I Was Joking

Uhh....Surprise?

Rhodey typed his password into the keypad, not surprised to see the two working on their own projects. Nor was he surprised to see Peter drumming along with his pencils as Tony lip-synced to Queen. The colonel knocked against the wall, making himself known. "Hope I wasn't interrupting father-son bonding time."

"Hey, Col. Rhodes.", Peter greeted, getting back to marking his observations. "Kid, I've told you a million times.", the man remarked, pretending to be annoyed. "What can I do for you?", Tony asked cheerily, wiping the oil off his arms. Rhodey walked forward a little bit before the joints caught, making him freeze in place.

"This gets annoying after a while.", he remarked with a chuckle. Peter was by his side in a heartbeat, messing with the brace and it's hinges. The kid worked quickly, holding a hand out in the direction of what he wanted, keeping his eyes on the machine. It was amusing to watch the two work together; the two minds molded into one.

After a couple of minutes, the kid moved away. "Now try.", he muttered expectantly. The man walked forward a little before walking backwards for the same distance. Rhodey turned to Peter and gave a satisfied smile. Looking over, it became apparent that it was Tony's soft smile of pride the teen was mirroring. After Clint pulled that little stunt, the colonel could definitely see the resemblance between the two.

"Whatcha working on?", he asked, gesturing to the machines and papers on the kid's desk. "Science experiment.", he quickly answered, getting back to writing his reports. "Which is going great, by the way. Thank you so much for letting me use this, Mr. Stark." Tony sighed and shook his head at Rhodey. "I get the message, Pete. Glad to know my genes can help for once.", he remarked.

"Genes?", the army man asked, smirking. Peter nodded curtly.

"Hey Friday, think you could get a paternity test on these two?", he asked, making the two roll their eyes at him. All the man did was chuckle.

"Certainly.", the AI responded. "With Boss' permission, of course."

"Wow, asking for permission, huh? Well, since you're being so nice...", Tony trailed off, crossing his arms. "Ah, humor him.", the billionaire finally remarked, turning back to tinker. Peter chuckled and set the extracted DNA in a clear scanning position. "Thank you, Master Peter.", the disembodied voice said kindly before setting to work herself.

"You're welcome.", Parker returned, finishing up his report. "That should do the trick.", he muttered, collecting everything. The two best friends waited patiently for a minute, then another. Rather than ask what was taking so long, Tony turned back towards his suit. Friday must have taken it as her cue.

"Boss, the test is a match."

"Oh come on, Fri. Not you too.", Tony jokingly pleaded, smirking at Rhodey.

"I have ran through the data multiple times. It's a match. Would you like to see the data?"

"Yes ple...", he dragged, lighthearted tone gone when his eyes met the screen. "Oh god."

Tony's mouth froze shut as he looked over the numbers once, twice, several more times before taking another breath. He reached for the closest chair, pulling it up and sitting down.

His heartbeat was pounding, every breath was heavy, and felt nauseous but he couldn't look away. Even Rhodey's face fell into a state of shock as he saw the results. He had screwed up, hadn't he? Yeah, he screwed up big time.

Almost immediately after seeing for himself, the man's eyes darted over to Peter. The teen was pale as can be. Mouth agape, with small tears being blinked down his cheeks. Closing his own mouth, the teen stared at the floor. Seeing as he messed up, the army man slowly and quietly left the room. The tension of the room was still on his shoulders as the door closed behind him.

Tony and Peter didn't hear the sound, mind still filled from the words and eyes only on the screen. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Tony dismissed it and saw his son.

His son. The words sunk in, though not as deep as it would have if it was any other kid. As the information did set in, Tony just stared at Peter.

It was like looking at a different person. Because, through denial, he assumed, so many little things about him were missed. A little cowlick that Peter was always annoyed with, the way his lips tightened when he was upset. And those wide, doe brown eyes that wore every emotion running through the kid's head. His eyes; at least, what they were, at one time in his life.

Still staring at the ground, Peter slowly stood up. Suddenly, every possible bad scenario ran through the genius' head. Oh god, what if Peter hated him? What if he didn't want anything to do with him now?

Peter slowly shuffled towards the man before gently touching his shoulder. Tony instinctively jerked away, before realizing who it was. Without any words said between them, the father and son embraced each other in a hug. Tears still dripped down their cheeks, but at the moment, that didn't matter.

"...What happens now?", Peter asked gently into Tony's shoulder. The father looked in a far off direction, running a hand through his son's hair. "That's up to you, Underoos.", he finally admitted. "Well, we should at least tell Ms. Potts and Aunt May. But we can do that later.

Right now, can we...stay like this?", Peter asked hesitantly, afraid of being too pushy. Nonetheless, Tony wrapped an arm around the kid's shoulders, holding him close.

"Of course, son."