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"Are you sure about this?"
Morning rays of sun bleed into May's small kitchen area where she sits at the table shuffling around her lecture notes for the day. Tony leans back against the edge of the counter, arms crossed over his chest only to keep himself from fidgeting with a stray hair on his left sleeve that definitely is not there. The calming light of the rising sun had not eased his anxieties during the drive across town, and now it bites at him, drawing forth beads of uncertainty.
At his question, May pauses, leaning her elbow on the table with papers still in hand. Her expression is patient when she says, "Tony, I'm sure about this. Peter loves spending time with you. He'll be confused and more than a little awkward - you know the kid - but he's not going to turn you down."
Tony can only nod his head, self-assured in a way that nobody, not even himself, believes. He shifts his weight from one foot to the other and casts a hesitant glance over towards Peter's bedroom door. Subtly twisting his wrist to catch the time on his watch, he breathes out a sigh of relief. It's not yet seven, and the kid isn't due to be up for another half hour. Just enough time for him to have one more crisis of confidence before hardening his resolve for the next few days to come.
"Tony," May's warm voice is laced with concern. "If you aren't sure about this, it's okay. He'll be none the wiser."
"No, I'm sure." Tony stands up straight and absently wipes his damp palms down the sides of his shirt. "It'll be fun. Good for both of us."
"It will be," she assures confidently, pulling herself to her feet as she begins slipping manilla folders into her purse. May is dressed comfortably, straight leg jeans tucked into ankle boots, and a flowy blouse that nearly reaches her knees. Tony thinks if his professors had been more like May, he probably would have made it to more of his classes. He follows her through the apartment, leans against the doorjamb once she steps into the hall.
"Thank you for doing this, Tony. I really appreciate it - Peter will, too, even if he doesn't acknowledge it. Besides," she grins, "at least this way, he's not skipping school."
"Do you think he really would have skipped?"
May looks at him, considering. "I do, yeah. And I don't think he would have been careless enough to risk us catching him in the suit. I know he's, you know, but I don't want him to spend the day wandering Queens with only his thoughts for company. And the way I hear it, you're not much better yourself on Father's Day." Her teasing grin is all too knowing, and Tony grumbles.
"Pepper can't be trusted."
"I never mentioned Pepper." She takes one, two, and then three steps backwards down the hall and shoots him a lazy salute and a wink before turning on her heel and continuing her retreat. Tony shakes his head, lips twitching in amusement as he watches her go. Sooner or later, her unlikely friendship with Happy Hogan is going to come out, and Tony hopes he's there for it, just to catch the look on Peter's face as he slowly begins to assume "the worst".
Turning back into the apartment, Tony finds himself pilfering through May's cabinets until finally he's pulled everything he needs to stuff as many morning calories into Peter as he can. Eggs and bacon and pancake mix and milk and any other distraction that comes to mind. When the counter is sufficiently littered with more than he knows he'll actually cook, Tony groans. What's left to do than stir in his own thoughts?
Even as he glances down at his watch, not really processing the numbers, Tony wanders into the Parker's living area and over to the double bookcase snug in the corner. May's collection is extensive and eclectic: from a sea of iconic women's autobiographies to a wave of new-age spiritualism. What draws his attention even more so are the photographs scattered about the shelves, all focusing on the same three individuals - Peter, May, and Ben. They look happy, and Tony's throat tightens before looking away. He's been through some shit in his life, no doubt, but Peter's not sixteen, and he's already lost what effectively amounts to three parents.
This Father's Day will be Peter's first without Ben.
May had approached him earlier in the week, cautious but unwavering in her broach of the subject. Father's Day in the Parker household meant Ben pulling Peter out of school and making a day of it - Movies, museums, rock climbing, whatever Peter wanted to do. This year, he'd cut school. Or so May had told him. While the supposition had caught him by surprise, Tony couldn't blame the kid. May wasn't asking him to babysit, but to please keep an eye on him. To which he agreed without question. Tony could understand. Well, maybe not entirely. It's not like he and Howard had the best of relationships. Shit, they didn't even have one of indifference. Still, what he'd discovered - what he'd seen - in Siberia had brought on a lot of memories he thought long forgotten. Loathe as he is to admit it, a lot of anxiety had made home in his chest over the last few weeks leading up into today.
