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Being a Stark [Superfamily]

Chapter 11

They are trying to keep the ‘babysitting’ subtle, but in all honesty, subtlety isn’t exactly the Avenger’s biggest talent.

Whenever it’s Nat’s turn, she just sits down on a chair and starts looking around on her tablet, only paying attention to Tony whenever he raises his voice in annoyance whenever something doesn’t work right – which is quite often since the kid – Tony should just call him Peter now, to keep it simple – has practically been begging to bring Dum-E back here. Somehow, the two do kind of work good together.

Wanda doesn’t pay too much attention to Tony, instead talking with Peter and making jokes together. For a moment, even Tony had wondered if there’s anything going on between the two, but after asking a very embarrassed Peter about it, the only thing he got in return was a stuttered and panicked answer that contains the message as: ‘we’re just good friends!’, which is maybe better since there’s still that thing between Wanda and Vision.

Rhodey just bugs Tony in that caring way he always does. Where others give up after asking Tony to do something, Rhodey just keeps on asking until Tony either does it because it’s driving him crazy, or until he starts swearing, leading to a shouting match between the two until they both stop and start laughing it out on the floor. They try not to do the latter whenever Peter is present, though.

Sam is more or less the same, but he’s only focused on one thing, exactly; his wings. When he has his turn as the ‘babysitter’, he starts asking all sorts of questions of his wings; what exactly did Tony add last time, what is he planning on adding now? What are his ideas for the future? How about laser-wings instead of metal ones? Each time Sam’s shift is over, Tony is about ready to throw the wings out of the building.

Vision is friendly and trying to be helpful, but the fact that he sounds like JARVIS does confuse him sometimes, especially when his jokes are never met with the same sarcastic retort JARVIS would normally bring.

Clint sleeps. There’s nothing much to add about that. He gets into the workshop, suggests that, if Tony wants to get drunk he’ll join him, and then lies down on the couch and takes a nap, telling Tony to wake him up if he needs him.

And then there’s Cap.

Cap is everywhere. He takes the most shifts, but also the longest ones. He stands next to Tony whenever he’s working on small things, ready to hand him whatever materials he needs next. When he can’t help, he sits down on the couch and starts drawing stuff – stuff he never lets Tony see, which makes the inventor even more curious.

Steve stares. Sometimes he thinks Tony doesn’t notice it, and he’ll just look away after a while.

Sometimes, he does realize Tony notices, and he’ll turn bright red from shame, drawing down furiously in his sketchbook and avoiding his look for the rest of the hour.

He’s the reminder that he needs to go to sleep. The reminder that he should take his pills at regular hours. His reminder that he’s not a machine and still needs to eat. In a way, he takes care of Tony in a manner that Tony’s not really used to. Sure, his mother took care of him, and Jarvis did, too, back when he was still alive. Even Aunt Peggy took care of him for a while after his parent’s deaths.

But that’s so long ago, and Tony is not a healthy being. Doing things so regularly like this feels weird – not bad, but weird.

It is not limited to Steve when it comes to the fear of Tony doing stupid things. All the Avengers are alert the entire time they’re with him, listening to what he’s doing and how he’s reacting to things. Whenever things seem to be going a little less okay, they react.

Natasha, Rhodey and Steve talk him through it. The others just call Steve.

Between five and nine, the workshop is filled with three people instead of two. Peter joins him in his workshop every day now, working alongside him on the new suit that Tony’s preparing. Who it is for, he rather keeps a secret for now, but he’s sure that Peter will notice who will be wearing it. It would be hard to miss, especially if he worked on it alongside him.

Tony is very pleased with Peter’s work. He tries hard, does his best, and shows much promise in everything that he does. Every time Tony thinks that he’s given him the impossible – well, impossible for a teenage kid or any ‘normal’ person but not for him – the kid keeps on proving him wrong by doing just that.

