Peter couldn't shake off the fatigue dragging him down. The shower had helped a little but he still felt off. Slower. Not quite normal. He eyed his bed longingly. Part of him was glad the Avengers wanted to join them for dinner but the other part wished they weren't coming so he could blow off dinner and go back to bed. He turned away and walked out before he could be tempted to crawl back under the covers.
Steve and Bruce were busy cooking in the kitchen. Peter looked around and noticed Tony was out on the balcony on the phone.
"Hey guys." Peter greeted Steve and Bruce. "What are you making? It smells great."
"Curry chicken." Bruce answered. "I did a short stint in India awhile back. Picked up some traditional recipes."
"Cool. How can I help?" Bruce and Steve both smiled at his offer and seemed somewhat surprised. He supposed Tony hadn't offered to help but he'd had manners ingrained into him from a young age.
"We've got this Peter. Why don't you go watch some TV?"
"Ok if you're sure." Peter hesitated.
Steve nodded so Peter walked over to the couch and laid down. He meant to close his eyes for just a second but before he knew it he was out like a light.
It felt like no time at all had passed before someone was shaking him awake again. Why couldn't they just leave him alone to sleep?
Peter opened his eyes and was met with Tony's concerned face.
"You ok kid?"
"Yeah." Peter croaked and tried to force himself awake. He didn't want to make Tony worry even though he was starting to worry himself. Why was he so tired?
"Let him sleep Tony. He's probably just tired from last night." Steve's voice carried across the room.
Tony frowned from where he leaned over him, ignoring Steve. "You sure?"
"Uh huh." Peter stood quickly to prove it.
"Ok. Come sit with me at the big kid table then." Tony joked as he started walking back to the breakfast bar.
Peter followed him but after a couple steps he paused. The world seemed to spin around him and sounds warped. He took another couple steps, trying to will the odd feeling away but that only seemed to make it worse. He looked up toward Tony but the edges of his vision started fading away. God he was really dizzy. What was happening?
"Tony." Peter tried to call out but it came out more like an entreaty.
Tony turned around but Peter couldn't make out his face as the blackness stretched across his vision. Oh shit.
"I—" He tried to explain that he felt off, weird, dizzy, but before he could, the darkness encompassed him. Distantly, he felt himself falling forward as his legs gave way. A detached part of him was embarrassed he was about to biff it in front of everyone but even that started to float away along with gravity. Everything went black.
Sounds returned first. Voices.
"Bruce! Bruce get over here!"
"What happened?!'
"Steve run down to the lab and grab my bag. Hurry."
Then touch. He was lying down. Nothing hurt. Maybe he hadn't face planted after all, or maybe he just couldn't feel it yet. Someone cradled him in their arms.
"Peter? Peter can you hear me? Peter! Open your eyes!"
The voice was bossy and he was so tired. He ignored it.
"Peter!" A new voice. Then pain flared across his chest and he groaned. His eyes opened without his consent and he found Bruce kneeling over him. The man pulled his fist back from where he'd been rubbing it across his sternum.
"Peter? Are you with us?" Bruce asked once he noticed he was awake.
"Mmm." He hummed. Talking seemed like too much work right now. His eyes slipped closed again.
"No. Stay awake." Bruce shook him and he opened his eyes again. "Tell us what's going on."
"I don't know. Just got dizzy." He mumbled and even that was hard to get out.
"You're dizzy?" Bruce clarified and then glanced above Peter.
"Yeah." Peter frowned then followed his gaze to Tony's panicked face. He realized then that he was half sprawled out in Tony's lap on the floor. He must've caught him when he'd fallen.
Now that he was flat on his back he started to feel a little better, his vision started to clear and all his senses returned in full force. He blinked a few more times. He was still exhausted but he didn't feel quite as bad as before.
"I think…I think I'm ok." Peter decided and tried to sit back up but Tony kept a tight grip on him.
"Just sit tight for a second kiddo. Let Bruce do his thing." Tony spoke and then placed a hand on his forehead. "He doesn't feel warm."
"I'm not sick." Peter denied. He didn't know quite what this was but it wasn't that. He watched as Bruce took his pulse and felt his forehead himself.
"He's been more tired than usual today." Tony said to Bruce and Peter frowned. He didn't realize Tony had noticed that.
"Peter did you get hurt when you were out as Spiderman last night?" Bruce asked.
"No." Peter denied instantly. He hadn't.
"Are you sure?" Bruce's voice was serious. "Nothing hurts?'
"Yeah. I'm fine." Peter huffed out a reply.
Bruce ran his hands over his head then down his arms and legs before pushing over his chest and abdomen, clearly finding nothing.
