After a long night of fighting crime, Peter swung back to his apartment in Queens. When he reached the fire escape outside his room, he slowly lifted the window before crawling in on the ceiling. As quietly as possible, he made his way over to the slightly open door before pushing it closed. He breathed a sigh of relief as it shut almost silently. Peter detached from the ceiling, relief washing over him as he realized he had not gotten footprints all over the ceiling (again), and dropped to the ground. The exhausted teenager took off the mask and started for his closet before the door swung open.
"Peter?!"
He froze. Aunt May.
The teenager (still in the Spider-Man suit) slowly turned to face his aunt. "Heyyyyyyyyy, Maaayyyyyy"
"What the hell?! Are you Spider-Man?!"
Since she had already seen him in suit it was kinda hard to deny her claim. So he simply nodded.
"You've been sneaking out of my apartment every night to go kill people?! I raised you better than this!"
Peter was quick to defend himself despite his own self-doubts. "I don't kill people! I save them! Mr. Stark gave me this sui-"
"Oh so Tony is in on this too?! He told you to lie to me and go behind my back and sneak out and disobey me-"
Peter interrupted her. "No no no! I was Spider-Man before he got involved. He gave me the suit to protect me and help me!"
May stood in silence for a moment before speaking. "Get out"
"What?" Peter asked in disbelief. He had heard her perfectly fine but he found it hard to believe May would kick him out.
May's gaze turned hard in anger. "Get oUT OF MY APARTMENT!"
Tears welled in Peter's eyes and his voice cracked as he pleaded. "Please, May. You don't mean it. We can talk about this!"
She grabbed the first thing she saw (the LEGO Death Star Ned had left behind) and chucked it at his head. It narrowly missed and the teenager jumped in fear and surprise. "I said GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!"
Peter tried reasoning with her but she ignored him and continued to screech, this time grabbing a text book and managing to clip the side of his head. The young hero fell back on the ground as the tears started to fall. He quickly filled his backpack with a few clothes and what little money he had before pulling on the mask and jumping out the window.
He allowed himself to fall for a few second before shooting a web and swinging through the city. Ignoring the pounding on his head, he continued as fast as he could, swinging without a destination in mind.
Karen's surprisingly-human-robotic voice came through the speaker. "Peter, your heart rate is elevated and you appear to be injured. I suggest-"
"I'm fine, Karen" Peter continued swinging despite Karen's warnings.
"Calling Mr. Stark"
Peter's eyes widened. "Karen, no-!"
"Hey, kid. What's up? Shouldn't you be in bed? You have school tomorrow" Tony's concerned face appeared on the screen in Peter's mask.
Distracted by his mentor, Peter misfired a web and landed roughly on the top of a building.
"What was that? Kid? Pete? Peter?!"
Peter coughed a few times, ignoring the ache in his lungs and the pounding in his head. "I'm fine, Mr. Stark"
Tony didn't look convinced. "Stay where you are. I'm on my way"
The teenager tried to protest and argue that he really was fine but the billionaire wasn't having any of it. Dejected, Peter rolled onto his back on the hard concrete. It only took 27 seconds (Peter counted) for Tony to suit up, fly to Brooklyn (he hadn't realized how far he had gone), and find Peter. His bright red and blue suit did stand out against the grays and occasional browns of the buildings so it was easier to spot him.
Tony climbed out of the suit and rushed over to Peter, quickly pulling off his mask. "Peter? Hey, kid. I'm here. Tell me what's wrong."
Peter ignored him and instead groaned in pain as Tony's hand brushed against his shoulder. He hadn't noticed the pain until then but he definitely bruised it. The billionaire said some things to Jarvis and Karen who spoke back about the best course of action for the injured teen. He finally walked back to his suit and waited for it to finish encasing him in metal before picking Peter up bridal style and flying to the tower.
Peter could hear Tony saying something but he didn't hear what exactly was being said. Instead, he let the wind in his hair and the sound of thrusters lull him to sleep.
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He awoke 30 minutes later in the med bay. It was only his third time in there (first was after the Vulture and second was to see an injured Steve) but he could identify the room from its beige coloring and bland atmosphere. The smell of antiseptic filled his nose and the bright lights burned his eyes as he struggled to peel them open.
Peter must've whimpered in pain because suddenly the lights were dimmed and a soft, comforting hand was rubbing his non-injured shoulder. The gesture was sweet and very maternal/paternal and it brought attention to his change of clothes. Instead of his suit, Peter was wearing a hospital gown.
"Hey, Pete. How ya feeling?" An unidentified voice whispered soothingly, jarring the teen from his thoughts.
