TONY
"Peter, it's almost time to leave!" Tony shouted through his apartment. He heard the water from the bathroom faucet turn off, and a white face with an unruly mop of brown hair popped out of the room.
Peter Parker had a big grin on his face and a red toothbrush hanging from him mouth; suds from his toothpaste ran down his chin and some had made their way onto his shirt, sure to crust up and dry there.
"Goddid ad almo din!" he slurred as he continued to brush, ducking his head back into the bathroom and shutting the door. Tony smiled, shook his head, and went back to adjusting his tie while Peter finished up. Though he no longer took Peter to school, he still tried to make sure that Peter got to school on time, or at the very least left in time.
That was never very often.
Tony finished up making his tie look presentable, and turned to look in a mirror hanging on the wall beside him.
Damn I look nice.
He was right; he did look nice. Though he was now fifty two, he was still the same Tony Stark that he was seventeen years ago, give or take a few grey hairs and facial lines. He was still well built, strong looking, and as always was very much attracted to his own reflection.
Though the years had not changed Tony's appearance, they had changed Tony as a man. He was more responsible, drank less, and tried his best to not offend every person that he came in contact with, though he hadn't given up his naturally sarcastic demeanor, and that was one thing about Tony that had really rubbed off on Peter.
Tony always denied it when Pepper pointed it out.
Peter had become, obviously, a huge part of Tony's life after Richard and Mary mysteriously disappeared seventeen years ago. It had taken Tony a while to get used to having a child around. There had been many nights where Steve and Pepper had to nurse an incredibly drunk Tony while also trying to find Peter, who on most nights when Tony binged would crawl around the apartment getting into gadgets and pushing buttons on things he shouldn't. It took Peter getting hurt one night after messing with the Iron Man suits for Tony to realize that if he didn't stop what he was doing (which in all honesty was feeling sorry for himself and thinking of only himself) that his entire purpose, which was to protect Peter, would be a moot point because before long there would be a night where Steve or Pepper weren't around and Peter would get hurt or worse.
From then, Tony worked on his drinking. It wasn't by any means easy; there was a point where he was so unbearable that Steve took Pepper and Peter away, telling Tony that if he didn't care about them enough to quick cold turkey, then he didn't deserve to have them in his life.
It took about two months from there before Pepper and Peter returned to Tony.
At the time, Tony truly resented Steve for being there and just in general existing. He was Tony Stark, after all. He didn't need some prissy soldier icicle telling him what he did and didn't need to be doing, and he sure as hell didn't need him telling him he wasn't worthy of having Peter and Pepper in his life. After all, Tony had let Steve live with him in his home, taught him and helped him adjust to the new time, all of that. It hurt and pissed Tony off that Steve would then go as far as to take away the most important thing to him, and they didn't talk (or rather, Tony ignored and refused to even work with Steve on S.H.E.I.L.D. projects, which was out of character even for Tony Stark, who never threw hissy fits of that caliber) for about a month before Tony came around and realized that had Steve not intervened, Pepper would have left on her own eventually, and she wouldn't have come back. For this, Tony always felt indebted to Steve, and made sure that Steve felt like he was as much a part of Peter's life as he and Pepper were; Tony felt Steve deserved that much.
Now, Tony had a family, one that he had always wanted to have but never thought he'd be able to. Granted, it wasn't particularly conventional: he wasn't married to the woman he loved, and his adopted son basically had three parents, two of which were world famous super heroes. Tony liked it all the same.
He smiled as he thought about this, looked down at his watch, and cleared his throat.
"Come on Peter you're going to be late and weekly calls from your teachers get old after the twentieth time in a month," he called. He then jumped, surprised, as Peter magically appeared beside him.
"What do you mean; I've been ready for the last five minutes. You're the one taking forever," Peter quipped. He then grinned. "But my teachers like talking to you. They tell me it's like talking to a celebrity."
Tony rolled his eyes. "Like? Like talking to a celebrity? Is being a superhero not worthy of celebrity status these days? Oh the state of society," Tony pretended to wail.
"Ha, well, better you than me. I'm only your son and people don't leave me alone," Peter sighed.
Tony clapped his back. "Come on now, you say that like it's a bad thing," he said lightly. But Tony knew what it was like living in the shadow of your father, and he hoped that Peter wouldn't feel too weighed down because he happened to be his son.
Peter grinned weakly, and then shook it off. "Nah, I'm good. Like I said, better you than me, old man," he laughed. Tony laughed with him.
"Come on, let's going. You're going to be late."
Peter already had his skateboard in his hands (he liked going to school that was as opposed to making a fuss by going in one of his many cars that Tony bought him) and headed toward the door.
One day, kid, you're gonna realize you're a better man than I am, and all these years of feeling like you're not won't matter… Tony thought as he followed his out of the door.