Do I...do I sense...Peter and Tony bonding time? Heck yeah we have that AND Tony being a worried dad AND Peter ramblings because I adore him :') And ooohh man do we get some plot going, then its full steam ahead to angst! Just be careful, I got a few tricks up my sleeve... hope you're all doing well! Almost done with the semester!
This is more of a down-to-Earth chapter, prepping for later chapters. No trigger warnings! Just have fun and stay safe! ❤️️ 💛💚💙💜
Chapter Four: Dum-E and U to the Rescue
"Really? You went through an entire game of Monopoly and didn't think to remind anyone that you have a second degree chemical burn on your shoulder?" Tony questions in a scolding tone as he spreads burn cream over Peter's mild injury. Meanwhile, May, Pepper, and Rhodey fix up dinner in the other room. Peter huffs, subconsciously sticking out his bottom lip.
"Not my fault you guys forgot," he mumbles. He wasn't trying to hide the burn, they just got so caught up with Monopoly and being competitive that he honestly forgot.
"No backtalk from the injured Spider-Kid." Tony continues to wrap Peter's arm in a bandage.
"Spider-Man," Peter corrects under his breath. Tony's head immediately snaps up and he looks at Peter with raised eyebrows.
"You wanna argue over semantics right now?" he challenges, packing up the first-aid kit as he does so. "Or would you care to catch me up on the whole Scorpion fiasco?" Peter perks up at Tony's offer, eager to share all the new, exciting information. He sits up straighter and leans forward. Here we go, Tony thinks as he prepares himself for Peter's long-winded explanation.
"So, new villain: Scorpion. He has, like, this super long scorpion tail," Peter raises his arms to accentuate how big the tail was, "and it's cybernetically controlled. I'm thinking some sort of neurosensor system, but I'm not sure. Oh! And it's made out of this wicked looking steel that, like, overlaps to increase the integrity. It can shoot acid and has a retractable blade thing. I don't know if it can do more than that, though." he pauses to allow Tony to catch up and absorb all the points of interest. Tony rubs his chin, listening intently, and considers their options.
"You said earlier that you got a name?" he recalls their phone conversation from earlier.
"Yeah! Mac Gargan. Apparently he has a criminal record, which isn't really that surprising I guess. At least it's better than when we had to figure out who Mysterio was." Peter's hyper demeanor seems to fade along with his excited smile. Tony narrows his eyes at the kid's sudden shift in energy.
"What's up?" he prompts. The wheels turn in Peter's head.
"He could overpower me. Like it was the easiest thing. He was stronger and faster than me and I just couldn't keep up. How am I supposed to beat someone that I can't hit? And if I did hit him, it wouldn't even hurt him! I can't just-"
"Kid," Tony finally cuts off his rambling. Peter stops, slightly out of breath. "Let's just take it slow." They both take a few deep breaths, Peter nodding his head in agreement. Tony knows how to help stop an anxiety attack before it starts now. "Anything else I should know about?" Peter tilts his head in thought.
"He knew me." For a brief moment, Tony starts to panic until Peter elaborates. "Not Peter Parker, me! Spider-Man, me. He recognized me as soon as he saw me." Tony lets out a deep, calming sigh and nods thoughtfully.
"But you don't remember him? That's odd considering the massive, steel tail. I thought that'd be right up your alley." He tries to lift the mood with humor, which seems to do the trick when Peter smiles gratefully.
"Right? I felt like a subpar opponent," Peter plays along. Tony snorts and rolls his eyes, but the teen continues. "Hey, F.R.I.D.A.Y.? Pull up a hologram of the footage from my suit at the Bugle. Right when Droney made the facial recognition." As soon as he prompts her, F.R.I.D.A.Y. happily obliges and projects the scene from barely an hour ago. Gargan's face is somewhat blurred, but it's recognizable enough. Peter crosses his arms in thought. "And can you cross-reference his features with a man I fought on the, uh, ferry last year? Please? I rammed him into the side of it and I think Toomes nailed him with a car later on." He drums his fingers against his thigh as he waits.
"There's a ninety-eight percent match. I would say you're on the right track," F.R.I.D.A.Y. confirms as Peter and Tony share a look.
