Chapter 5 Into the spider web

AN: WARNING, ARACHNIDS!

Peter's point of view

"Malcolm, Sheldon and I won the Science Fair!"

"That's fantastic kiddo. I'm super proud of all three of you"

We were nearly home. Aunt May was working a night shift so Uncle Ben and I would be eating dinner alone. We went across to Del Mar's to get our sandwiches and soda. On the way back, disaster struck.

A tall skinny man, emaciated, filthy, angry at the world, his breath reeking of alcohol and with a murderous hunger in his eyes approached my uncle. He was carrying a gun.

Uncle Ben handed me the sandwiches and soda and said

"Peter, RUN! Go straight home! Lock the door behind you and call the police."

I was too stunned to obey.

*BANG*. . . . . . ..*BANG*. . . . . . ..*BANG*. . . . . . ..*BANG*. . . . . . ..*BANG*. . . . . . ..*THUD*

Uncle Ben was lying in the street, blood pouring from the 5 gunshot wounds. I called an ambulance and started CPR. We were rushed to the hospital. I was left in the corridor by the CRASH bay. The doctors worked on Uncle Ben for four hours. no one told me anything. until Aunt May came into the corridor.

"Peter? What's happened?"

I broke. completely as I said

"Uncle Ben got shot. we were standing in front of the house, having just crossed the road from Del Mar's. this homeless inebriated man. came out of nowhere. Uncle Ben handed me the sandwiches and soda and told me to run. I called the ambulance and I've been here ever since. no one has told me a thing. I'm sorry Aunt May. I'm sorry . I'm sorry . I'm sorry . I'm sorry . I'm sorry"

Aunt May slapped me and she kept right on slapping me. her boss came out of the CRASH room and pulled her away. He reprimanded her for being unprofessional. He took me up to his office. He told me Uncle Ben didn't make it.

He asked about my home life. I told the truth. Uncle Ben had been the only reason I wasn't more abused or neglected. Aunt May could be abusive and as soon as Uncle Ben realised this, he sat me down and told me not to raise her ire more than I could help. He also promised to protect me. When he could. I was quiet and didn't make a fuss about anything and I got good grades and worked hard in school, but it didn't make any difference. Aunt May was always fussing at me about something.

Suddenly, Aunt May came flying into the room, she grabbed me by the ears and started shaking me violently. screaming in my face. She threw me at the window but luckily for me, it was plexiglass. Aunt May screamed that she didn't want me anywhere near her home. She went home. alone.

Child Protection came for me. Aunt May brought a suitcase to the hospital. containing all of my clothes. The social worker placed me with a foster family. Shane and Lilian McMahon. Shane was part owner of World Wrestling Entertainment. He was the son of Vince and Linda McMahon and the older sister of Stephanie McMahon.

Shane had 3 sons with his ex-wife Marissa. Lilian couldn't have children of her own, so when she and Shane married, she had adopted Shane's boys, and together they adopted an 8-year-old girl with autism Natalya Kathryn. They were also looking after another little girl. Maria-Rose Stark.

I had awful nightmares after Uncle Ben's death. Lilian sat in the rocking chair that had been in Kenyon's room when he was little. She sat me on her lap even though I was too big for it.

Lilian begged Aunt May to allow me to attend the funeral. Uncle Ben was my father's brother. Aunt May was very clear about not seeing me or interacting with me at all, but she allowed me to pay my respects. She sold the house and moved to Orlando.

Malcolm and Sheldon were both wonderful. They invited me to play basketball and baseball and video games every chance they got. Ms Wilkerson — Malcolm's mom invited me to dinner often. Ms Cooper — Sheldon's mom — invited me to stay on the weekends — for which I was eternally grateful. Shane and Lilian were wonderful, but they had a lot on their plates with taking care of Nattie, Kenyon, Rogan and Declan as well as Maria and me.

The Social Worker — Ms Patterson — took Maria and I to have an inheritance test done. When the results came in, Sheldon, Maria, Declan, Malcolm and I were watching a documentary about Tony Stark — a weapons developer and superhero.

