Irondadmadlads Irondad Prompt #31:
Peter suddenly starts struggling in school. Tony isn't sure what's going on, until he learns Peter has a new teacher; one who's seemingly out to get him.
Setting Things Straight
Tony was sipping his coffee (What number was that? Eh. FRIDAY could tell him if he cared) and manipulating a new Starkwatch design on his tablet with his other hand when he heard teenage voices approaching the kitchen. That's right; Pete was bringing Ned to the Tower with him today to work on a school project in Tony's lab. Tony smirked slightly. Ned was a fun kid to mess with. Scarily adept at coding, but also fairly gullible. Tony liked him, partially just because he was such a great friend to Peter. But also because he was a genuinely good kid. A bit excitable though.
Ned's animated tones were carrying farther than he probably realized right now, and Tony could clearly hear his commentary.
"But Peter, if you don't bring your grade up, you're going to be ineligible for the big AcaDec meet next weekend."
They were getting closer, and Tony could hear Peter's quieter voice now, too.
"I'm trying Ned! I don't know what Mr. Vernac's issue is. I swear he has it out for me. I mean, I do okay on all of the multiple choice stuff on the tests, but I can't do anything right on any of the essay questions. I thought I did good work on that last paper, and he gave me a 70!"
"You should talk to someone!"
"Who am I supposed to talk to Ned? I'd just sound like I'm complaining because my grade is bad!"
"Ugh. What do you think his deal is?"
"I honestly have no idea. But it's getting really frustrating, and it's messing things up. I really don't know what to do. I'm studying like crazy for Physics, but my grade's not improving much."
Physics? Tony had read his last physics paper, and it was excellent. What was going on?
"Hey, kid. Hey, Fred."
"Mr. Sta-ark," Peter complained.
"Just kidding, Ned. How's the hacking life?" Ned smiled wanly and swallowed nervously. As far as he knew, he was still on Tony's blacklist for helping Peter hack his suit again a few months back, which had led to an encounter with one of the Mob's crime families and some pretty serious injuries. Tony was impressed the boy had been brave enough to show up at the Tower today, actually.
Peter gave Tony a quelling look, and set his hand on Ned's shoulder to steer him towards the kitchen. Ned glanced back worriedly at Tony, and Tony stared him down, using two fingers to make the "I'm watching you" gesture. The boy practically squeaked, and turned quickly the opposite way. See? Fun.
"You okay, Ned?" Peter asked in confusion. He shot Tony a quick glare. "Behave, Mr. Stark. We're going to grab some snacks and head down, to the lab. Is that okay?"
"Yeah, of course. Do you need my help with anything?"
"I don't think so. Is there anything we shouldn't touch right now?"
"The two of you ? Anything you don't specifically need for your project, hands off, Pinky and the Brain. At least while I'm not down there. FRIDAY's on babysitting duty."
Peter huffed in annoyance at the teasing, and at the monitoring, rolling his eyes as they headed for the elevator. His partner in crime stayed silent and studiously avoided looking Tony's direction again. Tony smiled at their retreating backs. Ned was a good kid. But a healthy fear of Tony's wrath could only be a good thing the next time Peter aimed those dang puppy-dog eyes at his friend.
Peter and Ned spent the rest of the afternoon and evening on their Engineering project, and pronounced it done by 7:30 when Ned's dad picked him up. Apparently they had a family dinner with some relatives he needed to be at. That worked out for Tony, since he wanted to chat with Peter a little bit about what he'd overheard earlier.
"Hey," Tony greeted as Peter slid down next to him on the couch with a big plate of spaghetti and garlic bread.
"Hey, thanks for making me dinner," Peter said. I love your cooking."
"Mmm, I only know how to make about five things. I don't know if we can call it 'my cooking,'" Tony said.
"Yeah, but they're all great. You know I made your lasagna recipe again for May last week, and she was so impressed! I didn't mess it up at all! But I couldn't find ricotta cheese at the corner store, so I had to do cottage cheese instead."
"My mother would turn over in her grave, Pete," Tony mock-scolded.
"Yeah, I know," the teen said, unperturbed. "But it was still good. I bet she would've eaten it, too."
Tony just shook his head woefully, trying not to break into a smile. It was nice to have someone to talk about his mom with sometimes. He had told Peter quite a bit about her, and he was sure she and the kid would get along famously, if she'd still been around.
