A very, very late birthday present to Xtaticpearl. Pearl, we may not talk much anymore (which we should really fix), but you're absolutely wonderful. Virtual fist-bump your way.

There are many small head cannons of my own that are included in this - for example, Kamala and space, or Peter and his university, and the kids' ages. Took quite a bit of fan fiction liberty here.

It also ended up being a lot longer than I expected…. And somehow college got brought up here and I don't really know why coz I was not planning for it. Welp. That's writing for you.

And yes, another Hamilton reference.

"Tony?" Peter Parker stepped into the workshop, tugging on his backpack straps unconsciously. There was no sign of the engineer, or of anyone in the clean - Mrs. Potts-Stark must have been through - room. Remembering that both Harley and Kamala were on break too, he headed back to the elevator, and waited for it to take him downstairs.

Scanning himself into the underground workshop, Peter couldn't help but relax. Now this was an environment he was used to dealing with - cluttered carts and the robots rolling around and music pulsing and pounding the background. Grinning, he dumped his backpack at a desk and joined his friends at a table in the back. None of the trio huddled around the table had noticed him but Rhodey, working on one of Tony's cars, waved.

Seeing an opportunity, Peter quieted his steps, creeping up on them. Tony, the only one facing him, flicked his eyes up but didn't say anything, looking back down on his work. The smile on his face hadn't flickered when he saw Peter, and the eighteen year old though he got Harley and Kamala this time.

Unfortunately, it was not meant to be.

"Hello, Peter!" Riri's voice echoed, somehow louder than Tony's music, and causing Peter to jump back, cursing as he nearly slipped on a wrench. Some much for spider senses.

"Riri!" Tony greeted, after sending an amused glance at Peter.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded, scowling when Harley and Kamala both laughed at him. The dark-skinned girl bounded over to them, satchel swinging at her side. '

"Our final got canceled. Some mixup with the papers." Kam greeted her with a fist-bump while Riri ruffled Harley's hair, inciting a protest from the younger boy. "Finished your college apps, yet?"

"Almost," Peter shifted on his feet when Tony turned to him.

"Almost?" he repeated. "I thought we went through your list weeks ago?"

Fighting the urge to glare at Riri, Peter only replied, "I added a few more."

"You know you're a shoe-in for MIT, right?" Tony asked. Kam sent him a sympathizing look while Harley starting telling Riri what they had been working on.

"Yeah…" Peter murmured, sending Kam a look for help. She only shrugged, pointedly inclining her head towards Tony. Nope. That wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

Unfortunately, it seemed like Tony had other plans. "Riri, you wanna help these two finish up here? I'm gonna cook something up for Peter."

"Don't burn the compound down," Rhodey drawled from over by the car. The ex-Air Force pilot shared a look with the engineer. Peter wondered if he could hitch a ride back to Queens.

"Come on, Spidey." Kam pushed him when he didn't immediately followed and he sent a dirty look back at the desi girl. She rolled her eyes, and he knew what she thought was the right thing to do. It was the same thing she's been telling him for months.

Well, he managed to avoid her advice for this long. He wasn't going to give up yet.

And so the next half hour was spent with Peter dodging any of Tony's pointed questions, while Tony kept - pointedly, I might add - tried to get Peter to admit what was wrong. Unfortunately, at least for Tony, Peter was a teenager and knew how to distract the industrialist, and soon they were talking about SI's newest line of robots.

Unfortunately, at least for Peter, Tony was a businessman and knew how to steer a conversation.

"Are you planning on joining Kam at Caltech?" The question was a sudden left turn from talking about the merits of humanoid robots and Peter paused a bit too long. "Or a different school then. Which is it? Princeton? Harvard? Please tell me it's not Harvard. Not that you wouldn't get in, but they're all stuck-up socialites who -"

"Not Harvard," Peter interrupted hastily. "Not Princeton or Caltech either. I mean, both of them are on my list, and I know that Kam really likes Caltech and that Princeton's science programs are amazing. And I already turned in my MIT application so really there isn't too much to talk -"

"Peter," Tony said calmly. Instantly, the teen stopped babbling, smiling sheepishly.

"Sorry."

