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“Okay,” Tony laughed nervously, “maybe I went a little overboard.”
Before Steve could respond, the stray robot Tony had helped Peter and Ned create for their school’s science fair grabbed the giant fair banner that was hanging over head in the middle of the auditorium in the school’s gymnasium. The robot swung its banner clad arm around as it spewed nonsense, knocking into another stand that held a bubbling fake volcano. Steve reacted instinctively, grabbing Tony to find some cover. The hysterical commotion in the space rose as students, teachers, and parents ran around shouting, trying to avoid the rampant path of the robot.
Steve dragged Tony to duck underneath a table. “Okay, I’m only going to say this once considering how dire the situation is,” Steve glared at his husband, trying to keep his anger in check, “but, Tony—”
The robot’s arm interrupted Steve by almost breaking the table in half. Steve and Tony rolled out from underneath the broken tabletop, spotting Peter who was on the other side of the auditorium with Ned.
Tony attempted a chuckle as he ran with Steve toward Peter. “So, I was joking when I said this will be ‘a science fair project that will end all science fair projects’.” But of course, the joke was lost on Steve.
“Tony! Steve!” Peter motioned for his dads before hiding behind a stand with Ned.
As Steve and Tony came upon the stand, Steve slid across the floor and Tony tried to do the same, but almost fell over. Steve managed to pull him to safety before the robot flung some lab tubes in their direction.
“Do you think this will ruin our chances for the state-wide competition?” Ned asked Peter as he cowered behind his friend.
Peter sighed, shaking his head. “Ned, we’re more than screwed for the competition.”
Some crumpled-up pieces of an iron frame that once held up a section of the bleachers landed in front of the group. Ned screamed as Peter pulled him further away from the rubble.
Steve turned to face Tony, and Tony could tell that Steve was trying to remain as calm as possible in front of their kid and his best friend, but his true feelings broke through the façade.
“Tony," Steve commanded, coolly yet sternly, “you need to fix this right now.”
Tony sighed loudly as he pulled out his phone to connect to J.A.R.V.I.S.
“J.A.R.V.I.S.,” he called as the robot threw a broken stand in their direction, “give me a rundown of Peter’s robot, I need to disarm this thing...”
The weekend before Peter’s school fair…
Tony and Peter were standing in the middle of Tony’s lab, standing over a robot they had been working on for the past month.
“Do you think it’ll work, Tony?” Peter asked, looking incredulously at their creation.
Tony laughed heartily as he patted Peter on the back. “Remember when we used to make these all the time?”
Peter nodded with a sigh. “Yeah, but they never really worked…I was a kid then…”
Tony patted Peter on the back a few more times which caused the teenager to wince from the extended attention that made him feel like a little kid again.
“Parker, you’re the smartest kid I know, and I’m not biased at all.” Tony tapped on the tablet he was holding, “okay why don’t we give this a try…”
The robot blinked an array of colors before straightening up in its restraints. Both Tony and Peter backed away about a foot or so, however, both were transfixed by the robot’s potential mobility. The robot rose from its restraints, rocking forward before turning its head side to side.
Tony and Peter smiled and high fived each other as the robot moved slowly. However, suddenly, a terrifying noise arose from the robot, causing Peter and Tony to back away further, somewhat panicking from the robot’s startling state.
“Uh, Tony?” Peter backed behind Tony who was too amazed by the robot, “should we turn it off now?”
Tony shook his head as he reached around to pat Peter on the shoulder. “Eh, we’re okay.”
The robot screeched again causing both Tony and Peter to screech back. Tony quickly ran over to another table to retrieve the failsafe device to the robot, nearly dropping it as he rushed to turn the robot off. Peter backed behind him again as they tried to get away from the robot before it caused any damage. Finally, after a few more seconds of Tony quickly working through the controls on the tablet, the robot finally powered down.
Tony turned to Peter with a shrug. “I don’t see any reason why your dad should know anything about this, right?”
“Who wants a snack?”
But before Peter could answer Tony, Steve had appeared at the entrance of the lab with a plate full of cookies. Both Tony and Peter looked at the other before dropping their tools to race toward Steve, nearly knocking Steve over as they grabbed at the plate.
“Okay, okay.” Steve jumped out of the way as Tony and Peter attacked the plate as if they were forging animals.
“Please slow down. I’m also making dinner later tonight, so pace yourselves.” Steve huffed as he watched his family ignore him.
“Thanks, Steve!” Peter shouted with a mouth full of cookies before jogging back over to the robot.
