No Take Backs

Peter and the other Avengers are fighting some really weird dude on the edge of Brooklyn and Queens.  It’s not often that the others allow Spider Man to join in on things like this, so Peter is beyond excited that they’re allowing him to be a part of it now.  He hasn’t been invited, but he skipped his last period Spanish class to swing across the city and join the fight.  Steve is wholly against him being here at all, and has gotten onto Tony twice now over the comms, thinking Tony called Peter out of school to join them.

“You’re getting me in trouble kid,” Tony tells Peter over a private channel.  Peter knows Tony doesn’t care what Steve thinks, but Peter agrees that it’s annoying.  It’s no secret that Steve dislikes Tony.  Peter supposes it must irritate Captain America to be forced to live in Stark Tower for the time being until the U.S. Government trusts him and the other Rogues to go out on their own again.  Since SHIELD fell just before the Rogues were pardoned, Ross and the other government officials decided (without Tony’s consent), that the Rogues would have to be under Tony’s supervision.  Tony had explained it was something like parole until they could prove they were trustworthy again.  Peter often wonders if Steve knows that Mr. Stark and Peter hate having him there at the tower just as much as he hates being there.

“Sorry,” Peter says into the comms with a grimace.

“You know I’m going to get in trouble with aunt Hottie too.”

Peter knows Tony does care about what May thinks.  While May is trying to be supportive of Peter being Spider Man, and while she is supportive of him spending time with Mr. Stark and the other Avengers at the tower, she won’t be happy that Peter skipped school to be here fighting.

“That’s on me Mr. Stark,” Peter says.  “I’ll take the blame for it.  She’ll know you didn’t ask me to come.”

Mr. Stark grunts into the comm, and Peter isn’t sure if it’s to acknowledge what Peter said, or if it’s because one of the weird little gremlins that have been coming out of portals all over this part of Brooklin has just tackled him.  They are brown, have one big eye, two sticky tentacles, and are ugly as hell (Sam’s words, not Peter’s).

There’s a man controlling the little creatures, but Peter and Tony haven’t seen him for the last few minutes, and instead have been focused on holding the line between this neighborhood and the next.  They’re doing their best to keep the creatures contained.  Since Steve doesn’t want Peter here in the first place, but can’t get Peter to leave because Peter will only listen to Mr. Stark or Rhodey (who is in D.C. at the moment), he’s ordered Tony and Peter to stay to the edge of the neighborhood.  He had very vocally demanded that Tony ‘take responsibility for’ Peter twenty minutes ago.  Peter scoffs, the noise carrying through the mic on the private channel.  As if Mr. Stark needed to be told what to do, and as if he hasn’t always taken care of Peter.  Steve and some of the other Avengers sometimes look at Tony like he’s crazy, or like he’ll mess up whatever he touches, but Peter has yet to figure out why they act like that around him.  Mr. Stark is the best, and Peter will fight any of them on this point if he has to.

“You ok over there kid?” Tony asks, blasting one of the nasty little brown creatures away fifty feet above Peter.

“Fine, I’m fine,” Peter says.  He webs two of the creatures up together, then dives off the street light he is perched on and swings off towards a little group of them that are heading for a gap between buildings towards Queens.  They do not need any of these things escaping and getting out into the rest of the city.  Peter can only imagine the calls Animal Control will get if they do.

He thinks they’ve been capturing and killing these creatures for about twenty minutes when the flow of creatures suddenly stops, a larger portal opens up, and the weird dude controlling the creatures steps out.  He has a smile on his face like he’s pleased with himself.  Peter wonders why, and it appears Mr. Stark is thinking along the same lines, because he opens up his mic to the main comm line the whole team can hear and says, “The Wizard just stepped out on our end.  Everyone ok over there?”

“Fine,” and, “ok,” are echoed from the other members of the team.

“He threw a grenade and when it exploded two hundred of these little demons spilled out of it,” Clint says, sounding disgusted.  They can hear him breathing hard like he’s running, or climbing or fighting hand to hand.

“We’ll handle the wizard,” Tony says, and then switches back to the private line between himself and Peter.

Peter has met wizards before.  They live in sanctums all over the planet, and he has been to the one in New York on Bleecker street, though only once.  Because he’s met Doctor Strange and a wizard named Wong, he can say with certainty that wizards are at the very least human.  This guy is not.  He looks more alien than anything else, but because he can open and close portals to some sort of underworld that Peter sincerely hopes he never has to see in person, Tony has dubbed him a wizard.  Peter is certain he’s not using magic like Doctor Strange and Wong, but rather that he is using several devices.  If he can get close enough to take or destroy those devices, they can end this fight.

“Mr. Stark, look at his wrist.”

“I see it kid.  Stay back.”  Tony sends a blast out of his repulsors at the wizard-alien-not wizard dude, but he side steps it like it’s moving in slow motion and coming from a mile away.  Several more repulsor blasts are sent at him in quick succession, but none of them hit their target.  Peter decides to go in and get closer.

“Be careful,” Mr. Stark warns when he sees Peter swinging in.

Peter doesn’t have weapons.  He doesn’t send out damaging repulsor blasts, arrows, bullets, or anything else.  He doesn’t fight hand to hand like Nat, and he doesn’t have a shield to try to slam into the wizard’s chest like Steve.  Peter is purely a defensive superhero.  He contains with his webs, swings away if someone is trying to hurt him, and if he’s feeling confident that the odds are in his favor, he banters with whoever he’s fighting.

Mr. Stark has told him not to get overconfident before.  Peter supposes much later that overconfidence is what gets him into this whole mess he’s about to find himself in.

He swings around the wizard, shooting out webs to wrap him up in a cocoon, and then drops down to the street in front of him in a crouch.  “Whoa Mr. Wizard sir, I like your tech, but do you think you could stop opening up portals and send the little squid demon things back from whence they came?”

The wizard smiles at Peter, his teeth yellow and oddly shaped, not anything like a human or even a mutant from Earth.  He says something in a low tone in a language Peter doesn’t recognize as being from this planet.  It’s more clicks and groans and squeals than words.

“So is that a no then?” Peter asks.

The weird dude smiles again, and then there’s a blue light from under the webs he’s wrapped up in.  The light grows, pulsating, and Peter dives away, his spidey sense warning him of imminent danger.  He’s too late though.  He doesn’t dive away in time.  As he tucks into a roll, a blast of hot air washes over him, and he has the odd sensation that something is wrong.  So wrong.

“KID!”

Tony can’t believe his eyes.  What he just witnessed isn’t possible.  The wizard hears his shout and looks up.  He grins, points at Iron Man, laughs, and then opens a portal in the ground and allows it to swallow him.  The portal closes and Tony drops out of the sky, landing next to… well… not next to Spider Man.

“Kid, holy shit, kid, what-” His words come out, frantic and uncertain.  He reaches out, pulls his hand back, and then reaches out towards him again.  Before he touches him, he has FRIDAY lift the faceplate of his mask and retract the gauntlets so his hands are bare.  Where Peter Parker, 16 year old vigilante had been before, there now sits a trembling figure that looks to be about five years old.  He’s still wearing the red and blue spider suit, but it has shrunk too.

“Spider Man?” Tony asks.  He knows better than to call out Peter’s name in public when he’s in the suit.  He doesn’t want to give away his identity to whoever may be around capturing the action with their cell phone.

The trembling figure looks up at him, breaths heaving.  Tony hears a sniffle, and reaches towards him again.  “Hey kid, you in there?”

Because the suit has shrunk with him, Tony isn’t sure if the villain has just used some sort of shrinking ray, or if something else is going on.  He lifts the mask up a little to see underneath, and when he sees a face much too young to belong to a 16 year old, he lifts the mask off all the way.  There’s a five year old boy underneath.

“Kid?” Tony tries again.  The little boy doesn’t answer.  He only looks up at Tony with wide, scared eyes.  He’s shaking like a leaf.  Well shit, Tony thinks.  He reaches forward and lifts the boy up from under the arms and pulls him close.  This is Peter, it has to be, but he doesn’t know if Peter remembers who he is because he hasn’t answered him yet.  The little boy wraps his arms around the neck of the suit and refuses to let go.  Tony pats him awkwardly on the back.  “I’ve got you, all right?  Just- hold on.”

“Guys?” Tony says into the main comm line.  The others hear how uncertain he sounds.

“What’s happening?” Steve is all business.

“Spider Man is down.  I can’t leave him out here like this.  There are no creatures on this end anymore.  The wizard used a portal to get away.  I’m taking him back to the tower.”

“Is he ok?” Nat asks.

“I don’t know.”  He expects Cap to fight him, to demand he stay and to tell him off for letting Peter stay after Cap had wanted to send him away.  He thinks they can hear the tremor in his voice though, and Cap gives him the affirmative to take Peter back to the tower.  He switches the comms off and then looks down at the trembling bundle of red and blue in his arms.

“It’s ok kid, we’re going home, ok?  Hold on tight.”  He doesn’t know if this little version of Peter has powers, or if he has control over his powers, so he grips the boy tightly around the back and under the rear end and takes off.   He makes it back to the tower in just a few minutes.

