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New York was terrible. New York was constant traffic and frustrated locals and clueless tourists. New York was incessant noise and blinding lights and chaos. It was rubble and a battleground and a giant flying monster crashing through buildings. It was the proof of a universe much more expansive and terrifying than anyone could understand. It was nukes detonated by the government and holes in the sky leading to the vast unknown.
Tony Stark hated New York.
So why, oh why, was he driving there now?
He moved upstate specifically to get away from New York and all it’s terrible memories and nightmares. He couldn’t walk anywhere without there being a reminder of something traumatic from his past. Manhattan was the battle, Brooklyn was Steve, Staten Island was a ferry splitting in half, Coney Island was a plane crashing.
But he had promised Peter he would pick him up for dinner. It was part of his initiative to get the kid to open up to him more, after his disastrous first attempt proved to be the wrong way to go about it. To be fair, he didn’t really have a good example on how to treat kids.
So that’s how he found himself pulling over to the curb next to an apartment building in Queens. He shot Peter a quick text and tapped his foot nervously as he waited for the kid to step outside the door. Peter shot him a smile as he jogged down the short flight of stairs, donning a light jacket and a ridiculous t-shirt with yet another science pun on it (where did he find all those?) and Tony nodded in return as he stepped inside the car.
“Hey, Mr. Stark,” he greeted. “Where to?”
“I got us a reservation downtown,” Tony replied and shifted the car into drive.
The restaurant he took Peter to was his favorite in New York, and one he frequented for business meetings and dates with Pepper. The staff knew him well and guaranteed him privacy, which was always something he valued. Peter, however, didn’t seem to share the same regards for the establishment as he stared at the menu with a hilariously flabbergasted face.
“What is all of this? I can’t even pronounce any of it!”
“It’s French,” Tony explained.
“Well, I take Spanish.”
“Noted.”
“This is way too fancy,” Peter whined. “And expensive. I don’t know what any of this is. Do they just have any, like… burgers on here or anything?”
Tony snorted. “Why don’t you just get the hachis parmentier? It has ground beef in it.”
Peter scanned the menu for Tony’s suggestion and his eyes bulged when he saw the price.
“Oh my god…”
“Don’t look at it,” Tony waved at him, “It’s on me.”
Peter looked like he was going to argue, but then the waiter walked over. Tony ordered his meal and Peter shot him a worried expression before he hesitantly ordered Tony’s suggestion. Tony stuck with just water with his meal, even though a red wine would have paired amazingly with his pan-seared foie gras . Oh, well. He was in the company of a teenager, he needed to be responsible.
When the waiter walked away, Peter shifted in his seat.
“So… why exactly did you bring me to this extremely fancy restaurant? You said you had something you wanted to talk to me about?”
“Ah yes,” Tony folded his arms on the table like he was about to get down to serious business. “How was your week?”
Peter scrunched his nose. “What?”
“Was it good? Bad? Did you stop any crimes? Do anything exciting? Ace your exam?”
“I… wait, did you come all the way out here just to ask me how I’m doing?”
“Yeah?” Tony responded, like it was obvious.
Peter stared at him like he had lost his mind.
Tony scratched the bridge of his nose. “I, uh, I already told you that I didn’t have the most… supportive upbringing. I didn’t really have anyone to ask me how I was doing and check in on me. I’m just trying to not put you through the same thing.”
Peter’s face morphed from skepticism to surprise. “Oh…”
“Listen,” Tony continued. “Obviously I haven’t done the greatest job so far being your mentor. I don’t remember what it’s like to be a kid sometimes and just wanting to be acknowledged. I convinced myself that I would be a bad influence on you if I spent too much time with you, and I thought if I kept my distance and monitored you through your suit, I could keep you in check. But now I see that maybe… I was being just like my father. A lot of what happened to you with the Vulture could have been avoided if I just communicated with you. So… let’s communicate.”
Peter blinked at Tony. “Wow, I… thanks. You really… you’ve been a great mentor. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me so far. Even though you think you haven’t done a good job, you have. The suit… it’s so awesome. And taking me to Germany… and you’ve saved my life like a whole bunch. Really. You didn’t have to do all this.”
