#f:marvel

When the bell rings, Peter spends a total of three minutes gathering his things and saying goodbye to Ned before he rushes down the school's front steps.

He's expecting the sleek, black townhouse car Happy usually drives to pick him up on Fridays. What Peter is not expecting, however, is to find one Tony Stark standing by the car door, waving a hand as soon as he has spotted Peter.

"Petey! Let's get a move on, kiddo. Got the lab and movies waiting for us back at the tower," Tony yells out, stashing his phone in his pocket as he starts to walk forward.

There are hundreds of eyes on him now and Peter rushes down the steps, jumping right over Flash's outstretched foot so he can make it to Tony in record time. He grabs the older man by his sleeve and tries to pull him towards the car, groaning when Tony digs his feet in.

"Hey, Pete, no hug?" Tony laughs, clapping a hand on Peter's shoulder.

Peter's gaze darts around them, taking stock of all the other students and parents in the drop-off area who are staring at them. He sighs and quickly darts in, wrapping his arms around Tony's waist in what he won't admit is a practiced movement. Tony immediately engulfs him in his embrace before Peter can pull back and thumps his back twice.

By the time the hug is done, Peter is flushing all the way down to his neck and his voice is shaking. Tony must have had his fill of torturing Peter today because he takes mercy on him by opening the car door and ushering Peter inside. Peter watches him slide easily into the car after him and waits until the door has shut before he tugs his backpack off and turns to level a weak glare at his mentor.

"Hi, Happy," Peter murmurs loud enough for Happy to pick up from the driver's seat.

"Hey, kid," is all Happy says before the partition is sliding up and Peter is left with Tony smiling at him like he has never done anything in his life ever to make Peter's a living hell.

"Mr. Stark, you didn't have to come all the way out here, you know," Peter says when the silence continues.

Tony only smiles, leaning back in his seat as Happy pulls away from the curb. "Your aunt called me yesterday to say the school was threatening you with suspension for lying about having a Stark internship. So, I went and had a little chit-chat with your principle. You should be getting a public apology come lunchtime on Monday, by the way, so dress nicely."

Peter rubs a hand over his face and sighs, "Mr. Stark, you didn't have to do that either."

"'Course I did, Pete. Can't have my favorite intern being called a liar and getting kicked out of school because of me."

"I'm your only intern."

"Exactly!" Tony exclaims with a clap of his hands, grinning like Peter solved a particularly nasty math problem he himself has been mulling over for a while. "Anyway, kid, I was bound to find out on my own. Karen would have informed me of you inevitably going out as Spider-Man when you should be in school instead."

Peter shakes his head and sits back in his seat, grinning to himself as Tony begins to pet his hair. "Alright, yeah. I guess that's fair, Mr. Stark."

"Call me Tony, kid. We've been over this before," Tony says, a soft smile on his face.

"Okay," Peter replies, grinning as he turns to look out the window instead of meeting Tony's gaze. "Whatever you say, Mr. Stark."

Tony groans dramatically and falls across the seats, earning a giggle for all his trouble.

"You know, for someone who has forced me to watch this more times than I can count, I'm still baffled by the fact that you called this an 'old movie' before," Tony mutters, adjusting the blanket wrapped around their shoulders.

Peter shrugs, his face slowly flushing. "I know it's not old, but I didn't want you to think I'm a nerd either, Mr. Stark."

Tony laughs, running a hand through Peter's hair when he has calmed down. "Kid, we're way past that point. You're a mega ultra nerd, but so am I."

"Yeah, but you're a cool nerd. I'm just a spider nerd," Peter replies, tilting his head in thought as he continues to watch the movie. "Huh, maybe I should have gone with Spider-Nerd instead."

"We could still coin that, if you'd like," Tony hums, combing his fingers through Peter's curls.

The movie is practically forgotten by now, but Peter doesn't lament that fact. Tony scratches his nails lightly across Peter's scalp and chuckles when Peter turns his head then tucks in his legs until his feet are under Tony's thigh. Peter fixes their blanket so it's wrapped tight around both of them and buries his face into his mentor's shoulder.

