"Remind me again why it matters if I attend this thing?" Tony asked in annoyance as he tied his necktie, which was a garish green and pink thing. Pepper said he'd match the decor, but that just made him seriously worry about who they'd hired to decorate for this year's holiday party. At least pairing it with one of his light gray Tom Ford suits made it look a little more purposeful. Not that Tony was opposed to garish, when it was for a reason that he picked.
"Tony, it's our company party. You have to go. Plus, we've invited lots of our big investors, and they like to see your handsome face." Pepper walked over to him with a no-nonsense expression firmly in place. Her tone was a little exasperated, but her hands were gentle and caressing as she straightened his already-straight tie and smooth his suit's shoulders and front. "You look fantastic."
"I always look fantastic," he reminded her. She pursed her lips at that. "When I clean up," he amended.
"Which hasn't been a whole lot lately," she reminded him. "It's been a rough couple of weeks, and you haven't shown your face around here much. It would do the heads and employees good to see that you're not hiding in Jamaica, or unwilling to leave your lab."
"I would never do something so crass," he said lightly. He tilted his head in consideration. "Costa Rica, maybe. And I'm always unwilling to leave my lab." Pepper gave him her "I'm being patient with you, because I love you" look. It was similar to her old "I'm being patient with you because you pay me a lot," but much, much more enjoyable. She leaned forward and kissed him, letting her nails scratch lightly at the nape of his neck while the other hand leaned against his chest for support.
"Or we could both stay here," he suggested breathlessly a minute later. Pepper's light green dress did wonderful things for her color, and brought out the adorable freckles her makeup was trying hard to conceal
"Peter will be here in five minutes, Tony. May said he needs some help with his tie, and he's not any happier than you about this party. But it will be good for both of you. She gave him a measuring look to see if he was planning to behave, then kissed the underside of his jaw before slipping out to finish checking on the party prep.
Tony sighed. It would be good to introduce Peter to some of the investors, and more of the staff. Good for them to get used to seeing him around. Having found a purpose for all the fuss, Tony finished getting ready quickly, and was almost done when Peter arrived a few minutes later.
"Mr. Stark?" he heard from his bedroom door.
"Hey, Pete. Come on in."
Peter had only been in his room a handful of times, usually when Tony himself was sick or injured. The kid glanced around, seemingly re-familiarizing himself with the décor as he walked over to his mentor. He looked a little hangdog, possibly about the whole "formal attire" issue. He tugged at his designer apparel uncomfortably.
"Looking sharp, kid. I knew the charcoal would suit you. Haha, suit you? Get it?"
"Mr. Stark, I'm feeling really disappointed in your life choices," he said with a scowl.
"Nah, that was my dad's line. You don't get to use it."
Peter lifted his eyebrows in surprise and frowned at him in a different way, opening his mouth to say something else, but Tony interrupted. "Why do you get a normal tie?" he complained.
"It's not normal, it's the same weird green color as yours," he said, his face screwed up in distaste.
"Yeah, but it doesn't have the weird pink pattern on it. It almost looks paisley," Tony shuddered.
Peter rolled his eyes. "Will you just help me with mine?"
"Nice to see you, too, kid," Tony said pointedly, stepping into his space to inspect the only-slightly mangled tie. "What did you do to this thing?"
Peter sighed, lifting his chin to give Tony access. "I was trying to tie it from a video on YouTube, but it always just looked dumb at the end."
Tony had to move a little slowly and methodically as he translated the reverse motions in his head, but he got Peter's tie looking good with only one or two missteps.
"Next time just bring it with you, and we'll work on it together, okay? Before you torture it."
"Next time?" Peter looked dismayed.
"You don't think this is the last time you're wearing a tie, do you?" Tony asked in amusement.
"I can hope," Peter muttered.
"Hmm. We're going to have to find more of these events for you to go to, so you get more comfortable with formalwear."
"Do you hate me?" Peter asked dramatically, face aghast, but eyes amused.
"On the contrary," Tony said with a smile. "And it's an important life skill I obviously need to pass on."
"What skill?"
"The ability to convince yourself, and everyone else, that you're as comfortable in a three-piece suit as you are in jeans and a t-shirt."
"I'd like to see you try," Peter muttered again, not able to hide his smile anymore.
"Oh, you'll find I'm very good at everything I attempt," Tony said confidently.
The kid couldn't hold it in anymore, and he laughed out loud at that one.
Tony smiled. Mission accomplished.
