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Being a Stark [Superfamily]

Chapter 37

The day Michelle Jones accepts Harry’s proposal to go on a date is the day Peter thought he would have seen elephants fly. By that, he means that he would never have thought it to happen, but yet, it still does.

Even after Harry’s asked the question, and though MJ hurried off right after she said ‘yes’, both Ned and Peter can’t but stare at their friend seated at their table with a surprised yet confused expression. After all; why MJ? Harry’s been with models, actresses… Peter can’t really believe a guy like Harry would suddenly fall head over heels with a random high school girl, after all.

“You just don’t understand, boys,” Harry says after a few minutes of silent staring. Harry takes out his phone and starts going through it. He doesn’t have a lot of numbers, and he’s not even allowed to get a Facebook account despite his false name. The thing is mostly for show, to play games or to listen to music. “You’re right, why MJ? Well, I’ve been with fake girls all the time. They only cared about my money. But now that I don’t have any money, I can know for sure somebody’ll like me just for me.”

“Yeah, but, I thought she was secretly crushing on Peter all the time, you know?” Ned asks out of the blue, and both Harry and Peter turn to him with eyes open wide. Ned blinks a few times, not understanding what he said wrong. “What is it?”

“Dude, you’re making things up,” Peter says, punching him in the arm. Ned lets out a little cry of surprise and then rubs his hurting arm.

“No, I’m not. Why do you think she’s always been so rude to you? She just doesn’t want you to notice how much she cares, because she’s afraid for it.”

Peter then turns back to Harry, holding up his hands.

“Don’t listen to him, he’s just joking around. Of course you and MJ will have a good time and who knows what it’ll become! You can only try!”

“Right,” Harry says, though sounding a bit unsure. Lunch, after that, gets a bit tense again. They try more conversation, but nothing really feels good to talk about. Instead, they then take their stuff and make their way to the next class. When Peter sees MJ joining the group, he looks down immediately, cheeks blushing red in a reaction.

Class goes slowly. The teacher goes over their last test, which according to her more than half the class failed on. Peter got a perfect score, of course, but that’s probably because he now has two super intelligent people living in the tower.

“I propose that the people who failed go and seek out their fellow students who passed and ask for a bit of tutoring, since nobody obviously wants to listen at me.”

Ned and Harry turn to Peter, and he nods.

“This evening at the tower?” he offers. Ned nods, but Harry shakes his head.

“I have a date tomorrow,” he explains. Peter then shrugs.

“The day after then, after school? I’ll get Happy to pick us up.”

He raises his hand, and Ned and Harry respond in a high five. It’s not really that he’s going to help them to study for the test, but he’ll probably just ask Tony or Bruce to fill in for him. They like to teach, after all.

A make-up test is planned for the beginning of next week, which Peter thinks is enough time for it. Ned’s scores weren’t horrible, but they could have been better. That’s weird, too, since Ned is actually a pretty smart guy.

But, the test also came close to the release of a new game that he’d been waiting a long time for. Peter probably figures he’s been too busy playing to remember that he had a test.

Harry, on the other hand, while smart, also is lazy. Even when he was a kid he was always under the impression that he would succeed either way, mostly due to his father’s money. It seems like the habit stuck.

After the lesson starts officially, Peter starts taking notes. Given that it’s his final year at this school, he wants to make the best of it. Besides, he’s a bit out of inspiration to work on any improvements to his suit.

Still, after ten minutes his mind wanders again and he’s doodling either way. This time, it’s for the robot he’d been designing many months back. After all that crap, he’s never gotten around to finish it, which is too bad, really. Peter should resume his work on it when he gets home this evening.

Harry taps Peter on the shoulder. He stops doodling, looking up to face his friend. Harry’s been doodling as well, only he’s drawn something else entirely. It’s a small comic, with the Avengers as Peter used to know them. How the world still hopefully knows them even though they’re no longer together like this.

“I remember watching them on TV at the boarding school. It was kind of amazing,” Harry says, chuckling a bit. Peter shrugs.

“Yeah, it was less fun to be in the middle of it, though,” he admits, pointing at one of the big guys Harry’s drawn rather perfectly how Peter remembers it. “That space-whale gave me nightmares long after it happened.”

“No shit, I would get a fear of normal whales after this,” Harry counters. Peter laughs, and Harry laughs in return, only a bit louder. Peter stops immediately, feeling his eyes go wide. Suddenly all the sound in the class is disappearing, and all he’s hearing is Harry’s laugh, sharp and loud in the otherwise silent room. Is Peter imagining it? Or is Harry grinning here?

