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May said that Peter got his sassy side from his mother. Peter doesn’t remember much about Mary Parker and sometimes that makes his heart ache with a grief. He has vague memories of her but lots of photos that Ben and May had given him. The photos captured their similar features, the same way their hair curled but didn’t capture the way her arms felt wrapped around him in warm hugs that made him feel loved.
May also said that Tony only encouraged Peter’s sassy side.
“It no wonder Rhodey and Happy think you are Tony’s secret love child,” May said, looking far too amused. “You are a carbon copy of the man.”
That particular memory still made a bubble of laughter rise in Peter’s chest every time he thought about it. After Germany, when the Rogue Avengers had vanished and Peter was back on American soil, Tony had introduced Peter to Rhodey properly.
Peter had found himself in awe of meeting Rhodey, knowing practically everything about Tony’s best friend. Before Peter had even had the chance to spew what would have been an impressive amount of gushing word vomit at the man, Rhodey had said;
“This is the moment your choosing? This one, right here, to tell me you have a child?”
Tony had made an odd wheezing sound that Peter really hoped FRIDAY had recorded.
“What’s wrong with this moment?” Peter had said, head titled to the side. And okay, Peter should have denied it then and there, but Peter was curious, and the words had escaped him before he could take them back.
Tony had just looked at Peter, mouth opened wide.
“Because this moment is about 10 years too late,” Rhodey had said, glaring at Tony.
“I’m fourteen and a half,” Peter corrected.
Rhodey threw his hands up in the air. “Seriously, Tony? How long have you known about the kid?”
“He’s not my secret love child,” Tony had snapped, looking exasperated.
Secret love child, Peter had repeated the words silently, nose scrunching up.
Rhodey gave Tony a cold, disbelieving look.
“Kid, tell him,” Tony huffed.
“He stalked me on YouTube,” Peter had offered up.
Tony had slapped a hand too his face, giving a long-suffering sigh. “That’s not what I was going for, kid.”
“Oh,” Peter had said. “I’m Spiderman?”
Rhodey had given Peter a long, hard stare before he looked back to Tony. “Can he go back to being you secret love child?”
It was the start of a beautiful relationship Peter had with Rhodey. He had come to see the man as another uncle (and if that made Tony his father figure, well, that was for Peter’s thoughts and his thoughts only). Since that meeting, Peter had only grown closer to Tony, spending more and more time with him and with Rhodey. His family that had just been him and May had expanded, and Tony couldn’t really have been surprised that Peter would do anything to protect that.
“I don’t hear Captain America apologising,” Peter said, arms crossed over his chest, swaying slightly where he was hanging upside down on a web.
Tony crossed his arms, giving Peter an unimpressed look. “Because he has a web covering his mouth.”
“Oh, does he?” Peter asked innocently. “I must have forgotten that.”
Sam Wilson made a muffled noise behind Peter that sounded like a protest.
Peter grinned under his mask.
When Peter had entered the Compound for his standing Friday lab session with Tony (that extended into a weekend hang out), he wasn’t expecting to see the Rogue Avengers to be there. Naturally, Peter had not let the opportunity to pass him up. So, sneaking up on them Peter had done what he hadn’t been able to do in Germany; he webbed them up.
“Spidey,” Tony said, tone warning.
“They hurt you, Mr. Stark,” Peter glared from under his mask. “And they just strolled up into your Compound –“
“They were invited,” Tony interrupted, lips twitching slightly.
Peter’s jaw dropped opened. “Invited? What idiot did that?”
“That would be me,” Tony said, amusement sparkling in his eyes.
Peter swallowed. “Oh.” Peter blinked and looked to Rhodey who was watching the whole scene with uncontrolled glee. “Mr. Rhodey, sir, when was the last time Mr. Stark slept?”
Rhodey barked out a laugh while Tony pinched the bridge of his nose.
“I am not sleep deprived, Spidey.”
