Lab Work
Peter and Tony were working alongside each other in Tony's personal lab, and Peter had never been so amazed before. He'd seen some of the labs Mr. Stark had around the compound, and don't get me wrong, they were amazing. But, nothing quite like this. It was bigger, better. It had all they needed and more, three robots were rolling around, and surprisingly good music was blaring from the hundreds of speakers in the large room.
Peter was so amazed by everything he saw and all that Tony told him, he'd completely forgotten about what had happened before. It wasn't until he looked up to ask for something that he noticed how tired Tony really was. He was leaning on the table, a half-finished project lying forgotten in front of him. One hand was rubbing at his eyes while the other was gripping the table so hard his knuckles were white.
"Mr. Stark?" Peter asked softly. "Are you okay?"
Tony dropped his hand, sighing deeply before straightening up and giving Peter a smile that was so fake, Peter only grew more worried.
"Fine, kid," he said. Peter crossed his arms, giving his mentor an unbelieving look. Tony couldn't help but chuckle at the sight, but it quickly faded again and he ran a hand down his face. "We should, ehm, you know, just get going with eh-"
"No," Peter interrupted, causing Tony to look up.
"Excuse me?"
"No," Peter simply repeated, and before the mechanic could reply again, he added; "You're not okay,"
Tony sighed, running a hand through his messy hair before leaning back on the table. Peter carefully came closer, only to stop after a few steps. He had no idea what to do.
"Um, do I, eh, need to call for someone?" He asked carefully. Tony just shook his head, straightening up again and scratching the back of his head. One of the robots, Dum-E, Peter recalled, came rolling towards him with a cup in his claw. Tony looked up at his creation.
"Really?" He said, gesturing with his hands. "How many times do I have to tell you, Dum-E, I don't drink oil," Dum-E made a beeping noise, somehow causing Tony to sigh again.
"No, the coffee machine is over there," he pointed to a corner. Dum-E made another noise before rolling away again. "That's right,"
Peter watched the robot roll away again, wondering how the hell Mr. Stark had understood what the one-armed piece of metal had said.
"I made him," he heard Tony say. His head snapped back to his mentor again, who was simply looking back at him as he leaned on the table, arms crossed.
"Did-did I say that out loud?" Peter asked shocked.
"No, I'm a telepath," Tony answered dryly, his unreadable look never changing. Peter's eyes went wide, causing Tony to roll his own. "Of course not, smartass," Peter chucked nervously in relief. Suddenly, a thought occurred.
"Wait, have I said things out loud before?"
"Yeah, pretty sure you talked about your huge crush in school. What was her name again... MJ?"
Peter went as red as a tomato. He had actually said that out loud. Boy, that was awkward.
"Not-not the point," he said quickly, trying to change the subject. It only caused Tony to shoot him a smirk.
"Oh, but you're not denying it, that's good."
Peter's eyes went wide again, a sick feeling in his stomach.
"Good?" he asked, his voice small.
"Oh yeah," Tony said, leaning over a bit, the smirk never leaving his face. "Very good,"
Peter gulped audibly.
"How so?" He asked, his voice higher than he had intended, the sick feeling in his stomach increasing.
"Negotiation," Tony said, shrugging as he leaned back again.
"What kind of 'negotiation'?" Peter asked, and Tony looked at him with an evil look on his face.
"Blackmail, kid," he said. "Sweet, sweet blackmail,"
"Oh, come on!" Peter exclaimed. "Mr. Stark, that's not fair!"
"It might make you stop calling me 'Mr. Stark'," Tony shrugged. He grunted as he stood up and dragged himself to a chair and dropped down. It immediately made Peter forget about the blackmail and worry replaced the dread in his stomach.
"What was that about?" He asked his mentor, causing the latter to sigh and rub at his eyes again.
"What?"
"You know what," Peter replied instantly. Because of course, he did.
"Nothing, it was just some stupid-ass comment, it shouldn't have affected me that much,"
"What comment?"
"Noth-"
"What. Comment?"
