Archive of Our Own

“Hey, isn’t that Peter?” Bruce asks mildly, and Tony looks up from seeing distorted shapes in his tooth-melting coffee to seeing Peter’s face fill the screen. The kid’s beaming bashfully, possessing way too much energy even through the TV screen, and Tony swears he can feel his grumpy layer starting to thaw away in the face of... Peter.

Ugh. 

“Yeah,” Tony sniffs, snatching the remote from Steve’s unaware hand and turning the volume up. He ignores the miffed look Steve sends him and leans in as the camera zooms out of Peter to focus on some sort of board behind him.

“Parker, only fifteen, stunned judges last weekend with his presentation on gene identification and neural degeneration. To be honest,” the reporter smiles kindly at Peter, “I can barely even explain it! How did a kiddo like you come about this idea?” She asks, and though the question is innocent, there’s a slight implication that someone else might have given Peter the idea. Tony bristles at the very thought. 

Peter just smiles shyly, establishing himself as so disarming that Tony can practically see the reporter physically trying not to clutch her heart. 

“I’ve always been interested in genetics,” Peter starts, humble in the way he curves his shoulders inward. “I want to put what I learn to good use, y’know? That’s why I’ve been studying cell mutations and gene identification to see if there’s any type of mutation that could possibly inhibit the rapid degeneration of neurons.” The kid is picking up speed. “As we know, there are mutations that affect Tau- basically one of the biggest parts of intercellular deposits that are at the core of neurodegenerative disorders.” 

The reporter’s eyes are starting to glaze over. Steve just looks perplexed, and while Tony’s following along to a certain extent, Bruce has placed his notepad down and is intently watching Peter speak. 

“Anyway, these mutations, they basically keep Tau from communicating with, like, microtubules? And on the other hand, they introduce Tau’s proclivity to bind with abnormal filaments instead of the microtubules they’re supposed to bind with-“ By now, Peter isn’t even trying to hide the fact that he is, in fact, a giant nerd; he’s wildly gesticulating at diagrams on his board while the reporter just nods along helplessly.

“Oh, that’s clever,” Bruce smiles, and Tony turns to see him looking quite pleased. “Peter is trying to see if there any mutations that will, in fact, keep Tau from binding with abnormal filaments. That would at least temporarily slow down the progression of neurodegenerative disorders.”

This isn’t really Tony’s specialty, but he knows brilliance when he sees it. And that look in Peter’s eyes, wild and bright, is nothing short of it. And to be honest ... he’s proud. Even if that kind of freaks him out.

“Anyway, one of these Tau mutations is, like, a major risk factor for supranuclear-“

“I’m so sorry, Mr. Parker, but unfortunately we have another segment coming up,” the reporter smiles apologetically, and Peter’s mouth snaps closed like his switch was turned off. He looks embarrassed and a little flustered, which bothers Tony more than he’d like to admit.

“Yeah, of- of course. Sorry, I- I tend to get carried away,” he apologizes, blushing something furious.

“Well, I think there’s no doubt that you’re a brilliant young man!” The reporter laughs. “If science industries and corporations know what’s good for them, they’ll have stacks of internships lined up for you! Best of luck to you, Mr. Parker!” The camera moves away and focuses solely on the reporter again. “Stay tuned for our next story- an unlikely friendship between a lonely goldfish and a rabbit! This has been Spotlight with Le-“

Tony switches the TV off.

“Wow,” Steve breathes, his eyebrows arching as he looks between Tony and Bruce.

Bruce smiles wryly, shaking his head. “You should get Peter started with Stark Industries now, Tony, or he’s going to get scooped up by someone else.”

“As if,” Tony scoffs. “The kid hero-worships me so much he almost screamed when he last saw me.”

“-why he worships you, I’ll never know,” Steve mutters, and Tony aims a kick in his direction; he doesn’t bother revealing to Steve that Peter is, in fact, just as much of a Captain America and Bruce Banner fanboy. He’s only really been in communication with Tony, so he’s only seen the other Avengers in passing, but boy does the kid love talking about them. That kinda thing is worth keeping to himself.

“He’ll want to intern for Stark Industries,” Tony shrugs confidently, playing nonchalance like he doesn’t know that Peter would all but pass out if he got to come work with all his favorite heroes.

He knows the kid well enough to know that much, at least.

—

Bruce bugs him about going to visit Peter and talk to him about his winning project for a week after that. In all honesty, Tony’s pretty sure that whatever Peter was talking about- Tau mutations and neurodegenerative orders -isn’t quite the field he claims expertise in. He’s not going to admit that to Peter, of all people (even though out of everyone, Peter is the least likely to make fun of him), but Bruce manages to wear him down enough that one day, he finally throws up his hands.

