May had been home nearly two months and Peter's life had turned into a steady routine. With May's promotion her shifts were now more regular and she rarely did overtime so he always knew where she would be. Before she would pick up any and every shift she could so they could make ends meet, usually leaving him a note or a text telling him he would be alone, now with her regular schedule his time could be planned. He stayed in Queens Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sunday nights and in the tower the rest of the week, he was happy with the new arrangement as he could see his Aunt whenever she was home and his mom and dad when she was at work, it meant May wasn't alone and he wouldn't feel guilty for leaving her, she said he shouldn't feel bad but he couldn't help it.
As great as having May home was Peter found being away from his dad difficult, in the tower just knowing Tony was next door in case he had a nightmare was comforting but in Queens he woke up screaming more often than not. After several nights of being unable to fall asleep and yet refusing to phone his dad Tony had come over and installed some sort of baby monitor in his bedroom which would wake the man if Peter had a bad dream. At first Peter had been angry and embarrassed at his dad's actions until the man pointed out that if Peter had just done as he was told and called him if he had a nightmare such drastic actions wouldn't have been necessary. The brief argument that followed only resulted in Peter standing with his nose in the corner of the kitchen under Tony's watchful eyes for half an hour until May came home from work and scolded him further. He had to admit since the monitor had been installed he had been sleeping much better, as soon as he woke up from a nightmare his dad would already be calling him to help him get back to sleep, a few times he had even come over on particularly bad nights. Which he was still amazed about, Tony was a busy man, he was Iron Man, a world class engineer and scientist and also planning his wedding whenever he had a free moment but he still had time for Peter.
Just thinking about his mom and dad's upcoming wedding brought a smile to his face, the press had no idea and the guest list was extremely small but the wedding was only a week away. Peter was on his way to the tower now in fact, he had been invited to his dad's bachelor weekend, he Peter Parker was going to Tony Stark's bachelor weekend! It was mind blowing. May had left a few hours ago she had been invited to his mom's weekend away, he didn't know any of his mom's friends to be honest, well he knew her secretary Julia she was nice and he supposed Nat was probably there as well. The thought of Nat at a spa retreat brought a grin to his face, he just couldn't imagine Black Widow lying by a pool with cucumbers over her eyes. He honestly had no idea what was planned for the weekend, considering he was invited he doubted there would be strippers or a crazy party, his dad wouldn't let him watch Game of Thrones it was highly unlikely he would allow him to experience anything like that. Also his dad rarely drank anymore, in fact he had never seen him drink more than a few beers in front of him or maybe a couple glasses of wine with dinner. What did people do on bachelor weekends when they weren't going to get drunk or pay for strippers? He had only ever seen them in films so had no idea what to expect.
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Tony grinned as his son bounded into the lounge throwing his bag down on the couch as he did so. "Hey kid, how's it going, did May get away alright?" He asked, of course he knew she did and he knew Peter probably knew he did, the boy and Pep called it helicopter parenting he just said he was prepared and connected. Sure, Rhodey and Happy both said the same as his fiancée and son, but what did they know?
Peter just rolled his eyes at his dad's question. "We both know she did dad, what are we doing today?" He had asked every time he saw the man since he had found out he was invited but still hadn't been told anything, it was killing him. He flopped down on the couch and helped himself to the chips on the table, they were probably for everyone to snack on when they arrived but he was a growing Spider-boy he needed sustenance! He froze a handful of chips halfway to his mouth and looked at his dad as a thought occurred to him, "we aren't getting fitted for suits are we?" He had never actually had to get it done himself but he had been there when his dad was fitted before and it took forever! He was here for a fun weekend not to waste a day getting poked and prodded at.
Tony knew exactly what his son was thinking he could see it clear as day on the boy's face, "no we aren't getting fitted for suits this weekend Pete." They were getting fitted on Tuesday but he wasn't going to tell the boy that, he didn't want to deal with the boy's puppy dog eyes managing to convince him to skip it, he was positive Pep would kill him. As much as he wouldn't mind if the kid turned up in one of his nerdy shirts he was not prepared to argue with Pep over it. She said they would be in matching suits so they would be in matching suits, he simply had to choose which one and get them fitted.
"Do you need me to do anything dad? Am I dressed okay? Do I need to get anything else or pack anything?"
