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Peter Parker was a mystery to Tony. The boy came to his class without fail, every time. It was a small class, not too many students were both interested in and capable of following Tony’s curriculum for Quantum Mechanics 5010. It was an advanced course, established by Tony’s predecessor. Only the brightest and most engaged students of the Engineering faculty had been brave enough to enrol.
Tony had inherited the class and found himself leading an intense course of study with only seven students, none of whom he knew before the first lesson.
Peter Parker was incredibly easy to teach though, funny, clever and courteous, he kept up with Tony’s lesson and actively engaged, tried to be helpful and supplied theories and answers whenever he could. He was by far Tony’s favorite student.
Something had been going wrong lately though. While at the beginning of the semester, Peter had been bright and healthy, though scrawny and pale, now he looked grey around the edges, and his health seemed to suffer. He looked tired, exhausted really, and he hadn’t been as alert or engaged as Tony had come to expect him to be.
That day, Peter had fallen asleep halfway through his class and not out of boredom, Tony could tell, simply out of sheer exhaustion. Tony hadn’t woken him, but he’d decided for himself that this was the final straw. He couldn’t watch any longer as the boy withered in front of his eyes. Something was wrong, either the boy had overbooked himself, or he was ill; whatever it was, it should have been discussed with the boy’s graduate tutor by now.
Tony had planned to let the boy sleep and wake him up after class to have a word, but Peter woke before the class ended and ran from the room with a heartfelt ‘I’m so sorry, sir’, before Tony could call him back.
This class had been Tony’s last for the day, and he couldn’t get the kid out of his mind. As a professor, he had no way to gain any insights on the boy’s schedule, the only way he could legally find out what was wrong would be if Peter volunteered the information.
He did know that the kid was high up on the Dean’s list though, failing out of Tony’s class wouldn’t look good for his record. Tony really didn’t want to kick him out. Peter was so smart and engaged, he was genuinely happy to have him in his course. He could think of at least five industry titans he could recommend a graduate like Peter to. He didn’t want to be the one to compromise Peter’s options for the future.
He walked across the campus to the library, lost in thought when he spotted Peter in the distance, heading into the same building Tony had been walking towards.
He walked fast, trying to catch up with the kid without running after him outright. He spotted Peter heading to the Literature studies section, how odd.
Tony followed at a distance, determined to catch Peter for a quick chat… but when he got to the last room in the section, he still hadn’t spotted the boy. He headed back, taking a closer look between the shelves.
The place was almost empty, and Peter was nowhere to be found. Tony left the library half an hour later, confused and a little irritated. He really had to pull Peter aside after class next week. Someone had to make sure the boy was okay.
The next week brought icy winds and two feet of snow. Classes were cancelled and ‘Caution’ signs were put up all over campus to warn of slip hazards or danger from roof avalanches.
Tony hadn’t forgotten about Peter, but with classes cancelled and a grant proposal due at the end of the week, his mind was otherwise occupied. Tony lived right next to the campus and he had always loved the library and its quiet dignity. After going stir-crazy at home for a couple of days, he decided to pack his lunch, take his laptop and head out to work elsewhere. A change of scenery would do him good.
He was in a foul mood by the time he reached the library, having to fight his way through the freezing conditions. The sheer cold and the amount of snow were ridiculous. When had they last had a winter like this?
Only one receptionist was there to hold the fort in the library and Tony didn’t see anyone else on his way in, the snow deterring students and staff alike from leaving their heated homes. The library wasn't warm enough to truly get comfortable, Tony couldn't bear the thought taking of his blazer.
He sat in one of the reading halls, working quietly when he heard coughing. He didn’t pay it any mind, it was winter, people were sick.
It wasn’t until hours later, when he had unpacked his sandwich that he looked around and realized no one was in this section of the library… and yet, if he listened closely, he could hear wheezing and occasional weak coughs.
He frowned, putting his sandwich back into its container and getting up. Where were these sounds coming from?
