Buzzkill: The Reckoning

Chapter 24

 The next morning, Ruth walked swiftly into Tony's lab, the music turned down considerably, making her think Tony had probably stepped out for a moment.

She walked through the floor to the center hub, papers and blueprints strewn about the floor around the ring of desks. A couple of stairs led up to the space, taking one step, Ruth could just barely see something that made her hope it was the conductors Tony talked about.

"Hey miss, I'm sorry, but I don't think you're allowed in here," A young voice called out from behind Ruth.

Ruth couldn't help but wonder who would be allowed at this base who hadn't already met her. She turned to face him, not recognizing the seemingly young boy, probably still in high school. Ruth changed her presence quickly, becoming another personality.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was just looking around. I wanted to check out what my dad had going on here." Ruth walked down the steps and over to where the boy stood at the entry of the lab. She reached out her hand to shake his, her voice light and airy, "I'm Ruth, Ruth Stark."

"I'm Peter," The boy started, "Peter Parker. Ruth...Stark? Tony is your dad?" Peter asked, his voice stuttering slightly.

"Yeah," Ruth lied, smiling her way through it. She put her hands in her back pockets, "I don't live around here, and he doesn't talk about me much. He and my mom were together for a brief time a long time ago."

Peter smiled, nervousness still shuddering through him. "Wow, well, uh, it's nice to meet you. What are you doing over here? In um...New York?"

"Just visiting from college. I haven't seen my dad in a while. He said he was busy, so I wanted to see if I could help in some way." Ruth gazed at the room around her in awe as if she had just seen it for the first time, "This SHIELD place sure is something, they have crazy security."

"Yeah, it definitely takes getting used to."

Ruth looked back to him, "But Peter, huh? I've heard my dad talk about you."

"You have?" Peter asked, his voice rising with curiosity.

"Of course!" Ruth lied, trying to figure out who this guy was. "Well, he's mentioned your name a couple of times while talking about projects. What do you do here? Do you have powers like most of the others?" She hoped that if he did, he would confess something. It was fun to shake him up a bit.

"I'm just an uh...intern. I help out wherever I can. I even take out the trash," Peter let out a nervous laugh.

Ruth could see he was wavering from the truth, "I see."

"Well, I'm sorry to bother you," Peter started, "You can stay as long as you want. I mean, it's your dad's lab after all. I was just dropping these papers off," he placed the few folders that were tucked in his arms on the nearest table next to him. Ruth noticed his hands trembling slightly.

"I'll just wait here until he gets back. If I don't see him soon, I'll talk to him later," Ruth said kindly.

"Um, well, take your time, obviously. I'll... head out." Peter extended his hand to shake Ruth's again, "It was nice to meet you, Ruth."

Ruth smiled sweetly, "It was nice to meet you too, Peter."

Peter gave a short laugh, turning on his heel and heading out the door.

Ruth shook her head, taking a deep breath before turning back to the central computers. Peter definitely had something to do in the Avengers. She made a mental note to ask Bucky about him later.