Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Peter stood in the back of the alley, back leaning against the brick wall. His hoodie was pulled up and over, so it obscured his face. He held his backpack against this stomach while trying not to look down to the street. He didn’t like staying in one place for too long, it just made him anxious that someone would see him.

A second later he picked up on the sound of Ned heading down the street. The familiar sound of his stride was easy to pick out. Ned appeared around the corner and waved cheerfully as he approached Peter.

“Hey!” Ned said, smiling at him. He held out a plastic bag. “Here’s the stuff you wanted.”

“Hey, thanks,” Peter said, he put his backpack down and took the bag from Ned. He looked through it. “Dude, you don’t have to keep giving me money.” Peter pulled out an envelope he knew had cash in it. He slid the lip open to see several $20 bills.

“Too bad,” Ned responded, “I don’t need it.”

Peter closed the lip and put the envelope back in the bag. He couldn’t look at Ned for a minute, feeling too grateful for his friend. “Thanks, you know how much I appreciate this, man. As soon I can get a job, I’m paying you back for everything.”

“How about instead you just come to my house,” Ned insisted, reaching out and putting his hand on Peter’s arm.

Peter flinched and looked up at his friend. Ned’s hand didn’t move, instead, he gave his arm a little squeeze. “I can’t, dude. If your Mom calls CPS I’ll be back in foster care. You know I can’t do that again.”

“You know my Mom wouldn’t!” Ned exclaimed, he was treading over the same conversation they’d have multiple times since Peter took off from foster care. It wasn’t as if he didn’t like Ned’s family or didn’t trust them, he just couldn’t put them at risk. “I worry about you man. It’s been over a year and you look like you aren’t even eating anymore.”

Peter darted his eyes away from Ned’s face. “I eat,” Peter said without much conviction, “it might not be a lot but I get what I need.”

“You need more than the normal person,” Ned reminded him, “and you know that.”

Peter sighed. “Ned, you know I appreciate everything you’re doing for me. I just… I have to do this on my own. I need to do this, okay?”

Ned gave him a look but shrugged his shoulders. “I hate having to do this. You’re my best friend and I want you to be safe.”

“I’m also Spider-man,” Peter said, “I’m what’s making everyone else here safe.”

Suddenly Ned reached over and hugged Peter tightly. It took a second but Peter leaned into it and brought his arms around his best friend. It was the first hug he’d have in a while and Ned’s hugs were always the best. It made him miss his best friend and his old life so much. He knew if he held on any longer he’d go home with Ned in a heartbeat. He pulled away and gave Ned a genuine smile. “Thanks. I’ll text you next week, okay?”

“Yeah,” Ned sighed. “Sure.”

====

Peter liked his makeshift home.

It wasn’t much of anything, it had taken him almost a week to find shelter once he hit the streets. He eventually found an abandoned building with an old greenhouse structure on the roof. You couldn’t access it from going inside the building, there were no longer suitable stairs. The only way to get up was to climb upside the building, which eliminated any random people from stumbling upon it.

In his almost year on the streets, it’s become a good home for him. It wasn’t perfect. Any kind of weather was difficult to deal with, but Peter was learning how to make due. With the money Ned gave him, he was thinking of buying a nice tarp or maybe an actual tent. When the night was nice and there weren’t many clouds, Peter could lay on his cot and see the night sky with barely visible stars shining.

He’d been camping once with Ben before he died. They’d gone out to some wooded area, bought some nice tents and tried to tough it out for the weekend. Peter didn’t hate it, but he certainly didn’t care for the experience. The best part was the marshmallows and campfire Ben had put together. They ate them together, as they looked above them into the sky, the stars were far more visible outside of the city. Neither Ben nor Peter knew any of the constellation names, so they made them up instead. Naming them after their favorite movie characters.

Ben promised Peter they’d do it again, maybe even rent an RV to go camping somewhere else.

But then the Parker Luck took its course and only a few months after their camping trip, Ben was dead and Peter was an orphan on the run. He tried foster care, he did make the effort, but he couldn’t stay there. He needed to be out on the streets. He needed to help people and if it meant he was homeless, then it was only fitting.

He finished climbing up the wall of the building, making sure that no one could see him. Even if they did, they’d just assume Spider-man was out and about. He had started wearing his mask more often than not, just as a precaution. He’d much rather someone spot Spider-man living in an abandoned place, then a fifteen-year-old kid.

He got to the top of the building but before he pulled himself over the ledge he stopped. There was someone else there, someone else was on the roof in his home. He couldn’t see them right away but he could hear someone. He ducked down and closed his eyes, trying to concentrate on what he could hear. It sounded like one person, most likely a man and he was standing in the greenhouse.

Peter could make a run for it, he had nearly all of his belongings in his backpack. It’s something he figured out to do the hard way. One day he’d left some items where he had slept, but when he came back a few hours later, they were all gone. Most of it had been his web fluid, but thankfully Ned was still able to borrow his ingredients from school still. Peter tried to think of what he’d left behind, he knew some of his school books were sitting on the floor. It would be a loss for him to lose those but the other items were just blankets and pillows. He was sure he could get more of those at the homeless shelter he went to occasionally. He could even try coming back here again, maybe a few weeks from now and live here again.

He was just about to take off again when a voice startled him. “I was wondering when you’d be coming back.”

Peter’s head darted back up to look over the ledge and his heart nearly jumped out of his chest. Standing in front of his place was none other than Tony Stark.

The sheer surprise of it was the only reason Peter pulled himself up and over the ledge of the roof. He didn’t walk over, but instead stood where he had landed. “Uh.”

“You’re a hard man to find, Spider-man.”

Peter’s heart leaped again but he stayed rooted in his spot. Why was Tony Stark here? How did Tony Stark even know who Spider-man was? He wasn't some big-shot hero, he stayed to the streets, he was a neighborhood Spider-man, nothing more. He made a point to stay out of the way of other heroes.

A year ago if Peter came home to find Tony Stark in his living room, he would have been ecstatic, maybe even a babbling idiot. But seeing him now and here, Peter was just confused and scared. Do they send Iron Man to get teenage runaways now?

“I can see you’re a little shocked,” Mr. Stark started, it was close to evening but he was still wearing his sunglasses. In a well-practiced gesture, he had them off and back in his hand. “Why don’t you take the mask off and we can have a little chat.”

Peter didn’t move but neither did Mr. Stark. They stood there, a few feet apart for what seemed like a million years before Peter took a deep breath. “Uh, I’d rather keep it on, thanks. What are you doing here, Mr. Stark?” Peter wanted to preserve as much of his identity as he could, the less Mr. Stark knew the better.

“Alright, kid have it your way. Mask can stay on,” Tony Stark responded, “I’m here because you are clearly some kind of enhanced individual and you’re running around in an onesie.”

Peter scuffed. “It’s not an onesie, Mr. Stark.”

“It’s not anything, kid and that’s the problem. If you want to go out there and fight crime you need to have something better then what you’ve got now.”

He wasn’t wrong, Peter knew. The hoodie and sweatshirt combo he’d been sporting for months was worse for the wear. Without access to laundry, it was hard to keep it clean. He also didn’t have many other clothing items either, so his choices were limited. He looked down at his arms and chest for a second, the red and blue were faded and covered in dirt and grim. There were more holes then he could count.

“Okay,” Peter said, shrugging, “I can use an upgrade. Still doesn’t explain why you’re here.”

“I’m here because I’m offering you a once in a lifetime chance to get said upgrade from Iron Man. You’re also, what 12?”

“Fifteen,” Peter counted, crossing his arms.

“Still a fetus and you’re out on the streets.”

“I don’t have a choice,” Peter answered quickly, “I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

“From what I understand,” Mr.Stark said and made a micro-step forward. “Peter Parker has been missing for over a year after running away from his foster family. That’s you, isn’t it? Peter Benjamin Parker.”

Peter flinched at the sound of his name. Mr. Stark knew who he was, he might as well take the mask off. He was getting too warm with it anyways, it was already a hot day out. He pulled the mask off, his brown hair matted to the side of his face from sweat. He pulled his hair away from his face the best he could and straightened up. “Yeah, so.”

“So, you’ve got a nice foster family to go back to. Why not?”

“Because,” Peter said, “if I go back there I can’t Spider-man anymore. I need to do this.”

“Why do you need to do this?” Mr. Stark asked him, a look of genuine curiosity seemed to appear across his face.

Peter thought about it for a moment, wondering how much of his life Mr. Stark knew about. He couldn't have known how Peter got his powers, no one but Ned knew that. Mr. Stark had to have known about Ben’s death but most likely not what happened that night. It took a second but Peter finally settled on something vague but hoped wouldn’t warrant any more explanation.

“People can get hurt if I don’t. When you have powers like I do, you can stop the people you love from getting hurt. If I’m not out there doing it, then it’s my fault if they do.”

Mr. Stark gave him an odd look, cocked his head sideways and stared at Peter. He looked down, the mask twisting and turning in his hand. There would be nothing stopping him from running now if he wanted to. He could go back into hiding, just because Mr. Stark found him once doesn’t mean he could find him again. He could be careful next time, he could be better.

“I’ve been looking for you for a while, Underoo. I was hoping to use you when I had my… disagreements but you disappeared off the map around that time. I’ve been keeping my eye out for you since.”

“Then why now?” Peter asked. He knew about the Accords, how could he not. They scared him, the thought of having to reveal his identity and become a puppet. He was glad they were over, he’d never had to sign them.

Mr. Stark shrugged his shoulders casually. “I’ve been busy, now I’ve got some free time. Anyway, you’re looking worse for wear. You might as well just come with me, get some food and clean clothing. You can even help me with your suit.”

Peter thought about it for a second. The smart part of his brain was telling him to go with Mr. Stark, go now, quick. Iron Man had always been his hero growing up, but Peter was his own hero now. He didn’t need anyone to come by and save him. He’s been doing this for a year now, he’s gone on this long without the help.

But he was also tired. And he hated the way Ned looked at him now. Like Ned didn’t think Peter was going to last any longer. So he sighed and started to walk towards Mr. Stark. “As long as you don’t turn me in, I’ll come with you. But I’m not staying for awhile. Just a new suit and then I’m gone.”

“Alright, Underoo. Get your stuff and come along.”

====

After spending so much time on the street, going to Mr. Stark’s tower was a weird adjustment. Everything looked so clean and expensive. Mr. Stark showed him an empty room, it already had clothes folded on the bed, as if he knew Peter would come back with him. He showed Peter the bathroom and then left, directing him to call his AI, FRIDAY when he was finished and he’d show Peter to the living area.

Peter took his time taking a shower. It had been nearly a month since he had an actual shower. He’d been using the gym for a while, but it was getting difficult to get in and out without someone noticing him. He was too young looking to do many things on his own. People were suspicious, so he had to avoid a lot of things.

The whole bathroom was an experience for him. Everything was so clean and nice, so expensive looking. He felt more and more out of place the longer he stood around. There were several options for shampoo and body wash, Peter found having so many choices to be odd.

It wasn’t as if Peter always had high-class luxuries, to begin with, either. His Uncle Ben, before he died, brought in enough income for a two-person home. Peter lived comfortably, had nice things, got a scholarship to attend a fancy school.

But then Ben died and Peter had none of that comfort anymore. Peter didn’t deserve any of that comfort anymore.

When he finally finished in the bathroom, he avoided the white fluffy robe that was hanging and instead just used one of the towels. He changed into the clothing left on the bed. The pants were a little bigger on him, but it was nice to wear something clean. The shirt said Stark Industries across the front and hung off of him. Peter felt like a kid wearing his Dad’s clothing.

“Uh,” Peter said into the room, “FRIDAY?”

“Hello Mr. Parker, are you ready for food?”

“I guess,” Peter responded. He couldn’t help but grin a second later, talking to an AI was so cool. He knew a lot about Iron Man and his technologies but it was different getting to see the AI and use it.

“Please exit your room and turn left,” FRIDAY responded. Peter followed her directions until he walked into a large living room. Mr. Stark was sitting on a couch, there were several pizza boxes opened and out in front of him. Peter walked over and stood aside on the couch, not ready to sit down just yet.

“Mr. Stark,” he said slowly, “why are you being so nice to me?”

Peter didn’t expect this from Tony Stark. He knew what type of person he was, he didn’t come across as the type to help some random kid from Queens.

Mr. Stark gave him a squinty eye look. “Do I need a reason? I mean, if you want to continue to live on the streets, be my guest. As I said, I saw the types of things you were doing out there and I thought you could use some help.”

Peter hesitated for a moment but the smell of real food was far too overwhelming for him to ignore. Instead, he sat down on the couch, farthest away from Mr. Stark, and reached over to grab a slice of pizza.

Chapter Text

Tony Stark was a man who did not like to lose, but somehow always ended up doing so anyway. Even when he saved the day, it always came at a cost. Tony thought he was on the right side of things, thought what he was doing was good but in the end, he was just plain wrong.

The Accords were an attempt at bringing together some order, he had good intentions, but they quickly went out the door when Thaddeus Ross got involved. If Tony hadn’t been such an asshole, maybe he would have seen it sooner. But he didn’t and look where that got him, a washed up, disgraced ex Avenger living alone in a giant tower in New York.

Meanwhile, Steve Rogers and the rest of the team were one big happy family unit, living at the Compound that he built and created. Tony wasn’t just angry, he was bitter and jealous and he hated those feelings as much as he hated losing.

And somehow those feelings lead him straight to Peter Parker.

He had tried to find the spider kid before his bit confrontation with Steve but the kid dropped off the map. He didn’t know if having the kid around would have even made a difference in the end. Steve and Bucky got away and Tony was met with the sobering truth of Bucky Barnes having killed his parents. His mother. His father.

Just when Tony thought things couldn't get any worse it quickly came to light that Bucky was innocent in the bombing, that some crazed guy calling himself Zemo had tried to unleash the rest of the Winter Soldiers. The truth spread out into the world, what HYDRA had done, but really happened to Bucky and the rest of those soldiers.

The following days after getting his ass handed to him somewhere in Siberia, Tony Stark got his ass handed to him by the entire world. It seemed once people actually took a reading to the Accords and coupled with the fact that Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes were god damn war heroes, people seemed to take offense to the Accords.

After all, Tony had heard someone say, isn't that just as bad as what happened to Bucky Barnes in the first place? Same thing really, a government in charge of enhanced individuals and forcing them to comply with all sorts of rules. They were trying to turn the Avengers into weapons.

Tony agreed but it was too late, the damage had been done. Tony was the public face of the Accords, he took most of the blame. With the Accords gone, Avengers belonged to Steve Rogers now and Tony Stark was left behind.

He hadn’t thought about the spider kid after that, but he kept catching Tony’s attention anyway. He was out there, fighting crime in his pajamas and didn’t seem to care. Last year Tony would have loved to have the kid on his side, a weapon he could use, but that was different now. He would have thought he learned his lessons about weapons, but apparently it’s a mistake he’s doomed to repeat.

Tony wasn’t going to even interfere with the kid’s life now, there was really no need to. But then he sent his drones out to find where the kid was staying one night. He’d been curious after finding out Peter Parker had run away from his foster home.

