Spider-Man fic - The Right Incentive (gen)
Title: The Right Incentive
Author: Dimity Blue
Rating: All
Genre: Gen
Characters: Peter, Tony, Happy, Flash, Principal Morita
Word Count: 1,591 words
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Summary: Flash is his usual charming self to Peter, and Tony's done with it.
Warning: Bullying.
On AO3.
The Right Incentive
by Dimity Blue
"Yo, Penis Parker!"
Peter sighed at the familiar sound behind him as he headed across Midtown School's parking lot. Flash, who else? He turned. "What do you want, Flash?"
The bully smirked at him from between his two hangers on. "Just want to see you 'waiting' to be picked up for your 'internship' at 'Stark Industries'." He twitched his fingers in the air.
Peter blinked. Had that been three lots of air quotes? It seemed excessive, even for Flash. "Okaaay," he said. There really was no point arguing with him. Peter turned and carried on walking. He was sure they'd back off once he got near the car where Happy would be waiting.
"I'm talking to you, Penis! You're useless like your uncle. You should do us all a favour and drop dead."
Peter ignored the words as his spidey-sense buzzed, warning him of the shove to his back that tried to knock him off-balance. Peter let himself stumble forward a couple of steps, then kept on walking. Another buzz, another push - harder this time, designed to knock him to the ground. Peter recovered his balance and walked on, Flash's jeers filling the air. He breathed steadily, bracing himself for another shove, then looked up and realised a furious-looking Mr. Stark was heading towards them with Happy right on his heels. Oh no.
"Peeeni -"
Flash's voice broke off as Mr. Stark stormed past Peter.
"What did you just say to him?" Mr. Stark demanded.
Peter swung around. Flash's mouth was hanging open, while his two buddies had backed up, their eyes wide with shock.
"Mr. Stark -" Peter got out.
Flash's gaze flicked to him, then his mouth snapped shut. He snorted. "I get it. This is some shit lookalike actor you hired to make it look like you have an internship. You don't fool me, Penis! You -"
"Zip it!" Mr. Stark snapped. "I don't want to hear another word out of you! Happy, put Peter in the car."
Happy's hand grasped his arm, and Peter didn't bother resisting as he was taken off to the car.
"That - that's Tony Stark's bodyguard," Peter heard one of Flash's friends mutter.
"Flash, I think that really is Tony Stark," the other said.
Peter turned his head to watch. Mr. Stark was already halfway up the school steps while Flash and his cohorts were standing still, looking at Peter then back at the steps. As Mr. Stark vanished inside, Flash took a few steps towards the car. Happy turned towards him, blocking Peter's view. By the time Happy moved again, Flash and his friends had backed off and were heading for the road.
"C'mon, kid, into the car."
Peter got in, wondering what exactly Mr. Stark was doing inside his school.
=====
Tony stormed his way up the corridor. He'd known Peter was being bullied, but he'd been willing to stand back and let the kid handle it himself. Then he'd realised the kid wasn't handling it. At all. Instead, Peter had some bullshit idea it was better for him to be the target in case Flash moved on to some other kid who couldn't deal with it. Tony loved Peter, he really did, but this self-sacrificial mantra the kid was living his life by needed to end.
With that in mind, Tony had persuaded the kid to wear a watch for him. So far as Peter knew it had a tracker in it (in case he was kidnapped); a panic button (in case he needed help); and a chip in it that monitored his vitals (in case he got into trouble while he wasn't in his suit). Oh, and it also told the time. See? Efficient. What Peter didn't know - would never know - was that FRIDAY recorded the audio from it every time she detected Flash's voice, and Tony had more than enough evidence to show Flash was an obnoxious little turd that needed to be flushed. Unethical? Maybe. Tony didn't care. Underhanded? Definitely. Again, Tony didn't care. Peter deserved better than to have his school days made miserable.
Now Tony was done with letting this school ignore its own zero tolerance policy on bullying. A policy that didn't apply to anyone with enough money for sizeable donations, obviously. The Thompsons were small fry with big egos. Well, Tony had a bigger ego and deeper pockets, and was willing to demonstrate what happened when a shark took over the little pond their son had turned toxic.
So into the Principal's office Tony went. The secretary tried to stop him, but Tony bypassed her with a, "Yeah, I think he'll see me," and went straight in.
Principal Morita boggled at him from behind his desk. Tony ignored it; he'd been getting that reaction since 1975.
"Uh, uh, Mr. Stark."
