Work Text:
Boss, your presence has been requested at the tower’s front entrance.
Tony pulled his head out from under the machinery he was working on, “What’s the deal, FRI?”
There seems to be a disturbance, Sir. Oscar at the front desk is unsure of how to handle it.
Tony sighed, both annoyed by the interruption and curious by what he could possibly be needed for in the lobby. If there was a security threat they would want him to stay as far away as possible, not come investigate. Maybe a parcel had arrived for him? That couldn’t really be considered a disturbance unless it was too big to fit into the elevator to be brought up to him. Just the thought of that was ridiculous. Might as well just go see what it is.
He stood up and felt a little dizzy from the sudden movement. He had been locked away in his lab for days working on a new project, and he was starting to wonder if a few more breaks would have been a good idea. When was the last time he had eaten? Had water? Well, too late now, he would go see what was going on downstairs, then maybe he could order in a sandwich or something for dinner, or actually, he glanced down at his watch, more like a late, late , night snack.
He rode the elevator down to the main lobby and saw Oscar looking nervously at him from behind the desk. Tony looked around. It was late, it was quiet. There didn’t seem to be anything worth titling a ‘disturbance’ to be seen. He opened his mouth to say as much when he heard a sudden harsh banging on the glass.
Tony turned, mildly startled by the sudden noise in the otherwise silent atrium.
It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness on the other end of the glass doors, but when they did he immediately recognized the wild but familiar mop of hair, slightly more disheveled than usual, “Peter?”
He turned from the boy to Oscar and back, “Why is nobody letting him in? Peter has full access, Oscar, what’s the deal here?” he chastised lightly as he moved toward the door that was still getting assaulted by the super-strength teen.
“Sir, I don’t think you understand, he--”
“TONY!” Peter squealed once the door was open. He threw himself at the man’s ankle and clung to it tightly.
“Kid, what are you--” he cut himself off when an offending smell protruding from the boy hit his nostrils. One look at his kid’s dilated pupils was enough to confirm the rest, “Are you drunk ?”
“Drunk...? I drank, things were definitely dranked , Mis’er ‘tark,'' Peter hugged the man’s legs tighter, rubbing his cheek on his calf lovingly. “Thank goodness you came, there’s a mons’er in those bushes!” He glanced warily to the darkened side of the tower where a neat row of bushes was planted.
Tony followed his gaze briefly before dropping his eyes back to his kid.
“I don’t know about a monster, but the streets of New York are definitely not a place you should be hanging out when you are in this state,” Tony couldn’t help the anger rise inside of him at the thought of someone trying to hurt his kid without him having any sort of mental capacity to defend himself. What had he been thinking? “Who would even sell you alcohol? You look like a newborn baby puppy.”
“We’re getting a PUPPY!” The boy’s eyes lit up, “I’m going to name him Spidey-pup! An’ he can go do my pew pewing while I’m at school!”
Tony’s eyes widened, and he glanced back at Oscar, who, despite the kid’s rising voice, was too far away to hear through the glass door. Thank goodness, dealing with a drunken kid was enough to handle for one night, no need to add identity reveal to that list, “Yeah, pipe down there, kid, no mentioning your alter-ego right now, m’kay?”
“Mis’er ‘tark?” Peter’s voice shook with nerves as he ignored his mentor’s warning and changed the subject completely, “Everything looks all fuzzy. Do you think I need my glasses again?”
Tony rolled his eyes, lifting the kid up by his arm and steadying him, “I think you drank your body weight in alcohol, and I would guess you did it in a very short time if your body is reacting this much.”
“Alc’hol’s bad . Oscar?” the intoxicated teen turned to the night manager as they stepped through the double doors, “Don’ drink the alc’hols, ‘kay?”
“Yeah, kid, and if you had listened to me at all when I told you countless times not to be like me, you would have taken that same advice,” Tony grumbled, surveying the scene and sighing, “Alright, kiddo, we need to get you up to bed to sleep this off, c’mon.”
Tony pushed the kid up from where he was resting on the man’s shoulder, but evidently, it had been too hard with the lack of balance Peter was currently experiencing because he toppled right over and landed firmly on the floor.
Tony braced himself for an entirely over-dramatic drunken outburst from the fall, but instead, Peter broke into a fit of giggles.
“I’m Rollie Pollie Ollie! I’m small and smart and rooound!” he singsonged as he rolled around on the floor.
“Yeah, yeah, you’re the swellest kid around,” Tony sighed tiredly, pulling Peter up once more, thankful at least that no tears had been shed.
“You forgot the part ‘bout curves and curls, Mis’er ‘tark,” Peter commented seriously as he was righted.
