All The Stars Align

“Gotta poo! Gotta poo! Hurry!” Peter rushed out of the car and raced towards the elevator.

Peter’s desperate need came on rather suddenly and it concerned Tony as well as amused him. He shut his car door and rushed onto the elevator after Peter. “Okay. I’m coming, I’m coming. FRI.”

“On it, Sir.” FRIDAY replied, already knowing the urgency of Peter’s rather common situation.

Tony shook his head fondly at Peter being dramatic next to him so when the elevator doors finally opened up, he watched Peter run out and run into the bathroom closest to them.

Tony went into the kitchen to plug his dying phone in and grab a water bottle from the fridge. He took a huge sip since he was extremely thirsty and didn’t even realize it until that moment.

He walked over to the bathroom and grabbed the door handle. “You always go with the door open.” Tony said, shaking his head and shutting the door for Peter.

Tony then walked into the living room and grabbed his laptop, putting it on his lap and going to check his emails that he was buried under.

Since he was putting all of his attention onto his child, he was falling behind on work which was kicking his ass at the moment. Maybe he should let Pepper deal with it all and go into an early retirement.

Just then, Peter came running out of the bathroom and jumped onto the couch.

“Did you flush the toilet?” Tony asked, knowing that Peter had an annoying habit of never flushing the toilet and not aiming for the actual toilet properly.

Peter shrugged his shoulders. “Yeah. What’re you doing?”

Tony didn’t believe him but he would take Peter’s word for it. “Answering my emails.”

Peter lifted the laptop off of Tony’s lap and sat himself on him then put the laptop on his own lap. “Um… excuse me. What do you think you’re doing?”

“Mmm, reading your emails with you so I can help you.” Peter explained and clicked on an email. “Who’s… Danny… Fr-Fr… deer…? What’s that say?”

Tony grabbed his laptop from Peter and pushed him off. “No. Go play or do something that’s not sitting on me.”

Peter frowned and sat up on his knees to lean his head against his dad’s arm. “But I love you.”

“Aw. I love you too, Petey.” Tony loved it when Peter told him he loved him. He already knew it but it felt good to hear. “But dad needs a little space for a bit so where are your legos?”

Peter leaned his head against his dad’s shoulder now and shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe in your room?”

Tony knew what Peter wanted. Cuddles and tv shows but he had some work to do. For at least thirty minutes and then all of his attention could be put back onto Peter.

“How about you go get a snack and watch an episode of Craig playing in the river then we’ll go up? Sound good?” Tony checked the time and saw that it was still fairly early to be going up to bed.

It wasn’t even seven yet so they still had a little longer before they went up to bed.

Peter slid onto the floor and picked up one of his lego pieces then tossed it weakly. He then turned and put his chin on his dad’s knees. “Dad?”

“Hm?”

“Can I pretty please go out as Spider-Man? Please dad? I really want to.” Peter asked, knowing that he most likely wouldn’t be allowed to go out.

Tony hated this question. He hated that his kid was Spider-Man and he wished that Peter would give it up.

“Not tonight.”

Peter groaned loudly and lifted his head up. “Please dad? I want to. And-and then you can answer all your emails and I’ll be back in one hour, okay? Please?”

Tony sighed because he knew he was giving in. He knew that if he said no then he would have to keep Peter entertained and he needed that hour to catch up on some business.

“Fine. But one hour. I want you back at eight on the dot and remember the rules, Peter.” Tony told him, giving in. He had to learn to put his foot down.

Peter jumped to his feet in his excitement. “Yay! Thank you. I’ll see you at eight. Bye!” Peter bent down to quickly hug Tony and then he was running to his bedroom to take off his clothes and change into his suit where it was left from the last time.

Tony made a mental note to put it back down in his lab where it belongs once Peter gets back.

Peter excitedly ran to his bedroom, pulling his shirt and pants off on the way there. Once he was in his socks and underwear, he grabbed his suit that was hanging off his desk chair and he put it on, feeling it tighten around him which always gave him a feeling of excitement.

He then grabbed his mask and ran out of his bedroom, down the hallway and down the stairs to take the elevator down to the floor that he can leave the tower as Spider-Man on.

He knew that Tony didn’t like him being Spider-Man since he always gave him a weird, unimproving look when he asks or sees him in the suit but Peter liked to help people.

Being Spider-Man was something that he had before he met Tony, before Aunt May died and before he got adopted by Tony and developed severe separation anxiety from the man.

It was a constant for him and all of his problems and worries went away when he put the suit on because he wasn’t Peter Stark anymore, he was Spider-Man.

Peter swung through the air, feeling the coldness hit him even through his suit. “Karen! Heater on please!”

“Will do, Peter.” Karen replied in her calming voice.

Peter smiled. He didn’t know if it was because he was hearing Karen’s nice voice or the fact that he was in one of his favourite places in the world. In his suit. After being in his dad’s arms.

“Any crime going on, Karen?” Peter asked as he swung to the top of a building and settled on top of the rooftop, feeling his suit heater start to warm him up.

The sun was already setting and it was going down fast so he wasn’t sure how long he would even be out for. It was a nice night though.

“No crime at the moment, Peter. I will let you know.” Karen replied so Peter shot a web out and took off swinging some more.

He spent the next thirty minutes or so just swinging around and feeling light and free. He was so happy but it would be a bit better if he had his dad there to swing with him. He liked to hang off of his suit and soar through the skies.

Peter did a flip onto the roof, grinning with proudness behind his mask at what he just did. He walked to the edge of the roof and looked down below. It was like he was on top of the world.

“Peter, your web shooters are running low. I suggest refilling them as soon as possible. I have also alerted your dad of your situation.” Karen said, interrupting the mood.

Peter groaned. “You could have just told me and I’ll fill them up. I’ll do that right now…”

“Peter.” Came his dad’s voice through the mask. Peter groaned because his dad just put himself through and Karen didn’t even give him a chance to refill it. His dad must have changed that protocol because before Karen would have waited and his dad called first. “I got Karen’s alert.”

Peter groaned again. “Karen’s a tattletale.”

Tony didn’t laugh. “Fill up your webs or come home.”

