The One Where Tony Understands Peter
Out of all the Starks, there were three black sheep that lived in the herd: Peter, Bruce and Wanda. All three were different, as Wanda had no powers, and Peter and Bruce were both terrified of theirs.
Steve, Tony, Natasha and Stephen had a bit of a group. They were considered the top dogs, Howard's favorites, the most powerful. One, Two, Three and Five.
Stephen never partook in too much of the ragging they liked to do. He considered himself above all of that. Plus, he prefered Wanda, Peter and Bruce over Tony, Natasha and Steve.
Peter, Bruce and Wanda had their own little group. Tony would never admit it, but he was jealous of the three of them. They had their own secret handshake, and they called themselves the "Evens Club". Wanda was let in because the word even was in Seven. Tony wondered if they would let him in if he asked. He was Number Two, after all.
It wasn't only those things that made Tony jealous. It was the little things. Wanda, Peter and Bruce crawling into each other's beds to soothe nightmares, Peter and Bruce sitting with Wanda while she played her violin, Bruce reading out loud to Wanda and Peter, all three of them laughing at the ridiculous questions Peter asked, Wanda and Bruce letting Peter grab their hands whenever he needed reassurance that they were alive.
Peter even let Wanda paint unicorns on his nails. When Howard shot Peter his usual scathing glare and question of, "Why do you have that on your nails, Number 4?", Peter simply smirked and said, "Like it, Daddy? One of my best friends painted it." And Tony knew that Peter had gotten thrown in the mausoleum again, but Wanda had looked so overjoyed at Peter referring to her as one of his best friends that Peter didn't complain. Tony watched all this from his steady perch.
Steve, Tony and Natasha liked to pick on the self-proclaimed "Evens Club". But that proved to have its own complications. Wanda teared up very quickly, and they were left feeling reluctantly guilty when they'd meet up in Tony's room and hear her sobbing into Peter's shoulder through Tony's wall. They didn't want to risk picking on Bruce, for whenever they went a little too far Bruce's eyes would glow green, and they'd be reminded that Bruce wasn't the only one in his head.
That left Peter. Sweet, innocent, naive Peter, who'd let them call him weak, and let them make fun of how useless his power was, and would even laugh along if he thought that it was a good insult. Peter, who'd laugh along if it was him being insulted, but would flare up in protective mode whenever Bruce or Wanda were dragged in. Peter, who could even make Stephen, arguably the most serious and Howard-like of them all, laugh with his running commentary.
Tony had remembered eavesdropping on Peter, Bruce and Wanda one night. He and his gang had already done their usual of derising Peter, claiming how he should've been Number 7, because even Wanda was more useful than him. Wanda had flinched, heavily, but Peter simply grabbed her hand and said, "Seven is my favorite number. Four isn't even on the top 10 list of numbers that I like."
Wanda had smiled at that. Bruce, on Peter's other side, snorted and asked, "You have a list?"
Peter turned to Bruce and asked in that same tone, "You don't?"
Tony remembered hearing Bruce ask Peter that night, "Why don't you fight back? They go way too far with you and you know it."
Peter had paused for a moment before saying, softly, Tony had to strain to hear it, "They need to laugh at something, Brucie. This place would be a literal hole of depression if no one laughed at anything. And I make fun of myself enough that them making fun of me has no effect. And I'd rather they make fun of me than make fun of you two."
Tony wondered what it was like to have a friend like that. To have someone care for you so deeply that they were willing to let themselves be belittled and torn apart so you'd be left alone.
It all came to a head when Tony couldn't sleep one night. Howard had taken Peter out for his special training. Bruce and Wanda had paled dramatically, but Peter tried to smile at them. It came out looking more like a grimace.
Tony couldn't get Bruce and Wanda's faces out of his head. They kept him up. He stayed up, contemplating what had them so scared until he heard a car pulling up and Howard stepping out, Peter in tow. Tony was just about to ignore, when he took a closer look at Peter. He had scratches all over his arms, his hair was a mess, and his eyes were trained on something that only he could see. Howard had simply snapped at the boy to go to bed. Peter had sluggishly made his way into the house. Tony quickly ducked, hoping that Howard wouldn't spot him.
He watched Peter climb up the stairs at an astonishingly slow pace, mumbling under his breath and pressing his hands over his ears. He stumbled into his room, where Tony could hear his sobbing echoing through the wall. A few minutes later, Tony heard two doors opening and Peter's sobbing was suddenly muffled as though he was sobbing into someone's shoulder. He could hear Bruce murmuring gently, and Wanda hastily pulling her violin out of its case and playing softly, the melodious tone distracting Peter from whatever had him in that state. Tony didn't sleep that night. He doubted the three in the room next to him did either.
That morning, Tony kept sneaking glances at Peter. His eyes were swollen and his hands kept twitching, as though warding off something only he could see. Steve and Natasha kept whispering to each other, things that Tony didn't want to know, Stephen had his nose buried in a book, and Bruce and Wanda kept trying to touch Peter, whether it was a simply pat on the back, or a hand over his knee. Tony's curiousity was peaked.
