Archive of Our Own

All week long, Peter had been counting down the minutes until the weekend.

While weekends were always nice, and he usually looked forward to them, this was different.

Because this weekend, he was going to Avengers Tower.

It had been months since the incident with the Vulture and Tony had since made Peter his personal mentee/Avengers apprentice, inviting him to work in the lab regularly.

However, it had been several weeks since Peter had been to the Tower and, consequently, seen Tony, save for a couple of video calls after neighborhood patrol.

They hadn't meant to be apart for so long, life just got busy. Peter had school things going on — school, academic decathlon, college prep courses, neighborhood patrol.

Plus, Tony had insisted Peter rejoin the robotics club this semester because "It looked good on college applications." 

(Truthfully, Tony had overheard Peter talking to Ned about how he missed being part of it, and he hated to think of the kid giving up something he enjoyed for the sake of a fake internship-turned-mentoring-turned-whatever was going on right now.)

After weeks of preparation for a robotics competition in Philadelphia, Peter thought he would finally have some time to do something Avengers-related. 

Unfortunately, his body had other plans.

No sooner had he returned to New York than Peter was taken out by a case of strep throat.

It hadn't been very bad. More annoying, really. His aunt had dragged him to the closest urgent care clinic as soon as he started feeling sick, so he was on medication before anything could really progress.

Still, he hadn't been able to take his planned trip to the Tower, which was a real bummer.

After such a long time away, Tony had invited him to spend a few days with him over a three-day weekend he had from school. It would be like a little retreat, he'd said (an actual retreat this time — not sneaking off to Germany to fight the other Avengers in an airport). 

So yeah, Peter couldn't wait for the weekend. 

***

Peter woke up Friday morning feeling completely wiped out. Odd, considering he'd just had a full night's rest. 

He went through his morning routine before heading into the living room, where his aunt was sitting on the couch.

“Morning, Peter,” she greeted him. “Are you excited about going to Tony's for the weekend?”

It was more of a joke than an actual question seeing as how that was all Peter had talked about for the last several days.

“Yeah, I can't wait.” He gave her a quick smile before grabbing a box of cereal from the counter and opening the dishwasher to look for a clean bowl and spoon. 

May seemed to take a closer look at him and frowned. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Mm-hmm," he said, looking up and nodding. "I'm fine. Why?"

"You just look kind of run down. If you get any paler, I might have to call the Ghostbusters." She paused. "That movie's set in New York, right?"

"Yeah," Peter said, even though it had been ages since he'd seen the movie and he didn't really remember.

Nothing more was said on the matter as the two finished breakfast together.

As he was setting his empty dish in the sink, Peter’s phone buzzed in his pocket, so he fished it out and glanced at the screen.

"Happy's here. I gotta go," he said. He gave his aunt a quick hug, grabbed his packed weekend bag that he'd put in the entryway the previous night, and slipped out the door. 

***

The trip to the Tower was remarkably uneventful, mostly due to the fact that Happy was on a work-related phone call for most of it.

Before long, Peter was punching his code into the holographic keypad outside of Tony's lab and trying to play it cool as the doors slid open. 

He spotted Tony in the corner of the lab, loading something into a cryogenic deflashing machine. He looked up and smiled when he saw Peter.

“Hey, if it isn't the master web-builder himself!” Tony set his work aside to greet his young trainee.

“Hi, Mr. Stark,” Peter greeted him. 

Tony approached and gave him an affectionate pat on the shoulder. Peter had to hide his mild disappointment that the gesture hadn't been a hug. 

“Before we start working on anything, I want to show you something.” Tony led him over to a table away from the main workspace and took an envelope out of his back pocket.

He handed it to Peter. “This is for you.” 

“You didn't have to get me anything. I mean, it's not even my birthday,” said Peter.

“I know, but it's been a really long time since we last saw each other, and I wanted to do something special while you're here besides just working on suits in the lab and watching TV.