He stares, can’t seem to do anything else. Because Harry’s still laughing, and it’s slowly turning into a whole other sort of laugh. Green fills Peter’s vision. The smell of smoke comes up in his nose. What’s happening?

“Mr. Lyman! Is there anything you want to share, young man?” the teacher suddenly asks. Harry stops, pulling the comic away and sitting up straight at his seat.

“No, m’am,” he responds, though still lightly smirking. Peter wonders if he’s imagining the bit of green in Harry’s blue eyes.

“Mr. Parker, will you focus on the board as well?”

Peter just stares. He wants to turn away, but on the other hand he needs to be sure that it’s still Harry next to him and not the Goblin again. When Harry notices, he frowns at him.

“Hey Petey, are you alright?” he asks, reaching out for Peter. In a jump, Peter is out of his seat. The whole class is now looking at him, wondering why he’s reacting so weird. But Peter can’t speak, because he only sees Harry there and he isn’t sure if it’s Harry or the Goblin.

“Mr. Parker, sit down immediately,” the teacher calls out. Peter finally removes his gaze from his friend to look at the teacher. She looks pissed off and ready to give him detention, but Peter shakes his head.

“I don’t- I don’t feel well,” he admits before grabbing his stuff and hurrying out of the class to find himself a small, secluded spot where he can get back to his senses. After hiding in the boy’s restroom, he locks himself up in a little stall and dials down Tony’s number. He knows he shouldn’t disturb him with this stupid business, but it’s not like he can call Steve now.

“Mr. Parker, aren’t you supposed to be in school?” Tony asks without even bothering with a greeting. The way he sounds it’s clear that he’s keeping himself busy with whatever he’s working on this time.

“I’m- uh, I’m still-. I just…”

“Pete, what’s wrong?” Of course, Tony catches up with it immediately. Peter is grateful for his perceptive father.

“I just- We were in class and I, we, uh, Harry and I were laughing but then I, uh.”

“Did something happen between you and Harry?”

Peter shakes his head, taking a few deep breaths to calm his mind. A good rub in his eyes can probably remove the image of the Goblin out from his mind.

“He didn’t do anything- I just- when he laughed I thought I heard the Goblin and I panicked.”

A short silence on the other side of the line.

“Do you want me to come and get you?” Tony proposes, clearly out of his debt here. Peter shakes his head.

“No, I want to stay in school, I just… I needed to talk to somebody,” he assures Tony. “I’ll be fine, just… can you tell me something? Doesn’t matter what.”

“Okay,” Tony says, and then he starts explaining what he’s currently working on. Peter takes it all in, listening to all the engineering explanations that he understands so perfectly. He adds his own little commentary, giving pointers where he thinks they are necessary.

And when Peter feels relaxed again, at least as much as possible, he opens up the door and gets out of the stall.

“You good to get back to class now, Pete?” Tony asks when he runs the water to wash his hands.

“Yeah, I’m good,” Peter responds, putting the phone between his ear and shoulder and reaching for the towel to dry his hands. “What’s for dinner?”

“Well, Bruce is cooking so probably something exotic,” Tony jokes. Peter snorts in response. It’s good, having Bruce with them again. It lightens the mood a little bit at home, and Bruce is also good in keeping Tony in line whenever he’s neglecting his health. Whenever Tony starts a discussion, Bruce just warns him about feeling green again. After that, Tony always listens.

“Alright, I’ll see you after school, Dad,” Peter says.

“Yeah, till then, little Spider,” Tony returns. Peter rolls his eyes at the nickname he’s earned himself lately. Tony’s been using it more and more whenever he wants to embarrass Peter a bit. The two hang up. Peter shakes his limbs loose, throws some water into his face and then lets out a long and loud breath.

“Alright, let’s do this, Parker,” he tells himself. He walks out of the restroom, hurries to his locker to take the books to the next class, and makes his way to the place he needs to be. But, before he gets there, he makes a stop at his previous class. The students are currently walking outside since the class is over. They give him a weird look when he gets back in. He waves at Ned and Harry when they give him questioning glances.

He goes to the teacher, offers his apology. She only remarks that he’s still a bit pale, and that he should maybe go and see the nurse. Peter assures her that he’s doing better

“Dude, what the hell happened?” the two ask him at the same time. Peter shrugs.

