For all that Spencer had helped to plan out his new schedule, it didn't mean that he was all that fond of it come the next morning. The only consolation he took as he dragged himself out of bed and to the shower was that at least Peter wasn't going to be there to see him make a fool of himself. Because he had absolutely no doubt that that was what was going to happen. The other teen was back home with May; it'd taken a bit of work but Spencer had convinced Peter that he didn't need to try and stick around. That he should spend time with his Aunt, go see his friends, and just try and enjoy the last week of summer vacation. Ned was supposed to be back mid-week, so Peter would be able to spend time with him.
Sleeping without Peter there had been a strangely odd experience. From the moment that he'd arrived in this world Spencer had not once slept alone. He'd been in Peter's room with him pretty much every night. At the very least, he'd been close by. But last night Spencer had slept here alone in his new room and it'd surprised him just how rough a night he'd had. He hadn't realized just how comforting he'd come to find the feel of Peter's emotions near him.
What that meant for him now was that he was more than a little exhausted even after his morning shower. Once he dressed in the slacks and one of Peter's Star Wars t-shirts – he avoided the 'workout clothes' that Peter had left for him, there was absolutely no way he was putting on pants that felt like that – he made his way out of the room and down towards the communal kitchen. Tony had insisted that Spencer make himself at home here. He'd said it a lot yesterday, actually. So Spencer forced down any awkwardness that tried to flare up and made a beeline straight for the coffee pot. When he saw that the pot was already on and full of coffee, he could've happily hugged whoever had made it.
In no time flat he had a cup poured and the mug held in front of his face. He happily breathed in the scent of it before taking his first, burning sip.
He was only two drinks in when he felt the energy in the room change a little. It was much easier today to reach out to it; like his powers remembered what he'd done yesterday. When he and FRIDAY connected, it was easy and surprisingly comfortable. Spencer smiled a little to himself and took another sip off his coffee, shifting himself until he could prop his body up against the fridge. Good morning, FRIDAY.
Morning, Dr. ReidFRIDAY sent back to him. I've let Boss know you're awake. He says you can come and join him in Dr. Banner's lab if you want.
Join him in Bruce's lab – a few quick calculations had Spencer frowning into his cup. Has Tony slept at all, FRIDAY?
Boss has slept for 3.7 hours in the past thirty-six hours
That only made Spencer's frown deepen. That was nowhere near an adequate amount of sleep. Then again, he'd done the same thing while on a case, so he couldn't really judge. He felt a bit guilty, though. Because there was no doubt in his mind why Tony was doing this. He understood the obsession that could come behind a fresh puzzle and he had a feeling Tony was just as bad as Spencer could be with a new puzzle. He just felt bad that the man was losing sleep over it.
Draining off the rest of his mug, Spencer filled it up again as he told FRIDAY Please let him know I'll be down shortly, if you don't mind.
Of course, Dr. Reid.
Spencer, he told her, stepping away from the coffee pot. Please, call me Spencer.
The impression he got from her was one almost of – pleasure. A little buzz of electricity that reminded him just a bit of the human emotion of happiness. Feeling it had Spencer's lips curving. He let it warm through him as he made his way out of the kitchen.
With FRIDAY's help Spencer found Bruce's lab. It wasn't in the medical wing like Spencer had expected. However, stepping through the doors, the scientist inside of Spencer sat up at attention at the sight of all the equipment around him. However, it was the two men sitting at one of the tables that drew his attention. Or, more accurately, the display in front of them. Spencer's eyes zeroed in on the hologram and the information that was there. When he saw his name in the corner, he took a step forward. "Is that mine?"
Both Bruce and Tony spun towards him at the sound of his voice. Spencer barely registered them or their emotions. His focus was on the medical information in front of him. Walking forward, he let his eyes run over the information there. What he saw was astounding. Everything he knew about himself, it was there, but it was different.
"It is." Bruce answered, seeming to recover from his surprise first. "We were examining your DNA to see if there are any notable differences between the mutants we have here and the one that you are."
