March 2002
- - -
"Questions?"
Anthony Stark winced at the surge of voices, each fighting to be the loudest in the room.
This was Stark Industries fourth tech convention panel in as many states this week and the tech genius was fighting off a two day hangover with little success. As it was he'd been late to arrive and is his PR team had shoved a pair of sunglasses on his face to hide his bloodshot eyes.
The Panel Director took over, calling out reporters and fans to take the mic.
"Crystal Fairfield from the National Enquirer," a brunette stated. "What are your thoughts on the the accusations by H.I. that you stole the idea to-".
"Yeah, no," Tony interrupted.
"Hammer can't take credit for a project every tech company is in the race to develop. He's just salty the H.I. attempt at a handheld computer pales in comparison to the Stark Phone. His R&D department should stick to weapons manufacturing- oh wait, they couldn't make a functional missile if it-"
Pepper ground the heel of her stilletos into his foot and Tony nearly but his tongue.
"Any other questions for Mr. Stark?" The Panel Director jumped in before Ms.Fairfield could go in for another bite. "Yes, you. Name first please."
"Richard," a man Tony's age had the mic now. "I was wondering what compounds you used to reinforce the glass screen?"
By the time the panel was coming to a close Tony was responding entirely on auto pilot. Few questions were relevant and more were confidential. His attention was directed more to his shiny new sPhone, trademark pending, tapping away at the virtual key board. He was getting close to cracking the code for a more advanced artificial intelligence and running through it eased the pounding in his skull.
He was ready to take off once people began exiting the room but he was hauled by the arm to a roped off section of the room instead. "Photographs, Tony. Stark Industries needs to look the part of people friendly if it's going into communication technologies and arriving 40 minutes late to a panel all about you has already set that back."
"Ms. Potts, this panel is about my genius, not me." He tilted his head to look at her over his glasses and winked. She smack his arm and pushed him into place.
"All you have to do is stand there, shake some hands and let some people gush over you. Can your ego handle all that?"
"If I didn't know better I'd think you believe me to be arrogant, Pep."
"Never," she deadpanned and left him to engage with the queue.
And so, he shook hands, some sweatier than others, flirted with a few in pretty faces, and mentally thanked whoever got him these sunglasses because the camera flashes were blinding.
The last two came together. He recognized the man- Roger? Robert?- and a woman with wad of blankets in her arms.
"Richard," the man said with a forgiving smile and offered his hand. "And this is my wife, Mary."
He shook Mary's hand as well as she spoke.
"We're both big fans of your advances in robotics and S.I.'s methods for industrial engineering."
"Uh, thanks," Tony said, staring as the bundle in her arms began wiggle. "Most people are still only really interested in the weapons development part of Stark Technologies. Or you, you know, the drama."
"I did have to leave during the introductory video," Mary admitted. "Little Peter here isn't a fan of loud noises. But he had his listening ears on the rest of the panel, don't you worry." She looked at the baby- why did Tony not realize that was a baby- in her arms with something that made his stomach twist and pull.
"Cool," Tony coughed out. "Um yeah, so- picture?"
The baby didn't cry over the camera flash but he couldn't wait for it be over. The couple had two tickets though, and that meant two pictures.
"It would mean a lot if-" Richard started, looking at his wife. "Well, you really inspired us, even as teens, to go into science and technology. Seeing someone in the same- would have been the same graduating class, take off the way you did… it would mean a lot to us if for the next picture-".
"Will you hold our baby?" Mary interrupted, and blushed.
"Uhh…"
Richard moved to his other side and Mary was holding out the baby-wad which made a funny squeak and kicked. Tony swore his heart was going to bully its way out of chest and up his throat in a mess of panic. His hands jumped up on a 'hold up' move.
"I don't think- that is- I-" behind the woman, by the photographer, Pepper was flapping her arms in a way he couldn't interpret.
"I don't like being handed things-," Mary's face fell and Pepper's eyes turned venomous oh no. "-which is fine, totally fine because the wad- baby- Peter, yes Peter is not a thing so it is fine. Yes, this is happening."
He missed the amused look between Richard and Mary as he accepted the bundle. He swore he would drop it- the baby, his hands were shaking so bad.