“Sometimes I just get these panic attacks. My meds are supposed to stop them, but if they’re coming back I’ll probably have to switch medications again,” he admits. With the way his body is, it adapts itself easily to any changes that is brought upon it. Since the medication changes a small part of his hormone-production, his body must have habilitated itself to it. Immunity to the medicine means switching to something else again.

He just can’t wait until he doesn’t have to take them anymore. It would surely make his life a lot easier.

“Anything triggered it, or…?” Harry asks vaguely. Peter panics, trying to think back about what they were talking about…

“Uh, whales,” he says shortly. Ned frowns but Harry nods in understanding.

“Oh, I’m sorry for mentioning that, then,” he says, actually sounding apologetic. Peter just shakes his head and waves it off.

“It’s alright, man,” he says. It’s not true, of course. Whatever happened, Harry has something to do with it. And if Peter doesn’t want to alarm him, he needs to keep this in check and make sure Harry doesn’t find out. After all, he doesn’t remember anything about that night.

Peter stays quiet the rest of the day. They make an agreement on when the others should come to study for that test, but other than that he just walks along and stays quiet. When school’s over, Peter waves them goodbye before walking away. Happy isn’t picking him up today, he’s going to get himself home this time.

Being Spider-Man with the bag on his back isn’t particularly the best way to swing around. It’s a weight, and it messes up his swings or landings. But on the other hand he doesn’t want to risk leaving it around again, either. So the first thing he does is swinging to Stark Tower, where he climbs up the building and lands on the balcony of the penthouse.

“Holy-!” somebody shouts before stopping themselves. It’s Bruce, who apparently didn’t expect for him to arrive here. Peter takes off the mask and throws Bruce a grin.

“It’s just me,” he says with a wink. “Dad’s home?”

“Yes, Dr. Cho is with him in medical. Doing some tests. I’m looking at the blood results right now, it’s really incredible how much a little piece of Steve’s liver can almost completely change a person,” Bruce says, still sounding surprised while looking at the papers.

“How’s the scar?” Peter asks. He hasn’t seen it, Tony never shows it after all.

“Cho said that it’s almost completely healed, which is insane since it’s been only ten days. His liver is completely normal, it’s almost like his body has been put on a complete reset.”

Peter takes the paper and looks at it. Everything in Tony’s blood seems normal, indeed. It’s surprising how things can just change like that.

“Of course, he wouldn’t be Tony Stark if he wouldn’t want the serum out as quickly as possible,” Banner continues. He takes the papers back from Peter and then leans back against the glass fence.

“Why would he want that?” Peter asks. If anything, he would have expected Tony to be ecstatic about it.

“I understand that when you got your powers, everything had been amplified as well, right?” Banner counters. “Sound, smell, touch. You heard things you weren’t supposed to hear. You felt things before they would happen, right?”

“Yes?” Peter asks. “But I got used to it, eventually.”

“Indeed you have,” Bruce says. “You used it for something good. Now think about Tony, who lives for his work. He creates, uses that mind of his almost non-stop to make gadgets and other stuff. Now imagine that you suddenly can’t do the thing that keeps you sane? That you try, but you keep on being interrupted because you can hear footsteps from other people so many rooms away?”

“He should learn to concentrate. If I can do it, he surely can, too?” Peter tries. “It would be a shame if Dad would remove the serum if it’s something that can keep him healthy.”

Bruce sighs before putting a hand on Peter’s shoulder.

“In his childhood, for years, Tony Stark has been taught about the legendary Captain America. The man had become his idol when he was little, and he aspired to be like him. And do you know what his father told him when he hit puberty?”

Peter shakes his head.

“That Tony could never be like Steve. That Tony isn’t deserving of knowing him. That’s why, at first, the two couldn’t really stand each other. Tony just kept blaming him for the way his father treated him.”

“But you would think he got over that, no? They’ve been in a relationship for a few months, after all?” Peter asks, confused. Bruce shakes his head and looks up into the sky.

“I don’t think we’ll ever completely understand your Dad, Peter. He might have convinced himself it’s okay to be with Steve. But he has trouble accepting the fact that he now has a part of Steve’s power inside of him. He just doesn’t think he deserves it. That’s why he wants it out.”

Peter nods in understanding. He just doesn’t know if it’s possible for Bruce to manage that, somehow. After all, hasn’t the guy been trying to get his portion out for years?

“On the other hand, he won’t have to worry about the serum forever. According to my tests, it’s only temporary. Eventually it will all fade away because of how small the amount is.”

“That’s good news for him,” Peter says. Bruce nods, though his face is still grim.

“Though it might take years.”

