Chapter Text
As Tony sat in the large conference room surrounded by several board members he watched the clock and drummed his fingers on the table. Neither of those actions seemed to go unnoticed by Pepper who was sitting exasperated beside him. "Tony. Would you just stop it? What is your problem today?"
"My problem is that this meeting was supposed to start at twelve-thirty and it's after one.", Tony groused, never taking his eyes off of the clock.
Shaking her head, Pepper tried to place a hand on top of Tony's drumming fingers but he quickly dodged her. "Since when is a meeting starting late a problem for you. Just... play with your phone or something", she suggested with a wave of her hand.
"Since I have somewhere to be at three and I can't leave here any later than two-thirty.", Tony vaguely explained. All eyes were on him at the moment and it didn't feel like the time to be explaining his new venture in pseudo parenthood.
"Tony!", Pepper groaned. "It's Monday. You know you have meetings on Mondays. It's the only day I ask you to do anything of consequence and now you're making plans in the middle of it? What are you doing?"
Realizing that he wasn't going to be able to dodge the question, Tony sighed. "I was supposed to be free from two-thirty until four so I told the kid I'd pick him up from school and let him come back here with me for the afternoon.", Tony half-whispered, half-grumbled. "Happy now?"
"Actually... yes.", Pepper said with an annoyingly fond smile and even more annoying twinkle in her eye. "Though I didn't realize it was 'bring your kid to work' day."
Tony wanted to glare but really he hadn't expected any less from her so instead, he dropped his head onto his arms on the table. "I'm leaving at two-thirty whether we're done or not.", he said into his sleeve just to make sure Pepper understood his commitment to this plan.
"That's fine. ...and I'll tell you what, you can even take off after the next meeting. Maybe take Peter out for a Happy Meal or something to celebrate his first day of school.", Pepper replied, holding back a laugh. She knew that the two of them had become somewhat close over the summer she just hadn't quite realized how deep it really went. Apparently, it was so much so that Tony was offering to pick him up from school and bring him back to work with him. It was almost hysterically parental.
Tony lifted his head so that he could look the woman over through squinted eyes. "I hate you."
"No, you don't.", Pepper laughed as she reached over to pat him on the shoulder.
Sighing, Tony sat back up and half-smiled back at her. "You're right. I don't."
~o~o~o~o~o~
At three o'clock on the nose, Tony drove up to the outside of Peter's school and watched as the kids came flooding out of the building. It was loud and chaotic and made him feel suddenly grateful that he was no longer in high school. Then just as he was about to text the kid to tell him to hurry up, he spotted him pushing through the large double doors. He seemed to be smiling and was flanked by two other teenagers, one of which he assumed was Ned. They'd never actually met but he felt like he already knew everything there was to know about him. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw the two boys begin to go through some sort of elaborate handshake before breaking away from each other.
"Hey, Tony!", Peter chirped as he climbed into the car. "May told me to tell you that she wants confirmation that I'm really going to be with you today. She didn't believe and thinks I'm trying to get out of doing my homework. Which is stupid because it's the first day of school and there is no homework. Well, other than getting all of my class syllabuses signed and getting her to update my clinic card. So, I mean really it's her that has homework and not me but I'm not telling her that, of course. Well, not like that... She would kill me.", Peter rambled as Tony started to pull back into traffic with a small smile gracing his face.
"Alright, alright, kid. I'll call her when I get back to the office.", Tony finally cut in with a laugh. "Now, how was your day?"
"It was okay, I guess.", Peter replied with a shrug of his shoulders.
"You guess?", Tony asked, slightly taken aback by the sudden lack of words spilling from the boy's mouth. "Did something happen?"
"Not really. Nothing big anyway.", Peter said before bouncing back to his usual happy self. "Oh! Guess what?", he asked with enthusiasm, though he didn't actually wait for an answer before he started talking again. "My practical code teacher was going over what we would be working on this semester and then pulled this really complicated sting of code up on the board and asked if anyone knew what it was for. She said she didn't actually expect us completely understand it but she wanted us to guess based on the language. Well, I didn't have to guess because I knew what it was because it was your work. So I said that and she--"
"--How did you know it was mine? There are a lot of advanced code programs out there on the free market.", Tony asked with amusement. The kid never stopped surprising him.
