Happy Wednesday Update Day!
I'm excited to post this chapter as we've got some more Peter time. I'm curious about what you think of it as this is my first time really getting into Peter's world in 2016 instead of what I am used to in 2023. If you enjoy it, let me know. If not, if you see flaws, let me know that, too—though kindly. I am in a position that I can edit things to improve still.
Chapter Eleven
Tony pulled the car to a halt outside Peter's apartment building and looked out at the street. The very first time he'd come here, he'd been stressed about the situation with Steve, questioning his decision to bring Spider-Man into the fight, but driven by desperation. It was wholly different this time. He was about to see his kid again.
Last time, he'd already been following Spider-Man's antics for a while, wondering about where his abilities came from and making schematics for how he could improve his suit—though anything would have been an improvement on the pajamas he was swinging around in. He'd had vague plans to reach out to him and arrange something, but he'd thought it would be in a controlled manner at the right time.
When the situation with Steve arose, he put time into tracking a name down for Spider-Man, and he'd been stunned to find he was a fourteen-year-old boy. He'd imagined him being in college, at least. That had almost made him falter in his plans to recruit him, but only almost. He'd told himself he would make sure the kid kept his distance, just webbing them up, out of harm's way, though that hadn't happened.
Decided on his course, he'd then made this journey into Queens and arrived at the door of Spider-Man's apartment and met his May Parker.
Tony regretted that he'd had so little time to get to know May, and he wished he'd given her more time after the Snap. It had been too hard, though; her expectation for him to make it right had weighed on him. He'd kept up to date with what she was doing through Happy. Then the awful news of her death had come, one of the few times he'd seen Happy cry, and he'd realized it was too late.
May Parker had been a great woman, and she'd helped to raise a fantastic kid. Now, preparing to face her again, Tony was a little nervous. This wouldn't be anywhere near as emotional as seeing Peter had been the week before, but it was still going to be tough.
He pushed open the main door, passed the elevator, which was out of order, and went up the stairs. The Parkers were on the fifth floor, and the walk gave him time to prepare himself.
He'd talked through this meeting with Pepper the night before, as they'd laid in bed together. Tony relished her presence again, even though it had only been technically a short time without her for him, given the time travel. She'd told him to go without expectations, to just be in the moment with May and Peter, and to enjoy what happened.
Tony felt he was ready to do that, prepared, as he knocked on Peter and May's door and waited for it to be answered.
This was a different day to when he'd come here the first time around, on which he'd caught May baking on an afternoon off work, but he knew she was home today, too, as he'd checked her schedule with some simple hacking. Peter would be home from school within the hour, so Tony should have enough time with May to say what he needed before he arrived.
There was the sound of the lock disengaging, and May pulled open the door. There were only the slightest differences physically in May now to the woman he'd seen last, fewer stress-lines on the face and no weariness in her eyes. Her reaction was almost identical to the first time he'd met her, though. Her eyes widened, her mouth dropped open, and then she snapped to life and said, "Mr. Stark?" in a tone that indicated she wasn't quite sure he was real.
"Call me Tony." He held out a hand, which she shook, propping the door open with her foot. "I was hoping I could talk to you for a moment."
She looked just as bewildered as she had the first time, no idea what Iron Man could want from her, but she was just as gracious, inviting him in and offering him coffee and some of the fruit cake she'd made.
Remembering the date loaf he'd endured last time, he said, "Thank you, but I had a late lunch, so I'm full. I'd love a coffee, though."
She led him into the living room, gestured him to a seat on the couch while she darted into the kitchen to fetch the coffee.
She clattered around in the kitchen, calling, "Cream or sugar?" both of which Tony refused, and then she came back with two mugs. One of them said, 'World's Best Aunt' in shaky letters, which made Tony think it was handmade by Peter, and the other was a white mug with the picture of his Iron Man mask on the side.
He wondered if it was a joke, which May was known to make, and then she caught him examining it and laughed.
"Sorry. It's my nephew's mug. I didn't think."
"It's fine," Tony said. "I like it. I don't usually see much of my own merchandise in use."
She sipped her coffee, set the mug down, then turned herself so she was facing him with her leg tucked under her. "So, how can I help you, Tony?"
"I'm here to talk about Peter," he said. "I don't know if he told you that I met him…"
She laughed. "Told me? He's not stopped raving about it all week. I don't know if you realized, but Peter is a huge fan of yours. He has been since he was a kid, even before the Iron Man thing started. He used to have your Time Magazine cover pinned to his bedroom wall."
