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“Nope, no, we are not playing that game again, it was already embarrassing enough the first time.” Clint rejected Thor's offer for him to test his worthiness of Mjolnir once again, the archer immediately turning it down much to Thor's insistence and amusement.
“I’ll do it!” Peter volunteered as he came bounding into the living room full of superheroes with bowls of chips and snacks balanced in his arms.
“Nope, not happening. We don’t need to be humiliated even more when you end up being worthy and proving how much better than us you are, not happening kid.” Tony dismissed as he took a bowl of Doritos out of the teens arms and hogging them to himself, Natasha walked behind him and swatted him on the back of his head before snatching the bowl out of his hands earning a sound of protest from the genius.
“You really think I’d be worthy?” Peter asked excitedly and Thor let out a booming laugh.
“Why of course, Spider-Child! I think out of all of us you’d be the worthiest.” Thor smiled and Peter felt his cheeks heat at the compliment.
“I mean, I did get it to budge a bit,” Steve shrugged, taking a sip of his pop. Thor’s smile dropped off of his face, turning defensive.
“That was the wind that moved it,” he defended and Steve let out a laugh, rolling his eyes.
“Right, of course, the wind, how could I forget.”
Peter bounced over to his spot next to his mentor on the couch and plopped down next to him, wiggling to get comfy as everyone settled in their spots preparing to start the movie.
“Did you sneak some of the pudding you little shit?” Tony spoke and turned Peter’s head to face him and Peter’s expression turned guilty before he put on his innocent puppy eyes.
“I would never!” Peter denied and the older man smirked and reached a thumb up to Peter's cheek, Peter clenched his eyes shut as Tony wiped away the chocolate evidence on the boy's cheek, holding his thumb up to show him.
“That wasn’t me,”
“Oh so someone just put that there?” Tony raised an amused brow, Peter’s innocent act was breaking as a grin fought its way onto his face.
“...Yes,”
Tony let out an amused huff and wrapped Peter in a headlock, ruffling his curls as the teen laughed and tried squirming out of his hold.
“Peter could you run and grab us some more blankets, there should be some in the closet at the end of the hall, just grab as many as you can,” Bruce asked and Peter nodded, batting Tony’s hands away with a grin and trotting out of the room.
Peter hummed as he made his way down the hall where he knew the closet was located at the end. He reached the door and pulled it open, looking at the top shelf where the blankets were located. He cursed his short height and put each foot on the doorframe, sticking himself to it and lifting himself up to gather the blankets in his arms.
He closed the door and began making his way back to the living room with the blankets in his arms. But as he was nearing he heard them talking.
“Fatherhood looks good on you, Tones.” Peter heard Rhodey say and froze just as he was about to turn the corner, listening in.
“Y-You know he’s not mine right? Because I’ve told you many times before he’s not my kid.” Tony stuttered and if Peter could see him he’d bet Tony’s face was red in embarrassment.
“He doesn’t have to be blood to be your kid, Stark. I’ve seen how you act around him, you’ve gone soft.” Steve added and there were hums of agreement from the others.
“I have not gone soft. He is not my kid. He’s May’s kid. He’s just some kid from Queens that I asked to help me. What he and I have is strictly superhero business, he’s Spider-Man, I’m Ironman. He's a good asset to the team, that's it. There is no father-son business between us so don’t even think about trying to tell me I've gone soft.” Tony scoffed, defensive.
Peter drowned out the others' words as they spoke, letting what Tony said sink in. He felt his heart clenching painfully and he had no idea why. Because he had been so stupid to think Tony thought of him as any more than a just superhero that benefited to him and the team.
A part of Peter really thought Tony cared about him more than that and that maybe Tony was finally filling in that empty father figure spot in Peter’s life. The spot had been so empty ever since Ben and ever since Peter began getting close, or at least he thought he had been getting close to Tony, that spot was finally taken once again.
But as the genius’s words sunk in, that hope was ripped away in an instant because he had just heard the exact words come from his mouth that Peter wasn’t his kid. That he was just some kid from Queens that could be of help to Tony.
Peter didn’t even realize he was crying until laughter broke him out of his thoughts and he felt the wetness on his cheeks. The team had moved onto a different topic while Peter’s heart sunk deeper and deeper at what he’d just heard.
In an instant Peter dropped the blankets on the ground and turned on his heel, running to the doorway that led to the stairwell, biting back the sob that wanted to break out of him. He slammed into the doors and let his feet take him down a few flights of stairs until he eventually collapsed, burying his face in his hands and biting his lip to try to stave off his cries. He’d never felt more like a child.
Forcing himself to hold back tears Peter took a steadying breath and stood up, continuing his walk down the stairs and onto an office floor where he got onto the elevator to take him the rest of the way down.
Peter had been so blind as to not see that Tony never cared about him how he’d thought he did, if anything Peter was just a burden for the man to deal with. Peter didn’t want to be a burden to anyone.
