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Being a Stark [Superfamily]

Chapter 38

“Are you crazy?! Just inviting your girlfriend without asking me if it’s alright?” Peter hisses the moment he’s taken Harry alone. They’re in Peter’s bedroom, away from the others. Peter’s not thinking about Tony being there unsupervised with Ned and MJ. If he does something stupid, Peter’s not taking responsibility for it.

“What’s the problem? She needed help with the test, she was even a little sad that you didn’t invite her, though of course she would never admit that,” Harry counters. Of course, he doesn’t see the problem, he’s completely head over heels for this girl!

“The problem is that MJ, as well as nobody else don’t know about my Dad! It’s supposed to stay this way! What am I going to tell her now, huh? That he’s still my mentor? After I told everybody I quit the internship?”

“I don’t see the big deal, Peter. You have a famous father, so what? It’s not like it’s completely life-changing,” Harry says, rolling his eyes. Peter feels close to growling.

“Except for the fact that suddenly everybody’ll know I’m crazy rich? Or maybe we’re also forgetting that the man is Iron Man, and that bad guys might try to hurt me to get to him?”

Not that Peter would allow anybody to hurt him again. Peter’s been trained now, and hopefully he’ll be even more trained after the Accords will be changed and Natasha will be able to come back.

“You know, I’ve been kidnapped once or twice. It’s not that big of a deal, Peter,” Harry continues. Peter feels just close to punching him in the face. “But alright, I guess I see your point. But we can’t change it now, she’s already inside.”

Peter rubs his brow and sits down on his bed, groaning in frustration.

“I know, and I can’t come up with any excuse as to what I could possibly be doing here,” he admits. Harry takes a few steps forward and then puts a hand on Peter’s shoulder.

“Listen, I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking straight, I was just glad that I got to see MJ and suddenly I invited her along. I take responsibility for this one.” Peter looks up at his friend, actually surprised at the sudden response he’s getting. He’s never really known Harry as somebody who would apologize this way. He wasn’t raised like that by his father, after all.

‘It’s okay, we can’t change it now,” Peter mutters. He sighs once more and pushes himself off the bed to look outside the window and into the city. They’re high up, and from here everything looks peaceful enough. “We should just… go do what we came here to do.”

“I’ll explain it to MJ, you’ll get Dr. Banner?” Harry asks. Peter nods, leaving his room again to get to the workshop. Bruce is there almost all the time when he isn’t in his guest room in the apartment downstairs. He’s got a whole floor to himself, according to Tony the same one he had when the Avengers used to live here, still.

Bruce, who has been keeping himself busy with staring at Tony’s test-results and files almost ever since he’s arrived here. Peter hasn’t seen him look at anything else, so far. He clears his throat to announce his presence. Banner turns around, mouth fallen open.

“Oh, Peter, did you need something?” he asks.

Peter shifts a bit, then nodding. “I, uh, the others are here? About the test?”

Bruce closes his screens again and nervously plucks his glasses off his nose. “Right, I’ll be there in a minute,” he then says. Peter nods and leaves the room again. When he’s back to his living room, Harry’s still making his explanation to MJ, who still looks a little bit surprised. Tony, at the kitchenette, looks at it all in fascination.

“Dad, don’t you have anything better to do?” Peter asks in annoyance. Tony jumps up before snorting in his coffee. Then he drops his cup and holds up his hands.

“What, Brucie gets to stay but I don’t? Am I that embarrassing to you, Petey?” he asks, in mock surprise. He then slumps his way to where Peter is standing before throwing his arms around him and pretending to sob against his shoulder.

“Dad!” Peter complains again. He tries to push the man away from him, but holds himself back when he thinks back of the wound on Tony’s chest. Does it still hurt? He doesn’t know, since Tony never talks about it.

“Ned, am I really that horrible?” Tony then asks, pulling away from Peter and turning to his best friend on the couch. Ned’s eyes open wide, and his mouth drops open as he thinks back of an answer.

“I, uh, you, uh, we-“

“Never mind! I know when I’m not wanted!” Tony eventually calls out, throwing his hand over his forehead. Peter rolls his eyes but still manages to smirk. The fact he’s joking around like this means that he must be doing better, right?

That, or he’s pretending again. Nobody knows with him.