"So what's going on with your Physics teacher?" Tony asked casually. The TV was playing a baking show he knew Peter liked, but he also knew he'd seen this episode recently.
Peter's face darkened. "I dunno. I can't seem to get ahead in his class. But I don't feel like I'm having trouble with the material." He sighed in frustration. "Ned said it seems like he's got something against me, and I'm starting to believe him."
"Any idea what it might be?" Tony was trying to give the man the benefit of the doubt, but as one who worked with Peter regularly on much higher-level stuff, he sincerely doubted Peter was having any trouble with the high school-level course, even at an advanced school like Midtown.
"Not really. He did have some weird comments on my last paper. I was talking about some of our research here, with the possible applications of arc reactor tech to supplement existing energy grids, and it seemed like he was inferring I had… I dunno. Made it up?"
"Made it up?" Tony was starting to get annoyed.
"I mean, I know most of the kids at school have heard rumors about my internship here, and they think I'm making it up, but the teachers would know it's real. Wouldn't they?"
"Well, I don't know, Pete. It seems like it would be easy for them to find out, if they tried, though. The paperwork's all in place, and Morita definitely knows about it. Your chemistry teacher, who does AcaDec with you? What's his name? Harrington? He knows, doesn't he?"
"I think so? He doesn't treat me differently when I've said I have to miss if we have something important happening in the lab that day. But I'm not sure. Maybe he's just really nice."
Tony frowned. "I haven't heard of this other guy, Vernac," he pronounced ir questioningly, and Peter nodded glumly, "before. Is he new?"
"Yeah, just this year. He replaced Ms. Warren, and I liked her."
"Huh. Has this teacher ever asked you about your internship?"
"No," he said thoughtfully, "but now that I think about it, when I was talking to Ned about something to do with you the other day, I'm sure he heard me, and I feel like he was glaring at me after that, and kept calling on me in class when he thought I couldn't know the answer." Peter looked rather annoyed himself as he seemed to view the memory through a new lens.
"And did you know the answers?"
"Of course," Peter grinned confidently. And maybe a bit cockily now that he thought his teacher really had been trying to trip him up.
"That's my boy," Tony smirked.
"It's really not hard stuff compared to what we work on in the lab, you know?" Peter looked just a little desperate for Tony to agree with him. Tony felt frustrated this teacher was making Peter doubt himself. Tony had worked pretty hard on building up the young genius's self-confidence about how capable he was.
"Yeah," Tony drawled, some thoughts forming. "Are there any other teachers that it's come up with, or who act like they don't believe you, or it matters if they know?"
"Ms. Taylor, the academic advisor, obviously knows, but she seems kind of quiet, and mostly keeps to herself. Otherwise I guess it doesn't really matter. If Mr. Harrington doesn't believe it, I definitely wish he did. Otherwise, what must he think of all the excuses I've used it for? Between actual lab issues and, well," he made a webslinging motion with his hand, "I've ducked out on them a lot." Peter looked dejected. "Some of the other kids already think I'm kind of a flake. I guess at least MJ knows it's real. And, actually, Flash, since that time you had to come to the office," he said, looking thoughtful. "He's been quieter since then. Hasn't bugged me much."
Well, that was one thing to be grateful for. "I wouldn't worry about it too much, kid. I'm sure things will improve soon," he said, pulling him into kind of a side hug, and directing his attention to the TV. "Remember this part, when the entire cake falls and gets destroyed? Definitely worth a rewatch."
"Tony, no! It's a tragedy !" But his eyes were suddenly eagerly glued to the upcoming train wreck in the screen.
Tony typed out a quick message on his phone.
Hey May, any chance you could call the school and request a meeting tomorrow after school? I'd like to see Morita, Harrington, and Vernac along with us. Apparently there's a question of the legitimacy of Peter's internship, and one of the teachers is giving him a hard time because of it.
Harrington?
No, but Peter would like to make sure he knows, I think, since he interacts with him a lot. Peter doesn't know about this meeting, but I think it will improve things for him, if you're okay with me running point.
Actually, I have to work all day tomorrow, and the next (I'm off all weekend though!) but let me see if they'll schedule the meeting with you standing in as his parent, since you're on his emergency contact list, if I authorize it.