Tony shot him a crooked smile. “Well, I wanted to make it up to you. After risking your life to save my jet from getting stolen, I really owe you one.”
Peter’s face turned red and his mouth flapped uselessly, like he couldn’t conjure up a coherent response.
“So… nothing to report? I’m trying to ease off the whole spying on you through your suit thing, so I have no idea what you’ve been up to. Although don’t think this means I’m loosening the safety precautions. If anything happens to you, that suit is programmed to respond swiftly.”
Peter nodded. “Uh, yeah… nothing much, it’s been quiet. I stopped a mugging the other day, that was cool.”
Tony raised his eyebrows. “A mugging, really? Sounds dangerous.”
“Yeah, it was nothing,” Peter waved his hand. “Webbed the gun out of his hand, then webbed him to the dumpster. It took two seconds, easy peasy. The guy who was supposed to be his victim was really nice. He called the police, told them Spider-Man saved his life. It felt really good… I don’t even feel like I deserved it. It was barely any trouble, and it was only one crime out of–”
“Hey,” Tony cut him off. “Don’t think about it like that. You can’t afford to do that when you’re a hero. Lots of things are going to happen that are out of your control, but you just have to count the ones you did prevent.”
Tony wished he could follow his own advice, but Peter was different. Peter was young and innocent and eager to do good in the world. Tony wanted to keep that light in his eyes alive for as long as he good.
Peter nodded and looked at the ground like he didn’t entirely believe Tony, but he didn’t say anything.
The next time Tony visited Peter, it was after school. He parked the car on a side street and walked towards the entrance with a baseball hat and sunglasses on. It probably wasn’t the best disguise, but it seemed to do the trick.
Peter spotted him in the crowd of high schoolers exiting the building and smiled, getting on his tiptoes to wave at him over all the other heads. Tony nodded and dipped to the corner by the fence to wait for Peter to make his way over to him.
“Hey, Mr. Stark!” Peter greeted enthusiastically. “Ready for patrol?”
“I feel like this is beneath me,” Tony scowled. “Iron Man doesn’t patrol for ATM heists.”
“Oh, come on,” Peter whined, smiling. “It’ll be fun, you promised. It may not be as glamorous as taking down aliens and stopping nuclear attacks, but trust me… what I do helps people too.”
“Never doubted that, kid.”
Peter pulled him into a sandwich shop on the corner for “fuel” — (“I’ll pick the restaurant this time,” he jabbed. He hadn’t been too impressed with the “rich people food,” as he called it) and Tony bought a very questionable $5 ham and cheese sandwich.
They ate at a booth in the corner of the store (“crime can wait, Peter, you’re not getting more crumbs in that very expensive suit”) while Peter told Tony about his school day, mostly with a mouth full of food. But Tony listened and nodded enthusiastically. This was something he wished his father did for him.
After they finished up their meal, they donned their suits (Peter snuck away to a public bathroom while Tony simply ducked around a corner to call his armor and flew to a rooftop to wait for him) and hopped around the city. Peter was dismayed that it was a quiet night, he probably wanted to show off his skills to Tony, but criminals had no doubt heard that Iron Man was in town and laid low.
It gave them a chance to talk instead, and they found themselves on a rooftop, masks off and legs dangling over the edge, staring up at the night sky.
“Do you ever regret being a superhero?” Peter asked out of the blue after a lull of silence. Tony looked at him. “I mean, you’ve been doing this for a long time. I remember I was like five when you announced that you were Iron Man. After all this time, does it ever get… tiring?”
Tony huffed. “Sometimes,” he shrugged, looking down. “I guess there comes a point where you just want to settle down, but you don’t know how. At what point do you just… retire? Iron Man is a part of me now, I don’t think I can give it up, but…”
Peter nodded at his silence. “When I first got these powers, I thought it was really cool. It was like a game to me. But then I realized how serious it was. Like you said, Spider-Man is a part of me now. Even if I don’t wear the suit, I still have the powers. And if I don’t use them…”
He looked down at the city below them. Calm, quiet, and peaceful.
“Then whatever bad things happen are my fault.”
Tony nodded. He could relate to that.
