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Chapter Text

Flash and his friends were idiots.  Peter knew that, but it didn’t make it hurt any less when they shoved him into lockers, elbowed him in hallways, or reminded him that he was an orphan every chance they got.  Father-son picnic?  The perfect opportunity to come at Peter with everything they had, and only after he was lying on the grass outside the school scraped and bleeding would they laugh and tell him he should go home and cry about it to his parents.   “Oh wait, that’s right, you don’t have parents do you, or they’d be here!”

Peter hated father-son picnics, parent-teacher conferences, career day, and all other events hosted by schools each year as they only served as a reminder of what he didn’t have.

To be fair, Aunt May tried her hardest to make it to some of these things, but she worked long hours at the hospital trying to make ends meet and put Peter through Midtown, which cost over a thousand dollars a month, and that was after his scholarship.  Aunt May never said anything about it, but Peter often felt bad about being a burden to her.  His mom and step dad had died in a plane crash along with Uncle Ben when he was five.  He and May had been sent reeling at the loss, and despite that they weren’t related by blood, only by marriage through Ben, May had taken him in.  If she hadn’t, Peter would have ended up in foster care.  He’d always be grateful to her for saving him from that fate.

Still.  It wasn’t fair to her and Peter knew it, because the simple truth of the matter was that Peter was not an orphan.  His father was still alive, and was even living in the same city.  He had enough money to take care of Peter, but May was the one being burdened with feeding, clothing, and housing him.

May was amazing.  She never brought up the fact that Peter’s father should be the one taking care of him.  She never told him he was a burden and just did her best to care for him.  She didn’t like his father, Peter knew that much, but she also made an effort not to say anything against him, because she knew that despite everything… despite that he wasn’t here taking care of her nephew, Peter looked up to him and strove to be like him.

Peter had always known his father was Tony Stark.  His mother and step father had told him when he was young, just a few weeks before the plane wreck.  Peter hadn’t understood at first why his father wasn’t there, especially after the plane crash, but May had explained to him when he was a little older that his father didn’t know about him.  She didn’t know why, and Peter hadn’t understood at first why no one had told him… why no one had taken Peter to meet him.

He hadn’t understood until the third grade when the bullying first started.  A group of boys had decided he was the easiest target and had come at him hard with names like freak, wimp, and weirdo.  That same group of boys eventually pulled others into their group, and Peter had had to deal with them and all of their names for him until he went to middle school.  A new group had picked up the mantle against Peter in the seventh and eighth grade, and then at Midtown Flash had come after him right away within the first week of school.  He’d learned a valuable lesson from all of the bullying though: his peers thought he was weird… strange… a freak.

No one had told his father that Peter was his son, because his father wouldn’t want him.  He didn’t think May really wanted him either, but was grateful that she was still taking care of him anyway.  He always tried to make things easier on her by doing chores around the house, not arguing with her, and trying to get good grades.  Thanks to aunt May, Mr. Stark would never need to know he had a freak for a son, and Peter would never have to suffer through being a disappointment to him.  He really didn’t think he could handle that.

* * *

When Peter had been bit by a radioactive spider on a field trip to OsCorp at the end of 8th grade, he’d never suspected that this one event would lead him to meet the very man he thought he’d never even get a chance to see in person.

Peter knew a lot about Mr. Stark.  He knew he had a long time girlfriend in Pepper Potts, and that he’d made her the CEO of his company so he could have more time to invent.  He knew about the kidnapping that led to Iron Man’s creation, about a lot of the incidents Iron Man had been involved in, about some of Mr. Stark’s hobbies, like racing fast cars, and that he’d lived in Malibu before moving Stark Industries Headquarters to New York City.

He knew a lot about his father, but he never expected to walk into his apartment one day and find him sitting on the couch eating disgusting date loaf next to May.

As soon as he spotted him sitting on the couch, Peter’s heart felt like it had stopped beating for the space of five seconds.  Then his heart had sped up and felt like he was about to have a heart attack.

“Peter, why didn’t you tell me you applied for an internship?” May had asked, voice falsely bright while her eyes were full of confusion.

“Uh,” Peter’s eyes flickered to Mr. Stark.  He had a black eye for some reason, and he was winking at Peter.  “Yeah, I just- I didn’t think I’d get it.  I was waiting to say something until I knew for sure.”

“We were very impressed with his application,” Mr. Stark said, and Peter felt like his heart jumped up into his throat at the praise before he remembered that he’d never applied for an internship.  Had his father found out about him?  Had he come to meet his disappointment of a son?

No.  He’d come to meet Spider Man, because Peter apparently hadn’t been careful enough in his escapades, and his patrols had become predictable.

“You’ve got a passport, right?”

“Uh, what?  No, no Mr. Stark.  I can’t go to Germany!”  Peter really wanted to though.  He ended up agreeing to go because his father wanted him to, and Peter wanted the man to like him… to approve of what he was doing as Spider Man.  May let him go, though she didn’t buy the BS cover story Tony had given to her.  As soon as he’d left, she’d asked Peter for the truth, which he hadn’t been able to give her at the time.

“Peter, does he know?”

“No,” Peter hissed, the moment after he was sure Mr. Stark had gone down the stairs and wasn’t just outside the apartment door still listening.

“So you really just applied for an internship?”

“No, that’s the thing, I didn’t.  I wouldn’t.”

“What is this about then?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“You can’t tell me, but you expect me to let you go on a two day trip with him for an internship you didn’t apply for?”

“May…” Peter trailed away.  So much for trying not to be a burden.  For all his good intentions, he was causing her issues anyway.  “Please let me go with him.”

May studied him for long moments.  “You’ve been so secretive lately Peter.  You quit Robotics club last week, and I know you’ve been going out while I’m at the hospital working night shifts.”

“I- I- I-” Damn it.  He had to tell her, but she’d never let him go with Mr. Stark if he told her now.  “I’ve been going out,” he mumbled.  He thought he’d been sneaky going out to fight crime while she was gone.  He had no idea how she’d found out.  “It doesn’t have anything to do with him though.  I never contacted him and I was just as surprised as you to have him show up here.”

“I’m responsible for you sweetheart.  I can’t just let you go somewhere with him, despite who he is to you without knowing what’s going on.”

“We’re going to Germany.”

“Germany?  Why?”

“There’s… a project he needs help with, and I have a skillset he needs.”

“You’re going to have to give me more than that.”

“I can’t May, not until I get back, but I promise you I’ll tell you everything.  I-” he looked up at her, eyes wide.  “Please May, I have to do this.”

She looked like she wanted to argue.  She opened and closed her mouth several times, turned away from him and paced, and turned back.  “Are you coming back?  He’s not trying to kidnap you because he found out the truth?”

“No, no, nothing like that.  I swear.  This- it has something to do with a field trip I took to OsCorp last year.”

She frowned.  “Is he just using you to get information about his competition?”  She sounded angry.

“No, that’s not it.”

May took his hand and led him to the couch, where she sat and pulled him down with her.

“I would understand if you had contacted him and told him the truth sweetheart.  I know how much you look up to him, and that he’s your father.  I know you want him to recognize you and he’s got a lot to offer that I don’t.  Please, just tell me the truth.”

The truth was that Peter was scared to tell Mr. Stark then, and he still was now.  He still wasn’t quite sure how he had convinced May to let him go to Germany at 14, but she’d agreed, and as promised, Peter had come clean with her as soon as he’d gotten back, covered in bruises.

May had been upset… angry, confused, and a number of other things.  But she didn’t abandon him like Peter thought she might.  May was really something special.  She pulled him into a hug and they sat there and cried.

May did not want him to be a crime fighting spider-vigilante.  She also didn’t want Peter to spend more time with Mr. Stark if it meant he was going to be dragging him off to fight Rogue Avengers and sending Peter home bruised.  Unbeknownst to Peter, security footage from the airport in Germany had been leaked to the press, and while Peter had been on a plane with Happy on his way home from Germany, May had been watching the footage of a jet bridge getting dropped on Spider Man on the news.

She’d expressly forbidden him from being Spider Man after that.  Peter had promised, but he hadn’t listened.  He’d continued to sneak out at night while she was at work… he’d continued going out after school, calling Happy and leaving him messages about his patrol, and not getting any response from him or Mr. Stark.

It hadn’t taken long for May to figure out that Peter had broken his promise, and he’d had to face her disappointment head on.  She’d seen the footage of him holding that ferry together and Iron Man having to save him and the other passengers on the ferry.

“You’re not going to stop, are you?”

“May, please- please don’t send me to foster care!” Peter’s voice had been shaking as he’d begged her, standing there in front of her with Hello Kitty pajama bottoms and an ‘I survived my trip to NYC’ t-shirt.

“Foster care?  Peter, honey,” she pulled him into a hug.  “Honey, I’d never just send you away.  Have I been that bad of a guardian?  Honey, never.  I’d never abandon you.”

They’d cried again, just like after Germany.  Just like after the plane crash that had taken Ben, and Mary, and Richard.  Because they were all each other had.  Ben was gone, and Peter’s father would never want him.

Something interesting had come of the night after the ferry though.  Aunt May had told him that he could continue being Spider Man, but that he couldn’t do it on his own.  She’d laid down some rules, hoping he’d at least agree to stay safe after the ferry incident and not get involved in big things.  It was too bad that Peter had lost his suit… that he’d disappointed his father to the point that he felt like Peter was too weak and stupid to even be able to wear the suit… to be Spider Man.

He’d gone back to his onesie, and decided to ignore the rules May had laid down.  He had to forget the fact that Happy and his father thought he was worthless… that they ignored his calls, that his father wanted nothing to do with him.  That he was a disappointment.  He had to push all of it aside for one night to stop the Vulture.  With or without the suit, Peter was Spider Man, and he had taken the Vulture down and saved the tech on Mr. Stark’s plane.

Peter had gone limping home to the apartment after that and found May waiting for him.  She’d heard the news and come home from work early, knowing Peter would need her.  Apparently she and Mr. Stark had been on the same brainwave early the morning of the plane crash, because twenty minutes after Peter had made it home and was lying on the couch while May was treating his injuries, Mr. Stark had knocked on the apartment door and come to check on him.

May let him in with a glare, and Mr. Stark had accepted it, and then his eyes had fallen on Peter, who had a split lip, scrapes up and down his arms and face, and bruises covering a large part of his body.

“Holy shit kid.”  The sight of Peter took his breath away, and not in a good way.  Peter watched as his father’s face morphed from horror to guilt.  Then Peter listened, eyes going back and forth between his aunt and father as they argued about Peter going out as Spider Man and Mr. Stark’s involvement in it.  It was less an argument on Mr. Stark’s part and more of him trying to put out the fire that was aunt May when she was angry.  Some of that anger was also directed at Peter once Mr. Stark told her everything that had gone on between the two of them and how Mr. Stark had warned Peter time and again to stay away from the Vulture.

Because he didn’t have any broken bones, May had told Tony that Peter didn’t need to go to the med bay at the tower, and  his father ended up leaving, but not before he and May came to an agreement that Peter needed help that May couldn’t give him if he was going to keep being Spider Man.  Super heroes were Iron Man’s thing, and he agreed that he would stick around to mentor Peter and to try to keep him out of trouble.

Peter had been too tired to be excited about it then, and after Mr. Stark left, May had come to the couch and just hugged him.  There were no tears, but she said, “You didn’t tell me he took the suit from you last week.”

Peter’s throat grew tight.  “I uh… yeah.  It- it sucked.”  She only squeezed him tighter.  Because she knew the truth about his father, she knew how much it had hurt him to be on the receiving end of his father’s disappointment and disdain.

“You’re- you’re really going to let me start… spending time with him?  For Spider Man stuff?”

