The Move
1995-
Tony looked over at Peter tinkering away on their design, feelings muddling up in his head. He looked at the kid’s features, trying to see if he looked like him. This must be his son otherwise he wouldn’t be getting this attached. Peter must’ve lied. He knew Tony would’ve had a crisis (as if he’s not had one already). However, he had already seen Richard Parker. Peter clearly had a father already. Then how come Tony felt so attached? He felt like something was wrong.
Living twenty five years in the past was getting to Peter a little. He’d been gone for about two months, he wasn’t sure how long it was exactly. He missed Netflix, his family and friends and mostly: Delmars’ sandwiches. What he would do for one of his famous creations, extra pickles crushed down. He was almost salivating at the thought.
So, whilst Tony had a mind battle with himself about parenthood, Peter was thinking about a sub in Queens. Really, life was much better when you didn’t think about stressful things.
The rain had washed away, days ago. It was coming up to August, Peter’s birthday month. His 17th birthday was supposedly going to be massive, according to his Tony Stark. Tony did nothing without pizzazz so, Peter had been excited for months. To think that he was going to miss Tony’s plans, it did stress him out (a lot). He quickly joined Tony in the land of overthinking.
Both of them had far off, vacant, facial expressions in the lab. So much so, they hadn’t noticed that Pepper had joined them. She enjoyed watching for a while. Although, that quickly changed to frustration when her presence was left unknown for minutes. Her cough made both of them jump.
“Oh, how long have you been stood there?” Tony laughed, moving over to her. His hand landed on her wrist, gently. He didn’t move it, however. It felt right.
“Long enough,” She smiled, stepping a little closer to Tony. Her smile lifted as soon as she made direct eye contact with the man. Peter could’ve sworn her eyes fall to his lips.
Peter felt like he should’ve covered his eyes. It was like watching his parents fall in love. It was almost sweet, if it not awkward. Not a lot of kid’s had that privilege to see love bloom between the adults they loved the most.
“Pete? I asked if you’d like to join us.”
Peter bit his lip. Oh, great. He hadn’t been paying attention. He didn’t know what he was joining them in.
“Where would that be?” Peter said, his cheeks turning a deep red as Pepper laughed.
“He’s just like you, Stark. You’re a bad influence,” She told him, playfully. “We just purchased a new building in New York for Stark Industries. Tony’s got a tower down there so we were just talking about him moving down to work in New York for a bit, most of the staff are going down too.”
“Stark Tower?! No way! That’s where I stay! We’ve got to go, Mr Stark!” Peter said as he gripped Tony’s sleeve, almost as if he was an excited toddler. He just had to make sure he didn’t call it ‘Avengers tower’. “I mean, we don’t have to! Not if you don’t want to up-haul your own life so-,”
Tony’s heart would’ve burst if he was somebody else. It was impossible to deny; the kid was adorable. He ruffled Peter’s hair before he could stop himself. This was obviously something future him did a lot as it made Peter stop for a second.
“Fine. I’ll come, Pep. Me and Pete will stay up in the penthouse.”
He was going to say yes since the beginning. Moving to the tower meant they had to stop building the machine for a while. That meant he had more time with the kid. Selfish, yes. But, he deserved it. Other Tony had the rest of his life to spend with Peter. He had until they built the machine. After that, the kid was going to become a forgotten memory. He would never remember his infectious personality or his smile. It upset him (although, he’d never admit that. Not yet, at least).
Peter wasn’t totally sure why he didn’t want to tell Tony about Iron Man. He was going to take a memory potion (they had already finished that, using plans from the military to create their final project) so, he wouldn’t remember it. He saw how being a hero affected his Tony and he didn’t want to put another version of the man through all the memories.
Peter sat in the passenger seat of Tony’s car as they drove to the airport, looking outside the window at the view. The view was so much nicer in the past. Less buildings took up space across fields and he swore that the sky seemed a bit more blue.
Peter had been in Tony’s private jet before so, it wasn’t too much of a surprise as he walked in. Every single time he walked in, however, he couldn’t quite believe he flew private.
“You okay, Pete?” Tony said, a glass of whisky next to chair.
Tony’s sunglasses fit over his face but, Peter could tell that his gaze was on one of the flight attendants. It almost made Peter feel weird. He saw how close he looked with Pepper. He had to remind himself, however, that this was the past. They were not a couple, yet. Tony was allowed to look at other women. It just... freaked him out, if that was the right way to say it.
“I hate flying,” Peter said, closing his eyes. He gripped the plane’s chair as it took off, trying not to think about it.