“Don’t get me wrong,” Peter added quickly. “Having these powers is still awesome. But sometimes… I wonder if it would have been better if I stayed a regular kid from Queens.”
Tony looked at him sadly. He had too much responsibility for a fifteen year old kid. He shouldn’t have to handle the burden of powers like his at such a young age.
“Hey, well if it’s any consolation,” Tony placed a metal arm awkwardly on his shoulder. “I think you’re doing great, kid.”
Peter smiled at him.
“Much more responsible than I was at your age, seriously. I was so rebellious fifteen. You’re already better than I was.”
Peter laughed.
“Not sure if that was a compliment? Kind of a low bar.”
“Hey,” Tony smacked the back of his head and Peter laughed more, raising his arms in mock defense.
It became a weekly routine. Tony would pick Peter up from school, they would patrol together, and Peter would update him on his crime-fighting life, or even just school and friends. It was a welcome distraction from the loneliness that had seeped into his life from the absence of his team. With Pepper busy running the company, and most of the Avengers MIA, he found himself with little to do and not many people to keep him company.
Peter filled that space perfectly. Tony found himself driving down to New York more and more often to visit the spider kid and his ridiculously good looking aunt. At first, she had been furious upon finding out that the both of them had been hiding Peter’s double life from her. The fallout lasted two weeks, upon which Tony was completely cut off from contact with them.
It was a tough two weeks. Tony felt restless, torn between giving them space or reaching out to apologize. Whenever he got involved, though, it tended to only make things worse, so he kept his distance.
Following that, however, he received a call from May and they met up for coffee to discuss Peter’s vigilante life moving forward. He still had no idea what Peter said to convince her to let him go back to crime-fighting, but it worked, and better yet Tony was allowed to see him again.
In fact, now that May knew about his double life, she encouraged visits from Tony more, wanting him to keep her informed of all of Spider-Man’s goings on to make sure he wasn’t doing anything too dangerous. It made her feel better to have another adult keep him in check as well, since heroics and superpowers were not something covered in any parenting books.
Tony was invited to several dinners at the Parker household, as May’s way of getting to know him better and decide if he was a trustworthy guardian. Tony understood perfectly–Peter was her last living relative, after all–and he liked to think he did a good job.
So that’s how he found himself sitting at a small kitchen table in a cramped apartment waiting to be served a frozen dinner.
“Peter, can you set the table?” May shouted from the oven as she pulled the chicken out.
“Sure, May!” Peter called back and got up to grab some plates and silverware.
“Do you need me to do anything?” Tony asked, feeling useless as he sat alone at the table.
“No, no, you just stay right there, you’re our guest!” May insisted.
Peter came back and gave him a small smile as he laid out the table settings, and May came over and placed several trays of food on the table.
“Help yourself!” May said as she passed around the food.
Tony took several large helpings and passed the trays over to Peter. It all felt so domestic. He was used to robots bringing him his dinners in the lab and eating alone. He couldn’t recall ever having a home cooked meal even in his childhood, it was always butlers and kitchen staff. It was… nice, to be eating dinner with a family, even if it wasn’t his own.
“Sir, Mr. Parker has arrived.”
FRIDAY’s voice echoed through the room, startling Tony from his project.
“Let him in,” Tony responded, pulling away from his desk and stretching, popping his joints.
He made his way out of the lab to greet the young spiderling. He had invited Peter up to the compound as a change of pace, since he had been the one going to Queens for the past couple of months. Besides, the teenager had expressed interest in seeing the Avengers headquarters again and Tony figured it would be convenient. It saved him the trip, but he also felt bad for Happy who had to drive both ways to pick him up and drop him off again.
It had been hard to find a day where Peter had a clear schedule. At least with Tony, he had nothing but time on his side. With Pepper running the company and the Accords practically decommissioning Iron Man, he had a wide open schedule. But with Peter, the over-achieving, full-time AP and honors student and member of the decathlon team, it was tricky to find a time where he could justify the six hour commute, even after quitting band and robotics club.
So as nice as it was that Tony got a break from traveling across the state every week, it wasn’t something that could happen often. He appreciated it while the moment presented itself.
“Peter, nice of you to come up here today,” Tony greeted as he entered the room. Peter looked around at the space with the same awe he had the first time he visited. “I hope Happy treated you well on the way up.”
