Chapter Text
Harley moves into the tower on a Monday morning.
Tony has finally managed to convince him to move to New York after Mrs Keener rang the man to complain about the school he was in in Tennessee and how it wasn’t fulfilling his needs. He spends a few hours telling Harley about how he could go to the same school that Peter goes to, a school that would challenge and stimulate him, as well as give him the opportunity to conduct many more experiments. Any experiments he wanted to, really, because any he wouldn’t be allowed to do in Midtown, Tony tells him, he would be able to do in a lab in the tower. It doesn’t really take much to convince the kid to move; the offer of getting out of the dead end that is Rose Hill, a lab he could do experiments in, all the cars he could ever want to deconstruct and rebuild, and living a hell of a lot closer to his best friend. There was little keeping him in Rose Hill when Tony told him he would be able to visit his family when ever he wanted, and they could come up at any time and would always be welcome.
So, he moves in on a Monday morning. He and Tony spend an hour or so moving what little amount of stuff he brought with him into his room, and then spend a few hours tinkering about in the lab that Peter has agreed happily to share with the older boy. They are just getting comfortable in the sitting room, mid-afternoon, when the lift opens and Peter stumbles out. Tony frowns when he sees the way Peter’s eyes are dropping, the way he falters slightly on his feet. Leia is skipping next to him, chatting away about her day, grinning when her father reacts, however weakly, to whatever she’s saying. She follows Peter straight through the room, her eyes not leaving his face, straight into the kitchen. Neither of them notice Tony and Harley in the living room until Harley clears his throat.
“What, you too cool for your Uncle Harley, now, Leia?” The young girl snaps her head around quickly at the sound of her name, her face lighting up when she sees him.
“Harley!” She giggles when the teenager picks her up and spins her around, placing an excessive number of loud kisses on her cheeks. “Daddy! Harley’s here!”
“Yeah,” Peter murmurs, looking confused. “I thought you weren’t here until the twenty fourth,” Tony’s frown deepens.
“It is the twenty fourth, Pete,” He tells him. Peter just looks more confused. “How are you feeling? You don’t look too hot,”
“Gee, thanks, Anthony,” He bites sarcastically, sitting down between Tony and where Harley is on the couch, Leia on the older boy’s lap. He rests his head on Tony’s shoulder and lets his eyes close.
“Why don’t you take a nap, kid. We’ll watch Leia for a little bit,” Tony ignores the protests that come out of Peter and brings his fingers to card through the kid’s hair, smiling when his breathing evens out quickly.
Peter is still dead to the world when Pepper steps out of the lift a few hours later. She smiles when she sees Leia and Harley doing a jigsaw puzzle on the table.
“Hello, Harley, sweetheart,” She kisses his forehead before doing the same to Leia.
“Hey, Pep,” He smiles up at her and turns back to the jigsaw. Pepper’s smile drops when she turns and sees Peter sleeping, head pillowed on Tony’s thigh. She sits down next to her husband.
“How long’s he been asleep?”
“A couple of hours,” Tony frowns when he looks up from his phone, an expression that is mirrored by Pepper and not missed by Harley.
“Why are you doing that?” He asks. Tony looks up at him confused. “That thing with your face,” The man rolls his eyes fondly.
“He’s been sleeping a lot recently.” Pepper sighs. “May says he’s not been out patrolling since last Friday. He’s been going to sleep as soon as Leia has and hasn’t woken up until the morning,”
“Ned messaged me before. He slept through his study period and then through most of decathlon practice as well,” Tony offers.
“Are we sure this is Peter?” Harley asks seriously. “The one who regularly runs off three hours of sleep for like, four days? Are we sure he hasn’t been replaced?” Tony just rolls his eyes again.
Peter wakes up suddenly a few more hours later, his head now resting on Harley’s thigh while Tony puts Leia to bed. He moans at the pain in his stomach, before rolling off the couch and stumbling to his feet.
“Peter? You alright, man?” Harley gets to his feet quickly, following Peter out of the room.
“Gonna be sick,” Peter groans out just as he pushes the door open to the bathroom. He falls to his knees as soon as he’s close to the toilet, immediately emptying his stomach. Harley sits down on the edge of the bath where he can comfortably reach to rub Peter’s back comfortingly. Peter is just slumped against the toilet when Tony comes into the room, dropping something onto the countertop.
“FRIDAY said you weren’t having a fun time, kid,” Harley snorts when Peter just groans again. Tony smiles slightly while he kicks the older teen from his place on the edge of the bath so he can sit down. “Pep and Leia are about to read ‘We’re going on a bear hunt’. I’m sure Leia would love for you to read it with her,” Harley looks between the still groaning teenager and the man.
“Will you be okay in here?” He asks softly. Tony just scoffs.
“Thank you but I am perfectly capable, you little shit,” Harley laughs as he gives Peter one more pat on the back before he leaves the room. Tony turns the taps on before helping Peter stand up. “Let’s get you cleaned up a bit, babe,” He helps Peter out of his t-shirt and jeans, leaving his underwear on, and lifts him to place him in the bath. It’s times like this that Tony is grateful for the spider bite making Peter weigh next to nothing.
