Chapter 7
Wade was angrier than Peter was. Peter got away from Tony quickly after the confrontation. Tony hugged him harder than he ever had, and Peter made the easy decision to skip the rest of the school day to go home. Wade met him there, fuming, storming around the five hundred square-foot apartment.
“That cocksucking, motherfucking, piece of shit- ” Peter just let him go on, let him get it all out because it would be worse if he didn’t.
“I can’t believe he did that to you.” Wade shook his head, unbelieving. “I can’t believe he did that to you!” Peter was sitting on the couch, calmly watching Wade pace back and forth, throwing his hands up in the air with every punctuated word.
“Yes!” Wade responded to the voices in his head. “I’m going to burn down his building. I’m going to burn it to the ground!” Peter stepped in at that.
“No burning it down.” Peter patted the couch next to Wade, but Wade just shook his head, huffed, and threw his hands up again.
“You seem awfully calm for somebody who's CLEARLY SET boundaries were crossed!” Peter folded his hands in his lap.
“He was going to figure it out sometime. What I need to do is protect you and Spiderman. This makes it harder, but at least I can control what he knows about me-”
Wade cut him off.
“That is obviously not true, Peter! He couldn’t even leave you alone for the five months you’ve known him! It’s only a matter of time until he’s knocking down this door!” Wade pointed to their apartment door for dramatics. “How are you so calm?! I’m freaking out. Why aren’t you freaking out?!” Peter stood up and smoothed his arms over Wade’s shoulders.
“There’s nothing I can do about it now. I have to protect you and Spiderman-”
“This is ridiculous! You had a panic attack when that man even came near you and now-” Wade was cut off by the sound of Peter’s phone ringing on the coffee table. Before Peter could reach it, Wade’s hand grabbed it.
“Your daddy dearest.” Wade sneered, handing the phone over to Peter. “I’m gonna fucking kill him-” Peter walked to the bedroom to get away from Wade and pressed answer.
“Hello?” Peter answered, holding his breath. Was this the moment he was going to be confronted about Spiderman? Confronted about living alone at the ripe old age of seventeen in some ratty ass apartment?
“Peter, hi.” Steve was on the other line, and Peter let out the breath he was holding. “It’s Steve. How are you doing?” The question took Peter by surprise, because genuinely, how was he doing?
“I’ve been better.” Peter finally decided on, pressing his ear firmly against the phone waiting for a response.
“I’m… sorry about Tony, Peter. If I had known he was doing that I would’ve put a stop to it immediately. Rest assured, I have given him every piece of my mind and he will regret it by the time I’m done with him. I was thinking it might be helpful if you came over for dinner this weekend, and we could talk about it. What are your thoughts?”
The apologies meant little to Peter now that his other identity was at a much bigger risk of being compromised, but there was a warm feeling that settled in his chest when he heard Steve say those things. Dinner was the last thing Peter wanted to do, but maybe it would be better to get in front of the whole thing.
“Okay. We can do dinner on Saturday.” Peter determined that was the best plan of action, getting ahead of this thing.
“Perfect. I’ll let Tony know. Thank you so much, Peter. I promise he didn’t mean it maliciously, not that I’m trying to make excuses for him. He loves you. See you Saturday.” The phone went dead as Steve hung up.
He loves you rang in Peter’s head. Loves you.
Peter broke down crying.
~
On the other side of New York City, Steve hung up the phone and looked directly at Tony, who was nervously biting his nails.
“How did he sound?” Tony apprehensively asked, and Steve gave him a glare.
“Like somebody whose dad just did something so ridiculous that his husband wants to punch him.” Tony rolled his eyes at the response, but there was tension in the room.
“Really, Steve? Did he sound okay?” Steve could only shrug in response.
“I don’t know. You should have called him, and tried asking him.” Steve snapped, setting the phone down and walking out of the room.
“I didn’t think it was a good idea!” Tony chased after Steve with a huff. “He seemed okay after I saw him, I think this could be a good thing-”
“Oh, shut up, Tony!” Steve seethed, quickly turning around. “The boy is seventeen and made it absolutely clear how he felt about you knowing about his life. You should have listened to me. He would have opened up, and even if he didn’t, it’s none of your goddamn business anyway!” Steve finished, and Tony’s feelings boiled up and out of his mouth.
“None of my goddamn business? He is my SON!” Tony roared, as Steve looked at him in disbelief. “He is every part of my business!”
“You lost that privilege when you weren’t there for him-”
“There was no possibility!” Tony cried out. “If I had known about him, I would have been there raising him! I regret it so much my chest hurts. Everytime I look at him I imagine what he was like as a baby, as a toddler, as someone I could have nurtured and loved and raised, but everything is a reminder that I wasn’t there for him.” Tony finished, and Steve stood taken a little aback.
