Innocent eyes

"Try to remember the kind of September when grass was green," Maria sings as she plays the piano, "Wake up, dear," the woman says while she continues playing. Howard comes out of the room and grabbed the red blanket out of Tony's sleeping form,  "And say goodbye to your father," she added.

"Who's the homeless person on the couch?" Howard asks as he lets go of the blanket and goes to button his suit, leaving Tony to get up from the couch.

It has always been like this, cold arguments, speaking in snarks and sarcasm--Tony is already used to it and he always tries to level with his father's retorts even if he can still feel his heart stuttering and his legs turning to jelly in fear. He guesses that all the trauma and punishments he had to endure--still has to endure--is already embedded in his mind, never to part.

Tony chuckles as he stands up, facing his father, "This is why I love coming home for Christmas," he says, "...right before you leave town."

"Be nice dear," Maria butts in, "he's been studying abroad."

Maria Stark, Tony's saving grace. He feels like if his mother wasn't here, his father would've smacked him in the face for showing up at home, fresh from wherever he came from with a massive hang-over to boot.

Howard scoffs, "Really? Which broad?" he asks as he places both his hands in his pockets, "What's her name?" the man asks, towering over Tony's form.

"Candice," Tony answers back absentmindedly, looking away as to not feel that terror that was coursing in his veins just by being in the same room as his father. And also add the fact that, well, the girl's name does not matter anymore because he already broke up with her and he's now with another girl whose name he forgot.

Howard roughly grabs the Santa hat out of his son's head as he threw it on the couch, making Tony flinch a little but soon breathing out when the pain didn't come as he expected, "Do me a favor," the older Stark says, "Try not to burn the house down before Monday."

"Okay, so it's Monday," Tony says as he looks and walks away from his father, not affording to look at his father's eyes any longer and wanting to have the important space between them as to not warrant any physical violence touching, "That's good to know. I will plan my toga party accordingly. Where are you going?" he asks as he pockets his hands, standing next to his mother in order to feel a little bit assured that no fist is going his way.

"Your father's flying us to the Bahamas for a little getaway." Maria answers back.

"We might have to make a quick stop--"

"At the Pentagon, right?" Tony asks, masking his fear and annoyance with sarcasm like he always does when he's with his father. "Don't worry," he added as he leans closer to his mother, "you're gonna love the holiday menu at the commissary."

Howard sighs as he looks at Tony with a hint of disappointment, "They say sarcasm is a metric for potential." he says as he points at his son, "If that's true, you'll be a great man someday." he finishes as he finally leaves the room, "I'll get the bags."

Tony huffs as he walks farther away, hating how his father saw right through his sarcasm and completely spoiled his mood. The man crosses his arms in annoyance as he looks away.

Maria sighs at the two, "He does miss you when you're not here," the woman says, "Lies," Tony wanted to say back but bit his tongue before he regrets it, "And frankly, you're going to miss us." Maria stands up and walks closer to her son, "Because this is the last time we're all going to be together."  Tony looks down, not really knowing what to feel, "You know what's going to happen." The woman says as she loops the strap of her bag on her shoulder, and finally, Tony looks at her.

Tony nods, his jaws clenched as he basks on his mother's face.

"Say something," the woman says as she rubs her hands on her son's arm. Howard then comes in the room, holding the bags, "If you don't, you'll regret it." she added.

With that, Tony sighs, plasters the fakest smile he could ever muster, burying all the trauma and pain that was etched in his mind ever since he was a kid as he looks at Howard, "I love you dad," he says, meaning it. Tony then looks back at his mother, "And I knew you did the best you could." he added, finally smiling genuinely, looking straight into his mom's blue eyes.

Maria smiles a little as she leans in to kiss Tony for the last time.

"That's how I wish it happened," the 'now' Tony says, as he slowly lifts up his head, revealing what looks to be a very expensive glasses, then he stops, pondering, "Binarily augmented retro-framing... or BARF," he says as he sighs, "Gosh, I gotta work on that acronym." he mumbles, more to himself.