Later that night, after he'd spoken with May, it was Pepper who'd suggested maybe it would do Tony and Peter both some good to not spend the day stewing in their own thoughts. And while Tony didn't disagree with the sentiment, he'd felt uncomfortable with the notion of spending Father's Day with a kid who'd just lost the closest thing to a father he'd had. It's not to say that he doesn't, ya know, care about the kid, but there's a line, and Tony was not about to overstep.
One of these days, Tony will realize that through Peter, he now has not only one, but two strong, determined women in his life. And when May had called him with a pointed, 'I'm thinking Miami. A road trip to Miami. What do you think? It doesn't matter, I've already called the school. Be here at seven,' Tony wasn't about to argue. Instead, he'd sighed, accepted the inevitable and headed down to the lab to make plans. 'There are worse ways you could be spending Father's Day, Tones. At least this way, you'll have someone to keep you in your place,' Rhodey had joked.
For all of the groans and complaints and anxiety about imposing on the kid's Father Day - this one of all years - the idea of taking Pete on a trip down the coast is exciting, and Tony has low-key spent the week looking forward to it. And be it Pepper or May or Rhodey… They're right, This trip will be good for him. For both of them.
-------
A miserable week to lead up to a miserable day. Peter hadn't even bothered setting an alarm, knowing full well school wasn't in the cards for him today. May has back to back lectures all morning, which means he'll reasonably make it until noon - asleep - before she starts blowing his phone up. Or so was the plan.
When Peter's door bursts open, he nearly startles right off the side of his bunk bed, catching himself only by slapping a hand against the ceiling to steady himself. For all the adrenaline dumping into his system, there's no element of danger coursing through him alongside it.
"Mr. Stark?" Peter watches in confusion as the man crosses the room towards his closet and begins pushing clothes out of the way, rummaging instead through the bottom.
"Let's take a road trip," the man says, now pulling clothes from the closet and dropping them onto the lower bunk in a manner that tells Peter Tony doesn't actually know what he's looking for. And, neither does Peter, who rolls out of bed just in time to take two shirts to the face.
"A road trip?" he echoes, snatching the shirts off his face and catching another that Tony tosses over his shoulder. Finally, the man makes a triumphant noise as he stands up with a duffel bag in hand - The one Peter always carries with him whenever he spends the night at Tony's.
"Yeah, kid. C'mon, it'll be fun. Get up." Tony begins pulling the shirts out of Peter's hand one by one, eyeing each carefully. Peter can only stare, baffled, as Tony hangs one back in the closet and pulls the other off its hanger and tosses it onto the bed behind Peter. It's domestic in a way he's not used to and has him feeling wrong-footed, caught off guard.
"Mr. Stark, I can't go on a road trip. It's," he almost says Father's Day, that he can't do anything but sleep and wander the city, but catches himself. Peter clears his throat before beginning again. "It's a Friday, I can't just-"
"Okay, and?" Tony turns to look at him with sharp, knowing eyes. Peter shifts awkwardly, crossing his arms high, hands caught between arms and side. "You're telling me you didn't plan on skipping today?"
"May told you," It's not a question. Peter wants to scowl, wants to feel something akin to betrayal wash through him, but he has neither the heart nor energy for it today. Tony's headed towards his dresser, towards the top drawer, and god wouldn't Peter just straight die if his mentor unwittingly opened his underwear drawer as he packs for him. Peter lurches forward, blocking Tony before he can take another step closer. The man shoots him an amused look.
"May told me that you didn't need a babysitter and that I should let you do your thing but to please keep an eye on you. But then-"
"This isn't exactly letting me do my thing."
"But then," Tony begins again, voice an octave higher to speak over Peter as if he hadn't been interrupted, "she and Pepper had a conversation."
