(3) Five times Jason surprised the Avengers and one time they surprised him
Peter was more excited to get to the tower than usual. Which was something that he never thought could happen.
He loved the tower. It was his getaway from reality. Mr. Stark could hold him captive and Peter would never complain.
The only thing better than the tower was the people living in it. Meaning, the Avengers. Never in his life did Peter think he would be this lucky.
Especially because it seemed like they tolerated him. They treated Peter like he was one of them.
It was nice. Peter could admit, to feel like he belonged somewhere.
"You're going to love him." Mr. Stark promised a wide smile stretched on his face. The man still had his sunglasses on but if he took them off, Peter knew that they would be sparkling with joy and excitement.
This was how Mr. start usually acted when he was in the lab with Peter. The man was so happy.
And it was all because of the newest person living in the tower.
He still didn't know the mystery man's name. Mr. Stark never mentioned it. Peter wouldn't be surprised if it slipped his mind. Just like Peter, Mr. Stark talked fast. Every word coming out of his mouth was praise about the guy. It made him sound so cool.
Peter couldn't wait to meet him.
——
He blinked before turning his head to look at his mentor questioningly.
Mr. Stark rubbed the back of his neck, "He's been working hard these past few days." He said fondly, "I should've expected him to be beat."
Peter processed the image in front of him.
There was a muscular guy who looked two- maybe three?- years older than him passed out on the kitchen table. He had dark curly hair that had a streak of white. Peter wondered if that was a new trend. And, even if it wasn't, the guy pulled it off. The surface of the table had papers littered all around it.
Peter tried to read the words on the paper, but a majority was scribbled out. He internally groaned. He wanted to know what the teen was researching.
"Jason's been working on finalizing a project for Stark Industries. He came up with it himself, and when we presented it to the board, they loved it." Mr. Stark smirked, "Once this project is finalized so many lives will be helped."
"What sort of project is it?" Peter asked, wanting to know more. His brain was running through a million possibilities.
The project had to be good. Better than good! Especially if Mr. Stark was letting a teenager work with SI to finalize it. Peter needed to know what it was.
But Mr. Stark didn't say a word to answer his question. Instead, the man looked right past him. "Why don't you ask Jason yourself?"
The room was silent for a few seconds. Peter turned to the table just in time to see Jason open one eye, revealing pretty blue-green eyes.
Jason sighed, straightening up as he stretched his arms. "How long have you known?"
"From the moment you woke up."
The teen frowned, scrunching his eyebrows. "I must be losing my touch."
Now that Jason was sitting up, Peter realized how tall he was. He had to be at least 6'2.
Peter pouted. That was so unfair. How can Jason be 6'2, muscular, and smart? Before he could stop himself, Peter blurted out "How old are you?"
Jason and Mr. Stark stared at him before glancing at each other.
"I'm nineteen."
"He's seventeen."
The voices contradicted each other. Sparks flew as Mr. Stark and Jason glared at each other.
"Look at me!" Jason gestured to himself, "What sort of seventeen-year-old has a body like this?" He turned to Peter, "I'm 200 pounds of muscle." He informed, "How many seventeen years old do you know that have the same body type as me?"
Jason looked at him so expectantly that Peter felt bad for crushing his hopes. "A majority of my school's football team, actually." Peter admitted, "You guys have similar body structure."
Jason's jaw dropped as Mr. Stark cackled. "Se-ven-teen." His mentor teased, stretching out each syllable. "Why don't you just admit it?"
"Because I'm not seventeen."
Peter concluded that Jason was lying. Maybe he was scared that people would view him differently if they realized how young he was. Peter knew how that felt.
"The Avengers-" Peter suddenly said, "Mr. Stark especially! They won't look down on you for being younger." Jason's gaze softened before he turned away, causing Peter to falter, "I hope you know that..." His voice awkwardly trailed off.
Once again, silence engulfed the air and Peter was scared that he ruined everything. Did he make things weird? He gave Mr. Stark a wide-eyed look, asking for help and his mentor gave him a small smile of amusement.
"So Jason," Mr. Stark drawled. "During your attempt to eavesdrop on us, I'm sure you heard that Peter over here, wanted to learn more about your project."
That was not the type of help he meant.
Peter felt his cheeks heat up when Jason eyes him. What if the teen thought Peter shouldn't know about it? What if Peter was too stupid to understand the project? What if Jason decided that Peter wasn't cool enough to know about the project?
Questions continued to flow through his head, each one slowly becoming worse than the last.
"I'm sorry!" Peter exclaimed as quickly as he could. "Youdon'thavetotellmeanything. It'sokayifyouwanttokeepittopsecret.A-okay,even.whatevertheprojectisi'msureit'samazing."
"It's okay, kid." Peter looked up and saw that Jason was facing him again. His eyes filled with amusement. "Trust me, this project isn't as amazing as you think it."
Mr. Stark snorted, "Sure it isn't."
Jason gracefully ignored Tony as he grabbed Peter's hand, leading him to the table. Mini-Stark stayed still, making Jason sigh. "You're allowed to touch the papers, y'know."
Peter's face brightened as he snatched a piece of paper near him. Jason couldn't help the small smile that made its way onto his face.
A few minutes later, Peter set the paper down. His eyes were wet and Jason immediately turned to Tony for help.
The man only raised an eyebrow.
Jason glared at him, taking the hint that the man wasn't going to do anything.