"Here Bruce." Steve reappeared, handing Bruce a large black bag before kneeling down on the floor on the other side of Peter, a worried look on his face.
This was getting ridiculous. He felt better now. Peter tried to sit up again. Instead of letting him go though Tony readjusted his hold and pulled Peter back against him so he was now half reclined against his chest instead of his lap.
"Oh my god I'm fine." Peter groaned as Bruce started taking his blood pressure.
After a few moments of sitting, though, his head felt heavy and he got tired of holding it up so he let it fall back to rest against Tony's chest. He was still so tired.
He waited patiently as Bruce listened to his heart and lungs, not finding anything. Then he pulled out some other contraption and pricked his finger with it. Ow. What the hell?
Bruce waited for the machine to beep then frowned.
"Peter when was the last time you ate something?" Bruce asked him as he put the machine down.
"Um I don't know. I had a sandwich yesterday but that was it." He answered. "Why?"
"Your blood sugar's in the toilet. No wonder why you're dizzy." Bruce explained as he got up and walked over to the fridge and returned with two bottles of coke. He knelt back down next to Peter and uncapped a bottle.
"Drink that." Bruce said as he handed the coke to him.
Peter took a few sips.
"All of it." Bruce instructed.
Peter sighed then threw the bottle back and chugged it. When he was done Bruce handed him the second bottle.
"Finish this one too."
The second one took a little longer. His stomach already felt full from all the carbonation after drinking the first one, but he eventually managed to finish the second bottle after taking a couple breaks. When he handed the empty bottle back to Bruce, the scientist nodded at Tony.
"Let's get him on the couch. We'll give that some time to absorb and see if it does the trick." Bruce instructed.
"Need help?" Steve offered.
"No I got him." Tony said from behind him and suddenly he was being lifted in the air and carried the short distance to the couch where Tony deposited him down gently before sitting on the edge to keep an eye on him. Completely unnecessary. He totally could've walked.
"Feeling any better yet?" Bruce asked from right behind Tony.
"I don't know." Peter frowned.
"Just rest for a bit." Bruce instructed.
Tony ran a hand through his hair and Peter closed his eyes. He let himself just enjoy the feeling of being taken care of for the first time in a long time. Aunt May used to do something similar when he was sick but it'd been years since that had happened. Mainly he'd just tried to hide everything from her ever since the spider bite.
Time blurred as Peter dozed, half awake, until he felt his finger being pricked again. He opened his eyes to find Tony in the same position as before and Bruce standing next to him staring at his little machine.
"Better." Bruce said after a moment then smiled down at him. "How do you feel?"
Peter frowned and tried to assess himself. The world seemed back in focus again and he wasn't so bone tired. He felt pretty normal actually.
"Good." He replied with a big grin and abruptly sat up. "Not dizzy at all."
"Are you sure he shouldn't just take it easy for the rest of the night?" Tony worriedly asked Bruce from where he still sat on the couch close to Peter. "We can do this dinner thing tomorrow instead."
"No he's perfectly fine now and more food is the best thing for him. Peter, you can't let yourself go so long without eating next time. One sandwich in 48 hours is obviously not enough for your metabolism. Got it?"
"Yeah. Thanks Bruce." Peter nodded then stood and Tony followed, hovering closely.
"You sure you feel ok?" Tony asked.
"Yeah." Peter smiled at him.
"Because you said you were fine before and then you tried to swan dive into the floor." Peter could tell Tony was still anxious.
"I promise I feel fine." Peter rolled his eyes.
"I reserve the right to be skeptical for the rest of the night." Tony said.
Turns out that meant keeping Peter within arms reach, but Peter didn't really mind. He was just glad he felt normal again. Plus, dinner was amazing and he had a great time with the Avengers even if they did give him a lot of crap for the stunt he'd pulled the night before. He knew enough now to know it was just how they showed they cared. For his first day of being grounded, it'd been pretty awesome. Minus the whole passing out from not eating enough thing. But whatever. No one was perfect.
Tony fidgeted and paced in the Avengers kitchen as he waited for the coffee maker to finish. Why did he have to wait for coffee to brew? He was Tony Stark. Note to self, figure out design for new instant coffee maker. Not for mass production. Just for himself.
For how little sleep he got last night and his lack of caffeine consumption so far, he was wired. He was awaiting Evan's phone call about the adoption paperwork. God he was adopting a kid. He was really doing this. He knew he'd be on edge this morning from that fact alone but then he'd watched Peter pass out yesterday and that had just made all his anxiety worse. The sight of Peter falling forward limp toward the floor replayed itself over and over in his mind. Even though it'd been nothing. The kid had been fine, just short on food apparently. And how could that not be his fault? How did he have any right to ask Peter to be his son? When he couldn't even feed him reliably?
