~Iron Family~

So Many Stairs

Peter spun on his heel and stormed back inside, wondering what to do with his life now.

Now that the kids were gone, the realization that he had to live with Tony Stark was now crashing down on him. At first it might seem like fun, but he guessed it was one of those "the idea is better than the reality" things.

He couldn't be Spider-Man anymore.

That much was certain. How would he ever be able to sneak out again? Mr. Stark was sure to go through his things every once and awhile, and Dr. Banner would probably have to draw more blood to finish his eval.

The solution was painful yet simple: stop being Spider-Man. Turn his back on those who needed him just to save his own hide. Typical--now he was turning into a mini version of Tony Stark.

"Peter?"

Mr. Stark came hurrying back into the compound, following Peter around as he had the day before. Peter glared at Uncle Ben's watch, which read 8:04 in the morning. Why did the day have to be going so slowly?

"What now?" Peter snapped as Mr. Stark approached him. "What are you gonna do with me?"

Mr. Stark gave a frustrated huff and crossed his arms. "Peter, we're your foster parents now. You're going to have your own room in the compound."

He said this as if it might make Peter excited, but he just narrowed his eyes at the floor. What was he supposed to do, go jumping around at the opportunity to live with the man who had started all this in the first place? Even if he was Iron Man. It didn't matter.

"Well," Mr. Stark sighed. "We could start by figuring some things out. Where you want to stand. It's a Friday, but you aren't going to school, I already talked to Pepper."

"Why?" Peter blurted. "Why talk to her and not me? It's my day you're discussing."

"Peter, we want you to have time to adjust before you go leaping back into things," Mr. Stark explained with a hurt expression crossing his face. "I know this is overwhelming, so we'll all give you some time to yourself. But before you go to your new room and shut us all out, I thought I'd let you know that Morgan is very excited to hear that you're her big brother now. You have no idea how many times she--"

"I'm not her big brother," Peter said quietly. "And you're not my dad."

He didn't want to hurt the man's feelings, but he just wanted to make that clear. Peter Parker was still Peter Parker, not Peter Stark.

"Okay, fine," Mr. Stark said with a shrug. "But I thought I'd let you know that you might not want to go back to the public school on Monday."

"What do you..."

Mr. Stark brought up a hologram and showed Peter an email. He scanned it with a lightening heart and increasing dizziness. The words at the bottom stuck out to him like a welcome slap to the face: Congratulations, Mr. Parker! We're so excited to have you back at MSST!

Peter couldn't help but let out a disbelieving scoff of laughter. "Mr--Mr. Stark? You--you enrolled me in my--"

"That's right, kid." Mr. Stark looked beyond excited. "First thing Monday, you'll be heading back to Midtown Tech."

"Thank you, Mr. Stark," Peter said breathlessly, unable to hold back a smile. "This means so much to me."

"I'm glad I could do something right. First chance I get, I'll send some people over to get your stuff from the public school and--"

"No!" Peter yelped, thinking of his extra webs he'd hidden in his locker. "I--I mean, that's okay. I'll get it."

"You sure? Because I can--"