"Maria, Peter Ms Patterson is here. She wants to talk to you about your inheritance test results"

"Can you ask her to tell us through here? I want to share this news with my friends."

"Are you sure Peter"

"Yes"

"Is that all right with you Maria?"

"Sure"

Shane paused the documentary. I saw the glimmer of a knowing expression crossing his face. It was almost as if he knew something was going to come up.

"all right. the test results show. that Peter is biologically a Stark, the same as Maria and that you two are half siblings. We're trying to find your father just now"

"Why don't we watch the documentary from the beginning?" I suggested "It might be useful"

"That is a great idea Peter."

We sat on the sofa and watched the documentary about Tony Stark.

"Well, that was enlightening." said Sheldon. "I made some notes"

"Thank you, Sheldon, that is most helpful"

"What happens now?"

"Well, when my team locates Mr Stark, we will arrange for you to meet"

"Is that the only option?"

"I'm afraid so"

"So I can't. get emancipated?"

"No, The State of New York does not allow Emancipation. A determination of emancipation is 'ancillary' to some other proceeding. That means that as part of another proceeding a finding may be made that a youth is emancipated, but only with regards to that particular proceeding."

"all right"

"Since Mr Stark was born In New York, we go by New York law."

Monday was Mrs Wilkerson's carpool day. She dropped us at the gates as usual

"Thanks Mrs Wilkerson"

"My pleasure Peter"

I was just leaving the carpool drop off when a voice yelled

"Hey PENIS PARKER"

"Peter, who is that boy?"

"Eugene 'Flash' Thompson, ma'am."

"Why does he call you that?"

"That's just. who he is."

Aggravated, I let out a sigh, however, Mrs Wilkerson had got out of her car and was now making furious movements towards where Flash was standing. Her face was contorted with rage. Malcolm was trying to calm her down, to no avail, and Sheldon was cowering behind me.

"Come on, Sheldon, we need to go over there. Mrs Wilkerson has a look in her eyes that I've never seen before."

"all right"

We walked quickly and silently towards the furious woman.

"Young man, who do you think you are? Why do you call Mr Parker names?"

"He's full of hot air" the boy sneered disrespectfully

"That is not good enough. All four of you, come with me, right now!" she bit out.

We went to Principal Morita's office.

"Principal Morita, I need you to do something about this boy picking on my son and his friends"

"Ma'am. "

"Do you have any idea what is going on in this school?" she thundered, "You're supposed to be the principal but here you are, holed up in your ivory tower, not caring about the children in your care. You think you're better than everyone, just because your grandfather was one of Captain America's Howling Commandos, don't you? Let me give you a reality check. you are BETTER THAN NO ONE! You are going to start paying attention. because if you don't, there will be major consequences! Either sort out the bullying or I will. This is your only warning."

She turned on her heel and stormed out of the room.

We didn't even give Principal Morita a chance to reprimand us. We scurried out of his office and straight to our first class, leaving Flash behind.

I was loaded with homework. Shane collected us from school. When we got home, we sat down to do our homework. I had loads. Three worksheets for Physics, reading and twelve questions for chemistry, a writing project for English, A portrait project for art, 5 chapters to read and summarize for History, new vocabulary for Spanish, an arrangement of a piece featuring a key change from G major to A minor to B major.

"Peter, can you please help me?" Kenyon asked

"Sure"

9-3/⅓+1=

"Start by solving the division part of the equation."

"all right"

"To do that, in case you forgot, you have to flip the fraction and switch from division to multiplication," I said

"3 × 3 = 9." said Kenyon

"Exactly. Now you have 9 – 9 + 1, and from there you can simply work from left to right and get your final answer: 1"

"all right"

"Thanks Peter"

"Peter. can you please help me with my spelling words?"

"Of course"

When the others had finished their homework and didn't need my help any more, I sat down to start my work.

