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After a long day on the road with everyone piled into one van, Tony was glad when they finally reached the hotel. He hated these group training exercises with a burning passion and he especially hated the fact they had to drive to all of these hole in the wall locations. He understood the logistics of why they couldn’t all congregate in an obvious place, but still, the long drives following encrypted coordinates were tiresome- especially with a car full of people asking where they were going even though he had no idea himself, annoying the crap out of him. Well, one of the passengers didn’t annoy him, in fact he was happy to answer every question their youngest resident had to ask.
Peter had finally got clearance to join them for training and the boy was as excited as to be expected. He’d just about fainted when he found out that T’Challa was going to be there. This being his first time meeting the extended members of their team Tony had expected him to be nervous, and at first it seemed as though the man was wrong. The whole day in the car leading up he’d been excited, chattering and asking a billion questions. However when Tony announced that they were nearing the training grounds and stopping at a hotel for the night, Peter seemed to quiet down; sinking into the background instead of leading the conversation.
Once they’d eaten and checked they had all the equipment and supplies they needed, Tony sent Peter to be early; hoping to silence any jitters with a good night's rest and for once he’d actually gone to bed at a sensible time himself.
What he didn’t expect was a tapping at his door at 2 am.
He hadn’t noticed the light knocking at first, though when he did it startled him awake. His housemates knew not to knock lightly as he wouldn’t hear it at first and would wake up pissed off at the low sounding noise. He’d rather they knock loudly or not at all. Mostly the latter. “What?!”
The tapping stopped but Tony didn’t hear a voice for a good three seconds until a very small “Mr. Stark?”
“Come in, kid.” The man sighed, wiping a hand over his eyes and kicking himself for snapping. He wasn’t exactly unacustomed to the boy having nightmares. Peter would often knock on his door at night or appear in the lab way past his bedtime because he couldn’t sleep. And the boy was always anxious to do so no matter how many times Tony assured him that it was okay, so Tony wasn’t surprised that the small dark figure remained in the hallway rather than entering his room. “What’s up? What’re you doing up so late?”
“I-I-I’m really sorry I- I didn’t know what else to do-“
Tony quickly realised the kid was stammering and hiccuping periodically was indicative of more than a late night chat.
Tony had never sat up so fast. “Hey hey hey- come here, come in here what’s the matter?”
Peter did step further into the room but still not close enough for Tony to be of any comfort so the man got up and walked over to him. Only when he got closer the light from the hall cast over the boy's face and he was definitely crying.
“What happened, what’s the matter?” Not a particularly tactile man at the best of times his instincts took over, automatically reaching out to hug the boy before he’d had a chance to put the impulse in check. “Kid, what’s wrong, why are we crying?”
“I’m so sorry I really didn’t mean to-“ Peter sniffled, crying harder now. Tony had only seen the kid cry twice ever and those two instances were- let’s say- rather intense; so needless to say Tony was kind of freaking out that the boy was crying now. He’d seen him have panic attacks plenty of times but this was something else. “I didn’t wanna wake you up but I couldn't- I couldn’t fix it and-“
Oh god had he broken something. Even so it couldn’t have been anything that valuable right? They were in a hotel, there was hardly anything expensive there. Unless he’d gotten into some of Tony’s tech again- but he couldn’t smell smoke this time so he figured there wasn’t a fire. Maybe he’d broken something on his suit but even so- the kid looked downright scared. He knew by now that Tony would never be that mad at him over anything right? Right..?
Approaching with caution as not to startle the boy more, Tony placed both hands on his shoulders, running his hands up and down his biceps. “Okay, okay deep breaths, P. Just calm yourself down, alright? I can’t help if you don’t tell me what happened, you just gotta calm down a bit, okay?”
“S-s-s-sorry.” Peter stuttered, getting stuck on the s. It took a moment for Peter to catch his breath, and a lot of hand gesturing and stuttering later the boy finally managed to spit it out. “I-I threw up.”
“You threw up?” Tony repeated slowly, almost confused. That was it? Why did the boy seem so terrified of admitting that? Tony was far more concerned about the state of his intern than anything else. “When?”
“Like an-n hour ago- I tried to make it to the bathroom but I-I couldn’t and I tried to clean it up but I just made it worse and I didn’t know what else to do I’m sorry I woke you up sir, I’m really really sorry.” The teen muttered, furiously wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.
“Oh Peter- it’s okay.” Tony said gently, pulling the boy into a proper hug rather than the half hearted hug he was giving him before. Unfortunately that only started Peter crying again. “It’s okay! Don’t worry about the clean up alright- that’s fixable, totally fixable. I’m more worried about you. Do you still feel sick?”
The boy looked cautious, like he didn’t want to admit it, but he nodded. He still seemed scared of Tony’s reaction, which made the man feel uneasy. He wondered what he’d done to warrant such fear in the kid. Then it occurred to him that Peter had probably never experienced having to tell any other adult other than May and maybe Ned’s mom that he didn’t feel well, and he didn’t exactly have a frame of reference to gauge Tony’s reaction to that news. He was genuinely scared of how his mentor may respond- would he be mad? Would he send him back home? Peter didn’t know, and Tony had to be appreciative of that. So the man was going to try his damnedest to settle his mind.
