Chapter 4
MERRY CHRISTMAS
“I’m sorry I ruined your lives and crammed eleven cookies into the VCR.”
— Buddy the elf, Elf.
Peter and Morgan stopped half way back, and he cut down one of the large trees, to take home for a Christmas tree — because, for some reason that Peter couldn’t even begin to comprehend, they didn’t have a Christmas tree — even though it was only a few days until Christmas.
It really didn’t make sense to him at all.
So, he and his baby sister were getting a tree — and nobody needed to know that they stole a whole huge tree from a park.
They dragged it all the way back to their house, and somehow managed to get it all the way up to the penthouse, though they had to take the stairs to do so.
Peter really enjoyed hanging out with Morgan, and decorating the tree wasn’t an exception to this.
The tree was a bit too big, as part of the top was bent over against the ceiling, but it was fine. They still covered it in ornaments and tinsel and lights, and squashed a star just below where the top of the tree started to tip over.
It was almost eight when their dad and Pepper arrived back to the apartment, talking quietly about the company.
Pepper had told him all about Stark Industries — which she was the CEO of, and Tony was the owner and head of R&D (she’d had to explain what that meant to him) of the company.
“We brought food!” Pepper called, as they came in to the lounge room. “Morgan! Peter!”
Both of the adults froze when they saw the huge tree, which he and his sister were still both decorating.
“Mommy! Daddy!” Morgan exclaimed. “Petey got me, and we got the mean middle school guys with snowballs, and then we got a tree! Do you like it?”
“Uh…” Tony glanced between his daughter, Peter — his son, he kept having to remind himself — and the tree. “Where exactly did you… get the tree?”
Peter grinned. “We cut it down in a park, and we had to drag it all the way up the stairs, and it was awesome!”
“Thats… cool.” Tony shook his head slightly, to clear it. “Well — we brought burgers! Pete, kid, you’ve gotta try one. You’ll love it.”
“We even got you a sugary drink.” Pepper smiled, passing him a plastic cup with a straw that said Burger King on it. “It’s a Pepsi. Lots of sugar.”
“Thanks!”
“Oh, and fries,” Tony cut in. He wasn’t quite sure why, because he was just annoyed about the whole Peter thing, but he was kind of jealous of the fact that the kid seemed to get on so much better with Morgan and Pepper than he did with him. And he knew that it was on him, but — still. He made the decision that he was going to try. “We got burgers, we got fries, we got drinks, there’s ice cream in the freezer — lets have a movie night.”
Pepper raised her eyebrows at him, and Tony just shrugged.
What could he say — the kid might be growing on him. Even if Peter was an overexcited (undeniably extremely smart) elf kid.
Tony clapped his hands together in front of him. “Okay — I’m thinking we introduce Dobby here to Star Wars.”
Pepper smiled, and grabbed his arm before he could go further into the lounge room. “Tony,” She said quietly. “I’m proud of you.”
He smiled back at her.
“Hey, dad?” Peter came running over to them, from the oversized tree. “What’s a dobby?”
“Dear god.” Tony whispered. “You haven’t read Harry Potter.”
“No, I haven’t.” Peter shrugged. “I’ve read lots of elf literature, though! Have you read Alabaster Snowballs guide to good values? It’s pretty good! We had to read it at school, and it said that the best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear — its one of the most important things to know as elves!” Peter smiled brightly.
Tony frowned slightly. “Uh… can’t say I have read that — and Dobby’s an elf — from a book called Harry Potter. I mean, Rowling sucks ass, but they’re iconic.”
“Bad word!” Morgan exclaimed.
“Yeah, yeah, sorry little miss.” Tony smiled. He turned to Pepper. “Honey, can you remind me to get him the boxset — before Christmas?”
Pepper smiled. “Of course.” She spoke louder. “Okay! Star Wars time!”
School the next day was great — especially since Peters presence there was sort of legal at that point, because of — well, because he and Ned managed to sneak him into the system.
Okay, so maybe it wasn’t completely okay for him to be there, but it didn’t really matter — it was the last day of school anyway.
And, Peter was hopeful that when school went back after New Years, maybe his dad would actually like, properly enrol him. That would be cool.