The teenager instantly felt safe (even though he had yet to identify the person) and mumbled out an "I've been better"
The voice chuckled and despite the fact Peter had no idea who it was, he felt at ease.
"I'll let you sleep now. When you wake up you're telling me what happened. Okay, Pete?"
There was only one person who called him Pete. "Okay, Mr. Stark"
The billionaire smiled, despite Peter's closed eyes, and gently ruffled the teen's hair before sitting in the hospital chair and trying to sleep.
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Peter awoke only a few hours later. He was surprised to see Tony still in the uncomfortable hospital chair. He wasn't surprised to see he was awake. Tony noticed Peter's movement and pressed the button to call a nurse. One quick evaluation later and Peter was deemed safe to go home.
Home.
"So, Peter. What's the story?" Tony leaned back into the large black couch in the Avenger's penthouse. He took a sip of water from the glass in his hand as he waited (im)patiently for Peter's story.
The teenager was nervous. He was afraid of how Tony would react. Would Tony kick him out too? Laugh in his face? Get angry with him for revealing his secret?
Tony must have noticed the worried expression on Peter's face so he leaned forward and put a comforting hand on the teenager's bouncing knee. "Hey" Tony spoke so softly it could almost be considered a whisper. Peter's head rose to meet Tony's eyes, fear evident on his face. "Whatever it is, Peter, we will work through it together, okay?"
Peter nodded before beginning his story. He took special notice of Tony's facial expressions as the story progressed. The billionaire only looked angry once and that was when Peter told the parts about May hitting him and evicting him. The rest of the time the billionaire either looked deep in thought or concerned.
The teen was surprised because Tony didn't seem angry at him and hadn't thrown him out on the streets yet or demanded the suit back or anything horrible like that. Instead, Tony had stood up and paced around the room deep in thought. Obviously (well obviously to everyone who wasn't Peter) trying to figure out Peter's options.
When Peter finished the story, Tony spoke almost immediately. "Stay with me"
"What?" The teenager asked in disbelief and mostly surprise.
"You heard me. Stay with me at the tower. Your aunt kicked you out and you don't have anyone else to stay- no Ned doesn't count and I doubt MJ or her parents would be okay with you staying for such a long time." He let out a sigh and dragged a hand down his face before continuing. "Peter, I want to make sure you are safe, okay? Living on the streets isn't safe and I know your friends are only temporary options and I can't have my #1 intern living in a homeless shelter." He joked.
Peter gave a small smile and without thinking hugged Tony. The billionaire was surprised and tensed at first but quickly recovered and returned the embrace. Neither of them knew it, but the both of them were smiling. They hadn't felt like that in a long time. The feeling of safety and security and family.
Not that either would admit it but they both wanted to stay that way forever. And they might've if Pepper hadn't walked in.
The two sprung apart as the insanely badasss CEO began reminding Tony of his duties. She did stop mid-checklist to give a friendly (one might even consider motherly) smile to Peter with a promise of cookies fresh out of the oven.
She left the room in a hurry (probably to a meeting or conference) with an air kiss to Peter and a wave to Tony. The billionaire turned to the teenager with a fake angry glare and asked "are you stealing Pepper from me?"
Peter instantly turned red with embarrassment and managed to squeak out a 'yes' before Tony began to tickle him.
The arachnid had always looked up to the suave billionaire. He had always dreamed of one day working for a large company and doing similar jobs to Tony. Never in his (almost) 16 years of living did he think Antony Edward Stark would be inviting him to live in Stark Tower and tickling him.
Tony had always been cast as a whore in the media. Someone who'd make a horrible father. Egotistical and crazy and undeserving of any love or affection. And Peter had seen these articles. He knew the stories of Tony's playboy days. He also knew that it wasn't the full story. He knew the real Tony wasn't like that.
But it still shocked him every time Tony was affectionate (in a paternal way) to the young teen.
The billionaire finally relented and stopped tickling Peter, who stuck his tongue out and said "I hope you step on a LEGO"
A fake gasp of shock and mock drama left Tony's mouth. "That is the worst insult I have ever heard! How could you be so mean to me?!"
Peter laughed for the first time in a while. He replied with a cocky "you deserve it!"
So Tony did the only logical thing he could think of and grabbed a pillow and
BAM!
A pillow fight was started.
In the end, nobody knew who won. They both fell asleep in a warm embrace together on the couch before a winner could be declared.
When the Avengers returned from their late night training, they would enter the living room to find Iron Man cuddling with a small kid.
The only thing going through their minds was 'What the fu-"
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Thank you thank you thank you all for the votes and reads! We now have 2k reads which I didn't think was going to happen. Merry Christmas to those who celebrate and happy holidays to those who don't. Happy reading!