Work Text:
“Mr. Dell, do you have a minute?” Peter adjusted the backpack on his shoulder, waving Ned off to their next class while he spoke with the history teacher.
“Of course.” The tall man cleared the smart board and turned to face his student. “What can I do for you, Peter?”
Peter rubbed at the back of his neck with one hand, the other holding the piece of paper they’d been handed just prior to the dismissal bell, uncertain about what he was about to do. “Uh, well, you see, sir, it’s about our final assignment.”
The jovial man smiled widely. “It’s a little unorthodox, I’ll admit, but I’m taking a page from one of the greatest films of all time. A fifteen-minute oral presentation, on a defining historical figure and their influence on modern times, instead of a final exam. A little more fun, don’t you think?”
“Yes, actually, sir. I’m looking forward to the research.” Peter admitted with a smile. He too had enjoyed the Bill & Ted movies when he and Uncle Ben watched them last year. “I’m just, I’m not comfortable with the historical figure I’ve been assigned.” Holding the piece of paper out to his teacher, Peter pointed to the name at the top: Captain Steven Grant Rogers.
Mr. Dell frowned. “I don’t understand, Mr. Parker.”
“He’s a wanted criminal and fugitive, Mr. Dell.” Peter said quietly as the next class started filing into the room. “I mean, with everything that went down the beginning of May, I just… I’m not thrilled with the idea of reporting on a man that more than half the world sees as a terrorist.”
“And yet is he not a defining historical figure?” Mr. Dell said conciliatorily. “He was instrumental in ending World War II, Mr. Parker. And given his accomplishments after his remarkable return-”
“I guess, sir, but-”
“There was no switching or reassignment, Mr. Parker.” Mr. Dell reminded him kindly. “I can understand how recent events have coloured your perception, but this isn’t Social Studies. This is History. Why don’t you just report on the past? I’m certain you’ll find lots of material for your presentation.”
“Yes, Mr. Dell.” He reluctantly conceded as the bell rang.
“All right then.” Mr. Dell tore a pink slip of paper from a pad on his desk and jotted a quick note and signed it. “I believe you’re late for Physics, Mr. Parker. Give this to Ms. Warren and good luck. I’m looking forward to your report.”
** several weeks later **
The rapid clicking of heels on the concrete floor went unnoticed by the pair that were bent over the workbench and the heated conversation between them. Pepper wasn’t smiling, exactly, but her lips were curved in a neutral expression that bordered on amusement. Behind her, Rhodey followed expertly with his cane and wearing a shit-eating grin.
“But the coercive force between the carbon nanotube and the nickel particles isn’t nearly enough to reverse the magnetic field, Mr. Stark.”
“I am aware. However, by utilizing a molecular-beam epitaxy to layer the nanotube with cadmium selenide I can-”
“No, cadmium won’t be enough. With a nanometer length of 3nm, it has less than 30% of its atoms on the surface. You’re going to want something with a shorter length but closer to 50% or higher. Something like ferrosoferric oxide or-”
“– cobalt hydroxide-”
“- or maybe a mineral like cobaltite-”
“Boys.”
Peter and Tony halted their debate and looked up at the pair as they approached. Peter’s face lit up in a wide, welcoming smile. “Oh, hey Ms. Potts, Colonel Rhodes.”
“Hello Peter.” Pepper returned the smile warmly and stopped across the table from the pair. “I wasn’t expecting you this weekend. How’s May doing?”
“She’s good.” Peter answered readily. “One of the other nurses went into early labor this morning and May has volunteered to cover a few of her shift this weekend, so she’s working doubles until Tuesday. Stephen is trying to resolve some dimensional snafu, but he wouldn’t tell me what. I heard him muttering about con silliness and a door mummy or something like that. Anyway, Mr. Stark was nice enough to let me come here so I’m not stuck in the apartment alone.”
“You know you’re always welcome here.” The woman stated simply. “Actually, it’s a good thing you’re here. Tony, you should see the latest on TMZ.”
“Are they saying I have a secret son again?” Tony asked with a teasing smirk directed to Peter, causing the teen to roll his eyes. “Will this be the third or fourth time we’ll have to debunk that rumor?”
“Depends, are they saying it's me or Harley this time?”
“It’s not that.” Rhodey was trying, and failing, to hide a smile of his own. “This is so much better than that. FRIDAY, can you bring up the relevant video upload from TMZ’s website?”
“TMZ posted this yesterday, less than twenty hours ago.” Pepper informed them as a holographic screen appeared above the table between them. “It’s been viewed more than fifteen million times and retweeted about three million. It’s trending.”
“Stepping away from the Entertainment scene and going political.” The voice of Chris Reed echoed slightly in the workshop, the image showing clips and screencaps from the airport in Germany six weeks ago. “There has been a lot of press recently regarding the now dubbed ‘Ex-vengers’. Wanted war criminals in more than a half dozen countries, these six individuals were led in what is being called the ‘Avengers’ Civil War’ by Captain America. Steve Rogers, the man historically known as the ‘First Avenger’, had been a hero to an entire generation of Americans and with his miraculous re-emergence a few years back he’s been kicking bad-guy ass and taking names ever since.
