*It's been three months after the Civil War, as the TV people dubbed it, and the Rogues are coming back to the tower.
*Tony has tried his best to keep Peter away from what happened in Siberia and thinks he has succeeded.
*He hasn't. Peter knows everything. He's talked to Rhodey about it.
*It's Tuesday morning and Peter, Tony and Rhodey are having breakfast in the kitchen.
*"The Rogues have entered the tower. They are at the reception and are asking to be sent upstairs", Friday tells Tony.
*Tony almost drops the coffee cup before giving Friday the permission to let them upstairs.
*Peter just looks at Tony and smiles but tenses his shoulders a little defensively.
*Rhodey just looks at Tony.
*The elevator dings and the three go out to the living room.
*"Stark.", "Captain."
*So far so good. *"Welcome back.", "Thank you, Colonel."
*"Who's the kid?", Natasha asks.
*"Oh that's Peter, my intern" Tony says.
*Eyebrows are raised.
*"Mr. Stark, I'll be in the kitchen if you need anything"
*"Sure, kid."
*Peter puts on his earphones. He really doesn't want to hear anything and get angry. He trusts Rhodey to handle it.
*He worries a little when he starts to hear loud voices.
*"I have said this before and I'll say it again. Take away the suit and what are you Tony?" He hears the Captain say.
*There is a sharp intake of breath from Mr. Stark. His answering volume decreases till he reaches the end of the sentence where it’s almost a whisper, "Genius,Billionaire, Philanthropist and a Father".
*Peter almost falls down. He goes outside. He ignores the Rogues because this is important. Father. That one word. Mr. Stark has a child and Peter didn't know about it. He thought they were there now, "You are someone's father, Mr. Stark?" His voice dangerously quivers.
*Tony rubs his forehead. He forgot about the super hearing,"Yes kid. I think I am."
*"Mr. Stark". Peter gasps. "Who is it? Why haven't I met your child yet, Mr. Stark?"
*Rhodey rolls his eyes, "He literally called you kid, Peter. For someone who can solve MIT level calculus, it shouldn't be that difficult to connect the dots."
*Tony glares at Rhodey, "Don't make fun of the kid." He looks at Peter and sighs. "Kid, I don't have a child. Well, not biologically at least. However, according to Platypus here, there is a certain mentee that brings out my fatherhood. Hence father. But you can call me his father figure."
*Peter is jealous, "Who is it? I thought I was your only mentee. I thought you only mentored me."
*Tony laughs. "Seriously kid? You can't tell? You still don't understand?"
*Peter shakes his head. Fists balled and stuffed in the hoodie. Tony's hoodie.
*"I am talking about you, Pete. You are my mentee that Rhodey thinks brings out the father in me. I think I am your father figure."
*Peter smiles. And he can't stop smiling, "Oh! Wow. Mr. Stark. Umm. Wow. Yeah. Okay. This is. Wow."
*"You have said wow 3 times now kid. Is it that unbelievable?"
*"No. It's just- I thought it was only me who thought that and I was afraid to say anything about it, but I really think of you as my dad, Mr. Stark."
*He realizes what he said, "I- I mean father figure. Yeah. I meant father figure. Totally. Haha. I don't know why I said dad. I am so sorry, Mr. Stark. Please don't tell anyone I called you dad. Oh my god. What is wrong with me." He hopes the ground will swallow him whole. Right now.
*Steve clears his throat.
*Peter resembles a tomato. He didn't realize they had company.
*Tony feels bad for his kid. He is still recovering from the 'dad' thing and goes towards Peter and hugs him. "We will talk about this later, Pete. I think you are late for school. Happy will bring you back to the lab after school and we will talk about this."
*He kisses his forehead. Peter chokes on a goodbye and all but sprints out of the lab.
*He can't keep the grin off of his face.
*Peter is happy.