“He’s your dad honey, even if he doesn’t know it.  I’m not going to stop you from spending time with him.  I wish it didn’t have to involve you going out and doing dangerous things as a masked vigilante, but-”

But he’d take what he could get.  The only reason he’d met his father at all was because Iron Man had needed Spider Man’s help.  Peter wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Chapter Text

Peter didn’t have an internship at Stark Industries, but it was the cover story they were using to explain why Peter had dropped most of his after school clubs and why some grumpy looking dude in an expensive black SUV was picking him up several days a week after school.

It didn’t matter that he had a badge that granted him access to Stark Tower, and that no one could explain Happy and his SUV, because Flash and his friends didn’t believe Peter about it from the beginning.

“You made that badge with Photoshop.”

“That guy in the SUV is from some sort of car service your aunt must have access to at the hospital.”

“You dropped your clubs because your grades are all dropping and you got kicked out.”

Flash was always creative with the reasons he came up with to explain things in Peter’s life.

Eventually he got tired of explaining away Peter’s after school trips to Stark Tower, and went back to taunting him for being an orphan.  Peter would give anything to tell him that it wasn’t true… that he had a dad that was still alive (a dad he was spending time with), but he couldn’t.  Flash hadn’t believed him about the internship so there was no way he would believe Peter if he said he was the unknown heir to Stark Industries.  Flash would laugh him out of the school and call him pathetic.  Pathetic was Flash’s favorite word for Peter, and he heard it on a daily basis.

He couldn’t ignore Flash, but he did his best to anyway, and to just be happy with the time he was getting to spend at the tower with his father.

At first they spent time going over new rules Mr. Stark had laid down for his patrols as Spider Man.  Things like telling Mr. Stark as soon as he was hurt, staying away from guns and knives, and listening to Mr. Stark when he told Peter to stay away from criminals with names like ‘the Vulture’.

They’d spent time upgrading his suit, and even working on the Iron Man suits while listening to loud music in the lab.  Peter had been ecstatic about all of it.  Just working on suits in the lab hadn’t lasted for long though.  Mr. Stark was happy that Peter could keep up with him when he talked about tech, and they’d moved on to working on projects for R & D, and then to personal projects Peter wanted to do.

At some point, Peter couldn’t pinpoint when, their lab days had morphed into plain hang out days.  It might have been the time Mr. Stark had to go down to one of the R & D labs to clean up a mess one of the engineers had made and Peter had gone with him.  Or it might have been the day that Peter had been too tired, and they’d given up on lab work and had ended up watching YouTube videos on the holo screen in the lab instead.  It also could have been the time Peter’s stomach was grumbling so loud that Mr. Stark had ordered pizza and taken Peter up to the penthouse to eat.  That day they’d ended up scrapping lab time altogether and had just watched a movie.

Those odd days out of the lab had been far and few in between, but they’d become more frequent as Peter finished up his freshman year at Midtown and then went through the summer, going to Stark Tower in the morning three days a week and spending the day instead of just going in the afternoons.

He loved spending time with his father, and May was the only one who knew.  Ned knew he had an internship, but he didn’t know what it really meant to Peter, and Peter couldn’t tell him.  He couldn’t tell Mr. Stark either.

He wanted to.  He wanted to call him dad instead of Mr. Stark.  The same words Flash and the others always said to him stopped him though.

“You’re a freak Parker.  Your parents are better off dead.”

“I feel sorry for your aunt having to live with an abnormality like you.”

“I bet your parents were on that plane to go on vacation just to get away from you.”

“Gonna cry Parker?  No one cares.”

No one cares.  Mr. Stark wouldn’t, so Peter didn’t tell him.

* * *

Peter would have skipped going back to school in the fall altogether if he could have.  The start of school meant he’d have less time to spend at the tower, and that he’d be back in the line of fire daily whenever Flash got bored or caught sight of him.

Unfortunately he didn’t have a choice.  Aunt May had compromised a lot by letting him drop most of his school clubs, and letting him continue as Spider Man.  School wasn’t an option, or Peter would skip school or beg to go to school online instead.

The start of school also meant they went back to their regular routine of Happy picking him up from school three days a week.  Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Happy was waiting for him in the pickup line, grumpy about having to be there at all.  He frequently grumbled about being the head of security, not a chauffeur.  He didn’t seem to have anything against Peter personally, but that didn’t mean he was happy to see him whenever he climbed into the back of the car.

Peter had learned quickly that if he talked too much on the fifteen minute ride to the tower that Happy would put up the privacy divider, so he kept his mouth closed most of the time and they rode in silence.

Generally the only time he heard from Happy at all was if he was late coming out of the building and the grumpy man sent him a text telling him to hurry up, or if there was some sort of change in plans and Happy was going to be late for some reason.

It surprised Peter one day then when he got into the back of the SUV and Happy asked him about Flash and his friends.

“What?” Peter croaked.

“What was all that about?” Happy asked again.  “What did they want?”

“Who?”

“The group of guys on the front steps of the school kid.  You were just talking to them.  You had a look on your face like something was wrong.”

“Oh, uh… it was nothing.”

“It didn’t look like nothing.  I’ve been a bodyguard for a long time.  I know what that uncomfortable look on a client’s face means.”

“But I’m not- I’m not your client,” Peter said, surprised.

“I’m responsible for you like you are three days a week until I drop you off at the tower,” Happy said.

Responsible.  Peter was a burden to him just like he was to aunt May.

“It was nothing Happy, really.  We were just uh, talking about an upcoming school project, that’s all.”

“What kind of project?”  Happy stopped at a stop sign briefly, and then pulled away again.

“Uh, well, I’m in AP Physics this year.  There’s a big project due at the end of November.  Some of them are in my class.  We were just talking about it.”  AP Physics had a father/child project that wasn’t optional.  The projects were going to be put on in a science fair for the rest of the school on the last day of school before Thanksgiving break, and fathers and their children were going to present their projects together.  Flash’s father had already agreed to do it, and Flash had been genuinely curious what Peter was going to do about it.  The teacher had said Peter could do the project with his aunt, but May wasn’t interested in physics, and she was busy.  He’d been thinking about asking Mr. Stark, but Mr. Stark was busy too.  Besides, even if Mr. Stark wasn’t going as his father, just as his mentor, it would hurt too much to ask him and have him say he was too busy or not interested in doing the project with him.

Happy didn’t ask Peter about it again, and he was grateful for their normal car-ride silence to resume.

* * *

Flash had decided to take things up another notch with Peter since Peter had decided not to ask his aunt to do the project with him.

“What’s the matter Penis?  Your aunt finally decide that you’re a freak too?  You do still live with her don’t you?  She didn’t give you to CPS did she?”

“Watch out Flash, look, he’s balling and unballing his fists like he might do something this time,” one of Flash’s older friends cooed.  Flash was friends with a bunch of juniors and a couple seniors.  Peter wasn’t sure if it was because Flash’s family had money or if there was something else going on, because he couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to be friends with him.

“Oh yeah Parker?” Flash asked, pushing his sleeves up.  “That right?  You gonna do something?”

Peter shoved his hands in his pockets, but pulled them back out a moment later as Flash grabbed the front of his shirt and pushed him across the hall and into a bank of lockers.  Peter was going to be bruised from where one of the locker handles had jammed into his back.

“You’re not going to do anything you wuss, are you?” Flash said quietly with a grin.  “Put those fists away.”  Flash stepped back and then patted down the front of Peter’s shirt, like it had just been rumpled on accident.  Then he and his friends strode away, leaving Peter there in the hall, face red.  He couldn’t do anything, because if he did, he’d end up sending Flash through a wall.

* * *

“Woo!  Hey look!  It’s parentless Penis!”

Peter kept his head down and stared at his feet as he tried to hurry down the front steps and towards the pickup line.  He was late coming out of school, hoping to avoid Flash and his friends, but he could see that had been a mistake now because they’d waited for him.  The difference now was that most of the students had cleared out, as had most of the cars in the pickup line.  Less of an audience meant Flash would only escalate to full on violence.  When he came after Peter at school it was small shoves and harsh words.  If he ran into him outside of school however, Peter usually found himself thrown into a dumpster or being chased down the street and to the subway station.

“Hey, we’re talking to you asshole,” one of the seniors said, stepping into Peter’s path and grabbing the front of his shirt like Flash had done a couple days before.

Peter stopped and looked up at him.  “I’m gonna be late.  My ride’s here.”  He motioned towards the pickup line, but the guy didn’t care.

“Hey, hey, nothing to worry about,” one of the juniors said, coming over to him.  The others followed, and Peter was surrounded.  “We’re not gonna do anything, we just wanna know what you’re gonna do for Physics.  I mean, there’s got to be like a rent-a-father place, right?”  He turned to Flash who smirked, and then to some of the others and said loud enough for the remaining students to hear, “Anyone got a dad Parker can borrow?  No?  No one?”  The guy, Chase, turned back to Peter and laughed, letting go of his shirt.  “Sorry, we tried.”

Peter shook his head.  His face felt hot and he was sure he was red with embarrassment.  He moved quickly around them, leaving them laughing behind him.  To make matters worse, Happy was sitting in the car, the last in the pickup line, and the passenger window was down.  He was leaning over into the passenger seat and watching the exchange.  Peter hoped he hadn’t heard what they’d said.

Parker luck told Peter before he got in that Happy had heard everything.

He slammed the door a little as he got in and buckled, hoping Happy would hurry up and pull away.  He did, and as soon as they were away from the curb, he said, “You can’t tell me that was nothing.  He had his hands on you.”

“Just- just forget it,” he mumbled.

“Does May know about this?”

“I’m sure she does.”

“Kid-”

“Can we- can we please not do this?”  Peter was having trouble keeping tears from welling up in his eyes and keeping his voice steady.  He knew his plea had come out sounding just as pathetic as he was though.

Happy didn’t say anything else for a few minutes.

“I know kids can be mean but… what they’re doing is on another level.  You don’t mess with a kid because his parents died.  I’m sorry, but if you think I’m not gonna have words with them, or at the very least tell Tony about this-”

“Happy,” Peter said, “I’m not actually an orphan.  They just think I am.  They’re stupid idiots, ok?”

The man frowned, trying to work over what Peter had said.  “I thought your parents and uncle died when you were younger.”

“My mom and step dad and uncle died.  My dad is still alive.”

He knew it was a mistake the moment it slipped out of his mouth.  Damn it.  He chalked it up to the shitty day he’d had and the embarrassment of having Happy see and hear everything that had just gone down in front of the school.  “There’s this stupid father-son project in Physics class.  They’re just making fun of me for that.  It’s really not a big deal.”

“Back up a second,” Happy said, not to be deterred from what Peter had just revealed.  “Your dad’s still alive?”

“He doesn’t know about me.”

“Why not?  Is he in jail or something?”

Peter shrugged.  He still didn’t know why May hadn’t tried to tell Mr. Stark as soon as Peter’s parents had died.  It would have saved her a lot of money and effort in taking care of him if she could have convinced his dad to do it.  “He’s not in jail.  He’s- he’s busy.”

“He doesn’t know about you because he’s busy?”

Peter let his head fall back to the seat and took a deep breath.  He really didn’t want to explain this to Happy right now.  He needed to stick with vague details and figure out how to change the subject.  “He’s got a job that’s important at a big company.  It’s- he’s just got a lot to do, ok?  Like, there’d be no time for me.  There’s always a lot on his plate.”

“What company?”

“Uh… it’s here in the city,” Peter said.  He really didn’t want to make up a company on the spot.

“Here in the city huh?” Happy mumbled.

“Sometimes his job takes him all over the place.”  Peter was grasping for other random facts that wouldn’t lead to Happy or Mr. Stark being able to do a background check to try to find this mystery person.  “He has to do a lot of stuff that’s important, but he doesn’t want to do it.”

“You seem to know an awful lot about a guy that doesn’t know you exist.”  Peter didn’t notice that Happy’s voice had gone up in pitch, like he was nervous about something.

