A/N: Tony is going to be slightly OOC for this, but I'll try my best to make him as true to character as possible. This story was harder than I thought it would be...

"I'm sorry, it's not going to work out between us," Peter heard the man say with no remorse over the phone. Just like that, another one was gone. What a shame, Peter liked that man.

Peter couldn't understand why so many men kept coming and going through his mom and his lives, staying for a little while before leaving. Coincidentally, they all left shortly after they learned about Peter's existence.

Peter climbed out of his bed and slowly walking into the small kitchen where his mother was just hanging the phone up and wiping her eyes. Peter frowned as he walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her legs.

"Peter?" Mary asked, her eyes wide as she looked down at her son, "What are you doing awake?"

"Don't cry, mommy... We'll find a daddy soon..."

Peter felt arms around him, lifting him into the air as his mother's lips pressed against the side of his head. "I know, baby... We'll get him soon."

Peter couldn't understand why he didn't have a daddy like all the other kids; he was always on his best behavior when a new man would come to the house and he would greet them just like his babysitter taught him too, so why didn't any of them want to stay? Why didn't any of them want to be his daddy? Was there something wrong with Peter?

Another year and many more men later, Peter saw his mother return home from work with a large smile on her face and humming a song to herself. It's been a long time since he's seen her smile like that...

She paid the babysitter, dismissing the teen before scooping Peter up in her arms and spinning him around. "Petey, Mommy's got a date tomorrow."

Peter's eyes widened, a smile making its way onto his face for her. He had given up hope on ever meeting his daddy, but he loved seeing his mommy happy about it.

"That's great!"

"I think you'll like him too, Peter." She had a teasing smile as she set him down on a barstool. "His name is Tony Stark."

Once again, the boy's eyes widened. He gasped up at his mother with awe and disbelief. Peter had heard stories about Mr. Stark through the TV and kids at school, Mr. Stark was a genius.

"No way..."

"Yes way. I met him last week while at work, he asked if he could take me to the movies tomorrow. Isn't this great? I know you've been wanting to meet him since you first heard about him."

Peter was practically vibrating in happiness at the thought of being in the same room as Tony Stark, not even daring to let his young mind hope for the man to be his daddy. But what if he found out about Peter and left like all the other men did? Peter really didn't want to think that his hero was just like all the others his mommy had dated... But he couldn't help but imagine it as a possibility.

He couldn't let that happen. Maybe if he wasn't around as much, or if he just didn't leave his room when the man was there? This time... this time he would make sure his mom would finally be happy.

"Peter, Tony is here! Come say hi!" Mary called to her son as Tony walked into their apartment.

Silence from the bedroom down the hall met their awaiting ears, Mary frowning slightly in concern.

"I'm sorry, Peter must be shy today." Mary apologized as she looked towards Peter's room where the boy was. "He was so excited to meet you yesterday, I wonder what happened."

"It's fine, no need to apologize. The kid might have just fallen asleep or something." Tony smiled at her, his eyes trailing after her as she walked to Peter's door.

"Peter, honey, are you awake still?" She knocked gently on his door before opening it and peeking inside. "Peter?"

His room was empty, Mary's heart lurching in her chest for a moment before a paper was slid from under his closet door towards her. She blinked as she lifted it, reading the messily written note from her son.

'Ill wait here 4 the siter. Go have fun.'

"Peter, you're not even going to tell me goodbye?"

There was scratching from the closet before another note was slid out, Tony by the bedroom door now, watching the exchange.

'I dont want 2 ruin it this time.'

Mary's eyes widened as she read what her son wrote, her heart breaking as she felt Tony walk up next to her and read over her shoulder.

"Peter..."

Tony's eyebrows furrowed as he read the note, taking notice of how well the spelling was for a five-year-old. What would the kid be messing up by coming out to greet him? A pang of guilt hit Tony as he remembered thinking about if only she didn't have a kid when he first met Mary, but that didn't last long as she was able to wrap him around her finger very easily and he took a shot. It seemed he'd be paying for that thought now...

The man walked over to the closet door and knelt by it, rapping his knuckles against it a few quick times. "Hey, kid. Why not come out so that we can get you ready to go? I love being fashionably late, but the theater doesn't share my beliefs."

Peter paused as he heard those words. What was he saying? Did he want Peter to go with them? Slowly, he peeked out of the closet, seeing Tony Stark smiling at him.

"There's the little guy. Come on, champ, let your mom dress you up so we can all go." Tony stood up, ruffling Peter's hair as he started to leave for the living room, leaving Mary and Peter to stare after him.

Tony quickly pulled out his phone, tapping away at it as fast as he could before the mother and son were done. What had he just done? Invite a kid to a movie date? Sure, he rented one of the theater rooms out for the day with all the movies lined up for Mary to pick, but now he'd have to have the technician put in all the kid-friendly ones and take out any R rated stuff.

"Tony," Mary started as she stepped out of the boy's room, "Are you sure about this?"

"What? You don't want him to come?"

"No! Nothing like that, I'm overjoyed that you even thought of it. But this is just something I didn't expect..."

Tony watched as her eyes turned glassy, a shine of wetness starting to cover them. Just add to that guilty feeling earlier. Prove that Tony Stark has emotions. Go right ahead.

"Don't worry about it, Mary. It'll be fun. It'll let me get to know the both of you." He waved his hand dismissively just as Peter came running out of his room with the largest smile any kid ever had.

"Do I really get to go too, Mr. Stark Sir?"

Tony blinked at the kid before trying to stifle a laugh. No child had ever addressed him so politely before. "Is it really so hard to believe I want you to come, kid?"

"None of the other guys liked it when I hung around much, so I normally stayed in my room with the sitter."

Pretending the kid didn't exist... Yeah, Tony really felt horrible.

"I normally like to pride myself in being different from others, so don't expect me to be the same as any guy you saw before." The man winked at the boy, who turned to look at his mother with the brightest eyes Tony had ever seen.

"Mommy, I get to come along too!"

"That's amazing, sweetie." She smiled at her son as she reached her arms out for him and lifted him, "What do you say to Tony?"

"Thank you so much, Mr. Stark!"

Tony couldn't help but smile and ruffle the child's hair. He hoped that he wasn't making a mistake...

Surprisingly, the trio had a great time at the movies and went to dinner afterward; Tony and Peter quickly forming some kind of weird bond that Tony thought was the weirdest thing ever but in a good way. While Tony had many different kinds of bonds with many different kinds of people, his new-formed bond with the Parker family was something he'd never experienced before.

He kinda liked it.