super super. peter parker

𝗙𝗜𝗙𝗧𝗘𝗘𝗡

"Why do I need a Midtown badge? What's it for, anyway?"

Eddy twisted his neck, tilting his chin at an angle so he could see the detailing on the shiny badge. It was decorated simply with large, black lettering and a diagram of an atom below it. If anything, the formatting looked distinctly like that of his old school uniform, with the smart embroidery of the logo on his blazer jackets.

"Do I need to spell it out, kid?" Tony said, though not unkindly. "Look, with all the shit going on right now and the sheer complexity of your situation, I don't know how long it's going to take me to figure it out. You're asking me to figure out time travel and teleportation."

Eddy's head snapped up to look at him with narrowed eyes. It had been weeks since they'd spoken of his situation.

"The best thing for you right now is to use this situation to your best advantage."

Eddy stared up at him. "So you're sending me to school? Midtown is a school?"

"Yeah. A damn good one," Tony said, ignoring his look of disdain.

"What?" Eddy spluttered, confused. "I thought I had to lay low?"

"You will. Under a different name, a different address, a different family dynamic. Preferably one that isn't so..."

"Complex?"

"That's one word you could use."

Eddy shook his head. "Why go through all this trouble to create a false identity? Why?"

For a moment, Tony looked away and Eddy thought he was going to say something hard-hitting, but his words ended up being a feeble attempt at emotional manipulation, in Edward's eyes, at least.

"Steve would want this for you."

Eddy shook his head harshly. "How would you know what Steve wants for me? You've never seen his point of view. You're part of the reason he's on the run!"

The blame is on you, he wanted to shout, as if the gloomy looks and bitter toned voices weren't evidence enough to Edward's sourness. He truly did blame Tony too. Whether it was a well-placed blame, he didn't really care.

"Fine. maybe it's not what Steve would want for you. But it's what I want for you. You're under my care, Eddy, and I'm going to look after you with the best of my ability," Tony snapped, face reddening beneath his grizzly beard.

Eddy fought away the softness that was creeping in upon Tony's words. "By sending me to high school! How does that make sense to you?"

Tony sighed. "I thought you would be happy. This is a way to learn things that weren't even known in the forties!"

"Happy?" Eddy cried out, battling with fragile tears. "How can I be happy when this is a sure sign that you're giving up on me?"

For a moment, his words hung in the air. They shocked them both. Edward's tears were now hot on his cheeks, soaking them through to the bone.

He'd realised the truth only a few weeks after the Germany fight. They'd come to a complete standstill and it was as if he'd lost the will to even try anymore. It didn't help that Tony was so often absent. It really did feel as if they'd given up any hope of Eddy being able to return to his own time.

"Giving up?"

"I know that I'm asking a lot. I do. But this is my life. And it feels like I'm giving up on it," he said quietly.

"We're not giving up, Eddy. We're being careful," Tony said, he reached a hand forward, hovering above his shoulder before he finally placed it down, shaking him encouragingly. "You'll have fun. I promise. You go to school, make some friends and then come home to the labs and we try to figure this out." He paused a moment. "Okay?"

Eddy sniffled, averting his eyes from the older man. "Okay." He nodded again, forcing a smile onto his face. "You know, realistically, I could be the first person to figure out time travel. In my time, your parents aren't even together yet."

Tony scoffed. "You spent too much time with Wanda."

It was obvious that he regretted bringing her up at all. They stood silently for another moment until Eddy asked the obvious question.

"Any word from them?"

"No. I don't expect we'll hear anything either. You know how it is."

Eddy frowned. "Yeah."

"Anyway, you start on Monday," Tony said, his eyes flicking down to the school badge on his chest.

"Monday!"

He shrugged in his self-satisfied way. "Yeah. Unless you want to be the weird kid that starts on a different day to the rest of the class?"

"I'd rather not."

"Happy will drive you. School starts at eight."

A voice rang out from the room adjacent. "I never agreed to that!"

"Can't I just teleport?"

Tony snorted, making it clear that the answer was obvious. "Eddy, here's the thing: when you go to this school, you're going to be normal. You'll have a mom who works in a bank, a dad who works long shifts at the hospital and notably a sister who isn't head of a counter-terrorism intelligence agency but is studying biology in a European university," he said quickly, and Eddy sharply realised that he'd already planned it all out. "That means acting the part. The last thing we need is for people to find out you're a time traveller who can teleport."

Eddy couldn't help but sulk. He craved to be able to use his powers somewhere other than to the kitchen, and for more than five seconds at a time. "But Happy doesn't want to drive!"

"Well, Happy owes me a favour."

"That bet didn't count," Happy shouted.

"What bet?"

"He'll drive you," Tony said, shaking his shoulder one last time before he began to retreat toward the direction of his lab, Eddy's coffee cup in hand.

"What bet!"

In the end, the bet played no relevance. He figured it was better to remain ignorant to it than to ask again. But either way, whether Tony was owed a bet or not, Happy would be driving him to school on a bright Monday morning in one of his boss' less conspicuous cars and Eddy dreaded the day that was quickly coming.

☀︎︎

I miss Wanda already but I'm literally so excited to write about Peter!