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Chapter Text

It had been a long day. Peter had to rush out after sleeping in late and had forgotten to check the weather before he left for school so he was unprepared for the freezing temperatures, his enhanced senses only made the cold even worse. Then, Flash had berated Peter endlessly the entire day, picking apart anything the young hero did. Ned was out sick and MJ had a doctor’s appointment so Peter was alone the whole day. And to top off the already horrid day, all of Peter’s teachers had assigned extra homework. 

Needless to say, by the time Peter saw Happy’s car pull up, he was about to fall over from exhaustion. He trudged over to the car, before falling into the backseat, muttering a small, miserable greeting to Happy. Peter was too tired to notice the concerned look that Happy was giving him.

“You ok, Pete?” Happy asked.

Peter gave a weak nod before closing his eyes and leaning against the car window, hoping to take a quick nap. 

Happy cast one last worried look to the backseat before rolling up the divider. The driver sent a quick text to Tony telling him something was up with the kid and slowly drove away from the school. 

Sleep wouldn’t come to Peter, all the bright lights and loud sounds of traffic coming through Peter’s enhanced system refused to let him rest. The poor kid wanted nothing more than to curl into a ball under a pile of blankets and sleep for the rest of his life. 

By the time the tower came into sight, Peter was about to pass out. 

---

Tony was worried. Happy had sent a single text saying that the kid was acting strange. The lack of context left him on edge, Peter could have been hiding an injury or starving, or sleep-deprived. Realistically, Tony knew that Happy would have called him if Peter was in immediate danger but that didn’t stop his worry. 

Tony was pacing in front of the elevator, fully prepared to drag Peter down to the Medbay the second he walked in. 

Tony whirled around when the elevator opened, revealing a stoic but slightly worried Happy and a pale Peter. Tony raced towards his kid and put his hand to his forehead, checking for a fever. It didn’t feel like he had a fever and so he kissed his forehead and pulled back slightly to look at him. 

The young boy looked up at his mentor and offered him a tired smile.

“Hi Mr. Stark,” Peter greeted weakly. 

“Heya there underoos, are you ok?” Tony replied, still worried and searching for a reason his kid would look so pale.

“I’m just tired,” He was promptly cut off by a yawn. Tony looked down affectionately at his adorable child. His face scrunched up and made him look like a yawning puppy. 

Tony pulled Peter back into his embrace, picking him up and settling Peter to rest on his hip like a small child before leading him towards the couch.

Tony wrapped a blanket around Peter, before placing a delicate kiss to his curls. He rushed into the kitchen to grab a previously prepared snack, knowing how hungry Peter gets after school. When he got back to the couch, he saw Peter trying to get up and quickly pushed him back down and handed him the snack.

When Peter was done eating, Tony wrapped his arms around Peter and pulled him into his lap, planting a kiss on his forehead, then both of his cheeks, and his nose. The giggle that Peter let out was the greatest sound in the world to Tony and he decided he wanted to hear that for the rest of his life. 

After placing one final kiss on his kid’s face, he then turned his attention back to figuring out what was wrong with his spider-baby.

“What’s wrong? Did you get enough sleep, baby?” Tony asked gently, tightening his arms around Peter. 

“It’s just been a long day, Mr... Dad,” Peter replied sleepily, too tired to really think about what he was saying. Tony cooed at his child and felt tears threatening to surface at the word dad . His heart swelled with so much love that he worried it might burst at any moment. He rested his head on Peter’s curls and hugged his kid even closer to him.

Tony wasn’t sure what he had done in his life to deserve such an angel as Peter Parker, but he would do anything to keep his spider-baby safe and happy in his arms forever. 

“It’s okay kiddo, I’ve got you now bambino . You can rest,” Tony muttered before planting one last kiss to his kid’s head and turning the TV on quietly to play Star Wars.

Happy had seen the entire interaction and couldn’t help but feel touched by the scene. He had noticed Tony’s frantic expression the second the elevator doors opened. He had watched as Tony doted on Peter and rushed to take care of his every need. He had seen the overwhelming love and pride in Tony’s eyes as he gazed down at Peter, completely forgetting that Happy was ever even in the room. 

Happy knew Peter meant a lot to Tony. Anyone looking at the pair could figure that out in five seconds. But the amount of love that Tony held, and openly showed, for this kid is something that Happy had never anticipated. He felt lucky that he got to see it. 

Happy had been there as Tony’s life fell apart time and time again. Happy had known the Tony that got drunk every night. Happy had known the Tony that gave fake smiles to paparazzi, but this was a completely different person. This Tony smiled just because he could. This Tony willingly showed his love for someone other than himself. This Tony was happy. 

Happy felt like he should have been more surprised by the change in his closest friend, but after getting to know Peter Parker, he knew that it was impossible not to love him. 

Happy gave one last look towards the father-son duo and saw as Peter cuddled closer to his father’s chest in his sleepy state. He didn’t miss Tony’s loving and protective expression. He walked back towards the elevator, knowing that the pair wouldn’t notice his exit. 

Being a father was a new look for Tony, but Happy thought it was definitely his best look.

Chapter Text

Sleepovers at the tower had become very common for Peter. Mr. Stark and Aunt May basically had joint custody over him at this point. He spent most weekends at the tower now, and he absolutely loved it. Over the months, he had grown closer to the other people at the tower as well, including Ms. Potts. 

Pepper was one of Tony’s closest friends. She had been there through most of his adult life and she liked to think that she knew Tony very well. 

When she was first introduced to Peter, she had been extremely surprised. Tony had never been a kids person but one glance at Tony’s loving expression and she knew that had changed. After getting to know Peter, it was no longer a mystery as to how the kid had wormed his way into Tony’s heart. Peter was adorable, from the way he rambled when he got excited, or how he addressed everyone so formally and respectfully, or how he was always so willing to help.  Peter was quickly embraced into the family, both Tony’s and the Avengers family. 

So when Peter was not up three hours after he normally gets up one Saturday, Pepper was getting a little worried. She had forced Tony into a meeting earlier, which he had protested against fiercely, wanting to be there when Peter woke up. Pepper decided she should go check on the young boy. 

She knocked gently on the door. She heard a weak groan in response and softly opened the door. The sight that met her was concerning to say the least. Peter was tangled in several blankets, with a trashcan full of used tissues by the side of the bed and a tissue box laying next to the kid. Peter’s face was flushed and he struggled to keep his eyes open. 

