[ Peter Parker & Stark Industries series | 4]
Characters: Tony Stark | Iron Man, Pepper Potts, Peter Parker | Spider-man, Happy Hogan
Tags: Overworked Tony Stark, Overworked Pepper Potts, CEO Peter Parker, Intern Peter Parker, Captain America bashing, Genius Peter Parker
Brief Warning: if you didn't already read the tags, there is slight Captain America Bashing / Team Cap Bashing. Personally, I have nothing against them, it's just what worked for the story.
The aftermath of the Civil War wasn't pretty. The public's opinions of the Avengers had reached an all-time low. That, coupled with the fiasco with the vulture, meant that the reputation of the 'Rogues' and Stark Industries were in the dirt. Lowest of the low. Rock hard bottom kind of dirt.
Then, a month after the Vulture fiasco, the video of Tony Stark fighting Steve Rogers and James Barnes aired in nearly every platform on social media. FRIDAY, after looking into it, found that Zemo had a back-up program set to release the CCTV footage after a certain amount of time. This meant that Stark Industries had to publicly release some information on the subject.
The whole world watched as Stark Industries released a prerecorded video of Pepper Potts holding a press conference to a select number of invited press. She formally announced that SI and Iron Man were officially distancing themselves from SHIELD and the Avengers. Instead, Tony Stark, together with Professor Charles Xavier, a wealthy researcher and teacher of mutants, and Hope van Dyne, known publicly as the Wasp, was going to work closely with the UN to create the New Avengers Initiative under the Sokovia Accords.
Furthermore, Stark Industries was launching a line of affordable medical equipment such as the leg braces, establishing an internship program for high school interns interested in their R&D, PR, IT and Marketing departments as well as committing to a series of research on alternative energy and water pollution. They were investing a lot of money into it.
This, of course, was met with immense support from the public. After seeing the CCTV footage of the fight between Iron Man and Captain America, the public unanimously supported Tony Stark and condemned Steve Rogers. Though, they also agreed that James Barnes was innocent because of HYDRA's control.
Add to that, Stark Industries was releasing a line of medical equipment and prosthetics that was both affordable and accessible to the public and helping high school interns get experience and scholarships. It was going to improve lives around the world! Needless to say, their reputation and stocks increased dramatically. Iron Man, who was often found working with Spider-man on patrols around Queens and, on occasion, other vigilantes and heroes around the city, became a well-loved hero of New York.
Tony Stark had a lot of time to think about the Avengers' Initiative and SHIELD in general. After distancing himself from the SHIELD and Avengers, Tony was able to piece himself back together, piece by piece, for his girlfriend, Pepper, and Peter.
Being able to spend time with Peter Parker meant that Tony had someone to take care of and mentor. Though it had just been a few months, he felt like he's known Peter for forever. At this point, Peter was practically his son. So, by extension, May Parker was family. They made a small makeshift family. Tony, Pepper and May worked together to coparent Peter, and, in return, Peter became the glue that held everyone together. Monthly family dinners with Happy, Rhodey, Pepper, May, Helen, Bruce, Thor, Peter and, later on, the New Avengers became a common occurrence.
For the first time since he woke up in a cave in Afghanistan, Tony Stark felt content.
When Tony Stark found one Peter Parker, who arrived late then promptly got lost, in the R&D Department solving complicated equations as if it were as easy as talking about the weather, he quickly hired him to be his personal intern, for real this time.
At first, he worked exclusively with Tony Stark but as time went on, Peter wandered around the company. Eventually, he got roped into helping other interns and employees. Always eager, Peter quickly became one of the most knowledgeable interns in the company, often wandering from one department to another, learning as much as he can.
By the end of his first three weeks, Peter had established himself as Tony Stark's personal intern and, therefore, anything the employees or interns needed to get to Tony Stark went through him. He had a certain 'take no bullshit' type of attitude when it came to things about SI that quickly made him a respected figure in the company. The interns and employees would hand him the documents at the start of every week and Peter would then, without fail, sort through each and every request, ranking them by importance as he went, and send the most urgent to his boss and the less urgent such as requests for consultations about their research were dealt with Peter visiting and providing input himself.
At first, seeing a kid, who was probably no older than 14, walk into the labs and immediately start asking questions like an excited puppy was a surprising sight but the interns and employees in the R&D department quickly became used to his presence. After about one and a half weeks, Tony Stark no longer received any requests for consultations. Instead, Peter Parker became high in demand.
