SDMIRMSDMIRMSDMIRM

Chapter 3: Introductions

SDMIRMSDMIRMSDMIRM

Tony was tensed up from head to toe and he couldn't remember when he'd last experienced such a feeling. Oh wait, he could: when Pepper had been in danger, when aliens attacked his world. Not "tense" then, more like having this coiled ball in his gut. Maybe fear was a better descriptor but that was a stupid one for this instance. He wasn't afraid of this fourteen-year-old kid, regardless of his superpowers.

Spiderman was a good guy, a push over and Peter Parker, he was a freaking child. So young it was hard to imagine Tony had gotten the mysterious alter-ego thing right. But he had. And now he was about to knock on the kid's apartment door, purposefully arriving there before the kid got home from school.

Reconnaissance. Scope out the battlegrounds, get the lay of the land, ingratiate himself with the aunt, and yes, catch the kid off guard Because, yes, Tony Stark liked to even intimidate children. So go ahead and add that to his detractors' long lists of his sins.

Parker's aunt was a vibrant, good-looking woman, which took him by surprise. He thought aunts wore aprons and looked like that Mrs. Butterworth syrup gal. But he found his footing with the aunt as she recognized him at the door. She gushed and thought he'd gotten the wrong apartment until he assured her that he was right where he planned to be and her nephew brought him to her doorstep. Glossily mentioned the kid's application to the non-existent Stark Industries internship. As far as deceptions, he thought it was a stroke of genius on his part, would allow a gray area of his future interactions with the kid…like say a field trip to the winning intern this very weekend. Said aunt didn't need to ever know the field trip would be an international one.

For all the doubters out there, Tony could do the polite thing, make small talk, even partake of the date cake though he didn't "Inhale". He felt himself getting a little keyed up as the clock ticked down to the kid's arrival. When it came, Tony tensed up, kind of forget to breathe as the kid breezed into the apartment, talking to his aunt before he'd seen her and their surprise guest.

SDMIRMSDIRM

Peter was a little stiff from last night's patrol, though his back had loosened up quite a bit since that morning. He had started to get out of bed, fell back onto the mattress and moaned in pain. Luckily things had only gone up in the day. No one messed with him at school. He had done really well on the Algebra test, though he'd worried about a few equations. (He wasn't always that awake for the class, late night patrolling exhaustion usually hit him at the 10:30 am mark the next day: smack in the middle of his Algebra class. Good thing was, he had been ahead of the learning curve in math.) Then after school, he easily made his train without having to use any Spidey skillsets and on the walk from the train to home, he'd scored a DVD player, not even doused with trash.

On his block, he nearly walked right by the car, might have if there weren't kids and adults standing around it, staring. It was an Audi, an R8 if Peter knew his stuff and he did. He also knew the value was over $150,000! That type of car didn't drive through his neighborhood, let alone snug up to the sidewalk and take up a temporary spot. He ached to touch it, feel something that was so out of his financial reach but knew a car alarm would blare, for all he knew cops would descend on him because this definitely seemed like a lure to catch wrongdoers.

He resisted the urge to touch, but still ogled it like the rest of the onlookers. Only tore himself away because he knew May would be watching the clock, note if he was late coming home. So with one more longing look at the awesome car, he dodged into his apartment building, skipped up the stairs and burst in the apartment.

As was his nature, he was already talking before he even sighted May, "Hey, May," he greeted as he headed for the refrigerator because he was starving! Always was these days, well since, you know what bit him.

Amused that Peter didn't realize that they weren't alone, let alone who was gracing them with his famous presence, May put out her normal greeting, but there was excited mirth in her tone. "How was school today?"

"It was okay," Peter offhandedly replied before he told her the exciting news of the neighborhood. "This crazy car is parked outside!" It was at this point he turned to face May and got the shock of his life. TONY STARK was there! On the couch! With Aunt May! The genius who was Iron Man! Then Mr. Stark was talking…to HIM!