Peter liked working in the lab and watching TV, but he was also very curious about what was inside the envelope. It was too thin to have anything in it other than paper or maybe cardstock. Though, he supposed, with Tony's rapidly evolving nano-tech, it could be something Spider-Man related.

Not giving it another thought, he tore open the top fold of paper.

And out fell four tickets.

He picked one up and looked at the words printed on the dotted line.

“‘Xander Synchrotron and the Planet of Destiny: Part 2?’ But this doesn't come out until next month.” Peter would know, as he and Ned had been anticipating the movie's release since its production had been announced earlier that year.

And since then, they had spent hours watching every teaser trailer, every leaked behind-the-scenes photo and every cast interview, meticulously dissecting each detail to try and guess what might happen.

Then, months later, he and Ned had spent hours in front of a glitchy computer screen, waiting for the nearby movie theater to update its website so they could get pre-sale tickets before all the seats were filled. 

Then, even with Peter's super fast spider reflexes, they still hadn't been able to get tickets as Ned’s already unreliable wifi chose that exact moment to crash.

By the time they had sprinted to Peter's apartment, the seats on the theater website had gone from green to red, all taken.

So yeah, Peter wanted to see the movie, and to say he had been disappointed to not get tickets for opening night would be a terrible understatement.

“What? How?” Peter stammered, not even sure what question he was trying to ask.

“Let's just say I have some connections,” Tony shrugged, trying to look nonchalant even as Peter was trying not to hyperventilate.

“I knew you really wanted to see it, so I pulled a few strings. And we'll have the whole theater to ourselves. I rented the building for the day. Turns out, you can just rent an entire movie theater. I was kind of afraid I'd have to buy tickets to every individual seat to be sure it would just be us — not that I couldn't have done it, but it would have been a hassle. Anyway, there's four tickets because I figured there could be one for you, one for me, one for your friend Ed and then I also invited Rhodey. He'd never admit it, but he's a total Xander Synchrotron fanboy.”

Tony paused to catch his breath and to gauge Peter's reaction. “Do you like it?” he finally asked.

“Like it? This is awesome, Mr. Stark! It's incredible! Ned's going to freak out when I tell him — in a good way! I don't even know what to say.”

“Whoa, he's speechless. That's a first,” Tony joked. Secretly, he was feeling almost as giddy as the kid, not because of the movie, but because he was relieved. Truthfully, it had been a little more complicated than just “pulling a few strings,” but Peter didn't need to know that.

“Thank you,” Peter said, looking at Tony with such starry-eyed, fervent excitement he might have even teared up a bit.

***

Several hours later, once the initial excitement had worn off and dinner had been eaten, Peter and Tony were sprawled on the couch in the living room of the Penthouse.

Peter had been laying perfectly still for over an hour. He was getting uncomfortable and knew he should move around a little or change positions but couldn't find the energy to do so. He really shouldn't be this tired, should he?

Instead of moving, he just sighed.

Tony glanced over at him. “What's up with you?”

“Huh?” Peter asked.

“You keep sighing. What is it? Still hungry?”

“No, I'm fine,” he said. “I'm just really tired. It's been a long week with school and stuff.”

Tony paused, studying the teenager for a second. "Is everything okay? I mean, is something bothering you? If you don't want to go to the movie tomorrow-"

“No!” Peter said. Evidently, that had been all the motivation he needed to move from his spot on the couch. He sat bolt upright so they were sitting face-to-face. “I do want to see the movie!”

“Okay, okay, don't get your webs in a twist. I was just checking,” Tony said.

Peter settled, slumping back into the couch cushions. "I'm fine, Mr. Stark. The week's been long because I missed a few days from being sick and then when I got back to class I had a lot of make-up work to do.”

***

The next morning, Peter woke up to the alarm on his phone. It took extra effort to open his eyes and keep them open because his eyelids felt like they were coated with wallpaper paste.

He frowned as he sat up and his entire body tightened in protest. A dull pain sprouted in his head, like the headaches he got after eating too much sour candy. 

