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"Mr. Stark!" Peter exclaims as he jogs into the lab. Tony looks over his shoulder and smiles softly.
"Hi, kid," he greets as he turns around in his chair to face Peter who's seated himself in the chair beside him.
"I have this amazing idea for my biology project and I need your lab," Peter says rumaging through his Stark Industries backpack (a gift from Tony)(with a built in tracker)) backpack for his notes.
He stops and looks at Tony. "You can analyze DNA here, right?" He asks.
Tony scoffs. "Of course I can," He says. "FRIDAY can can get it done in just a couple hours," He adds.
"Great!" Peter exclaims, smiling. He shows Tony his currently messy notes scribbled in multiple of his note books. Tony humms thoughtfully as he reads over Peter's messy handwriting. Peter waits anxiously for his mentor's opinion.
"So, um, I basically wanted to analyze a couple of people's DNA," Peter says, and Tony motions for him to continue. "And then compare the results and show similarities and differences," He explains, grinning. Tony smiles widely at the teenager and pats him on the shoulder. "That's a great idea, Pete," He says and Peter looks down at his twiddeling hands bashfully and smiles.
"Some of my friends from decathlon said they could participate," Peter explains. "If I could do it."
"Well, then we better try it out, right?" Tony asks already looking for the needed equipment. Peter nods as Tony hands him a clear plastic cup to spit in.
Peter ignores how wierd it feels and does it. It's for school anyway. Allthough he's pretty sure a normal high school wouldn't do something like this. It's fun none the less. And he really hopes his teacher will like it. After they've prepared everything Tony asks FRIDAY to alert them once she's finished and print out the results. They then leave the lab to eat and for Peter to finish his homework.
True to her word, FRIDAY alerts them just a few hours after they leave. Peter jogs to the lab excitedly while Tony follows in a little faster walk than usual to keep up with the teenager. Peter sits down and eagerly waits for FRIDAY to finish printing the results for them, bouncing in his seat. Tony chuckles and grabs the freshly printed papers and sits down in his own chair. He lays the papers on the desk and tells Peter to quote "start digging" unquote. Peter lists of similarities as Tony listens, watching him fondly, nodding and humming at appropriate times.
Half way through Tony frowns, knitting his eyebrows together when more similarities are found than not, but Peter doesn't seem to realize though. Happily listing of everything he sees.
"Uh, FRIDAY," Tony says, looking up towards the cieling. Peter abruptly stops talking and looks at Tony wierdly. "How similar are these?" He asks.
"It's a 48.789% match, sir," The A.I answers politely. Out of the corner of his eye he sees Peter gape.
"Holy shit!"
Tony doesn't know what Peter says next because he's out of the chair and accross the room in an instant.
"Mr. Stark?" Peter asks, looking over at him worriedly. He slowly gets out of his chair and makes his way towards him.
"I'm fine," Tony wheezes, breathless. He's very aware of his chests rapid movements, but his lungs can't seem to catch any of the air.
"Should I get someone?" The kid asks, kneeling down next to him and he's suddenly aware he isn't standing anymore. Tony shakes his head, but Pepper comes running through the door before he's finished. FRIDAY must've alerted her of his freak out.
"Tony?" She asks joining them on the floor. "What happened?"
Tony runs a hand through his hair, clearly disheveled and unable to form any words in his mouth. Doesn't really matter though, since he never would have beaten Peter to it.
"Mr. Stark is my dad!" The kid yells, eyes wide as he looks at her.
Pepper cocks her head and furrows her brows at him, not really getting it. "I don't," She stutters. "I don't understand," She says.
Peter gets up and runs to the desk. Collecting the papers and handing them to Pepper. Pepper is a smart woman, but he can tell she doesn't understand. "It's for a school project," Tony explains, panting slightly, coming down from his panic. "48% match," He says, and he can tell she gets it then. The way she gapes at him. Eyes wide and everything.
"Oh my god!" She says after a while. "This is insane." Peter nods, with equally wide eyes, his head so fast Tony worries it might fall off.
"I have to call aunt May," He says after a while. "She won't believe it!"
Peter's face grimaces for a second and both Tony and Pepper looks at him wierdly before he burts out. "Ew!" He yells. "That means you've slept with my mom!" He makes a face of disqust. The adults are too taken aback to really respond. He seems to come to more realasazions after that. They can only watch him as he talks. "That means Ben wasn't even related to me!" He shouts, horriedly. "And Richard wasn't my dad!"
Tony just sits there. Trying to process this new imformation he just aquired. And then the most horrifying thought comes, what if Peter doesn't want him to be his dad? Tony's stomach sinks at that thought. Leaving a sickening pit in the bottom of his stomach.
"Why didn't she tell anyone?" Peter asks, seemingly upset. Pepper puts a hand on his shoulder.
"Maybe she didn't know?" Pepper says, trying to console the teenager. Peter nods, not really content with the answer, but accepting it for the time being at least. He could probably try to grill May later. If she knew anything at all.
Pepper turns to Tony. "I can get you some water?" Tony nods, mumbling a quiet 'yes, thank you' before she gets up and leaves him with peter.
Tony sighs loudly, which draws Peter's attention to him. "Look kid," He says, quickly glancing at the teen before looking down at the floor. "I get it if you're disappointed or something--"
Peter had seemed to get the idea of where that sentence was leading because before he even knows it the kid is hugging him tightly. Tony tentativly puts his arms around him. "Are you kidding me?" He asks. "When I was little I used to dream of you being my dad!" He exclaims.
"Was," Tony chuckles, unable to withstand joking during anything emotional. Peter scoffs, and even though he can't see his face, he can tell the kid isn't actually offended. He probably rolled his eyes too. Peter pulls away, smiling goofily at him and Tony feels warmth spread accross his chest. "What I'm getting at is that I'm glad you're my dad."
"Thanks, kid," Tony smiles. "I'm glad to have you too."