Infinite Possible Ways to Meet You Chapter 4: Through Internship, an avengers fanfic

Hello guys! Heck, I can't believe it's been a year and a half since I last posted a chapter for this story! I hope you guys are ok! I went through a period of writer's block and only now that I started looking at some of my old projects that inspiration came back to me, life was not easy but things are better now.

I started to get the main idea of this chapter as soon as I finished writing Through Time, but I only managed to actually finish the story this past week, and I believe it turned out much better than it would have been originally last year. Sorry it took so long!

I want to thank you very much for the comments, for the support and for everyone who reads my stories, as a writer it means a lot to me, and sincerely I hope you like this chapter too. I ask you to forgive the mistakes that may be hidden here. And without further ado, I hope you like it!

Infinite Possible Ways to Meet You

Through Internship

~.~

Peter opened his eyes.

Rising his face, the seven-year-old boy stared down the long stretch of the race track, his small brows furrowed in deep concentration.

He could win; he knew he could win this.

His classmates were beside him as they all prepared for the start.

The other children from their school were in the stands, cheering; Peter knew his friends were there, but he didn't look away from the track.

Their teacher held up her hand and the eight boys came to attention.

"Go!" The woman screamed and the children took-off.

Peter ran as fast as he could; in the first twenty meters he had already passed half of the competitors and the boy advanced quickly and unstoppable, he was the fastest in his class, he knew he would win that race.

Thirty meters... forty...

Peter surpassed two other boys and he and his biggest rival, Flash, stood side by side.

Fifty meters... sixty...

The boy with brown hair and eyes struggled, forcing his body to the maximum, and with each step he took, his feet digging into the track, he managed to get an advantage against his opponent and little by little his body was surpassing Flash's and Peter archieved the first position.

Eighty meters...

He could already see the finish line; so close! He was almost there! He was going to win! he was going to win!

Ninety meters.

Then something happened; the boy's chest blazed with wildfire and Peter was suddenly consumed by a searing, deep pain that tore him in half and his legs froze. The seven year old boy fell on the track, crashing violently into the ground and he felt his entire body being consumed by that intense and horrible pain; his screams and the screams of the students and teachers around him faded away as he plunged into the darkness of unconsciousness.

~.~

When Peter awoke a long time later, he found himself in a hospital room for the first time in his life. He was lying on the bed with several strings of monitoring devices plugged on him and his aunt sat in the chair beside him, face drawn, tired and streaked with tears; she held his hand.

That's when May told him, as gently and lovingly as she could, that he had an extremely rare heart disease and that in order to not to force it, he could no longer do any kind of extreme physical exercise.

No more games.

No more racing.

Nothing more.

Peter felt his world crumble.

~.~

Over the next few days, Peter was forced to confine himself to the gymnasium stands and watch from afar his schoolmates play the games their teachers taught. The seven year old boy watched them run around along the track, or playing football or basketball on the field, unable to join them. His healthy friends moved away from him to join the others in their games and soon Peter found himself alone during physical education classes.

Before he could win any race, he was faster than any other boy his age, and now he couldn't do anything more because he was a sick child.

For the first few nights Peter wept alone in his room; in time his sadness turned to revolt. He yelled at his teachers and at his aunt and hated the world for the life that had been taken from him, but all his anger disappeared when one night Peter in hiding saw Aunt May crying in the humble apartment where they lived.

From that day on, Peter became a more introspective child; seeing his friends playing with their schoolmates on the gymnasium stopped bothering him when the lonely hours in the stands began to be spent on books about science and the universe.

Reading at first was an escape to the bitterness that had gripped his soul, but over the years it turned into a hobby and soon the boy became an extremely intelligent young man, very ahead of the children his own age, and at the age of fourteen, Peter stood out in the eyes of his teachers as a little prodigy with the possibility of a bright future ahead of him.

But still, as the teenager thought about science and technology projects, sitting on the stands of the school gym with his few friends running, playing football or basketball, Peter realized that no one was like him, no one could really understand him, not even his aunt despite her efforts; in the end, he always felt alone.

Until one late afternoon after he left school, his life unexpectedly took a different turn.

~.~

Peter sighed as he watched the long line of teenagers waiting to break into the school bus; the fourteen-year-old had a quick second glimpse of the long 30-minute ride that he would have to his home: a lot of screaming all the way, Ned talking non-stop about Star Wars in his ear while Flash kicked the back of his seat as he called him Nerd Penis Parker.

Same as always.

Feeling subduedly discouraged even to talk to Ned about the things they both enjoyed, the brown-haired teenager stared down the street and made the decision to walk home. He said goodbye to his colleagues and began to walk slowly along the busy sidewalk.

People came and went in a constant flurry, busy with their own things. Many left work at that time and the streets were always full of people and cars. So distracted by their own routines, they didn't notice the beauty of the small details of life that surrounded them and that the teenager had learned to see during the long hours he spent sitting alone in the school stands.

The sky was spectacular; the blue in dark and light tones mingled with the warm colors of orange and gold, painting the borders of the horizon and embracing the black of the land that stretched as far as the eye could see. The sun could still be seen from afar; a giant sphere of flame whose rays stretched out into the vastness of space and pierced the clouds in a unique painting.

Peter turned away from the hustle and bustle of the urban center and walked with slow steps and a leisurely pace towards a long bridge from which he knew he could watch the phenomenon without being disturbed; it was close to his home and the movement of cars and people was reduced.

When he reached the desired location, however, Peter stopped when he found a man sitting at the safety rail, looking down at the river and the rocks below at the great and dangerous height with a distant countenance. Normally the fourteen-year-old would have left, he preferred to watch the phenomenon alone in his secret location, but something about the stranger made him stand there and watch the man with mild curiosity and concern.

The man wore a long black overcoat which looked very expensive, the fabric was clearly of a superior quality; there was a gold watch on his wrist and his shoes gleamed in the distant lights of the city. His face was partially hidden by his overcoat, but he had short dark brown hair and eyes of the same color, which stared into space with empty, listless irises.

After several minutes had passed without the stranger sketching any reaction or acknowledging the teenager's presence, Peter decided to approach and strike up a conversation.

"You look lost."

When the stranger did nothing, Peter tried again and asked.

"Want to talk?"

The man snorted, showing some reaction at last, but he didn't look up or away from the river and rocks below.

"Go away, kid." He grunted in a bad mood, but Peter wasn't intimidated.

He stopped beside the stranger and rested his elbows on the safety rail where the other was sitting.

"I'm not leaving, you're the one in my secret place."

"I don't have time for your jest, go away." The stranger spoke sharply and Peter shrugged.

"You look like you've got all the time in the world right now." The teenager tried to see the man's face, but the overcoat was too big and he couldn't. Giving up, instead Peter watched the sunset that had brought him there and inquired.

"Why did you come here?"

The stranger didn't want to talk, but against his will his mouth opened to answer the kid.

"I came..." He stopped suddenly.

What would he say to a child? That his world was ruined and that he was really thinking about jumping off the bridge and ending it all?

Oh yeah... way to go...

Sighing partially with deep irritation and dismay, the man chose his words carefully and grunted.

"I came to think."

"About what?" Peter asked then, and the man began to feel his irritation boiling his blood.

Why couldn't the brat just walk away and stop bothering him so he could end his pathetic life at once? The worst part was that his damn mouth wouldn't stay shut and he was winding up the boy's attempts at conversation.

"Things aren't looking good for me. My life... feels like it's been taken away from me all of a sudden."

The boy beside him nodded in understanding, as if he really understood the feeling that was going through him. The man wanted to yell at him, but the other spoke first.

"Life isn't that bad, you know? There's a lot of bad stuff going on and it feels like it's ruined our day, but if you stop to think and take a look at things around you, I'm sure you'll see that it is not so badat all."

Peter laughed lightly.

"There was this time I ended up missing the school bus and I had to walk home, and then it started to rain and I got all wet because I didn't have an umbrella, but on the way I found this abandoned kitten, he almost got hit by a car and I saved him and took him home. My aunt May was very angry because we lived in a very small apartment and she didn't want pets, but today after Max grew up, Aunt May stole my cat and now she can't sleep at night if Max isn't lying at her feet..."

When he realized he was rambling, Peter blushed and cleared his throat.

"So what I mean is if I hadn't missed the bus and it rained that day I wouldn't have met Max, and that was a really good thing!"

The man closed his eyes, his head pounding. Seriously, even when he was deciding to or not to put a stop to his life, it came back to mock him with a kid who has a tongue bigger than his own mouth?

Peter, oblivius to the man's dark thoughts, proceeded, even though he probably knew the other wouldn't understand anything he was going to say.

"You know, if I were to put this in one of my school projects I would say that life is almost like the principle of action and reaction; the effort you give off has the same intensity, size and nature, but the direction is opposite; if we have a goal we have the size equal to our challenge, if we have the will, there is intensity, if we remain ourselves, nature will be the same...and the more we go ahead and insist on facing the problems and difficulties we encounter, life will exert the opposite force that will test our will, purpose, and nature, and if we keep going anyway, it will exert the opposite direction that will propel us forward."

The man then frowned, and although he still didn't look up, there was recognition in his voice and even a little curiosity.

"Newton's third law... do you like Physics?"

"Yes, I love Physics!" Peter exclaimed excitedly; it was the first time anyone understood what he was saying without being one of his teachers at school. "How did you know?"