“I need to be there for him, Steve. I need to be. I didn’t mean to-” Tony’s voice cracked mid-sentence. “I didn’t mean to hurt him. I didn’t want to. That’s the last thing I would ever want. But I needed to at least know his last name. Where he went to school. Who he lived with. He didn’t even have parents. Orphaned. My son was an orphan and there was nothing I did for it.” Tony’s voice was a mere whisper now, and Steve reached out his hand to put it on his shoulder.
“Tony…” Steve trailed off, rubbing this thumb against his neck. “We’ll figure it out. I know how badly you want this-”
“I need it, Steve. I need him in my life. I need to know him, need to protect him like I never could-”
“I know.” Steve cut him off. “But you need to start respecting his boundaries. He will not let you in his life if you don’t. You have to be good at this dinner. You’re lucky he’s even coming in the first place.”
Tony put his head down in his hands, not responding.
~
The week crawled by for Peter. Classes dragged, patrols were long and tiresome. Wade was busy with the X-men doing something that Peter didn’t know a ton about, so he was patrolling alone. Nothing intense happened, just some petty thieves and a car accident.
Peter’s anxiety had been off the charts. Leading up to Friday, he had been so jittery that Wade had tried to give him a bunch of xanax. Peter refused, of course, but for a split second he thought about how nice it would be to just relax and not worry about every single thing on his plate right now.
On top of it, Saturday came too quickly. Patrols had been uneventful, no crimes being done, and no super villains on the loose. Peter almost would have welcomed the distraction, but frankly he didn’t need anything jeopardizing his Spiderman identity to Tony.
Peter laid in bed until the afternoon of Saturday, pillow over his head. Wade tried to coax him out with the thought of breakfast, then lunch, but he adamantly refused. When he finally got out of bed, Wade sat with him on the couch for an hour before Peter started to get ready. It was very unlike Peter to do nothing all day, but the thought of him having to do anything other than deal with his father was just too overwhelming.
Once he was finally showered and dressed, Wade’s arms were wrapped around him.
“It’s gonna be okay.” Wade whispered into Peter’s hair, oddly serious for the time being. “Tony is so lucky to have you in his life. If he ruins it, that’s his problem.” Peter shut his eyes and nuzzled his face into Wade’s neck.
“Plus, I’ll burn down the tower if you want me to.” Wade added on, and Peter huffed into his neck.
The subway took twenty three minutes, Peter counting every single one as they went by.
Once he was staring down Stark Towers, he felt a spike of fiery anger. He hadn’t let himself feel like this, but he supposed the week of Wade being angry did it for him. Who was Tony to expose him like that? There was so much danger in Peter’s life already, and Tony had to do that by pulling a stunt like this?
Before he knew it, he was waiting in the elevator, feeling the floor lift him up to his father. When the door opened, Steve was waiting for him. Peter hesitated for a second - did he really want to do this? Steve’s face twisted in concern.
“Peter.” He spoke sympathetically, and Peter felt himself falter for a second. He was always a sucker for that tone of voice. “I’m so sorry. Please, forgive me for not stopping him.” Peter’s breath caught in his throat. Steve was not asking for Tony’s forgiveness, but his own.
“It’s-” Peter’s voice broke. “It’s not your fault, Steve.” He managed to get out, voice shaking.
“Tony’s waiting for you in the living room. You can leave at any time. Would you like me to be there or not?” Peter could cry at how sweet Steve was.
“I’d like you in there, if that’s okay with you.” Peter frankly needed the buffer, and Steve was one of the only ones that could calm Tony down. Steve followed Peter into the living room.
Tony sat at the table, alone, hands folded in front of him and resting on the table. He cleared his throat and stood up as Peter walked into the room.
“Hi.” Tony’s voice was quiet, unsure what to say. Peter waved awkwardly, sitting down as Tony gestured.
“I wanted to start off by saying I’m sorry.” Tony started, and Peter raised his eyebrows at him. The silence that settled in the room made him want to laugh and cry. Steve looked at him, expectantly, and Tony reluctantly continued on.
“I’m sorry that I crossed your boundaries like that. I could never imagine what you’re feeling like, but I can imagine that it’s pretty shitty. I’d had my dad break my boundaries and I never liked it, but nothing as inappropriate as I did.” Peter stayed quiet, just looking at Tony, who shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.
“Sounds scripted.” Peter offered, and Tony’s hands came down to the table frustratingly as he stood up.
“I’m sorry Peter, okay?!” Tony’s voice was raised, but Peter didn’t let himself flinch. He gestured for Tony to continue. “I’m not sorry I found you, I’m not sorry I know your last name, but I am so sorry I hurt you. I’m so sorry I crossed your boundaries. I would take anything back to have you not be hurt.” Peter relaxed into the chair, finally satisfied with the tiniest bit of empathy. Tony noticed it, and continued.
