Upside-Down

Chapter 17

Tony puts on his orange tinted sunglasses and gets into his car. Last night Pepper had insisted he go to bed at a reasonable time, not just because a few days ago he pulled an all-nighter, but because of the press conference he'd just walked out of.

"Is Spider-Man an official member of the Avengers?" a reporter had asked.

"Not officially, we are going to train him, and maybe eventually, he'll get on the team," Tony had replied.

"Have you met him without the mask on? How old is he?" Another had questioned.

"We'll say he's on the younger side. Cap's in charge of the team, and he wants to make sure he knows what he's getting into."

Tony's worried about what kind of rebuke he'd get for that comment from the Capsicle once he got back. Pepper sits in the passenger seat, and he starts the engine.

"So, will Peter be there when we get back?" She asks, "I can't wait to meet him."

"I don't know, he has a life other then this 'internship,' he'll get home at some point. You'll probably meet him tonight, though."

"He sounds so nice. I heard about how he saved those people from the fire. He seems so mature for his age..."

"He's been through a lot for his age, Pep." First his parents, now his aunt... Did he ever have an uncle? Should he ask? Or would that only hurt the kid more? "I gotta pick up something for dinner-"

"You guys do have a kitchen there."

"None of us are exactly competent in a kitchen."

"What about Wanda?"

"She doesn't exactly... like me. I'd hate to ask her." Neither does Pietro... Tony has many regrets; few bother him as much as when he'd been selling weapons... Will they ever forgive me? Would I, in their place?

"I'll ask her then. She doesn't seem to have anything against me." Tony risks a glance at Pepper. She just smiles at him. "Right?"

"Not that I'm aware of. Be careful of Pietro. He bites."

"I'm sure their both great. You're all just to stubborn to realize it."

Tony follows Pepper's direction and goes straight back to the Tower. When they get back, Pepper wanders off to find Wanda, and Tony goes down to his lab. As soon as he walks in he can tell Peter has been here. Not only is his desk fully assembled and operational, there are now several holographic projectors and an especially comfy looking swivel chair placed around it.

"Friday?" He asks.

The answer comes quick. "Yes Boss?"

"Where's Peter? What's he been doing?"

"He got home an hour and fifteen minutes ago. He talked to the twins for a few minutes, then he came down here and worked until Bruce came in and asked for help with an experiment." Tony brushes a few machine parts on Peter's desk with his fingertips and recoils when the half-built machine sprays sparks. "He left right when Bruce asked him, sir."

"They're in Bruce's lab?"

"Yeah Boss."

"Got it." He walks out of his lab and walks into the hallway. Bruce is lab isn't far. Just down the hall. He knocks on the door and begins to whistle. Just for kicks. The door doesn't open for a minute, but when it finally does, he says, "Ah! Hey Bruce."

"Hey Tony. Sorry for the wait. Nice whistling by the way. We just have to wear some protective equipment."

"We just finished Mr. Stark!" Peter chirps from behind Bruce. "It was so cool. I've never seen genetically modified bacteria before. They are supposed to make some proteins for us, so we could help build something like what Visions made of, but with cells-"

"Yeah, I've heard the schpeel Pete. I was just wondering if you could help me with something. I didn't think you'd be home so fast. Don't you have extracurricular stuff?"

"Yeah there is a decathlon thing... and Ned invited me over... I thought you might want me here though." Tony comes into the room, and Bruce goes over to examen some holograms, depicting the bacteria.

"Pete, I don't want you to put your life on pause because of the internship. I only offered you the thing because you wouldn't accept just, living with us. Even as Spiderman."

"I'm sorry Mr. Stark, I just-"

"Don't worry about it Underoos, lets just get to work, okay? I want your help with those spider webs. I guessed at the actual chemical compound before, I suppose it worked well enough when you demoed the suit." Tony pats the kid on the back and leads him back down the hall, waving goodbye to Bruce.

"You need my help with that? I guess you guessed pretty close. I mean, something was off, but I guessed it was just the new suit."

When they get to the lab, Peter pulls something off his wrist, from underneath his sweatshirt. "You had those on?" Tony asks.

"Yeah, I mean, just incase I get into trouble." The kid puts them on Tony's table, pops open a compartment, and pulls out a small case. "I keep the fluid in here, and when I press the button, a reaction takes place that turns it into webs. I guess you already knew that."

"Who made it?"

"I did. I whipped it up in Science, when no one was looking. Its really simple." Peter goes on to explain how he makes it, leaving Tony in shock.

"I guess I got it a little bit wrong," but Tony felt he overthought the entire thing. The idea was so simple... so genius. And using cheap materials, from a public high school's science classroom? "Okay, I can make the alterations to your suit really quick. Do you have it?"

"It's in my room..." Tony doesn't see the look of guilt on Peter's face, because Pietro darts into the room.

"Hey Peter, Mr. Stark," He nods briefly in his direction. "Wanda just finished dinner. It's gonna be great! Its from Sokovia. You'll love it Peter." Then he darts forward, picks Peter up like it's nothing, and dashes out of the room, yelling. "Hurry up old man!"

Tony can hear Peter laughing into the distance. "Ugh. That boy is gonna be the death of me." Tony begins the walk up to the dining room, but halfway there he runs into his two favorite assassins.

"Clint! I knew you where getting back today! Whoa, what happened to your face?"

Clint rolls his eyes, and Natasha speaks before he does. "On our way back from the airport, we saw something weird happening in an alley. It was some people getting high, but the drug was weird. They started acting..." Natasha fades out.

"We watched them for a minute, but they started arguing, and we went to stop them." Clint presses an ice pack to his forehead. "They fought so hard. They didn't recognize us, or each other. We turned them into the cops."

"Weird. Your head okay?"

"It'll be fine." Then he pauses. "I heard we had a new recruit."

"He's not a recruit. We just want your help training him." Tony gets defensive. They walk into the elevator.

"Yeah... a not-recruit that will someday end up on the team." Natasha presses the button for the floor above.

"Yeah." Tony crosses his arms, standing in between the two. They look like their about to start laughing. He ignores them. When the door opens, he's greeted to an amazing smell. Maybe he should've asked Pepper to ask Wanda to cook sooner.

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Chapter the 17th. I hope you guys liked it.

FeEdBaCk iS mOsT aPpRecIaTeD!

Another chapter will be here next week, or possibly sooner.

Thank you!!! Have a good day :)