Daren was determined to enjoy himself tonight. Because it was a party thrown partially for the company employees, he hadn't been involved in the planning, and he didn't have any official duties. Unofficially, Ms. Potts had asked for him to just keep a general eye on things, and let her or the security team know if there were any issues. Obviously, if Mr. Stark was causing the issue, he was to report to her. Daren hoped that wouldn't be necessary. He didn't even know if Mr. Stark would actually be here tonight. He'd been awfully quiet lately, and hadn't been seen on the public levels of the Tower more than a couple times in the last several weeks. Daren hoped he was well. According to the executive assistant scuttlebutt, there had been a few Iron Man-related issues lately, as well as either a kidnapping or hostage situation several weeks ago. The last time Daren had seen Mr. Stark himself had been the day that happened.
They'd been in Ms. Potts' office going over their weekly calendar one afternoon when he'd come storming in, calling for Pepper's immediate attention. From the distressed look on his face that day, Daren was willing to bet Peter had been involved. Peter was Mr. Stark's intern, but they were something more than that. Daren still harbored the suspicion that they were related, even though Peter had denied it. Daren had seen the boy coming and going several times recently, so he knew he'd come through it okay. But he still wondered if everything was okay on the penthouse level.
"Who is that with Mr. Stark?" Daren heard, and turned his head to see a group of accounting underlings staring. He followed their line of sight. So, the man had made it, and Peter was on his heels again tonight, looking a little older than his sixteen years, in a suit just as nice as Mr. Stark's. Daren's eyebrows hit his hairline at the sight. He wondered if the boy knew how much those cost, because Daren definitely did, and that exact suit was on his eventual bucket list. He sighed, not even able to begrudge the kid. Peter was unnaturally nice and helpful, and the more times Daren interacted with him, the more he liked him. Especially when the teenager could sass Mr. Stark fearlessly yet never drew his wrath.
"Does Stark have a son?" another lower-level chemistry lab hire whispered next to him. The whole group, gathered at the fancy-party version of a water cooler, started muttering to each other about different theories. It didn't help that most of them had been drinking a little. Or a lot, in some instances. Daren was standing a little apart, just listening and observing. When the conjectures started getting outlandish, and on the edge of inappropriate, Daren swore Peter reacted to one of the comments, his head jerking slightly towards the gaggle and his shoulders tensing up. That was strange. Daren was sure it was just his imagination that the boy could have heard, but he could easily nip this in the bud.
He stepped in behind the group and cleared his throat. "The teenager you're all gossiping about is Mr. Stark's personal intern, and protégé, and it would behoove you all to keep those kinds of thoughts to yourselves if you value your jobs here."
Eyes that had snapped to him when he started talking widened at his explanation, and they fell mostly silent. One particularly obnoxious girl, who had obviously been enjoying the open bar, protested. "A teenager? He looks like he's barely in high school, and we know SI doesn't hire them. Why would Mr. Stark be working with him?" she complained caustically.
"Hush, Cora. Daren would know. He's one of the executive floor assistants; don't you know?" a more savvy young brunette said, elbowing the difficult one.
Daren raised his eyebrows at her. "If any of you could keep up with Mr. Stark in his lab, you might be working with him, too," he said calmly, then turned on his heel and made his way to another part of the floor. Sure, he wasn't technically in charge of anything tonight, but it wouldn't hurt to walk around the room crushing rumors for a few minutes. The drinks table crowd weren't the only ones who'd taken a sudden interest in Mr. Stark's shadow.
An hour later, Daren leaned back against a pillar, sighing. It hadn't quite been the fun, relaxing evening he'd hoped for, but he felt good about the rumors he'd been able to correct. By now, the employees, at least, seemed to have formed a healthier view of Peter's presence, between Daren quietly spreading correct information, and as they watched and listened to the boy interact. Daren had listened in on a few conversations, and had actually been impressed. The boy sounded a little nervous, but had held his own as he chatted with a few department heads and investors, often with Stark's (surprisingly) quiet assurance at his side. Daren shook his head derisively. Not all the rumors were going to die though, if Stark didn't stop looking at the kid like a proud father. Mr. Stark, Ms. Potts, and Peter all matched the décor tonight, and Daren was impressed. But that also meant they matched each other, and it looked like they might be headed in to get one of those family photos people sent out on Christmas cards. Not a lot of subtlety there.
Daren was startled as the kid in question showed up at his elbow. "Hi, Daren," he said brightly.
"Uh, hello Peter. Are you enjoying the party?" he asked, a bit stiffly. Why couldn't he be more relaxed? Maybe he should have had more than one drink…
"Yeah, more than I thought. But I'm pretty ready to split and get out of these clothes. How late do these things generally go, do you know?" Was the boy making small talk with him? Why Daren, specifically? And Daren was unfortunately rather awful at small talk.