Tony walked around the room, his steps quiet. He passed between rows of shelves, hearing the cough again. It sounded painful, the kind that hurt all the way into your back and down into your lower ribs. He’d had pneumonia and bad colds before, he knew where that deep rattle came from and what it felt like to cough like that. Whoever this was, they shouldn’t be in the library.
Except…there was no one there.
“Hello?” Tony asked and the wheezing stopped. He looked around the units of heavy wooden shelving, there was no one in this room with him.
On a whim, Tony looked up, he saw nothing there, but one of the sliding ladders that the librarians and students used to retrieve the works from the higher shelves was leaning against the bookshelf he was standing next to.
Tony wouldn’t know where the impulse had come from, but he was suddenly acutely aware that he had only searched the room in two possible dimensions. He took a tentative step onto the ladder and started ascending it.
Somehow, he knew what he would find as soon as a backpack came into view.
There, on top of the high shelf, laid the body of a young man, curled up under layers of clothing. Sweaters and cardigans were layered on top of the boy’s body and yet he was shivering under them.
His eyes were wide and glassy as they met Tony’s. “Professor Stark?” Peter whimpered, as if he wasn’t sure Tony was really here, or if he was hallucinating.
“This is an awfully cold place for a nap.” Tony said softly, reaching out to press the back of his hand against the boy’s forehead. He was definitely running a fever.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to break the rules.” The kid said, looking like he’d been caught doing something awful.
“Come here, kid. You gotta get down from here before you fall off.” He said.
It was a testament to how good-natured and well-mannered the boy was that he scrambled up into a sitting position and crawled towards the ladder.
For a moment, Tony had a horrifying vision of the boy falling down from the shelf and breaking his neck. He took a tight hold of Peter and gently manoeuvred him onto the ladder between Tony’s arms, so that Tony’s body would act as a basket and catch the kid if he slipped. “There, easy now. You’re doing great.” Tony coaxed, grabbing the boy’s bag and stuffing his handful of belongings in there. He slung the bag over his own shoulder before starting the descend ready to catch the kid until his feet were safely on the ground.
Peter swayed, looking utterly dazed. “Do I have to go outside? Can I bring my things?” He asked as if he’d forgotten that Tony had brought his things down. “Yeah, we definitely need to go kid.” He said. The boy was slumped in on himself, covering his arms and shivering violently. “Jeez... kid.” Tony shrugged out of his blazer, wrapping it around the boy’s body.
“Come here. We gotta get my stuff.”
He wasn’t sure how he had arrived at the conclusion that Peter was coming home with him, but he didn’t know if the boy had health insurance and there was nowhere else to take him other than the hospital. He was sure Peter wouldn’t be sleeping in the library if he had somewhere else to be.
Tony walked the kid over to where he had splayed out his own work and quickly packed his bag up again. He hadn’t seen a jacket among Peter’s belongings, so he draped his own thick woollen coat around the boy and buttoned it up.
“Where am I gonna go?” Peter asked, his voice rough and shaky. Tony realized just how out of it the boy was, how terrifying all this had to be for him.
“We’re going to my place, and you’ll sleep this off in the guest room, alright? You can’t sleep in the library.” He explained kindly. “Nothing bad is happening. I promise. It’ll be alright, you’ll see.” He felt the boy’s forehead again, almost compulsively. He really was burning up. Tony had a million questions, but all of them could wait.
“Come on, it’s time to go.” He shouldered his own and Peter’s bag, wrapping an arm around the kid as he walked him out of the building.
Peter recoiled from the cold and Tony couldn’t blame him. Without his jacket, he was freezing the second they stepped outside.
“Easy now, no falling down.” He coaxed, ushering the boy through the snow. The wind had picked up again and fresh snow was falling around them, soaking into Tony’s clothes in minutes. He shivered, his teeth clattering as he tried to coax the kid along. Peter was stumbling; he looked dazed and in pain, but together they made it back to Tony’s small home at the edge of the campus.
