Hi. It's been a while since I've had this project in mind and decided to create a account, put it on paper and share it with you. This is an AU of unrelated chapters, each showing a different way that Tony and Peter might have meet. These chapters may or may not be part of the MCU and some may contain totally AU fantasy elements. Chapters also will be short or large depending on the story, may contain just friendship or some father and son bonding, no slash. Updates will come sporadically as the ideas pop up in my head.
There are countless different realities out there; in every one of them, Tony and Peter have always been part of each other's lives.
Infinite Possible Ways to Meet You
Through the Game
~.~
Tony Stark was bored; when the endless meetings were finally over and he could take the plane back to the United States, the flight hours over the Atlantic Ocean stretched as long as the distance between the continents. Since he and the two pilots were the only ones still awake on the aircraft, the billionaire sighed and turned on his notebook, deciding to try to burn some time by looking at anything on the internet.
As soon as the man opened the page, his eyes were assaulted by the hype of an online game that was making a big hit at the moment; he even caught some of his employees at his company playing it at lunchtime, but he never had paid much attention to it. Tony Stark was not a game person, but as the flight would be long and he was bored, the man decided to give a look at it.
Within minutes Tony created an account and accessed the main screen which asked him to enter a nickname before starting. Looking around for some divine inspiration, he, there, awake in the middle of the ocean, the man decided to put the first thing that came to his head, typed FlyingontheSky, which was pretty much what he was doing at the moment, and hit enter.
His game character was thrown into the middle of an open map of an extensive fantasy world; he paced around for some minutes without finding anything interesting, picking up coins and exploring bushes until he finally found something 'alive', a awful attemp of a monster, that attacked him head on. The fight didn't last three seconds until the message 'You died' was shown on his screen in large and mocking letters. Sighing, Tony went again, died again, rose again, died again, returned, died, and rose again, extremely angry. He was about to turn his watch into his armor's iron gauntled and blow up the game and the notebook together with his repulsor when suddenly a new character emerged, another player, who just give one slap at the monster and it died. With one freaking slap. Victory for both of them.
The Billionaire's eyebrows twitched; he was not amused.
When Tony's eye caught the other player's nickname, he cringed in distaste.
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: Hey dude! You are a newbie right?
It took a few seconds for Tony to answer.
FlyingontheSky: Newbie?
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: Yeah, it's sort of like a new player, got it?
FlyingontheSky: ... Something like that. I started about...
The billionaire looked at his watch; did he really spend half an hour of his life being killed on the spot?
FlyingontheSky: ... 30 minutes ago. I was dying of boredom and decided to play this.
The avalanche then came.
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: THAT'S SO COOL!
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: I've gotta to be your very first friend here!
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: I've been playing this game for almost one year now.
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: I know every secret it has! I'm going to teach and help you through the stages!
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: Soon you will be kicking everyone's ass around here!
Tony blinked, stunned; he could feel the other's endless excitement falling abundantly from the words on his screen and the man slumped in his chair, running his hand over his face.
FlyingontheSky: God... you're a kid, right? How old are you? Five?
The other's reply was immediate.
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: I'm not five! I'm Ten!
Then, the player began typing furiously.
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: Holy shit!
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: This game's is 16+!
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: I-I mean, I'm not ten! I'm sixteen!
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: Sixteen!
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: I swear on my pinky!
Tony didn't hold back and laughed; the boy was definitely ten.
FlyingontheSky: Don't worry kid, your secret is safe with me.
FlyingontheSky: I'm not going to tell anyone.
A friendship request from StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay appeared in the corner of the screen and Tony accepted it.
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: Hey man, be nice on me! I just saved your butt back there!
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: How old are you anyway? Talking like that it just like you're seventy or something.
The Billionaire's eyebrows twitched again.
FlyingontheSky: I'm older than you, but not that old. Don't try to sass on me, underoos.
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: Gonna say whatever I want old man! Besides, you accepted my friendship invitation! You're stuck with me!
The man groaned loudly.
FlyingontheSky: God... Don't make me regret this.
