Before anything else, I just have to say... WOW. I did not expect this story to blow up the way it has, especially in less than 24 hours with one chapter posted to it. So I just want to say it now: thank you so much to everyone who has already followed, favorited, liked, gave kudos, etc, to this story or to me. I appreciate you all so much and I'm super stoked that everyone seems as excited for this story as I am. I've got big plans for this that I hope everyone will enjoy reading as much as I enjoy writing. :D
Now anyone who has been reading my other story, the Spider-Man, may have already seen this note, but since this is by far the more popular one, I'll reiterate it here since it'll go for this story especially. Due to the amount of feedback and stats this story already has, I wanted to put an offer out there. Any chapter that gets more than ten reviews (between both FF and AO3, not separately) before update day will get updated immediately - like, as soon as the next chapter is done. I am NOT making this a review powered story or anything, because I hate when people do that myself. The story will still get updated likely at least every other day on the update schedule (Tuesday/Thursday/[and progress permitting] Saturday). This is just an opportunity to get it updated before then if that's what you guys want.
All that out of the way, now let's get to the story! Again, thank you to all my readers, and I hope you all enjoy! Next update day will be Tuesday again... if you're all willing to wait for it. ;)
His senses were tingling.
That was Peter's only thought as he walked out of the interview. His Spider sense was going off the charts right now, which was absolutely ridiculous. He knew as well as anyone else that he was in the presence of another hero; part of the reason he'd applied for this internship was because of his alter ego, and because of what he knew of Tony's. Iron Man had been someone he admired for years before he'd ever become Spider-Man, and yet...
Yet maybe why that was exactly why he shouldn't have applied. Because they had that connection. And because Peter genuinely had something to hide.
As he rode home in a cab, he chewed over the interview in his head. It had gone well enough, he thought. He was honestly kind of relieved when Tony hadn't been paying a whole lot of attention to it. He was incredibly intimidating in person, and… well. There was their previous encounter to think about.
Stupid. So stupid. This was an unnecessary risk, he knew, but it was also such a good opportunity. And he couldn't deny that he would learn a lot from this summer internship, were he to get it - not just about being a hero, but from Tony, in general. The man was a genius after all; there was no denying that. And what he had told Miss Potts was completely true. This was exactly what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. Tony's achievements had been an influence on that. Just being in his presence was enough to give him the urge to do something, anything, in suit or out of it.
But he also was smart enough to know that this was exactly why his senses were tingling, too. Stark had a good poker face, but he'd caught the way he'd been studying him when he thought he wasn't looking. He knew something was up, or he had a hunch, at least. The man's instincts were sharp, and with good reason.
He tried to tell himself it didn't matter. There had been hundreds of candidates in and out of there. He had to try, just to be able to say he did, but the likelihood he would have gotten it was so low that he had no reason to worry. And after Mr. Stark had heard him make a comment about needing someone to check his work, and he'd actually had the audacity to point it out to the man himself? Yeah right. His chances were probably laughable after that. Even if he'd been right - which he wasn't even sure that he was - nobody took well to being corrected, especially when the person in question was Tony Stark. Taking criticism graciously seemed like an unlikely personality trait for him.
He sighed as the cab pulled up at his apartment building, handing the driver his money and getting out. Oh well. At least he still had dinner with May to look forward to, and now that school was done for the summer - the tail end of this week had been the end of his exams; he wouldn't even have thought about trying to do all of this while school was in session - he had all of the summer to look forward to hanging around town and slinging some webs whenever he felt like it. May still had to work normal hours during the week, so he would basically be free to do whatever he wanted all summer and not have to worry about hiding his comings and goings from her near as much. He could be Spider-Man as often as he wanted to - except on the weekends.
When he entered the apartment that he shared with his aunt, the first thing that caught his attention was the smell of food. Something different, as he couldn't quite pinpoint what type of food it was, but maybe that had something to do with the fact it smelled… well, like it was burning. And it reeked to his heightened senses.
"May?" Peter stepped inside, closing the door and plugging his nose.
Her head popped out from around the corner. "Hey kiddo. How was the interview? Did it go well?"
Peter walked deeper inside cautiously, looking around. Now that he was where he could see past the wall, he could see that the kitchen area had filled with some nasty dark smoke, and he raised an eyebrow at her. "It was great, yeah. I think I did okay. You, uh…" he gestured to the stove, where a pan sitting on top appeared to be the source of the smoke, although whatever was in it was unrecognizable to him. "Trying to cook again?"