“Ah, I see,” Tony said, taking his glasses off his face so that he could look Tony straight in the eye. “I’m not a huge fan, either.”
“Yeah,” Peter muttered.
“Take a deep breath, Pete. Close your eyes, we’ll be in the air soon and you can just pretend that we’re not moving at all.”
Tony was right, after all. As they landed, Peter had been asleep on the chair as Tony drank his second glass. He didn’t even remember the flight.
The Stark Tower looked almost identical to the Avengers Tower, except for the massive logo at the top (close to the penthouse). Peter couldn’t stop smiling as it reminded him of home and all the people he missed.
“Incredible, right?” Tony said, looking up at the same spot as Peter.
Peter simply laughed. If you could even call it a laugh. It was most like a soft exhale out of his nose. He looked over at Tony.
“It’s home.”
2018-
Tony’s sat down at his desk, his completed machine beside him. Something wasn’t working here but, he didn’t know what it was. He was supposed to be a genius, the smartest person in the world, but he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t figure it out.
Tony’s anger boiled up in him. Pushing the items he had on his desk to the side, he watched them as they crashed down to the floor of the lab.
“Tony?” Pepper said, her dressing gown wrapped around her body. She looked down at her husband who was curled up on the lab floor, surrounded by all sorts of items. “Oh, sweetheart.”
“I don’t think we’ll ever get him back, Pepper. I can’t figure any of this out,” Tony said, staring at everything around him. He took the photo frame in his hands, the glass now smashed. He traced his fingers over the broken glass. The photo of him and Peter looked diagonal, tilted from how it felt. “How will I move on?”
Pepper sat down, wrapping an arm around her husband. “I don’t know,” She whispered. “I don’t know how you can. If we have to then we’ll do it together. But you can’t give up yet, he won’t be.”
“I can’t-“ Tony took a deep breath. “Damn, kid. I miss you so much.”
“We all do, Peter,” Pepper added, holding him. “I love you, Tony.”
“Love you too,” Tony whispered, turning to give her a kiss. “I’ll reunite our family soon. I’ll do it, Pepper. I promise you.”
When Pepper left, Tony got DUM-E to help him clean up. He stared at the bleeping robot for a second. Memories of Peter in his lab came back to him in an instant.
A day later, Tony was forced outside of his lab. He sat in his own jet, next to Steve and Rhodey, with a scowl on his face. He didn’t want to be here. He shouldn’t be here. His precious time should only be spent working on his operation to get Peter back. He noticed how Rhodey looked at him, making him turn his head away.
“It’ll be good to get your mind off everything, Tony,” His best friend, Rhodey, told him as he pulled him to the side. “Maybe, getting away from it will clear your head and you’ll think of an idea that’ll work.”
“Maybe. Maybe Peter has just died from starvation in the past because we spent so much time away from the machine,” Tony said, propping his legs up on the table. “Then his death is on my conscience and I’ll be depressed for the rest of my life. How about that?”
“Wow, okay,” Rhodey said, eyebrows raising. “Think you’re overthinking a little there, Tones. You don’t know how Peter’s doing over there, he might even be with you.”
“God help him if he’s stuck with my past self,” Tony rolled his eyes. “He would just call Pete crazy and shut the door on him if the kid asked. Plus, the kid wouldn’t choose me for help. His parents would be alive, he’d go to them.”
Strange suddenly appeared. The portal opened in the middle of the jet, Strange stepping out seconds later. It never failed to make Tony jump, his legs falling off the table. Tony couldn’t help but laugh as his friend did (as much as he was embarrassed).
“Wouldn’t be so sure of that, Tony,” Stephen said, taking the seat next to him. “I can’t reach Peter but, I’ve been keeping an eye on him. Apparently your younger self is a lot more accommodating than you think.”
“He’s with me?” Tony asked. He felt both relieved and scared at the news. A little bit of him felt proud knowing that Peter thought of him during a time of need.
“Yes. Well, past you. They’re also trying to build a machine. They’re not as close as you are, it seems.... However, they have made some progress. Perhaps your younger self will be beat you.” Strange said, pushing Tony’s buttons (deliberately).
“No he won’t. Strange, take me back to my lab. I think I know what I’m missing,” Tony’s competitive side kicked in, making him want to get to Peter first (for bragging rights and just to see his kid again).
Before anyone in the team could say anything, Tony and Stephen stepped through the portal. Rhodey crossed his arms, glanced over at the room’s confused faces and started laughing. That was definitely his best friend.