Daren glanced at his watch. "Oh, maybe another hour or two?"
Peter sighed dramatically. "Really? Ugh."
"I would venture to guess if you asked Mr. Stark to leave, he'd be amenable. He's historically not fond of these parties, either," Daren said with a slight smile.
"Eh, he seems determined to stay," Peter said resignedly. Especially now that he got Ms. Potts to dance with him finally," he said with a little smile himself, gesturing to the makeshift dance floor.
"Ah, yes. That could affect it." It was nice to see Ms. Potts relaxing and having a nice time, at least. Daren didn't know long it might take to make it to her primary team, but it was time well-spent, in his opinion. He was quite happy working for her, even indirectly, at times. She was so frank, and a great communicator, and just so effective. His professional idol, for sure. Just as he was waxing poetic in his head, he noticed Peter had gone quite still.
"You okay there?" he asked curiously.
"Um, I think something might be wrong."
Just then, the lights and music cut, and then blinked almost immediately back on, but dimmer. There was a sudden rush of voices, following a few screams that had erupted during the black-out. Daren himself had slammed his hands back against the pillar for support in his surprise. His eyes flicked to Peter, who had dropped to a hard crouch (definitely creasing his nice suit) and was glaring at the ceiling. The boy's head turned rapidly to an unheard noise, and he glanced back at Daren before he started jogging towards Mr. Stark on the dance floor. Daren followed. Actually, the whole crowd seemed to follow, naturally gravitating to the billionaire, both as the building's owner, and as the resident superhero.
Mr. Stark had his hand to his ear, listening carefully to something. Daren walked up and heard the end of what he was saying to Ms. Potts, Mr. Hogan, and Peter. None of them seemed surprised or upset that he was just a few steps behind the teenager, and close to their inner circle.
"-said that power was cut from the basement, and the generators kicked in. We don't have cameras working down there, but FRI's working on it. We need everyone to stay calm and stay here for now, while I check it out. Vision's inbound and Rhodey said he's available if I need back-up. Happy, I want you to run point with security. I'm gonna duck out before I engage the suit so as not to cause more chaos here."
All of that had been rapid-fire, and the response from Peter was equally intense. "What about me, sir? What do you want me to do? I can-"
"Peter, Pepper's going to go up and see what she can figure out from the secure connection she has in her office. I need you to stay here and make sure people don't panic, and that they sit tight unless I tell you otherwise."
"But, Tony, I-"
"Zip it, Underoos. That's what I need you to do, and that's what you're going to do."
Peter looked angry, but took a step back. "For now," he muttered.
"Unless. You. Hear. Otherwise."
Peter sighed, and averted his eyes, nodding tightly.
Mr. Stark's gaze softened. "Hey," he said quietly, and waited for the kid to meet his eyes. "I'm not benching you. I really do need you here," he finished quietly. Peter sighed again, dropping his shoulders. "Okay."
Tony's head swiveled around, and he finally realized Daren was there. "Anderson, excellent. Will you help Peter manage this lot? They all know you, and they don't know him. But he knows what he's doing, so take your cues from him, yeah?"
Surprised and gratified at the apparent trust, Daren nodded shakily. "Yes, sir."
"Thank you, Daren," Ms. Potts said appreciatively, as she turned with two security guards and one of her primary assistants, who had just found them. He was steadier now, and determined to justify their trust. And to not think about all the reasons he should be freaking out.
Mr. Stark briefly cupped the back of Peter's neck as he made eye contact again, communicating something silently, then he and Mr. Hogan headed out the closest door.
"I swear, Tony, if you have to carry me again," Daren heard Mr. Hogan start to say as they left. Now that was a picture. He tried not to smirk, but failed.
Peter must have heard his amused exhale, and the boy returned his smile conspiratorially. "Yeah, it's just as funny as it sounds."
"I'm thinking the best thing is to tell them that the power transfer is temporary, and that they should go on with the party as normal, right? It's going to be easier to keep them contained that way, and hopefully keep them from worrying?" Peter's face was concerned, his shoulders a little tight again. But he was right.
Daren nodded. "That would be best."
"Can you make the announcement?" Peter asked. I'm going to go right over there and talk to FRIDAY for a minute, to make sure she'll alert me if anything big changes.
Daren moved to the stage, praying the generator was still powering the instruments and microphone they'd been using. Thankfully, there was a responsive whine when he tapped it.