Tony felt warmth kindle in his chest—he'd never known that about his son.
"And it only got more intense with Iron Man," she went on. "Then you actually saved his life, and the obsession grew and grew."
"I saved his life?" Tony asked, bewildered.
She nodded, a hand settling at the base of her throat. "We took him to the Stark Expo as a treat for his great report card. We were there the first night, when you were there, and he enjoyed it so much we took him back. That was the night the Hammer Drones attacked."
Tony's free hand fisted as he remembered, and he set his mug down on the table. He had no idea Peter had been there. Damn, he could have been killed. Tony could have lost him before ever having a chance to know him.
"Me and Ben, my late husband, were separated from him in the chaos." She shook her head, smiling ruefully. "Though it wasn't just that; Peter slipped away from us intentionally. He was eight years old, helpless, but Ben had brought him this Iron Man helmet and toy gauntlet, and he thought he could use them to fight the drones."
Icy horror slipped down Tony's spine as he remembered, and his breath became hard to catch. He battled to control himself, calling on all his experience in dealing with panic attacks learned over the years in which his PTSD had been at its worst. He clearly wasn't good enough, though, as May grew concerned.
"Tony?" she said, hand settling on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"
He nodded, dug deep for calm, and drew a deep and shaky breath. "He was the kid that faced off with the drone," he said.
She nodded. "That's what he said happened. He was such a good kid, so brave, and he told us he thought he could stop them, to protect people. He was facing one of them, and I'm not sure what happened, but it sounded like the drone was about to kill him, then you arrived and blasted it before it could."
"I remember," Tony said, tone calmer now as the horror faded and his knowledge that Peter was okay in this time settled over him. "I remember that kid. Damn."
"That was Peter," she said fondly. "And the thing he was most excited about was that you'd spoken to him."
"Nice work, kid," Tony recited, the scene playing out in his mind like a video reel.
"That's what you said. I think that was the proudest moment of his life until you showed up at his science fair. That blew everything else out of the water."
Tony took a breath, centered himself, and got back on topic so he could have May primed before Peter got home. "That's why I'm here. As you can probably imagine, I see innovations from the brightest minds in the country—hell, the world—at Stark Industries. My people are the best, but what I saw from Peter was amazing for his age and level of education. I have done some work with powered exoskeletons myself, and I know how tough it is. The fact he was able to create that in a high school workshop is incredible." He planted his hands on his knees and said, "I want to be a part of Peter's education."
She blinked, and her lips parted, but she didn't speak.
"Stark Industries has interns," he went on. "They're usually graduate students. In fact, we've never taken anyone younger than a college senior before, but Peter has so much potential. He's a genius."
She nodded slowly. "He really is; I mean, his IQ is genius level. He was tested in middle school. They wanted him to skip grades, but Ben and I wanted him to have as normal a childhood as possible. His teachers at Midtown talked about him testing into college, but… He's so young still."
Tony nodded. "You made the right choice. I went to MIT when I was fifteen, and I wouldn't recommend that to anyone. I was a fish out of water there in everything except the classes. I was just too young to be in that environment."
She looked relieved that their choice was being reaffirmed. "That's what we thought," she said. "He's very mature for his age, he's needed to be with the things that have happened to him, but he's also innocent at the same time. He has this lightness that I don't want him to lose."
Tony understood what she was saying completely. He had seen that lightness for himself, even in the direst circumstances. On a far-off planet, preparing to face a foe that was far more powerful than them, Peter had been quipping about aliens planting eggs in this chest. And then, on his arrival on a battlefield that was unlike anything any of the Avengers had seen before, the odds stacked against them, he'd been filled with that eager energy as he'd reunited with Tony.
That lightness was part of what made him worthy, Tony believed, and he'd seen it snuffed out in Peter's weeks of catatonia.
"Yes," he said. "I only spoke to him for a few minutes, but I saw what you're talking about. I would like to see that grow in him, as well as his experience and knowledge. There is a program Stark Industries funds called The September Foundation. We fund scholarships and give grants to students. We just approved funding to all MIT students to run their projects this year."
Her eyes widened slightly, and he guessed she was tabulating the kind of cost of such a scheme.
"I want to give Peter an internship combined with that scheme. If you don't mind me asking, how is his high school education funded?"
