So to make up for the last dismal chapter, here is a longer one. It doesn't have any action, but whatever. Enjoy.
Two days later
"-no one was injured in the incident, and we plan to keep it that way in future incidents. Stark out," Tony finished.
To say the press conference was going poorly was an understatement. After having numerous reporters stand up and attempt to question him halfway through his speech, he was in a slightly bad mood. Attention was great and all, but some of the reporters had been loudly talking about his uncalled for attack on Spider-Man. He really just didn't want to talk about, especially with how guilty he was feeling over the whole 'abduct-Spider-Man-and-bring-him-to-Fury' incident.
Reporters muttered and a few hopefuls tilted their microphones towards him. A familiar-looking woman stood up.
"Christine-"
"No."
Rhodey put his hand on Tony's shoulder and steered him away, intent on having him removed from the conference before he fucked something up, but before he managed to leave the podium, a moustached man stood up angrily as Christine someone-or-other sat down.
"J. Jonah. Jameson, Daily Bugle," he barked, spit flying. "As much as I approve of you taking out that wall-crawling menace, Spider-Man, that was crap, what you said about no injuries."
He wasn't exactly yelling, at least not as if he meant to. It was more like he didn't know how to talk any quieter.
The guy would have made a great PE teacher.
Tony made a run for the microphone, but Rhodey ducked in front of him and raced back in front in the hopes of stopping Tony from saying something seriously stupid. "Mr. Jameson, no pedestrians, people in vehicles, or any others were reported injured in the events that occurred. Mr. Stark is not answering any more questions or comments."
"Bull crap!" Jameson bellowed. "Doesn't mean it didn't happen! Look at my photographer!" He reached down to the person sitting down next to him.
"No, Mr. Jameson, please…"
"Mr. Jameson, Peter has made it clear-"
"I'm not listening, Miss Brant! Up, Parker!"
"No, I'm totally fine. I still have feeling in my legs, I don't count as injured."
The photographer's futile attempts to stay hidden were unsuccessful as the older man managed to drag up a teenage boy, whose appearance was met with gasps. A slightly older woman attempted to drag the boy back down out of eyesight.
Tony didn't make a sound, but the pit of his stomach dropped a few inches with guilt. The boy was wearing square black glasses, which wasn't all that unusual, but the glasses were doing absolutely nothing to hide his black eyes, a cut across his forehead, and bruising all over his face. On top of that, the boy's arm was in a sling, he was delicately holding a crutch in the other hand, and his only visible hand had plasters- well, plastered over it.
"This boy was at the scene attempting to take photographs for The Daily Bugle, and he was hit by falling debris from your escapades!" J. J. J. barked.
A few flashes of cameras went off, and the boy (was it Parker?) wrenched his arm from Jameson's grip with a wince and sat down hastily. Well, as hastily as he could manage in his condition. A different reporter raised his hand meekly to say something, but a ferocious glare from Colonel Rhodes made him bring his hand down to pretend he was scratching his head.
"Do you have anything to say about the injuries caused to my photographer?" Jameson yelled.
"Why the fuck are you making him work?" Tony asked. It was the only thing he could say in his disbelief.
The next half hour wasn't pretty. That was all that could be said; that and that several of the security guards employed by Stark Industries had resigned after a few very determined reporters had done things of questionable legality in attempts to get back to Tony to pose questions.
When most of the reporters had thankfully vacated the building (or been forcibly removed, it didn't matter), Tony was struck by the urge to find that young photographer that had been so savagely beaten up. As he rushed out of the tower, avoiding a couple of lingering reporters, he wildly looked around for the young man.
What was he supposed to say?
Hi, sorry about the huge fight thing. Yeah, and sorry that you happened to get caught in the crossfire, it was a completely unnecessary fight, but you probably got a few good photos out of it, right?
It only took his third or fourth scan of the immediate vicinity to locate the kid's boss, and sure enough, he was right next to him. A short brunette woman (Miss Brant, possibly?) stood with them.
Tony had no plans to go anywhere near the kid when Jameson was around still, but thankfully, the kid was greeted by a pretty blonde girl, and Jameson shouted a farewell, hauling Miss Brant away, leaving the photographer alone with the girl.
Excellent.
"How did the conference go?" Gwen asked Peter. He shifted his non-destroyed leg and opened his mouth to answer, but his boss beat him to it.
"It went fantastically!" Mr. Jameson interrupted. "At the rate it's going, we'll have that wall-crawling menace and that hazard Iron-Man put away behind bars!" Betty Brant rolled her eyes.
Gwen's smile became slightly fixed. "That's great, Mr. Jameson."
"Yes, it is! It'll take no time at all to have that stupid-"
"Have you considered that Spider-Man is trying to help?" Gwen interjected coldly.
Peter winced and hoped that Jameson would leave soon. His boss and Gwen had never gotten along that well.
Jameson's eyes narrowed. "I see you've been converted into supporting that criminal! May I remind you he was responsible for the death of your father?"
It was Gwen's turn to narrow her eyes. "Mr. Jameson, if you are seriously-"
Thankfully, Betty cleared her throat loudly and conspicuously.
"Mr. Jameson," she said sternly, "we have to print the front page. We need to get back to the Bugle." She stared at him. Betty was the only one that could really take control of Jameson. At least occasionally.
"Why are you wasting time, Betty?" Jameson barked. Not this occasion. "We have to print the front page! Stop blabbering!"
He grabbed Betty's arm and began hauling her away. "Bye, Parker! Don't be late tomorrow or you're fired!"
Betty waved her free hand in goodbye. Then the crowd of reporters swallowed up Peter's coworker.
