ACHOO!

Peter sneezed for what felt like the thousandth time. He was surprised to find that even after the spider bite he could still fall victim to common illnesses like the cold.

ACHOO!

His body lurched forward as he sneezed, followed immediately by a cough. A soft knock was heard at his bedroom door before Aunt May walked in with supplies. She placed a box of tissues on his nightstand and a bucket on the floor beside his bed. She then handed Peter some pills (specially made by Tony and his team of doctors) with a glass of water. May waited until he was finished before speaking, rubbing her hand soothingly across his burning forehead as she did.

"Hey, Peter. I'm sorry but I've gotta go to work. I'll call you later, okay? And if you don't answer then I'll just take that as you're sleeping, okay?" Peter weakly held up his thumb in response. "Good. I'll see if I can leave early or just leave for a little bit to check on you. Try to get some rest. I love you"

"I love you too, May" Peter managed to croak out in between a coughing fit.

May gave a small smile and kissed his forehead before leaving for work. As she walked out the door, she pulled out her phone and made a quick phone call.

————————

Peter was absolutely miserable. He was coughing and sneezing and throwing up and his head hurt like crap. And he was bored. And hungry. But he was under strict instructions to avoid eating for the whole day. Aunt May had left a few granola bars by his beside but only for emergencies with his heightened metabolism.

ACHOO!

As Peter sneezed yet again, someone entered the apartment. But Peter's senses were haywire so he had no way of knowing what was going on. So when he heard a knock at his door he screamed.

"AHHHHHHHHH!!! OH MY GOD IM GONNA DIE!!!!!!!"

The door flung open and Tony Stark came rushing in, ready to fight off anybody trying to hurt his ki- intern. "BACK AWAY FROM MY KID!"

"What tHE HELL? MR STARK I THOUGHT YOU WERE A MURDERER!"

"Why would a murderer knock?"

Peter paused to think before shrugging his shoulders. "Idk"

Tony lowered his fists (he had put them up in order to ward off any unwanted intruders) and a look of confusion appeared on his face. "Wait wait wait. You thought I was the murderer? I came here 'cuz May said you were sick and she wanted me to check on you."

"That still doesn't explain why you came in here all fists blazing"

"Is that a gen z thing? Fists blazing? Don't answer that. I've given up any hope of understanding you. To answer your question, I thought someone was in your room trying to kill you so I was going to fight them off." Tony trailed off, embarrassment evident in his voice. He almost sounded unsure of his actions.

Peter heard the familiar whirring of the Iron Man suit and was impressed at the speed. Instead of talking about the fast-approaching suit, the two engaged in a silent staring contest of sorts. After about thirty seconds of silence (or as silent as one can get in an apartment in downtown Queens), the familiar red and gold of the iron man suit flew in through the open window and began to form around the ever silent Tony. The father-son duo who refused to admit their relationship (not sexual or romantic strictly father-son you disgusting pedophiles) did not break eye contact once. After the suit finished attaching itself to the quiet billionaire, he lifted the face mask and said "never mind that. you are sick and need aid. while Strange or Banner or literally anyone else other than Thor would be good at taking care of you, May sent me instead. Don't ask me why just tell me where you keep your pots."

Peter sat in quiet thought before saying "left cabinet in the island"

Tony nodded and left the room without another word. The sound of clanging metal and a few curses made Peter question if Tony really was the best choice to take care of him. But it only took the billionaire fifteen minutes to make chicken noodle soup and butter bread. So Peter metaphorically shrugged and tried to fall asleep. It didn't work since Aunt May called less than two minutes later.

"Hey, Peter. How ya feelin'?"

"I'm feeling better, It'll be a miracle if Tony doesn't break anything. I thought he was gonna burn the apartment down just trying to make soup!" May winced as she heard Peter's scratchy voice.

"I HEARD THAT!" Tony screamed as he tidied up the kitchen.