He didn’t know what he was going to find but was surprised none the less. The drones found a skinny, tired looking kid sitting in an abandoned greenhouse doing Physics homework. Tony had checked, Peter hadn’t attended school in over a year, but yet the kid was going over a worksheet without hesitation. He watched the kid eat a bag of chips for dinner and then curl up in a small cot with a blanket that had seen better days.

Tony decided to pay him a visit.

====

The tower was empty. It had been for almost 10 months now. Tony was going to sell it at one point too. They already moved all business matters into their new building, all that remained were the residential floors.

He’d designed them for each Avenger at the beginning. Everyone has their own floors, carefully cultivated for each of them. Tony envisioned it as a home base, a place where they could become a real team.

It was good when it worked. They could spend their time at the top of the penthouse, gathered around in the large living room. They had parties often, sometimes with endless streams of people, other times just a small group of them. They had dinners, movie nights and sometimes just quiet talking nights.

They had become a family. They were a family. Until they weren’t.

Soon Tony and Pepper become the only permanent residents in the tower. And then, just like that, it was just Tony. Pepper offered to stay with him, but he just couldn’t. He couldn’t bring her down, she had done so much for him with the Accords. She gave him the space he asked for, came over when he asked her to and stayed as long as he wanted her to.

On the first morning Peter had stayed, Tony walked into the kitchen to see Peter sitting at the counter. He didn’t have my food in front of him, just a glass of water.

Peter let out a squeak when he saw Tony walk in. “Sorry, Mr. Stark. I, was, uh, thirsty.”

“Jeez, kid. You’re more then welcome to anything in here. I mean, I can’t honestly tell you what you might find, but all yours.”

Peter bobbed his head but didn’t make any effort to get anything else. Tony went straight for the coffee machine.

“Feel like joining me in the lab today?” Tony asked.

“Sure,” Peter said quietly.

“Cool, I saw you had those ridiculous goggles on your onesies. I was wondering if we needed to make you something from the new suit or if they were a fashion choice.”

He turned just in enough time to catch a grin on Peter’s face. “My senses are, uh, dialed up to eleven most of the time. They help me focus when I’m out there.”

“Ah,” Tony said, leaning against the kitchen counter, “I think I can improve on what you’ve already got. I’m assuming the senses thing includes all of them? Hearing, touch, taste and smell?”

Peter nodded his head. “Hearing can be the worst. Sometimes there’s just too much noise out there, I can barely concentrate. I tried ear buds with the suit, but I didn’t think they helped much.”

“See, kid. This is why you leave suit building to the professionals,” Tony said, he heard the coffee machine stop. He turned and grabbed the mug, taking a sip of the coffee.

“Actually,” Peter said softly and Tony had to turn around to hear the rest of his sentence. “I couldn’t sleep last night, so I had made up some potential ideas for a suit…”

Tony grinned, it had been awhile since he had someone bouncing ideas off him. “Alright kid, why don’t you grab those and meet me in the labs? FRIDAY will show you the way.”

Peter once again nodded, his face lit up with an excitement that was way too contagious. Tony found himself grinning more than he had in months. Peter took off from the counter a second later.

As Tony listened to the thud thud of his feet running down the hallway, he realized how much he missed having someone else around.

====

The next week was the best week of Peter’s life since Ben had died, although that wasn’t saying much. He had a warm bed, nice clothing, daily meals and most of all Mr. Stark allowed Peter to help with his new suit.

They sat together in one of Mr. Stark’s labs for hours, both bent over a workbench as they worked on putting together a suit that would best fit Peter’s needs. Mr. Stark listened as Peter listed off his abilities and the different issues he’d faced when using his current outfit.

Peter’s confidence was at an all time high when Mr. Stark marveled at his web fluid and even more so when Mr. Stark had a hard time recreating it off the bat. Peter ended up giving him the recipe anyway, seeing as if Mr. Stark was giving him a suit, the least he could do was provide it. They were able to make a lot more of it then Peter had in the past, he knew he’d be good for quite some time. He was excited not to make Ned steal him any more supplies from school.

What ended up being the best and worst part of the whole, was just how well he got along with Mr. Stark. He was nervous at first but it only took a few hours of work before Peter found a natural rhythm of working with Mr. Stark. They had a weird way of complimenting each other, as if they’d been working together for years and not just hours.

After the Accords, Peter’s opinion of Mr. Stark didn’t change very much, despite the outcome. Iron Man had been his hero since he was a kid and but Peter was rational, he knew behind Iron Man was a man, who wasn’t perfect. He didn’t know much of what happened to everyone after, he just knew Mr. Stark retreated and had been holded up in the Avengers Tower. It made Peter think of him as Rapunzel or something, locked away until someone could save him.

The thought was stupid, obviously, Mr. Stark didn’t need a hero. He was a hero, he could handle himself.

Peter was also sure the suit would have been done in only three days, but Mr. Stark kept adding things or trying to make things better. Peter was suspicious but let it go, he promised a week and that’s what he was going to give.

At the end of the week, Mr. Stark handed over the suit and Peter went on a little joy trip through the city. The suit was perfect and Peter had to keep the mask on when he got back to avoid Mr. Stark seeing how happy he was about it.

“You’re leaving tomorrow?” Mr. Stark asked him as they sat on the couch eating Chinese food out of the cartons.

“Hmmhmm,” Peter answered around a fork of Chow Mein.

“Sure you don’t want to stay?” Mr. Stark asked, stabbing a piece of chicken with his fork. He was obviously avoiding looking directly at Peter.

“Yeah,” Peter answered, looking back down to his own food. He didn’t want to leave, really but he didn’t need to stay. Mr. Stark was only interested in Spider-man, he didn’t really want Peter Parker around. He was just trying to be nice. “I mean, I don’t need to stay here. I’m fine where I’m at.”

“Can’t I put you up somewhere? A hotel?”

“You're not my sugar daddy, Mr. Stark. The suit is good enough.”

Mr. Stark didn’t reply again, instead went back to eating and let the TV fill the silence. That night Peter packed up what he had. He was hovering on taking some extra items, looking at bars of soap and tubs of tooth paste. Mr. Stark didn’t need them, but it’s also stealing, isn’t it? He took some of them, but left behind any of the more expensive items. He did, however, keep the Stark Industries shirt since he was running low.

He hovered in the room, suit on with the mask in his hands. It was late, around 10:00pm, Mr. Stark just wished him a goodnight. He wondered if he suspected Peter would take off in the night or wait until morning.

Taking one last look around the room, Peter hopped up to the window and crawled out into the hot city.

==========

Tony knew Peter was gone within minutes of him leaving. Even without FRIDAY informing him, Tony knew the kid wouldn’t stay the night, especially after Tony asked him to stay.

And Tony didn’t know why he asked either. It’s not like he really wanted a homeless teenager valiant living in his Tower but at the same time, it was nice having someone around. No one really visited him in the last year, nobody besides Rhodey and Pepper.

Those were the only two who even bothered talking to him. Pepper all but ran Stark Industries completely, Tony barely lifted a finger anymore. Was it even worth it? Technically Stark Industries still helped with Avenger tech and support, but Tony had absolutely nothing to do with it. Rhodey still did Avengers like things, he was some kind of official liaison to the government, or something. Tony was told the title but he didn’t really care about it.

Rhodey called him the day after Peter had left. Tony answered after a few rings, the projection of Rhodey stared at him. “Hey, Tones.”

“Rhodey,” Tony answered. He could tell he was in the Avengers Compound, he could see the familiar living room behind him but couldn’t tell if anyone else was in the room.

“How’d the thing with the spider kid go?” Rhodey asked him. Tony had mentioned going to visit Spider-man before he did, a casual mention that made Rhodey raise an eyebrow. He had told Rhodey about him before, when he started looking for him.

“Fine. Made the kid a new suit and he’s out there, doing his own thing,” Tony responded, trying to sound casual about it. Like he didn’t want the kid he just met to stay.

“Was he homeless?” Rhodey asked, he gave Tony a weird look for a second. “How old was he again?”

“Uh, looks like it and he’s fifteen.”

“Fifteen? And you let him go? Tones, you need to get that kid back and bring him somewhere.”

Tony winced and shook his head. “I tried. He didn’t want to stay and I’m not going to make him. If the Avengers want him, they should go get him. He’d probably join us in a minute.”

“He’s way too young for the Avengers and you know it. Are you at least going to keep tabs on him?” Rhodey asked him, he had shifted his position where he was sitting and Tony could now see people off in the distance behind him.

“Of course,” Tony answered, “the kid is wearing a million dollar suit. I don’t want my latest invention to get destroyed.”

Rhodey shook his head and opened his mouth but Tony cut him off instead. “Look, gotta go. Talk to you later.” He didn’t wait for Rhodey's response but instead ended the call. He sat on the couch, old Chinese food boxes still littering the table, making the room smell faintly of soy sauce. He should clean up at some point, put things away and start working on something new.

Tony had tried to keep himself busy in his exile. Tried to come up with new ideas, maybe things that could help people from a change. But things were different now. He wasn’t the golden child anymore, he was a scapegoat for people’s anger. He tried to continue a public life after the Accords, but it was too hard. Every interviewer wanted to know how he could push something so inhumane onto innocent people.

Tony wanted to scream at them, that it wasn’t the case. That they were wrong … but they weren’t. Tony supported the Accords, saw what they said and made the choice to keep going. Choices have consequences, if that means Tony Stark stays in his tower and Iron Man is no more, than that’s it.

Giving up Iron Man had been a lot harder then Tony thought it would be. The suits still sit in their storage, he still tinkers with them every once in a while. He had a few good ideas here and there, but when he started to work on it… he realized it was for nothing. What’s the point? The world didn’t want Iron Man any more.

Not even a homeless kid in Queens wanted Tony Stark or Iron Man.

Tony sighed loudly, the sound echoing off the walls of his empty tower.

Chapter Text

Tony had promised Peter he wouldn’t track him and he was mostly telling the truth. He’d given Peter’s suit an AI (that Peter immediately called Karen for some reason) but it wasn’t nearly as high tech as FRIDAY. Karen was just a basic assistant AI and would be a good back up for Peter when he needed it. Tony had programmed a failsafe, however, a back door that linked her right into FRIDAY. He wasn’t going to use it to spy on the kid, but he felt better knowing that if something bad happened, he’d be able to help.

He also snuck over some new pillows, blanket, and tarp into Peter’s rooftop home. He knew Peter wouldn’t have taken them on his own. Heck, the kid barely took any of the extra toiletries Tony had left in the guest room. Shouldn’t have surprised him though, the kid didn’t look like he was capable of taking things if not told to directly. Even then, Tony was sure he kid wouldn’t have.

Curiosity got the best of Tony one night, a week or so later. He was hoping the kid would reach out to him with an update or something. He left the kid with his phone number, he had tried to give him a Starkphone but he refused. He used some old burner phone that looked like it belonged in a museum.

Tony pulled up FRIDAY and asked to get a peek into what the kid was up to. He had access to a live video feed (as well as older feeds) if he wanted to. Karen was set to record anything he was doing in the suit. It was mostly a precaution, just in case, something did happen. He’d put them in his suits too, as well as Rhodey’s. Sitting on his server were years of footage, completely untouched and unseen.

FRIDAY pulled up the video feed. It was taken from a small drone on Peter’s chest. He had shown Peter how to use it if he needed to. He’d be able to direct it via Karen but besides that, it was always recording. It synced up with audio in Peter’s mask, along with Karen.

Tony didn’t recognize where Peter was, he was sitting on a rooftop somewhere out in Queens. The view the video provided was mostly of the tops of buildings and very little else. He could, however, hear Peter talking.

“I mean, that sucks, doesn’t it?” Peter was asking someone that Tony couldn’t see.

After a second a female voice responded. “That does sound very unfortunate, Peter.”

Tony narrowed his eyes for a second, was Peter talking to Karen?

“Yeah, that’s a word for it. Besides that everything else went cool. I helped that kid find his dog, those are always fun. Mostly because I got to pet the dog afterward. His name was Padfoot. The dog, not the kid. Harry Potter reference, so that’s cool.”

Peter’s tone was casual as if he was talking to his best friend and not an AI. It made Tony both smile and feel miserable at the same time. Karen clearly knew what Peter had done on patrol, but the kid was so lonely he didn’t have anyone else to tell it to. Tony wanted to text him at that moment and ask how things went, but he didn’t.

“I’m aware of Harry Potter, Peter. I have access to information regarding the books, movie, and stage play.”

“Eck,” Peter responded. “In this house, we don’t reference Cursed Child, Karen. It does not exist. Please erase it from your memory.”

“I will, Peter.”

“It would be cool if you could erase it from existence too. Like, just delete it from the internet. No more!” Peter said with a laugh and then he stopped talking for a moment. Tony wondered if something had happened but then Peter was talking again, this time in a small voice. “Can you erase someone Karen? Like, can you just erase someone from existence?”

Tony’s heart almost leaped out of his chest. No way, please kid, don’t say those things.

“What do you mean, Peter?” Karen asked. The AI had no emotions, couldn’t tell if the kid was depressed or just curious. Tony closed his eyes and counted to himself, trying to will himself not to freak out over what Peter might have been thinking about.

“I mean, can you find what the internet has about me? And just delete it? Like my files with social services or my hospital records. I want Peter Parker to be erased from the world, so I can just be Spider-man all the time.”

Tony sighed in relief although Peter’s answer wasn’t all that comforting. Tony had pulled up all the information he could on Peter once he found out who Spider-man was. There wasn’t much, birth records, hospital records, school transcript, and CPS’s files. Nothing that stood out, nothing that called for attention. Tony knew his parents passed away when he was about 5 and from then on, lived with his Dad’s younger brother.

He was unremarkable in some ways, never got into trouble with the law, never did anything to gain anyone’s attention. He did, however, excel in school. He was at the top of his grade every single year and managed to get into Midtown STEAM School on a scholarship. Even there he topped everything, was in several clubs and teams, looked like he was on his way to a bright future.

And then nothing. His CPS report, stating his uncle had died and he was without any living relatives. Information on the foster home he’d been sent to right off the bat. He had to drop out of Midtown. There was only a small transcript from the public school he’d gone to, but he was there about a month before he dropped that completely. The remaining documents were a missing person’s report and some files relating to it.

Karen couldn’t delete Peter from the internet, although FRIDAY could if Tony asked him to. Peter did a good enough job deleting himself from his own life, however. Tony had tried to find someone who was looking for the kid, but the foster system didn’t seem to care and the police had zero leads. If it wasn’t for the fact that Tony knew Peter was Spider-man and therefore could find him, he most likely would have never found the kid anywhere.

“I don’t have that ability,” Karen had answered Peter. Peter hummed in response. After a moment the camera view changed, Peter was up on his feet and a second later swinging in the air. The video feed gave Tony a moment of vertigo, the angle to watch the swinging was an odd one. He had to close his eyes for a second and when he opened it, Peter was already back on his rooftop. He walked into the greenhouse, Tony was happy to see the supplies he left were in good use. Peter had put up the tarp, making it a bit more weatherproof.

“Alright, Karen,” Peter said amid a yawn. “Tonight was a good one. I’m going to go to bed now. We’ll have another fun day in store tomorrow. I’m going to meet up with Ned before patrol.”

