Work Text
Tony’s sitting in his lab working on fixing DUM-E’s claw, because
somehow,
the bot managed to break off one of it’s digits while Tony wasn’t looking. He didn’t even asked FRIDAY how it happened, just told her that if DUM-E tried to do whatever it was again, to let him know.
There’s a sudden vibrating next to him, and he spares a glance to see that it’s his phone with a new text message. He sets down his current tool and checks his phone to see if it’s Peter or Pepper, because if not then it can wait.
It’s not either of them.
But this person certainly can NOT wait.
He quickly opens the text.
Aunt Hottie:
Hey, can you do me a favor?
Me:
Of course, is everything okay?
Aunt Hottie:
Yes, everything’s fine.
Aunt Hottie:
Do you remember how we agreed to have you down as Peter’s second emergency contact at the school?
Me:
Yes
Aunt Hottie:
Well, there’s a problem.
Me:
Whose ass do I need to kick
Aunt Hottie:
Tony.
Me:
Sorry, what’s the problem
Aunt Hottie:
The school doesn’t believe that Peter actually knows you, they even gave Peter detention because they thought he was trying to “take his internship lie too far”. I didn’t even know that nobody believed him.
Aunt Hottie:
And when I went down there to try and straighten it out, they didn’t believe me either, and told me to stop encouraging Peter.
Tony felt white hot anger flash through his veins. Not only were these people punishing Peter for telling the truth, but they were straight up insulting the kid’s aunt.
Oh hell no.
Me: So what you’re saying is everything is not okay and that I do need to kick some ass
Aunt Hottie:
I’m asking you to please go to the school tomorrow and correct the problem. It’s the beginning of the school year and Peter is already in trouble. I would go with you but I have to be at work at 6 am.
Me:
No problem, I’ll see to it that everything gets sorted out.
Aunt Hottie:
Thank you, Tony.
Me:
No problemo
***
The next day Tony walked into the office of Midtown Tech as 11:30 am sharp. He didn’t call ahead for a meeting. He wanted to catch everyone off guard. Off their game.
And that’s exactly what he did.
Walking in the office, he spots a woman behind a desk slash counter looking thing. She’s probably in her late 30′s to early 40′s and gives off a very soccer mom-ish vibe.
“Excuse me Ms-” Tony looks down to the name tag on her desk, “Rhodes? Hi.” He flashes his fake paparazzi smile at the woman, and when she looks up at him its like her brain short circuits, because she’s silent for a good 7 seconds.
Tony counted.
“Um, h-hi, sir, uh, M-Mr. Stark.” She stands, brushing out her skirt then trying (and failing) to discreetly fix her hair, “H-How may I help you?”
“I would like to speak to the principle. I don’t have an appointment. I hope that’s not a problem.”
“Oh! I’m sure it won’t be a problem at all! Just a moment!” And the woman who Tony has already forgotten the name of scurries to the back of the office and disappears into a hallway.
While he waits, Tony stands there looking around at the bland looking office and shudders.
He would drop dead before having to repeat school.
Then a voice from behind him pulls him out of his thoughts, “Mr. Stark?”
Tony whips around to see Peter standing in the doorway, “Hey kiddo, shouldn’t you be in class?”
“Shouldn’t you be at the compound?”
He waves a hand dismissively, “I should be a lot of places. But
you,”
He points a finger at the teenager, “Should be in class.”
“Actually I was headed to lunch, but Ned saw you through the office windows while we were walking.” At the mention of his best friend, Peter jerked his head to the side, and Tony then notices the kid’s friend outside the office looking like he was going to explode with excitement.
“Right. Well. I’m just here to sort something out, don’t worry about it ki-”
“Mr. Stark?”
Tony then turns to see what must be the school’s principal, “Yes, hello. Principle Morita is it?”
Tony walks forwards and extends a hand to shake the other man’s when he notices Morita looking behind him. But before he can ask, Morita speaks up, “Was this student bothering you? I apologize. He should be at lunch right now and,” Morita pointedly looks at Peter, making him curl in on himself, “
not
looking for more trouble.”
