Hey guys! Sorry this update took so long. I'm getting ready to go into my freshman year of college and with move in day being a little over a week away, its been hard to find the time this week. That said, I apologize in advance that this probably won't be the last time. As of right now, my update schedule is basically off until after school starts and I have some idea of what things will be looking like for me for the year. I promise I'm going to try to keep updates to at least once a week for one or two stories, but they'll be random, basically. Sorry.
All that said, I'm still working on some special stuff for you guys, and I won't be disappearing completely, promise. Until the next update... enjoy!
Tony had no idea what happened.
He was patrolling the city, looking for any sign of anything that could have caused all this. With something this widespread in reach and scale, and everything that had gone down, there had to be some kind of local hotspot here, some kind of tech in the area to help take all of this stuff down. He had no proof that there was - not yet - but logically, even in just one city, knocking everything out like this would take a massive amount of organization and dozens if not well over a hundred people. And if this guy actually intended to take on a large scale event, that number would have to be multiplied by hundreds. No, that just wasn't feasible. Now, if he had some kind of tech that was multiplying the effects, helping them keep control with a minimal number of people… that would make more sense.
It was a hell of a lot scarier, because it made it seem all the more feasible, but it made sense.
He had no idea what kind of tech he was working with at the moment, but he wasn't going to make any assumptions. He'd seen the guy's suit and he was looking at his work firsthand. Whoever Malware was, he was smart, and he was certainly connected. If the suit he'd seen was anything to go by - at least, if it functioned half as well as Rhodey had claimed it did - then he had little doubt the guy could make or at least had access to the type of tech that would make it easier to do something like this.
And so he looked around, having Jarvis scan anything and everything around him to see if he could find any hint of anything in the area that could be helping perpetrate this, even as he helped Rhodey and all the responding emergency personnel find and save as many people as possible from disasters that had happened as a result of it.
He was mainly going around from block to block, scanning everything and helping pull apart cars that had crashed when all the traffic lights had gone down. There were massive pileups everywhere, but he stuck to the ones where there were still people inside with hope of being saved, especially if the cars were in positions that emergency services were having a hard time getting them out of. He knew Rhodey was around somewhere with them, doing something probably pretty similar. They'd met up in the middle of the city and made quick plans to split directions, knowing they could do more separate for now, and while they'd communicated over their comms a few times, mostly to report a lack of success in finding any clues, they'd both been mostly silent for a while now. Neither of them had found anything they needed to communicate, and Tony was sure Rhodey had some military higher-ups also barking in his ears, so he just left him be.
This was working pretty well, and had been going on for about an hour when it abruptly came to a stop. Or rather, he did.
One minute, he was talking to Jarvis, running constant scans on his surroundings, on people's vitals, on the crumpled tin cans around him to see if people were in them, and generally trying to do whatever he could to help with the massive destruction. The next minute, Jarvis's voice abruptly cut off, and so did his visuals. There was a soft whir as his suit completely powered off, and he barely had time to think oh shit before he started falling.
Only one time had anything remotely similar to this happened, and it was on his first test flight, when he'd flown too high into the atmosphere, and his suit had iced over and he'd simply plummeted to the ground from the highest elevation he'd been able to reach. He'd figured out how to break off the ice in time to keep him from becoming a splatter spot on the pavement, but…
But now he had no idea why he'd lost power or what was happening. He'd been hovering right above an electric pole, scanning the streets for his next task. There was no logical reason for it.
He only had time to thank God that he was only a few hundred feet above the ground this time instead of a few thousand before he went crashing into it and everything went black.
Peter probably couldn't have gotten there any faster if he was flying.
Half the time, he wasn't even sure what he was shooting towards. He just swung towards the city, letting Jarvis's voice guide him. He was grateful for Miss Potts' watch, because in his haste to leave he hadn't really had much of a plan to locate Mr. Stark other than head toward the city. But with her watch, he had Jarvis giving him the shortest route to Mr. Stark's last connected location, and it made finding his way to him much easier.
He couldn't help but be appalled by the state of the city as he started getting deeper into it. In the fading light of the day, it all took on an eerie glow. The only places he passed that showed any signs of having electricity at all were hospitals, thanks to most of them having to have backup generators strong enough to power everything in it. But there was destruction and chaos everywhere as everyone tried to either find their way home or flee the city, but it was such a mess that he couldn't tell who was trying to do what or if any of it was amounting to anything.
Several times he almost stopped to help people before refocusing on the mission at hand. That's what emergency services were for; but he had to find Mr. Stark and help him. Chances were no one but he and Pepper even knew he'd gone down.
