Maria Stark had spent a month gathering information on the Spider-Man who was swinging around Queens. All she had to work off was the cameras that were dotted around the city. Regardless of the bad quality, she had been able to gather a fact file on the guy. She was still surprised by her own discoveries – Peter Parker, a friend of hers, was Spider-Man; she had not seen it coming at all.
Her dad stood behind her his eyes running over the clearest image of Spider-Man in his god awful homemade suit on the holographic screen. Spinning around to her computers Maria started tapping away at the keyboards - her computers either used keyboards or the touch holograms. Soon enough the hologram filled with videos, information and pictures of the webslinger.
"This is Spider-Man. He is obviously a spider themed hero with a whole list of abilities" Maria started as she brought up various videos of the Spider-Man. "Has agility, super strength." Pulling up one video in particular Maria forced Tony to watch it. Spider-Man swung between a bus and a speeding car, landing and catching the car easily, saving the people in the bus and the driver. "Catches a car 3,000 pounds, 40 miles an hour." Tony stood impressed; it wasn't an easy feat to do that.
"He has this ability to stick to walls like a spider I'm not sure if it's adhesive gloves or if it's one of his powers. He also seems to have a sort of danger sense or something, you know like spiders. He obviously swings around on webs and can shoot webs, at first I thought they were organic but as I watched more videos I noticed that the webs come from devices on his wrists, they are homemade devices along with his suit clearly." Maria quickly brought up zoomed in images of the devices on his wrist and a design sketch she had created off them. Tony reached out and span the design prints of the devices intrigued by how much Maria had found from videos alone. Truth be told, Maria had guessed a lot of the work behind the wrist devices, she was pleasantly surprised by them.
"I did try to find the webbing, like where he gets it from, but nowhere makes anything like that." Reaching over into a drawer Maria suddenly pulled out a small tube that had some of the webbing inside it. "I found this on one of the numerous buildings he swings from and did some tests on it" Maria said as she chucked the small vile to her father who swiftly caught it and studied the item. "The tensile strength is off the charts on that stuff. He has the brains to make it himself so I assume it's homemade as well ... kudos to him." Turning back around to face her computers Maria began bringing up and taking down various pages.
"Now finding the identity of this guy was ridiculous I couldn't get a good shot of his face but me being as smart as I am" Maria commented, her father's arrogance clear in his daughter, "noticed that Spider-Man always appeared roughly the same time every day at about 3-ish when the school's end. That with his height, body, and voice led me to believe he was a teenager." Tony frowned; he didn't like the idea of a kid running around trying to be a superhero. It wasn't a safe job to do ... but the kid did seem more than capable. "Also I noticed on cameras that Spider-Man often has a sandwich from Mr Delmar's. So I looked at the security footage of the shop compiled a list of the teenager boys that entered the days Spider-Man had a sandwich on him - several names fitting everything popped up." Maria brought up the short list of names.
Maria remembered when she compiled the list and saw Peter's name for the first time. When she placed his name on the list it had caused her to freeze. Her mind had raced around the idea of Peter being Spider-Man but it actually had made sense. That was when she had known she had found Spider-Man's identity but she had to make sure she was correct so she continued to do research which she brought up on a screen for her dad to see. "Stalking these boys, I eventually discovered that one boy disappears down an alleyway (there is only one camera on that alleyway which is really annoying because I couldn't see if the boy emerged as Spider-Man or not) in saying that once he goes into that alleyway he disappears, you can't find him on any cameras anywhere in the city as long as Spider-Man's around. And Spider-Man is never around when that boy's around. That young man would be one: Peter Parker." Maria brought up an image of the boy from his social media. It was still shocking to know Peter was Spider-Man, it made sense that he was but it was still shocking.
"At first I couldn't believe it" Maria commented laughing as she looked at the image of Peter, "but the more I thought about the more it made sense. For example, in gym that boy was a skinny muscle-less boy who couldn't do a single sit-up then one day he turned up out of nowhere he had muscles and he was doing like 50 sit-ups really fast without breaking a sweat, it wa- what?" Maria trailed off as she looked at her dad who was glaring at her. He didn't look happy. What had she done wrong?
