Peter retreated to his room, barely minding himself enough to not stomp off like the moody teenager that they were no doubt making him out to be right now. He closed the door none too gently behind him, nonetheless, and on instinct, locked it behind him. It was petty, and it probably would do absolutely nothing to actually keep either of them out. Tony no doubt could get into any door in his own mansion if he wanted to, and that wasn't even counting what Jarvis could do to help him. And he was sure that the AI could and would easily unlock it for him if he simply asked.
He flopped down on the bed, shoving his hands through his hair and tugging at it, as if that would help relieve his frustration. He shouldn't have snapped at Rhodey, he knew, but the colonel's words had just infuriated and cut him so much deeper than he expected.
He knew he was inexperienced. He hadn't really fought any big bad guys, and he knew it. He had never denied that. But for the man to assume that he had never experienced any loss, that he didn't have any idea of the stakes they were facing or the cost of making mistakes… It was more insulting and hurtful than he had realized it would be.
Maybe he hadn't been in a real battle, or had the opportunity to lose soldiers the way the colonel had. But he'd lost his uncle, because of his own stupidity and his hesitance to act. And not only had the man died, he'd watched him die. In his arms. Worrying about him until the end, with no idea that not only was Peter fine, but that he could have stopped it. And okay, maybe it's callous and not entirely correct to say so, but he couldn't really think of anything much worse than that, let alone that Rhodey or Tony had likely experienced.
Still, he shouldn't have snapped at him. In their eyes, he'd probably just proved their points, and he'd probably lost any chance of being allowed to help, now. Hell, after freaking out on one of Tony's clearly oldest friends and comrades like that, on top of how many times he'd gotten into it with Tony in one form or another already, he could probably just start packing his things to go home. If he was too young and unruly to be trusted to help, and he'd really pissed Mr. Stark off again, then really, chances were he didn't want to do the internship with him anymore, either. And it was only reasonable to assume if the internship was cut, and they didn't trust him not to swoop into battle where he wasn't wanted, then he was a useless liability and a major risk to just be left hanging around here. He'd mostly likely be on the jet back home by morning.
Weirdly enough, the thought of being sent back home on the jet by himself was the thing that frightened him more than anything else about this whole situation.
He didn't know how long he laid on the bed, sulking - rather childishly, he could admit - before the knock came at the door. And yeah, he'd been expecting it, but that didn't stop him from groaning when it happened.
Jarvis's voice, unexpectedly gentle, shattered the silence in the room in the moments following. "Mr. Stark would like to speak with you, Peter. Would you like me to attempt to restrict him from entering?"
The word choice doesn't slip his notice. Jarvis could attempt to refuse to let Tony in, he knew, but Tony could no doubt override him and get in anyway if he really wanted to. And then Peter is just left looking childish and foolish.
"No, Jarvis." He sighed, rubbing his hands over his face. The offer was unexpected, and appreciated, but he knew it would be a moot point. "Just let him in."
There was a moment of silence, then an audible click of the lock which was almost immediately followed by the sound of the door cracking open. As Jarvis had said, it was Tony who appeared in the doorway a few seconds later.
Peter purposefully didn't look at him, keeping his eyes trained on the ceiling. "Well?" The word came out before he could think better of it, but it didn't sound as sassy as he'd feared it would. He just sounded more tired than anything.
Tony hummed, crossing the room and settling on the edge of the bed. He didn't seem perturbed that Peter wasn't looking at him, although maybe he was a bit confused as to what he was being asked. "Well, what?"
Peter quirked a shoulder. "When does the jet leave?"
Tony glanced down at him, surprised. "What?"
"It was a pretty simple question, Mr. Stark. I can't help you, and I doubt you actually want to fulfill the internship with me now even if you trusted me to stay and not intervene, so of course you'll be sending me home. When does the jet leave?"
Stark tilted his head, studying him for a moment before answering, slowly, as if he considered the words carefully. "I'm not sending you home, Peter."
"You're not?" Now it was his turn to sound surprised.
"Of course not. And I'm not cutting the internship with you, either."
"But… I yelled at Colonel Rhodes. And I lied to you, and this is like the third time I've freaked out, and you guys don't trust me, and…"
"Peter…" Tony sighed. "It's not that we don't trust you. I can assure you of that. It's that you're untested, and this situation will be dangerous for everyone involved. And if you get in over your head, I can't guarantee that I can get you out." He paused. "As for yelling at Rhodes… it was impulsive, yes, but not entirely uncalled for. Neither of us realized the extent of your trauma, and the generalizations he was making were too far. Just because you haven't been doing this as long as us doesn't mean your experience isn't just as valuable - or scarring."
