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Peter Benjamin Parker always thought that the “Parker Luck” would last until he lie stinking in the earth
And yet, here he was, in a lab with Tony -fucking- Stark, disassembling a 6 cylinder engine - a machine the teen had never worked on before, but had read about a handful of times. When he mentioned to Tony that he’d never actually worked on cars the man had looked offended, and immediately worked on taking out one of the engines of his lesser cars for the boy to tinker and look around in.
“Car Engines are complex things, but they’re so damn fun. Have at it. Lemme know what you learn” He pat the engine, hanging from chains in the center of the laboratory.
So here he was, tinkering around curiously in the engine of a Maserati while Stark worked on further blueprints for what Peter assumed was another iteration of the IronMan suit.
“Boss, you’re getting another call from Mister Fuoco”
The audible sigh that Stark let out when FRIDAY announced that made the teen snort a bit.
“Well if he’s gonna keep this up patch him through over here. Don’t need to have his nasally voice echo through the lab”
There was a pause before a beep
“Stark, why aren’t you here?”
“... Nice to see you too, Frank” Tony wasn’t even looking at the screen, where the near-elderly man was scowling behind a table.
“.... You do know there’s a board meeting today, right? For all Shareholders?”
“Oh? FRIDAY, did I know that?”
“You did, sir. But you also had the appointment with Mister Parker”
“Ahhh, yup. Wasting time or wasting time, decisions decisions” The man shrugged “I’ll just watch the recap FRIDAY’ll give me, Frank.”
“Anthony you can’t keep-”
“End Call!”
Tony left the not-at-all amused man hanging as he nonchalantly got back to his blueprint, not noticing that Peter had paused in his tinkering and was staring at him. His expression would have been unreadable anyway, but that was beside the point.
Mister Stark had just called this.. “wasting time”
Peter tried to shake not off, not take it personally, but damn his low self esteem.
After trying and failing to focus on the engine a handful of times he noticed that it was past 7- time really did fly when you were tinkering on an engine worth more than your school tuition
“Mister Stark? It's past 7”
“Oh shit really?” The man checked his wristwatch “Well then, time to get you home. FRIDAY, call Happy”
“On it, boss”
Peter bit the inside of his cheek, contemplating, and mustering up the courage to just say something about it. He'd become a lot better about talking to Stark about things, feeling more casual with the man
Though perhaps that was part of the problem.
“Uh, Mister Stark? Can I say something?”
“I don't recall muting you, kid” Tony turned around, sipping one of his shakes as he leaned on his desk.
Peter took a deep breath, and while still fiddling with his hands, looked right st the man. “Listen, Mister Stark I... I know that you don't care about me as much as I care about you- and that's fine! It's totally fine, y'know? You have a lot more important things going on than spending time with some kid from queens, I get it Mister Stark; I really do. You don't have to, you know, keep inviting me to the lab if you're busy or whatever. It's fine..”
The absolute lack of reaction from Tony was probably worse than whatever the man could have said to him. Hell, he stopped sipping from his smoothie as soon as Peter had uttered the first sentence.
“I uh” Peter looked for the door “I'm gonna.. go… See you around, Mister Stark”
And he bolted out like he'd been chased
It took Tony a few more moments than he would’ve liked to register what Peter had just said to him.
The first thing to startle him out of his befuddlement was his phone- Pepper was calling. FRIDAY did him the courtesy of picking it up
“Tony- Francisco is still throwing a fit at your hanging up-”
“Pepper I think I fucked up”
She paused- her own confused face making Tony feel better, if slightly.
“Fucked what up?”
“Spider kid just told me…” He tried to recall word for word what the boy had said
Then, suddenly, FRIDAY replayed the scene from his security cameras and Tony stared at the footage, taking in what Peter said again, but still stuck on that first, damning phrase
“I know you don’t care about me as much as i care about you”
Pepper looked just as flabbergasted
“... Tony, holy shit, what did you say to him to make him think that??” She used her accusatory tone
“I swear to god this time I didn’t do anything!” He asserted.
“Tony, he thinks-”
“ I know, Pepper!” He but her off a bit too harshly, and she glared at him. He deflated, sighing deeply.
“Boss, Colonel Rhodes is calling”
“Patch him in” The mechanic rubbed his face exasperatedly “Sorry pep”
“I know, Tony. You’re fine” she assured, taking a softer tone.
