I felt like SMFFH needed more Rescue. That's literally the entire reason for this. Love me some Pepper.

"What else can you do, E.D.I.T.H.?"

"I can do lots of things," she - she? Do AIs even have a gender? Or just preferred pronouns? Vision had gone by male pronouns, but was that because he was male or he just preferred male pronouns? Or did everyone just automatically use male pronouns and he'd never corrected them? What about F.R.I.D.A.Y.? Oh man, had Peter been misgendering Karen by calling them a suit lady this entire time? - said.

Peter opened his mouth to ask how genders worked for AIs when he suddenly realized that during his metal speculation, E.D.I.T.H. had gone on to answer his question and Peter had completely missed part of it.

"Um, E.D.I.T.H.?"

"… inform- Yes, Peter?" she asked, only to continue a second later with, "Oh, I failed to notice your distraction. I apologize."

Peter blushed and slumped down further in his seat. "No, no, I'm sorry. I should have been paying better attention."

"Research shows those of your condition can display difficulties with focusing during long speeches or lectures. I will make a note to keep better track in the future so I can properly assist you."

Fingers coming up to run over the smooth metal of the glasses' temples, he gave a small smile. "Thanks, E.D.I.T.H."

"Of course, Peter. Would you prefer I send a list of my capabilities to your phone so you can read through it instead?"

"Oh, that would be great!" Peter blushed again as a couple of his classmates turned to look at him, ducking his head and pulling out his phone and headphones. He quickly stuck the earbuds in his ears and plugged them in to make it look like he was talking on the phone. "Um, yeah, you can do that. Thanks."

"Your welcome."

The file popped up on his phone's screen and he quickly opened it. "So, E.D.I.T.H.," he hummed scrolling through the list. "What pronouns do you use?"

"… I'm sorry, I don't understand the question."

"Like, what's your gender? You sound like a woman, but, like, do AIs have genders? I don't know how that works, sorry."

"I was not programmed with a gender."

"So you're agender?"

"That would be the closest identifier according to my findings, yes."

"That's cool. So what pronouns should I use for you?"

"I have no preference either way."

Peter's eyes stopped on 'Can access security and traffic cameras for surveillance purposes.' "Would you mind if I use female pronouns, then? That's kind of what I've been using in my head."

"That is fine."

"Cool, just let me know if you change your mind. Hey, this says you can scan through a bunch of security feeds and stuff right? Would you be able to pick up anything on Mysterio?" Maybe if he could find out something about the elementals that could help Mr. Beck, then Mr. Fury would leave him alone to enjoy his trip.

"Mysterio?"

"He's a superhero. Quentin Beck. He fought a big water monster in Venice yesterday."

"Four hundred seventy-three matches found for the name Quentin Beck, attempting to narrow results." Flashes of images flew by faster than even Peter's enhanced eyes could keep up with. Finally, it settled on a blurry picture of Mr. Beck in his suit and helmet. "Many surveillance systems for the area, both on the ground and in orbit, were disrupted due to energy anomalies during the fight, but I have located various videos posted online from civilian and news resources. Is this the person you are asking after?"

Peter frowned and perked up. Something knocked-out surveillance systems? That's ominous. Was it a result of the elemental's powers? Or maybe some sort of radiation-like output given off by Mr. Beck and the creatures because they were from another universe? But then why would it only happen during the fight? "Yeah, that's him. How long before and after the fight did the energy anomalies happen?"

"The anomalies began approximately thirty-nine minutes before the creature is first noted on social media, building in strength until just before the creature's arrival. They then remained steady until cutting off completely just after Quentin Beck left the scene."

That makes no sense. There should have been a decay in the energy just like there was a build-up. And if the energy was completely tied to the elemental - and considering there was no change in power when Mr. Beck arrived, then it should be - then the power change should have happened when it was defeated, not when Mr. Beck flew off.

"Peter, would you like me to continue searching for Quentin Beck?"