“I will.” Peter whined and went to go do that.

“Oh, did you want to come home right now then? Because I can make that happen.” Tony said, leaving no room for any jokes.

Peter shook his head but he forgot that his dad couldn’t see him so spoke up, “No.”

Tony was silent on the other end for a few seconds. “Fill them up.”

Peter hesitated. He couldn’t remember the last time he filled them up and now it looked like he didn’t have anymore to refill. Yikes. He wanted to lie to his dad but he knew that the man could see right through him. “Uh… I forgot to refill them so I kinda don’t actually really have anymore. Oops.”

“Okay. Do you have enough to swing home?” Tony asked, already taking control of the situation.

“Ummm… yeah.” Peter answered honestly. He had never been in this situation before but after so many months of barely going out, he was a bit rusty. He could get home but he just had to not take any extra swings.

“... alright. I’ll see you soon. Be careful.” Tony said, sounding extremely unsure and scared.

“I will. Bye.” Peter walked in the other direction towards the tower and jumped off the roof, shooting a web out and swinging through the sky.

Peter was almost halfway to the tower when something caught his eye so he slowed down and attached onto the side of some store building. He tried to see what caught his eye in the distance when he saw what looked like a flying drone.

It was hovering just in front of him and was slowly flying closer to him. Peter crawled up the wall a bit to get a better look. “What is that thing?”

“It appears to be a drone controlled by someone.” Karen replied, not giving Peter much information.

The drone continued to fly towards him and then stopped just in front of him so Peter tilted his head in confusion at the drone and tried to reach out to touch it.

The drone moved forward so Peter could touch it which he did. “What are you?”

The drone started making little wiring noises before Peter felt a cold shiver run through his body which he knew meant that something bad was going to happen so Peter gasped and yanked his hand away as fast as he could.

He went to crawl up the wall but he then felt something hard and tight wrap around his ankle, stopping him from moving forward. Peter looked down just in time to see the metal-like claw come out and wrap around his ankle even tighter.

Peter’s heart began to race. The drone lit up with a tiny red light on the top and then it was flying in the opposite direction of the tower. “Wha- no! Let me go! Get off!”

Peter was dangling upside down in the air, with his ankle attached to whatever this drone thing was. It was flying quickly in the air and Peter had no idea where it was taking him. All he knew was that he was being taken further and further away from his father.

“Karen! Help me!” Peter screamed. He felt dizzy and discombobulated. The blood was rushing to his head along with the adrenaline coursing through his body.

“I sent an alert out to your dad already.” Karen replied and Peter let out a whimper then tried to shoot a web out at the drone that seemed to be flying faster than the Iron Man suit even with his added weight.

Peter knew he didn’t weigh much, that’s why his dad could still carry him when he wanted but still, seven something pounds was still a lot to carry for such a tiny drone and it scared Peter.

The web didn’t do anything so Peter shot another one but this time, nothing came out meaning that he was now empty.

He tried to lift himself up to rip the claw off his leg but if he fell, nothing was there to catch him.

“Peter.” Came his dad's voice through the mask and Peter let out a whimper. “What’s happening?! Are you okay?”

Peter felt like he was going to pass out from being upside down for so long and the fear of what’s going to happen next. “I-I don’t know what it is!”

“I’m coming right now. Hold on!” Tony yelled into his own comms. He was on the couch when an alert from Karen sent through his phone about Peter’s situation and he went into full on protective mode.

“Don’t hang up!” Peter cried desperately because he didn’t want to be left alone and needed his dad to comfort him, even if it was just his voice.

“I’m not, Pete. I’m here. I’m coming.” Tony reassured him and if Peter wasn’t crying so hard, he could have heard the sound of the suit pushing full speed in the background.

Peter opened his eyes, realizing that they had been shut the whole time. He saw that there weren't many houses or buildings around them anymore but just one road and a few small farm houses around.

Peter had no idea where he was but his dad wasn’t with him and he was scared.

The drone started to slow down and so Peter tried to turn his head to see where he was going but all he saw was a giant windmill in the middle of a large field with nothing around.

Peter tried to rip his foot away but he couldn’t so he let himself hang there, defeatedly and let out another whimper. He could hear his dad talking to him but he didn’t listen because he was being placed onto the windmill.

He pushed himself up on his side and felt the drone let go of his ankle so Peter pulled his leg up to his chest protectively and looked up at the drone who was just hovering above him.

Peter cried out. “Dad?! I’m-I’m on top of-of a windm-mill.” Peter cried out the last word and tried to turn his head to look for his dad but he couldn’t see him.

“I’m almost there. Just hold on. I’m coming.” Tony felt his heart pounding in his chest as he pushed his suit to the max. He didn’t care, he just had to get to Peter.

Peter was shaking with fear and the cold even though his suits heater was on. He didn’t have any of his web fluids and so he couldn’t get down when his hands were shaking how they were.

He hugged his arms around his body in a poor way to self comfort while he waited for his dad but then there was a sudden sound of metal rubbing and the windmill he was sitting on started to shake a bit.

Peter braced his hands onto the top to try and steady himself. “I think-”

Before he could even finish his sentence, there was a loud explosion and then Peter was being thrown into the air and landing back down onto the now burning windmill.

“Peter?!” Tony shouted. He was still four minutes away and had no idea if his kid was even alive after the sound of the explosion. Fuck! “Peter!”

Peter pushed himself up but he was now burning hot because of the giant fire that was growing just a few feet from him. “I-it’s- it’s on fire. Dad. Daddy please. I’m scared.” Peter cried as he watched the fire growing in front of him and making his way towards him.

“Faster, FRIDAY!” Tony yelled at her, knowing that he was already going as fast as he made his suit to go. He was deeply regretting that right now.

He ignored FRIDAY’s reply because he was talking to Peter now. “I’m coming, baby. I’m coming.”

All he could hear was his kid’s cries coming through his comms and he was sure that he had tears streaming down his face as well. He would not lose his child.

The windmill started to lean and the fire was growing so Peter crawled away from it a bit but not getting too close to the edge.

Tony flew over a patch of trees and was able to make out the burning windmill that his child was on top of. He could also tell that the windmill was about to go down and he wouldn’t be able to get to Peter fast enough.

