Mr and Mrs Darling
Thursday came too soon for Peter, his heart racing as Happy pulled up outside the apartment, missing the way May’s face turned into one of concern when Peter said he was going to the tower on a not agreed upon day. May had been very clear – Peter can have the internship as long as Tony kept his distance and Peter only visited once a week. May drew her eyebrows together in concern – this was only going hurt Peter, and he couldn’t be hurt anymore.
Happy didn’t say a word as Peter slid into the backseat, the only indication of him seeing Peter was a slightly concerned face, prompted by the lack of chat from the back of the car. Looking out of the window, Peter shut his eyes, trying to make up for the lack of sleep due to the nightmare, only to shoot upright once again, the same images burned into his mind and replaying on a loop. Happy once again looked into the mirror, concern deepening as he surveyed the boy; sweaty, eyes wide and panting, Peter looked far from healthy. Still, he said nothing and continued towards the compound. Peter couldn’t stop his hands from shaking as he reached for the door handle, ignoring the sight of the compound which usually put so much awe in his heart. What could Mr Stark want to talk to him about? He thought to himself. Was he in trouble? Did he do something wrong? Before he could gain an answer to the thousands of questions circling around his head, he was face to face with the man at the root of all his questions.
Tony walked towards the small boy, worry setting in as he surveyed the pale face and wide eyes, trying to hide his own nervousness by projecting a large (if fake) sense of confidence.
“Hey Spiderling. How about we head straight to the lab?” Tony asked, only gaining a small, tight-lipped nod and smile in response. Tony kept running scenarios in his head – he couldn’t exactly just start the conversation with “Hey Peter I’m your dad and I let you get abused in my care.” Wouldn’t exactly set a good tone for the rest of the afternoon. However, he didn’t need to stress, as Peter was the first to initiate the conversation.
“Mr Stark, have I done something wrong?” He asked timidly, eye’s focused on the floor. “It’s just, well, um, you’re not exactly the kind of guy who would invite someone over for a little heart to heart for no reason.”
“Um, well you’re right there Pete. I needed to talk to you about something.” Tony internally kicked himself as he saw the kid’s eyes grow wide, still trained on the floor. “No you’re not in trouble, I promise kiddo.”
As both men rounded the corner into the lab, Peter tried to calm his beating heart, heading towards the soft sofa at the side of the lab, eyes catching on to the last project they had worked on together. After being dropped in a lake, Tony was desperate to work on Peter’s suit to stop the same thing happening again, and the man had slaved away for ours, his son’s safety at the forefront of his mind.
“So, um. God this is hard. Peter, I am. God why can’t I just say it. Okay. Right.”
“Peter, I’m your dad.”
“I know.” Peter said simply, not looking as Tony turned to him in almost in horror.
“Wait you do? Does that mean, does that mean you remember what happened?” Tony asked, fear laced in his voice. As much as he wanted his son to remember him, he never wanted him to remember what happened in his care. He didn’t want him to remember Obadiah.
“No I don’t remember a lot. Sometimes I dream about it, about a man, but I never see a face.” Peter said absent mindly. “May won’t tell me anything, she says it’s for the best. But I wanna know Mr Stark, I really wanna know.”
So Tony told him everything, from the moment May arrived with a small, curly haired bundle on the table, until she took the same curly hair away from him, kicking and screaming the entire way out of the hospital, not caring that he was tearing his stiches. He told Peter about Obadiah, about his death and strangely Peter felt nothing. No remorse, no guilt, just a sense of contentment. The man who hurt him was gone and was going to stay gone – the faceless man wasn’t Mr Stark, it was a dead man’s face, and that comforted Peter to no end. Tony told him all about how he never noticed, and that it was all his fault. Peter didn’t know how to respond to all of that.
“Wait Mr Stark, if you really loved me, why did you get May take me to New York?” Peter asked, finally facing his mentor/father in the face.
“I didn’t want to kiddo I really didn’t, but it made the most sense. She said you weren’t safe with me, and I couldn’t really disagree, I mean you were literally abused under my care.” Peter flinched at that, and Tony once again internally swore. “Letting you go was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I couldn’t bare it. It only took me 4 years after to move into the Stark Tower – I couldn’t bear the thought of being halfway across the continent from you.”
Peter seemed to ponder that answer for a while, before opening his mouth to ask another question. “Why- why can’t I remember?” He asked in a small voice, almost so quiet Tony nearly missed it.
“The doctors said it was like a repressed memory. You didn’t want to remember, so you didn’t. But you went a bit overboard didn’t you Pete!” Tony chuckled at his attempt at humour, trying to lighten the mood. “I wish it didn’t happen like this Pete. I didn’t even mean to find you again – I thought you were safer without me. But then you start swinging around the city, taking down criminals and I couldn’t let you do that by yourself. I knew I had to protect you in a way I didn’t do when you were younger.” Peter stayed silent, his eyes on his mentor/father’s face as he studied the man. “I shouldn’t have taken you to Germany, but I got so caught up with the idea of us fighting together, father son superhero’s. God I’ve made a right mess of this. All of this.” Tony sighed.
“I don’t blame you, you know.” Peter mumbled, reaching out to hold Tony’s hand. “it wasn’t your fault dad.”
Tony couldn’t help the huge smile which spread across his face, eventually spreading to Peter’s face until the younger boy buried his head into the inventor’s chest, the two of them weeping and smiling like maniacs.