He had hoped the discomfort and fatigue he had felt the day before was a fluke. Apparently not. 

As he showered and got dressed, he wondered whether or not he should say something to Tony. 

I mean, he wasn't feeling so bad that he was debilitated or anything. Plus he didn't want Tony to cancel the movie. That would absolutely suck.

But on the other hand, Tony was his guardian for the weekend, so he should probably let him know if something didn't feel right.

He took a moment to look in the mirror and steel himself. Why did telling Tony something so simple make him feel like his heart was going to beat out of his chest?

Palms sweaty, he headed downstairs, where Tony was sitting at the counter with a cup of coffee. 

“Morning, Mr. Stark. Did you sleep well?”

Tony looked up and smiled at him. “Yeah, I got a few hours in,” he said. “What about you?”

Peter sat down in the seat next to him and fidgeted for a second before saying, “I slept fine, but I woke up feeling, uh, kind of sick.”

That got Tony's attention. He had known something was off last night. “Sick, how? What does that mean?”

Ugh, Peter hadn't meant to make him worry. 

“Nothing bad,” he said, attempting to backpedal. “I'm just tired, and I have a bit of a headache, but not serious.”

Tony stood up and held Peter at arm's length so he could study him.

“Do you feel like you have a fever?”

Peter shook his head. “I don't think so.”

Yeah, Tony had heard that one before. “Friday?”

“Heat signature measurements indicate that Peter Parker’s current temperature is approximately 98.3 degrees fahrenheit,” Friday supplied.

“Told you,” Peter said with a slight shrug. 

“Hmm,” Tony acknowledged. “I had a few press events and some meetings about a mission the team went on last week. I was going to ask if you wanted to tag along, but if you're not feeling good, you can stay here and I can check up on you when it's time for the movie.”

“I don't need to stay home, Mr. Stark,” Peter said decisively. Press events and Avengers meetings sounded much better than sitting around at the Tower, scrolling through his phone and playing FIFA on his Xbox, which was what he had been doing for the past several days when he was home. And he had been trying to learn all he could about being a real Avenger, even the parts that sounded dull or unimportant.

“I'll be fine, really,” he said. “I want to go with you.”

Tony thought about it for a second. He didn't want to push the kid to do something he wasn't up to, but Peter would tell him if something was really wrong, right? Plus he didn't have a fever or any other red flags that would keep him home from school if it were a weekday.

Tony half-shrugged. " 'Kay, whatever. Let me know if you need a break or something, though. The last thing I need is your aunt chewing me out because you overdid it and got hurt... again.”

“Cool, thanks, Mr. Stark.” Peter got up and started heading back up the stairs. “I'll go grab my stuff.”

***

The day passed in a blur of flashing cameras, suits and ties, and rapid-fire introductions as they went from one obligation to another.

Tony tried to be as attentive as he could, asking Peter if he was okay or needed to go back to the Tower in between meetings and appearances. 

But after the first hour or so, Peter had repeatedly insisted he was fine, so Tony dropped the matter. After all, Peter was 16, not six.

Peter mostly hung out in the background with Happy while Tony spoke to reporters. If anyone approached them, Happy would introduce Peter as an intern at Stark Industries who was shadowing Tony for the day. Not a lie, exactly. More like an understatement. 

Peter even handled the boring Avengers meetings like a champ, sitting quietly and even covertly sending Tony a funny meme every once and a while. 

The kid should come to every meeting, Tony found himself thinking fondly. He was WAY better with the media than Thor and Captain Straight Laces.

The sun was setting beneath the New York skyline by the time Tony ticked the last item of the day off his schedule.

"We better get a move on and get to the theater," he said, glancing down at his watch. "Not that they would start without us, but I've been trying to get better about punctuality..." he trailed off as he noticed Peter slumped against the side of the car, looking like he wanted to say something.

"Everything okay?"