Pepper rushed to him and placed the back of her hand against his head. She almost immediately retreated her hand in surprise at how warm his forehead was. 

“FRIDAY, what’s his vitals?” Pepper asked.

“Mini-Boss appears to be running a fever of 102 °F. He also appears to be showing other symptoms of a common cold such as a stuffy nose, a sore throat, and a cough. This appears to fall under the Baby’s Got a BooBoo Protocol , should I alert the Boss of his condition?”

As if on cue, Peter fell into a fit of coughs. Pepper knew that if Tony found out he would run out of the meeting (which would make Peter feel very guilty for pulling Mr. Stark away from work) but if she didn’t tell him then Tony would go berserk when he got back. 

Pepper sighed before responding, “Yes FRI, let Tony know that the spider-baby is sick.” 

----

Tony was bored to death in this meeting. He was pretty sure it was something about a new Stark Phone update but he really didn’t care, the idea of a Saturday meeting for any reason was ridiculous to him. He would much rather be in the penthouse watching a movie with Peter. 

He felt his phone buzz in his pocket and quickly grabbed it, hoping for a distraction from this miserable meeting. It was a notification from FRIDAY, telling him that Peter was running a high fever and had a cold. Tony felt the worry flow through his body. 

Tony rushed out of his seat, flipping the chair over by accident in the process, before sprinting out the door, ignoring the shouts of protests coming from the meeting room. 

Tony ran all the way to the penthouse, opting to take the stairs to save time. Tony finally reaches his kid’s room and quickly whizzes past Pepper, barely even noticing she was in the room. He barrels to his kid’s bed and scoops Peter into his arms.

He feels Peter’s forehead and quickly pulls back his hand to place a kiss on his head. He hears Peter’s pained whimpers and starts rocking him to calm him down. 

He turns his attention to Pepper, quickly telling her to get Peter the medicine that he and Bruce had made for Peter’s enhanced system, along with some chicken noodle soup and water. Pepper paused to look at Tony gently rocking Peter and rubbing his back to comfort his child, before walking out to get what Tony requested. 

When Pepper returned she saw Tony laying down with Peter curled up on top of him. She could quietly hear Tony whispering reassurances in Italian to Peter. 

Pepper cooed silently at the duo. It was nice to see this side of Tony, she was used to Tony trying to hide behind a smirk and never wanting to open up. Ever since Peter came into his life, he had become more open and affectionate to not only Peter but everyone he loved. Pepper felt honored that she got to see Tony like this, caring and genuinely happy . 

Tony looked up briefly to grab the supplies from Pepper. The second Tony started to pull away from Peter, the young boy whimpered and Tony immediately wrapped his arms back around him. He pulled him tighter and rubbed comforting circles on his back.

“It’s ok, cuore mio. I’ve got you now, it’s gonna be ok. I love you so much, bambino. ” Tony whispered to Peter. 

Tony handed the pain medicine to Peter and held the water to his lips to help him swallow the pills. 

Tony started to spoon-feed a drowsy Peter the chicken noodle soup. Pepper watched by the edge of the bed, in awe of how gentle and domestic her best friend had become. 

When the soup was finished, Tony wrapped one of the blankets tighter around his precious kid and cuddled him closer before laying the two of them back down and ordering FRIDAY to play a cartoon Disney movie. Peter let out a small sound of excitement upon hearing that and cuddled his face further into Tony’s chest, relaxing completely as Tony started to run his fingers through his hair. 

Pepper took that as her cue to leave the room. 

—

Pepper ended up completely taking over for Tony while Peter was sick (and the day after he fully recovered too, Tony was still protectively hovering to make sure Peter was actually okay) since Tony had refused to leave Peter’s side. Pepper couldn’t find it in herself to be annoyed since it was nice to see Tony acting so paternal. 

That was until Monday came around. Tony didn’t want to send Peter to school, wanting to make sure that he was absolutely okay. 

When Peter came down Monday morning before school, dressed and zipping up his backpack, Tony was fully prepared to send him right back to bed. 

“Mr. Stark, come on I haven’t had a fever in over 24 hours and I’m completely healthy now,” Peter whined.

Tony gently pushed Peter to sit down at the table before setting down his breakfast. Tony checked his forehead for what seemed like the millionth time and sighed.

“C’mon underoos, why not just stay back one last day? To make sure you are okay, you had one nasty fever.” Tony argued.

“A fever that I got over in a few hours,” Peter objected. They went on bickering until breakfast was finished.

Tony was still trying to subtly guide Peter to the couch instead of the door. Pepper finally put her foot down.

“Tony,” She said in a warning tone, “Peter has to go to school.” 

Tony finally relented but still insisted that he would drive Peter. Both Peter and Pepper rolled their eyes but agreed. Pepper shooed them off before they would be late and watched them go before letting out a fond sigh. 

And so as ridiculously overprotective as Tony could get, Pepper thought it was nice to see her friend so happy. 

Chapter Text

“You should have seen it, Mr. Rhodey, it was huge! I thought it was gonna eat me or something. But then we got to see the penguins. I’ve always wished I could have a pet penguin, but I don’t think our landlord would like that very much.” Peter rambled on, telling Rhodey all about the trip to the zoo his class had went on. 

Rhodey, Tony, and Peter were all lounging around on the couch. Peter was tucked into Tony’s side with his mentor’s arm wrapped around his shoulder. Rhodey and Tony both chuckled in response to Peter’s rambling, and Tony squeezed Peter closer to his side. 

“Sounds like fun, kiddo,” Rhodey responded, “But you don’t have to keep calling me mister, Pete.” 

“Sure thing, Rhodey,” Peter replied before feeling awkward and continuing, “Colonel, sir.”

Rhodey shook his head fondly and let out a light sigh before going to the kitchen to get the three of them some hot chocolate, hearing Tony chuckle from the couch. 

A few minutes later, Rhodey returned with three mugs of hot chocolate, complete with a candy cane in each. He handed it to Peter first and was met with an enthusiastic thanks. 

Peter felt a slight tingle from his spider-sense but chose to ignore it, knowing he was safe at the tower with Mr. Stark. He took a sip and immediately knew something was wrong. 

The minty chocolate liquid burned his mouth and throat as he swallowed. He immediately tried to cough it up but his throat was swelling and he couldn’t breathe.

He couldn’t breathe. 

