Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

“Tones… I’m not sure this is a good idea.” Rhodey sighed as he leaned against the entrance of Tony’s lab.

“When have I ever let self doubt hold me back?” Tony replied with his ever so prominent touch of sarcasm.

“I don’t know, like, everyday?”

“Woah didn’t know this was gonna turn into a therapy sess, anything else you’d like to add?”

“Just that if this goes wrong I’ll be expecting an ‘I told you so’ letter and maybe some upgrades that’ll make my suit more badass than yours.”

“In your dreams Platypus-”

Before Tony could add yet another snarky comment to follow Rhodey’s, Peter came stumbling in the room with his backpack slung over his shoulder and slightly messy hair— presumably from some light running.

“Mr. Stark!” the teen breathed out with a belated smile. “Oh, almost didn’t see you there Colonel Rhodes, hey!”

“For the hundredth time you can just call me Rhodey.” He replied with a lighthearted eye roll.

“What’s up kid,” Tony responded with a smile. “Did ‘ya run here or something?”

“Rhodey- force of habit. And no, well yes, I was actually pretty excited cause I made more web fluid today and changed up the formula a bit and wanted to see if it would change the solution. Ya’know, to see if it lasts longer before dissolving.” Peter mindlessly rambled as he approached the lab table Tony was at before taking a seat on the stool nearby. “But uh, whatcha workin on there Mr. Stark? It looks a bit… confusing?”

Tony grinned in response before he virtually displayed the blueprints for his current project. Once it was pulled up he rested a hand on Peter's shoulder and relaxed for a moment as they looked over the print.

Peter, of course, gawked as he realized what it was. Or at least what he thought it was, which just so happened to be right.

“Is this what I think it is- am I looking at a time machine?! This is insane, wait are you done? Does it work? Can I help? Ohmygod how did you even- what are the mechanics that you-” Peter’s inability to form a proper sentence only made Tony laugh.

“Yes, no, no, maybe, I’ll explain later. I mean it’s not like I plan on using it. The last thing I’d need is Fury barking at me for doing something stupid. Just thought that it would maybe come in handy one day if the world went to ruins and it’d be beneficial to have this bad boy somewhat ready if necessary.”

Rhodey pinched his nose bridge and again voiced his disapproval. “Smart thinking except considering all the crap that’s happened over the years with crazy people having it out for you and your tech I’d say this is no better than putting a huge sign on the entrance of Stark Industries that says ‘hey, got top secret tech, feel free to attack me again and raid my home before destroying it.’”

“Okay, maybe you raise some reasonable concerns honey bear so I’ll set this project aside for now.” Tony shrugged, hand still on Peter’s shoulder. “Now if you’ll excuse us platypus, the kid and I have very serious business to attend to and I can assure you it has nothing to do with the very machine you’re glaring at.”

“Fine, but if Pepper calls to tell me you two haven’t come out of the lab in time for dinner I’ll be back.” Rhodey said before exiting the lab, door automatically shutting behind him.

Now it was just Peter and Tony. Over the past two years, the pair had gotten very close. Or at least close enough for Pepper and Rhodey to tease Tony for acting like a dad. He never wanted kids, and still doesn’t plan on having any. After growing up with Howard Stark as a dad, the man pretty much wanted nothing to do with kids. Half because he found them to be a bit annoying and the other half (more like 90%) being that he was too scared he’d screw the kid up. Then came along Peter and now he felt… well he didn’t know how to feel.

The two hung out all the time in his lab, had dinner together on the days he’d come over, watch movies in the living room, pull pranks on each other, and the list goes on.

He even frequently asks Peter about how things are going at school, knows about his friends Ned and Mj (who he often teases Peter about crushing on her but being too scared to make the first move), and listens to the kid ramble about his Aunt’s terrible cooking and his Spiderman activities. Just thinking about it to himself makes Tony mentally shudder cause damn maybe he was being too father-esque.

