Chapter Text
Peter considered himself pretty good at remembering things. Little things, big things, possibly life-changing things, he was great at all of it. How the little flash drive had slipped his mind for over two years, he had no idea, but now looking at it he couldn’t truly remember how he had lost it.
“Oh, yeah. Um… I think I found it back in sophomore year, when Tony was just about to find out about Voltra and I went through his files.” He stepped closer to Daya, looking at the drive closer, before shrugging. “I don’t even remember what was on it.”
Daya just stared at the small silver piece in her hand, curiosity peaking in her expression. What could be on the drive? Well the young adults figured there was only one way to find out.
She sat down at her now empty desk, Peter standing and watching over Daya’s shoulder as she plugged the drive into her laptop and the STARK Industries homepage popped up on the screen. Most of what they found on there were old SHIELD files Tony had encrypted on his computer, boring stuff both of the teenagers ignored.
“It’s just old clerical work, nothing interesting, Day.” Peter mumbled, looking away from the screen and to his girlfriend, who looked up at him. Daya shrugged, turning to face him more.
“Yeah, I guess-” Daya started, before her door opened and Tony Stark walked in.
“What’s up kiddos? How’s packing?” Tony said as he did a quick survey of the mess Daya’s room had become. His eyes were calm and relaxed, before they trained on the laptop open on Daya’s desk. Suddenly his expression dropped and he strode closer to the pair. “What is that?”
“Just some old flash drive Peter left here a few years ago. It’s old SHIELD files, though, nothing interesting.” Daya said, moving over so Tony could get a better look at the screen. As soon as his eyes saw the full screen, he shut the laptop and pulled out the flash drive.
Tony put the drive in his pocket and turned to practically glare at Peter. “Where did you find this?”
His tone was sharp and slightly terrifying, reminding Peter about how intimidating the man in front of him really was. Peter stuttered out a quick response, Tony’s reaction making him slightly shocked. “I-uh- found it on your computer when I deleted the Voltra files years ago. I didn’t know what they were, and completely forgot about them until now.”
“You shouldn’t take things off of other people's computers” Tony said, his voice almost sounded worried, and it caused both of the kids to be confused.
“Woah, Tony, why are you so mad? We didn’t even see anything bad. Is there something you don’t want us to see?” Daya questioned, her voice turning suspicious as she stared at Tony.
He just shook his head, walking away from them and towards the door. He stopped at the threshold, turning back to the pair, his face softer, yet still menacing. The most chilling part of his expression was how scared he looked, not the glare he used to hide it. “Just, don’t look into it, okay? Trust me.”
Then he turned and walked down the hall, without clarifying anything about the situation. Peter was left there confused, wondering what just happened. They hadn’t found anything on the file, and even if they did, why did it seem like it would be something bad? Peter tried to ignore the curiosity he was feeling, knowing that if Tony seemed that serious about it, they should just let it go. Daya, it seemed, did not feel the same.
“What the hell was that?!” Daya said angrily, pacing across her room in front of him. She looked confused, but the look that crossed her eyes next was one Peter knew way too well. It was the one that said she wasn’t about to let something go, the look that said “I will find out more about this.” Peter knew this look would only lead to trouble, especially if Tony reacted this way, so he immediately moved to stop her pacing.
He grabbed her hands gently and turned her to face him, speaking gently. “Hey, it’s probably nothing. And even if it is something, we should probably listen to him. Tony wouldn’t react like that for no reason.” Peter pulled her closer, looking into her eyes, trying to convey the calm she needed to be feeling, not the determination that was festering within her.
“Yeah, but that’s exactly why we should be worried. Tony wouldn’t react like that if it wasn’t serious. What isn’t he telling us?” Daya’s voice had fallen back into that small part of her, the one that worried people were plotting against her. It hurt Peter’s heart to know that she was worrying about that, that the paranoia had crept in again.
Peter pulled her even closer then, wrapping his arms around her in a warm hug, soothing the restless energy in her racing mind. “Hey, it’s Tony, he wouldn’t hide anything from you. Just don’t think about it. It’s better to just listen to him about things like this, okay?”
