Like Father, Like Son

Parker Luck

After Bruce bandaged Peter's wounds and bruises, Peter changed into his PJ's. This time, Pepper reloaded him with twice the amount of food, drink, and medicine. The Avengers hugged him good night about a thousand times before they left his room. But Tony still lingered, even after Pepper walked away, but not before giving Peter a big bear hug and a kiss on his cheek. "Hey, kid, listen, I'm really sorry about the whole school thing, okay?" He whispered. The emotion was deep in his voice. "It's okay-" Peter started, but Tony cut him short. "No, Pete, it's not okay. I'm supposed to be your dad figure, but I don't even know your school name. How am I supposed to try and parent you, when I can't even listen to you? Pete, it's been on my mind all day. I'm really sorry I haven't made fathering you my number-one priority. I really wanna try and become a really good dad to you if you give me the chance. I now know how important fathering you is to me. I-I haven't exactly had the best dad in my life, and I really don't want the same to you, not after everything with your parents and Ben. I just want the best for you, Peter, you're my son!" Tony gushed the words with heavy with sentiment, and his voice was husky and thick. Tony was not used to this. Peter, on the other hand, was too stunned for words. Tony's talk left him speechless. Peter's eyes were teary and he just realized the slow smile on his face. He shot out of bed and wrapped his arms around Tony's neck, squeezing his throat. Tony was a little surprised at his sudden move, but he squeezed back as Peter dug his head into the crook of his neck. "Oh, Pete..." Tony's voice was muffled into Peter's hair. When he finally pulled away, he put his hands on Peter's shoulders and gazed into his chestnut eyes. He gasped when he saw noticed a tear sneak out of the corner of his eye and slide down his cheek, followed by a quiet sob. "Oh, Peter! I didn't mean to make you cry!" He put his arm around him, and he wept quietly into his shoulder. "C-Careful, I'll get your shirt wet." He said shakily between trembling sobs. Tony just hugged him tighter. Peter reluctantly slipped out of Tony's arms and gave him a nervous smile. Tony smiled back. "Good night," He said. Peter was then suddenly felt a wave of overwhelming tiredness rush into him. He could barely manage a nod before his head hitting the pillow and wiping him out into the twilight zone of dreams.---Peter woke up to his phone bright tinkling. Facetime. He pulled it over his head and stared at the screen with bleary eyes. A slow smile formed on his face as he glanced at the screen. His best friend, and basic sister, Shuri. He picked up and the cocoa-colored skinned girl's face appeared. "Hey Shoo," He said groggily, still half asleep. "Hello, Spidey!!" She chirped in her distinct African accent. "Uh, did you just wake up? You look half dead," She said as she raised an eyebrow. "I checked the time in New York so I won't be calling at like 2 AM because of the timezones and stuff. It's at 10 AM. Did I call in a bad time?" She asked. "No, you didn't- WAIT, WHAT TIME DID YOU SAY IT WAS?!" He yelled as dread filled his realization. "Uh, 10 AM?" Shuri was getting more and more confused by her friend's behavior. "OH NO. Shoo, I'm so sorry, but I have to go. see ya later!! He yelled then pressed 'End Call'. "F.R.I.D.A.Y!!! What time is Midtown supposed to come here?" He asked frantically, getting out of bed and hoping it was not-"9 AM, Mr. Parker," her voice answered back. "Oh, crap," he muttered darkly under his breath. What was he going to do? He raced out of his room and charged into the elevator. "Lobby!" He yelled. Only the workhouse and lobby, which were on the bottom half of the tower, elevators had buttons. The top half, which had training rooms, laboratories, and the Avengers personal rooms like bedrooms, bathrooms, and the multiple kitchens available for Steve and Vision. For the Avengers, Pepper, and high-class personal friends of Tony, like the Wakandan royalty who sometimes visited and Dr. Strange, they were built into the higher-level elevator, meaning F.R.I.D.A.Y would do automatic voice recognition, and all they had to do was yell where they wanted to go.As the elevator rushed downwards, the thought of the subhumans he called 'classmates' spending an entire day at the Stark Tower filled him with dread. The elevator gave a light ding, as the doors slowly opened in front of him. Then there it was before him. His worst nightmare had materialized. His animal class fellows on his tail, trying to suck out all of the information about him on his Spidey life. His class, all 32 half-animal students, were at the gate before that scanning machine anyone had to use to scan their ID cars before entering the building. There, in front of his class, was Happy Hogan. This was the dude who hates kids. He was just starting to get along with Peter, but sometimes he would get at least semi-cold with him. Peter wondered how much Tony paid him to do this "All right! All right, you guys, quiet!! Okay, so the way this works is fairly simple. Interns, laboratorians, and other workers employed under our CEO, Pepper Potts, all have ID's according to the Greek alphabet. That was Tony Stark's idea obviously. Guests have separate ID's that only the guest can use, and can only work validly for today. Ms. Potts, the Avengers, and close friends like King T'challa and his family don't have ID's since F.R.I.D.A.Y already has their voice and identity details like retina scans and handprints built into her system. Okay, so managers and simple employees