But Peter didn’t seem to mind. Quite the opposite actually, he seemed to love the time they spent together. The teen would gleam with joy whenever Tony asked him about those things. Tony could sometimes feel the excitement radiating off of him whenever he offered to let him sleep over when May worked overtime and wouldn’t be coming home ‘til far too late.

Plus, Tony wasn’t the only one who received some teasing over their pseudo father-son relationship. May would slide in some commentary about the two, much to Peter’s embarrassment. Even Ned cracked a joke about it once which resulted in a faint pink blush dusting across Peter’s checks and ears. Neither Tony or Peter brought it up to one another. There was no need to. Despite their insecurities, it just felt natural. And they didn’t want to touch on the subject and potentially ruin whatever it is that was going on.

° ° °

Peter subconsciously leaned further into the touch of Tony's hand resting on his shoulder before turning to him and speaking. “Mr. Stark, wanna test out the new web fluids?” He said with the same tinge of excitement as earlier.

“Sure thing kiddo, you wearing your web shooters?”

“Yup.” Peter popped the p, it was something Tony always did which did not go unnoticed. Perhaps he picked it up from him.

“Alright, I’m all ready. You might wanna stand back in case this shit goes berserk on us.”

“Language.” Tony cringed the second after it left his mouth. Really? After always making fun of Steve for his reprimanding of the team's cursing he was doing it now too. “Ugh I take that back, I sound like Cap. Gross.”

“Pfft, careful there, once you start adopting the terminology of a hundred year old grandpa you’ll become officially old.” Peter laughed.

“First Rhodey with the sass now you? What’s with everyone, is it national sass Tony Stark day?”

“Yeah, you didn’t get the email?” Peter played along to which Tony responded with a nudge and laughed.

“You can be such an ass.”

“I learn from the best.” Peter snarked before shooting the web fluid.

He aimed at the target on the wall opposite of them and the web landed exactly where it was intended to, but for whatever reason it wouldn’t detach from his shooter.

“Huh… that’s weird? Is it like clogged or something?” Peter questioned.

“Not sure, let me take a look.” Tony replied. He put on gloves, not wanting to be victim of the substance taking forever before dissolving off of him again, and proceeded to examine the web.

Upon making contact with the web, and much to his surprise, the fluid melted. “….was that a bust? Was it supposed to do that?”

Peter looked just as puzzled as his father-figure mentor. “No? I mean I don’t know, I've never used this formula before.”

Just as Tony was about to respond, Peter noticed the melted chemical fluid had made a mess of itself on their workstation.

“Aw shi- I mean aw man, Mr. Stark it made a mess. We should probably clean that before it contaminates something.” Peter said as he rushed over to clean the table.

Tony had taken off his gloves and retrieved rags, which were actually old beat up tank tops he didn’t use anymore, for the two nearby. “It’s no worries kid, it seems like it’ll come off fairly easily- wait Peter don’t touch that-”

Before Tony could finish, he had already rushed over and grabbed onto Peter's arm urging him to step away. Unfortunately for the two of them, it was too late. Peter’s attempt in cleaning their work table resulted in him accidentally pressing the button that triggered the power of Tony’s almost completed time machine.

Instinctively, Tony sought out to protect Peter from potential harm. As the machine warped them he grabbed Peter and held onto him tightly, pulling his head against his chest where his arc reactor once laid. Momentarily after, the two found themselves standing in the same position within a similar lab. A lab all too familiar to Tony.

It was none other than the private workspace of Howard Stark.

“Peter-” Tony paused as he slightly loosened the grip he had on Peter. He soon replaced his hands from the back of the teens head and torso and grabbed his face. “-please tell me you aren’t hurt or injured somehow.” He continued while simultaneously searching for any scruffs and bruises that could have appeared on Peter.”

Tony found himself consumed with concern over the physical well-being of Peter. Meanwhile, Peter stood wordless in an attempt to process the events that had just taken place.