“Oh…”

Bruce sighs, pushing himself off the fence and starting his walk to the door. Then he turns towards Peter, nodding inside.

“You coming in?” he asks. Peter shakes his head.

“No, I was only dropping off my backpack. I’m going swinging for a little moment,” he says, pointing his thumb towards the city underneath them. Bruce nods, giving him a light smile. When he holds out his hand, Peter gives him the bag, quickly taking out his badge to make sure he’ll get inside.

“Be safe, okay?” he asks. Peter can’t believe how much he’s grown on the man in such a small amount of time.

“Always am,” Peter says with a wink. Then he puts the mask back on and throws himself over the balcony. There’s a lot of things for him to think about tonight.

This Saturday, Tony has to leave with Bruce, who has decided to be the neutral point in the whole debate. For a moment, Peter wonders if he could join. They’ll transport Steve along, after all, and he’ll get to see Nat and Wanda again. Sam, too! Even Rhodey is going to fly over for the occasion. Everybody is supposed to be there, so not only the Avengers. There are a few (enhanced) members of SHIELD, according to Tony, but also the Fantastic Four and a few of the X-Men. It’s going to be an enormous gathering, and it’ll probably take the two whole days to get to an agreement.

What Peter would do to be a part of it. Maybe if he promises not to go as Peter but as Spider-Man? Maybe then he can join? Only the Avengers know who he is after all.

He brings it up during dinner, a few hours after school ended. Peter is sitting in front of Vision, who is once again devouring his third portion of dinner. Bruce is calmer, taking small bites and making sure not to burn his tongue. Tony, though, is barely eating, instead just poking around on his tablet and making notes in a book.

“So, uh, is it alright if I come along this weekend?” he dares to ask, casually without building up to it. That way, they can already feel it coming and have a longer time to think of an excuse not to take him along.

Tony doesn’t even look up.

“Absolutely not,” he says. “You know I don’t want you to have anything to do with these accords.”

“But Dad, everybody’s going! Am I not a part of the enhanced population?”

“You’re a kid,” Tony returns, finally looking up. He looks horrible, Peter notes. Though his skin looks healthier, there are dark circles around his eyes, probably from the lack of sleep. “The whole point of keeping you out of the accords is so you can stay a kid, hidden from the eyes of the government.”

“I’m Seventeen years old, Dad! Besides, I’ll just go as Spider-Man! I won’t take off my mask, I promise!”

“No, Peter!” Tony shouts. Then his eyes go wide and he sags his shoulders again, hiding his eyes underneath his hand. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have shouted.”

“Why can’t he come?” Bruce suddenly asks. Everybody turns to him, eyes fallen open from the surprise. “I don’t see the problem, at least that way he’ll get a say in what’s to be expected from these accords.”

“But he’s just a kid,” Tony repeats, though his voice sounds less sure.

“No, you’re worried because he’s your kid. And that’s alright, it’s expected from a father to be worried. But then again, he’s surrounded by a whole room full of Superheroes. If anybody expects Peter to take off his mask, there’s a whole squad there to stop them.”

“Yeah, and the Avengers take care of me, don’t they?” Peter asks in an attempt to make it better. Tony blinks back at him, still seeming unsure about it.

A long silence comes then. While Vision is keeping on eating his plate empty, Tony pokes back into his food while staring ahead, thinking it over. For a moment, Peter’s just going to tell him to forget about it. It’s not that important, after all.

“Alright, you can come,” Tony finally says. Peter jumps up into the air, running towards Tony and wrapping his arms around him. As he hugs him tightly, Tony lets out a small chuckle. “Just promise me you’ll stay away from Johnny Storm, alright? I don’t need his bad influence to get on you!”

“I’ll try and stay away,” Peter returns. Then he kisses Tony on the cheek and runs into his room. He needs to let Ned know, immediately! But before he disappears, he turns back towards the table. “Oh, and by the way, Ned and Harry are coming over tomorrow evening, are you home then?”

Tony turns to look at Bruce, who shrugs. Then he gives Peter a nod.

“Good, then maybe you could help him with the test the way you helped me? They both failed, so I agreed to help them,” Peter suggests. Bruce snorts but then nods.

“Sure, kid. As long as they don’t make me angry,” he says with a wink. Peter throws him a thumb’s up and then hurries out into his bedroom.







After school, Ned gets a ride with Peter and Happy to get to Stark Tower. Normally, Harry would have joined as well, but he told them he needed to do something before he arrived. Neither Peter nor Ned ask any questions, since he probably just wants a little moment with MJ before he leaves.