“As always,” Peter laughed.
“Good, good,” Tony put his arm around Peter’s shoulder and guided him to the lab. He had promised Peter that the next time he was here, he would show him the space.
Peter tensed in excitement as the door slid open to reveal his haphazard workshop. A coffee machine was boiling in the corner, DUM-E perked up in response to the visitors, and a half finished skeleton of Iron Man was laid out over a mannequin in the center of the room, schematics lit up around it in holographs.
Tony raised his arms dramatically. “Where it all happens.”
“Woah,” Peter breathed, and Tony let him walk around and explore.
Peter immediately walked up to the unfinished project and studied it. He walked around it, eyeing it up and down, and glanced at the holograms. He poked one experimentally, and it separated into several smaller screens, causing him to jump. He looked at Tony wide-eyed to see if he’d done anything wrong, but Tony simply made a funny face and shrugged, so Peter relaxed.
He moved over to the back, where glass cases full of armor lined the wall. He pressed his hand against the glass and peered inside at Mark XLVI.
“So, what do you think?” Tony finally asked.
Peter turned back around to face him, smiling excitedly and eyes still scanning the room. “It’s… it’s…”
“I know,” Tony flourished his hand and walked toward the center of the room. “It leaves many people speechless.”
“So cool,” Peter finally finished, grinning widely. “What’s the plan for today?”
“Well, I was working on this here before you came in,” he knocked at the unfinished armor next to him. “I was thinking you might like to observe?”
The smile was wiped from Peter’s face and replaced with shock. “Seriously?”
Tony nodded. “Seriously. Now come here.”
Peter jogged over to him as he bent over and picked up some wiring, explaining to Peter his process. He tossed him some safety goggles and gloves as he worked, and the teen would ask him questions every once in a while. A lot of his questions impressed Stark–they had a lot of intelligence and genuine curiosity behind them. Peter would make an excellent scientist.
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” Tony asked while he was welding some metal together and Peter stood a safe distance away with a helmet on.
“I dunno,” Peter shrugged, his expression hidden behind the mask. “I like science a lot… I was thinking maybe something in chemistry or maybe engineering.”
Tony nodded, turning off his blowtorch and lifting up his helmet to wipe his forehead.
“Yeah, it seems you have a knack for this stuff,” Tony agreed. “I said it before, but if you’re interested in MIT, I have a lot of connections. And whatever school you’d like to go to I’d be happy to write a sterling letter of recommendation for my favorite intern.”
Peter beamed. “Thanks, Mr. Stark. I’ll keep that in mind.”
Tony put the mask back on to hide his smile and got back to work. “That you will.”
Around two hours later, after Tony had let Peter help him with a few things and Peter had enthusiastically taken up to the task, FRIDAY interrupted their workflow.
“Boss, James Rhodes is here to see you.”
Tony stood up, stretching his muscles, and he could see Peter doing the same. He had lost track of time.
“Is War Machine here?” Peter asked with slight fear in his voice. It was understandable, the last time he had seen him, Rhodey had dropped hundreds of feet from the sky. And Tony hadn’t expected him to show up today. He didn’t made any plans with his friend.
“I guess so,” Tony put down his tools. “You can stay here if you want.” He checked his watch, it was mid-afternoon. “Oof, lost track of time. Or we could grab a lunch, I’m actually starving.”
“Sure,” Peter responded. “He doesn’t know I’m Spider-Man, right?”
Tony smiled. “Nah,” he reached toward his head and ruffled his hair. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell him.”
The two of them walked back to the kitchen, where Rhodey was waiting for them. He leaned against the counter casually, his iron legs barely noticeable. Tony had been working on improving them.
“Hey, Tony,” Rhodey’s eyebrows scrunched when he noticed his tag-along. “And who are you?”
“Peter,” the kid waved. “Parker,” he added.
“Uh huh,” Rhodey responded, his question not totally answered.
He looked to Tony for guidance.
“Intern,” Tony said simply, opening the fridge. “Pete, you want a sandwich?”
“Intern?” Rhodey asked at the same time as Peter said, “Yes, please.”
“What kind?” Tony asked.
