Chapter 6
Tony stood in his kitchen at the penthouse, intently staring at the inside of his refrigerator. What could he throw together and make it still edible? This was it… the time had finally come. He was now on his own. Pepper had left for her business trip that morning, right as Peter was leaving with Happy for school. It had been a last-minute decision to have her leave. On Saturday morning he thought for sure that Pepper was going to need to cancel her trip. But the afternoon brought a turn of events.
As hesitant as Tony had been in letting Peter go to the hospital to visit his aunt, it turned out to be just what the doctor ordered. Sure, the kid had been a bawling mess for the first fifteen minutes, but after he pulled himself together it had been a nice visit. By the time they left the hospital, Peter was smiling and acting like his old self again. The awkward silences between Tony and the kid were completely gone. They both spent Saturday evening in Tony's personal workshop tinkering around with different projects, losing track of time just like they used to. Pepper had to walk in and yell at them to go to bed at 3:30 in the morning.
The only thing that didn't go back to normal was Peter's appetite. He still only had one serving at each meal, and it was usually a small serving before stating that he was full. Tony downright knew it was always a lie, he'd seen the kid go through an entire large pizza in one sitting. But things were going so much better now, he didn't want to push it too much. As long as the kid at least ate each meal every day, the man decided he was going to pick that battle after he dealt with the three Avengers that were returning to the Compound on Friday.
It was only Monday, so there was still some time. But with the day fast approaching, it was time to bring it up with the kid. Two days ago, Tony would never have considered leaving Peter here all alone for however many days it took to sort everything out. But with the complete one-eighty turn, the idea seemed to be back in the cards now. At least he was going to give Peter the choice of coming with him or staying behind. He will do that at dinner tonight.
Which brings him back to why he is staring into his refrigerator like there's a TV inside it. There had to be something he knew how to cook. The man thought back to his childhood, trying to remember the occasional time he helped his mom cook dinner. Those had been the better memories of his childhood; but even those were beginning the fade. He could remember the different meals he helped his mother make, but could not recall any directions on how to make them. Tony glanced over at the digital clock on the stovetop. It read just a little after 3pm, which meant that Peter would be home soon and he needed to decide what the plan was for dinner.
Maybe he should just give it up for the night and order a pizza. Pepper had told him that they couldn't eat out the entire time she was gone, but just one night couldn't hurt. Then tomorrow he could hire a personal chef for the rest of the time. He probably should have done that years ago, but never saw the point up until now. It just didn't seem practical having an innocent person hanging around his mansion when it could get blown up again at any given moment. It was a liability, and Tony didn't want to deal with legal issues. So, it was better to just order everything; that way anyone who drops the food off wouldn't be staying around long enough to get killed.
But now he's got a kid to think about. The billionaire may not have any qualms about his own health, but a growing teenage boy couldn't live off of takeout food. Well, he probably could, but it wouldn't be healthy. He needed to make better decisions for the kid. "All right," he said to himself. "Pizza tonight. Then tomorrow I'll hire or build a robot to do the cooking."
"Thanks, Happy," Peter politely told the man, as he got out of the back seat of the limo, he'd ridden back from school in. It was a bit embarrassing getting dropped off and picked up in such a vehicle. Especially when all the kids would point at him while whispering behind their hands to the kid standing next to them. Word had quickly gotten around about his living with Tony Stark, and with it, were the wild rumors which included: That he was Mr. Stark's illegitimate son, or that Mr. Stark was adopting him to make a political statement. And his personal favorite, that Peter himself was claiming to be Mr. Stark's son, to avoid going into the system. Word had also gotten around that something happened to his aunt.
The true story hadn't gotten out yet, thank God. Most seemed to think that she had died, he overheard one person saying that his aunt had been in an accident and was now in a coma. He had finally told Ned and M.J. the true story today. His best friend had predictably stared at him with a fanboy face, and tactlessly stated that he wished that he had Peter's life. M.J. hit Ned in the shoulder and told him off before giving Peter her condolences in a very monotone voice. It's probably the most emotional he's ever seen the girl. But he still appreciated it all the same.