He discovered that Ned was a very avid fan of Star Wars, and so they talked about the one that Peter watched the previous night for the entirety of lunch.
Then, the girl was there.
She was cool, Peter decided. She was kind of dark, but she was cool, and really pretty, and Peter liked her a lot. Her name was Michelle, and she was the captain of the academic decathlon team that Ned was on.
And she invited him to their last practice, after school — and it had been awesome.
Michelle — MJ, she said he could call her — had told him that she had noticed him in a couple of the classes that they had together, and that they were a person short since some other girl called Liz left, and so he was on some sort of trial.
It had been great, though. He knew the questions, he discovered that he was actually better at chemistry than most people, even though he’d always thought that his science interest was just… normal-ish, and the mini team that he was on in their practice competition toward the end won.
And then, MJ invited him to the decathlon lunch the next day, on Christmas Eve, and it was even more great. He was on the team, for real, Michelle had said, and he was overjoyed.
It was great, and he was really excited about it — so, he ran the entire way to Stark Tower, to tell his dad. Peter had the feeling that his father was starting to kind of like him, especially after the movie the night before; the man had seemed to be affectionate toward him.
He barged into the meeting room that Natasha had told him his father was in, smiling brightly. “Dad! They let me on the team!” He exclaimed. “They let me on the team! I’m on the team, and Ned likes Star Wars, and MJ is amazing!”
“Not — not right now, Peter.” His dad shook his head, pointing to the door. “We can talk after this meeting with Mister Eitri, okay? Can you pls just wait outside, just until I’m done in here? I won’t be long, okay?”
Peter saw Mister Eitri, and gasped. “I didn’t know you had elves working here!”
The man at the table closest to Peter stared at him, his jaw dropping, and Natasha froze as she sat in her seat.
“Oh, you’re hilarious. Absolutely hilarious, my friend.”
Tony shook his head, waving Peter away and speaking to Eitri. “He doesn’t, uh — he doesn’t understand. Just, uh — get back to what you were saying. Why do you want us to re-open the weapons —”
Eitri rolled his eyes. “We all know about everything that Obadiah Stane,” Tony flinched at the name. “Did was wrong, the whole getting terrorists to kidnap you in ’08 and everything, wasn’t good. But Stark weapons were —”
“Does Santa know that you left the workshop?” Peter asked loudly.
“You know, we’re all laughing our heads off.”
“Did you have to borrow a reindeer to get down here?”
“Peter!” Tony exclaimed. “Go — out. Go find Pepper. Ninety-first floor. Get out of here.”
“Hey!” Eitri snapped. “I get more action in a week than you’ve had in your entire life. Ive got houses — LA, Paris, Venice — each one of them worth more than your entire existence. And I want born out of a drunken fling —”
“— Eitri, that’s not very appropriate —” Tony said softly.
“Sorry.” The man turned back to glare at Peter, who was still smiling. “So I suggest that you wipe that stupid smile off your face, before I come over there and smack it off! You feeling strong my friend? Call me elf one more time!”
Peter stared around the table, not completely sure what to do. “He’s an angry elf.” He whispered loudly.
“That’s it!” The man yelled, jumping up and running across the table, before attacking Peter, and overpowering him very easily.
Eitri got him in a headlock. “Call me elf one more time.” He demanded angrily.
“You’re and elf!” Peter exclaimed desperately, not completely understanding that the guy didn’t actually want him to do that.
Eitri flipped him over, threw him toward the door, and began to storm off.
“Eitri, please, I’m sorry, he —“ Tony attempted to reason. Eitri was a very valuable person to have on the good side of the company, even if he refused to re-open the weapons manufacturing division. “— he thinks he’s an elf — listen, Eitri — listen, Eitri!”
“He must be a South Pole elf…” Peter muttered, standing up from where he landed.
Tony turned to him, fuming. “You get the hell outta here, Parker.” He said, his voice low and angry.
“… Where do you want me to go?” Peter asked.
“I don’t care where you go!” Tony seethed. “I don’t care that you’re an elf, I don’t care that you’re nuts, I don’t care that you’re my son! Get out of my life! NOW!”
