Chapter Text
“You sure you’ve got everything? Books, pens, pencils, snacks…”
“Yes, I am absolutely sure that everything is still in the bag exactly like it was there ten minutes ago.”
“Don’t give me sass, young man.”
Peter simply rolled his eyes and opened the car door. Still, he couldn’t help but smile at the mother-henning once his back was turned to the driver. Swinging the strap of the bag over his shoulder, Peter shut the door.
“Wait!”
The second door opened and closed, making Peter turn around.
Tony placed his hands on his son’s shoulders and proceeded to give him a onceover. “Ooh, look at my boy, so grown up,” he cooed while ruffling Peter’s curls. “I almost don’t wanna let you go.”
Peter swatted the hand away. “Dad,” he whined, “that’s embarrassing.”
Tony ignored the protest and pulled Peter in for a hug. “I don’t care.”
“Dad,” another whine, “I’ll be late. Do you want me to be late on the first day of school?”
“Well, maybe we would have more time if you didn’t stay up so late watching the city lights last night and then overslept,” Tony said without letting go. “And besides, we have about,” he glanced at his watch, “exactly thirteen minutes until the bell rings.”
Peter’s been settling in well in the tower. Everyone’s been nothing but nice towards him – they’d helped him pack his things, which led to discovery of photo albums containing Peter’s baby pictures, which in turn delayed the whole process as everyone wanted to see. Peter’s cheeks had burned red with the adults’ oohs and awws and overall cooing. His new family collectively agreed that the cutest picture was from Peter’s second birthday’s, where the toddler was looking straight to the camera, held up two fingers on one hand, the other one stuffing his mouth with chocolate cake.
The most hilarious one was from his first birthday. Peter’s eyes were wide open as he stared at the single candle burning on the top of the cake. So far pretty innocent picture, right? Wrong. The baby was reaching for the flame, two pairs of blurry arms reaching for him. To describe the scene in two words – pure chaos.
Oh well, it had been Ben and May’s fault that they placed the cake on the coffee table where the curious toddler with no self-preservation skills could reach.
The first time Peter had set a foot into the tower, he was speechless. The interior was lavishly yet simply decorated, the same sleek design like in the compound, but the furniture or the spacious rooms wasn’t what had managed to catch his attention. No, that belonged to the stunning view of the city skyline.
They’d let him to take it all in for a while, then dragged him away to show him his new room. It was spacious too, definitely a step-up from his previous… accommodation in the compound, with his own bathroom and walk-in closet.
The room was fully furnished but gave Peter enough space to customize it. And there, on the bed, was his blanket.
“Oh, how I missed you,” he’d said and buried his face in the familiar texture.
After quick unpacking, Peter had spent most of the remaining hours looking out of the panorama window. Friday had joined him on his spot on the ground and rested her head on his lap. The way the colors of the sky changed from vibrant blue to a mixture of orange, yellow and red, then to indigo and eventually black had him return to the same spot the next day to watch the sunset again.
“Better than TV, eh?” his dad had asked from his spot on the couch nearby.
“Yeah.”
The days had passed quickly and before he knew it, the new schoolyear began.
“Okay, you seriously gotta let me go now,” Peter said in sing-song voice, but made no move to escape the hug.
“Okay, okay. It’s just,” Tony paused, searching for the right word, “it’s your first day of school. Well, you’ve got plenty of first days, but this is kind of big thing for me since it’s my first time seeing you off.” Tony sniffed and tried to smooth down Peter’s curls he’d previously messed with. “How would you rate my seeing-you-off services?”
“Not bad for the first time,” Peter smirked at the reminder of their first conversation, “I would say… three and a half stars.”
“Only three and a half?”
Peter laughed. “Okay, four. But I’m glad we were able to leave the entourage at the tower. I don’t think I would be able to handle that.”
(“You all stay here, okay? It’s just me and dad.”
“Yeah, yeah, sure. As you wish.”
The father and son disappeared into the elevator that would take them to the garage. A minute full of silence passed.
