chapter 5
Oh. Stark hadn’t let him go. He’d trapped Peter even more thoroughly than before. Mr Li was staring at him expectantly, he had to act like this was exactly what he wanted to happen.
“Ahah, yeah I didn’t want anyone to know in case I didn’t get it, you know?” He probably shouldn’t of ended that sentence as a question, made it sound less believable.
“Oh Peter, you need to have more faith in your abilities, you’re the smartest kid i’ve ever met!” Mr Li reassured him, “now go pack your bags, this is such an exciting opportunity for you!”
What. Why would Peter need to pack. He held his hand out for the letter Mr Li was holding, quickly scanning it for the important details he picked up that he would get to live at the Stark compound for three months, effective immediately. Stark’s a clever bastard. Peter smiled weakly before saying “I can’t wait!” He rushed to his room before Mr Li could question why his enthusiasm sounded so fake.
He carelessly threw all his belongings into his backpack, not that he owned much, seven shirts, a pair of jeans and a pair of trackies and two hoodies.
“Peter, there’s a car here for you!” Mr Li shouted up. Before Peter left he grabbed the one sentimental item he had from above the door. A ring, The Winter Soldier had grabbed it for him on the last mission they had together before Hydra took control of his brain.
As he hugged Mr Li goodbye he could tell the older man had wanted to drive him there himself but, what Stark wanted, he always got.
For most of the journey, Peter and the driver had sat in silence. The only words the driver, Happy, that was his name, had said to him was to tell him to stop tapping his fingers. The limo stilled to a stop outside the towers and Peter stopped anxiously chewing his nails to ask, “what’s he gonna do to me?” God, his voice sounded so young and afraid, it was disgusting, he’d been with hydra for six years and had been spider-man for a couple months, he would not be afraid of Stark, Stark is just a man. He’d killed plenty of men, Stark should be afraid of him. Peter supposed something i’m his voice made Happy feel bad as his expression softened slightly before he said,
“Tony’s got no reason to suspect you’ve got bad intentions, he won’t hurt you, you’re just a boy.”
No, Stark had no reason to suspect Peter had bad intentions, but once he found out about his past he’d have a pretty fucking big one.
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The five of them were waiting patiently, we’ll sort of patiently, for Peter to be escorted up to the room they were in. The door clicked and they all snapped their heads up to stare at this boy. Peter walked in carrying just one threadbare bag. As the door shut behind him he stared at them as if they’d walked into his room unannounced rather than the other way round. After several moments of silence, he finally cracked and dryly said “long time no see.” Peter was acting so calm and collected but they could all see his trembling hands, his jumpy eyes and pale face.
“Look,” Steve’s voice began, “we know you aren’t some young villain, we just need you here so we can train you properly, otherwise you’ll end up getting killed.”
Tony cut in by saying “I’ll take you to your room so you can drop your stuff off and then go meet Rogers and Romanov in the training room. Peter wordlessly nodded.
All Peter could thing on the walk to his room was that they weren’t going to kill him or lock him up or experiment on him. It felt as in a massive weight had been lifted off his chest. Stark suddenly stopped and opened a door that was to the left of him, Peter followed him in and looked around in amazement. This room was double the size of the one he shared with four other boys at Mr Li’s. He had a double bed! there was another door that led to his own toilet and sink and shower. This was amazing. He threw his bag on the ridiculously large bed and was about to ask where the training room was before Stark interrupted the start of the question, “you’re going to be here for three months, you should of brought more stuff.” Peter opened his mouth before closing it again almost immediately, he twiddled with ring before responding with a guarded tone,
“I don’t uh, I don’t have any other stuff.”
Tony’s eyes widened in surprise. All this boy had in the world fit into a backpack? He had to fix that, he didn’t call himself a philanthropist for nothing. “When you’re done training go pick some clothes and stuff from amazon and I’ll get it for you.”
Peter raised his eyebrows before quietly thanking him, the situation was now incredibly awkward for Tony, he wasn’t good with emotions. “Follow the lit up arrows and you’ll get the training room.” Peter nodded without making eye contact and walked away looking down at the arrows.