𝐖𝐞𝐛 𝐨𝐟 𝐋𝐢𝐞𝐬

1 | Rain

Winter in Manhattan wasn't always kind to its residents and those unlucky enough to be working in the city were either crammed in subways, pushing their way through the busy streets or dodging umbrellas on the sidewalk. The rain always delayed the trains, it was almost a given to those who commuted in the city.

Amongst the skyline was an abundance of commercial buildings, and towering above the rest was Stark Tower. Home to Stark Industries, the lobby of the building floods with employees scanning their security card-keys and rushing towards the elevators. On the higher levels, the departments increased in importance, and Tony Stark himself had his office positioned on the top level. Although Pepper Potts had the title of CEO, Tony couldn't resist overseeing operations.

Y/N often worked at the Tower, usually helping him with his latest ventures or experiments. She was welcomed into this new world after Pepper and Tony discovered they couldn't bare children due to his Arc Reactor making him sterile. After his late business partner Obadiah was assassinated, he took it upon himself to continue to raise Y/N as his own, despite never really considering himself as a great fatherly figure.

Y/N watched the raindrops roll down the glass panels of Tony's office as she and Happy waited for him to come stumbling through the doors, presumably sleep deprived from working all night - a common occurrence. Happy tapped his fingers on his iPad cover, checking his watch periodically for Mr. Stark to grace them with his presence. Only half an hour late, Tony entered through the double doors and raised his hand towards them both before they could raise any snarky comments about his time management or the lack of courtesy he had.

"Save yourselves the lecture, I really couldn't care less about who has been waiting for me in reception for the past half hour," he says nonchalantly dropping into his desk chair and spinning towards the screens. Happy shakes his head and fights back a smile, knowing all too well Tony's typical antics when it came to work.

"So, I transferred you my latest blueprints, and I think they could possibly help wi-" Y/N rambled, before being cut off by Stark.

"I've told you a hundred times before, I don't want you getting too involved with the Avengers. You can help when I need it but thats it. End of story. The end." He chuckled.

As much as Y/N was intertwined in Tony's life, the Avengers were always something he kept seperate to his family. Almost losing Pepper multiple times made him realise the importance of protecting his adoptive daughter as well as viewing the situation 'work' versus 'home life'. It frustrated Y/N, she knew about the conquests Tony went on, and saw various media reports on how they saved this city and that city, but had hardly interacted with any of these heroes. They knew her, she knew them, but more like work colleagues rather than the close-knit family they all referred amongst themselves. Natasha visited frequently, mostly due to the fact she was originally sent into Stark Industries by S.H.I.E.L.D undercover when Tony was ill. After that, Tony allowed her to expose her identity to Y/N and mentor her in martial arts as an attempt to give Y/N protection. She viewed Natasha like an older sister, confiding in her about her troubles, and asking for advice when needed - she was her guide all throughout high school, and continued on after graduation.

The media coverage on the Avengers was pretty widely spread, but nevertheless keeping many identities secret from the world. Spider-Man was one of these heroes that remained a masked vigilante, Tony refused to reveal who he really was, due to 'keeping the kid sane'. The term 'kid' always intrigued Y/N as to who may be behind the mask, but Stark always called people younger than him kid, or those intellectually inferior despite them perhaps being older than him.

Y/N however, was not hidden from the public eye, she was insistent that she try to lead a normal life, and not be sheltered as 'Starks secret adoptee'. She of course was protected by security at most times of the day, as well as training with Natasha throughout the week. She was an adult after all, and like Tony, was headstrong and stubborn about being told what to do. It was only several months ago that Tony gave Y/N permission to be publicly known, and she felt relieved she could be free.

The doors swing open and cause the three to flick their heads towards a flustered boy with wet hair from the rain.

"Sir, I really need to talk to you it-" he says frantically before stopping abruptly in his tracks, being glared at by Tony. "-... can wait I am so sorry for interrupting. Please ignore me and uh, forget I was here," he continues, scrunching his face in regret, walking backwards towards the entrance in which he came from. Tony pinches the bridge of his nose, slightly pushing his sunglasses up and sighs.

"Happy can you please reiterate the importance of manners to this intern of ours? Kiddo, I'll get FRIDAY to brief you in your office later okay?" He says, impatiently smiling and waiting for Y/N to leave. She did as she was told, putting her headphones in and exiting the office. Happy turned to the boy and crossed one leg over the other.

"Peter you can't just bust in here whenever you like, you still need to make an official appointment with security, myself preferably when you need to speak with Mr Stark," Happy says matter-of-factly. Tony leans his head back into his chair, and spins towards Peter slowly.

"This better be important" Stark murmurs, raising an eyebrow at the boy awaiting his reply.

"My suit is glitching out and it keeps cupping around the uh, that area, too tightly," he stutters, motioning his hands around his lower torso.

"Why that is such a pressing issue for my Monday morning I don't know, Happy can you tell Y/N to take a look at the suit and let me know when it's done so Peter can roam freely with a comfortable crotch please?" He says with a slight tone of sarcasm, turning back towards his desk. Happy writes notes as Peter pulls the suit from his backpack, laying it on a small coffee table in the office before leaving apologetically.

Peter knew the Stark office well, having a decoy story that he was an intern periodically. Nobody really pieced together that he was 'rostered to work' different days to other interns, nor that he was granted access to areas not even executives could enter - but he kept the charade under wraps. Over the Summer, Peter had convinced Tony to give his friend Ned an actual internship, to help with college credits after he discovered Peter was Spider-Man. Sitting at his friends desk with a huff, Ned chuckled and looked at him.

"You know it's funny, actually seeing you in the office and not 'working from home' all the time," he grins, tapping away at his keyboard. Muffled music came from across the floor, a large frosted glass paned office which only a few knew belonged to Starks adopted daughter. Almost soundproof, the hint of bass was heard if the office was quiet, and on a miserable day like today, it was.

"Starks daughter has started working in the office now. She's pretty hot in person you know?" Ned says, looking at an uninterested Peter.

"She's been nice to me so far, and told me how she's in charge of suit tech now, she got me to run diagnostics on your suit the other day, it was so cool watching the suit footage of you fighting" he follows, peaking the interest of Peter.

"Wait actually? Shit, I uh, I need to talk to her about something real quick," he infers to Ned, knowing his suit needed to be patched due to the glitch, as well as the sizing proportions.

Before Ned could intervene, Peter was walking briskly towards her office, turning and shrugging towards his friend before knocking on the door. Being up close to the office he realised how loud the music actually was, and knocked again louder. No answer. He opened the door and peaked his head through, flicking his hand into a half-wave and attempting to speak over the music. She turned it down and looked up at him with a confused look.

"Can I help you?" She asked, looking at the unknown boy in the door of her office.

"I heard you're the technology architect.. Mr. Stark requested a re-design of the Spider-Man suit"