The kid was, after all, a certified genius. Rumored to be just as smart, if not even smarter, than Tony Stark, he could easily spot the discrepancies in financial statements, solve equations for the R&D department, code for the IT department and even make AIs for the Operations and Security department. The Single Ladies, the robots that just sang "DON'T! treat me to the things of the world. I'm not that kinda girl!" when someone was about to do something that was classified as a potential hazard, was one of the most popular AIs in the company.
Everyone in the company knew that Peter Parker was the future of Stark Industries.
Tony Stark was tired. Normally, pulling all-nighters was easy. He was a scientist, after all. Losing himself in the schematics and work was part of the job description.
But today was different.
He spent hours in a meeting with the UN. Even after everything, they were still going in circles. It was frustrating to listen to them drone on and on and nitpick every possible word on the amendments he was proposing. They literally screamed at each other when they were debating the use of the word 'the' instead of 'a'. Seriously?! The or a? God?! They live for evil. Tony swears that they live to see his pain. They probably laugh in some underground cellar, drinking blood while gossiping to their fellow demons. He hoped they'd all leave and never return.
When that was over, he had to go over some paperwork for the R&D department which he had put off for a while. Tony never told Peter that he was sometimes too busy to look at the documents he dutifully sent every week. At first, one would think it was easy; flip a page and sign on the line but when you have to sign what must have been hundreds of documents, it suddenly isn't so fun after all.
After that, he got called out to fight some weird glob or something with the bastard doctor, Strange. So, he arrived home, drenched in liquids he'd rather not name and smelling to high heaven. Needless to say, his day was not going well.
Stepping into the shower, he turned on the heater and lets the water rinse his body. He needed to do something to get his mind off everything so that he'd be in a good mood when Peter arrived later that evening. Today was his last day of school before the break starts so he was set to spend the weekend.
Tony was never more thankful for the time with his kid than now. Peter, together with Thor, May, Helen, Pepper, Happy, Bruce, Rhodey, and, on occasion (though he'd never admit it,) Loki were people he considered family and gave him something to look forward to when the days got really bad. The Civil War fiasco gave him so many issues that he could practically write a book or two about it. So their presence helped Tony more than he would care to admit.
Honestly, he'd probably end up working on Underoos' suit again. Recently, Tony found that sleeping was an impossible task. He'd always wake up drenched in sweat with the images of a shield coming down on him lingering behind his eyes.
Thus, his current solution was to ignore the predicament entirely and work on something to get his mind off of it. Tony spent hours working on the Spider-man suit because his kid had to be safe, dammit. He was getting more and more gray hairs every night just thinking about Peter Parker running around stopping crime. What if he got stabbed? Or shot? Or fall? Honestly, Peter Parker, for all of his grace as Spider-man, was a clumsy kid. He'd probably trip on nothing.
So, he figured that the next best thing was to make absolutely sure that his kid's suit had everything he could possibly need. It did wonders for his peace of mind and sanity.
Stepping out of the bathroom fully dressed and smelling good as new, Tony moved towards the elevator. "Take me to the lab, Fri."
The lab was his safe space.
No matter how many things he'd see lying around the building that would inevitably remind him of his ex-team (and betrayals and shields slamming, slamming, slamming), there were never any in his lab. The team never really liked science the way he did, instead preferring to leave him to work on their upgrades alone. Though, on occasion, Bruce would come to visit and help out but that doesn't really matter because he was currently in Norway helping Thor and Loki out in settling the remaining refugees.
Bringing up the schematics for another upgrade on Pepper's rescue suit as well as Peter's iron spider, he went to work.
That's how Peter Parker, after walking in huffing and puffing from the jog (read: sprint) from the station, found him. Tony was sleeping on the table, obviously trying to get some upgrades in for their suits, looking especially tired and worn.
Peter smiled ruefully; he was aware that his mentor wasn't getting enough rest in. According to Karen, he spent the past few days in meetings with the UN on the Accords amendments for the New Avengers initiative that they were launching. Obviously, he was working himself to the bone.
Carrying his mentor to the master bedroom, Peter carefully placed him on the bed and began preparing dinner.
Looking out of the window thoughtfully, He needed to do something about this. Nowadays, his mentor always looked stressed or sleep deprived. He probably needed a break.
Pepper Potts was tired. Of course, normally, she'd power through it just like always. After all, being a CEO of a fortune 500 company meant that she'd have to deal with all-nighters looking at financial statements and other Stark Industries related things.
But today was different.
She had spent hours in a meeting with the board of directors arguing on whether they wanted to put more resources into the R&D department's medical research or on toy manufacturing while sitting on a uncomfortable chair. Apparently, both were so beneficial. Honestly, Pepper thought that they should just invest in both and be done with it. Alas, she had an image to maintain.