Once I had finished Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Music, I took a break. I still had Spanish, English, History and Art to do. When I went through to the kitchen, Shane was on the phone. Lilian was at work — she was performing as the ring announcer on Monday Night Raw. I noticed that the pot that was on the stove was about to bubble over. I grabbed the oven mitts from the drawer and a wooden spoon from the utensil canister on the counter.

I lifted the lid off the pan and put the spoon across the top. Shane gave me a curious look

"a Trick Uncle Ben taught me" I explained, "wood is porous, so it absorbs the water thereby preventing it from boiling over."

Shane nodded and returned to his call

I gestured to the cutlery drawer. Shane nodded again. I opened the drawer, Shane tucked the receiver of the phone under his neck and grabbed some paper and a pencil from the miscellaneous drawer. He wrote down the number of places I should set. I let out a long, low, surprised whistle and Shane nodded.

I got the place mats and put one at each place before adding a coaster. I picked up the same piece of paper that Shane had used. On the back of it, I wrote "# of Courses?" Shane looked confused for a moment before he realized I wasn't writing a sharp sign or a hashtag, the #symbol can also mean number. He grinned at me and held up 2 fingers.

I thought for a minute and then drew a picture of a bowl of soup and a bowl of ice cream. Shane took the pencil and put a tick by the ice cream. I nodded, then I paused and wrote, "allergies?"

"Gluten, dairy and wheat," Shane replied.

"all right"

I finished setting the table and went back to my room to make some flashcards for my vocabulary words for Spanish. I wrote the word in Spanish and then in English underneath. I illustrated the flashcards, laminated them (with Shane's permission) cut them into squares and punched them with my single hole punch before putting a D-Ring through them. Our Spanish teacher, Señora Alvarez, had asked us to make flashcards for her class and she told us we could decorate them.

Once I finished my Spanish homework, I did my history reading and started planning my English assignment (the planning was part of the assignment. The assignment was to write 2000 words about someone we admire. I chose Tony Stark. not quite realizing what would happen next.

Tony's point of view

I was in bed, hilt-deep inside Pepper. We were both really close to climax when my phone rang and almost wrecked the moment until a stroke of genius struck me between the eyes.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., send it to voice mail please"

"Very well sir"

"Tony, why did you—"

"If it's important, they will call back Pep. they know how busy and essential to the world I am. "

"If only they knew what you're up to right now!" she whimpered

"If only"

A sudden rush of adrenaline, dopamine, and endorphins and. climax.

"WOW"

"Tony!" Pepper whimpered, "Finish me off!"

"all right"

We flipped so that Pepper was riding me. She climaxed hard, loudly and very fast.

"Good LORD!" she cried afterwards.

"Naughty girl"

We cuddled in bed for a long time afterwards. I pulled Pepper into my arms and both of us dozed off.

"Sir. sir. sir. sir. MR STARK, WAKE UP IMMEDIATELY!" J.A.R.V.I.S. yelled vehemently.

"What is it J.A.R.V.I.S.?"

"A Ms Colette Patterson is on the phone for you"

"Tell her I'm busy"

"She says it's urgent"

"J.A.R.V.I.S. I sound like I just had incredible sex. which I did. It's the first day off Pepper and I have had together in months, and I am not spoiling it by talking to some other woman about whatever! Send all calls to voicemail for the rest of today! If dopey britches really wants to talk to me so bad, she can put whatever it is that she needs in writing and send it to me. Tell her to use my personal email, not my Stark Industries one"

"Very well sir"

Ms Patterson's point of view

"I'm sorry Ms Patterson, Mr Stark is unavailable, he's in meetings all day long. I have spoken to him — he doesn't have time to correspond verbally at the moment — however he has requested that you email him at your convenience. His personal email address is KidGenius1970

I sighed

"Mr J.A.R.V.I.S., what is the physical address of Stark Tower?"

"200 Park Avenue 10166* ma'am."

"Very well. I have a couple of packages that Mr Stark needs to open at his convenience. I will hand-deliver them myself this afternoon"

I sent Mr Stark an email — which I took a printed copy of

Pepper's point of view

Tony and I were in the middle of a crucial business meeting with clean energy investors from around the world, when Bambi Aborgast came to the office door.

