If They Knew All About You

Divide and Conquer

His breathing was heavy, not calming down. What had she just said?

"I... I don't—"

"Tony, it's fine. We know. You don't have to—" She took a step towards him and he couldn't help but react. Couldn't help but retreat twice the amount of space. She frowned at him.

"What the hell... what the hell do you want from me?" He had to keep it together. His arm was starting to hurt from the position he held it in, gauntlet aiming at them. He had been prepared for this to be tough, but not that he'd have to deal with them as well.

"Want from you?" She shook her head, clear confusion on her face but Tony wasn't fazed. This was her specialty. "I intercepted most of Sallic's call. We've been surveilling him and his crew for weeks. He's been picking up all the loose ends Rumlow left behind after Lagos. He's the one we were looking for in Brooklyn these past couple of weeks and Steve recognized the boy from your lab. We're here to help."

Tony's jaw had physically dropped. This was... this wasn't just unexpected, this... no. There was no way he could allow them to interfere. If they found out about Peter—

"Is it him? Is it really your son?" Barton shook his head in confusion. "Was he with you all that time? Did you know all this time that—"

"No." He wanted to say it decisively but it came out more like an unsure whisper. "No!" He said again, a little louder. "He's... Peter's an intern."

Rogers stepped up closer at last. "The boy was in your lab."

Tony tried to push down his frustration. "Yeah, the boy was in my lab. That's where we usually keep our interns."

"He does..." Rogers' brow was furrowed. "He does look like you. He could be—"

"Well, he's not!" Tony tried to center himself. He had to stay in control of the situation.

Natasha hadn't moved, she was just watching him. "Why do they think he's your son?"

"How would I know? Sallic also said I experimented on the kid. They want to rile me up, that's it." It wasn't a lie of course. He had never experimented on Peter, but it was a convenient place for him to shut down that narrative, that Peter was anything other than a completely regular teenage boy. "He's... he's Peter Parker. Just..." Tony took a couple of deep breaths, careful not to look away from them now. Careful not to let the lie show. "Just a kid that works for me."

Natasha frowned then turned to Steve who nodded. "I mean, he was working, I guess. Met him only briefly in the lab. I told you he had a kid in there. Just... a little guy. Bit shy."

"Yeah, so... there you go. Nothing to see here. You can..." His arm was straining from being held in the same position, palm still pointedly on them, but he couldn't help his hand dropping more and more from the strain. "You can kindly fuck off now. I... I gotta... This is on me. My... my business. It has nothing to do with you."

The Widow took another step towards him and as panic spiked in him, Tony's arm shot up again, squarely pointed at her.

"Tony, we're here to help."

His veins were flushed with adrenaline, his pulse surging. He didn't have time for this. He didn't have time for any of this. Peter was in there and his safety was more important than anything else right now.

"Your help... I don't want your fucking help. Just... just get out of my way."

"Maybe your boy would appreciate it though?"

"Shut your face, Rogers." His voice was wavering but he didn't care. "You owe me. You owe me for Brooklyn."

Barton snorted. "For setting your spider on us?"