Chapter Text
Peter Stark was adjusting to living full time in Avenger’s Tower after their Malibu house was blown up. He had been with his godparents, Ben and May Parker at the time in their Queens apartment. He had watched from their living as his home was destroyed and his dad didn’t come out. He tried calling him, but he didn’t answer. So he called Pepper, since he did see her make it out in the news. Pepper didn’t know if his dad was okay, she just told him to stay with his godparents until they came to get him. He kept his phone with him at all times after that.
His dad came to pick him up a few days later.
A lot happened while Peter was staying in Queens, though no one ever told him what exactly. All Peter knew was that Happy had an accident and had to stay in a hospital. That some bad people were stopped. And that his dad had activated the “Clean Slate” Protocol and destroyed all the suits. Peter could only be mildly saddened by this when his dad said he could help him make the next one.
But most importantly, his dad decided to have a very important surgery. Peter watched next to Pepper and Uncle Rhodey as doctors pulled pieces of metal from his dad’s chest. He hugged his dad extra tight when he came out of the operating room. The arc reactor wasn’t there anymore. Peter had always found the reactor’s subtle humming sound comforting, but now he found his dad’s steady heartbeat to be just as nice.
And they've been living in New York ever since.
—
He always liked New York whenever he visited Ben and May. He liked the tall buildings, and getting to ride the subway. They would always take him to a deli shop that sold what were the best sandwiches of all time in Peter’s opinion. He always missed them when he was back in Malibu. And now they’re just a car ride away. Which was nice. Having Ben and May always near was nice too.
Living with the Avengers was cool. Steve made the best pancakes. Nat and Clint had started to teach him the best hidden spots in the tower. Bruce was always working on interesting stuff in the lab. And Thor told the most awesomest stories from Asgard. Peter liked all of them and they all liked him, though he’s never really had problems talking to adults. If only he could talk to the kids in his new school like he does with the Avengers.
For the first few years of his life he didn’t go to school, cuz his dad didn’t want the public to know about him. It was until Aunt May gave him an earful about how Peter needed friends his age that he was finally enrolled in school as Peter Parker. Things were fine in his Malibu school, though he never grew close to any of his classmates. They always found him a little weird due to him being “freaky level smart”. It didn’t help that he’d randomly missed school for days whenever his dad wanted to take him with him on his work travels.
He now goes to what his dad called a “genius kid” school. Which for the most part has been going better for him. Now he was just a really smart kid, instead of a freaky smart kid. Granted most of his classmates still find him a bit odd. But he has made one friend, Ned Leeds, he likes computers and Star Wars and Legos. Peter really wants to invite him to see his Lego collection, but he can’t. Because Ned doesn’t know he’s actually Peter Stark and not Peter Parker.
Peter thinks that maybe being able to tell people who he actually was would probably solve a lot of his problems. At the very least would make Flash Thompson stop making fun of him for being poor. Like he wasn’t the son of a literal billionaire. But he wasn’t, at least not to everyone in school. Peter Parker was an average kid that lived with his aunt and uncle in Queens.
“Hey Parker did you know my parents are taking me to Malibu for spring break?” Flash said, wrapping an arm around him. Peter rolled his eyes at the irony of Flash bragging about his trip to Malibu when he literally lived there till a few months ago.
“No one asked you Flash” Ned said beside him.
Flash ignored Ned’s comment as he continued to talk to Peter. “Where are your folks taking you?”
Peter shrugged Flash off him. “I’m staying here in the city”
“Oh yeah cuz you’re too poor to travel anywhere” Flash said before laughing like it was the funniest thing ever.
Peter just kept walking towards the school’s front gate, Ned following right next to him. “Hey just ignore him dude, there’s nothing wrong with staying in the city, New York is like the coolest place ever”
As they exited the school, they saw a line of cars picking up kids eagerly rushing to make the most out of their short vacations. “I know, it’s just gonna suck you’re not gonna be here” Peter said making Ned look a little guilty.
“I sorry, but my parents are really excited about the trip and they said I can’t stay here-“ Peter had to grab his friend by the shoulder to stop his rambling.
“Wow wow dude, breathe, it’s fine, of course you have to go,” Peter said, his face turning a little shy “im just being silly cuz im probably going to be stuck home all week”
“We’ll hang out when I'm back” Ned reassured him. Peter smiled at his friend, when a black car honked behind him. Turning around, Peter saw Happy (who had recently come back to work) waiting for him.
“That’s me” Peter said before they hurriedly saying goodbye to Ned who waved at him until the car rode out of sight.
—
After arriving at the tower, Peter went immediately to his dad’s lab. He found him just where he expected him to be, tinkering with the newest Iron Man suit. Standing just outside the lab doors he could hear the rock music blaring from inside.
“Hey Jarvis?” he called towards the ceiling
“Yes Master Peter?” Jarvis voice responded
“Don’t tell my dad I’m here” he said mischievously
“Understood” the ai responded
Peter quickly entered the lab, making sure his dad was still engrossed in his work. He waved subtly to DUM-E before making a sshhh motion with his hand. He took exactly three more steps towards his dad and waited for the short moment of silence between songs.
“You better have not installed the electro magnets without me!” Peter yelled, startling his dad. Tony quickly turned around to see his 11 year old son grinning mischievously at him.
“You know the doctor said to take it easy on the scares right?” Tony said as Peter made his way toward the work space.
“Not my fault you didn’t hear me come in” Peter said with a giggle. His dad shook his head with a fond smile before ruffling his hair.
“So you ready for spring break kiddo?” He asked, handing Peter the screwdriver he had been using. Peter shrugged as he started working on the suit.
“I guess, Ned’s gonna be out of town, so it’ll just be a week of staying home” Peter said, trying to sound unbothered.
“You know most eleven year olds would be thrilled to spend a week living in the same place as the Avengers” Tony said, taking a sip from his nearby mug. “But if it's prepubescent company you want, you’re in luck” he added.
Peter looked up from what he was working on. “Huh?”
“Remember Harley, the kid I met when I crash landed in Tennessee?” Tony explained “I invited him to come over for spring break”
Peter looked at his dad with comically wide eyes. “You what? Why?”
“Cuz I figured he’d be a good playmate for you”
Peter rolled his eyes at the word “playmate”. “Does he even know who I am? Or that I even exist?” He asked.
“Of course he does, I told him” That gave Peter pause, he’s never met a kid his age that knew he was Tony Stark’s son. And if he was honest he did want to meet the kid who helped save his dad. He looked back at his dad with a small pout.
“When is he getting here?” He asked
“Tomorrow”