“Aw kiddo,” Tony started by brushing Peter’s hair from his face and pressed a palm against his forehead. Not the best method of checking for a fever, since Peter often had a higher temperature than an average person anyway but still he could tell he was a little warmer than usual. Though that could be due to him getting himself into such a state. “You got a headache or anything? Or is it just your tummy?”
Peter looked briefly surprised at the man’s choice of words but with a small shrug he eventually answered. “Um a bit of both..”
“Alright, why don’t you go wash up a little, hm? Splash some cold water on your face, I’ll assess the damage.”
Peter looked uncomfortable like he really didn’t want to leave the man to survey the mess he’d made, but was still shy of talking back. He did as he was told, slipping into the bathroom whilst Tony went to his room.
Peter was right, he had managed to make a huge mess. As soon as Tony entered the room the distinct scent of bile hit his nose, making his eyes burn. From what Tony could tell Peter had woken up with a sudden wave of nausea, if the stain on the mattress was anything to go by. After he’d thrown up on the bed, the sheets laid bundled at the bottom of it where he’d attempted to strip the mattress only to find it had seeped through. There was also a large wet stain on the carpet where he’d assumedly gotten up to try and make it to the bathroom but failed. Or maybe he’d gotten himself so freaked out when tackling the bed that he’d thrown up again, Tony wasn’t sure. He was sure however he didn’t have the amenities to deal with such a mess himself. He wasn’t exactly used to having to clean up puke and even if he was, their hotel room didn’t have the appropriate supplies to tackle- well that . No biggie he’d just give the cleaning staff a huge tip in the morning. For now he had to make sure Peter was okay.
Closing the door behind him lest someone else stumble on the acidic mess, Tony knocked on the bathroom door. “Kid?”
Peter gingerly opened the door letting Tony step in. It was clear he’d been crying more but tried (yet failed) to calm himself down. Tony leaned on the counter across from where Peter sat on the closed toilet lid. “You okay?”
“Mhm.”
“Stomach settling a little bit?”
Peter nodded, keeping his eyes cast towards the ground, unable to meet his mentor’s.
“What caused all that you think?” Tony said quietly, leaning forward to brush Peter's hair out of his face again. He was surprising himself with the amount of contact he was initiating; but he’d noted that small acts of physical affection helped calm Peter down far quicker than words did. Nothing assured the teen that he wasn’t in trouble like a quick hug- though he didn’t want to overload him right now so he was making sure to be slow and deliberate with his movements. “You weren’t feeling ill yesterday were you?”
“No I..M’not sure but I- I think it’s just ‘cause I- I got really anxious about meeting everyone tomorrow and-“ Peter sniffles, cutting himself off for what Tony could only assume was a long list of anxieties. “I feel so stupid.”
“Why? Being nervous is normal. Especially when you don’t know what to expect.” Tony said, smiling sadly. He hated it when the teen got down on himself for normal emotional responses- okay well maybe throwing up wasn’t quite normal but at least it was understandable. He couldn’t help but feel partially responsible for why Peter felt he had to be strong all the time, the kid trying to model after his emotionally constipated example. It wasn’t healthy for him let alone a kid who’d been thrust into their crazy work world after suddenly developing superpowers. If Peter hadn’t have been nervous he would have been seriously worried for his mental health. “Stress is functional Peter, your brains just doing its best to try and prepare and protect you for an unfamiliar situation.”
“By embarrassing me by making me throw up on myself?” Peter asked, clearly not convinced.
“Okay..Admittedly your brain is still figuring out the best way to do that.” Tony conceded with a small shrug. “If you were anxious buddy you could’ve come and talked to me.”
“I know.” Peter muttered bashfully. “It was just embarrassing with everyone else there and I didn’t want you to have to worry about me on top of everything else. I should be able to do this.”
“You are, you’re more than capable, or I wouldn’t have let you come. But part of that capability is knowing when to ask for help.” Tony had drilled that into him from the start once they’d gotten past the whole vulture thing (you know when Peter tried to ask for help and Tony ignored him? Yeah, they were still working on that). “Getting anxious is gonna be par for the course in this line of work, kid, but that’s why we work in a team, right? So we can lean on each other.”
Peter nodded silently. For a moment the pair sat there whilst Peter mulled over his mentors words, feeling even more stupid for having let himself get so upset in the first place. The entire affair had been totally avoidable- as was often the case with him- and he couldn’t help but feel guilty for dragging Tony into his mess with him. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be, you’re fine.” Tony said gently.
“If I’d just told you earlier maybe this wouldn’t have happened.”
“Maybe, but then again maybe not. AndI don’t know, throwing up definitely got the message through.” Smirked and got a chuckle out of Peter. “Remember how nervous you were meeting the team the first time? Well, second time I guess.”
Peter nodded, cringing at the memory. He’d almost thrown up then too, onky Tony had sat with him in the car for half an hour to quell his panic attack before they headed up to the apartment.
“And you remember how that went? You were nervous at first, I think we all were, but everyone warmed up eventually right?”
