Chapter Text
Peter likes his mentor’s new girlfriend, he really does.
Brittany is nice, smart, pretty, and laughs at all of Tony’s jokes, no matter how bad they are.
She and Tony have only been dating for a few months but Peter would be lying if he said he didn’t already notice a change in his hero.
It’s a bit obvious, actually, just judging by the way the mechanic smiles as he’s looking down at his phone or when she comes by the lab. The man gets damn near giddy when she offers up any aid with the Iron Man or Spider-Man suits.
Yeah, that’s right, she’s not just smart.
Wicked smart. Genius smart, even.
Maybe not to Tony’s caliber but Peter knows that’s what drew him to her in the first place.
They met at a gala, of all things, promoting the new Stark prosthetics. This new form of technology could change people’s lives in the best and most affordable way possible.
For once, this gala wasn’t a boring one to attend, Peter thought.
Brittany herself made a speech not long after the official presentation, saying how her father was in the clinical trials and how much of a success it was. He could walk for the first time since he lost his legs in the Vietnam War when she was just a little girl.
Tony couldn’t take his eyes off of her.
So they met up at the open bar, got to talking, she even went out of her way to include Peter in the conversation. That is when the teen knew he liked her.
And a few weeks later, when Tony finally admitted that he is asexual, she was super supportive and accepting.
That is when Peter knew he really liked her.
She sounded almost too good to be true, the spiderling thought.
Almost.
-
Peter would soon think back to those words, align it with that saying his aunt and uncle always told him as a little kid.
“If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.”
And damn, if that isn’t the most accurate phrase these days.
Over the past few weeks, things have been a little…well, a little tense.
Not with Tony and Peter, by any means. They’re still thick as thieves, bonding in the lab, getting ice cream after school, falling asleep with the TV on, nothing there has changed.
Thank God.
No, the problem is: she has changed.
It’s like when a class gets a new student mid-semester. For the first month or so, the kid is nice, shy, polite with everyone, including the teacher.
But after that grace period passes, when they get more comfortable at the school, their true colors start to show; and they’re not always that same polite kid they once were.
For that first month, Peter actually thought he could be friends with Flash and look how that guy turned out.
And it’s the same way with Brittany: she started out so nice and sweet and funny but lately she’s been kind of…short with the boy, like she wants to escape any conversation with him as fast as humanly possible.
Peter can’t help but start to get self-conscious.
Did I say something wrong, or do something wrong? Did she say something and I didn’t hear her and she took it the wrong way?
Does she like me?
Of course she likes me, I’m delightful.
I mean, Mr. Stark likes me and well, he doesn’t like that many people, so that must count for something, right?
As he’s in the lab and fixing up some minor repairs on his suit, Peter continues thinking and overthinking all the reasons why she could possibly dislike him. Maybe she just doesn’t like kids in general?
I mean, that’s fair, kids are pretty obnoxious.
But she was so nice before, so what flipped the switch?
Peter looks over at his father figure on the other side of the room, his back on some rolling thing to help him get to those hard-to-reach places in his own suit, completely unaware of how frantic the gears are shifting in his intern’s head.
The boy decides to ask his hero. Maybe Brittany said something to him and then he can figure out how to fix it, “Um, Mr. Stark?”
“Yeah?” Tony says not looking up from his armor.
“Um,” the teen starts scratching the back of his head in shyness. He takes a breath and comes out with it as if he’s ripping off a band-aid, “Does Brittany like me?”
Tony answers casually, still not looking at his kid, “Yeah, of course she does.”
“Are you sure, like, are you really sure?”
The mechanic stops mid-screw and looks up at the tyke with a baffled expression, pushing the rolling platform out from under his suit and tilting his head in the other’s direction, “Where’s this coming from?”
“I -” Peter cuts himself off with a slight groan as his gaze goes back down to his suit, regretting even bringing this up, “I don’t know -”
“Yeah, you do.” Tony sits up onto the platform, cracking his back as if he were a spokesperson for Rice Krispies, and focuses on the kid, “Did she say something?”
“Well, um,” the teen bites his lip, timidness starting to get the best of him, “I mean yes and no?”
The man raises his eyebrows in surprise as he stands up fully. He goes to the kid whose gaze is now practically glued to his suit and stands next to him, stiff back leaning against the table, “What do you mean, did she say something?”
At getting nothing but a shrug in response, Tony lightly pushes his kid’s cheek with his finger, making Peter look up at him, “Pete, you can’t just say something and then say nothing c’mon, spit it out. If she said something, she probably didn’t mean it.”
The teenager sighs defeatedly, “I mean, she hasn’t said anything, it’s just…I don’t think she wants me around.”
Tony’s eyes narrow in concentration, “Why do you think that?”
“Because like,” with another groan, Peter turns around and leans the table as well, crossing his arms in embarrassment, “If I ask her a question, she doesn’t respond except with ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ If I try to keep up a conversation with her, she just says a couple of little things and then walks away. I don’t know, I just, I don’t think she likes and I don’t know what I did wrong.”
