Spiderman Fan Fiction ❯ The Itsy Bitsy Spider ❯ Chapter 5 ( Chapter 5 )

Peter was motion sick by the time Mr. Stark had reached his lab, currently sitting on the man's work table trying to calm down his stomach. "You okay, Peter?" Mr. Stark asked, busy at his hologram, sifting through ideas, throwing out bad ones. 

"Y-yeah..." Peter managed to say, his stomach finally not feeling as if it were about to leave his body. "What are you working on?"

Tony glanced at the boy. "Oh, nothing really. Just going through ideas, some of them coming from my interns, which I can tell you, most of them suck, and the others aren't even worth my time, honestly." He sighed and stepped away, falling into a chair. "I don't know why I even let them continue to work for my company, I swear."

"They're at least trying," Peter said, getting up to walk the table shakily, going up to a project which was closest to the table. He studied it, reaching out to touch it, jumping when one part suddenly expanded enough for the boy to see. "Huh....this looks like it would work if the rotator coupler was over here....and if they added a circuit board over here....Is that supposed to be a motherboard? It looks horrible." He jumped, trying to reach where he wanted when suddenly a huge hand sailed over him and touched where he wanted.

"Show me." Tony followed the boy's thoughts and even anticipated them a few times, which got Peter smiling. "Woah...kid, I think I may just make you my personal intern."

Peter laughed. "But I wouldn't be able to get you coffee."

"Hmm, yeah, you're fired," Tony said with a smirk. "But you can help me with something." He went to grab the boy, but stopped when he saw how Peter flinched. "Hey, what's with this," he asked, moving his fingers above Peter. "Why so tense?"

Peter felt himself relax when the man didn't grab him. He didn't mean to to tense up, but it was just habit when he sensed a hand coming at him. "I-I don't like being grabbed," he said, looking down. "It's the way the scientists would move me. They always hurt me by grabbing me too tight. I guess, it just brings back some bad memories," he said with a shrug.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Tony was worried about this, since he'd just been grabbing the kid since the day he'd met him.

"It...it felt different with you, I guess...like, I knew you weren't going to hurt me." Peter heard Mr. Stark sigh and looked up to see pained eyes staring down at him.

"If you don't like something, say something, okay? I'll try and stop being so grabby. Now, let's try this again." The hand came at Peter, and he tensed, until it thudded down next to him, laid flat out. "Come on."

Peter smiled in relief and quickly climbed on, pausing when he realized he could actually feel Mr. Stark's hear beat and he chuckled. And no one said the man had a heart. Suddenly, a muscle twitched, making the boy fall on his face.

Tony couldn't help but laugh at that, which earned him a glare. "Aww, suck it up, buttercup. Come on," and he lifted his hand.

He brought the boy over to the table he was sitting at, letting Peter climb off. "See this pile here? Think you can handle the extra special job of sorting it out?" He made himself sound extra excited as he looked at the kid, who had a deadpan face.

"Really? Don't you have robots, or even a cleaning service for this?" Peter asked, looking at the mountain of parts and scraps towering over him.

"Well, yeah, but, let's face it. They wouldn't be as entertaining to watch." Tony chuckled at the boy. "No, but seriously, I want you to build something using these parts. Think you can do it?"

Peter sighed at that, relieved he wouldn't have the new title of 'maid'. "Yeah, I think I can do that." He took a step towards the tower and began scaling it, pulling out parts as he went. When he had a smaller pile, he climbed down and stood before what he'd gathered. There were wires, metal scraps, and a few circuits. The only problem, they were all half his size. Well, he would see what he was doing better.

So, he began his work, measuring scraps and plugging circuits into boards. He worked like that for a little over an hour, scaling the mountain of scraps a few times, and by the time he was done, sweat had plastered his hair to his forehead. Panting, he looked at his work and smiled. Now, how was he supposed to test if it worked? Tapping his chin, the boy turned and saw the Starkpad Mr. Stark had placed in lieu of his holographic puttering. Running over to it, he checked if the man was looking, and jumped on it, the see through screen lighting up. Now he had another challenge. The coding. 

Tony had stopped what he was doing when he noticed his pad had lit up. He glanced down and had to smirk at the scene that met his eyes. Peter was jumping from letter to letter across the screen, busy typing some kind of command system into the pad. Tony stopped what he was doing to watch, leaning his head on a hand. He watched the boy scurry between his screen and the robotic looking thing on the table a little ways away. Then it seemed the kid was finished and he turned to see Tony staring at him. "So, what'dya make?" Tony asked.

