“Boss, Peter is standing in the lobby.” Friday broke into Tony’s thoughts as he worked in his workshop. He glanced up at her words, surprised by the interruption before looking down at his watch.
“It’s Wednesday?”
“It is boss.” FRIDAY confirmed.
“The kid isn’t usually here on Wednesdays?” Tony questioned.
“He isn’t, but he’s down there now.” FRIDAY replied.
“Why isn’t he coming up?” Tony asked confused. He had been mentoring the teenager for months now, and Peter had always shown up in the lab without hesitation, excited to help Tony with anything that he could. He had thought about selling the Tower but hadn’t done that just yet because of mentoring Peter.
“He’s not sure if he’s welcome up on days he’s not meant to be here.” FRIDAY replied. “He didn’t want to interrupt anything.”
“Is he okay?” Tony asked, confused as to why Peter had shown up on a day that he wasn’t meant to be at the Tower. He hadn’t ever done that before. He certainly texted Tony a lot about his patrols and the suit reported back to him but Peter had never just shown up unannounced. He’d definitely seen him when he’d been injured and come to the Tower for assistance, and hoped this wasn’t the case.
“He appears to be, and he says he is. He just has a request for assistance, and he seems anxious.” FRIDAY responded and Tony nodded.
“Tell him to come up.”
Tony spun his chair around so that he could see the elevator in order to see Peter when he walked out of it, setting down the project he was working on. He only had a few moments wait before the doors opened up and Peter walked out of them. He looked quite serious as he stepped out and let his backpack fall to the floor.
“Pete?” Tony called out and Peter’s face changed to a smile.
“Mr Stark!”
“Hey kid, whats up?” Tony asked. He leaned back against his table as Peter headed over to him, leaving his backpack on the ground by the elevator.
“I’m sorry if I’m bothering you-“ Peter started and Tony shook his head.
“You aren’t.”
“I know it’s not internship day-“ Peter started again and Tony cut him off, lifting his hand up to stop Peter. The teenager snapped his mouth shut at seeing Tony’s hand and Tony smiled.
“You’re welcome here anytime Pete.” Tony said and Peter nodded. Now, FRI said you needed assistance? What can I do for you?”
“Um-“ Peter headed over to the table to sit down next to Tony, wringing his hands slightly as he did so. Tony just sat and waited for Peter to speak.
“Mother’s Day is coming up and I need help.” Peter explained. “I got May a card and flowers last year but I think I should get her something more significant this year.”
“Ah, I see. How can I help?” Tony asked. “I can buy a new apartment, or even fix the security in your building?”
“No Mr Stark, it needs to less than that. I was honestly just thinking of fixing up some of her kitchen appliances or maybe making her some new ones? The coffee machine she has is really bad. Like really bad.”
“How bad?” Tony asked teasingly at the look on Peter’s face as he looked at Tony.
“It’s so bad Mr Stark. Like it makes wheezing noises and emits smoke and smells really really bad, and she still drinks it!”
“She still drinks it?!” Tony replied in mock outrage and Peter just gave him an unamused look.
“I’m being serious Mr Stark!” Peter protested.
“I can tell.” Tony teased before letting his face turn serious. “So how can I help with this? I’m always happy to get onto May Parker’s good side.”
“Um- I thought maybe we could work on it during the internship?” Peter’s face was so anxious at his question that Tony couldn’t say no. He had a few ideas already running through his head, but he knew he needed to tone them down a little for Peter and even May to accept them.
“Definitely Pete.” Tony picked up his pencil and grabbed a notepad that he had on the table. He ripped the first page off to get to a clean page and then positioned his pencil over it. “Let’s call it Pete’s special project.”
“That sounds weird Mr Stark.” Peter replied and Tony just laughed.
“Okay, lets just call it Peter’s project.” Tony scratched off the special.
“Don’t you have FRIDAY to keep track of this?” Peter asked and Tony threw the pencil down in mock outrage.
“Ugh fine. I try to help and just get questioned.” He complained and Peter’s face fell.