“Roast beef?”
“Tony,” Rhodey said in a questioning tone.
Tony grabbed the roast beef and cheese and turned around. “Yes?”
“Since when did you invite interns to the compound? Or interact with them at all?”
“Peter is… a special intern,” Tony shrugged. “He’s in the September Foundation. Very smart kid.”
He prepared the roast beef sandwiches. One for Peter and one for himself. “Have you eaten yet, Rhodey? Want one?”
Rhodey crossed his arms and stared at Tony critically.
“Should I put that down as a yes?”
Rhodey said nothing. Tony knew he was onto him, but he wasn’t about to blow Peter’s cover, especially when he was standing right next to him. Peter looked back and forth at them, looking uncomfortable.
“Just so you know, Ross has been calling me,” he finally said, as if he read between the lines. “He wants to make sure you’ve read and agreed to the latest additions to the Sokovia Accords, and he said you’ve been ignoring his calls.”
“I know,” Tony shrugged, pulling out extra bread for Rhodey. “Don’t worry, I’ve got it under control.”
Tony did not have this under control. He wasn’t equipped for this, and he had no idea what to do, listening helplessly while Peter sobbed on the other end of the phone.
“Peter, what happened!? You have to talk to me!”
Peter gasped and heaved but no coherent words were coming out.
“Breathe, Peter! Are you hurt?”
“N-no,” the choked voice on the other end responded.
“Alright, tell me what’s wrong. And deep breaths, do it with me.”
Tony inhaled and exhaled dramatically to give Peter the idea, and he heard the teen follow his lead on the other end. Finally after a minute, he composed himself enough to speak.
“S-sorry,” he mumbled, sniffling wetly.
“It’s no problem, what’s going on?” Tony asked.
“I… I…” he heard Peter choke down another sob. “I wasn’t fast enough…”
Tony felt a chill run down his spine. “Peter…?”
“Someone died tonight. They were shot, because I wasn’t fast enough to save them.”
“Oh, Peter,” Tony felt himself deflate. “Remember what I said to you before? You can’t save them all. You can’t hold every failure over your head, you’ll lose your mind that way.”
“I know, but,” Peter hiccuped. “I just… I couldn’t help but think—it reminded me of my Uncle Ben.”
“What do you mean?” Tony asked, dreading the answer.
“My Uncle… I used to live with him, too. But he—he got shot.”
Tony closed his eyes. Of course, May was a widow. Peter has lost his parents and his uncle, the world was cruel.
“It was a year ago. I had already gotten my powers at that point. I could’ve saved him… but I didn’t. He’s dead because of me.”
Everything clicked into place. Peter’s drive to protect Queens, the responsibility that weighed heavily on his shoulders, his overwhelming need to stop every crime…
“And every time I don’t stop the bad guys, I think about the victim’s family… who they’re not coming back home to tonight. And I think of May crying the day… the day…”
Peter dissolved into tears again. Tony tried to comfort him as best as he could over the phone, making soft shhh noises and repeating “it’s okay” over and over again. He had no idea if it was helping at all.
“It’s not your fault,” he finally said, wishing he had more advice to give. He was never good with words.
“How do you do it?” Peter asked. “How do you deal with the guilt?”
Tony felt hollow, because he didn’t know how to respond. He didn’t deal with the guilt. He let it consume him. He turned to alcohol, he turned to Pepper, he turned to extravagant parties and a loud personality and obnoxious jokes to hide behind so no one would see how much it killed him inside, and it was barely working. He felt like he was falling apart at the seams, frayed and bursting open, and he could barely contain it. He had no words of wisdom or comforting stories to offer.
But he didn’t want Peter to end up like this. He wanted him to be better, but he was just like him. God help the poor kid, he was just like him.
“I…” Tony hesitated. “I can be there in half an hour, would you like me to come down?”
“What, how?”
“I’ll take my suit, it’s much faster. Less traffic.”
He wasn’t cleared to fly, and Ross would be on him about it like a damn nuisance later, but he didn’t care. This was Peter.
“No, Mr. Stark, I can’t ask you to do that,” Peter said. “I don’t want to trouble you, I’ll be fine. I just… I couldn’t call May, she’d freak out. And I’ve never told anyone the thing about Ben… I just… I figured you would understand.”
