"I never thought that Spider-Man would become the worldwide icon that he is. I just hoped the books would sell and I'd keep my job." - Stan Lee
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Chapter V: The Peter Tingle
Tony should have known that Peter Parker is the only superhuman that would actually make a loud, clumsy entrance upon arrival (through the window, mind you) with about a million and one questions tumbling from his mouth. But Tony's mind was so preoccupied with his thoughts regarding the conversation he had with the girl whose name he still had yet to learn, and Peter had startled him when he had made this grand entrance in his Spider-Man suit.
"Mr. Stark, I'm so sorry I'm late, my teacher kept going on and on and on about our homework, and then I tripped and fell while getting in my suit, but now I'm here! By the way, is everything okay? You didn't tell me what it's about and you look stressed. Not that you look bad! You look great! Actually, do I even need my suit? I can change if you want-"
Tony barely heard half of what Peter had been rambling on and stuttering about given his overwhelmed state, and he simply raised his charcoal eyes to land on the teenage boy who had now pulled off his red mask to meet Tony's eyes directly. Peter was like a son to Tony but he had trouble admitting it. Tony often had insecurities about being a father figure to Peter. He knew that the boy viewed him in such a way, but Tony was unsure if he could live up to the role. Peter never had a father, or even a mother, just his aunt and uncle, then he lost his uncle in death. But Tony was also able to be a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on for Peter. He knew what it was like growing up without a father figure. His father was never around and when he was, he wasn't affectionate in the slightest. It wasn't long into his early adult years his father passed, leaving him with a void he didn't realize he needed to be filled. Peter and Tony understood each other. Like father and son.
"It's fine, kid. You're not that late," Tony spoke up in response as he rubbed one side of his head as if to relieve a migraine. "And you don't necessarily need your suit. It's not Spidey or Iron Man business," he added and Peter took a seat on the cushioned chair across from the couch Tony sat back on in the lounge area near the laboratory.
"Okay," Peter said simply, a little unsure as to how he should proceed. Tony looked stressed and Peter had only ever been around Stressed Tony when it was his actions causing Tony's stress. He wasn't sure if Tony needed a friend or a sidekick right now. So he simply asked, "Is everything okay, Mr. Stark?"
Tony raised his head and forced a minuscule smile. "Yeah, just exhausted. We've got a bit of a situation here," he began and Peter perked up slightly, his curiosity rising as he leaned forward slightly in interest. "Pepper and I were in Maine over the weekend and I found a girl on a private beach nearby, injured, alone and unconscious. We think she may be a mutant."
Peter raised his eyebrows, brown eyes slightly widening. "Really? What makes you think she's a mutant?" He questioned.
Tony rested his arms over his knees and laced his fingers together as he continued. "She was frostbitten when we found her and when we were observing her from the lab, her body seemed to heal itself. Within seconds, the blisters and black and blue skin on her hands and feet faded, as well as her other injuries. She's good as new," Tony explained and Peter stared back at him in shock, as well as fascination, eyebrows knitted together lightly.
Peter mulled the information over for a moment before continuing. "Do you think her self-healing abilities are what kept her alive out at sea for so long?"
Tony shrugged, nodding. "Must be. No human being could survive something like that," he clarified. "The reason I called you down here is because she looks to be around seventeen, we're not sure. Can't find any record on her or any facial recognition. We thought she could use a friend. Someone her age who doesn't seem as intimidating."
Peter nodded immediately. "Okay, I can do that. Is there anything else I should know before I meet her?" He wondered aloud, suddenly becoming nervous. The boy couldn't even handle the idea of interacting with a teenage girl despite the fact that she is literally a mutant who has no clue what's going on. He'd just have to pretend she's like his friend Michelle or something. Platonic, with no need to impress. Just befriend her. Make her feel comfortable. No biggie, right? I don't know, Peter thought.
Tony nodded in response to the teenage boy's question. "Yeah, a few things: she doesn't remember anything from before I found her except for little blips of the beach, and she hasn't spoken. We think she has a mental block due to PTSD," he informed Peter and the boy's heart fell slightly in pity for the girl. "And I told her about the team, including you, and about the city so she knows where she is and what to expect. Just make light conversation to get her mind off of things. She needs a friend. I don't think she's ever had one."