Tony stuffed another cookie into his mouth. “Yeah, thanks, snack manager.” He teased.
Steve laughed as he looked over at Peter who was tinkering with the robot. His eyes then scanned the entire lab: it looked as if Tony and Peter had been camping out in the space for days. Steve crossed his arms as he glared at Tony who was too busy chomping on a cookie while scrolling through data on a tablet.
“You know, it was cute when you both hauled yourselves in the lab the first night, but now…” Steve indicated how disheveled both Peter and Tony appeared with a curt nod. Tony looked at him as if he didn’t know what his husband was referring to.
Steve sighed before continuing, “…now it’s a little too much, don’t you think? I can’t eat a meal in here anymore…it smells…like really bad.”
Tony waited before sniffing his shirt. “Eh, I’ve been worse.”
“Steve!” Peter was over by their robot, waving for his dad’s attention, “check this out!”
Peter tapped a few times on a tablet. The robot emitted a humming noise before straightening up after a few seconds. Peter flashed a smile over at Steve who looked concerned based on past experiences. Tony clapped his hands as he stepped toward the robot.
“Okay, Parker,” Tony called, “have it come over to your dad.” He pointed at Steve who looked back and forth between his kid and his husband, horrified by the robot’s capabilities.
Peter gave Tony a thumbs up before tapping on the tablet again. The main component of the robot flashed a light before blinking steadily. It lifted itself up slightly before slowly roving toward Steve.
“Uh,” Steve backed away toward the entrance of the lab, “Peter…?”
Tony waved Steve off with a laugh. “Just hold on, Rogers. Watch what it does.”
Steve gulped as he looked over at Tony before facing the robot again. It continued toward him slowly before Peter tapped on the tablet again to stop it moving before giving Tony another thumbs up. The robot lifted its main component once more. Steve stared at the robot, wide eyed. The robot stopped stretching to its full length, menacingly towering over Steve.
“Tony…?” Steve called, not really sure whether he was on the verge of fighting off his kid’s science fair project.
“Hold on, Rogers.” Tony repeated.
The robot stopped before it blinked a few more colors. “Good day, Captain Rogers.” It greeted.
Steve gawked at the robot before looking back at Peter and Tony then back at the robot.
“Uh…?”
“Wh—aaaa—t—mmmm—” But before the robot could continue, it started jerking around, spinning around away from Steve.
Steve yelped as Tony ran over to Peter. “Force shutdown, Peter!” Tony called, “force shutdown!”
Peter nodded as he feverously tapped on the tablet a few times. The robot spun around the lab before stopping suddenly in the middle of the space. Some sparks shot out from its top before it made a noise to indicate it was powering down.
Peter and Tony looked at each other slowly before looking over at Steve who appeared the most angry they have ever seen him.
“Nope,” Steve waved his hands around, “I’m shutting this whole thing down.”
Tony sighed. “Rogers, it’s fine. We just need to switch some of the wiring.” He nudged Peter in the side to get him to agree with him.
Peter nodded quickly. “Yeah, Steve. It’s fine.” He looked up at Tony who was nodding back at Steve.
Steve eyed both Tony and Peter before sighing heavily as he placed his hands on hips. “This isn’t funny, you two. Has this been happening when I’m not here?”
Both Tony and Peter shrugged as they simultaneously glanced at each other before facing Steve.
“No…?” Peter let out, his tone wavering a bit which turned his answer into a question.
Tony shook his head. “Everything is fine, Rogers. We’ll have it under control before the fair.” He reached over to pat Peter on the back who nodded back vigorously.
Steve eyed them both, making it clear that he didn’t believe them in the slightest bit. The standoff between the three lingered on for a moment or so before Steve finally backed down with a sigh.
“Fine,” he hung his head, “but I’m counting on you guys to keep this under control before Ned gets here,” Steve pointed directly at Tony, “I’m holding you solely responsible for any further shenanigans.”
Tony rolled his eyes as he waved Steve off. “Yeah, okay. Relax, Cap.”
Steve shook his head before turning to exit the lab. He turned slightly to look back at his family. “Also, please don’t be late for dinner, again. Especially since we’re having company.”
Peter and Tony nodded, smiling back at Steve in such in unnerving way that made him cringe, but he brushed it off, knowing that it was no use in pushing the matter any further. Steve shook his head as he opened the door to leave the lab, looking back at Tony and Peter as he walked down the corridor to the elevator.
“Your dad is right, safety is indeed important,” Tony turned to face Peter, “but I think this will be a science fair project that will end all science fair projects!” He exclaimed which hyped up Peter.