“Sounds good, Peter. Goodnight.”

“Night.”

The footage stopped, Peter had already disengaged his suit and taken the mask off. Tony turned off the footage and sat on the couch for a long time afterward.

====

Peter had been doing a good job of not getting into too much trouble as Spider-man. He did a lot of safe things, helping people, minor robberies, etc. Nothing too dangerous, he knew his limitations. However, with the suit Mr. Stark provided him, he started feeling a bit more adventurous. The suit protected him far better than his old one did, he didn’t need to worry about taking too much damage. And now with Karen, it was like having a sidekick that provided him with a lot of valuable information.

On one such adventurous occasion, Peter came across a pair of men trying to rob a jewelry store. They had weapons he didn’t recognize, one of them looked high tech. One of the weapons spate out a purple laser that was being used to cut through a safe. The other weapon was being used to grab jewelry from their cases, it grabbed the jewelry in green light and he was using it to quickly place large amounts into a bag.

Peter had made his way inside, the robbers were oblivious at first but then Peter cleared his throat. “You know, Valentine’s Day is still really far away guys. You have time to pick out the perfect jewelry, you don’t need all of them.”

The robber using the laser shouted something Peter didn’t catch as he shot out a web at one of the guys standing closes to him. He was quick to avoid getting hit with the grabbing weapon a few times, all while trying to incapacitate at least one of the three robbers.

He was doing pretty well up until he got hit by the grabbing weapon. The second the green light hit him, he was frozen mid-jump. The weapon was holding him in place as he struggled to break free from it. The guy holding the weapon started to slam Peter down onto the ground.

While being slammed into the building wasn’t too bad, the problem came when it was slammed into a large glass display. The angle in which Peter hit it, caused a large piece of broken glass to embed itself into his side.

The pain was intense, Peter had never been stabbed quite like this before. The glass cut straight into his suit and lodged itself firmly under Peter’s ribcage. It took Peter a second to get up, he felt a little disoriented and when he looked over to the robbers, they were practically out the door.

Since the glass was keeping him from bleeding out, Peter decided to go after them. He managed to catch them as they made their way towards a getaway car. He webbed them up to the car itself, making it impossible for them to getaway. Thankfully a bystander had called the police, so Peter took the opportunity to leave.

He made his way into a dark alley and took a look at his situation. The glass had been pushed farther into him as he went after the robbers. While it was keeping a lot of the blood out, he started to bleed around it. He was also having a hard time breathing a little, he didn’t know if it was something to do with the injury or blood loss.

There was no way he was going to a hospital, especially not in the suit. He couldn't get out of it either, without disrupting the glass. He didn’t want to burden Ned with this problem but he was smart enough to realize he needed help. He looked around at his location, he wasn’t that far from the Tower. He could make it there in a few minutes if he took to the sky.

He made the decision quickly and started to web his way to the Tower. Any movement was increasing his pain and causing the glass to move. It wasn’t pleasant but he got to the Tower in one piece. As soon as he arrived, however, he realized he had no idea how to get in the Tower. When Mr. Stark took him, they’d gone in a back entrance that required a pass, which Peter did not have.

He knew Mr. Stark would be up at the top of his Tower, so the only rational decision Peter could make was just to climb the Tower itself. The decision could have been a result of the increased blood loss and pain, Peter was not using his full brain on the idea.

Peter had just planted his hands on the door, got one foot up but before he could move the front door of the building slammed open. He looked to see Mr. Stark running towards him, worry carved into his face.

“Shit, Peter. Where are you going to climb to the top?” He asked in a hurried tone. He rushed over and put his hand on Peter’s shoulders as if to keep him grounded.

“Hey,” Peter said, “am sticky. Could do it.”

“I do not doubt that you can climb up this tower, just not when you are impaled and bleeding. That would have been a very bad decision. We don’t do those.”

Peter’s vision was starting to get spotty, he was also losing the ability to stay standing for long. He swayed and Mr. Stark managed to get his arms around him, but it put pressure on the glass and he let out a loud yelp.

Mr. Stark was talking to him but Peter couldn’t tell words anymore. Instead, he closed his eyes and let Mr. Stark take him into the building. He might have passed out at some point because the next thing he knew he was laying on a medical table somewhere.

He could hear Mr. Stark talking to someone and the words “doctor” and “impaled” were said. Peter tried to yell, but it came out more like a whimper. “No hospital. Please. I heal.”

Mr. Stark came into his vision and Peter squinted at him. “Just need lil’ bit of help. I can heal.”

“Not doing the hospital thing. I’m getting you help, kid. Just try to stay awake and don’t move.”

“Okee, dokee.”

Peter didn’t actually listen but instead floated in and out. At one point he felt hands on him, going for the glass. He tried to move out of the way by instinct but suddenly felt someone holding him down. That was even worse and he tried to get up.

“Peter, stay down,” he heard Mr. Stark saying, “It’s okay. We’re helping. You need to stay still.”

Peter tried to listen but someone was pulling out his insides and the pain was overwhelming.

“He’s strong,” someone said off to Peter’s side, “you might have to get a suit, Tones.”

Peter moved again as he felt even more pressure where the glass had been. He could tell it was gone now, but there was something else happening. Something much worse. A second later he heard a weird unfamiliar sound. The pressure of a hand on his shoulder disappeared and then another pressure replaced it, this one didn’t allow him much resistance.

“Pete, you have to stop moving. I know it hurts but we need to get the glass shards out. Then we’ll stop and you can rest. Please, kid.”

“Noooo,” Peter whined, the pain was way too much. It felt like someone was grabbing at his insides. Everything burned and stung. He cried out again, tried to twist but the hands-on him were much stronger now and held him in place. “Please, it hurt. Please. Please.” He pleaded without thinking.

Finally, after what felt like a million years, the pain subsided. The pressure lessened and he allowed himself to still. He opened his eyes to see Mr. Stark standing above him, he had one arm covered in this suit up to his elbow.

Peter’s mouth felt like it was full of cotton when he tried to open his mouth, but Mr. Stark shushed him. He put his hand, still covered in his suit on Peter’s forehead. The cool feeling of the metal was relaxing and Peter allowed his eyes to close.

“That’s it, kid. You can sleep now. I don’t know if pain medication is going to help you, but we’ve given you some now. Just try to rest, okay? You’re safe.”

======

The next time Peter became aware, he was somewhere else entirely. He was laying in a bed, it looked and felt like the one he had been in when he stayed at the Tower the first time. The pain in his side was still there but with much less force. He felt a little heavy and disoriented but when he closed his eyes he could focus a little better.

He could hear two people talking in the hallway, maybe even right outside his door.

“I don’t care, he’s a child. You need to bring him somewhere safe.”

“He is safe here. I’m keeping him safe. He came to me, remember! I didn’t find him, he was hurt and he came here.”

“Tony. If you care about him, you need to bring him to the police. What happens next time when it’s a bullet wound? I’m not a doctor.”

“I know, I know.”

Peter’s head started to hurt a little more again and the voices seemed to slip away. The next time he opened his eyes, Mr. Stark was sitting in a chair beside his bed. He was looking at a tablet in his hands but must have noticed Peter because he turned and smiled at him.

“Hey, good to see you awake, kid. You gave us quite a scare.”

“Us?” Peter questioned, he still didn’t know the identity of the second person with Mr. Stark.

“Rhodey, I had to call him and get him over here. He’s had a lot of medic field training in the past. He’s also spent half his life cleaning up my messes, so,” he said making a so so gesture with his hand. “I figured we had a good chance at helping you out. Your healing abilities help quite a bit. After we got the glass shards out, within a few hours you were doing much better.”

Peter nodded. “I can heal quickly. Doesn’t even hurt anymore. I feel fine.”

“Good,” Mr. Stark replied. “Do you want to come to get some food? You actually slept through the night, it’s about 1:00 now. I want to make sure you eat.”

Peter thought about it for a minute, he did feel better and he was feeling a little hungry too. Eating always helped his abilities, well at least, when we could eat. He looked up at Mr. Stark, he looked tired, and he had bags under his eyes. Peter wondered if he was up all night watching over him.

“Sure,” Peter said, he pulled back the covers. He was in matching Stark Industries sweatpants and shirt. “Do you have a lot of these hanging around?” Peter questioned, gesturing to his shirt.

“Like you wouldn’t believe kid. They sent me a million of them. I have some in every size possible. I think there’s a whole room on the 5th floor that’s just boxes of clothing.”

Peter smiled as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed. He stood up and had a moment of vertigo. Mr. Stark reached out and grabbed his elbow, keeping him steady.

“Woah, sorry,” Peter said, waiting a second before starting to walk forward. “Head rush.”

“It’s good, you just need a little food in you. I didn’t really get to ask last time but you mentioned the super strength and sensory things. Are you anything like…,” Mr. Stark trailed as they left the room, “the super-soldier serum? I’m assuming your metabolism has increased.”

Peter nodded. He had a lot of time to find out what exactly his body could do and what it could handle. He realized he needed an increase in foods, but the foster family and living on the streets greatly limited that ability. Most of the time he felt hungry and tired, but on some days if he was lucky, he’d get to eat enough for a normal person. Those days he felt less hungry and less tired. “I also have a higher pain tolerance than before. Medication doesn’t have any effect on me. I don’t need glasses or have asthma anymore. And uh, that’s about it.”

They turned into the living room. Peter stopped at the door when he saw War Machine sitting on the couch. He stood up when they entered.

“Peter,” Mr. Stark said halfway between the two, “come meet Colonel James Rhodes.”

Peter teetered where he stood. It didn’t hit him until he saw the man, but clearly, War Machine now knew his secret identity. That was one more person who could tell someone, who could turn him in. The feeling of running was overwhelming, but Mr. Stark had already come back to him and placed his hand on the small of Peter’s back. He wasn’t pushing him forward, it felt more like reassurance than anything else.

“It’s alright, kid. Rhodey isn’t a narc, isn’t that right Rhodey?”

Colonel Rhodes nodded and walked towards Peter carefully like he was approaching a wild animal. Peter then realized Rhodes had removed the glass from his insides not too long ago. It was a weird thought, Peter almost laughed out loud.

“Right,” he said, standing at a safe distance from Peter. “Hi, Peter, it’s nice to meet you when you’re not bleeding out.”

“Uh, hi Mr. Colonel Rhodes. War Machine, sir. Uh, thank you for uh, saving me.”

Mr. Stark cracked a smile. “There we go, there’s the nerd.”

“Please,” Rhodey said, “call me Rhodey. Everyone does.”

Peter nodded his head and shakily held out his hand. They were too far away to shake hands so Peter had to shuffle a few steps forward for him to be able to shake his hand. He squeezed, maybe a little too hard, on accident.

“Got quite a handshake there. I’m not surprised when you were thrashing around you nearly threw Tony out the window.”

Peter winced and turned to Mr. Stark who was still standing next to him. “Sorry, Mr. Stark. I didn’t realize, I mean sometimes I can’t really control it…”

Peter felt like an idiot. He should have known better. He had to be careful with people, he couldn’t slip up and hurt someone.

“No worries,” Mr. Stark said and he gestured towards the couch. “I don’t cook and I didn’t have time to do anything, but here there’s leftover pizza.”

Peter didn’t complain, cold pizza was just as good as anything else. He took a seat and grabbed a slice, cheese with banana peppers. Mr. Stark had ordered it before, Peter had never tried banana peppers before but didn’t comment on it when offered. He ended up liking them.

“Can I ask you some questions, Peter?” Rhodey asked, he wasn’t eating the pizza but he had a cup of coffee in his hands.

“Uh, sure,” Peter said carefully. He remembered hearing Rhodey tell Mr. Stark he should take him to a doctor. He was hoping these questions didn’t involve where he lived or his family. He figured Mr. Stark spilled the beans at some point, so lying wasn’t the best idea.

“Were you born with your abilities?”

“Uh, no. I, um, got bitten by a spider. It wasn’t a normal spider, it was enhanced or radioactive or something. I didn’t really ask the spider any questions.”

Mr. Stark and Rhodey exchanged looks. “When did this happen?” Mr. Stark asked him. He realized he never gave Mr. Stark any kind of timeline for what happened.

“Over a year ago, maybe a year and a half now.”

“You didn’t start going out as Spider-man until a year ago, right?” Mr. Stark asked him.

“Yeah, uh. I started after Ben died. They put me in foster care…,” he trailed, Mr. Stark knew the rest.

“Peter,” Rhodey started, he was leaning forward and he had the same look the social workers had when they were worried about him. “Tony mentioned you left your foster family. Was everything okay? They weren’t… hurting you or anything, right?”

Peter sighed, he thought he’d get this question. Ned asked him the same thing too. He wished he could lie and say yes, but he’d never do that. Those people were nice, they don’t deserve it. They were just trying to take care of him, nothing more. He was the problem, not them.

“No,” he answered, “they weren’t the problem. I just, I couldn’t go out as Spider-man if I was there. I didn’t want to put anyone else at risk.”

They exchanged another look between them and Peter had the feeling he’d been talked about behind his back. Like they had discussed playing good cop and bad cop with each other.

“I know you don’t want to go back,” Rhodey started, “I get it. But you’re fifteen and you go out there and … do things. You could have died last night if you didn’t come here. I think everyone would feel comfortable if you were somewhere safe.”

Before Peter could respond, Mr. Stark spoke up. “I asked you before, but I mean it. Stay here, Peter. Let me give you a roof over your head and some food. God knows I have enough space and money. You can go out and Spider-man all you want.”

Peter opened his mouth to say no but stopped. He looked back and forth between Iron Man and War Machine. Two of his childhood heroes, sitting in front of him, ask him to stay in the former Avenger’s Tower. If Ned was here, he’d be screaming at Peter’s resistance to it. Peter felt like he was watching a movie of his life suddenly and even he was screaming at himself to say yes. Just, trust them. You can trust them. They are safe. You came here last night anyway, didn’t you?

“Okay,” Peter said quickly before he could talk himself out of it. Mr. Stark smiled at him, a big smile that lit up his entire face. Rhodey even looked happy about it, but still had a little uneasy in his posture. “Can I uh, get my things? I have some things, back at the greenhouse. I’d like to keep them. I also need to tell my friend, Ned, too. He needs to know where I’m at. But no one else can know. Or know that I’m Spider-man. Please?”

“Geez kid,” Mr. Stark said, “you’ve lived here for less than a second and you’ve already got demands.”

Peter got nervous very quickly but Mr. Stark laughed and reached for a slice of pizza. “Chill, kid. I’m just joking with you. Of course, you can get your stuff. And yes, we won’t tell anyone. I mean, Pepper will have to know. So will Happy, he’s my security. They don’t come by here often, but just in case. I mean, if you want I won’t tell them and we can pretend you are a ghost haunting the place. I’d prefer if we did that, it’d be hilarious.”

Peter laughed and for the first time since getting into the building, he finally relaxed. He leaned against the couch, settling in a little better.

Chapter Text

Tony Stark never wanted to have kids, even before he became Iron Man. He never thought he could handle children, they were loud and sticky. They were trouble from start to finish, they would guarantee at least 18 years of trouble. Howard Stark was not the best father, he wouldn’t win any awards and Tony knew he’d just carry that luggage around with him. Unload it all on any kid he may have, whether he wanted to or not.

