Breaking the Void

Chapter 20 - Interrogation and Go Time

(Your POV):
You know those moments when you've said something bad about someone and just as the words leave your mouth you realize that they're standing right behind you? That slow turn over your shoulder with the sheepish expression on your face, prepared to meet your doom? Yeah, I never expected that to happen to me with Tony Stark being the one that I had insulted.

"Mr. Stark, I apologize, I know that you're not a bad person, I was just trying to prove a point," I immediately apologized, my heart sinking slightly in fear that he would disapprove of me and therefore my relationship with Peter. "God, this is a terrible first impression, I'm so sorry, Mr. Stark."

He smirked at my desperate attempts to remedy the situation, "this may be the first time that we're meeting, but I can hardly call it a first impression. I feel like I already knew you thanks to how much Pete talks about you. Although I wasn't expecting you to be so apologetic based off of everything he was saying."

I could feel my face heating up as I glanced towards Peter, "I hope that he told you only good things?"

"Kind of difficult for him to say anything bad when he's essentially a love sick puppy. Although I am aware of the times that you broke his heart."

My gaze fell to the floor and I suddenly felt like I had been sent to the principal's office. "I-I never meant to hurt him, Mr. Stark, I-"

"And the last time was just a misunderstanding, it was my fault," Peter interrupted me, slipping his hand into mine.

"God, I think I might throw up. (Y/N), why don't you come with me? May's great and everything, but she's too trusting. I think it's time that you get the full interrogation."

"Mr. Stark, is that really necessary?" Peter asked, clearly not supportive of Mr. Stark grilling me. I, on the other hand, was just afraid that he knew who I was and was just trying to get me away from Peter so that he wouldn't hurt him when confronting me about it.

"It's fine, Pete," I gave him a reassuring smile and a peck on the cheek. If Tony Stark knew that I was Void then I would have to kill him before he could spread the news.

Mr. Stark and I walked in silence for a while, until we were out of Peter's earshot. He finally turned to me and asked, "so why are you dating Peter?"

I frowned, "what kind of question is that? I'm dating him because I like him, why else would I suffer through knowing that my boyfriend puts his life on the line everyday."

"When'd he tell you about Spider-Man?"

"He didn't tell me, I found out," I replied with annoyance in my voice. "I was at his apartment one day and May let me into his room to wait for him and he climbed through the window wearing the suit. I had suspected something was up with him before that, but I never imagined something so ridiculous."

He raised his eyebrow, "you think what he does is ridiculous?"

"No, of course not. The service that he does the the community is incredible and I support him for it, but it's stressful to know that one day he might not make it back for me to stitch him up. It's hard to focus on other things, like homework, when I am worrying about him. I can't even imagine what it is like for him. A teenager with that much responsibility on his shoulders? I'm proud of him, despite my anxiety."

"You have an equally large weight on your shoulders, (Y/N). I certainly know what it's like to have to see him swinging around stopping bank robberies and never know if one day the bad guys will outsmart him. I feel like I would blame myself, think that his suit just wasn't enough to protect him. I wonder sometimes if my suit just encouraged him to put himself in unnecessary danger."

Concern was clearly written across Stark's face and I began to wonder how much he really cared about Peter. I decided to try to assuage his guilt and earn his trust, "Mr. Stark, I think we both know that Pete would be out there whether he had your fancy suit or the homemade onesie that he used to wear."

He sighed, "I suppose you're right. Anyway, I called you away to learn more about you, so why don't you tell me your plans after college?"

"I'm interested in becoming a genetic engineer due to how involved I've been with my parents work. It's always fascinated me how much is possible by altering cells, it's truly incredible."

His eyes lit up as he asked, "so where are you applying?"

"A lot of state universities have really good genetics programs like California and Washington so I'm applying to those two as well as John Hopkins, MIT, and Harvard. I've also tried applying to Cambridge or Oxford, but I'm not sure I want to actually go overseas yet."

"Prestigious schools," he nodded, seeming impressed. "But if you end up a Harvard girl you've lost my approval."

"Let me guess, you went to MIT?"

"Yup and if you think I'm letting either Pete or his girlfriend near those Harvard folks, you've got another thing coming. Have you thought about if you're going to continue dating Peter in college? I'm expecting that he'll go to MIT and most of your schools are out of the New England area."

"Pete's not positive that he will be attending MIT yet, but we've basically decided that us getting the best education for our prospective fields should be most important. Hopefully we'll end up at schools close to each other, but we're willing to see if we can make long distance work if that means we'll be better equipped going into the work force."

"Wait, hold up a second, Pete didn't apply early decision to MIT?" Stark asked and I shook my head, confused as to why he cared so much about it. Sure, it was his alma mater but still there were other schools out there that were just as good. "I'm definitely going to need to have a talk with him. But in the meantime, I have plenty of pull with MIT so if you need to get in, just let me know."

I was taken aback by his offer, but managed to shake my head after a moment of silence, "thank you, but I was hoping that I would get in on my academic record and not bribery."

"It's only worst case scenario. I wouldn't want you to end up having to go to some place like Harvard, not when Pete clearly cares about you so much."

"Why do you care so much about Peter? Not that I blame you, of course, but you're Tony Stark, you don't need to care so much about some teenage vigilante."

He sighed as he stopped walked and turned to me, "I guess I just want him to succeed. I've kind of taken on the role of a mentor to him and I don't want to leave him stranded with no tools for survival. And he's grown on me since then, he's kind of like a son now. But don't tell him that I said that."

"Your secret is safe with me," I smiled, a strange surge of happiness sweeping through me at the knowledge that Pete had powerful people who cared about him. Even if I ended up not being there to protect him, I knew that Stark would.

"Thanks, kid. I guess I'll give you a passing grade on your assessment for that, go run along back to Pete before he worries that I'm conducting a full interrogation of you with lie detectors and whatnot," Stark finally released me and I knew that this was my moment to act.

"Well thank you for the approval, Mr. Stark, and it was a pleasure to meet you," I spoke in farewell, quickly disappearing into the crowd and making my way to the elevators.

Once stepping inside one of them, I pressed the button to bring me down to the basement, where storage was, and reached into my bag to find the beacon that connected me with H.A.M.M.E.R. I activated it, knowing that it would signal the agents who were covering me for the mission to loop security footage and make sure that Stark's AI didn't catch me. Just in case of a glitch in the system, I turned my suit on so at least the Avengers wouldn't know my face.

As the doors of the elevator slid open, I took a deep breath and stepped out into the basement. It's go time.

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(A/N): I apologize for any errors in this chapter, I just got a splitting headache for some reason but didn't want to not post anything today. Also I am so upset with my decision to give you electric powers and not fire right now but like changing that would be really complicated with how I've used those powers in past chapters so we're just going to roll with it and accept that I really just can't plan anything lol