Peter bit his lip, his hand coming up to rub against the glasses again. "Yeah. Try matching his suit to security footage around Venice before and after the disturbance. Try to find something with his helmet off."

"Searching." More flash-forward pictures flashed across the lenses.

Peter glanced towards Ned, wanting to talk about this with someone, but his best friend was nuzzled up against Betty watching a video.

"Match found." A picture of Mr. Beck standing next to Nick Fury came up. It zoomed in on Mr. Beck. "Running facial recognition."

"It's just like on TV," Peter whispered, watching the program run.

"No matches found under Quentin Beck. Expanding search."

"That's alright, he's not exactly from around -"

"Match found in Stark Industries database." Peter's eyes widened as a picture settled next to the one of Mr. Beck. The man in the picture looked exactly like a clean-shaven, more put together, and slightly younger Mr. Beck. "Dr. Ludwig Rinehart worked for Stark Industries for seven years before being fired in twenty-sixteen after a mental break that resulted in him attempting to steal files from Stark Industries and making multiple threats against the life of Tony Stark and his loved ones. His most notable credited work is the basis for the hyper-realistic holograms used in the Binarily Augmented Retro-Framing, which was also his point of contention with Mr. Stark."

"So let me get this straight," Peter sighed, letting his head tilt back and closing his eyes. "This guy has fancy tech and a grudge against Mr. Stark?"

"That is an accurate summary."

"And he looks just like Mr. Beck?"

"There was a ninety-nine point seven percent match."

"Could be just a coincidence. I mean, how many guys with fancy tech and grudges against Mr. Stark have actually done something bad about it?"

"Compiling a list for you now."

Peter peaked his eyes open for just long enough to catch a flash of Justin Hammer and Ivan Vanko before closing his eyes again. "That's okay, E.D.I.T.H. It was a rhetorical question."

It could be a coincidence. Mr. Beck was from an alternate universe - although, hadn't Peter already explained why that idea was weird? - so it's not entirely unlikely that someone from Peter's universe could look just like him.

Peter buried his fingers in his hair and looked at Ned again. "I need to talk to someone about this before it drives me crazy."

"Mr. Hogan, Mrs. Parker, and Mrs. Potts are listed as emergency contacts for you. Should I try one of them?"

"Aunt May will just freak out and Happy will just tell me to trust Mr. Fury and get annoyed at my ramblings."

"Should I try Mrs. Potts then?"

Ned caught his eye and frowned. "You okay dude, you've got that look on your face?"

Look? What look? "Yeah," he said, before tilting his head towards Betty, hoping Ned would get the point and separate from his new girlfriend long enough for them to talk.

"Contacting Mrs. Potts."

"What? Wait, E.D.I.T.H., no," he hissed quietly and turned away. In the corner of his eye, he saw Ned shrug before focusing back on Betty.

"You have reached the personal number of Mrs. Virginia Potts, CEO of Stark Industries," a feminine voice with an Irish lilt answered. "I do not recognize this number. Please state your business and I will happily schedule an appointment for you."

Peter blinked. "I thought her name was Pepper," he muttered. Was Pepper her middle name? Or a nickname? How did he not know this?

"Oh, Peter, I'm sorry," F.R.I.D.A.Y. said, voice sounding warmer. "I did not realize it was you. Are you borrowing a phone?"

"Uh, no. I'm using E.D.I.T.H. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to -"

"I will log E.D.I.T.H.'s number for future reference. I'll let Mrs. Boss know you're calling her."

"Wait!" Why do Mr. Stark's AIs always do this to him? "I don't want to bother her. She's probably got important things going on."

"Mrs. Boss is currently unoccupied. She will be with you in a second."

"But -"

"Hello?"

"H-hey, Mrs. Potts," Peter stuttered, burying his face in his hands. "Sorry to bother you."

"You're never a bother, Peter. It's good to hear from you. How are you? Happy told me you went on a school trip to Europe. How is it?"

"I'm okay. The trip is… something. Um -"

"Petey! Is that Petey?"

