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Being a Stark [Superfamily]

Chapter 17

There’s a slight panic going through Peter when he wakes up in a strange place. The room he’s currently in is not his own; where are his posters? His top-bunk bed in which he likes to climb in so much? His messy desk full with electronical devices he took from random dumpsters to mash something together?

Nothing inside this room indicates that it’s his own, so for just a few seconds, Peter worries that he might have been kidnapped. But, that would be stupid; there’s a giant-ass window over there, and he can easily climb out of it, right?

Slowly, Peter gets up from the bed. There’s no creaking of metal, or the springs protesting from the movement. The floors don’t crack, either. There’s a giant closet, a nightstand with an expensive-looking lamp. On the desk, there’s a computer that looks worth even more than what Peter earns in a whole year. On the screen, one thing is written.

Stark.

Realization comes to him, and Peter hurries to the window, where he pulls open the blinds. The view he sees there is not disappointing at all.

New York, only from a very high view one can only get from Stark Tower.

He must be in the bedroom Tony put together for him. He had said that Peter needed to redecorate it a bit.

It’s not bad at all; it’s larger than his room at home, which is one thing. There seems to be a door leading to a private bathroom, a television screen hanging up on the wall, and lights that can be dimmed to whichever intensity he wants. Tony really didn’t spare any expense on this!

Now completely awake on this Saturday morning, Peter searches for his phone to check the time, seeing that it’s eight in the morning. He didn’t particularly sleep in, but it’s also not like he went to sleep late. Or did he? He can’t even remember if they finished the movie…

Peter decides to get out and check out the rest of the penthouse. Seeing as this is probably all his to inherit one day, he at least deserves to have a look around. So Peter opens the door, revealing an open hallway with only two more doors. Peter ignores the one right in front of his own, instead going for the one on the far end on the right, since it’s already open. There he sees that there’s some sort of office, probably made for when Pepper lived here and wanted to work at home.

There’s the exact same computer there, along with a wireless phone. The desk is in the middle of the room, which is illuminated by the natural light of the day. The blinds are open, and the curtains pulled to the side. On the desk, there are some folders that read ‘Avenger Initiative’. Peter decides not to be nosy and doesn’t look into them.

Above the door, there’s another TV-screen. Where the remote is, Peter doesn’t know. When he notices the tablet on the corner of the desk, he decides it can’t be too wrong to try it out a little bit. So he takes it along before he leaves the room, starting up the screen and finding it pretty easy to get inside.

“Facial scan complete. Welcome Mister Parker,” the words on the screen say, and Peter laughs a bit in amazement. Tony is really incredibly fast when it comes to all this!

Locking the tablet again for later, Peter walks into the open room of the penthouse. This has almost everything in it; the kitchen, the living room and the dining room. One wall contains nothing more than windows, giving another wonderful view of New York. One window, Peter knows, is actually a door that leads to the landing platform for the Iron Man suit.

It looks a bit different than when it was built back in 2012. There had been so much talk about the opening of Stark Tower, but then after that whole Alien Invasion, it had to be rebuilt again so soon after it was made.

Dropping the tablet on the couch, Peter starts walking to the kitchen to get some breakfast ready. It’s there that he sees Steve standing in front of the window, holding a cup of coffee in his hand as he stares out into what must be the nothingness. It’s not the city he’s looking at, obviously.

He doesn’t seem to hear Peter at all, so lost in thought. Peter decides it’s best not to startle a super soldier, so keeping his distance, he silently clears his throat. Steve doesn’t hear him.

“Uh, Steve?” Peter then asks. Steve does startle then, turning his head around in such a quick movement Peter would have thought his neck to be broken. “Are you alright?”

“Peter, you’re up!” Steve states the obvious, clutching his cup of coffee tightly before heading back to the counter to drop it there. Then he opens the fridge and starts taking out some eggs and what seems like bacon. “I’ll make some breakfast.”

Peter frowns, but doesn’t comment on it. He follows Steve to the counter, sitting on one of the bar stools while watching the super soldier work on his food. Is it him, or does Steve appear a bit… distracted?