“Awesome!” Peter high fived Tony before running over to the robot to tinker some more with its wiring.
Peter banged on it a few times, perhaps a habit he had picked up from watching Tony work in his lab over the years. Peter then walked around the robot a few times, his head bobbing up and down as he scanned for any faults in the robot’s circuity before turning around with a thumbs up at his dad. Tony reciprocated the gesture as Peter ran back over to stand next to him.
“Ready?” Tony grinned.
Peter indicated his eagerness by nodding energetically. “Ready!”
Tony nodded, moving one finger to tap on the tablet he was holding but he stopped, “hold on,” Tony ran toward the robot, producing a tool to fix some wiring Peter had missed on his first scan.
Peter sighed as he watched his dad. “Tony, I think I got it.”
Tony smiled with a wave as he continued to work. “Just checking over your work, Parker. We’re lab partners, right?”
Peter frowned a little, but ultimately nodded back with a contained smile. Tony finished what he was doing before jogging to stand next to Peter.
“Okay, are you ready now?” He grinned.
Peter nodded. “Yep! Let’s do this.”
Later that evening…
Steve let out a satisfied sigh as he walked away from the stove. He had finally finished cleaning up the kitchen from making dinner for his family and Ned. Usually, Tony would help Steve out with the cleaning, but the former had been working later than typical. Steve didn’t mind; he had gotten used to Tony’s working schedule ever since he moved in before they were married.
…yet, it would have been nice to get a little bit of help…Steve managed to whine to himself as he exited the kitchen to head to the master bedroom.
…but I know he’s been helping Peter and Ned, so he’s catching up on work…Steve reminded himself as he reached the bedroom.
But as soon as he opened the door to the bedroom, he found Tony sitting upright in the bed, surrounded by unfurled and furled rolls of schematics.
“Tony! I thought we agreed that you weren’t going to do work in the bed.” Steve glared as he rested his hands on his hips.
Tony shrugged. “I thought you wanted me out of the lab, besides this isn’t work, it’s the boys’ project.”
Steve sighed as he approached his usual side of the bed. “Did you take a shower at least?”
Tony looked up from the drawing he was studying to leer at Steve. “Why?” The suggestive tone in his voice seeping, “do you just want to kiss up, rub up and feel up on me all night?”
Steve rolled his eyes as he slid underneath the sheets to lie next to Tony. “Because last time I saw you, you reeked like you hadn’t seen a bar of soap in a week.”
Tony chuckled as he moved the drawings of Peter and Ned’s robot to his bedside table so Steve could get more room to lie down completely flat in the bed.
“Tony, I understand why you’re excited that you and Peter are working on your gizmo—”
“—robot, baby. Just call it a robot.” Tony interjected, waving his hand around.
Steve shook his head, trying to ignore Tony. “But it’s just a science fair, not a tech expo.”
Tony looked at Steve as if he didn’t know what he was referring to.
Steve sighed. “‘A science fair project that will end all science fair projects’?” He quoted.
Tony rolled his eyes as he laid the tablet he was holding on his lap. “So, you have super hearing now too?”
Steve scrunched up his face causing Tony to roll his eyes again. “You’ve heard of hyperbole before right, Rogers?”
Steve groaned as Tony continued. “I don’t know why it’s a crime to be excited about working on something with your kid. Should I pull a Howard Stark and ignore him?” Tony had meant for the comment to sound like a joke but the look on Steve’s face signaled that the mood had shifted suddenly.
Steve shook his head as he placed a hand on Tony’s arm. “I’m not saying to ignore Peter…it’s just when you get really excited about something like this…well…” He stopped before elaborating.
Tony shrugged, not really sure what Steve was trying to get at. He waited a second longer before responding.
“Well, what, Rogers?”
Steve sighed. “My first working day at Stark industries, I saw you put out two fires in our lab and that was before the workday started.”
Tony looked ahead of himself as he suddenly remembered what Steve was referring to. He then burst out laughing from the memory.
Steve frowned. “Tony! That’s not funny. I thought you were going to hurt yourself.”
Tony continued to laugh, never showing any signs of letting up. Steve crossed his arms as he sat up in the bed.
“And remember when you told me about that time you nearly destroyed the house out on the Hamptons for a high school project?”
Tony glanced at Steve; his expression looked serious but then he started laughing to himself again.
Steve glared at Tony. “Not to mention you put yourself in harm’s way when we tried dismantling that Thanos weapon. And I’m not entirely thrilled that you and Peter seem to be working on those crazed robots again.”