Tony shifted his weight in his chair and spun it just enough to better be able to face him. He looked to be the more relaxed of the two, dressed down to jeans and an MIT shirt that had a few stains that looked to be oil on it. "Initial tests tell us you're a mutant, but seeing as how there's no record of your existence anywhere, we're testing to see if there are any kind of important differences. Anything that marks you as different from the mutants we have here."
"And have you found anything?" Spencer asked.
Both men shook their heads. "Not yet." Bruce told him. "We're still running a few tests, though. If you're comfortable with it, I'd like to take another sample or two. Maybe one while you're embracing your powers, if it's possible. For now, though, everything seems to check out. See, here?" He reached out to point to one of the differences that Spencer had noticed, on the 23rd chromosome. "This is what we call the X-gene. It's what marks a mutant. This gene leads to a rather exotic protein, one that produces chemical signals inducing mutations on other genes, ending up with variously empowered mutant organisms inside the body. For most mutants, their powers seem to manifest during puberty, though there are a rare few out there that're born with their powers, or at least some of them."
"Stress seems to be a huge factor in triggering things, too." Tony added in.
Spencer stared at the information in front of him. "Fascinating." This was – there was so much information there. So many questions that Spencer had. He uncurled one hand from around his mug and reached out, only to stop himself and look from one man to the other, unsure of who to ask. "May I?"
A nod from Bruce and a gesture from Tony had Spencer closing the last bit of distance. As he'd suspected yesterday while watching Tony manipulate the hologram at the table, the power under his hand felt… there were no words to describe what it felt like. The hologram was as real to him as anything else. Manipulating it was as simple as breathing. He pushed aside the images and drew up the data that they'd gathered so far, letting his eyes run quickly over it to take it all in. Then he reached more, twisting his hand, and the DNA strand vanished and the next set of results came up. The scans that they'd done over him – scans he hadn't even realized were being done.
His body had changed so much! It was still him, yes, there was no doubt about that. There were marks on his bones that he recognized and could use to more firmly place himself at fifteen. "My old injuries still show up." Spencer told them. He drew his hand back enough to tap at the image right over his left leg, zooming it in. "See this? I broke both my tibia and fibula when I was nine. And here," Again, he manipulated the image, zooming to his arm this time. "You can see the marks from when I broke my left wrist when I was twelve."
He felt as Bruce moved a little closer beside him. He was staring at the screens in open fascination. "Amazing. It's like your body was taken from wherever you come from and aged down instead of taking over a body here. I wonder if it was something in the spell, or maybe in the passage between universes, that changed your genetic makeup, though."
Spencer much preferred that idea to the other one. The idea of taking over a body had been a terrifying one. Finding out that he didn't technically exist here had helped him relax some. This, though – this helped him relax a lot more. This was still his body. Changed, but his. Relief filled him and had him relaxing a bit more. He drew his hand back in and curled it around the mug, using both hands to bring it up so he could take another drink.
The shift in his mood must've been noticeable. He heard Tony move and then there were a few clicks before the hologram vanished. When Spencer turned to look, Tony had sat back in his seat once more, hands clasped and resting on his stomach, his whole posture lazy and relaxed. "You two can geek out later over genetics. That wasn't why we called you down here, genius boy."
Spencer took a couple steps back so he was better able to see both men. "Why exactly did you call me down here then, Mr. Stark?"
"I'm going to ignore the 'Mr. Stark' and chalk it up to you being caffeine deprived." Tony shot him a mock glare, to which Bruce rolled his eyes, and then the engineer was smirking at him. "And why not? You were up, we were up, might as well get you down here so Bruice-bear can draw your blood and I can pick your brain."
The fact that Spencer had only had one and a half cups of coffee was the excuse he'd use later to explain why he spoke before his brain filter kicked in enough to even attempt to stop him. "You called me down here to draw blood and mentally assess me before I've had the chance to properly wake up, and also right before I'm supposed to go and participate in strenuous physical activity? Really?"
