Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Everything Peter owned was currently shoved into two garbage bags, both of which sat in the backseat of Mr. White’s car. He wanted to bring them into the Tower, but Mr. White didn’t want him to have to carry them around. So, he came empty handed, shoving his hands into his pockets to avoid fiddling with them.

They were standing off to the side, a few steps out of the path of people coming and going, Peter nervously tapping his foot on the pristine floors.

Looking down, he caught sight of his reflection, a nervous face staring right back up at him. Everything was so polished and perfect, overwhelmingly so.

“It shouldn’t be much longer,” Mr. White commented, giving Peter a sympathetic smile. “I’m sure your Father will be happy to have you.”

Snorting Peter just shook his head, as he waited to be taken up and away.

An elevator dinged, and then Pepper Potts was walking towards them. When the tap tap of her sharp heels on the floor echoed, each step sounded like a beating drum in Peter’s heart.

The nervousness he’d been feeling from just pulling into the parking garage of the Stark Tower, increased tenfold. Being inside the building was one thing, but actually seeing Ms. Potts coming toward them was another. It just made the whole thing even more real.

Ms. Potts arrived, extending her hand to Mr. White and then, Peter.

“Hello, Mr. White, Peter. I’m sorry for the delay, but if you’d follow me, Tony is waiting for you up in the penthouse.”

Peter didn’t say a word, just followed dutifully behind Mr. White and Ms. Potts, waiting as Ms. Potts used her fingerprints to gain access to the elevator she'd come out from, tucked away at the very end of the elevator line.

“This one is the only one that goes up to the penthouse,” Pepper commented, as they filed in. “It's a special entrance only, Tony uses biometrics to keep it locked down.”

Peter purposely drowned out whatever else Ms. Potts and Mr. White talked about. His heart was already going a mile a minute, he thought for sure it looked like one of those cartoon hearts pounding out of his chest.

When the elevator dinged, Ms. Potts and Mr. White exited, but Peter did not, unable to get his legs to move.

“Peter,” Mr. White started, taking a step back into the elevator. “I know you’re nervous, but everything will be okay. I'll stay with you the entire time until you feel comfortable and safe.”

“If I may,” Ms. Potts said, taking a few steps back into the elevator. “I know we just met, Peter, but Tony is just down the hall and so very excited to finally meet you."

She was wrong, of course, Tony Stark was not excited to meet him. If he was excited to meet him, he would have met him at some point in his 14 years of life. Not now, not only after he had nowhere else in the world to go. Now he’s just stuck with him, unable to pretend Peter didn't exist, as he'd done since the day he was born.

He must have looked a little upset because Mr. White gave him a very gentle smile. “It’s okay if you’re nervous, Peter. You can take as long as you need but we do need to meet with Mr. Stark."

Finally gathering the courage, Peter nodded and walked from the elevator, being led by the two adults down a long hallway. They stopped in front of a closed door, Ms. Potts knocked twice before pushing the door open.

Sitting at a small table was the one and only, Tony Stark.

Their eyes met instantly and Peter lost the ability to breathe properly. It wasn’t as if he’d never seen Tony Stark on TV before, but this was different. This was not Iron Man flying around fighting bad guys, this wasn’t smarmy, grinning Tony Stark mouthing off to reports at a press conference. This wasn't the larger than life presence that loomed over New York, a protector, a genius, an inventor.

This was Tony Stark, Peter's biological father.

Mr. Stark stood so fast, his chair nearly toppled over. “Oh,” was all he managed before attempting to walk over. Peter’s gut reaction was to back away, moving slightly behind Mr. White, hiding before Mr. Stark could get to him.

When Mr. Stark saw the reaction, he stopped. “Sorry, sorry.”

“Peter’s just a little nervous,” Mr. White said, putting his hand on Peter’s shoulder and directing him to one of the empty chairs across from Mr. Stark. "Why don't we take a seat instead?"

Nodding, Mr. Stark turned to take a seat, Ms. Potts sitting on one side, a man Peter didn't recognize sitting on the other.

Mr. Stark kept staring at him, eyes boring into him and all Peter could do was try and act like he didn’t notice.

“Well, my name is Lionel Lewin, I'll be representing Mr. Stark in this matter,” the man Peter didn't know said after clearing his throat. “Let's get straight to business, shall we? I understand a paternity test was done when Mr. Parker was born, correct?”

Mr. Lewin didn't leave any room for introductions, or objections, barreling straight into the meeting, like a man on a mission.

“Yes,” Mr. White answered, sternly. "We've provided Mr. Stark with all the necessary paperwork, including the birth certificate that bears his name. I can assure you diligence was done in this case."

“I understand, Mr. White," Mr. Lewin continued. "Since the DNA test was not done in the presence of myself or Mr. Stark, we're requiring one to be taken here, with us as witnesses."

“I can assure you,” Mr. White pressed, his tone shifting from polite to annoyed with each word. “The results of the test were correct, Mr. Lewin."

Peter's face burned with embarrassment over the whole thing. He hated the attention from Mr. Stark, his eyes still locked onto Peter.

“We believe you,” Mr. Stark finally spoke, but his eyes still hadn’t left Peter’s face. “But you have to understand just a little, Mr. White. I've had people claiming to be my heir in the past. I have to take some precautions.”

“We can do it today,” Mr. Lewin continued. “We are equipped and the results will be ready within fifteen minutes. After that, we can discuss Mr. Parker’s stay here at the Tower.”

“I’m sorry,” Mr. White said, not sounding sorry at all. “Discuss Peter’s stay at the Tower? There is no discussion, this is where Peter is going to stay. When we reached out to you, Mr. Stark, you agreed to take custody of Peter. It was not conditional on any additional DNA tests. Unless you give up your parental rights, this is Peter’s new home.”

“Of course, Peter will be welcome here at the Tower,” Ms. Pott cut in, voice very soft but commanding at the same time, it reminded Peter of when Aunt May would get mad at Uncle Ben. “We aren’t trying to make this difficult, not at all but to give us a piece of mind, we’d greatly appreciate taking the DNA test here.”

Mr. Stark was still staring at Peter and it took every ounce of strength he had, not to yell at the man. Because of course, he would be trying to get out of this already. Maybe this was always his plan, get Peter here, fake a DNA test showing he wasn't his father, and wash his hands of Peter forever.

And as much as Peter sort of wanted that outcome, he wasn’t going to let Tony Stark discard him so easily.

“I’ll do it,” Peter said, speaking over Mr. Lewin who had started talking again. The adults all looked at him, curiously, as if they'd forgotten Peter was even in the room with them.

“It is up to you, Peter,” Mr. White said to him. "But you are under no obligation to follow through with the request."

Nodding, Peter looked straight back at Mr. Stark, their eyes meeting for the first time. “I'll do it," he repeated, voice cracking only a little.

“Thank you,” Mr. Stark said and for a second Peter thought he was being genuine about it, but it only lasted a second. “I can bring in one of our nurses right now, you don’t even have to leave the room.”

Looking away, Mr. Stark grabbed his phone, typing something in, and a few awkwardly silent moments later, there was a knock on the door, and a woman pushing a small cart came in. Introducing herself as Sally, she came over to sit beside Peter.

“Don’t worry sweetheart,” she said, laying out her few items on the table. “I promise this is completely painless.”

She reminded Peter of Aunt May in such a strong way, he had to fight the tears that sprung to his eyes. The gentle tone of her voice, the careful and precise movements she made with her medical equipment. He’d seen Aunt May in her “nurse mode” several times before and sitting there, despite all the trepidation, he felt a rush of the same care and love he’d felt with her.

Despite the feel of several eyes on him, he kept his attention on Sally, watching as she finished putting on her gloves and unwrapped the cotton swab.

“Alright, Peter, please open your mouth wide for me. I’m going to gently swab the right side of your mouth, along your cheek. I’ll be moving it up and down, just a few times and then we’re done.”

Shallow roughly, Peter nodded, opening his mouth wide and allowing her to press the swab against the inside of his cheek. Closing his eyes, he tried to breathe normally, to tame his heart back down.

“There we go,” Sally said as she finished. “Easy peasy.”

She put the swab in a small vile. “Model patient, thank you, Peter. Now, it’ll just be a minute before we’re ready to compare the results.”

Turning away, Sally did something on a tablet she’d brought with her and Peter went back to staring only at his hands. The silence in the room was overwhelming and Mr. Stark was still staring at Peter like he wanted to say something.

“When we’re finished,” Ms. Potts broke the silence. “We can show you to your room, Peter. I understand you have some items you’ve brought with you, but whatever you need, we can purchase.”

“Peter’s items are in my car,” Mr. White answered for him. Peter was glad the man seemed to understand why Peter was silent. It wasn’t that he couldn’t answer, he just didn’t want to.

Everything was happening so ridiculously fast, Uncle Ben and Aunt May only passed away 10 days ago, which felt like a whole lifetime ago to Peter.

Without a guardian available immediately, he was placed in a group home, separated from his things and his friends. They let him bring a small backpack of items, but the rest were boxed up by strangers.

All Peter wanted to do was scream and cry, tell the universe off for taking away the last of his family. But he couldn't, he hadn’t had a second to himself to take all of it in. And now, here he was, being delivered to Mr. Stark’s doorstep.

“His Aunt and Uncle’s items are currently in storage as we deal with their estate. Peter can retrieve those items soon. Some of his essential items are with me, including some of his schoolwork. I’ve been assured that Peter can continue going to Midtown, correct?”

“Correct,” Mr. Stark answered. “Everything will be arranged.”

Ms. Potts cleared her throat politely. “I know this is a tough question, but we weren't made aware of any plans for Mr. and Mrs. Parker’s funeral and services. We want to make sure Peter can attend and provide whatever is needed, expenses included.”

The words stung Peter, making him flinch in his seat, biting down on his lip to avoid letting the sob out of his throat.

“Everything has been taken care of, Mr. and Mrs. Parker already had a service the previous week,” Mr. White answered. The services were a blur to Peter, too many people crying, too many people touching his shoulder, giving him hugs, telling him how sorry they were for his loss. If it hadn’t been for Ned and his parents, Peter wasn’t sure what he would have done.

“If you need anything,” Mr. Stark said Peter knew he was talking to him but refused to look up. “Please don’t hesitate to ask, money is no object. I can provide you with anything.”

Snorting, Peter hastily whipped his eyes with the back of his hand, because of course Mr. Stark was just throwing money at the problem. If he really wanted to provide for Peter, he would have shown up at the funerals, hell, he would have gone and picked Peter up from the home, not allowing him to stay there for 10 full days before Peter was allowed to come to visit his ivory tower.

When Peter didn’t say anything in response, Mr. White continued speaking for him. “I’ll let you know.”

The DNA results were ready a second later, Sally turned in her chair, holding up the tablet. “It’s a match,” she said firmly. Ms. Potts and Mr. Stark both smiled, but their lawyer did not, instead, he pushed a folder across the table.

“Thank you, Sally,” Ms. Potts responded and it seemed like that was her cue to leave the room, she pushed the cart past Peter, giving him a warm smile before disappearing back out the door.

Mr. White picked up the file, opened it, and then closed it, his eyebrows raised. “I’m not sure you understand what’s happening here, Mr. Stark. This is not a negotiation, you have two choices right now, you either accept guardianship of your son, Peter or you give up your parental rights and Peter enters foster care. We've already provided you with an additional DNA test which is more than we had to do, there is no reason for myself or Peter, quite frankly, to sign any NDA or other documents.”

“I don’t want to give up parental rights,” Mr. Stark started, seemingly flustered. Peter had never seen the man look like this before, even when he was telling the world he was Iron Man, he didn’t look like this. “The NDA is for Peter’s safety, Mr. White. If news got out that I had a son, he would be a target for all sorts of bad things. I just want to keep him safe, which means requiring NDAs and limiting the knowledge of Peter’s existence. There’s nothing in there that Peter has to sign, we just want you to stay as safe as possible. Using the last name Parker and not publicly discussing our relationship, that’s all it means.”

Peter finally looked up at Mr. Stark. Looking into his father’s eyes, he almost had to laugh, he never realized before how similar they were to his own. He always wanted to look like someone, he sort of looked like his Mom, but he was never related to his dad, aunt, or uncle.

But now that he had someone right there, looking almost exactly like him, he didn’t want it at all.

“It’s fine,” Peter jumped in, looking away from Mr. Stark. “I don’t mind any of this.”

“Peter,” Ms. Potts said, gently and full of more care than Mr. Stark’s tone. “I think we’re starting to get off on the wrong foot. We’re both very happy to have you here, Peter and we want you to have a normal life again.”

“Yeah,” Mr. Stark echoed but didn’t continue.

Mr. White pushed the folder back to Mr. Stark’s lawyers. “Then I don’t think we have anything else we need to do. Now, before I leave Peter in your care, I need to check to make sure he has a proper place to sleep. I’m giving you a lot of grace, Mr. Stark, because of your public image, but I still need to verify he’s going to be safe.”

“Of course he is,” Mr. Stark actually looked a little upset at the statement. “That’s my main goal, I just want him to be safe, happy, and to have a normal life.”

Mr. Lewin left them before they went up to the penthouse, much to Peter’s relief. Instead Mr. Stark and Ms. Potts gave them a brief tour of the floor. If things had been different, Peter would have been amazed at the property, especially the brief look into Mr. Stark’s lab but now he just dragged his feet along. Everything looked so expensive and shiny, far beyond what Peter ever had or needed in his life. The space looked more like a museum than a home.

When they arrived at Peter’s room, he had to hide a little of his awe. The room was large and decorated, looking like someone else had already been living there. There was even a small seating area, that was the size of Peter’s entire bedroom back in Queens.

“We can change anything,” Mr. Stark said from the door frame, only having taken one single step in. “Wall colors, furniture… whatever you like, kid. Money is no option, clearly.”

“It’s fine,” Peter answered, walking over to a closed door he assumed was the closet. However, when he opened it, he saw a large bathroom complete with a walk in shower and jetted tub. He walked away, shutting the door behind him, and stood awkwardly beside the bed.

Mr. White had been walking around the room, eyeing things that seemed inconsequential. “Do you mind,” he said, coming over to Peter. “If I speak with Peter alone before I leave?”

“Of course, we’ll just be in the living room,” Mr. Stark said, turning tail and leaving with Ms. Potts smiling before going too. Once they left, the door shut behind them, Peter sat down heavily on the bed, and Mr. White followed suit.

“I know this isn’t ideal for you right now, Peter,” Mr. White started. “Aside from the lawyer nonsense, I don’t have any reason to believe that this is a bad place for you to be. But you have my card with you, if you ever feel like you need to leave, or if something happens, please reach out to me. I just want to make sure that you’re comfortable with me leaving you right now.”

Peter nodded. “Yeah, uh this is fine. Thank you, Mr. White, for all of your help.”

“Of course, Peter. I’m sorry we had to meet like this.”

Mr. White left a moment later, leaving the door open just a bit. He could hear the man walking down the hallway. The penthouse was so unnervingly quiet, so unlike his home. He could always hear Ben talking, or May singing and when the apartment itself was quiet, there were always the neighbors and the city of Queens filling in the silence.

A knock on the door had him turning to see Mr. Stark standing in the doorway. “I realized we hadn’t really had a chance to uh, say hi yet.”

Walking over to Peter, he extended his hand. “Hi, I’m your Dad. You can uh, call me whatever you want to, honestly. And uh, it’s great that you’re here, Peter. And I’m sorry about your aunt and uncle and your parents.”

“Thank you,” Peter offered automatically. “Mr. Stark,” he added, not really knowing how he wanted to play this. The man looked deflated for a second, but then his posture straightened.

“Alright, then, well, I know it’s been a long day for you. Happy’s bringing up your bags now, so you can start getting settled in. We’ll have takeout tonight, okay? Anything you want.”

“I’m not really hungry,” Peter offered. “I just feel tired. Can I uh, stay here?”

Disappointed flashed over Mr. Stark’s features for a second, before he nodded his head. His hand came down to Peter’s knee, patting it awkwardly for a moment before pulling it back. “Sure, of course. If you need anything, Pep and I will be in the living room area. Just come and get us? I’ve got an AI in the building, but I haven’t properly set you up with her yet. When I do, you should just be able to ask FRIDAY for anything you need and she’ll help.”

The thought of an ever present AI excited him and made him a little nervous. “Uh, does the AI spy on me?”

“No, nothing like that. There are cameras available here but they only record when there’s an emergency. She’s just kind of… there, you know? I’ll explain more about it later, okay?”

“Yeah, sure that’s fine, Mr. Stark.” Peter faked a yawn, hoping it was convincing enough for Mr. Stark to finally leave him alone.

It worked, Mr. Stark stood up, nodding his head. “Well, uh, I’ll let you get some rest. I’m uh, I’m happy you’re here, Peter. And I promise that things will be normal.”

Mr. Stark left the room leaving Peter alone for the first time in a very long time. Kicking off his shoes, he crawled up the unfamiliar bed, curled up into a small ball, and cried.

-

“Well, that could have gone better,” Tony mused, walking back into the living room, where Pepper was waiting for him, two wine glasses in her hands.

She laughed, handing Tony his glass when he came over to sit next to her. “I knew having Lewin there was a mistake. He doesn’t know how to come across as anything but aggressive.”

Nodding, Tony took a sip of his wine. Truthfully, he would have been fine without the lawyer there as well, but a part of him had to be sure of Peter’s parentage. He’d had his fair share of people claiming Tony was the father of their child, or in some cases, one of Tony’s long lost siblings. There was no way he could risk his company without undeniable proof.

Not that he needed any the second he saw Peter Parker walk into the conference room. The kid was a splitting image of him at that age. The only difference was the slight curl to Peter’s hair and the much sharper jaw, but there was no mistaking the mirror brown eyes that refused to look at his own. Peter spent much of the meeting quiet and not making eye contact, while all Tony could do was silently stare at his son, both happy he was there and angry he’d missed so much of the kid’s life.

He remembered Peter's mother the second he saw her name, Mary Fitzgerald. He'd met her in New York one summer, he was there doing his normal nonsense and she was working for, what he didn't know was, SHIELD at the time. They met at some benefit, bumping into each other as she was trying to escape some dude hitting on her. The attraction was immediate and mutual and Tony was never one to say no to a pretty face. They hooked up a few times until, they suddenly didn't.

Tony was never sure what happened, she was there one day, gone the next and he was too stupid to care. Much later, he found her name in a SHIELD file, sad to see she passed away with her husband six years after he's last seen her. He might have even seen Peter's name, or a reference to a child, but it didn't stay in his mind. Mary had apparently felt the same way about him, not bothering to tell Tony he had a son, or after she died, not even leaving Peter in her care after she passed. He went straight from Mary and her then husband, to her husband's brother and sister in law.

Did Mary think so little of him, that she’d rather give his son to people he wasn’t even related to, over letting him into Peter’s life.

“I don’t think Peter’s case worker liked us much either,” Tony responded. “I’m worried he’s not going to think we’re good enough to take care of him.” Mr. White hadn’t been rude, or mean, but he was definitely giving Tony the vibe that he didn’t want to leave Peter in his care. Tony knew he should be thankful someone was looking out for his kid, it was just hard to see the hesitation from both of them.

Pepper hummed, reaching over to place her glass on the table. “He’s just worried about Peter’s well being. And I’m sure once Peter settles in, things will be easier. He’s got a lot to adjust to, Tony. Losing his aunt and uncle, finding out his dad is Tony Stark, and being moved to a new unfamiliar place all in one week, it’s a lot to take in.”

“Yeah,” Tony agreed, drumming his fingers against his knee. “I want the best for him already, you know. I see how sad he looks and I just want to give him everything and anything to make that look go away.”

“Don’t go all in right away,” Pepper laughed. “You have a tendency to jump in without thinking it through. Let Peter adjust to life here first, then you can smother him with everything. He didn’t grow up like you, you know? He’s going to need a bit of an adjustment period before he can have the full Stark experience.”

“I can’t not get him things, Pep. I mean, he’s got to have clothes and other things. I’m not going to just let my kid walk around in those dirty shoes and clothes that don’t fit properly. I’ve missed thirteen years of birthdays and holidays, I have to make up for it somehow.”

Pepper breathed deeply, the same type of response she usually gave when Tony was going overboard. “I agree, but you have to take it easy with this. Peter’s just as new to this as you are. You’re going to spiral if you keep this up and if he’s anything like his father, Peter will spiral too. The poor kid looked terrified just to meet you, I can’t imagine how he feels being thrust into this new life.”

There had been a building panic in the last week, finding out he had a son, a teenager no less, who would now be living with him because all of his guardians passed away. A spiral that was sponsored by Howards, his less than stellar Dad, and just how terrible he made Tony’s life. There was a small part of him that thought the kid was better off in foster care, but that part was quickly squashed down. If he gave Peter up now, he was just like Howard, uncaring and unloving. He was determined to break the cycle, to be a good parent to Peter, no matter what the cost.

He’d just leaned up against Pepper’s side, when the elevator opened and Happy came out, holding two garbage bags. “Kid’s things,” he said, holding them both up as if he were light as a feather.

“That’s all?” Tony squawked, his heart aching knowing an entire 13 year old’s life was being held in two plastic bags before him.

“That’s what the social worker said. Want me to toss ‘um in the kid's room?”

“I’ll do it,” Tony said, getting up once more, and handing Pepper the wine. “Thanks, Hap.”

Peter had only been alone for 10, 15 minutes at the most, Tony wondered if it had been too long. He’d been secretly hoping Peter would have come out, maybe sat on the couch and talked with him, but Tony knew he was asking for a lot.

When he arrived at Peter’s door, he leaned up against it, pressing his ear as close as he could. The sounds coming from inside were obviously clear, Peter was crying. Tony could hear the sniffles and sobs.

He knew Peter wouldn’t be happy but… he didn’t think it would be this bad. Was Tony really terrible at being a father already? Bringing his hand up, he knocked on the door, clearing his throat before speaking. “Peter?”

The sniffling stopped, and there was a rustling sound like he was digging deeper under his covers. Tony continued. “I’ve got your things from Mr. White. I’m just going to uh, come in and drop them off?”

What Tony wanted to do was walk in and comfort the kid in there, but he just… he couldn’t. He didn’t even know how to do it. What could he even say to Peter to make any of this better for him? Was there anything he could say? Would he just make things worse?

What he settled for was slowly opening the door, peeking his head in to find Peter in bed, covered up to his chin. Not able to see his face, Tony had a feeling the kid didn’t want Tony to know he was crying. “Pete?” he tried again, but the kid didn’t stir.

Walking over he set the garbage bags down by the desk, already planning the things he’d buy Peter to fill the void of his room. Going to the bed, Tony leaned over, trying to peek at the kid’s face, but still couldn’t see it.

“I’m happy you’re here, Peter,” he said, hoping the kid was awake enough to hear him. “I promise, we’ll make things work, okay? Everything will be fine.”

Tony had never had a fatherly urge a day in his life. He had no idea how to be a parent, no idea how to handle a child, a teenager, a kid who had just lost his entire world. But he was struck with the urge to lean over and kiss the top of Peter’s head, a feeling he’d never felt before in his life.

But he wasn’t too sure how that would go over with the kid, currently burrowing himself away from Tony.

“Night kiddo,” he said before slipping out of the room.

Chapter Text

The normal life Mr. Stark had promised Peter he was anything but.

It wasn’t for Peter’s lack of trying either.

He went back to school only a few days after moving into the penthouse. Mr. Stark had tried to convince him to stay home, but truthfully he missed his best friend and the structure school would provide for him. His freshman year of High School was coming to an end and despite the universe’s best efforts, Peter was determined to finish at the top of his class.

Despite his insistence that it would be fine, Mr. Stark wouldn’t allow Peter to take public transport to school. Admittedly it would be a very long trip from Manhattan to Midtown, but Peter enjoyed taking trains and buses, it was second nature to him. Now he was chauffeured everywhere by a guy named Happy, who looked really unhappy about his new gig.

Every morning he’d drive Peter to school, in a very expensive looking car, dropping him off at the end of the block at Peter’s insistence. It’s there, where he’d be picked up too, the car always on time, always in the same spot. He considered himself lucky that Happy didn’t want to be seen as much as Peter didn’t want anyone else to see him. He wanted things to be as normal as possible as if nothing happened, as if Peter’s entire life didn’t change on a dime.

Although, it wasn’t as if everyone didn’t know what exactly happened to Peter.

When his parents died, he had to move in with May and Ben, forcing him to switch schools. The plus side was no one knew he was newly orphaned and struggling. He didn’t have the same luck now, everyone at Midtown seemed to know exactly what happened and looked at him with varying degrees of pity.

When asked about where he lived now, he came up with some vague distant family member who agreed to take him in. It wasn’t like he was popular at all, no one really asked that much or pushed him for more information.

Ned was the only one who really asked, concerned about his best friend, and wanted to make sure Peter was taken care of. A part of him really wanted to tell Ned, needing someone outside of the Tower to talk to but he had no idea how to even say it. How does he tell his best friend that he knew he was the son of Tony Stark since he was a kid and now he’s off living in the giant Stark Tower, the very definition of the lap of luxury?

So, Peter went to school, lying to his best friend and everyone else, pretending he was still the same old Peter Parker when he couldn’t have gotten further away from himself.

Going home to the Tower, which he couldn’t get himself to think of as his actual home, didn’t help the imposter syndrome he was feeling.

Before, either May or Ben would be waiting for him when he got out of school. They’d have dinner almost ready (Ben cooking, May ordering out) and while they waited, they’d sit and talk to him, ask him about his day, and help him with his homework. He’d have chores to do after dinner, washing dishes, taking out the trash, cleaning his room, folding his laundry, everything that made his life feel safe and normal.

Usually, they ate dinner as a family, both Ben, and May trying to make sure they were both home from work most nights by dinner time. They’d sit around the very old table, with its shaky legs and well worn tabletop, eating off mismatched plates and silverware. After they’d sit on the couch together, Peter usually curled up under the blanket May’s grandmother made her when she married Ben, no matter what the weather was like. Sometimes they’d watch TV shows, read books, or just sit together and talk. Peter would go to bed every night feeling loved and safe and most of all, like he wasn’t missing anything by only having an Aunt and Uncle in his life.

The Tower wasn’t anything like that. Neither Mr. Stark nor Pepper was around when Peter got home, they both seemed to enjoy working later in the evening. He’d see Pepper the most, she’d come upstairs by 6 or 7 most nights, just in enough time for their dinner to arrive. Mr. Stark didn’t have a schedule Peter could follow, sometimes he wouldn’t even see him for a solid 24 hours, only catching sight of him stumbling out of the lab after a 24 hour bender and offering him a quick hello. They ate together sometimes, sitting around a large table meant for more than just three people. The conversation, however pleasant, was only temporary, Peter barely talked, and mostly listened and answered questions about his day only when asked. After dinner, Mr. Stark usually disappeared into his lab. Pepper would stick around for a bit but eventually, she’d retire to bed too.

It was just so… boring.

He used to like being home after school when the home was a warm and loving place. Not wanting to be around such an empty hollow penthouse, Peter joined as many after school clubs as he could, Academic Decathlon, Robotics, and even band.

There were zero chores for him to do around the Tower, everything was taken care of by other people. The only thing Peter did was make his bed and put away his clothing. He tried once, to do laundry but Mr. Stark appeared and told him not to worry about it, making Peter leave them behind.

And it wasn’t as if Mr. Stark was neglecting him in any way, it was pretty much the opposite.

Peter was getting everything he ever wanted and more. Mr. Stark bought him more clothes than Peter had in his entire life, more shoes, more jackets, more socks, more mittens… more things that Peter felt comfortable with. Expensive gadgets, video games, video consoles, laptops, drones, 3D printers… all of it was just given to Peter, with no explanation.

It was just, it was so impersonal it made his stomach ache with each new item.

It felt like over the last 4 months, all Mr. Stark could do was throw money at Peter, maybe hoping he’d never really have to get to know him.

The only bright spot was having Pepper around. She spent a lot of time with Peter, making his lunches, helping him with homework, and seemingly providing pretty good interference between him and Mr. Stark. Most mornings she was up before him, making sure he had breakfast before heading off to school.

“Are you okay, sweetheart?” Pepper asked as Peter dragged his feet into the kitchen.

“Yeah, um,” Peter started, sitting at the counter. Pepper had a plate of pancakes ready for him, maple surgery, and whip cream sitting in front of his plate. “I just, uh, so there’s this field trip coming up pretty soon, and uh, I want to go.”

Pepper gave him a knowing look. “You need Tony to sign your papers.”

“Or,” Peter said shyly. “You can sign them for me.”

Sighing Pepper shook her head. “If I was your legal guardian, then yes I could, but I am not. Why is this bothering you so much? Tony won’t say no.”

“Uh, it’s to Oscorp,” Peter said, then shoved a pancake in his mouth. He might only have been living with Tony Stark for 4 months, but he was well aware of the man’s disdain for Oscorp.

“Ohhh,” Pepper laughed. “As much as he hates Norman, I’m sure he’ll be fine with you going. He’ll just insist next year Midtown takes you here instead.”

Peter shuttered, the thought of a field trip to the Tower was terrifying. “Ugh, don’t even mention it. I don’t think I’d survive.”

Pepper chuckled. “Tony’s in his lab now, why don’t you go ask him? You’ve got at least 20 minutes before you’ve got to leave.”

Peter shoved another pancake in his mouth to avoid answering, but eventually swallowed and agreed. Grabbing the permission slip and his backpack, he headed toward Mr. Stark’s lab. He’d been in there a few times, mostly to ask Mr. Stark sometimes but never to actually do anything.

Peter would have loved that. He liked science and technology, but clearly Mr. Stark didn’t want him around. The lab, however, was set up to allow Peter entrance with his biometrics; according to Mr. Stark, there was no space off limits for him.

Didn’t mean Mr. Stark actually wanted him there.

“Uh, Mr. Stark?” Peter called out, over the sound of rock music playing. The music got quieter, as he walked in. “Mr. Stark?”

“Pete?” Mr. Stark walked from the back office, wiping his hands with a towel before tossing it on a table. “Hey, kiddo. What’s up? Don’t you have school today?”

“Yeah, I just, uh, so I need you to sign something. Nothing bad, it’s just a field trip request form that needs a par-guardian’s signature.”

“Oh yeah, give it here, bud.”

Peter placed it on the table, watching as Mr. Stark pulled a pen from his pocket and looked over the paper. He knew exactly when Mr. Stark saw the words Oscorp, he made an annoyed face. “Hm, I mean, you are going to my mortal enemies' establishment, but I guess that’s fine.”

He signed the paper, handing it back to Peter. “Just be careful, okay? Osborn… he’s a little unpredictable sometimes. Don’t touch anything you shouldn’t, in fact, just don’t touch anything you should either.”

Peter rolled his eyes, taking the paper from Mr. Stark and shoving it back into his backpack.

“Thanks, Mr. Stark,” he said, before taking off, not waiting for him to respond.

-

Peter had made a valiant effort to listen to Mr. Stark’s advice and not touch anything, but it seemed like Parker Luck was trying to make that a difficult task. They were almost done with the tour, having just spent an hour in one of the R&D labs, when Peter caught sight of something moving on one of the lab tables.

Curiosity took over as he went to look, finding an empty looking enclosure but nothing else. Putting his hands on the table, he looked around, certain he’d send something moving. The second his hand touched the table, a spider came running out from behind the enclosure.

Before he could react, the spider climbed onto his hand. Peter yelped, pulling his hand from the tale, but it was too late. A sharp sensation radiated from his hand and he knew immediately that he’d been bitten.

“Peter?” Mr. Harrington called out, his yelp having caught the room’s attention. “Are you okay?”

“Um, yeah,” Peter said. Looking at the top of his hand, there were two small bite marks, already red and puffy, but no spider.“Sorry, just uh, bumped into the table and it uh, startled me.”

Mr. Harrington looked less than impressed and Peter hurried back over to where the group was standing.

“You alright?” Ned asked once he was there, the attention finally off of him. A sick feeling crashed into him, a flare of heat traveled up his spine and the room started to tilt to the side.

“Um, yeah, I’m, uh, good, sorry,” Peter mumbled, desperate to stay upright as the room started to spin. Stumbling a little, Ned reached out and grabbed his arm, keeping Peter from toppling over. “Sorry,” he mumbled again. “Got a bit dizzy, but uh, I’m fine now.”

Ned didn’t look convinced, but Mr. Harrington started to herd them out of the room. Peter couldn’t remember exactly what happened next, he knew there was a lot more talking, Ned had to practically guide him from space to space, with a hand on Peter’s arm.

When he finally got to the bus, he dropped heavily into his seat, closing his eyes.

“Um, do you want me to call the nurse?” Ned asked from his side, concern laced in his voice. “Because you look like you’re gonna like vomit. I’m really surprised you even made it out of the building, dude.”

“I’m not,” Peter insisted, weakly, waving his good hand towards Ned. The hand that had been bitten was possessively against his stomach. “Just got a headache, ‘em fine.”

“Sure, right, okay,” Ned said skeptically, Peter could feel him staring even with his eyes closed. He dozed a little the rest of the way home, leaning his head against the cool window, it was helping the burning that had been radiating through him since the bite.

Pulling up to the school, for the first time he was relieved to see Happy’s car parked, the man barely visible in the front seat. It took two tries to get up and he nearly fell off the bus, but he managed to start towards the car without assistance.

“See you tomorrow?” Ned asked once they got off the bus, hand extended for their handshake. Peter didn’t think he was capable of doing it, so instead he just nodded.

“Yeah, uh, bye.”

He took off, leaving a confused Ned behind but made it into the back seat of the car without incident. Once inside, he curled up against the window, cradling his hand back to his stomach. It throbbed with each beat of his heart, a part of him was too afraid to look at it and see something terrible happening to his skin, so he kept it tucked against his stomach.

“Hey kid,” Happy said from the front seat. “You alright back there?”

“Hmmhmm,” Peter responded, the jolt of the car moving from the curb made his stomach twist. “Headache.”

Happy wasn’t normally very talkative, so it didn’t come as a surprise that he didn’t ask any more questions. Closing his eyes the next thing Peter knew, there was a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey... woah, Peter, I think you’re burning up. Are you okay?”

Blearily he opened his eyes to see a concerned Happy, leaning over from the front seat. “Yeah,” Peter croaked, his voice nearly gone.

“Let me call Tony, he’ll want you to-”

“No,” Peter said, scrambling to open the car door. “Just tired, I’m fine.”

He clambered out the car door, barely able to keep himself upright, but somehow managed to get into the back elevator of the Tower. He’d been taking the private penthouse only elevator since moving in, no longer allowed to walk through the public entrance. No one was ever around, Peter was certain he’d never seen anyone else use it before.

The elevator door shut before Happy made his way over, Peter felt bad for a second before he nearly doubled over with an intense stomach cramp.

Logically, he knew he should get Mr. Stark or Pepper at the least, but he also didn’t want to. He wanted, more than anything, Ben and May or his Mom and Dad. The people who knew how to treat him when he was sick, the ones who knew the head scratching he liked, or rubbing his back, or how he only wanted to drink orange juice when he was sick. The ones that would sing him his favorite songs too, or play his favorite movies when he stayed home from school.

Making his way down the hallways he bypassed the living room and kitchen, losing his backpack somewhere along the way. Someone might have called his name, but things weren’t quite registering as he stumbled into his bedroom, the door automatically closing behind him.

The last thing he was sure of, was collapsing on his bed, the world around him blacking out.
-

Fire.

He was on fire. From the top of his head to the tips of his toes. Nothing but fire, flames licking at his skin, burning his flesh to nothing but ash.

He screamed.

“Peter?”

“Oh my god, Peter?”

Figures moved around him, their outlines like shadows against the white hot flames that surrounded him.

“He’s burning up, Tony?”

“How long has he been like this?”

“Happy… not looking good…”

A single touch and his world exploded again. Lights burned his eyeballs, they were going to explode, burst into flames if he didn’t clamp them shut.

“It’s okay… you're okay…”

Too much. It was all too much. He couldn’t do this.

“....temperature is getting worse…”

“You’re okay, Petey…”

Freezing cold. Burning. Sharp pain. Electricity.

“Kiddo, please stop… thrashing… we’re just trying… to help…”

“Tony, get your suit…”

“Hold him down…”

Hands on skin were knives, stabbing, deeper and deeper. Stabbing into bone, crushing him to dust.

“Peter, baby, please, you’re okay…”

“... put him back in… I know Stark… brain damage… only way…”

Peter was being torn apart, cell by cell, atom by atom, no stone unturned. Everything was on fire, skin, muscle, bone, no part of him was left untouched by the blaze.

“... why isn’t it working… nothing is working… what happened to him??”

“Please, Peter, baby, please…”

Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Mom. Pain. Help. Pain. Ben. May. Pain. Pain. Pain. Mr. Stark. Pain. Pain. Help. Help. Help. Tony. Pain. Pain.

"Dad."

-

Waking up, Peter knew immediately something was wrong.

Everything was just… a lot.

The light in the room was as bright as the sun. Every sound was turned up to the highest setting. Even the clothes on his skin felt like way too much.

“Peter?”

Everything was a blur, things weren’t adjusting themselves back into focus. His hands went on his face, looking for the glasses that normally adorned them.

“I’ve got them…,” a voice said and then, Peter’s glasses slid onto his face. They didn’t help, instead, they made things blur out of focus. He pawed them off, letting them drop on his lap. “Okay, no glasses. Are you okay?”

It took several seconds before Peter could focus on the shape to his right.

