Chapter 1
Peter felt tired. He was combing through some stuff that one of his science idols, Dr. Bruce Banner wrote on radioactivity and it was not easy to understand. Okay, maybe it wasn't written for an eight-year-old to read around 10 pm but these files were interesting and he did manage to hack into the servers of S.H.I.E.L.D. (again) so he supposed he earned a little reward.
This was his second time hacking into something with a little more security than sites like Netflix or Spotify. He needed his full entertainment for free, okay? Last time, he was a lot more nervous as he cracked the codes and went through Tony Stark's seemingly endless files of inventions, but tonight, it was routine-like. They really should have better security, considering what they do.
"Peter, buddy, could you bring me my screwdriver? I think I left it in the storage room." He almost didn't hear Uncle Ben shouting from the other end of the flat. He yelled back a yes and proceeded to go and get the tool.
When his Aunt and Uncle first moved in here, the plus room was intended to be a guest room of sorts, however, since the accident two years ago, the other problems just added up till they abandoned the project and put some old stuff there instead.
There were boxes with the late Parker pair's belongings, photo albums. Also, Ben kept his toolbox in here and May her sewing kit, the clothing iron, the vacuum cleaner. Peter didn't even remember what the room looked like empty.
He found the screwdriver - really hard to miss with the bright red handle - but it was on top of a shoebox that he didn't remember seeing before. There were four words written on it by alcoholic pens.
For Peter of 2017
What? It wasn't the handwriting of May or Ben, he was sure. It must be his parents then - but why would they write to 16-year-old Peter and him only?
Curiosity got the better of him; he quickly delivered Ben what he asked for and snuck the box in his room.
"Let's see what you got," he muttered as he took off the lid. It was not what could be expected but again what was? The box contained lots of letters and some scribblings of equations on the first look, but a yellow envelope on the top stood out more.
Peter picked it up and opened it carefully to find two more papers. One of them was a long letter, for him.
Dear Peter,
if you're reading this, me and Richard are not around to tell you, to explain to you all this. I wish that wasn't a possibility but sadly, we can't be that lucky - working on secret projects does that to you. I am just grateful Ben and May are there for you, I know they raised you well.
Sixteenth birthday, huh? God, I wish I could have seen it. But, I've gotten off-topic.
There's a story you should hear first before you go through the other stuff. I was fresh out of school, I just took a new job at a science company - same as Richard - and I wasn't sure about anything. I wrote down everything in digital notes, the equations and what would they cause, however, I always second-guessed them and wrote down even those in the notes.
They were supposed to be private notes, so you can imagine my shock when someone replied. He reassured me about what was right, corrected what was wrong and left his monograms as a goodbye. TS.
That's where the letter began. I just opened new private notes and wrote to him - thanking him for the help and asking about his name.
He didn't give me it for a while but I got him to play a game: we told each other our work problems and the other solved it before us, they got to ask a question - the other had to answer truthfully.
Naturally, he could solve way more problems than I could, so he knew more about me and my personal life. He rarely asked uncomfortable questions though, he was kind that way. He knew my name, age, address and moved onto lighter topics, even though I knew he was still curious. He asked what my favorite song was, what movies I liked, what is my favorite color.
I only got to ask a few questions so I chose wisely. First of all, I needed to know his name.
His answer was Tony Stark. I thought I should be more surprised or excited to talk to a celebrity then but at that point, we have been messaging for months and I just figured out three of his problems. Truly, he was like any other guy, I thought. I had two more questions left so I quickly asked him what his middle name was - I did not know much about Tony Stark except that he was a genius and a womanizer.
When he reluctantly told me it was Edward, I had a good time laughing at it for about fifteen minutes. His new nickname was Eddie. Did not like it, he said if anybody else called him that, he would strangle them, so I should be grateful for being me.
Peter couldn't help but chuckle at how absurd this letter was so far. His mother was pen pals with Tony Stark and she called him Eddie and he didn't mind. Would Tony Stark talk to him if he mentioned Mum?
So, my last question for the day was his favorite color. I thought it was light-hearted but he wouldn't answer. I told him it was okay if it was Barbie pink, I won't tell anyone. It was not that. His favorite color was beige because his mother used to wear that when she was alive. It got so awkward I didn't dare speak to him for three days.
I think, the funny thing was, I didn't feel bad because I made the great Tony Stark remember something traumatic and therefore made him feel bad. I felt bad because I was doing that to my friend, Eddie, who always helped me even though he had his own issues and who I could talk to. I didn't have many friends back then. I guess I'm telling you this to start knowing the real him, not the fake him that the media gets to see. Of course, I couldn't tell all about him in only one letter.
So, eventually, we met in person. I went to his house, in secret and we had a lab and movie night. It was surprisingly domestic, we had a fun night and ate shawarma. Called it our thing. Thing is, we had a rule - we stay as just friends, nothing more.
Long story short, we broke the rule one night - just before I was going back to my place again. Everything was so awkward, we didn't speak, we didn't text. We broke all contact and we were hesitant to talk again. I went on a date with Richard and dived into my work. Weeks later, I realized I was pregnant with you. I knew the father wasn't Richard because we took it slow.
I never told Tony, it was bad enough we broke our rule and I didn't want to make things awkward. But I'm telling you now, so you know the truth. Tony is your father and your only living relative if you're reading this. Contact him, make sure he knows about you and that you're okay. I'm sure he would have been so glad to be there for your earlier years and I'm sorry he wasn't.
Now, he can be there and you can be there for him. Whatever is his life right now, I'm sure that it's a mess as usual. Tell him what I told you and tell him that I'm sorry and I love him.
I also owe you an apology Peter, even if it can't change the sixteen years where you didn't know your real father. I am truly sorry Peter, I love you with all my heart and I really hope that you had and will have a happy life.
This box contains the printed messages of me and your father, some pictures, Tony's pliers I managed to sneak from him when he wasn't looking - they are his favorites, I stole it as a prank, meant to give it back but he probably forgot it already -, and some equations that we were working on and I haven't been able to figure out - thought you'd like it, maybe.
Love you,
Mum
Peter just kept staring at the paper like it had all the answers in the universe. And maybe it had for him. He was just an eight-year-old kid who's evening plan... was hacking into a super-secret government database to figure out dangerous science sketches. Yeah, when it is told like that, he can see that it's not that weird.
His life was already weird enough, this was just the tip of the iceberg. It was crazy and... well, actually, the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. In a kind of freaky way, of course.
His Dad is Tony Stark. And the world is still going around.
Peter had no idea where May or Ben was and he was scared. Everyone was screaming, running around. He was strangely confident knowing Dad was here, somewhere. He didn't know whether that was because he was Iron Man or because even if the man didn't know it, he was his father.
Whatever it was, when a HammerDrone went for him and he put up his fake repulsor, he was a little bit afraid but somehow, he wasn't that surprised that his Dad was behind him, shooting down the drone. What he didn't anticipate in the slightest is the comment that came after.
"Good job, kid." Iron Man took off and Peter turned around, whispering in awe.
"Thanks, Dad."