Epilogue
Tony held Peter’s hand as they walked down to his school. It had been a whole month since the kid had been to school and it was finally time to go back. Peter knew everyone had seen the ransom video and he was terrified to go back, worried about what people would say. Therefore, Tony got Happy to drop them off a few blocks away so that they could take a short walk together.
“Dad?” Peter said, taking a deep breath. His heartbeat caught in his throat, panic rushing through his body like it belonged there. “I don’t think, uh, I don’t know if I’m ready.”
“You don’t have to go back, bud,” Tony said, letting go of his kid’s hand. He wrapped an arm around his shoulder and pressed his lip to his forehead. “But if you do.. I’ll be with you, Pete. Shoot me a text and I’ll fly on over in the suit and they won’t be able to stop me from taking you home.”
“Hm,” Peter giggled, “I don’t think you can do that.”
“I’m Tony Stark, sweetheart. I can do what I want,” Tony told him.
They got to the front doors, a while after the rest of the school started. Tony sighed, turning his kid to face him. He adjusted Peter’s jacket and smiled.
“Honestly, kid. We can walk home if you’d like.”
“I-I need to- I-,” Peter stuttered, looking into Tony’s eyes. The man was looking back down at him with a soft facial expression; the love he showed calmed Peter enough to get his heartbeat back to normal. “I can do it.”
“Yes, you can,” Tony said, pulling his kid into a hug.
Tony didn’t let the kid go for a whole minute, just enjoying that his kid was in his arms (and hopefully he’d never be away from him ever again). When Peter made a whine, telling him that he was ready to go, Tony reluctantly let himself drift away.
“Call me if you need anything, Petey. Anything, kid. Even if you need an extra set of pencils or something, call me.”
“I will, Tony.”
That was another thing that changed. Calling his mentor ‘Mr Stark’, wasn’t something that he did anymore. It felt weird to do, with all that they’d been through.
Peter took a deep breath, whined when Tony messed up his hair and kissed him on the cheek, and finally let go of his mentor/dad’s hand as he walked through the big, forbidding, front doors of the school he hadn’t been too in about 3 1/2 months. Well, he wasn’t that sure of the entire timeline. But.... he knew that he’d been gone a long time.
The corridors were empty. Tony refused to let him walk in the same time as all the other kids, worried that he’d get overwhelmed. He put his hands in his pockets and stared at his first period’s classroom door. He took one deep breath and put his hand on the door handle. He knew that Ned was going to be there, that at least was going to make it tolerable.
With a deep breath and a frown, Peter took his first step into the classroom. He felt so small, with every pair of eyes in the room on his. He looked down to the floor and scurried to his chair, almost tripping as he did. He put his bag down to the floor and grabbed his books. He didn’t dare to look anywhere else, but the front of the classroom.
The whole room was silent. Even his teacher didn’t know what to say. Peter shuffled in his seat.
“Right,” Their teacher said, clearing his throat. “Welcome back, Mr Parker. I don’t want anyone asking him anything to do with the- uh, anything. If I do, it’s an instant suspension. You can only talk if he gives you the permission to do so, okay? Anyway-,”
Peter almost felt as if he drifted out of his existence. The lesson went by fast. Although, the gaze of his fellow students’ did burn two holes into the back of his head. The class was something he already knew, he worked with Tony Stark in his person lab (he knew a lot), so, he didn’t have to pay much attention.
He heard whispers in throughout the lesson about him, but people didn’t know that he could. Really, it was insensitive... but, Peter didn’t blame them. He’d be curious if one of his classmates disappeared, starred in a ransom video and then came back days later after being front page news with Tony Stark. It was a lot to gossip about, and people sure did gossip, but, he really didn’t like hearing it all when he was pretending to listen to algebra.
He left the classroom, Ned on his tail, when he saw his own face up on a board in front of him. He froze on the spot, making his friend bump into him.
“Woah!” Ned squeaked, falling into the back of Peter. He looked up to see what happened, to see his friend’s confused (confused might not have been the word for it, anxious was the way to explain it) face. “Oh, that. That’s a, uh, get well soon kind of thing they did for you when that video came out. People were really worried, man. Like, people I didn’t even know were coming up to me to see if I was okay. I wasn’t, by the way. It was horrible to see you like that. I can’t even imagine how it was for you. Look- even Flash drew you something!”
