Mission P.S.

Chapter 3


"That's insane," Ned repeated for the fourth time in a matter of a few minutes while walking along the school's hallway with Peter. "I mean, how come you are not freaking out about this? Because I am freaking out about it right now!" he exclaimed, being dramatic in a fashion only Ned could achieve. He was at this point vibrating with energy, both in excitement and concern for his friend, seeing how Peter didn't look too happy about the news he had received yesterday.

And Peter did not feel good about it at all. Since May had broken the news, about his real father being someone else than Richard Parker, the thoughts had spun around in his head. Leaving him unable to sleep, think, even his appetite seemed to be missing. May had been beating herself for even telling Peter about it, since none of them were sure whether it was true a not, but Peter had a sinking feeling it was true. He had never been a lucky kid, seeing how he had lost his parents and uncle before reaching eighteen, and so it was probably just another case of Parker Luck. Meaning his biological father was out there somewhere. A thought that made him feel sick in his guts.

"Trust me, I freaked out yesterday," Peter mumbled while opening his locker to get rid of his books for now. The truth was Peter didn't just freak out. He cried, then yelled at May in anger, demanding to know why he hadn't been told anything before now. But in the end, they just hugged, while May promised she would do anything she could to help him. Looking back Peter felt rather horrible about himself because May did not deserve such harsh treatment, considering how Peter had kept a far bigger secret for months now. But at the time his emotions had gotten the best of him.

"I mean it's like… it's crazy!" Ned continued, staring at him with his sweet wide eyes while getting rid of his books in the locker next to Peters. "But are you going to try and find him? You know, you real dad?" he asked curiously, and then continued to ramble. "Because I will so much help you if that's what you want! I mean, we can try and see if there is anything in the library about this? Or perhaps get you into some of those databases for people who are trying to find relatives?" he began to suggest, making Peter realize none of that was possible. He could never allow his DNA to enter any kind of database, as it involved a certain risk of getting exposed or being called out for being different.

"We still don't know whenever it's true, or just a coincidence, but thanks Ned," Peter smiled, and padded his friend on the shoulder, before walking toward the cafeteria, his best friend walking beside him.

Deep down Peter knew none of this was a coincidence. It had to be true, the question was what this information meant, or if it perhaps was a mistake two birth certificates had been produced. But that was highly unlikely.

"But like, do you think it's true Peter?" Ned asked, his voice serious while starring straight into his friend's brown eyes. There was no doubt in Peter's mind that Ned cared deeply about him, and the feeling was mutual. They had been friends since Peter moved in with Ben and May at the age of five, and had spent an increasing amount of time together as they grew up. They had always shared everything, and Peter had felt horrible about having such a big secret as Spiderman, but he couldn't afford to tell anyone, not even Ned. Therefore the only nice thing about what May told him yesterday was he could tell Ned.

"I don't know man… but yeah, I think it might be true," Peter admitted with a sad sigh, seeing how this information was a bit more than he wanted to process. "I mean, I don't recall my dad that great, but he was always busy when I was a kid. We never really did much together, and to be honest Ben was a better dad than him," he continued, feeling sad that Richard Parker never had spent much time with him, something he had tried to hide from his conscious for years. But now it was only another proof that he might not be Peter's real father. "And May said he never really talked a lot to me, or even tried to be near me. He was either with my mother or working," Peter mumbled while grabbing a tray in the cafeteria. All of this talking of a mysterious father made him want to throw up, but his body demanded food, and so he grabbed the first sandwich he saw.

"But like, would you like to meet your dad? If he isn't your dad… or like I mean if your father turned out not to be your father, and you found out someone else was your father, would you like to meet him?" Ned tried to ask while rambling till his cheeks turned red. "You know what I mean," he finally said, while the two of them moved toward an empty table. Peter did not need another run-in with Flash, or anyone else at the moment.

"I don't even know Ned… I mean I haven't thought about that yet, but yeah, I suppose. I mean, it's not like I got too much family left," Peter admitted, slowly taking a bite of the sandwich, chewing carefully while he tried to convince himself to swallow.

"Who know… maybe he is like super-rich, or like an astronaut or something," Ned began to wonder, while Peter swallowed his first bite with difficulties. No longer able to talk about his father at the moment, and whenever it was Richard or someone else. Peter wasn't even sure his mother was his biological mother as well, meaning the foundation he had to build his life on was a lie.

"Could we just like… not talk more about it today?" Peter pleaded, feeling awful about his own words as Ned's expression changed into one of shame and guilt, seeing how he had kept asking questions.

