Peter knew it was a bad idea to go to the tower today. He needed to go somewhere. If he went to the apartment May would have called Tony anyway. He loved going to the tower and he loved hanging out with Tony. The thing was Peter was covered in bruises and he had black eye and busted lip. There was also a gash on his ribs. The rest of the bruises were covered by his clothes.
It was obvious they weren’t from patrol so Tony would know it was from something else. It was from A senior. A senior who was mad at Peter for being a freshman and making it on the AcaDeca team. Said senior also happened to be on the basketball team.
He hoped into the black Audi that Happy was driving. He pulled up his hood before Happy could see the black eye.
‘Hey kid.’ Happy told him. ‘School go ok?’
‘Hi Happy, school was pretty decent. I nailed my algebra test.’ Peter told him. That was probably the best thing that had happened to him.
‘Good job kid.’ Peter mumbled a thanks to Happy and layed his head against the window. His eyes closed and they didn’t open until they got back to the tower. Peter felt the car stop and his eyes opened to see the tower. He was going to have to think of some type of excuse for keeping his hood up.
He walked into the building and made a beeline for the elevator. He wanted to get to the lab soon. He entered the elevator and it took him to the floor Tony was on.
‘Hello, Peter it looks like you have multiple bruises. A black eye, a busted lip, and a scrape on your side. I also detect you haven’t been in the suit recently. Shall I tell boss?’ Friday told him. Of course she would scan him. It was her job to make sure he was ok especially with all the protocols Tony had in place.
‘No Fri, it’s ok. Don’t tell Tony.’ Peter rushed out. He figured he would just tell Tony he had a bad hair day and move on.
The door for the elevator opened and he walked out and down the hallway. He opened the fancy glass doors and walked to his work bench.
‘Hey kiddo. How was school.’
‘Hey Tony, school was boring though I did do good on my math test. I rather be out patrolling or working in the lab with you.’
‘Ya kid, but you gotta go to school. But uhh what’s up with your hood.’
Peter pulled out his homework and was avoiding eye contact with Tony so something was obviously wrong.
‘Just a bad hair day.’
‘Wanna try again. I’ve seen you puking your guts up and walking around in a corgi onesie for a joke. Take the hood off.’
Peter knew this would happen, and now he had no way around it. He sighed in defeat. Slowly he pulled the hood off and waited for Tony’s gasp but it never happened. He looked at Tony and he looked furious.
‘Don’t worry it was just an accident on patrol.’
‘Peter. We both know that is absolute bullshit.’
Tony grabbed his chin gently and pulled his face to turn toward the light. He used his thumb to gently prod at the black eye. Peter winced and Tony let go.
‘What the hell happened?’
‘Promise not to flip and get the kid suspended or expelled?’
Tony rolled his eyes but nodded for Peter to go on.
‘There is this senior, Jake Johnson, who wanted to be on AcaDeca but he didn’t make it and I did and since I was a freshman he wasn’t too happy about that. Next thing I know I’m in the boys bathroom being used as a punching bag.’
Tony sighed. He knew Peter couldn’t fight back and risk exposing himself. He just wished this stuff wouldn’t happen. He pulled the kid into a hug and Peter gladly gave one back but when Peter yelped in pain when Tony pushed against his ribs he almost wanted to do what Peter told him not too. It seemed this was more than just a black eye.
They pulled apart and Peter was once again avoiding looking him in the eye.
‘Pete, either you show me what other damage there is or I ask FRIDAY.’
Peter sighed and looked at the floor while fidgeting with his hands. Then he pulled the sweatshirt off and Tony saw all the bruises around his chest that were under it. His eyes roamed the kids chest before landing on a bloody gash.
‘It’s not like it’s bad. I’ve had worse and I have speedy healing. It’ll be gone tomorrow night tops.’
‘Ya kid I know but that barely justifies for anything. Your still hurt and it’s still because some snot nosed senior couldn’t deal with not being good enough.’
Tony led Peter over to the couch to have him sit down so he could clean it. Peter layed down and closed his eyes. He was so done with today, he just wanted to sit with Tony and watch a movie. Tony brought over the first aid kit and opened it for supplies. He cleaned the gash and around it.
When he was done he put some bandages on it and looked at Peter. The kid looked like he was very close to sleep.
‘Hey kiddie, let go upstairs and watch some Star Wars. Mmk?’
Tony brushed Peter’s bangs out of his face and Peter nodded. They cleaned up a tiny bit and started their journey upstairs.
When they reached their destination Peter’s head ended up on Tony’s shoulder cuddled into his side. Tony’s hand was going through his hair and Peter was about to fall asleep.
Sure Tony’s kid had advanced healing but that doesn't mean anything. He still hurt and still took the hits. Tony was still going to get this senior in some trouble at least. Nobody messes with Peter Parker without hearing from Tony Stark.
For right now Tony was just going to cuddle with his kid and take care of him until he was feeling a little bit better.
————
The next day when his black eye was gone and Peter was back at school he heard over the intercom-
‘Can Senior Jake Johnson head to principles office.’
How convenient. He’d have to talk to Tony about that soon.