Peter squinted, staring at the messages from people that never even talked to him that much. For some reason, he didn’t know why, tears of frustration welled up in his eyes. Before he knew it, a tear slipped down his cheek.
“Pete?” Ned asked, tilting his head. “You alright, man? We can call Tony.”
Peter wiped his tears with the end of his sleeve. “No, it’s okay. It’s fine, Ned. It’s just.. a lot.”
A group of people had grown around the two friends, all staring at Peter’s face as he looked over their messages. Peter knew, in the back of his head, that these people would forget it ever happened a week later and they would also forget he even existed. For now, it felt weird to be the centre of attention. Peter was sure that Ned was sort of revelling in it, even though the reason why it was happening was depressing.
“Peter!” A voice called, running behind him as they walked to their class. Peter turned to see Steve Rogers, standing in the middle of the hallway with a lunchbox in his hand.
Peter’s face burnt a deep red as he heard everyone gasp in the hallway. He put his head to the floor, cringing as he heard Steve’s familiar footsteps walking towards him.
“May called Tony. She said you left your lunchbox at home and, uh, he was deep in a meeting. Sent me down here to give it you,” He smiled.
Peter couldn’t help his smile. He took the box, sheepishly thanked Steve and yelped when he was suddenly pulled into the hug.
He hadn’t really talked to the rest of the Avengers yet, but Tony told him that everyone was just as worried about him. He could’ve sworn he felt Steve’s chest rising fast, almost as if he was crying. But when they pulled away from the hug, Steve turned and said goodbye before he could look into his eyes.
Well, that was going to cause more questions.
Before he knew it, the day turned into lunch. Each lesson mentioned his ransom video, telling the students not to mention it. At this point, they knew, and the teacher’s were just bringing it up more than they needed to.
Peter sat with his lunch, the lunch Captain America brought to him in the middle of his school’s hallway (how weird was his life), at the same table he used to sit in everyday before the past. Ned sat in front of him, MJ to his side. He hadn’t even seen MJ yet. She was looking at him a lot more than usual, but not in the same way as everyone else. She wasn’t uncomfortable. The look was something of normality mixed with slight empathy. He appreciated it.
“So,” MJ said, also noticing how everyone was looking at him. “How are you?”
“Fine. It almost feels like everyone here hasn’t seen a video where I beg for my life. It’s strange, but I think I’m okay? I don’t know.” Peter replied, lying. His anxiety had been bubbling in his stomach the whole day.
MJ knew about Spiderman. She found out only a few weeks before the battle that sent him back to the past. Well, saying that she found out wasn’t really the right way to put it. She came up to him after school and asked him in the middle of the street. For some reason Peter couldn’t lie to her and didn’t even try to find an excuse.
“Where were you? I can’t imagine you were with the bastard that did that to you for three months,” She asked, straight to the point (that’s why he liked her).
“The past.”
“Sure,” She smirked, looking back to her sketchbook like he was joking. Believing one of her best friend’s was Spiderman was one thing, but believing in time travel was something else.
Before Peter could think of something else to say, to convince her it was true, one of the guy’s from the jock table came up to them and placed a hand on Peter’s shoulder.
Peter jumped out of his skin from the sudden touch, flinching back and falling of his seat. He cowered, his hands covering his face as his classmate stared down at him (he had the decency to look guilty).
“Oh, shit!” The boy (Peter could’ve sworn his name was Matthew), “Sorry, Peter. I just-,”
MJ glared at the new person, as the rest of the hall gasped. The whole room went silent, the sound of Peter’s heavy breathing becoming more evident. Ned rushed to his side, not touching him.
Inside Peter’s head, everything was happening. All he saw was the face of Marcus. Marcus stared at him as he pushed him through the portal, separating him from Tony. All his emotions came over him, feelings of loneliness, fear... the whole load. The pressure in his gut filled, making him feel sick. He knew he was shaking, but he couldn’t see. He couldn’t believe that a random touch did all of this to him. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been like this.
“Peter?”
Someone was calling him.
“Pete?”
