Peter wasn't sure why he had to come with Mr. Stark to this meeting. It was boring and the only one who showed up was General Ross who he didn't like at all. It was only made worse by the fact that he and Mr. Stark should be messing around in the lab of Stark Tower right now, not sitting in the conference room at the Avengers Compound. The only thing that even sort of made up for it was the fact that Mr. Stark gave him a box of those loft house, store-bought cookies and a new Stark phone to play on during his meeting.

With hardly a nod at General Ross, Peter set himself up in a corner of the room and put on his headphones. While Mr. Stark was distracted, Peter found a movie to watch that was sure to upset May and get him at least scolded by Mr. Stark, but with neither of them there to stop him, he happily pressed play.

Meanwhile, Mr. Stark and Ross talked quietly on the other side of the room. Even with his headphones on a movie playing, Peter could hear what they were saying and trying not to meet Ross's eye.

"I see Peter follows you even to confidential meetings," Ross stated suddenly.

Peter frowned. It was clear that Ross had been interested in bringing Peter up during the meeting, but only ten minutes in was a little early even by most government standards. Mr. Stark seemed prepared for the question though, so Peter kept his eyes on his movie. His attention, however, was on the conversation in front of him.

"He's my intern," Mr. Stark said, pointing over his shoulder to where Peter sat on the floor. "Of course he's with me."

"Oh, so he's the Spider-Man," Ross said. Mr. Stark frowned and Peter's heart raced. "You were supposed to tell me when you found out who he was."

"He's not the Spider-Man," Mr. Starktold him sharply. "Spider-Man never revealed his identity to me. I found him in a park."

"I know you're lying, Tony," Ross said, crossing his arms.

Mr. Stark let out an irritated breath and Peter turned down the volume on his music. As Mr. Stark leaned back on his heels, Peter's skin prickled. He felt more than saw the way that Ross clenched his fist and drew back his shoulder, but before Ross could raise his arm, Peter jumped up from his spot and caught Ross's fist before it connected with Mr. Stark's jaw.

"Dude, did you just try to punch Iron Man?" he exclaimed, looking from Ross's fist to his face.

From behind Peter, Tony watched Ross stare at Peter with wide eyes and he knew any hope of convincing Ross that Peter was not Spider-Man had just flown out the window. Well, at least not without the help of some technology.

"You... You are the Spider-Man!" Ross exclaimed, staring at Peter with awe and something Tony immediately recognised as greed. Ross's voice softened as he said, "How fascinating."

From where Peter was still holding him back, Ross opened his fist and reached out to touch Peter's face, but was unsurprisingly unsuccessful.

"I wish!" Peter joked, pushing Ross's hand further away. "No, I just grew up learning karate and then the Black Widow offered to train me once Mr. Stark introduced me to her and she is so awesome! Man, I learned so much stuff from her."

Peter was rambling and Tony could tell the kid was trying to fix his mistake, but it was much too late now. So focused on his excuses, Peter didn't seem to notice Ross pull out a needle from his pocket, but Tony did.

Whether Peter deliberately fought against reacting without seeing the danger or if he truly didn't notice, Tony couldn't be sure. However, the kid didn't move when Ross pulled back his free hand and curled his lip before trying to plunge a needle into Peter's neck. Before he could get too close, Tony grabbed his wrist his held him back.

"You don't get to come in here and attack my kid," Tony told him angrily, plucking the needle from Ross's hand.

With Peter and Tony both holding onto him, Ross was unable to run or move away when Tony plunged the needle into his neck. In front of them, Ross crumpled to the ground, eyes wide as he breathed heavily.

"We're gonna keep you overnight," Tony informed him, looking down at where he was lying on the ground. "It seems you're having an issue with an incorrect memory and we're gonna have to change that."

Paralysed and on the ground, Ross could do nothing but watch as Tony called in a couple of doctors and told them to use the BARF technology to alter his memory and remove any knowledge of Spider-Man.

Once they had left, Tony turned to Peter.

"Hey, kid," he said softly, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey... Hey, Mr. Stark," Peter said distantly. He snapped out of his daze and looked up at Mr. Stark. "That was a wild meeting. Are all meetings like that? Cause if so, I don't think I'd mind coming to them more often."

Mr. Stark chuckled and shook his head.

"No, that was a first," he said.

Peter nodded and picked up his cookie box. As he turned back around to face Mr. Stark, he handed the Stark phone back.

"No, you keep that."

"But—"

"Hey, you stopped me from getting punched and almost got kidnapped by a crazy government agent," Mr. Stark argued, leading him out of the conference room. "You deserve that."

"But it's not even in stores yet," Peter objected, trying once again to give him the phone.

Mr. Stark gave him a look and he smiled sheepishly before tucking it into his pocket.

"Thanks, Mr. Stark."

"No problem, kiddo."