Rhodey’s face appeared, halving the screen with Pepper
“Heyyyyyy, Tones, I was calling to ask about that whole balloon festival thing with the kid”
Tony groaned. Right, the fuckin' balloon festival. Peter had been fixated on hot air balloons recently since he watched some way too-long youtube video explaining the science and math that went into flying them. He’d planned on going to the balloon festival down in Jersey with the kid
“Yeah, gonna have to rain check that one. The kid thinks I don’t like him”
“Wait, what? Why the hell would be think that?”
“I don’t know” Tony shrugged, still slightly exasperated by the whole deal
“Did you say something?”
“Of course not!” he asserted again
“If I may interject, boss”
The three adults paused.
“Yes, Fri?”
“In your conversation with Mister Fuoco earlier, You called your time with Peter and I quote” She started playing a recording of him “Wasting my time or wasting my time”
Oh.
“.... Tony, what the hell?” Pepper exclaimed
“I was-”
“Nuh-uh Tones you really fucked it up here” Rhodey shook his head “I’ve met that kid exactly twice and I could tell he has the self esteem of a teddy bear. And you just equated that time you set aside for him as wasted. Way to go”
“Fuuuuuck” Tony groaned, sitting himself down in a chair
“Why did you even say that?” Pepper asked, checking her phone as she talked.
“I just wanted Fuoco to shut up and leave me alone! It was just - I just blurted it out like a moron” he ran a hand through his hair. “Time spent with him is never wasted” He resigned - wishing the kid hadn’t caught him so off guard that he’d said that to him.
Rhodes sighed “Listen Tones, you just need to tell the kid that. Tell him you care”
Oh yeah, cause that’s so easy
“Hey Peter, you’re like the son I never had and I love you to bits”
It was so easy to say in his head, but just thinking about actually saying those words out loud caused his chest to constrict with unwavering memories of his father, tall and imposing over him, telling him the same damn “family motto” until it was drilled into the deepest parts of him
“Stark men are made of iron. Suck it up. Stop being so emotional. No one cares”
He figured he’d gotten better, and he definitely had, but…
Well, he still had trouble.
Pepper, Rhodes, and Happy knew that he loved them - in different ways, obviously- but they knew. He never had to outright say it to any of them. Well, except for Pepper but romantic love has different standards than the platonic, familial love he had for Rhodey, Happy and… Peter.
How that kid managed to get wedged in his crooked heart so damn fast was a mystery to him.
“-Tony!”
Tony startled out of his deep though “Huh, what?”
“I said, what are you going to do about it?” Pepper repeated
Tony crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, looking back over at the engine Peter had been tinkering around in.
“... Well, if he thinks I don’t care I’m going to have to change that, right?” He asked to no one in particular
“... Pep, I know that face” Rhodey warned “That’s his bad idea face”
“Hey, I’ve never had a bad idea” He pointed an accusatory finger at Rhodes. All the Colonel did was raise an eyebrow speculatively.
Pepper sighed again “Tony, don’t embarrass Peter, please”
“Hey I haven’t even told you what I’m gonna do! Why are you guys so accusing me like this?”
“Because the last time you didn’t know how to tell me you cared you bought be a stuffed dog the size of an SUV, Tony”
“Yeah and you hated it and I learned” He shrugged “ succeeded in the end”
“Last time you tried telling me you cared I got an all expense paid trip to Bermuda for my family for a solid month”
“You needed the break!”
Both Rhodes and Potts looked about ready to reach through the screen to smack them
“Listen, I’ll figure it out, okay?” Tony assured “I gotta fix this myself.
“.. God help Peter then. I have to get back to work. See you later, Tony. We have date night tonight”
“Of course, Pep” Tony smiled at her before she the call, leaving him “face to face” with Rhodey.
“Tony, don’t do anything ridiculous. Just tell him you give a shit”
“Come on, Rhodes. I’m not ridiculous” he argued. His best friend looked far less than convinced
“I’m prayin’ you don’t overwhelm the kid” Was all he said “I’ll keep those tickets, kay? Call me back when you’ve mended the fence you just broke by falling on it”
“That’s quite a stretch of metaphor, buddy”
“Shut up”
And Rhodey hung up, leaving Anthony Edward Stark to his thoughts.
-----
Hey Kid,
I’m picking you up instead of Happy today.
We’re going out on the Hudson
Peter stared at the text for about the 400th time that school day.
What the hell does he even mean? “Going out on the Hudson”
Like, on a boat? Are they taking the ferry into Hoboken? What the hell is happening?