Peter looked at his father sadly, tears gathering in his eyes, and ran out of the office, straight to the elevator.
Tony slumped back in his chair, grabbing his left arm painfully. The people around him looked at him, their expressions ranging from shocked to disappointed, before Natasha ushered them out, and turned to him, looking mad.
“You shouldn’t have done that.” Natasha murmured, anger very evident in her quiet voice. “It’s going to bite you in the ass, Stark. Pepper’s going to kill you. Morgan’s going to be very upset. You fucked up.”
Tony nodded. He took his hand away from his aching left arm, instead rubbing his chest, where the electromagnet that kept him alive while he’d been kidnapped in Afghanistan used to sit.
“I know.” He murmured. “I know, I just — fuck. Fuck.”
Natasha turned swiftly, and left.
Tony felt a bit lost as to what to do. He felt like he did in that cage in Afghanistan, when he had a car battery in his chest and Rhodey had saved him — he felt hopeless.
He was wallowing in his self-hate in his office a few hours later, when Morgan ran in, Pepper following behind her.
“Daddy!” Morgan cried, throwing herself onto him. “Daddy, Petey’s gone! He’s gone, and he left his phone, and we left a note on an etch-a-sketch, and — and he left!” She wailed, burying her face in the crook of his neck.
Tony looked up at his wife, holding their daughter close. “He’s… he’s gone?”
Pepper nodded solemnly, and Tony tightened his grip on Morgan.
This was all his fault. He told Peter to leave, he told the kid he didn’t want him… it was all his fault, his fault, his fault, his fault, his fault.
Tony got up from his desk, carrying Morgan on his hip, and gave Pepper a one armed hug. “We’ll find him.” He promised. “We’ll find him — what did… what did he write on the etch-a-sketch?”
Pepper sighed. “That he was sorry for showing up and ruining our lives and and that he was sorry for putting eleven cookies in your that old VCR that Rhodey gave you.”
Tony sighed, leaning his forehead against Peppers for a second, before straightening up. “Happy got the car?”
“He drove us here, but I told him to wait for Rhodey at home.”
Tony frowned I thought Rhodey was coming on boxing day?”
“No,” Pepper shook her head. “He wants to meet the kid, so he’s coming to us for Christmas, and then we’re all going to fly out to his moms together.”
“Okay,” Tony nodded. “Okay. Let’s go find Peter.”
Peter wandered through New York City, hugging the warm hoodie his dad had given him that morning close, and trying to hold in his tears.
He didn’t really know what to do. He — he thought that Tony was starting to like him! His dad had been being super nice since they watched Star Wars, and… and he’d been slowly making Peter try more human, not sweet foods (which he was getting more used to eating, which was nice), and they’d — Peter had thought it would be okay.
He hadn’t meant to make Mister Eitri — the angry elf — mad, and he hadn’t wanted to make his dad mad, he just… it was an accident.
Somehow, Peter found himself at Central Park, and, as he was nearing it, he saw something — a flash of reindeer and a red sleigh, a bang noise and something silver falling —
— Santa!
Peter took off at a run, sprinting towards where he saw the sleigh crash as fast as he possibly could.
When he got there, he tapped Santa on the shoulder, and the man immediately got into a defensive position, before he realised who Peter was, and he relaxed. “Peter? Peter Parker?”
Peter nodded, grinning.
“Oh, how glad I am that you’re here — you remember the Claus-O-Meter that your Uncle Ben taught you how to fix?”
“Yeah?” Peter nodded, kind of nervous. “Of course I do — I think I saw it fall of your sleigh when you crashed!”
“Yes.” The big guy agreed. “Yes, it did. I need to stay here with the reindeer — can you find it for me? Please, Peter.”
Peter swallowed, and nodded. “Yes! I’ll find it! I’ll be back with it soon, I promise!”
Santa smiled at him, as Peter started to walk in the direction that he saw the Claus-O-Meter fall.
“Has he shown up?” Tony asked Happy desperately as he speed walked down the streets, Morgan on his shoulders, slowly getting closer to Times Square. Pepper was in the car, so that they could cover more ground.