"I studied a lot of Physics... I have a master's degree on it and also in Electrical Engineering."

"Wow! That's sooooo awesome!" The kid exclaimed and a small smile escaped the stranger's lips at the teenager's genuine joy.

He closed his eyes and sighed. If joy could come back into his life again... It seems so far away now...

"Hey sir..." Peter called to him again. "I know you're very sad about something that happened to you, but don't be like that... If things aren't good today, tomorrow everything can change and get better."

The fourteen-year-old had the initiative and took the stranger's hand in his own.

"When I felt sad and lost, I look up and find a reason why living that day was worth it. If you look up now, you will see."

The man looked up, and his sad brown eyes watched the sunset in its full splendor, reaching the borders of their world in an ocean of colors so perfect, unique and beautiful that no artist would be able to reproduce it. Touched, tears welled up in his eyes and slid down his face; Peter saw them and remembered the times he had cried alone in his room or on the stands at school, sad for his illness and for the things he believed life had taken from him, but he had discovered new cool things on the different path he had taken, and he knew that the stranger beside him could also discover them.

Still holding his hand, Peter chose to say.

"My aunt told me that every day the sky is different from the previous one, unique... I'm sure I won't see this sky again, and it was great to be able to share this moment with you. Thank you for that."

The stranger nodded silently, evidently moved. He left the security rail and went back to stand on solid ground; only then could Peter see his face; he was a young man, not forty yet, with a lot to see and live in life.

They both looked at each other and the teenager took the initiative and hugged him; the man stifened initially, but didn't cut off the gesture and embarrassedly reciprocated it, patting that kid's back and Peter grinned; Sometimes the only thing needed was just a hug to change a person's world.

The teenager waved goodbye to the stranger a few minutes later and left in peace, walking to his home; he thought that perhaps he would never see the man again, but at least his brown eyes were no longer so sad or empty.

~.~

When Peter arrived home a few minutes later, his aunt was the first to see him; she plunged him into her arms, worried.

"Peter, for God's sake, where did you go?" May partially pulled away from her nephew to watch him. "What happened? Harold and I were about to get the car to look for you."

His aunt's boyfriend approached when he heard the woman speak his name and looked at the kid.

"Hi Peter." The man with short black hair complimented him and the teenager noted that he must have been off duty, as he wore casual clothes instead of his usual black suit.

"Hi, Mr Hogan" Peter grinned, then spoke to his aunt. "Sorry May, I wanted to see the sunset today so I decided to walk home."

She shook her head in exasperation.

"You know I don't like you walking around alone, Peter, I don't want anything happening to you."

"I know, but I'm fine and the school isn't that far from here."

"Did you at least come walking at slow pace?" May inquired sharply and Peter nodded enthusiastically, still grinning.

"Of course! Very, super slow, I didn't get tired, I'm all good!"

May shook her head again, still concerned, but hugged her nephew again, her face clearly relieved. At that moment Hogan's cell phone rang and the man spied the new message; he sighed and it was his turn to look worried. May watched him questioningly.

"Is it your boss?"

"No…it's his future fiancée as soon as it hits him that she's the only woman who can put up with him." Hogan put the phone away. "He suddenly left the company early and hasn't come back yet. He's not one to do that, but he's going through some serious business problems... he's also my friend and we're afraid he'll do something stupid."

May nodded, stood up and kissed him on the lips.

"Hurry up then! We'll be fine, I'm more at easy now that Peter arrived."

Hogan nodded, patted the teenager's head in farewell and left the apartment.

~.~

When the door to the Penthouse opened, Virginia Potts immediately rose from the couch to watch the newcomer; after being told by the AI that he had finally returned, the auburn-haired woman had been there, waiting for him. Her blue eyes were mixed with irritation and concern.

"Tony..." The reprimand in her lips died as the billionaire lifted his face; the tired look and the dark circles under his eyes betrayed him and told her that he had been crying.

The man averted his face and removed his black overcoat, threwing it in any corner of the room.

"What are you still doing here, Pepper?" He called her by her nickname. "Your shift ended two hours ago."

"I was waiting for you to come back. I wanted to make sure you would return okay."

"I'm fine, you may leave." Tony grunted back.

The woman sighed softly with equal weariness evident in her features.

"No…you're not. If you want to pretend to your other employees and the world, that's fine, but you can't hide it from me."

The man didn't show any reaction, remaining standing at the Penthouse's entrance staring at nothing. Pepper walked over and didn't hesitate to put a hand on his shoulder to make him look at her.

"Tony, I know that finding out that your company was supplying weapons to terrorist groups is a huge blow to everything you and your family have built, but you can't let yourself go down now."

Tony sighed audibly and ran his hands over his face, feeling his spirit fill again with despondency and a strong sense of inability.

"It's not just a huge blow, Pepper! When this hits the media it's going to be a scandal! It's going to ruin our reputation, drive away all investors and make stock prices plummet in the market. And what will they say about me? Anthony Stark and his company financed weapons to fund World War IV?!"

The billionaire pulled away from her abruptly, revolt building inside him.

"It literally ruined everything! It ruined everything I've built! My dreams, my projects, my career, even my own name thrown at the mud! There's no way to get over it... there's nothing that can be done."

"You are not alone, Tony!" Pepper raised her voice to force him to hear her. "I know the impact of this seems hopeless, but if we stop to think about everything and analyze all the issues rationally, we can find a solution. There is always a solution, just as it is certain that after night the sun will rise again in the following day."

Tony looked up and his brown eyes stared at New York beyond the windows of the Stark Tower; in his memories he saw himself again on the old bridge beside a kid he had never seen before and whom he didn't even knew his name, watching the most beautiful sunset he had ever seen; a bright kid, full of life and hope.

"When I felt sad and lost, I look up and find a reason why living that day was worth it."

The billionaire's gaze once again met that of his company's COO, and only then did he realize that in all times, good and bad, Pepper had always been there by his side, like a steady and constant presence in his life, grouding him. The auburn-haired woman took his hand in hers.

"Calm down, Tony; we'll find a solution for this. Rest today and tomorrow we will have a meeting with the board to analyze the case; the most important thing now is to hold the information, stabilize the company and find who is responsible for providing the equipment for terrorists. Your company and your employees need you now more than ever."

The man nodded silently and after making sure he was really going to be okay that night, Pepper walked away.

"I'm leaving now, but I'll be back early tomorrow morning so we can start working on it." She promised. "And Friday, please don't let him do anything stupid, okay?"

"Of course, Miss Potts." The AI complied immediately and the man snorted softly.

"Stop conspiring with my AI and corrupting it, Potts."

"I will if it's for your own good." Pepper emphasized, and took one last look at him. "Take care, okay?"

Tony raised his hand in a wave and flung himself down on the couch, felt his tired body and exhausted mind quickly throw him into unconsciousness.

~.~

Hogan watched with concern as his friend left the car and headed for the interior of the mansion after having spent the entire drive in silence, deep in his own thoughts. Pepper got out of the black Audi next, but instead of following her boss, the woman stayed behind to talk to him.

"How did it go?"

"The board had a big shock when they found out and the reactions were controversial, but with effort we managed to bring everyone to our side. The news hasn't leaked to the press yet because Friday managed to hack the network and change the information unofficially; illegal, but needed to avoid a worse blow to Stark Industries, at least now the situation is a little more manageable. Tony is still digesting and processing everything."

Hogan clenched his fists in partially contained fury.

"They tried to screw him... whoever did it, planned a lot to destroy Tony and almost succeeded."

Pepper nodded; her blue eyes gleamed thoughtfully.

"We need to find out as soon as possible who did this for the company's sake, but at the same time we have to distract Tony."

"Distract?" Hogan inquired, confused.

"Yes, this whole situation is weighing heavily on his shoulders, and although we need Tony to collaborate to resolve the issue, if he doesn't hang up a little and put his head down, he's going to give up to the pressure and won't help either himself or the company."

Hogan nodded in understanding, watching the mansion's entrance with a distant gaze, thinking of his friend. Indeed in the last few days after the bomb went off, Tony seemed an apathetic shadow compared to the bright, self-centered, vivacious genius of his former self; he couldn't remember the last time he had seen his friend smile, make his stupid jokes or make fun of someone he didn't like. In fact, he believed that the billionaire was barely eating and sleeping, so immersed in the sabotage problems the SI was experiencing.

"Do you have any idea what to do?" The man asked, looking back at her.

"I have." Pepper cracked a small smile. "I thought about it all afternoon after the board meeting. An internship program."

Hogan raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"You want to hire an intern to help him?"

"Yes, a young man or woman with a creative and open mind who can occupy Tony for a few hours in the Penthouse's laboratory, and who can inspire him to re-dedicate some of his time to his projects. You know how much Tony loves that place and in these last few days he has barely spared it a glance; perhaps by teaching someone a little of what he knows and likes, he will end up helping the development of a young mind and also end up finding himself again."

"Someone different…someone who thinks like Tony." Hogan added with a slight smile and Pepper watched him with understanding.

"Precisely, and something tells me you have a name in mind."

"In fact, I have..."

~.~

"Why the hell do I need an intern?" The billionaire asked in disbelief, staring at his COO as if she had suddenly grown another head.

Pepper watched him calmly, sipping from her cup of coffee.

"Really, Tony? How long has it been since you entered the Penthouse labs? The place is a mess, everything is thrown all over the place. If you want to stay busy sulking over SI currently situation all day, you need at least someone who help keep your mess organized for you."

