Family is More Than Blood

Sunshine

Tony Stark received the phone call on his fly back from a minor mission involving two thugs who had decided to beat up an old lady. Tony had knocked them unconscious and then set their pants on fire so that when the police arrived the brats were in their undies. FRIDAY announced in her normal Irish tones,

"Boss, incoming call from Midtown High School," she informed him.

"Why the hell would a high school call me... and how do they have my cell number?" Tony muttered.

"I do believe that is the high school that Peter Parker attends," FRIDAY commented.

"Ah, yeah," Tony sighed, "You think he's in trouble?"

"Nothing life-threatening, or else Karen would have reported it," FRIDAY pointed out. Karen was the AI installed in Peter's spidey suit.

"True," Tony agreed, "Well, better see what he needs. Set course for Midtown Highschool."

He stepped out of the suit a couple blocks away and it folded itself into a suitcase. He called Happy to let him know that he needed a ride home from Peter's high school. Then he resigned himself to a lecture from a principal. When he walked in, he did not expect Peter to be bleeding. It wasn't bad, but Tony might have slightly panicked.

"What happened to my kid?" he demanded, "My intern. Whatever."

Principal Rennings raised his eyebrow but chose not to comment on his choice of words.
"He got into a fight -"

"A what?" Tony asked incredulously. Peter could beat any of these lousy kids in a fight any day of the week. Principal Rennings took the surprise as anger.

"There was minimal harm caused to either of them," he said quickly. 

"Can I speak to him alone for a sec?" Tony asked, "We can talk about consequences after."

"Of course," the principal graciously stepped into the back room.

"Hi, Mr. Stark, I'm really sorry for bothering you this is nothing I'm really really really -"

"I've told you to call me Tony a million times, kid," Tony corrected, "And it's not a problem. How did you get hurt? You could beat him up in a second."

"It seemed fair. I had the advantage with the superhuman abilities," Peter shrugged, "And you wanted me to stay incognito."

"Not at the risk of your own injury!" Tony protested, "That's not what I meant!"

"It's a split lip," Peter said, "Nothing is even broken."

"Yeah, well, I hope you broke his di-"

"Mr. Stark!"

"Tony, kid, Tony. Anyway, why'd you hurt him in the first place?" Tony asked, "Was he killing someone?"

"He was mocking my friends," Peter said. He looked the smallest bit nervous. Tony wanted to scream at him, but this room wasn't soundproof, so he settled for speaking in a very quiet angry voice.

"You nearly revealed yourself for some lowly insults?" Tony stared him in the eye. 

"Yeah, well-" Peter began to raise his voice.

"Keep it down, kid, don't want Rennings to hear," Tony warned.

"Look, just discuss my punishments with the principal and then we can talk about what you want me to use my powers for.," Peter said angrily.

"That's not what I-" Tony began, but stopped when Principal Rennings re-entered the room.

"Are you two ready for me?" he asked, looking between their two flushed faces.

"We're ready," Tony said, "We'll ground him, not let him visit his friends for a week, read only nonfiction books, no internet..." Tony looked helplessly at Peter. He wasn't the best at arranging punishments. Peter was half glad Aunt May wasn't here.

"I expect you to talk to him about what he did wrong?" the principal added.

"Very sternly," Tony agreed, "Yes, that too."

"One day of out of school suspension that will be wiped from his record after this school year."
Tony was confused (why suspend him if they would just wipe it from his record?) but he acquiesced with a nod of his head. 

"You are dismissed," Principal Rennings said, and headed back into the back room. Peter and Tony slipped out a side door, quickly hopping into the black Ferrari that Happy had brought round. 

"It makes me eligible for Prom King," Peter said out of nowhere. Tony frowned, turning to him. "The one day suspension. Not that it matters, you just looked confused. I mean, not confused, because you're never confused, but I just meant that-"

"I was," Tony interrupted. "Confused. Thanks for clearing it up, kid."

There was an uncomfortable silence for the rest long drive to Stark Tower with various opera and pop songs alternating on Pepper's mixtape that had been left in the car. When they reached the two got out, Tony could've sworn he heard a relieved sigh from Happy, but that might have been his own.

The elevator was just as quiet except the music was jazz. The doors finally opened with a loud beep and the pair stepped out.

"Alright, kid, listen," Tony began, "You can't let others know who you are."

"They needed someone to stand up for them!" Peter protested.

"Well, get someone else to do it."

"It doesn't work like that, everyone is too scared," Peter insisted, "except for me. I'm Spider-Man! This is what I do. I help people in need - and not just big shots like all you other superheroes help, I help ordinary people!"

"You can't help ordinary people if you're dead!" Tony shouted.

"What on earth?" Peter said, "Dead? Where did that come from?"

"If people know who you are, enemies know who you are," Tony said in a slightly quieter voice but not much, "And then enemies target Peter Parker, not Spider-Man and everyone you love and care about! Sure, it sucks when your friends get teased but that's better than your friends getting killed!"

"What was I supposed to do?" Peter's shoulders sagged, defeated, "I couldn't just let him hurt them, especially since Ned knows that I'm Spider-Man."

"You need to have a talk with your friends, kid," Tony sighed, "And get used to letting them down. Being a superhero means choosing your battles and sometimes you leave some angry people in your wake."

"I'm gonna go do my school work," Peter said. It wasn't a real response but at least Tony had gotten Peter thinking. The teenager swung his bag over his shoulder and headed to the kitchen, his walk a little sober.

"Hey, kid," Tony called after him. Peter turned around expectantly. Tony blushed a little.

"You did good," he said, "I'm proud of you."

A smile spread over Peter's face - slow, but bright as the sun.