Theft of a Life

Ch9

"What exactly are you hoping for here?" I follow Peter in through the fancy double doors. He waves to the guards, who nod to him as he pushes past the tour lines, heading for the stairs.

"Not too sure, but May and Mr Stark are supposed to be figuring out what to- how May should proceed," Peter picks his words carefully.

"Whether or not she should dump me in the system," I nod as we walk down the many flights of stairs.

"I don't think they'd dump you in the system."

"They'd totally dump me in the system,"

"They'd probably consider dumping you in the system," Peter concedes. "But that's not gonna happen," He adds under his breath.

"Huh," I exhale. "Any ground rules? Things not to touch, people around not aware of Spiderboy, etcetera?" I continue on.

"This is about as rules free as you'll get. Mr Stark is all for no holds barred science, and he's cool with your...what did you call it?"

"Porting. He's cool with that?"

"If anything he'll be excited. Please present that when he's about to yell at me, if you don't mind," Peter pushes through another set of doors and reveals Stark and May standing over a counter, clearly in a tense discussion.

"Peter Parker!" Stark shouts as soon as we get in. "First of all, stop tracking people. Second, why did you steal my stuff?"

I decide to follow Peter's suggestion and take the opportunity to port to one of the tables where an Iron Man helmet lies. I briefly fan away the purple cloud and pick up the helmet, looking at it from several angles. I notice that the conversation paused and look up, seeing Peter, May and Stark staring at me. Peter mouths 'thank you'

"...Teleporter," Stark mumbles curiously.

"Sorry," I mumble, setting down the helmet carefully. I glance up at him and lightly brush off some invisible dust from the helmet.

"No- no, no, you're...fine," Stark stares at me. "Would you mind coming back over here?"

I port back over to the table. Stark makes an intrigued face and pokes my shoulder, causing me to stick my foot out behind me.

"Do it again," He says- commands. There's something unsettling about it, but I can't imagine why. I glance behind him and reappear there, another purple cloud. Stark whips around.

"Is it tiring?" He circles around me, reaching for the cloud. "What's your stamina like?" Stark asks, I can see in his eyes how fast his mind is working. This seems less...monopolizing than the Tony Stark you hear about on the streets. He's more curious, like he just wants to learn.

Tony gestures for me to answer.

"Uh, no, it's actually kinda... exhilarating. Gives me a rush, sometimes I'll go back and forth really fast for fun, but it's hard because... people. Don't like mutants," I say awkwardly.

"Yeah, that one might be a teeny bit on me. How long you been on the streets?"

"End of June," I feel like I'm being interrogated.

"Before that?" Stark asks. "Hey, catch!" He declares, tossing a piece of wiring towards the other end of the room. I shoot him a weird look, port over, catch it, and pop up back in front of him to hand it back. He waves his hand through the cloud again.

"No freaking idea,"

"Date of birth?"

"Again, no clue,"