He pulled on his PR mask, with lots of sincere smiling (he'd practiced in front of the mirror, and even his roommate, for moments like this) and made the announcement, emphasizing that the elevators weren't functioning for safety's sake, and that it was imperative for everyone to stay on this floor for now. He gestured for the musicians to resume, which thankfully, they did.
He hurried back over to where Peter had, apparently, found a FRIDAY interface, and the boy was arguing with the AI.
"Mr. Stark put me in charge of all these people, FRI. I'm pretty sure he'd want you to update me on whatever's happening down there so I can make informed decisions."
"Boss is currently busy, and on radio silence, so I can't confirm with him, but I don't see any reason he would want that activity broadcasted up here, Peter." Wow. Even FRIDAY was on a first-name basis with this kid. And they seemed quite comfortable disagreeing with each other.
"Don't give me that. I know you two are perfectly capable of communicating without being overheard. And you're not broadcasting it, for heaven's sake, FRI, you're just keeping me informed. There's no reason to keep up in the dark, metaphorically, on what's happening, because-"
"Based on past events, if you hear something you don't like, there is a 45% likelihood that you will abandon your post here and-"
"Hey, we're not exactly alone, watch it," Peter muttered, glancing back at Daren's surprised form. "And I will not abandon my post; I know that I'm in charge of all of this," he gestured theatrically, "and I'll do as he asked. I simply need to know."
"Once I hear from Mr. Stark, if he gives permission, I'm happy to keep you posted, Peter."
"Dang it, FRIDAY," Peter muttered. "Override Stark-3523-Alpha-Delta-1."
"Very well, then," the AI said, her voice a little frosty.
"Text updates to my phone unless it's urgent, please," Peter said in a clipped tone. "I don't have my earbuds."
"Acknowledged," the AI replied stiffly. Daren was pretty sure they were now fighting. He didn't know one could fight with an AI, but apparently Mr. Stark's intern could do just that.
"He's not going to be happy that you used his override," FRIDAY said, a touch petulantly.
"Yeah, well, he can yell at me later," Peter retorted, distracted, as he scrolled through the updates that were now coming through on his StarkPhone. That was a really nice one. Daren narrowed his eyes. He was pretty sure it was the prototype they'd been discussing at the last Production meeting. The one that would be coming out in like six months, with the flush surface projections… he just shook his head, refusing to be surprised at anything else Stark's kid did, or said, or had today. Because whether he was actually related or not, that's definitely what he was.
Thirty minutes later, Daren Anderson was eating his words. Power had recently been restored, and according to Peter's intel, Iron Man, Vision, and Happy's team had dealt with the would-be tech thieves. Except there were two who were both especially sneaky and wildly opportunistic, who had just rushed out of the elevator on this floor. They were masked, armed, and demanding the more mundane wallets and jewelry, of all the various possibilities here.
Peter had immediately disappeared, and Spiderman had shown up less than a minute later, and was now arguing with FRIDAY, sort of, in Peter's same annoyed tones. Daren only heard it because he was right there as Spiderman swung into action.
"Karen, you can tell FRIDAY that I'm doing exactly what he said to: taking care of the people up here, because his team missed some. And furthermore…" Spidey moved out of Daren's hearing range.
Daren leaned back, head and hands flat against the wall in surprise, yet again. Tony Stark's protégé, indeed. So many things made sense now. Not that anyone needed to know that he knew. Daren was hoping to be here at SI for the long haul. And obviously Stark was grooming the kid to be a big part of the company's future, which Daren was surprisingly pleased about. So he'd just keep his head down and plan to do his job as well as he could. You know, as long as the teenage superhero currently confronting the criminals really did know what he was doing, and they all went home safely tonight.
Oh, Peter's suit! Surely he hadn't had time to hang up that lovely piece of art when he changed so rapidly. It had better not be on the floor in that conference room he'd ducked into. Ignoring the excitement at the front of the room, Daren turned on his heel to go save the suit from whatever its current fate was. Peter would need to change back into it, and it would be telling if it was all creased or dusty…
Not all heroes wore Starktech, after all.
Several hours later, Peter had finally changed into sweats and a hoodie and was leaning heavily into Tony's side on the couch as some random 80's movie played out on the screen they were both ignoring.
"I'm just saying, you've got to be careful, Pete. Especially around the Tower, where people are going to get to know you more."
"Pretty sure no one saw me," Peter said sleepily. "And I had to hurry before they started shooting or somethin'." Tony would bet his eyes were already closed. The kid never got quite enough sleep with all his extracurricular crime-fighting, and it was nearly 1 AM. "Daren was there, but he wasn' payin' attention. And he's nice." Huh.
