Chapter Text
Peter Parker was the result of a one night stand between his mum, Mary, and Tony Stark. Of course, Tony had no knowledge of his birth and Mary wanted to keep it a secret so he was raised under Mary and Richard Parker. That was until he was 6 years old. When he was 6, a plane his parents were on crashed, leaving Peter orphaned.
Peter then went to his aunt and uncle, aunt May and uncle Ben. But then a year later, uncle Ben was shot by a robber, then aunt May died of cancer.
That's when they discovered Tony Stark was his dad. When looking at relatives to take him in, they found out his true heritage.
Tony knew he probably had kids from the amount of times he went sleeping around, but he never really cared because they had their own parents and all he had to do was pay child support. He didn't have to raise them as his own, that's all he cared about. He never hated kids, he just wasn't ready for that level yet. He was too afraid of ending up like his father, Howard, and he knew he would have kids at the right time.
Until Peter.
It was just a regular day for Tony, working on a new iron man suit and going out with Pepper. The day was going normal he had just added a few adjustments to a new suit and he had gotten ready for lunch with Pepper at their favourite Thai restaurant. Then he got a call. He first expected it to be a random company calling, nothing big. But then they said they were family court and Children's services. He was told that he was the biological father of a 7 year old boy named Peter Parker, his parents had died in a plane crash and his other relatives had just died. Tony denied it but he knew it was probably true, he just wasn't ready to raise a kid. Seven was an awkward age, too young to bond with over shared interests and too old to raise as his own. He declined and asked if there was any other alternatives.
Unfortunately, when you're taking a call in the middle of a busy tower, surrounded by lots people, it does not take a genius to overhear him and find out what's going on. Word got out that Tony had a son that he denied custody of and refused to raise him. That did not go well with the press. By the end of the day, there were angry press demanding that Tony should take responsibility of the poor orphaned boy. Nobody actually knew the identity of the boy, but that didn't matter. All they heard was that Tony refused to take in his own son.
The internet did not help either. They were calling Tony a deadbeat dad and heartless. Tony couldn't take it any longer, whenever he left his lab he would receive strange looks from employees. He didn't want to take the kid in, but he didn't want to be called a deadbeat forever. That's when he made his choice. He called back the number and told them he would be taking custody of Peter. Immediately, custody was given to Tony. He didn't know whether or not he made a massive mistake. It was okay right? Just buy the kid whatever he wants and the kid should be happy enough. But he didn't want to be like Howard. He knew he would never put the spotlight on Peter and made sure he grew up away from cameras. Of course, he had to tell the world about this adoption so his reputation wouldn't be absolutely destroyed.
The next day, Tony held a press conference announcing his new son. He didn't actually bring Peter, but the announcement of his son made the press happier. Tony told them that the rumours were simply misinterpreted, that on the call he was told that Peter was his son and he told them to wait, so he could buy everything in advance, so when the boy arrived he would already have everything he wanted. Then, he called back demanding custody. The press were happy and saw him as a devoted dad wanting his son back after not knowing he was alive. Tony didn't reveal the identity of the kid, he only mentioned he was 7 years old. It's not like Tony had anything to say, he hadn't even seen the kid, much less seen him in person. He still had to get through some paperwork before Peter could live with him.
That night, Tony went through the paperwork. He skipped through a lot of it wanting to get it done quickly. That's when Tony actually realised. He could not raise this kid.
He never wanted to.
Peter arrived at his house, small and frail. He was wearing an oversized knitted sweater and shorts, despite it being the cold winter. He had a beautiful mop of brown curls, but he looked scared and shy. Tony saw him and immediately saw himself. Peter looked so small, he was clutching onto a teddy bear and he only had a small trash bag of belongings. He guided Peter inside and showed him around. He tried to be gentle but he was boring himself out. Eventually, he took Peter to his room. It was small for Stark, but for Peter it was massive. Dinner was also awkward, he, Pepper and Peter ate together. Tony tried to make small talk with Peter but that entire day, he said nothing.
Peter felt like he had lost everything in one day. He was staying at the neighbour's house, he liked the neighbours. His parents were away and wouldn't be back in a few days. Peter didn't mind, he felt like he had more freedom. He played with the neighbour's kids and didn't have to worry about his mum telling him to be careful or his dad telling him to finish all his food.
