Becoming Spider-Man // Son of Stark 1

Chapter 8

Natasha smirked. "I'm training with Peter, later. Tony asked me to teach him how to throw a decent punch... not sure why though." She eyed the doorway, and watched as the two Starks walked in. "Speaking of the devil..."

"What did you just say, Romanoff?" Tony asked, in a tone of mock offence.

"Nothing," she said, through a plastic smile. An extremely obvious plastic smile.

"Pops!" Peter exclaimed, noticing his other father sat on one of the Tower's many sofas, "Dad never told me you were gonna be here!"

"You didn't?" Steve commented, embracing the fourteen year old, who was now clinging to his shoulders.

Shaking his head, Tony replied, "Nah, I thought I would be a good surprise."

"It was, Dad! It really was!"

Peter eventually stopped hugging his Pops and sat down next to him - finally noticing Bucky. "Who the hell are you?" he asked, earning himself a disapproved glare from Steve.

"I'm Bucky," the brunet replied, holding out his hand, "I have a feeling you might have heard of me?"

"Yeah... I think Pops mentioned you once... or twice, or a bajillion times."

Bucky grinned. "Well I'm pleased to finally meet you, Peter. Your... Pops has spoken a lot about you."

Peter blushed, "Only good stuff, right?" And, after receiving no valid answer, he repeated: "Right?"

"Mostly good stuff, kiddo," Bucky replied, chuckling slightly. "Relax, I'm joking. Yeah, he's told me about how smart you are - and that you've got heart."

"Uh, thanks... I guess. Sorry about my outburst, earlier, by the way."

"That's okay, kid, no offence taken."

"Well, Pete," Steve began, whilst twiddling his thumbs, "There's a bit of news I have to share with you..."

"Yeah?"

"Me and Bucky, here, are... dating."

Peter suddenly stood up, his eyes wide. "I just remembered. I got some homework to do." The teen then ran out of the room, before anyone could question him on his choice of excuse.

"I thought you said you homeschooled him, Tony?" Steve asked, still glancing at the empty space Peter had disappeared from.

"Yeah..." Tony had used that excuse many a times, when he was younger, and quickly decided to cover up for his son. "I still set him homework, though. It helps him learn to deal with deadlines."

"Ah, okay... Me and Buck better be off, then. And don't worry about walking us out, I know the way."

* * *

"What are you doing in here, bud?" Tony asked, walking into Peter's room - a few minutes after Steve and Bucky had left.

"Well... I... Uh."

"Kid, Pete, I covered for you back there, at least tell me what I did it for."

Peter quickly closed his browser - deleting his search history - before spinning around on his chair. "It was just a lot to take in, y'know, Pops and Bucky..."

"And that's it?"

"Yeah..."

"I don't quite believe you, kid," Tony scoffed, "You see, you do this thing with your hands whenever you lie."

"No I don't."

"You're doing it again."

Peter looked down at his trembling hands, hurrying to hide them behind his back. "Fine. Maybe I do do that when I lie."

"So you were lying to me?"

"Now you're making it sound bad, Dad."

"Lying is bad, especially when it involves lying to me," retorted Tony.

"I'm sorry..."

"If you're well an' truly sorry you'd tell me what this big secret is."

"Fine... I've been looking through Shield files-"

"You hacked into Shield's server?" Tony interrupted.

"Yeah..."

"It's fine. I've done it loads - just don't mention it to your Pops, he's got a soft spot for the government."

"Well, anyway, I was looking through some of the files and I came across one which had my parents' names on it."

"Right?"

"They were Shield agents, Dad! Level 7! That's higher than you. So, I skimmed through a few of their files and documents. My father... my birth father, was the person who modified those spiders back at Oscorp."

"That's interesting..."

"Yeah, it is. I also found out that the plane crash wasn't an accident."

"What?"

"Apparently some organisation - Hydra, I think - planned it. They thought that my parents knew too much to be alive."

Tony put his arm around his son, "You okay?"

"I never really knew them. Barely remember them, to be honest. No point crying about it now."

"Crying doesn't make you weak..."

"It might not but it's certainly one of my weaknesses."