“Except, it seems, this relic from a world at war doesn’t seem to be adapting to the new millennium and this generation is demanding more accountability from its heroes. Take, for example, this high school student from New York-”
“Oh, dag crab nuggets!” Peter sputtered and went pale much to the surprise of Tony and amusement of the other two adults.
“-who is changing a country’s perspective of its first ‘Superhero’. In the original full video, the link to which can be found in the video description, the face of the student in question has been obscured and the name of the school also been blurred. However, these clips are compelling enough on their own.”
The images shifted to a mid-quality video, likely recorded by a cell phone with a shaky hand and in a darkened auditorium. The blue and yellow seal on a large banner above the stage has been pixelated to being nearly unrecognizable, as had the face of the young man standing behind a podium off to the side. A screen has been lowered from the ceiling and showing images correlating to the speech being given in a steady voice.
A voice that undoubtedly belonged to the teen standing beside Tony.
“… All these documents are available through the Freedom of Information Act, having been declassified in the 1990’s. As you can see, Mr. Rogers attempted to join the military five separate times, lying, and falsifying his information on the enlistment forms. For any other enlistee this would have resulted in a fine of several thousand dollars – a substantial amount today let alone in 1945 – and a prison sentence of up to three years for each offense. Instead, he was recruited by the SSR – The Strategic Scientific Reserve – an Allied organization that subjected a frail and sickly twenty-five-year-old to genetic experimentations.
“I bring this up, because it is the first documentation of the man’s tendency to disregard the laws and orders of the country he is supposed to serve. Looking through many declassified mission reports during Mr. Rogers’ time active in the warfront, you can see – even with some of the more sensitive information redacted – that Mr. Rogers was never a member of any armed forces. He never completed basic training and never attained a rank. While it’s not unheard of for civilians to have been involved during the war, Howard Stark’s participation in certain aspects of the war is well documented, the fact that Mr. Rogers continued to interfere with military led operations shows his contempt for the rules and chain of command everyone was expected to adhere to. Even once he was granted clearance to work with the army, the after-mission reports written by Colonel Chester Phillips and SSR Agent Margaret Carter regularly mention that Mr. Rogers’ repeatedly disobeyed orders and went ‘off-book’, ruining weeks of careful planning and just ‘winging it’.
“You can see here in one of the rare reports actually penned by the man himself – a report of less than fifty words – Mr. Rogers declares that he ‘will not allow old men who have not seen combat in more years than I’ve been alive stop me from following what I know is the right course of action.’” The words on the screen were being highlighted as he spoke and even Tony was stunned to see such things written in Steve’s familiar scrawl.
“Just so you know,” On screen Peter continued, “the mission that he was reporting about was the liberation of an occupied town in France. Colonel Phillips’ report, as well as the statements from several other members of the Howling Commandos during the after mission debriefing, mention that Sergeant James Barnes became separated from the main group and was pinned down by Hydra operatives. Mr. Rogers left his designated position to aid Sergeant Barnes which resulted in the enemy successfully detonating the failsafe explosives they had planted at key points throughout the town. Valuable intel was lost, as well as the lives of more than a dozen of civilians. Including two children. All because his friend was in trouble. Sound familiar? It was not the first time, nor would it be the last, that Mr. Rogers put Sergeant Barnes above the success of the mission or the safety of the civilians they were meant to be protecting.”
“FRIDAY, stop playback.” Tony stared, stunned, at the young man beside him. At some point, Peter had slumped back down onto his stool and was covering his face with his hands. Undecipherable words were muffled behind the palms and Tony barely managed to hold back the smirk that threatened to form on his lips. A glance as his friends showed they had no qualms letting their delight show.
“So,” the word was drawn out even as Tony’s mind sought for the right words to express what he was thinking. “That was-”
“I didn’t want to do it!” Peter exclaimed, throwing his hands up into the air so suddenly the stool started to teeter on its spindly legs.
Tony instinctively reached out, holding the enhanced teen steady while they righted the seat. “And what was it that you didn’t want to do?” He asked with a slight quirk of his eyebrow.
Peter met Tony’s eyes briefly before looking down with a sigh. “My final project for History class. It was worth 15% of our total grade and if I wanted to keep my GPA, I had to do it.”
“And your history project has gone viral in less than twenty-four hours because?” The engineer settled himself on the stool next to the obviously embarrassed boy, keeping one hand gently on Peter’s shoulder.
“It wasn’t my idea, not at first.” Peter muttered in defeat. “The other night Harley and I were Facetiming and I was going over it with him - wanted to make sure it flowed right and had the impact I was looking for – and he apparently asked Ned to film it for him so he could see everyone’s reactions. I just about freaked when the entire class suggested having Betty post it to the Daily Bugle’s media page – she's interning there for the summer. Even Mr. Dell thought it was a good idea; he hadn’t realized most of what I dug up for my report. We didn’t think it would get so... it was just a school project!”
“That was to, what? Villainize the greatest hero of the Second World War?” Rhodey asked facetiously.