"Oh, Mr. Parker," Tony greeted, like they had a reference for this meeting. Meanwhile, Tony was taking in everything about this kid. Crap, but the kid was young, had an endearing baby face and was scrawny. He didn't look like he could hold himself up by a dangling rope, let along swing through the city and catch a couple ton bus. There was hardly any muscle definition on his youthful frame.

This was so out of the realm of what Peter thought would ever happen to him. He stammered, "Umm. What? What are you doing... Hey. I'm-I'm-I'm Peter."

The kid was as endearing as a kitten and Tony's heart panged. Reacted to the kid's nervousness by offering up his own name. "Tony," putting his first name out there, because he wanted the kid to see him as just Tony, like Pepper had suggested. He prayed that he was enough for the kid.

This was so far out of Peter's lexicon of sanity, he had to ask for some reason for TONY STARK being there, knowing his name, offering up his FIRST NAME for him to use, like he wanted to get to know him. "What..What are you-What are you-What are you doing here?"

Evidenced by the kid's continued stammering, Tony's attempt to establish an intimate association wasn't lessening the boy's nervousness, might even be making it soar higher. Tony knew he shouldn't have felt so flattered. Sure, he had been on the recipient of awe before, loads of time, most of the time, but getting the response from this kid who donned a ski mask and a onesie to fight crime all on his own…it strangely meant more to Tony than a thousand screaming superfans.

'Crap, I am a Spidey superfan,' Tony ruefully admitted, if only to himself. Outwardly, he kept his cool, knew he had to steer this conversation into calmer waters, for both of their sakes since the aunt was watching their byplay like a mama bear. "It's about time we met. You've been getting my e-mails, right?" He gave a wink to the kid, needing him to catch on and fast.

"Yeah?" Peter wasn't sure if this all was crazier than what he could do after he got the spider bite or not, but he so didn't want to wake up and find he was dreaming.

"Right?" Tony prompted, throwing more exaggerated winking Peter's way. 'Come on, trust me a little bit kid. I'm not here to hurt you…would never hurt you.' He threw a little bit of that pleading in his gaze to the boy.

It hit Peter then: whatever Tony Stark wanted with him, he wanted to keep it a secret from Aunt May. Something twisted in Peter's gut. Was this a Spiderman thing?! Had he been found out?! Was Iron Man here to drag him to SHEILD and have him arrested. Or worse, interrogate him like Leia had been by Darth Vadar! His voice thick with fear, he tried to ask what he couldn't outright ask in front of May, "Yeah... Regarding the..." 'Anything but Spiderman! And please don't say it out loud to May if that's why you're here!'

Like some angel, May bridged the gap of their miscommunication by pointing out why Mr. Stark was there, talking to him. "You didn't even tell me about the grant," her tone almost accusatory but her expression telegraphed her hurt.

Peter felt like sitting down, right there on the floor in relief. It was about a grant. Mr. Stark was there about a grant. NOT about him being Spiderman. "About the grant," he echoed May's words.

Tony supplied his MIT foundation name, which was a convenient catch all charity, "The September Foundation."

"Right," Peter agreed, wracking his brain if the school had submitted him for any grants but knew they hadn't. Not this year, not since Ben…and the spider bite. He hadn't wanted more things on his plate to handle.

Since the kid wasn't selling this too well, Tony amped up his part. "Yeah. Remember when you applied?" 'Kid don't blow this for me…for us. I don't want to get tossed out on my ear before I even get to talk with you, get to know you. Help you.'

"Yeah," Peter weakly agreed to Mr. Stark's lie, eyes skittering to May to see if she detected his deception. But she didn't, hadn't yet since he'd began sneaking out at night to be Spiderman. Part of him ached for her to know, for her to even miss him in the middle of the night but that would only end badly.

Finally, the kid was getting on board. Tony breezily announced. "I approved. So now, we're in business." Giving him a 'play along with me' stare down.

"But you didn't tell me anything. What's up with that? You're keeping secrets from me now?" Hurt and betrayal were in Aunt May's tone and it twisted something in Peter's heart. Because he was keeping everything from her.

