Peter Parker... Stark?

The Call

"Boss, Ms. Potts has asked me to inform you that your meeting with Fury started four minutes ago." Friday said, pausing a minute before adding, "She has also requested me to tell you that if you do not join them soon, she will revoke your lab privileges for a week."

Tony raised his head blearily from his worktable, his short nap interrupted. "Whah...?"

"The call, Boss. Agent Fury scheduled a call with you that started five minutes ago now." At Tony's blatant confusion, Friday repeated the message, and this time he registered what the AI was actually saying. He swore as he jumped up from his workbench and raced for the door, skidding out into the hall and dashing for the elevator, which was already open thanks to Friday.

When he finally reached the conference room, he took a moment to compose himself before opening the door. He straightened his collar and wiped the drool stain off his cheek before stepping inside as though he'd intended to be there all along.

Pepper was glaring daggers at him. Rhodey sat beside her, staring at him with equal intensity, although his hard gaze held sympathy. That was how Tony knew he was in for a verbal beating after the meeting was over.

"Stark. Glad you could join us," Fury said, sarcasm dripping from his voice. "I'm sure you've heard of the vigilante, Spider-Man."

Tony sat lazily in one of the chairs and began to fiddle with a pen he'd found in his pocket. "Uh-huh. Never met him though."

Fury rolled his eyes as if to say, No really, Sherlock. "Recently he seems to have gone on the down-low. Rarely seen anymore. This is concerning. We don't know who or where he is, and if our limited information about his powers is correct, he could be a very dangerous enemy if he ever chose to take that path."

"Okay," Stark interjected, pinching the bridge of his nose with one hand as he used the other to wave a pen in Fury's general direction, "can you just get to the point? Because I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm falling asleep over here." Seconds later he let out a short yelp of pain as Pepper used her pointy toed shoe to kick his shin under the table, and Fury smirked.

"I need you to bring him in. I don't care how--bribery, incapacitation, whatever. I just need to know who he is. Until we can prove otherwise, he is to be considered a threat. Is that clear?" Fury waited until everyone had grudgingly acknowledged before nodding, satisfied. "Good. I'll leave it in your hands then. I'm sure you're perfectly capable of figuring out how best to do this."

Tony sighed and rubbed his eyes wearily as Fury's hologram flickered away. Great, he thought, just what I need. Another thing on my plate.

"So, what now?" Rhodey asked.

Tony sighed. "I'll have Friday notify me whenever he's next spotted, then I'll go talk to him."

Rhodey shrugged. "Alright. Sounds like a plan to me."

~~~

Peter felt like he barely had time to blink after May died before everything went down. He'd been guided out of the room by a sympathetic nurse, and then left to wait in the hallway for a social worker. The hospital staff removed May's body and gave him an apple juice box, which he didn't drink.

In fact, he hardly ate or drank anything as the next few days went by in a messy blur.

His arrival at the orphanage.

May's funeral.

He didn't remember much of anything that happened that week, and because of his fast metabolism, he definitely did not have the energy or drive to go out on patrol.

He knew people needed him, needed Spider-Man.

But for some reason, this week, he couldn't bring himself to care.

It wasn't until he got an email from Stark Industries reminding him of his upcoming internship that he was able to pull out of his grief-ridden stupor.

To whom it may concern,

Congratulations on being accepted as an intern at Stark Industries! Only the brightest young minds are given this opportunity, and we are excited to see what you can bring to the table.

Please report to Roseanne at the lobby on Monday, May 14, for more details about your internship.

Thank you for your interest in Stark Industries. We hope you have a wonderful day!

Peter blinked as he read the cheerful email twice more. He'd completely forgotten about the internship offer, but it appeared Mr. Stark hadn't.

It had almost been two weeks since May's death, and her voice still echoed through his mind.

"Promise me you won't lose hope, Peter."

"I promise."

Peter stared at the email, resolve filling his heart.

He would never forget May, especially not after she'd done so much for him, but he couldn't go on like this any longer.

He needed to move on and heal, and maybe the best way to do that was to try to assume a sense of normalcy again.

(AN: Sheesh. This may or may not be absolutely terrible. I'm tired, so I can't really tell lol 😅 hope you enjoy it anyways)