Peter Parker... Stark?

Looking to Adopt

"You fought Ironman? The Ironman!? Dude, that is so cool!"

"Shh, Ned, keep it down!" Peter closed his locker and they began to walk to their next class. Ned was practically vibrating with excitement after Peter told him all about both the internship and patrol.

"I can't go out on patrol anymore if Ironman is hunting me down."

"Peter, you beat him last night. He's no match for you, and besides, there are people who need you to help."

Peter hung his head. "Yeah, I know. Someone's always in danger, and I'm always the one to fix it." No one seemed to care that life wasn't all sunshine and rainbows for Peter Parker. They needed his help, so he helped them. He'd long ago given up the idea that maybe someone would ever be willing to return the favor.

He sighed as they approached their first period class. "We'll have to keep talking later, Ned."

~~~

"I heard you went after the bug last night."

"Yeah?"

"Well? Were you successful?"

Tony glared at the hologram of Fury. "You already know the answer to that question. I'm not stupid, Fury."

"The fact that you got your pride handed back to you by a kid last night says otherwise."

"Last night was just a test. I wanted to see how powerful he was, didn't want to underestimate him, you know?"

Fury hummed, raising an amused eyebrow. "Well, no more messing around. If you can't deal with him yourself, take Colonel Rhodes here with you," he said, waving a bored hand at Rhodey. Fury's hologram leaned closer to Tony. "I want this dealt with before the Rogues come back. We don't need another thing on our plate right now."

"If it's such a big deal, why don't you just send your people in to find out the kid's identity?" Tony snapped.

"We've tried," Fury said with a shrug, "but he's too quick. My agents were unsuccessful in tracking him, and we tried several times."

"Fine. Hopefully he's out again tonight. Rhodes and I will go have a chat with him."

Fury opened his mouth to say something more, but Tony interrupted. "Friday, end call."

~~~

"Hey losers."

Peter whipped around, his conversation with Ned cut short. "MJ! Hi!" He cringed internally as his voice cracked.

"You guys ready for the physics test tomorrow?" she asked, closing her book and tucking it under her arm.

"Yeah..." Ned said, rubbing the back of his neck, "at least I hope so."

Peter eyed the nearby clock nervously. If he didn't leave soon, he would miss his train and risk the wrath of Ms. Walters.

"Peter?" MJ said, waving a hand in front of his face. "You good?"

"Yeah, sorry," Peter said, "I um, I have to go or I'm going to miss my train."

MJ frowned. "Okay. I guess I'll see you later then." Ned waved goodbye as Peter made his way towards the doors and left the school. He jogged down the sidewalk past Mr. Delmar's and reached the train just as it pulled to a stop.