"I like Spider-Man better, but whatever makes you happy, Dad," Peter mumbles, feeling warm and sleepy all of a sudden.

Peter can feel Tony pause as he probably gauges Peter's response to his own words. Peter has slipped up and called him Dad a total of five times now and each time, he would immediately flee and ignore Tony for a few hours until he returned with his head hung low. Tony most likely understands why Peter would feel embarrassed and a tiny bit shameful about it, considering what happened to his biological parents and then to his Uncle Ben. But Tony hasn't said anything to make him feel bad about the slip up either, so it's practically a win-win if you ask Peter.

(Just don't ask Peter because he will panic and flail about it like his life depends on it.)

Tony continues to play with his hair when he realizes that Peter's posture and body language haven't changed and holds him tighter in his embrace. Peter allows himself to fully relax and closes his eyes.

He's warm and comfortable here in the safe hold of his mentor. That's all that really matters to Peter in the long run.

"We shouldn't have done this," Clint said gently, but firmly, as he rolled away from Phil. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he stared up at the ceiling in Phil’s office. He shrugged his shoulders and shifted deeper into the mattress. Phil's pullout bed was surprisingly comfortable. He glanced over at the small window, but couldn't only see darkness behind the shades. He should leave.

He didn't want to leave.

As the sweat cooled on his body, he reached down for the sheet that had tangled around their feet. Phil said nothing as he helped Clint pull the sheet over their hips. Clint lay back again, this time his arm touched Phil's. Neither of them moved. That felt nice, and he didn't want to leave.

After taking another deep breath, Clint said, as calmly as he could manage, "I'll be leaving as soon as the sun comes up." He hesitated, finally daring a glance at Coulson's face. "I mean -- if that's okay with you." Softly, and yet clearly enough that Clint could easily hear it, Coulson said, without looking at Clint, "I'd like that, Barton."

Clint half rolled toward Phil. "Are you serious right now, sir!?" Phil finally looked over at Clint but said nothing, only raised an eyebrow.

Clint continued in a hiss, "'Barton!?' After I was just fucking you into the mattress, you'd better be calling me Clint. You certainly had no problem screaming it five minutes ago." "I wasn't screaming, Barton." "Bite me, sir."

“Hey, Penis! Where’d you get the sweater? Steal it somewhere?”

Flash’s voice is loud enough to make Peter startle, only Ned’s arm around his shoulders keeping him from jumping.

In all fairness, Flash’s voice probably isn’t that loud, but Peter has a splitting headache that his overloaded senses are not helping with. Everything is dialed up to an eleven at the moment and his entire body hurts. Flash is annoying on a good day, but today isn’t shaping up to a good one and Flash is going to get on his nerves before long. Peter just knows he will.

Ned nudges him to get his attention and Peter focuses on him instead. His boyfriend’s heartbeat is strong and soothing. His scent of clean laundry, green apples, and a spice Peter can’t quite place permeates the air around them. Everything that is Ned invades his senses and grounds him. The school hallway is bustling with activity and a thousand different smells, but Peter’s able to push past that thanks to his boyfriend for one brief moment until Flash speaks up again.

“Penis, didn’t you hear me? Where’d you get the fake MIT sweatshirt from?” Flash yells, even though he’s only a few steps behind them.

Peter looks down his front, only now noticing his outfit: black Converse, blue jeans, and Tony’s MIT jumper. Nothing outlandish or out of the ordinary if you ask him…

Wait.

Tony’s MIT jumper?

When the hell did Peter put that on? Why was it even in his closet? When did it get into his closet?

God, it’s too early for this. It’s barely after second period and here Peter is in the middle of the hallway with a headache. Wearing Tony Stark’s clothes.

He panics briefly, his headache forgotten until Ned nudges him again with a concerned look on his face. Peter inhales deeply, barely sparing Flash a glance as he continues to walk to third period.

“It’s Mr. Stark’s. Guess I wasn’t paying attention when I got dressed this morning,” Peter finally replies, smiling when Ned gasps a tiny “Oh, my God” under his breath.