"I don't want anyone going through my stuff!" Tony spoke defensively and extremely protective of his personal space. "Whatever the inspiration for that crazy idea of yours, forget it, Pepper, I'm not hosting a selection process for an internship program."

"It won't be necessary, your intern has already been hired and will start tomorrow at 6 pm until 8 pm"

"Hired?!" The man exclaimed and stood from his chair. "Shit, Pep; who authorized this?!"

"Of course I authorized it, and the candidate was chosen by Happy." Pepper informed him patiently.

"Cancel it." Tony ordered.

"There's no way to cancel it, the kid signed a contract and now the company is responsible for him; besides, he is the nephew of your friend's girlfriend; Happy would be upset."

Tony's Eyebrows twitched in annoyance, and before his new complain could be voiced, Pepper cut him off again, getting straight to the point.

"For God's sake, Tony, give the kid a chance and try to get to know him first before you kick him out of your office. Consider it my charge for the business trip you made me take in your place last month."

The billionaire winced; he knew she wouldn't forget that anytime soon.

"Okay, okay!" Tony exclaimed in exasperation, and threw up his hands dramatically. "I'll babysit in my spare time to cheer you and Happy up. What's his name?"

"Peter." The auburn-haired woman happily informed. "And I'm told he's a brilliant kid..."

~.~

Peter tugged on the straps of his backpack a little nervously as he watched the numbers for the private elevator soar to the top floor of the Tower to where the Penthouse and the personal laboratory of the company's CEO were located.

Stark Industries was world-renowned and he had heard about Anthony Stark a few times before, seen a picture or two of the men in the newspapers, but nothing more, and that had been a while ago. Now he was stuck in that situation after Mr. Hogan begged him to accept the internship contract. In all the months that Mr. Hogan and his aunt had been dating, he had never seen the man beg for anything, and the teenager at his aunt's insistence on pleasing her boyfriend had forced himself to accept the request.

Seriously, this guy really must need a helper to make someone as serious as Mr Hogan ask for something like that.

Peter sighed, and then thought about the future; at least now he could scrape together some money to buy that Lego Death Star model he and Ned had been drooling over for three months now.

The elevator stopped when it reached its destination and the door opened to reveal an anteroom and a wide glass door. The brown-haired kid looked around curiously and reached out to knock, but before he did, the doors opened of their own accord.

"Welcome, Mr Parker."

Peter was startled by the voice; he looked for the woman who had called him, but found no one. He stared at the long main hall of the Penthouse that was bigger than his school's courtyard.

"Err… hello?" he called tentatively.

"Hello yourself; we've been waiting for you." The voice replied, coming from all over the room; Peter looked around, fascinated.

"You are an artificial intelligence!"

"Indeed; my name is Friday and I'm in charge of the entire Stark Tower operating system."

"Incredible!" The teenager exclaimed excitedly, forgetting even the main reason that had brought him there and given him access to the most restricted floor of the building. "Can you control the entire tower system?! I've never heard of an AI that had such strength and capability, this tower is one of the tallest in the country!"

"I'm flatered by your compliment." Friday replied, and AI's voice really did sound pretty flatered.

"Don't encourage her too much, kid; I don't need more people in this company corrupting my AI." A third voice interrupted their conversation and Peter turned around to finally meet his new boss.

The billionaire and the teenager's eyes widened in surprise and recognition.

"You're that guy from the bridge!"

"You are that kid from the bridge."

Both spoke at the same time, then fell silent. It was the teenager who took the initiative.

"H-Hey! I-I'm Peter, Peter Parker."

"Tony." The CEO of Stark Industries simply introduced himself, with curiosity; his previous irritation at being forced to accept an intern momentarily forgotten.

"So…you…are you okay?" Peter inquired, really interested.

"Yes…things are moving forward…I'm trying to clean up this whole mess."

Tony answered and thought again briefly about that encounter on the bridge and how much the kid had helped him without knowing it. Things were still very difficult for him, but they were no longer so hopeless or impossible to deal with, and he was slowly beginning to find ways to face the crisis his life and company were going through. Looking at the kid, he spoke sincerely.

"That time on the bridge...thanks."

"Don't mind it! It's always nice to be able to chat with new people and the sunset was amazing! I really enjoyed it very much!" The teenager nodded his head several times.

"So..." The billionaire started to say, changing the subject. "I remember you mentioned that you like Physics and projets back there..."

Peter immediately confirmed and Tony continued.

"I have a private lab here at the Penthouse and this internship program that Pepper has created calls for the two of us to work there a little bit every day, at least that's what I think it is, I didn't look at the contract details, it was too long... but anyway, I thought we could start organizing the place and I could show you some of the projects I was working on."

"Alright!" Peter nodded enthusiastically.

Tony motioned for the kid to follow him and the he immediately got into motion. Both crossed the Penthouse and entered another location after Friday opened the door for them. The intern and the boss stopped at the entrance to observe the new scenario together. Peter widened his eyes and Tony winced; Pepper really was right, he hadn't been there for ages.

Tools were strewn haphazardly across the unkempt worktables, papers were strewn across the floor, and the computers farther away had wires as tangled as spaghetti; the smell of something rotten was in the air and seemed to come from a box thrown on the only couch in the room where the remains of a pizza seemed forgotten for a week.

"Wow...this place is a mess!" Peter exclaimed buntly.

Then he realized he'd just said that to his new boss's face and his face filled with a dark red with embarrassment. Stuttering, he tried to fix it quickly.

"I-I mean, this place is awesome! Super, super awesome! I've never seen a place as amazing as this...hey, are those your socks?"

Peter asked when he saw the garment dropped on one of the computer screens, and realizing that he was talking nonsense again, he started blushing violently once more.

Tony threw his head back and began to laugh out loud without being able to hold back. He laughed, free, genuine and spontaneous, as he hadn't done in a long time in his life. Peter covered his face with his hands, depressed.

"I screwed up on my very first day..."

The man placed a hand on his shoulder.

"What do you mean, we haven't even started yet, kid." Tony shook his head, and still chuckling slightly entered the lab bringing the other with him. "Let's get our hands dirty."

~.~

When two hours later Hogan parked the Audi in the Stark Tower's private garage to pick up the teenager and drive him home, he found Peter and Tony already there waiting for him.

As soon as his friend opened the car door and left the vehicle, the billionaire winked at him.

"See Happy, I told you I would return the kid in one piece."

"Happy?" Peter repeated curiously and Tony looked at him, arching an eyebrow.

"He didn't tell you?"

"Tony..." Hogan tried to stop him, but the other man wouldn't listen.

"It's his nickname, because he's always making this happy face, just like the one he's doing now."

Hogan glared and Peter snickered.

"Can I call you Happy too, Mr Hogan?"

"No."

The man responded and continued glaring at Tony when his friend smirked and said 'Of course you can, he doesn't care'.

"I'll let you explain to the kid's aunt why you screwed him up." Hogan grunted, grabbing the teenager's backpack. "Come on, Peter, get in the car; May wants you home in half an hour."

"Of course, Happy!" Peter exclaimed excitedly, throwing his body into the passenger seat. He nodded to the billionaire. "Bye Tony!"

"Bye kid! And send my regards to your hot girlfriend, Happy; Peter showed me a picture of her, what a catch, I knew you had it in you!"

Hogan flipped him the middle finger when the teenager wasn't looking and started the car, and Tony watched them drive away. Only then he realized then that he really had a great time with the kid and that not once he thought about the company or the problems he was going through.

Maybe that internship idea wasn't so bad at all.

~.~

The next morning, as soon as she arrived at the company, Pepper asked her boss about the first day of internship.

"It was better than I expected, to be honest; the kid helped me organize the entire lab yesterday." Tony responded spontaneously and apparently in a good mood. "He's really different... the way he thinks and the things he likes, reminds me a little of myself when I was his age..."

Accepting the CEO's response as satisfactory, Pepper decided to not interfere in the internship hours and leave the two of them alone in the lab under Friday's care.

A week later the COO had to stay beyond office hours to be able to finish filling out several reports to present to the office the next day. The auburn-haired woman after an hour was finishing the last page of the files before saving and finishing for the day, when there was suddenly a blackout; the equipment turned off by itself and the entire tower was plunged into darkness.

Pepper stared in disbelief at her black computer screen, shocked. It couldn't be...her entire work of all day wasted when she was about to finish it! Tears of frustration began to well up in the corners of her eyes, but before she could have any reaction, the energy suddenly returned, plunging her room back into light.

The computer turned on automatically and the auburn-haired woman let a shaky breath escape her lips.

"Friday?" She called.

"Yes, Miss Potts?" AI promptly responded.

"Please tell me you managed to save my files."

"Of course, everything is in order."

The computer screen changed and showed her the folder with all the files she had written during the day and in the last hour.

Pepper collapsed against the seat, relieved; but her countenance then took on worried features. Never in its history has the SI Tower been without energy; on the contrary, it was one of the biggest technology centers in the city. What was going on?

"What happened, Friday? Did someone tried to hack into our system?"

"No, Miss Potts, the temporary shutdown came from the upper laboratory on Boss orders."

"Tony?!" But why…" The woman fell silent; shook her head and rose from her chair. "You know what, never mind, Friday; I'll talk to him myself."