“I-I’m okay I promise- Mr. Stark I’m so sorry this is all my fault. What are we gonna do? I mean- how are we gonna get back? What about Aunt May? She’ll be crushed if I never go back home. What about-”

“Hey hey hey shhh, Peter relax.” Tony said in an attempt to calm Peter down. The kid had started to hyperventilate and slightly shake which quite frankly alarmed Tony. As much as he experienced panic attacks of his own, he felt the least bit equipped to help another work through one. So, he kept his hands steady and cupped each side of Peter's face to stabilize him and provide… comfort? Is that what he was doing?

Tony shook his head to cut off his own thoughts before continuing a moment later. “It’s okay, it’s my fault for leaving part of the device on the table. Better yet, it’s my fault for not listening to Rhodey and making this shit in the first place.”

Peter laughed, causing Tony to tilt his head in confusion.

“Hey now… don’t go crazy lunatic on me Parker.” Tony stated with a raised brow to which Peter let out a combination of a sigh and a short laugh in response. Peter then leaned his head forward to rest on Tony’s shoulder which caused Tony to momentarily still before grasping the back on his head and pulling him closer.

It’s not as if the two never had physical contact. In fact, Peter had quite the habit of falling asleep on Tony during their movie nights— to which he had grown accustomed to by now.

The first time it had happened, Tony froze and tried to shrug him off. Much to his demise, Peter’s sleeping form was as solid as a rock which led to him to him eventually caving in. The next few times it happened he began to toss an arm over the boys shoulder until he would fall asleep as well. Since those occurrences, the two naturally grew more comfortable with subtle forms of contact.

And of course, Pepper managed to capture a few pictures and shared them with Rhodey— much to the embarrassment of Tony.

Once again, Tony’s thoughts were cut short when Peter responded. “Don’t worry, I haven’t cracked under the circumstances yet. Just funny how we both automatically start off by saying it’s our fault.” He paused. “Thanks… ya’know for calming me down.” Peter sheepishly mumbled the last part. “Do you know where we are?”

Sigh.

“Unfortunately that I do know. If I’m correct then this is my dear old dad’s lab.” Tony said the last bit with evident sarcasm.

“WHA- I mean what?!” Peter whisper-shouted. “Mr. Stark, what year are we in?”

“1986. Now who the hell are you two and what are you doing in my lab.”

Tony’s eyes went wide as he looked up to see none other than Howard Stark standing at the entrance of his personal lab. The last time he had seen his father was just over twenty-seven years ago. He immediately straightened himself out, pulled Peter off of his shoulder, and stood in front of him.

“Okay let’s all calm down. I can explain this, let’s just go sit in the living room and-”

Before Tony could finish, he was cut off by the startled gasp of a woman’s voice. What was with him and constantly being cut off today?

“Anthony… is that you?” Said the woman. Tony knew who it was of course. He didn’t have to glance over to know that the voice belonged to his mother, Maria Stark.

The room momentarily went silent. Tony could almost hear his heart beat jumping out of his throat.

“How is this possible? Howard, do you have something to do with this?” Maria said with awe.

And with that, it felt as if time had frozen. Tony often tried to not think about his parents. Years ago he would do so through drowning himself in alcohol. Now however, he would simply distract himself by spending time with others. He didn’t enjoy thinking about his dad. Howard was… a terrible father to say the least. His actions and behavior towards Tony were forever etched into the back of his mind. But, Maria? She did the best she could. And for that Tony loved his mother. He’s never said it aloud before, but he missed her. A lot.

Without even realizing it, Tony’s vision became blurred until he blinked away the burning feeling in his eyes. Despite his efforts, a tear had managed to escape. How embarrassing Tony thought to himself. Stark men don’t cry.

But how could he not? His mother had the same shade of blonde hair as he had remembered; and she wore a pearl necklace— the one Tony had always known to be her favorite.

Maria slowly approached the two, despite having not acknowledged Peter yet, and stood before them. She put a gentle hand on Tony’s face with a questioning look.

Ah. She still smells like flowers. I’d almost forgotten Tony thought to himself before resting his hand atop the one she placed against his face.

“…Hi, Mom.”