The Scattered Stories of Spider-Son and Iron Dad

The Vulture Incident - These Little Talks

Peter was laying on the low wall of the roof, the window to his room only a few floors bellow him. Merlin walked forward and sat near his feet. The teen opened his eyes, and looked up as Merlin glanced out at the city scape.

"I'm dreaming, right?"

"Yes, actually. How can you tell?"

Peter grinned, leaning his head back to rest on the stone bellow him, and closed his eyes as he took a deep breath.

"It's too perfect. And it's too quiet. And I think... I think I can still sort of feel my body, but it's like I'm looking at it from really far away right now. I'm not on drugs am I?" His slightly panicked question allowed Merlin to chuckle as he shook his head.

"Not the fun drugs; The ones they have you on right now are for pain management. I don't know how aware you were earlier, but you sort of Projected everything at me. I felt everything," Merlin paused for a moment before going on, taking note of Peter's small frown, "I saw everything... And you somehow managed to reach across a closed connection. For all intents and purposes, you should not be able to speak to me, without me initiating it. If it wasn't for everything that preceded that moment, I would be ecstatic."

Peter looked at him, eyes widening for a moment, in both wonder and panic. He then turned his head to take in the stone of the building across from them.

"I'm sorry, I know I should have stayed out of it, but there wasn't any time. He... He threatened my friends, and He knows who I am... He knew I was Spider-Man. When..." Peter's voice seemed to abandon him as he took in a deep breath.

"When you can do the things we can and don't, and the bad things happen..." Merlin allowed the end of his sentence to hang in the space between them. He watched Peter nod, taking in another deep breath.

"This isn't on you Peter, It's on Toomes. And it's on me; On us, the Avengers, for dropping the ball where you were concerned. No arguments!" Merlin said, smiling still, as he cut Peter off even before he could speak, "You, as our 'Intern', were supposed to learn from us; But you can't do that if we don't teach you.

"Don't get me wrong: You did an incredible job this evening. You stopped a very bad person from getting technology that would have become a danger to the public if he had succeeded. You helped protect innocent bystanders, you protected the technology, and you protected Toomes. I have to admit, I have been less thoughtful toward the people attacking me.

"You did all of that, in a track suit, after lifting a building off yourself. A fifteen year old shouldn't have to deal with stuff like this, but circumstance being what they are: you shouldn't have to deal with stuff like this on your own."

Merlin shifted slightly, prompting Peter to sit up and fully face him, a light blush creeping up his neck, even in his dreamscape.

"Now, I need to ask your permission and give you some advice, alright?" With Peter's jaw set and a soft nod, Merlin continued, "I think May should know that you're Spider-Man, but I won't tell her if you really want to continue keeping it a secret."

The sentence didn't seem to surprise Peter at all. If anything it dropped him into a deep contemplation as he nodded and looked out over the Queens skyline. Merlin was astounded once again, at the maturity He displayed, and was saddened by what he had been through to train him in that.

"You should tell her. I didn't tell her before because I mean it was just after we lost Ben, and I... I couldn't put that on her... But I think... I mean, she's already worrying about me. At least this way, even though she's gonna worry, she'll know I can handle myself, Ya' know?"