That would be great, thanks. Oh, Taylor too, if she's available. She's got all the paperwork.
Gotcha.
Then a few minutes later, Tony smiled at her response.
It's a go. Right after school in Morita's office. Thanks, Tony. I wish I could be there to see you work your magic.
Pepper's got meetings, or we'd see some real magic. I'm second string, but I'm pretty sure I can handle this group. We're watching a few shows, but I'll have Happy bring Peter home soon.
Thanks!
Tony reached over and absently smoothed his fingers through the hair at the back of Peter's head.
Peter made a noise of appreciation and leaned back into his touch for a moment before he remembered he was a big tough teenager, and ducked his head away. "Hey, you're messing my hair up."
"Whatever. It's almost time for spider-kids to be in bed. And it was already messed up. I was trying to fix it."
"Oh, okay then," he sighed, putting himself back in reach of Tony's fingers.
He gave it a few more soft swipes for good measure. "Much better."
"I think you missed a few pieces on top," Peter said, his voice aiming (poorly) for indifference.
Tony smiled and reached his hand back into the kid's hair, definitely messing it up more than smoothing it over the next few minutes. Peter gave up the annoyance charade and sighed happily, leaning in a little closer to Tony while they watched them scrape the mountain of pink cake off the concrete.
Shortly before school let out the next day, Tony found himself perched comfortably on the couch in Principal Morita's office. The man in question was looking at him dubiously in between glancing through Peter's Physics paper that Tony had slipped from his backpack last night when he went to the bathroom. He wondered if Peter had noticed it was missing.
"Mr. Stark, I'm really not well-versed enough to know if this is a fair grade or not." Morita seemed anxious about what Tony wanted with him and some of his staff, but was trying to show some support for them, which Tony could appreciate.
"I know that. I just wanted you to see the actual paper, and some of the comments on it. He seems to think Peter is lying about his internship with me, and I'm just here to clarify."
"Um, I can see how they could be construed that way, and while I agree that Peter's grades in all other areas are exemplary, it is possible that he's struggling with the concepts right now, so-"
"Actually, it's not possible. I've worked with him weekly for a year on much more complicated matters, and he's quite adept, I assure you." Tony delivered all this in a very calm, almost disinterested tone. He'd left his tinted sunglasses on, and that, too, seemed to be unsettling the principal. Well, good. This place could use a little unsettling.
Morita seemed to give up trying to placate him. he opened the door and spoke to the administrative assistant. "Can you please have Peter Parker report to my office?"
Tony's sharp ears could just barely pick up her voice as she switched to a phone receiver. "Mr. Vernac? Please have Peter Parker bring his things and report to Mr. Morita's office." She was silent as the teacher responded. "I'm sure I don't know what it's about. Have him bring his things, obviously."
A few minutes later, right as the dismissal bell rang, Peter came stumbling in. For a kid with super reflexes, he sure seemed to trip over his own sneakers a lot. It was a good thing his suit didn't have rubber soles, Tony thought absently. As Peter spied him there, and his eyes widened to owl-levels, Tony slipped his sunglasses off to greet him warmly.
"Hey, kid."
"Mr. - Mr. Stark, what are you doing here?"
Morita frowned slightly at Peter's strangled-and-nearly-accusing tone, and almost opened his mouth before he seemed to decide against it.
"Just having a little chat with our dear principal. Sit," he said, patting the couch next to him and slipping his shades back on.
Peter looked wary, but obediently dropped his backpack to the floor and sat next to Tony. Tony set his hand on his shoulder with a brief squeeze, and it seemed to have the intended purpose of relaxing the kid a little, because he settled back against the cushion without further protest. Tony hoped that meant that once he got past the shock, Peter did mostly trust him. The "mostly" part was the same reason Pepper only "mostly" trusted him, and it had everything to do with his history for making a scene at times. He wasn't planning on any scenes today, but he did have to play off the supporting actors, so there was always that chance…
Morita made awkward small talk with Peter while they waited for the other staff members, and Tony did get the feeling that the man cared about his students, including Peter. Point for him. Speaking of points, or lack thereof, the next person to enter the room was an unfamiliar man. Tony assumed he was looking at Peter's Physics teacher, though the vibe he gave off was more small-town-jock-ten-years-ago-who-was-used-to-being-important. Tony felt a smile grow on his face that was similar to the one he gave to obnoxious reporters. It was a little more predatory than pleasant.
