When I Say Jump

Hey kid, can you stay later tonight? If you're okay with it, I thought we might do some of that ability testing we talked about a few weeks ago.

I think so, but let me double check with May

She said that's fine, if you feed me

You added that last part, didn't you?

I don't know what you're talking about

As the kid came crashing into his lab, Tony compared the difference between now and several weeks ago when the boy's movements had still been more cautious. And he'd been quieter. He tried to tell himself that he missed the less-chaotic, overly-respectful version of the teenager, but he knew it wasn't true. He liked that the teen was finally feeling comfortable here.

"Mr. Stark, you got Red Vines! I love Red Vines, thanks!"

"Andrea got the Red Vines, I'm sure, (he said, speaking of one of Pepper's assistants) so if you want to write her a love letter, you're more than welcome to."

Peter rolled his eyes good-naturedly and collapsed sideways on the couch, Red Vines and a banana in one hand and three Uncrustables in the other.

"Shoes off my furniture, you heathen."

"Have you seen this thing? Pretty sure shoes couldn't hurt it." But he obediently sat like a human being anyway.

"So, what all are we going to test with my physiology today? Will there be uh, needles involved?" His voice sounded nonchalant, but his face was screwed up in concern.

"No needles today kid, but that's part of the the next step. Dr. Cho said she can be here two weeks from Friday to do the more extensive medical testing she'll need to work on some super-drugs for your super-system."

"Dr. Cho? As in Dr. Helen Cho?"

"Yeah, you know of her?"

"Well, yeah, of course Mr. Stark. She's like legendary in the biomedical world. I've read a few of her articles, and they were awesome."

"Well, maybe you'll be less whiny for her needles than you were for mine," he teased, "if she's so awesome."

"You're awesome too, sir, you know that, right?" The kid looked so sincere. Where did he even come from? Weren't teenagers supposed to be whiny and obnoxious?

"FRIDAY, how many are we at now?" Deflection.

"Mr. Parker owes the 'Sir Jar' $6.25 now."

"I should get an actual jar, shouldn't I?"

Peter just rolled his eyes. "So what are we doing this afternoon?"

"We're going to have Friday do a full-body scan to get some baseline readings, and before or after head down to the gym and test out some of your capabilities, along with some heart and oxygen monitors."

"Oh, that doesn't sound too bad. Wait, the gym? Like a normal gym, or…"

"You really think that's a good idea, just head down to the employee gym and have you benching the equivalent of a small car?" Tony knew the kid was smarter than that, but he couldn't help but give him a hard time.

The teen gave him a flat look, eyebrows raised. "I can lift a little more than that, Mr. Stark."

"I know, I know, kid." Tony started putting away the tools he was using. "But no, we're using the Avengers gym, and I'll have it locked down. Just you, me, and Dr. Cho's assistant, if that's okay. It will just be the two of them who will know your real identity, and even they don't need a name if you don't want to share it."

"The Avengers gym? That's… that's awesome. And, yeah yeah yeah, that makes sense, that they would kinda need to know more about me, you know, in case. Yeah." Peter still seemed nervous about the idea.

"Yeah, in case." Tony didn't like to think about all of the possible "in cases" but he'd feel a little better about them when he knew they were prepared for scenarios when the kid needed medical attention. With his after-school activities, it was definitely a "when," not an "if." Tony didn't know why that bothered him. Most of his close circle put (or had put, he thought bitterly) themselves in danger frequently. Why did it bother him more with the kid? Just because he was younger? Because he was arguably stronger than most of them. Huh. Thoughts for another time.

"They've both signed iron-clad NDA's already, Spiderling. They'll keep your secret, I promise. He ruffled the kid's hair a little, and the boy gave him a half smile while he ducked away. "So finish your snack, and grab some water, and let's do this."

Tony thought he was prepared to be impressed, but the kid blew him away. He knew some of the things he'd done, including lifting a bunch of concrete off himself (Tony tried hard not to think about that one), had even seen him holding that ferry together (though honestly it had scared him six ways from Sunday, and it had all come out in anger), but it was still crazy to see the numbers.

"Now, I don't want you anywhere near maxing out, Underoos, because even with the failsafes I've built into these, there's no one to spot you if something goes wrong. Though nothing should; I designed them. Let's just approach your upper limit if possible, though."

"Alright. You built this stuff for Captain America to work out?" The kid's tone was careful, his eyes flicking to Tony's face, looking for something.

"Yeah, they're for any enhanced," Tony said brusquely, not enjoying the thought of the many afternoons or evenings they'd spent down here, teasing and pushing each other into crazy competitions. That was all in the past. And that was fine. It was fine . "Thor did, I think, once when I wasn't around to see. Bruce used them too once or twice, when he was Hulked out, just for fun."

The kids eyes widened as he sat down and got situated on the bench

"Thor and the Hulk. No big deal," the kid said, almost under his breath. Tony smirked. The kid's hero worship about most of the Avengers was still going strong, from what he could tell, and those were two he'd never met.