Mr. Stark stood, hovering next to his bed, concern etched so clearly on his features. “Hey there,” he said once Peter caught his eyes.

“What…,” Peter swallowed roughly. “What happened?”

“You had a fever, kiddo. Well over 100, almost turned your brain into scrambled eggs. You’re alright now, the fever broke and you’ve been napping since… it’s… it’s good to see you awake.”

Mr. Stark looked tired, with heavy bags under his eyes, his hair a wild mess. Peter stared at him, looking at the small wrinkles on his skin, details he’d never noticed before, right down to the dark eyelashes. He must have been staring too much because a second later, Mr. Stark snapped his fingers, a loud sound that made Peter wince.

“Oh, hey, sorry kiddo. You were kinda just staring at me for a second there. Are you feeling better? I can get the doctor back in here, I mean, I probably should anyway. Just to make sure you’re, you know, okay.”

Peter heard the words coming out of Mr. Stark’s mouth, but they lost all meaning. He was too distracted by the hum of the A/C unit in the room and the smell of something savoy lofting into the room. When he moved his arm, the fabric scratched against his skin so hard, he flinched again.

“Woah, there, Pete. Hey, kiddo, can you look at me for a sec? Come on, there you go, just look at me.”

Mr. Stark moved into his entire field of vision a second later, blocking out anything else in view. He moved closer, Peter could smell aftershave and oranges, he wrinkled his nose. He could smell something else too, a putrid burning chemical smell that stung his nostrils.

“Hey, are you okay?”

Peter nodded his head, clearing his throat before he could speak again. “I’m fine, um… it’s just… everything is really loud and bright right now.”

“Oh,” Mr. Stark responded. “FRI can you lower the lights,” he spoke in a lower tone. The lights went down and Peter’s eyes adjusted without too much strain to them.

“Thanks,” Peter said, leaning back in the bed. “Uh, where am I?”

“Medbay at the Tower. Like I said, when you came home three days ago, you had a really high fever.”

“It’s been three days?” Peter asked, mouth agape. There was absolutely no way three days had passed. It felt like an hour had gone by since he got home, if three days had gone by there was a huge gap in his memory.

“Yeah kiddo. Did something happen during the field trip? After you came home, you were out of it.”

A part of Peter nearly told Mr. Stark the truth but before that more rational part of his brain could take control, Peter shook his head. “No, but I think uh before I was a little under the weather.”

There was something in Mr. Stark’s eyes that made Peter feel very nervous and unsure. He looked worried, yes, but also like he knew everything that had happened anyways and was just testing to see if Peter could tell the truth.

He doubled down on the lie. “Really, I should have mentioned it before I left but uh, yeah. I thought it was just a cold, opps.”

“Well, I’m just glad you seem to be feeling better. You gave all of us a real scare there, Pete.”

Opening his mouth again to respond, he stopped, hearing the sound of footsteps down the hall, along with a new heartbeat added to the drumming mix in his head. Looking over, he watched as the door opened and a woman stepped in pushing a cart.

“Oh,” she said brightly, a smile creeping on her face. “You’re awake, Peter. That’s lovely, we should give you a once over then.”

Not wanting another person near him, or touching him, Peter swallowed roughly, almost shaking his head no. But with Mr. Stark still hovering at his side, he knew he had to give in and subject himself to whatever the nurses and doctors needed from him.

The nurse worked efficiently, asking Peter many questions while she poked and prodded him. Mr. Stark stayed the entire time, hovering in the corner, the worried look never leaving his face. Peter, meanwhile, tried to keep it together the best he could. Every touch and sound was magnified, even with the light lowered things were still bright.

The longer he was awake, the worse things got. He could hear everything too, conversations he knew were miles away, it was hard to stay focused on one person for very long, their voices blending with others. He knew people in the room were talking to him, even Mr. Stark came over but Peter couldn’t grasp a single thing.

Mr. Stark reached over, his hand gripping onto Peter’s and he could feel every inch of skin touching his, every ridge of his fingerprints, every bit of hair that brushed against his. Squirming away, Mr. Stark didn’t let him go, instead reaching out and cradling the side of Peter’s face.

“Kiddo,” he heard, a little louder than everyone else, knowing it came from Mr. Stark, seeing his mouth move. “Just breathe, you’re okay.”

And Peter did, gasping in a breath of air that finally filled his lungs. Sound started to tamper, the bright lights dimmed and things dialed themselves back down. Not too normal by any standards, but enough that Peter’s head wasn’t about to explode.

“S-sorry,” he stuttered out. “Head hurt…”

“Migraine,” one of the nurses said. Mr. Stark’s hand left Peter’s and he moved back, disappearing from his direct view.

Something flooded his veins, a coolness that came from the IV still in his arm. Whatever it was didn’t seem to make a difference, but Peter relaxed back into his bed anyways.

“Better,” he said when someone asked him, closing his eyes and trying to calm his racing heart back down.

Whatever he was feeling, he knew without a doubt, it wasn’t just a migraine.

-

Not even in a cave in Afghanistan nor plummeting back down to Earth from the wormhole, had Tony ever felt so scared.

His only child was screaming in pain, burning with a fever as he screamed for people he couldn’t find. His Mom, step Dad, Aunt, Uncle, and then, just maybe for Tony as he cried for his Dad. The fear was squeezing Tony’s heart and lungs, constructing his ability to breathe, his heart hammering in his chest. He was certain he was about to watch his kid die, that Peter wouldn’t even wake up again and he’d have to bury a kid he only just knew he had.

And then, somehow, Peter was fine.

The kid had a few false starts waking up, complaining of too much light and sound, but that eventually tapered off and soon enough, Peter was up and talking, like nothing had ever happened. He refused all assistance and, once he was allowed back to his room, disappeared for several hours before coming back out with a stomach rumbling loud enough for Tony to hear it from the living room.

Watching as Peter rushed into the kitchen, Tony followed, walking in to find Peter already in the fridge.

“You okay?” He asked, hoping to sound casual and not concerned and invasive.

“Yeah,” Peter answered, still behind the fridge door. “Hungry, do we have any lunch meat?”

“Uh, I think so. Maybe some turkey. Do you want me to order you something?”

Peter came out from the fridge, balancing a lot of things in his hands before he kicked the fridge door closed hard enough to make the fridge shake. “Uh, sorry, but um, no. I’m okay. Just gonna make myself a few sandwiches.”

“You sure? It’s almost dinner time anyway. I can grab us some, uh pizza.”

Peter frowned at the bottle of mayo clutched in his hands, shaking it as if the bottle was stuck there. Bottle in hand, he walked over and grabbed a knife from the drawer.

“Are you sure you’re okay? There’s nothing wrong with needing help, Pete. You were just really sick.”

“Hungry,” Peter repeated, going for the bread, the knife now also clutched in his hand, along with the mayo. “I just need to eat something and then I’ll be fine. I’ve got three days of school work to catch up on too, so uh, yeah whatever you order for dinner just send it to me? Whatever you want, I’ll eat anything.”

Tony watched as Peter began to make several sandwiches, slathering the mayo on each piece of bread, before moving on to other condiments. After a second, Peter looked up at him, a very fake smile plastered on his face. “I’m fine, really.”

Tony didn’t believe it for a second. It was the same tight lipped smile he gave reporters when they asked him stupid questions. It was almost funny to see the same expression on Peter’s face. The kid squeezed a bottle of mustard a little too hard, splashing mustard all over the plate, table, and Peter’s shirt.

He let out a little squawk sound, looking for something to wipe his hand with. Tony walked over, grabbed a kitchen towel, and tossed it over and Peter caught it quickly, barely even looking.

“Thanks,” he said, distractedly, wiping himself and the table.

Tony watched with amazement, as Peter finished making four very overfilled turkey sandwiches, balancing them on a single plate, while he put everything back in the fridge. The kid was downright graceful about it, moving fluidly and quickly, not dropping a single thing.

Tony blinked a few times, clearing his throat. “I guess if you’re okay, then. I’ll uh, have FRI send you a message about what we’re ordering.”

“Thanks, Mr. Stark,” Peter commented, rushing past Tony and down the hallway before he could even say a word back.

Standing a little confused, Tony shook his head and turned back toward his lab. Walking over to his table, he haphazardly began fixing an issue with the elbow part of his armor, barely paying attention. His thoughts were too preoccupied with the kid who almost died a few days ago, who was now stuffing his face full of sandwiches and clearly not wanting Tony anywhere near him.

No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t connect to Peter. He had no idea what the kid even liked either. Every time Tony would get him something, Peter was just unimpressed and unbothered, never showing excitement or interest.

Pepper was able to bond with him almost immediately, Tony could hear them sometimes, laughing in the kitchen at breakfast and watching as Peter stopped laughing the second Tony walked into the room. He tried not to let it show how much it hurt his feelings, instead decided if the kid didn’t want him around, he just wouldn’t be.

But watching Peter almost die…, he couldn’t just keep hovering in the background hoping Peter would one day let him in. He had to find a way into Peter’s orbit, find a way to show the kid how glad he was to have Peter around.

When his phone rang, he dropped the tool in his hand, fishing it out of his pocket to see Natasha’s name flashing on the screen. He could have ignored her call, but she would probably show up then and he didn’t think he could deal with her.

“Yes? He answered, tossing the phone on the table and putting her on speaker.

“Heard the kid’s okay,” she said casually.

He had, of course, told the team he now had a child. No one seemed all that surprised, but they all insisted on meeting him. Tony wasn’t about to let that happen anytime soon. He was taking a break from the whole superhero visit.

Things were a bit dicey with everyone lately, especially after the Ultron failure, Tony was glad to be on the sidelines for once.

“Yeah, he’s fine and dandy,” Tony answered, not bothering to try and eke out Nat’s source. “What do you need?”

“Just checking up on you,” she answered, but Tony still didn’t believe it. But then she continued. “Wondering if you wanted to help us out a little bit.”

“I’m on vacation,” Tony answered. “Remember? I get 6 months of parental leave.”

Nat snorted. “We’re in your neck of the woods now. I’m going to send you a file in a minute. We’re trying to track down a weapons manufacturer that’s putting some pretty interesting weapons out on the streets.”

Now it was Tony’s turn to snort. “Why would the Avengers need to deal with street level crimes?”

“Someone’s bastardizing Earth tech and alien tech to make some pretty crazy things. Since you’re still our leading expert on all things alien tech, your eyes on this would be helpful.”

“I’ll take a look,” Tony answered, eyeing the bits of armor spread across the table. “But really, I want to stick around for the kid, especially after what happened.”

“I get it,” Nat answered. “You know where to find me.”

Without a goodbye, she hung up. A second later his phone pinged and Tony sent the projection of the folder across his field of vision. It was a little bit interesting and very dangerous, of course, but sitting only a few rooms away Tony had his own little problem to deal with.

Swiping the file away, he gave up on the suit too. As much as he wanted to head back out, he needed to focus less on being a superhero for once.

Chapter Text

Peter was a superhero, there was no other way to put it.

After one day in the medbay, where things were too loud, bright, smelly, and insanely overwhelming, he managed to find a way to focus that input, dialing it back down to a manageable level. His first noticeable powers were just that, enhanced senses, the ability to hear things miles away, see finer details than ever before, and worse of all, smell things he never wanted to smell again.

And then he discovered he was strong, like, super strong. Grabbing a pillow from his bed, he ripped the pillowcase in half, with just a simple tug. Doors were being slammed, sometimes hard enough to shake the frame. He ripped two pairs of socks and snapped a toothbrush in half before he could manage to control it enough.

And then, the really strange one, he could stick to things. Like, anything.

The first victim of his stickiness was his towel after getting out of the shower. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t seem to get it off his hand. He sat for almost an hour on his bed, scared that he’d spend the rest of his life attached to stupid things when it suddenly just fell off.

After that, he realized the fun he could have. He climbed up his bedroom wall, making his way across the ceiling, both his hands and feet easily sticking and keeping him secure.

His equilibrium was different too, there was no head rush or dizziness no matter how long he stayed upside down. He was thankful that his stickiness didn’t seem to leave any residue behind, the nightmare thought of having to explain why there was stickiness everywhere had him wanting to yeet himself into the sun.

Everything was just, really fucking cool, but also incredibly scary. Two days went by, keeping himself locked in his room, only coming out for food when he was forced to by his ever grumbling stomach. Thankful for once that Mr. Stark had insisted he take a week from school, just to make sure he was recovered.

By the third day, he felt somewhat secure in his abilities and decided to risk having dinner with Pepper and Mr. Stark.

Even with the confidence he still had to concentrate on being a normal teenager and not an enhanced one. He had to try to keep his hearing centered on the room at large and not the music coming from someone three floors down. Had to apply the right pressure when he picked up a glass, just enough to hold it and not enough to shatter it into a million pieces.

“Where are your glasses?” Pepper asked as they sat around the large dining room table, that could fit far more people than just the three of them. The question jolted Peter from his concentration, his head shooting up to look at Pepper.

Not having thought of an excuse, Peter instead looked back to his plate and shoved a fork full of pasta into his mouth. Whatever abilities he had, seemed to eliminate his need for glasses and judging by the way he’d been breathing, his need for an inhaler too.

“I dunno,” Peter said with a shrug. “I didn’t really need them that much anymore, so I thought I should uh, take a break.”

The two adults at the table clearly didn’t look impressed, but no one pushed the issue. Maybe neither of them looked at his health records to see just how bad his vision used to be.

Mr. Stark cleared his throat. “Are you feeling better? I haven’t seen head or tail of you in a few days.”

“Yeah, sorry, I was uh, recovering but yeah, now I’m good. I’ll be fine going to school next week.”

There had been a thought that lingered in his mind before he sat down to dinner. The idea of telling Pepper and Mr. Stark knew exactly what was going on. If any people would understand and help, one of them would be Iron Man.

But telling them was a risk, too big of a one.

Peter had plans already, big ones, and telling Mr. Stark risked those plans being squashed down like a bug. He couldn’t imagine Mr. Stark letting him out into the world with his abilities without tagging him with some expensive tracker and watching his every move.

Or maybe he’d even send Peter away somewhere, hiding his freaky son away forever. Who knows how he would react knowing that a spider bite had mutated his son, probably straight down to his DNA?

If he was going to have these powers and be a superhero he needed to prove to Mr. Stark that he could handle it completely on his own, without his help. Even if that meant lying to both him and Pepper, sneaking around behind their backs.

Just the thought of doing it, made his head spin a little, he was a terrible liar. A lifetime ago, May and Ben would have caught onto his charade. They knew Peter, better than he even knew himself. Ben would probably go and talk to him, sit next to him in the small twin size bed and start some off the cuff Ben's speech. Telling some kind of long winded, but entertaining story, lulling Peter into telling him every single detail before he even knew it.

May would be standing by with a warm cup of hot chocolate with a little bit of whip cream on the top. She’d make them sit together on the couch and work out every single thing that Peter was feeling until he knew everything would be okay.

“Are you sure you’re feeling well?” Pepper asked, breaking Peter’s line of thought. There was an ache in his chest, one left from the knowledge two people he loved would never be there to help him again.

Shaking his head, maybe a little too enthusiastically Peter shoved another fork full of pasta into his mouth. When he saw the concerned looks on Pepper and Mr. Stark’s face, he swallowed what was in his mouth and put the fork down.

“Sorry, uh, this is just really good and I was hungry but um, yeah I’m fine. You know, just a lingering headache sometimes. That’s why I’ve been in my room, just you know, chilling out. But really, I’m all good.”

Pepper might have looked at him with a lot of concern, but she didn’t know him yet. Didn’t know all of his tells, couldn’t look past the facade Peter was trying to maintain.

Maybe someday, but not now.

There was a slight increase in Mr. Stark’s heartbeat that caught Peter off guard. He looked over at him, seeing something akin to nervousness on his face. “So, uh, Peter, I have a question for you.”

Suddenly nervous, Peter bobbled his head up and down. “Yeah?”

“I was wondering if you’d like to spend some time with me in my lab. Maybe after school? Or on the weekends? I realize that you’ve only seen it a few times and I know you like science and I know just how smart you are.”

“Oh,” Peter responded, completely taken aback by the invitation. Truth was, he’d love it. Mr. Stark’s lab looked amazing and full of so many cool things but that also meant he’d be spending more time with Mr. Stark.

However, if Peter was going to go through with his plan to be a superhero, he might just have found a way to create some really cool things. “Yeah, sure. Um, I have a few clubs after school but we can work something out?”

Pepper made a very pleasing sound, her face a wide smile. “I think it's wonderful you two are going to spend some quality time together.”

Trying to suppress the grin he wanted to make, Peter just nodded his head.

It was funny how life sometimes puts the perfect opportunities into your lap. This was the sign Peter needed, the one that told him he was on the right track to becoming a real superhero.

-

Peter knew he had to tell Ned the truth.

All of the truth too, from Mr. Stark, being his father, to his sudden acquisition of superpowers, Ned had to know. He needed someone on his side, a guy in the chair, someone to help him and Ned was the only person he trusted with such information. It was just trying to find a way to tell Ned, was the problem. He already knew how excited and loud his friend’s reaction would be to just half the news alone.

Going to Ned’s after school wasn’t uncommon, especially since he refused to let Ned over to the Tower. He texted Pepper at lunchtime, after getting confirmation from Ned he could come over. Happy was going to pick him up in the evening, Pepper promising he’d go in the least Stark like car to do it.

Once they were in Ned’s upstairs room, door closed, sitting cross legged on the floor, homework spread out in front of them, did Peter gather the courage to just let it all out there.

“I have to tell you something,” he said, looking anywhere but at Ned’s face. He could feel the pencil in his hand getting stuck, he shook it a little bit, willing his body to relax and not do anything stupid.

“Um,” Ned started. “Sure, Pete.”

Taking a deep breath, Peter spoke, fast, words rushing together. “I lied about where I’m living. I’m really Tony Stark’s son and I live in the Tower but I also accidentally acquired superpowers on our field trip and now I want to be a superhero and I need your help to do it.”

Ned didn’t make a sound, Peter looked up to see his friend staring at him with a blank expression. If Ned was a computer, he’d be the blue screen of death, his eyes not blinking, mouth slightly ajar.

A second passed before Ned’s mouth closed, his eyes blinked, his brain must have rebooted and then he was talking. “Okay, I think I had a mini stroke but did you just tell me Tony Stark is your dad? Like, he adopted you? Or something? Is this like Annie? Did he find you in an orphanage and want to use you as a gimmick to clear up his image?”

“Uh, no. He um, is my actual biological father, and did you miss the superpowers part? Because that's the part I really need you to focus on.”

Ned held up a hand. “No, sorry, we’re going to go through all of this, start to finish. First being the fact that you just told me you’re the son of Tony Freakin’ Stark! How long have you known? Why didn’t you tell me? How is the Tower? Do you have your own butler? Have you been in his lab? HAVE YOU TOUCHED THE IRON MAN SUIT? PETER. WHY ARE WE AT MY HOUSE AND NOT THE TOWER?”

“Ned!” Peter hissed as Ned raised his voice, not only did it hurt his ears but he didn’t want anyone, including Ned’s parents to hear it. “I’ll give you my tragic backstory in a minute, just don’t shout, okay?”

Ned nodded his head, pressing his lips together. There was a wildness to his expression like he was itching to run out the door and head straight to the Stark Tower.

“Okay, so uh, I kinda have known my entire life? Or at least, since I was a kid. My Mom told me, she uh, you know, with uh Mr. Stark before. She told him I was born and gave him a chance to be in my life but he rejected it and sent her a nasty letter and a check for $100,000 to keep her quiet. So she, uh, you know, just let it go.”

Ned frowned. “Dude, that’s rough.”

“Yeah, she didn’t cash it either. She met my Dad when I was like 1 or something? I was the ring bearer at their wedding,” Peter said, smiling at the memory. He couldn’t remember it really, but he had enough pictures and videos to know what it was like. “But yeah, when they died, uh someone reached out to him again but they couldn’t get through to him, so I went to May and Ben. Which was what my parents wanted anyway, but I think they had to at least try Mr. Stark. And uh, you know, now that they are um,” he couldn't say it, not yet, “I had nowhere else to go and so I’m there now.”

“That’s terrible,” Ned said, his expression changing to one of sadness. The excitement he’d been feeling seemed to have drained from him. “I’m really sorry that this happened, dude. I wish you would have told me sooner, I could have like, helped you feel better or something. Is everything okay at the Tower? Are you two getting along?”

“Not really, I mean, he’s not an asshole but he doesn’t really care about me very much. I spent more time with Pepper, she’s really cool. Other than that… I mean, it’s mostly just boring. There’s nothing to do, which I know, is a weird thing to say. The whole place is like empty and hollow, I just spent a lot of time in my room.”

Silence filled the room, Ned looked upset, frowning a little and suddenly Peter regretted mentioning this. Ned must think he was being ungrateful or something, he knew it sounded bad, saying living at the Stark Tower wasn’t all that great.

“You know, it makes sense now that you said Thor was your favorite Avenger because Iron Man is a deadbeat Dad.”

Peter smirked. “No, Thor’s my favorite because he’s… you know, unbearably handsome, but that’s not the point.”

“Oh yeah, you have SUPER POWERS?” Ned shouted once more as if he just remembered the last part of Peter’s confession. He was flushed with excitement again, clapping his hands together. “WHAT CAN YOU DO?”

Peter held up his hands, shaking his head. “Yeah, dude, please, no one else knows any of this. I don’t want people to know and I need your help. You’ve got to keep quiet, okay?”

“Explain the superhero thing now, I mean I’m assuming this was why you were acting all weird at Oscorp and why you didn’t come to school for a week. Did Norman Osborn turn you into a superhero? Does he know Tony Stark is your Dad and wanted to create some kind of weapon and send you back to Tony with a mission to kill him or something and now you’re trying to break through the brainwashing he put you through?”

“Dude,” Peter said, eyebrows raised. “You watch way too many movies and no, I don’t think Mr. Osborn wanted any of this to happen. I just uh, you know, got bitten by a spider when we were in the R&D rooms”

He continued to tell Ned the full story, being sick, nearly dying, and then suddenly waking up to the amazing abilities he’d never had before.

“Can you do a backflip?” Ned asked when he finished.

“That’s what you come away with?” Peter questioned. “Not the super strength, stickiness, or sudden ability to hear the order a woman just gave the hot dog vendor three blocks over?”

Ned shrugged. “I mean, that’s cool and all but you were always like, so bad at sports. I think it’s pretty cool you can do those now. Hey, are you going to try out for the football team?”

“No,” Peter answered. “I can’t just suddenly have talents I’ve never had before. I couldn't then so I shouldn't now. It’s the only way I can keep this on the down low. I want to be a vigilante superhero, going out on the streets and keeping people safe. You know, the little guy.”

An elephant sat in the room and it seemed Ned didn’t want to look at it either. The same one Peter had been avoiding for months now. Ben and May could have used a superhero when they died in a home robbery. They could have used someone with Peter’s strength to swoop in and save the day. He couldn’t say those words out loud, not yet, as much as he wanted to prove himself to Mr. Stark, he needed to do what he couldn’t have done before.

He needed to protect those who couldn’t always protect themselves. Superheroes were great and all, the Avengers saved New York and the world, but who was going to save the people on the streets, the ones that died in robbery, muggings, and drunk drivers.

It wasn’t going to be Iron Man or Captain America.

It was going to be Spider-man.

“When you can do the things I can do and you don’t,” Peter said softly. “When those bad things happen, they happen because you didn’t do anything about it.”

Ned sighed, scooching himself a little closer to Peter, so their knees touched. “How are we gonna do it? I mean, no offense, but we don’t know the first thing about being superheroes.”

“Well, first we make a costume, something I can wear that protects my identity, it’s where we need to start.”

Peter fished around until he found a small black notebook. He opened up to the third page, which held a drawing of a superhero. It wasn’t the best, Peter was not by any means an artist, but it got the point across.

“Spider-man?” Ned questioned when he saw the name Peter scribbled along the top. “That’s… uh, kinda creepy, honestly. I picture half man, half spider, which um, you aren’t? Unless you’re hiding extra arms under your shirt…”

“No, I’m definitely not hiding extra arms. And despite that I kinda am, Ned,” Peter said seriously. “Think about it, I’ve got things a spider can do, right? Why not just lean into it? Everyone’s got to have something, I can’t just be some… dude out there helping people. No one would take me seriously.”

“Peter,” Ned said seriously. “I hate to tell you this but spiders don’t have super strength or enhanced senses. But uh, you do you, dude.”

Peter closed the notebook. “And Iron Man’s suit isn’t made of iron. It’s all semantics, but come on, Ned. This is our chance to prove ourselves! I want to go out there and make a difference, do it better than Mr. Stark and Avengers. Show him that he shouldn’t have just passed me up all those years ago. Show him that I’m worth keeping around! And I can’t do any of this without you, everyone needs their guy in the chair.”

Ned frowned, looking at the homework around them, back to Peter’s hopeful face. “Daddy issues aside, what’s your plan with this spider thing? Are you just gonna climb on walls and wear a spider on your chest?”

Peter grinned, opening the notebook backup and flipping to another page. “So you know how spiders shoot webs? I want to make my own and shoot it out of here,” he pointed to his wrist. “With some kind of device. I’ve got most of the specs written out, I really just need you to help me with the tech of the suit.”

Looking a bit dubious, Ned took the notebook from him, paging through the notes Peter started. “How are you going to get any of this stuff? The school has a few of these, but it would take you forever to steal them slowly enough for no one to notice.”

“Ah,” Peter said proudly. “That’s where living in the Tower comes into play. Mr. Stark’s letting me hang out in his labs now. I’m just gonna tell him I’m doing a school project on adhesives and slowly taking what I need. He’ll never notice what I’m doing and this way I don’t have to steal from school.”

“Are you sure? What happens when he finds out? Or worse, what happens when he realizes a new superhero is out there using the same adhesives you were making?”

“He won’t,” Peter said sternly. “He doesn’t care what I do, you know? I doubt he’ll take one look at the project I’m working on. And I doubt Iron Man will even know about me, I’m going to stay low to the ground. Be a friendly neighbor Spider-man, not worth the attention of the great and powerful Iron Man or Avengers.”

Ned was silent again, biting his bottom lip before shrugging. “Honestly dude, I think you should just talk to Tony. Maybe he’s not as bad as you think, or maybe, he’d even help you be a superhero.”

Peter knew Ned was just looking out for him, but he’d never understand what it’s like to have Tony Stark as a father, as a man who abandoned you at birth and tried to pay off your Mom. What it’s like to have a superhero as your father and yet he wasn’t there to save anyone in your family.

“I need to do this, Ned, please?”

“Of course, I’m going to help you,” Ned answered. “This is like the coolest thing that’s ever happened to me, but still, I just wanted to be the voice of reason for like 10 seconds.”

Peter grinned. “Sweet, so I was thinking we hit up a few of the second hand stores until we found a pair of blue pants…”

-

There was definitely something up with the kid.

He almost looked gleeful coming into Tony’s lab after school on Friday. His eyes wide, wonderment spread across his face, a look Tony wasn’t used to seeing. He’d already shown Peter the lab before, but he didn’t seem interested, but now it was like the holy grail to him.

Suspicious for sure, but at the same time, seeing Peter looking happy was worth it.

“Want another tour?” Tony asked hopefully. “I don’t know how much you remember…”

“Sure,” Peter said with a smile. “I’d like that.”

Tony walked him around the lab, showing him where things were and Peter, surprisingly, asked questions. For the first time since Peter arrived, Tony started to feel like he was going to make things work, that Peter might just enjoy living here with him. Maybe Peter could even call him Dad now, or at the least, Tony.

But for now, just having the kid looking mildly happy in his presence, was enough.

“I made you a workstation,” Tony said, pointing to one of the extra tables when the general tour was finished. “Set you up with some equipment, I don’t know what you’ve used before, so I got you an array of things.”

He’d gone a little overboard with things for Peter, hiding a few boxes of them away, not wanting to overwhelm the kid from the get go. Everything was nice and shiny, soldering irons, tools, a new laptop, and a tablet. Enough things were available for him to create and explore, the same type of environment Tony himself had thrived in.

“You’ve got access to FRIDAY’s database too, well not full access but enough to get you things if you need it. And if you need chemicals or other tools, let FRI know, she’ll order whatever you need. I know you uh, like science, you got a thing for biochemical engineering, right?”

Peter looked at him, eyebrow slightly raised, as if he was surprised Tony knew anything about him. “Uh yeah, it’s what I’m good at. But I pretty much dabble in anything.”

“Any idea what you want to start on?” Tony asked, casually, standing at the end of Peter’s table, as the kid continued to look over his stuff. A rush of pride hit him, as Peter picked up each tool and inspected it. All of this felt right like Peter had always belonged here with him.

Peter hummed, before looking at Tony out of the corner of his eyes. “Kinda, there’s this um, project that Ned and I are working on for chemistry. It’s like the end of the year thing, you know?”

“Yeah, sure, what are you thinking of doing?”

“Well, we want to make this synthetic bandage thing, right? A really strong adhesive that can be used in medical emergencies to stop bleeding out and other stuff.”

Tony was impressed. “That sounds really cool, kiddo. What kind of chemicals do you think you’ll need? If you want to invite your buddy Ned over you can too, you can use the lab here.”

“Sure,” Peter answered in a clipped tone. “But um, we need things like salicylic acid, toluene, methanol, carbon tetrachloride, potassium carbonate, and ethyl acetate.”

Tony, once again, was impressed. The kid seemed to know his stuff. “Sure, I have some of that here now but I’ll have FRI order you the rest.”

“Thank you,” Peter spoke up before turning back to his table. “I know you put a lot of effort into making me a spot here.”

Tony wasn’t sure if he meant the lab or his home. “Of course, I’m glad you like being in the lab. I know this might not be what you’re used to.”

Peter snorted. “That’s an understatement.”

Tony knew all about Peter’s early life, or at least, everything that FRIDAY could find. He found his childhood school records, some classified SHIELD documents about his parents, and a few articles in the newspaper when Peter won a science contest or a spelling bee. It painted the picture of a life marred with tragedy, but with a kid who always seemed to bounce back.

“Well, I’m glad I can give it to you now,” Tony answered, turning to his lab table, trying to find something to do.

“Since you had no choice,” he heard Peter say, it was softly, mostly under his breath but Tony heard it. All the good Tony was feeling suddenly came crashing to the ground. He’d tried so hard for Peter and the kid just didn’t seem to care. What more could he give him?

“It’s not a choice, Pete. You’re family, I wanted you here,” Tony said firmly, feeling like he had to say something, to push back just a little.

“I had a family,” Peter said solemnly, his voice suddenly empty and back to the normal tone he always used with Tony. “And they're no longer here. This,” Peter waved his hand. “Is just where I ended up.”

Instantly deflating at the hurtful words, Tony retreated to his lab table in defeat. Peter didn’t do anything for a minute, Tony could see him just standing there staring at Tony like he was waiting for a rebuttal.

But what was there to say? Peter clearly didn’t want to be here. He didn’t think of the Tower as his home or Tony as his family. Nothing he could say would fix that, nothing he could do would apologize for not being there this entire life, nothing he could do would make up for it.
All he could do was try to show Peter how much he was wanted, how much Tony wanted them to be an actual family.

Another moment of silence passed, and Tony kept sneaking glances over at Peter, watching as the kid typed something on his tablet and then.

“Sorry, Mr. Stark. I didn’t mean to sound so … rude.”

“It’s okay,” Tony answered back quickly. “I know this hasn’t been easy for you, Pete. You’ve lost so much in your life. I just want you to be happy and feel comfortable here.”

“I am,” Peter answered, his voice sounding sure but Tony doubted he really meant it.”And being here, in your lab, does mean a lot to me. So uh, thank you, Mr. Stark.”

“Of course, kid.”

Tony was willing to take whatever he could get.

-

As it turned out, creating a superhero was kinda easy. Peter and Ned found everything they were looking for within a week. A pair of blue sweatpants with a matching long sleeve hooded t-shirt was his base. After watching several YouTube videos, they managed to sow in some extra padding in certain areas.

After that they found a red vest looking thing, with a can of spray paint, and a spider was displayed across his chest.

They found fingerless gloves to make sure he was able to stick to things. The footwear was kinda difficult, Peter knew he needed something he could use that would still allow him to stick to things. A lot of trial and error went in, but eventually, they discovered they could modify a pair of canvas shoes, ripping out the bottom part and sowing in a thin plastic type material that protected Peter’s feet but still allowed him to stick. They added a boot to it because it kinda looked stupid when he was wearing just slip on shoes and it added extra leg protection too.

The mask was also a little odd, they found a red one they were able to put goggles in, ones that helped Peter keep everything in focus. Thanks to Ned, the mask also had bluetooth built in, connecting Peter to his phone at all times.

The final piece, the one that really counted, was what they were calling Peter’s web shooters. A device that covered both wrists, allowing him to shoot out the adhesive substance he’d been creating in Mr. Stark’s lab, right under his nose.

Peter was a dumpster diver by nature, always having to scavenge for parts, he knew exactly where to look and what to grab. Manufacturing the web shooters was second nature, getting a working model created in under two weeks. The adhesive was even easier, and the tensile strength tested enough to carry 200 lb over Peter’s weight.

Once it was all completed, it was finally time to test it. To see if Peter Parker could really become Spider-man. Which, despite Ned’s protests, was the name they were sticking with.

“Are you totally sure dude?” Ned asked as Peter stood on top of the random apartment complex in Queens. “Because like, maybe start small?”

“This is small,” Peter said, moving closer to the edge. Ned was back at his apartment, nervously on the phone. “I could be swinging around skyscrapers! This is nothing, I’m just going to see if I can swing across the alleyway and land safely on the next rooftop over. It’s like, 20 feet away.”

“Yeah okay, you can say that when they are scraping you off the ground when you fall 30 feet to the ground instead.”

“Gee, wow, thanks for the roaring endorsement,” Peter said, looking down onto the alley below. “And remember, I have healing powers.”

“Dude, you healed from a paper cut in 2 minutes, we did not test to see if you can survive becoming a pancake.”

“Ned,” Peter said with an eye roll. “Trust me, okay? I know what I’m doing.”

Ned mumbled. “Like father, like son,” under his breath before he signed. “Okay, fine, just, be careful.”

Peter let out a breath, clapping his hands together, then hovered the tips of his middle and ring finger over the button pressed against his palm. The design had been his, inspiration had hit him working in the lab, a place he was legitimately growing to love. Mr. Stark didn’t give him any limits, let him use whatever materials, make any and all mistakes and ask any questions, no matter how stupid.

Maybe if Mr. Stark wasn’t his Dad, maybe if he was just some intern or something he would like it. But - no, he couldn’t let himself get carried away. Now he had more important things to worry about.

“Okay,” Peter said, mostly to himself. “I’m just going to go for a swing. Maybe help some people or maybe fall and become a spider pancake, jeez, Ned, now you’re in my head.”

“You should be fine dude,” Ned insisted, not sounding very confident. “Come on, now or never.”
Shaking his head, to shake out the nerves, Peter crept as close as he dared to the edge of the rooftop. He knew he could do this, he knew it, he felt it deep inside of him, an unwavering drive.

Aiming his wrist out in front of him, Peter focused his attention on the clothesline hanging across the way. Letting himself hesitate for only two more seconds, he pressed down the button on his palm, sending a line of webbing in its intended direction, watching as it latched onto its target.

With one end still attached to his web shooters, he grabbed it with both hands, pulling the line taunt, before pushing himself off the edge of the roof. With far more grace than he thought possible, he made a perfect swing towards the next roof, letting go of his webbing the second his feet touched the ground.

“Holy shit,” he breathed, giggling just a little. “I did it, Ned.”

“Woo!” Ned cheered, their laughter melting together for a few moments.

Peter took to the sky once more, this time swinging a little farther, not stopping on the next rooftop, but shooting out another web to swing past it. It was amazing how easy this was, how intuitively he was able to swing from roof to roof, never once missing a connection point. He didn’t even have to think about it either, it was like his body just knew what to do, making the whole thing effortlessly.

“Pete!” Ned said into his ear after a good 15 minutes of swinging. “Hit and run just reported two blocks from you!” He could hear the squawk of the police radio as Ned talked. “Uh, black car, um? Chevy something? I dunno. I just realize now that I know nothing about car makes or models. Just look for one that looks like it’s trying to get away.”

“On it,” Peter said, swinging around the corner, coming to a stop by landing against the brick of the building. He was sideways on the building, at an unnatural angle, but no one below him paid any attention. Looking out onto the street, he could see a black car racing down, running a red light. “Found it. Okay, so this should be easy, right? I just need to stop it.”

“You’re the superhero dude,” Ned answered. “I’m sure you can figure it out, right? I mean, just like standing in front of it and catching it?”

“Ned,” Peter deadpanned, kicking off the building as he swung down the street trying to catch up with the car. “That thing is going like 40 miles an hour and weighs like 3,000 pounds.”

As Peter moved closer to the speeding car, things went in sudden slow motion. In striking clarity, he could see what was about to happen. The car had just run another red light, and coming from the right was a large city bus. There was zero chance the bus could stop in enough time, or speed up, nor could the car do anything to avoid hitting the bus dead center. Peter’s body moved on autopilot, before he knew it, he landed in between the car and bus, holding his hands out as the car slammed into him, bouncing once before dropping to the ground.

He could hear Ned screaming his name, matched with the sounds of people shouting, and cars honking, but Peter’s heart was beating louder than all of that. Without thinking, he shot out another web, using the hood of the car to jump into the air and swing away from the situation.

