Chapter Text
Peter was holding an ice pack to his bruising eye. He felt tired and sick. Surprisingly he did not feel too much pain from his short encounter with that guy in the alley. However, the mix of endless running, jumping, and drinking had drained him. He already threw up once in the drug store, he did not want to do it again, even if he was in his Aunt’s apartment.
Aunt May sat down next to Peter at the table, setting aside a bowl in case he needed to throw up again. She placed her hand over his, looking at him, “Would you like to tell me what happened?” She asked.
Peter sat down the ice pack, keeping his gaze away from his aunt’s. “So when I woke up at home and not here I was already pretty mad at my dad,” He started, “And then I found out I am allergic to peppermint. I had a pretty bad allergic reaction. Then I went to school today and everybody was acting weird.” He grumbled.
May tilted her head, “Weird how?” She asked.
“Well other kids usually whisper about me because my dad is Tony Stark but today they were whispering about Ben,” He explained, "Apparently a picture of me and Uncle Ben ended up on the news and people could not stop talking about it. I was so tired of hearing about it that I asked my friend if we could do something.” He then rested his head in his arms on the table.
“Is that when you cut school?” May questioned.
Peter nodded his head slightly, “Yeah,” He mumbled, “We went to his house and..” He paused, sighing, “My friend.. He is Harry Osborn.” He finally looked up at his aunt.
Aunt May’s eyebrows went up, “Oh. Like as in the son of your father’s rival?”
“Yeah..” Peter said, “That is the one. We met at the mall and we both agreed we do not like our father’s feud and decided to be friends anyways.” He clarified.
“Well that is good for you,” May patted his arm, gently, “It is good to not let your parents come between what could be a good friendship.”
“Speaking of parents..”Peter started, a little nervous as he spoke, “While we were hanging out, we discovered that my mother used to work at Oscorp and played a big role in their cross species genetics research,” He lifted his head off the table, “And apparentally she was born with a rare genetic disease that she was trying to cure.”
May paused for a moment. She took a deep breath, “Oh..” She looked down, “Ben never told me she had it too.”
Too? “Did Uncle Ben have it?” Peter questioned, “Hypohosphatasia?”
May shook her head, “No, but his father did. I remember his telling me before we married that he could potentially pass down the gene if we were too..” Her words got caught in her throat.
Peter did not have to hear her finish her sentence to know what she was talking about. Ben had alerted her about the family condition in case they were to ever have children. And now that was no longer possible. “I’m sorry..” Peter whispered.
May rubbed her eyes, trying to prevent herself from crying again, “It’s alright honey,” She assured him, taking in a deep breath to steady herself, “So what else happened?” she asked.
“Well I found it weird my dad never mentioned that my mom had a genetic disease so when I got home I logged into the Stark Industries system with his account,” He admitted, “I was looking to see if I could find any information about mom but instead I found some files on me,” He looked down, “And apparently when I was seven I was diagnosed with the diseases too.”
A gasp slipped from May’s mouth, her hand went to cover her mouth. “He never told you?” She questioned.
Peter shook his head, “No,” He continued to look down, “I feel like there is more that he is hiding from me but I don’t know what,” he admitted, “If he hid this from me what else would he be hiding?”
May looked up at Peter’s face, “Did you get in a fight with Harley?” She asked, “Where did this black eye come from?” She clarified her question.
“Well… I had a bit of dads whiskey..” Peter admitted, making sure to leave out that Harry had given him some scotch, “And when I went to dinner I guess I was a little rude… especially to Steve. But he is always rude to me, I guess I just could not take it anymore,” He explained, “I was tired of being at that table so I left..” he sighed, “I snuck out and on the way here I saw a guy that looked a lot like the guy who shot Ben..”
“Peter..”
“So I tried to punch him and turn him into the police. However, it was the wrong guy. He punched me and then I came here and climbed in through the window.” He explained.
May’s hand had not left her mouth. Peter started to feel bad. Was he worrying her? She stood up and strided close to him. She wrapped her arms around him, pulling the boy into a hug. Peter could not let but lean into her touch and the tears that started to pour down his face.
May hushed him and she ran her hand through his hair, “It’s okay baby,” She tried to comfort him, “I know it is a lot but everything is going to alright.”
“How do you know?” Peter could not help but ask between sniffs.
“Because you got me,” May claimed, “It’s just you and me, and I will always be here for you whenever you need it.”
~
Peter fell asleep in his bed at May’s apartment. He loved whenever he spent the night there. It felt more welcoming and cozy than the tower ever could. When he woke up he could hear May speaking to someone in the other room. He pushed himself up, quietly walking over to the door. He did not have to press his ear to the door to hear her clearly. Spider abilities.
“Do you have any idea how horrible you have been?” He could hear May call out. When he did not hear someone respond, he assumed she was on the phone, “Ben and I have been nothing but kind to you. We have taken Peter in every time you go missing or have to go off and save the world and you cannot show me a shred of respect?”
She was talking to his dad. Peter knew could tell. He stepped backwards until he was sitting on the bed again, just listening to what May was saying.
“You hid his diagnosis from him for seven years and you left out the fact his mother also had it?” She asked, “I have always respected you Tony, you are family. However recently you have gotten under my skin. It is starting to affect Peter.”