Tony looked at Steve as he kept laughing, rolling from side to side on the bed. Steve scowled as he watched Tony laugh for a good minute or so.
Tony sighed loudly as he wiped his eyes from laughing too hard. “Rogers, you need to lighten up.”
Steve rolled his eyes but instead of responding right away, he scoffed as he laid back down in the bed, rolling over onto his side to face away from Tony.
“Just don’t get carried away, please.” Steve let out as he closed his eyes. He heard Tony laugh some more before feeling two hands slid around his waist.
“I’ll try not to.” He heard Tony whisper, before feeling him kiss the back of his head.
Steve groaned, knowing that such a statement from Tony was the best he was going to get as some sort of reassurance.
“Goodnight, baby. Love you. J.A.R.V.I.S., lights, please.” Steve felt the bed shift a bit, as the lights in the bedroom dimmed, knowing that Tony was sitting up in the bed still working with his bedside table lamp on.
“Night, Tony. Love you, too.” Steve sighed before trying to relax so he could fall asleep.
Early the next morning…
Tony yawned loudly as he entered his home office, carrying a second cup of coffee. The setup in the office wasn’t as robust as the lab on the seventieth floor of Stark Tower, but it had most of the equipment and a console Tony could use to do some provisional work.
“Good morning, J.A.R.V.I.S.” Tony called through another yawn as he walked up the small console.
“Good morning, Sir.” J.A.R.V.I.S. greeted.
Tony sipped out of his coffee mug before placing it on his desk. “J.A.R.V.I.S., show me the specs to the Iron Man suit.”
Ever since Peter had created his comics that featured everyone they knew as various superheroes, Tony had been secretly working on the Iron Man suit. The idea had been intriguing; an armored suit that any person could use that had blasters and whatnot attached to it was something he could not pass up.
More evidence that Peter is indeed my kid. Tony laughed to himself.
But of course, considering how dangerous the suit could be, Tony had kept his invention to himself. Steve and Peter had override access codes to J.A.R.V.I.S. but those were only to be used in case of emergency. Tony knew that although Steve was a pro when it came to working with the Synergy device, he was still too freaked out to try anything else high tech, so Tony didn’t have to worry about him snooping around and finding the specs to the suit. Peter was more of a consideration, but Tony knew that his newly minted teenager was too obsessed with his personal life to really care about anything his dad was possible getting into.
Tony grinned to himself as he watched the specs to the one of the suits run up the projection in front of him.
“Some working music would be nice, J.A.R.V.I.S., if you don’t mind, please.” Tony teased as the computer began playing the remix to “Savage.”
Tony had been working on the suits for some years now, but he never had the opportunity to test them out in the field; instead, he had been testing the suits out in the simulation suite.
“J.A.R.V.I.S., how great would it be if we tested out some of the mechanics to this suit on Peter’s robot?”
“Sir, may I remind you that Mr. Rogers has advised against any possible dangerous work.” J.A.R.V.I.S. responded.
Tony rolled his eyes. “So now you work for Mr. Rogers?” He quipped.
“I’m programmed to work for the family, if you remember, Sir.”
Tony rolled his eyes again as he tapped on a section of the suit. “Whatever.” He sighed as he swiped the image away before pulling out his phone from his pajama pants.
“J.A.R.V.I.S., before I forget, please set up a meeting with Riri to discuss what we’ll end up sending to the film makers for my dad’s doc.”
“Right away, sir.” J.A.R.V.I.S. answered promptly.
Tony had hired Riri Williams as his research assistant about a few months ago after she completed her undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from Columbia University. It seemed only right considering she was the one who had figured out early on that the chip Howard Stark had originally constructed for the Synergy device was actually a key that triggered the device’s emergency wiring. She was working on a few projects for Tony but the most pressing was now this documentary a film crew had contacted Tony about a while back.
Tony walked over to his desk, drinking his cup of coffee. He turned around to lean up against the desk, musing about using Peter’s robot as a testing ground for the iron man suit.
…I’ll just test out a small-scale version of the arc reactor…Tony smiled to himself as he finished his coffee before reviewing the specs once more.
The day of the science fair…
“Okay gang,” Steve stopped the car right in front of the school’s gymnasium behind the truck Tony drove to transport the robot to the school’s fair, “let’s roll out.”
“Thanks for driving us, Steve.” Ned leaned forward to smile at Steve who smiled back.
Peter rolled his eyes as he jumped out of the car, motioning for Ned to follow him. The boys bolted toward the back of the truck to make sure their robot was still in one piece. Tony hopped out of the driver’s seat side to assist.