As soon as he hits the platform outside his penthouse, the suit opens up and Tony carefully extracts himself from it while juggling the boy from one arm to the next so he can keep hold of him, and then walks into the penthouse.  He wishes Pepper were here, but she’s in a board meeting that isn’t scheduled to get out for another twenty five minutes.

He tries to set little Peter down on the kitchen counter so he can get a look at him and see if he’s hurt, but Peter is refusing to let go of him.  Instead, Tony rubs his back gently up and down and pulls him closer, which seems to please the kid.

“You don’t want to let go right now?  That’s ok.  I won’t put you down, ok?  I just wanted to see if you were hurt.”  He’s trying to talk in quiet, soothing tones.  The last thing he wants is for the kid to get scared and start crying.  He has no idea what to do if the kid starts to wail.

Instead Tony goes to the elevator and goes down 16 floors to the Avenger’s common room.  He knows the team will gather here when they’re done dealing with the wizard.  Then they can help him figure out what to do about this whole thing.  He hopes they catch the guy so they can get him to undo whatever he’s done to Peter.

He walks slowly back and forth through the space between the open kitchen and living room, murmuring softly into Peter’s ear and rubbing his back gently on occasion.  After a while the kid’s trembling becomes less pronounced, and finally stops.  He’s not asleep, Tony can tell, but he’s quiet and content for the moment.

His arms are starting to grow tired and he’s contemplating sitting down with Peter on the massive couch when the elevator door opens up and Happy walks in.  The man’s eyes immediately lock onto the little boy in Tony’s arms.

“What the hell is this?” Happy asks, voice gruff as he points to Peter.

Tony turns so the kid’s back is to Happy, shoots the man a glare, and then reaches up and covers one of Peter’s ears with his hand.

“Not in front of the kid Hap!”

At Tony’s angry tone, Happy holds up both hands as if to say he’s sorry, and says, “Who is that?  Where did you get a kid?”  He frowns and says, “He’s wearing Spider Man pajamas.”

“They’re not pajamas.  That’s a bonafide Stark Industries spider suit.”

Happy seems to be watching Tony’s face, trying to detect a lie or figure out what he’s trying to pull.

“Are you trying to tell me-” he pauses, points again and closes his mouth.  He crosses his arms and mutters, “Oh, his aunt’s gonna love this.”

Peter makes a low whining sound and Tony glares at Happy before starting to rock back and forth between his feet.  The smooth motion seems to settle Peter again.  “This isn’t my fault.  A wizard did this.”

“Did what exactly?” Happy asks.  He moves around the side of Tony to take in Peter’s face, but he can’t see much because the little boy’s face is buried in Tony’s shoulder.

“This.  Look at him!” Tony’s voice betrays some of the panic he’s feeling at the whole situation.  “He’s just there one minute mouthing off to the wizard, and the next he’s five!”

“Too small to be five,” Happy says.

“You think?  Four?” Tony asks.

Happy shrugs.  “What do I know about kids?”

Tony would give anything to have Pepper here with him right now.  He’s just considering having FRIDAY pull her out of her board meeting when the elevator door opens, and she steps off, as if Tony’s will alone has summoned her.

“Tony, I heard about the fight in Brooklyn.  FRIDAY said you were back already and I came to make sure you were-” she pauses when she looks up and catches sight of Peter in his arms.  “Honey- who is that?”

“Peter,” Tony says.  Yup, he’s definitely feeling panicked and overwhelmed.

“What do you mean Peter?”  She looks around as if expecting to see his intern and favorite superhero lounging on the couch or getting a snack out of the fridge.

Happy looks far too gleeful when Pepper realizes Tony is referring to the kid in his arms.

“That’s-” she trails off, and at the wide eyed look Tony gives her, she takes in the sight of her husband cuddling Peter to his chest again and puts her hand up over her mouth.

“Don’t,” Tony says.  “Don’t say it.”

“You two are so adorable!” she says, pulling her hand away from her mouth.

“You said it.  Why did you say it?  This is not adorable Pep, this is terrifying.  A wizard zapped my kid.  What if this is permanent?!”

Happy uncrosses his arms and says, “You gotta call the kid’s aunt.”

“No, definitely not,” Tony tells him.  “I’m not explaining this to her!”  He could take the fall for Peter skipping his last class.  He could not however risk losing the privilege of seeing the kid at all by explaining that somehow the kid had been shrunk, or de-aged on his watch.

“I’ll call her,” Pepper says.  She gives one last look at little Peter, who has turned his head to face away from Tony so he can see what’s going on.  Then she takes her phone and disappears down the hallway to the smaller more private sitting room so she can call May.

Happy approaches Tony and Peter so he can see Peter’s face.  “You remember me kid?” he asks softly.  Tony would laugh at the soft voice his normally grumpy friend is using if the situation isn’t so dire.  “I’m uncle Happy.”

“Nu uh,” Peter says, quickly turning his face away from Happy and burying it in Tony’s neck again.

Happy stands up and frowns.  “Clearly he doesn’t remember me.”  He looks like he has more to say, but the elevator door opens again and the rest of the Avengers pile out.  They look worn… tired.  For some reason Clint is covered from head to toe in slimy green goo, and Natasha is missing one of her boots.  Her hands are covered in goo up to her elbows as well.  They’re all talking amongst themselves as they step out.  Tony hears Clint say, “Thanks for pulling me out of that thing.  I was really afraid I was gonna have to wait until it sent me out the other end.”

Then Steve suddenly stops abruptly, causing Sam to walk into his back.  They follow Steve’s eyes to Tony and Peter.

“What the….” Clint trails off.

“Who’s the kid?” Natasha asks.  Tony can’t help but stare at her bootless foot.  Usually villains can’t even land a hit on her, and he wonders what happened to make her lose a boot.

“It’s the kid,” Tony says.  “It’s Peter.  I told you he was down.”

The group just stares at him.  Several mouths are hanging open.

“You said he was down, not-” Sam motions with his hand towards them and says, “whatever the hell this is.”

“Who hit Spider Man with a shrink ray?” Clint asks, and all eyes go to Tony, as if this is somehow his doing.

“There’s really no excuse for this Tony.”  Steve sounds like he’s disappointed, and anger and irritation flare up inside of Tony.  He’s always disappointed in Tony for some reason that Tony can never figure out.  It’s like he’s channeling Howard from beyond the grave, and Tony doesn’t think that’s fair given that the man has been dead for more than 20 years now.

“Really capsicle?  You think I did this?”

No one says that they all thought it, but it might be because the elevator door is open again and Rhodey is stepping out, so they don't have the chance.

“Is everyone ok?” he asks, holding his hands up.  He’s out of breath like he ran from the landing pad outside Tony’s penthouse to the elevator.  His eyes move over the Rogues, doing a headcount.  “I was in D.C. but I got here as fast as I could when the alert went out about the attack.”

“Thanks for joining the party,” Clint says.  Then he points towards Tony and Peter and Rhodey’s eyes come around to take in the scene.  “We’re just about to hear how Spider Man got himself into this mess.”

Rhodey’s quiet for a few moments before he says, “I know you told him the other day never to grow up, but this is going a little far, don’t you think Tones?”  All of the Rogues look back at Tony again.  They don’t know Rhodey as well as he does and don’t realize he’s joking.

“Thanks for that Honey Bear,” Tony says, feeling exasperated.  Peter apparently picks up on his unease at the way most of the Rogues are looking at him, because he clutches at Tony’s neck even tighter and lets out a low whine that only Tony can hear.  He pats him on the back and Peter settles.

Seeming to realize there’s a lot of tension in the room as he looks over the faces of the Rogues, Rhodey says, “I was just joking guys, chill.”  He steps towards Tony and says in a low voice, “Seriously, what happened here?”

Tony nods his head towards Peter and explains, “The guy we were fighting zapped him with some sort of blue light and he was just… he just shrunk down and the next thing I know the kid is just… a smaller kid.”

Cap strides forward and says, “Peter.  My name is Steve.  Do you remember me?”

Peter only clutches Tony tighter, and Tony turns him away from Steve a little.  “Everyone back off.  You’re making him nervous.”

“How do you know?” Sam asks.  “He hasn’t said a thing since we’ve come in.”

Clint speaks up before Tony starts shouting at them.  Tony has had just about enough of Steve today to last him for a week.  It’s bad enough Ross has forced the Rogues on him, but having to interact with Steve after Siberia… after almost not making it back to Pepper… it’s a lot to adjust to.  “Look how he’s clutching Tony’s neck,” Clint says.  “He only started doing it when you stepped closer.”

Steve frowns, clears his throat, and steps back.  “Sorry,” he says.  “This must be overwhelming for him.  He might not even remember any of us.  Someone needs to contact his aunt.”

“It’s been done Capsicle,” Tony says.  It used to be a nickname for the man back when they were friends, but now Tony only uses it when he’s feeling extremely irritated with him.  “Did you catch the wizard?”

“He escaped,” Nat says, moving to sit on the couch.  She pulls her remaining boot off.  Her moving to the couch seems to break the spell they’ve all been under.  Clint mutters about needing a shower because he’s still covered in green goo and moves off down the hall to take one.  Sam pulls out a stool at the kitchen island and sits down, and Cap rolls his shoulders like they’re aching.

“We need to find him,” Steve says.  His eyes rove over Peter’s back again and he adds, “Fast.”