Peter winces because yeah, okay, that makes sense. His voice is tentative, cautious, when he says, "So, road trip?"
Tony grins like he's won something, and pushes the partially filled duffel bag towards him. "Shower, pack, and meet me in the kitchen. I'm going to burn us some breakfast."
Peter's eyes widen. He's never seen the man cook, but he's heard stories- Stories that have Peter rushing to throw his shit in a bag so he can babysit his mentor while the man cooks. Tony's voice pulls at his attention.
"And, Pete, leave the suit. You aren't going to need it." Peter snorts, abandoning his task and turning towards Tony with a knowing smirk much too similar to his aunts. His eyes flick down to the device at his chest.
"Go ahead, Mr. Stark. Drop the tech, it'll be safe here."
Tony narrows his eyes, not considering it even for a moment. Instead, he turns and walks away, throwing over his shoulder, "Grab the suit, brat. And speed it up, we're on a schedule."
Peter rolls his eyes. Tony Stark couldn't follow a schedule to save his life.
-------
"Oh, wow, you weren't kidding."
Peter sits at the kitchen table, working through his second - burnt, definitely burnt - omelet, eyeing Tony as he waves a hand towel towards the fire alarm until finally, it shuts off. He'd taken the fastest shower of his life to avoid just this - Or, well, maybe not entirely to avoid, so much as watch the shitshow unfold. No disappointment here.
"The snark isn't necessary." Tony scowls, wiping his hands on the towel before tossing it over onto his shoulder.
"And yet, you're getting it anyway." He fails to hide the smirk behind a swig of orange juice. "Why are we doing this, Mr. Stark?"
"Because breakfast is the most important meal of the day." Tony doesn't bother looking his way as he sets about cleaning up his mess. Peter's half tempted to pull his phone out and snap a picture for Pepper, but he's too distracted by the whole fanfare.
"You know what I mean," he counters.
Tony sighs, finally meeting Peter's gaze before slipping back into the seat across from him. "Being alone with your thoughts isn't fun." When Peter doesn't answer, he continues. "Ya know, it's Father's Day for everyone, Pete. My old man, he and I didn't get along so well. And I've been told that I don't tend to cope in a "healthy way", so really you're doing Pepper a favor by babysitting me."
Peter's eyes narrow suspiciously, skeptical. He knows Tony is full of shit, he's just trying to decide if it's the type of bullshit he wants to play along with. He'd really planned on sleeping most of the day and wandering Queens for the rest of it - Revisiting every place he and Ben had hit up last year. But even Peter can admit that yeah, he's still not entirely emotionally prepared for that. Peter knows it's going to be a rough day for him, he's just not sure if he's ready to spend a rough day with Tony seeing him like this. He thinks, based on the way Tony sighs heavily, again, that Peter must be broadcasting some of this in his expression.
"Listen, Pete. Today is going to suck, at least, a little bit for both of us. We may as well suffer together, yeah? I mean, it can't make things worse." There's something in his eyes that Peter can't quite place, that has him dropping his gaze towards the table so he can think.
Peter knows he's going to be hit with waves of grief, and what if it, ya know, makes things awkward? Tony isn't great with emotions, and Peter doesn't want to make the man feel uncomfortable. But, at the same time, he'd admitted that Father's Day wasn't exactly the greatest day for him either. And if Tony's feeling whatever it is he's feeling, Peter doesn't want to leave him alone to it, not when he doesn't have to. Absently, he picks at the skin of the palm of his hand, worrying the inside of his lip. He can feel it - the guilt - teetering within him, threatening to spill over, but knowing the rationality isn't there. He knows what May would say, knows deep down what Ben would say. And it's with that in mind that a slow, cocky grin crosses his face.
"I mean, I'm always kind of suffering with you, so I guess it won't be too much different than usual." He expects a witty retort, something snarky from Tony, but instead, the man leans over and claps a hand onto his shoulder and shoots him a broad, open smile.
"Glad I can be consistent." Peter laughs, dropping his head into his hands at the absurdity his day has already turned into.