“This is so epic!” Ned jumped up and down with glee.
Peter nodded with a broad smile. “Tony, do you think it’ll get through the doors?”
Tony smiled as he unstrapped the robot. “We might need to take the arms off, but it should be good. I made sure to measure the width before we moved forward.”
The three of them worked quickly to disassemble the robot before wheeling it to the entrance of the gymnasium. As soon as they entered, they found the auditorium teeming with busy students, their parents, and the teachers. The group found a space for the robot in an unoccupied corner. Peter and Ned worked to reassemble their robot as Steve and Tony watched from the side.
“You guys did a great job.” Steve smiled as he reached over to rub Tony’s arm.
Tony smirked. “As if you had any doubt, Rogers.” He retrieved his phone from his pants pocket to look through a few emails as the boys continued working on their robot.
“Nice. I can’t believe Riri managed to find more material from my dad’s archives…” Tony mostly said to himself, “it looks like she stayed up late, though. This email is from 3am…”
“Don’t you think you’re working Riri a little too hard for this thing, Tony?” Steve asked as he watched Tony tap on his phone.
Tony scrunched up his face. “She’s my research assistant, Rogers. Besides, I know she would tell me if I were exploiting her in anyway.”
Steve sighed, but then he nodded back. “Maybe…but you would know better than me.”
“Hey, Mr. Beck!” Peter happily greeted as the boys watched one of their teachers approach their robot.
Mr. Beck smiled and waved. “Your robot looks great, Peter and Ned! I’m excited to see what it does.”
Peter smiled before pointing to Tony and Steve. “These are my dads, Mr. Beck.”
Steve smiled as he reached out hand. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Beck. Peter talks about you all the time.”
Tony glanced at Steve with a confused look, making it obvious that he didn’t remember the teacher’s name. However, he regrouped quickly as he reached out a hand to greet Mr. Beck.”
“Nice to meet you.” Tony said with a smile.
Mr. Beck lingered as he shook Tony’s hand. “Same, Mr. Stark,” he answered quietly, eying Tony before facing Peter and Ned again.
“I’ll keep a look out for your guys’ project.” He gave the boys a thumbs up before walking over to another project stand.
Both Ned and Peter beamed at one another. “Mr. Beck is so cool!” Ned exclaimed.
Peter nodded. “I feel like we’re a shoo-in for 1st!”
Tony listened to the boys gush over Mr. Beck before turning his back to face Steve. “That teacher is a little strange don’t you think?” He whispered so that the boys wouldn’t overhear him.
Steve grimaced. “Mr. Beck? Tony, what are you talking about? The boys talk about him all the time. He’s their favorite teacher, remember?”
Tony stared at Steve before suddenly put two and two together. “Oh! That’s that science teacher. Boy, I’m bad with faces…and I guess names.” He shrugged with a laugh.
Steve rolled his eyes. “You better watch it, Tony. Not remembering someone’s name like that may come back to bite you.” But he laughed to show that he was being facetious.
Tony scoffed with an eye roll. “Okay, boys. Let’s turn this thing on.”
Peter and Ned high fived each other before Tony handed Peter the tablet they used to control the robot. Everyone took a step back as Peter tapped a few times on the tablet. It took a second or two before the reactor in the middle of the robot’s chest lit up. The robot’s body dipped up and down, swerving side to side.
“Well,” Tony turned slightly to address Steve, “looks good, doesn’t it, Rogers.”
Steve laughed as they watched the lights on the robot twinkle for a moment. Peter tapped again on the tablet.
“Good morning,” the robot started, “I am happy to be here.”
Peter and Ned cheered as their robot finally completed sentences.
“Mmmm,” the robot rumbled for a quick second. Peter looked back at Tony who waved him off.
“Remember to take it easy, Peter.” Tony called.
Peter nodded as he tapped once more on the tablet.
“MMMMMmmmmmmMMM!” The robot let out again as the arc reactor glowed strangely. But before anyone could react, the robot turned swiftly to the side, knocking into the table next to it.
“Tony, you need to fix this right now.”
“J.A.R.V.I.S.,” Tony called, “I need to disarm this thing!”
The robot’s specs appeared on Tony’s phone as the screaming and shouting in the space grew. The robot had rushed the stage where the award statues were held, knocking over the sound equipment as it cornered the principal. Steve ran toward the stage to help the principal, but the robot swung around with its arm. Steve dodged it, tucking and rolling as he then got up to get the principal away from the stage.
“Peter!” Tony waved for his son, “let’s move.”