It took a few minutes of scanning, but with Jarvis's help, he finally located the Iron Man suit, crashed out in an alley a few blocks from a major intersection. He swung in and landed beside him.
"Mr. Stark?" He hurried over, kneeling beside the fallen man. "Mr. Stark." He put a hand on the shoulder of the suit, shaking him lightly. He had no idea how to get his mask to retract, or how to get Jarvis to scan for injuries if the suit was shut off. He glanced at the watch Potts had given him, about to ask Jarvis if he could do it, only to see that it had shut off sometime between him pinpointing Stark's location and swooping in.
There was a low groan from the suit, and then the mask retracted as Stark started to sit up, a hand going automatically to his head. Peter helped him get into a sitting position against the wall. "What the hell…" Stark blinked a few times, rubbing his eyes and then suddenly seeming to realize that he was there. He opened his mouth and then closed it, his eyes narrowing when he realized who exactly it was. "Kid?"
The time for denying it was long past, so Peter just sighed, taking off the mask after a quick glance around. "Mr. Stark, I-"
"Don't "Mr. Stark" me, kid. What the hell are you doing here? What were you thinking?" He wiped some blood away from a cut above his eyebrow, his eyes dark and serious. "You shouldn't be here."
"I know, but, Miss Potts and I were watching your suit feed since there was no news and then Jarvis lost connection with you and I just thought, you might need help and since that's never happened before and you could be hurt and no one would know because if you couldn't communicate with Jarvis and communications are still out then-"
Tony just stared at him with an unimpressed look until he trailed off. On one hand, he knew what the kid had been trying to do, and he was right, to an extent. But on the other, this just further proved his impulsiveness and not to mention increase Tony's own level of worry about him and what he could get into. If there had been active fighting going on here and he'd just swooped in… he didn't want to think about it. "And what would you have done if I was injured?" he asked him.
"I don't know. Depends on how injured you were. Look, I'm-"
"Don't even say you're sorry right now. We'll deal with this when we're back at the mansion." Tony sat up slowly, wincing. His suit had kept him from getting any real damage except the cut above his eye, but he'd still be feeling sore for a while. "Head back. I have to find Rhodey and then I'll be right behind you."
"But Mr. Stark-"
"No buts, kid." He got to his feet, shooting Peter a look when the boy reached out to steady him and sighing slightly at the barely-masked concern on his face. He softened his tone a little when he spoke again. "I'm fine, kid. I just fell when the suit shut down, alright?"
"But how are you going to get back if it's not working?"
"Rhodey has me covered. Now head back and tell Pepper everything is fine and I'll be back shortly."
Peter sighed, nodding as he slipped the mask back on and scaled the nearest building. Tony watched him until he swung out of sight, then sighed. "I really need to do something with that suit," he muttered, stepping out of the armor to get his phone from his pocket and calling Rhodey.
True to his word, Peter had barely been back at the mansion for about fifteen minutes when the sound of iron clanking echoed in from the open balcony doors.
Peter had entered the same way he'd went out, telling Pepper that Mr. Stark was okay and would be a few minutes behind him before going to change out of the suit. By the time he had touched down on the balcony, Peter had changed into nightclothes and had settled in their little hub area with Pepper to eat the soup she'd made.
Peter carefully kept his eyes on his soup as he heard the elder hero enter. Pepper jumped up, hugging him without seeming to notice the tension that came into the room with him. "Tony! Jesus, you scared me!"
"Losing power to my suit wasn't exactly my idea," Stark grumbled, resting his hand on her shoulder for a moment before pushing her away gently. Peter could feel his eyes boring into him, but he didn't look up. "I'm going to change. I'll be right back." It was as much a nudge to Pepper to let go of him as it was a warning to Peter.
Pepper sighed and stepped away, watching him disappear down the hall and sitting back down. She picked up her bowl again and curled back up, looking at Peter after a moment. "Peter." He glanced up at her, and she smiled gently at him. "Just remember what we talked about, alright?"
He sighed and nodded silently, getting up to get another bowl of soup.
He'd just settled back into his spot on the couch with his bowl when Stark came walked back into the room. He swept his eyes over their setup and nodded once to himself, then went to the stove to get his own bowl of soup. Peter avoided looking at him, feeling his nerves rise in his chest again. Okay, so he had been so worried about him being hurt that he'd basically forgotten to be nervous and why he had been before when he'd went after him earlier, and he'd basically been dismissed before they could arise again. Now, back at the mansion, and having had time to stew on it again before he'd arrived, he couldn't quell the swell of emotions rising from his stomach to his throat. So he forced himself to focus on his soup, and deciding not to speak until he was spoken to. He didn't know how to or if he really wanted to start this conversation with him, didn't know what or how much he wanted to say, but he also knew that he definitely wasn't going to get off the hook for it by trying to start a conversation about something else. So he simply waited, nursing his second bowl of soup in silence.