That came true when he discovered his parents died in the plane crash.
Peter understood what death was. He cried for hours and refused to leave his apartment building. They had to physically drag him out and take him somewhere he didn't recognise. He wanted to climb out and run away. He didn't want to go wherever they were sending him. He knew they were sending him somewhere bad.
But then he got sent to his aunt and uncle. He saw them a few times, maybe 10 times. It didn't take long for Peter to warm up to them. And then, uncle Ben got shot in-front of him. It took Peter months to get over it, and right when Peter thought he was finally ready to accept it, he found out May had cancer.
A few months later, May had passed peacefully in her sleep. Peter was alone again. They dragged him out yet again and forced him into the car, driving to who knows where.
When he got to the building, a bunch of strange adults started asking him questions. He learnt that his dad wasn't actually his dad, he was so excited to find out it was the famous Tony Stark that he actually forgot his "dad" died. He saw Tony Stark everywhere and he thought he was so cool, so the thought of living with Tony was just amazing. But he wasn't ready to let go of his parents. He wanted his parents and his aunt and uncle back. All he had left was his teddy bear that his mum gave to him. He clutched it like it was his lifeline.
He stayed at that building for a few days until they told him he would be living with his biological dad, Tony Stark. Peter loved Tony, but he wasn't ready to move on. He silently got into the car to his new home and waited for his new future.
The place was massive. Tony greeted Peter with warm smiles and hugs but Peter didn't reply. He was already dealing with so much. He had to leave everything behind. He had to leave his home to some strange place across the country. He had to leave behind his friends. He had to leave behind everyone else who loved him. And worse, he had to leave behind his old family.
Peter didn't speak for a few days. He was still going through grief. At first Tony tried to bond with him, but it was obviously performative. Tony didn't expect them to have any shared interests, so he would just buy a bunch of toys and hand them to Pepper to give to Peter. Pepper basically raised Peter. She actually cared for him like she was his mother. Peter started to warm up to Pepper as-well. Tony didn't try to bond with him, he stayed in his lab and he didn't come up unless it was to leave or to get food, but he and Peter never crossed paths.
Tony was unaware that Peter was actually a genius. At only 7, Peter was already working way above his level. He loved developing robots, building computers and tinkering with electronics.
A few weeks after Peter first came, he mustered up the courage to go into Tony's lab. He wanted to try bond with Tony because he knew he could help, and once his dad saw how smart he was he just had to pay attention to him.
He entered silently, Tony was working on something that Peter couldn't tell. Peter snuck up on Tony and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Dad?" Peter mumbled. Tony jerked backwards and blasted Peter with his repulsors on his arm. It barely missed Peter, but it hit him slightly in his arm. Peter screamed before he got thrown backwards; he held onto his arm and tears began flowing before he knew it.
"Shit. Peter what were you thinking?" Tony scrambled over to Peter before spraying his arm with Medical suture spray. Peter sighed in relief.
"I.. I just wanted to help you." Peter barely whispered as he was still in pain.
"Peter I don't know what you were thinking but this is too advanced for your age, you won't understand. Just- Just go play with your toys." Tony lifted Peter up and carried him over to his room. He called Pepper before going back down into the lab. Peter didn't know what he did wrong, all he wanted to do was help his dad.
Pepper came roughly half an hour later, she was at a meeting. She immediately ran up to Peter's room and saw him curled up, clutching his arm, crying. She pulled him into a hug and Peter leaned on her shoulder and cried more.
"I'm so sorry Peter. He—He's just... stressed. " Pepper hugged Peter tighter.
"Mum.. I'm fine." Peter mumbled out. Pepper got the first aid kit and helped his arm a little bit, that made him feel better.
Even after that incident, Peter still tried to bond with his dad. He would sneak into the lab but Tony with shoo him away and tell him it's too complicated to understand. It wasn't, Tony just didn't know how smart Peter was, he just made an assumption that Peter was like any other kid, not his kid. So instead, he would sneak down when Tony wasn't around and add little things to whatever Tony was making. At first, he only just looked at stuff, but as time passed he was adding major adjustments, spending hours at a time when he was supposed to be sleeping. He would just hide in the lab overnight to see his dad's face when he saw the improvements. But his dad never acknowledged it, he later discovered that Tony thought he made the improvements, he just forgot about it due to lack of sleep.
