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1.
Tony Stark had a problem, and that problem was Peter Parker and his goddamn puppy eyes.
It wasn’t even something he was fully aware of until it was pointed out to him.
Thanos had been gone for almost a year now, and things had settled down substantially. It took awhile for everyone to feel like they weren’t holding their breaths. It was so hard at first. For everyone. Seeing the people you’re closest to disappear right before your eyes took a toll on the lot of them.
But things were better. There were still bad days, of course there were, and unfortunately Tony was having one of those bad days when Peter came bouncing in the lab, speaking a mile a minute.
“Mr. Stark! Mr. Stark, Steve and Bucky are going out for a ‘small mission’- and it is small, you can ask- and they said I could go with them! Something about field training, and that I’m getting rusty-” Tony tuned out the rest of what the kid was saying as he turned to the two grinning men behind Peter.
The thing was, it hadn’t taken long for the entire group to fall in love with Peter. He was something of a light that could brighten up any of their darkest days. They all cared for him, so when Steve approached Tony a few days ago with the proposal of taking Peter out on something small to train while under the watchful eye of Captain America, Tony reluctantly agreed, but that was before he woke up from a vivid nightmare of the kid dying in his arms and he knew it was going to be a bad day.
“Not today,” he said as he stood from where he was saying. He noticed Steve frown slightly, but shifted his attention back to Peter.
“W-why not? Tony,” he whined. “Please!” He turned to Steve and Bucky, wordlessly asking them for backup. Tony crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows, waiting for one of them to make the next move.
“Tony, we’ll take care of him. I promise, he’ll be safe,” Steve said.
“Yeah!” Peter exclaimed, excited at having backup. “And who could protect me better than Captain America!” He immediately blanched when Tony’s eyes widened. “I- I mean-”
“I’m sorry,” Tony started as he stood, “but did I just hear you right? I am way better than Captain America!” Peter nodded frantically as Bucky barked out a laugh. Tony turned to them and noticed Steve smiling widely. “Wipe that smug look off your face, Rogers. You aren’t all that.” Tony had a tough time keeping a straight face when he saw Peter’s anguished face.
“Right, sorry, Mr. Stark. But can I please go? I haven’t gone out patrolling in so long and I need to do something. Please?” The kid looked at him with wide, pleading eyes. Peter turned to the two men behind him and then back at Tony, and he felt his resolve crack.
He sighed. “Fine, but if you come back with needing so much as a bandaid, I’m going to have both of your asses,” he said, directing the second part at Steve and Bucky.
“Yes!” Peter cheered as he leapt forward a quickly hugged Tony before running out. “I’ve got to go grab my suit! Be back in a sec!”
“What?” Tony asked when he saw the knowing looks Bucky and Steve were looking at him with.
“You’ve got a weakness,” Bucky said. Tony felt a flare of anger because of course Peter is his weakness, but he didn’t need that pointed out to him, especially when he was about to go on a damn mission- “His eyes,” he continued before Tony could say anything.
Tony paused and scrunched his eyebrows. “Huh?”
Steve laughed. “The kid’s got wicked puppy eyes, Stark. You can’t say no to them.”
“I-” he started but paused, thinking back to whenever Peter managed to convince him of something he didn’t think he could. “Well, shit.”
The kid came stumbling back in as he was putting his mask on. “I’m ready! Can we go? Let’s go!”
Steve clapped a hand on Peter’s shoulder and Bucky winked at Tony before they were exiting the lab as Tony shouted at them to be safe. When they were gone, Tony thought back to his kid’s newfound power.
This could be an issue.
2.
Tony was picking up Peter from school when he saw a familiar face shove Peter down the front stairs. Tony wasn’t sure if he was more angry or surprised. Why would Peter let himself be pushed?
Tony was out of the car before he could register his movements. “Hey,” he called out, “Flash? Yeah don’t think I’ve forgotten about you, douchebag.” Flash’s face went from confusion, to wonder, to fear, and honestly you’d think these kids would at least somewhat get used to having him there, but apparently not. “Last time I was here it was because you gave my kid a panic attack, and now I’m here and you’re shoving him down the stairs. I’m starting to sense a pattern, a pattern that I don’t like.”
“Mr. Stark, it’s fine, I’m okay,” Peter said as he grabbed his papers that flew out of his bag. “Let’s go.”
“No, Pete, I want to have a word with Eugene. Yeah kid, I did my research.” Flash looked like he was ready to vomit, and Peter stepped in his way and looked Tony in the eye with a way too patient look on his face.
“Mr. Stark.” His calm and borderline amused expression was enough to have Tony twitching in annoyance. “It’s fine. You and I both know that he can’t actually hurt me. Let’s go.”
Tony’s eyes flicked back to the twerp that was still frozen in spot but Peter drew his attention back to him. “Tony. I mean it. I want to leave.”
Peter’s pleading eyes took out all the fight in Tony. You’ve got a weakness. His eyes, The words echoed in his head. “Dammit kid, that’s just not fair,” he muttered. “We’re talking about this in the car!”
“If I want to be Peter Parker then I have to be Peter Parker,” the kid explained as they drove home. “Peter Parker is a nerdy loser. Being shoved around a little comes with the territory.”
