Tony fetched a cup of coffee from the machine, getting ready to pull another all-nighter. It was a bad habit - he knew that - but one that he was having trouble kicking. If Pepper were here, she would give him a lecture about how staying up all night was bad for his health and drag him off to bed, but she was on a work trip so he was free to do whatever unhealthy things he wanted.
While he was waiting for the machine to relinquish its delicious contents, he took a quick glance out the window. It was starting to go dark. How long had he and Peter been working for? It only felt like a little while but had probably been a lot longer.
Working with Peter was a fun experience, all things considered. He was always coming up with new ideas and different ways of looking at things, making him an asset to Stark Industries.
And strangely enough, Tony didn't mind his presence.
He had never been good with children – most of his interactions with them ended with somebody bursting into tears and a disappointed frown from Pepper – but Peter was easy to get along with. He was the exception to the rule.
The machine dispensed the coffee and Tony picked up the mug. Faded paint spelled out the letters 'Fe' followed by the word 'man', a statement halfway between a pun and an inside joke. He was a little annoyed that the paint was already wearing away; the mug wasn't even that old.
Peter had given it to Tony for his birthday a few months prior. He had looked so proud as he handed it over, that Tony had to use it. As much as he hated to admit it, he found the joke amusing.
Tony went back into the lab, and found Peter asleep at one of the workbenches. He looked so peaceful that Tony almost didn't want to wake him. Regardless, he gave Peter a small shake, causing him to stir.
'Five more minutes," grumbled Peter, making Tony smirk. He was such a kid.
"Come on Peter," said Tony. "You've got to get home or May will have my neck. Have you got your things?" Peter gave a little nod, as he fetched his backpack from underneath the table.
"I'll walk you to the lift."
It was quiet in the hallways, which Tony expected. Most of his employees had gone home hours ago. And here he was, walking through the deserted corridors with a random fifteen-year-old, who really should have been home hours ago as well. He had no idea why May let Peter stay so late.
"Do you want a ride home?" he offered. "Happy can drive you. It's what I pay him to do after all."
"Nah, I'll just walk. It's not that late."
Tony's mouth twitched halfway into a frown. "Okay," he relented. "But make sure you look both ways before you cross the road, stay on well-lit streets and hurry straight home. New York isn't the safest place to be at night. Are you sure you don't want a ride?"
"I can handle it Uncle Ben," scoffed Peter. "I'm not a little kid anymore." He pressed the button to call the lift. His movements screeched to a halt as he realized what had come tumbling out of his mouth.
He stared at Tony with wide eyes, scarcely moving a millimeter. Tony was similarly frozen in place, as he waited for his brain to catch up with him. Before he had quite figured out what had happened, Peter bolted down the corridor. Tony could do nothing but run after him.
Peter blinked back tears, as he slammed open the door to the lab. He grabbed a beaker from the cupboard and threw in some chemicals – not really caring what reactions might take place. He just needed to do something with his hands, something familiar. Something reassuring. He had no idea what he could do or what to say to fix this colossal fuck up. All he could fall back on was what he knew, which was science.
Science never lied.
Science was absolute.
Science made sense.
And it wouldn't leave him like everyone else had.
Tony grabbed ahold of Peter's arm. "It's okay that you're upset but you need to—"
Peter tightened his grip on the beaker and pulled his arm from Tony's grasp. "I'm not upset. I'm fine," he gritted.
"Come on kid. You're doing biochemistry. You always do biochemistry when you're upset."
"I'M NOT UPSET!" roared Peter, slamming the beaker down on the workbench.
"You're going to break that," said Tony. "Why don't you put it down so we can talk this out?"
Peter shook his head.
Tony sighed. "At least put on some goggles if you're going to stress science."
"I don't stress science," snapped Peter, continuing through the motions of his experiment.
"Don't lie to me," said Tony. "You always do this when you're upset and I get it – I do the same thing. When Steve and I had our big fight, I stress solved physics equations for a week straight. Pepper tells me that I was found by a cleaner, unconscious and half draped across the lab table. I had been subsisting solely on coffee – not eating or sleeping either – whilst working on an unsolvable physics problem. I had to be hospitalized for three weeks to recover."