Tony has to steel himself to hold back the remark he has for this man.
Instead he just says, “Actually, Peter is the reason I’m here.”
At this, Morita stumbles on his words, and finally utters a, “What?”
“Peter, come here please.” Tony reaches out an arm and Peter did as he was told, and when he got into Tony’s reach, Tony pulled him close with his arm around Peter’s shoulders, “Peter’s aunt notified me yesterday that there is a slight problem with you believing that a) he is my intern and b) I am his second emergency contact. She also told me that such problems led to disciplinary action, which I have to say, I’m not exactly happy about. Considering the shortcomings here are on your side.”
Morita sputtered a moment before, “Oh o-of course Mr. Stark. I apologize for the inconvenience, and for you having to make a trip down here just for this.”
“I don’t mind having to make trips for my kid.” Tony narrowed his eyes at the man in front of him.
He looks between Tony and Peter, “Of course. Well I will see to it that the detentions are resolved and will not go on his personal record, and I will make sure you are entered as his contact.”
Tony nodded, “Great, I’m glad that’s settled.” He turned to Peter, “Alright, drama’s over. Go back to lunch with Ted.”
Peter rolled his eyes, “It’s Ned, dad.”
Tony ruffled Peter’s hair and gave him a gentle push towards the door, “Whatever, I’ll see you this weekend. Nat found a new recipe she wants to try with you.”
“Okay, see ya!”
“Bye, squirt.”
The two parted ways and left through their own doors, leaving a confused and dumbfounded Principle Morita standing in the middle of the office.
What the shit just happened?
***
Aunt Hottie:
Thank you
Me:
It’s no problem, really. Happy to do it
Aunt Hottie:
Could have made a little less of a scene
Me:
You know that’s not my style
Aunt Hottie:
Right, but how are you gonna get out of this one
Aunt Hottie:
attachment:
New York Post
HEADLINE- Tony Stark has a son?
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Tony’s sitting in his lab with the article projected in front of him, clear as day:
Tony Stark has a son?
New information has come to light suggesting that Tony Stark, owner of Stark Industries and superhero legacy Iron Man, has a son. A source, who chose not to be named, came forward to claim that they personally heard Stark call a teenage boy “his kid” and the boy call Stark “dad”.
Because the boy is a minor, his name cannot be released to the public.
He isn’t quite sure how this happened, but May insinuated that it had something to do with his meeting at Peter’s school yesterday.
He’s pissed off, because it doesn’t take a genius to figure out who the teenage boy in the article is.
He hasn’t heard from Peter yet, and he doesn’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. The kid is in school and Tony is terrified about what will happen if this gets too far.
“TONY!” The man jumps at the sound of his wife’s voice.
“Shit.” He was so busy worrying about Peter that he didn’t even think about what would happen when Pepper found out, “Yes dear?” He calls out to the redhead barreling down the stairs.
She holds up a newspaper and Tony cringes, “What the actual hell is this, Tony? What did you do?”
His hands fly up in a defensive manner, “I swear! I didn’t do anything!”
Pepper raises an eyebrow at him and crosses her arms, “You have to forgive me for not believing you.”
Tony sighs and puts his head in his hands, “Peter was in trouble at school because they thought he put my name down on a mandatory form as a prank. They didn’t believe May either when she tried to clear it, so I went down to set it straight.”
The anger leaves Pepper’s face and is replaced with understanding, “And he called you ‘dad’.”
“Apparently I called him ‘my kid’ but I don’t remember doing it.”
“Probably because you do it all the time. You are basically his dad.” Pepper steps forward and runs a hand through her husband’s hair.
Right then Tony’s phone goes off, but he doesn’t make a move to answer it, instead choosing to feel his wife’s fingers carding through his hair.
He and Peter had that in common.
The moment is brutally interrupted by FRIDAY,
“Boss, you need to answer your phone.”
He grunts, “Why?”
“It is Peter calling.”
Immediately he jumps from his spot and grabs his phone.
“Peter?”