“You haven’t done anything wrong.” The billionaire nonchalantly wraps his arm around his kid, “Look, this relationship is still new, she probably just doesn’t know you well enough yet. Maybe she was just having a bad day, huh? Everyone has bad days.”
The fifteen-year-old shrugs once again, “I guess, but she seemed so friendly when we met -”
“Peter.” Tony cuts him off with a chuckle, “Don’t blow things out of proportion, bud. She’s said nothing but great things about you.”
“Wait, really?” The kid looks up at the older man, eyebrow raised in confusion, “Like really, really?”
Tony lightly shakes him as a soft smile spreads across his face, “Really, really. Hey, she’s coming over tomorrow, I’ll talk to her about it, how ‘bout that?”
Peter tenses instantly, “No! No, I don’t want her to be mad.”
“She’s not gonna be mad, I betcha this was all a misunderstanding. If anything, she’s probably gonna apologize.”
“Really?” The teen replies, eyes hopeful.
“Really.” Tony nudges him one last time before letting go, making his way back to his suit but staying upright this time. He asks as he picks up another form of tech, “So, how do you like her?”
That startles the kid, making him almost drop his screwdriver. He then gets back to work on the repairs as he answers, “I-uh, she’s nice, yeah, really nice, um, and funny too. You’re uh, you’re a lucky guy, Mr. Stark.”
He sees the way his mentor smiles and Peter can’t help but let a grin escape him as well. It’s honestly a great change of pace, seeing Tony this happy.
The older genius says as he starts screwing and unscrewing bolts in his suit, “Yeah, when things ended with me and Pepper, I thought it’d never happen again, finding love. Especially being like I am, y’know?”
Peter hums in agreeance, “Preaching to the choir. Being ace definitely has its faults.”
“You ain’t kidding. But I don’t know, kid, there’s just something about her, I…I think it might work out, which is weird to say coming from me.”
“Hey, you and Pepper were together a long time, and at least you’re still friends, right?”
“Yeah, everything’s copacetic, company’s good, her and Happy are well, happy.”
This time, Peter does drop what he’s doing, looking up at the other hero in shock, “Wait, Pepper and Happy are dating?!”
“Yup, for a while now, actually.” Tony then says before his charge has the chance to ask, “And I’m okay with it, for the record.”
“But he’s like dating your ex -”
“Who I’ve moved on from.” The man steals another glance at Peter before turning back to his suit, “Seriously, kid, I’m fine. Yes, we’re still friends, but I’m not gonna like invite her to my wedding, that’s if I have a wedding.”
The teen looks up fully and stares at his father figure’s back, feeling a sense of uneasiness that he wasn’t expecting, “Wait, you’re uh, you’re already thinking about marrying Brittany?”
Tony simply shrugs, “I mean, yeah, it’s kinda impossible not to, but I’m not really thinking about it. We haven’t known each other for very long.”
Peter lets out a silent sigh of relief, picking up his tool and getting to work once again. Curiosity gets the better of him, and he asks with a touch of nervousness in his tone, “So, she’s really okay with it? Y’know…not having sex?”
“Yup.” Tony replies, popping the “p” at the end, “Those people do exist out there, bud. I promise you’ll find one someday.”
The tyke says with a shrug, “Eh, relationships sound like too much work. I’ll adopt twenty cats instead.”
“Bet May will love that.”
“Oh, she will. All I gotta do is shove a white kitten in her face and she’ll be the human equivalent of jello. If only my building allowed pets.”
“Gee, I wonder why May picked the place,” Tony retorts with a snort.
Peter’s eyes then brighten with an idea. He asks his mentor in a singsong voice, “Hey, Mr. Stark -”
“No.”
“Oh c’mon, you don’t even know what I was gonna say.”
Tony spins around, sporting a cheeky smile while he’s wiping the oil off of his hands, “Oh so you weren’t gonna ask me if the tower allowed pets?”
The teen’s shoulders slump, face etching in unamusement, “I hate you.”
The man’s smile grows, “You love me.”
“Not as much as you love me.” A grin escapes the spiderling, amusing the older man.
“Who says I love you?”
“Um, my suit, for one.” Peter gestures to said item, “C’mon, would you really make this for just anybody? You love me, Mr. Stark, don’t lie.”
Tony playfully rolls his eyes, “Whatever helps you sleep at night.” He then turns back around to the tasks at hand, with Peter still looking on admiringly at his hero, his grin now graduating to a smirk.
That’s code for “I totally won.”
The teen then sighs in content as he resumes his own work, that same smirk never leaving his face.
Nothing has changed.
And nothing will change.
-
The next evening, Brittany comes by and the two lovebirds go out for a date night. There are drinks, music, laughter, and the most exquisite food money can buy.
It’s the perfect Friday night and Tony cannot be happier.
