Hope the week is going well! This is the last part of this section. Hope you like it!


That morning she sent the text to Mr. Stark. At first worried it was too formal and as soon as it sent, worried it wasn't formal enough. After a shower and getting her bag packed, she headed to the kitchen and noticed the leftovers for May were still on the counter. There had to be something else she could do and Peyton resolved to try and find another job.

Time flew and Peyton found she was extremely busy with school stuff and her patrols. She had no such luck finding a job with her schedule yet, but was continuing to look. And soon she was here at Stark Towers and it was everything she had ever dreamed of. Every surface of the lab gleamed and each shelf was stocked full of different types of metals and tech Peyton was sure went into making the famous Iron Man suits.

In a daze she started walking around the lab, unaware of Mr. Stark's eyes following her. She ran her fingers across the tables, trying to take everything in. She stopped in front of the robot Mr. Stark had warned her of earlier and although she was fairly sure he was jesting, was still slightly weary.

It moved its arm up, making Peyton feel like it was looking at her and cocked it to the side. She knew she was being sized up and gave a little bow in order to pay respects. It gave a little humming noise and bumped her stomach. She reached forward and gave the little robot a rub on the top of the claw, to which it replied with an even more enthusiastic noise. Peyton giggled because it reminded her of Wall-E. Her enthusiasm was contagious it appeared because the robot spun around, narrowly missing Peyton with it's arm.

"Hey Robo-arm, be careful of the kid. You don't know your own strength." Dum-E made an indignant noise and raised his arm again, which Peyton then fist bumped.

Laughing, she said, "Mr. Stark, This is honestly better than Disney world. I can't believe I'm here." She finally turned back around to look at Mr. Stark. He was leaning hip against the table; eyebrows pulled together causing creases to form.

"This is just, this is so cool." She smiled softly and looked down to the floor.

"Well kiddo, what do you say we get started?"

And with that they dived right into testing. Firstly, she tried on the suit, which although could shrink to form to her body was too long in the sleeves and legs. Peyton was beyond embarrassed when Mr. Stark disappeared for a second and then came back with a small tin box. She must have had a strange look on her face because he laughed and told her it was an easy fix. He then proceeded to get on his knees and start to hem the pants of her suit. Peyton's face lit up bright red and she stammered that he shouldn't have to do that.

"Nonsense kid. We can't have you tripping over all this material. Besides, it's been a second and I need the practice."

She had no response to that and stood there quietly, face still burning, while he worked. Peyton wondered where he ever learned to sew like that. Never in a million years had she thought that she would be standing here with Mr. Stark, needle between his lips, while he shortened her sleeve.

Ben had tried to teach her at one point and Peyton was decent at it. May and Ben hadn't thought they were ever going to have children and so it wasn't something they saved for. It was certainly a surprise when Peyton came to stay with them and money had been tight. Ben wanted her to learn so she could patch up some of her clothes; which still fit but were worn down. Peyton had never got the hang of it so that duty fell to Ben, his fingers being surprisingly nimble. This intimate act reminded her of all those times Uncle Ben spent hours trying to salvage her clothes when she was too rough on them.

Everything was just moving so fast. Not a week ago she would never have revealed her face to anyone, including Aunt May. But something in their first meeting had changed her mind. Peyton couldn't quite put her finger on it but something about Mr. Stark just resonated with her and she decided to take a leap of faith. It was hard living with a secret this big and Peyton just needed someone to trust. Someone who could protect themselves from getting hurt. She was tired from hiding and then Mr. Stark had landed on that roof and she made up her mind.

After fixing the fit of her suit, they went to one of the gym rooms and tested her actual abilities. Peyton wanted to impress him so she went all out. The only difficult thing was that she had never had any formal training, so a lot of her moves weren't as polished as they could have been. Basically she acted on instinct. Mr. Stark had been over the moon when she showed him how she could climb walls and stick to any material. Peyton had thought she heard him say that he knew he was right. Her web fluid was another point of interest.

"So, which of my competitors did you get that from kid?" He said, pointing to the web cartridge. Peyton wasn't exactly sure what he was asking so she just continued to stare at the package.

"Come on now. You can tell me, I won't judge you. Well, if you say Oscorp I can't promise you no judgment. We all know their stuff is shit." His self-important expression made Peyton start laughing.

"Oh. No, Mr. Stark I haven't trusted Oscorp since... No, I made this myself."

He stared at her intently for a second and she wondered if he was going to ask her about the hesitation, but then what Peyton would have called a proud smile came over his face.

Softly he said, "Of course you did kid. You'll have to show me your formulas another time."