Peter nodded before patting Ned on the shoulder who was still cowering. He made sure his friend was more or less okay from the commotion before tapping on his tablet.
“Tony, I think if we get the robot to face away from us, we can disconnect the wiring from the back.”
Tony nodded as he scrolled through his phone. “So, you’re not going to like this, but I had to switch up the wiring for the reactor.”
Peter’s eyes widened. “Dad!” He couldn’t contain how shocked he was.
Tony sighed. “Yeah, I know. I should have listened to your dad. Can’t really do anything about it now.”
Peter furrowed his brow as he scrolled through some data on the tablet. “Okay, what about this then?” He showed what he had found to Tony who smiled.
“That looks good to me, Parker.” He patted Peter on the shoulder before they ran from out underneath their cover.
Steve was running around the auditorium, trying to get the rest of the students, parents, and teachers out of the space before he found Ned to also get him out to safety. The robot was now in the middle of the space, spinning around with its arms flailing about. Peter and Tony flanked the robot from the back as Peter worked on his tablet. He tapped once more which caused the robot to stop spinning before it ran right into a tight corner between the bleachers and the stage.
“Okay, now, Tony!” Peter called.
Tony nodded as he ran up the bleachers while Peter ran to the stage. Tony waited a second before jumping on top of the robot, straddling it as he opened the top of its head.
“The blue wires, Tony!” Peter shouted.
Tony nodded as he worked, but the robot began to spin around again almost bucking him off. Tony pulled the blue wires out which caused the robot to stop spinning and turn off, but the force of the last spin caused the robot to topple over. Tony managed to let go before the robot fell on top of his body. He rolled to the side as sparks shot out from the robot as it powered down.
“I’m too old for this!” Tony cried as he rolled onto his back, holding his arm that Dr. Strange had to reconstruct after the Roosevelt Island explosion.
“Tony!” Peter ran to his dad, “are you okay?”
Tony nodded, taking a moment to sit up. He breathed heavily as he hunched over. Peter sat down on the floor with him, patting him on the back.
“Make sure…my funeral isn’t tacky, Parker, because your dad is going to kill me.” Tony breathed deeply as he groaned from the aches and pains caused by the fall.
Peter sighed, but then he laughed. “But then you stopped it, so it evens out some how?” He shrugged with a nervous smile.
Tony frowned at Peter before lying back down on the floor, groaning.
The next day…
“So,” Tony clasped his hands together, looking intently at Peter’s principal, “how do I make this better?”
Despite the damage the robot had wrought on the auditorium, no one sustained any serious injuries. Yet the following day, Steve and Tony had received a phone call from Peter’s school with an earnest request from the principal to meet her for an emergency meeting that day.
The principal shook her head a few times. She had a huge band aid on her forehead from escaping the robot. Steve and Tony were sitting in front of her desk, both looking awkward and nervous about embarrassing their kid in such a matter.
“Can you go back in time and not destroy our gym, Mr. Stark?”
Tony scrunched up his face before posing thoughtfully as if he was seriously considering the prospect of time traveling.
“I don’t think we can apologize enough for what happened,” Steve quickly dashed Tony’s daydreaming, “but Tony, we could probably do something for the school.” Steve looked at Tony before nodding in the direction of the principal. Tony looked back and forth between Steve and the principal, but he wasn’t entirely sure what Steve was getting at.
“Uh, so, let me get this straight, time traveling is out then?” Tony responded, shrugging.
Both Steve and the principal frowned at Tony. “Actually…” the principal began after a second, “there’s something you can do, Mr. Stark and Mr. Rogers…”
A few months later…
Ned patted Peter on the shoulder as they gazed upward at the construction going on the school’s new gym. The building was nearly finished, which was good considering that it would be finished for state-wide science competition, but it was also marked by the three rather large and galling words: “Stark Athletic Center”.
Peter sighed loudly, trying to keep it to himself, but failing. Ned laughed. “You know, it’s not that bad.”
Peter grimaced as he looked at Ned before looking back up at the building. He knew Ned was right, and he knew he would eventually get over it, but it was annoying, nonetheless.
“Hey, at least MJ will know your name, now.” Ned joked.
Peter groaned as he tried to grab Ned, but the latter had evaded his grasp by taking off toward the main entrance to the school building.
“Hey!” Peter shouted after his friend, “that’s not funny!”
EPILOGUE
Meanwhile…
“I…have…never…seen…a more incompetent group of whiners in my entire life!”
A group of scientists were standing in front of their colleague who harangued them for the latest mishap. The disgruntled scientist waved his arms about in a fit of frustration.
