Tony
Tony is relaxing in his lab on Saturday, his usual activity, and working on updating the latest addition of his armor, when he hears his lab doors open.
The only person he can think of with full access to his lab is Pepper, so he’s fully prepared to get yelled at for something. He spins his chair around, a defensive statement already on his tongue, when instead of the sound of high heels, he’s greeted with the sound of one of his own inventions: Rhodey’s leg braces.
“Is that who I think it is? THE Colonel James Rhodes has decided to grace me with his presence?” Tony jumps up from his chair and dramatically places a hand over his chest. “I think you’ve grown since I’ve seen you last. Is that a new wrinkle?” Tony leans in, squinting, pretending to inspect his friend’s face.
Rhodey just chuckles and rolls his eyes as he reaches out to draw Tony in for a hug.
“So how long are you in town for, pal?” Tony asks as he pulled away from the embrace.
They sit down next to each other on one of the lab benches.
“I’ve got through the holidays off this time. I go back in January. I told the boss that I’ve spent too much time away from my brother.” Rhodey responds, clasping Tony on the shoulder. Tony rolls his eyes like he always does whenever anyone shows any emotion towards him, but his small smile proves to Rhodey that the man actually is enjoying it.
“So where’s Pepper?” Rhodey asks, oblivious to the current situation. “Friday said she wasn’t in the tower. Is she on a business trip right now?”
“Actually, Miss Potts and I are currently on a break.” Tony responds, trying to act completely unaffected and probably failing.
“What?” Rhodey says, shocked. “What happened, Tones? I thought you were planning on proposing soon!”
Tony scoffs. “She couldn’t handle my greatness, I suppose. It must be like looking directly into the sun. My shining personality is so bright that she started to go blind from just being near me.”
Rhodey rolls his eyes. “She finally got tired of your drinking habits, didn’t she?”
“Yeeeep.” Tony answers. “Speaking of which.” He stands up like Rhodey has just given him a bright idea, and starts walking to the elevator. Rhodey seems annoyed, but he gets up and comes with Tony to the penthouse where he can break into his bar.
He pours himself a glass of the first bottle he can see and takes a long sip, while his best friend gives him his best judgmental glare.
“You ever think about just changing your bad habits instead of pushing people you love away?”
Tony shrugs with his mouth still at the glass.
“I tried sobriety a couple times Honeybear, it just didn’t stick.”
Rhodey doesn’t look amused. “You tried 2 times to quit cold turkey with no help. I know you can do better than that.”
Tony groans. He’s happy his best friend is visiting, but he could really do without the lecturing.
“If you must know, Rhodes, I stay sober every single Wednesday now and I fully intend on being consistent.” Tony announces proudly, hoping but not expecting that’ll get his friend off his back.
Rhodey scrunches his eyes in confusion. At least it wasn’t concern anymore, geez.
“Wednesday?” The man asks. “What’s so special about Wednesdays?”
“Oh, the spider kid comes over on Wednesdays. Don’t you know about that, Mr. Government official?”
“Oh shut up.” Rhodey says with a laugh. “Okay, yes, I know that SHIELD made it your assignment to train Spider-Man, but I don’t have any details.”
“That would be because they don’t have any details, Rhodey bear. All the Accords require of someone with a secret identity is to be known, trained, and vouched for by a SHIELD affiliate, aka me. So, they have my word that Spider-Man is doing fine, but that’s all.”
Rhodey nods his agreement. “Yeah, I figured as much. You always find a loophole. You’ll give me some details thought, right?” He hits Tony’s arm with the back of his hand, playfully.
Tony shrugs. “Sure. You’ll probably meet him if you’re here until January anyway. He comes over every Wednesday after school and stays for a few hours. We’ve only been doing it about a month. I took him to the compound last weekend. What else do you want to know?”
“He comes over after school? Jesus, how old is this kid?” Rhodey asks with concern.