And he did understand. He understood all too well. He thought back to all the deaths he blamed himself for, and all the close calls. He carried those with him every damn day, and he couldn’t imagine what it was like carrying that weight at fifteen years old.
“I’m on my way,” Tony informed him, sticking his arm out to call his suit. “Hold tight.”
Tony casually handed Peter an envelope. They were sitting on a park bench and it was almost time for Tony to head back, but he had one more important thing to do before he left.
Peter stared at the proffered hand in surprise, like he wasn’t expecting it. Which he probably wasn’t. “What’s this for?”
“Your birthday,” Tony explained, like it was obvious.
Peter raised his eyebrows. “How did you know?”
“I always know these things,” Tony said simply. “Are you going to take it or not?”
“Thanks,” Peter said, taking the envelope. “Should I open it now…?”
“If you want,” Tony feigned nonchalance, but he really did want to see Peter’s face when he opened it. “It’s not very sentimental or anything, just a little something in celebration. This is a big birthday.”
Peter ripped it open and took out the card inside. When he opened it, a check fell out onto his lap. He picked it up and his eyes went wide when he saw the dollar amount.
“I don’t know what kids are into these days,” Tony explained, trying to hide his smile. “So I figured money is always a safe bet. Happy birthday, Peter.”
Peter looked up at him incredulously. “I can’t take this, Mr. Stark,” he tried to hand the check back. “It’s too much…”
“Nonsense,” Tony pushed Peter’s hand back towards himself. “Get yourself something nice. Or a couple somethings. Seriously, that’s yours. It’s the least I could do.”
Peter smiled. “Wow. Thank you, Mr. Stark…”
“You’re welcome,” he responded. “So, what did you do for your sweet sixteen?”
Peter shrugged, stuffing the envelope with the check in his back pocket. “Not much. I had a couple friends over, May baked a cake. It was very low key.”
Tony nodded. He remembered his sweet sixteen. It was a little more wild than what Peter was describing.
“Well, you had a good time, I hope?”
“Yeah, I did,” Peter smiled. “Real good time. My friend Ned bought me a Spider-Man action figure as a joke. It’s in my room now.”
“My friend Rhodey got me an Iron Man action figure once.”
Peter laughed. In that moment, Tony felt like his world was completely at peace. He knew he had to go home soon–the sun was starting to set and he had a three hour drive. But for the first time in the year since he moved upstate, he realized that he didn’t want to leave.
Initially when he moved upstate, the idea was to get far away from New York City and not come back. But of course, that plan didn’t end up working. He found himself traveling back more and more often to visit a certain little crime-fighting spider-kid.
He shouldn’t be doing this, he knew. New York was nothing but a cocktail of anxiety, bad memories, and claustrophobia. But here he was.
“What are you doing?” Pepper asked, leaning over his shoulder to check out his computer screen.
“House hunting,” Tony replied simply, scrolling through the listings on the real estate website.
“What? You’re buying another penthouse?” Pepper squinted her eyes at the place in SoHo that Tony clicked on. “In New York?”
“Yeah, well… the compound is feeling a little too empty. And I figured I should get a place in New York for business trips.”
“Tony, look at me,” Pepper said sternly. He turned around in his chair slowly. She was wearing her I know you’re lying face. “What’s this really about? I thought we moved up here to get away from New York. Why are you looking to go back?”
Tony shrugged.
“Is this about the kid?” she asked.
“Peter,” Tony corrected.
“So it is?” she asked again. “You’ve been down to visit him a lot lately, what is it about him?”
“He just… needs my help, is all.”
“Really?” She put her hands on her hips. “Well, I don’t think this is a good idea, Tony. Giving him a suit is one thing, but moving back to New York? Continuously going back there? It’s not healthy, honey. I’ve seen what that place does to you. It’s not good. You’ve done enough for him, maybe it’s time to let him try being on his own.”
“No,” Tony immediately responded.
Pepper raised her eyebrows, then looked at him critically. He avoided her eye contact, she was way too good at figuring him out.
“Or is this more about you needing his help?”
“What?” Tony snapped, feeling defensive.