“We can analyze the footage from the Iron Man and Spider Man suits,” Natasha says.  “See if we can gather any clues about the weapon used against Spider Man or about where the wizard went.”

“FRIDAY,” Tony says.

Like the good AI she is, FRIDAY doesn’t need to be asked. She’s been listening in and says, “Transferring footage and all available data now.”

“Give access to the team,” Tony says, and FRIDAY chirps to let him know it’s been done.  He clears his throat.  He almost told her to give access to the Rogues.  He’d said it on accident once a couple months back, and all of them had stiffened.  He can’t help it, he can’t bring himself to think of them as Avengers again, at least not yet.  They’re here, they’re a team, and sometimes it feels like they’re falling back into the dysfunctional family they were before, like when they found out Peter had been delivering pizzas as Spider Man a few weeks prior.  They’d come together to tease him a little before Tony talked to him about why he wouldn’t be able to do that anymore.

They’re not a family though, Tony reminds himself as Peter nuzzles his face into his shoulder.  If they are, Tony’s not a part of it.  He knows Peter doesn’t feel like part of it either.  He comes around the tower almost every day of the week, but he’s quiet around Cap and Sam, and has only recently started talking to Nat.  Peter likes Clint, and the two of them get up to some serious shenanigans together, but for the most part Peter doesn’t go to the Avenger floors unless he’s with Tony or Rhodey or looking for Clint.  He huffs a sigh and Peter grips him tightly for a moment before relaxing again.

His arms can’t take it anymore.  He’s strong, but Peter is too heavy to hold standing up for this long.  He moves around the back of the couch and sits on the edge of a comfortable armchair.  Nat watches him closely as he does, readjusting Peter’s legs from where they’ve been hanging down so he can sit on top of Tony.

“You want help?” Steve asks.  He looks like he feels sorry for Tony.  It’s a look Tony doesn’t often see from him.

“He won’t let go of me.”

“Is he sticking to you?”

“No.  I’m not even sure if he has his powers or has control over them.”

“Has he said anything?”

Tony shakes his head.  “Nothing but a few noises to rebuff Happy.”

Happy is still standing by the elevator and looks unhappy at the mention of what happened ten minutes before.

It’s only a few minutes until Pepper comes back and announces that May is on her way.  The rest of the team disappears to shower and change, and Clint reappears, hair wet.  He looks much better than he did when the team came in.  Pepper and Rhodey settle in on the couch near where Tony and Peter are sitting, and Happy goes to the kitchen and starts making a snack.  Happy brings over a sliced apple and a cheese stick and offers it to Peter, but Peter isn’t willing to look at him or accept the food.  He keeps his face buried in Tony’s shoulder.

“I don’t think it’s you Hap,” Tony says at the frown on the man’s face.  “Cap’s right.  I think he’s just overwhelmed.”

“It’s fine.  Kid is always hungry.  I just figured he might want something to eat.  I always bring him snacks.”  He doesn’t have to tell Tony, because Tony knows it’s true.  Once they realized that Peter had an enhanced metabolism, Happy took it upon himself to make sure there was always a snack waiting for Peter in the car when he got out of school so he could eat on the way to the tower.  Peter loves coming up to the lab or the penthouse and describing whatever snack Happy has given him that day.  Sometimes it’s a burger and fries, other times it’s fruit and granola bars.  Peter’s favorite snack by far was a big bag of gummy worms along with a blue bottle of gatorade and half a box of leftover pizza.  To this day Peter still brings that up as the ‘best snack ever’, and laments that Happy has never repeated that particular combination.

“I think he’s asleep,” Rhodey says.  Tony stills and tries to figure out if it’s true.  Peter’s breathing has slowed, and he’s no longer clutching him with a death grip.  He lets out a breath of relief.  If the kid is sleeping, at least he’s not scared.  The nap is short lived however, because a few minutes later, and the elevator door opens to reveal May.  She comes in, eyes searching the room for Peter.  Steve is in the kitchen making dinner, and Clint and Sam are at the counter talking quietly.  All of them turn to watch as May spots Tony and walks over to him.

Tony stands up, still holding Peter.  It’s always nerve wracking having to face May after Peter has been hurt or has done something particularly stupid like skipping school to go on a mission.  “May,” Tony says, voice tight.  “He’s not hurt.  He’s ok, but…” he trails away.

May doesn’t look angry, just unsettled.  Despite what Pepper has described to her over the phone, nothing could have prepared her to see her nephew this young again.  She moves around to the side to see that Peter is awake.

“How did this happen?”

Tony explains it all again.  The story is getting old by now.

“He’s a little younger than when Ben and I first took him in… about five.”

“Really?” Tony asks.  “He looks like he’s too small for five?”

“He’s always been a little small for his age.  He used to have a lot of health issues before he got his powers.  He had asthma and he was allergic to peanuts and citrus fruits.”  Her eyes come up to Tony.  “Do you think… is he really five again?  Does this mean he doesn’t have powers anymore?”

“We don’t know.”

Tony sits back down with Peter and May crouches down beside him, looking into Peter’s eyes.  “Honey, do you know what’s going on?”

Peter doesn’t answer, and May tries again.  “Do you know how old you are?  Do you know how old you were?”

Peter only stares at her, but Tony knows he must not be scared of May because he isn’t clutching at him like he does when Steve comes close.

She gives a little sigh and stands up.  “I’ll have to take him home and… I don’t know.”  She looks lost for a moment.  “I’ll have to call the school and say he’s sick or something.  Do you have any idea how long this will last?  It’s not… do you think it’s permanent?”

“We’re going to analyze the data from today after everyone has eaten,” Sam says from the kitchen.

“We’re going to find the one who did this and bring him in,” Steve tells her.  “We won’t let you down.”

“Thank you,” May says with a nod.  She shifts and looks like she’s ready to go, so Tony stands up again with Peter.  He tries to pull the kid away from his chest a little to hand him over to May, but Peter’s death grip is back and he starts to whine a little.

“Hey buddy, it’s ok,” Tony says.  “Your aunt is going to take you home.  We like aunt May, remember?”  He tries to pull Peter away again but then Peter shouts right in his ear, startling everyone in the room.

“NO!  Daddy please don’t make me go with the lady!”

Everyone is frozen in place, like Peter’s words have some kind of magic that can do such a thing.  Anxiety at May’s reaction to Peter’s shout and warmth at being called daddy by the kid he’d thought of as a son for some time now mingle and fight for attention.

He’s the first to unfreeze, pained look coming across his face as he looks up at May and sputters, “I- I don’t know what’s come over him.  I didn’t tell him to call me that.”

May’s face softens and she reaches out a hand and puts it on Tony’s shoulder.  “It’s ok Tony.  I know.”  She moves around to the side again to see Peter’s face.  Tony’s not quite sure what she’s doing as she moves in close, almost nose to nose with the boy.  Her eyes travel from one of Peter’s eyes to the other.  Then she stands up straight with a smile on her face, though Tony’s not sure he’s seen the smile at all as it’s gone in a flash.

She sighs heavily.  “Tag, you’re it,” she says.  Tony blinks at her.  He looks to Pepper for help, but Pepper and Rhodey are just sitting there watching the whole exchange like it’s a drama on TV.  The whole room is.

“Excuse me?” Tony asks.

“Look.”  May reaches up and rubs her forehead for a moment.  “I work long hours at the hospital.  I can’t take care of him as a five year old again.  I did this once already, remember?  That was when I had Ben to help me and I was working less.”

“Whoa,” Sam slides off the stool he’s been occupying at the kitchen island.  “You want Tony to take care of the kid?” Sam says it like it’s the craziest thing he’s ever heard.  

“That’s right.  Until you figure out how to reverse whatever all of this-” she motions to Peter, who is still clinging to Tony like a koala, face buried in his neck, “is.”

Tony is just as surprised as the rest of them.  He doesn’t mind taking care of Peter.  He loves it when Peter is at the tower and while he’s still freaked out that Peter is suddenly 11 years younger than he had been that morning, he’ll be happy to have him now too.

“Why don’t you seem upset?” Clint asks.  He turns to the others.  “Why doesn’t she seem remotely upset about this?”

“Like I said,” May says.  “I’m working 10 and 12 hour shifts at the hospital for the next ten days.  I have one day off in that stretch.  Besides it looks like Peter feels safe right where he’s at.”

Clint and Sam exchange glances.  She hasn’t even mentioned the fact that Peter called Tony daddy.  She doesn’t seem to care.

“So… this is ok?” Tony asks.

“More than ok,” she reassures him, voice soft again.  Sometimes Tony forgets that if May didn’t trust him, that Peter would not be allowed to come to the tower at all.  With the Rogues around and the way they always act like he’s going to mess everything up, he forgets that there are people that trust him, like May, and Pepper, Rhodey, Happy and Peter.  He forgets that his family is all right here with him whenever he needs them, because that’s always something he’s struggled with is asking for help from those he’s let in past his armor.  There’s a good reason for it, he’s reminded, as he looks up and catches the astonished look of Steve, who is ignoring the food he has on the stove cooking to stare.