“Call me if you need anything, I’ll be at the workshop!” After that, Tony leaves the room right when Bruce appears again. When the scientist takes Tony by the arm and murmurs something to him, Peter wonders what it’s about. He sees Tony shake his head, and Bruce then sigh before shaking his head as well. Something more is said, but after that Tony leaves.

“Alright, who needed my help?” Bruce asks, clapping his hands together. Three of the four teenagers raise their hands in embarrassment. Peter watches Bruce smile before he motions for them to follow him to the elevator. Peter already knows he’s taking them to his lab downstairs. “You joining us, Peter?”

Peter nods, but holds up his hand.

“Give me a minute, alright?” he asks. Bruce lifts up his thumb. Ned, Harry and MJ carefully join Bruce into the elevator. When Bruce makes a joke about not getting him angry right before the door closes, Ned’s face turns awfully pale. Peter ends up laughing the moment he sees it.

With his hands stuck in his hoodie, Peter turns to his left. His eyes are stuck to the floor, but he knows the way. Opening the door to the workshop, he passes Dum-E who pokes him in the side. He chuckles a bit, letting out his hand from his pocket to pet him on the ‘head’. Then he nods towards Tony, who hasn’t noticed his arrival, too busy with whatever he’s working on this time.

There are screens in front of him, footage of something Peter can’t really place. He doesn’t pay attention to it anyway. If Tony wants him to know about it, he’ll tell him.

“Dad?” he asks. Tony startles and whips his head around in a sudden surprise. At least he doesn’t hide his stuff away the moment he notices he’s not alone. He offers Peter a faint smile.

“Hey there. Everything okay?” he asks. Peter nods, nearing his dad’s desk and leaning against it as he holds his finger up to scroll through whatever Tony’s working on. It’s something about a crashed spaceship in Norway. Peter read about it, but SHIELD assured they were on it so he left it alone.

“I’m fine. I just wanted to know if you are, Dad?” he tries. Tony’s eyes widen, mouth falls open. It’s as if Peter’s question comes out as the biggest shock in his life.

“Uh, I’m alright?” Tony asks, but Peter isn’t convinced.

“You keep on telling me that I need to talk if there’s something bothering me, whether it’s the panic attacks, or whatever else that has to do with the depression,” Peter starts. He takes a deep breath and closes the screens. “I want you to know that I can listen, too, if you want.”

“What makes you think I’m not doing okay?” Tony shifts uncomfortably.

“Dad, please, you don’t have to pretend with me,” Peter assures him. “I know what it’s like, this disease in our heads. In the end, we are our own worst enemy.”

Tony lets out a long breath before sitting down in his chair. The smile he gives Peter is faint. He hunches forward, clapping his hands together and observing his fingers carefully.

“Sometimes I tend to forget that you know more about this than you should,” Tony admits. “But isn’t it supposed to be me who needs to be looking out for you?”

Peter snorts, jumping up on the desk and grabbing Tony’s pen to toy with it.

“When have we ever done something the traditional way?” he jokes. Tony, too, chuckles at that. It’s good to see the laughing lines appear on his tired-looking face again. “I’m serious, Dad. All this crap with Steve, major surgery, the accords… I can understand if you need a little break after a while.”

“How about we take a holiday, huh? During Christmas break? After New Year?” Tony asks. Peter shakes his head.

“Don’t change the subject, Dad. We can plan that later.”

Tony rubs his brow before shaking his head. His goatee has now turned into an almost full beard. His hair is longer, too. Peter wonders when was the last time Tony took a good, long shower. Not just a quick one to avoid looking at himself for too long.

“Bruce told me something… about the serum. You don’t want it anymore, don’t you?”

Tony shakes his head without looking up.

“Bruce shouldn’t tell my kid about my personal issues,” he mutters. Peter punches him in the shoulder.

“At least he tells me what’s wrong with you. You never talk about yourself!” Peter drops the pen and grabs both his Dad’s hands into his own, making him look up. “You were there when I was down. Now let me do the same, please?”

Tony blinks a few times. Then he pulls one hand loose and pulls Peter closer to him into a strong hug. It lasts for a few seconds, the man unwilling to let his son go. It feels good, to be held like this. Peter, for a moment, doesn’t want it to stop.