Instead of seeming bothered by Spencer's tone, it made Tony laugh. "If this is the response I get, I might make all our talks pre-coffee. You've got more attitude. I like it."
"I wouldn't recommend it. I have a harder time filtering my responses or suppressing my rambling when I'm not entirely alert." Spencer warned him.
A snort from Bruce had him slanting a look at the doctor. Bruce was shaking his head and smiling slightly at Tony. "You wouldn't be the only one."
Entirely unashamed, Tony beamed. "It sounds like fun to me. Come on, electro-boy. Have a seat, get comfortable, take a load off. I promise I don't bite!"
For a moment Spencer stared at him. He was abruptly reminded of the opening line to a poem. "Will you walk into my parlour, said the Spider to the Fly." He murmured the words under his breath, yet they must've been loud enough for the others to hear because Tony's grin grew and Bruce was bent now, smothering a chuckle behind his hand.
Tony spread his hands out on either side of him as he chuckled. "Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy."
Even Spencer had to give a small smile at that. He took a deliberate look around him before letting his gaze settle back on Tony. "I'll grant you that. It is a rather nice parlor." With a small shake of his head, he came forward, pausing when Tony grabbed a chair and tugged it over. Once it was close Spencer wheeled it the rest of the way to him and turned it until he could sink down comfortably. Then he crossed one leg over the other and brought his coffee cup back up for another drink. It was getting cold and he tried not to grimace. To cover it up, he looked at Tony and cocked an eyebrow. "What was it you wanted to ask me about?"
A lot, it would appear. Spencer quickly learned that giving Tony free reign to ask him things was something that shouldn't be done unless you were prepared to answer what felt like a thousand different questions. At least he mostly kept it to discussion of Spencer's memory today – something which seemed to both fascinate and bother the two men in equal measures. Why it bothered them, Spencer wasn't entirely sure, and he wasn't quite sure he really wanted to know. At least not at the moment. Instead, he just answered their questions as best as he could, and he watched with amusement as they debated the tests they were going to set up for him.
It wasn't until FRIDAY broke in to tell them "Boss, Colonel Rhodes and Mr. Hogan are in the gym, wondering where you guys are" that they finally seemed to realize the passage of time.
Tony gave him a grin that was very clearly not apologetic at all as he said, "Whoops! Sorry, squirt" and then lifted his hands and made a 'shoo' gesture at him. "Better run! Rhodey hates when people are late."
If Spencer muttered a few choice things under his breath as he hurried from the room, there was no one close enough to hear him.
With FRIDAY's help it only took seven and a half minutes for Spencer to get down to the gym. He'd expected to see Jim down here. Not just because FRIDAY had said it but because that had been part of the plan. However, this 'Mr. Hogan' that she'd mentioned was someone that Spencer didn't know, and seeing the man standing there at Jim's side had Spencer's nerves coming back just a bit. Being in with Bruce and Tony had been surprisingly relaxing; Spencer hadn't realized just how much he'd relaxed with them until his tension came back.
The guy was dressed in a grey t-shirt and black workout pants. He was tall, solid looking, and very clearly uncomfortable with whatever conversation he was having with Jim. The way he held himself and how he leaned back, arms crossed over his chest, showed defensiveness. It was in perfect contrast to the easy way that Jim was relaxing and smiling.
The two men were standing at the edge of an actual boxing ring and Spencer had to resist the urge to walk right back out of the room. Sure, he'd known he was going to have to do physical things when he got in here, that he was going to have to do some fitness testing and Tony had mentioned 'sparring' – which Spencer was not looking forward to, thank you very much – but he'd made it through the Academy training, mostly. He could make it through this.
That resolve lasted right up until the two men noticed Spencer coming towards them.
Jim smiled, warm and easy at him, and raised a hand in greeting. "There he is! About time you decided to join us, Spencer."
