Chapter Text
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“Why do you look like someone killed your puppy?” Clint asked as he hopped down onto the couch from who knows where.
Tony continued staring at the television, not really knowing what was on. “Don't you have arrows to shoot or a nest to make?”
“You're grumpy...so they means something is definitely wrong.”
Tony just huffed and ignored him.
“Oh, I get it .” Clint sounded giddy in amusement. “It's the kid. He's not here and it's Friday.”
“I'm not upset. He has a life, you know. Maybe him and his buddy are at the movies,” Tony grumbled, playing with his phone in his hand. Like he had been doing for the past hour.
“Listen, Tony, you know I'm not good at all this gushy feelings crap.” Clint sighed. “But this kid adores you. If you called him up to ask if he was coming over, do you know how happy he would be if Tony Stark called him?”
Tony glared at his lap. Clint was right. He had gotten used to Peter visiting their compound every weekend. And if he couldn't make it, he always called to let Tony know.
With a sigh, Tony nodded. “I guess it wouldn't hurt to call…”
Clint slapped him on the back. “Good. I'm going to eat the last of the pudding while you make this kid’s year.”
Tony rolled his eyes as Clint walked out of the room. Once he was alone, Tony unlocked his cell phone and found Peter's contact. He hesitated before clicking his name and then lifting the phone to his ear.
Tony was surprised that phone rang a few times. Usually, Peter picked up on the first ring. He was even more surprised when it went to voicemail.
Tony hung up before he leaving a message. He frowned, feeling a little worried. He pulled up the app in his phone that let him trace Peter’s suit activity. But it showed that Peter hadn't used the suit since patrol the previous night.
He tried calling Peter again but there was no answer. Slightly panicking, Tony called up Aunt May.
“Hello?” She said after answering, sounding a bit annoyed.
“Hey, May. It's Tony.” He paused before continuing, “Is Peter with you by any chance?”
“No,” she answered and Tony's heart began to race. “He's with Ned.” He calmed down.
“Oh, that's what I thought. But he wasn't answering his phone and he never called to cancel…”
“He didn't tell you?” The irritation in her voice was replaced by confusion.
“Tell me what?”
“At his school, it's Father and Son night. The gym is set up with games and music and food. This is Peter's first year without Ben…”
Tony's eyes widened. How could Peter have forgotten to mention this to Tony? The poor kid was probably devastated, watching all of the other boys with their dads.
“I told him to ask you,” she said slowly, as if she was unsure if that was okay. That was definitely okay with Tony. He would have said yes to Peter if he had asked. “But he told me that you were busy. So Ned is sharing his dad for the night.”
“He never asked me…”
“Yeah, well, he was probably embarrassed. He tries to act all tough and like he's too big for stuff like this to upset him. But he's not good at it.” May sounded sad and Tony didn't blame her. He knew what it was like to lose both parents but at least he was older. Peter was a kid when he lost his parents. And then he lost his Uncle Ben, the closest thing to a dad he had.
“Do you think...maybe I could...head down there, if it isn't too late.” Tony held his breath, waiting for May to respond.
“Yes, please,” she said immediately. “It only started a half hour ago and it doesn't end until late tonight.”
Tony was already up on his feet. “I can make it there in a half hour.”
“Thank you,” she surprised him by saying.
Tony smiled. “It's no problem.”
They hung up and Tony rushed to his bedroom. “FRIDAY, get Clint. This was his idea so he's flying me to Queens.”
He grabbed a suit jacket to pull over his AC-DC t-shirt. He ran right back out in less than two minutes, grabbing his sunglasses off his dresser before he shut the door.
He met Clint, who was already waiting by a Quinjet. He was smirking as he leaned against it. “You know this is only for missions.”
Tony waved him off. “Like you always follow rules?”
“Get in.” Clint rolled his eyes.
What would have been a few hours drive at least, was only a 35 minute flight. When they reached the school, Clint set down on the roof. “I gotta split before someone makes a big deal of us landing on a school roof. Call me when you need a ride back.”
Tony nodded. “Thanks, Clint.”
Clint gave one of his rare, genuine smiles. “Hey, if I were gone, I'd want someone like you helping my kids out.”
“Careful what you wish for, buddy.”
Clint laughed. “Have fun, Stark.” He waited for Tony to get off the jet and wave before flying off.