He started to panic, trying to reach out to Mr. Stark. His vision was blurring and black dots started appearing in his sight. 

Tony had looked away from Peter for a single second, but he quickly looked back towards him as he heard a pained gasp.

The sight that met him was horrifying, Peter was clawing at his throat and gasping for air. His throat and mouth looked swollen. Tony dropped his mug, barely even noticing as it cracked and spilled across the floor. Tony rushed to scoop Peter into his arms and keep his hands away from clawing at his throat. 

He screamed at Rhodey to get Cho and quickly turned his attention back to comforting his hurting child. 

Not even a full minute later, Cho raced into the room, with a full medical team behind her. Cho tried to get Peter from Tony but he refused to let go of his child.

Tony just wanted to keep Peter safe in his arms and take his pain away. It absolutely crushed Tony to know that he had to let him go. After a moment of hesitation, he pushed down his fear and laid Peter down on the medical cot he noticed the medical team had. 

The team raced towards the Medbay, while Cho started to treat Peter as they traveled. They placed an oxygen mask over his face and gave him medication.

Tony raced after the group, not wanting to leave his baby. Rhodey quickly followed after his best friend. 

When they got to Peter’s Medbay room, Rhodey had to physically restrain Tony from going in and hovering while they worked. 

The second the doors closed in front of Tony, he broke down. Rhodey pulled his friend into a hug and did his best to comfort him. 

As soon as Tony was allowed into the room, he was already halfway through the door. He immediately went up to the unconscious Peter and sat down by his side. 

Tony brushed the hair out of Peter’s face and listened as Cho explained what had happened. He barely registered the supporting hand that Rhodey placed on his shoulder. 

“He appears to have experienced an allergic reaction from the peppermint. After a bit of research, my best conclusion is that this is another side effect of the spider bite, since most spiders are repelled by peppermint. He should be completely fine, but for the future, I would recommend keeping him away from peppermint and having an EpiPen nearby.” Cho explained. 

Tony nodded absentmindedly and got propped up onto the bed, before wrapping his arms around Peter and running his fingers back through his hair. 

“Thank you, Cho, really.” Cho nodded and walked out after promising to check back up on him soon.

Rhodey pulls up a chair to the side of the bed and relaxes back into the seat. 

Tony was still a mess. Logically, he knew that Cho had taken care of his kid and Peter was going to be okay, but every time he closed his eyes, he could only see Peter gasping in pain and struggling to breathe. He squeezed his kid tighter to him and let a single tear slip down his cheek, pressing a kiss to his forehead.  

Tony couldn’t even imagine losing Peter. It was unthinkable, Peter was everything good and innocent. Losing Peter would be like if the sun just stopped shining. Tony felt overwhelmed at the mere thought of Peter ever fading away. Tony loved Peter, Tony needed Peter. Peter was his kid, his bambino, his son . 

Taking a deep breath to shake away the invasive thoughts, Tony looked back down at Peter’s relaxed face and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek. 

“He’s okay now, Tones. It’s going to be okay,” Rhodey reassured.

“I know, I know. It’s gonna be okay. I can’t lose him. He’s my kid and I need him,” Tony replied, nearly hysterical. 

“He’s okay, he is gonna be fine. I promise,” Rhodey comforted. 

—-

Peter was kept in Medbay for three days and he was feeling restless. He had been fully healed and fine after the first day but Tony insisted on him staying there for an additional two days to guarantee that he was completely okay. 

Rhodey visited every day and rolled his eyes playfully when Tony fussed over Peter like a mother hen. It was nice to see his friend becoming more open about his emotions. 

When Peter was finally let out of Medbay and allowed to go back to his normal routine, Tony was already implementing new safety precautions in the tower. 

Rhodey walked in a week later only to find out that Tony had set it up so there was now an EpiPen prepared in every room of the penthouse, along with having banned peppermint from the entire tower and Compound. 

Peter came bounding towards Rhodey, ready to tell him all about what he had done since getting out of Medbay. Tony followed closely behind, wrapping his arm around Peter’s shoulder once he stopped. 

Tony leaned down and kissed Peter’s forehead before looking up to greet his friend. 

“Hi, Mr. Rhodey!” Peter exclaimed. 

Having just seen this interaction, and the way Tony had acted this past week (and all the weeks before that), Rhodey responded with, “Hey kid, how about you call me Uncle Rhodey?”

Chapter Text

Bruce had missed a lot. He had been in space for a long time. Long enough for his entire team to fall apart and fall back together again. Long enough for several new superheroes to be discovered and brought into the Avengers world as allies. And apparently, long enough for Tony to get a son. 

Peter was a great kid, probably the best. Bruce would always cherish the memory of Peter gushing over Bruce Banner the scientist and not the Avenger the first time they met. Peter was also just as brilliant as Tony, if not even smarter. Peter had joined him for many nights in the lab, helping him solve problems before he was even able to identify what was wrong. Peter was also incredibly kind. He was always the first to offer to help with anything and went out every night to help the people of New York. 

Bruce wasn’t surprised that Peter had broken past Tony’s walls, not after getting to know Peter for himself. 

What baffled Bruce was how everyone denied Tony and Peter being related. They looked incredibly similar, same brown eyes and hair. They acted similarly too, both constantly searching for more information, hands always needing to tinker with something. Although, Peter was way more polite than Tony could ever hope to be. Bruce’s point was further proven by the fact that Tony would take any chance to brag about how amazing Peter was, just the way a proud father would. 

Bruce kept most of his questions to himself though, mostly just thrilled to see his friend openly showing emotion other than fake arrogance. Bruce was really glad that Tony now had Peter, their close relationship was clearly helping Tony. Peter had also helped immensely in bringing the Avengers team back together. 

Bruce walked into the communal kitchen one afternoon to grab a snack before heading back to his lab, only to be met with the sight of Tony standing over the stove while chatting with Peter who was sitting at the counter. Bruce was surprised, he had never seen Tony cooking. He assumed the inventor didn’t know how, and yet the man looked so natural and so heartwarmingly domestic as he quickly went to grab something from the cabinet across the room and leaned down to quickly kiss Peter’s forehead while giving him a small hug as he passed. 

Bruce continued to watch from the doorframe as Tony cooed at the giggle he received from Peter at the loving action. 

“I’m telling you, Mr. Stark, I think it’s fake. There is no way that parkour guy was able to scale that building. I was barely able to do it with my powers.” Peter argued enthusiastically.