"I'm so sorry," Spencer apologized as he closed the last bit of distance between them. "I was with Tony and Bruce. We got a little caught up in the questions they were asking and lost track of time."
Despite what Tony's parting remark had suggested, Jim didn't seem bothered by Spencer's lateness. Sure, he rolled his eyes and shook his head, but he was smiling and his body language was open and easy, as were his emotions. It was the emotions of the man at his side that weren't so great. The man, who had to be Mr. Hogan, was staring openly at Spencer with shock and disbelief. Without saying a word to Spencer, the man turned and glared up at Jim. "You've got to be kidding me. This is a joke, right? I mean, it has to be a joke."
Jim raised an eyebrow and looked over at Spencer before looking back at Mr. Hogan. "No joke, Happy. Tony told you what was going on here, right?"
"He said you had a new powered guy you needed to do an assessment," Mr. Hogan – Happy, it would seem – snapped. "This isn't a new guy, it's a kid. I can't fight against him! What is he, two? I'm not exactly keen on the idea of going to jail for breaking a kid."
It was getting more than a little frustrating to have people continuously comment on his age. All of his life Spencer had fought to have people respect him for the things he could do, and he'd been knocked down for being 'too young'. Graduating high school at twelve, in college by the new semester, his first doctorate at fifteen, his second when he was just shy of eighteen, his third at twenty, right when he left college behind and became the youngest ever agent to join the Bureau, the youngest no the BAU team, the one who had a hard time passing his gun qualification and who often got teased for looking 'twelve'… for his entire life it seemed like people had always seen him as a kid no matter what he did. Now he actually was a kid again and it only made it all so much worse.
With his eyes on the floor, Spencer never saw the way the nearby men startled, nor how they looked at him. Jim furrowed his brows a little as he tried to parse out the strange feelings that were radiating off the kid. Happy just looked lost.
It was Jim who spoke up first, bringing Spencer's attention back upwards. "You know, maybe we started this the wrong way."
"What do you mean?" Spencer asked, straightening up just a little.
"Instead of seeing how well you can fight, we should probably start by seeing just what your body can do. Tony said something about you being stronger when you're using your powers?"
This was something Spencer was a lot more comfortable with. He nodded, his shoulders losing some of their tension, and the way he was twisting his fingers lessened just a bit. "My electrical powers are always there, no matter what I do, but if I focus on them and pay attention to the electricity in my body, I can enhance it, even feed more into it. It's the one thing that's really seemed almost second-nature to me. When I do that, my strength and reflexes increase."
Jim nodded at him. "Makes sense. All right, let's head over to the other side of the room, then. Instead of seeing what you're like going against someone, we're gonna run you through a basic fitness test to see what kind of range you have when you're not enhancing yourself, and then we're gonna do it again when you are."
That – that sounded like a great idea, from a purely scientific aspect. Spencer hadn't had the tools necessary to test these sorts of things so far no matter how much he'd wanted to. He flashed a bright, genuine smile at Jim. "Okay." At a gesture from the man, Spencer turned and started to head that way, calling out to FRIDAY as he went. "FRIDAY, would you be able to keep records of this for me so I can write this down later?"
"Absolutely, Dr. Reid," Her response came immediately and easily. "I can add it to the rest of the data that's already been gathered about you since your arrival. Boss had me send copies of everything to the laptop in your room."
Spencer hadn't expected that. He wasn't sure why, he just, he hadn't expected them to so openly share the information they had on him. The idea of being able to look it all over himself and build his own assessment was enough to have him feeling just a bit more eager about all of this. It was one thing to be forced through a physical assessment for someone else; it was entirely different when you were the one who was going to look at the data.
That eagerness didn't last. By the time lunch rolled around and they finally stopped, Spencer was more than happy to just let himself lay down on the met underneath him and not move. At all.
