Infelicity [P. Parker x Reader]

f o u r t y - t h r e e

Peter's POV:

Mr. Beck ended up taking me to a bar not far from the Elemental attack. While he drank a beer, my focus was pinned on a sour lemonade, more specifically, the pink straw floating around in it.

A waitress tapped me on the shoulder as she passed, handing me the glasses case to the EDITH case. Somehow, I had dropped them. Laughably enough, if (Y/N) was here, that probably wouldn't have happened.

Where'd she go anyway? I mean, I knew she wasn't a huge fan of Mr. Beck for some reason, but it wasn't like her to dip that fast, especially without telling me first.

Mr. Beck called for my focus again, asking to see the EDITH glasses in action. (Y/N)'s hesitance towards him flashed briefly in my mind, but nothing seemed amiss, so I reluctantly put them on.

"I actually really like them," I commented, turning to face him. "(Y/N) said-"

"Can I be completely honest with you?" he interrupted.

"Uh, please."

"They look really stupid."

Disappointment filled me at that moment. I knew they would never look as amazing on me as they did on Mr. Stark, but I still loved them. So did (Y/N).

"Oh."

"But maybe they have a contact lens version."

Unhappy with his words, I countered with, "You try 'em on."

He protested immediately, but I didn't accept that. If he thought I looked bad in them, how would he look any better? Finally, I got him to put them on.

"What do you think, kid?" Mr. Beck asked.

I paused, watching as his eyes carefully scanned mine.

Mr. Beck's the true hero here. He wanted to be saving people. He wasn't afraid of dropping everything to do the right thing.

I just wanted to make it through a normal class trip around Europe.

"Next Tony Stark. I trust you," I mumbled, before more confidently saying "For the next Tony Stark, I trust you."

(Y/N)'s warnings flashed briefly in my mind one more time, but I shook my head. This had to be the right thing. Tony wouldn't have written that if this wasn't what he wanted.

"What?" Mr. Beck asked.

(Y/N)'s POV:

"So where shall we begin?" Beck flaunted around my beaten body. "How about right at the beginning of it all? I do believe it all started at the age of three."

What was I doing at the age of three?

A slamming noise was heard beside me, and I saw an antique door to my right.

"Go on, don't you think it's time to find out your origins?"

Stumbling to my feet, I caught up to the door and used it for support. Opening it slowly, I was met with an older time period, somewhat similar to that of the first scene with Dad and Peggy that Beck threw at me.

The dark hallway, I presume to be underground, was long and had little to see.

Peggy and whom I recognize to be a younger version of myself, around age three, were walking quickly down said hallway.

"Mommy? Where are we going?" My younger self asked, barely keeping up on shorter legs.

"Daddy's doctors think it'd be good for you to help them out with something," she replied. I could tell by her tone that she wasn't happy about what was going to happen, but wasn't going to protest something like this. It was out of her control.