Tony gave a warm chuckle and shook his head, but Bruce could see a bit of worry in his eyes.

“New rule underoos, no trying to scale buildings for fun. I swear you are going to give me a heart attack one of these days. All of these grey hairs are because of you, kiddo.”  

“I’m pretty sure that the grey hairs are just from old age, Mr. Stark.” 

Tony let out an exaggerated gasp.

 “Hey! I’ll have you know I am still in my prime.” 

“Are you sure about that, Mr. Stank ?”

“That’s it, you are hereby banned from talking to Platypus ever again,” Tony put on a fake stern face.

“Oh come on, Uncle Rhodey is the best!” 

Bruce definitely didn’t miss the way that Tony’s stern facade completely melted at Peter calling Rhodey his uncle, instead replaced by a smile overflowing with love. Bruce really didn’t understand why they still bothered to deny they were father and son.

Bruce decided to make his presence known, awkwardly clearing his throat to grab their attention. Both heads snapped towards him and Peter was quick to greet him.

“Hey, Dr. Banner, how is your project going?” 

---

It had been a quiet night of patrol so far. Peter was just about to start swinging back to the tower when he heard a scream a few blocks away. Peter quickly changed course and swung towards the sound.

Soon, Peter saw a woman being cornered and held at gunpoint by a man, while his partner tried to grab her purse. Peter quickly jumped down, landing briefly on the gun before webbing it out of reach, and landed in front of the woman, shielding her from the two men.

“Well, I didn’t mean to jump the gun on you guys,” Peter quipped.

One of the men cursed under his breath before attacking Peter. The young hero quickly sidestepped and grabbed the fist headed for his face before pushing the man back. While doing this, his spider-sense went off, but he didn’t have enough time to react before he felt a searing pain in his lower abdomen. Ignoring the pain, for now, he webbed up the first guy and turned around to fight the second guy. The woman had run off earlier so Peter didn’t have to worry about her getting hurt during this fight. 

The second guy had picked up the gun from earlier and was now aiming for Peter’s head. Due to the blood loss of being stabbed, Peter barely had enough time to move before the gun went off. Luckily, Peter had moved enough so that the bullet hit his shoulder instead of his head. Peter webbed the gun away from the man again and shot a web grenade to pin the man to the alley wall. 

Peter had Karen notify the police before swinging away as best as he could with an injured shoulder and stab wound. He promptly collapsed on a rooftop after swinging for less than two minutes.

“You have a puncture wound in your left shoulder and right abdomen, both of which are losing blood quickly. This appears to fall under the Baby’s Got a BooBoo Protocol , should I alert Mr. Stark about the situation?” Peter struggled to make out what Karen was saying, his head felt fuzzy and he wanted a nap.

A nap, he wanted to sleep.

He wanted to sleep.

Sleep. 

His delirious thoughts were cut off by Karen once again.

“Alerting Mr. Stark.” 

---

Tony was relaxing on the couch, waiting for his spider baby to finish his patrol so they could have their weekly movie night.

He was absentmindedly scrolling through emails when an alarm suddenly went off through the penthouse. 

“Mini-Boss appears to be injured. He is currently resting on top of a building on Jordan Street. He is in need of medical attention. I have prepared a suit and am routing the fastest path to get to Mini-Boss.” FRIDAY announced.

Tony gasped and raced towards the awaiting suit, not even waiting for it to fully form around him before racing out the now opened window to get to his kid. Tony felt like his heart was going to stop at any second. He was overcome by white-hot fear because his baby was hurting and alone. His baby was wounded. His baby was injured, and what if his baby was dying.  

---

Peter was barely lucid but he was conscious enough to put pressure on his stab wound, trying to at least slow down the blood loss. He wasn’t sure if anyone was coming for him but he vaguely remembered Karen alerting Mr. Stark.

Mr. Stark meant safety. Peter was safe.

Peter was safe to take a nap.

He wanted to sleep.

Sleep.

Peter felt himself drift away as his hand loosened around his wound. 

---

Tony saw Peter’s unconscious figure sprawled out on top of the roof. Peter looked even smaller than usual. His suit raced towards the boy at breakneck speed. 

Tony was terrified. He couldn’t bear to lose Peter. Peter was his kid, his baby, his whole world. He scooped up the passed-out boy, putting pressure on his bleeding wounds, and raced to the tower. He ordered FRIDAY to get any doctor available down to Medbay, cursing under his breath when he remembered Cho was out of the country.

“It’s okay tesoro, just hold on for me. Please.” Tony was cut off by a sob that racked through his body. He prayed to go faster, prayed to save Peter. 

—

The surgery lasted five hours. Tony hadn’t moved from his chair right outside of the surgery room the entire time. The second that Bruce walked out, having been the best doctor on board, from the surgery room, Tony immediately got up and raced to him.

“Peter, is he okay? Can I see him now? Bruce, Bruce, is my kid gonna be alright?” Tony frantically asked, working himself into a panic and hyperventilating. 

“It’s okay, Tony. Peter is going to be just fine. He’ll be fully healed and out of the Medbay in two days tops.”

Tony sighed in relief. Everything suddenly felt lighter, knowing that his kid was gonna be okay. 

“Can I see him? I need to see him.” Tony wouldn’t be able to fully relax until he saw Peter was okay with his own two eyes. 

“Yes, of course. He should wake up within the next two or three hours.”

Tony raced into the room before Bruce even fully finished talking. He saw Peter passed out and looking tiny on a medical bed, surrounded by machines and multiple wires and tubes hooked up to him. 

Tony immediately took the seat next to the bed and grabbed Peter’s hand to hold onto. He worriedly checked Peter’s pulse and only let himself relax back into his seat when Peter’s pulse was steady. 

Tony waited impatiently for his kid to wake up for about two and a half hours, desperate to see his child’s doe brown eyes. 

Peter’s eyes finally fluttered open slowly, squinting under the bright lights. 

“FRI, dim the lights to comfortable levels for hurt spider-babies.” Tony immediately ordered, gently squeezing Peter’s hand to comfort him.

“Not a baby,” Peter tiredly whined, fully opening his eyes and sticking out his bottom lip in a pout.

With a childish pout on his face, Peter looked even younger than he normally did and Tony resisted the urge to coo at his adorable baby, since Peter was his baby, no matter what anyone said. Instead of responding, Tony moved his free hand to brush a curl out of Peter’s face. 

