"I don't suppose you have any idea where they are?" Secretary Ross asks Tony, Natasha, and I. I was sitting in a chair with my head in my hands.
"We will. GSG-9's got the borders covered. Recon's flying 24/7. They'll get a hit. We'll handle it." Tony rubs my back.
"You don't get it, Stark. It's not yours to handle. It's clear you can't be objective. I'm putting Special Ops on this."
"What happens when the shooting starts? What, do you kill Steve Rogers?" I look up and ask.
"If we're provoked. Barnes would've been eliminated in Romania if it wasn't for Rogers. There are dead people who would be alive now. Feel free to check my math."
"All due respect, you're not going to solve this with boys in bullets, Ross. You gotta let us bring them in." Tony steps up.
"How would that end any differently from the last time?"
"Because this time, I won't be wearing loafers and a silk shirt. 72 hours, guaranteed." Tony nods.
"36 hours. Barnes. Rogers. Wilson."
"Thank you, sir." The three of us walk away, Tony rubs his hand on his chest and slumps, exhaling. "My left arm is numb, is that normal?"
"You alright?" I ask, rubbing his back.
"Always." He has a massive black eye and a cut on his brow. "36 hours, jeez."
"We're seriously understaffed." Nat says as we stop.
"Oh, yeah. It'd be great if we had a Hulk right about now. Any shot?"
"No. You really think he'd be on our side?" Nat asks Tony.
"No."
"I think he would....Bruce doesn't want to hurt anyone." I sadly look to the ground.
"I have an idea." Nat nods.
"Me too. Where's yours?"
"Downstairs. Where's yours?"
"Queens." Tony smiles and holds my hand. As we are walking downstairs, I notice Nat go over to T'Challa.
"Give me a minute." I whisper. I head over to the two and smile. "Your highness, it's very nice to meet you."
He holds his hand out and shakes mine. "Y/N, I've heard a lot about you."
I place my other hand on top of his and hold it, "I'm very sorry about your Loss T'Challa, if there's anything you need, let us know."
"That's very kind, Thank you." He nods and smiles.
"I'm happy we had the chance to talk." I back away and wave.
"36 hours remember?" Tony reminds me as we hurry outside.
When we make it back to New York, Tony shows me videos of the kid we are going to see "Tony he's a child...."
"He can help." Tony nods and takes his phone.
As I was looking in my phone I get a notification, "They are in Germany." I show him.
"God I hate this." Tony sighs.
We talked to Peter's Aunt May about a grant, so we get take him to Germany....but she wouldn't know that.
I smile as I see the door open and a big walk in and into the kitchen. "Hey, May."
"Mmm. Hey. How was school today?"
"Okay. This crazy car parked outside....." He turns and looks at Tony and I with his eyes wide.
"Oh, Mr. Parker." Tony smiles.
"Um..." He takes out his earphones. "What--what are you doing...? Hey! Uh, I'm--Im--I'm Peter." He awkwardly waves.
"Tony."
I wave and smiles, "Y/N."
"What are....what are you--what are you--what are you doing here?"
"It's about time we met. You've been getting my e-mails, right?" Tony winks.
"Yeah. Yeah."
"Right?" Tony nods.
"Regarding the..."
"You didn't tell me about the grant." May smiles.
"About the grant." Peter nods.
"The September Foundation." I smile.
"Right." He nods agains.
"Yeah. Remember when you applied?" Tony smiles.
"Yeah."
"I approved, so now we're in business." Tony smiles at me.
"You didn't tell me anything. What's up with that? You keeping secrets from me now?" May points.
"Why, I just, I just....I just know how much you love surprises, so I thought I would let you know....wh-- anyway, what did I apply for?"
"That's what we're here to hash out." Tony nods.
"Okay. Hash, hash out, okay."
"It's so hard for me to believe that she's someone's aunt." I say, smiling at her.
"Yeah, well, we come in all shapes and sizes, you know?" She blushes.
"This walnut date loaf is exceptional." Tony adds.
Peter holds his hand up, "Let me just stop you there."
"Yeah?" Tony asks.
"Is this grant, like, got money involved or whatever? No?"
"Yeah." Tony chuckles.
"Yeah?"
"It's pretty well funded." I smile.
"Wow."
"Look who you're talking to. Can we have 5 minutes with him?" Tony asks May.
"Sure."