"Yes, Morgan, it's Peter. Would you like to say hi?"

"HI PETEY!"

Peter smiled, even if he couldn't help but flinch at the loud voice right in his enhanced ears. "Hey, little Lady Morgana."

"Is Petey coming over?"

"Not today," Pepper chuckled. "He's on a school trip, remember? Maybe when he gets back he can come over."

"I'd love to!" Peter answered automatically. "I mean, if it's okay."

"Of course it's okay. You and May are always welcome. You can bring your friends too. You three could do with getting out of the city for a little bit this summer."

"Sleepover!?" Morgan cheered.

"We'll see."

"Technically we're out of the city right now," Peter pointed out.

"Yes, from one city into another. You guys were going to Venice and Paris right?"

"Prague, actually, not Paris."

"Well, that's good for culture, but you kids could do with some nature in your life."

Peter's nose scrunched up at the idea of camping or marching through bug-filled forests. He liked the city, thank you very much. "Sounds great, Mrs. Potts."

"I can hear you making a face, Peter. Honestly, you are so much like -"

Pepper cut herself off, but that didn't stop the grief-guilt-pain mix from flooding through him.

"Anyways, I thought I told you to call me Pepper. So, where are you right now?"

"Uh… Austria? I think? I know we're in the Alps," he said, glancing out the window.

"That is correct, Peter. You are currently in the Central Eastern Alps," E.D.I.T.H. helpfully provided. "Would you like to know your exact location?"

"That's okay, E.D.I.T.H. Thanks."

"You have E.D.I.T.H.?" Pepper asked.

"Yeah, Mr. Fury said Mr. Stark left her for me. Is that… Am I not supposed to have her?" Peter's voice matched hers in confusion. Had Mr. Stark not left the glasses to him after all?

"No, or yes. Tony left them to you. I just didn't think you'd get them already. I would have thought to wait until you're eighteen, after graduation. I should have known Fury would meddle though. That man. Has he been bothering you? Is that why you seemed weird when I asked about the trip?"

"Kind of. Did you, uh, see what happened in Venice yesterday?"

"I think I heard something about a water monster. Oh! Oh, Peter, did you get dragged into that? I'm sorry. I know you were really hoping to get a break from all that nonsense during your trip."

Peter felt something relax in him for the first time since seeing the suit in his suitcase. He didn't know why, but Mrs. Potts was the only one that really understood why he had wanted to take a vacation from Spider-Man during the trip.

"Yeah, and right after Mr. Fury dragged me off. It, um," Peter glanced at his classmates and scooted down in his seat again, lowering his voice. "I guess there's more of those monsters, one for each element. Or natural element I guess. You know, earth, wind, water, and fire. They're called elementals. At least, according to Mr. Beck."

"Mr. Beck?"

"He's the guy that fought the water elemental yesterday."

"Oh, right, I think I saw him in the news. They didn't give a name though. Is he a new superhero?"

"That's… kind of what I wanted to talk about. E.D.I.T.H. and I were checking some stuff, but something feels weird, and I really need to talk it out to someone, but I didn't want to worry Aunt May and Happy always gets grumpy when I ramble even though I know he doesn't mean anything by it."

"Grumpy," Morgan chuckled and Peter jumped, having forgotten she was there.

"Honey, why don't you go back to your movie. Peter and I need to talk about business stuff right now."

"Okay," Morgan groaned and Peter could just see her pout in his head. "Bye Petey."

"Bye. I'll come see you when I get back, okay."

"Promise?"

"Pinky promise."

"You can't pinky promise over the phone," the girl snorted and a moment later he heard a door shut.

"Okay, now tell me what's wrong?" Pepper said in that voice Peter had only ever heard her use while visiting Stark Industries for something. Business Pepper, MJ called it with approving eyes when she'd overheard Peter explaining it to Ned.

Peter thought over how to start. "Do you know a guy named Dr. Ludwig Rinehart?" he ended up going with.

"The name's familiar. He was on the B.A.R.F. project, right?"