"Then we think it's a personal vendetta against your alter ego? Typical revenge scheme?" Tony tries spitballing ideas, having too much experience in the "revenge motive" category. It's a fairly consistent motive for bad guys. Usually, it's between revenge, money, or power, if not all three.
"Actually, he wasn't trying to get at me. He was after this guy named J. Jonah Jameson," Peter recites, thinking back to the offended, very loud man. It hadn't been a particularly pleasant initial meeting. Tony stares at him in utter bewilderment.
"What the hell kind of name is that?" he questions and presses his lips together. Peter just shrugs his shoulders, also at a loss. "Someone really liked their Js. Well, what'd our buddy Mac want with the guy?" Once again, Peter doesn't really have an answer.
"Not sure. He said Mr. Jameson ruined his life, for some reason."
"Oh yeah, that narrows it down," Tony comments sarcastically. He comfortably crosses his arms and leans back against the couch.
"Sorry, that's all I have so far. I'm pretty sure Ned and MJ are looking into it." If Peter had his phone, however, he'd gladly be helping with the research. He inspects his bandage as he explains, fiddling with the edges. In his opinion, he didn't even need to be bandaged up.
"No sorries. You did good, kid." Tony offers a comforting smile and clasps a hand on Peter's shoulder.
"Thanks, Mr. Stark." Peter returns the smile. There's a beat of comfortable silence. "Does that mean you can get May to unground me?" he asks hopefully, pulling out his best puppy dog eyes. Normally, this would immediately get Tony to give in, but he knows better than to contradict May.
"Not a chance," he declines, maintaining his smile. He pats Peter's shoulder twice, then ruffles the kid's hair when he pouts. "That it?" Peter sifts through the entire fight in his head to double check. There's another minor detail that catches his attention, but it doesn't necessarily feel important.
"MJ said the Daily Bugle's trying to use pictures of Spider-Man to stay relevant. They haven't gotten any though. Which I'm just now realizing has nothing to do with Scorpion or the fight, so I should've kept that to myself," he rambles, his face heating up. He clears his throat awkwardly. Tony, however, appears to disagree. He squints his eyes in thought.
"No, I think you're onto something." Peter tilts his head, waiting for Tony to elaborate as the man stands up to pace. Tony comes to a sudden stop and flashes Peter a devious smirk. Uh oh. "Well, looks like Peter and Spidey have something in common." Peter just stares at him for a few seconds.
"…Besides having the same identity?" he feels the need to point out. Tony simply maintains his smile.
"Yes," he affirms. "J. Jonah what's-his-face." Okay, now Peter is thoroughly confused.
"What does Peter Parker have to do with him? Sorry, but I don't understand where this is going." Tony sits back down on the couch in front of Peter with a mischievious look.
"We can safely say that Gargan wants to kill JJ. JJ wants a pic of Spidey. Peter can get said pic of Spidey and simultaneously get the inside scoop on our new friends," Tony explains as if it's the only logical conclusion. As soon as he's finished, he holds his arms out to let Peter bask in his glorious plan.
"You want me to get a fake job at a newspaper company? During winter break?! C'mon, Mr. Stark," Peter groans, letting his face fall into a nearby pillow. All this does is make Peter realize how exhausted he is after today's fight.
"Sheesh you teenagers complain a lot. Melodramatic much?" Tony teases, trying to get a rise out of Peter who seems more like a zombie than a kid. He goes to poke at Peter's ribs, but Peter loosely grabs his wrist without looking up.
"Look who's talking," Peter mumbles into the soft pillow, his voice coming out tired and muffled. Tony raises a challenging eyebrow, even though Peter can't see it, and leans his head to the side to try to get a look at the kid's hidden face.
"Was that sass I heard? I could've sworn you were too tired to sass me." There's obvious humor in his voice as he tries to peer through the brown, messy curls.
"Never too tired to sass you." Peter's head turns to face Tony's "Especially when you're saying I should get a winter break job at the same place I just fought a scorpion villain at! It's break! And Hanukkah starts in a few days!" Peter tries to defend himself, but he knows he's fighting a losing battle. Somehow he's still going to be roped in, regardless of if it's winter break or not. So much for taking it easy after Mysterio.
