Mr.Stark? I don't feel too good.
Tony: Hey kid. We got a lot of stuff to work on today. You want to stay the night?
Peter: Really!? Yeah sure, Mr. Stark!
Tony: Great. See you then Spiderbaby
Peter: NOT a baby :(
Tony: Whatever you say Spiderbaby
Peter: *groan* See you in a few minutes, Mr. Stark
Tony: See ya kid
"Hey May?" Peter calls.
"What is it, baby?" May asks, appearing in his doorway.
"Mr. Stark says that there's a lot of stuff to do for my internship. Is it ok if I stay the night?"
"I actually have a night shift so it works out perfectly! Sure you can." May says, giving Peter a big hug.
"Ok! I'll see you tomorrow May." Peter says, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek and walking out the door.
"Have fun mi amore!”
Peter walks into a random alley and takes his suit out of his backpack. He puts it on quickly and swings toward the Tower.
Tony sighs and puts down his phone. Sometimes he wishes he didn't have to deal with people that had literally no brain activity. Tony misses his Spider-kid. Tony loves everything about Peter; from his brilliance to his non-stop rambling, to his little quirks. He looks down at his phone and sends a text to Peter, making up some stuff about work. Tony wishes Peter came over more often than once a week.
"Damn FRIDAY. When did I get so soft?" Tony questions.
"Approximately when you met Peter sir."
"It was a rhetorical question FRI." Tony says rolling his eyes. "And you and your sas. I swear I'm going to remember to reprogram you one of these days."
"Sure sir."
"Hello, Peter. Are you well?" FRIDAY asks from the ceiling.
"Hey FRIDAY! I'm doing great! Do you know where Mr. Stark is?"
"He is currently in his private lab."
"Great!" Peter says, stepping into the elevator. "Can you take me to the lab please?"
"Sure Peter."
As the elevator goes up, Peter suddenly feels a bit dizzy and nauseous. His forehead feels hot and Peter felt a little weak. Maybe he shouldn't have skipped out on sleep all those nights...and meals. Peter sighs and rubs his eyes promising to himself that he will get more sleep after tonight's patrol.
"Hey, Mr. Stark!"
"Hey, kid. How was school?"
That was all Peter needed to tell Tony every single thing about his day, not leaving out any details. Tony looked up from his latest Starkphone model and listened to the kid ramble on and on as he put his backpack down and sat at his workbench.
"...and that was pretty much it!" Peter finishes after talking non-stop for a few minutes.
"Kid, I need your lungs." Tony chuckles, getting up from his bench and ruffling his kid's hair.
Peter laughs and gets to work on some new web-formulas while doing his Chem homework. After a little while, Tony leans over Peter's shoulders.
"Whatcha working on kid?"
"Just some web-formula. And homework."
"At the same time? Jeez kid. Why aren't you in college already? You could go to MIT right now if you wanted." Tony jokes.
Peter blushes and turns back to his web-formula.
"You know, kid. You could come around here more than once a week." Tony says nonchalantly. Of course, inside, Tony being Tony was freaking out. He would probably die of embarrassment if Peter rejected him.
Peter's eyes shine. "Really?"
"Yeah. I know your Aunt has shifts in the hospital at random times and you're alone a lot. So you know, come over when she has shifts. If you want, of course."
Peter hesitates for a moment and wraps his arms around his mentor. Tony stiffens for a moment but squeezes back, relieved. Tony hated physical contact, but with Peter it was ok. Peter was his kid.
"Thanks Mr. Stark." Peter whispers, letting go with an embarrassed look.
"Anytime kiddo. Now if you're done with your homework, let's work on that suit of yours."
Tony and Peter worked together like a well-oiled machine. Tony loved the company of the kid and Peter's ideas rivaled his own. But Tony noticed something off about the kid today. He was making less sarcastic quips and yawning a bunch. Sometimes he zoned out and Tony had to tap his shoulder to get his attention again.
"You ok kid?"
"Yeah! I'm fine. Why?'
"Did you get any sleep last night? You look tired." Tony asks, concern coloring his face.
