Work Text:
“Boss?”
The music in Tony Stark’s private lab lowered in volume as the AI spoke. Tony gave a muffled sound of acknowledgement around the screwdriver he held between his teeth, his gaze focused on the leg piece of his armour. An idea for an upgrade came to him mid-flight and he was eager to test it out.
“Peter has left his room.”
This had Tony Stark pausing. Peter Parker wasn’t a new addition to the tower. The kid had been coming over for a few months now, ever since his Aunt had found out about his super powered after school activities. When May Parker had learned the real reason Tony had taken her nephew to Germany, the lecture he had received had been one for the books.
“You took my nephew to do what!?”
Tony had learned very quickly that May Parker was not someone he wanted to mess with. If anyone could make Tony disappear without a trace, never to be seen again, it would be May Parker. After a very long (and deserved) lecture, they had both come to the realisation that Peter would continue to do what he was doing no matter what anyone said.
“He’s too good for this world,” May had sighed heavily. She had looked up at Tony, giving him a stern look. “They’ll take advantage of him if they can. He looks up to you. Always has.”
Tony, at the time, wasn’t quite sure what to do with that. But May had straightened her spine and fixed Tony with a look that he knew he would be immediately be agreeing to whatever she said next.
“The internship will no longer be used as a guise for superhero business. It will be real. You’re to teach him superhero skills and engineering skills he can use in the future. He’s smart and is so much more than Spiderman.”
“I agree,” Tony had said. And while he hadn’t spent too much time with the kid, Tony could see just how smart and talented Peter was. “He’ll do a personal internship with me. Starting immediately.”
When Tony had left, his ears still ringing with May’s lecture, he had contacted Pepper and put it all into motion. Tony found his Tuesday’s, Wednesday’s, and Friday afternoons scheduled in his private lab with Peter. It didn’t take long for Tony to start looking forward to those days.
Peter was incredibly bright, eager and one of the most sincere people that Tony had ever had the pleasure of meeting. Their conversations kept Tony engaged and gave him a buzz he hadn’t felt in years. Peter easily kept up with Tony, and the genius knew it wouldn’t bee too long before Peter was outshining him.
Tony wasn’t sure there was specific moment, but he found himself going from mentor to something a little more paternal. Instead of going straight him after lab day, Peter stayed a little longer to either watch movies, play games or stay for dinner. When they weren’t seeing each other, Tony found himself texting the kid, checking to see if he had done his homework or sending him equations to see if the kid could figure them out.
Pepper and Rhodey had started dropping comments, Tony brushing them off but on the inside feeling a warmth spreading through him. The longer it went on, the more Tony found himself not denying it, embracing the father-son relationship the two of them were slowly building.
Tony realised he was co-parenting Peter when May had called and asked if Peter could stay the weekend.
“I have to go out of town for work,” May had said, sounding rushed.
“The kid can stay,” Tony had offered before May could ask. “I’ll pick him up after school too.”
May had left out a small breath of relief. “Thank you.”
After the details had been hashed out and they had hung up, Tony had spent the rest of the day setting up a room for Peter. It was the first time that the kid would be staying over and Tony wanted him to feel comfortable. If it went well, Tony was hopeful that the kid would stay over more often. The thought had him smiling and ordering new bed sheets he thought the kid would like.
“Is Peter okay?” Tony asked, taking the screwdriver from his mouth and placing it on his work bench.
When Tony had said goodnight to Peter a couple of hours ago, the kid had seemed okay. Tony had thought they had a nice evening. They had a delicious dinner and Peter had begged to watch Star Wars when Tony had said he had never seen it. The movie had been good, but Tony had mostly enjoyed it because Peter had loved it. It had gotten late and when Peter had yawned one-to-many times in a row, they had called it a night.
Still buzzed that the first night had gone well, Tony had decided to wind down with some tinkering.
“Peter appears to be walking on the ceiling, heading towards the living room.”
This had Tony jumping up and hurrying out of the lab. He skidded down the hallway, hurrying to living room. The lights were already on thanks to FRIDAY and Tony scanned the ceiling rapidly looking for -
“Underoos!”
