Becoming Spider-Man // Son of Stark 1

Chapter 11

Peter rushed into his room in a strop: immediately heading to his main closet. He grabbed his largest suitcase, the blue and red one that Dad and Pops had bought him for their holiday to Corfu, and started to angrily throw clothes into it.

"Tony," he heard Clint exclaim in anger, "What are you doing? Are you out of your mind?"

"Steve won the case, he's picking Pete up from here tomorrow morning... it's a two week trial run: if the court like what they see... Rogers and Barnes have him for good," Tony explained, wiping away the tears that had began to flow.

Clint gently touched Tony's shoulders, something he did to Cooper whenever he felt down. It probably didn't help but it felt nice trying to. "How comes you haven't told Peter, yet?"

Tony sighed. "I couldn't... it's just too hard. He's most likely listening to everything we say, though."

"How? I thought the walls were almost soundproof."

"Key word, there, Legolas, almost."

At that point, Peter peered his head out of his room, giving a scared nod. "Sorry," he whispered, "Couldn't help but overhear everything you just said."

"It's okay, bud. I shouldn't of got mad at you," Tony admitted softly, "And I probably should have told you about..."

"Everything?" Peter suggested, walking over to his Dad and leaning in against his chest.

"Yeah, kiddo," he pushed a few of Peter's curls away from his eyes, "I should've told you everything."

Clint slowly backed out of the room, not wanting to intrude on what could be one of their final hugs. He understood what Tony was going through: he knew what it felt like to have kids.

"Dad?" Peter asked, pressing his head towards the right of Tony's arc reactor. "Why aren't I allowed to stay here... with you?"

Tony rubbed his eye, crossing his fingers that none of his tears had shown. "I don't know, bud, I... I don't know."

* * *

"Just call him," Bucky insisted, watching as Steve hesitated outside the Tower. They had been been stood there for fifteen minutes. Luckily the weather wasn't too bad, especially after the cold weather he was used too.

Steve pulled out his phone, one of the latest Stark Industries models. "What if he hates me?" he asked, distressed, as scrolled to find Peter's number. "What if he'd rather have stayed with Tony?"

Bucky pecked a kiss on Steve's cheek, "He loves you no matter what... if he's even a tiny bit like his old Pops then he'll be fine."

"Did you just call me old, Barnes? You realise you're older than me, right?"

Shaking his head, Bucky smirked. "Have you gone deatf, Rogers, call him!" Steve did just that, pressing his son's number and waiting ten seconds for an answer.

"Hey, Pete, we're outside."

"Right... Just let me go say goodbye. To Dad. To the person that I was happily living with."

"Peter..."

The call ended and Steve suddenly felt immensely worse. It was he who had started the custody battle, it was he who had split apart this family.

"What the matter with him?" Bucky asked, sounding slightly more bitter than he intended to.

Steve shrugged, "Not sure, I just know that he isn't happy."

Their queries were halted, when they saw Tony Stark physically dragging Peter towards the glass doors. "Underoos, you gotta do this for me, you have to go with them," the brunet pleaded.

"I don't wanna go!" the boy yelled, his sneakers scuffing against the marble floor. "You can't make me go!"

"Pete, kiddo, this isn't the time for you to have a tantrum. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen you pull a tantrum before..."

Peter's wide, brown eyes met his father's - blinking every few seconds to keep away the tears. "That's because I've never, ever, been taken away from the people, or person, I loved."

Tony put his hands on his son's shoulders, "Pete... you've been moved from family before-" He never got to finish his words, he never got to say how it would be different this time because Steve was his Pops.

"No. No, I haven't. They were... they were d-dead, that's different," he shouted, breaking down by the end of the sentence. He fell to the floor, head in his hands.

"Petey, baby, it's okay," Tony whispered, rubbing Peter's back soothingly. "It's alright..."

Peter shoved Tony away, his super strength sending his Dad a few metres back. "It isn't, though. You're sending me away. You're not even putting up a fight. You're meant to be Iron Man but you can't even protect me."

Tony hauled himself off the ground, walking back over to his son. "I am protecting you, bud. If you want to be able to see me again you're just gonna have to along with this."

Peter stood up, still angered by his father but less than before, and began to walk willingly towards the doors. "Fine, I'll do this. But... only because their apartment is more central to the city, I'll be able to patrol a bit easier."

"You're gonna patrol without me?" Tony questioned, his voice covered in concern.

"Who said Iron Man can't meet... Spider-Man? There's no rules restricting him."

"Spider-Man? You're barely a teen."

"I don't think Spider-Barely-A-Teen really works... Dad."

Tony wrapped his arms around Peter, "Have fun, kid."

"Sure," Peter replied, shaking himself from the cuddle. "Love you.."

"Love you to, Pete."