"Sure… sure, I mean, of course!" Ned began to ramble, clearly thinking hard to come up with another subject. "So Uhm, are you coming over today? I got the new Captain America game, and we agreed we would play that together," Ned pressed, making Peter feel horrible about himself, as he neglected Ned so often. But it was either him or the rest of Queens, and Queens needed him the most.

"Oh, I know… but I really got behind on our report in chemistry, so can't do it today. But maybe during the weekend?" he offered. He could hang out with Ned for a few hours, make May believe he was eating at his house, giving him a few hours to hang out as Spiderman before going home.

"Sure, but like how can you be behind? You already quit band practice, tech lab, and robotics! Like, you only have the decathlon team left, are you going to quit that too?" Ned asked nervously, and Peter felt horrible about himself. He had considered quitting, but knew that would crush Ned completely. But at this point, Peter's grades were suffering badly, bleeding even, and Peter knew it was a question about time before May found out. But being out as Spiderman gave him a rush, a sense of purpose, which band practice and robotics never did. This way he made a difference to someone.

"I just have a few things to figure out, but don't worry, I will never quit the decathlon team," Peter promised, but even he knew that was an empty promise.

"What the fuck am I going to do!" Tony growled to himself, and send the nearest screwdriver flying toward the wall in sheer frustration and anger. "And why the fuck did I get to have the one child, that literally crawls on walls!" he added, making his mug follow the screwdriver straight into the wall, leaving a nice dent and an artwork of coffee on the wall.

"Your heart rate is above its normal state sir, would you like for me to call Mrs. Potts, or someone else?" Friday offered, her voice as always calm and patient, which at this point only pissed Tony off further.

"Do that, and I will reprogram you!" Tony threatened while staring out of the window. He was sitting in his lab in the Stark Tower, trying to solve his perhaps most difficult task yet, and it was not going great. There were of course several solutions, but most of them involved kidnappings, exposing himself, or killing Steve Rogers. The last one was a quick afterthought, which quickly had been removed from the list of possible solutions.

"Of course Sir," Friday said calmly, before retreating into its silent state again.

"For some reason, this mess just never dies down," Tony muttered to himself, while he continued to watch the city beneath him, and the sky above. He hadn't slept, determined not to do so before things had been solved.

There were a lot of things Tony hadn't told the team yesterday about Spiderman, one of them being his true identity because Tony knew everything there was to know about the spiderling. He knew where he lived, he knew his name, he knew what his favorite brand of cereal was. He even knew what grades the kid had achieved at school, which at the moment wasn't anything to be impressed about.

Tony knew it was slightly creepy, but he had followed that kid for years before he had become Spiderman, and he would continue to do till the day he died. One might ask why he would do such a thing, but the answer was simple.

Peter Parker was his son.

Tony had never been in physical contact with the boy, but he had intercourse in a rather drunken state with Mary Fitzpatrick sixteen years ago, and nine months later a little boy had been born, named Peter Benjamin Parker. The poor Mary had of course tried to contact him several times throughout her pregnancy, but each time she had been turned down by secretaries, bodyguards, and the like. Tony had been surprised when he never heard from her again after Peter was born, but it didn't change the facts. Peter was still his biological son, and Tony had been such a big coward, who was afraid of ruining the child and feared responsibility, so he refused ever having been involved with Mary Fitzpatrick. Instead, he watched from afar, deeply emotionally connected to a person he never even held as a baby, and in the shadows, he had been there every step of the way.

Peter Parker was Tony's biggest secret and the one that hurt the most.

But ever since the day Peter had been born, Tony had kept an eye on him, promising to protect him till the day he died. Although it might be argued he hadn't done a good job, seeing how Peter had lost his parents at an age of five years, and later on his uncle.

Although nothing had made him more anxious than Spiderman. For some reason, all odds were against Tony, as his son out of the blue developed enhanced abilities, and began to defend Queens against all kinds of things. Tony had been living in a state of fear recently, Every moment ready to fly out and save the kind, if only Friday said so. It was a mystery to Tony how this boy kept getting into trouble, and if things continued like this, Peter was going to put Tony into an early grave.

And now the Avengers were going to chase Spiderman, meaning Tony was put in a difficult situation. There was no doubt whom he would help, should he have to choose, but he couldn't defend Peter against all of the Avengers at once. At the same time, he couldn't just allow the Avengers to take Peter either, as there was no way to know how that would go. Would Peter end up getting hurt by one of them, if he chose to resist? Would they even allow him to walk away as a free man? Or even worse, would they make him a part of the Avengers? Tony didn't like any of those thoughts, and would never allow his child to participate in the missions the Avengers were assigned.