“You gotta jump off, Peter.” Tony said onto his comms, hating that he was even in this situation with Peter. He didn’t want to ever have to say that to his kid.

On top of the windmill that was only going to be standing for a few more seconds, Peter whimpered and pulled his legs closer to his chest. He shook his head. “No. I’m scared.”

Tony shook his head as well, knowing that they didn’t have any other options. “Pete, you gotta jump off. I’m gonna catch you, I promise.”

Peter heard the fear in his dad’s voice and hearing that, made him even more scared because if Tony was scared then that meant he had to be scared too. “No.”

“You have to!” Tony practically begged him. One minute then he was there but the windmill was already starting to lean meaning that Peter didn’t have one minute left.

Peter heard the command so he stood up on shaky legs and slowly walked to the edge. “I’m scared!”

“I know. I’m gonna catch you. Jump Peter!” Tony yelled at him.

Peter took a few steps back and then ran ahead and jumped off.

He was free falling down to the earth and no webs or parachute to catch his fall. He screamed.

Tony saw Peter jump off and watched his tiny body plummet towards the fatal ground, knowing that he wouldn’t survive that fall even if he was Spider-Man.

He didn’t want to think about that because it was not going to happen. Tony was a few meters away from Peter so he slowed his suit down so he wouldn’t break every one of Peter’s bones on impact.

He then reached his arms out for his kid and grabbed him, holding him against his chest awkwardly so he could regain his composure and get out of the way of the flaming windmill that had already fallen, two seconds after Peter jumped off.

Tony flew back up towards the sky now that he had his kid safely in his arms. His heart was still pounding heavily in his chest and he knew that he just lost five years off his life that Peter would have to give him back by never letting him go for a long time.

Tony held onto Peter tightly, no words said between the two of them with just the sound of Peter’s loud crying and the Iron Man suit flying.

Tony landed on the ice cold ground and kneeled down so he could hold Peter who was still clinging onto him like a baby koala bear. “Baby. It’s okay. You’re okay now.”

Peter shook his head and continued to cry against Tony’s shoulder so Tony lifted his face plate up and tried to pull Peter from him so Peter could see his face.

“Look at me. It’s okay. You’re safe now, baby. I promised you I’d always keep you safe.” Tony’s hands were shaking uncontrollably as well as Peter’s body.

Peter unwrapped his legs from around his dad and stood up. When Tony was kneeling in the suit, Peter was just as tall as him, even a bit shorter so they were at eye level.

Tony pried Peter’s mask off so he could see his kid and see for himself that Peter was in fact okay because he was the adult and so he had to be the one to comfort Peter.

Peter had tears streaming down his face with red cheeks and red puffy eyes. The sight made Tony want to hold Peter and never ever let him go.

He brought his cold hand in the suit up to cup Peter’s face and even though the feeling was cold and uncomfortable, Peter leaned into the touch because he knew he was safe and that it was his dad.

“I-I wan-wanna go home.” Peter whispered and choked on a sob.

Tony nodded his head and smiled weakly because it was exactly what he wanted too. He wanted to change into comfy pyjamas and fall asleep with Peter tucked under his arm.

“Let’s go home, baby.”

Tony stood up fully and pulled Peter’s mask down to cover his face. “Carry me.” Peter looked up at him with his arms raised weakly, Tony could just picture Peter’s face behind his mask.

Without a second thought, Tony lifted Peter up into his arms and situated him so that he had his legs wrapped around his suit and his arms around his neck. Tony held onto his back with one hand for extra support just to know that Peter was okay.

It felt like the longest time to get home and that’s because it was. The drone flew Peter out into the middle of nowhere which Tony was still terrified of and needed to go find out who and why that drone had taken Peter and possibly tried to kill him like that.

But now, Tony just wanted to get into bed with Peter and hold him close.

He landed on the balcony of their penthouse and told FRIDAY to open the door for them and lock it behind them.

Tony lifted his face plate up and stopped walking. “I have to put you down now, Petey.”

Peter shook his head against his dad’s neck. “Mm-hm. Hold me.”

“Pete, if you want to cuddle then you have to let go so I can get out of the suit.” Tony knew that was a low blow but he wanted Peter to let go for a second so he could get out of the suit.

Peter thought about it for a few seconds before slowly unclinging and sliding onto the floor to take his mask off and his suit as well, stepping out of it and leaving it on the floor.

Tony immediately hoisted Peter up into his arms again, knowing that that’s exactly what Peter wanted from him. Tony went to walk towards the stairs but Peter weakly spoke. “Water bottle.”

Tony hesitated when he went to move towards the kitchen. After the trauma that the two of them just went through, Tony didn’t want Peter to drink too much water before bed but he also knew for some reason it helped to calm him down.

So he went into the kitchen to grab the cup and went upstairs.

Tony could tell that Peter was ready to pass out at any second since he had gone considerably heavier in his arms. He walked into the bathroom and tried to set Peter on his feet but Peter started whining. “Mm-hm.”

“Shower quickly and then we can cuddle together, baby.” Tony still had to shower as well so he didn’t know how Peter was going to let him.

“I don’t want to. I want to stay with you.”

Tony didn’t listen to Peter because if he did, then an hour would pass and they would still be in the same position. “Shower quickly and then put your comfy pyjamas on.”

Peter desperately tried to reach up for his dad again and climb up him but Tony didn’t let him. “Take these off and be quick, Peter. You’re making it longer by standing here.”

“Don’t leave. Please stay.” Peter said quietly then waited for Tony to respond.

“I won’t leave.”

By the time Peter was showered and then in bed and Tony was showered and in bed, it was almost a whole hour later due to Tony having to reassure Peter that he was going to be right back and having to wait until Peter got under the blankets and put a tv show on for him to help him fall asleep.

Tony shut all the lights off and pulled Peter against his side. “I’m gonna turn the tv off now.”

“Mm-hm.”

Tony hesitated but grabbed the remote anyways. “Yes. We have a busy day tomorrow.”

“Not yet I said. It’s not over yet.” Peter pushed himself up and tried to grab the remote from his dad.