"You're good kid." Tony told the boy as he dropped down next to him on the couch, "I've already packed for you."
Peter couldn't help but grin up at his dad at his words, he was maybe too old for his dad to pack a bag for him but he didn't really care to be honest. Although the downside was if his dad told him what to pack he may have had an idea of what they were going to be doing.
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Almost an hour after Peter had arrived, who admittedly was early for had to be the first time ever, Happy walked through the door bag in hand. "I can't believe you were the last one to get here Hap."
Happy made to respond with the middle finger but as he went to do so caught sight of Peter and decided against it. He didn't want to get on the wrong side of Tony's overprotectiveness two minutes into the bachelor weekend after all. "Had to make sure everyone knew what they were doing while I was away. You'll thank me when you don't get robbed this weekend."
Tony simply rolled his eyes, "I'm Iron Man no one is going to steal from me."
"Ummm the Vulture did dad, that was literally his whole thing. How could you forget?"
Tony shivered at the reminder, just the thought of that guy made his heart clench, he pushed down his anxiety and ruffled his son's hair. "Well okay but look where he is now Underoos. Anyway, now we're all here I can tell you what we're doing."
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Two hours later Peter found himself standing in overalls paintball gun in hand. They had taken a helicopter…which in itself was awesome, his dad, Bruce, Uncle Rhodey and Happy hadn't seemed as excited as he was but he supposed it was probably normal for them, he had been slightly worried his babbling may have annoyed them but the grins on their faces told him otherwise.
Once they arrived they had a run through of some regulations and the like as well as a quick go in a shooting range to get a feel of the guns. He knew his dad, Happy and Rhodey didn't need it but he appreciated the opportunity, he didn't want to go out into the game and be useless after all. The five of them were their own team and they were up against another group they didn't know so he was banned from using his powers and Bruce was wearing a heart monitor just in case. Although he had played paintball before when the Avengers were still one team, so if no one else was concerned neither was Peter.
Tony looked around the small room they had been told to wait in, they had fifteen minutes before their game started and they could go into the arena to hide their flag then another five minutes before they could start. Just one look at his son and he knew he had made the right decision with this activity. Rhodey had unsurprisingly taken command and they were all happy with that decision…well Happy wasn't but they had some weird rivalry all of a sudden, he wasn't 100% sure what that was about to be honest.
Peter grinned as he ran into the arena and hid the flag in the fort they were protecting. They were to play three games of capture the flag before there was a free for all game so it was decided for this first one he was to protect the flag. He climbed up to the top of the fort and hid himself from view while still being in position to see anyone approaching. He knew Happy and Bruce were somewhere outside the fort keeping guard but he wasn't 100% where, they were wearing comms though so he could easily find out if he was in danger of shooting them. When the claxon went off to begin the game he tensed and began to look around, he was not going to be the reason they lost their flag.
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It turned out Bruce was the reason they lost the first flag…well so was Peter but he was going to lay it on Bruce. Bruce had tripped over a root and been shot so was out, that left Peter against the three that were approaching, he had been forced to move from his hiding spot to cover where Bruce had been which ultimately led to him being shot and the flag being taken…so he was blaming Bruce.
Thankfully they had won the next two games so morale was high as they all took a water break. Before Peter could walk back into the waiting room he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to look at his dad questioningly. "Kid, it's free for all so obviously you're with me right." Peter opened his mouth to respond negatively but then thought for a second. Happy had already asked him the same question while they had been hunting the others team flag in the previous game and he had agreed, Happy was one of their best players so it was a no brainer teaming up with the man, but then again his dad didn't know that.
"Of course dad." Now he had two people who weren't going to be shooting at him, he should probably try to get Uncle Rhodey's support too, he was undoubtedly a threat. When he grabbed a second bottle of water at the same time as his Uncle he asked him if they could team up and had to suppress a smirk when he agreed.