Tony looked up. He'd never heard Peter talk that way.
"Wow, impressive," he mumbled.
"Thanks, learned from the best," Peter shrugged. For some reason, that only made Tony's shoulders slump more. "I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?" He asked, immediately worried.
"No, no it's just-" Tony sighed again, leaning back in his chair. "It was about Howard. The comment? It was about him, wasn't really something I like to hear."
Peter felt a bit of guilt building up inside. He had a hunch what it was about.
"What-what was it exactly?" He asked carefully. Tony was too tired to argue.
"It was right after I had brought you home. Clint commented on how much you apparently look like me. Wanda, she- well let's just say she was in a bad mood."
"What did she say?"
Tony looked up at him, their brown eyes connecting. Peter suddenly noticed that they indeed looked a lot alike, and not only because of their mutual love for science. It was extra clear with their now matching curls, brown eyes connecting.
"She- um, she said I'm- I'm practically- um, 'raising' you, how I'm becoming, eh, my... dad," Tony said, looking down at his fiddling hands in his lap. Peter was taken back for a moment. His mentor never stuttered. Tony Stark was never nervous. And the way he'd said 'dad' told Peter enough about their real relationship.
"What?" He couldn't help but ask. Tony still didn't look up, rubbing at his face as he wracked his brain to a way to avoid this conversation.
"Did I speak Spanish?" He retorted, but it didn't come out quite the way he'd wished. "Look, I told you it was stupid, I'm just overreacting."
"No, no not at all!" Peter quickly interrupted. "I get it, really I do. Daddy issues-"
"Who told you?" Tony cut it, looking up again, his strict face back on. Peter began to get nervous under the heavy gaze of his mentor. He knew he'd said too much, but he couldn't take it back now.
"Um, Cap-Steve, Steve told me..." he whispered, looking anywhere but his mentor's eyes. Said mentor fell back in his chair with an exaggerated sigh.
"Of course, he did," he exclaimed, throwing his hands up in, well, basically just dramaticness. "And he's, of course, the one you called a few minutes back,"
Peter froze.
"What?" He squeaked. He closed his eyes, giving himself a mental face-palm and cursing his voice in the foulest language he could conjure up in his pure mind. "I didn't call anyone, what-"
"Of course you didn't," Tony interrupted. "You ordered FRIDAY to do it,"
Peter stared back into those brown eyes with a look that screamed 'busted'. Tony sighed but couldn't help but chuckle a bit. He really had grown fond of the boy, that was for sure. But just the thought of becoming Howard scared the living crap out of the genius. As if he could sense it, Peter stepped forward, kneeling next to the chair the billionaire was seated in. He placed his soft hand on top of Tony's hardened, scarred ones.
"Mr. Stark," he began with a soft smile on his face. "If you were my dad, I know you'd be the best one I could ever have wished for,"
Tony was shocked, to say the least. He stared back at the teenager, searching for any insincerity but found none. He opened his mouth to stammer out some kind of response when the door flew open.
"Where's the emergency?!" Yelled Steve as he ran into the lab, a fire extinguisher upside-down in his hands. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw two pairs of brown eyes looking at him, both men raising an eyebrow at him.
"Um, oh," was all Steve could say. He carefully set the extinguisher down. Or, tried to, but failed as he still held it upside-down. It fell on the ground with a loud bang, rolling away, out of sight. It was awkwardly silent for a while as the sound of the extinguisher rolling away slowly faded. Tony cleared his throat.
"Um, okay," he started, and only years and years of perfection and practice kept him from breaking out laughing at the captain's red face. Peter, unfortunately, hadn't had that amount of practice yet, causing him to double over in laughter.
"Don't forget to breathe, kid," Tony said with a completely straight face, which only made Peter laugh harder. And, to be fair, Steve's face was hilarious.
"You 'bout done?" The super soldier asked with an annoyed look on his face. But Tony didn't miss the sparkle of amusement in the Captain's blue eyes. Tony couldn't help the smirk forming on his face. But now that the weight had been taken off his shoulders, he realized how tired he really was. Steve must have noticed too as he immediately hurried over to kneel beside him.
