Always Silent, Peter Darling

Chapter 4

DUM-E rolled around the lab happily as he tested his new motor. Stark couldn't help but smile at the scene before slowly standing to cleaning up the few tools he used for the repair. He grabbed his cup of coffee before heading back over to the Mark 48, taking a drink in the process. Taking a seat at the tall stool next to the table he examined the suit deciding where to continue with the repairs.

<Boss, I have an update on Spider-Man>

"Shoot." Stark said automatically, most of his brain function was focused on the prototype suit.

<He suffered from what I predict to be at least minor concussion, though due to his untested attributes I can't make a accurate diagnosis. When the Mark 15 arrived at his location he was unconscious but he woke up 18 minutes after I arrived>

"Did you tell him to get it checked out?" Stark started to rewire some of the components behind the panel he removed before getting his coffee.

<I advise he get medical attention but his stress levels spiked after I told him the time. My surface scans indicated an anxiety attack as he ran past the Mark 15>

Stark paused as he leaned back from the prototype. Stark could understand the kid being worried about getting home late, but an anxiety attack? Something in the back of his mind was telling him to see the interaction for himself, "Role the footage, Fri."

<Yes, Boss> The A.I said before projecting the recorded interaction over the prototype.

Stark leaned back in his chair as he crossed his arms. He watched the video closely.

"Mr. Stark, you didn't have to come all the way out here to help me..."

The kid didn't seem to bother using subtle hand motions that the suit was capable of reading, so Tony watched the kid's hands as he read the motions. Peter probably wasn't aware that he knew ASL. He had learned it when designing the translator, because he definitely wasn't going to use another translator to make sure his design worked, especially since whatever he used would be inferior to what he was creating.

"Friday, can you pull up the facial readings from his suit."

<On it, Boss>

A second screen was projected next to the footage, it showed a black and white rendering of Peter's face.

Stark had added sensors in the suit's mask to help the translator put the proper emotion into the words, couldn't have the kid sounding like Siri while he was out being Spider-Man. Plus he was already very emotive, the kid was like a cartoon character, though Stark suspected he developed that attributed because of the fact he couldn't portray his emotion through voice tone.

Stark continued to watch and it wasn't till Peter asked the times that things seemed off. FRIDAY was right, the moment she gave him the time his heart rate rose on the monitor overlaying the footage and the kid viably tensed.

"I got to go."

From the sensor readings on Peter's face, Stark could only see pure terror. He looked at the at the footage in bewilderment as it paused after Peter swing out of sight.

"Where did Peter go after this?" Stark asked, he rewound the footage so it played back the moment when dread washed over Peter's face after being told the time.

<The tracer indicates that he went straight home, though his suit was deactivated shortly after arriving>

Stark thought for a moment as he put his knuckles to his lips, his other hand tap the desk rhythmically. Surely Peter wasn't scared of going home, when he visited it seemed like a pretty nice environment especially with his kind, but unreasonably attractive, aunt.