"Alright," Peter concedes, carrying his empty plates over towards the sink and flipping on the nozzle. "Where are we going, exactly?"
"The exotic city of Miami." The man looks all too pleased with himself as he joins Peter at the sink, rolling his sleeves up his forearms.
Peter nearly chokes. "You're joking."
"Well," Tony begins, taking a dish from Peter and dumping it into the soapy water, "I assumed Malibu would be a bit too far, but if you think your aunt can pull you out of school for most of next week…"
"We can't go to Miami. You're out of your mind."
"I'll let you break the news to your aunt. I don't want to be the one to tell her she's not getting all the souvenirs she's asked for." Tony doesn't look at him when he says it; his voice very a matter of fact as he continues to scrub the dishes Peter is passing over to him.
"May's okay with this? The Miami part, I mean." he says, surprised. "You know we can't make it there and back by Monday."
Tony snorts, stepping back and grabbing the clean dish towel looped into the refrigerator handle. "Astute observation, Underoos. But we'll be flying back from Miami."
Peter's still staring at him in open surprise when he says, "This is so unnecessary."
-------
"This is so unnecessary!" Peter throws his hands up. They're standing in a dealership whose floors alone Peter is relatively sure he should have taken his shoes off before being allowed to step onto. He, Tony, and an attendant are standing in front of a vehicle so expensive Peter is afraid to touch it. The thing is flashy and loud and not at all what Peter'd had in mind when Tony mentioned a road trip. He turns to Tony, exasperation coloring his expression.
"What?" Tony says defensively, though the grin on his face says he knows exactly what. "It's top of the line."
"Hence - Unnecessary! This is a road trip, Tony, not a drag race." Looking around, none of the vehicles are adequate road trip vehicles. The attendant's gaze darts between the two, and Peter can almost hear the gears shifting in his head as he tries to puzzle together what Tony Stark is doing looking at luxury vehicles with a teenager. Which, honestly, good question. Like Tony doesn't have a hundred cars to choose from which, still, honestly - not for road tripping.
"I've competed in a few drag races in my days," he shoots back, lips quirking in a way that makes Peter's nose wrinkle. Okay, well, they'll be circling back to that in the future.
"Mr. Stark, why are you so extra?" The dealer snorts, catching himself with an ill convincing cough when Tony shoots him a look. Peter plucks the keys from Tony's hand and leans across him towards the attendant.
"Thank you so much for your time, but we're going to have to pass." When the man takes it, looking baffled, Peter then takes Tony's wrist and pulls him a few steps to the side. "Okay, it's become very obvious that you don't know how to Road Trip, so look at me. I am your captain now."
Peter doesn't wait for a response before turning on his heel and walking towards the door, nodding politely at the employees he pass. In doing so, he completely misses the open amusement coloring his mentor's expression as he shakes his head and follows after.
-------
"No. No way. Absolutely not."
They're not at a dealership, but rather a rental place. The attendant is standing with them, mouth agape and staring openly at the multi-billionaire standing on his lot with "Ben Parker's kid". Tony didn't necessarily mind Peter's insistence on a rental, and he certainly doesn't mind Peter's insistence on renting from one of Ben's old friends. What Tony does mind is the car Peter has drug him through the lot towards. It's an older, relatively run-down Toyota model that Tony hasn't even bothered to remember. Because they absolutely aren't taking it.
"Um," Peter turns to him, hands on hips, "yes way. If we're doing this, we're doing it my way."
Tony frowns - which is far better than the way his lip had curled up in confused discontent when Peter had first thrown his arms out wide with a pleased, "Ta-Da!" to which Tony'd hit back with, "I don't think you know that phrase means" - as he steps closer to the vehicle, walking around towards its side.
"Why does your way have to look like it's going to breakdown?" he says quietly, forgetting momentarily that Peter has super-hearing until the kid snorts in amusement.
"Pepper's right. You're dramatic about literally everything." And though he shoots for snarky, the light in his eyes as he looks over the car, and the reverent way he drags a finger along its side sort of betrays him.
"Yeah, well, Pepper speaks only in slander, so I wouldn't take what she says too seriously."
