Another doctor.

Peter couldn't help the fact that he hung back, this time, and hid behind Tony's leg when he was introduced to Dr. Wayne. Who wasn't Bruce Wayne in disguise. Wasn't even named Bruce if the brass name plate on the door was telling the truth. The doctor's name was Melvin. And when he came out to meet Peter and Tony in the small waiting room that was even more comfortable than Doctor Allen's had been, Peter saw that he was too young to be Bruce Wayne in disguise.

"He's a little shy," Tony explained to the doctor.

Stark hadn't actually vetted the child psychologist himself, allowing that Pepper was even a better judge of character than he was – not to mention at least as thorough as he was, especially when it came to Peter's well-being. The guy was ridiculously young, though.

There was no way he was a doctor.

Wayne smiled, kneeling easily down in front of Tony to get to Peter's level.

"Hey, Peter."

The boy looked out from behind Tony's hip.

"Hi."

"Nervous?"

"A little."

"Have you ever been to a psychologist, before?"

"Not that I remember."

The doctor had been briefed by Pepper over the phone of what Peter's history was. Not to mention there was no way he hadn't heard that Tony Stark had found himself a little boy to adopt.

"Well, I can understand you being a little nervous, then. You do know that I don't give shots, right?"

Peter nodded.

"Yes."

"And there's no couch," he added. "Like you have probably seen in the movies."

"Oh."

"We're just going to hang out and talk. Okay?"

Reassured by the very relaxed manner, Peter nodded and came out from behind Tony, finally – although he did keep hold of the fabric of his pant's leg.

"About what?"

"I'm going to tell you all about me. And then – if you want – you can tell me a little bit about you."

Peter took a step forward, letting go of Tony.

"Okay."

The psychologist smiled at Tony as he stood up.

"We'll start with fifteen minutes, or so, and see how it goes."

"I'll be right here," Stark assured him.

And Peter.

The two went into Wayne's office and Tony sat down on the comfortable chair in the waiting room. He picked up one of the magazines, but it wasn't interesting. Instead, he pulled his tablet from his suit pocket.

OOOOOOOO

It was closer to half an hour when the door opened and the doctor stuck his head out into the waiting room.

"Mr. Stark?"

Tony had looked up at the sound of the door opening.

"Everything alright?"

Wayne smiled, as if he had heard that question a million times from concerned parents.

"We're great. I'd like you to come in and join us for a minute before we finish for the day."

Already?

Tony had expected it to be hours – although he really knew that there was no way Peter would be able to pay attention to anything for that long.

"Of course."

He followed the doctor into the small office, which was neatly appointed, but had posters on the wall. Tony noticed Ironman, Thor, Wonder Woman, Captain America, and Batman, immediately, and was sure that Peter had, as well. The little boy was sitting in a chair by the doctor's desk. It was extra stuffed with padding so it allowed him to see over the desk without the addition of a booster seat, or books. Peter smiled when Tony walked over and took the seat beside him when the doctor invited him to do so.

"Hi."

Stark smiled, looking for any indication that the boy wasn't happy, but he didn't see anything. Peter's eyes were bright, and his expression cheerful.

"Hey, buddy. How's it going?"

"Good."

Wayne took his seat across from them, although Tony had a feeling that the man had been sitting in the chair he, himself, was now in.

"We were talking about superheroes," the doctor told Tony. He smiled as he folded his hands in front of him on the desk. "Given who you are, it seemed like a good topic."

"His dad's name is Bruce Wayne," Peter said, excitedly. "Isn't that cool?"

"Yes, it is."

Wayne looked amused, and relaxed – even with Tony.

"Your son is a neat little guy."

Tony nodded.

"Yes, he is."

"For today, we just spent some time getting to know each other, making sure that we can get along. Which, I'm happy to say, we shouldn't have any problem doing. Right, Peter?"

The boy smiled.

"Yeah. He's neat, too."

"Good." Tony didn't want to have to report to Pepper that Peter had hated the guy she'd chosen for him. "So, you're going to do this, again?"