But it does. Tony pulls back, trying to hide the way his eyes are now red, wiping away a tear that has dared to roll away. He chuckles, but it’s hollow, just a trick. To pretend he’s fine.

“Things are crap, but you know that I guess,” he finally says. And then he starts talking. About his youth, his father talking about Captain America as a way to get Tony to do the right thing. How his Dad, after a while, decided that Tony wasn’t worthy of being compared to Steve. How Tony hated Steve from that point on, until they did become friends after the attack on New York.

He talks about his hesitation and the endless talks he’s had with Bruce about the fact that he never felt like he was worthy for being Steve’s friend, how Bruce helped him through it. How he was relieved that he didn’t feel that worry when they started their relationship.

Peter listens as he explains, at last, what happened in Siberia. The betrayal he felt when he realized Steve hadn’t told him about his parents. The hatred he felt for the Soldier that killed his parents; Peter’s grandparents.

But at the same time, the disgust he’s feeling for himself right now, at the idea that he reacted that way.

He goes on and on, talking about how much he wants nothing more than to be with Steve again, but how he feels like he doesn’t deserve it, anymore. The tears don’t roll out of his eyes over his cheeks, but it’s a close call. Tony, after he finishes, takes his cup of coffee and lifts it up to his mouth.

Peter pulls him up, taking the cup and putting it back on the table. Then he grabs Tony’s jacket from his chair, and pulls him along on his way out of the workshop.

“Peter, what are you doing?” Tony asks in confusion.

“We’re going to see Steve,” he says with a smirk. “We’ll talk it all out, and after this weekend he’ll come and live with us again.”

Tony lets out a small sound, but is unable to form any words. When Peter’s standing in front of the elevator, he looks up to the ceiling.

“FRI, can you tell the others I’ll be a little longer because I need to help my Dad?” he asks. Tony stutters out another protest, but doesn’t actively try to stop him.

“Of course, Peter. What shall I tell them?”

“Just say I’m a relationship-therapist now. Bruce will probably understand,” Peter jokes. The elevator opens up, and Peter pushes Tony inside. “C’mon. The sooner we’re there, the better!”

“Peter, I don’t really- what about your friends? Didn’t you all need help with-?”

“They needed help. I passed my test, after all,” Peter interrupts him. “Now, stop struggling and let’s get this show on the road, shall we?”

Tony gives Peter a long look, still dumbfounded. But after a while, he smiles. He takes the few steps that separates him and his son, and puts his hand behind Peter’s head to give him a kiss in his hair.

“I don’t know how I could deserve a son like you,” Tony admits. Peter snorts.

“Think about that next time I do something stupid, alright?” he tries, thinking back of the override-codes and the whole Vulture-business. Tony smiles again, wrapping an arm around Peter’s shoulder and keeping him close.

“I love you, Peter. You do know that, right?” he asks. Peter puts his head on Tony’s shoulder and closes his eyes.

“I know. I love you, too, Dad.”

It takes exactly one second for Peter to realize that this place is close to nowhere he wants to be right now. The first person he comes across is none other than one of the men he helped lock up on the ferry. The one that was going to buy one of Mr. Toomes’ guns. He’s being escorted somewhere with two cops behind him.

The guy doesn’t recognize him. Peter still shudders when he sees him.

The next person he sees is Mr. Toomes himself, sporting a bruised cheek and black eye. The moment he sees Peter, he grins widely.

“Mr. Parker! What a coincidence to be seeing you here,” he says. The guard behind him pokes him in the head with his stick and tells him to keep walking. Toomes spits out some blood. It falls right in front of Peter’s feet. Tony, of course, doesn’t like that.

“Excuse me, but talk to my son ever again, and you’re going to wish he’d killed you on that pier,” Tony warns him. Toomes face turns into one of surprise, and then he’s smiling again.

“Your son, huh? Now that is a surprise,” Toomes mutters. Then the guard pushes him forward once again. Whatever else he wanted to say, he doesn’t get the chance. Tony pulls Peter along with him to the next post. There, they’re checked for weapons or devices once again. Peter holds up his hands to make it easier for them. When one of the guards touch Tony’s scar, he jumps back.

