The first time Peter ever saw someone touching Tony Stark was when he was at the compound. It was their first round of “mentoring” since Peter had turned Mr. Stark down on being in the Avengers.
Peter had been surprised when Mr. Stark had still offered to mentor him, though a part of it had probably been May discovering who he was. Peter, who had no idea what to do, had called Happy, at May’s insistence. Happy had immediately called Mr. Stark, not knowing how to deal with an angry aunt.
So, Peter had been offered a real mentorship. One with reasonable hours, but reliable training, so that May knew Peter was safe.
The person to touch Mr. Stark was Mr. Rhodes, that Peter knew was the War Machine. It was almost a shock to Peter when Mr. Rhodes casually slung an arm over Mr. Stark’s shoulder. In that moment, Peter realized that Mr. Stark wasn’t this built up figure of fame and money. He was a human, with normal, human friends.
Peter had always let Mr. Stark do whatever he wanted, without saying much, and that was how the mentoring had gone so far. Peter took in everything, and Mr. Stark talked until he was tired. But Mr. Rhodey had thrown a wrench into that plan, for when Mr. Stark left to get something to drink, the older man immediately said, “You look up to him, don’t you?”
Peter turned to look at Mr. Rhodes with wide eyes, and Peter could only answer, “Uh, well, yeah. He’s Tony Stark.”
Mr. Rhodes laughed. “Sometimes I forget that he’s some superhero. You know, I saw him in college, and let’s just say it was a little different.”
“What do you mean?” Peter asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.
“On time he fell face first into a keg.” Rhodey said. “Like an idiot.”
“He did?” Peter asked, almost not believing Mr. Rhodes.
“Oh, yeah… wait, I have something for you.” Mr. Rhodes said. He stood up, slowly walking over to grab a tablet. Peter watched the older man’s robotic exoskeleton as he walked, curious as to how they worked. He forgot what he was saying when Mr. Rhodes sat back down next to Peter and opened a video.
“This is the first testing of his Mark II armor.” Mr. Rhodes said, and he pressed play. Peter watched curiously as Mr. Stark talked to a robot for a moment, before his repulsors blasted him into the concrete wall, and he fell onto a rather expensive car. Peter couldn’t help it, he let out half a laugh, that turned into a full one when the robot sprayed fire extinguisher on him.
“See, kid?” Mr. Rhodes said, “He’s actually an idiot.”
“You better not be talking about me.” Mr. Stark said, holding two cans of soda.
“I wasn’t. Hey man, is this your magnetic repulsor prototype?” Mr. Rhodes said.
“Yeah, Rhodey.” Mr. Stark said. “Hey, kid, I got you a soda. You want it?”
“Oh, uh, yeah.” Peter said, a little of his nervousness gone. “Thanks.”
Mr. Stark threw the can through the air, and Peter would have caught it, if not for Rhodey pressing a button on whatever he was playing with. The soda, instead, crashed into a wall and exploded into a huge mess.
Mr. Stark’s jaw dropped, and Mr. Rhodes laughed. “You big fuck!” Mr. Stark yelled, looking offended.
“Should I have DUM-E come and clean it up?” Mr. Rhodes asked, his voice filled with humor.
“You can fight me.” Mr. Stark said. “Sorry, kid, Rhodey is an asshole.”
“No, I mean… I’m sorry. I had my web-shooters on. I totally could have got it.”
Mr. Stark looked confused.
“Woah, you were right when we talked about him.” Mr. Rhodes said, “He is too nice.”
“Wait… you talk about me?” Peter asked Mr. Stark.
“All the time.” Mr. Rhodes answered. Mr. Stark glared at his friend. “For real, he said you were the most polite kid he’s ever met, and I have to agree with him, for once.”
“I’m not polite!” Peter said, looking between the two of them.
“Oh, really?” Mr. Stark said. “Say something mean, kid. Go ahead.”
“This’ll be good.” Rhodey said.
