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When May called Tony to tell him that Peter had to get his wisdom teeth taken out, he immediately asked Helen Cho and Bruce if they could go over to the compound. Thankfully Bruce had made special anesthesia for Peter, and so they were ready to put him to sleep.
An hour later, the procedure was finished, and Peter was awake.
Tony was the first to greet him when he woke up. "Hey, bud, how you doing?"
Peter was sluggish in his movements as he lifted his hand to his mentor's face. "Tony?"
"Yeah, I'm here." Tony smiled, running his hand through the boy's brown curls. This is the first time the boy called him "Tony," and it's while he's high. Of course.
"Where am I?" Peter's eyes drooped, his head falling over but quickly jerking up.
"You're at MedBay, kiddo. The compound. Dr. Cho and Banner are here."
When Bruce came into his view, Peter gasped.
"You're Bruce Banner. You're so cool!" He gushed, the gauze slurring every word he said.
The older man laughed at his reaction as that was the same one he had before they put him under.
Tony threw his hands up. "Hey, what about me? I'm Iron Man; he's just some big angry green guy."
Before Bruce could retaliate, Peter beat him to it. "Don't worry, Mr. Stark. You're cool too."
"Gee, thanks. I feel so much better now that you've practically insulted me to my face." Tony remarked, no underlying heat behind his words.
Though, Peter hadn't caught that and started crying. "I'm sorry."
Tony's face softened, petting his hair. "Hey, bud, no need to cry. I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, Pete. I'm not mad." He wiped away some of his tears with his thumb, scooting closer and pressing his lips to his forehead. "Come on, Itsy Bitsy, don't cry."
"Can I have a popsicle?" He sniffed.
"You learned that trick from Morgan, didn't you? No, you can't-" He started crying again, and that was enough to persuade Tony. "Fine, yeah, ok. I'll give you one later."
Then suddenly, he was poking at his mouth. "I can't feel my lips. Do I still have my lips? Did somebody steal them?"
"No, bud, you still have your lips."
"Am I high?"
Tony laughed. "In the medical sense, yeah."
Peter's head lolled down, and he jolted up again, causing his gauze to fall out of his mouth.
"Ok, kid, you're sleepy. Go to sleep. I'll be here with you." He hopped onto the bed and settled down next to him, throwing away the dirty gauze that fell out of his mouth.
"Thanks, Dad," Peter said as he laid down his head on Tony's chest, near his arc reactor.
Tony's heart melted at the one word he had been silently begging for the kid to use. That single word had the power to knock the air out of him and bring tears to his eyes. That single word.
Dad.
Behind him, Bruce was watching the scene unfold. With a knowing smile and nothing more, he backed away, leaving the two to their own devices.