Hey guys! I just wanted to say again huge thank you for all the love and the wonderful follows and favorites and everything this story has been getting! 150 followers and 101 favorites: WOW. That's all I can say. You (and some of your precious reviews) are all my motivation to keep going. Also I'm about two chapters ahead on this story and we're finally starting to get in to some action, so be ready for that! Thanks again, and I hope you enjoy! :D
The rest of the ride to the plane was silent. They all loaded on without a word, the tension from earlier still clearly not dissolved, despite the end Tony had put to their little… argument? Discussion? He wasn't even sure what to call it.
As they boarded the plane and settled in, Tony was still watching Peter, unable to shake the conversation from his mind. It had been unexpected, to say the least. He had acted like he was trying not to talk too much to him before, but oh boy, mention Spider-Man and the kid was on a roll. He wasn't even really upset about what he'd basically accused him of - at one point, it had probably been true - but more curious as to why he'd reacted so strongly to it.
Was it because the Spider-Man had saved his life? He really wasn't bashing on him; it was a simple statement of fact, looking at the experiences he'd seen and had. In fact the only reason he knew so much about what had happened was because at one point, shortly after their meeting, he'd been trying to see if he could track him down. More important things had come up and his work had been abandoned, for a while, but… He looked back over at Peter, who had taken a seat a few rows ahead of him on the plane. Maybe it would be worth taking a look at again.
Maybe the weirdest part of the conversation, though, was the fact that it had solidified, in his mind, that the kid held at least some kind of fear of him. The way his face had morphed from borderline anger to fear the moment he'd realized what he'd said was unmistakable, even for someone as bad at taking emotional cues as Tony. Maybe that was also why he'd gone so easy on him instead of laying into him the way he might have if it had been somebody else.
Peter had indeed been afraid for a minute there, although his initial panic after the conversation had slowly started to wear off. The "next time" comment had been enough to throw him into a good tizzy for a few minutes, though. Had Stark been watching him, looking for him? Why would he be, especially if he thought so low of him? Well, maybe not low, exactly - he'd said he had skills, but he'd also called him impulsive and basically borderline dangerous to work with, so why he would ever even consider wanting to run into him again, Peter had no idea.
He chewed it over for a good few minutes, keeping his mouth shut now as they boarded the plane and took seats. Even his awe at the luxury around him wasn't enough to dare make him say anything. He settled into a seat - not quite as far away from Stark as the plane would allow, but a few rows away - and tried to calm himself down. There was no point in stressing over it now. He'd said what he'd said, stupid or not, and Stark would either figure him out in time or he wouldn't.
The problem was once he started to calm down from that, reality set in again, and he suddenly realized where he was. He was in a plane. There were reasons he'd never been in a plane before, and it was more than just the fact he and May didn't really have any place to go that they had to fly to get to. His parents had died in a plane crash. Since then, May couldn't do it, and Peter had never had any desire to either.
Never having been on one before, he'd thought he could handle it, that he'd get on and realize it wasn't so bad. Now he wasn't so sure.
His enhanced senses didn't help. He could hear everything, from the roar of the wind outside to the creak of the engine as it started up. And he had no idea what any of it was, logically, never having been on one before, and that was almost enough to set him into a panic attack.
He closed his eyes, trying to focus on his breathing again. This wasn't so different from feeling trapped in the elevator, although at least there he knew where to shoot to grab on to something with his webs if need be - there would be walls all around him, and he knew so long as he had his webs he wouldn't fall to his death. Up here, though, in the open air, there was nothing. Even if he jumped out if something were to happen, what was he supposed to grab on to, clouds?
"Peter?" Pepper's gentle voice broke through his panic. "What's wrong?"
"No-...noth-" he couldn't even finish. He didn't realize he'd started to hyperventilate until he tried to speak and couldn't get a complete sentence out. He was hugging his knees to his chest, and Miss Potts had appeared beside him without him even realizing it. How had she snuck up on him so easily?
He heard Stark's voice almost from far away. "Potts? What's going on?"
"Nothing. I'm just talking to Peter," she called back, and a shudder of something like relief went through him. If he had been able to breathe, he would have told her how grateful he was. Then her attention was back on him, running her hands through his hair gently and leaning in to speak quiet enough Tony wouldn't hear. "What's the matter?"
What was wrong? It was obvious to him now that he was having an anxiety attack, and he guessed that that wasn't what she was asking. And logically, there was only one reason that he would be. "My parents died in a plane crash," he managed to choke through gritted teeth.
"Oh, Peter." She pulled him against her, cradling his head against her and holding him close. "Listen. We've used this plane a hundred times. The pilot knows what he's doing and if I know Tony at all there's at least six backup plans for if this thing were to go down. Okay? Nothing is going to happen to you. Just breathe with me. In, out. Match me."