"Wow you're twitchy even for you." Clint's observed as he walked into the kitchen, breaking Tony's train of thought.
Tony glanced at him but then turned his attention back to the coffee pot. It was almost done. He drummed his fingers on the counter impatiently.
"What's going on?" Clint asked slowly, modulating his tone to make it more of a joke instead of the serious inquiry it actually was.
"Nothing." Not the most convincing lie.
"Really? Because it kind of looks like you're about to self combust." Clint said shrewdly. "Is it something to do with short stack? Is he ok?"
"He's fine. Maybe. I'm adopting him. So that's probably going to fuck him up." And he hadn't meant to say any of that. Apparently the word vomit thing that commonly plagued the kid was catching. At least the coffee was done now. He grabbed the pot and tried to pour it into his mug but his hand was shaking and he just ended up spilling it onto the counter. "Dammit."
"Oh. Wow." Clint said and pulled the pot from his hands before he could hurt himself. He finished pouring Tony's coffee for him before pouring a cup for himself and then wiping up the counter. Clint took his coffee and settled into a seat at the breakfast bar, motioning for Tony to do the same.
"So clearly you're freaking out." Clint didn't sugarcoat it.
"You think?" Tony couldn't help it. It was second nature to lash out whenever he found himself vulnerable.
"It's good you're freaking out. It'd be a bad thing if you weren't." Clint tried to awkwardly reassure him.
"Really? This is you trying to make me feel better?"
"You'll be fine." Clint smirked.
"Doesn't feel like it." Tony admitted and took a long drink of coffee.
"No that absolute terror you're feeling right now? Yeah. It never goes away. Better get used to it. Comes with the territory. You're going to need to buck up man." Clint said with uncharacteristic seriousness as he patted him on the back.
"You suck at this." Tony deadpanned.
"I know. Listen. You're afraid of screwing up. Believe me we all are. But we all screw up. And I hate to break it to you but you're going to screw up too. A lot. But you'll survive. He'll survive. You'll figure it out. It'll be great. Kumbaya and all that shit." Clint said then sipped his coffee.
Tony choked out a little laugh.
"Does the kid know?" Clint asked after a few seconds of silence. "That you're adopting him?"
"No. Not yet. No one knows. It was kind of a spur of the moment decision."
"That's so unlike you." Clint joked.
Tony just glared at him.
Clint laughed but then offered, "I won't tell the rest of the team if you don't want me to."
"No it's fine. They can know. As long as no one tells my kid before I get a chance to talk to him."
"Your kid." Clint stated, amusement clear. "See? You're already his Dad."
Tony opened his mouth to deflect with his typical sarcasm but he ran a hand through his hair nervously before admitting instead, "I know."
Clint beamed at him. "Oh man that kid's already got you wrapped around his little finger huh?"
"Shut up." Tony cuffed him on the back of the head as he got up and left, Clint's laughter following him out.
Over the next few days he had similar conversations with all the various other Avengers. Apparently birdbrain had a big mouth for a spy. Although Tony had given him permission to tell people he didn't think it'd spread like wildfire like it had. The Avengers really were a big bunch of gossips. They were all supportive, though, which Tony found kind of surprising. He knew they all really cared about Peter now and he was Tony Stark. Not exactly the model for responsibility let alone fatherliness, but no one objected to his plan to adopt him. But some of them did have questions. Like Steve right now.
"So you know we all think this is great and all but have you thought about school? How's Peter going to get to school from here? Are you going to homeschool him? Because I really don't see that working out." Steve asked from his seat next to Tony on the couch. Peter had gone to sleep an hour ago but Tony hadn't been tired so he'd come down to the common room to hang out with team. They were in the middle of Love Actually. Vision's choice.
"Well gee I hadn't thought about that at all." Tony's tone dripped with sarcasm.
"Steve's just trying to help." Natasha chastised from Tony's other side as she whopped him lightly on the head.
"Ow." Tony fake glared at her and rubbed his head.
"Oh please that didn't hurt." Natasha rolled her eyes.
"So Tony, school?" Bruce asked.
"Of course he's going to school. He's going back to his school. He's had enough change in his life as it is recently. I'm not going to take him out of his school and away from his friends."
Amused grins from the Avengers met his heartfelt announcement.
"And just how do you plan to do that? It's not really a realistic commute from here unless you're going to fly him back and forth as Ironman everyday." Steve said. "Please tell me that's not your plan."
"That's not my plan." Tony responded but didn't elaborate.
"You're not going to have Happy drive him back and forth everyday are you? That's too much time in a car for a kid. And definitely too much kid time for Happy." Rhodey joked.
