New Years
The week between Christmas and New Years, Peter was in his pyjamas 95% of the time and his diet was entirely made up of leftovers. Nobody ever knew what day it was or what time it was, and there was no cooking done and no productivity whatsoever.
Peter absolutely loved it.
Nat had flown the jet to the farm to go and see Clint and his family and spend the week with them before she’d be flying them back to the Tower, which was where they were staying for New Years. Scott was coming over with Cassie for the Gala and Thor was even coming over from Norway, where New Asgard had been established. Dr Strange was invited but he always acted like he hated the guts of the entire team, so nobody actually knew if he was going or not.
The 5% of time that Peter had spent out of his pyjamas was spent at a tailors. Tony was getting him his very first custom suit for the Gala. Peter had objected at first and said he didn’t need one, but then Tony had said that he was going to be heir to SI and if he was going to be a Stark and follow in the footsteps, he was going to have a custom suit. Peter had a warm tingly feeling up his spine when Tony called him a Stark and wondered about how he’d feel about changing his name when the adoption came through.
He didn’t factor it in his plan to begin with, but now he was seriously considering it. He’d always been a Parker, and of course he always would be a Parker. But that name had never brought him any luck. Not any of the good variation, anyway. The infamous Parker Luck had struck more times than Peter would like to count. Maybe it was time for a fresh start, a new surname. He’d have to talk to Tony about it later.
In the end he chose a deep blue velvet suit jacket with black pants and Tony bought him a pair of fancy black shoes that looked like they cost more than the rent for his apartment back in Queens. They got to the till and Peter found out they actually did. He got a black shirt and bowtie to bring the outfit together and they both left the store. It would be ready the day before New Years.
Come the 31st, everyone had arrived at the Tower and last minute touches were being done to the venue where the Gala would be hosted. It was a short drive away from the Tower, and Tony had rented out a couple of limousines for the occasion. Clint’s kids were so excited to go in one and Peter had to admit he was too.
His suit had been delivered the day before and it was hanging on the back of his closet door, waiting for him to get changed. That was what Pepper had sent him to his room for, to get a shower and get ready for the party. He tried to make his hair look presentable, but at the end of the day he was not in control of his curls and they would do whatever the fuck they wanted to do and nothing could stop them.
#freethecurls
He put his suit on, tucking in the shirt like Tony had taught him and putting the shoes on, leaving the jacket and bowtie till last. He still couldn’t do the tie by himself, no matter how many YouTube tutorials he watched, so Tony was going to help him with that. Pepper had told him under no uncertain terms that he was not to touch the suit jacket until the moment they were leaving. Apparently she thought he was some sort of child and would spill something on it. She was probably right.
Peter, Boss is requesting you in his room.
Peter grabbed his tie and made his way to Tony’s bedroom, knocking on the door before walking in.
“Hey, Underoos. You look great!” Tony was fixing his own bowtie in the mirror. “You ready with your tie?”
“Yeah, but these sleeves are annoying the hell out of me. Is this how they’re supposed to be?” Peter waved his arms about and the cuffs of his sleeves dangled off him. Tony snorted and shook his head.
“No, kiddo. That’s why I called you in here, actually. Follow me.” He walked into his closet and Peter followed. He pressed a button on a panel and a drawer slid out, showcasing a lot of fancy watches and an array of weird button things. Tony reached for a set and held them out. “Cufflinks.” He said, as though that would explain everything.
“You might as well be speaking a different language,” Peter deadpanned.
Rolling his eyes, Tony grabbed one of Peter’s wrists and pulled the ends of the cuff together before slipping the bar of the cufflink through the hole and securing it.
“Ta-da!” He flourished. “I could’ve gotten you a pair of these at the tailors, but I wanted you to have these ones specifically. They were my Nonno’s. He passed them down to my mother since she was the only child, and so they’ve been passed down to me. I wore these at my very first official SI event. And they match your jacket perfectly. Each one has a sapphire set into the silver, see?” Tony held up the spare and showed it to him. “I figured we could continue the tradition and I could pass these down to you. My dad never gave me anything of his to wear like a tie or a set of cufflinks, so I have no connection with the ones he left behind. I want us to be different, I want you to look at these in thirty years when I’m old and grey and remember tonight. Hopefully it’ll come with happy memories.” Tony smiled, fixing the second cufflink onto Peter’s shirt.
“I’m sorry, when you’re old and grey? When was the last time you looked into the mirror?” Peter snorted and and Tony shook his head in disbelief.
“Honestly, you try to have a meaningful conversation with your son and it just gets ruined. The youth today have no respect for their elders.” Tony waved him off.
“So you do admit that you’re an elder.”