"I'm here about my kid, Peter Parker." Tony sat down without being invited and eyeballed Morita across the desk.
"Your kid?" Morita acquired a worried look.
"That's right."
"I was under the impression Peter's only relative is a, umm..." He tapped a few keys and eyed his computer monitor. He relaxed suddenly. "An aunt."
"That's right," Tony repeated, his smile widening into his paparazzi-ready one. "Peter's my intern. If you check, I'm down as his secondary emergency contact."
Morita's gaze returned to the screen. "A. Stark." He looked pale.
"That's me."
"And H. Hogan."
"My bodyguard."
"And P. Potts."
"My fiancée."
Morita swallowed. "And what can I do for you, Mr. Stark?" He made a credible effort of appearing relaxed - sitting back in his chair, steepling his fingers - but Tony wasn't fooled. The son of a bitch knew exactly why Peter Parker's secondary emergency contact was sitting in his office with steam coming out of his ears.
Tony pulled a thumb drive from his pocket and tossed it on the desk. "Listen to that."
Morita did. Tony had heard it all, of course, but, judging from the sweat on Morita's forehead, he wasn't aware of just what vile things Flash had been saying, not only to Peter but also to Ned.
"Do you really think any of that is acceptable?" Tony demanded.
"No." Morita seemed to pull himself together. "I'll speak to Flash's parents -"
"I want him suspended for a month." Morita opened his mouth to speak, but Tony steamrollered over him. "Peter's the brightest in this school. Don't tell me he's got the highest GPA, I know. And Flash has made a systematic attempt to destroy him for years. I don't want to take Peter out of here and send him to MIT now - the kid deserves to be a teenager for a while longer - but I will if I have to, and I won't keep quiet about why I did. Peter's going to be a superstar in the science world, he's my personal intern now, he's guaranteed a directorship at Stark Industries after MIT, Dr. Bruce Banner's trying to steal him as an intern - and you're going to favour Eugene Thompson over him? I don't think so. Suspend Thompson for a month or expel him."
"I..." Morita looked away, a pinched look on his face. "Very well. A month it is."
"Good." Tony stood up and straightened his jacket. "Keep the drive; I've plenty of copies."
=====
Peter gave Tony a worried look as soon as he was in the car. "Did you talk to Principal Morita?"
"Sure did," Tony said reassuringly. "Morita's going to deal with Flash, don't you worry." That month-long suspension should frighten off those other bullies too.
The worried look turned into a suspicious one. "What did you do?"
"I didn't do anything. Why do you assume I did anything?" Tony would have felt outraged if he hadn't felt so smug. "Hap, you gonna drive any time soon?"
Happy gave him a look via the mirror but put the car into gear.
"Because I know you. Because I know Flash. Because no one's ever had Flash dealt with," Peter argued.
"Hmm. Maybe they just didn't use the right incentive," Tony pointed out.
"Incentive?" Peter echoed. He sounded worried. "What incentive?"
"That if Flash doesn't get straightened out, he'll be a bully all his life and he'll end up miserable. Sooner or later, he'll run into someone bigger than him and uglier than him, who could destroy him if they wanted to. It's far better to teach him now, while he's young enough to shape up." Tony knew that idea - that lie - would appeal to Peter. As for Tony, he knew it was selfish of him but he didn't care whether Flash shaped up or was shipped out, as long as he was kept away from Peter. He'd go to the ends of the Earth for his kid.
"I guess I didn't think of it that way." Peter looked thoughtful.
"Hopefully, there are adults around him who want him to be a better person," Tony said. "For his own sake, if nobody else's."
"Huh." Peter sat back in his seat. "Okay."
Tony looked out at the passing traffic for a moment, then said, "Hey, takeout and movie night?"
Peter looked at him, his smile wide and his eyes bright. "Do I get to pick the movie?"
"I guess." Tony sighed. "Knowing you, you'll pick some really old movie like Weird Science."
"That's a terrible movie. You know it's full of inaccuracies, right?"
"I do. I also know you've watched Back to the Future twenty-nine times, not including in 3-D, and that's also full of inaccuracies."
Peter grinned. "Let's have takeout, watch Back to the Future, then build a flux capacitor."
"Excellent idea!" Tony rubbed his hands together. Things were looking up.
The end.
13th July 2023.
=====
That's it! Hope you liked it!
Btw, I'm posting a Spider-Man WIP on AO3. It's a "kidnapped Peter is Tony and Pepper's son", it's 22k words so far, and it's here.