~.~
FlyingontheSky: Kid, this isn't going work.
Peter blinked in confusion at his computer screen.
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: What?
FlyingontheSky: Your nickname is just too extensive, I can't keep calling you StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay everytime I want to say something that doesn't even reach half of that sentence. Don't you have something shorter?
The boy smiked.
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: You may call me Peter.
FlyingontheSky: Is that your real name?
Peter rolled his eyes.
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: Of course it is! What else it would be?
FlyingontheSky: I don't know... your dog's name?
He scowled, offended.
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: I don't have a dog!
Peter could practically read the man's laugh in his words.
FlyingontheSky: I'm messing with you kid; Peter's is a fine name, by the way.
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: You should change your nickname to FlyingthroughtheStage.
FlyingontheSky: Why that?
The boy smirked.
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: I'm gonna kick your butt throught it, if you don't stop teasing me!
His new friend didn't back down.
FlyingontheSky: I'm up for the challenge; wanna go PvP?
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: I'm on it!
After the two players advanced at each other for an hour, Peter without using his character's equipment to make the fight fairer, finally they came to a draw and stopped to rest on the top of a mountain, overlooking a lake and a distant city.
FlyingontheSky: It's Tony, by the way.
The boy stared at it confusion.
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: What?
FlyingontheSky: My name's Tony.
Peter grinned, cheeky typing.
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: Admit it; it's your cat's name, ins't?
FlyingontheSky: Zip it, kid.
~.~
FlyingontheSky: Spill it out.
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: I don't know what you mean?
FlyingontheSky: I'm used to you typing so much that I can barely see the game behind the bible on my computer screen; today, however, you're quieter than usual. So what happened?
Peter hesitated for a moment, watching the computer screen and his friend's character as if he were really looking at him, and sighing, finally answered.
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: It's nothing really...
FlyingontheSky: Come on squirt, I'm waiting.
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: Seriously, it's not worth it, Tony, really...
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: Its just kid stuff, boring and stupid anyway... and you are going to laugh at me.
FlyingontheSky: I'm not going to make fun of you, Pete, you can tell me.
The kid sighed; he knew his friend wasn't going to let the matter go so easily and began to tell in resignation.
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: I told to some kids in my school that I've meet Iron Man personally once and they called me liar and made fun of me... I'dont know why I still tell it to people, I know nobody believes in me. They think it's impossible, that I'm just teling false stories to try to show off.
His friend was silent for a full minute, the man's character standing still on the screen until finally his reply came.
FlyingontheSky: You never told me about it... When did this happen?
Peter seriously considered not telling the story again, he was sure the man would find it something stupid, but in the end the kid consented and typed it to the other.
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: I was eight years old and it was the second time I had gone to the Stark Expo, the night when the robots attacked.
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: I was wearing an Iron Man mask and some toy repulsors in my hands, it was soooooo stupid, but I tried to shoot at a robot when he tried to attack me and I got scared to death when it worked!
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: That was when Iron Man appeared out of nowere standing beside me, and he even said 'nice work, kid' as if I had actually done something when he did all the work.
Another full minute of silence passed and Peter sighed; he was sure his friend must have fallen from his chair laughing the whole time.
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: You must be laughing right now, I know it, you can tell me, I won't be angry, really.
FlyingontheSky: I believe in you, kid.
Peter stared at the words, surprised; it was the last thing he expected to read.
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: Hey Tony... you don't have to lie to make me feel better, its okay.
FlyingontheSky: I believe in you, Peter.
The man's words came earnestly, devoid of any humor or his normaly teasing, and the kid was deeply moved by his friend's sincerity.
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: ... really?
He typed shyly, and Tony's answer didn't wavered.
FlyingontheSky: Yes.
FlyingontheSky: I believe in you.
~.~
FlyingontheSky: Peter! Finally you decided to grace me with your illustrious presence! You've disapeared from the game for two weeks now, I was starting to think you've decided to jump out of the boat.
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: Hey, Tony...
That's when Tony realized there was something very wrong with the kid.