"I-" the teenager paused and tried to clear some of the roughness out of his voice, swallowed with difficulty, and continued. "Mr. Stark I know you went through all this work to reserve the theater and make the day special, and I don't want to seem ungrateful-" 

"Kid, you don't have to worry about that. What are you trying to tell me?"

"It's just, I know I said I was okay to do all that stuff earlier, but now I’m so tired and..." he searched for an appropriate word. "...bad. I feel really bad."

Tony's heart sank as he took in the kid's appearance, which, upon further inspection, he now realized was more sickly than when they had left that morning. He should have noticed it sooner.

“What are your symptoms? Is it just fatigue and headache like you said earlier or is there more?”

Peter stared down at his shoes. “My throat also hurts, and my stomach feels wrong — I'm not nauseous or anything, it just feels, I don't know, heavy? Everything feels really heavy.”

Tony blew a long breath out. “How long have you been feeling like this?”

Peter thought back. With everything going on, he hadn't really paid attention to the time. 

“Somewhere between the blue Lamborghini and the red Bugatti?” he guessed, referring to two of the four vehicles they had used throughout the day. Why they had needed that many, he had no idea.

Tony frowned. That had been hours ago.

“You'll have plenty of time to rest during the movie. The theater has reclining seats and blankets and stuff,” he said, figuring that the sooner they got Peter settled and comfortable, the better.

"Actually, could, um- could you maybe drop me off and go without me? I just want to go home — to the Tower or whatever."

Tony would have laughed at the idea if he wasn't so concerned. "We were going for you, kid. If you're really feeling that sick, I think we should just postpone the evening. There'll be plenty of other times.”

“But Colonel Rhodes and Ned-”

“Will understand,” he said. “I'll text Rhodey now and let you text your friend. Then Happy can drive us both back to the Tower, if you're sure that's what you want?"

Peter nodded miserably. He couldn't believe he was about to pass up the chance to see an exclusive showing of a movie he had been anticipating for almost a year. But his body truly felt like it had met its threshold of what it could safely handle.

As Peter got into the car and buckled his seatbelt, he felt Tony's hand press against his forehead. The man’s frown deepened, and he started taking off his watch.

“Put this on,” he instructed.

“Huh? Why?” Peter took a moment longer than he usually would to react. His thoughts were muddled and lagging. 

“It has sensors,” Tony said. “I want to check your temperature.” 

“Okay,” Peter mumbled, pressing his cheek against the glass of the car window. “But I don't think it's that bad.”

Tony helped him fasten the device around his wrist. He scrolled through the little screen until he found what he was looking for. His breath caught when he read the number.

“Where to?” asked Happy, who hadn't heard the conversation outside.

“Straight back to the Tower,” Tony said firmly. “Take the shortest route. The kid has a 104 degree fever.”

“What?” said Peter incredulously. “That can't be right. Maybe… maybe your watch’s broken?”

“Not how that works, kid,” Tony said. He motioned his hand forward. “Happy, go.”

The words came out harsher than he had meant them to, but recent developments had sent Tony's mind into a frenzy. Peter hadn't been feverish at all this morning, but now he was practically ready to incinerate. That was bad, right? Tony wasn't sure what to do now.

Happy just nodded, put the car in drive and headed out of the parking lot. 

Tony glanced to his side. Peter's eyes were closed, but he was at least semi-awake and was shivering noticeably.

Tony hastily took off his coat to drape over the teenager like a blanket. Peter snuggled further down into it as he registered the extra warmth.

"Thanks," he whispered.

"Just hang in there, Spider-kid," Tony said. "We'll be there soon."

He purposefully didn't specify where “there” was. He knew Peter likely wanted to go straight to the penthouse and curl up in bed, but Tony wasn't going to let that happen without a stop at Med-Bay first. Something was clearly wrong, and they needed to get to the bottom of it.

While they drove, Tony attempted to call May, but her phone went to voicemail, so he figured she was probably at work. He left a quick message explaining the situation and shoved his phone back into his pocket. 

