Chapter Text
"I'm not ready," Tony said. He was laying across the foot of the bed, his head resting against his arms.
"Tony." Pepper's voice held a warning note in it.
"My stomach hurts. I think you should let me stay home from school today-"
"Tony-"
"-and I think you should stay home and make sure I'm okay."
Pepper rolled her eyes. "Tony, you're okay. It will be fine. I promise." She smiled, running her fingers through his hair. "You already did the hard part and made up with Steve. The others are probably really grateful for all your negotiations with Ross. They were able to come home because of you."
Tony grimaced. "Did I do the right thing?"
Pepper only leaned down and kissed the top of his head.
A sudden buzzing noise interrupted the moment. Tony picked up his phone and checked the caller ID. Spider-Baby *spider emoji* *web emoji* *heart emoji* lit up the screen. He hit the answer call button and put it on speaker-phone.
"Hey, Underoos! Perfect timing- Pepper's being mean to me! She won't let me stay home from school!"
Pepper crossed her arms indignantly, but her eyes were amused. "Hello, Peter!" she said.
"Hey, Miss Potts," came Peter Parker's muffled voice from the speaker. He sounded off.
Tony frowned. He pushed himself off the bed and searched around for his shoes. "What's wrong, buddy? Shouldn't you be in school? Gotta keep those grades up so you can get into college! Isn’t that how the saying goes? Spiders go to college to get more knowledge?"
"Hey!" Pepper mouthed. "Don't think this is getting you out of meeting with the other Avengers today!"
"I don't feel so good, Mr. Stark."
"How so?" he asked, his brow furrowed. This seemed like a problem Aunt May was better equipped to handle. Why had the kid called him? He could barely take care of himself on a good day!
"Something happened last night while I was out on patrol and- Just hurry and please don't tell Aunt May!" Something in his voice sounded panicked.
"Kid, you're scaring me. Where are you? I'll come pick you up."
Pepper pressed his sneakers into his hands, and he mouthed a silent "Thank you".
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Tony was almost to the school when he decided to call May Parker. "Sorry, kiddo," he mumbled as the dial tone sounded. He tried to dispel the knot in his stomach. Peter's aunt did not think very highly of him, though not without good reason, he supposed. He had, after all, gone behind her back, equipped her only child with a weaponized super-suit, and taken him to a fight almost halfway around the world under the pretense of an internship. Yeah, Tony Stark was not in May Parker's good graces.
"Hello?" May's voice sounded uncertain when she picked up. He could hear the bustle of the hospital in the background.
"Hi, Mrs. Parker!" Tony hoped his nervousness did not come across in his voice. "I just received a call from your nephew at school. I don't think he's feeling too well, but it sounded like he didn't want to bother you while you were at work. Anyways, I'm on my way to the school, and I was wondering if I could have your permission to check him out?" Oh, how he hoped he didn't sound anxious!
There was a pause.
"Mrs. Parker?"
"Um... Okay. Peter did seem a little off this morning. The stubborn thing insisted he could go to school." Tony heard rustling from the other end. May sighed. "Thank you, Tony. I appreciate you looking out for him. I'll call ahead to the school and let them know it's alright for you to check him out."
"Don't you worry, I'll take good care of him!"
"I know you will..." she sounded like she was going to hang up, but- "Do you want to come over for dinner? You, me, Peter, and Pepper? I feel like I've been a bit harsh with you the last few times we've spoken, and I mean, I had every right to be mad- You took my kid to Germany. But Peter loves you so much and it's not fair to him for me to- I feel like we should get to know each other. You don't have to if you're too busy or don't want to and I'd totally understand, but-"
"Woah!" Tony said. It was easy to see where Peter got his tendency to ramble from. "Of course I'd like to go to dinner with you! Let me get past the craziness of this week with the Avengers returning and we can set something up, alright?"
"Alright."
"Alright. I'll call you when I have Peter."
"Thank you."
"Thank you."
He ended the call as the rolled into the school parking lot. The main office was on the left when he entered the building. The lady at the desk looked only mildly surprised to see him.
"Are you here for Mr. Parker?"
"Indeed, I am! Is it okay for me to check him out?"
The lady frowned at him, as if she didn't think it was a good idea for Tony Stark to be picking up a kid from school. Tony awkwardly rubbed his left wrist and nodded. Yeah, the notion of Tony Stark picking a kid up from school was ridiculous. Borderline irresponsible. He was a loose cannon, a walking disaster, a, a-.
The lady's expression softened. "I just got off the phone with May. You can take a seat, dear- I'll call him down."
Tony sank into the chair that she had indicated as she called for Peter over the intercom system. The office was pretty small, and a few doors behind the desk led to various other offices. Tony caught sight of the light of a TV screen flickering through the window of one of them. A Captain America PSA video was playing. Normally, he would smirk and offer a snarky comment, but today he just grimaced, feeling the knot return to his stomach. He wished the kid would hurry up.
"You're different than I thought you'd be."
Tony was jerked out of his reverie to find the lady at the desk observing him intently.
"How so?" he asked.
She laughed a little. "You seem taller on TV."
Tony had to laugh too.
"There's a smile! May I ask how you know Mr. Parker?"
He let the aimless conversation soothe his frazzled nerves. "He's my intern. Probably the brightest kid I've ever met."
"Don't I know it!" the lady exclaimed. "Sweet too. And he can talk your ears clean off if you let him!"
Tony rolled his eyes playfully. "Yeah, you're telling the guy who's about to be stuck in the car with him for an hour!"
"I came down here for a good time and I'm honestly feeling so attacked right now!" Peter said, entering the office.
Tony's expression melted into one of concern. Peter sounded as if he was trying to sound upbeat, but was failing miserably. He just sounded miserable. Looked it too. Tony surprised himself by rising and placing the back of his hand against the kid's forehead. He couldn't tell if the heat was normal or not. He sucked at this.
"What's going on with you, bud?"
Peter cast a glance at the lady at the desk and lowered his voice. "Can I tell you when we get to the car?"
"Don't want to embarrass yourself in front of the pretty lady, hm?" He shrugged. "Okay."
Peter glared at him and the lady behind the desk snorted. Tony signed him out and they left. The kid was oddly quiet as they made their way outside.
“So what’s the big secret?” Tony asked, noting how on-edge Peter seemed as he cast a suspicious glance around the parking lot.
Without warning, Peter tugged him behind a large pickup truck. He gave a startled shout as he nearly smacked his head against the mirror. He whirled around to face the kid. The snarky remark on the tip of his tongue died and was replaced by concern as he took in the dark bags under the kid’s eyes and the pale color of his skin. Then, in a hushed, slightly hoarse voice Peter said:
“I think I’ve been poisoned. I’m definitely being followed.”
Tony stared at him in bewilderment. “Okay? What are we going to do about it?”