Was it Ned? No, it didn’t sound like him. It sounded older.
“Buddy?”
Was it his teacher? Mr Jones called him buddy this morning. No, Jones was Irish. That definitely wasn’t an Irish accent.
“Bambino?”
Peter’s eye blinked open. He knew who that was. Tony was staring down at him, panic on his face. He could see his classmates staring, one of them had a camera our, but he didn’t have the strength to care.
“Dad?” Peter whispered.
Tony’s face softened. “You keep going back and forth on what to call me, Petey-Pie. I like that one, though. That’s my favourite.”
“Dad,” Peter whispered again, tear stained tracks on his cheeks. He inched forward, falling into Tony’s arms. He took a breath of relief when the billionaire’s arms wrapped around him, his lips falling into Peter’s curls.
“You’re okay, kid. Nothing’s going to hurt you anymore.”
Tony stood up, Peter still in his arms. Peter’s arms wrapped around his waist, looking like he was a Koala attached to a zoo-keeper. He walked straight out of the hall, gesturing for Ned and MJ to follow him with Peter’s stuff.
Tony didn’t care how ridiculous he looked. He walked straight to the principal’s office with Peter wrapped around him, telling the man that he was taking his kid home. With hardly any resistance, Peter was in the back of a car.
Happy looked back as Tony strapped the kid in, concern stitched into his facial features. Tony sighed, taking the seat beside the kid as he took his hand in his.
“I guess- I don’t, um, think I was ready.” Peter sighed, dropping his head onto Tony’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, Dad. I know you were busy.”
“Never busy enough for you, kiddo,” Tony said as he squeezed his hand, glaring at Happy when the man raised his eyebrows at the word ‘Dad’.
Peter hummed, his eyes fluttering. “People just kept talking and my anxiety was already high... a-and-,”
“Don’t even need to explain, Peter. People need to learn how to be more careful around people who are struggling. I’m so mad at that kid-,”
“No!” Peter said, sitting up. “You can’t blame him, Tony. They’re just- well, young- I guess? They shouldn’t know how to behave around people like me. He was just coming to say hi, probably, to see if I was okay. It wasn’t his fault.”
Tony shook his head, with a breath. A smile formed on his face. “Ah, kid. You’re way too pure for this world.”
1995-
Tony had another hangover. Once again. With a harsh breath, he sat up in his bed and stared down at the woman who laid beside him. He felt empty. That wasn’t Pepper, that wasn’t the woman he stared to like. But she’d never go for someone like him, would she?
As he wondered into his lab, with his shirt off and low hanging pyjamas pants, he noticed a white frame behind one of his sofa cushions.
“What the hell is that?” He mumbled to himself, walking over.
He grabbed the edge of the unknown picture, pulling it out. He stared at it, confused. It was a polaroid of him and Pepper... with a kid? He had never seen that damn kid in his life. He looked at himself in the photo, his smile wider than he had ever seen it before. It almost felt like an out of body experience, something that happened in a different life.
He stared it for a second. Shrugging, he threw the photo in the bin. He didn’t know who that kid was and why he looked so happy to be in his company, but he wasn’t going to obsess over it.
Tony went to sit as his desk when Pepper walked down into his lab.
“Appropriate clothing, Tony,” She smiled, keeping her eyes (very professional, he could’ve said. He didn’t, however. He didn’t want to embarrass her).
“Always, Miss Potts,” He winked. “What brings you down to my little home.”
“Was in the area, Mr Stark,” She said, taking a step closer to him. She put her hand on the edge of his wrist.
Tony took a deep breath. He stared up into her eyes for a second. He couldn’t remember what he was even thinking about.
The thought came straight back to him, he was a genius after all. He whipped his attention away from Pepper’s (flirtatious?) eyes and took a seat in his computer chair. Apparently, he wasn’t a genius. There was a wrong calculation in this program. Huh, he could’ve sworn someone warned him of that before. He shrugged, spinning right back to Pepper. “Sorry about that, quickly had to look over that.”
Pepper’s face was a little flushed. “I didn’t expect to see you up and walking today. I heard you went out partying again last night, Tones.”
“I did,” Tony smiled, his face falling when Pepper’s did. She clearly wasn’t happy. “Sorry.”