Eventually, Tony caught him. It was around 3 am, Peter had been experimenting with nano tech. He was hoping he could eventually help his dad make an entire suit of nano tech, but he was still trying to figure stuff out so he was currently working on just a small section of it. He was using one of his dad's old repulsors as inspiration, as he was currently working on a nanotech repulser.
The door swung open and Peter immediately jumped backwards. "PETER WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?" To him, it looked like Peter was destroying his stuff, he didn't bother checking what he was actually doing. Tony stormed up to him, Peter was shaking and crying. "What did you break? This is why I don't let you in my lab!" He points to the desk, but he didn't even check the contents.
"I was just trying to use nanotech.." Peter muttered, backing away.
"Nanotech? Kid, you probably heard that word online and thought you knew everything about it. Well, guess what. You don't know anything about it! You could've destroyed everything I've worked for. You know what- Just get out! Go to your room!" Tony yelled at the child.
"I was just trying to help, you know- I thought if you used nanotech in your suit.. Well Dad-" tried to explain but Tony cut him off.
"Zip it. I'm not your dad. You're just the kid I'm forced to live with." Tony retorted coldly
Peter grabbed the stuff he was working on and sprinted out. He hid in his room and locked the door.
He just wanted to be helpful. Was that so hard? His dad was right—No, not his dad. They were barely even acquaintances.
"Peter, are you okay? You're experiencing high emotions and reaching high stress levels. Would you like me to contact Ms. Potts?" His AI, KAREN said to him. Peter had developed KAREN not too long ago. He was 7, but he was a genius after all and after inspecting Jarvis' systems, he discovered how to make his own AI.
"I'm okay, don't tell her." He climbed onto his bed and curled under the covers.
He gave up on bonding with Tony then. Tony admitted it himself, he wasn't his dad and he wasn't his son, they just lived together. He still called Pepper mum, Pepper kind of cared. She knew what was going on but she made excuses for Tony.
Deep down, Peter prayed Tony would one day notice him. He would sneak down into the lab and put his inventions there, or help Tony with one of his inventions without his knowledge. He prayed silently that Tony would see it and be impressed with how smart he was, then Tony would hug him and say "I knew you were my son." before they went down into the lab for some father-son bonding time.
The truth was much worse than that. He thought about every-time Tony shoved him away, every-time he was neglected. But then he got an idea.
"KAREN, start recording."
Maybe, just maybe, if Tony saw how much he was suffering, then he'd finally have an excuse for his dad to love him.
By the time he was 11, he had accomplished more than what any adult could. He could've started an entire company by now. But, Peter instead wasted his time trying to impress his dad. Tony didn't care, he just thought Peter stole it. It's not like he actually cared, he just tolerated Peter barely.
He was 11 now, and he tried asking Pepper, Rhodey or Happy for help. He showed them months, then years of recordings showing Tony's neglect. They brushed him off saying Tony was a busy man and that Peter shouldn't be snooping around near dangerous, possibly explosive, technology. Pepper was nice to him, but she ignored most of what Tony did. She told Peter that she'd make sure Tony faced consequences, but they never happened. Uncle Rhodey was also nice, but it was clear he cared for Tony more than he cared for Peter. He'd rather let Peter suffer than have his best friend arrested for child neglect. Uncle Happy was slightly better, he was the only one that didn't brush off Peter's cries for help. But, he couldn't do anything since he couldn't dare to lose his job and he knew if he told someone, Tony would make sure he never got another job.
Pepper and Tony were in a full relationship now, but that still didn't change how neglectful Tony was. In fact, their relationship just made Pepper drift further away from Peter.
Peter resorted to sneaking out, he hated living in Tony's mansion. He spent everyday possible at Stark Tower, despite it being across the entire country. He loved hanging out with the other interns. They knew he was Stark's kid, but he hated bringing it up. It was fine though, nobody else knew. The world basically forgot Tony had a son. Every few months it would be brought up, but Tony would brush it off saying he wants his son to live a normal life away from cameras. As if that excuses years of neglect.
Peter's daily life just consisted of staying at the tower as much as possible, avoiding Tony and then working on his projects. Even though he was the son of literal genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, he had the most ordinary life.
That was, until a God came wanting to rule New York.