When Peter doesn't respond, still too enraptured by the vehicle, Tony frowns, this time in confusion as he eyes the kid. Idly, he wanders back over towards the dealer, Leland, who has finally pulled his awe-struck gaze away from Tony in favor of watching the kid fondly. Gently, Tony pulls the man over a few steps, hoping Peter's distraction will protect him from being overheard this time.
"I don't get it," he admits, hoping maybe the man who seems to have been close with the Parker's might have some insight. Leland turns to him with a sympathetic expression before turning that very gaze back over towards Peter.
"It's not actually for rent, that one. Couple years back, Ben told Pete if he saved up half the cost by the time he hit sixteen, he'd cover the other half." Tony's eyes widen in surprise, though Leland still has soft eyes on Peter. He's not sure what he expected, but it certainly hadn't been this. With this new insight, something fond washes through Tony when he looks back over at Pete that he can't quite put a name just now.
"That's cheating," he says thickly, going for humor but falling flat, a little too emotional. Tony clears his throat, shakes his head a bit, and steps forward before speaking louder, steady, "Alright, Underoos. The Council approves. Fetch me the keys and pray we make it all the way to Miami in this bad boy."
Tony doesn't exactly buy the vehicle. He just, ya know, makes sure that nobody else can buy it before Peter does.
-------
They've got a full tank of gas, a backseat filled with snacks that may or may not kill them before they make it to the Carolina's, and a heater/AC unit with busted, loose vents. The leather on the steering wheel is peeled in places, and Peter feels closer to Ben then he has in a long time. In a way, he feels like he's taking this trip with Tony and Ben. It's nice. Comforting. Peter pops a can of Dr. Pepper, laughing when they hit a pothole and soda spills out onto his chin and shirt as he takes a sip.
"I usually try and keep the liquid in the can or my mouth, but hey, that's just me." Tony quips, looking back and over Peter's shoulder before switching lanes. Peter's in too good a mood to put up a fight. He laughs again, slipping the drink down into the back holder between them - Front holder is for the driver, Mr. Stark. Hello, road Trip 101.
"Oh, hoh. Look who's got jokes."
At that, Tony snorts, which only widens Peter's grin. He doesn't bother trying to hide it. Now that they're moving through the city, excitement floods his veins, and he's practically vibrating in his seat. An emotion so, so far from the one he'd woke up with. The sort of excitement that nearly brings tears because you can't physically flail the enthusiasm out, but it has to escape somehow. Abruptly, Peter pulls his phone from pocket and turns towards the window, holding the phone out so that he can fit himself and Tony into the frame.
Tony grins, eyes darting quickly between the road and the phone. Peter thinks he's going to pop off with another snarky remark, but instead, he raises his left hand and shoots the camera a peace sign, eyes still on the road. In doing so, Peter lights up, throwing up his own peace sign before gasping at a sudden thought. He lowers the phone, eyes sweeping the car hurriedly, and, before Tony can ask, Peter snatches Tony's tinted sunglasses from the pocket at the bottom of the dash and slips them on.
"That's bold." Tony's voice is laced with poorly masked humor.
"I like to play with fire," Peter says absently and almost to himself, before twisting back into position and throwing up a peace sign to match Tony's. When the man glances over and catches sight of Peter, glasses seemingly taking up a third of his face, Tony's head tips back in laughter; it's at that moment that Peter snaps the photo.
Peter shoots the photo off to Ned and subsequently spends the next several minutes texting him as Tony works his way through traffic. It's as they're merging onto the interstate that Tony says, "Alright, Kiddo. You ready?"
When Peter doesn't immediately respond, he chances a quick glance over - Peter, still in Tony's sunglasses, is staring down at his phone, but rather than texting Ned, he's now grinning openly at the photo of him and Tony.
"This is gonna be the best weekend ever."
Tony knows Peter hadn't meant to say it out loud - that he hasn't realized he's said it out loud - and, somehow, that makes it all the better. He can't help but agree. This is going to be the best weekend ever.