“MISTER STARK,” Tony has to jerk the phone from his ear because of the pitch Peter’s voice is currently at, “I’M SO SORRY I SHOULD HAVE BEEN MORE CAREFUL I DIDN’T KNOW THAT SOMEONE WOULD-”
“Woah woah woah kiddo, slow down there.. Are you talking about the story?”
“YES EVERYONE HAS SEEN IT AND SOMEONE LEAKED MY NAME AND OH MY GOD WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO MISTER STARK,”
“Peter, calm down kid. Someone leaked your name?”
He hears Peter take a breath, “Yeah, and now nobody at school will leave me alone. They’re even harassing Ned and MJ.”
Well fuck.
“Okay, take a few deep breaths for me. I’m gonna have Happy pick you and May up and bring you to the compound so we can figure this out. Pepper knows and I’m sure she already has a few ideas in mind,” He looks up to her hopefully and she rolls her eyes but nods.
“Okay, okay yeah. That works.”
“Good. Don’t worry about it, kid. We’re gonna get through this.”
***
Honestly? Tony has never been more nervous for a interview in his life. Probably because this one doesn’t affect him as much as it will Peter.
The day that Tony had sent Happy to rescue Peter from school, he, Pepper, May, and Peter sat in the common room to talk about the options they had to get ahead of the rumors that had begun to contort and change into other disgusting theories.
So after two hours of talking and deliberating, they had come to a conclusion.
And now here Tony was, about to begin a live interview with ABC News, and he was
terrified
.
But right before he can spiral into a panic attack Peter walks up to him, squeezes his hand and whispers, “I’m nervous too.”
Tony shoots a look at the kid next to him, but Peter isn’t looking at him.
“We don’t have to do this-”
“No,” Peter interrupts, “I want to do this.”
Tony huffs out a long breath and throws an arm around the teenager’s shoulders, “You’re gonna be stuck with me after this, you know.”
Peter smiles, “Maybe I want to be.”
Tony feels a warmth spread through his chest. He pulls Peter into a hug, kisses his hair and whispers, “I couldn’t have asked for a better son.”
Right then Pepper approached the two.
“They’re ready whenever you are.” She fixes the microphone on Tony’s shirt, then Peter’s.
May walks over and gives Tony a hug, and for a moment he doesn’t respond because he definitely wasn’t expecting
that
. But when he recovers he wraps his arms around her, “Thanks for raising the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
May pulls away and she has tears in her eyes, “You know, I used to hate you.”
Tony chuckles, “Believe me, I know.”
May looks at Peter who’s currently chatting with Pepper, “But I can’t hate the person that put the light back in my kid’s eyes,” She looks back at Tony, a tear falling from her face, “After Ben, I wasn’t sure I’d ever see him light up like he used to. But then you came along and took him under your wing. You made sure he was safe. Protected. And you’ve done your damn best to keep him alive while he goes out there catching bad guys. You even moved heaven and hell and manipulated time and space to bring him back from the dead.” She pauses to take a steadying breath, “So really, I can’t thank you enough, Tony.” She sniffs.
Tony reaches up and wipes away the few tears that have made their way down the woman’s face, “I know he’s not biologically mine, but I love him like he is. That makes him family. You too, May. Family sticks together.”
She laughs, and playfully nudges his shoulder, “For all intents and purposes, he pretty much is your son.”
Pepper signals Tony to get a move on, so he flashes another smile at May and quickly wipes away the moisture from his eyes and clears his throat from the emotioned balled up in it.
Tony walks to the chair designated for him in front of multiple cameras, microphones, and false lighting.
A man next to the camera begins to speak, “And we’re live in three,”
He looks to see Peter, Pepper, and May smiling at him.
“Two,”
He takes a deep breath.
“One!”
“Hello everyone, thank you for tuning in. I’m David Muir. Tonight we have a special guest with us, Tony Stark, who’s here to give us an exclusive interview. Thank you for being here, Mr. Stark.”
“Thank you for having me, and please, just Tony. Mr. Stark was my father.”
David nods, “Alright Tony. So for the past few days there have been stories and speculation surrounding the rumor that you have a son.”
Tony nods.
