Flash really was a twat.
There was no other word for it, really. He was annoying and he had no reason to be, he was just doing it to piss people off, which made him a twat. He was especially twatty when he went after Ned. Peter was his priority, but when he got bored of him every so often, he’d turn to Ned. And then Peter would end up getting involved because he couldn’t just stand there and watch as someone kicked the shit out of his best friend.
And that usually ended up with the both of them sitting in the principles office along with Flash, waiting for all their parents to show up so that they could have a lecture on school behaviour and etiquette and the usual threats to be dumped from the Academic Decathlon team, which they never followed through on because Ned and Peter basically were the Academic Decathlon team.
This particular occasion, Flash had decided to hit Peter where it hurt, talking about his parents and his uncle. He knew that Peter had been there when Ben had been shot and he was blaming Peter for not doing something to help him. He thought he was being original, but it was something that Peter had beaten himself up over for years. It wasn’t anything new. He went after May then, saying that he was sorry she had to cope with him for all his life, that he made her life hard, that he didn’t deserve her. Then he started spouting about his relationship with Mr Stark.
“I bet it’s not even true. I bet you live in a foster home with fifteen other kids and you’re just saying this cause you don’t want us to pity you. Well too goddamn late, Parker. You’re a liar and you know it. Even if Stark is your guardian, that’s all he is. If he really cared about you, he’d be adopting you and you’d be his son by now. He hasn’t though, has he? He’s just waiting to palm you off onto someone else. It’s a publicity stunt at best.” He sneered and Peter seemed to freeze. He didn’t say a word, letting Flash know that he’d hit him in the right place.
Tony cared about him. He knew that. Right? Why would the man spend so much money decorating a room for him and buying him clothes and stuff if he didn’t want him there? And yeah, sometimes Peter might go a couple days without seeing Tony and sometimes Peter was waiting for the other shoe to drop. He still hadn’t fully unpacked, even though he’d lived in the tower for over six months. Not that he had much to unpack anyway, some part of him was just waiting for Tony to turn around and admit he didn’t actually want the responsibility anymore.
He was so zoned out that the idiot managed to land a sucker punch to his nose, snapping it. Peter had hit the deck in accordance with the weak little fourteen-year-old kid role that he’d had to keep going for the past year since he became Spider-Man. Flash and his cronies had jeered and a few had congratulated him for it. Peter put a hand to his face, grimacing when it came back covered in his blood.
Mr Stark had been telling him for months to stand up for himself, to not let Flash get away with it. Peter had, up until now, simply let the guy beat the shit out of him just to stop the attention. It was when Peter was on the floor and Flash turned to Ned that Peter decided he’d had enough. His friend would not be getting beaten up because of him. He stood up and regained his footing faster than anyone expected. Flash masked his look of surprise and his eyes turned steely quickly, his fist pumping in preparation for another shiner he was loading.
But this time, Peter was ready. When Flash followed through, Peter ducked and missed the punch, throwing his right arm forward in an uppercut and getting him right in the ribs. His left arm followed, planting a punch to Flash’s right cheek and the bully crumpled to the floor in a heap of muffled groans and whimpers.
Everyone fell silent and Peter flushed bright red, realising what had happened. Ned put an arm on his shoulder to let him know he was there, that he appreciated what he’d done for him. Peter gave him a jerky nod and simply stared at Flash as he rolled around on the floor in pain. Eventually, two of his friends helped him up, practically carrying him at this point. Just as they were about to walk away, an announcement was made over the speakers.
Will Peter Parker, Flash Thompson and Ned Leeds please go to Principle Morita’s office immediately
Fantastic, Peter thought. They’re gonna ring Tony and he’s gonna ask how the fight started and I’m gonna have to make something up because the reason it actually did start is way too embarrassing.
He did as he was told, dutifully walking down the hallway with Ned next to him to the Principle’s office. He sat down on one of the blue chairs outside the office. He’d probably be late to his internship with Mr Stark, which wouldn’t be good. His internship sessions with Mr Stark were the only things keeping him going recently. A wad of toilet roll was pressed into his hand and he looked up at Ned, giving him a grateful nod of the head. He wondered whether his nose was broken or not. It was tender to the touch and bleeding profusely, all indicators that it was. He could fix it himself, but he’d need a mirror for that. He decided to leave it and just check after school.
Flash flopped down in the seat across the hallway, scowling at him. His nose was fine, he just had the start of a bruise on his cheek. He was clutching his side and Peter rolled his eyes. He’d calculated his punch, making sure that none of his ribs would be broken. He was just overreacting like he did about everything.
A few minutes later, the door to the office opened and Principle Morita walked out. He looked between the three boys and tutted.
“Boys, boys, boys, I’d hoped it wouldn’t come to this.” He let out a long, drawn-out sigh. “Come on in, we’ll call your parents.”