Tony took in a deep breath and straightened his jacket before heading through the door that led him inside the school. He walked through the empty halls, looking around at all the trophies and posters. It was a school just for science and technology. Perfect fit for Peter. Tony smiled.
He followed the distant sound of music and voices talking over one another until he found a small lobby that led to the gym. The doors were open and he could see the crowd of people inside.
There were tables full of machines and places for dads and their sons to mess around with tech. Tony couldn't believe he was about to go inside. He'd never thought in a million years he would ever attended a parent... thing. But here he was.
Tony took a deep breath as he stood in front of those open doors. He hadn't felt this nervous since he was a kid. What if Peter didn't want him there and that's why he didn't ask?
Tony shook his head. Peter needed someone there with him. And more than just sharing Ned’s dad.
He was about to walk in when he remembered the sunglasses still on his face. He wore these every time he was in public: it was the Tony Stark thing to do. But tonight, he wasn't Tony Stark. He was Tony, Peter's fill in dad.
So he pulled the glasses off his face and pocketed them. Then he made his way inside them gym. It only took a few seconds for people to recognize him and the whispering started.
He walked past tables surrounded with teens and their dads. He didn't find Peter until he got to the back of the room by the snacks. He was sitting in a chair behind the table, not even eating.
He looked miserable.
“Hey, kid, I'm surprised you aren't schooling all these fools at the robotics table.”
Peter's head snapped up. “M-Mr. Stark?” He shot off his chair. “Is there a mission? I don't have my suit but I can run--.”
Tony took a few steps closer, shaking his head. “No. You're free tonight.”
Looking disappointed, Peter said, “Oh, okay.”
“What's the long face for?” Tony asked. “You've got a nice party here. Look,” he said, throwing a chip that he took from a bowl on the table nto his mouth. “They splurged for sour cream and onion.”
“This is stupid. I was getting ready to leave anyway.” Peter shrugged his shoulders.
“Leave? I just got here.” Tony huffed.
“What?” Peter asked, sounding hopeful.
“Why do you think I'm here?”
“I-I don't know,” Peter stuttered, rubbing the back of his neck.
“We gotta kick some ass, kid. You see all these competitions? You can win these with your eyes closed.” Tony was trying to act like stopping by wasn't that big of a deal.
“Are you sure? I mean, don't you have some important Avenger business to take care of?” Peter looked pained as he suggested that.
“And leave you all alone? No way.” He nudged Peter's shoulder. “Besides, you're an Avenger too so if there were some important business, you would be included.”
Peter smiled up at him. “So you really want to stay?”
“Wouldn't want to he anywhere else,” Tony replied truthfully.
“Awesome!” Peter quickly cleared his throat when his voice went high. “I mean, cool, yeah.”
Tony rolled his eyes. Peter wasn't good at hiding his excitement. “So where to first?”
“Ned. He, uh, I'm here with him. I want to let him know I'm good now.” Peter looked nervous. Like he wasn't sure if Tony knew he was at a Father and Son Night.
They walked up to where Ned was waiting on line to challenge an opponent in coding. Peter called his name and he turned around with a bright smile. The moment he saw Tony, his eyes widened and his mouth fell open. “Peter…”
“Tony Stark,” Tony introduced himself with an easy smile.
“I know,” Ned said not rudely but in awe. “I'm--.”
“Ned. Peter's guy in the chair,” Tony interrupted, making Peter squirm but Ned almost faint of excitement.
“OhmyGod,” he said in one breath.
The boys talked quietly while Tony introduced himself to Ned’s father. Ned’s father was just as starstruck as Ned.
“Hey, kiddo, you wanna walk around?” Tony asked Peter, hoping he would say yes.
Peter looked up at him with huge eyes and then back to Ned. “ Go, ” he urged his best friend.
With a smile, Peter turned back to Tony. “Yeah, they've got this cool table over there where you can make your own ice cream out of liquid Nitrogen.”
Tony laughed as Peter dragged him, physically dragged him by the sleeve, to the back table. There was a long line and Tony could have easily made this with him in his lab but Tony didn't want to ruin Peter's fun.
So Tony waited. He waited for every line that Peter showed even a little interest in. And he could hear the whispers around them. People were not only shocked that Tony Stark was at their school. But he was with Peter Parker.