Tony needed to get some kind of control over the situation, meaning he had to keep Peter away from the Avengers, and the Avengers away from him. But the question was how? So far he had been able to interfere from a distance, but he found it hard to do so now.

He had considered meeting him as Iron Man, warning him he had to keep a low profile. But Peter might find that strange, and Steve would see that as a betrayal if he ever found out.

"Mrs. Potts is on her way up to your lab sir," Friday managed to warn, pulling Tony out of his thoughts. He barely managed to hide the files about Peter, named Project P.S., before the elevator opened, and his fiance stepped out of the elevator. Her high heels clicked against the floor as she walked toward Tony, as always dressed professionally with a Stark Tablet in her hands.

"Friday says you didn't sleep last night, again," she said in a sharp voice, despite the caring eyes and warm smile that appeared on her mouth.

"Yeah, that one has no sense of the word privacy," Tony joked lightly, but the dark circles underneath his eyes told a different story. He even allowed Pepper to wrap her arms around a neck, and press a light kiss to his forehead.

"Something bothering you at the moment?" she pressed while running her fingers through his hair, knowing Tony would have protested if he had been more alert, but he was too tired to care and it felt nice.

"There are just a few issues I can't seem to find a solution for," he admitted, but would never give Pepper more information than that. He had never involved her in Peter's life, and despite being engaged to the woman, this was the one secret he was taking to his grave. On some level he did feel bad about it, Pepper didn't deserve that kind of lie, but he had sworn to keep Peter safe, and doubted Pepper would understand his reasons for doing things the way he did.

"Maybe it would help if you slept for a bit?" Pepper suggested gently, while she sneakily pushed him toward the elevator, knowing he wouldn't close his eyes for long in the lab. Pepper had known Tony for a long time and seemed to have a certain trick for every situation, including whenever Tony deprived himself of sleep and food.

"You are one little manipulative thing," Tony groaned tired and didn't even realize what she had done before the elevator started going upwards.

"It's still my job to keep you alive," Pepper smiled and pressed a kiss to his lips, once more making him forget where he was going. "Mm, not to mention you have that speak tomorrow at City Tech, about B.A.R.F." she added, making Tony groan in annoyance. He had completely forgotten about it, and while he found the project to be exciting, he simply didn't have time for any of it at the moment.

"Can't we just cancel?" he tried to plead, using his most begging eyes, but Pepper never budged as she pushed him out of the elevator and onto their private floor.

"Absolutely not! The September Foundation is important for Stark Industry, and you have a responsibility as this is your idea. And your money we are giving away to projects" She insisted, and Tony realized all this pressure to make him sleep was because of that damn foundation. She was trying to make sure he was awake for tomorrow.

"I am sure they would be just as excited for the CEO of Stark Industry to appear," Tony tried to convince her, but she only needed to give a single glare, and Tony knew nothing he could say would work. Pepper Pott's mind was set, and it would be a cold day in hell before she gave up.

"Considering I am taking care of all the practical work, picking out each candidate for funding, not to mention the whole intern process we have going on as well, I believe it's fair you take this one talk," Pepper told him with a bittersweet smile, and Tony hung his head in defeat. "Unless you would like to take care of all that? Because then I would gladly go to the presentation tomorrow," she offered with a wicked smile, and Tony couldn't help but laugh although it was short and held no joy.

"None of us would like to see the outcome of that," he said with a tired smile, while Pepper kissed him once more.

"So get some sleep," she ordered and walked back to the elevator. "Friday, alert me if he tried to leave the apartment," she ordered, and with no further words, she left once more, giving Tony a last overbearing smile. Stark Industries would have been a ruin without her.

"Of course Mrs. Potts," Friday answered, and Tony knew she would tattle given the chance.

"You just wait, I will reprogram you one of these days," Tony grumbled and stared up at the ceiling, hating how his invention was turning against him.

"I will look forward to it Sir," the AI answered, and Tony could almost swear it was mocking him.

Knowing Tony couldn't leave the apartment, he collapsed on the couch instead and made a loud groan as he finally got down. All of this was just a horrible mess, and he couldn't see a good way out of it.

But amid his worries, a word kept ringing in his head, and despite his tired state he suddenly sat up on the couch, feeling bright awake.

"Friday, show me a standard intern application," he ordered, a plan forming in his head. One that would keep Peter and his secret safe, but would require certain sacrifices.


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