“Fine. We’ll swing by to visit Peter today evening, okay?” He snaps, and Bruce tries not to look too pleased (and fails). The kid has clubs and all after school, and doesn’t usually patrol until nighttime, so by Tony’s calculations, he should be free for a few hours in between. 

If anything, it’s worth it going all the way there just to see Peter’s jaw hit the floor when he sees Bruce Banner. The kid looks like.. well, shit, nothing compared to his television appearance. Dark circles are pressed under his eyes like tattoos, and he’s wincing very minutely every time he moves, like he’s just one big bruise. Tony would be willing to bet the kid got thrown around a good amount the night before, during his rounds.

“Kid, you look awful,” he says bluntly, and Bruce makes a sympathetic sound in agreement. Peter casts him a wide-eyed, please don’t embarrass me in front of my idol Mr. Stark PLEASE look, and Tony just huffs and makes his way in. Once they're alone, he'll press Peter until he shows him where he's hurt and get him some proper medical treatment. The kid is almost insanely smart, but he cracks under pressure so easily. 

“Come inside, please,” Peter mumbles behind them, closing the door before turning around fully. “Dr. Banner, I...” he says helplessly, like he doesn’t know where to begin. “I just ... wow.” He wipes his hands down on his pants, staring at Bruce for a moment before just ... launching into like, a lot of words. They must have been building up. 

“Your book on organic hosts and fusion was just wow,” Peter blurts out, running his spindly fingers through his hair so he kind of looks like a nerdy pineapple. Tony just then notices Peter’s shirt- a black tee that says Never trust an atom- they make up everything! -and snorts as he makes his way to the counter. “I- I’ve actually been referencing your research on the tumor inhibitor p53, because my next science fair project is going to be on tumorigenesis-“ he babbles, and Bruce looks like he’s trying to hold back a smile at the sight of the gangly fifteen year old in front of him talking to him about gene mutations. Not in a condescending way- Bruce would never -but more in a, holy shit have I found myself a person who’ll actually listen to me, instead of being like Tony and just pretending to listen? sort of way.

A stack of letters on the countertop catches Tony’s eye as Peter’s going on about p53, and he frowns, leaning over to take a look. He can’t help being nosy, and honestly, he’s kind of worried that it’s bills, at first. He knows Peter’s not quite well off, but he also knows how hard the Parkers work, and he’s not averse to helping out here and there if he’s able...

But they’re not bills. They’re official looking letters, with stamps saying things like, congratulations! And, we’d like to make you a very special offer! Tony picks up one of them, grimacing when he sees the name Oscorp at the top. This can’t be... 

He leafs through the deluge of letters with growing annoyance, names like Venus Corp, Crux, and Spriteware popping out at him as he tosses them aside. “Care to explain what these are, Parker?” He snaps, cutting through Peter and Bruce’s conversation, and Peter’s eyes widen when he sees the letters before a sheepish smile tugs at his mouth. 

(Art by MagniloquentChanteuse on AO3 (https://twitter.com/magniloquentch1))

“They’re ... recruitment letters?”

The nerve.

“What do you mean?” He grits out, trying not to be mad at Peter. How can he be? Peter’s just a smart fucking kid. He notices Bruce trying not to laugh, probably knowing that something like this was about to happen. For fuck’s sake, he hates when Bruce ends up being right about things like this. 

“They’re just ...” Peter picks one opened letter up, waving it between his fingertips toward Tony. “Ever since that reporter did a piece on me, I’ve been getting, like, so many letters and e-mails about internship offers?” He looks overwhelmed and slightly pained, though that might be because he got beat up last night. Tony needs that enhanced healing to kick in, pronto. The kid’s leaning against a door just to stay upright, for crying out loud. “Aunt May said I should take one of them, because some of them are offering, like ... a lot.” He says meaningfully, and even Tony knows better than to say that some of these companies, based on their offered wages, are definitely trying to rip off the smartest fucking kid Tony’s ever known. 

Vultures.

“Don’t.” He snaps, straightening to his full height and doing what Bruce calls the disappointed dad look. Crossed arms, pursed lips, eyes looking down over his sunglasses... poor Peter all but quails. “Didn’t I tell you that you were gonna be working for Stark Industries, kid?”

“Yeah, but like... when I’m eighteen,” Peter says, looking once more like he wishes the earth would swallow him. “For like, liability and stuff? Some of these companies said I could start soon. Like next week.”

Like hell.  