May gives one last look at Peter, says, “Goodbye sweetie.  I’m here if you need me,” gives another look at Tony like she’s saying ‘you’ve got this’, and then walks to the elevator.  He wonders if she’s heading back to work, because she’s wearing her scrubs, and it’s clear that’s where she rushed over from.

After she disappears, Sam says, “Now we really have to find that guy.”

Tony doesn’t ask what Sam means.  He knows the team doesn’t think he’s capable of taking care of a kid, let alone raising one.  Steve and Sam have made their views on how they feel about Tony mentoring Peter well known over the last few months.  They’ve even gone as far as talking to Peter and cautioning him about taking after Tony.  The joke is on them, because Tony has a feeling Peter has tried to be more like him since that conversation.  The kid had even gone out and bought a Black Sabbath t-shirt and wore it in front of Cap the day after their little chat.  Now that Tony is charged with Peter’s care for an indeterminate amount of time, he wonders if they sell Black Sabbath shirts in Peter’s size.

He can’t help but let a little smile of satisfaction come over his face.  The kid is his, at least for a while.  He doesn’t know if Peter has just lost his memory and come to his own conclusions that Tony is his father, or if this is something else.  He also doesn’t care.  He stands up, and Pepper and Rhodey do the same.  He doesn’t say a word as they get into the elevator with Happy and head for the penthouse.

They’re quiet as the elevator rises up through the building to the top floor.  Once they exit into the penthouse, Happy heads straight for the kitchen and starts making another snack.  Tony follows him.  If Peter thinks Tony is his dad, then maybe he’ll listen to Tony and eat whatever Happy makes for him.  Until they know for sure if Peter still has his powers, they need to make sure he’s eating enough to satisfy an enhanced metabolism.

“Look, Happy’s making you something to eat,” Tony says, sitting on a stool and positioning Peter so he’s sitting on one knee.  This time Peter is more relaxed and lets Tony pull him away from his chest.  The little boy’s big brown eyes look around the penthouse as if seeing it for the first time.  He watches Happy as he cuts up a banana and finds a granola bar in the cupboards, and then his eyes wander to Rhodey and Pepper, who have come into the kitchen with them.

Happy sets the snack down in front of Peter, and then, despite that the kid is now five years old, gives him a look like he dares him to rebuff this snack.  Peter meets Happy’s eyes, and without breaking eye contact, reaches forward and takes a piece of banana, and starts eating it.  Happy relaxes and gives a satisfied nod.

He also looks shocked a moment later when Peter points at Rhodey and says, “Uncle Rhodey,” with his mouth full of banana.

Rhodey’s face lights up and Happy huffs, “What did I do to deserve this?  Why is he uncle Rhodey and I’m not uncle Happy?”  He’s asking the room at large, not Peter.

Tony laughs.  “Remember when you didn’t tip him when he delivered your pizza?”

“Seriously?” Happy asks, eyes wide.

“Apparently the kid holds a grudge,” Rhodey says with a laugh.

“I thought he had amnesia.”

All eyes turn back to Peter as he picks up another piece of banana and puts it in his mouth.

“Do you remember anything Peter?” Tony asks, and for a brief moment, he thinks the kid might.  He sees the same spark of intelligence in his eyes that’s always there when they’re working together in the lab.

Peter’s eyes rove around the faces present again.  He points at Pepper.

“Me?” she asks quietly, pointing at her chest.

Peter nods.

“Do you know who I am Peter?” she asks.

He nods again, but doesn’t say her name.  Apparently he’s still not feeling very talkative.

As Peter finishes his snack, the adults start to pull food out of the fridge to make dinner for themselves since they won’t be joining the Avengers.  They usually don’t.  Tony knows that Pepper, Rhodey and Happy all feel mostly the same way about the Rogues as he does.  He’s never said anything directly to Peter or around him to try to persuade him against the Rogues, but Peter is smart and observant, and he’s sure Peter has always known some of what went on in Siberia, though he’s not certain how.  He asked Pepper once if she told him, and she had sworn she hadn’t.

Peter relaxes into Tony’s side, legs swinging idly as he finishes his banana and then the granola bar.  Happy excuses himself and says he’s going to go out and see if he can find some clothes for Peter before most of the stores close for the evening.

Because Tony is still holding Peter, Rhodey and Pepper start to prepare dinner for all of them.

“Did you see the look on Steve’s face?” Rhodey asks Pepper as he pulls out a cutting board and starts cutting up bell pepper and onion.

She scoffs, but doesn’t say anything.

“It’s all right,” Tony says quietly across the kitchen island.

“It’s not all right,” Pepper says.  She shoots him a stern look, but it softens when she takes in the sight of Peter leaning back against his chest, completely at ease.  “I’m going to keep saying it,” she tells Tony.  “The two of you together are adorable.”

“I’m adorable anywhere,” Tony quips.

“You’re more adorable with your son on your lap.”

“You two are gonna make me sick before I can even get dinner made,” Rhodey says, but he’s smiling as he says it.

All three of them smile.  His son, Tony thinks.  For just a little while he gets to pretend like Peter is his son, because Peter thinks he is.

After a few moments, the conversation turns back to what happened in the Avengers common room.

“They act like they’ve never seen this from you before,” Rhodey said.  He turns and points the knife he’s been using at Tony and Peter briefly.  “Anyone who's seen the two of you together for just a few minutes knows you’re a good father.”

Tony is taken aback by his friend’s statement.  “But I’m not… a father.”

“Psh.”

“He’s right,” Pepper says.  “May wasn’t even bothered when Peter called you that, and she trusts you to take care of him.”

“She’s busy,” Tony said quietly.

“She’d never be too busy for Peter,” Pepper says, and Tony knows it’s true.  He wonders now if that was all for show down in the common room… if May did that for Tony’s benefit.  He doesn’t know what Peter has told her about the other Avengers, or if he’s told her anything at all.

“You know there are rumors,” Pepper reminds him.  “Half of the R & D department and most of the legal team think Peter is your biological son that you only recently found out about.”

“I thought that was confined to R & D,” Tony says.

“You know how fast rumors spread in this company,” Pepper says, putting rice into the rice cooker.  “Once legal got wind of it, they started drafting statements in case the news spreads and we have to hold a press conference.”

“Well that won’t be happening,” Tony says.  It won’t be happening, because Peter doesn’t belong to him, as much as he wishes he did.  Peter belongs to May.  May is his aunt, but she’s also raised him like her son.

Happy isn’t back by the time they have chicken and vegetable stir fry ready, but they save him a plate.  They move to the glass table in front of the floor to ceiling windows, and Peter allows himself to be placed in a chair by himself.  He eats his food without complaint and without a word.

Just as they’re finishing up, Happy returns with two plastic bags.  He sets them next to Tony on the floor and then accepts the plate of food Rhodey has reheated for him, and sits down at the table.

“Show him what uncle Happy got for him,” Happy urges.  Tony wonders how hard Happy will be pushing this ‘uncle’ thing now that Peter has rebuffed him.  They all know that Happy cares about the kid, but Tony has never seen him put this much effort into getting Peter to like him.

Peter looks down into the bags with curious eyes as Tony picks up the first bag.  Inside is a pair of Spider Man pajamas, two t-shirts, socks, underwear, and two pairs of sweatpants.

“This looks good Happy, thank you,” Pepper says, placing a hand on Happy’s shoulder for a moment.  Happy grunts in response, barely sparing her a glance, because he’s busy watching to see Peter’s reaction.

In the second bag there’s a soft dark blue blanket, an Iron Man pillowcase, and a gray robot stuffed animal.

“No Iron Man teddy bears?” Tony asks with a shit eating grin.

“They were all out,” Happy gruffs at him.

Peter reaches out for the stuffed robot, and Tony hands it to him.  Peter looks it over and then clutches it to his chest.  He gives what Tony thinks is an appreciative look to Happy, and then looks back down to his new stuffed toy.

It’s only six, but Peter is still in his spider suit, so Tony takes Peter to the room he usually stays in when he stays over, and asks him if he needs help changing.  Peter takes the pajamas and Tony waits outside while he puts them on.  When Peter opens the bedroom door again, Tony pauses at the sight of the kid.  He looks pretty freaking adorable in those white pajamas with little Spider Man masks all over them.  The cuffs at the wrists and feet are dark blue.

He must have been staring for too long, because Peter says, “Up Daddy.”  He reaches his arms up and Tony stares at him for a moment longer, heart beating fast at the name, before kneeling down and lifting Peter up.  Peter wraps his legs around him and his arms around Tony’s neck, and Tony carries him back to the living room.  Happy and Rhodey are gone, and Pepper is waiting on the couch with a kid’s movie ready to go.  It’s not something Tony has seen, but he’s pretty sure it’s called How To Train Your Dragon.

He sits down next to Pepper, and Peter immediately wriggles his way out of Tony’s arms and squishes himself between the two adults.

“Comfortable there Underoos?” Tony asks, and Peter nods.

“Happy was pretty insistent he use this tonight,” Pepper says with a smile, pulling the blanket over from the seat next to her and spreading it out over Peter.  Peter rubs it against his face admiring the softness, and then grins.

“It’s so fluffy!”

“Be sure to tell him that tomorrow,” Pepper says.

“Yeah, and maybe call him uncle,” Tony adds.

“Nu uh,” Peter tells them again.