That earned him a swift cuff to the back of the head and he laughed out loud. Then suddenly Tony grabbed him in a headlock and messed his hair up with his other hand. Peter started laughing so hard he could barely breathe and Tony continued to wrestle him inside the closet.
Both of them froze when someone cleared their throat and Tony looked up to see Pepper stood at the door with her hands on her hips.
“H-Hey, Pep,” Tony said, shooting her a signature Tony Stark smile.
“I send the two of you off to get ready and instead I find you holding your son in a headlock as you fight in the closet when we’re supposed to be setting off in less than ten minutes?” Tony immediately released his arms from around Peter’s head and Peter dropped to the floor, jumping up to his feet straight away. Pepper was not one to be messed around.
“S-Sorry, Pepper. We’ll be right out.” Peter stuttered and she nodded.
“Five minutes, boys. Five minutes.”
It wasn’t until they heard the bedroom door shut that Tony breathed.
Peter burst out laughing and Tony clipped him on the back of the head again. “You heard the woman. I don’t want her to be mad at me, the night’s not even started yet. Come on, you gotta choose a watch.”
Pepper insisted on taking a few group photos with the whole team before they set off, and a few of Tony and Peter since it was the first time Peter was going to an event like this and the first time he’d been this dressed up.
“Peter, you look so handsome!” She squealed, pulling him in for a hug when he walked into the living area.
He hugged her back and looked at her dress. It was a floor length black dress with silver accents. The only pops of colour being her red lipstick and the red soles of her black heels. Tony came to stand next to her, placing his arm around her waist and Peter thought they looked the picture of fame. Nobody had anything on these guys, they were perfect.
Vision had (changed??) into human form so as to not startle the guests with his… redness. All the guys were in suits. Steve had a jacket similar to Peter’s but instead of blue velvet it was a bottle green. The biggest shock was Bucky, who had apparently had quite a drastic haircut.
“What the hell did you do?” Peter asked, gesturing to his new modern hair.
Bucky shrugged his shoulders. “I got fed up of the grease.”
Peter scoffed. “Yeah, try washing it once in a while, don’t cut it all off!” The group started to laugh about how attached Peter seemed to have been with Bucky’s long locks. “Damn, I liked the long hair.”
Bucky ruffled his hair and smiled. “Sorry, kid.”
“The hair made you stand out. It made you different,” Peter pouted.
“Uh, I think the arm did that already, Pete.” Bucky gestured to his metal arm, which glinted in the light.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. You better grow it out again.”
He laughed out loud. “Just for you, kid, I will.”
They finally god to the venue, even if they were a little late. Tony said the host should always be fashionably late anyway. Pepper glared at him.
There were so many people. Some, Peter recognised, some he didn’t. There were photographers outside taking photos of people walking in. It was almost like a red carpet. He did’t know what to do. Was he supposed to get in photos with Tony? Even before the announcement? What was the plan? He started to worry but then Tony threw his arm around his shoulders and started to guide him.
“They’re just gonna take a few photos and then we’ll be inside and it’ll all be over, okay?” Tony reassured him and Peter nodded.
He stood dutifully while flashes went off and people shouted for them to stand in a certain way. A few yelled out asking who he was but Tony ignored them and continued to steer Peter closer to the doors of the venue. Eventually, the screaming and flashing and clicking was over and they were inside.
It was exactly how Peter had expected an extravagant party thrown by the richest man in America to look like. Everyone was in black tie and there was a mountain of food, people in uniforms walking around with food on trays, flutes of champagne. The bar at the back stretched the whole width of the room and the bartenders were dressed smartly and shaking cocktails. He’d estimate a guess that there were about fifty people there right now, but there was a steady trickle of people coming in still and it was pretty early.
Tony was whisked away almost immediately to greet people and mingle with the guests, so Peter made a beeline for the Avengers. There looked to be a kids corner near the back of the room and that’s where they were, what with Clint and Laura having their three with them and Scott having Cassie.
He saw Tony occasionally in passing a few times, but never spoke more than two words to him before he was pulled away again. At one point though, Pepper came up to him.
“Have you seen Tony?” She asked, a little flustered.
“No, why, what’s up?” He asked and she shook her head.
“I just need to talk to him, the owner wants to know his plan on making the announcement so they can set up a microphone for him.”
Peter nodded. “Okay, I’ll go look for him and tell him to meet you back here with the team, okay?”
“Thanks, Peter.”
So Peter waded into the sea of middle aged men and the girls on their arms that were twenty years younger than them. Everyone looked identical, wearing a black tuxedo and carrying a glass of champagne. At least he knew Tony wouldn’t have a glass. That was one thing to differentiate, he supposed.
He heard a booming laugh and recognised it as Tony’s ‘business’ laugh. His eyes darted about before finally landing on the man. He was talking to some guy and Peter walked over.