She held him close and coached his breathing for the next few minutes until he had relaxed sufficiently and settled his breathing back into rhythm. Only when he'd been calm for a few minutes did she pull back, still keeping an arm around his shoulders. "Better now?"
He nodded, flushing slightly from embarrassment. She must think he was a fool and a baby now. "Thanks," he murmured, looking down. "Sorry about that."
"Don't be. You're not the only one who has anxiety attacks, you know." She smiled her gentle smile at him and stood up. "I'll just be a few rows away if you need anything, okay?"
Peter just nodded, still slightly mortified but closing his eyes and trying to relax anyway. He knew the flight would be several hours and the best thing for him was just to sleep, so he put his headphones in and tried to do exactly that.
Tony hadn't been able to see what was going on over the rows of seats between them, but when Pepper stood up and came towards him, the look on her face said there would be hell to pay for whatever it was.
He didn't even wait for her to open her mouth before waving her on. "Whatever it is, out with it, Potts." He took a sip of his drink. It was just water, unfortunately, but between the kid a few rows away and the meeting he had to attend, he'd decided it was best not to even get started drinking. Now he was wondering if that was a good decision. He knew that whatever she was going to say, she'd probably been holding it in since this morning, waiting for a moment that the kid wouldn't hear.
"Look, I know you did this to try to make me happy," Pepper told him bluntly. "And as much as I appreciate the sentiment, I wanted you to do this because you wanted to, not because of me. And it's pretty clear that you don't and you didn't even think this through and now this poor boy is going to suffer for it."
Tony frowned at her. "First of all, you should know that it hurts that your opinion of me is so low, Miss Potts. Granted, I went after him because I was hoping to be able to keep my promise to you, but I also wouldn't have done it if I didn't want to or didn't intend to fulfill my end of the deal if the kid decided to come. Second of all, I haven't done anything to him." True, he'd given him quite a lecture in the car, but he'd totally deserved it.
"Actually, it's the lack of what you've done that's bothering me, but what else is new?" Pepper just sighed, shaking her head. "Nevermind. Clearly you won't even take this seriously."
She started to get up, but he grabbed her arm, his frown deepening. "Pep, I'm not a mind reader here. Talk to me." He was half-joking at first, but seeing how upset she'd suddenly become, he sobered quickly. "Is something wrong with him?"
"Something- no! But did you even look into him at all? Jesus, Tony, he's a genius, and he probably could rival you if you'd give him proper time and attention. But he's got a past. He's traumatized, and rightfully so. I bet you didn't even realize before you tracked him down that he lived with his aunt. Why? Because his parents died. In a plane crash, Tony."
He inhaled a sharp breath. He'd guessed something had happened to his parents for him to be with an aunt, but he'd never imagined… He stopped, shaking his head. He couldn't even argue with her; everything she'd said was true. "Pepper-" he started, but she wasn't done.
"No. That's not even it, and I'm not even going to tell you some of it because he doesn't want me to. But you should really take an interest enough to find out the rest of it yourself."
"You're right," he said simply, before she could say anything else. "Alright? You're right. I will. I'll read his file as soon as I get a spare minute."
"I want more than that, Tony." She crossed her arms. "Promise me you're actually going to try to make this work. He gave up his whole summer for a chance to learn something from you. It'd be nice if you actually tried to teach him something. And something more than just why his heroes are irresponsible," she added sharply.
He winced a bit, knowing the dig was as much at his own irresponsibility as it was about his criticisms earlier. "I…can't deny that one either. Alright, Potts. You win. I'll do my best. I can't promise anything until I figure out what Rhodes needs me for, but I'll try." He meant it. He couldn't fathom why he would always make promises like this to her - didn't want to even try to. That was a whole other mess he couldn't get into right now.
Pepper held his eyes for a moment before sighing and nodding. She pulled away, and this time he let her. There wasn't anything else to say.
One thing was for sure. He fully intended to read the kid's file. It had already been on his mind, and now with his renewed desire to look into Spider-Man… He had a feeling there was a connection there, but he wasn't going to jump to conclusions just yet. He needed a little more proof first.
He glanced back at Pepper. One way or another, he knew just how to get it.
It seemed like no time at all to Peter before he was being shaken awake.
"Kid. Wake up." There was a pause, and he groaned, trying to resist the pull to reality. "Kid-ow, Pepper! Jesus, I'm not hurting him."
He actually was, mainly his ears, but he couldn't really say that. "S'okay," he murmured, blinking a few times and sitting up slowly. "I'm awake."