“Seriously? Aren’t you all supposed to be some of the best that Tony Stark could come up with??” The clearly irritated scientist then wedged himself into one of his colleague’s personal spaces.
“And where did you receive your education? Middleton?”
The colleague shook his head. “No, uh, Harvard…?” He whimpered.
“Harvard?” The scientist eyed his colleague as if he didn’t believe him, “Harvard? Is that a question?” He then knocked the tablet his colleague was holding out his hands with one sweep, causing the colleague to whimper some more.
The scientist kicked the tablet across the space before turning back around toward the object the team had been working on the past few months.
“Do this again, or I’ll have to trim the team down, once again.” He ominously ordered.
“Uh, Quentin—”
“Excuse me?” The scientist turned around to face one of his colleagues who was helping the other with their damaged tablet, “excuse me?” He repeated.
“Sorry, uh, Mysterio…” The colleague corrected, clearly weirded out by the scientist’s insistence on using such a bizarre name, “we can’t go further without the watch.”
The scientist rested his hands on his hips, grinning slightly.
“Don’t worry about that,” the scientist chuckled to himself which unnerved his colleagues, “the school’s planning a trip to Venice for the kiss-ups…” he turned around to face away from the group and at the object.
“…we’ll have access to Stark’s kid then.”
Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for the next installment to this series, the much-anticipated sequel to the first installment: Synergy: Not too Far Away from Home. Coming this December 2021. Here’s a preview:
“Mr. Stark,” Peter’s teacher greeted Tony right away as soon as he opened the door to the classroom, “nice to see you again.” He gestured for Tony to take a seat in front of his desk.
Tony nodded as he sat down in the chair indicated. He took his time making himself comfortable as he waited for Mr. Beck to continue. Mr. Beck also took his time; he shuffled a few things on his desk, before sighing and interlacing his fingers on top on the desk.
“Mr. Stark, I’m concerned about Peter.” He began, staring disconcertingly in Tony’s direction.
Tony nodded again before leaning forward. “We are too—uh,” He pulled out his phone to check any new messages from Steve, reading a message that Steve was still running late, “my husband should be here in thirty minutes or so.” Tony quickly added before putting his phone away.
Mr. Beck smiled slightly before leaning back in his chair, swiveling back and forth. “No worries, Mr. Stark. We can wait a bit.”
Tony nodded wearily. Mr. Beck smiled before scratching his chin thoughtfully.
“You know, I don’t know if you remember, but I used to work at Stark Industries.” He volunteered.
Tony expressed confusion, but then tried to mask it quickly. Of course, he wasn’t going to remember every single employee, but he pretended to be interested given the situation.
“You don’t say? You’ll have to remind me where you were stationed.” Tony attempted as cheerfully as possible although he could care less about this and wanted to talk more about Peter.
Mr. Beck laughed. “Research and Development. My lab wasn’t too far away from yours.” He leaned forward a bit, “actually we ran into each other once. It was in the employee express elevator late one night…your husband was there too, I think.”
All those years standing and smiling in front of cameras finally paid off because Tony managed not to look completely horrified as Mr. Beck described what sounded like the night he had made out with Steve on the way to his penthouse after Thor’s party.
…wait there’s no way…Tony reminded himself that that was probably just a coincidence.
Tony forced a smile. “You don’t say?” He repeated, speechless for the first time in a while.
Mr. Beck laughed. “You probably don’t remember.” He leaned back in his chair, still smiling in the strange way from before.
Tony found Mr. Beck to be completely discomforting, but managed to convey curiosity with a usual PR-like smile.
“You know, I seem to remember an encounter that sounds a lot like that. And like you said, it was late.” Tony tried through the smile.
Mr. Beck nodded emphatically before making a move to add to the conversation before the door to the classroom swung open to reveal an exasperated looking Steve.
Thank god! Tony screamed in his head as he smiled at Steve, grateful that his husband always managed to relieve him of awkward situations.
“I’m sorry I’m late. The traffic is bad.” Steve ran a hand through his hair that had been tussled a bit from having to deal with midday New York traffic.
“No worries, Mr. Rogers. Nice to see you again.” Mr. Beck stood up out of his chair to shake Steve’s hand.
Steve smiled before shaking his hand. “Nice see you too, Mr. Beck.” Steve continued to smile, unaware of the awkward situation that had occurred only seconds before his arrival.
Steve sat down in the chair next to Tony before kissing him on the cheek. Tony tried to kiss him back, but he was too weirded out about Mr. Beck’s demeanor.