“No Mister Stark- I- it was just a question, we can use the notepad-“
“Pete, i was kidding. I thought a notepad might be easier but we can use FRI if you want.” Tony replied quickly to assure Peter and the teenager nodded, still looking a little anxious.
“A notepad is good.” Peter replied and Tony pushed the pencil and pad over to him.
“So a coffee maker definitely. What else do you think?” Tony asked. Peter tapped the pencil on the table as he thought.
“The toaster is bad as well.”
“So the toaster and the coffee maker. Anything else?” Tony asked and Peter shook his head.
“So we’re building these from scratch? Are you just using me for my money here Pete?” Tony teased and Peter finally smiled at Tony’s teasing.
“Yep.”
“Wow. FRI, the next time Peter comes over, he is not allowed in.” Tony called out and Peter laughed.
“Always let Peter in. Got it boss.” FRIDAY called back and Peter laughed again as Tony groaned.
“Can we start right now? I have a few hours.” Peter asked and Tony nodded.
“Write down what you want the two machines to have and we can get started. Mother’s Day in in May correct?” Tony hadn’t thought about Mothers Day in years but he recalled it being in the springtime. Peter confirmed and Tony nodded.
“Great. That gives us two months, more than enough time.” Tony replied. He had other projects but could definitely put some aside to help the kid out with his request.
Peter beamed and took his jacket off to hang it on the side of his chair before he picked the pencil back up and started writing things down.
-
“Wait, so Mothers Day is tomorrow?”
“Mr Stark! We talked about this! I told you the date!!”
“I’m sorry kid, i’m not available tomorrow.”
“Mr.Stark!”
Tony laughed to himself as he talked to the kid over the phone. Peter was in his suit out doing his Spidermanning and Tony was keeping an eye on his vitals as he did so. He knew exactly when Mother's Day was, having spent the last two months working on the machines with Peter, and he was absolutely available. Pepper had invited May to the Tower to have dinner with them, and they would present May with the toaster and coffee machine that were currently sitting on the counter upstairs.
The kid was exceptionally excited about the inventions, having been over a few days prior when they had finished them, and hadn’t stopped thanking Tony for his assistance. Tony had tried to be nonchalant but really, getting to spend that much time with Peter had been exceptionally enjoyable, and he felt closer to the kid than he had before. The machines had been about 95% Peter with only a bit of assistance from Tony.
“Mr Stark!” Peter cried again, and Tony just laughed again.
“I’m joking Pete. Of course I didn’t forget it and i’m available tomorrow. I want to see May’s face when she sees that she can have coffee that and I quote by you “that doesn’t stink’.”
“She’ll be so excited, she-“ Peter cut off suddenly and there was a gasp and then a thud.
“Pete?” Tony called out but there was silence and Tony’s heart rate rose instantly. “Pete?”
“Boss, it looks as though Peter is unconscious.” Friday called out.
“What?”
“He fell from a distance and hit his head on the way down.” Friday called back and Tony instantly headed out the lab and out to the lawn, calling the armour to him.
“How did he fall?” Tony called out to Friday as he took off into the sky, looking at Peter’s last location to get to the kid.
“Karen is saying someone interfered with his webs.”
“Who?!”
“A bystander who ran after Peter fell.”
“Oh they’ll regret that. Is anyone around Peter right now?”
“He is in an alley, there is no one around. It appears that he has a cracked skull and a broken nose as well as a broken arm.”
“God.” Tony shot out as he tried to push the armour even faster to reach the alleyway. He hadn’t planned on being at the Tower tonight- he was going to go up to the Compound and now he was glad that he didn’t. It would have taken him much longer to get there if he had been. His heart pounded the longer it went without a response from Peter.
It took him a few moments even with the speed he was flying but soon he reached Peter’s location. He landed next to Peter and instantly knelt down next to him. The kid was on his back and Tony could instantly tell that his arm was broken from the angle it was at.
“Oh bud.”
Tony retracted the armour from one of his hands and put the hand behind Peter’s neck, and could feel the warmth from the blood there.
“Fri, is there any spinal injuries? Can I move him?”
“There is not boss. You are fine to move him.” Friday replied.
