Spiderman's Babysitter

5 • This is Spiderman. He's the Team Baby.

I came out swinging from a South Philly basement
Caked in stale beer and sweat under half-lit fluorescents
~ Came Out Swinging • The Wonder Years

There was a knock at the door. Peter made his way to his apartment's front door, confused. Was May finished work early? Was Ned having another Star Wars crisis, like the time he couldn't figure out what blasters blasted? (Not that it's important, but blasters don't shoot kyber crystals. They look like they're shooting kyber crystals but that wouldn't make any sense because that would be extremely inefficient and they would be much more deadly than they are portrayed to be. Blasters actually fire bolts of intense plasma energy.)

Peter was very surprised to see that the person at his door was not May, neither was it Ned.

"Hey, MJ," Peter greeted the girl awkwardly. He contemplated asking MJ how she knew where he lived but he already knew that MJ knew pretty much everything. Guess that included his address. "What are you doing here?"

MJ looked slightly horrified when Peter answered the door. Peter actually looked down to make sure he was wearing clothes after a few agonizing moments of MJ standing in Peter's doorway, silent and very startled.

"Wrong door," MJ finally said, then darted for the apartment next to Peter's. Peter watched MJ enter the apartment directly next to his while standing in his doorway in a state of thorough confusion.

"What on earth..." Peter mumbled to himself, closing the door and walking back into his bedroom.

+++++

MJ was not happy.

"Okay so I'm living in Peter's apartment building now, I get that," she told the woman who opened the door for her, Madeline Barrett. "But seriously?! The apartment right beside him! Don't you thinks that's a bit much?"

Madeline shrugged. Before she could say anything, Tony appeared in all his glory from a room inside the apartment. He wore blue-tinted glasses and an Iron Maiden t-shirt under an expensive looking suit. He took a bite out of his half eaten apple.

"'Much' is my middle name," he told the girl.

MJ nodded. "Yes, that's why you gave me the wrong apartment number then hid in the apartment so you could make a dramatic entrance when I critiqued your apartment choices."

"Precisely," Tony said, pointing at MJ. He then turned to Madeline. "So, um, I can't really help you that much with your job. I bought you a book on parenting though. Refer to that before you ask me any questions."

Madeline refrained from rolling her eyes when Tony grabbed the big book lying on the coffee table and handed it to her. The cover of the book read: Caring for Your Baby and Young Child: Birth to Age 5. MJ snorted. From what she knew about Tony Stark, that act was planned and extremely in character.

"And I think we're done here," Tony clapped his hands. He started to walk in the general direction the the exit, then sat down on one of the couches. "I'm not done here," he explained to the two girls who stood there awkwardly. "I should be getting a text from Happy anytime now."

+++++

"Wow, that was really quick," Peter exclaimed, staring at the billionaire that was standing in his front doorway. "I swear I just ended the phone call with Happy like two seconds ago."

"I was in the neighbourhood," Tony explained, but it really didn't explain anything. What kind of business would Tony Stark have in Peter's neighbourhood? Peter just nodded, knowing better than to question Tony. Whatever it was, he wasn't telling. "So, you ready for the first day of your internship?"