Peter took in a deep sigh as the last bell rung, and went over to his locker to gather his things.
His last interaction with the billionaire had been… less than stellar, admittedly. He hoped that Mister Stark understood that Peter knew he wasn’t top priority. And it was totally fine if he wanted to lessen his time at the lab or whatever. Yup, Peter was totally fine with that. Less time spent with his mentor and hero. Yeah. Totally fine.
When he’d gotten home that day he’d moped about the realization. Mister Stark probably just wanted to get almost killing him off his conscience. That was probably why he came into the lab. It made sense- to Peter, at least. Then again Peter was the one that jumped on the Stark Quinjet… Peter shook his head to rid himself of the thoughts.
Whatever Mister Stark wanted to do, he was all for.
Peter stepped out of school to wild commotion, the school kids all squealing and shouting at…. something. It took a bit of shoving himself through the crown to catch what the hubbub was about, and soon he locked eyes with Tony stark, who simply grinned “Hey there, intern extraordinaire”
“Uh, hi Mister-Mister Stark.”
“Forget I was picking you up today or what?” The billionaire clasps his hand on his shoulder “I came in the Maserati” he motioned to the sterling silver car “Come on”
Peter screamed internally at this blatant display before fumbling into the car as fast as his lanky body could get him. His classmates were still staring. He wouldn’t hear the end of it for at least 2 weeks.
“Geez kid, could you not look like you’re being kidnapped?” Tony joked, though Peter could sense the tenseness in his shoulders.
“Sorry, sorry” he readjusted in his seat. “So uh, you said we were going out on the Hudson?”
“Yup. I realized the other day I’d never actually taken you out of my sailing yacht” he noted “That feels like a crime, somehow”
“Sailing yacht? As in, like, actual, physical sails?”
“Yup. But first I need a sandwich. What’s that place you like? Delmar's?”
It warmed Peters heart that he remembered
“Yeah, Delmar's. Just finished the rebuild.” He commented, smiling
Tony smirked back- the classic Tony response to that sort of read as “Of course I know, I’m Tony fucking Stark, I know everything”
So the duo both got something to eat from Delmar's- the bumbling Mister Delmar nearly having heart palpitations at the sight of the IronMan in his store and asking for a picture, which Peter graciously took for them. The two exited it with extra bags of chips. That was a score as far as Peter was concerned.
They go back in the car and Tony drove one handed back into Manhattan, being alarmingly aware of the speed limits and street lights- at least to Peter’s view.
As Peter munched on his sandwich he continued to wonder what had bought all this on. There was a nagging feeling in the pit of Peter’s gut that told him that Stark was treating him before telling him that lab time was gonna get a serious cut, and the selfish part of him was screaming that he should have never told Tony that it was okay if he didn’t care. Even though it totally was! It absolutely, totally was.
Yeah.
Tony parked the car by the dock, and directed the still-munching boy to a rather modest sized sailing boat with a single mast.
“This” Tony waved his hand at the boat “is Jocasta. Bought ‘er back in 2000 when it was all the rage for billionaires to have sailboats. I take her out at least once every other month or so.” He introduced “Say hi”
“Uh, hi, Jocasta?” Peter awkwardly waved at the inanimate object before finishing the last bite of his sandwich
“She’s not gonna attack you, kid” stark assured as he stepped into the boat “Come on, this takes two”
Peter jumped into the book, clenching and unclenching his hands into fists in anxious excitement “So uh, I’m gonna help you sail?”
“Yup. We’ll only be out a couple hours- 3 at most.” Tony assured
Peter nodded “Okay, Mister Stark! Just tell me what to do”
And so they fell into a rhythm. Tony walked Peter through the steps of sailing like he was an old pro (Peter actually wanted to make a joke about that but decided against it).
They were out on the Hudson in less than a half hour.
The salt of the air was beyond refreshing, really helping Tony to clear his mind. Though he often jokingly complained about his boat, he loved Jocasta. The simplicity in her complexity was a thing of wonder to the futurist.
He looked over at Peter, who was gazing out in the vague direction of New Jersey with a distant look in his eye.
“You with me, kid?”
“Huh?” He looked over at the billionaire “Yeah, I uh, just haven’t seen New Jersey from this angle” he chuckled a bit as he sat up. Was he .. embarrassed?
Tony decided to cut to his chase “So, kid”
“Hm?”
“Thinking about College?”