FlyingontheSky: What happened, Pete?
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: I'm sorry... so sorry...
The billionaire's eyes widened in amazement.
FlyingontheSky: Woa, calm down! There's nothing to apologize here for... Peter, you're okay?
Silence on the screen from the other side.
FlyingontheSky: Peter? Please... Kid, talk to me!
Tony started to get really worried.
FlyingontheSky: Peter, please, what happened?
Suddenly the boy started typing.
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: We were on this shop...
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: This guy showed up... he..he had... this gun...
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: He.. he... shot... my uncle... he... he...
Tony slumped againts his chair, staring at the notebook's screen in horror. The kid stopped typing again, and the man knew that somewhere in that same city a small thirteen-old kid was crying agains his computer's desk. Never before had the distance between them and the fact that they didn't know each other personally bothered him as much as at that moment, and the man felt himself completely useless.
FlyingontheSky: Shit... Damn, Pete... I'm so sorry...
He wasn't good at dealing with people at a deep level, let alone comfort a kid with words that were much colder written than spoken, but he cared a lot about Peter and for him Tony tried to make his typing words sound as kind and caring as possible.
FlyingontheSky: Why didn't you tell me sooner?
Tony waited patiently until Peter found himself ready to answer.
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: I'm sorry... I coudn't... I just... I'm... not okay...
FlyingontheSky: There's nothing wrong in not being okay right now, Peter... You've recentely lost someone close to you... It's okay in not being okay. You don't need to carry the worlds weight above your shoulders, you are just a kid who is still grieving.
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: I'm sorry...
FlyingontheSky: No more needless apologizes, right? Take your time, breath deep and slow... I know how it sucks, I've also lost people close to me. The pain will take time to pass, you are not fine, but you will be.
Tony sighed deeply in the silence that settled between them for the next five minutes, and staring at his kid's character on the game, he finally made a decision.
FlyingontheSky: Pete, I have something for you.
The billionaire typed in a sequence of numbers and sent it to him.
FlyingontheSky: Consider it a great achievement, as I don't usually pass my personal phone number to anyone over the internet.
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: Tony... I...
FlyingontheSky: No, I'm not buying that. Save it on your cell phone and text me anytime you wish, right? And if anything happens, anything above the normal, you are going to call me, understood, Peter?
The kid agreed after a few seconds.
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: Yeah...
FlyingontheSky: I mean it. If you need me, you call me.
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: Thank you, Tony.
~.~
Tony: Hey kid, I've recorded you mentioned that your birthday is coming up soon, ins't? What day it was? August 10?
Peter: Hi Tony! Yeah, but why?
Tony: My kid is growing up, that's why, turning into a fourteen year-old insufferable teenager. We should celebrate this; how about I give you a gift this year?
Peter: I'm not a insufferable teenager! You love me!
Peter: You don't need to give me anything, really.
Tony: I want to; so, what is your postal address?
Peter: I won't give you my address; what if you come and kidnap me away from my auntie?
Tony risked another glance at his cell phone and as he read the text he laughed out aloud, drawing the attention of the members at the table.
"Mr. Stark! Please, this is extremely important!" The man who was speaking glared at him, annoyed that the billionaire didn't even spared him a glance; eyes glued on his cell phone in his hand.
"Don't worry, honey, I'm paying attention." Tony smirked and continued typing.
Tony: Really kid... only someone out of their mind would want to kidnap a teenager starting entering fully on his pubescent years. I know what the mix of alcool and girls can do and I don't want you dropping a baby on my doorstep anytime soon.
Peter: TONY!
Peter: IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!
Peter: I don't... I... you...
Peter: I hate you.
Tony: Sure you do.
Peter: Jerk.
Tony: So, address or not?
Peter: NO!
Tony: Fine, let's do it differently, then. I know you live in NY because of you phone number; I will leave a package for you tomorrow at 6 A.M under a park bench at the address I'll send you next. It's a public open location. It's up to you if you want to go and pick it up or not. Night Underoos!