"I'm fine Mr. Stark. I went patrolling last night and I lost track of time. I still got sleep though." Peter lied. Thankfully, Tony bought it.
Probably because Peter never lied to Tony.
"Ok kid. Just set an alarm or something alright? Or I'll start talking to Karen more." Tony threatened.
"Ok, ok! Jeez Mr. Stark."
Tony chuckles.
It was late when Tony finally really realized something was really wrong. Peter was lethargic and some of his words were slurred sometimes. Tony frowned. Is the kid sick or something? Tony caught Peter's screwdriver as Peter dropped it.
"Whoops. Thanks, Mr. Stark."
"Ok Underoos. I think you need some sleep. You're not looking too good."
"I'm fine. Really!" Peter insists, a little harshly. Peter doesn't know where the anger is coming from, but he knows it's not good. Being tired does that to him.
"I seriously doubt that Pete." Tony insists. Damn, this kid is making him go grey.
"Shoot! It's already 7:40! I was supposed to be out patrolling half an hour ago!" Peter says, grabbing his suit. Tony grabs his wrist.
"Kid. I don't think you should go patrolling today." Tony says, looking at the bags underneath Peter's eyes.
"What? Of course I'm going!" Peter says, wrenching his wrist out of Tony's grip.
"Ok. The adult has made the decision. You are not going patrolling. You're going to stay here and let me figure out what's wrong with you." Tony says, gesturing to the couch.
"No! People need me! I'm going." Peter says glaring a bit. Tony is caught off guard with the look Peter is giving him.
"Peter. You are not going. That's final." Tony tells him with finality.
"You can't stop me." Peter says, pushing past Tony. The people in Queens needed him! Why can't Tony understand that! Peter felt fine! Why does Tony care what he does anyway?
"FRIDAY? Peter is not to be let out of the Tower under any circumstance until I say otherwise." Tony says, watching as Peter tried to open the window.
"Are you serious? People need me! If people get hurt, it's my fault." Peter says, raising his voice.
"It is not your fault kid. SpiderMan can take a sick day. If you don't, you will only get worse. Queens will be fine for a day." Tony says calmly.
Suddenly, Peter can't take it anymore. He hates Tony for always treating him like a baby. He can take care of himself!
"I hate you!" Peter yells and stomps off toward his room without looking back.
"I hate you!"
Tony's heart shatters as he watches as Peter stomps off toward his room. But Peter would never say anything like that to him. To anyone. He was too good of a kid to think ill of anyone.
"No, you don't kid!" Tony shouts after him.
Peter collapses on his bed and starts to cry. Everything hurt so much. He knew Tony was right. He didn't hate him. God, he had just told his mentor that he hated him. He's such an idiot. Peter loved Tony. He was the closest thing to a father that Peter had. How could Peter say something like that to the man that had given him so much? He was literally sleeping in the room that his mentor had re-decorated just for him. And what did Peter tell him? That he hated him. Peter was such a brat. Now, he might have just lost him. Tony is probably going to kick him out the next morning. Suddenly, Peter feels nauseous. Peter runs over to his bathroom and throws up his lunch in the sink. After dry heaving for a few more minutes, Peter throws himself on the bed again. He sobs as his exhausted body begins to tremble. Peter wraps his arms around his pillow. Everything hurt. He just wanted Tony.
"FRIDAY? Is Peter alright?" Tony asks after an hour of waiting for Peter to come out.
"He had a fever of 103 degrees. He vomited multiple times as well. Peter is asleep now."
Tony gets up off the couch. "Jesus kid."
"FRIDAY? Why didn't you tell me that the kid had a fever? And that he threw up?" Tony asks angrily.
"There is no current protocol for me to inform you when Peter is sick."
"Then add the damn protocol. I want to know if Peter has even a papercut you understand?" Tony growls, stopping at Peter's door and taking a deep breath.
"Yes sir."
Tony quietly steps into the room. He walks over to Peter's bed and sits down.
"FRIDAY. Turn the light on to 10 percent." Tony whispers. The lights go on enough that Tony is able to see his kid.