At the sound of the claxon Peter took off running to go and hunt down the people who were originally on the opposite team to himself, he had nothing to worry about with his own team after all. Unsurprisingly a mere two minutes into the game he heard his dad's laughter as he shot Bruce, honestly no wonder he had never hulked out during the game, he hardly got to play long enough to get his heart rate up. He continued walking through the trees stepping lightly as he did so, he may not have been allowed to use his spider powers but walking lightly hardly counted, it wasn't like he could help that after all. He tiptoed through the trees and managed to shoot a man from behind…not very honourable sure but this was war. He laughed as the man swore about being knocked out by a kid. He had been thrown off during the second game when someone called him kid but then he realised they had probably noticed the height difference or heard someone refer to him as such. It wasn't like they could see his face, everyone had helmets on, that was a major reason his dad had chosen the activity, he didn't want it getting out he was having a bachelor weekend and more importantly he wanted to protect Peter.
Ten minutes later he laid eyes on his dad who lowered his gun as soon as he realised who he was. "Have you shot anyone other than Bruce?" He asked as he tried to work out if his plan of playing everyone off against each other was still going to work.
"I haven't seen Rhodey or Happy but I saw the big guy on the other team go out a few minutes ago so one of them got him. So that leaves at most seven on the field including us."
Peter nodded and grinned as his dad patted him on the back before making off in the other direction. He had already glimpsed Happy through the trees who had also shot one man on the other team…well he assumed that was what his gesture meant and considering the way the man was going it was likely a different man to the one his dad saw.
Rhodey swore as he ducked down narrowly avoiding the paintballs that soared over his head. The braces he was wearing were honestly a work of art, he forgot he was wearing them often and the reaction times were incredible, he grinned to himself as he shot the man who had nearly got him. That was his second, he wondered how many were left. He began to make his way towards the centre of the field, as time went on and less players were left the walls automatically closed in so he knew he would run into someone else sooner rather than later.
Peter grinned from his position behind an upturned jeep, he knew his dad was opposite him somewhere coming from the other side of the field so if he could just lure him further in a little he would undoubtedly run into Happy who was on his right. He turned to look at Happy and gave him a thumbs up when he heard a quiet cough, he grinned when the man began to move, Dad had decided super hearing hardly counted and a cough was the signal that he was going to move forward, he had to whistle to respond that it was clear so did so loudly. He grinned when he heard lots of shots in quick succession followed by Happy swearing loudly.
"Happy where the f…." Tony started as he dived out the way of his shots, he knew exactly where his son was there was nowhere the man could have come from that Peter wouldn't have seen him…unless. That little shit. He looked at Happy briefly who was also looking confused to see him. He could see when Happy realised what was going on as the man lowered his gun slightly.
Peter knew they had figured out what was going on but he still had an ace up his sleeve. A whistle was also his signal for his uncle who was much further out than his dad and Happy, he grinned when he heard two shots and the impact of the paintballs against the two men. He shot up instantly from his position and sprayed the area his Uncle was in with shots whooping when he heard furious swearing and a bell to signal there was a winner. Ha. Who was a child now?
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Tony couldn't decide if he was proud or furious with his kid for that stunt. As soon as they were out of the arena he pulled off the teen's helmet and put him in a headlock. "You little shit. I can't believe you turned on me like that. My own bachelor weekend!" He smiled as the boy just laughed and tried to free himself, he made eye contact with Rhodey and released the kid pushing him towards the other man as he did so.
Peter couldn't stop laughing as his uncle tickled him ferociously. To be honest it didn't matter what they did to him he was still the winner. He had the trophy. He hooked his leg back around his uncle's and pulled causing the man to flip. They were in the changing room now he could use his powers. He flipped over careful of his uncle's braces and sat on his chest. "I beat you in the arena and beat you here Uncle Rhodey. Who's the child now?" He taunted as the man tried to stand up.
Tony laughed and snapped a photo before hooking his arms under the teen and pulling him up. "Alright Muhammad Ali, cool it. Let's get a quick photo then you are getting a shower, you smell Spiderbaby."
Peter pouted at his dad's words but did as he was told, he was excited for whatever else was planned.
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Tony had spent ages thinking about what he wanted to do for his bachelor weekend, he knew it was meant to be the best man or at least groomsmen who organised it but he wanted to make sure Peter would be involved and importantly not traumatised. He knew paintball would appeal to everyone, well perhaps not Bruce but his science bro didn't hate it so he would take that as a win. He had initially thought about racing he did own cars and a track after all but Peter couldn't drive and he didn't want his son's first time behind the wheel to involve speeding, that didn't send the sensible driving message he wanted to instil in his Spiderling. So in the end he hired a cabin in Vermont for the weekend, it was private so there was little risk of being discovered by the press or fans. He had also ensured there would be Quad bikes there, it seemed a fairly good compromise when they weren't able to race, he was sure everyone would enjoy it.