He comes up with new ideas, suggests improvements Tony hadn’t even thought of, and makes jokes with Dum-E. These jokes are, of course, mostly about the bot. Being donated to charity, that is. Or anything else Tony has ever threatened Dum-E with in the past years.

It’s weird to see them work so good together, but on the other hand Tony finds some relief in it as well; there aren’t many who are able (or willing) to work with the bot. Others have even suggested tuning up his programming, but Tony has always disagreed to that. Changing his programming would change the Bot. It wouldn’t be Dum-E anymore.

Besides, it’s not like U and Butterfingers aren’t a lost cause, either.

During the days, things are going fine. During the night a bit less. Tony is haunted by nightmares, memories he thought he’d suppressed but are actually following him now. Afghanistan, New York, Pepper falling to her death… Sometimes he’s greeted with images of a life he used to dream to have with Mary. Sometimes it’s Pepper, and there’s a kid involved.

But sometimes it’s dreams of Peter. Mostly of the kid disappointed in him for some reason, but sometimes with the kid being in danger, chased by the Goblin – who they still haven’t caught, by the way – or taken by the aliens. Somehow, it’s those dreams that scare him the most.

As the days pass by, the weeks go forth, Tony can’t help but feel somehow attached to the kid. Somehow, he recognizes so much of himself in Peter, it’s almost scary. There are a few of Mary’s quirks in there, too – the lighter shade of hair in comparison to his own (but still dark on itself), the pale skin, the nervous tapping with the fingers on the table. Tony notices it all. He’s never met Richard Parker to be able to make a comparison.

Peter has potential, and right now it’s growing so much. Tony just hopes he can teach him all he knows before he, like his mother, realizes that he shouldn’t waste his time on him.

Mr. Stark is low again today.

His mood changes from day to day. Though usually he keeps up a good front, cracking jokes and laughing whenever possible, there are days where he can’t keep it up and it all goes downhill. That usually means that he’s quiet, barely paying attention, and sometimes just leaving the workshop with the excuse of splashing water in his face.

Depending on who is guarding Mr. Stark, there’s reaction to said behavior. Widow usually just talks him down, giving him the hard facts and then playing in on his guilt. Where Peter wouldn’t have thought that would work, it does prove effective on the man.

Rhodey just sits him down and asks about what’s wrong. They usually sit on the couch while Peter keeps on working. On very few occasions did they tell Peter it’s better to go, since there won’t be anything they’ll do anymore on that day. Whenever that was the case, Peter used his sudden free time swinging through New York’s streets and searching for the bad guys.

Steve is much like Rhodey, but there’s something different about it. He’s much more tactile, Peter notices early on. There’s always a hand on the shoulder, on the back. Sometimes Steve even pulls him into an embrace and starts stroking through Mr. Stark’s hair. It’s weird to see it like that.

Not that Peter minds, of course; he only wants the best for Mr. Stark. But even Peter notices the way Steve is around him. Always trying to touch, but also trying not to touch too much. He’s always worried, calling out for Mr. Stark whenever he only sneezes even. Peter has made multiple mental notes that he should ask Yaël about it, since she seems to know Steve a lot more than Peter does.

He’s been at Stark Industries for almost two months now, but he’s spent most of his time at the Avenger’s facility, helping Mr. Stark create this new suit for that new recruit he’s got his eyes on. Peter still doesn’t really know who it’s supposed to be, but he knows that he’s a tad bit jealous of the person getting this.

After the form-fitting fabric has been perfected and sent away for dyeing, Mr. Stark put Peter to work on some sort of holographic wrist display that will be added to the suit later on. With the help of the inventor, Peter put together a GPS tracking-system, along with a prototype for a small recon-drone. But, as usual, while Peter helps with the basics, Mr. Stark keeps him out of the final product.

The next thing Peter was tasked with were some sort of displays in eye-lenses, which will allow the person wearing it to see multiple images in front of him. This could help with calculations, zooming in on specific objects, or focusing on one certain aspect. Peter once more helped Mr. Stark – though Peter is sure the man doesn’t really need his help – and once Peter tried them on, they, too, were taken away.