Peter is groaning and moaning the entire time that he is in the bath, getting louder when Tony makes him change position so he can wash him. Tony just keeps hushing him and rolling his eyes.
“I never pegged you to be a drama queen, Peter,” He chuckles quietly when he manages to get all the shampoo out of Peter’s hair. He’s used the unscented one instead of the strawberry, not wanting to risk an overload while he’s sick.
“Hurts, Dad,” Peter moans, eyes squeezed closed, arms crossed over his stomach and hands balled into tight fists. Tony coos sympathetically and rubs a thumb across Peter’s cheek. The boy leans into the touch.
“I know, bud. I’ll go and get you something to help in minute-”
“Now?” Peter forces his eyes open, looking up at Tony through the tears. The man smiles at him.
“Okay,” He says, pushing himself up. “You get out and get dry. I’ve put some clothes on the counter for you. I’ll be back as soon as I can, alright?” Peter lets his eyes flutter closed as he nods. “Try not to fall asleep, bambi,” Tony laughs. Peter groans as Tony leaves the room.
Tony finds himself routing through his own bathroom cabinet when he realises that anything he had in there probably wouldn’t work for Peter. He doesn’t even ask FRIDAY to check that they’re on their floor before he makes his way towards where Steve and Bucky live. When the door to the lift opens, he makes his way straight towards their kitchen, where he knows they keep their medicines.
“Alright, Tony?” The man jumps slightly, banging his head on the top of the cupboard he is is.
“Steve!” Tony’s voice is full of fake cheer as he rubs where he banged his head. He winces, the smallest movement. “You got any superhuman strength pain killers in here?” Steve pushes Tony out of the way gently, reaching to the shelf above where he was looking and pulls a box down.
“You realise they will knock you straight out, right?” Bucky asks from where he’s leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed. “They’re like, five times as strong as you need.”
“It’s for Pete,” Tony says, and is immediately met with identical frowns from the super soldiers. “He’s fine, just a bit sick,”
“I thought he couldn’t get sick. You know, with the spider bite?”
“We didn’t think he could,” Tony sighs. “May said before the bite he got sick all the time, but since the bite he hasn’t had so much as a cough,”
“And now he’s sick,” Bucky states. His frown deepens when Tony starts to leave.
“Yeah. Pretty bad.” He makes it halfway to the lift before he pauses and turns his head. “If this isn’t cleared up by Wednesday morning, any chance you’ll be up for some babysitting? Leia doesn’t go to play group on Wednesdays, Harley starts at Midtown, and Pep and I are in meetings all day. Can’t really leave her alone with Pete while he’s so out of it, and she will be bored to death sitting in meetings with us,”
“Sure,” Steve says easily, nodding his head.
“Question. Are we babysitting Leia or Peter?” Tony laughs as he continues to the lift and enters. “Stark? Tony?” The door closes and leaves Bucky without an answer.
He goes back to the bathroom where he left Peter as quickly as he can. He smiles when he sees Peter dressed in the sweats and t-shirt Tony left him, slumped on the floor, falling asleep leaning on the sink.
“Wakey wakey, sleeping beauty,” He isn’t whispering, but he makes sure his voice is as soft as he can make it. Peter moans quietly as his eyes flutter open. “Got you some super soldier strength pills. Let me just get you a drink,” He laughs when Peter makes grabby hands up at him. He hands over the packet and turns to get the glass of water from the side. “Oh.” He sighs when he turns and sees Peter dry swallow two of the pills. “Or you could do that. Let’s get you to bed.”
He picks Peter up gently, letting the boy wrap his limbs around Tony’s body. He only takes a minute to contemplate, before walking straight past Peter’s room and towards his and Pepper’s. She’s sitting on the bed when he comes through the door. She smiles softly, her voice the same.
“How is he?”
“He’s a dramatic shit when he’s sick,” He chuckles as he tries to put Peter down on the bed. Pepper laughs as Peter tightens his legs around Tony’s waist and his arms around his neck, letting out a high-pitched whimper as he clings. “Alright, Bambi. I’m right here,” He shushes Peter, plants a kiss on the top of his head, and sits down on the bed with Peter still attached to him. “Leia and Harley okay?”
“Leia took little longer to get to sleep, but she did eventually. I think Harley is calling his mother, letting her know he’s settling in. You should call May, let her know what’s happening.”
“Yeah.” Tony sighs, threading his fingers through Peter’s hair. It’s beginning to curl at the ends. “I’ll call her in the morning.” He lays down gently, rearranging Peter so he’s curled into his side. Pepper joins him, curling into his other side. She rests her arm across Tony, her hand going to Peter’s hair. His face relaxes in his sleep. “We could totally handle a kid,” Pepper lets out a soft laugh.
“We’ve just acquired a third child, Tony.”
“What?” Tony’s eyes are closed, his voice laced with tired confusion. “We don’t have three kids. Do we?”
“No, I guess you’re right,” Pepper sighs. “I guess technically Leia is Peter’s child. We have two teenage boys and a grandchild,”
“You take that back!” He gasps. “I’m not old enough to be a grandfather!” Pepper laughs at the false disgust in Tony’s voice. Tony kisses Peter’s head.