Peter practically leapt out of the Quinjet when it landed, eager to see where they were. He had been a little gutted when he saw their helicopter had left but he thought the Quinjet was perhaps even cooler…it essentially became invisible that was some next level science right there! He grinned when he realised they were in essentially the middle of nowhere, for once he couldn't hear cars or faint arguments of people in the next apartment…well he could hear Uncle Rhodey and Happy arguing over something but he was going to ignore that. He had always lived in New York and other than the occasional school trip he had never left other than when he went to Berlin, this was going to be sooo cool.
Tony smiled fondly as he looked down at Peter who was practically vibrating he was so excited. "You can go in kid, there's enough rooms for us each to have one, take your pick."
Peter grabbed his bag and ran into the cabin, well it was maybe slightly too big to be called a cabin but still. The downstairs area was all open plan so he jumped up the stairs three at a time so he could choose his room, it was only for one night but it was still exciting. He peered into each one he passed but it wasn't until he got to the fifth one that he found the one he wanted. The large window looked out over a lake and there was a bathroom that joined the room to the next one which appeared to be the master bedroom so would surely be taken by his dad. Other than the view this bedroom was identical to the ones he had already passed but he still grinned, he had made the right choice, he could hear the others making their way upstairs and choosing their own rooms as he dug through his bag to see what his dad had packed for him.
After a few minutes Peter made his way back downstairs and sat down in front of the fire, helping himself to a can of coke as he passed the fridge. Within minutes he was joined by his dad who as predicted had taken the room next to his own, they were soon joined by the rest of the group. "There's a barbeque on the deck, Happy, Rhodey are you fine to man that for us?" Peter grinned as the two men nodded reluctantly, their competitiveness was ridiculous. Peter looked back to his dad when the man began speaking once more, "you go with them Pete, Bruce and I will get some wood for a bonfire." He nodded and ran off after his Uncle and Happy causing both men to smile warmly at him.
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An hour later all four men and one spider teen were sat around a bonfire by the lake eating burgers. Or in Peter and Bruce's cases multiple burgers. Tony couldn't remember the last time he had been able to relax like this with his friends, to simply sit and eat a burger a cold beer in hand. He couldn't help but remember the last time he had sat like this though, there was more of them then, it was before the team had broke up, it was a bittersweet memory now.
Peter could see his dad was getting lost in not so happy thoughts so reached over and tapped him on the arm to get his attention. "Is there blankets somewhere? I'm getting kinda cold dad."
Tony was pulled sharply from his own mind at his son's question and looked him over, no wonder the kid was cold he was still in a t-shirt. "Of course, I put one in your bag, also grab yourself a jumper or something. It is not t-shirt weather kiddo. And can you grab a few more beers on your way back please?"
Peter nodded and took a few steps before turning back to look at his dad. "Can I have one?" His question was met with soft laughter from Happy and Uncle Rhodey so he crossed his arms over his chest uncomfortably but didn't back down. "Please dad. Just one." He tried when his dad raised an eyebrow at him.
Tony didn't really know what to say. He was afraid, he had been Peter's age once and had tried alcohol, he fallen off the wagon quickly after that. He opened his mouth to say no but Bruce beat him to it. "It's getting late kid, you don't want a beer at this time. How about a hot chocolate?"
Peter mulled it over for a second. He didn't particularly want a beer, he just wanted to try it, to be one of the guys but looking at his dad he could see he wasn't comfortable with the idea. He considered asking once more but then just accepted Bruce's offer relaxing when he saw all the tension leave his dad's body at his words, it was his dad's weekend he didn't want to stress him out. There was always another time.
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Once Peter returned bundled up in one of Tony's old MIT sweaters and a blanket holding a hot chocolate he passed his own chair and curled up next to his dad. He received a raised eyebrow but refused to be swayed, it was comfortable here. "Tis cold dad."
Tony just chuckled softly and threw and arm over his son lazily while maintaining his conversation with Rhodey, within twenty minutes he could hear the soft snores coming from his son. He couldn't think of a better way to spend his bachelor weekend.