Tony and Peter were still asleep on the dusty floor of the storage room when Pepper walked in. The first thing she noticed was the gigantic mess. Papers and broken gadgets laid haphazardly on the floor, a large pile of potentially dangerous gizmos stacked semi-neatly against each other, cardboard boxes strewn across the floor in varying levels of emptiness, children's drawings scattered everywhere. It was easy to deduce Peter and Tony had just screwed around instead of actually working.

Pepper was about to give them a piece of her mind when she noticed the two sleeping. Peter had his head resting in the crook of Tony's neck while Tony had his arms wrapped protectively around his pseudo son. There were small smiles on both of their faces as they quietly napped away, blissfully unaware of the danger that faced them in the form of one super badass CEO.

Deciding against being overly cruel, Pepper spun on her heel and tip toed out of the room without saying a single word. The second the door closed behind her, she turned to face Rhodey, who had been helping her search for the missing billionaire and teenager. "They're asleep. We can talk to them later." She didn't wait for a reply before walking to her next meeting, red bottom heels clicking on the polished floors.

-------

Peter was in the middle of a really good dream involving Spider-Man, Ben & Jerry's, a bunch of money, and Iron Man. So he was pretty cranky when someone began whispering "Wake up, kid" in his ear.

At first, he tried to swat away the voice, but that person was relentless. Seeing that Peter wasn't going to wake up any time soon, the mysterious person decided to speak a little louder and shake the teenager, just for added measure.

"Peee-ter" The voice said in a sing- songy voice.

"Go away, dad" Peter grumbled and buried his head back in his pillow. He had been expecting the soft caress of a down pillow, so he was definetely shocked to whack his head on something hard and metallic.

The teenager quickly shot up and opened his eyes to find Tony Stark failing to surpress a grin. The second thing he saw was the arc reactor.

Rubbing his head, Peter complained, "Well that explains the dent in my cranium."

Peter's comment sent Tony into a laughing fit. Peter's unamused expression kept Tony laughing. If it wasn't for the need to breathe, Tony most likely would've remained laughing for all eternity. But he's a human and humans need air because they are tiny, weak, and pathetic. Just like Thor said.

"Okay," Tony wiped an imaginary tear from his eye, "I'm good. Let's get up and find some breakfast."

"Good. I'm starving."

"Hi, Starving. I'm dad." Tony replied without another thought.

The two froze. While they had never called each other 'dad' and 'son' or even admitted they thought of each other that way, they certainly acted like it. They were bound to slip up one of these days and it looked like it would be today. It was no secret they were close. Well, it wasn't a secret to the Avengers. Tony and Peter on the other hand were kinda oblivious and very stupid.

Still unsure if what to say, the two continued staring at each other for another minute or so before Pepper walked in. Upon seeing both heroes awake and semi- coherent, she smiled and told them breakfast was ready in the penthouse kitchen.

It was decided it would be best to just ignore the whole 'I'm dad' thing and instead focus on breakfast. Both Peter and Tony were okay with that. Or so they convinced themselves.

The two were in the middle of eating a delicious breakfast of extra cheesy breakfast burritos when Pepper spoke up. "So. You didn't clean the room out like I asked you to do and instead fell asleep. Care to explain before I make both of you clean the entire tower with a toothbrush?"

Peter turned to face Tony and the two silently asked the other 'do I have to do this?' The teenager grimaced as he realized it would probably be better if he told the story. Especially since Pepper would go easier on him anyway.

"Well" he started slowly before rushing into a long winded ramble "you see...we were cleaning but then we found a box of old drawings and stuff that people sent Mr. Stark to thank him and what not and I found my drawing that I sent him after he saved me so then we hugged and I guess we fell asleep and now I feel like crap because I slept on the floor" Peter took a deep breath as he finished explaining the story, realizing he hadn't stopped for a breath once.

Pepper didn't say anything for a second. She instead alternated her stare between her boss and his pseudo son while gently tapping her immaculately manicured nails gently against the white marble countertop. The staccato rhythm matched perfectly with the ticking of the large, mostly- for- decoration clock hanging above a couch. Peter was far too aware of how much time was passing while Pepper decided whether to punish them for not obeying her simple order or to let them off the hook because they had a cute bonding moment.

"If you ever do something like that again, Tony, I will sell all of the Iron Man suits on eBay. And Peter," she paused, still thinking of a punishment, "I'll return all of your LEGOs" Pleased with the shocked and scared looks on their faces, Pepper began to walk out of the kitchen.

She turned around at the last second to smile and say in a surprisingly sincere kind tone, "you guys are cute though. I'll give you that"

———

"Should we talk about the whole 'dad' thing?"

"Ummm. Maybe later."

"Cool." Peter gave Tony two thumbs up before walking out the door with a strong urge to wack his head repeatedly on a wall.

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