He heard stories about his Dad before he was a father. He was different, not as harsh and abrasive. He might even have been happy but then Tony was born and the weight of a kid and a company changed what his Dad was. Tony didn’t want that, didn’t need that. He was doing a good job of bringing himself down without the added responsibility of another person.

Living with Peter, however, was not the experience Tony thought it would be. Grant it, he didn’t know what to expect, the whole thing just seemed to unravel into his lap before he could even think about it. Tony started to realize that Peter just never asked for anything, even if he needed it. It was when Tony noticed just how gross and worn down his shoes where did he bring up getting new ones. Peter acted as if he didn’t even notice that his shoes were basically falling apart and even declined a new pair.

It was the same way with clothing, Tony ended up taking him to the room full of Stark Industry things, instead of taking a lot, Peter just took a few items and then asked if it was maybe okay for them to donate them to the homeless. Tony was impressed and embarrassed, here he was sitting on all of these useless things, it just never occurred to him. Tony reached out to both Happy and Pepper for assistance. By the end of the week, the clothing was donated and Peter looked a lot happier after that.

Peter wasn’t choosey either, he would eat whatever Tony offered. He never asked for more food, Tony had to pile it high on his plate and keep pushing him before Peter was even able to eat a normal person’s amount. Tony didn’t want to push it too much, but he was hoping the kid would eventually start eating more. Aside from needing it for his metabolism, Peter was all skin and bones. Even the new clothing Tony had purchased him, hung off of him. He never complained about it, never even said he was hungry half the time.

Tony caught him one evening doing homework and when Tony asked, he told him that his best friend Ned would pass along assignments. Peter wasn’t even turning them in, he was just doing them because he wanted to. It was the very thing that Tony found so ridiculously endearing about the kid.

“I can send you back there,” Tony suggested to him as he looked over the sheet Peter had been working on. “If you want that is.”

“Nah,” Peter said, “you’d have to sign me up and then CPS would know. It’s alright when I turn 18 I figured I’d just get my GED.”

“What about college?” Tony asked. He knew the kid was smart, just working with him the little he did, proved that point. He was sure he kid could be in college now if he wanted to.

“I dunno,” Peter answered and then chewed on the end of his pen for a second. “Before, Ben talked a lot about it with me. He wanted me to go on, but money was always tight. I sort of just don’t expect to be able to unless I got some crazy good scholarship. And now, well, it’s not even on my radar anymore.”

Tony made a lot of effort not to immediately offer the kid a full ride to any college. He knew the kid wouldn’t take it, but Tony wanted him to realize how much he was worth. But he didn’t say anything, he didn’t know why he was so interested in Peter’s well-being all of a sudden. Peter wasn’t his kid, he didn’t need to worry. When Peter turned 18, Tony was sure he’d be out the door and on his own.

Peter started patrolling again within a few days. Tony was able to fix up his suit, even showing off to Peter the new nanotech he’d been working on. He also offered to talk to the kid if he needed it and asked Peter if he could get patrol updates the next day too. He kept thinking about the conversation Peter had with Karen before. He wanted to make sure Peter had someone else to talk to.

They fell into a routine soon enough. They spent some days working in the lab, sometimes Peter would stay in his room all day. Sometimes they ate together and sometimes they didn’t. Peter patrolled at least 5 nights a week, sometimes even more. Tony gave him a curfew of midnight, to which Peter was adhering to.

He felt like he went from orbiting Peter, to finally being within his atmosphere. The whole thing was becoming increasingly domestic. So it was naturally about time Tony messed it up in some way.

Two weeks into their makeshift agreement Peter came home early one night, soaking wet and smelling like garbage. He was holding his wrist to his chest, delicately. He tried to play it off, didn’t even give Tony a chance to look at him but Tony knew something was wrong.

He followed Peter to his room, standing outside and knocking on the door. “Come on, kid. Let me in. I know something’s wrong.”

“I’m fine,” Peter’s voice came through the door. “I don’t need help.”

“You know I can override the door if I wanted to.”

Peter was silent before he heard a little louder. “Don’t. I’m fine Mr. Stark. Just leave me alone.”

“Yeah, no. Hey FRIDAY be a dear and open up this door.”

The door flung open a second later and Peter was standing in the middle of the room. His suit was almost off, it caught at his feet. The mask discarded on the bed. The color of his skin was more blue and purple than skin tone. He was still holding his wrist against his chest, Tony assumed it was broken.

He also looked angry. Angrier than Tony thought was possible.

“I said go away,” Peter said, his voice had an even tone to it. He wasn’t yelling but he was clearly trying to keep himself from it. “You can’t just come in here.”

“Yes I can,” Tony answered walking straight into the room. He stopped a few feet in front of Peter. “Let me see your wrist kid, it looks broken.”

“You’re not my Dad, Mr. Stark. I don’t need you to coddle me or tell me what to do. I can handle it, it is fine. It will heal before the night is even over.”

Peter tried to step back but must have forgotten where his suit was. He stumbled backward, feet caught up. Tony lunged forward, but it was too late, Peter landed hard on his butt. Letting out a squeak of a yell as he did.

Tony immediately went over to him, crouching down and putting his hand on Peter’s shoulder. “You’re okay,” he said, trying to get a good look at the kid. “At least tell me what happened.”

Peter pushed himself up to a sitting position with one hand, the other still cradled against his chest. “I fell into the river,” he answered plainly as if that was a reasonable answer and required no other explanation.

“Okay,” Tony said slowly his hand still sat on Peter’s shoulder. “Any reason why?”

“I didn’t do it on purpose,” Peter answered, his face was getting a little red. He also seemed less angry than before, Tony kept pushing.

“I figured, so again, what happened? And come, let me help you up. You don’t need to show me the wrist, but let’s get you cleaned up.”

Peter kept eye contact with him before slumping forward a bit and giving him a nod. Tony helped him stand up and walk out of the suit properly. His skin was damp still and he smelled horrible but Peter steered them towards the bed and not the bathroom. He sat down on the bed and Tony walked past him into the bathroom. He grabbed one of the towels hanging, bringing it back over. He placed it over Peter’s shoulders, wrapping him up a little.

“So, tell me?” Tony questioned.

“Remember the whole glass thing?” Peter asked and Tony nodded. “The guys had these alien weapons they were using. Since I’ve been back out I’ve been trying to track them down and find out where they are coming from. Tonight I got pretty close but some… guy in a flying suit grabbed me and threw me into the river.”

Tony raised his eyebrow. “Guy in a flying suit? Isn’t that a bit out of your league, kid? I think going after arms dealers is also out of your pay grade.”

Peter let out a loud sigh and looked down at his lap. “This is why I didn’t want to tell you. I don’t need you telling me what I can and can’t do. I can handle this.”

“Doesn’t seem like you are,” Tony answered. He was worried about Peter, he didn’t need to get involved with something so big. That’s what the Avengers are for, not him. “Stick with what you know best. Don’t bother with those guys, I’ll give Rhodey a call. He can send the superheroes after them.”

“What am I then?” Peter questioned, the anger coming back into his voice. “I thought I was a superhero. You gave me this suit so I could do things, didn’t you?”

“Yeah,” Tony said, shrugging. “I gave you the suit so you could do your job better. And your job is the little stuff. Believe me, you don’t want to get involved in the big stuff. You don’t need to.”

“Why do you care?” Peter asked suddenly. “I don’t get it. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. Why do you care so much about me? I’m just some stupid kid from Queens.”

Tony didn’t know how to respond, mostly because he didn’t know the answer either. It wasn’t as if Tony went looking for this sort of thing. He was not cut out to be a Dad to anyone. He wasn’t even cut out to be a hero in the long run.

“Yeah,” Peter said after a minute of silence. “That’s what I thought. Can you please just leave now? I want to shower.”

Tony stood up silently, wishing he could have said something else. Something better, but instead he went for something else. “Are you going to leave?”

Peter didn’t answer for a minute and Tony figured he’d never see the kid again. “No.”

Tony didn’t need any other type of answer, he took one last look at the kid before walking straight out of his room.

====

Finding the alien tech and stopping them was a top priority for Peter. It was clear that the tech was harmful to people, the flying guy that dropped him in the river was a clear indication of that. Peter tried to find all the information he could on them but he wasn’t a detective. He knew very little about the flying guy, he didn’t even get a good look at him. Just a flash of metal, wings, and claws gripping his shoulders.

The only reason he even managed to find the flying guy was a complete fluke. He’d been helping someone else when he heard the familiar sounds of the gravity weapon that he’d been hit with before. He went towards the sound and came across a group of men making a weapons trade. Peter attempted to break it up but failed miserably. At least, he considered some guy scooping him up from the ground and throwing him into the river to die, a failure.

He would have died too, but for once Parker Luck worked out in his favor and somehow he managed to get back above the water. The flying guy dropped him close enough to land, so he didn’t even have to swim very far. It wasn’t a pleasant evening, that’s for sure, but he came out relatively unscathed.

Mr. Stark was wrong too, Peter could handle something like this. He had just been caught off guard when the guy grabbed him. He’d never seen anything like that before, but now he knew exactly what he was going up against. He would be prepared if he could ever even find them again.

His relationship with Mr. Stark changed a little after their argument. He distanced himself from Peter, didn’t go out of his way to talk to him. He let Peter back into the lab he’d worked in but Peter never went for it. It was clear that Mr. Stark did not want Peter Parker around, he was just good with sending Spider-man out there. Peter felt conflicted about staying in the tower, but the truth was, he didn’t want to go back to sleeping in a greenhouse.

For the first time in a long time, Peter felt comfortable and safe where he was. He didn’t have to worry about shelter or finding food, he had everything he could ask for. And yet, he still felt alone and miserable most of the time.

He also rarely found himself able to sleep the whole night. He had some nightmares, mostly of Ben dying in his arms and now with the addition of a guy in giant wings and glowing green eyes. When the nightmares were bad enough to wake him up, he hated going back to sleep afterward. He felt jittery and his mind was just too loud for him to be able to sleep.

On those nights he liked to head up to the top of the tower and stare out into the night sky. There was something oddly comforting about it, seeing the wide-open space above him.

He had found a good spot, he’d go to the unused helipad and sit on the ledge, letting his feet dangle off into the emptiness below. He’d been out there for an hour or so when he heard Mr. Stark coming out the door.

Peter waited until he was close before he turned his head around to see him. “Hey, Mr. Stark.”

“What are you doing out here?” Mr. Stark asked him, there wasn’t any accusation in his voice, he sounded more tired than anything else.

“Can’t sleep. Like to look at the stars. Or at least, what I think I can see,” Peter answered and a moment later Mr. Stark sat down beside him. “Did you ever go camping?” Peter suddenly asked him.

“Nah,” Mr. Stark answered, “Never had any reasons to. Have you?”

“Once,” Peter responded, “Ben took me and we looked at the stars together. It was really nice and he said we’d go again… but uh, we didn’t.”

Mr. Stark didn’t say anything again, despite the awkwardness between them over the last few days, the silence was comfortable.

“My Dad was a jerk,” Mr. Stark started suddenly. "Well, actually he was an asshole. I don’t think he actually liked me, he never bothered to say it. Anyway, I’m not trying to be your Dad or anything. But uh, for some reason I feel like I need to make sure you’re safe. And well I really fucked up being a superhero, and I don't know why I just saw you out there and thought maybe you can be better than me. But if you really want to leave kiddo go ahead but I would prefer it if you didn't.”

Peter looked out over the edge. The streets looked like veins, running blood into the heart of the city. “It’s okay,” Peter finally said. He didn’t know what else he could say. He didn’t want Mr. Stark to care about him this much, honestly. It was too messy, people who got close to Peter tended to die. Things were so much better if no one cared about it. He’d have no one to disappoint, no one to hurt.

But Mr. Stark had been different so far. He gave Peter things he needed but didn’t ask for much in return. He didn’t really ask for anything. He didn’t think of Mr. Stark that way, the man on TV always looked so arrogant and selfish, the opposite of the man sitting beside him.

“I’ll stay,” Peter said, “I really do appreciate everything you’ve done for me, Mr. Stark. I’m sorry if I seem ungrateful for it. I just really wanted to get those alien weapons off the street before they really hurt someone. I’d rather get hurt than anyone else.”

Peter wondered if he sounded like the kid he felt like at that moment. But Mr. Stark leaned back on his arms and looked up into the sky.

Peter felt like he was living someone else's life, sometimes, especially in moments like this one. Where Peter of only two years ago would have been bursting with happiness just being in the Avengers Tower, let alone next to Mr. Stark. That Peter would be talking now too, telling him stupid facts about the sky and stars and anything else. That Peter would be laughing and joking and maybe that Peter wouldn’t feel the need to go out every night and try so hard to make up for everything he’d done.

Because that Peter hadn’t done anything wrong yet. That Peter hadn’t messed up.

Sometimes he missed that Peter, the one used to be.

Chapter Text

“So, is Tony Stark your Dad now?” Ned asked Peter as they sat outside of Midtown. Peter usually didn’t like to meet this close to school, just in case but Ned asked and Peter relented. They were sitting on a bench that was outside the front of the school. It was nice to see the building again, even if Peter wasn’t inside of it. He’d even caught sight of some other people he knew. It almost felt like he was normal again.

“No,” Peter said, hiding a smile, “he’s just, a friend.”

“A friend? I mean, that’s even better. Tony freakin’ Stark is your friend and you live in the Avenger’s Tower,” Ned said, rather loudly.

Peter shushed him. “Ned, not that loud. And it’s not that cool, alright? I mean, no one else lives in the tower, it’s just us. It’s almost creepy.”

It was weird to Peter that no one else lived in the Tower. He’d seen Rhodey a few more times and he thought he caught another guy coming in every once in a while. Mr. Stark didn’t introduce them, but Peter didn’t expect him either.

Peter had started to feel better after talking to Mr. Stark outside, he felt less like he was hiding something from him and more like he actually cared about Spider-man and maybe even a little about Peter Parker.

He also started inviting Peter into the lab again, showing him all sorts of new things and taking Peter’s suggestions on some of the stuff.

“I wish you’d let me come over,” Ned lamented, battering his eyes dramatically at him.

Peter grinned. “I dunno, I mean, I feel weird asking Mr. Stark if I can have a friend over.”

Truth was, he really wanted to ask but didn’t want to pressure Mr. Stark into anything.

“Ugh, anyway,” Ned reached into his backpack, “do you want more homework? Because I made you copies.” He pulled out an entire stack of papers, a lot bigger than usual. “It’s been building up but dude, I wish you’d just come back to school now. I’m sure Tony Stark can just throw money at social services to take care of things.”

Peter took the stack of papers and put them on his lap. Sometimes he’d hand them back to Ned for grading but mostly he just kept them in a folder for safekeeping. He missed the days when Ben would stick his papers to the fridge when he’d get good grades. He can still remember the first A+ he got while at Midtown. Ben had been so proud, immediately sticking it to the fridge with a Hans Shot First magnet. The paper, the magnet, and even the fridge were now probably long gone.