~.~
Early in the morning his phone began ringing incessantly over the bedroom, and groaning, heavy with sleep, the man stared at the cell phone screen, the white light in the dark room almost blinded him.
It showed his mensage inbox.
Peter: TONYYYYYYY!
Peter: OMG! OMG! OMG!
Peter: I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU GIVE ME A FREAKING LIGHTSABER REPLICA!
Peter: THIS IS SOOOOOOO COOL!
Peter: My friend Ned almost passed out when he saw it!
Peter: Shit! I almost passed out when I saw it!
Peter: IT'S THE MOST AMAZING GIFT OF ALL MY LIFE!
Peter: THANKYOU!THANKYOU!THANKYOU!
Peter: THANKYOU!THANKYOU!THANKYOU!THANKYOU!THANKYOU!THANKYOU!
Drowsily, the man managed to type down a answer.
Tony: Geez kid; stop flooding my inbox.
The reply was immediate.
Peter: YOU'RE AWESOME TONY!
He snorted softly.
Tony: You're welcome, Pete.
~.~
FlyingontheSky: Hey kid, what are you doing here at this hour? Shoudn't you be in school?
FlyingontheSky: You aren't skipping class, are you?
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: No! I got sick... sort of.
FlyingontheSky: Elaborate it. You caught a cold?
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: No... I.. We were at this field trip yesterday and I got bite by a spider. I was okay at first but then everything started to hurt so badly and I've been excused from school to recover; got stay home for five days.
FlyingontheSky: It was that bad huh? Are you allergic to spiders?
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: Perhaps, I didn't knew it thought; I feel as if I've been hit by a bus.
FlyingontheSky: That's a shit thing; I guess its up to me to entertain you now; can't have you dying of boredom on me. So, what you want to do?
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: It's okay Tony, I don't want to disturb you if you're on your break time in work. I can wait until evening to play.
FlyingontheSky: I'm lucky to say that I do my own work schedule. You are not bothering me.
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: What are you? Some kind of government agent?
FlyingontheSky: No, underoos; far from that.
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: A writer?
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: A comedian?
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: A pizza delivery man?
FlyingontheSky: None of those; and better stop right there, kid, I'm starting to get afraid of where your other suggetions are going.
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: Come on, Tony! I seriously want to know what you do for living!
FlyingontheSky: Whats the fun of telling you now if I can show you when we finally meet in person? You know, I can just drop you my address when you stop being afraid of it.
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: I'm not afraid!
FlyingontheSky: You're telling me; so, what you want to do?
StarWarsDieHardFanOnTheWay: Kick your butt is just fine.
FlyingontheSky: Want so see you try; bring it on, kiddo.
~.~
Peter: Hey Tony! How you doing?
Peter: I won't manage to be at the game tonight, sorry! Swear I will catch up with you tomorrow.
The teenager watched the night city spread out before him, the buildings full of lights and the avenues full of life; the wind touched his face pleasantly and he grinned, glad for another chance to patrol. The phone rang in his hand and he looked down at it, seeing his friend's answer pop up on the screen.
Tony: I'm fine, kiddo. It's the third time this week, what are you up to at night?
Peter looked at the mask of his suit that he held in his other hand and sighed; he liked Tony a lot, but couldn't go around telling people the truth that he was Spiderman, it would freak him out and the man no longer would want to talk to him, or would think he was lying and would tease him merciless. Well... his aunt would surely be freaked out if she found out.
He decided to answer.
Peter: I'm catching up on homework; I have a lot of tests to do at the end of the month.
The man's answer came the next second.
Tony: Riiiiiiiight, underoos. I will pretend to believe you.
Peter: Hey, I'm being serious!
Tony: So am I. What is it? A new girlfriend?
Peter groaned.
Peter: I don't have a girlfriend!
His phone rang again, announcing a new message.
Tony: Boyfriend, then?
Peter: GOD, NO!
Tony: I'm just messing with you kiddo. If you can't play is fine, we will do it another time.
Tony: When you finally decide to come over, bring her here, will you? I would like to meet her too.
