Chapter Text
Tim Drake was a fan of Tony Stark. Everyone knew that, and honestly, it would have been strange not to be a fan of Iron Man. Tim admired his intellect, his speed of thought, his ability to improvise under pressure. And, if he were being honest, Tim wanted to be like him. Even though Tony’s showy self-confidence irritated him, it was the kind backed by genius. Tony was also a playboy-at least he had been, before he married Pepper. A wonderful woman, if you asked Drake.
Bruce, of course, hated Tony.
He called him reckless, spoiled, and “a bad example for teenagers with access to technology.” And maybe-just a little-jealous. Because why the hell were his kids looking at Stark with that kind of admiration?
So when Tim cautiously inquired about the possibility of an internship with "Uncle Tony", he was refused without discussion.
"You need to patrol," Bruce said firmly. "An internship will take too much time. And what about Gotham?"
In some ways he was right, and Tim understood that, but the resentment toward his father remained. Not that it was anything new. Dick, for example, was offended at Bruce almost every day, so once a month for Tim was still normal.
The resentment only grew stronger when Tony replied to his personal letter:
"Already took an intern. But thanks for the enthusiasm, little detective."
Little detective.
Tim Drake, who had hacked the League of Assassins for fun, was a "little."
Can you imagine? Was there really someone smarter than Tim to take his place as Tony freaking Stark’s intern?
That thought had been gnawing at him for three weeks.
Tony was often a guest at Wayne Manor, sometimes with Pepper, but more often alone. But this time he would be staying for a month - with Pepper and his new intern, whose name Tony had not bothered to share, telling them to stay away from his personal information. Most likely that message was specifically for Tim, because the others weren’t that interested in Tony Stark’s teenage intern.
In any case, Tim Drake-Wayne was ready to meet his future enemy - an intellectual enemy, of course, because if they fought hand-to-hand, he would win. Tony wouldn’t take another Superman as an intern, so an intellectual battle sounded like an insanely good idea. Steph thought it was a stupid plan - why compete with some random guy when even if Tim won, he still wouldn’t get the internship? She was right, but Tim desperately needed to be better than this guy, whoever he was. Maybe it was childish, but Drake was a teenager, so sometimes he allowed himself to act like one.
"Mr. Stark?! Why am I only finding out about our trip to Gotham when we’re already here?" Peter’s voice was nervous and clearly not ready for the Wayne family. Don’t blame him - he didn’t even know where they were going, because Tony, as always, acted like an asshole. Peter was used to it, but he was still sometimes surprised. It wasn’t a major flaw in the man’s character - if anything, it made him more human in the spider’s eyes. Not just a hero, not just a rich man, but a person.
Gotham was rather gloomy. Unlike New York, people looked at the ground, no one talked to anyone, and they all looked at Mr. Stark with suspicion and disdain. Peter guessed it was because they couldn’t rob him - but wanted to. Or maybe they were just jealous of the hero. Pepper thought both options were true in their own way. She was very wise, wasn’t she?
When the car stopped and they stepped out, Peter saw a large and rather dark mansion. But unlike Stark Tower, it looked… cheap? Or rather not modern. Yes, that term fit better. Maybe that was Batman’s thing and his partners’, or maybe not. Peter nervously licked his lips and followed behind Tony and Pepper, who looked confident. It was clear they had been here before.
Tim heard him before he saw him.
He stood at the top of the staircase, leaning against the railing, watching the guests. Damian stood beside him but left a second later, clearly uninterested in an ordinary civilian.
The guy was shorter than Tim expected. Thin. His hair was messy, as if he had run his hand through it twenty times, though at least it looked clean. There were faint marks on his nose from glasses, though he wasn’t wearing them now
- maybe he used them in Stark’s lab. His jacket was ordinary. No designer flair - if anything, he looked almost ridiculously… poor. That confused Tim even more.
This was… just a guy.
"Relax, Pete," Tony drawled as he entered the hall like he owned the place. "If they kill you, I’ll buy you back. I have good relations with the owner."
"I can hear you!" Bruce’s dry voice came from the living room, though he didn’t come out.
Pepper gently touched Tony’s elbow.
"Try to behave like an adult," she whispered.
"I am trying. This is my maximum, you know that."
Meanwhile, Peter looked around. The mansion pressed down on him just like Gotham did. In New York, everything was loud and alive. Here - it was too quiet. Too perfect. Too expensive. He felt out of place. At least at Mr. Stark’s everything was modern, and Tony behaved easily - it was easier to get used to.