“I usually don’t order a car service, I usually take the subway, but I thought I would get here faster.” Steve explained casually as he settled. Tony watched Mr. Beck nod at every word Steve uttered, and he had to prevent himself from rolling his eyes.
“No worries, Mr. Rogers,” Mr. Beck repeated, “we just started.”
Steve nodded before looking over at Tony. Tony smiled back wearily. He could tell that Steve had taken notice.
“So,” Mr. Beck opened the drawer to his desk and shuffled around a bit until he produced two sheets of paper. He placed the sheets out neatly in front of Steve and Tony on his desk, “these are two tests that Peter took along with the class earlier this year,” Mr. Beck pointed to the test on Steve and Tony’s left, “and one a few days ago. I’m sure you see the difference.” He ended by pointing to the one on Steve and Tony’s right.
Both Steve and Tony leaned forward to see that the test on the left had a giant red “A+” on it but the one on the right had an equally red and giant, yet disturbing “F” on it. Both Steve and Tony gapped at each other, paralyzed by the grade gap.
“During this test,” Mr. Beck pointed to the one with the “F”, “I caught Peter cheating.”
Tony sat up straight in his chair, pointing angrily at the test marked with an “F”. “And this was a few days ago? Why didn’t anyone call us?” His voice raised a little. Steve reached over and rubbed his leg to calm him down.
Mr. Beck coolly clasped his hands together. “The policy at the school dictates that for any serious academic offense, we speak to the parent, parents, or,” he looked directly at Steve and Tony, “guardian or guardians of the student in person.”
Tony nearly made a face from the unmistakable slight edge he heard in Mr. Beck’s voice as the latter annoyingly explained the policy, practically insinuating that Tony and Steve weren’t Peter’s real parents. He felt Steve still rubbing his leg to calm him.
Tony sighed, trying not to lose his cool over the whole situation. He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t understand. Peter would have said something about this.”
Mr. Beck nodded before expressing thoughtfulness. “I’ve noticed in Peter’s mannerisms that he’s under an unusual high level of stress. I know some of this has something to do with your celebrity, Mr. Stark,” Mr. Beck motioned toward Tony before he continued, “but most of this could be from pressure at home,” Mr. Beck looked directly at Tony, “you would understand that, Mr. Stark.”
Tony’s practiced neutrality fell away as he immediately picked up on Mr. Beck perhaps referring to his relationship with his own dad.
“Excuse me—?” Tony let out quietly, yet his voice was harsh.
“So, what happens next?” Steve interjected, “will Peter need to take this class over?” He had placed a hand over Tony’s who grasped it tightly from his brief heated moment with Mr. Beck.
Mr. Beck shook his head, seemingly unaware that he was upsetting Tony. “No. Peter’s one of my better students and he’s a really good kid. I never had behavioral issues with him. So, I’m going to let him retake the test.”
Steve smiled at Tony who still looked upset. “That’s great. Right, sweetheart?”
Tony nodded wordlessly as he crossed his arms.
“However,” Mr. Beck began, “I’m putting in a request that Peter see the school’s therapist.”
The comment shocked both Steve and Tony as the two looked at each other before facing Mr. Beck again.
“Well, Mr. Beck, if you think that’s best.” Steve spoke up first.
Mr. Beck nodded. “Everyone can benefit from a little therapy.” He smiled back at Steve and Tony, but of course that made Tony feel even less reassured.
“I’ll set up an appointment for the both of you to meet the therapist, sound good?” Mr. Beck’s expression remained the same as he rummaged around in his desk for a pad of paper.
Steve turned slightly to look at Tony who was staring at Mr. Beck. “That works for us, right, Tony?”
Tony took a moment before nodding back.
“Great!” Mr. Beck scribbled a number down on the pad before handing it to Steve, “I’m sorry to rush you along, but I have a faculty meeting in a few minutes.”
Both Steve and Tony nodded as they rose from their chairs. Mr. Beck walked ahead of them to open the classroom door.
“It was nice to see you both again, and I hope you have a nice rest of the day!” Mr. Beck showed Steve and Tony out into the hallway before closing the door.
Steve turned to Tony who looked despondent. “Tony, it’s not that bad. Like, Mr. Beck said, everyone could use some therapy and that’s better than Peter failing the class.”
Tony shook his head as he walked briskly down the hallway. “It’s not that, and you know that, Rogers. I’m not against therapy. But somethings not right…” he made sure he was further down the hall away from Mr. Beck’s classroom.
“I don’t trust that teacher.”
To be continued…