It was agonizing, not least of all because he could hear every breath the other two took, and as close as they were with the couches, he could even hear the soft humming of the arc reactor in the elder man's chest when he sat down across from him. Still, that sound wasn't enough to cover the thundering of his own heartbeat when, after several minutes of all of them eating in tense silence, he heard Stark exhale a deep sigh and felt his eyes focus on him again.
"Alright," Stark started suddenly, and Peter closed his eyes for a moment and mentally steeled himself before looking up at him. His eyes were dark and serious, and Peter could see the emotions he was trying to tamper down on hiding just below the surface. "I'm gonna be honest, kid. I don't even know how to begin to deal with you right now. Aside from the obvious, which I promise you we'll get to later, let's just stick with earlier. What the hell were you thinking?"
There it was, the fury he'd seen him trying to hold in. He bit his lip. "I was thinking that everything was down and your feed cut out and you could have been hurt and needed help and-"
"And everything you just said proved exactly what I said earlier, Peter." Stark shook his head, looking exasperated. "You're too impulsive, kid. You let your emotions rule your logical thought. You swung in there after me without even considering that if something had actually taken me out, then it was probably bigger than both of us and something you had no business trying to deal with. I had back up - in the physical form, and of communication. What did you really think you could have done, besides get yourself killed?"
"I don't know, okay?" Peter set his bowl aside, giving up on eating it. He shoved his hands through his hair. "All I knew at that point was that if you went out there and died and I could have done something… I couldn't let that happen." He took a breath, looking away.
The words hit Tony like a punch in the gut. Of course. He was mad, absolutely furious when the kid had showed up, and it had taken him a few minutes to realize it was less because of anything he'd done and more because the idea of him just popping into battle and getting hurt again like he had last time absolutely terrified him. But he hadn't even considered the information he'd obtained earlier. The kid had watched his uncle die right in front of him. Survivor's guilt combined with those powers he had… no wonder he never put a thought out for himself. In his mind, he'd already failed, already had the sacrifice made for him that allowed him to live this long, and he would do anything to try to make that right, even if it meant getting hurt.
The parallel wasn't lost in Tony, but that didn't mean he was okay with the kid having the same self destructive tendencies as him either.
"Because of what happened with your uncle." The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. Even he wasn't sure if it was a question or a statement.
Peter's eyes snapped to him, shock and pain flitting across his face before he shut it down again. "You have no idea what happened with Ben." His voice was barely above a whisper. "Don't talk about it like you do."
"I don't have to know exactly what happened to know that you are blaming yourself for it and that it's part of the reason why you're so impulsive all the time. It'll get you killed, kid." He consciously made his voice gentler when he spoke, seeing the haunted look in his eyes but still needing to get through to him. When he didn't respond, Tony decided to switch up topics a bit. Even as angry as he was, he had a million and one questions buzzing around his head. "You know what? Fine. We'll talk about it later. But are you going to tell me anything without me having to pry it out of you?"
Peter frowned, straightening up and looking at him. "What do you want me to tell you? It's not like you haven't seen most of what I can do."
Tony leaned back, running a hand through his hair and exhaling a heavy breath. "Well, humor me, kid. It's been a while and I'm old, if you haven't noticed." He took another bite of his soup and raised an eyebrow at him, consciously trying to lighten the atmosphere some. Yes, he was still cracking with anger - and though he'd never admit it, worry for the kid - in his very bones, but he forced himself to keep it contained. It only made Peter clam up and not want to tell him anything, and he had a feeling he could lecture him all night and it wouldn't make a difference anyway.
He felt some of the tension melt away when Peter met his eyes and cracked a small smile at his attempt. "Yeah, okay. Well, I've... just got a lot of enhancements, really. I'm really fast, and weirdly flexible, and super strong. I heal, like, insanely quick. And I can stick to things, when I want to. That… was a problem for a while. And my senses are…" Peter stopped, shrugging helplessly as he searched for the word. "I don't want to say insanely strong again, but they are. It's like, if normal people are a 5, I'm like at least an 11." He stopped, looking back at him.
Tony stirred his soup, looking down at it thoughtfully. He'd seen the speed and strength firsthand, for sure. And the ability to stick to stuff, although he'd admittedly thought that was derived from the suit. His senses… well, he wasn't as surprised as he could have been, with what he'd seen. It actually made perfect sense, now that he thought about it. Like with the interview, when he'd pointed out his mistake. The kid had been able to spot a decimal out of place in a sea of numbers from across the room. Tony had been so caught up in the fact that he'd been able to accurately correct the mistake he hadn't even thought about the fact the kid shouldn't have been able to see clearly that far.