Peter, seemingly forgetting what they were previously talking about, closed his eyes again and wrapped himself around Tony’s arm, hugging it like a teddy bear. 

Tony felt his heart melt at the innocent action and he got up from his seat to join Peter on the bed. He gently freed his arms and wrapped them around Peter, lifting him into a tight hug, before laying the two of them down and moving one of his hands back to Peter’s hair to run his fingers through the soft curls. 

Tony felt Peter cuddle his head further into Tony’s embrace and smiled. Overwhelming love and relief flooded through Tony as he looked down at his sleepy kid. He moved down to place a small kiss on Peter’s forehead before softly singing an Italian lullaby. 

“Ninna nanna, ninna oh

Questo bimbo a chi lo d ò?”

Tony remembered Peter’s homecoming catastrophe. He nearly winced every time he thought of how poorly he had treated the kid, trying to make him Happy’s responsibility and taking his suit when it was his only defense. He was scared of getting close to Peter, scared of getting attached and messing up his life. He was thankful for how far the two of them had come since then. 

“Se lo dò alla Befana,

Se lo tiene una settimana.

Se lo dò all’uomo nero,

Se lo tiene un anno intero.”

Tony remembered the terror of hearing what the Vulture had done to Peter for the first time. It had been a few months ago now, Peter had just started spending the night on the weekends and FRIDAY had alerted Tony about a nasty nightmare that Peter was having. Tony would never forget the night where he listened to Peter sob as he talked about being trapped under an entire building, alone and defenseless. That was when Tony promised himself that he would keep Peter safe as much as he could. 

“Ninna nanna, ninna oh,

Questo bimbo me lo terrò.”

Tony wasn’t sure when he had started thinking of Peter as his own son, but he wouldn’t change it for the world. He was so insanely thankful that Peter had come into his life, bringing with him a happiness and innocence that Tony thought had been lost for years. Tony knew he couldn’t always keep Peter safe from everything, but he sure was going to try. He was always going to make sure Peter wasn’t alone, not like homecoming. Peter was his kid, and he would always protect him. 

Bruce watched from the door as Tony sang. He felt tears prick his eyes at how sweet the sight that met him was. Tony was protectively holding Peter, looking down at him with an expression filled with more love and affection than Bruce had ever seen Tony, or anyone for that matter, have. 

Bruce was happy for his friend and was completely sure that Peter was Tony’s son, no matter what anyone said. 

Chapter Text

Peter was hard not to love, this May knew. So she wasn’t as surprised as she probably should have been to see Tony Stark at her doorstep to offer her nephew an internship. 

Granted, when she found out the truth of the ‘internship’ she was understandably upset. She made sure to give Stark a piece of her mind and ensured that Peter got proper support. Needless to say, things had been good since then. 

May could tell that Tony was hesitant about properly mentoring a child at first, but like the first time she met Tony Stark, she still knew that Peter was hard not to love.

Within a month, she could see Tony opening up. What May hadn’t expected was for her and Tony to also become friends. He felt almost like a brother to her. She was also a little caught off guard when she saw Tony turn into a complete mother hen for Peter. 

May and Tony had created a good co-parenting system. May knew she was protective of Peter, it was hard for her not to be. She had been through a lot with him, they had only had each other for a while. Tony was just as protective, if not more, since he knew how heartbreaking the superhero gig could be, and balancing that with school and being a teenager sounded miserable. Just the idea of doing all that gave Tony a headache, so he wanted to make it as easy as possible for Peter, who was still so kind and willing to drop everything to help no matter what was already on his plate. 

The three of them tried to hang out together whenever they could, usually with Happy, Pepper, or Rhodey, depending on who was available. Tony’s family had grown to include May and Peter as May and Peter’s family had grown to include Tony, Rhodey, Happy, and Pepper. So it felt natural for May to have Peter stay with Tony while she was on a work trip. 

Tony was excited to have Peter spend the week at the tower while May was away. The tower always felt less empty and dark when Peter was there. What Tony was not expecting, however, was for Peter to pass out in the lab.

--

Peter didn’t mean to not eat anything. He just got busy and he often forgets that he now has an enhanced metabolism so he really should be eating more food than he usually does anyway, but he’s so bad about remembering to eat anyway. He already felt too bad to actually tell May or Mr. Stark that he probably should be eating more for his metabolism. It was already hard enough to raise a super-powered teenager, he didn't need to add an increased grocery bill to that. So he never ate enough to begin with, but with his hectic schedule, he stopped eating enough for a non-super-powered person. 

It wasn’t his fault he had forgotten to eat before patrol two days ago. It wasn’t his fault he had a big test he was nervous about and ignored his grumbling stomach to study for. It wasn’t his fault he had a group project he had to finish at lunch. Sure, he could have eaten the bag of chips that MJ pushed towards him in class but that wasn't his food. Or he could have eaten the granola bar that Ned gave him after school but Happy doesn't like the cars to get messy. Honestly, he hadn't meant to neglect his own needs, he just forgot. 

But at last, his project was complete and he had turned in his test. On top of that, it was already Friday and he got to spend the whole weekend and next week at the tower with Mr. Stark. He was so excited to work in the lab that he was able to ignore his growing hunger altogether. 

--

“Hi Mr. Stark!” Peter bounded into the lab like normal, looking like an overexcited puppy.

Tony couldn’t hold back the fond smile that took over his face as he saw his kid and greeted him with a hug and a kiss on the forehead.

“Hey cucciolo, you ready to work on your suit, I had a few updates planned for your web grenades.” And just like that, they were off, spending hours working on various projects and completely absorbed in their work. 

After three hours, Peter had gotten up to get a glass of water from the little water station in the corner (put there by Pepper in hopes to remind the two of their basic human need for hydration) but he was overtaken by a wave of dizziness and promptly collapsed to the floor. 

Tony's head shot up when he heard a loud bang, expecting to see Peter with a sheepish expression standing over fallen equipment. He was instead met with an unconscious spider child sprawled out across the floor. 

Tony rushed towards his kid, overtaken by worry and confusion, Peter had seemed fine earlier. He rushed towards Medbay and frantically asked FRIDAY to alert Cho about Peter’s condition. 

The elevator felt like it couldn’t have moved slower as he gazed down at his baby, who looked so young and fragile, almost like he was just asleep in his father’s arms and not passed out for who knows why. 