Peter simply rolled his eyes and ignored him. "How's work?" he managed to croak out. Even sick and half dead he was concerned about others. Unbeknownst to the sick teenager, May smiled at his selflessness.

"I'm doing fine, Peter. I'm more concerned about you. Oh! before I forget, Ned said he would drop off your homework for you. And can you ask Tony to call you in sick. I forgot to do that earlier and I don't have time now."

"Are you sure the school is going to believe Tony Stark is calling in sick for me?"

"Well...no but if there is any trouble call me and I will get it all sorted out. Ok? I larb you"

"I larb you, too, aunt May"

"feel better soon, Peter. I'll see you at 8. Let me know if you need anything or if Tony has to leave, ok?"

"Ok, May. Bye"

"Bye"

"So I'm gonna assume May doesn't trust me to keep you alive for a day, huh?"

Peter jumped slightly at the figure standing in his doorway. "Aah! How long have you been standing there?!"

Tony moved further into the room to sit on Peter's bed. "Since you doubted the school and my persuasion." he looked down at Peter's blanket. "nice sheets by the way. had to put your hero on there huh?"

Peter had forgotten about the iron man sheets May had gotten him as a joke after he told her about the Stark internship. "Well May picked them out but they didn't have Tony Stark internship sheets so she went for the next best thing" he gave a sheepish smile at his beaming mentor.

"don't be embarrassed, kid. I might convince pepper to get some but she'll say I'm egotistical or some made-up word" Tony joked. "I'm gonna go call your school, okay? May said you needed to take some medicine or whatever but whatever you have won't be strong enough so Happy is on his way with the stuff I made. I'll be in the kitchen if you need anything." He stood up and ruffled the teen's hair before exiting to the kitchen.

All Peter could think was Ned was never gonna believe this.

------------------------------------

"Midtown High School. This is Sharon speaking. How may I help you?"

"Hi, Sharon. this is Tony. I'm calling in for Peter Parker. He's sick and will not be coming to school today."

"Are you his guardian?"

"no. that's May Parker. I'm Tony, his emergency contact. may had a problem at work and didn't have time to call in"

the sound of clacking keys filled tony's ears as the receptionist looked Peter up in the directory. "Is this Tony stark?"

"Yes"

"ok. there is no way this is Tony Stark. if you wanna lie and play hooky kid, at least use a believable person. I'm sorry-"

"I am Tony Stark though. I'm calling for Peter Parker bec-"

"Wait wait wait. Peter Parker? this is the kid who keeps lying about his internship with Tony Stark. I didn't realize he'd go this far."

"LYING? this is the actual Tony Stark. Please call Stark Industries and ask for Pepper Potts. she will tell you my phone number and then you can see I'm not lying." Tony formulated a plan that would work to prove his truthfulness.

"uh huh. If Peter is not here in 10 minutes, I will have no choice but to mark him absent. this will be his 10th absence this semester so he'll be receiving a detention. Good bye"

"Wait!"

it was too late; the call had already ended. Tony was definitely not happy. So he walked into Peter's room.

"hey, Pete, I'm sorry-" Tony stopped talking when he noticed the sleeping teenager. so he wrote a quick note and climbed into the iron man suit.

Hey, Pete.

There was a minor problem with your school believing me so I'm heading down to fix it. Don't freak out if you wake up and I'm not there. Medicine is on your nightstand with water. Take 1 pill at 2pm and another at 8pm if you still feel bad. I should be back by noon but just in case.

Your friendly neighborhood Iron Man,

Tony Stark

———————

The school was definitely surprised to see iron man land on the front lawn. They were even more surprised when he walked into the school. And then Tony walked out of the suit which was just the dramatic entrance he had been hoping for. Gasps echoes throughout the long mostly empty hallway. Tony smirked at the awestruck students and staff as he walked to the office.

He waltzed right into the office and leaned an elbow against the desk. When the middle-aged receptionist didn't notice him, he cleared his throat. The woman looked up with a bored expression and nearly fell out of he chair when she saw Tony.