Daya nodded against his chest, melting into his embrace. She mumbled a quiet “thank you” before pulling back and smiling at him.
Just then, Peter got an idea to distract her from the worries flowing through her mind. “Hey, you wanna go for a walk? For some air, it helps clear the mind.”
Daya smiled sweetly, nodding before interlocking her fingers with his. “I’d love to, Bugboy.”
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The night was cool as Daya and Peter walked through the streets of Manhattan, hand in hand as they laughed about trivial things. Peter couldn’t stop looking at her smile as she recalled her latest train of thought.
“So I was laying there, and right as the text popped up on my phone and Ted said on the TV ‘welcome to the Arcadian!’ all I could think was, ‘I’ve done this before’.” Daya said, looking at him with a dreamy look in her eyes. “Deja vu is such a weird feeling.”
All Peter could do was stare in her eyes, the eyes he loved, the face he couldn’t live without. They had stopped at an old building, and Daya turned to face him fully, a love struck smile slipping onto her face as she met his eyes. “What…?”
“Nothing, just… you’re pretty.” Peter basically mumbled, brushing back a curl from Daya’s face.
Daya blushed, pushing Peter playfully as she chuckled. “You’re so corny, Parker.”
“Only for you, Stark.” Peter said, leaning in and pressing a soft kiss to her lips. When they pulled back, he turned to the building they had stopped at. The one where they met. The side had a large mural of their heroes, and Peter’s heart warmed at the memory of the call where he told Daya about it.
“Well it’s nice to know there are some Sparkweb shippers out there.”
“Did you search up our ship name, Spidey?”
“Maybe”
“You are such a dork.”
“You love it.”
The building itself was small, but as they both walked up the stairs to the roof, Peter smiled at the memory of the first day he met the vigilante in stolen Stark tech.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“Fighting the crime you're too mainstream to fight”
“And who would you be?”
“Well, Spidey, I could ask you the same. But we both know you aren’t gonna answer that. But for now, you can call me Voltra.”
Stepping out onto the roof, Peter took in his surroundings and was happy to see it was the same as it was before. Daya turned to face Peter as she pulled him closer to the edge of the building. Peter watched as she looked out at the city below. She seemed so at peace in the city, which made him feel better since she had been uncharacteristically quiet during the walk. Peter just wanted to clear her mind of all the dark thoughts he knew clouded it. Daya, his perfect Daya, didn’t deserve to have a single bad thing cross her mind.
His voice was quiet and supportive as he stepped behind her, wrapping his arms around her and lacing his chin on her shoulder. “Do you remember that day?” All she did was nod as she took a deep breath. “Me too. That was the day you changed my life.” Peter’s voice was bright as he reminisced on the day over three years prior.
Hazel eyes behind a mask, glaring at him.
A person in an all black costume lurking in the shadows.
A mysterious chill down his spine.
“You sure? Cause I specifically remember being quite a pain in your ass.” Daya’s voice was breathy even with the humor held in her tone. She couldn’t help but get lightheaded at the feeling of being around him. A whole three months of being his girlfriend, yet she still got butterflies every time she was near him.
Peter laughed, and turned her around in his arms. His eyes were shiny as he looked down at her face, a sneaky smirk on his lips. “Yeah, well eventually you got a little better.”
“Listen, Parker, I’m not gonna tell anyone. Unless, of course, you become a pain in my ass…”
“Oh really, like I’ll be a pain in your ass. Right. What happens when you bother me, then?”
“Deal with it.”
She feigned a gasp, and brought a hand up to her chest, leaning in slightly. “A little? Are you saying I’m still annoying?!”
He brought his arms around her waist, pulling her in closer to him. He could catch the scent of her hair product, paired with the perfume that she used. God, that was his favorite smell. It smelled like home. “Oh hell yeah. But I love you anyway.”
“I love you, Day.”
