Peter was too exhausted to dream last time, it felt like a godsend (or was it god's send? With proof of Norse gods Peter tried not to think too much of the terminology). He always felt more rested when there weren't dreams crowding his brain at night.
As Peter slowly swings his legs out of bed, his foot hit against a box that made an unfamiliar rattle. Still dazed from sleep he looked down while rubbing one eye. The box contained all the shattered pieces of Ned's Lego death star, he needed to remember to rebuild it, but that was a problem for another time. Right now he needed to get ready before-
Peter's eyes widened as his spider sense kicked up a level indicating that Aunt May woke up. He cursed quietly in his head as he quickly got up, the chances of him avoiding her this morning were close to none, especially considering the fact that he hadn't managed to get in the shower yet. He gathered clothes from his dresser and made it across the hall to the bathroom only moments before May opened her door. He thought about locking the door but realized it would only cause more problems if she found out, not that he needed to, she hardly acknowledged him in the mornings before she's had her coffee.
After his shower and getting dressed, Peter watched himself in the bathroom mirror as he dried his hair with a towel. As he looked himself over he was glad to note that his decent night's rest greatly improved the bags under his eyes, he almost looked healthy, except when he reached over to scratch his side he was reminded of his slightly protruding ribs. Normally May fed him enough, if not the bare minimum to look healthy and cared for, but since he developed his abilities it didn't take him long to come to the conclusion that his enhanced metabolism wasn't doing him any favors and it wasn't like he had the option to spend what little allowance he was given on extra food, he had to use it on chemicals for his web fluid and needed school supplies.
Walking out of the bathroom and back into his bedroom, Peter could hear the clanks of silverware against dishes coming from the kitchen, May was probably making breakfast. His suspicion was confirmed when he stepped out of his room again with his bag and shoes on, the smell of food filled the air. He double checked to make sure he had his SI ID. He contemplated sneaking out the window but decided against it, May would probably retaliate by padlocking it shut if she found out.
He clutched the strap of his bag as he moved forward. He kept his head down as he quickly walked to the door hoping that maybe she wouldn't notice, of course he was wrong.
"Peter." May called, her voice was almost sweet, as if she was happy to see him that morning.
He stopped in his track as he looked over at her, he was within plain view of the kitchen so there was no chance of escaping her gaze.
"Sit, I've got eggs for you." She set a plate of scrambled eggs down at the small table. Peter only nodded in response as he walked into the kitchen setting his bag by the chair before sitting down, he took the fork by the plate and started eating. May sat in the chair across from him and watched him for a uncomfortable moment before finally speaking.
"So, how's the internship?" She asked innocently. Peter took one more bite before setting his fork down then looking up at here, he was immediately suspicious of her actions the moment she set the eggs down, so Peter wasn't surprised to find out it was an invite for an interrogation.
'Mr. Stark invited me into his workshop, he said he liked some of my designs' he signed. He had to pretend not to notice the sudden spike in his Spider sense as it sent sharp prickles down his spine.
Imminent danger.
"Only some of them?" She asked, her smile faltering with a faint twitch.
Peter swallowed, 'he especial liked one that I already have a working prototype for.' Peter glanced down at May's relaxed hand, there was a faint glint of silver hidden under her fingers. He had to force himself not to think of what it was.
"Oh? Do all of the prototypes you make work?"
Forcing himself to remain calm, he shook his head.
She let out a disapproving breath, "Right, well, at least your not completely useless."
Peter was about to pick up the fork again but May reached over sliding the plate away from him. He stopped mid motion then decided to put his hands in his lap.
"What is this prototype he said he liked?" She started eating the eggs.
'AR goggles, it's a type of video games system'
She only nodded in response before saying, "Next time you see Mr. Stark, tell him I want to have a talk with him."
'Yes ma'am' He replied, she then waved him off and he quickly grabbed his bag before heading out the door. He tried to keep a calm walk but once he closed the door he bolted for the stairwell the busted out the emergency exit on the ground floor. He was breathing heavily but not because of the exerted energy.
He hadn't realized he was gripping his phone until he looked at his shaking hands, he cursed at himself as he discovered a large crack running clear across the screen. He took in a few breaths as he leaned against the buildings brick wall.
She wasn't completely disappointed, that was good, but how was he going to get Mr. Stark to meet with her? He doubted Happy would send on the message and he had no other way of contacting him. It wasn't like he spent every day in the billionaire's workshop.
