Mission P.S.
Chapter 5
Peter had thankfully chosen to walk home from patrol today as his usual self, instead of sneaking into his room as Spiderman. This was mainly because Peter didn't know when Aunt May got off work, and even he couldn't explain why he had been silent for hours in his room, before suddenly appearing. But in the end, it was a good thing Peter chose to take the walk home, eating one of Delmar's sandwiches, because right in front of his building was the nicest car he ever had laid eyes on.
For a moment he almost choked on his sandwich, starring at the orange Audi with excitement and envy. He wasn't sure who was driving in that kind of expensive car, but it wasn't anyone who lived in this part of Queens, that he knew. From what he could see, while carefully studying the car, it wasn't even on the market and appeared to be a collector's object of sorts. Thought it was anything by retro, by all means, it looked futuristic and amazingly fast.
Peter wasn't the only one looking, and realized most people on the street were looking, just as amazed as he was. Or at least he thought so, but it might also be because the car was illegally parked right in front of the entrance. Had he been Spiderman, he might have done something to that car, make a statement of sorts, or perhaps removed it with his bare hands. But Peter Parker couldn't do that, so instead, he rushed inside the building and up the stairs, prepared to tell May everything he knew about that car.
He hadn't even thought about who that person might be, or what such an expensive car was doing in his neighborhood. To be fair, it was most likely someone had stolen the car and left it, afraid of getting caught.
"May! You are not going to believe what kind of car is parked outside!" Peter yelled in greeting, far too excited to even greet his aunt properly as he stepped inside, and had to stop himself from slamming the door shut. "I mean it's an Audi, and it's like incredibly sporty to look at, with these seriously cool features," he began to ramble, vibrating with excitement. He had felt slightly down since May had revealed the whole thing with his father, but this was lifting his spirit. So much he didn't even try to look for May, he just began talking while throwing his bag by the door, and walking toward the kitchen looking for something to eat, feeling hungry again. "I mean, I haven't seen that model before, but I think it might be one of those exclusive ones," Peter continued to talk while grabbing an apple and taking the first bit, turning around to see whenever May was in the living room, as she had yet to say a word.
But as Peter turned around, his jaws stopped working and his bran seemed to shut down for a moment, unable to comprehend what it was perceiving.
May was indeed sitting on the couch, though the problem wasn't his aunt, but the person sitting next to his aunt. Because to his surprise, May wasn't alone, seeing how a stranger was in their apartment, eating what appeared to be a piece of his aunt's walnut loaf, which to be fair was on the heavier and dry side.
It took a few seconds for Peter to even realize who the strange was, as his brain chose to believe it wasn't possible. But all of the sudden the expensive car outside made sense, although it didn't explain why Tony Stark was in his apartment. It just explained why there was an expensive car outside.
But Tony Stark, who had been Peter's idol as a child, was sitting in his living room, making Peter's head explode in excitement and disbelief. As a kid who had been into science, the man had been an inspiration and after becoming Iron man as well, both Ned and Peter had idolized the man. Therefore Peter wasn't sure whether what he saw was real, or he might still be asleep, but no matter what Ned was going to hear about this!
"Peter why didn't you tell me?" his aunt finally asked, and made him realize she had been talking for quite a while. He hadn't heard a single word before now, far too starstruck to do anything but stare, his mouth still filled with a piece of unchewed apple, close to falling out.
But as Peter realized Tony Stark was starring at him as well, he pulled himself together and managed to swallow the piece whole.
"Tell you what?" Peter asked unsurely. He feared May might have given him a clue already, but he had not been paying attention.
"About the internship silly! You should have said something!" she chided him, while Peter stared at her with a dumb expression.
"The internship?" he repeated slowly, unsure what the hell his aunt was talking about. Like every other high school student he had heard about that foundation thing, offering internships at Stark Industry, but he had never applied. He knew his grades were slipping, and he would rather save people as Spiderman than get some engineer coffee five times a day.
But before Peter could voice his opinions and reveal the truth, Tony Stark stood up from the couch, once more reminding Peter of his presence. It didn't take more than that for Peter to forget his thoughts, as he just stared in amazement, still not believing this was real.
"Yeah, your hot aunt just sort of spilled the beans there. But let me officially say we at Stark Industry was very impressed with your application and would like to congratulate you on your Internship with us!" Tony spoke up for the first time while giving Peter a firm handshake. To Peter's surprise, Tony's voice was far softer and kind while his eyes seemed warmer and more compassionate than on TV.
What however surprised him the most was the wink Tony seemed to send him. Telling him he had to play along, and everything would be explained later.
Had Peter been his normal self, he might have tried to question it or protested, but at this point, Tony could have made him do anything. And so without thinking, Peter simply began to smile himself.
"Wow… just wow, I am so honored Mr. Stark!" Peter thanked though he wasn't sure just what he was thanking for. He didn't understand what Tony Stark was doing in his apartment, or why he claimed he had been picked for an internship because he had never applied.
"I believe we are the ones who are honored to have such a bright mind working for us," Tony smiled, while they continued to shake hands awkwardly. The apple long forgotten in Peter's other hand.
"I uh… I don't know what to say," Peter said, which was an honest statement because Peter no longer understood what was going on.
