Peter felt naked without his suit, but Matt had still insisted on a hoodie and a tube mask. Though he wouldn't let the teen buy the skull one, stating they were trying to get him off the hook not make them think he was a thug.
Peter had laughed at the thug comment looking down at his skinny body, pale skin, and brown messy locks. If anyone mistook him for a thug, they would have to be blind and deaf!
"Arrrgggg!" Peter moaned, "I do not want to do this! It was scary enough facing Ironman and Captain America up on the rooftop, now it feels like I am walking into the lion's den!"
"You are," Matt commented lightly.
As the building loomed the sick feeling in his stomach increased.
"Your heart rate is high, you need to calm down Peter," the lawyer stopped and put a hand on the teens shoulder. "Look, I can't guarantee this is going to work but I do feel as though this is our best option! You need to trust me."
"I do trust you! I do. It's the pirate and billionaire that scare the ever-living shit out of me! Captain America is fine, he doesn't set off my senses at all."
"Worst comes to worse we will appeal to Cap's better nature," Matt shrugged. "How's you leg?"
"Messed up," Peter sighed, "It's purple and yellow bruises from mid thigh to mid calf. I don't know what I did to it when I fell but even my healing hasn't taken the edge off it yet."
"When we are done here, we need to get that looked at," Matt stated.
The entry way to STARK towers was straight ahead. It was fairly deserted seeing as it was Saturday, so they really didn't have much problem getting in. Matt took Peter's arm to uphold appearances, also to keep a literal finger on the kids' pulse. The boy still hadn't gotten a complete rein on his senses and overloads continued to plagued him.
The security at the front desk looked them over.
"Mr. Murdock, Mr. Stark would like to go straight up to level 70. Please take these passes to access the gold elevator at the end of this hall." The man stated handing two key cards to Peter.
The teen clipped one on Matt's coat and one on his sweater. As they walked down the hall Peter couldn't help but drop some tidbits of information he knew about STARK tower.
"Level 70 is on the Avenger floors, and this elevator is the only way up. Apparently, it's controlled by Mr. Stark's AI!" Peter gushed.
As if on que the elevator spoke to them.
"Good evening Mr. Murdock and guest. Welcome to STARK tower. Please allow me to direct you to the board office where Director Fury, Mr. Rogers and the Boss are currently waiting for you."
"Yes, thank you," Matt offered in response. He paused a moment and spoke to Peter. "Heart rate! Deep breaths kiddo."
"She is so cool!" Peter simpered, his inner scientist obviously winning out over the fear.
Stepping off the elevator Matt paused again.
"Stop pushing yourself kid, the leg is not going to thank you if you keep trying to practically run on it. They are already here, they can wait for us for five more minutes." He said forcing the kid to slow down. "Excuse me, …?"
"FRIDAY, Mr. Murdock."
"Yes, FRIDAY, what room are they in?"
"The second one on your left."
Matt rubbed small circles on Peters back as the teen tried to calm his breathing and ignore the pain in his leg.
"Ready?" Matt asked once Peter straightened himself. Peter nodded then gave a small laugh. "You nodded, didn't you?"
"Yeaaa, I did."
"No consideration for the blind man," he muttered, again taking Peter's arm. It was a short walk to the office and Peter politely knocked before entering.
Tony Stark stood beside Nick Fury at the head of the table while Steve Rogers leaned back in a chair one space down. The impeccably dressed billionaire is the one that greeted them.
"Aww, look Steve! Spider-baby's even smaller in civvies!" He snickered.
"Look who's talking," Peter shot back. The billionaire smirked at the indignant tone. The teen helped Matt find a seat across from Steve then sat down beside him. Using his friend to at least shield himself a bit from Fury's glare.
"Great. We are all here, remove the mask." Fury sneered, getting right to the point.
"That's not going to happen Mr. Fury," Matt said lightly. Before Fury could say anything though, Matt continued. "Something you said on the phone really resonated with me. You are part of an organisation well above any legal repercussions that I could dole out. That being said it would not be in my clients best interest to reveal anything to you."