“Wishful thinking, Ned,” Peter answered, “I don’t think that’s how it works. He can’t just throw money at someone and then you know, adopt me. I don’t even think he would do that if he could. His investment is in the other guy, I’m just along for the ride.”

“You can’t believe that still, can you?” Ned questioned. He was always bugging Peter about talking bad about himself. Anytime he said something mildly discouraging Ned would jump back at him. He was a fantastic friend and Peter only hoped one day he’d be able to repay him in some way. “I mean, he’s taking care of you. You are Spider-man, you aren’t two separate people.”

“I dunno,” Peter answered truthfully, “Spider-man is cool and confident, he helps people. Peter Parker just … I dunno, runs away from home, and does stupid things.”

“Dude,” Ned said, somewhat dramatically and Peter turned and looked at him. “The only thing Peter Parker is being right now is stupid. You save people, you do things because you want to help people. That’s you, that’s why you became Spider-man. And yeah, you ran away and I, you know, still think it was a bad idea, but you did it to help people. I’m not going to argue about the stupid things stuff because that’s true.”

Peter smiled, he made sure he would see if Ned could come over. The guy deserved it. “Thanks, for uh, always being that guy for me.”

“Guy in the chair,” Ned said, “you usually need one.” Ned leaned over and bumped his shoulder against Peter’s. Peter put the papers down and reached over and hugged his friend.

They pulled apart and Peter started talking about some of the new advancements Mr. Stark had added to his web-shooters. Ned was a great audience for this sort of thing. He’d been mid-sentence when the doors of his school opened up and Peter caught sight of a handful of students walking out.

“Uh,” he said mid-sentence, Ned turned to follow his gaze. Peter had thought everyone left for the day and was worried someone would recognize him.

“Oh,” Ned said, “I don’t think they can see us from here, relax dude. It’s just Liz and her friends.”

Peter looked over and watched the group walk down the steps towards a parked car. He was just about to look away when he noticed someone standing by the passenger side of the door. A tall guy, leaning against it and smiling as Liz walked closer. Something shot up Peter’s spin, a bolt of anxiety.

“I know him…” Peter started, eyes squinting as he looked at the man. “He looks so familiar to me.”

“I think that’s Liz’s dad,” Ned answered, “maybe you saw him at school before?”

“No,” Peter said quickly, “that’s not where I’d seen him before. I think, Ned, I think that’s the guy in the wings. I only saw his face for a minute, but, I think that’s him.”

“Dude,” Ned said as Peter shot up from the bench sending the papers all over the ground. He reached for his backpack. “Are you sure? Peter, where are you going?”

Peter didn’t wait to answer, he started walking towards the side of the school, so he could get out his clothing. He had his suit on underneath, thankfully. He reached in for his backpack for his mask. Ned was hurrying to his side. “Dude, please, just wait.”

“I have to follow him,” Peter said, “He might take me to where the tech is.” He had his pants and shirt off already, he handed Ned his backpack. “Can you keep this safe for me? Please?”

“Yeah, I guess. Just, can you be careful? Call me, please. I can help if you need it.”

Peter nodded as he watched the car Liz had gotten into start pulling out into the street. He took one last look at Ned, standing there, looking worried holding his backpack to his chest before he pulled his mask on and took off to the roofs, to follow the car.

====

Peter followed the car throughout the city and into one of the suburbs. It became pretty difficult to find places to swing when he got there, so he ended up dropping to the ground and creeping around. Thankfully it was turning into evening, so he was able to avoid being seen. The car arrived at a very nice looking house and Peter watched as Liz and her Dad went inside. Peter had Karen look up who exactly Liz’s Dad was and she came back with a name, Adrian Toomes.

Peter didn’t know what he should do, he could wait to see if the guy came back out or if he should go back to the tower. He had forgotten he put his phone into the backpack that was now left with Ned, so he had no way of calling Mr. Stark. The Karen wasn’t connected back to FRIDAY, something Peter had insisted. He didn’t want Mr. Stark to spy on him or anything. He didn’t need his help and Mr. Stark seemed willing to let that go.

He knew Mr. Stark would worry about him, he only hoped that if he called Ned would answer and tell him Peter left his phone behind. Although Ned could also tell Mr. Stark exactly where Peter went… either way, no matter what he did, Mr. Stark was not going to be happy with him. So he might as well stick it out just in case he had the opportunity to catch the guy.

He waited in one of the trees outside the house, perched high enough that no one could see him. His stomach grumbled at him after an hour, he was so used to getting dinner at a normal time now that missing it was a bit annoying. He dealt with endless hunger before, he could deal with it now.

He could see the stars better from where he was now too, so he spent an hour or so asking Karen to help him identify the constellations. Finally, when Peter was just about to give up, Liz’s front door opened and Toomes walked straight out.

He got into a different car, a dark van, and started down the street. Peter followed him once again, using trees and what little cover he could get out in the suburbs. The car drove for about 45 minutes before pulling into a warehouse parking lot. Peter swung onto the roof and watched as Toomes talked to a few guys standing outside the building before walking inside.

He crawled down the side, so he could look into the tall windows and still be unseen. Thanks to his hearing he was able to catch most of what they were talking about. Something about a big transfer of weapons coming up soon, he didn’t catch where but it sounded like they were talking about next weekend.

Peter watched as two of the guys left, leaving Toomes alone in the building after about 20 minutes. He waited until he knew the guys were gone before crawling in through the window, unseen. Last time he busted the party when there were too many people. It’s how Toomes got the jump on him. Now that he’s the only one there and he knows about the wings, he should be able to hold his own.

Peter waited a minute or so, watching Toomes fiddle with something on the desk. Peter couldn't see the wings anywhere, which he took as a good thing. Peter dropped to the ground, silently.

“Surprise,” he said, a bit lamely. He didn’t have time to think of a funny quip to say.

Toomes turned around and when he saw Spider-man, a wicked grin crawled onto his face. “I was wondering when I’d see you again.”

Neither of them made any effort to move forward. “Well, it took me a few weeks to wash off the stench of the river. Couldn’t go out there smelling like garbage.”

Toomes kept the smirk on his face, Peter noticed his hand was holding something. He seemed to be fiddling with it. “I don’t know why you need to stick your nose into my business. We’re just trying to make a living.”

“Making a living selling weapons to criminals,” Peter counted back, he thought of mentioning Liz but he didn’t want to give away that he potentially knew the man’s actual identity. He had a ting of regret having to hand over a former classmate’s father to the police, but what he was doing was wrong.

“That’s rich coming from you. I can tell just by the look of your outfit that Stark had his fingerprints all over it. How do you think Stark became so rich? He started the whole thing, making weapons. It’s time for the little guy to cash in on it. I saw table scraps and an opportunity.”

“Monologue all you want,” Peter answered, “still doesn't make what you’re doing right. Mr. Stark changed, he doesn’t make weapons anymore.”

Peter took a step forward and shot out a web, it connected with Toomes’ hand, sticking it to the table. The device he was holding stuck along with it.

He sighed, loudly, looking at his hand and then up to Peter. “I really didn’t want to have to kill you. I’m not that kind of guy, but you keep making it very difficult or me not to be.”

In one very shift movement, he quickly cut the webbing with a knife that appeared in his other hand. While he did that, Peter could hear the buzzing of his wings, he turned his head just in time to see them flying towards him. Peter jumped out of the way, watching as the wings flew past him.

Instead of stopping at Toomes, they turned back and slammed into the concrete pillars on his right.

“What?” Peter questioned, looking up, Toomes had started to walk backwards towards what Peter assumed was a door. He just kept smiling and Peter tore his eyes away from him to watch as the wings finished crashing into the last of the pillars.

“Peter,” Karen’s voice suddenly came to life in his ears, “the integrity of the building will fail in less than 4 minutes.”

The wings were taking out the support beams in the warehouse. He was going to demolish the building right on top of him.

Having watched movies his whole life, Peter thought life-defining moments happened in slow motion. That you’d see something coming at you, time would slow until the moment passed.

It didn’t happen when Ben died. The bullet from the robber’s gun didn’t slow down, it shot out quickly. The whole thing was over before Peter could even finish taking in a breath.

The walls and ceiling caving him were the same way. One second he was looking at the smirking face of Toomes as he walked away and the next he was slammed down to his stomach. Pain like he’d never experienced before erupting all over his body. His senses were screaming at him, it felt as if there wasn’t a cell in his body that wasn’t on fire.

He wasn’t sure if he closed his eyes or if he was knocked out but when he opened his eyes, he was lying face down on the ground. It was hard to tell just how much of the building had fallen on him, one of his arms was pinned painfully to his side, while the other had landed above his head.

He couldn’t hear Karen anymore and the HUD in his suit had gone dark. With his free hand he ripped off the mask, the darkness was too much and he felt like he couldn’t breathe with it on. He could feel himself starting to panic, feel it creep up through his veins until he could only scream out in pain and fear.

“Help!” He shouted out into the darkness and rubble. “Please, help me!”

He knew no one was there. He knew no one could hear him. He was alone, left to die under mounds of concrete. Mr. Stark didn’t know where he was, maybe he’d never find out what happened to Spider-man. Is he even wondering where Peter is right now?

Peter took a few controlled breaths, trying desperately to fill his lungs with more air then dust. He had to asset the situation, figure out what he had to do because no one was going to come for him. He had to get himself out of this.

He ran through each part of his body, checking to see if he could feel and move them. He could feel his legs, they were pinned under rubble but he could move his right one enough. The left was at an awkward angle, but he didn’t think anything was broken. The arm stuck at his side had radiating pain from the wrist to the shoulder, but nothing too bad. His head was pounding, a dull headache that played background music for him.

He had to find a way to push up and get his arm free. If he had both arms he could push up more and get his legs free. He just had to work in parts, work in sections and once one was free, he’d get the others. He’d never had to lift anything so heavy before, but he knew he could do it.

It took a few tries but Peter managed to roll slightly, freeing his trapped arm. Without both arms free, he pushed himself up from the ground. Every time he lifted, more rubble seemed to become displaced. A small baseball size piece of concrete came tumbling down and hit the back of his head. It wasn’t horrible, but it didn’t help.

He regrouped after, taking deep breaths before trying again. “Come on, Peter.” He said to himself, “you can do this. You’re Spider-man. You can do anything. You can do anything.”

And then, just like that, he was lifting the concrete from his back. He managed to get his legs under him, using every last bit of strength he had until he was standing up. He let out a scream when he reached his full height, the concrete above him crashing down on either side of him. He stood still, holding up some of the building still before he was able to push it up and get out from underneath it.

His ears were still ringing, so it took him a second to realize someone was saying his name. At first, he thought it was Karen again, yelling at him from his mask.

But then he felt someone next to him, he tensed up immediately.

“Kid! How the hell? Are you okay? Peter?”

Iron Man was floating next to him.

Chapter Text

Tony wasn’t trying to spy on the kid, not really. Peter was late, a lot later then usually when he went on patrol. He had tried calling the kid, but his phone rang endlessly before his generic voicemail picked up. He left a brief message, trying not to sound like he was panicked or anything. Just a casual, hey where are you, message.

He waited another half hour before calling again, this time someone picked up.

“Uh, hello?” The voice was not Peter’s.

“Who is this? Where’s Peter?”

The voice on the other end let out a small gasping sound. “Is, is this Tony Stark?”

“Who is this?” He tried again. Did someone kidnap Peter? Did someone steal his phone? A moment of panic hit him, what if Spider-man was hurt and took his phone. Now the person knew his name.

“Uh, this is Ned, sir. Ned Leeds. I’m Peter’s best friend. Peter Parker. Uh.” The voice on the other end rambled on, talking way too quickly.

“Where’s Peter?” He questioned again, he hoped the kid had just left his phone behind.

“Um, I don’t know actually, sir. He uh, saw one of our friends’ Dad and freaked out. He took off and followed the car. That was like 4 hours ago and he hasn’t come back yet. He left his phone and backpack with me so I thought he’d at least come get it back, sir.”

“Wait, what?” Tony questioned again, he was already grabbing his Starkpad and pulling up Karen’s vitals and information. “Who?”

“Liz Allen, she’s our classmate. Or, she was Peter’s. She’s still mine.”

“Ted,” Tony said sternly. “Less details, more facts.”

“Uh, it’s Ned sir and yes, okay. He saw him and said something about knowing him and alien weapons? He followed the car and that’s all I know, actually. Sorry.”

Karen displayed Peter’s vitals, his heart rate was elevated but nothing else looked amiss. He could check the video feed, grab Peter’s location from the hidden tracker. He pulled up the location, it was out in the suburbs somewhere, looked like an industrial area.

The Ned kid was rambling again but Tony didn’t have time. “Keep his stuff. Call this number if you see or hear from him.”

He hung up, not waiting for the kid’s reply. He brought up Karen’s camera feed. The feed showed a window into a warehouse, he could barely make out people. If this was the same wing guy who took him out earlier, then he needed to stop Peter. He couldn’t let the kid get hurt again.

He held out his arm, an action he was so used to doing before but now feeling foreign. He hesitated as the gauntlet traveled from its location and flung itself onto Tony’s arm. This was the first time he’s used it since the kid came in injured. He had been thrashing around so much, Tony had to call the gauntlet to be strong enough to hold him down.

Before that, the last time, was in Siberia.

His mind raced to that moment, the memory of seeing the Winter Soldier kill his father, his mother. The force of Captain America’s shield as it rained down on him. The same shield his father built, delivering blow after blow.

He knew he was having a panic attack, he could feel it weighing him down onto the couch. He closed his eyes and tried to breath. He had to, he had to save Peter. Just as the name came into his mind, he could hear talking now, from the camera feed.

He opened his eyes to see the sight of some guy he’d never seen before, but he could hear Peter talking to him. The words weren’t clear in his mind yet, he was still reeling over the anxiety but all that melted away when he heard Karen tell the kid the building integrity was going to fail.

He had to save him, but he couldn’t even move. The single gauntlet put an undying pressure onto his arm that he couldn’t pull himself away from.

He could send another suit. An empty suit. He’d done it before, he could do it now. He watched in horror as the camera went out in a cloud of dust and darkness. The connection he had with Karen shut off. The suit was dead, the kid… the kid… he couldn’t be.

Tony felt like he was walking through sand as he called up one of his suits. He sent it off to Peter’s location and watched the feed as the suit flew through the air.

When it came to the location, Tony’s worst fears were sitting in front of him. The building was in a heap of rubble. A heap of rubble that his kid was laying under. Tony couldn’t breathe again, couldn’t do anything but stare dumbfounded at the screen.

Then he heard a rumble, the sound of concrete moving and in what seemed like only seconds, the kid was lifting the thousands of pounds of concrete off himself.

“Peter?” He shouted through the suit. “Are you okay? Kid?” He hovered the Iron Man suit as close as he could without knocking over any more debris. The kid looked a mess. His body was covered in dust and his face was bloodied. He stood there breathing deeply but alive, looking so alive.

“Kid! How the hell? Are you okay? Peter?”

Peter turned and blinked at him a few times, as if he didn’t believe Iron Man was there. He sent the suit a little closer, reaching out one of the arms to try and touch Peter. The suit touched his shoulder and Peter let out a small noise.