"Bambi, we're on a crucial call right now,"

"Ma'am there's a woman downstairs in reception — Happy is keeping an eye on her — she claims to be a social worker, and she claims to have packages for Mr Stark and that she needs to speak with him urgently and that it cannot wait, she says she's prepared to wait all day if necessary but that she needs to speak to Mr Stark, and it has to be today."

"Please tell her that we will be down as soon as we can"

"all right, yes ma'am, no problem"

Happy's point of view

"Ma'am, I know you must talk to Mr Stark urgently, but I was hoping I would be able to take some details, for the purposes of the fire register and such." She glared at me, thrusting her badge in my face. Her voice was like ice as she said,

"Mr Hogan, my name is Colette Patterson, I am a Social Worker with the Child Protection Department of New York. It is absolutely vital that I speak with Mr Stark today"

"I understand. I'm just following protocol."

"You know, if Mr Stark had returned my call the other day, I wouldn't have to be here."

"Mr Stark is a VERY busy man. I'm sure he would have called you back, had you given him sufficient time."

"Mr Hogan, he's had 2 weeks. I have a new job in Utah, I am starting it three weeks on Monday and I need to be there the Friday before to do training and learn the job and meet people. The NYC CPS hasn't found a replacement for me yet."

"I see."

"Mr Stark should be with us in the next 20 minutes or so."

"all right. I have to make a phone call, would you please excuse me?"

"Of course."

"Bring the packages to the tower."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Stark will be another 20 minutes or so, so wait outside with them until I send you a text."

Happy's point of view

"Is the meeting over yet?"

"Not yet, another 20 minutes or so. Apologize again for keeping her waiting, offer to make her coffee or tea."

"She says she must speak to Tony today. She has a new job in Utah and the NYC CPS department won't be replacing her."

"all right, Tony and I will be done with this meeting very soon."

"Ms Patterson, Mr Stark and Ms Potts will be done with their meeting in about 20 minutes. Would you like some coffee?"

"No, thank you, Mr Hogan. I do not imbibe caffeine."

"I see"

"I live by the bible verse Romans 12:12, Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer."

She pulled a copy of the bible from her bag and began to read.

Pepper's point of view

"Happy, please tell Ms Patterson that Tony and I will be with her in less than ten minutes."

"She's weirding me out. She's reading a book with a blue cover and gold lettering, she told me she doesn't imbibe caffeine. I'm guessing it's for faith reasons because she quoted a bible verse at me."

"Which one?"

"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Romans 12:12"

"all right. We're on our way."

Happy's point of view

"Ms Patterson, I have some news?"

"all right"

"Mr Stark and Ms Potts are on their way down now"

"Excellent"

She sent a text message that read 'S+P on way, send packages, now'

A man and two children walked into the building.

Tony's point of view

We went downstairs in the elevator, I pulled Pepper into my arms, and we started making out.

"We can finish this upstairs, later." Pepper whispered

"all right" I replied, putting my briefcase over the rather noticeable bump in my pants. Pepper realized what I was doing and whispered, "think of Cap in the shower!"

I pulled a disgusted face and the problem dissipated.

The elevator spat us out in the Lobby. There were people in the lobby. A man, a woman and two children. I didn't recognize the woman or the children, but the man seemed familiar somehow.

Pepper walked around the corner ahead of me. then she stopped walking, and I walked right into her, sending her sprawling forward. She used the reception desk to right herself.

"Sorry baby"

"It's all right. "

"What did you stop for?"

"Tony, I can't be here"

"Why not?"

"Look"

I glanced at the man standing beside Ms Patterson.

"Is that?"

"Yes"

"What is he doing here?"

"I don't know I don't really care, I can't be here Tony"

"Honey, why don't we find out why he's here"

"I bet he's come to find me so that he can drag me off to his old friend Killian.

"Would he do that?"

"I wouldn't put it past him."

"Pep. I think you're overreacting a little. if he tries anything, I'll summon the suit and punch his lights out"

"all right"

We walked over to where Ms Patterson was sitting.