"You're not allowed to date him" Tony stated his eyes hard as steel. Maria froze. Date Peter? Date Peter Parker?! The thought had never entered her mind. Peter was ... well, Peter! She had never thought of the boy that way, ever. And anyway Michelle liked Peter not her.
"I'm just observant" Maria replied surprised at the notion. She didn't like Peter, like that. He was a great friend but nothing more. "Anyway Spider-Man has been around for six months, he appeared shortly after his uncle's death, Ben Parker. Not sure if you know but Peter lives with his aunt, May Parker - Peter lost his parents awhile back." Tony nodded at the knowledge as he grabbed the information off the hologram and placed it onto the tablet in his hand, studying the profile more closely. Maria sat and watched her father for a while before her eyes landed on one of the cabinets in her lab that concealed her latest project.
"Oh and I have this to show you" Maria suddenly announced as she jumped to her feet and began walking to the large cabinet. With a push of a button on her bracelet that was actually a mini computer device so that she didn't have to carry around laptops all the time, the door slid back revealing a mannequin wearing a Spider-Man suit.
It was an one piece suit that Maria had designed completely by herself, she had made the suit have enhanced durability so that it wouldn't rip or tear easily whilst being waterproof, it modelled to fit the wearer's body, the lenses worked like camera shutters and had many capabilities hidden in them. She had upgraded Peter's web shooters going a little over board on the combinations of webbing – she had kept Peter's webbing the same after she had figured out how he had made it, why change something that works? And those were only a few of the capabilities she had given the suit. She had a lot of spare time on her hands.
Tony had looked up from his tablet and was shocked to see the suit. It was a definite upgrade on the one Peter had created and seemed to be fully stocked out. The red and blue colour scheme was there with the small black spider at the centre along with the thin lines of webbing that ran along the suit.
"It's not completed quite yet but it's getting there" Maria explained as she titled her head whilst studying the suit – it was her first time creating a suit from the design down to the finer details on her own. She was immensely proud of it.
"Why have you made him a suit?" Tony questioned as he made his way to his daughter's side, to say he was impressed would be an understatement. He could only imagine what she had added into the suit.
"Because I know you and I know you will eventually get involved with Peter, you would've made the suit yourself and if he's needed by the Avengers in the future I know you'd complain about having to stand beside a kid dressed in an onesie" Maria rattled off as she turned to look at her father with a knowing smirk on her face. Tony stood there and nodded. It was true. "Oh quick question can I have one of your AIs to add to it? Can't be arsed making my own."
"If you are smart enough to build this suit, you can build your own AI" Tony replied with a smirk of his own. Maria groaned in annoyance.
"Uh fine!" Maria huffed dramatically. Tony just laughed at her. Before any more could be said, FRIDAY, Tony's AI, suddenly spoke, her Irish accent filling the room.
"The car is ready sir."
"Thanks FRIDAY" Tony said to the artificial intelligence before turning back to his daughter. He opened his arms to which she immediately wrapped her own arms around his waist and buried her face against his chest. Tony held her close before he kissed the top of her head.
"I love you tonnes, pumpkin" he whispered, Tony always made sure that Maria knew that, he wouldn't have her think he didn't love her like his father had done to him.
"I love you loads Dad." The pair quickly separated and Tony went to leave the room, placing Maria's tablet on a desk. "Enjoy MIT!" she called after him before she turned back to looking at the Spider-Man suit. "Now what haven't I added to this thing?"
~8~
Whilst Tony had been at MIT, disaster had struck in Lagos with the rest of the Avengers. This had led to the Sokovia Accords which stated that the Avengers would only do as a UN panel instructed. Obviously these Accords caused a split among the Avengers ... more importantly Maria's family. Tony was desperately trying to get Steve to sign the Accords which Maria knew would never happen.
At that moment in time, Maria was laid out on her bed whilst Michelle Jones, her best friend known to her as MJ, was sat on her comfy, spinning computer chair reading one of her books. It was rare to find Michelle without a book; just in the same way it was rare to find Maria without a hologram or computer in front of her face.