“HOLY SHIT!” He shouted as he swung away, trying to quell the rapid heartbeat. “Ned, Ned, Ned,” he repeated, talking over the sound of his friend’s voice.

“WHAT DID YOU DO?!” Ned shouted. “PEOPLE ARE FREAKING OUT. DID YOU CATCH THE CAR?”

Landing, not so gracefully on another root top, Peter stumbled with the momentum, coming to a stop before dropping to his knees. “Yes, holy shit, dude. Holy shit, I just, I didn't even think Ned. I just landed and stopped the car and then ran away. Should I have stayed? Should I have arrested the carjacker?”

“Uh, no but you should have told people your name, because, you know, branding is important. We want everyone to know about the amazing Spider-man.”

Laughing, Peter felt his heart finally slow back down, as he rolled off his knees, landing on his butt. “Next time,” he said to Ned, unable to control the grin that spread across his face.

Peter really was a superhero now, there was no going back.

Chapter Text

The streets of Queens had never been safer and Peter was on top of the world, literally.

Peter spent a solid 2 months patrolling the streets of Queens as Spider-man and it seemed Mr. Stark and Pepper had no idea he was doing it.

It being summer was a big help, he simply told Mr. Stark was visiting with Ned all summer. The excuse of the Academic Decathlon meetings worked too. All he had to do was arrive at Ned’s, stay for a bit, or sometimes not at all, and then go out paroling. As long as he was back before Happy arrived to take him home, it was golden.

He was really out there on the streets, helping everyday people with anything that came up. He helped find several pets, gave directions to tourists, and stopped several petty thefts from happening.

He’d just started heading back to Ned when the sound of someone shouting out in surprise distracted him. He stopped, turning around to get a better view as to what might be happening.

“Something’s going on,” Peter said to Ned, he could hear the sound of him watching TV in the background. “I think someone’s getting robbed.”

“Ohh,” Ned said. “Lemmie pull up your location.”

Over the summer months, they’d added a few more bells and whistles to his suit. While on the outside it was still a little homemade, they added a GPS tracker so Ned could keep track of where Peter was, in case of emergency.

Turning back around, Peter was at the end of the block when he saw it. Standing in the middle of a darkened alley, stood two men. One of which was holding something at the other, in the stance that just screamed this is a mugging.

But something was a little different about it, whatever the mugger was pointing at the other guy, wasn’t a normal gun. Peter moved closer, keeping his eyes on the interaction and as he got closer, he raised an eyebrow. “Huh, the weapon he’s using is uh, weird.”

The gun looked like something out of a sci-fi movie, containing a bright purple orb in the middle of them. There was a weird sizzle in the air, a smell Peter didn’t recognize, a buildup of static electricity a little.

“Be careful, and have fun,” Ned said cheerfully and Peter put him on mute, as he swung down and across the street. Neither of the men noticed him, Peter’s powers seemed to grant him the ability to be stealthy and quiet.

Coming closer, Peter stood up straighter, rolling his shoulders, trying to look as intimidating as he could. While he usually tried to web the weapon from the bad guys, he was a little unsure as to what he was dealing with.

“Hey,” Peter called out, both men turned, looking surprised that someone was standing only a few feet away. “Sorry to interrupt this mugging and all that, but either of you guys have change for a twenty?”

“What the-,” the mugger, immediately turning his gun away from the bystander and towards Peter. “What the fuck are you?”

“I’m Spider-man,” he said smiling. “And I’ll be handling your arrest and capture this evening.”

The mugger laughed, all Peter could see of his face were his eyes and mouth, the rest was covered in a typical ski mask. He didn’t look like the type that would be holding such a dramatic looking weapon.

Still pointing the gun at Peter, he looked over to the person he was trying to mug. Surprisingly the other guy didn't run away, despite the unsure look on his face.

“Are you an actual vigilante?” the guy asked, almost like he completely forgot a minute ago he was being robbed.

“Yup,” Peter said proudly. “You can run away if you want, I’m just gonna web his guy up and make sure the police get here. Unless you want to hang around and give a statement, or something.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” the mugger said, Peter turned his attention back to him. The world went in slow motion and Peter could see the man’s finger press against the trigger button. Moving on instinct alone, Peter dodged the ray of purple that erupted from the gun. It had a weird smell to it, reminding Peter of sulfur. The other guy shouted something, in the corner of his eye Peter could see him running backward and away from the alley.

The world came back to normal for him, as Peter watched the robber stumble backward from having shot the gun. Peter took advantage of the situation, shooting out a web that connected to his shoulder, helping to push him up against the brick wall.

“Do you even know what that thing does?” Peter questioned, shooting several more webs, securing the man to the brick wall before he had a chance to do another shot.

“What the fuck, is that coming out of you?”

“How come that’s the first thing people want to know?” Peter held up his wrists, showing off the web shooters before grabbing the gun and yanking it out of the man’s hand. It was still warm, even with his gloves on Peter could feel the heat. “They come from here, okay? Nothing gross about it.”

“Jesus Christ,” the mugger said.

Rolling his eyes, Peter looked at the weapon. “This is really advanced looking, no offense dude, but I doubt this is yours. Where’d you get it from?”

“Like I’d tell you,” the mugger spat, trying to fight against the bonds. “Get me the fuck out of your weird S&M fantasy.”

Peter sighed, running his hands along the length of the weapon. “I should really give this to someone a little more advanced than the cops.”

“Bring it to the Tower,” Ned offered helpfully. “And the police should be there in like 5 minutes.”

“Hm,” Peter said. “I don’t want to be too risky. I’m gonna leave a note.”

Fishing around in his handy pocket, Peter pulled out a pen and paper. He realized the first week of patrolling, it came in very handy. Writing notes for people, or leaving his signature on things, really added something different to his style. When he finished his note, he placed the weapon on the ground, under the mugger who was still talking and struggling.

“Anyway, thank you for the entertainment but I really must be going now. Enjoy your time in jail and make better choices!” Peter offered the man a cheeky wave before shooting off a web and swinging back to Ned’s.

-

“Huh,” Tony said, watching some kid in pajamas stop a carjacking by … swinging past, kicking the carjacker away from the car. “That’s… well, that’s something.”

His eyes flickered back to Nat, who sat grinning on the edge of the table. “He’s been popping up around Queens for the last two months. Mostly small stuff,” Nat said, flicking another YouTube video in front of Tony. “Calls himself Spider-man.”

“More like Pajama Man,” Tony said, watching as the so called Spider-man shot something from his wrists, stopping someone running past the camera. “Is that coming from him?”

“Dunno,” Nat answered. “We know nothing about him, honestly. He only came to our attention when he left us a little present and a note after he stopped a mugger last week. He left them at the scene of the crime with a nice little note.”

Nat took something from her pocket and putting in the table in front of him. He left his note on top of one of those hybrid weapons we’ve been chasing down.

Maybe you should look into stopping these weapons from ending up in the hands of idiots. - Spider-man

After finishing, he looked up at Nat. “So? I mean, he’s not wrong. If these are getting into the street, someone should stop them.”

Nat glared at him. “We are working on it, but it’s been a bit busy lately, especially without you.”

“Aw,” Tony said, grinning as Nat rolled her eyes. “I knew you guys cared.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Nat deadpanned, but then smiled, just a little. “Anyways, we’re hoping you can go have a good old chat with Spider-man for us.”

“Uh, why me?” Tony asked. “I thought I was the anti-social one.”

“And yet, somehow, you’re also our top recruiter. That and like I said, we’ve been super busy with things, including the weapons dealing. We’re trying to figure out where they are coming from, not just stopping the small few who have them. We’ve got a source that’s inside now, trying to get closer to the actual manufacturer. And we’re also dealing with Ross, who you’ve not so nicely dumped on us.”

“You’re welcome.” Tony looked back at the video, frozen in time on the hero's masked face. “Any idea who he is?”

“Nope, just what we’ve been able to suss out based on his movements. He’s most likely from Queens. He’s got a pretty small build, we think he’s early 20’s, possibly even 19. He’s clearly enhanced by the looks of it, too. Reports say he’s pretty talkative, which is another thing that points to him being on the young side. We tried to follow him, but he seems to dodge us pretty well each time.”

“How do you expect me to find him?” Tony questioned.

“Tony,” she said, giving him a look. “I know you’re more than capable of finding this guy. He’s in Queens most nights and weekends. Just pop by, give him the good old Avengers Initiative speel, and see if he wants to help out or not. No pressure, if he’s gonna be cleaning up the streets, might as well offer him some help,” she paused. “And really, don’t tell me you aren’t already designing him a much better suit in your head right now.”

“Alright,” Tony answered, mildly intrigued anyway. The tensile strength on the webbing was interesting, he wanted to know who was making it and how he could maybe get his hands on some. And she might have been right on the suit thing too. Why would anyone go out there in sweatpants and a vest? “But just a quick chat, I don’t feel like kidnapping anyone.”

“And,” Nat said, hopping off the desk, as she closed the projection from her phone. “When are we meeting the kid? His birthday is next week, right?”

“How’d you know that?”

Nat laughed, walking over to Peter’s lab table. “Tony, really? I know everything about your little mini me.”

“Then you’ll know, Peter doesn’t like me very much, so I doubt he'd be interested in meeting the whole band.”

Nat looked over the tablet Peter had left on the desk, she wasn’t snooping. Tony knew if she really wanted to she could get all the information in a second anyway. “You never know,” she said casually. “Just a one time meet and greet, he might actually like us.”

“I barely like you,” Tony snapped back automatically, but it seemed Nat knew he was just being his normal sarcastic self. “Fine, I was already considering having the kid invite his best friend over, might as well make it a party. I’ll text you the details.”

Triumphantly, Nat gave him a big grin. “Good, I’ll let everyone know. We’ll bring presents, you'll supply the food.”

Waving her off, Tony turned back to his table, eyes going to the long dormant Iron Man suit in the corner of the room. If he was going to go out again, it might as well be for a simple little rendezvous with Spider-man.

“FRI,” he called out. “Get all the info you can about Spider-man. Try to see if you can figure out where he’ll be this week.”

The AI went to work, while Tony sat back, looking at some minor diagnostics. A full 10 minutes went by before he heard the sound of someone clearing their throat. Turning his head, he spotted Peter standing in the door frame. He hated how apprehensive the kid was about the space he lived in. He acted more like a guest in the Tower rather than a resident.

“What’s up?” Tony asked, swiping his hand across the screen, closing out his diagnosis and the smaller window FRIDAY had up about Spider-man.

“Pepper wanted me to come get you, to see what you wanted for dinner.”

Tony grinned, he knew very well Pepper could have told FRI or even texted him about dinner. Instead, she sent Peter, probably in an attempt to get the two to have a conversation with each other. She was always doing little things like that, Tony wasn’t quite sure if Peter had caught on yet.

“Oh, yeah. Well, why don't we go and figure it out.”

Peter shrugged his shoulders but waited for Tony to walk over. “I have a question for you,” Tony said, as they made their way toward the elevator. Peter didn’t make a sound, so Tony continued. “I was thinking about your birthday next weekend, you should have Ned come over here and spend the night.”

Peter’s eyebrows creased immediately, making a face as they stepped into the elevator. “I thought you wanted to keep me being your son a secret.”

“No, that’s not what I meant by all that stuff, Pete. I’d love to meet the best friend you seem to spend all of your free time with. I’m sure you've told him by now and I won’t be mad if you did. I should have said something about it earlier.”

The elevator brought them to the penthouse floor and they walked out in tangent again. Tony figured the Ned kid knew about the whole thing. He already did some stalking and found out what he could about Peter’s best friend since the kid barely said a word about him. He seemed like a good kid, smart, a loyal friend, and never got into any trouble.

“Does he have to sign an NDA?” Peter asked sharply.

“Nope,” Tony answered truthfully, although he was sure if our lawyer was around he’d have a different answer."

“Fine,” Peter said when they walked into the living room, Pepper was sitting on the couch, reading something off her phone. “I’ll see, but his Mom might want to talk to one of you, just in case.”

Something made Tony smile, the idea of doing something so parental warmed his heart. “Of course.”

“What are we talking about?” Pepper asked, not looking up.

“Ned might come over for my birthday next weekend,” Peter answered, taking a seat on the couch. “As long as it’s not like, a big thing. I don’t want a big thing,” he said looking directly at Tony.

Tony had a choice there, he could say he already accidentally implied the Avengers could come over, or he could try and surprise Peter anyway. What 15 year old wouldn’t want the Avengers at his birthday party?

Pressing his lips together he just nodded his head. “Yeah sure, just a small casual thing. I’ll order some pizza and get a nice cake.”

Peter eyed him suspiciously for a moment, as Tony took a seat next to Pepper, but whatever he was thinking seemed to pass and he just shrugged. “Yeah sure, Ned likes pepperoni and I like-”

“Roasted red peppers and tomatoes,” Tony answered proudly, Peter’s food preferences were something he started memorizing anytime the kid showed interest.

“Yeah, uh, that’s good,” Peter said, he smiled at Tony and another burst of happiness fluttered in his heart.

“Hm, now that you’ve mentioned pizza, I think that’s what we should have for dinner tonight too?” Pepper asked, putting her phone down.

-

Sitting on his favorite rooftop, Peter looked over the borough he was protecting, as he shoved a churro into his mouth, mask rolled up to his nose. He was feeling good, licking the sticky cinnamon sugar from his fingertips.

And then he heard it off into the distance, the sound of repulsors.

“Shit,” he hissed, looking around the sky. “I think Iron Man found me.”

“Ohh nooo,” Ned said. “Um, are you gonna like run? Or is that going to make it worse?”

“I don’t know, I mean, he can’t know it’s me right? We’ve done a good job with keeping it a secret.”

Spotting the Iron Man suit in the sky, Peter took a deep breath, trying to make a decision. He pulled his mask back down over his face, making sure nothing on his person would tip Mr. Stark off.

There’s a chance he could outrun him, or at least, outswing him but that would make him look really suspicious. There were zero reasons to worry, he could do this, he cleared his throat as Iron Man landed in front of him, standing up a little taller too, just to give the illusion of being bigger than he was.

“Hello,” Mr. Stark said. “Spider-man I presume?”

“Yes,” Peter said, trying to go for a thick New York accent, deepening his voice as much as he could. Ned let out a cackle of laughter in his ear. “What do you want?”

The Iron Man suit pulled back, and as Mr. Stark stepped out, Peter took a step back giving more distance between them. “Just wanted to say hi,” Mr. Stark said, not looking phased at all. “New superhero on the block, wanted to check in and see how it’s going.”

Peter frowned, that was kinda weird, right? Why would Iron Man care about what he was doing? There were tons of other enhanced individuals out there, doing the same thing. “I’m fine,” Peter went with, trying to talk as little as possible.

“Really? Because you’re fighting crime in your pajamas.”

“No,” Peter replied, crossing his arms over his chest. “Not pajamas.”

“Sorry bucko, but I think you’re in dire need of an upgrade. Systematic, top to button. 100 point restoration.”

“What?” Peter barked out. “Why would I want that? I’m fine with it,” he gestured towards himself. “This.”

“Alright, no need to be hostile, Spider-man, I was just sent here to offer an olive branch.” He pulled a card out of his pocket. “Here, at least take this. It has a special number for us on there, if you get into a pickle, we can help out.”

Mr. Stark held his hand out, Peter eyed it suspiciously. He was pretty sure there was a tracker on it, but after a minute, he leaned over and swiped it from his hand. “Thanks, but don’t expect any phone calls. I’m good on my own.”

“Woo,” Ned said in the background. “You tell ‘um.”

Looking slightly taken aback, Mr. Stark shrugged once more. “Okay, okay. I get it, you’re a strong independent spider. I getcha, I just wanted to offer some help. And also, good job on that alien weapon you found. Handing it over to us was the right call.”

“Yeah well,” Peter started, annoyance creeping up his spine. “I think you should be focusing on getting them off the streets. Those types of weapons are dangerous in the right hands, let alone petty criminals.”

“Agreed,” Mr. Stark said. “We’re working on it, alright? If you come across any more, give us a call and we’ll come and scoop ‘um up.”

Peter shook his arms out a little, rolling his shoulders and trying to still stand tall and resilient. It didn’t seem like Mr. Stark had recognized him, there was zero indication in his heart rate or breathing, and he seemed to just be offering help.

Help that Peter didn’t need or want.

“I’d try to exit soon,” Ned said to him, his voice low, even though there was little chance Mr. Stark could hear him. “It’s getting late and the longer you stay, the more chances he'll recognize you.”

“Anyway,” Peter said, taking one large step backward. “Nice chatting with you, Iron Man.”

He gave Mr. Stark a very sloppy salute, before turning around and with a little more drama than necessary, jumping off the rooftop.

-

Peter was hallucinating.

There was no other way to put it.

There was zero, zero chance half of the Avengers, the Earth’s mightiest heroes were all standing in the Tower’s living room, surrounded by tables of food and presents, holding drinks in their hands and just staring at Peter and Ned as they stood awkwardly in the doorway.

“Holy shit,” Ned squeaked next to him, grabbing Peter’s arm and squeezing hard. “The fucking Avengers are in your living room.”

The group, which consisted of, Black Widow, Captain America, Hawkeye, War Machine, and fucking Bruce Banner, let out a collective laugh at Ned, who squeaked even louder.

“Holly shiiiit,” he repeated. “I died right? This is like heaven, because holy shit Bruce fucking Banner is standing 10 feet away from us and he’s oh god, he’s making eye contact with me. Peter, Peter, renowned scientist Robert Bruce Banner is making EYE CONTACT WITH ME.”

This was not what Peter was thinking would happen when Mr. Stark invited him and Ned over for a party. Mr. Stark took two steps forward, coming to stand in front of Ned, who was partially vibrating with excitement.

“Hi,” he said simply, holding out a hand for Ned to shake. “I’m Tony, you must be Ned, right? I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Hi,” Ned said, grinning so hard it looked like it hurt. “Nice to meet you uh, Peter’s dad.”

“Tony’s alright,” he offered, before turning to face the room. “I thought since you were bringing your best friend over, Pete, I’d introduce you to my uh, well, friends.”

Peter looked at the Avengers, all of them looking so painful and normal it was almost jarring. He’d never seen any of them out of their superhero suits and it took a few minutes to reconcile the difference. A part of him almost stormed out of the room, angry Mr. Stark would just throw this at him, but at the same time, Ned was so happy he looked like he could vibrate off the floor. And Mr. Stark looked eager and happy too and, well, a part of Peter did kinda think this was really cool.

“Hi,” Peter offered. “I’m uh, Peter. Peter Parker.”

With that introduction, it seemed Mr. Stark eased a little more. Needlessly, everyone introduced themselves to both Ned and Peter. Ned burst into tears when shaking Bruce Banner’s hand, which only made Mr. Stark howl with laughter.

He was told very sternly to call everyone by their first names, something he didn’t think he wanted to do right away. He still didn’t want to call Mr. Stark anything but that, he didn’t want the familiar, he didn’t need it.

But when the Black Widow looks at you with a steely expression and says, with no room for argument, “You can call me Nat.”

He felt like there was little room to budge.

Moving from person to person, when he got to James Rhodes, the man pulled him into a warm and inviting hug. “It’s wonderful to meet you, Pete. Your old man here won’t stop talking about you. I think he’s shown me like 15 pictures of you.”

“Exaggeration,” Mr. Stark cut him, with a laugh. This version of Tony Stark, Peter had never seen before. Sure the man laughed and joked with Happy and Pepper and even Peter, but Tony Stark looked at ease differently. He wasn’t trying to impress anyone, not even Peter it seemed and something that coiled tight in his gut loosened just a little.

“This is the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” Ned said into his ear, once they finished officially meeting everyone and walked over to the massive food table. “I mean, like, thank you, Peter. From the bottom of my heart, I will remember this always and forever.”

When Pepper and Happy walked, he felt even more at ease over the event. As the night went on, he talked to Steve Rogers about New York, Steve immediately picked up on the accent and dubbed him, “Queens” the second he knew. They talked about the city a bit, a nice topic that stretched between them and with Mr. Stark when he came over.

Rhodey, who offered the moniker Uncle Rhodey to him, asked him about school and what he was learning. It was even more exciting when Bruce Banner came over and the conversation moved to more indebted science and theories.

Clint Barton showed him pictures of his kids, whom Peter had no idea even existed. Apparently, his son was close to Peter’s age, a fact he threw out there with a large amount of pride. He talked about their farm, Peter had never been outside of New York, let alone anywhere near proper farmland.

“Maybe you and the old man should come by,” Clint offered. “A nice vacation.”

“Yeah sure,” Peter agreed, realizing that he actually meant it.

All and all, it wasn’t terrible. Everyone seemed genuinely excited to know Peter and none of them minded Ned’s fanboying, which eventually died down. The food was good too, several pizzas were eaten, and no one seemed to notice just how much Peter had inhaled himself.

When the night was seemingly coming to an end, Mr. Stark grabbed his arm, pulling him over and away from everyone.

“Sorry if this surprise wasn’t what you wanted,” he said, casually, giving Peter the perfect opportunity to agree.

“It’s fine,” Peter smiled at him, for the first time since he arrived genuinely happy to be around the man who was his dad. “I liked it, I mean, who wouldn’t want the actual Avenger at their 15th birthday party.”

Mr. Stark nodded, then reached his hand into his breast pocket. “You’ve got a mountain of presents to open from the gang. I’m sure they are all great but uh, I really wanted to give you this.”

He handed Peter a small wooden box, which Peter opened to find a gold stopwatch. He pulled it from the box, looking at the gold chain, before pushing open the lid.

“It wasn’t my father’s,” Mr. Stark started. “It belonged to my uh, well, the family butler, Jarvis, but he was much more than that. He raised him, even before my parents died. If it wasn’t for him… well, I don’t think I would have found any happiness at all in my childhood. When he died, he passed it to me and well, I want you to have it.”

“Thank you,” Peter said, tears were welling in his eyes and he had to wipe them away. “That’s… uh, thank you.” He looked up at Mr. Stark, who had half a smile on his face. Looking at the pocket watch, engraved on the back were the names Edwin Jarvis and Anthony Stark. He had been mostly calling his father, Mr. Stark, just because he could, but he suddenly felt a connection that had not before.

Something small turned over in his heart and head and the words spilled from his mouth without a thought. “Thanks, Tony.”

A wide grin spread onto Tony’s face and he nodded. “We don’t have to engrave your name or anything, I mean, it’s just one of those old timey things people did for their kids. So yeah, just, take care of it too.”

“Of course,” Peter said, placing it back in its box and closing the lid. “And tonight’s been great. I mean, Ned keeps telling me it’s the single best night of his life, so.”

“What about yours?” Tony asked him. “And not too well, break my luck, but is the Tony thing going to stick around or?”

“It’s been a great day,” Peter admitted, realizing he’d actually meant it. The Avengers was pretty cool and Mr… well, Tony seemed to be trying really hard lately too. Peter had to give him some kind of break, didn’t he? He was going to live with the man until he was at least 18 years old. “And for now,” Peter added.

That seemed to satisfy Tony enough, he slapped Peter’s shoulder once, before moving away hastily, as if Peter might take everything back if he hung around long enough.

-

“Did you talk to him?” Nat asked as Tony took a seat next to her, having taken his leave from Peter moments ago. The kid had moved on as well, walking over and grabbing another plate of cake. There was so much goodwill happening, Tony almost felt giddy.

The pocket watch was just one of many presents Tony planned on showering the kid with.

“Oh the pronoun game,” Clint jibbed from her other side. “Who is Tony talking to?”

“Spider-man,” Nat answered, which drew the attention of Steve too, who turned his attention over to the group.

“Did you? I’m interested in knowing what his intentions are.”

Tony wasn’t planning on talking shop with the group today, especially at Peter’s birthday party but the kid looked preoccupied with cake and talking to Happy now. A few minutes wouldn’t hurt anything.

“Yeah,” he answered. “Wasn’t interested in joining us, or the free upgrade.”

“Hm,” Steve said. “That’s suspicious, isn’t it? You’d think someone would want assistance, especially from Tony Stark.”

Tony shrugged, the truth was he hadn’t had much time to think about the meeting. Spider-man seemed completely unfazed by Iron Man showing up and less impressed with Tony himself. It was a surprise, of course, but there were plenty of other vigilantes out there doing things adjacent to the Avengers. Spider-man just happened to be the first that came straight into their paths.

“Maybe he just likes being alone, hell, Steve, there are a handful of loners out there now. Not everyone wants to be in a boyband.”

“Anything from the tracker?” Nat asked, just as Peter walked over, sitting on the farther end of the couch, with Ned who had left his discussion with Bruce. Tony couldn’t tell if he was paying much attention to the conversation, but he still kept his voice a little lower.

“Nah, he dumped it soon after I gave it to him. Found it in a trashcan a few blocks away.”

“Smart guy,” Clint said with a shrug, he got up from his seat and walked towards the food table. Steve moved closer still.

“Now I really don’t like that,” Steve commented. “I mean what’s the harm?”

Nat laughed, rolling her eyes. “He’s just being smart, that’s all. Tony’s right, not everyone wants to be part of the system, all the time. I don’t think he’s doing much harm helping little old ladies cross the street.”

“He’s doing much more than that!” Ned blurted out, causing all three adults to look over at him.

Peter’s eyes widened with horror, he had his hand on his friend’s shoulder in a second, saying something Tony couldn’t quite catch.

“Spider-man fan?” Nat asked, sounding amused.

“Yes!” Ned exclaimed, seemingly ignoring Peter completely. “He’s helping out the people of Queens, right Peter? Didn’t you just say how cool you thought Spider-man was helping get rid of all those weapons and stuff?”

Looking less he couldn’t have thought that even less, Peter surprised him by nodding. “Yeah, I mean he’s just doing what’s best for people.”

The sudden bout of nervousness threw Tony off. He’d never really heard Peter talk about Spider-man or any superhero for that matter. Aside from some wistful glances he thought he saw the kid give the Iron Man suits, Peter showed zero indication he cared about that sort of thing. The mix looked apprehensive and the way he spoke about it was odd.

“Seen him around?” Nat asked curiously.

Ned said yes, just as Peter said no, but Peter recovered quickly from it. “I mean, from far away yeah. Everyone who lives in Queens has seen him at least. He just stopped a robbery at a bank last week. The guys had some really damaging alien weapons.”

“Yeah,” Steve agreed. “Although I’d have to say that might have been a little more reckless than I would have hoped for. Those alien weapons are…,” he paused, eyes looking over at Tony before he continued. “Dangerous. Which is why I think he should at least be calling us when he comes across them, we can go in and handle it.”

Peter jutted his chin out. “What are the Avengers going to do? I mean, they aren’t the ones on the street, they aren’t the ones stopping day to day crime. If he waits for them to come around, who knows what could happen.”

“True,” Nat said, just as Steve opened his mouth. “But if the guy gets in over his head, who knows what kind of damage it could cause.”

“I think,” Tony cut in before anyone else could upset Peter, or make the goodwill he’d gathered dissipate. “He’s doing a fine job and if he doesn’t want our help, we shouldn’t push it. I’m sure if something came up, he’d reach out. Until then, let the guy help the little people.”

Peter narrowed his eyes, face scrunching up, head jerking back as if he was surprised by Tony’s words. He went to open his mouth once more, but Tony clapped his hands together, further breaking any tension. “Anyway, let’s open some presents…”

Chapter Text

Being a superhero was easy, being a spy, however, was not.

Peter just wasn't good at sneaking around or good at being a detective or anything even close to that.

He had the desire to stop the alien weapons from showing up in the hands of idiots but he had absolutely zero means of getting it done.

And he wasn’t going to take or ask for help, he might have mellowed on Tony a bit, but he still wanted and needed to prove himself. Maybe he was being too stubborn, but hearing how dismissive Steve was towards Spider-man just fueled his fire even more so.

Sitting in the lab with Tony, he was doing homework for once, instead of working on anything Spider-man related. Since Tony unknowingly talked to him, he was trying to tone down anything blatantly Spider-man in front of the man. Tapping his pencil on the paper in front of him, his mind was somewhere between the math problems and the alien weapons.

“Earth to kiddo,” he heard Tony say seconds before the man’s hand landed on his shoulder. Peter jumped back, nearly falling off this chair. “Woah there, you alright?”

Peter steadied himself. “Yeah, sorry, zoned out.”

“Yeah I can tell, I asked you what you wanted for dinner about 5 minutes ago.”

“Oh uh, whatever’s good,” he answered, rolling his shoulders back. He’d been patrolling a lot lately for as long as he could after school. Now that summer was over, he had to be home earlier and he couldn’t make excuses to spend weekends with Ned. There was zero chance he’d risk sneaking out of the Tower at night, so pretending he was at band practice or robotics, he patrolled straight after school until late evening.

He’d been dealing with a dull ache in his shoulder, having accidentally slammed into a billboard the other night.

“You sure you’re good? You’ve been looking a little tired lately. Maybe you should drop a few of those extracurriculars you’re taking.”

“Nah,” Peter answered. “I mean, they are good for college applications, so it’s for the best.”

“You do realize you’re a Stark, the name alone gets you straight past the need for an application even.”

Peter frowned, shaking his head. Of course, he’d never really thought about it, and instead of being comforting the fact just kind of annoyed him a little. He knew he was a Stark but he’d never use it, nor did he want to. He was a Parker, forever and always, no matter how poor, no matter how hard he had to work.

Tony must have read something on Peter’s face because he backtracked pretty quickly. “Well, I mean, you wouldn’t have to even use Stark. You’re smart enough on your own, kiddo.”

About to counter, Peter snapped his mouth shut when Tony’s phone went off. He took it from his pocket, rolling his eyes. “Sorry Pete, let me take this real quick…”

Smiling at Peter, he left the lab, the door whooshing closed behind him as he answered. “What’s up, Nat?”

It’d taken Peter a while to not accidentally overhear someone, especially Tony and Pepper around the Tower. Thankfully all bedrooms were soundproof, although as Peter was finding out, his hearing might have been a little bit better than the soundproofing tech Tony had installed.

“Hmm, pass,” he heard Tony say. “I told you I’m not interested in a scavenger hunt, Natasha.”

Peter couldn’t help his peak interest, he was sure they were talking about the alien weapons, he’d heard a few phone calls between Tony and the rest of the Avengers. So far, Tony had stubbornly refused to help the Avengers, as if there was absolutely nothing Iron Man could do about it.

It annoyed Peter in more than one way.

Closing his eyes, he tried to see if he could focus on the phone call, maybe even hear more of Nat’s side of it. He could hear her voice, but the words were too difficult. He was disappointed this wasn’t like the movies, where he could just focus really hard and suddenly he’d hear her conversation in clarity.

He did, however, still hear Tony’s side, which was enough. “Just give me the address,” he said. “I’ll have FRIDAY see if anything comes up. No, no, I trust your sources, I just have far fewer morals than SHIELD and don’t mind digging in deep…”

There were a lot of assumptions Peter was making, but he hoped the address Nat had something to do with the weapons.

“Why don’t you just take it out now if you’re so certain…yes, yes, I know, bigger picture, but closing down that shop might be helpful.”

“Yes,” Peter hissed. They were definitely talking about the weapons and from the sounds of it, they have a location for one of the distribution shops. All he had to do was get the location and he could go shut it down himself.

“I get it,” Tony said with a sigh. “Listen, the kid and I were about to eat dinner, just shoot me the address and I’ll get it done.”

The sound of Tony’s footsteps increased, he was on his way back to the lab. Peter put his head back down, pretending to be working. He was pretty sure he could sneak a look at Tony’s phone, the man didn’t seem to be concerned with keeping it out of Peter’s reach.

“Sorry about that kiddo,” Tony said when he came back in.

“Avenger duty?” Peter asked, trying for casualness.

“Something like that.”

“Are you ever going to you know,” he gestured towards the always looming Iron Man suit.

“I will,” Tony said, as he walked back over to Peter’s table. “Right now I’ve got more important things to worry about, like a wayward teenager whose stomach I can hear growling from here.”

Rolling his eyes, Peter stuck out his tongue. There was one benefit from Tony never having met a teenager, which was he had no idea how much food Peter needed to go a little beyond normal. Well, maybe a small idea, but not enough to say anything about it. He even let Peter get a small fridge in his room, one he took full advantage of.

“But really, don’t you miss it?” Peter asked, genuinely a little curious about it. From the second Peter arrived the most Avenger thing he saw Tony do was talk to them. A few times he saw him work on one of the suits, but that was about it. He didn’t know if it was the thrill of a new thing or not, but he couldn’t imagine not going out as Spider-man for months.

“Sometimes,” Tony said, he placed his phone on the table. “But honestly, my joints have never been happier and Pepper’s looking a little less annoyed with him.”

Peter hummed. “Okay, I think I know what I want for dinner,” he announced. “I want what I had from the Mexican place last week.”

“El Cortez?” Tony questioned. “Hmm, good choice. FRI place the order, repeat what we did last time.”

They puttered around the lab a bit longer, until FRI let them know the food was on its way. Together they headed down to the lounge, out of the corner of his eye, Peter could see Tony typing away on his phone, hoping to glance at the address he was sent. It wasn’t until they were seated on the couch, food spread out over the table, did Peter see his chance.

Pretending to look for something, he hummed, catching Tony’s attention. “What are you looking for?” Tony asked.

“Oh uh, that hot sauce I like. I could have sworn I brought it out when I was getting the plates...”

Tony put down his phone, the screen facing up and Peter could see a little of the messages. He moved over, closer to Tony, still in the guise of looking for something. “Hmm,” Peter said. “I think I left it in the kitchen… oh well…”

“I’ll grab it, need to refill on some drinks anyways,” Tony answered, just like Peter knew he would. There was some stupid thrill he got lying to Tony like this, manipulating him just a little. It’s what he’d been doing in the lab now, getting the supplies and stuff he needed for his suit without Tony even suspecting him.

The second Tony was gone, his footsteps fading away, Peter moved towards the phone. The screen was still on, bypassing his need to enter a code or fingerprint. The messages were still up, he only had to scroll up a little to see what he needed, a message from Nat with a single address. Grabbing his phone, he took a picture of it before hastily putting back the phone.

Tony walked in a moment later, handing Peter the bottle. “Thanks,” Peter said with a grin.

-

Getting to the warehouse wasn’t a problem, that didn’t happen until he’d gotten there.

He lied to Tony, saying Ned had invited him over for the day.

Usually, that wouldn’t be too much of a lie, but Ned just so happened to be out of town this weekend with his family, so he wouldn’t be going there at all.

This also meant Ned wasn’t his guy in the chair and he had zero backup available to him.

Happy drove him to Ned’s apartment, dropping him off out front like he usually did, and was down the street before Peter could even pretend to wake up the steps. Since he didn’t have a place to change and couldn’t risk being in his suit, he had just grabbed his mask and a plain black hoodie, hoping it would be enough. He was out on reconnaissance, he was just going to observe today anyway, and didn’t plan on taking part in any action.

Walking to the warehouse didn’t take very long, Ned’s apartment was only a handful of miles away, and since the bite, he’d been able to traverse long distances without getting tired. It was still early afternoon when he arrived, slipping around the building, trying to figure out the best way to get inside unnoticed.

The warehouse was tucked in a small district of bigger warehouses, large buildings that took up the entire block.

The address led him to one of the middle ones, around it a large imposing fence. It, of course, was absolutely no issue for Peter, who simply looked both ways before leading over it. He didn’t see anyone around, nor could he hear anyone close by. He looked for cameras and once he felt sure he didn’t see anything, he walked over to the brick way and made his way up the wall.

Before coming out, he looked up the specs of the building, or at least, what he could find on the internet. He wished he had some way to hack into FRIDAY but knew even asking the AI the information that Tony had looked up would be too risky. He had to keep his involvement as off the books as possible, both as Peter and Spider-man.

He stopped at a large upper window, so full of dust and dirt, there was very little light seen. He moved towards it, rubbing his sleeved fist, clearing a tiny spot to look in at. All he could see were long tables set up in one corner, each of them covered in what looked like machinery parts. There was another area off to the side with computers and laptops, heavy machinery, and equipment Peter was unfamiliar with.

There weren’t any people around. The whole thing looked like a set piece, a scene from a movie that hadn’t started yet. Leaning a little more on his haunches, Peter sighed, wondering what exactly his plan should be here, now that he’s actually seen the warehouse. What could he even do about it? The Avengers sounded like they were willing to let this place keep going, but for how long? How many more people would have to get hurt?

He wished he would have waited for Ned, maybe he would have had some ideas. He waited for a little longer, watching the sun slowly make its way across the sky. Happy would be picking him up at Ned’s around 8:00 and it was boarding on 5:00 now, if he was to do something, it really was now or never.

“Alright,” Peter mumbled under his breath. “I’m not coming out here for nothing.”

He pushed open the window and crawled into the warehouse. To his great relief, no immediate alarms went off, the space still stayed dark, with a few overhead lights on but no other signs of life. Peter crawled down the wall, coming to a silent landing on the hard concrete floor.

Up close the warehouse wasn’t any different, he could see bits of gun parts, none of which he knew a single thing about. Taking out his phone, he started taking pictures, it was risky but he wanted something to bring back to Ned. They had created an app to use, to share Spider-man info that was highly encrypted, Tony could have probably gotten in but Peter never wanted to give him a reason to try.

He made his way over to one of the tables, a bright purple orb caught his attention. He’d seen one of them before, it was the same thing that was inside the guns. The urge to grab it overwhelmed any other rational thought in his brain and Peter did just that.

