Peter comes over to the lab like he does most days after school, whether it be just to work on homework or to work on something more Spider-centric, and this time it just so happens to be Spider-centric. Some days after school he seems a bit more subdued (Tony has his theories about the kid being bullied, but he keeps them to himself because he isn't Peter's dad and Peter would bring it up if he wanted Tony to know), so it's more than a little surprising that he's so talkative today while he's fiddling with one of his web shooters.
"So anyway, yesterday I was heading home from here, and you remember it was kinda later than usual, right? So I'm heading to the subway, but I see a stray cat, so I start following it to see if it's okay, and I end up in a kinda shady area, and the Spidey sense starts freaking out, so I duck into this alley and put on the suit real quick and this guy comes running out of nowhere and he's holding a kid! He's kidnapping someone's, like, two-year-old, and I'm like 'wow, I have to stop this!' and the guy actually turns into the alley I'm in and I'm about to web him up, right? But the web shooters are jammed! Both of them! So I freeze up because I... uh, I have no idea what to do."
The kid has the brains to look a little sheepish as he says this, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "And the guy pulls a gun on me and I'm like 'crap, I'm gonna die in a crappy alley in crappy Hell's Kitchen cause my stupid Spidey sense didn't warn me about the thing that was gonna get me killed, but before the guy can pull the trigger, guess who shows up?! Daredevil!" Peter's voice goes a little bit higher with excitement. Tony tries not to show his concern, and Peter continues. "Man, anyway, he throws that stick thing he has at the guy's hand, and Mr. Kidnapper drops the gun and Daredevil takes the kid away from him, hands her to me, and knocks him out! With this, like, crazy spin-kick-flip thing right in the head! Anyway, Daredevil looks at me, says an address, and says 'take her home, Spider-Man.'" Peter impersonates the (frankly ridiculous) gravelly voice Daredevil has, and Tony actually cracks a smile despite the fact Peter just admitted to almost getting himself shot because he followed a cat .
"He knew who I was, Mr. Stark! Daredevil used my name! It was so cool! Anyway, I take the kid home to her mom—apparently the kidnapper was actually her ex-husband, but he's crazy and he didn't have custody because he hit her, like, in public and everything. She was really nice and she hugged me and said 'thank you' a lot. So when I leave, I walk outside and the Spidey sense flips out again and I'm like 'crap, what now ?' but I look up and Daredevil's on the roof across the street and he's staring down at me. I have like absolutely no idea how to interact with other super-people, so I just wave at him, and he sorta smiles and gives me the 'wait there' signal and a minute later he somehow sneaks around behind me, so I freak and throw a punch at him, but he dodges it and says that I must be new and he offered to teach me how to fight, so I'm gonna meet up with him tonight! Isn't that so cool? I'm finally making my own super-people connections! I'm networking ! That's what grown-ups call it, right?"
Tony's suddenly struck by how young Peter is, and just how innocent he is. He froze when he got a gun pointed at him. He still fan-boys over other heroes. He still says grown-ups .
Yes, Daredevil has long since established himself as a pillar of the New York superhero community. He's a good guy who has supposedly been through the wringer quite a few times (if his multiple long-term disappearances are anything to go off of) and is still a hero. Apparently, he bristles at being called a hero, but if the shoe fits… He's also very rarely a team player if the Defenders have anything to say about it. Jessica Jones swears up and down that he's a great guy once you get past the horns, red leather, and bravado, but she's also from Hell's Kitchen and a chronic alcoholic who'd probably been drinking for eight hours straight when she'd said that (at nine A.M.). He's a hero: yes. He's in the major leagues: yes. He's an appropriate hero for Peter to be working with: hell the fuck no . He's grizzly and gory and definitely rated R for a number of reasons, including the fact that he regularly tortures people. Peter's not old enough to see staged graphic violence in movies, so he sure as hell isn't old enough to be experiencing the real shit first-hand. In fact, the only person that Tony would object even more to Peter hanging around with than Daredevil is Deadpool, and that's saying something.
"Peter…" Tony says softly.
"Oh no. That's your 'Peter you sweet cinnamon roll, you're so effing oblivious' voice," Peter whines.
" What? I don't have that voice."
Peter looks at Tony with an eyebrow raised.
"I do not."
Peter looks at one of Friday's cameras like he's on The Office.