“My mistake,” Tony deadpanned, “Now, c’mon and move those legs because there is no way I’m carrying your lanky teenage frame all the way upstairs.”
As light and lean as the kid looked, Tony knew from experience how heavy he really was and it baffled the man every time.
“OH, walkin’ is kinda hard, Mis’er… ‘tark, but it’s ok! I can run!” he exclaimed gleefully, quite proud of his brilliant solution.
“No, Peter, that isn’t going to--”
But the kid took off, running ungracefully toward the elevator. Tony barely had enough time to be concerned about the kid’s feet slipping out from underneath him before he instead barreled directly into the hard steel door that hadn’t yet opened.
This time, Peter did burst into tears. Huge drops rolled down his face for all of a moment before he stopped them like a switch and in an instant, accusation overtook the boy’s upset features instead. The sudden shift gave Tony whiplash. His kid was a damn actor .
“Why did you put that door in front of me!?” The boy attempted a scowl, but with a tear track staining each cheek, it was very hard to take the anger seriously.
“Kid, I’m pretty sure ‘no running in the house’ is one of May’s rules,” Tony reminded, like that was the biggest issue right now, not the intoxicated sixteen-year-old currently sprawled out on the lobby floor .
With the reminder of one of his aunt’s cardinal rules, Peter’s features sobered and his eyes grew wide as they peered up at the man, “Don’t tell Aun’ May! You caaaan’t.”
The boy set his large puppy dog eyes on the man and Tony would have laughed if he wasn’t trying to remain serious for the kid’s sake. Of course, even in his drunken state, he knew those eyes could get him whatever he desired.
“I’m pretty sure that is not going to be your biggest concern in regards to May by morning, Pete,” Tony allowed himself to chuckle lightly, picturing the woman’s reaction when she heard the details of her nephew’s wild night. He wouldn’t be the only one with a lecture prepared once the teen sobered up. His kid had gotten himself into some pretty hot water.
“May s’not home for two more days, anyway,” Peter informed, eyes opening and closing sluggishly, “It can be a secret, shhh.”
Tony stopped, “Wait, where’s May?” Was he supposed to know this? The two were practically co-parents at this point, and they kept each other well up to date when either one was due to be out of town.
“Co’frence, ‘member?”
Shoot. He did remember. Five days in Chicago with the hospital. He was to check in on Peter regularly since the sixteen-year-old had insisted he was old enough to stay home alone. They both knew, however, their kid had a tendency of finding trouble without really meaning to.
And he had forgotten. He had been so wrapped up in the workshop the past week he hadn’t even realized what day it was, let alone thought about all the other responsibilities piling up around him the longer he cut himself off from the real world.
He was a horrible mentor.
He should have checked in at least twice by this point. Made sure the kid was eating enough, doing his homework before spending all night out on patrol, been watching to make sure something exactly like this wouldn’t happen.
He sighed, he could beat himself up about this in his own time. Right now, he had a teenaged spider-kid that was mere seconds from toppling over. Again. He could worry about his own lecture from May about responsibility later, not to mention the one he would get from Pepper when she found out.
“Alright, kiddo, looks like you’re moving in with me until May gets back. I think we both need someone to hold us accountable right now,” Tony grabbed hold of the nape of the boy’s neck and steered him into the elevator that had finally opened, shouting thanks to Oscar just before the door separated them from the lobby and shot them up towards the penthouse.
“C’mon kid, PJs, and bed,” Tony directed once they were back upstairs and walking in the direction of the kid’s tower bedroom.
“M’head hurts,” Peter complained as they entered the somewhat unkempt room. Tony didn’t enter the kid’s room often, it was his space and therefore the door usually remained closed when Peter wasn’t occupying it. He didn’t mind a little mess anyway, it actually made him feel sort of good. Like there was someone living and breathing inside of the penthouse besides himself.
“I’m sure it does,” Tony nodded, grabbing a pair of pajamas from the dresser and pushing them into the boy’s chest, “Hopefully a sore head is all you have to deal with tonight.”
Tony could confidently call himself an expert in the hangover department and none had ever been a pleasant experience. He felt for his kid. He certainly hadn’t forgotten his first hangover. The kid was only lucky for his freaky spider DNA that would hopefully make his experience far less miserable. Tony almost hoped it wouldn’t though. It would serve the kid right to go through the full misery, dissuade him from ever wanting to get drunk again. Though Tony had to admit, that had never stopped him.
Thank goodness his kid was better than he was.
While Peter changed, Tony went to his own room to grab the kid’s spider-strength aspirin from the medicine cabinet then onto the kitchen to pour a large glass of water for him. He re-entered Peter’s room and found the kid sitting on his bed, head in hands.
“Take these, and drink all the water before going to sleep, you’ll thank me in the morning,” he ordered, and the teen only whined before doing as directed.
