If They Knew All About You

An Opportunity Comes At A Price

Pete's world had been turned on its head. Everything around him was changing so quickly and so thoroughly, he had a hard time trying to keep up with it all. His life had been going off the rails before, sure, but he was hard-pressed to try and pick what was more bizarre: waking up with his enhanced abilities out of the blue or waking up at Stark Tower in Tony Stark's own penthouse every morning, having breakfast with him and his... girlfriend? fiancé? With Pepper.

Both scenarios seemed just as far fetched for a regular kid from Queens and there was no doubt that he was still struggling to accept that he wasn't a regular kid from Queens anymore, in more than one way.

With most of his physical wounds healed and the purple marks on his neck fading more and more quickly, Pete was starting to ponder the real-life consequences that lay ahead of him. Living in Manhattan with a man that wasn't just a billionaire and an Avenger but... but his own blood relative. His father.

It had almost been a week now but it wasn't like he had seen much of Mr. Stark over that past days. It wasn't often that Pete had wandered down to the lab where Mr. Stark had spent most of his time working on legal strategies and things Pete wasn't supposed to see. He knew he wasn't because any time he had made his way down there, Mr. Stark's workbench was empty, the files and plans FRIDAY would usually be projecting all around the lab would disappear whenever the elevator doors opened to admit him into the room.

"You don't have to ask when you want to come down here, kid," Mr. Stark had said as he pressed a hot chocolate into his hands on the first morning Pete had made the descend. "You have clearance like before. Bit more really..." The smile on his face was a little stiff. Maybe he didn't realize that Pete could tell how things weren't at all like they had been before. Maybe he just didn't want to draw any attention to it. "I wouldn't keep my favorite lab partner out, hm?"

Pete had nodded, the steam of the hot beverage soothing on the skin of his face in contrast to the cooler air-conditioned climate of the lab. It had become a bit of a pattern with Mr. Stark ever since that night he had first asked Pete to not call him that any longer. Enough of a pattern for Pete to notice, the way he talked, repeatedly mentioned how things were still sort of the same like it would make Pete forget about everything that wasn't. Everything that had happened. He wasn't an intern any longer. He was at the Tower because they were related because Mr. Stark was his father and felt responsible for what would happen to him.

Before, whenever Pete had shown up at the lab – intern-days or not - Mr. Stark wouldn't have even looked up from what he was doing. He'd just holler a short greeting and ask him to grab a coffee or a tool or deal with Dum-E when he'd had enough of the chaotic bot. Now, there were no tools on the workbench in front of Mr. Stark, no schematics projected he would study, teeth gnawing on his lip. Instead, he would usher Pete in, have him take a seat, and bring him something hot to drink. Then they would talk. A thorough analysis of whatever movie they had watched the previous night or whether Pete had been texting with his friends - which he wasn't really - or chatting with Pepper. Enthusiastically, Mr. Stark would jump on every little detail he could that made it sound like things were still the same.

But they weren't.

Mr. Stark wasn't working on any tech for SI. He wasn't even really working on any of his Iron Man equipment either. His mind was so clearly focused on the trial. Not May's trial, of course, though they didn't really talk about that either. Barnes and Rogers.

And Pete wasn't welcome for that.

It wasn't a hard one to figure out. The clean look of the lab, all the documents, and projections vanishing when Pete had found his way down there on the day after their hospital visit... all of it was a clear sign. Another broad hint was a box that had appeared in front of his bedroom door on the morning of the next day. A quick glance up and down the hallway and Pete bent down, rummaging through the interior. It contained a selection of random electrical parts and once more, Pete's eyes searched for any clue whether this was for him.