"Yeah but you have a few idiosyncrasies in your work and I picked up on those right away. After that, it was easy to figure out that it was the base code for an AI assistant. Not near as technical as the one we looked at over the summer but it was definitely yours.", Peter replied as if no explanation should have been needed to begin with.
Realizing that the kid was probably right because, he did sort of own that corner of the market, he laughed. "Well, I can't give all of my secrets away for free."
"Obviously. Aren't you going to ask me about the idiosyncrasies that I noticed?", Peter asked with giddy anticipation.
Glancing at the boy beside him, Tony smiled. "No, I just sort of assumed that you were going to tell me anyway.", he said leading Peter into a great, long, over-excited speech about how he was able to pin that particular sequence to Tony's programming style. It was actually rather impressive. He knew the kid was smart and observant but this was next level, really.
Once they got inside the building, Tony led them down to a quiet cafeteria that really looked more like a small food court. Then handed Peter a large bill he sent him off to obtain a snack while he made his phone call to May. "Hey May, the kid said I needed to give you a call."
"I thought he was full of it when he told me you were picking him up and taking him to the office with you. I gave him full points for creativity but solid zero in probability.", May said not really sounding terribly surprised at all. Tony didn't think anything of it though. Wrote it off as her being busy with work.
"No, I really did offer. We're at the Stark Building now. I'll have him home after dinner if that's alright with you.", Tony dutifully explained with a sigh.
"It's perfectly alright. Then I don't have to feed him.", May replied with a laugh. "...seriously though, how did he manage to talk you into this?"
"He didn't. I offered. It was my idea.", Tony rapidly provided because he was unsure if she was amused that he'd agreed to such a suggestion or upset by the idea that Peter had asked him in the first place. Neither of which were accurate. All Peter had asked was if they could see each after school. He had been the one to suggest picking him up and spending time with him at work.
After a moment of pause, May came back sounding absolutely delighted. "Is that so. Interesting."
Knowing exactly where this was going, Tony rolled his eyes. "Just go ahead and say it.", he said groaned as he rested his elbow on the table and his head in his hand.
"Say what?", May asked, feigning innocence as if she didn't already have any kind of teasing already in mind.
"You know exactly what!", Tony grumbled a bit louder than he'd meant to, causing a few heads to turn. Though once he glared in their direction they all easily went back to their meals and discussions.
Unable to keep the giggling at bay any longer, May quickly replied. "You mean like how sitting in the carpool line and walking through your office with a kid hanging onto your coat tales is the definition of fatherhood? Is that what you wanted me to say?"
"No! That's what I knew you would say.", Tony spat out accusingly before dropping back into something of a whine. "You and Pepper are the worst. You know that?"
"Yep. ...and just so you know, I talked to her about half an hour ago and she promised to send me pictures."
"Fabulous.", Tony deadpanned before realizing what May had just alluded to. "Wait a minute! If you talked to Pepper then you didn't really need to talk to me. This was set up. You just wanted to give me a hard time."
"You got me.", May said still laughing.
"I hate you.", Tony replied without any real feeling because nothing could be further from the truth. May was a good friend.
Still smiling, May sighed, "No, you don't."
"Okay, fine. I don't", Tony replied softly. "...but I do need to go. I'll have your kid home by eight-thirty."
"Who's kid?"
"Ugh. Bye, May.", Tony said before ending the call before anything else could be said. About that time Peter came trotting up to the table with a tray piled high, with various items ranging from eggrolls to yogurt. One look at the assortment had Tony was raising an eyebrow in question. "Hungry?"
"Mm-hmm. School food isn't that great and I have first lunch this year. I should probably keep some granola bars in my locker or something.", Peter said, already stuffing his mouth with chicken stripes. "What are we doing today?"