“Uh… well, I’ve- I’ve actually uh… I’ve met him- before.  I’ve uh… I’ve seen him recently.  He… he knows my name… he just doesn’t… there’s no… crap,” Peter ended up mumbling at the end.  He was just digging himself a hole he wasn’t going to be able to get out of.

Happy slammed on the brakes, and Peter pitched forward in the seat suddenly, the seatbelt catching him as they came to a sudden stop.

“Peter!”

“What?!” Peter shouted, heart racing and mind going to match Happy’s volume.  He had no idea why the man had slammed on his brakes.

“Is it me?!”

Still breathing hard from the sudden stop, Peter frowned, mind trying to come up with an answer to a question he didn’t understand.  Is it me?  Is it me?  Is what him?  What’s he asking?  Did I miss something?  What were we talking about?  We were talking about my dad and then- oh… shit.

“W- what?” Peter stuttered.  “No!  No no no no, sorry, I’m sorry Happy, I didn’t mean…”

Happy was breathing heavily, hand over his heart.  “Thank God.  No offense kid, you’re great, I’d be glad to call you my own, but you scared the shit out of me there for a second.  To think I’d been driving you around all this time and not known…”

“Sorry,” Peter mumbled.

“You’ve got nothing to be sorry about Peter.”

Peter looked up at him, meeting his eyes in the rearview mirror.  Happy didn’t usually call him by his name.  He usually called him kid, and sometimes Spider Man.  Once he had said Peter was like a mini-Tony running around Stark Industries, which had pleased Peter to no end.

Happy pulled over to the curb so he wasn’t blocking traffic since people were honking behind them now.  “So are you gonna tell me who it is then?”

“I hadn’t- uh, I mean, I hadn’t really planned on it, no.”

“And why not?  May must know already, she has to, right?”

“May knows.”

“But she’s all right not saying anything to this guy either?”

Peter shrugged.

“Give me something, kid.”

Peter wanted to.  He wanted to tell him because it would mean he wasn’t walking around Stark Tower with this knowledge all by himself.  Happy was not only Mr. Stark’s head of security, but his friend.  It would be nice to get his input and to not feel all alone with this weight for once in his life.  He didn’t know if Happy would spill his secret or not though, so he bit his lip hard.  Tell him, don’t tell him.  It’ll be nice to have someone else know, it could be the worst thing ever if someone else knew.  If I tell him, he could help.  Or he could think I’m lying and trying to get money from Mr. Stark and kick me out of the car and I’d lose my internship.  Peter went back and forth with himself almost a dozen times in just a few moments.

“Mr. Stark.”  He hated how quiet his admission came out… how defeated he sounded.

Happy was quiet, still watching Peter in the rearview mirror as he stared down at his fingers.  He started up the car and pulled back out into traffic.  “All right,” he said, and his voice had a finality to it, like he didn’t doubt Peter at all.  Like it wasn’t the shock of a lifetime, though Peter wagered that Happy was just glad that Peter hadn’t said it was him and was still recovering from that shock of thinking it might be.

“You’re- you won’t… tell him, will you?”

“Do you want me to tell him?”

“No.  Definitely not.”

They drove a few more blocks before Happy spoke again.  “You know he’s not too busy for you, right kid?  He’d be thrilled to find out he has a son.  So the question is, what’s the real reason you haven’t told him yet?  I know for a fact you like spending time with him.”

Peter’s throat felt too tight to speak for a moment.  He felt close to tears for some reason he couldn’t pin down.  “I’m uh… I don’t think he’d really want me as his heir.”

“Why not?”

Peter shrugged.  “He just wouldn’t.”

Happy grunted in response to acknowledge what he’d said, but he didn’t seem happy about it.

As they pulled into the parking garage under the tower and into the space near the elevator reserved for Happy’s SUV, Peter asked quietly, “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”  He sounded solemn… pensive.

“When I told you it was Mr. Stark… you just believed me.  I thought you’d… I dunno.”

“You thought I’d what?”

“I thought you’d think I was lying and tell Mr. Stark, and I’d get banned from the tower or something.”

Happy turned around in his seat to look at him.  “Not only are you the most honest kid I know, but you look just like him.  You have a mind just like his.  Plus, I’ve seen the way you look at him.  You look at him like he hung the moon and the stars and could do no wrong.”

“I- I don’t.”

The man snorted.  “Yeah, you do kid.  Everyone’s seen it.”  Peter’s face colored red.  “So what are we gonna do about this?” Happy asked.

“You and May are the only ones that know.”

“I figured.”

Peter bit his lip again.  “I can’t- you can’t tell him.  We can’t tell anyone.”

“I won’t tell anyone unless you want me to.  I think you should consider telling him though.”

Peter considered telling him every day of the week.  He never did though.  When he just sat in silent thought, Happy said, “Go on kid.  He’s waiting for you.”

“Right.  Thanks.”  Peter got out of the car, then turned and looked at Happy who had also moved to get out.  “Sorry I almost gave you a heart attack.”

Happy snorted.  “Yeah, well, it might have been an overreaction.  Like I said, if I was gonna have a kid, it wouldn’t be so bad to have it be you.”

Peter’s face colored red again and he stepped inside the elevator.  “Thanks, Happy.”

“Sure Mini-boss.”

The elevator door closed, shielding Peter’s red face and the way his mouth hung open at the new name Happy had come up with for him.  He hoped he didn’t call him that around Mr. Stark, or his father was going to figure things out real quick.

* * *

Peter was nervous that Happy would tell Mr. Stark his secret despite that he’d promised not to.

Days passed though, and then a week, and Happy kept his mouth shut.  Mr. Stark was acting just like he always was.  They worked in the lab three afternoons a week, or if they didn’t they were in the penthouse watching movies and eating snacks.  Good.  Nothing had changed except for Happy’s nickname for him.  He’d been calling him Mini-boss lately, though not when Mr. Stark was around.  It was weird, but also comforting somehow.  It was like after he’d told aunt May that he was Spider Man, but without the tears.  Someone else knew, which meant it was one less person Peter had to hide it from.

Peter thought things were fine until a couple of weeks after the unexpected conversation in the car with Happy.  He got into the elevator in the parking garage to go up to the lab, and was greeted by FRIDAY like he always was, only this time instead of, ‘Good afternoon Mr. Parker,’ he was greeted with, “Good afternoon Mini-boss.”

Peter froze as the elevator started to rise through the tower.  “What?” he croaked.

“Good afternoon Mini-boss.” FRIDAY repeated.

“Uh, FRIDAY- could you- could- could you not call me that please?”

“I’m following the Peter Nickname Protocol enacted by Boss.”

Peter choked.  “Mr- Mr. Stark told you to call me that?  Why?”

“I believe he heard Mr. Hogan refer to you as Mini-Boss and decided he liked the nickname.”

“F- FRIDAY?”

“Yes Mini-boss?”

“Uh… does Mr. Stark… uh, did Happy tell him why he was calling me that?”

“Mr. Hogan said you remind him of Boss when he sees you in the tower.  Boss said he liked that, and enacted the Peter Nickname Protocol.”

“Right.  Right.”  Peter slumped against the wall of the elevator and let out a sigh of relief.  “Thanks FRIDAY.”

“Of course Mini-boss.”

His secret was safe for now.  Peter didn’t know what he would do if his father found out.  Mr. Stark would be disgusted with him, he was sure of that.  As just, ‘Peter the intern’ or as just Spider Man, the kid Mr. Stark had recruited to go to Germany and then been bullied into helping out by Aunt May, Peter supposed Mr. Stark didn’t mind him too much.  He would be disappointed and disgusted to find out that Peter was his son though… not just some kid.  He’d look Peter up and down and realize how scrawny he was… Peter certainly didn’t look like the heir to anything.  He’d think about all the times Peter had messed up… about what a hassle he was.

And then he would go.  Mr. Stark would kick him to the curb and tell him to go back to Queens.  Mr. Stark might even pick up and move… take his company and go somewhere else with it.  He’d done it before and could do it again.

Then Peter would be left alone.  He wouldn’t have his father at all, not as his father or his mentor, or his Boss in the lab… not as anything.

If Mr. Stark found out, Peter couldn’t handle that.

Chapter Text

Peter paused with his hand on the door leading out of their apartment building at the sight of Happy’s black SUV.  What was he doing here?  It wasn’t a lab day and even if it was, it wasn’t even seven in the morning yet.  He had a five minute walk to the subway station followed by a forty five minute ride to school and then another five minute walk.  He didn’t have time to go do whatever Happy was there for.

The passenger window rolled down and Happy made eye contact with him.  “Come over here.”

Peter let the door bang closed behind him and crossed the sidewalk to the SUV.  “If you’re going to offer me candy to get in-” he trailed away.  “Kinda creepy Happy.”

“You’re exactly like your dad.  Hurry up and get in here, it’s too cold for the window to stay down.”  He pointed to the front passenger seat.

Peter pulled open the door, surprised he was being invited to sit up front.  Happy always wanted him to ride in the back.

“Buckle up, hurry up.”

Peter buckled, though he still wasn’t sure what was going on.  “Uh, Happy, I have to go to school.”

“I know.”

He frowned.  “Is- is Mr. Stark ok?”

“He’s fine.”

Happy started the engine and pulled away from the curb, rolling the passenger window up to keep out the chilly fall air.

“Where are we going then?”

The bodyguard sighed and then gave Peter a look like he was trying to decide what to do with him.  “Breakfast.”

“I ate a couple Poptarts.”

“That’s not breakfast.”

“Ok… but why-”

“Because your dad doesn’t know about you.”  Happy let that statement hang there between them for several moments.  He sighed again.  “If he knew you were his son, he’d be taking care of you.”  He caught sight of Peter shaking his head and said, “Yes he would, don’t argue with me.”

Peter hadn’t said a word, so he wasn’t sure how he could argue any less.

“Since he doesn’t know and you won’t tell him, it’s my job to look after you.”

“Happy, you don’t- you don’t have to do that.”

“I know I don’t, but I’m going to anyway.”

“Why?”

“Your dad is my best friend.”

Peter frowned.  “He- is?”  He’d seen Mr. Stark joke with Happy and had seen Happy grumble and complain a lot in return.  He’d never seen them spend any time outside of work together though.  Peter knew there were still a lot of things about his dad that he didn’t know despite spending several days a week with him after school.  It bothered him, though he didn’t like to admit it to himself.

“Yes.  You can’t spend that much time together for that many years and not be friends.”

“So- do you like… hang out together?”

“I vacation with him, Pepper and Rhodey.  Sometimes he and Pepper invite me up to dinner in the penthouse.”

“Oh.”

Happy turned down another street, cursed under his breath at a couple kids walking to school that took their time crossing the street, and then took a left down another street.

“I still don’t understand why,” Peter said as Happy pulled up in front of a little coffee shop Peter had never seen.  They were on a street he didn’t usually come down that wasn’t too far from Ned’s apartment.

Happy didn’t answer and instead unbuckled his belt and got out.  “You coming?”  He leaned back down to look into the car and raised a brow.

Peter unbuckled his belt, left his bag in the car and followed him into the coffee shop.  The walls were weathered red brick and the floor, counters and furniture were all rich dark wood tones.  Warm lighting hung down from the ceiling, making the whole place feel cozy.  Peter thought that if he ever had some spare money he’d bring May back because it was the kind of place she would like.

They were lucky and were only third in line as they waited to get to the counter.  “Figure out what you want to eat and drink before we get up there,” Happy said, and Peter looked up at the menu, scrawled on a black chalkboard hanging from the ceiling behind the counter.

“I don’t have any money on me.”

“I’m buying.  Food and a drink,” Happy said, voice a little sharp, like he desperately needed Peter to focus on the task he’d given him.

