"I'm gonna need the suit back," Tony said.
"What?" Peter gasped. "But-but I'm nothing without the suit!"
"If you're nothing without the suit, then you shouldn't have it," Tony snapped. "Ugh, I sound like my dad." He took a breath and put an unsure hand on the boy's shoulder. "Look at your sister, Pete."
"What about her?" the boy asked looking over at you as you conversed happily with Pepper.
"She knows who she is. She's known who she is for a long time, and I have a hunch that she was like that even before she got her powers. She's comfortable with herself. Why is that?"
"I don't know," Peter said honestly. "But I wish I knew."
"I've seen you with that confidence once or twice, you know. It always comes out when you're in that suit," Tony pointed out. "I think that you need to learn how to be Spider-Man without the suit."
"I don't know how to do that," Peter worried. "No one knows that I'm...me when I'm Spider-Man. If they found out, they'd all be so disappointed."
"Someone needs to find this kid a girlfriend," Tony chuckled under his breath. "Look, kid, this only temporary. I'm going to put the tracker back in the suit, reactivate the Training Wheels Protocol, and then you can have it back. Deal?"
"Wait, can I at least keep Karen?"
"Karen?"
Peter's face turned a new shade of red. "You know, the Suit Lady? The voice in the suit?"
"Oh, the suit's AI," Tony said.
"Yeah, yeah, I guess so."
"And you named her Karen?"
"It's a long story."
"We've got all day, Pete. Even longer if need be." When Peter remained in embarrassed silence, Tony continued, "Come on, I need a good laugh."
"I-I guess I felt bad for calling her Suit Lady, so I asked her if it was okay to call her Karen, and she said it was okay," Peter summarized.
Tony waited for a second, expecting more of a story. "That's it? That's not a very long story at all."
"It's the short version."
"(Y/N), can you help me for a second?" Tony called.
"Yeah, sure thing," you replied with a smile. "I'll be back in just a second, Pepper."
"No, no, no, that's not necessary," Peter objected.
"Why? Because she knows exactly what you don't want to tell me?"
"What doesn't Peter want to tell you?" you asked, taking your place next to your brother and slinging your arm over his shoulders.
"I need the full story on why he named his suit's AI Karen," Tony said.
"That's a really long story," you chuckled. "I'm going to guess he just told you a one-sentence abridged version."
"(Y/N)--" Peter tried to interrupt the conversation.
"It's a good story, Pete. Besides, he already knew that you took the tracker out of your suit. He might as well know why, don't you think?" you reasoned.
YOU ARE READING
And Then I Wrote Marvel
FanfictionRandom Marvel stuff I've written because, dang it, I felt like it. I like to have a little fun with these things, so don't be surprised if they're a little strange. Requests are open. I've mostly just written about the Avengers, but I'm definitely w...