As the elevator came to a stop Peter stepped out into the mainly empty lobby, Peter didn’t even look at Sarah, the woman who worked at the counter who always smiled at Peter’s presence, but he felt her eyes on him as he made his way to the front doors.
He kept his eyes glued to the ground as he pushed the door open and walked out into the chilly and noisy summer night. He felt his phone buzz in his pocket and pulled it out to see a message from Tony.
U comin kid? What’s taking so long?
Peter had to fight back another onset of tears fighting to escape as he pocketed his phone and continued his walk down the street and toward the subway.
Peter eventually got home and was happy to see that May was already asleep which meant she wouldn’t be able to question him why he was home so early. Peter felt his limbs weighing him down as he dragged himself into his room, not bothering to change as he slumped onto his bed, hands in his lap.
He stared at his fingers and observed them unconsciously as he recalled Mr. Stark's words. Peter shook his head to try to clear the thoughts from his mind, not wanting to cry any more than he already had, especially over something so childish.
Peter laid down on top of his sheets and pulled out his phone, setting it on his side table and looking away when he saw his phone light up with more messages from Tony. Peter closed his eyes and let a few stray tears roll down his cheek and soak into the pillow.
“Friday, Hunny, what’s taking the kid so long?” Tony spoke up above the other's voices, his concern growing after Peter not answering his messages and not appearing after 10 minutes.
“It appears Mr. Parker has left the building,” Friday informed him and Tony sat up in his seat.
“What? Why?”
“I am unsure of that, boss.” She told him though sounded like she wanted to add more but chose not to.
“Track his phone where is he?” Tony demanded, his tone tight with worry because it made no sense why Peter had suddenly left.
“He is currently on the train back to Queens,” Friday said and Tony furrowed his brows in confusion. Maybe May had texted him and told him to come home early? It was a school night so that could’ve been a possibility.
“Okay, just, let me know when he gets home. If he doesn’t go straight to his place I want to know immediately.” Tony said and looked over to see the others looking at him with that knowing smirk on their faces.
“I’m not being protective, I’m just being cautious,” he grumbled and Steve shook his head in amusement.
Three days passed since the incident. Since Peter’s childish hope was crushed by his own hero's words that he probably wasn’t meant to hear. May had questioned if he was okay, noticing the deterioration of his mood. Peter had brushed off her concern with a small reassuring smile.
Ned and MJ had been watching him closely for the past two days, Ned pushing to find out what Peter was so upset about. Usually, the boy was chatty and lively with energy but this was the quietest Ned had ever seen his friend and it concerned him.
Peter had continued to ignore Tony’s messages, not wanting to face the man after the newly learned information about how the older man truly felt about him.
Peter was doodling mindlessly in his English notebook when the dismissal bell rang and he closed the book, putting it back into his bag before standing up and following Ned out of the classroom.
With Peter’s silence came Ned’s silence. The other boy picking up on Peter's mood and not wanting to push him to try to smile because Ned could tell that he truly couldn’t smile at the moment and Ned didn’t want to push him too far.
Peter and Ned silently made their way to their lockers. Flash had even passed on the way and opened his mouth to do his usual teasing but shut it as soon as he saw the look on Peter’s face, deciding to save it for another day.
Outside the school, Ned gave Peter their usual hug and parted ways. Peter walked down the steps and froze when he saw the familiar Audi waiting for him, he’d completely forgotten it was Wednesday which meant it was Lab day.
Peter quickly blended in with the crowd, keeping his head bowed so Happy wouldn’t see him as he walked off the school grounds and made his way to the El, ignoring Happy's messages telling him to hurry up.
Later when he gets home he messages Happy.
Sorry, Happy! I went home early with a stomach bug, sorry for not giving u a heads up, sorry u had to drive so far for nothing.
To which Happy replies with a short,
k, feel better.
Tony ended up staying in the lab all night waiting for the kid to show up, but he never did and Happy informed him that Peter had messaged him saying he’d gone home early with a stomach bug.
It didn’t make sense why Peter wasn’t answering his messages but he was answering Happy’s.
Something was up with the kid and Tony wanted to find out what.
“Friday, pull up the footage of Sunday night between 8 and 9 pm,” Tony says and waits until a holographic screen pops up in front of him showing the living room full of Avengers. The video starts as Peter gets up to grab the blankets. Tony switches the cameras to the hall cams and watches as Peter comes back with handfuls of blankets but stops before turning the corner.
“Audio up,” Tony says and the volume turns up so Tony can hear his own voice. And with his own words his heart sinks, the camera zooms closer to Peter’s face and Tony watches as the teen’s smile fades with the words he hears.
Tony watches as the boy drops the blankets and runs off with tears streaming down his face and he feels like a complete asshole for saying the things he did.
Tony swipes his hand across the screen and it disappears, Tony brings his hand up and pinches the bridge of his nose trying to get rid of the image of Peter crying because of something he said.