Peter nodded again, it was true once Thor had broken the ice by literally breaking the ice- accidentally smashing his glass on the floor when he tripped over nothing, they all very quickly warmed to one another. Peter supposed the fact they’d all be engaging in excercises and training together would help ease the tension too.
“And you know Bucky and Sam already- and the twins and Vis are coming.” Tony tacked on to sweeten the deal. He hadn’t told him before because he wanted it to be a surprised but he knew how much Peter loved the twins and he hadn’t seen them in ages. “Rhodey might bring his lazy ass down too if we’re lucky, who knows. So you’ll already know some people. Plus I’m gonna be there the whole time, you’re not gonna be on your own.”
That did bring Peter some comfort, especially knowing that he wouldn’t be expected to split up from the man at any time. He’d been worried about that before, being taken away from the group because she didn’t know as much as they did and having to be alone the whole time. “I know but- what if I do something stupid and embarass myself?”
“Then I’ll just have to do something more stupid to upstage you.” Tony shrugged.
Peter frowned and folded his arms over his chest. “I’m serious Mr. Stark.”
“So am I.” Tony said genuinely with a light laugh. “It wouldn’t be the first time I had to do it for someone- who shall remain nameless…” Tony trailed off before fake coughing. “ Steve.”
But Peter didn’t take the bait- which was when Tony realised he was being serious because the boy never gave up an opportunity for an anecdote. Sighing lightly Tony settled in for a deeper chat, hopping up to sit on the counter. “Okay. Talk me through it. What’s the worst thing you could do?”
“I don’t- I don’t know.” Peter stammered, clearly regretting his decision and wishing he’d just asked about the Steve story.
But Tony was persistent. “No come on.”
“Like- saying something dumb.” Peter said vaguely.
Tony gave him a blank stare. “Have you met Thor?”
Taking that on board knowing he couldn’t really dispute that point, Peter continued. “Or if I can’t do one of the exercises properly- or I like I don’t know what I’m doing and everyone else does. I hate that.”
“Buddy that’s the point of these training sessions. No one knows If it helps this is Wanda and Pietro’s first official session too.”
“Really?” Peter asked hopefully.
“Really- so they won’t know all the protocols too and that’s okay. To be honest no one really knows what they’re doing.” Tony said honestly, thinking back to the last ‘group team building’ excursion that was just absolute chaos . Though he knew this one would be different or he wouldn’t have brought his kid with him. “And if at any point it gives too much, just gimme a signal and I’ll fake a heart attack.”
Finally Tony got a giggle out of him. “You’re so dramatic.”
“Says the one who just threw up because he’s nervous.”
“Hey.” Peter pouted and shoved the man's arm playfully. But then the thought hit him. “What if that happens again?”
Tony pondered the question for a moment, deeming it a fair concern. To be honest he’d been thinking the same thing. “Does that happen a lot?”
Peter shifted uncomfortably, twiddling with the cuffs of his hoodie. “Sometimes..”
“Well, I’ll cover for you. We can blame Steve’s cooking.” Tony said after a moment, making sure to keep his tone light as he patted the boy on the shoulder. Being an adult he understood the best way to avoid the situation was to not worry about it- not that that was easy advice for an anxiety prone teenager. “You know the more you stress about it the more likely it is to happen. Vicious circle.”
“What like pac-man?” Peter snorted suddenly bursting out laughing. Only the day before Tony had corrected Clint in the car for his verbiage. “Vicious cycle, Mr. Stark.”
“Piss off it’s three in the morning.” Tony hissed when the boy continued laughing at him, only for him to grow more hysterical when Tony got infected too; both of them miming the evil pac-man and dissolving into fits of laughter. Maybe it was only funny because it was three in the morning or because Tony was just happy to see the kid smiling rather than that fearful ball of tears he was woken up by. Once the laughter settled Tony gently asked; “How are you feeling now?”
Peter nodded, still smiling looking as though he’d almost recovered. “Better.”
Tony smiled back, standing to ruffle the boy's hair. “Good. Reckon you could go back to sleep? You’ll need your rest for tomorrow.”
Peter nodded again though as the pair went to exit the bathroom he hesitated, his expression shifting again. “But what about the bed?”
Oh yeah, Tony had forgotten about that. He soon shrugged, thinking of a reasonable solution.
“Don’t worry about it, I’ll sort it out in the morning. Take my bed I’ll shack up with Steve.” The soldier had two singles in his room though that wasn’t quite what Tony meant.
“Are you sure Mr. Stark?” Peter asked in a small voice, once again looking uncomfortable about putting his mentor out more.
“I’m sure, now come on. Off to bed Spider-Kid we’ve got a big day tomorrow.” Tony stated with finality, leading the boy by the shoulder back down the hall and to what was his room. “And if you need anything h don’t you hesitate to come and get me, you understand?”
Peter nodded, and for once Tony believed him.
Wrapping Peter in a quick hug, Tony bid him goodnight, feeling content in the knowledge that he’d managed to turn what could have been a truly mortifying experience into a teachable moment. “Good boy. See you in the morning kiddo.”
“Goodnight, Mr. Stark.”