A Shattered Soul (A Frostiron Story)

The Intern And The AI Know Best

It was a hell of a night and a hell of a week; it only got worse when Fury put me in charge of tracking down Loki, since Natasha got called out on another mission. (Thank you Fury, it's glad to know I'm your second choice.) On top of that I still had to decide on a new CEO for SI and on top of everything else I still had the troubling problem of making a loophole so Friday could hack S.H.I.E.L.D. and not be noticed, since I needed to access some restricted files to catch Loki. I was trying to focus on all of that when I a certain teen bounded into my lab.

Friday immediately started on an apology, "Sorry Sir, but he is strong. I tried to tell him you were deep in thought and I tried to tell him about..."

"Friday." I said and she went silent, "It's fine, Peters always welcome."

"Certainly Sir."

Then she went silent so I focused my attention on the teen. He was almost jumping by how much he was bouncing on his heels. His eyes were dripping in excited energy and he was biting his lip to hide his smile.

But soon enough the smile was slipping through and he blurted out, "We're going to the Academic Decathlon!"

"That's great Peter!" I say earnestly.

It's nice to see Peter this happy. He has had to grow up so much in so little time, it's hard to remember that he is still a kid, but it's times like this when he is excited about a field trip that remind you. Which is nice, since he needs to enjoy his time as a kid and not be constantly worrying about keeping up his Spider man duties. It's also a miracle that Peter even smiles; he lost his mom and he watched his dad die, anyone else would have broken and somehow he managed to get through the heartbreak and come out smiling. His smile is so contagious that I soon I find myself smiling along with him. But as the seconds tick by his smile transforms into one of regret, and his excited eyes transform into ones filled with guilt. My brow furrows into concern and confusion for the kid in front of me.

"Mr. Stark, if I go" He lets out a sigh and blurts out the next part, "If I go I won't be here if you need me; I won't be here if my city needs me; I won't be here as backup; I won't be here to stop the criminals; I won't..."

"Woah, whoa." I say and hold up a hand, "Peter I understand your concern, but it is misplaced as I am sure the city won't be facing a life threatening disaster in the next week."

"I know, but what if it does and I wouldn't be here to help." Peter says, sounding distressed.

"Believe it or not the world will keep turning if you leave the city." I remark, which makes him crack a smile.

He fiddles nervously with his hands before pointing over to his robot; "Should we get started?"

"Sure."

We both turn back to the table and get to work. Ok, who is most qualified to run SI? I quickly move those papers on top of the other work. I don't exactly need Peter to find out about Loki or the hacking at this moment, mostly because he can't keep his mouth shut. As right now one of the things I am doing is illegal and the other is going to inspire panic. So keeping the teen in the dark is the best option I have. My eyes run over the resumes, each one seeming the same as the one before it. I gron and let my head fall back in frustration.

Peter, having ears, lightly touches my shoulder and asks, "Are you alright Mr. Stark?"

I let my eyes fall on Peter his concern for my well being releasing a little tension, "I have to pick a new CEO and they all seem the same."

Peter tilts his head and reaches out but hesitates before his hands reach the papers in my hand, "May I?"

I nod and he grabs the papers, then quickly leafs through them. His face pinched with concentration the whole time.