Happy had his usual grumpy grunt in response, then Peter shut the door and the car quickly skidded away. Peter was used to that by now. He never quite understood why he was nicknamed "Happy" because the boy had never once seen him in a happy mood.
Friday gave him her normal greeting as he entered the penthouse. "Good afternoon, Peter."
"Hi FRIDAY," the boy responded with ease. He was now used to the greeting, and even welcomed it now. "Is… T-Tony home yet?" boy that sounded weird. Peter was still attempting to keep his end of that deal, and try to start calling Mr. Stark by his real name. It just didn't seem right. He still couldn't bring himself to call the man Tony when he was actually speaking with him, but was practicing when Mr. Stark wasn't around to hear it. Yes, the plan wasn't very logical when it was Mr. Stark that was wanting this, but it's the best he could do now.
"Yes, he is, and Mr. Stark is currently waiting for you in the kitchen," FRIDAY responded.
Peter frowned slightly in confusion. What would Mr. Stark want him in the kitchen for? Maybe he needed help cooking, since he didn't seem to know how to cook anything by himself. He would have messed up the waffles they made on Saturday if Peter hadn't been there to stop him from adding salt in the place of sugar. "Thanks FRI," Peter said and made his way over to the kitchen.
"Hey there kiddo," Mr. Stark greeted him the moment Peter entered the kitchen. FRIDAY must have mentioned his arrival as the man looked like he'd been expecting him to enter the kitchen. "How was school?"
The boy just shrugged his shoulders before saying, "Okay I guess." Peter then scanned the kitchen with his eyes, as he had expected to find the kitchen in disarray. Or at least a cookbook with ingredients out on the counters. But he saw none of that, in fact the kitchen looked almost as clean as it had been when he left for school that morning.
As if he was reading Peter's confused expression, Mr. Stark then said, "So what do you think about ordering a pizza for dinner tonight?"
"I thought that… Miss Potts said that we can't order out while she's gone?" the boy pointed out. He recalled her saying this several times last night and again before she left this morning.
Mr. Stark smirked at him. "Correction. She said we can't eat out every night while she's gone." Okay Peter had to admit that the man had a point there. But if they were going to order out on the first night she was gone, they were not off to a good start. "Tomorrow I'll hire someone to come and cook up all that healthy shit."
Peter couldn't help but roll his eyes at that plan. It was such a Tony Stark way of problem solving. Just throw money at the problem, until it's fixed. If that doesn't work just hire someone to solve the problem instead. "Come on Mr. Stark. Why would you pay for someone to do something that I can do for free?" The kid began opening up cupboards, and pulled out some spaghetti noodles, and marinara sauce.
The billionaire just stood there in shock as Peter then opened the refrigerator and pulled out an onion, bell pepper, and some mushrooms. Mr. Stark was so flabbergasted that he couldn't form words until Peter was pulling ground beef out of the freezer. "W-Wait a minute. This is not how it's supposed to work; I'm the adult here. I'm supposed to be providing dinner for you. Not the other way around."
A laugh sounded through the kitchen, "You're still paying for the food, which means you're still providing for me. I'm just doing both of us a favor and cooking it up for you," Peter said, sounding a bit smug about it.
"Oh really?" Mr. Stark folded his arms over his chest in mock offense. "Are you trying to tell me that I can't cook a meal?"
"I never said that." Peter defended himself while opening up the basket of mushrooms. "I'm sure you can cook a meal just fine. Whether it's edible or not is debatable."
"Why you little-" Mr. Stark grabbed a stray mushroom and threw it at the kid.
Peter ducked his head to avoid the fungi, laughing. Mr. Stark joined in on the laughter shortly after that. Soon they were working together to make up some spaghetti for dinner. Well, it was more like Peter telling his mentor what to do. It was almost as if their roles were switched, and Peter was now the mentor while Mr. Stark was the mentee. Once the sauce was all put together and simmering on the stove, they started a pot of water to boil the noodles. Peter suddenly noticed a change in the air. He spared at glance at Mr. Stark and saw that the man was looking at him strangely. Almost like he wanted to bring something up but didn't know how to start. "What's up?" Peter asked with a feeling of foreboding growing in his chest.