“Tony?” He hesitantly interrupted and Tony looked at him, a small smile spreading across his face, both relief and worry clear.
“Peter! How’re you doing, buddy?”
“And who’s this young man?” The older gentleman held his hand out for Peter and he shook it.
“This is Peter, my—my intern.” Tony said and Peter frowned at his tone. Did he not like this guy? “Peter, this is Norman Osborn, founder of OsCorp.”
Oscorp. That sounded familiar.
“It’s very nice to meet you, Sir.”
“Likewise. My my, an intern of Tony Stark, huh? You must be a genius. What school do you go to, kid?”
“Uh, M-Midtown Tech in Queens.”
Norman nodded and Tony butted in. “Their Academic Decathlon team just won Nationals, isn’t that right, Pete? He’s on the team.” Tony’s jaw was clenched as though he wanted nothing more than to end the conversation.
“Congratulations, young man. That’s quite an achievement.”
“Thank you. Uh, Tony? Pepper was looking for you. Something about the announcement and the set-up? I told her I’d find you and bring you to where the team was.” Peter turned to Tony and Tony nodded.
“If you’ll excuse us, Norman, duty calls.”
Norman waved him off. “No problem. Enjoy the rest of the night.”
Tony turned immediately and pulled Peter on behind him.
“Who was that guy? And why did you look like you wanted to kill him? He seemed like a nice guy.” Peter spoke as soon as they were out of earshot.
“That man is the reason you ended up in the Med-Bay. Those people that we were fighting—the guy with the blade for an arm—Osborn created them all. He’s the reason you were hurt. He’s lucky I didn’t take his head off his shoulders. I don’t want him anywhere near you.” Tony spat and Peter shut up. Oh.
“Ah,” Peter said, unsure of what to say. “Why is he here if you don’t like him?”
Tony huffed. “I don’t like half the people in this room, Pete. But when SI organises an event we invite everyone. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, right? So yeah, I have to talk with them every once in a while and keep them on the back burner or they start to get suspicious.” He quickly explained and they finally reached the team.
“Tony, is everything okay?” Steve asked.
He sighed. “Everything’s fine. Just—just keep Peter with you, yeah?”
Steve placed a protective hand on Peter’s back and drew him closer to the team. “Of course.”
“Alright, I’ll be back soon.”
Tony went off with Pepper to organise whatever and Peter stayed with everyone else.
“What’s wrong? What happened?” Bucky asked. “He looks worried.”
Peter shrugged. “He said the guy that caused the attack a few months ago, the one with the weird hybrid people where I ended up in the Med-Bay? He’s here. He doesn’t want him anywhere near me.”
“Osborn,” Nat muttered and Peter nodded.
“It’s okay, just stick with us. It’ll die down soon.” Steve said.
Around twenty minutes later, the music died down and someone tapped the head of a microphone. Tony was stood on a small makeshift stage, holding a glass of sparkling apple juice.
“If I could just get everyone’s attention for a moment, please?” The chatter died down as everyone’s focus switched to Tony.
He found Peter in the crowd and gestured for him to come to the side of the stage. Peter liked up at Steve who nodded at him and followed him.
“So there’s been a lot of speculation over the last few years over who is going to succeed me and head up SI when I retire or meet my untimely end,” there was a deep rumble across the room as a few chuckled. “And I’ve always brushed it aside, mostly because I didn’t have an heir to give everything to so I never had an answer for you. But here, tonight, in front of friends, family, members of the SI board and special guests, I would like to announce that Stark Industries finally has an heir.” People started to chatter immediately and Tony waited until it died down again. “A while ago, I hired an intern to help me out in the lab and do boring stuff like bring me coffee and run paperwork up and down the Tower. I got to know him a little better and the kid’s a complete genius. I’m serious, he’s smarter than me, he’s got such a bright future ahead of him. Due to unforeseen circumstances, Peter was placed in my care, and so we’ve been working together closely for almost a year now. And you might think I’m being a little reckless in giving a multibillion dollar company to a teenager, but quite frankly, I’m not. This kid is the future, and I couldn’t think of anyone better to take on my company and legacy. Of course, he’ll be properly trained before he’s handed the reigns, and I’m hoping to be able to coach him myself alongside Pepper in running the company. Hopefully it’ll be a few years before he has to do any of this, of course. But for now, I’d like to introduce you to the official heir of Stark Industries, Peter Parker.” There was an immediate deafening applause and Tony held his arms out for Peter and he took that as his cue.
He walked unsteadily up the couple of steps to the stage and tried not to focus on the mass of people all staring directly at him. Tony’s hand snaked around his shoulders and tugged him into his side.