He looked up at the menu again.  “Uh… an egg sandwich croissant and hot chocolate?”

Happy nodded and a minute later when they got up to the counter pulled out his wallet and relayed Peter’s order to the cashier.  He ordered coffee and a pastry for himself and then handed over a crisp twenty dollar bill.  The coffee shop had sort of a down to earth every day person vibe, but standing there next to Happy who was wearing a crisp expensive black suit and handing the cashier a crisp twenty, Peter felt underdressed.  The entire thing was awkward, maybe just because he wasn’t used to being around Happy in this capacity, or because his mind was still racing over the brief conversation they’d had in the car on the way there.

The cashier handed the two hot drinks and food to them and Happy motioned Peter towards the door.  They went back out into the chilly morning air and to the car.

“Don’t get food all over my seats,” Happy warned as he climbed inside.

“I won’t.”

They buckled up and Happy pulled away.  Peter pulled the white paper wrapping off of his hot egg croissant sandwich and started eating, ruminating yet again on what the man had said earlier.

“Happy?”

He grunted to acknowledge he was listening, unable to reply at the moment because he had just taken a bite of his pastry.  He hit the left turn signal as he pulled up to a red light.

“Why are you doing this?”

Happy frowned and glanced at him.  He motioned towards Peter’s sandwich and Peter started eating again.

“Your dad is going to be upset if he ever finds out that you were right here and needed him and he wasn’t taking care of you.”

“I don’t need him,” Peter protested, “I’ve got May, and I’m 15.”

Happy didn’t look like he agreed but also wasn’t interested in arguing, so he didn’t respond.  “So since he can’t take care of you, I’m going to until he finds out.”

“He’s not going to find out,” Peter said, trying to sound commanding when in reality panic was rising up in his chest.  His voice broke and started to rise.  “He’s not, right Happy?  Happy?”

“I said I wouldn’t tell him, but he’s going to find out eventually, even if it’s not for a long time.  You should tell him sooner rather than later by the way.”

“I’m not telling him.”

“Right.”

They were quiet for the rest of the trip.  Peter finished his sandwich as Happy drove him to school, and had just started in on his hot chocolate when Happy pulled up in front of Midtown.

“See you tomorrow after school,” the man said, and Peter turned to look at him, brows pulled together in confusion.  “Lab day,” Happy reminded him.

“I know.”

“You’re going to be late.”

Peter reached for the door handle, but paused before he opened it.  “Thanks… for- for breakfast and the ride to school.”

A flicker of a smile appeared on Happy’s face, something Peter wasn’t used to seeing from him.  “See you tomorrow.”

Peter gave a nod and got out.  He couldn’t help but stare as the black SUV pulled away, stomach full and hands warmed by the travel cup full of hot chocolate he was holding.  The whole morning had been… bizarre, and he’d barely even started his day yet.  What had Happy meant by taking care of him?  He was fine.  He was!

Peter didn’t know what the man had meant, and still wasn’t all that clear on his reason for picking him up that morning in the first place.  He really didn’t think his father would care about Peter at all if he ever found out.  Peter was determined that he wouldn’t find out.  Things were good as they were.  At least this way he could get to know Mr. Stark a few days a week.  It was good enough for Peter.  Or at least… that’s what he always told himself.

* * *

The next afternoon when Happy picked Peter up after school to take him to the lab, he motioned towards the back seat and Peter climbed in.  Happy asked if anyone had bullied him that day, to which Peter replied that they hadn’t.  It was a lie, but he could handle the verbal taunts and jabs.  He’d dealt with it for most of his life.

Then they continued on to the tower like nothing had happened at all the day before.  Things were business as usual and Peter started to question whether he’d dreamt up the random trip to the coffee shop and the ride to school.

Maybe it was just a one off, he thought.  Yeah, that was it… just a one time thing.

* * *

Peter stood on the sidewalk Thursday morning and stared at the black SUV waiting for him.  The window rolled down as soon as he appeared and Happy called out, “Don’t make me do this with you all over again kid.  We’re on a tight schedule here.”

He made his way to the SUV and pointed at the front seat in question.  When Happy gave a nod, Peter climbed inside, putting his backpack on the floorboard as Happy rolled up the window.

“Are you taking me to school?”

“Breakfast, then school.”

“I ate cereal.”

“You have super metabolism right?”  Happy asked even though he knew the answer, and Peter didn’t respond.

“I can wash your car or something to pay for the food.”

“Forget it.”  Happy turned on the radio to some sort of news station and pulled away as soon as Peter was buckled, ending any future objections Peter might have.

They went back to the same coffee shop as two days before and Peter ordered the same thing he’d had before.  The sandwich had been good and so had the hot chocolate.  There were a wide variety of coffee and teas on the menu, but as it was primarily a coffee shop and not a breakfast spot, there weren’t many food items to choose from.  Today Happy ordered a breakfast sandwich along with his coffee.

Peter expected him to head for the door leading out like they had on their one previous trip, but instead he moved for a little table by the window.  “We can eat here if we hurry,” he told Peter.

Peter sat down across from him and unwrapped his sandwich as rain pelted the sidewalk outside along with the window.

“Caught up on all your homework?”

Peter raised a brow and looked across the table at him.  “Yeah-”

“Things going ok on patrol?”

“I thought you didn’t like to hear about that stuff.”

“I can still ask.”

Usually Peter kept Spider Man stuff between him and Mr. Stark.  May questioned him if he got hurt, but generally didn’t like to hear about Spider Man stuff either because she didn’t want to know about him being in danger.  Happy just hadn’t wanted to know because he’d been annoyed with Peter’s frequent calls to him between Germany and him splitting the ferry in half and Mr. Stark taking his suit.

“It’s- fine.”

“Staying away from the big stuff?  That’s your dad’s rule isn’t it?”

Peter froze.  It was so weird to hear someone else calling Mr. Stark his dad.  It had only been two weeks since he’d told Happy, and May rarely ever called Mr. Stark that because she and Peter almost never talked about him outside of Peter mentioning something they’d done in the lab or a movie they’d watched.

“Uh… yeah.  Yeah, staying away from the- from the big stuff.”  Patrolling had been boring lately given that the weather had been bad.  A lot of the small time criminals like car thieves stayed in if the weather was bad.  “Happy, you really don’t have to do this.”

“I never said I had to.”

“I thought you were just- uh… you feel responsible for me?”

“I’m off the clock,” Happy said, tapping his expensive wrist watch.  “I’m responsible for your safety and getting you to the tower from school three days a week after school, that’s it.  This isn’t the same thing.”

Peter took a big bite of his egg sandwich to stop himself from asking why he was doing it then.  He knew he wasn’t going to get an answer that differed from what Happy had said two days before.

When Peter finished his sandwich they headed out into the rain and to the car.  Happy drove him to school and said, “See you tomorrow after school.  Stay out of trouble.”

Peter turned to him.  “You know I’m Spider Man right?”

“I know you’re your father’s son too.  What was I thinking telling you to stay out of trouble?”  He huffed but then winked at Peter.  Peter got out of the car and just like on Tuesday morning, he watched as the black SUV pulled away, bewildered.  Bizarre.  He still thought all of this was bizarre, and didn’t think that would change for however long Happy intended on keeping this up.

* * *

So this was a thing now.  Peter didn’t wait for Happy to roll down the window as he walked to the black SUV waiting for him the next Tuesday morning.  He climbed into the front seat and wondered if this trip would be any different than the last two.  It wasn’t, and something about that excited Peter.  Happy wasn’t so bad when he wasn’t rolling the divider up just to get some silence in the car.  Peter rather liked, ‘off the clock’ Happy.

“So, are you Mr. Stark’s best friend too?”

“You don’t have to call him that when you’re with me,” Happy said as they sat at the table by the window in the coffee shop eating breakfast again.  “And no, that would be Colonel Rhodes.  They were roomates in college.  They’re like brothers.”

“Oh.  I knew they were friends… I didn’t realize they went to college together.”  Peter had only met Colonel Rhodes the one time in Germany, and that encounter hadn’t been face to face.  As far as he knew, the man didn’t know Spider Man’s true identity.

“They went to MIT.”

“I know.”

Peter ate his sandwich and Happy drank his coffee.

When they went back out into the rain, Peter stepped in a huge puddle accidentally on his way to the car and soaked his right shoe and the bottom two inches of his pant leg.  “Shit.”

“Hey, what kind of language is that?” Happy asked as he got into the car.

“Sorry, sorry,” Peter said.  “I just soaked my shoe and pant leg.”

Happy frowned for a moment.  “You shouldn’t curse.”

“I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“You didn’t.”

Happy frowned for the rest of the drive to Midtown.  “See you tomorrow.”

“Yeah, see you tomorrow,” Peter said brightly.  He really hoped Happy would be waiting outside his apartment Thursday morning.  May was so busy with work that he rarely saw her unless it was on weekends.  That made lab days the highlights of his week, and Tuesdays and Thursdays something to slog through.  If he was going to get to hang out with Happy on those days though… Peter smiled to himself as he went up the steps and into the high school.

Flash didn’t seem to like that Peter was smiling and threw several extra insults at him that day, but for some reason, Peter felt for once like the words flew past him and missed their mark.

* * *

“Shit,” Tony muttered as he dropped a box of bolts and they went skittering across his lab floor.

“Is that the kind of language you use around Peter?” Happy asked.  He was leaning against a workbench waiting for Tony to finish with what he was doing so they could make their way across town to a big meeting Tony had to be at.  If he was late Pepper would be mad at Happy and Tony both since a large deal with a chipset manufacturer from New Jersey hung in the balance.

“What?” Tony frowned and half smiled at him.  “What are you talking about?”

“You could stand to clean up your language a little around him.”

Tony looked at Happy, looked away, and then did a double take.  He pointed at him as he disappeared below the workbench to pick up some of the bolts.  “Is this because you have a crush on the kid’s aunt?”

Happy sighed.  “He looks up to you.  If you curse, he curses.”

“He’s fifteen, I’m sure he hears it at school.”

“Can you just-” Happy huffed.  “Hurry up.  Pepper will blame me if you don’t make it to the meeting on time.”

“Pep loves you, she’ll blame me.  I’m always late.”

Happy huffed again.  They all knew that Tony was late for just about anything and everything having to do with SI.  Recently Tony had proposed to Pepper and after saying yes she said, “What time can I expect you at the altar?”  They hadn’t even set a date yet and Happy was anxious about trying to get his friend to the altar on time.

When he caught the stressed look on Happy’s face, Tony said, “Fine, I’m ready to go.  Let’s hit the road.”

“Thank you.”

As they left the lab and walked down the hall to the elevator, Tony said, “Are you serious about his aunt?”

“What?”

“You must really like her to tell off your boss for cursing in his own lab.”

Happy hit the call button for the elevator and said, “I’m not dating his aunt, and I was asking my friend to clean up his language in front of an impressionable kid.  He’s a good kid Tony.”

“He is,” Tony said.  “Plenty of time for me to corrupt him,” he teased, and then laughed at the exasperated look on Happy’s face.  “Ok, ok.  Aunt Hottie would never forgive me if I corrupted him anyway.  She’s got a scarier scowl than you do by the way.”  They stepped into the elevator and as the doors closed, Tony said, “By the way, I don’t believe you about May.”

Happy gaped at him as they started to descend through the tower.

* * *

Peter had wondered what Happy meant when he’d said he would ‘take care of him’ since his father couldn’t.

Taking care of Peter meant showing up on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, which were days he wasn’t scheduled to go to Stark Tower.  Some days it meant taking him to eat breakfast, others it meant just driving him to school if Happy was running late, though on those days he always had a bag of hot food in the car waiting for Peter.

Sometimes it also meant giving Peter money, he found out, though it was never more than a few dollars to get a snack from a vending machine at school.  Peter always protested, but Happy ignored him and pressed the dollar bills into his hand anyway.  “Take it and get a snack or soda.”