Author: Dimity Blue
Rating: All
Genre: Gen
Characters: Peter, Tony, Happy, Flash, Principal Morita
Word Count: 1,591 words
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Summary: Flash is his usual charming self to Peter, and Tony's done with it.
Warning: Bullying.
On AO3.
The Right Incentive
by Dimity Blue
"Yo, Penis Parker!"
Peter sighed at the familiar sound behind him as he headed across Midtown School's parking lot. Flash, who else? He turned. "What do you want, Flash?"
The bully smirked at him from between his two hangers on. "Just want to see you 'waiting' to be picked up for your 'internship' at 'Stark Industries'." He twitched his fingers in the air.
Peter blinked. Had that been three lots of air quotes? It seemed excessive, even for Flash. "Okaaay," he said. There really was no point arguing with him. Peter turned and carried on walking. He was sure they'd back off once he got near the car where Happy would be waiting.
"I'm talking to you, Penis! You're useless like your uncle. You should do us all a favour and drop dead."
Peter ignored the words as his spidey-sense buzzed, warning him of the shove to his back that tried to knock him off-balance. Peter let himself stumble forward a couple of steps, then kept on walking. Another buzz, another push - harder this time, designed to knock him to the ground. Peter recovered his balance and walked on, Flash's jeers filling the air. He breathed steadily, bracing himself for another shove, then looked up and realised a furious-looking Mr. Stark was heading towards them with Happy right on his heels. Oh no.
"Peeeni -"
Flash's voice broke off as Mr. Stark stormed past Peter.
"What did you just say to him?" Mr. Stark demanded.
Peter swung around. Flash's mouth was hanging open, while his two buddies had backed up, their eyes wide with shock.
"Mr. Stark -" Peter got out.
Flash's gaze flicked to him, then his mouth snapped shut. He snorted. "I get it. This is some shit lookalike actor you hired to make it look like you have an internship. You don't fool me, Penis! You -"
"Zip it!" Mr. Stark snapped. "I don't want to hear another word out of you! Happy, put Peter in the car."
Happy's hand grasped his arm, and Peter didn't bother resisting as he was taken off to the car.
"That - that's Tony Stark's bodyguard," Peter heard one of Flash's friends mutter.
"Flash, I think that really is Tony Stark," the other said.
Peter turned his head to watch. Mr. Stark was already halfway up the school steps while Flash and his cohorts were standing still, looking at Peter then back at the steps. As Mr. Stark vanished inside, Flash took a few steps towards the car. Happy turned towards him, blocking Peter's view. By the time Happy moved again, Flash and his friends had backed off and were heading for the road.
"C'mon, kid, into the car."
Peter got in, wondering what exactly Mr. Stark was doing inside his school.
=====
Tony stormed his way up the corridor. He'd known Peter was being bullied, but he'd been willing to stand back and let the kid handle it himself. Then he'd realised the kid wasn't handling it. At all. Instead, Peter had some bullshit idea it was better for him to be the target in case Flash moved on to some other kid who couldn't deal with it. Tony loved Peter, he really did, but this self-sacrificial mantra the kid was living his life by needed to end.
With that in mind, Tony had persuaded the kid to wear a watch for him. So far as Peter knew it had a tracker in it (in case he was kidnapped); a panic button (in case he needed help); and a chip in it that monitored his vitals (in case he got into trouble while he wasn't in his suit). Oh, and it also told the time. See? Efficient. What Peter didn't know - would never know - was that FRIDAY recorded the audio from it every time she detected Flash's voice, and Tony had more than enough evidence to show Flash was an obnoxious little turd that needed to be flushed. Unethical? Maybe. Tony didn't care. Underhanded? Definitely. Again, Tony didn't care. Peter deserved better than to have his school days made miserable.
Now Tony was done with letting this school ignore its own zero tolerance policy on bullying. A policy that didn't apply to anyone with enough money for sizeable donations, obviously. The Thompsons were small fry with big egos. Well, Tony had a bigger ego and deeper pockets, and was willing to demonstrate what happened when a shark took over the little pond their son had turned toxic.
So into the Principal's office Tony went. The secretary tried to stop him, but Tony bypassed her with a, "Yeah, I think he'll see me," and went straight in.
Principal Morita boggled at him from behind his desk. Tony ignored it; he'd been getting that reaction since 1975.
"Uh, uh, Mr. Stark."
