Written for: mayasha-chan. November 17th, 2018 Tony & Peter father-son bonding fic.

Tony knew something was bugging Peter. A big something. Something that would get his head knocked off if he fought a real battle the way he was training.

At first, he wasn't going to ask. Heart-to-hearts weren't really his strong suit. He dealt with his problems by telling bad jokes, building more suits, or drinking. Granted, that last one wasn't the healthiest coping mechanism and one could make the case that holing up in his lab for two months perfecting nanotech was also questionable.

(Which they'd be wrong about because his nanotech was awesome, but that was beside the point.)

It got really bad after lunch. Tony brought out an upgraded drone made with a web dissolving alloy. This should've been a perfect opportunity for Peter to hone his hand-to-hand skills. Instead, he was backed into a corner, shooting webs futilely like he wasn't literally the third strongest member of the team.

"Okay, cut! Pack it in, guys. We're taking ten."

At Tony's command, FRIDAY sounded the alarm and the drone went offline. Peter kept his head tucked under his arm, shivering. Tony thought the kid might be crying until he lifted his head and his eyes were thankfully dry.

"So," Tony said, assuming a more casual 'we're just two buds having a chat over beer except not because you're underage' stance. It would've been easier without the armor. "You wanna tell me what's up?"

Peter coughed. "Nothing's up. Just having an off day."

"Yeah, off days aren't really a thing when you're out hero-ing." Tony helped him to his feet. "Not unless you want to get your ass kicked six ways to Sunday. So let's try that again. What's eating you?"

"Nothing," he said, which was totally more convincing the second time around. "I just…"

"Just what?" Tony led him out of the ring into the washroom. They were on their own today as the rest of the team was off doing their own thing. Gave them plenty of time to hopefully not have an emotional heart-to-heart he wasn't prepared for.

"Today is…" Peter drew a shaky breath. "My uncle, he… died today. It's the anniversary, and I guess I just… I don't know."

"You miss him?"

"Well, yeah. All the time," said Peter. "I mean, not all the time all the time, but-"

"No, no, I get it." Tony patted his shoulder. "What was he, your inspiration? The one who put you on the path to stardom?"

"I'm not a star."

"It's 2018, kid. YouTube counts." Tony gave him another clap on the arm, which in hindsight, probably would've been better if he took the suit off first. "So uh… how long's it been? A year?"

"Two." Peter sighed. "It happened around when the spider thing happened."

"He knew about that?"

"Are you kidding? No way. He would've freaked worse than May, and she really freaked when she found out."

"Yes, I do recall." One day he got a random call to Peter's house and May Parker punched him the second he walked in the door. Then Peter was grounded for two months and Tony never found out exactly how that whole situation ended, but Peter was back on patrol once he'd served out his punishment and May regularly called in to ask about her nephew's progress.

Come to think about it, she'd been pretty somber that day when Tony picked Peter up. Here he thought she was just mad that Pete got an A- on his last history test. God, he really sucked sometimes.

"Ben was kind of… you know that thing dads do when they sit you down and give you that whole speech like 'you're becoming a man now and men have responsibilities.'"

"Sure do," Tony said, even though Howard Stark's version of that speech was giving him a room full of scrap metal, letting him go crazy, and then sending him to boarding school.

"He used to talk about that a lot. He always thought I'd be a doctor or a scientist and I'd help a lot of people. He really believed in me, and sometimes, I wonder if I can live up to all that."

"You're doing a good job so far," Tony said. "You're what now, fifteen?"

"Sixteen."

"You know what I was doing at sixteen?"

"Building robots at MIT?"

Tony paused. "Well yeah, but… I mean, look at you! You've helped save the world a bunch of times and you can't even drive yet. I was out getting drunk when I was your age. Your uncle probably was, too."

"He didn't drink."

"He didn't save the world either." Tony smiled at Peter the way he always wished Howard would smile at him. "I'm not much of a believer in white puffy cloud heaven, but if it's real, I bet he's looking down on you right now and he's really proud. I'm really proud of you, too."

Peter's face brightened, sending a wave of relief though Tony. For a minute there, he really thought they were on the verge of waterworks. "Thanks, Mr. Stark. That means a lot."

"I know." Tony stretched as his armor receded, leaving him in his plainclothes. "Okay, I think that was suitably heartwarming. How about we skip training and go get a burger?"

"I can keep going." Peter fumbled with his mask until Tony snatched it out of his hands.

"Hey there Mr. Super Reflexes, why didn't you stop me?" Tony waved the mask in Peter's face. "You need a break. We can pick up where we left off tomorrow. For now, burgers."

He walked Peter out of the training room, the two of them debating which burger joint they should hit up. It was nice just talking to someone without the fate of the universe hanging in the balance. Tony might have to amend his opinion on cheesy heart-to-hearts.