Thankfully, Peter didn't seem to hear them. He was too busy jumping from table to table. He only slowed down when they reached the last table. The Peter that had opened up during the whole night had suddenly crawled back into his shell.
“We don't...you can head home now if you want,” Peter said quickly, not looking at the table in front of them with the longest line.
“What's wrong? You don't wanna play this one?” Tony looked over the heads to see what they were doing.
“No, I do --.”
“Then, c’mon,” Tony got on line and looked expectantly at Peter.
“But, Mr. Stark, you don't even know what it's for.” Peter pulled at the sleeve of his sweater nervously.
Tony shrugged his shoulders. “If you wanna try it, so do I.”
Peter stepped on line with him. “It's a competition to build a robot.”
Tony's eyebrows almost disappeared into his hair. “Really? Kid, we can build that with our eyes closed.”
“But, Mr. Stark--.”
“Gotta say I'm surprised to see you showed your face here, Parker.” A voice from behind them interrupted them. Tony knew right away this was not one of Peter's friends.
“I'm allowed to come. I've got to beat you again, don't I?” Peter shot back. Tony couldn't help his small smirk. Peter had this covered.
“Really? Because the last time I checked, this was the Father Son challenge. I don't care what Stark look-a-like you hired to fill your Daddy shaped hole but you can't fool me.” Tony was going to kick this kid's ass. “ Tony Stark doesn't care about Penis Parker .”
Peter hesitated before saying, “Flash…”
Tony's eyes narrowed. Flash. This was that prick that has been tormenting him for weeks.
Tony turned around to finally face the bully. “I'm sorry, who are you?”
Flash stared at Tony with wide eyes. “ Tony Stark ?”
Tony smiled fauxly. “My friends call me that.” His smile fell. “So don't.”
“You're--.”
Tony rolled his eyes. “What's the matter, Flash? Running out of mean things to say?”
“Mr. Stark, it's okay,” Peter said, refusing to look him in the eye. All of the light in his eyes that Tony had been enjoying through the night was gone because of Flash .
“It's not okay.” He turned to the man behind Flash. “Are you his father?” The man nodded. “And you're okay with him treating other kids like crap?”
The man actually laughed. “Oh, come on. They're boys . It's all in good fun. Maybe if your kid wasn't such a pussy…”
Tony growled, feeling a surge of protectiveness and took a step forward. “Watch your mouth.”
“Or what? You gonna hit me, Stark ?” He grinned. “Please do. My lawyers would love that.”
Peter was holding onto his arm to ground him. “C’mon, Mr. Stark, you don't have to do this.”
Tony didn't move forward any more but he said, “Except I do have to do this. Because assholes like him make his children think it's okay to make other people miserable.”
Tony wanted to scream. He wanted to borrow Bruce’s ability to rage out and turn into a giant green monster so he could squish these two like bugs. Because they thought it was okay. They thought it was okay to make Peter wonder when he was going to get jumped again and dread coming to school.
No. Even worse, they thought it was a game.
“Let's just settle this when we get up there, huh? We'll see who really deserves the first spot in the decathlon team.” Flash glared at Peter with a smirk.
“Sounds good to me,” Peter said, glaring right back. Peter was definitely getting better at talking back as Peter Parker. He just had to pretend he was Spider-Man.
They waited on the line longer than Tony would have liked. Or maybe it just seemed to be dragging on forever because they were quiet. For the first time all night, Peter wasn't saying a word. And Tony knew it was because of Flash.
Tony kept himself between Flash and Peter just in case the little punk tried anything with him.
And finally, they reached the front. Tony and Peter went to one side of the table while Flash and his father went to the other side. There were the basic parts on the table and a box of extras underneath.
The timer started and Tony turned to Peter holding the instructions. “Do we need to follow this?”
“No,” he said in a hurry. “That's just in case some people get stuck.”
“Good,” Tony said. “We can do so much better.”
Peter nodded with a smile and they started working. Tony stayed close to Peter's side following any direction he said.
After their 10 minutes ran out, Tony stood back to take a look at their work. He couldn't help the swell of pride when he saw what Peter had accomplished.
Flash and his dad looked like they just followed the given instructions. Amateurs. As they showed theirs off first, the small crowd that had formed ‘ooh’d and ‘ahh’d. All it did was walk around by following Flash’s voice commands.
