Work Text:
Tony never really understood the premise of Soulmates until he met the wonderful, beautiful, and perfect Pepper Potts.
He heard soft, beautiful humming sounds for years throughout the day in his head, not knowing what the hell it was, but then he met Pepper, and he heard her humming while she worked. It sounded just like the humming in his head he had grown to love.
She then explained to him that you hear your soulmate’s voice and sometimes their thoughts in your head—it can be platonic or romantic—and they hear yours, like she would hear his 70’s and 80’s rock music at random hours of the night, slightly annoyed by it at first, but then eventually found it soothing.
Then two years later, Tony started to hear thoughts, like from a little kid, and different songs that Tony was very unfamiliar with because they were the complete opposite of his music taste.
He explained to Pepper what he was hearing, and she smiled softly at him, taking his hand.
“That's your platonic soulmate, dear,” Pepper explained. “Sounds like they’re just a little kid, waiting for you to find them.”
“A kid??” Tony screeched. “Pep, I don’t know anything about taking care of a kid. Hell, I am barely able to take care of myself half the time.”
She just laughed. “You’re smart; you’ll figure it out, I’m sure of it.”
Then a few years pass; Tony and Pepper get married, then his platonic soulmate becomes depressed, and the songs he listens to shift from peppy and fun to sad and depressing.
Tony becomes concerned for them and just wants to wrap them in a tight embrace.
He becomes especially concerned when he hears his platonic soulmate say: “Shit, shit, Miss Margaret is going to lock me in the closet again if I miss the adopters again.”
Tony needs to figure out where the hell this kid is before something even more horrible happens to him.
“I just don’t know how to help him, Pep. I don’t even know where the hell he is!” Tony exclaims one night as they’re eating dinner. “He’s clearly been through so much, and all I want to do is give him a good, happy life.”
“Why don’t you try using your bond to talk to him? Tell him everything is going to be okay and see if you can find out where he is,” Pepper so thoughtfully suggests.
“Why the hell did I not think of that?”
She chuckles. “Sometimes love clouds your thoughts. He’s going to be okay; he’s got you.”
Tony then becomes more determined than ever to help this poor, sweet, innocent kid have a good life.
They’re not platonic soulmates for nothing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ever since Peter was an infant, he has heard a man’s voice singing him to sleep with soft lullabies, and then as Peter Parker got older and had anxiety and panic attacks, the man’s voice would talk to him and help bring him back, usually with a specific Italian lullaby:
“Stella stellina, la notte s'avvicina:
La fiamma traballa, la mucca è nella stalla.
La mucca e il vitello, la pecora e l'agnello,
La chioccia e il pulcino, la gatta coi gattini;
E tutti fan la nanna nel cuore della mamma”
Peter even asked his soulmate, through their soulmate bond, where the hell that pretty Italian lullaby came from, and his soulmate said that his mother used to sing it to him.
His platonic soulmate has been a calming light in the darkness that is his life.
He has to learn at a young age that death happens to everyone and life can be cut short for no reason because he lost his parents at the age of four, but Aunt May and Uncle Ben didn’t tell him anything about it until he was eight years old and had questions as to where his parents were.
Aunt May and Uncle Ben then died when he was ten, almost eleven years old, in a car accident; it was a drunk driver, so he was sent to an orphanage.
His soulmate then started to get really worried about him, and then he started to ask Peter questions: “Are you okay?” “How was your day?” “Are you safe?”
But then, once Miss Margaret starts to abuse him, locking him in the closet, not feeding him meals when he’s “troublesome,” and burning him with her lit cigarettes, his soulmate gets more protective and concerned for him, his questions changing after Miss Margaret first burned him.
“What happened, kid?” “Kid, are you safe?” “What did she do to you?”
Peter’s heart would always swell with love when his soulmate would reach out to him and check on him.
Then today, after Miss Margaret finally let him out of the closet, his soulmate asked him, “Where are you, kid?”
Peter frowns, looking around for the voice before sighing and then reaching out to his soulmate.
“Why?” Peter thinks, not expecting a reply.
“Because I care about you, kid, always have,” his soulmate says back, making Peter tear up. No one has cared enough about him to fight for him.
Maybe there’s a reason why they’re soulmates.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After Tony hears Miss Margaret burn his kid, he demands to know where the kid is. He’s got to get him out of that place.
The kid finally tells him after asking why Tony cares so much, breaking Tony’s heart.
That poor kid has been through so much.
“I’m at Miss Margaret's Orphanage for Wayward Boys, and my name is Peter.”
“I’m Tony. I’m coming for ya, kid, I swear.”
“Thank you.”
Tony then goes into a deep dive, researching that place, finding that it is actually in New York, just on the other side of the city.
“Pepper, I’m going to get him,” Tony said firmly to his wife two days later.
She smiled. “Good. I can’t wait to meet him. Be safe.”
Tony leaned down to kiss her cheek, then her lips. “Always.”
Tony then quickly headed out of Stark Tower, hopped into the car that Happy is in, ready to drive them to the orphanage.
He might need some extra backup if this Margaret psycho tries anything.
Tony expected nothing less when Happy pulled into a parking lot full of cracks and potholes at an old church that was turned into the orphanage.
“Why do you want to come here, Boss?”
“To get my kid.” Is all Tony says as he hops out of the car and makes his way for the door, Happy having to move quickly to catch up.