"An extremely costly method of hijacking the hippocampus... to... clear traumatic memories." Tony finished as he leans in to blow the fire out of the candle sitting on top of the piano.

The light of the candle immediately dies out, as his surroundings gets back to what it really is--a skeleton of what's supposed to be the house where he grew up in.

"Huh," Tony mumbles, "It doesn't change the fact that they never made it to the..." he mutters as he clenches his fists to try to hide his shaking hands, "...to the airport," he says, almost whispering. Then he clicks his tongue, snapping out of his trance as he continues, "Or all the things I did to avoid processing my grief, but..." the man then grabs the glasses out of his face as he stares at it,  "611 million dollars for my little therapeutic experiment?" he asks as he looks at the many students in front of him, listening, "No one in their right mind would've ever funded it." he shrugs.

Tony started walking closer to the crowd, "Help me out, what's the MIT's mission statement?" he asks, "To..."

"To generate, disseminate, and preserve knowledge," the crowd answers back while Tony recites it with them.

"And work with others... to bring it to bear the world's great challenges. Well, you are the others. And quite as it's kept the challenges facing you are the greatest mankind's ever known. Plus, most of you are broke." the crowd laughs and Tony continues his bravado, "Oh, I'm sorry,. rather, you were." he mutters. "As of this moment... every student has been an equal recipient of the inaugural September foundation grant..." he says, pausing, "As in, all of your projects have just been approved and funded."

The crowd claps, smiling to each other when they hear such wonderful words from the one and only Tony Stark, plus the fact that they have a new benefactor for their own experiments and projects.

"No strings, no taxes, just... reframe the future!" Tony says, reading from the teleprompter, "Starting now..." he reads.

The teleprompter reveals new message for him to say, 'Now I would like to introduce the head of the foundation: Pepper Potts.' it read but Tony didn't, as he only stares at the words, stopping.

Tony clicks his tongue as he plasters his signature suave smile, "Go break some eggs." he finishes as he finally leaves the stage and the people clapping and cheering him on.

Tony was so ready to leave--he can feel the telltale signs of his anxiety thrumming in his veins. Not that there were triggers to fuel his anxiety... it just that, well, for him, it just happens.

"Wow, wow!" one of the faculties--Tony doesn't really know what his name is--welcomes him and shakes his hand while the billionaire just absentmindedly takes it, "That took my breath away!" the faculty says, enthusiastically--too enthusiastic if you'd ask Tony. "Oh, Tony! So generous. So much money! Wow!" the man exclaims.

Tony removes his mic and gave it to the staff as he walks, not really paying any mind to the other man that was chattering beside him. He just wanted to get out, to breathe.

"Out of curiosity, will any portion of the grant be made available to the faculty? I know, 'ooh, gross', but hear me out. I have got this killer idea of a self-cooking hotdog, basically--"

Tony wanted--needed to get out of here now, immediately.

The billionaire paid no mind to the man chattering beside him as he continues to walk, scanning the area for a potential exit, "Restroom's this way, yeah?" he asks absentmindedly.

"Uh, yeah, embedded--"

"Mr. Stark," a blonde woman calls. Tony turns to the woman, and well, if he remembers right, her name's... Kate... or Kelsey, or something, it starts with a K. "I am so sorry about the teleprompter." the woman says, "I didn't know Ms. Potts had canceled. They didn't have any time to fix it." the woman nervously says.

Tony looks at the woman and nods, understanding that it wasn't her fault... cause, well, it was his fault. It's Tony's fault why Pepper left... again.

Tony shakes his head, "It's fine," he says, smiling tightly as he excuses himself, "I'll be right back."

The billionaire made a beeline towards the bathroom, leaving the people behind, then stops, as he detoured, wanting nothing more but to leave... to get the hell out of there. Tony quickly walks towards the elevator and found a woman standing there, probably waiting for the lift too.

There was a silence between them. It wasn't awkward per se, but it was just that--silence.

"That was nice, what you did for those people." the woman says out of the blue, filling the silence with a few words, getting the attention of the billionaire.