Peter nodded his head of sandy brown locks in determination. "I can be that," he assured his mentor and Tony nodded in relief at the boy's confidence. "Should I change before I meet her?"
Tony raised an eyebrow, sending his gaze over Peter's appearance- his red and blue spandex suit with a spider on the front. "Yeah, I don't know how she'd feel about a teenage boy in a red and blue skin-tight onesie," he told Peter.
Peter chuckled slightly in amusement before he raced off to the nearest bathroom to change out of his Spider-Man suit and back into his jeans, tee-shirt, hoodie and sneakers he had worn to school that day. His shirt had a witty pun referencing to Science with a cartoonized picture below it that he found quite hilarious. Maybe that could be the ice-breaker when he met this mutant girl so she could see he wasn't a threat in the slightest. To be honest, without his suit, Peter didn't look threatening at all anyway. Barely more so even with his suit on, actually.
The teenager looked forward to possibly making a new friend. And even more exciting, someone who was different like him- a mutant. Yes, there was the Hulk on the team of Avengers that he could bond with over his mutation, but this time it would be someone his age- someone unsure and afraid of their abilities, just like Peter. Maybe this was someone who he could also confide in as well... if she liked him. He always did his best to be a likable person but there were quite a few people at his school who picked on him. Then again, his reputation was unknown to the mutant girl. Peter had a clean slate with her. Maybe he could give off a persona of being confident and cool, unlike his nervous self whenever he was surrounded by fellow students from his school.
Taking a deep breath and one last look at himself in the bathroom mirror, Peter grabbed his backpack and exited, finding Tony awaiting him. He was soon being led down the hall towards the large elevator around the corner, enjoying a short ride before Tony was guiding him through a door into a laboratory. Peter was amazed by the elaborate setup of monitors, computers, scanners, etc. that had been arranged and organized so neatly and precisely in the modest-sized room that separated the hallway from the private room the girl resided in.
The girl was the next thing Peter noticed and he slowly made his way closer to the tinted one-way glass as his eyes examined her sitting atop her bed sheets, her focus currently on a notebook in her lap. Her shoulder-length brown waves provided a curtain of privacy for her face as her head tilted downwards closer to the book. She seemed to be drawing something, her hand slow and steady, circulating wider every now and then. Peter noticed the freckles that lightly sprinkled her arms and he smiled slightly to himself at how small her hands appeared to be.
"Whenever you're ready, kid. Stay as long as you want," Tony startled him out of his thoughts and Peter turned to nod his head in acknowledgement. "Just remember to keep a little distance at first until she's comfortable."
Peter nodded again, swallowing nervously. Why am I nervous? She's just a girl. A teenage girl. A pretty teenage girl. Why do you automatically label her pretty, Peter? You saw her face for like, what, two seconds? He mentally rambled anxiously. Just go in there and be cool. No, a friend. A cool friend? Shut up!
Once he got his thoughts a little more under control, Peter turned the knob to the door of the girl's room and stepped inside cautiously. The girl raised her head from her notebook, probably expecting Natasha, Bruce or Tony, Peter figured. She seemed surprised and maybe a bit startled by the unfamiliar presence of Peter and held her notebook to her chest in an attempt to hide her creation from Peter. He refrained from chuckling at the endearing action and sent the girl a smile.
Okay, this is it, don't stutter, Peter thought. Be smooth and cool, just say 'hi.' That's a super easy word. Pretty hard to screw that up.
"H-Hi," Peter stuttered and he immediately cursed himself in his head.
Well, Peter, you managed to screw it up.
Despite his stumbled word, Peter clears his throat and continues. "I'm Peter. Peter Parker," he introduced himself, lightly gesturing his hand to himself awkwardly as he said his name. The girl tilted her head slightly and Peter elaborated. "Um, also known as Spider-Man. Tony said he, uh, told you about me?"
Realization washed over the girl's face and she nodded, flipping to a new page in her book and scribbling words down. Peter swallowed lightly and took a few small steps forward, curiously looking at her notebook, but unable to read it from where he stood. She soon was holding it out for him to see and he turned a little red at the words.