"Why didn't you say anything Peter to me?" May asked once more, which seemed to break both men out of their trance, their eyes turning toward her. Peter didn't even want to imagine what the two of them had been talking about before he came home, but he feared it might have been embarrassing.
"I uhm… I didn't think I was going to get it," Peter began to ramble. He had never been a good liar, and right now he wasn't even sure why he was lying, but Tony Stark had winked like he had to play along. And just as he spoke he felt Stark squeeze his shoulder, like he was doing the right thing. "And if I got it, I wanted to surprise you… so well, yeah… surprise!" Peter said weakly.
"Well isn't this just lovely!" Tony exclaimed loudly, giving Peter another smile before he without further words produced a tablet and pen-like thing from his pocket. "Now because Mr. Parker never told his sweet aunt, we still need to get your signature on the whole thing to finalize this wonderful internship we have in store for Peter," Tony smiled, and held the tablet and pen toward May who for a second looked slightly skeptical. "It's just a standard really stating you allow Peter to intern at our company, and all that other boring legal stuff. It's just a formalia, and you can withdraw it whenever you like," he promised.
Peter found himself wanting to protest, seeing how he never had applied for this internship, but as soon as he opened his mouth Tony send him a sharp glare. It happened so fast May didn't even register it, far too busy reading the contract, but Peter saw it and closed his mouth shut.
What exactly was going on?
"Well I see no harm in these conditions, but your program does still allow your interns to focus on school right?" May asked worried and made Peter feel awful. She had yet to find out just how much Peter's grades had dropped, and although she wouldn't stay mad forever, Peter knew she would be disappointed.
What surprised Peter was Tony seemed to know something about his grades too, as the man's brown eyes stared at him with a look he couldn't understand for just a second, before he looked at May once more.
"I assure you Stark Industry values school highly, and there will be plenty of time to do school work," he assured May with a charming smile.
For a strange reason, May seemed to hesitate for a moment, unsure whether she should sign or not, but after looking over the whole thing once more she wrote her signature on the tablet.
"Gosh, can you believe this is happening, Peter!" May gushed. "Your mom, dad, and Ben would have been so proud if they had been here to see it," she added with a warm smile, reminding Peter of his own problems.
He had just started the process of forgetting the whole thing with his father, who might not be his father, and after Tony Stark had stepped into his living room the thought had vanished completely. But by mentioning Richard Parker he was brought back to a sad state, if only for a second, as he tried to smile once more. He knew May already felt bad about telling him, and so he couldn't let her see this, or she would just feel even worse.
"Yeah… yeah, I really think they would," Peter agreed, and then turned toward Tony. "If you don't mind sir, could we speak for a moment?" he asked and was starting to regain some kind of control over his thoughts and actions.
What none of them had noticed was the sad and slightly sour expression that appeared on Tony's face at the mention of Peter's parents, but it quickly vanished before any of them got a chance to see it.
"Well, of course, I actually need you to take a trip with me to Stark Tower, just to get a few minor practical things sorted out if it's alright with your aunt?" Tony asked, and looked toward May, who seemed to have no qualms at all with this idea. Peter on the other hand wasn't sure what was going on, and although he doubted a man like Tony Stark would try to hurt him, he also wasn't sure whenever this was a good idea.
But at the same time, his spidey senses weren't going crazy at the moment, which Peter found rather odd. Perhaps all of this was simply a mistake, and Mr. Stark was looking for another Peter Parker… but why did he then wink at Peter? Had he simply misinterpreted the signal?
"Well of course!" May agreed.
A few more words were exchanged before May insisted Peter got a photo with Tony Stark. Peter felt embarrassed like any teenager would do, but thankfully Tony didn't seem to mind at all and happily smiled while May fumbled with her phone, snapping a few pictures of Peter standing next to Tony. Peter felt almost bad for May, as he was starting to believe all of this might be a mistake, but he would have to talk to Tony Stark first because he still wasn't sure what was going on.
Yet he wasn't sure just how he was supposed to ask, and so he said nothing as they went down the elevator, unsure how to start that kind of conversation.
But as they finally got into the car, the words simply blurted out of his mouth.
"Mr. Stark… sir… I… I didn't write an application for Stark Industry," he finally admitted, feeling ashamed he even tried to pretend he did, and he felt his own cheeks start to heat.
What however surprised him was how calm Tony seemed about it, as Peter would have expected him to freak out, perhaps even tell him off for not saying anything before now. But instead, he just looked into Peter's eyes, his own brown eyes soft and understanding, and Peter could have sworn the man almost seemed emotionally touched for a second.
"I know," Was all he said, as he awkwardly patted Peter's shoulder. "I promise to explain everything when we reach my lab, okay?" he offered, and Peter simply stared at him in confusion.
He started wondering whenever something was wrong, or this perhaps had something to do with his spiderman identity, but Tony Stark's face revealed nothing. Instead, he began to drive the car, driving far slower than Peter would have anticipated from a man who parked illegally in front of his apartment.
Peter's only comfort was that he didn't sense any immediate danger from this man, not even through his spidey senses, and so Peter leaned back in his seat. Wondering just what was going on.
So another chapter served! Sorry for the wait! And this was sort of a strange chapter to write, so I hope it came out somewhat good to you guys!