He felt exhausted. He'd done push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, every damn 'up' you could think of, jumps, stretches, and all those other evil things that Spencer had loathed back when he'd done his physical training for the Bureau. Jim had made him lift weights, testing his strength as well as his endurance, and he'd made him run on the treadmill. Spencer had done so much and just… no. His body was done. He was done. If there was anything else that Jim wanted, he could, as Derek would put it, suck it.
Footsteps sounded nearby. Spencer didn't even bother to turn his head. He could feel the heavy amusement coming off of Jim as the man walked up to stand over Spencer. "Should I dial 911?"
The dry question rolled right over Spencer. He kept his eyes closed and gave a low hum. "No. They'd make me move, and I've recently decided I'm not going to do that for quite a while, thank you." Lying here breathing sounded like a pretty good plan to him. It was about as much effort as he wanted to put into anything at the moment.
Jim gave a low chuckle. "You'll get hungry, an no one's gonna bring you food down here."
Oh, food. Spencer's stomach rumbled to let him know just how happy his body was at the idea of food. Getting up, though? Nope. No thank you. "Bruce would," Spencer finally said. "And so would Peter."
"Nobody's bringing you food down here. C'mon, Princess. Up off the floor."
When Spencer opened his eyes he found a hand held out in front of him. For a moment more he contemplated ignoring it and just laying there. Then, with a low groan, he lifted one of his aching arms and reached out, putting his hand in Jim's. The man gave a tug that drew Spencer up to his feet. As soon as he was up and his shaky legs were holding him, Jim let go and clapped a hand on his shoulder that almost sent him back down to the ground. "There you go. Why don't you go on and get cleaned up and we'll meet on our floor for some lunch?"
That sounded amazing. Walking anywhere to do it, however, did not. With that in mind, Spencer called up his powers even as he nodded his head at Jim. "I'll meet you there." Then he brought to life his platform right under his feet, so he wouldn't have to even step up to get on it, and let it lift him in the air.
FRIDAY was already opening a nearby window even as Spencer went flying up. He called out a mental Thank you! to her as he set off out the window and around the building to get to his room.
After an amazing shower, and a bigger lunch than he'd intended—supervised entirely by Bruce, who made him a meal that he insisted Spencer eat at least three plates of and which he actually ate four and a half of—Spencer was back down in the gym. He was a bit surprised to find that Tony was down there waiting for them.
The man didn't even bother with a regular greeting. Leaning against the edge of the boxing ring, he waited until Spencer had come a few steps into the room before he said "So, either you were lying before, or you've been vastly underestimating yourself. Personally, I'm going with the second one. If you were lying, it'd be pretty stupid to give yourself away like this in front of everyone."
What on earth was he talking about? Confused, Spencer looked over at Jim, who had come back down here with him, and then back over to Tony. Was the man talking to him? "Um… what?"
Tony tilted his head to match Spencer's confused pose. "I've been looking at your results from your tests this morning. Your body's a bit more enhanced than you realize. At least, strength and endurance wise. At the moment you seem to handle about twice what a normal person your age and size should. Agility wise, you're still pretty standard, but that could be lack of practice."
The words didn't come as a surprise to Spencer. He'd noted the difference in his body, even when compared to his more adult memories. He just hadn't had the data to look at to compare it with. Twice as strong as someone his age and size, though, that wasn't too much, thank God. There were athletes back home who could do that. So, Spencer wasn't really enhanced like this. It was more like… he was in great physical condition. That was nothing compared to what he'd seen from Peter. "It was hard to gauge what is and isn't considered enhanced here. I haven't had a chance to look over any medical reports to suggest what the standard range is. Until I do, I can't accurately form any sort of hypothesis."
Tony paused, mouth open. Then he closed his mouth. "Huh."