“I’m fine, Happy.”

“Take it anyway.”

Peter didn’t tell him he was saving up the money a few dollars at a time so he could take May to the coffee shop the next time she had a Saturday or Sunday morning off.  He was up to fifteen dollars now, and was keeping the money in his wallet which he kept tucked under the mattress in his room.  He knew better than to take it to school where one of the guys that bullied him might take it.  Recently Flash’s group of friends had been ramping things up, and Peter had been careful to not walk into school with a smile on his face.  When he did, Flash was always extra unfriendly.

Flash hadn’t been the only one to notice the change in Peter’s mood.  Ned had noticed too and had made Peter explain what was going on two mornings a week.  Peter had said that Happy had taken an interest in May, which Peter was starting to believe might be true because he’d come home from patrol one Saturday afternoon and found Happy in the kitchen having coffee with her.  Ned had taken him at his word, and then told Peter that he was happy for him.  And just like he’d accepted that Peter would be unavailable to hang out three afternoons a week after school because he’d be at Stark Tower, Ned accepted that Peter might get to school just a few minutes before the first bell rang Tuesdays and Thursdays because he was with Happy getting breakfast.

Peter was kind of surprised May hadn’t questioned him about it.  He was sure she knew, but then again, if Happy was dating his aunt, or trying to, he had probably already told her.  Peter still hadn’t gotten the nerve up to ask either of them if they were dating, and hadn’t seen them together again since the one Saturday in the kitchen.

* * *

Happy frowned into the rearview mirror at Peter.  He had a bruise blossoming on his chin and his shirt was torn a little at the neck.

“Pete-”

“It’s nothing.”

Happy growled in frustration.  “I’m telling Boss.”

“What?!  No!”

“Not that,” Happy said.  “I’m going to tell him about the guys at school.”

“Forget it, Happy!  He doesn’t need to know!”

“Is this about the Physics project again?”

“It’s nothing.”

“You getting harassed and beaten up isn’t nothing.”

“I have super strength, I can fight back if I want to.”  Oh how he wanted to.  Sometimes having super strength was a curse.  He wished he’d lose his powers just for one day so he could fight back and not end up killing Flash on accident.

“Your dad can do something about this kid.”

“He’s not my guardian.”

“He could be.”  Happy’s statement hung there in the air between them for a few moments.

“I have May, and she’s great,” Peter challenged, angry.  He was angry about a lot more than Happy wanting to tell Mr. Stark about the bullies.  He was angry he couldn’t fight back, angry that May hadn’t been able to make any headway with the principal when she called once a month to complain about the bullying, and deep down, he was angry that he couldn’t have his dad there to help him.  Happy wanted him to tell Mr. Stark, and just like Peter wanting to fight back against the bullies at school, he wanted to tell his dad that he was his son.  He wanted to but he couldn’t.  It wasn’t fair.

Happy turned the car on and pulled away, though he kept glancing into the rearview mirror at the bruises on Peter’s face and the angry look he wore.  Peter expected him to drive him straight to the tower like he always did, but instead he drove him through Queens and to Delmar’s Deli.

“It’s a lab day isn’t it?” Peter questioned, a lot of his anger having faded already.  Now he just felt exhausted and tired.

“I’ll take you to the tower in a few minutes.”

“Ok… but what are we doing at Delmar’s?”

“Getting ice for your face and a snack.”

Peter frowned.  That definitely wasn’t part of the routine.

“Just get out Peter.”

Peter left his bag, got out of the back of the SUV and followed Happy into the deli.

“Heey!  Pete!” Delmar greeted.  “Don’t you have some after school thing on Wednesdays?”

“Yeah Mr. Delmar,” Peter said.  “I’m just stopping for a snack.”

“You want your usual?  Smushed down real flat?” he called as Peter walked towards the Slushie machine in the back.

Peter glanced up at Happy to see what he intended on buying.  Peter would be content with a slushie, which cost a dollar and would satisfy the requirement both for a snack and ice for his face.  Cheap was always best, especially since he didn’t have his wallet with him.

“Get your usual,” Happy told him.

“Yeah Mr. Delmar, I’ll have that.”

Mr. Delmar gave him a thumbs up and turned around to start making Peter’s sandwich.  Peter pulled out a cup and pulled the lever on the Slushie machine to dispense bright blue Slushie.

“I’ll just use this for ice,” he said.

“Fine.”  They went up to the counter together and waited for Delmar to finish making his sandwich.  May gave him five dollars twice a week to get a sandwich on the way home from school so he wouldn’t be hungry when he went out to patrol as Spider Man, and he always spent it here.

When Delmar turned around with the sandwich in a white plastic sack, he eyed Happy warily and said, “This guy bothering you?”

“No, he’s cool.  He’s my uncle.”

He could feel Happy tense up beside him, and when Peter glanced up at him he almost laughed at the surprised look on the bodyguard’s face.

“What?  That cute aunt of yours got married?”

“No, my other uncle,” Peter said.  “And why are you calling her cute?  She’s not cute, she’s my aunt.”

Delmar laughed as Happy handed him a credit card and he rang up the purchase.  “Got news for you, every eligible guy in the neighborhood has eyes on your aunt.”

Peter frowned.  “Don’t talk about her like that.”

“Yeah yeah,” Delmar said.  “No disrespect.  She’s practically your mom.  I’ll keep my mouth shut.”  Delmart handed the credit card back to Happy and then pushed the plastic bag with Peter’s sandwich across the counter to him.

“Thanks.”

Peter’s face still hurt, but by the time he and Happy walked out of Delmar’s with a blue slushie and a sandwich, he was smiling.

Peter didn’t get into the back seat with his bag again, and instead climbed in up front.  Happy didn’t say anything about it.

“It’s big, do you want half?” Peter asked, pulling out the sandwich.

“No, you go ahead and eat it.”

Peter started in on his sandwich as Happy pulled away.  He’d only taken a few bites when Happy said, “I’m going into the school tomorrow.”

“What?”

“You don’t want me to tell your dad, fine.  I’m not going to let you just get beat up at school though.”

“That’s just going to make it worse.”  Peter was already imagining the comments he’d get from Flash and his friends if they saw Happy going into the office on Peter’s behalf.  They’d think he’d really rented a dad somewhere.  “It’s- it’s fine, really.  They’ll stop after the science fair.”

“What are you going to do about the science project?” Happy asked, and Peter was glad he’d allowed the change of topic.

“Nothing, I’m just going to do the project myself.  I’ll just lie and tell the teacher my aunt did it with me and show up to present by myself.”

“You should ask Tony.”

Peter wanted to say, ‘Except he’s not my dad,’ but couldn’t.

“You want me to ask him for you?”

“That would just be lame Happy.”

“Then you do it.”

Peter shot him a look that was half glare, half grimace and Happy pointed at the slushie sitting in the cup holder between them and said, “Put that on your bruise.”

Peter picked it up and pressed the cold drink to his chin.  “He’s busy,” Peter said.

“No he’s not.”

They didn’t talk about it any more on the rest of their ride to the tower, and Peter hoped desperately that Happy wasn’t going to follow through on his threats to tell Mr. Stark that he’d been beaten up.  He was relieved when Happy didn’t go up more than a few floors in the elevator with him and then let Peter go the rest of the way up to the lab by himself.

He was only up there for twenty minutes however, working on a new Iron Man boot with Tony when his phone dinged and he pulled it out of his pocket to see a message from Happy.  ‘Ask him.’

Peter shoved it back in his pocket hurriedly.  It was a stupid idea.  Even if he got Mr. Stark to work on his project with him, it wouldn’t make a difference to Flash.

It would make a difference to Peter though.  It would mean something because he’d never been able to do a father son project or a parent child anything where it involved school.  Even if Mr. Stark didn’t know they were connected in that way, Peter did, and it would mean something to him.

“Mr. Stark?”  His voice was far too high when he spoke and he grimaced at it.

“Yeah?”  Mr. Stark didn’t look up at him.  He was busy using a screwdriver trying to screw something in inside the red metal boot.

“There’s- there’s this project at school, and I can totally do it on my own, but it’s supposed to be done with- uh…” he reached up and rubbed the back of his neck.  Why did this have to be so nerve wracking?

“What?” Tony asked when Peter trailed off and never finished.  “You need to borrow a soldering iron or something?”

“No no, it’s not-”

Tony finally looked up at him and saw Peter’s embarrassingly red face.  He had no choice but to press forward now.  “It’s this stupid father-son project in physics class.  We’re supposed to do a project with our fathers, and then present it together with them at a science fair the last day of school before Thanksgiving break.”  He stared at the ground as he rushed through it, face growing hotter and hotter.  He didn’t want to look up and see the disdain on his father’s face.  Even just asking for his help with this felt like it would lead to an all out rejection of him as a son, or even as the idea of a son.  “I’d ask May,” he mumbled still staring at the floor and reaching up to rub the back of his neck again, “but she’s not really into physics.”

Mr. Stark didn’t say anything for long, uncomfortable moments.  Moments when silence stretched out between them and Peter wished he had the power to just melt into the floor.  When he finally spoke, he didn’t sound as though anything had changed between them though.  “So what are we thinking?  Thermodynamics, quantum mechanics?  What are the requirements for the project we need to follow?”

Peter looked up at him, confused.  “You’ll help me?”

Tony set his screwdriver down and gave Peter a small smile.  “Sure.  I’ll clear my schedule that day.  How long is this science shindig supposed to last?  An hour?”

“Yeah, yeah, I think about an hour.”

“Great, I reserve the right to wear my armor though.”

Peter laughed at that.  He knew Mr. Stark didn’t like to be out in public in crowded places.  He’d been complaining about an upcoming gala for weeks and the gala wasn’t even until December.

Peter reached down to his backpack and rifled through it, coming out a minute later with the project requirements.  He brought it to Mr. Stark and set it on the metal workbench in front of him.

His father browsed the paper for a minute and then said, “Do you have any ideas of what you want to do?”

He shook his head a little harder than he meant, and tried hard not to bounce up and down on the balls of his feet because he was so excited he couldn’t stand to be still.

“How about we build a holographic display using a laser and a holographic plate?  That would fit under the optics category.  We could probably finish that by next week on lab days.”

“Yeah, yeah that sounds great,” Peter said.  Really, he’d do whatever project his dad wanted just as long as he’d work on it with him.

“Let’s get all the supplies together,” he said.  “The paper says you’re supposed to lead the research, but I already know how to do it, so why don’t you lead the construction?  I’m trusting you can handle writing the paper that’s required.”

“I’ll take care of all the rest of the stuff Mr. Stark, I promise.”  Peter did bounce around a little as he followed his father down to the other end of the lab so they could start looking through the various scrap bins for parts.  Anything they couldn’t find in the scrap bins, they could make with the laser cutter or state of the art 3D printers in the lab.

As they started to work, Peter was so focused on how happy he was that Mr. Stark was doing this with him, that he didn’t notice the smile the man wore as he worked beside him.

* * *

“Well?” Happy asked.  He waited to ask until he and Peter were seated at the table the next morning at the coffee shop eating breakfast.  “Did you ask him?”

“We started work on the project last night,” Peter said with a grin.  He was still on a high just thinking about it.  It had been no different than any other lab day, not really, but to Peter it had been the best lab day yet.

The bodyguard took in his happy face and smiled as he took a sip of his coffee.  “You should take my advice more often.”

“Psh.”

“You should tell him.”

“Forget it.”

Happy shrugged.  “Just saying kid, my advice worked out for you this time.”  They’d been having breakfast together for three weeks now.  Happy had been on him to keep up on his schoolwork, to let him handle the bullying, and to tell Mr. Stark that he was his son.  Peter suspected that now that he’d taken Happy’s advice about the physics project that the man would be on him even more about all the rest.