Cho met Tony at the elevator entrance and directed Tony towards what had become Peter’s regular room (since Peter ended up in the Medbay nearly every other week, Tony swore this reckless kid was gonna give him a heart attack one day). 

Tony sat by his kid’s side while Cho and the rest of the medical team fluttered in and out trying to figure out what was going on with Peter. Cho had quickly hooked Peter up to an IV machine. 

“Peter passing out was most likely due to starvation and lack of proper nutrients. It appears he has not been eating enough. He should wake up soon and I would recommend for him to get a full meal when he does so. I will be setting him up with a meal plan, at least for a few days to make sure he is getting enough food.” 

Tony nodded along, listening closely as he brushed a curl out of Peter’s face.

“As far as I can see, Peter has not eaten anything substantial in about two or so days, but when taking his enhanced metabolism into account, he has most likely not been eating a proper amount for quite some time.” 

Tony felt worry flow through his body. How long had his kid been going hungry? Why hadn’t his poor spider baby said anything? 

Tony broke from his thoughts to thank Cho as she left the room. He quickly climbed into the bed and hugged his kid close to him, feeling the worry come back full force. He leaned down to kiss his kid’s nose and cheeks to try and reassure himself that his kid was going to be alright. 

But he had been hungry for a long time, who knows how long. And Tony hadn’t noticed. 

Tony felt guilt surge through him. He couldn’t go back in time, but he could make sure that something like this never happens again. Tony placed another kiss to his forehead and reached for his phone to tell May what was going on and try to piece together why nobody had known about this beforehand. 

--

May was worried after receiving Tony’s first text. It was so out of character for the normally arrogant man who never sent more than a three-line text. This text was long and rambly, a clear sign that Tony was stressed and worried. After reading the content of the text, May could understand why Tony was worried, she was worried too. Hearing that Peter had passed out from hunger and hadn’t been eating enough for a long time, possibly since he first got his powers, was worrying, to say the least. 

Tony had sent a second follow up text (another thing he never did, further showing how rattled he was by this whole thing) saying that Peter was gonna be okay and Tony would be closely watching his diet from now on and that when May got back they would all sit down and discuss this. May willed her worry away, content to know that Tony would keep Peter safe until she got back and instead allowed the fondness of seeing how obviously Tony cared about her kid flow through her head.

Tony kept texting her updates, ranting about how reckless the spider kid could be (also accidentally referring to Peter as his kid multiple times without noticing-- he had never referred to Peter as his kid with May, too afraid that it would be crossing a line since May is the one who raised him). But honestly, May couldn’t find it in herself to mind. Her eyes started to water seeing just how much Tony cared about Peter. She was overjoyed to see that Peter had a strong father figure back in his life after so much loss. 

Peter was hard not to love, this May always knew. Now, Tony knew it too, and May knew Peter was safe. That was all she could have asked for. 

Chapter Text

The Avengers weren’t okay. After their big falling out they really couldn’t be okay. Tony and Steve were barely even on speaking terms. But they were trying and that is what mattered. Part of trying meant reviving old traditions, such as team movie night. It was Peter’s idea to restart this and everyone adored the young boy so they were all quick to agree. 

Things were slightly tense when they first started but they managed to fall back into a routine. Clint, Sam, and Bruce were in charge of snacks. Nat, Steve, and Bucky were in charge of blankets and the seating arrangements. Everyone else filled in all the tasks in between. They all agreed to let Peter pick the movie since it was his idea. 

Everyone shuffled into their regular spots. Bucky and Steve on the love seat. Nat, Clint, and Sam on the couch next to the love seat. The next couch had Tony and Peter. Then, the other love seat housed Bruce and Thor, with Loki and Wanda sitting on the floor in front of them. 

This week Peter had chosen How to Train Your Dragon , claiming it was a great movie that everyone would love. Peter was laying down, head in Tony’s lap with Tony’s hand running comfortingly through his hair. 

He had been making small, witty comments throughout the movie before he felt himself start to drift off. Everyone had noticed Peter’s comments become rarer and glanced to see him fast asleep, looking absolutely precious and tiny in Tony’s warm embrace. Everyone could see Tony’s loving expression as he gazed down at his son. He leaned down to press a kiss to Peter’s forehead before shifting him ever so gently in his arms and cradling him like a baby. Peter subconsciously cuddled closer to the warmth, pressing his cheek against Tony’s arm. 

The team all glanced at the duo adoringly, with Wanda even holding back a coo. This was the most normal things had felt in months with the team. 

“Dad, we have to… have to save the turtles,” Peter muttered in his sleep. 

Tony smiled softly and everyone pretended not to notice the happy tears forming in his eyes. He tried to mask his watery eyes by leaning down to press another kiss to his kid’s face, without even noticing the audience now watching him. They thought it was crazy to see Tony ‘ Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist’ Stark acting this paternal and loving with anyone. It was a wonderful change that everyone accepted and encouraged. Peter made Tony a better person.  

Along with Bruce, everyone was slightly confused at first about their relationship. Especially since Tony had previously denied being Peter’s dad when he definitely was. Looking at them now, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that they were father and son, blood-related or not. 

About half-way into the movie, Peter started to shift sporadically, wincing every few seconds. 

“Please. Hey, hey, please. I’m down here.” 

Peter started to struggle and try to flail out of Tony’s arms. Tony immediately loosened his arms around him and started to gently shake the young boy, softly whispering reassurances. 

“I’m stuck. I’m stuck. I can’t move. I can’t…” 

Peter struggled harder, now starting to hyperventilate, as if the air was getting thinner around him. Tony nudged him with slightly more force, desperate to wake up his suffering child. 

“Hey, wake up buddy, it’s just a dream. You are okay, it’s alright. It’s just a dream. Wake up, bambino. ”

Peter shot up, gasping for air and looking around wildly. Tony rubbed his back reassuringly, softly leading him through a breathing exercise, and after Peter started to get his bearings, he leaned into the comforting touch. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt the movie.” Peter apologized weakly after a few minutes of trying to catch his breath, sounding extremely timid and small, not meeting anyone’s eyes. 

Tony dipped his head to press a kiss to Peter’s slightly sweaty curls, wrapping his arms back around his kid and rocking him again gently.

“Don’t you dare apologize, underoos. Do you wanna talk about it?” 

