Chapter 2
Peter's day had been really cool so far, a normal schoolday and dumpster day, his homework completed already (apart from some literature that he really wasn't in the mood for). He was a little bored in Maths, Physics, and Spanish, so he spent his time doing homework and working ahead.
He liked to have some future exercises completed in the textbooks, in case there's a history test or something and he has to actually study. He wasn't one to brag but a little bit of challenge wouldn't be bad in the school.
Now, he was walking out of the elevator straight to the door of their apartment, listening to music and holding a brand new and probably functional DVD-player. The music wasn't too loud due to his sensitive hearing so he didn't think to pull the plug out as he greeted May.
It may have been a good idea because he barely picked up his Aunt's question about his day. His mind went straight to the awesome car he saw outside and he voiced his thoughts, turning towards May... And Tony Stark.
He heard his heart beating faster and his breath beginning to quicken as he pulled out the earplugs and tried to think. It was like his brain was intentionally refusing to work.
That was his Dad. In the living room. Did he figure it out? Or did he know all this time? Is this about Spider-Man? Did he tell May? Oh my God, what did he tell May? May knows about neither of those things. No, they just probably had a little small talk, ate some date loaf... God, Tony Stark is casually talking with him and his Aunt in their apartment.
This went from a good day to a crazy day pretty fast.
"Oh, Mr. Parker," he heard Dad Tony Mr. Stark calling and got him out of the nonsense his brain was currently labeling as a train of thought.
"Um... What- what are you doing...? Hey! Uh, I'm- I'm... I'm Peter." God, that was the weakest hey he ever heard. Stark didn't seem to mind as he unnecessarily introduced himself too.
"Tony."
"What are... What are you- what are you- what are you doing here?" He wished his mind and mouth would work well right now.
"It's about time we met." Shit, does he know? Is he upset? "You've been getting my e-mails, right?" What e-mails? There were no e-mails. Is this some kind of code?
"Yeah. Yeah."
"Right?"
"Regarding the..." Okay, he was terrible at this but what was he supposed to understand about what? Was this Spider-Man business? Was he needed?
"You didn't tell me about the grant," May cut in with a voice that said they will talk about this later but now, she was being extremely sweet for the sake of their guest. However, Peter's mind was still so slow, so shocked, he only wanted to understand.
"About the grant."
"The September Foundation," Stark told him as if that explained anything.
"Right."
"Yeah. Remember when you applied?" He didn't, that was the point. Was this seriously the way they started their relationship? Lying to May? The only person who's still here, who was always there? No, he shouldn't be angry, Stark didn't know. He still doesn't know, probably.
"Yeah."
"I approved, so now we're in business." What business? He has a job?
"You didn't tell me anything. What's up with that? You keeping secrets from me now?" This really wasn't the time for May to be in parent mode.
"Why, I just, I just... I just know how much you love surprises, so I thought I would let you know... wh... anyway, what did I apply for?"
'Real smooth' he heard a remark from one of his classmates in the back of his head. Well, it wasn't entirely his fault. The situation wasn't the normal Father-Son conversation either, he supposed, and that did help his case a bit.
"That's what I'm here to hash out."
"Okay. Hash, hash out, okay." Suddenly, the man had a glint in his eyes that meant mischief and Peter was uncomfortable enough as it is.
"It's so hard for me to believe that she's someone's aunt." God, no. Please don't flirt with May.
"Yeah, well, we come in all shapes and sizes, you know?"
"This walnut date loaf is exceptional." Okay, that's enough, he needs answers, on this day, preferably.
"Let me just stop you right there."
"Yeah?" Okay, what to ask now? What first? He would ask about Spider-Man or the genetics or whatever caused the man to be so secretive but there was May. His brain still worked terribly.
"Is this grant, like, got money involved or whatever? No?"
"Yeah."
"Yeah?"
"It's pretty well-funded."
"Wow."
"Look who you're talking to. Can I have 5 minutes with him?" Finally, it seemed there will be a kind of solution to the matter at hand.
"Sure." They go to Peter's room and suddenly he's all too aware of the suit upstairs, the old tech on his desk, the posters and pictures lying around, and the pictures in his drawer, of Mum and Dad, the very same man who was standing beside him now. He could hear his heartbeat fasten as he thought of the man discovering those entered his mind. Whether to hope or to fear was hard to decide.
"As walnut date loaves go, that wasn't bad." He spat the food out, lightening the mood as if he sensed the anxiety of his son. "Whoa, what do we have here? Retro tech, huh? Thrift store? Salvation Army?"
"Uh, the garbage, actually." It was funny how it made him worry less - speaking about his everyday life, in front of Tony Stark. He should have felt intimidated and maybe it was only the fear of problems much greater but he did not care at the moment whether Tony Stark found Dumpster Diver Peter's life boring or pitiful.
"You're a dumpster diver."
"Yeah, I was... anyway, look, um, I definitely did not apply for your grant."
"Ah, ah, me first."
"Okay."
"Quick question of the rhetorical variety." Projections of Spider-Man YouTube videos appeared and Peter felt instantly worried. "That's you, right?"
"Um, no. What do you- what do you mean?" He wasn't sure why he denied it. It was not the secret he feared would get uncovered. Although, if Dad would be disappointed in him because he's Spider-Man... That would be a huge bummer as well.
"Yeah, look at you go. Wow! Nice catch." He told Peter approvingly when the hologram displayed Peter stopping a bus. "3000 pounds, 40 miles an hour. That's not easy. You got mad skills."
He was about to say 'Thanks, Dad' when he remembered he shouldn't. It was just a little thing he did in his head. Whenever he heard hus name, or anything related to him, he often imagined responding to it, or he would pretend that it's the normal thing for him after school to go to Dad's lab and talk about his day with him during tinkering. It was stupid but he couldn't help but imagine.