"Ms Patterson, I'm sorry we took so long"

"Not at all, Mr Stark, I know how busy things can get. Running a big company can't be easy"

"It's not"

"Is there somewhere private we can talk?"

"Ms Patterson, Pepper is not just my Personal Assistant, she is also my girlfriend. I tell her everything."

"No, I meant that we shouldn't be talking about this in an open place like a foyer"

"all right, right this way"

Pepper's point of view

"You have some nerve showing up here after what your bitch of a girlfriend caused!" I snapped

"Ginny. you were right about Marissa."

"I know I was. That doesn't excuse anything"

"Ginny. I'll be in touch about meeting you for lunch, all right?"

"Fine. but be warned, Tony will be with me and if anything happens, woe betide you"

Tony's point of view

"Mr Stark, the reason I have been trying to contact you so desperately is. "

"Go on"

"Well. this is your son, Peter, and your daughter Maria"

"What? How?"

"When you and Ms Potts went on your break, you had a couple of. liaisons with other women."

"Oh. it was more like one liaison and a toxic, difficult relationship with a spoilt brat." I winced then I sheepishly added "Sorry Pep"

"Tony, we weren't together then. I have no right to feel some type of way about it."

"So. "

"Ummm Peter's mother was Mary-Elizabeth Fitzpatrick"

"all right"

"Maria's mother was Maya Hansen"

"all right"

"I'm named after your godmother"

"Aw, she'd be delighted."

The vibe in the room was awkward and uncomfortable.

"I'm guessing she's the one you had the toxic relationship with?" the girl said

"Yep. I had and still have cats, she didn't like cats. at all, we fought, she threw me down a flight of stairs, I packed up the cats and went back to stay with my parents and ended our relationship that night. She didn't tell me that we had a bun in the oven."

"I like cats"

"So do I. I've got two. They're called Pinky and the Brain. Pinky is a white Persian with bright-green eyes, and The Brain is a short-haired grey and black tabby. When I got them, they were barely 4 weeks old. My Godfather found them abandoned in the snow. and they were crying. I found out what to do. and mom, dad and I took care of them—Uncle Obie is allergic."

I noticed that Peter was being quiet.

"Are you all right, kiddo?"

He sat there stone-faced

"Hey, I know this is a lot to take in, all right,"

"It's not that" he hissed, his voice low and brittle with unmistakeable rage.

"Well, what is it, then?"

"I was perfectly content with my life and then Uncle Ben died, and Aunt May kicked me out, and we got some tests done and. it turns out I'm your kid. Yay," his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"all right, wait a minute" I protested, "what did I ever do to you?"

He gave me a look that said, "you want to go there. all right, fine, but be warned I'm REALLY going to let you have it."

"Well let's see. you abandoned my mother, you weren't around when my parents died when I was 6, you left me to be raised by a nasty old lady and a man who didn't value his life enough to come with me when I was running to get away from the drunk, high, weirdo who murdered him. Where were you when I needed you? NOWHERE TO BE FOUND, THAT'S WHERE!"

"So. you hate me? Without ever having met me?"

"No, I don't hate you, you don't hate family. I resent you because I've lost so much, and I don't want to risk opening myself up to getting hurt all over again! I'm frustrated because I don't want to feel this way."

"Well, Peter, what do you want me to do?"

"I don't know."

We took the kids upstairs to the residential floor.

"We still have two weeks"

"Yes and in those two weeks, Maria and Peter will be staying with Shane"

"all right"

"Once we hit two weeks, you and Ms Potts will take over. That gives me a chance to see what recommendations I need to make."

"True"

"Actually, there are some recommendations I need to make, and they are not the sort of thing I want Peter and Maria to hear."

"all right"

"This is Mr Hogan, my driver and personal bodyguard, if you two like, he'll take you on a tour of the residential suite"

"That would be cool"

"Go ahead, have fun"

"I'm going to recommend an evaluation for Peter, by a child psychiatrist. He has unresolved trauma and I think both Peter and Maria could benefit from taking an intelligence test."