"Well…" Mr. Stark started off awkwardly. "I was going to wait until we were eating dinner before bringing this up. But since we need to wait around for the water to boil, I might as well tell you now."
"O-Okay…" the teen responded with a slight stutter. The feeling of foreboding intensified, joined now with a feeling of dread. What could be wrong now. Had May taken a turn for the worst; or maybe something went wrong with the legal guardianship stuff and I was going to be taken away by CPS tomorrow.
Several other worst-case scenarios flipped through Peter's mind before Mr. Stark finally said what was on his mind. "So… this weekend some of the pardoned Avengers are moving back into the Compound in Upstate."
"Oh," was the only thing Peter could respond with. He felt relief that that was all it was, but then immediately felt guilty afterwards. Though he didn't know all the details, he was aware that he had a hard falling out with the rogues. So having them pardoned and moving back into the Avengers Facility was probably causing the man some stress.
Mr. Stark seemed to take his response as something negative because he quickly added. "It's all right. Not like it's going to affect you all that much. I just need to go over to the Compound for a couple days to help them settle in, and get some other stuff ironed out."
Now Peter was starting to understand where Mr. Stark was getting at. He's making sure that Peter is ok with them going to the Compound this weekend. A twinge of excitement birthed in the boy's chest as the thought of meeting some of the other Avengers. Technically he's met them all before, but Peter didn't really count that time. He'd been disguised as Spiderman, and they had all been fighting. "Which one's are moving back?" he asked, trying to contain his excited feelings.
"Wilson, Natasha, and… Steve."
Peter had noted how Mr. Stark had said that last name almost like a swear word, and it was a good reminder that he needed to be careful when talking about Captain America. Mr. Stark probably wouldn't appreciate hearing him fanboy over the man he still had issues with. "All right, that's cool," the boy eventually responded, trying to sound nonchalant.
"So, you can come with me to the Compound if you want to. The only hitch we might have with that plan is that I haven't got a cover story to explain our relationship yet. I'm not sure if you're ready to reveal to them that you're Spiderman, and if you come with me there is a good chance that may happen whether we want it to or not. Natasha is a professional spy, and can spot a lie before you even realize you're telling one. And I'm sure the others are probably already suspicious about the kid I've decided to take legal custody of." Mr. Stark said all this very quickly, barely even drawing a breath. Peter now knew for sure what the billionaire had been so anxious about.
It wasn't that the rogues were returning to the compound, or if Peter minded if he went over there this weekend. It was the fact that his identity was probably about to get outed, and the man wasn't ready for it. Peter didn't think he was ready for it either. As much as he would love to go and meet all his childhood heroes, it seemed too much of a risk that they'd put two and two together. It's probably going to come out anyway, it's not like he can hide from them forever. But a little more time seemed like a good plan.
Mr. Stark seemed to take the kids silence as feeling rejected because he suddenly added in a frantic voice. "You still can come with me if you want, I don't mind your company. I just want to make sure you understand exactly what may happen if you do come."
"N-No, that's ok Mr. Stark. I think I'll just stay here this weekend. It will give us some more time to come up with a story."
The billionaire nodded his head, looking relieved. The teen understood because he also felt relief with the decision. They didn't need to come up with a story before Friday. "All right, that sounds good."
"Who knows, maybe we can come up with a good enough story to fool even the Black Widow."
Mr. Stark just winked at him. "You obviously don't know her as well as I do."
Tony was finishing up with his tie, about to leave for his morning meeting with Secretary Grant. He couldn't believe that it was already Wednesday; the week was just flying by. The ongoing debate he'd been having with himself since last night was whether he should head over to the Compound tomorrow night or Friday morning. He'd already made sure that FRIDAY would give Steve and them access to the building whenever they showed up. So, his decision depended on whether he wanted to be at the compound when they arrived or not. There were pros and cons to both options.