Because that’s now actually a thing. Apparently, the date went well. Harry’s been in seventh heaven the entire school day, talking about how amazing it is to kiss her, or how soft her skin feels underneath his fingers. Peter and Ned just smirk at each other while rolling their eyes each time he brings it up.

It’s weird, yes, but on the other hand he’s also kind of happy. Happy Harry has found somebody, and happy that now MJ, too, seems to be less of a jerk around them. Sure, she still throws insults their way, but they’re less… mean, so to say.

The other good thing about it is that Harry and MJ don’t always hang out with them all the time. It’s not that Peter’s glad to be rid of Harry, but it gives him at least a little bit of time to deal with his medication-issue. It wouldn’t do them any good if he’d get another panic attack when Harry makes a joke.

“Whoa, and where is it going to take place?” Ned asks. Peter shrugs.

“It won’t be Vienna, since they’re still under construction there because of the explosion. It’s happening in Geneva, but it’s more hush-hush now. The news doesn’t know about it,” Peter explains in a low voice. “You can’t tell anybody, okay?”

Ned holds up his hand. “Scout’s honor!” he says. Peter rolls his eyes.

“You’re not with the scouts,” he states. Ned shrugs.

“I used to be before I moved,” he says. Peter snorts, trying to imagine Ned in one of those costumes but not able to do it. “So who is going to be there? The X-Men? Fantastic Four? The Defenders?”

“Defenders? Who’s that?” Peter asks in confusion.

“Oh, it’s those guys that were knee-deep into the Hand-business. You know about the explosion in Midland Circle, right?” Ned asks. Peter remembers reading something about it, yes. “Well, it talks about six members; an indestructible man known as Luke Cage, a super strong woman whose name isn’t clear, a man who calls himself the ‘Immortal Iron Fist’ with every chance he’s got, a badass woman with her blades and a nurse with kick-ass fighting skills.”

“You said six, that’s only five,” Peter notes.

“Yeah, then there’s the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen, but he’s been reported killed in action,” Ned admits. Peter feels a small, sad wave go through him. He never really got to meet the guy, but it’s still too bad to hear it. Dying to do what is right… Peter hopes that he never has to draw the short end of the stick during one of his battles.

“Anyway, I don’t think they’ll be there. They haven’t been active since Midland Circle, haven’t they?” Peter asks. Ned shakes his head. Happy then parks the car in the underground parking underneath the tower. Quickly, the two teenagers jump out. “Thanks Happy!”

“You’re welcome!” Happy returns. Peter smiles. Thinking back of how much Happy never really used to speak to him a few weeks back, it now seems like they’ve really grown on each other. It’s good, he’s glad.

The two take the quick elevator upstairs. Once they’re in the penthouse, Peter drops his bag on the ground and takes off his coat and gloves. Ned does the same, putting his stuff on one of the hangers. Then the two boys get into the couch and start up the TV.

There’s nothing much on, really. The news doesn’t have much to announce, and the weather forecast can only say that they can expect snow tomorrow. After coming to a full loop of changing the channels, they just turn off the TV and take out their cellphones.

“Harry can start arriving now, he’s twenty minutes late almost!” Ned complains. Peter just hums in agreement, going through his mobile for a bit. Even there there’s nothing new to say.

“Is this what passes for studying lately?” Tony suddenly asks jokingly as he walks in the living room holding an empty cup of coffee and his tablet. He’s smirking, though he still looks extremely tired.

“We’re just waiting for Harry,” Peter says. Tony hums, still pensive about letting Harry hang out with Peter this much. They’ve had a conversation about it to make sure Peter’s feeling okay with it, but despite that Tony never really seems completely comfortable with letting them hang out. It’s probably going to take a while.

As if he couldn’t have timed it better, Harry makes his presence known by knocking on the door. Tony puts down the tablet and cup, and then turns around.

“Stay put, I’ll open it up,” he says. Peter nods, continuing his scrolling through his cellphone. Ned, too, doesn’t seem to pay too much attention. “Yeah, they’re on the couch. Just get in. Peter, your friends are here.”

“Friends?” Peter wonders out loud. He drops his phone at last to look behind him.

Only to see Harry standing there with a wide-eyed MJ.

“MJ needed some help with the test as well, I thought I’d bring her along,” Harry says happily. He only gets a few silent stares in return before Tony interrupts again.

“Awkward,” he jokes. Then he gets back to his tablet to just pretend he’s not here.

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