Rushing over to the table, he picked it up, the device too hot in his hands. It emitted some kind of electrical charge, he could feel it right below his skin. The smell was weird too, a slight burning that made him wrinkle his nose a little.

Peter made the decision rather quickly, swinging his backpack around and placing the orb inside of it. It rattled a little when he threw it back over his shoulder, but nothing happened. He figured it had to be pretty safe, especially if it was sitting out in the open. Walking around, he looked for as much information as he could without touching or moving anything.

There were piles of paperwork on one of the desks, he took his phone out, snapping photos as he went.

Footsteps caught his attention and he swore under his breath, running back over to the far wall again, climbing up as fast as he could. He could hear people coming in now, several voices and footsteps, and the sound of a door swinging open.

He was just out the window when he saw a group of men coming in. None of them looked up or seemed to notice any missing alien parts. Peter kept himself still on the side of the building, watching the men gather around, talking. Wanting to see if he could get any information, he leaned as close as he could to the window.

“What time?” one of the guys barked out, in a thick New Jersey accent.

“Dunno, boss says he wants shipments out early tomorrow morning. You know the Don, the earlier the better.”

Peter pressed his lips together, he had a feeling one of the mafias was moving around the weapons, he just didn’t know whose side he was dealing with. He’d seen a few of them around as Spider-man but never got too close to them.

This was where they were shipping the weapons out from, it might not be where they came from, but wouldn’t it be better to close this down? The Avengers didn’t care about the little guy, this was way below their pay grade. They’d rather track down the source of the alien weapons, but who knew how long that would take?

Armed with the knowledge and the alien part still sitting heavy in his backpack, Peter made his way back down the wall. When Ned was back, they’d look at the alien part, figure out what the best way to destroy it was, and then he was going to come back and take care of business.

Crawling down the side of the wall, he leaped over to the fence instead of landing on the ground. The second he touched it, the fence jangled loudly, and followed by that, a sharp shrill of a police siren. Startled, he looked up to see an oncoming police car, making its way down the block and straight toward him.

He had two choices, he could make a run for it, jump down and take off. Even without his web shooters he could still outrun and jump the police car. But then he’d be giving away being enhanced outside of his Spider-man suit.

He quickly pulled his mask off, shoving it down into the backpack, which he tossed back towards the warehouse. It landed in a corner, barely visible unless you were looking for it. He only hoped he could come back in time before someone randomly found it. At least he was smart enough not to have any identification in it.

“Get down!” One of the cops shouted, as the car stopped, headlights right under where Peter was perched on the ledge.

With a sigh, he jumped down, landing with a thud on his feet, pretending the impact was a little harder than it actually was.

He put his hands in the air as the cops came out, just hoping he could talk himself out of the trouble he was about to be in.

-

One of the things Tony remembered most about Howard was his anger. A burning hot rage that lashed out, like a whip at anyone who dared to challenge him. Tony could remember being a kid, accidentally knocking over one of Howard’s displays. He remembered the way Howard grabbed his arm, like a branding iron, squeezing so hard, with so much rage over something so stupid, that it brought Tony to tears within seconds.

Tony knew he couldn’t do that to Peter. He refused to do that to his son, refused to be so angry he’d burn through the peace the two of them had managed to find together.

But Peter had lied to him. Maybe Peter had been lying to him this entire time, every trip to Ned’s was just an excuse for him to walk around Queens? Doing what? Selling drugs? Taking drugs? Tony could only remember the rebellious fever that overtook him at that age, how angry he’d become, how he’d swallowed Howard's anger and let it fester in his stomach, growing his fire.

He wasn't even embarrassed going into the police department building to get Peter from there. He didn’t care, everyone saw the great Tony Stark picking up some kid, a kid who wouldn’t even look him in the eye. Peter was the one who looked embarrassed, with a hoodie over his head, face downcast the entire time, refusing to meet anyone’s eyes.

Tony didn’t even say a word to him. No greeting, no instructions, just watched as Peter sat in the plastic chair, watched as he got up and followed behind Tony like a little duckling. In the car, Happy drove them, Tony sat up front and Peter sat in the back. Happy dropped them off in the back, Tony and Peter took the elevator up to the penthouse, and that entire time, no one said a single word.

Which changed the second Peter took one step into the penthouse. He brushed past Tony, making no contact as if he thought he could just disappear up into his room without consequence.

“What the fuck do you think you were doing?” Tony asked, seething with pent-up anger. He tried so hard, so very hard not to scream, not to raise his voice, not to scold or grab or do anything but stand there, staring at the back of Peter’s head. The kid’s shoulders slumped downwards, the hood still over his head. “Peter,” he repeated. “What the fuck was that? Turn around and talk to me, right now.”

Peter turned on his heels and Tony caught sight of his face, eyes a little red, cheeks and nose too. He might have been crying earlier, but now the tears had long since dried up. “Are you even going to explain yourself? Explain to me why instead of being at Ned’s house, you were out trespassing at some warehouse?”

“I wasn’t trespassing,” Peter said, keeping his eyes downcast still.

“I’m sorry, what were you doing then? Visiting friends?” Tony paused, bringing his hand to his forehead, a headache looming there, brought on no doubt, by the anger still brimming inside him. He has no idea how to deal with what happened and he wished Pepper was around and not in California on business. He’d send the jet to overnight her here if he thought she’d do it. “They caught you jumping off a fence.”

“I was taking a shortcut through the warehouse’s yard. Fence hopping is not a crime.”

“Are you fucking kidding me? Do you really think that I’m going to just accept that answer? It still doesn’t explain why you lied to me and what you were doing there in the first place!”

“It’s the one I’m giving you,” Peter said, before turning around again and walking away, faster than Tony thought he could.

But that wasn’t going to stop him. He gave chase, rushing as Peter made it into his bedroom, but getting in before the door could be dramatically slammed shut. “I am your father,” Tony said, in the same tone Howard had used. “I deserve not only your respect but an answer to my very, very easy questions. You were very, very lucky you weren’t arrested on trespassing charges, to say the least.”

“They were never going to,” Peter said, throwing the hoodie he’d just taken off onto the bed. “The second I said you were my… that you were my emergency contact, you should have heard them! All ohh, Tony Stark, he’s so great, and ohh Iron Man this and Iron Man that. I probably could have set fire to the police station and I would have gotten off scot free as long as you posed for some photos.”

There was something so misplaced with Peter’s anger and accusations. Tony barely spoke to the police officers and they certainly didn’t ask for photos or autographs. They very much treated both of them like they were normal people. They let Peter go because they didn’t have any proof he was actually trespassing, they just caught him out and about.

This was all a misdirect, trying to steer Tony away from the real issue at hand - why was Peter lying to him?

“Bullshit,” Tony said, watching as Peter sat down in a huff on his bed. Arms crossed, rolling his eyes, Tony suddenly felt really bad for anyone who ever tried to discipline him in his life if this was what Tony had been like. “You’re just trying to steer clear of the real issue here. Why were you out? What were you doing and why did you think it was smart to lie to me?”

“I never lied to you,” Peter said, clearly lying through his teeth. “I said I was going to Queens and that’s where I went.”

“No, no no,” Tony insisted. “We’re not playing games here Peter. Do you know how dangerous that area is? You could have been seriously hurt and I would have never even known you were gone! What if you were hit by a car? Huh?” Tony had zero clue where he was getting these wild ideas from, but they kept just showing up rent free in his mind. Peter getting mugged at gunpoint, getting hit by a car, getting kidnapped… all sorts of terrible things while tony was sitting in his lab, clueless and completely and utterly unhelpful.

Peter snorted, throwing his hands up in the air. “I was fine! I can handle myself! Nothing bad happened, I was just walking around and those cops picked me up, okay?”

“I don’t believe it,” Tony pushed. “Why? Pete, you have to tell me why. Is it drugs? Because if it is then we get you help, no questions asked, no expense too much.”

“It’s not drugs, Jesus,” Peter grumbled. “I’m not doing anything and if you don’t believe me, I’ll piss in a cup or whatever drug test.”

Peter finally looked up at him and while his eyes did look bloodshot still, it wasn’t the kind of drug over hazed Tony had once seen in his mirror.

“I’m not going to make you take a drug test if you’ll just tell me what’s going on! I know you weren’t at Ned’s at all, I called and his Mom said he was gone for the weekend. How many times have you lied about being at Ned’s?”

“Just this once, okay. I don’t know why it matters, I always come back here, don’t I? I don’t know why you care so much. So I was picked up once by a cop car, didn’t you do so much worse at my age?” Peter spat, rolling his eyes, frowning, his whole body slumping in on itself.

Tony was just so angry at this display of complete ungratefulness and attitude.

“God damn it, Peter, I’m trying to be patient with you but you can’t keep acting like this. I am your… your father, whether you like it or not and you’re living under my roof right now. You have to tell me what’s going on or you’re never leaving this Tower ever again.”

Tony cringed at his own words, god, he sounded like an evil stepmother or something. The situation was starting to barrel out of control, if he didn’t want to be Howard, he had to pull it back.

“You can’t keep me here,” Peter reeled at him.

“Like hell, I can!”

“I don’t want to be here! That’s why I was out in Queens, it’s because that’s my home! You took me from the only place I’ve ever called home and I miss it! I just wanted to… to… just be there, okay?”

Tony jerked his head back in surprise, finding himself walking over to Peter’s bed. “What?”

“I miss my home,” Peter said plainly like it was the easiest thing in the world. “I grew up in Queens and now I’m here and I miss it. I miss my old neighborhood and my neighbors and the deli I ate in every day after school. I miss the Thai place that May loved, who would give us extra larb all the time.”

“Oh,” Tony said, his anger all but gone, replaced with an empty hollow feeling in his gut. He did take the kid out of Queens, and the transition seemed smooth, going from one to another, Tony didn’t even think about the emotional impact. “Move your leg,” he said to Peter. “I'm going to sit.”

Peter did so, moving further up the bed, giving Tony enough room giving a wide space between them. “Is that what you’re always doing?”

“No,” Peter said, shoulders up to his ears. “I’m going to Ned’s but sometimes I just… walk around okay? I go visit some places and stuff and I know it’s stupid but it makes me feel better.”

“What’s so wonderful about the warehouse?” Tony asked, still not completely off the trail. Peter’s explanation still had some holes in it. “You’ve picked an area owned by the Maggia family, you’re lucky the police were the ones that found you first.”

Peter’s nose twitched everso.

“Nothing, I just felt like walking and that's where I ended up. I really wasn’t trespassing, okay? I was by the docks and took a small shortcut through the warehouse area. I didn’t realize it was cut off by a fence, so I climbed it and jumped it. It was just bad timing, the cops saw me and thought I was up to something.”

Tony frowned, he didn’t like the explanation Peter was giving, it felt… well, it felt too simple, but the kid was looking remorseful, the fight he had earlier seemed to have left him.

“I didn’t realize you missed Queens so much.”

“Yeah, neither did I, really. I mean, it… it just means a lot to me. It’s where my family is from and it’s where they are… well, where they are all buried, so yeah.”

“You could have asked me, Pete. I would have taken you there, anytime. I’m not,” Tony paused, reaching a hand out to Peter’s knee. “I’m not good at this, I’m not an expert on all things teenagers or Peter related. I don’t know what you’re feeling or what you want unless you’re willing to tell me. I don’t know if I’ve made it obvious yet, but I’m new at this.”

Peter snorted. “Yeah, I got that.”

Tony squeezes his knee. “Really, kid. I’m trying my best with this and I just need you to put a little effort into it. You can’t just go gallivanting around Queens without telling me what you’re doing and where you are. You have to promise me you’re not going to lie to me anymore, okay?”

There was a pregnant pause before Peter nodded. “Fine, no more lies.”

“Alright,” Tony retracted his hand. “You’re grounded, by the way. No Ned’s, no nothing for two weeks. You can do after school clubs, but you get straight into Happy’s awaiting car afterward and then straight to the Tower.”

“Come on,” Peter squeaked. “Not fair.”

“Ah, no, totally fair, very fair. You’re lucky that it’s only two weeks and I’m not attaching some kind of leash to you,” Tony said, getting up from the bed. “You hunger?”

Peter shrugged. “I can eat.”

“Alright, cool down for a minute, and then come meet me in the kitchen, I’ll throw something together.”

Chapter Text

“Dude, do you really think that’s a good idea?” Ned asked, in a surprisingly hush tone. “What if you get caught?”

“I’m not,” Peter said flatly, scooping up some mac and cheese from his plate. “Since you’re going to cover for me.”

He took a bite of his food, and Ned frowned, looking around their empty table as if someone had magically appeared next to him. Michelle Jones was two tables over, her nose stuck in a book and looking otherwise occupied. But still, Peter appreciated the effort.

“But what if you aren’t back in time?” Ned continued, pushing his mac and cheese around his plate. “I feel like this is a really big risk! You were so close to being discovered last time! Are you sure you want to do this now? Why not just wait until you can go back out.”

“And I didn’t get caught, okay? Listen, Tony has zero ideas about you know what and I can’t just leave my backpack there. If those guys notice, they are going to know something is up. I want to look at the… ball thing okay? If we can figure out how it works, maybe we can figure out a way to dismantle them or something.”

It had been 3 days since Peter’s grounding, which meant he couldn’t retrieve his backpack yet. He was absolutely itching to go back to the warehouse to retrieve it. He’d just begged Ned to cover for him at Academic Decathlon practice, tonight, so he could swing out and get it. Going while he was supposed to be at school was the only cover he could even think of.

“What if your Dad shows up to check on you?” Ned questioned, before shoving mac and cheese into his mouth. “Peter,” he continued mouthful. “I can’t lie to Iron Man.”

“No one is asking you to lie to Iron Man, dude. Tony isn’t going to show up, okay? Happy will pull up a half hour before practice ends and I’ll be back by then. I’ve already figured it out, if I swing there it’s only an hour and a half max round trip. Decathlon is usually a two hour practice, ergo, I should have more than enough time.”

Ned looked dubious, to say the least. “I just have a bad feeling about this, you know? You’re like, playing with fire here.”

Peter scoffed. “I thought you were all gung ho about this. I’m doing good things here, Ned," he paused, willing to go pretty low on this one. "We’re doing good things. We're protecting the people of Queens, of New York and who knows where else if these weapons straight gaining traction. We need to nip it here, where it's all starting.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t realize how much lying this is. You know I’m like terrible at that. And you totally are manipulating your Dad and I don’t know…”

Peter glared at him. “I’m not… okay, well I am a little, but it’s not because I’m trying to be a jerk. I wasn’t lying about the whole Queens thing, I really do miss being here, and coming out as Spider-man helps me. This is my home and I need to protect it, so I wasn’t lying. I was just manipulating the truth for my own benefit. It's practically a victimless crime."

Ned blinked once, then twice. “Dude, that’s just… wow.”

He could feel a blush creep up his cheeks, because Ned looked at him like he was insane or stupid or most likely, both. “Anyway,” he said hastily. “You’re just telling Mr. Harrington that I’m not feeling well and went home. I’ll come back, hide away the orb thing and then meet you out front. He’ll never know I’m still here and Happy will never know I went anywhere.”

“Alright,” Ned conceded, looking a little bit dejected. Peter felt terrible about it, roping in his best friend to be complicit in his lies. Ned really wasn't all that great of a liar, he cracked so easily under pressure. Anytime they'd spend the night over at Peter's old apartment, they were try to sneak extra cookies and Ned always gave them away when Ben could question them. He'd start giggling, usually with his mouthful of cookie still and while that really was harmless, this really wasn't. He really was trying to convince Ned to do something that could get them both in a lot of trouble, with not only Tony but the school too.

“As soon as I’m no longer grounded, come over, okay? I’m sure I can convince Tony to let you mess around with FRIDAY's coding a bit. He loves when people try to challenge his designs."

“Now you’re just bribing me,” Ned said, ducking his head. “And you’re lucky it works.”

Peter cracked a smile.

-

Slipping out of school with the rest of the students was good cover, all Peter had to do was head over to the empty football fields and change into his Spider-man suit behind the large utility room. He webbed his current backpack up to the top of the building, tucking it out of sight. He had been lucky Tony went a little overboard when he moved in, buying him not two but three different backpacks. He was none the wiser one of them was currently hanging out behind a warehouse in Queens, holding part of an alien weapon.

He webbed his way towards the warehouse at a steady rate, trying not to get off track with helping people. When he arrived, a little faster than he thought he would, he landed on the roof of an adjacent building. Scoping out the area, he didn’t see much foot traffic, or lucky for him, any police vehicles. There was a car parked down the street, it had tinted windows, so he couldn’t see in, but it didn’t look as if anyone was coming or going just yet. Unwilling to get caught again, he waited a solid 5 minutes before decided the coast was truly clear.

Making his way back to the warehouse in question, he landed on the fence, he nearly showed with glee when he spotted the backpack just as he'd left it. He jumped down, grabbing it and unzipping to see his first mask and most importantly, the orb, still glowing and still warm.

Pushing it back down in his backpack, he slung it over his shoulder and jumped back up to the fence. Peter was struck with the want to check out the warehouse again but knew better. He had ample time to get back, but he also didn't want to push his luck any more than he had been.

Truth was, he did feel bad about lying to Tony. And in a way, he wasn’t lying about missing Queens either, what he told Ned was the truth. Things were still so confusing and weird to him, he felt overwhelmed anytime he thought about his life, both before and after. There was still such a striking difference between the two parts of his life, it almost felt like he had left behind everything that had been Peter Parker and Queens was one of his only connections to that past. To only complicate things even more so, was his feeling towards Tony, having changed a lot in the past months. The guy was really nice to him, still showered Peter with unnecessary gifts, but he seemed to be making a pretty big effort to be part of his life. It just didn't feel right, knowing that Tony refused anything to do with him as a baby, but suddenly now wanted everything to do with him.

Shaking the feelings out he set back off towards the school, making it back, once again with more than enough time. He changed back into his normal clothing and walked into the school like nothing at all had happened. No one was around, he could hear the Aca Dec team in the gym still, their voices carrying through the empty hallways.

Peter made his way over to his, opening the locker and shoving in his backpack.

A successful mission.

-

The anticipation of checking out the alien weapon orb was a little too overwhelming for Peter. By the time lunch came around, he grabbed Ned’s sleeve, dragging him back to their lockers.

“Come on, let’s go to the shop class, it’ll be empty now,” he said, as he grabbed the other backpack. Ned followed behind him and they went into the empty classroom, setting up shop at their usual table.

Taking out the orb, he placed it on the desk between them, where it continued to emit its purple light.

“That’s like, really freakin’ cool,” Ned said, in an awed tone. “What does it do?”

“Dunno,” Peter answered. “It was in the center of a lot of those weapons, they were really dangerous so far. This is the first time I’ve seen this up close.”

“Let’s break it open,” Ned said with a lot more enthusiasm than he had yesterday. Together they went to work trying to figure out how to open the orb completely, it was clear there was some sort of metal casting around it. After several minutes, they finally managed to pry it open just a little.

“This has to be a power source,” Peter said, looking at the bit of metal that came off.

“Yeah dude, it’s covered in all these microprocessors, it’s basically an inductive charging plate.”

“Who knows what kind of damage this thing is going to do in the long run. We need to figure out how to kill the power on these. Maybe then we can kill it on the whole shipments that are coming in, stop them from working before they even go out.”

“I dunno,” Ned said, still scanning over the metal casting. “This is really advanced stuff, Pete. It’s not like a phone charger. I don’t know the first thing about alien tech and no offense dude, but neither do you.”

“We’re scientists,” Peter insisted. “That’s never stopped us before. Come on, Ned. You’re smart, if anyone can figure this out, it’s the two of us. Don’t tell me this isn’t the coolest thing you’ve ever done before, right?”

Ned looked at Peter, then back to the orb, then back to Peter before nodding. “Yeah this is literally the coolest thing I’ve ever been a part of and I’m so very thankful to be on this amazing journey with you.”

Peter grinned, extending his hand and they did their normal handshake, both grinning wildly.

“Can I name it?” Ned asked, looking at the orb. “Glowy Orb Thingy?”

“That’s not your best,” Peter admitted. “We’ll workshop it.”

“Fine, man, I wish we had a mass spectrometer to put this through,” Ned said thoughtfully, as Peter continued to try and remove the casting. They only had another 20 minutes before lunch was over and they’d have to try again tomorrow. “I mean, you have one at the Tower, right?”

“Yeah but we’re not bringing this anywhere near the Tower, or Tony for that matter. I’m lucky he hasn’t caught on just yet, but if he sees me with this, it’s over.”

Ned frowned. “I guess we’ll just have to settle for scanning it with whatever we have here, then. Hey, wait, lemmie hold it while you do that, it’s gonna roll away if you don’t.”

Ned reached over and held the orb, as Peter continued to pry it open. Ned was right, the orb was stubbornly trying to escape his grasp. With Ned holding it, it didn’t roll away and Peter was finally able to jab his tool into it, forcing the metal pliers he was using further into the orb. It made a weird sound after a second, the humming it had been omitting faltered but nothing else happened.

“Uh,” Ned said. “Maybe we’re being really stupid right now because that doesn’t sound good.”

“Yeah,” Peter said, his mouth suddenly going very dry, and a weird sense of anticipation washed over him.

All the sounds in the room seemed to narrow down to a buzz that danced over his entire body. The world seemed to completely stop, all of his senses pinpointed on one single thought, something bad was going to happen.

Without thinking, he reached for Ned’s arm, squeezing probably way too tightly, and started to drag his friend away from the device and the table. Ned’s protests were lost on him, all Peter could hear was the increase in buzzing coming from the device as it grew louder and louder.

They had just passed the threshold of the door when the device exploded.

They stumbled as the whole building seemed to shudder with the explosion. A wave of heat smacked him hard in the face and he pushed Ned behind him, trying to make sure his friend was as protected as possible. For one second things seemed to come to another stop all around him, no more buzz, no more building shaking, all he could feel was the rapid beating of his and Ned’s hearts, their lungs gasping for air and then things slammed back into normal.

“Holy shit, holy shit!” Ned yelled, moving back and away from the door, with Peter still standing cluelessly in front of it. The building shook again, the fire alarm blared to life, and the smell of burning made him gag as he stood, transfixed in his stupor and surprise.

“Peter!” Ned was at his side, pulling on his shirt sleeve. “We need to go now!”

Students were starting to file into the hallway, pandemonium broke out once they realized this was not a drill, that there was an actual fire that was spreading rapidly. Peter was barely aware, his brain shouting so many commands at him, to run, to help, to try and go in and figure out how to stop the fire, but Ned was persistent and the wave of students around them, forced him to follow them out.

Teachers were yelling, their voices barely heard over the commotion and alarms, the fire extinguishers started to pour down on them, and the cold water seemed to shock Peter back to life.

“Come on,” he said to Ned, grabbing his hand, so they stayed connected. He took a chance, looking behind him at the smoke billowing from the classroom they had just exited.

He made sure Ned was going towards the door before he made his decision. “I’m going to help make sure people get out,” he said.

The sounds around him were overwhelming, he could hear people screaming, crying, and yelling for help as the smoke around them increased rapidly. The building was on fire, people were going to need as much as they could get.

Ned looked torn for a moment before nodding and Peter took off back towards the chaos. Teachers were desperately trying to keep people moving forward, but Peter was able to slip past them, moving closer to danger instead of away from it.

He moved towards where voices were at their loudest, towards the area of the school covered in thick black smoke, making it hard for him to breathe and see. He pulled his sweater up, over his nose and mouth, but it made very little difference.

The sounds of fire trucks and police cars blended in and Peter knew that real help was now here.

But he still had to try and help.

As he moved down hallways, he spotted groups of people trying to navigate through the darkness. Peter made sure to help all of them, guiding them back towards the exits, almost herding them like sheep. When he finally couldn’t hear any more voices or heartbeats, he moved on toward other hallways, determined to stay until he knew everyone was out safely.

A round of coughing ripped the precious oxygen from his lungs and he fell to his knees, trying to heave in as much air as he could. The sprinklers had been going off for some time, the cold water made him shiver, despite the heat he could feel from the burning fire.

Climbing back up, he moved, hunched over down the hallway. He could hear two people calling out, two voices nearly imperceptible to anyone else. His enchanted vision was the only thing that allowed him to make out the two figures huddled against one of the walls.

As he got closer, he could see it was two girls, so he called out to them. “You guys need to move!”

“She can’t wait,” one of them said, guesting to the other girl. “She fell when everyone was rushing to leave.”

Peter didn’t even hesitate, he moved closer, bending down and holding his arm out. “I can carry you,” he said to the girl, who simply nodded her head. “After I lift her, grab onto my arm, okay? I’ll lead us out of here.”

The other girl nodded and Peter looked at the girl on the floor. “Put your arms around my neck, I’m going to lift you really carefully, okay?”

Once she was secure around his neck, scooped her up with one arm underneath her knees and the other supporting her back. If it wasn’t for his stickiness, he wasn’t sure if he would have been able to hold her very well. She was crying, coughing too and the smoke was only getting worse. The other girl did as he requested, grabbing ahold of his sleeve and Peter made his way forward, toward the exit.

It felt like it took him forever until he was close to the doors. A group of first responders saw them, breaking over and coming to their aide. One of them took the girl from Peter’s arms before another ushered him out the door of the school.

-

Tony had tried desperately to give Peter the amount of space he needed not to feel completely overwhelmed or smothered by him. While he would have loved to have Peter carry around an emergency alert, or have a 24/7 monitor on his phone, he just didn’t do it. He couldn’t expect Peter to warm up to him if he felt Tony was stalking him.

But that didn’t mean Tony was about to let Peter out in the world without proper precautions. He had several alerts set up, including one to inform him about any problems at Midtown.

He just didn’t expect to ever get the alert, especially when he was sitting in the middle of a boring R & D meeting, Pepper occasionally forced him to attend.

FRIDAY had sent the alert to his phone, a chime sound went off and all eyes flitted to him. Glancing down, he saw in big letters EMERGENCY AT MIDTOWN TECH, FIRE AND POLICE DISPATCHED. He was up and moving before the words even sunk in. “Family emergency,” he said, getting out of the room, and calling Pepper immediately.

Before she could even answer, he was talking. “Got an alert for an emergency at Midtown, taking a suit there.”

“Okay, I’ll call Happy and send him straight to the school. What else can I do? Do we know what kind of an emergency-” she paused for a second. “Oh my, I just got the official alert from Midtown, apparently there’s currently a fire. Evacuation has already begun and the school is requesting parents stay away.”

Tony snorted. “I’m still going.”

“I didn’t think you would listen to that anyway,” Pepper said and then. “Be safe.”

They hung up, just as Tony made it up the elevator and towards the lab. He hated not wearing his direct access to his suit at all times. When he left the Tower he usually did but he’d gotten in the lazy habit of keeping it off when he was home.

That was going to change after this.

The second the casting was back on his chest, he tapped the button twice, allowing the new nanite suit to wash over him. When it was finally on a minute later, he was out the window and flying toward Midtown. “FRI,” he requested. “Get me as much information as you can and see if you can track Peter’s phone.”

An onslaught of information flooded his screen, including a little red dot that signified Peter was currently, to his relief, outside of the building. Besides, images and videos taken from cell phones came up, showing black smoke and fire coming from the school. Emergency vehicles looked to be on campus already, no doubt quelling out the flames.

“Any idea how this happened?” He questioned, as he got closer.

“Reports indicate an explosion taking place in the northwest wing at approximately 12:34 pm. At this time it is unsure what caused the explosion or if it was a deliberate attack.”

Tony’s heart raced, and the idea that someone had tried to blow up the school just to get to Peter flooded his mind. No one was supposed to know and those who did had signed ironclad NDAs, to keep Peter safe and sound. That didn’t mean someone didn’t tell one person, who told another who told another… and before you knew it, Peter was in the middle of a kidnapping attempt, or worse, attempts on his life.

But he couldn’t let himself spiral that far down, his priority was to find Peter.

The area around Midtown was alive with activity, there was still a billowing of smoke coming from the building, but firefighters seemed to have it under control. There was a crowd of students standing around the far end of the football field, FRIDAY was scanning the crowd looking for signs of Peter.

“Call Peter,” Tony asked FRIDAY, watching as Peter’s name came up and the phone rang, rang, rang, with no answer. Peter’s phone was located somewhere among the masses, the only thing keeping Tony from barging into the building.

FRIDAY narrowed Peter’s location to a group of ambulances and Tony’s heart rate skyrocketed. They were thankfully tucked alongside the parking lot of the school, away from the larger grouping of students and teachers. The suit dropped to the ground, hovering a few inches, opening up, and then allowing Tony to hop down. He sent the suit back home, FRIDAY updating his glasses with information on Happy’s arrival times.

It only took a second to find Peter, the kid sitting in the back of the ambulance, with a shock blanket over his shoulders, and an oxygen mask directly on his face. Tony made a beeline to him, nothing on his mind but the safety of his son.

“Pete,” he said when he arrived, reaching over and grabbing the kid’s shoulder, reassurance he was solid and real. “Are you okay?”

Peter nodded, up close his eyes were bloodshot, and the skin Tony could see was covered in dark black soot, streaked where the water looked to have dropped on him. His hair was plastered down to his face, his clothing wet and he was shivering despite the blanket. Peter’s hand went to his oxygen mask as if he was about to take it off, but Tony shook his head. “No, no, keep it on.”

A paramedic came from inside the ambulance, a look of surprise on his face but he recovered.
“Is he okay?” Tony asked him, as he came out, squeezing past Peter and jumping down to stand next to Tony.

“Sorry, Mr. Stark, since he’s a minor, I can’t divulge medical information without parental consent.”

Peter tried to say something into the mask, words he couldn’t hear but the mask fogged up.

“I’m his father,” Tony said. “Please, is he okay?”

The paramedic looked to Peter first, who just nodded his head before going into a small fit of coughing.

“He inhaled a lot of smoke, but he’s responding well to oxygen. Everything else seems to be fine, we were planning on taking him to the hospital for observation.”

“He can come back with me,” Tony said. “I have a full medical team that can take care of him.”

The paramedic looked a little dubious, but Peter pulled down the mask, clearing his throat. “I’d rather go home with him,” he said in a raspy voice, before letting out a little cough.

“I’ll sign whatever I have to,” Tony insisted. “Just, please, it’s better if he comes with me.”

“Let me go get my superior and make sure the school’s aware,” the paramedic said, walking away and leaving them alone.

Peter still hadn’t pulled the mask back over his face yet, instead, he cleared his throat before speaking. “What are you doing here?”

“There was an explosion and fire at your school, why wouldn’t I be here?”

Peter shrugged his shoulders and Tony let out a sigh, giving up all pretense of playing it cool, and pulled Peter into a hug. At first, the kid was stiff, but then a moment passed and he was hugging Tony back the best he could. The smell of smoke was a little overwhelming, Tony had to fight back a cough of his own, but there was no way he was letting go of his kid now.

Peter started coughing again, forcing Tony to let go and watch as his kid replaced the oxygen over his face once more.

“PETER!” Ned shouted, causing both of them to turn, just as Ned barreled passed Tony, grabbing Peter and pulling him into a hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“Careful,” Tony said, unsure of what to do, but Peter didn’t look bothered by it.

“What the fuuuuuuuuck?” Someone said from behind Tony, he turned to see another student standing there, a shock blanket over his shoulders and a shocked expression across his face. A “Why is Iron Man talking to Penis?”

“I’m sorry,” Tony said, taken aback immediately. “What did you just call him?”

“Uhhhh,” the kid said, looking a little green in the face suddenly. “Nothing Mr. Iron Man, sir, just uh, why do you want to talk to just some orphan? If you’re looking for the smartest kid here, then that’s me.”

“Iron Man isn’t recruiting people at an all school evacuation, Eugene,” spoke a girl who looked as if she just materialized out of thin air. The kid, Eugene, turned and gave her a nasty look, just as Peter cleared his throat again. The longer they stood there, the greater the group of spectators became and Tony had the urge to grab Peter and fly them both away from this mess.

“That’s enough Mr. Thompson.”

Tony turned to see Peter’s principal walking over with the paramedic trailing behind.

“I need you and everyone else to please return to their designated locations,” he said, with apparently enough authority that everyone seemed to disband around them, all except Ned. “That means you too, Mr. Leeds.”

“He can stay,” Peter said, mask back below his face, sounding much better than he had only minutes ago. “Please.”

“That’s fine,” Tony agreed. “I can take both of them, actually, back to the Tower. I’ve got a medical staff that can attest to any of Peter and Ned’s needs.”

“I can only allow you to take, Peter, Mr. Stark. Mr. Leeds will have to wait until his parents can pick him up.”

Ned nodded his head. “That’s fine, Mr. Morita. I understand, I just wanted to make sure Peter was okay.”

“Do you mind if I speak to you privately for a moment, Mr. Stark? The paramedics would like to give Peter another check before he’s sent back with you anyway.”

“Sure,” Tony said, the two of them stepping around the ambulance.

“I just wanted to let you know that your son was both very brave today, Mr. Stark. Several students have already informed us that Peter was standing around, helping people make it out of the school. He was one of the last students evacuated and he helped carry an injured student to safety.”

Pride burst through Tony’s chest, escaping in a large smile he couldn't help but give. “Thank you for letting me know, Mr. Morita.”

The man nodded, going off back into the crowd of students. Tony returned to Peter, who was now standing on the ground, with no more blanket or oxygen mask. Someone must have given him something to wipe his face with, there were only a few smears of smoke left. Ned had disappeared too.

“You ready?” Tony asked, shrugging his suit jacket off and handing it over to Peter, who still looked incredibly cold.

Peter took it from him. “Thanks, uh, are you going to fly us back to the Tower?”

“No,” Tony chuckled. “I sent the suit back home, Happy should be arriving any minute now. I told him to meet us around the back. We’ll just have to make our way through the crowd.”

“Everyone’s gonna know,” Peter said, sounding a little sullen. “I mean, I’m pretty sure everyone already knows. Flash isn’t going to keep things quiet and a few other people saw you talking to me too.”

“A price I’m willing to pay when it comes to making sure you’re safe,” Tony answered, admittedly having not thought of what he was about to do. Midtown would just be the start of it, even if they did have the entire student body signing NDAs. This was about to be an avalanche of rumors heading his way. “Not to add anything worse, but we might have to do a press conference now.”

“Great,” Peter answered, voice dripping with sarcasm, as he continued to shiver.

They arrived at the farther end of the parking lot, there were still people around, but no one seemed to be paying attention to the two of them. “Happy should be here in a minute, kid. Come here,” he said, holding his arm out. He was relieved when the kid took the invite, tucking himself up against Tony’s side. He must have really not been feeling too well, to accept something like this from him.

Tony squeezed Peter even closer. “I’m glad you’re alright,” he said, turning and kissing the top of Peter’s head.

Chapter Text

Flames licked at Peter’s skin, their burning caress left behind streaks of bright purple wherever they touched his skin. He tried to scream, but all that came out when he opened his mouth with a billow of smoke. He could taste it as it left, heavy ash and a sharp pungent taste that made him gag.

“PETER, HELP!” Ned shouted, standing just out of arm's reach, looking like he was wearing a suit made of flames. “PLEASE DO SOMETHING!”

Peter was trying, but every time he reached for Ned, he would direct more fire toward him. He controlled it, and the fire shot from his hands, wrapping up Ned like a present until it consumed him completely.

Tony was next, trying to reach for Peter, but the same happened to him. Everything Peter touched would burn, consumed by the fire whipping out from Peter’s skin.

Everything was his fault, it was always, always his fault.

Waking with a start, he heaved in gasps of cool oxygen, as he tried to untangle his legs from his bedsheet. He felt so stupid, he didn’t even see the fire at Midtown, but he couldn’t stop having nightmares about it. Couldn’t stop thinking about how he almost got himself, Ned, and hundreds of other kids killed.

He’d been lucky, so very lucky no one was killed or seriously injured at Midtown. The school would be closed for the next 2 months, classes had already transitioned to online ones. No one had any clue or leads as to what happened in the classroom but Peter couldn’t feel lucky about it.

He just felt foolish. In his haste to protect everyone, he almost caused their downfall.

Grabbing his phone, he sighed when he saw the time, 3:34 am. Not wanting to deal with any more nightmares, he got out of bed, left his room, and headed toward the one place he thought would be good for him.

Tony’s lab.

He hadn’t said anything to Tony yet, but now he felt like he had to. They hadn’t really talked about the fire, or what happened, Tony seemed to know that Peter had helped some people already but he wasn’t sure to what extent.

He knocked once on the door, listening as the music stopped and Tony called out his name. When he walked in, Tony was standing at the lab table, eating half a sandwich. “Hey, Pete, something wrong?”

“No,” Peter said, standing in the doorway. It took a second before he moved forward, making his way to Tony’s side. “Well, maybe.”

“Hmm,” Tony hummed. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Peter nodded shyly, eyes darting to look at the floor. He heard Tony get off his stool, it scraped against the floor a little too loudly, making him flinch. With the lack of sleep he was getting, it was harder to keep his senses from going overboard.

He figured the headache he was carrying with him lately was just part of the punishment for his stupidity.

“Come on, let’s go sit on the good old lab couch. It’s seen its fair share of sleepless nights and crises.”

Peter followed as Tony took a seat on one end, Peter moved to sit towards the other but somehow found himself sitting in the middle. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Course,” Tony answered.