“I got an A plus on my math test yesterday.”

Happy nodded and allowed the change of subject.

“Good, now get an A plus on the next one.”

* * *

Mr. Stark taught Peter a number of things he hadn’t known about making holograms.  Peter had thought they were just going to make a basic holographic display with two lasers and a recording film or plate, but his father had other plans.

What they ended up working on instead was a mini holographic display table like the one Mr. Stark used in his lab.  It was unreasonable to spend five hundred thousand dollars putting together a full display table for a school project, but Mr. Stark knew some workarounds, and they ended up putting it all together in a frame around a cheap two way mirror.  The electronics were all hidden and couldn’t be seen, and the mirror could be taken to school and set flat on a table.  The hologram would hover above it.  It couldn’t be interacted with in the air like the holo displays in the lab, but they put an old touch screen monitor under the glass of the two way mirror and hooked that up to Mr. Stark’s version of a Raspberry Pi.  In the end what they had was essentially an all in one computer with a touch screen display, and whatever was displayed on that display would project into the air as a light blue hologram.  Peter was having so much fun working on it with him over the next week and a half, that everything Flash and his friends said and did during the day seemed to melt away from him.

He spent Tuesday and Thursday mornings telling Happy about it over breakfast, and car rides between Midtown and the tower on lab days rambling about how excited he was to present his project.

“And we have some videos pre-loaded onto the unit, so when I tap on the screen they’ll just pull up,” Peter rambled.

Happy didn’t understand half of it, but he listened to all of it.  In the last several weeks he’d gotten to know the kid in a way he hadn’t wanted or expected to before.  He felt bad now, thinking about the days when he’d ignored Peter and all his various calls about Spider Man, and the times he’d ferried the kid to the tower and just rolled the divider up between the front and back seats so he wouldn’t have to listen to him.  Knowing now that the kid was bullied frequently, and that he had been carrying this weight around with him, of knowing his dad but being too afraid to tell him he belonged to Tony…

It made Happy nauseous thinking about how alone the kid was and how he’d contributed to that.

He was never going to do that again.  Peter needed someone to listen to him and look out for him, and until Tony knew the truth, Happy was going to be there to do just that.

* * *

“He can’t go to the meeting,” Happy told Pepper.  She and Tony both looked up at him.  There was a last minute meeting Pepper wanted Tony to sit in on and Happy knew it would run late and right into Tony’s lab time with Peter.

Tony didn’t know why Happy was trying to get him out of the meeting, but he was going to use it to his advantage.  “Yeah, see Pep, can’t.  Happy said I can’t go.”

“It’s a lab day.  I have to pick Peter up in an hour,” Happy clarified.

Pepper only hummed in agreement and swiped Tony’s name off the meeting attendance list on her tablet.  Tony smiled, satisfied that he’d gotten out of it.  He followed Happy to the elevator, probably to head to his lab.

“I see I owe you a raise,” Tony said as they stepped into the elevator.

“No you don’t.”

“You had my back with Pep.”

“You can’t be late to lab time with your- intern.”  He held in a sigh.  He’d very nearly slipped up.

“Pete would understand.  I’ve been late before.”

“You shouldn’t be late.”

“I’m late to everything,” Tony reminded him.

“Well stop.  Not with Peter.”

Tony gave him a sideways glance.  “Things are really getting serious with you and May huh?”

Happy wanted to correct him, but kept his mouth shut.  If an imaginary relationship with May was what he needed to keep Peter’s secret, then so be it.  It kept him from having to explain things to Tony, even if he wished he could explain things to him.  He thought Tony was going to have a panic attack when he eventually found out the truth.

“You’ll be a good dad someday Hap.”  Tony was clearly thinking about the myriad of other things Happy had gotten on to him about in recent weeks when it came to Peter.  Cleaning up his language, setting a good example, being on time, spending more time with him…

“So will you,” Happy said.

Tony frowned.  He didn’t agree, but as they split off on floor 72 to go their separate ways, he didn’t say so.

* * *

Peter stared down at the text from his father as he stood in the crowded hallway by his locker.  It was presentation day, and he felt like all the air had left the building.  It took him several moments to realize that he had just forgotten to breathe.

‘Sorry buddy, but there’s an emergency merger meeting Pep roped me into this morning.  I won’t be able to make it.  Knock ‘em dead though!’

He wasn’t coming.  Peter hadn’t told anyone that Mr. Stark was… he hadn’t told Flash or the others that he was getting help with his project, so he didn’t expect any more fallout from Mr. Stark not showing up than he was already expecting from having to present alone.

It was hitting him harder than he’d expected in his chest though.  His throat was tight and he kept swallowing trying to get rid of the lump that had formed there.

It’s nothing, he told himself.  Mr. Stark helped me with the project, and it’s awesome, and I’ll be fine.  He’d gotten what he wanted, he told himself.  He’d finally been able to do a father-son activity, and had fun while doing it, so it was stupid to be upset about it now.

He read over his father’s text three more times.  It didn’t sound disappointed or angry, but in the end Peter felt like he’d disappointed him somehow anyway.

“Hey Peter,” Ned said, “I can’t wait to see your project.”

Peter didn’t look up at his friend.  He hit the button on the side of his phone to black the screen out and stuffed it in his pocket.

“Hey,” Ned’s voice grew soft and Peter tried to turn away so his friend wouldn’t see his face.  He’d already seen though.  “Hey, what’s wrong?  You didn’t drop your project on the way in or something did you?”

Peter swiped his hoodie sleeve across his eyes, angry that he was crying in the hall at school.  Flash would pick at him for weeks over it if he saw.  The few times Flash or his friends had made him cry they’d been gleeful and hadn’t let him live it down.

He cleared his throat.  “No.  Happy drove me and the project this morning.”  It wasn’t even a Tuesday or Thursday and he’d showed up to the apartment to get Peter and the project to school.  They’d stopped for breakfast on the way.  It had been such a good start to the day.

“C’mon, bell’s about to ring,” Peter said, and led off down the hall, careful to keep Ned behind him where his friend couldn’t see his red eyes.

* * *

Happy was having a good day.  The kid had smiled and rambled all through breakfast about how great it was going to be to present with his dad at school at the science fair, and Happy had successfully delivered both Peter and his physics project to Midtown without the glass mirror that it was comprised of cracking in half.  Happy just wished he could be there to see the two of them present together and to see the look on the bullies’ faces to see Peter show up with Iron Man by his side.

It wasn’t that Happy liked to hear Peter ramble, but he was looking forward to picking him up later in the day to take him to the tower for lab day and hearing all about how things had gone.  He’d spoken to May and knew that she also knew that Peter was doing this physics project with Tony and how excited he was about it.  She was working a late shift today, but he was sure she would call Peter at some point to find out how it had gone.

It was a good day, and he couldn’t foresee anything going wrong with it.  He couldn’t foresee anything going wrong until he turned a corner on one of the business levels to check in with Pepper and found Tony walking out of a conference room.  Just like when he had been driving Peter to the tower and thought the kid might be trying to tell him that Happy was his father, Happy’s heart stuttered and felt like it was going to stop beating altogether.

“What are you doing here?” Happy asked, voice faint.  It wasn’t a tone he frequently used, and it caused Tony to look up at him, brows pulled together in concern.

“The merger was going off the rails.  I had to step in and do some sweet talking.  We’re just breaking for a little while and then I have to get back in there.”  He was rolling the sleeves of his dress shirt up like he was planning on going up to his lab during the break.

“No,” Happy said, and he had to clear his throat to try to force some of the panic out of his chest.  Bodyguards weren’t supposed to panic, and neither were heads of security.  He didn’t feel like either at the moment.  When he spoke next his voice was deeper, and the panic had been replaced with anger.  “What are you doing here when you’re supposed to be at the school?”

“I already sent a text and apologized to the kid.  He understands.”

Happy wanted to say, ‘does he?’ but what came out was, “You idiot!”  he put his hand up on his forehead and Tony’s brows rose and then fell into a deep frown.

“Happy, what’s gotten into you lately?  You’ve been on my case for weeks.  Do you need a vacation or something?”

“Tony,” he had to stop and pull in a deep breath.  He pointed to the elevator.  “Get in the car and go to Midtown, right now.  You’re not leaving Peter hanging like this.”

“And since when did you become my boss?” Tony asked, pulling back a little to look at him.  He wasn’t remotely angry, and Happy knew his boss was giving him the benefit of the doubt instead of just firing him on the spot, probably because it wasn’t like Happy to boss him around or yell at him like this.

“Don’t make me pick you up and carry you to the car,” he ground out.

Tony just stared at him in surprise.  “Ok, you are definitely going on vacation.  Two weeks and that’s just to start.  I know you care about the kid, we all do, but he understands why I can’t be there, ok?  Besides, it’s a father-son project, and I’m not exactly the kid’s father.”

“Yes you are.”  Happy knew he sounded pissed.  There was nothing he could do about it at this point.  When Tony didn’t answer he made a decision he hoped Peter would forgive him for later.  “He’s not your kid, like the intern you spend time with.  He’s your son.  Your actual, legitimate son Tony.”

“Are you drunk?” Tony looked worried.

“Tony!”

“You believe what you’re saying don’t you?”

Happy didn’t miss the flash of fear and anxiety that crossed his friend’s face.  There was nothing he could do about it at the moment because time was limited if he was going to get Tony to the school on time for Peter’s presentation.  He decided to press forward and tell Tony as much as he could as quickly as he could and hope the man didn’t insist on asking too many questions or stopping to have a full on panic attack.  Happy was having enough anxiety for the both of them as it was.  “He’s been getting bullied at school for being an orphan.  A big group of guys has been telling him shit like he’s a freak and worthless, and giving him shit about not having parents, and about not having a dad to do this project with.  I caught them surrounding him after school a couple times.  He told me it wasn’t a big deal because he’s not actually an orphan.  It took a while, but he admitted that he knew who his father was, and that he’s known since he was a kid.  It’s you Tony.”

“That’s not possible.”  Tony was shaking his head, looking down at the floor.  “He’d tell me.  His aunt would have told me.”

“No he wouldn’t, because he believes he’s not worth your time and that he’ll just be a disappointment to you.”

Tony looked up at him, and when he spoke his voice was quiet… muted.  “He… told you that?”

“I talked to May about it after he told me.  She’s the only other one who knows.”

“People have tried to claim I have kids before-”

“The kid did a DNA test to be sure.  A long time ago when he first started coming to the lab.”

Tony stared at his head of security, letting his mouth hang open the same way that Peter sometimes did.  Happy had been making a lot of comparisons between the two of them lately, and now that he’d seen the similarities, he couldn’t unsee them.

“Had time to process that?  Good, now get in the car.  The thing at the school is in twenty minutes and you’re not letting those guys make fun of him again for not having a dad to present with.”

Happy motioned towards the elevator, and Tony stared at it for a moment.  Finally he moved towards it.  Once they were inside and headed down to the parking garage, Tony said, “You’re getting pushy in your old age.”  His voice lacked all of the joking quality it normally held.  He always joked and used wit and sarcasm when he was feeling particularly nervous or uneasy about something.  Now he was just quiet, and Happy looked over at him, worried.

“I channeled Pepper for a minute.  I think she took over my body or something.”

Tony gave a short laugh and said, “Yeah you did.  It was scary.”

“Good.”

Silence descended over them as the elevator carried them down towards the parking garage.

“You’re sure about this?  You’re positive he’s my-” Tony trailed away, as if he was afraid to say the word.

“You can run a DNA test after you present the project with him.”

“How long have you known?  I don’t like secrets.  I feel like this is something you should have told me.”

“I found out last month.”

“That tracks with how you’ve been pecking at me like a mother hen about literally everything.”  He shot Happy an irritated look.