Flash rolls his eyes and scoffs. “Yeah, right. No one’s going to actually believe that, Penis. Why do you try so hard to lie to everyone about being an SI intern?”

Peter raises one brow, frowning as Flash shoulder checks him while he passes by. “Because it’s true?”

“Sure. I totally believe you,” Flash says over his shoulder, disappearing quickly in the crowded hallway.

“Forget him. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about, but if he says that in front of our girlfriend later, I’m pretty sure she’ll beat the snot out of him again,” Ned assures him, pulling Peter closer into his side as he does. “Speaking of MJ, she wants to know if you’re still available for our date on Sunday. We can’t be a thruple if it’s only her and I having dates all the time, man. We gotta have some quality time as three.”

Peter nods his head and leans into Ned’s warmth. “Yeah, I’m good for Sunday. Aunt May’s gonna drive me to the movies on her way to work, so I’ll meet you guys there.”

Ned laughs and goes on tiptoe to press a kiss to the curve of Peter’s cheek, a light pink flush growing darker across his face. “Awesome, babe.”

Peter smiles and rubs a hand over his temple but does his best to ignore the pressure building up in his head.

The rest of the day finds Peter nursing a pounding headache, barely being able to concentrate in class, and ignoring Flash’s continuous jabs on his choice of clothing.

By lunch, Peter gives in and takes the jumper off. He stuffs it into his backpack and braves through the sudden chill that befalls him. MJ and Ned throw their own jackets over his head and laugh when he almost topples over in surprise, Peter’s headache dulling as he takes in their smiles. He gives them their jackets back once the lunch hour is done though and does his best to pretend like he isn’t cold.

He’s doing well until he climbs into a townhouse car after school and Happy turns in his seat to level a glare at him. Peter freezes, wondering what he did now to gain such a response. He only just got into the car after all.

“Kid, it is fifty-six degrees outside. Why don’t you have a sweater on?” Happy barks, his voice sharp and loud.

Peter barely manages to stop himself from wincing and quickly pulls Tony’s sweater out of his backpack. “I put on Mr. Stark’s sweater by mistake, so I took it off.”

Happy’s expression softens marginally, but his voice is still firm when he says, “Tony would give you his entire wardrobe so you would never feel the cold again, kid. Wearing one of his sweaters isn’t going to make him mad.”

Peter only shrugs, pulling the jumper over his head to make Happy turn and start the car. The vents blast powerful drafts of hot air and it is only then that Peter realizes how truly cold he really is. He starts to shiver, clutching his backpack to his chest as Happy drives.

The headache that’s been bothering him all day comes back with a vengeance, causing Peter to wince. Traffic and the whole state of New York apparently want to filter through his hearing and take up residence in his head. Peter opens his backpack and shoves his mask on, grateful when Karen immediately dulls his input sensors. Happy stares at him in the rearview mirror but says nothing about his peculiar get-up.

Peter leans back in his seat and finally relaxes.

Once Happy pulls up to the curb in front of Stark Tower, Peter reluctantly pulls his mask off and flinches as the world comes back at him with full force.

Peter closes his backpack and steps out of the car, stumbling on the way but managing to catch himself on the door. His face and neck flush with embarrassment knowing that Happy saw that and moves quickly to close the door dutifully behind him.

“Bye, Happy. Thank you for the ride,” Peter says as the car door shuts and Happy waves a hand at him before driving away.

Being on the street isn’t doing any favors for Peter right now so he rushes towards the grand doors leading into the tower. He waves at Myah and Arnaldo, the receptionists on duty at the moment, and heads to the elevator that will take him to Tony’s lab. Peter rubs his arms as he waits for the elevator doors to open, a small shiver rolling down his back.

The lobby is loud and smelly just like the school hallways were earlier making it hard for Peter to focus. He doesn’t have Ned or MJ to ground him now. Someone yells something to his left and he flinches, clapping his hands over his ears.

He practically falls into the elevator when the doors slide open and grabs onto one of the rails, tipping his head back until it rests on the cool metal. His knees are shaking and his heart is beating faster with each passing second. He feels like he’s out at sea, trying desperately to get back to shore as he concentrates on his breathing. Everything is much quieter in the elevator, which helps until FRIDAY speaks up and Peter jumps onto the ceiling in surprise.