"No. Not doing that either." Tony said.
"Ok so... What's your plan?" Bruce asked.
"You're going to make me say it?" Tony asked, glancing around the group. "Come on guys there's obviously only one feasible option."
No one ventured a guess and most of the team had puzzled expressions on their faces.
Tony rolled his eyes. "And they say we're strategic geniuses… I'm moving back to the city."
Jaws dropped all around.
"What?"
"No way."
"You're kidding."
"When were you going to tell us this?" Steve asked.
"I just did." Tony smirked. "Surprise!"
It was Tony who ended up surprised when he noticed the sad and shocked looks the team gave him.
"Come on you said it yourself. Peter has to go to school. There aren't really any options around here, and like I said after everything that's happened I don't think it's healthy to pull him out of the school he already knows and likes. Where he already has friends. Plus it's a really good school." Tony explained. "And it's not like I have to live here. It's easy enough to come back and forth as Ironman when I need to."
"Do you have a place picked out yet?" Steve asked and he had a particular glint in his eye that he got when he had an idea.
"I'm looking into different real estate options. Nothing's set yet."
Steve glanced around the room, taking in everyone's expressions, before he spoke. "I don't like the idea of splitting up the team."
"Don't be so dramatic." Tony rolled his eyes. "The team's not splitting up. Peter and I are just going to be living somewhere else."
"But we're going to miss the kid!" Clint protested.
"I'll bring him by on weekends." Tony smirked.
"Who's going to be my lab assistant?" Bruce asked.
"Who's going to help me beat Clint at Mario Kart?" Sam asked.
"Yeah the kid was starting to grow on me. I don't want him to leave." Scott chimed in too.
"Ok wow. Well clearly I was wrong about you guys missing me. You only care about my kid. I see how it is." Tony feigned hurt.
"Well obviously we'd miss you too." Rhodey said.
"Uh huh sure."
"Tony. Are you sure you've really thought this through? Who's going to watch Peter when you're busy?" Natasha asked.
"He'll be at school."
"Ok yes. For part of the day. But what happens if you have to go away on business last minute or as Ironman? Who's going to watch Peter then?"
"I have… Happy. I can add babysitter to his resume." Tony waved his hand as if that answered everything.
"Yeah the two of them get along so well. What happened the last time Happy was in charge of Peter?" Natasha prodded.
Tony's eyes flashed. He didn't like to be reminded of that mistake. Peter had almost died. Most of the team didn't even know about that. He shouldn't be surprised Natasha did, master spy and procurer of information that she was.
"Exactly." Natasha read his eyes. "You're really going to tell me you'd trust Happy with Peter again?"
"I trust Happy with my life." Tony defended his friend.
"I know. But do you trust him with Peter's?" Natasha entreated, boring into his eyes.
"No." Tony admitted and looked away. He felt like a horrible friend, but it was true. He didn't trust Happy with Peter.
Natasha nodded and shared a significant glance with Steve. Steve gave her a small nod.
"I think we should come with you." Natasha offered.
"What?" Tony was taken aback. That definitely wasn't what he'd expected to hear.
"I agree. " Steve said instantly. "We should all stay together. What does everyone think?"
"Move back to the city? Is that even a question? Hell yeah! It's boring as hell out here." Sam chimed in.
"I'm in." Clint agreed.
Soon enough everyone had confirmed they wanted to move back to the city.
"Wait a minute. Where are we all supposed to live? We're not exactly a small group and we're going to need labs, training facilities, etc." Bruce was always the voice of reason.
"So Tony any chance we could get the Tower back?" Steve turned to him and asked.
"The Tower? You mean the one I just sold? You're telling me you want me to buy it back?" Tony asked.
"Yes?" Steve raised an eyebrow then egged him on. "You're Tony Stark aren't you?"
Tony stared at Steve for a few seconds before he sighed. "Ok fine. I'm going to look like an idiot but I'll have my PR people play it off as my delightful eccentricity."
"Yeah we're moving back to New York!" Clint cheered.
"We're already in New York, idiot." Natasha rolled her eyes.
"New York City." Clint clarified. "Oh shut up you knew what I meant."
"Just to be clear." Tony held a hand up. "Are we moving the entire headquarters back or just the team?"
"I think…" Steve frowned and thought for awhile, obviously weighting the pros and cons of both options. It took long enough that Sam started humming the jeopardy theme song and Steve threw a pillow at him.
"Just the team." Steve decided.
"Good. My thoughts exactly." Tony nodded and flipped his phone out to send a quick e-mail to his poor real estate agent about his new intentions. The man was probably going to kill him.
"This is going to be awesome!" Scott opined. No one disagreed.