Tony didn't really want to talk--he just wanted to leave... but, he couldn't just ignore the woman. Who knows what headline he'll read tomorrow morning if he snubs her. Besides, people are always on his throat, waiting for him to fuck up yet again, so he side eyes her and brushed the compliment off, " Ah, they deserve it." he says, short and casual, and after a beat, he added, "Plus, it helps ease my conscience." which is probably a mistake as it became a conversation opener between them.

The woman nods, "They say there's a correlation between generosity and guilt... but if you've got the money, break as many eggs as you like." she says calmly. Her words caught the billionaire's attention as he finally makes an eye contact with the woman, "Right?" she asks.

And somehow, the woman's words hit close to home than Tony would like so he smiles tightly. Generosity and guilt... The man shifts from where he's standing, fidgeting, trying to find something that would catch his attention, grab him out of the thoughts in his mind that was triggered by the woman's words. And finally, he stares at the buttons of the elevator and found that nothing was pressed--which was suspicious, fairly odd--so he made the move and pressed the 'up' button.

"Are you going up?" Tony asks, ignoring the woman's comments as he gets his defenses up. He then looks at the woman questioningly.

The woman just stares at him and after a beat, "I'm right where I want to be." she answers as she grabs something from her purse and the superhero quickly grabs her arms in a defensive stance--more of a muscle memory more than anything.

With so many people who tried to hurt him since he was a kid, Tony knew how to immediately block incoming hits, potential threats.

"Okay. Hey." Tony says then looks at the woman... And when he saw nothing but sadness in her eyes, he stops.

Was he paranoid? Probably... probably not. So the man relaxes up a notch and sighs, letting go of the woman's hand, "Sorry, it's an occupational hazard." he mumbles.

The woman smiles at the billionaire and clarified, "I work for the state department." she says as Tony nods. So not a threat, huh. Tony thought to himself. "Human resources." the woman shrugs as she looks straight into Tony's eyes, never straying away, "I know it's boring..." she shrugs as she continues, "But it enabled me to raise a son. I'm very proud of what he grew up to be." she says as she puts her palm on the billionaire's chest, a picture sandwiched in her hand.

Tony stares at it and then looks back at the woman... and only then did he see the overwhelming emotion in the woman's eyes--anguish, pain... grief, sadness--emotions that he also knew well, too well. Emotions that he feels everyday, like some bugs crawling on his skin, like a vice grip squishing his heart every second.

"His name was Charlie Spencer," she says as she stares into the superhero's eyes, wondering if the man in front of her is really what he claims to be. "You murdered him," she added, trying hard not to cry, "In Sokovia... not that it matters in the least to you." she says, "You think you fight for us? You just fight for yourself."

Tony stares at the woman, feeling that same hollowness, that same black hole gnawing in his chest as he sees a mirror of himself... a child lost because of his negligence... another same story.

"Who's going to avenge my son, Stark?" the woman asks, "He's dead, and I blame you."

---

"Oh, five years ago... I had a heart attack and dropped right in the middle of my backswing." the secretary of state recounts as he gets into position, reenacting what had happened before, he shrugs, then continues, "Turned out it was the best round of my life because after 13 hours of surgery and a triple bypass, I found something 40 years in the army had never taught me..." he sighs as he turns to the Avengers, "Perspective."

Tony stares at the man, completely unaware where the secretary was getting at but he still listens--because that's all he got to do now. He already made up his mind and he was only letting the secretary talk to spare himself from explaining everything to his teammates. It was something he knows will be hard to do so lets the secretary do all the hard jobs.

The billionaire then clutches his wrist--a tick he developed after many years of trauma and anxiety... it helped ground him, helped him to be present.

"The world owes the Avengers an unpayable debt." Ross mumbles, "You have fought for us, protected us, risked your lives... But while a great many people see you as heroes... there are some who would prefer the word 'vigilantes'."

Natasha smirks at the word, then turns towards the man, "What word would you use, Mr. Secretary?" she asks, giving a small, fake smile to the man.