Tony was going to say something when he felt a wetness spread against his side. “Peter. Your water bottle is leaking all over me.” Tony picked it up and placed it on the nightstand table. “You don’t need this anymore.”

“I do.” Peter crawled over his dad and grabbed his water bottle again so Tony took that time to shut the tv off and then tried to immediately distract Peter after. He was so ready for the therapist tomorrow.

“Hey guess what, Pete.” Tony said and moved Peter so he could force him to lie down.

Peter lifted his head up anyways. “What?”

“You don’t have school tomorrow.” Tony lifted up Peter’s pyjama shirt to poke him in the stomach.

“Yay. I’m excited. And no school the next day right?” Peter asked then laid his head on his dad’s chest, tucking his knees against his chest and chewing on the spout.

Tony rubbed his back. “Not until you’re ready to go back.”

Peter nodded his head then sat up so he could lift his other leg onto Tony’s side and put his head back on his dad’s chest. “I want to sleep on you like this.”

“Maybe if we were on the couch and didn’t have a whole bed to ourselves.” Tony said then went to push Peter off of him but he slid onto the floor.

“Okay. Let’s go sleep on the couch then.”

Peter went to walk away so Tony grabbed him by the waistband of his pants and pulled him back. “Nope. Back onto the bed you get. We can sleep on the couch tomorrow.”

Peter leaned forward more so he was hanging from his pants so Tony slowly let him go so he didn’t bash his head against the wall. “Okay, no more silliness because it’s time to sleep now.”

“But now I’m not tired.” Peter complained so Tony grabbed his arm and leg and pulled him onto the bed.

“Sleep.” Tony ordered and laid back down. Peter went to sit up so Tony forced him down and covered his eyes with his hand. “Shh. It’s time to sleep because we have a busy day tomorrow.”

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The next day, Tony had woken up extra early. Mainly because he couldn’t sleep from the stress and panic about what happened to his kid the previous day.

He had gone straight down to his lab and had FRIDAY keep on eye on Peter as always, just in case he needed to go up and get his kid for whatever reason.

The first thing he did was pull up the baby monitor footage from the day before to try and get a better look at what and possibly who had taken Peter. He hadn’t gotten a look at the thing himself so all he had to base it off of was what he was seeing and what he was seeing did not look believable at all.

It was a drone. No bigger than a football and here it was, lifting a whole child up in the air. Sure, Peter is only seventy something pounds but still, a machine that size should not have been able to lift Peter up in the air like that.

He doesn’t even want to think of what would have happened if it dropped his kid in midair with Peter having no web shooters or anything to catch his fall.

The chilling thought caused him to shiver. He didn’t want to think about that.

Peter was currently sleeping safely in his bed.

He pulled up a live feed of his bedroom to check on his kid quickly, just to calm his own racing mind before he went back to what he was doing.

He paused the video and tried to zoom in on it. He was at a loss. He had absolutely no idea what this thing was and how the fuck it had lifted his whole kid up.

Whoever was behind this, because someone was, he wasn’t sure if they knew Peter was lighter because of his bone density. No one would know unless they picked Peter up though and he didn’t know if anyone who picked his kid up outside of the tower.

Was there possibly a teacher at Peter’s school that had randomly picked Peter up? But why? That wouldn’t be necessary at all for some teacher to be picking up little boys. He didn’t know what to think.

“FRI, what can you tell me about this… thing? This drone?” Tony asked, needing more help and information.

“I cannot get a full reading on it although I have picked up on recent footage from the battle against the robots and located the same drone there.” FRIDAY supplied and pulled the footage up.

It was a fight that the team went on a few weeks ago. He could clearly see the same drone flying around but Peter wasn’t there at that fight. Maybe that’s who the drone was looking for? Or maybe it just had an interest in the Avengers and saw Peter as an easy target?

That didn’t make Tony feel any better.

To anyone who saw Peter in the Spider-Man suit up close, it was obvious that he was not an adult. If his petite size, high pitched voice and mannerisms were anything to go by.

Tony wasn’t too worried about it since he was always moving too quickly for anyone to get a good look at him or was squatted down somewhere.

“Can you trace where the drone went after dropping Peter on top of the windmill?” Tony asked, running out of options. He highly doubted there were any cameras in that empty field.

“I am unable to trace where the drone went.”

Tony groaned.

Okay, so what he knew was that the drone knew where it was taking Peter. It picked him up and flew him straight to the windmill that just so happened to blow up after Peter was placed on it which also told him that a small explosive was set up, in preparation for this moment.

The question to ask now, was whether or not Spider-Man was the original target or not? Or maybe the drone would have gone after any of the Avengers?

Tony shook his head at his own thoughts. That would have literally been impossible for that little thing to pick any of them up besides for Peter. Possibly Natasha since she would be the second lightest but still, she was a full grown woman who weighed just as much as a full grown woman would weigh since her bones weren’t dense like Peter’s were.

He sighed and flipped the screen again so he could look at Peter who was in the same position still. “FRI, tell Natasha to come down to my lab.”

“Yess, Boss.”

Five minutes later, Natasha was coming down so Tony told her everything he knew and showed her the footage.

“So,” He asked. “What do you think? I’m out of ideas?”

She was staring at the image of the drone from the baby monitor footage as Peter was reaching out to play with it like a curious toddler. “And FRIDAY couldn’t trace it or anything?”

“Nope. It took Peter to an empty field.” He explained again and sighed. They weren’t getting anywhere with this.

“Whatever, or whoever this is, clearly wants Spider-Man.” Natasha had said and it sent shivers down Tony’s spine.

“Why do you say that?”

She pointed to the footage from the battle. “It was here too. Look at it circling around as if it’s looking for someone. Once it sees that a certain spider isn’t there, it leaves and isn’t to be seen again until yesterday.”

“Maybe it just decided it couldn’t carry any one of us so it… I don’t know.” Tony put his head in his hands. He didn’t know what to do.

“Another possibility,” Natasha began and she had Tony's attention. “Obviously someone is behind this thing. I’m guessing whoever it is, is smart. This drone is small yet it carried Peter that distance. What if they somewhere tried Spider-Man to Peter or they just figured that Spider-Man is close with Iron Man so they wanted to put that too the test and see just how fast Iron Man can come to save Spider-Man when faced with a life or death situation.”