Instead of letting her come up with a snarky response, Peter quickly pressed his lips to hers, cutting off her remark with a kiss. A kiss that turned slightly heated as they stood on the roof, Daya’s fingers tangling in the hair at the nape of his neck. The city hummed beneath them, a faint heartbeat in the back of teenage love.
When the pair finally pulled apart, they were both breathless and smiling widely. Peter pressed his forehead against hers, mumbling faint words against her lips. “Feel better now?”
“Mhm, much. Thank you.” Daya said, pulling back slowly so she could look at Peter properly. “God, you’re such a good boyfriend.”
Peter just smirked, something lazy and goofy. “Oh, I know, but you can keep saying it if you want.”
Daya pushed him playfully, but she couldn’t hold back her giggle as she looked at the boy in front of her. “Wow, and he’s humble too.”
“You know it.” Peter said, grabbing her hand and interlacing their fingers together and pulling her back to him. He pressed one last kiss to her lips, quick and teasing. “You’re so lucky to have me.”
Daya just smiled, a dreamy look in her eyes, all her guards down and completely trusting of him. “Don’t I know it.”
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The halls of Stark tower were quiet by the time Peter and Daya reached her room, and the night had come to a good end. Peter was happy that he finally got Daya to stop thinking about the flash drive, her posture free from the tension of her suspicion. When they got to her bedroom door, Daya stopped walking and turned to him, her smile bright and carefree.
“Thank you for getting me out of my room. I think all the packing and stress of college was getting to me.” Daya said through a laugh, her head leaning against the wood of her door.
Peter just smiled at her, though it seemed that was his usual response whenever she looked at him. “Anytime, Day. That's what boyfriends are for, distracting you when you get overwhelmed.”
Daya took a step closer to him, closing the distance between them and pressing a lingering kiss on his lips. When she pulled back, she whispered, “I love you, Pete.”
“I love you too, Day.” Peter gave her a small smile and wave as she opened her door and slipped inside her room for the night.
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As the door firmly shut behind Daya, Peter turned down the hall and started walking towards the elevator. The lights had dimmed in most of the halls, but one set of lights on in one of the labs caught Peter’s eye. He knew enough to guess it was Tony’s, the older man had a worse sleep schedule than him, but that wasn’t what intrigued him. As he approached the door, he noticed that the billionaire wasn’t within the walls of the room. Silently Peter was surprised that Tony had gotten to bed before him, as he reached to shut off the lights in the lab. But, before he could, a light from the monitor in the corner caught his eye.
Normally, Peter would never even think about snooping, but the earlier scene with Tony and the flash drive wouldn’t stop replaying in his head. Something about the way he had looked… not angry. Terrified. Peter hesitated at the doorway. Just a peek, he told himself. Just to make sure everything’s okay.
The lab felt wrong, too quiet, without Tony in it. As Peter approached the laptop, he was able to see what was on the screen more clearly. The computer screen was open to a folder labeled Legal Documents: Confidential. Peter almost turned away, but the document at the top caught his eye: Last Will and Testament of Lara and Tucker Wilson. His heart dropped, clicking on the document before he could stop himself.
He vaguely remembered Daya telling him about her deceased parents, the usual stuff. Things they used to do, how they died, and who they were, the usual, so the names rang a bell in the back of his mind. Peter remembered that they had been killed in a mysterious car accident almost eight years ago, and she had been given to Tony in the will, the very one that was being opened on the laptop. Yet, something in Peter’s gut told him something wasn’t right, maybe it was his Spidey sense telling him to keep going.
Once the document loaded, he scrolled down, his eyes scanning the page for anything out of the ordinary. His breath caught as he read a highlighted section.
In the event of our deaths, guardianship of our daughter, Daya Maeve Wilson, shall be transferred to Anthony Edward Stark, her biological father, under sealed terms until her eighteenth year.
Peter’s heart started pounding in his ears, his eyes focusing on the two words that cut closest to the core.
Biological.
Father.
He read it again, and again, as if the words might change. But they didn’t. They stayed the same, the fracture they caused in his whole world blaring in front of him. Tony Stark, was the biological father of Daya.
Holy shit.
How was he supposed to tell Daya?