“Easy on the merchandise,” he jokes out. “War wounds.” He raises his shirt to clarify that he’s not shying away from the check. Then the two are allowed in. Tony knows his way, so he motions for Peter to follow him.

“Who you’re here for?” one of the guards asks. It’s a woman, looking like angry is the permanent setting she’s installed for her face. Peter keeps his mouth shut, wisely.

“Rogers,” Tony says. The woman gives the two a long, inspecting look, but then opens up the door and walks inside.

“Rogers! Visitor!” she calls out. Through the window, Peter can see one figure look up. Where he would have expected orange uniforms like on TV, he’s dressed in all white. His beard has grown since last time Peter saw him, and his hair, despite an attempt to make it look neat, looks like it’s everywhere.

This look, Steve as a prisoner… Peter doesn’t like it at all. He swallows through a big lump in his throat, and follows his dad through another door. At the same time, Steve walks in as well, closing the door behind him.

He stops in his tracks when he sees Peter standing there next to Tony. Before either of them can speak, Tony breaks the silence.

“There’s been a uniform switch? Where’s the orange?” Tony asks. Steve blinks a few times before clearing his throat.

“Uhm, they’ve, uh… it’s been switched a few days ago. Some psychologist said it was too violent,” he says. Tony hums and walks forward to pull out the chair at the table. Then he looks back at Peter and nods towards Steve.

“C’mon, don’t hold back for me,” Tony tells him. Peter clears his throat again and then nods. At the same time, the two move forward. When Peter’s once again wrapped safely in Steve’s strong arms, he lets out a content sigh.

“It’s been a while,” he mutters out. Steve snorts.

“Too long,” he agrees. Then he pulls away and takes Peter’s face into his two hands. “You look great, Peter.”

“I feel great,” he says, deciding not to mention the panic attacks he’s been getting around Harry. They’re not important, and easy to fix when he goes to see the psychiatrist again in a few days. “Though I could do better once you’re all back.”

“Can’t disagree with that,” Steve agrees. With an arm thrown over Peter’s shoulder, the two sit down on the other side of the table, facing Tony, who is looking at the two of them without speaking. “Hi, Tony.”

“Steve,” Tony nods, responding curtly again. Peter rolls his eyes and Steve sighs.

“It’s a long way from ‘honey’, but at least it’s not ‘Rogers’ anymore. Can’t complain about that,” he shrugs. Tony passes his hand over his forehead. Peter shakes his head and hums to get their attention.

“Listen, I know things have been shit-“

“Peter…” Steve interrupts disapprovingly.

“… but that’s why we’re here now. Dad, you need to tell Steve what you told me earlier.”

Tony shakes his head.

“I can’t do that, Peter. Not twice in one day,” he disagrees. Peter nods in understanding.

“I know, Dad. But you need to start somewhere.” Peter then turns to Steve. “You, too. Just… talk. That’s always been your issue. You two never really talk. Every time you’ve argued in the past, you just fix it with actions but never words.”

Steve frowns. “Peter, where does this all come from?” he asks.

“Please, Steve. I know you love each other. And I know it’s been hard on you to realize that this world doesn’t care about who you love, anymore.”

Tony lets out a loud breath and pushes his seat back for a bit. He pinches his eyebrows and keeps his gaze down. Steve, too, turns his head to the side to avoid looking at Tony. Peter realizes even faster that this isn’t going to be easy.

“Steve, do you love Dad?” Peter tries. Steve shifts, giving Peter a surprised look. How could you even ask that, it says. Peter doesn’t react to it, just waiting for an answer.

“Of course, I do,” Steve finally says. Tony drops his hand, but keeps his gaze down. His fingers nervously rub on the scar on his chest. Peter reaches his hand out for him, but too far for him to touch.

“Dad?”

Tony finally looks up. His eyes are red again. It breaks Peter’s heart.

“You love Steve, don’t you?” he asks. Tony’s eyes then move up to Steve, who is trying to make himself look small next to Peter. Without daring to look up, he starts fumbling with his fingers. Peter reaches out to stop him.

“Yes,” Tony finally admits after a silence of a minute long. The first tear finally rolls over his cheek and he wipes it away as fast as he can. Then he crosses his arms and leans back in his seat, pretending once again that he’s not crying.