Nobody said a word as they filed into the office. Flash had even managed to lose his voice. A few more chairs had been shifted into the room to accommodate for the extra guests they were going to have. They sat and watched as Morita called their parents. Flash’s parents didn’t answer, instead they got his father’s assistant, who assured the principle that Mr Thompson was on his way. Ned’s dad picked up on the second ring.
“Peter, it seems that your aunt isn’t answering her phone.” Morita said, frowning. Peter ran ice cold. Morita knew about his aunt. Surely the school had changed his emergency contact details?
“S-Sir, my aunt passed away six months ago.” Peter said quietly. This time, Flash didn’t smirk.
“Oh my god, Peter, I completely—I’m so sorry, I don’t know why the school hasn’t updated the system and removed her from your contact list. I—I do apologise.” Morita was stuttering over his words and Peter shook his head.
“It’s okay. I—my second emergency contact, sir. They—you could maybe give them a ring.” Peter wondered if Mr stark was busy. Who was he kidding? Of course he was. He was Tony Stark, he was always busy in board meetings or jetting off around the world for business deals. He definitely wouldn’t pick up.
It rang for a few seconds and then, to Peter’s horror, the phone was answered.
“Hi, yes, Mr Stark? I’m Principle Morita of Midtown Tech. I have Peter here with me.” Peter ducked his head as Morita talked to Mr Stark. Flash’s face was a picture. His eyes were blown wide, his jaw slack.
“S-Stark?” He spluttered and Ned answered for him.
The phone call lasted for another thirty second and Morita put the phone down. Peter hoped it was a short phone call because Tony couldn’t come, he was too busy to deal with his stupid fake-kid that decked someone in the hallway at school.
“Mr Stark is on his way.” The Principle said and Peter ran cold. Oh god, he was coming. His mentor, Tony freaking Stark, was coming to Queens, to Midtown Tech.
In the next twenty minutes or so, Flash’s parents turned up. Mr Thompson was furious, eyes glaring at Peter and Ned. He didn’t shut up from the moment he stepped foot in the room.
“Mr Thompson, I understand your frustration, but it’s my understanding that the blame does not solely rest on Mr Parker, your son was involved in this fight too. Now, why don’t we all calm down and stay quiet until the other parents arrive and then we can get into it, yes?” Mr Thompson’s jaw snapped shut and he sank into the chair next to Flash, who shifted a little away from his dad.
Mr Leeds arrived next and quietly went and sat down next to Ned. He shot Peter a quick smile and patted him on the shoulder.
“Are you okay, Peter?” He gestured to the wad of paper that was mostly soaked in blood and Peter nodded. The man reached forward and plucked a handful of tissues from the box on Mr Morita’s desk, handing them over to Peter and gesturing for him to give him the other tissue.
Peter quickly pulled the toilet roll from his face and replaced it with the soft tissue, reluctantly handing it over to Ned’s dad, who disposed of it in the trash can in front of Morita’s desk.
“Thanks,” Peter whispered and Mr Leeds winked at him.
They were waiting a little longer for Mr Stark to turn up. Flash hadn’t said a word, so Mr Thompson had no idea that the man he was going to lay into for his son getting injured was Iron Man. This was going to be entertaining to say the least.
Eventually, the door swung open and the man himself stepped into the room. He wasn’t in his usual suit that he wore to meetings. Instead he was in his lab clothes, a pair of black jeans and an old Black Sabbath t-shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He still had the signature sunglasses on, though. They’d bury him with those damn sunglasses. His hair was a little wile, telling Peter that he’d come straight from a lab session, not even stopping to make himself presentable. His eyes found Peter’s and even through the glasses, the boy could tell he was angry. Whether he was angry at Peter, angry at the situation, or angry that Peter got hurt, he couldn’t quite tell yet. He’d find out soon either way.
He settled down in the seat next to Peter, placing his arm on the back of the chair. His thumb brushed Peter’s far shoulder and he looked at him.
“You okay?” He whispered quietly and oddly softly. Peter nodded. “You sure?” Another nod. “Okay.”
Morita cleared his throat. “Right, now that we’re all here, let’s get started. We’re here because earlier on there was an altercation in the hallway between Peter and Flash. It’s my understanding that Flash started the fight, hitting Peter across the face. Whilst Peter was on the ground, Flash attempted to hit Ned, but Peter got up quickly and punched Flash twice; once in the stomach and once across the face. Ned, is this how you recall things?”
Ned nodded. “Y-Yes, Sir. Flash hit Peter first and Peter defended me.”
A puff of air was released from Tony’s nose and Peter glanced up at him. Tony looked down at him and Peter inwardly sighed in relief when he realised that his mentor was smirking at him. He wasn’t mad at him.