“Who wants to go and secretly see the baby of the family off to school?”
“Me!”
“Me!”
“I’m coming too.”
They all went in the end.)
Tony said nothing to that. He was very well aware of the high possibility that they were followed by them anyway. It was like telling the sun to stop shining. “Okay, I’ll pick you up once the school is over. Now, skedaddle before you’re really late. I’ll just… be here, watching to make sure you get there safely.”
Peter shook his head in amusement. “It’s just from here to school gate. What could go wrong in such a short time?”
“Are you seriously asking that question?”
“Touché,” Peter shrugged. “But do you remember what we talked about on that night? Maybe it got negated—”
“Just go,” Tony gave him playful shove, “before I change my mind and have you homeschooled.”
“Love you,” Peter called over his shoulder.
“Love you too. Have a nice day,” Tony called after him.
Peter didn’t make it fifteen steps before another voice called out after him, making him stop in his tracks and smile widely.
“Peter!”
“Ned!”
The shorter boy caught up, both of them going for their secret handshake.
“Dude, I thought you died,” Ned said once they pulled apart. At Peter’s confusion, he decided to elaborate. “I got home and tried to call you only for you to not pick up. And then the number got disconnected. So I went to your apartment only to learn that you didn’t live there anymore?”
Peter smacked his forehead. “Shit, sorry, I totally forgot about that. I got a new number,” and new phone, and laptop, and home… and a whole new family, “everything’s been so hectic that it didn’t even cross my mind to let you know. I’m really sorry.”
“It’s okay—”
“What’s up, dorks?”
“MJ!” the two greeted. “How was the convention?”
“Good,” she replied in her typical manner. “Met lots of interesting people, learned new things. By the way, here.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a small but thick package wrapped in old newspaper that was doodled over. “Happy belated birthday.”
Peter took the gift and unwrapped the newspaper. Three pins fell into his palm. His face lit up when he recognized the franchise and his friend’s art style. One badge had simple Star Wars written on it, Luke and Darth Vader drawn on second one, the last one having simple rebel insignia.
“It’s all made of recycled materials, so it’s good for the environment. Plus, it’s handmade.”
“Wow. So they’re limited edition,” Peter beamed at her. “Thanks, MJ. They’re amazing,”
An emotion Peter didn’t have time to read flashed on her face. It disappeared as fast as it appeared.
“Whatever,” she muttered without looking Peter in the eye. “Anyway, see you inside. Don’t dawdle or you’ll be late.”
They kept their eyes on her back until she disappeared in the sea of students standing at the entrance. Just then, Peter’s phone buzzed with incoming message.
Sam: Ooh, Peter’s got a girlfriend~
Peter turned his eyes towards the sky, hoping the show of annoyance would prevent the blush from forming. So they came after all. But where… “Why I’m not surprised?” he muttered to himself while typing a reply. At least they were keeping their distance.
Me: She’s just a friend. And I thought we had a deal >:(
Meanwhile on the other side of the road, on the outdoor terrace, sat every single member of the Avengers, each having a pair of binoculars over their eyes. They knew how strange they looked like that. they didn’t care. Some middle-aged lady was giving them odd looks.
“Mind your business,” Bucky narrowed her eyes at her, “that’s our nephew’s first day of school.” He lifted the binos to his face again. “He just didn’t want us there because we would be embarrassing or something,” he added as an afterthought.
“Here you go, sir,” the waitress smiled as she placed small box in front of Steve.
“Thanks.”
“Watcha got there?” Clint asked. His kids started the school a week earlier, so he made it a point to see Peter off as well before he returned to his farm for a while longer.
Steve smirked. “A nice piece of cake for Peter once he gets back from school.”
Natasha could practically see what was going on in every man’s head. Rolling her eyes, she took a sip of her coffee before resuming nephew-watching. She had her spot secured.
Back at the school yard, Peter switched off the sound before pocketing his phone. “Sorry, you were saying?”
“As I was saying, it’s okay. Just don’t scare me like that again. I really thought you died.”