Tony watched the blonde man "read the room." He was not a speed-reader. He had walked in with a hand planted on his hip, mouth open to ask Morita a question. Then he'd seen Peter on the couch and his face had turned to a mix of annoyed-but-also-satisfied. Now his gaze traveled to Tony, and his face dropped into confusion, then very, very slowly to surprised recognition. It morphed even further to mildly horrified as he finally put dots together between Tony's identity, Peter's obvious comfort being in the billionaire's space, and some assumptions he was realizing were horribly wrong. His body language slowly reflected his changed confidence level as he stepped sideways, away from Tony and Peter, and clutched the papers he'd been carrying with both hands, close to his body.
"Uh, Principal Morita, what exactly did you need to talk to me about?" he asked in a strained voice, obviously hoping with everything in him that the pair on the couch had nothing to do with his summons, but really being a little too smart to believe it.
"Mr. Parker's guardian called this meeting at Mr. Stark's request. It seems there have been some misunderstandings, and he has some concerns," Morita explained diplomatically. "But we'll wait for Mr. Harrington and Mrs. Taylor."
Those two came in nearly together, Mrs. Taylor looking mildly alarmed and clutching a sheaf of papers. She looked a little winded. Mr. Harrington just looked curious, especially as his eyes took in the occupants of the room. He digested it faster than his colleague, though his eyes blew wide as he recognized Tony with Peter on the couch.
"Have a seat, gentlemen, Mrs. T," Morita said wearily. "As I just told Mr. Vernac, Mr. Parker's aunt, asked for each of you to attend this hopefully short meeting at Mr. Stark's request. He has some concerns."
After some deliberation, Tony had decided to stand for this part. As he rose to take his place at the head of his room, he gently swiped a hand across Peter's hair. Peter gave him a slightly unimpressed look, but mostly he just looked mildly embarrassed and completely resigned. He knew there was no stopping this train, and that protesting would just call attention to himself. He opted for polite interest. Smart kid, of course. Tony's sharp gaze had also caught the surprise in Harrington's face at the gesture and the incredulity in Vernac's. Taylor was unmoved, but still looked harried.
"It has come to my attention that Mr. Parker's internship with me-that's me, personally, not just with Stark Industries-is a matter of debate. I understand that it's better for Peter for it not to be public knowledge, but since it seems to be causing some issues, I've asked a few of you here for clarification."
Tony walked over to the academic advisor. "Mrs. Taylor, I assume that's the school's copy of the paperwork that I asked for?"
"Yes, Mr. Stark." She handed over the untidy stack. Pepper would have frozen her with her I-disapprove-of-your-disorganization stare (one that Tony had been the recipient of many times) but Tony merely accepted them and tapped them on Morita's desk to bring them to order.
"Yes, let's see. It looks like this paperwork was filed over six weeks ago. But I can assure you that Peter has been working with me, officially, on our end, since last November. We only registered it with the school now when we realized he could get credit for it as a sophomore. Would anyone like to inspect the paperwork?" He asked with false enthusiasm. The two teachers both shook their heads. Harrington looked a little confused while Vernac looked slightly green.
"I… have to say I'm surprised to find Peter is working with you personally," Mr. Harrington said hesitantly, "but I haven't ever questioned him about his internship at your company. I didn't understand how it could happen, but I didn't think he was lying… "
"You're only here because Peter wanted to make sure you knew it was legit, because you're the one that's most often inconvenienced by my… let's say eccentric schedule and need to have my assistant on hand," Tony assured him. Mr. Harrington looked relieved, and his posture relaxed a little. "I always knew he was smart, but… wow!" The man let himself grin a little bit now, and he was watching Tony with just a smidge of awe.
"You, however," Tony said icily, as he turned to Vernac, "seem to have decided that Mr. Parker was not being truthful about his experience in my personal lab, and it seems that you've you've been acting on that assumption when making grading decisions, instead of taking steps to verify it."
The man opened his mouth, but Tony cut him off. "My main piece of evidence is this paper, which I borrowed from Peter, without his knowledge - sorry, kid- after hearing about his poor score." Peter gaped slightly at Tony, but then just rolled his eyes and slouched down a little on the couch. He knew acceptance was the easiest course at this point.
