~Peter and Michelle - Book III~

❄Chapter 4❄

"Kid, you're here. Good." Peter had barely walked into Mr Stark's office before he addressed him, "Yes sir, I got here as fast as I could. You needed me for something? Is everything okay?" Tony waved a hand over to the chair across from him. Peter approached and sat down, removing his mask. "Everything's fine. I called you here cause I needed to talk to you about the Christmas Eve Gala being held here."

Peter released a small sigh of relief and nodded for him to continue. "I know you said you wanted to look out for the little guy and not be an official Avenger, but as you have probably noticed, in recent months a lot of press believe you are 'menace' to society, and don't believe you are a trustworthy hero..."

Peter nodded, knowing full well what he was talking about. There were a few different papers and press who constantly talked negatively on his superhero persona, attempting to slander his name. It always frustrated him, but he knew there wasn't much he could do outside of continuing to save people and try to prove he is just a friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man.

"Did you have something in mind, sir?" Peter asked, sensing that he was getting closer to the point of him having summoned Peter here. "I think it might help your image and get the press off your back a little if Spider-Man showed up at the Gala and had some friendly conversations with known Avengers. You could come as yourself, you could bring your girlfriend with you if you'd like, and then at some point you could change and just hang about for a little while."

Peter looked up at him surprised, "You know my girlfriend?" Tony gave him a look, "Kid you talked about her all the time, and Happy mentioned it. She is more than welcome to attend with you." Peter nodded slowly, feeling a little embarrassed as he remembered that he did spend a lot of car rides rambling about Michelle. "Okay. Yeah, I can do that. What time does it start?"

"It'll start at 8, but you'll need these two invitations to get into the event. You do own a suit right?" Tony said, handing him two envelopes. He's probably talking about a tuxedo, and not my Spider-Man suit. "Yeah, I have one. Michelle doesn't wear dresses very often but I think she has a few," Peter mumbled the last bit, but Tony seemed to have heard him.

He quickly typed something on his phone. "Tomorrow morning Happy will take the both of you to get some appropriate attire." Peter stared at him, "Really? Are you sure?" Tony chuckled, "Can't have you looking unsophisticated at this high profile event." Peter blushed and nodded, embarrassed, before realizing something. "Wait, so I'm going as an intern?" Tony nodded. Peter didn't want to both him with anymore questions, so he nodded and tucked the invitations down the back of his suit so he could bring them back.

"Is that all, sir?" Tony went and sat back in his chair. "Yup. See you, Kid." Peter got up, "Bye, Mr Stark." He pulled the mask back over his face and left his office, finding his way out of the building before beginning the journey back to Queens. It took about 10 minutes before he made it back to Michelle's apartment.

He dropped down on the fire-escape outside her window, knocking on it lightly. He could see her sitting up in her bed, nose deep in a book. Her head rose up at the noise and turned to him. She closed her book and came over to open the window quietly. Peter dropped inside, pulling his mask off. "How did it go?" She asked immediately in a whisper, not wanting to alert her mother or Jake.

"Well, it was completely unexpected, but he wants me to come to the Christmas Eve Galla this year." Michelle blanked, "What? The Gala? Why?" Peter shrugged, dropping his mask on the foot of her bed, "I was surprised too. He thinks that if I go and Spider-Man shows up and is all buddy-buddy with the Avengers then maybe some of the press that have been talking bad about me might back off a little." Michelle gave him a look of sympathy, "You haven't been reading those, have you? You know they are all untrue."