"We're a whiner today, aren't we?" Tony continues to halfheartedly provoke with a lazy smile. Once again, Peter goes back to groaning into the pillow. "Worst case scenario, JJ screams at you to get out, right? Best case scenario, you give him photos whenever you feel like it. Freelancing doesn't have to have a schedule, kid." Of course, Tony just has to be right. Peter hates to admit it, but it's a good plan.
"Fine," he relents. "But it still sucks." At Peter's grumble, Tony chuckles and stands, shoving his hands in his pockets.
"Welcome to the wonderful world of adulting." Tony nonchalantly waves it off, then gets an idea. Is it a wholehearted or well-thought-out idea? No. But, in his defense, are they ever? "If you want I could write you a letter of recommendation." Peter rambles incoherently into the pillow, running both hands through his hair.
"Nope! No, that's okay! Really!" he then quickly declines. Tony stares down at him taking into account how tense the teen's muscles are for how exhausted he is. He needs to get Peter to relax. The poor kid shouldn't have this much stress, especially when he isn't in school.
"You sure? A clean, crisp rec could really give you a boost. Especially signed 'Anthony Edward Stark.'" All he gets in response at first is inaudible grumbles. "You're right…I'll save that for your college apps." Peter peeks up from the pillow to glare at his mentor.
"You're trying to kill me. I'm going to perish. I'm gonna die before Scorpion even has the chance to skewer me with his awesome, cybernetically-linked tail. I'm done for." Peter only buries his head further into the pillow, too lethargic to move. If he really wanted to, he could probably fall asleep right then and there.
"No skewering allowed. New rule, particularly for Spiderlings." Tony smiles, knowing the nickname is one of many that get under Peter's skin.
"Tired. Can't deal with your scrutiny." That makes Tony narrow his eyes. Usually, Peter would happily argue with him all day long.
"You're not tired enough if you're still using words like 'scrutiny' and 'cybernetically-linked tail.'" When he doesn't get a response, he sighs to himself. "Guess you're too tired to work in the lab then." Peter, suddenly reinvigorated and full of energy, leaps to his feet.
"What're we working on, Mr. Stark?" he excitedly asks as he bounces on his toes. "I was thinking about trying to make some webbing that could withstand acid! Oh! And increase the tensile strength by at least twenty percent. That way Scorpion can't cut through it! We'll have to run a bunch of tests, but that's, like, half the fun!" As Peter rambles out his ideas, Tony can't help the way his eyes soften. That's the hyperactive vigilante he knows.
"Sounds good, kiddo. Let me just-"
"Okay boys! Dinner's ready!" May calls from the kitchen, unintentionally cutting Tony short. Both Peter and Tony make eye contact. There's no way they'd be able to get out of a family dinner to hang out in the Workshop.
"And since you didn't help cook, you both get to do the dishes!" Pepper adds on without remorse. Peter seems to slump at the idea of washing dishes and, frankly, Tony believes it's far outside of his status. However, they both know better than to challenge either Pepper or May, let alone both of them simultaneously. Yet Peter still allows his eyes to gleam with mischief.
"Think we could get Dum-E and U to do them?" he ponders aloud. Tony lifts both his eyebrows, slightly surprised he hadn't thought of the idea himself.
"It's not necessarily the best idea…" he points out, his lips pursed.
"But science is all about testing hypotheses," Peter counters logically. The both of them stand there, weighing their options. Tony hums, seriously considering Peter's counterargument.
"Don't know 'til you try." They glance to each other again, then put their less-than-ingenious plan into motion.
As one could have guessed, it doesn't exactly go according to plan. Then again, they didn't have a well thought out plan to begin with. Sure, dinner goes well as they all eat homemade lasagna and hamantaschen. Then, of course, Dum-E and U come up a bit early. They're all sitting in the lavish dining room when Peter senses it coming. He only has time to let his head thump onto the table, completely and utterly done with basically everything. The rest of them stare at Peter, until a crash sounds from the kitchen.
"Shit," Tony says under his breath, instantly knowing what it is. Rhodey and Pepper whip around to face the sudden noise, but May keeps her eyes trained on Tony and Peter.
"And what was that?" she questions. She doesn't know what caused the sound of a plate shattering, but she knows culprits when she sees them.
"I dunno," Peter says, shrugging his shoulders as he refuses to look up. A beep and whistle sound before Dum-E peeks out from the kitchen.
"Useless hunk of scraps," Tony mutters. In hindsight, he should've seen that coming.