After the night is over and they go back to the tower, they settle into bed, watching some rerun of a food competition show until they fall asleep. It’s then that Tony decides to bring up his kid, “So, how do you like Peter? He’s pretty great, isn’t he?”
He turns over and looks at Brittany, elbow propped up on his pillow and head resting against that respective hand, giving her a sleepy grin.
Taking her all in.
The blonde waves that cascade down and over the comforter, lips pursed in concentration as she’s flipping through a magazine. Tony really stares into her beautiful blue eyes, noting how he can see the reflection of the TV through them.
So technically, he can watch TV and her at the same time.
What a win-win.
Brittany is still looking down at the magazine that Tony can now see is at a crossword page when she finally answers, “Yeah, he’s great.”
Tony’s eyes narrow slightly, not expecting that lack of emotion, “He, uh, he thinks you’re great too, he was just worried, that’s all.”
His girlfriend looks up at that and turns to him, confusion evident on her face, “Worried about what?”
“Well, just,” the man adjusts his position and lays on his back, facing the TV but still turned towards her, “Yesterday he was worried that you didn’t like him. Which is preposterous I mean, I don’t know where he got that from.”
Brittany’s gaze goes back down to the crossword page, “Sweetie, you got a pen?”
Tony’s head tilts in surprise, “Uh…yeah.” He opens his nightstand drawer and fishes out a pen. As he’s giving it to her, he asks, a tad offended, “Did you hear a word I just said?”
The other genius closes the magazine, using the pen to mark it into place, and turns to her boyfriend with a caring smile, “Look, he’s a kid, a sweet kid, but a kid. Kids have a tendency to kinda blow everything out of proportion, y’know?”
“Well, yeah, but he sounded serious with this one. He actually thinks you don’t like him. You do like him, right -”
“Yes,” Brittany softly grabs onto the other’s upper arm, gently stroking it with her thumb while still sporting that same smile, “He just caught me on a bad day, maybe it was my period, I don’t know. I know how close you guys are, so next time I see him, I’ll talk to him.”
“Thanks, it’d mean a lot to him. Maybe his anxiety will take a nap for once.”
Brittany then says as she lets go, completely ignoring that last statement, “It’s just weird.”
“What?”
“How like…you call him your kid, but he’s not actually your kid.” She looks over at him, one cheeky eyebrow raised, “Unless you’re not as ace as I thought.”
Okay, what the fuck?
Tony rebuts, looking at his girlfriend incredulously, “Some aces do have children, FYI, but who says he has to be my kid in order to be my kid? We just don’t care about that, I guess.”
“And that’s good, it’s just - it’s odd.”
Where is she going with this?
“Why? Kids are adopted every day, what makes this so different?”
“I mean, look at Back to the Future, that Marty kid was in high school and his best friend was a mad scientist who’s old enough to be his grandfather let alone his dad, like dontcha think that’s kinda weird?”
“That’s what you took from the movie? Not the mom wanting to screw her kid, but you thought the friendship was weird?”
“What teenager wants to be friends with someone who’s old enough to be their dad?”
“Peter does, apparently, he doesn’t seem to care,” Tony quips, not even caring at the slight sharpness in his tone.
Brittany seems to sense this as she resumes rubbing his arm, “I’m sorry, baby, I don’t mean to upset you, but…you’re also famous. What if people see you two together and get the wrong idea -”
“They already have and they were shut down faster than you can say ‘Bugle.’ Everyone knows he’s my intern.”
Her eyes widen slightly, “Oh, you fixed it?”
“Fixed it before it went anywhere.” Tony then decides to ask the question that’s been bugging him since this conversation started, “Where are you going with this? Do you have a problem with Peter -”
“Tony, you’re making a mountain out of a molehill here, I like Peter.”
Funny how you’re telling me that line.
“Good, ‘cuz he’s not going anywhere.” The mechanic looks at her, face serious, “And if there was ever a time you’d make me choose between the two of you…you know which one I’d pick.”
“Oh, I know, he is your kid as you keep saying. But I’m also saying: your best friend shouldn’t be a fourteen-year-old -”
“Fifteen, actually, his birthday was in August. And I’m saying I disagree, so, agree to disagree?”
Brittany moans in frustration as she lets go and grabs the magazine, opening it right to the puzzle, “Whatever you say.”
Tony rolls his eyes as he turns off his lamp to go to sleep, hiding a slight smirk as he turns away from her on his side because that’s right, he won.
As he gets fully settled into his position, his girlfriend asks, “What’s an eight-letter word for ‘suspicious’?”
Brittany.
“Um,” Tony takes a few seconds to think, “Doubtful?”
“Oh perfect, thanks.”
“Uh-huh.”
What I’m feeling right now.
As the billionaire drifts off, he lets his mind start to wonder about the conversation he just had.
No one’s ever had a problem with him and the kid. Every time he brings Peter to an event of some kind, they’ve all been nothing but nice to him, because he’s Peter and it’s impossible to not love the tyke seconds after anyone meets him.
Pepper never had a problem with him.
So what’s up with her?