He shouldn’t be so bothered about it, but he can’t help it; it’s his creation as much as Mr. Starks. He may not have come up with all the ideas, but he helped build it. The person wearing it shouldn’t be told that Tony Stark made this alone.

Of course, Peter can’t complain. Well, he does, of course, but the moment he’s standing next to Mr. Stark, whichever speech he’s prepared today quickly disappears as the words die in his mouth, and he’s finding himself once more holding a screwdriver in his hands while looking down on the next invention.

He’s even less inclined to speak up on the days Mr. Stark isn’t feeling too well. Today is one of those days.

“Mr. Stark?” Peter asks when he sees that the man hasn’t moved in the past hour. He’s leaning forward on his desk, head resting on his hands and elbows on the table. At first, Peter thought he had been sleeping, but after walking by a few times he saw that his eyes were open. Whatever it is, it seems to be taking all of his attention.

“Peter? What’s wrong?” Steve suddenly asks. Of course he does; from where Steve is sitting, he, too, would think that Mr. Stark is sleeping. How could he even suspect that it’s not that?

Peter doesn’t say anything, only pointing towards Mr. Stark and then shrugging to indicate he doesn’t know what’s going on. Steve puts his sketchbook away carefully and then stands up again.

“Tony?” he asks. There’s no answer. Peter decides to leave them be. He just lets Steve do his thing and resumes his work on the program he’s working on. Mr. Stark gave him a code earlier today, and then told Peter to try and finish it. According to him, it’s supposed to be an AI, much like FRIDAY is. Peter isn’t really sure what he’s supposed to do – especially if Mr. Stark is spacing out again today – but he think he’ll manage.

Peter decides that the best way for him to tune the two out is by taking out his headphones and start playing some music. When he looks down on his phone to select a song, he notices a message.

- You got the weekend off?

Peter smirks, realizing he hasn’t been spending much time with his new friends lately. Sure, Wade still stalks him daily, and he gets to see Wanda almost every other day, but Yaël’s been pretty absent from his life the past few weeks.

He wishes he could say it wasn’t his fault, but he knows it is. The combination of school, the internship and the crime-fighting really makes it tough to talk to some people.

In only a matter of seconds does Peter reply, saying that, yes, he’s got the weekend off for a change. He’s already planned on spending one of those two days with Aunt May at the museum, but other than that he’s got 24 hours more of freedom before school and the internship start again.

As he arranges on hanging out with them on Sunday, Peter looks up for a bit where he can see Mr. Stark and Steve talking to each other. He’s really dying to know what they’re talking about, but it’s not really his business, right?

He’s keeping his music up, his head down and his hands busy. There’s no reason for him to stop what he’s doing, not even to listen to his father talking to Steve – the man who may or may not have some sort of feelings for his dad.

But right as his song ends, Mr. Stark’s voice gets louder.

“-have to remind myself that he’s not my kid, and that he can leave me just as fast as his mother did!”

Peter looks up in surprise, seeing Mr. Stark pointing at him but not looking, staring Steve right in the eyes. It’s Steve who turns his head to catch a glance on Peter, noticing immediately that Peter must have heard. It can’t be too hard to see; the teenager feels that his eyes are wide, that his mouth has fallen open, that he’s sitting up straight like anybody who just heard something shocking.

Even as the music starts again, Peter’s hearing is now focused on what the other two are saying, so whatever Steve says next, he hears perfectly.

“He’s already seen you do some pretty crazy stuff, Tony. I don’t think Peter is just going to leave you.”

Yeah, you tell him, Cap! There’s no way that Peter is going to run off! Mr. Stark is his father; the only living relative he has. The last person in his messed-up little family other than Aunt May who is still alive. Peter is not going to let that go.

Maybe he should tell him now, no?