"Way to go Paul." What is a disaster without commentary from the all-knowing F.R.I.D.A.Y. with the perfectly timed vines. Peter lifts his head long enough to rest his chin on the table and laugh to himself. As May gives Peter an exasperated, scolding look, Pepper fixes her glare on Tony. Tony, on the other hand, is scowling at the ceiling.
"What did I say about quoting random names?" he questions another one of his revolting UIs. His downfall will be his ridiculous robots, he just knows it.
"Nice, Ron," F.R.I.D.A.Y. responds with instead. Peter has a sleepy smile on his face, which is the cutest thing to pretty much everyone in the room, but it doesn't stop Tony from complaining.
"Haven't I suffered enough? Are you not satisfied?" he questions Peter, eyes almost pleading. Peter chooses to shake his head, too tired to feel even remotely empathetic.
"This is just the beginning, Mr. Stark." Tony stares at him, his eyes slowly narrowing with suspicion.
"That was a reference, wasn't it," he states more than asks. Peter smiles triumphantly as Rhodey rubs his forehead and May clears her throat to keep from laughing. All the while Pepper abserves with a soft smile.
"Don't worry about it. I wouldn't make you sit through the prequels." Peter looks at Tony innocently, only making the latter worry that much more.
After a nice dinner with their superhero family and a brief compromise with May, Peter leaves the Tower to head home. He wanted to spend some time down in the workshop with Tony, but May reminded him that he's technically grounded for the night and they already had a night planned together. So, with a promise to text Peter tomorrow, Tony bids the two goodnight.
"What movies do you wanna watch when we get home?" Peter asks as soon as they pull away from the Tower.
"Nuh uh, you're grounded, remember?" May reminds, flashing him a boastful smile. Peter throws his head back into the seat and rubs his hands down his face.
"But you said-"
"No electronics," May finishes for him, but for some reason she's still smiling. Reluctantly, Peter lowers his hands and gives her a skeptical side glance.
"So, what are we going to do then?" he asks carefully. He can tell she has something planned, he just isn't sure what that something is. Catching onto Peter's hesitance, May decides to divulge the idea she had during dinner. She would've kept it as a surprise, but she can tell how exhausted Peter is.
"I was just thinking we could go for a walk," she offers sweetly. "Fresh, winter breeze. The ambient sound of horns honking and drunk rambling in the distance." Peter chuckles at his aunt's attempt to lighten the weight on Peter's shoulders. It's finally dark outside, creeping up on 9pm, and Peter can practically feel the cold seeping in through his window. He's already beyond exhausted at this point, but the idea of taking a walk with May is too good to pass up. The last time they had a simple, nice walk together was before Ben. "You need to clear your head," May adds when Peter has been silent for too long. Her concerned eyes look briefly to him before looking back to the road. "You're letting all this superhero stuff wear you down. Take at least one night to relax." Peter knows that she's right, he just…doesn't want to miss anything.
"Yeah, okay. That sounds nice," he agrees with a reassuring smile. The last thing he wants to do is worry May like that.
"Good. I was going to make you come anyways," May chirps, happy to do something one-on-one with her boy. Peter playfully rolls his eyes, but his smile doesn't falter.
After getting to the apartment and grabbing coats, the two begin their meandering as they enjoy each other's company. It isn't until after fifteen minutes or so of chatting about the latest Buzzfeed Unsolved episodes and Hanukkah preparation that May starts to reveal her true intentions.
"So, 'Scorpion' huh?" she asks, throwing up air quotes that don't add the same effect when her hands are gloved. Peter shrugs his shoulders, putting up his hood to block the cold from reaching his ears.
"Y'know, just another bad guy trying to get revenge and a spot on the five o'clock news," he relays nonchalantly. He can see his breath as he speaks due to how cold it is. Goosebumps race across his skin and he crosses his arms to insulate some of the heat, but he doesn't shiver. That's another thing that he isn't used to yet. He just doesn't shiver anymore. "Man, I hate winter. Stupid spiders with their useless thermoregulation," he grumbles. May laughs at his mumbling as she pulls off her earmuffs to hand them to Peter. Her cheeks are tinted pink from the wind, but she still has her scarf to keep her warm.
"Next time get bit by something that's warm-blooded," she suggests as she slips the earmuffs under Peter's hood and over his ears.