“Steve, are you alright?” Peter asks, slightly worried. He just hopes there’s not already a fight with Tony, because honestly, they’re barely even together! They can wait at least a few months before going at each other’s throats!

“Yes, yes, I’m fine,” Steve says, quickly giving him a smile over his shoulder. “Can you take some plates? I think they are in the bottom right cabinet.”

Peter stands up, still frowning as he goes to where Steve instructed him. There he takes three plates and puts them down on the counter, resuming his search to find some knives and forks instead. The only sound he hears then is the bacon baking in the pan above all the butter, and the spoon mashing the eggs together.

“Is it Tony? Because, really, you can tell me, Steve,” Peter continues, trying to get more out of the man.

“It’s alright, Peter. Tony didn’t do anything at all. I’m just thinking too much about stuff,” Steve assures him. He turns off the fire and lifts up the pan, sharing its content over the three plates Peter prepared. Then he offers peter a glass of water before getting away from the counter. “I’ll go wake him up, you enjoy your breakfast.”

And then Steve is gone to the hallway, getting through the door that Peter didn’t open earlier. Peter clears his throat, feeling a weird sort of dread going through him at the idea that Steve might already start regretting it. That can’t happen, not when Tony is finally starting to be happier again – not happy; it’ll take a lot more time before he can be called that.

But once Steve returns with Tony right behind him, there seems to be a sudden shift in his mood. He’s smiling when he watches the grumpy billionaire sitting down on the stool next to Peter, already preparing another coffee for him to drink. All Tony says when the cup is handed to him is a grunted ‘thanks’ before he points down as a signal for Steve to just put it on the counter. Peter watches it all happen with lots of confusion going through him.

What is Steve up to?

“So, do you have plans this weekend, Peter?” Steve asks when he, too, has taken place at a stool. The three of them have started on their breakfast, though Tony is still moving slower than the others. Steve looks so genuinely interested, that Peter can’t find it in himself to keep his suspicions going.

“Uh, I haven’t really made plans, yet. I thought maybe catching up a bit with some friends – though I would rather avoid Wade if possible.”

“Wilson, you mean? I don’t get it, everybody finds him annoying but he’s been nothing but kind towards me,” Steve says with a frown. Peter snorts. Tony is still half dead next to him.

“That’s because he respects you. And doesn’t want to marry you. If I get one more marriage proposal through text I think I might throw my phone out of the window,” Peter mutters.

“I’ll get’ya a new one,” Tony mumbles next to him. Peter shakes his head quickly, protesting immediately.

“No, you don’t need to do that. I can earn my own phone,” Peter assures him, causing for Steve to smile.

“That’s a good way to go; trying to stand your own in this world. I can admire that, Peter,” Steve tells him, and Peter feels a little bit of shame at the praise. It’s not because he wants to do it this way, but it’s mostly because he’s never done it any differently. He doesn’t want to change into one of those guys that get everything handed to him on a silver platter.

“Umpf,” Tony complains, leaning his head forward until it’s resting on the counter, right next to his still-full plate of scrambled eggs and bacon. Steve gives him a poke in the arm to get him back up, but Tony slaps his hand away automatically. After that, he decides to just ignore him.

Breakfast goes on without much more said. Peter finishes his plate, thanks Steve for preparing it, and then moves towards the living room to take a good look inside that tablet. It’s best to give the adults a little moment together after all.

Finding an app which allows him to build some inventions together through holograms, Peter constructs himself some sort of spider-drone. He adds a lot in it; facial recognition camera’s, enhanced auditory senses that signals towards the original source of power, flight and crawl-mode, and even some electrical charges which would allow minimal self-defense. He thinks he finishes it rather quickly, but when he looks up again he finds that it’s already half past ten, and Tony is sitting on the couch next to him, also with a tablet in his hands.

“You were completely gone from the world,” Tony tells him without looking up, tapping on his screen in quick movements. Peter takes a quick look around before turning back to Tony.

“Where’s Steve?” he asks, and Tony points to the front door.

“Downstairs, went to train a little bit. He likes to train alone,” he explains. Then he finally looks up, but not at Peter. Instead, his eyes are pointed at the ceiling. “Is he still training, FRIDAY?”