Tony thought about it. It was scary but it made a lot of sense.

“Maybe.” He just didn’t like the idea of someone watching his kid. “I just…” He didn’t know how to finish his sentence so he groaned out of frustration.

“How about you let Peter go out as Spider-Man today and we’ll all be close and watch him?” She suggested. “To see if the drone comes back once it sees Spider-Man swinging around.”

Tony wanted to immediately say no to that idea. Why the hell would he want to send his son back out as Spider-Man after something tried to possibly kill him. He wanted to say no but he couldn’t.

He knew at some point, sooner or later, Peter would ask to be Spider-Man again so Tony wanted to be fully prepared for when that day did come and to make sure no one was trying to kill Spider-Man or try to capture him or whatever the initial plan was.

He sighed. “Fine. I’ll let him go out for two hours. Tops. You, Cap and Barnes can come to keep an eye out on things. I’ll be there too. Obviously.”

Natasha looked surprised that he was actually agreeing to it. “Alright. I’ll go let the others know and meet you in twenty minutes.” With that, she stood up and left.

Tony was soon to follow her up but he went onto his floor so he could take a detour up to his bedroom to see if Peter was awake yet. He had FRIDAY keeping an eye on him and so far, there were no alerts telling him that Peter needed him so he was sure he was still asleep.

When he walked into his bedroom, he was surprised to see that Peter was awake. “Hey, bud. Did you sleep well?” As he went to go sit on the edge of the bed, he looked over Peter’s face and realized that he had just woken up about a few minutes if not seconds ago.

Peter yawned and rubbed at his eyes. “I missed you.”

“I’m right here, bud.”

Peter shook his head. “You weren’t when I first woke up. I don’t like that.”

Tony reached over to press a kiss to his head and pull the blankets off, all in one movement. “You sleep like a baby. Get up and put some underwear on because for once, just this once, I’m gonna let you go out as Spider-Man by going to you first.”

Peter slid off the bed but paused to look at his dad, confused. “Why?”

“Because. Yesterday, with that whole drone incident, Natasha and I talked about it and we decided that it’s best to try and see if whoever is behind it, isn't watching you.” Tony tried to explain it the best he could without telling Peter too much. He didn’t want to tell him everything that he told Natasha since that wasn’t Peter’s responsibility to worry about.

Peter thought about it.

After what happened yesterday, he wasn’t planning on asking to go out as Spider-Man again but since his dad was asking him to go, he wasn’t going to pass up on that opportunity.

“Okay. Can I eat breakfast first because I’m really hungry?”

“Of course, bud. You get ready and I’ll go make you some waffles.” Tony pulled Peter’s head closer to him so he could press a kiss to his temple before leaving, not able to stop the dread in his stomach and the thought of what they were about to do.

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Peter was perched on top of a balcony where he usually jumped off of. Tony wanted to talk to him about what the plan was first. It was simple but it had to be followed.

He hated the idea of using his son as bait.

“Listen closely, Peter.” Captain had said, taking charge. Peter looked over at him with a nod so Steve began. “Bucky and I will stay close to the ground to make sure we have our eyes on you from there while keeping an eye out for anything suspicious while Natasha will watch on security cameras. Your dad will be right there with you the whole time, just in the distance. Just do what you would normally do, don’t try and look for us either, or you might give us away.”

Tony hated this so much. He hated it even more, now that they were getting closer to actually going out.

He grabbed Peter’s arm and narrowed his eyes at him. “Do you understand what Cap is saying to you?”

“Yes. Ow. Stop grabbing me so hard.” Peter tried to pull his arm out of his dad's grasp. He didn’t know what the big deal was. He was going to go out and do what he normally did, with three Avengers following behind him. It was going to be so cool.

“Alright. Then go and we’ll be right behind you.” Tony watched Peter pull the mask over his face and climb onto the ledge then he jumped off. Tony’s heart fell into his stomach while the whole thing was happening. He hated seeing Peter do that and the worst of it all was how comfortable Peter was doing it.

It didn’t sit well with him.

Forty minutes later, there was no sign of anything suspicious or any drones. Which was a good sign.

Tony was talking with Natasha, Steve and Bucky through the comms and decided that if nothing had happened so far, nothing was going to happen.

He was relieved at that. At least they could hopefully be going home sooner so Tony didn’t have to watch Peter jump off of buildings anymore.

He had to physically stop himself from flying down to catch his kid every time, it scared him.

Peter jumped off a building and landed perfectly on top of a balcony that looked like it hadn’t been used in years. Tony took that time to fly down and hover in front of his kid. “You having fun?”

Peter was surprised to see his dad. He thought that they weren’t supposed to be making any contact with each other. “Uh yeah. Why are you talking to me?”

Tony chuckled. “Wow. I’m hurt. You don’t even want to talk with me.”

Peter was quick to reassure him. “No no no no. I do. Obviously I do. Just… I thought… we weren’t supposed to?”

Tony shrugged. Rules were meant to be broken anyways, not that he would ever teach Peter that. He was just tired and wanted to go home to cuddle his kid on the couch with some chips and hot chocolate. “We’re done now. We’ve been out for almost an hour and no sign of anything. If they were watching you, they would have come already. Everything is okay.” Thank goodness. “So, how about we go home and watch a movie together?”

As much as Peter wanted to stay out as Spider-Man, he was getting cold and there was no crime to stop so he wouldn’t mind some cuddle time with his dad.

“Yes!”

Tony held his arms out for Peter, wanting him to jump into his arms so he could fly him home. “Let’s go. Jump off and I’ll catch you.”

Peter didn’t hesitate to stand up and leap off of the balcony and into his dad's arms, immediately moving his legs up so he could sit more comfortably in his arms like he always did whenever his dad held him but Tony was pushing his legs down.

“Spider-Man, stop being so obvious.” Tony didn’t want Peter latching onto him like a koala bear since that was practically screaming that Spider-Man was a child.

“Oops. That better?” Peter asked, dropping his legs and letting his dad carry him in a much more uncomfortable position but they’d be home quickly.

