Chapter Text
"What do you mean, you don't want to go?" Tony's heart had made a painful jump as the words had bubbled out of the kid, memories echoing in his mind from years ago. Memories he tried to bury deep.
"I just have a bunch of stuff on my plate right now. There's school and... and May doesn't like it when I'm not home for dinner."
Tony arched his brows. Peter had spent days on end at the cabin over the last few months, including countless dinners. "Well, bring her. I'm sure Happy would love to keep her company."
"Ew, Tony, stop! It's gross..."
Tony blew out a low breath. "It's a big deal for the team, kid. You could go in the suit if you want. You don't have to do the intern charade."
Peter huffed out an undefinable gibberish of words under his breath.
"In the past, I had to drag you away from parties like that."
"Well, the past is the past..."
With that, Peter turned his back, collecting the mugs that were scattered across both their workbenches, and headed for the stairs.
"I'm sorry, is this... are we done for the day?" Tony called after him.
"No, just... just don't have any room to move is all," he said before he disappeared through the door.
That was a lie if Tony had ever heard one. Not only had he seen Peter work around not just a few cups but a day and a half's worth of plates and bowls last time the girls had gone to visit Pepper's parents and had left them alone to tinker in the basement for a weekend. Usually getting Peter to tidy up his station was like pulling teeth on a hyped-up bunny.
No, this was vintage Peter, keeping secrets, hiding stuff. Tony just couldn't quite figure out what.
It's not that Tony had any reason to complain. The kid was spending more time with him at the lake house than ever before and Tony loved every second of it. He made a great effort to indulge Morgan and went out of his way to put a smile on her face cause no matter how much Peter wanted to pretend that he loved to drink pretend tea and sing along to the Frozen soundtrack, unlike Tony's daughter, he was not a 4 year old.
All of it would have been fine though if Peter hadn't been stalling on his true passion.
Spider-Man had not been seen in his neighborhood in months. Years of course, technically, but what worried Tony was that Peter had not been in the suit since the last big showdown with the ugly titan. They had spent hours tweaking things on both the old suit and the iron spider and every time Peter had taken the suit home to test it out and every time he had come back with something else to fix but not a minute of patrolling under his belt.
Tony should have said something weeks ago. Something more than to offer counseling with someone that Cho had recommended.
Peter had not liked that suggestion one bit.
"And how am I even supposed to talk to someone like that? I doubt the internship cover stretches far enough to dupe a therapist." Peter had been leaning across the table, squinting into the magnifying glass while he attached a new chip onto the suit. "And isn't that the point, that you tell them stuff? The stuff you want me to tell them is Spider-Man stuff. How is that supposed to work?"
"Well, I guess you could just tell them. Pick someone you trust and you just tell them about Spider-Man."
Peter snorted in a way that was too dark for Tony's liking. "Yeah, that sounds like a great plan that won't get my identity blown up at all."
Tony pursed his lips. "Well, we have them sign an NDA. Slap a few million-dollar penalty clauses on it."
"Because that's what's going to put the lit back on when someone leaks it. Once it's out there, it's out there."
"If," Tony interjected. "If they were to leak it."
"Right," Peter mumbled.
Annoyance wanted to bubble out of him hot and sharp, but Tony bit his lip, pulled himself together. "Just look at the list and pick someone you think you can trust, okay?"
"Yeah, okay. I'll pick someone I can trust."
Tony should have called him out right then and there. He should have told Peter to cut the smartass bullshit and that if he wasn't going to talk to a professional, then he would have to talk to one of them. Rhodey or Sam. Yes, Rogers was a self-righteous snore, but he would have been a solid option too. The kid was 17. That was too young to deal with all that crap without some serious help.
But instead, Tony had waited. Had wanted to give him time, a chance to accept that he needed some help. Most of all, Tony had been scared that if he pushed too much, he'd push Peter away.
Time was up now. This wasn't even a mission, it was a social gathering. They had rebuilt the Compound faster than anyone had thought possible. The re-opening of the facility was a big deal, a milestone in the past-Snap era and Peter was going to go. He told him as much when Peter came back down unto the basement 15 minutes later.