“Do you… when you’re doing the Iron Man stuff do you ever… worry about people getting hurt when you’re trying to save them?”

“Oh,” Tony said, head moving from side to side. “What brought this on?”

Peter bit at his lip, for the first time genuinely wanting to tell Tony about being Spider-man. But telling him now would just open a can of worms, he was far too scared of it, so he just shrugged instead.

Tony was quiet for a moment, looking in deep thought. “When I realized what my weapons were capable of in the wrong hands, I shut it down and stopped manufacturing. That didn’t mean my weapons weren’t already out there but I tried to do the one thing I could be sure of. Becoming Iron Man, going out there was my attempt to atone for what I had done to countless others without even blinking an eye.”

Peter hadn’t really known that Tony Stark, the Merchant of Death, he was just a little kid when that Tony was out there. He just knew him as the mythical being of his father, the man who refused anything to do with him. When Tony became Iron Man, that’s really when Peter had a chance to see him, when he became larger than life figure.

“What happens when you try to do the right thing, but it doesn’t work? Aren’t you ever scared that you’ll end up causing more problems for people?”

“Then you have to find a way to keep things in check. If you can’t accept limitations, you’re no better than a bad guy, right? You know, right before you came to live with me, Bruce and I were working on an AI that would blow anything else you’ve seen out of the water. I wanted to create a way to keep the world safe, so the next time aliens rolled up to the club, they wouldn’t even get past a bouncer.”

Peter cocked up an eyebrow, this was news to him, Tony hadn’t ever mentioned something like that before to him. Nothing he’d seen Tony work on looking close to something like that. “But,” Tony continued. “When you came to us, I stopped working on it. And that gave me some time to think about the whole thing. Like what if the thing you create to protect people, does worse damage? I wanted to make an all powerful AI, that kind of thing in even the best hands possible could cause destruction.”

“Is there a correct answer then? I mean, you don’t do something and bad things happen, but when you have the ability to stop it and you try? Bad things might happen anyways. How do you balance it?”

“And that’s the risk you take, that’s the risk I take. I know whatever I do out there, may have bad consequences, hell the whole team does too. We’re all trying our best to share the burden of responsibility here, to make sure there’s no more collateral damage than there ever needs to be. I just believe that no matter what, if I can try just a little to make something better, then that’s exactly what I should do.”

The words sunk into Peter’s gut like a rock. Tony was right, Peter could stop things, to help people, and that’s why he became Spider-man. But it was also his responsibility to be safe and careful with what he had.

He had an obligation to use these abilities to keep people safe, not risk their safety. He couldn’t make Ned lie for him anymore, he couldn’t be so cavalier with people’s lives as he had been. When he brought the orb to Midtown, he was too concerned with stopping the weapons, he didn’t even consider the damage it could have done.

“But really, what brought all of it on, Pete? Did something happen?”

Without realizing it, Peter had somehow found himself moving closer to Tony until he was pulled up against his side, under the safety of his arm. “At school… I… I was helping people and it was just really scary. I kept thinking what if I don’t get everyone out? What if I can’t save everyone in there? And now I just keep having the same nightmare, where I can’t. Where everything I do just makes it worse, where I start the fire and I can’t find a way to put it out.”

“Oh kiddo,” Tony said, bringing his arm around Peter’s shoulders and pulling him closer. “You don’t need to worry about that. You were very brave to go back and try to help students, but that’s not your responsibility. I’m proud of you, but you didn't need to.”

The words were so close to coming out of Peter’s mouth, about how it was his fault, it was his responsibility but he pressed his lips together. Now more than ever, he couldn’t tell Tony the truth, not until he made amends for everything he’d done wrong. Not only he was sure he could show Tony that he understood.

He decided he’d tell Tony another truth instead. “Sometimes I think about what would have happened if I was at home when … when Ben and May died. I think about it all the time, honestly. Like, what if I was there and I could have stopped the robber? Or maybe he wouldn’t have killed them if he knew I was there.”

“Kiddo,” Tony said, his voice soft. “You shouldn’t be thinking like that. I know for a fact your aunt and uncle must have been so relieved that you weren’t there when it happened. I know they wouldn’t have wanted anything bad to happen to you. And you were and you are a kid, Pete. There’s nothing you could have done to change the outcome and if you spend your life thinking about it, you’re going to waste what you have now.”

Tears escaped from Peter’s eyes, big fat ones rolled down his cheeks. “I just miss them so much,” he said honestly, all of the sadness he’d been feeling starting to spill out.

Tony’s grip tightened. “I know you do, kiddo and I know there's nothing I can say or do that’ll make this easier for you but please, Pete, don’t carry this burden on your shoulders. You’re a good kid, you’ve got a bright and amazing future ahead of you. You don’t need to weigh yourself downplaying the what if game. Trust me, if you believe anything I say to you, believe that.”

Peter wanted to, he really, really did. “Thanks,” Peter said softly, wiping away tears. “You’re really good at the whole pep talk thing.”

He could feel Tony’s chuckle. “Yeah well, I listened to enough of Steve’s, they started to wear off on me.”

Peter yawned, his eyes starting to droop a little. “Can I…” he started, but then felt a little dumb for what he was going to ask. He wanted to stay there with Tony, snuggled up to his side, feeling safe and protected but he didn’t know if that was what Tony wanted.

“Why don’t you close your eyes? Take a cat nap, god knows I probably need one too.”

“Yeah okay,” Peter said softly, already starting to drift off into sleep. “Thanks, Tony.”

-

It didn’t take long for FRIDAY to figure out what happened at Midtown.

By the next day, Tony already had all the information he needed. The device that exploded was like one of the devices found in the alien weapons the rest of the team was tracking down. With the news in hand, he called a meeting with the team, to share his findings.

“Think it’s a teacher?” Clint asked after Tony had shared the files around the table.

“Or student,” Steve added. “We can’t rule that out completely, it did explode during the school day in a classroom. This might have been a targeted attack.”

“Doesn’t feel like it,” Tony answered. “Nothing about what happened seemed like it was deliberate. No one has come forward claiming the attacks either, in fact, there’s very little evidence surrounding the whole thing.”

“No camera footage?” Nat asked. “No DNA evidence to work with?”

“Nope, Midtown only has cameras in certain areas, a security problem a nice donation from Stark Industries is about to fix. Forensics is a bust too, the fire burned away anything we could have tried to work with. If it wasn’t for the very unique energy signature from the weapons, we’d have nothing to even work with. Right now I’ve got FRIDAY running background checks on pretty much anyone who has ever even walked down the block.”

“We can always ask Peter,” Steve brought up. “He might know something, if it was a student, he might have heard rumors about it. What kid would be able to keep something like bringing an alien weapon into school a secret?”

“We’re not bringing Pete into this,” Tony responded, sternly. He had already given a fair amount of thought to that idea but decided against it. “He doesn’t need to get involved with something like this. The bomb going off at his school was close enough.”

“It won’t hurt to ask,” Clint pressed on. “He might find it exciting helping out the Avengers.”

“The kid barely tolerates me right now, to be honest. I’m just now getting him to talk to me, I don’t want to push him into doing anything that might jeopardize all the goodwill I’ve managed to accumulate. For now, unless I deem otherwise, Peter is off limits. We need to focus on why the weapon was even at Midtown, to begin with.”

“Nothing we’ve come across so far suggests any connection with Midtown or a reason why someone would have a weapon there. There’s no connection to the Maggias either, Midtown really isn’t in their district,” Nat answered, scrolling through someone on the Starkpad. “Unless they are branching out a little, or possibly, selling weapons in different areas, which also hasn’t happened yet either.”

The group was silent for a second. “It’s just a really odd thing,” Steve pipped back up. “The fact that your son’s school is the first place we have an incident with just alien technology. If it was any other school, I would just assume it was a teacher or student, or maybe someone found it just lying around somewhere but with Peter going there…”

“Don’t,” Tony said, holding up his hand. “Peter has nothing to do with this. And hey, it’s a school of smart kids, there are several possibilities. What if a kid’s parent is a weapon dealer and some kid saw a shiny thing and took it to show and tell?”

Clint snorted. “Show and tell is a little too old for high schoolers, Tony.”

“Yeah well,” Tony said with a sigh. “However the bomb got there, we need to make sure it never goes back.”

The conversation veered again, Nat and Steve presented the group with some of their latest information. Tony’s mind was occupied solely by Peter and what had happened. He felt like he was missing something, a fact that was just right out of reach.

When the meeting ended, Nat stayed behind, watching Tony out of the corner of her eye. When the room was finally cleared, Tony gave her a look. “What?”

“I wanted to tell you something else, without the rest of the team knowing.”

“Ooh, secrets,” Tony cooed, Nat just ignored him.

“The day before Midtown’s explosion, we caught Spider-man on our surveillance of the warehouse. He went over the fence, was there for a few minutes, and then went off on his way. Looked like he grabbed something and took it with him, but the video camera wasn’t completely facing that area. I wouldn’t even have noticed it had we not gone back to cover the footage after the Midtown thing.”

“Huh,” Tony said, his brain slowly turning. “Huh.”

“Yeah, so, maybe you should talk to him again. We thought he was college age, but maybe he’s a lot younger than that.”

“Huh,” Tony said again, an itch starting somewhere in the back of his brain. “Why not tell the whole class this?”

Nat shrugged. “Dunno. So far you’re the only one who talked to him and he’s hanging out in your backyard.”

“I talked to the bug once, I’m not his best friend or anything.”

“Arachnid, but fair. I can send Clint to go talk to him-”

“No,” Tony cut her off. “It’s fine, I’ll deal with it. Don’t tell the others just yet, okay? I’ll let you know what happens.”

They parted and Tony could feel the itch digging at his skin, one he knew he’d scratch, no matter how much damage it may cause.

-

Peter was, for the first time in a while, feeling pretty good about things.

Three weeks had passed since the bomb went off at Midtown and no one seemed the wiser that he was the culprit. After his talk with Tony, his nightmares faded and he felt like maybe he could make things better without messing up. So instead of going out Spider-manning the second he could after his grounding was over, he just didn’t.

Even Ned was a little surprised at Peter’s apology for all the stuff he’d forced his friend to do. Ned was never really mad at him and he knew his best friend would stick by his side, but it made him feel better saying it.

The next thing he focused on making his amends with was the weapons dealings. While he really wanted to take a look at the weapons up close again, there was zero chance he’d risk it. Instead, he decided to deliver the weapons to someone else the next time he got ahead of them.

Which turned out to be the very next day when he managed to nab two right out of the hands of two people trying to rob a convenience store. It was worrying him how many of them were getting into the hands of everyday morons, many of which shouldn’t have been able to even afford them.

“How’d you end up with these?” Peter asked one after he’d gotten them webbed up and the two weapons put aside. “I can’t imagine you could afford them, no offense.”

One of the guys, who might as well have been a teenager for the way he looked, spit on the ground. “None of your business.”

“Rude, but okay. You know how dangerous these things are? Just the little glowy orb thing alone-”

“Did you just call it a glowy orb thing?” the other one asked. “How old are you, 12?”

“You know,” Peter said, putting his hands on his hips. “I’m gettin’ real sick of all you criminals thinking I’m an actual child.”

“Then maybe you shouldn’t be calling things glowy orb things and be only 5 feet tall.”

“I’ll have you know the name was trademarked by my guy in the chair and I’m 5 '8” and a half, on a good day.”

Both criminals laughed, and Peter just rolled his eyes. “But really, how are you guys getting these things? They are so ridiculously dangerous and far too advanced for you two to be using.”

“They’re just samples,” the younger looking one said. “The Don’s giving out trial runs of things before he moves on-”

“Shut up!” the other one hissed. “Jesus Christ, don’t you know anything? The bug-”

“Arachnid,” Peter threw it, which was ignored like usual.

“Didn’t even threaten you and you’re already blabbin’. This is how you end up in the Hudson.”

“Fine, I ain’t telling you nothing anymore.”

“That’s fine, I’m just gonna take these and you two can enjoy your time in our criminal justice system,” Peter said with a shrug. “Or maybe, you can tell me what’s gonna happen and I’ll maybe let people know you helped.”

“Are you trying to bribe us? What kind of leeway do you have with the police? You’re a vigilante.”

Peter was forever glad he wore a mask, because he frowned, and pouted even because he really wasn’t betting on these guys being smartasses right back to him. He just wanted to know what the Maggias were planning to do, that’s all.

“Fine, don’t tell me then and you’ll never know what I could have helped you with.”

“Can we just tell him so he’ll leave us alone?” The other guy asked. “I don’t like the way the weird eye goggles are looking at me.”

“Fine, these are small fry weapons compared to what the Don wants to do. He’s giving them out to anyone who wants it as a test, he’s starting low. Working his way up, I suppose.”

“Huh,” Peter said, frowning. “Whose making them?”

“That’s way above our pay grade, dude,” the guy grumbled.

“Alright, can you at least tell me where you’re getting them from? Is there like a super secret pickup location?”

Both of the robbers gave him the same look, Peter coughed, trying to make his voice sound a little more manly. “I mean, where are you getting these weapons from?”

The men exchanged looks, and just as the sirens got a little louder, the police would be there shortly. “There’s a place on Metropolitan Ave it used to be a Kmart. Out behind there,” the younger looking one answered.

“Man,” the other one whined. “You might as well give him the date and time too.”

“Yeah, you should, now that you’ve spilled the beans.”

“Don’t!” The smarter of the two said. “And I bet it’s when he’s in school anyways.”

Peter glared at them, at least he had some bit of information to go on.

“Alright, thanks for the help, bye!” Peter said, without any further discussion, Peter grabbed the weapons and swung away, landing on a building a few blocks over.

The week before he and Ned purchased a burner phone, one they planned on using to contact Tony or the Avengers if they never needed to. They’d already programmed the number Tony had given Spider-man into it, which wasn’t Tony’s actual number. Peter knew he had tracking and a million other things linked to that number, ways he could figure out exactly where Peter was texting or calling from.

And he actually wanted Tony to come to find him.

So he called.

Tony picked up on the fourth ring.

“Hello?”

Peter cleared his throat, using the voice he practiced over the last few weeks. One that didn’t sound nearly as fake, or at least he hoped. “Hey Iron Man, it’s Spider-man.”

“Spidey,” Tony said, amusement in his voice. “What do I owe the pleasure?”

“I’ve got a few alien weapons for you.”

“Ah,” Tony said, in the background, Peter recognized the whirl of Dum-E. “Why don’t you stop by and drop them off? Maybe come in for a cup of tea?”

“Uh, no thanks. I’d rather you come out and get them.”

“That’s just rude, don’t you think? You call me up, asking if I want to come out and get something from you?”

“Would you rather I call and invite myself over? I mean, you’re the billionaire, you have more time and money to come over and meet me somewhere. If memory serves me, you’re the one who told me I should reach out, and here I am, reaching out.”

Dum-E squeaked in the background again and Peter suddenly got really nervous. Was there a way for Tony to figure out who he was? There shouldn't be, they bought the phone on the street, paying cash and it would take a lot more effort to track down where they bought it from and review any video footage.

Peter was thinking way too much into it and almost missed what Tony was saying.

“So, 10 minutes?”

“Uh, yeah, um, where did you say we’d meet?”

“I said, I’ll meet you at the same place we did last time in about 10 minutes.”

“Yeah, okay bye.”

Peter hung up, suddenly feeling way too nervous, as he made his way toward the building he first encountered Iron Man at. He had zero reasons to believe Tony was on to him, he had pretty much left Spider-man alone since first encountering him. Arriving first, he placed the weapons on the ground and looked around, trying to see if maybe Tony was hiding somewhere, ready to jump out.

He heard the repulsors before he saw them and watched as the tiny Iron Man in the sky got bigger until the man was landing on the roof. Tony stepped out of the suit, looking cool, calm, and collected.

“Spidey,” he said casually, eyeing the weapons. “I assume you acquired these from some unsavory individuals?”

“Yeah, they were using it to rob a gas station a few blocks away. I even found out how they are getting them and from where.”

“Oh?” Tony said, raising his eyebrow. “Well, tell the class.”

“Maggia family is giving them these weapons to test them out before they manufacture bigger and better ones. These low level guys are getting it from a place down on Metropolitan Ave. I haven't checked it out myself or anything but I got it on good authority.”

“Good to know,” Tony said with a nod. Peter started to back away, wanting to get out before the conversation could go on much longer. “Before you go, I have a few questions of my own, if you don’t mind. You aren't in a hurry, are you? Early morning class, maybe?”

“No,” Peter answered, standing still. “I’m not in school - still in school. Graduated, a long time ago. Years ago.”

“Right, sure,” Tony said. “You wouldn’t know anything about the whole bombing at Midtown Tech last month, would you?”

“No, why would you say that?” Peter answered, way too quickly, his instinct was to run away but that would definitely look more suspicious.

“Listen, I’m not saying you did it or anything, but I just want to know if you maybe heard anything. Or better yet, maybe leave any alien weapons lying around anywhere some young impressionable youth could get them?”

“Nope, nothing, wasn’t even in the area when it happened. Just heard about it through the normal grapevine. And I have like I did before and am doing now, giving you all the alien gl-weapons that I have found.”

Tony smiled at that, tilting his head to the side. “Alright, Spidey, no need to get so worked up. We’re on the same side here you know. We’re both trying to help people, get the weapons off the street.”

“Okay,” Peter responded. “Thanks, for coming to get these.”

“Of course, one more question before you go, what’s your m.o.? Why dress up and fling yourself dangerously around the city?”

Peter didn’t answer right away, he frowned a little, trying to figure out where Tony was going with his line of questioning before finally deciding to answer. “When you can do the things I do, you have a responsibility to use those abilities to help everyone you can.”

Tony hummed but otherwise didn’t sound too suspicious. Peter could hear his heartbeat, still normal, as was his breathing. As weird as his line of questioning was, Peter didn’t sense anything going badly. “Very noble of you Spider-man. Anyway, the offer still stands, I can help you with your tech and give you a nice upgrade.”

“I’m good, really,” Peter insisted, although a part of him really wanted to hear about the upgrades Tony might be planning for him. Maybe after the weapons are off the street, he’d consider revealing his identity. Give Tony some time to see Spider-man as a hero of the people, an asset and maybe he could apply the same to Peter.

“You know that webbing you’ve made, it’s pretty impressive,” Tony said casually, walking over to the weapons and touching the webbing. “Where did you say you graduated from? Have to be pretty smart to make this, the tensile strength is off the charts.”

“Uh, MIT,” Peter answered quickly, coming up with the first school he could think of.

“Oh really? Wouldn’t you, that's where I went to! What a coincidence! What did you major in? Parties still good?”

“I don’t need to tell you anything,” Peter answered, he needed to get out. He was terrible at improvising, the more questions he was asked the more likely it was he’d mess up. “I mean, it’s none of your business.”

Tony moved away from the webbing. “Chill, Spidey, I’m not the enemy here. I’m just asking, just trying to get to know you. And really, what’s in your webbing? I’m sure it costs you to make it, why don't you let me do it and I’ll give it to you for free or at least have some handy.”

“It’s complicated and uh, copyrighted. By me. It’s a secret, one I’d like to keep, just like my identity, so…”

“Why? I mean, none of us have secret identities, why not join the club?”

“Because,” Peter said sternly. “I’m not doing this to be popular or have everyone know my name. I’m doing this to help people and the best way to do that is to stay anonymous. I don’t need or want your attention or tech or anything, I just want… I just want to do the right thing.”

“Well, Spidey, sometimes letting people help you is the right thing,” Tony paused, looking Peter up and down once. Standing up a little straighter, Peter tried his best not to look like a 15 year old kid trying to lie to his father. “It’s a lesson it took me a while to learn.”

“Thanks,” Peter offered. “Well, it’s getting uh, late, so I’m gonna jet-er, go, okay bye.”

Without another moment's hesitation, Peter turned and ran, jumping off the roof of the building and swinging away.

Chapter Text

Peter was already home by the time Tony got back to the Tower. He’d stayed out a little longer than he intended to, after meeting with Spider-man on the rooftop. He mostly wanted to stand outside and take several deep breaths just thinking about the fact that Spider-man might be Peter, after all.

Anytime the thought entered his mind, it was followed by a headache and the urge to vomit.

A part of him refused to believe it, the part that couldn’t see the 15 year old lying to him so much, manipulating Tony’s love and trust to throw it back in his face. A part of him refused to believe he’d been that stupid, and missed all of the signs. He should have noticed those things, he should have been a lot more receptive to what was actually happening with Peter.

He was a genius, after all, there’s no way a 15 year old should have been able to fool him.

The first person he thought of talking this through, was, of course, Pepper. She listened intently as Tony explained to her his theory and the little proof he had. He waited until Peter was asleep and they were sitting in their bed, hoping the kid’s hearing was picking up any conversations. He remembered Spider-man saying his senses were dialed up, it would be something he had to keep in mind going forward.

“Hmm,” she hummed when he finished, she had her business executive face on, the one that solved problems and took no prisoners. “Honestly, knowing who his father is, I can see Peter doing something like this.”

“That doesn’t make me feel any better, in fact, I think that makes me feel worse.”

“It also means he’s probably doing it for a good reason, or at least, he thinks he is. He’s a really good kid and despite how he acts around you, he does care about you. And I will admit, just hearing the idea that he’s… you know, I’m both angry and worried.”

“I’m ping ponging between the two myself,” Tony admitted, as angry as he was about the potential lying, he was also terrified his kid was going to get himself killed out there. “I think right now I’m trying to stay firmly seated in denial.”

“What are you going to do? Talk to him about it?” Pepper questioned but when she caught Tony’s expression she frowned. “Please talk to him, Tony. Don’t do anything stupid or outlandish. He’s never going to talk to you if you make this a big deal.”

“It is a big deal,” he insisted. “But I need to be sure first. I’m going to take a look at his web fluid, when Spider-man dropped off the guns he left plenty behind. I’ve got FRIDAY looking for any footage of him before the Midtown bombing and I’m trying to find more footage from school that day.”

“What’s your plan for when you figure it out?”

Tony didn’t know how to answer that, at least not yet. He knew what he wanted to do, lock Peter up and never let him out. But he knew that wasn’t the right answer here, there really wasn’t one.

“I don’t know, honestly, Pep. I never thought… well, we both knew I never thought I’d even have kids, let alone one that’s trying to be a superhero right now. I’m barely capable of handling the normal teenager Peter.”

“I think you’ve been doing better than you think you are. Like I’ve said a million times, it’s an adjustment for both of you. You have to let things happen naturally and just make sure you’re giving Peter as much support as he needs. The rest will fall into place.”

“You’re awfully calm about Peter being a potential superhero, you know.”

Smirking, Pepper reached over and turned the bedside lamp off, bathing the room in just moonlight. “Hmm, it’s almost like I have years of experience dealing with Stark men putting on costumes and trying to save the world without any regard for their health…”

-

Peter woke up with a queasy feeling in his stomach that didn’t go away. He really didn’t understand it, but sometimes it felt like this entire body was trying to warn him of something. Usually, it was something dangerous, everything would slow down and he’d move without thinking, out of harm's way or stopping someone else from being hurt.

Now it felt like his stomach was trying to tell him he was better off staying in bed and not doing anything all day.

The feeling only increased the second he looked at his phone. Usually, he’d have a few emails, mostly spam, maybe a text or two from Ned but not much else. That morning, however, Peter had about a dozen different texts from people and about 30 from Ned alone. Some of them were from classmates, two were numbers he didn’t have saved in his Contacts.

Opening Ned’s, he knew what had happened the second he read the first message. It was a screenshot from the Daily Bugle’s website and staring back at him, was his grinning face.

Someone had leaked not only his name but his picture to the press.

Even after Tony arrived at his school to save him, they somehow managed to avoid the world knowing exactly who he was. They didn’t have so much of a press conference, as Tony released a statement saying yes, he had a son and no he’s a minor therefore you can’t even know his name.

They all thought they were safe, while students around them saw Tony there, he’d apparently sent out half a dozen NDAs to people, scary enough to keep people’s mouths firmly closed. Peter was foolish enough to believe, that people would just not talk or spread rumors. Having the school closed down, probably helped quite a bit in that sense too.

Except not really, because someone who knew Peter most definitely said something to the press, along with sending them Peter’s terrible freshman yearbook photo. It was quite possibly the worst photo they could have chosen for him, he looked like a toddler, wide grin, and hair slicked back so much he could taste the gel by just looking at it.

The phone rang in his hand, Ned’s face taking up the screen and he answered.

“Dude!”

“Dude!”

“Duuudee!”

“DUDE!”

“Peter,” FRIDAY interrupted them. “Tony is requesting you join him and Pepper in the living room.”

“Shit,” Peter said into the phone. “Talk later, I think Tony knows what happened already.”

“Call me back when you’re done, this is insane dude!”

Throwing on a pair of pants, he made his way out of his room and into the lounge, where both Tony and Pepper sat on the couch, phones in their hands. Neither of them looked angry, or particularly worried.

“Uh, hi guys,” Peter said, making his way in and sitting on the far end of the couch. “I take it you both saw the Bugle cover?”

“Hey sweetie, I’m so sorry about everything happening this morning. We’ve already called the Daily Bugle and are working with our lawyers to get the interview taken down.”

“Interview? I uh, didn’t really get to see what exactly was leaked, I just saw my face and name on their website.”

“One of your little punk classmates gave a tell all interview to the Bugle about you,” Tony answered.

Peter cringed, knowing exactly who that might have been. “Let me guess, Eugene Thompson?”

Both Pepper and Tony looked surprised at his guess and he continued. “He, uh, well he doesn’t like me very much so, I just assumed he’d be the one to say something.”

“Is it the same kid who called you penis?” Tony asked, making Peter blush a little, he avoided eye contact with Pepper when he answered.

“Yeah, that’s him.”

He really hoped they didn’t press him for more information. Yeah, Flash was a bully but he could handle it. Ben and May didn’t even know just how bad the bullying was and he was happy to keep it a secret from everyone.

“Hmph,” Tony said, then stood up. “I’m going to the lab. Pete, you should stay in the next few days, and give things a chance to smooth over before you go outside. Don’t talk to Eugene or anyone associated with him and it should be fine. Our lawyers can handle the rest, God knows we pay them enough.”

And then Tony left, leaving Peter a little bewildered.

“That’s it?” he said to Pepper, still a little weary of looking her in the eyes still. “He’s not gonna do anything else?”

“Well,” Pepper said, when Peter finally turned to look at her, she had an uneven smile on her face. “There isn’t a whole lot anyone can do. We’re getting the interview taken down, the Daily Bugle should issue an apology but the damage has been done already.”

“I just thought he’d be all pitchforks and torches about the whole thing, not so blasé.”

“He’s not being blase, Peter, when there’s nothing you can do, getting angry at the press or the internet isn’t helpful. Tony’s had to deal with things like this his whole life and maybe he’s forgetting that you haven’t. It’s always better to let things blow over, admit that you’re his son, and then move on, stop making it a big deal. Do you want me to go talk to him?”

“No, it’s fine,” Peter said, not able to hide his disappointment from his voice.

Pepper stood up, holding her arms open for him. “Come here.”

He went immediately getting up and hugging her, he felt her kiss the top of his head and he held on a little tighter still. “I’m sorry everything had to happen this way, but things will get better. I’ve got to head back downstairs now, but I’ll come up for lunch today, okay?”

“Thanks, Pepper,” he said softly, before pulling away. She leaned over, kissing his forehead, before leaving him alone in the living room. He had an hour before his online class was supposed to start and he had a feeling it wouldn’t be nearly as productive as usual.

When he got back up to his room, he immediately read the interview Flash had given to the Daily Bugle, in which he painted Peter as a spoiled, stupid rich kid who did whatever he wanted and got away with murder. It was basically Flash’s personality imposed onto Peter. He knew none of the people who actually knew him would believe it but he wasn’t worried about them.

When he called Ned back, his best friend pretty much said the same thing. That Flash was just jealous and nobody who knew Peter would believe it. They talked until class and, just as Peter feared, everyone seemed to glue their attention onto him. He could see every single one of his classmates on camera, watching his little picture, as if Tony might just make a wild appearance behind him.

He left the class meeting the second he could, not wanting to leave himself open to any questions from his classmates. That still didn’t stop the endless barrage of text messages, all of which he ignored as he got ready for his next class.

-

Tony didn’t join him and Pepper for lunch nor did he show up until they were midway through dinner. By then Peter had been very annoyed with the seemingly pathetic response Tony seemed to have made about the leak. The apology from Bugle really wasn’t anything all that great. They pulled the interview and said they were sorry for leaking a minor’s information and nothing else. Tony released a statement, it didn’t even sound like something Tony would even say, just admitting that Peter Parker was his son, but reminding everyone Peter was a minor and that they wouldn’t be releasing any more information.

That didn’t stop people from hanging out outside the Tower, hoping they could maybe catch a glimpse of Peter. He had quickly put his sparse social media accounts on lockdown, glad he never really posted pictures of himself or gave out any personal information.

He spent most of the morning and afternoon ignoring questions and trying very hard to stop searching his name over and over again, glad nothing new was coming up each time.

When Tony did come down, Peter shot him a glare as he sat at the table, reaching over to grab the food Pepper had put out for them.

“Sorry,” he said to them. “I got carried away with something.”

Tony didn’t look over at him, something that annoyed Peter a lot. He could at least look like he’s worried, or sorry that this happened. Pepper must have sensed something because she very diplomatically cleared her throat. “How was school today, Peter?”

She had already asked him that, of course, but he could tell she wanted Tony to join the conversation. Usually, he didn’t mind this very much, he knew Pepper was just trying to help, but Tony’s uninterest was starting to get annoying. “Fine,” he said, shoving chicken in his mouth to avoid expanding.

“Are you excited to go back to school next month?” Pepper continued to ask. Thanks to Tony, the school’s construction project was moving on pretty quickly. He’s not only spent money but offered a lot of help. Peter was happy about it, since it was his fault, Tony should be helping.

“Yeah,” Peter continued his one word answer a little longer.

And then, Tony finally looked at him but his expression was just… odd. “Speaking of,” Tony started. “I haven’t asked you yet, but what do you know about what happened?”

“Oh,” Peter answered, suddenly feeling very, very, very, warm. This was the most direct question Tony had asked about Midtown. Even after their late night talk, he really didn’t push the issue. “Uh, not much, I mean. I was uh, at lunch.”

“And then?” Tony continued. “You got pretty involved in helping people. How’d you manage to get there?”

“Why the sudden interest?” Peter countered back, realizing way too late it was the wrong way to go. He should have just told him the lie he’d already come up with.

“I realize I never asked you,” Tony said, eyes still staring at Peter like he was a puzzle he wanted to solve. Did Tony really think he was involved in this? He never made any indication he thought of it before.

“Oh, uh, well, yeah. I was eating lunch with Ned and then the bomb thing went off and then we evacuated. But uh, I saw that people were stuck so I went back to help.”

“That was very brave of you,” Pepper added, trying to steer the conversation back into the pleasant territory.

Peter shrugged. “Yeah well, I mean, I thought I should help.”

“Do you know what exploded?” Tony questioned, his hand clenched around his fork.

“No,” Peter answered, trying to sound truthful. “The school really isn’t saying anything, so yeah. I mean there’s gossip about it, of course. Someone said it was a bomb, others say it was an accident with some experiment someone was doing.”

“Hmm,” Tony said, he opened his mouth but Pepper cut him off before he could answer.

“Tony, why don’t we talk about something a little more pleasant at dinner?” Pepper said in a very calm manner. Peter could see why people listened to her, she wasn’t demanding anything, but her tone gave very little wiggle room.

“Fine,” Tony said sharply, finally putting his chicken to his mouth, as he turned away from Peter. He finished chewing, and Peter just sort of stared at him, feeling weird emotions. He was annoyed Tony didn’t seem to care about his life being turned upside down again, but also worried about Tony’s accusations.

Had they found something about what happened? He held no illusions that Tony might find out it was an alien weapon, but what did that mean for him? Was there some connection that he had forgotten about?

“Do you know why the school got blown up?” Peter asked suddenly, grabbing Tony’s attention again. “I know you guys are looking into it, I heard you talking to Steve about it a few days ago. Not that I was spying or anything but you were in the living room when I went into the kitchen. Is it because I go there or do you think this is Avengers level worthy?”

Tony took a second before answering, his voice even, as was his temper. “Of course, it’s because you go there,” he said. “I don’t want anything bad to happen to you Pete, so yes, I had the team look into it.”

There was a finality to his voice that made it clear he wasn’t planning on answering any more questions. They went back to eating in silence until Pepper brought up weekend plans and maybe going to visit the Compound to take a break from the city.

It wasn’t until after dinner, Peter realized Tony never really answered if he knew what happened or not.

-

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Nat asked, tossing the apple she’d stolen off the counter in the air before catching it.

“Can you be any more of a walking cliche with that?” Tony nodded towards the apple. “Because holding that apple does not make you innocent by any means.”

Nat caught it one last time, taking a very slow and deliberate bite, the crunching sound it made echoing in the large kitchen. She smiled, her mouth full, before swallowing a little dramatically. “Better?”

Tony glared. “Anyway, yes, I’m sure, I’ve got all the evidence I need for now.”

“By lying to him? What if you’re not right? I know I told you about the whole Spider-man thing, but it could just be a coincidence.”

“I had FRI scan Spider-man based on our previous interactions and, wouldn’t you know it, the scans were consistent to that of a 15 year old boy. It also just so happened to be exactly like my 15 year old son.

Nat smirked. “He’s gonna really love that, either way.”

Rolling his eyes, Tony continued. “Not to mention the fact that Spider-man just so happened to grab something from the warehouse that Peter was found trespassing at. Then an alien weapon blew up at Midtown the next day? Those aren’t coincidences, Nat. And there’s been countless other signs that I’ve been too stupid to even see. I’ve spent the last two days obsessing over it and I’m done with that. I want answers.”

“Not stupid,” Nat said, taking another bite of the apple. “You’ve been preoccupied with Peter so much you haven’t noticed what Peter was doing.”

“And that’s completely on me, but I’m looking now and I’m going to settle it.”

“By tricking him? I mean, you could just ask him.”

“He’d just deny it. I need proof, Nat. He’s only going to come clean if he has no other choice in the matter.”

Nat didn’t look all that convinced. “And Pepper’s okay with this?”

Low blow and she knew it. “Of course.”

Nat spotted the lie, smirking at him. “You’re really willing to make the two most important people in your life angry at you right now? There are other ways to deal with this, Tony. I can go talk to Peter if you want me to.”

“No, that's the very last thing I want to have happen. I’m doing this my way, Nat.”

“Boss,” FRIDAY interrupted. “Peter has entered the elevator.”

Nat raised her eyebrow but didn’t say anything else, seemingly waiting for Tony’s cue. Tony counted down from 5 before he started speaking again, making sure he kept his voice at a normal volume. He had to make sure Peter wasn’t immediately suspicious about the timing of the conversation, or the volume.

“And where exactly is this weapons dealing taking place?” he questioned Nat, staring at her hoping she’d actually play along. She pursed her lips, eyes twinkling with joy, making Tony suddenly very worried about his plan.

“A different warehouse than before, this one on Northern Blvd. They are,” she paused when the elevator dinged. “Moving around a lot, I’m assuming since they know we’re on to them.”

“Have an exact date?” Tony asked, eyes glancing towards the hallway, he couldn’t hear Peter walking down but he knew the doors to the elevator had opened.

“Sunday morning, around 9 am, I think.”

“That’s kind of random don’t you think,” Tony said sternly since that was not the time he had originally discussed. “Don’t you think weapon dealers like to sleep in?”

Nat laughed so loudly, he thought for sure Peter would realize what was happening, or at least, come forward but he didn’t appear in the door frame just yet. “I dunno, maybe that’s the plan, get it done early and assume all good superheroes are sleeping.”

“But you’re not going to do it, right? We’re just going to let this one happen.”

“Yup,” she said, casually looking over her shoulder towards the door frame. “We’ll worry about one of the bigger ones, but I just wanted to make sure you were aware of it. Just in case your little friend finds more weapons to drop off. You can thank him for what he's done so far too, it's been a big help having the weapons in our hands too."

Tony smirked. “We’ll see about that. I don’t know if he’s capable of tracking down the actual deals, but we’ll see. Anyway, I’m kicking you out, Peter should be home any minute now and I had a strict no work talk around the kid.”

Smirking, Nat walked to the garbage can, tossing in the apple. “Suit yourself. See you later Tony.”

She had just passed the threshold of the door when she said, in a surprised tone. “Oh, hey Peter.”

“Hi Nat,” Peter responded, finally walking into Tony’s view. “What are you doing here? Staying for dinner?”

“Not tonight, but maybe next week. I’ve got some business to attend to back at the Compound. I was just visiting your dear old Dad. Don’t tell him,” she whispered, leaning in towards Peter, speaking loud enough for Tony to hear her anyway. “But I sometimes miss seeing him.”

“Aw,” Tony cooed when he heard it. “Didn’t know you cared.”

She turned, giving him one last smirk before leaving down the hallway. Tony looked over at Peter, hoping the kid had heard the entire conversation. “What’s up kiddo? How was Ned’s?”

“Alright,” Peter said, with a shrug. “But uh, we didn’t finish our project. Do you think I can spend the night over there on Saturday? I don’t have to spend all day Sunday there, I can be back in the afternoon. It just helps, you know, if we have all day and stuff.”

Tony nodded his head, trying to conceal his grin. “Sure, Pete.”

