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Peter was Tony’s child in all but blood.
And he made it extremely obvious to everyone, maybe except for Peter. The level of emotional constipation was ungodly with this man. He couldn’t let it be known to Peter that he loved the boy like a son. What would happen if he did? Well, the world would end, obviously.
Tony was terrible at showing affection. The words ‘I love you’ got caught in his throat every time.
Tony’s protectiveness and — there was no nice way to put this — concern made its appearance during Peter’s stays in the Avengers Tower.
He started noticing the amount of time the boy spent with Steve. They trained together, went on morning runs together. While Tony was happy that Peter felt close to the Avengers, it still made him feel annoyed, because he was supposed to be Peter’s father figure, not Steve.
And not only that, but he felt worried that Steve was still thinking the same things as he did back in Germany, and Peter spending time with him would make him hate Tony.
But that was besides the point.
It was one morning when Tony had done an all-nighter with his work when he bumped into Steve in the kitchen.
“Hey,” Tony greeted, yawning.
“Hi,” Steve greeted back with an acknowledging nod.
“What’s got you up so early?” Tony raised an eyebrow.
“I’m always up early,” Steve shrugged, “Plus, I’m about to go on a run with Peter.”
“Oh,” Tony leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. “I didn’t know you had that planned.”
“We didn’t,” Steve shrugged. “He was training in the gym. FRIDAY told me, so I suggested we go on a walk. I think he had a nightmare.”
“Oh, mhm,” Tony nodded, way too quickly. “Got it.”
Nightmares, something Tony despised himself for letting happen to Peter.
And he hated himself more for not being able to help.
“Okay,” Steve dragged the word out, eyeing Tony, as if unable to figure him out.
“Okay.” Tony nodded.
He watched — way too intently — as Steve turned around, walking toward the door.
“Rogers,” Tony spoke, his tone oddly firm.
Of course, when Tony failed at something — he reflected on others.
“Yeah?” Steve turned around, brows furrowed.
“He’s my kid.” The protective tone wasn’t lost on Steve.
“I- what?” Steve furrowed his brows, staring at Tony. He wasn’t used to this side of the man.
“You heard me,” Tony smiled, and even though he knew he was being unfair, he just couldn’t help it. “Just thought you needed a reminder.”
“Oh, uh, okay?” Steve sounded slightly confused. “I’ll… note that for the future.”
“Good.”
And that was the end of their interaction.
Then came a more dreaded one.
Bucky-fuckin-Barnes.
Now, this was something Tony had never expected, for that absolute bastard, that murderer, that monster, to be so… gentle… with Peter?
Tony hadn’t thought much of it the first time, when Bucky and Peter were sitting next to each other and whispering the whole time during the Avengers’ movie night, but the next few times, he knew it was a pattern.
Then, he walked into the living room of the tower to see Peter and Bucky building a Lego set, something they did together, or Peter with Ned.
“So,” Tony chuckled, sitting down on the couch. “What’s up with this? Building Legos with Bucky now, Pete? I thought that was a thing you and Ned did. Even I’m not allowed to build Legos with you.”
The joke was evident, but the odd — almost jealous — tone behind it was more hidden.
“Oh- yeah,” Peter chuckled sheepishly, running a hand through his hair. “Mr. Barnes wanted to spend time with me, and I didn’t want to refuse. He’s really cool, have you seen his arm?”
Yeah, I saw it when he tried to kill me with it.
“It’s ‘Bucky’, Pete, no need to be all formal,” Bucky laughed slightly.
“No, I didn’t get a good look at it,” Tony smiled stiffly. “Glad you’re having fun, kid.”
Peter beamed.
Bucky didn’t miss the look sent his way.
It wasn’t that Tony was jealous, no. Sure, it was a factor, especially with Capsicle and Buck, but in general… no.
The thing was, in total honesty, Tony was scared.
Scared of losing another person he loved.
He had already proved he wasn’t good at protecting the people he loved: Rhodey, Pepper, and more acquaintances than he could count.
He couldn’t let the same things happen to Peter.
He was already a terrible father figure, he didn’t even know how to be a father, not when he didn’t have a father figure in his childhood either. He could only try his best, and that barely even worked. He’d fucked up too many times already.
Now all he could do was protect Peter, keep him happy, keep him safe.
Did this make him jealous at times? Maybe.
Was he overprotective? Yes.
It didn’t matter how much of a helicopter parent he was. He couldn’t lose Peter. He couldn’t let him get injured, or worse. The kid already had nightmares, for fuck’s sake. So far, a pretty much shit job at being a father.
He couldn’t let anything bad happen to Peter.
And if that turned him into an unbearable helicopter parent, sue him.
He loved his son.