never be the same || spider-man

something old, something new

Peter loved interning at Octavius Industries. Otto was a brilliant mind to work with. While Peter practically grew up in Tony's lab, it was always nice to see work from someone else's perspective. Uncle Bruce was always nice to talk to about things, but Peter felt more independent whenever he worked with Otto. It wasn't like his dad didn't let him do his own stuff in his lab (which had turned into their shared lab as Peter grew older), but it had a different feel to be working in a lab not authorized by someone who raised him, or helped raise.

Otto and him had quickly became a solid team together. Whether it be the more meticulous stuff that Peter (quite often) found himself doing, or testing new things with Otto, Peter was enjoying himself. Steve and Tony seemed relieved that Peter was filling his time with different things as opposed to throwing himself into Spider-Man duties at every moment he could.

Peter was working in his own office when Otto popped his head in suddenly. He had a habit of showing up unannounced often when they worked together. It caused Peter to quickly learn to make sure he had nothing incriminating out.

"Hey, Peter. I'm heading out for dinner for a couple hours. Figured I should get out of the lab for a bit. Would you like me to pick anything up for you?" Otto asked.

Shaking his head, Peter shot him a polite grin. "No, thank you. My Papa is bringing something for me in a bit. Says he'd rather run something for me to eat than starve or eat junk."

Otto just chuckled. "Alright, then. I shouldn't be too long, but in case you leave before I get back, don't forget to lock up."

"I will. Enjoy your dinner, Otto."

As soon as Peter heard the door click behind Otto, he was quick to pull his suit out of his backpack. Since he had the time and equipment at his hands, he figured it wouldn't hurt to work on it for a bit. A particularly aggressive mugger tore up the arm of his suit the previous night, and he hadn't had a chance to fix it quite yet. It was a simple fix. He wanted to do a quick patrol before heading home for the night, so now would be the best time to work on it.

"Peter? What project is that?"

With a yelp, Peter spun around and faced Otto hovering in the doorway. "Dr. Octavius?" he blurted out, slipping back into formalities at the shock. "I, uh. I thought you left."

"I realised I left my wallet on my desk on my way to the door." Otto tried peeking around Peter, who was doing his best to block the view of the Spider-Man suit. "Saw you in here working on something."

Swallowing thickly, Peter couldn't stop Otto from finally seeing the suit laying on the desk behind him. He opened his mouth to speak, but Otto quickly spoke up before he could think of any excuses.

"Well I can't say I'm surprised," Otto stated, surprising Peter. "Your fathers are both part of the Avengers. I'm sure your dad has taught you how to repair suits after a battle. You're assigned to handle Spider-Man's suit, aren't you?"

"Yes," Peter answered, perhaps a bit too quickly. "I've worked on Papa's suit before, so Dad thinks I'll be okay handling the material of Spider-Man's."

Otto nodded, stepping closer to look at the suit. Peter was still hesitant, but allowed him to anyway. "You know, if you really wanted to minimize damage, you could always do this..."

~*~

Swinging around on his webs, Peter adored the freeing feeling he had. Tony had nearly had a heart attack the first time he saw Peter swinging, knowing the man under the mask was his own son. Granted, Peter was still a bit angry at his secret being blown, and probably did more tricks through the air than necessary. At least Clint and Natasha had been amused by his antics that night.