Peter didn’t hesitate. “I like the War Machine armor design better.”
Mr. Stark’s jaw dropped, and there was a wheezing laughter coming from Mr. Rhodey, who was highly amused.
“I like this kid!” Rhodey yelled
“You’re not my intern anymore.” Mr. Stark said.
“What?” Peter yelled, shocked. Was he in trouble?
“You’re now my intern.” Mr. Rhodes said. “I’m taking over.”
“Like hell you are!” Mr. Stark said.
“You said he wasn’t your intern anymore. He’s free game.”
“I made him sign papers that it mandatory for him not to be able to take on other internships.”
“No, you didn’t.” Peter said, and when both men looked at him, he said, “What? May made me read everything in those documents.”
“You know what?” Mr. Rhodes said, “I’m coming around more often. I haven’t laughed this much since the rest of the Avengers were around.”
An unsettling silence fell over the room. Peter hadn’t realized what had happened during the Avenger’s Civil War had affected Mr. Stark so much, but it was apparent on the older man’s face. Mr. Rhodes must have realized what he had said, so he stood, and slung an arm around Mr. Stark’s shoulder, who gave his friend a half smile. And that was the first time Peter had ever seen anyone else initiate contact with Mr. Stark.
Peter’s phone went off, breaking the silence. He felt his cheeks heat up, only because he felt like he had intruded on a private moment, but also, it was May. It was past ten, which was his time to get home.
“Time for the kid to go home.” Mr. Stark said, seeming to read Peter’s mind. “Come on, Peter. I’ll drive you.”
“Wait, I thought Happy drove me?” Peter asked.
“He’s taking a vacation day.” Mr. Stark said, “Come on. You’re about to see the coolest car you’ve been.”
Peter followed, waving bye to Rhodey. As they walked to the garage, Peter happened to see Happy in his office, working on something. Peter wondered why Mr. Stark had said that Happy was out for the day when he obviously was not.
Peter decided not to ask, and he followed Mr. Stark to his car, sending May a text that said he was on his way home. Mr. Stark, saw him on his phone, and said, “What the hell is that thing, kid?”
“My … phone?” Peter asked, confused.
“That is a fossil, not a phone.”
“It’s fine. I mean, the screen is cracked, but it works. Plus, I can’t exactly ask May to fix it because I kind of broke it being Spider-Man and phones are expensive.”
“I am personally offended.” Mr. Stark said. “You do realize I make some of the most advanced phones on the market, right?”
“Well, yes, but, no offense Mr. Stark, we can’t afford one of those phones.” Peter said.
Mr. Stark looked at him as if he had two heads, before he excused himself. Peter was left in a garage next to a car that was more expensive than anything he and May owned. Peter only had a moment to wonder if he had somehow offended Mr. Stark, before the man was back.
Mr. Stark casually tossed a box to Peter, who barely caught it. “What’s this, Mr. Stark?”
“It’s a Starkphone. Top of the line, nearly indestructible. I can’t have my interns using… Android.”
“Is this the X5 model?” Peter nearly yelled as Tony got into the car. Peter scrambled to get in after him.
“It’s the black and red edition.”
“What?” Peter yelled. “That hasn’t even come out yet, and it’s supposed to be like $2,000! I can’t… I can’t afford this.”
“I’m not asking you to pay me for it, kid. Consider it an intern gift, kid. For publicity’s sake.”
Peter’s jaw was almost glued to the floor, but he shook himself out of it to say, “Thank you… Mr. Stark. This is really nice of you. I mean, you’ve done so much for me with the suit and everything so just … thank you, really.”
Mr. Stark had put the car in reverse, but paused look at Peter. “You’re welcome, kid. And you better not hesitate to ask me if you need something. A phone is a need these days. I expect you to let me know these things.”
“I … I thought you and Happy didn’t like it when I told you every single detail of my day.”