“Much better. Let’s go home.”

.
.
.

The next day, Peter ran downstairs and jumped onto the couch where Tony was drinking his coffee, spilling it down the front of Tony’s shirt.

“Peter.”

Peter slid off the couch and tried to look innocent. “What?”

“It’s nine in the morning. Calm down.” Tony placed his coffee cup on the side table and debated if he should go change but decided against it.

Peter jumped back onto the couch and put his cold feet on Tony’s arm. “I’m hungry.”

“Hey. Put some socks on.” Tony moved his arm away from Peter’s cold feet and looked at him. It wasn’t even noon yet and Peter was already extremely hyper. “And I’ll make your breakfast. What do you want?”

Peter slid onto the floor. “Um… chocolate chip pancakes.”

As Tony stood up, he spoke. “We don’t have any more chocolate chips because you ate them all.” If there was one thing that Tony learned from Peter way before the kid came to live with him was to lock up any type of sugar foods because Peter would find it and eat it all.

Tony remembers once when he found Peter hiding behind the kitchen island, eating a bag of sour keys. It was then time for Peter to go home and an hour later he was getting an angry call from May to come and pick him back up because he gave Peter the sugar so he would deal with the aftermath.

The night ended with Tony’s hair up in every direction and Peter sleeping on the hallway floor.

After that, Tony put a lock on the candy cabinet.

Peter stood on his foot, causing Tony to wince in pain. “Ow. Why are you so hyper?”

Peter grinned up at him then went to jump onto the kitchen counter. Tony stepped away to grab the cooking oil and pull out a pan.

While that was heating up, Tony walked over to Peter and wrapped an arm around his lower back to lift him off the counter. “Wanna come with me to change?”

“Yeah.” Peter happily agreed and kicked his legs to be placed on the floor so he could run up which Tony did since there was no way he was dragging Peter up.

When he got upstairs, Peter was in his closet already. “Can you put your pyjamas in the laundry hamper?”

Peter ignored him. “I’m gonna pick out your outfit for today.”

“I just need a top.” Tony told him and went to go pick out his own top but Peter was beating him to it. “Okay fine. Something comfy.”

“I can find that.” Peter dug in Tony’s drawer and pulled out a black top with the sun on it then showed Tony. “Is this good? I can find something else if it’s not good but it feels really comfy.”

“Thank you. It’s perfect but now you get dressed.” Tony pulled off his shirt and kicked the clean, unfolded laundry over to Peter. “Put something on. Something decent because your therapist is coming over today.”

Peter sat on the floor and dug in the laundry basket. “I want to wear um… my long sleeve white shirt with my blue track pants.”

“That sounds like a good idea.” Tony said, half paying attention as he was texting Pepper back.

Peter crab crawled over to him and put his legs up on Tony’s legs as he laid on his back. Tony looked down and playfully rolled his eyes. “Get dressed.” He lifted his foot up and placed it over Peter’s belly. “Or else.”

Peter put his legs down and already started laughing as he looked up at Tony, waiting for him to do something.

Tony eyed Peter then started to shake his foot on Peter’s stomach, causing Peter to start laughing loudly and trying to roll away but failing in the process.

“Are you gonna get dressed?” Tony asked, playfully.

“Y-y-yeah!” Peter laughed out so Tony stopped a few seconds later and laughed along with his happy boy with the aftermath of the intense tickling.

Peter rolled onto his stomach and tried to reach out for the laundry basket sitting in front of him. “Stand up you lazy bum.”

Peter started laughing but made his way over to the laundry basket to get dressed.

Once they were done upstairs and Peter ate his breakfast, FRIDAY was speaking up. “The therapist is here, sir.”

Peter froze from his spot on the kitchen stool and looked over at Tony who was excited but also extremely nervous as to how Peter was going to react.

“Send her up, FRI.” Tony said then looked over at Peter who looked like he was either about to run away or burst into tears. “Remember what we talked about, Peter? She’s here to help us and I’ll stay with you the whole time.”

Peter slid off his chair and walked over to his dad. “Tell her to leave. I don’t want her to come anymore.”

Tony put his arm around Peter and started leading him towards the elevator. “She’s so nice, Peter. But after today, if you really don’t like her then she won’t ever come back, does that sound good?”

Peter nodded his head and immediately hid behind his dad once the elevator doors opened. He brought his hand up to his mouth to chew on his fingers and grabbed a fistful of his dad’s shirt.

Rose walked out wearing a beautiful red blouse and black dress pants. She had a huge genuine smile on her face and immediately looked to Peter but since he wasn’t looking at her, she turned to Tony to shake his hand.

“It’s nice to see you again, Mr. Stark.” Rose smiled.

“It’s nice to see you too but please, call me Tony. Peter, say hi please.” Tony tried to move to the side but Peter shook his head and refused to move. “I’m sorry. He’s shy.”

She waved him off. “Of course. Hi Peter. My name is Rose Donadieu but please just call me Rose. It makes me feel younger.”

Peter didn’t move. She didn’t seem phased or upset by it. Tony had told her everything that she needs to know about Peter and their situation before she got there. He told her about the severe separation anxiety and what most likely caused that, the apparent mental age regression as well as the shyness that Peter always had but it definitely got worse over the last few months.

Rose stood up straighter and looked at Tony. “How about we go sit down on the couch and have a fun chat for a bit?”

“Yeah.” Tony said and started walking but Peter continued to cling onto him which caused him to step on a lego piece on the way over. “Ow. Excuse the mess. It’s always like this so there’s no point in cleaning it up.”

“That’s alright. Did you make these with your dad, Peter?” Rose asked him, sitting down on the couch and crossing her leg over the other.

Peter tried to get more comfortable so he was on the opposite side of his dad, putting him in the middle. He nodded his head. Tony looked over at him and tried to pull his hand away from his mouth. “Get your fingers out of your mouth.”

Peter pushed his hands away but listened to his dad anyways.

Tony turned to Rose and hoped so badly that she could help them.

Her and Tony began having a simple conversation of nothing of the importance while Peter listened in. It took a few minutes for Peter to peek his head out and looked Rose up and down.

She was aware of Peter doing this but she paid him no mind and continued talking with Tony.