“Master Rogers is currently still at the training center. Do you wish me to ask him when he’ll return?” FRIDAY asks. Tony smirks but then shakes his head.

“Nah, better to just leave him be,” Tony says. He winks at Peter, grin still wide on his lips.

“You know, it’s not alright to stalk people like that,” Peter tells him jokingly, and Tony just waves it off.

“He doesn’t mind,” he assures him, though Peter is aware that neither of them knows what Steve would think of that. Peter decides not to bring it up again, instead moving until he’s seated next to Tony and looking at the man’s tablet screen as well. It seems like Tony is working on something, as well.

“What’s this?” he asks, curiously. Tony smiles once more before pressing a button. Then the project on the screen gets projected in the air, showing what seems like some sort of gauntlet.

“It’s going to be a subtle gauntlet, easy to carry around. It’s to be worn as a bracelet,” he says, putting his hand through the sudden circle that appears on the hologram. Then he presses some sort of combination, and the bracelet opens up into a gauntlet. But not a complete one. The tips of his fingers aren’t covered at all, and it looks much slimmer.

“This is awesome,” Peter mutters, taking another good look at what his father is creating. “That way you can protect yourself when you don’t have the suit near?”

“Yup, got it in one,” Tony says laughingly. “I’m thinking about making you one as well, but knowing your luck I’m also afraid you might accidentally shoot yourself with it.”

Peter shoves him in the arm because laughing along. Leaning back to the side, he crosses his arms and gives Tony a fake glare.

“Ha-ha, very funny,” Peter mutters.

“Hey, as a father I feel like it’s my job to make bad jokes,” Tony counters. Peter smiles, liking how easily Tony has adapted himself into the job of fatherhood. It hasn’t been that hard for Peter, either.

“Who would have thought Tony Stark to be lame?” Peter mutters jokingly, and Tony puts a hand on his chest, pretending to be shocked and insulted by it. He throws his hand on his forehead, leaning his head back as he acts like he’s fainting. Peter just snorts and turns around until his back is leaning against Tony’s side.

About half an hour later, the door opens again to reveal a freshly showered Steve Rogers entering the room. The two on the couch don’t look up but only wave at him while they keep watching their tablet screens. Steve rolls his eyes when he sees them.

A calm mood stays there for the remaining time they spend together. After that, Steve stands up and clears his throat.

“Uh, you know, not like I’m not having fun, but I think somebody’s going to take over my shift now,” he says. Peter and Tony both look up, eyebrows raised simultaneously. “I was planning on going to Washington and visit Peggy again.”

Peter frowns, wondering who this Peggy is. They mentioned her before once when they were fighting about something, but so far Peter has no idea who she is or what makes her so important. Though he’s sure she is.

“Ah, yes, I suppose it’s about time I get to visit Aunty Peg as well,” Tony says, grunting when he stands up from the couch. Peter sits up before falling down now that his support is gone, and drops the tablet.

“Wait, you have an Aunt?” he asks, curious. He thought that all of Tony’s remaining family was dead – except, of course, for Peter, that is. Tony, who is busy straightening his shirt, only nods. He puts his tablet down on the table.

“Kind of unofficial. She took care of me when my parents didn’t. Or whenever Jarvis couldn’t.” Tony starts up the coffee machine again before leaving the room. Peter gives Steve a questioning look, seeing the super soldier standing there with his mouth open but clearly unable to say a word.

“I- uh…” Steve mutters out, but then he shakes his head and follows after Tony. Whatever they say next, Peter has no clue. He’s just wondering what is going to happen here. Is he getting thrown out as Tony and Steve go hang out? Or is he allowed to go with them? Does he even want to go with them?

Okay, no, who is he kidding? Of course he wants to go with them. To meet Tony’s Aunt? That would be awesome. The woman could become Peter’s great-aunt or something!

“-course I don’t mind your company, but there’s just some things I like to do alone, Tony. Visiting Peggy is one of them.”

Steve and Tony re-emerge from Tony’s bedroom, now with Tony fully dressed in a mix of casual and formal clothes. Steve still looks the same, wearing his hoodie and faded jeans. His arms are hanging next to his body, eyes sad while looking at Tony, who is frowning in return.