"You're doing just fine," Mary giggled and stood on the side of him opposite her husband.
Peter was looking up at him with big blue eyes, far more aware than Tony was expecting. He also stank more and less than he thought a baby would which left him confused and a little grossed out.
His arms were starting to hurt with how tense the muscles were and he shifted the baby up a little only for a tiny hand to reach out to his face. Before he could jerk back, Peter had grabbed his sunglasses.
Looking up into Tony's reddened tired eyes, the baby let out a loud, infectious, chortle that shook its whole body, waying the glasses back and forth.
Everyone around them laughed but Tony was struck by that smile. Who'da thunk? A baby thought Tony Stark; Genius, Billionaire, PlayBoy, was funny?
The flash went off and he winced but soon enough Peter was back in his mother's arms and Happy had arrived to take him back to the airport to jet off to the next convention.
"I was so worried for a moment," Pepper told the PR team on the plane. "Of all the times to pull out that line."
"Hey," Tony snapped out of his daze. He'd been trying to work out the cause for rush of adrenaline and subsequent fall since, what everyone around him was calling it, 'the infant-ing'. "Babies are disgusting creatures with no concept of cleanliness or hygiene."
"Well yeah," a fresh faced employee snarked. "They're babies." Yeah you are totally fired sassy pants.
"I have no need nor any desire to ever interact with a baby- no, make that anyone under the age of 23 ever again. Got that Pep? Make a note of it. I am not child friendly, not a baby sitter, nope. Someone burn these sunglasses, I think it put them in its mouth."
- - -
February 2017
- - -
"Mr. Stark, you wouldn't believe how cute she is!"
Tony dropped the repulsor he was fiddling with on the bench and rubbed his face.
"Pretty sure you've given me a good idea seeing as that word has been on loop for the last two hours," he groused and Peter nodded absently, busy gushing over the pictures he'd taken on his phone.
It had been a month since the arrival of Ned's new baby sister and Peter had only just gotten the time to visit the Leeds recently and had instantly fallen in love with Little Lily Leeds, as he loved to call her. "Alliteration is a powerful thing," Peter explained matter of factly when he had ducked out of lab time to make the visit.
"She's a super loud baby though," he admitted. "MJ says she'll need it to fight societal normal and expectations on girls to be quiet. I think Mr. and Mrs. Leeds would be okay with her waiting to fight the patriarchy long enough for them to get some sleep though."
Peter shoved his phone under Tony's nose. "Look! I got to hold her for like, 3 hours yesterday,mostly because I was afraid to drop her but then I stuck to the blankets so Ned told his parents about my baby sitting record and they took the opportunity to eat and nap and shower. Pretty sure Mr. Leeds had two day old throw up on his shirt."
Tony gagged.
"Enough," he croaked and shoved the, admittedly cute, picture of Peter holding Lily with a goofy grin out of his face.
"I don't do babies, I don't do kids- okay that sounded weird. Not weird? I don't know whatever, anyway are we doing this or not?"
"I'm a kid," Peter argued. "You do me just fine- nonono no. No. That's not what I meant, I understand what you meant by weird now. But we get along fine, don't we? Mr. Stark?"
Tony's stach twinged. "Yeah yeah, we work well together Underoos. But just you. You are all my heart condition can handle. Don't you usually hate being called a kid anyway?"
He laughed at Peter's expression.
"Well," Peter sniffed. "You did fine when I WAS a kid. Even if it was really quick."
"And when was this?" If he could just get these two circuits to…
"At the Stark Expo?"
"Shit!" The circuits had zapped Tony's finger tips. Peter threw a pair of gloves at him.
"Safety first," the boy mocked and the older genius reconsidered hiring this ungrateful brat as his intern.
"Whatever, punk. Now what's this about the expo? Do you mean the job fair we held at Cambridge last summer-"
"No, the one in Queens in 2010. Remember? All the explosions and the Hammer Industries thing?"
Tony froze. "You were NOT there," he said matter of factly. The kid has the audacity to give him a cheeky grin.
"Aunt May and Uncle Ben took me," he explained, picking up the rubix cube Tony kept in the lab as a joke and leaned against the work bench.
