Work Text:
Tony spins around in his swivel chair, viewing the many blueprints and formulas he'd mapped out. He flicks through the holograms, sipping his coffee because his eyes are beginning to feel sore with exhaustion.
He wants to do something. Pep is out of town so that leaves him with nothing better to do.
Jeez, he can almost hear her berating him.
‘Go to sleep on time, Tony ,’ she'd said. ‘ Just because I'm not there doesn't mean you should stay up all night working on your projects. You have all day to do that.’
He could listen, however, he's a grown man with no bedtime and currently no beautiful wife to tell him to make healthy decisions, so he plans on doing the exact opposite.
FRIDAY will probably snitch on him though. Shit.
“FRI, you’re not going to tell Pep about this, right?”
“I’m quite tempted to report, boss. Though, she requested I shut down in approximately thirty minutes so if you finish your work by the time I am down, we will have no problems.”
He groans,
“C’mon, sweetie, what happened to loyalty?”
“Two-thirty AM is a perfectly reasonable time for your nightly activities to cease,” the AI deadpans, “I suggest you get your work done while you have time, sir.”
Ugh. Fine.
Nightly activities.
Oh, that reminds him-
He opens the spider-suit file.
At least it'd be productive to update Peter's safety protocols.
He hums in thought before pushing off the side of the table by his feet, allowing the chair to roll across the room before reaching for the hologram to pull up Peter's stats.
He looks through the baby monitor, checking that everything is working the way it should. However, his brows furrow when he sees the tracker is blinking, showing he's not home yet.
The fuck?
He zooms in on the map.
That damn kid is still out patrolling.
At two AM.
On a school night.
His curfew is eleven.
That fucking kid.
Then, he sees the suit is inactive.
Wait- how is it inactive if he's-?
"FRI."
"Yes, boss."
"Did I make a mistake in the suit? Anything broken? Not working correctly?"
"There are no problems with the suit."
"Did Peter hack it again?"
"No, it's just off."
His heart begins to race,
"Shit."
He's already calling the suit and shooting out of the lab.
" Call Peter ."
" Hey, this is Peter. I'm not at the phone right now-"
" Call again ," he snaps.
" Hey, this is-"
"Call again! Text him! Tell him to answer! "
"No answer, boss."
" Peter ," he groans loudly, knowing damn well the kid can't hear him. " He's in deep shit when I get to him. I'm too old for this ."
He doesn't mean that. He's hoping this is something he can just lecture him for. Tell him off for being irresponsible and tell him how worried he was and then they can make up and move on from this and hopefully it never happens again.
He knows it will though. It's not the first time something like this has happened where he does something stupid with the suit to get away with something and it probably won't be the last.
He's just hoping to god it's not something bad. Hoping it's not the worst case scenario.
He makes it to the location with no sign of Peter or the suit.
The tracker says it's here.
"FRI, I can't find it."
"It's here."
" Where -"
That's when he sees the limp red fabric sticking out of a trash can. Gross .
"Keep calling Peter."
"On it."
He rubs a hand across his forehead stressfully before gathering the now putrid smelling suit into his arms.
After his AI tells him she's called Peter another twenty times, he decides it's time to call May. He's already flying towards their apartment when she picks up.
"Tony, do you have any idea what time it is-"
"Is Peter home?"
Please. Please tell him he's at home and he was just being a stupid teenager and lost it the same way he'd lost a solid fifteen backpacks in the last few months. Tell him it's something he can fix.
"Um, yeah?"
Oh thank Thor.
He lets out a staggered breath, one he'd been holding for too long.
"He is?"
"I mean, I heard his window open again a few hours ago... Is everything ok?"
"May, please check."
He hears movement in the background as she walks across the apartment, then the creaking of a door.
"Yeah. Yeah he's home," she whispers. "He might be asleep though- the room's dark. Tony, what's going on you're scaring me."
"I'm outside."
The call drops and the front door swings open.
" Enough ," she snaps quietly. " You guys can't keep leaving me out of the loop. What the hell is going on? "
Tony holds up the crumpled up suit. He supposes it clicks when the smell reaches May's nose.
" Oh ."
"Can I..." he nods his head towards the door.
"Yeah. Yeah, ok. Fill me in later. And leave that outside ."
He knocks on Peter's bedroom door softly. It hadn't been fully closed, so it creaks open.
"Peter?"
" What ."
Wow, ok. He wasn't expecting that reaction.
Tony probably should've asked what was wrong first, but he obviously isn't the most emotionally available person.
"You're paying for the dry cleaning of this suit, kid."
"I don't want it anymore."
Tony blinks, "Huh?"
His suit retracts into his arc reactor, the soft glow bringing a dim light into the room. He can see Peter a little better now, and he won't even look at him. He's under the covers facing the wall.
"You don't mean that."
" I don't want it. "
His voice is raspy, his tone low and impatient.
Something happened.
Tony walks towards him slowly. He kicks the leg of his bed lightly, enough to send the vibration of his taps up to the mattress.
