Chapter Text
The steeple was a temporary solution. It had a good vantage point. The loose ceiling boards were a good place to hide things and sleep, so the two suitcases he had and a bag of food were stashed there. It wouldn't work for too long though, the open slats and semi-leaky roof made it a chilly place, even if it was semi-shelter from rain. He couldn't stay there for much more than another couple of weeks or so. He just didn't have enough blankets and clothes to keep him warm, especially since he couldn't maintain his body heat anymore. It was a nice place though. Maybe if he got enough stuff from dumpster dives he could fix up the inside a little better to keep warm...but the winter would probably be too cold anyways. Shelters were just so damn hard to get into.
Peter had to admit, it had a good view. He climbed up the steeple, above the bell and pushed up the loose boards, retrieving his school bag. At least he still had school to lean on, but he didn't know for how much longer. If social services went to his foster 'home' as they should, he'd only get to go to school until the beginning of January. The problem, would be that social services would know he was living on the street and they'd be able to find him at school. He'd eventually have to drop out so they couldn't find him. He was never going back to a foster home again. He'd already been in three that were hell, just in the matter of five months. He was better suited to take care of himself. All he had to do was wait it out until he was sixteen. He'd have to somehow get a job before then and be able to afford a place to stay...but, he could do it...maybe.
Giving up school would suck though. It was the last connection he had to loved ones. He'd miss seeing Ned. Plus, school meant he had two meals and heat for a few hours, not to mention access to a shower and a place to make web fluid. He liked learning too, even though most of the classes were a bit too easy. But he wasn't going back to the system, even if he had to be homeless and school-less.
Peter slung his bag over his shoulder and dropped down to the floor. School was a ten minute walk, he needed to get going. He pulled his wallet from his back pocket and looked inside: $3.97. He really had blown it. He'd saved money from working odd jobs and the part time work he'd had for a few months. In the tin can in the roof, along with his important documents, he had $782.23. He budgeted to give himself ten dollars a week to get whatever he needed, which wasn't enough for his enhanced metabolism, but he had found a lot of places that gave out food to the homeless. He found a few churches that gave out bags of non-perishables, so he usually got two paper sacks a month. Then there was a cool spot that would let him 'shop' around and choose what he wanted as long as it fit into their box once a month. (Peter was glad he was good at geometry.) There was also a grocery store that sold their 'on it's way out' produce for as little as a dollar a box. It was fifteen minutes away by swinging, but Peter liked being able to have fruits and vegetables.
He had a good stack of food in the corner, but some of it he couldn't eat yet. He had a can opener, but he hadn't yet finished his project of converting the (almost) perfectly good coffee maker he'd found into a battery operated one so he could heat water for the instant meals and soups. He'd get the last bit finished in class today though, he knew it.
He really shouldn't have bought the sandwich from Delmar's. He'd just wanted one so badly. He missed it. So he bought one and now he had $3.97 to get from Wednesday to Sunday. He really hoped he could get his rechargeable battery pack to work in class, because if he didn't he'd be down to his last two boxes of cereal. And after one afternoon of patrol he could eat both of them in one sitting and still be starved. As soon as he had the coffee maker he could start cooking his canned soups and rice and noodles and just so many things. He'd be glad to finally have warm food again. It had been a month, except for at school meals, since he'd had a warm plate of food.
Peter shook his head. He needed to get to school so he could sneak into a lab early and get started on his battery. He went through the trap door and down the ladder into the church. He opened the door and stepped into the hallway. The church was empty, as it usually was this early in the morning. Peter only had to be careful later in the day. But, when there were people inside he could always swing up to his makeshift home.
He thanked God for letting him stay in His home as he left through the front doors. Ben had always said churches were the houses of the Lord, so Peter didn't want to be an ungrateful guest, even if he wasn't quite sure there was a god watching out for Peter Parker. Maybe if there had been he would have noticed Peter's utter lack of caring adults...but hey, Peter couldn't judge. He hadn't yet been evicted from the house of God, so he'd just hope and pray that sometimes bad shit happened and maybe there was a plan for it all in the end... Maybe something good could come from his unlucky existence.
-
"Yes!" Peter beamed. The battery was working. If his calculations were correct, the battery could work for seventy-two hours before needing to recharge. That would be simple. All Peter would have to do is buy himself a drink at a restaurant, plug it in, and wait it out. It'd be fine. He plugged the battery into the outlet at his lab desk and shoved the battery into his drawer. He'd sneak back out of the school and walk in like the rest of his classmates.
If it all worked out, he'd have a hot dinner to warm him before bed.