Tony stood up and called on his suit, letting it envelop his body before he was shooting out the window and toward Queens with an apology ready on his lips.
Peter gasped as he felt the knife pierced into his stomach. He sent out a kick and knocked the thief off of his feet before webbing him against the ground, scolding him for his crimes one last time before crawling up the building and webbing a few blocks away, coming to a stop on a rooftop.
Peter didn’t know if it was the stab wound or all the pent-up emotion he’d been holding in for the past few days that made a sob break its way out of him. His hands wrapped around the handle of the knife sticking out of his stomach and he slumped down onto the ground of the dirty rooftop.
Gasping and crying, Peter reached up and yanked his mask off, sucking in a deep breath of the chilly air. Tilting sideways Peter laid down and rested his head on the cement, curling his knees up to his chest as best he could without disturbing the knife.
In a situation like this usually he’d be climbing through the window to the Tower med bay but now he couldn’t, not when he felt so unwelcome. The teen gritted his teeth as he pulled the knife out of his stomach and dropped it onto the cement.
He pointed his web-shooters at the wound and shot a web that would slow the bleeding and stop it temporarily. Peter sniffled and finally let his emotions flow where no one would hear him or see him.
If Peter hadn’t been sobbing as loud as he was then maybe he would’ve heard the thrusters in the distance growing closer. Only when he saw the familiar suit of armour land in front of him did his sobs stop, his body going tense.
“Oh, Pete…” He heard Mr. Stark sigh. The suit opened and out stepped the man he’d wanted to see for the past few days. Peter refused to make eye contact and buried his head into his knees that were brought up to his chest.
He heard as the older man sat down in front of him and tensed when a hand rested on his shoulder.
“What are you doing h-here.” Peter’s voice was muffled.
“I got the alert from Karen as soon as you were hurt, came to check on you.” Tony lied and Peter let out a sharp laugh, moving to sit up. Tony backed out of the way as Peter stood up from the ground, one hand still pressing against his webbed wound as he began to pace.
“Of course, that's why you’re here. Because I’m nothing more than an inconvenience to you, aren’t I. I’m just some kid from Queens who was so stupid to think that even for a moment someone like you would care about someone like me. I was so stupid…” Peter cut himself off and wrapped his arms around his torso, hunching in on himself as if trying to comfort himself and Tony’s heart broke at that. He stood to his feet and took a step toward the teen.
“Kid… I do care about you-”
“But not the same way I care about you .” Peter blurted, “I thought- I thought that after what happened to Uncle Ben… You were going to take his place, be the next father figure I haven’t had in so long. I thought that maybe you cared about me the same way I care about you, but I guess I was wrong-” Peter broke off with a whisper and slumped down to the ground again, Tony approached and crouched down in front of him.
“Peter. What you heard, wasn’t true.” Tony sighed, and Peter looked up from his lap at him with big watery eyes.
“I struggle with controlling my emotions, I get defensive easily and sometimes I say things I don’t mean in order to protect myself from future pain when really I’m just making it worse for myself and hurting others around me without realizing it.” Tony began and took a composing breath, god he sucked at all this feelings stuff .
“Howard was a bad father, never showed that he loved me and I paid for that in the future. I struggle with showing the people I love that I care about them. I mess up a lot. I said what I said because I got scared. When Steve said I’d gone soft I panicked. I said the first thing that came to my mind without even considering how it may have affected others around me, how it would affect you and I’m so sorry. ” Tony looked at the teen to see his full attention on him, wide brown eyes taking in his every word.
“Truth is, I don’t feel worthy of your love, I don’t feel worthy of you. As Thor said, out of all of us you’d be the most worthy because you’re the purest of us. And I don’t want to ruin that. I don’t want to turn into Howard but I also can’t let my fear control how I feel or I’ll end up really regretting it later on. So I'm just going to get it out and say it.” Tony inhaled deeply.
“You are my kid, I do care about you and I don’t want you to think for even a second that I don’t because I do. I love you kid and I’d be so happy if you’ll have me as your next father figure, I may not have had the best father but I’ll try my damn hardest to be the best I can be for you.”
Tony had his eyes downcast to his lap, not wanting to look Peter in the eye in case he sees rejection there. But next thing the genius knew he was getting tackled, arms wrapping around his torso tightly.
“I love you too Mr. Stark. And I think I might just take you up on that offer.” Peter said, his voice muffled by Tony’s shirt. The genius sighed a breath of relief and wrapped his arms around the kid, squeezing him tight and resting his chin on top of his messy curls.
The two sat in each other's embrace a while longer before Tony remembered the knife that he’d seen discarded on the concrete rooftop when he’d arrived.
“Up you get, we gotta get you patched up before Aunt Hottie kills us. You’re lucky I’m not killing you myself.”
Peter snickered and let Tony pull him to his feet, together they went to the tower and may or may not have fallen asleep cuddled up on the couch while watching Star Wars. But that was no ones business.