"Thanks," he says gratefully, adjusting the earmuffs. "Do you have any of those-" Before he can finish, May is holding out a hand-warmer. He smiles his thanks this time and tucks the hand-warmer underneath one of his gloves. "Mr. Stark said I could get a freelancing job over the break. That way I could get to know Mr. Jameson and get the upper hand on Scorpion." He doesn't like the idea, per se, but if it helps him catch Scorpion faster then he'll do it.
"Are you sure you want to?" May inquires, somewhat unconvinced, as she watches the cars go by. The first snow of the month hasn't fallen, but it could be any day now. It's certainly cold enough.
"I mean, it's okay, I guess. As long as I still get time with you guys. Plus, you said last week I need to do more things outside of Spider-Man," Peter reminds her, hoping to convince her.
"It still has to do with Spider-Man." May gives him a pointed look, to which he just gives her an innocent smile. "Sure, go for it. But that's not why you're upset." Peter's head snaps up and he makes eye contact with her perceptive eyes.
"What? Who, who said I was, I'm, I'm not upset about anything," he counters, pressing his lips together. His nose starts to run and he sniffs disinterestedly in a way that reminds him too much of Tony. Great, now he's picking up Tony's mannerisms. It's already bad enough that he picked up most of May's.
"Oh sure, tough guy," May humors him, shooting him a knowing smirk. Peter huffs, more than aware that he already gave himself away. "It's a miracle you made it this far with a secret identity." At this point Peter wants to be grumpy, he really does, but the way May teases him always makes him grin against his will.
"Yeah, well, I'm working on it. Glad you're amused." He averts his gaze, still smiling, and looks at the tops of the skyscrapers in the distance. Their peaks have blinking red lights to serve as a warning for aircrafts, but for now illuminate the surrounding dark clouds. He sighs, watching the water vapor from his breath rise in the cold air. "I have a bad feeling about this guy." May's eyebrows pull together.
"As in a bad…spider related feeling?" she asks as she puts her hands in her pockets. Actually, Peter isn't entirely sure.
"Maybe. This new guy he's…I just…I dunno. With Mysterio it was one thing, he was trying to get attention. He'd attack places to get in the spotlight. He needed that audience. It was something we could use against him." He distantly recalls how they used Quentin's ego to take him down, it was a hard quality to miss.
"But?" May prompts, concentrating intently on her nephew's words. Peter pulls his eyes away from the blinking lights to look at May's. Her eyes reflect the bright headlights from the street.
"This guy, he's…he's the definition of a loose cannon. His motive isn't predictable and his attacks are all over the place. He doesn't want to put on a show, he just wants revenge. That means hurting anyone who gets in the way. And I know I'm there to make sure that doesn't happen, but how am I supposed to beat someone when I don't have a strategy?" Peter finally voices the thoughts that have been swimming around his head all evening. He's still new to all the villain fighting, so he doesn't have a whole lot of experience.
"Listen, sweetheart," May stops walking, turns to him, and places her warm hands on his shoulders, "all you can do is your best. You've only fought him once, give yourself a little credit, okay? You didn't have Mysterio all figured out after one fight." Peter sighs, but nods knowing she's right. He needs to relax and let the learning process take its course. "Just promise me you'll be safe," May urges, worry lines creasing around her eyes.
"I promise," Peter says with exasperation, but he means it and May can tell. She smiles sweetly and rubs Peter's cold cheeks.
"Let's head home and get some hot cocoa." Peter seems to relax at her suggestion and nods gratefully.
"That sounds great. Thanks, May." They turn around and start walking back towards their apartment complex. The white headlight reflections in May's eyes shift to red to reflect tail lights.
"Anything for you, monster."
May didn't get enough love in the last movie so I made it my personal mission to give her more screen time in this :) NEXT CHAPTER WE GET 1. first look at Peter's first interaction with JJ as Peter 2. Team Spidey time and 3. and...a surprise character? Guess we'll find out next Saturday!
Thank you for reading! ❤️️ 💛💚💙💜
If you'd like to keep up to date on upcoming fics and get sneak peeks, feel free to follow one of my accounts!
Instagram: kevy_fanfics
Tumblr: kevyfanfics
Twitter: Kevy_Fanfics