Tony could only gape at the sight that greeted him. Over the months of spending time with Peter, Tony had only really seen the kid use his powers when he was Spiderman. Watching the kid in his pyjamas walking across the ceiling was jarring.
“Kid, what the hell?” Tony asked, moving deeper into the living room. “Would you get down.”
“S’got to get it,” Peter slurred.
Tony frowned over his worry. “Get what, kid?”
“S’get it for ‘Ony,” Peter mumbled, the hem of his shirt under his chin thanks to gravity.
Tony’s heart tripped in his chest. “Get what for me?”
Peter stopped moving and swayed where he stood. “Paper.”
“What paper?” Tony asked even as he lurched forward, ready to catch Peter incase he fell.
“Boss, I believe Peter is sleep walking,” FRIDAY said.
“That makes sense,” Tony mumbled as he looked at Peter in a new way. It made so much sense now; the slurred words, the way he was moving. If Tony’s heart wasn’t about to gallop out of his chest he would have been impressed the way Peter could use his powers even in his sleep.
“Research shows that you can coax sleepwalkers to go back to bed,” FRIDAY said.
“Kid, I’ve got the paper here,” Tony called up. “Why you don’t come down and I’ll show you.”
Tony held his breath as Peter swayed, crossing his fingers it would work.
“You s’got the paper?” Peter asked.
“Yeah kid,” Tony said. “Come down here and I’ll show you.”
Tony’s heartbeat eased as Peter finally started moving towards him. He only breathed properly when Peter was back on solid ground. When Peter was close enough, Tony gently placed a hand on his shoulder, quickly scanning him for any injuries and finding none.
“Good job kid,” Tony said, hearing the relief in his voice. “Come on, back to bed.”
Thankfully, Peter started walking with him and they slowly made their way towards Peter’s room. As they walked back, Tony was impressed how Peter had managed to navigate his way all to the living room without bumping into anything. He wondered if his powers had anything to do with that and made a mental note to review the footage later.
When they reached Peter’s room, Tony guided him to the bed and pulled down the covers. Peter flopped onto the bed and Tony grinned at the action.
“Mr. Stark?”
Tony blinked at the sudden tired, but clear, tone Peter had taken on.
“You awake?” Tony asked.
“Yeah,” Peter blinked back at Tony. “What’s going on?”
“You went on a little midnight stroll,” Tony said carefully.
Peter winced. “Oh man.”
Tony drew the covers over Peter and carefully sat on the edge of the bed. “You do this?”
“Did Aunt May not tell you?” Peter frowned.
“She must have forgotten,” Tony said. “That or this was payback.”
Peter gave a tired chuckle. “Sorry.”
“Not your fault,” Tony said easily. “Is this a new thing?”
Peter shook his head. “I’ve done it since I was a kid. One time, I got all they way down to the corner market. Uncle Ben came in his pyjamas to come and get me.”
Tony barked a laugh. “I bet he installed new locks the next day.”
“Yep,” Peter grinned.
Tony reached out and ruffled Peter’s hair. “FRIDAY, lock the tower down so no Spider Babies escape.”
“Locking up, Boss,” FRIDAY responded as Peter squawked.
“Lay down,” Tony ordered gently.
Peter did so, wriggling until he was comfortable. “Thanks for coming to get me.”
Tony smiled down at Peter, knowing deep down in his heart that no matter when or where, he would always be there for Peter. “Any time.”
Peter’s eyes fluttered close, his breathing starting to even out. “Love you.”
Tony’s heart fluttered in his chest and his smile grew so large his cheeks hurt. “Love you too, kid.”
As Peter fell back into sleep, Tony stayed for a moment to watch. He could only imagine how Ben Parker must have felt, finding his nephew gone. Tony stood, vowing silently to Ben and May that he would not let any harm come to their kid. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to Peter’s hair line before leaving the room and double checking that there was no way Peter Parker could sleep walk out of the tower.