Tony narrows his eyes, and Peter wisely shuts up. “We’ll see about that,” the billionaire mutters after a moment, neatly swiping his arm over the counter and pushing the letters into the nearby and conveniently placed garbage can. Peter opens his mouth to protest, but Tony reaches into his bag and pulls out his StarkBook, draws up several forms on the screen, then tosses a stylus toward Peter, who nabs it out of the air with a flabbergasted expression on his face. 

“Sign here, here, aaaand here,” Tony says, tapping the screen. “You can, of course, read these forms, but I think we both know there’s nothing here that’ll trick you.”

“What...” Peter stares at the screen, eyes just growing wider and wider until Tony’s sure they’re gonna fall right out of his face. “I don’t understand, is this...”

“Forms for a to-be Stark Industries intern? Yeah, kid, they are.” Tony notes the exact moment Peter catches a glimpse of the proposed earnings per hour, because the color leaves the kid’s face so fast that Bruce actually holds an arm out in case he passes out.

“But,” Peter says faintly, looking between the StarkPad and Tony. “But why?”

“Jesus, kid. I know barely anyone but your aunt’s ever told you this, but you’re almost crazy smart.” Tony crosses his arms, and Peter goes from snow-white to burning red almost instantly. Peter's diverse color palette is amazing to see, really. “I’m not really digging the idea of some scumbag companies putting your ideas to use in shitty corrupt operations, so,” Tony shrugs. “I’m monopolizing.”

“I have to sit down,” Peter says weakly, dropping into the nearest chair as he stares at the StarkPad. “Is... will I get to see the other Avengers?” He asks softly, a hint of shy, excited hope warm in his words as he looks between the two of them. “Will I get to see...” he tugs at his nerdy shirt, red all the way to the tips of his ears as he stumbles through his next words. “Captain America...?”

Now Bruce is trying even harder not to laugh, definitely at Tony’s expense, as the billionaire rolls his eyes. “Yeah, kid, if he happens to be around the lab. But this isn’t about Capsicle and the other Avengers, Underoos. This is about that big brain of yours and all that- that-“ he waves his hand, “stuff you were going on with Bruce about. You can put your brain to good use at our labs.” Tony spreads his arms, and Peter just stares at him in this kind of heartbreaking, is this really happening to me? kinda way. “Whaddaya say, kid? Wanna work for me?”

“Oh my god, Mr. Stark.” Peter looks like he’s about to burst into tears, and reluctant affection floods Tony's little black heart. “Yes, of course, I’ve n-“ he chokes. “I never dreamed I would... thank you, Mr. Stark!” Despite the obvious pain the kid’s in, him and all of his gangly limbs somehow end up tangled around Tony’s waist. Tony rolls his eyes and pats the kid’s shoulder, trying not to show how relieved he is that Peter didn’t end up saying yes to fucking... Oscorp. 

Bruce gives him a knowing look.

Tony gives him the finger. 

—-

“Mr. Stark! Mr. Stark!” A reporter calls, and Tony dredges up at least one more suave, careless smile and focuses on the young woman, who looks surprised that she actually managed to catch his attention. She stammers for a second before blurting out something about his use of technology to improve the lives of others in the health industry. 

“Well, we’ve always made an effort to move into more and more domains of health,” he edges, then hesitates, looking down at his notes before looking back out over the crowd of twinkling cameras and fresh-faced reporters eager for stories. 

Tony has just the story for them.

“I’m sure you all caught the story last week of a young man who impressed scientists throughout New York with his science fair project on neurodegenerative disorders.” Tony clears his throat, unable to help a crooked smirk from tugging one corner of his mouth upwards. “I’m pleased to announce that Peter Parker is now a research intern among the scientists in Stark Labs and has begun a project delving into tumorigenesis. Cancer,” he says, and the reporters go nuts. 

“I know that many companies had their eyes on him,” he adds over the commotion, loud enough that the crowd seems to quiet down slightly. “On behalf of Stark Industries, we’re honored to have this brilliant young man as part of our team. I have no doubt that he’ll one day make incredible breakthroughs,” he says, and he knows to those other companies he just looks like a fucking shark right now, but he means every damn word he’s saying. Peter is so, so damn smart and just as humble, and he’s gonna go so far that he’ll leave Tony behind. And Tony wouldn’t want it any other way... not that he’ll ever tell the kid that.

He’s getting off the podium when his phone buzzes.

From: Unknown

Hi, Mr. Stark. This is May, Peter’s Aunt- I got your number from him.

I just wanted to let you know that you made Peter cry.... and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but thank you. He’s a great kid, and he’s gonna do big things, but he always needs other people to believe in him because he doesn’t believe in himself. 

Tony smiles to himself, a secret, kind of sad little smile, before sliding his glasses down. 

Well, good thing I’ve got enough belief in him for the both of us.