"all right"

"I attended parent's night for both of them, and they're both very intelligent and find school difficult. That's why we switched them to the WWE Learning Academy."

"I wish there had been a school like that when I was a child—I had to be homeschooled because I was too smart for a regular school" "I had to be homeschooled because I was too dumb for a normal school and there are no special needs schools in Connecticut. at all"

"I see"

"My mother and father run a small school"

"That was always Aunt Linda's dream. "

"She was either going to be a paediatrician or a teacher. The school is located in their old house. They've moved to a condo in Stamford."

"I thought they were going to get divorced"

"Well, someone at church pointed out to my mom that if she and dad were to get divorced, it's a MAJOR sin. Aside from which, Mee-Maw has been trying to talk them out of it. As has Gigi. Dad pointed out that Gigi is a hypocrite because she's divorced and remarried"

"I bet that went down well. I remember your Gigi. Nice enough, but also smart as a whip and rather judgmental"

"That's her in a nutshell."

"Your Mee-Maw I remember being kind, and she helped your dad when your mom was struggling with postpartum depression, remember?"

That memory flashed unpleasantly through my mind.

Peter's point of view

Harley enrolled in my classes at the WWE LEARNING ACADEMY.

He was fun to have around. We studied together, he joined the BABY-SITTERS CLUB with me and we became very good friends.

Then we went to Oscorp.

That was a fun trip until.

Flash smashed right into me

"Out of the way Penis Parker" he snapped then seeing Harley he sneered "Who's your boyfriend?"

"I'm Harley. I'm Peter's brother."

"Penis Parker is an only child"

"No he's not"

"Well whatever, that just means there are more of you annoying idiots for me to annihilate."

"You wish"

"Did you move to a school for special children?"

"No. and don't say it like that. I have family members with disabilities, your attitude is thoroughly offensive""

"Mr Thompson. we are waiting for you"

"See you lamewads around"

Flash smashed into me again but this time he did it a lot harder and a lot more deliberately, and before I could stop it from happening, there was an AWFUL crash.

Harley's point of view

Flash slammed into Peter and knocked him backwards into a radioactive spider display which fell and broke.

"Harley, what happened?" Mrs McMahon asked.

"That jerk Flash, from Midtown High shoved Peter into the radioactive spider display. Dad's gonna love this. not!"

"OW!" Peter yelped

Mrs McMahon stayed with Peter while the rest of us went to the canteen. Harry Osborn eyed Peter with a vengeful glare.

Peter's point of view

Harry Osborn was my best friend until 4th grade when his parents decided he would learn more from being homeschooled full time. I could see him eyeing me angrily from the walkway.

"We've called your parents"

"WHAT? NO! Mrs McMahon you shouldn't have done that!"

"We had to, it's protocol"

"My dad is absolutely petrified of spiders and when I say petrified, I mean petrified!"

Tony's point of view

Pepper and I were still in bed — we had scheduled a day off.

Having spent the morning very intimately we were now canoodling under the covers with coffee and pancakes.

At exactly 11am, Pepper's phone rang.

"Honey ignore it"

"I can't it's Aunt Linda."

"OK"

Pepper's point of view

"Aunt Linda. hi. what's wrong?"

"Peter has been hurt. we were at the Oscorp building on a tour when he was thrown bodily into a display containing radioactive spiders. and he got bitten."

"Yikes. Do you need us to come and collect him?"

"He's at the facility in the infirmary."

"OK we'll collect him from there but it might take a while since we're dealing with the one thing Tony is absolutely deathly afraid of."

"Vince is the same."

I took a deep breath and turned to Tony.

"Honey. there's been a small accident." I began

"Go on"

"Peter's been injured."

"How?"

"Well. " I reached under the quilt and slid my hand under Tony's boxers, my fingers gently caressed his length. I needed him distracted and relaxed while I was telling him about what happened to Peter. I knew he would be afraid when I told him what happened. He sat up a little and began nibbling on the side of my neck.

"Tell me more of what happened and what's got you so frisky all of a sudden?"