“Well done, kiddo.” Tony whispered into his ear. “I’m proud of you.”
“Now, I’m going to give Flash a chance to apologise and to say why he felt the need to start a fight at all.” Morita said calmly, and Mr Thompson spluttered.
“I’m sorry, you want my son to apologise? My son? He was hit twice!”
“And yet he’s the one with an unbroken nose.” Morita said.
“It’s not my fault the Parker kid can’t hit properly.”
Tony stayed silent throughout the entire conversation, which worried Peter a little. If he wasn’t saying anything now, it meant he was bottling it up.
“Flash? Why did you hit Peter?”
The boy shrugged, but then his father hooked his hand under his chin, forcing him to look at him. Fear flashed in his eyes and he started to stutter.
“I—I don’t know, he’s just an easy target.”
Morita sighed. “That’s not good enough, Mr Thompson. Midtown Tech has a no tolerance policy when it comes to physical fights and bullying. This means that unfortunately, I’m going to have to suspend you for the rest of the week. Hopefully the time away will give you enough time to think about your actions and how you want to conduct yourself in this school. You are prohibited from participating in the next two Academic Decathlon meets, also.”
Ned locked eyes with Peter and sent him a subtle smirk. He knew exactly what he was saying. Flash was only ever an alternate, anyway. He wouldn’t be missed.
“I sincerely hope that my son is not the only one being punished here, Morita. I’d hate to think that you have favourites, given the amount of money that I have donated to this school. You owe a lot to me and my family.”
This time, Tony actually said something. “You really think that you can give them more money than a billionaire, Thompson?”
“Now you listen here, Stark. My son has been severely hurt because of Parker’s actions—”
“Look, the way I see it is that your son hit my son and broke his nose because he was trying to defend his best friend. The way I see it is that your son should take his punishment and leave my son be, because Peter has finally stood up for himself after years of bullying, and I’m proud of him for it.” Tony bit and Peter was stunned.
Not only had Tony just stood up to Flash’s dad in the principle’s office, but he’d called Peter his son. They’d never explicitly had that conversation, and Peter wasn’t really sure where they stood with the whole mentor/mentee/legal guardian/father situation.
“Now, I’m sure Peter will get punished too, because as Mortia already said, the school has a no tolerance policy when it comes to physical fights, and Peter did hit Flash. But your son is just as, if not even more to blame for what happened. So why don’t you get down off your high horse, think about who you’re talking to, and maybe re-evaluate the way that you’re parenting your son.” Wow, Tony was on a roll.
Mr Thompson didn’t say a goddamn word. He looked forward to Morita and nodded his head curtly before standing up, ragging Flash with him by his shirt, and walking out of the office. Everyone seemed to relax a little when they left and Morita let out a sigh.
“Thank you for saying what I haven’t had the guts to say for years, Mr Stark.” Morita said and Ned smirked.
“I don’t take kindly to my son being attacked.” Tony said harshly and the principle nodded.
“Absolutely. Now, you were right about me needing to punish Peter too, but it will be a lesser punishment. I’m going to give you two days suspension, Peter, just because I can’t be seen to be doing nothing about this. Hopefully that’ll give you time to get your nose reset and for it to heal a little before you come back. I sincerely apologise that this has happened and I will endeavour to keep a closer eye on the situation from here on out, okay?” Morita concluded and Peter nodded.
Tony glanced at him and reached forward to grab a few more tissues, swapping them over again. He took the bloodied tissue without a second thought and disposed of it just like Mr Leeds had done.
“And Ned, there’s no need for me to punish you for anything. I just wanted you here so that you could confirm what happened. Thank you Mr Leeds and Mr Stark for coming in, I appreciate that you were both busy. You’re all welcome to leave now.”
Mr Stark stepped forward and shook Morita’s hand before wrapping his arm around Peter’s shoulders and guiding him out of the office and down the hall to the main entrance. Peter said goodbye to Ned and followed Tony out to the car that was parked out front.
Sliding into the passenger seat, Peter adjusted the tissue on his face. Tony got into his seat and glanced over at him. “Is your nose okay? Is it broken?”
“Uh, I think so.” Peter said in that weird voice you have when your nose in blocked.
“Want me to set it for you?”
“You got more tissue?”
Tony reached into the back seat and grabbed a box of tissues that were on the middle seat. “Yup.”
“Then let’s get this over with.” Peter turned his head towards Tony and closed his eyes. He slowly removed the tissue and winced when Tony’s hands came up to either side of his nose. “God, I’m getting deja vu.”
Tony snorted. “You’re telling me. Alright, on three; 1… ” there was a loud crack and Peter winced as his nose was moved back into place. And then the blood began to pour. Tony hurriedly grabbed a handful of tissue and shoved it at Peter’s face.