After a few more minutes, Peter moved a little bit out from behind Tony and showed his full face. Rose smiled at him. “Hi Peter. It’s nice to finally see your beautiful face. I’m Rose.”

Peter smiled shyly and stared at her. “Um want me to show you my legos?”

“I would love that. Are all your legos here?” She asked, referring to the legos all over the living room floor.

Peter shook his head and sat up on his knees, placing his hands on his dad’s shoulders. “No. Just some but I want to show you my other ones.”

“Alright. Take me to them.” Rose uncrossed her legs and stood up when Peter got off the couch and pulled Tony up to come with them.

Peter led both of the adults upstairs and into his bedroom. He let go of Tony’s hand and grabbed one of his already built legos from the shelf. “See?”

Rose walked into the room and looked around at everything then looked at Peter’s lego. “That’s amazing. Did you build it all by yourself?”

Peter nodded his head. “Uh huh.”

“I can see you’re quite the little lego builder expert.” She said and Peter grinned. “Is this your bedroom?”

“Umm, no. My bedrooms with my dad.” Peter answered her then put his lego back on the shelf.

“Do you sleep with your dad all the time, Peter?” Rose asked him but she already knew the answer from before. She just wanted to hear it from Peter himself.

“Yeah. I can show you our room if you want.” Peter said then went to stand next to his dad again.

Rose agreed so they all headed down the hallway and into Tony’s bedroom which was also Peter’s now. A huge reason why so much time and effort went into finding a therapist for Peter was because of this.

Rose was a complete stranger and was going into their most personal spaces, learning things about them and possibly seeing things that are very private.

Peter hung off of his bed rail and looked at Rose. “This is my side of the bed. See?”

Tony stepped back to watch and let Peter interact with the women on his own. He was so proud of Peter for taking it so well.

Rose looked at the bed rail. “And this is yours?”

“Uh huh. Because one time, maybe like a few months ago when I fell off the bed so then my dad put it on.” Peter explained and walked into the bathroom. “And sometimes I take my baths and I have my action figures under here.” Peter squatted down and opened up the bathroom cabinet to show Rose his bath toys.

He hasn’t taken a bath in a long time so he feels like taking one soon. “Dad, can I have a bath tonight?”

Tony smiled from standing in the doorway. “If you want to.”

“Okay.” Peter stood up and put the container of his toys by the bathtub.

“Would you like to go back downstairs and talk for a little bit, Peter?” Rose asked him but Peter shook his head.

“No. I want to go to McDonald’s with my dad now.” Peter said, standing up to go over to Tony’s side and stood on his feet. “Please. I want to go now.”

Tony cupped the back of his head. “When did I say we could have McDonald’s?”

Peter thought about it for a second. “The other day.”

“No I didn’t. Let’s all go downstairs now.” Tony gently pushed Peter off of him and headed downstairs with Rose so she could talk with Peter.

When he sat on the couch, Peter sat on him and tried to turn around to put his head on his chest but Tony wanted him to sit beside him. “Don’t sit on me. Come sit here.”

Peter whined. “No. Let me.”

“Yes, Peter. Ow, you are kneeing me there,” Tony moved Peter’s knees so he was no longer pressed into his extremely sensitive private’s.

“Can you sit on this spot right here, Peter, because then I can see you better.” Rose said calmly so Peter looked at her and decided if that was what he wanted to do.

Tony was extremely surprised when Peter got off of him and sat on the couch so that he was now in the middle. He had his back pressed up against his dad and faced Rose who was sitting on the short part of the L shaped couch.

“That’s better. Now I can see you and you can see me.” Rose commented then began. “So I heard that you aren’t going to school anymore.”

Peter nodded his head. “Uh huh. Dad let me because it was too hard to go everyday and I didn’t want to be away from him.”

“Was it really hard for you to have to go to school?” She asked him so Peter nodded his head and turned around so he could play with his dad’s necklace.

“Yeah. It was sad for me sometimes.” Peter told her with his back towards her so Tony grabbed his necklace away from Peter and turned him around.

“Rose is that way, Petey. Look at her.” Tony turned Peter around and put his arm over his stomach so Peter wouldn’t move so much out of nerves.

“How often did you used to go?” She asked but Peter shrugged his shoulders. “You don’t know?”

Tony decided to answer for him. “He barely went twice a week. We used to go then he would be calling me an hour later so it just wasn’t working out anymore.”

Rose was being extremely patient and understanding. “That’s always okay. It can be hard to do something with something else on your mind, right Peter?”

Peter didn’t answer her. He was playing with the ring on his dad’s finger and wishing that Rose could leave so he could watch some tv and cuddle with his dad.

“I heard that you have a house in Miami? What’s it like there?”

Peter peeked up at that. “Yeah! It’s so much fun. Me and dad went and I got stung by a jellyfish and I also got a sunburn on my butt.”

Rose gasped. “Woah. That sounds like quite the vacation. And a sunburn on the butt does not sound fun. How did you sit down?”

“I stood. Even when we were eating dinner because sometimes like it got too cold in the nighttime so like dad just put the cold cream stuff on me.” Peter explained then sat up to face his dad. “And then remember when we would just float in the pool together?”

Tony wiped an eyelash off of Peter’s face and smiled. “I remember. How about you tell Rose about you learning how to swim.”

Peter gasped and excitedly turned towards Rose. “Oh yeah. I still don’t know how but dad said that Um, he said that after when we go next that he’ll teach me.”

“That sounds like so much. Are you going to learn how to swim in the pool or the ocean?” She asked him.

“Um… pool. I like the ocean but I like the pool better and also dad told me that one day when I’m older, me and him are gonna live on an island together. Just me and him all the time.” Peter told her and turned around to hug his dad. Tony’s heart was melting. He got to call this beautiful and innocent child his.

“That sounds like quite the amazing dad you got there, Peter. I can tell that you love him so much and he loves you so much.” Rose watched the two of them interact and couldn’t help but feel so much love radiating off of them.

“Yep.” Peter smiled.

Tony cupped his face and then pressed a kiss to his temple because he wanted to give the two some privacy for a few minutes. “I do but I gotta get up for two seconds so you stay here and talk to Rose.”