"Boss, I thought you might want to know that Peter currently has an elevated body temperature," FRIDAY suddenly informed him just as he finished up knotting the tie.
The announcement makes him pause with a flare of anxiety running through his chest. The kid couldn't get sick. Right? The man had noted last night that Peter's eyes had looked a little bloodshot; and that he had eaten less than normal. When Tony inquired about it, the teen had insisted that he was just tired.
Pushing down the panic threatening to flare, as the kid falling sick right now would be the worst thing to possibly happen right now. He had thought that having to take custody of Peter a week ago was bad timing. The kid falling sick just two days before he needed to be at the Compound was far worse. "What's the kids' temperature right now?" he managed to ask calmly.
"Body temperature is currently 99.3 degrees Fahrenheit, but as per Miss Potts override, I'm required to inform you that my readings are not always accurate, and you should follow up with a regular thermometer."
"Yeah, yeah. I already know this FRI…" Tony rolled his eyes. There was one time he had been sporting a wicked headache, and FRIDAY had informed him that he was sporting a 101 temperature. But he had been in the middle of a big invention in the workshop and didn't want to stop unless things got serious. So, he had simply told his A.I. to inform him if his temperature went above 103 and he would admit defeat. Let's just say it didn't end very well. Pepper had found him passed out on the floor. FRIDAY had insisted that his fever was still in the 102 range. But after Pepper had forced him to take an oral thermometer, it turned out that his temperature was well over 105.
Ever since the incident, his fiancé had never let him or FRIDAY hear the end of it. Tony glanced over at the time. Almost 7am. Kid was probably just waking up to his alarm now. He'd double check the kid's temperature before leaving. If the temp wasn't too high and the kid still filled up to it, he'd let him go to school. If not, well… Grant wouldn't be happy, but he'd have to cancel the meeting. Or at least have it over the phone.
Tony then moved onto the task of finding a digital thermometer. They hadn't actually had a need to use one since the workshop incident, and quickly realized he had no idea where it could be. "FRIDAY? Do you know where Pepper stores the thermometer?" he ended up asking his A.I.
"I believe she stores it in the bathroom. Since you don't have security cameras in the bathrooms, I have no knowledge of where one might be stored."
"Thanks girl," he responded and headed into their master bathroom. At first, he thought it wouldn't be too difficult to find, but when he started searching, it turned out to be much more difficult. The bathroom held twelve drawers all stuffed with various items, a full closet, 4 linen cupboards, and two medicine cabinets.
He started with the medicine cabinets since they seemed like the most obvious place to store something like a thermometer. But that was a strike out and he moved onto the draws. It took a full ten minutes to dig through the drawers which some were filled to the brim with supplies. As soon as he slid the doors open to the bathroom closet and saw the amount of stuff inside, he gave up. "FRIDAY, override number 5678374. Scan the bathroom and tell me where the f- the thermometer is!"
"Override successful scanning now." the A.I. said after a moment. "Digital thermometer located on the bottom shelf of the left side medicine cabinet."
"Son of a bitch!" Tony swore under his breath. That was the first place he looked. That can't be right, how the hell did he miss that! He tore open the door, almost taking it off of its hinges and looked closely at the bottom shelf. After a couple of moments, he found the device hidden behind a couple of pill bottles.
With some more muttered swears, the billionaire left the bathroom and headed over to see if Peter was still in his room. He knocked softly at the slightly ajar door causing it to open enough for the man to peek inside. The bed was empty which meant that the kid was feeling well enough to at least attempt to go to school today. Unless he was in the bathroom. A quick check crossed that option off the list. Upon entering the kitchen, he found the kid fully dressed and wearing his backpack; sipping on a cup of orange juice. If Tony hadn't already been forewarned, he probably would not have noticed anything off about the kid. But on close inspection, saw that the kid was a little paler than usual with just a hint of pink painted to his cheeks, and his eyes were also bloodshot.