“Is he your new project?” Pepper asked. “Now that the Avengers are gone? Are you distracting yourself with him? Is this like the suits all over again?”
“No, it’s not like that, I promise.”
“Then what is it like?”
Tony sighed and lowered his head.
“It’s more than that, honey. At first, maybe he was just a distraction, I don’t know. The kid just… he made me feel like I had something to do. Like I could do something right. I’ve messed up a lot in my life, but if that kid turns out okay, if he becomes a hero who fights the good fight, then maybe my life hasn’t been a complete screw up.”
“You’re not a screw up, Tony,” Pepper said quietly. “You’re the bravest man I know, and that kid is lucky to have you as a mentor.”
“But it’s more than just that, now. I care about him. He needs someone to show him the ropes and I’m the only one stepping up to the plate. I never had anyone, Pep, and I know how scary that can be. I don’t want to put him through the same thing.”
Pepper touched his cheek and then brought his head to her chest and wrapped her arms around him.
“I just don’t know what to do,” Tony continued, leaning into her touch. “He’s not… he’s not my kid, I know that. But… I feel a responsibility to him.”
He closed his eyes. Peter had lost two father figures in his life, he wondered if he had room in his heart for one more. That kid had a pretty big heart, so he wouldn’t put it past him. Tony never considered himself a responsible role model before, but Peter made him want to try.
“I have to do this,” he whispered to Pepper.
“Okay,” she whispered back.
Tony met up with Peter outside a shopping center. He wore his signature hat and sunglasses, but he was spotted anyways and signed a couple autographs before they slipped away. No one seemed to question the kid hovering behind him, and he was glad. He tried to keep Peter out of the spotlight as much as possible, he didn’t need anyone putting two and two together.
They walked down the street together and Peter spotted a street vendor selling corn dogs on the side of the road.
“Aw, sweet, I’m starving. Do you want to get some?” Peter jogged up to it.
“Uh, those look very questionable,” Tony replied, scrutinizing the unidentifiable food on a stick.
“Come on, just try one. May gave me $20 this week,” he said, reaching into his back pocket for his wallet. “Two, please.”
“Ah, I got it,” Tony waved his hand at Peter and took out his wallet instead. “Save that $20 for something better.”
Peter looked torn but accepted the corn dog anyways. They continued walking and Peter ate his hungrily while Tony spun his around to inspect it.
“Come on, just bite into it,” Peter explained, already almost done with his.
“Do you want it?” Tony offered it to him, but he shook his head.
“No, that one was supposed to be for you. Come on, just one bite. If you don’t like it, I’ll finish it.”
Tony held it up to his face and looked at it closely. Before he could lose his courage, he closed his eyes and bit into it.
“Yeah, alright!” Peter cheered. “Is this your first corn dog experience? I am truly blessed to witness this.”
Tony scrunched his nose. “Here, you can have the rest of it now.”
“Aw, you didn’t like it?” Peter whined, but took the stick from him anyways.
“It was… okay,” Tony lied.
Peter dutifully ate the second corn dog, throwing the sticks in a trash can as they passed it. Tony had no idea how he was able to eat both of them.
“We’ll get giant pretzels next time. Have you ever had a New York pretzel?”
“Can’t say that I have,” Tony replied.
Peter shrugged, “I haven’t had one since I was a kid, but they're pretty good.”
“Still are a kid,” Tony corrected.
“You know what I mean.”
They continued their walk in silence. They had no plan for the day, but Tony had stopped by anyways because it had become routine.
“You’re welcome to stay for dinner, if you want to,” Peter continued. “May is making lasagna tonight.”
“Mm, as tempting as that is, I already have dinner plans with the lady,” Tony replied.
“Pepper Potts?” Peter asked excitedly. “Oh, that’s cool. Congrats to you two.”
Tony quirked his lips. “Thanks.”
“She’s welcome to come over anytime too,” Peter added. “For dinner, you know. If you wanted to bring her.”
Tony tilted his head towards him. “Is that right?”
Peter nodded. He made a mental note to introduce him to Pepper soon. They continued in silence for a few more moments, Tony chewing on the one thing on his mind lately.