“Welcome back, Peter. Boss is waiting for you in the lab.”

Peter rubs one of his hands over his eyes, the lights too close and too bright now that he’s on the ceiling. His headache is making everything hazy now and in the next moment, Peter is sprawled on the floor with a sharp pain in his arm and no idea how he got there.

FRIDAY doesn’t say anything, but Peter can feel the elevator moving at an alarming pace now.

The elevator stops soon after and the doors open with a sharp ding that makes Peter hiss in pain. He’s looking at the back of one of the couches in the main room, Tony’s lab down the hall behind it. Peter tries to get up from the floor and groans when he falls back almost instantly, not able to support his own weight suddenly.

He winces when the tapping of harsh footsteps echoes down the hallway coming from the lab and suddenly Tony is running towards him. He falls to his knees beside Peter, frantic and voice muffled as he says something to him. Peter can barely focus on his mentor’s face, feeling slightly nauseous when Tony pulls him into a sitting position.

Tony settles him down until Peter’s practically in his lap, arms over the older man’s shoulders and his face buried in Tony’s throat. Peter lets his eyelids flutter shut and inhales deeply, doing his best to focus on that alone. When that doesn’t work, he shifts until his face is squished into Tony’s chest and listens for his heartbeat, sighing once it becomes the only thing he can hear.

Now that he isn’t on the verge of passing out, Peter can feel Tony rubbing circles into his back as well. It’s comforting enough to bring everything back into a less sharp focus than before. He sighs, pulling back to grab his backpack and pull his mask back on. Karen greets him urgently, his vitals flashing bright red. He can still feel his headache but he’s listening to Tony’s heartbeat now and Karen is successfully muffling everything else.

“Kid?” Tony asks, his voice rough enough to make Peter wince.

Peter coughs, pressing a hand to his head. “Sorry, Mr. Stark. Overload. I think I have a cold now too.”

Tony pulls him into his arms again, holding him to his chest. “You’re gonna give me a heart attack one of these days, Pete. How long have you been dealing with sensory overload?”

“All day, really, but MJ and Ned helped during school. Didn’t get bad until I stepped into the tower.”

“Alright, kid. FRIDAY’s saying your temperature is too low, so let’s warm you up while I work on something to help with your senses. Sound good?” Tony sighs, pressing a kiss to the top of Peter’s head.

Peter nods, laughing when Tony mutters a string of curse words under his breath. His mentor pulls away from their embrace and gets onto his knees, ruffling Peter’s curls as he does. Tony stands up then helps Peter get back on his own two feet. Peter grips his backpack tightly in one hand and clings to his mentor with the other.

Slowly, they make their way out of the elevator and towards the lab. Once there, Tony pushes Peter onto the couch that only showed up after Peter’s second visit there and leaves. Peter doesn’t worry about that and lays back, settling himself onto the cushions as he awaits Tony’s return.

His mentor comes back, arms piled with blankets, and throws them on top of Peter. He can’t help the laugh that startled out of him, but Tony smiles too as he kneels to fix the blankets around him then stands up once more.

“Alright, kid. Karen is going to keep FRIDAY updated on your temperature while I work. I know you don’t need glasses, but you used to wear them before, didn’t you?” Tony asks as he rummages through a drawer.

Peter nods, smiling when Tony makes an “Aha!” noise as he pulls out a pair of black-framed glasses. “Yeah, I did. They were already getting old by the time I became Spider-Man though.”

Tony nods, pulling up specs on the glasses and readying himself to get to work. “Well, these are going to be for when your senses are too high. They’ll dull your eyesight and I’ll work on some nondescript earphones that you can wear during school without them getting confiscated. You alright with that, kid?”

“Yeah,” Peter says, feeling better by the minute. “Thanks, Mr. Stark.”

“It’s Tony, Petey.”

“Thanks, Tony.” Peter grins, pulling the blankets more firmly around him until he’s comfortable as he watches Tony do what he’s best at.

Taking care of Peter.