The Waterspout

In Which Lizards Bite and Lairs Fall

Sunday morning, Peter woke up with dust in his mouth and sweat on his forehead to the sound of Mr. Stark's ringtone. Shaking away the clinging cobwebs of the Dream, he quickly fumbled for the device.

"Hey kid. No school Monday?"

Peter stammered. "Uh, yeah, how did you know? And why?"

He could almost hear the smirk settling across the other man's face as Stark responded, "Oh, because we have some business that might run a bit late."

"We?"

"Lizard-guy. We lost him last night, remember? But he went after you, personally, and we can't have that. People getting hurt when looking for you, or you getting hurt, is unacceptable when we can do something about it. I have FRIDAY tracking him already."

Excitement burst in Peter's gut. "Should I suit up?"

Stark snorted. "No, kid, not yet. You've got time."

Peter nodded, though he knew the other man couldn't see. "Uh, I hope Aunt May didn't yell at you too much after I left," he mumbled.

"Nah, she was fine. I bet you got your ass handed to you."

Peter winced. "Yeah... but she hasn't grounded me. I think maybe she understands?"

"I'll leave it up to you if you want to tell her about lizard-guy."

"I probably should. She won't want me out after him, though."

There was a scoff from the other end. "Trust me, Pete, I don't want you after him either. But we all know that was your plan for tonight anyway, and since it's my plan as well we might as well go for efficiency."

Peter grinned. "Makes sense."

"I'm Tony Stark, kid. Wouldn't have it any other way, now would we?"

"Oh yeah, 'efficiency' is definitely the word I'd use." Peter laughed.

"Is it, kid? What do you call an arc reactor?"

"Excessive."

"Touche."

Peter flopped onto the top mattress of his bunk-bed, tucking the phone against his shoulder. "When will we have the guy?"

"I'll call you. Or FRIDAY will call you. Hell, Pep might even call you."

"Okay." Peter had never really met Pepper Potts. Mr. Stark talked about her (alot; both of them were babblers while they worked), and Peter had heard her voice over the phone, but she was always so busy they'd never truly spoken.

Then again, Mr. Stark talked really fast...

"Alright. Later, kid."

The line went dead with a moan in Stark's usual abrupt fashion, and Peter dropped the phone off the side of his bed, letting his arm dangle loosely and allowing himself a smile. Another mission.

Then he frowned, brow scrunching. This wasn't something he'd call big. Far below the Avenger's 'pay grade.' But Tony Stark was planning to help him, was going to fight with him. Just some random guy who'd threatened Peter and May, with a grudge on Spider-Man. Plenty of people wouldn't object to getting their revenge on him, and even if that wasn't the case, Mr. Stark had so many other things to do... why would he spend his resources tracking a lizard-guy?

Deciding he'd ask eventually, Peter reached up and pulled himself onto the ceiling. He crawled across to sit hunched atop his doorframe, riding it as it sung to and fro with his weight. It was... he glanced at the clock and groaned. Six o'clock. He should be frustrated at Stark for waking him up early on a weekend, but honestly he was rather glad he'd been pulled from Dreaming.