“Oh, uh, yeah. A lot, actually” Peter admitted with a shy smile “There’s a lot to think about, y’know? What I wanna major in, where I wanna go, all that stuff”
“Got any school preferences? I’ve got some pull at MIT” Tony sat across from Peter, grabbing a soda from a cooler
“Oh well uh, MIT is definitely like, top 3 dream schools” Peter started “So is Columbia, or maybe Virginia Tech? But I don’t know if I want to leave the state, you know? Can’t be New York’s favorite crime fighter if I’m not in New York” Peter’s rambling began, Tony had to suppress a grin as the younger man started going on about the pros and cons of each school, then going into where Tony was expecting
“But, I mean, all of these are really pie in the sky ideas. Maybe if I get a scholarship-”
“Oh, don’t even worry about that” Tony stopped him
“Huh?”
“You really think I’m not gonna pay for your college education?”
Peters eyes grew wide as saucers
“Wh-wh- Mister Stark I can’t ask-”
“You’re not asking, twerp, I’m telling you” Tony shrugged “Don’t worry about the cost of those schools, whatever you get into, I’ll pay for”
Peter was frozen in place at that. His voice seemingly caught in his throat. Tony tried not to pay too much mind.
“Oh, also, you’re turning 17 soon, right?”
Peter blinked
“Kid, answer, or I’m assuming you’re 12”
“Y-yes! Yes, I’m turning 17”
“Good, there we go. And your licence?” He asked
“Uh, I got my permit, but May doesn’t have much time to teach me to drive and like, we can't really afford a driving school. Plus I mean, I live in New York, what do i need a car for? Plus like we can even buy one we can’t even get parking near our apartment so-”
“Kid, rambling isn’t helping you right now” The man interrupted “I’m sure it’s not too hard to teach a kid to drive, and as if you’re not learning. Everyone needs to learn.” He started off on his own ramble “May will kill me if I try to gift you a lamb or something so I’ll probably just give you one of my audis. That’ll make things easier unless you want a brand new car, which can be arranged.”
“Mr. Stark-”
“Don’t worry about the insurance either, I’ll cover that. Also, do you and May have proper health insurance? I mean you’ll always have the tower for superhero-ing but you need the regular stuff for when you have the flu, can you even get the flu? Doesn’t matter, I’ll have FRIDAY look into options for you guys and I’ll cover the premiums.”
Peter was staring at Tony like he had three heads at this point.
“Also, are you still using that craptop you got from the dumpster? You really need a new one”
“Mister-”
“And I can’t believe you haven’t just asked me for the new StarkPhone”
“Mister Sta-”
“I really need to just make a lis-”
“Mister Stark!!” Peter nearly screamed
The man froze in his speech
“....... What are you doing?” Peters brow was furrowed, almost.. Disgusted?
“..... What do you think i’m doing?” he asked back.
Peter looked down, fists clenching “... Listen… Mister Stark, I get it”
Now it was Tony’s turn to look confused “Get what?”
“I wasn’t supposed to hear that conversation. With you and uh, that investor” Peter started. There was a part of Tony that knew where this was going, but it still slapped him in the face “You don’t want me to feel bad for learning I was like, a charity case”
Tony didn’t say anything. Peter kept going.
“I don't- I don’t need your pity or for you to just, throw money at me. If you don’t want to see me just- just say, it, okay??” Peter nearly yelled, his eyes misty.
That's when Tony realized he’d really, really fucked up
Tony swallowed whatever he was going to say next, whatever defensive bullshit he was going to spew, and instead, still a waver in his voice asked
“.. Is that really what you think I think of you?”
Peter deflated further, shoulder’s almost caving in on himself as he looked away “.. Other than Spider-man I… just don’t really get why you’d wanna keep me around, I guess.” Peter muttered, though Tony got the feeling he was only partially talking to him.
“Don’t want- what- Peter” Tony put as much stress on the word as he could muster to get the kid to at least glance in his direction “Come on, kid. Spider man is a part of the package, not the whole deal”
“Well, well yeah, that’s kinda why I’m wondering why you’re keeping me around” Peter reiterated. Tony dragged his hand down his face
“No, no that’s not what I meant” Tony’s hand stopped at his mouth, looking straight at Peter.
He had to find the words, he just had to. He couldn’t let Peter think that. He couldn’t let Peter think he was some goddamn charity case. He wasn’t. He never was. But how can he say it?