“I’m not gonna make him say anything, this is his first SI event and he’s a little nervous.” There was a little laughter. “But a few of you might get a chance to talk to him tonight if he’s up for it. But for now, I’d like you all to raise your glasses and toast to the future of Stark Industries.” Tony raised his glass of apple juice and everyone mimicked him. “To Peter Parker.”
Everyone echoed Tony’s words and Peter flushed bright red, wondering what the hell he’d gotten himself into. He was unbelievably embarrassed and he hadn’t even done anything. All he wanted was to go and crawl under the food table and come out again once everyone had gone. But what’s done is done, and Peter felt a boost of confidence when he realised they were all clapping for him. Not for Spider-Man, or Iron Man, or the Avengers, they were all clapping for plain old Peter Parker. Nobody had ever clapped for plain old Peter Parker. Maybe this was the start of something new. Maybe this was a good thing.
The music came back on and the lights dimmed again and Peter was led off-stage and back to the Avengers, who all hugged him and clapped him on the back. There was an immediate swarm of people trying to get to him, but Bucky saw how spooked he was and moved to block everyone, asking for a few moments. The crowd reluctantly dispersed and Peter looked at Bucky gratefully.
“I gotta say it was a great idea to use the fake intern story and the fake surname. Them not knowing you’re Tony’s son will take a little of the heat off you and at least people won’t be running around trying to find out who your Mom was.” Clint said and Peter was about to open his mouth to correct him but then one of Clint’s kids called his name and he went to see what they wanted.
Peter ended up having to talk to a few people that night, but Tony made it so that it was only two or three, before telling everyone else that they had to back off. He stuck with Peter the rest of the night and spent some time with the team. Come midnight they were in their own little bubble in the hall. Laura had a sleeping Nathaniel on her hip and Thor held Lila in one arm and Cassie in the other as the countdown began. Tony had his arm wrapped around him, like it had been for the past half an hour, and Pepper came over to join them. There was a livestream projected onto the wall of the ball drop at Times Square and Peter remembered thinking that this was gonna be a great year.
The clock reached midnight and the ball dropped and the venue started playing Auld Lang Syne through the speakers and everyone wished their friends and family a Happy New Year. Sam even sneakily gave Peter a sip of his champagne until Tony saw and almost slapped the glass out of Sam’s hand.
The party continued for another hour or so before Peter began to get tired and Tony made his excuses (mostly using Peter as said excuse) and tucked everyone back into their limousines to go back to the Tower.
Peter laid in bed, staring up at his ceiling and thinking about the night. Everyone knew who he was. By the morning, his name would be plastered all over the internet and everyone would know that he was the heir to a multibillion dollar tech company. He shook his head in disbelief. What was his life?
He remembered the TikTok he was editing and grabbed his phone, excited that he could now finally post it and not have to put stickers over his face. He uploaded the finished video and turned his notifications off before sticking his phone on charge and finally going to sleep.
The boy stepped out of his father’s car, thanking the driver and shutting the door. He turned to the large, daunting building and his father’s assistant started walking up the stairs, which was his cue to follow. He took a few deep breaths to try and steady himself.
“Can I help you, young man?” The kind lady at reception asked and the boy smiled.
“Yeah, I—it’s my first day here today. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do.” He bit his lip nervously and the woman smiled in an attempt to reassure him.
“Alright, sweetie. We need a parent or guardian to sign this form, are they here with you?”
He shook his head. “My dad couldn’t come but phoned ahead and asked if his assistant could sign it since she’s my second emergency contact.”
“Ah, yes, I remember. If I could just get a signature here?” The woman held out a pen and his father’s assistant scrawled across the dotted line, remaining silent. “Alright, that’s perfect. I’ve got your timetable here printed out along with a map of the school, and this is a slip with your locker number and code, it should be just down the hall on your left. Your homeroom is just down the hallway to the right, second door on your left. When you get to homeroom, your teacher is going to assign you to a student for the day so that they can help show you around the school and get you to all your classes.” The receptionist flashed him a smile and he gave her a hesitant one back.
“O-Okay.”
“Someone will get you from a class today and take you to have your picture taken for the school’s online system and someone from the IT department will be in touch to give you your school login details. At the end of the school day, if you come to this desk I’ll have a few forms for you that you need to get your father to fill out, okay? Ideally he should come in and have a meeting with your teacher, but I understand since he’s such a busy man that that might not be possible, so in that case your second emergency contact should think about setting up a meeting.” He swallowed and nodded, glancing back to his father’s assistant, who jerked her had once to say that she was listening and making mental note.
“Thank you.” He took the sheets of paper from her hands and shifted his backpack on his shoulder.
“Well, that’s just about everything. I hope you enjoy your first day and if you have any problems, don’t be afraid to talk to a member of staff. Welcome to Midtown Tech, Mr Osborn.”