Peter Parker... Stark?

I've Got... Homework

"No Peter today?" Pepper asked as she stepped into Tony's lab. He was still tinkering with the suit from the other night.

Tony poked his head out from underneath. "No, he texted earlier. He's got the flu."

"Poor kid."

"Yeah," Tony said, sliding out from under his suit. "So... what brings you here?"

Pepper smiled mischievously. "What? I'm not allowed to come visit my husband while he's at work?"

"No, you're smiling in that weird way again. You do that every time you're hiding something," Tony said matter-of-factly as he crossed the room and pulled Pepper close.

"I might have a surprise for you."

"Oh?" Tony hummed, "What could you possibly have to surprise me?"

Pepper answered with a kiss. After a split second he was kissing her back. Pepper relished the sweet moment before breaking away.

"I like that surprise," Tony murmured into her ear. She giggled as she combed her fingers through his hair.

"Sorry to interrupt you boss," Friday suddenly said

"This better be good, Fri," Tony growled.

"Spider-Man was just sighted following a car chase. I have also notified Colonel Rhodes; he's waiting for you on the helipad."

Pepper pulled away. "Go. If you come home fast enough, I might be in the mood for another surprise."

Tony puckered his lips and winked at her as he activated his nanotech, then raced out of the room to go catch a spider.

~~~

Peter hadn't planned on patrolling today, especially since earlier he could barely sit up without feeling dizzy with pain.

But it was pretty impossible to ignore a car chase complete with gunfire racing past the orphanage. It was almost as if fate itself was taunting him.

So now Peter was zipping through the busy New York streets, trying to catch up with the criminals. Every little movement resulted in shooting pain from his injuries, which were only half-healed, but he did his best to ignore it.

Finally the sound of gunfire became quite clear. Peter rounded a corner and watched as the first vehicle involved in the chase tore through the streets below, heedless of anyone else they were putting in danger. Peter leapt off the side of the building and joined the chase, quickly catching up with the lead car. He free fell for a second before landing gracefully on top of the vehicle.

Peter dropped down onto the hood of the car as they blew through a red light, crawling around to smash the driver's side window with his fist.

"Usually when people play red light green light, they stop at red," he quipped, webbing the man and pulling him out of the car before sticking him to a nearby light post. The other men in the car frantically aimed their guns at him as he climbed into the front seat, but he simply swatted the weapons aside and slammed on the brakes. Both men went flying forward, knocking themselves unconscious.

"And that's why you always wear seatbelts, kids!" Peter called before launching himself out of the car and swinging away.

He watched from a nearby rooftop as the police cruiser that had been following behind pulled up and the officers started to deal with the criminals. He groaned as his burns protested against all the action.

"All in a day's work," he muttered. He was about to swing away when his spider-sense went off, and like the night before, he could hear repulsors. Peter looked around desperately, but there was nowhere to hide. He'd left the orphanage so fast he hadn't had the chance to grab civilian clothes to change into.

"Perfect," he moaned sarcastically as he crawled onto the side of the building opposite the sounds of the repulsors. If luck was on his side, maybe they would fly right past.

Moments later, Peter was cursing his Parker luck as both Ironman and War Machine blew by before circling around again. They'd definitely seen him.

He climbed back up to the roof as they approached, hoping that he would have more openings should another fight break out.

"Uh, hi?" Peter said, waving hesitantly as the two heroes landed in front of him.

"Take off the mask, kid," Ironman said.

"Yeah, you missed your chance for the niceties," War Machine added, raising a hand and angling it straight at Peter. "Just give us what we want and we'll leave."

"I already told you I can't do that." All four repulsors aimed at him hummed to life, and Peter wanted to shout in frustration.

"I'm just looking out for the little guys," he said, slowly backing away, "why can't you leave me be?"

"If you're just 'looking out for the little guys', why keep your identity a secret? Besides, wouldn't it be nicer if people knew?" Ironman sounded genuinely confused, and Peter sighed before quietly responding.

"Because my job seems to make more enemies than friends."

No one seemed to know what to say, so Peter finally broke the silence. "Look, I gotta get home. I've got... homework."

War Machine tilted his head. "Homework? That's your excuse?"

"Yeah, I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that," Ironman added, raising his repulsors, but Peter was already racing for the edge of the building.

"Bye!"

Ironman was quick to follow. "Careful Rhodey, don't let him out of your sight or he'll turn around and attack!" They blasted over the edge of the building only to do a double take as they realized the young vigilante had never actually swung away. He'd crouched on the side and waited for them to race past, and then latched onto War Machine and was now dangling from about ten feet of webbing.

"You were saying?" War Machine asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I'm beginning to think this wasn't such a great idea!" the young hero cried as War Machine started flailing around, trying to shake the kid off. Peter began to pull himself closer to the iron-clad man, nearly losing his grip as Ironman blasted by and shot at him several times.

Blood was pounding in Peter's ears as he finally clambered onto War Machine's back. Ironman had circled around once more.

"Woah!" Peter shouted as he ducked underneath a shot that had come uncomfortably close to hitting him. He reached up and tore off one of the pieces of armor hiding the suit's wiring.

Peter gulped nervously. "I'm just going to apologize in advance," he told War Machine. Then he tore out several of the wires. The suit sputtered and then died, falling out of control towards the city. Peter quickly shot several webs and attached them to War Machine before swinging away. He turned around and watched as the webs slowed the man's fall, instead turning it into more of a bungee jumping experience.

"I can't believe that worked," Peter gasped, taking a moment to absorb his victory. Then he swung away into the city.

Ironman approached War Machine as the webs holding him finally stopped bouncing up and down so much.

"Can we both agree to never talk about this again?" Rhodey complained, sounding a little nauseous. Tony chuckled reluctantly.

"I won't if you won't."

(AN: Can we all just take a moment to appreciate how much I've been updating? Five chapters in two days! Whooooo!)