Peter blushed. "Um...it's kind of like a drone..." He jogged to the wheeled bot sitting on the table. "It's all I could make with what you had in this pile. I haven't programmed it to do anything yet, but it's online and can move." He went to the pad and knelt next to it, his hands going to the screen and pushing a button up and the droid moved. "It's nothing too challenging." 

He drove the drone around to make sure it worked. "I was able to build a camera, though, and attach it. That was fun." He hit a button to turn on the camera, glad it was working. Suddenly, the pad was moved from under him and Peter felt his hands stick to the screen, and he found himself dangling above the work space looking into Mr. Stark's amused face.

"Hey, little buddy," he cooed. "Hangin' around?" Tony chuckled at the face the boy gave him and showed his fingers, waiting for the boy's nod before he plucked him in between his thumb and his pointer. "So, let's see here..." The man looked between Peter and the pad. "Hold on." He put the boy down and picked up the pad, his thumb driving around the tiny boy, grinning when it started chasing Peter across the table. "Damn kid, this is what you see?" He stopped his chase and stared down at the boy. "That was pretty good for the amount of time and no tools, but I have something more 'challenging' for you. Come here."

Mr. Stark put his hand down and Peter climbed on to it, glaring at the droid that chased him like a traitor. "What's up?" he asked.

"I want you to fix this." Tony had brought the kid to where he had an old prototype suit laid open and brought his hand down. "Think you can get in there?" He removed a red plate and pointed to a three inch in diameter hole in the shoulder of suit. "I can fix it myself, but you're the one crying about how bored he is."

Peter laughed when the man mocked him, but was excited. "Okay, okay. I'll see what I can do. can you lower me down?" Mr. Stark lowered him until he could look down into the black void, shivering a bit. "What am I looking for?"

"Some loose wires, maybe a chip out of place. I haven't really worked on it in a few months, so it's fallen into some disrepair since I last used it."

"Okay. The hole looks big enough. Do you have a rope to pull me out just in case?"

Tony looked around and found a thin cable and gave it to the boy. "Just tie that around your waist."

Peter did as he was told, holding the free end for Mr. Stark to grab. "Okay. Let me see what's going on." Mr. Stark lowered his hand and Peter climbed off, trying not to stare at everything. He was actually going inside the Iron man suit! True it was an older model. but maybe Mr. Stark would allow him to see how everything worked. 

With an excited glint in his eyes, he got onto his stomach and wiggled down until his lower half hung over the edge, then moved his hand out to grab the opposite edge of the hole, his hands sticking to the walls. Slowly he shimmied his way down before the walls gave way and the boy yelped as he fell.

"You okay, kid?" Mr. Stark's voice echoed around him, and he looked up to see a large brown eye staring down at him.

"Whoa." He looked around him in shock. The area suddenly lit up, glowing a light blue. Wires and circuits surrounded him in the tiny area. Peter was in heaven.

"Kid?" Tony tried to see into the hole, but it was too dark, so he tried turning on the interior lights, but he didn't want to start up his suit in case Peter was in a tight spot. "You okay?"

"This is awesome!" Peter's voice came from the hole and Tony felt his heart start back up.

"Well, yeah," the man answered. "I built it, of course it's awesome."

Peter shook his head at the man's ego, then found a few wires that weren't connected to anything, and seemed to be dangling. "I see a few wires that aren't hooked up to anything, I'll see if I can fix them!" He studied the wiring before grabbing the loose wires, studying where they went. Without blue-prints it was a little hard to tell, but he used his brain and quickly put everything in its place. "Okay, I think that did it...oh, wait!" He parted some wires and saw a chip was out of place. Reaching in, the boy was straining, but he touched the chip and felt it slide in, when suddenly he heard a whirring sound, which made him jump. "What's happening?"

"Hold on, just checking where you fixed," Tony tapped on the Starkpad. When the stats came back clear, he had to smile. The kid wasn't lying, he was just that good. "Okay, kid, you passed. Come on out."

Peter was confused, but started climbing out, his head popping out from the suit. "That was a test?" He climbed out of the suit, looking at the expanse of the red and gold before him, walking out to the chest piece.

"Yeah, you can call it that. But, I've got some work to do, so, come and tinker with me." Tony laid his hand out for the boy and walked to his station. "I want you to help me the nanobots, seeing as you're pretty much the perfect size. Ever worked with them before?" Peter shook his head. "Oh, they're fun. Here." He placed a small vial on the table. To his eye, he couldn't see anything.