The COO left her office and took the private elevator to the Penthouse; when she reached the desired location, Pepper entered the place unceremoniously and went straight to the lab. When the glass doors opened, the woman stopped at the entrance and stared.

"What are you doing here?!"

The man and the teenager shifted their attention from their project to stare at the newcomer.

"Hello Miss Potts!"

"Hey Pep! How nice that you finally decided to join us; Friday warned me you were still in the tower."

Tony leaned causally againts the worktable as if the giant sphere of fire burning in the center of the lab were the most common thing in the world; their experiment was confined inside a large capsule, the glass made of a special material holding most of the heat and glow the sphere provided. The lights were completely off and were unnecessary, as the force of the light was so strong that if it hadn't been held back by the capsule, it could have blinded them.

"Did you divert the entire Tower's force to do this?!" Pepper exclaimed.

"Of course, you can't create something like this without electricity." The billionaire shrugged.

"Isn't it amazing?!" Peter exclaimed, delighted. "Tony said he could create anything he wanted in the world, and I told him he couldn't, he couldn't create the sun, and look what he did! Isn't that awesome?!"

"We did it together, kid; you played a big part." Tony ruffled the teenager's hair, who chuckled excitedly.

Pepper stared at the small gesture of affection, surprise; so genuine and spontaneous, she had rarely seen the billionaire wear that countenance, and in silence as she watched them, the two talking in front of their project, the auburn-haired woman felt grateful to the teenager for gradually bringing life back to her boss' tired soul.

"Hey Tony, do you think we could create little planets too?" Peter inquired suddenly, excitedly.

"Of course we can try, but we're going to need a little more power than what we have in the Stark Tower..." Under Pepper's horrified gaze, the billionaire cleared his throat. "...but let's take this slow, brat; by the way, your time is up. Go get your backpack before Happy comes up here and starts lecturing me on behalf of your aunt. Friday, turn everything off and save the results. "

"Of course, boss." The AI responded and the fireball disappeared, the lights came back on and the teenager, pouting, left the lab to get his things.

"Don't worry Potts, we're not going to blow up the tower." The billionaire gave her a wink and she looked back at him in disbelief.

~.~

"Come on Happy, spill it out." Tony spoke, flinging himself into his office chair and indicating for the other to sit down in front of him. "You've been standing there for ten minutes with this face who looks like you got a stomachache or wants to ask me something. So what is it?"

Hogan accepted the other's invitation and sat in the chair across from the CEO's desk.

"Actually, I wanted to ask you-"

Tony interrupted him.

"Have you finally decided to ask for a raise? I was wondering when you were finally going to do it." Pulling his cell phone out of his suit, the billionaire began typing on the phone's screen. "So, how much do you want to earn? I'm going to ask Friday to update the system and make the six-month retroactive deposit."

Hogan blinked, not moving.

"Actually….that's not what I meant, but if you want to give me money I won't refuse it."

Tony stopped what he was doing and looked at his friend.

"Of course I'll still give you a raise, but... what do you need?"

"Look... May did some extra hours at the hospital this month and they gave her three days off and we wanted to take the opportunity to travel this next holiday-"

"I can buy you tickets, book the hotel, the restaurants and the tours." The billionaire interrupted him again. "So where do you want to go? France, Spain or the Caribbean maybe?"

"We're actually going camping in a nearby town."

"Oh..." Tony's face clouded with incredulity "And you call it a romantic date? Jeez, Happy... But anyway, you know, the funeral, I mean, the date is yours."

"What I really want to ask..." Happy continued, ignoring his friend's jokes. "It's if you can take care of Peter these days. May is very worried about leaving him in home alone... As he doesn't have classes at school and you two have been getting along well this past month..."

"Sure, why not?" The billionaire leaned back in his seat and folded his arms behind his head. "He's a good kid. I was thinking about spending these days at my mansion in Malibu and I could take him with me; Pepper is already scheduled to come for us sort out some things about what happened at SI and she can help keep an eye on him. What could go wrong?"

~.~

As soon as Tony parked the Audi in front of his Malibu mansion, the first thing Peter did was glue his face to the window glass, his brown eyes wide in admiration.

"Is this really your house? It looks almost like an entire building!"

The billionaire chuckled as he and Pepper opened the doors and started to climb out of the car.

"What are you still doing standing there, kid? Hurry up and go explore."

Tony shoowed him and watched his little friend go to the mansion; despite Peter's countenance glowing to the last of his pores, as polite as he was, instead of running like a runaway train like most kid of his age, Peter walked slowly as his wide brown eyes took in everything around him.

As soon as he stepped into the outer entrance area, the mansion door unlocked and opened for him.

"Welcome, Peter." AI's familiar voice greeted him and the teenager grinned in pleasant surprise.

"You're here too Friday! How nice!"

Outside, Pepper leaned against the black Audi and arched an eyebrow at the fondly look her boss unconsciously directed at Peter.

"This kid has gotten into you."

She spoke plainly and the billionaire scoffed.

"No; you're overreacting, Potts."

"Really am I? Peter has been interning at SI for a month and you've already brought him to spend a few days at your own house."

"I'm just doing Happy a favor." Tony shrugged and both adults started walking towards the mansion.

"This is a very good thing, Tony." The woman spoke, this time seriously and sincerely. "His presence in your life has done you a lot of good. You're lighter and more at peace; the company's problems, although they still exist, haven't affected you as much as before."

The man and woman stopped in the center of the main room and heard Peter's way too sincere voice shout from the second floor of the building.

"This is my room?! I can't believe it, Friday! This is bigger than my aunt's freaking entire apartment!"

Pepper chuckled lightly and Tony shook his head.

"He's a good kid, a rare gem in the middle of an ocean."

The billionaire's countenance then became more circumspect and taking advantage of the fact that they were alone, he spoke to the woman.

"Pepper, abou SI situation, I've been analyzing the reports that Friday has gathered of that incident and..."

"You must have come to the same conclusion as me." Pepper spoke, nodding her head in understanding. "It's one of the reasons I came here, so we could talk about this far away from other people's ears."

"It was one of the board members." Tony spoke softly, clenching his fists. "But I can't understand why. Why do that? Why try to end the company like that, let alone a member of the board? We've always made a profit, SI has always delivered great results for everyone and rewarded our employees for their work; we always share the profits made in the business, and the board has always had the major share... so why?"

The auburn-haired woman sighed, having also come to the same dilemma.

"I can't say why, Tony. I've been looking into the structure of our business and there's no apparent reason that could have led to this cause." Pepper gave him a meaningful look. "At least not because of SI."

The billionaire frowned, understanding where she was going.

"Do you believe it's because of me?"

"A personal motivation, yes." Pepper nodded. "I brought with me a dossier of all the directors so that we can analyze it very calmly, rationally and critically and try to find out who did what they did and why. I want you to try to remember your meetings with each of them, whether in public or private, so we can try find some light to help us solve this problem."

The brown-haired man sighed but nodded in agreement. The woman walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I know it's neither easy nor pleasant, finding out who it was that betrayed you...but we'll get through this, it'll be fine, and SI will resurface even stronger than it was before."

Tony nodded silently and Pepper walked away to put her things in her room. As the woman started to climb the stairs, the billionaire called her again.

"Thanks Pepper." Tony spoke sincerely. "For being here."

She nodded and smiled.

~.~

The auburn-haired woman looked away from the television as the movie rolled and stared at the billionaire, who was sprawled on the couch beside her, dozing, and began to snore louder and louder. Annoyed, Pepper bent down and pinched him. Hard. The man jumped up suddenly and opened his eyes, disoriented.

"Huh, what?!"

Pepper glared at him and nodded towards Peter, the teenager was leaning forward, so engrossed in the lightsaber duel between Obi Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker at the end of the third Star Wars movie that he didn't realize what happened on the other couch next to him.

The woman's message was clear.

You were the one who proposed we see a movie and let Peter pick one, and now you're sleeping in one of his favorite titles. Are you not ashamed of youself?

Tony shrugged and taking a popcorn he threw it against the teenager, hitting him in the ear.

"Kid, don't stand so close to the television; you're staring a hole into it."

Peter snorted indignantly.

"You threw popcorn at me! Do you know what that means?"

"Not." The man replied lazily, and the teenager filled his hand with popcorn.

"War!"

Peter threw his popcorn at the billionaire and Tony dodged; he immediately grabbed a handful of popcorn and hurled it at the Kid, who immediately dodged it. As popcorn flew in all directions in the living room, Pepper sighed; she was beginning to realize that instead of coming to do business, she was actually there to look after two children.

The auburn-haired woman risked glances at her cell phone to see her email box and then a pillow crashed against her head hard; the device slipped from her fingers and collided with the floor, cracking half the screen.

A silence fell over the room as the film continued to run; her furious blue eyes glared at the other two and Peter quickly raised his arm and pointed at the billionaire.

"It was him!"

"You broke my cell phone!" Pepper snapped and Tony held up his hands in self defense.

"Take it easy, sweetheart, it was just the screen, we can fix it..."

"It didn't need to be fixed 5 seconds ago!" The woman spoke through her teeth, furious. "That will not remain like this."

"Oops!" Peter widened his eyes and began to slink off to the side; the billionaire stood.

"Come on, Pep, it-" Tony started to speak, but a pillow collided with his face and the man fell back on the couch with force.

