𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲: 𝗮 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆

Chapter 13

Peter

I unlocked the back door as silently as possible and slipped inside. I crept over to the stairs and slowly began to walk up. It was slow, due to the fact that most of the floorboards were creaky. 

"Oh, Peter!" Samantha said when she saw me step into our room. "Ms. Johnson said she wanted to see you."

"Great." I plopped my bag down next to my bed before collapsing onto the squeaky mattress.

"Rough day?" She speculated.

I rolled over onto my side to face her. "You know how it is, between school and the internship."

"You could drop out of school and still be the smartest person I know." Samantha set down her broom and eased herself onto the bed across from mine.

"But I can't, it's the law."

"Oh yeah. I forgot about that." She laughed weakly. "I sometimes forget about it with all of the illegal stuff that happens here." We both sat in heavy silence before I clapped my hands and stood up.

"Well, I better not keep her waiting. I'll see you at dinner." I jogged down the stairs, no longer bothering to keep quiet.

Ms. Johnson was in her office already, looking displeased. "Took you long enough," she snapped. "Take a seat. This should be quick."

I gently sat down in one of the two leather chairs on the opposite side of her desk. "Yes ma'am."

"So, I'm aware your birthday is coming up"—she tapped her fingers on her desk—"and I don't want you getting ideas."

"Ma'am?"

"I don't want you thinking you get a party or those Lego sets you want."

"I–" I faltered. "I never told you I wanted Lego sets or that I was even into Lego."

She opened her mouth once before closing it and sitting up straighter.  "It doesn't matter anyhow." 

"Yes, ma'am."

"You are dismissed." She waved her hand in an indifferent fashion, signaling I was to leave. 

I trudged back to our bedroom where Samantha had gotten a head start on her homework. She looked up when I entered the room, surprised to see me back so soon. "What did she want?"

I sighed and face planted once more onto my bed. "She told me not to expect anything for my birthday."

"Why would she do that?" Came a voice from the window. "We already know."

"Hi Alex!" I greeted. "Sorry I missed you yesterday!"

He placed a slip of paper in his book and set it aside. "It's fine, but now you tell me everything about Stark Industries!"

"Okay, what do you want to know?"

"What department do you work in?" He questioned. "Did you see Tony Stark? Did you see the Avengers? How much stuff did you blow up? Can you steal things for me because I can't anymore."

I struggled to process all of his questions before answering. "Um, I don't think it has a name. No. No. Not a ton. And no. You know the rules."

"I know," he slumped. "That's why I'm here. Don't pickpocket and someone might want to adopt you."

"Hey, don't look so sad! You can help me with my homework!" Samantha suggested. 

Alex wrinkled his nose. "Ew, no way. I'm not doing seventh grade stuff!"

"Again, it's sixth," she corrected. I laughed quietly before pulling my binder out of my backpack.

I froze. The only two people who knew I liked Lego are MJ and Ned. May used to.

"–eter! Peter!" Samantha called. "You alright."

I forced a strained grin. "I'm fine."

Tony

"F.R.I.D.A.Y., pull up everyone in New York who goes by 'Flash.'" I said. While I waited for her reply, I glanced at the head intern's weekly reports.

Acid burn on level 28.

Toaster explosion on level 54.

Robot malfunction on level 17.

Wait–didn't the kid say something like that happened? So he was on level 17...

"Search complete," F.R.I.D.A.Y. announced. The reports were replaced by about two dozen profiles.

"Okay," I began. To clear my head, I closed my eyes before reopen info them again. "Delete any that are over fifty and below ten." Half the people clicked away. "Okay, that's a start."

This was going to take a while...

"Open any that applied for an internship at Stark Industries." Only three profiles remained. "Within the last month," I amended.

One was left: Eugene 'Flash' Thompson.

"So, Eugene," I muttered. "Let's see what you're all about."

"Tony?" Steve called from the doorway. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, you know. Stalking people who harm people I tolerate."

He walked over to where I was. "Is that the Flash person Kid was talking about?"

"No," I deadpanned. "It's a person named Flash who happens to also be underaged that I'm hacking into their school file for no reason. Of course it's him!"

"Okay, and?" He crossed his arms.

"Did you know," I noted, pointing a pencil at him. "That people with secrets often stand in that exact position?"

He hurried to adjust his stance. " You're getting off topic, Tony." His tone became more guarded.

"That was the point. Now...done!" I said as the little bar reached 100%. "Pull up a chair. We have a long night ahead of us."

And to my surprise, he complied.