***

“Our rooms are on a different floor,” Peter said as the elevator stopped on one of the middle levels of the building.

“Yeah, sorry kid,” Tony said. “You're getting checked out by a doctor first. You can crash afterwards.”

“But-”

“No, I don't want to hear any arguments,” he said. “I’d really prefer it if the weekend didn't end in hospitalization. Your aunt would kill me and it would be a ton of paperwork. No thank you.”

Peter blinked a few times. “Oh.” 

“I was just teasing, bud,” Tony said when it was clear Peter hadn't picked up on the sarcasm. He gently bumped him with his elbow. “But we do need to make sure you're okay.”

He put an arm around Peter's shoulders and guided him out of the elevator and into the lobby of the Avenger's Med-Bay facility. 

A man wearing scrubs and a nurse's badge met them at the front desk, then led Peter and Tony to a private exam room.

Peter flopped onto the exam table, landing in an ungraceful heap. 

As he rearranged himself and sat up, a small paper cup with two tablets and a cup of water was pressed into his hands. 

“These fever reducers should work with your metabolism,” the nurse explained. 

The pills were dry and stuck to the back of his throat, and Peter almost gagged as he gulped down the water to wash them down. 

He looked up at Tony, his lower lip quaking as he tried not to cry.

“That was good buddy. You did good,” Tony said, putting a hand on his back and hoping it was comforting in some way.

The nurse took Peter's vitals, recording everything on a tablet, and asked a few preliminary questions about how Peter was feeling. At that point, Peter had just accepted the fact that he was ill and resigned himself to receiving medical attention without objection, much to Tony's relief.

The nurse took some blood, swabbed his nose and throat and did a quick X-ray before leaving, telling them Dr. Banner would be in shortly.

Bruce walked in a few minutes later. From the white coat haphazardly thrown over a casual shirt and jeans, it seemed he hadn't expected to be called into Med-Bay. Because honestly, he wasn't even really that kind of doctor. Though he did have experience treating sick people while he was living in India, and his knowledge of biochemistry was second to none. So… close enough?

“Hey Tony, Peter,” he greeted as he sat on a rolling stool. “Sorry to hear you're not feeling well. Let's see if we can figure out what's going on here.”

As the minutes ticked by, Peter began feeling less foggy. He figured the medicine had started working, bringing his body temperature down to a less frightening number. 

Unfortunately, the increased mental clarity didn't settle his anxieties.

His mind wandered to a bunch of life-threatening diseases he'd just learned about in health class. 

The names of serious-sounding ailments echoed in his head — malaria, sepsis, coccidioidomycosis — realistically he knew he probably didn't have any of those things, but he was too worked up to be comforted by logic at that point.

Plus, he had been surrounded by a lot of people from all over the world during the robotics competition last week. Maybe he had picked something up there?

Finally, Bruce finished his examination and left to see about the lab results.

By then, Peter felt close to tears. 

"Mr. Stark?" he asked, somewhat desperately.

"Hmm?" Tony looked up from his phone, where he had been texting Pepper to update her on everything that had happened.

“I…” Peter didn't know how to finish the statement. 

I'm scared?

I need help?

I could use a hug?

"Do you think I have to keep sitting up here? It's kind of uncomfortable.”

"You can probably come down. I think all the exam stuff is over anyway."

Relieved, Peter slid off the paper covering the exam table and flumped onto the chair next to Tony that, despite still being plastic, was more well-padded.

Tony continued texting and was about to hit send when a heavy, toasty-warm head settled on his arm.

“ ’M really sorry about the movie,” Peter mumbled. 

“It's all right, kid. You don't need to beat yourself up about it. Life happens.”

“Yeah,” he said. “But sometimes it feels like ‘life happens’ to me at all the wrong times.” A tear rolled down his cheek, followed by several more, much to Tony's alarm.

"Hey, It's gonna be okay.” Tony attempted to soothe some of Peter's anxieties. “Everything always seems worse when you're sick. Once we're done here and get back to the penthouse, how about we order some Thai food. Does that sound good, love?"