“Now first the claim was that this kid called you ‘dad’, and you called him your ‘kid’. But once his name was leaked, more claims came in stating that this kid is your personal intern. There are even a few photos of the two of you out in New York City.”
Tony folds his hands, “Yes. So, I’ll just get this out of the way immediately. He is my son, and his name is Peter.”
“Peter’s a teenager, correct?”
“Yes, he’s sixteen.”
“Have you always known about him? Or has he been a secret this whole time?”
“It’s an interesting story actually,” And just as planned, Peter interrupts the interview by walking in front of the cameras, effectively blocking Tony.
“Oh I love this story!” Peter exclaimed. Tony looks at Peter, then at David as Peter grabs the hidden chair, “Hang on, I’m gonna pull up a chair.”
“Pete, what are you doing?”
“Oh, I’m just joining in on the fun. I was bored.”
“Now, Pete, we talked about this. You can’t just walk in on my interviews.” Tony wraps an arm around Peter’s shoulders.
“But I wore your glasses and everything!” He motions to his face where a cheap pair of yellow/orange glasses that resemble Tony’s pink tinted ones sit on his nose.
“Where did you even get those? You didn’t have them on when we left.”
“I hid them in the car.” Peter was smiling like a child.
“Right.”
“Sorry, dad.”
“As I was saying,” Tony began the story again, “Peter is incredibly smart, his IQ rivals mine. So I chose him to be my personal intern when he was 15. His aunt came to me several months afterwards to tell me that I was his biological father, and that she had proof. Of course I didn’t believe her, so I ran a quick test and what do you know? It’s a boy.”
“So you’ve only known him for a little over a year?” David asked.
“Correct, but even before I knew he was my son we had already developed a sort of, I don’t know,” Tony twirls his hand in the air, “Father-son relationship.”
“Now is Peter going to inherit Stark Industries?”
Tony nods, “Yes. Stark Industries, Iron Man, all of it.”
“Woah, I get the suits?” Peter mused.
Tony pauses, “I change my mind,”
“No take backs!”
Tony rolls his eyes and squeezes Peter’s neck, “You’re gonna give me a heart attack one day, squirt.”
“Well you’re already going gray.” Peter smirked at the camera.
Tony’s jaw drops, because
that
wasn’t in the script.
“You little [CENSORED].”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Tony had tried to prepare Peter for what was to come after the interview.
“People will treat you differently. There will be people who try to be your friend, and people who will try to hurt you because they’re jealous.”
Peter nodded, his knee bouncing from nerves.
“If it becomes too much, do not hesitate to call me and I will come get you. Ned has my number too.”
“Since when?”
“Since this morning. May said it would be a good idea since you like to torture yourself and keep things to yourself.”
Peter rolled his eyes.
“Promise me, Peter. You’ll call if anything happens or it becomes too much.”
Peter huffed, “I promise.”
So here Peter was, walking into Midtown High, trying desperately to ignore the stares everyone was giving him.He successfully got to his locker where Ned and MJ were waiting for him, MJ spotting him first.“Hey, loser.” She called.Peter smiled, “Hey guys.”“Hey! You doing okay?” Ned asked.“I’m not really liking all the attention, but I knew what I was getting into.”“We’re here for you if you need anything.” MJ said, her voice softer than usual.Peter looked at her and smiled, “Thank you.”The bell rang, and Peter hurried to put his books in his locker.He and MJ walked to physics, Ned veering off to Calculus.Peter got through half the day without incident, the only thing really happening being the teachers acting weird around him.Then lunch came.The trio was sitting at their usual spot, Ned and Peter animatedly arguing over whether the newer or older Star Wars movies were better while MJ quietly read her book, pretending not to listen.Suddenly, a girl Peter had never spoken to before sat down next to him.He had seen her around, she was pretty popular and really pretty, and a grade ahead of him.“Hey, Peter.” She greeted him, leaning on the table and placing her hand on his.“Uh, um, hi?”MJ looked up from her book and tensed, her heart in her throat.The girl shot a look at MJ, then moved back to Peter.