“He’s 14 I think. Sophomore in high school. He’s pretty smart, too, but I just figured that out. Last week I let him help with some Avengers tech, and he picked it up really quick especially for someone who’s been skipping out on a good education since middle school.”
“Does SHIELD know that this kid is only 14?” Rhodey asks, clearly concerned.
“Nope,” Tony answers. “All they know is that he’s a minor. I tried to argue against having him trained from the start, but even minors fall under the Accords if they’re enhanced and dress up in spandex every night to go fight crime.”
Rhodey shakes his head in disbelief. “Fourteen? That’s just ridiculous, man. Do his parents know?”
“Doesn’t have any.” Tony replies. “They died when he was young. His aunt and uncle took care of him until they got killed too a few years ago. He’s got a foster family, but they definitely don’t know anything, and I don’t really blame the kid from keeping it from them.”
“No?” The other man questions. “Something wrong with them or something?”
Tony shrugs. “No, nothing wrong per say. They seem fine. The kid’s a little…troubled, I guess is the word for it. And he’s been moved homes pretty frequently so I doubt he has a whole lot of trust in the foster system.”
Rhodey nods in consolidation. “Well, I’m glad he’s got you now, then. You better stick with this kid. You’re probably good for him.”
His friend pauses a moment in thought before correcting himself.
“Actually, scratch that. It sounds like you’re just training him to be able to do all of your work for you. But he does sound like he’s a good influence on you.”
Tony scoffs loudly. “Excuse me, I’m a wonderful influence. I was assigned to teach him to be a superhero, and I’m throwing in physics and engineering lessons for free.”
Rhodey doesn’t even need to say anything. He just eyes Tony’s drink in his hand poignantly.
“This is why I have sober Wednesdays, Rhodes. Keep up.”
“Fine.” Rhodey replies with a fond shake of his head. “What else have you been up to? How’s the company?”
The two men spend the rest of the night talking and catching up. They grab some dinner out together before heading back to the penthouse. Rhodey has a room in Tony’s penthouse for him to use when he visits, so Tony has someone get it ready while they’re gone.
When it’s time for the men to get some sleep, Tony goes to bed content for the first time he thinks since Pepper left.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
When Wednesday afternoon rolls around, Tony admittedly isn’t really thinking about Peter. He’s been having a good time with his friend, and the kid kind of just…slipped his mind.
Currently, the two men were having an intense argument in Tony’s kitchen.
“Tones, you have never baked a thing in your life. What makes you think this is going to go well?”
Tony rolls his eyes. “It’s not like I can just show up to Rhodes family thanksgiving empty handed. Your mother would kill me.”
“Oh please. My mother loves you like a second son and you know it. Ever since I dragged your sorry 15 year old ass back for thanksgiving our freshmen year of college. You just think whatever this flour explosion is supposed to be is going to get you higher up in the will.” Rhodey takes a large pinch of the flour piling up on Tony’s counter, and tosses it on the man’s apron.
“Hey!” Tony exclaims, waving his rolling pin around in the air dramatically. “This ‘flour explosión’ is about to be the best pie you’ve ever had in your life.”
“What kind of pie is it even going to be?” Rhodey asks.
“…I haven’t gotten that far yet.” Tony mutters back.
Luckily Friday interrupts them before he has to defend himself even more.
“Boss, Peter Parker is here and requesting entry. May I let him in?”
Tony looks at Rhodey, both of them a little confused.
“Uh, yeah, sure, Fri. Bring him in.” He tells her, sounding a little unsure.
A couple minutes later, Peter strolls in with his backpack on, looking around the room.
“Hey, Pete!” Tony calls from the kitchen.
Peter glances over at him and his eyes go wide before he breaks out laughing.
“Is Tony Stark really baking right now? It doesn’t look like it’s going well, you might want to stick with the robots for now, Mr. Stark.”
Tony scowls at him, but there’s no real heat behind it.