"Now you said a small car was underselling you, right? That's what, 2500 lbs? You're already way over Cap's normal max. Let's start there."

They did start there, but didn't stop until the machinery hit its max, not Peter's.

"Well, Spiderkid, it goes to 10,000 lbs, and you're lifting that just fine. Make a note, mini-Cho ('Again, my name's Owen, Mr. Stark.') that Peter didn't max out there, but the machine did."

"How fast can you run, kid? I know you usually swing, but have you done much running?" 'Owen' was fitting the heart and oxygen monitors on him.

"Not really. There's nowhere I could do that without attracting attention."

"Well, you can do it here. This treadmill goes up to 75 miles per hour. Cap usually topped out around 40. Shall we start out at 10?"

"Sure." Tony set the treadmill, and as it picked up speed, Peter moved into a long easy lope, running at 10 miles per hour for three minutes straight without much change in his heart rate.

"Ready to move faster?"

"Yep." Tony upped the speed to 20 miles per hour. Another three minutes at that rate had his heart rate up just a bit. About the rate an average athlete's would be at if they ran up a flight of stairs, give or take.

"How are you feeling, kid?"

"Fine. This is kinda fun!" They hit 30, and 40, and 50, and all the way up to 75. The kid had been running for 30 minutes now and his oxygen and heart rate had him at about 60% if those figures were close to a normal human's. Which was impossible to be sure of, but maybe Cho's tests could tell them more. The kid was a machine. A slightly sweaty, exuberant one, but still.

"Okay, kid, I'm calling it. You're gonna break my treadmill," Tony said with a half smile, tossing him a towel.

"That was really cool, Mr. Stark. I had no idea I could go that fast. What was my fastest speed?"

"The machine topped out at 75, kid, but I'm pretty sure you could go faster if needed."

"Yeah, yeah, I felt like I could go faster. But maybe not for a super long time, you know?"

"Yeah, that makes sense. A little more like a sprint after that point maybe?" The kid nodded.

"Okay, what's next?" Tony looked at the notes on his tablet. "So, I know you can swing all over the place with your crazy webs, but how high can you jump without them?"

"I'm not sure. Pretty high?"

"That's a very scientific measurement, Archimedes," Tony drawled. Peter rolled his eyes. "See that wall over there, the one with actual feet and inches on it?"

Peter trotted over towards it. "Running start, or flat-footed?"

"Can we do both?"

"Yep." And with that, the kid took off, running a few yards and then leaping impossibly high. Far higher than the marks on the wall. Only about 10 feet short of the ceiling, actually, in the gym that covered nearly 5 stories. And when he hit the top, he stuck to the wall, turning with only one hand attached.

"Oh, shoot," he said casually. "I guess you still don't have a scientific measurements," he said cheerfully.

Tony was a little stunned, but managed to huff out, "Both sticky hands on the wall, Spiderkid. FRIDAY, height?"

"43.2 feet from the top hand, Boss."

"Holy cow, kid. I honestly had no idea," Tony projected up at him. Peter smiled almost shyly. And then the child let. go. of. the. wall. And he dropped to the ground like a rock. But instead of landing in a broken heap, (like Tony's brain said he should, as it clutched its figurative pearls) he landed lightly, in a perfect "Spiderman" position. Which looked very different on a 15-year-old in a hoodie and tennis shoes.

"Kid. Peter," Tony breathed, hand to his chest in a very necessary movement. "You know I have a heart condition, right?"

"Sorry, Mr. Stark. But hey, you called me Peter," he said with a teasing grin. "Um, you ready for the standing jump?"

"I'm not sure I'll ever be ready. But go ahead."

Peter turned and crouched, a reverse of his landing, and sprang at the wall again, holding on with both hands this time as he looked down.

"38.8 feet, Mr. Parker," said FRIDAY.

Peter took pity on Tony's heart this time and used sort of a weird kind-of-sliding, kind-of-rappelling movement to make his way to the ground this time.

"That wasn't a lot of difference, Underoos. Do you think you could have gone higher the first time, if you weren't making sure you were shy of the ceiling?"

"Honestly, yeah. Probably," the kids said, scrubbing at the back of his neck and looking off to the side.

"Wow. Well. This has been an enlightening evening. We're going to have to take a trip down to the Compound at some point and do some more trials."

Peter's eyes brightened in interest and he bounced a little on the balls of his feet. He was just so dang enthusiastic.

You hungry, kid?"

"Starving."

Great, let's eat before we do the scan with FRIDAY. How about Salvadoran? You like pupusas?"

"I have no idea, but honestly that sounds a little weird, Mr. Stark."

"Come on, kid, we have to expand your palette." He clapped a hand to his shoulder, only to remove it when he realized the kid was still pretty sweaty.

"And, you're in luck. There should be time for a shower before it gets here."

"Hey, this was your idea…"