“Yes, what?” Peter urges on. Tony closes his eyes and sighs.

“I love you, okay? You heard it all when I was going nuts in the hospital. You know what I feel about you.”

Steve shifts again. “Yet you still broke up with me?”

Good, they’re talking. Peter keeps his mouth shut now. They need to figure this out themselves.

“You know exactly why I did that, Steve.”

“I’m sorry but no, I don’t,” Steve returns. Tony throws his hands in the air. “Tony, seriously. One moment you sleep with me and the other you dump my ass. That’s not okay!”

Peter squeezes his eyes shut and shakes his head while he shivers. “C’mon, gross!” he shouts in between. Steve and Tony ignore him.

“I told you exactly what was bothering me, and you know it!” Tony shouts back, pointing his finger towards Steve and standing up. Steve, too, gets back on his feet. Peter looks up in alarm.

“What, then? That fear that you’re an abuser? Newsflash, Tony! You aren’t!”

“In what universe am I not?!”

“In ours! Because I beat you up just as much as you did me! And yeah, it sucks, but we’re not just ordinary people, aren’t we?!”

Peter stands up and holds out his hands to both of them. He would have come between them if there hadn’t been a table in the way. “C’mon dads, you don’t have to shout like this.”

Both Steve and Tony take a step back. Neither mentions Peter using the words ‘dads’ to address them.

“Dad, you’re not an abuser. We’ve talked about this already, okay?” Tony shakes his head and turns around again. With his back facing the two of them. “Dad, please?”

Tony raises his head, as if he’s looking at the ceiling. Then he nods and shifts back towards the other two. He dries his cheeks and lets out a long breath. After that, he returns to his chair and takes his place down again.

Steve doesn’t sit down. Instead he walks up to Tony, takes the engineer’s hand and kneels down. Even just for a moment, Peter startles. Is he-? Don’t say he’s going to propose?!

“Holy shit, Steve?” Tony agrees to Peter’s point.

“I’m not proposing,” Steve quickly clarifies. “But I am making a statement. Because I love you. And I plan on loving you for a long, long time. So I want you to understand that, whatever happened in Siberia, I’m not holding it against you. I never have. If anything, you’re supposed to be angry at me for not telling you sooner about your parents.”

“Steve…” Tony starts. Steve stops him.

“After I’m out of here, I promise you, Tony, I promise the world can know about us. I’ll announce it on live tv for all that matters. I’m not ashamed, Tony, I never was. I was just… wrong. So wrong.”

“You don’t have to do that, Steve,” Tony finally says. He takes his free hand and puts it on Steve’s cheek, finally giving him a small smile. Peter hides away his excitement, keeping himself from throwing his hands in the air in a victorious gesture. “We’ll figure it out after this weekend, okay?”

Steve nods. The man starts leaning forward to get a kiss from Tony. Peter is about to look away when he suddenly sees his Dad lift up his hand to put it against Steve’s mouth.

“Not yet,” he says with a smirk. Right after that, the door opens and a guard walks in. Where Peter would have expected for Steve to pull away and pretend nothing happened, the Super Soldier remains where he was.

“Mr. Stark?” the man asks. Tony pulls his hand from Steve’s mouth and nods before standing up. If the guard is surprised about what he saw, he’s not showing it. “The chief wants to see you. It’s about the transfer of Mr. Rogers tomorrow?”

“Right, yes,” he says. “I’m coming with you.”

Then he pulls Steve back up again and kisses his cheek gently. After that, he turns to Peter.

“You’re staying here?” he asks. Peter nods with a smile. Tony holds up his thumb, and then gets himself to the door. After he’s out, the guard gives Steve a confused look before closing the door behind them. Steve lets out a long breath.

“Thank you, Peter,” Steve says. “You’re too smart for a kid your age.”

“Next time you two have a disagreement, just call me, okay?” he jokes. Steve wraps his arm around and pulls him close.

“We might just do that, son,” he agrees. “You have no idea how proud I am of you.”

Peter smiles and closes his eyes. Slowly but surely, he feels like his family is going to get back together at last. With a wide smile, he lets out a loud sigh.

But then he opens his eyes widely, thinking back of a small fact.

“I left my friends with Bruce!”

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