"Then why are you here?" Fury demanded.
"We understand that even if we don't comply today you aren't going to stop till you get what you want." Matt stated bluntly. "So, what I am proposing is my client's identity be revealed to Mr. Stark and Mr. Rogers under a confidentiality agreement. Surely if Ironman and Captain America tell you there is nothing to worry about, their word would put your mind at ease."
The other two men glanced at each other then to Fury.
The silence continued for a long moment before the director spoke again.
"Alright. If Tony and Steve agree to that. But if that is going to happen, I want the kid trained properly, and educated on the way things are done." He added. At this Steve perked up.
Matt pulled out two large stacks of papers from his briefcase and slapped them down on the table.
"I think that is an excellent idea, my client would benefit from a couple mentors. If we are in agreement, have a good day Mr. Fury. You won't be needed for the rest."
The director seemed pissed off at being dismissed but Tony and Steve simply chuckled at his glare.
Once he left the room Tony took his seat and pulled the stack of papers towards him.
"Remind me to hire you the next time I have to deal with him," Tony snickered looking over the papers.
Steve didn't bother reading the agreement he simply signed and pushed the stack back across the table. Tony glanced up at him, somewhat indignant.
"Geeze Cap, at least read it before you sign your life away."
Steve shrugged.
"It's not like I have billions to lose if I can't keep my mouth shut," he laughed lightly. Tony continued to read while Steve looked to Peter for the first time since he entered.
"How is your leg son?" He asked cautiously. Peter shrugged nervously.
"Not great," he admitted. "Twisted the knee up pretty bad." The man seemed to wince at that statement.
"Sorry about that. If I had of known how young you were, I wouldn't have been so eager to detain you." He paused for a moment, studying what he could see of Peter's face. "so, how many kittens have you saved?"
Peter laughed, he couldn't help it.
"At least six," the teen admitted. "And one very adventurous hamster." The older hero laughed with him and Matt couldn't help but smirk.
Of course, Captain America would take a liking to the boy, the kids' moral compass was almost as strong as his, and honestly Matt couldn't think of anyone that wouldn't like the kid. Given time he suspected even Tony Stark might like him, maybe once he found out he wasn't some teenage simpleton.
Finally, Tony finished reading the papers and added his signature.
"Alright. There ya go," Tony said with a charming smile, "Now that you have my autograph you," he pointed at the teen, "Can commence with that fanboying you promised me back on the roof!"
"Only if you let me loose in your lab," Peter admitted with a smirk that didn't show through his mask but could definitely be heard in his voice. The billionaire scoffed.
Matt replaced the paper's in his back and turned slightly to Peter.
"Go ahead," the lawyer prompted.
Peter could feel his heart rate spike as he pulled down the hood and removed the mask. He waited patiently as the older men got a good look at his face.
Tony was surprised by the youthful roundness of the boy's cheeks and the mischievous grin.
"Gentleman, this is Peter Parker."
"That webbing, is it organic?" Tony asked immediately.
"It's not coming out of me if that is the question," Peter crinkled his nose a bit. He held out his arm and pulled up his sleeve exposing his web shooter. Tony automatically went into engineer mode and leaned over the device.
"That's ingenious, who manufactured the fluid? I didn't think anyone was close to coming up with a fiber of the strength and integrity."
"I did." Peter admitted.
Matt sat back and listened to the nervous teen. Eventually his heart rate calmed, and his muscles relaxed, and Matt could breath a bit easier.
The next week Peter found himself walking into STARK tower again, but this time with an access badge.
Maybe things would calm down and he could get back to his regular patrols, but that didn't seem likely any time soon since he had an overprotective Captain hovering over him anytime he suited up, not to mention a very intrusive billionaire that didn't know the meaning of privacy with trackers and video cameras at his beckon-call.
Matt still joined him on any patrol he did get in without the other two, at least he let him do his thing without mothering him.
Then there was his personal life that was still hosting a certain Mercenary.
How he was going to balance all this, he had no idea, but he figured in the end it was better to have friends that were willing to help then trying to figure it out by himself.