-
Peter chatted with Ned as they waited for class to start. He wished he could tell his friend, but he knew Ned. Ned would try to get him to come to his house, then Mrs. Leeds would figure it out in a snap and have Peter sent to yet another foster home. She wouldn't do it with ill intent, she would just not want Peter to be out on the streets. But even hungry and cold, Peter was doing better on his own. If he didn't heal as fast as he did, he'd probably still have bones healing from his last stint in a foster home. It was par for the course though. Peter knew there were lots of good homes out there, but he was a Parker and he'd always had shitty luck.
"Did you hear, dude? There's supposed to be some big announcement today. Wonder what it is?"
"Mr. Harrington called it an opportunity, it could be really bad or kinda cool." Peter shrugged.
"I'm going to bet 'really bad' on this one. Harrington's not the best with announcements." Ned laughed.
"True." Peter nodded.
Mr. Harrington walked into the room and took attendance before standing up in front of them. "Alright, all of us first hour teachers get to make a pretty awesome announcement today, so, listen up." The teacher pulled a stack of papers out of his laptop bag. "Stark Industries has, for the first time ever, made an open call for internships from gifted teens."
Excited whispers filled the room as Peter and Ned shared a wide-eyed look.
"It's cool, I know. Very cool." Mr. Harrington said. "Here's the dealio. Only five schools in New York are allowed to send their students. If you'd like to try to get the internship, you'll need to fill out one of these applications, here. There will be a selection process and Stark Industries will take thirty students for four weeks to intern, at the end of that period, one lucky student will become a full-fledged SI intern. The odds are low, but may they ever be in your favor, or whatever it is you kids say." He shrugged. "If you want to read up on it and apply, grab a packet on your way out. Now, onto class."
"Bro, you could totally get it." Ned elbowed Peter.
"What about you?" Peter retorted, elbowing him back.
"I don't think they'd let me stay if I hacked them...which I would, because I'd be tempted to and you know I don't deal well with temptation." Ned laughed. "I'd get kicked out at best, arrested at worst."
Peter laughed. It was true. Ned would take it as a personal challenge to see just how far he could get into the SI systems before someone caught him...and he would get in trouble for it. "I wonder how you qualify for this thing."
"You have to have your parent's signature." Flash commented. "So, I guess you won't be getting in, Penis."
"You know, the orphan jokes only get funnier and funnier after each parental figure I lose." Peter snarked. "Comedy equals tragedy plus time, after all. So orphan jokes times four dead guardians, man, you're starting to get funny." Peter used sarcasm to fight back, because if he wasn't trying to be witty or sarcastic, he'd cry.
"Whatever, Penis-OUCH!" Flash grabbed his arm where he'd been slammed by MJ's book.
"Oops, it slipped while I was accidently throwing it at you...it WAS supposed to hit your face." MJ sighed and picked up her book. She looked at Peter and smiled faintly. "Don't listen to him...loser." She never could just end the sentence nicely. But Peter liked that about her. It was refreshing somehow for her to be kind but not treat him like glass. "You should take a packet, Parker, I know you're into that whole SI thing."
"And you're not?" Peter asked.
"They create weapons and warmongers." MJ said with a straight face.
"Not Mr. Stark." Peter defended.
"He did though, and what good's he doing anyway?"
"There have been seven new departments developed since his kidnapping." Ned commented. "Some of them even help wounded soldiers by giving them prosthetics. He may not be...in control of SI, but it's progress, right?"
MJ's expression remained unimpressed. "I'll believe it when I see it. They still profit most from feeding war across the world."
Peter zoned out while Ned and MJ bickered. Would it be a paid internship? If he couldn't stay in school, at least he'd be able to learn...and maybe make some money if he managed to get it. He'd have to have a cover story so they wouldn't find out about him... Even if it wasn't paid he'd just be excited to work with those brilliant minds, plus, it would give him another warm building to go to in the coming cold months.
At the end of the class, Peter grabbed one of the packets. He could try. Sure, the odds of him getting past the first selection process, assuming half the kids in the schools decided they wanted to try, was less than a third of a percent, but...hey...he'd try. If he didn't try he wouldn't get it and if he did, he probably wouldn't get it either, but at least he'd know the truth.
-
Tony looked up at Pepper and folded his arms over his chest. Pepper, held his gaze without any sign of backing down. Tony frowned. "You did what now?"
"I thought you could expand your horizons, take on the future leaders, maybe teach them a thing or two."
"You want a teenager running around in my labs? A teenager?" Tony huffed.
"I thought you could use an intern."
"SI has plenty of interns, Pep."
Pepper face became stern and she straightened up. "I meant you, Tony."
"That's what I have you here for."
"No." Pepper shook her head. "I'm here to do all the business work you, not so politely, refuse to do, while you play with your toys in the lab. I think you need an intern in the lab. At the very least they're someone who can get you coffee so I can get my work done."
