InsaneJournal

Okay, maybe he hadn’t worked for Tony Stark before. The Stark Internship had just been a cover for his Spider-Manning duties, and while Tony had given him the Iron Spider, he hadn’t exactly been paying him. Or giving him directions. Or getting very involved at all, unless Peter had gotten himself in a scrape he couldn’t get out of. It had really been a kind of ‘learn at your own speed’ sort of thing, which had been good, but it hadn’t been this.

He couldn’t stop staring, wide-eyed, around him, even down the boring hallways, and he couldn’t stop sneaking glances at Tony Stark, who wasn’t his Tony Stark, but was a Tony Stark, even if he didn’t really look like the Tony that Peter had known. It was a lot to wrap his head around, even when he’d met two different versions of himself, who’d also hadn’t looked very much like him, or each other.

“So you had another Peter Parker working for you?” Peter asked, curious. “What sort of work did he do?”

Peter’s enthusiasm was certainly infectious. He was young and full of hope and it was like a balm on Tony’s battered, worn out soul. He felt lighter around him, just a bit of the near constant weight he carried around lifted by it. As they toured the newly finished Stark Industries Vallo building, Tony had his sleeves rolled up around his elbows and his tie loosened.

“Well, originally back in my own world, I had that version of Peter working with me. He started as my assistant, and I began mentoring him.” He blew out a long breath. He and Pete had a complicated history, and he still missed the big nerd from time to time. Even when they clashed.

“Here however, I had invited the other Peter to come and work with me, but he was...shall we say extremely cautious. Hadn’t ever heard of me and wasn’t certain he wanted to accept or not. He was taking some time to think about it when he ultimately got sent away. It was a shame, because he seemed like a bright kid. Not unlike yourself.”

“The Tony Stark in my world was kind of my mentor, too,” Peter said, smiling. Neither of the Peters he’d met had had a Tony in their universes, but it was nice to know that some things remained at least sort of consistent throughout worlds. “I think I’ve met that other Peter! Maybe. Unless there’s been a ton of them coming through here.” That was a disconcerting idea. Intellectually, he knew that there were infinite worlds, and presumably infinite Peter Parkers, but he didn’t actually want to spend too much time on the idea of infinite alternate hims spread throughout the multiverse. “Was he the same one that told everyone he was Spider-Man?”

Tony glanced to the side and clocked Peter’s expression. “Don’t start thinking too much about how many versions of yourself are out there, kid. It leads to nothing but a headache. Trust me, I’ve been there and done that.”

As they walked, they neared an elevator bank at the end of the hallway. Tony swiped his ID badge, and after a moment, the doors opened with a soft chime. He gestured for Peter to enter ahead of him.

“And yes, that’s the same one. It was a big moment for him. Luckily everyone here responded well. You got outed in your world, didn’t you?” He was fairly certain he remembered Stephen saying something along those lines.

Peter stepped into the elevator, trying to play it cool. Maybe he wasn’t his Tony, but that didn’t change the fact that Peter was still standing in an elevator with one of the greatest tech geniuses in multiple worlds.

“Yeah, I did,” Peter said, grimacing. “People didn’t react... as cool as they apparently did here. It kind of sucked. A lot. And then Stephen had to cast a spell to make everyone forget that Peter Parker ever existed.”

Which had sucked worse. He tried to tell himself it was for the best. At least Ned and MJ would be able to lead normal, relatively safe lives.

Tony followed Peter into the elevator. Without even needing to look at the bank of buttons on the wall, he selected the tenth floor. The doors slid closed and the elevator rose so smoothly that you could barely feel any movement at all.

“I’m sorry about that, Pete. I hope things can be better for you here. I know Vallo comes with a shit ton of its own issues, but it can be a pretty great place most of the time. And honestly, if there’s anything you ever need from me, just ask. I’ll always help if I can.”

The elevator slowed and a moment later the doors slid open to reveal one of several laboratories. They were empty at the moment, but wouldn’t be for long. “Let me ask you a question. Dream job scenario- what do you see yourself doing? Superheroing aside, what do you want to do with your life?”

“Thanks, Mr. Stark,” Peter said, and meant it. Peter had never really been on his own – there’d been a couple months when no one had known he was Spider-Man, but Tony had figured it out pretty fast, and Ned had found out not long after, and then May and MJ. After he and Stephan had cast the spell, the adjustment had been hard.

It was nice, being around other people who wanted to be there for him.

At Tony’s question though, he blinked, clearly thrown off. “Oh, uh,” Peter said. “I guess I never thought about it before. Not specifically. When I was younger I wanted to be everything and anything, and then I became Spider-Man,” and he’d stopped thinking of what he could do outside of being Spider-Man. He was a superhero. He could join the Avengers. Sure, not everyone could be a world-renowned scientist like Tony was, like Peter had wanted to be, but no one could be Spider-Man. “I guess I just always wanted to get a job where I could use science and technology to help people. Medical science, maybe, or maybe developing technologies to clean the oceans or end world hunger, or... something like that.”

It sounded a little silly said aloud, but it wasn’t impossible. Tony Stark had developed the Arc Reactor, and everyone had thought that was impossible before then, too. You just had to dream big enough.

Tony glanced out the windows as he listened to Peter. The city spread out below them. “That’s what I want to do here,” he replied, turning his gaze back to the teenager. “Help people. This place has given me more than I deserve, and I want to use this chance to make lives here better. All the projects I want us working on here, they’re going to be aimed at making things better.”

Peter was pretty sure that anything good that Vallo gave Tony was justly deserved. His own Tony had given people hope, had been one of Earth’s very first heroes, the founder of the Avengers. He’d saved them all from Thanos. He didn’t know everything that this Tony had done, but he was sure he’d been great too.

“What sorts of projects are you hoping to do? Or are already doing.”

“The biggest one right now is a new housing facility. Don’t get me wrong, Morningside is great, but I can do better. Plus, it seems like with some of the more paranoid types that come through, they might prefer a place that was built by a fellow resident. We’re aiming to have that finished this fall. Once that’s been completed, I’m going to be looking at some additional public transport beyond just the waypoints. Those things are just...uncomfortable.” Tony cringed slightly and shook his shoulders.

“And those are just the beginning. We’ve got so many more on the way.”

“Wow, that all sounds great,” Peter said. “Morningside is nice, but I guess I understand people not really trusting it. It seems almost too good to be true, and my universe doesn’t seem even half as bad as other people’s universes.” Really, his universe wasn’t even all that bad; people looked out for no another there. Not everyone, but he doubted that there were many universes out there that didn’t have people who did bad things sometimes.

“I’d love to be involved,” Peter said. “It sounds like you, like Stark Industries, I mean, could make a lot of people’s lives better. More than just Spider-Man, at least.”

Tony beamed and strode over to where Peter was still looking around. He threw an arm around the teenager’s shoulder and gave him a nod. “You’re hired, Pete. I mean, you already were. Your paperwork is literally sitting on the desk in my office right now. But glad we’re on the same page. You’ll do great things. Both here and as Spider-Man.”

Peter beamed, a little surprised at just how touched he was by the praise. “Thanks, Mr. Stark,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to working with you. For you. Thank you.”

Arm still around Peter’s shoulders, Tony steered them back through the doorway and toward the elevators. “Come on, let's go get those papers signed and I’ll order us some lunch? You like Chinese? I’ll get us Chinese.”