Recovering quickly, the man grabbed a nearby pillow and lifted it barely in time to block the enraged woman's next attack. Pepper started to attack him mercilessly and Tony was hiding behind his pillow trying to escape the blows. Peter, wide-eyed, ate his popcorn as he watched the pillow duel, which was much more interesting than the movie's lightsaber duel; Pepper was angrier at Tony than a Sith.

The auburn-haired woman struggled to hit the man at any cost; the pillow fell on him with all the strength she had and the billionaire tried in vain to talk to her while fending off the attacks. Tony dodged to the side and stepped on a bunch of popcorn on the floor; his body unbalanced and he instinctively grabbed Pepper to rebalance himself without success, and the woman fell with him, her body sprawling over the man.

Both adults widened their eyes; Pepper stared down at Tony and he met her gaze, their hot breaths touching their faces, very close to each other. For a moment the world was forgotten, and the woman found herself lost in the brown ocean of his irises just as the man plunged into the expanse of the blue universe her eyes held, and before either of them realized what they were doing, their lips met in a deep kiss and the two surrendered to the gesture with passion...

...until a familiar voice interrupted them both.

"Urgh, no! My eyes burn! Revenge of the Sith was not supposed to end like this!" Peter complained and Tony threw a pillow at him.

"Shut up kid."

~.~

The next day the couple were holding hands, walking on an empty beach on the outskirts of the mansion and talking to each other as Peter walked several meters ahead, watching the sea and the waves breaking on the sand. Suddenly the gentle breeze turned to a strong wind and it blew sharply, taking the hat Pepper wore; a gift that had been her grandmother and one of the few memories she had of her.

"No! My hat!" She screamed, desperate.

The wind pushed it forward and away, toward the teenager. Tony yelled at him.

"Peter, hold it, don't let it get away!"

The teenager, surprised, froze; his brown eyes followed the object that was speeding towards him.

"Peter, take it please!"Pepper asked him, but the object flew with force and passed a few meters away from the kid, who motionless, didn't show any reaction.

The adults started running towards him and Tony roared.

"Damn it Peter! What the hell are you doing?! Run after it, don't let it go to the sea!"

The teenager jumped and the wind that blew hard against his face and the billionaire's voice made him wake up from his daze. His eyes followed the hat and Peter remembered Pepper fondly talking about it and her grandmother and how special the object was to her. Instinctively, his body reacted and urged him forward. In his mind a great warning sign awoke; his feet moved of their own volition, digging into the sand quickly, faster and faster, and the teenager darted along the beach after the flying hat because it had sentimental value; because it was important to someone he liked.

Ten meters, twenty, thirty...

With every step he took, his mind screamed that this was wrong.

With every step he took, he was closer to the hat.

Thirty-five, forty, forty-five...

Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!

Fifty, fifty-five meters...

Almost there! He was almost reaching it!

Sixty, sixty-five...

The teenager stretched out his arm.

Wrong! Stop!

Seventy meters.

His fingers gripped the hat tightly as his legs gave out and the kid fell to the ground in middle of the sand and waves of the sea.

"Peter!" Tony and Pepper shouted his name.

Red-faced and hugging the hat to his body, the teenager curled up in a fetal position; his chest hurt, hurt a lot, and the pain felt like it was going to tear him apart.

"Peter!" Tony fell to his side and held the kid in his arms. "Peter?! What happened? Peter?! For God's sake answer me!"

The teenager moaned shakily; he could not move, respond or react. In his world there was only pain. In the distance Tony's voice sounded desperate.

"Pepper, quickly! Call Dr. Cho..."

~.~

Tony, sitting on the couch in the hospital's large waiting room, stared at the papers in his hand with the same shocked look that had worn his face when he'd found out about the diversion of SI weapons to terrorist groups.

He had known Dr Cho for years and there was no other doctor more reliable and competent than she; the woman had never misdiagnosed, yet the billionaire refused to believe the results of the deep examinations the doctor had performed on Peter as soon as they arrived at the hospital. Pepper was sitting beside him, her face pale and serious; he knew she was scared.

Dr. Cho entered the room a few minutes later and spoke to them.

"Peter is stable and out of harm's way, but the effort he put in today has left him extremely tired and debilitated. He will be able to leave the hospital today, but under no circumstances should he do any activity for the next few days, he must be on complete rest ."

Seeing the worried faces of his friends, Cho continued gently.

"He's awake now, if you'd like to see him. I'll leave some prescription drugs for the pain and to help his body relax."

Pepper looked at Tony and laid a hand over his.

"I think you better go first; you two are very close and I think he will open up to you if you talk to him."

The billionaire nodded and got up.

"I'll stay here and give Virginia some more guidance on how to take care of him." Cho promised.

A few minutes later Tony stopped at the bedroom door; Scanning the room, he saw Peter sitting up in bed, leaning back against the pillows, the covers covering his legs. The young man had his eyes closed at that moment, but even in the dim light that was in the room the man could see that his tired face showed evidence that he had been crying.

Tony entered the room after knocking softly on the door twice, announcing his presence. Peter opened his eyes and stared, his gaze holding sadness and resignation, far from the joy and liveliness that the billionaire was used to always seeing on the boy's face.

And Tony hated it.

"Hey kid..."

"Hey..." The teenager replied and then fell silent.

The man sat on the bed beside the boy and looking straight ahead to the large glass doors through which it was possible to see the sea, the billionaire sighed and spoke to his little friend in a low voice.

"You gave us a pretty bad scare back there, Pete..."

"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to mess things up." The teenager whispered, and his eyes filled with tears again.

"Hey, hey, calm down, okay? You're fine, and everything's fine, so stay calm."

Tony reached out and stroked the kid's hair and wiped away the tears that kept falling, and Peter let him do it, but he didn't meet the other's gaze. The man nodded and looking directly at his protégé, asked him softly.

"Pete…did you know about…?"

Tony didn't say it; he couldn't, not when he saw Peter so overtly frail, but the teenager nodded silently, answering his question.

"Okay..." The man nodded.

He wasn't going to force the boy to talk about something that was so difficult for him at such a recent time, but Peter began to tell of his own accord.

"I was seven years old when it first happened...I was on a school trip, racing with my friends and suddenly my chest started to hurt like hell and I lost consciousness. I woke up in the hospital with my aunt trying to explain to me as kindly as she could that I had a very rare heart disease and that I couldn't do any kind of physical activity that was too forceful anymore."

Peter took a shaky breath.

"I couldn't run or play with my friends anymore like I used to, a lot of things I had to stop doing to not force my heart... my friends were always with me, but they could still go play football, play basketball or running, so every year I sat alone in the gym stands, looking at them without being able to join them..."

Peter looked at Tony.

"I was a sad child, but over time my sadness turned into anger. I was angry about everything, I felt as if my life had been stolen from me and that it wasn't fair for me to go through this difficulty while anyother kid of my age could do everything, and I couldn't do anything. I yelled at my friends, yelled at my aunt May, and my teachers, and my anger just turned people away from me instead of resolving my problem."

Tony listened to it in silence, and in his mind he remembered again the bridge and the words he himself had said to the teenager.

"Things aren't looking good for me right now... I feel like my life has been stolen from me..."

The situations were very different, but only then did the billionaire understand how much Peter had understood his pain back then, even though he hadn't know him yet.

"You told me you learned to look around to get through a difficult time." The brown-eyed man nodded and the boy nodded.

"There was one night after one of my tantrums when I saw Aunt May crying... And I saw her as she was, beyond my problems and my frustrations. She was as sad as I was, she was strugling like me and that I was was making things and the world more difficult for me. I stopped fighting everything and started looking at things around me, I started thinking and reading, studying new things that interested me..."

Peter smiled a little, and his gaze went to the sea and he nodded for Tony to do so too, and the billionaire watched the sun set over the ocean in hues of gold and orange in a completely cloudless sky.

"I learned that despite the difficulties, we all have a purpose to fulfill, a good thing to do in this world. My illness was not an impediment, but a way of life to show me a different path to be followed, new opportunities to discover and dreams to fulfill."

Peter grinned at his mentor and in his eyes Tony saw no more sadness but again that glow of life that pulsed strongly from the teenager's soul.

"If it wasn't for that I wouldn't have been different, interested in Physics or Engineering. If I study hard, I believe that one day I can create good things like you, Tony, and I can change the world and show people that everyone can do great things, they just need to want and believe it"

Tony watched his protégé; his face bathed in the golden light of the sunset like that day on the bridge. Also, as then, the billionaire, surprised, silently admired Peter for his wisdom and for the things he unknowingly taught him.

~.~

That night, while Pepper snored softly beside him in deep sleep, Tony was lying wide awake; thoughtfully, his mind repeated Peter's words over and over.

"If I study hard, I believe that one day I can create good things like you, Tony, and I can change the world and show people that everyone can do great things, they just need to want and believe it."

He was amazed at how someone like Peter, with such a pure and sincere heart, could think of him that way.

"I want to create good things like you, Tony, and change the world."

The billionaire reflected on how his relationship with the teenager had progressed since he had met him, and how their friendship was beautiful and precious to him. He thought about the projects they worked together and the great potential Peter had to do so much more...

"I want to create good things like you, Tony..."

The man frowned, and thought of Stark Industries and the story he and his family had built. What kind of business would he leave in the future for Peter and other bright young minds like him? A war-armed organization capable of actually financing a fourth world war, as malicious people tried to do behind his back?