Ross ponders and then looks at the super spy's eyes, "How about 'dangerous'?" he answers back truthfully. "What would you call a group of US-based, enhanced individuals, who routinely ignore sovereign borders and inflict their will wherever they choose?" Ross tilts his head sideways as he eyes the group of heroes in front of him, "And who, frankly, seem unconcerned about what they leave behind?"

Ross steps aside as he shows what he had prepared for the people before him, wanting them to understand what really matters right now.

And without batting an eyelash, he makes the heroes understand, "New York," he says, as a video of the battle of New York plays on the hologram--lot's of people were hurt, afraid, running for their lives. And then Bruce, or probably, Hulk comes into the frame jumping from one building to the other, destroying it in his wake.

"Washington, D.C.," Ross continues, as another video plays before them--aircrafts of SHIELD crashing down, people running for their lives, big loads of water being splashed.

"Sokovia," the secretary adds, then another video plays--the destroyed place of Sokovia, ascending... the battle against Ultron... Tony Stark's many mistakes.

With that video, Tony bows his head down in embarrassment and guilt, trying hard to calm his erratic heart... trying hard not to go on a full-blown panic attack.

"Lagos," Ross mutters as the recent tragedy plays before them--the bombing, people getting rescued out of the building... and then a woman... dead, with her eyes open.

Tony quickly looks away, not able to stomach all the things they have done... thinking that they were helping... but in the end, there's always casualties--lives lost in order to save some.

"Okay, that's enough." Steve mutters, seeing how Wanda looked away from the woman.

Ross nods as he signals his men to pause the video, satisfied that he was able to get the reaction he wanted, "For four years, you've operated with unlimited power and no supervision." he says as he clasps his hands on his back, "That's an arrangement the governments of the world can no longer tolerate." the man sighs as he turns to one of his men and grabbed the thick papers that was handed to him, "But I think we have a solution,"

Tony bows down his head once more, knowing what was inside those papers. He knows, he had read it, studied it... and he knows what is the right thing to do.

"The Sokovia accords," Ross announces, "Approved by 117 countries... It states that the Avengers shall no longer be a private organization. Instead, they'll operate under the supervision of a United Nations panel only when, and if, that panel deems it necessary."

Steve sighs, "The Avengers were formed to make the world a safer place... I feel we've done that." he mutters.

Ross smirks, "Tell me, Captain, do you know where Thor and Banner are right now?" he asks, "If I misplaced  a couple of 30 megaton nukes, you can bet there'd be consequences." he mutters as he paces, "Compromise. Reassurance. That's how the world works. Believe me, this is the middle ground."

Rhodey eyes the man as he sighs, "So, there are contingencies." he states.

Ross nods, "Three days from now, the UN meets in Vienna to ratify the Accords."

Even though Tony can't see Rogers, he knew that the Captain was currently looking at him. He paid no mind to it, as he looks down, not having the courage to meet the other man's eyes.

"We'll talk it over," Steve finally says to the secretary, looking away from the billionaire.

"And if we come to a decision you don't like?" Natasha asks.

Ross shrugs as he eyes Natasha, "Then you retire."

"Secretary Ross has a congressional medal of honor, which is one more than you have." Rhodey mutters, looking at Sam.

Tony closes his eyes in an attempt to nurse the full-blown migraine he'd been having since this morning, but he guesses that the sound of his teammates debating is just fuel to the fire. He can already feel the throb behind his eyes and temples raging more.

"So, let's say we agree to this thing." Sam explains, "How long is it gonna be before they lojack us like a bunch of common criminals?"

With that comment, Tony rolls his eyes heavenwards, but soon regrets it when he felt a sharp pain in his eyes when he did.

Rhodey sighs at that, not understanding how his teammates could not see reason. Why can't they understand how important the Accords is right now. "117 countries want to sign this. 117, Sam, and you're just like, "No, that's cool. We got it.""

Sam scoffs at that comment, "How long are you gonna play both sides--"

"I have an equation," Vision suddenly butts in.