Peter’s head snapped up with an indignant scowl directed at the Colonel. “He did that himself! It’s all there, in the records and files and reports. I just laid it out, unbiased and unaltered, for everyone else to see. Anyone could have done it if they had even thought to look!”
“I watched your entire presentation.” Pepper said walked around the worktable and came to stand beside Tony. “And I agree with you completely. History paints Mr. Rogers as some sort of ‘messiah’ when the reality is he was the literal poster boy for war bonds. The handful of missions he went on were largely successful because of the planning and decisions of people far smarter than him. He is a weapon, and people seemed to have forgotten that.”
“That’s my whole point!” Peter exclaimed. “They made him! Literally! With experimental genetic manipulation designed by a former Nazi scientist. A NAZI! We’ve seen what the process did to his body, but what about his brain chemistry? They have no idea what the long-term ramifications of the process would be because he was, like, frozen and lost in the ice less than a year later.”
“You know, my father helped that ‘Nazi’ with the tech that some could argue changed the world.” Tony pointed out.
“I know, and don’t get me wrong it’s seriously awesome that he was smart enough to do that.” Peter’s frown intensified. “But, to quote another great scientific mind: ‘They were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.’”
Tony blinked incredulously a few times before gaping at the kid. “Did you just quote Jurassic Park in an argument against Captain America?”
“He did in the full video as well.” Rhodey answered gleefully. “Jeff Goldblum retweeted the clip about two hours ago praising this kid for his critical thinking instead of going along with the narrative they’re giving the public.”
“Wait, what, he did?” Peter smiled widely. “That’s so awesome!”
“But why do this?” Tony asked curiously. Not that he minded a little Capcicle bashing, but he had thought the kid idolized the hero.
“Because he’s a liar and a criminal and the public doesn’t have all the facts about the lead up to and what went on in Germany.” Peter said bluntly, as if it were the most obvious thing. “They think it's all political and the big bad government is out to get the ‘Star Spangled Man with a Plan’. Steve Rogers has been told he’s a Hero, a Good Man, a Righteous Man, so often that he’s starting to believe his own hype. Look at history, he’s always just done what he thought was right. If you went against him, you were the enemy. And if he couldn’t ignore you?”
“Peter-”
“He hurt you.” The seriousness in the glare that came from the teen would have been frightening if Tony thought for a moment that it was actually directed at him. “You refuse to tell the world what happened in Siberia, what he did to you and the fact that had it not been for Dr. Strange you would have died alone in that facility. I might not be able to come right out and tell people what I know went down in Schkeuditz or in Siberia, but I can sure as hell make sure he will not find a friendly face anywhere in this country. I will not allow him – Captain America or not – get anywhere near you again.”
The three adults were stunned at the ferocity in which Peter spoke, and then Pepper was suddenly wrapping the boy in her arms. His expression softened immediately, and he returned the woman’s embrace instinctively. He glanced over at Tony with a deer-in-the-headlights look and mouthed “what do I do?” at the billionaire.
“Thank you, Peter.” Her statement was all that the boy needed before he relaxed.
“I’ll keep him safe, Ms. Potts.”
“I know you will, Peter.” The woman chuckled and leaned back, looking at the teenager with growing fondness. “But I’ve told you to call me Pepper.”
“Of course, Ms. Potts.” Peter smiled.
Tony and Rhodey guffawed. The engineer stood and gave the hand still one Peter’s shoulder a squeeze. “Good luck with that, Pep. I’ve been trying to get him to call me Tony for weeks.”
“I do, Mr. Stark.” Peter insisted, a blush colouring his cheeks at the attention.
“And he still won’t call me anything but Colonel Rhodes.” Rhodey chimed in. “Seriously, it’s Rhodey kid! Harley does it, why can’t you?”
“All right, all right.” Tony extracted the boy from Pepper’s hold and gently nudge her toward Rhodey. “We were in the middle of something and you pettegolezzi interrupted a serious brain storming session. Leave us geniuses to our work!”
Pepper stepped back to leave a quick kiss on Peter’s still flushed cheek before allowing the Colonel to escort her from the lab. Without a word, Tony spun the stool Peter was sitting on, so the teen was looking at the schematics for the nano-tech housing they were working on.
“Mr. Stark?” The voice was quiet, and Tony didn’t like the hesitation he heard behind the words. “What’s a petty-goal-uzi?”
Tony couldn’t help but laugh at the butchered pronunciation. “Pettegolezzi; it’s Italian for gossipmonger.”
“You know Italian?” The hesitancy was gone in a flash as the boy turned to him. “That’s so cool! What other languages do you speak?”
“A few.’” He laughed again and clapped Peter on the shoulder. “But we’re here to do science, so let’s science the shi – crap out of this housing so we can get it working and make our suits even more awesome.”
The worked together for a few minutes, ideas bouncing easily between them. It was familiar and comforting, and when there was a natural lull in their conversation Tony cleared his throat. “Hey, Pete?”
“Yeah, Mr. Stark?”
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome, Mr. Stark.”