“No, boss. I’m sorry.”
Tony sighed. “Okay. I’ve gotta keep looking, but call if he shows up, okay? And shoot me a text when Rhodey gets there.”
“On it Boss.” Happy said, before hanging up.
Tony shoved the phone back in his pocket, and looked up at his daughter. “See him anywhere?”
Morgan shook her head. “No… wait! Go faster, we need to see the big screens!”
Tony sped up a bit, before he could see one of the large Times Square screens.
“Nobody is sure what caused the commotion in Central Park tonight, but as we speak, the Central Park Rangers are being deployed. These horses are highly trained, and one ever come out in emergencies.” The news reporter paused, the screen behind her changing from a view of the horses, to a fuzzy video of a kid in an elf suit walking through the snow. “So far, this footage of an elf walking through the park is all that we have at this time. This is Christine Everhart, back soon when we have updates on the situation.”
“Pete…” Tony murmured. He grabbed the phone back out of his pocket, and called Pepper. “Pep, Morgan and I are at Times Square, can you come get us? We need to get to Central Park.”
“Okay. I’ll be a couple of minutes.”
Pepper hung up, and Tony lowered Morgan to the ground.
Within ten minutes, Tony and Morgan were racing through central park, trying to find Peter, and Pepper was trying to get through the crowd gathered around Christine Everhart outside the park.
“Peter!” Tony called, and he and his daughter raced through Central Park. “Pete! Kid!”
“Peteyyyyy!” Morgan called as well. “Peteyyy! Where are youuuu?”
“Peter! Pete —” Tony cut off when he saw his kid, picking up something large and silver.
Peter looked up when he heard them, startling slightly when he saw who it was. “Morgan? D — dad?”
“Peteyyyy!” Morgan smiled widely, running up to him and hugging him tightly. “I was so worried about you. I thought that you left me.” She frowned.
“I’m sorry.” Peter whispered to her. “Don’t worry, Morgie — I’m not going anywhere…” He looked up at his dad. “.. if its okay — for me to not go anywhere?”
Tony refused to let the boring he felt in his eyes become tears, so instead, he pulled Peter into a tight hug. “I’m sorry, kid. I am so, so sorry.”
“It’s okay, dad.” Peter replied. “I love you.”
Tony paused, the let out a long breath. “I — I love you — I love you too, son.”
Peter wriggled out of his fathers grip, still holding the Claus-O-Meter in one hand, and beckoned for Morgan and his father to follow him. “Come on! We need to go help Santa.”
Tonys smile fell slightly at the reminder that his son thought he was an elf, but, after the scare of losing the kid — which was his own fault, something he hated himself for — he couldn’t find himself to care about his kids elf-ness anymore.
Tony and Morgan followed Peter as he dragged them back to where he knew Santa and the reindeer and the sleigh would be.
He could see the moment that his father realised what he was seeing, and could see the joy in Morgans eyes as she talked the the reindeer excitedly.
Santa popped up from where he was grabbing the emergency toolbox. “I need you to work quick, Peter. The Central Park Rangers have been sent out — and they hate me.”
“Why?”
“Put them on the naughty list and they never forgave me.”
“Huh.” Peter looked at the man in red. “So, uh… what exactly happened here? How’d the sleigh fall?”
Santa sighed. “Christmas spirit just dropped completely. There’s not enough belief out there anymore."
Peter and Santa got to work, and Tony saw the book on the seat of the sleigh, which he knew had to be something to do with the presents, and, since all this insanity was real, he grabbed it, and passed it to Morgan.
They needed to raise Christmas spirit.
“Santa, give me your coat.” He said hurriedly.
The man hesitated, but passes it over. Tony there it on, grabbed Morgans hand, and started running back to where Pepper and the crowd were.
“I’m telling you, MJ, it was Peter on the news report!”
Michelle rolled her eyes at Ned. They’d bonded over their mutual lack of friends a long time ago, so Neds new friendship with they new guy was… a bit weird. New guy was nice, though, so it was okay. “Ned, you’ve known him for like, three days. How could you possibly know that they guy wandering around central park in an elf costume was Peter Parker?”
