This was amazing! There weren't even words to describe how cool it had been. He'd gotten to meet Iron Man in person! It was like the best day ever! There was that really nice lady with the red hair that smelled nice and said he was good at drawing and told him he should show Mr. Stark and she was totally right that he'd like it. Mr. Stark had liked the drawing so much he had taken it with him and he gave Peter an awesome phone and a laptop! It was like Christmas but better!
Swept up in excitement as he was, the next few days saw Peter bouncing off the walls in excitement, until one of the mothers, Mrs. Lori, got sort of annoyed and asked him if he had said thank you.
Peter could only stare at her devastated as he realized that no, he hadn't said thank you even once! That couldn't stand, there was no way he was going to give Iron Man or the nice red-haired lady the impression he had bad manners. He would just have to write them thank you notes, maybe add some of his artwork too. Nodding to himself, happy with his resolution he ran off to get started, couldn't be that hard right? Mrs. Lori just stood there with a bemused sort of smile, Peter was a good kid and smart as anything but she had no idea where he got his energy from.
Peter hit a roadblock almost immediately. He didn't even know the red-haired lady's name! how could he write her a thank you if he didn't know who to send it to? Looking around the room he shared with two other boys for some inspiration, he saw the phone that Mr. Stark gave him. Maybe he could Google her? Mrs. Lori said she'd hold on to the laptop for him until wi-fi was added to the orphanage, but Mr. Stark had been using his phone the day he'd visited so it should work right?
Snatching up the phone, he looked for some kind of internet app, but there was nothing but a single icon anywhere he could see. Hoping for the best, he pressed the app, and almost dropped the phone when a voice spoke.
"You rang, Mr. Stark?" the voice had a genteel English accent that barely hid an edge of dubious sarcasm. JARVIS was frankly bewildered, Tony Stark hadn't used the touchscreen app on this phone since he'd first made it.
"Oh- uh no I'm not Mr. Stark, I just- uh well he came to visit ' a few days ago and he gave me this phone and there was a really nice lady with him and and-." Peter paused here for a breath and started wondering who he was even talking to.
"I see." JARVIS did not see. He knew Tony Stark better than anyone on the planet with the possible exception of Ms. Potts and while throwing money at a problem to make it go away was not a foreign concept, Mr. Stark had never given his own things away. Perhaps the palladium poisoning was affecting him more than projected?
"Um I don't know who this is and- the matron always says we shouldn't talk to strangers, but I don't know if she meant only in person, so uh who are you?"
"I am JARVIS, I assist Mr. Stark in whatever capacity he requires. Might I inquire who you are?" One of the first rules Tony had given JARVIS was never to introduce himself to new people as an AI, all while muttering something about Hal 9000.
Deciding quick check into this mystery caller was appropriate, JARVIS traced the signal to the south of Queens, the address of an orphanage. Accessing the camera on the phone, facial recognition software judged the boy the be around eight, a little underfed and not in any database as a criminal, nor as an associate or child of one.
"Oh -uhm hi Mr. Jarvis, my name is Peter Parker. I'm trying to find out who the red haired lady is, the one that came and visited with Mr. Stark. She was really nice to me and said I was good at drawing and and- Mr. Stark gave me his phone and I forgot to say thank you so I uh- wanted to send a thank you, to um both of them." Peter rambled, spitting out the words fast enough to sound like half-gibberish.
JARVIS was luckily well acquainted with understanding the garbled run on sentence spoken to him and got the gist. This was a child trying to send a thank you to Mr. Stark and Ms. Rushman for their visit to the orphanage. Clearly a PR item and thus a matter for Ms. Potts to decide, this time one of the rules from Ms. Potts herself.
"Certainly Mr. Parker, allow me a moment to check with Mr. Stark's assistant." JARVIS replied
"Ms. Potts, an issue has arisen that warrants your attention."
Pepper, in the midst of trawling through the endless nightmare of legality that becoming a CEO would represent was thankful for the interruption, though she dreaded what Tony had cooked up this time. There were only a few things that JARVIS had come directly to her for in the past, mostly one-night stands that needed to be discreetly dismissed and PR disasters she needed to smooth over.
"Yes JARVIS, what has he done now?"
"It would seem that while on the planned orphanage tour Mr. Stark and Mrs. Rushman made a small friend. One Mr. Peter Parker has, in a manner I have not fully deciphered, come into possession of Sirs mobile phone. Mr. Parker is distraught that he could not thank his new friends for their kind words and is seeking a way he might contact them directly." JARVIS delivered, with only a hint of exasperation and fondness.
"…Right, okay Tony made a friend." Blindsided, Pepper needed to consider this. It could either go very well or very poorly. Tony hadn't really had any experience around kids, but good press now was a godsend. Hmm maybe just give the kid a way to contact Tony and see how they interact begore going forward? Ms. Rushman, well she had a good head on her shoulders and knew how not to offend people so there should be no problems there, a heads-up would suffice just to let her know what she should be expecting. Maybe this could be good?
"JARVIS, are you still in contact with Mr. Parker?"
"Yes Ms. Potts, I asked him to wait while I alerted you."
"Put him through to my office please."
As Pepper waited for a moment while the call was transferred, she studied the comprehensive, though maybe not totally legal, profile that JARVIS had compiled about this mystery kid.
Peter Parker, eight years old, parents deceased, no living relatives, no surprises there. No complaints through the orphanage, good marks in school and glowing reviews from his teachers regarding his work, with emphasis on his artistic and problem-solving skills. He seemed to be a bright boy but it was annotated that he had trouble relating to other children.
"Good Morning Mr. Parker, my name is Pepper Potts, I work for Mr. Stark. I hear that you are trying to get in touch with him? Maybe I can help."