"So are you going to be free this weekend? Or do you have plans already?" Ned asked as Peter dumped his books in his locker.
"I think so. Free, that is. I'm free. I'm not going to any Hanukkah parties or anything. I mean, I'd have to check the, you know, internship-" Ned nodded so vehemently it was surprising his head didn't fall off right there- "but I think I can manage a few hours off. Why?"
"Uh, because The Last Jedi is finally going to be out? Duh?"
Peter smacked his forehead. "Dude, obviously, I can't believe I forgot. Alright, so I'll meet you at the Cinemart? What showing do we want to catch?"
"Movie plans?" MJ had appeared behind them without either of them noticing. "If it's Wonder Woman, I'm in."
Ned frowned. "Man, is that even still showing? And haven't you seen it like, seventeen times by now?"
"Eleven dollars is a small price to pay for viewing perfection on the big screen," she said calmly, "and no, just four. Soon to be five, because I'm going again this weekend. With the two of you."
"Come on, MJ, it's the beginning of senior year, you really want to start that off watching the same old movie for the fifth time?" Ned shook his head. "Nope. We are not missing opening weekend of Episode VIII. Not even for what is arguably the best superhero movie of all time."
"You can't flatter my choice just to turn it down anyway." MJ scowled and went on scathingly, "Just because you would rather stare at Kylo Ren than-"
"Guys!" Peter interrupted. "Why not both?"
He could see them both thinking it over. "Okay," said MJ finally. But Ned didn't look as sold.
"Two tickets each? Who's paying? And what about snacks?"
"We'll smuggle some in," said MJ immediately, as though this were obvious. "Peter's weirdly good at knowing when the ushers are coming."
Ned looked at Peter. "Seriously?"
He shrugged. It had only been once, when she'd dragged him to the Hidden Figures movie earlier that year. Not that he hadn't enjoyed it, or the thrill of eating popcorn illicitly. He couldn't help it if his spider-sense helped him avoid the law sometimes rather than uphold it. Peter figured he was kind of owed a little leeway. The vigilante lifestyle had to come with some perks, right? He wasn't planning on making a habit of it, though; he doubted Aunt May would see things that way if he were caught.
"Hey, I can cover your second ticket if you want. Cinemart's like five blocks from me, I don't need to spend a MetroCard fare getting there-" Peter started to offer, but Ned was already shaking his head.
"Nah, that's less than three dollars, dude, you can't."
"It's fine, I can ask May for an advance on my allowance or something. Maybe-" Peter stopped. He had been about to suggest asking Mr. Stark, which was weird, and would also be hard to explain to MJ. An intern wouldn't ask his boss to pay for a friend's movie ticket. So why was he considering it?
"Don't be absurd. I'll pay for the Wonder Woman tickets. It's because of me the two of you are even going." MJ crossed her arms, and the boys knew not to argue further when she got that look in her eyes.
There was another message waiting for Tony. Couldn't he have one day without this hassle? He was in the middle of planning an addition to the kid's suit. Attempt 14 wasn't going well, and he was considering scrapping it. Sighing, sinking into a chair, he played the file.
"Tony. Meet me at the Triskelion two hours from now if you still want to talk this through." The message cut off abruptly. Tony shook his head, but he was already planning his route.
When he arrived he was greeted by a scowling Nick. The meeting was off to a great start. Nick pulled Tony off into a secluded office and closed the door behind them. "Have a seat," he said, and it was almost polite.
Tony sat. "What now?" he asked, irritated at having been interrupted. "I've got something else to do, something I've been working on, so can we wrap this up?"
"What now?" Nick repeated, clearly incensed, although Tony had no idea what he had done to provoke this. Besides ignoring multiple messages. Whoops. Yeah, that was probably it. "Now I have to remind you that you were the one to back the Accords. You knew what that meant, and you supported it, and now you're turning around and telling me that you don't want to follow them? No. Wait. Not even that. You won't tell me anything, because you won't talk to me about this."
Tony folded his arms. "Remind me, who was the one who walked out when I met you to talk about this? I tried cooperating and you left five seconds into the conversation, for... for dramatic effect or something, I don't know. You can't pin all of this on me."
Nick sat down heavily across from Tony and, to the latter's surprise, placed his head in his hands. He groaned. It was a minute before he spoke. "Okay. I'll give you that."
"Nick… You okay?" Tony was worried. This wasn't like Fury. He reached an arm out to put it on Fury's shoulder, but Nick shoved his hand away.
"Get off," he grumbled, and Tony felt a little better. "Didn't know you were my mother, Stark."
Tony raised his arms apologetically. "Just wondering what's going on with you," he said. "This past year can't have been easy."