Tony nodded and pulled the mask off Peter’s head carefully. The boy’s nose was at an awkward angle and there was blood all over Peter’s face as well as down the back of the teens’ neck. His eyes were tightly shut and his head rolled as Tony gently moved it.
“Okay bud, time for a flight.” Tony gathered Peter up, making sure to turn his face into his suit to protect his identity as he took to the skies. He didn’t want to put the mask back on Peter, not wanting to knock his nose or the back of his head anymore.
Peter didn’t stir during the flight back to the Tower, and not even when Tony landed back in the Medbay. Helen and Pepper were both standing there when Tony landed, and he assumed Friday had alerted them.
“Lay him down.” Helen instructed Tony and he carefully lay Peter down, the white pillow instantly going red with the blood from Peter’s head wound. Three nurses hurried forward at Cho’s beckoning- three nurses that Tony recognized as having top clearance. Helen hit the spider emblem on Peter’s chest, and the four of them carefully pulled Peter out of the suit before holding it out for Tony to take, where he still held the mask.
Tony stood back with Pepper as he watched Cho bustle around the teenager, checking his nose, arm and head.
“Cho?” Tony called out after what felt like an eternity and she turned around.
“He has a head wound which is my main concern right now. We need to get some scans of his head and I need to take care of his arm and nose. We’ll be back soon.”
“Wait-“ Tony tried to protest but Cho had wheeled Peter out of the room before he could even say anything and it was just him and Pepper, staring at each other.
“I’ll go call May.” Pepper stroked Tony’s arm and walked out of the room, leaving Tony alone and with Peter’s blood on his hands.
-
“Were you doing some inventing again?” May asked Tony as he went to brew them both some coffee. Peter had been unconscious for a solid 16 hours after he ended up having to have surgery for the cracked skull and May and Tony had decided they needed coffee while Pepper stayed in with Peter.
“What?” Tony asked as he turned from the coffee machine. He was exhausted from worrying about Peter and waiting for the kid to wake up. His arm and nose were already completely healed but his head was taking longer. He hadn’t watched the footage from the suit yet but he would very soon and he would go look for the idiot who had interfered with Peter’s webs- whether it was an accident or not.Peter was the main priority at the moment.
“That machine. That looks new.” May motioned to the coffee machine that was next to the one Tony was about to use and he swore.
“So this is actually your Mothers’ Day present from Peter. This and that toaster.”
“What?”
“He decided he wanted to make you a new coffee machine and then also decided on a toaster. We’ve been working on it for the past two months or so. It was meant to be a surprise for you at dinner tonight.”
“Oh.” May put a hand up to her mouth and her eyes filled with tears.
“No, don’t do that.” Tony said quickly. He couldn’t handle a weepy May right now with his exhaustion.
“You built me a coffee machine and a toaster?”
“Peter did, I just assisted.”
“Peter built me a coffee machine and a toaster?” May wiped her eyes as she spoke.
“He did. He wanted you to have more than just flowers and a card. He’s been very excited about it. Apparently your current coffee machine is garbage.”
“Oh Pete-“
“Boss, Peter is awake.” Friday called out and Tony immediately turned away from the coffee machine to follow May out of the room to the Medbay.
When they got there, Pepper was standing with Cho next to the bed and Tony could see a sleepy looking Peter blinking on the bed.
“Hey bud.” Tony called out and Peter smiled slightly at him.
“How are you feeling honey?” May asked and Peter looked over at her.
“Tired.”
“That’s normal. You took a pretty good hit to the head Peter, and had surgery.” Cho explained and Peter blinked at her slowly.
“I saw my Mothers’ Day gifts Pete.” May said and Peter’s eyes widened slightly. “I love them sweetheart and I love you.”
Peter smiled as May leaned over and kissed his forehead before pulling away again. Peter blinked sleepily at her and Tony laughed.
“Go back to sleep kid. We’ll show May all the secrets on the toaster and coffee machine when you’re more healed.”
“I’m looking forward to it honey.” May smiled.
Peter smiled slightly and closed his eyes again, chest rising slowly as he went back to sleep.