Chapter Text
Peter has always hated hospitals. They were way too bright and white, the noise of the machines was driving him crazy. His enhanced hearing and vision absolutely hated hospitals. Besides…being in a hospital was never a good experience for him. It was either having a broken arm at 6 or the memory of his mother dying when he was 4. Ben never even made it to the hospital, he died in that fire and Peter could hear his heart stopping. It was a month after that spider bit him and in that moment he absolutely hated his powers.
Now, Peter was in a hospital again. He entered May's room and tried to smile at her, tried acting as normal as possible even though in their situation there was nothing worth a single smile.
"Hi Peter. How's school?"
"It's okay. Don't worry, I had 99% on my last test so I'm still a genius"
May laughed quietly at his response but Peter knew something was wrong. He heard her heart beating faster than usual. Maybe doctors told her that she suddenly has less time left? What if she will die tomorrow?
"May, are you okay?" Peter was even more worried when his aunt sighed and stopped looking at him after she heard his question. She had some bad news. Oh god, it was actually about the cancer, right?
"Peter I…I kept something very important from you." She was looking at the wall in front of her, at anything but him. Peter suddenly felt nauseous.
"I know I shouldn't do it. I should've tell you the moment you became old enough to understand." So it wasn't about her illness? Well, now Peter had no idea what's going on and he hated it. As if being in the hospital wasn't enough.
"Your mother, she…she was ashamed of it. She didn't even remember that night properly and didn't wanna talk about it. Of course,when you were born she loved you with all her heart but before she died…"
What the hell was going on with his mother? Why aunt was telling him about it now? May stopped as if saying her next words will drain the energy from her already weakened body.
"Before she died, she handed me those documents." May pointed out the file that was laying on her bedside table. Peter didn't even notice it before. "This is your birth certificate. It is written that... your father is Tony Stark"
"What?" Peter wasn't sure if he should laugh or what. It has to be a joke. Some unfunny joke. But those files were physically lying here, he could reach for them, touch them and read them and…no, it has to be a joke.
"Your mother met him once and they spent a night together. She never told me how exactly they met or stuff like that but knowing Stark's old days and judging by how ashamed you mother was, I assume that it was a single situation." She stopped and pressed her lips into a thin line. For Peter though, it was still unbelievable.
"Please don't tell anyone about it. Your mother wouldn't want anyone to know." May finally looked at him again, as if she needed to see if Peter will understand. "Besides, it won't change anything. Tony Stark is a billionaire and has more important things to do than taking care of a random 13-year old, right?"
Peter probably nodded but he wasn't sure. He felt unreal. He reached for the file and started reading his birth certificate. Tony Stark was written down as his father. So it was true. It was impossible but it was true. Any other kid would probably start jumping and screaming with joy, his father turned out to be a billionaire, Tony Stark himself. Well…Peter felt weird. He didn't want his money. He always just wanted a father, always just wanted to feel loved by a father but May words seemed to make sense. Tony Stark is way too busy to care about a random teenager from Queens, right? Even if he turns out to be his son, Stark wouldn't care about him. If his mother barely remembered their night together, Stark probably didn't even know that it happened.
"I promise I won't tell anybody. It's not like someone would believe me anyway" He spoke up and realized that he actually meant it.
It wasn't a lie. He will never tell anyone about it, not even Ned. Why would he tell him? It wouldn't change anything and Peter had more important things to worry about. May needed him right now, and even though he didn't want to think about it, they both knew that their time together was limited, so Peter didn't want to waste it with secretly worrying about his father-not-father. Maybe it would be cool to be his son, but Peter doesn't need to experience it. He had never even interacted with Stark expect that one time when he saved him during Stark Expo a few years ago but it was nothing. He could as well by any other random kid. Tony Stark was no one to him and it was supposed to stay like this.
May died a month later. It took two days for the system to get him out of Ned's house and take him in.