Fuming, Peter put on his mask and jumped out of his spot, throwing a web at the nearest building, purposely not answering his friend's message.
~.~
Usually when the school organized the field trips Peter and Ned would be anxious to go; with the announcement that the next one's location would be a surprise, both friends burned with infinite curiosity and spent hours talking, trying to guess the thousand possibilities of places they could visit. His excitement was so great that he shared it with Tony during the weeks preceding it, texting his friend's cell phone almost nonstop.
Tony: Geez, kid, you shouldn't get that excited; it's probably an old museum or something.
Peter could feel the teasing in the man's words.
Tony: What if they take you just for a walk around a lake or some park?
Peter: That's soooooo not cool, Tony!
He referred more to the other's attitude than the suggestion of places, and the teenager was sure the man could read the whining in his words, replying amused.
Tony: Tell me when you find out.
So, when the bus stopped in front of the Stark Tower next Monday, Peter wasn't just beaming; every pore of his body distilled pure excitement as the kid was literally bouncing on his feet; even Flash constantly calling him 'Penis Parker' didn't bother him anymore, and Peter and Ned spent the next few hours geeking over everything they could put their eyes on.
~.~
"What a bunch of kids are doing in my tower?" Tony asked in surprise, and almost in horror, staring from the penthouse at the three buses that parked in front of the tall building and kept spitting out kids, many kids, who ran like crazy into the lobby.
"Today is scheduled the field trip of the Midtown School of Science and Technology, Boss." FRIDAY's voice answered him; "They will spend the day visiting the tower and the labs."
"Who authorized it?" The billionaire inquired, watching children still popping out of the vehicles; did they never end? How many children could fit inside a bus anyway?
"Miss Potts, Boss." The AI informed him. "She also scheduled a 30 minute interview with you to take place in the auditorium before the end of their visit."
The man grimaced, knowing that there's no way he could convince Pepper to take his place after he made her travel to Europe in his place at a business meeting last week. Sighing resignedly, he mentally began to prepare himself for the 30 minutes that would be one of the longest of his life.
Payback's a bitch.
~.~
"Oh my god!"
"It's him! It's him!"
"Iron Man!"
"Anthony Stark!"
"It's really him!"
"Sooo coool!"
"Iron Man!"
The sudden burst of shouts around him echoing loudly through the auditorium would normally have made his hyper-sensitive ears ache in protest, but Peter was so awestruck by his hero's presence in the same room to give it any care. Iron Man was there; just a couple of steps away from him and the teenager could only gawk at the man who easily centered all the attention upon himself.
"Hey kids." The billionaire greeted them with a grin playing on his lips; he was elegantly dressed in a dark gray suit and a white shirt whose fabric screamed 'expensive', a watch that seemed to be made of gold on his wrist and black shoes that shone in the artificial light as much as blinker of a Christmas tree.
He was soooo cool!
While the men and women who accompanying him sat in neatly arranged chairs above the stage, security guards and staff from the Tower, the SI owner sat on one of the small dark carpeted staircase to get closer to them, loosely crossing his legs and leaning against the structure, shooting one arm over the length of the stage beside him.
"So, I hope you are enjoying this trip; you sure raised the moods in the labs around here."
Several students began to speak at the same time, their voices merging into one incomprehensible whole, and unsuccessfully their teachers tried to quiet them down, their voices faded in the middle of teenagers.
Tony raised his hands and spoke loudly.
"Alright!" His voice echoed authoritatively through the auditorium and immediately the room fell silent to hear him, and chuckling, the billionaire proceeded in a more normal tone. "Listen kids, we are short on time, we have only 30 minutes to talk and I will answer most of the questions you want to throw at me, but for this to work we will have to get organized to make the most of these few minutes, okay?"
All the students nodded in immediate agreement.
"Here's the deal; anyone who wants to ask a question will raise their hand and I will choose one to speak, the others will wait silently, respecting your colleague's turn and thus making it possible not to ask repeated questions."
The billionaire then inquired.
"So, who wants to give the first shot?"
Several hands shot up and the man chose a girl from the crowd.