“You didn’t hear how those jerks talked down to him, like he was trash… how they told him he was all alone.  You didn’t see the look on his face… like he believed every word of it.  I wasn’t going to let him be alone with it anymore.”

They exited the elevator and hurried to Happy’s SUV.  Tony got in the front passenger seat, and Happy sped off.  “Thanks,” Tony said a few minutes into the drive.

“For what?”

“For looking out for him, for me.”

“Forget it.”

Tony would never forget it.  He’d also never let Peter deal with things alone again.  He thought he’d been doing well, keeping up his end of the deal he’d made with May, making sure Peter was squared away as far as Spider Man went… that he’d gone above and beyond.  Apparently not.  He had a kid.  He had a son that had been right under his nose the whole time… since Germany.  Shit.  Germany.  He’d taken his son to fight against Steve at the airport.

“Whatever that look is for, stop.  You can’t do that right now,” Happy said, eyeing Tony’s face instead of watching the road.

Tony didn’t respond, too much in his head to register what his friend and head of security had said.

* * *

Peter had his head down when Tony entered the gym where the science fair was being held.  Their project was set up on a table, and Peter was surrounded by a group of larger boys who were saying something in low tones to him.  Were those the bullies Happy had told him about?  That and a thousand other questions were swirling around Tony’s mind.

He swallowed as he stood on the threshold of the gym and then wiped his sweaty palms on the sides of his pants.  It wasn’t being there in public in a high school gym that was making him nervous, it was Peter… his intern… his kid.  Shit.  I have a kid.  I have a son!  He didn’t even know what to think about it because he’d barely had thirty minutes to process it all since he’d been yelled at by Happy and told he was a father.  Some father, he thought.  I didn’t even know I had a son, or that he was right under my own nose.  Even Howard had done better than that.  He tried to squash down the questions in his mind again, particularly the part of him wondering why Peter hadn’t told him… and if he was ashamed of Tony somehow.  It was when he saw one of the boys take a menacing step towards Peter that he found himself crossing the gym at a quick pace.  His legs were moving without his permission because something about the way Peter held himself was off and the way he stared at the ground made anger rise up in him.

Tony couldn’t hear what the boys were saying until he got closer, and it made his blood boil once he understood the words that were being thrown at his kid… at his son.

“Should have let us rent you a father Parker,” one boy taunted.  “We could have done a drive.  I’m sure we could have found some homeless guy to come stand here with you and pretend to love you.”

“No, that would be expecting too much,” another boy said.  “We just need a guy to stand here.  If he looks miserable everyone will understand.  That’s how Peter’s aunt looks all the time, huh Peter?”

The boys laughed and Peter continued staring down at the floor, shoulders fallen like he had no ability or desire to resist their taunts and jabs.  “You didn’t hear how those jerks talked down to him, like he was trash… how they told him he was all alone.  You didn’t see the look on his face… like he believed every word of it.  I wasn’t going to let him be alone with it anymore.”  Peter might not be able to do anything about it, but Tony could.

“I’m assuming you all have somewhere to be?” Tony said, voice close to a growl.  He wanted to throttle every one of them.  He was there to present with Peter though, not to pull out his watch gauntlet and make this group of boys piss their pants, even though he really wanted to.

All of the boys turned and one by one their mouths fell open.  It wasn’t every day that you found yourself face to face with Tony Stark in a high school gym.

“Whoa,” one of them said.

“Dude, it’s Tony Stark!”

“I’m sure you have a sub par project to get back to,” Tony said, voice clipped.

“Uh… Mr. Stark, my project is awesome!  You should come see it.”  One of the boys held out his hand to shake, but Tony made it a point to pull his hands back and put it on Peter’s shoulder.

“Yeah, not gonna happen.  What’s your name?”

“Eugene, sir.”

“Your parents must really be something to give you a name like Eugene.  Tell you what Eugene, after the crap I just heard you spewing at Peter, I’m not interested in seeing your project.  By the way, consider yourself banned from ever applying to SI or entering any of my properties or buildings.”  He turned his back on them, putting himself between them and Peter.  After a moment he turned back and looked around at the rest of the group of boys.  “That goes for the rest of you too.”

None of them moved.  “Or you can stick around here and give me time to find out all of your names and I can call in favors to black list you from every major university in the country.”  He didn’t have that kind of pull, but was enjoying the looks on their faces regardless.

That got them moving and the five boys scattered.  Tony noted which tables they went to and that it looked like Eugene was complaining to his father across the gym.

He turned back to Peter and found him still staring at the ground.  “Hey kid.”

“Hey Mr. Stark.”

“Sorry I’m late.”

“I thought you said you weren’t coming,” he said, voice low.  Peter looked up and Tony was dismayed to see that the kid had a red mark on his face like one of the other boys had slapped him.

He reached up and took Peter’s chin gently in his hand and turned Peter’s face so he could see better.  “Which one of them did that?”

“Uh, it was- it- it doesn’t matter Mr. Stark.”

“I’m going to take that to mean all of them have done that to you at some point.”

Peter’s face colored and Tony fought the urge to pull him into a hug.  He wasn’t sure if Peter would accept it or not because they’d never hugged before.

“Why did you come?” Peter asked, voice quiet.

“I promised I would.”  In that moment Tony appreciated Happy in a way he never had before.  There were a lot of reasons he respected the man, but this?  He’d taken care of Peter and put his needs above everything else… knew what his son needed before Tony did and then got Tony right where he needed to be, when he needed to be there the most.

Peter didn’t respond.  A few moments later the doors to the gym opened and several classes worth of students came in to start checking out the projects on display.  Peter stood there, stiff and unmoving for several moments, though Tony noted that as students realized that Tony Stark was there and started to come over that Peter raised his head a little to look across the gym at Eugene and his father.  Eugene was glaring at them and so was his father.  Please let this be a thing, Tony thought to himself.  He couldn’t fight a kid, but he could fight the boy’s father if he gave him a reason to.

“Whoa, are you Tony Stark?” a boy asked.  At least ten kids had made a beeline for their table.

“Sure am,” he said, dragging his eyes away from Eugene and his father and pasting on a fake smile, the same one he always gave to the press.

“But- what are you doing here?” a girl asked, and the group of kids around them quieted to hear his answer.

Tony turned to Peter and without realizing it, his false smile slipped and softened into something genuine… the same smile he always wore when his kid came for lab days or to just hang out and watch a movie.  His heart fluttered and felt like it was flip flopping in his chest.  My kid.  This kid is my kid.  There was no way he could get so lucky.  “Why don’t I let Pete tell you about the project he and I did together?”

The eyes of the gathered students flickered over to Peter, as if just noticing him for the first time.  Peter gave a nervous look up at Tony, but Tony nudged him gently with his elbow and tried to give him an encouraging look.

“We uh, we made a three dimensional holographic projection table from a two way mirror and a micro computer system.  We built everything from scratch.”  Peter flipped the switch on the side of the frame surrounding the two way mirror and the display came on, blue hologram swirling in between Tony and Peter and the kids on the other side of the table.  A chorus of soft ‘ooohs’ went up from them.  Peter stopped talking then, and Tony wasn’t sure if he had just forgotten what he wanted to say or was nervous, so he picked up where Peter left off.

“Peter did all the coding for the project, installed the operating system on the system and calibrated the lasers.”

Kids were looking back and forth between Tony and Peter, and Tony put his hand on Peter’s shoulder, hopeful it would get his kid talking again.  It did.

“We used a lot of scraps to build it, because we don’t like to waste parts when they can be reused.  There was an old motherboard we modified and turned into sort of our own version of a Raspberry Pi.  Some of the metal parts holding it all together we cut out with a laser CNC and bent into shape.”

Peter described some other parts of the project, but had to stop when teachers came to usher the kids at the table off to look at the next project.  A large group of 20 or more kids came up and tried to crowd in to see the holographic display and get a good look at Tony, but a teacher split the group up and sent half of them off to another table.  Tony started off describing the project again and this time Peter didn’t need prodding to start talking.  He was still quieter than he normally was when he was in the lab or just hanging out, and he looked nervous, but he grew a little more enthusiastic when it was time for a third group to come to their table and he realized that theirs was the most popular table.  Tony nudged him and motioned towards Eugene’s project across the gym and Peter looked and saw that there were only a few kids checking it out.

“Guess Euegene and his dad just aren’t as cool as we are,” Tony leaned in and whispered.  Peter looked up at him and caught his eyes.  He stared at Tony for long enough that the anxiety he’d been feeling earlier came back over him and he cleared his throat and turned to the next group of kids moving in to see the holographic display.

The hour-long science fair passed relatively quickly.  Most of the school had come and gone and stopped by their table to gawk at Tony and ooh and ahh over the holo display.  Several students paid Peter compliments, and Tony noted that some of the boys that had been bullying him and talking shit earlier had snuck back over to the table at some point to hear their spiel.  When Tony had noticed them there he’d made it a point to talk about how closely together he and Peter had worked on the project and mentioned several times that they were a team.

It was only a half day of school due to Thanksgiving break starting the next day, so the science fair was short and only lasted an hour and twenty minutes.  The gym started to clear out and the only people left were kids from the two participating science classes, one physics and one chemistry, putting away their projects with their fathers.  Tony’s eyes came up and found Eugene and his father crossing the gym, looking ticked off, and he turned his back to them and said under his breath to Peter, “Here we go.”

Peter looked up at him, confused, but then stiffened when he realized who was coming towards them.  Tony intentionally kept his back to them and acted uninterested, even when Eugene’s father said, “Excuse me.”

Tony pulled out his phone and pretended to be busy.

“Excuse me.”

He turned around, let his eyes sweep over the man and then over to Eugene, and then looked back at his phone.  “Make it quick, we have somewhere we have to be in half an hour.”  He didn’t.  He’d already texted Pepper on his way to Midtown that he wasn’t coming back for the rest of the meeting.

“What exactly did you say to my son earlier?”

Tony raised a brow and glanced up from his phone at Eugene.  “I told him he was banned from all SI properties.”

“He said you made fun of him.”

Tony slipped his phone into his pocket.  “He doesn’t like people making fun of him?”

“No,” the man ground out.  “He’s a child and this is his school.  He deserves to come to school and feel safe, not be made fun of.”

“Right, I can see how that would be a problem,” Tony said as though he was actually thinking about it.  “Tell you what, if Eugene here doesn’t want to be made fun of, maybe he shouldn’t slap my son in the face and harass him on a daily basis.”  He felt Peter tense up beside him, but didn’t look down at him.  His eyes were glued to Eugene’s father and the way the self righteous anger on his face had faltered.

“He’s lying,” Eugene said.  He sounded like he was trying to muster up some anger, but all he succeeded in doing was sounding panicked.  “Parker’s an orphan.”

“Let’s see, what was it you said to him earlier?” Tony asked, touching his chin and pretending to be deep in thought.  “You should have let us rent you a father, we could have found a homeless guy to stand with you and pretend to love you.”  Tony glared down at Eugene, who shrank back and took a half step behind his father.  Then Tony glared at Eugene’s father, who looked like he’d been struck.  “I tell you what, I sure don’t appreciate my son coming to school and being treated like that, and when I walked up and heard your son saying those things to him, surrounding him with a group of other boys, and then saw a big red handprint on Peter’s face, you can understand why I might be a little miffed.”  Tony was flexing both hands at his sides into fists, trying to resist the urge to trigger his wrist watch gauntlet.

Eugene’s father pulled in a deep breath, held it and looked like he was trying to count to ten, and then let it out.  “My apologies Mr. Stark, to you and your son,” he said, tone and body stiff.  He turned to Eugene and put a hand on his shoulder, turning him to march him back to their table across the gym.

“It’s not true!” they heard Eugene whine.  “It’s not true!  The kid is an orphan!”  That answer seemed to make his father angrier and didn’t help his case like he thought it would.

“Mr. Stark?”