After a beat, realization dawned and Tony’s brain short circuited. He didn't know where the term of endearment had come from. It just slipped out.

Peter turned his head so he was looking straight up at him. He appeared just as surprised as Tony was.

"I mean, I suggested Thai food because I know that you love it. We could get something else, if you want,” Tony said, trying to salvage the situation.

Peter looked a bit skeptical but nodded. "Okay, yeah, Thai sounds great.”

Good save. 

Anyway, it had distracted the kid enough that he stopped crying, so mission accomplished either way.

Tony frowned. "You're still shaking, kid. Do you want me to call a nurse to get a blanket or something?"

Peter shook his head. "I'm okay, but thanks.”

“Okay then.” Tony settled back into his seat.

“Actually, could you maybe-” Peter began, but paused. “Never mind.”

Tony directed his attention back to the teenager. “What? Did you need something?”

“No, nothing,” Peter mumbled. 

“Well, now I'm going to spend the rest of the evening wondering,” Tony said. “Go on, Spidey. Out with it.”

Peter blinked a few times. “Could you, maybe, hug me? If you don't want to, that's totally fine. We might still not be there yet, and I don't want to make you uncomfortable-”

His rambling was cut off as Tony's arms drew Peter against him and circled him in a tight embrace.

Peter's cheek was flush against Tony's chest, which he found had a slight indent from where the arch reactor had been before its removal.

“How's this?” Tony asked softly.

“It's perfect,’ Peter replied.

He felt so warm and secure that his eyes started to drift closed.

He was loved. He was safe.

And with Tony and Bruce's help, he was going to feel better soon.

***

"So I've got some good news," Bruce said, his voice rousing Peter from his nap. 

"The strep test we ran came back positive."

Peter's face fell. That sounded like the opposite of good news.

"...But, I already had strep. I took antibiotics until they were all gone the day before yesterday."

"It appears the medication didn't stick. Bruce said, quickly adding a "No pun intended. Anyway, while looking at your blood work, we discovered some changes to your DNA that make it harder for your body to break down standard medication, like the kind the urgent care doctor prescribed. Pair that with the persistent strain of strep that's been going around and-"

"It creates the perfect storm," Tony finished. He rubbed his neck. It was starting to get stiff from leaning his head against the wall for so long. "I don't really see how that's good news," he said, echoing Peter's thoughts. 

"The good news," Bruce said. "Is that after we figured out the issue, we were able to synthesize some new antibiotics better suited to Peter's needs, and the simulations we ran with samples of his spider DNA show it to be working very well." 

"That is good news," Tony said, breathing a sigh of relief. He hadn't wanted to show it in front of the already frightened teenager, but he really had been worried about Peter. 

"So, I can just take the new medication, and I'll be okay?" 

"Yes, Peter. You're going to be just fine."

“The pills will be done soon and you can grab them at the front desk on your way out. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to head back to my place and finish the lecture I was listening to.”

“Lecture? You working on another PhD?” Tony joked. “I thought you were stopping at seven.”

“It's not a lecture for a class,” Bruce said. 

Peter zoned out for a few minutes while the science bros talked about their latest research projects. As a science bro in training, he would normally be fascinated by their conversation, but today it just took more brainpower than he had.

Bruce took notice when he saw Peter stifling a yawn.

“I should be getting back,” he said. 

“All right, let me know if you want me to quiz you later for final exams,” Tony said. 

Bruce rolled his eyes and started toward the door. “Bye guys.”

Suddenly, a thought occurred to Peter. 

"Wait," he said awkwardly, prompting Bruce to pause in the doorway and look at him.

"Did you need something?"

Peter blushed. "Before you leave... The new medication won't do anything weird... right?"

Bruce frowned. "It will function like a regular antibiotic. Is there something specific you're concerned about?"

"I mean, it won't like, alter my spider powers or make me... um, make me change color or anything, right?"