He made a face as the pills went down, and for one brief moment, Tony was sure his shoes were about to be covered with vomit. The wave of nausea must have subsided though, because as fast as the kid’s face had whitened, the rosiness in his cheeks had reappeared, and he opened his eyes.
“Okay, hop in, time for beddy-byes.”
“M’not baby,” Peter mumbled with no actual fight in his voice as he rested his knees on the mattress and crawled under the covers that Tony was holding open for him.
“Course you’re not,” Tony placated as he began to rub soothing circles across the boy’s back.
It didn’t take long once his head hit the pillow, for his kid to be out like a light.
Tony rubbed the boy’s back for a few more minutes, worried that as fast as sleep overtook him, nausea would push back and the pair would spend the night taking turns nodding off on the hard linoleum floor of the bathroom. But, thankfully, it never happened, and soon enough Tony was whispering to FRIDAY to let him know if the kid woke in distress.
He then made his way to his own room. It was probably a good idea for him to get some sleep too considering he hadn’t made a habit of doing it in at least a few days. He was going to need his strength, after all, if he was planning to have a tough conversation with a certain spider-boy the next morning. He was not looking forward to it in the least, but he knew if tonight was anything to go by, that they were definitely in need of a long discussion.
Peter had only woken up once in the night. His headache had pulsed, and getting up was the last thing he wished to do, but in the end, his bladder won out, and he forced himself up and to the bathroom.
He was happy to note when he woke up several hours later, not only was his headache gone, but there were no signs of nausea either. It was then that Peter was finally able to focus enough to think about where he was and how he had gotten there.
He remembered starting his night out in his apartment, that part was clear. But then, how had he made it to the tower?
He had been angry, he remembered that much. Angry when May left with a reminder that Tony would be checking in on him every morning and every night, he wasn’t a kid, and he didn’t think he needed all the overprotectiveness, but he was angrier yet when the man hadn’t done it. Then, he had gotten the text from FRIDAY’s database that Tony was in an intense lab session, and their regularly scheduled lab day would have to be cancelled.
That was what really sent his brain into overdrive. What was going on? Had Tony decided Peter was too much responsibility for him? Had being made to check in on an almost adult so frequently finally been the realization he needed to decide he didn’t want that kind of life. He was a busy man, after all, why would he want the duty of keeping tabs on a teenager on top of everything else he had going on?
There was the chance that he had just forgotten, of course, he was busy, and Peter knew exactly how Tony got when the man was absorbed in his work. But, Peter didn’t entertain this idea as heavily as the rest, because there was a chance Tony didn’t want to be a part of his life anymore, and that fear won over occupancy in his brain.
Thus, the plan was formed.
The tiniest part of him knew he was being ridiculous. Another part thought that Tony wouldn’t care either way, or would be so mad that he did decide Peter was too much if he hadn’t already, but at that point, Peter didn’t care. He had to get the man’s attention, he had to know for sure if his mentor still cared.
Obtaining the alcohol had actually been easier than he would have thought. May had a liquor cabinet that she had never bothered to lock away considering Peter was such a good kid, and she trusted that he wouldn’t touch it without her explicit permission, which she would never have given aside from perhaps a small glass of champagne on New Year’s Eve, and even then, she would pour that for him herself.
Peter had felt slightly guilty for breaking her trust like that, but his hurt feelings won in the end, so the plan went on.
The memories after drinking the copious amounts of alcohol are few and far between. He remembered thinking it hadn’t taken as much as he would have thought to get drunk, though he had been under the influence, so perhaps his definition of ‘not a lot’ had been skewed. He wouldn’t know until he went home to investigate what was left of May’s inventory.
Slowly, him making the decision to go to the tower came back to him, he was not quite sure how he managed to get there because the entire journey is lost in his memories, but he does remember deciding not to swing himself there. Even being well under the influence, his brain had kept some sensibility, thank god.
Peter was racking his brain for the finer details of his night when a short knock came from the doorway, and Tony entered through the open door.
“Hey, kid, how are you feeling this morning?” He studied him with concern that made Peter guilty before he reminded himself of the reason he did what he did in the first place.
“Fine,” Peter shrugged, averting his gaze.
“I figured as much,” Tony nodded, “That DNA of yours kicking in even when you don’t deserve it.”
The man chuckled, but the remark still annoyed Peter. He opened his mouth to say as much when Tony beat him to it.
“Listen, buddy,” the man sat carefully on the edge of the bed and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, “Before we get into this, I want to apologize. I realize that I messed up. I completely forgot about May going out of town and I feel awful for leaving you alone like that for this long.”