Tony spun in his seat and pointed to DUM-E and U. "I have robots to get me coffee."
"Dum-E gave you motor oil just yesterday."
Tony couldn't fight that one, she was telling the truth. "It's how he shows affection. Look, I don't want a little kid running around in here. What if they haven't got all their shots or they get a cold and wipe us all out? Plus how many kids could keep up with me in the lab?"
"That's why I sent out calls only to the most prestigious schools in New York. All the applicants with under a 4.5 GPA are being screened before they even get here. Tony, Tony." She repeated his name when he opened his mouth. "You were a kid yourself when you first started working in a lab." She nodded seriously to Dum-E and U. "Not only could it be good for you to interact with someone else, but it'll also be good PR, especially with all the Iron Man attacks recently." She narrowed her eyes on him.
Tony grimaced. Pepper was one of three people who knew he was Iron Man, the others were Steve Rogers and Rhodey. He slowly stood up and sighed. "I don't like the blackmail, Miss Potts."
"Well, we need something positive to distract from the negative. The news still hasn't gotten over you being deposed after Afghanistan."
"You make it sound like I'm a king, I like it, continue." Tony waved her forward.
"Anyway, the whole tension with you and Mr. Stane has things shaky, especially after that last public outing together, stocks took a dip."
"Yeah, funny how it works, he's getting bad flock for his weapons issues while I'm creating products that are revolutionizing every day life. It's funny how I'm being punished, I for one think I'm doing the right thing."
Pepper sighed and walked forward, putting her hand on his shoulder. "You aren't being punished and you ARE doing the right thing, but I'm trying to help you keep appearances here, okay? As far as the board is concerned, you're incompetent, but I'm trying to make the world see where the real SI is, okay? Work with me, that's why I'm here."
Tony sighed and leaned forward, resting his head on her shoulder. "I'll play along, but I do have a weak heart now, you know. If this teenaged bag of hormones and illness gives me a heart attack, I'm writing you out of the will."
Pepper chuckled and pushed him off her shoulder.
"Ah." Tony hissed in pain and grabbed his shoulder.
"What is that?" She demanded, and didn't ask for permission as she pulled the neck of his t-shirt to the side to look at his shoulder, which was bruised to hell.
"Just a little...present from an exploding arrow. It's just a bruise." Tony shrugged.
"What's just a bruise?" Steve asked as he stepped into the lab.
Pepper turned on Steve. "Look at it, have you seen his shoulder? It's purple!"
"He saw it this morning, in the shower."
Steve blushed, but recovered quickly. "Yeah, Clint managed to hit him, but it's just a bruise."
"I can't believe you create weapons that the A-team can use against you... On second thought, I can. You've always been self-destructive."
"At least it's not drugs and alcohol." Tony shrugged.
Steve sighed and wrapped his arms around Tony. "It's a little after lunch time, you need a break."
"Already?" Tony asked, melting into Steve's arms. He knew he was a juxtaposition. He didn't like people touching him, but he was touch starved. He could only ever lean into it when he trusted someone.
"Yeah, you promised we'd try something new, maybe fish tacos?" Steve wondered gently.
"Okay." Tony nodded. "Consider me convinced, big guy." Tony reached up and turned his head so he could easily pull Steve into a kiss. "Five more minutes?"
"Time starts now." Steve nodded.
Tony pulled away and got to work so he could finish his projects in a good spot before lunch. The thing about Steve was that if he came to the lab to take Tony out or to make sure he took care of himself, Steve wouldn't let Tony avoid it. Pepper and Rhodey would eventually give up if Tony decided to dig his heals in and go days without eating or sleeping. Steve understood Tony had important work, but always reminded Tony that the important work didn't get done it Tony passed out or got hospitalized because he didn't take care of himself. So Steve gave Tony his time, then, if he had to, he'd carry Tony over his shoulder to get him out of the lab.
Tony liked it and hated it at the same time. He felt cared for that Steve insisted that he be looked after...but sometimes Tony was in the zone and he just wanted 'five more minutes, mom'... (Or a couple hours, depending on the day.) He got his projects to a good stopping point and turned around. By his watch, it had taken him fifteen minutes, but Steve was still there, even though Pepper had run off, likely to work (he really needed to pay her more). "Sorry."
"It's alright." Steve smiled. "I saw how much you were working on, it's fine. Time for a late lunch."
Tony returned a smile. "Sounds great, sugar lips."
Steve wrinkled his nose. "No."
"I'll find one you like, sweetie."
"Not that one." Steve laughed.
"I'll find one."
"Whatever you say, darlin'."