Finally, Sam and Rhodey stops arguing as they both turn to the human robot.

"Oh, this will clear it up." Sam mumbles.

When Vision sees that his teammates are finally ready to listen, he starts, "In the eight years since Mr. Stark announced himself as Iron Man, the number of known enhanced persons has grown exponentially." he says as he looks at Wanda and the others, "During the same period, the number of potentially world-ending events has risen at a commensurate rate."

Steve stares at Vision and asks, "Are you saying that it's our fault?"

"I'm saying there may be a causality." Vision explains, "Our very strength invites challenge. Challenge incites conflict... and conflict, breeds catastrophe." the man finishes, as he looks down and then stares back at the Avengers, "Oversight... oversight is not an idea that can be dismissed out of hand." he finishes.

"Boom," Rhodey says casually as he looks at Sam, making a point.

Tony sighs at that as he removes his palm from his face.

"Tony," Natasha calls, "You are being uncharacteristically non-hyperverbal." the woman mused.

Steve looks at Tony and nods, "It's because he's already made up his mind." he states.

Tony rolls his eyes at that as he looks at the Captain, "Boy, you know me so well," he says sarcastically as he stands up from the couch that he was currently resting in, "Actually, I'm nursing an electromagnetic headache." the billionaire says as he reaches for his head in an attempt to reduce the pain.

The Avengers just follows Tony with their eyes because they know that sooner or later, the billionaire will speak about the elephant in the room.

"That's what's going on, Cap." Tony mumbles as he went to the counter, "It's just pain," he says. The man grabs one of the cups, and eyes the disposal, making a mental note to fix it later when he's not with this people, "It's discomfort," he mutters, "Who's putting coffee grounds on the disposal?" he asks, annoyed. Was he stalling? Probably, he'll spew out words until he couldn't help himself but to finally talk, to lay the heavy burden that was weighing on his shoulders, "Am I running a bed and breakfast for a biker gang?" he asks, irritation laced in his voice.

And finally, when the billionaire feels like his heart is going to burst from too much guilt and sadness, he places his phone on the fruit basket and tapped it, showing a boy. "Oh, that's Charles Spencer, by the way," he says, "He's a great kid." he added, "Computer engineering degree, 3.6 GPA... had a floor-level gig at intel planned for the fall." he says as he pours himself a cup of water. "But first, he wanted to put a few miles on his soul before he parked it behind a desk--see the world... maybe of service." he finally looks at his teammates, having the courage, "Charlie didn't want to go to Vegas or Fort Lauderdale, which is what I would do." he shrugs, "He didn't go to Paris or Amsterdam, which sounds fun." he added, "He decided to spend his summer, building sustainable housing for the poor." he says, looking directly in the very eyes of his teammates, "Guess where, Sokovia."

Rhodey looks down, understanding too well what Tony is feeling--the regret, the guilt, the sadness and pity. He knows that Charles Spencer's case just hits close to home to both him and his best friend. It was that almost same story.

"He wanted to make a difference, I suppose," Tony says, "We won't know because we dropped a building on him while we were kicking ass." with that, Tony ends, taking a few pills in his hands and downed it with water.

Tony shrugs then eyes his teammates, "There's no decision-making process here," he says with finality, "We need to be put in check. Whatever form that takes, I'm game," the billionaire says, "If we can't accept limitations, if we're boundary less, we're no better than the bad guys."

"Tony, someone dies on your watch, you don't give up." Steve says as he looks at the philanthropist.

Tony wanted to scream at that comment because he's not giving up. He did before, and it was a mistake. But now, he's much better, understands better--he knows what he needs to do.

"Who said we're giving up?" Tony asks.

"We are, if we are not taking responsibility for our actions." the Captain answered back, "This document just shifts the blame."

Rhodey finally cuts through the conversation, "I'm sorry, Steve, but that is dangerously arrogant." the man says, "This is the United Nations we're talking about. It's not the World Security Council, it's not SHIELD, it's not HYDRA."

"No," Steve counters, "But it's run by people with agendas, and agendas change."