And that was the first thing Tim noticed. Not arrogance. Not conceit. Discomfort.
Interesting.
"Timothy!" Tony announced cheerfully, as if presenting a new reactor. "Meet my intern. Peter Parker. Parker, this is Tim. The local genius with a superiority complex."
"I don’t have a superiority complex,” Tim replied calmly, descending the stairs. "I’m just superior."
Peter blinked, studying Tim uncertainly, unsure what to say.
Then he gave a nervous chuckle.
"Oh. Okay. Cool. I’m… uh… just Peter."
Tim extended his hand with a tight smile.
"So you’re the one they took instead of me."
Silence. Pepper closed her eyes, clearly counting to three in her head. Tony grinned.
"Oh, this will be fun."
Peter blushed in confusion.
"I… didn’t know there was a competition? I actually thought it was a mail mistake."
Tim frowned. A mistake?
"A mistake?" he asked aloud.
"Well… Mr. Stark first wanted someone ‘with a more stable psyche," Peter muttered. "I’m sure he was joking."
Tony obviously wasn’t joking. Tim looked at Peter more closely. This guy didn’t look like someone who had come to steal someone else’s dreams. Or at least Tim’s.
"And how did you impress him?" Tim asked with genuine interest.
Peter shrugged uncertainly.
"I… well… I helped recalculate the suit’s energy consumption. There was a 0.003 percent margin of error. Nothing serious."
Tim froze for a second. Did he hear that right? He wasn’t hallucinating, was he?
"You found an error in Stark’s reactor?" Tim asked, biting his lip.
"It was tiny!" Peter quickly added, as if apologizing for his intelligence. "And I’m just curious."
Tony hummed smugly.
"He recalculated my formulas in his head, Timothy. In traffic. While I was yelling at the GPS."
Tim felt an unpleasant prickling in his chest and bit his lip harder, tasting iron.
This wasn’t a self-confident rich kid. This was… a genius. And even worse - a genius who didn’t realize his own worth.
Later that evening they ended up in the library together. Of course, Tim had simply followed Parker to find another excuse to test his intellectual abilities.
"You really wanted the internship?" Peter asked quietly, flipping through a book but clearly not reading it - Romeo and Juliet upside down didn’t seem particularly interesting to him.
"I did," Tim answered honestly, nodding.
"I’m sorry."
Tim slowly looked at him and frowned.
"For what?"
"I didn’t know you wanted it too. Honestly, I didn’t even expect to get it, you know? And I’m really sorry I didn’t know."
There was something disarming about that.
Peter wasn’t defensive. He wasn’t justifying himself. He wasn’t competing. He looked… guilty.
"Do you think you’re better than me?" Tim asked directly, making Peter blink in confusion.
"In what?"
"In everything."
Peter thought seriously.
"No," he finally answered. "I think you’re… terrifyingly smart."
Tim froze.
"That’s not a compliment," he muttered.
"It’s admiration," Peter corrected with a smile. "I heard you figured out Batman’s identity before you became Robin. That’s… truly incredible."
Tim felt his plan to prove his intellectual superiority cracking.
"And you," he countered slowly, "recalculated Stark’s formulas in your head."
Peter looked embarrassed.
"I just love math."
"So do I."
And that was when Tim realized the competition had only been one-sided. Peter wasn’t interested in competing. He was just… a nerd.
In the living room, Tony watched them through the glass partition, tapping his fingers thoughtfully.
"Ten bucks says they start arguing about quantum mechanics," he told Pepper.
"Fifty says they’ll start dating before we leave," she replied calmly, though there was amusement in her eyes.
Tony smirked and turned to her.
"I always said I have a talent for pairing geniuses."
"You pitted them against each other," she raised an eyebrow.
"Details." He shrugged.
Pepper smiled softly.
"You didn’t take Peter because he’s better."
Tony looked at her like she was stating the obvious and nodded.
"No."
"You took him because he needed you."
Tony nodded again.
And maybe, for the first time, Tim began to understand:
Stark didn’t choose "the best." He chose the one who needed it more. And that meant…
It wasn’t a competition.
And looking at Peter now, eyes shining as he argued about probabilistic models, Tim suddenly thought:
Maybe he didn’t want to prove he was better. Maybe he wanted to prove he was worthy too.
And maybe…
He didn’t have to do it alone.