Tony rolled his eyes. Now it was Peter's time to shine. Peter set up his small robot and it walked around just as Flash’s did. But then Peter pressed a small button and it was flying into the air.
Everyone started cheering.
Tony smiled proudly and started to clap for Peter as well. Peter's wide eyes looked around the room, shocked that he was receiving this attention. He turned to face Tony but paused when he saw him clapping as well.
Tony wanted him to know this was all for him.
Flash’s dad was already pissed. Tony actually started to feel a little bad for Flash as he got yelled at for letting this ‘loser’ beat him out.
But then he remembered this was the same kid that shoved Peter naked into a locker just for shits and giggles.
Peter was still smiling widely and Ned came rushing through the crowd. “Pete! That was awesome! ” He wrapped his arms around Peter to pull him into a hug.
While those two were celebrating, Tony went over to Flash’s side of the table. “Good game,” he said to them. “But if I ever hear you're giving Peter a hard time again, you're gonna wish you never even looked at him.”
Flash glared but Tony could see he was taking that as a serious warning.
“And you,” he said, turning to Flash’s father. “Maybe if you stopped bullying your son, he'd stop thinking it was okay to bully other people.”
That left both of them speechless. Tony turned back to see Peter just turning around to face him. “We did it!”
Tony shook his head. “Oh no, kid. You did it.”
“But you built half of it!” Peter argued.
“I just followed your orders. You made this all by yourself in under ten minutes. That's pretty freaking awesome.”
“He's right,” Ned chimed in. “We all saw how you were the one behind it. No one thinks you won because of Tony Stark.” He quickly turned to Tony and said, “No offense, Mr. Stark.”
Tony clapped him on the shoulder to show none was taken.
“ I beat Flash?” Peter asked, seemingly in disbelief.
“Yeah, you did, kid.”
Tony wasn't ready for the arms that wrapped around him. “Thank you so much, Mr. Stark,” Peter whispered into his shoulder.
Hesitantly, Tony wrapped his arms around Peter. “You're welcome, Peter.”
And immediately, Tony wondered why he hadn't ever given the kid a hug before because he obviously needed one and Tony realized, so did he. ”So we've got some time before Clint gets here with our pick up. Wanna kill some time at Carvel?” Tony asked as they walked down the street.
“Yeah, I'd like that.” Peter smiled. He was still staring down at the small plastic trophy in his hand they had won.
Tony had the robot in his arms. “I think DUM-E will love his new friend.”
Peter blushed like every previous time Tony had complimented him on the robot.
After they had their ice cream and were sitting outside, Peter said, quietly, “Thank you...from coming tonight.”
Tony shrugged his shoulders. “It wasn't a big deal.”
“But it was. At least for me. I didn't...ever since Uncle Ben died I've had this empty part inside of me, that I didn't know what it was, missing until you came along.”
Tony usually didn't like hearing this stuff. He wasn't good with this whole ‘role-model’ thing he had going with the kid. Tony did not deserve to take the man's spot that had raised Peter for the first 14 years of his life.
“And it's not fair for me to say that to you because you're not my dad. You're a billionaire superhero that shouldn't be spending his weekends babysitting a kid.”
“What if I told you I didn't mind spending my weekends with you?” Tony asked.
Peter scoffed. “I'd call you a liar-- with all due respect, Mr. Stark.”
Laughing, Tony said, “It’s true, though. Before I came here I was sitting around waiting for you.”
Tony had enough nights of partying and drinking until he forgot his name to last a lifetime.
Now he needed a kid like Peter to worry way too much about when he was out on patrol, to help with the harder homework questions, and to be the father like figure that Peter didn't ask for but needed.
“Really?”
Tony nodded his head. “Don't tell Clint he was right but yes.” He nudged Peter's foot softly with his shoe. “Why didn't you invite me?”
Peter shrugged his shoulders. “I didn't want to weird you out with it being a Father Son Night.”
Thinking over his next words carefully, Tony said, “Well, I can't promise you I'll always be a good help, but I can promise that I'll always be there when you need me.”
"That's all I could have ever asked for, Mr. Stark.”
And because Peter was the best kid in the freakin’ world, he gave Tony another hug.