"So how's the family after the Accords?" Michelle suddenly asked, her eyes trained on the book.
"Split up. A disaster" Maria answered as she continued to play solitaire on her hologram. "They're gonna end up fighting each other I know it. And that will kill me."
"Whose side you on?" Michelle asked finally lifting her gaze from her book as Maria sat up on her bed waving her hand through the hologram, knocking it off.
"Though I'd never tell my dad, I agree with Uncle Steve" Maria admitted. "My dad lost his freedom of choice the moment he signed the contract and that will haunt him one day. Knowing my dad though he will probably go behind the UN's back anyway. He always does what he wants."
"Sounds like someone else I know" Michelle replied with a smirk. Maria just glared at the girl though a small smile played on her face.
"You know my dad had more than just the Avengers on his mind - him and Pepper broke up after he refused to give up the suit" Maria revealed, she had seen Tony take the break up hard. It was clear the man loved Pepper and after everything that happened... "The Accords are a nice compromise for the pair of them. Tony stays as Iron Man but not all the time, etc."
"How are you feeling about your parents breaking up?" Michelle asked.
"Pepper's not my actual Mam, you know?" Maria commented avoiding the question. Pepper acted like her mother and so the break up had hit Maria as well. In one fail swoop her family was dwindle down to her dad with the loss of the Avengers through the Accords, and Pepper shortly before.
"I know, bitch" Michelle replied with a roll of her eyes. It was a strange nickname to have for Maria but Michelle called her 'bitch' in the same way she called Peter and Ned (Ned Leeds, Peter's best friend) 'losers'. If she insults you it means she likes you. Maria just smiled at the nickname. Before anymore could be said, Maria's phone started ringing and an alert came up on her computer screen. Maria clambered to her feet pushed Michelle, who was in her spiny chair, out of the way gently and answered the call on her computer. Immediately, face time came up with Tony being the caller.
"Y'ello?" Maria asked, resting her hands on her desk.
"Hey, pumpkin, I need something off you" Tony immediately said, getting straight to the point.
"Shoot" Maria said but suddenly her eyes flickered to Michelle who was beside her. There was certainly things that Michelle didn't know that Maria and her dad knew so quickly Maria spoke up. "Bear in mind I have an MJ behind me."
"Ok, Spider-Man's address, give it to me" Tony ordered. Swiftly, Maria's fingers brought up the address and forwarded it to Tony. Her mind catching up with her fingers Maria asked
"Why do you need it?"
"Recruiting him" Tony stated. Maria smirked. She knew it.
"I'll have the suit ready to go" Maria finished the call, Tony nodding at her words before the call ended.
"You know Spider-Man?" Michelle questioned as Maria turned away from her computers and moved towards her lab that was connected to her room.
"Yes."
With a flick of her wrist the doors to the lab opened and Maria made her way towards a large long desk that had the Spider-Man suit laid across it. She had been doing the finishing touches to the work of art. Now she had to pack the suit for safe travels. Grabbing a silver case Maria began prepping everything. Michelle followed her in complete amazement. Michelle wished she had a lab like Maria's but she guessed that was the perk of having a billionaire father. Pointing towards the suit Michelle questioned
"You made this?"
"From scratch" Maria answered with a smile as she picked up the suit, the material soft yet strong in her fingers. "Now let's get this thing packed up."
~8~
The suit worked. At least that was one thing.
It had been a couple of weeks since Tony had recruited Spider-Man and taken him to Berlin. Maria had seen everything through Spider-Man's suit - she had installed a programme called the Baby Monitor Protocol that recorded everything he saw. Maria had watched as her family had fought one another. She had watched the destruction of the Avengers. Actually she had watched it on repeat.
Maria was in her lab sitting at her desk watching the videos again, wondering how this all happened. Maria was close to Steve, Sam, Clint and Wanda, they were her favourite uncles and aunts (Natasha included) yet they were the ones who were taken from her. Yes, ok, maybe she was sulking like a child but she was upset! This was her family!
