12 C (29) May Reaction & Response

Monday 6th June 2016

Monday morning came and found Tony in his office at the Compound, reading through his emails forwarded to him regarding the developments of the Accords when Natasha arrived, a grim look on her face, holding an envelope in her hands.

"I found it among the post. Just one word written on the front. 'Stark'. I do not recognise the handwriting. Appears to be an attempt to hide who it is from, though I can take a guess as to who is responsible."

Tony frowned. "It's from someone who has been in this building recently otherwise it wouldn't have reached here."

"All the scans have come back negative. It is safe to open."

Tony slit his finger underneath the envelope. "I think it is from Ross. He's not too happy about losing his position. He's been made to look like a monster. I figured he might come after me, especially since I have ruined his career of making legislations against superheroes. He probably got the letter through security here by planting it on someone to put in the post."

"I'm surprised he would be so open about it," replied Natasha calmly, though there was a hint of hardness in her voice.

"He's lost everything," replied Tony. "He has nothing else to lose since his whole reputation has been tarnished. Taking Ross out of play means the Accords are more likely to be amended. We've got to consider every variable towards the endgame, Nat. We cannot leave any piece left unturned."

"Agreed." Natasha watched as Tony pulled out a piece of paper, opened it up and then promptly showed it to her.

Written in pen, which was supposed to be a bad attempt at a child's writing were the words:

Mark my words, Stark. I'll get you for this.

-------

Wednesday 8th June 2016

The text came through quite late at night when Tony was already in bed with Pepper lying next to him.

They hadn't fallen asleep yet when his phone vibrated.

"Who'd be texting you at this time?" murmured Pepper sleepily.

They'd resumed their relationship a few days before, sleeping for the first time since they had gone on a break, taking a few weeks to return to the point where they could move forward again.

Tony reached for his phone and sat upright as soon as he saw the text. "Shit. I've got to go."

Pepper, now wide-awake, sat up, resting her hand on the palm of her hand as she leaned on her elbow. "What is it?"

"It's Peter. He has told his Aunt about being Spider-Man. Apparently she's freaking out. I need to get there!" He'd hoped the kid wouldn't tell his Aunt on his own but apparently he had.

At least she hadn't walked in on Peter in his costume which had been the sole reason she'd discovered Peter's true identity previously.

Tony remembered getting the call from May in the middle of a meeting.

He'd had to dash away and soothe over a potential breakdown which had taken him hours to sort out. "I might be gone a while."

"Do you want me to come?" asked Pepper.

Tony shook his head, already pulling on a pair of trousers and a shirt before grabbing his phone and the detachable Arc Reactor, placing it on the front of his shirt. "I'll take the suit. Be there quicker!"

"Be careful!" Pepper called out as he ran out of the room.

Tony made for the nearest emergency exit as his suit began to cover his body, ordering FRIDAY to open it before he engaged his thrusters and shot out into the darkness, increasing his thrust capacity so he could get to Queens faster.

He was there in ten minutes, landing on the building's rooftop and deactivating the suit before going through the emergency exit and to the sixth floor.

Knocking on the Parker's apartment door, it opened quickly and Peter urged him in.

He looked fearful, frightened.

"I told her and she just…" Peter pointed to his Aunt who was sitting on the sofa, stock still.

Tony moved in front of her, sitting down on the chair off to the side. "Ms. Parker?"

"How could you?" she whispered.

Tony swallowed.

This was familiar territory. It was the exact same words May had said to him when he'd arrived after she'd inadvertently walked into Peter's room and seen him in his costume.

However, his response could be given differently this time. He'd apologised before. "I'm not sure what you mean, Ms. Parker."

"You knew… About Peter's abilities. What he could do."

"I did… And I was going to tell you. Peter asked me not to so I told him I would give him a chance to talk to you first. It's better it comes from him. He only came forward because I urged him to. Otherwise, you would still be in the dark now." Tony glanced at Peter and mouthed: 'Why didn't you call me?'

"Is this what this internship is about? Not to help him find a career but so he can join your team?"

"The internship is real," insisted Tony. "Access to Stark Industries labs and projects with the Research and Development department… There is a lot Peter can learn from us… but, I will not lie to you, the skills he has as Spider-Man would come in handy for the Avengers. And he would only be called in if it was absolutely necessary, as a last resort. I wouldn't willingly put him in danger if I could help it."

May's piercing eyes studied Tony's face. "I'm not sure I can trust you."

"Why not?" He was quiet and refined, aware that Peter's future in his life rested on how he handled May.

"How long have you known?"

"A few weeks. I'd heard about the vigilante Spider-Man when his videos were flagged up on my system. They seemed way too real to be fake. I decided to try to locate him and it led me to this apartment. I haven't been on this since the beginning if that is what you were thinking," explained Tony, hoping May would accept his answer.

May tipped her head in her nephew's direction. "Do you want the internship?"

Peter nodded. "I do. It would present unique learning opportunities for me."

May tilted her head back towards Tony, her gaze piercing his own. "Can you promise me he will be safe?"

The truth was the safest option. "No." He couldn't deceive her.

She needed to know, no matter what they faced in the future, Peter wouldn't be safe going into the line of work he was. "But his skills give him higher durability, capable of surviving things normal humans would not. He'd be going into dangerous situations but is less likely to be harmed." The image of Peter fading in his arms pushed into his mind.

He didn't need the reminder right now! "The world is a dangerous place, are any of us ever truly safe?" he reasoned.

****

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