Tony scoffs.  “You’re never going to forget that missing tip are you kid?”

If Peter knows what Tony is talking about, he doesn’t say.  He just snuggles further down under the soft blue blanket, and settles in to watch the movie as Pepper presses play.

* * *

There was some question in Tony’s mind that first night about whether or not he could really take care of a five year old, but everything went well, and by the next morning his nerves have settled a bit.  It’s still startling to see Peter’s face so young, and to hear him so quiet when he is normally rambunctious and rambling, but he is certain now that he can in fact make it through this.

Peter had passed out most of the way through the movie, and then Tony had carried him to bed in his bedroom.  The kid had slept through the night.  Apparently being shrunk down and turned into a five year old was exhausting work.

May calls to check in the next morning as Peter is sitting on a stool and eating pancakes at the kitchen island, but she doesn’t ask to speak to Peter, and is satisfied when Tony describes to her how the night before had gone.

Pepper has to go to work, and Tony is left to take care of Peter by himself.

Thankfully the kid is capable of dressing himself, though he needs help pulling off the long sleeve pajama shirt when it gets stuck over his head.  Once he is dressed, Tony decides to take him to the lab for the day.

Peter can’t know what all the projects in the lab are, or what all the tools are used for, not as a five year old.  But he listens closely as Tony explains several things to him, and then concentrates hard, tongue sticking out between his teeth as he tries to work a nut back into place, or screw a screw in, or plug a wire in.  Tony finds dozens of ways the kid can help.  He just wants Peter to feel included in what he’s doing, even if the device he’s working on takes ten times as long to finish.

“Are you having fun Petey?”  He doesn’t know where the new nickname comes from, but it strikes him that in this state and looking this cute, the kid doesn’t seem like Peter or Pete.  Petey is more fitting.

“Yeah, but I’m tired,” Peter says, rubbing one eye.  “This is hard.”  Tony knows it is, because he has watched all morning as the little boy has struggled with his coordination.  He’s been doing great, but five year olds just don’t have the years of practice and muscle memory for doing things like this.

Tony looks at his watch.  They’ve been in the lab all morning and for some of the afternoon.  Because his lab fridge is always kept stocked with food, they’d had a quick lunch of fruit and cheese sticks, but now the kid looks like he won’t be able to keep his eyes open for much longer.

“Come here,” Tony says, and leads Peter to the black leather couch against the wall.  Tony has spent many nights passed out on this couch, and Peter has napped here a time or two as well.  Sometimes Tony works himself so late that by the time he realizes how tired he is, he can’t make it back to the elevator to get up to the penthouse and then to bed.

As Peter climbs up onto the couch next to him and relaxes into his side, Tony doesn’t think he’ll fall asleep himself because he doesn’t usually nap.  But an hour later when Rhodey comes up to check on the two of them, he finds both Peter and Tony passed out on the couch, Peter sprawled across Tony like he’s a big pillow.  Rhodey snaps a picture with his phone, because if he doesn’t have a picture, then it didn’t happen.

* * *

Peter likes the lab, but Tony doesn’t want him to get bored with it, so the next day he takes Peter out for ice cream, and then to the zoo.  The kid oohs and aahs over the animals, and some of the Peter he’s used to comes back as the kid rambles off facts about just about every animal they come across.  He must have been into animals at this age, Tony thinks.  He watches Peter throughout the day, fascinated as he realizes he’s getting to see what Peter was like at this age.  Tony has always believed he will never have a kid of his own because he won’t be a good father.  He doesn’t want to be like Howard, so he’s never suggested having kids to Pepper.

Somehow in the last year and a half, Peter has become his kid… not legally, but in his heart Tony has seen him this way for a long time.  He doesn’t know why this irritates some of the other Rogues so much, but it clearly does.  He’s wondered for a while if Peter thinks of him this way too, but now he’s certain that he does.  He’s exceptionally glad that Peter is in his life, and glad that he gets to see Peter at this stage of his life since he hadn’t been able to watch Peter grow up the first time around.

Maybe, he thinks, he might broach the subject with Pepper after all.  Pepper keeps saying he and Peter look cute together, and Tony wonders for the first time in a long time if Pepper wants kids of her own.

* * *

The Rogues start checking in on them the day after the zoo.  Steve comes by the penthouse first to tell Tony that they’ve been out for the last two days but have found no sign of the wizard.  He sees Cap’s eyes searching the penthouse for Peter though, and knows that he hasn’t come to deliver news at all, but to see if Peter is still alive.  He wonders what exactly Cap thinks he’s going to find.

All Steve finds is Peter watching cartoons in his Spider Man pajamas on the couch, clutching his robot stuffed animal and eating a banana.

“He looks comfortable,” Steve comments.

“Yup.  Thanks for the update Cap.”  Tony doesn’t like Steve in his home.  He has to let them stay at the tower, or the compound if Tony decides to move there, but he doesn’t want them in his home.  Clint is the exception because Peter really seems to like Clint, but Tony wants everyone else to stay out.

Cap gives Tony a nod and goes back to the elevator.  He watches until Steve is gone, and then turns back to the living room and goes to sit next to the kid.  Peter looks up at him, eyes searching, though for what, Tony doesn’t know.

“Wanna watch a movie?” Tony asks.

“Yeah!” Peter says brightly.

“How about Star Wars.”

“Star Wars?”

Tony grins.  “I’m guessing at this age you haven’t seen it yet.”  He picks up the remote and navigates through FRIDAY’s vast movie list.  “You’re gonna love it kid, trust me.”

Peter does, like Tony knows he will.  16 year old Peter never stops talking about Star Wars.  There’s so many Star Wars movies and cartoons out that Tony figures he is set for a while, now that Peter is hooked again, eyes watching in awe as people battle it out amongst the stars.

While Peter watches the movie, Tony orders Star Wars toys and clothes from the internet.  He doesn’t think five is too young to play with Legos, and hopes Peter will be interested in putting together some of the Star Wars sets he’s purchased.

They watch Star Wars I and II, and end up falling asleep on the couch next to each other.  Tony has no idea that Pepper has come back up to the penthouse to have lunch with them, or that she has also taken a photo of the two of them asleep, Peter cradled in Tony’s arms.

Pepper sends the photo off to Rhodey before she wakes Tony and Peter for lunch.

* * *

Happy brings Peter an Iron Man teddy bear, offers to build Legos with him, fixes him snacks, and offers to take him to the arcade.  Nothing he does makes Peter call him uncle though, even after more prodding from Pepper and Tony to do so.

When Happy asks Tony for ideas, Tony tells him about ‘the best snack ever’, and Happy repeats the performance.  He brings Peter a pizza from Donatello’s, a bottle of blue gatorade, and a pack of gummy worms.  Peter is ecstatic.  His eyes light up and he dances around the kitchen, begging Happy for the gummy worms first.  Happy’s eyes flicker up to Tony, who is watching with amusement.  Then he leans down and whispers to Peter, “Just one, then pizza.  Don’t tell your dad.”

“Deal,” Peter whispers back to him, accepting the gummy worm Happy hands to him from the bag.  He still doesn’t call him ‘uncle’ but Tony thinks Happy is pleased because Peter is grinning at him, and eats lunch sitting next to him at the kitchen island.

“Gummy worms are the best,” Peter says, and Tony is certain that Happy will bring more to Peter again.

* * *

Gummy worms are a problem, Tony has decided, because Peter is clearly addicted to them.  One bag is too much for a five year old to finish in one sitting, so Tony puts the other half of the bag in a drawer for Peter to finish another time.

Peter must have seen which drawer he put them in, because half an hour later, he finds Peter with the bag of gummy worms, sitting on the couch and watching Clone Wars.

“Hey buddy, those are for later.”

Peter looks guilty and gives up what’s left of the bag.  Tony puts it in a different drawer this time, making sure that Peter is focused on the TV and not watching him in the kitchen.

When he finds Peter with the bag of gummy worms again later that day, he reflects on the fact that there are much worse things for a 16 year old boy to be addicted to.  Of course, he’s only five right now, but he wonders just how deep this addiction to gummy worms runs when he tries to take the bag from Peter, and the kid clutches them to his chest like they’re the most important thing to him in the world.

The words, “I’ll die if I don’t have these,” from Peter’s mouth solidify the thought that his kid is addicted to sugar.

Tony kneels down and says, “Yeah?  Does that make me a villain for taking them?”

Peter looks into his eyes and then releases the bag from his death grip on them.  “You’re not a villain Daddy, you’re Iron Man.”  He says it as though it’s the most obvious thing in the world, and like he can’t understand why Tony keeps forgetting.  “Iron Man’s the best.”

“What about Spider Man Petey?”

“He’s good too,” Peter says, and Tony wonders if Peter has heard about Spider Man or just knows that Spider Man is on a pair of his pajamas.  There’s no way he knows that Spider Man is him.

“Up,” Peter asks, lifting his arms.  Tony smiles and lifts Peter up, and carries him into the kitchen.  Peter is just as addicted to hugs and being carried as he is to gummy worms.  He wants to be carried everywhere, though Tony really doesn’t mind.  He’s going to have to find another place to hide these gummy worms though.

