A Collapsing Star

Chapter Two

Peter limped into the car, trying his best not to show the pain. His dad was waiting for him, smiling at him through the window of the car. Peter grinned through the burning pain in his leg (Gwen said it would take longer to heal because she had to dig around, as the wound had already started to heal around the bullet) and opened the door.

"Hey Dad!" Peter said. "How was the mission?"

Tony's smile tightened, as he ruffled his son's hair. "It was okay. A lot of interesting things happened. I'll tell you all about it when we get home."

"Okay," Peter grinned. "Hey did I tell you about..."

Peter rambled off about things in school, filling up the obvious tension in the car with his easy laughter and anecdotes. Tony smiled fondly as Peter's expressions got more and more animated.

When they finally arrived at the tower Tony fought to keep the grimace off his face. Here we go.

"Hey, uh, Peter? I gotta tell you something--"

"Peter? Peter Parker? Is that you?" a voice called from the distance. Peter turned to see Dr. Connors walking up towards the street.

"Dr. Connors?" Peter asked, squinting his eyes against the harsh sun as the figure became more distinct.

"Yes! You remember me!" Dr. Connors smiled. He then turned to face Tony. "Why are you with Tony Stark?"

"He's my--"

"He's my intern," Tony said smoothy, his eyes conspicuously roaming the doctor for any sign of a threat. "How do you two know each other?" he asked, his eyes glancing over to look at Peter.

Peter shifted, a slight wince form the transition of his hurt leg. "I knew his father," Dr. Connors said.

Tony's eyes widened as he looked at Peter and then back at Dr. Connors. "Oh, did you now?"

"Indeed. It was such a shame, his death," Dr. Connors continued, not noticing the strange look he was receiving from both Tony and Peter the same. "He was a genius in his field. I don't know why you're interning for Stark Industries--no offense Mr. Stark--when your father was head of his team at Oscorp."

"I..I didn't know that he worked there..." Peter said, trying not to look back at Tony. The atmosphere was getting awkward now. Peter had no idea what Dr. Connors was going on about, and from the looks of it, neither did Tony.

"Of course you did! He and I were the leaders in the cross species genetics!" Dr. Connors said. Peter's head snapped up as he narrowed his eyes. Cross Species genetics? "You're welcome at the lab anytime, Peter. If you have as good a brain as your father, your input would be invaluable."

"Thanks Doctor," Peter said softly.

"Well, I'm afraid I need to be going now, I'm rather late." Dr. Connors said, rushing away just as quickly as he had come, leaving the two Starks in a confused and awkward silence.

"So...you worked with him?" Peter asked finally, grabbing his bag and walking (hiding his limp surprisingly well) into the tower with his dad following close behind.

"Never," Tony scoffed. "When did you meet that man, Pete?" Tony tried not to let his protectiveness show, but something about that man gave him the creeps.

"He was at May's house," Peter said. "I'm not sure why, but he started spouting about how he worked with some man named Richard."

"Richard? As in Richard Parker?" Tony asked. Peter shrugged.

"I don't know. I just thought it was really weird how much he was comparing me to this guy." Peter said. "Like, it was kind of creepy. I wanted to ask you about it when it happened, but you were away. So who is this Richard?"