"That's all- That's all on YouTube though, right?" he tried to stop his thoughts from taking over and focused on the matter at hand. He's a normal teenage boy. He hasno secrets. He does normal stuff. He totally didn't hack into the personal server of Tony Stark yesterday to study the suits- Shit, he hacked into his personal server! Wasn't the first time either... He was sooo in trouble if he ever found out. Okay, back to Earth, Peter, back to Earth. "I mean, that's where you found that? Because you know that's all fake. It's all done on the computer."
Excuses, excuses. He faintly heard an uninterested mmhmm as he kept on rambling. "It's like that video. What is it?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah... Oh, you mean like those UFOs over Phoenix?"
"Exactly," he breathed out, relieved to find something reasonable to put his lies on. Only seconds later did he discover that Dad wasn't listening. Of course he wasn't.
"Oh, what have we here?" 'That was grammatically uncorrect' a voice in his head mused, sounding suspiciously like his English teacher. He hid the suit rather poorly.
"Uh... That's a..." What to say? What to say?
"So. You're the... Spider...ling. Crime-fighting Spider... You're Spider-Boy?" He knew that the other new his name very well and asked it in a provocative fashion but he couldn't help correcting him.
"Spider-Man."
"Not in that onesie, you're not." How dare he? He spent hours on his outfit and tech.
"It's not a onesie." Dad picked up the suit. God, this is so embarrassing and stressful and fuck, just make it stop. Of all the times he imagined them meeting, this was not something he expected and that annoyed him. He liked to be aware of things, to have a plan. "I don't believe this. I was actually having a real good day today, you know, Mr. Stark. Didn't miss my train, this perfectly good DVD player was just sitting there and... Algebra test. Nailed it!"
"Who else knows? Anybody?" Is he uncomfortable? Can't handle serious situations... A bit funny considering he is a CEO and an Avenger.
"Nobody."
"Not even your... unusually attractive aunt?"
"No. No, no, no, no. If she knew, she would freak out. And when she freaks out, I freak out."
"You know what I think is really cool? This webbing. That tensile strength is off the charts. Who manufactured that?"
"I did." I'm a normal kid, I swear.
"Climbing the walls, how you doing that? Cohesive gloves." Yeah, keep on thinking that, please.
"It's a long story. I was uh..."
"Lordy! Can you even see in these?" What's up with him? One minute, he's complimenting, the other, he's mocking.
"Yes. Yes, I can! I can. I can- I can see in those. Okay?" He sounded miserable. Way to go. "It's just that... When whatever happened, happened... It's like my senses have been dialed to 11. There's way too much input, so... They kinda help me focus."
"You're in dire need of an upgrade." You don't say? "Systemic, top to bottom. 100-point restoration. That's why I'm here." Peter sat down on the bed, somewhat relieved. "Why you doing this?" Why are you doing this? "I gotta know. What's your MO? What gets you outta that twin bed in the morning?"
"Because..." He thought of Uncle Ben again. How that man just shot him and left him to die and oh my god, the blood- on his coat, on Peter's hands. Could he really tell the other man what happened, what he did? "because I've been me my whole life and I've had these powers for 6 months. I read books, I build computers... and yeah, I would love to play football. But I couldn't then so I shouldn't now."
"Sure, because you're different." Yes, is that a bad thing?
"Exactly. But I can't tell anybody that, so I'm not. When you can do the things that I can but you don't... and the bad things happen... they happen because of you." That is why you do it too, why you never stopped, Dad, isn't it?
He might havethought the same because the man was staring into the distance. "So you wanna look out for the little guy? You wanna do your part? Make the world a better place, all that, right?"
"Yeah. Yeah just looking out... for the little guy. That's- That's what it is."
"I'm gonna sit here, so you move the leg." Peter awkwardly makes space for him. This is still crazy. They're sitting in his room, on his bed, talking about superhero stuff. Years and years ago, he would have laughed at it.
Mr. Stark - it sounded weird but it would have to do - put his hand on Peter's shoulder in an awkward way that must have been intented as comforting. Peter almost smiled. "You got a passport?" What?
"Uh, no. I don't even have a driver's license."
"You ever been to Germany?" What?!
"No."
"Oh, you'll love it." WHAT?!
"I can't go to Germany!" The more time I spend with you, the more likely you'll find out! And I you find out...
"Why?"
"I got... Homework." Okay, that was the lamest excuse ever.
"I'm gonna pretend you didn't say that." Peter needed to insist if he wanted to get out of this.
"I'm- I'm being serious! I can't just drop out of school!" Truth be told, Peter would've liked that very much but perhaps it would convince an adult to let him be.
"Might be a little dangerous. Better tell Aunt Hottie I'm taking you on a field trip." Peter and field trips did not agree. Oh well. Wait, did he imply what Peter thought he did? He webbed up Dad's hand what was already on the doorknob.
"Don't tell Aunt May."
"Alright, Spider-Man." Mr. Stark looked at him and he looked back. His eyes really were the same color. If he didn't know the truth, he would might have found it creepy. "Get me out of this."
Right. The webs.
"Sorry, I'll get the..." pulling out his drawer of treasured things, he carefully hid Mum's things from view and got one of the vials. Closing it, he turned back to Mr. Stark.
"What's that?" the man eyed it suspiciously.
"It's a gel. Makes the webbing dissolve faster. Instead of two hours, it's two minutes. Doesn't hurt skin, only tickles a bit." Mr. Stark took the vial warily and poured some of the gel on his hand. With the other, he smoothed it out so it will cover the whole thing.
"You're a smart kid. Bruce would like you."