He shook his head as he pushed off the wall and started walking out of the alleyway, he needed to get away from the apartment building, his spider sense was still sending sharp signals. It made him feel uneasy like an exposed nerve.
Was she watching him?
He forced himself not to look, if she was then he wasn't supposed to know.
The moment he turned a corner his suspicion was confirmed when his spider sense completely died down. He was still on edge and didn't bother putting headphones in on the walk to school. He stayed focused on his spider sense taking some comfort in it's absence.
***
School went on like usual. Flash was a dick, Ned was fun to talk to, and Liz wore a new top that made her already pretty eyes stand out more. MJ said his staring was creepy which caused him to turn a subtle shade of red. During shop class he and Ned managed to take the hybrid weapon apart, they now the proud owners of a purple glowy thingy. They both were geeking out over it, Ned more so since he wasn't as used to the usual weird Peter's life had become. He was going to tell Ned that he got to spend yesterday in Mr. Stark's lab but his friend was already freaking out over everything else Peter didn't want to give him a brain aneurysm.
School was over and Peter took his route to Manhattan, it wasn't till he got to the tower that things started diverting from his usual scheduled.
There was a new woman at the reseption desk, this wasn't anything odd since he saw many different faces at the desk throughout his visits. There were a few that he recognized every so often so he just assumed they cycled through shifts.
When he walked up to the desk with his ID already out, he slid the small plastic rectangle over the tall counter so the woman could look at it. She scanned the barcode on the back but made an odd face as she looked at the computer screen.
Peter got a little nervous, he hoped there wasn't another incident like yesterday, the odds of Mr. Stark helping him two days in a row were slim to none. He doubted the man was even in the building. Peter quickly started typing on his phone.
<Is everything alright?> He held his phone on the counter so she could hear it.
She looked up taking a quick glance at the phone before looking at Peter.
"Yes, everything's fine." She looked back to the screen as her eyes darted across it reading something. "I am to inform you to take the left elevator." She pointed to the opposite direction of the main elevators down a hall Peter remembered exiting from when he came down from Mr. Stark's workshop.
His eyes went wide at the realization, he almost forgot to give her a nod of thanks as she handed back his ID.
Stuffing his ID in his pocket Peter shifted his backpack before making his way down the hall and into the private elevator.
<Good afternoon Mr. Parker> FRIDAY greeted him when the elevator doors closed.
<Hi Friday. I'm going to Mr. Stark's lab right?> Peter asked.
<That is correct. I would also like to inform you that you do not need to use your phone for communication, I am able to read you hand motion using a similar program that's incorporated into the Spider-Man suit>
Peter just nodded assuming the AI could see him, he felt the elevator jolt to life as it quickly picked up speed only to slow down again as it approached the proper floor. As the doors slowly opened his ears were assaulted with music blasting from hidden speakers around the room, he quickly covered his ears trying to muffle the music. He immediately recognized the song, Enter Sandman by Metallica. He didn't have anything against the song but his enhanced hearing wasn't a fan of the sharp shrill of the electric guitar strums.
The music was only lowered slightly as FRIDAY spoke. Peter kept his hands on his ears, he was amazed that Mr. Stark didn't have hearing loss from the volume of his music, but he was probably overestimating the volume of the music since Mr. Stark didn't have his sensitive hearing.
<Boss, Mr. Parker has arrived>
Peter spotted Mr. Stark in the middle of the room leaving over one of the workbenches, he couldn't tell what the engineer was working on. Whatever it was he was almost to lost in thought to notice FRIDAY.
Stark immediately shot his head up looking over in the elevators direction after the AI repeated what she said before. "Peter, glad to see you here again."
Peter managed a smile then gave a small wave, but was in that moment that the song produced a sharp clash from symbols causing the teen to winced.
Stark immediately connected the dots. "Friday cut the beats," the room went to a sudden silence.
Peter let out a breath of relief as he lowered his hands. <Thanks> His phone said as he gave a sheepish look, he felt bad for interrupting Mr. Stark's music.
"Should have remembered you had enhanced senses. Sorry about that, kid." Stark started walking over to Peter.