"It's a mandatory event for all Avengers."
Peter shook his head. "I'm not an Avenger. I'm stow-away. That's what you said."
"Okay, let's put the drama queen back in the box and choose another alter ego, okay? The way I remember it, I literally knighted you. On an alien spaceship. It doesn't get any more official than that."
"Well, I'm on an Avengers hiatus then."
"So? I'm retired," Tony shrugged. "I'm still going."
"I'll just catch the next one."
Tony narrowed his eyes on him, his tone getting sharper by the minute. "No, no hiatus allowed. No catching the next one. Everyone is going to be there. What is the big deal, kid?"
"Who said it's a big deal?"
"What's with all the excuses then?" Peter was still on his feet, arms crossed, not even looking in his direction. Tony pulled him back towards the chair by the hood on his sweater. "Sit down and tell me what the real problem is."
Peter shook his shoulders, trying to dislodge Tony's grip on his hoodie. "There's no problem."
"Apparently there is because I don't remember you ever saying no to a party before, let alone a party with a bunch of Avengers." Tony pulled on his arm, but Peter flat out refused to look at him. "Seriously, Pete, what is--"
"Fine," he snapped. "Fine, if it's that important to you, then I'll go!" He pulled himself loose, then picked up one tool after the next, putting them away into the drawer underneath the workstation.
"Buddy, you can talk to me, you know that, right? You can—" Tony's hand took the screwdrivers from him. "Can you stop that for a moment?"
"I can't. I gotta get going. I still have homework."
Tony's face fell. "But you just got here like an hour ago. Just sit down and I'll help you with the homework, so we can get back to the fun stuff, hm?"
Peter shook his head, grabbing the car keys from the desk. "It's a group thing. I forgot. Have to... have to be at Ned's for it."
The kid was a terrible liar, the tips of his ears turning pink whenever he attempted it.
Tony sighed. "Listen, I didn't mean to put you on the spot. Please, stay."
"I can't."
With that, he pulled his backpack onto his shoulder, head bowed low as he pressed past Tony towards the stairs.
"Pete, come on..."
He mumbled a low "Bye, Mr. Stark..." before the door to Tony's basement fell shut.
After that, the kid went practically radio silent. Three hours after Peter had left the lake house, Tony sent him a txt asking if he got home okay. He waited another 30 minutes for Peter to respond, but he didn't. The way his phone was usually permanently attached to Peter's hand, it was highly suspicious.
"FRIDAY, call the kid for me."
The line was ringing 7 times before Peter's voice mail answered. Tony pursed his lips. Pen tapping on the desk in front of him, he stared into space. It was just past 9. Peter wouldn't be asleep. If he didn't answer it was because he didn't want to.
"FRIDAY, try again."
Once again the dial tone rang across his little workshop until Peter's chirpy voice asked him to leave a message after the beep. With a grunt, Tony picked up his phone, sending out another message.
Check in, please.
It took another 10 minutes until his phone chimed up with a received txt.
Sorry. Still at Ned's working. Drive was okay.
Tony didn't hear from Peter for another two days. No string of ridiculous memes or screenshots of funny Twitter posts. No random ideas on what they could tinker with at the next workshop date.
On day three, Tony started playing dirty, using his daughter to pose for a cute little video, having her tell Peter that she missed him - in fairness, that was not just true for Morgan - and that one did the trick. After 20 minutes of back and forth of Morgan posing for one video message after the next and Peter responding more and more animatedly with his txt messages, Tony dared to dip his toe into the uneasy water that had burned him three days ago.
We still on for Friday?
It was vague enough to give Peter the option of pretending that Tony was talking about a workshop session. Peter took a couple of minutes to respond, longer than he had for any of the Morgan-themed messages but to Tony's surprise, he didn't dodge the issue at all.
I thought Friday is the mandatory party.
Tony scrunched up his nose and was quick to respond. Yes. Hoping I will still see you there?