Stark and Miss Potts were standing over him as he got to his feet slowly and stretched. "We're here," Stark told him, looking him over. "Short car ride and then you can relax at the mansion."
"Mansion?" He picked up his bag, looking between Stark and Miss Potts. "We're staying in a mansion?"
"That's where I live, kid." Stark started to move away.
"Oh." Peter blinked, then followed him. Maybe he should have known that. He was a billionaire, after all.
Miss Potts stuck close beside him, almost seeming to keep Peter between her and her boss. Peter wondered if they often fought as much as they seemed to since he'd arrived. He'd heard their conversation about him earlier, when Pepper had left him to talk to Tony. He couldn't help it; he couldn't turn off his enhanced senses, and he hadn't been completely asleep yet. He did kind of feel bad, knowing they'd probably waited to have that conversation until when they thought he wouldn't hear, but there wasn't much he could do about it except pretend that he hadn't.
It was probably better to pretend that he hadn't, considering what he'd heard. He didn't know if he should take what he said to Miss Potts seriously or not; at least not until he knew for sure whether Stark himself was going to take it seriously.
He followed them out in silence, heading for the car and once again sliding in the back with Stark. He couldn't help thinking that he had such contrasting personalities. He could go from sarcastic to serious to joking to business mode in a matter of minutes. It was hard to tell what he was actually thinking, and to an extent, what actually mattered to him, if anything.
He jumped slightly when he heard the partition going up between them and the front seat. Oh no. Another talk? Why wasn't Miss Potts allowed to hear this one?
He looked out the window and tried to pretend not to have noticed until Stark cleared his throat and he had to look over at him.
"Uh, listen, kid." He leaned back against the door on his side, not even wearing his seatbelt, apparently trying to just chill. "I… didn't mean to sound like I was snapping at you this morning, or anything like that. You're far from the first to accuse me of being selfish-" he held up a hand to stop him when Peter frowned and opened his mouth to protest, "-even if that's not what you meant to say directly. I just happened to take some of that frustration out on you, and it wasn't necessary. That said, you really shouldn't talk about things you don't completely understand. Not everyone is as forgiving as I am."
Forgiving? That wasn't even actually an apology, although he sensed that this was as close as Stark came to giving one to anyone besides maybe Miss Potts. And while he did understand, and his words had hit a little harder home than he cared to admit, he couldn't exactly tell him that. So Peter just nodded. "I understand, Mr. Stark."
"Good." He sighed a little, taking off his sunglasses and rubbing his forehead. "Look, I've never even attempted to do this… mentor-teacher type thing before, so you'll have to bear with me here. To be honest, I wasn't keen on this whole idea in the first place, but I made a deal with Pepper, and I'm a man of my word. So I'm going to try, kid. I can't promise the best results all the time. But you're a smart kid, and if we both try to meet in the middle here, I think we can have a decent summer. Deal?" Those dark eyes focused on him again.
"Deal," Peter found himself agreeing.
"Good," Stark repeated, sliding his shades back on and clapping him on the back. "First step would be to stop acting like you're afraid of me. We have to have some communication going here, and that means we need to put the brakes on this whole crawling back into your shell every time I walk into the room thing."
Peter blinked, surprised. Had he been acting like he was afraid of him? Maybe he had. He kind of was, if he was being honest, but in this case, he couldn't exactly be honest, because he couldn't give him the reason behind the fear - especially when it seemed so unreasonable, even to him. "I'm not afraid of you, Mr. Stark," he blurted, before he could think better of it.
"Well, good-"
"But you are kind of intimidating," Peter finished quickly, sneaking a sideways glance at him. It was true, and it also was a plausible explanation for his actions.
Stark stopped, and he could sense his intent gaze on him from behind his shades as he seemed to consider his words. "Yeah, I could see that," he conceded after a moment. "But still. I won't bite. Usually." He flashed a sideways grin at him, and Peter couldn't help but grin back.
Then the car stopped again, and Stark put a hand on his shoulder to stop him from getting out right away. "I have to get ready for my meeting, so this is where we split for now, but I should see you around dinnertime tonight. Pepper and Happy are here if you need anything. Got it?"
"Got it," Peter confirmed.
"Alright. Later." Stark opened his door and got out.
Peter stayed there for a moment, taking a breath to steady himself as he shouldered his bag. That had gone… surprisingly well, especially considering their confrontation earlier. Best not to dwell on it, though. If Stark had forgotten about it already, all the better for him.
By the time he got out of the car to follow, Stark had disappeared inside the building. Miss Potts was waiting for him on the steps. "Ready, Peter?"
"As I'll ever be," he agreed, smiling back at her, and followed her inside to the true start of his summer.