“Fine, then we don’t go in at the same time. I figure if we’re going to make the flight, we might as well do it together?” Tony asks, facing Steve again. The super soldier just sighs, shakes his head and rubs his hand over his brow. One lick of his lips is indication enough of his indecisiveness. “What is it, Steve? You’re ashamed of telling her about it? Then we just don’t say it, simple. Though it’s not like she’s going to remember afterwards if we tell her anyway.”

“It’s not so simple as that, Tony,” Steve counters. Peter wants to clear his throat and indicate that he’s still there, but he decides it’s best not to get in between them. Instead, he sits back down on the couch and picks up the tablet without really paying much attention to what he’s doing on it.

“Then explain it to me, Steve. We can’t come to an understanding if you’re not talking to me.” There’s a pleading in Tony’s voice that surprises Peter. What’s going on between them? “I know you’re sulking all the time. You lie awake at night, thinking about something that is obviously bothering you. I can’t give you a solution if you don’t tell me.”

Okay, Peter feels it’s about time to better hide into his bedroom. But, doing that would mean that he’ll have to get in between Steve and Tony, who are currently still at the beginning of the hallway, blocking the way in their discussion.

“There’s just not a simple ‘solution’, Tony. It’s just something I must figure out on my own. And I know you want to help, and I admire you for that, but you can’t, and that’s okay. Because this is not your fault at all.”

Tony stays quiet then, and Peter dares to look up, seeing the man with his head turned to the side, eyes locked on the ground. There’s something in his expression that shows pain, in a way. After a few seconds of silence and long breathing, he speaks up again.

“If you want to visit her on your own, fine. But if Peter tells me now that he wants to meet her, I’m not keeping my son from the chance of going there,” Tony says with a strangely bitter voice. Peter swallows, hating to be suddenly pulled into this argument. Especially when the two men then turn their heads towards him.

“Uh,” he starts, holding up his hands in surrender. “I- uh- I surely want to meet h-her, but if today’s too much trouble, I- I- I guess another time, uh, is alright, too?” he tries.

The two men give him an unimpressed look, and Peter just raises his hands higher.

“H-hey, don’t pull me into this argument! I’m the neutral party, here,” he protests. Tony then rolls his eyes and takes back off his vest, throwing it onto the counter before taking place on the couch again.

“Fine, whatever. I’ll introduce Peter another time, then,” he mutters, taking the tablet again and diving back into work. Steve keeps on standing there, looking a bit lost for words right now. Peter can relate to that, not really knowing what else to say here.

“Tony-“ Steve then starts, but Tony holds up his hand to silence him.

“No, no, you go do your thing. I’ll be here, or maybe we’ll go back to the compound? It’s about time we finish that suit, isn’t it?”

Oh, he’s talking fast. That means he’s in a really bad mood right now. Peter just shakes his head towards Steve, telling him that he shouldn’t bother anymore today. Then he mouths ‘I’ll take care of him’ towards him before nodding to the door. Steve gives him a sad look, but then turns around to Tony’s bedroom to grab his stuff.

After Steve leaves, it takes another twenty minutes for the front door to open again, only now revealing Natasha walking towards them. She smiles at Peter, and then flicks Tony on the head, earning her an annoyed ‘hey’ from the man. She ignores him, instead sitting down on the couch as well and throwing her legs over Tony’s and Peter’s.

“You, mister Stark, are an idiot,” she says. Peter then does clear his throat before pulling Natasha’s feet up and making his escape from the couch. They don’t comment on it, luckily, and allow him to make his escape to his room.

One more look at the clock indicates that it’s almost one in the afternoon. Aunt May must still be sleeping from her night shift, so Peter doesn’t call her. He just sits down at the desk and starts up the computer, surprised at how fast the thing is going.

Once it’s on, he surfs a bit on the internet, tries out a few of the games Tony must have installed for him, but eventually does get bored from it. Gaming is much more fun when you’re doing it with two. With a sigh, he gets up again, not bothering to turn the computer off. He just gets back into the hallway, hoping that Nat and Tony are finished talking about whatever it was she wanted to scold him for.