The apology threw Peter off, how did the man always seem to know what was going on in Peter’s head? Still, he wasn’t quite ready to give up the fight.
“I didn’t need a babysitter,” he remarked with a scowl.
Tony acknowledged the teen’s feelings with a short nod.
Peter sighed, “But when I hadn’t heard from you in days… I guess I started to think I’d done something...or…”
Tony shook his head, “It wasn’t like that at all, Pete.”
Peter shrugged, “I was worried...and, I didn’t want to tell May because...I don’t even really know, so I lied and said you had been coming, and for some reason that made me feel even more lonely...and,” he sighed, “I don’t know, it’s dumb.”
“Your feelings are never dumb,” Tony shook his head, then sighed, “I messed up, kid, but you need to know, it had nothing to do with you. Sometimes I get stuck in my head, and I don’t notice the passage of time, I just can’t think about anything but the project . It’s not my greatest quality,” he chuckled lightly trying to ease the tension.
Peter nodded, he knew this. It was exactly what his brain had tried to tell him the day before, and he had chosen to ignore it.
“I’m going to make sure this never happens again,” Tony assured, “FRIDAY’s already been updated, no more thirty-six-hour lab binges. But, I do need to know what happened last night? Because even angry, I would have never pegged you as the type of kid to turn to alcohol to cope. That’s more of teenage Tony’s style.”
Peter deflated, his eyes scanning the room in search of the right explanation, “It’s dum-- uh, I mean, doesn’t make much sense. I guess...I thought maybe it would get your...attention, or something. I don’t really know.”
“Well it definitely got my attention,” Tony affirmed, “And again, I am not proud of myself for dropping the ball this hard, but... Pete, you do realize how dangerous that was, right? Please tell me you realize that.”
Another shrug from the teen, “I’m okay though.”
Tony huffed, “Yeah, you’re okay, and that was lucky , Peter. There were so many times something could have gone wrong last night. You had no clue how the alcohol would affect you or your spider side. You were for lack of better words, experimenting with something you had no knowledge of, and you were all alone if something went wrong.”
Peter blushed, he hadn’t thought about the possibility of negative effects besides the buzz that every normal kid that Peter had witnessed at parties got.
“Not to mention, you then ventured out onto the streets of New York . It was three in the morning, Peter, you don’t know how incredibly grateful I am that you somehow managed to get to me safely because any number of things could have happened to you.”
“I am Spider-Man,” Peter pointed out, not to be bold, but to state a fact, “I’m out late a lot of nights.”
Tony shook his head, “Not with dulled reflexes you’re not. Kid, you could barely stand up when you got to me. I’m sure you have a pretty nice bruise on your butt from the number of falls you had. It was not smart, it was dangerous , confirm to me that you realize that now.”
The man looked terrified, and Peter’s cheeks burned brighter, it had been dumb, “I’m sorry,” Peter whispered as the guilt settled in, “I just...I didn’t think. I wanted you to talk to me and...things got out of hand.”
Tony sighed. Peter studied his comforter.
“I don’t like that you thought you needed to act out to get my attention, but I do get it ,” Tony put a comforting hand on the teen’s knee, “Just, if you’re ever questioning your place in my life again, please come talk to me before you do anything like this again. I know I seemed MIA, but if you had picked up your phone and called, I would have answered, FRIDAY knows to push your calls through.”
“I guess my anxiety sort of took over,” Peter admitted, “I’ll try not to let that happen again.”
“We’re both going to do better,” It was a no-nonsense statement dripping with the type of Tony Stark authority nobody would ever brave going against.
Peter nodded, because what else could he say.
“Good,” Tony nodded once, “I don’t want to see another alcoholic beverage in your hand until you are at least twenty-one, and well, what do you say FRI? Six hours in the lab before I have to resurface for water and air?”
Protocol updated, Boss.
“That’s my girl. Are we good?” Tony asked almost apprehensively.
Peter smiled, he did feel better, and the search for any lingering anger came up short. He felt warmer than he had in days, “Yeah, we’re good.”
Tony exhaled dramatically, “Okay, good, because it would have been totally awkward to still be fighting while we ate the huge pancake breakfast I have waiting for us in the kitchen.”
The teen giggled, “After breakfast, I should go back and check on the apartment, make sure I clean everything up before May has more of a reason to be furious with me.”
Tony stilled, face growing serious, “Oh, kid, didn’t you hear? You’re grounded to this penthouse for the next two days until May gets back.”
Peter deflated, “What?”
Tony allowed himself a small smile, “Don’t worry, bud, I’m grounded from the lab for the next two days, too. Guess we’re stuck with each other, huh?”
Peter exhaled, “Guess so,” he agreed, a small smile reappearing on his face because honestly? That didn’t sound so bad at all.