Tony led Dr. Helen Cho down the sleek, sterile halls of the compound toward Bruce's lab, his hands shoved deep into his pockets as his mind spun with restless unease.

"Thanks for coming in, Helen," Tony said, his voice a touch gruffer than he meant. "We're still in the early stages of figuring out what we're dealing with here, so I thought it'd be best to keep everything in-house."

Helen gave him a patient smile, falling into step beside him. "Not a problem, Tony. As long as Bruce has the equipment we need, we can take care of the basics here."

"Bruce will have anything you need. He collects equipment like a lab pack rat."

They turned the corner and entered the lab to find Bruce rolling a portable X-ray machine into place. He looked up at their arrival, offering Helen a warm, if distracted, smile.

"Likewise, Dr. Banner," she replied, her gaze turned sharp and professional as she surveyed the lab's tidy chaos. "So who's bringing me up to speed? All I know is that we're dealing with an enhanced individual, and that discretion is key."

Tony leaned against the nearest counter, his expression carefully neutral. "His name's Peter. He's young. Maybe fourteen? His memories have been wiped but we know he was one of Hydra's 'assets' for a while."

Helen's mouth tightened slightly, sympathy flickering in her dark eyes. "A child soldier, then."

He nodded, jaw tight. "Yeah. Kid's been through the wringer, but he doesn't remember it. And maybe that's for the best. We're just trying to get a handle on what he can do and make sure he's okay."

"Well, let's take things slowly. Any Hydra defector is going to have some level of trauma. The fact that he's so young and doesn't even remember his experiences could complicate things. What of his abilities?"

"We aren't entirely sure what enhancements he has, but we have observed rapid healing and super strength. He's …"

Bruce opened a drawer a little roughly and items flew out, scattering onto the tiles. He glanced at the open drawer in confusion. "Sorry, sorry, I got it." He bent down to collect supplies off the floor. "That drawer usually takes a bit more force to open."

Tony gave Helen a dry look and continued. "Point is, he's enhanced, but he's also scared. The kid's been surrounded by strangers since yesterday, so I don't know how he'll react to all this poking and prodding. I'm not convinced he won't start throwing people through walls if he feels cornered."

Helen nodded solemnly, "We'll take it slow. Trauma has a way of complicating these things. I'll make sure he feels safe."

"Good. Bruce, what's on the docket?" Tony asked, turning to his disheveled lab partner.

But Bruce was wheeling his lab cart back and forth, staring at it with furrowed brows. "Uh, tests? Yeah, we'll be getting a full blood panel. Nothing more invasive than that. Several scans, some health screens..."

Tony narrowed his eyes. "You okay there, Big Guy?"

Banner had moved all the supplies over to the exam table and was now reclining and raising the back of the bed over and over. "Yeah, of course. Did you fix this?"

Helen clapped her hands together. "Let's get started. Can we get him down here now so he can have time to get settled and relax?"

"Sure." Tony glanced upward. "Hey, FRIDAY? Where's the kid?"

"Which one?" the AI asked innocently.

That brought him up short. He glared at one of FRIDAY's cameras. "Very funny."

"Peter is in his room, asleep."

"Really?" Tony hadn't pegged the kid as a late sleeper. "I guess I'll go wake him."

He left Bruce with instructions to help Dr. Cho find anything she needed, though Bruce was still looking uncertainly around his own lab like he was the newcomer.

Tony made his way to the compound's living quarters. He couldn't believe he was playing host to not one, but two teenagers this summer. The compound was turning into a high school dormitory, and FRIDAY wouldn't be the first or last to try to make ribbing comments about it. Happy had thought it was hilarious.

The living quarters were quiet this morning, save for the distant hum of FRIDAY's systems and the faint noise of Harley's phone blasting some TikTok nonsense from down the hall.

Peter's room sounded quiet inside. Tony knocked lightly. "Peter? You up?"

There was a rustle of movement, then the soft shuffle of feet. When the door creaked open, Peter stood there, swaddled entirely in the comforter from his bed like a hermit crab. His hair was a mess of unruly curls, and his eyes, still heavy with sleep, blinked blearily up at Tony.

"Yeah?" he mumbled.

"They're ready for you downstairs," Tony said gently. "Let's get this over with, yeah?"

Peter ducked his head and stared at his feet. "Yeah. Okay, whatever."

"Go get ready, I'll wait for you."

As Peter shuffled back inside, Tony wandered down to Harley's open door. The teen was sprawled across his bed, scrolling his phone aimlessly. Tony rapped lightly on the doorframe. "Hey, did you get hold of your mom?"

Harley looked up, expression smoothing into something neutral. "Yeah. She's traveling, visiting her sister. She says thanks—for, y'know…" He waved vaguely.

Tony nodded. "Don't mention it. We're working on getting you home soon. I'll have an update from Nat and Clint by the weekend."

"Cool. Thanks." Harley gave him a small, appreciative smile.

Tony squeezed the teen's shoulder lightly. "See you in the workshop later?"

"Yep, you bet."

Peter tapped gently at the door frame. He was wearing another t-shirt and shorts loaned from Harley. Tony made a mental note to send Happy to get clothes for the kid.

Harley hopped up off the bed, looking ready to join him. "Hey. Want company while you're down there?"