“The last thing on this Earth that I want is you to be hurt, and I will spend every rest day I am alive making sure that it is never me making you feel like that again.” A small smile quirked up on Peter’s lips, and Tony let himself feel a little relieved.
“I didn’t even do any other research on you, Pete. I couldn’t. I want to hear it from you, not from the internet. I promise.” Peter looked at Tony suspiciously. “JARVIS, did I look Peter up? Don’t lie.” Tony added, and JARVIS responded.
“No recent searches for Peter, sir.” Tony earnestly looked back at Peter, and Peter shrugged his shoulders.
“You are right that you are going to spend every last day you have alive making it up to me.” Peter added in a voice Tony had never heard before. He sounded confident, sounded like he was actually part of the family.
“Anything. I will do anything to make it up to you.”
“Stop asking me to live with you.” Tony barked out a sharp laugh, and turned to Steve. Peter broke the brief silence after. “What do you want to know about me?”
Tony sucked in a breath through his teeth. Now was his opportunity to learn everything he wanted to know about Peter.
“Where do you live?” Tony asked, and Peter scrunched his face.
“I told you. Queens.” Peter answered curtly, and Tony huffed.
“Who do you live with?” Tony followed up, and Peter squinted at him.
“I live by myself.” Peter offered, and Tony pulled back a bit at that information.
“At seventeen you live by yourself? In Queens?” Tony tried his absolute hardest to keep the judgment out of his voice, but Peter felt it and couldn’t help but laugh a bit.
“I outgrew my Aunt’s house.” Peter started. “Nothing against her.” He added, seeing the look in Tony’s eyes. “I visit her frequently, but couldn’t really stay with her anymore. I just needed to have some time to myself. I live in a nice apartment in Queens.” Nice was pushing it, Peter thought, but that’s okay.
Tony nodded, looking a little concerned, but overall keeping it together.
“What happened to your uncle?” Tony could immediately see the change in Peter’s demeanor. More closed off, reserved. He would remember that, his uncle being a sore spot. Tony’s heart bled for him.
“Mugging gone wrong.” Peter mumbled. Steve and Tony shared a look.
“I’m so sorry, Peter.” Tony could only offer his condolences. Peter seemed to shake it off a little bit, trying to keep a stronger face up.
“It’s okay. We were close, so it’s been hard.” Peter gave a tight smile.
“What’s your middle name?” Steve asked, offering a bit of an out of the conversation, however it did not work the way he thought it would.
“Benjamin.” Peter smiled sadly. “After him.” Tony’s breath caught in his mouth.
“Do you miss your mom?” Tony asked, and both Steve and Peter were both surprised by the question. This one was a little easier for Peter to talk about.
“I don’t really remember her. Name was Mary Fitzpatrick. Married Richard Parker a couple months after I was born. May didn’t tell me until I was older that he wasn’t my dad. I mostly remember a couple of Christmases, but honestly my whole childhood was filled with May and Ben.” It was Tony’s turn to sadly smile. He was truly sorry that he couldn’t be a part of it.
“I’m really grateful that I get to be a part of your life now.” Tony admitted. “And I deeply regret that your mother isn’t here to see it.” Tony knew better than to talk about his mother, a woman he didn’t even remember from his younger days. Tony felt guilt for the woman he left alone with a child.
“It’s okay.” Peter nodded, thankful for the sentiment.
“Is Parker your last name from Richard?” Tony hesitantly asked, and Peter shook his head.
“No. Ben’s last name was Parker, he was Richard’s brother.” Pain struck at Tony when he realized that blood relatives hadn’t even raised Peter, not that it had made a difference, because Peter clearly loved them.
“What are your friends like?” Steve asked, again trying to change the topic to a little bit of a friendlier thing.
“They’re great. I have a couple of close ones.” Wade flashed behind his eyes. “Some in school, some out of school. All of them are great.” Tony loved seeing and hearing Peter like this. He was more out of his shell, and he was secretly thankful that he’d opened this side of him.
“Do you want to do an internship at Stark Industries?” Tony blurted out, and Peter pulled back at the offer.
“I-I don’t know-” Tony cut Peter off.
“It would be great. I could pay you a good salary. Twenty four hours a week during the summer, eight during the school year. I’ll offer you health insurance, benefits.” Peter pulled back.
“You don’t even know if I’m smart-” Tony laughed out loud.
“I know you’re smart, Peter. Top of your class, and you’re my son? Of course you’re smart. You would be wonderful for the company. Would’ve hired you even if you weren’t my son.” Peter held his hands up.
“I’ll think about it.” Peter didn’t really want to think about that right now.
“I think we’re about done with that, yeah? Let’s get some dinner.” Steve, again, was the buffer of the group and distracted both of the men with thoughts of food.
“What do we want to order?”