Tony frowned, immediately displeased.

No... I don't want to leave that kind of legacy to Peter.

We can create a little sun, Tony... We can create little planets and we can create anything we want in this world...

The kid's voice told him again through his memories.

And that was true; they could restructure the projects they had created together for sheer pleasure into something solid and reproducible on a large scale; they could create new forms of energy that could benefit society through technology rather than destroy it. The man's mind took him far away and unable to stop the surge of creativity that ran through his veins, igniting his soul like the great combustion of the sun itself, he began to see his future transform when he began to wish to be the good man that his protégé believed him to be.

And because of Peter, Tony truly believed he was capable of changing the world for better.

~.~

When Anthony Stark officially announced to the world over the next week that SI would undergo a major overhaul of its business model and stop producing military equipment to start developing new technologies and new sources of clean energy, he shocked the world and especially the members of the board; the billionaire faced head-on all the criticisms about the scandal of the diversion of weapons to terrorist groups and the oppositions about the changes he had decided to implement; his unshakable strength and conviction impressed and convinced SI investors, its employees and society over time, and over the months, SI's revenues tripled.

Pepper supported him at every step and their relationship was publicly acknowledged.

The billionaire's life had completely transformed, and even though they still hadn't been able to discover the person responsible for the illegal arms supply, Tony felt that it would soon be resolved and that the attempts to overthrow him only put him through a difficult period and made him stronger, and made him learn important lessons about life; the man could find each day several reasons that could make him smile and say that it had all been worth it.

"Pete" He called his protégé one afternoon. "I want you to go to the board meeting room, I left a box in my desk, could you get it for me? Friday will show you what it is."

"Of course!" The teenager readily accepted.

Peter followed Friday's instructions and as soon as he got off the elevator, crossed halfway down a long deserted corridor and entered the indicated door; he found the meeting room, a large space consisting of a large oval table with more than fifteen chairs, notebooks, papers and pens neatly arranged on top of it, a large screen on the far wall for presenting projects and reports, and some decorative artificial plants.

The teenager went to the armchair that Friday had guided him to and opened the drawer under the table; he found the box Tony had asked for. He picked up the object while telling AI what he thought of the current project he and the billionaire were working on; when he got up, however, Peter almost dropped the box when he saw a man he didn't know standing at the entrance to the conference room.

He was an executive, well-dressed in a cream-colored suit, fair skinned and a bald head, but on his face he had a thick gray beard; intelligent eyes that watched the kid with obvious surprise. He clearly hadn't expected to find anyone else there.

"Hello!" Peter greeted him first, and the disconcerting expression on the man's face broke into a curious smile.

"Hi, who are you?" the man asked, and laughing softly, added. "Excuse my rudeness, I didn't introduce myself first; my name is Obadiah Stane. I've never seen you around here before."

"I'm Peter; Peter Parker." The teenager replied easy going.

"And what are you doing here, Peter? It's extremely unusual to see teenagers on the highest floors of Stark Tower." Stane inquired, fully entering the room and approaching the other.

"I work here; I'm an intern."

"Intern?" The executive repeated, arching an eyebrow. "Curious... Who is your supervisor? I thought the interns only had access to the general labs."

"I'm." A third voice spoke and the owner of the SI entered the meeting room.

"Tony." Stane spoke pleasantly. "I didn't know you had hired an intern...but thinking about it now, I think I've heard comments about it before. I even thought they were making fun of me."

"It's 100% true." The billionaire spoke with good humor; he walked to where his protégé was and put an arm around the kid's shoulders. "Peter here has been one of the two brilliant minds that have made SI grow in recent months; the projects we're both developing, when implemented in the organization's routine, have created major disruptions and given us an edge in the market."

"So…this is your big secret." Stane widened his eyes; really impressed, watching the kid. "Looks like you found another genius prodigy just like you were, Tony."

Peter blushed violently at the compliment.

"N-It's not like that..."

"Of of course is." Tony arched his eyebrows at the boy. "You're practically a senior SI employee; Pepper and I will be disappointed that you don't sign the effective contract at the end of your internship period."

Peter widened his eyes with surprise and at the same time with immense joy. Working with Tony all that time, creating new things that he really saw taking effect in society thanks to the influence and reach of the SI was a dream for him, and to make it official… he didn't know what to say.

Tony smiled fondly at him and stroked his hair; Stane watched them in silence, then suddenly began to say goodbye.

"I think I'll be going, I don't want to interrupt you; I just came to get some papers I had forgotten here earlier." The man in the cream suit took the aforementioned documents in his hand and waved goodbye; the other two said goodbye to him.

When they were alone in the room, Tony went back to watching his protégé.

"I came to get you; you never came back."

"Sorry Tony." The boy grinned shepshily. "I ended up getting distracted by talking too much to Friday on the way and I came slowly; it was totally my fault."

Peter showed him the box.

"I took what you asked."

"You can open it; it's actually for you, kid." Tony spoke, and curious Peter opened the box and found a wristwatch with a modern design.

"That's so cool!" The teenager spoke.

"It will be even more so if you put it on." The billionaire encouraged him.

Peter put the device on and it turned on automatically; a retinal scanner shot off the screen and passed his eyes, then Friday's family voice greeted him from the watch.

"Hi Peter."

The teenager's eyes widened in pleasant surprise.

"Friday!"

"I thought you would like to have her around to help you with anything you need." Tony explained to him. "And also if you need to talk to me, Pepper, your aunt or Happy, she'll call us for you."

Peter looked at the man sincerely, moved.

"It's the best gift I've ever had in my life!"

The kid suddenly hugged him; the billionaire stifed, surprised, but returned the gesture fondly.

"You're welcome, Pete."

~.~

By the end of that year, in early December, Stark Industries had been completely transformed and its new business model had become stabilized and highly profitable, and the incident involving the diversion of weapons to terrorist groups had become only a memory after Friday had succeeded in helping the police locate most of the contraband equipment and thus neutralize its possible damage.

To celebrate their success, Tony threw a huge party at Stark Tower for all the company staff and some guests. Peter was excited; he usually didn't participate in the parties his schoolmates had at home, most of the times hidden from their parents. His friends always invited him to go, but realizing how different he was from the others, he knew that he would soon probably end up forgotten somewhere in the house.

It was different here; after four months of working with Tony, virtually everyone in the tower knew him, especially when his mentor started taking him downstairs to see the general labs and contribute his creative ideas to the projects being developed there. The lab teams loved the teenager who felt at home being among people who also thought like him.

Though for Peter the best moments were still those he spent with Tony alone in the Penthouse laboratory.

Upon arriving at the party with May and Hogan, he was immediately greeted by the Tower staff; some of them before had even became his friends. A few minutes later, after the trio crossed half of the large hall where the party was being hosted, they found the host and his fiancée surrounded by a sea of people.

When the billionaire's gaze found him, he interrupted his speech to call him.

"Peter! You finally arrived!" Tony waved his protégé enthusiastically.

The man took Pepper's hand and literally ripped the sea of people apart, advancing quickly to his friends and nearly letting the glass he was holding spill some of the champagne along the way.

"Glad you came early! We were worried that traffic would hold you up." Pepper spoke as soon as the couple was close; she greeted May and Peter with a hug and Hogan with a hearty handshake.

"Looks like there was a car crash near here, but hopefully no one got hurt." Hogan spoke.

"And we left the house very early; Peter could barely fit inside himself with so much anxiety." May told them and her nephew glared at her.

"Aunt!"

"It's true, after you talked you have a surprise for him, Tony, the kid didn't stop talking the whole way."

"And he should be; it's really amazing and I bet you'll like it." Tony put his arm around his protégé's shoulders and winked at May. "I'll steal your nephew for a bit while Pepper entertains you."

"Have fun!" Pepper waved to them and the billionaire walked away with the teenager.

The two crossed the room and Tony constantly chatted with various people he met along the way; all the while he kept his arm around his protégé's shoulders and Peter felt a warm feeling fill his chest. He felt he was important and cherished, and he was grateful to have met Tony and to be a part of his life too.

The CEO left the room and led the kid to another part of the Tower that was at that moment deserted. As they walked alone through the corridors, Tony asked him.

"And what are you thinking of the party, Pete?"

"It's really cool! Practically everyone came!" The teenager responded enthusiastically, but added. "But I sense there's something different about the Tower, I can't tell what it is."

The man laughed lightly.

"I don't think any other employees have noticed yet; I was sure you would notice." The billionaire has rufled his protégé's hair. "After all, you are a genius like me, and also like me you can feel the essence of this tower, if its mechanisms are working well and when something is wrong, different."

The kid's face flushed slightly at the compliment, but he grinned in response.

"So what's this surprise? This difference in the Tower has to do with it, doesn't it?"

"Bingo!" The man confirmed. "I took advantage that this morning the Tower was empty and installed the equipment and started it, I performed the initial tests and it is now fully operating throughout the entire structure of the Tower. You'll understand what I'm saying as soon as you see it."

Before Peter could voice another question, the two reached the end of the hallway and Friday opened the security door and they entered the large room that formed the center of the Tower.

The teenager catches his breath and his brown eyes widen in wonder; he took several steps forward until his body collided with the safety rail and he leaned against it to contemplate its entire structure. Tony stopped beside him and with a slight smile he tenderly watched his kid's reaction.