Tony was about to tell Harley he couldn't go, but when he glanced at Peter he was struck by how young the kid looked. When it came down to it, he was just a scared, lost child, and maybe company wouldn't be such a bad idea.

But Peter shook his head. "Nah. Maybe I could help with your project after?"

"Yeah. Sounds good, man." Harley squeezed the boy's shoulder just as Tony had gripped Harley's moments before and Tony felt a stab of guilt. Whatever he felt about Peter's trustworthiness, he was still a kid. And Tony was supposed to be functioning as his guardian.

Walking Peter to the lab felt like he was marching someone to the gallows, and he couldn't figure out why. It was just bloodwork. Tony tried to put himself in the kid's shoes. He supposed it would be frightening, given the context. The kid was surrounded by strangers and was pretty much at their mercy.

Helen met them at the door and introduced herself to Peter. She was friendly and efficient, moving him along to a seat as she gave a quick rundown of what to expect. Peter nodded along quietly.

"Would you be more comfortable staying in that chair? You don't have to get on the exam table yet if you don't want to."

Peter nodded stiffly, his eyes darting nervously between her, Bruce, and Tony.

Tony stayed out of the way, sitting on a counter against the wall. He felt a rush of nerves for the kid as he watched Cho gather a venipuncture kit. Peter tensed visibly and seemed to stop breathing, but Helen moved quickly and deftly to his draw blood. Peter watched the entire process, as still as a stone. Maybe this was going to go smoothly.

With the tough part done, Cho moved onto all the typical measurements and vitals. Peter looked like he was starting to relax.

Bruce got several X-rays and he displayed the images for Peter to see. "Looks like you still have some growing to do." He did a few quick measurements of the growth plates on Peter's femur and then pulled up an X-ray of his left hand. We'll put your wrist and finger measurements into a handy little algorithm and see how old you are."

Peter's eyes widened and he watched with interest.

"Assuming your enhancements haven't affected bone growth too much, this should be very accurate." Bruce hummed a little as he worked and Peter seemed to be sitting at the edge of his seat, waiting.

"Ah, yes. That sounds about right. This puts you at 14.9 yrs. You're almost 15."

And then Helen had everything ready for the calorimetry test. "Basically, you'll wear this mask over your nose and mouth and we'll get a measure of how quickly you convert O2 to CO2. If this one goes well, I'd like to do the test again while you're on a treadmill."

Peter nodded. He was eyeing the mask apprehensively as she held it. "Okay. Sounds fun." He didn't sound convinced.

For the resting portion of the test, Peter had to lie still while wearing the mask. As he lay back, Tony could see his pupils were blown wide and his face had a grayish cast to it. Tony straightened, his instincts on high alert.

When Helen brought out the oxygen mask for the calorimetry test, the mood shifted. Peter's hands gripped the arms of his chair tightly. Tony came to stand next to him.

"Everything alright, kid?" he asked softly.

Peter gave a tight nod and Helen moved forward with the mask. It happened so fast, Tony had no time to react. As the plastic dome of the mask came down over Peter's face, he lashed out with a cry and ripped the mask off. His arm flung out and caught Helen across the chest, flinging her back and toppling the lab cart.

Bruce rushed to help Helen, and Tony threw himself over the thrashing kid before he could hurt himself. "Stop! Hey, calm down." Tony earned a quick jab to the face by an errant elbow and cursed. He hastily stepped back, arms up in surrender. "Okay! Okay, no one's coming near you. Take a breath. You're not in danger."

Peter fell to the floor and scrambled backwards as far as he could go until his back hit cabinets. He stayed there, gasping for air, eyes wide and unfocused.

Bruce helped Helen to her feet and she waved him off. "I'm fine. Help Peter."

The kid had his face in his hands now and was muttering a long stream of apologies. His chest heaved, his hands clutching his head as he rocked slightly. Bruce knelt nearby, murmuring softly, but Peter wouldn't look up.

They gave him space and set about gathering all the spilled items from the cart. Eventually Bruce showed Helen out and Tony dropped down to the floor next to the kid, sighing.

"So, no masks, huh?"

Peter shrugged, his face still buried in his hands.

"Or maybe you're a bit claustrophobic. I am too, sometimes."

Peter peered at Tony over his hands. "You fly around in a tin can."

Stark huffed a laugh. "Yeah. But I choose to do that. It feels different when something isn't your choice."

They sat there in silence for several minutes. Peter's breathing settled into a normal pace.

"Is she okay?" Peter's voice was so small. He sounded very much like a scared fourteen year old and Tony's heart gave an unexpected lurch.

"Helen? Yeah, she's fine."

Peter finally dropped his hands and sat back, taking a long, steadying breath. But when he looked over at Tony, he winced and ducked his head again.

Oh. Tony probably had the start of an impressive black eye. "It's fine kid. Consider it payback for the concussion."

Peter groaned. "I didn't want to hurt anyone."

"I know. You didn't mean to."

Peter actually glared at him and Tony's lips twitched. "That doesn't change the fact that I did it. Not meaning to hurt someone doesn't erase the damage."

Tony sighed. He was not cut out for this. What would a normal grown-up do? A pep talk? Pull out some meaningless platitudes? Did kids like that?

"How about we go to my workshop and find something to mess with."

Peter considered this. "Can we find something to fix?"

Tony smiled. "Yeah, kid. Let's do that."