“I just want you to be okay.”
Looking into her eyes, Tony almost felt compelled to change his entire life for her. He wasn’t going to, however, he could feel that in his chest. But if she continued to look at him like that, like she loved him, then maybe he would. It would all be worth it.
2018-
Finally, it was Peter’s 17th birthday. He had really been looking forward to this. Even if the run up to it was spent in 1995 and then in captivity, Peter was still excited.
May knew that her Nephew was going to get spoilt. She knew that, because somehow she was co-parenting this kid with Tony Stark. She didn’t tell anyone like that, it wasn’t like they’d believe her.
She made him a little scrapbook of his parents, Ben and her (memories of their old lives and some photos with little Peter), as she knew how sensitive her boy was (she loved it). She also got him a box of his favourite chocolates. She left the big presents to Tony (he insisted. He really, really, insisted).
When the day came around, she was over the moon that he was finally smiling again. She listened to his characteristic rambling as she drove them both to the tower. Tony had set up a surprise party with MJ, Ned, Pepper, Happy and the rest of the Avengers. She couldn’t way to see how happy he was.
Walking into the room, Peter’s brow furrowed when the lights didn’t turn on. Tony always greeted him there. Why wasn’t he there? He turned around to see that May wasn’t even there. His eyes went wide, looking around. His spider sense spiked. The tower was on attack! He went to pull his web shooters out of his bag when all the lights flashed on, multiple people jumped out and shouted ‘Happy Birthday!”
Peter, completely freaked out, punched whoever was standing in front of him. Due to their height difference, Peter accidentally punched Captain America in the chest. His face flushed red when people started to laugh as Steve hunched over.
“I’m so sorry!”
Steve laughed, (everyone else had been laughing for a good minute when Steve finally started too), and shook his head. “It’s okay, son. I would’ve had the same reaction.”
Tony walked over, putting an arm around the kid’s shoulder. “Impressive, bambino. You really got him.”
“Dad,” Peter mumbled, laughing. “I didn’t mean to.”
“I know you didn’t!”
After listening to the radio for a while, it was finally time for the birthday boy to open his birthday presents.
Tony pulled out 3 big boxes of presents, making Peter groan. He was very, very, appreciative of all the man did for him. Sometimes, he did too much. Way too much.
“Don’t worry, some of them are big,” Tony smiled.
Peter’s presents consisted of: a new version of the Spiderman suit (Karen got some new features and Tony made even more web combinations), a lot of branded clothing, 15,000 dollars (Peter tried to give that one back, but Tony said it was pocket change for him), a lot of lego sets (Ned freaked out on that one), tickets to England (one for Peter, Tony, Pepper, May, Happy, MJ and Ned. That trip was going to be fun), a Rolex watch (it matched Tony’s favourite) and a lot more. With one more left, Peter couldn’t believe how much his ‘dad’ was treating him.
Tony handed him a small box. Peter smiled, surely this one wasn’t going to be too expensive. But, looking at Tony’s excited grin, he wasn’t too sure.
He opened it, as everyone else smiled at him, and freaked out. Inside was the key to a Tesla. Peter’s eyes widened. “No way! D-Dad, this is way too much! I-,”
“I want to teach you how to drive it, kid. I can teach you how to do it up- and- and it’s just like I’ve always imagined about doing if I ever had a kid. So-,”
Peter took the man into a hug. “I love you so much, Dad.”
“I love you too.”
When all the celebrations came to a close, Tony and Peter were the only two left up. Peter was definitely a chip off the old block, with both of them struggling to sleep. Well, they’d ignore it for now.
Peter was wrapped around Tony, the man’s arm around him. They were finally back together. This time, they’re weren’t getting pulled apart. Tony was going to make sure of it.
“What film should we watch?” Tony yawned. “As we’re clearly not falling asleep any time soon, soooo... might as well, kiddo. What’s your opinion?”
“Hmmm,” Peter mumbled, thinking about it. “Uh, how about ‘Back to the Future?”
Hitting him gently around the back of the head with a pillow, Tony couldn’t help the loud laugh that came out of his throat.
“I don’t think I want to see that one for a very long time, kid.”