Peter couldn't help the chuckle that slipped out. Yeah, Mr. Stark definitely liked his acronyms. "Yeah, then he got fired for sending threats to Mr. Stark."

"Oh yes, him. Does he have something to do with these elementals?"

"Maybe. See, after the water guy attacked, Mr. Fury showed up in my hotel room and shot Ned with a tranquilizer dart then dragged me away to his secret hideout." Peter paused as he heard Mrs. Potts mutter something under her breath, but he couldn't make it out and she didn't say anything else so he continued, "That's when I met Mr. Beck - Quentin Beck - and he explained that he and the elementals came from another universe - which I thought was crazy because that would change what we understand about - Oh, sorry I almost started rambling. Sorry, Mrs. Potts."

"It's fine, Peter. I'm used to it," Pepper said, sounding fond. "So Beck and these elementals came from another universe? How?"

"Mr. Beck said it was because of something to do with the Infinity Stones, but I'm actually starting to wonder how true his story might be because E.D.I.T.H. and I were looking into the water monster attack and I noticed some weird energy anomalies, well E.D.I.T.H. pointed them out, but I noticed what was weird about them. I figured they were connected to the elemental because they start to build up right before it shows, but then they just vanish without any decay and there's a weird delay between it's defeated and when the energy disappears. And it's weird that it just so happens to interfere with security systems, right?"

"What do you mean it interferes with security systems?" Pepper asked and Peter could hear what sounded like her fingers tapping at a tablet.

"Oh, well E.D.I.T.H.'s connected to a bunch of surveillance stuff, but everything in that area is disrupted during the fight. We figured it out when I tried to look up the fight. I figured maybe E.D.I.T.H. might be able to help out with taking down the elementals, but she couldn't see anything about the fight because of the disruption. All we can go on at that time is news footage and social media."

"That certainly does sound odd."

"Or convenient?" Peter offered.

"Definitely suspicious," Pepper agreed and Peter smiled. "How does this connect to Rinehart? And why are you getting involved? I thought you were on vacation. If Beck is handling this, then you should let him."

"I was going to, but then Mr. Fury kidnapped our vacation."

"WHAT!?"

"Y-yeah," Peter said, his shoulders creeping up. "He said the next elemental was supposed to show up in Prague, but I told him I didn't want to leave my class, and he said he understood so I thought that was the end of it, but then it turned out that he just used his super-spy tactics to get our class sent to Prague instead of Paris like we were originally supposed to. The bus we're taking is even being driven by one of his guys."

"He… I'm going to have words with that man." Peter shivered at the anger in her voice. "Okay, I'll deal with Fury. Just stay away from his people and stick to your class until I can get this taken care of, alright? This is not something you should be having to deal with, especially not while on vacation."

"He said he needed me," Peter explained, though he couldn't help but feel a bit relieved that this was being taken out of his hands.

"He could have called Rhodey, or Wilson or Barnes or literally anyone that wasn't a grieving seventeen-year-old currently on a well-deserved vacation!" Pepper snapped.

"Right." Peter's fingers once more landed on the glasses. "Thanks."

"Of course, sweety."

Peter probably would have blushed at the endearment, had he not been distracted by the bus stopping for gas. He stuck his phone back in his pocket, but kept the headphones on.

"Back to Rinehart?" she said, her voice more controlled now.

"Right." Peter stood up and followed his classmates off the bus. "So after we figured that out, I asked -" Peter cut off when Dimitri held his arm out to stop him as soon as he stepped off the bus.

The man pointed to where a tall, scary-looking blonde woman was standing in a doorway.

"Peter?"

As the woman disappeared into the building, Peter turned to Dimitri with a nervous smile. "Sorry, I was told to stay with my class."

Ignoring the man's glare, Peter followed after the others before ducking behind a barn.

"Peter, what's going on?"

"We're at a rest stop. Mr. Fury's guy, the one driving the bus, tried to get me to go with some woman. I did what you said though." He said, looking over at where he could see MJ studying a large spider web out of earshot. He shivered, imaging the spider that must have made it.