Pepper came in with two cups of hot chocolate (she'd shut down his request for coffee) and sat on his other side.
"Where's mine?" Peter protested weakly.
"Peter, we both know you're going to be asleep in five minutes," she said kindly, "and you already brushed your teeth." Ha, who was acting parental now?
"Hmmph."
"Besides, interns who use their mentor's overrides on the AI don't deserve treats," Tony said lightly, tapping the back of the boy's head with a bit of sharpness, still a little put out. His fingers brushed apologetically against the back of Peter's hair, taking the heat out of his protest. Peter hummed and leaned into his touch.
"Why would you use it 'n fron' of me if you didn' wan' me to know it?" Peter asked rhetorically, slurring his words a bit.
Tony just rolled his eyes. "FRIDAY, remind me to change that. And probably the other ones, too."
"Most certainly, Boss," she responded primly. Why did she always sound so awake, even in the middle of the night? It was mildly maddening. He should tweak her programming and add an "after midnight" mode. He could tell she was still miffed at his kid, but Peter hadn't done anything Tony wouldn't have in the same situation. He was so like Tony in some of those ways. The ways that made him cover his proud smile because he really shouldn't get away with those things. But also the ways that made Tony feel like he walked around just perpetually worried about what the boy was going to jump into next. Was this how Rhodey had felt for the last twenty years? He should buy him a car or something. Nah, the War Machine armor was pretty cool, right? Was it enough?
"M'st'r Stark?"
"Yeah, Pete?"
"It was good t'night. Even havin' to wear a suit. An' the food was awesome."
"Yeah?"
"I guess I could do it again." He yawned, and Tony's hand urged him down into a horizontal position. "Sometime."
Pepper was listening, and he could just feel her smiling next to him as she leaned tiredly into his other shoulder.
"Don't run with that thought," he cautioned his fiancée with mock sternness. She chuckled sleepily into his side, and he brought his other arm up to pull her in closer, too. He relished being so surrounded by people he loved. And who, surprisingly, loved him back.
"Hey, Pep?"
"Mmm-hmm?"
"Any concerns about that assistant, Anderson?"
"No, why? I like him. And he did well again tonight, rolling with all of the crazy that surrounds us."
"He did. Keep a bit of an eye and ear on him, though. I'm curious how much he saw and heard tonight."
"Okay," she yawned. "I've been thinking about promoting him anyway. We'll keep him close."
Tony stroked a hand through his kid's hair for a few moments, but he was pretty sure he'd passed out directly after his last statement. It had grown a little more pronounced lately, the disconnect between Peter when he was in "Spiderman mode," especially in his suit, and when they were just together like this. Peter was getting more likely to argue with him in either setting, he mused with an indignant huff, but he seemed more comfortable with Tony at home than he used to be, and looked for his approval in a slightly different way.
It freaked him out just a little bit, to feel so much trust from the boy, but also warmed him from the inside. He didn't think he was messing it up too badly. It took so much effort to turn off these protective, invested feelings when the overpowered teen was doing the whole superhero thing, but Peter had insisted it was important to him, so he tried . He would not be his father. He would not assume that because the kid looked to him that he could force him into doing whatever Tony thought was best. It would make his life easier, and infinitely less stressful if he could, though. He'd tried to keep him out of the action again tonight, but that never worked out for him, did it?
"I'm going to bed. You joining me, or are you and the boy-wonder going to have a sleepover?" Pepper asked, standing up and stretching.
Tony eyed her appreciatively. She was just as beautiful in sweats and one of his t-shirts as she had been in her admittedly-distracting dress tonight. He was so grateful to have her in his life. They really should work on setting a date. He was suddenly anxious to be officially tied to her, as well as in every other way. Who was he, and what had happened to the Tony of ten, even five years ago?
"Give me just a few minutes, and I'll slip away and join you," he promised. "Toss me that pillow?"
"It's a good look on you, you know," she said casually, nodding at the kid in his lap.
"Every look is good on me," he reminded her with a grin.
She laughed, and turned to head to their bedroom. "Don't take too long, Mr. Stark," she said teasingly.
Tony was happy the kid was a deep sleeper. He transferred him easily to a pillow, and pulled a throw blanket over him. He surveyed the sleeping teen for just a moment, grateful that everything had gone okay tonight, and that nothing had happened to him. To any of them. He knew he couldn't keep them both safe forever, but he was going to do his best. And his best was usually pretty effective.