You're the boy with the Peter Tingle.
Peter immediately whipped his head to the side and glared at the tinted glass window, his menacing gaze meant for Tony. He gazed back down at the girl when he heard her let out a quiet, raspy giggle. The sound did something to him, something that made his chest tighten. He ignored the feeling and sent her a quirked smile.
"Uh, that's just Tony trying to embarrass me. I-It's called my Spider Sense," Peter explained awkwardly as he took a seat in the chair by the end of the girl's bed. She looked at him expectantly, so he continued. "It's a feeling that lets me know when there's danger nearby."
The girl began to write and Peter patiently waited, feeling more relaxed with each passing moment. She lifted her book and Peter read.
That must make people feel safe, she had written, and Peter smiled at the notebook.
"I hope it does. It makes me feel safe," Peter responded. There was a brief silence before he spoke again. "Do you like to draw?" He asked with an encouraging smile, gesturing his hand to the notebook.
The girl nodded her head reluctantly, as if she were still a little unsure of what she liked and disliked. It made Peter sad, the fact that she couldn't even remember if she had any likes or dislikes or hobbies. Who knows where she came from? Did she even know what music or sports were?
"Would it be alright if I saw?" Peter asked her carefully, referring to her sketch, and she seemed unsure again, uncomfortable. Peter immediately backtracked. "You don't have to. I, um, just thought I'd ask."
The girl smiled slightly and awkwardly. There was another brief silence, then she began to write again. She held up the notebook to Peter.
What else can you do?
"You mean like, as Sp- as Spider-Man?" He fumbled over his words a bit and the girl nodded, hugging the notebook to her chest as she gazed at him.
Peter swallowed and made a mental list of his abilities and began to recite them. "Um, well, I can climb walls and stuff. I can adhere to almost anything," he began and the girl's eyes sparkled with wonder. The look in her eyes encouraged him to continue with more confidence. "I have enhanced strength, speed, agility, super-healing, stuff like that... Um... Oh! I can do this-" Peter rolled up his hoodie sleeves to reveal his webshooters and shot a string of the silky substance to one of the hospital bed's side rails. The girl jumped in shock at the action, watching Peter's hands with wide brown eyes as he connected it to the other side rails across from the first one. He continued this time and time again until he had made around twenty strings of web into a spiral orb that hung proudly at the end of the girl's bed between the rails.
Peter examined his work with slightly furrowed eyebrows before raising his head to see the girl staring at it with wide eyes. He had been mentally criticizing his work at first, convinced he could have made a better web, but the way the girl traced her eyes over every string of the web carefully with evident admiration fed the smile on his lips.
He chuckled quietly as she leaned closer to the web, her eyebrows drawing together. "You like it?" He asked nervously, fiddling with the sleeves of his hoodie.
The girl smiled, nodding her head as she reached a hand out to touch the web. Her smile faltered for a brief moment as her fingers came in contact with the web and she was surprised by the feeling of it against her fingertips. The strings of web were thicker than what a little spider would produce, of course, and the silk was shockingly soft and smooth. She found it almost overwhelming to experience the texture of something that was usually so thin and tiny in size, created by a little bug.
"I can take it down before I leave, if you want," Peter commented as he watched her play with the web and he smiled when she immediately shook her head at him. "It'll disintegrate in a few hours, though."
The girl frowned at this. She very much enjoyed the sight of the web. It was a beautiful creation and there wasn't much to do or look at in the hospital room that was as interesting as the web. She took an immediate liking to Peter Parker and she wondered if he would come back. She didn't like the idea of him not returning. He was the only person so far who hadn't asked her questions about her past, her memory or her abilities. Peter was like a breath of fresh air to her and she wanted to feel that continuously.
The girl lowered the notebook from her chest and picked up her pencil. Peter waited as she wrote, then read what she wrote.
Are you going to come back?
Peter met her eyes insecurely. "Do you want me to?" He wondered aloud.
She nodded her head slightly with a shrug.
Peter smiled. "Then uh- yeah, okay, I will."
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A/N: Thank you so much for reading!
–Blys♡