"C'mon. Up."
Peter turns his head slightly, only revealing one side of his face. He looks angry. Hurt. Both physically and mentally.
Tony's heart clenches.
" Why? "
"Since when do you question my authority," he tries to joke, obviously failing miserably. The corner of his lip pulls in an effort to offer a teasing smile. "Actually, don't answer that."
Peter turns back around again.
Wrong move, stupid, he tells himself
"Sorry," he says quickly. "Sorry I- not the time. I get it. Please. I just want to talk to you."
It seems please truly is the magic word because the kid finally gets up from his bed. His brows are furrowed and he follows sluggishly behind Tony as he leads them up to the roof of the apartment complex
Peter's a little farther away from Tony than he usually is. He's usually- he's a touchy kid. He likes being close to people. Just enough for their knees to bump or for someone to reach out and put a hand on his shoulder or ruffle his hair. Shove him away in a playful manner as they go on about their usual meaningless banter. But somehow, he's managed to make the extra company seem lonelier than he was in his dark room by himself.
"C'mere." He pats the spot next to him.
When he only moved about an inch, Tony gives up.
He needs space.
Tony sighs, massaging the bridge of his nose.
"I was worried. Really worried, kiddie."
"Sorry."
"I'm not mad or anything. I just want to know what happened. Why was your suit in the trash? You could've just brought it to me and we'd talk it out the same way we are now. Minus the whole giving me a heart attack."
"I... I shouldn't have it."
"What are you talking about? You're probably the most deserving person of that suit on the planet."
" I'm not ," he says, voice cracking. He pauses. "I messed up tonight. I'm always messing up ."
"You're still a kid, Peter." He leans down to catch his eye. "You're allowed to mess up. I still mess up. Constantly." And it's true. He does. All the time. Tonight, he's messed up because he's still learning to understand what Peter needs from him in moments like this.
Peter keeps his eyes on his Ironman themed socks. Tony would've cracked a joke about them in any other scenario.
"It's different for you."
"It's not."
"No, I- You do it in a way that's... you . You play it off, and you fix it- you make it all look so easy."
"It's not easy for me either, Pete. My way of 'playing it off'- that's deflecting. Bottling it up. I'm not exactly the best role model for this type of situation… But yeah, I do fix it. How can I help you fix this? Give me something to work with."
"I'm just tired of messing up all the time," he snaps. "I'm... Tired ... of being spider-man."
Tony doesn't think that's true. He knows Peter loves being Spider-Man, but maybe he needs the mental break.
He stays silent though, waiting for him to continue.
"This is supposed to be my responsibility but I feel like I'm failing at everything . And I'd be failing him by not doing this too." His head drops in his hands, fingers curling into his hair.
Him-? Oh. Oh .
Peter's voice wavers as he speaks,
"Ben would be so disappointed. I'm not doing as well in school anymore. I'm letting bad guys go. I'm hurting people when I try to save them- someone ended up in the hospital tonight because of me - and now I'm quitting. No matter what I do, I'm failing him," he whispers. "And I don't want to disappoint you either, Tony."
" Kid ."
"Sorry," he sniffs. "I shouldn't have..."
"You still saved them from something worse, Peter. They're still alive, yeah? Nothing major?" When he nods, Tony sits up, looking out at the bright city lights of cars and buildings and street lamps.
"Also, I don't think there's anything you could do that'd disappoint your uncle. Or me."
"Thanks..."
" I'm serious ."
"I know. I just..."
"I know. I'll keep reminding you."
"You don't have to- that's not your job."
"It is, actually."
Peter glances up at him, looking sad but a little better than before. Tony offers a small smile. He scoots a little closer to him and continues.
"For what it's worth though kid, I don't think you want to quit."
"I don't ," he whispers, voice wavering. His knee bumps against Tony's, seeking any kind of comfort. "I just don't want to hurt anyone else."
"I know. If you want, I'll take you tomorrow to see the person in the hospital. You'll see they're ok," he says. "But hey, maybe a little mental break would be nice. You deserve it. You don't need to work yourself to the bone like this. Have a bit of time to just be a kid."
"I'm not a kid."
"Yeah," he knocks his foot against Peter's. "You are."
"Whatever."
" You still have to ask to go to the bathroom in class."
"And you are going to a crappy nursing home when you're all old and wrinkly. Keep talking."
" There he is. " Tony throws an arm around his shoulders. Peter relaxes into the touch, seeming exhausted.
"Sorry I declined all your calls."
"Yeah, well…" he says, before shoving him gently, "Do it again and I scrap the new spidey suit I've been working on."
"Wait- what?!"
"It's a new project but now, it's gotta be finished. You didn't think I'd let you set foot into the other one after what it's been through tonight, did you? I don't think anything could get the stench out of that suit, kid. It's disgusting."
"You're working on another suit?!"
"Yep. And you don't get to see it until it's done."
" Tony! "
" Nope ."
He's pulling his leg. He'll show him tomorrow.
At least it got him to smile though.