There was a part of him that wanted to just shout “I GIVE A SHIT ABOUT YOU” at the top of his lungs but he knew that wouldn’t work. Tony sat , letting the rocking of the boat ground him, in a way.
“.... Have I ever talked to you about my dad?” He started, his voice suddenly quiet. He saw Peters confusion at the change in topic, but hoped he’d humor him.
“.... Once or twice… Nothing extensive..” Peter admitted
Tony took a breath “I spent my entire life trying to get that man to give a shit about me. The only way he ever did was throwing gifts at me to shut me up” He tried to keep his explanation short “Any time he hurt me, made me upset, or something bad happened I ended up with a new toy, or clothes, or a vacation to some faraway place. It took until I was an adult to realize that he wasn’t really showing me any sort of affection”
Peter didn’t say anything, so he continued
“You’d think that’d’ve taught me” Tony gets up, going to the mini fridge and fishing out a two glass cola bottles “That just shoving gifts at people doesn’t prove anything” he tossed the boy a coke.
Peter caught it, but his eyes were still on Tony, waiting, patiently.
Tony just sighed “I keep forgetting that -” He stopped himself. Dear god, he almost said the “L” word there. “Showing that you care is that, showing. And showing doesn’t mean.. Buying”
He sighed “Kid, when you said.. That you though I didn’t care, I was really caught off guard” He explained. Peter noted that it looked like it physically hurt him to do this. “I couldn’t believe you thought that. I mean, what about the way I treated you led you to think that?” He looked over at Peter and the boy nervously blinked
He was expecting an answer
“... Well uh… I mean… “ he started to mutter “... I couldn’t really uh… think of why Peter Parker mattered. I thought only Spider-man mattered”
“Spider-man only matters because Peter Parker matters” Tony presses “Peter comes first”
Peters big, wide eyes almost pleaded with Tony. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t need to. They were begging, begging for him to just admit it, just to say it.
“Kid… I give way more of a shit about you then I ever thought I would. You’re one of the best people I know. Peter Parker, is. Not Spider-man. Though he’s pretty great, too” The man rambled slightly.
And Peter didn’t say anything. He was still staring at Tony, though his expression had definitely changed. It was… softer, his eyes were almost misty
“... Heh, I uh, love you too, Mister Stark”
If there was such a feeling as “pleasantly stabbed in the chest”, that was what Tony was feeling right when Peter said that, the teen smiling almost cautiously at him. He swallowed the lump in his throat.
Come ON Stark, just say it. You’ve said it to Rhodes, you’ve said it to Happy, hell, you even said it to Steve once upon a time, you can say it to Peter. He’s proven himself, it’s not a weakness, you can just tell him!
“Yeah… yeah, kid, I love you” He finally said, the air leaving his lungs with his anxiety “You’re one of the best things that ever happened to me, and I’m sorry that it took me so long to, uh, you know, say something” The man sniffed.
Poor Peter looked like he was about to cry.
“Uh.. are uh, are we there?” He asked. Tony nearly had to ask for him to clarify before Peter raised his arms.
“... Kid, I just told you I loved you like family. I think we’re there”
And thus, he was collided with.
He hugged his kid back tightly, with all the love he could muster, fighting against that twinge in his chest that told him that he can’t have this. That he’ll just be hurt again.
And maybe that small part of him had a point.
But the larger part of him, the part that was usually right, swallowed up every bit of love he was being offered by the boy, and didn’t let go.
He parted the hug and took a deep breath, wiping at his eyes
“Alright.. I think I’ve fulfilled my emotional quota for the goddamn year” he took another deep breath “Let’s get back to the shore. Peppers coming home tonight and it’s about time you two met”
“Wh- I’m meeting Pepper Potts?”
“You bet, kid” Tony grinned “But we gotta get back to the pier first.”
Peter shot up from his seat “Then- then lets go!” He stuttered with an almost sheepish grin.
Tony laughed a bit, placing his hands on his knees and standing up. “Alright. Remember how to change direction?”
“I think so?” Peter furrowed his brow
“Well, let’s get started” Tony streched over, a rope needed just within reach.
They worked together like a well-oiled machine. Peter did in fact remember, and they made their back back to the dock with so little fuss that Peter let out a cheer as they got off at a job well done. They got back into the car and Tony gave Peter the dubious responsibility of picking the radio station.
He chose the retro 80's station
Tony couldn’t help but feel like this was the start of something absolutely brilliant.