Well, I almost did, Peter wanted to say.
“Any particular reason for that weird look on your face?” Ned inquired. “What happened while I was gone anyway?”
“Dude, you won’t believe the summer I had.”
“Whoa,” Ned whispered, “dude, what even is your life?”
With the teacher for their last period still on the vacation, the students were given a chapter to read through. The assignment went ignored by everybody in favor of talking about their summer.
The trio found themselves in the corner, away from all possible prying ears, where Peter retold them mostly family-friendly version of what had happened while they were gone. Leaving out several details and his family’s criminal history, of course.
“You really mean to tell me that secret services got involved at some point and now you’re a Stark? That you were the son of Tony Stark, the owner of Stark Industries all along?” Ned leaned even closer.
“Yeah, basically,” Peter shrugged.
“That literally sounds like it’s straight out of some crazy fanfiction!”
“Does that mean the Pepper Potts is your step-mother now?” MJ asked.
“Again, same answer.” Funny how everyone knew his dad only as the owner of SI, but his mom was on a par with a celebrity in certain circles. Which, to be fair, Peter couldn’t blame them; he was the same. Keeping Tony Stark more private allowed him to, ahem, operate more freely.
MJ nodded. “I’m jealous.”
Ned leaned even closer. “Did you change your name? Do you go by Stark now?”
“It’s Parker-Stark. On official documents at least, but I’ll still be going just by Parker here,” he replied. Keeping the name Parker had nothing to do with those-who-shall-not-be-named. He simply kept it as A – because it was a link to Ben and May, B – because of safety reasons if something arose, and C – he didn’t want to be treated differently. The school staff had all signed NDAs and will keep referring to Peter by his original surname.
“Are you now in some witness protection program or something?” Ned continued. “I know you can’t say more than they got involved, but… are you?”
Peter frowned in thought. “No, I don’t think so. The threat’s been taken care of. But remember, not a word about my involvement in that to anyone, okay?”
“We promise,” they confirmed.
“I always knew those politicians were shady. But drugs and human trafficking combined… I’m not sure whether to be surprised or not,” MJ said. “I’m disgusted for sure. And to go after you, a minor, just because of your parentage—”
“Uh, can we not go into the details of that, please?” Peter asked while rubbing his neck. “It… kind of brings back bad memories.”
A rare look of worry crossed MJ’s face. “Right sorry.”
The final bell rang, freeing Peter from the tense moment. They packed their stuff and headed for the exit.
“Peter,” Ned nudged him, “if you ever need to talk about it, to let it out, you know you can turn to us, right?”
“Yeah,” MJ nudged him from the other side, “what Nerd 2 said. We’re here for you.”
Peter couldn’t help but smile. He really had the best friends, didn’t he? “I know. Thanks, guys.” Once outside, Peter immediately spotted the car parked next to the sidewalk, waiting for him. “Well, that’s my ride home.” Though I’ll have to tell them to be less… visible next time. ”I’ll ask about that sleepover,” he said to Ned before turning away and jogging towards the waiting car. “Bye!”
“Bye!”
Tony took a glance at his ringing phone before making a great show of declining the call. “Nnn-ope! Not today.” He put the phone into his pocket just seconds before the door opened and Peter slid into the backseat next to him.
“Hey, dad!”
“Hey, kiddo. How was school?”
“Good. We did a lot of catching up with Ned and MJ – all safely and without anything incriminating.”
“That’s good,” Tony ruffled Peter’s hair as the car began to move. “The tailor called earlier. Said we could come and try on the suits so he could make final adjustments. Sounds good? We can get some food afterwards if you’re hungry.”
Peter placed his backpack on his lap. “Yep. Sounds good.”
“And what’s this, hm?” Tony raised his brow at the sight of three pins that weren’t there in the morning. Like others, he’d seen the exchange. They had twenty minutes long ride ahead of them – enough to squeeze in some teasing. His smirk grew. “You got a gift from your girlfriend?”
Peter threw his head back. “Dad,” he groaned and Tony’s loud laugh filled the car.