Peter’s voice was quiet, and drew Tony’s eyes down to him.  Peter was looking up at him, looking uncertain and anxious.

“We’ll talk in a few minutes.  Let’s get the display packed up first.”  He didn’t mean for his voice to come out sounding clipped, and wasn’t sure if it was because he was still upset with Eugene and his father, or if it was because all of his anxiety about what he was going to say to Peter was climbing back up his throat and making his heart stutter again.  That and a hundred questions all trying to crowd each other out for space in his head, and with them, all the self doubt a situation like this demand he have.

Peter looked uncertain but gave a nod and started packing the project up.  He put his backpack on, letting it hang off of one shoulder and then he picked up the four foot long mirror holo display from one end and Tony picked it up from the other.

“How much longer until school is out?” Tony asked as they started walking the project across the gym and towards the doors leading back out to the main hall.

Peter glanced up at the clock on the wall and said, “Five minutes.”

“Are you allowed to carry this out to the car?  Happy’s out front.”

“No.”  He was quiet and averting his eyes, like he was in trouble.  He was afraid, Tony realized, and he hated that his son felt afraid around him, though he wasn’t sure why he would be.  Aside from the one time he’d taken Peter’s suit after the ferry incident, he’d never yelled at him, and unlike Howard had done to Tony for years, he’d never put Peter down, not once.  At least he’d done one thing right, but the thought didn’t ease his own anxiety and nervous energy any.

The halls were empty, so Tony diverted them down a smaller side hall and they set the mirror down, leaning it against a bank of lockers.  They just needed to wait for the bell to ring and signal the end of the school day so Peter could leave and help him carry it out to the car.

A heavy silence fell over them like a blanket.  Tony was about to say something, anything just to lift the weight of it off of his shoulders, when Peter spoke, voice high and uncertain.

“Thanks… for- lying to them,” Peter grimaced, “and, and saying you were my dad.”

“It wasn’t a lie.”

“Sh, sure it was, Mr. Stark.”

Irritation and a little flash of anger pulsed through him hearing his son deny that they were related.  Was he really that ashamed of Tony?  He’d rather let kids think he was an orphan?  How long had he known?  Had he known this entire time?  He’d known and he’d just let Tony believe Peter was nothing more than an intern, or a random kid with superpowers he’d recruited to help him bring in Cap in Germany.

“Cut the lies,” Tony said.  It came out sounding harsh, but he wasn’t sure he could temper his tone when the anxiety had this big of a hold over him.  He sometimes snapped at Pepper too when he was feeling overwhelmed and on the verge of a full blown panic attack.  That was usually her cue that he was about to start gasping for breath and clutching his chest, because he didn’t snap at her otherwise.  He always felt bad about it afterwards, and he felt bad about snapping at Peter now, especially when Peter stared up at him and looked like he was ready to cry himself.

Tony sighed and rubbed his forehead hard.  “Why.”  His voice was much softer this time… needy, and he hated it.  He needed to know.  Even if Peter didn’t tell him anything else, he needed to know why.  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I-” Peter opened and closed his mouth several times but no more sound came out.  He was saved from having to answer by the bell ringing.  A few moments later classroom doors started opening up and down the halls and kids streamed out to get to their lockers and go home for the day.

“Help me with this,” Tony said.  “We’ll talk later.”

Peter reached for the project and together they lifted it up and carried it down the hall and out the front doors ahead of the crowd.  They made it out to the parking lot and to Happy’s black SUV without exchanging another word to each other.

After they loaded the holo mirror into the back of the SUV, Peter climbed into the back seat and Tony got in up front.  Happy took one look at Tony’s face, and then looked in the rearview mirror at Peter and sighed.  Whatever had happened inside hadn’t been good.

“What happened?” Happy asked.

Tony pointed at the windshield and said, “Drive.  Tower.”  It was all he could manage to get out.  He was fluctuating back and forth between a panic attack, irritation and anger.  He couldn’t decide how to feel about anything that had happened that day.

“Peter?” Happy asked, looking in the rearview mirror.

“Can you take me home?”

“We’re going to the tower,” Tony said, tense.  He needed answers… needed to understand, and that meant talking to Peter, not dropping him off in Queens.  His brain was screaming at him that that was the wrong thing to do, and that if they dropped Peter off he’d never see him again… that the kid would quit lab days and drop seeing him altogether.  He didn’t want that.  He wouldn’t want that even if Peter wasn’t his son.  They’d grown close over the last eight months and he didn’t want to lose that.

Luckily Happy seemed to agree that dropping Peter off wasn’t the best idea.  Tony was pleased when he didn’t make a beeline for Peter’s apartment, but was also confused when he didn’t make the turn to cross the bridge back into Manhattan to go back to the tower either.

“Where are we going?” he asked.  He was surprised when it was Peter that answered him.

“Coffee shop,” he said dully from the backseat.

“What coffee shop?”

Neither of them answered and Happy pulled up in front of a little coffee shop in Queens a few minutes from Peter’s apartment.

“I’ll just walk home,” Peter said dully.

“No, you’re going inside,” Happy told him.

Tony didn’t know why Peter listened to him, but he moved to obey.

“You too,” Happy said.

“You work for me, remember?” Tony asked.

“I’m taking today off.”

“With this late of notice?”

“I feel a headache coming on,” Happy said through gritted teeth.  He got out of the car and he and Peter waited on the sidewalk until Tony got out.  He felt entirely out of his element.  Happy was running the show and he didn’t even know what the show was.

Happy and Peter made it into the coffee shop first, and by the time Tony followed them in, Happy seemed to have made some kind of deal with the coffee shop owner and was handing him a credit card.

“We really had to stop to get you some coffee?” Tony asked.

“You just paid him to close up shop for two hours,” Happy replied.

“I paid him,” Tony deadpanned, and watched as the cashier handed back the all black debit card Happy carried around for when Tony needed him to go buy things or asked him to pick up food or buy something like a new coat for Peter.

The coffee shop was already empty, probably because the lunch rush hadn’t started yet, and the cashier went to the front door and locked it, flipping the open sign to ‘closed’.  Then he disappeared into the back into a storage room and closed the door.

“You two sit,” Happy said, and pointed at a table up front by the window.

Peter moved to obey again and Tony looked at Happy, unamused, and said, “You’re channeling Pepper again, aren’t you?”  Then he followed Peter and went to sit at the little table, facing his son.

Once they were both seated Happy followed and stood there since there wasn’t a third seat.  “I don’t know what happened in the school, but I’m assuming you both know that you both know.”

Peter looked away, staring out the window instead of looking at Happy.

“Work it out,” Happy said, voice hard, though his eyes were uncertain.  He didn’t give either of them a chance to argue and walked away.  He headed to the back of the coffee shop and took a seat as far back from them as he could get.  When Happy saw Tony staring at him, he held up his car keys and shook them, letting him know that they weren’t going anywhere without him.  Tony could call another car, but that would take a while to get there, and besides, he’d got what he wanted: time to talk to Peter.

“I’m sorry I snapped at you,” he said.  Some of the anxiety had eased in the few minutes they’d been there, probably just because he’d been thrown for a loop at Happy bossing him around again and driving them to a random coffee shop that they both seemed to be familiar with.  “I don’t handle things the best when I’m-” he wasn’t used to telling people he had anxiety.  Pepper knew because she saw it sometimes since they lived together.  Rhodey had an inkling even though Tony had never told him, and Happy knew because he had to deal with Tony on a daily basis.  Saying it loud to someone just felt weird.  He wasn’t talking to a random person though.  This was his son in front of him.  “Look, I don’t do- the emotional stuff well.”

Peter’s eyes came away from the window and lost some of the anger they’d held.  He looked uncertain again, nervous.

“I was kind of thrown for a loop today kid, not gonna lie.  Learning you have a son that you’ve been hanging out with three days a week will do that to you.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Just tell me why you didn’t tell me.”

Peter looked down and away from him again.  He started to fidget with his fingers.

“Not gonna give that one to me huh?”  Tony took a deep breath and looked out the window to the wet rainy street.  “Ok, how about, how long have you known?”

“I’ve always known.”

Tony looked over at him again, but Peter still wasn’t looking up.

“Am I that bad?”  Peter did look up at this, confused, and Tony clarified, “To have as a father, am I that bad?”

“What?  No Mr. St- no, I- that’s not-”

“Then why didn’t you tell me?  If you had told me, things would have been different.”  He could have had Peter living with him, or if he refused, he could have been paying May child support, or put them up in a better apartment in a better neighborhood, or been spending more time with Peter.  Happy’s numerous chastisements and warnings over the last month came back to mind as well.  He’d told Tony to set a better example.  Tony had thought he’d been doing ok at that all on his own, but apparently his friend didn’t think so.

“I- I didn’t tell you, ‘cause- because things would have been different.”  By the end of it, Peter’s voice was small, barely more than a whisper.

“Different can be good.  It can be a good thing.”

Peter shook his head and Tony was both startled and dismayed to see tears pooling in his eyes.  “No,” he whispered.  He reached up to wipe his eyes and Tony was overcome with the urge to hug him again.  Again he doubted Peter would accept that.  His son had kept distance between them intentionally by not telling him of their relationship, and he still didn’t know why.

“Ok…” Tony trailed off for a moment.  He really had no idea what he was doing here.  “Why is different bad?”

“Please don’t make me say it,” Peter whispered, looking at the floor.

“You have to give me something here.”  He was floundering.  He looked across the coffee shop, eyes searching for Happy and hoping he would come help.  He still wasn’t quite clear what Happy’s involvement in all of this was, but his friend clearly knew more about it than he did.

Peter looked up at him, eyes still wet.  “Mr. Stark-  I can’t- I didn’t tell you, ‘cause you’re not going to want me.”

Tony sat back.  It felt like all the air had been sucked out of his chest.  “What?”  In what world-

“I’m a,” Peter took a shuddering breath.  “I’m a freak, and I know that, and- I’m just lucky May decides to keep taking care of me, because we’re not related, and I’m a burden and I couldn’t tell you, ‘cause I couldn’t lose this… the- the internship with you and, and movie nights and,” he lifts his eyes up to meet Tony’s.  “I couldn’t lose you when-” he took another shuddery breath and finished, “when you decide you don’t want me around anymore.”

Tony stared at him, all the questions in his head obliterated by the realization that Peter hadn’t told him because he thought he was going to be pushed away and forgotten about.  His kid felt worthless.  My fault.  Peter feels like he’s worthless to me, and that’s my fault.  There was nothing he could do to fix this, he realized, though the urge to hug his kid… wrap him up in his arms and tell him none of it was true was stronger than ever.

Fuck it.

Hugging wasn’t really his thing… none of this emotional stuff was, but his son was in tears and all the anxiety he’d been feeling for the last three hours had disappeared and left a gaping vacuum somewhere in his chest.

He didn’t know if it was the right thing to do or not, but he slid off the tall chair and moved around the table.  He hoped Peter wouldn’t push him away when he wrapped his arms around him, but didn’t really think he would.  He was right.

“Hey,” he whispered, holding Peter tightly.  Peter stilled in his arms, surprised to find himself being hugged in the first place.  “None of that is true.  I don’t have any idea what I’m doing,” he said slowly, “but I want you.  You’re not worthless, or a burden, or whatever it is you think you are.  You’re my kid and I want you, end of story.”

It took a few moments, but Peter relaxed into him, and then tentative hands came up and Peter’s arms wrapped around his back.

“We’re gonna figure this out, ok?”

Peter nodded into his chest.

Tony was bad at this.  He’d never been a dad before, and he was sure he was going to screw everything up, but as he stood hugging his son for the first time… he didn’t think about turning to find Happy to ask for his help.  He was going to bumble through this, and make mistakes, but he and Peter were going to figure it out together.

Tony had never wanted anything more in his entire life.  Neither had Peter.