"Katlyn, right?" Mr. Stark spoke, reading the girl's name on the badge and she nodded quickly. "Go on, honey."
"Mr. Stark, are you afraid of flying?"
"Not even a bit." He grinned to her and then chose another raised hand.
Question after question was thrown at the billionaire, who answered them all easy-going; Peter was so nervous, he was desperate to ask Iron Man if he remembered him; the little boy he saved and praised at the Stark Expo a few years ago, but his courage failed him and he couldn't raise his arm to voice the question.
Ned next to him started poking his ribs sharply.
"Dude!" His friend whispered. "Come on! Ask him! Go on! Ask it!"
"I can't Ned!" Peter whispered back. "It's stupid, for sure he won't remember and I don't want to be embarrassed in front of the school and give Flash another reason to mock me."
"But this is your only chance, man! There won't be another one!" Ned begged, and seeing his friend's reluctance, he took the matter in his hands. "If you won't ask, I'll go for you."
"Ned, no!"
Peter tried to hold him, but Ned's hand shot up fast in the air and Mr. Stark's eyes passed over them at that very moment and he called.
"You over there in the corner." The man peered at the boy's name of the boy's on his badge. "Ted? Ned? Isn't? Give your shot."
What was on Ned's mind fled and all went white; he stared at Mr. Stark in awe.
"Did you just speak my name?" He asked in daze and his colleagues laughed around him.
The billionaire snorted and confirmed.
"I believe I did." Mr. Stark nodded at him and advanced to another student and the next question.
Ned colapsed on his chair with a glazed expression and Peter facepalmed.
"Dude! I can't believe you've got a question and asked that!"
"Iron Man spoke my name!" Ned whispered dreamly, barely paying attention to his friend at all.
A couple minutes later the billionaire raised his hands, interrupting the interview.
"Alright kids, pause for a minute and then I'll accept one more question before we wrap up; think carefully about it."
The murmur washed over the students who were whispering excitedly to each other about the last question and who would be chosen to ask it. Peter paid no attention to his colleagues, he stood watching his childhood hero, seeing him stretch and shift his sitting position to a more comfortable one. The man took his cell phone from his suit pocket and his eyes scanned the screen, softening slightly as he began typing on it, a small fond smile appearing on his lips.
Peter was delighted; it was so different from the image of the idol that had been talking to them during the interview and that everyone was used to seeing on camera and in magazines. Mr. Stark seemed more relaxed and carefree, at easy... Genuine was the word that came to the teenager's mind and no one around him seemed to notice that small, quick, simple change in the man's demeanor; he surely cared a lot about the person he was talking to.
Peter grabbed his own cell phone, took a selfie quickly and paused to admire the photo. He was there, grinning like a happy idiot with Iron Man seated behind him on the far corner typing on his phone. He was sure he would never see the man wear that personal expression again, and now if someone asked him, he could prove that he truly had met him.
His phone vibrated in his hand in silent mode so as not to disturb the interview, and Peter smiled when he saw his friend's message pop up on the screen.
Tony: Hey kid! How are you doing? I'm not used to spending all day with my inbox empty.
Tony: Thinking about it now, wasn't that field trip of yours today? If so, I hope they didn't take you to an old dusty museum. Have fun and tell me all about it later!
Peter started to type in an answer but stopped when silence hovered back on the auditorium and he saw that Mr. Stark was ready to end the interview.
"So kids; who's got the big final question for me?"
Several hands shot up, begging for the man's attention; Peter mustered all his courage and before it could ran away again he began to raise his hand; half way to it, however, Flash kicked hard the back of his chair and Peter was pushed forward brutally, he was forced to use both hands to stop himself from hitting his face in the front chair. Flash snickered behind him and the billionaire's voice rang through the auditorium, choosing another student.
"You, Alice, right? What have you thought?" Mr. Stark asked, the girl spoke, he answered and the interview ended in less than two minutes, with Flash still laughing behind him and his Parker luck backfiring against him again.
