Wrong Number, Kid

𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟠

"I, uh... yeah, I- I'm Peter." I scratched the back of my neck nervously. Wow, Peter, you nailed that.

"Nice to meet you. You wanna head up to the kitchen to grab a snack before we work?"

"Oh- no, I'm fine, I uh... I just ate." That was the moment I decided that the universe hated my guts and only wanted me to suffer, because right then, my stomach growled.

"Come on, kid," he sighed. "You need to have a full stomach to work."

He headed off in one direction and I had no choice but to follow. In a way, I was glad to be out of everyone's line of sight.

Tony was opening several cabinets, searching for something for me to eat.

"Can I- can I sit down?"

He turned to me. "Of course. Why wouldn't you be able to?"

"I don't know," I mumbled.

"Christ, kid, you're too polite for your own good," he said as he pulled a loaf of bread and various other sandwich-making items out of the fridge.

This got a small laugh from me, and again I winced. He noticed, and I shrank into myself.

"You sure you're okay, Peter?"

"Yeah! Never better. A little nervous cause I just met the Avengers- well, not really 'met' them, since we technically didn't interact, but still- oh my god I'm rambling again, I'm sorry Mr. Stark, I didn't mean to-"

"Peter." I was brought back to reality by a hand on my shoulder. Mr. Stark's concerned face was in front of me. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah-" It was then brought to my attention that I was shaking. "Oh, that happens when I'm hungry, but it's okay, Mr. Stark, really."

He sighed and went back to the sandwich. "What do you want?"

"I'm fine with anything, but I don't need anything."

"I didn't ask what you're fine with, I asked what you want." (A/N: saw this line in another fic and really liked it so credit to whoever came up with it) "And you do need something. You're shaking from hunger. Don't think FRIDAY didn't tell me I had an intern suffering from starvation."

"FRIDAY, you traitor," I mumbled.

"You allergic to peanut butter?"

"No, sir,"

"Good. Any other food allergies?"

"No, sir,"

"Okay. Here you go," He slid a plate with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich across the table, then duh through a cabinet and handed me a couple granola bars and on the way back to the table where I was sitting grabbed an apple from the fruit basket.

"Mr. Stark, I appreciate it, but you really don't have to give me anything. I can eat when I get home."

"I'm aware that I don't have to, but I want to."

A figure walked in the doorway and leaned against a wall.

"What is this I hear about a starving intern?" The woman brushed her red hair out of her face.

"Oh! Ms. Black Widow! Sorry, I-"

"Why do you keep apologizing?"

"Sorry, it's a habit." She raised an eyebrow. "Sorry! I mean- you know what I mean," I mentally facepalmed.

She smiled and nodded. "Make sure you're drinking enough water."

And with that she left.

I sighed and hit my head on the table. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

"Don't worry, we were all scared of her. But once you get to know her she's an idiot."

"I heard that!"

He cleared his throat. "Why don't we go to the lab?"

"Sure, okay." I stood up and accidentally bumped into the table. To my horror, the glass plate fell to the ground.

I almost collapsed with relief when it didn't break, but instead I hurriedly picked it up and apologized profusely.

"Kid- hey, kid!"

I whipped around to face him from looking for a broom to sweep up the fallen crumbs. Instead of anger, his face showed confusion and concern.

"Kid, it's okay! It didn't break, and even if it did, I wouldn't care. I'm the richest guy in the world, a single plate wouldn't mean anything."

"Okay, okay. Sorry." I tried to calm down, but how could I when I'd almost broken an Avenger's plate?

"Let's go to the lab, kiddo." He gently laid a hand on my shoulder and led me down several hallways to a room that I could tell was expensive by the door.

He showed me to my own desk that he'd set up earlier that day and showed me the basics of how to work the expensive displays.

"Wow," I looked around at the projects strewn about the room. "This is so cool."

"Wanna help me modify Nat's stingers?"

"What if I mess them up?"

"She wouldn't even know. I keep copies of the blueprints for everyone's gear in protected files. I could make an exact replica right now if I wanted to."

"That is so awesome."

We began working, with me mostly handing him tools and holding the light steady.

"Hey, kid?" I glanced up from where I was searching for a specific tool.

"Yes, Mr. Stark?"

"Weird request, but come here for a second."

"Yes, sir,"

"Can you connect these wires? My hands are too big and I lost the tweezers."

"I- I can try?"

"Of course. You're my intern. Go ahead, just try not to touch it to the sides. There's a chance it could blow up."

"Right. Don't touch the sides. Got it."

I sat in the chair and carefully reached into the device. All was going well, and I'd almost finished attaching them, when Hawkeye burst into the room and made me jump.

"Tony!" He shouted, unknowing of what was about to happen.

The device sparked and blew up. Small bits of the device flew across the room and a couple hit my face, making searing cuts and slashes across my cheeks and forehead.

It went deathly quiet.

"Ow,"

ANOTHER LONG CHAPTER!! YAY! okay i know i said texting would be in this chapter but i kinda forgot and now it's super long and i need another chapter anyways so next chapter (maybe) but if not then definitely the one after that and since i'm on a roll i should be able to do that fairly quickly :)

ok bye hope you enjoyed ❤️