* * *

Nat is the second one to check up on them.  She doesn’t seem as concerned as Cap when she shows up two days after Steve, but she does look curious.  Tony wishes the Rogues would have more faith in him when it comes to Peter, but knows that is a lost cause.  He’s glad it’s Natasha that has come today instead of Steve though, because when she comes in, Peter is covered head to toe in chocolate sauce, and Tony is in the middle of washing it all off.

When Nat exits the elevator, she finds them in the kitchen.  Peter is sitting next to the sink on the counter, legs dangling down.  Tony is in front of him with a wet hand towel wiping chocolate from his face, neck and hands.  Peter giggles madly every time the wet rag touches the ticklish spot on his neck.

“You think this is funny?” Tony asks softly.  He has just as big of a smile on his face as Peter does.

“It tickles,” Peter tells him, and then giggles again.

“You want to do it?” Tony asks, holding out the rag to him.

Peter shakes his head, and then pushes his face forward into the rag.  Tony wipes the rest of the chocolate from his face and then ruffles Peter’s hair.  “No more chocolate sauce for you.”

“I still want chocolate milk.”

“I’ll make it for you,” comes Natasha’s voice, and both Tony and Peter look over at her.  Her eyes meet Tony’s and hold his gaze like she’s searching for something, or like she can’t quite figure out what Tony is all about in this moment.  It’s unsettling for him until she moves past him to the fridge and pulls out the milk and sets to making Peter some chocolate milk with what little chocolate is left in the syrup bottle.

After she sets a cup of chocolate milk in front of Peter, who is now 99% chocolate free, Tony says, “Did you need something?”

“We both know why I’m here.”

Tony does know.  Cap or the other Rogues have sent her to see how things are going, or she just wants to know for herself.

“You’re doing good Tony,” she says.  He doesn’t need her to tell him that, but it’s nice to hear.  She’s never been as critical of him as some of the others have been.

Peter watches her with a critical eye, something Tony isn’t used to seeing after five days of seeing Peter’s young, happy face.  For a moment he’s reminded yet again of the older Peter… the older Peter he isn’t sure he’ll get to see again any time soon.  Nat smiles at Peter for long moments before Peter seems to accept that she’s friendly, and he smiles back.

“Do you have something to say to her for the chocolate milk Petey?” Tony asks.

“Thank you,” Peter says.

“You’re welcome.”  She gives Peter another warm smile, smiles at Tony, and then leaves.

Tony doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with Peter making a mess, but he has a feeling that if Steve had seen any of this, he would have counted it as a failure on Tony’s part.

* * *

Tony finds Peter on the ceiling, clutching a bag of gummy worms (the second bag Happy has brought, which Tony thought he’d hid well in the back of an upper cupboard far too high for Peter to reach).  Well, this answers the question of whether or not Peter still has his powers, he thinks.

“You have to come down from there,” Tony says.  He doesn’t know how good of a command of his powers Peter has, and is afraid he’ll suddenly fall from the high ceiling.  He’s just hanging from his feet upside down, gummy worms in his hands.

Peter shakes his head and sticks a gummy worm in his mouth.

“Down Peter,” Tony says, trying to lower his voice into something threatening but not scary.  He doesn’t want Peter to be scared of him.

Peter puts the bag between his teeth and reaches up to the ceiling with his hands, gives Tony a look and a small feral sounding growl, and scuttles like the spider kid he is across the ceiling towards the living room where he can watch TV while remaining out of reach.

Tony follows.  He points up at Peter and says, “You come down from there right now Spider Boy.”

Peter sticks his tongue out at him.

“Oh, you think that’s funny?”

Peter grins at him, almost dropping the bag of gummy worms.  He grabs them and watches Tony with a smile as he pulls another one out, and pulls it towards his mouth slowly, taunting his dad.

“Don’t you do that,” Tony warns, still pointing.  The gummy worm is getting closer to his mouth, though it’s like he’s moving in slow motion.  “Don’t-” Peter puts the gummy worm in his mouth.

In the end, Tony has to use a suit to hover up to the ceiling to bring Peter down.  Peter thinks this is the best thing to ever happen to him and giggles like crazy as he clings to Tony’s suit.

“That was fun Daddy, let’s do it again,” Peter giggles.

“I don’t think so Petey Pie.”

Peter giggles at the nickname.

“Daddy, let me do it to uncle Steve.”

“What?” Tony pulls back, surprised as he sets Peter down and then steps out of his Iron Man suit.  He won’t call Happy uncle, but suddenly Cap is uncle Steve?  When did that happen?  He’s only seen Steve twice since he’s turned five again, and only briefly.

Peter giggles, crazed, and reminds Tony of a mad scientist at that moment.  He throws his head back in wild laughter at whatever thoughts are running through his mind.  “Ask uncle Steve to watch me, and when he’s not looking I’ll climb up to the ceiling and not come down.  He’ll have the same look on his face that you did!”

Tony just stares down at him.  That was diabolical for a five year old.  That was- that was genius.

“Petey, are you- this is the sugar talking isn’t it?”  He eyes the bag and how it’s mostly empty despite that it had been full that morning.

“C’mon Daddy,” Peter begs.

Tony doesn’t want Steve anywhere around his kid, but he seriously considers it for a moment.  He doesn’t think Steve will hurt the kid… not when he’s five, but then again he never thought Steve would try to kill him in Siberia.

Peter throws himself into Tony’s legs and wraps his arms around him.  Tony startles and looks down.

“Your heart’s beatin’ fast,” Peter mumbles, squeezing him tight.

Tony takes a deep breath.  He isn’t having a panic attack, though maybe he was on the verge of one if Peter is worried enough to try to hug the panic and pain away.

“I was just jokin’,” Peter mumbles.  “We don’t have to do it.”

“Good kiddo, because I don’t want you around him.”  Not even after Peter is 16 again… that is if they can find the wizard.

* * *

Tony would spend every day in the penthouse or the lab with Peter if he could, but Pepper reminds him after six days that he has things he has to do in R & D, papers to sign in the legal department, and that as the face of the company, he needs to be visible every now and again to employees.  She knows without asking that Peter will be coming with Tony, and makes no attempt to stop him, though she does remind him that this will add fuel to the fire of rumors that Tony has a son.

Tony really doesn’t care what people think.  Peter is his kid.  He hopes that someday after Peter is 16 again that he can talk to Peter and May about Peter someday inheriting the company.  He’s not sure if he will have to legally adopt Peter at some point to make that happen, and he’s just hoping that whatever it entails that Peter and May will both agree.

He has Peter put on his favorite Iron Man t-shirt and a pair of jeans, and then the two of them descend through the tower to the R & D levels.

If anyone here is surprised to see Tony with a five year old boy that looks suspiciously similar to his 16 year old intern, none of them say anything to him about it.  Peter follows Tony from station to station where he meets with engineers and talks about the progress of whatever they’re working on.

Peter looks like he’s trying to take an interest and listen closely, but he gets bored quickly.  Whenever he starts to wander, Tony reaches down and takes his hand so Peter will stay by his side.  The last thing Tony needs is Peter touching something and getting an electrical shock, or wandering to someplace in the tower he shouldn’t be.  The employees they pass take note of Tony holding the little boy’s hand, but they know better than to ask the owner of the company about his personal life.  Tony is a private individual, and aside from company matters, most of the employees only know what the tabloids print about him or about Iron Man.

They finish in R & D and Tony takes Peter for lunch in one of the employee cafeterias.  He buys him a cheeseburger, denies Peter’s request for gummy worms, and relents and buys him a bottle of blue gatorade, which they split, because the bottle is too big for Peter to finish on his own.

If Peter grew bored in R & D, he’s bored nearly to tears in Legal, where there is nothing interesting to look at at all.  Legal is full of cubicles, filing cabinets, and employees who look just as bored.

As Tony sits in one of the offices in the Legal department and signs paper after paper, Peter sits on his lap, squirming so much that Tony almost can’t finish what he’s doing.  He pushes his head back and slides forward, looking like a boneless fish who has given up the will to live.

“Just a couple more to sign Petey,” Tony murmurs under his breath.  Peter slides onto the floor and sits at his feet.  The lawyer in this office sitting on the other side of the desk just gives Tony a knowing look that Tony is trying to ignore.  Tony wonders if the guy thinks he has two sons now, and wonders what kind of statement they’ll draft for the press in case they ever need it.

Unlike the people in R & D, the lawyer does ask about Peter before they leave.  “That’s your intern,” the man says.  It’s not really a question.

“Yeah,” Tony says.

“Are we going to be sued for running experiments on your intern?”

Tony gives an unimpressed look down at the floor at Peter, who is now lying on his back staring up at him.  At least he’s stayed quiet throughout this meeting.

“It wasn’t us,” Tony tells him.  “The Avengers are out looking for the guy that did it so we can get him back to normal.”

The lawyer stands up and peers over his desk to see Peter on the floor.  He smirks and says, “Your son is pretty cute at this age.”

Tony would normally correct him and tell him that Peter isn’t his, but he has officially decided in the last week that Peter is 100% his kid.  Well, 50% because he’s May’s kid too.  “Yeah,” Tony said, “and a handful.”

“I’ve got one that age too,” the man says.

Tony reaches down for Peter and Peter climbs to his feet.  He looks relieved to be done in this boring office.