He ushered Peter in, relieved at the warmth, his nose and fingers feeling frozen from the cold. “There. That wasn’t so bad, right?” He coaxed, helping Peter out of his coat and blazer. “Come, come, it’s alright. We’ll put you right to bed.”
Tony led him down the hall and into his guest room, turning the heater to high and pulling the covers back. “In you go. I’ll be right back with some medicine.” He promised, leaving the boy to it for a minute.
This is insane, Tony told himself as he brewed tea and gathered cold medicine from his cabinet. Had he just kidnapped a kid from campus? Sure, Peter was a young adult, but he definitely didn’t look the part. He’d been sleeping in a damn library for heaven’s sake. It explained a lot though, didn’t it? The exhaustion, how gaunt the kid was, how exhausted. There’d been no comfort items up there, nothing to cushion him against the wood, no blanket, no proper winter jacket. The kid was truly in need of help, even if Tony didn’t have a full picture on why.
Someone had to help him.
He returned to his guest room minutes later, carrying a cup of honey-sweetened tea, a plate with buttered toast and jam, water, and cold medicine all on a tray.
He found Peter in bed, his shoes and filthy jeans on the floor by the bed, neatly folded. He had the covers pulled all the way up past his neck, but Tony could see him shivering. “I’m gonna get you a heated blanket.” He told Peter. “Hold on just a moment.”
He pulled the heated blanket out from under his own mattress topper to bring it over. He draped it over the boy, so he wouldn’t have to remove the blanket he was covered with now, even for a moment.
“Where am I?” Peter asked, looking up at him with wide eyes, his expression somewhere between confused and frightened.
Tony sat down with him. “You’re in my home.” He said, smoothing the covers down and making sure Peter’s shivering body was completely covered. “This is my guest room, and you’re my guest until you’re better.” He said, deciding to spare the boy any hard questions. He wasn’t completely lucid; Tony could tell by the dazed quality of his stare. “If I help you and we wrap the heating blanket around you, do you think you can sit up and drink a bit of water, have some food and medicine?” He asked.
“Professor Stark…” The kid looked utterly baffled by his presence, like he understood Tony was here, but couldn’t figure out how it was possible.
“You’re doing amazing, Peter. Don’t worry about a thing.” He said. “Here, let’s sit you up.” He said, sliding his arm under Peter’s shoulders and moving the pillow against the headboard to help him sit before packing the covers tightly around him again to warm him up. “There. You’re doing great.” He picked up the glass of water, warm from the tap. “Here, have a sip of this, see how your stomach feels.” He said, helping him drink a few sips of it.
Peter drank eagerly and Tony pulled the glass away when it was halfway empty. “That’s good, just sit with that a moment.” He said. “I want you to eat a few bits of toast, okay? So you can keep your medicine down.”
He didn’t know what it said about either of them that Peter let him do this, but Tony was glad for it, glad that the boy trusted him enough to accept his help.
Tony ended up feeding Peter half a slice of toast before the boy shook his head softly, wincing from the motion.
“Good enough.” Tony decided. “Here swallow these.” He showed the boy the package the pills came in before squeezing two of them out of their blister packs.
Peter freed his shaking hand from the blankets and took them himself, washing them down with the water Tony handed him. “Good, well done. There’s tea here, try to have some while you’re still awake.” Tony told him. “The bathroom is the room right next to yours. I’m just down the hall if you need me.” He promised, stroking the boy’s hair back and helping him lay back down.
“You can sleep as long as you need. You’re gonna be okay.” He promised.
“I can sleep here?” Peter asked, in a voice so rough and small that Tony almost didn’t hear him.
“Yeah, kid. You can sleep here as long as you need to.” Tony assured him.