Pepper seemed to have the same thought. "The math problem…" she murmured, and they both looked at her in surprise, both having almost forgotten she was there since she'd been so quiet. Tony had thought about asking her to let him talk to the kid in private, but there wasn't anywhere for her to go right now with the state of things and besides, she knew as much as he did, and her presence comforted Peter, so he hadn't.
"Uh… yeah," Peter said awkwardly. "Yeah, that was part of it."
Tony looked back at Peter, tilting his head. "Anything else I should know about in that area? Any other major changes?"
"Uh…" Peter thought about it. "I mean, I was a pretty sick kid before, and I haven't actually gotten sick since… well, this happened. And I stopped needing my glasses, since my eyesight is so good. I also have night vision."
Tony's brows drew together. "Night vision," he repeated.
"Yeah. Like, I can see. In pitch dark." Peter shrugged. "Product of my heightened senses, I guess. I also have like a sixth sense for danger. I can… sense things." He stopped. "That's a terrible explanation, but I don't know how else to put it."
Tony didn't need much more of an explanation though. Not when he'd seen it first hand. "I remember," he muttered. "Seeing you use it, in the city. And the way you knew I was there before I ever touched down…"
"Yeah, I sensed you behind me," Peter admitted. "Plus, well, I could hear your repulsors from a mile away."
Tony didn't know if he was being literal or not, but he quickly decided it wasn't prudent. "I… right. So is there any stipulations to this? Nothing you have to do to make your abilities work, or any way to tone them down?"
"The only thing I've discovered is that I need to eat. Like… a lot." He looked out the window, and for a moment Tony wondered what he could see out there where the rest of them saw only pitch dark.
He pushed the thought away. "How much is a lot?"
"I don't know," the kid admitted, and at his confused look, he continued, "I've never really... hit a limit, so to speak. Since the bite, I just… can eat, like, forever, and not really feel full. I mean, I can eat a normal adult portion and be fine - it's not like I'm starving all the time. But it's…" He trailed off, giving that helpless shrug again. "Again, it's hard to explain. But anyway, if I don't eat, that's the only time I've ever had trouble with my powers. One day I didn't eat breakfast and I apparently didn't have enough at lunch and I nearly blacked out on the subway home from school." He sounded absentminded as he told the story, his eyes far off. But he refocused suddenly, looking back at Tony. "It's not always so severe, but especially in the beginning, I had trouble trying to find a balance between what I could eat and what I needed to. Like with breakfast, I used to not eat it because money is always so tight and I used to be able to get by without it, but I realized pretty quick that I couldn't do that anymore. If I eat too little my abilities start to dim or I start losing control over them, but if I don't stop myself I could clear out our whole fridge." He shrugged.
Tony rubbed his jaw, nodding slowly. "So that's why I noticed you stop."
It took Peter a moment to realize he meant at breakfast. "Yeah. I'm used to it though. Like I said, as long as I eat a little more than normal I'm fine."
"But if you ate to capacity…"
"I don't know that I have a capacity, Mr. Stark," Peter admitted, looking almost embarrassed.
Tony chuckled, setting his bowl aside. "Of course you do. Everyone does, crazy metabolism or no." That was the only logical explanation. "We'll just have to find it." He paused, looking Peter over and sensing he'd relaxed enough to ask some heavier questions again with better results. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked quietly, knowing he would know what he was referring to.
Peter sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Maybe for the same reasons you never contacted me." Tony just gave him a look that clearly told him he knew that was a bullshit answer and a challenge to a question he'd already answered earlier, and the boy huffed. "Look, I don't know, okay? I… I guess I was afraid. That you'd be mad, or that you'd think I applied to the internship because you're you and not because I actually wanted to learn something. And I've never told anyone any of this before, so admitting it, even though I rationally knew it would be insane to believe you would do anything… bad… with the information… I just couldn't."
"Couldn't trust someone who couldn't keep their own identity a secret very long with yours?" Tony asked, smiling wryly at him.
Peter's eyes snapped back to him. "I didn't say that. It's not- that's hardly what I was worried about, Mr. Stark."
"But of course it was a worry. Relax, kid. I get it." He sighed, leaning back and fixing Peter with a contemplating look. "If you didn't really intend to tell me, why'd you bring the suit?"