Tony waved away the apology. "No worries. Let's hear the new list."

Peter found himself stuck, unsure of what to say. "Well… umm…"

When he saw Tony roll his eyes, he found himself relaxing, knowing that Tony wasn't making fun of him. "You're not gonna hurt my feelings if you don't want to go to MIT, kiddo. Nothing could be worse than Kam going to Caltech. Caltech!" He winked, and Peter grinned, despite himself. Tony didn't lie to them. It was his biggest rule - and his biggest promise.

"I'm actually thinking U of I," he said, finally letting out his breath. Tony's expression didn't change and he hurried to explain. "I know it's a state school, but it's one of the top in electrical engineering, and Ned and MJ already got accepted there, so I was thinking… well… yeah." He finished lamely.

"It's a good school," Tony agreed, creasing his eyebrows. "A public school?" he asked. Peter couldn't read his tone and nodded hesitantly. "It could use some upgrades…" he trailed off for a minute and Peter shuffled his feet, waiting for the recriminations. "If you're sure, Peter, then let's take a look at the application!" Peter jumped when Tony clapped his hands together.

"You… You're okay with that?"

Tony face dropped and nodded. "Peter, if you wanna go to the cornfields of Illinois, that's your choice. No biggie."

Peter felt his whole body relax, months of stress melting off his shoulders. That conversation wasn't nearly as bad as he'd been thinking it was, and he could just imagine Kamala's smug voice.

Oh. He wasn't imagining it.

"I told you, he'd be fine with it!" Kam hooted, crossing over the kitchen and smacking him on the head. "Idiot."

"Ow! Kam!"

"Now, Kam, I remember another kid who was worried about their college applications…"

"That was different!" the black-haired girl argued, flicking some hair from her eyes. "MIT-Caltech feuds are legendary." She perched herself on the tabletop, snagging a piece of Peter's bagel.

"Just coz Caltech's jealous of us," Riri countered, plucking an apple up and tossing another one to Harley, who followed behind with Rhodey.

She scowled at the older girl. "You got it flipped. Which one of us is home of the JPL?"

"Not all of us want to go to space, glitter," Harley pointed out. Peter saw him glance at Tony, but the man didn't bat an eye, but he did give Harley a small smile.

"I don't wear that much glitter!"

"You kinda do, sweetheart," Tony added, shrugging at the girl's betrayed look.

"Peter, help. They're all ganging up on me!"

Rolling his eyes, he snatched his plate away before she could take any more bagels. "These are mine. Besides, you took on the role of the middle sibling. You basically asked for this."

"You're older than Harley. You're a middle sibling too."

"By a few months," Harley countered. "Doesn't count. You're middle. It's our job to gang up on you."

"Rhodey!"

"They're right," he nodded sagely. "It's sibling lore."

"You only have a younger sister!"

"And we did it to Tony all the time," he replied. "Remember sophomore year spring break?" he asked Tony. The engineer mock-shuddered.

"You two were terrible to me," he said.

"What happened?" Riri asked, munching another apple. Harley grabbed some juice and sat down next to her, and both of them resolutely ignored Kam and Peter as they argued over the last bagel.

"It's a long story," Tony hedged.

"Rhodey!" Riri whined.

The pilot grinned, shooting a smug look at Tony as the engineer shook his head rapidly. "Let's go to the living room. It is quite a long story." Groaning, Tony snatched Peter's bagel up and ate it himself, pretending not to notice their aggrieved look.

"Go on," he shooed them away. "Go enjoy Rhodey's story."

"Aren't you coming?" Kamala asked, raising an eyebrow in an uncanny imitation of Pepper's unimpressed look. Sighing, Tony nodded, knowing he wasn't going to get away. Grinning, Kamala flounced after Rhodey, Riri, and Harley, but Peter stayed behind.

"Something wrong kid - oh."

Peter had quickly launched his arms around Tony, squeezing him before stepping back and hurrying out of the room, with a quick, "Thanks Dad."

Tony stood there a minute, bagel half eaten in his hand, before shaking himself. Smiling widely, he followed his family.

Tumblr: Fr0st6yte

AO3 : Fr0st6yte