But when Peter looked into the glass vial, he gasped. "Oh wow! They're bigger than I thought they'd be." He leaned in to get a closer look.

"BOO!" The boy let out a girlie squeal, jumping at Mr. Stark's scream, and falling back onto his butt, panting while Tony laughed. "Oh, kid, this is gonna be fun."

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Octavius Bloom sat behind the thick glass with an air of confidence as he looked at all the guards around the room. A small smirk came to his face as the man he was there to meet was lead through the doors to the private room. 

As soon as the man sat, Bloom waved the men out of the room and he picked up the phone, waiting until for the man on the other side of the glass to do the same. "Hello, Mr. Hammer. It's been a while."

"And who may I ask am I talking with?" Justin asked confused and Bloom chuckled.

"Your new glimpse at freedom, actually. My name is Octavius Bloom. It's a pleasure to meet you." Hammer smiled.

"Well, well, if it isn't the Kraken himself. Tell me, what's life like on the outside?"

Octavius chuckled. "Nice to hear you still have a nice attitude, Mr. Hammer."

"Justin, please. What do I owe to receive a visit from you, Mr. Bloom?"

"Iron-Man," Octavius said, smiling when the breath over the phone got heavier in the silence, the man's face turning a shade of red. "You see, he stole something of mine, that is quite valuable, and I would like your help in getting it back."

Justin sneered at the man. "Well, as you see, I can't help you there...Tony's bitch of a wife got me locked up. I'm spending these days looking through a gated area to the outside."

Bloom leaned back in his chair. "I can help you, if you wish it. You see, I know many a good man with a good resume for what you need...including a Mr. Toomes, also known as Vulture. I'm not sure you may have heard of him."

"No actually. He must be new on the scene. What are his....required skills?" Justin changed hands, the orange staining his hands fading to almost no shade at all.

"Well," Bloom started. "He does well with technology, as well as alien. I suppose you've heard of the Chitauri attack on NYC?" Hamer nodded. "Well, I've seen some of the weapons he made with the alien technology, and let me tell you, it is remarkable. Makes me wish he would join my ranks, but alas, he has refused me every time."

"Okay. But first, tell me about that freedom. I'm curious."

Bloom smiled, a strange glint in his eyes. "I can...pull a few strings, let's say. I have some friends in high places that owe me a favor or two. But, if you say yes, I would like for you to bring Mr. Toomes over to my team. I could use a man of his talents. And yours, of course." Justin laughed at that.

"Oh, Mr. Bloom, I will definitely help you. I can be very...persuasive."

"Good. Expect to be freed by the end of the week. There will be a car waiting for you, of course. Have a good week, Justin." With that he hung up and got back, calculating his plan as he walked out of the jail.

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"No, you put that there," Tony told Peter, pointing where he wanted the wires plugged. "Good job, bud. Now, climb on in there and see what else we need."

Peter nodded and jumped up to the platform and crawled into the opening. He'd been doing this for Mr. Stark for about three days now, but it never got old. They were working on the nanobots, but the man had them form into a suit of armor for Colonel Rhodes, saying he needed an update, no matter what the colonel said. He thought it was nice of Mr. Stark to make his friends suits. 

He even thought it was nice hanging out with the man like this. He hadn't had a man to look up to since his uncle Ben, and he liked the fact that Mr. Stark could keep up with the way his brain worked. A knock came from outside the suit.

"Hey, tiny toons, need an update. What's working, what's not." 

Peter cleared his thoughts and went back to looking around, grabbing a few wires to get up and crawled up to the head, finding himself in the helmet looking at th heads up display. "Friday!" he called, his voice echoing. "Give me an update on the Iron Patriot!"

"Nuh-uh," Mr. Stark said. "I named Rhodey War Machine, and how did you get up into the helmet?" The face popped up and Peter was staring out at Mr. Stark as his face came sailing over him into the helmet and he ducked the man's chin, feeling his beard scrape past him.

"There's a gap for the air vents in the neck between the plating to keep Colonel Rhodes cool."

"Yeah, that's right, kid. You sure you don't have a sister by name of Morgan?" The teen laughed.

"I'm sure, Mr. Stark. But, thank you for trusting me to work on the Iron Pa-I mean War Machine with you. It really has been an honor, sir."