Once they’re back in the elevator Tony tells Peter, “We don’t have anything else we have to do except walk around a bit.  Pep says I have to be seen every once in a while.”

Peter nods like he understands, and Tony wonders if he does.  They spend an hour hitting random floors and walking through like they’re on their way to somewhere, saying hello to the few employees who are brave enough to call out a greeting.

They go up to the lab after that because Tony feels like he and Peter both need to get some energy out.  It’s days like these that Tony remembers how grateful he is that Pepper agreed to take over as CEO, because he hates being the face of the company, making the rounds, doing paperwork, and things of that nature.  He much prefers spending time in his lab inventing things that the company can get out into the market.

While Tony is trying to work on a new Stark Phone model, Peter is strutting around the lab, shoulders pulled back and head held high.

“What are you doing?” Tony asks.

“Being you.”

“Me?”

He gives a nod, turns to an invisible person and says, “I need some paperwork to sign.  Hurry up, this is boring.”  He signs some imaginary paperwork with a flourish, struts forward a few more feet and then pulls a pretend cell phone out and puts his hand up to his ear.  “What’s that?  Spider Man’s in trouble?  I’m on my way!”  He runs forward and throws himself face first onto the couch against the wall.

“What was that?” Tony asks.

“Spider Man needs a nap,” he says.

Tony stares at him.  “You know you’re Spider Man?”

He nods.  “Uh uh.  I’m sticky Daddy.  You can’t be sticky unless you’re Spider Man, and Spider Man is tired.”  He whines the last bit, and gives Tony an expectant look.

So much for getting his pent up energy out.  Tony rolls away from his workbench and goes to sit on the couch with Peter.

Tony doesn’t realize that Sam is the next person who is nominated to check on them, or that he shows up at Tony’s lab and spots Tony and Peter sprawled out on the couch together sleeping through the glass wall separating the lab from the hallway.  He doesn’t snap a picture, but he does report back to the others about what he’s seen.

* * *

The Rogue Avengers find themselves in the strange position of meeting a Tony they have not met before.  They’re confused, because they have known Tony for years and have worked with him to fight aliens, clear out Hydra bases, and save the world on numerous occasions.  They’ve never met this Tony before though.

Before Germany, they’d almost always met with Tony in an official capacity.  Sure, there were training sessions and team meals, and that one night they all got drunk and tried to lift Thor’s hammer, but for the most part, they’ve known Tony the Avenger, the business man, the billionaire, and the genius.  None of them have ever met the playboy, though they all know that’s part of his past.

Spider Man had been new to all of them when they’d fought at the airport in Germany.  He’d still been new to them when they’d been pardoned a few months back and come back to stay at the tower.  It has been an adjustment for them having to deal with a teenager that is frequently around at the tower and who clearly doesn’t want most of them there.  It has also been difficult for most of them to rearrange the way they see Tony considering he has somehow become this scrawny kid’s mentor.

Steve is not really sure he will ever be able to adjust the way he thinks of Tony, though that’s not to say he hasn’t been trying.  They were all shocked when Peter’s aunt agreed to let the deaged child stay with him.  She agreed without batting an eye, like it was the most natural thing in the world.  They have been checking up on the two of them though, and while their interactions with the two have been brief, the Rogues have all been surprised to meet a Tony Stark that is good with kids, and who treats Peter like his own son.  Steve in particular is perturbed about this, because this can’t be a change in Tony that has happened over night.  This has to be something that was always there that Steve has just missed somehow.

“I kept telling you,” Clint says as they sit discussing it late one evening on a stakeout.  They have a lead on the wizard and think they’re getting close to finding him.  Clint is up high on a building surveying from above, Nat is hiding in the shadows somewhere below, and Steve and Sam are in a car down the street.  All of them are on comms.  “It’s easy to see Tony thinks of Peter like his son.”

“You’re around Peter more,” Nat says.  “And I believed you.”

Sam grunts into the mic quietly.  “You don’t think he’s just been brainwashing the kid for the last year and a half?  You know how the kid looks at us.”

“At you,” Clint says.  “He likes me.”

“That’s because you’re a child,” Sam says.

Clint smirks, eyes still surveying the dark street.  “No, it’s because I didn’t do anything to his dad.”

“Neither did I,” Sam replies.

The comms go quiet.  Clint knows that Peter doesn’t like Sam because he’s friends with Steve.  He hasn’t spoken much to Nat about it, but he’s pretty sure she knows too.  Peter told Clint about what happened to Tony in Siberia, and Clint is sure that Nat has looked into it and figured it out as well.

“I don’t think he’s been brainwashing Peter,” Nat says.  “He’s not manipulative like that.”

Steve has stayed out of the conversation for the most part this evening, just sitting back and listening to the others talk.  He had believed like Sam that the kid needed a reality check… that because he’d only been exposed to Tony and not to the other Avengers, except for Rhodey, that he’d been led to believe things that just weren’t true.  He really isn’t sure now though.  If 16 year old Peter really sees Tony as a father figure, then it makes sense why he would be holding a grudge against the other Avengers.  That, or he’s still ticked off that Steve dropped an airbridge on him in Germany.

While Steve has been thinking, the others have continued talking.  He hears Clint come back on the line and what he’s saying makes Steve pause to listen again.  “It doesn’t help that you two have your own private grudge against Tony and keep trying to convince Peter that his dad is a bad guy.”

“This isn’t on us,” Sam says.

“You said you didn’t get why he likes me but not you,” Clint says.  “That’s part of it.  I’ve spent all my time with him just engaging with him based on his interests.  Did you guys forget what it’s like to be a teenager?”

Sam quips again that Clint never stopped being one, but Steve really thinks about what Clint has said.  Clint has two teenage kids of his own, and what he said is true.  The few times Steve has seen Peter, he’s made their conversation about Tony in one way or another, never about the kid, Spider Man, or anything the kid is interested in.  If they can catch this wizard and make him return Peter to his teenage self, Steve will have to change how he’s been doing things.

“It’s still bizarre,” Sam says.  “I saw the pictures Rhodey sent out to the group chat.  I thought Stark never slept.  All the sudden he’s sleeping all over the place with Spider Baby sprawled on top of him.

“It’s kinda cute,” Nat says.

“I saved all of the photos to blackmail Peter with,” Clint says with a grin.

Steve jumps into the conversation for the first time that night.  “I think we might have misjudged him.”

They’re all quiet.

“Speak for yourself,” Clint says.  “Also, buckle up.  The Wizard just arrived to the party.”

* * *

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” Rhodey asks Peter.  He’s watching Peter for a few minutes while Tony takes a shower and Pepper dishes food from takeout boxes onto plates.

“A pizza delivery man!” Peter pipes up.

“You already did that sweetheart,” Pepper says.

“Pizza - delivery - man,” Peter says slowly.  Pepper turns and smiles at him.

“Are we back on this again?” Tony asks as he comes out of the master bedroom.

Peter crosses his arms.  “You won’t let me be Iron Man,” he grumbles with a grumpy face.

Tony scoffs.  A couple months back Peter had tried to go on an unauthorized joy ride in one of the Iron Man suits.  That was Tony’s mistake for keying all of the suits to Peter’s DNA.  Thankfully FRIDAY had alerted Tony about Peter’s plans, and he was able to get to the lab before Peter could get fully suited up.

“That’s because I’m Iron Man.”

“I wanna be like you!”

Nostalgia hits Tony hard for a moment, and heat creeps up the back of his neck.  The last time Peter said this to him Tony had told him to be better, and had taken his suit.  The thought also strikes him that he has a second chance to get this right.  “You wanna be like me?” Tony asks.

Peter’s face softens and he uncrosses his arms.  He looks into Tony’s eyes and nods.

“You be whoever you wanna be Petey Pie.”

Pepper makes a noise from the kitchen and Tony glances over at her.  She looks like she’s going to melt from an overload of sappy cuteness.  Tony huffs a laugh when he realizes Rhodey is wearing a similar look.  “Ok, you two take a breath before you pass out.”  All he gets is a soft look from Pepper in return.

It’s been two weeks, and Tony has started to accept this new place in his life as Peter’s father and caregiver as his new normal.  It figures that just as he’s come to terms with it and decided that this is what he wants, that the Rogue Avengers show up to turn his world on its head again.

Steve and Clint appear from the elevator and inform Tony that they have the wizard and that they’re interrogating him about the device he used on Peter.

“We should have an answer by later tonight, or tomorrow morning at least,” Clint says, arms crossed.  He spots Peter at the kitchen counter and smiles at him.  He gives him a little wave and then turns back to Tony.

Tony nods.  “Right.  Good.  Good work team.”

Clint and Steve share a look and then take their leave.  Once the elevator door is closed and they’re moving back down to the room where Nat and Sam are interrogating the wizard, Steve says, “He’s not happy about this.”

“No,” Clint says.  “He’s not.”

* * *

Dinner is a quiet affair.  Peter sits on Tony’s lap as they eat at the table, face stony like he knows just what’s going on.  Tony is wearing the same look.

“This is what we all wanted,” Pepper says quietly as they finish eating.  “He’s got friends, and school.”