Peter paused. "But did you solve it?" he asked.
"That's not the point. I was hurting myself. I think, deep down, I believed I deserved the pain. I blamed myself for everything that had happened, even when it was out of my control. It was a way to punish myself."
Tony couldn't believe he was unloading his trauma onto a fifteen-year-old. Way to go douchebag.
"I'm sorry kid," he said. "I know it feels like no one understands but… you're not alone."
Peter gave him a long glance, setting down the beaker. "It was my fault," he muttered.
"Uncle Ben died because of me. I was mad at him for… something - I can't remember what – and I ran away. I just wanted him to feel bad, I wasn't planning on staying out that long. He texted me a couple times, just wanting me to come home, you know? But I ignored him. He kept telling me that it was dangerous and that I would get hurt, but I insisted that I wasn't a little kid anymore and if he really cared he would come and find me.
"He… He was murdered. He came to find me just like I wanted him to, and this guy shot him – just pulled out his gun and killed him. If I hadn't run away like that, it never would have happened."
Tony was startled. He knew that Peter's uncle had died, but he didn't know it had happened like this. Crap. What could he do? What could he say? How could he fix this?
He found himself wishing that Pepper were there. She would know what to do. She always knew what to do. But he was the only person Peter had right now, so he would have to do his best.
"Kid, that wasn't your fault," he said, "You couldn't have known it would happen. It was out of your control."
Peter went silent, choosing his next words carefully. "I think I'm scared history is going to repeat itself," he said. "I'm scared I'm going to lose you too."
Tony couldn't resist the urge to hold Peter tight. "I can't promise nothing bad will happen to me and I know the universe can be cruel, but I plan to be around for a long time. I'm going to do my best to be here for you, from now until you no longer need me."
Somehow, being this kid's mentor turned him into Shakespeare. If only his ninth grade English teacher could see him now.
Peter buried his head into Tony's shoulder. "Thank you."
"Do you want to stay over?" offered Tony. "I could text May and ask her to bring over some pajamas and some clean clothes for tomorrow. It could be like a sleepover."
God, he sounds pathetic. What kind of kid would want to have a sleepover with a grown ass man, much less him? He was being ridiculous. This was a stupid idea anyway. Peter would never-
"Can Ned and MJ come?"
Tony smiled. "As long as it's okay with their parents."
Ned and MJ arrived fifteen minutes later, and changed into their pajamas in the bathroom. Everyone settled down on the couch and Peter flicked through some channels until he found reruns of some shitty sci-fi show from the nineties. In a stroke of genius (those only seemed to be getting more and more frequent these days), Tony decided to order pizza.
They ended up watching the show into the early hours of the morning. Peter had fallen asleep on Tony's shoulder and Tony didn't have the heart to move him, much to Ned and MJ's amusement. Because of this, they had both ended up sleeping on the couch. MJ and Ned woke up of their own accord, and got themselves ready for school. Once the sun peeked over the horizon, Tony knew he'd have to wake Peter or he would be late.
He gave him a little nudge and Peter stirred. "Uncle Ben?" he mumbled. "What time is it?"
"It's not Ben," replied Tony. "It's me. And its seven thirty. You've got to get ready for school."
Peter groaned and threw himself back down onto the sofa. "But it's so early and I'm so tired."
"You were the one who insisted we all stay up for the finale," retorted Tony. Peter rolled his eyes, but smirked nevertheless. "Come on, rise and shine," said Tony.
"Come on!" shouted MJ from the other room. "Get up already or we'll be late."
Peter grumbled every step of the way, but did eventually comply. Right before he left, Peter turned to him and said meekly, "I'll see you after school Uncle Tony." He left with his friends just shy of eight o'clock, with barely enough time to catch the bus to school, leaving Tony to mull over his words.
Tony never thought he'd be an uncle, biological or otherwise.