Spider-Son & Iron Dad two shots

The Backstory Files

Spooktober 03: Robbery

The final stand, the last straw to get Cap to comply and pick up the damn pen. Now sporting a black eye as if it were the newest fashion trend, Tony was looking for miracles.

He knew he had a chance of losing, but in the hopes of things going smoothly, this was just a precaution. And if things went horrifically, like he expected them to, then it didn't hurt to have another superhuman on his side. Especially one that had a good heart underneath it all to help course the super-hero blood through his veins. (Or... something like that.)

He had seen the videos on YouTube, the blur of red and blue that flipped around the air like some sort of gravity-defying gymnast. In some clips, he was swinging through the air with some sort of material that Tony couldn't quite place from the fuzzy footage. If he knew any better, it looked almost like webs.

"Is he making that biologically?" Tony says, puzzled. He zooms in on the video, specifically Peter's wrists. "Huh. Looks like we've got a tech whiz on our hands. Whatever it is, the tensile strength is nothing I've seen before."

The masked figure in the videos was also seen doing things like stopping busses and moving entire cars with nothing but his bare hands.

"Okay. So, not only a tech whiz." Tony tilts his head. "Super strength for sure. Hell, he might even be stronger than good our good old star spangled senior citizen."

The research to find this kid was far easier than he ever could have expected, but that was indeed the most confusing part. He was just only a kid.

Peter Benjamin Parker, born August 10th, 2001 to a loving family in Queens. Almost fifteen, attending Midtown School of Science & Technology— Expensive school, but records say he was smart as a whip so he got through with scholarships.

The picture of the kid portrayed him as short and frail, gelled brown hair and big brown eyes that were looking into the camera with mild panic and distress. Tony snorted. "I see he's a natural in front of a camera."

"Peter Benjamin Parker seems to be currently living in a small apartment in Queens with his aunt, May Parker," F.R.I.D.A.Y speaks through the room.

Tony frowns, twirling a pen around his hands. "His aunt? Pull up the family documents."

The holograms projected the photos and Tony drops the pen. "His parents were scientists?"

"Yes, sir. Mary and Richard Parker, both deceased. Guardianship was transferred to his last living relatives, his uncle and aunt, Ben and May Parker."

Tony strokes his beard. He flips through more of the holographic files brought up in front of him. News articles detailing the death of scientists had stuck out to him, so he drags those to the side.

His heart felt heavy with the information lying in front of him. Not even fifteen and Peter Parker had been through more than any kid should have to go through. And somehow, he was still able to flip around saving people as if the world hadn't given him a million bricks to have on his shoulders.

"You said he only lived with his aunt?" Tony asks.

F.R.I.D.A.Y. pulls up a series of news articles and police files. "Ben Parker was declared dead at the scene of a robbery downtown Manhattan recently this past year. Details of the case were made public after the perpetrator was arrested."

"Lordy," Tony exhales, the weight of the news pressing on his gut. He expands the file documenting the arrest and reads it out. "'Witnesses say they saw a masked man in red and blue sweats yelling loudly at the culprit before webbing him up for the police and swinging away.' That's just depressing."

"Was Peter there the night the robbery happened?" Tony asks, running a hand over his eyes.

A document is brought to the front as F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s voice speaks over. "The report of the night places Peter Parker at the scene as a key witness. He was also there for the court hearing effectively placing the offender in jail."

"Okay. Close it all." The projections all disappear. Tony sighs deeply. "Come on, FRI. I think the Parker household deserves at least a little bit of privacy."

"This is all public information, Boss."

"Doesn't make it right." Tony crosses his arms. He remembers what it was like when the news of his parents' death went public.

(Rhodey had to check on him every hour to make sure he was okay, reminding him to eat or to try and prompt him out of bed. Tony never went outside unless he had to, though. Reporters were disgustingly negligent when it came to having respect, much less basic human decency.)

"When did footage of our guy first start showing up online?" Tony asks.

"January of this year."

"That's not too far from when the robbery took place," Tony notes. "But it's also fairly recent. Pull up the current address for May Parker."

Tony began to plan in his head. Meet with the aunt, offer some sort of grant, if you will, to give them some funds under the guise of Peter's obvious intelligence, and then talk to the kid.

(The funding was more for Tony's sake, knowing that there was a super-human kid that was definitely not eating the right amount of food—because let's face it, Tony has seen Cap eat an entire buffet all by himself and he didn't know the full extent of Peter Parker's powers yet—and the fact that this was a family who had lost so much when they should have deserved so much more. Selfish of Tony? Maybe. Annoyingly rich and unnecessary? Maybe that too. Either way it would soothe his soul a little more to know they were getting better rest not having to worry about little details like bills or food. Perhaps he was selfish after all.)

As for talking to the kid—Peter may hate the idea of standing guard at an airport in Berlin, and if that's the case, then he has every right to do so and he doesn't have to go.

On the other hand, Peter might be willing to help, and Tony needs all the help he can get. If that meant it came from a scrawny little kid from Queens who can pack one hell of a punch, then that's fine. He won't let the kid get hurt. He won't let it go that far. If it does? Immediate red card and Parker's getting sent back on a plane home.

Either way, one issue was standing clear as ever, and talking to Mr. Parker would certainly fix it.

That suit.

It looked like it would made by rummaging through the very back of a closet. Thrifty, very hand-me-down-esque, which Tony would consider fine if it were in any other context. But this wasn't any other context, and now that Tony knows there's a very young superhero hopping around New York, you better be damn-well sure that the kid is getting a suit that will protect him. (And that went for whether Peter agreed to go to Germany or not.)

Now that his research was done, Tony felt ready for step two of the plan.

"Alright," Tony stands up, clapping his hands together. "Here we come, Queens."