"I planned on sitting down to analyze it tonight when I had a chance to pull up all the relevant data." He shrugged one shoulder and slipped his hands down into his pockets. After showering and eating, he felt a whole lot more alert, and less tired, definitely, though still sore. But he wasn't exactly looking forward to doing the morning all over again. "Are we planning on running through the fitness test again this afternoon, with me embracing my powers, or are we waiting until tomorrow for my body to be back in better condition? Because, honestly, I'm not entirely sure how physically capable I am of completing half the things that I did this morning. Enhanced though I may be, this body isn't in the best of shape, and my results are going to be significantly lower than if I had a good night's rest."
"Nah, we figured we'd let your body rest a day or two before we do the next test," Tony said, waving a hand dismissively at him. "We're just here to trade off babysitters. You and I are gonna go outside away from my very electric home and test out a bit of your powers."
The phrase 'trade off babysitters' was enough to have Spencer wanting to scowl. Even though he had a feeling this was just how Tony spoke with people, that didn't mean he enjoyed hearing it. He wasn't a child and he wasn't someone's job to look after!
Jim rolled his eyes at Tony. "Leave the guy alone, Tone." With no more than that, he turned to Spencer and smiled, reaching out to pat his shoulder again. He stopped when Spencer instinctively drew back; without missing a beat, Jim curled is hand in and brought his arm back to his side, his smile never once faltering. "You did good today, man. See you down here tomorrow morning?" At Spencer's nod, Jim gave a nod as well. "All right. Have fun, then, and don't let this guy bother you too much. He starts getting mouthy, just give him a little zap."
"You're a terrible person," Tony said dryly.
Amusement curled through Spencer's stomach as Jim winked at him. "Just a little one. Police tase people all the time. He'd survive."
Very obviously smothering a smile, Tony waved Jim off, telling him "Go, go! You're a menace, Rhodey! A menace!" He turned towards Spencer and made a gesture for the teen to follow him. "Come on. I don't have to stand here and listen to this nonsense. Don't bother listening to him. No one's going to get tasered today. The whole point of this is to figure out how not to tase someone, unless it's on purpose." As the two made their way over to a small door at the side of the room, Tony turned enough to point a finger at Spencer, his expression faux-serious. "And you better not be tasing me on purpose, because then we're going to have issues, you and me. It's not nice to tase the people helping you. Word of advice."
The rambling speech did far more to set Spencer at ease than anything else Tony might've done. He even managed to smile a little bit. "I have no intention of electrically shocking anyone – unless absolutely necessary."
"The fact that you felt the need to add that on worries me."
Shrugging, Spencer let Tony pass through the door first and then followed out after him, moving right back to his side. "My best friend tells me I'm a bit of a trouble magnet. Considering the events of the past few years, dimension travel notwithstanding, I can't quite find it in me to argue with him."
"You know, the more I hear about you, the more I think you're going to fit in around here."
"That doesn't sound all that reassuring at the moment."
He was rewarded with a low laugh and the warm breeze of Tony's good humor as it brushed against Spencer's skin and swirled around him. The laughter took years off his face. It made him look so much younger and less burdened. The lines on his forehead that had been present almost constantly weren't there, and that heavy look that Spencer saw in his eyes and felt around him, it was so much less. He seemed… nicer, when he laughed. More approachable. More like the person that Spencer had heard about from Peter.
As Spencer looked back out in front of them, he tilted his head and scanned the area around him. Off to the left was the area where he and Peter had gone for their walk near the water. To the right, there was a road that led off towards a side of the Compound that Spencer hadn't been to yet. As he studied it, he realized it was an outdoor training area. Open field, some targets off to one side, a place set up for sparring in the middle. It looked like that was where they were heading to.
By Spencer's estimations, it'd only be about a ten minute walk over there – or a two minute flight.
He turned his gaze over to Tony again. "We're heading out here so you can safely assess my powers, correct?"
"Mm hm," Tony said agreeably.
"Then would you like to walk to the training area, or would you like a chance to fly?"
It was no real surprise which offer Tony accepted. Spencer created his platform and easily stepped up onto it. He couldn't help but feel amused at the way that Tony was standing there staring at the energy under Spencer, a very interested light in his eyes. Instead of trying to climb up, Tony took a step forward and squatted down, his eyes running over every inch of the platform. "This isn't just you standing on your powers. You've actually solidified the energy you create."