“So, I’ve thought you were cute for a while, and my friends made me come over here to ask you. But do you think you’d wanna go out sometime?” She asked, her voice at an annoyingly high pitch, making MJ grasp her book harder.Peter quirked an eyebrow, pulling his hand away from the girl’s.“I, um, thank you. But I kind of, uh, like someone else.”The girl’s face turned to that of annoyance, “Who? That loser?” She jerked her head towards MJ.Peter got mad then. Who did this girl think she was?He straightened his posture, “I think you should go.”She let out a nervous laugh, “Come on, now, Pete-““He said, leave.” MJ told her, seeing red. She knew exactly what this chick was doing.The girl flipped her hair and stood.“Fine, whatever. Your loss, Parker.” She walked off.Peter turned to see MJ looking at him with wide eyes and Ned smirking.But before any of them could speak, the bell rang to leave.MJ quickly grabbed her things and left, not waiting up for the other two.That’s how the rest of the day went. MJ ignored Peter, and subsequently Ned.At the end of the day, Peter waited at the doors of the school for MJ where he knew she would walk out.“Parker,” a voice came from behind him, startling him.He turned to see Flash.“Uh, hey, Flash.” Peter said, keeping his eyes on the hallway.“I, um, just wanted to apologize. For not believing you when you said you knew Tony Stark.”Peter almost gave himself whiplash turning to Flash, “What?”“I’m sorry. For not believing you. And for being a dick about it.”Peter was about to answer with a snide comment, but then saw a head of familiar brown curls out of the corner of his eye and just went with, “Yeah okay. Whatever, thanks dude.” And speed walked over to MJ, grabbing her arm and pulling her into a closet.“Hey!” MJ shouted, trying to pull away, but Peter was using his super strength.When he closed the door she tried again.“Peter, what are you doing?” She demanded.He turned on the light and turned to her.“What’s going on? Why are you ignoring me?”MJ looked at Peter, trying to keep her facade up.“I’m not.”“Yes, you are.”“Peter, I-““You’re using my real name. I know something’s wrong.”MJ thinned her lips into a line and looked at the floor. Damn. She didn’t realize that. Did she always do that when she was mad?Looking up at Peter, her eyes met his, and suddenly her filter came off.“The girl at lunch,”“Is this about her calling you a loser? Because if it is-““No, Peter. I don’t give a shit what someone else calls me.”“Then what-““I’m mad because… Because…”She took a deep breath and reached out, grabbing his neck and pulling him into a kiss.It lasted only a second, and she quickly let go.Peter stood stunned.“I’m sorry.”“Don’t be.”He intertwined his fingers with hers, and pulled her back into him, kissing her again.He broke it off again after a few seconds, but never let go of her hands.“You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to do that.” Peter whispered.MJ smiled, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.“I think I do.”They stood there quiet for a moment before she spoke again, “I’m mad because I’m being selfish. I tried to stop but the thought of you with her, or anyone else, I can’t-““Hey, it’s okay,” Peter said softly, “If it makes you feel any better, I’ve felt the same way for months.”MJ closed her eyes and sighed.“Plus, I’m glad it’s you. Ya know, this way I know you don’t like me because I’m ‘Tony Stark’s son’. Since you hate him and all.”MJ giggled, making Peter’s smile grow bigger.Just then the door to the closet flung open, revealing Tony and Ned, startling the teenagers.“Well well, look what we have here.” Tony looked at the two with a knowing smirk.“It’s not what it looks like!” Peter’s voice broke.“Bullshit.” Ned replied, grinning like a maniac.“Yeah yeah, whatever. Come on, I have to get you and your girlfriend out of here and past the paparazzi.Peter almost argued that she wasn’t his girlfriend on instinct, but then shut his mouth.The three followed Tony out of the school, Happy walking up and trailing them, keeping cameras out of their faces.“Do you need a ride?” Tony asked the other two.They denied, claiming they could walk home.“Are you sure?” Peter asked.MJ rolled her eyes, “Yes, loser, we’re sure.”Peter smiled and squeezed her hand.“You’ll probably be in the tabloids tomorrow.” He said apologetically.She shrugged, “Maybe the other girls will back off then.”Peter chuckled.