"Definitely. I think once a week is plenty. An hour long session – but after school, so Peter doesn't have to miss his classes. I can't believe he's in high school."

"He's a smart guy."

Peter hugged himself at the pride he could hear in Tony's voice.

Both men smiled at the gesture. Tony knew it meant the boy was at his happiest, and Wayne almost certainly expected that was what it meant.

"Any questions for me?"

Stark shrugged.

"Anything I should be doing differently?"

"He's a happy kid," came the reply. "You're doing fine as far as I can tell."

Peter shot him a look of love that made Tony want to hug himself.

"Do you have any concerns?" Wayne asked.

"Peter doesn't sleep well," Tony reminded him. Pepper had told the billionaire that she'd addressed it with the doctor when she'd spoken with him. "He has weird dreams, and sometimes nightmares."

"Yes, I'm aware." The doctor nodded. "It isn't uncommon for intelligent children to have vivid dreams, and Peter's past makes nightmares almost a certainty. We'll work on it as we get to know each other, better. What I'd like is for Peter to try to remember what he dreams about, when one wakes him up. Write it down, or get a voice recorder, if that would work better for him. It might help us figure out what's going on inside his head."

The boy smiled at that.

"I'll have JARVIS help me."

"You do that." It was clear that Wayne already knew who JARVIS was. "Schedule the appointments with my receptionist, Mr. Stark, but I think Mondays would do nicely."

"Thanks." He looked at Peter. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah."

"It was nice meeting you, Peter."

"You, too."

OOOOOOOOOOO

They stopped for lunch at McDonald's before heading to the tower.

Pepper was in a conference call, so Tony took his son to his workroom where he gave Peter a peek into the chamber that was constructing his newest Ironman suit. One that was going to be even more incredible than the last, he told Peter. The boy was always excited to see the behind the scenes making of the suits. Or the concept designs that Tony sometimes drew out on paper but usually put into his tablet, or onto a display to send directly to JARVIS for the AI's opinion.

"I could make you a suit," Tony offered, seating himself on a stool and watching with enjoyment as Peter flipped through his tablet.

Things that no one had ever been allowed to look at before, but that he obviously could trust the boy with.

Peter's eyes widened.

"A flying one? With thrusters? And rockets and a repulser?"

"No." The billionaire smiled. "You should probably have your driver's license before I build you something that flies – and you're much too young to have rockets and repulsers, don't you think?"

"I suppose."

"But it would still be a suit," Tony pointed out. "A mini-me suit. Whirling rims and all."

"That would be pretty cool…"

"Yeah." He shrugged. "You'd probably outgrow it, pretty quick, but I make new ones for myself all the time. No reason-"

His watch beeped at him, interrupting, and Peter looked interested.

"What is it?"

"Pepper's meeting is over. Shall we go tell her about your appointments? I know she's curious how they went."

"Okay."

Tony pocketed his tablet and offered Peter his hand. The two headed for Pepper's office and found her sitting at her desk, eating a light lunch and taking advantage of a break in her hectic Monday. She smiled when they knocked on the door and walked in and Peter trotted over to the other side of her desk to hug her.

"Hey," Pepper said, kissing his cheek and then pushing her plate of carrots toward him so he could take one. Which he did. "How did it go?"

"Good."

"You will be happy to know that Peter is healthy," Tony reported, even though he'd already done so over the phone with her. "The doctor says that he's a little small, but there shouldn't be any surprise about that – and that even little guys can get unexpected growth spurts until they're almost twenty. He probably won't be the equal of Steve, but he's perfectly proportioned."

"Which we already knew," Pepper said, smiling at Peter.

The boy nodded.

"Yeah."

"What did Dr. Wayne say?" she asked. "Or is it none of my business?"

"Peter?" Tony asked. "Do you care if Pepper knows what you and Doctor Wayne talk about?"

He was eight, yes, but there were times when he should get to have a say in things, and this was probably one of them.

"No. She can know," the boy replied. "He said that his dad is Bruce Wayne."

Tony rolled his eyes.