“Pete, you can be yourself without getting bullied!” he exclaimed. “You don’t have to be a superhero to live your life without getting pushed down the stairs.”
Peter sighed. “I know, but it’s just easier to take it myself. If he’s not bullying me, then he’s bullying a different kid, a kid that might not be able to take it. Unlike me. So it’s just easier this way.”
Tony ran a hand down his face. “You stupid, selfless little menace,” he said without any malice. Peter just grinned. “Don’t smile, I’m trying to scold you for being too damn heroic. Can’t you just think think about yourself like every other teenager out there?”
Peter laughed and Tony reached over and rubbed his shoulder. This kid was too good for these people.
When they got home and watched a movie, Peter fell asleep and if he just happened to miss the phone call Tony made to the school about a certain bully terrorizing the students, well then he’d just have to find out the next day when he got to school and noticed Flash walking around like a castrated dog, not even lifting a finger towards any of the students at Midtown School of Science and Technology.
3.
“I don’t want to hear it!”
“But Mr. Stark-”
“Nope!”
“Can’t I just-”
“Absolutely not! You deliberately disobeyed my direct orders to stay behind-”
“In my defense, you always tell me to stay behind, even when I know you need me.”
“-and now you’re shot-”
“It’s really just a graze,” Peter mumbled and Tony’s eyes snapped to his.
“Oh, I’m sorry, just a graze? Is that supposed to make me feel better? That the bullet just grazed you?” Tony asked incredulously. “Kid, I had that under control! You were supposed to stay back!”
“I can’t just stay back! I can’t! Don’t you get it? I can’t stay back when hundreds of lives are in danger, when your life is in danger!” There was a pregnant pause before Peter rambled on. “I- I mean, I’m sorry I disobeyed you, but it kills me to have to sit here and wait for you to get back, not knowing if you’re okay.” Peter looked up from his hands and Tony’s heart thudded. The kid pulled out the puppy eyes again. “I’m sorry, but I can’t.”
Tony ran a hand over his face. “You’re going to turn my hair grey, kid, and we all know I’m too young for grey hair.”
“Do we though?” Peter sniped back with a playful smile.
“Yes, you little shit, we do.” Tony stepped forward and wrapped his arms around his kid, careful to avoid the graze, and yes okay it was a graze, but that didn’t make it okay. “I just- I can’t see you get hurt, Pete. That’s why I want you to stay. I can’t lose you, do you get that?”
Peter nodded. “I can’t lose you either. That’s why I want to go.”
Tony couldn’t stop the chuckle from escaping his throat. “Well, we make quite the pair, don’t we?”
“Yeah,” Peter laughed. “Quite the pair.” There was a few moments of comfortable silence before Peter piped up again. “Hey, Mr. Stark? Do you think we could order some of that fancy pizza?”
Tony laughed and avoided Peter’s face. “You know what? I’m just going to skip to the end of this debate and say yes. You and your freaking puppy eyes pretty much make me powerless,” he muttered the last sentence before walking off to order the food, but Peter heard and he cocked his head, a plan developing in the kid's mind.
+1
“Hey, Tony?” Peter called out, waking up Tony from where he was asleep on the couch.
Tony scrubbed at eyes. “What’s up, Pete?”
Peter walked in with a weird look on his face. “I need to ask you a favor.”
“What’s wrong with you, kid? Are you sick?” Tony asked immediately. Something wasn’t right.
“No! Nothing’s wrong. I just need a favor to ask you.”
Tony ignored him and got up and felt his head. “Are you sure you’re feeling okay?”
The weird look left Peter’s face and it shifted to annoyance. “I’m fine, Mr. Stark, but I need to ask you for a favor.”
“Oh. My God.” Tony was suddenly wide awake. “You’re trying to manipulate me into doing something by using artificial puppy eyes! Peter Benjamin Parker, how could you?”
Peter was suddenly bright red and Tony was laughing. “I- I am not! I just- I need a favor-”
“And you thought you could convince me by using your eyes, but you’ve got one problem: you can’t fake your sad, desperate look that gets me, kid. I have a sixth sense for bullshit.” Peter deflated and Tony continued. “Well, come on now. Ask me the favor. Let’s see how bad this is for you to try out that tactic.”
Peter fidgeted nervously. “Th-there’s just this stupid bring your parent to school thing where they just talk to the class about their careers and Aunt May can’t miss any work- and you know what? It’s okay, I’m just going to tell my teacher to pass me when it’s my turn-”
“Peter,” he cut the kid off. “It’s fine. I’ll come.”
Peter’s eyes shot up to his. “Wait, really? You don’t even know what day, or if you’ll be busy-”
“I won’t be.”
“But- you’ll come? Just like that?”
Tony nodded. “Just like that. See? You don’t need to pry on my weaknesses to get something from me. Sometimes you’ve just got to ask.”
Peter probably would’ve been embarrassed for longer, but he was too excited. “This is going to be so fun! So, I have this little packet in my bag, actually, that’ll tell you what to talk about-” Peter continued talking quickly as he reached into his bag, and Tony grinned.
Tony may have had a weakness for that certain look Peter got in his eyes, but as he looked at the kid talking brightly about the upcoming event at school, Tony felt a warmth in his chest. He realized that there isn’t anything he’d rather be doing and that Peter Parker wasn’t actually his weakness.
He was his strength.