-

Tony had been careful with the location he had picked out. He had FRIDAY check it out beforehand, checked to see who it belonged to and if anything was going on in the near future. He stopped short of buying the property himself, just as an extra precaution. As far as he knew the mob wasn't selling weapons here or anywhere near the location either.

Because if he’s going to confront his son about being Spider-man and everything else he's been done, he doesn't need anything else to happen. The move, he knew even without Nat saying anything about it, was really risky.

But he still wasn’t sure Peter was Spider-man, not completely.

Trying to corner Peter out of the suit would be a mistake, the kid could deny it until he was blue in the face, and the only way was to corner Spider-man. Peter would have to give up if he knew Tony was on to him. It wouldn't make any sense for the kid to keep pushing back, Tony had the proof right in his hands. There was no conceivable way Spider-man would know about the fake deal without it being Peter.

And if Spider-man wasn’t Peter Parker… well, Tony could just have to deal with those consequences later.

Standing in the middle of a former big retail store, Tony wasn’t sure where Spider-man would come in from, or how he’d react to seeing just Iron Man standing there. He’d gone with standing in the center area, the light filtering in gave him a sort of spotlight. Time ticked by slowly, making Tony feel nervous and a little ansy.

“Any sign of him?” Tony asked FRIDAY, as he tapped his foot impatiently. He would give Spider-man 15 minutes past the time before leaving. If he didn't show up... well, he had enough evidence to try again with something else. He tried to make it easy for Peter to come out, letting him stay at Ned's, telling him he could stay all day Sunday if he needed to as well.

“It appears Spider-man is currently heading towards the building. He should arrive in 4 minutes," FRIDAY answered him.

Tony let out the breath he’d been holding.

“God dammit,” he said out loud, shaking his head. Maybe Peter was just friends with Spider-man and passed along the information? That could explain why he looked like a 15 year old kid and all the other shady things Tony had discovered Peter doing. But why? Why would Peter be friends with someone like that? How did they meet? Would Peter risk getting caught taking Tony's supplies for someone else?

The next 4 minutes took almost 100 years to pass before FRIDAY sent him a silent warning that Spider-man was now on the side of the building. Should he have opened the door for the kid? Left some kind of big sign with an arrow? Would the kid take one look inside and run for it?

FRIDAY had full eyes on him, showing Tony his movements from crawling on the roof, to alongside, as if he was looking for a way in. Finally, it seemed like Spider-man found a tall window towards the back of the building and pushed the glass open, making his way inside.

He crawled along the wall and Tony knew the exact moment Spider-man saw him because he froze before dropping down to the ground. There was a good 10 feet between them, even with that Tony could see just how small Spider-man really looked. God, why hadn't he seen that before?

Tony cleared his throat. “Hi, Spider-man.”

“Uh,” Spider-man said, his voice not nearly as deep as it usually was. In fact, it sounded exactly like Peter usually did. “Hi? I uh, what are you doing here?”

“Come here for a second, will you?” Tony called out, watching as Spider-man started to walk very slowly towards him, hands already up in a defensive pose. He didn’t come nearly as close as Tony would have liked him too.

Tony let the Iron Man suit open and he took one step out of it, Spider-man took one giant step back in response. Tony’s eyes flickered over him, giving him another head to toe look, and despite everything, he knew at that moment without a single doubt, he was looking at his son.

His stupid, stupid 15 year old son.

“Uh, hi again, um, sir. What’s up?” Spider-man asked, voice cracking when he finished. He tried to hide it with a terribly fake cough.

“Funny meeting you here, Spidey. Did you think something was happening here tonight?”

It seemed Peter realized the trap he’d just walked into because he took yet another step back as Tony walked forward. “Uh, no. Um, just in the area, I noticed Iron Man hanging out and thought I’d come to see what you were doing.”

“Really? You just so happen to see me through walls and know I was here?”

“I saw you come in.”

“I’ve been here for about an hour already, so you were just waiting then? Come on, Spider-man. You and I both know the reason why you’re here.”

“Drugs,” Spider-man said quickly. “This is where uh, I get my drugs from. Like, wow, didn’t know Iron Man did drugs. That’s really bad.”

Tony blinked, he almost let out a laugh at Peter’s attempt to get out of the situation, but a sense of anger was already bursting out of him.

“I know it’s you, Peter.”

The sound Peter made sounded like someone getting stabbed in the gut and the kid took another step backward, sputtering as he did so. "uh, Peter who? I'm not uh, what are um, are you uh, talking about?"

“Come on, Pete, don’t make this any harder than it needs to be.”

“I’m not, uh, Peter. I’m uh, my name is um Ben.”

“Jesus Christ, Pete. You’re just going to make it worse if you keep playing around.”

A whole minute passed before Peter did anything and then, in a second, he pulled back the hoodie and pulled his mask off.

“Uh,” he said, his face flushed red, his curly hair sticking up everywhere. “I can explain.”

Chapter Text

Peter was screwed.

Like, totally and irrevocably screwed. His heart was racing, beating so fast Peter was positive it would burst out of him like it did in the cartoons. A coil had wound itself around his lungs, squeezing so tight, Peter wasn’t sure he could breathe anymore.

“You’ve really screwed the pooch now, Pete. Explaining is the very last thing you’ll be doing, kiddo. I want to know everything, start to finish as to how you arrived at being a part time vigilante is the best choice you could have made with your life,” Tony spat out the second Peter had finished speaking.

Peter could practically feel the anger emanating from him. He took a step back, but Tony just stepped forward again, getting closer and closer to Peter. A sudden rush of dizziness ran over him as if someone had just thrown a bucket of water over him. His whole body shuttered, his senses going crazy knowing that the gig was now and truly up.

He should have run, he should have denied it and ran away and never turned back.

“I had to do something!” Peter shouted, going on complete autopilot now. “You guys weren’t doing anything about the weapons, so what else was I supposed to do?”

“That,” Tony said sternly, this voice iron. “Is not even what I’m the angriest about Pete. That’s very, very far down the line of things that we need to discuss. Start with the,” he waved his hand. “Whole superhero thing.”

“I’m Spider-man,” Peter said proudly, trying to show Tony how much this meant to him with just those words. Although he tried to sound proud of it, he couldn’t feel more like puking at that moment even if he tried.

“No shit,” Tony said, his eyebrows raising making Peter suddenly regret even saying it. “I just need you to explain to me how you’re doing this. It’s not gloves, is it? You’re enhanced aren’t you?”

“Yeah, it’s all me,” he said, puffing his chest out a little more. “I’m really strong and I’m sticky.”

“How? You weren’t like this before you came to me, right? If you’re a mutant it should have come up when I had FRIDAY analyze your DNA.”

“Oscorp,” Peter answers truthfully, he might as well just spill the whole can of beans, maybe it would be enough to distract Tony away from his anger. “On the field trip, there was uh, a spider and it bit me.”

“That’s why you almost died? Why didn’t you say anything after? Jesus, Pete, this could be killing you. Do you have any idea what the spider was supposed to be doing? God, you need to go see Bruce, or … or a specialist to see exactly what on Earth is happening with you.”

“This is why I didn’t tell you! You’re gonna, gonna make me do all these stupid medical tests and subject me to all this stuff and not believe me when I tell you I’m perfectly fine.”

Peter’s breathing increased as his heart continued to hammer in his chest. He didn’t want to tell Tony anything, but it felt like he couldn’t stop talking to save his life. All of the anger he’d been feeling, all the pent up frustration with what Tony had been doing to him, it was all coming out of it now.

“Oh oh, no, no I’m not trying my son into a goddamn medical experiment if that’s what you’re thinking. I want to make sure you’re safe and sound, which it seems like you’re doing the exact opposite by flying around there in pajamas!” Tony shouted, throwing his hands up in the air.

“It’s not pajamas! I knew you’d act like this once you know. You’re just gonna try to control me, aren’t you? Keep me locked up, or give me a suit with a thousand trackers in it. But I’m not going to let you! I want to do this, I need to do this whether you like it or not.”

“Of fucking course I am!” Tony shouted, loud enough to make Peter flinch at the sound. “If I could I’d take the suit from you right now!”

“You can’t have it, it’s mine!” Peter yelled, not caring how much of a child he sounded like. “And you set me up!” He pivoted. “You knew I’d overheard you talking to Natasha and you planned this whole thing! How could you trick me like this? How could you lie to me and… and set me up!”

“You’re really going to bring that up, after you’ve spent the last what, several months lying to me? Manipulating me into giving you everything and allowing you to just do what you want? This is nothing compared to what you were doing.”

“Because you wouldn’t have let me do any of this if you knew!” Peter threw his hands up in the air. “Don’t pretend for one second if I went to you and told you about my abilities that you’d just let me go out and help people. Don’t you dare act as if you’d just shrug and make me a suit and be all happy about it.”

“No, of course not, Peter. Are you in your right mind?” Tony said, bringing his arms to his hips. He looked at Peter with such disdain he could feel it in his soul. Tony wasn’t just mad at him, Tony was disappointed in him. “I most definitely would not have let my 15 year old son parade around as a superhero where he could be killed by whatever lunatic in a costume decides to cause havoc. Especially without training or any kind of backup.”

“Exactly. You would rather I waste my abilities and let people get hurt. Just like you guys would rather let these stupid alien weapons roam the streets, killing real normal people than make a move on it. You guys keep acting like you’re here to protect people but you don't care when normal people get hurt.”

At that moment, Peter was not just talking about the alien weapons. He was thinking about his parents, his Aunt, and his Uncle and how Tony, his father, an actual superhero, wasn't even there to save them.

“You have NO idea what you’re talking about,” Tony shouted back at him.“We are doing everything we can to stop these weapons but going after the smaller deal is never going to stop the guys making them. They are just going to go somewhere else and change everything. The only way we get the big guy is to wait and watch, which I’m sorry, might be a little too advanced for someone as young and impatient as you seem to be.”

Peter knew he had a point, but he wasn’t about to step back, not now. Spider-man was the only thing he had going for him and there was no way Tony was taking it from him. “I thought you told me that people like us had responsibilities to keep people safe. You told me that when I came to you after Midtown. What about that then huh? I was just trying to be like you.”

“I want you to be better!” Tony shouted at him, taking another full step forward, but Peter didn’t back down just yet. “I want you to make better decisions than I ever had and take responsibility for your actions. That doesn’t mean you need to go flying around Queens with no idea what you’re doing, acting like you’re better than everyone else.”

“That is not what I’m doing! You have no idea what I’m doing! I’m helping people every single time I go out there! You’re too busy sitting in your ivory Tower, in the lap of luxury. Do you even know what it’s like to be a real person?”

Peter was quickly losing control of the situation, the argument bouncing around in every single direction. Anything that came into his mind, he was just letting out, the filter long gone. This was it, the moment he felt the last several months were building up to.

“Peter,” Tony’s hand went to his head, rubbing his fingers at his temple. “Do you even know what you’re saying? Do you even understand how hard the Avengers and I work to keep people safe? Do you not remember the conversation I had with you when you had your nightmare? We have a responsibility to keep everyone safe and that takes a level of control and knowledge, not just jumping into things blindly and hoping for the best! That’s the point I was trying to make, that’s what I was telling you. You aren’t going to help anyone if you aren’t sure and careful.”

“I was in control! I’ve had things under control since I started. I’m the only one who's giving you those weapons, delivering them to you in a nice little bow. I’m more than capable of handling things. I haven’t needed your help at all! Remember? I turned down Iron Man and the Avengers and I’m fine! I’ve never once needed help out there, I’m doing fine on my own.”

“Did you forget how you brought an alien power device into your school and almost killed everyone? Tell me again, how is that in control? How is that fine? You risked the lives of countless people, all because you thought it was a good idea. You don’t even understand how lucky you were there, Pete. You have no idea the kind of destruction you can cause under the pretense of doing the right thing.”

Peter paled, swallowing a lump in his throat. “I was trying my best!! I was just trying to do what you weren’t and I … I didn’t know what the glowy thingy was capable of or I would have never done it.”

“Glowly thingy? Pete, you have to understand how… how dangerous all of this is. You called an alien power source a glowy thing just now. That alone should tell you that you’re not ready for this sort of thing.”

-

Tony could feel the anger radiating from his son as he spoke, he could tell just how amped up Peter was from all of this. He didn’t really mean for any of this to be a back and forth thing, he just thought Peter would admit defeat and come home with him.

But now he was seeing just how wrong he was. Peter was too much like him, way too much.

The kid wanted to do good, Tony knew that deep down but he had to learn how to do it. He had to understand that everything Tony wanted for him was for him to be safe.

“You don’t know anything,” Peter spat out, he bounced a little from heel to heel, like a boxer ready to fight. “You don’t know anything about me! How are you going to judge what I am capable of?”

“It’s not for lack of trying!” Tony exclaimed, trying not to go too overboard. “I’ve been trying to get to know you since you walked into my Tower.”

“Trying? What did you do that was trying? You just bought me a million things and never bothered to ask what I wanted or what I liked. You just did whatever you wanted and spent all this money like it was nothing to you. It’s not nothing to me! I don’t want your stupid things.”

“I bought you things because I thought you needed them! You came to me with a garbage bag of clothing and other things. I have the ability to provide for you, what else am I going to do? If I just didn’t buy you anything, you’d be standing there telling me that I’ve abandoned you and that I didn’t provide for you.”

This was the truth, Tony realized, the painful truth of it. Peter never wanted anything Tony had given him. No matter what Tony could have done, Peter wouldn’t have really wanted any of it. He was losing the race before he even knew he was in it.

“You never talked to me!” Peter shouted, his voice cracking ever so. Tony could tell he was close to tears, his face was red, his breathing rushed and there was something so sad and depressing in the way he spoke, even when he was yelling.

He wanted to stop yelling, stop fighting back but he couldn’t help it. Peter didn’t understand anything about what was happening, he didn’t know how hard Tony had tried to connect with him.

“You’re the one who refused to even call me by my name for the first few months,” Tony countered. “You’re the one who barely looked at me, barely tolerated being in the same room as me. How else was I supposed to get to know you? Every time I tried, you just pushed me away. The only reason you even came near me was to use me. Was to lie to me and take advantage of my need to make you happy.”

“What if I didn’t want things? I lost my,” he paused, his voice cracking. “I lost my entire family and you couldn’t even be bothered to come to the funeral. You didn’t even pick me up from the foster home either, you just sent me for, like I’m just another one of your things.”

“That’s not true and you know it. I didn’t think you wanted me to attend, I was trying to give you space to grieve! I wanted to pick you up Peter, I wanted to be there for you but I couldn’t just show up at the home and whisk you away, it doesn’t work like that. There are more things involved, just because you didn’t see them didn’t mean they were happening.”

The tears looked like they were ready to leak from Peter’s eyes, and his voice wobbled a bit. “You never acted as if you cared at all.”

Tony’s heart ached with each accusation, how could he not see how much Peter was hurting from this? Was he that blind to his son’s pain?

“No, you’re not allowed to say that, Peter. I've done nothing but show you love and support since you arrived. I’ve done everything I could to show you how wanted and loved you are but you seem pretty hell bent on making it seem like you’re some unloved, unwanted prisoner!”

“The first time you even met me, you wanted me to sign an NDA. You barely even talked to me, you barely even looked at me! Everything is always about making you more comfortable, protecting you and your company from your bastard son.”

“Jesus, Pete, how little do you think of me? All those NDAs were to protect you. Do you understand how relentless and aggressive the paparazzi and media are? I grew up in it, I know what it’s like to be hounded down, recorded, followed, and yelled at and I didn’t want that for you! I don’t care that it was your CPS person, he still could have told anyone at any time. I am and have always been trying to protect you. The only way we could have done it was to keep the knowledge of you limited to who needed to know and put in place measures to keep it that way. Which yes, included signing NDAs for those who weren’t in our inner circle and whose motives we can’t trust.”

“And it didn’t work! Everyone knows who I am now anyways! My face is everywhere and people keep texting me wanting to know all about how wonderful Tony Stark is but I don’t feel like bursting their bubbles and telling them he’s just some jerk. And you did nothing about it! You just went back up to your lab and made the Bugle apologize for ruining your image. You never cared about how it affected me, or how I should handle it!”

“There was nothing I could do!” Tony shouted truthfully. “The interview was already out there, it was never going to go away. Would you have wanted me to push you out there instead? Make you do an interview? Would you rather I air all of our private information out to the world? The only way you keep going from this is to stick to the plan and wait until you’re 18 years old. Then you can write a tell all book about how miserable Tony Stark made your life, for all I care!”

“You could have told them what Flash said wasn’t true! You acted as if no one would care but everyone did care and now everyone will think that about me forever!” Peter shouted, Tony could see the tears welling in his eyes. He felt like complete shit for not thinking about how Peter might have seen the situation. He’d been so wrapped up in the Spider-man thing he barely thought about it.

He was used to that kind of life, he forgot Peter wasn’t. Some of the anger disappeared, replaced with a feeling of regret, for what he’d done and for letting the conversation go on like this too. He was the adult here, he shouldn’t continue this screaming match with his son.

“It wouldn’t have made a difference, Pete. I’m sorry but it really wouldn’t have. The only way was to make Bugle print a statement about it and then move on. The media, all of them, were going to pick you apart no matter what you were found out about. I was just hoping we could do it on our terms and then we could at least control some of it. I’m sorry for that, okay? I’m sorry I messed up how to handle this. I wasn’t thinking about it, I was too busy,” he waved his hand. “It’s not a good excuse, but I wasn’t thinking.”

“All you ever care about is yourself, you know that? You’re just as selfish as I always thought you’d be.”

Tony’s heart ached, it thumped almost painfully in his chest. He never wanted this for Peter, never wanted to hear the words Peter was saying directed at him. This was what he was so scared of, Peter hating him as much as he hated Howard. The cycle he wanted to break so much, was just going to keep circling.

“Why do you keep saying that? Why do you think I’m so selfish? I invited you into my lab and you only used me to make your web fluid. Do you realize what a big deal that is for me? I don’t like anyone being in my lab, working in my lab, but I let you because I wanted you there, Peter. I wanted you there and you were just lying to me.”

For a second Tony thought he went a little far too, showed too much of his hand. He needed Peter to understand how much he loved him and how much all of this hurt both of them. There was still time to fix this, things weren’t broken forever.

“You never wanted me at all,” Peter spat out, the words like venom from his lips. “So don’t pretend like you’re suddenly doing me the biggest favor by wanting me now.”

“That’s not true and you know it. All I have ever done is try to show you how much I’ve wanted you. Howard never cared about me, Pete, he hated me, he treated me with such little care and I’ve been doing nothing but trying to break that cycle. Because trust me, if I didn’t want you and love you, trust me, you’d know it.”

“Then why did you just ignore me all of my life? If you loved me so much, if you wanted to be a good father, where were you? Where were you when my Mom and Dad died? Why make me live with May and Ben instead of coming to get me?”

The room got incredibly silent, all of the sounds seemed to drown out and suddenly Tony couldn’t remember how to breathe. “What?” he managed, his mind spiraling out of control. What was Peter even talking about?

“Don’t play dumb, Tony. You’ve known about me before I was even born and you wanted nothing to do with me.”

“No,” Tony answered, swallowing roughly. “Peter, I only found out about you after Ben and May died. I promise you, I had no idea you even existed until then.”

Peter laughed, it was ugly and broken, and he shook his head. “Stop lying. Mom told me all about the letter she sent you, how happy she was, and the stupid letter and check you sent back. The money you offered her disappears and never comes back. Were you too drunk to remember? Or are you getting me confused with another bastard child you paid to get rid of?”

“Pete,” Tony said, the world spinning around him. Peter’s words syncing in deep, punch him in the heart so hard he thought maybe this was it. Maybe this was the heart attack he always knew was coming. “I don’t know what you’re talking about… I … kid,” he gasped, grabbing his chest.

Peter shook his head. “Stop lying! Just admit it, okay? Admit it so we can just go on with our lives and do whatever. I’m sick of just waiting for the other shoe to drop! I’m sick of waiting for you to decide you really don’t want me and send me away!”

“I,” Tony couldn’t breathe, his heart hammered so hard, his lungs restricting, squeezing so tightly. “I would … never, Peter. I love you, kid. I… I love you so much.”

“I HATE YOU!” Peter screamed, the venom stung Tony down to his core, and he sucked in another breath, the room getting dizzy. Why couldn't Peter see the panic attack he was having? Why wouldn’t Peter listen to him?

“Pete,” he said, his voice barely making it out, before he made a hand gesture, calling his suit back to him. He needed to get back inside, the suit had oxygen, and the suit would help.

Whatever Peter thought he was doing, Tony didn't know. Just as the suit hugged his body, cool oxygen flooded in, along with FRIDAY’s voice, telling him to breathe, he looked up to see Peter already up at the ceiling, crawling back out of the window he’d come from.

-

Tony really wasn’t sure how he made it home.

He wasn’t sure if he even wanted to make it home.

He wanted to go find Peter, chase his son, grab him, make him listen to Tony, and believe him.

But the suit took him back to the Tower, where Happy and Pepper were waiting for him, terrified expressions on their faces when the suit landed, opened and Tony stumbled out.

“I lost the kid,” he said, as Happy grabbed him, helping him fall to his knees. “He hates me.”

“What?” Pepper asked, getting on his other side, kneeling, and grabbing his hands. “Tony, what happened?”

“He’s Spider-man, Pep. I… I caught him red handed and he…, Jesus, Pep he thinks I’ve known about him since he was born.”

His heart had settled just enough, the pure oxygen the suit provided leveled his panic attack but his mind was still dizzy, thoughts spiraling endlessly.

“Where is he?” Happy asked. “You said you lost him, is he okay?”

“I don’t know, he … we fought, it wasn’t good and he ran, I don’t know where he is, Hap. I don’t know where he went.”

“You got him?” Happy asked Pepper, when she nodded he stood up. “I’ll call him, text him, whatever. I’ll find him, Tony.”

Happy left, Pepper leaned over, wrapping her arms around him, placing her forehead against his head. “Breath, Tony. You’ll be okay, we’ll make this better, okay? We can fix anything. It’s not too late.”

Tony wished he could believe her. “He hates me, Pep. He really actually hates me and I don’t know… I don’t know if I can fix that kind of hate. He thinks I just left him alone his whole life.”

“Come on,” Pepper said. “Let’s get up and into the house, okay? Do you want to go down to the medbay?”

“No,” Tony said, letting Pepper help him back to his feet. “I just, I need to find my son.”

They walked together into the house, making their way into the couch, Pepper helping him take a seat. “I’ll go get you some water, okay?”

When she left, Happy appeared a moment later. “He’s at Ned’s,” he said immediately and Tony felt a million times better with just those words. “Spoke to him and he said he’s gonna stay there. Do you want me to go get him anyway?”

“No,” Tony answered. “Just, he’s safe and that’s enough. I just needed to know he was safe.”

Happy frowned. “What can I do?”

“Nothing, I don’t think… just do whatever you can to keep tabs on him. I know he doesn’t trust me now, but I just have to know he’s safe.”

“Got it,” Happy said, disappearing into the hallway. Pepper came back a minute or so later, handing Tony a glass of water.

“Can you breathe?” Pepper asked. “I know this is hard right now, but I can read the look on your face and you’re still not completely okay yet.”

“How can I be okay?” Tony asked, but did as Pepper requested. “Peter’s hiding from me because he hates me.”

“We’ll fix this, Tony, I promise you. We’ll do whatever we have to do to find the truth out and we’ll fix it.”

Tony wanted to believe her, he really did.

-

The first thing Peter did was go to Ned’s. It was automatic, a process he barely even thought about before he stopped two blocks away. He pulled the mask off and took off the vest part of his costume. He’d left the backpack somewhere with his clothes in it, but he couldn’t care less about it.

He called up to Ned first, making sure he was home and asking him to come down and let him in. He did so without question, even after he saw Peter’s face, red and covered in tears. He grabbed Peter’s hand and dragged him into the house, up the stairs, and into the room.

“Are you okay?” Ned asked when Peter sat down on his bed. “Like physically? Did you get hurt?”

“No,” Peter said, shaking his head. “Can… can I have a hug?”

Ned didn’t even answer, instead, he practically dived toward his friend, pulling Peter into a warm and loving hug. That was enough to tip the scales and Peter started crying again but Ned didn’t let go. It took forever, years spilling out of his eyes until he didn’t have any tears left.

“He knows,” Peter finally said, pulling away from Ned, but he didn’t go far. “He found out I’m Spider-man.”

“Shit,” Ned hissed. “What happened?”

Peter explained the whole story between sniffs, eyes hurting, and head pounding just a little. The memory of the fight was so crisp and clear in his mind, it was easy to tell the story. It was a relief too, telling Ned exactly what appended.

When he finished, Ned looked worried. “Do you believe him? That he didn’t know?”

“No,” Peter answered quickly and then shook his head. “I mean, he was pretty messed up around then. He might not even remember doing it but it wouldn’t make any sense if it wasn’t him. He had multiple chances to take me in or find me and he never made the effort.”

Ned looked a little apprehensive. “Wouldn’t that explain it tho? The reason why he didn’t reach out but is okay with you now?”

“He had no choice!” Peter shouted, making Ned frown and he immediately felt bad about it. “Sorry, I’m not mad, I know you’re just trying to help but… I don’t know what to think, Ned. Everything is just too much right now.”

“Alright, alright, we’ll make things work okay? You can -”

Peter’s phone interrupted them, he knew he should at least see who was calling. Taking the phone out, he saw Happy’s name and sighed, answering.

“Hi Happy.”

“Are you safe? Where are you? Do you-”

“I’m fine,” he cut him off, swallowing roughly, glad it wasn’t Tony who had called. He didn’t think he could talk to him right now. “I’m at Ned’s.”

“Okay, I’m coming to get you, your Dad just got here and-”

“Please, Happy,” Peter said, the tears threatening to come back. “I don’t want to go … to go please let me stay here.”

Happy was silent, Peter looked to see a worried look on Ned’s face and then Happy spoke. “Stay the night. Call me back in the morning or if you need anything.”

“Thank you, Happy,” he said, about to hang up before he thought better. “Is.. is Tony okay?”

Happy sighed, Peter felt immediately bad. “He’s in a tough spot, but he’ll be fine. He’s worried about you. I know sometimes he’s not the best at it, but he loves you. I’ve known Tony for a very long time and there’s no doubt in my mind that he loves you, no matter what.”

The coil that had wound itself around Peter’s lungs untightened just a little and for the first time since walking into the warehouse, he felt like he had room to breathe. “Thanks, Happy. I’ll call you tomorrow, I promise.”

After he hung up, Ned stood from the bed, walking over to the dresser. “I know we usually receive the snack drawer for movie nights, but I think we can make an exception.”

Opening the drawer, he took out a bag of gummy bears, throwing them at Peter without asking. Peter caught them, taking a deep breath before releasing and opening the bag.

“Thanks,” Peter said, not for the gummy bears.

“Anytime,” Ned answered, coming back to the bed with a bag of peach rings. “Whatever happens, we’ll handle it. That’s what a guy in the chair is for.”

Peter nodded, he wanted to believe him, he really did.

Chapter Text

Tony had far from a peaceful night of sleep.

Tossing and turning, he could barely keep his eyes shut before the intrusive thoughts invaded his mind. It wasn’t his first sleepless night and it would be far from his last.

When the sun came up, he was ready for it, rolling out of bed as Pepper slept on.

There wasn’t a single doubt in his mind that whatever letter Mary had sent him, it was intercepted before he even saw it. There was a micro chance, just a small one, he did see it and maybe was too drunk to think but something like having a kid, he knew he’d remember that.

And even if he was drunk, he wouldn’t have sent a letter or a check at that stage. It had to be someone, and if it was going to be anyone, it would have been Obie.

Tony shuttered at the thought of the man, even years later, still someone looming over his entire life.

Texting Happy, he asked for any updates and Happy responded, letting him know Peter hadn’t left Ned’s all night. It was a relief, but not very much.

Making his way into the lab, he took a seat next to Peter’s lab table, barely able to look at it.

“FRI,” he said softly. “Search in the old Stark Industries files and the ones I got from Obie. Look for anything related to Mary Fitzgerald and/or any uncashed checks from 2001.”

After Obie died, he’d gone through a lot of his files. He wanted to make sure all of the bad things Obie had done under the name of his company were undone, but apparently, it wasn’t enough. He missed something big, bigger than anything else.

“God damn it, Obie,” he mumbled under his breath. “Why would you do this?”

There would never be a solid answer behind it, even if he did find all the information and had his ideas. Did Obie plan on killing Peter at some point, just as he tried to kill Tony? Was he thinking about it back then too? It would only be seven years later, he had to have developed the kidnapping plan over time.

He knew Obie would just try to convince Tony it was for his own good, that he would have been a terrible parent. He was a hot mess, he wouldn’t know the first thing about caring for a child. It might have been true, but he didn’t give Tony a chance to find out. How different would both of their lives have been if Tony just would have gotten the letter?

Pepper found him an hour later, still waiting on results, staring restlessly at Starkpad in his hands.

“Why don’t you try to eat something?” she said, pushing a mug across the table towards him. “Not taking care of yourself isn’t going to make any of this better.”

Tony turned to look at her, suddenly struck with the thought of how much he loved her. How easily Pepper went along with the punches he kept throwing at her. Sure, she disapproved sometimes, but she never turned her back on him.

“How do you handle me?” he asked suddenly.

Raising her eyebrow, she pursed her lips for a moment, thinking about her answer. “It’s not a matter of how, Tony, it’s why. I love you.”

“Yeah but, all of the shit I’ve put you through? It’s more than enough to drive anyone away. I mean, look at Peter, I wasn’t even in his life for 14 years and I’ve managed to mess this up so badly in a small amount of time.”

“Tony, listen to me,” she walked closer, standing and pulling his head into her chest, cradling his head. A gesture she’d done so many times before and yet each time it worked to relieve whatever dress he was holding onto. “You are a complicated person, everyone is. We all have our vices and our issues and the things we just can’t handle or can’t do right. It’s how we handle those things that make us who we are. I don’t know what kind of father you would have been like when Peter was born, but I know you would have done your best and I know without a doubt you would have loved the hell outta that kid from the start, just like you have now. You didn’t mess this up, things just got out of control and I know you will be able to pull this back together.”

“Can you be sure?” Tony whispered, sniffing away the tears he felt threatening to leak out. “What if he doesn’t believe me? Forgive me?”

“You can’t get stuck in what ifs right now. I’m sure we’ll find out what really happened and I know Peter will listen, it might not be perfect but the two of you will come back together.”

“Have I told you lately how lucky I am to have you?” Tony asked as Pepper released his head. She leaned down and kissed him, softly and sweetly.

“Hmmhmm, but it’s nice to hear it anyway. Have you made any progress at all?”

“No,” Tony answered. “I can’t be sure but I think it was Obie, it would make the most sense. I’ve got FRI looking for anything related to Mary and any checks sent in Peter’s birth year. The kid said it was a letter and check, which should be a little helpful. Knowing Obie he used SI funds to do it too, probably acted like it was some charity tax write off.”

Pepper frowned. “Come on, let’s go downstairs and eat. FRI can work without you sitting in misery about it.”

Glancing at the screen, he turned away, allowing Pepper to lead him out of the lab.

-

It took FRIDAY almost 3 hours to find something and when she did, it was more than enough.

Tony had spent that time, not in the lab, but milling around the lounge and kitchen, trying to distract his worried mind. He texted Happy a million times too nervous to text or call Peter himself. Happy reported nothing, no one including Spider-man left Ned’s place.

Tony finally gave up the stalking, a little worried Peter knew that would make him angry and he told Happy to give up and head back to the Tower.

He spent a half hour on the phone with Rhodey, trying to let out all of his nervousness and craziness there too. After he’d hung up with Rhodey, he was about to try to find someone else to talk to (most likely Bruce) when FRI alerted him she’d found something.

Rushing back up to the lab, he had FRI pull up all of the files on the giant holodeck, eyes going wide when he saw what she’d found.

Obie had a file, a pretty big one, filled with a lot of papers and even some photographs.

The first thing Tony found was a handwritten letter Mary had sent him, dated 7 months before Peter’s birth.

Tony,

I know this isn’t the best way to tell you this news, but I don’t think I’m brave enough any other way, so I’ll just take the coward's way out.

I’m pregnant.

The baby is yours, I can provide whatever test you’d like after birth but I know it’s yours without a doubt. I know this might not be something you want in your life, but I would love it if you were a part of our child’s life. I plan on keeping it, no matter what your answer is but having you there… would be much easier for all of us.

Truth be told, Tony, I have no family to speak of. I don’t want to do this alone and I believe in the good person that you are, you wouldn’t want me to. I don’t want or need your money, please don’t think this is an attempt to take that from you.

You know how to get a hold of me whenever you’re ready to.

Yours,
Mary Fitzgerald

Tony knew he’d never seen this letter before, he would remember this, and he would have responded to this. Behind that letter, was another one, typed up on the official Stark Industries letterhead.

Mary,

The contents of your letter surprised me in more ways than one. While you’re correct in your assumption that I don’t want a child, you’re wrong in thinking that I would want anything to do with it.

I’d prefer if I never had to see you or the child again, to make that happen I’m enclosing a check for $100,000. Do with the money as you see fit, buy a house, a new car, diapers, whatever. Consider that to be the child support for the first 10 years of the child’s life.

T.S.

Along with the note included a copy of a check for $100,000 with a signature he recognized as his own.

God, of course, Peter would hate him if he saw this. He basically said he never wanted anything to do with him. He almost couldn’t continue looking, but he had to, he needed to know the full story.

The next document was a copy of Peter’s birth certificate, born on August 1, 2001, at Queens Memorial hospital. Tony’s name was listed as the father, the site making his eyes water immediately. Even despite the letter and check, it seemed that Mary still wanted to make sure Peter’s parentage wasn’t up for debate.

The next document was a letter from Mary again, dated a year after Peter’s birth. He wondered if Peter even knew about this one.

Tony,

After your last letter, I promised myself I would never speak to you again, just as you requested but I am struck with an urge to write to you once more. Your son, Peter is beautiful and perfect, he’s the light of my life and everyone else who even sees him. He’s a little over a year now and he’s a little genius I know he’ll grow up and change the world for the better.

I met someone right after I found out I was pregnant, a man named Richard Parker and he loves Peter as if he was his own. He’s helping me raise him, along with his brother and sister in law. They took your place so easily and without questions. Our son Tony, will be loved for the rest of his life and far beyond that.

Richard and I are going to get married and with that, Richard would like to adopt Peter. New York state law requires your approval before that can be done. I assume since you want nothing to do with us, you’ll comply.

As much as I don’t want to, I am willing to give you a chance again. Meet your son, Tony, even if Richard adopts him, you can still be a part of his life.

Awaiting your reply,
Mary

A tear slid down Tony’s face, realizing just how terrible all of this really was. Neither Mary nor Peter deserved this happening to them. And Tony was none the wiser the entire time, he was out somewhere drinking, sleeping around, being a giant raging asshole and Mary was willing to give him a second chance regardless.

The next document was a lawyer letter, from one of the many working at SI to Mary’s lawyers. The adoption information was granted, apparently Tony didn’t even need to be there since he wasn’t a resident of New York at the time. A copy of the official adoption decree was in there too, with a signature that looked like Tony’s but who knows if he really signed it or not? But apparently, that was good enough for everyone.

He wondered when Peter knew about all of this if Peter had ever seen these letters and paperwork. Along with the letters were what looked like surveillance photos of Mary, who he assumed to be Richard and Peter as a toddler. It was so weird looking at younger pictures of his son, outside at a park, looking happy and perfect, just like Mary had said.

But a chill ran over him, knowing Obie had the family on watch for a while. What was he planning on doing? What would have happened if Mary and Richard contacted him again? What would Obie have done to keep the secret from Tony?

The next documents were Mary and Richard’s death certificates, something Tony had already found when he first found out about Peter. God, the kid was only 5 years old and he’d lost them to a plane crash. He wished he’d been there for Peter, to hold him, to love him, to tell him it would be okay.

But apparently, that job was taken over by May and Ben Parker. The next step of papers came from lawyers, as well, notifying Tony of the Parker’s deaths and Mary’s will, which granted custody of Peter to May and Ben, not him. He couldn’t blame her, everything Obie did sent a clear message, I don’t want nor care for Peter.

There were a few more documents after that, mostly more lawyer letters and official forms, all of which bore Tony’s signature, and yet he couldn’t even remember signing them. There was nothing more after that, no one it seemed, took up the care of hiding Peter after Obie had died. The files just got added to the SI servers, left forgotten, and maybe forever had another tragedy not befallen Peter.

God, what would have happened if Tony died in that cave? Would Obie have had Peter killed just to keep SI to himself?

For the second time in two days, Tony could feel the panic attack brewing. FRI must have taken the initiative because suddenly Pepper was there again, her hands on his shoulder, their foreheads touching as she whispered to him.

“Hey, hey, you’re alright,” she said to him, her sweet voice breaking through the panic.

“Pep,” he breathed, closing his eyes and gripping her arms. “Pep.”

“You’re alright,” she said again, repeating it a few more times before Tony was able to take a deep even breath. She waited for him to take a few more, pulling away and taking the water she shoved in his hand before she spoke again. “I’m assuming you found something?”

Tony nodded. “It’s… it’s so much worse than I thought, Pep. Obie, he wrote them letters and had my kid stalked. What would he have done had I not stopped him?”

“We don’t know and we won’t know,” Pepper said calmly. “And it’s not something we need to think about right now. We’ve got Peter now and that’s what counted.”