Tony turned a little, holding out a hand to him after a moment. "Sit up. Come on." Peter hesitated for a moment, but then took the proffered hand, allowing the elder hero to pull him up beside him. "And I don't consider you protecting yourself lying to me. It's reasonable, even if I was upset about it at first. But, in truth, I haven't been entirely honest with you, either."
Peter blinked up at him. "You haven't?" He racked his brain, trying to think of anything they'd talked about that Stark might have not been entirely truthful about. Usually his spider sense meant that he had some idea of when he was being lied to, at least maliciously. But nothing came to mind.
Tony smiled wryly at him. "No. I haven't. Truthfully… I got so upset with you because… I have no idea what I'm doing," he admitted.
Peter blinked. That was probably the last thing he'd ever expected to hear one of the smartest men in the world say. "You don't?"
Tony shook his head. "Look, I don't… deal with kids. Not at all. And I'm sure you've realized by now that this internship wasn't my idea. I had no idea what I was going to do with you even before I knew you were Spider-Man, and now… I have even less of a clue.
"I'm not the best person to be mentoring anyone, kid. I have, and still do, make a lot of mistakes, and the thought of you making the same ones…" He hesitated, as if searching for the words. "Truthfully, I see a lot of younger self in you, Peter. And that worries me as much as it excites me.
"You're young. You're impulsive. You're too smart for your own good. You've lost most everyone who ever cared about you, and the one you have left, despite her best efforts, can have no idea what you're going through. You have, up to this point, been running around with next to no supervision or guidance, and been struggling to figure things out on your own. We were - are - alike in many ways. And that can be a good thing, to an extent, but left unchecked, it can also be a very, very bad thing.
"I've been through the wringer the same as you, and my coping mechanisms have never been entirely healthy, nor have I had or utilized the support system that I needed around me. And I don't want to see that be you. I know you probably feel like I'm treating you like a child instead of an equal. And I don't mean to, necessarily, but I can't help feeling like if I had someone to do that for me...
He trailed off, finally, and then shook his head. His eyes had gone glossy as he spoke, clearly deep in memories, but he seemed to come out of it suddenly, and refocused on Peter. "What I'm trying to say, kid, is that I just want to help, even if I have no idea what I'm doing. And you're still a kid, like it or not. You're going to make mistakes. And while I might not like it, I'm certainly not the person who should be judging you for it, so I'm going to do my damndest not to, and just try to help keep you from making the worst ones. Alright?"
Peter nodded, slowly, even if he felt like he couldn't quite wrap his head around what the older hero was saying. Him? Being anything like Tony Stark, in suit or out of it? He just couldn't fathom it. He was just Peter Parker. Spider-Man, sure, but Spider-Man couldn't compare to Iron Man. And he certainly wasn't on the same level of genius or charisma that it took to be CEO of Stark Industries, either. "Alright," he agreed uncertainly. "So… I can stay?"
Tony chuckled, clasping the boy on the shoulder. "I'm not going to keep you here if you want to go home, but if you want to stay, Peter, then yes, you can. And if you still want to help us… previous conditions still apply, and I might not be able to tell you as much about it as you would want to know, but I would still like your help. Not as some lackluster backup - because you most certainly are not - but preferably as an ally. If that sounds agreeable to you."
It sounded more agreeable than it seemed right for it to, considering what a jerk he felt like he'd been, but he couldn't deny that he liked the sound of it. Still, he hesitated. "Is Rhodey going to be okay with that?"
"He's agreed, if I only tell you what it's absolutely necessary for you to know going into the situation," Tony told him. "And I'll be deciding how much that is, so… if it's more than he would strictly like for you to know… that's for him to find out later." Stark winked at him, then stood up. "Now, we should really have a real team meeting to talk strategy, and soon. Think you can handle seeing him again today?"
The idea isn't exactly appealing, but Peter knew better than to say so. It's childish, and there's bigger things at stake here than his wounded pride. He should probably apologize to the elder man anyway. "Yeah, I think so."
"Good." Tony turned, offering him a hand to help him get to his feet, which Peter accepted almost immediately. "Then let's get back out there and start talking about how to put this asshole in his place. I've got an intern I'd actually like to spend some non-violent time with, and maybe just a little bit of relaxing to do, sometime before I die an untimely death from all these shenanigans."
Peter cracked a small smile. "I think that sounds like a good idea. Not the untimely death part, but the rest, yeah."
Tony laughed, clapping him on the shoulder again. "Come on, kid. Let's get to work."