“Tony?” He asked in a very small and harsh voice. “Is, is that really you?”

“Well,” Tony answered and flipped the face plate up, “it’s not me in here, but I’m here. I can see you and hear you. Are you… are you okay?”

Peter blinked a few times at him before starting to walk off of the rubble. Tony sent a suit forward to grab him but Peter moved away, getting to the ground. He stood in place and then as if someone cut his strings, sat heavily on the ground.

“Shit!” Tony yelled and his suit lunged forward to grab the kid and lift him but as soon as he touched him again, Peter was pulling away. “Let me help you, kid.”

Peter eyed the suit still hovering next to him. “How’d you find me?”

“Your suit, uh, I can track it.”

“How’d you know what was happening?” Peter asked and Tony’s mind was whirling. The kid was hurt, he needed to come back to the compound. He didn’t have time to explain himself, there were much more important things happening.

“It doesn’t matter, let me help you.”

“It does matter. I thought you weren’t,” he swallowed heavily, his voice sounded painful in Tony’s ears and he couldn’t imagine how Peter felt. “I thought you weren’t going to spy on me.”

“Kid,” Tony said in almost disbelief, “now is not the time for this discussion. A building just fell on top of you. I don’t think you’re thinking straight. Come on, you can get in the suit and I’ll take you home.”

Peter kept looking at him and Tony was trying not to sound like he was falling apart. Because he was falling apart. There were way too many things happening all at once and the only thing he could stay focused on was Peter and getting him back.

He thought for a second Peter wouldn’t do anything but instead he stood up. “Fine, but we are going to talk about this.”

Tony opened the suit, allowing Peter to step in. He was still able to control it remotely but now he could also have FRIDAY do a scan of Peter. He sent the suit on his way, Peter made a whimpering sound when the suit took off, it had jostled him around a bit.

Tony let out a sigh of relief when FRIDAY told him that while Peter’s hurt, nothing life threatening was happening. A lot of bruises, cuts, a concussion, his shoulder was dislocated and some broken ribs, but nothing that would require a hospital visit. Tony was almost delirious with relief and for the first time in what seemed like hours, he felt his body give a little and he sunk further into the couch.

====

Peter was a little less angry with him by the time the suit got him back. He allowed Tony to take him into a small medical room and check him over. He stripped his suit off and sat on the table in his boxers. It was a sign of just how tired Peter was that he didn’t even complain about it. The first order of business was to pop Peter’s shoulder back into place. He wordless offered the offending arm to Tony and he watched as Peter braced himself. 

Tony had experience with popping shoulders back into place, it didn’t make it any less painful to hear Peter’s grunt of pain when it happened. He gave the kid a minute to collect himself while Tony wetted a washcloth for him. He handed it over when Peter looked a little more settled. 

They sat in silence as Peter ran a washcloth over his own face and then down his arms. He flinched only a few times as it went over some of the bruises and cuts. He even let Tony take the wash cloth to his back, which seemed to have taken the brunt of the building. He was covered in bruises, they blended together like an oil painting. 

Tony walked over to grab a few band aides, ointment  and a package of bandages.

“I don’t need bandages or the cream,” Peter said softly, “not worth it, any bleeding will stop soon.”

“You sure?” Tony asked. “I got some Hello Kitty ones that Happy sent as a joke.”

Peter didn’t say anything else, but didn’t stop him. He cleaned some of the bigger cuts, the ones that looked angry. He placed a few of the band aides on him, maybe a little more than necessary, just to see if he could make Peter smile.

Peter remained silent for a bit longer, he looked tired and rundown. His eyes were red and he avoided looking Tony in the eyes at all cost.

“Want to tell me what happened today?” Tony finally asked as he wrapped a bandage around Peter’s middle for his ribs. 

“Uh, the flying guy is the Dad of someone I know. I saw him and followed after him. Then he dropped a building on me, so.”

“Yes, well, anything else happens in between all that?”

“What, you didn’t listen?” Peter asked, he sounded angry again and Tony sighed.

“No, I wasn’t. I only looked when I couldn’t get a hold of you. Your friend, Ted?”

“Ned.”

“Ned, right, he answered your phone and told me you went off. I just had FRIDAY grab your location and I went to check to see if you were okay.”

“I was,” Peter said and when Tony finished he hopped off the table. He winched when his feet landed but stayed standing. “I handled it. I got myself from under that concrete all by myself.”

“Yeah,” Tony said, “that was impressive as hell, kid. But I can still worry about you. Not everyone could do that, hell, I know I couldn’t.”

Peter didn’t look at him, instead he walked over and grabbed the sweatpants and shirt Tony had brought in the room with him and started to pull them on. “I told you, I’m good with handling things on my own. I didn’t need you to send a babysitter.”

“That’s not what I was doing, kid. You gotta understand that. You have to let people help, even when you don’t need it. I want to help you, I want to look out for you.”

“I don’t deserve it,” Peter said so softly that Tony almost missed it completely.

“Kid,” he said in reply, wanting to say so much more but not knowing what to do. Peter started walking but swayed a little, his steps still unsteady. “Come back up here, please?”

Surprisingly Peter listened, he walked over and hopped back up on the table. His legs swung over the edge. He swung them back and forth a little and it made Tony painfully aware of how young he really was. Tony stood, a little awkwardly, next to him, the side of his hip leaning against the table. He wanted very badly to look Peter over again, make sure he was okay. There was still some blood dried on his hairline, matted into his curls.

Tony reached over for the wash cloth and slowly brought it to Peter’s hairline, when he didn’t protest, Tony started to clean the rest of the blood off.

“Mr. Stark,” Peter finally said but he didn’t look over at Tony right away. His gaze was on his hands instead.

“Yeah?” Tony finished with his hair and then went to work on the bit of blood that was behind his ear too.

“Why don’t you…,” Peter trailed, not finishing the sentence. Instead he rolled his shoulders back and turned his head a little to throw a glance at him. “Why aren’t you Iron Man anymore?”

Tony sucked in a breath. He hated that question. It made all the air in the room disappear, made his lungs ache, his heart bleed. Peter must have caught something in the look Tony gave because he turned away shaking his head. “Nevermind, that’s a rude question. I’m sorry.”

“Hey,” Tony said, finding his voice somewhere from the pit of his stomach. “It’s alright. You’re allowed to ask.” He had finished cleaning most of the blood away, he tossed the washcloth on the counter.

“I mean, I know what happened after the Accords,” Peter started to ramble, he looked back down to his own hands. “But I thought they said you could still be an Avenger. You weren’t like, kicked out or anything but you still stopped. You stopped doing everything.”

Tony reached over his hand to place it on Peter’s shoulder. Peter must have seen the movement coming because he tensed up immediately but as soon as Tony touched him, he swore he Peter leaned into it for just a moment.

Tony thought for a second before speaking. It wasn’t as if he didn’t know the answer, he just didn’t know what answer Peter was looking for.

He finally decided on the truth, or at least, some of it. “The Accords were a mistake, I know that now but I didn’t then. I wanted something to happen and I was willing to lose my friends and my…,” Tony almost said family but steered away from it quickly, “my team for it. And that’s what happened. I was wrong, I didn’t do the right thing and well, how can you be a hero when you don’t do what’s right.”

Peter was still tense under him. His shoulders hunched a little more and he dropped his head down. “I think you’re still a hero, Mr. Stark. Sometimes people mess up, not your fault.”

Tony wanted to hug him, hug the kid who still believed in him despite it all. But he didn’t, instead he squeezed Peter’s shoulder again and moved his hand away. Peter’s body language changed so slightly, his shoulders relaxed just a little but he still looked unease. “Thanks kid.”

Peter nodded his head and Tony took that as the end of the conversation. He was just about to suggest Peter eat something when he heard Peter again, a lot softer than before. “Do you really believe that, Mr. Stark?”

Before Tony could answer, Peter spoke again. This time he looked up and over at him, his eyes were a little more glossy than they had been before. “That if you don’t do the right thing you’re not a hero? Because, I, I didn’t do the right thing once.” Peter paused but didn’t look away. “I let Ben die in front of me. I had my powers then but I still let him die. I could have stopped the robbery but instead I let Ben step up. He stopped it and he died.”

Tony remembered on a rooftop, maybe a lifetime ago, the kid who told him that if you can stop something and you don’t, then it’s on you. He didn’t realize what this kid had been carrying around with him for so long.

Without warning or a second thought he turned, stood in front of Peter and then wrapped him in a hug. Peter stilled for a second, body tense and tight, arms awkwardly down his sides. But then Peter relaxed into the embrace. He slithered his arms out and wrapped them around Tony like he was a life line and maybe, he was just that.

“No, kid,” Tony started as soon as Peter was hugging him back, he spoke into the side of Peter’s head, right above his ear. “That’s not on you. You were a kid and you shouldn’t have ever been in that situation. Your Uncle loved you and wanted to protect you. That’s not your fault.”

Peter wasn’t exactly crying, but he was making a small whimpering sound. He sucked in a harsh breath, Tony could feel it. “Same thing as you,” Peter whispered.

And no, Tony thought, no it’s not but maybe it is. Maybe he and Peter are more alike than the thought. Two people with martyr complexes the size of the city. Two sides of the same coin. But Peter’s better than him. A million times over.

So he told him that.

“Not at all bud. I did something stupid and selfish. You are the exact opposite of that. I’ve known you for what a few months now and I know for a fact that you are better than I’ll ever be.”

At some point, Tony felt tears brimming his eyes. He wasn’t a big crier, never had been. Howard had always yelled at him over tears. Stark men are made of iron, he used to yell. Iron doesn’t weep. Iron holds strong and stands tall.

But Iron rusts. When iron is exposed to the world, too much oxygen, it oxidizes. Turns to rust, red and flaky, it progressively worsens over time. And Tony knew he’d been exposed out there, way too long. He let himself waste away, let the world oxidize him and turn him into dust. 

He didn’t want that for Peter. He didn’t want Peter to pretend, to hold back tears, to try and be strong. 

“It’s okay, Pete. Cry all you want, you need to let this out.”

Peter started to sob a little, real tears started to flow down his face and onto Tony’s shoulder. Tony let it happen, let Peter cry himself out for a few minutes. Peter finally started to pull away, his face completely red. Tony let him go and leaned back to give the kid some kind of personal space.

“Sorry,” Peter finally muttered, taking in a deep breath. “Sorry.”

“None of that,” Tony answered, cleaning his throat. “You don’t deserve to carry that weight on your shoulder, Pete.”

Peter didn’t nod but he shrugged instead, as if he didn’t believe Tony. It hurt a little, but Tony didn’t believe other people very often either.

“I deserve it,” Peter said softly, “I deserve everything that’s happened to me. I didn’t do the right thing and it cost me. I feel like, like, I have to do these things by myself. It’s my punishment, it’s what I deserve in life. I just want to help people, Mr. Stark. I want to save people from having to feel like I did when, when I watched Ben die.”

“Kid,” Tony started and god, this kid was him and he couldn’t let Peter go down the same path he did. He couldn’t let Peter disappear into guilt. The kid was so much more than that. “Do you think you deserve to live on the streets?”

Peter didn’t reply, but his face was conformation enough. “No, that’s not right. Not right at all. Your uncle would never want this for you. He saved your life so you could be happy and be a kid, Peter.”

Peter nodded again, just a small movement. “I’m sorry, Mr. Stark. I wasn’t really mad at you. I was mad at myself for letting that guy get the advantage again.”

“You don’t have to be sorry,” Tony replied and he never, at any point in his life felt less like his own father. It made his heart swell just a little more. “You don’t deserve any of this.”

Peter smiled again, it finally felt like a genuine smile. It lightened his face considerably. “Thank you, Mr. Stark.”

“Of course, kid. Come on, I know it’s late but let's get some food in you. I’m sure lifting up an entire building makes one hungry.”

He ruffled Peter’s hair in a quick move, something he’d never done before but felt oddly natural. Peter smiled in response and hopped off the table to follow him out the door.

Chapter Text

It was hard for Peter to keep away from the alien tech now that he knew who the flying guy was. Tony made him promise he’d back off for now, that he’d pass the information along to Rhodes. Now that they knew his name it should be easier. Peter still felt so much guilt in turning Toomes, he was just glad he didn’t have to see Liz anymore.

Peter had felt embarrassed after his breakdown with Mr. Stark. He didn’t want him to think he was weak or desperate, but Mr. Stark seemed to understand something about him. He even told Peter to bring Ned over, not only to return his things but to spend the night.

Ned was excited, he nearly talked until his face was blue. Peter had to elbow him in the gut so he’d remember to breathe. Tony treated them to pizza and ice cream and sat to watch Star Wars without much complaint.

The entire thing made Peter feel like himself again. He felt lighter than he had in months.

A few days after Ned had stayed the night, Peter was sitting at the kitchen table, eating a bowl of cereal. When he first arrived Mr. Stark had very little food in the house. He seemed to just order out every single night when he remembered to even eat. Eventually, he seemed to realize he should have other food. He started to have groceries delivered and every once in a while a guy would come with some other items too. Mr. Stark introduced him to Peter, his name was Happy.

Peter liked him right off the bat, especially since he seemed to give Mr. Stark as much snark and attitude as possible. Peter didn’t get to see him much, but he always managed to be around when he’d come over.

Besides Happy, Peter hadn’t seen anyone else in the tower. He knew Pepper Potts was around at some points, but he never actually saw her. Mr. Stark mentioned her a few times in passing.

So when Pepper Potts walked into the kitchen as Peter ate, he was sort of surprised.

“Oh,” Peter said, dropping his spoon back into the bowl, “uh, hi Ms. Potts.”

“Hi Peter,” she said with a big smile. She walked over to the table, her heels clicking against the floor. “It’s nice to finally get to meet you.”

“Oh, uh,” he stammered, he held out his hand when she was close enough and she reached over and shook it. “Nice to meet you, Ms. Potts.”

“Please,” she said smiling, she let go of Peter’s hand and sat down at the table across from him. “Call me Pepper. Do you mind if I sit with you?”

“Sure,” Peter replied and they lapsed into silence. Pepper smiled at him, as Peter started to eat his cereal again.

“Just so you know, I know your Spider-man and about your situation,” she said with an even tone in her voice. Peter’s eyes went wide and Pepper quickly followed up with, “Don’t worry, I’m not here to turn you in or anything. Tony had been looking for you for a while before… before things went south. I knew your identity back then, so when Tony happened to mention he acquired himself a teenager, I figured who you would be.”

Peter nodded. “Uh, thanks.’ He didn’t know what to say, so he went back to eating his cereal.

“Tony said you’re going to stay here for a while, I’m glad you are. I know Tony can sometimes be a little hard to get along with,” she smiled when she said it and Peter couldn't help but to smile a little too, “but he does mean well. He seems to really care about you. I don’t think he’s ever spent this much with anyone under the age of 18 in his entire life.”

“He’s been… uh, cool so far,” Peter said lamely.

“I’m sure he has,” Pepper said, “he seems to be getting better having you around. I haven’t seen him this … content in a long time.”

Peter nodded and tried to hide the blush on his face. Pepper was trying to tell him how much Mr. Stark cared about him, without saying it out loud.