Nick rubbed his eye. "Tell me about it. You think redoing this building after the whole HYDRA business was fun? How about cleaning out the operatives and getting SHIELD restarted? While Thaddeus Ross angles to take over everything himself? God, I hate that guy. What was I saying?"
Tony shrugged. "Something about Ross?"
Nick snapped his fingers and mumbled something Tony was glad Peter wasn't there to hear. Although, if he was being honest with himself, he had probably said worse in front of the kid. "Right. Ross wants in on this Accords business with Spiderman. He's very interested in your kid."
"He's not mine," Tony said, probably for the twelfth time that day. He narrowed his eyes. "Are you guys the ones who keep saying that to the tabloids?"
"We don't need to, Stark, everyone's thinking it. If you had to blame someone, though, my money is on Barton."
Tony made a mental note to call on Clint and tell him to shut his mouth. Maybe he could take Peter to meet Laura and the kids. He had a feeling they'd get along great. Then he noticed the path of his thoughts and scowled. Shut up, he told Clint in his head, but it was himself he was annoyed at. He was making plans for… for playdates now? Pepper might have been right.
"The point is," Nick said, interrupting Tony's train of thought, "whether he's yours or not, he is your responsibility. That's down to your choice to bring him into this, and that means you're the one SHIELD will be working with. Whether that's through me or through Ross is dependent on your cooperation. If you aren't willing to work this out with me, Ross has been authorized to take this over."
"So? What's the difference to me? I mean, come on, Nick. Practically speaking, what changes if it's Ross on my heels instead of you? No offense, but one SHIELD agent is pretty much the same as another."
"No. Trust me, Tony. You don't want Ross after you. I like you most of the time. He doesn't."
"Shocking, considering how pretty I am," said Tony, and Nick ignored him.
"The implementation of the Accords has taken top priority now that HYDRA is out of the picture. The fiasco last year is the only reason we've taken so long to get around to this. You can thank Steve's assassin buddy for the past year of Spiderman going uninvestigated. But that ends now."
At the mention of the Winter Soldier, Tony's hands had unwittingly formed fists in his lap. He fought to keep his voice even. "Yeah. I'll be sure to thank him if I see him again."
Nick wasn't having it. "Mister Stark, you-"
Tony cut him off with a raised finger. "No. No, no." He pointed. "You don't call me that."
Fury didn't understand and Tony wasn't going to explain why he didn't want Peter's name for him coming out of other people's mouths. It was enough that Fury was looking angry again and Tony's adrenaline was increasing and the tension in the room had suddenly skyrocketed.
"Would you get over yourself?" Fury hissed. "This isn't about you!"
People loved to tell him that. He remembered four years ago, the Avengers' first team up. Probably their least disastrous, not that that was saying much. How is this now about me? he'd asked, and Steve replied, I'm sorry, isn't everything? And everyone laughed and no one thought that maybe, just maybe, he didn't actually care about himself more than others. Or at all.
Tony scowled. "You think I don't know that? I- whatever. The bottom line is, Spiderman's a kid, and the government is supposed to respect his privacy. I'm not going to stand here and argue with anyone over this, I have better things to do with my time. Are we done here?"
Fury held Tony's gaze for a long moment. "I guess so," he said finally. "But I'm not looking forward to this."
"This, being… what? What's the plan of action now? I'm not cooperating, you gotta grab the kid off his patrol. Is that what Ross is spreading? Because let me tell you, if you and your people so much as touch Spiderman and I find out, you're going to need to reconstruct the building all over again."
Fury didn't blink. "I'm afraid that's classified information, Stark. And if you aren't working with us, I don't believe I'm authorized to fill you in."
Tony swore quietly. "You know what? I am working with SHIELD. But I'm not turning Spiderman over to an administration that's already been infiltrated by HYDRA agents, alright? Sounds reasonable. Makes sense."
"So you're playing that card now. Huh. Didn't think you had it in you."
"There's a lot you don't seem to think I'm capable of," said Tony, remembering an illicit scan or two. "Do I have to remind you of, oh, I don't know, everything Stark Industries has given SHIELD and the city? Or the Battle of New York? Or-"
"Or Ultron," Fury cut in. "Or Obadiah Stane, or Extremis, or any other case when your judgment was off base. Hell, you were a war profiteer before Afghanistan. Face it, Tony, yours aren't always the safest hands."
The blow told. Tony felt the words like shrapnel, digging into his weak spots, painful and not wrong. And that made it worse. He'd thought of all of these things himself. How could he argue?
"You know what? Fine. You do your thing and I won't get in your way. But as soon as you go near that kid you are going to have hell unleashed on you. Have a great day." Tony saluted, sarcastic and mocking, and left without bothering to call the suit back. He'd rather walk than wait around here any longer.