"So?" Tony asked once the boys were in the car. "How did it go?"

"It's a lot like where I live," Pete replied. "Except for Flash."

"What's different about Flash?" Stark asked, curiously, focusing on traffic but still looking in the rearview mirror at the boy.

"He's kind of a jerk, here. Not to just Peter, but to everyone."

"And he isn't in your world?"

"No," Peter said, answering for Pete. He looked a little excited, and he was turned in the seat so he could look at Tony and back at Pete, who was in the back. "Know why?"

"Why?"

It had to be good, if Peter was animated about it.

"Because everyone knows Pete's Spiderman in his reality."

Tony was surprised.

"They do?"

"Yeah." Now it was Pete who responded. "They have since last year. Almost two years, now."

"How did that happen?"

"It was on purpose," Pete told him – and Peter. "I hid what I could do, at first," he explained. "From May and everybody. But Doctor Strange figured out who I was, somehow."

"Probably with magic," Tony said, interested but unable to get in a dig when he could – even if Stephen wasn't there to hear it. "He's a busybody."

Peter smiled at that, wishing Stephen were there to roll his eyes, but he turned his attention back to Pete, wanting to hear the rest. Tony did, also.

"And he confronted me one night – like I told you. Only I took off because I thought he was a perv, or something. Then he went to May, and he told her."

"He did?"

"Yeah. He told her that what I was doing could be dangerous and since I was a minor, he thought she should know what I was up to."

"What a jerk," Peter said, frowning.

"I was pretty mad," Pete agreed. "When she confronted me. Not at her," he added, quickly. "But at him. I pointed out that he should have minded his own business, but the cat was out of the bag, by then, so we sat down and discussed what I could do and what I should do with it."

"Did you tell her you wanted to become a bank robber?" Tony asked, smiling at the boy's reflection.

It still wasn't his own face – they would wait until they were back at the compound to turn off the tech – but he knew what Pete looked like and it didn't matter. Sure enough, the boy grinned at the teasing.

"No. But I could have been, right? I'm stealthy and strong and I bet I could break into Fort Knox, if I wanted to."

"But you don't," Tony reminded him – and Peter, before his son got any bright ideas about that particular challenge.

"No. Of course not. I don't break the law."

"I am the law," Peter said, his voice doing a fair imitation of Stallone – even though Tony didn't catch the movie reference.

Not surprisingly, Pete did – and he laughed.

"Right?" He shrugged. "We didn't really plan on telling the world, or anything, but I was swinging one day and my mask came off and that was that." He smiled, wryly. "It was kind of a relief, really. Then I didn't have to try and hide what I could do."

"Wow…"

"What was the initial reaction?" Tony asked, curiously. "Did you have a press conference, or anything?"

"No. It was a bit crazy at first, though. Everyone wanted me to do all of these endorsements and stuff – and some of them were a lot of money."

"But you didn't?" Peter asked.

"No. I was tempted, though. We're not poor or anything, but it'd be fun to be rich."

"What made you decide not to?"

"May. She said she didn't want to deal with all of the confusion and the paperwork – and since I'm a minor, she'd be the one doing it. She said when I turn eighteen, I can do whatever I want. And then Doctor Strange suggested that I become his apprentice and see if magic might be the right course for me, so I did that, instead. I don't get paid, of course, but we're doing good and I have everything I need or want, really."

"I can't believe the Avengers haven't come knocking," Tony said, shaking his head. "Or SHIELD, anyway."

"I think they're watching me," Pete told him. "And maybe someone has said something to May, I don't know. Probably she told them that they have to wait until I'm eighteen, too."

"May would do that, I bet," Peter agreed. "She'd make sure no one could put you into danger."

"Yeah."

"So the kids at your school are alright with you being Spiderman?" Tony asked.

"Yeah. They like it." He grinned. "I like it, too. Flash wasn't the only bully that thought I was a good target," he reminded them. "But when I came out, they stopped messing with me – of course."

"Of course."

"So you're friends with Flash in your reality?"

"Not friends, really," Pete said, shaking his head. "I'm friends with Ned and dating MJ, but I don't have many more friends than I did before the spider bite. Too much to do and too little time to socialize, I guess."

And Peter had always been something of a loner, Tony knew. No reason that Pete wasn't, also.

"Do you play football?" Peter asked.

"No. Even if I had the time, I wouldn't."

"Because you'd be too good?" Tony hazarded.

"Because May wouldn't let me play," Pete replied. "She'd be too worried I'd get hurt."

Peter wasn't the only one to grin at that.

OOOOOOOOO

Pepper wasn't home by the time they arrived at the compound but she was on the way, according to Friday. Pete deactivated the SHIELD device and handed it over to Tony with relief, glad to be back in his own skin, so to speak.

"Mom will be home in half an hour," Tony told Peter. "We'll eat sometime after that. Find something to do and stay out of trouble."

"Right."

The boys walked toward Peter's quarters since he needed to drop off his backpack, still.

"I designed a pumpkin chucker this morning," Pete told Peter. "If you want to see it, later."

"Yeah. That sounds great. Did you have a good time, then? With Tony, I mean?"

"He's a pretty smart guy, isn't he?"

"Yes. He is in your reality too, though, right?"

"I know he is, but it's more impressive when you actually get to watch him work up close. Even though we were only working on low-tech catapult mechanisms."

"True. He built the Rescue suit Pepper has in just days. He's still designing an AI for her, but there's no rush and she isn't in a hurry."

"She showed it to me," Pete told him. "When I first got here. It's incredible. Did he build you a suit, too?" Pete asked. "Before the one Shuri made for you?"

"Yeah. It's the usual colors. The one Shuri made is black, because of the vibranium in it."

"Vibranium?"

"It's…" Peter shrugged. "It's easier to just show you. Come on."

He led the other boy back to his room and spent the time between then and Pepper's arrival at the compound showing Pete his new vibranium suit and explaining some of the tech behind it. He even let him try it out, knowing that the guy might not get another chance.

"This is so cool…"

Peter smiled, feeling a surge of pride.

"Right?"

The other boy deactivated the suit and handed the housing mechanism back to Peter.

"Now that I've seen what it can do, I'm going to take a harder look at making a more flexible suit like this."

"You should," Peter agreed, pressing the housing back onto his hip and pulling his shirt down over it. "It's safer, and that will make May worry less about you doing patrols and things."

"Good point."

"Stephen and Wong might be able to help you, too," Peter added as they left his room and headed for the lounge, having waited too long to meet Pepper in the garage when she'd driven in. "Your Stephen and Wong, I mean. Tech and magic aren't exactly the same, but they do work, together. We've proven it – so don't let your Stephen tell you otherwise."

Pete shrugged.

"I'm just the apprentice," he reminder Peter. "But I'll definitely try."

It'd be worth the effort for a cool new suit, wouldn't it?