Thus, she dutifully shook hands and smiled at the appropriate people for the next few hours.
Once she was done with those, she had to run down to legal because of an incident that she'd rather not think about. Now, that was a disaster in itself.
Then, she had to read through document after document to make sure she was signing the right deals and finalize the internship paperwork that she had to resend to Midtown High for Peter. Honestly, one of the only bright spots in recent days were the weekends that Peter Parker came to visit (not counting her rant sessions with May, of course. They had to cope with having superhero family members, somehow.)
Peter was Tony's son. Not by blood, obviously, but in every other way that counts. Somehow, her fiancé had picked up a kid turned personal intern turned mentee turned son in the months following the whole civil war debacle. It was possibly the only good thing to come out of it. Well, that and Tony leaving the Avengers behind.
So, because Tony looked at Peter the same way a father would look at a son, Pepper did so too. Somehow, the little superhero wormed his way into her little family and made a whole nest to fit himself in. They even ironed out a co-parenting schtick with May, legal documents and everything.
Turning back to her paperwork, she told herself to finish as fast as she could. Her son would be at the tower, after all. She needed to hug her kid. It was the closest form of destressing she had as of late.
Walking into the penthouse to the smell of Peter's cooking, Pepper felt herself relax for the first time today. Opting to observe by the doorway, she takes in the sight of Peter Parker, humming to a song he was listening to and doing little shimmies as he finished preparing the food. "That smells really good, Pete."
With a yelp, Peter nearly lets go of the plate he was holding but manages to save it in the nick of time. "Pepper! You surprised me! Were you there the whole time?"
Giggling, Pepper said. "Just for a few minutes. All my meetings ran long today, and I spent the afternoon staring at documents. Think we can do a movie night tonight?"
"Sure, Pep. We can watch the Princess Diaries. We have been planning to for a bit, haven't we?"
Setting the food on the table, Peter asks "How was work today?"
That sets her off. Ranting about her day, Pepper felt herself relax.
(As Pepper talks about her numerous complaints about the board of directors, Peter watches her shoulders release the tension with a smile. She was really stressed nowadays. He heard rumors of the Board of Directors acting like assholes as of late.)
It is only when Peter returns to his room after a Princess Diaries movie marathon with Pepper falling asleep halfway through that he allows himself to frown thoughtfully. Pepper, Peter thinks, really needs a break. They both do.
Thinking of a plan, Peter calls out to Friday. "Hey, Fri?"
"Yes, Peter?"
"Think you can help me out?"
"How may I be of assistance?"
"Pepper and Tony have been tired recently. They need a break, don't you think?"
"I agree. Boss hasn't eaten for 34 hours before your visit."
Tony didn't eat for 34 hours? That's bad. That's really bad. He hasn't had an episode like that in a few months now. Normally, he'd go 10 hours at most without eating.
Hearing this, Peter resolves to make sure both Pepper and Tony go out and take a break. No matter what it takes.
"Ok, Fri. I have a plan."
After a long night of brainstorming and doing some light research, Peter was ready.
"You ready, Fri?"
"Yes, Peter."
"Ok, just follow my lead. Do you have the list ready?"
"Yes, Peter. The lists are all ready to go."
"One more thing."
"Yes?"
"Be my sound effects, would you?"
Nearing the kitchen, he spots Pepper and Tony preparing the table for breakfast, both looking significantly less exhausted as compared to yesterday but still a little worse for wear. Despite the long hours of sleep, they both clocked in, they still looked more stressed than normal.
Digging into the food, Peter thinks about how he should approach this. He had to be delicate but blunt. Lord knew Tony and Pepper were both like skittish animals when you tell them to rest. They had a tendency to run away and ignore you.
Clearing his throat, Peter nervously looks at them. "Guys, we need to talk."
Exchanging a look, Pepper and Tony sensed Peter's seriousness on the topic. Putting down his utensils, Tony asks. "What's up, Pete?"
Just get it over with, Peter. Get it over with. Bluntly, Peter said "Both of you need to take a break."
"…what?"
"A break. Both of you are getting severely overworked and you need a vacation."
"Peter, you know we can't just leave Stark Industries. We have meetings and the UN still has a lot to say on the Accords. We can't just take a va-"
"Don't you literally have an entire building of employees to do their jobs? You could postpone the meetings with the UN, and you could ask your personal intern - Emily, right? - to cover for you. It'd be a win-win! You guys get to go on a vacation, and you'll be able to observe how SI does without you present! Think of it as a performance check, you know?"