He stammered almost worse than he had upon finding Tony Stark in his apartment. "Why, I just, I just... I just know how much you love surprises, so I thought I would let you know... with..Anyway, what did I apply for?" This he directed at Tony, hoping to derail May's probing look.

"That's what I'm here to hash out." But there was a wealth of meaning in that statement. Tony had a lot he wanted to come out of this little meeting. 'You know, hopefully get you to take a little trip to say…Germany with me. Get you into a suit that protects you, align you with me so you're on the right side of this Accord fiasco. For you to just be…safe…safer.'

"Okay. Hash, hash out, okay." But things were not okay because Peter hadn't applied for a grant and that left only one reason someone like Mr. Stark would search him out a nobody like Peter Parker: Spiderman. Iron Man was here about Spiderman, about him being Spiderman.

Peter suddenly felt sick. This wasn't happening because Tony Stark thought he was a genius, it was because he thought he was doing something wrong, maybe criminal.

Seeing how pale the kid had gone, Tony sought to distract the aunt from noticing her nephew's discomfort. "It's so hard for me to believe that she's someone's aunt."

May had heard of Tony Stark's charm and found, like most of the rest of the female population, she wasn't immune. "We come in all shapes and sizes, you know," she blushingly joked back.

"This walnut date loaf is exceptional," he praised, hoped the kid appreciated his palate taking one for the team.

Peter had watched the byplay between Mr. Stark and May and it seemed so …friendly. 'Maybe Mr. Stark doesn't know I'm Spiderman. Maybe he's really here for me, the Peter Parker me.' Hope reemerging, he reentered the exchange. "Let me just stop you there." Peter swallowed hard, did he just order Tony Stark to do something.. to NOT do something!?

Instead of being angry that a child was "stopping" him from doing anything, Tony looked back to Peter with benign interest. "Yeah?"

"Is this grant, like, got money involved or whatever? No?" Because they could so use the money. Even if he knew nothing about this grant, he'd say yes if it meant money.

"Yeah," Tony blandly answered, a little crestfallen that the kid only wanted him for his money but Tony buried that down. Had enough experience with his financial value being his most endearing quality.

"Yeah?" Hope blossomed in Peter's chest. He had wanted to help May financially but she never agreed to let him get a job, fearing it would negative impact his GPA. But she couldn't object to him working for Mr. Stark?! And wasn't that just an unbelievable statement. Working for Tony Stark! Him?!

"It's pretty well funded," Tony said a bit numbly. Felt a little sick and guilty for being disappointed in the kid. 'Look at his neighborhood, this apartment, he doesn't have much. Money would matter to him, to his aunt. Don't take it personally," he coached himself.

"Wow!" The words 'well funded' were swirling in Peter's brain. He could actually help May instead of being a burden resting solely on her shoulders since Ben had been murdered.

Tony took to bragging to hide his hurt, "Look who you're talking to!" 'Because I'm just a money machine to you, even you.' Turning to Peter's Aunt, he asked, "Can I have 5 minutes with him?" And of course she brightly smiled at him and allowed a grown man to be sequestered into the bedroom of a fourteen year old boy. 'Because I'm rich, can be their payday.' And that stung, worse than it should have.

Tony had toughened up his skin for just these scenarios. But this kid…he had thought…wanted…He shut down his fantasies of being some amazing mentor to this kid. He had been kidding himself that anyone would see him in that light. He was the billionaire playboy who donned the Iron Man suit more out of boredom than honor. Who in their right mind would allow him to mentor a good hearted kid like Peter Parker?! 'Nobody, that's who,' Tony dismally answered his own question.

SDMIRMSDMIRM

TBC

SDMIRMSDMIRM

Thanks so much to Lasciella! I really treasure that you took the time to drop me encouragement on the previous chapter! I also appreciate everyone who put this story on their favorite list (Awesome!) and alert list (you want more!?Cool!) and all the silent readers.

Have a great day!

Cheryl W.