Tony nodded, maybe a few too many times to look normal. “Here, I’ll let you read these. I’m going to call my kid.”

-

Ned looked extremely nervous when the phone rang again, his eyes darting to Peter and then to the phone. It was the second time in the last 10 minutes that Tony called, the phone ringing and ringing before going to voicemail.

“Fine, answer it,” Peter said, shaking his head. The last thing he needed was Ned to be upset with him for not answering Tony’s call. Ned answered, not putting the phone on speaker, which was probably for the better at this point.

A good night’s sleep and two of Ned’s Lola’s famous meals later, he was feeling… okay. Not great, not terrible but still unwilling to talk to Tony, hence the ignoring of his calls.

“Mr. Stark?” Ned said, his voice wavering only a little. “It’s Ned, sir, and Peter doesn't want to talk to you right now.”

Ned paused, looking at Peter still worried, but his voice sounded surprisingly tough. Peter couldn’t believe his best friend was standing up to Iron Man. “No sir, I will not give him the phone. He doesn’t want to talk to you right now so you’re going to have to talk to me.”

Peter could almost hear Tony talking, but he pushed the sound out, not wanting to know whatever lie he was saying. Instead, he stayed focused on Ned and looked more at ease with every word. “He’s fine staying with me and I’m not going to back down. You can come here, but you aren’t getting in. I’m locking the door.”

Peter almost laughed, a lock on a door was not going to stop Iron Man. Something akin to pride swelled in his chest for his best friend. He really was willing to protect him all at cost.

“Yes, sir,” Ned said. “I understand that Mr. Stark and yes, he’s safe here. Yes, I’ll tell him. Okay, hold on, I’ll ask him.”

Ned pulled the phone away. “He wants to send you some files, I guess the letters your Mom got? He says he has nothing to do with them and it was some guy named Obaphone?”

He could hear Tony’s protest of: “Obie. It was Obadiah Stane.”

Peter knew that name, of course, he did. He might have not liked Tony his whole life but he was… well, he was Peter’s dad and he knew all about him. While the full truth about what happened to Stane was never really released, Peter wasn’t sure what happened to Stane but he read enough message boards to get a pretty good idea.

But is he just a scapegoat? How easy would it be for Tony to pin everything on someone who can’t deny it?

“Obadiah Stane,” Ned repeated. “Uh, yeah, he apparently wanted to keep you guys apart.”

“He can send them,” Peter said with a shrug. “But I’m really not interested in talking to him or looking at them right now.”

“Send them,” Ned said into the phone. “And he’ll look at it when he feels good about it and we’ll go from there, okay bye.”

Ned hung up, tossing the phone on the bed quickly as if he was scared Iron Man would come flying out of the device. “Never ask me to do that again, bro.”

Peter laughed, a genuine one that helped lighten up the mood immediately. “That was all on you, I just said you can answer the phone, I never said you need to defend my honor.”

Ned smirked. “That’s what a guy in the chair! But yeah, I mean you can stay here as long as you want. My Mom loves you, Lola loves you and they totally understand. I mean, you heard Mom as long as we go to bed and don’t stay up all night giggling, she’s cool with it.”

“Yeah, just, maybe another day or so, I don't know yet.”

Peter’s phone pinged, the sound announcing that whatever Tony wanted to send him was sent.

“Are you gonna look?”

Peter eyed the phone, with the same fear Ned had when throwing it on the bed. “I dunno. I mean, it could still be a lie. Who am I supposed to believe, my family or Tony?”

“Uh, dude, Tony is your family, you know. And they might have not known they were being tricked either.”

Sighing, Peter tilted his head back against the wall. Ned was right, this whole thing could be one giant misunderstanding.

“Growing up my parents weren’t really mean about Tony, we really didn’t talk about him once I knew. I can’t even remember how I was told, I just feel like I always knew about it. When my parents died… what I remember the most is wanting to know why my real Dad wasn’t there. I mean, I love Ben and May. I'm happy with Ben and May but I remember crying for him, you know? I know Ben and May tried to reach him, and the lawyers got involved because of the custody issue but I know they wrote him letters but it was just… he didn’t care. I wanted to pretend for a long time it was because I had a Mom and Dad and he just didn’t want to intrude but then I didn’t have parents anymore and he still didn’t care.”

He paused, to wipe his eyes, sick of crying again, sick of feeling this way and keeping it all so buried deep. “I met him once after he became Iron Man. It was uh, Battle of New York. Ben and I were downtown when it happened and things got really crazy really fast.”

Bringing his head down he looked at Ned, who had a solemn expression, one he wasn’t used to seeing on his best friend’s face. He’d never told anyone this story, the only person who knew was Ben, simply because he was there when it happened. They didn’t even tell May about it was just too hard.

“And the thing is, when your Dad, the guy who ignored you your entire life is now a superhero? Man did I want to tell everyone all the time. I thought maybe that meant he’d want to be in my life, you know? That he got his shit together and now that he was people, he’d come and rescue me if I ever needed it.

“But anyway, we were kinda trapped in this department store for a little bit but eventually we got out. Emergency services came and were making us all leave and it was just, it was a crazy man. People screaming and crying, aliens flying everywhere, and buildings just, fall apart all around us. I got a little distracted I guess, or maybe I was too scared but I got away from Ben when we were leaving the building.

I remember standing there, on the street, scared out of my mind, crying my eyes out because I didn’t know where Ben was. All I could think about was losing him and May again, just like my parents.”

He had to pause again, to wipe away the tears that came. Ned handed him the box of tissues, scooting closer so they were sitting side by side on the bed. A simple bump of his shoulder from Ned was the best kind of comfort.

“I started to run down the block, to find Ben, when one of those aliens showed up. This big, scary, ugly looking thing, and my stupid reaction as a kid was to try and fight it.”

Ned snorted with laughter. “You’re such a dumbass.”

Peter smiled, bumping his shoulder into Ned’s. “I know, I know. I was twelve and scared and I thought maybe kicking it in the shins would be the right move. What can I say?”

“That you’ve got a thing about jumping in front of danger for no reason?”

Ignoring the jib, Peter continued. “I didn’t really even get the chance, I started to barrel at the thing when suddenly it went flying backward. I thought, wow maybe I have superpowers and I did this but then Iron Man landed right where the alien had been. I’d never seen him up close like that before and it was just, so intimidating and cool and amazing and wow, that’s my Dad.

So I did what a twelve would do and I yelled ‘Dad!’ thinking maybe he did recognize me and he came and saved me but he just, he just looked at me and said, ‘hope you find your dad, kid’ and was just gone a second later.”

“I’m sorry dude,” Ned said softly.

“It’s fine, I mean, I should have realized he didn’t come to save me or anything that he was just doing his job but it just made me so … mad at him for not recognizing me. And then when May and Ben… when they died… I don’t know why but I thought maybe he’d come to save them too. Maybe he was really watching me and he cared and he was gonna come blasting into the house and save the day but he didn’t. He didn’t even come and get me, he just left me there, like he’s always done.”

“Pete,” Ned said in a small voice, his hand reaching out and touching his wrist. “He didn’t know, man. I’m sure if he did he would have tried to help or come to get you or whatever but… when he called a few minutes ago, he sounded so distraught. I think he really didn’t know about any of this and I really think he needs you to come back home.”

Ned wasn’t wrong, he knew deep down inside that Ned was just looking out for him, but he just couldn’t. Not yet.

“I’m gonna go patrol,” he decided, getting up from the bed.

“You sure?” Ned questioned. “I mean, you don’t have to go home, I was just saying. I think we should just stay in, okay?”

Peter was already grabbing his suit from his bag, moving towards Ned’s hallway. “It’s fine, I just need to clear my head. I promise I’ll be back tonight, just a few hours.”

He was in the hallway before he could hear any more of Ned’s protests.

-

Like a moth to a flame, Peter found himself sitting across from the original warehouse he’d snuck into. He didn’t even intend to go there, he just wanted to go up and be away but before he could even think about it, he was sitting there.

He knew it was stupid but man, he just wanted to prove himself to Tony. He wanted his Dad’s approval so badly, it made him do the stupidest things. Why was he so desperate to do it?

“Because he’s your Dad and you actually like him,” Peter grumbled. “God, why am I like this?”

No one answered him, because, of course.

Instead of pondering any more late night questions, he focuses his attention on some movement at the warehouse. There was a very large truck parked in the parking lot, pulled up close to the building. It was there when Peter arrived and was thus far not moving.

Two men came out, from the distance he was at, Peter could make out vague facial features, but more importantly, he could hear part of their conversation.

“Should make it there by tomorrow,” one of them said to the other as they went to the front of the truck.

“Long drive,” said the other.

“Yeah, but getting them straight from the source is a better bet than any more of those middlemen. The Don doesn’t want any more problems, y’know?”

Did that mean they were going to the source of the weapons? He knew from Tony that the Avengers were waiting on the source. Peter moved without thought, hurrying across the night sky until he was on top of the warehouse, on the edge overlooking the two men talking next to the truck.

“Do ya worry about transporting such dangerous material?” one of them asked the other.

He shrugged in response. “Nah, I mean, we’ll be makin’ bank on it. Think it’s worth the risk and Don says they’ll be safe as long as no one fuck around.”

The two men laughed, before one of them climbed into the front of the truck, while the other disappeared back into the building.

If he wanted to do this the right way, then he needed to find where the weapons were coming from.

And this was presenting itself as the only opportunity. He swung across to the warehouse’s roof, crawling towards the edge, overlooking the back of the truck. The other guy wasn’t in sight and Peter could hear chatter coming from inside the warehouse.

He planned to toss his phone into the truck, then use that to track where it was going. Once he had a location, he’d pass it along to Tony. Showing the man he could do something the smart and safe way, that he was the one who figured it out, not the whole team of adult superheroes.

He leaped from the roof to the top of the truck, landing lightly on his feet back. He leaned down over the edge, hanging upside down, looking into the darkened truck. He fished around for his phone, making sure it was turned on before he tossed it into the truck, watching as it landed, sliding underneath a box.

“Yes,” he hissed in excitement but his joy was short lived. The sound of footsteps took him by surprise, as did a voice shouting out to him.

“What the fuck?”

He turned his head, seeing two men approaching him, guns already out and pointed. “Is that the spider freak?”

“Hi fellas,” Peter called out, getting ready to sit back up and get away from there. “Just checking in, that’s all. I’ll be going now…”

But before Peter could sit up a shot rang out, and a bullet came hurtling towards him to dodge it, he let go with both hands, finding himself falling from the top of the truck and onto the hard ground.

It was jarring a little, enough to make it slower to rise to his feet than usual. Both men came closer, both guns still pointing at him.

He hadn’t found himself in this type of situation yet, with real guns pointed directly at him. Everything was too real at that moment, knowing that he might have just messed up really badly.

One of the men smirked. “This will be a great gift for the boss.”

Without warning he shot his gun again, the bullet felt like it was traveling in slow motion, as Peter’s senses screamed at him to move out of the way. All he could find himself doing was leaning to the side, but it wasn’t enough and the bullet entered his shoulder with a burst of unbearable pain.

This wasn’t how this was supposed to go. He was supposed to be faster, better, and stronger. He was supposed to get out of the way, faster than bullets could ever be. But truthfully, he knew he wasn’t. He was just some scared 15 year old trying to prove himself, thinking without consequences.

“Grab him,” one of the men said, as Peter leaned to his side, hand going to the bullet wound, scared of what he might find there.

God, it hurt, it hurt so bad, it blacked out any rational thought in his mind. All he wanted at that moment was for his Dad, Tony to come and save him.

But Tony had no idea where he was.

And Tony was mad at him.

And Tony thought he hated him.

And it was all his stupid fault.

Someone grabbed him around his bad shoulder, making him cry out in pain as he was lifted and tossed in the bed of the truck. He felt the man’s hands run down his body as if he was checking for something before shouting to the other guy. “Don’t think he’s got anything on him. Shouldn’t matter anyway, once we get going it should knock anything out.”

The man smiled down at Peter, predatory, showing a row of yellow crooked teeth. He gave Peter a kick to the leg for good measure. “Enjoy your ride.”

Blackness swallowed him up, as the doors of the truck were slammed shut. He could feel the engines starting, the whole truck vibrating, shaking his body enough for him to cry out in pain again.

He needed to find his phone, he needed to call for help. With shaking hands, he got to his knees, crawling closer to where the phone had dropped.

There was so much blood already, dripping down his arm, he could feel it soaking through his shirt and vest. He slipped, slamming his chin down on the floor of the truck, crying out in pain. But still, he pushed on, seeing his phone still laying underneath a box. Using the very last of his strength he crawled forward, reaching his good hand under the box until he was able to touch the phone.

Pulling it to himself, he didn’t even have the strength to sit up again. His fingers left behind blood as he typed in his code, bringing up Tony’s name in his contacts.

Tony picked up on the second ring. “Pete? Oh, thank God. I’m so sorry, kid. I had no-”

“Dad,” Peter said, biting back the fear in his voice. “I need help.”

Chapter Text

The truck jostled, the phone slipping from Peter’s blood soaked hand and sliding across the floor. He could hear Tony calling out his name before the sound was suddenly cut off, replaced with an electrical whine that hurt Peter’s ears. He covered them both with his hands, curling in on himself, in a tight ball of pain, squeezing his eyes shut tightly.

The sound seemed to go on forever, but eventually, it cut back out and Peter blinked, removing his hands from his ears. The truck was moving steadily now, Peter could feel the vibration the tires were making, and hear the muffled voices of the two men in the front of the truck.

“Okay,” he breathed. “Okay, Peter you gotta think, okay.”

The blood from his shoulder was coming to an end, something he wasn’t sure was good or bad. He knew he could heal, but had no experience with gunshot wounds to know just how fast that would be. He knew he should try and do something about it, bandage it up in some way.

But first, he needed to get the phone back.

Dragging himself across the floor, he found his phone. Once he grabbed it from the floor, he pushed himself into a sitting position, using one of the big crates to rest his back again.

The phone was completely off, pressing down the power button did nothing, he couldn’t even hear the sound of the phone working either. He tried a few times, his fingers sticky with blood, smearing it all over his phone. Giving up, he took several deep breaths, placing the phone in his lap.

“Okay,” he sniffed. “You get one more minute of a pity party and then you fix this.”

He did just that, allowing himself to be scared and worried, before shaking his head and attending to his arm. He pulled the sleeve up as far as he could, and the burning pain started to dull out a little, a background ache more than anything else.

He had already taken his mask off, tossing it aside, not worried about his identity, it was the least of his problems. Pulling his vest off, his shoulder protested at the movement, he could feel more blood coming from the wound now, dripping down his arm. It was everywhere now, soaking his sweater and vest. The smell of iron was overwhelming, he could almost taste it in his mouth.

Now would be a terrible time to suddenly get squeamish over blood.

Once the vest was off, he tried to pull his sweater sleeve up, but couldn’t get it over the wound itself. Instead, he ripped the fabric around it, getting a better look at the wound. He could see a small bullet hole, and when he reached back he found another small matching wound.

“Okay so the bullet isn’t inside my arm, I guess that’s uh, good. Right? I mean, on cop shows they always say a through and through is the better option. I don’t have to like to fish a bullet out or anything,” he said with a nervous laugh.

Using the vest, he ripped as much fabric as he could, it was hard, even with super strength and his shoulder ached anytime he did too much. When he thought he had something, he started to wrap it around his arm. It wasn’t very good, it was barely even staying on, but it was the best he could manage with what he had.

Satisfied with what he’d done, he moved on and took a better look at his phone. Opening up the back and looking at what he could see, everything looked fine. There was no outward damage done, whatever made the phone dead, didn’t do that much damage.

Peter was starting to think whatever the high pitched sound was, was some kind of EMP blast used to knock out electronics. He wondered if this was their way to avoid any trackers someone might want to put on the truck. It was a good idea, he was sure some kind of alien tech might be involved, making the pulse limited to a small area.

Without the use of a phone to call for help, Peter knew he only really had one option. He needed to get himself out of the truck before it arrived at its intended location.

He was at a great disadvantage, even with his web shooters, against actual mafia people and their guns, not to mention being slightly injured. Who knew how long it would take to get there too, he could be stuck in the back of the truck for hours, far away from any last location Tony might have been able to find out.

So yes, rescuing himself was definitely on the menu.

He got himself into this mess, he had to figure out a way out of it.

Getting up on unsteady feet, he started to look at the different crates around him. The bad guys wouldn’t have thrown him back here with weapons, would they? Maybe they didn’t think Peter was smart enough or strong enough to break the locks on the crate. Picking one at random, he easily broke the lock, opening it to find a bunch of normal looking rifles.

Picking one up, he gave it a once over. It didn’t seem to have bullets in it, or at least to Peter’s very untrained eye. The next two crates he opened held the same, empty gun shells. Peter assumed these were heading off to be turned into alien weapons at this point, so empty might be the only thing he had.

“Maybe I should come up with a plan first,” Peter said, gingerly sitting back on the floor, his back against one of the crates.

“Okay options, let’s go Spider-man,” he paused, looking around the truck.

“Option one, I stay put and wait until we stop somewhere. Maybe hide or something, ambush the guys with guns? Pretend they caught me and then escape? But what then, if I don't know where I am and I have no phone, how do I get home or tell anyone? I’m almost out of web fluid anyway, if there are a lot of guys I might not have enough. And they know I'm here, they are going to be ready for me.

“Option two, I figure out how to get out now. I’ve never punched through a car before but what if I give it a go? Maybe break out the back or top of the truck? I can maybe open the door from the inside, jump out, and be done with it. But then, do the bad guys get away? Shouldn’t I at least try to stop all of this from happening? What kind of hero would I be if I was only concerned about rescuing myself? I mean, they might move to a different location after this, and I might have ruined the only chance at finding their manufacturing base.

“Option three, I both get out of here and stop this truck from going anywhere else, try to send a signal out to Tony, and once that’s done, wait to be rescued. I mean, that combines all of the options. I stop the bad guys and show Tony that I’m capable of anything. I mean, this is the best option for real, right?”

Peter realized very quickly he was asking an empty truck for an answer he wasn’t going to get.

“Okay, yeah, no Peter, that’s great. You’ve got the easy part figured out, now you just need to figure out how you’re getting out and stopping the truck.”

Getting up, he started looking around again, trying to move around crates without too much noise. Who knew when the guys driving it would think Peter was trying to do something and come to check up on him? He was a little offended; they thought just throwing him in the back of a truck with a bullet wound was enough to bring him down completely.

He went through a few more crates, each of them holding either empty guns or nothing at all. He moved onto himself, trying to remember if he had anything extra. He usually only took his phone and web shooters with him, but as his hands hit the hidden pocket Ned had held him sow in, he felt something else.

He pulled out the pocket watch Tony had given him. He didn’t know why he started taking it with him, but he felt a connection with the outdated device. It felt like the only thing Tony ever gave him that felt genuine to him. This was something beyond just Tony and Peter, it was a connection to a family he never got to know, never had a chance to even know.

He had no idea why he got so sentimental about it, really.

And it couldn't do much for him now, it didn’t even have any electronic parts he could try to use, so he carefully put it back into his hidden pocket.

He hummed to himself, trying hard to focus on something. His head was starting to pound a little, maybe from everything that was currently happening to him. He moved around the truck a little more.

“Ohh, I’m an idiot. I have a phone with a lithium battery. I can blow up anything or start any fire I want with that.”

Rushing over to where he’d left the dead phone, he scrambled to peel off the back again, taking out the lithium battery. Peter had never tried to make one of them explode before, but it couldn’t be that hard. His first attempt was to slam it on the ground, as hard as he could but nothing happened. He slammed it against the side of one of the crates and nothing either, just a very resilient lithium battery and some additional frustration.

“How come when I want something to explode or catch fire, it just doesn’t happen? That’s Parker Luck, 100% Parker Luck.”

It took him a second to notice his web shooters.

“Oh, heck yes,” he said, pulling one of them off his wrist. He had his web fluid, which meant he had the means to start a fire. He’d been working on making his webs less flammable but hadn’t yet come up with some kind of alternative. He hadn’t actually caught fire before when in use, but in Tony’s lab he accidentally caught fire when mixing. It wasn’t dangerous, he was able to put it out rather quickly but it was a problem he really had to start addressing.

“Alright, Peter, just open the case of the battery and pour some web fluid onto it. I’m sure that’ll start a fire since it sounds like a really, really bad idea. But it’s the only option, right? I mean sometimes the stupidest idea is the best one, yeah?”

Realizing he needed a slightly better location to do this, he walked over to one of the bigger crates at the back of the truck. Placing the battery on top, before removing one of his vials of web fluid. It wasn’t full, maybe halfway at best, but it would be enough.

“I think I need something to help the fire, right? The battery is going to blow but fire needs a way to spread.”

Walking over to a crate he’d opened before. The top layer was a lot of packing material, very suitable for fires. He brought some over, making a little circle nest, planning on putting the battery right in the middle.

With that ready, he set to opening the lithium battery, which turned out to be far easier, with his strength. He cracked the case, it took a few minutes to peel it off completely. He started to peel away the Cathode, and as he did, he could feel the whole thing heating up. This was good, it meant the battery was still capable of working.

Once he got to the separator, he was burning his fingers enough to drop it, with a flinch. Taking a few deep breaths, he continued, ignoring the pain until the separator peeled away, relieving the Andoe. Laying the long strips out, he placed them in the center of the box, laying side by side.

“Okay, Peter, this is it, we’re gonna start this fire and get the hell out of here.”

Taking the vial, he held it over the parts and then, tipped it over, the sticky liquid taking a second to drip down and touch the parts.

The reaction was immediate, the battery and fluid caught fire, and a burst of flames flashed up, making Peter jump back, nearly falling.

“Ooh now what, now what,” he chanted, moving backward, away from the quickly growing fire.

The truck started to fill with black smoke. Thick, putrid smelling smoke made Peter scramble to find the mask he carelessly discarded. Once he did, he pulled it back over his face, but the fabric did very little to protect him.

Which was the moment Peter realized that maybe, just maybe, he should have put more thought into what he was trying to do. He backed up farther away from the flames, moving behind a few boxes and getting low to the ground. The fire was getting bigger, the driver must have at least smelled the smoke by now or heard how it crackled through the wood crate it was sitting on.

The truck jolted to a stop and Peter tried to get in a good position to see the door, but the smoke was making it harder. His eyesight had improved since the bite, it was probably giving him a lot more leverage but it still wasn’t the best.

After a few seconds, Peter could hear shouting, and then, the back of the truck opened up, the smoke escaping out. “What the fuck!”

The two guys started shouting, confused as to what was going on. Peter took the opportunity to jump out from his spot. The fire was raging out of control now, skipping to several more boxes and he took that as a sign he should get out.

Jumping to the ceiling, he crawled across it, his shoulder pain forgotten in the need to get out. Once he was at the edge he jumped down in front of the two men, who looked to stunned to even talk or try to get away.

With his last remaining web shooter, he shot out webs at both of them, stopping them from running away.

“Ha,” he said, aiming more webs at them, effectively sticking them together. “Didn’t think I’d set fire to something, did ya?”

The flames roared to life once more, probably as they hit the gas tank, something else Peter definitely did not think about. With the two men webbed, he started to pull them away from the fire, as they both shouted at him. “What? I’m actually trying to stop you two from becoming barbecue right now, show some gratitude.”

Looking around, he was in the middle of a two lane highway, with nothing around but very flammable trees and nature, the truck had only pulled off onto a dirt shoulder. He was just about to see if he could find a phone on one of the men when he heard the sound of repulsors.

Turning around, he saw Iron Man, descending from the sky, like some kind of angel. The second the suit landed, Tony was already coming out of it. “Pete?”

“Oh,” Peter said, unable to hold back his grin. “Hey.”

-

Out of all the things, Tony thought he’d see when finding Peter, it was not his kid standing outside of a truck that was currently on fire, with two men wrapped behind him with a large amount of web fluid.

Tony disengaged the suit, stepping forward and rushing towards Peter.

“Oh, hey,” Peter chirped at him as if there was absolutely nothing crazy going on behind him.

When he was close enough he could see blood coming from his shoulder and when Peter reached up to pull his mask off, his face was darkened by the smoke. “Jesus,” he said, pulling his kid in and hugging him.

To his surprise Peter hugged back, just as tightly, coughing a little.

“Sorry,” Peter said in a small voice, sounding on the verge of tears. “Sorry.”

“It’s alright, kid. Are you okay?” He pulled away, cupping Peter’s face in his hands, trying to get a better look at the kid. His eyes were a little red, the tears looked like they were going to start coming.

“I’m fine,” Peter answered but then. “Uh I got shot in the shoulder, I think it went all the way through but that’s fine I’ve got some burns on my fingers but I think it’s better already.”

“Okay, okay, well next time we get shot, we lead with that, alright?” Tony said, trying to get himself back together again. The sound of vans arriving, including what Tony hoped was the medic van. He might have gone a little overboard, assembling a mass amount of SHIELD Agents and Avengers to come and rescue his kid.

The truck fire blazed on, Tony finally took a good look at it, a little unwilling to take his eyes off the kid. “Did you do that?”

“Yeah, uh, I had to escape and fire seemed like a good idea at the time.”

“That was not the best idea, Pete.”

“It’s not that bad.”

The truck exploded.

Oh, Tony thought immediately, this is so my son.

Peter looked embarrassed, as Tony all but dragged him farther away from the aggressive fire. His suit, put in sentry mode, had already begun trying to put the fire out but it was a poor match for the blaze. A set of SHIELD vans came flying by them, people already running out and Tony was more than happy to make the truck and fire their problem now.

“Alright, alright,” Tony said. “Come on, let’s get you checked out.”

“Do they, you know that I’m you know who?” Peter questioned, going to pull his mask back down his face, as people ran by them.

“They know, it’s fine. They were going to have to know anyway, eventually. We’ll talk about it later, okay?”

Peter nodded, allowing himself to be directed to the back of a waiting medic van. The door had already opened, and a woman was standing there, arm already out to help Peter up the step.

“Hi, I’m Clara, why don’t you come sit here over on this stretcher and I’ll get you taken care of.”

“Peter,” the kid offered, sitting on the stretcher.

“Hi Peter,” she said smiling, then gave one to Tony too. “Can you tell me what’s going on? I’m just going to start removing some of the bandages you have on your shoulder, okay?”

Peter nodded, as Tony took a seat on the other side of the stretcher. It was a cramped fit, but he wasn't going anywhere. Peter kept stealing glances over at him as if the kid thought he was going to run off any second now.

“I got shot in the shoulder, um a few hours ago? It mostly stopped bleeding and it doesn’t hurt that much anymore. I think my fingers got a little burnt too, but it’s not very bad. Oh and I inhaled some smoke, but I’m fine.”

“Hmm,” Clara said, pulling back the bandages and giving both herself and Tony the first view of the wound. “Can you lean forward just a little?”

Peter did so, Clara looked at the back of his shoulder. “Looks like it did go through. We’re going to have to get his shirt off of you so we can properly clean and bandage the wound. Can I see your hands please?”

Peter held out his hands, his fingertips looking angry and red, some skin coming off. “Hm,” she said. “It does look like you got a little burn here, but the skin looks like it’s healing. You have advanced healing abilities, correct?”

“Yes, but I don’t know like, how it works or anything.”

Clara looked at Tony. “I have some of the medicine we give Rogers here, but I’m not sure if it’ll work the same way for Peter. Are you okay with me administering some of it to him? Cleaning the wound can be a little painful and it would be very helpful if Peter was relaxed enough for it. As for his fingers, I’m going to put some ointment on them, but I don’t think they’ll need to be bandaged.”

“Are you okay with that Pete?” Tony asked and when Peter nodded Tony agreed too.

“Do you think Dad can get out of your shirt and gloves while I get everything ready?” she asked Peter, who nodded his head, sitting up a little better.

When Clara turned to get supplies, Tony carefully helped take the shirt off his son. Pete winced when the fabric went over the wound, pulling at the skin that was sticky with blood. The gloves were next, Tony delicately pulled at them, making sure they didn’t touch his fingertips for too long. Peter was quiet, watching him intently, biting the bottom of his lip.

“Okay?” he asked softly.

“Yes, thanks,” he said with a nod.

When Clara turned back to them, she had a small tray with her, needles, and some vials. “Okay, Peter, I'm going to give you an IV with some of the pain medication. Based on how it looks now, I don’t think you’ll need any stitches, but if you do, I’ll put them in after.”

Peter’s face scrunched up, his eyes seemed focused on the tray and not anything else. Tony could see he was scared, it was written all over his face now.

“What’s wrong bud?” Tony asked, a little worried.

“I don’t like needles,” Peter said in a very hushed voice as if he was scared he'd summon one with just the word.

Tony couldn’t help but chuckle. “Kid, you fling yourself through the air, jump off a building and you just started a fire in a truck. How are needles scary to you?”

Peter looked away, focused on Tony, frowning. “Needles are sharp.”

“And fire is hot, kiddo.”

“If you’re worried,” Clara broke in, sounding amused. “Just talk to Dad, okay? If you’re distracted you won’t feel a thing.”

Peter made a whining sound, as Clara wiped the area with something, his eyes seemingly glued on the syringe on the table. “Does it have to be an IV?” he asked.

“It’s the best option,” Clara explained. “I can give you more meds if you need them without having to give you another injection.”

Peter nodded his head but looked less than convinced. “Okay, that makes sense.”

“Look at me, bud,” Tony said, he was actually a little surprised when Peter turned his head to look at him. “You’ve been carrying the pocket watch, right?”

“Yeah, how’d you know that?” Peter asked, his voice going a little high, as Clara adjusted his arm a little, the syringe in her hands.

“That’s how I found you. I had put a small emergency tracker in it when I had it, just in case. When I couldn’t find you from your phone, I went a little, well, crazy, and tried all possibilities. When I realized the watch was on you and moving, I called the cavalry and here we are.”

Tony could tell the second the needle went in as he talked, Peter flinched a little and then finally relaxed.

“Oh, that’s some good luck for the first time in my entire life.”

Tony couldn’t help but smile. Peter’s eyes seemed to be getting heavier, he kept almost closing them, before opening them again. “You can sleep, Pete,” Tony insisted. “We’ve got a bit of a ride.”

“Where we goin’?” Peter asked in the middle of a yawn. Clara had started cleaning and bandaging his shoulder, but Peter didn’t seem to notice anything was happening to him.

“The Compound, we’ve got a better medbay set up there for you. We’ll worry about everything once we’re there.”

“‘M sorry,” Peter said, closing his eyes. “I didn’t mean to get in trouble.”

“You’re alright,” Tony said, watching as Peter’s eyes closed and stayed that way. His breathing evened out a little and a peaceful look appeared on his face.

“He’ll be fine,” Clara said, finishing what she was doing. “His healing is remarkable, I wouldn’t have suspected he’d gotten shot recently. I don’t think he needs a single stitch.”

The medic van had already started driving, it would be close to an hour's drive for them, but Tony felt at ease with Peter sleeping below him. Clara came over with a rag in her hand and some ointment.

“I’m going to clean off some of this smoke on his face and hands before I put the ointment on him,” she commented.

“I can do it,” Tony offered and she handed it to him. He went to wash Peter’s face, the area around his arm and chest that had dried blood on it.

When he finished, Clara helped him put a gown around Peter but left his sweatpants on. He removed Peter’s web shooters too, making sure to place them carefully aside. Once that was finished, he took Peter’s hand in his, making sure to massage the ointment on the worst of the burns on both hands.

His phone went off as he finished and Clara moved as far away as she could to offer some privacy.

It was Pepper calling, probably getting the alert from FRIDAY that they were on their way. “I’ve got him and he’s fine Pep,” he answered before she could even talk.

“Oh thank god,” she breathed. “Are you on your way? Is he hurt?”

“Yeah, we just left and well, he got shot but apparently his healing already took care of most of it. We just had him knocked out with some medication, so he’s taking a nap. But he’s alive and okay.”

Pepper sighed over the phone, sounding relieved. “We’ll be waiting for you when you get here.”

After hanging up with Pepper, he sent a massive text to everyone who’d he called frantically letting them know Peter was safe and sound. Nat and Clint were somewhere beating up some low level mob guys trying to get information, Steve was probably at the scene by now, having taken his motorcycle when Tony took to the sky. Bruce was already waiting at the Compound and Rhodey was traveling back from DC on the first flight he could take.

Tony looked down at his sleeping kid, ridiculously happy just to see his face. He sat in relative silence for 30 minutes or so before Peter started to stir a little.

“Hmm,” Clara said. “He must burn through the medication a lot faster than Steve. We should be there shortly, are you okay with me giving him a small dose?”

Peter wasn't quite awake yet, but he had a pinched expression on his face, one Tony hated seeing there. “Yeah, as long as you think it’ll be fine.”

Clara nodded, putting another round of pain medication in Peter’s IV. The look of pain went away and Tony reached out, putting his hand on top of Peter’s for the rest of the ride.

-

Peter was awake again by the time they arrived at the Compound, he didn’t look to be in that much pain anymore and insisted that he was fine. Despite his insistence, Tony refused to let him walk to the medbay on his own, instead making the kid take the trip on the stretcher.

The kid protested, despite looking like he was going to fall asleep again any second. Eventually, he relented, allowing himself to be wheeled into a comfortable medbay room. The doctors had Tony and now Pepper, wait outside while they did everything they needed to.

“He’ll be fine,” Pepper offered, her hand sliding against his, waiting for him to lace their hands together. “He’s a Stark, he’s too stubborn for anything to keep him down.”

“Yeah, I just, that was terrifying in so many ways, Pep. The last two days have completely turned my life around, his too.”

“And we’ll handle it, okay? We’ll give him the space and time he needs to read the files and when he’s ready, then we can be there to answer any questions and work through it.”

Dr. Black came through the door, beckoning the two of them forward. “He’ll be fine,” the doctor commented. “We’ll keep him here overnight, on the IV, and reassess in the morning. Since we aren’t sure how much of Roger’s med he can take, we’re just giving him something that’ll help him fall asleep. You’re free to see and sit with him now.”

They both thanked the man, moving past him into the room. Despite being in a hospital bed, with an IV and bandages on his shoulder, Peter looked much better. He looked at them when they walked in, smiling as Pepper rushed to his side.

“Oh Pete, I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“I’m sorry,” he said in a voice laced with tiredness. “I didn’t mean to make this all so messed up.”

“Don’t worry about any of that, okay? We’re gonna deal with it later.”

He looked over at Tony. “You’re not gonna yell at me?”

Coming to his side, Tony pulled up a chair, and took a seat. “Yelling? No. We’re going to have a conversation about this but not now. You're going to get a good night’s sleep, heal up, and then we’ll go from there.”

“I didn’t… I didn’t read any of the files you gave me,” Peter admitted. “I was just being a brat, I know I should have given you a chance.”

“And we’ll make that better, okay? FRIDAY has all the files waiting when you want to. I’m not concerned about any of that right now. Hell, I’m not even concerned about the arson you committed tonight. I’m concerned about you and your health.”

Peter’s eyebrows furrowed, giving Tony a look like he really didn’t believe him.

“Really, Pete, you can rest for a bit and we’ll work on it later, I promise.”

“You can both rest,” Pepper said, coming around to Peter’s other side, where Tony was. “Why don’t you go up to our room and sleep in a bed tonight, Tony. I’ll stay here with Peter.”

“Are you sure?” Tony asked, he planned on sleeping in the room all night, for however long he had to. “Is that okay Peter?”

“Yeah, it’s,” Peter stopped to yawn, “okay with me. Oh um, can you call Ned and uh, let him know I’m not dead?”

“Ned knows, he blew up both of our phones when you hadn’t come back in an hour. He’s a good friend, Pete, you’re lucky to have him,” Pepper said with a smile, her hands coming to rest on Tony’s shoulders.

“Hmmhmm,” Peter said, eyes coming to a close finally, giving in to the sleepiness. Tony stood up, leaning over and kissing Peter’s forehead, the kid smiling in his sleep.

“I’m serious,” Pepper said sternly. “Go upstairs, lay down in a real bed, and sleep. Don’t worry about Peter, I’ll stay here as long as needed. You’ll do him no favors if you’re tired and cranky.”

She opened her arms and Tony fell into them, exhaustion finally creeping up on him, wearing away at the adrenaline that had been fueling him since the fight with Peter. They stayed for a moment in their hug, before Tony pulled away and left the room.

Chapter Text

Sitting in his bed, his fancy new Starkphone laying in front of him, Peter closed his eyes.

He’d been out of the medbay for four days now and he still hadn’t looked at the file Tony sent him nor had Tony come in to lecture and possibly ground him for life. Instead, Tony and Pepper had been nothing but pleasant and understanding with him. They treated him as if nothing had even happened, which was if anything, worse than just yelling at him.

Now he really was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

He’d even gone back to school finally, declining Tony’s offer to stay home for the rest of the week. He was already missing too many days and didn’t want to fall behind in class. Ned, so far, had been the only person who lectured him, spending their entire lunch period telling him how stupid he was. And Peter didn’t blame him.

He had a feeling Tony and Pepper were waiting for him to read the file before any real discussion began, but he felt so bad about what happened that he effectively grounded himself. Coming straight home after school, going straight to his room, and just wallowing in a lot of self pity that he shouldn’t be wallowing in.

Peter had FRIDAY pull up the file again, the pages projected in front of him. These were things that could possibly change his life. It was amazing how just a few digitized files could be something so meaningful to so many people.

A knock on the door made him jump. “Uh, come in.”