Tony had to smile at the kid. He was too good. "Yeah, I know, it would be an honor for me to work with me, too. But, you're just the right size that I don't need to take the suit apart every time I encounter a problem." He gave him a cheery grin, then frowned. "Okay, but seriously, outta the suit. Rhodey would kill me if he knew Tom Thumb had been in it before him." He held his hand out for Peter to step onto, which the boy did, kneeling before the man could move and make him fall. "You hungry?"

Peter hadn't noticed, being busy in the work room, but with moving and everything, he was starving! "So hungry," he said with a grimace.

"I figured. We need to get you on a better eating schedule, especially with your enhanced metabolism." The boy looked at him strange. "Yeah, I actually read the files Bruce made on you. Because of your new Hydra made updates, your body needs food at least every hour. It was my fault you didn't eat."

Mr. Stark carried Peter from the workroom, and when he got to the stairs, went up them quickly, much to the boy's annoyance at the motion sickness.

"You'll get used to it," was all the man said as he walked into the kitchen, depositing the boy on the counter to walk around. "So, what sounds good?" He perused the fridge, turning back to talk to Peter. "Hey, hey, kid, over here," he snapped his fingers when the boy was too far away. "Can't hear you over there. I could always order something."

"Oh, that's not necessary, Mr. Stark, sir! I'll just have whatever's in there." He wasn't used to all this yet. Before this, his aunt had been a single woman raising a teenager, and that put a strain on her...wait...if they couldn't reverse the spider stuff..."Mr. Stark?" He walked to the edge of the counter, jumping a bit when the man stood and looked down at him.

"If you're able to fix this, size problem, I know Dr. Banner said I wouldn't survive the DNA fix, but could you at least try? I..my aunt doesn't have a lot of money, paying rent and everything, and I wouldn't want to add to her by suddenly coming in and having to eat like a football team every hour."

Tony stopped and stared at the kid. He knew not everyone was rich, but that wasn't it. It was the fact that Peter wanted them to try and fix him to save his family from suffering. He smiled and brought a finger to the kid's head, ruffling his curls, then grimaced. "Well, when we can reverse this, we'll talk to Bruce and see what he can do about the DNA...but, he probably won't be able to. It's a wonder you're still alive with what Hydra did to you. You made it out, for a purpose, kid. Don't let that purpose go. After lunch, you need a shower, too."

"Yeah," Peter's shoulders slumped and he felt a wave of depression hit him. So he'd be a freak for the rest of his life, burdening his aunt with another thing. "I was gonna ask about that, but I didn't know if you had anything small enough for me to use."

"Don't worry, kid, I got you. Here, have some bread." He threw a slice of bread at Peter, snickering as it landed over him. 

"Very funny, Mr. Stark!" the boy called, his voice muffled.

"What was that, Petey? I couldn't hear you! Too much breading around you!"

Peter made a face and tried lifting the slice over his head, grunting with the weight. "Would Pepper get angry if I threw this at you?"

"Go right ahead," the woman said, walking into the kitchen, putting her phone in her pocket.

"Did you two have fun in the work shop?" 

"It was awesome! Mr. Stark let me into the War Machine suit and the Iron Man suit, of course he needed them fixed, but I did it no problem, and then he let me see his nanobots, which were bigger than I thought, and I wonder if aunt May would find them interesting? My uncle Ben would never find any of this interesting at all, but he would go with me to science seminars every time I would ask....and I think I'm talking too much now."

Pepper stared at the boy with a confused smile, then turned to Tony. "It's a mini you," she whispered as she reached behind him into the fridge.

"I know, right? It's just like looking into a teeny tiny mirror. Eat up, kid, because I'm gonna drown you in a bit."

"Tony!" Pepper yelled, eyes wide.

"What? Kid needs a shower or a bath."

"Well, say it nicer next time." She swatted him on the shoulder. "Happy's gonna go get Morgan in a little bit." 

Tony checked his watch. It seemed time really did fly. "Okay, workshop later, shower set up first. Gotta ask Bruce what he has. Walk with me, Pepper, tell me how your day has been."

"Oh, you know, the same boring things. Papers need signing for your company, meetings to go to, phone calls to make. How was your day, honey."

"Oh, you know," he mimicked his wife, earning him a slap on the shoulder. "I got to see how smart Peter is. Did you know he can do quantum physics?"

"I-it's not my best subject," Peter replied blushing, then realized where they were going. "Do...do we have to go to the lab?" he asked, staring at the incoming elevator.

"We'll leave you by the door, if you want. You won't have to come fully in, okay? There's a table with a plant, for some reason, at the entrance."

"Hey hey, don't make fun of my decorating skills. Besides, Brucie wanted it."