Peter sighed utterly dejected as he watched the billionaire quickly say goodbye and walk away surrounded by the Tower's staff towards the elevator. The teenager looked at his cell phone; at least he had managed to take that picture.
Remembering Tony's message, Peter began typing again.
Peter: Hi Tony! Sorry to keep you in the dark all day! We're finishing the field trip visit, you won't believe where I am! In the tower of Stark Industries! We just talked to Iron Man in person! It was soooooooo awesome! I tried to ask him if he remembered me on the final question of his interview, but this stupid jerk kid from my school kicked my chair and I lost the opportunity, but I'm so freaking happy! I got to take a picture of him! You know I don't usually send you photos, but I will this time so you can believe me! IT WAS SOOOOOOOO AWESOME!
The teenager attached the picture to the message and hit the send button.
At this very moment a cell phone began to rang a piece of familiar music; it wasn't so loud as to catch the attention of the crowd of students around him, but his super-hearing caught it immediately and he recognized it from ACDC, one of his friend's favorites songs. Before he could even register it, Peter's head turned to follow the music and his eyes widened in amazement when he saw Mr. Stark enter the elevator and reach inside his suit's pocket for his phone.
No way ... noooo waaaaaaaaayyyy!
The billionaire's eyes softened again as he stared at the screen, then widened in shock, eyebrows rising into his forehead and his mouth dropping partly. The man's head shot up suddenly and his eyes scanned the crowd of students frantically until they rested directly on Peter, staring back at him with his jaw on the floor and still gripping his cell phone in numb hands, his finger still hitting the send button.
Their eyes meet a second before the elevator's doors closed.
~.~
"Dude that was so freaking awesome! I still can't believe Iron Man really said my name!" Ned spoke nonstop beside his friend as they walked through the tower's lobby along with other students towards the exit.
Peter, however, was uncharacteristic silence, walking in daze; couldn't even remember how he got back from the auditorium to the tower's entrance. His mind was numb, still trying to process if what he saw was truth or a hallucination of his mind. Ned beside him finally stopped talking and realized that something was wrong with the other teenager.
"Hey Peter, are you alright?"
The other nodded absently, not fully aware of the question, but before Ned could speak further they were forced to part briefly to return to the reception the white visitor badges they had received at the beginning of the field trip.
When Peter handed his over, the woman at the desk looked at his name on the badge and spoke.
"Your name is Peter Parker?"
The teenager nodded, confused, accepting the envelope that she gently handed him with a smile.
"I was informed to give this to you, Mr. Parker. I hope you enjoyed your stay with us and we hope to see you back soon."
~.~
Peter was sitting alone in his room, watching his phone lying on his desk and the black badge with the Stark Industries logo resting beside it; their tour guide had told them about it, it was a permanent staff badge card.
His phone vibrated for a second upon receiving a new message and the kid stared at it and at the badge afraid to touch them, as if he even blinked they would both disappear out of nowhere.
He never called Tony in all the years they had knew each other; he was afraid to end up bothering him at a bad time or in the middle of work, so he always texted his friend every day, and never called.
His phone vibrated again and the boy remained motionless as a statue, afraid to look at the messages and realize that he really must have gone mad.
When another minute passed without any reaction from the teenager, his phone began to vibrate again, this time constantly, and the screen lit up receiving a call. Peter stared at it and jumped, falling out of his chair as Anthony Stark's voice echoed through the room coming from the device.
"Geez kid! I can't believe I had to hack into your phone to make you answer the damn thing! I've been texting you all afternoon!"
The teenager shook his head; he was indeed going crazy.
"Pete? Hey..." The man's voice got kinder. "I know you are in there, stop ignoring me."
"My god..." The kid whispered shocked. "You're Anthony Stark ..."
"Yeah... I may have forgotten to mention my surname to you before, but it's just a small detail, really." The billionaire shrugged it off.
"It's... It's really you?" Peter asked again and his friend chuckled on the phone.
"Yes, it's really me; I'm Tony, people closer call me that; and you are Peter... Come on, Pete, we're way past that now, don't we?"