The kid gave a nod of acknowledgement and took another sip from the cup before setting the half-filled glass on the counter by the sink. "Hi Mr. Stark," he greeted before immediately waving. "And bye. I'm heading to school-"
"Freeze!" Tony interrupted with a forceful point of his finger at the kid's direction. Peter did freeze his body, looking a little alarmed. "FRIDAY tells me you're running a fever."
Peter glared up at the ceiling, as if he had known that he was a little feverish and hoping that Tony wouldn't notice. That's probably exactly what happened, and the kid hadn't counted on the A.I. tattling on him. "It's all right Mr. Stark. I usually run a little hot so it's normal."
"Na-ah," the billionaire shook his head; not buying it. "If that were true, why has she waited until now to say something about it?"
The boy shrugged his shoulders, "She glitched?"
That earned a heavy eye roll. The kid must be really feeling off if he thought that suggestion would hold up. Like FRIDAY would ever glitch? But he decided to play along for Peter's sake. "FRIDAY? What's Peter's typical body temperature?"
"Mr. Parker's average body temperature is usually below the normal range at around 96.4 degrees Fahrenheit."
Tony looked over at the boy and saw his cheeks flush a deeper shade of red. "I guess I run a little cold then…?" the kid stated; voice rising at the end of the sentence to make it sound like he was asking a question.
"All right," Tony motioned at the closest bar stool in the kitchen. "Park yourself over in that chair and let's check your temperature," he instructed while pulling the device out of his pocket.
With a resigned sigh, the kid walked over to the chair and hopped up onto it. "Why do we need to check it, when FRIDAY already knows?"
The older man took off the plastic cover of the thermometer before answering. "Because she's not always accurate. Now open up?" he held the device up to Peter's mouth.
"Then how do we know she's accurate about my regular body temperature?" the boy continued to argue. "Why would it normally be so low?"
"Probably has something to do with your DNA being altered by that spider. Spiders are normally cold-blooded arachnids. Makes sense to me. Now would you stop arguing and open your mouth?" Tony was quickly losing his patients with the kid. At this rate he'd be late for his meeting even if Peter was fine.
Thankfully, the teen finally decided to comply by snatching the thermometer out of his meteors hand with a few grumbles and slid the pointed end of the thermometer into his mouth.
Silence fell in the kitchen as the two waited for the temperature to read. Peter slid the backpack off of his back and propped an elbow onto the counter so he could rest his chin on his elevated hand. Tony noted that the boy suddenly looked ten times more exhausted. It seemed as if he had decided to just give up the fight, and admit to himself that he was sick. This was even more clear a minute later when the thermometer beeped, and Peter pulled it out of his mouth and handed it to his mentor with a tired sigh.
"100.2…" the billionaire read off the numbers that were shown. "Yep, it looks like a fever to me."
Tony made a good show of sounding nonchalant about the whole thing. But internally he was panicking. How was he supposed to take care of a sick kid, when he barely took care of himself? He had absolutely no clue on what he was supposed to do, and Pepper was long gone on her trip. A hundred-degree fever was generally considered low grade; but if Friday was correct and the kid's temperature is normally lower than average- did that mean it was a higher-grade fever?
Once again, the man was feeling way over his head. He didn't even know how to take care of a normal person, and now he had to care for a super kid with mutated DNA who hadn't gotten sick up until this point. There weren't even any doctors he knew of that he could get advice from. Bruce was still MIA; and he hadn't heard from Dr. Cho since she left for South Korea two years ago. He couldn't take Peter to a normal doctor without the spiderman secret getting out. Not to mention that he still needed to leave for the Compound by Friday morning at the latest. What was with this kid and his timing? Couldn't he just not have any problems long enough for him to work out all his crap with Cap? "All right kid… why don't you go get your jammies back on and I'll call your school." Jammies? Where the hell did that come from?
Peter left the kitchen without comment or complaint, leaving his backpack where he dropped it. With another sigh, Tony pulled his phone out. First, he needed to call the kid out of school. Then he needed to call Secretary Grant so he could let the guy know that he wasn't making the meeting. Then he needed to Google how to take care of a sick kid… why did life hate him so much?