He put the tea within easy reach on the nightstand, got a change of clothes from his own closet and put them next to the door, before leaving Peter be. He looked utterly exhausted from tracking through the snow to Tony’s home, and only barely seemed to be warming up. Tony had a feeling he’d be out like a light and he was glad for the reprieve. It would give him time to think; besides, he still had to complete his grant proposal.
It wasn’t until hours later, that he heard a sign of life from down the corridor. There was a soft shuffle, a pause, and then the bathroom door closed and locked.
He heard the toilet flush, water from the tap, and the door again. Then there was silence.
“Peter?” He called down the hall quietly.
“Professor Stark?” Came Peter’s voice from the kitchen door a few seconds later, as if the boy was only just realizing that Tony’s appearance had not been a fever dream. “Did you… find me?” He asked.
Tony pulled out a chair at the kitchen table where he was working so the boy could sit down. Peter had put on the sweatpants and the thick hoodie Tony had laid out for him earlier. They looked hilariously large on him.
“On top of the bookshelf, yeah.” Tony told him. “Do you want to tell me how you ended up sleeping in the library?”
Peter’s breath hitched and he looked down at the seam of the hoodie that he had automatically started playing with.
“ ‘s just that… I lost my home.” He explained. “It was just me and my aunt and… she’s gone now.” He said quietly. “I have a scholarship, but it just covers tuition and nothing else.” He explained. “I tried to-“ Peter had to stop, covering his mouth tightly to muffle his coughing fit. “I tried to work, but there’s not enough hours in the day.” He explained. “And even with a job, it’s not enough for a place for me.” He explained miserably. “I stayed at a shelter when I could, but you have to be there and queue in the afternoons and that’s when I have to be in class or working. I didn’t mean to break the rules. It was just so much easier to sneak in and sleep in the library.” He said quietly. “Please don’t have me expelled, I need this degree. I only have ‘til summer and I’ll be able to graduate.”
Tony hated the desperation in Peter’s eyes, he hated what the endless cracks in the social security system and impossibly high education costs in this country had done to Peter and so many kids like him.
“I’m not going to get you expelled, I promise.” He assured Peter. “But you can’t be sleeping in the library, okay?” He said softly.
Peter looked hopeless at the prospect of having to leave the safe space he had found in the library. The unspoken despair on his face was enough to make Tony’s heart break for him.
Tony sighed, looking up at the misshapen mug Pepper had made for him in a pottery class she’d made them take together so long ago. His home wasn’t much by any standard, but it was too much for only one person. “You should stay in the guest room.” He said, making the decision before he had really thought it through. He could not send the boy away in good conscience, and it wasn’t like the room got much use anyway.
Peter looked at him, incredulous. “You’d let me stay with you?” He asked.
Tony’s expression softened. “I think you deserve a break.” He said, nodding. “You think you can make do in the guest room for half a year?” Tony asked, giving the boy an assuring smile. The semester was almost over anyway, so Tony didn’t think this would pose much of a conflict of interest.
“You really mean that, Professor?” Peter asked, his eyes wide.
“I do. I could use some help around the house, and you need a roof over your head. I don’t see why not.” Peter was a polite young man and a good student. Tony would hate to see all his hard work go to waste just because he didn’t have the money to take care of himself during the most crucial final stage of college.
“Sir, that would be… I can’t tell you how much that would help me.” Peter seemed torn between throwing himself at Tony and trying to keep a stiff upper lip. Tony himself was still reeling from the monumental decision he’d just made.
“Then that’s that.” Tony said, nodding. “You should lay back down kid, you’re looking all pale.” He said. “I’ll start dinner in half an hour, you can get at least another hour of rest in before we eat.” He said, reaching over and squeezing Peter’s shoulder. The boy slumped towards him in relief, pulling Tony into a hug.
“Thank you, Professor Stark, I can’t thank you enough for this.” He said softly.
“You’re gonna have to call me ‘Tony’ when we’re home.” Tony chuckled, patting the boy’s back. “You’re welcome, kid.”