“If you think you’re such an expert, Spider-Boy, then you come over here and do it.”
Peter drops his backpack on the floor, right in the middle of the room of course, and wanders over, eying Rhodey when he gets closer.
“It’s Spider-Man.” The boy corrects with a frown.
“Spiderling. Crime fighting spider. Underoos.”
“Underoos?” Peter asks, looking offended already.
“Yeah, that’s what you used to fight crime in before I made you that badass suit. Your Underoos.”
Peter looks very affronted. “Gross.”
The kid glances over at Rhodey again and then back to Tony, asking for an introduction.
“Peter, this is Rhodey, also known as War Machine-“
“Iron Patriot.” Rhodey interrupts.
“We don’t speak those words in this household. Anyway, you can call him Rhodey. Rhodey, this is Peter. You may not call him boy or kid.”
Peter gives him an angry glare.
“Hi, Peter.” Rhodey interrupts the stare down, holding his hand out for Peter to shake. “It’s really nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about Spider-Man, so I’m glad I finally get to meet the man behind the mask.”
Peter smiles, taking Rhodey’s hand. “Thanks Colonel Rhodes. It’s nice to meet you too.”
“Please, Peter. Just Rhodey is fine.”
“Okay, sure, Rhodey.” Peter glances up at Tony, still covered in flour, and walks up next to him. He plucks the rolling pin out of Tony’s hands and motions him to get out of the way.
Tony steps aside and gives him room.
“What is this supposed to be?” The boy says after staring at the counter for a moment. Rhodey laughs.
“It’s supposed to be a pie. And it’s going to be a damn good one, so both of you can shut it.” He snaps, but it only makes Rhodey laugh harder.
“Are you using a recipe?” Peter questions.
“Real bakers don’t need recipes.” Tony says, all high and mighty. “I’m an engineer. I still create things, just different things. I can make a simple pie.”
Peter snorts. “Clearly not. Now, where do you keep your flour and sugar? And throw your butter in the freezer for a few minutes. You can’t make crust if it’s all melty on your counter like this. It has to be cold.”
Rhodey clearly sees his opportunity to get to know Peter better and steps in. “So Peter, you like to bake?”
Peter just shrugs. “I guess it’s okay. Mr. Stark’s engineering analogy was totally idiotic, but baking is kind of like chemistry, which I like.”
“Did you bake a lot with your family?” Rhodey wonders aloud, despite Tony glaring daggers at him from behind Peter. Bringing up the kid’s dead family the first day you meet him? Horrible idea if you asked him. He wasn’t even brave enough to ask Peter about his family without it being specifically brought up.
Luckily, Peter doesn’t take it badly. He just snorts another laugh.
“No way.” He answers. “My aunt, she was probably the worst cook on the planet. She used to make this horrible walnut date loaf that me and Ben would have to choke down every couple months or so. We would never tell her how bad her food was, but I think she knew.”
Rhodey laughs along with him. “Where did you learn then?”
Peter just shrugs again, kneading his pie crust into the floured counter. “When you get thrown into the foster system as a teenager, you learn to cook really fast, for yourself and for the families. It makes you valuable.”
Tony and Rhodey make eye contact over Peter’s head as he rolls the dough up into a ball. Rhodey looks completely horrified, but Tony isn’t sure if it’s just at what Peter said, or if Rhodey thinks he says this kind of thing all the time and Tony just lets it slide. Peter said it so casually, it’s fair for him to think that. He’s not sure. What he is sure about is that Peter has never shared this much information about himself, or so freely. Hell, he got snapped at the other day just for asking him how school was going.
“Uh, Peter?” Rhodey asks, continuing when Peter looks up at him. “You know that you don’t need to provide a service to be valuable, right?”
Peter rolls his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, I have intrinsic value blah blah blah I’m not exactly the one that needs convincing.” And he gets back to finishing his dough.