“Happy? He’s never lived up to his name, Peter, I’ll give you that. Me? I find your life interesting. Plus, you keep losing backpacks and May is losing her mind.”
“How did you know about that?”
“She wants weekly status updates, and those updated include her saying how much more money she is spending on school supplies since you’ve become a part time spider, so I’m taking over that department.”
“Wait, she’s struggling?” Peter said, embarrassed. “Oh god, I’ll be better, Mr. Stark, I swear I’m not trying to cause any trouble, it’s just hard to keep up with everything.”
“Kid, don’t worry about it. Oh, how about when you go spidering you bring your backpack to my lab in the city so it doesn’t get stolen. Better yet, you can change there too so someone doesn’t accidentally see your identity.”
“You mean, like, every day?” Peter asked, he could hardly believe his ears.
“Yes, every day. I may not be there, so I’ll give you a code.”
“Sure.” Peter said, because he knew he couldn’t turn Mr. Stark down.
A few minutes passed in relative silence, and they pulled up at Peter’s apartment. He expected Mr. Stark to drop him off at the curb just like Happy did, but Mr. Stark unbuckled his seatbelt, and when Peter looked at him with wide eyes, he said, “What? I need explain to your Aunt why you’re late.”
“Oh, okay.” Peter said, and led Mr. Stark up to his apartment. When they got there, Peter fumbled with his keys, nervous for what was about to happen, and opened his door, he and Mr. Stark walking in.
“Oh, Tony.” May said, from where she was sitting on the couch. Her hair was a mess, and she was wearing her glasses. “I didn’t know you were coming by.”
“Well, the kid’s late.” Mr. Stark replied, but Peter was still on the fact that May had called Mr. Stark by his first name. “So, I figured I would tell you why.”
“It was an exploding soda can!” Peter blurted out.
May raised her eyebrows. “I hope it wasn’t you.”
“No!” Peter said.
“No, it was my friend. He played with a magnet and... “ Mr. Stark trailed off. “I still need to clean that up.”
“Wouldn’t Mr. Rhodes do it?”
Mr. Stark laughed. “First of all, he’s Rhodey. Not Mr. Rhodes, and no. He won’t clean it up. Don’t you know how best friends work?”
“On time Ned blew up an entire two liter of soda.” May commented.
“May! That was one time!” Peter said.
“Still one time too many. You see that stain Tony? That’s from Ned.”
Mr. Stark was looking at the ceiling, seemingly amused. “Look, I have to get going before my lovely fiance finds the mess I left. You’re not too upset, May?”
“No, thank you for telling me yourself.”
“Bye,” Mr. Stark said, smiling at her, and leaving the apartment.
“You two are getting along.” May said, smiling at him.
“What? We’re fine.”
“What’s that box?” May asked.
“A phone…”
“Wait, what?” May asked, and she walked over and took the box from Peter. “This is… he’s gotta be kidding!”
“What?”
“I wasn’t serious about the Spider-man thing! Oh, I have to go call him.” And May was gone, leaving a confused Peter in her wake.
Peter went to his room after a few moments. He heard May talking to Mr. Stark, but turned his light off, trying to go to sleep.
Mr. Stark had been different today. He was more personal, more fun. This was the Mr. Stark he liked. Not the billionaire, the guy who was almost like a …. No, Peter couldn’t think like that. Not everyone who came into his life was going to be a parental figure, no matter what he needed.
So, Peter closed his eyes to go to sleep, pushing those thoughts out of his mind.
He fell asleep, a few minutes later, the comparison of Tony Stark to a father fresh on his mind.
-
Over time, Peter and Mr. Stark began to bond more. After that night, something had shifted in both of them, and Peter was more easy going around his mentor, and Mr. Stark was more easy going around his intern. Peter initially was only coming to the compound on Saturdays, but that shifted to Saturdays and Wednesdays, the latter day being for more movies rather than actual training.