He already knew the answer; Peter had won a scholarship, as the school's fees were high, and May could never have afforded it otherwise. However, he didn't want her to think he'd been spying on her, even though that was precisely what he'd done.
"He has a scholarship through to senior year, as long as he keeps his grades up," she said. "Which he does. Peter works really hard in school."
Tony nodded, knowing that already. "Then we can provide him with a scholarship for college. With the potential I believe Peter has and the funds we can commit, Peter has a chance to study anywhere in the country or even the world. That's what I want to offer him."
May clapped a hand to her chest. "That's… It's amazing. I know he's thought about how we're going to fund college, and the scholarships are even more competitive for the kinds of schools he'd be applying to. This would take away all that pressure, leaving him to concentrate on school and being a kid."
Tony knew better. Peter could only concentrate on being a kid when he wasn't concentrating on being a hero for Queens. However, that would be different this time. Without Thanos to fight on Titan, without Toomes, who Tony would deal with himself, Peter would not face that coming of age so young.
Peter would have more options for his life that didn't involve fighting to save the world. He would never put that gauntlet on and snap, giving him immeasurable power but also taking away too much of his peace by placing responsibility for a universe on his shoulders and removing his mortality.
"So, I have your permission to make the offer?" Tony asked.
She started to nod and then faltered. "What exactly would you want from him? I know you can offer him a lot, but Peter takes his responsibilities seriously. I don't want him exhausting himself between his schoolwork and what you need him to do at this internship."
Tony held up a hand. "I promise, I won't be putting pressure on him that he can't handle. Ideally, with your agreement, I would like him to come to the Avengers Tower twice a week, one weekday afternoon after school and another day at the weekend. He'd be working directly with me, so I'd have control of how much he does. I think that between you and I, we can make sure he finds time for all his commitments while also being a regular teenager."
While also swinging around the city as Spider-Man, he amended mentally.
May considered, working through what he had said carefully, as she was programmed to do when it came to the wellbeing of her nephew.
"I think you're offering him something amazing," she said. "And I know this could do wonders for Peter's future. Honestly, I worry I can't do enough for him. He's far ahead of me intellectually, and I can't keep up with him. My husband was more scientifically inclined academically, and he could help Peter, but I am at a loss a lot of the time. I think you provide for him in ways that have nothing to do with finances."
"I will do whatever I can," Tony said, his voice full of sincerity.
"Then you have my total support to offer this internship. If Peter wants it, and I can almost guarantee he will, I'll do whatever I need to make it happen."
"Thank you, May," he said, slipping into familiarity with her first name without thought. "Believe me, the chance to do this for Peter does just as much for me as it will him."
She looked a little puzzled, and he realized he'd been a little too emphatic for his cover, but before she could say anything, he heard the door open in the hall and Peter's voice calling, "Hey, May. You home?"
"In here," May called.
Footsteps approached, and Peter said, "Did you see, there's this crazy car outside. Looks real…" He appeared in the doorway, and his mouth dropped open. "Oh."
"We've got a guest," May said.
Peter nodded slowly. "I… uh… see."
"Mr. Parker, good to see you again," Tony said, getting to his feet and extending a hand.
Peter snapped to life, circling the back of the couch, and coming to shake Tony's hand. Tony felt the slight tremor of Peter's grip, and he had to remind himself that this was not his son, not yet, so the nerves were to be expected.
"Mr. Stark came with an offer for you," May said.
Peter's eyes moved between them. "He did?"
Tony nodded and sat down again. Peter stood immobile for a moment, apparently Tony's presence in his home was more shocking than it had been in the school, then he dropped onto the battered armchair.
"What do you know about the September Foundation, Peter?" Tony asked.
Peter smiled eagerly. "I saw on the blogs that you've funded all MIT projects this year, which is, yeah, amazing. I can't wait to see what comes out of it. I heard one group were doing a study on—" He snapped his mouth closed and blushed, then said, voice a little calmer, "I know it's a scholarship and funding program for academics."
"That it is," Tony said. "And what do you know about the Stark Industries internship program?"
Peter ran a hand through his hair. "I know it's crazy competitive, and it's basically every STEM graduate's dream to get one. I heard you only take the very best, and an internship basically gets you a job in any tech company you want after a year with you."
"Correct again," Tony said. "Now, here's the question, what would you say if I offered you an internship?"
Peter blinked. "Uh… Mr. Stark, I'm fourteen."