"Oh, Pete." Tony says sadly, looking at Peter's sleeping form. Peter was curled into his large pillow. His face was flushed and he was trembling in his sleep. There were tear tracks on his face which probably meant the poor kid cried himself to sleep.
Tony sighs and strokes Peter's curls out of his face. He slowly wipes the tears away with the pad of his thumb and pulls the teen into his lap. Tony felt a strange surge of protectiveness when he looked down at his kid. Was this how parents felt like?
Tony stops stroking Peter's hair to press a light kiss on the top of Peter's head. Peter whimpers and his eyes flutter open.
"M'iser St'rk?" Peter asks, sleepily.
"Hey, kiddo. You feeling ok?" Tony asks gently.
The memories come rushing into Peter. Peter starts to cry again.
"Hey, Pete. It's ok buddy. I'll make it ok. Does anything hurt?" Tony asks, stroking Peter's hair again.
"I'm sorry. I'm so s-sorry." Peter says, sobbing into Tony's shirt.
"It's ok buddy. It's ok. I'll take care of you ok?
"I'm sorry for being a-a burden. I'm s-sorry I hurt you Mr. S-Stark." Peter sobs, his breathing quickening.
"Peter you're not a burden. And you didn't hurt me, buddy. You're going to make yourself more sick if you don't calm down." Tony says, rubbing Peter's back.
Peter curls up into Tony's side and listens to Tony's steady heartbeat.
"Hey FRIDAY? Can you get Steve in here? I think he's here right?" Tony asks.
"He is currently in the training room."
"Great. Get him in here. Tell him to ask Bruce for meds."
Tony cards a hand through Peter's sweaty curls and Peter leans into the touch.
"Why didn't you tell me you were sick Peter?" Tony asks.
"I didn't want you to be worried. And I didn't really know I was sick." Peter whispers into Tony's chest.
"Kiddo. I care about you. If you're not feeling good, you have to tell me. Do you think I don't care?" Tony asks, afraid of the answer Peter might give.
"No, no. It's just, I really wanted to spend the day with you. Like a normal day. These days with you are really important to me. I-I'm sorry I didn't tell you that before."
"Peter. To be honest, there wasn't that much work to do today. I wanted you to stay the night because I like spending time with you kiddo. The lab days with you are really important to me too. To be honest, they are pretty much the best part of my week. And, I wish you would come over more." Tony admits, chuckling a bit.
"I'm so sorry Mr. Stark." Peter tells him, tears making their way down his cheeks. All this time his mentor truly enjoyed their lab days as much as he did. And how did Peter thank him? By yelling at him.
"Don't apologize Spiderling. Now, why don't you let me take care of you ok?" Tony asks softly.
Peter nods and buries himself back into Tony's chest. Tony's heart swells at the sight. Damn. This kid was going to kill him.
"Thanks, Capsicle." Tony says, grabbing the fever meds and water that Steve had brought from the MedBay.
"No problem. Is the squirt alright?" Steve asks worriedly.
Tony smiles at his concern. The whole team had a soft spot for his kid.
"He'll be fine. I hope..." Tony trails off, looking at Peter's flushed sleeping face worriedly.
"He will. He has you." Steve says sincerely.
Tony feels the tears at the back of his eyes. "Thanks, Steve."
Steve ruffles Peter's curls gently and nods.
"Goodnight Tony."
After Steve walks out, Tony turns to Peter's sleeping form on his chest.
"Pete. You have to wake up and take your meds. Cap brought you soup too." Tony says, shaking Peter's shoulder a bit.
Peter winces and he opens his eyes.
"Hey. You gotta take your medicine so you can feel better. Bruce made them 'specially for you and your weird spidey metabolism thing." Tony jokes.
Peter smiles weakly and takes the medicine. Tony grabs the bowl of soup and puts it to Peter's lips. Peter sips the soup and hums contently, leaning into Tony.
As Tony slowly feeds Peter, Peter makes his way into Tony's neck. Tony looks down with fond eyes and rests his chin on top of Peter's head.
"You're going to feel better soon alright?" Tony asks gently. Peter nods.
"Thanks for everything Tony." Peter mumbles.
"No problem Spiderbaby."
*groan*