The woman in from of them turned around, and MJ was surprised to find herself face to face with Pepper Stark.
Pepper frowned. “Did you just say Peter Parker?”
Ned and MJ exchanged a glance, and both nodded.
She smiled in relief. “Oh, thank god — do you know where he is?”
“Uh… no…” Ned said slowly. “Why do you — how do you — know Peter, ma’am?”
“Step-son.” Pepper laughed when Ned gasped. “Trust me, it’s a very recent discovery, but I need to find him.”
“He was on the footage of —“
“Pepper!” Michelle laughed when Neds jaw dropped, as Tony Stark and Morgan Stark squeezed through the crowd to get to Pepper.
“Tony!” She exclaimed. “Did you find him? Is he okay? Where is he?”
“Yeah, he’s — he’s gotta do a thing. He’s fine. Morgan —”
Morgan was gone — pushing through the crowd to get close to Christine Everhart, who’s voice was being muffled by the loud crowd. Tony pulled up the live news on his phone, ignoring the text from Happy saying that Rhodeys plane was delayed.
“— your name, young lady?”
Morgan hugged the big book tight. “I’m Morgan Stark, and I know what’s happening!”
“Really?”
“Yeah!” Morgan nodded. “This is Santas book, with the lists of everyone and what they want for Christmas. It was in Central Park where his sleigh crashed.” There was laughter, and Morgan glared at the people around her, flipping the book open. “Daisy Hudson wants a record player for Christmas. Samuel Hurl wants his younger brother to get better from his tonsillitis. What’s your name, Miss?”
“Uh — Christine Everhart.”
Morgan flipped to a different page, then looked up at the reporter. “You want your boyfriend Dave to propose to you, and you also want him to stop leaving dirty socks on your bed in the morning.”
Christines face went red, and the report cut off.
“Okay, uh,” Ned tried to ignore the fact that he was with Tony and Pepper Stark — and that his new friend was Tony Starks child. “So he was uh — not lying? — Peter, that is?”
“Yeah.” Tony nodded.
“Okay, so — so if the sleigh crashed, then we need to get some — some Christmas cheer, and —”
“The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.” Pepper murmured.
Michelle stepped away from the crowd, and faced them, smiling slightly when she saw Morgan return. She cleared her throat. “You better watch out, you better to cry,”
Pepper smiled at the girl, and joined in. “You better not pout, I’m telling you why; Santa Claus is coming, to town.”
The song went on, and more and more people joined in. Morgan looked up at her dad, and frowned. “You’re not singing. You’re lip-syncing.”
Tony sighed. “It’s the same thing, Maguna. Doesn’t make a difference.”
Morgana shook her head. “You gotta sing, daddy — so that Santa can deliver the gifts!”
The man rolled his eyes, and begrudgingly joined in. “— Santa Claus is coming, to town. He see’s you when you’re sleeping, he knows if you’re awake, he —“
The people stopped singing, as they started to see it — the reindeer and the bright red sleigh flying away. Tony grinned as Peter emerged from the park.
“Dad!” The kid exclaimed. “Oh, uh — hey, Ned. MJ. This is my dad.”
Both of them just stared at him blankly. “Uh — anyway, it worked! I don’t know what you guys did, but it worked! We saved Christmas!”
Rhodey hadn’t been surprised when Pepper told him that Tony’s fifteen year old illegitimate son had turned up out of the blue, but he wasn’t expecting what he saw when he walked into their penthouse, in the early hours of Christmas Day.
Morgan was conked out on the couch, between Tony and Pepper, and there was a kid sitting next to Tony, staring at the TV in wonder as Star Wars played.
That kid looked exactly like Tony did when Rhodey first met him. He grinned. “Hey, kid. I’m your Uncle Rhodey.”
The kid looked up in surprise, grinning when his eyes focused on the man. “Hi! I’m Peter — Peter Parker!”
Jesus, Tony had found himself another kid.
Peter saw May again very soon. He took his sister to visit his Aunt, and the two became besties immediately.
All was good in the world of Peter Parker-Stark — son of Tony Stark, step-son of Pepper Stark, brother of Morgan Stark; the boy raised by elves.