"That's good. That's why I'm here." Tony says, "When I realized what my weapons were capable of in the wrong hands, I shut it down and stopped manufacturing." he added as he walks closer to Steve.

"Tony, you chose to do that." Steve argues, "If we sign this, we surrender our right to choose." he says, wanting for his other teammates to also see the reason that he was saying, "What if this panel sends us somewhere we don't think we should go? What if there is somewhere we need to go and they don't let us?" he asks. "We may not be perfect, but the safest hands are still our own."

"If we don't do this now, it's gonna be done to us later. That's the fact. That won't be pretty." Tony answers back.

"You're saying, they'll come for me." Wanda butts in.

"We would protect you," Vision says, assuring the woman.

Natasha sighs as she finally speaks, "Maybe Tony's right." Tony quickly turns to the red-head, surprised. "If we have one hand on the wheel, we can still steer. If we take it off--"

"Aren't you the same woman who told the government to kiss her ass a few years ago?" Sam asks.

"I'm just reading the terrain," the woman says calmly, "We have made some very public mistakes. We need to win their trust back." 

"Focus up. I'm sorry." Tony says, still baffled as he looks at Natasha, "Did I just mishear you or did you agree with me?" he asks, wanting to at least lighten the situation.

Natasha looks at Tony and shakes her head, "I want to take it back now."

"No, you can't retract it. Thank you. Unprecedented." Tony mused, "Okay," he shrugs, "Case closed. I win."

---

"Daddy, are you okay?"

Tony snaps out of his reverie as he stares back at his son who was now looking at him worriedly.

"What?" the man asks.

"Are you okay?" the child repeats, "You've been... spacing out. You didn't hear me call you."

"Oh," Tony mumbles as he clears his throat, showing his child the fake smile that he's mastered through the months, "Well, uh, I just got lost in my mind for a moment there. What was it, buddy?"

Peter frowns as he tilts his head, "Why are you always getting lost?" the child asks innocently, "Do you need a map?"

Tony chuckles genuinely at that as he pulled Peter closer to him and placed the child on his lap, "Dad doesn't need a map, Pete." he says, "I'm here where I want to be."

"But then how did you get lost?" the child asks.

Tony smiles then places a soft kiss on top of Peter's head, "It's a figure of speech, you'll learn about it when you're older, okay?"

"Okay," Peter says as they watch the ducks waddle, silence enveloping the two Starks.

"Bud," Tony says after a minute.

"Hmm?" the child asks, still mesmerized by the cute aquatic birds.

"What do you think is a perfect day?" Tony asks, "What is something that you want to do so badly? I'll make it happen."

"Perfect day?" Peter asks.

"Uh-huh." Tony says, "You know... like Disney World? Or... should we go to the cabin... at Lodgepole? Would you love that?"

Silence envelopes the Starks again, until after a while Peter finally answers, "No."

"No?" 

"No," Peter repeats, "I just want... I just want to sleep on a tent... like we did before... sleeping under the stars." he says, "I just want that again... and then we'll have some campfire and... s'mores--I watched it from a movie... it sounds delicious."

Tony laughs almost heartbreakingly, "That's your perfect day?... night?" the man asks, "Just camping and s'mores?"

Peter nods as he leans closer to his father, "No," the child disagrees, "My perfect day is with you... actually, today's a perfect day too."

The hologram glitches as FRIDAY's voice plays on the background, "Boss, the secretary of state had called you for the seventh time this day, should I patch him through?"

Tony groans, grabbing the glasses from his face roughly as he placed it on the coffee table beside him, "FRI, I told you that I'm not taking any calls today. Decline it."

A beep rang out, signaling that the AI had done what he told her to do but apparently, the AI wasn't finished with talking yet, "Then may I suggest that you turn BARF off, boss?" FRIDAY asks that earns a raised brow from the billionaire, "Dr. Reynolds will not be pleased that you're using BARF as a coping mechanism again--he says that it is not--"

"I know," Tony says, cutting FRIDAY off before she could even give her a long ass scolding, "Gosh, you sound like Pepper so much."