She nodded eagerly. Mr. Stark wanted to look at her formulas! He had even looked proud when she had told him she made it herself. And that was that. After testing her various powers in a modular, Peyton was starving. Her stomach growled and Mr. Stark laughed.

"Come on, let's get something to eat and I'll take you home."

"It's okay, Mr. Stark. I can just take the subway back home."

"No arguing. It's dark out and I'm hungry as well."

Not wanting to ruin comfortable mood of the afternoon, she stayed silent. That was how she found herself sitting across from him at an Indian restaurant, in disguise. Although, she didn't really see how he was incognito because he was wearing a Stark Industries baseball cap and his signature glasses. She was surprised he wasn't sporting an Iron Man t-shirt too.

To her relief it wasn't awkward, Mr. Stark asked if she had a preference to the food and she, overwhelmed by the choices, said no. He ordered and soon there were plates of piping hot masala, naan, and a mixture of other dishes between them. Normally, it was hard for her to talk to someone she didn't really know. There was just something in her brain that, when confronted with a new person, froze up. That's one of the reasons Peyton had a hard go of making friends, for the longest time it had just been her before Ned came around.

But this was completely different than most interactions Peyton had, especially with an adult. The media portrayed Tony Stark as an entitled and self-centered man, but in reality Mr. Stark was completely different. Not domineering the whole conversation, they both talked about things they enjoyed and were interested in. Mr. Stark was surprisingly funny and had her laughing with his impressions of Happy, his bodyguard, chauffeur, head of security, guy. He asked her insightful questions about herself and she found herself answering honestly and openly. The only time the conversation became strained was when she told Mr. Stark about school.

His eyes went completely blank as he ran his hand through his hair. She thought she heard him whisper an expletive beneath his breath.

"I didn't really think you were a kid. Damn, how old are you Peyton?" It was the first time he had ever said her name and the way he spoke it made her never want to hear it again. For some reason she felt ashamed of her age and didn't want to answer, tearing off another piece of naan she whispered, "15."

And all at once she realized what was happening. Mr. Stark had thought she was a lot older. Of course he would never have asked a child to help him fight the Avengers. She wasn't even a real superhero. She'd let Ben die and once again had ruined everything. Any second now she would wake up from this dream to find herself lying in her bed, her original suit stashed under her floorboard, engulfed by the dark apartment, and alone.

She peeked up at him through her lashes and found that he wasn't even looking at her. His eyes were trained on the next table. She feared what he was thinking, feared what he had to say next.

"Look kid, I'm no good at this but even I have to draw the line sometimes. I can't knowingly allow you to help." She looked up in silent resignation, accepting, but he didn't seem to notice.

"You're just a kid. I can't. It's not fair to you. You're just so young."

And something in his hallowed expression made Peyton mad.

"No." she said. "You, you can't just say no. I want to help Mr. Stark. I need to help. This doesn't just affect you and me. This could hurt lots of people and if I can do something to help. I will. I have to Mr. Stark." She could feel her chest rising and falling rapidly.

Mr. Stark had to let her help. Selfishly, it was not just because she wanted to help people. Peyton had finally found someone that seemed like they understood. Ever since getting her powers, ever since Ben, she had been trying to find a purpose. Trying to find a way to figure out why she, of all the people on the planet, had contracted these powers. Sure, she loved saving people. It made her feel good and it gave her a sense of accomplishment and eased some guilt. But, she wanted to do more. She wanted to be all that she could be.

Not to mention that having her abilities was so isolating. Peyton had made the decision early on not to tell anyone what happened and now she reaped the consequences.

She had dreams about what could happen to May if someone had found out who she was. It had become one of her biggest fears. That she wouldn't be able to save someone she loved, already feeling like she failed once. And now she had finally chosen to tell someone and he didn't want her all because of her stupid age. It wasn't fair and she wasn't going to let Mr. Stark leave her. Not like all the other people in her life. Not when she finally decided to open up again.

Finally she broke the silence. "Please, Mr. Stark. I need to do this. I want to help you."

She looked down and squeezed her crossed fingers until they turned white. They sat in silence once more but Peyton felt like she had said enough.

Finally he looked at her, his brown eyes searching her determined ones. "Okay, kid. Here's what's going to happen. You can come but it's simply going to be a decorative position. You won't fight but we can use you. It will put them on edge because they don't know you. But I won't have you getting hurt." By the time he was done she was smiling widely.

"I won't let you down Mr. Stark. Thank you!"

"Don't thank me yet, kid. God, this is so not responsible. But when has anyone ever accused me of such an atrocity?"


Let me know what you think. Thank you for reading!