Behind the foggy mirror

Chapter 1

"Peter!" Aunt May exclaimed, waking the boy from his sleep.

Peter rubbed his sleepy eyes, then sighed and exclaimed:

"I'm coming!"

Internally, he felt like crying because it was Saturday, 7:00 a.m., Aunt May had put him to bed 5 hours ago, and he was so sleep-deprived that he was dizzy.

He wanted to go to bed earlier than 2:00 a.m., but his aunt decided after a few glasses of wine that they would go for a night walk, during which Peter began to cry from fear and fatigue.

Peter didn't understand why she was dragging him along. All he knew was that if he didn't agree, she would be terribly angry.

Last week, he didn't want to come back from the playground yet, and as punishment, May threw his favorite cuddly toy in the trash, which he couldn't sleep without.

He had received it from his parents, and every thought of the lost souvenir made him want to lament. Don't get him wrong, May was a wonderful woman, but when it came to taking care of Peter, she was far from perfect.

"What's wrong, Auntie?" The 8-year-old asked as he walked into the kitchen. There was a ready-made breakfast on the table.

"I just got a letter from Stark Industries that you've been accepted for an internship!" She exclaimed happily.

Peter was ecstatic.

"But how is that possible?" He asked, disorganized. "I didn't sign up anywhere."

"It doesn't matter my dear, it's important that your big brain is finally appreciated, and that the internship is paid."

"W-what? We can't afford it!" Peter cried out in despair.

May giggled.

"No, don't be silly, they'll pay us!" Peter started jumping for joy.

"Isn't that wonderful?" But how did it happen, after all, I didn't apply for any internship.

"I guess the school gave you a reputation for being a little Einstein," May chuckled.

Peter began to smile. Such praise from Aunt May was no mean feat.

"Come on, have breakfast and dress up in something nice. Something more elegant than those rags."

Peter looked down at his tattered clothes. His pajamas were too short, full of holes in a few places, and probably used for several generations.

He hurriedly ate his breakfast and ran to get dressed in faded suit pants and a shirt with a small stain on the back. He felt as if this day was going to be the best of his life.

***

Tony Stark paced around his lab listening to Pepper complaining.

"Tony, I've told you many times that you need to have a personal intern. Do you know how well it will affect your image?"

"I'm not going to do anything for the public. Dealing with these brats for a good image is laughable."

"Actually, you don't have a choice in this, because I've already approved several candidates. Fortunately, each of them is a student, so you don't have to deal with them, but I ask you to at least try to pay a little attention to them."

"Uh, okay!" Tony sighed resignedly.

He knew he couldn't win this argument. He was glad that at least all the candidates were adults. He hated the presence of children. They took everything in their mouths, touched them and tended to behave recklessly.

"Great," Pepper smiled happily. "You have a meeting at 9:00 a.m. with the first one"

With that said, she walked out of the lab. Tony sank into his chair in resignation. It was going to be a long day.