“I also wanted to make sure you had everything you need,” Pepper continued, “for you, I know Tony bought you food, but do you have toiletries and clothing?”

Peter nodded. Mr. Stark bought him the stuff he needed, it wasn’t a lot but it was enough for him. “I had some things before I came here, Mr. Stark bought me other stuff.”

“Good,” Pepper replied, “I also want you to know that while I’m not going to report you to social services, I want you to know that if you want to get this whole thing figured out. I will be more than happy to provide you with any legal assistance you might need.”

“Oh,” Peter said, he hadn’t really thought about things since he moved in. He always thought he’d wait until he was 18 and he could legally do what he wanted. He never thought he’d end up in a place to live. “I don’t think that Mr. Stark would… you know, like…” he trailed, a little embarrassed about the whole thing suddenly. He didn’t want Mr. Stark or Pepper to think he was here to be adopted or anything.

“I’m not saying that Tony will adopt you. That's completely up to you, but if you want help getting things in order and being able to go back to school, we can help with that. Do you have things like your birth certificate and social security card?”

“Uh, no,” Peter admitted, he had no idea where those ended up after Ben died. The social workers had files of his things but when Peter ran, he didn’t have any of it. “I didn’t really think about all of that stuff, I guess.”

“I understand, Peter. We’ll have to look into those things when the time comes and I’ll make sure to take care of everything you need.”

“Thanks, Ms... Pepper, thank you,” he said blushing again.

“If you need anything else, please call me. I’ll have Tony make sure you have my cell phone. I’m not around the tower often, but I’m always available for you. Anytime.”

It’d been a long time since he felt like this many people cared about it. It was a good feeling but scared him just a little. The last time people cared about him… well, things tend to happen. He pushed away that feeling, as best as he could. 

====

Mr. Stark helped him put together a new suit, this one had a few more advancements than the others before. They decided together that it’s a good idea to actually link Karen and FRIDAY, just in case of emergencies. Peter was feeling good about it, Mr. Stark wouldn’t have to go behind his back and it did make him feel better to know he had a way to reach out.

Routine came back to them within a few days, Peter patrolled, tinkered in the lab and watched movies.

Peter had been sitting in the lab, watching as Mr. Stark tested out his nanotechnology again. It was amazing, watching them form from nothing. Mr. Stark was holding his arm out, his gauntlet covering it. He was calling out the nanites to finish the rest of the chest plate, but something happened in a matter of seconds.

The second the suit covers his chest, Mr. Stark jerked back and stumbled. Peter jumped up from his spot and ran over, reaching out for him. He managed to grab on to Mr. Stark’s arm and helped guide him down to the ground.

“Mr. Stark?” Peter sat on his knees in front of him. Mr. Stark was looking at him, but not really. He had a glazed look in his eyes and he was breathing very heavily. Peter could hear the too fast beats of his heart.

“No, no,” Mr. Stark started to mumble, his eyes wide but empty. It’s then that Peter realized that he was having a panic attack.

Peter didn’t know exactly what to do, he’d have panic attacks in the past but he’d never seen anyone with one.

“FRIDAY!” Peter yelled, “Call Rhodey. Tell him Mr. Stark’s having a panic attack. Can you tell me how to help him, Fri?”

Friday responded immediately. “Calling Rhodes. Try to keep the boss calm, make sure he is breathing.”

“Okay, okay,” Peter responded. “Okay, uh Mr, uh, Tony. Breath, you’re okay. You’re okay.”

Mr. Stark didn’t acknowledge him, he was still looking somewhere beyond Peter. When Peter went to touch him, he jerked away covering his head with his hands. His mouth was moving but no words were coming out. Peter tore his hand back.

“Sorry, sorry. FRIDAY help?” Peter didn’t want to freak out, but he felt so out of his element.

“Keep talking to him, Peter.”

“Okay, Tony. You’re okay. Look, I’m calling you Tony. You keep asking me to and I mean, this is not the time for formalities, really. Anyway, uh, it’s okay. You’re safe. I’m here.”

“Peter, Rhodes has relayed that he will be there within 20 minutes. He asks you to keep your boss calm and if you need additional assistance, call him.”

“Hear that Tony, Rhodey will be here soon,” Peter said. “You’re okay, Tony.”

“Don’t, please, don’t…,” Tony said, softly, his arms still up, blocking himself from Peter.

“No, Tony. I’m not going to hurt you. I would never hurt you. You’re okay, you’re in the tower with me. With Peter. Peter Parker. It’s just me and you.”

It happened quickly as it started, Tony’s eyes seemed to clear and his breathing evened out. He locked eyes with Peter and then let out a long breath. The tension he’d been holding was gone and he dropped his arms down into his lap.

“Peter?” He said and he reached his hand out, “kid?”

“Yeah, I’m here, Tony,” Peter grabbed his hand and squeezed.

“Suit, off, please…,” he said and Peter scrambled to get the remote he’d been using for them. After a second the nanites retracted, off his chest and down his arm.

“There,” Peter said, “I’m sorry, I should have thought of that before. Do you need anything else?”

Tony blinked once, twice, and then seemed to come back down to himself a little more. His hand was still in Peter’s and he looked down at it.

“Can I hug you?” Peter asked and when he nodded he reached over and wrapped his arms around Tony’s shoulders. He was leaning into Tony’s lap and it was more than a little awkward. He tried to adjust them so it was a little better for both of them. “You’re okay.”

Tony hugged him back, cradling the back of Peter’s head with one of his hands. They stayed for several long minutes until Tony started to loosen his grip on Peter. He took his cue to move back. He leaned back and sat down on his butt, still in front of Tony.

“Hi,” Peter said, not really knowing what to do in this situation. “I, uh, Rhodey is on his way. I didn’t know what to do.”

Tony smiled and Peter relaxed a bit. “Hi. You called me Tony didn’t you?”

“Uh, yeah, sorry about that Mr. Stark.”

“No, no,” Tony said shaking his head, “I want you to,” and then he looked down, “sorry you had to see that.”

Peter nodded. “Do you want to talk about it? I mean, you don’t have to, but it might help.”

“I’m having a little trouble being able to put a suit back on,” Tony said all in one breath like he was in a hurry to get it out. Peter wondered if he’d talk to anyone else about this. Peter didn’t feel equipped but he wanted to help the best he could.

“Oh,” Peter said, “Is that why you sent one to me and weren’t in it?”

“Yeah, kid,” Tony admitted, “I tried but I couldn’t. Every time I do, it just feels like I’m reliving all of my failures.”

Peter nodded again, feeling like a bobblehead but he couldn't think of much else to do. “You know, I was wrong before when I said Iron Man was my hero. I mean, Iron Man is cool but I think Tony Stark is my actual hero. And I know you think you messed up real bad and stuff, but it's okay. Everyone is allowed to mess up sometimes. Everyone makes bad choices, but you’re a good person. You didn’t have to let me into your house, you didn’t even know me, but you did.”

Peter felt stupid rambling on but he wanted to say it when Tony didn’t say anything, Peter just kept ongoing. “Uh, I know this is stupid but um, you remember the Stark Expo when the suits attacked and all of that? I mean uh, I shouldn’t be bringing that up now but yeah, so you saved me there too. I was a little kid, had on my favorite Iron Man helmet and I was about to get blown up and you came down and stopped the suit and flew away. It's scary as hell but totally cool.”

Tony smiled at him. “You were playing hero even as a kid then, huh?”

“Yeah,” Peter blushed a little and then decided to just keep going. Tony looked a lot better and his breathing and heart were almost back to normal. “Even before that, after my parents died, I always looked up to you. You didn’t even know it, but you helped me with that too. And then, you know, after Ben died. When I was on my own, I used to think about getting rescued. I know it’s stupid but I’d dream about it sometimes. I’d get the call up to be an Avenger, the big leagues. And you were always the one who came and got me, who recruited me. And then, you did.”

“Kid,” Tony said in a small voice that Peter had a hard time believing came from him. “Oh, kid.”

Tony reached back out to him and Peter went willingly again. He was back into Tony’s lap, arms around his neck and squeezing tightly. Tony kissed the side of his head and Peter smiled, eyes closed.

He missed this, he missed being hugged so much. Ben would hug him all the time, they’d cuddle together when he was a kid. They’d snuggle on the couch watching movies and eating popcorn. Having Ben so close to him grounded Peter in a way no one else could. He kept Peter from floating away after his parents died and when Ben died, Peter realized he didn't have that anymore.

Maybe that's why he ran away because no one was there to keep him grounded.

The sound of footsteps coming towards the door made Peter jerk away and Tony looked confused before War Machine came into the room. He took a look at them, the suit opened up and he walked out.

“Doing alright their Tones?” He asked in a very casual tone. He walked over and bent down to look at Tony.

“Yeah, I’m good. The kid here helped a lot,” Tony said smiling at Peter. “But we should get up, I’m too old to be sitting on the floor.”

 Rhodey helped Tony get up and Peter tried to back away a little, not wanting to step on any toes. He was also feeling just a little embarrassed now too.

“Where are you going kid?” Tony asked as he saw Peter backing away. “Come on, let’s get some food and watch a movie.”

Peter smiled. “Yeah cool.”

Chapter Text

Howard Stark talked about Steve Rogers like he was the absolute pinnacle of humanity. He didn’t just talk about Steve in stories, he was constantly holding Tony up to an image of Steve Rogers that Tony Stark was never going to fit into.

And Tony was fine with that. Years of alcohol, drugs, and eventually therapy helped him deal with it. He always figured he’d never even met Steve Rogers, he’d never have to come face to face with the man.

Until he did. And then, Howard was right about Steve.

That was the problem, really, the guy that Tony was held up to his whole life ended up actually being a relatively good person. It was easier for Tony to believe that Steve Rogers was an unattainable perfection and his father was wrong in comparing them.

But Steve Rogers was pretty close to perfect. And Tony hated it. And then Tony started to like Steve. He had a charm about it that made it hard to actively hate the guy. Tony didn’t hate him, even when Steve was being extra righteous and virtuous, it just kept reminding Tony of his father.

Every time he looked at Steve Rogers he’d see the guy that his father loved and cared for more than him.

So when Steve betrayed him it was all so much worse. The world sided with Steve Rogers and not Tony Stark and Tony realized that everything Howard had said was true. He was not Steve Rogers, he’d never be Steve Rogers. And Tony Stark was nothing but a complete and utter screw up in every way possible.

Tony hadn’t seen Steve in person in almost a year. He avoided leaving the tower like the plague and made zero efforts to reach out to him. The fact that Steve kept extending olive branches kept making him push them farther away. Hadn’t Steve done enough now? He’s the better one, he doesn’t need to keep reminding Tony of it.

Tony had been bustling around his lab, Peter had gone out on patrol again and wouldn’t be back for a few more hours when FRIDAY alerted him that Steve was coming up the elevator. Tony had forgotten about the Avenger protocol in FRIDAY’s system that would allow any Avenger direct access to the tower. He’d left it there mostly for Rhodey’s use but apparently, Steve took advantage of it.

Tony decided to stand his ground, so when Steve walked into Tony’s lab, he didn’t even make the effort to look up.

“Tony,” Steve said, standing in the doorway, “do you think we can talk?”

Tony kept his head down, looking at the web shooter he was fiddling with. He didn’t know if he should respond or not, maybe if he kept silent Steve would just give up. He hated the casual tone and the use of his first name, like Steve, was his friend.

“It’s about Spider-man,” Steve said again and Tony’s head shot up immediately.

“Leave him alone,” Tony said, he turned his whole body towards Steve.

Steve’s hands went up, palms facing forward. “Relax. I’m not here to take him away or anything.”

“Then what do you want?” Tony spat out, trying to keep his temper even. He didn’t want to let on how much he cared about the kid. Didn’t want to give Steve something else he could take from him.

“Rhodey told us about the weapons Spider-man came across.”

As he told Peter, Tony passed the information along to Rhodey about the weapons. He didn’t trust anyone else with it. He didn't want anything to do with it but if Rhodey took care of it, it would keep the kid out of trouble. What he didn’t want was this, for the Avengers to take notice of Spider-man. He knew it was a risk giving Peter a suit that was Stark made, but he was hoping Peter would stay under the Avenger’s radar.

When Tony didn’t respond Steve continued. “We were able to find Toomes' warehouse, the main one at least. He had some sort of revenge scheme in the works. He raided Damage Control last year and was able to steal a lot of different techs. We were able to get in and get most of the stuff back. But uh, Toomes got away. Spider-man was right, the guy’s got these mechanical wings, a lot like Sam’s.”

“And?” Tony prompted.

“And,” Steve said with a hint of annoyance in his voice, “I just wanted to both thank and warn Spider-man. He was able to give us good information and to warn him that Toomes is still out there. We are working on tracking him down, but he’s gone underground. I think he figures Spider-man tipped us off. I wanted the guy to have fair warning that Toomes might be looking for him.”

Something in Tony’s stomach dropped, he couldn’t let Toomes get Peter. If he could get away from the Avengers, who knew what he could do. He tried to swallow down his fear. “I will let him know.”

“You could also let us meet him,” Steve said rather quickly, “he seems like a good character. Rhodey wouldn’t tell us much, but he has a good heart.”

What Tony read from that sentence was that Steve thought Peter was like him and that rubbed Tony the wrong way. Nope, Steve was not taking the kid from him. “He does which is why I’m not letting you or the Avengers get their hands on him.”

It was almost too subtle to notice but Steve flinched. He sighed loudly and shook his head. “Tony, we don’t need to be enemies. I told you, you are welcome back anytime you want.”

“I don’t want to come back,” Tony said, his anger rising again. “Why would I? The world made it very clear that Captain America is much better than Iron Man. You’ve got the team, you’ve won. Let me keep the kid - Spider-man.”

“I’m not trying to take him from you,” Steve said, his voice unwavering. “I’m not trying to take anything from you. You are still part of the team, Tony. I want you there, everyone wants you there.”

Tony didn’t say anything, his anger boiling up in him. No, Steve didn’t get to spin this and throw it back at him. “Just get out.”

“Tony.”

“Steve. Get out. You delivered your message, I’ll pass it along.”

“Tony, you know if you need anything, anything at all, please just call us.”

Tony looked back at his work and Steve walked out the door.

=====

Steve Rogers was a bad omen. Tony had told Peter to be careful, to watch his back over the next few days. He wasn’t going to keep him away from Spider-man, Tony knew how important it was to him, but Tony was worried.

And then it happened, just like Tony thought it would.

Tony was sitting on the couch reading when he got the call. Peter called him often when on patrol, he wasn’t too worried.

“Hey, kid.”

“Tony Stark.”

Tony’s blood ran cold, he got up quickly. “Who is this?”

“It’s actually about time we met. I’ve been stealing your tech from under your nose for over a year now. You've gotten sloppy out here, old man. Especially sending such a young kid out in your place. I must admit, I didn’t realize how young he was when I dropped the building on him.”

“Let him go,” Tony said, he lifted his hand ready to call for his suit, but found he was once again standing frozen in place.

“Nah. He’s turning out to be really difficult to get rid of. I think I’m finally gonna do it now. Just wanted to let you know, you should take better care of your things safe.”