“Well, it would explain this dumb decision,” Peter huffed.
Rhodey made an odd wheezing noise.
Tony shook his head, dropping his hand from the bridge of his nose. He gave Peter a flat look. “I’m a genius, kid. You really think I didn’t think this through?”
“You didn’t think it through with me,” Peter pouted.
Tony face softened. “You don’t need to worry about them, kid.”
Peter scoffed. “Yes, I do.”
Tony stepped closer to Peter. “Hey, I should have let you know that they were coming back. That’s on me. And I promise, you and I will talk about this, but could you dissolve the webs first?”
“I don’t know how too,” Peter lied.
Rhodey’s cough sounded suspiciously like a laugh.
“Yeah, nice try, Spidey. Come on, you’re giving me a head-rush just looking at you like that,” Tony tapped his shoulder. “On your feet and un-web the Avengers.”
With a grumble, Peter did what he was asked. Very reluctantly he dissolved the webs he had used to tie up the Avengers and when he was done, Tony placed a hand on his shoulder, his grip tight.
The Avengers got to their feet and stopped, staring at Peter. They looked tense and ready to attack at any sudden moves. Peter felt oddly proud that he was the one who caused that reaction in them. He pushed that feeling down, focusing on Steve Rogers who was staring intently at Peter.
“Spiderman,” Steve said, a hint of wariness in his tone.
“Captain,” Peter responded with a drawl. He winced as Tony nudged him in the ribs.
“Alright then,” Tony said, squeezing Peter’s shoulder. “Time to go, Spidey. Cap, you know where your rooms are. We’ll chat later.”
“Tony,” Steve said hesitantly. “Perhaps we should talk now.” He eyes darted to Peter. “So we can avoid any…misunderstandings in the future.”
“Yeah, that will end well,” Peter heard Rhodey mutter under his breath.
“Why, you got another PA?” Peter asked. He changed his voice to mimic Steve’s. “So, you’ve decided to welcome us home.”
“What the hell was that?” Tony asked, looking at Peter with wide eyes.
Peter saw a brief look of panic on Steve’s face.
“You don’t know?” Peter asked, glee filling his entire body. He didn’t even feel guilty for what he did next. “Captain America’s PA’s?”
“Oh, we’ll be watching those later,” Rhodey said.
Tony nodded. “FRIDAY, I’m going to need you to gather them all.”
“On it, boss,” FRIDAY responded.
“Tony,” Steve tried again, ears tinged pink.
“Not right now, Cap,” Tony said, voice warning.
Peter tensed under Tony’s grip, body shifting. Before he could so anything, Tony was wrapping an arm around him and steering him out of the room.
Peter was surprised that Rhodey didn’t follow them, instead shuffling closer to the Avengers and speaking to them in a low tone. It made Peter feel uneasy leaving Rhodey with them, but Tony’s grip was tight on Peter as he led him out of sight.
Tony kept his arm around Peter until they were safely tucked away in his lab. He led Peter to the worn couch, gently sitting him down. He took a seat on the cushion beside Peter, turning his body so they were facing one another.
“You can’t go webbing up Cap, kid.”
Peter pulled off his mask and pouted at Tony. “But Mr. Stark! He deserves it.”
Tony shook his head, giving a soft chuckle. “Oh kid. You know I love you, right.”
Peter sucked in a breath at the sudden admission. “I love you too.” Peter paused for a beat. “But I’m not promising to not web him up again.”
Tony barked out a laugh. He wrapped an arm around Peter and hugged him into his chest. “You’re a good kid, Peter. Thanks for having my back.”
“Always, Mr. Stark,” Peter promised.
There would be a lot to talk about and Peter didn’t know if he would ever be comfortable with having the Avenger’s around Tony and Rhodey, but for Mr. Stark he was willing to hear him out. But right now, Peter snuggled deeper into Tony’s embrace and let his warmth wash over him.