That day, during their half hour break, Tony asked Natasha to do something very odd. "Nat, can you Rumor me into seeing what Peter sees?"
The redhead shot him a strange look. "Why do you want to do that?"
Tony faked a smirk. "I want to see how much he overexagerrates."
Natasha laughed, before walked up to Tony and gearing herself. "I heard a rumor that you can see what Peter sees for five minutes." She grinned and strutted out to find Steve. "Let me know how much we need to add on to Petey's normal torment after this."
Tony didn't answer. At first, he scoffed. Because nothing changed. Everything was exactly as how it was before Natasha's rumor. There was no difference between what he saw and what Peter saw.
That's what Tony thought at first.
Then someone, no something, walked by his door. Tony couldn't recognize him, but still froze at the horrifying sight in front of him. The man's stomach was cut open, and his guts were bleeding out on the floor. Tony froze for about two seconds, before he started to scream. Another one appeared behind it. This one had a hole in its head, and was leaking brain on the floor. They came into his room. Tony grabbed his knives, but knew deep down that they were already dead, and the knives would do nothing.
It was the worst five minutes of his life. More and more desecrated corpses came into his room, and Tony could do nothing but hole up in a corner and whimper.
Then, his door banged open, and he tried to look through the hoard of cadavers to see who it was. Tony continued to scream. Then, a pair of arms wrapped around him. Tony flinched until he saw the familiar blue sleeve of their uniform, and he clutched whoever it was desperately.
It was Peter. Peter wrapped his arms around him tightly and kept repeating, "Calm down, you're fine, they're not here for you, they're here for me, calm down . . ."
Eventually, the ghosts all vanished. Tony looked up from Peter's shoulder to cautiously peer around his room. He could see Bruce and Wanda at the door, looking at him concernedly. And wasn't that the punch, right there? Tony treating them so horribly, only to have them be so concerned about him?
Peter, realizing Tony couldn't see them any more, let him go and stood in front of him, crossing his arms and tilting his head, looking unimpressed. "You done trying to steal my power?" It would've been intimidating if Tony hadn't found that Peter looked adorable like that.
Tony finally spoke up, voice cracking, "Is that what you see? All the time?"
Peter froze. Bruce pursed his lips and Wanda looked sympathetic. Peter shrugged after a moment. "Yeah, something like that."
"Jesus," Tony breathed. "That must suck."
Peter shrugged again. "It is what it is."
No one said anything for a moment. Then, Peter clapped his hands, startling everyone. "Well, Tones, if you need anything, I'm right next door." He was about to simply get out, when Tony called out for him to stop. He froze only for a moment, but that was enough time for Tony to wrap his arms around Peter tightly. No wonder Peter was always so loud and obnoxious, no wonder he sat and listened to Wanda play, no wonder he needed reassurance that the people around him were alive.
Tony was a whole head taller than Peter, so he pressed his cheek to Peter's curls and drew him closer. Peter froze, clearly having no idea how to react. He tentatively reached over and patted Tony's back awkwardly. "There, there," he said, shooting a confused look at Bruce and Wanda, who looked just as befuddled. "It'll be okay. Just don't try to use my power. It ain't exactly a party in my neck of the woods, if you know what I mean."
"It'll be better, Petey," Tony mumbled, the nickname rolling off his tongue before Tony could think about it. "I promise."
Bruce and Wanda were both smiling, albeit a little sadly, but they were still smiling so Tony would take it.
Tony could feel Peter smile into his chest, and curl a little more surely into him. When they finally broke apart, Peter had his normal grin on his face, and Tony was still blinking tears out of his eyes. Bruce, Wanda and Peter all exchanged looks, before Peter clapped Tony on the shoulders. "Tony, we'd like to invite you to the Evens Club."
"Wh-what?" Tony asked, cursing in his head at the reappearance of his stutter.
Bruce walked over and clapped Tony on the shoulder. "Yeah, we have an opening in the ranks. We were going to give it to Stephen, but you fill the quota a little better than him." Wanda giggled and nodded in agreement.
Tony looked at the three of them in shock. Then, he couldn't stop a wide grin from spreading on his face. "I'd be honored to join."
Peter beamed, and he, Wanda and Bruce dragged Tony off to Peter's room, which was their meeting room. Upon entering, Tony could see why. Peter had his room filled with fluffy blankets and pillows, and had sunlight streaming through his windows. It was so bright and lively, an extreme comparison to his dark and dull room.
Wanda sat down and shyly offered to teach him the handshake. Peter and Bruce were curled up together on Peter's bed, Bruce with a book open and Peter glancing at it every so often, asking ridiculous questions every so often that made everyone laugh.
Even after he leaves the Academy and makes a life, Tony would still remember that moment as the happiest moment of his life.