Then Dimitri stepped around the corner, sending another shiver down his spine.

"Good."

He took a step back at the bad feeling he was getting.

"Fury said -" the man began.

"I'm on the phone," Peter interrupted, pointing at his headphones.

"E.D.I.T.H. can you transfer me to Peter's phone and put me on speaker, please?" Pepper asked, a touch of annoyance in her voice.

"Would you like me to do that, Peter?"

"Sure," Peter answered, pulling out his phone and unplugging his headphones.

"Excuse me, sir, but Peter and I are having a private conversation about confidential Stark Industries business."

"Mrs. Potts," the man growled, scowling at the sound of her voice. "I work with Fury. We need -"

"I'm sorry, but this is an urgent matter that I would like Peter to be involved in due to his status as CTO in training."

If anything, the man's scowl grew as he looked up at Peter. "CTO in training?"

Peter blushed. Mr. Stark had had him take an active role in Stark Industries after the whole Vulture incident, but he'd never put a name to it. Peter had just figured it was making the whole internship story legit. Was he seriously considered a CTO in training? What did a CTO even do?

"Yes, now if you'll excuse us?"

Peter was getting serious death glare vibes from the man, but thankfully he turned and left.

"He's gone," Peter said, sticking the earbuds back in.

"I'm seriously going to tear Fury - I mean, nevermind," Pepper blustered, her audio returning to the glasses.

Peter snickered. "I'm seventeen. I do know what you were going to say, you know."

"Hush. You are the pure kid and I will keep it that way!"

"Me?"

"Yes, you," Pepper groaned. "Morgan told me that I own the word shit the other day and Harley… goes without saying."

"She told you what?" Peter laughed, leaning back against the barn.

"Peter, Rinehart."

"Right," he chuckled before focusing. "So after looking into the energy thing, I had E.D.I.T.H. track down a picture of Mr. Beck without his helmet and then she ran facial recognition. Rinehart was the result."

"Beck is Rinehart?"

"Either that or he looks just like him. Different universes and all that. But considering how often supervillains tend to have stupid grudges against Mr. Stark and all the weirdness about his story and the energy anomalies…"

"Better safe than sorry?"

"Yeah. He's into holograms, right? Maybe he's faking the attacks for some reason. He'd be able to cause a lot of damage without getting any of the blame because everyone thinks he's the one who saved the day."

"Holograms wouldn't be able to cause actual damage."

"Holograms covering robots would though. Or maybe drones?"

"Weaponized drones!" Pepper gasped. "Like the ones for E.D.I.T.H. They would definitely be able to cause that kind of damage. More, even, depending on how many there were."

"E.D.I.T.H. has weaponized drones!?" Peter pulled out his phone and started looking over the list again.

"For emergencies," she emphasized.

"Do all the AIs have Instant-Kill Modes or only mine," he grumbled, glaring at the list.

"He worried about you. We all do. We just want you to be as safe as possible."

Peter glanced over as he heard Mr. Harrington call out and he slowly made his way towards the bus. "Right. So you think there might be something to it? The whole Rinehart thing."

"While I wouldn't say alternate universes are a crazy idea at this point - heaven knows after time travel and aliens and… What has life even become since Tony put on that stupid suit?" Pepper muttered that last part and Peter fidgeted with the wire for the headphones as he realized he wasn't supposed to hear it. "Anyways, I think looking a little closer to home first might be a good idea. I've got a few contacts, both my own and some of Tony's, that I can check in with. Just try to stay out of trouble for now and let me know about any changes. I'll let you know as soon as I've found anything out."

"Yes, ma'am," he said, coming up to the end of the line to get back onto the bus. He tried to ignore both the insult Flash snipped at him when he stood next to him and the boring eyes of Dimitri.

"Be careful," she reiterated.

"I will. Talk to you later."

"You better."

Anyone else catch that Beck insinuated that's not actually his name?