“You never did it on three, I don’t know why I thought you would this time.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Let’s just get home, the sofa’s calling me.” Tony said before turning the car on and pulling out of the car park.
The ride home was spent mostly in silence, but then they pulled to a stop at a red light. He let out a deep breath and looked at Peter.
“You wanna tell me how it started? I get that he’s a bully and he rags on you and everything but why did he hit you. He’s never been physical with you before, has he?” Peter shook his head. “Right, so what happened?”
“He started on the orphan thing again. Usually, I’m used to it. It’s hardly the first time he’s brought it up with me and I can handle it. But this time—this time he went further.” Peter shifted in his seat and Tony could tell that he was a little uncomfortable. What did that little shit do?
“What did he say, Pete?”
“He said that you didn’t care about me.” The sentence was slow and forced, like Peter wanted to be anywhere in the world than here, having this conversation. “He said that if you did, you wouldn’t just be my guardian, you’d have adopted me. He said you’re just doing this for a publicity stunt and that you’re gonna pawn me off on someone else the first chance you get.”
He finally finished and Tony released a deep breath. “You know that’s not true, right?”
Peter hesitated and Tony shook his head.
“Peter, if you don’t know by now that I care about you—”
“I’m sorry, okay! I’m sorry that I’m this shitty little insecure kid that wants to be reassured he’s not gonna be thrown to the streets! I’m sorry that I’ve lost every single person that I’ve ever loved or that’s ever taken care of me in my life and I’m sorry that I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop!” Peter finished his outburst and immediately regretted it.
Tony didn’t say a word as the light switched to green and five minutes later, they were pulling into the garage in the tower. He turned the engine off and Peter made to get out, but Tony stopped him.
“Listen to me,” he said softly, “I really want you to hear me when I say this.” He looked over at Peter to see tears in the kid’s eyes. “You aren’t going anywhere.” Peter sucked in a shaky breath and his lip wobbled slightly. “Nowhere. You are not being sent away, you are not being palmed off, you are not going anywhere. Repeat that to me.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Peter said, shakily.
“That’s right, you’re not going anywhere. This isn’t a publicity stunt. Lord knows I try to keep you out of the media. I’m not doing this to better my image or whatever, I’m doing this because I care about you, and I didn’t wanna see you go anywhere but right here.” Peter nodded slowly. “The reason that I haven’t adopted you is because I didn’t know how you’d feel about it, and I didn’t know how to bring it up. I know that when your parents died, Ben and May didn’t adopt you and that’s just how it always was. I didn’t know that—I didn’t know you were expecting me to or—or wanting me to adopt you, kid.”
“I—I wasn’t expecting you to, I just—I would be nice to feel like it’s—like this is permanent, that you want me, that I’m not going anywhere.” Peter muttered, his face flushing red with embarrassment.
“Kiddo, if you want me to adopt you, nothing would make me happier. Hell, if I didn’t just call you my son like five times in that meeting, I just—I didn’t know how to bring it up, I figured it would be a sensitive subject. But if that’s what you want, if that’s what you need to know that you’re not going to be cast aside or palmed off, if you need it written on paper that I love you, then let’s do it.” Tony was determined now. He wouldn’t let Peter carry on feeling how he was. He was putting a stop to this right here, right now.
A few tears rolled down Peter’s cheeks and were soaked up by the tissues pressed to his nose. Tony reached across the console and brought his head forward so that their foreheads were touching.
“I love you, kiddo, and that’s never gonna change.”
“I love you too.”
After a lot more hugging and a lot more crying, they arrived in the penthouse of the tower to find Sam and Bucky sat watching a movie. They both turned when they heard the two of them enter and immediately they got up and started asking questions.
“Jesus Christ, kid. What the hell happened to you?” Sam took in Peter’s profusely bleeding nose (still, my god) and bloodshot eyes.
Tony placed his hands on Peter’s shoulders. “Someone get the kid a Capri Sun on the rocks. He’s had a rough day.” Peter adjusted the wad of paper on his face, a few drops of blood spilling onto the floor. He cringed. That looked expensive to clean.
“At least tell me the other guy looks worse.” Bucky said, walking into the kitchen to get the kid a drink. Peter glanced up at Tony.
Flash notably did not look worse. But they didn’t need to know that.
Tony scoffed. “Are you kidding me? Of course he does. Pete sorted him out, he shouldn’t be bothering anyone any time soon.” Peter gave Tony a grateful look and the man shot him a quick smile. “So, what are we watching now?” He glanced at the tv screen. "I know I left you guys watching Parks and Rec, I wanna know why it wasn’t paused the minute I left this room.”
Bucky came back in and handed Peter his Capri Sun (yes, it was actually on the rocks), ruffling his hair as he walked past him. Adjusting the tissue under his nose again, Peter joined everyone on the sofa to settle down for the night.