We follow Peter into a small bedroom. I smile and turn as Tony locks the door, he turns and spits out his food in the trash.
"Whoa, what do we have here? Retro tech, huh? Thrift store? Salvation Army?" Tony points at his desk.
"Uh, the garbage, actually." Peter says awkwardly.
"You're a dumpster diver." Tony nods.
"Yeah, I was....anyway, look, um, I definitely did not apply for your grant."
"Ah-ah! Me first." Tony starts.
"Okay."
"May I sit here?" I point to his bed. Peter instantly nods frantically.
"Quick question of the rhetorical variety." Ton pulls out his phone which projects a video of Peter in some sort of baggy outfit. "That's you, right?"
"Um, no. What do you. What do you mean?" Peter's eyes widen.
"Yeah. Look at you go. Wow! Nice catch. 3,000 pounds, 40 miles an hour. That's not easy. You got mad skills." Tony smiles.
"That's all- That's all on YouTube, though, right? I mean, that's where you found that? Because you know that's all fake. It's all done on the computer."
"Mm-Hmm." Tony turns away and looks up.
"It's like that video. What is it?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah....oh, you mean like those UFOs over Phoenix?" Tony says.
"Exactly."
Tony lifts up the attic door and a suit comes down, "Oh, what have we here?"
Peter runs and puts the suit in his clothes bin, "Uh...that's a..."
"So. You're the....Spider...ling. Crime-fighting Spider...you're Spider-Boy?" Tony asks.
Peter folds his arms, "S . . . Spider-Man."
"Not in that onesie, you're not." I smile.
"It's not a onesie." Tony picks up the suit. "I don't believe this. I was actually having a real good day today, you know, Mr. Stark. Didn't miss my train, this perfectly good DVD player was just sitting there and...Algebra test. Nailed it!"
"Who else knows? Anybody?" I ask.
"Nobody."
"Not even your...unusually attractive aunt?" My eyes snap up to look at Tony, I give him a dirty look.
"No. No, no. No, no. If she knew, she would freak out. And when she freaks out, I freak out."
"You know what I think is really cool? This webbing. That tensile strength is off the charts. Who manufactured that?" Tony asks.
"I did."
"Climbing the walls, how you doing that? Adhesive gloves?" I ask.
"It's a long story. I was uh..."
Tony holds up Peter's giggles to his eyes, "Lordy! Can you even see in these?"
"Yes. Yes, I can! I can. I can-I can see in those. Okay? It's just that... when whatever happened, happened.... it's like my senses have been dialed to 11. There's way too much input, so...they just kinda help me focus."
"You're in dire need of an upgrade. Systemic, top to bottom. 100-point restoration. That's why We're here." Peter sits on his bed next to me and looks at Tony. "Why are you doing this? I gotta know. What's your MO? What gets you outta that twin bed in the morning?"
"Because..." Peter fiddles with his fingers. "because l've been me my whole life, and l've had these powers for 6 months...I read books, I build computers...and--and yeah. I would love to play football. But I couldn't then so I shouldn't now."
"Sure, because you're different." I say, smiling at him.
"Exactly. But I can't tell anybody that, so I'm not. When you can do the things that I can, but you don't....and then the bad things happen...they happen because of you."
Tony looks affected by Peter's words, "So you wanna look out for the little guy? You wanna do your part? Make the world a better place, all that, right?"
"Yeah. Yeah just looking out..for the little guy. That's--that's what it is."
Tony slowly steps over to Peter whose leg is stretched out on the bed. Tony looks down at it. "I'm gonna sit here, so you move the leg." Peter moves along. Tony sits beside him and raises his hand. He hesitantly clasps Peter's shoulder. "You got a passport?"
"Uh, no. I don't even have a driver's license." Peter says from between us.
"You ever been to Germany?" I ask.
"No."
"Oh, you'll love it." Tony nods.
"I can't go to Germany!"
"Why?" I ask.
"I got...homework."
"I'm gonna pretend you didn't say that." Tony shakes his head.
"I'm---I'm being serious! I can't just drop out of school!"
"Might be a little dangerous. Better tell Aunt Hottie I'm taking you on a field trip." Tony goes to the door and holds onto the handle.
Peter webs Tony's hand to the door, "Don't tell Aunt May."
"Alright, Spider-Man." They share an earnest look before Tony returns to his usual attitude. "Get me out of this."
"Sorry, I'll get the..."