"Y-y-y-you're Tony Stark"

Tony smirked once again at her comment. "Are you Sharon?"

The woman (Sharon) visibly gulped. "Y-yes, sir"

The billionaire put on his paparazzi smile and began speaking "hi. I'm Tony Stark. I spoke with you on the phone. I'm here to tell you Peter Parker is sick and will not be attending school today. Will that be a problem?"

Sharon managed to stumble out a shaky 'yes' and quickly typed something into her computer. "A-anything else for you today?"

Tony paused and pondered for a second. "Ah! Yes. I'd like to be listed as his secondary emergency and medical contact."

The receptionist grabbed the paperwork and directed him on how to fill it out. After the necessary steps were complete, Tony handed the woman the form back with a charming smile.

"I'll make sure he won't receive any punishment for..."

"For what?" Tony pressed.

"Well...some of the teachers have given him detentions for claiming he knew you. Nobody believed him. But I'll take all of those punishments off his record and I'll let the teachers kno-"

"Actually" Tony interrupted "would you mind if I told the teachers?"

—————————-

At least half the school had seen iron man land and then walk inside. The other half had seen via social media and word of mouth. So when a last minute assembly was called, the students and staff had a strong feeling it had something to do with the hero.

As students walked in, they caught sight of Tony Stark himself standing in his signature sunglasses and a suit that had to have cost a year's tuition. He was next to the principal and Mr. Harrington, Peter's homeroom teacher. Whispers and conversations began to pick up as they discussed what was happening. In less than 5 minutes, everyone was seated.

Tony raised his hand to signal silence and surprisingly the students listened. The teachers were not that happy that they listened to him and not them but whatever. As the final whispers faded, Tony took off his sunglasses and began to speak.

"It has been brought to my attention that many of you do not believe Peter Parker is telling the truth about his internship. I've come to tell you he is only partially lying but you do not deserve to know how or why. If I hear anything about my son lying I will not hesitate to ruin your life. Am I understood?"

Murmurs and a few shouts of 'yes's were heard as students and staff responded to Tony's threat.

"That is all I had to say. Get back to class." Tony turned to leave but quickly moved back to the podium before saying "and remember...I AM IRON MAN!" He stuck his arms out in the signature Richard Nixon peace sign pose as applause rang throughout the auditorium.

With that final remark, the billionaire returned his sunglasses to his head and walked out the door. The last thing students saw of Tony was the iron man suit forming around him before taking him far away.

————————-

When Tony returned to Peter's apartment, both May and Peter were sitting at the couch watching something on the news. He froze when he saw what was on screen. It was him in Peter's school, basically threatening students to stop messing with his kid. But that wasn't the worst part.

Somehow, people actually had ears and could hear him saying 'my son'.

When both of the Parkers turned around to look at him with an unidentifiable emotion in their eyes, all Tony could say was 'oops'.

May instantly launched into a rant about the news and paparazzi and Peter and the internship and threatening kids. Tony tried to listen he really did. But all he could focus on was Peter, who was sitting curled up in a ball with a dismal look on his face.

"Hey can we put a pin in this? Thanks" Tony interrupted May. She almost began ranting about how rude he was being when she saw Peter.

The billionaire sat beside Peter and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder blade, gently rubbing in a soothing manner. "Hey, kid. What's wrong? You're not still sick are you?"

Peter sniffled a little bit before responding. "Do you really think of me as your son?"

Tony was caught off guard. He wanted to say 'yes' more than anything but he was afraid of Peter not reciprocating those feelings. If he said 'no' he could ruin the relationship they had so careful built and go back to being mentor-intern. So Tony instead said "only if you want me to"

It was quiet for a few tense seconds before Peter launched himself into Tony's arms. Tony almost fell off the couch due to surprise despite Peter's weight (or lack thereof). "I really want you to"

Tony smiled as he returned the hug. "I really want me to too"

"Ha! you said 'tutu'!"

—————