Peter gently shook his head and leaned his head against his father’s chest, distracting himself by looking curiously at the arc reactor. He gently ran his fingers over it, mesmerized by the soft blue light emitting from it. Tony squeezed his kid comfortingly and pressed kisses all across his face. 

Tony only glanced up quickly to ask Natasha to grab Peter a glass of water. Natasha, who was already three steps ahead of him, immediately handed him a water cup. Tony held the cup up to Peter’s lips, moving him to sit up straighter in order to drink. When Peter was finished, Tony set the glass down and leaned back so Peter could lay back down on his chest. Peter did so, cuddling close to the warm embrace. 

The Avengers looked on at the duo with a soft look in their eyes. They had quickly noticed Peter’s discomfort and had paused the movie to make sure he would be okay, all worried about their youngest teammate. Their concern had started to settle down as Tony took care of Peter, instead feeling warmth as they saw the obvious love that Tony showed for Peter. 

“Do you wanna go to bed or keep watching the movie cucciolo? ” 

“Keep watching, I don’t wanna sleep right now,” Peter replied softly, pressing his face further into his dad’s chest, finding comfort in the soft humming of the arc reactor. Tony placed another kiss on Peter’s cheek before resting his head on top of Peter’s curls and nodding slightly at Steve, who held the remote.

Steve took that as his cue to unpause the movie. The rest of the team slowly looked away from the father-son pair to resume the movie, content to know that Peter would be okay with Tony looking after him. 

It had become obvious with moments like these, that Tony had changed since their Civil War. He had become a better man and a father. 

Chapter Text

It was common knowledge that Tony was (over)protective of Peter. He had made a watch that tracked his vitals and location, along with designing a million safety features for his spider suit. Something that wasn’t as well known was how protective of Peter the rest of the team was. It was bound to happen at least a little, Peter was the baby of the team, the baby of the family. Peter also happened to be the kindest and most selfless, and just overall adorable, person that the team had ever met. 

Peter showed genuine interest in hearing about Steve and Bucky’s stories from their original time. His innocent curiosity about Bucky’s metal arm made Bucky feel safer knowing it could be more than just a weapon, that he could be more than just a weapon . It was humanizing, Peter was interested in learning about Steve and Bucky, not just Captain America and the Winter Soldier. 

Peter reminded Wanda of her brother, kind and always willing to help. Peter was also one of the only people who didn’t seem afraid of her. He had even hugged her the first time he met her, most people avoided physical contact with her altogether. Peter never treated her like a ticking time bomb just waiting to lose control, it was refreshing. 

Peter was always willing to teach Thor about Midgardian traditions without teasing him or making him feel dumb for not knowing much, Peter even asked about his own culture in return. Peter never hesitated to fill Thor in when a conversation veered into a topic he didn’t understand. Peter had also been the only person to fully embrace his brother’s flip to the good side, which was something Thor would be eternally grateful for. 

Loki enjoyed Peter’s company, the young boy seemed more fascinated than terrified by his powers, which was nice after years of feeling ashamed of who he was. Peter didn’t hold what happened in the past against Loki and seemed content to know that Loki was good now, the trust the boy put in Loki was almost startling for the god, but it made him feel like he really could be good. 

Peter reminded Clint of his own kids at home and he enjoyed playing pranks with the child. Natasha was very close with Peter. After all, spiders should stick together. She had taken a very maternal role with him. His innocence was amazing to see after living in such a jaded world for so long. 

Despite the playful grudge that Sam had for Peter, he had to admit the kid was endearing. The kid was full of nerdy rants, optimism, and basically radiated innocence. It was nice to see, especially since he knew the kid had been through some serious crap, so seeing the kid still so happy all the time gave Sam hope. So for as much as the two of them playfully fought and argued, Sam did have a soft spot for the kid, as did the whole team. 

Needless to say, everyone cared greatly about Peter and was protective of him. That is why they all went full overprotective family mode when Peter came to the tower one day with a half-healed black eye, a poorly-hidden limp, and a hand held protectively over his ribcage. 

“Who did this to you маленький паук (little spider)?” Natasha asked as soon as she saw the young boy. 

Peter mumbled a half-hearted excuse about falling down the stairs before trying to walk towards his room. Steve and Bucky quickly stepped in front of the doorway leading to the hall, effectively trapping Peter in the common room. 

“You don’t get a black eye like that from just falling down the stairs. Besides, doesn’t your spider-sense warn about things like that?” Bucky asked accusingly. 

“Sometimes there is nothing I can do, even with the warning. It was my fault for reading a book as I walked.” Peter dismissed, trying to find a way out.

“Tell us the truth or we will go get Tony,” Steve threatened. Peter looked up to him frantically with a worried look on his face.

“I am telling the truth, I just need to go do my homework and the bruises will be gone in an hour or two.” Peter defended, sneaking past the two super soldiers. Steve quickly grabbed Peter under his armpits and carried him cat-style and dropped him on the couch. At some point, the rest of the team had shifted into the room and had gathered around the boy, effectively trapping him into the conversation. 

Tony walked in a few seconds later, ignoring everyone and rushing straight to Peter. The rest of the team made space to let him pass. 

Tony kneeled in front of Peter and gently pushed his hood off of his face and softly grasped his chin, examining his injuries.

“What happened, cucciolo? And don’t give me any of that bullcrap like falling down the stairs.” 

Peter looked down in shame, trying to avoid eye contact with everyone. 

“I got in a fight.” He whispered so quietly that only Tony, Steve, and Bucky could hear. 

Steve and Bucky nearly did a double take, mouths hanging open and staring in shock. It was absurd to think that Peter, sweet, kind, caring, and innocent Peter, got in a fight outside of the mask.  

Tony wasn’t buying it. There was no way that his kid would have gotten in a fight. Besides, Tony was one of Peter’s school contacts so he would have been called if that had actually happened. 

“I said I didn’t want you to bullcrap me, underoos. You freaked out last week when Nat tried to kill a mouse. Try again.” 

Peter shrunk in on himself and hesitantly looked up to meet Tony’s gaze. Tony wrapped Peter into a hug and softly pulled him into his lap, sitting criss cross on the ground. Peter rested his head on Tony’s shoulder, seeking comfort from his dad. 

“It was just some random kid at school. But it doesn’t matter, I can take it.” Peter murmured, so quietly that only Tony could hear. 

