Chapter 23:

The Start Of a Perfect Ending

Peter woke up in his bed, his face hot and his nose stuffy. His bear had been pushed into his arms at some point and now it was dropped onto the floor half under the queen sized bed. His blankets were strewn about and his thumb was half in his mouth. There was a knock at the door and he ripped his thumb out with such ferocity, one would think it would have hurt.

"Knock, knock kid. I've got peanut butter and jelly."

Peter stood up to open the door and sure enough, Tony had a sandwich on a plate and a cup of milk in the other hand. He raised an eyebrow when Peter didn't move from the doorway.

"You gonna let me in?"

"Oh! Right, right, sorry, yeah."

Peter moved aside and the man walked in.

"Here Underoos, this is for you." he said, shoving the items into the boy's arms.

Tony scratched his head uncertainly then sat down at the edge of the bed.

"So, kid," he began.

Peter put the lunch down on the nightstand and sitting next to him.

"How are you feeling? On a scale of one to ten, one being the least shitty to ten being the absolute most shitty."

"Uh… a four?"

"Really?" asked the billionaire with raised eyebrows. "Huh."

He leaned down and picked up the fallen teddy bear, brushing off the imaginary dust, and took a good look at it. There was an eye missing and the bear had been patchworked messily by yours truly, Tony Stark. The room was dark and a lone lamp lit up the space they sat in.

"Does it have a name? Or he? Or is it a she?" he asked suddenly.

"Huh?"

"A name. Does it have one?"

"Oh." blinked Peter. "No."

"Oh." replied Tony.

"You know, I used to have a bear, too. Course, that was eons ago. His name was Scraggles because of how old it was. Should have seen him,"

He smiled in thought.

"Thing was missing an eye, just like this one, and tufts of fluff were just coming out the top of it. Shoved in a box somewhere now, I think. Maybe in a closet? Anyways, my mom gave him to me years ago. But my dad?"

He frowned.

"He didn't approve, because of course he didn't. That's who he was."

Peter listened with rapt attention. Mr. Stark didn't ever talk about his parents.

"'Toys are for babies, Anthony. You're four fucking years old now. Give me the damn thing and go get your book on mathematics. I want you to know it forwards and backwards' he told me. And of course, I refused, because who was I to give up my most prized possession for my father? Well that day was the first time of many, that he took off his belt and- and he you know… then he took my bear and my mother? She did nothing about it. Discipline he called it. And the belt became fists. Because that's who Howard Stark was."

Peter was wide eyed.

"Listen, the point is not to one up you or anything or- or to compare shitty childhoods. It's to let you know that I'm here for you. To listen to you. To- I don't know, bring you peanut butter and jellies. To watch Star Wars with you. To be there when you need me. If that's okay with you."

"Yeah, yeah, that's okay, Mr. Stark."

"Mr. Stark was my father, call me Tony."

"Okay... Tony..." he said unsurely.

"Eat your sandwich, bug." he said standing to leave.

"Okay, dad." Peter said teasingly and bit into the sandwich.

Tony smiled, he had missed teasing Peter. A teasing Peter meant recovery.

"You know what? I think I like that name better."

The boy flushed and Tony laughed as he closed the door behind him.

May's trial went smoothly with a short testimony from Peter who had looked at Tony the entire time. He didn't meet May's eyes once and kept his own locked onto Tony's reassuring ones. May was convicted to felonious child abuse charges and sentenced to up to ten years in jail. Which Tony convinced the jury with evidence of The Bat Incident was far too short a time and she should actually go to jail for attempted murder which upped the sentence to life.

May was taken away in handcuffs and fitted with a jumpsuit.

Yes, it would be hard, and yes, it would have it's ups and downs, but slowly Peter came back to himself, the bear went back on the shelf, the thumb-sucking stopped and a night light was the only remainder of the incident. Of course there were nightmares, but there was always Tony who welcomed him with open arms into his bed scrunched up next to him and Pepper. The eating was an issue at first but eventually that died out too.

Sure, he would relapse and occasionally flinch when someone spoke too loudly, he couldn't watch the news, sometimes he hoarded food so no one could take it, he caught himself sucking his thumb or longing for his bear, but all in all, he was recovering. One day at a time. And soon, Spider- Man was back to swinging through New York and fighting crime. And finally, he felt safe because Spider-Man had a hero too, not Iron Man, but Tony Stark.