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“Give me the suit.”
Tony doesn’t really know what he expects out of the kid, as he holds his hand out - he will be leaving with the Spider Suit of course, there is no question to be had there - and wonders how much of a fight he is in for over the suit he made for the kid.
(A kid. JARVIS be damned, he should have never recruited him. That was so fucked up of him, looking back without all of the anger and the fear and the betrayal - so fucked up to use him and his youth and his hero worship in a conflict he clearly knew nothing about - and he should apologize.)
( He should have apologized before things turned so bad, because an apology isn’t really a nice thing to throw while you’re robbing the kid of his super identity. )
He expects the kid to - to what, exactly ? To scream ? To fight ? To cry ?
He expects the kid to refuse, to run, to swing away.
He expects the kid to react, to let out some of that anger and resentment and absolute frustration he’d displayed against Tony in his Iron Man suit just a second before, when he thought his mentor - and he shouldn’t have ever thought of being one, this was the worst idea he’d ever had, worse than Ultron maybe ! - wasn't even responsible enough to show up, when he thought the adults weren't doing their part, when he thought they weren't listening.
(Tony pointedly does not think about it. Peter's wrong, Tony has been watching over the city, he won't miss an emergency. He's ready for anything.)
(Famous last words.)
He expects the kid to say ‘No’.
But Peter says ‘Fine’.
Ten minutes later, he’s walking away in an old hoodie and sweater pants he’d retrieved from a bag webbed at the top of a lampost out of all things. His suit is in Tony’s hand, neatly folded and handed over as if it had been any other random piece of clothing. And Peter does not look back.
"Goodbye, Tony.”
Not even once.
…
The very same evening, Karen - now integrated into one of the Tower’s servers because he is not going to let one of his AIs to rot into an unused suit, thank you very much - signals a Spiderman sighting in Queens.
The videos taken of the kid - because he knows it is not an imposter or even a cosplayer - are trending on social media, and are even running on Jameson’s garbage show, under the title “Iron Man aware of the SpiderMenace !”.
Because Peter - this is Peter, this absolute moron , he told him to go home - is out in his old costume, hoodie and legging and plastic goggles that would barely protect him from a papercut, much less the guns and knives he was confronted with daily !
Iron Man is out and flying towards Queens in minutes. He finds Spidey as he lands on a rooftop and aborts a running leap towards the next in half that time and for an instant, they stare at each other - cold metal lit up from the inside against cheap black tinted goggles that don’t let anything transpire.
They stand in silence for a moment, and it seems to stretch as none move.
Tony takes the first step - and regrets it, as he often does.
“I told you to go home.”
“And I did.”
“I told you to let the adults deal with it.”
“No.”
There is none of the anxiety, the eagerness, the friendliness he’s gotten used to in Peter’s voice as the kid answers. There is indifference, frost, blankness. A cold mirror and Tony can see nothing in those goggles except the reflection of his own shock.
“I- kid you’re going to get yourself killed ! There’s no kevlar coating or super AI or save-button here, this is a fucking hoodie ! You can’t just go Spidermanning like tha-”
“I was Spiderman before your suit.
The sound of the streets dies down in Tony’s ears as Peter cuts him off. The kid hasn’t taken off his mask like he always did with his Stark suit - maybe the one he’d designed wasn’t as comfortable as he’d believed ? - and Tony cannot see even a fragment of his expression, but he can hear it in his voice now, piercing the numbness and the blankness and the indifference.
He can hear the anger.
He can hear the disgust.
He can hear the disappointment .
“I was Spiderman before your “internship”. Before your technology. Before your war. I was Spiderman before you , Tony Stark, noticed me . And I will be Spiderman long after you give up on me too. I will be Spiderman as long as I can and beyond, as long as I have power in any shape or form, as long as I can help someone. I will be Spiderman beyond what you think of me because you didn’t make me.”
And Tony - Tony who can never shut up, who cannot close his mouth to save his life, who has never been able to stop running his mouth a day in his life - finds nothing else to say.
Because he wants to answer but there is nothing for him to say here.
Peter is right.
And Tony can’t do a thing about it.
“You cannot stop me. I never asked to be Spiderman, I never asked before helping those I can, and I never asked for permission either. I’m not going to begin today, and I’m especially not going to begin with you. Keep your technology and your name and your advice , Tony Stark.”
When Tony leaves, he is still holding the SpiderSuit in his hand, and Karen has switched over from the inner interface to Peter’s phone without even a word of warning on her part or on Friday’s.
When Tony leaves, Spiderman swings away and the neighbourhood cheers him on.
“ I was Spiderman before you and I will be Spiderman long after you’re gone, Iron Man.”