"You okay, Tony?" He asked in a gentle voice. Peter noticed and turned the music off, saving his and Tony's work and sitting on the workbench. "And don't say that you're 'fine', because you say that every time,"
To Steve's concern, that barely got a smile out of Tony. Steve then decided that it had been enough.
"Alright, you're coming with me," he said, attempting to lift Tony out of the chair he was seated in. But the genius quickly jumped away from the outstretched arms, standing behind the chair with a speed that would have made Quicksilver proud.
"Na-ah," he said, his hands in front of him in a defensive mode. "Ain't happening, mister,"
Steve sighed. Tony was just so stubborn...
"Alright, then you're walking on your own," he said, crossing his arms. Tony raised an eyebrow.
"Where?"
"Upstairs, genius," Steve replied, attempting to drag him along to the elevator. But Tony jumped back again.
"Again, na-ah," he said, crossing his arms and looking a lot like a stubborn child. Steve rolled his eyes and gave Tony a fake smile, one parents often gave their toddlers whenever their patience was running out.
"And why not, Tony?" He said in a sweet voice, causing Tony to stick out his tongue.
"I got work to do," was all he said before he walked back to his unfinished project. But Steve wasn't giving up so easily today. He quietly snuck up behind the mechanic and wrapped his strong arms around the smaller man's torso, lifting him up far enough for Tony's feet to be off the ground. Tony yelped in surprise, dropping the screwdriver he had been holding.
"Steve, let me down," he said, attempting to break free but failing miserably. Steve brought his face to Tony's neck with a big grin.
"Only if you agree to come with me," he said, but Tony was already shaking his head.
"Steve, I have stuff to do!"
"What stuff?"
"Well, important... Stuff..." Tony replied, groaning at how stupid that sounded. "Just let go, please,"
Instead of letting go, Steve tightened his grip around the small man's frame, making Tony yelp again.
"Steve, let go I can't- I can't breathe..."
Steve quickly loosened his grip again and Tony started coughing, gasping for air dramatically.
"Help, a super soldier is trying to kill me!" He yelled, wriggling in Steve's grip, which accomplished nothing except for Steve tightening his grip again. After a moment, Tony gave in.
"Okay, okay fine!" The mechanic managed to croak out. Immediately, Steve let go completely, causing Tony to stumble against the workbench, breathing heavily.
"So, let's go, shall we?" Steve said, a satisfied smile on his face. Tony turned around just far enough to hit him with a screwdriver, mumbling something no one could understand.
"What was that?" Steve said in the same, motherly voice, just to irritate his friend.
"I hate you," Tony mumbled. The soldier chuckled, walking up to the genius again.
"Yeah, love you too," he said with a smile before gently taking the mechanic's arm and leading him away from the workbench. Tony groaned again, mumbling about how he wasn't the 'old one in the room' but let himself be guided away.
Peter watched them go, frozen in place. 'yeah, love you too,' echoed around in his head. He decided it was just in a friendly matter and he quickly grabbed his backpack and sprinted up the stairs. This was one of the most surprising things he'd seen in his life, and he'd seen aliens attack New York.
When he came up he saw Steve dragging Tony behind him, out of the elevator.
"Sorry, kid," Tony called. "I'm apparently past curfew. Happy's waiting outside to bring you home,"
"Thanks, Mr. Stark!" Peter called back.
"See you tomorrow, kid," was the last Peter heard before his mentor disappeared behind a corner. Peter made a little victory dance at that, skipping towards the elevator to take him downstairs.
"What's all the excitement about?" Happy asked when Peter jumped into the car, bumping his head.
"Mr. Stark said I could come back tomorrow!" The teenager yelled, rubbing his head where he had bumped it against the car.
"Great," Happy mumbled before closing the black-tainted window separating the two compartments. Once it was closed, a small smile appeared on his face. "Oh Tony," he mumbled softly. "You better hold onto this one,"