“Okay, children. Enough with the heart eyes. Happy’s getting impatient.” Tony said, ushering Peter into the Audi.“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Peter told her.She shoved his shoulder slightly, “You better.”Peter waved to his friend and new girlfriend as the car pulled away.“I thought she wasn’t your girlfriend?” Tony asked, a smug look on his face.Peter shrunk in his seat, “She wasn’t.”“Mhmm.”“How did you find us, anyways?”“When you didn’t come outside, I thought something was wrong, and your heart rate was higher than normal. So I came inside to find you, only to find Ned looking for both you and Michelle. It doesn’t take my ridiculously high IQ to put two and two together.”Peter raised an eyebrow, “That doesn’t explain how you found us.”“Oh, I tracked your watch.” Tony said, waving a hand flippantly.Peter looked down at his wrist, forgetting he even had it on.“Shit.”“Hey. Language. And yeah, shit. Please take that thing off if you two decide to, ya know-““Mr. Stark!” Peter squeaked.“I’m just saying! I’d rather not get an alert to an elevated heart rate when it’s just-““Please can we not talk about this? I’ll take it off.”“That also reminds me. Have you had the talk yet?”Peter hunched over, putting his hands on the back of his head, “Oh my God this can’t be happening.”Tony slapped Peter on the back, “Sorry bud, it’s either me or May.”Peter groaned, falling back into his seat.Tony started, “So when a man and a woman really like each other…”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Putting it mildly, Peter was fucking
bored.
It was summer, but both Ned and MJ were on vacation with their families. And on top of that, it was way too hot to go out and do anything, including patrol. He was, however, on stand by if Karen came through with anything that required Spider-Man’s assistance.
A few floors down, the ex-Rogue Avengers were doing god knows what. They had been pardoned a month earlier and moved back into the tower. Peter had yet to meet them, though Tony seemed okay with them. But Peter didn’t really trust them.
Well, okay. He more-so didn’t trust Steve. Even though the others fought against Tony too, it was Steve that scared Tony. Peter noticed minute things that Tony would do whenever the Captain was mentioned. He’d fidget, or grab his left wrist, or rub his chest, or bite the inside of his cheek. Mostly stuff that would fly past most people.
But Peter wasn’t ‘most people’. Officially, Peter was Tony’s child. After a car accident killed May about eight months prior, Tony legally adopted Peter. Since then, Peter has learned all of Tony’s tells. Wanting to get to the bottom of these anxious ticks, Peter hacked his way around FRIDAY’s systems to figure out what had happened.
Peter wasn’t one to give into rage, but that day he spent a majority of his time in the gym or swinging through the city because he was basically vibrating from the emotion.
But they lived in the same tower, and maybe Peter was desperate for something to do, so he decided to head down to the common room where FRIDAY had informed him that a few of the Avengers were hanging out.
The elevator dinged and Peter walked out to the sight of… Christmas decorations?
“What the…” He breathed, looking around the room.
“You’re not Stark,” Natasha said, suddenly appearing in front of Peter.
Peter had to literally fight down his fanboy excitement to greet the
literal Black Widow!
“Uh, no. I mean, technically I am but-”
“You’re Peter, right?” Was that a smirk? Peter couldn't tell.
“Uh, y-yeah. How-?”
“I have my ways of finding things out,” Okay, now
that
was a smile, “I haven’t told anyone though. So you’ll have to introduce yourself to them.” She said as she tossed her head to the side, motioning to the others on the floor.
“Oh, right.”
Peter followed Natasha farther into the room, gaining the attention of the rest of the crew including Wanda Maximoff, Vision (who Peter had actually met before), Clint Barton, Sam Wilson, and Bruce (who Peter had also met before as he and Thor showed up about two months after May’s death).
“Uh, who’s the child, Nat?” Clint asked, sitting on the kitchen island.
Natasha looked at Peter, who began picking at the hem of his shirt. A nervous tick of his own.
“Uh, hi, Mister Barton. I’m Peter. Uh, Peter Parker. Or, Peter Parker-Stark now I guess? I’m-”
“Wait, excuse me, Parker-
Stark?