Sighing, Tony tries to use a different angle. "Even if we somehow move everything, we don't have plans! We don't have the time to look into places for vacation."
Peter smirks, Tony wouldn't be able to get out of this. "That's okay, Tony! Friday and I compiled a list of places for you to go to! Isn't that nice? Friday?"
"According to our research, Disneyland has good reviews and seems to be a favorite of a number of Americans."
"Wow! Isn't that nice? I'm sure Mickey Mouse would be glad to see you visit. Aren't you tempted? You could ride - what was it-"
"Space Mountain"
"Space Mountain! It would be great!"
"Don't forget Bali."
Gasping dramatically, Peter said. "Oh, how could I forget Bali?! How were the reviews, Fri?"
"Good."
"Five Stars!"
"ten out of ten."
"…Peter, did you seriously make Friday tag team us into resting?"
"Why, yes. Yes, I did."
Tony tries to reason with the kid. "Peter, you know that I'm already used to all-nighters. Sleep is for the weak anyway. I'll be fine, kid. You don't have to worry your pretty little genius spider brain."
Ohoho. He played the I'm used to it card. Time to pull out the big guns.
Dramatically, Peter sighs. "Well, I guess since rest isn't important, I should probably go out to patrol instead of sleeping. I did pull an all-nighter last night trying to finish my homework."
On cue, Friday replies. "Peter, you haven't slept in 28 hours. You need to replenish your energy from yesterday's patrol."
Waving a hand dismissively, Peter locks eyes with Tony. "No, no. Its fine, Fri. I don't feel like sleeping. Besides, rest isn't that important anyway. Isn't that right, Fri?"
Panicking, Tony tries to backtrack. "Wait. That is not what I meant-"
"That is correct, Peter. According to boss, rest is not worth your time." Betrayed, Tony glares at the ceiling. Friday sounded a little too smug. Was it possible for an AI to sound smug?
"That's right. Sleep is for the weak. It is probably an illusion crafted by mattress companies to make money, those bastards. Have the movers throw out the bed, won't you, Fri? We don't need it anyway. After all, I am used to all-nighters here and there."
"Right away, Peter."
"Oh, and can yo-"
"I'll get your suit ready right away, Peter."
"Thanks, fri. You're the best.
Looking between the ceiling and the kid, Tony admitted defeat. With a resigned look on his face, he said "Fine, Peter. You win."
Triumphant, Peter starts, "Thank yo-"
"But, I have one condition." Both men look at Pepper who had been mostly silent throughout the conversation and currently had a mischievous look in her eyes. "You have to act as the CEO of Stark Industries."
Sputtering, Peter starts. "Wha-"
Tony smirks. This was gonna be good. "Think of it like a performance check, right kiddo?"
Shit. This was not what Peter's intended outcome was. This is definitely not it. He can't head SI! He's a kid, dammit. How could he head the biggest company in the world? He can't. He doesn't have the cre-
"I can hear your genius brain thinking from here, kid. You already coordinate the interns at R&D and you're the point person for literally everything that I need to know about. This wouldn't be too different. It's just a larger scale than you're used to, that's all. You'll do fine."
Pepper adds, "I'll help you learn the ropes and prepare. How does that sound?"
Then, Tony adds the final kick. "Don't you want us to have a break, kid? We'd just stress over the company if we don't entrust it to you. You know this."
The thing is? Peter does. Over the months that Peter worked for Tony and, on occasion, Pepper, he found that they liked to be hands on with the company. They wouldn't be able to stop stressing if they thought the person they left in charge was incompetent. Shit. He wasn't going to win. But, looking at the faces of his parental figures, Peter could see the stress clearly on their faces. They needed this.
With a resigned sigh, Peter concedes. "Fine. But you teach me what to do before leaving."
"Ok, we'll go through everything for a week then we'll take a two-week long vacation. Deal?"
"Deal."
It's just two weeks. What could go wrong?
Author's Note: this is the fourth installment of my series, Peter Parker & Stark Industries. a few months ago, i posted this fic as a two-shot.
however, as time went by, i've been building it up with more and more one-shots that it became an AU of mine. normally, i'd post the first part of this series first because i am cross-posting my works to both and wattpad. however, i've decided to post this fic, which was the first one i've posted, first and then post the rest according to the timeline in this two-shot.
don't worry, i'll be posting a master list on my bio/account so yall won't get too lost. i'll be posting the rest of the series in the next week or so please be patient with me!