Obviously, they’re not.

He can hear them talking lowly, but clearly they’re deep in conversation. Peter doesn’t want to disturb them, but he still finds himself a tiny bit curious as to what exactly is going on, so he leans against the wall without making a sound, turning his head enough so he can hear everything that they’re talking about.

“- from a time where this all isn’t just considered normal. He’s been struggling the entire time about it all, Tony. He just doesn’t want to show it.”

“If he’s so against it, why does he go along with it, then? I am many things, you know, but I’m not planning on being a dirty little secret just because he doesn’t want to be seen with a man.”

“You’re pretty serious about this, aren’t you?” Natasha asks in some mild surprise.

“About what?”

“Your relationship?”

“Pshh, don’t call it that. That’s not- we haven’t really discussed-“

“It’s alright, Tony. You’re hesitant because it’s so soon after Pepper, but she saw this coming. She won’t be angry at you for this.”

Silence from Tony. Wow, this must be a new one.

“Steve isn’t going to keep you a secret forever. He’s just been raised to see it as wrong, so his morals and his feelings continuously contradict themselves. He’s been thrown out of time, he hasn’t gotten used to it like everybody has over the years.”

“He told you all this?”

Natasha laughs.

“Only me. Nobody else knows,” she assures him. Peter hears Tony let out a long breath. “He cares about you, Tony. More than he dares to admit. But you can’t expect him to just… let go of everything he’s been grown up with and say ‘hey, I can be with a man without any problem’.”

Tony stays quiet again, but there’s shifting noises. Then footsteps; Tony is heading to the fridge and is taking out something to drink. Peter hurries towards the other side of the hallway, hoping that the man doesn’t see him.

“Incoming call for Mrs. Romanoff,” FRIDAY says all of the sudden. Tony sighs, and Natasha picks up her phone. Peter then decides to just emerge from the hallway as if he’s just walking in. His father’s distraction helps with his innocent act.

“And you’re sure it’s him?” Natasha asks the person on the other side of the line. Peter goes to the counter where Tony is standing, and offers him a short smile. Tony just nods at him in return, putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder for a few seconds.

Who-ever Natasha is talking to is obviously not bringing good news. Her face looks grim, and even as she hangs up the phone she has a frown on her face.

“They spotted Rumlow. The team is going out again,” she states. Tony’s face falls then, and Peter, too, feels disappointment going through him. That would mean that Steve would be leaving as well… And Wanda, too?

“When are you leaving?” Tony asks. Natasha looks at her phone before sighing.

“Right now, Clint’s bringing the quinjet here to get me, and then we’ll pick up Steve and move out,” she explains. Tony just nods grimly.

“Who’s staying behind?” Tony asks.

“Just Rhodey and Vision again. They’re probably the only ones who can hang out with you for a longer period of time,” Natasha jokes, but Tony doesn’t laugh at all. Sure, he’s showing her a fake smile, but it’s obvious that leaving these things so unresolved makes him uncomfortable. Peter just clears his throat again, uneasy at the tense atmosphere going on here.

They’re there to pick up Natasha in just five minutes, and after that it’s just the two of them again. Pretending not to be bothered about this, Tony nudges Peter while giving him a faint smile.

“Care to go to Washington?” he asks, a little uncertain in his words. Peter blinks a few times before nodding. After that, they’re off to the compound, where they take one of the smaller quinjet and lift off, away from New York.

Whenever Tony Stark was younger, and his parents were out of town, Jarvis would take care of him. The butler and his wife took him in as if he were their own. Since they couldn’t get children of their own due to Ana Jarvis getting into some sort of accident, it seemed to be easy for them to get attached to him.

But there were days when Aunt Peggy asked him to come over. Mostly it was another attempt of hers to make him get along with her kids, but everybody knew that they never really got along. So while his cousins were off playing whatever they found interesting to play with, Tony asked for stories.