There’s a quiet moment of awkwardness going on there. Mr. Stark isn’t saying anything, Steve keeps his mouth shut, and Peter is just too surprised to speak. It goes on for about a few minutes before Mr. Stark finally speaks up again.

“You know what, forget it. Forget I said anything…” Then he drops his stuff, the mask he’d been using to protect himself from the sparks, and he starts to walk to the door. “I don’t need this shit.”

“Tony,” Steve starts, but Mr. Stark turns around suddenly, pointing towards Steve with an angry expression on his face.

“No, you get to shut up!” he says, voice shaking a little bit. “You don’t know me, Rogers. None of you do. And you may think that watching over me and making sure I’m not doing stupid shit will help me, but I’ve gotten myself out of this crap before without all your help!”

“Peggy can’t help you anymore, not this time,” Steve adds calmly, and Mr. Stark stands still again, face suddenly drained from all the anger and now instead showing shock. When his mouth opens, it seems like he wants to say something again, but then he closes it again, letting out a deep breath and lowering his gaze.

After three more seconds he does a complete turn, and he’s out of the lab, leaving Steve and Peter alone. The super-soldier then looks at Peter with a sad expression on his face, which makes Peter shiver a bit. It seems like, whatever the man was attempting, it failed.

“FRIDAY?”

“Yes, Captain Rogers?”

“Can you make sure he doesn’t do something stupid?”

“You know that’s out of my hands, Captain.”

Steve then shakes his head before rubbing his hand over his brow. He marches back to the couch he had been sitting on, and then picks up his phone and starts dialing a number. Peter takes off the headphones, since they’re not really useful anymore right now. He gets up from his chair, gives Dum-E another pat on the head, and then starts walking towards Mr. Starks worktable.

There, in the middle of the desk, lies a piece of paper. It’s an article, ripped out of what must be like a journal. On the top, there’s a picture of Mr. Stark. It’s an older one, taken by a professional photograph in a studio, where he wears an expensive suit and a watch that must be priceless, with then a subtle shadow of the Iron Man Mask shining over half of his face.

Underneath, there’s a text. Quickly, Peter reads the title.

What legacy is there for Stark?

Eight years ago now, Tony Stark, son of Stark Industries’ founder Howard Stark and currently also known as the hero ‘Iron Man’, shut down the weapons division of his company, causing quite a commotion in the world. What lead him to do this? Who will create the new weapons then? What will happen to SI after this?

In the past eight years, a lot has changed; SI now stands or clean energy, and SI also specializes in helicopters and planes, which are now standard use at the US Army. The latest addition to the company’s inventory is even the Stark Phone 3, which came out only a few months back.

But while it all carries one thing in common, that being the name, it is not Stark that keeps the company running the way it is. That honor can only be given to Mrs. Virginia Potts, Stark’s former assistant and ex-girlfriend. The couple have supposedly broken up around the start of January, according to multiple sources.

Stark handed his company over into the hands of Potts in 2010, where the whole world used to think it would only be temporary. Yet now, six years later, she still stands taller than ever, almost easily called the most powerful woman of America.

But that leaves the question for Stark, who has continued his life as the Iron Man, and a member of the Avengers. This is a group of enhanced individuals who have taken it upon themselves to rid the world of danger, but only by endangering other people as well. Even four years after the attack on New York, the city still feels the wounds that were caused by the invasion. Around May, 2015, a battle between the Hulk (also known as the scientist Dr. Bruce Banner) and Iron Man caused half a city in Wakanda to be destroyed.

Of course, Stark stands in for the damage control, letting his funds be the start to rebuilding the wreck they leave, but is it in any way enough to compensate for all the lives lost?

Instead of order, New York gets filled with new wannabe-heroes instead. For example, there’s the figure that is called ‘the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen’, a vigilante that protects Hell’s Kitchen from illegal businesses. And in the town self is now the vigilante called ‘Spider-Man’ that has taken it upon himself to rid the street from robbers and thieves.

Is the appearance of these two individuals the start of something more? And is it the Iron Man that caused them to rise up against the others? With the bloodline ending with him, is this all Stark can offer to the world?