"Peter was thrown into a display containing radioactive spiders."

"Oh. OK" All the colour dropped out of Tony's cheeks. Suddenly confronted by the mention of the one thing he is deathly afraid of.

"Aunt Linda said he's at the facility's infirmary"

"Why were there. you know. those awful creatures in school?"

"They were on a field trip to Oscorp"

Peter's point of view

When I woke up the morning after the spider bite, I felt awful. Friday said, "Peter, why aren't you getting ready for school?"

"I don't feel good at all this morning Friday"

"I shall alert Mr Stark and Ms Potts at once"

I was absolutely miserable.

"Peter, get up for school NOW"

"No. check my temperature"

"I am not having this argument with you, up for school, now!"

"NO"

"If you don't get up this minute you're grounded for the rest of the year"

"Whoa Tony, put the tarantula in your britches?" asked Harley

"AAAARGH! Friday there's a tarantula in my britches. get it out of there! PEPPER! PEPPER COME QUICK"

"Sir, Mr Keener was joking. He asked who put a tarantula in your britches, he didn't actually put one in there. Ms Potts isn't here, she's staying with Shane and Lilian."

"What? Why?"

"Don't you remember sir? You told her to leave. for her own safety."

I couldn't help but laugh

"Nice one Harls"

"I'm glad you're amused, get up for school now, don't make me tell you again"

I lost my temper,

"ANTHONY STARK YOU LOOK right ME IN THE EYES RIGHT THIS MINUTE!" I croaked

"UP. FOR. SCHOOL, BOY, NOW!"

"I SAID LOOK right AT ME!"

"RIGHT THAT'S IT! YOU'RE GROUNDED! AND JUST FOR YOUR ATTITUDE YOUR BUTT IS TOAST"

I punched him on the nose as hard as I could, knocking him out. For good measure I stepped on his nuts. Even though I felt absolutely miserable I dragged myself out of bed and went to school.

I messaged Kristy

"Do you think it would be all right if I stayed with you tonight?"

"Of course. What happened?"

"Dad and I had a big fight, I knocked him out and while unconscious I stepped on his nuts. He threatened me with a spanking. I don't know what's got his undies in a wad and I don't care either. I'm not going back to the tower."

Steve's point of view

Bruce found Tony knocked out on the floor of Peter's room and Peter was nowhere to be found.

"What happened here?"

"There's a note from Peter."

"Ask Harley why Mr Stark is currently knocked out on the floor of my bedroom. He deserved what he got. Keep the hell away from me or you'll get something worse. PBP NOT PBPS. PS don't try to find me. He can disown me if he likes I don't care I am not his son and I am not coming home. There's no going back from this." The certificate of parental authentication was in the garbage pail.

"Whoa, Peter's really really mad."

"Pepper is going to be really really mad when she finds out where Tony is and why"

Shane's point of view

"Yes Steve, Peter is at school, he's in Chemistry right now. I will try to talk to him, but he wouldn't speak to me this morning when I attempted to see what was going on with him. He did WHAT? I will talk to him."

Peter's point of view

Kristy and I were on the balcony outside English. I was hanging upside down on a web.

"I have to go all right. I'll be in touch when I can. Shane's coming in now, I can hear him talking to Steph. Go into class, and I'll call you"

"all right"

"Love you"

"Love you too"

One last upside-down kiss and he was gone.

"Miss Thomas, Principal McMahon wants a word with you. Where is Mr Parker?"

"Gone. You know what? I don't blame him. Everyone treats him like crap and he's sick and tired of it, I would be too if it was me. I'm not telling you where. You can torture me you can set the Hulk on me, you can let Ms Potts scream at me, you can send me to Mr McMahon, I am not telling you where he is and that's the end of it. Call my parents, call the other members of the BABY-SITTERS CLUB, expel me, but I'm not telling you where Peter is. Flash went too far at Midtown High, he went even further here. Peter is angry and he has a right to be angry. What Flash did to him was wrong and you should have stopped Flash from joining the baseball team and you know it. If he hadn't done what he did to Peter none of this would have happened. You are as culpable as Flash is because you allowed it to happen on your watch."