"I'm here about my kid, Peter Parker." Tony sat down without being invited and eyeballed Morita across the desk.
"Your kid?" Morita acquired a worried look.
"That's right."
"I was under the impression Peter's only relative is a, umm..." He tapped a few keys and eyed his computer monitor. He relaxed suddenly. "An aunt."
"That's right," Tony repeated, his smile widening into his paparazzi-ready one. "Peter's my intern. If you check, I'm down as his secondary emergency contact."
Morita's gaze returned to the screen. "A. Stark." He looked pale.
"That's me."
"And H. Hogan."
"My bodyguard."
"And P. Potts."
"My fiancée."
Morita swallowed. "And what can I do for you, Mr. Stark?" He made a credible effort of appearing relaxed - sitting back in his chair, steepling his fingers - but Tony wasn't fooled. The son of a bitch knew exactly why Peter Parker's secondary emergency contact was sitting in his office with steam coming out of his ears.
Tony pulled a thumb drive from his pocket and tossed it on the desk. "Listen to that."
Morita did. Tony had heard it all, of course, but, judging from the sweat on Morita's forehead, he wasn't aware of just what vile things Flash had been saying, not only to Peter but also to Ned.
"Do you really think any of that is acceptable?" Tony demanded.
"No." Morita seemed to pull himself together. "I'll speak to Flash's parents -"
"I want him suspended for a month." Morita opened his mouth to speak, but Tony steamrollered over him. "Peter's the brightest in this school. Don't tell me he's got the highest GPA, I know. And Flash has made a systematic attempt to destroy him for years. I don't want to take Peter out of here and send him to MIT now - the kid deserves to be a teenager for a while longer - but I will if I have to, and I won't keep quiet about why I did. Peter's going to be a superstar in the science world, he's my personal intern now, he's guaranteed a directorship at Stark Industries after MIT, Dr. Bruce Banner's trying to steal him as an intern - and you're going to favour Eugene Thompson over him? I don't think so. Suspend Thompson for a month or expel him."
"I..." Morita looked away, a pinched look on his face. "Very well. A month it is."
"Good." Tony stood up and straightened his jacket. "Keep the drive; I've plenty of copies."
=====
Peter gave Tony a worried look as soon as he was in the car. "Did you talk to Principal Morita?"
"Sure did," Tony said reassuringly. "Morita's going to deal with Flash, don't you worry." That month-long suspension should frighten off those other bullies too.
The worried look turned into a suspicious one. "What did you do?"
"I didn't do anything. Why do you assume I did anything?" Tony would have felt outraged if he hadn't felt so smug. "Hap, you gonna drive any time soon?"
Happy gave him a look via the mirror but put the car into gear.
"Because I know you. Because I know Flash. Because no one's ever had Flash dealt with," Peter argued.
"Hmm. Maybe they just didn't use the right incentive," Tony pointed out.
"Incentive?" Peter echoed. He sounded worried. "What incentive?"
"That if Flash doesn't get straightened out, he'll be a bully all his life and he'll end up miserable. Sooner or later, he'll run into someone bigger than him and uglier than him, who could destroy him if they wanted to. It's far better to teach him now, while he's young enough to shape up." Tony knew that idea - that lie - would appeal to Peter. As for Tony, he knew it was selfish of him but he didn't care whether Flash shaped up or was shipped out, as long as he was kept away from Peter. He'd go to the ends of the Earth for his kid.
"I guess I didn't think of it that way." Peter looked thoughtful.
"Hopefully, there are adults around him who want him to be a better person," Tony said. "For his own sake, if nobody else's."
"Huh." Peter sat back in his seat. "Okay."
Tony looked out at the passing traffic for a moment, then said, "Hey, takeout and movie night?"
Peter looked at him, his smile wide and his eyes bright. "Do I get to pick the movie?"
"I guess." Tony sighed. "Knowing you, you'll pick some really old movie like Weird Science."
"That's a terrible movie. You know it's full of inaccuracies, right?"
"I do. I also know you've watched Back to the Future twenty-nine times, not including in 3-D, and that's also full of inaccuracies."
Peter grinned. "Let's have takeout, watch Back to the Future, then build a flux capacitor."
"Excellent idea!" Tony rubbed his hands together. Things were looking up.
The end.
13th July 2023.
=====
That's it! Hope you liked it!
Btw, I'm posting a Spider-Man WIP on AO3. It's a "kidnapped Peter is Tony and Pepper's son", it's 22k words so far, and it's here.