He quickly shut down the projection of the files as the door opened to reveal Pepper.

She walked into the room and took a seat on the edge of Peter’s bed. “Just coming by to see how you’re feeling. You’ve been cooped up in your room every day after school.”

“I just thought, you know, that I was grounded for life.”

Pepper nodded. “I can understand that, but we’re waiting to talk as a family before we do anything like that. It’s important to both Tony and me that you understand everything.” Her eyes drifted toward his phone. “Have you read the files yet?”

“No,” Peter said, shaking his head. “Every time I try I just… can’t. And it’s not that I don’t believe it's all true and real, I really do. But I don’t know if I can think about what it would mean. It’s like if this didn’t happen, how different would my life have been? Would everyone still be alive? There are just so many what ifs that I keep thinking about and reading it, it makes it all… real.”

Pepper nodded, not speaking for a whole minute. “I can’t say that I’ve ever experienced something like this before, Peter. But I do know what it’s like to only think about the what ifs. Your Dad does it too, gets worked up over what could have been. And that’s no way to live your life, sweetheart. What’s happened, has happened, reading the letters isn’t going to change anything. What you read there isn’t going to change how your father loves you, or how much your parents, aunt, and uncle love you either.”

“Yeah,” Peter said softly, nodding his head. “I think I’ll read them now. I think I’ll be ready to come down and talk too.”

“Good,” Pepper got up and kissed the top of Peter’s head. “We’ll be waiting for you when you’re done.”

As she headed for the store Peter called back out to her. “Uh, is Tony going to yell at me and ground me until the end of the unknown universe?”

“I can promise you there will be no yelling, but I can’t promise you’ll be allowed outside until you’re 18,” she smirked. “But we’ll figure it out.”

She left the room, and Peter flicked the Starkphone screen back on, projecting the letters in front of him.

-

An hour later, Peter sat nervously with Tony and Pepper in the penthouse’s lounge. They were on opposite ends of the couch, a large expanse of space between them. Peter had read the letters, more than once, soaking in the information and trying to make sense of it all. Despite what Pepper said, the scenario of what could have happened played over and over in his head.

What would it have been like to have Tony as a Dad the whole time? Would Peter have spent summers in Malibu on the beach? Given lavish birthday presents? What did he miss because of someone’s lies? His life would have been completely different than growing up in a small apartment in Queens.

It was jarring, just thinking about it, like a completely different Peter, living a completely different life.

“I should go first,” Tony started, but Peter cut him off.

“Can I?” he asked, his hands fidgeting in his lap. “Please?”

He knew if Tony spoke first, he’d never feel confident enough to speak to them.

“Of course, kiddo, the floor is all yours.”

That didn't do anything to help Peter’s nerves but he spoke anyway. “I’m sorry that I was so mean to you, Tony. Even before knowing the truth, you really didn’t deserve it. All the lying and manipulating, it wasn’t right and I … well, it’s not really me, okay?”

He took another second to compose himself. “I spent my whole life knowing you are my Dad. And growing up, I thought it was so cool because you’re Tony Stark and then you were Iron Man, and who doesn’t want an Avenger as a Dad, you know? I mean, yeah you never talked to me but I would just come up with all these stories in my head that you were secretly watching me, or that you were waiting for me. And then you saved me during the Battle of New York and I thought you rescued me because I’m your son but then you didn’t say anything to me and I just, it hurt so much. When my parents died, all I wanted was for you to come and get me, but you didn’t then either.

“And then when Aunt May and Uncle Ben died, it was like a smack in the face. You really didn’t care about me, no matter what happened. Not coming to the funeral, not picking me up, it just felt like you were avoiding having to deal with me. That I’m only going to you because you’re all I have left. And when I got here, all I kept thinking was you’re going to send me somewhere or make me live with someone else or something. And then when you didn’t, I just didn’t know what to think or how to feel. You acted as if you cared about me and it just made me so angry. Where was all this attention when I needed it the most? Why now? I just couldn’t understand why I wasn’t good enough before.

“And like, all you did was give me things and nothing felt personal either and I had to keep thinking, he’s just trying to buy my affections, isn’t he? He’s just trying to make it look like he really cares but he does. And then the spider bit me and I got turned into a freaking superhero. And you know all I thought about was how to impress you. How to prove to you that I’m worth it, that you should have had me in your life the entire time and now you’re missing out on something amazing.

“I did that all by lying to you, which I know is so stupid now. And I almost got half my school killed, all because I wanted your attention and I started to just hate myself for it because why? Why am I doing all this? Do I really want your approval that badly? And the answer is yeah, because you’re my Dad, despite everything, you’re my Dad and all I wanted is for you to see that I’m worth it.”

Peter held back the tears as long as he could, but when he finished, they were pouring down his cheeks. Tony moved so quickly, Peter almost didn’t see him, gathering him up in his arms and holding him.

“You’re worth it, Pete. You always have been and I’m so, so, so sorry I wasn’t there when you needed me. I would have, I promise you, I would have been there for you.”

“I know,” he cried, hugging Tony. “I’m sorry.”

“I know you are,” Tony said, rubbing Peter’s back a little. “I know you’re a good kid, Pete, deep down inside, but we’ve got to talk about what you’ve done.”

Peter nodded his head into Tony’s shoulder but didn’t let go yet. He needed this hug more than he realized, he needed to know that despite everything, Tony still wanted and needed him.

When he was ready, he finally pulled away, wiping his eyes with his shirt sleeve.

“Are you okay enough for me to talk now?” Tony asked gently and Peter nodded his head, hiccuping slightly but no new tears started again.

“I’m not going to sugarcoat this, Peter, because I think it’s important you understand what your actions have led to,” Tony started, sitting back from Peter but still a lot closer. Pepper got up and moved too, both of them sitting, turning to look at Peter.

“You could have gotten yourself and several other people killed at your school, Peter. I know you wanted to be a superhero and prove yourself, but doing dangerous, stupid, doesn’t prove anything. Trust me, kiddo, I’ve spent a good part of my superhero life doing increasingly stupid and unnecessary things.

“After talking with Pepper, we decided that you’ll be grounded for 3 months. That means no going to friend’s house and definitely no Spider-man related activities. We’ve also taken the liberty of signing you up for Midtown’s tutoring services. You’ll be paying your school back by helping other students with their studies. Because honestly kid, if you want to be a superhero, Peter Parker’s gotta be one first. If you’re nothing without the suit, then you shouldn’t have it.”

“Wait,” Peter broke in. “Are you saying I can still be Spider-man?”

Pepper was the one who answered. “Not yet. Your Dad and I agreed that there was no way you’d be willing to give it up. But you’re going to have to show us that you’ve matured and can handle it.”

“And you’ll be getting a new suit and some training at the Compound before you even think about going out. If you’re doing this, you’re doing it the right way. And, you’re sticking to the streets, you’ll be the friendly neighborhood Spider-man, no exceptions.”

Nothing Tony was saying felt like any kind of punishment to him, which was rather confusing.

“I thought you’d like to take the suit away from me forever and never let me do anything.”

“I’m not going to lie,” Tony said. “It was my first thought, but you’re a lot like me, Pete. And I know if I just try to control you, you’re just going to go out there anyway and get into more trouble and set even more trucks on fire.

“We’re both learning how to do this together, from now on too. No more secrets, no more lying. You have to talk to me and if you can’t do that, then we’ll continue to reassess the situation. I don’t want to be a bad guy, Pete. I’ve told you before, my Dad was not nice, he didn’t care about what I had to say or why I was doing anything. All he did was provoke fear and that doesn’t help anything. I never want you to be scared to talk to me, or scared of what I’ll do or say.”

“I understand,” Peter said, nodding his head. “I don’t want to lie anymore either. I didn’t like the person I was when I was doing that.”

“And we understand, sweetheart,” Pepper started. “That you are still grieving the loss of your Aunt and Uncle and we know how hard this adjustment has been for you. I think we would both feel very comfortable if you started seeing a counselor.”

“Therapy?” Peter asked, he’d never really thought about doing it. When his parents died, May and Ben had taken him, but it was expensive and eventually, they had to stop.

“Yes, and it would be with someone with SHIELD contracts, so they will sign NDA and you can talk about being Spider-man and anything else,” Pepper said. “And if it makes you feel better, we can be there with you if you want. Both your Dad and I see therapists too, there’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

Nodding his head, Peter shrugged. “Yeah, okay. I’ll give it a try.”

“Good,” Pepper said, giving him such a warm and comforting smile, he wanted to burst into tears again.

Clearing his throat, Tony smiled. “Now that we’ve got that out of the way, I wanted to talk to you about the file you’ve read.”

“Oh,” Peter said, nodding his head.

-

Tony wasn’t sure how to start, he’d practiced his speech in front of the mirror over and over again but it failed to prepare him for this actual conversation.

At least the kid read the file and looked willing to hear what Tony had to say. He even said he believed him, a relief Tony felt right down to the bone.

“I know reading something like that… is difficult. I’m sorry that you had to see it, but you deserve to know the truth. Your family did nothing wrong, Pete. It sounds like your Mom did everything she could to reach me but she didn’t. I know without Obie being here, we’ll never get any real answers and I’m sorry for that. I’m sorry that you got pulled into this whole mess.

“I just want you to know that I would have been there for you. I was a mess back then, surprisingly more than I am now, but I would have tried. I might not have been the perfect Dad or did the right thing all the time but I swear Pete, I would have tried to be a part of your life, as much as I could.”

Tony’s voice cracked a little, he was trying to be a rock for Peter, not break down in front of the kid again, as he’d done before.

“I believe you,” Peter said quietly. “I don’t know much about Obadiah…”

Tony sucked in a breath, knowing that he’d have to talk about the man who changed his life forever, who tried to take it away but ended up giving him so much more.

“He was my friend, my mentor, someone I looked up to and loved very much. He took care of me for a long time but he also was careless and let me do whatever I wanted without limits. He saw me as his ticket to fame and fortune, saw me as something he could conquer and overtake. And when things weren’t moving fast enough for him, he took matters into his own hands.”

There weren’t many people who knew exactly what had happened to him. It was something he kept close to him, buried away, only coming up in moments of trauma. He wanted to tell Peter, needed his son to understand the person his Dad was and turned into.

But not now, maybe later.

“He had me kidnapped by a terrorist organization, he was the real reason behind it. He wanted me to be killed, but I uh, proved a little harder to kill than he expected me to be. I didn’t know right away it was him, it took me some time to see the type of person he was.

“I think the reason why he didn’t want you around is simply that you are my heir. Having a child, having someone to pass the company on to, scared him. It was clear from those documents, he was trying to quietly get rid of you without any suspicion. I’m just glad… I’m just glad he didn’t go to the extremes he did with me.”

Tony had a feeling if he would have died in that cave, that Peter would have been next. The look on Peter’s face confirmed he was thinking the same thing.

“But we’ll never know for sure what he was planning,” Tony added.

“Yes,” Pepper added, always the one to bring things together, to make them fit. “And we don’t need to worry about that. We’re here now and we’re going to be a family. Do you have any questions?”

“No,” Peter answered, with a shake of his head. “I mean, I guess we’ll never understand why he did it or what he was going to do if you found out…”

“No,” Tony answered, having a feeling Peter was stuck in the same loop he’d been. What was Obie really capable of? Would he have killed Peter just to keep him away? “And we’ll never have to deal with any of that ever again. I’ve looked into the lawyers he had working for him, none of them are here at SI anymore and most of them are long retired. I don’t think any of them even cared for one second what they were pushing.”

“That’s… good,” Peter answered, opening his mouth to talk but then shut it suddenly.

“What are you thinking? You can say whatever you need to, Peter,” Pepper encouraged.

“I wish Mom and Dad could have known the truth. I think… I mean, I know she was happy with my Dad and everything but I think she’d have been happier knowing you actually cared. I’m sorry if that sounded mean.”

“I didn’t take it that way, kiddo,” Tony said. “You’re right, I wish Mary knew about what happened too.”

The room was silent, he could tell Peter was holding back another set of tears, but the kid whipped his sleeve across his face before they could escape. Tony gave him a minute to collect himself before talking again.

You’re getting one more punishment, kiddo but I doubt you’ll see it that way.”

Peter looked at him, with a slow frown and look of confusion.

“You’re going to help me design your new web shooters and suit.”

Peter’s eyes lit up, just as Tony expected them to. He knew this wasn’t really a punishment, it was a way to connect to Peter and teach the kid everything he knew.

“Really?” Peter said the sadness had disappeared from his face. “You’ll let me back into your lab? Because honestly, I liked it a lot. It was really my favorite thing and I would love to go back and actually be part of something good.”

The smile on Peter’s face made Tony smile too. Knowing his son actually liked spending time with him, it was well worth it. “Maybe we’ll even make you an official Stark Industries Intern too.”

He turned to see the dubious look on Pepper’s face. “I don’t think HR will enjoy having your son as your intern, especially since you normally don’t have one. It might be PR might, to be honest.”

“Eh,” Tony said. “We can deal with it.” He turned back to Peter. “Now that we’ve got all of this emotional stuff out of the way, feel like getting shawarma?”

-

When Tony escorted Peter into the meeting room, he could feel the second Peter saw who was sitting at the tables. He stopped, standing up just a little taller and Tony landed a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey Pete,” Nat said casually, giving off the vibes of, don’t worry we’re not here to hurt you.

“Uh, what’s going on?” Peter asked nervously and Tony really couldn’t blame him. He didn’t exactly tell Peter he was going to talk to Nat and Steve. He just grabbed the kid after school and pushed him into the room. The kid even had his backpack still in his hand, which he dropped on the floor after a second.

“We’re gonna have a little chat,” Nat said.

“A good one,” Steve cut in. “A pleasant one.”

“Come on Petey, take a seat,” Tony said, pulling back a chair and sitting at the one next to it. Peter scrunched up his face at the nickname, a newly acquired one that he wasn’t a big fan of. Which only pushed Tony to call him that more.

Peter sat, still looking a little bewildered. “Uh, okay.”

“Hi,” Steve started. “We’re going to talk-”

Peter held his hands up. “If this is about my growing body, or school bullies, save it, I already was traumatized over the PSAs.”

Now it was Steve’s turn to look bewildered, Nat broke into a grin and Tony turned to look at his son. “PSAs?” he questioned.

“Yeah, my school shows them all the time. No matter what you’ve done or you’re learning, Captain America has a video to walk you through.”

“Steve,” Tony said, already planning how he was going to use this information to ruin Steve’s life. “Is that true?”

“Uh, listen, they offered me a lot of money, okay? I didn’t think they’d be used a lot or anyone else would find out.”

“Ohh, this is great. But we’re gonna put a bookmark here on it and come back to that. We’ve got something else to talk to you about.”

“Yes,” Steve said, clearing his throat. “We’re going-” he cut himself off this time. “We were able to apprehend those responsible for making the weapons.”

“What?” Peter asked excitedly. “Really? How? When?”

“After the incident with the truck, the suppliers did abandon their location,” Nat started, Tony could feel Peter visibly shrink beside him. “However,” she continued. “We were able to convince the men taking the truck to cooperate with us in finding out who was the supplier and where they might have been.”

“Turned out it was a pretty small operation, of about 4 guys making these weapons and selling them to any group who could pay for them. That’s how they were able to stay under the radar, just four average guys, with real world jobs. Hardly the criminal empire we had originally thought,” Steve explained.

“How’d they get the alien weapons?” Peter asked, leaning forward in his seat a little more. Tony already knew all of the information, he’d been briefed before bringing Peter in. He thought the kid deserved to know what was happening.

“Scavenged them from clean up crews and other places. Turns out before SHIELD got involved other groups were hired to clean up the mess and when SHIELD did show up, they got a little angry about being pulled from the job. Decided to take it out by manufacturing alien weapons and selling them on the black market,” Nat finished.

“Why couldn’t you guys find them before?” Peter asked, his eyes going to Tony as if he was concerned Tony wouldn’t let him know everything.

“Same reason why you got stuck in the truck. They were using an alien EMP like device that killed electronics. They were also sending in and out decoy trucks sometimes or using other means to cover their tracks. The guys making the weapons hardly had anything to do with it. It was the mafia families that were providing distribution, making it a little muddier to get to the endpoint,” Nat explained.

“You did good, son,” Steve said and Tony recognized the tone of his voice, it changed to the Captain America voice. “It wasn’t the smartest move, nor the safest but I can’t say I’m surprised that’s how it went, coming from a Stark.”

Tony grinned like the proud parent he was.

“You got everyone? They are all in custody?” Peter asked. “Even the guys who were manufacturing them?”

“Yes, everyone is accounted for and SHIELD has safely confiscated the weapons.”

“Oh cool,” Peter commented. “I’m glad they are off the streets, I was really worried about it since I’m not… patrolling still.”

“And that’s another thing we’re gonna talk about,” Tony cut in, watching Peter try to hold back a grin. The kid had been patient about the whole patrolling thing, but Tony knew it was killing him not to be out there still.

Since Peter’s official grounding only a week ago, the kid’s been a model citizen. Proving to Tony that he was a really good kid underneath it all and deserves to continue his superhero ways.

“I know you’re excited to get back on patrol but there are a few things we’re going to do first. Besides working on the new suit together, I’d like you to train with Nat and Cap here.”

Peter’s eyes got impossibly wide, looking at Tony then Nat and Steve, his mouth open a little in the perfect shape of an o. It seemed to take him a whole minute to remember how to talk.

“Are you kidding me? I get to train with freakin’ Captain America and the Black Widow? This is the coolest thing ever!”

The kid was practically vibrating with excitement and started rambling again before anyone else could talk. “Are you going to teach me a hand to hand? Because I suck at that and I have no idea how to actually fight someone! Can you also show me how to disarm a gun? I don’t want to like shoot one or anything, but I really want to be able to take one apart if I need to.”

“Slow down kiddo,” Tony jumped in when Peter took a breath, seemingly the only good time to do so.

“Of course, I’ll teach you how to disarm a gun,” Nat said with a bright smile, one Tony knew was just inviting more chaos. “I can show you how to hide knives too, impressing all of your school friends.”

“Nope,” Tony said, hands up. “He’s not learning how to hide knives, I thought I already told you that.”

Peter frowned, over exaggeratingly crossing his arms over his chest and huffing. “I thought you were a cool dad.”

Tony had no idea how to respond to that one but to sputter out. “I am a cool dad! I’m Iron Man, by default that makes me a cool dad. I’m an invincible dad.”

The three other traitors in the room apparently didn’t agree with him, nor wanted to respond because Steve started talking.

“You can start training with me as well, I know what it’s like to deal with super strength and while useful, you need to understand your limits.”

“Thank you so much,” Peter said, looking at Tony with such happiness, Tony wanted nothing more than to hug him. “This is really cool, thank you guys so much.”

“And just so you understand,” Tony added, clearing his voice. “This is to help you and you’re not going back out patrolling unless the three adults in this room, plus Pepper, agree that you’ll be okay.”

“I get it,” Peter said, nodding enthusiastically.

“Great, now about those PSAs,” Tony said with a wicked grin, as Steve groaned, shaking his head. “FRI, be a dear and get those sent to me and alert the team we’re having a movie night tonight…”

-

Peter nervously drummed his fingers against the table, occasionally glancing over at Tony, who was intently staring at his work. Peter was supposed to be finishing the last of his homework, but he was far from able to concentrate on anything besides the question swimming in his brain.

It’d been a long three months of being grounded, but he was finally at the end of it. He had planned the weekend for Ned to come over and just hang out like they normally did. Although it wasn’t going to be anywhere close to normal since Peter now had access to a theater room and a massive indoor pool, he’d never even used it yet. Not to mention that he could literally ask FRIDAY for anything and she'd probably have it ready for him impossibly fast.

But Peter guessed that was the new normal now.

Just like this, sitting in Tony’s lab, doing homework, fiddling with his suit, or sometimes just hanging out and talking. The amount of just talking they’d done, now that there were no secrets between them, was amazing. He felt connected to Tony, in a way he didn’t ever think would happen.

It also probably helped that Pepper and Tony were the only people he really saw all the time, besides everyone at school.

Now he just had to gather the courage to bring something up that they’d never even talked about.

Peter cleared his throat. “Uh, Tony?”

“Hm?” Tony said, not looking away from his work.

“Can we talk for a minute?”

“Uh, huh,” Tony said absentmindedly, still not looking up at Peter.

Waiting a minute, he got up and walked closer to Tony’s lab table. “Um, Tony?”

“Hmmhm, what’s up Pete?” Tony asked, finally using full sentences, which meant he was now kinda paying attention.

“Can we talk, please?”

Looking up at him, Tony blinked twice before seemingly remembering Peter was there, to begin with. “Oh, shi-, shoot. Sorry, Pete, I was distracted by these nanites today, but you’re more important.”

“Thanks,” Peter offered, gesturing towards the worn out couch they usually sat on for moments like this. They sat side by side on the two seaters, but Peter turned to face Tony a little better. Trying to make his nervousness not as noticeable, he tried to look Tony in the eye.

Which made him a lot more nervous, so he looked away.

“Everything, okay?” Tony questioned and Peter nodded his head.

“Yeah sorry, I just wanted to bring something up, and like, I don’t know how you’ll feel about it. It’s nothing bad or like, a secret or something.”

“Pete, after finding out you were Spider-man I don’t think there’s much else you could say that would surprise or scare me more,” Tony said with a chuckle, then when Peter didn’t really chuckle back, Tony cleared his throat. “You aren’t secretly another superhero, right? You haven’t moonlighting as Arachnid-Man or something?”

“No,” Peter laughed. “Nothing like that, just um, so. I was wondering if you were okay if I maybe didn’t call you Dad and kept calling you Tony?”

“Oh,” Tony responded, face frozen in a moment of thought. Peter had thought about this a lot in the past, sure slipped in a Dad a few times, but he’s never meant to say it before. Seeing how disappointed Tony was starting to look, he launched into his explanation.

“It’s not because I don’t love you or think of you as my Dad because I know you are but it’s just. Um, I just always called Richard, Dad, because he, you know, was my Dad growing up and after he died, Ben told me I could call him Uncle Ben or Ben, or whatever because he knew he wasn’t my Dad, so that’s what I called him. And I’m just like. I can’t explain it, but Richard was Dad to me, and calling anyone else Dad, even though you are my Dad, is kinda weird for me right now and I just, I don’t want you to think it’s because I hate you or anything and-”

“Pete,” Tony said, cutting him off. “Kid, you can call me anything you want to and I’d be okay with it. If you want to keep Richard as Dad, and I’m just Tony that’s fine. If you change your mind later, then you can call me Dad then too.”

“You really don’t mind? I don’t want to hurt your feelings or anything.”

“Nope,” Tony said, moving to place his hand on Peter’s shoulders. “Honestly kid, at this point I don’t think there’s a whole lot you could do to hurt my feelings.”

“Well that’s a dangerous thing to say to a teenager,” Peter joked, watching as Tony grinned. “But really, I don’t want to upset you and I thought you deserved a reason as to why I haven’t been calling you Dad yet. I don’t know if it will change or not, but I just wanted to make sure you knew.”

“You’re alright kiddo,” Tony held out his arm, an open invitation to snuggle in close and Peter did just that. “I think we’re gonna be fine, you know that? We’ve already handled some big things and we came out the other end just fine, right?”

“Yeah,” Peter said, feeling confident about it. Tony was right, they did deal with some tough stuff right off the bat, there wasn’t going to be a whole lot that could get between them.

“Love you,” Peter said.

“Love you too,” Tony answered.

Chapter Text

Tony had never in his life experienced the annoyance of having to wait in the student pick up line outside of a school.

No one and he really meant no one, seemed to be able to follow any basic directions. Cars were going the wrong way down one-way streets just to get a spot. Cutting other cars off like the first person to get their kid wins a million dollars.

Happy had complained about it a lot when he was picking up Pete often and Tony just kinda blew him off because, well how bad could it be?

But now? Now Tony is giving Happy a big raise, a giant one.

Lately, Peter had been going to Ned's after school, eliminating the need for Happy to risk life and limb in the pick up line. But today was different, Tony planned on surprising Peter and taking him on a little trip. It was at their therapist’s suggestion too, that they do things that don’t revolve around the lab or Spider-man and Iron Man.

To do something that was simply Peter and Tony.

When you were a world famous superhero, it was kinda hard to do something that didn’t invoke a million people pointing cell phones at you, but Tony was ready to give it the old college try.

It was a good 10 minutes after the bell had rung before Tony could see Peter among the sea of children. Most of the cars in front of him had pulled off and only 10 new people honked at him for not pulling up to fill their spots, which Tony had no clue he was supposed to do.

Peter spotted the car quickly, saying goodbye to Ned and a girl that had been walking semi behind him but was now clearly with him. Tony had never seen her before, but the way she smiled at Peter said more than enough.

Tony rolled down the window as Peter got closer. “Seat up front,” he called out.

Peter came into the car, looking at Tony. “Where’s Happy? Do we have a mission?”

Peter let his bag drop between his feet with a loud thud, before going for his seat belt. “No,” Tony answered. “No missions, Pete, we’re going on a little father son thing.”

Someone behind him honked again. “You needed to be moving forward before I even got in the car,” Peter said. “Like, you should be around the corner already.”

“These people are vultures,” Tony commented. “All of them. I’m building this school a new parking lot and pick up section.”

Peter snorted. “Sure, you do that, good use of time and resources.”

Tony ignored the jab. “So, who was that girl?”

“What girl?” Peter countered back a little too fast, Tony grinned as they pulled off into traffic.

“The one you said goodbye to, the one who clearly is madly in love with you.”

Tony turned to see his son flush a bright pink before he scowled. “MJ is not in love with me,” he said, nervousness in his voice. “I’m not even sure she likes me as a friend.”

“Ohhh,” Tony responded, drumming his fingers on the steering wheels as they came to a red light. “You’re just starting your journey into young love. Just you wait until your first date, your first kiss, oh oh, does that mean I need to give you the birds and the-”

Peter cut him off before he could finish. “Nope! Nope! Already got that talk, don’t need it again, especially not from you.”

“I’m wounded, really Pete. Anyway, tell me about your day kiddo…”

Peter launched into a rambling story about his school day, one Tony listened to with great attention. It had been over a year now since Peter had come to him and he never thought they’d get here. Where Peter was open and willing, bantering back and forth with ease.

As Tony pulled up against a street corner, it seemed Peter realized where they were going. “Really?” he asked when the car came to a stop, already taking his seat belt off.

“Yeah, you’ve mentioned it more than enough times already. I heard you lamenting to Pepper about how you’d sell your soul for a Delmar’s chopped cheese, extra pickles, squished down as flat as they come and when I tried to get you one from the Deli in Manhatten you complained that they didn't squish it down enough for you.”

“Uh, they didn’t,” Peter said once they were both out of the car and walking toward the small bodega. “When I say I want a squished flat sandwich, I want a squashed flat sandwich. I’ve been going to Delmars since I was a kid, he just knows me, deep down inside.”

The bell jingled when they walked in, an older man behind the counter turned and Tony could see his eyes light up the second he saw Peter. “Hey, Mr. Parker!” The man shouted. “Lou!” the man shouted, turning his head, presumably talking to whoever was at the end of the counter. “Look who’s back.”

Peter grinned, walking over and the man shook Peter’s hand. “Thought you got too good for us,” he said, his eyes flicking up toward Tony. He was in his incognito mood, sunglasses, hat, and less flashy shirt but it was very much still Tony Stark.

“Never,” Peter said, he turned to Tony and beckoned him forward. “Mr. Delmar, this is Tony, my Dad.”

Tony almost blacked out for a second, Peter had never introduced him like that before. It was always, this is Tony and that was that. But to be called his Dad? In front of someone that clearly knew Peter well. He stuck his hand out, grabbing onto Mr. Delmar’s and shaking it, trying not to look as affected as he was.

“Good to meet you,” Mr. Delmar said, although he sounded a little suspicious. “You treatin’ our Mr. Parker here alright?”

“Mr. Delmar,” Peter whined. “It’s fine. Can I have my sandwich now?” He reached over and grabbed a bag of gummy worms. “And these. And whatever Tony wants.”

Another man poked his head from behind the counter and shouted Peter’s name. He walked over and they started talking, Peter reaching out to scratch a cat’s head that sat on the counter.

“Uh,” Tony said looking at the menu.

“I’d recommend the chopped cheese if you’re into that, but if not, our turkey melt on point.”

“Yeah, get me one of those turkey melts, no onions, extra mayo.”

Mr. Delmar nodded, ringing something up on his register. “That’ll be $25.”

“Mr. Delmar!” Peter shouted, turning his head. “The sign says $5 a sandwich, come on.”
“That’s for normal people. There’s an upcharge for bougie folk.”

Before anyone else could chime in, Tony handed over $50 from his wallet. “Keep the change, consider it a tip.”

Peter flushed with pink again, probably embarrassed by the show of money, but didn't say anything. He chatted a bit with Lou, before coming back over and asking Mr. Delmar about his daughter, wife, mother, mother in law, and pretty much a dozen other people. It was clear the kid was well liked here and Tony made a mental note to come by more often. It wasn’t that far out of their way.

Once they had their food and conversation, with Peter promising to come back soon, they headed back outside.

“Where we goin’ now?” Peter asked, ripping into the bag of gummy worms already.

“Well, we’re going to walk over to that small little park over there to eat at a table, like humans.”

“Aw, come on, eating in your car is perfectly normal,” Peter said, mouth half full of gummy bears. Tony had no idea how the kid could stomach things, nothing but pure sugar with a terrible texture and he told him such as they got to the park.

-

Peter inhaled his squished extra pickled chopped cheese sandwich, so fast that Tony looked vaguely worried about him. He wanted to lick the wrapper clean too but decided against it. Tony took his time with his sandwich, seemingly savoring every bit in an effort to annoy Peter, who was now high on sugar.

“Good?” Peter questioned when he finished.

“Eh,” Tony responded, but not only did he eat every last piece, but he was also smiling. “Pretty good.”

“Delmars is the best, honestly. May, Ben, and I used to come down every other Saturday but after Ben died, we had to do it like once a month. He always gives us discounts tho, well, unless he said I was being too sassy then it was a higher price.”

Tony quirked an eyebrow at him, as they got up, throwing their garbage into a bin and walking back to the car. Once they got in, Peter went into his bookbag, pulling out a bag of chips.

“If you wanted chips, I could have gotten you chips,” Tony said, as they pulled out.

“Nah, I’ve got these chips. So, where are you taking me now?” Peter asked, watching as they drove. Tony didn’t answer and Peter took that as a sign he wasn’t going to get one. Instead, he finished his phone out, opening a text he had from Ned already.

“Ohh,” Peter said. “Do you think I can spend the night at Ned’s next weekend? We’ve got a bio project and it might be an all nighter. I keep forgetting to ask you.”

“Have him come over here,” Tony offered.

Peter made a face. “Alright, but if he freaks out again it’s your fault.”

Ned still hadn’t gotten used to Peter’s new lifestyle yet. Thankfully he was over the speechless, mouth agape stage and was now in the can’t stop talking to save my life phase of it. Especially the last time he was over when Bruce had come up and eaten dinner with them. Peter was pretty sure his best friend was going to ask for Bruce’s autograph on his dinner plate at one point. That or steal the man’s leftover pizza crust.

“How was your dad? Did you get that kink worked out of the nantie elbow yet?” Peter asked, pocketing his phone.

Tony launched into a very long winded explanation, including the several ways he couldn’t fix it. Peter listened, offering suggestions as they went but in the end, Tony still hadn’t worked out the kink.

When they pulled up against a large brick building, Peter looked to see if he could figure out what shop they were going into.

“So,” Tony said. “Jillian had said we should do some father son bonding, and share from each other’s worlds a bit. While I know I should have actually asked you if you wanted to take me to Delmar’s, I kinda jumped the gun, per usual.”

“It’s fine,” Peter pressed, knowing he was making an effort for him. “I liked going, it was a good surprise, really.”

“Good, good. For my thing, well, there isn’t much here in New York that’s strictly a me thing. When we go back to Malibu in the summer, I’ll be sure to show you around but uh, this place is a good start. You just gotta promise to let me do my thing and not complain too much.”

Peter frowned at that but followed Tony out of the car. They walked down the street, stopping in front of a tailor, of all things. Tony walked in first, the door dinging as he did and an older man looked up, getting up the second he saw him.

“Ohh, Mr. Stark! How wonderful to see you again!! Oh and,” the man said, as he came closer to Peter, pausing until he was right in front of him. “This must be your son, right?”

“James, this is Peter. Peter, this is my favorite tailor in all of New York, possibly the world, James Badaduca.”

They shook hands and Peter smiled. “Are you going to make me get a suit?” Peter questioned and both James and Tony laughed.

“Yup. Now that you’re a Stark official, you might be attending galas with Pepper and me sometimes. And James will give you the absolute best.”

Peter didn’t mind, not really. Tony had already given him the most expensive suit ever via Spider-man, so this was nothing.

James took both of them towards the back, sat them both down, and began showing them some suits that he’d apparently already had ready for them.

“How long have you been planning this?” Peter asked them when James went to get a suit in a different color.

“Eh, like a week. The Delmars thing was last minute, realized we’d be close and as I said, wanted to bond or whatever.”

Peter spent the next hour trying on a few suits, none of them was his size, but apparently Tony had already sent over the measurements and whatever they picked out, James would make. Just when Peter thought he’d be there forever, his stomach let out a rumble, and Tony laughed.

“Alright, alright. That’s how I know we’re taking up too much of his time,” Tony joked. “A teenager's stomach is a good alarm clock, any longer without food and he’ll get crabby.”

Peter frowned, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Ah too late,” Tony said, with a laugh, while Peter walked back to get changed.

When they got back into the car, Peter cleared his throat. “Thank you,” he said. “For picking me up, dinner, and then the suit stuff. I liked doing things with you.”

“Ah, that’s good. How about we make this a thing? We each pick a fun activity and once a week we do that. Even if it’s just lab work or going to a place we like to eat. And if you want, we can invite Pepper too.”

“Yeah, that’d be cool,” Peter said, completely and utterly meaning it.

“Oh,” Tony said suddenly as if he just remembered something. “What do you say this Friday night, we go patrolling?”

“Are you serious?” Peter said, turning to look at his Dad.

Peter was no longer grounded from leaving the house, but he had yet to patrol again. He’d done a fair amount of training already, as well as working on the suit relentlessly with Tony. They’d done a few trials runs already, mostly small stuff, helping a few people here and there. Nothing Peter would consider an actual evening patrol through the streets.

They both wanted him to get used to the new suit before he ventured out into the world of superheroing for real.

“Yup,” Tony said casually as if he had no idea how happy and excited Peter was. “I think you’re ready, as long as you think you’re ready.”

“Yeah!!” Peter said, nearly bouncing in his seat. “That’s so cool, I can’t wait to tell Ned. He’s gonna be so jealous.”

Peter couldn’t stop the smile on his face as they drove home.

-

The feeling of pure excitement raced through Peter’s veins, as he stood on top of the roof slightly adjacent to the Tower. He let out a little whoop sound, trying to suppress any of the gleeful shoutings he wanted to do.

The new suit, the one he and Tony had painstakingly created fit like a glove. The lightweight fabric sat daintily on his skin, giving him room to breathe, as well as swing through the air with ease. The web shooters were a big upgrade too, fitting nearly perfectly in line with his suit, a small trigger button easier to press in a hurry than his older ones. Not to mention all the upgrades in the lens and mask, giving Peter a HUD like Tony’s suits and his own AI to boot.

Tony had warned him was heavily locked down and would only be unlocked as he grew. Which, was fair, really, but it was still the coolest thing ever.

“Karen?” Peter questioned.

“Yes, Peter?” she said, lighting up his screen with a soft bluish hue around the edges.

“Are you ready?” he asked her, knowing full well she was an AI and therefore, always ready.

“Really Pete?” Tony cut in, Peter couldn’t see the Iron Man suit anywhere but he could hear the sound of it, off in the distance.

“What?” Peter questioned. “I’m just checking in on Karen, gotta make sure she’s good before I go fight crime.”

“I still can’t believe you didn’t want to make her name an acronym,” Tony said, mock annoyance in his voice.

“Initialism,” Peter quipped back. “An acronym is when it’s not pronounceable, an initialism is when it is.”

Tony snorted. “Are you an English major now, kiddo?”

“Pft,” Peter said in response, just as he spotted the Iron Man suit coming closer. “I’m just a very well rounded individual, that’s all. Also, someone in this family has to be cultured.”

Tony waited until he was directly in front of Peter, letting his mask fall away. “I’ll have you know I’m very cultured. I know the difference between many, many wines.”

Peter laughed loudly, rolling up his mask so it sat right above his eyes. This high up there was no way anyone would see him. “Are you gonna follow me all night?” Peter questioned.

“Maybe,” Tony said, he shrugged, the shoulders of the suit coming up just a little. They’d been working on a different kind of suit, one with nanites that would be like wearing a glove. Tony had on a trial run of them now, while Peter was still in breathable fabric. When Peter complained, Tony told him he had to start small before he was allowed the fancy stuff.

Peter knew Tony was going to stick around, no matter what. They’d already discussed it at length, just how many Peter could patrol for, where he could go when he needed to call for assistance.

He rolled his mask back down.“Well, you’ll just have to make sure you can keep up then, old man.”

Without even looking, Peter aimed, shooting off a web that would catch onto the antenna he already knew was there. With a flick of his wrist, he was off, swinging through the air, with the sound of repulsors close behind.