When Tony enters, he is overwhelmed by the old, musty smell of the place and just feels pure dread, looking around the old, rotting building.
He can’t believe this is a real place; he’s got to get all of these boys out of here, but Peter is first.
“Boss–” Happy starts, but Tony cuts him off by holding his hand up to shut him up.
“Peter! Peter! It’s Tony! Where are ya, kid!?” Tony yells, walking deeper into the place.
“May I help you?” An older woman who looked to be in her 60s asked, making Tony jump, startled; he didn’t see her.
She wore an awful smile that screamed fake, her press-on French nails digging into an old, rotten-looking book, and glasses hanging over a pointy nose, staring daggers at Tony.
“I am here to adopt,” Tony said.
She grins, making Tony shiver…her presence is unnerving. “Wonderful! There are plenty of boys here who would be absolutely perfect for you.”
“I’m here to adopt Peter. I, uh, don’t know his last name, but I’d recognize his voice as soon as I hear it.”
She frowns. “There are many better boys than him. He’s much too troublesome for a nice gentleman like yourself.”
Tony shakes his head. “Just tell me where Peter is, and I can get out of your hair.”
Her frown deepens. “Well, if you are absolutely sure…”
“I am, Miss…”
“Margaret,” she finishes, placing a hand on her chest.
So she’s the one who’s been hurting his son.
“I am very sure, Miss Margaret. I would like to adopt Peter as my own.”
She sighs overdramatically. “It’s your loss. I will get the paperwork started.”
Tony holds in his anger and just walks deeper into the place to figure out where Peter is and get the hell out of here.
Happy follows behind Tony as they walk through this shithole, Tony calling out for Peter over and over again.
“Peter, come on, kid! I know you’re here somewhere!
The other boys of the orphanage are shocked to see Tony Stark here, whispering amongst themselves.
“Where are you, kid? Are you here? Can you hear me screaming for you?”
Peter perks up from his corner, seeing Tony Stark standing in the hallway; he quickly puts down his latest edition of Bruce Banner's work on gamma radiation and looks up at the man in shock.
“You're my Tony? What the fuck…”
Tony turns, spotting a curly-haired brunette 12-year-old boy wearing a corny science T-shirt that made Tony cackle internally. It read: “I make horrible science puns, but only PERIODically.”
His jeans were ripped slightly, and his shoes were duct-taped; his glasses were clearly broken.
“Bingo. Found you, kiddo.”
Peter was speechless; his soulmate is Tony freaking Stark!!!
Then Peter literally jumps up in happiness and hugs Tony tightly. “You’re here!”
Tony chuckles, hugging Peter back, noticing that Peter’s hair is greasy and hasn’t been washed in days. “Told you I would, kid.”
Shortly after their meeting, Tony signed the papers that Miss Margaret gave him. Then they left, and Tony started working on getting that place shut down for good and those obys in a good place until they get adopted into good homes.
Peter lets out a loud, shocked gasp when he sees Stark Tower in person.
Tony smiles, amused, leading Peter to the entrance. “It’s nice, isn’t it?”
Peter nods, looking up at Tony. “Wait, do I live here now?”
Tony smiles. “Yeah. Welcome to your new home, kiddo.”
Peter leaps with joy, beaming up at Tony.
As they walk into the building, Pepper walks over to greet them with a kind, warm smile. “Welcome home, Peter. I’m Pepper, Tony’s wife.”
Peter smiles and waves at her. “Hi.”
She then looks up at Tony with a sad expression, then looks down at Peter again. “Why don’t we get you all washed up, then we’ll give you a tour?”
Peter nods. “Y-Yeah, sure.”
It didn’t take long for Peter to adjust to his new life with his true parents.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3 Years Later
Peter has been Spider-Man for a year now, and having his Dad as Tony Stark helps provide him with the equipment that he needs to continue to fight crime.
He also now has a best friend that he’s had since Tony and Pepper enrolled him in the local middle school: Ned Leeds.
Peter never had a best friend before Ned.
His name was changed to Peter Stark after they adopted him, but he goes by his birth name, Peter Parker, so no one knows who his father is.
Shortly after he turned fifteen, he started hearing Nirvana and Radiohead, as well as her thinking about the stupid school bully, Flash Thompson—usually with romantic soulmates, you don’t hear them until you hit puberty, but with platonic soulmates, it's from birth, unless they’re not alive yet; then you hear it when they’re born.
Peter has no clue who she could be, but then he has a class with the beautiful Michelle Jones realizing that it’s her. She doesn’t talk much, but all she had to say was one word, and he just knew that she was his soulmate.
“He's kinda cute for a loser,” MJ blushes, looking at Peter before quickly looking down at her book, trying to hide her blush.
Peter chuckles to himself when he hears her think that, just looking at her, thinking, “She’s so pretty.”
Michelle’s eyes then go wide as she looks at him.
Peter asked her out to homecoming a few days later, and she said yes.
Not all soulmates are romantic, but they're always going to care, no matter what relationship it is; they could be a parent, friend, or a lover—a soulmate is a soulmate, and Peter was lucky enough to have the best soulmates out there.
Tony, his platonic soulmate a loving adopted father who saved him from yet another abusive home
And Michelle Jones, aka MJ, the girl of his dreams; her wit and sarcasm are beyond anything he could say or do, but she loved him, and that's what matters
Soulmates mean everything to him; they saved him.