Peter laid back down. He did not want to hear this anymore. He got under his covers, resting his head on his pillow, listening to May as he drifted off to sleep.
~
“May there is more behind this than you know,” Tony spoke into his phone, annoyed, “I am beyond thankful for all you have done for Peter but I am trying to protect him. I want what is best for my son.”
Tony was sitting on the edge of his bed, his free hand balled into a fist. Pepper was watching him as she got ready for bed. She could tell that he was worried, but she did not interrupt him. Tony sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “Look, let him stay with you tonight. I will come get him in the morning, we can talk about it then.” He said, hanging up his phone.
Once the call was officially over he sat his phone to the side and buried his head in his hands, letting out a sigh. Pepper slowly walked up to him, sitting beside him. “I may not fully understand what is going on, but I know that it will be alright.” She assured him.
Tony removed his head from his hands, looking over at his wife, “Thanks Pep,” He gave her a fond smile, “It’s Peter..”
“Well I figured that much,” Pepper said, “What is going on?”
Tony kept his eyes down, looking at his hands. His shaking hands. “When Mary came back to me saying she was pregnant she told me that she had been born with a genetic disorder," He began,” She told me she had not seen any doctors since getting pregnant. She knew nothing about the baby. She did not know if he was a boy or girl, or exactly how far along she was. She told me she wanted too.. To not keep him.”
Pepper’s eyes grew wide. Tony continued on, “However I wanted to keep him. I mean he was my kid too. Plus I knew that if she tried anything this late it would be unsafe for her too. I paid her some money to have Peter.”
Tony’s hands began to shake even more. Pepper noticed it. She remembered when Tony had first mentioned he was having an anxiety issue. She weaved her fingers between his, holding his hand. She gave him an assured and comforting look, letting him continue.
“Before she had Peter, she warned me of the possibility of him being born without part of his skull or being still born..” Tony’s free hand began to shake even more, “So I spent the time between then and the delivery date praying he would be okay. Thankfully he was.”
Tony paused again before continuing, “Mary left and then died not too much longer later,” He said, “With her gone I began to google signs and symptoms for her condition, just to be on the look out in case Peter began to show any signs. When he lost his first tooth a little after his third birthday, I decided to take him to the doctor.”
“He was diagnosed when he was seven,” Tony explained, “However, Norman Osborn had been nonstop on my ass,” He said, “He kept saying how Mary was using her DNA to experiment on different animals or something to try and find a cure not only for herself but for other conditions also.”
“What happened?” Pepper asked, starting to feel Tony’s worry.
“I do not think Mary Parker’s plane crash was an accident,” Tony admitted, “Someone out there wanted her work. They wanted her DNA. They wanted someone with her DNA and her condition to figure out her studies.”
Pepper’s eyes grew wide, “And that means..”
“People were out for Peter,” Tony nodded his head, “At first I thought I was being paranoid,” he admitted, “But then I remembered how I had been kidnapped. I could not even trust the person I had trusted with my business too,” He pointed out, “So ever since then I have tried to strip the internet of any information about Mary Parker.”
“And Peter does not know.” Pepper correctly assumed.
Tony nodded his head, “Yeah.. It’s not that I love him any less than Harley or Morgan because of how he was born I just worry for him more,” He stated, “He is more at risk of breaking a bone, liver failure, and Oscorp would try and take him if they knew about it. So I hid it from him, I hid it from May and Ben, I hid it from everybody to keep him safe. I even tried to keep him out of the public eye as much as I could in case someone would try and do anything to him.”
Pepper tilted her head, “Do you think that it may come across to him that you don’t care for him as much as you do the others?” She asked.
Tony sighed, “That is not my intention," He mumbled, “He is a smart kid. He obviously got the Stark Genius Gene,” He pointed out, “Harley is a smart kid, but he is not smart like Peter. I only push him to do his best so he has something to be proud of. Harley wins almost every football and baseball game he plays, I can only assume Morgan will have her talent too, but Peter is book smart. One day I could see him taking over Stark Industries.”
“Have you ever told him that?” Pepper questioned.
Tony shook his head, “He is quick to assume things. Then he hides in his room or is out with Wanda or some of his friends.. Like this Gwen girl we get to meet.” He then rubbed his face, trying to keep himself calm, “I guess when Ben died I started to worry,” He admitted, “The first thing that went through my mind was that someone was trying to get Peter. I thought maybe someone had connected the dots that Ben Parker and Mary Parker were brother and sister.”
“But that was not the case, Tony,” Pepper reminded him, “It was just some guy who got caught stealing and with a gun.”
“I know,” Tony nodded, “But at the moment I did not. And who could blame me for wanting Peter here. I know he is safe here. Here we have the Avengers, a top notch security system, and I could keep an eye on him.”
A beat of silence passed between them. Pepper sighed, “Maybe you should try and talk to Peter,” She suggested, “If you sit down with him and tell him this. Maybe he will calm down if you tell him what is going on.”
Tony shrugged, “I have thought about it. However, I thought it would be safer if no one knew at all,” He admitted, “Maybe I was being selfish,” Tony mumbled, “But could you blame me?” He asked, “I just want to keep my kid safe.”