I Was Joking

Fun and Games

"Aaaaaaand, done!", Peter Parker announced, stretching a little in his seat. Tony Stark chuckled, turning to check the kid's work. "Not bad.", the man complimented, nodding with a smile of approval. The kid lit up in pride, emotionally over the moon.

Not two seconds later, an alarm from Peter's phone went off. The teen groaned loudly. "Nick of time, kiddo.", Tony reminded, helping Peter clean up. "Another hour?", he heard the kid mumble, making his puppy-dog eyes. All the man did was huff a laugh. "As much as I would like to keep you here forever, I have to listen to your aunt. Lord knows she'll be after my head otherwise."

The kid huffed a chuckle, finished with cleaning up. The two left the lab, walking through the populated communal room on their way to the door. With a little bit of talking, and a very certain Secretary out of office, the Rogue Avengers had been pardoned and had returned to the compound. Most of them were forgiven quickly, others they were still working on.

Steve was getting things ready for dinner while Bucky and Rhodey were talking on the couch. Natasha was watching Clint play a single-player game. Said archer lit up at the sight of Peter; those two had become friends fast. "Oh, hey Pete! I gotta controller with your name on it.", he called. "Can't, sorry. School night, remember?", Peter answered sadly, walking to the door.

"At least stay for dinner?", Steve jokingly asked, mimicking the tone and face Peter made when he really wanted something. The teen and the man behind him rolled their eyes. "Rules are rules, Rogers.", Tony chastised, grabbing a keychain. The more Tony had taken him to the compound, the more he found himself driving the kid home. It could be marked as interesting, but Stark had just dismissed it as a time thing. Happy could take a while to get there, and any minute Peter was late caused him at least two percent less chance of surviving May Parker.

"What? Tony Stark going by someone else's rules?", Rhodey remarked, huffing a laugh as he rolled his eyes. "Must be one hell of a woman." "More like a woman that can give me hell. You ready, kid?"

Peter nodded and the two walked off, waving goodbye to everyone. The avengers returned the gesture, returning to their previous activities.

"Doesn't matter what Tony says, I'm still not convinced.", Clint remarked, finishing the level.  "Me neither. I call denial.", Bucky agreed, shaking his head. "Guys, guys. C'mon.", Captain America said, getting everyone's attention.

"Let's stop making fun of Peter.

That's his dad's job."

The joke sent a wave of laughs, calming down quickly. Out of nowhere, Barton's face lit up. "Hey, when's the kid supposed to spend the night here again?", he asked, sounding too excited.

"Next Friday. Why do you ask?", Natasha asked, raising an intimidating eyebrow.

"No reason. Just had an idea.", Barton dismissed, hiding his fear. It doesn't matter how long you've known her, what you've seen, that woman has a glare that had made some drop dead. The woman continued to stare at him, making the man turn away to avoid fully caving.

With the exception of the two army men talking, and the sizzling of meat cooking on the stove, the room had fallen into a semi-comfortable quiet. Peaceful, in a way.

Tony's quiet couldn't be interpreted the same way.

With the kid gone, he couldn't be bothered to listen to the radio. So, the drive back was silent. Fifteen minutes and he missed Peter already.

Of course the others had given them plenty of grief, but he let them. It wasn't like the man would deny it if anyone asked. There were points, many of them recently, where Tony really did see Peter as his son. Where he would get this urge, this flame, to comfort the teen, to protect him from the dangers in the universe, to hold him close and never leave his son's side. And he'll listen. Because the feeling, feels...nice. And it may sound selfish, but Stark really hadn't had anything nice to him after a while.

On the drive back, his phone went off Peter-Mode. Taking a sigh, he used the long drive to get a few phone calls done.

It was late when he got back, chuckling to himself when a plate of chicken with rice and vegetables made it's appearance on the counter. His dinner was quiet, as was the rest of the night.

He couldn't wait until next Friday.