Chapter 1
It wasn’t that Peter was unaware of the fact that his diet was, for a lack of a better term, shitty. But the life of a superhero, nevertheless a teenage superhero, did not allow the time and resources for such luxuries as a balanced diet. May did her best, of course, and the diet she offered him would be more than enough to compensate for a regular teenage boy’s appetite. But, Peter was not normal, at least not for the past year or so and he wasn’t about to sit his aunt down and explain to him the reasons why he was always a little more hungry than usual.
Therefore, in a similar manner to all the other problems life offered him, he kept quiet and tried his best to make do.
Until the moment came where he no longer could.
It was Fridays, and Fridays meant Happy picking him up after school to drive him over to the compound.
Peter had been feeling crummy for the better part of the week, but he chalked that up to long patrols followed by even longer study sessions each night. Sooner or later he knew the exhaustion would start creeping up.
Maybe I can squeeze in a nap before the movie tonight? Peter thought to himself as he kept quiet in the back of the seat. Happy had pulled up the divider, leaving the teen to his thoughts as they took the long drive upstate.
He never could fall asleep in a moving car, even as a kid, but he allowed his eyes to droop close hoping that would offer some kind of reprieve.
Tony had begun noticing something was off the moment that Peter walked into the lab, without the usual energetic spring in his step. Tony knew for a fact that Peter loved lab days. And when Peter was excited, Tony could hardly keep him at bay. Most of the time he was debating on whether or not he needed to tie the kid down to his chair because otherwise, he was close to bouncing off the walls.
Peter was like a puppy. And at the moment he looked like a puppy that had been kicked down.
“Okay,” Tony approached the teen and poked him gently in the side. Peter had sat down at his designated desk when he had arrived and hadn’t left since, doodling on a piece of notebook paper that was riddled with old equations.
“What’s going on with you, kid?”
Peter looked up at him, a confused look across his face.
God, he really does look like a puppy.
Tony sighed, and elaborated, “You’ve been quiet this entire time, kiddo. Usually I’m begging for God to strike me down so I no longer have to listen to your chattering.”
That got an unamused glare from the kid and Tony smirked.
“You love my chattering. Miss Potts said so and Miss Potts never lies,” Peter replied, giving Tony a knowing look.
Tony decided to not argue that case. One because it was true. And two because he was afraid that Friday would go behind his back and tell Pepper he accused of her of lying and that was a risk he was never going to take.
“Okay, that still doesn’t explain why you’ve been so quiet you little spider-brat,” Tony emphasized with another poke.
Peter sighed, “I’m just tired, Mr. Stark. It’s been a long week.”
Tony frowned. The way the Peter had said it seemed as if this had been going on for longer than a week. And now, close enough to Pete, he could see the paleness creeping up on the kid’s face.
Without a second thought, he reached over and pressed the back of the hand to the kid’s forehead.
“Mister Stark!” Peter squealed, trying to pull back from the man but Tony had grabbed him with his other hand and was not letting him get away that easily. And bearing in mind the fact that Peter was supposed to be much stronger than ten of him combined, he took that into consideration as well.
“Hmm,” Tony hummed as he gauged the kid for a fever.
He wasn’t hot, but in fact, cool to the touch.
Much cooler than he should be.
Tony let go of the teen, taking a step back before calling out to Friday to notify a doctor to meet up with them upstairs in the medbay.
“Mister Stark, no!” Peter argued.
“Mister Stark, yes!” Tony exclaimed back, with a pointed look that relayed to Peter there was to be no more arguing from him.
And that’s how Peter found himself in the medbay a few minutes later, letting a random doctor to poke and prod him while Tony stood a few feet away.
“Well, you’re a relatively healthy kid, Peter,” The doctor stated as he drew back from his patient. Peter turned around to give his mentor a smug look.
Told you so.
Tony rolled his eyes before looking back at the doctor.
“Probably a combination of stress from classes and long nights staying awake to study exhausted him a little bit. Nothing that a good night’s rest and some fluids won’t help fix!” The doctor told the harried mentor.
Tony was not convinced, however, but he still nodded his head, accepting the doctor’s reasoning. He already knew that Peter did not like doctors and he wasn’t about to subject him to another round by forcing the doctor to do more tests on him.
“Come on kiddo,” Tony told Peter, wrapping an arm around his shoulders as the teen got closer and brought him in close for a hug, “Let’s see if we can snag a lollipop for you on our way out of here for being a good spider-baby for the doctor.”
Peter let out a grumbled whine, pressing his face into his mentor’s chest as Tony chuckled.
“M’not a baby,” Peter’s mumbled voice called out and Tony gently ran his fingers through the boy’s curls.
“Whatever you say, buddy,” Tony murmured.
Later that night, with Peter curled up next to him, dozing off, Tony decided to embark on a little research.
He had Friday pull up Peter’s sleep activity for the past month and to his surprise, Peter’s average time asleep had increased the past month. Further examining showed him that Peter was taking more naps throughout the day.
So this had been going on for more than just a week.
Tony frowned, glancing down at the small teen.
“What’s going on with ya, kiddo?” Tony whispered, letting one of his hands to burrow into the little nest of curls on top of the kid’s head.
Right now, only time could tell.