Tony’s grip tightened after hearing the truth. He was furious. Some snot-nosed kid was bullying his precious, sweet, kind spiderchild. 

“It absolutely does matter, Peter. Someone at school did this to you?” Tony could see the rest of the team tense up after they heard his question. He swore he could even see Natasha grab something from her waistband that looked suspiciously like a throwing knife. Bucky looked about ready to punch the nearest person. Wanda’s eyes were flashing red and Loki had green magic coming from his hands. The rest of the team was not faring much better at controlling their emotions. 

“It’s fine. I’d rather he mess with me than someone else who can’t handle it. Other people don’t heal as fast as I do.” 

This time everyone in the room heard Peter. He snuggled closer to Tony’s chest, looking even younger and reminding everyone in the room that he was still just a child. 

“He is a dead man. No one should be getting hurt at all, маленький паук, especially not you.” Natasha came forward to rub Peter’s back comfortingly. She immediately stopped when Peter winced. 

“You have more than a black eye, don’t you?” Peter gave a small nod and let out a small sniffle. 

“What else is hurt, Pete?” Bruce asked, trying to sound as soft as possible, contrasting the green creeping up his neck. 

“Just a bruised rib and a sprained ankle,” Peter finally responded, after a tense moment of silence. After seeing the murderous expressions on everyone’s face, he quickly tried to back track.

“It’s really not as bad as it sounds, I promise! It barely even hurts anymore and it’ll all be completely healed in like an hour.” 

His excuses fell on deaf ears, everyone already knew he was hurt, and his case was further disproven as he winced again as soon as he finished talking. In fact, seeing him wince just made everyone angrier. 

Peter let out a defeated sigh and changed his tactic, “Guys, really, it’s fine. Any attempt to stop him will only make it worse or have him target someone else. Promise me you won’t do anything,” He said firmly.

Upon seeing how distraught Peter was by this whole situation, Tony cracked first and hugged Peter closer to him, being mindful of his injury. 

“Okay, cuore mio. How about we watch a movie and get the good ice cream and we’ll leave it alone for now?” Tony asked softly, nudging Peter’s head out from its place against his neck. 

A small ‘ok’ from Peter was enough approval for everyone to take the hint and start preparing for a movie night. After a quick checkup of his injuries, everyone quickly gathered all of the softest blankets and wrapped them around Peter, along with giving small ruffles to his unruly curls and kisses to his forehead. 

Two hours later, Peter was fast asleep against Tony’s side after watching Star Wars (he had wanted to watch his comfort movie after this exhausting day). Tony scooped Peter up like a toddler and carried him off to bed. Steve had stepped up to take Peter and carry him to bed but a fierce glare from Tony made him back off. 

Tony returned to a tense room where everyone was waiting to discuss what to do about Peter’s bully. 

In the end, they quickly decided that the bully would have to go. After talking Natasha, Loki, and Bucky out of trying to kill or seriously injure the minor, they all decided that Tony would schedule a meeting with the principal to get this kid expelled and him, Natasha, Pepper, and Happy would go. The rest of the team was slightly upset that they could not personally go but it made the most sense for those four to go. 

A quick hack into the school’s security system showed the footage of Peter being bullied. Bruce had to leave the room after the first clip to avoid going green. By the fifth clip, everyone had to stop and calm down before they went out to attack the young bully right then. 

--

It had been a few days since the team found out about Peter being bullied. Peter was pleasantly surprised at how they had handled the whole thing. No one had tried to push Peter to tell them more or try to interfere without considering the consequences. The day after, they had all sat Peter down and made him promise that he would tell them if it got at all worse and in turn, they promised to stay out of it for now. 

They were lying, of course, but Peter didn’t need to know that yet. 

By the time Monday came around, Peter had almost forgotten about the whole situation. He got up just like normal and went down to the kitchen. Everyone slowly trickled into the room and got seated around the table. Tony came down and pulled Peter into a quick side hug before kissing his forehead and sitting down. The morning passed peacefully until Peter, after giving everyone a goodbye hug, was saying goodbye to Happy at his school building. 

Happy drove back to the tower just to pick up the other three for their meeting with the principal. The car ride back to the school was quiet, the closer they got, the more all of them started to seethe. 

Everyone all weekend hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the fact that Peter had been bullied for months, years, without anyone noticing. They all felt guilty that they hadn’t known until he came home beaten up. It made them all even more determined to ruin this bully’s life. 

--

As it turned out, the bully didn’t stand a chance. The principal looked startled to see two avengers, the world’s most famous CEO, and one of the greatest retired boxers ever. The principal was almost too afraid to say anything against the group at all. Any attempt to mediate or calm down the situation on the principal’s part was quickly stopped by Natasha’s and Happy’s combined glare. 

Tony had ended up doing most of the talking, showing all of the clips of past harassment. Pepper would step in whenever the principal tried to find wormholes to get out of the situation. When the bully, nicknamed ‘Flash’, came in, he looked about ready to pass out from excitement after seeing Tony Stark in the office. Completely missing the tense atmosphere of the room, Flash immediately assumed he was about to get offered an internship and started to bad mouth Peter, which was definitely the wrong thing to do in front of Peter’s family. The look of pure rage on Tony’s face was enough to stop Flash in his tracks.

The principal, having seen all of the clips and then witnessing Flash insulting Peter right in front of him, could do nothing to lessen or stop his punishment. In the end, Flash was expelled. This was not enough for Tony, not after his kid had been bullied for months. Tony personally threatened Flash, promising that he would never get into a good college if he ever thought about messing with anyone again. 

--

A few days later, Peter was confused. Word had gotten out that Flash was expelled and Peter had no idea why since his parents were the school’s biggest donors so he was practically untouchable. It dawned on Peter a few weeks later that it had conveniently happened the week after the Avengers found out about Flash. The Avengers would deny playing a part but their smiles gave it away. Before Peter could ask more about it, they would quickly change the subject, suggesting a movie night.

Peter leaned against Tony’s side, half asleep with his father’s hand running through his hair. The rest of the team looked fondly at their youngest member. Peter snuggled his face into Tony’s shoulder and Tony leaned down to press a kiss to Peter’s forehead.

“I love you guys,” Peter murmured sleepily.

“We love you too, bambino, ” Tony responded adoringly, everyone else nodding in agreement. 

Most of the team’s eyes filled slightly with tears and everyone had giant grins on their face. This was Peter’s family, and they would always try to keep him safe.