Spencer nodded his head. "It's just a matter of manipulating the electrons to solidify the electricity. It's one of the parts of this that came instinctively to me. I can manipulate the energy in quite a few different ways. Like this, I can solidify it and make it something that I can touch – and something that you can touch. It won't shock you, I promise." He added that on when he saw how hard Tony was fighting not to touch. Smiling, he watched the man immediately reach out, his fingers not even hesitating before they touched the edge of the platform, soft and first and then with more surety. "I can also make it solid and yet, thinner. I found that out when one of the things I was practicing on exploded and I created a shield for Peter and I."
"I saw you and Peter flying on this before. How do you make sure that you actually stay on? The board seems to move easily with you without you ever once losing balance, yet you step on and off like it's easy."
"I draw it up just enough to cling to the bottom of my shoes. It holds me in place, but it's also easy for me to move with if I want to."
Whatever Tony said next was lost in a trail of mumbles that Spencer didn't bother trying to listen to. He waited for a moment until Tony looked up at him again and then Spencer held out a hand, an unusual gesture for him.
Tony flashed him a bright grin and pushed himself up out of his crouch. He took Spencer's hand and let the younger genius brace him as he stepped up onto the platform. Spencer let go once Tony was up and watched as he shifted around and got used to the idea of standing here. Once he had, he looked up at Spencer, and Spencer grinned at him. "Would you like to fly straight over, or would you like to test any of the flight capabilities?"
The laugh that Tony let out this time was a whole lot freer than his last one, and Spencer's smile grew wider in response. "Don't get too crazy, kid." Then he winked at Spencer. "But there's no one to say we can't have a little fun on our way over."
"Then I suggest you hold on, Mr. Stark. I'd recommend my shoulders – Peter finds that easier sometimes."
With that warning, Spencer leaned forward just a bit, shifting his stance to one that was more comfortable, and he made sure that the energy under them was holding their feet the instant that they were both in place. Tony's hands settled almost hesitantly onto his shoulders. Once they were there, Spencer shook his hair out of his face and then pushed.
They flew forward, following along the path that Tony had been leading them along. They raced along it and towards the training field. When they reached it, Spencer shifted his weight, leaning to the right, and the platform made an easy turn, taking them into a quick lap around the field that made Spencer's smile grow more and more. God, he was falling in love with flying! It was something he knew he was going to miss so damn much when he left this place. It was why he took the opportunity to indulge in it any chance that he got. He spun them for one lap around the area, and then another one, faster than the one before. Then, calling back "Hang on!" he tilted them until they started to go up. A quick thought helped to solidify the grip on Tony's shoes and where his hands were holding on to Spencer, ensuring that he wouldn't fall. Then Spencer took them almost straight up, laughing as he heard Tony's quick "Holy shit!" behind him.
He laughed even more as he sent them in a backwards look that hung them briefly upside-down before pointing them towards the ground. Gravity had Tony's weight pressing in against Spencer's body. It made it a whole lot easier to feel the pounding of his heart and the excitement and fear mixture that was coming off of him.
When they got close to the ground, Spencer drew them up, slowing them down at the same time until they were finally coasting over the ground right in the area that Spencer had assumed was for sparring. He slowed them down before finally coming to a stop. Once he did, he made the platform let go of them, and he turned around just enough to smile at Tony. "I hope that didn't qualify as 'too crazy'."
Tony looked windblown, his usually styled hair now a tousled mess, and he was grinning broadly with a bright light in his eyes. "We're definitely doing that one again."
"Anytime." Spencer waited until Tony had stepped down and then he hopped down himself. Once he was on the ground he reached out a hand and drew in the energy from the platform, feeling it hit him like a good cup of coffee, energizing his body just a little and taking away some of the aches and exhaustion that had been lingering from the morning's sparring. It made it a little easier to turn and smile at Tony. "More than anything else I've gained since I arrived in this universe, flying has to be my favorite. There's no feeling quite like it. I think it's going to be the one major thing that I'm going to miss if…when I go back home."