“Here, Mr. Stark. This needs to go in the fridge for at least an hour before we can roll it.” Peter drops a plastic wrapped ball of dough into Tony’s hands before he could react, and started washing his hands at the sink.
Tony puts the ball in the fridge, and tries not to think about how little this literal child in front of him thinks of himself. He supposes he does the same thing to himself, assigning his own value based on what he can provide for others, but he’s an adult and he’s self aware, so it’s allowed.
Peter went from very annoying kid he was forced to be around to kid he kind of pities very quickly.
“So Mr. Stark, are we going to your lab today?” Peter asks once his hands are clean. He looks down at the kid’s hopeful eyes, and he can’t say no.
“Sure, bud. I didn’t really have anything specific planned for us to do today. I wasn’t really expecting you, but I’m sure we can figure something out.”
“Why weren’t you expecting me?” Peter asks.
“I don’t know, I figured you were off school today and you probably had some kind of thanksgiving plans.” Tony says nonchalantly.
Peter frowns, looking really uncomfortable all of a sudden. “Well, yeah, I did have school off. The Patterson’s, they, uh, we are doing thanksgiving stuff tomorrow. Not today. No plans today.”
Tony feels like such an ass. Holidays are probably hard for this kid in foster care. Luckily, Rhodey steps in quickly to save him before this could go further downhill.
“Actually, Peter, I do have a project you two could work on. My leg braces have been acting up since Tony and I played little basketball yesterday.”
Peter looks up at Tony curiously. “You play basketball?”
“Only with Rhodey. He’s shorter than me so I always win. Also, I think we should pick a different project. Those braces are kind of complex for your second day.”
“Oh come on, Tony.” Rhodey says. “Let Peter help. You said it yourself that he picks up on this kind of thing quickly. And you’re not taller than me. We’re the same height. Keep dreaming shorty.”
Tony rolls his eyes. He’s definitely taller. He really doesn’t like other people touching those leg braces. He would never say it out loud, but he’s very protective of them. He just still feels a little guilty for everything that happened, and those braces feel like a partial reparation for what he’s done. But Peter’s looking up at him again with those big Bambi eyes…
“Okay, fine.” He grumbles, trying hard to stay angry after Peter’s face lights up at his agreement. “But you’re doing exactly as I say. None of this misbehaving shit you’re prone to., Underoos.”
Peter scowls at him, but says nothing to not ruin his chances at helping in the lab.
Just a few minutes later, Rhodey is happily settled in a chair with his braces on the lab table. Tony and Peter are on side by side stools as Tony walks Peter through what they’re doing.
“So what do you think the problem is, Pete?” Tony asks after he lets Peter mess with the braces for a few minutes.
The kid looks deep in focus. “Well, it looks like this connection here came loose and knocked this piece out of alignment.” He answers, pointing at the small pieces with a screwdriver.
Tony nods. “That’s my guess as well. Let’s try it out and see if that fixes our problem.”
He watches carefully as he lets Peter try to fix the problem with Tony’s verbal guidance. After a moment, he hears a chuckle behind him from his friend.
“What are you laughing at over there, Platypus?” Tony asks accusingly.
“You two just look so similar up there. I swear I’m looking right at Tony right when he got to MIT. He makes that exact face when he’s concentrating too.” He’s gesturing between the two of them like it’s obvious.
“Uh, no we don’t.” Tony refutes. “And I definitely don’t make that face.” He says, pointing at Peter’s mouth.
“Yeah,” Peter agrees. “I definitely don’t look like Mr. Stark. I think I’d get bullied even more.”
“Hey, rude.” Tony tells him. “Get back to work, punk.”
Peter chuckles and returns his focus to the braces.
Tony doesn’t notice from where he’s sitting, but Rhodey has an intense look on his face and is staring at Peter. Tony really doesn’t see any resemblance. He thinks Rhodey is crazy.