And Peggy told him many stories. At first about her adventures as Captain America because she knew that was what Tony wanted to hear. But when she started to run out of those stories, it became the story of how she ended up with her husband. The man had adventures of his own – not as impressive as the Captain, of course, but still enough to get a kid excited. After a while, Tony even forgot about the Captain, and started to see Peggy’s husband as his hero. The man with the wooden leg. The man who lost so much, but found a way to build up his life again. That was the type of man Tony Stark aspired himself to be.

Minus the losing a limb part, of course.

Right now, Tony sometimes still asks for stories. And she’ll repeat some she’s already told years ago, still thinking Tony to be that small kid she took care of on some occasions. Tony never reminds her of the years that have passed, scared of shocking her.

“Hey Aunti Peg!” Tony calls out once he walks through the door. He waits for Peter to get inside before closing it again, drops his vest on the coat-hanger, and then walks towards the chair Peggy is sitting in. She’s seated at the window, staring outside with an empty look in her eyes.

“Peg?” Tony calls out again, gently shaking her shoulder until she looks up, blinking a few times.

“Anthony? Is that you?” she asks. Tony smiles and then nods at her. Peggy reaches up a hand and passes it over his cheek. “Look how handsome you are.”

Tony snorts, looking over at Peter after that. He holds out his hand and gestures him to come closer, which the kid does.

“I’m here to introduce you to somebody, Aunti Peg,” Tony tells her. Once Peter is next to him, Tony takes his hand and reaches it towards Peggy’s. The woman looks up at him with her glassy eyes, confusion clear on her face.

“I don’t-“ she starts, but then she looks into Peter’s eyes, her lips slowly curling upwards. “What a handsome boy, you are.”

Tony sees Peter smile in return.

“My name is Peter,” he tells her, allowing the woman to put the palm of her hand onto his cheek. Automatically, he leans into the touch. Tony knows how that feels. Silently, he puts his hand on Peter’s shoulder. “I’m his son.”

Peggy makes a happy sound, looking as if she’s about to start crying in glee. With skinny, frail arms, she wraps them around Peter’s shoulder and pulls him into a hug.

“So many things have happened today!” she calls out in excitement. “First Steve came to visit, and now my dear Anthony has a son? I couldn’t be happier.”

Tony feels sadness going through him, just like every time whenever he’s reminded of Peggy’s current condition. There are moments in which she’s completely aware of what is happening and can talk perfectly about what is happening in the current time, but there’s also moments where she’s constantly pulled back into the past.

It’s a small mercy that she’s pretty lucid at this moment. He wouldn’t want Peter to meet her for the first time when she’s… away.

In the beginning of her disease, Peggy’s husband, Daniel, took care of her. Despite being old himself, he made sure she washed herself, she ate her dinner, and she would pick up the phone. But after his death, somebody else had to start taking care of her. When Tony then heard that neither of her children were able to take her in, he decided to make sure she would be as comfortable as possible.

That’s why she has the best room in the building. It has the perfect view. It’s not too hot in the summer, but also not too cold during the winter. The heating works perfectly here, and the staff is considered amongst the best in Washington.

Tony only wants the best for her, even though there isn’t much she can do anymore.

They take place on a chair, listening to the stories Peggy wants to tell Peter. There’s stuff about Steve, stuff about Daniel. And then there’s also (embarrassing) stuff about Tony when he was a kid. But Tony gives them that; he doesn’t want to ruin the good mood.

They stay there for about two hours, until Tony decides he better gets Peter home before May is going to report him as kidnapped by his own father. They hug Peggy in a goodbye, Tony gives her a kiss on the cheek, and then they’re on their way back to New York.

That evening, when Peter’s already safely at home and Tony is working on his latest armor, his phone rings in indication that he has a message. Tony doesn’t look at it immediately, only opening it once he goes to bed.

There, despite the bad vibe they had between them when Steve left, he manages to smile again before going to sleep. He doesn’t answer normally, though, because he doesn’t want to come over like he’s worried. Instead, he simply sends back a wink-emoticon.

After that, he turns off the screen and closes his eyes, figuring that the best way for time to fly is by sleeping it off. Meanwhile, in the back of his head, he thinks back over the message Natasha left for him.

- He won’t tell you because he’s a stubborn ass much like you are, but he misses you.

Stubborn asses, we are, he thinks to himself, grinning.

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