Tony just shook his head and he wasn't sure if it was the way the kid was devouring everything in front of him as if it were a race or if it was the way he could change subjects on a dime. "Well, I have a meeting at four--"
"--Oh. I guess I'll head home after this then. Thanks for--", Peter rapidly began before being cut off so quickly that he felt the need to snap his mouth shut.
"--Zip it, kid. I'm still talking.", Tony mildly corrected before smiling. "I have a meeting at four and you can come with me. Then I'll take you out for an early dinner and have you home by eight-thirty."
"Oh.", Peter said with a smile of his own. He didn't think that he was going to be going to any meetings. He thought that if anything he would be sitting in the man's office while he did his work. "I'm allowed to do that?"
"Yeah. Sure. Why not?", Tony replied flippantly before snagging a french fry off of one of the many plates set in front of the kid. "So, what else happened today? I was promised details."
Pushing the plate of fries closer to his mentor, Peter grinned. "Rember how I said that me and Ned are in the same art class?", Peter asked only pausing long enough to for the man to nod. "Well, today we went over what we'll be learning and all of the rules and stuff which was super boring but then for the last thirty minutes she said we could mess around with the supplies. So, Ned got out out some paint and we started out really serious. We were trying to paint a flower, like one that was hanging on the wall but then, Ned spilled the yellow all over his paper and when he was trying to stop it from getting on his pants it got all over his hands and the teacher yelled at him.", Peter said as he began to dissolve into giggles.
"Your best friend gets in trouble and you laugh?", Tony asked with mock horror. He was pretty sure he would have been doing the same thing if he'd been in Peter's shoes and he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.
Holding up his hands, Peter took a breath. "Wait you have heard the best part yet, Tony!", Peter cried out in defense still smiling so wide that Tony was forced to smile back. "The teacher came over and told him that he wasn't three and that fingerpainting was not in the curriculum and Ned couldn't even say anything back because he literally had paint covering his fingers and handprints all over the paper where he was trying to clean up the mess without a paper towel."
The chatter continued for several more minutes before Tony was glancing down at his watch. "We have ten minutes to get to that meeting so finish up.", he said causally in between stories. Then, when Peter started shoveling the last of the food into his mouth all at once, he rolled his eyes. "You have ten minutes. There's time to chew, kid." Peter nodded and slowed down marginally before cleaning up his tray and following Tony through the unfamiliar halls.
Sitting down in a meeting with the CEO and several shareholders was less exciting that Peter had imagined it would be. As such he spent the majority of this time, doodling on some scrap paper and allowing his mind to wander as he looked out the window. Watching Tony, he could see that the man wasn't any more invested in the meeting than he was and smiled before initiating a game of tic-tac-toe. Tony rolled his eyes but played along for several minutes before Pepper was clearing her throat in their direction, essentially putting an end to the game.
Then the notes started. Tony snatched the pencil out of his hand and wrote, 'What do you want for dinner?'. Then when Peter wrote back that he didn't care Tony made some suggestions until he hit on one that made the kid hesitate before writing 'whatever you want to do'. That's how he knew that was the one the kid wanted. All of the other suggestions had been met with instant responses and he was sort of pleased with himself for knowing the kid well enough to realize that the pause meant he'd hit the nail on the head.
Two and a half long hours later, Tony was walking into his large office with Peter on his heels. "Alright, kid. I'm just going to grab a few things and then we can head out to dinner. I'm thinking, Red Robin.", he said with a smirk that turned into a smile when the kid lit up with excitement. When he'd suggested it he'd been pretty sure that was one of the kid's favorite places to eat and he again found himself feeling oddly proud that he'd somewhat remembered that.
It didn't take much longer for them to be seated in a back booth of the restaurant where Peter ordered his favorite burger, the one with a slice of pineapple on it, making it a double and a strawberry milkshake. Tony, on the other hand, stuck with something much more traditional. Though before their meals had been delivered Peter was already talking a mile a minute about the conversation he'd had with Ned over lunch. Tony nodding the whole time and trying to get a word in when he could.