The phone hung up and he scrambled to call the phone back, but it just rang endlessly before cutting out completely.

“FRIDAY,” Tony called out, “where’s Peter?”

“It appears that he is outside of Queens, I have contacted Karen but Peter does not seem to be wearing his mask.”

“Shit,” Tony said, his heart slamming in his chest. He tried to call for his suit, tried so hard to hold his hand out, but he couldn't. He could feel the panic rising in his chest, bursting out.

“Boss, you appear to be having a panic attack. I advise that you get help.”

“Call Rhodey,” Tony choked out, he closed his eyes, trying to breathe.

“Boss, it seems that Rhodey is not available by phone at this time.”

“Shit,’ Tony said, feeling like a broken record player. He knew Rhodey was out of the country. It was perfect timing, as usual.

There were several seconds where all Tony could think about was Peter out there, getting killed because he couldn’t rescue him. Peter, who always thought Iron Man was his hero that Tony Stark was his hero and here he is, useless and broken.

At that moment he realized that there wasn’t a single thing he wouldn’t do for that kid out there.

“FRIDAY call Steve Rogers,” he breathed out and closed his eyes.

Steve answered the call almost immediately. “Tony?”

“I lost the kid. Toomes has Spider-man, Steve. I need your help.”

====

When Peter opened his eyes, he had a moment of complete confusion. The last thing he could concretely remember was sitting on a rooftop in Queens, eating a hot dog. And now he was in a garage of some sorts.

He was sitting on the ground with his arms behind his back. He could feel the tape wrapped around his wrists, forcing his hands together. He had his webshooters, but even if he hit the trigger, the tape was in the way.

Good thing he was much stronger than masking tape.

It took him a second to realize he was missing his mask, a blind panic rushed over him. He looked around, hoping to find it somewhere, but he knew it wouldn’t be. He stared to pull on tape, trying to get the best angle to rip it.

“Woah there, Spider-man.”

Peter’s head shot up when he heard the voice, he looked up to see Adrien Toomes in his full wing suit walking into the room. “Or should I say, Peter Parker.”

Peter’s breath hitched but he kept his eyes staring straight at Toomes. “Sorry, wrong number.”

“Don’t be such a smartass,” Toomes hissed. “It doesn’t matter anyway, Pedro. Can I call you Pedro? Well, you don’t really have a choice now, do you.”

“What do you want?” Peter asked, he pulled his hands apart a little more. He knew he could break them, but he wanted to wait until he had some kind of advantage over Toomes.

“I already told you that, didn’t you pay attention?” Toomes said walking closer to Peter, he quickly dropped the tension he was using to pull at his hands.

“Sorry, I don’t listen to villain monologue very much anywhere. It’s all the same after a while.”

Toomes smirked. “Really, Pedro, you want to spend your last few minutes on Earth being a smart ass?”

Peter shrugged. “Eh, I’ll be alright. You already failed at killing me, what twice now? I think my record is a little better.”

Toomes actually laughed his time and shook his head. “That’s because I left it up to chance. This time I’m making sure you’re dead before I leave. I even called your dear sweet Stark to let him know too. I wanted to make sure he could find your corpse.”

“What would Liz think if she knew her Dad was about to kill a kid?”

The expression on Toomes’ face changed drastically at the sound of Liz’s name. The smirk he had dropped, his whole face was void of any emotion. Peter thought he’d look angrier, or even a little surprised. But this face, this face was much, much worse.

“Don’t you dare bring her into this! Everything I do is for her!”

Toomes must have started up his wings, because Peter could hear the whistling sound coming from them. The engines on the backside started to glow a blue light. The helmet that had been missing from Toomes’ face, latched down. He looked like a giant vulture, the wings were so much bigger then what Peter had remembered. It was terrifying.

Well, Peter thought, it’s now or never. Peter jumped to his feet in one movement and then pulled, as hard as he could ripping his wrists apart, the tape coming off.

“End of the line, Pedro,” he heard Toomes say before he rushed towards him. Peter started shooting his webs at him, catching onto one of Toomes’ wings. It connected and Peter pulled, trying to veer him off course.

It worked, but the momentum tossed Peter across the room. He let go of the web, Toomes spun for a second before correcting. Peter jumped back up but Toomes was faster and crashed into Peter so hard, it knocked the breath of him.

Peter’s head hit the concrete floor with a hard thud and the room went black for a fraction of a second. And then Toomes was above him, sinking the suit’s mechanical claws into his chest. They sunk through the fabric of his suit and bit into his flesh, he screamed. The claws gripped tighter and he felt like his skin was on fire.

And then they were moving. Toomes was flying them up and he crashed through the ceiling of the building like it was nothing. Peter’s hands went to the claws, gripping at the metal but Toomes then used the suit’s hands to start punching him. Peter gave up going for the claws and managed to catch another punch before it hit him.

Toomes’ face loomed above him and then the claws let go, sending Peter backwards towards the ground. Instinctively Peter shot a web up, it grabbed onto the wing of the suit again. This time he was about to use the momentum in his favor. He swung forward, sending him upwards and above Toomes.

He landed hard on the right wing, hard enough that it lopsided Toomes immediately and Peter was able to connect another web to the wing before jumping off the end of it while pulling. He managed to bring Toomes down. Peter jumped off at the last minute, landing hard on his feet. Toomes went down wing first, the engine's running suit started making an angry electric sound and sparks flew.

Peter’s head was pounding, his vision was starting to get blurred. He could barely breathe anymore, he couldn’t fill his lungs up with enough air. He looked down for a second, blood was pouring out of several cuts along the front of his suit.

“I must admit,” he heard coming from in front of him. Toomes stood, the right wing was heavily damaged, but not enough to keep him on the ground, “you are putting up far more of a fight then I thought you would.”

Peter would have replied, but he coughed a wet cough instead. Toomes came back at him, not giving him another second. Peter ducked his time, dropping to the ground and rolling. One of the claws managed to grab him again, this time from the back.

Toomes lifted him in the air only a foot or so before slamming him back to the ground. They had landed somewhere Peter didn’t recognize, the ground below him was dirt and grass thankfully. The impact still hurt, he could feel his nose break on the second one. On the third slam he put his hands down, a mistake, the impact snapped his wrist back. He let out another scream of pain as the claws in his back let go again.

He rolled onto his back, looking straight up Toomes again. He was hovering, electrical sparks illuminating behind him. It reminded Peter of fireworks or shooting stars. He let out another wet cough, he felt like he was drowning but there was no water. He could vaguely hear voices but he couldn’t tell who was yelling or where it was coming from. Toomes’ head had shot to the side but his claw was going back down to pick Peter up again.

Or it would have, if something didn’t slam into Toomes’ middle and sent him flying backwards. Peter tried to sit up, but his chest felt like it was full of lead. He didn’t need to sit up however to see who it was that saved him.

Captain America came hovering over Peter’s face, he was talking but there was way too much ringing in Peter’s ears for him to hear clearly. Captain American bent down, closer to Peter and he could hear a little better.

“Hold tight, son. You’ll be okay.”

Peter nodded weakly and then a second later an Iron Man suit was on the other side of him. Captain America said something to it and the suit responded. Captain America left Peter’s field of view.

“Hey, kiddo,” he heard coming from the Iron Man suit, “you’re going to be alright.”

“Mister Stark,” Peter said roughly, the words scratching as they came out. A second later the faceplate of the suit opened and Tony’s worried face greeted Peter. “You’re here?”

“In the flesh,” Tony said, looking over Peter as he coughed again. Tony’s hands went to his face. “I had to come save my kid.”

“Your kid?” Peter questioned, he was having a hard time keeping his eyes open, Tony’s hand was warm and soft on his face. He closed his eyes and leaned into the touch.

“My kid. Hey, why don’t you stay awake for a bit alright?”

He could get used to that, hearing Tony call him his kid, he thought as he finally drifted off.

Chapter Text

Peter opened his eyes to an unfamiliar room again. There was a moment of panic, he could feel something on his chest and his hands went for whatever was there.

“Woah, Pete. You’re okay, slow down,” he heard someone say, and then Tony was hovering over him, grabbing Peter’s wrists. He looked down, his chest was bandaged but no metal claws were coming down on him. “You’re okay, kid.”

Peter took in a deep breath, it still hurt but it was an improvement. He looked at Tony, who let go of his wrists and then sat on the edge of the bed. Peter tried to sit up a little better but his chest still complained.

“Mr. Stark?” He asked, looking at him. He looked tired but smiled at Peter.

“I thought we were at Tony by now, kid.”

Peter smiled back at him, feeling all the tension slowly fade away. “What happened?”

“You got into a fight with a giant metal bird.”

“Sounds like me,” Peter said and then asked. “How bad?”

“Broken ribs, broken wrist, a punctured lung, concussion, and lacerations,” Tony named off, he leaned over and put his hand on Peter’s good one.

“Should have injury bingo cards,” Peter mused, he yawned afterward.

“Uh, no. No, we are not. You are going to be wrapped in bubble wrap forever, Pete.”

Peter smiled again and then a memory came to life. “You said I was your kid.”

“Oh, you remember that,” Tony said, he gave Peter’s hand a little squeeze. “You were pretty out of it when we found you.”

“Course, I remember it. I remember Cap.. oh, you talked to Captain America!” Peter exclaimed and tried to sit up again. “And you got in a suit!”

Tony let go of his hand and reached out hovering over Peter’s chest to stop him from sitting up. “Lay back down before you pop some stitches.”

“Thank you, Tony,” Peter said with a sudden rush of emotions running over him. He was tired and hurt, but Tony Stark was sitting on the edge of his bed and he felt a million times better. “For everything.”

“Anything for my kid,” Tony said smiling and then took his hand away only to ruffle Peter’s hair.
He could get used to this.

====

Tony sat in the Avenger Compound’s massive kitchen drinking some less than stellar coffee. He’d been here for three days now, waiting for Peter to recover enough to head back home. It was weird being back at the Compound, it looked the same but wasn’t at the same time. He hadn’t really talked to anyone yet either, he was spending most of his time at the kid’s bedside.
His kid, Tony thought and couldn’t help but to smile. He said it accidentally the first time, the fear of seeing Peter laying on the ground broken and bleeding was too overwhelming. But he meant it, of course, he did, he was kidding himself if he didn’t think of Peter as his now.

“Hey Tony,” Steve said from the doorway. Tony lifted his head and gave him a nod. Steve walked into the room and took a seat across from him.

“Rogers,” Tony responded, now that the fear of losing Peter had left, he was still feeling uneasy around Steve. He hated that he had to go to him, show him that he was helpless. On top of that, Steve now knew the identity of Spider-man.

“You’ve got a great kid, Tony. He’s a lot stronger than he looks, he held his own pretty.”

Steve had been the only one so far to meet Peter after the incident. He insisted on seeing him when he had woken up. Peter was delighted but tried very hard to hide it but Tony saw the grin on the kid’s face.

“Yeah,” Tony responded. “Thanks for the assist.”

Steve smiled, it wasn’t a mocking one it seemed genuine. “Of course. If you're interested, you should bring Pete around to meet the rest of the team. I know they’d love him and I know we’d be willing to help him train a little.”

Tony saw the olive branch hanging over his head. There was a moment of selfishness again, wanting to keep Peter and Spider-man all to himself but then it subsided.

Having to reach out to Steve was difficult but Steve didn’t even hesitate. He immediately set out to help Tony get to Peter. He didn’t ask a single question or make any remark.

“I’m sure he’d love that,” Tony responded, he didn’t smile, but he did look Steve in the eyes for the first time in what felt like years. It was a clear message that he hoped Steve took.

Olive branch accepted.

====

3 months later….

“Peter Parker, get you butt down here or you’ll be late,” Tony called out down the hallway, entering fully into annoyed parent mode.

Peter showed up a second later, skidding across the floor in his socks. He made it all the way down the hallway, shoes in his hands. He stopped in front of Tony to shove his feet into them. “Sorrrrrrrrry,” he said, elongating the r for a ridiculous amount of time.

When his shoes were on, he stood up tall in front of Tony, a nerdy shirt and jeans, hair slicked back with so much gel and a backpack slung over his shoulder. He looked happy, only a little nervous.

“If you don’t want to go back, Pete, you can homeschool,” Tony offered for the millionth time that week alone.

Peter had finished up the school he missed over homeschool and now he was heading back to Midtown for the first time in almost two years. The kid looked nervous and Tony didn’t blame him.

The whole fostering thing was nerve-racking but Pepper stepped up and took care of pretty much everything. She had things in order before Tony could blink. It was a little rough at first, Peter had to go back into foster care briefly until social services could legally hand Peter over to Tony. But eventually, after a lot of expensive lawyers, money, and puppy dog eyes (mostly from Peter), Tony was officially Peter’s legal guardian. Tony was the first to admit, it wasn't nearly as scary as it sounded.

“No,” Peter said, very unconvincingly but he smiled anyway, “I’m ready. I’m good. I’m cool. I’ll be fine. Ned’s there.”

Tony reached his arm around Peter’s shoulder and walked him towards the front of the building. Happy was waiting for them out front, Peter stopped walking when he noticed the car.

“Tonnnnny,” he whined, “why do you have to take the limo? I don’t want the attention.”

“You?” Tony joked, “You run around in spandex, I thought you craved attention.”

Peter rolled his eyes but kept walking. “Hiya Happy!”

“Hey there, Pete. Ready for your first day?”

He nodded but before he got to the car, Tony stopped him. “I want to get a picture first,” Tony said, taking out his phone.

Peter glared at him. “I’m not going into first grade you know.”

“I know, now smile,” Tony said, aiming the camera at Peter. Peter gave him a smile that was a little too fake but Tony didn’t mind. He might as well start being the annoying parent now when Peter couldn’t change his mind anymore.

Without another incident, they got into the car. Peter sat with his arms crossed, backpack at his feet.

“You’ll be fine, kid. No one will say anything and if they do, I’ll have them expelled.”

“Yeah,” Peter said trying to hide his grin, “that’s a total normal parent thing to do.”

It took about 30 minutes before they pulled up to Midtown. Peter hesitated in the car, hand on the door handle. Tony reached over and hugged him, it must have taken Peter by surprise because he tensed for a second and then let go of the door and hugged him back.

“You’ll be fine, Pete. You’re smart and you deserve this. I’m so proud of you for wanting to go back.”

He tried to pull away but Peter’s grip tightened on him, maybe a little too hard but Tony relented and stayed in the embrace. “Thank you,” Peter’s reply was soft but Tony heard it. He kissed Peter's temple and the kid pulled away. His face was a little flush, embarrassed maybe, but he had a smile on his face.

“Remember, Happy will pick you up after school. I should be back from the compound by dinner time. We’ll order Thai and finish watching Stranger Things?” Tony asked him, giving Peter a second to collect himself.

It seemed to work because he smiled and put his hand back on the handle. “See you then.”
He got out of the car, Tony watched him wave to Happy before turning around and walking towards the school. He could see Ned hurrying towards him, they stopped and did their weird and complicated handshake. He caught Peter turning around one last time before heading into the building.

“Alright,” Tony said to Happy, “let’s go.”