“I’m thinking of getting a place in New York,” he blurted before he really had time to think about it.
“What?” Peter did a double take, caught off guard by the sudden change in subject.
“Been looking at a few places, nothing official yet.”
“But… why? Didn’t you just move out like, last year?”
Tony waved his hand. “The compound will still run in my absence. Besides, this commute has been a bitch.”
“Oh, sorry,” Peter ducked his head in embarrassment.
“Don’t blame yourself, kid, I’m the one that moved all the way across the state.”
“But… isn’t it gonna be expensive to move back here?”
Tony laughed. “I’m a billionaire, kid. I think I can afford it.”
Peter blushed. “Right.” He looked at the ground and kicked a rock, suddenly silent.
Tony squinted at him behind his sunglasses and lowered them a little. “What’s wrong?”
Peter shrugged. “Are you just moving back for me? Because you really don’t have to do that, Mr. Stark, I don’t mean to take up so much of your time—”
“Hey, hey, whoa,” Tony interrupted. “I’m doing this because I want to, trust me. I think it’ll be good for me.”
“Good for you how?”
Tony shrugged, lifting his sunglasses back up to cover his eyes and looked up at the sky. It no longer made his heart pound to see the vast expanse of blue above the New York skyline. He no longer expected to see a dark void leading to endless nothingness.
“Exorcising old demons, I suppose.”
Two months later, Tony was moving into a prime penthouse in the Upper East Side. It had a gorgeous view, plenty of space, and it only made his hands shake a little when he looked out over the familiar Manhattan landscape.
Pepper rubbed his shoulders soothingly and brought him away from the windows. They christened the new place with celebratory champagne.
“If it gets too bad, we’re moving back to the compound indefinitely,” Pepper warned as she clinked glasses with him.
“I know,” Tony nodded.
The compound wasn’t much better if he was being honest. It was too much space that could possibly be occupied by two people. It was originally meant to hold so much more. Passing by the hallways of empty rooms was depressing, and it was too cut off from society. He felt like he was suffocating there sometimes, alone inside his militaristic, concrete oasis.
They invited May and Peter over for dinner, to return the favor for all the times Tony stayed over their house. Watching their reactions as they walked into the suite was amusing. May at least tried to contain her shock; Peter, however, wore his heart on his sleeve.
“Woah!” he spun around in the entryway, absorbing a full three-sixty view. “This is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen!”
“Really?” Tony quirked his eyebrow.
“Well, other than, you know… meeting the Avengers all in one day. That was pretty awesome, too.”
“Thought so,” Tony laughed.
Pepper introduced herself to May and Peter, and they brought them into the kitchen for their meal. Tony felt a little bad that he programmed the robots to cook it rather than cooking it himself like May had done for him, but he was pretty sure that it’d be more edible this way.
Pepper and May hit it off really well, immediately diving into a conversation about irresponsible superheroes and their self-sacrificial tendencies, while Peter and Tony sat awkwardly on the other side of the table feeling unfairly criticized.
“So,” Tony started a side conversation with Peter. “I’m planning on setting up a lab in here. So whenever I’m around, if you want to do some tinkering… feel free to stop by.”
Peter looked at him with wide eyes. “Really?”
“Yeah,” Tony nodded. “I mean, it seems like you have a knack for invention. Those web shooters are really something, I’d love to see what you could make with some proper equipment and guidance.”
“That would be… that would be so… yes! Thank you, Mr. Stark!”
“Call me Tony,” he smiled. “I feel like we’re at that level now. And seriously, stop by anytime. Maybe we could work out a schedule with your aunt.”
Peter beamed back at him, and Tony felt his heart swell. He looked around the table at the group of people that had begun to feel like a family to him. Maybe, just maybe… this was what home was supposed to feel like.
New York wasn’t so bad after all. New York was home, and it always would be so long as the people he loved lived there. New York was cheap take out and corn dogs from street vendors. New York was strolls through the park and late night talks on building roofs. New York was an overactive spider-kid who rambled about school and made funny quips at bad guys. New York was a fresh start, a house to come back to where his fiancé was waiting for him, and the bright eyes of a young teenager who looked at him like he was worthy of redemption.
Tony Stark was starting to like New York.