Since when the hell did Stark have a child?” Sam cut in.
“Let him finish,” Wanda berated the man, who seemed to currently be baking cookies, “Go on,” She said to the other teenager in the room, smiling kindly.
“Right, so uh, Tony hired me as his personal intern like two years ago, and we got pretty close. My aunt died last December and since she was my last family, Tony took me in and adopted me.” Immediately after mentioning his aunt’s death, almost everyone in the room looked at him with pity.
“I’m sorry kid,” That was Clint again, “Life sucks sometimes.”
“I’m adjusting,” Peter replied, but he quickly changed the subject, “Why are you decorating for Christmas? It’s almost a hundred degrees outside, not to mention it’s July.”
“Ah, that was my idea!” Sam called from the kitchen where he was currently pulling cookies out of the oven, “Since we’re on house arrest until further notice, I thought we could entertain ourselves with Christmas in July. It’s something we used to do when I was younger.”
“Oh, that sounds fun!”
“You’re welcome to join, kid.” Bruce called from his spot on the couch.
“Really? Thanks guys!” Peter jumped onto a seat at the island.
“Have a cookie, man.” Sam said, holding out a plate of santa shaped sugar cookies.
“Aw sweet!” The boy grabbed one and took a bite, “Thanks!”
About fifteen minutes passed by when Peter’s senses upped a few notches.
“Any cookies left, Sam?”
Peter nearly choked on his current cookie and jumped up to see Steve Rogers walking out of the elevator.
“Yep, a few plates full. There’s sugar, gingerbread, and chocolate chip.”
A few seconds passed before the super soldier noticed Peter.
“Um, hello. I’m Steve, you are?” He offered a hand for Peter to shake.
Peter tried to respond, but the room suddenly began spinning. He gripped onto the counter to steady himself.
“Son?” Steve asked.
“Don’ call me tha’,” Peter tried to glare, but he wasn’t even sure he was controlling his face properly.
Out of nowhere his legs gave out, and black began overtaking his vision.
A chorus of exclamations rang out as everyone ran over to tend to the boy. Fortunately and unfortunately, Steve was the closest and was the one to grab Peter before he hit the ground.
“No! Let me go!” He struggled against Steve’s arms to no avail.
“Calm down, son, I’m just-”
“What happened?” Bruce asked, feeling for Peter’s pulse.
“He just collapsed.” Sam answered.
Then Peter began seizing.
“Fuck, Sam, start a timer to time the seizure. Steve, pick him up and bring him to the medbay with me. Natasha, call Tony.”
“Why are we calling Tony?” Steve asked, following Bruce into the elevator.
It was silent for a moment where Bruce and Nat exchanged glances before Bruce answered, “He’s Tony’s kid.”
“Since when-”
“Later Steve. One thing at a time.”
***
“This better be important. Like, life or death because you pulled me out of a meeting and Pepper-”
“Shut up, Stark. Something is wrong with Peter.”
Tony was quiet for a moment before growling back,
“Explain, Romanoff. Now.”
“I don’t know, Tony. He came down and introduced himself and was hanging out with us when he just collapsed and started seizing. We’re taking him to the medbay now-”
“Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. I’m in DC. I’ll have to come back with the suit but it’ll still take me an hour.”
“What do you want me to-”
“Do not let him out of your sight, Nat. I don’t want him waking up alone and you and Bruce are the only two I trust enough to watch him. Keep me updated, I’ll let you know when I’m there.”
“Got it.”
***
“He’s showing symptoms of anaphylactic shock,” Bruce said to the other two occupants after injecting Peter with an anticonvulsant, “ FRIDAY, is Peter allergic to anything? Override code six one three three nine seven five.”
“Peter is allergic to peppermint, and as well has severe reactions when in close vicinity to insect repellents.”
“Was there peppermint in Sam’s cookies?”
“One moment, Doctor Banner.”
A few seconds passed before the AI came back with an answer,
“Mister Wilson has supplied that the sugar cookies had peppermint extract in them.”
“Peter had several of those,” Nat said quietly.