Before him a gigantic cylinder rose from the basement to the highest floors of the Tower. Its interior was made of pure light and around it small rays constantly crossed the air and hit plates strategically placed throughout the entire structure of the building. Several of them circled the billionaire and the boy, and Peter felt them touch the skin of his arms harmless; it was like hundreds of little magical creatures flew around them . . . or as if by the time he and Tony entered the place they had left the halls of the Tower behind to step into the expanse of the universe, with navigating shooting stars and a huge cylinder-shaped sun in the center.

"It's….beautiful…" Peter whispered, delighted.

"And can you tell me what it is, Pete?" Tony asked softly.

The teenager's brown eyes watched the column of light and understanding filled his countenance.

"It's an Ark Reactor…" The astonishment in his voice was clear. "But... I thought it was just a project... still a theory..."

"Remember when we talked about new sources to produce energy? After our little play with the sun, we thought and created the theoretical design of the Ark Reactor, a mechanism with its own capacity to generate power and energy..."

"Very similar to the sun, with a pure inner core that always regenerates and propagates, with the capacity to provide an entire country..." Peter finished his friend's speech, as he knew by heart the whole structure of that theory that they both developed; it was the longest project they had talked about, trying to gather enough technology to put it into practice.

Tony shrugged.

"I'm an impatient guy, you know... I got so excited about our theories that instead of waiting for the technology to exist to make the creation of the Reactor possible, I created them myself and as we were developing the idea together, I started working on the technique part until I finally got it to work. Right now it's powering the entire Tower, generating its own energy and ten times more powerful and effective than the previous sources we used, 100% clean and 90% cheaper. Is the benefit that SI will provide to everyone in the country in a few months and this is the big news that I want to share with everyone tonight."

Tony looked at his protégé with a tender gaze.

"But I wanted you to be the first to see it."

Peter smiled, dazzled, and truly touched.

"Thank you, Tony... for making this real."

The man put his arms around the kid's shoulders again.

"It's our project, Pete; we made it... we made it real together."

~.~

When they both returned to the party room, they parted momentarily, as the host needed to pay attention to the party guests. Peter was reunited with his aunt and Hogan and they had a great time. When it was close to Tony's time to do the toast and the big announcement of the night, May spoke to her nephew.

"Peter, I forgot my cell phone in the car and I wanted to take some pictures; couldn't you go down to the garage and get it for me before the toast?"

"Of course, aunt!" The teenager nodded immediately.

Peter left the main hall where the party was taking place and walked down the deserted hallway to the garage; as everyone was at dinner, he didn't find anyone on the way. Upon arriving at the destination, the teenager found Hogan's car and opened the vehicle door, took his aunt's cell phone and left; when he closed the door and was about to go back the way he had come, Peter heard the sound of raised voices coming down the corridor, and inadvertently ended up overhearing the conversation.

"Damn Tony! I should have killed him with my own hands when I had the opportunity to do so!"

Peter's eyes widened as he recognized the voice of Obadiah Stane, and startled, the teenager threw himself under a car a second before the executive appeared in the garage accompanied by another man; one of the Tower employees.

"What could you have done, Mr. Stane? He found out about gun smuggling long before you planned!" The man, Brad, the teenager recognized, spoke desperately.

"I'm not talking about that, you idiot; I'm talking about when Howard and Maria died; instead of trying to manipulate him when he finished college and became CEO of the company, I should have made him disappear along with his parents and completely taken Stark Industries for me."

Stane snapped at Brad, who was visibly shaking but didn't dare say anything.

The executive was visibly filled with fury; he grabbed an envelope from his car, not far from where the teenager was hiding, and walked back down the hall with the other man.

"It ends tonight; Lex put poison in the glass that Tony will use to give the toast shortly and before midnight I'll be the owner of this company..."

The two men disappeared down the hall heading back to the party; Peter, extremely pale, was frozen in hiding, shivering, eyes wide and his body cold with fear.

"Peter." Friday's voice called to him from his watch. "Peter, you need to get out of here."

The kid awoke from his stupor.

"There's no way, Friday!" He whispered desperately. "They're in the same hallway I came from! If they see me and realize I overheard the conversation, they'll kill me!"

"Nothing will happen to you." AI's voice sounded firm like a promise. "There are secret passages on every floor of the Tower; I will open the door to one of them for you; follow my instructions and I will take you safely back to the main hall."

Peter's breath hitched.

Tony!

His mentor was in danger and he needed to warn him!

The teenager came out of his hiding place and the AI guided him to a side wall of the garage; a part of it suddenly opened and revealed the entrance to a wide, well-lit hallway. Peter moved on and the AI closed the wall behind him.

"Friday, call Tony!"

~.~

"Where's Peter?" The billionaire inquired Pepper, frowning.

Toast time had arrived and he wanted his protégé to be with him to introduce the Ark Reactor they had created together.

"May said he went to get her cell phone in the car, he should be back any minute now." His fianceé whispered to him discreetly. "Start the speech and as soon as he appears, call him to the stage."

The CEO of Stark Industries was forced onto the stage while all the attention of the hall fell on him. Tony absently accepted the glass of champagne that one of his employees handed him; his eyes roamed the place looking for his protégé, but he couldn't find him.

Clearing his throat, he thought about improvising the speech to make time and give the kid a chance to return to the hall.

"First of all, good night everyone! I want you to know how happy I am to see you here tonight..."

As soon as he started talking, Tony felt his cell phone vibrate in silent mode in his pants pocket; unable to answer, the billionaire ignored the device and continued with the speech, his eyes always returned to watching the entrance to the hall, waiting for the moment when Peter would appear.

~.~

"He's not answering, Peter; Boss has already started his speech."

"Shit!" The teenager cursed aloud; walking as fast as he could, according to the map that Friday showed him in hologram through the watch he was not far from the main room, but time was running against him and his mentor's life was in danger. If he continued walking like that he would arrive too late and would find Tony lying on the ground, dead.

Tears of frustration began to slide down the teenager's face, who felt his heart racing in his chest, full of dread; it was all in his hands, the choice to act.

He remembered how bad he had been on the beach, when he had run a few yards to get a hat. The distance separating him from the party room was doubled and the kid walked awkwardly, trying to speed up his pace, without success.

"Peter!" The AI's voice called him worriedly, noticing that the teenager's vital signs were showing unbalanced patterns.

Peter closed his eyes.

He remembered Tony, his hours in the lab, their projects, and the laughs, and fully aware of his decision, the teenager threw his body forward and his feet dug firmly into the ground, propelling him swiftly forward. .

Ten meters... twenty... thirty...

Peter ran as fast as he could.

Forty meters... fifty... sixty...

Friday's desperate voice called out to him several times, but the teenager tuned out everything around him. Peter had eyes only for the corridor in front of him and for his single goal.

Get to Tony.

Seventy meters... eighty... ninety... one hundred...

The teenager's chest began to ache as he left the secret passage and entered the corridor that preceded the main room.

One hundred and ten... one hundred and twenty... one hundred and thirty meters...

The pain was so intense and excruciating that it nearly blinded him; it spread like living fire through his whole body and he almost screamed; every muscle felt like it was about to snap, begging him to stop, but Peter continued, refusing to accept that his legs would betray him again as they had in the beach.

He wouldn't give up!

He would get to Tony.

One hundred and forty... one hundred and fifty.

The teenager stormed the party room in the middle of the CEO's speech; all eyes turned to him, confused and surprised. The words died in Tony's mouth as his gaze met his protegeé and his face turned to utter shock at the sight of him running towards him.

Peter crossed the hall and with the last of his strength, grabbed the glass from the billionaire's hands and threw it away; the object fell to the ground and broke into a thousand pieces, echoing distinctly in the absolute silence that fell over the room.

Tony cradled the kid in his arms and Peter crashed into his chest, drained and powerless to react.

"Peter! What happened?! Peter!" The man screamed; and at that moment the big screen that existed in the hall lit up and Friday showed everyone the recording from the garage cameras with the audio picked up by the teenager's watch.

And it started with Peter throwing himself under the car and Obadiah Stane and Brad arriving at the scene.

"Damn Tony!" I should have killed him with my own hands when I had the opportunity to do so!"

"What could you have done, Mr. Stane? He found out about gun smuggling long before you planned!"

Tony's gaze shifted from the screen to look at the man who had been his main pillar of support after his parents' deaths; in his brown eyes there was disbelief and a deep sense of betrayal.

"But it's no use regretting the past; we can only do something now before it's too late! I tried to take Tony down with the smuggling scheme and I couldn't because he teamed up with a damn stupid kid who managed to turn all his damage into a profit three times as much as before. It ends tonight; Lex put poison in the glass that Tony will use to give the toast in a little while, and, before midnight, I'll own this company..."

The screen went out and in the even worse silence that followed, Tony's voice spoke to the other executive and friend.

"It was you...all this time...it was you..."

Stane, pale as wax, immediately tried to flee the scene, but Friday closed the doors and the man and his cronies were immobilized by their own co-workers.

Tony averted his eyes from the chaos around him and looked back at Peter desperately; his body gave out and the billionaire fell to the ground supporting the weight of the teenager, who, totally immersed by his pain, was taken to unconsciousness.

~.~

For the second time in his life, Tony felt as if the ground under his feet had been taken from him. Falling out of control amid a reality that was more like a nightmare, the man saw his careful planning for that perfect night to crumble to dust, when his brilliant, genious and so, so special kid was hastily removed from his arms to an ambulance straight to the nearest hospital.