May sighed, brushing past him into the living area to open their two tiny windows. "Yeah. I just wanted to try to make you a nice meal, you know, to celebrate, but… I'm still working on my array of dishes, you know, and this was definitely a failed experiment." She turned back to him once she'd opened them both, putting her hands on her hips. "So, my nerves are officially shot for the night, but we can do some takeout or something instead. Wherever you want to go, just let me know."
He laughed a little, feeling a burst of affection for his aunt. He gave her a quick hug, to which she blinked, surprised, before hugging him back. "Sounds good, May. Thank you. I'll- I'll let you know where I want to go shortly. I just want to shower and get out of this suit, if you don't mind."
"Not at all. Just let me know whenever you're ready."
Peter nodded, releasing her and heading back to his room. As soon as the door had closed behind him, he pulled off his tie, beginning to strip off the suit. It was nice, granted, and it wasn't exactly completely uncomfortable, but it wasn't comfy, either. He didn't know how people like Tony could practically live in these things some days. Course, it probably helped that Tony had the money for a nice suit, and his wasn't a cheap, itchy knockoff from a downtown thrift store. Oh well.
He hung it back up in his closet, then went to shower and change for dinner. He was going to have a good night with his aunt and put all these thoughts and worries behind him. Whatever happened was going to happen, and it was out of his hands now. He'd find out soon enough.
Tony was facing a dilemma.
He'd just gotten off the phone with Colonel Rhodes, one of his oldest friends and also one of his few trusted confidants. And what he'd had to say wasn't good.
He needed help. There was something brewing back in California, and he wanted Tony there to consult and cover his ass if need be. Whatever it was, it was big enough to have the seasoned soldier worried, but he refused to tell him over the phone, claiming he had to be sure they were somewhere secure, first, and that the information he had was for his ears alone.
As if his servers weren't secure. The thought was ridiculous.
Still, he had refused to tell him anything, and the best he could get was an insistence that if he really wanted to help - and they desperately wanted his help - then he needed to get back to Malibu, pronto.
This left him in a rather uncomfortable position. Because in order for him to help, he would have to go back to Malibu for however long it took to resolve whatever the situation was. And if he was in Malibu, he wasn't here, which meant no internship. Which meant he'd be breaking his promise to Pepper.
"Damn it," he grumbled aloud to himself, flopping back against the couch and rubbing his forehead.
"Problems, sir?" Jarvis, the AI that ran most of his technology, including that connected to his house, was always listening.
Tony grunted in affirmation. "Just… connect me to Miss Potts, please, Jarvis."
"Connecting you now."
It was quiet for a moment, then her voice answered. "Tony?"
"Hey, Pepper…" He closed his eyes, smoothing a hand down his face. "Can you come up here for a minute?" He was still spread out on the couch in his living area, holding his phone. He heaved a sigh, tossing it on the table and tucking his arm under his head. She wasn't going to like this, not one bit.
There was a pause. "Sure." She disconnected, and he waited for her to come up from her private quarters to his. She stepped off the elevator a minute later, her long hair down and dressed in casual clothes for once. He rarely saw her like this, as she usually made sure that even after hours he didn't see her out of work dress. Of course, they rarely called each other after hours unless it was an emergency. This was borderline one.
She approached the couch slowly, looking him over, searching his face for any sign of why he would have called her up here at this hour. It was only eight o'clock, granted, but he also didn't usually call and ask her to come to him past dinner time unless it was important. It made her mildly anxious. "What is it?"
Tony sighed, sitting up and rubbing his face. He nodded to the couch beside him. "Maybe you should sit down."
Pepper pursed her lips, then shook her head, refusing the invitation. He never asked her to sit down unless he was going to say something she didn't like. "Just talk to me, Tony."
He pressed his lips together, looking down. "I…" He stopped. Leading with what he had been going to say seemed like a bad idea. "...I got a call. A few minutes ago, from Colonel Rhodes. He needs me out in California."
Pepper frowned. "What? Why?"
Tony shook his head. "I don't know. He wouldn't give me any details over the phone - you know how paranoid the military people are. Anyway, he wants me to help consult on whatever his issue is, but he needs me back in Cali, now, to do it." He studied her face, waiting for the full impact of that to sink in.