" I don't ."
Peter raises an eyebrow at Friday's camera.
"Sorry boss, but when you're trying to let Peter down gently about something, you do tend to speak at a certain volume and pitch with a slightly different cadence than usual. Would you like a full vocal analysis?" Friday responds cheerfully.
Tony glares at her camera while Peter beams at it with a smile that really does show what a sweet, innocent kid he is. There's no strain in it.
"Okay fine, I do have a voice—but that right there is exactly why I don't want you hanging around with Daredevil," he says, pointing a finger at Peter for emphasis.
"What right where?"
" That. The happy, smiley, cheerful thing. Daredevil's all doom and gloom and violence and annoying sarcasm."
"But Mr. Stark—"
"Call me Tony," he interrupts, and Peter wrinkles his face up, because he's still so young that it's weird for him to call adults by their first names.
"Tony, I would've gotten shot if Daredevil hadn't helped me."
"And that's another reason why you shouldn't work with him. You still freeze up when someone points a gun at you, and he's the kind of person that'll get stabbed and then pull the knife deeper into himself so that he can break the guy's jaw with a headbutt and then refuse medical care and jump off a roof while bleeding profusely. Trust me, I've seen it first-hand."
"Woah, you've worked with Daredevil, Mr. Stark?!" Peter asks excitedly, the point clearly flying straight over his head and right out the fiftieth story window.
"Yeah—once or twice. And he's dark, Peter. We were trying to get a bad guy to tell us where someone was, and Daredevil just strides right past Cap, takes one of Natasha's knives, grabs the guy by his shoulder, slams him into the wall, and stabs him right above the eye until the guy's screaming and begging and telling us whatever we want to know. Then he just says 'there you go' and gives Nat her knife back."
Peter actually seems to consider this information for a moment, tilting his head slightly to the side in thought before he speaks again.
"Well… that's not a good thing that he did that. But isn't that something that Ms. Romanov's probably done too? And you don't really try and keep me away from her. I heard you tell her to babysit her 'spider-child' one time, and then she came and sat with me and asked me if I knew how to use a garrote, so I'm assuming that I'm the spider-child."
Tony doesn't immediately have a good answer for that, and before he can even open his mouth to reply Peter's got something else to say.
"Also, Daredevil doesn't kill people. And no offense Mr. St—Tony, but you do kill people. I know you and the Avengers deal with worse bad guys than Daredevil probably does, but all of you guys still kill people. Ms. Romanov and Mr. Barton have both definitely tortured people, and I get that it's different for him because of reasons, but so has Sergeant Barnes. So how is working with them any different than working with Daredevil?"
"Because I said so." And wow, Tony never ever wants to be like Howard, but he really just said that.
Peter looks unimpressed. "That's not a very good answer."
"Fine. Because I know that Natasha and Clint would never hurt you. I'm still questioning that slightly when it comes to Barnes, not because the grudge about killing my parents thing—that's over—but because of the used to be a brainwashed assassin thing. I don't know him well enough to be positive he won't put you in danger, on accident or on purpose, and I know Daredevil even less."
"Tony, I can take care of myself. I'm not gonna let him put me in danger. Ms. Jones is real-people friends with him, right? So shouldn't you trust him by, like, proxy or something?"
"Jess is a whole other can of alcoholic worms that we aren't getting into right now. We're talking about Daredevil."
"Okay, well how about Ms. Jones joins me and Daredevil to supervise, so you'll feel okay about me being around him?"
Damn, this kid really should try and join the debate team at school. He'd probably be pretty good at it. But still, Daredevil's not the kind of person Peter should be learning from. Maybe Luke Cage, but that would still be pushing it.
"No, kid. He's not a safe person for you to be around."
"But Tony—"
"No, Peter," Tony replies more firmly, turning to look straight at him. "That's final. Daredevil isn't a good influence, and he isn't safe for you to be around. Maybe someday I'll reconsider, but for now the answer's a hard no."
Peter gives him those adorable, sweet puppy eyes and Tony has to turn away so that he doesn't just immediately give in and tell the kid that he can hang out with Daredevil whenever he wants and also have his own left kidney.
"Just do your homework after you're done fixing the web shooters."
"Okay, Mr. Stark," Peter replies petulantly as he goes back to tinkering with the devices.