyguards had run out of the other car to grab the big glob of red that lay on the destroyed windshield. Peter defeatedly put his face in his hands and Tony worriedly put his hand on the back of Peter’s neck.
“It’s okay, Peter, we’ll get this all figured out.” Tony got out of the car with Happy to investigate. Peter quickly followed, seeing Wade’s body hopping off of the windshield and onto his feet.
“Deadpool!” Tony sounded surprised, and Peter knew they didn’t have a lot of contact, and when they did, it was never very positive. “What on earth are you doing?!” Tony’s voice was unlike Peter had ever heard it. Frustrated with a mix of desperation was not a good look on Tony.
“I’m gonna need that guy in your car.” Wade pointed at Peter, and Peter shook his head immediately, trying to get him to stop.
“The what?! Wade, fuck off and get out of here before we have a real issue.” Tony’s voice was teetering on the edge of anger, and Peter knew he was holding it back as best he could. Peter continued to shake his head, trying to clue Wade in.
“Yeah, I need someone for ransom, and that boy over there looks like the cutest hostage I could ever have-” Wade was cut off by Tony signaling for his bodyguards to attack. Tony didn’t want to go all Iron Man in front of his already upset son.
“Hey! Hey! No need for that!” Wade bounced around, trying to make his way to Peter. Tony stood protectively in front of his son, and Peter just stood there with an unbelieving look on his face.
“Peter, get in the car-” Peter motioned for his father to calm down, and Tony stood there, stunned.
“I will not be taken hostage today.” Peter spoke calmly, and Wade froze in his spot. The sudden change in his demeanor threw off the bodyguards and Tony. Wade jumped on top of the car, looking at Peter through his mask.
“I sure had hoped this cute-y would come with me.” Wade followed up, and Peter took a deep breath. Tony stood there, mouth dropped open, surprised at how the situation had turned.
“This cute-y,” Peter snapped a bit. “Has this situation under control and will let his family-” Peter looked at him expectantly, hoping he would get the hint. “Know what is going on as soon as possible if you don’t leave.”
Wade groaned, throwing his katanas on the car.
“This is so stupid.” Wade whined, jumping up on the car and denting the top. Peter had to suppress the smile that threatened to come to his lips as the bodyguards tried to get Wade off the top of the car.
“See you later, Iron-dick.” Wade hopped off the car and into traffic, being carried off by a car that hit him head on.
Peter looked around and noticed the bag of tacos sitting on the ground, and his heart reached out to Wade. He noted that he would have to repay the favor.
“What was that?” Tony asked, turning to Peter.
“Beats me.” Peter shrugged his shoulders, trying to seem as nonchalant as possible. He tried to avoid eye contact with his father as he shuffled his feet. He didn’t quite know where to go from here.
“Peter, I need to be in your life. I…” Tony trailed off, dishearteningly throwing his arms towards the ground. “I need you. These past months of knowing you but not getting to be with you has been torture. If I had known you existed, that I had a son out there, a son as amazing as you are, I would have been there for you your whole life.” Peter felt the tears sting the back of his eyes again.
“I’m so sorry I wasn’t. I am so sorry. You will never know how much I regret that. But I -Steve and I- want you in our lives so badly, and when I don't even know where you're going to school or even what your last name is I can't get close. I want to be your father. I wish everyday that I could go back in time and be there when you were born, when you were little, when-” Tony cut himself off, a choking sensation in his throat. Peter decided at that moment that he was done playing this game. Tony wanted to be there for him and Peter was in no position anymore to deny that. They both deserved a relationship with each other. He wasn’t ready, but he could do something at least.
“My mom and dad died in a plane crash.” Peter spoke, offering a grave piece of information to Tony. Tony froze, terror and guilt filling his throat.
“How old were you?” Tony whispered, ice as cold as mountain streams.
“Five. My aunt and uncle took me in and raised me. My uncle Ben died three years ago. I’m going to Empire State University next year. I live in Queens.” That was all the information Peter could stomach giving out.
“Peter.” Tony choked out, falling forward and wrapping his arms around Peter. Peter stiffened at the touch, reluctant at the sudden show of affection. “Thank you so much for telling me. You will never know how sorry I am that I couldn’t be there for you.”
Peter relaxed into the hug, setting his head on Tony’s shoulder.
“Please let me be there for you now. Please let me - and Steve - be a part of your life. I love you, Peter. I want to be your father.” Peter sucked in a breath between his teeth, taking in all of these feelings and emotions. He couldn’t say that he loved him back, that was too much. It was all too much. But Peter had to start somewhere.
“Maybe I can sleep over every other weekend.”