Irondad Oneshots

i know how much it matters to you

It's a miscommunication.

Somewhere along the lines, Peter started thinking of Tony as his... father-figure. It's not his fault, really, it's Tony's. Why would he do things like check over his homework, take him out for ice cream, invite him to stay at the tower every other weekend for takeout and movie nights, if he didn't want to be thought of like that.

He's over at the tower for one of his weekends, for father-son bonding as May had said when he'd said Tony wanted to watch Scream that night, but it would be the fourth weekend in a row in which he lost to Peter's movie suggestion.

Nothing's out of the ordinary. They're eating pizza on the couch, Peter's already in his pajamas, Ferris Bueller is playing on the TV – Peter had originally suggested Clueless but Pepper couldn't join them until the second movie and she wanted to see that one with them – and Peter's rambling about his and Ned's most recent Lego set they'd completed. It's the perfect Movie Night.

And then Captain America steps out of the elevator.

Of course, Peter knew that Tony was talking to Steve, trying to mend their mistakes. He even knew that there was supposed to be a meeting on Monday. Tony hadn't wanted to keep it from Peter, despite wanting to keep him out of it.

Tony straightens, setting his slice of pizza down in the box. Within a fraction of a second, his expression goes from the soft, proud, happiness he'd had looking at the photos Peter had taken of Ned and their Lego, to calm, cool and collected.

Peter isn't so graceful, fumbling for the remote to pause the movie and running a hand through his hair, further mussing his curls, eyes going unbelievably wide like a deer caught in the headlights.

Captain America looks just as flustered which makes Peter feel just a fraction better.

"I'm sorry, this is a bad time," Steve says slowly.

"It's okay!" Peter says, tugging his sleeves over his hands. "I can go to my room for a bit and you guys can talk, it's okay, I've seen this movie like a thousand times before and I was more excited about Clueless, anyway, and Pepper won't be back for another hour. I should probably call Ned, too, so we can talk about the upcoming English presentation."

Tony catches his elbow as he goes to stand up. "You sure, kid? This is your weekend."

Peter looks over Tony's expression carefully, trying to find any hint of desperation, a reason to kick Steve out, but all he finds is an apologetic calm.

"It's fine, really." He tries for a smile. "Is it cool if I take..."

He trails off, one hand gesturing awkwardly at the pizza box.

Tony huffs out a laugh. "I might be a billionaire but you're going to eat me out of house and home, kid."

Peter pouts childishly. "I'm a growing teenager."

"Take it, go, we won't be more than half an hour, promise."

He hops to his feet, picking up his phone and pizza box. He turns to the captain. "FRIDAY's listening, so if you say something stupid, I will kick your ass."

Steve doesn't know he's Spider-Man, but his eyes go wide, like he really is scared of a scrawny teenage boy hurting him. "Sure thing, son."

It's not his fault that he overhears. It's not his fault that he has superhearing. It's not his fault that Steve doesn't know that.

So, around the corner and halfway down the hall, he hears Steve say, "How old is he?"

Peter freezes, fearing he'd been caught in his Spider-Man secret, but Tony's voice give away any nerves. "Sixteen."