The Stark Internship // Spider-Man [Book 1]

nineteen {Peter's POV}

The webs I stuck to the two halves of the ferry snapped, leaving the ferry to fall apart even more. I shot two webs at the different halves and tried to hold them together myself. My arms felt like they were going to be ripped from my torso but I couldn't let go. I let out a frustrated scream.

Slowly but surely, the halves of the ferry started moving toward each other again. "What the hell?" I muttered as I lowered myself to the ground. I picked up a clanging and when I looked around, I spotted Iron Man himself through the window.

He cocked his head to the side. "Hi, Spider-Man. Band practice, was it?" 

"Crap," I muttered to myself. 

"Spidey!" a voice behind me called and I turned around, finding Arya jogging toward me. "What the hell happened?" 

"Where were you? I could've really used your help," I shot back at her. 

"I was helping people not fall off and possibly drown," she said calmly. "We should really get out of here." 

"Yeah, I agree," I said as Mr Stark flew past. He finished putting the ferry back together and I stuck a web to his foot, per his order, and wrapped my other arm around Arya as he flew us onto a building overlooking the port. 

"Stay here," he told us before flying back to the ferry.

I sat down on the edge of the building, dangling my legs over the edge as I watched him help transfer people from the ferry onto the rescue boats. He fished a couple of cars that hadn't sunk from the water. 

"That went well," Arya said as she sat down next to me. She took off her mask and pulled one leg up, hugging it against her chest as she leaned her head on her knee. 

I scoffed, pulling off my mask too. "I don't think we could've screwed up more." 

"No, me neither," she muttered. 

I picked up the sound of Iron Man approaching and I looked up, finding him flying toward us. 

"I thought I told you to stay away from this," he said through the mask. "And instead you hacked a multimillion-dollar suit so you could sneak around behind my back and do the one thing I told you not to do."

"He was just trying to help," Arya protested. 

"I'm not talking to you right now," he told her. 

"Is everyone okay?" I asked, struggling to keep my voice from trembling. 

"No thanks to you."

"Tony, that's not fair," Arya exclaimed.

"Stop talking. I'll be having a conversation with you later." 

I got up. "No thanks to me? Those weapons are out there and I tried to tell you about it but you didn't listen. None of this would've happened if you would just listen to me! If you even cared, you'd actually be here!" I said. 

The suit opened and Mr Stark stepped out. 

I stumbled back, taken off guard. "I did listen, kid," he said. "Who do you think called the FBI, huh? Do you know that I was the only one who believed in you? Everyone else said it was stupid to recruit a kid." 

Arya stepped in front of me. "Okay, that's enough. Peter did what everyone else would have done. He saved those people today. Everyone on that ferry would have died if he wasn't there."

"And that's where you're wrong. If you two hadn't shown up today, no one would have been in mortal danger. That deal would have gone by and I could've arrested them in a safer place where no one's life was at risk," he replied. "A fourteen-year-old protecting the city. What was I thinking?" 

"I'm fifteen," I muttered. 

"This is where you zip it, alright? The adult is talking!" Mr Stark snapped. "What if somebody had died today? That's a different story because that's on you. The both of you." He stopped himself and sighed deeply. "And if either one of you dies, I feel like that's on me," he finished. 

"Tony, just listen to me-" 

"You've said enough. God, you know, sometimes I wish that I would've left you at that orphanage." Before he could realize what he said, Arya looked at him for just a second. She then pushed past him and ignored him as he called her name. 

He exhaled deeply before turning back to me. He betrayed nothing in his eyes. "Do you understand?" he asked.

"Yes, I do, I completely understand. I just-" I stammered. "I just wanted to be like you."

"And I wanted you to be better," he said. I quickly averted my eyes. Mr Stark let out a breath. "Okay, it's not working out, I'm gonna need the suit back," he said. 

I shot up. "For how long?" 

"Forever." 

I started shaking my head. "No, no no, please, Sir," I rambled.

"Hand it over," he told me.

"No, Sir, please, you don't understand," I said. "This is all I have. I'm nothing without this suit." 

He looked at me. "If you're nothing without this suit, then you shouldn't have it. Okay?" He scoffed. "God, I sound like my dad." 

I bit the inside of my cheek to stay calm. "I don't have any other clothes," I muttered. 

"Okay, we'll sort that out." 

Two hours later, long after the sun had gone down, I arrived home in baggy pink Hello Kitty pants and an oversized t-shirt that read 'I survived my trip to NYC'. I knocked on the door and a second later, the furious face of my aunt appeared. 

 "I've been calling you all day and you didn't answer your phone," she rambled, very obviously freaked out of her mind "You can't do that! And then that ferry thing happened. I've called five police stations, five! I called five of your friends, I called Ned's mother-" 

"May, I'm fine. I'm okay," I tried. I couldn't bear to see her like this, especially knowing that I was the one who caused it. My eyes began to sting.

She turned around to look at me. "Cut the bullshit. I know you left detention, I know you left the hotel room in Washington, I know that you sneak out of this house every night. That's not fine," she said. "Peter, you have to tell me what's going on! Just lay it out. It's just me and you." 

"I lost the Stark Internship," I said almost inaudibly.

"What?" May asked, thrown off.

"Yeah," I whispered. 

"What happened?" 

"I just thought that I could work really hard and he can... he would... you know?" No matter how hard I tried to hold them back, tears leaked from the corners of my eyes as I sank onto the couch. "But I screwed it up." 

She pulled my head close, rubbing her hand up and down my back. "It's okay," she said softly. 

"I'm sorry I made you worry," I mumbled. 

"You know, I'm not trying to ruin your life." 

I chuckled. "I know."

"It's just..." she said. "I used to sneak out too." She leaned close and sniffed my hair. "You should take a shower. You smell. You smell like garbage." 

I nodded. "Yeah," I agreed quietly. "I know." I got up, which cost me a lot more energy than it should, and headed to the bathroom. I tried calling Arya again, but it went straight to voicemail.