"For how long?" she asked immediately. He could practically see the gears in her head spinning with all the different things she'd have to rearrange because of that.
"I don't know," he admitted quietly. "As long as he needs me."
She stared at him for a moment, her brow furrowing as she took that in. "But…" her eyes widened slightly as she looked at him. "What about the internship?"
Tony inhaled deeply, rubbing his hand over his jaw. He could feel the stubble starting to pop up there. He needed a trim. "There is no internship, Pepper. There can't be."
"Oh, Tony…" She rolled her eyes immediately, turning and making to walk away. "I should have known you'd pull something like this. If this is what I get for trying to get you to have some responsibility, not only for your own company but for your health-"
"Hey, hey, hey!" He got up, catching her arm and turning her back to him. "Come on, Pepper. It's not like I set this up. It just happened, and I can't just act like it didn't happen and stay here just to waste my time tutoring some kid who probably won't even last a week anyway."
Pepper pulled away, crossing her arms. "First of all, you said you'd give him at least two weeks. Second of all, I don't know whether I should honestly believe you or not. You promised me you'd give this a shot, Tony."
"I know. I know I did," he assured, following her but not reaching for her again. "And I really intended to, but if the military is asking for my help, Pepper, I can't just blow it off. Not if it's as big as they make it sound to be. I'd just end up over there one way or another anyway, and it'd probably just be worse when I eventually do go if I don't do it now. I'm sorry."
"You should be." She stepped away again, flipping her hair over her shoulder subconsciously. "You told me you wanted him, so I already emailed the kid, Tony. Now I'm going to have to deal with the repercussions of that, and you… just…" She stopped and sighed, putting a hand on her forehead. "Forget it." She turned away again.
Tony grimaced. This was going about as well as he'd expected. "Pep, come on," he called after her, following her towards the elevator. She stepped in and hit the button, and he put his hand in the door to stop it from closing. "Look, I didn't mean to lie, alright? And I didn't realize it would bother you this much that I can't follow through. I just…" He stopped, exasperated. "I don't know what you want me to do."
Pepper stared at him for a second, then shook her head. "Figure it our yourself, Tony. That's what you do best, isn't it?" Then she hit the button again, and he had to let go of the door or let his hand be crushed in it as it closed.
He watched it descend until he couldn't anymore, then stepped back and sighed, leaning heavily against the wall and letting his head fall back against it. He closed his eyes. He honestly didn't blame her for being mad, even though he wished she wasn't. Worse, he couldn't even pretend to be offended at her insinuation that he had set this whole thing up to get out of doing it. It wasn't like he had said anything up to now that made a case for him on the other side.
"Trouble in paradise, sir?" Jarvis's voice broke through his reverie again.
Tony rubbed his temples. "If you've got nothing helpful to say, then just shut up, Jarvis."
"Would you like to hear my suggestion, sir?"
He had little belief this suggestion would be helpful, but it couldn't hurt to hear it nonetheless. "Shoot," he muttered, not even opening his eyes.
"You could always contact the boy and see if he'd be interested in doing the internship with you in Malibu. There's a fair shot of him answering either direction, but I project that this attempt at a compromise is 85% more likely to make Miss Potts happy than your current agreement."
Tony opened his eyes slowly, his brow furrowing as he thought about it. "Where's my other 15%, Jarvis?"
"There's still the likelihood of her not forgiving you entirely even if he says yes, as she'll surely realize that your attempt is more about pleasing her than seeing any value in the internship itself. And the possibility of her not still being mad if he says no, due to her believing it's your fault for insisting on leaving in the first place."
"Glorious," he muttered, straightening up. It was a thought, though. The likelihood the kid would want to come across the country and spend would could very well be most of his summer with a man he'd only met once, superhero or no, wasn't very high; and the odds were even lower that the kid's parents would say yes to such a thing. So most likely he'd get out of it anyway, and Pepper probably wouldn't be at least so mad at him anymore. Dealing with the kid himself was still taking something off her plate, at least, even if the effort itself didn't make her happy.
He checked his watch. A quarter til 9. Coming to a snap decision, he snatched up his phone off the table and grabbed his coat. "I'll take those odds," he told Jarvis, then headed for the elevator.