“Okay, okay at least I can work with that. Steve,” Bruce called to the soldier while pulling out an epinephrine pen, “I think it’d be better if you waited with everyone else. Thank you for helping.”
Steve wanted to argue, but he looked at Nat who seemed to agree with Bruce.
“Okay. Let me know if you need anything else.” He offered before walking out the door.
As soon as the door shut behind him Nat spoke, “If Peter hadn’t accidentally poisoned himself I’m pretty sure he would have punched Steve.”
Bruce finished injecting the medicine and pulled the pen away from Peter’s thigh, “He still might.”
Natasha helped Bruce fix an IV drip in Peter’s arm in silence.
“You don’t have to stay, I can watch him until Tony gets here.” Bruce offered.
“He won’t be here for another forty five minutes. Plus, I’m supposed to keep watch. Stark’s orders.”
Bruce nodded in understanding, “His vitals are starting to return to normal. I’ll go update the others.”
“I’ll call Tony.”
***
Peter felt like he’d been hit by a train.
Had he?
Honestly he couldn’t remember what had happened. He opened his eyes to see Tony next to his bed (why was he in the medbay?) talking to someone on the other side of his bed. Soon his ears stopped ringing and he heard another hushed voice. Probably whoever Tony was talking to. Why did Tony look upset?
Peter turned his head to see Steve standing there.
And
What?
Without really having his wits about him yet, Peter jumped up and shoved the man back, pulling and knocking over his IV stand in the process.
“Woah, Pete! Calm down-”
“What? You didn’t get to kill him in Siberia so you thought you’d come and finish the job while I’m out?” Peter practically snarled.
Steve’s eyes blew wide, shock and shame overtaking his features, “Son, I-”
“And stop calling me that!” Peter shoved again, sending the captain into the wall, leaving a sizable crack.
“Peter!” Tony yelled, grabbing at the kid’s arm, “Calm down, bud. He’s not here to hurt me, or you for that matter. Can you please sit back down before you give me another damn heart attack?”
Peter obliged but his eyes never left Steve, who looked to be in too much of shock to really say anything.
“Cap, let the team know he’s awake, will ya?” It really wasn’t a suggestion or a question, more like a thinly veiled disguise to get him out of the room before Peter decided he hadn’t had enough.
Nodding, Steve hightailed it out of the room, but not before looking back at Peter and offering a quick apology.
It was quiet for a few moments, in which time Tony set the IV stand back up and made sure Peter’s IV was still in place. Finally the older man spoke, “Pete, buddy, what was all that about? How do you know what happened in Siberia?”
Peter’s demeanor fell slightly as he came back to himself, “Wasn’t hard to guess.”
“Mhmm. Wanna try again? Maybe with the truth this time?” Tony said as he sat back down next to his kid.
Peter crossed his arms and looked down at the floor.
“I hacked FRIDAY,” He mumbled.
“I’m sorry, can you repeat that?” Tony asked.
Peter sighed audibly before repeating himself, louder this time, “I hacked FRIDAY.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Because you were beat up and withdrawn after we got back from Germany. Which, okay, fine. We weren’t in a place for you to tell me what happened. But then the pardon for them was beginning to go through and every time Steve was even mentioned, you had these reactions like you were nervous or something. And I wanted to know why. I already had a pretty good idea. Then I saw the footage and I just… I don’t want him near you..”
“Peter, buddy. Look at me, please,” Tony gently held the boy’s chin and turned his head so that he looked at Tony, “Thank you for looking out for me. But that’s not your responsibility,”
“Yes it is! I can’t-” His throat catches and a lump forms, tears making their way to the surface, “I’ve lost everyone because I couldn’t protect them. I can’t lose you too.”
Tony pulls Peter in for a hug, and cards his fingers through the kid’s curls, “It’s okay to cry, honey. But I’m not going anywhere. Remember that. The universe will have to personally fight me before I let anything get between us. Understood?” Peter nodded slightly, but clung to his father’s shirt as he cried.
Eventually Peter fell asleep in Tony’s arms.
“I love you, kid. I’m not going anywhere.” Tony whispered, placing a kiss on top of the curls on his kid’s head.