"My parents were really into all the work you were doing and after you became Ironman and started all the green energy initiatives they were so excited for the future. The were on the pre-pre-registration list for tickets, apparently. They worked at Oscorp and there were discussion about whether or not the company was going to participate and the ended up choosy not to but S.I. let them sign up for individual tickets way ahead of the public ina good faith move. That's what Uncle Ben told me, anyway." Peter set the complete cube down and looked up at Tony.
"Oookay but why were YOU there?"
"Oh, so like, four years after they died the tickets came in the mail and after being redirected at the post office for the wrong address they ended up at the apartment.
Anyway, I got separated from my Aunt and Uncle and when things started exploding and everyone was panicking I didn't really get it. I don't remember a lot, but I had this Ironman get up and I thought 'what would Ironman do?'"
Tony stared at the kid, heart pounding. "Hold on, wait a second. You were the kid? You were THAT kid? The dumb one who was about to get blown into a bloody mess?"
"Yeah, it was awesome!"
Tony groaned and leaned back in his chair "This is it. This is why I am not child friendly, this why I don't hold babies-"
"You held one."
Peter was scrolling through his phone again and Tony was getting light headed.
"See? This was when I was like, not even two."
Tony didn't recognize the picture itself but he wouldn't have a reason to. He has been photographed with fans hundreds- no, more like thousands, of times and he would never feel compelled to keep a copy for himself.
Cheerful parent Parkers on either side of him, and he could see the resemblance between Peter and his father now, but he had his mother's smile. Between them Tony looked out place, a terrified expression as looked down a smiling baby with his own glasses being wracked against his chest.
"God, I look like a bum," was all he could say. Peter through his head back and laughed that same infectious sound that had Tony's stomach in knots again.
"And I said we weren't there yet," he recalled, when he'd first met with Peter Parker, Spiderkid, for hero business. "Wow. Just- wow."
"I know, right?"
"Send me a copy of that- wait, why is that even on your phone? Who keeps their own baby pictures to whip out? And they call me a narcissist." Peter punched his shoulder, which hurt more than Tony would ever cop to.
"Uncle Ben had almost all of my parents' photos and records digitized after they died," Peter explained. "He and Aunt May wanted to make sure I wouldn't lose them since my grandparents' stuff was all lost in a fire before I was even born."
"Bet you had sticky fingers even as a brat."
"Yeah I wasn't good with cleaning my hands so physical copies would be very jelly stained at this point."
Tony shuddered but swatted a hand out to muss up the kid's hair.
"Okay, sharing time is over let's get a snack and reconvene. Mind, you will be washing your hands before reentry."
And if an industrial size container of hand wipes made it's home at the door to the labs by the next week, it was for totally unrelated reasons.
- - -
Titan
- - -
"Mr. Stark, please I don't want to go,"
Tony heart was a mess, his eyes were red and pouring, and his kid was turning to ash in his arms.
"Then don't, hold on Pete, we can fix this- keep with me!"
"I can't, I don't…"
And he was gone.
- - -
Tony couldn't feel anything for a long time after that.
- - -
"I'm pregnant," Pepper whispers and he stared at her in awe and terror. He'd just lost a kid, how was he supposed to handle this?
"Oh," was all he could say
"Oh?" Pepper's eyes turned a familiar shade of angry. He knew she was hurting the same way he was hurting and he knew he needed to use his words.
"Okay." That wasn't what he meant to say.
"Okay?"
"Is there an echo in here? Yes, okay we are going to have a baby. Okay. Alright. Let's do this-" his throat closed up.
But it was okay.
Months later Tony was holding a wad of baby all his own.
He thought of Peter and imagined Morgan getting stuck in the teen's hands.
He imagined Peter babysitting between Decathlon meets and patrols.
How he'd coo and show everyone pictures of his baby sister in his phone no matter annoyed other people would get and how sick of hearing about Morgan that they'd get.
And when they moved to the lake, it was only natural for Peter to have a room because where else would he escape from his sister's tantrums?
When the chance came to get his kid back, of course he would take it.
And Tony would be damned if he ever let anyone take Peter from him again.