"Thank you for the compliment, boss,"

With that, Tony rolls his eyes heavenwards. Gosh, too much like Pepper. 

"That wasn't a compliment," Tony mumbles through his teeth. The man sighs as he stands up from his seat and started walking towards the table on the corner of his workshop, "It's rude to interrupt me when I'm doing something too, FRI." he mutters.

"Mr. Rhodes had programmed me to always listen to Dr. Reynold's instructions rather than yours, boss." the AI says, "Dr. Reynolds had told you many times before that BARF will only cause a relapse and will not, in any way, help you."

Tony rolls his eyes at that as he finally arrives in front of the table and saw Peter's smiling face beaming at him through the picture frame as he sighs, "I'm not relapsing, FRI," he says as he grabs the lighter and lit the wick of the candle beside Peter's picture.

Tony had never been religious but there were bouts of time when he did believe, he prayed, he talked to whoever god there is, and now, Tony couldn't get rid of the thought that maybe, Peter's still listening somewhere... maybe in heaven? Who knows? That's why he decided to put up a small remembrance table dedicated to Peter. There's one here in his workshop, another in his and Pepper's room, in his floor at the compound. He talked to Peter there, sometimes even prayed to God. It was something that stayed to him when... when he finally accepted Peter's death.

"I'm happy to hear that boss," FRIDAY answers back, "But may I remind you that you have therapy with Dr. Reynolds this coming Saturday?"

"I didn't forget." Tony says as he watches the light of the candle.

"I'm just reminding, boss." FRIDAY says back.

Tony just nods at that as he places a soft kiss on Peter's picture frame and then went back to the place where he was working on before he had the urge to see Peter's face again through BARF.

"Do you think the kid would like this?" Tony asks as he eyes the suit that he was previously working on, "Or... should I change the color scheme a little?"

"I think it is safe to say that Mr. Spider would prefer the same color as his pajamas." 

Tony chuckles at that as he nods, "Well, any luck on the kid's identity?" the man asks as he continues to sew the suit that he was making, "Well... aside from knowing that he seems like literally a kid."

"No luck, boss," FRIDAY answers back, "But I do have two new alerts on CODE: WEBS."

"New ones?" Tony asks, "This early?" the man added as he looks at the clock that says '1:32PM'. "I thought that he usually comes out at around 3... 4-ish o'clock?"

"There had been times of early alerts, boss," FRIDAY answers back, "But mostly Mr. Spider--"

"FRI, please stop calling the kid 'Mr. Spider'. I'm pretty sure that Spiderling is on the young side."

"What name would you want me to call him?"

"Spiderling would probably a good match."

"Noted, boss," FRIDAY chirps, "And as I have said, Spiderling mostly goes out at around 3 or 4 o'clock in the afternoon."

"Hmm," Tony mumbles, thinking, "Continue logging the times that the kid goes out... or all the things he does... I'm pretty sure that we'll be able to know his identity soon." the man mutters, "So be a dear and pull up the new alerts, FRI,"

The system gave a beep as a hologram displayed before Tony, showing the new hero with a crying kid beside him, holding his hands.

"What am I looking at, FRI?" Tony asks, a small smile creeping up his face as he continue watching the hologram.

The crying kid in the video reaches out to the hero, wanting to be held, and of course, the Spider didn't have any options but to carry the kid.

"It seems like Spiderlinh had found a kid who was lost in the park. The kid is identified as Lincoln Walker, four years of age. Spiderling later found the child's mother and got the mother and son reunited."

"That's pretty cute," Tony mumbles, the smile plastered on his face, "How about the other alert?"

Another video plays in front of Tony but now, the footage looks grainy and it was just one of those low quality videos.

The video started chaotic, a black car was zooming into the frame with the familiar someone donned in red and blue swinging into the frame too and quickly catching the car with his gloved hands in order for it to not collide with the bus in front of it.

With that, Tony frowns as he looks steadily at the video, "Will you replay that again?"