Peter immediately latched onto him. “No. Stay here.”

“I gotta get up, Peter. I’m just going into the kitchen so you can still see me and I can still see you.” Tony reassured him and then went to stand up but Peter was holding onto him. “Peter.”

“No! Stay here. Please don’t leave me.” Peter shoved his face into Tony’s neck and whimpered. “Please dad.”

“Just… I’ll be two minutes and I can still see you.” Tony patted his back so Peter lifted his head up to look at him.

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

Tony sighed. “Peter. Up.”

Tony lifted Peter off of him and stood up. “Would you like me to get you anything, Rose?”

“Oh a tea would be nice, thank you.”

Tony sat Peter down from where he was climbing on him. “Sit. I’ll be two seconds. Do you want anything?”

Peter thought about it. “Ummm… I need to come and see the options.”

“No. You already know what the options are.” Tony was getting tired now. This was an ongoing occurrence with Peter and apparently it didn’t matter if someone was there or not.

“No. No, I need to see. I want to.” Peter whined out and tried to stand up so Tony sighed in defeat.

“Alright.” Tony rubbed at his eyes as Peter went to go walk towards the kitchen. “I just don’t know how to say no because then he starts screaming and I just,” Tony looked at Rose who didn’t look like she was judging in any way which Tony loved.

“That’s alright. I know it’s hard but that’s why I’m here, to make it just a little bit easier.” She told him and if Tony was being honest, those words felt good. It was nice to know that he wasn’t alone in this anymore.

He walked into the kitchen and picked Peter up from climbing on the counter. “What did I say about this?”

“But then I can’t reach.” Peter said while still trying to grab the box of cookies.

“Then tell me and I’ll grab it for you.” Tony said as he grabbed what he already knew Peter was reaching for. He set Peter on the ground and handed him the cookies. “Now go sit back down with Rose.”

Peter shook his head. “No. I’ll just wait for you.”

“No, Pete. Hey, how about you go ask if Rose wants some cookies?” Tony suggested to get Peter out of the kitchen.

“Yeah.” Peter said then ran over to the living room and sat on the couch next to Rose, giving her no personal space. “Cookies? They are my second favourite but dad didn’t get me my first favourite because he just didn’t.”

Rose took a cookie and took a bite. “Wow. These are good. I should get some for my house.”

Peter grabbed his own cookie and took a bite. “You should.”

“Is it hard for you when your dad has to leave like that?” Rose asked but Peter didn’t answer. “Just sometimes?”

“All the time.” Peter admitted quietly.

“I know it can be hard. Especially after everything that you’ve gone through in your short life.” Rose told him and Peter grabbed another cookie.

“How old are you?” Peter asked, unaware that the question was inappropriate to ask.

Rose just smiled. “I’m fifty-three.”

Peter’s eyes went wide. “Woah. That’s so old. I’m fourteen and I’ll be fifteen in August.”

“Are you excited for your birthday?”

Peter shrugged his shoulders then grabbed another cookie. He had a cookie limit so he was taking advantage of his dad not being there to stop him. “Only a bit because then I’m gonna ask my dad for a whole cake and eat it with my hands. Hopefully we can go to Miami so I can eat my cake there.”

Rose laughed at Peter’s birthday wish. “Just don’t get another sunburn on your bum.”

Peter giggled then grabbed yet another cookie. “I won’t. That’s just because I took off my bathing suit and fell asleep on the chair. Or because I was in the pool and I got burnt.”

With another bite of her cookie, Rose covered her mouth and started laughing. “Oh, I can imagine. I’m glad you had fun at least.”

“Yep. It was fun. It’s always fun there. Maybe soon we can go back. You should come too one day. Then I can show you the backyard and the ocean.” Peter told her excitedly and looked in the kitchen before grabbing another cookie.

“Maybe one day. That would be fun.” Rose said and watched Peter munch on his cookie before getting back on track. “Let’s talk about your dad, do you sometimes make things difficult for him?”

Peter shrugged. “Yeah. Just sometimes when I don’t want him to leave so then he doesn’t.”

Rose nodded her head. “Yeah, it can be really hard.”

Peter didn’t answer so Rose continued. “What about when he has to go to work?”

“Ummmm… he doesn’t go to work. Just like, then sometimes Steve can watch me but still, he’s not my dad so then it’s still hard for me at times.” Peter answered her and went to grab another cookie but he saw his dad walking back into the living room so he put his hand down and waited for him to hand Rose the tea before he was crawling into his lap. “Hi.”

“Hi, bud. I told you that I’d come back.” Tony said and took a sip of his coffee. Peter tried to grab it from him. “No. Leave it alone.”

“Let me see. Can I have a sip?” Peter asked, smelling his cup.

“Absolutely not.” Tony couldn’t even imagine Peter with coffee in his system. He would literally start crying because it would be too much for Tony to handle.

“Why?”

“Uh because you’re wild without caffeine in your system so no.” Tony put his coffee on the side table and looked over at Rose who was watching them.

“Peter and I were just talking about Miami and how much he loves it there.” Rose began. “He told me about how much he loves cake as well.”

Tony chuckled. “Yes. He loves his sugar. Did he tell you about the locked up sugar cabinet?”

“No, he didn’t but he did tell me about his love for his second favourite cookies.” Rose explained and Tony smiled. Peter seemed to be sharing a lot with his therapist already and that made him so incredibly happy.

“After the extra chocolate one. Can we go get some at the grocery store? Please. I want them.” Peter turned around and asked his dad.

Tony wouldn’t mind going out for a drive since they were supposed to be getting an awful storm tonight. “We can go later.”

“Hopefully I can try one of those cookies the next time I come but for now, I do have to go.” Rose said, standing up and grabbing her bag.

Tony stood up as well and shook her hand again. “Thank you so much. We’ll see you on Wednesday at one.”

“Yes. I’m looking forward to seeing both of you again. And Peter, don’t eat too many cookies or you’ll get a stomach ache again.” Rose warned him playfully and Peter giggled.

As Tony walked her over to the elevator, he was glad that Peter liked her and he began to feel the stress of everything start to lift off his shoulders.