“Yep,” Tony says.  He doesn’t disagree with her, it’s just that he knows he’s about to lose this little, cute, cuddly version of Peter.  He’ll get his Peter back… his older Peter… his intern.  He doesn’t want to lose his son to get his intern back though.

Peter surprises them when he speaks up and says, “I don’t want to be 16 right now.”  He turns on Tony’s lap and hugs him tightly, burying his face in Tony’s shirt.  Tony looks down at his hair and then up at Pepper and Rhodey.  None of them have explained to Peter exactly what has happened… that he used to be 16, that he used to be Tony’s intern, and that he’s not actually Tony’s son.  They hadn’t thought that he would understand, and hadn’t wanted to confuse and upset him.

“You know you’re supposed to be 16?” Rhodey asks.

Peter nods, face still buried in Tony’s shirt.  “Ned’ll understand,” he mumbles.

Tony frowns.  “Hold up there kid…” he pulls Peter away from him a little and looks into Peter’s eyes really close… at his face, just like May had done two weeks before.  “Underoos?  Is that you in there?”

Peter flashes him a grin.

“You’ve been in there this entire time?”  He’s stunned.

“Well… this is kind of your fault D- Mr. Stark…”

“My fault?  Did you just say this is my fault?”

“After it happened, you picked me up and carried me back here, and you were so warm and comfortable that when May came, I really didn’t wanna go with her.”

The adults gathered there are quiet for long moments.

“You are so grounded for this kid,” though as he says it, Pepper and Rhodey both note that Tony is refusing to set Peter down, as though he is not the 16 year old kid that he is.

Pepper still has that look on her face like this is the cutest thing she’s ever seen.  “Don’t pretend you aren’t enjoying this just as much as he is,” she chastises lightly, and Tony’s face turns red a little.  Tony doesn’t even have a quick quip to send back at her, because this has been the best two weeks of his life.

“You can’t be mad at me.  Aunt May let me.”

“What?”  He looks back down at Peter.

“She figured out I had some of my memories right away and let me stay.”

“Whoa, whoa, back up a sec Underoos.  When did she have time to figure that out?”

“When she got down and looked into my eyes in the Avengers common room.  She always says I have a twinkle in my eyes when I’m lying.”

Tony thinks back over that day, over May’s quick acceptance of the situation and how quick she had been to tell Tony to take care of him.

“You made me carry you around for two weeks,” Tony says.

Peter’s face morphs into sadness, and Tony sees fear flicker across his features for a moment as well.

“I’m not mad,” he says, pulling Peter close again.  Peter melts into him.  Tony’s phone buzzes, and he knows it’s a notification from the team.  They’ve figured out how to get Peter back to normal again, but Tony wishes they haven’t.

* * *

It’s been a week since Peter has been at the tower.  May is happy to have him back after not seeing him for so long, and has kept him at home for as long as possible.  Peter feels kind of nervous about what’s gone on between him and Mr. Stark though, and wants to get back to the tower to figure things out before he explodes from the anxiety that’s been clawing at him since he turned 16 again.

He texts Mr. Stark Monday morning and asks him if Happy can pick him up from school.

‘Sure kid.  See you in the lab.’  Short responses like this are pretty normal for Tony because he’s busy, so Peter tries not to worry that the man is still angry with him.

After school, Peter spots Happy’s black SUV in the pickup line and hurries to get into the back.  There’s a pizza box from Donatello’s waiting for him, the car full of the smell of melted cheese and pepperoni.  There’s also a blue bottle of gatorade and a bag of gummy worms.

“Awesome!” Peter says, enthused at his favorite snack combination.  “Thanks uncle Happy!”

Happy pauses at the name and looks into the rearview mirror to look at Peter.  This is the first time he’s called him uncle Happy.

“What gives?” Happy asks, and Peter looks up, his smile faltering.

“Uh… what?”

“Why wouldn’t you call me uncle all that time when you were little, but you do now?”

“Uh… I just didn’t- I didn’t really…” Peter pauses to take a breath.  He rambles and stumbles over his words when he’s nervous.  “I just didn’t realize how much you cared until I was small again.”

A car honks behind them, but Happy doesn’t budge from his spot in the pickup line.  Eventually the car pulls around him and leaves, sending a rude gesture to Happy as they pass.  “What do you mean?”

“I uh,” Peter looks down at the open box of pizza on his lap.  “I know I was really annoying, sending you all those texts back before… uh, before the internship.  I thought- after that, I thought you’d stopped being upset at me for that, and that you liked me.  Then I delivered your pizza that time and you didn’t tip me.”  That had stung, because it had only been a dollar and twenty five cents.  Peter had felt in that moment like he wasn’t worth that to Happy.

“Kid,” Happy sounds defeated.  “I had a guest that night.”

“Huh?”

“I had a guest over.  She was paying for the pizza.  I couldn’t just tip you with her change.  That would have been rude.  It’s not because I don’t like you.”

“Ooh,” Peter makes a soft noise of understanding.  “I’m so so sorry Happy!  I didn’t know you were on a date!  You could have said something!”

He scoffs.  “None of your business kid.”

“Right, right,” Peter says to himself quietly.  “Sorry Happy.”

“Uncle Happy,” he corrects.

Peter looks up and grins at him and then takes a slice of pepperoni pizza.  He’s starving, and he plans on getting through the entire pizza before they make it to the tower.

* * *

Tony walks into the lab and finds Peter with a bag of gummy worms.

Peter looks sheepishly at him and wonders if Tony will take them away, but he only scoffs.  Tony misses Peter being small… he misses carrying him around, telling him bedtime stories, falling asleep together on the couch, and chasing him around the penthouse ceiling as he clutches a bag of gummy worms in his teeth.  “That stuff’ll rot your teeth kid.”

Peter slides the bag over to him, and Tony gives them a look before taking one himself.  “You have a problem Peter.  I’m going to stage an intervention.”

Peter grins at him.  “Petey,” he says, and he gives Tony an uncertain look.

“What?”

“You called my Petey Pie.  You can’t take it back.”

“You’re 16 again.”

“Nope, no take backs.  I’m Petey Pie forever now.”  He’s giving Tony a cheeky grin… the same one he gave from the ceiling of the penthouse after slow motion sticking a gummy worm into his mouth after Tony told him not to.  “Is that…” his demeanor changes and his voice grows quiet.  “Is that- ok Mr. Stark?”

Tony stares at him.  Peter doesn’t seem to want to go back to the way things were before either.

“I refuse to call you Petey if you’re going to call me Mr. Stark.”  He points at the kid.  “You called me dad, no take backs.”

Peter grins again and nods.  “Ok dad.”

“Better,” Tony says.

Peter reaches for the bag of gummy worms and Tony doesn’t stop him.  “I can’t believe you made me chase you around the penthouse ceiling for gummy worms when you were still 16,” Tony says, giving the gummy worms a glance and then pulling out the project he needs Peter’s help with.

“I was and I wasn’t,” Peter says with a shrug.

“You’re gonna have to explain that one to me.”

“I remembered being Spider Man… I knew I was supposed to be older, and I knew some things from this version of my life.  A lot of it was fuzzy though… like I was trying to remember things looking through a thick fog.  And it was weird… because I knew I should be able to do things like screw a tiny screw into the back of a motherboard, but I couldn’t get my hands to do it.  That, and my thoughts and emotions were all over the place… like, everything was just more intense.”

Tony listens intently to Peter’s account of the last few weeks.

“I don’t know if that makes any sense.  If I would normally be a little scared, I was a lot scared.  I was super tired all the time, and I had the impulse to do things like climb up on the ceiling or get into gummy worms when I knew I shouldn’t.”  He looks up at Tony and meets his eyes.  “I’m really sorry for causing you so much trouble.  I had some of my memories, but it was like I was actually five again.”

“Kid- don’t apologize.  You’ve got nothing to be sorry for.”

Peter rolls on his stool, edging it closer to Tony’s, and then waits.  Tony knows what he wants.  He puts an arm around Peter’s shoulders and hands him a screwdriver.  “We’ve gotta re-work the layout of the internals on the new version of the Stark Phone.

“I’m kinda tired,” Peter says.

“That’s because Happy fed you a box full of carbs and then sent you up here halfway into a sugar coma with that bag of gummy worms.”

Peter grins as he starts unscrewing the back of the phone they’ll be working on.

“You can do that after you nap if you want,” Tony says, tilting his head behind them towards the couch.

“Nah, I don’t have a pillow.”

Tony knows he’s referring to him.

“You know they’ve got half a dozen pictures of us passed out in various places around the tower from when you were little?”

“Who does?” Peter asks.

“All of them… the team, Pepper, Rhodey.  Even Happy snagged one from after we went to the zoo.”

“Bet Clint is keeping them all in a file somewhere for blackmail.”

“Probably.”

They work on the phone for a while, discussing how to rework the internal components so they can fit in a better battery, and then Peter starts to hit a wall because of the sugar.  He doesn’t tell Tony he’s right, but Tony knows.  They end up sitting on the couch together, Tony slouched down and Peter slumped beside him, head on his shoulder.  Clint knows today is Peter’s first lab day back at the tower and makes it a point to swing by the lab.  He uses the code he stole from Peter to get in, and stands in front of the two sleeping superheroes with a smug look and his arms crossed.  This will be another picture to add to his blackmail collection.