Happy said he's driving. I'll be there at three.
Quickly, Tony's fingers flew over the digital keyboard, typing away
Okay! Cool! That's great! Looking forward to seeing you!
Right after Tony had hit send, he cringed at his own overenthusiastic response. At least, he'd see the kid and Tony was sure, once they were back there, they'd have a good time, make a few good memories that could replace the shadows of the past.
He was wrong.
Things started out okay. Peter arrived with May and Happy - in jeans, not the Spider suit - and was comfortable enough to let Tony hug him and put an arm over his shoulder. They chatted and when Tony left the kid with the suggestion to go out there and mingle while Tony had to shake hands with some boring people, he still thought that this could turn into a success.
It was only an hour later, just after Tony had endured a painfully stiff talk with one of the possible new liaisons from the government that had popped by, that things unraveled.
Steve had stood by his side for most of the talk, one because Tony had made him since all the military guys had the hots for the Captain and two because they were still smoothing over things from the Accords fiasco, careful to solidify the painful battles they had won after the Snap. It was essential to present a united front this time around.
Both of them had exchanged a relieved breath when the man had gotten back into his town car and rolled off the property. This was supposed to be a celebration for them after all.
Steve's hand was on his shoulder as they walked back toward the bar to wash away the stale conversation.
"It's looking good. This way we can really set up a solid foundation that will keep us safe."
"Right," Tony mumbled, eyes on his feet. He could only hope this would work. If he wanted to stay in retirement, he'd have to be sure that things were taken care of, for his own family's safety. For Pete.
"Listen..." Steve stopped walking, signaling for Tony to turn towards him. "I know you don't have to do this, but it really helps us a lot to have your support on everything. The Compound as well as the Initiative. It's—"
Before Tony had even realized what was happening, Steve's hands were on him pulling him to the side. Tony was stumbling along as a sharp whizz went past his ear. His feet too slow to react, he tripped. Tony's right knee hit the ground hard, arms flailing to keep his balance. Just in time, Rogers' hand was on his upper arm, the only thing that kept Tony from faceplanting into the dirt.
"You okay?"
"Shit," Tony cursed. His arm stung where Rogers was still holding onto him, bracing him as Tony scrambled back to his feet. With a quick glance over his shoulder, he found the lonesome arrow that had come sailing down on them out of nowhere. Just as Tony turned back, beating the dirt off his knee, Steve's eyes bulged as he was pulled back by the collar of his shirt.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?"
A few feet away, Rogers had just about managed to stay on his own feet, staring at Peter who had planted himself between them. Eyes wide, Rogers lifted both his hands next to his shoulders in surrender, confusion evident on his face.
"You don't touch him!" Peter stood tall, shoulders pulled back, one hand stretched out towards Tony, index finger of the other pointing straight at Rogers.
"Hey, Pete..." Tony tried to keep his voice soft but it trembled just as much as his knees. "Buddy, it's all good."
His chest heavily rising with every breath, Peter still stood between them. Slowly, he looked away from Rogers to Tony instead.
"It's all good," Tony pressed out. "Just a little mishap with the warrior elves over there..."
Peter blinked at him, positively panting before his eyes wandered over to where Tony had pointed. Barton and his kids stood a good bit away from them, but the bow in Wilson's hands and the stunned shock on his face spoke volumes.
The happy bustling from before had seized entirely. All eyes were on them, most blown wide, mouths gaping, just watching Peter where he stood frozen between Tony and Steve. Slowly Peter dropped his arms, glancing from one Avenger to the next.
"Pete..." Tony tried again.
This time, Peter spun towards him, shock clearly written on his face. He stared at Tony, the red flush on his face slowly fading into a sickly white complexion. Without another moment of hesitation, Tony rushed to his side, one hand on his upper arm, the other on the side of his face. His neck was slightly wet with cold sweat only solidifying Tony's worry.
The kid had jumped out of fear.
"Hey, just breathe buddy. Just a misunderstanding. Everything's fine."
Peter sucked in a shaky breath before his expression hardened. "Nothing's fine."