The second things grew silent... when the food came...Tony's mind wandered back to the way the kid had been so quiet when he'd gotten into the car and decided now was as good of a time as any to question him on that. "So... What happened today that made it just 'okay'?", Tony asked not so subtly, causing Peter to still for a second.
"Oh, nothing really. It was a great day.--"
"You really think you can lie to me, Parker?", he asked with an eyebrow quirked. He wasn't sure why but he could practically taste a lie coming out of that kid.
"Umm...", was just about all Peter could get out before Tony was looking at him expectantly and he began to fold. "It's not a big deal. Normal high school stuff. You wouldn't understand."
"Yeah? Try me.", Tony said without room for discussion.
Sighing heavily, Peter began to explain. "Well, there's this guy at school, Flash, he's been giving me a hard time for, like, ever. I mean since before high school even and it turns out my locker is right beside his this year. So--"
"--What did he do? ...and what kind of name is Flash?", Tony asked through his teeth before the kid could even finish his explanation. He wasn't even sure why he was bothered by the fact that Peter was getting picked on. He had superpowers. It wasn't like he couldn't handle himself.
"N-nothing!", Peter said with wide eyes. He'd not expected Tony to react that way. It wasn't that serious. As Spider-man he'd put up with way worse. "He just calls me names and stuff. It's more annoying than anything else. I swear."
"He doesn't touch you, right? It's not physical?", Tony asked seriously, noting immediately that Peter broke eye contact with that question.
"Not usually.", Peter grumbled wondering how exactly Tony was going to take that answer. He didn't want to outright say that, yes, the other boy had tried to shove him today and threatened to slam his hand in his locker. ...and would have if Peter hadn't had such quick reflexes.
Frowning, Tony looked Peter over suspiciously. "I don't like that answer. What did he do."
"It wasn't a big deal! At the end of the day he tried to shut my locker door on my hand but obviously, it didn't work out for him.", Peter said while holding up his hand and flexing his fingers. "I'm quick. He'd never actually be able to actually hurt me."
"I'm going to kill him.", Tony said with such a straight face that Peter was worried that he might actually do it.
"Tony!", Peter shouted in disbelief. "You can't do that. He's sixteen. You would get in so much trouble and I've got it. It's fine."
Squinting his eyes, Tony set his jaw firmly. "It's not fine. There's a kid in your school acting like a jerk and I don't want him too. I tend to get my way, kid."
Rolling his eyes, Peter sighed. "He's been saying stuff to me for years, Tony. This is the first time he's ever tried anything like that and I made him look totally stupid because he missed completely and I made sure to point it out... loudly. I can handle him. I always do."
Still not in love with the idea, Tony relented. The kid was probably right. He could handle it. Besides, from what he could figure Peter'd had a great day outside of that. "Alright, kid. I'm going to trust you on that but I swear if he ever manages to lay a finger on you I'm going all in. Ironman suit and everything."
Peter took a moment to imagine Ironman crashing into his school and pinning Flash to a wall in order to scream at him. The idea made him laugh probably more than it should have. "He'd probably wet his pants.", he cackled from across the table. "...but you don't need to do that. I promise it's fine."
Smiling at the fact that he'd gotten such a laugh out of the kid, Tony took a deep breath. "Yeah well, you better tell me if it ever becomes not fine. I'll end it.", he replied in earnest but all Peter did was nod his head.
Once they were done and all cleaned up, Tony set off to drop Peter off at his apartment. There was a quick exchange before Peter started to climb out of the car but Tony called after him. "Hey kid!", he yelled out the window to gain the boy's attention. "How about, instead of Happy, I pick you up on Friday. We can go out for ice cream or something before your internship stuff starts."
Tony smiled as Peter readily agreed and began to skip into the building. Before driving off he sent a text to Happy to let him know that he'd be getting the kid at the end of the week for his first day back in intern labs. However before the other man could reply, Tony rolled his eyes and sent one more message. 'Yes, I realize what that sounds like. You can hush about it.'
Then not thirty seconds later he got his reply. 'Just so long as you're aware. And by the way, Congratulations. It's a teenager.'
All Tony could do was huff a laugh and accept it because apparently, this was his life now.