Peter just shrugged then typed quickly <It's really not a problem, sir. You can keep your music on, I don't mind>
Stark just gave a shrug in response then turned waving his hand for Peter to follow. "If you say so, kid. Friday, music back but volume at 20%. Play Fade to Black, I'm still in the Metallica mood." Music returned to the room but at a much lower volume and the song that played had a more gentle tone.
Peter was glad that the room wasn't completely silent and appreciated Mr. Stark's efforts. He followed the man quietly before finally typing something into his phone.
<Sir, I don't mean to be rude or anything, but why am I here?> Peter asked, he hesitated on pressing enter.
Stark approached the workbench that Peter used yesterday and Peter was surprised to see that his stuff was back on top of the table top, a few of his blueprints already lay out.
"Well, I thought you might want to work up here since Dr. Henry is on vacation. Eddy really has it out for you, I doubt he'd let you work on anything useful." The older man said casually as he leaned against the table. "But just warning you now, you won't be here every day. As much as I want to spend every afternoon in the workshop, Pepper likes to keep me out with SI meetings."
<Really?> Despite the lack of emotion in the robotic voice, Peter's face expressed enough of his excitement for Stark to get a solid idea of what the kid was feeling.
"Well yeah, why not." Stark brushed off the desk and made it sound like it wasn't a big deal, he pretended to scratch his jaw while he activated the earpiece.
<Stress levels at 30% boss> Friday said into the earpiece. Stark had adjusted the volume of the earpiece to be as low as possible so Peter wouldn't have a chance of hearing it. With the added back ground music the chances of Peter's ears picking it were very slim. Though, Stark couldn't help but note that Peter's stress levels didn't go below 30%, maybe it was a teen thing, but something in the back of his head wasn't convinced by the answer.
"So, kid. How's the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man doing?" Could the kid's anxiety be Spider-Man related? Stark didn't really think so but he had to segway into the questioning somehow, plus he always read the text Peter sent Happy so he had a decent idea of what was going on.
Peter slid his bag off his shoulder letting it land next to the workbench before pulling up his phone and replying. <It's good, I'm doing what you said, sticking to the small stuff>
<30%>
Stark could tell the kid had to say more on the subject but it didn't trigger anxiety, so moving on. "What about school, your hero work isn't causing your grades to fall is it?" Stark walked over to a nearby table and picked up a screwdriver that lay scattered with a few other tools. He twirled the thing in his hand.
Peter just shook his head <No, I still got straight As> he paused before typing again. <Except for English, it's never been my favorite. It's a high B right now but I have to get it up before report cards>
<32%>
Again it was another question he already knew the answer to, it wasn't exactly difficult to hack into the schools computers to occasionally check Peter's grades. At least this question had some reaction to it. "Is your Aunt May a stickler for grades?" Stark asked in a joking tone.
<68%>
This kid must have an amazing poker face despite usually being so emotive. With a stress jump like that he expected the kid to physically flinch, but to Stark's surprise the kid only gave a small shrug before typing. <No, not really, I just like making her proud with straight As>
<70%>
Stark turned to face the workbench and started gathering up the other tools on the table. "Nothing wrong with that, keep up the good work, kid." He then quickly turned around and caught a glimpse of what he thought might be mild panic in the kids face, but Peter regained his composure quickly replacing it with a smile.
<I will> Peter responded.
Thinking that was probably enough interrogating for the poor kid, Stark turned heading over to the other side of the workshop depositing the tools he brought over onto a nearby table. He replayed the conversation in his head, at first he didn't want to believe that his Aunt was what triggered his stress to spike but...
Stark glanced back at Peter who was now sitting at the workbench with his homework out, he caught a glance at the English text book cover as Peter opened it. It could have been a trick of the light but he could have sworn there was a slight tremor in Peter's hand, this caused Stark to subconsciously pull up his left hand as he gripped his wrist with his right. A nervous tick he developed from injuring it so much in desperate battles. When he realized what he was doing his mind flashed back to its most recent injury caused by Captain America. He wasn't ready to open those wounds yet so he shook his head trying to physically clear the thought, he needed to focus on Peter now.
Because unless the kid has an unhealthy anxiety for perfect grades, then there's clearly something not right with the seemingly good nature Aunt May.
And Tony Stark was going to get to the bottom of it.
[[A/N: The chapter's kinda short but it seemed like a good place to end it. Poor Peter gets interrogated twice in one day but at least Tony means well and he's finally suspicious. So yay! Plot development!]