Peter can’t read the rest of the article when it ends on the page. He’s sure there’s a continuation to it, but it’s not on the backside, and where-ever the journal is, it’s not here. Peter puts it back down and takes a step back from the desk, passing his hand through his hair while resting the other on his hip.

When he came to the idea of getting to know Mr. Stark, he’d never thought it would be this hard to actually get somewhere. Of course he knew beforehand that Mr. Stark is nog an easy person at all, but Peter hadn’t expected the mental illness on top of it. Peter knows how hard it is for Mr. Stark; he’s still recovering from it, too.

He startles when his alarm suddenly goes off, and that’s when Cap’s voice suddenly comes back into his line of hearing.

“Yeah, no, thank you, Rhodey. Talk to you later.”

Peter gets off the chair and hurries back to his desk to stop the alarm. Then he picks up his bag, takes out the little box with the pills, and takes his prescribed dose. Each time he takes the water to swallow them down, he wonders at the same time how many more days it’ll be until he can stop taking them. Given his recent ‘reaction’ a few weeks ago, he knows it won’t be soon.

“Are you alright, Peter?”

Peter startles once more, turning towards Steve and nodding with his mouth still full of water. Then he swallows once more and takes a deep breath.

“I’m fine, Steve. Just,” he holds up the box, “time for these little monsters.”

Steve only frowns a bit when he sees the box, but he doesn’t ask about it. Peter is glad for that as he puts his bottle of water away again, along with all the rest of his stuff.

“You’re leaving?” Steve asks. Peter just shrugs.

“Yeah, my shift is done anyway, and I can’t figure this thing out without Mr. Stark, so I’m kind of stuck,” Peter explains. Picking up his jacket and putting it on, he notices Steve looking around the place before he, too, takes his stuff and hoodie, and follows Peter to the door.

“I’m sorry you have to see all of this all the time, Peter. It’s the medication, they make him react heavily sometimes,” Steve starts to explain when he locks down the workshop behind them. Peter just shrugs.

“Eh, I know how it feels. Drove my Aunt nuts when I started on my first medication; according to her, I was strangely excited about everything. She described it as ‘something coming right out of a horror movie’ or something. We switched meds after a week,” Peter laughs at the memory, thinking back of his Aunt just shrieking out randomly on moments because Peter would just show up without making a sound. Even now, she calls it his ‘demon-phase’.

“It’s not right,” Steve suddenly says. “A kid your age shouldn’t have to take all these chemicals.”

Peter then shrugs again, keeping his eyes away from Steve.

“We can’t choose how our head works, I guess,” Peter responds. “After my uncle died, my aunt grieved, but eventually moved on. Somehow, my head chose not to do that, instead messing with my hormones and deciding not to produce enough serotonin.”

“Yeah, I have no idea what that means,” Steve chuckles.

“I could explain it to you, if you want?” Peter tries. Steve just shakes his head. When they pass Wanda, the two nod at her before continuing their walk.

“Maybe another time. My head is not really into it right now,” the Captain then pardons himself. Peter holds up his hand and then tilts his head a bit to the side.

“It’s fine, Cap,” he says. Then he tightens his grip on his backpack, and nods once more towards Steve the moment they’re standing in front of the door. “I’m glad you’re trying to help him, by the way. He may not realize it, but he needs you more than either of you think.”

Steve doesn’t react other than shifting his head until it’s turned to the other side, gazing into the empty hallway while he puts his hands on his hips.

“I don’t know, maybe I’m not…” Steve starts, but doesn’t finish.

“I’m glad that there’s at least someone who cares about him – a lot,” Peter finishes. Right when Steve turns to look at him with horror written all over his face, Peter opens the door and heads outside into the rain. “Maybe someday he’ll notice it, too?”

And then he closes the door and starts running towards Happy’s car, where he greets the bodyguard and allows himself to be driven away from the Avengers compound.

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