When the teenager didn't respond, the man sighed and said slowly; in the same patient, gentle way he used to type to the kid when he touched a sore spot or when they had shared an important secret.
"Pete, look... I wasn't expecting to meet you today like this; hell, I had even forgotten that Pepper had scheduled a school visit to the Tower. I want you to meet me, not like that, like… my public way to go through people, but me, the friend you've been talking to all these years. Let's start over from zero, right? Now that you have my address and the access badge, come over tomorrow; tell your aunt you're going to visit a friend. I'll ask my driver to pick you up after school..."
~.~
That's how Peter found himself inside Tony's private elevator in the Stark Tower after being driven by a man named Happy, who didn't look so-happy-at-all in an Audi that cost more than his aunt's apartment, seeing the numbers go up beyond the floors destined to the staff as their tour guide had explained to them the day before. The kid was a pure ball or nervous, pulling with the straps of his backpack endless until he jumped a little when the elevator stopped suddenly on the top floor and the metal doors opened.
He stared at the Penthouse's entrance that was longer than his school's courtyard.
"Good evening, Mr. Parker." The voice of an AI greeted him and he snapped out of it. "Welcome back to the Stark Tower."
"H-Hi! I-I-I'm.. huh.. I-I'm P-Peter! I-I've.. I was.. I invaded..." The teenager mentally kicked himself. "I-I mean, I didn't invaded! I-I was invited! Yeah, invited here, T-Tony.. I-I mean, M-Mr. Stark invited me... Yeah... Jesus, Iron Man invited me here..."
Even Peter couldn't believe his own words and the AI answered with amusement in her tone; the man's AI seemed to also share his teasing.
"We sure were waiting for you; Boss is in his private lab, you can go down the hall to your left, at the second door."
The teenager strolled down the hall, following the directions and stopped in front of a large glass door, raised his hand to knock politely, but before he did the door opened on its own.
"Come in, Mr. Parker, please make yourself at home." AI spoke to him.
As Peter entered the new room, he dropped his backpack to the floor in amazement.
The lab was spacious and full of the most advanced technology any scientist in the world could dream of having, much like the other labs his school had visited the day before, but what clung to his eyes now was the iron armor that was on display inside a glass chamber. Without realizing the kid approached, openly staring at it with the same admiration he had looked at it when he was eight years old, used by the man who had saved his life.
"Looks like you figured out what I do for living." A familiar voice called softly behind him. "I build and fix things, armors; I also run a company on my spare time."
Peter turned around, eyes widening to find his childhood hero standing so close to him, only three paces away; Tony Stark was casually dressed in a black T-shirt that had a ACDC logo on the front, dark trousers and flip-flops, showing a totally different side of himself compared to the distant and untouchable billionaire of the interview; he was simple and close, there, at arm's reach, not a distant superstar, but as the friend he had imagined him to be all these years.
The man's brown eyes watched him with that same genuine, rare fondness that the teenager had managed to capture in the picture, and only now did he realize that that look had been always aimed at him. A small smile lay naturally on the man's lips and it was Tony who finally broke the distance between them and wrapped the kid in his arms.
He smelled of cologne, motor oil and bravery; familiarity, friendship and genuine tenderness.
"I'm so happy to finally meet you, Pete." Tony told him in a whisper, his voice quivering slightly. "When you told me you were that kid at Stark Expo, I was happy to know you were alright and that life had thrown me an opportunity to see you again. I've always remembered you."
"Tony... I… " Peter glued himself to the man, embracing his neck for dear life and unable to hold back, thrilled, the teenager began to cry, the tears slid abundantly across his face; mortified, he thought the other would push him away, but Tony's arms stayed firmly around him, supporting him, cradling him gently.
"Damn, kid..." The man whispered exasperated and fondly. "I didn't want to rush into things and scare you off... I waited all this time until that little boy I met was ready to take the first step and open the door for me to his current life. But seriously, Pete, four years? Took you long enough. "
Peter barked a half-laugh, half-sob and Tony smiled, ruffling his kid's hair gently.