~Iron Family~

That Was Totally Expected

Peter watched the scene unfold silently, glad he didn't have to use his voice. He half-wondered why his super-healing hadn't completely cured his injuries yet. Sure, the only thing he'd had to eat in the last forty-eight hours had been a baby carrot and he'd gotten two hours of sleep last night, but that shouldn't have been a factor, should it?

He noticed Mr. Stark's eyes continually sliding from him to either the in-charge S.H.I.E.L.D. agent or Pepper, but his glance always stuck on Peter for a fraction longer.

He'd known that Mr. Stark's wife or Happy must've said something for him to come apologize. Anyone who knew Mr. Stark's general personality knew he would never do that on his own. Regardless, it was pretty hurtful to drop it in Peter's face like a bomb. He tried to ignore it, but found himself grumpily staring out the window at the river outside.

When the meeting adjourned, Peter hadn't realized. He gotten the gist, received the info he needed to know: Tony Stark was sending him somewhere else.

Hopefully somewhere nicer. They were sure big on that 'hope' thing when it came to Peter's well-being, weren't they?

"Yes, but where?" Pepper had asked again. Mr. Stark had shrugged, staring at Peter again.

"I--um, Pepper, can I talk to you for a moment, please?"

He'd ushered her several feet away, where, of course, the normal person wouldn't have been able to hear them. Peter had shushed Arnwaldo, who was telling the in-charge-looking S.H.I.E.L.D. agent how they should load their guns with orange juice and spray it into his mouth. The agents began leading the kids towards the infirmary and medical wing, but Peter stayed rooted where he was so he could eavesdrop. For some reason, the agents let him, as if they knew Mr. Stark had some kind of connection with him.

He'd strained to make out anything, but there was some.

"Tony, what..."

"Just ... hear me out. What if ... fostered Peter?"

"Pardon? You ... like how we did last time?"

"Last ... police were involved, not S.H.I.E.L.D. I ... these guys. If I ... politely, why couldn't we just do ... same process we did with Harley?"

"This is a terrible idea ... Have you seen the way our kids ... It's not healthy, having ... Harley hates him and Morgan adores ... Can't have him under our roof."

"Can't we just think about this ..."

Peter had quietly scooted back his chair, making his way to the infirmary. He'd heard all he wanted to hear.

Why couldn't Mr. Stark just agree with his wife? The last thing Peter wanted was to become a sob-story kid Mr. Stark had adopted to parade around. Not to mention the whole Spider-Man problem! How could he continue being a hero if he was living in the same building as another one who was trying to capture him and find out his identity?

Peter figured his situation was like an equation--it just didn't compute. The factors didn't match up. He didn't belong with Mr. Stark's family.

He found the medical wing with ease; it'd been one of the first things that he'd been shown on his quick little tour last night.

Each of the kids was sitting at the edge of a bed, except for Kayla, who was squeezed in next to Billy. She probably hadn't wanted to be alone. The thought pulled at Peter's heartstrings. Was this all his fault?

To his surprise, Dr. Banner was actually the one doing the check-up. He bit his lip, hoping that he wouldn't mention Peter's missing blood samples.

He was currently sticking a light in Arnwaldo's ears, commenting about strange things in them, when he caught a glimpse of Peter hovering nervously in the doorway.