Pepper's point of view

I had left early for California. I was just finishing up business, helping Obie before his retirement. I would be the interim manager of the STARK INDUSTRIES Malibu office. I heard a tapping on my window and opened it hoping it would be Tony.

"Peter?"

"Pepper. you gotta come back to New York. I'll take over here, I'll be the manager of the STARK INDUSTRIES Malibu office but you gotta go back to New York. Something really bad is about to happen."

"Peter what happened?"

"I told dad I didn't feel good this morning when he came in to get me up for school and he went postal. Harley asked who put the tarantula in dad's britches and he freaked."

I couldn't help but laugh at that, imagining Tony's reaction.

"I refused to go to school because I wasn't feeling great. Dad went bananas. He was about to give me a spanking so I punched him on the nose and knocked him out. I went to school but then when Shane came to look for me, I bolted. Happy took me to the airport and brought me here."

"All right, let me sort this out."

I spoke to Bruce, Tony was still knocked out. I spoke to Shane, I spoke to Kristy and then I said

"Right, Peter, come on, we're going home."

"Ms Potts?"

"Yes Happy?"

"I can take over the Malibu office if you like."

"Really?"

"Of course"

"I'll run it by Tony and let you know what he says. Come on Peter."

We drove to the airport. Unfortunately, the weather in New York was about as bad as it could be.

Tony's point of view

I woke up alone, groggy, in the hospital. I pulled the drip out of my arm, got out of bed, got dressed and got the Quinjet ready. Jay, Nat, Thor, Pietro, Loki and Maria Hill were waiting. When we got to Houston, Steve, Clint, T'Challa, Scott, Bucky and Wanda were waiting for us. Bruce was standing in the middle of the Flight Apron. Pepper was standing beside him, with Peter.

"Pepper, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to stop you. You have some chutzpah mister."

"Why what did I do?"

"You mean why did I knock you out Stark?" Peter snapped

"all right Fine kid why did you knock me out?"

"You deserved it you assclown!"

"LANGUAGE" yelled Steve

"ENGLISH!" I replied

"all right why did your father deserve to get knocked out?"

"Because he's an ignorant dickhead who won't listen. he doesn't care if I'm right or wrong he doesn't care what I say he just yells at me yet when Maria does something she's not supposed to or doesn't do something she's supposed to or when Harley pranks him, he just laughs. I told Dad what Flash did to me"

Peter's point of view

Uncle Obie and Maria were late.

"Peter do you think you can do this unaccompanied?"

"I don't know Kristy. I can try"

I played really badly in the dress rehearsal, I was squeaking and squawking all over the place. My reed wasn't positioned properly when I got backstage, I found that I had a text message from Uncle Obie. His car had a flat tire, he wouldn't be able to make it to accompany me.

"Kristy, I'm sorry. I have to withdraw. Uncle Obie's car has a flat tire, and he's never going to make it all the way from Greenwich Village on time. The traffic will be starting to build"

"Isn't there anyone else who can accompany you?"

"No. I'm really, really sorry about this, but I am going to have to withdraw from the talent show."

"all right Peter, it's your choice"

"I don't actually have a choice. I have no accompanist "

Tony's point of view

Peter came home from school at lunchtime, despondent and frustrated.

"Why aren't you at the Talent Show?"

"I withdrew. Uncle Obie has a flat tire on his car and he was in Greenwich Village, he would never have made it all the way from there to Stamford Connecticut on time. I sucked in the dress rehearsal anyway and no one cares anyway."

I went to my room to play video games. I glanced at the Iron Spider suit twice, but I didn't even consider putting it on. I didn't contact Sheldon, Malcolm Ned, MJ or Kristy.

Pepper and my mother had taken over the running of the school when Vince Linda, Shane, Steph, Lilian, Paul, Shawn and Vince's friend were arrested on erroneous charges and there was the chaotic aftermath of that to deal with then, there was the Snap... the biggest thing was still to come, though.