The video replays just as the billionaire asked and even on the second view, he was still surprised, shocked.

Tony's mouth drops, "Can you calculate that, FRI?"

"The car weighed 3,000 pounds and it was running on 40 miles an hour."

"That's not--how's that possible?" Tony asks, more to himself.

"The only possible explanation is that Spiderling is enhanced, or probably, a mutant."

---

"Peter?"

Peter quickly looked up from his mountain of home works and found May standing on his door, "Yeah?"

"I've been calling you for several times now, honey," May mutters, "You gonna come out any time there?" she asks, smiling.

"Oh uh, yeah, sorry, I was too deep into the Spanish... homework," Peter mumbles.

May nods, "Okay, finish that then we'll have dinner. Then after that, meds."

Peter groans at that as he looked away, "But May, I feel fine!" the teen exclaims, "No symptoms or anything, for the past few months! I mean, I haven't even gotten a single palpitation in a long time." the kid mutters, dragging the word 'long' to make a point.

"It's because I make sure that you diligently drink all your meds, honey," the woman says, "Come on, no more arguing before dinner, okay?"

Peter groans at that as he went back to his work, wanting nothing more but to finish his homework and sleep, because boy, he needs it. Besides, he got out of school pretty early today so he was able to patrol earlier and help in so many things. And right now, the only enemy he has is his Spanish homework, his History paper and the Math problems still unsolved.

"Honey, come on, I've been waiting for you for the past 15 minutes," May calls from the dining room and Peter's pretty sure that it wasn't 15 minutes, or was it?

Peter sighs at that as he finally surrenders and leaves his mountain of homework to take a break and spend some time with his aunt.

May smiles at him when he finally appears in the dining room, "Finally, my miracle boy is out. Come on, I ordered some Korean food." she says, "Let's eat while it's hot."

Peter smiles at that as he finally takes a seat in front of May and started digging on the food, "Thank you for the food, May," he says.

"Well, of course, I kind of missed sitting down and chatting with you, Peter." she says, "I know that you're a growing boy and you have lots of assignments and friends and whatnot, but please, darling, I hope you could still spend some time for dinner with me, hmm?"

Peter purses his lips guiltily as he nods, "Sorry May, school's just too hectic." he answers back.

"Is it too much?" May asks, worry evident in the lines of her face, "You know, you can always tell me and I'll call you in sick. Dr. Liv--"

"It's fine," Peter says, almost whining as he chuckles, "It's okay. School's hectic but it's fun so... besides, I don't really want to miss any works anymore... especially now that I'm doing better."

May clicks her tongue at that as she eyes her nephew, "Are you really?" she asks, "Is that why your medications are still not finished?"

"No, May I--"

"I looked into your stash this morning and it's barely even touched. Peter, you're not supposed to skip on your medications."

"No, look," Peter sighs, "I just sometimes forget but it doesn't make a difference because I still feel okay nonetheless."

May stares at Peter and sighs, putting down her chopstick on the table, "Peter, if this is about our finances. I tell you that I can work for it, okay? You don't need to worry about that. Just drink your medicines so your heart keeps on pumping like its supposed to."

"It's not about the money, May,"

May eyes her nephew and gave him that 'don't bullshit me' look.

"Okay fine," Peter relents as he finally turns honest for his aunt, "The meds are kind of pricey and I thought that if I skip just one tablet, I'll be able to help. I mean, you have been working hard to pay for my hospital bills and medications."

May sighs as she holds out her hand to touch Peter's, "I'll work even harder just to make sure you're okay, hmm?" she asks, her eyes sincere, "I don't want a repeat of summer last year, Peter. Your uncle and I was so scared and now that you're doing loads better, I want to keep it at that. So please, for my own peace, just drink your meds and stop worrying about the money. I'll be able to earn it again but I can't afford to lose you too."

Peter bows his head down with that comment because he knows that he can't leave May alone... especially now that he's risking his life everyday.

But he guesses that he can always come home, as long as his heart is beating, he'll make sure to come home to May--whatever it takes.