Surrogate Son

Not A Father

Tony Stark was not a father.  Fathers were people that frowned when you weren't perfect.  They always wanted you to do as good as them when you were only five and screamed when you accidentally knocked down a framed photo of Captain America.  Fathers were scary, mean, and gave you a bucket load of emotional baggage.  So no, he was not a father.

However, he was going to Peter's Parent Day at MIT.  He wasn't sure if he'd even be allowed in since he wasn't even a parent, but May had insisted he show up for Peter, so he had.  He wanted Peter to know he wasn't going to be a father, though, because those were just a pain and definitely not what a college-aged, part-time superhero slash Avenger needed.

"Mr. Stark!"  a professor exclaimed, the perfect combination of shocked and prepared that made Tony just a little suspicious they'd known he was coming.

"Hello,"  he said, nodding shortly at the man and looking around for Peter (or May; he did have a preference, but that was only because he hadn't seen Peter in a couple weeks and he wouldn't kill Tony for being late).

"We're so glad you could attend the open house today,"  the man said, falling into step beside Tony.  "I've been assigned to show you around the new campus, so where would you like to go first?"

Tony was going to answer (not really), but his phone rang and he picked it up immediately.  He didn't need to look at the caller ID to know it was Peter; the kid had made himself a special ringtone that consisted of Peter yelling 'Hey, Mr. Stark!  Mr. Stark!  It's me, Mr. Stark!' multiple times excitedly.

"Hey, kid,"  Tony said, smiling subconsciously as he looked around to spot Peter.  "Where are you?"

"I'm in my dorm getting something for my project, but May's waiting in centre campus for you,"  Peter told him.  Tony glanced in that direction and caught a brief glimpse of dark brown hair.

"I see her,"  Tony assured him.

"Good!"  Peter said happily.  He said something to Ned off the phone then returned to Tony.  "Me and Ned are supposed to set up our booth in the engineering building, room 213.  I'll call you when we're ready!"

"You do that,"  Tony said.

"Bye!"  Peter chirped.  He hung up and Tony pocketed his phone, making a mental note to change Peter's ringtone just like every time he had to hear it go off in public.  He wasn't ashamed of Peter, he would just appreciate something less annoying than Peter calling his name excitedly a bunch of times.  He got enough calls that began with 'Guess what, Mr. Stark?' and 'Hey, Mr. Stark!', he felt like he didn't need the ring tone to be the same thing.

"Thanks for the tour, but I've got it,"  Tony told the professor.  He smiled and walked off in the direction he'd seen May, leaving the professor to his own devices while Tony went to find one May Parker and prepare for the parent day.

* * *

To no one's surprise, Peter and Ned's project for electrical engineering was impressive.  May had to drag Tony around to the other exhibits before they could go see Ned and Peter which turned out to be a good thing.  Once Tony had seen how amazing Ned and Peter had done on their project, he'd refused to move and insisted on standing beside Peter's booth proudly.  May had a multitude of photos on her small camera of Peter and Ned standing in front of their project both with and without Tony.  Because of Tony Stark's presence, people visited Peter and Ned, asking all sorts of questions and only leaving when the crowd around Tony became too thick.

At the end of the day, Tony helped carry parts of the project back to Peter and Ned's dorm room.  May got permission to go with them and sat on Peter's bed while Peter showed Tony the blueprints for their project.  Ned just nodded excitedly, still starstruck by Tony and not wanting to mess anything up.  Tony didn't really mind; he was used to it.

"I think you deserve ice cream,"  Tony announced after hearing about all the hard work they'd put into their project.  "Get off campus.  We'll get some ice cream and cheese burgers to celebrate."

"Really?"  Peter grinned.  Tony nodded, throwing an arm around Peter's shoulders.

"Really,"  he nodded.  He turned to Ned and raised an eyebrow.  "You in too, Ned?"

"You want me to come?"  Ned asked, barely breathing.  Peter elbowed him and he jumped.  "I mean, yeah, I'm in."

"Good,"  Tony nodded, glancing at Peter then May and back to Ned.  "Let's get going."

Peter and Ned all but jogged out of the dorm ahead of May and Tony, chatting happily about anything and everything.  Tony walked behind them, not listening to their conversation as he was too caught up in his own thoughts.  He didn't even realise May was beside him until she nudged him, nodding at the two boys in front of them.

"Thanks for coming today,"  she told him.  Tony tried to brush it off, saying it wasn't that big of a deal, but she refused to be blown off.  "No, it is a big deal.  He hasn't had two parents attend an event since Ben died and I know he likes me to come, but it's different when he has a father figure around."

"No, I'm not his father figure,"  Tony immediately denied.  May shrugged noncommittally.

"Say what you want, but I swear he has you as 'Dad' in his phone and he never shuts up about you,"  she said, grinning at Tony then jogging forward to catch up with Peter and Ned at the edge of the sidewalk.

No, Tony Stark wasn't a father, but according to May and Peter, apparently he was (and could be) a dad.  Maybe there was a YouTube video that could teach him how to do that.