When he sends a questioning glance towards his friend, Rhodey lifts a finger to point towards Peter’s back where his shirt is riding up, since none of his shirts really seem like they fit anyway. Tony can see some bruises going down the small of his back.
“Hey, bud, what are these from?” Tony asks casually, pointing towards Peter’s exposed back.
The kid jumps forwards, away from Tony’s hand, and pulls his shirt down quickly. “What’s what from?”
He gives Peter a look. “What do you mean, what? I’m talking about all the bruises on your back.”
Peter’s face reddens. “They’re just bruises. I get them all the time. Why are you looking at my back, Pedo?”
Tony raises his hands in defense. “Peter, I wasn’t staring at you. I just want to make sure you’re not injured. Friday, status.”
Friday’s voice rings out from around the room.
“Peter has moderate bruising on a majority of his abdomen, ribcage, and legs. No other injuries detected.”
“And why wasn’t I notified of his injuries when he arrived?” Tony demands.
“Peter asked me not to inform you unless he required medical assistance to aid the healing process. I determined this to be reasonable.”
Tony is glaring daggers at Peter, who is getting more red by the second and refusing to make eye contact.
“And how exactly did you get moderate bruising on so much of your body, Peter?” Tony asks, getting exasperated.
“Uh, Spider-Man stuff.” Peter responds quickly. “I got it on patrol last night. How else would I have gotten it?”
Tony rubs his eyes with the heels of his hands. This child is giving him such a headache. “And why did I not get an injury report from your suit if you got your ass kicked that badly last night?”
“Because I hacked the suit.” Peter muttered so Tony could barely hear him.
“I’m sorry, did I just hear that you hacked the million dollar suit I gave you to not send me injury reports that could potentially save your life in the first week that you had it?!”
Tony’s voice is involuntarily raising with every word, and towards the end, Peter was starting to wince.
“This isn’t life saving anything, Stark. It’s just some bruises!” Peter fires back.
“It’s not about that!” Tony is fully yelling now.
“Uh, Tony…” Rhodey tries to interrupt, but Tony doesn’t let him.
“Not now Rhodey. It’s not about your bruises, Peter. It’s about the fact that you could get shot out there and die, and no one would know about it. I put that system in so I could find you if your life was in danger.”
“If it’s only supposed to operate when my life was in danger, you wouldn’t be freaking out about it not reporting the minor stuff! You just don’t trust me so you put thing in my suit to send you everything I do!
Tony rolls his eyes angrily. “Come on, Peter. You know that’s not true. I thought we were getting somewhere. How am I supposed to trust you when you keep consistently lying to me?”
“What do you mean consistently?!” Peter practically screams, appalled. “I haven’t been lying to you. I did this one thing to protect myself, and now you’re making egregious exaggerations!”
“Protect yourself? From me?? The person who’s trying to help you? You know what, Pete? If we just have so little trust in each other, then we shouldn’t be working together in the lab, so you might as well just go home.”
Peter’s eyes widen in shock before taking on a look of pure determination. “Fine, I don’t need you, asshole. Take your shit back for all I care.” Peter snatches his backpack up off the floor and grabs the card Tony gave him. He slaps it down on a lab table on his way out the door. Tony is sure that if he didn’t have sliding doors, Peter would’ve slammed it on the way out.
After a pregnant pause, Rhodey lets out a low whistle.
“Man, you really messed that up.”
Tony whips around. “Me? Seriously? Didn’t you hear that little shit?”
Rhodey shrugs. “Of course I heard him. He’s a teenager. He’s got trauma and hormones and anger problems. You were the exact same way when we met, don’t even try to deny it.”
Tony scoffs, but he really can’t argue. Rhodey is right. In fact, Tony is still working on his trauma and unhealthy coping mechanisms to this day. He can’t really blame the kid for the way he’s acting.
He decides he’ll give Peter some time to cool down, then do something about it. In the meantime, it’s time for his pie dough to come out of the fridge, and Peter left before telling him how to do the filling.