peter parker oneshots

like father like son

Tony Stark was a good liar. It came with having to deal with press (and his father but he's not ready to unpack that just yet thank you very much) all his life. Plaster on a disarmingly charming smile, make a few jokes. No one questioned the darkness lingering in his eyes. It was easy to be what people believed you to be when it was negative. Becoming an asshole and a playboy was easy. It was harder when it was positive. Being something like a mentor. A father. Tony Stark was many things, a good man - in his mind at least - was not one of them. So when a kid from Queens rocked up in red and blue pyjamas with the crazy belief that Tony (or "Mr Stark") was a genuinely good person, Tony dismissed it. He hadn't planned on the kid worming his way into Tony's heart. He hadn't planned on wanting, needing, to be better for the kid. So the kid didn't realise just how much of a disaster Tony was. But when Tony fucked up, the kid still believed in him. Not many people had done that in Tony's life. And even a good liar like Tony wouldn't be able to tell you he didn't care about the kid. And that terrified him.

Peter Parker was not a good liar. It came with the anxiety (which was only made worse after the bite, thanks for nothing spidey sense). Plaster on an unconvincingly nervous smile, fidget awkwardly. Everyone questioned the words spilling out of his mouth. That was as Peter Parker. Spider-man was different, in Peter's mind at least. Spider-Man was everything Peter wasn't. He was everything Peter Parker could never be, could never compete with. So when someone (a genius billionaire superhero) found out his identity and came to visit him when he was Peter Parker, there was no way he would be able to lie his way out of it. He knew that. And he didn't want to. Because it was pretty frigging cool that Iron Man wanted his help. For the first time, someone knew who he was outside of the mask. Maybe Iron Man would like him for Peter, not just for Spider-Man. Of course, that didn't happen - not at first. But over time, things got easier. Lab days turned from every second week, to every week, to three times a week. Tower sleepovers were some of Peter's favourite memories. Tony was slowly becoming the third father figure Peter had had in his life. And that terrified him.

At first the idea had been for shits and giggles. Take a DNA test, it's not like anything would show up. Or at least that's what they all thought. The whole team were gathered in the med bay, Bruce preparing the needles to draw blood from Tony and Peter. Peter's veins were coursing with nervous energy, legs bouncing up and down, up and down, up and down. His body was shaking like a leaf and Peter tried not to think about the sound of his thundering heartbeat. Tony was calm - outwardly at least. He had an almost bored look painted across his features, sitting perfectly still. But Peter could hear his heartbeat, racing, racing, racing. He was comforted by the fact that they were both nervous. 

Peter didn't exactly know why he was nervous. He just sort of was. It's not like the negative result would change anything. No, Peter wasn't worried about that. He was terrified of the other outcome. Trying to reassure himself, Peter told himself over and over in his head that it wasn't plausible. His father was Richard Parker. But what if? He'd never looked anything like his father. Everyone wondered where he got his brown eyes from - Richard's eyes being blue and Mary's being green. Tony's eyes were brown. No. He couldn't think about that. Peter struggled to keep his breathing even. Everything would be okay, he told himself. The chances of being him being Tony Stark's son were minuscule. And yet he couldn't quite get rid of that little voice that whispered in the back of his mind. What if he was? What then?

"This might prick a little," Bruce told them, nerves underlying his calm 'doctor' voice, as Peter had dubbed it. He didn't blame Bruce. Peter was pretty nervous himself. And then Peter was watching the needle slide into his skin and feeling it pierce his vein, blood filling up the vial Bruce was holding with steady hands despite Bruce's heartbeat thundering. And then the blood was collected, the needle out of Peter's arm, the skin closing before a dot of blood even had time to form. Enhanced healing factors came in handy. And Peter was watching, desperately trying to quell the shaking of his hands, as Bruce took Tony's blood, the dark red liquid filling up the vial. The dark red liquid that looked so innocent, so harmless. The dark red liquid that could change <em> everything </em>.