are Deltas, interns are Gammas, lab workers and scientists are Betas, and high-class businessmen that personally work for Tony are Alphas. They kind of ID y' all get today are the lowest. The Omegas. They're for the guests and tourists. Please keep your cards with you and visible at all times. Security gets a little heated if they see you walking around with no sign that you were allowed into the building. Omegas can only access the main big parts of the building, so don't think you can barge into Tony or the Avenger's personal chambers. Anyone who doesn't play by the rules is out of the building then in big trouble. Got it?" He rattled, bored of all of it.The students were all chatting and giggling, echoing the famous walls, filling the building with a sound like a thousand toddlers about to meet Santa Claus. His heart sank, and his face fell. Just then, Ned noticed him standing there, gawping. He quickly retreated the class mob, ran to Peter and dragged him aside. As soon as they were out of sight, Ned gave his shoulders a fierce shake. "Dude, what are you doing here? In your pajamas? looking like you just woke up?" He demanded. Peter shook his head, embarrassed. He was in the PJ's Tony gave him when he first took away his suit, meaning he had those cute pink hello kitty pants, and the second-hand t-shirtTony got for free at a garage sale. Tony loves it when he wears those, and he wanted to ease his mind after his crime-fighting rigmarole from last night. He was so frantic about rushing downstairs after he found out his class was in the building, that he completely forgot to get dressed, brush his teeth and hair, or wash his face. That's real hygienic of ya, ain't it, Parker? He thought despairingly to himself. He thought of how he rejected Shuri on the phone earlier and flinched at his rudeness and stupidity. Parker luck strikes again. "Dude, what do I do? about the whole interview thing? I'm sick, and my suit is all ripped from last night." He said, the worry overwhelming him. "Well, first you gotta pull yourself together and get dressed!" Ned said as he raised an eyebrow and shook his head. "Wait-what happened last night?" He added curiously. "Some thugs were robbing that jewelry up Western, and they had knives and weapons and stuff. They tried running away in a van, I stood in front of the van and stopped it. The van got bashed up, and so did my suit. Oh, and one of them stabbed me, which explains the bandage on my arm." He explained, motioning to the wrap and lifting his shirt sleeve to reveal the white bandage taped over the top of his arm. Ned looked too stunned to speak. His best friend, getting himself into stuff like this. And the way he broke it made it seem as if they were discussing what they had for breakfast. "Woah" was all he could manage. Peter sighed, even though Ned got used to his missions. He bid his friend goodbye and went to get dressed. He shot into the elevator, tore into his room, and grabbed the first shirt he saw and stuffed himself into yesterday's jeans, then fished out his muddy white Vans from under the bed. Even though Tony spoiled him with Gucci and other designer items (A.N: DON'T JUDGE ME, Y'ALL!!) he preferred to keep them safe and stowed away in his closet unless someone died or got married. He rushed downstairs again, getting breathless from the running. His throat was burning, and he felt faint, and his head was pulsating. This cold was weakening him more than he had thought it would. His aching brain spasmed for a second and forgot that the classroom mob consisted of the watchful, glaring eyes of none other than Flash Thompson. "Hey!! P*nis!! What is a stupid idiot like you doing here? I actually thought Tony would expose you about your fake 'internship' but seems like you bucked out last second by faking absence yesterday!!" He yelled loud enough for everyone to hear. The whole class was now silent, gawking at Peter. Some were pointing fingers and whispering. Peter's face inflamed, and his cheeks flushed from mortification. Happy, oh thank the heavens for Happy, jumped into his rescue, saving him from Flash's taunts, as well as protecting the fact that he was lived at the Tower and was basically Tony's son. "Hey, you!! Don't ever let me catch you flipping abuse at anyone here at the tower again! Peter does have an internship here. He was working on a project with one of our scientists, and they ended up working late. His guardian was at work, and couldn't pick him up, so he had to spend the night here. Listen, kid, if I ever catch you using that sort of language on Peter again, I'm reporting you to Tony. Then the Iron Man deal with you. Understand?" He spoke harshly, rushing at Peter's side. "But how is he an intern? I looked it up, and only grads school and undergrad students are allowed to become interns at Stark Industries!" Flash yelled back, pretending to be unfazed by Happy's tone. Wow, Happy sure makes a good bodyguard. Peter thought. "Well, an exception was made in Peter's case. A confidential exception. Nothing you're entitled to know about," Happy said as he placed his hand firmly on Peter's shoulder. Flash was silent, but he glowered at Peter, his eyes burning with jealousy and contempt. Peter gulped. Someone broke the silence and yelled, "Hey! When are we gonna check out the tower and meet the Spiderman?" He yelled. The last word brought a flood of excitement again, and the chattering began once more. Peter saw some students taking lists of questions. Happy and Peter exchanged glances and both sighed. Parker luck strike two.

There y'all go!! will be posting my next one soon.

roni