Tony, thankfully, didn't comment on his little verbal slip. His smile stayed easy as he casually stuffed his hands down into his pockets. "I can only imagine. I don't know if I'd ever be able to give up that feeling. It's a hell of a thing inside my suit. Out in the open air like that? That's…"
"Freeing," Spencer finished, his voice just a bit softer. He looked up to the sky, his stomach twisting just the slightest bit at the idea of never being able to fly like that again. Almost immediately a wave of guilt took its place. How could he be thinking like that? His friends and family were back home, probably terrified because they couldn't find him, and here he was flying through the air and wishing that he wouldn't ever have to stop. He should be focusing more on getting home and less on playing around with his powers.
Though there was no doubt in Spencer's mind that Tony could see just how down Spencer's thoughts had gone, the man didn't comment on it or ask Spencer anything about it. Instead, he steered their conversation back to the matter at hand, giving Spencer an easy out. "So, what other neat little tricks do you have?"
His words were the perfect distraction. Spencer fell on it with abandon and lost himself in showing what he could do. It felt good to lose a bit of time walking Tony through everything he'd told him about during that meeting with Charles – all the things that Spencer and Peter had discovered together.
By the time they stopped Spencer was surprised to see that hours had passed. The afternoon was gone and evening was starting to creep up on them.
Tony was closing out the hologram he'd pulled up on his phone as he was charting the information he was getting from Spencer. As he closed it, he flashed a smile up at Spencer. "That was good, kid. I've got a few things I think we should go over tomorrow, some more things I want to explore. By the end of the week we'll see about getting you set up with some things that might help you learn how to control your powers even more."
"That would be amazing." The last thing that Spencer wanted was for something to happen with his powers because he couldn't control them. For someone here to be hurt because of him.
"Charles offered to send a teacher out here, if you want. Someone who could maybe show you the ropes a bit."
The idea of that made Spencer want to shiver a little. He pushed his hands down into his pockets and hunched his shoulders the slightest bit. All he could picture was someone like Scott coming in to try and show him what to do. The man seemed like he was a good person; his concerns had been valid ones. But… Spencer didn't know him. He didn't trust him. "I'm sure we'll manage fine."
"Your choice," Tony said easily, like it was no big deal. It floored Spencer. Even the "Might help to have a teacher that knows the subject, though," that Tony tacked on was casual, as if it were no big deal to him what Spencer chose. Like he was simply giving him options and was willing to trust what he chose.
What Tony said was true – having a teacher that knew the subject probably would help. Yet Spencer couldn't help but feel that it was far more important to have a teacher he trusted. That wasn't going to be some strange person he'd never met before. "I'm content with what we're learning. Peter and I have come up with a system of our own that works well for us."
If Tony thought it was odd that Spencer was choosing a teenager as his teacher, he didn't comment on it. He just nodded at him. "Once he heals up, we'll get him in here."
That, it seemed, was that. Tony pocketed his phone and dropped all pretense of any kind of work. The grin he gave Spencer lit up his face and he got that younger look to his features again. It made it clear to Spencer just how much weight the man carried around each time Spencer saw him – when he smiled like this, and that weight was gone, it made the times it was there so much more noticeable. "Well! We should probably get back inside and go share some of this with my favorite green science bro, geek out a little and eat whatever was made up for dinner. Feel up to flying us back over there after playing around with your powers for an afternoon?"
Spencer's own smile touched his lips. That was what Tony was so excited for? If that was all it took, Spencer could easily offer that.
He chose not to answer in words. Instead, he called up his platform, and he easily hopped up to it, making sure there was plenty of room behind him for a companion. When he looked at Tony and smiled, the man's grin grew. "I think I'm going to enjoy having you around, Pikachu."