Maria watched once more as Team Captain America ran at Team Iron Man before each side clashed, throwing punches. People were hurt, Rhodes was left paralysed, many went to the Raft prison; Maria saw no good thing come out of these Accords at all.
Suddenly, Maria heard her lab door open. Sighing, Maria hit the space bar on her computer freezing the video. Silence filled Maria's room/lab as Tony made his way into it, sitting on her bed. A tenseness had occurred in their relationship since Berlin; Maria blamed Tony for locking half her family up.
"How are you doing?" Tony started unsure of how his daughter would react. He was finding the loss of the Avengers hard, so he couldn't imagine what she was feeling. It broke his heart to see that she wouldn't even look at him, her eyes were locked on her frozen computer screen.
"You put half of our family in prison" Maria spat back, no warmth in her voice at all, "how do you think I'm doing?" Tony didn't know how to put things right with his daughter. He had reprimanded her for her attitude at first but then only lead to her not speaking at all - he preferred her to be mad and speaking then silent.
Looking down at the letter that sat in his hand with Maria's name on it, Tony only hoped that maybe Steve had something to say that would save his relationship with his daughter. It had come in the same package that Tony's letter from Steve had come in and was sealed up. Walking over he placed the letter beside her keyboard wordlessly and kissed the back of her head.
"I love you tonnes" he muttered, hoping for her usual reply. Silence. That was all he got. Maria was a teenager who was hurt, she knew in the back of her mind not replying was mean and uncalled for but in that moment she was pissed off, she wanted her family back. Tony sighed before he left the room, her silence more painful than almost anything else he had experienced in his life. To know your own daughter hated you...
Once Tony had left Maria reached out and grabbed the letter. She recognised Steve's handwriting immediately. Opening it up she found a single sheet of paper with handwriting all over it - Steve was a fan of written correspondence.
Maria,
I'll first state that I miss you and hope you are well, everyone is ok and I'm getting my team out of prison soon. I also wanted to say that I'm sorry. I'm sorry that you are in the middle of all of this, I'm sorry I've had to leave. I didn't want to. Don't blame your dad though, he is only doing what he thinks is right, just like I am, just like you always do. And your dad has a right to be mad at me at the moment.
What you don't know is that I hurt your dad. I knew about Bucky killing his parents whilst he was being controlled and I never told him, I thought I was sparing him, but I can see now that I was really sparing myself. And you know how much his mother meant to him, your Grandmother even admitted she named you Maria because of Tony's connection with his mother and she knew one day that Tony would find you.
I wish we had all agreed on the Accords, I really do. But you have to remember that no matter where we are or where you are, we will always be there for you. I promise you we are always be by your side and if you need us, if you need me, I'll be there.
Love, Steve
The letter brought a smile to Maria's face but also made her feel guilty about the way she had been acting towards her dad. She did know how much Tony loved, still loved, his mother and to find out Bucky had killed her ... and that Steve knew. Yeah, she would have punched Bucky and Steve too. Sighing, Maria got to her feet and made her way through her room heading towards Tony's lab.
Soon enough she found her dad working away on his suit again, however, she could tell from the way he was holding himself that he wasn't bothered about his work, he just needed something to do. Guilt hit Maria like a freight train. She hadn't been the only one hurt and betrayed over the last few weeks. Soundlessly, Maria made her way to Tony who had his back to her. The girl quickly wrapped her hands around her dad's waist from behind, burying her face against his back.
"I love you loads" she mumbled quietly, "I'm sorry." Tony sighed and placed his hands over hers. "Uncle Steve was right about the Accords but he was wrong not to tell you about your mother." Tony turned around and hugged his daughter tightly. He was just glad that she was talking to him and he knew that Steve had played a part in her coming to him - he once again owed the Captain. It would take some time but Tony knew that his relationship with his daughter could be fixed, would be fixed. As Maria pulled back her eyes landed on the Iron Man suit causing an idea to come to mind. "Ever thought of using nano tech on your suit?"