Tony chuckled. "I know, but I think you've got a lot of potential, and I've seen more technical capabilities in you than some of my interns."
Peter blushed furiously and ducked his head. Tony thought he might be being a little too overzealous in his offer. Just because he knew all this to be true, the knowledge came from the experience of an additional two years knowing Peter. He had to tone it down if Peter and May weren't going to get suspicious. In fact, he was going to need to make an admission.
"I'll be honest, Peter, I looked into you a little more after meeting you. I uncovered your high school transcripts and saw your teachers' notes on your report cards. A mind like yours needs to be challenged and stimulated. I think I can do that for you. You interested?"
Peter's head bobbed with an eager nod. "Yeah! Totally! I mean, yes, Mr. Stark. I am more than interested."
Tony grinned, excitement rushing through him. "Great. I've already gone over the details with your aunt, and she's given the go-ahead for me to make this offer. I want to make you my intern, working with me personally in my lab. I want to teach you what I know and develop the potential I can see in you."
Peter mouthed wordlessly, his hands fluttering nervously in his lap.
"I can't pay you officially as an intern, but I can give you a scholarship through The September Foundation for college – right through to the end of whatever education you want. I mean it, kid, I'll fund you through as many Ph.D.'s as Bruce Banner has if that's what you want."
Peter gaped, and his hand came to his chest, fingers trembling. Tony stared a moment and then looked away as he realized Peter was overwhelmed and should have space to feel.
He'd not realized, or perhaps he'd been blinded to it by love, the kind of offer he was making for Peter. His son was brilliant, and he could easily match Bruce for Ph.D.'s if he chose to. But that was unlikely to happen if he didn't have this funding. There were only so many scholarships out there.
To Peter, Tony was offering him the world.
It was a good balance, though, as having this time with Peter was going to make Tony's world, too. He missed Morgan so much, and he yearned to be able to see her, but that was always going to be there until he was back with her. In balance to that loss was this time with Peter, this do-over, and he would be able to serve both himself and Peter with it. He could give Peter the future he deserved, and he could find a place on his journey at his side if that was what Peter wanted. Even if he couldn't have all he wished for, he would have something, he knew.
"Peter?" May said tentatively.
Peter nodded jerkily, fingers clutching the front of his shirt. "Yeah. That would be amazing, Mr. Stark. And I promise to work really hard."
"I know you will," Tony said, the fondness of remembering in his voice.
May got to her feet and moved to perch on the arm of Peter's chair. She placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it.
"I'm so happy for you, honey," she said. "You deserve this."
Peter smiled slightly but was wordless. Tony watched him for a moment, an urge to reach for him and envelop him in his arms rushing through him, and he realized he needed to leave before he took a step too far.
"I should get going," he said, rising to his feet." I'll have a car pick you up from here at nine-am Saturday, which will bring you to the Tower."
Peter nodded and jumped to his feet to shake Tony's hand when offered.
May patted Peter's back and saw Tony to the door. "You probably don't realize, but you've just given him the world," she said quietly.
"He's a good kid with great potential," Tony said. "I'm not being entirely selfless with this. I want to see what he's capable of, to have a part in developing it. As for the scholarship, that's just money."
A strange smile curled May's lips, it was almost sympathetic, and she said, "Perhaps."
Tony thanked her once more and then headed to the stairs, hearing her clicking the door closed behind him. He went down one floor, then stopped and took a breath.
"That went well, Stark," he said aloud. "You controlled yourself."
He had, and that had been the toughest part. From here on out, he'd be building something with Peter, creating a bond. It was going to take a while, months if not years, before Peter would be his son again, but he could wait.
For Peter, he could be patient.
So… Tony took the first step. It's a huge challenge to write Peter in this story as he's not the character I've been writing for months. He's younger, he's not got the confidence he built over the series, and he's not got the bond with Tony that I love to write. I get to build it, though, which is something that attracted me most to this story.
WARNING: I'm putting this note at the bottom so you'll hopefully read it after you're caught up on the chapter. I did put a note in before, but you might have missed it. This story is taking a slightly darker turn where I'm writing now. It's necessary and not much darker than With Great Power, but I thought you should be warned. We also have a character death. It's not Peter and it's not an Avenger, but it is a character I'm fond of and am sure you are, too. If you need to know who it is before continuing to read, drop me a PM.
Until next time…
Jadey xxx