Spider-man: Alone in New York

~ Chapter 19 ~

After Tony and I finished in the lab, we went back upstairs to have an early dinner with the rest of the group. As we approached the dining room, I spotted Natasha and Bruce already sitting with a glass of wine in each of their hands. Thor was lifting his hammer up and down and grinning over to Steve, trying to get his attention, who was next to Pepper standing in the kitchen. Also in the kitchen was a new guy laughing with Clint as he played with a deck of cards. He looked surprisingly ordinary. Dark hair, average height, that normal type of guy you would see cross the street. Except he was in the Avengers' Common room, which meant he was someone important.

"Who's that?" I whispered to Tony, poking his shoulder with a finger.

He looked up from his phone in his hand and saw the dark-haired person. "Oh, that's Scott. He said he would stop by tonight. You'll love him."

"What's his last name?" I asked.

"Lang, why?"

I started, "Just so when-"

"Tony! Good to see you," Mr. Lang said, shuffling the cards in his hand without looking, "Why is it whenever I visit you're always holed up in that lab of yours? Are you ever outside, smelling the roses and watching the bees do their work?"

"Right, let me just walk down the street to the field of flowers a block away." Tony rolled his eyes. "Where am I going to smell roses in New York City, Scott?"

"You could just buy a couple of buildings, knock them all down, and plant some," Mr. Lang suggested with a grin.

Tony looked deep in thought, rubbing his chin, before nodding. "That's true. It's not like I couldn't afford it. I am a billionaire, after all." 

"When you're doing gloating, Tony, could you grab that pot and bring it to the table?" Pepper asked from the kitchen, pointing a spoon at him and then shifting to point it at a black pot.

"Of course." The side of his mouth twitched. "Just one more second."

"Tony!" Pepper narrowed her eyes at him.

Tony let out a laugh. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding."

With Tony off to help Pepper with the food, Mr. Lang noticed me and looked amused. "Who let a kid in here?"

I huffed, annoyed. Why was everyone calling me a kid?

Seeing my reaction, he laughed. "I'm just joking. But actually, who are you?"

"Peter. Peter Parker." Before he could ask me the next question, I said, "I'm Tony's intern."

"He means Tony's adopted intern," Clint added, coming to stand beside me.

I blushed, shifting on my feet. "No, I'm just, uh, his intern. Mr. Hawkeye is kidding."

"Yeah right," Clint said, turning to Mr. Lang, "You're not allowed to be mean to him or Tony's going to make you regret it." I cringed at his words.

A fleeting look of panic crossed Mr. Lang's face. "So I can't joke around with him?"

"Just don't insult or harm him. Other than that, you should be fine. We won't hunt you down for cracking a joke next to him." I looked back and forth from Mr. Lang's to Clint's face. Were they really discussing this in front of me? Gosh, this was embarrassing for me.

"I can do magic tricks with him, right?" He asked. 

Clint said, "Of course you can do magic tricks." I decided it was time to leave before it got even weirder. 

But before I could, Mr. Lang held the cards out in front of him and looked at me. "Great! Peter, are you ready for some close-up magic?" 

"Uh, I have to go... over there... to Tony... because... he called.... me? Yup, he called me. I must go. See you later." I crept away, walking backward to avoid being in this conversation. But then Thor saw me and waved.