The teen shrugged, toying with the spoon in his bowl of soup. "More comfort that anything. I knew if I started patrolling around here, then you'd figure it out, but… I felt like I needed to have it. In case of an emergency."
Tony pressed his lips together silently, his eyes flicking from the kid to the bowl, his attention drawn to it by his movement. "How many bowls of soup did he eat?" he asked quietly, throwing a sideways glance at Pepper. She held up two fingers in response. He looked back at the kid, whose eyes had widened slightly at the whisper, but he spoke before Peter could say anything. "Pause. Get another bowl of soup."
Peter blinked. "What? No, Mr. Stark, I'm fine, really-"
"I don't think so. We're not doing any more of this holding back stuff on my watch. It's not like I can't afford it, and better you finish the pot than it go to waste." Tony nodded toward the kitchen. "Move it. We can't keep talking until you do, and I think you'd prefer to hear what I have to say."
Peter stared at him for a moment. The rather rebellious thought popped into his head that he could just get up and put the bowl in the sink and walk out, and then maybe get away with not talking to him until tomorrow morning. But he didn't think Stark would actually find it funny or just let him walk away, even if they didn't have to stay in this part of the mansion for the night where the temperature wasn't at an ungodly hot level due to the lack of circulation from the power outing. So he sighed and got up, taking the bowl and filling it again before returning to the couch. He looked pointedly at Stark and took a bite.
"Better," Tony approved, unable to keep his lips from curving into a smirk for a whole half-second before he forced himself to sober up again. "Look, I'll be honest with you. Am I mad? Yes. I'm furious, on a level, although not all of it is directed at you. But I also understand why you did it." He leaned forward, fixing him with a pointed look. "What you need to understand is that on no level is this going to be acceptable for as long as you're under my care." He paused, then added, "And honestly, probably after, because I'm a control freak and I'm well aware of it."
Peter frowned, his brows drawing together again. "Uh… what's not acceptable, exactly?" They'd been talking about the food and before that his powers, but he wasn't entirely sure what he was referring to at this point.
Tony crossed his arms. "Anything that you've done up to this point, honestly. None of this keeping secrets anymore - at the very least not ones imperative to your survival. And no more of this impulsive behavior. You're not going out as Spider-Man without my permission, period. And don't think I'm kidding. I'll take that set of pajamas you call a suit if I have to."
Despite the fact he hadn't intended to go out as Spider-Man in the first place, being told he wasn't allowed to made him instantly mad. Especially when he insulted his suit. "Hey!" he protested, indignant. "You can't just ground me from being Spider-Man and take my suit. You're not my aunt, and you're certainly not my dad. And you'll have to excuse me if my suit is not exactly up to your standards. I did what I could with what I had. Not everyone has the time or the resources to make fancy suits like yours." He crossed his arms over his chest, knowing he sounded like a petulant child but not caring in that moment.
Tony didn't seemed to be bothered by his attitude. He just raised an eyebrow at him. "You're right, of course. But being as your aunt doesn't know, and you're currently under my custodial care, I think I'm well within my rights to do exactly that. Besides, you're also right about the suit. You didn't have the resources to make it any better than it is. But I do. And so I think it's perfectly reasonable to ground you here until we can make you a new one. After all, can't go out without one of those, can you?"
"I don't think-" Peter stopped suddenly, his eyes widening as the rest of what Tony said registered. "Wait, what? You want to make me a new suit?"
"No. I want to give you the resources to make a new suit. With my supervision," he continued quickly at the grin that spread onto Peter's face, seeming to take up more of it than should be possible. "And that's conditional, kid. On your behavior, on you accepting the fact that I'm still in charge and the fact that I have the right to add or veto anything whether you like it or not, on you letting me work with you and get you some proper training. I want to help you, but that's a package deal. I'm not giving you a new suit and turning you loose. Not on my watch." Tony leaned back again, watching the kid as he digested everything he'd just told him. "Do we understand each other?"
Peter stirred his soup slowly, staring down into it as he thought about what he'd said. Then he nodded slowly. "Yeah, I understand." It'd be pretty irresponsible of him not to have some kinds of conditions and controls in place for an offer like that. But it wasn't like he didn't need the new suit, and he could definitely use the help, even if the thought of training with or being constantly looked after but the older hero made him nervous.
"So we're agreed?"
"Yeah."
"Good. Now finish your soup and try to get some sleep." Tony stood up, pulling his phone out of his pocket. "I gotta make some calls before I settle in for the night." He pointed at the bowl and warned one more time, "Eat. I mean it." Then he simply turned and walked out of the room, leaving Peter buzzing with thoughts and unanswered questions to wonder how he was supposed to eat or sleep after all the excitement of the day.