Helpless, Tony was paralyzed as he and his small group of close friends received the bomb: the effort Peter had made severely injured his already fragile heart and the medical team was doing everything to stabilize him and keep him alive.

May broke into uncontrollable tears in Hogan's arms, who had to hold the woman to keep her from falling to the ground; Pepper beside him brought a hand to her mouth to hold back the scream of horror that rose in her throat, blue eyes filled with tears.

The billionaire remained motionless, stunned, and unable to form any reaction. The only thing that crossed his mind was the image of Peter, crossing the party room, running towards him, knocking the glass from his hands... over and over again.

It took hours for the medical team to stabilize him enough that the teenager was no longer at immediate risk of his heart stopping, but Peter's condition was extremely serious and his life hung on a very thin, fragile line that could break at any moment, and they would lose him forever.

May needed to be sedated so that she could calm down and at that moment she was resting in a room close to where her nephew was, with Hogan accompanying her.

Many people came to talk to the billionaire during that period; he barely remembered them, but he could understand what had happened. On one occasion he was informed that Stane and everyone involved in the assassination attempt had been arrested. As his initial shock wore off and the man began to digest what was happening, Tony realized that Peter had made a choice; he had chosen his mentor's life over his.

When in the middle of the night the doctors finally allowed the teenager to have visits, as May was still resting and Pepper had to leave the hospital for a few hours, Tony was the first to see him.

Upon entering the room and finding his kid lying on the bed, unconscious, extremely pale and with several strings of monitoring equipment taped to him, keeping him alive while the screen beside him showed extremely faint beats, Tony collapsed into the chair beside the bed and held the unresponsive hand in his; the man finally broke down, the tears streaming down his face, cold and bitter.

~.~

Tony hired the best doctors on the planet to accompany his protégé; Cho was part of the team.

Surgery needed to be done; that was a certainty, although which method had not yet been decided, as the procedure would be too risky and they had to be sure. The doctors constantly evaluated the situation of the teenager and had already come to the conclusion that if nothing was done, within two weeks Peter's heart would start to slow down until it stopped completely.

Time was running against them.

The mood at Stark Tower became gray; the employees concerned about their hospitalized colleague. The CEO was barely in the Tower; constantly going to the hospital to see the kid and closely monitor all the research on the methods being evaluated by the medical team; he participated in every meeting, and had Friday conduct tests on every possibility suggested with Cho to measure the success of the technique; none of the results were able to show anything that was really capable of permanently solving Peter's problem, they just prolonged the sentence he had been given for a few more days.

A whole week went by without getting a positive solution, and inwardly Tony began to despair.

One night, during the hours he would usually be with Peter on his internship working at the Penthouse, Tony observed the place neatly organized and clean, but empty and lifeless. Without Peter there, it no longer made sense to plan the impossible and create fantastic things.

Depressed, the billionaire left the Penthouse and walked through the now empty corridors of Stark Tower. He descended several floors and continued walking until his feet left him facing the great Ark Reactor, which was now the heart of the entire Tower structure.

The man leaned against the security bars and remembered that day on the bridge, when his world had seemed to have broken into a thousand pieces and nothing else made sense. Then he had met Peter, who helped him put his pieces together and completely changed his life, teaching him so many things...

A brilliant kid who had so many new and creative ideas he could undertake to change the entire world.

"If I study hard, I believe I can one day create good things like you, Tony, and I can change the world and show people that everyone can do great things, they just need to want and believe it."

Tony closed his eyes as the tears welled up again and slid down his face; he gripped the bars tightly, feeling sadness mingling with rising anger within him. That wasn't fair to Peter, after all he'd done and all he could do in the future.

"Tony…" His protégé's voice called to him again, coming from his memories. "When I felt sad and lost, I look up and find a reason why living that day was worth it. If you look up now, you will see..."

Tony looked up and saw.

Peter's laugh echoed as the kid excitedly chatted with him about the initial theories of designing the Ark Reactor project.

"It would be so cool, Tony, if we could make this work one day! Imagine, a super-large device capable of generating its own energy like the sun, providing light for everyone! The core would be pure, made with strength that it wouldn't hurt like electricity does, but that it could do the same thing with much more power, just like the sun; also provide energy for many people, an entire city or even an entire country! And it would have to be done with something good cheap, for everyone to able to use!"

"Like a giant heart?" Tony heard his own voice speak to the kid in his memory.

"Exactly! The heart pushes blood to every part of the body. That device would push energy to every part of the country!" Peter spoke delightedly. "Always regenerating, always active and always strong! What is the sun if not the heart of our solar system?"

A fresh tear slipped down the billionaire's face, but his brown eyes filled with light, reflecting the light emitted by the Ark Reactor; the gentle rays flew around him and touched his skin in a caress and constantly fed the tower system; keeping it active and strong; keeping it...

"Alive..." Tony whispered and then his mind was invaded by the flood of ideas and concepts and prototypes and he moved, running back to the Penthouse's lab. He had little time.

"Friday! Call Dr. Cho now!"

~.~

Peter woke slowly; his consciousness gradually returned him to his senses. He wasn't in pain; his lethargic body seemed to have been sedated, but his fingers moved and he felt the soft texture of the sheets, and when his eyelids finally opened and his vision cleared, the teenager realized he was back in a hospital room.

Confused and dazed, his mind gradually brought back the memories of what had happened during the celebration party at Stark Tower; worry filled his face.

Tony! He needed to see him! He needed to know if his mentor was okay.

Peter forced his body to obey his will; his initial numbness partially passed and he managed to sit up in bed. The effort made him a little tired, but he felt no pain; on the contrary, a strange and different sensation ran over her skin. Frowning, Peter realized there were several wires attached to him, constantly monitoring him; his brown eyes passed over a small mirror hanging just in front of his bed, and he saw it just as the room door opened and his aunt walked into the room.

"Peter!" her voice exclaimed, surprised and clearly relieved; her face, evidently tired from too many sleepless nights, radiated with light as she found her nephew awake.

The woman went to him, but the teenager didn't turn his face away from the mirror. May sat in the armchair beside the bed and talked to him gently.

"Honey, this..."

"I know what it is." Peter told her, voice slightly hoarse. "I just don't know why this is in me."

"Tony adapted your project design so that it acted as an internal energy generator to give strength and stability to your heart and allow it to recover... It returned to normal functioning after the surgery." May explained it gently. "He and the doctors did everything they could dear, but..."

"This is amazing..." The teenager whispered, moved, his eyes turned away from the mirror and stared in fascination at his own bare chest where there was a miniature of the Ark Reactor.

~.~

His quick recovery surprised the doctors over the next few weeks, and constantly supported by his little family, Peter managed to get back to a normal routine as before, although he was constantly under the supervision of Dr. Cho.

Seeing Peter back working with him in the Stark Tower labs brought great relief to Tony, Pepper and all the staff and the CEO constantly accompanied his kid, he felt better whenever he had Peter under his eyes, seeing that he was well.

Although he had the choice of hiding the Ark Reactor in his chest by covering it with a special fabric, Peter chose not to, and anyone looking at him could see the light from the device through his shirt. The kid proudly showed it, saying it was the second heart that Tony had given him.

One late afternoon Peter asked to leave the Tower early and have his mentor accompany him on a short tour; the billionaire readily accepted.

As he drove with rock music playing in the background, Tony watched Peter as his protégé stared at the window with a calm gaze. They didn't talk on the way, but the teenager had previously given him the address he wanted to go to. When the man finally parked the car, the billionaire realized they were in a large public park that had an oval athletic track and a field in the center.

The two walked onto the scenary while the man watched his protégé curiously.

"Do you know where we are, Tony?" the teenager asked good-naturedly.

"It's clearly an athletics track, kid. Why did you want to come to this place specifically?"

The two stopped in the middle of the track and Peter watched the scenery; due to the time the place was almost entirely empty. The wind blew warm and calm and in the blue, orange and gold sky began to appear the first stars in their darkest expansion.

"This is the park I had come to with my school when I was seven years old."

Tony showed surprise on his face, then understanding of what the kid revealed to him.

Peter continued.

"I spent many years avoiding coming to this place again, because of what happened... I don't think I was ready to come back... It's a little funny, you know? When I stop to think about how many things happen in our life so that we can live a single moment that is much desired and awaited."

The man watched him questioningly and Peter grinned at him.

"It took me many hours of training and follow-up with Dr. Cho and her team until it was 100% safe, until I was ready. And it just became a dream come true for me because you gave it to me, Tony." The teenager indicated the Ark Reactor in his chest. "That's why I brought you here with me today... Because I've waited years, wishing one day I could live this moment, this miracle, and I want to share it with you."

The man's eyes widened with understanding and before Tony could say anything else, the kid took off running down the athletic track.

The man's brown eyes filled with deep fear, but with each step Peter took, going farther and farther and keeping a steady pace, his young countenance calm despite the exercise, his fear began to give way and his eyes filled with wonder, marveling; and even considering himself someone skeptical about many things, Tony at that moment believed that miracles were possible, as he watched Peter running he didn't notice when the tears of joy began to slide down his face or when the wide genuine smile came to his lips. Tony watched him run, farther and farther and around the track, then come towards him, always keeping a steady pace.

When Peter finally stopped next to his mentor, panting and sweating but his face beaming with accomplishment, Tony swept him into his arms, moved.