"Mr. Vernac, would you agree that I'm an expert in the field of Physics?"
"Yes," the man said quietly.
"I read this paper before Peter turned it in, and it's definitely college-level. I had my fiancée read it over, too, and she checked it for English and grammatical errors, and pronounced it wholly adequate." Peter's eyes were a little wider now. From your comments, it seems like your main objections had to do with your disbelief that he'd actually been involved in the research he cited, and that it even existed, is that correct?"
Mr. Vernac, not having many other options, nodded shallowly.
"I can assure you that not only was Peter involved, but that the research is sound, and that the suppositions he refers to are as well. Knowing this, don't you think it's only fair that you re-grade this paper? Honest mistakes and all that, but please do be very, very fair this time." Pepper would probably kick him under the table if he let that particular facial expression out during any of their board meetings, but Pepper wasn't here, was she? And it seemed to be very effective for its intended purpose.
Mr. Vernac swallowed and nodded. He reached his hand out for the paper, but Tony pulled it back. "Oh this one's already marked up. Please feel free to use a clean copy from your inbox. You might also be inspired to re-check the essay questions from the last several tests now that you have new information. We scientists love to act on new information, don't we?" Not waiting for an answer, he turned to Mr. Harrington. "I think you'll find this will clear up any concerns about Peter's eligibility for Academic Decathlon, as well, Mr. Harrington." The man nodded eagerly.
"Any further questions? Are we done here?" Tony said brusquely as he glanced around expectantly. Everyone in the room (except Peter, who was looking at him with an inscrutable expression) shook their heads.
"Thanks for coming in to clear that up, Mr. Stark. I'm sure everyone appreciates it." Morita finally said. Tony was sure everyone did, too.
"Let's go, Pete," he said. When the boy reluctantly stood and stepped over to join him, Tony put a hand gently at the back of his neck to steer him through the office door. "So lovely to see you all. We should do this more often." He was pretty sure Peter covered up a huff of laughter with a cough. Finally. He'd thought the kid would never break. Tony waltzed them out of the room, leaving chaos, new understanding, and a touch of healthy fear behind him. Just like he liked it.
He couldn't fix all of Peter's problems, but since he'd inadvertently caused this one, he thought it only fair he cleared things up. He was fairly confident his kid's Physics grade would be just fine by the end of the semester. He knew Peter would keep working hard at it, but hopefully with more to show for his efforts now.
Tony's black Audi sped away from the school.
"This isn't the right direction. What are you doing?"
"It isn't? You sure?"
Peter gave him a flat look.
"I asked May what else I could do to help this week, and she said you've grown another inch and none of your jeans fit right, but she hasn't been able to get you to a store to try on some new ones. So that's what we're doing right now. I know a guy," he finished with a smirk.
Peter slumped in the passenger seat, looking like all his strings had been cut. "Mr. Stark ! Ugh, not again."
"You don't like it, stop growing. Or cooperate with your aunt when she asks you to go with her next time."
"You have to promise not to be embarrassing. And I have to get normal jeans, not like expensive designer ones that—"
"I have to promise nothing of the sort. But I'm sure they have something normal there. Maybe in the back," he smiled.
Peter huffed out a little angry-teenager noise. "You are so extra sometimes." It wasn't a compliment.
"Kid, I'm Tony Stark. I'm always extra. Lucky you, right?"
Peter side-eyed his mentor, but a little half smile twitched on his face. "Whatever you say, sir."
"Watch it, junior. You remind me more of me every day," he said in an ominous tone.
The smile was fully formed now. "Eh, there are worse things." He was quiet for a minute. "Even though it was over-the-top, thanks for today. I wasn't sure what to do about that, and nothing I'd tried seemed to be working."
"That's what I'm here for. To bail you out when you're in over your head. I have to say it's easier on my heart condition when it's a Peter Parker-esque problem vs. a Spiderman problem, so thanks for that."
Peter rolled his eyes. "They feel pretty similar to me, since I'm the one dealing with them. So thanks for the save."
"Anytime, kid. Iron Man to the rescue."
Peter's groan from the passenger seat prompted another smile from Tony, and then a genuine laugh at his last comment:
"I guess I should just be glad he didn't show up today to fix this. I wouldn't put it past you."