It was nice. It was different, but Peter was okay with it. However, with all of the time they spent together, they had never progressed much farther in their physical relationship.
Peter was a cuddly person, especially platonically. It was why he had felt as if he lost a part of himself when he lost Ben. Peter knew he had May, but it wasn’t the same, with only one person to hug these days.
Peter had already been shot down by Mr. Stark when they first had met, and Peter didn’t want that to happen again. He didn’t want to make things awkward when they were already good.
But no matter how hard he tried, Peter was beginning to see Mr. Stark as … some sort of parental figure. There was a part of him that went to hug Mr. Stark whenever he would leave. There was a part of him that wanted to lean his head on Mr. Stark’s shoulder when he was tired during a movie, but that would only lead to awkwardness, so Peter avoided it, just barely, each time.
Peter wondered if Mr. Stark even liked being touched. Sure, Rhodey could get away with it, but could Peter? Could some kid hug the Tony Stark?
Probably not, and he had been told they weren’t there yet, so he wasn’t about to try.
However, some days it was too much.
There was a major fight, and technically, Peter wasn’t supposed to be there, but he was. Somehow, he had snuck into it and was able to help. Of course, the team bring fractured, meant that only Vision, Rhodey, and Mr. Stark were there, and while Mr. Stark was worried for him, he was needed and Peter got out of the fight unscathed.
Mr. Stark did not though.
Peter felt it, a rush of his spider sense just as the fight was over. Mr. Stark was flying up to him, asking him if he was okay, but some energy source hit his mentor, and Tony Stark fell from the sky.
“Mr. Stark!” Peter yelled, running towards his mentor. He was the first to get there.
“Peter?” Rhodey was asking. “What’s going on?”
“I … his suit is offline. Will that hurt him?”
“No, kid.” Rhodey said. “Is he in there? Is he okay?”
“I can probably rip the mask off…”
“Do it.”
“Oh man,” Peter said, kneeling down and taking off his own mask. He knew he was doing a lot of monetary damage, but he ripped the mask off the armor, and Mr. Stark was thankfully awake.
“Jesus, kid, I thought you were one of those things!”
“Is he alright?” Rhodey asked through the coms.
“Yeah,” Peter replied.
“We’re going after whoever hit him.” Rhodey said.
“Can you help me out of this, kid?” Mr. Stark asked. “You know the exit points.”
That was right, he did. Peter felt embarrassed for ripping the mask off, but Mr. Stark didn’t seem to care. He got out of the armor the moment Peter lifted it off him. Mr. Stark brushed himself off.
“I need to figure out how to not have that happen.” Mr. Stark was saying.
Peter wasn’t listening. He jumped to hug Mr. Stark tightly, his worry for the man hitting hi full force. Peter rubbed his face against Mr. Stark’s soft shirt, happy that there was a heartbeat underneath his ear. The last time someone he loved has been shot at, they didn’t make it out alive.
Just as Peter was realizing what he had done, he felt Mr. Stark return the hug, wrapping his own arms around Peter. A rush of warmth rushed through Peter, and he felt comforted in a way that words would never be able to achieve. There was just something about a hug.
“Are we there yet, Mr. Stark?” Peter asked. “Hug status?”
“I think we’re there, kid.” Mr. Stark replied, and Peter sagged in relief.
“Hey, dad of the year.” A voice said, and both of them pulled away to see Rhodey smirking at them, his faceplate open. “We caught the guy.”
“If I’m dad of the year, then where’s my medal?” Mr. Stark said, and Peter was glad he wasn’t on the defensive. He also had slung an arm casually around Peter’s shoulder.
“It’s stuck in the mail, dad.” Peter said, the last word mostly mocking, but it sounded too natural to his own ears.
“Oh, we’re going from Mr. Stark to dad now, huh?” Mr. Stark said. “You don’t ramp up, do you?”
“He gets it from you.” Rhodey said. “Now come on, Iron Dad and Spider Son… we have a mess to clean up.”