Gwen shook her head, her eyes filled with cold fury. "He's so-"
"The English language does not have the right words to describe that man."
"No," Gwen agreed icily. "It doesn't." She took hold of Peter's least injured arm and gently tugged him in the direction of the subway. "Let's go back to your aunt's."
They had taken barely five steps when a loud voice yelled at them.
"Oh no," Peter winced.
"Hey! Photographer kid!" Tony yelled when Jameson was a safe distance away. The photographer and his girlfriend had started walking (limping, hobbling, whatever) away. Tony hadn't realized that the kid had an ankle in a brace. Well duh, that's why he had the crutch.
The boy warily looked around, and the girl did too. When the girl fixed her eyes on Tony as the source of the noise, her eyes narrowed imperceptibly.
"Look, I didn't want to come to the conference," The boy said quickly when Tony neared. "Jameson only brought me to get one-up on you, he doesn't actually care much, I really don't want to get involved-"
Tony waved away his stammering. "Hey, I'm not gonna beat you up."
"You beat up Spider-Man," the girl interrupted coldly. "Someone who was trying to help. Forgive him for not being one hundred percent trusting of you."
Tony tried ignore her, but she was addressing an issue that he had come over to discuss. "I needed to apologize to you anyway, even if you hadn't come to conference. I shouldn't have been attacking Spider-Man, and if I hadn't, then you wouldn't be out of order. So, kid, what's your name, and are you in college?"
The boy tilted his head slightly and blinked. The girl scrunched her brows up in a 'what-the-fuck?' face.
"Um, Peter Parker, and yes."
"OK, great. Expect an apology any day soon. Probably in your bank account."
Peter blinked again and his mouth opened slightly, and Tony Stark walked back to the Stark tower, not concealing the smirk on his face. Oh, this kid was going to think that getting caught in the crossfire was a turning point in his life.
"Is he- is he going to pay for you to go to college?" Gwen stared at him dumbly.
"Um… maybe?"
Tony planted himself into his wheely chair and lazily spun in a circle.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., can you find a 'Peter Parker'? I owe him money."
Sir, I have all your current debts on my system. You have zero, J.A.R.V.I.S. stated in his mechanized voice.
"Nah, this is new. He got busted up when we were bringing in Spider-Man. This is kinda compensation. I meant can you find him on the internet, any files on him from the police, hack his Facebook, tumblr, etcetera. I need to find him."
Certainly, sir. J.A.R.V.I.S. stopped talking, and a faint beeping echoed through the room as the search began.
Tony sighed, stretched a hand out to stop the chair spinning and poured himself a glass of brandy. He leaned back, mulling over the events that had driven him to meet this photographer- Peter Parker.
He had been sure that no one had been seriously injured in the events of yesterday. In fact, he made sure explicitly that all the fighting was done in the air so people wouldn't get hurt/killed/heavily traumatized.
But this kid. He didn't look as if he'd accidentally gotten hit by a piece of shrapnel. It was like the kid had been given to the Avengers and had been beaten up by them separately. Then hit by a bus, put on a rack, and put in a fridge during a nuclear explosion like in the last Indiana Jones movie.
Tony shook his head and pulled a spare repulsor from the desk closer to him and attacked it with a screw driver.
Well, most superhero antics had more casualties. This was one kid that had gotten hurt, and thankfully not killed.
Speaking of people getting hurt, Tony wondered how Spider-Man was faring. Fury hadn't mentioned the topic of the webslinger since he had been brought aboard the helicarrier. Presumably because Fury knew he would get his ass kicked by Steve if the Cap was reminded of the abduction.
Search complete, sir.
Tony spun his wheelie chair around and nearly fell out. "Cool. What'd you find?" He downed the rest of his brandy, hoping that J.A.R.V.I.S. hadn't noticed.
Very smooth, sir. Peter Parker is nineteen year old male living in Queens with his aunt, May Parker. His parents were Richard and Mary Parker-
"The Parkers? I remember them! Richard worked with Osborn!" Tony was surprised he hadn't recognized the family resemblance. "Parker was a genius! Why's his kid living in Queens?"
If I may continue, sir? J.A.R.V.I.S. asked, his computer voice somehow sounding a bit pissed off. Peter Parker has been living with his aunt since Richard and Mary Parker's deaths. The young Mr. Parker has won multiple science awards for engineering and biology, and has applied for a scholarship to Oxford University for a photography course.
"He's a science geek and he's doing photography?" Tony asked disgustedly. "What a waste of brains."
I believe he is planning to do a course for genetic engineering as well. He will travel to England next year if successful, with his girlfriend Miss Gwendolyn Stacy, who has been awarded scholarship already.
"Oh, so she's a smart one too!"
It would seem so, sir. She manufactured the antidote which healed Doctor Connors and the police officers overcome by the lizard formula.
Tony suddenly realized what a scholarship actually was. "Wait, so he doesn't have to pay for college anyway!"
Only if he is successful in gaining a scholarship. According to the Oxford website I hacked, his chances are particularly high.
Tony groaned and leaned back in the chair, which was precariously balanced on two wheels. "What does he need?" How was he supposed to- Oh.
"He lives in Queens with his aunt. Pay for all their bills for the next ten years. Anonymously."
Certainly, sir.
"And do Parker and his lady friend have jobs?"
Sir, are you suggesting what I think-
"You know me so well, J.A.R.V.I.S."
I hope that made up for the last chapter. Apologies for any OOCness, especially with Betty Brant. I don't really know what her character is like except from a viewing of the original Spider-Man movies. And I have discovered page breaks! Wow, I can't believe I forgot about those for the first couple of chapters. Anyway, hope you enjoyed reading!