Realization dawned on Bruce's face, and much to Peter's relief, he broke out in a smile. 

"I can personally assure you, Peter, that the only thing the meds will be made of is enhanced penicillin. No gamma radiation was used."

Peter gave him a shaky smile. "Thanks for understanding."

"No worries," Bruce said. “Now, these new meds will take about 24 hours to kick in, so take it easy for the next day or two. I can write you a doctor's note for Monday if your school needs one.”

He checked to make sure Peter and Tony didn't have any other questions, then left the exam room.

***

Pepper stepped out of the elevator and smiled when she saw Peter sitting on the couch with a blanket and a bowl of coconut chicken soup balanced on his lap. 

“Hi,” he said, a little shyly. 

He had met Pepper before, but it was usually at public events. He had never talked to her one-on-one and had never visited the penthouse when she was there.

“Hello Peter. Tony told me what happened. Are you feeling any better?”

“A little,” he said. “Mr. Stark went into the guest room a little bit ago if you're wondering where he is.”

“Thanks,” she said, heading that way.

She found Tony in the guest room that Peter was staying in that weekend, spreading a quilt over the bed with a blue and red geometric pattern. 

Pepper blinked in surprise. The room had completely changed. 

Most of the modern, clean decor had been replaced by a warmer, softer look. 

Pillows sat on the bed and had letters stitched onto them to spell words like “Peter” and “Spider-Man” using chemical abbreviations from the periodic table. 

In one corner of the room sat an '80s-style arcade machine for some obscure alien fighting game. 

In another corner was a scale model of the NASA Artemis launch system made entirely out of Legos.

A couple of slouchy beanbag chairs were also scattered around.

“I decided to do some redecorating,” he said when he saw her.

“I can see that. What was wrong with the way the room was set up before?” she asked, though she didn't sound upset, just curious.

“Nothing,” he hurried to say. “It just felt a little impersonal. Plus, if the kid's going to be staying here more often, I don't want him getting homesick or anything.”

“How did you get all this set up so fast?”

“I’m just that good.”

“Try that again.”

“Most of it is left over from when I invited him to move into the Tower before you and I got engaged,” he admitted with a shrug. His eyes lit up as he remembered something.

“Hey, check this out,” he pointed up, where models of atoms hung from the ceiling. They appeared to be made out of scrap metal of some sort.

“These are made from the pieces from my old plane Peter crashed while fighting that Vulture guy.”

Pepper smiled softly. It had been a long time since Tony had been this excited about anything. 

Sure, his suits and Avengers projects kept him occupied in the lab, but continually recreating the same things were starting to become old hat.

"You're a good dad,” she said.

Tony paused in the middle of adjusting a lamp. "I'm not sure that label fits this situation,” he said.

"Last time he was here, I saw you packing him a lunch,” she pressed.

"He's a growing kid. I want to make sure he's eating enough."

"You postponed a meeting last month so you could help him with his homework,” said Pepper.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Okay first of all, that meeting could have been a two-sentence email; and second, he didn't need my help with his homework — he just said doing his homework around me helps him figure it out quicker. He calls it 'genius osmosis' or something-" Tony paused as he saw Pepper looking at him with an arched eyebrow. 

"Okay, yeah, I see what you mean."

“Good,” she said. “Just so you know, it suits you.”

Tony gave her a half-smile and then wiped his hands on his jeans. “I think I'm all done here. Should we head back out and check on the kid? Maybe watch a movie?”

“Sounds great,” Pepper replied.

They both went back into the living room, where Peter had finished his soup and was clicking through channels on the huge TV.

“Mind if we join you?” asked Tony.

Peter nodded. 

“How do you feel about watching ‘Xander Synchrotron and the Planet of Destiny: Part 1? Then we'll be ready for Part 2 next weekend," said Tony.

“Wait, you were able to reschedule the movie, Mr. Stark?” Peter asked. 

“Of course I did,” he replied. “Like I said, I've got connections.”