Peter was wiping tears away from his cheeks as he looked at Jason with so much amazement that it made him freeze. "You're coming up with a relief program?" Jason slowly nodded, unsure where this was going. "And this program it's... it's going to be directed to people who have been struck down due to poverty." Peter's voice was full of disbelief. As if he wasn't sure if this was reality.
Jason nodded again and the next thing he knows, arms were wrapped around his waist.
"Thank you. Thank you." Peter repeated. "Thank you."
Jason hesitantly returned Peter's hug. "Of course." He replied, "Someone's got to look out for them."
Peter sniffled, his face buried in Jason's shirt, "But no one's ever looked out for us before."
Jason glared at the floor. "Then I guess I'll be the first."
From the corner of his eye, he saw Tony smile.
——
Operation Peter meets Jason was a success!
It was a lot more tearful than Tony thought it would be, but it worked.
He watched the two high schoolers talking about the program. Jason explained each component, and Peter nodded along excitedly, asking a flurry of questions.
He knew they would get along.
It was impossible not to like Jason once you got to know him and Peter-
Well, Peter was Peter.
The kid was too endearing.
Hours passed and soon, it was time for Peter to go.
Peter pouted when Tony told him. "Two more hours, Mr. Stark." Peter pleaded, "Pleaseeee."
"For the last time kid, call me Tony. And you said that three hours ago." He massaged his temples, "Your aunt is going to kill me. It's way past your bedtime."
"But I wanna stay with Jason."
"You'll see him tomorrow." Tony began to realize that maybe introducing the two was a bad idea. "What about the two of you exchange numbers so you can stay in contact."
Peter rushed to do exactly that.
"No."
"But you didn't even know what I was going to say!"
"I don't care. The answers still no."
"But-"
"No."
Tony stared expectantly at him until he heard the "Awwww." signaling the kid's defeat. Peterquickly hugged Jason. "I'll text you." he informed.
"Bye Peter," Jason nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow."
When the kid was gone, Tony looked at Jason. "So..." he started.
"Sooo..." Jason copied, looking confused.
Tony decided to bite the bullet. "Why do you care so much about this?" Tony paused, then backtracked. "I sound like a bitch. Let me rephrase that."
Jason let out a laugh. "No ,you're fine. I know what you mean."
The silence swelled between them. It was comfortable. Something that surprised Jason.
Whenever he was with the Bats and it became quiet, Jason knew it was going to go horribly. It didn't matter how their relationship was at that moment. Either way, things went to shit.
It was why Dick tried so hard to keep everyone engaged in a conversation. Or why he tended to talk a lot.
Jason sighed, flopping his head on the soft cushion of the couch. If there was anything he learned these past few weeks, it was that the Avengers were nothing like the Bats.
"I grew up in Crime Alley." Jason started, facing Tony. "It wasn't that bad at first. I had a roof over my head. Sometimes there was food on the table. The normal stuff, y'know." Jason's voice hitched, "It- it all went downhill when my mom died." His eyes lowered to his fists. "I was forced to live on the streets. And if I'm being honest, I don't know... I don't know how I survived." Jason paused. He could feel tears threatening to fall. "It was so hard."
So hard.
Jasons never admitted that to anyone. Not to the Bats. And not even to himself. And for some reason, that's how the barrier broke.
The memories were all flooding back and tears were streaming down his cheeks. "It was so hard." He repeated, giving his brain another chance to finally accept the truth."The things I've had to do. The things I had to put up with."
He could feel it all again. The unwanted hands. The taste of the food. He remembered how he shut his eyes before he took a bite. So he didn't have to see how disgusting and un-consumable it looked.
Tony's arms wrapped around him causing Jason to sob even more. That's the third time someone hugged him today. Without realizing it, he leaned into the hug.
Somehow, Jason ended up in Tony's lap.
For a split second, Tony remembered how he used to be in the kid's position, crying and defeated while his mom ran his hands through his hair and hummed a comforting lullaby.
Without realizing it, Tony did the same. He scratched Jason's head, not stopping even after the sobs faded.
"I think your towers cursed." Jason muttered, "I think I've cried more here than I have the past year."
"Maybe that's a good thing," Tony managed to say. "Holding in your emotions. That's not healthy."
"Don't think ya' can talk, Iron Man." Jason accused. "I've seen your in'erviews."
Tony couldn't help but crack a smile. "Yeah, you're right." He admitted, "Guess that's something we both have to work on."
Jason doesn't respond and Tony was fine with that.
Soon enough, a familiar lullaby filled the air.
——
So, what'd you guys think?
I don't know what I was doing with this chapter. I didn't expect the final part to happen. To be honest, I didn't even expect Jason to start crying.
It just happened.
I had two goals for this chapter. For Peter to meet Jason. And for them to find out that Jason grew up in poverty. I didn't expect it to get that detailed.
Oops.
Also, not to go off topic but I didn't expect so many people to enjoy the jason todd x avengers series so much. This whole thing started as a self-indulgent project for me so it's crazy to see so many people support it. It makes me wonder why you guys like it so much.
Anyways...
Just like the past chapter don't forget leave a comment. I love reading them. Let me know your thoughts, reactions, and if you have any suggestions.
See y'all in the next chapter! Which might come up sooner than later cause I have a 14-hour flight this Wednesday. So who knows, I might just do a writing binge.